Ep16 Jason Croft - Behind the Scenes: The Creative Heart of Psychedelic Source

Dr. Sandra Dreisbach  0:00  
When you find supportive relationships, everyone should be winning. It should be flourishing. It should be abundant. And should bring up your energy, right? There should be a sense of we're both uplifted from the connection. And if you're bringing yourself down or one person down, like it's it's not in service to everyone, you're making something that's a non supportive system. Welcome to psychedelic source where wisdom meets practice in the evolving landscape of psychedelic medicine. I'm your host, Dr Sandra Dreisbach, and I'm here to help you navigate the complex intersection of ethics, business and personal growth in a psychedelic space, whether you're a practitioner, therapist, entrepreneur, or simply curious about this transformative field, you've found your source for authentic dialog, practical resources and community connection. In each episode, we'll dive deep into the stories, strategies and ethical considerations that matter most to our growing ecosystem, let's tap in to our inner source of wisdom and explore what it means to build a sustainable and ethical, psychedelic future together. The information

Speaker 1  1:11  
shared on this podcast, our website and other platforms may be triggering for some viewers and readers and is for informational, educational and entertainment purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical legal or therapeutic advice. While we explore topics related to altered states of consciousness, we do not endorse or encourage illegal activities or substance use. Always research your local laws and consult qualified professionals for guidance. The content provided is as is, and we are not liable for any actions taken based on the information shared. Stay supported and informed. Act responsibly and enjoy the podcast

Dr. Sandra Dreisbach  1:42  
on this episode of The psychedelic source, it is my honor and privilege to have Jason Croft. And Jason Croft, if you may not know, he is my video editor and also helped to co create the original episodes and some of the thought and the reflection around what psychedelic source is today, and his creativity, his heart, his talent is, is so key to this show. One of the things I love about him as a person is, first of all, just, we just have a good time talking. And you'll hear about this in this episode, but, but also the fact that he was a, he's a voice who doesn't have that background in psychedelics and plant medicines. And I've you know in the editing process, he he makes the main editing calls, and including, like the clips that are chosen to feature. I really love the fact, since we're trying to here in psychedelic source, bridge between worlds and communities and help people understand from different perspectives, the fact that Jason comes from this, this not not coming from the psychedelic background, but but still has a lot of things that I feel are so essential about really coming into higher integrity with psychedelics and plant medicine, which to me includes being in relationship with nature, being able to capture it, to be able To speak to it. And as they say, a picture speaks 1000 words, and in that, he is quite proficient. So I'll leave that there. Let the episode primarily speak to its for itself and and in our conversation. But this is another behind the scenes sort of episode for transparency, but also to just uplift another, you know, unsung hero, where none of us does anything by ourselves. We do it in collaboration. We do it in community. And let's all lift each other up. Enjoy the episode. Well, I cannot tell you how excited I am today to welcome Jason Croft to psychedelic source. And if we're really going to talk about sourcing the psychedelic source, this is literally the source. It's Jason and I the psychedelic source in a lot of ways. And I know I've already done an intro at the beginning, but Jason, maybe you want to talk a little bit about who you are in your work, before we get into the the NIT and gritty about about our working relationship,

Jason Croft  4:24  
yeah, absolutely happy to be here and jump in on this. So fun. Glad, glad you had me on, and happy to talk, gosh, happy to talk about myself anytime,

Dr. Sandra Dreisbach  4:36  
like you can hear everyone. Isn't he an amazing radio voice, and by the way, he does his own podcast,

Jason Croft  4:43  
that's right, several of them, because I need to hear the sound of my own voice as much as possible. Yeah,

Dr. Sandra Dreisbach  4:52  
yes, clearly, yeah, that's why anyone goes into podcasting, right? This is all about hearing our own voice, that's right. Um, but yeah, I

Jason Croft  4:59  
don't need an audience. Yes, I just need to listen as I go to sleep each night and just listening to the sound of my own voice. So yeah, I've been in the media side of things, from video, film, movies, events, podcasting, of course, for 33 years now. Wow, doing all that. So that's that's been a through line for sure. Jumped in front of the camera to do the podcasting thing about 10 years ago now for the first time, and that just lit something up for me. I think it was the combination of maybe putting myself out there a little bit and things like that, but mostly it was this, doing this right here, like we're doing today, and connecting, connecting and chatting and talking, yeah, and pulling people's stories out. And I did it as a marketing initiative for the production company I was working for at the time, and wow, it just that worked, but also it just turned a switch on for me, and I've done some kind of show ever since, and have an absolute blast doing that and now helping clients do that for themselves and really taking it. And I'm sure we'll get into some of that too, as we started psychedelic source. You know for you that it goes so far beyond just okay, here's a podcast check. We go a lot deeper. And that's, oh, that's, that's the fun part of this, as well as really making it valuable from a business perspective and connection perspective and all of that as

Dr. Sandra Dreisbach  6:49  
well. Yeah, absolutely. And as everyone can see, probably from the background, you can literally see strategy in action. And I remember when I had my first meeting with you and seeing that that it wasn't just about, you know, literally, not just about talking the talk. It's about walking the walk and actually having real action. I mean, I'm sure it's probably meant more in a media sense, but but still, like that pragmatics aspect, and I really appreciate that about you, that that already told me that you, as a person, as a as in terms of your character really showed up, not just in ideas, but in practice. Thank you. You're welcome. No, it's very true. But maybe you could speak a little bit more about about your background, about, you know, well, you know, I remember you telling me a little bit about doing a wildlife, animal footage and filmmaking. Can you talk a little bit about, you know, your work in filmmaking?

