REV On Air - Sustainable Stories by Rêve En Vert

Cora Hilts travelled to Napa, California to sit down with the CEO of one of the world’s most beloved wine vineyards – Joseph Phelps. David Pearson was brought in to lend his visionary taste and decades of experience to this iconic brand right after it was acquired by LVMH. He has come with the goal of turning the vineyards into a regenerative haven, now focusing on farming as much as the wine itself. Cora asks him if luxury can ever truly be sustainable, and if there is a place for big business in the small world of permaculture.

The History of Joseph Phelps
 
Original founder Joe Phelps left an incredible legacy: estate vineyards in some of Napa Valley and Sonoma Coast’s finest appellations. Today, the winery owns and farms 525 acres of vines across 11 estate vineyards, including St. Helena, Rutherford, Oakville, Stags Leap District, Oak Knoll District, South Napa, Carneros, and Freestone. Strategically chosen over many decades, each vineyard has its own personality and brings a different characteristic to the wines.
Joe’s vision is preserved and protected for future generations. Joseph Phelps Vineyards is proudly a certified Napa Green Winery and part of the Napa Valley Land Trust, with over 480 acres under preservation. David Pearson invokes a lot of his own passion for sustainable farming whilst maintaining the history and quality of these amazing wines….it’s a remarkable combination to see come to life!

About David Pearson
 
David Pearson brings over two decades of leadership and expertise in luxury wine to the forefront of the organization. His distinguished career in the Napa Valley wine industry has been marked by visionary leadership and a deep-rooted commitment to maintaining and enhancing the legacy of Joseph Phelps. Building on the extraordinary legacy established by Joe and his family, David collaborates with a dedicated team to direct a portfolio of wines that embody the essence of Napa Valley’s terroir.
David’s enthusiasm for the land and the potential to do good with this business is infectious. He brings a lot of wisdom to this conversation, but also an incredible amount of forward thinking and questioning of the way things have been done and if he can be doing them better. David is one of those rare leaders who is incredibly inspiring, very open to changing his methods and willing to push for what he believes to be right.

Today I get to chat to  Emilie Toups, founder of Toups and Co Organics, all about clean beauty and what it takes to start a family business with ethics behind it. This is a conversation that combines women-led business, toxic loads and hormonal health, as well as  regenerative farming practices – topics that I feel are incredibly important to be celebrating and educating ourselves on more.
I get pitched a lot of skincare products to speak about and truly I turn most of them down because I wouldn’t use them myself, or I feel they are green washing, or even that I don’t see enough about sustainability practices behind them. Before I agreed to talk about Toups & Co, I took a really close look at their ingredients and their supply chain. I compared them to other ‘clean’ brands I’d tried, and the difference was clear. So many products are mostly water, fillers, and other things you don’t recognize when you look at the fine print on the back of the bottle. Toups & Co is the opposite — it’s made with real, nourishing ingredients that actually support your skin. It made me realize how intentional we are about food and water, yet how often we overlook what we put on our skin — our body’s largest organ. As we talk so much about the need for more organic food, I can’t help but think that we need to be talking about personal care products at the same time. 

It's rich, it's simple, and it works. If you're tired of wondering whether your skincare is messing with your hormones or adding to your body's toxic load, this is your sign to make the switch! So if after listening to Emilie’s beautiful story and deep concern for her customers you are ready to simplify your routine and actually feel good about what you're putting on your skin, head to ToupsAndCo.com and get 10% off your first order with code REVEENVERT.

Today, Cora talks to the incredible YouTube phenomenon Gaz Oakley about his journey into homesteading. Gaz left his life in London where he started his career in vegan cooking to live a simpler life in the countryside of Wales. His inadvertent journey to self sufficiency has captivated and inspired millions of people across the world.

About Gaz:
 
Gaz Oakley is classically trained chef originating from Cardiff, Wales. Gaz developed a passion for cooking at an early age, influenced by his father’s culinary skills. By the age of 15, he was already working in professional kitchens, gaining valuable experience and honing his craft. After many years working in top restaurants & a sabbatical from the industry and a few health issues, he made a big change to adopt a plant based lifestyle. With this new lifestyle, his passion for cooking exploded again. In 2016, Gaz launched a YouTube channel sharing his stories through food. Since then he’s reached over 1.6 million subscribers, made a series in Wales, Mexico and Jamaica and has also written three best selling cookbooks. 
During the covid lockdowns, Oakley transitioned from living in London to a homestead in the Welsh countryside which has had a profound effect on his whole philosophy & outlook on food & life in general. Motivated by his desire to connect more deeply with the food he prepares and to promote self-sufficiency, now his practicing homesteading with his partner Tiegan Mae and new daughter. In the countryside, Gaz has dedicated himself to growing his own food, embracing the principles of organic farming and permaculture, even adopting some rescued chickens all with the goal of encouraging his audience to become a little more self sufficient and reap the many benefits of growing your own. 
The hands-on approach to growing food has allowed Gaz to develop even more innovative and seasonal recipes, reflecting the bounty of his garden. He often shares the improvements he notices in his all round physical & mental health thanks to the wonders of being at one with nature.

