Our Speakers
Alex
Bio:
Alex has been taking things apart since before he could put them back together. He started programming at eight, and works in software development with over a decade spent studying digital privacy, security, and the ways technology shapes how communities communicate and protect each other.
He found the Primal Diet a few years ago and it changed more than his health — forty pounds gained, chronic brain fog clearing, and a growing resilience that shows up in everything from long solo drives to how he thinks about the world. The diet changed the questions he was asking about how to live.
When he’s not at a screen, he’s happiest selecting music for a good room or a good conversation over raw oysters.
Ashley
Bio:
Ashley is a parent-child coach specializing in early childhood development, with a multidisciplinary background in speech-language pathology, literature, and music. A mother of five, Ashley is a strong advocate for the salutogenic model of health and the body’s innate capacity to heal.
Her personal and professional journey has been deeply shaped by a quest to heal her family and herself, including the Primal Diet, movement based learning, and chiropractic education for families through The Peak Potential Institute with founders Drs. Martin Rosen and Nancy Watson.
Ashley’s experiences in the Primal Diet paradigm have allowed her to develop new insights in addressing ever common, complex pediatric concerns including cranial facial distortions, tongue-tie and TOTS (Tethered Oral Tissue Syndrome), and neurodevelopmental challenges including delays, milestone regression, autism spectrum symptoms, and neuroinflammation.
Ashley’s primary focus is brain health and the integrative approaches that support optimal nervous system function. Her interests span models of support for the developing brain, real foods, music and speech therapy, EMDR, and German New Medicine. Her goal in teaching this course and life’s mission is to empower caregivers in building inner trust and confidence as a child’s first teacher and advocate.
Ashley is the founder of Mighty Milestones, a developmental milestone support group for expectant parents, caregivers, and families with children from preconception through age three.
Avyanna
Bio:
Avyanna mentors individuals and couples who are committed to growing themselves and their families with the support of raw foods. She has been on the Primal Diet™ for over a decade and has learned how to overcome many of the physical and emotional challenges that come with change, healing and transformation. Her work continues to redefine cultural norms and challenges the status quo while building deeper resiliency, presence and courage.
Whether you are struggling to find a compatible partner, wondering if your current partner is the right fit, hoping to start a family, want to optimize your health for conception, struggling with infertility, wanting support in navigating preconception, pregnancy and postpartum, have questions about unassisted birth or raising a primal family, Avyanna’s personal and professional experience is a treasure trove of knowledge. Her preconception process inspired a body of work called the Art of Creation, which is a synthesis of the intentional journey that Phoenix and Avyanna embarked on together.
Avyanna is as a licensed Massage and Bodywork Therapist, Spiritual Counselor and Higher Alignment Relationship Coach who specializes in deep listening and personalized care. Her offerings include but are not limited to Fertility Massage, Prenatal and Postpartum Massage, Shamanic Breathwork Facilitation, Process Art Integration and the Wisdom of Inner-Seeing. She also works with in-home hospice care clients, providing Palliative Massage at the end-of-life. Bereavement Massage is also available to family members who have lost or are facing the inevitable loss of their loved one’s.
Avyanna co-owns Blossom and Be Wellness Retreat with her husband, Phoenix. They work diligently to grow wholesome food, raise a vibrant child and growing homestead, provide mentorship and guidance to their communities, all while developing the foundation for a Primal Diet™ Healing Center and Farm School.
Betsy
Bio:
Betsy is the granddaughter of Annie Riley Hale, author of “The Medical Voodoo”, which is a comprehensive early history of the deceptive propaganda used by the orthodox medical establishment to coerce the public into accepting the false narratives and the invasive and largely harmful “therapies” it promotes.
She was delivered at birth by Dr Henry Bieler, author of “Food Is Your Best Medicine”, and her parents raised her in accordance with his advice, which included the importance of raw animal protein, and warnings against refined sugars and salt, as well as the understanding that microbes are not the cause of disease.
After falling into a sugar addiction during her teen years, she succeeded in gaining control of her eating habits and renewing her health as a young adult.
