Meet the Founders of Matcha.com Dr. Andrew Weil and Andre Fasciola
In this episode, we speak with the founders and heartbeats of Matcha.com, Dr. Andrew Weil and André Fasciola, to gain unique insight into the company’s core values, vision, and mission, as well as their unique experiences going into business as two close friends and experiencing huge success during the later years in their life. André and Dr. Weil founded MatchaKari to deliver health-centric, high-quality Japanese matcha green tea. Co-creating MatchaKari was just a natural progression of their 20-year friendship — a bond forged with a shared vision, previously failed business ventures, and a relentless pursuit of making waves.
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TRANSCRIPT FOR SEASON 1, EPISODE 9 | Meet the Founders of Matcha.com Dr. Andrew Weil and Andre Fasciola
Intro: Welcome to the Matcha Guardians podcast brought to you by Matcha.com. Here we focus on the biggest trending health topics of our time, featuring the greatest and upcoming wellness advocates. Now here are the Matcha Guardians, certified nutritionist Diana Weil, and medical journalist Elara Hadjipateras.
Elara: Hello and welcome to this week's episode of the Matcha Guardians with Elara and Diana, where we get to talk with the Matcha.com founders and sponsors of this podcast.
Diana: I am very excited for this one as I am for all of them, but especially this one. We have Dr. Andrew Weil and Andre Fasciola to discuss all things business and Matcha and mixing friendship with business, and they give us some really great sage advice.
Elara: I think Diana's leaving out a little detail as far as the connection to one of the guests on today's podcast.
Diana: That's true. Dr. Andrew Weil is also Dad, my dad, and I will address him as such because I just can't call him Dr. Weil in a podcast or an interview.
Elara: I think that I'm probably going to revert to calling him Andy as well because we have a history as well. Let's go ahead and get into it.
Diana: Hello, you both. We are so excited for you to be on our podcast, your podcast. We don't really know whose podcast this is. You're the OG Matcha Guardians.
Dr. Weil: Hello.
Diana: Dad and Andre, welcome.
Andre: Hello. Hello. Thank you. Super excited to be here.
Diana: Just to start out, because you guys have a long relationship. Andre, I've known you since I was a little girl. You've known my dad forever. Can you share from your side of the story how you guys know each other and how this relationship started?
Andre: Yes. I met Andy through a mutual friend of ours. We were at an Easter party. Your dad was there. I knew of him. I read some of his books. I was like, "I got to talk to that guy. I got to meet that guy." Instead of just being direct, because I was young and silly at that time, I said, "You look really familiar. Do I know you from someplace?" He was like, "Oh, yes, I get around." Then we just struck up a conversation at that point. We had a lot of things in common. Our love for Japan, our love for good food and travel. He seemed like a really interesting guy. I was like, "I think I want to talk to him a bit more." We hit it off from there.
Diana: How many years of friendship are we at this point, Dad?
Dr. Weil: I'm going to ask Andre that. I don't remember.
Andre: I think it's going on 23 years now. I met him in 1999.
Elara: Two-plus decades. At what point did you shift from just friendship to discussing different business opportunities?
Dr. Weil: We did lots of things together. Andre was trying various business ventures that I would help him with. Boy, there were a whole lot of them. There were T-shirts, there was a healing body salve. What else, Andre?
Andre: Yes, I think the healing body salve. I think we did beard oil at one point. It's just been numerous ones over the years. So many and so I've just forgotten all the ones that we tried.
Elara: Of these businesses that are in the business graveyard, what's an important lesson that you learned from one of these failures?
Andre: There's been quite a few. One of the major things that I've learned is that an idea only goes so far. You've got to really be able to execute. Long ago, in the beginning, I felt like I had a ton of great ideas. I was working really hard to work within Andy's organization. I would approach his business manager with these ideas. He was cool about it. I would always look at him as a no-person, but in retrospect, it needed a no-person to work me through these ideas, saying, "Okay, well, that's great. How do you put it in place? What are the systems you put in place? How do you get the financing?" I would just leave frustrated. I think the lesson is just because you think it's a great idea, if you can't execute, you don't really have much of anything.
