Last year, Jonathan Harris launched botanical wellness brand KAMU with co-founder Robyn Caywood. We caught up with the Bay Area entrepreneur to see what inspired the launch and what drives him today.
How did you get into the wellness space? While helping my wife through her stage 3 breast cancer battle, we became intimately aware of the pros and cons of the pharmaceutical world. After years, we discovered relief for body and mind with plant-based products, but finding effective products was challenging. This inspired me to find my partner, Robyn Caywood, a clinical herbalist who had extensive experience with botanical formulations, and to co-found KAMU with her. 2020 was an interesting year and an amazing one to launch our brand to bring unique, purpose-based formulations to the market.
What is the mission of KAMU? KAMU is a consumer wellness company developing proprietary clean, sustainable products to assist our customers’ journey to health sovereignty.
What makes KAMU stand out from other brands on the market? We start by carefully curating clean, organic botanicals, adaptogens and mushrooms specifically selected for their unique synergies. In other words, we choose ingredients that not only work well together but boost each other’s powers for the most effective formulas possible. Then, we use a proprietary triple-extraction process on many of our botanicals. This slow, meticulous method allows us to extract more naturally occurring compounds from the plants and mushrooms than with a single extraction. It helps make our products ultra-effective.
What is your favorite product or one that you are particularly proud of working on? I absolutely love and use all of our five products daily (and my dog takes our Pet blend), and right now I’m really enjoying Uplift. In these uncertain times, there’s an added level of stress and anxiety. Uplift is a blend of saffron, lion’s mane mushrooms and a 1:1 ratio of CBD and CBG uniquely formulated to provide a calm focus.
What’s next for you? We listen to the needs of society and our customers, and we have a very strong road map in development… Stay tuned as 2021 has many great things in store for all of us.
Photography by: PORTRAIT COURTESY OF JONATHAN HARRIS
