In this episode of Onaya's In & Through podcast, host Dr Simon Ruffell is joined by Liam Hackett MBE: entrepreneur, charity founder, executive coach, and founder of the HALI Foundation: an evidence-led organisation for psychedelic education, policy reform, and public dialogue on sacred plant medicines. Liam is also a graduate of Onaya's inaugural Psychedelic Mentorship Training programme, from our very first cohort, and this podcast features detailed reflections and practical discoveries from his subsequent journey towards covering psychedelic preparation, integration and transformation in his offerings.
Liam spent 18 years building Ditch the Label into one of the world's largest youth charities, reaching over 180 million people and partnering with brands including EA Games, TikTok, and L'Oréal; work recognised with an MBE from His Majesty the King. That journey brought him face to face with the root causes of harm, stigma, and disconnection, and eventually to plant medicine, which he describes as holding "just the most enormous potential to really tackle those root causes" in ways conventional systems have failed to reach.
Simon and Liam trace the arc of Liam's path: from founding a youth charity at 15 to the slow, seed-planting encounter with psychedelics that eventually called him to leave Ditch the Label and begin what he describes as "the second mountain." They explore the psychospiritual territory of that transition; the shamanic death, the collapse of the familiar road ahead, the art of surrender; and what it has felt like to move through it with intention.
The conversation turns to the work Liam is building now: HALI Foundation's mission to bridge the gap between academic research, Indigenous wisdom, and public understanding; and Liam’s private coaching practice with founders and high achievers navigating the dissonance between outer success and inner misalignment. Together, Simon and Liam explore the shadow of money in plant medicine spaces; greed, shame, under-charging, and the spiritual bypassing that can lead practitioners to reject the very systems they are needed inside; and make a case for energetic exchange as a practice of awareness, boundaries, and contribution rather than transaction.
This is a conversation about what it means to bring business acumen into the service of healing, to stay grounded while walking an uncertain path, and to go back into the world (rather than retreating into another retreat) as the actual work.
Links
HALI Foundation
HALI Coaching
