Mick Hammock

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  • Resilience on the Road: An Interview with Patrick Firlik of Well Traveled

    Resilience on the Road: An Interview with Patrick Firlik of Well Traveled

    I had the pleasure of sitting down with Patrick Firlik, the founder of Well Traveled, a healthier and more effective alternative to other immunity boosters like Airborne and Emergen-C. Resilience is all over this company – Patrick is a first time entrepreneur, learning the supplement space, bringing a new product to market, and using that product to build resilience in his customer base! A resilient mind is critical to entrepreneurship, and I enjoyed talking to Patrick about his journey.

    In this interview, you’ll learn about the mindset you’ll need to just pull the trigger and start a company, how an idea for a product takes shape, and you’ll get a great primer on the world of naturally derived health supplements – and you’ll learn how most supplements aren’t always what they seem.

    If you enjoyed this interview and you’d like to contact Patrick (or try Well Traveled!), you can contact him here.

    I’m chiefly interested in the concept of resilience – personal, communal, and societal. What does the concept of resilience mean to you and Well Traveled?

    I’ll start by talking about the business. With Well Traveled, our whole value proposition centers on resilience. From a scientific standpoint, the product actually helps your immune system adapt more quickly and fend off infections better. In terms of lifestyle, it’s about building resilience against the various challenges encountered from frequent travel or just a busy life. Whether it’s physical fatigue, stress, germs – all sorts of things that can run you down.

    You don’t even need to be traveling a lot – it can happen when you have a young kid going to daycare and picking up every bug, or when it’s cold and flu season like it is right now. There are so many things that can knock us off our game. So Well Traveled aims to help people withstand those pitfalls and be their best selves. It’s about resilience from a big picture view, so that you can thrive. That’s the business side of things, anyway.

    Personally, I also think resilience is massively important in life. As an entrepreneur, I’ve had to stretch into new territory. As an entrepreneur, you have to learn to deal with “no” a lot! Retailers say no, potential partners say no. I didn’t have sales expertise before this, so building resilience through the process of “constant no” has been huge.

    More broadly, as with all startups, it has ups and downs – you need to have resilience if you want to make it work. Honestly, I’d guess any truly successful company relied on resilience at key points to power through tough situations. And outside of work, resilience helps us weather difficult patches in relationships, personal crises, all kinds of life events that can really hit hard. But being resilient enables us to bounce back and make the absolute most of things.

    Creating Well Traveled is a bit of a career switch for you. Can you talk about the process of becoming an entrepreneur?

    I was a management consultant for seven years, and spent a lot of time traveling on the road to clients. I never really ever felt like I was my best on the road, and that’s where the idea for Well Traveled came from.

    I had good routines at home for eating, sleeping, exercise, everything, but when you get on the road, those are hard to maintain. Your life gets disrupted too; you work late in the night, you’re stressed, and your immune system gets run down. You just get sick way too often!

    I tried to take Emergen-C and Airborne, but I really hated how sugary and artificial they are. They’re not that much different than a multivitamin, really.

    So I always had this idea in the back of my head like, there has to be a better alternative. Something cleaner, something more effective. And then, after seven years consulting, I knew it was time to leave and do something new, and I decided to just go for this!

    I will say, though, in 2022, I worked on Well Traveled on nights and weekends while I was still doing consulting. I was working to get the foundation in place. Then, at the start of 2023, I went full time. So that’s how I “became an entrepreneur,” so to speak. It’s not a one size fits all process, but that’s how it happened to me.

    Yum!

    You didn’t have much of a background in supplement manufacturing. Can you talk about that process? What have you learned?

    I actually don’t have any background in science or supplements!

    When I came up with this idea and I decided I really want to test and pursue it, I did some research and I found a nutrition consultant who had few decades of experience in the vitamin and supplement space. He does personal consulting for businesses that are launching and growing. He was just absolutely instrumental in getting this off the ground because he helped me formulate it from a scientific standpoint – like what are the innovative new ingredients on the market that we should consider using? What are the dosages we should use?

    He connected me to the ingredient suppliers, the manufacturer that I use, all of that. So I owe a lot to him. He was kind of really my connection into the industry and space.

    What has been the biggest obstacle you’ve overcome? The biggest success you’ve celebrated?

    I think it’s a challenging time for consumer packaged goods companies in general. Obviously, the economy’s not the greatest, and we have high inflation, so people aren’t buying stuff like they used to, especially if it’s something they see as discretionary.

    Five years ago, it was also a bit easier for startups to raise money. I raised a little bit from family and friends to get started, but a lot of that was used on our first production run and getting the business set up, so we’ve been working with a pretty limited budget. And I’d say that’s been the biggest obstacle so far.

    Luckily though, immunity is top of mind for consumers, especially after COVID. Immunity boosting products are expected to grow. Natural products are expected to grow. Travel’s on the rise. So there are some good tailwinds I would say.

    Our biggest success, on the other hand, is getting an approval to get our product into Vitacost. Vitacost is owned by Kroger, and is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, online retailer of vitamins and supplements. And we’ve also gotten into a couple retailers in San Diego. But getting into a pretty big name brand like Vitacost is pretty big – and hopefully we can expand into getting into other brands, other physical stores, and beyond.

    How are you working to build resilience into Well Traveled?

    I think this kind of goes back to what I talked about in the beginning! Our slogan is, “Stay Well on the Road.” We’re all about helping travelers and other busy people be more resilient with their lives – overcoming environments that challenge their health, and making the most of it.

    Part of the value proposition of Well Traveled is that there is no added sugar or artificial additives. Do you see Well Traveled as fitting in as part of an overall larger trend towards realistic supplements? Or is that space still being defined?

    I think in general, consumers are looking for better, cleaner, healthier products. People are starting to become more aware and savvier about what is inside of different products. I think in general, consumers are looking for cleaner products with no added sugar and no artificial additives, and that’s what we are trying to provide, and I think that’s a good thing!

    However, even though customers are getting wiser, I still find there’s a bit of education on things like synthetic vitamins versus real vitamins. Honestly, even I didn’t know this until I was working on this business, but I would say 99% of supplements out there, the vitamins are synthetically made in a lab! They derive these things using chemicals like petroleum because it’s cheaper to go that way, versus sourcing the vitamin C from an orange or cherry or something.

    Most people don’t realize that – but your body does. Your body wants natural vitamins that are real, from whole foods, because the chemical structure actually makes it more easily absorbed by your body, in turn making it more effective. If you can’t absorb it, you can’t utilize it. So when you take a synthetically derived vitamin instead of a naturally derived one, the vitamin won’t be absorbed as well and some of it will be wasted, and I don’t think most people realize that!

    I guess my point is, even though customers are getting smarter about where their food comes from, there is still some education to be done in the space – and I hope that over the next five or ten years, people will become more aware.

    So, naturally derived supplements solve the poor absorption problem that most multivitamins have?

    Absolutely. Synthetic is just harder to absorb. We talk actually talk a lot about plant-based, whole food-based vitamins, and how they are better than synthetic vitamins because of an absorption issue. There have been studies that indicate that synthetic vitamins might even be harmful to your health! There’s no conclusions about that, but there is some evidence that suggests that – so it’s definitely something to consider and be aware of if you’re a consumer.

    For example, for certain types of commercially available magnesium supplements, your body won’t absorb about 90% of it. So if you’re taking a 1000mg pill of magnesium, you’re only going to get about 100mg of it! Your body will excrete the rest because it can’t break it down or process it! You’re not getting anywhere near what you think you’re getting, because it’s a really cheap, synthetic form.

    Before I started this company, I didn’t really know a lot of this stuff. I just thought you buy a magnesium pill and it worked – but that’s not really the case. And I don’t think many consumers are truly aware of that yet.

