We had the good fortune of connecting with James McMillin and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi James, let’s start by talking about what inspires you?
I am inspired by underdogs, people going against the grain but going with their own integrity. I am inspired by people who beat adversity against all odds, who vie against forces that they don’t abide by–the bigger and stronger the better. I am inspired by humans who undergo great suffering and maintain their own sense of integrity and grace, who are not embittered by the muck of life but empowered by it. I am inspired by processes of Nature and believe it is our most obvious and most ignored (in modern&western society, anyway) teacher. I am inspired by primitive peoples who live gritty, hard-knock lives but who take it all in stride as the nature of things–nothing personal.

What should our readers know about your business?
My business manufactures and sells foods & supplements made from 100% grass-fed bison from regenerative ranches. Pretty much everything about us sets us apart–we do things the right way, which is often the hard way. We lose a lot of profit because of this, but I certainly don’t lose any sleep.

I am most proud when I think who benefits from my business–quite literally, any and everyone involved. My customers benefit by consuming the highest quality foods and supplements available. The ranchers I work with benefit because they also do things the “right” way, often sacrificing some of their bottom line, and I am able to support them. The bison they ranch benefit because they proliferate their species while living the highest quality lives possible–fully expressing their bisonness everyday, living as bison have for hundreds of thousands of years, without the stress of predators. The land benefits because of the regenerative techniques used by our ranchers–the land quite literally gets more fertile over time, able to support increasing numbers of bison and humans. Future generations of humanity benefit because we are sequestering carbon, enhancing soil fertility, proliferating native flora & fauna on the landscape, and paving the way on the cutting edge for more ranchers and land stewards to follow suit. I engineered this business endeavor to benefit every entity involved, and I carry an immense sense of pride and satisfaction from this.

Of course it wasn’t easy–but who wants ease? Humanity was not designed to deal with ease. We were designed to deal with challenges of all kinds–biological, physical, emotional, spiritual, etc. While it depends on the challenge, certainly my upbringing (thank my mom for the values instilled in me) and the challenges of my youth forged the man I am today.

No shortage of lessons learned–but maybe the most important would be that the challenges never stop. If you think there will be a stopping point of “success,” it is time to wake up and get back to work. And, even though this sucks at times, I truly believe if we had reign over the universe, we wouldn’t have things any other way.

If I could let the world know anything about myself, my brand, or my story….wow, what a question. I am honestly not sure. I guess it might be along these lines–life often plays the Trickster. Our flagship product features a black label with a bison skull graphic. I think this turns a lot of folks in the health space off. However, my own feeling when I see this graphic is one of gratitude and humility. The death of the bison, paradoxically in some ways, offers us life, health, vitality, and vibrance. We take the life of the bison, and in turn it gives us and the land we live on life and vibrance. So while it may seem like a dark image to some, to me it offers everything we want out of life, and I know that one day I will go back to the grass which will feed the bison–and so the cycle goes. The alchemists, who attempted to turn base metals into gold, stated in sterquiliniis invenitur–in the filth it will be found. If we want our tree of life to reach to the heavens, its roots must reach equally deep into the black Earth–if I could convey that metaphor to everyone, I think we would have a much more humble, grateful, and peaceful society.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I am partial to nature and always appreciate the Denver botanical gardens as well as any/all of our public lands–nearby National Forests, RMNP, trails (the less populated the better in my opinion, so I won’t name my favorites), open space, etc.

I also deeply value my relationship to my food, and so I enjoy visiting farms/ranches (there are a ton in the greater Boulder area that practice regenerative and/or beyond-organic techniques), and eating their productions. Farrow in Niwot is a favorite of mine, and the Kitchen and Salt in Boulder are always easy for me to find something tasty&ethically-produced as well. Tocabe in Denver offers bison and other indigenous foods, which I am partial to–I just wish they sourced grass-fed & regenerative bison!

Truthfully though, I always prefer to get outside the city and into nature. We have so much public land in Colorado, and I take immense satisfaction in foraging saskatoons, choke cherries, osha root, raspberries, and sustaining myself directly from our land.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
There are simply too many to include here as you might imagine. In recent years, Dr. Elizabeth Yurth of Boulder Longevity Institute (who referred you to me) would be a good one. After a life-changing head injury (which was heaped on top of some other significant life issues at the time), she was the only MD (I consulted more than half a dozen) who gave me any kind of hope, and offered significant treatment and encouragement to get me through the worst and back to a state of thriving–which I thought was impossible at the time.

I also must thank my mom, who raised my brother and I to prioritize integrity and character above all else in life. She is the most graceful and badass human I have met and it still boggles my mind to think she is my mom.

Website: www.folsompointnutrition.com

Instagram: @folsompointnutrition

Other: e-mail info@folsompointnutrition.com

Image Credits
Rob Matthews (for face picture of myself in blue jacket/Kauai hat), Kelvin Melgar for the tallow picture, James McMillin for all others

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