We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Grant Leonard. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Grant below.

Grant, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

As a consumer, I make every attempt to consume consciously and sustainably. I invest in products, brands, and services that have eco-friendly principles. I believe in the power of food as medicine, and I vehemently avoid food and drink that have artificial ingredients.

In a world rampant with overconsumption devoid of the secular impact it’s causing, I not only feel this is my small way to contribute to the greater good, but also the only way for me to nourish my own well-being in the most balanced and efficient way.

I felt all of this before I got Lyme Disease. Check out the picture of me in a waterfall that I attached to this submission – how beautiful, right? Unfortunately, that was the hike that I came home with two ticks from, and my life hasn’t been the same since.

Rooted in my recovery from this awful illness has been the power of plant-based nutrition, clean and natural ingredients, and holistic remedies. Abundanseeds’ flagship product High-Frequency Green Tea is the perfect example of this.

Our products will never include anything artificial or additive that does not come directly from the Earth. In fact, High-Frequency Green Tea is a loose leaf blend because we wanted to be as close to the original plant form as possible with its 10 ingredients, and to our knowledge, this is the only loose leaf green tea that has the unique blend of ingredients that it does.

On top of the intention behind the brand, we donate a portion of proceeds to various Conservation & Sustainability initiatives around the globe as well as organizations supporting the Lyme Disease community.

This is not even a business for me at this point – it’s the epitome of a mission. A mission to impart whatever knowledge I can about wholesome nutrition and wellness, to help as many people as I can lead healthier, happier, more conscious lives, and to preserve this precious planet we call home for as long as we possibly can.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I’m a hockey player. Ever met a hockey player? If you have, you’ll know it’s less of a sport and more of a lifestyle. It’s hard-hitting, fast-paced, and beautiful all at the same time. And that’s what my life looked like through my 20s. I started a marketing company (The Grant Leonard Group) at 22 and grew a one-person business from just me and my laptop to a full service agency supporting 30+ clients. I also ran Spartan Races, lifted heavy weights, danced at warehouse raves, and even attended this little event called Burning Man. Life hit hard and moved fast, but it was pretty damn beautiful.

Then my entire world turned upside down, sideways, and then upside down again… all from two tiny bugs biting me.

These little ticks gifted me with a plethora of Lyme-related ailments, and in two years, I was bed-ridden. COVID nearly killed me…twice. I suddenly had every food allergy under the Sun. I was in pain from the tips of my hair follicles to the tips of my toenails, so needless to say, Spartan Races, hockey, and even my once-prolific career had come to a painful, depressing halt.

Countless doctors, enough blood draws to supply a small country’s blood bank, weekly IVs, a literal bucket of medicines and supplements, and what amounted to several semesters of studying books, podcasts, and medical research later… I was back to full hea.. just kidding, I was just out of bed and able to walk my dog around the block again.

But what I did have was enough knowledge to teach a class about plant medicine, supplementing with natural herbs, and the power of mindfulness. I’m no academic, I’m an entrepreneur by trade. So instead of a class, I built Abundanseeds!

Abundanseeds is a wellness brand created to provide sips of abundance for the world. Our flagship product High-Frequency Green Tea is the cornerstone of our activation, and this product is near and dear to my heart because I came up with the recipe while I was combatting all of those food sensitivities and ailments caused by Lyme. It is a unique loose leaf green tea blend with functional mushrooms and adaptogens. Its ingredients are organic, plant-based, and free of fake stuff. No sugars, no sweeteners, no artificial flavors. It is – to my knowledge – the only loose leaf green tea blended with lion’s mane, chaga, reishi, turkey tail, and cordyceps on the market. It also has turmeric, ginger, cinnamon, and licorice, so it packs a powerful flavor profile but these are also adaptogens so they help the body adapt to stress. We also offer custom 30-day meditation decks and tea accessories to build Tea Ceremony Kits with. We donate a portion of proceeds to Conservation & Sustainability efforts around the globe, because without dear Mother Nature, none of this would be possible.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

You truly don’t know how strong you are until you have no other choice than to be strong.

I spent my 20s optimizing my life. I started a marketing company at 22 and built it into an agency servicing 30+ clients. I committed to high-performance athletic training so that I could compete in Spartan Races. I studied nutrition and dialed in a regimented diet. I poured through books about entrepreneurship, money, business, mindset, and relationships. All of this with the intention of becoming bulletproof. And the funny thing is… it was working, or so I thought it was. Business was good and money was great. I was excelling in my fitness, traveling, going to Burning Man, and meeting amazing people from all over the world. I expected this success though. I was the captain of hockey teams and an all-conference performer in two sports in high school. In college I held a leadership position in my fraternity and did the world’s third longest bungee jump while studying abroad in Switzerland.

I had persevered through adversity before too. A torn ACL, dislocated knee, broken hand, cracked wrist bone, fractured toes, and ankle surgery all from my beloved sports. Building a business is hard enough, but doing it on your own bootstrap in your 20s is even harder, but I figured it out.