    We really worked hard to get away from that problem. For example, our Vitamin C is directly sourced from Acerola cherry. Our zinc comes from a guava leaf. Our bodies are built to break these down efficiently, much more than the synthetic varieties.

    Interesting. So consumer education is a big part of what you’re trying to do. What other trends in your space do you see?

    I think that people are starting to really realize more about the importance of gut health! Your gut is like your second brain – and 80% of your immune cells are in your gut! So we really wanted to create a product that would capitalize on this and support a healthy gut as well.

    We use a prebiotic product called BeniCaros and a postbiotic called IMMUSE. They’re really interesting products – they’re both patented branded ingredients and have been clinically studied in a bunch of clinical trials. They’ve won awards for their effects on immune and gut health. They’re incredible, really. Normal vitamins and minerals can’t train your immune cells to be smarter and faster, but our prebiotic BeniCaros does. Not only does it help build healthy gut bacteria, but it actually teaches your immune cells to be faster, stronger, smarter, and more resilient. And I think customers are looking for something like this.

    Similarly, IMMUSE activates parts of your immune system that coordinate all the other cells. It’s a really comprehensive way of supporting your immune system. So these are very cool breakthrough scientific discoveries in the last few years that are present in our ingredients, just based on the fact that we, and consumers, know that gut health is important – and most importantly, they make the product more effective.

    Do you have any advice for people looking to start their own company?

    Sure! I think the first would be simply that it’s going to seem daunting at first. There’s just a ton to do in order to bring a product to market and have it succeed. But I think that breaking down that process into tangible steps and starting slowly helps get you through the hardest part – and the hardest part is just getting started! So I’d recommend just thinking about the first few things that you need to do in order to advance your business, for your idea to take just the tiniest next step beyond being just an idea, and work at each step at a time. Slowly you’ll build momentum, like a ball rolling down a hill – you just have to start somewhere!

    I also found it helpful to start and test my business on the side while I had a full-time job. Everyone’s situation is a little different, but if you have that luxury, even if it costs you some nights and weekends, it can really help you get over that initial hurdle. I don’t think in most situations you want to jump full time into something just because you have an idea. So it was nice that I kept my salary for a little while until I felt like there was enough traction to go full time with Well Traveled.

    The last piece, I’d say, is just getting to the MVP – the minimum viable product. Build a prototype and test it out. Get feedback from your customers before you invest too much money or time into it. That part is huge too.

    Patrick wanted to create a product that would help keep you at your best on the road.

    What is your ultimate goal with this company?

    My vision is to be more than just immune support!

    Right now, we’re branded for travelers and we’re going after that niche, but anyone can take it! I think, just like Emergen-C, it’s not just a travel thing – people can and should take it at home or when they have the sniffles – really it’s for everything. So yes, ultimately I want to expand in the immunity category and be front of mind for people that aren’t just thinking of it for the travel use case.

    However, the vision for the overall company is, I want to serve all the needs travelers. I’m not just thinking about immunity; I think there are things like energy, sleep, hydration, and other needs that travelers have, beyond just making sure that they aren’t sick. Down the road, I’d love to launch more products that fulfill those needs, and Well Traveled would become your go-to brand that someone thinks about when they’re packing and throwing their toiletries in their bag. Clean and science-based products that keep you feeling your best.

    That’s obviously a much longer term play. We’re starting with immunity, which I think is the biggest pain point for a lot of people – and we’ll see what happens from there.

    What are the best ways for people to learn more about, or get involved with, Well Traveled?

    Well, first of all, purchase it and try it for yourself – you can head to our website, gowelltraveled.com, or find us on Amazon. Follow us on Instagram too at @gowelltraveled!

    The second thing is that if you like our product and it resonates with you, we’re always looking for brand ambassadors to help promote it. You can sign up through a page on our website to receive cash commission for anyone that purchases the product using your code.

    We want people who believe in the product and represent the brand well of course, but it could be a nice way to make a little bit of money if you think you have friends or family who would be interested. That’s something we encourage and are actively looking for.

    Interested in becoming a brand ambassador for Well Traveled or talking more to Patrick Firlik? Contact him here.

    If you enjoyed this post, please share this post, or comment your thoughts below. In addition, if you have ideas for my next feature, please drop me a line here.

    Want to learn more? Go more in depth here:

    Well Traveled

    Well Traveled Instagram

    Become a brand ambassador

    Interview with Patrick Firlik in NutraIngredients

  • Building the Culture: Lessons on Business and Family with Steve Hammock

    Building the Culture: Lessons on Business and Family with Steve Hammock

    This latest interview is a special one with a special guest – my father, Steve Hammock!

    An accomplished business professional, he was president of Watkins Wellness, the leader in the worldwide hot tub and swim spa industry, for over 25 years. While growing that company into the hundreds of millions in revenue, he was also highly accomplished on the personal side as well – raising 5 kids and maintaining his marriage of nearly 35 years.

    As a newly minted parent of a six-month old, I find myself constantly thinking about the lessons I learned in my own childhood from my own father. And as someone who is always working to grow and expand his career, the business lessons that my dad imparted to me are also invaluable.

    In a way, then, this is a post on the ground zero of where I developed a sense of resilience – watching my dad work to provide for his family, develop a loving relationship with his wife and kids, and grow a successful company.

    In this interview, you’ll learn about building a strong and resilient, company culture, how culture pays dividends in challenging economic times, the critical importance of keeping your customer at the center of your target, the parallels of business and family, and what my dad learned from his own father.

    If you enjoyed this interview and would like to contact Steve Hammock, you can contact him here.

    Steve Hammock giving an address.

    I’m primarily interested in the concept of resilience – personal, communal, and societal. What does resilience mean to you?

    Well, we certainly all know what the definition of resilience is. We know too, that life is hard, business is hard, parenting is hard, and relationships are hard. Resilience is about navigating your way through all that. But for me, resilience has primarily been about growth.

    I’ve always believed that you’re either growing or you’re shrinking. You’re moving forward, or you’re moving backwards. In a business sense, we really don’t have the ability to stand still!

    If you think about it in a business context, the primary reason companies go out of business is that they can’t figure out a way to grow. To me, that fails the resilience test. In business, there’s going to be a lot coming at you, and the way to win is to grow your way out of it.

    Can you take us through a cliff notes of your career journey?

    I’ve sort of had a different type of career by modern standards. I only worked for two companies after leaving college – one for a relatively short time, and then the other for over 40 years.

    I joined what was a rather small, very young, consumer products manufacturing business in the early 1980s. I started in a low level, sort of an entry level marketing job. I grew my career with that company as it grew along a sales and marketing track. After a couple years I became the Marketing Manager, then National Sales Manager, Director of Sales and Marketing, the Executive Vice President, and lastly, I had the privilege to serve as company president for the past 25 years.

    Steve Hammock was president of Watkins Wellness for 25 years.

    You were the President of Watkins Wellness for a number of years. The company grew and transformed an incredible amount during your tenure. What were you most proud of?

    Gosh, a lot of things!

    First of all, our growth was phenomenal over a very long period of time. We grew to the point where we became the number one company in our industry, and maintained that leadership position for at least the last 30 years in a row. You’d be hard-pressed to think of another company in any industry that has ever done that.

    We navigated our way through the public company space, which is difficult in its own right. We also had tremendous success after emerging from the Great Recession, which was very difficult.

    I am certainly, too, proud of the way we handled COVID. We were a company that got shut down for 16 weeks, so restarting all our factories was a huge task.

    But I think if I had to pick one thing, it was the culture that we built at our company. We did a great job, I think, of inculcating a growth mindset, giving our people purpose, and creating a culture where everybody pulled on the same oar.

