Today we’d like to introduce you to Shane Heath.
Hi Shane, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
My struggles with anxiety and depression started in high school. When I lost a friend to suicide in college, I had a wake-up call about my own mental health and got serious about taking better care of my mind.
By the time I was working as a designer at tech start-ups in my 20s, I was living what I thought was a really healthy lifestyle. I was doing a lot of yoga and meditating, I was eating really well and experimenting with Ayurvedic diets. And I was expressing myself as a painter, doing a lot of live painting at festivals and loving that.
But despite all of this progress I’d made, my anxiety was on the rise again, and my sleep was a mess. I quit my job when I got an art residency in Goa, India, and the experience of looking at my life from the outside—from a distance and from another perspective—changed everything.
I realized that the sleep-when-you’re-dead lifestyle that I’d bought into in startup culture was incompatible with my physical and mental health. I had been drinking tons of coffee, like everyone else I knew, and this over-consumption of coffee was contributing to my burnout. So, I decided to make something better. I developed a blend of cacao, masala chai, adaptogenic mushrooms, and spices and found that it gave me the energy boost I needed without any of the downsides of coffee.
Everyone around me was asking what was in my mug and if I could make them some, too. It turns out a lot of people had a need for something that would help them rethink their coffee habit. So, in May of 2018, I launched MUD\WTR to share this product that’d helped me with others. We’re now an international brand with a range of products to support healthy habits throughout the day.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The early days at MUD\WTR were wild. It was exciting and also full of constant challenges. When I started the company, I was working full-time, in debt, and had no experience building a team or a company. I was mixing up the product and packaging it all out of my Venice apartment, advertising on social media and via word of mouth—all while still working my day job so I could pay rent. I ran to the post office to ship orders during my lunch breaks and stayed up until the wee hours making the product. We did seven figures in revenue that year. That fall, I secured my first investment and quit my job to focus on MUD\WTR full-time.
Each step, from conceptualizing MUD\WTR in my kitchen to building a company that has reached millions, has taken a leap of faith.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about MUD\WTR?
I started MUD\WTR in 2018 with a mission to change the relationship people have with coffee. Our flagship blend—a mix of cacao, masala chai, and adaptogenic mushrooms and spices—did just that for our first one million customers. Today, our mission is to create healthy minds through healthy habits, and we offer a range of functional drink blends that support how we rise, balance, and rest.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.mudwtr.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/somanypossibilities/?hl=en
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shane-heath-719b4833/
Image Credits
MUD\WTR
