Sol Source: Holistic Wellness Sanctuary

INTRODUCTION

 

My name is Ryan. I'm attempting to break out of the dreaded 9-to-5 life and start something that I believe will benefit humanity as we collectively heal from the psychological, emotional and spiritual damage done to us in recent years. I appeal to those of you with strong and steadfast morals, unwavering faith, and a never-ending supply of love and support for your fellow man, regardless of race, religion, politics or other arbitrary divisions.

 

My journey to this point of my life is complicated and convoluted -- suffice to say I have overcome both trauma and addiction -- but along the path I've traveled I've discovered just how much my psychological, emotional and spiritual well-being manifests in the health of my physical body. If this sounds far-fetched, absurd or a bit hyperbolic, I assure you it's not, and there's plenty of resources available out there in the ether should you be curious about such things. Regardless, this fundraiser is not meant to educate or empower anyone in those areas. At least not in this iteration.

 

Instead, what I want to present to you is a more viable, more practical path forward in certain business sectors -- sectors that seem to be suddenly segregating services to certain portions of the population. Thankfully, there's a better way to do business as we heal and move forward together.

 

THE PRIVATE MEMBERSHIP ASSOCIATION

 

Many years ago, I wandered into a business that required me to pay $25 for a membership before I could enter. I thought, 'Man, that's pretty high for a cover charge.' After I agreed to the fee, I was presented with a membership agreement that required my signature. 'This is a rather peculiar way to do business,' I remember thinking to myself. But I signed the form, received a copy of my membership agreement and entered the establishment. My momentary curiosity quickly faded into the night.

 

Years later, I realized the type of business I had entered on that night was not an INC., nor was it an LLC. It was a Private Membership Association (PMA). I only recently became aware of this after hearing it discussed in passing on a podcast I listen to regularly. The mention of the term reignited my curiosity and I set off to learn more about it.

 

In a nutshell, a PMA is exactly as it sounds. Businesses registered as an INC. or LLC are considered public entities engaging in commerce in the public sector. They're governed by the state and its regulatory agencies and their plethora of laws, rules and regulations. A PMA, however, participates in commerce as a private entity in the private sector. Because of this distinction, they're not beholden to the state and its regulatory agencies and that plethora of laws, rules and regulations. Instead, they conduct their business in private, with the association's paying members, under one condition: the private business cannot put their members in any clear or present danger.

 

If you've ever heard of drinking clubs in dry counties (many of which are still located across the country), this is how they're able to operate. Despite local laws prohibiting the sale and distribution of alcohol, the private drinking club can operate independently of such laws.

 

PMAs can cross state lines, operate in one location or many, and operate online. Ideally, this PMA would be able to serve people in my local area (southwest Ohio) as well as online. But this idea can go anywhere. More on that near the end.

 

HOLISTIC WELLNESS SANCTUARY

 

My faith in The Creator, in Source and in Nature is unwavering. As a Human, I know I'm not above or separate from the earth and the natural environment, but am instead a vital and integrated part of it -- which means I'm a vital and integrated part of Creation itself. This knowledge informs my faith in the abundance of Nature and the prosperity it provides every living being on earth.

 

I make this distinction because the business, at heart, is faith-based. I use the term sanctuary literally. It's a place of refuge, where the like-minded and like-hearted can congregate to love and care for themselves and others while celebrating our connection to Source and all provided here for us.

 

At the same time, I acknowledge the body I inhabit as a miraculous creation, fully capable of healing itself if given the proper tools, inputs and attention. I refer to the human body among my social circle as the smartest machine on earth. Every artificial piece of technology ever created has in some way mimicked what our bodies (with help from our minds and spirit) can inherently accomplish. Computers store memory and are now capable of intelligence. Cameras can adjust aperture to focus on images near and far. The oil and gas that flows through an engine is no different than the blood and water that flows your veins.

 

With this in mind and heart, I take a holistic approach to wellness -- combining Mind, Body and Spirit -- and want to provide a place where people can come together to celebrate their own miraculous creation. Heal yourself, heal the world, as many have said before me.

