The Founder(-s) 🧠

Hi there,

My name is Karlis. I am one of the two initial and the only actively remaining founder of this project. I am an engineer, a biologist, a nutritional scientist who loves reading books on self development, psychology and Life. Take away all the labels and there is somebody learning to be a human.

I was an ice-hockey player for about 20 years of my life. It was a tough time going through physical and emotional stress with little support. Or at least that kind of a support and understanding that I actually needed. You see, I was always more of a doer than a talker. Words didn't (and still don't) come easy. So talking about my physical (and, God, please no) emotional struggles was something that did not exist in my list of actions. So I relied on doing and the path was always clear - going through whatever I was facing. I do remember my body protesting occasionally - sometimes I unexpectedly got sick, right before an important tournament game or before a math olympiad at school. High fever, sore throat and tonsillitis were amongst the most popular conditions. And all that only because I could not handle the stress; only because I was not a talker and didn't find talking useful. 

I didn't have much friends,  I was not socially active or a part of any friend group. I was overly shy and ashamed. So sports became my way to escape Life. A healthier alternative to escape Life, you might think. Yes, in a way. But actually, the hopelesness and loneliness feel the same - it doesn't matter if you drink, smoke, game or overdo sports while talking yourself into the idea that "Socializing and having friends doesn't matter anyway. I am better off without anyone. I much rather go practice/game/smoke/drink than be in that discomfort of finding friends, socializing and talking with somebody". In reality, that is your shyness, shame and fear talking. And there is noone who can mirror it for you and could guide you through this painful and lonely stage of Life. You are too young to see it yourself, but old enough to hide your frustration from adults. So you leave your pains with none other than - you yourself alone.. 

The hockey-dominating phase of my Life slowly shifted and turned into academic studies. And after spending about 12 years studying different topics in different universities I can reassure you - do not rely on a university to save you in any way; do not think that life after graduation will somehow become easier just because you have an official piece of paper with your name on it. Universities don't teach you sh*t about actual Life. Neither do they help you level up in Life.

And with all those years behind I am here - sitting and writing these lines with zero advancement thanks to academic education. Still exploring my way.

To add a bit more to the puddle of 

After graduating 4 times I can tell you - universities are great places to distract yourself from your life, keep you in a loop of not taking responsibility and basically lose a couple of years of your life. Of course, that does not apply for all. The rare and determined specimen that enter university with a clear vision and a goal to be achieved - for them the university is simply a stepping stone. A tool with which their goal is achieved and their vision gets fulfilled. Those should not worry at all. If your goal when entering the university is to finish (graduate), then better take some time and think again. Explore your interests. And get an answer to some questions about yourself - Who are you? What do you want to do?

The time spent in university is much more useful if you can develop your idea while you are studying, and use the support of the environment and contacts to realize the idea and make it work. That way after you graduate you don't have to stress about finding a job, you already have a proven and working idea which to continue on developing. If your idea never kicks off and dies, you have a degree and a solid couple of years' experience that you can show on your resume. That is what the employers are looking for, right? Relevant experience. This is a way to get it. And believe me - this way, studying becomes much more interesting and 'real'. You have a vested interest in the subject because your idea and future depends on it.

If that seems like too much effort and raises your anxiety levels, I can say that after graduation Life actually starts to become even more frustrating. Why? Because a realization starts to kick in - I just dedicated 3/4/5/or whatever years for this paper, but in reality I still have no guarantee of getting a good job; In reality I have no practical experience in my selected area; In reality I still have not moved towards creating my own business.. And worse than that, the realization that after these years spent in academia you are not equipped with the real, practical, street skills that would make you a successful entrepreneur. After receiving my engineering degree slowly this realization dawned on me - I just spent these 5 years developing my skills of becoming a regular NPC, working for someone else and being a cog in the system. But I have no actual skills that would help me develop my own idea and create my own business from it.

Studying had provided me a false sense of safety - I felt I was busy doing something useful and valuable. My schedule was full and I was totally submerged into the studies. I had no time for close friendships, deep relationships. I could find time for an hour workout a day and that's it. I felt "I am sacrificing and saying No to so much. I am staying focused, I am working on my Life. I am not partying or fooling around. So all this has to lead to great results". So I thought.. 

All this time that you were so used to spending in the universitity, now suddenly becomes 'free'. And you are expected to spend it wisely - working in your profession and building your carreer. But what if you wish more out of your life? What if you can't imagine sitting behind a desk and spending days clipping paper and solving problems that you really, deeply don't give a f**k about and would much rather be concerned about your own life and finding your own way?

That is what happened with me. Even though I graduated in engineering, I spent a year working in engineering, realizing that my passion for nature, food and herbs was taking over me. I quit engineering to explore biology. Studying and academia was the only way at that time I knew how to get proper information on any subject + I felt I needed the contacts and the potential leverage that the universities could offer. So I consciously made the same mistake again and joined a university - this time already knowing that another degree will not lead me anywhere and I myself will have to move me further in Life.

I joined the university because I had a passion I wanted to pursue. This passion was giving rise to ideas almost daily and I had to start my exploration somewhere. Without a proper background in biology and nutrition I could not figure out how to make any of my ideas work. I would have to outsource the basic knowledge about my product to someone else. Which to me did not make sense. I have to understand the basic working principles of my products and ideas, if I am to create anything. But that is only my belief. You can have yours.

During my biology studies I met Martin - a guy with whom I shared a similar interest in food. From my side it was all about plants, healing and nutrition, while his expertise of interest was brain performance, supplements and productivity. We joined our passions together and co-founded this functional food project. It was not a business yet, as we had completely zero experience in food, production, marketing and any business in general. So we started with what seemed to be the logical thing to do - creating our first prototype. Then packaging it. Testing it. Selling it. Improving. And reiterating. (more on the prototyping stage you can read in this post)

After finishing biology and having started this project, it was very natural to continue studying to receive a Master's degree in Nutrition and digging deeper into the basics of food production and nutrients. What I found out was that studying nutrition in university is nothing like the real-world experience. Whatever was taught lacked a sense of reality, was too theoretical, and too uninvolved.

For example, we had courses where we had to test and do certain analysis for a food product. All is nice and useful. My involvement and understanding seems to be quite good of the overall topic and I go through without a problem. Then, some 6 months later our project had to do similar food analysis for shelf-life testing at the very same laboratory. And only then I realized what true involvement in a topic means. When each extra analysis costs money, when you need to determine only those characteristics that explain product shelf-life and no other are necessary, only then you are fully engaged. Because you know your final decision will determine how much money you pay from your own pocket which - with low sales volumes and bad marketing at that time - puts the company's existence on the line. Then each euro is counted and each decision is taken very seriously.

Even though I was finally studying the field and topics that were fully aligned with what I was doing and working, ironically it took me one year more than everyone else in my group to finish - I nearly gave up midway, so I had to take a year break from studies.  It helped. I did it. And once again I realized - the paper does not solve any problems in my own life. I have to.

And here I am - sharing my story