How She Healed a Life-Threatening Disease and Built an Impact Brand w/ Founder Sydney Webb

Show notes in order of appearance:

• Sydney’s last “oh shit” moment
• Sydney’s Last hell yeah moment
•  Sydney’s cookie company forms a partnership with Equinox Hotels and gets into Whole Foods.
• Sydney trained to be a professional soccer player from a young age but life happened and that all changed.
• Living with an “unknown” disease
• Sydney shares how she lost her scholarship and dream of playing soccer professionally.
• Sydney’s life changes when she meets a stranger at a coffee shop
• How Sydney got off all medication with a proper diet.
• Living with Crohn’s disease and colon cancer.
• Chemo or no chemo?
• What are adaptogens and types of adaptogens.
• How to consume adaptogens and why.
• Adaptogens and cancer.
• Sydney tricks her parents into eating adaptogens in a delicious form.
• Madeby is born. The supercookie.
• Conscious aspects of Sydney’s company.
• Sustainability and giving back.
•  Growing fast and making conscious hires.
• Sydney’s 2 most important traits for a conscious leader to embody

Learn more at Madebyfoods.com and find Sydney on Instagram.

Connect with Sebastian on Instagram

SebastianNaum.com

Below is a transcript of the video podcast created by Seb’s Robot buddy, Zekton. He tends to make mistakes so please forgive him if you find errors or some funky sounding sentences. For the real deal, watch the video or click on your favorite audio Podcast platform above! Enjoy!

Sebastian Naum (00:03):
What up fam today we’re joined by Sydney web, the founder and CEO of made by it, which is a line of good for you. Vegan gluten-free non-GMO low sugar, cookie dough and cookies made from the world’s most powerful, super foods and adaptogens. I know, right? Like all the good things and a fricking insanely delicious cookie made by cookies are getting a ton of momentum and see lots of success right now, including a partnership with Equinox, hotels, sprouts for Q1 of 2021, and now officially accepted into whole foods. Even more Epic than these cookies themselves, our Sydney story and her serious health challenges that she experienced at an early age that led her to her magic creation that it is today. Tune in with us as Sydney shares her personal journey and how it led her to form a successful impact driven brand Sydney. Welcome to the show. Thanks for being on.

Sydney Webb (01:04):
Yes. Thank you. I’m so excited to be here virtually, at least.

Sebastian Naum (01:09):
Yeah. And it turns out we’re actually two blocks away from each other.

Sydney Webb (01:12):
We could be almost face-to-face. This is probably the closest I’ve been face-to-face it’s many people over the last seven months. So two blocks away. It’s like we’re practically, right?

Sebastian Naum (01:25):
Yeah. We just, we just did a Friendsgiving with some friends and we, everyone got tested and submitted their tests. Like the MBA bubble style. It was like beautiful. It was like being around other humans is amazing.

Sydney Webb (01:37):
I know, I know. I think that that’s honestly kind of going to be the way to go because I don’t think anyone can take another however many months it’s been now. Yeah.

Sebastian Naum (01:50):
So say I start out all my shows by asking my, my guests. When was your last, Oh, moment. What’s the first thing that comes to mind.

Sydney Webb (01:57):
Oh man. Oh God. Honestly, I feel like that’s been kind of the last eight, nine, 10 months. Oh. In a good way or a bad way or, um, well, I would say that my recent moment was that I realized we had ordered like 500 of these new custom boxes that were all the wrong size because centimeters and not inches. So I have these tiny, really cute little boxes that I’m me. I mean, anyone needing to be made by boxes because we’re going to be giving away for donation. I mean, yeah. And I was like, well, this, you know, large shipping box is pretty small for like everything we ordered, but it’s like, these,

Sebastian Naum (02:46):
Everything was 0.3, three too small.

Sydney Webb (02:50):
Oh my gosh. It was pretty funny. I can say maybe one cookie inside, but they were made for like cookies. So not quite what we’re looking for. What was your last hell yeah. Moment. Oh, man. Um, well I just found out that we got into whole foods. Um, so we’ll be launching in whole foods, uh, early next year. That’s amazing. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.

