FULLY ALIVE

In the spirit of Adam Braun’s The Promise of a Pencil and Blake Mycoskie’s Start Something That Matters, Fully Alive tells the story of an astoundingly successful young entrepreneur’s immersion in Amazonian indigenous spirituality and how he integrated the lessons he learned to build a successful, socially responsible company, live a purposeful life, and make a difference in the world.

In Fully Alive, Tyler Gage shares his spiritual adventures and the business savvy that helped him create RUNA, a tea and energy drink company that collaborates with the indigenous people of Ecuador to harvest the “master plant” guayusa, revealing a centuries-old guiding philosophy for building a sacred way of living that he discovered through Amazonian shamanism.

Following these teachings, what began as a humble start-up has now grown into a thriving, multi-million dollar company, selling products in more than 10,000 stores across the United States and Canada. With the help of collaborators like Channing Tatum, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Olivia Wilde, RUNA has created a sustainable source of income for the 3,000 farming families in Ecuador who grow guayusa organically, while also establishing a nonprofit organization dedicated to positively impacting the issues that affect these indigenous communities.

Packed with practical and inspiring lessons, this book offers a comprehensive examination of how we too might become “fully alive,” both in business and as individuals.

Tyler Gage is the cofounder and CEO of RUNA, a social enterprise that makes energizing beverages with guayusa, a rare Amazonian tea. RUNA now supports more than 3,000 farming families in Ecuador who grow guayusa organically, and RUNA products are sold in over 10,000 stores across the U.S. and Canada. For his work on RUNA, Tyler has been named a Forbes “30 Under 30 Entrepreneur” and the Citizen Leader of the Year by the Specialty Food Association. He is also the founder of PlantMed, an organization dedicated to building the world’s first centers for the practice, research, and preservation of Amazonian plant medicine. Gage and RUNA have been featured by ABC’s Nightline, National Geographic, Fast Company, and in RichardBranson’s book Screw Business as Usual.