Dr. Weil: There's a lot of good ideas out there. It has to be the right timing. There has to be a market for the idea. There has to be, as Andre said, things in place to execute the idea. No, a lot has to happen but good ideas are cheap.
Diana: I think that's really good advice, too. I know some of the backstories behind these ideas. I actually think that everything you guys have done has been a really good idea. You've had some really crazy misfortunes that have occurred in these business ventures. I do think it's a really good lesson for people that those no-people in your life aren't necessarily bad. That those people can push you towards the right direction if that makes sense. I think that for anyone out there who maybe has a good business idea and has that no-person in their life that they can actually be helpful and it can help drive you towards the right direction.
Share a little bit about this business venture and how Matcha came to be and where you guys are at today.
Dr. Weil: I discovered Matcha in Japan when I was 17 and went there and lived with Japanese families. That story is told on our website. I began going to Japan frequently and coming back, I'd always bring Matcha back and try to turn people on to it. I introduced a lot of people to it. I was really interested in trying to get Americans to know Matcha. I tried to sell Matcha early on in the 90s on my website, drweil.com, a Japanese Matcha producing company, and was importing it through them. It was just this was an example of wrong timing. America was just not ready for this. It never really got any traction. Then I think it was about maybe 10 years later, I partnered with another Japanese tea company, a very big one, and did a business venture with them of selling a line of ready-to-drink teas and also Matcha, again, on my website.
That was very poorly marketed. The Japanese company thought they could just come into the US and on the strength of their name, sell their products but Americans did not know that name. Again, it was the wrong time. It didn't go anywhere. Through all this, I had turned Andre on to Matcha and he liked it a lot. We were talking about ways that we might do this. Andre, do you want to pick up from there?
Andre: Yeah, sure. I think Andy turned me on to matcha. I think I had my first bowl of matcha in 1999. It's a really weird, unique green powder. It had the beautiful color and the taste was great. Then I remember my feeling after I had my first bowl of matcha, I felt just wiser and more energetic and just really relaxed and chilled.
Diana: Did you feel your beard get longer?
Andre: No, that came later once we drank our own matcha. It was great. It's like, as Andy said, over the years, we've tried to find ways to work together. It was interesting because matcha wasn't really on my radar during the period that he was working with this other Japanese company. I remember being in some of those meetings and him saying, they don't really understand how to position matcha in the United States to appeal to the US consumer. As we started talking more about doing matcha as a business, in my mind, I was like, "All right, well, how do we not make that mistake for our own business?" I remember 2014, I was reading a trade journal that was specifically talking about the growth in consumption of green tea, specifically matcha, in the United States. I think that's when the conversation really picked up between Andy and I about doing this matcha thing.
That was one of the things that I really felt like everything could really line up. The timing was right. The product was right. We're big believers of matcha. We love Japanese culture, history, tradition. I'm like, "I think, a lot of the population in America that's on the younger side really is into craftsmanship and a great story and a great product." Everything came together right around that time, 2014, 15 and 16.
Elara: I think, Andre, we've had some conversations about how important it was to attain the coveted Matcha.com URL, especially when it came to the U.S. market. It sounds like around the time you're talking about, 2014, 15, 16, everyone was really using the Internet to get their information. That obviously, I think, had a big play on it nowadays in a post-COVID environment. What other opportunities do you think have opened for matcha.com post-COVID, after the pandemic?
Dr. Weil: Andre's goal has always been to get Matcha in every household in America. I think he's made some great progress with that.
