Anabel González came to gut health the hard way. After having her son, she was, in her words, in shambles and could barely get out of bed, until a good OBGYN pointed her toward psychedelic therapy and a nutrition program that sent her deep into the science of the microbiome. What she found there changed her life and started a company. In her own words:

"I'm the founder of Good Bacteria, a microbiome company founded to restore gut health through microbial diversity. I started it after my own postpartum healing journey led me to learn about the gut and start fermenting my own foods. I love helping women reconnect with their bodies in a way that feels aligned with mother nature. Beyond microbes, I love being among moms and creating [in the] women's health [space]. Psychedelic therapy saved my life during that chapter, and beyond gut health, I'm passionate about mental health and raising awareness for other moms who could benefit from that kind of therapy."

Miss Grass talked to Anabel about cold-emailing a Johns Hopkins doctor to start a company, the cosmos of microbes living inside all of us, and the one thing she'd tell any mom in the thick of it. Her cannabis ritual is a gentle one, fitting for someone whose whole philosophy is about calming the nervous system and working with your body instead of against it. Consider this your permission to slow down and listen to yours, too.

MG: You started Good Bacteria after a really hard period postpartum. Where did you begin?

AG: After having my son, I was in shambles and could barely get out of bed. My OBGYN is amazing and recommended psychedelic therapy, which healed my brain. Then I found a health coach program at IIN and dove deep into nutrition, gut health, and wellbeing.

I started noticing that gut health products weren’t addressing what I learned was the most fundamental need for a healthy gut: diversity. I wanted to create a supplement inspired by my own experience with fermented foods and that natural variability.

I cold-outreached a Johns Hopkins doctor, Dr. Leigh Frame, and she agreed to start Good Bacteria with me. That was three years ago, and here we are.

You went from fermenting for yourself to building a whole brand on it. When did it tip from personal habit to "this should exist for everyone"?

I felt the power of healing my gut with fermented foods and a diversity of plants and fibers, and I wanted to bring that healing to others. I’d watched my partner build a startup and saw that it really began with a belief and a willingness to just start knocking on doors, so I made the decision to begin building it and didn't give up until we launched last year.

What surprised you most about the gut once you went down the research rabbit hole?

I was so surprised to learn that we have more microbial cells in our bodies than human cells. We hear so much about what we can do for cellular health, but we are, in fact, more microbial. We have this whole ecosystem of microbes that is still largely unexplored—like the cosmos in space, there is literally a cosmos inside of us. And when you nourish it, you can transform how you feel day to day. I think that lit me up from a technical perspective, but there was also something cosmic and metaphysical about it that I loved.

What do most people get wrong about probiotics? About maternal mental health?

I think people still think probiotics are mostly about digestion or regularity. But we have trillions of microbes in our gut that play different roles in immunity, skin, energy, mood. When you feed that ecosystem, your whole body can feel it.

Maternal mental health is still really stigmatized and under-addressed. I love seeing communities like Cool Moms, Mother Tongue, and Miss Grass helping us connect and find power in our experiences. And so many approaches to healing once dismissed as “woo woo” are now widely considered scientific, which feels promising, like we're coming to our senses.

You were a designer in film and music before this. Does any of that carry over to running a supplement company?

For sure. I think design school trained me to look at things through the lens of problem-solving, which is how Good Bacteria came to be. Supplements can be such a sterile, disconnected category, and I never wanted Good Bacteria to feel that way. I care deeply about bringing vibrance and life to the space, and I think my background helps with that.

Summer's supposed to be the easy, glowy season. Do you buy that? How do you indulge? What brings you joy this summer?

PNW core, anything. I’m in Oregon and the lush natural world: peaches, squash, berries, big mountains, ancient trees, it’s pretty unbelievable. So just being in that, going to the market with my son, making a meal with what we’ve found, and being in nature as much as possible lights me up.

What does taking care of yourself look like for you now versus five years ago?

Five years ago I was not a mom and I could spend a full 48 hours binging Netflix. Gone are those days and I have no idea what that feels like anymore. Taking care of myself today is carving out time to do one small thing in my day (journaling, meditation, cooking) and one big thing in my week (a workshop, dinner with friends).

Does cannabis play any role in your routine? Tell us what that looks like.

I occasionally make a CBD or hemp tea or tincture when I need to calm my nervous system.

What would you tell someone in the middle of the hard version of what you went through?

I would tell her that the way you feel right now is not how you will feel forever. When I was in it, I couldn’t imagine another version of myself or my life. What I know now is that the body and brain have an incredible capacity to change. Remembering that would have given me a lot of hope.