Founder

Austin Mao

Co-Founder & CEO, Ceremonia

I'm a licensed psychedelic facilitator, keynote speaker, and co-founder of Ceremonia, a legal nonprofit psychedelic retreat in Colorado dedicated to the science and art of connection. I speak on stages including TEDxBoulder, Mindvalley, MAPS Psychedelic Science in Denver, the Aspen Psychedelic Symposium, and Richard Branson's Mystic Summit on Necker Island, sharing how connection to self, others, and the natural world is the foundation of an inspired life.

I've had the privilege of guiding over 600 people, from Fortune 500 executives to combat veterans, through transformational experiences. As host of the Modern Enlightenment podcast, I sit in conversation with leaders like Rick Doblin, Robin Carhart-Harris, and Louie Schwartzberg. My approach weaves Internal Family Systems, Circling, Somatic Experiencing, and Mindfulness, the work of remembering who you are and reconnecting with what inspires you.

How I got here

Austin's Story

I had started several companies in technology and real estate. I was living an Instagram life, posting photos of houses, cars, and travel while smiling. But on the inside, I had a quiet dissatisfaction. Even though on the outside I appeared happy and high-functioning, on the inside I felt directionless. Purposeless.

And then I found ceremony.

In 2020, I was invited to join an Ayahuasca retreat for entrepreneurs. I signed up thinking it was a networking opportunity. I scoffed at spiritual concepts, I considered myself agnostic, bordering atheist. I went in filled with pride. I wouldn't believe I could experience anything beyond the recreational psychedelic adventures I had previously. I could not have been more wrong.

That formative journey defined the rest of my life, a renaissance of the man I would become. I wrote Remembering My Memories afterward to share the story of regaining memories my mind had repressed: the discovery of an original trauma that, once met, began to dissolve. Ceremonia is what grew from that recognition, that the work is not yours to do alone, and that real healing happens in community.