Cultivating an Experience
Meet Founder Mike Stewart
I grew up in Maine and have always had an appreciation for the blessings found in nature. I’ve always been someone who looks inward—who questions, learns, and pushes to grow, not just for myself, but for the people around me. I consider myself a passionate life-learner who strongly believes that humility keeps us listening, and optimism keeps us building.
Baseball was my first obsession. Competing as a Division I athlete was a dream I chased relentlessly, but with it came pressures I wasn’t prepared for. As playing time became harder to earn, the mental side of performance began to weigh on me. An underlying struggle with anxiety made it difficult to fully access my abilities—not because I lacked talent, but because of the battles happening in my own mind. I know what it feels like to underutilize a gift due to internal conflict.
As a student-athlete at Monmouth University in New Jersey, my struggle with anxiety became more apparent to my teammates and coaches. It’s a strange feeling to face a mental hurdle in sport and realize it can be just as debilitating as a physical injury. In mental sports such as golf and baseball, the phenomenon known as “the yips” represents psychological stress, performance anxiety, and in some cases a neurological issue called focal dystonia. This creates a mental block that disrupts a learned skill, often affecting experienced athletes in high-pressure moments.
As my confidence slipped both on and off the field, I struggled to overcome the challenges of this phenomenon. I learned that outworking my peers means nothing if I lack self-belief. My struggle to find my way onto the field wasn’t because I didn’t work hard, but because the real battle was happening in my own head. Those failures broke me down before they built me back up. Every setback, shortcoming, and struggle shaped me into the strongest version of who I am today.
Smooth Remedies came from that place. I founded it at age 22, but I’d already spent years cultivating and learning from the plant. Now, seven years in, I still approach it with respect and humility. This is ancient medicine—it demands patience, loyalty, toughness, and heart. I’ve seen what happens when it’s handled with intention, and how it can truly change someone’s life.
Cannabis hasn’t even scratched the surface of its potential. Its growth has been held back by stigma and misunderstanding, within an industry that’s new, fast, and still figuring itself out. That’s what drives me—the unknown, the work, and the responsibility.
Our passion lives in the details: each seed being different, every harvest teaching a lesson, and the feeling of being a pioneer alongside the plant. Smooth Remedies is about growth through pressure, clarity through struggle, and building something real through experience and faith.
— Mike Stewart
Founder, Smooth Remedies
“Our mission is to provide you with the tools, inspiration, and support to explore your potential, embrace your story, and celebrate the authentic beauty that makes you, uniquely, you."
Growth Mindset
The setbacks teach you just as much as the wins, sometimes more. When you stop fighting the uncomfortable parts and start learning from them, the path becomes clearer. The work feels more meaningful.
The fruit of your labor hits differently when it’s earned through humility. When you’ve stayed patient, kept your head down, and respected the process, the reward carries weight. It’s deeper. It lasts longer.
Rooting for the rise of others isn’t weakness—it’s alignment. When you celebrate someone else’s growth, you create space for your own. A rising tide really does lift all ships. Progress multiplies when it’s shared.
There’s beauty in every journey, even the ones that look broken from the outside. Growth is learning to see opportunity where others see nothing, to find light in places people avoid. It’s choosing to love people the world has written off, to believe in potential before it’s proven. I believe that is exactly what this plant stands for: the unrecognized or undiscovered potential that exists within everyone. Let’s keep growing together.