Jason Croft  7:45  
Yeah, on both of those things. So the wildlife, the animal stuff that was there was a period of a few years there, doing a lot of those projects, just the most fun I think I've ever had, started with this reality show pilot. So I was still back in Texas, and we, you know, this wildlife place called snake farm, going through there, being in the cages, being with the animals, all these exotic animals and stuff. And then another half of that shoot was that in a place called shakarosa Scott, amazing guy owns that. And then being there with his bears and all kinds of crazy animals, and we shot a movie there. He and I went to Alaska together. We were chasing bears running through the forest there. So it was, there's just a lot of fun. There's just something about that too. I mean, that talked about that, you know, a switch being on. That was another big one for me, just being around all the animals and stuff like that, that was a lot of fun. And, yeah, movies, the movie side of things. I mean, that was a passion for me from high school and being in little small town Texas, not having a clue, like I just had this poll, I wanted to make movies, so I'm going through the phone book my senior year, like looking at video production companies, right? And like, totally different, insanely opposite ends of the spectrum world, you know, but I know, so I was just going through there, and I ended up getting an internship there with a production company I worked for for five years, and that just led into a whole career. So it was kind of parallel careers. And went to college, and happened to, you know, fall into this little school that had this actual, real amazing filmmaker, Andy Anderson, who sold a movie to universal, really done this stuff. And so I had these parallel tracks of filmmaking and kind of the core. Corporate Video and event side going for several years. And then, you know, again, I keep referencing, sort of the passion in the switch. Well, that switch for filmmaking just went off around 2010 or so. For some reason it was really strange, it was. And so there was kind of this moment of, like, what do I do now? Like, like, my entire world has been this, and what filled that a lot was business and specifically marketing. There was just this pull towards that, and that sort of filled that. And so now kind of bringing everything together a little bit, you know, certainly the media and video side of things, podcast, the connection storytelling, but really this passion for connection and connecting? No, there's just something, something about it.

Dr. Sandra Dreisbach  10:51  
No. And I love that because, like, whether it's wanting connecting through a medium, right? You know, you know, even though you're connecting with the animals and being out in the wilds of Alaska, right? You're using a medium, or whether you know, you're connecting with people through marketing, right? The marketing is, is, is supported through the the mediums that you're creating and CO creating. So I love that you know different, different kind of wild animal, I guess that'd be on the internet. Yeah. But I'm also curious, like, because you, I mean, even though I haven't seen you interact with animals and and nature, but like, I think another thing that really drew me to you, versus someone else to work with, is this sense of connection with with nature and and obviously, you, enjoyed doing your work with, you know, when you were doing the filmmaking in the wilds, as it were, as well as with the cages and the different you know. So I guess it was it. Was it like a zoo? I can't it. Was it more of like a preserve of some sort, you know, in Texas. But I'm curious about, like, Where did your origins come from? What's the source for you in terms of relationship to to nature or to to plants and animals?

Jason Croft  12:07  
I don't know, honestly. I mean, you know, I grew up, we had some we had space, we lived in Acre, you know, had pets and things like that. And so it was always outside. Definitely, that generation that's like, No, you go outside. So that was, that was always there but, but there was, I've had this pool for the mountains specifically, so I'm in Colorado now. I tell people all the time I'm an obnoxious Texan still in my

Dr. Sandra Dreisbach  12:38  
soul, but I don't know. I mean,

Jason Croft  12:42  
these mountains, I needed them big time. I took in when I was still in college, I took three of my good friends had moved out, had all moved out here, different areas Colorado. So one summer, I took a road trip around and made that tour. And ever since, I was like, I've I gotta get there. Like, there's just something. I mean, being in Alaska, of course,

Dr. Sandra Dreisbach  13:06  
Alaska, gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. Yeah,

Jason Croft  13:09  
going to Zurich. There were some mountains the, yeah, the Banff in Canada, that was the most pull towards mountains like I've ever seen. There's just something to that. I think, I think it's like a Beatles and Elvis thing. You're either more mountains or more ocean, as far as your like love. And for me, it's mountains. It's just,

Dr. Sandra Dreisbach  13:32  
oh no, we can have a discussion. I would have probably identified for a long time as being more ocean, but, but, obviously, I live on the Santa Cruz Mountains, but it's not like a white capped mountain, like, but, but really like being in relationship and, and especially if I think about some you know, traditional medicines and traditions you know, and the relationship with the spirit of the mountain and, and how, you know, or like, how APUs are known to be, sort of like watching over you. You're born under a particular mountain that is always forever, the mountain that that looks over you to an extent, right? You have a relationship, whether it's conscious or not, and that you come under some other mountains, right, you know. And then, then there's a, there's a sense of the spirit of the mountain is still looking over you. And I think there's a, there's a must, at least be a felt sense of this, like, whether you're in, like, you know, Mount Rainier in Olympia, Washington or Seattle, right? Or the, you know, Mount Hood, or, like, you know. And actually, I don't know the names of the the Colorado mountains, what, what would be some of the names of the mountains in Colorado.