Sebastian Naum (03:20):
Yeah. So I’m really excited for you in the future of made by. And I know you’re recently featured on veggie news. Um, also a partnership with Equinox hotels, which is really cool. And then you’re launching and whole foods and then hopefully in Q1 of next year also sprout. Right. So, um, before we get into that though, I want to get into your story because your personal struggle to business success story is one of the most inspiring ones that I’ve ever heard of. So why don’t we start at, when you essentially, you were playing to be a professional soccer player, so you,

Sydney Webb (03:53):
Yeah, it’s funny how things can take quite the turn. Um, but yeah, I grew up playing soccer. I started playing when I was five. Um, loved it, absolutely loved it. I played competitively. I played in every league. I really could. Um, and I played in high school and when I was in high school, I got recruited to play at my dream college since USC, um, was like, my life seemed like everything was working out perfectly. I was a midfielder. My career I’ve played everything at some point when I first heard it, I was like, you know, really tall. I hit my growth spurt ply before everybody else. So I was a goalie. Then I played forward, feel a little bit of everything. Um, but I was recruited to play Minnifield at USC. And, um, shortly thereafter I started to feel, I will never forget is October 26, 2011.

Sydney Webb (04:50):
Um, I started to feel like I was getting a flu, huh? Maybe it was coronavirus. Or I, I started to feel like I was getting sick, went to the doctor that next week. And they had no idea what was wrong. They confirmed that I didn’t have the flu and knew that it was probably just a virus. So they sent me on my way and said, you know, sleep, take some vitamin C water, all the things. So I did just that the next week I was back there and not feeling any better. And these symptoms not only remain for the course of a year, but they just compiled. And I, by the end of the year was having these crazy stomach cramps. I was really fatigued. I had no appetite. I had lost about 50 pounds. Um, and I, you know, I was an athlete, so like I didn’t really have any weight to lose.

Sydney Webb (05:48):
And finally after, I mean, I was out of school like three out of the five days a week, just going to the hospital for tests and blood ultrasounds, colonoscopy, endoscopy, like you name it, I’ve had it done. And according to all the tests, I was totally healthy and it was all in my head, which it’s so special now hearing other people’s stories that when you really truly believe, I believe that we, you know, have this deep knowing inside all of us that we really have to lean on and trust sometimes, which is guided me in so many places in my journey. But I really leaned on that and didn’t let the doctors tell me that I was okay because I knew I didn’t feel normal. Um, so a year or so later after the very last test that I did, um, I found out that I had severe Crohn’s disease, um, which was really the beginning of my health journey.

Sydney Webb (06:42):
I was immediately put on roughly 20 types of medication. I was put on steroids and infusions and you name it. It was like, I was taking one medication to like mitigate the side effects of another medication. It was just like this horrible domino cycle and the soccer team at this point. No. So I, I was on the team, but I wasn’t playing because I was, you know, really just trying to recover. Um, so I had lost, you know, over the next six months, I knew that the doctors told me I would never be active again, let alone play soccer at a competitive level. So that was passed on to, um, both our high school coach and the USC coach. Um, and unfortunately they could no longer offer me the scholarship with my health, no long, you know, I, I just had absolutely no idea how, how long I was going to be in that shape.

Sebastian Naum (07:37):
Let me ask you, when you lost your scholarship, which is something that you had been, it was like you said, it was a dream of yours. You wanted to play there and you had a scholarship to play at SC. Now you have this really crappy journey for a long time, trying to figure out what in the world is going on. First of all, to me, it’d be more frustrating to not know that I just like, I want to know what’s wrong. Right. Not knowing

Sydney Webb (08:00):
This is the word horse.

Sebastian Naum (08:03):
So when you describe like your micro world, when you lose your scholarship, was it in fact everything at that point? Or was it more like, okay, no, it’s not the end of the world. Like, I’m more worried about this and that. Like what, what was that

Sydney Webb (08:15):
Great question? You know, I, there were some mixed feelings, especially when I found out, um, I can remember almost the initial, you know, conversation between my doctor and my mom. I’ll never forget in the doctor’s office when they came in. I mean, this, this was after a year of doctor appointments coming in and saying, Nope, you’re completely normal. It’s all in your head. I mean, before I was diagnosed, I was seeing a therapist because the doctors were convinced it was all in my head that maybe I had an eating disorder and that’s why I was getting so thin and that it wasn’t actually anything physical that was going on inside of my body. Um, so when the doctor came in that day and said, you know, you have severe Crohn’s disease, this is something that is not curable. We’re going to live with this for the rest of your life.