    In fact, we won top workplace here in San Diego County multiple times, and that’s an award that is voted on by your employees. So, while I think hitting all of our business milestones was rewarding, it was really the culture of the company that we built that was “that one thing” I’m most proud of.

    Was a strong company culture something that you had always set out to create? Or did you notice it happening organically, and you worked to incubate it? Was it a byproduct of the growth and success Watkins was having?

    Well, I think cultures are developed off the personalities of your leaders. Certainly, I had a personality, and I think over the years we did a great job of hiring the right people to get us where we needed to go. We always walked our own talk, if you will, and challenged everyone to call us out when we didn’t! But many years ago, maybe over 20 years ago, we took a good look at our company, why we had been successful, why our employees were happy, what made us unique and special, and why our employees rated us so highly, and we formalized our value system. That gave us a roadmap to stay on as we grew.

    As you know, the more you grow and the bigger you get, the harder it is to hang on to those unique things that make you, you. By formalizing our culture, making it a centerpiece of what we talked about on an ongoing basis, and then hiring people that were motivated by who we were and wanted to be a part of it, it helped us maintain our guiding principles as we got bigger.

    You also were president during a number of challenging times and recessions. Can you discuss a major obstacle that you overcame, and how you overcame it? Does culture help build resilience to navigate challenging times?

    Culture absolutely helps you – if you take care of your people when times are good, they will be there for you when the times get tough. We saw that play out in our business time and time again over the four decades. For example, everyone talks about the Great Recession starting in 2008. But in our particular category, since we were so tied to the housing market, it really started in July of 2005 and extended all the way through 2009! It was a very long, very tough time.

    We made expensive products that oftentimes needed to be financed, and during that period all the funding sources were wiped out. There was no home equity for people to borrow against and your traditional lenders weren’t lending. It was a pretty desperate time. Since we were a discretionary product, we produced the kind of things people defer when times get tough. As a result, we lost half of our top line over that period. But we still made a profit, even at the very bottom, which obviously is the goal of business. That was a reflection on how our people battled.

    We made money because we always had our customers in the center of our target. If you have your customer in the center of your target, you’re going to do fine. Most companies, I think, and most people, have someone or something in the center of their target, other than their customer. In my opinion, that’s when companies run into trouble.

    We also were very tough to compete against. We were an extremely agile group, and we weren’t wedded to any specific products.  If it sold, we kept it, if it didn’t, we moved on. We knew that when we got into those tough times, our traditional retail customer was going to be out of the market for a very long time. We had to do something different. So, we pivoted to different products, different customer segments, different channels, and things like that. So agility, I’d say, would be another component to answering your resilience question.

    Being last one standing in a space that is being wiped out doesn’t help you! The inclination often, is to hang on to what you have, and ride it down. We didn’t do that. We were conscious enough of what was going on to say, “Hey, you know what? That’s not going to work anymore, we have to do something else.” And we did. Again, since our people were all-in on our mission, we did a lot of something-else’s, and it ended up paying dividends.

    You’ve told me that one of the most important qualities a leader can have is the ability to decide. Can you expand on that? What other qualities are important for a leader (or in general, a businessman) to have?

    Well, obviously a business is made up of a lot of leaders, so really the decision-making comment I think applies mostly to the person at the top. Not everybody is built to be a number one. There are a lot of great number twos out there that really aren’t the right people to be number ones. I think in my experience, the primary thing that separates someone at the top of a business, who does well there, from otherwise really smart people who don’t, is the ability to make a decision on time. On time always means before it’s obvious to everyone else.

    As an example – I always looked at growth as the main thing. No matter the environment, you’ve got to grow. Growing requires rolling the dice. You’ve got to take some chances. But once the right direction becomes obvious to everybody else, the move has already happened! So you have to move before having all the information, and that requires a certain amount of fortitude that a lot people don’t possess. In the business that I was involved in, we made a lot of really impactful decisions before it was obvious to everyone else, and that made us very tough to compete against.

    So there’s a certain appetite for risk that must be there as well.

    It’s absolutely required, absolutely required!

    I mean, honestly, if you want to be a “me-too” business, that’ll last for a while, but again, companies go out of business because they can’t figure out how to grow or how to innovate. So, in your parlance, that means they fail the resilience test. But in order to grow, you must be “first” a lot of times! Yes, you almost always have to be better, but you also have to be first.

    First means that you have to come out of the box before your competitor is ready to move. That’s risk. So, it’s classic risk and reward. And you won’t always be right. I sure wasn’t. We made plenty of mistakes, but over the long haul, we were right way more than we were wrong.

    Not just a businessman, but a father to five as well.

    Not only did you find success in business, but you were (and are) a great dad to five kids! Can you talk about how you worked to build resilience in your family life? What, in your opinion, makes a resilient family?

    I think there are a lot of business parallels!

    You have to stand for something, you have to have values. I think the greatest virtue to have in business is transparency. I’m going to skip around on you here a little bit, but communication is always key, and transparency is the most important part of good communication.

    When you think about a company, literally everyone working there is doing it for a living. That means that everybody is equally vested. Therefore, the more people understand what you’re trying to do, where you’re trying to go, and how you’re doing along the way, the better off they are, right? All employees really need to know four things – Where are we now? Where are we going? What role do I play? And what do I get if we get there?

     It’s my belief that, in order to do the best job possible, a person needs to know everything he/she thinks they need to know. It’s a simple concept.  If you think you need to know something, then you probably do.

    In our business, we would say, “If there’s something you think you need to know in order to do your best job, please tell us what it is, and we’ll get the answer for you.” That’s how you empower your people. We spent an awful lot of time teaching our teams about the company, why we do what we do, why we don’t do what we don’t do, how our profits are made, how we go to market, what our channels are all about. The more that teammates understand about the entirety of the business, even if it doesn’t relate to their specific function, the more valuable their opinion becomes. Since we are all equally vested, all opinions mattered.

    When you’re running a big business, you got to be listening to everybody, because nobody has all the answers. It’s the basic philosophy of “everybody is in it together”.

    All of that is to say – many of the tools required to build a winning culture in business, and are the same ones needed to build resilient families!

    You have to stand for something, you have to have a certain set of principles, you have to walk the talk, you have to impress upon your own children that you’re actually the kind of person you say you are. If you want to be a good dad, start by being a good husband.  Respect your partner, treat them well.

    Similar to my previous comment, in our family, our kids were in the center of our target. If the kids are in the center of your target, then that’s where you’ll spend your time. If you walk that talk, you end up with some pretty good kids.

    Heck, even though you and the rest of our kids are all grown up, I think the five of you are still in the center of our target.

    Is ensuring that the kids are at the “center of the target” how you are able to find the balance between work and family life? How did you find that balance?

    Yeah, it’s funny you bring up balance. I don’t know if I did find the balance!

    I mean, I tried to do what I could, but there’s a lot of ways to do it. In our family, we were very traditional. I went to work, I made money so we could pay for things, and your mother spent her career raising you kids. My job when I was home, was to be present, to show up for things, and to inculcate the gifts of hard work, integrity, humility, and those other personal qualities that you want your children to have.

    The goals we set were mostly ensuring that each of you was reaching high. We told each of you that if you reached super high and attained something great, we would be there to support you. And I think that’s how it worked out. We had a plan, and we executed that plan. Of course, in our family, staying close to God and being a faith-filled family also played a major role.

    What would you consider your greatest success on the family side to be? Were there any significant obstacles?

    Well, we live here in Southern California, and we had five kids. It’s an expensive proposition! Everybody worked really hard in school and earned their way into really top colleges. That cost a lot of money, so these were obstacles that required us to make decisions. Again, we prioritized our children over ourselves.