Jason Croft  14:44  
The one close to me is Pikes Peak, one of the one of the 14,000 foot ones and stuff. And I don't know a lot of them for sure, other than just you know the range, the Rocky Mountain Range,

Dr. Sandra Dreisbach  14:56  
well, what about what now? Now, let's be honest. Like. So obviously this is psychedelic source. What? I suppose it wouldn't surprise you for me to ask a question about your relationship with psychedelics and plant medicines, if you feel comfortable talking about

Jason Croft  15:13  
them. Yeah, none, zero, which is interesting too. You know, being a part of this and being still drawn to your show, your guests, you putting this together? Because, yeah, there's been zero, you know, zero interest. And I would say there's a little bit of interest the last few years, but no use at all.

Dr. Sandra Dreisbach  15:37  
Yeah, and I actually, and I actually know I said this to you personally, but I've actually appreciated that, because I feel, at least in terms of psychedelic source, to have a perspective of someone who doesn't have that kind of relationship with psychedelics or plant medicines grounds the conversation in a particular way that that I can't provide. Basically, it's a perspective I can't provide. And and for those of you who don't know, I mean, other than, of course, you know, working with Jason on the on the creation, I mean, we even talked together on the on the name of the show, and brainstorming and trying to get a sense of what my vision was. And we could talk a bit more about that, but, but just in terms of, like, my own accountability and transparency, right? That I actually really loved the fact that you were the one editing and even choosing the clips right, because, other than obviously having a nose for film and editing, but also for marketing, but also what you would be curious about, and what you think would catch people's eye or interest as as someone who already is from a perspective, like, I don't, I don't work with psychedelics. Like, you know, you're open, you know, in terms of the fact of the conversations and find value in it. What? What more could you say about, you know, the process of working with me on this particular project.

Jason Croft  17:04  
Yeah, I really appreciated your openness with that. I think both from having me involved when I don't have that background and perspective. And I think there was some, there was both sides of that right, like, obviously I'm I'm sitting going, like, Hey, I don't know this, this and this. So guide me here, you know, as I but as I push the boundaries, maybe on hey, I'd love to focus on business here, or this kind of language here, and for you to give me that like, Well, folks in this world will shy away from this, this, and you know, just that back and forth, which I think was great, because it's, I think it's a good lesson for us both, And maybe the listeners as well, that that openness. Sometimes you're going to be involved with something sure that needs that industry knowledge and expertise. But over and over again, I've seen when you can take the knowledge or maybe practice from another industry and apply it to yours that you're going after and nobody else is doing because, oh, this is how we do it. I can open up so many things. And I really appreciated that about you, that you were open to that. Hey, let's let's look here. Let's look there. Let's think about that. And really it was just an easy way to work. Yeah, I

Dr. Sandra Dreisbach  18:43  
couldn't agree and but I will say also that you're very talented and in this and you're easy to work with, right? Give yourself more credit on your own openness and being because, like I mentioned, some people wouldn't even consider my project

Jason Croft  19:00  
especially, so yeah. I

Dr. Sandra Dreisbach  19:01  
mean, I don't know. I mean, I like to think that just amenable, but like,

Jason Croft  19:07  
maybe just like this the taboo nature or something, maybe of

Dr. Sandra Dreisbach  19:11  
it the taboo nature, because, you know, psychedelics aren't legal everywhere. Greta, this is a legal conversation, you know. But, and actually, maybe this would be an interesting thing for us to comment on briefly, like right now, there's a lot of communities, organizations and businesses that when, when a certain platform, I can't, I won't name them, went through and change their algorithms. Many of them got flagged in the psychedelic space, and had their content removed and blocked, right? And they were and I'm not talking about ones that were doing illegal actions. There were ones who were doing legal activity, and they got flagged by the systems and the algorithm, and it's certainly in a concern for people in the psych. Delic space about how do we approach media and marketing, given the fact that we use words that can sometimes be there could be good reasons for flagging it, but then we it creates this barrier to education and content and access. So I'm curious, from your media and marketing perspective and your background with over 30 years in this industry, you know, you know what sort of what thoughts or reflections or even ideas could you give people who might be picking this up, who are in the community about, you know, what could help them in their in their media or their marketing, especially in this space?