Sydney Webb (09:02):
You’re going to be on XYZ medications for the rest of your life. You’re never going to be able to be active again, that I would say that I was almost relieved when I finally found out what was going on, because then I knew, but the second she said, you know, you’re never going to be able to play soccer again and never going to be active at the level you were again, that’s when it really hit me. Um, because up until that point, you know, I, along with many other people, saw my doctors as the end all be all. And they’re the person in the white coat. They know it all. I’m just this 15, 16 year old kid at that point. Um, so I really thought like, wow, like that was quick, my whole life in a matter of a five minute conversation with my doctor to shame, it was, I would say it probably didn’t really hit me until I left that appointment.

Sydney Webb (09:56):
Um, I can remember I left school early that day to go to my appointment. My coaches were kind of all waiting on the status to know what was going on. Didn’t know what I was back. Um, so getting in the car and leaving that appointment, I can remember it all just kind of hitting me at once. Like, you know, realizing that I was going to have to tell my coaches that I wouldn’t, you know, I wouldn’t be playing my junior and senior year, which like, you know, I had just written so much for myself. Like I already had envisioned my senior night and, and the pictures in the yearbook and my Letterman’s jacket and all of the things. Um, right.

Sebastian Naum (10:35):
Yeah. So, so yeah. And then, so that happened, and then you were just the very beginning of your journey of figuring out what the heck was happening and how this was going to happen. And I know that there was an instance at a coffee shop that was a turning point for you.

Sydney Webb (10:52):
Yes. Um, so a few years after I was diagnosed with Crohn’s, like I said, I was initially put on that all those medications, I was on that regimen for roughly three years. And since I didn’t go to USC, I was at a community college. I was at a Starbucks one day and go to old Manhattan beach, my backyard at the time. And, um, I met a man standing in line at Starbucks, um, who asked me why I had ordered a tea instead of a coffee, which first of all, as a random question. And so you like the things that someone could deduce from the answer to that question are like, you know, probably a Milligan like the endless, um, but, uh, for people that do have Crohn’s or IBS, you may know that, um, coffee is just one of the many things that most people with Crohn’s can’t have.

Sydney Webb (11:46):
Um, and it just so happens that this gentleman who asked me not only had Chrome seeds himself, but he was, and one of the best doctors for holistic healing for Crohn’s and colitis in the United States, and like now has a global practice. Um, we still keep in touch. He he’s amazing lives in Santa Monica, not far. Um, but essentially we met line. I ended up sitting down for like a two to three hour conversation about his whole life story and how he had discovered holistic healing, um, through honestly, going through a very similar journey as myself going the Western medicine route, not feeling good, you know, hoping and knowing that there was, you know, some other option. Um, and after a trip to the Philippines where he stayed with his family, friends there, they were so blown away at the treatment that he was getting done for his gut.

Sydney Webb (12:38):
And, uh, you know, said, have you ever tried, you know, adjusting the things you’re eating and he, he just never even heard of the concept before, you know, this was, gosh, probably 15 years ago. Now health was health in Western medicine. The medicine in general is just in a very different place. Um, but they started cooking for him, every single meal over the next couple of weeks, he felt a little better. The next month felt a little better. And over the next few months, he ended up getting off of all medication and staying there, um, to become a certified holistic doctor for criminal Midas, and then came here to the United States to carry out his certifications and now run his global practice.

Sebastian Naum (13:20):
So you took on, you ended up going through his whole process, I assume. Right. And you started doing all these things, but your diet.

Sydney Webb (13:28):
Yeah. And you know, the interesting things with Crohn’s is that, um, with a lot of other types of gut issues, you know, our bodies, our bodies are so smart. Like I think that one of the, um, one of the issues with our current health system is that people think that when you’re sick, your body is flawed or there’s something wrong with you. But like when you’re sick, your body’s doing exactly what it’s supposed to do. It’s fighting off something that’s in your body. It’s trying to protect you. So it’s communicating with you as well. Yes, exactly. So when there’s inflammation in the gut, it can a Crohn’s disease. So much of our Western medicine treats the inflammation, not the source of the inflammation, but, um, and his regimen was just, you know, a completely three 60 view. It was just totally different.