 

THE BUSINESS MODEL

 

My idea revolves around three central tenets, the first of which is holistic wellness coaching.

 

Truthfully, prior to 2020 I was well on my way to becoming a certified health coach with a primary focus on nutrition and a specialty in nutrition for children and pregnant women. However, when the world shut down, I stepped back to re-evaluate my life plans. Was this the right time to make a wholesale career change and venture into the health coaching biz? Frankly, I wasn't sure if it was, based on the reactions I was seeing across the world. But the last two years have actually furthered my excitement and enthusiasm for this endeavor.

 

Again speaking truthfully, I'm dangerous on my own without any licenses or certifications -- the phrase self-taught comes to mind -- but these licenses and certifications bring with them a tremendous amount of credibility that I wouldn't have otherwise.

 

Part of wellness coaching is knowing a thing or two about the nutritional inputs from food that impact your health. Food, however, is just a small part of what impacts overall health. Other energetic inputs -- water, light, air, sound, magnetism; all of which carry their own frequency -- can also make or break your health. I'd be studying and integrating these inputs as well.

 

Second, restaurant and event space. Perhaps the most underrated dietary input is community.

 

If you've ever heard of the Blue Zones -- where residents live extended lifespans compared to the rest of the world -- the one thing these seemingly disparate areas have in common is a robust communal atmosphere. Their social-centric, family-and-friend-oriented lifestyles contribute to their overall wellness and longevity. How else would people from different parts of the world with vastly different food inputs have equally impressive lifespans?

 

What are some of the best communal experiences then? Eating together, moving together, dancing together, singing together, being grateful together. A physical space is paramount to this. I want to provide that space, where locally sourced, organic, non-GMO foods are available in our kitchen; where members can meditate, do yoga and exercise; where members can gather to take in a film or live music; where members can congregate in fellowship with each other.

 

And finally, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). If you survived The Great Toilet Paper Scare of 2020, you know that a more localized supply chain is necessary. And no supply chain is more critical than our food supply.

 

I've been buying meat and produce from local farmers and growers for nearly a decade and kick myself often for not having embraced that way of life sooner. I want to continue to support those local farmers and growers by featuring their foods and products in the brick-and-mortar space.

 

Not only that, but in the long term I'd like to establish a garden and pasture as part of the PMA, so that members can have better access to locally sourced, nutritionally dense foods and learn how to live off the land as well.

 

THIS ALL SOUNDS GREAT, BUT WHAT'S MY MONEY ACTUALLY GOING TOWARD?

 

Glad you asked. Your donation goes toward:

 

 

The first two bullets are set prices. That's what I need to invest in those. The latter two are estimates based on my own research. Of course, the more money I can raise the more services and space I can offer. Any funds left over from one area would be applied to another.

 

IN CLOSING

 

First of all, if you got this far, thank you so much. It took a while to put this together and I couldn't be more thrilled that you read through all of this.

 

What sticks with me the most, and why I'd contribute to this idea if it was presented to me, is that any contribution made here is a vote for the future we want to live in. In a world driven by commerce, our commercial transactions mean something. We've all spent frivolously at times, and we don't realize that these transactions matter. They show what we value most. I think it's time we start investing in our local communities; in quality foods, products and services; and in ourselves.

 

As far as I know, this is a unique, first-of-its-kind business, so you're also contributing to that. What's more, you're also contributing to an idea -- an idea that we have the God-given right to love and care for ourselves and for each other; to provide ourselves and our communities with places of refuge and sanctuary where we can learn and grow together; and to an idea that facilitates holistic lifestyles and healing -- physically, psychologically, emotionally and spiritually.

 

And best of all? Ideas like these will assuredly spread, because ideas like these are -- well, they're contagious.

 

I'll update this fundraiser in the near future with a video of myself, so you can put a face to the mission. Until then, thank you for any support you can give. I'm in no hurry to complete this, but the sooner I can get started on it, the better.