Jason Croft  20:39  
Yeah, I think no matter what industry you're in, especially on the fringes like that, you there's just a certain level where you have to just play in the sandbox of the linkedins, the Facebooks, the Twitter, you know, whatever platform that is. And as frustrating as it, I mean, I'm not in any kind of crazy fringe, you know, niche at all with what I do, and I'm still frustrated. I'm frustrated at their approach and how things can get, you know, smashed down that it just doesn't make any sense. And so, and in fact, our our mutual friend, we have to give a shout out to Gary Rodriguez who introduced

Dr. Sandra Dreisbach  21:23  
us. Gary Rodriguez connected to us. Hey, Gary,

Jason Croft  21:26  
absolutely. And I bring him up because he's had to deal with that running ads to his, you know, resolution technique, just to mention the word trauma, like, just to say that word in its title, he can't run at like, it's just, there's just silly stuff that we have to navigate and like it or not, like that's where we have to play. So how do we do that? Well, in Gary's instance, he renames his main, you know, it's still the same solution he's providing. He renames it, right? He plays in that, in that world a little bit, for a good lesson for anyone, no matter what niche. And we hear it over and over again, but we get lazy. Maybe we don't do it, getting people into your own ecosystem as quickly as possible and as much as possible, so that you are in as much control as you can be, and so you play in LinkedIn sandbox or Facebook or whoever, but drive people into your school community, your newsletter, your email list, anything that you can to then Talk a little more openly, so maybe we talk symptoms, problems, pain points, General, over in the sandboxes, and then we talk solutions on our own platforms. So that's those are just some rules of thumb that I think that's really good advice. I think

Dr. Sandra Dreisbach  22:59  
that's really good advice. I think that's really good advice, and I think that's what a lot of people have understood. Like, the only way to really assure that your messages get to your people is to be able to have them, to be able to receive it directly from you, you know, and that you can't rely on other people's sandboxes,

Jason Croft  23:19  
yeah, and to take in, because it's so easy for us to get frustrated, but at the same time, there's always been some kind of gatekeeper. There's always been some barrier, whether, whether it was a gatekeeper in the past or it was money, how do I mail these people some information, or just access at all. So it's hard to do just human nature, right? We get used to, hey, this thing, and then it gets taken away, or it gets it changes around. But it's a nice to have, it's nice to have that little reminder at times so that we can, you know, okay, that's right, we're still better off than we were. Let's yeah, let's get creative

Dr. Sandra Dreisbach  24:01  
access. Like, it's way easier for people to share their own content and their own media on the platform. So you've done this work for over 30 years, and there's obviously been a lot of changes in how people communicate, and there is a lot less barriers to entry in terms of people entering in this medium, right? Like, lot of people don't have experiences like, all that you need is, like, just pull out your phone, right, and then you can record what, what kind of other sort of like, skills and mastery tips would you? Would you generally tell people in terms of, like, if they're trying to share their own social media or their own message online?

Jason Croft  24:38  
Yeah, I think just doing it more than anything, like, don't think about it and just post do go. It's the only way you're going to get to that point that you're seeing everybody else at. You know that, oh, man, killing it with whether it's. A number of followers, or just quality of posts or videos or YouTube channels. And it's so easy to say, but there's just, there's no substitute for it, and it really is a great thing that it is so easy to do and to start because we are humans and we're wired the way we are. There's, there is a commoditization that has happened on the video side of things, and all of that for been happening for a while. But at the same time, when you talk about percentages of people who are actually doing it, it's tiny, tiny, tiny. Who actually start a podcast, a video podcast, especially and and keep it going or posting online at all on any of the social channels, on starting a YouTube channel, it's so minuscule, so tiny, that you have this opportunity to stand out, especially from where I come from, the people, people I work with most of the time in this B to B space. They're in industries that, I mean, nobody's doing this, right? It feels like, once you start down that road, it feels like everybody's got a podcast, everybody's got, yeah,

Dr. Sandra Dreisbach  26:21  
no, definitely have that. I definitely have that. Like, someone's like, oh, how many subscribers? Like, I can't even track the subscribers in the normal way, because, like, there's so many different platforms that the podcast is on, right? I'm like, you know, we've only done, like, I don't know what, 16 episodes at this point in time, of us talking and, and, and I'm like, well, maybe there's like, a, you know, like 30, maybe, you know, like on one, on like on YouTube, or something like, but I only like, I'm like, I haven't even looked on the other platforms. Like, there's like, I heard radio, there's Apple podcasts. You know, that, you know, YouTube has its own like on and there's so many different choices now, even as someone who's a creator, to try and support the different communities of interest is a challenge in of itself.

Jason Croft  27:07  
Yeah, it is. And that's, that's also, I mean, one of the early, probably the first discussion that you and I had, I tell people all the time like my focus is on the show, and that person you're across from, yeah, that's the win, right there. Yeah, everything else is gravy. Now, I'm not trying to pretend like, Oh, I could get, you know, a million followers if I wanted to, but I don't know, I would love it. You know, I want to crack that code. I want to have millions of people, you know, listening to my show every every month, right? Of course, we all do, and we should. That's fine, but I want to make sure that there are wins all along the way. Right? I want to make sure that the show that we construct, whether it's mine, whether it's the clients, is a win from episode one, right? Because otherwise, if it's not supporting you, your business, or both in a financial way, in a network building way, in some way, you see tangible results, you just won't stick with it. None of us will right, whether you're paying for it, whether you're doing everything yourself, you're investing either a ton of time or money and time, and if there aren't any results, if it's, if it's, you know, three months in, and you're like, Well, I don't, I mean, it's cool to be out there, I guess, you know, that doesn't do anybody any good, right? So that, I mean, again, first discussion you and I had, that's what I kept pulling from. It was like, what's what's going to make this show a win for you both, for your business. That's why we dug in. What do you what are you really wanting to build business wise? And so let's make sure this show, in some way supports that for coaches I work with a lot of times, it's, it's super easy, super simple. It's a direct, well, yeah, like, we can bring on their ideal client. We can bring on strategic partners, if somebody hires them from those interactions, boom, easy. Sometimes it's not a clear, hey, I don't want to sell something from the show, necessarily. So there's maybe a step or two in between. There's all kinds of ways to do that, but in my opinion, those need to be there, or you just, you won't stick with it.

