What if the path to personal healing and planetary restoration were the same journey?
In this episode, Emily Paulsen is joined by entrepreneur and visionary Natasha Rankin, the founder of Athena Village, a regenerative community that blends farming, retreat spaces, and nature-based living. Together, they explore what it means to repair our relationship with the land, reimagine how we live and work, and reconnect with the natural systems that sustain us.
From the history of disconnection that shaped modern life to the science behind soil health and human health, this episode invites listeners to look more closely at how our choices, what we eat, where we live, and how we engage with the planet, affect everything from climate resilience to personal vitality. Natasha shares her own journey of healing chronic illness through food and connection to nature, offering a deeply grounded and hopeful perspective on regeneration at every level.
This is a conversation about remembering who we are, and how the smallest daily decisions, what we buy, how we eat, what we value, can become acts of restoration.
Key Takeaways:
Regeneration starts with reconnection: Healing the planet and healing ourselves both begin by rebuilding relationship, with the land, our food, and each other.
Healthy soil, healthy bodies: Soil rich in microbial life produces nutrient-dense food and captures carbon, directly impacting human health and climate stability.
Convenience has a cost: Industrialized agriculture and chemical fertilizers have depleted soil health and our nutrition, creating long-term harm disguised as efficiency.
Vote with your dollars: Choosing locally grown, regenerative food, even one item at a time, is one of the most powerful ways to drive systemic change.
Return to relationship, not perfection: Regeneration isn’t about doing everything right; it’s about participating consciously in the ecosystem we’re already part of.
Host Emily Paulsen is an accomplished entrepreneur and happily childfree woman shining a light on the often overshadowed childfree-by-choice perspective. Whether interviewing innovative experts or positioning leaders to scale through her Brand Studio, Electric Collab, Emily’s power lies in allowing people to feel seen and celebrated for who they are. She’s spent years honing the ability to deeply understand and amplify others in an honest, high-impact way.
Learn more about Emily at: www.curiouslifeofachildfreewoman.com
Connect on Instagram: @curiouslifeofachildfreewoman
Join the Curious Life Club on Substack @curiouslifeofachildfreewoman
The guest on this episode, Natasha Rankin, is the founder of Athena Village, a regenerative real estate development designed to reconnect people with the land, their communities, and themselves. With a background in commercial real estate, health coaching, and retreat leadership, Natasha integrates wellness, sustainability, and soulful entrepreneurship into every project she touches. Her work centers on creating spaces that restore ecological balance while inviting deeper human connection.
Learn more about Athena Village at: www.athenavillagecollective.com
Explore her sister brand at: http://www.shewhogoesforit.com
Connect on Instagram: @thenatasharankin---
This episode is sponsored by Pearlvest Capital.
Founded by financial advisor Nicole Meihofer, Pearlvest Capital helps you align your money with your values and design a life that fits you, not anyone else’s expectations. Access her free private podcast series for Curious Life listeners at pearlvest.com/insider.
Nicole Meihofer is an investment professional registered at IHT Wealth, LLC a registered investment advisor with the SEC. IHT Wealth management may only transact business in states it is registered or qualified for an exemption or exclusion from registration.