Scaling Spirit: The Business Behind the Amanita Movement with Christian Rasmussen

0:01John Lee Dumas:Boom! Shake the room, Fire Nation. JLD here and welcome to Entrepreneurs on Fire, brought to you by High Level, the all-in-one sales and marketing platform. Today we'll be breaking down Scaling Spirit, the business behind the Amanita movement. To drop these vibe bombs, I brought Christian Rasmussen into EO Fire Studios. Christian is a visionary entrepreneur, researcher, and spiritual scholar pioneering the modern Amanita movement, merging science, myth, and sacred commerce to awaken global consciousness. Today, we talk about the origin spark, the vision into structure, building credibility, scaling with integrity, and oh, so much more.

0:37John Lee Dumas:And a big thank you for sponsoring today's episode goes to Christian and our sponsors. Fire Nation, are you ready to make 2026 your best year yet? I believe it's time to start your transformation by attending the world's highest rated business growth workshop taught personally by Clay Clark and featuring football star and entrepreneur Tim Tebow and President Trump's son, Eric Trump at thrivetimeshow.com slash EO fire. Again, request life-changing tickets today at thrivetimeshow.com slash EO fire. If you are building a real business, you need real infrastructure. High level gives you website hosting, funnels, email marketing, automation, calendar booking, payments, and course hosting all on one platform.

1:16John Lee Dumas:Plus award-winning 24 seven support, get a 30 day free trial and my full bonus stack that includes a 15-minute private call with me and much more at highlevelfire.com. highlevelfire.com. Christian, say what's up to Fire Nation and share something that you believe about becoming successful that most people disagree with.

1:39Christian Rasmussen:What's up, everybody? I mean, I think in my own personal experience, a lot of what I've accomplished has been from taking the backseat, in essence, and kind of just letting things flow through me and letting the grander mission play out without me getting in the way. So in my own personal experience, it's been getting out of the way a lot of the time.

2:01John Lee Dumas:Well, that's actually why we're focused on the scaling spirit today. And I want to talk about that origin spark. I mean, Christian, what first inspired you to start? And talk about how you turned your niche idea into a legitimate, it's fast growing business.

2:17Christian Rasmussen:I wasn't even intending to get into anything like this. So I was going through benzodiazepine withdrawal. Benzodiazepines are Xanax, Klonopin, Ativan, Valium, your typical anti-anxiety medications. I mean, they're known to have some of the worst withdrawals on the face of this earth. And I was a year into this, you know, I was prescribed to him for anxiety. I got started on him when I started a new company and was in high pressured sales environments and so on and so forth. And I was on them for 10 years and I, you know, eventually it was time to get off of them. And I didn't realize what I was getting myself into.

2:52Christian Rasmussen:I was a year into this, this withdrawal, which is really, it's healing a damaged brain at this point. And I was maybe, it felt to me like I was five to 10 % healed. And I was looking at, you know, five, six, seven years of this. And I was on this hike and, and, you know, really living in extreme pain and terror 24-7 and contemplating, you know, calling it quits. And I found this patch of mushrooms growing. And they were orange mushrooms with white dots. We think of Amanita muscario, which is the red mushroom with the white dots that you see in Mario and Alice in Wonderland. The Smurfs live under them.

3:30Christian Rasmussen:It's the mushroom emoji on your phone. One of the most iconic recognizable symbols in the entire world. And they're also extraordinarily potent medicinal mushrooms. I knew a little bit of this at the time, but I didn't know the full scope. And I saw these mushrooms growing, and there was this unbelievable allure to them. There was this strong magnetism. I like to relay it. Like when you meet somebody who's maybe potentially a future partner or a future best friend, there's this pull towards them. There's this magnetism. And I had that in a more pronounced way than I'd ever had at any point in my life.

4:04Christian Rasmussen:And so I picked them, and I went to the house and did a bunch of research and found that they hit the same receptor systems, the GABA system and the glutamate system that benzodiazepines damage. And there was one anecdotal report online of somebody healing their brain as they were going through benzodiazepines, which are all utilizing these mushrooms. And so, you know, I decided that I'd try them out. And within a couple of weeks of low microdoses, I was essentially, to me, 80 % healed. And it was miraculous because I wasn't just healed when I was utilizing them. It was after the fact. it still felt like there was internal homeostasis returned to my system.

4:40Christian Rasmussen:And so it was as if I could breathe again after drowning for, for a year. And yeah, I, I never intended to start selling these, but there was this little community butting up around them and somebody ended up asking me to start selling them because nobody was doing it here in the country. And one thing led to another. And yeah, I know we're the largest retailers of these mushrooms in the world. and have really spearheaded this market, this growing niche industry here in the United States.

5:11John Lee Dumas:Well, Christian, I do want to talk about turning vision into structure because it's one thing to have an experience, to identify something, to have a vision, but it's another thing to actually turn that vision into structure. So how does one translate this deeply spiritual vision into a concrete business model that can actually scale, that actually works, that has a chance of succeeding?