Dr. Sandra Dreisbach  29:35  
And I love that, because, like, I feel like, really, in terms of, like, the source of the source here, you know, really grounding it first of all, and just that, that win, win. Win, win. My like, everything should be a win. Everything should be supportive, like, and I see that as, like, an ethical approach, right? You know that, that even from the beginning, you know, whether we're talking about the first episode or in terms of the content, or is it supportive for you? Is it supportive for me? You know? Is it actually creating a. A healthier ecosystem of relationship for everyone, I think, you know, then, then, regardless of a subscriber count, other things like that, you know, it's, it's serving you, and it's serving your community and the interest of what you're trying to support, and and everyone's supported by it, you know.

Jason Croft  30:19  
And that's, and that's and that's the thing that I know you and I have had this discussion as well, that I'm just baffled by people who on either side, who feel like it needs to be these silos of, right, you're gonna do business and make money, or you're gonna do good in the world. And it's baffling to me that people even think in those terms. When it's, it's this, I mean, that's right, what does one have even to do with the other? Other than that, you support each other, like it's,

Dr. Sandra Dreisbach  30:55  
you can never be a win, lose paradigm, people and like, in there, and that does, it's not even like work, you know, like, it's not even just not reciprocal. It's, it's toxic for everyone, and that to have that mindset, it it just, it just harms everyone. And it's actually just not true, right? No one is ever really separate from anyone else. And and even if, in your mindset, you think, Oh, this is business, or this is that, you know, it's not the reality of it, and I do have to say, like, from the beginning, like we had a natural connection in terms of relationship and talking and conversation, it was always easy. And for me, that's always a sign that it's a supportive relationship and friendship, you know, beyond, because I always, I'll tell people like friendship first, everything else, extra and

Jason Croft  31:49  
well, and just to comment on that a little bit too sure, to call out also that it's okay if it's not, that's right there, and you go your separate ways. Yeah, right, because, because I do. I feel like you do like, and I'm not in this sort of like, oh, Kumbaya, and we all have to get along before you can do business. Yeah, I mean, but it's but, but as you go along, it's like, why wouldn't you want to work with folks who you enjoy working with. There is just a connection stuff, because you can anybody can do what they want, like you can work with those folks who you don't connect with, but it's going to just be hard, yeah, I

Dr. Sandra Dreisbach  32:39  
mean, this is the thing. It's like, if it's not a good match, it's not a good match. Like, do you force yourself to date people who aren't a good match? Yeah. I mean, like, maybe some people do, you know? Like, that's the same thing. It's just like, you know, like, well, I'm like, like, it's like, maybe a better example would be, like, Okay, you're having the black licorice ice cream that you don't like when you could have just chosen the chocolate that you do like, like, Why? Why would you, you know who's waiting like, you know, the ice cream seller doesn't care what you're purchasing, necessarily. Maybe they had a special on the black licorice. Not that there's anything bad with black licorice, people, that's

Jason Croft  33:15  
horrendous. And if you eat that, there's something wrong with you. Yes, I will judge you all day long,

Dr. Sandra Dreisbach  33:23  
but I mean, but it's like, I mean, like, you know, or finding the right therapist, or finding the right psychedelic practitioner, maybe I can slip this in, in here, right? That, like, when you find supportive relationships, that everyone should be winning, it should be flourishing. It should be abundant. And should bring, ideally, in my world, you know, bringing up your energy, right? There should be a sense of, we're both uplifted from the connection. And if, and if you're bringing yourself down, or one person down, like it's, it's not in service to everyone, you're making something that's a non supportive system. And it doesn't mean that they couldn't be the perfect for for someone else, right? It's just like, oh, you know, we just, you know, like in we could even make it about politics or anything, you know, religion, like, it's like, well, maybe we're just, we're just not in alignment enough to be able to, you know, or only to this extent, right? Like we're alignment to this far, you know, like having healthy boundaries, right? And, but I just appreciated, and I'm grateful that that this is one of those ones that just like was so natural, so easy, naturally supportive and creative, and it really felt like a partnership from the beginning and working with you and CO, creating with you, but also that you had such a good, solid business and marketing Fundamental grounding, but still with the artistic creative sensibility, and regardless of whether they've worked with psychedelics, like I have that sense of feeling, you know, just enough Kumbaya. Maybe it's the mountains, maybe it's Colorado infection, but Texas is fine. I. Yeah, but, but, but, having that, that spirit of connection, of of wanting supportive relationships, which I think is part of for me, at least, what I've really gotten out of relationship with, with psychedelics and plant medicines, is a deeper connection to myself and and to the world. And I felt like you already had that, you know. Thank you. Yeah, I

Jason Croft  35:22  
appreciate that. But

Dr. Sandra Dreisbach  35:23  
maybe I should ask you a question, just to push a little bit on the psychedelic edge. You know you are in Colorado and and as you may or may not know, now, there's, there's going to be more access to psychedelics and plant medicines in Colorado. As someone who doesn't work with those substances. What are some of your general thoughts and feelings about it? Um, especially now that you've, you've had more exposure to this community through, through this podcast.