Andre: Yes, I think when we first started, the goal was to-- because everyone's like, "Well, what's your two-minute elevator pitch?" It's a really good exercise in narrowing it down exactly to what your definite major purpose is. The idea is we want to get Matcha in every household in America. When we launched the brand, that was the goal, but as we found out a few years into it, especially COVID, some people didn't understand matcha or they only had a bad experience with matcha. The idea was we want to get matcha in every household in America, in whatever format people consume their matcha in. When we first launched it, the idea was just to do e-commerce and online business, because that's what I understood. That's what I've had experience with in the past.
We purposely decided not to go into retail brick-and-mortar grocery store channels because it's very competitive. As COVID took place, and people weren't able to shop in retail outlets, the business really took off at that point. We kept getting inquiries from grocery store channels saying, "Hey, we love your matcha. We'd love to get it in here. We're like, "Okay, we might want to try that at some point." Now that we're post-COVID, we are entering those channels now. It was like the perfect transition from e-com to brick-and-mortar retail.
Diana: Dad, you mentioned that ideas are cheap. I think that that's really interesting, because, for me, I'm always like, "I just got to come up with a really good idea." The idea part is hard. It's not hard for you and Andre. What do you think is necessary in order to have a successful business?
Dr. Weil: Looking back on what's happened with Matcha, I think the main lesson there was timing because I tried, as I said, in the 1980s and the 1990s to introduce matcha in America, and there was no traction there. People weren't ready for it. I think that's a major lesson that the time has to be right for an idea. Then, once you have an idea with the time right, then you have to have, I think a plan as to how to execute it, which means having the right help, finding the right channels to go into, making sure you have the right suppliers, how to market, how to finance, those are all very practical questions.
Elara: Andre, one of the things you mentioned is a key to the matcha.com success was how you marketed the business and how you made it accessible. You made this elusive, intimidating green tea powder easy. What were some of the ways that matcha.com did that? Different products that you guys have developed that have really taken off?
Andre: I think one of the things I learned right away is just because I like something some way doesn't mean someone else will like something the same way. We really took a lot of feedback from our customer base, from friends and family, because I looked at myself as like, the only way I drink matcha is just by itself with the best matcha we can get. You can't beat that flavor, but that doesn't mean everyone else liked it. I think we quickly learned that we had to listen to our audience and we wanted that feedback. With that feedback, we were able to pivot, I think, along with the evolution and the growth of matcha, just in the United States. We listened to what folks said and we said, "Okay, let's try that." Then we expanded the product line. We got some other products in, and I think we really were able to put our finger on the pulse of this movement.
Diana: I actually remember that vividly because growing up, my dad would always make me drink-- I've told a lot of the story and then I've said it on the podcast too, but my dad would always make me drink Matcha very traditionally, and he likes his Matcha very thick and very strong. The only reason I would drink it was because I would get to have a cookie with it. When you started being like, "Okay, Diana, here's our matcha, you got to go drink it," you gave me the grace of being like, "No, if you want to put some milk in there, if you want to put some honey in there, whatever you want to do, that's totally fine. Maybe eventually you drink it in a more traditional way," but I vividly remember you being like, "Listen, as long as you're drinking matcha, that's wonderful in that you're doing something really good for your health and it's okay to enjoy it the way that you want to enjoy it."
I think that that was really huge for me because I was like, "Oh, I don't have to drink this really thick, strong, traditional cup of matcha that my dad enjoys."
Dr. Weil: I've enjoyed matcha a lot in Japan and so I drink it the way that they drink it there. In this country, I think many people like matcha lattes. They like to sweeten their matcha. That's fine with me, if people want to drink it that way. We've also noticed that many people who start drinking Matcha that way eventually come to like it just straight by itself, unsweetened. That's interesting to see that evolution. I like iced Matcha also, especially when the weather's warm. I don't sweeten it, but I like it cold with ice in it. I like Matcha in things. You've made me some wonderful matcha desserts. You made some great matcha cookies for me and other things. I think that's terrific.
Elara: There's no doubt that coffee is probably one of the most popular caffeinated products in the U.S. market. Andre, as far as marketing strategies go, has there been any thought behind how are we going to take all of these coffee drinkers and shift them to the green side?
