Where the vision started
Building altered has been our vision since 2020 following life-changing plant medicine journeys. We spent three years integrating, studying, meeting with the community, talking to experts, and doing our internal work with the guidance of experienced psychologists.
Altered began as a habit tracking list sketched on a chalkboard in the Poconos. During the early days of the Pandemic, we witnessed the entire world being forced inward to face whatever dormant thing awaited them. We wanted to know if there was a way to help everyone integrate their new realizations and build new lives.
Undoing lifelong teachings, beliefs, and behaviors is hard, emotionally gutting work. We want to build a platform to help support this work.
Where we are today
Through our venture studio, Small Great Ventures, we developed a Product Validation Process to help validate social-impact solutions. We outlined a business case and potential approach for Altered and gained the approval of our investment commitment to begin Stage 2 - where we are today. In this stage, we will determine if there is enough market interest to bring the idea to fruition. We know we want this product to exist - but do others?
If you are interested in participating in the beta of Altered, there are two actions you can do right now:
While we can’t provide integration support currently, we are happy to share the steps we took to begin our integration process.
Please note: the following is not intended as medical or psychological advice. If you are in a crisis, we urge you to seek medical or mental assistance from a licensed professional.
We changed our daily routine.
Think of your daily routine as the foundation of the house you are building. If it has cracks and lacks strong commitments and discipline - it’s hard to get the rest of the house built.
What does your ideal day look like? Ours’ begin with these simple actions:
It took us three months to master these, and we often gave ourselves grace if we felt overwhelmed or exhausted. There were many tears, grief, and stories we needed to dismantle. This was just the beginning.
We read these books.
We entered therapy.
Months into the integration process, it became clear we needed a higher power to guide us through the darker places. Navigating childhood trauma, toxic friendships, "spiritual bypassing", and “not good enough” thoughts that plagued our minds required the type of hands-on professional guidance our books and self-taught methods did not offer.
We built a new, smaller community.
One of the hardest aspects of this journey was setting boundaries, ending friendships, addressing toxic family dynamics, and moving away from the life we had previously built.
Yes, it feels insane. It feels crazy. And many folks will say just as much.
For us, if a boundary we set was not honored - it typically meant that person was not in a place to support us in our journey. We reserved judgment and made decisions that best served our mental wellness and sense of self rather than remaining unchanged for everyone else's ease.
We are still on our journey. But, with our well-worn tools.
We accepted when we began this work that it is lifelong. We are not perfect. Nor do we expect to become perfect. Often, the work isn’t the complete removal of the parts of us that are hard - it’s learning to accept it and remove them from the driver’s seat.
What we have learned, though, is new language, new mindsets, and new tools to help navigate the way forward. So when it does become hard and dark, we empower our flashlight, we rely on our trusted partners, we seek help, or we sit on the couch and just feel the feelings until they pass.
We hope that by sharing this, if nothing else, you know that you are not alone. And, we are grateful for your courage.
You may approach your integration totally different - and we encourage you! There is no right or wrong way. There is simply your way. Thank you for doing this work and exploring our little idea in this corner of the universe.
Small Great Ventures (SGV) is not just a venture studio; we are a force for meaningful change. Our mission is clear: we build scalable companies where profit serves a purpose. We believe in the extraordinary potential of businesses to drive positive impact, and we're here to make that potential a reality.
At SGV, we launch multiple product lines, creating a diverse portfolio of impact-driven companies. We leverage operational excellence across all our startups and products, optimizing for impact and growth. Our commitment to excellence ensures every venture we nurture has the resources and support it needs to thrive.
We are committed to supporting individuals who have undergone psychedelic experiences and are seeking to integrate these experiences into their daily lives. Our mission is to provide a platform that empowers users to build new routines, adjust their mental and physical habits, create a fulfilling lifestyle, and navigate the "new normal" after their awakening.
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