MycoWorks LIFE MycoWorks

In this captivating episode, Doug Hardesty, the Chief Operating Officer of MycoWorks, discusses drawing on his extensive manufacturing experience to establish the diverse team, systems, and processes necessary to transition Fine Mycelium™ from a small garage in San Francisco to opening the world's first commercial-scale mycelium production plant in Union, South Carolina. 

0:03:00 - Scaling up from a garage in SF, CA -> pilot plant in Emeryville, CA-> commercial-scale plant in Union, SC

0:11:09 - Doug's reaction to first seeing Reishi

0:13:39 - Why people take career steps back to join MycoWorks

0:15:19 - Building a passionate team around a shared vision

0:18:01 - The importance of personal interaction in manufacturing

0:22:07 - Building a diverse team from different industries
MycoWorks Talks is a space to feed your wonder and curiosity for a new class of materials. Xevi Gallego, our VP of Brand & Marketing, hosts talks with people in the MycoWorks universe, taking you on a behind-the-scenes journey of unfiltered conversations about our product, technology, our incredible team, and much more.
If you haven’t already, make sure to subscribe to get the latest episodes each month and if you have episode ideas or feedback, please review. We love to hear from you! To learn more about MycoWorks, follow our journey on instagram at @MycoWorks.

“Sustainability means to me being authentic to our hearts and who we are.” 
Mehera Blum is the founder and creative director of Blumera, a company that designs exquisite, uplifting collections created with intention using natural sustainable materials and loved by celebrities like Beyoncé and Lady Gaga. We recently collaborated with Mehera to create the Poppies Octagon Wood Clutch made with Reishi™: a unique, hand-carved addition to Blumera’s popular line of wood clutches that features a perfectly fitted hexagonal Reishi™ bag. In this episode, Mehera sits down with Xevi to speak about this collaborative project, her journey to reimagine the paintings of her late mother, world-renowned painter Laurie Blum, the Blumera bag Beyoncé chose to wear for her 40th birthday, and the search for a new material that led her to her collaboration with MycoWorks.

In this episode:
2:02 - The search for a new material that led her to MycoWorks
3:15 - The search for the best carver in Bali
6:50 -  Living in a creation of love: launching Sanctuary Blumera. Creating with an intention of love.
8:09 - Her next endeavor: filming the journey of creation and her inner story of love and spirituality
9:15 - The journey that led to Beyoncé wearing Mehera’s large Anhinga brass bag and then the stylist that she wore it for her 40th birthday.
12:15 - The object Mehera and MycoWorks created together, Poppies Octagon Wood Clutch made with Reishi™
15:00 - Origin of her mother’s paintings in a devotional practice rooted in Persian mysticism
17:20 - What sustainability means to Mehera
MycoWorks Talks is a space to feed your wonder and curiosity for a new class of materials. Xevi Gallego, our VP of Brand & Marketing, hosts talks with people in the MycoWorks universe, taking you on a behind-the-scenes journey of unfiltered conversations about our product, technology, our incredible team, and much more. 


If you haven’t already, make sure to subscribe to get the latest episodes each month and if you have episode ideas or feedback, please review. We love to hear from you! To learn more about MycoWorks, follow our journey on instagram at @MycoWorks.

This fall, MycoWorks is celebrating its ten-year anniversary, and to mark the occasion, we invited Sophia Wang, MycoWorks co-founder and Chief of Culture, back to the studio for a recap and a look forward.

In this episode:
1:10 – Collaborating with Phil Ross and learning about everything mycelium can do
3:00 – What Sophia today would tell herself over 15 years ago
4:00 – Attending IndieBio as a young entrepreneur
7:25 – Writing a first set of company values as a young team
15:45 – Leadership and mentorship from MycoWorks COO, Doug Hardesty
18:00 – What does “more Sophia” mean?
23:45 – Her first consumer experience of unboxing Reishi™ products 
28:45 – A new factory in South Carolina


MycoWorks Talks is a space to feed your wonder and curiosity for a new class of materials. Xevi Gallego, our VP of Brand & Marketing, hosts talks with people in the MycoWorks universe, taking you on a behind-the-scenes journey of unfiltered conversations about our product, technology, our incredible team, and much more.
If you haven’t already, make sure to subscribe to get the latest episodes each month and if you have episode ideas or feedback, please review. We love to hear from you! To learn more about MycoWorks, follow our journey on instagram at @MycoWorks.