Years later, she read “We Want To Live” and immediately recognized many of the principles she had learned as a child. She met Aajonus at one of the raw potlucks in Santa Monica, California, and was inspired to try a completely raw diet, finding it even more beneficial than what she was already doing. That was over 25 years ago, and today she continues to enjoy the results of careful food choices.
For the last several years, she has been sharing her knowledge and experience of Aajonus’ work with those who seek her guidance.
Chris
Bio:
Chris has navigated The Primal Diet™ for over 8 years. He co-founded Primal Diet Coaching and the Annual Primal Diet™ Conference. He has successfully utilized the Primal Diet™ to combat: fatigue, skin conditions, acne, insomnia, and tinnitus. He has helped clients overcome many of these issues, as well as weight gain/weight loss, depression, anxiety, and migraines.
Click here to check out his vlogs where he gives information and reports on his diet experience.
David
Bio:
As a head butcher, David oversees the process of bringing meat animals from farm to table. He specializes in whole-animal butchery, whereby the entire animal is utilized and nothing is wasted. He also teaches butchery classes, and has a passion for discussing the many misconceptions around meat-eating: notably the notion that animals are the cause of climate change, that eating meat is the cause of chronic disease, and that meat consumption is unnatural and immoral.
Instead, David argues that when animals are raised in their biologically appropriate manner, a system we now refer to as “Regenerative Agriculture,” surprisingly enough, they can be the greatest solution to not only climate change, but to our epidemic of chronic disease and spiritual anguish. David loves delving into the history of human meat consumption and why animals are integral to any properly functioning ecosystem.
David has over ten years of experience working at butcher shops. Prior to that, he was a professional actor performing across the country and on and off Broadway. He holds both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Fine Arts and believes good farming is the highest art form there is.
Debbie
Bio:
Debbie is an engineer and maker. She has a lifelong passion for learning, including university degrees in geography, computer science, and technical communication. She has been involved in governance, promotions, and partnership culture, and was a partner in an edible plant nursery for eight years.
She is currently drawing on her technical and management background as a director of operations and educational programs of the ecovillage’s nonprofit. Her current interests include growing vegetables, fruits and nuts, developing the cemetery in her orchard, and quilting.
Debbie started her journey with fibers as a young child, learning to knit, crochet, and sew, making clothes for pet cats and bunnies, and eventually herself. In the ’80s she fell in love with weaving and spinning, and while not pursuing these crafts for a couple of decades, is excited to bring them to the Primal Diet community.
Jeff
Bio:
A little background info: 20 years ago Jeff graduated from the school of hard knocks. It was a 3 year journey of extreme fatigue coupled with weight loss, ultimately down to 78 pounds! (not so hot for a 5’9 male human)
After 18 months of looking for answers from mainstream medicine and not finding any, Jeff felt it was time to look outside the box and explore the world of alternative health.
After another 18 months of intriguing but only partially beneficial stepping stones, he learned of Aajonus Vonderplanitz and his Primal Diet™, an omnivorous raw diet that especially emphasizes the importance of raw animal foods. Within a very short time of being on this diet Jeff realized he was finally about to graduate from Hard Knocks University! His body grew from approximately 80 pounds to 170 pounds of athletic weight in a mere 8 or 9 months. He could finally go outside and play again!
Jeff was a new man!
Not surprising, this experience forged a new direction in his life.
For the past 20 years he has been passionately observing, experimenting, and learning what best facilitates the health of living things and what most interferes with it.
He has also thoroughly enjoyed and is honored to consult with people looking to overcome health issues and take charge of their overall well-being! If you think Jeff can be of assistance to you please feel free to reach out to him directly.
Kat
Bio:
Kat grew up on the Standard American Diet and does not remember a time before the age of 20 that she did not have digestive issues. In high school, her love for the environment manifested in vegetarianism, which resulted in immense fatigue, inflammation, and mood swings. She subsequently switched to a high-protein, low-fat diet, to try to lose weight while going to the gym. Eventually she completely ran out of energy. She was cold plunging and drinking Americanos with the hopes of functioning as an adult.
