At WholeLife, we’re thrilled to introduce Julian Mitchell, co-founder of Life Cykel, a brand dedicated to revolutionising health with locally grown, high-quality mushroom products. From his beginnings on a small farm in Southwest Western Australia to working in the UK with a Premier League football team, Julian’s journey led him back to Australia with a passion for health and performance. Now, nine years into Life Cykel, he continues to innovate and inspire, driven by a commitment to positive change and community wellness.
Can you please share a bit about yourself?
I grew up in the Southwest of Western Australia on a small farm, studied Physiotherapy, worked in the UK as my first job for a football team in the English Premier League. No background in business but a passion for health and performance. So moved back to Australia to see the sun again and start a mushroom business called Life Cykel with friend and cofounder Ryan Creed 9 years ago. Since then, it’s been a steep learning curve in mushroom growing and scaling as well as business. Overall, I feel very grateful for the experiences in my life and excited for what is to come for Life Cykel and our growing community. We feel we are just getting started and are as excited as when it was day one.
Can you tell us the story of your brand? How did it come to be? Was it a seed of an idea for a long time, or did it all happen very quickly?
With no experience in business our reason for creating Life Cykel was centred around creating positive change and the change we wish to see in the world. We believe in Australian grown and made products as well Australian owned businesses. At the time 9 years ago and still today the large majority of mushroom products come from Asian countries so we wanted to grow and make locally so we could have more oversight on quality and innovation. We started by growing mushrooms for restaurants but soon pivoted to our liquid extracts which is where we saw great traction and a loyal customer base who notices and feels the benefits.
What inspires you every day?
The feeling of personal growth and community service. Personal growth in the forms of mental, physical and spiritual aspects, and understanding that our mortality is inevitable I wish to leave no stone unturned in being the best version of myself. The community service element comes largely through Life Cykel. As a company we strive to be a force for good and I feel this is a responsibility for all businesses; not just to donate 1% to a cause or get involved in greenwashing marketing but to exist inherently for the true betterment of society.
What challenges do you face?
There are always daily micro challenges when running a business and scaling across the globe we now supply to 120 countries but when I zoom out. I am very grateful for such challenges as it could be a lot worse. Many small companies don’t survive past the 5-year mark. The main challenge is ensuring our customer does not see us as one of those big guys, our team is still small and our passion for creating the highest quality mushroom products remains our number one focus operating as a small, nimble and family-style business is the key to our success.
What does the future look like for your brand?
To continue innovating and listening to our customers so we can bring out the best products ensuring customers are feeling supported in their daily lives. We exist to be a friendly ally for people living in the busy, stressful modern world who want to feel and perform their best.
What drew you to work with WholeLife?
We see similar parallel to WholeLife and their mission. WholeLife Pharmacy & Healthfoods is leading the way in the retail space when it comes to what health can and should look like going forward. A healthy mix of the old and the new, traditional ways upgraded with more proactive solutions in wellness.
