Split Peak Soup
Welcome to Split Peak Soup Podcast! I’m your host, Neal Kearney. I feel very blessed to have been born and raised here in Santa Cruz, California. Santa Cruz is a hotbed for talented individuals, including, but not limited to: professional surfers and skaters, master surfboard shapers, internationally renowned artists, expert musicians, boundary pushing intellectual thinkers, and out-of-this-world explorers of consciousness.
Working as a professional journalist for the past twenty-plus years, I’ve had the opportunity to sit down with these extraordinary humans and in-depth and insightful chats. While these discussions have helped inform many written pieces that I’m proud of, I oftentimes felt that I was leaving a lot of meat left on the bone, as the few quotes I’d incorporate into my writing oftentimes seemed to strip my interviewees of their own authentic voices.
Luckily, we are entering a brave new world, where the podcast has risen as a popular form of storytelling and media consumption. From Joe Rogan to Conan O’Brien, podcasters have officially taken over. And now, I’m joining the fray. The Split Peak Soup Podcast is my way of using my skills as a story-teller to offer long format conversations with those whose stories deserve to be told.
So, what are you waiting for? Pull up a cozy chair, grab a napkin and your favorite spoon, and get ready to dig into another savory serving of Split Peak Soup!
Split Peak Soup
Split Peak Soup Podcast Episode 18-- Shane Heath
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Caffeine. For all its many blessings, there can be a cost. Anxiety, jitters, irritability and fatigue can occur in those who overindulge in their preferred form of caffeine, but due to it’s ubiquity and accessibility, people can find themselves in potentially harmful addictive relationships with this substance. Enter Shane Heath.
Santa Cruz’s Shane Heath found himself second-guessing his own relationship with coffee after an artistic exodus to India showed him the virtues of the less-caffeinated morning cup of Masala Chai. Working at a tech start up in California he’d found his coffee addiction was leading to more stress and burnout in an already demanding field. He found the Chai in India more chill on his nervous system and began using it as a coffee substitute upon returning home to California.
Not long thereafter, he began adding a ton of functional mushrooms to his Chai to boost the health benefits. After some curious friends and family began to get in on his secret blend, he realized he had something the people wanted. From there, he started MUD WTR, a brand dedicated to selling his proprietary brew. Before long, the company blew up, and is now selling its products to millions of happy customers.
I was stoked to have Heath, a long time friend, on the latest episode of the Split Peak Soup podcast. During our chat, we outlined the entire Mud WTR genesis arc, discussed mental health, surfing, longevity, fatherhood, as well as the importance of fitness. We explored caffeine addiction, his huge new deal with Costco, as well as his foray into the world of fictional mushroom coffee blends with the release of Mud Water coffee.
It’s really great to see people you know and respect blowing up and making such a huge impact on the world, so this was another special chat for me.
Enjoy!