Kat’s health rapidly declined after the decision to receive the injection in 2021. She experienced acid reflux, amenorrhea, adrenal fatigue, and hypothyroidism. After several doctor visits, she realized that the doctors were not interested in discovering the root cause of her menopausal state at age 20. In 2023, Kat discovered Paul Saladino, and began to clean up her diet and lifestyle of seed oils and household toxins, added raw dairy and raw liver, and emphasized grounding and sunshine. She felt much, much, better, but still relied on coffee for my day-to-day life. It wasn’t until she discovered Aajonus’ book, We Want to Live, that she began to understand the body in a wholistic way. Her symptoms were not random – she was paying a price for my past mistakes. Kat realized how invested she would need to be in her own health in order to have healthy children one day.
Two years later, Kat is beaming with energy from eating raw animal foods daily. Every day is stable, she has no cravings for sugar and alcohol as she once did, her menstrual cycle is regular, and she has restored her childlike curiosity toward life. Kat is passionate about introducing this diet to the families with whom she works when caretaking, as well as helping her own family members with their health issues. She believes it is important for people to know that they have more control over their health than they may think. Her prayer is that the whole world can learn about this diet so that we can think clearer, love one another, and have the capacity to focus on the spiritual realm instead of being distracted by our poor physical health.
Kim
Bio:
2 words….Life Changing!
Kim grew up in a mainstream household where western medicine was the norm. She worked for some of the largest pharmaceutical and medical device companies in the world. If someone was ill… there was a pill for that. In her mid 30’s she was exposed to alternative modalities, Aajonus Vonderplanitz and his book, “We Want to Live”. She read the book and thought this guy was crazy.
But there was something about it that seemed so right…so natural. After doing a deep dive into his claims, she found the actual scientific research that supported all of his claims…raw meat, raw fat and how bacteria and viruses are not in our body to harm us but to actually detoxify us. In fact, she found over 10,000 studies that prove that bacterial and viral infections are actually our bodies going through a cleansing process. She was shocked.
Her entire family was on medications, had various health problems, having medical procedures, and the like. Kim decided she did not want that for her life. She is now 60 years old and has been on the Primal Diet™ for over 20 years. Kim vacillates from 100% to about 80% raw. She is not on any medications, is healthy and strong and eternally grateful to have found the work of Aajonus Vonderplanitz.
Kim wrote her own book called, “Raw To Radiant-The secrets to radiant health” as an introduction to “We Want to Live” which can be too much too fast for many people. It is the cliff notes version to give people an overview of the science and help people get started on the diet. It can be purchased on Amazon here
Kim currently work as a private health consultant specializing in helping people get to the root cause of their ailments so they can take control over them and eliminate the need for medications. Helping people incorporate the Primal Diet™ is part of her work. Kim can be reached at the following websites:
www.KimberlyLynnWilliams.com
www.Toxicology-Inc.com
Liev
Bio:
Liev studied Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Dalhousie University and was originally on track to become a dental surgeon. After a change of heart, he completed a Master’s in Counseling Psychology and opened a successful therapy practice incorporating wilderness therapy, EMDR, mindfulness, somatics, and related approaches.
Over time, Liev realized that much of the therapeutic and medical system keeps people stuck in the healing process, so he stepped away from that field.
Alongside his formal education, Liev spent years studying natural law, philosophy, and countless healing modalities, eventually arriving at what is known as the terrain perspective. Much of his work has involved questioning and falsifying many of the assumptions we’ve been taught about health and disease. Through unlearning and returning to simplicity, we create the conditions that allow the body and mind to return to balance.
Megan
Phoenix
Bio:
In 2000, Phoenix had his first consultation with Aajonus.
Coming from a background as a fitness trainer, bodyworker, and Ayurvedic Health Consultant, he was angry to find out that 8-glasses of water a day and eating lean meat were not strategies for building health.
Phoenix has been eating raw meat, raw eggs, and raw dairy for over two decades and seen the benefits of eating the Primal Diet™ for him, his friends, his family, and his clients.
