Ep 66: Kiss the Ground with Ryland Engelhart
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Ep 66: Kiss the Ground with Ryland Engelhart
Episode 66: Show Notes
What is soil regeneration? Well, it not only supports biodiversity, enriches soil, and improves watersheds, it is believed to actually reverse climate change by sequestering carbon from the atmosphere, which is a pretty big deal! It’s also an ecological practice that today’s guest, entrepreneur, restauranteur, and social activist Ryland Engelhart, has dedicated his life to.
Ryland is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Kiss the Ground, a non-profit focused on regenerative agriculture, and the producer of the groundbreaking film, Kiss The Ground on Net-flix. He has spent the past 15 years as an entrepreneur and love activist, working in hospitality and building a "triple bottom line" business of organic plant-based restaurants, like Cafe Gratitude and Gracias Madre in Southern California. Ryland has an infectious passion for life and is a cultural catalyst creating transformation through his own organizations and in the world at large. He publicly speaks on the topics of sacred commerce, gratitude, veganism, building community, soil regeneration, and the connection between soil health, human health, and planetary health.
In today’s episode, Ryland shares a bit about his journey and the leaps of faith he had to take along the way to find his true calling; being of service to Mother Earth and nature. Tuning in, you’ll learn about the role that plant medicine played in opening Ryland’s eyes to this calling, the detours he took along the way, and how he is now moving the needle on the national and global adoption of regenerative agriculture. Ryland believes that everyone who eats can participate in the revolution of regenerating our soils and healing our planet. Tune in today to learn how!
Key Points From This Episode:
Learn more about Ryland’s upbringing on 17 acres outside Ithaca, New York.
Some of his favorite toys and activities as a child, which all revolved around being in nature.
How the time he spent outdoors as a child fostered in Ryland a deep appreciation of nature.
One philosophy echoed in his household growing up: your life is a picture of your mind.
Why the transition from Waldorf school to public school was so difficult for young Ryland.
What interacting with the school bully taught Ryland about his ability to gain people’s trust.
His first major leap of faith: moving to the West Coast after high school to be a snowboarder.
The transformative experience of completing a Landmark course at only 19-years-old.
How that experience shaped Ryland’s perception of success and making a difference.
How a plant medicine ceremony helped attune Ryland to his true calling; being of service to Mother Earth and nature.
Hear about his subsequent journey to LA to support his sister through legal trouble.
Why Ryland and his sister chose to open a recording studio and focus on hip hop and R&B.
Ryland’s unique ability to break down cultural barriers through relationships and finding common ground.
Why he called his father and came to work with him at Cafe Gratitude for the next five years.
The humbling experience of realizing and acknowledging that he needed help.
The trip to New Zealand to promote the sacred commerce business model that led Ryland to learn about soil regeneration.
Ryland’s journey to learning everything he could about soil regeneration and his role in it.
Doing less harm versus regenerating, healing, and restoring (as well as profiting).
What Ryland’s resources were like when he first started Kiss the Ground.
Moving the needle on the national and global adoption of regenerative agriculture.
The mechanics of enrolling someone in your vision, starting with authenticity.
Learn more about Kiss the Ground; the non-profit organization, the movie, and the book.
Contributing to the wellbeing of earth versus degrading the earth; humans as part of nature.
The energetic difference Ryland felt when he committed to Kiss the Ground full time.
Tweetables:
“I would climb up to the top of the cherry trees and pick the [cherries]. There's a very explicit memory of being in the skinny branches of that tree, saying, ‘Can my body be held by these branches?’ Always being very trusting in that I was going to be held.” — @lovebeingryland [0:26:23]
“I really saw that everybody is afraid that they're behind, that they're not enough, and that everybody's pretending like they got it all together. No one has it all together.” — @lovebeingryland [0:30:35]
“Through authenticity and being truthful about our flaws, we can find more freedom. The natural tendency is to hide our flaws and pretend that [we’ve got it] together. We live constricted lives in that propagation and that pretending.” — @lovebeingryland [0:34:38]
“I always had a knack with food. I cooked all the meals for our house, and I always had a knack for food as medicine and educating people on that holistic health.” — @lovebeingryland [0:49:31]
“We can't sustain, but we can actually regenerate. [We] can heal, and we can turn the clocks back. The way we can do that is through taking the excess carbon out of the atmosphere, and putting it back into our soils.” — @lovebeingryland [0:57:43]
“Everyone who eats can participate in the revolution of regenerating our soils and healing our planet.” — @lovebeingryland [0:58:05]
“It was time for me to move on, graduate from Cafe Gratitude, and commit fully to the work of Kiss the Ground to see if we could move the needle of the national and global adoption of regenerative agriculture.” — @lovebeingryland [1:05:17]
“How do we start to think about ourselves as a part of nature, and how can we contribute to the wellbeing of our earth versus degrading our earth?” — @lovebeingryland [1:09:58]
“To have regeneration be the North Star for our collective to be working towards is definitely something inspiring to me and part of the mission of Kiss the Ground; awakening people to the possibilities of regeneration.” — @lovebeingryland [1:12:38]
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
Kiss the Ground (NPO)
Kiss the Ground (Movie)
Kiss the Ground (Book)