I thought I knew what resilience required, and I thought that I had plenty of experience doing things to exercise resilience.

But then I got Lyme Disease, and it flipped my entire world upside. Fitness? Out of the question when I had an encyclopedia of symptoms and was distressed in every cell of my being. Business? My full-time job became getting better. 5 years; over $200,000 in treatment costs (and counting); hundreds of IV treatments; countless injections, pills, capsules, sprays, and a seemingly endless supply of medicines; 15 doctors (and counting). Recovering from chronic illness was a responsibility I never wanted, as no one would, and it has tested every cell of my being.

I went from being a Spartan Racer and all-around high-performer to not even being able to get out of bed at one point. I was literally fighting for my life every day.

In a funny way, entrepreneurship and chronic illness go hand in hand. Building a company is just about figuring out how to survive most of the time, and that’s exactly what chronic illness life is like because you’re just fighting so hard to have what others would call a “normal” day.

Neither chronic illness warrior nor entrepreneur can take anything for granted, and they both must celebrate the small victories while feeling comfortable with overwhelming amounts of discomfort.

Abundanseeds was born in the midst of my recovery. The brand is the beacon of my resilience, and the benchmark of my battle to get my life back.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I started my first business – The Grant Leonard Group – when I was 22, so the line between “business/career” and “life” has always either been thin or non-existent. And I loved it.

The entrepreneurial journey helped me become a more balanced and resolute human being. I learned how to never be too high or too low, how to roll with the punches that life throws, embrace change, and how to genuinely practice gratitude and empathy. Perhaps because my business/career/life/whatever you want to call it has been a dynamic series of major pivots overall!

Pivot 1: start a marketing business at 22
Pivot 2: move to California from home state of Virginia
Pivot 3: close up my first business to go in-house at a company that just raised $100 million
Pivot 4: get unexpectedly laid off with 30% of the staff
Pivot 5: use severance to restart my marketing business

The Pivot of all Pivots: fall horrifyingly ill right after losing my job

Let’s focus on the Pivot of all Pivots, shall we? The others sort of speak for themselves, but anytime someone writes “fall horrifyingly ill” there is a bigger story behind it.

And that’s how I ended up talking to CanvasRebel today, and why I even have this brand called Abundanseeds to talk about too.

Lyme Disease changed my life, and everything in it. It was an all-consuming endeavor for several years. COVID nearly killed me… twice. The body that once competed in Spartan Races, played hockey, and ran a marketing company was no longer firing on all cylinders like it once had, or really any cylinders at all.

The world really fell away for a bit, and my sole focus became about answering one question: how do I get better?

There’s a smorgasbord of avenues I’ve gone down in this pursuit. Too much money spent than I feel comfortable admitting. Double-digit doctors consulted. More needles in the arm, buttcheeks, and belly than any one person should ever have to endure. More days of uncertainty, pain, and inadequacy than a lifetime of “bad days at the office.” Pretty horrifying, right?

I was at rock bottom at one point. Nothing worked the way it used to, and that extended to every facet of my life. I had to do something to give me a spark when there really wasn’t any light at the end of a very, very long tunnel. That spark ended up being this self-made concoction of loose leaf green tea, functional mushrooms, and adaptogens. I used to drink bulletproof coffee, mushroom coffee, and all the superfood drinks that you see at Whole Foods or in catchy Instagram posts. None of those worked for me anymore. Green Tea became my caffeine source, I was taking a literal bucket of supplements, and was consuming all the plant-based nutrition I could.

One day, while toiling through my morning “routine” of making a cup of green tea and taking my regimen of 30+ capsules and pills, sprays, and tinctures, I decided to empty a capsule of functional mushroom powder into my green tea, sprinkle some turmeric, ginger, and cinnamon in there, and add some drops of my licorice root tincture. I had tried so many coffee and powdery elixirs that used ingredients like this to supercharge the drink, but couldn’t ever find something as simple as a loose leaf green tea with this stuff. Green tea is so good for your brain, your gut, and your immune system, which is extra important for a guy with Lyme. These extra elements took my morning cup to the next level. And that’s when the proverbial light bulb went off.

I already had the entrepreneurial prowess to make this light bulb concept a business, and within a few months, I had an ironed out formula, samples, brand design, and product strategy.

Now, 2 years later, both my body and business are gaining momentum, and the world is starting to take notice.

I’ve operated with this mantra… “when life gives you… Lyme, make… tea?”

In a weird way, getting sick was the missing link that brought it all together. With Abundanseeds, I am applying all the skills and lessons learned from my entrepreneurial journey and marketing experience to a cause, a product suite, and a message that is more authentic, honest, and empowering than anything else I’ve ever worked on.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.abundanseeds.com/
• Instagram: abundanseeds
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/grant-g-leonard-59962860/