Keith Norris from Paleo f(x) on Biohacking, Business and Burning Man

If you’ve been around the health and wellness world for a minute, then surely you’ve heard of Paleo f(x) and its co-founder, Keith Norris. Paleo f(x) is the premier health and wellness event in Austin, Texas every year, gathering health and wellness industry leaders, as well as companies creating biohacking products, to bring the paleo lifestyle to the 21st century. Interestingly, there is also a beautiful overlap with the Burning Man community. 

We think you’ll enjoy this engaging interview with Keith Norris and Dave Korsunsky about Paleo f(x), holistic entrepreneurship, MDMA and psilocybin therapies, biohacking, Burning Man and more. It’s also about finding yourself at a place in life where you feel you have nothing to lose and building a dream to change the world. 

Whether you’re someone who just enjoys biohacking your own health, or you’re a practitioner working to help people change their health and their lives, there is something in here for all of you. 

This year, the Paleo f(x) event will be held on July 14-16, 2020. The Health Entrepreneur f(x) event will take place on July 13, 2020. And it sounds like there are some after-parties that you won’t want to miss!

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In this podcast you’ll learn:

• About the interesting connection that Keith Norris made when Paleo f(x) partnered with the Health Optimisation Summit in the UK last year, which revealed a greater desire there for biohacking to optimize health. Is this focus higher due to their healthcare system vs. the U.S. where we are more focused on just regaining our health? [1:50]
• That having achieved the “American dream” and feeling hollow inside, Keith Norris left the pharmaceutical job he’d worked his way up the ladder to, and along with his wife Michelle — and co-founder of Paleo f(x) — they shifted gears to create something that helps contribute toward healing the world [6:25]
• More about the exact moment Keith knew he was done working for a pharmaceutical company [8:30]
• After losing their daughter in 2009 and most of their money in the Great Recession of 2008, Michelle and Keith Norris felt they had nothing to lose and dreamt big [10:25]
• About Keith and Michelle’s start in the paleo world running gyms and a paleo catering business in Austin, TX [11:22]
• That Paleo f(x) was born sitting on the tarmac at LAX on the flight back to Austin. By the time they were back home, they had a business plan and 6 months later, the first Paleo F(x) show took place in 2012 [11:50]
• About bankruptcy and the side of entrepreneurship that you don’t see [13:30]
• About the contrast of what Paleo f(x) began as and what it is now with paleo principles layered with technology [14:10]
• In the 2020 Paleo f(x) show, a whole section of the hall will be dedicated to biohacking [17:30]
• How the only way to know if changes are working is to use a platform like Heads Up to layer the metrics and see what is causing the changes – good or bad [18:25]
• Why tracking the effects of sleep, alcohol, and inflammatory foods, etc. and the impact on your recovery ability and overall wellness helps you to learn what specific inputs are most important to your wellness [20:05]
• The top two lifestyle/dietary choices that have the biggest effect on Keith Norris personally [22:00]
• “Paleo is much more than diet and exercise. It’s 7 pillars. It’s mental, physical, spiritual, emotional, financial, relational and tribal. That is paleo.” [23:30]
• In 2016 Michelle and Keith Norris were massive proponents of plant medicine for use in PTSD, depression and other conditions, and utilized a shaman to roll it out on stage at Paleo F(x), uncertain if it would be well received. It turned out to be the most highly attended panel with the highest ratings to date and has been a huge part of the event since then. [28:25]
• Discussion around the use of psilocybin, cannabis, and microdosing and more vs. socially acceptable forms of mind-altering substances like alcohol [30:24]
• Mental health and pharmaceuticals vs diet, nutrition, and nutrient depletion as well as the effect of MDMA on PTSD [32:40]
• About plant based ceremonies for healing like Ayahuasca and Huachuma that works and is cheap relative to pharmaceuticals [34:00]
• The Millennial generation is getting hammered financially – struggling with an average of 40k in student debt (which can’t be wiped clean with bankruptcy) and can affect overall health. The paleo lifestyle and biohacking can help to support them as they navigate the working world [35:50]
• The Health Entrepreneur f(x) came about because they saw a need to provide motivated health driven business owners that were lacking the business tools for successful holistic entrepreneurship [37:50]
• Paleo f(x) is the wrecking ball to challenge the old paradigm. Keith Norris wants an army of heart-driven entrepreneurs to fill that void after breaking the old paradigm [38:25]
• The beautiful overlap between Paleo f(x) and Burning Man communities [40:05]
• “The healthier a person is, the harder they party because that is a natural expression of joy.” [40:55]

References

Health Entrepreneur F(x)
Paleo f(x)
FDA Grants Psilocybin Second Breakthrough Therapy Designation for Resistant Depression
The Health Optimisation Summit 2020
Burn for a Cause Event
MAPS

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