Andre: There's a lot of thought that goes into that. The philosophy is like getting Matcha into the hands of one person at a time. Every time I meet someone, they've had not-so-great matcha or they've had good matcha, I still get them matcha. I think the other thing, there's a really interesting-- Andy could probably tell this story much better than I can, but there's an interesting parallel between Western cultures and coffee and Asian cultures and tea, and I think we learned a lot of lessons from that as to how to approach folks in the States that maybe want to get into matcha. Also too, I think that there's a really strong tribalism that goes with coffee culture and we're like, "Well, how do we tap into that?" It's creating an environment where you can get a great product, create a company that has a great message, that people can really feel connected to and feel a part of.
Then really the proof is once you have matcha, you really physically and viscerally feel the difference between your experience with coffee. I'm like, if we could just tap into those feelings and get matcha to people, they can make their choice. Oftentimes they do inevitably transition from coffee to Matcha.
Dr. Weil: I'm going to say some things that are my personal opinions that Andre may not agree with. I've never drunk coffee. When I was growing up, my parents drank very strong black coffee without sugar or milk or cream. I could not understand why anybody would drink that. Also, I'd never got any stimulation from coffee, so I didn't find it very useful. Anyway, I never drank it. I've also been struck by the fact that coffee for many people is highly addictive and it's a strong drug. There's a great spectrum of different sensitivity to coffee and to caffeine in general. there are people who can drink pots of coffee in the evening and have no problem falling asleep and other people who have no idea that the one cup of coffee they have in the morning is the reason they can't sleep. You want to find out where you are on that spectrum.
When I was actively practicing medicine, I used to say that I would perform one miracle cure a week just by getting somebody to stop drinking coffee. It was all sorts of things. It was stomach pain, it was urinary problems, it was hand shakes. It was irregular heartbeats, and they had no idea that coffee was causing it and no doctor had ever told them that. When people offer me coffee, I like to say, "No, I don't touch hard drugs." I think Andre referred to the-- there are different associations with coffee and with tea. Coffee from the time it was introduced into European culture and in America has often been associated with political argument, with rowdiness, with loud talk. Tea has associations with meditation, contemplation, and the Orient. I think it would be very helpful to have some of the coffee culture in this country replaced by a tea culture.
That's one reason I'd love to see more people get into tea in general and matcha in particular. I think we've had many, many customers report to us that once they started drinking matcha, they stopped drinking coffee or they transitioned from coffee to matcha. I think that can be a very good thing. There is a lot of scientific research documenting benefits of coffee on health. I think there is more documentation of the health benefits of tea. I won't go into that, but I think, tea is a good thing. I think a lot of people would benefit from switching from coffee to tea.
Elara: I just have to slide this in here, Diana, because Diana and Andre, I think they do a bit of coffee sometimes. I know that Diana enjoys her decaf, but since being pregnant, Diana, hasn't something changed for you as far as coffee goes?
Diana: I think the happiest Andre and my dad have ever been with me, ever, has been the text of me saying that I have a pregnancy aversion to coffee.
Dr. Weil: I love it.
Andre: Can't argue with mother nature, right?
Elara: She started drinking more matcha.
Diana: Yes, baby loves matcha. Baby does not like coffee.
Diana: Moving away a little bit from the benefits of matcha, which I think there are so many cool things to this story, is one, that you guys have been incredibly successful business people, which I think there's a lot that we can learn from. Also that you're doing really good in the world by introducing people to something that maybe they don't know about. I know for me personally, coffee gives me incredible anxiety and not drinking coffee, I don't have that anxiety. I think you are doing a lot of really good work in this world, but I'm also just curious when you go into business with a friend, that relationship can probably be pretty complicated. Or has the potential to be complicated or even ruin a relationship. What has being in business been like for you guys? Part two of that question is if there are disagreements that come up, how do you handle that? Andre, do you want to go first?
