Startup Alchemy

Stephanie Penilla brings to the team a decade of sitting with and supporting sacred plant medicine ceremony.

She is intimately familiar with sacred medicine ceremonies from the North, Central and South American regions, including peyote, Yage and ayahuasca.

She has been instrumental in bringing sacred medicine to the Baja California Sur region. Together with her partner Adrian she created the Tierra Nahual sacred ceremonial space in Todos Santos. The non-profit space is a central pillar in the Todos Santos spiritual community, and has hosted hundreds of ceremonies since its founding in 2017.

A specialist in breath, Stephanie began training in breathwork in 2007 with Judith Kravitz and the Transformational Breathwave Foundation. In 2018 she began to support her teacher Robin Clements and Breathwave. She is an advanced Breathwave facilitator and trainer. She has facilitated hundreds of breath ceremonies and supported the training of dozens of facilitators.

She is an aromatherapy practitioner and has studied Reiki Level 2. She is currently studying intuitive medicine and hypnotherapy. She holds a degree in Psychology from ITESO (Universidad Jesuita de Guadelajara).

Stephanie is the mother of three children, and currently resides in Todos Santos, BCS Mexico with her partner Adrian.

Frederick Soo, Ph.D. brings to the team a background in neurobiology and the perspective of a former Silicon Valley startup cofounder.

Having received his M.A. and B.A. in Biology from Harvard College and his Ph.D. in Biophysics from Stanford, Frederick studied the computational neurophysiology of the retina at the University of Washington and Princeton University.

In 2014 he left academia and joined McKinsey & Co., where he learned about the internal processes of large corporations. He returned to San Francisco and co-founded an AI-dashcam startup (Nauto), helped bring an analog AI computer chip to market (Mythic.ai) and a mental-health and wellness startup (OYE, June 2021) before turning full attention to his internal journey.

Frederick began the his ceremonial plant medicine journey in December 2020 with a two night ayahuasca retreat followed by 5MEO-DMT.

That experience set the stage for personal transformation.  Since then Frederick has been learning about ceremonial plant medicine, advanced meditation, somatic techniques and other healing modalities.  

Most recently, Frederick is collaborating with master healers to develop safe and effective processes to introduce Westerners to spiritual healing modalities. Startup Alchemy: Journey 42 brings cohorts of 10-12 people on an introductory journey into the world of plant medicine.  Matoska Mixed Circle Facilitation teaches healing processes in combined circles of men and women.

We are blessed with the healing presence of Bibana Cancino and Donaldo Silva, who have served the sacred medicine of Yage (Columbian Ayahuasca) in Colombia and South America for more than twenty years.

They are guided and blessed by the grandparents of the Siona Nation of Putumayo in Colombia.

Donaldo and Bibana work with a variety of traditional healing practices in conjunction with the plant medicine, including reiki, Chinese medicine and massage.

Over the past few years, Bibana and Donaldo have worked with the Tierra Nahual organization in Todos Santos to bring the sacred medicine to Baja California Sur. Ceremonies are conducted year round in La Ventana, Todos Santos and elsewhere in Mexico.

In the interview below, Donaldo and Bibiana speak about their experiences in bringing the medicine to Baja California Sur.