Phoenix and his wife, Avyanna, had an unassisted, natural home birth and have raised their healthy son entirely on the Primal Diet™.
They are co-founders of Primal Diet ™ Coaching and Primal Planitz™. They operate a small Primal Diet™ meat, dairy, and egg farm in Southern Appalachia. They are creating a Primal Diet™ retreat center and farm school to connect and support other families on this journey.
Sam
Bio:
Sam has been experimenting with the diet since he was 21 after reading a book called Awaken the Genius. In the book, the author explains how to open your mind to reach your fullest potential. At the end of the book he talked about eating a clean vegan diet. It made Sam realize that something was not right with the way that he felt and it didn’t make sense for him to feel tired after eating. He would catch himself staring and daydreaming all the time. Sam read the ingredients on the food he ate and it just seemed crazy that he was consuming all these chemicals. Sam then decided to try that and eat as healthy as he knew how at the time for a week to see how he felt. Back then Sam ate the same as everyone else, but after eating this way for a week he felt so much better that he decided to eat a vegan diet from then on. Sam picked up a few books on vegetarianism and learned more.
After 3 years of eating a clean vegan diet Sam bought a book about eating a Raw Vegan Diet and that made a lot of sense to him so he tried that diet. He only ate raw organic fresh fruit, vegetables, and nuts. Some amazing things happened when Sam did this diet! All of his senses clarified and became sharp. He felt like he sobered up, a fog was lifted off of his mind, he became more conscious, felt a sense of depression fade away, felt an inner peace, and his self-confidence was raised.
But the drawback was that the food he was eating did not have enough calories, fat, or protein to be sustainable. He was very thin and experienced lowered stamina when doing physical activity. His muscles would burn and felt weak when he rode his bike. After 10 months on the raw vegan diet Sam found that he was hungry all of the time and felt like he could never catch up with his food intake needs.
He began researching raw vegan information to figure out how to solve the issues that he was having. It was recommended to eat more vegetables or nuts or certain combinations of foods, but none of these worked. Sam searched and searched on the internet and he eventually came across an interview of Aajonus Vonderplanitz online. Sam liked being vegan so he thought he was crazy haha! Sam knew he was onto something with this rawfood stuff, he just wasn’t getting results with the vegan path so he thought “Maybe humans are supposed eat meat.” Sam bought his book We Want to Live in 2005, which describes the Primal Diet™. He tried his diet full on. He gained strength, stamina, put on healthy weight, and became more amiable. Plus He maintained all the clarity of mind benefits the he had eating the raw vegan diet.
Sam has been eating this diet for the last 19 years. Every year he is feeling healthier than the year before it!
Tom
Bio:
Tom (with his son Hoyt in the picture) is 57 years old. He has been on the Primal Diet™ for about 26 years.
It was introduced to him through a friend, Phoenix, at a place called Earthaven, (of which he is a founder of) in western North Carolina, where they both lived at the time. Earthaven, an intentional community on 320 acres of wooded undeveloped land, required lots of labor to get underway. Manly tree felling at first. Tom had the skills for the project from being in construction since a teen. The enthusiasm came from the need for a life style change through an alternative approach. The Primal Diet™ was ideal for him (optimal health, more stamina, quick recovery from injury). And no cooking. Which he didn’t want to waste his time on anyway.
Aajonus actually came to visit back in the day. Back then there were more Primals in the community than now.
A highlight of his life is the birth of my son. His mom was introduced to the diet when she met Tom and included (certain parts) into her diet. Hoyt is a living example of the benefits of the diet. Bottle fed on raw milk. He eats raw eggs and meat. But not always. He’s a thriving young man, and adapts to all kinds of situations. Tom is eternally grateful to Aajonus and Phoenix and all those those who are spreading the word.
Three epiphanies that have come to him in his midlife are:
1) The myth of contagion
2) the heart is not a pump, and 3) it’s none of his business what you or anyone else think of him.
Tom can share what he knows and how it’s helped him.
Eat fat and be happy!
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