5:33Christian Rasmussen:It's tricky, especially, yeah, mixing the realm of spirituality and business can get tricky, particularly when you're trying to scale things. I mean, we do things that, because I have to kind of teeter on the line, right? Like I have to, we have to make profit. Like that's, you know, we can't be, it's not sustainable if we don't. And however, part of this like sacred commerce that we, that's how we like to call it here is, is ensuring that we're also doing things in line with, with, you know, the highest and best good of us. And then of everybody that's, you know, touching the company, which can get tricky because there's, you know, there's certain things that we have to, you know, be very cognizant of from a business perspective that could potentially, if we, if we went a little bit too far with it, could jeopardize the spiritual mission.

6:19Christian Rasmussen:But yeah, so it's definitely a tricky thing to navigate. And it hasn't been, it hasn't been a extremely clean ordeal either the whole time. You know, it's been a lot of trial and error and learning as we go. But really, when it comes down to it, I mean, there's a, there's a grander mission at play. And there's this like, there's this pull for me to, to do things in a certain way and do things properly and do things, you know, whether it's by the mushroom or by my higher self or whatever, whatever it may be, like do things in a in a specific way that helps the most amount of people and keeps things the most grounded.

6:54Christian Rasmussen:And yeah, it's, it's a, it's a constant balance. Now I also come from, um, I also come from entrepreneur entrepreneurs. My great, great, great grandfather was Frederick Weyerhaeuser, who was the, uh, the Rockefeller of the timber industry. So it's, you know, it's, it's in my blood. Um, and, uh, I have a great network of, you know, individuals who've been able to help along the way and provide invaluable insight. But yeah, I mean, it's a balance for sure. And it's something that we're still constantly trying to figure out and trying to ensure that we're remaining on that, in those parameters of that balance.

7:31John Lee Dumas:Within those parameters, you obviously are still looking to be building credibility on top of what you've already built and created. So what were those key steps to building trust in an industry that, let's be frank, is often misunderstood?

7:45Christian Rasmussen:that one of the biggest things that we did initially that really set us apart from everything else is it wasn't nobody was ever purchasing from a company or like a faceless entity they were purchasing for me and i think that that really moved the needle quite a bit and it fostered a lot of trust and a lot of uh a lot of notoriety and recognition and so like you know in in this little and it's it's like like i mentioned it's a niche market right now it's it's growing it's growing very rapidly but it's still very niche and in this niche market like we're known to be the best and it's not just we're known to be the best it's that i'm known to be the best and i think that that fostering kind of a at every step of the process for a customer fostering a personal relationship with me has been a really really important aspect to to yeah to being able to to scale it in such aware while staying, you know, staying in line with, with what we're, we're hoping to do.

8:45Christian Rasmussen:But yeah, I mean, there's, there's, it's, you know, it's, it's not, it hasn't, it hasn't been an easy ordeal and there's been a lot of, there's been a lot of fires as we've, as we've walked through this as well.

8:56John Lee Dumas:I mean, Fire Nation, where is there going to be a scenario where you're doing something that you're passionate about? That's exciting. That's new. That's misunderstood that there's not going to be fires. That's just part of the game. That's part of the process. That's part of the system. And I want to talk about scaling with integrity. I want to talk about wisdom from the journey and so much more when we get back from thanking our sponsors. There's no better time to review your systems than the new year. And one of the most important systems you can streamline right now is your communications.

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10:16Christian Rasmussen:No missed calls, no missed customers.

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11:27John Lee Dumas:Fire Nation, if you are building a real business, you need real infrastructure. That is why High Level is Entrepreneur on Fire's featured partner. High Level gives you a website builder and hosting, funnels and landing pages, email marketing, appointment scheduling, payment processing, course and membership hosting, and so much more. Everything you need to succeed, all under one roof. No duct tape, no juggling five platforms, just one clean system for your business. And their award-winning 24-7 support has your back when you need it most. When you sign up at highlevelfire.com, you also get my exclusive bonus stack, a 30-day free trial, a private 15-minute call with me, JLD, access to my weekly live office hours, a digital copy of my book, The Common Path to Uncommon Success, my 50 Days to Something Execution Roadmap, and more.

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12:21Christian Rasmussen:All right, Christian, we're back, and I want to talk about scaling with integrity.

12:25John Lee Dumas:Now, as the company grew nationally, how did you approach sourcing? How did you approach quality control? How did you approach your infrastructure to ensure consistency?

12:37Christian Rasmussen:This is a really important issue, particularly with something like Amanita and all the other products that we utilize. But Amanita in particular, it can't be farmed. So it grows in symbiosis with tree roots. So it has to be foraged. so we have you know over the years we've grown this really beautiful network of foragers of they're either individuals or family units sometimes which is kind of fun where it's you know mom dad kids uncles aunts and they all go out and in the fall and forage these mushrooms and then they'll dry them and sell them to us throughout the year we work with family units all over the world for various products and sourcing is yeah i mean it's it's a really really important aspect of this part with these mushrooms too like you know they they can absorb heavy metals from the soil so you know if if mushrooms are picked too close to industrial civilization for instance like they could be high in heavy metals and this isn't something that's talked about unfortunately too much in this industry and a lot of these mushrooms are going around but so we are very diligent about ensuring that you know we resource the best material and we do lab testing and that it's all clean.