    That said, I think in any family that’s going to work, the parents have to take care of their relationship first. In our case, a strong marriage has been, and is, key. When you do have kids, you’re undoubtedly going to say no to things a lot – but you have to explain the whys behind the reasoning. This is the transparency part! You communicate from within values and the principles we established for our own family, and the understanding is there.

    Our goal was to raise five great citizens, and I believe that we’ve done that.

    Your own father was a colonel in the Air Force. What lessons did he impart to you about business or family?

    Well, he was a man of integrity and a man of humility. He was a pretty simple guy, a man of few words. But first and foremost, his main lesson was always, “Be honest”. Adjacent to that was, “Do the right thing”. That’s it really. Pretty simple. If you’re honest with the people that you love, be honest with the people who love you, honest with those who work for you, and mostly, be honest with yourself, you’ll go far. He would also always say, after do the right thing, “And you know what that is.”

    That second rejoinder is not unimportant! The right thing can change in the moment! But he would always say, “And you know what that is.” Again, one of my goals in life is to live guilt-free, because guilt is so debilitating. If you do the right thing because you know what it is and you’re honest with yourself, you can live a guilt-free life.

    What’s better than that?

    Col. Rex Hammock
    Steve Hammock’s father, Col. Rex Hammock, receiving the Silver Star from Gen. Westmorland, circa 1968.

    How has the transition to retirement been? Was there anything unexpected? Anything easier or more difficult than expected?

    What’s been the most interesting is that I don’t miss work – and I thought I would. I do miss talking about business and talking about work, and I do know that I’ve got more to give. Right now, I’m trying to think through how I’m going to do that going forward.

    I certainly have more aches and pains than I was expecting to have, ha! All this golf and tennis comes with a downside, I guess. But retirement’s been pretty smooth so far.

    I’ve always been a person that worked off lists, and I write out a list every day of some things that I want to accomplish. I move through that list, and get a lot done, so it definitely hasn’t been boring.

    How’s the transition been to grandfather?

    Well, it’s been pretty easy for me, because I’m not doing that much! I think my opportunity will come after the baby stage. Our little grandson is still a baby, so it’s grandma’s time to shine right now.

    But I think the most rewarding part, not that we don’t have a beautiful boy there, has just been watching you as a parent and watching your relationship with your wife grow. Just seeing the two of you and how you’re taking care of your child and maturing, and again, doing the right thing has been so impressive to watch. So, I think that’s been the most rewarding part of being a grandfather thus far.

    Wow, thank you! So, what’s next for Steve Hammock?

    I don’t know. Like I said, I’ve always been somebody that had a plan and I don’t really have a plan right now, and I think I’m good with that. But I do have some talent and I do have some gifts, and I still have a lot of energy. I wanted to take some time and just sort of live life, which we’ve been doing right now, but I’m starting to contemplate how I want to channel my professional energies going forward.

    Have a proposition for what Steve Hammock should do with his free time? Want to reach out to him to learn more? Contact him here.

    If you enjoyed this post, please share this post, or comment your thoughts below. In addition, if you have ideas for my next feature, please drop me a line here.

    Want to learn more? Go more in depth here:

    Watkins Wellness website

    San Diego Union-Tribune Interview with Steve Hammock on Leadership

    San Diego 500 Profile on Steve Hammock

    Contact Steve Hammock

  • San Diego’s Space for Innovation: How Aquillius is Building a Resilient Startup Ecosystem

    San Diego’s Space for Innovation: How Aquillius is Building a Resilient Startup Ecosystem

    Consistently ranked as one of the top biotech cities in the United States, San Diego is home to giants like Illumina, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Genentech, Bristol Meyers Squibb, and seemingly countless more – many of which are fed from a rich pipeline of science graduates from UCSD, SDSU, and USD.  

    However, not everyone interested in biotech wants to go to the giants. Some think that they’re the ones who can create the next big thing.  

    And that’s where Aquillius comes in.  

    A biotech and MedTech incubator, Aquillius is a biotech startup founder’s dream – they provide a space for extremely early-stage startups to develop and grow. With 25,000 feet of lab and office space, they offer a physical place (and access to a vibrant community!) for lab-heavy startups to research, prototype, network, raise capital, and more.  

    Their mission is to accelerate the integration of life sciences and engineering to create innovative solutions that can improve human health, by focusing on streamlining product development and early R&D in the biotech and MedTech industries.  

    Or, to say it another way, they want to make the next generation of San Diego’s innovative science companies more successful – by making them more resilient. 

    In this interview, you’ll learn about the importance of providing space to fledgling companies – whether it’s physical, educational, or mental. You’ll learn about just how Aquillius matches resources with the startups they work with. And, most importantly, you’ll learn what they’re doing to set the next generation of scientists and entrepreneurs up for success.  

    If you’d like to learn more about Aquillius, you can check them out on their website. (I’d also recommend you take the tour!) 

    I’d like to give a big thank you and a shout out to Leah Villegas and Austin Strain for their time and help on this interview. 

    Aquillius provides office and lab space for burgeoning BioTech companies.

    I’m chiefly interested in the concept of resilience – personal, communal, and societal. What does the concept of resilience mean to you and Aquillius? 

    Leah Villegas: I believe resilience means persisting, unwavering in your commitment to your business, regardless of the challenges encountered. In our environment, we engage with many early-stage startups and companies just setting out to make their mark in their respective markets. It’s a demanding journey. As entrepreneurs ourselves, my team and I face these challenges too. I see resilience as the key. There will be numerous obstacles and setbacks along the way, but pushing through and surviving these challenges is what truly cultivates resilience and shapes the character of every founder. 

    Startups, especially the early-stage startups that you focus on, are notoriously prone to risk. How have you worked to build resilience within Aquillius to continue to identify and overcome potential setbacks when dealing in that scene? How do you work to make the startups who use your spaces more resilient? 

    LV: We serve to provide the foundation or provide a safety net of sorts. We’ve methodically worked out potential paths these startups could take, identified needed resources, and even identified common challenges that startups might encounter, and we work to tackle these challenges head on. 

    We address these challenges before the startups themselves confront them, and then work to make all the necessary resources available to them to give them the best chance.  

    Most of these startups are in the biotech and MedTech realms. From what we’ve seen, regulatory and IP complexity are the two main major challenges that these startups face. So, we’ve identified and paired up certain resources and subject-matter experts in those realms, like different law firms and regulatory experts, to help them navigate those challenges.  

    San Diego’s biotech scene is world famous. How do you see yourselves positioned in this space? How do you see yourself contributing to building resilience both within the scene and within the broader San Diego community? 

    LV: We see ourselves mainly as a resource provider in the biotech space. Our physical space is critically important – we have a nice tech lab and a nice wet lab, which those companies need the most. This sort of sets the biotech companies apart, since they really need that physical lab space. For example, during COVID, we didn’t really feel as affected as other people who worked from home, since we actually couldn’t work from home – we needed to be in the lab!  

    Basically, our niche is now being a resource provider for biotech startups. 

    A peek inside the lab!

    You guys provide physical resources such as lab space, but you also host a lot of events that provide space for companies, founders, and people interested in that whole scene. So really, it seems like your main resource is providing space?  

    LV: Yes, we provide those events, and a lot of events on the educational side. We also provide a lot of networking opportunities. That’s a pretty important thing as well, we’ve found, especially for young startups that are fundraising.  

    What projects are you most proud of? 

    Austin Strain: What I feel is most impactful is our Catalyst program. When I got a chance to actually talk to the people and participants who went through that, to see how much they learned and grew, it was absolutely remarkable. 