Jason Croft  35:51  
Yeah, I mean, I, for the most part, I just, I don't care, right? Like, from do what you mean, you don't like, I don't care. Yeah, I mean, and I mean that in the most amiable way, right? Like there's just no, I don't know judgment of thought, either way, it's just never been from never drink, never done drugs, never, just never, have never been of interest to me. And at the same time, it's like, you know, do your thing. Whatever I am interested. I do as I've explored, just on the Ayahuasca side of things, and those kind of vision and those is I go deeper in my own because I'm also very, you know, in the personal development world, very introspective, very like, just love it. I mean, there's a reason coaches are my clients, because those are my peeps and we, you know, I love it, you know, like digging in on the human side of things. And I think there is, I am open to that. I think there is something interesting about going super deep, you know, in in a very guided way with, you know, whether it's the Ayahuasca kind of thing or something like that, at some point, it's not a driving force for me, but I'm definitely open to that at some point.

Dr. Sandra Dreisbach  37:14  
And what about you also happen to be a parent, and as a parent, myself and something else we can, we can bond on little and also having animals and things, you know, like, does it raise concerns for you as a parent?

Jason Croft  37:33  
Yeah. I mean, I think, I think it's in, yes, always, of course, right? Like, there's sort of, like a given there, but there's also, it's in combination with, are you, you know, as you get older, are you exploring this, and how are you doing it, and all that, and that's, there's just going to be some of that. But are you handling your shit? Like, are you doing your stuff? Are you, you know what I mean, like, yeah, it does kind of go hand in hand. Is

Dr. Sandra Dreisbach  38:10  
it, is it a, is it a source for disconnection or connection, or is it a source of escape? And, you know, back to, like, you know, substance, you know, I mean, it doesn't have to be a substance you're dependent on, but it could be, you know, people can create dependencies towards anything, relationships, you know, sex, all the things and and I think as a parent, you just generally want your kids to continue to have that, that healthy relationship in their world, you know, right? And, but, but I'm it sounds like you're just generally open and receptive and supportive. Like, if it was, like, a voting measure, would you vote for it? Like, to make it like, let's say it was like, you know, like, a, well, I know you're in Colorado, but like, let's say we had a new federal law, you know, what would you would you be okay with, with legalizing psychedelics?

Jason Croft  39:09  
Probably like, yeah,

Dr. Sandra Dreisbach  39:11  
yeah, there's always conditions, like, there's like, there's lots of different kinds, right?

Jason Croft  39:15  
Yeah, and yeah, you could probably detect it in me. It's more indifference than Yeah,

Dr. Sandra Dreisbach  39:22  
either way, yeah, but, but I love that you're passionate with working with coaches and, and it wasn't a fellow coach you know who works with trauma, um, he doesn't work with psychedelics, right? That introduce us to to one another and working relationship and, and I'm definitely going to be forever grateful for that. And I love that in some ways, it was, you know, healing and coaching and and having, the fact that your work had that work with coaches that also brought us into relationship. Do you want to speak a little bit more about, like, why coaches? Why people who help with trauma and healing? Yeah.

Jason Croft  40:02  
The ripple effect is that's everything. I don't get into this idea of legacy, and now I can change the world about

Unknown Speaker  40:16  
all of that wealth, anything like that.

Jason Croft  40:19  
Well, I mean, you know, I just don't not, I don't concern myself with all of that. But I will say there is something really powerful that draws me to working with coaches because of that ripple effect. I know that if I can get more eyeballs on what Gary does in this world, he's going to whether he's working with an executive coach or a therapist, to certify him in his methodology those he works with people who touch hundreds and 1000s of people's lives, right? And so it just if I can help him get that exposure, to get his amazing work out in the world. Oh my gosh. Like, that's just that gives me chills, talking about because that's, that's that piece that I don't know there's that feels good, and it's probably the same reason. Those are just my friends, like, those are just the people I hang out with, right? Or the but still, I can hear

Dr. Sandra Dreisbach  41:31  
the passion, like the, literally, the first word was coming on your mouth was ripple Right? That ripple effect of knowing, like, in a positive ripple effect, right? Like, I am going to be a part of that positive change, because I'm empowering them to make that change, and I can help to create more of a tidal wave effect than than just a simple drop in the bucket, right? That's isolated, right? The media gets the voice out there, but, but what about you and your podcast? So maybe you could talk a little bit about, like, you know, your work, you know, podcast, a podcast here. What? What is your podcast about? You know, people who might be interested in more about your work and what you do. Could you speak a little bit about, you know, your podcast and your show?

