What makes someone walk away from a successful career in banking to grow mushrooms and create a completely different way of life?

In this episode of The Farnham Health & Wellness Podcast, I'm talking to Jon Wright, founder of Jolly Moon, a woodland homestead and community space near Winchester.

Jon's story begins in the world of finance, where he worked with some of the wealthiest families in the world. A cancer diagnosis in his twenties changed the direction of his life, prompting him to cycle around the world raising money for charity and question what he really wanted from his future.

Despite returning to banking and achieving many of the things he'd been encouraged to pursue, Jon found himself increasingly dissatisfied with the life he'd built.

Today, he lives with his family on four and a half acres of land, where they've created a homestead, grow their own food, run a forest school and offer community activities surrounded by nature. Jon has also become a mushroom farmer, growing functional mushrooms and producing his own triple-extracted tinctures.

We talk about his journey from banking to homesteading, the challenges of learning to grow mushrooms, and what he's discovered about the extraordinary world of fungi.

Jon shares his knowledge of functional mushrooms, including turkey tail, reishi and lion's mane, and explains the different ways mushrooms can be prepared and consumed. We discuss their traditional uses, the research into their potential health benefits, and the differences between tinctures, powders, capsules and the increasingly popular mushroom gummies.

We also explore some of the bigger questions that have shaped Jon's life. How much do we really need to feel secure? What happens when the systems we've relied on no longer provide the support we expect? And how much of our health and wellbeing might be influenced by the way we live?

Jon talks about creating Jolly Moon - where he and his wife Holly now home educate their daughter - which provides opportunities for children to spend time outdoors, and hosts activities including drumming, yoga, sound baths and mushroom-growing workshops.

Our conversation also takes us into the fascinating role of fungi in the natural world, from breaking down organic matter and supporting soil ecosystems to their potential use in environmental restoration.

Jon shares his views about modern healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and our relationship with nature. We explore these alongside his personal experiences, including the medical treatment that helped him survive cancer.

It's a wide-ranging conversation about mushrooms, money, health, self-sufficiency, and what it might look like to build a life around the things that matter most to you.

MOON MUSHROOMS

Website: Moon MushroomsInstagram: moonmushroomsukJOLLY MOON

Website: Jolly Moon: Embrace Nature for Mental WellnessInstagram: jollymoonforestgardenABOUT THE PODCAST

The Farnham Health & Wellness Podcast is hosted by Juliet Hollingsworth and recorded in Farnham, Surrey.

Each episode explores the science, stories and ideas behind living well through conversations with people you can meet, learn from or work with locally.