    Our Catalyst program is basically a ten-week program for students of all levels – undergrads, graduates, PHDs, postdocs- to get entrepreneurial training and to get a hands-on opportunity to solve real-world problems. Throughout those 10 weeks they learn how to set up a business, and then, at the end, get to pitch that business to experts, investors, and other people who can give them feedback on how well their entrepreneurial journey went.  

    I personally know how important this is. I studied entrepreneurship in school, and I also took part in a startup summer program. I saw how much that helped me personally with my own career growth. So, getting to meet all the participants at the end of our own Catalyst program and some of the older participants as well was really nostalgic and gratifying for me, because I remember when I was exactly where they were! I remember getting to that pitch day and how nervous and exciting it is! And then hearing what they have learned, and recollecting what I personally learned was just so impactful. It was like you could literally see a bright future.  

    LV: We do this cohort every summer. And in the beginning, it’s always the same – they’ll come up with their one-minute elevator pitch and they’re very timid and shy, saying things like “I don’t know how to talk about myself.” And then just 10 weeks later, you see so much growth! They’re no longer that timid, they’re outgoing and putting themselves out there and pitching their companies and projects. It’s just incredible.  

    So, another one of your major resource spaces is just giving others the opportunity and mental space to grow?  

    AS: Yes, yes, for sure! So, if you’re interested, we’re offering our next one to the broader startup community next year.  

    Can you talk about the biggest obstacles you’ve overcome so far? How have you worked to build resilience within your own company and culture, or those you serve? 

    LV: Honestly, the biggest one is providing access to capital. These are very, very early-stage companies, just trying to find traction in the world. They need people, they need institutions, and they need capital to help get them to the next level.  

    We will be rolling out with more programs this coming year to help them do that – to raise capital and get to that next level. 

    In addition to lab space, Aquillius also provides offices.

    What are the biggest opportunities that you see in the biotech scene in San Diego? What role do you play in filling these gaps? 

    LV: San Diego is a huge biotech hub in and of itself. But even though it’s so large, it has the potential to grow.  

    When it comes to investing in these projects, San Diego has a pretty big angel investing scene – the venture capital scene still seems to be up and coming. But I think that we’re going to see some growth in that sector in the coming year.  

    The whole investing scene has been very slow really, because of the pandemic and the slowdown in the economy the past few years. But I think it’s coming back, and I think it will be a pretty vibrant scene going into 2024. 

    So, do you see yourself playing a role and filling the access gap to venture capital?  

    LV: Absolutely! So, we’re hoping to have a fund ready to go by next year that can invest in these companies. And we will be rolling out those programs that I talked about earlier. We’re going to hold more pitch days and things like that, centered on different themes and industries to attract those VCs to be a part of all of it as well. 

    AS: In addition, we work to reduce access gaps wherever we see them. We host a number of events around women in investing, women in science, and trying to encourage women, or others who are normally not as active in the science and founders community, to be involved. That focus is very important to us – it’s another way we build a more resilient future, by making sure everyone has access to the tools and resources they need to succeed. Really trying to empower women to be involved in the ecosystem.  

    So not only are we filling a gap for capital in the biotech space, but we’re providing a leg up for groups and communities who might need it most. And that’s definitely something different and important that we do. 

    Looking to the future, what do you see as the future for Aquillius? Are there any specific opportunities and risks that you are looking to navigate in the future, both near and long term? 

    LV: As far as growth goes, we’re just getting started! We’ve built out the lab space, we’re trying to attract companies to come in here, build, and be part of our community, and then just see where it goes!  

    We do have longer-term plans, such as growing to more locations, but those are definitely long term. We’ll see how this current model works in 2024. We just want to be able to provide more resources to the broader startup community, even beyond just San Diego! 

    What are the best ways for people to learn more about, or get involved with, Aquillius? 

    AS: The easiest way is to just check out all the information on our website. If you’d like a brochure, we have those too. But realistically, the best way is to book a tour! Come see it firsthand and say hi! We’ve found tours really spark the types of questions that we like to answer, that aren’t necessarily found on our website.  

    But yes, the best way is to book a tour, or come to a networking event! 

    Want to learn more? Go more in depth here:  

    Aquillius Website 

    Book a tour 

    Upcoming events 

    Aquillius Catalyst Program 

    Aquillius LinkedIn 

  • Innovative Ocean Intelligence: A Dive into Seatrec’s Sustainable Technology with Dr. Yi Chao

    Innovative Ocean Intelligence: A Dive into Seatrec’s Sustainable Technology with Dr. Yi Chao

    I was delighted to have the opportunity to speak with Dr. Yi Chao, Founder and CEO of Seatrec, a startup that designs and manufactures products that generate electricity from the temperature fluctuations in the ocean.

    When I first heard about this technology, it almost sounded like magic! A way to generate energy just from the naturally occurring ocean changing temperature? Wow!

    It turns out that it’s actually not that new of an idea – the research has been around since the 1970s, but generating enough energy from these fluctuations to, say, power the energy grid, is remarkably expensive.

    This is where Seatrec is different. They’ve scaled this technology down to essentially provide infinite, sustainable energy to power research instruments, like undersea robots.  Currently, these robots have to completely rely on the dwindling charges of battery packs, brought to them by researchers on ships – making research costly, difficult, and primarily close to shore. Thanks to Seatrec’s technology, researchers are no longer beholden to voyaging out on ships, and can gather more data from autonomous robots that can endure missions for much longer in harsher conditions – sparking the next generation of ocean data insights. 

    You’ll learn about how Seatrec uses this technology to power ocean research all around the globe, how Yi’s science background made him more resilient for the business world, and some of the major research successes that this technology has enabled.

    It was a great interview with a company on the cutting edge of energy and ocean research. If you’d like to learn more, you can explore Seatrec’s website!

    The Founder and CEO of Seatrec, Dr. Yi Chao (right)

    I’m chiefly interested in the concept of resilience – personal, communal, and societal. What does the concept of resilience mean to you and Seatrec?

    For us at Seatrec, we’re primarily concerned with societal resilience, since we deal with the planet’s resources. We’re totally ocean focused. There’s only so much land on earth, but over 70% of the planet is covered by the ocean. So it makes sense to turn to the ocean to find solutions to problems that we can’t solve by land!

    Everyone knows about traditional ocean industries like shipping, but there are a lot of interesting things being done with resource exploration in the ocean – whether it’s oil and gas, offshore energy, offshore wind farming, or even growing our own protein instead of fishing. The ocean is becoming more and more important – and as it becomes more important, it’s also in more danger.

    Seatrec was formed so we can understand the ocean in a deeper way, manage our resources, and protect our ocean. We’re bringing new and innovative technology to study the ocean and collect data.

    Really, when it comes down to it, our mission is to digitize the ocean and capture the ocean’s data, so we can better understand and predict the ocean – all so we can better protect this vital resource.

    I feel when people think about the ocean and generating energy, most people think about waves. However, you generate energy from the ocean’s temperature fluctuations. Can you talk about how you’re solving that problem, and the approach you’re taking?

    Sure! So the concept of OTEC (or, ocean thermal energy conversion) is actually not that new.

    The first wave of dealing with renewable ocean energy, including OTEC, was back in the 1970s. A lot of research was done back then that pioneered the whole field – studies were done with ocean thermal energy, ocean waves, ocean wind, everything. A number of different governments spent a lot of money on renewable energy to support the innovation, but when the oil crisis ended, everyone just went back to gasoline like nothing had happened. A lot of the research only started to come back in the recent decades.

    The technology for ocean thermal energy conversion is relatively mature, but it’s very costly. You have limited geographic distribution since you have to work in the tropics where the water is warm. You then have to pump cold water up from the deep ocean. Converting that small difference into energy is rather costly, and is just unrealistic to use that energy to supply the power grid.