Andre: Yes, I think first and foremost, we had a long friendship before any of the business stuff came to fruition. I think that that's always been something that was a cornerstone of this whole thing, is a lot of respect for Andy and what he does and what he has done, and if there's some way I can fit myself into that mold. Andy's been a mentor as well as a really good friend and I think that's really helped guide the course of what we're doing and then, I appreciate that Andy loves great food, the best of the best. I think with the matcha, it was something that we both really loved and we shared and we experienced in Japan together and it just seemed like it was the right thing at the right time. I just think having a strong friendship and keeping those two segmented as much as possible, of course, they're going to interweave often, has been key to that.
Friendship first, business second, and then doing what we love together. That really helps make things go much smoother.
Dr. Weil: I watched Andre struggle for years with business ventures that failed and I felt really bad for him, but I always sensed that he had the potential to really succeed and I stood by him, but I didn't interfere too much. It has been very gratifying to me to watch his trajectory of success with matcha.com. It's been, really wonderful.
Diana: What about for you? Has that relationship been complicated at all by your business together?
Dr. Weil: I don't think so. I don't think we've had any major falling out over business disagreements.
Elara: Success is sometimes paved by a road of failure. I think one of the really interesting things about both of your cases is that you've achieved really amazing success later in life. Diana and I are growing up in this time where it's all about, being successful, 30 Under 30, Silicon Valley, all these young guns. As far as achieving success later in life, I know that you guys talk a lot about timing was everything, but I do think that perseverance and some other elements go into it. What do you think really led to the breakthroughs in your career? Andy, you can start out.
Dr. Weil: I definitely struggled for the first half of my life. Through my 30s into my early 40s, I really wasn't sure of what I was doing. I knew I was following my own light, but I didn't get much reinforcement from the world for that. I kept putting one foot ahead of the other and doing what I knew to be right and true for me. When great success came to me, and with celebrity also, I'm very glad that didn't come earlier in my life. I think it would be very hard for personal development to have that kind of thing happen in your teens or 20s. I was who I was at that point in my life, and it was okay.
Elara: Do you think there was anyone particular in your life that helped you stay grounded?
Dr. Weil: I've been asked that a lot. I've had several mentors in my career, but I think really, it's always been my internal guidance, my intuition, and I've always looked within to find guidance.
Elara: What about you, Andre? What do you think was the big catalyst for you, or if there's any notable people that really kept you grounded?
Andre: There has been a lot. I think, obviously Andy, believed in me when there were periods of my life that I didn't believe in myself. That's been really helpful. I think, too, I think we live in this 24-hour cycle of information and content, and I do have some sympathy for folks in their 30s, because all of the pressure says you have to succeed right out of the gate, but I don't think that you're capable of that. There are rare cases where you'll have somebody who does an Uber or a PayPal, and they have extreme success, but they don't talk about the thousands and thousands of other people that don't have success that are just trying to get it figured out. It's like you need that time to percolate. You need that time to develop your skill set.
You need that time to figure out who you are and what you want, to figure out what your true north is. That doesn't happen overnight. I had many, may, many years where I tried to figure out what's my skill set, what's my passion, what do I love? You have to take a lot of up to bat, you've got to have a lot of failure, you've got to hone yourself, and you have to develop grit, and you've got to develop the attitude when you can just not feel like a failure, focus on the positive. There's some magic that goes to creating a business or success. You've got to figure out what that elixir is, and it's difficult to do it in your 30s. You're still trying to figure out who you are, and then you have all the societal pressure and family pressure and those pressures, but like Andy, just finding your true north, sticking to it, knowing your wisdom.
If you keep trying hard enough and hard enough, I think eventually the universe will open up and you'll succeed in the ways that you've worked really hard trying to succeed.
Diana: How do you guys deal with the naysayers? I could imagine that there's been naysayers both with m atcha, people being like, "People only want coffee," but then also, and I guess this one's more directed towards my dad, but people who said that integrative medicine was not real medicine. I think both of you in your own ways have had to deal with naysayers. I'm just wondering how you get through that.
