Bottling Amazonian Wisdom with Tyler Gage, the Co-Founder of RUNA

OutsideVoices with Mark Bidwell

In this episode we’re joined by Tyler Gage, co-founder of the organic tea company Runa, and author of the book, Fully Alive: Using the Lessons of the Amazon to Live Your Mission in Business and Life. Tyler shares how his immersion into life in the Amazon guided him in building a socially responsible business able to thrive in the hyper-competitive soft drinks segment.

What Was Covered

• How Tyler’s interest in peak performance led him to indigenous elders in the Amazon and how life there inspired him to build a business
• The parallels to be found from the Amazonian concept of wisdom and modern business and entrepreneurship
• Discovering strength in vulnerability and how admitting what we don’t know creates an environment to learn from others

Key Takeaways and Learnings

• How the sophisticated listening and landscape awareness skills that are required to provide food in the Amazon can deliver success for an executive or entrepreneur
• Seeing obstacles as teachers, and how this tribal practice of the South American rainforests is a winning strategy for business problem solving
• How businesses can use their “taproot”, their reason for existence, to create cultures that inspire employees

Links and Resources Mentioned in this Episode

• Tyler Gage's website
• RUNA website
• Get the book Fully Alive: Using the Lessons of the Amazon to Live Your Mission in Business and Life by Tyler Gage
• Get in touch with Tyler via LinkedIn or email
• The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answer, a book by Ben Horowitz
• The Republic of Tea: Letters to a Young Entrepreneur, a book by Mel Ziegler, Bill Rosenzweig and Patricia Ziegler