The Kyle Thiermann Show

At age 24, Charlie Hart became the 10th employee at RXBAR, the protein bar company known for its clean branding and "No BS" campaigns. A natural marketer, Hart quickly rose to lead the brand’s marketing and growth, helping guide the company to a $600m exit before his 30th birthday. Shortly after, Hart has a crisis of sorts, suffering a panic attack at a business meeting in a luxurious restaurant, a story he recounts in this episode.After traveling the world, Hart Founded Sign and Sapien - an agency specializing in advising and investing for early and mid-stage companies and joined Factor75 as Chief Marketing Officer, where he steered the company towards a ~$300m exit.Today, he works as the Chef Marketing Officer for entertainer and entrepreneur Rob Dyrdek, managing and growing his media verticals and portfolio companies.In this wide-ranging episode, we explore marketing fundamentals, the role of creative agencies, why people love Top Gun, and how to offer and receive feedback. Charlie doesn't have Instagram, but you can reach him at his email: charlie@signandsapien.com or follow him on LinkedIn.P.S. If you dig this podcast, will you please leave a short review on Apple Podcasts? It takes less than 60 seconds and makes a difference when I drop to my knees and beg hard-to-get guests to come on the show. Also, you can get my Friday newsletter on Substack. It’s glorious. Get full access to Kyle Thiermann at thiermann.substack.com/subscribe

Whew, this was an intense one. But good. And helpful, I hope. In this episode, Sara Russell (@Betheradicalway) and I explore the underworld of depression, a mental state that is all too often felt but rarely explored openly. Sara was just the one I wanted to have on to cover this material. She held the weight of it all with skill and grace. Sara is a longtime friend, a Skills For Change Coach, and Qi Gong instructor. She helps clients analyze behaviors, relationships, and systems to see where old habits that are no longer serving them. Check out Sara's work here. I genuinely hope this episode is helpful to all those who are struggling. However silently. KyleIMPORTANT NOTE: The practices we explore in this episode are not meant to be a substitute for clinical treatment. If you or someone you know is suicidal, call 988. If you dig this podcast, will you please leave a short review on Apple Podcasts? It takes less than 60 seconds and makes a difference when I drop to my knees and beg hard-to-get guests to come on the show. Get my Friday newsletter at Substack. Get full access to Kyle Thiermann at thiermann.substack.com/subscribe

Steve Coletta has been shaping surfboards since 1967. The Santa Cruz legend has shaped more than 30,000 surfboards under the name Natural Curves Surfboards. My longtime buddy, Kyle Buthman, and I caught up with Coletta in his new residence in Mainland Mexico to talk surfboard and how to stay stoked for a lifetime. As Coletta says, "Our perspective on life is best based on observations without judgments. With judgments, we're forever caught in an illusive trap."Short Film on SteveSteve’s WebsiteP.S. If you dig this podcast, will you please leave a short review on Apple Podcasts? It takes less than 60 seconds and makes a difference when I drop to my knees and beg hard-to-get guests to come on the show. Also, you can get my Friday newsletter on Substack. It’s glorious. Get full access to Kyle Thiermann at thiermann.substack.com/subscribe

Anupa Asokan [uh-new-puh uh-soak-in] is an avid waterwoman and ocean advocate dedicated to protecting our marine environment. She previously worked for the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the World Surf League, and led the Ocean Initiative and Government Affairs at XPRIZE Foundation. She currently works at the Natural Resources Defense Council advocating for meaningful ocean protection and equitable coastal access through the "30 by 30" initiative. Anupa also serves on the national Board of Directors for Surfrider Foundation, is a graduate of UCLA, and holds dual masters degrees from the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography and College of Business. Beyond her advocacy work, Anupa spends her free time surfing, fishing, diving and standup-paddling along the Southern California coast. In this episode we talked hunting, fishing, conservation, downwind paddling and much more. T’was a fun one.Anupa On InstagramLink To Support MPA ExpansionP.S. If you dig this podcast, will you please leave a short review on Apple Podcasts? It takes less than 60 seconds and makes a difference when I drop to my knees and beg hard-to-get guests to come on the show. Also, you can get my Friday newsletter on Substack. It’s glorious. Get full access to Kyle Thiermann at thiermann.substack.com/subscribe

Mark Divine (@realmarkdivine) is a tough one to pin down. And I like that. As a Navy SEAL Commander and Zen meditation practitioner, Divine weaves between worlds of Eastern spirituality and Western militance. This was the second time I had Divine on the show, the first was in Ep. #271, and I find the guy endlessly fascinating. A little background: After a successful 20-year career as a Navy SEAL, Mark was hired to create a nationwide coaching and leadership program for the U.S. Navy’s primary operations force. The program aims to give the SEALs the best leadership and mental management tools in the world and to help them forge unbeatable teams that achieve mission success in the most stressful, challenging environments on earth. He has written numerous books, including Unbeatable Mind and The Way of The SEAL.Enjoy,KyleP.S. If you dig this podcast, will you please leave a short review on Apple Podcasts? It takes less than 60 seconds and makes a difference when I drop to my knees and beg hard-to-get guests to come on the show. Also, you can get my Friday newsletter on Substack. It’s glorious. Get full access to Kyle Thiermann at thiermann.substack.com/subscribe