Dr. Weil: For me, there was quite a lot of that early in my career, especially from my medical colleagues. Again, it's just looking within. Knowing that what I was doing was the right thing and it was right for me. I had enough inner strength and resources that that didn't throw me off balance.
Diana: Andre, you gave a little smirk when I said the naysayers, I'm sure you've experienced that too.
Andre: Yes. There's been a lot of people that said, "You can't do it. you're not really supposed to be here. How'd you get in the room?" metaphorically speaking. I think that the ultimate satisfaction is putting your head down, doing the work behind the scenes, taking that negativity and turning it around, and then proving them wrong. That's been a lot of satisfaction in saying, "You guys didn't believe that we could do this. Now we're doing it," and not being a jerk about it, but being like, "Okay, yes, I needed that. I heard you. We disagree. Then here we are. Then there you are." That's been satisfying.
Elara: I definitely find naysayers to be extremely motivating. When someone tells me no, I double down and I go harder. Naysayers, they've been a big motivator. It seems like for Macho.com, but what have been some other big motivators that have driven you to have a successful business?
Andre: I think for me, it's like having an impact on the world and to some degree doing something you love to do. It's meeting all the great people that we've met with matcha. Matcha is a great connector. It's a great conversation piece, and then I think getting to a certain level of success where you're like, "Oh, finally, I'm doing what I'm supposed to be, with who I'm supposed to be doing it with, when I'm supposed to be doing it," and then things open up and it becomes really exciting and fun. You look forward to almost every day, coming to work doing what we do. There are challenging days for sure, but it's really been a great journey, super satisfying and I love the people that we work with and what we're doing.
Dr. Weil: Seeing people love matcha just brings me much joy. As I said, I discovered this a long time ago. I really wanted to share it with friends and family and people I know and with people in this country. I tried and tried and now to see it happening, matcha is everywhere now. That brings me much satisfaction.
Diana: You both have talked about that you have this inner guidance, that you just were able to trust yourselves and that's what got you through the failures and the hard times and all that. I think that that's probably something that comes with age and wisdom is that True North that you were both talking about. Do you have any advice for younger people who may feel like they don't have that inner voice yet or they don't have that inner wisdom or they don't feel like they can totally trust themselves?
Dr. Weil: I think everybody has it. It's just a matter of paying attention to it and coming to trust it. The only way that you do that is by testing it against your experience. I think you have to develop that.
Elara: What are some, if you could come up with, I don't know, a couple of ways, habits you could do on a daily basis, daily rituals to develop that inner voice, what would they be?
Dr. Weil: One is being quiet. There's a famous saying about intuition or the inner voice, "Be silent and it speaks, speak and it is silent." Unless you're quiet, you can't hear that inner voice, that inner wisdom. There's a lot of people out there who are never quiet.
Diana: Andre, is there anything that's helped you to develop that inner wisdom or that true north?
Andre: Learning to strip away the things that aren't true to my nature because we get a lot of societal inputs on who we should be, where we should be, what we should be doing. Like Andy's saying, be quiet and listen, learning what's not working. Then once you start to develop that habit, that voice in yourself, what you really want and who you want to be really starts to be more pronounced. Then you can take action from there to figure out what you want to be doing.
Dr. Weil: I think it's also helpful to spend more time with people who have that and less time with people who are not centered and not paying attention.
Diana: Yes, that's really good advice. What are you guys excited about in the future? we can talk about matcha for sure. I am curious about what you're excited about, where you see matcha going. I'm also just curious from business owners and I think I respect both of you obviously so much, I'm just curious, what are things that you're really excited about in 2024 or 2025?
Andre: Certainly matcha. With AI coming online, I think that there's going to be a lot of interesting opportunities that come from that. I think that the folks that really do a deep dive into that technology and get it figured out, which we're working on within the business, I think will be very far ahead. On the matcha.com side, we're really investing heavily in a type of cafe concept. I think that's really exciting because I tell you, I think one of the reasons coffee is accessible in the United States is because you can get it on every street corner. It's super, super accessible.