Jason Croft  42:13  
Yeah, happy to strategy in action. So started that one a few years ago. And for the most part, for the most part, I take my own medicine with it, right? So the way that I coach people to create a show and why and all of that is to build and grow their business. So bring on their ideal clients, bring on strategic partners. And that's what I often do with strategy and action. It's a show for coaches consultants, interviewing coaches and consultants or people who serve that community, so it's a resource for them there, and it's and that's really what I lead with. A lot of times, this is going to go both, hey, when we're talking about my show, but also some some good insights for folks, if, if you're interested in starting your own out there, and to think about. Because, well, for one thing, I take my own advice about half the time. So

Dr. Sandra Dreisbach  43:08  
sometimes it's a better than you have better batting average than me right now. Yeah.

Jason Croft  43:12  
So this is a do, as I say, but half the time, you know, it's like, okay, let's bring on somebody who maybe they have an audience of my ideal clients, or things like that. A lot of times I was just like, oh, I want to talk to that person,

Dr. Sandra Dreisbach  43:29  
right? They're all excited, like, I just want to hear what you guys like, I just want to talk, yeah, I want to connect the same time so I can share with other people.

Jason Croft  43:36  
Yeah, yeah, exactly. And, and that's the beauty, because I always lead with that aspect of it, that it's there to grow your business. Here's how you do but just as important right there with it is it's the greatest networking tool you will ever have. It's the greatest cold outreach tool for sales, but also for growing and building your network, because you're doing it in a way that's not weird and wacky. I mean, if you just called somebody up was like, Hey, man, I don't know you, but you want to talk for an hour. Like, not really. Yeah, exactly. But if you know, hey, Jack's gonna be on my show. Oh, oh, Heck, yeah, right. I mean, that's just the default answer, usually. And because you're giving right away, I'm gonna shine a spotlight on you. I'm gonna do, I mean, I can't tell you the amount of times that this goes into, like, the lessons category, but the amount of times from the first show I ever did startup Dallas back, you know, we had a three camera shoot in our studios, interviewing folks to my next show, the Jason Croft show. Nice, obnoxious title, right? Yeah, Seinfeld style. We were really

Dr. Sandra Dreisbach  44:52  
narcissistic. We need to do something. We need a new vision. Yeah,

Jason Croft  44:57  
we had that show. So. Seinfeld style is driving entrepreneurs around and recording that is so much fun, but so many times during that I'm interviewing some multi millionaire, crazy, successful person, CEO, whoever it was, in my head, I'm just like, they know this is just a little YouTube show, right? And that was the lesson, though, too, is that it didn't it didn't matter. It didn't matter. Yeah, yeah. It was a chance for them to tell their story, and then the content being created when it's good and it's of quality, well, lets them take it and go put it in front of their audience. Even if you don't have a big audience, they can put in front of their audience, and it's a validating piece. And so back to specifically, strategy and action. To another lesson for everyone that that I had to learn is the show, yes, who it's for, and, you know, have coaches consultants on, and we talk through a bunch of stuff, but it's each episode is constructed around a core topic, so that it's not just me sitting there, like I did in the early days and going, Oh, cool. Tell me more. What did you do then? What did you do? You know, because that's just easy and natural to do. I'm interested in this person. I want to find out more. But there was a mistake in that to not have there's a higher you know, like this, you know, to be peers in this conversation. It's really important to do and to create that. And so the show itself is constructed around a core topic. Obviously, that relates to that guest, but it's the two of us digging into this topic instead of just all about that, and for the guest, their background, their expertise, all of that is going to come through, we make sure to hit all of that so but very long winded answer about

Dr. Sandra Dreisbach  46:56  
No, but I think that's a perfect answer. I think that's a perfect answer, you know, and I appreciate that you took the time to give some advice for people too, and actually on that, you know, a lot of people now are both concerned and also interested in working with AI for video and media and marketing and and, like, part of the concerns come up with, like, okay, you know, am I gonna lose my job? Type of thing where, like, you know, am I? Am I going to be replaced with an i, AI version of me, or my voice, or, like, you know, I'm not going to control that anymore. But also, like, a curiosity about, like, how do I work with AI in a way that's actually supportive? And maybe this gives us an opportunity to even talk about how AI is used in in this podcast. But what kind of thoughts or reflections could you have about AI and media and and marketing?

Jason Croft  47:48  
Yeah, and I love it. I'm deep, deep the AI deep. How deep world I mean, constantly using actually, before this episode, before we started recording, I'm in the middle. I'm looking over here on this monitor, but I'm in the middle of a coaching session with AI from this project in claw that I've gone through and built out to pull some stuff out of me to get through. It's just so much easier to say it out loud and talk and go back and forth and consider and all of that. It's, it's phenomenal, just like with anything, you know, the hype has been there from the beginning of, oh, just videos edit themselves now and, you know, throw in a clip, you know, throw in an hour long thing, and you've got 100 promo clips. Yeah, you do. And they're dog crap, like they're whore, they're still horror, right? So, and at the same time, the, you know, the same tool that people are saying that, hey, go do that. Well, I use it for a very narrow it does, you know, Opus clips, for instance, right? That's, I use that software that people say, Oh, just throw in your stuff and it's still horrible. I test all this stuff constantly. It's still horrible, but eventually it'll get there. You know, I have no doubt. I have no doubt that, you know, in another year, it's going to be like, Oh, wow. And it actually created some, some, some great clips out of that. Right now, it's still doing horrible, but the transcription, the subtitles, it creates the ease, like all this stuff, is so great. I, you know, for your show, I mean, the show notes, the titles, the LinkedIn post, the it's so good at, you know, I feed it your voice, I feed for the LinkedIn post, we I use a certain bot for creating the description. And, okay, that's cool. What about the YouTube specific title? Let's get into that's just great. One thing that I found early on as well, it wasn't just that ease of Oh, a LinkedIn post can get kicked out about the. Episode now, it was that it was different. It was that it wasn't me using the same three freaking words I always hear,