    This is actually why you’ll hear a lot more about offshore wind when it comes to the ocean. Ocean waves are still in the early stages of commercialization as well.

    Where we come in is, we decided to utilize ocean thermal energy to power sensors and underwater robotics, not the power grid. We want to focus on ocean sensing, to provide ocean intelligence, and this can support other forms of energy – like providing data for the offshore wind energy market, and to help those companies optimize the planning, the sights, quantify impact, monitor their operations. And that’s a unique angle.

    So, would it be fair to say that your technology is like a recharging battery pack that could go on measurement instruments, allowing those instruments to stay out longer and be more self-contained?

    Yes, that’s correct!

    Essentially, we deliver the first self-charging underwater subsea robot. There are a lot of robots on the surface. They can be powered by solar, wind, and waves. But ours is the first that can power itself underneath the water. We can go as deep as 1000 meters today, and, if we want to, even as deep as 2000 meters in the near future! Today’s subsea robots are powered by batteries with limited lifetime and capabilities.  When the battery runs out, we need to send ships to replace those dead batteries or the robots fall to the bottom of the ocean. If you want to collect data far offshore, you need to use a bigger ship. This causes a huge carbon footprint, there need to be lots of people onboard, and it’s just extremely costly. Ship time starts to cost tens of thousands of dollars a day!

    Our robot can recharge its batteries without the need of ships, and therefore be scaled up.  Today, there are thousands of subsea robots in the ocean. In the next decade, this number will go up tenfold or even hundredfold.  

    When I was researching this company, I see that you’re the rare oceanographer who stays far away from the ocean due to seasickness! I’m glad to see that didn’t stop you.

    I was trained as an ocean scientist, and I have a Ph.D. in oceanography from Princeton University. I then worked at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena for many years. And even though my work was related to the ocean, I tried to stay away from the ocean as long as I could! For example, I developed a satellite to measure salinity on the surface of the ocean, from hundreds of miles away, using remote sensing technology – so I studied the ocean from space!

    Through my work, I continued developing computer models of the ocean and studying it that way. And eventually I thought, if I can develop robots that go to sea, I don’t have to physically go on ships! As long as I can measure the water, I think I’ll be happy.

    Seatrec’s technology generates power through the ocean’s temperature differences.

    Startups are notoriously prone to risk. What are some ways you’ve worked to build resilience within your company?

    The biggest risk for any startup is cash flow. How do you stay alive? How do you find just enough capital to help you grow? You don’t want to grow too fast, because you may not have the right product that fits the market. And then, of course, you always have to make payroll at the end of every pay period. Cash flow is the challenge we are constantly struggling with.

    The ocean market is very fragmented. It’s not as well-defined as other areas like consumer products, or startup categories like fintech or agtech. The market is emerging. It’s still new. My goal, the biggest challenge, is finding the product that fits the market, so we can raise the capital and grow. How do you get your product to take off?

    That’s my job, mainly. Opening up new markets, coordinating different sectors of the market, defining the market, and product market fit. Then, finding the right time to scale. Raising money from investors and then growing and scaling our technology in the marketplace!

    You have a significant background in engineering and oceanography. Has there been any surprising crossover from the science world to the business world? Anything that’s been a particularly good fit?

    I think as a scientist, you automatically build resilience. I do experiments, and they often fail. But then, eventually, you pick a new way, and make it right the next time! And you keep trying and trying to get it right. That’s my mentality, and I think that will carry through my entrepreneurial career.

    Being a first-time entrepreneur, I’ve read lots of books, talked to lots of mentors and different people who have experience to grow from 0 to 1 and implement deep tech successfully in the commercial market. That’s helped guide me day to day, and helped me keep looking forward and following my vision into the future, but at the same time staying focused on the present enough to continue making payroll and scaling the company.

    San Diego’s biotech scene is well-regarded. And Seatrec seems to be especially relevant to the San Diego area, poised to take advantage of engineering and oceanography pipelines from universities like UCSD and Scripps. How would you describe the San Diego business scene? Are there any pros and cons that you see about being in San Diego?

    We actually moved to San Diego for precisely that reason! Los Angeles is great for certain areas of tech, like consumer tech and aerospace. But I think that San Diego is one of the few ideal locations in the country to grow a blue tech company!

    As you mentioned, we have the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, all the engineering out of UCSD, a big naval presence, and access to supply chains. You have the port, coast guards. Even the border. I see all of these not just as adding to our intellectual capacity, but as an opportunity with many stakeholders and potential customers – not just from the research side, but from the defense and military side.

    We also have a great investor ecosystem – there are lots of investors in San Diego that support our industry. Really, San Diego is the perfect place to grow into our next chapter.

    Seatrec’s latest product, the InfiniTE float.

    Have there been any major successes that Seatrec has celebrated?

    Yes! Recently, one of the biggest successes we’ve seen is opening up a new market and making the customer very happy. We were able to enable the customer to do something that they were not able to do in the past.

    For the first time, we were able to add an acoustic hydrophone, an underwater listening device, to our robots. This was impossible before due to power limitations.  We deployed our robots in the ocean out in Monterey and we heard whales singing! It’s tough to see what’s happening under the water, but sound provides a way to discover what’s going on.  In fact, when it comes to the ocean, it’s all about sound.

    This hydrophone was really cool. It provides almost like a natural fingerprint of all the activity of the ocean, from the natural sounds of the wind and waves, to the manmade sound of the ships and other vessels, then the marine mammals and the rest of the ecosystem.  We can learn how all of these groups interact together.

    It was very interesting – traditionally, those hydrophones have to be powered by ships, and the surface is extremely noisy, so you couldn’t hear very well. Our robot, on the other hand, can dive much deeper where it’s much quieter. You can hear for miles and miles. It’s a lot like how if you were building a telescope, you’d want to build it on the top of a mountain. That’s the same principle with this ocean robot!

    So that’s really our major milestone – our customers can now do something that’s never been done before. We get to enable other technologies too. We can build our business model around these early customers and early technology adopters. And this makes us very excited to grow and make our investors happy about the total available market.

    Looking ahead, what do you see as the future for Seatrec? Are there any opportunities or risks you are working to navigate?

    In the near term, well, we launched our product early this year. We’ve been going to a few trade shows, getting customer feedback. We’ve been very encouraged about the traction so far, and there is product market fit. Ocean tech is hard – it’s taken years of engineering and commercialization efforts, but we have a strong differentiator to sell! We have some significant sales so far, and we interest for increased sales targets for next year.

    We hope to break even on our current operation next year, that’s our main milestone. And then, further out, we want to take the opportunity to scale. We’re planning to fundraise our Series A next year to put some more fuel in the fire. We want to take Seatrec to the next level.

    Then, in addition, we also have a really interesting project called Project FIND. This project is really about providing this cutting edge technology, and our robots, to researchers and customers who traditionally can’t afford them or don’t have the opportunity.

    We launched this project two years ago, hoping to provide cutting edge technology, like the same type of technology a researcher at Scripps would have, to countries and researchers who normally can’t access it. The ocean is global, it affects everybody. So everybody should be able to study and protect it. And we hope that, if people are interested, they can reach out to us, be a part of it, and can help out.

    So through Project FIND, you provide your technology to different countries to help foster more scientific exploration?

    Yes!

    Our end-to-end product with the platform and sensors sells for between $50,000 -$75,000. That’s what we sell to universities, researchers, nonprofits, and the government. But we’ve been able to provide one to Mexico already, as well as Brazil and South Africa. We’re working on two more for Sri Lanka and Ghana. They’re very interested in the hydrophone I mentioned earlier. A lot of researchers in Sri Lanka, for example, monitor whales. They have conservation programs, they understand the ocean. But they have to use binoculars to identify whales! If we can provide a hydrophone robot to them that lets them hear for miles, they can expand their search area and better understand whale behavior protect their part of the ocean.