Diana: Good coffee too, because you can find Matcha, but it's not good.
Andre: Yes. I think that no one's really done that well. That really gets me excited because again, at the end of the day, it's to get matcha in every household in America. I think that we have to make it more accessible. I think a cafe version is what we're percolating is an attempt to do that. Those are the things that I'm excited about right now.
Dr. Weil: I'm excited about seeing integrative medicine become mainstream. Our healthcare system is in shambles. Integrative medicine is really coming into its own, it's time.
Elara: You guys are both bringing something from the sidelines into the mainstream. How do you both maintain a balance, and I think you both do it really well, of your work, friendship, and family?
Dr. Weil: I think it's a constant juggling act.
Andre: Absolutely. It just seems like some areas of your life are working optimally where others aren't, and you need to make sure that you carve out some bandwidth to equally focus on those areas because I think for me, I feel like when one area is out of whack, it affects the other areas. You always have to steer the ship to a neutral position, and that requires time, energy, and effort, and focus.
Dr. Weil: There's a funny statement that you can have a great house, a great job, a great relationship, but you can only have two of the three at any one time.
Elara: I like that. I think both of you, from what I know, are definitely morning people. You guys get up really early. Has that always been the case?
Dr. Weil: I hated getting up when I was young. My father had to rouse me from bed to go to school, and I just hated that. In college, I tried never to take any classes before 11 o'clock, and it was a really rude shock to go to medical school where there were 8 AM compulsory lectures, but after an initial period of hating that, it really changed my internal clock. Then I started naturally getting up at that time, and for years and years now, I get up when it gets light out or earlier.
Andre: Similar to Andy's story, I hated getting up early, but I think once I started getting into my late 20s, early 30s, mainly because of Andy, because I think he would text me at 4.40 in the morning, and I'm like, "What's the time zone-- Why is that dude up so early?" Then a long time after seeing-- I would look at Andy being incredibly efficient with his time and all the things that he was able to get done. I'm like, "What's the secret?" There's a lot of other things, too, but that's one of them. I started doing that, and I started noticing I like getting up before everyone else gets up. I like that hour in the morning before the sun's coming up, where it's just me, dogs are asleep, things are quiet, I could focus, build out my day, and then after you do that for long enough, you really come to appreciate it.
Then on the flip side of it, two or three o'clock, it's like, "Okay, time to water the plants, go on a walk, do something." That seems to work. I'm a big proponent of getting up super, super, super early, and then also, too, I'm like, you only have a certain amount of hours available to yourself in life, do you really want to spend them sleeping three extra hours? You're going to miss so much.
Elara: It seems that there's a correlation between early rising and success, and productivity. Andy, I think one of the things you told me is that when it comes to your writing, you do it right when you wake up.
Dr. Weil: Not necessarily right when I'm-- but if I don't write in the morning, I'm not going to write. That's my time to be mentally active.
Elara: What about you, Andre, do you find that you're the most productive in the morning hours?
Andre: Yes, absolutely. It's like that's when my brain works the best, that's when I have a lot of energy and enthusiasm. That's my power band, and in the afternoon, that wanes.
Elara: Besides waking up early, what are some other daily habits that you guys have that you think might be a correlation between your success?
Dr. Weil: Going to bed early is another one. I don't understand night owls, I'm wired completely differently. Not eating too late. I like to have dinner by five o'clock, if I can, and it's really hard for me, people that want to eat at eight at night. I like to have some physical activity every day, either swimming is my main one, time outside, time with my dogs, time just to be quiet by myself.