Merci To This Episode’s Sponsor Mill!
 
Mill is your kitchen’s new best friend. A simple, odor-free food recycler that  turns leftovers and scraps into nutrient-rich grounds with no effort. Mill prevents food waste without smells, flies, or chores. It works while you sleep and you can keep filling it for weeks.
You can use the grounds in your garden, add them to your curbside compost, or let Mill pick them up and deliver them to a small farm for you. Try it risk-free and get $75 off at mill.com/rev.
Learn More About Mill

Cora Hilts travelled to Miami to interview the incredible Dan Buettner in front of a live audience at the 1 Hotel South Beach. Cora and Dan discussed his work with Blue Zones, the places on earth where people are living healthy and happy lives up to 100 and beyond. We are thrilled to be able to share this intimate conversation and all of Dan’s tips for living a long life – the ease of which many people are doing so may surprise you!

About Dan Buettner and Blue Zones Living
 
Dan Buettner is an internationally recognized researcher, explorer, Netflix Host & Co-producer of the 3x Emmy Award winning: Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones and New York Times best-selling author. He founded Blue Zones®, a company that puts the world’s best practices in longevity and well-being to work in people’s lives. Buettner’s November 2005 National Geographic article on longevity, “The Secrets of Living Longer,” was the cover story of one of the magazine’s top-selling issues in history.

Thanks To Mill For Sponsoring This Episode!
 
Mill is your kitchen’s new best friend. A simple, odor-free food recycler that  turns leftovers and scraps into nutrient-rich grounds with no effort. Mill prevents food waste without smells, flies, or chores. It works while you sleep and you can keep filling it for weeks.
You can use the grounds in your garden, add them to your curbside compost, or let Mill pick them up and deliver them to a small farm for you. Try it risk-free and get $75 off at mill.com/rev.
Learn More About Mill

Today, Cora has her most personal conversation to date. At her home in Maine, she speaks to her childhood friend Graham Platner about his unique campaign for U.S. Senate. Running as a progressive democrat, Graham hopes to change the American system to support working class families and fight the oligarchy.

"My hope, at its core, is that working people in this country begin to realize that many of the divisive issues that we all find ourselves on opposite sides of are merely there to keep us all divided. And that we can build a real sense of true solidarity with each other over the fact that we all know that the system is not built for us, it is not representing us, and the more of that solidarity that we can build, the more organizing capacity that we can build on the ground amongst working people, the more power that we can take back from the political structure that have left us so unrepresented for so long."
– Graham Platner

Graham and Cora discuss everything from how his military service has influenced his thoughts on foreign policy to the importance of family farms. This is an intimate conversation had in her living room, with Graham sharing his lived experiences that have shaped him into the man who is becoming the political movement of Graham for Maine.

About Graham:
 
Graham Platner is a Marine and U.S. Army veteran, oyster farmer, and chair of the Sullivan Planning Board, and candidate running for U.S. Senate in Maine, to defeat Susan Collins and win back the seat for working Mainers. Whether it was enlisting in the US Marine Corps, or coming back home to Maine to work in his community, or running for Senate, at the core of every decision Graham has made has been how he can best serve the people of Maine.

After graduating high school in 2003, during the height of the Iraq War, Graham snuck his birth certificate out of his father’s office to enlist in the United States Marine Corps. After completing his infantry training, Graham was assigned to Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion 8th Marines and deployed to Al-Anbar Province, Iraq in January of 2005 where the battalion served primarily in the area east of Fallujah. In 2006, he was deployed to Ramadi, Iraq and served as machinegun section leader at the Government Center. He was deployed again in 2007.

After his third deployment, Graham enrolled at The George Washington University using the GI Bill. Graham quickly realized that his time serving in uniform was not over. So in 2009, he joined the Maryland Army National Guard. He was deployed to Afghanistan the following year where he served as a rifle team leader. 

He returned from Afghanistan and went back to school at The George Washington University in 2011. Like many veterans, Graham struggled with undiagnosed PTSD and physical challenges that come from heavy infantry combat. Graham eventually withdrew from George Washington University and moved back home to Maine where he used the resources from the Department of Veterans Affairs to get the help he needed.

After four tours overseas, Graham was deeply disillusioned with America’s failed foreign policy and endless wars and decided to focus on serving his local community in Maine.

In 2018, Graham started working on his friend’s small oyster farm in his hometown of Sullivan. He quickly felt deeply connected with the sea and the community. He eventually took over the oyster farm and built it into a business that produces high quality oysters. Graham also began a diving and mooring service to help out around the bay, and serves the town of Sullivan as Harbormaster and Planning Board Chair. 

He met Amy Gertner in 2023, fell in love, and got married soon after. They now reside in Sullivan—three doors down from where Graham grew up—with their two dogs Gryffin and Zevon and their cat Neptune.