    What are the best ways for people to learn about, or get involved with, Seatrec?

    You can certainly check out our website, or follow us on LinkedIn or Twitter. We have some interesting projects coming up!

    Want to go more in depth? Learn more here:

    Seatrec website

    Seatrec technology

    Project FIND

  • Planting an Urban Forest: An Interview with Tree San Diego

    Planting an Urban Forest: An Interview with Tree San Diego

    When you think of city management and design, do trees come to mind?

    The good folks at Tree San Diego think so, and think that you should too!

    Tree San Diego is an urban forestry nonprofit who works to increase the quality and density of San Diego’s urban forest — and they have some thoughts about the importance of urban trees and how they contribute to a resilient community.

    Trees, and by extension, the “urban canopy” (the layer of leaves, branches, and stems of trees that cover the ground in an urban environment when viewed from above), have an important role in city design. They make cities cooler, quieter, more desirable, more efficient, and safer — and therefore, more resilient. San Diego has recently announced a plan for a dramatic increase in our urban canopy in hopes of reaping some of these benefits — and I turned to the experts at Tree San Diego to find out more.

    In this interview, you’ll learn all about why we need to have trees in our urban spaces, not just on our trails, as well as the number of benefits that urban trees and urban forests provide! You’ll also learn how Tree San Diego works to select their species, how they account for disease and pests, and the role of trees in urban planning.

    If you’d like to learn more about Tree San Diego and their mission, you can check them out on their website. I’d also like to give a special thanks to Elekra Fike-Data, Chris Klier, Chuck Morgan, and Kurt Peacock from Tree San Diego for their help and expertise with this interview.

    What does the concept of resilience mean to you and Tree San Diego? And how are urban trees part of a resilient community?

    Resilience is the ability to recover from problems or conditions that are not ideal. We at Tree SD are choosing tough, low to moderate water-use tree species to better prepare for the warming, drier climate we will face in the coming years.

    San Diego hopes to increase their urban canopy to 35% of the city by 2035. Can you talk about the benefits of having such a large, developed urban canopy, and what that would mean to the average resident?

    Hitting the 35% cover target will improve the quality of life for everyone in San Diego! Some of the immediate benefits include lowering temperatures, reducing pollution and storm water runoff, blocking ultraviolet light more effectively. Residents will want to be outdoors more, more active in recreational activity and lowering heating and cooling bills, which burns less fossil fuels.

    Community Planting Day! (PC: Tree San Diego)

    Many folks associate San Diego (and, more broadly, Southern California), with palm trees — which are actually a non-native species! Can you talk about your process of choosing which trees (and where) to plant?

    Palms may be iconic, but they do not provide the ecological benefits that broadleaf or evergreen trees provide. They require annual maintenance which makes them more expensive to maintain than other trees.

    We base our tree selections on the soil volume available and the utility situation, such as overhead wires, to prolong the useful life of trees. Microclimates can also affect what we select — we need to keep in mind dimensions like sun vs. shade, soil grade, and proximity of buildings and other fixed infrastructure to the site, ultimately striving to maximize the size of any tree in a given site. The bigger the tree can grow, the more benefits it provides!

    San Diego is known for being an extremely biodiverse area, and there are a number of extremely unique environments in the county — from desert, to mountains, to ocean, just to name a few. Can you talk about the importance of wilding the urban environment? Have you received support from the outdoors community for your initiative?

    Wilding and rewilding our urban environments are important since it improves health, provides areas for recreation and relaxation, improves biodiversity, and expands our wildlands and ecosystem restoration. Here in San Diego, we see examples of this in our local estuaries from Carlsbad, to Carmel Valley, and Imperial Beach. Balboa Park is another example, which has both wilderness areas and more formal, landscaped areas. The various cities within San Diego are focusing now on more “plantscaping,” and adding trees to our urban areas. In fact, in small open areas around the city, local officials are now looking to create pocket parks!

    Planting an urban tree in Caesar Chavez park! (Photo: Tree San Diego Facebook)

    Water use is always a major concern for any SoCal resident. How does planting more trees affect a city’s water and usage?

    Planting trees uses a lot of water, especially during the establishment period. However, I believe the benefits gained with planting more trees far outweigh the additional water needed. For example, a tree cover will save 11,000 tons of soil annually in a medium sized city. A tree-shaded, air conditioned home can improve its efficiency by 10% and saves up to 34% of annual costs. Trees planted in the right place for a home can reduce heating costs up to 25%. Trees are natural air conditioners, cooling the air through transpiration (how plants evaporate water). Trees improve real estate value by 1% of sale price. Trees reduce and mask noise with white noise. One acre of trees will provide enough oxygen each day for 18 people to breath, while, at the same time, absorbing pollutants and filtering particulates. Trees planted in parking lots can reduce the ambient temperature by 3% and car interior by 30%. 100 mature trees intercept 210,000 gallons of water per year, allowing cities to spend less money on storm water control and keeping water pollution out of our estuaries, rivers and ocean. The list of benefits goes on and on!

    On the campus of UC San Diego, there are 27,000 trees. These trees sequester 7,560 tons of CO2 annually, and remove 6,210 pounds of pollutants from the air. A study conducted by the human-environment laboratory of the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign concluded that a tree-filled community recorded a lower incidence of violence and vandalism than a community that was less forested. Additionally, trees can lower stress and help provide speedy health recovery. The benefits are monumental!

    Meanwhile, the city of San Diego is working to be water independent by recycling water. By the end of 2035, nearly 50% of San Diego water will be provided by taking waste water and purifying it to high-quality drinking water, and will actually cleaner and safer than our present drinking water. You can learn more about this initiative here. So there are a lot of things at play!

    You also run a project that diverts end-of-life urban trees away from the wood-chipper/landfill and towards other products. Can you talk more about the success of this program, and the difference between what happens to a tree in this program vs a normal urban tree?

    The Treejuvenation project was a small pilot that really started when we realized how many exotic trees are grown in the temparate San Diego climate. Once these trees reach the end of their life, they can be collected for their viable wood. The urban forester now thinks about what trees should be planted on a longer scale — not just thinking of planting the tree for now, but thinking about the end of life, and planting trees that can eventually turn into desirable lumber. As another benefit, the tree care industry strives to ensure that urban trees grow as straight as possible which makes them ideal for harvesting for lumber as opposed to being cut up and dumped in the landfill or chopped into firewood!

    What do you see as the future of the tree in urban planning and design? Have you seen an uptick in support from governments and planners in including more environmental elements such as trees in new developments?

    Trees are only increasing in importance for urban planning as we move forward into a changing climate. Many new developments have trees and environmental elements as a focal point, rather than an afterthought. This is a trend that we expect to see throughout urban planning, especially with support and funding opportunities from government and other stakeholders.

    How are you helping build resilience into Tree San Diego? What is a major obstacle that you have overcome?

    Tree San Diego is building organizational resilience through diversifying funding sources, strengthening partnerships, and growing to meet growing needs. While not unique to our organization, limitations related to COVID-19 were a major challenge. Tree San Diego prides itself on connecting and working with the community, but during the height of the pandemic we were unable to work face-to-face with folks. Instead, we adapted our programs, conducting our training virtually and delivering trees to be planted at individuals’ homes rather than community planting events.

    (Photo: Tree San Diego Facebook)

    Can you talk about your biggest success so far as part of Tree San Diego? What helped you achieve it?

