Where she stood
For ten years, Autumn Shelton helped build Autumn Brands, a family- and women-owned company in Carpinteria, California, that grows plants in sunlit greenhouses and sells its products through California dispensaries. From the outside, the business was working. From the inside, the conversations with her partners had grown harder, and a quieter question had begun to surface… did she still want to be there at all?
She had already made one change that no one else could make for her. In August 2024, she stopped drinking alcohol. A few months later, she went looking for something to take its place… a drink that was good for her body and could hold its own at any table. She could not find one.
“I’m not sure what the right thing to do is.”
What she chose
We began with The Whole Picture. With everything laid out in one place, Autumn could finally name what she had sensed for some time… her values and her partners’ had grown apart, and her heart was already somewhere else.
Then Life Design, through Dear Life, Yes Please. She came back to who she is now: what her body and nervous system need, what she values most, and how she wants her days to feel. She calls this season the shedding and the rebirth.
Then Finishing Well. Clear on who she was and what she wanted, she was ready to leave. We thought through each negotiation with her, one step at a time, until her partners bought her out at the end of 2025. She left on terms she could stand behind, and we marked the moment the way it deserved, with a very special dinner at her favorite restaurant.
Then Legacy in Motion. The drink she could not find became the company she built. TruBond is a functional drink mix formulated with adaptogens and nootropics for clarity, engagement, and connection, made in Santa Barbara. We have worked alongside her on strategy and helped her fill in key parts of the team around her.
What stands now
Today, TruBond is on the market, sold in stores, online and offered to companies through a leadership drink program. One percent of what it earns supports research on the connection between the gut and the brain. Autumn leads it as founder and CEO, on her own terms. The drink she once went looking for is now the one she makes and enjoys. https://www.drinktrubond.com/
In her words
“This process has been beyond inspirational, instrumental, and grounding for me through the shedding and rebirth process.”
If you or someone you know is standing where Autumn stood, we would be glad to talk with them.
If someone you advise is standing here, we would be glad to talk with you first.
