How International Shipping Took Good Livin's Mushrooms Around the World

September 17, 2026

Good Livin founders Jaye Siegmueller and Brett Ellis didn't set out to build a supplement company overnight. Their story starts with 15 years of personal curiosity: ultra marathons, hormonal health challenges, Ayurvedic medicine, and a deep love of plants.

The duo, based in Kelowna, BC, built a functional wellness brand on real ingredients and no shortcuts. Behind the brand sits a conviction that what grows close to home can reach customers across the globe.

From Ultra Marathons to Mushroom Medicine

Brett's path to Good Livin started on a running trail. Training for ultra marathons, he discovered cordyceps mushroom, the supplement famously tied to the 1993 Chinese women's distance-running team, whose coach credited it as a key part of their training regimen and record-breaking performances. Cordyceps works with the body's ATP (cellular energy production), helping the body generate its own energy rather than relying on stimulants. When Brett started knocking time off his 20K runs, it opened a door to Ayurvedic medicine, functional mushrooms, and the dream of starting a company.

Jaye brought her own roots to the table. An herbalist with over 15 years of experience, she previously founded a plastic-free shampoo and conditioner bar company that earned a deal on Dragon's Den in 2020. When her own hormonal health became a challenge, she and Brett formulated plant-based blends to support it. The results convinced them that others deserved easier access to the same kind of support.

"We just kept thinking, why is this so hard to find? People deserve access to clean, effective products that actually work with their body," Jaye shared. And so, Good Livin was born.

Winning DHL’s Grow Your Global Contest and Rooting for What's Next

When the DHL Grow Your Global winner notification arrived in Jaye's inbox, her first instinct was to read it twice. "I kept combing over it thinking, 'Is this even real?'" she shared.

The $20,000 prize splits two ways: $10K in DHL international shipping support and $10K in business growth investment. Both are already at work. The shipping credit helps offset premium packaging costs, and the growth investment funds trade show marketing. They're also working with a business coach who knows the health supplement category from the inside.

The longer-term roadmap centres on strengthening their Canadian base first. From there, the plan is to ship from Canada to the USA, then look at exporting to Australia and potentially Europe. Express shipping overseas makes those markets reachable without setting up a warehouse in each one.

What Sets Good Livin Apart

The functional wellness space is crowded. What makes Good Livin different comes down to sourcing, transparency, and a concept called “full spectrum.” In the mushroom world, full spectrum means using both the mycelium and the fruiting body. Each contains meaningful

Good Livin's mushrooms are grown by a farmer just 40 minutes outside Kelowna. They commission independent lab testing for every ingredient and post Certificates of Analysis directly on their website. Their hero product, an electrolyte blend, is made with sea salt sourced from Vancouver Island. From farm to formula, they have full line of sight on everything: “We know exactly where everything comes from. That's not something we're willing to compromise on,” Jaye said.

A Market That's Ready to Grow

The global supplement industry is growing quickly, and the categories Good Livin plays in, electrolytes, functional mushrooms, and creatine, are among the fastest-moving segments. Consumer demand is expanding year over year, driven by growing interest in clean, functional nutrition.

What's particularly compelling is the global awareness gap. Jaye put it plainly: when you live in a community where everyone has been taking lion's mane for a decade, it's easy to assume the rest of the world has caught up. They haven't. For Good Livin, that's a vast audience just beginning to discover what functional mushrooms can do, and DHL is ready to help them get there. Canadian-made products also carry a strong trust signal in markets like the US, UK, and Australia, where shoppers are increasingly discerning about what goes into the products they buy.

What Canadian Small Businesses Can Take From Good Livin's Journey

● Lean on the experts. DHL's team helped Good Livin navigate shipping documentation, certification requirements, and logistics, which are complex to figure out alone.

● Use what's already out there. Programs like Export Navigator (for British Columbia) exist specifically to support Canadian businesses exploring international markets. Don't reinvent the wheel.

● Think about market density. Canada is vast with a relatively small population. Denser international markets can offer more concentrated growth opportunities.

● Lead with quality. Canadian-made products carry a strong trust signal internationally, especially for consumers who care about transparency and accountability. That's worth leading with.