Content Driven, Inner Circle Member Finds Alignment In Serving Plant Medicine Businesses
Cydney Nelson’s journey is a testament to where hard work, self-determination and plant medicine can take someone in life and career.
Facing difficult times in personal and professional life, Cydney has harnessed the medicinal properties of ancient sacramental plants to substantially impact the lives of her readers, clients and herself.
Cydney has embarked on a multi-prong entrepreneurial endeavor with a mission to shatter global stigmas surrounding mental health and plant medicine. A cognitive-behavioral neuroscientist turned entrepreneur and copywriter, Cydney’s exceptional ability to translate compelling ideas into captivating content shines through in various ways, including:
- Inspiring people to live their best lives
- Challenging society’s stigmas and misconceptions
- Promoting the healing and growth potential of plant medicine.
Read on to learn more about Cydney Nelson, Founder and CEO of Departed Creature, and her work with the Inner Circle.
How It Started
Cydney and her friend backpacking through Yosemite.
Cydney grew up in Pismo Beach, California, where exploration and curiosity were the norm for her growing up.
However, in her teenage years, she began struggling with mental health. Traditional Western approaches and medications failed to deliver relief.
She sought out alternative avenues in search of relief. Over some time, she turned to various endeavors to help her condition, including writing, eastern philosophy, psychology and plant medicine.
The journey of self-treatment and self-discovery led Cydney to Northern California, where she’d study psychology. The education helped her better understand the mind-body-spirit connection and well-being.
The time in Northern California opened up a world of experiences for her.
“I lived in the Bay Area for quite a while, and I got involved with MAPS when I lived up there, going to a lot of conferences and events,” she said. Her work also included further immersion into the cannabis plant.
“I worked in the industry from all different angles, cultivating marijuana and, and selling to dispensaries,” she added.
Inner Circle member Cydney Nelson on a boat ride through Lake Titicaca in Puno, Peru, in 2014.
Life had improved, but Cydney struggled with mental health and Western approaches. Some medications even led to addiction. Wanting to rid herself of these struggles, she found further relief in plant medicine, leading to a trip to Peru in 2014, where she’d participate in ayahuasca ceremonies. The experience opened her mind, prompting her to study neuroscience at the University of California San Diego, where she’d earn a degree in cognitive behavioral neuroscience.
Post-grad life saw her working in research, focusing on well-being and mindfulness. While happy with her work, Cydney found her days focusing on research while writing remained a personal endeavor.
“I thought I wanted to do research, and writing was just always a passion for me,” she thought, noting she’d always enjoyed journaling and writing.
Unfortunately, most of her work involved unpaid internships. Unable to sustain on a non-paying research job for long, Cydney took a role in insurance for a few years. All the while, she continued to journal. When the company unexpectedly laid off her entire team, she took it as a sign.
“I hated my job anyways, and I’d wanted to blog for a while. Getting laid off was the push I needed,” she said.
Making The Move Into Content
Using the career downtime to her advantage, Cydney began traveling the globe. While seeing the world, she learned about web development. The education turned into a website, the Departed Creature. She would continue journaling, pivoting a site blog. Over time, her writing caught the attention of many followers. Then, the chance occasion happened.
“Someone reached out to me and really liked what I had written,” she recalled.
They asked if Cydney had ever thought about freelance writing. She had but had no idea how to get started. The fan became her first client, officially making Cydney a working freelance writer.
“It kind of just fell into my lap,” she recalled.
Today, Cydney works with several clients while managing her blog and website. Since launching Departed Creature, she’s accumulated more clients, allowing her to grow her site and brand in the plant medicine space.
“I feel like my whole life has come full circle,” she said. Cydney added, “I get to do the research and the science stuff, but I get to read about it and write about it from my perspective, and I don’t have to spend weeks in a lab doing tons of research.”
Joining Inner Circle
Cydney connected with Inner Circle in December 2022 after responding to a job posting of theirs on the freelance platform Upwork. The conversations led to her securing the group as a client the following month, where she performs blog strategy.
However, the opportunity was more than a new gig for the freelancer. Cydney fell in love with the company’s blog strategy, vision and growth potential. More so, she liked the intentions set out by the group. After experiencing the callous nature of some in the space, Cydney never wants to see her or others go through entrepreneurial or personal pains.
Inner Circle Members gathered at SenovvA Studio 1401 for a roundtable mastermind session in Los Angeles, CA.
She said, “I’ve seen people get burned so badly in the industry, and I just think it’s great that Inner Circle has created a space for plant medicine leaders to network in a vetted community and not have to worry about getting burnt.”
Cydney added that the type of community “Doesn’t really exist very much elsewhere.”
She particularly enjoys Friday Masterminds sessions, where she can hear fellow entrepreneurs discussing their needs, pain points and solutions. In turn, the conversations help her shape content that Inner Circle members want to engage with.
“I don’t have that with a lot of other clients. It’s a unique position, and it allows me to curate content that answers questions Inner Circle members have in real-time,” she added.
Is Inner Circle Right For You?
Andrew Ward
Andrew Ward is a Brooklyn, NY-based freelance copywriter and reporter. He is the author of the Art of Marijuana Etiquette (2021) and Cannabis Jobs (2019). He's operated his own content marketing firm, Andrew Ward Creative Content, since 2017.
