Jay W. Richards, Ph.D., is the William E. Simon Senior Research Fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a Senior Fellow at the Discovery Institute, and the Executive Editor of The Stream.

Richards is the author or editor of more than a dozen books, including the New York Times bestsellers Infiltrated (2013) and Indivisible (2012); The Human Advantage; Money, Greed, and God, winner of a 2010 Templeton Enterprise Award; The Hobbit Party with Jonathan Witt; and Eat, Fast, Feast. His most recent book, with Douglas Axe and William Briggs, is The Price of Panic: How the Tyranny of Experts Turned a Pandemic Into a Catastrophe.

Richards is also the executive producer of several documentaries, including The Call of the Entrepreneur, The Birth of Freedom, and Effective Stewardship (Acton Media and Zondervan, 2009). He has been featured in several television-broadcast documentaries, including The Call of the Entrepreneur, The Case for a Creator, The Wonder of Soil, and The Privileged Planet, based on his book, The Privileged Planet, with astronomer Guillermo Gonzalez.

Richards' articles and essays have been published in The Harvard Business Review, Wall Street Journal, Barron's, Washington Post, Forbes, National Review Online, Investor's Business Daily, Washington Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Huffington Post, The Federalist, The American Spectator, The Daily Caller, The Imaginative Conservative, and many other publications. His topics range from culture, economics, and public policy to natural science, technology, and the environment. He has appeared on many national radio and TV programs, including Larry King Live, and he has lectured worldwide on various subjects, including to Members of the US Congress.

Richards has a Ph.D., with honors, in philosophy and theology from Princeton Theological Seminary. He also has an M.Div. (Master of Divinity), a Th.M. (Master of Theology), and a B.A. with majors in Political Science and Religion. He lives with his family in the Washington DC Metro area.

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Someone once described me as a mix of jock, science nerd, nature boy & philosopher. It makes sense, I suppose.

I was a personal trainer for 25 years. I still produce video-based workouts that are used by hundreds of thousands worldwide. It's kind of crazy to think about that number. I have been lucky to find a publisher who can produce and market great products.

I have a biochemistry degree and am a practitioner of naturopathic medicine. Although, my friends give me a hard time for never referring to myself as "Doctor." I always found it too formal, but I have grown past the need for accolades. Depending on who you ask, some don't consider me a physician. Given my specialty in natural medicine, I have been called everything from "quack" to "witch doctor." Believe it or not, I take that as a compliment. The choice to go into alternative medicine was conscious and deliberate.

My medical specialty is naturopathic medicine, a subset of medicine. Think of your family doctor, but instead of using drugs and surgery first and knowing little to nothing about diet and exercise, I use drugs second, and I am an expert in nutrition, exercise, and supplements.

My specialty is "integrative endocrinology." It's the study of hormones & metabolism. The integrative part means that I integrate both conventional and alternative methods. Most of my career has been helping the most difficult metabolic cases lose weight.

I have a license in California & Washington State and can prescribe all drugs except Schedule I & II. I am not opposed to pharmaceuticals and do use them; I prefer to lean on lifestyle change and natural approaches first. I only prescribe drugs if necessary. There is a time and a place for both.

I am also a psychology geek and student of philosophy (my favorites are stoicism and Taoism). I am currently working on my PhD in transpersonal and integral psychology. My area of research is focused on human connection, meaning, and fulfillment.

What else can I tell you? I have more life coaching certifications than I can count, and I did extra shifts in couples counseling in school (I am fascinated by romance and read research on the topic regularly). I also went through an affair and a divorce. I betrayed (my wife) and was betrayed (by the person I fell in love with).

It was the best and worst experience of my life. Have you ever had an experience where you were so hurt, disappointed, and embarrassed by your behavior that you hit rock bottom and became a new person? Yeah, that's what happened to me. This is why I write, blog, and podcast on relationships and romance.

I feel I have learned and earned this expertise. I have both the intellectual knowledge and first-hand experience of loss from both sides.

I am a voracious reader of anything related to self-development. My two favorite things are working out and reading. Some people like beers and ballgames, which are great, but I prefer books and barbells.

Finally, I am an author. In my field of medicine, we have a principle called Docere. It means "doctor as teacher." That's what I spend most of my time doing now: teaching through writing. I write books and create online educational products on metabolism, fitness, and personal development. I teach in three distinct areas: "mind, muscle, and metabolism."

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I was born in Poland, a post-communist country, and had access to things most people can only dream of. My family and I went skiing twice a year, traveled abroad, and lived in huge apartments. I took private English and Italian classes, played tennis, and danced. Even as a child, I loved performing and was often on TV and big stages.

However, when my father went bankrupt, we lost our house, and my parents had to move to the countryside, leaving me and my brother behind. At 17, I was on my own, living independently and having to support myself.

I moved to Milan, Italy. My life was pretty good; I worked in fashion and had a vibrant social life. But one day, I received a diagnosis: they found pathological changes in tissue during my PAP test. At 25, I learned I may have cancer, and everything changed. At work, I was told they would fire me if I had to go back to Poland for treatment.

I moved to Malaysia, where I had my first relationship at 27. For the first time, I was in love. Unfortunately, things didn't last long. I struggled with intimacy issues and fell into depression, even having suicidal thoughts. I attempted to hurt myself but eventually found healing through ThetaHealing and chose to study and become a practitioner.

Later, my Tantric school closed down due to allegations of rape and abuse, and I realized I had been living in a sex cult. Although I had learned Tantra and received healing, I came to understand how toxic and patriarchal the community was. I had to work on healing from the dogma and re-learn what it means to be a woman and what femininity truly is.

The supposed "love of my life" turned out to be a toxic relationship. Initially, I thought I had met my soulmate. We traveled around the world and planned to have kids, but my nervous system was in constant fight-or-flight mode. He started dating a much younger woman and asked me to open the relationship. It was then that I found the strength to leave. I needed a lot of time to heal from the experience. I lost a significant amount of weight and struggled to trust men again. I was also at my lowest point financially, with just $1,000 in my bank account.

After doing deep work on myself, I recovered emotionally and financially. I made more money than ever, reconnected with my dreams, and started investing in my future. I moved to Bali, started doing CrossFit, and rode bikes. I made my first investments and reintegrated the healthy masculine into my life. I felt more vital than ever and finally felt my drive was back.

Following this journey, I launched The School of Intimacy, an online academy with courses on every aspect of love, relationships, and sex life.

Additionally, I launched my first book: "No More Faking It," and spoke at major events worldwide. I remained 100% committed to my vision and felt unstoppable, happier, more balanced, and more supported than ever before. I finally stopped waiting for a relationship to make me happy and found ways to prioritize my happiness. I learned to create my joy and pleasure regardless of my relationship status, feeling secure and grounded. My relationship with myself was more vital than ever.

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