13:49Christian Rasmussen:But yeah, it's been a really important aspect of building that integrity and trust along the way. And we also show, you know, exactly where everything's coming from. We outline where everything's coming from. We show the relationships that we've built with our foragers, like very publicly on the website. And then, you know, various discussions and whatnot that we have, we'll bring them on for discussions and podcasts and stuff, which could be, you know, maybe not the greatest business move also in some sense because competitors could find out who we're sourcing from, but it's part of building integrity and building trust along the way.

14:27Christian Rasmussen:But yeah, it's a really important aspect to what we do.

14:30John Lee Dumas:Christian, let's talk about the future of ethnobotanical wellness. Where do you see the ethnobotanical and functional wellness market heading in the next five years? And how specifically are you positioning yourself and your company to not just be a part of, but to lead that evolution?

14:46Christian Rasmussen:I think that we're seeing a really, really important shift in narrative amongst, you know, the collective, particularly in the past, you know, five, six, seven years where people are really becoming distrusting more and more of the current paradigm that we live under. And a lot of that has to do with the medical paradigm that we live under. And so people are increasingly interested in things like psychedelics or psychoactive substances that have been known for thousands of years to provide immense healing with proper setting and intention. And I think that I envision that to only increase. It seems like it's increasing at an exponentially rapid rate.

15:30Christian Rasmussen:And I would hope that over the next few years we'll start. One of the issues with this is studying these medicines or plants or whatever you want to call them is tricky. Studying anything is tricky, but nobody wants to put money into studying something that there's no return on investment for, which is why you have people creating novel compounds out of psilocybin so that they can patent it. And then they study that. But studying the mushroom itself or a specific psychedelic itself, particularly if it's scheduled, like that, it's very hard to do. It's costly. There's a lot of regulations and there's no real return on investment for it.

16:10Christian Rasmussen:But we're starting to see that come out and you need professionals. Professionals need data. Like the average person will likely respond much better to an anecdote, to a story. If they have a friend or a family member who's gone through, you know, a dramatic change in their life after utilizing, you know, plant medicines. And then hear that story and see the difference. Like that's going to move the needle much more for them than for some data and some statistics. But unfortunately, doctors and professionals, they really need the statistics and the data and the proven track record of safety. So as this new research starts coming out, we've already seen a big shift in narrative.

16:53Christian Rasmussen:We just had Ibogaine become legalized in Texas for vets. We've seen psilocybin be legalized and decriminalized in states and cities around the country. So it's a growing movement. at night, yeah, it's only going to continue to grow. And we're, you know, very fortunately, we're positioned as a really, we're going to be able to be a really key player in that shift and in that evolution. And, you know, we're also, you know, funding research for our particular mushroom, Amanita Muscaria as well. So, yeah, we're set up to be a part of that shift, that narrative shift, which is really exciting.

17:33John Lee Dumas:Well, it has been quite the journey. So I want to talk about wisdom from that journey. What would you say, Christian, is your biggest lesson learned thus far on your journey?

17:44Christian Rasmussen:I think I kind of alluded to it earlier, and it's really largely been me taking a step back. And I think this is, you know, there are different ways to do business. And I'm not saying that any one way is wrong. When you're getting into business that has, you know, the potential to help a large amount of people and it carries somewhat of a spiritual weight, I think that there is there's a little bit more spiritual responsibility that comes into play and ethical responsibility. and I've needed to really like to step back and, and allow things to flow through as opposed to trying to make things happen.

18:26Christian Rasmussen:Because when I'm really allowing things, like things line up in ways that I couldn't even begin to, to try and make happen if I tried in ways that were completely unexpected, that outline completely new paths that I maybe hadn't even thought about or get me to my end result significantly quicker than I would have done if I were to have to have put in you know a bunch of effort to try and make it happen so and it sounds counterintuitive and counterproductive but one of the things the big lesson that i've had to learn has been to step back and to allow things to happen and to allow things to unfold and to not try and make things work but rather be in a in a state of receptivity so that when the intuitive of nudges or the, the flashes of insight come to me about, you know, direction or, or what to do next or where to go next.

19:14Christian Rasmussen:I'm able to grab onto those and allow them to pan out. And then also like, you know, to be, to be in my highest and best state consistently. So things like taking care of my health and my, you know, my physical health, my mental health, my spiritual health, Like that, and, and, and, you know, watching my thoughts and ensuring that my thoughts are remaining positive, all that moves the needle significantly more than, than most would imagine. And yeah, yeah. But yeah, the biggest lesson I think is, has been to take a step back and to not try and force things, which seems counterproductive.

19:53John Lee Dumas:Well, building off of that, I want you to kind of maybe just share with anybody who's listening, who's looking to bring a bold, maybe misunderstood, mission-driven idea into this world. What would you say is the one principle they need to commit to from day one?