“In the lab, we like to say that our mycelium is a bit capricious; it has its own temper,” says Maud Ohler, Vice President of Technology Development at MycoWorks and fermentation scientist. Maud’s work with mycelium traces back to about 15 years ago when she first heard the word mycelium in a biology class focused on tree/root symbiosis and mycorrhizae, the symbiotic association between roots and fungus. She now finds herself working intimately with mycelium in the MycoWorks tech dev lab on a daily basis. Listen to this episode to hear about Maud’s career in fermentation and biology, the challenges of scaling up our technology, Fine Mycelium™, and the vast opportunity behind mycelium as a material for the future. 
 In this episode:
2:20 - Hearing mycelium for the first time in biology class4:00 - The versatility and unique properties of mycelium5:45 - What makes the Reishi strain unique9:20 - Universe in a tray15:40 - Challenges of scaling at the South Carolina plant18:00 - The mycelium industry in 10 years20:30 - Durability in relation to sustainabilityMycoWorks Talks is a space to feed your wonder and curiosity for a new class of materials. Xevi Gallego, our VP of Brand & Marketing, hosts talks with people in the MycoWorks universe, taking you on a behind-the-scenes journey of unfiltered conversations about our product, technology, our incredible team, and much more. 

“Biology is the new frontier. It’s still the great unknown,” shares Matt Scullin, materials scientist and MycoWorks CEO. In this episode, Matt dives into the enormous opportunity in the materials industry, how mycelium is a uniquely positioned organism to unlock this new frontier, and the challenges of scaling up our technology as we build the new plant in South Carolina. 

In this episode:
2:00 - Why mycelium?9:10 - Biology and brand new tools - a combination of science and creativity17:40 - Fine tuning our product and technology 29:40 - Hermès as the north star-  "the partner that has helped us understand what quality means.” MycoWorks Talks is a space to feed your wonder and curiosity for a new class of materials. Xevi Gallego, our VP of Brand & Marketing, hosts talks with people in the MycoWorks universe, taking you on a behind-the-scenes journey of unfiltered conversations about our product, technology, our incredible team, and much more. 
If you haven’t already, make sure to subscribe to get the latest episodes each month and if you have episode ideas or feedback, please leave a review. We love to hear from you! To learn more about MycoWorks, follow our journey on instagram at @MycoWorks.

“I hate the word luxury. I think we should replace it with the search for excellence and quality,” shares Patrick Thomas, industry legend, previous CEO of Hermès, and MycoWorks’ board member. In this episode, Patrick shares what true luxury is for him, how connected luxury is to sustainability, and his thoughts on the future of alternative materials and Reishi™ for the luxury industry.
 In this episode:
1:30 Becoming the CEO of Hermès: “An encounter”5:00 The definition of true luxury8:10 Luxury and sustainability10:00 Alternative materials, Reishi™ and the future of the luxury world 19:20 Anecdote from the luxury world: The story of a 70 year-old Hermès saddle23:15 Sustainability: “Going back to common sense.” MycoWorks Talks is a space to feed your wonder and curiosity for a new class of materials. Xevi Gallego, our VP of Brand & Marketing, hosts talks with people in the MycoWorks universe, taking you on a behind-the-scenes journey of unfiltered conversations about our product, technology, our incredible team, and much more. 
If you haven’t already, make sure to subscribe to get the latest episodes each month and if you have episode ideas or feedback, please review. We love to hear from you! To learn more about MycoWorks, follow our journey on instagram at @MycoWorks.