Moving Beyond Society’s Success Formula To Deeper Meaning With Brandon Evans (1Heart)
The story behind 1Heart, the premier leadership plant medicine retreat
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It can be a very humbling experience to feel like you “did everything right” in your life, but you still don’t feel how you want to feel.
It can also be pretty disorienting and even can cause a lot of anger.
I know all of these feelings intimately.
Today’s guest is also familiar with this experience.
Brandon Evans is a serial entrepreneur and CEO, & Co-founder of 1Heart. 1Heart is considered the gold standard ayahuasca experience and community for leaders that are seeking more fulfillment and purpose in their lives.
Before starting 1Heart, Brandon had built multiple successful tech startups. Despite checking many of the boxes that society told him would make him happy, he felt a void in his life. This sent him on a multi-year self discovery journey before eventually finding deeper meaning in starting 1Heart.
In our conversation, Brandon shares what navigating that liminal space between knowing your old way isn’t working and moving into deeper purpose is like. Brandon characterized this journey as “getting lost on purpose” in this article on his personal story that went viral. Ultimately, it was connecting with his heart that allowed him to align to his deeper mission in life.
I give Brandon a lot of props.
When you’ve had a lot of success and built a revered life for yourself, it’s incredibly difficult to leave many things behind. It often doesn’t make sense to the logical mind and most people around you don’t understand it.
It seems like once you really get on the consciousness journey, you don’t have a choice. You either get in alignment or life becomes increasingly difficult.
Because 1Heart has such a great reputation, I wanted to ask Brandon what makes their experience is so special?
Brandon shares how Ayahuasca was traditionally done in tribes. This meant integration was happened in community as a village. This is very different from the current plant medicine tourism culture where people drop in for a weekend peak experience and thrust themselves back into work on Monday.
It was cool to hear how 1Heart has tried to emulate this traditional wisdom by placing a big emphasis on community before, during, and after the experience. He shares what their integration program looks like which is much more robust than anything I have heard of before.
Other conversation highlights:
How integration really means the application of what we learn in our daily lives
The power of a personal manifesto
What’s he’s learned helping over 1,000 leaders through 1Heart journeys
How to weigh what your heart is telling you vs. the analytical mind
The unforeseen power that can emerge when you move into alignment
I deeply enjoyed talking to Brandon. A big hope of mine in having many leaders on the show who’ve had the courage to follow their heart in the face of convention is that it inspires others to do the same.
I am hoping this one gives some inspiration to anyone who needs it.
-Scott
If you liked reading or listening to this, feel free to click the ❤️ or 🔄 button on this post so more people can discover it on Substack 🙏
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Episode Transcript
Show notes:
00:00 - Introduction and Background
02:00 - Seeking Deeper Meaning and Fulfillment
05:42 - The Viral Article and the Birth of One Heart
09:06 - One Heart: Supporting Leaders in Connecting with Their Hearts
23:19 - Creating Space for Introspection and Integration
27:48 - Following Your Heart's Calling
31:40 - The Power of Community and Connection with Nature
38:31 - Living in Alignment with Your Truth
45:08 - The Importance of Integration and Personal Manifesto