The first thing that struck me about William Padilla-Brown was the power and velocity of his speech. It was as if he had more ideas inside him than his vocal cords could handle, like trying to power a city with a single extension cord. A citizen-mycologist and founder of MycoSymbiotics, his perspective on mycology is both captivating and approachable. In this podcast, we got into everything from the alien species of Cordyceps to his early psychedelic experiences that redirected his life into mycology. Enjoy,KyleP.S. If you dig this podcast, will you please leave a short review on Apple Podcasts? It takes less than 60 seconds and makes a difference when I drop to my knees and beg hard-to-get guests to come on the show. Oh, and you can get my Friday newsletter on Substack. It’s glorious. Get full access to Kyle Thiermann at thiermann.substack.com/subscribe

My buddy Dylan Sohngen is one of the coolest guys I know. Cool… What exactly do I mean by that? It’s usually synonymous with vague detachment. A kind of flick-your-cigarrette-on-the-ground-don’t-give-fuck-about-anything sort of vibe. But Dylan gives many fucks. He’s engaged. In his community, ocean, and the natural world. As a citizen-entomologist, he take frequent pilgrimages to Indo-Borneo in search of exotic bugs. He’s a surfer, diver, and mentor to LA youth. When he’s not looking under rocks in search of scorpions, or chasing swells south of the border, he runs Aqua Surf Surf School on Santa Monica beach, getting kids and adults alike into that big blue healer we all call the ocean.Enjoy,KyleP.S. If you dig this podcast, will you please leave a short review on Apple Podcasts? It takes less than 60 seconds and makes a difference when I drop to my knees and beg hard-to-get guests to come on the show. Oh, and you can get my Friday newsletter on Substack. It’s glorious. Get full access to Kyle Thiermann at thiermann.substack.com/subscribe

We are in the midst of a psychedelic revolution. It’s here. Now the question is whether or not we can approach the conversation with nuance—not something we Americans are not generally celebrated for. Psychedelics force another uncomfortable conversation for many: The power of thought. The suggestibility of your brain while under the influence of psychedelics turns mindfulness into a high-stakes game. We are still in the liminal stages of talking about the mind and mental states with anything like fluency. But our ability to explore this conversation, and put words to feelings, is one of the most freeing forms of language we can practice. For us dudes, this can be especially tough—which is why I’m so glad that a guy like Jesse Gould exists.Gould is founder and president of the Heroic Hearts Project, a nonprofit pioneering psychedelic therapies for military veterans. After being deployed as an Army Ranger in Afghanistan three times, he founded the Heroic Hearts Project in 2017 to spearhead the acceptance and use of ayahuasca therapy as a means of addressing the current mental health crisis among veterans. The Heroic Hearts Project has raised over $350,000 in scholarships from donors, including Dr. Bronner’s, and partnered with the world’s leading ayahuasca treatment centers. Jesse has spoken globally about psychedelics and mental health—something that’s also personal for him, having battled with PTSD and found relief through ayahuasca therapy. During our conversation, we covered marathons, breathwork, and psychedelic therapy for veterans.Enjoy,KyleP.S. If you dig this podcast, will you please leave a short review on Apple Podcasts? It takes less than 60 seconds and makes a difference when I drop to my knees and beg hard-to-get guests to come on the show. Oh, and you can get my Friday newsletter on Substack. It’s glorious. Get full access to Kyle Thiermann at thiermann.substack.com/subscribe

Madame Gandhi is an award-winning artist and activist known for her uplifting, percussive electronic music and positive message about gender liberation and personal power. She began producing music in 2015, after her story running the London Marathon free-bleeding to combat menstrual stigma went viral around the world. She has been listed as Forbes 30 Under 30 in Music, and her 2020 TED Talk about conscious music consumption has been viewed over a million times. “Waiting For Me,” shot in Mumbai, India, won the Music Video Jury Award at SXSW Film Festival in 2021 and her 100% Organically Sourced x Sound MANA nature sound pack won the New Wav award at the 2021 Splice Awards. Her third studio album, Vibrations, was released in 2022, following the release of her previous albums Voices (2016) and Visions (2019). In June of 2022, Gandhi completed a Masters in Music Science & Technology at Stanford University's CCRMA where she spent time in Antarctica sampling the sounds of glaciers melting to create empathy and awareness around climate change. If you dig this podcast, will you please leave a short review on Apple Podcasts? It takes less than 60 seconds and makes a difference when I drop to my knees and beg hard-to-get guests to come on the show. Oh, and get my Friday newsletter on Substack. It’s glorious.—Kyle Get full access to Kyle Thiermann at thiermann.substack.com/subscribe

Zac Cirivello is the Operations Manager of Fly Ranch, a 3,800-acre ranch 12 miles north of Burning Man’s Black Rock City home base in Northern Nevada. Abiding by Burning Man's 10 core principles, Fly Ranch is an alternative community which hosts campouts, work days and more than 700 public nature walks. Projects are organized by hundreds of volunteers and tend to focus on reconnection, healing, human creativity and the land. If you dig this podcast, will you please leave a short review on Apple Podcasts? It takes less than 60 seconds and makes a difference when I drop to my knees and beg hard-to-get guests to come on the show. Oh, and get my Friday newsletter on Substack. It’s glorious.—Kyle Get full access to Kyle Thiermann at thiermann.substack.com/subscribe