Dr. Sandra Dreisbach  50:08  
right because, you know, you on hang ups, like, like, Oh, I'll use however a lot, and run on sentences or whatever. It's at least mixing it up a lot more and and pulling from other mediums and ideas and

Jason Croft  50:19  
stuff, oh yeah. And it is, you know, it's, it's so funny because it's, it is, it's interesting. I mean, as the, as the voices get there, as the AI clones get there, you know, it's, it's, it's really interesting. There's, I think there's a place for all of it. And as all of it gets even better. Wow. What an opportunity. When you are the one that is really you. You're really connecting with that other per like you're having. You have a community now, you have in person events like it just makes all of that even more valuable. That's right, I'm just always an optimist when it comes to this stuff. And I know there's, it's a big disrupting force. And Anna do that, yeah? And so how do we, how do we write it? How do we do it? Well, yeah, I love that

Dr. Sandra Dreisbach  51:16  
you mentioned, like, you know, we use it for transcription. We use it to help leverage, you know, for your video editing or like for other or for titles and things like that, to help generate ideas. And I mean the transcription in this transcription, but, but, but even so, it makes it more accessible and provides more content than we probably would have been able to provide, you know, by either one of us doing it manually, right?

Jason Croft  51:41  
Yeah. And it would, it would not be as good,

Dr. Sandra Dreisbach  51:46  
it would not be as good, it would not be as good,

Jason Croft  51:49  
the the details, the things it pulls out for your show notes, and the remembers, like, Oh, that's right, you know, because, I mean, I remember when I used to type up the summary for my episodes, and then, you know, we talked about that like it wasn't. It didn't even scratch the surface of how many, oh, here's the framework they talked about and put together and did

Dr. Sandra Dreisbach  52:11  
the key takeaways. Here are the main points, yeah, and it just does it, it just churns it out. And just like, wow, right? Oh, yeah. Well, as we wrap up, you know, I'm usually in the in the show, I do like to ask people about what sort of, you know, sourcing or piece of advice you would give someone in the psychedelic community. And we've already kind of actually tapped on some of those conversation topics. But maybe there's something else that you would maybe want to share with with our listeners. Since, you know, you of all people whose journey with the podcast the most, you know, I'm not gonna say you're my number one fan, because you're like, you know, I have to be paid to do that, but

Jason Croft  52:50  
doesn't mean I'm not, doesn't mean, doesn't

Dr. Sandra Dreisbach  52:52  
mean you're not. But like, I know, I mean, like, you probably have the most exposure to the content of this show, and and maybe even like, you know, as someone who's not in the psychedelic space, you know, what? What have you learned? Like, has it actually helped you to be better sourced or, or, do you feel like there's other piece of advice that you would tell people as someone who is not into psychedelics or is neutral about psychedelics?

Jason Croft  53:19  
Oh, I think for me, my biggest takeaway with it is the same way I'm fascinated with people and their stories. I've really enjoyed the understanding this world, right? And I think you've done a phenomenal job. I know that was really intentional on your part, on who you've had, on covering different corners, yeah, and representing different aspects of it. And that's been a blast to have a front row seat to that and understand this world really well. You know, compared to other folks who haven't ventured in at all. And I think it's interesting, you know, aspects of it that you know, I hadn't thought of in certainly, with your specialty and ethics side of it that just wouldn't have crossed my mind, right? That I feel, I feel really empowered, honestly, it to guide somebody to the right person now in this world who's interested or maybe concerned. Hey, I'm just if they mentioned in casual conversation. I'm thinking of this like, well, you know, you should think about that I never would have before, and I think, I think you've done an amazing job at that, at not just the interviews themselves, but the purposefulness of who you brought on to interview.

Dr. Sandra Dreisbach  54:58  
Well, thank you. I really. Appreciate that, and that actually is really meaningful to me to know that you feel like you you have received some extra insights and sourcing and ideas and and value, real value, like speaking of ripples, you know, I, I just can't thank you enough for all your heart labor and working with me on this show and and even from its inception, and the idea of calling it psychedelic source and stuff, when we were ideating and, and, you know, you know, he's, he's the one really responsible for the the images that you see. You know, I mean, granted, we talked through them and we picked through them and stuff together. But it's worth saying that like you're just, you know, you're part of the heart and soul of psychedelic source, and I can't imagine not having you on here. So thank you, Jason, yeah, thank you for joining me on psychedelic source. If you found value in today's episode, please subscribe wherever you get your podcast and share with others in our community, and if you're a psychedelic practitioner, therapist or coach looking to identify blind spots in your practice or determine next steps for moving it forward, take the first step by visiting psychedelic source podcast.com Until next time, remember, start Low, go slow and stay connected to your source, you.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai