Adrianne Read

I have lived my life following the summers: born and raised in California, spending equal time between California and Colorado with nature as my playground. Growing up, I took every chance I got to take off with nothing but a camera, my journal, passion and a sense of freedom. Adventure seeking turned into a reverence for the natural world, health, wellness, storytelling, music and the arts. I came up with a scrappy, can do attitude that made me a humble, hungry, curious human.

My obsession to explore, document and satisfy my thirst for culture, later led me to art school where I became immersed in all things surf, skate and street art. I leaned into the world of commercial art and learned how to value it, appreciate it and the people that make it. I worked for Shepard Fairey, fresh out of school, and then Obey: this cult brand that started with an absurd sticker and a skateboard, seeped into my way of being and proved to be one of my most significant influences. I became obsessed with this kind of phenomenology – the process of letting things manifest themselves. Obey, Red Bull, Modern Amusement, Hurley, Fox Sports, Sector Nine, Nike,…it’s a long list from coast to coast.

What I had in common with all these brands is that they started from appealing to consumers human and spiritual needs. Something I have always been attuned to.
They anticipate their wants and needs. It’s all about a strong heritage, authenticity and innovation. They fostered a culture and community of individuals that do their own thing–outliers, a space I have always thrived in. They make content with a cause that challenges the way people think about their surroundings–in turn expanding the collective consciousness. I have been fortunate to be a long for a wild ride and everything I have done in my life has brought me to where I am now.

I found Dakind Botanicals on a sabbatical after of a series of sports injuries, illnesses, and circumstances. I had a frustration with western medicine and had been on my own path of healing, which included remembering who I am and immersing myself in nature and all of its resources. I developed regime of getting outside, moving my body, yoga, Ayurveda, herbs, and natural medicines. The more I researched alternative methods of wellness and indigenous healing practices, the more I found an unlimited wealth of natural healing provided to us from Mother Earth and ultimately within myself.

Kratom was one of the first plant medicines I introduced into my regime. After trying various brands out there, I had the feeling that I didn’t align with their ethos or the way their product was made. Not only is Dakind’s product unadulterated, but they spend their time investing in communities, not for profit education, mental health and research programs. After meeting the folks behind the brand I quickly realized we spoke the same language. I found them to be outliers in the field of plant medicine, fundamentally different from the rest–an awkward band of heroes. I get to work with a company that has a strong heritage and puts a cause before for profit. They are making a profound difference in peoples lives and my own life as they support my continued healing journey.

Along the way, I found the powerful ecosystem of nature to be a profound metaphor for my own myriad layers and unfolding. Nature’s rhythm has always been my teacher and when I take time to listen. There’s a way home for all of us when we step outside and take time reconnect to ourselves, gaining a deeper, fuller understanding of who we are. By reconnecting to nature, our ancestors’ healing ways–our roots, we uncover the layers preventing us from seeing our true self. My calling and mission is to help people return to a time of sanctity, ritual, grounding and connection by living in solidarity with the natural world and one another. In vowing to remember who I am, standing in my own light, I am part of a movement that heals and connects humanity to the planet we live on.