Andre: You took all my answers, Andy. Hanging out with people who are doing the things that you want to do, daily if you can, and that's hanging out, with Andy. I think it's having a routine and a schedule is really important for me. I look forward to that. It gives me peace and calm to know that I've got a schedule. I think being physically active, I think getting sunshine, eating really good foods, watching things that make you laugh, being around people that make you laugh, certainly Matcha, all of those things, and just moving your body. I think it's unhealthy to sit in a chair for eight hours a day in an artificial environment. Surround yourself with, like Andy says, beautiful plants, nice art, colorful things in your home, but really at the end of the day, I think it's the routine and the schedule, starting very early and closing down shop early.
Dr. Weil: Working with plants has been always a big part of my life and gardening. I find that very helpful, both for my body and mind and then especially when I can grow some of my own food.
Andre: I also feel like connecting with your pets. My dog is such an integral part of my day, even though I don't really think about it, he's just there. He's always there. It's like I want to be the person my dog thinks I am.
Dr. Weil: Diana, I didn't tell you this, but Juno, my female Ridgeback, a few nights ago gave me a massage in bed. I was sleeping on my side, I was falling asleep, she ground her head into my back really hard, and then was rotating it, and she went from my shoulders down to my waist, and then back up to the top, and down. She did it three times, it was wonderful. I want to know how to make it happen more.
Diana: We don't deserve them.
Dr. Weil: That was great.
Elara: We don't deserve them at all. Has Diana shared her unmaking the bed daily ritual with you? This is my new favorite thing.
Diana: I learned this from a life coach that I follow, and I love it. In the morning, when you get out of bed, you unmake your bed, so that new energy can come in, if there's any moisture, it can evaporate, freshens everything up, and then when you're ready, then you make your bed. I really like this idea of not just getting out of bed and immediately making it, you unmake it, let it sit for a little bit, and then make it.
Dr. Weil: Unmaking it, you don't remove sheets, you just remove the blanket.
Diana: No, no, no, you just fold back blankets. Yes, fold back blankets and sheets, and then, let everything air out, and it feels so much nicer to get in bed at the end of the day.
Dr. Weil: How long do you leave it uncovered?
Diana: An hour, but you could probably do 30 minutes.
Dr. Weil: Okay. I'll do it.
Diana: Try unmaking your bed. I could spend hours with you guys. I do spend hours with you guys, and I love those hours. I treasure those hours. As we wrap up here, we always have two questions that we end on. I'm hoping that we can ask you guys these questions and just get a little bit more advice and wisdom from you. Dad, we'll start with you first. What is a life lesson that you've learned the hard way?
Dr. Weil: I would say be patient and wait. If there are things you want and it's not happening, just be patient.
Andre: That's a good one. I would say that you have to fail, even though it's really painful during the period because that really brings out what you really want and how you want to move forward. I guess what I would say, don't be afraid of failure, because it's crucial. It's necessary, in fact. Have patience during that period.
Elara: Both really good. Question number two, we'll start with you, Andy. What is a piece of sage advice, wisdom, someone has given you in your life that's really stuck with you?
Dr. Weil: One was love somebody, something.
Diana: Andre?
Andre: That's a really tough one. knowing Andy's story, the lesson in there for me is really sticking to your True North, despite external opposition. I think that's been a really guiding force, is sticking to who you are, even though all of the external is pushing against that part of yourself. Sticking to your guns, so to speak.
Elara: Be yourself, because everybody else is taken.
Andre: Yes, exactly.
Elara: It has been an absolute pleasure talking to you both today, and as Diana said, we could just keep pummeling you with different questions and soaking in the knowledge, but perhaps we'll have another chance to have you on the podcast. Listeners, if you have any ideas or questions that you would love to hear from our guests, drop them in the comments below. It has been an absolute pleasure, and we hope to have you back soon.
Dr. Weil: Thanks for having us.
Diana: Thank you, guys.
Andre: Thank you. I can't wait for the next one.
Outro: Sip, savor, and live well with new episodes of The Matcha Guardians every Wednesday. Follow our show for free on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you're listening right now. Leave your questions and comments below. Find us on Instagram at TheMatchaGuardians, or click on Matcha.com.