consulting & farm services – chicago – remote worldwide

I BUILT A 50,000 SQ FT FARM FROM A GARAGE. I'LL HELP YOU SKIP THE EXPENSIVE PART.

Farm design, product development, regulatory strategy, and mycoremediation — from someone who has actually made the mistakes, paid for them, and fixed them

50,000

S Q F T

An indoor farm that started in a garage.

3,000+

L B S

Mushroom marinara delivered into Chicago schools.

FL → NY

G R O W E R S

Farmers guided across the country.

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G R A D U A T E S

Through Micro Discipline — add real number.

services

FOUR WAYS I CAN HELP.

01 FARM DESIGN & OPERATIONS

Vertical planning, substrate management, environmental controls, and automation. Whether you’re converting a warehouse or fixing a room that keeps contaminating, we start with what your space and budget can actually carry — not what looks good in a render.

02 PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

Extracts, tinctures, gummies, encapsulation. Getting from “we grow mushrooms” to a product people buy twice is a different discipline entirely — formulation, shelf life, cost of goods, and a label that survives scrutiny.

03 REGULATORY & MARKET STRATEGY

Compliance, psilocybin guidance, positioning, and branding. This space moves faster than the law does. I’ll tell you where the line is, where it’s moving, and what I would and wouldn’t put my name on.

04 MYCOREMEDIATION & SUSTAINABILITY

Bioremediation and closed-loop systems. Using fungi to clean waste streams and regenerate soil — the work that made me a believer in the first place, and the least hyped, most useful thing fungi do.

why john

OPERATORS, NOT CONSULTANTS.

Most mushroom consultants have never run a farm at scale.

I co-founded Windy City Mushroom and took it from a garage lab to 50,000 sq. ft. I’ve killed rooms with the wrong airflow. I’ve eaten the cost of a substrate decision that looked fine on paper. I’ve shipped real product into real institutions on real deadlines.

That’s what you’re buying: the shortcut through mistakes I already paid for.

You work directly with me. Not an associate, not a deck

how it works

FOUR STEPS. NO MYSTERY.

01 DISCOVERY CALL

Thirty minutes, free. You tell me what you’re building and what’s broken. I tell you straight whether I’m the right person.

02 ASSESSMENT

I review your space, numbers, and goals, then come back with what I’d actually do — including the parts you won’t like.

03 THE WORK

Design, build guidance, formulation, or strategy — scoped to what you need, with me in it directly.

04 HANDOVER

You end up able to run it without me. That’s the goal. Ongoing support if you want it, not because you’re stuck.

engagements

HOW TO WORK WITH ME.

start here

DISCOVERY CALL

Free

30 minutes

A straight conversation about what you’re building. No deck, no pitch. If I’m not the right fit, I’ll say so and point you somewhere better.

most common

MICRO DISCIPLINE

$97

Scoped per project

Farm design, a product line, a regulatory path, or a remediation build. Defined scope, defined outcome, direct access to me throughout.

ongoing

SPEAKING & EVENTS

$ [ TBC ]

monthly

For operators who want a call away from a decision. Monthly sessions, async questions, and a second pair of eyes on the hard calls.

— add real numbers: this page currently has no pricing at all, which filters out serious buyers as often as it attracts them —

LET'S TALK.

Bring me the farm, the product, or the idea rooted in growth. Thirty minutes, no charge, and you’ll leave with something useful either way.

the art of not betraying yourself