    Tree San Diego was recently awarded a federal IRA Urban Forestry Grant to continue planting trees, training candidates through our Treejectory workforce development program, and building a regional urban forestry management plan. This $2 million grant award will allow us to bring the benefits of trees to thousands of people while empowering communities in priority populations zones to grow and care for a newly planted urban forest.

    I know you partner with a number of groups around San Diego. Do you have plans to partner with urban forestry groups outside of San Diego?

    Yes, we will work alongside the US Forest Service, CAL FIRE, and other NGOs in California to achieve our goals of building a greener future.

    What is next for Tree San Diego?

    Tree San Diego will embark on a path to expand our impact, influence, and statewide partnership. As our team plans to celebrate the organization’s 10th anniversary in 2024, we are currently building models to broaden our shared urban forest and plan for sustainable urban forestry management throughout the region.

    What are the best ways for people to learn more about, or get involved with, Tree San Diego?

    Get involved and stay in contact with our team by joining the TSD Leaflet Newsletter, signing up for Tree Steward training, becoming a Terrific Tree Member, and donating to the cause.

    Want to learn more? Go more in depth here:

    Tree San Diego Website

    Urban Tree Canopy Overview

    City of San Diego’s Forest Management Programs

    Get a Free Tree from the City of San Diego!

    City of San Diego’s Tree Canopy Plan

  • Brewing a Better Future: How Pure Project is Redefining Craft Beer with Sustainability

    Brewing a Better Future: How Pure Project is Redefining Craft Beer with Sustainability

    San Diego is renowned for our flourishing craft brewing scene. With well over 150 craft and microbreweries in the city, it’s become difficult to for breweries to stand out and differentiate themselves — but one brewery has stood out to me not just for their beer (which is excellent) but for their mission as well.

    Pure Project Brewing has a unique niche in the San Diego beer scene. The founders decided to start Pure while hiking in a national park — and wanted to create a brewery dedicated to sustainability, using local and organic ingredients, and using beer as a force for good. Since 2013, as a 1% for The Planet company, they’ve donated hundreds of thousands of dollars towards preserving open spaces across the United States.

    I caught up with Spencer Higgs, Pure Brewing’s Community Brand Manager, to talk about Pure’s environmental efforts, the pros and cons of being in such a saturated market, company culture, and, perhaps most importantly, where to find their beer!

    I’m chiefly interested in the concept of resilience — personal, communal, and societal. What does the concept of resilience mean to you and Pure Brewing?

    Resilience and sustainability go hand-in-hand, and of course, we have a heavy focus on sustainability. For instance, when we decide to brew a new beer, we start with the ingredients, not the style. We source ingredients — whenever possible — by what’s local, in season, organic, and grown regeneratively. This invests in sustainable agriculture and distances us from reliance on foreign or unhealthy ingredients that are subject to everything from supply chain issues to health risks to geo-political unrest. We’re also committed to long-term sustainable business goals that build company resilience, like solar powering our breweries and minimizing water use in the ever-drier southwest.

    Can you talk more about your sustainability efforts?

    For starters, Pure Project was founded on the concept of making beer a force for good. We focus our sustainability efforts on reducing our impact as a business; sourcing ingredients, products, and services with sustainability in mind; and donating to environmental non-profits that conserve, regenerate, and legislate to protect our planet.

    As previously mentioned, we brew our beers with an ingredients-first approach. We’ve also significantly reduced waste and emissions at multiple points in our brewing and hospitality operations. While we do our best, we recognize that we’re not perfect. So, whatever we can’t eliminate, we offset through verified programs.

    But we want to effect change beyond our brewery doors too, so as a 1% For The Planet member we donate one percent of gross sales to environmental nonprofits, among other donations. I can give you a keg full of other examples, but those are the big ones.

    San Diego has a world-renowned craft brewing scene with hundreds of craft breweries in the area. Does your commitment to sustainability differentiate you from other breweries in the scene? Do you think that other breweries are trending towards sustainability?

    Yes and yes. I think it sets us apart in three ways: firstly, a lot of people in the community appreciate that we go to such lengths to do business in a better way. And, because our ingredients are of such high quality, we feel it leads to an overall better-tasting product than otherwise. Lastly, our attention to detail comes out in our taproom environments as well, where we’ve created spaces reflective of the clean, natural environment we’re trying to protect.

    Industry-wide, other breweries are moving in a similar direction, be it for their business or the environment. I think brewers in certain areas recognize that sustainability can help increase customer loyalty, reduce expenses, and stay ahead of environmental policies.

    Can you talk about any pros with being in such a large, mature craft brewing scene? Are there any cons?

    There are both pros and cons. With north of 150 breweries, there’s a lot of competition in San Diego. You really have to be on top of your game here; you need to be good at brewing and at business. On the other hand, the beer scene is very collaborative and supportive. We’ve been able to make a lot of beers with other breweries we admire, swapping recipes and brewing methods, and helping each other reach new beer fans. San Diego is a bottomless well of brewing inspiration.

    Resilience is more than just environmental. Can you talk about any obstacles that Pure Brewing has overcome? How has Pure Brewing worked to build resilience into the company culture?

    Pure Project focuses on building and maintaining a strong company culture which has certainly made the company more successful and resilient. Management has a knack for finding people who fit with our team exceptionally well. I’ve been very impressed with the synergy here — everyone is very skilled, passionate, and collaborative. Successes are celebrated and there’s a genuine sense of ownership and pride, which has helped us expand from a single location in Miramar to five taprooms throughout San Diego County.

    Can you share any examples of how Pure Brewing has responded to challenges or disruptions in the brewing industry?

    The pandemic certainly brought about a huge disruption for everyone, not limited to the brewing industry. Luckily we were able to shift our offerings to meet both the lockdown orders and changes in consumer behavior by offering to-go options and statewide shipping direct to customers.

    Can you talk about the biggest success that you’ve had with Pure Brewing? Any large milestones?

    I think everyone considers the sheer amount of money we’ve been able to donate to environmental non-profits as a massive success. To date, we’ve donated about $400,000, which has helped conserve coastlines, rivers, and natural habitats throughout the country.

    Photo credit: Pure Brewing

    Craft brewing touches a lot of environmental areas — from water (and wastewater), to agriculture, to the use of bottles and cans, to name a few. Where do you see the biggest gains still to be made for the brewing scene? Where have gains already been made?

    Advancements are needed across all of those areas, and every brewery is ahead or behind in certain ones. Ultimately, I think where we have the most ground to gain is simply not cutting corners. We have a maxim at Pure Project: do what’s right even if it costs more. That’s a hard thing for a lot of breweries (and people in general) to do, but it’s necessary and usually profitable when done efficiently.

    What do you see as the future of craft brewing?

    If you ask a brewer, a beer fan, and an economist, you’ll likely get three different answers! But we’re really excited to see what feels like a growing interest in new ingredients (including new hop strains), new styles, and streamlining operations. I think the latter will be where a lot of breweries turn to increase monetary savings.

    What’s next for Pure Brewing?

    We have a lot of awesome beers on our release calendar. You’re going to be stoked, I promise! We’re also increasing our distribution so that we can get Pure Project beers to more people in more places.

    What are the best ways for people to learn more about, or get involved with, Pure Brewing?

    Swing by a taproom for the full Pure experience. Our beertenders are incredibly knowledgeable and can guide you to the perfect pour or a flight of truly unique beers. And when you see how we’ve designed each location, you’ll understand exactly what I mean about how our taproom environments reflect the natural environment. And sign up for our newsletters to stay atop events and special releases!

    Want to learn more? Go more in depth here:

    Pure Brewing Website

    Pure Brewing Origin Story

    Pure Brewing Tap Rooms

    Pure Brewing Instagram

    Pure Brewing Blog

    How San Diego Breweries are Offsetting Craft Beer’s Water Footprint