"I Was Sceptical Too": The Story Behind Flow State
I didn't believe in any of it
A few years ago, if you'd told me I'd end up running a mushroom supplement company, I'd have laughed. My background is in engineering. I like evidence, data, and systems, and I'm naturally wary of anything that sounds like a big promise with little behind it. For a long time that's exactly how I saw medicinal mushrooms, and the wider natural health world along with them: interesting in theory, but surely light on proof. So if you're reading this as a sceptic, I understand completely, because I was a fairly committed one myself.
What opened the door
Two things slowly changed my mind. The first was personal. Our family went through a difficult stretch with our young son's health, the kind of experience that makes you start asking far more questions than you used to, about food, inflammation, stress, and what genuinely helps. It pushed us to look seriously at options I'd previously waved away, natural health among them. I didn't come out of it converted, just honestly curious, which felt like a more reasonable place to begin anyway.
The second was a simpler realisation that, looking back, should have been obvious. I drank coffee every single day and never once doubted that it did something. Of course it does: coffee is essentially a hot-water extract of a plant, and caffeine is a real compound with a real effect on the body. A great many of our medicines began the same way, as compounds first found in plants and fungi. Once I framed it like that, my scepticism started to look a little inconsistent, because I happily accepted that one plant extract could change how I felt while writing off the idea that a carefully made mushroom extract might do anything at all. It isn't a stretch to think that compounds found in nature can affect us; we rely on that every morning. The real question was never whether mushrooms contain active compounds, it was whether a given product actually delivered them - and that turned out to be a question of quality.
My own first experience
My own first go with mushrooms was simple enough. Chloe and I started taking a mix of Lion's Mane and Cordyceps, mainly to see whether we could get off coffee, and within a couple of weeks we'd kicked the habit completely. Not long after, I added Chaga capsules, and they made a significant difference to my gut health. I was genuinely impressed by what just one capsule a day could do.
What actually convinced me
What really got us excited, though, wasn't our own results. It was everyone else's. Reading through customers' reviews (hundreds of them) showed just how broad and impressive the benefits of mushrooms can be for people, and that's what drew Chloe and I to take on Flow State.
What we chose to stand on
By the time we were involved, my engineer's instinct had kicked back in. If our name was going on this, it had to be focused on the parts most brands gloss over: not the marketing, but the proof. Three things matter most to us, and they're the same three I'd want to check as a buyer.
The first is dual-extracted fruiting body. We use the actual mushroom rather than grain-grown filler, and we extract with both hot water and alcohol so we capture a broader range of the active compounds.
The second is third-party testing, published openly: every batch of our capsules is independently tested here in New Zealand for heavy metals, microbials, pesticides and beta-glucan content, and we put the results where anyone can read them, because you shouldn't have to take my word for it.
The third is that we're a family business in Whakatāne, and we're honest about where our mushrooms come from. They're grown in regions with thousands of years of cultivation history for each species, then brought here to be tested, and we'd rather explain that plainly than dress it up. The full sourcing story is in where we source our mushrooms.
Still a little sceptical? Good.
If you're reading this as the sceptic I used to be, I'd genuinely encourage you to stay one. Read the test results for yourself, ask where things are grown, and give anything you try a fair few weeks before you judge it. That scrutiny is exactly how I came around, and it's the whole reason the brand works the way it does. If you'd like a straightforward place to begin, the Starter Set is where most people start.
Disclaimer: It is important to consult a health professional before taking supplements if you have a health condition, are taking medication, are pregnant, or nursing.