Sebastian Naum (14:23):
That’s great. That’s great. So you started doing all of these things and you started feeling better. Yeah. You started feeling back to normal and sort of feeling back in health. And

Sydney Webb (14:35):
Over the next month I got off of all medication itself, got in the best shape of my life. Let’s feel incredible. Um, at that time I had been applying to universities because I was getting ready to transfer and I still wanted to go to USC, um, for broadcasting. So I could still be in the realm of sports, even if I wasn’t playing sports. Um, and I got into USC or sports, journalism transfer. There was just again, so happy that, you know, even if I couldn’t play soccer here, at least I’m here, I guess we’ll do what I want to do. Um, to an extent. And, um, within my first semester at USC, you know, I had gone in there in the best shape of my life. I was working out twice a day. I was eating so healthy. I was off all medication. I felt so good. Um, and my first semester there, I just got really involved in school. I moved into a sorority house. I was just like doing all of the things. Um, and often with Crohn’s being stressed, uh, can trigger a relapse, like where all your symptoms come back, kind of full-blown. So I noticed, I wasn’t feeling so hot anymore. So we went to the doctor, they ran some tests to figure out what was going on. And the results came back that I was not having relapsed. And then I had colon cancer.

Sebastian Naum (15:56):
Wow. What is that? What is it like to hear that word cancer? When you’re that age? Especially at that age, how old were you? I was 21. Like, that’s just like, you know, like what was that like?

Sydney Webb (16:14):
It was scary, but it was, it would have been very different. Had I not gone through my experience with the disease? Um, because since I had done, you know, at that point, so many of the things that the doctors told me, I would never be able to do, like, you know, you’re going to be on this medication, your whole life, you know, got off all the medication. You’re never going to be active again, like I’m working out more than I ever have before. And, you know, I, I had already proved so many things that they had said wrong, um, through, you know, going more of the holistic route. So I knew that whatever my healing journey was going to look like I wanted to do whenever I could holistically to, you know, still help myself. Um, and it also think too with cancer, um, my aunt who just has to eat your, or so ago, she had ALS, which normally people with ALS, uh, are given like a five-year lifespan, um, kind of like pretty standard, but she lived 12 years, um, because she had the most incredible spirit and support system.

Sydney Webb (17:24):
Um, she was just, I mean, prior to her diagnosis, she was a positive person, but post-diagnosis, she was like the most joyful person I had ever known. I mean, still to this day, like her spirit, anyone will tell you, like she would light up a room. Um, so I, I just had a very different idea of what healing would look like for me. Um, you, you know, if I was going to have to get chemo and radiation, like I to do it dancing around, like, I didn’t want to sit there and, you know, and Lao myself to be six. I think so much of it is a mind, body, soul experience.

Sebastian Naum (18:02):
Yeah. How that’s so great that you had already, I mean, gone through that experience and you were convinced like, Hey, whatever life throws at me, I’m going to get through this. So you didn’t, did you end up having to do chemo?

Sydney Webb (18:15):
No. So, uh, a week after I was diagnosed, um, this is a slightly, I mean the whole journey, I guess is interesting, but, uh, something that’s maybe less common about my journey than it is for other people is that, um, when I was diagnosed I decided, so I, they told me I had a three month period between the time I was diagnosed and the time I was supposed to start chemo and radiation. Um, and I decided in that moment, I was at that appointment by myself. Um, then you were like challenge accepted. Right. Um, but I decided that I wasn’t going to tell anyone. Um, so I didn’t tell my parents, I didn’t tell my friends tell a soul. Um, because going back to what I said before, I know just so much of it is a mind, body, soul experience. And I knew that people were worried.

Sydney Webb (19:08):
I would worry. And then it would become so much more of a reality where almost as if like, you know, if I’m the only person that knows, and I know I’m doing all the things I can for myself at the point where I need to get treated, if that happens, then I will tell them, but like, then it’s going to be happening and we don’t have to spend the next 90 days just like killing ourselves over it. Exactly. So, um, so that week, the next week I was working part-time job as a brand ambassador, of course, my job didn’t know, nobody knew. Um, and I was called to cover this event in downtown LA called the good Fest. Um, I was like, you know, passing out product and stuff. And there was this woman who I met at the good Fest. Her name is Leanna gray. She is an Australian author who wrote a book called the earth diet. And it’s all about how she had healed her lymphatic cancer by going plant-based and taking a class of herbs known as adaptogens, which adaptogens adaptogens are. They’re the most magical plants in the whole world.

Sebastian Naum (20:16):
It sounds like adapting to something what’s like the what’s the one Oh one definition

Sydney Webb (20:21):
That’s really, I mean, you hit it, hit the nail on the head. Adaptogens is they are a class of plants or herbs that help the body adapt, hence their name to various stressors in the body, whether it’s physical, emotional, physiological, et cetera, essentially adaptogens help your body by working with your adrenal system that regulates cortisol and people. I think on the very base level, we know cortisol makes us stressed or feel stressed. But what we don’t realize is that cortisol, you know, it’s really like pressing the start button on every single one of your systems, why being stressed, causes more inflammation or, you know, really foreign fuel on the fire for cancer or any other type of illness in the body. It’s not just the emotional stress, but it’s, it’s all of the stress in the body.

Sebastian Naum (21:14):
Why are, why aren’t we all taken adaptogens like all the time?

Sydney Webb (21:18):
And I’m saying, so that was really, you know, I was fascinated because, you know, prior to meeting Leanna, I had been an athlete my whole life and I was pretty much plant-based, but like, you know, I wasn’t hardcore vegan or anything. And I was shocked that as someone who thought I knew a lot about health, you know, I had been tracking my macros previously. So like I thought I knew it all. Um, I had never heard of them before, so I was shocked. And of course skeptical. I mean, I think it’s only natural for people to be that way. I mean, with so many things, but especially, it seemed almost too obvious. Like if it works for her, like why is this, you know, the first time I’m hearing about it? Um, so that very same night I went home, did a ton of research, started to find, you know, even a lot of the research publications that are publishing all the things now about COVID, um, had so much research on adaptogens being used, um, both solo and in tandem with treatments, for, um, cancer Alzheimer’s and dementia, liver disease, heart disease. I mean, you name it, there’s adaptogens being used for it,

Sebastian Naum (22:30):
But doctors aren’t, you know, prescribing or recommending, usually it sits. Got it. So it’s always going to be like either a holistic doctor or somebody else. Yeah. Interesting. Interesting. Okay. So what I used to like pill form, Hey guys, I just want to remind you that you could get more content like this@sebastiannom.com. That’s Sebastian N a U m.com. And you can also get a ton of other marketing resources from myself and my agencies ranging from SEO to social media, influencer, marketing, branding, animation, web development, and more, again, that’s a bastion nom.com. Thank you. And enjoy the rest of the show. So they’re herbs, like how do you take them today?

Sydney Webb (23:16):
Um, adaptogens, I would say that maybe one of the more common ones that people may be familiar with is like macho, macho green tea, actually falling into the category of an adaptogen. Um, some other popular ones that I’m seeing more now, um, are ashwagandha or Maka people, four Sigmatic, they’re all things adaptogens. Um, but they really focus on the four main adaptogenic mushrooms, reishi, chaga, cordyceps, and line’s main adapt Jen while they all help with stress, they have their own specific healing benefits. So for example, some adaptions are incredible for things like having anticancer properties. Some are really great for mood or focus. Um, so also going through, you know, what’s going to be best for healing was also, uh, a process for me. Um, I, I thought that taking them in a powder form for myself would be maybe a little bit more familiar than a tincture.

Sydney Webb (24:16):
Cause you know, I had been doing protein powders. I was like, Oh, you know, I can make my shake. This is a little bit more, uh, easy to, to use. Um, so it ordered relatively, I think it was about 10 to 12 different kinds. I just kind of threw all the things I could into my shopping cart and checked out and got them a few days later, starting mixing them into everything I drank and oatmeal. Um, they did not taste good at all, but I really didn’t care. I just taken them for the healing benefits. And um, it took them for the next three months. I went totally vegan, felt really good through my healing process. And um, I went to the doctor three months later, they did the test again, checked the polyps that had been cancerous and the results came back that I was completely cancer free. Wow.

Sebastian Naum (25:08):
That’s the main, how crazy.

Sydney Webb (25:11):
Yeah. I’m telling you adaptogens, they really are the future. It’s been so powerful now over the last four years, five years, how popular they are becoming, there’s still nothing like, you know, they’re nothing like a protein powder or CBD, but on their way.

Sebastian Naum (25:31):
So you started, um, you started testing out different ways to consume these adaptogens because they just didn’t taste good. And so you were, I know you’ve told me in the past that you were even like, I gotta get these to my parents. So you were trying to figure it out. You’re, you’re tricking them into how to like, right. And this started the journey of, of made by.

Sydney Webb (25:51):
Totally. Yeah. I, um, adaptions are not delicious. And I, I, you know, after my experience healing, even through my experience healing through that free months, every free second I had, I was reading about them and had the same question you did that if they worked for all these other people, why aren’t other people taking them. And it is something that is niche. A lot of people don’t know about that and they’re not in a easy to deliver craveable format. Um, and I knew that if I was going to get my parents on the adaptogen bandwagon so that they could experience all these healing properties, um, it had to be in a way that they would want to consume them. Um, I knew that, you know, I saw them every day, forget to take their vitamins. I’m like, I’m not going to make something that they’re just going to forget to date. Um, but being a sweet tooth lover myself, I wanted to make something that I would really enjoy and that other people would enjoy that maybe were also in their own healing journey. Um, you know, something that was made of all the super foods I was eating throughout my healing journey and somehow turn that into something delicious and then infuse it with these powerful adaptogens so that people could heal their bodies while still eating things they loved instead of, you know, having to make that sacrifice.

Sebastian Naum (27:10):
That’s amazing. I love that you said into a craveable format, not even not, not edible or somewhat easy to have, cause I always think, you know, I think powder form two or pill or whatever. And so you created not just a cookie bomb cookie effing, delicious. I can’t even express like I’m like, this is not healthy.

Sydney Webb (27:38):
Last compliment. Always when people are like, there’s no way this can be good for you. I’m like that one and a half years of recipe testing paid off, man.

Sebastian Naum (27:48):
So effing goods or you’re you were able to put these adaptogens, so what adaptions are in your cookies? So there’s a lot.

Sydney Webb (27:56):
Yeah. So we use roughly two to three different adaptions in each flavor. Our flavor has Maka and ashwagandha and that cookie is for mood boosting. We have our, um, our focus cookie, which has lion’s mane and, uh, uh, Goku. It’s incredible, incredible for creativity. And then we also have a cookie for immunity and, uh, you know, all things longevity and that has four adaptogens in it. It has Maka, ashwagandha and Rhodiola and Chaka.

Sebastian Naum (28:31):
How about bringing some value to the world said, like eat, eat my cookies. De-stressed

Sydney Webb (28:38):
Increased

Sebastian Naum (28:39):
Immunity, increased focus. Really amazing. That’s that’s that’s so cool. That’s so cool. Said. So obviously that the whole base is, uh, you know, your cookies come from this incredible struggle that you had that you had to go through. Um, but how lucky are we though seriously that through your struggle that you had to bring this amazing product to the world. And I do encourage anybody to listen to it, try these amazing cookies, but really they really are good for your health. And, and I’m assuming you’re gonna recommend, you know, consuming adaptogens in different forms.

Sydney Webb (29:16):
Yeah. I mean the cookies have entire daily dose per cookie then yeah. Sometimes people will ask like, you know, well, if I have two cookies and like, am I going to overdose? Um, but adaptogens by definition, you can’t overdose on them. You would have to eat, you know, 12 cookies to maybe feel a little bloated, then you probably would feel way before then. But, uh, yeah, no, they’re, they’re non-toxic and, uh, we get to

Sebastian Naum (29:42):
Go, that’s amazing. Um, some conscious aspects of the brand too, outside of the fact that it’s entire, essentially the DNA of the company and the brand is to bring good, you know, to people’s health. But, uh, is there suspend sustainability aspect of it? I know you’re going to be planning on doing some stuff with hospice.

Sydney Webb (30:08):
Yeah. So we are actually reformulating our packaging right now. Um, we’re putting our cookie dough into recyclable paper pints. Um, so you know, they’re going to be made out of recycled paper and also recyclable. I mean, you know, the, the eco-friendly aspect of it was so important to me from day one. I believe that if you’re doing something good for the world, it actually also needs to be good for the world. Um, not just the humans inhabiting it. Um, so that’s always been like a staple for us, you know, all of the things that we ship in are recyclable or recycled in some way, shape or form. Um, so we’re really, really focused on that. And over the coming years, um, we’re actually working with a company called impact snacks to not only reduce our carbon footprint altogether, but become a carbon positive company. Um, and, and actually, you know, really do good for the world and for the environment.

Sydney Webb (31:05):
Um, and then also we are, you know, we’re trying to partner with different hospitals first in the LA area, then nationwide to replace these, um, less healthy options in both like hospital cafeterias and to, you know, the patient menu within the hospitals. One thing that I’ve just always found shocking when I am there, is that still here we are in 2020, there’s just such a disconnect between what goes in your body on a daily basis and medicine. Um, and seeing, I won’t mention any brand names, but some really just sugar filled junk Latin, you know, everything is processed and chemically, you know, sterilized ingredients it’s really disheartening. So bringing, being able to bring that comfort of a cookie, something delicious that people do love and, you know, not having to replace it with a plate of broccoli, for someone to, to heal, um, cause it is really a mind body soul experience. And if you want it to be sustainable, then making it enjoyable is, is half the battle.

Sebastian Naum (32:14):
Absolutely half the battle, more than half the battle making it enjoyable. And it’s, it is crazy how in hospitals, like you literally see some of the most old, like sugar filled like

Sydney Webb (32:24):
Tons of chemicals and it’s like, this is literally what they’re feeding the hospital. I tell you mission that’s really the end goal is, is to be able to reform things like that. That’s great. That’s great. That that really does

Sebastian Naum (32:40):
Bring change. So that’s a big deal. Um, I know you said that you’ve been going through, um, a growth stage and so you’ve been doing the hires and it’s super exciting, right? Cause you’re like, Oh, what a great place to be? I’m doing high as I’m growing great. Like our we’re scaling your company or we’re bringing in profits. And, and, but the truth is that when you have a small brand or a growing brand and a conscious brand though, you have, that has to translate into the hires, how important is it to make conscious hires in that challenge

Sydney Webb (33:10):
Thing? I mean, you know, that’s something that I’ve read a lot about. I asked so many mentors of mine, a lot about and other founders, because you know, the, the people of that work within your company for your company are they are what makes your company, your company? Um, I, it’s so important to me that not only every employee truly deeply believes in the mission, but that they can live it and breathe it themselves. You know, that everyone we bring on is a deeply, deeply good hearted person who wants to do all these amazing things for the world. Um, and, and really believes in the power of health and adaptogens and, you know, plant-based holistic healing. Um, and, and I’m so grateful to say that we’ve found those people and there’s, there’s so many of them out there. I think that that’s, you know, it’s, it, hasn’t been easy for us to choose between people because there’s so many amazing candidates out there. Um, it’s honestly been really, really cool to, to just, you know, to see so much good. It’s like, Oh my gosh, they’re so amazing. It’s hard to pick.

Sebastian Naum (34:22):
Awesome. That’s so important it to have everyone that you’re hiring, you know, all the new hires people in your company to, to really live the mission, the same way that you live it, they may have not had to experience, but to really embrace it, embrace it right. And really put it forward. And that’s really, what’s going to help the company grow. And the more your company grows, obviously the more good you can bring to people’s health and maybe ideally even reform in terms of, you know, the foods that are out there and like hospitals, for example. Right. So said, you’re definitely an awesome example of a conscious leader. What do you think are two of the most important traits that a conscious leader must embody today?

Sydney Webb (35:00):
Oh man. Um, you know, I think that leading with, um, leading with gratitude, I was going to say leading with heart, but when you lead from a place of being grateful for anything and everything and taking it all in stride, I think it’s absolutely essential. Um, because though we are a growing brand and, you know, things look great on the outside there. It doesn’t mean that, you know, there aren’t still struggles going on every day, but being able to find gratitude for that and find the silver linings, it’s, it’s crucial to being able to still move forward, that same mindset. Um, and I think too is being, um, being in wavering and your beliefs. I think that that’s something that I’ve struggled with on this journey, because, you know, as you come to meet people who have a lot more experience than you do, or, you know, have had a certain level of success, it’s really hard to not be persuaded sometimes to do X thing because it could create X result.

Sydney Webb (36:07):
And I I’ve just always believed, you know, I have such a deep seated passion in doing this for a very specific purpose. And I wouldn’t say I’ve ever been tempted, but it’s, it’s hard to, you know, still maintain your clarity when there’s so many outside voices. So, so staying true to that is, is so that’s beautiful, especially when a lot when there’s so many other people on the outside seeing this like potential for growth, right. It’s so easy probably to just sacrifice the mission and the purpose for fast growth, you know, that shiny object. And so that’d be in the wavering. That’s awesome. And that’s, you said two beautiful things. So thank you so much for that said where can people follow you in, in fall made by, um, on Instagram and really on all platforms we are at made by foods. Awesome. And I’ll be including all of the links too, as well. So, well, thank you so much said I love having you on your Epic content. Please keep doing you. And I wish you nothing but the best. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks.