An Interview With Wanda Malhotra
Environmentally sustainable
As we face an unprecedented environmental crisis, the need for sustainable solutions has never been more urgent. This series seeks to spotlight the innovative minds and passionate advocates who are leading the charge in environmental conservation and sustainable practices. We aim to explore the most effective strategies, breakthrough technologies, and transformative policies that are shaping a more sustainable future for our planet. As a part of this series, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Terry Lyles Ph.D.
Dr. Terry Lyles, a stress Dr. by trade and co-inventor of Smart BioHemp Wood Protectant with Michael Baughman, has invented a new, green product to revolutionize the wood treatment industry for indoor and outdoor applications made in the USA. After receiving National/International patents on their proprietary products, wood treatment will never be the same again. As the only USDA Bio preferred wood treatment product that is nontoxic, UV light resistant, and University tested, not only will it safeguard your home, family, pets and your environment, it will extend the life of all your wood surfaces.
Thank you so much for joining us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’?
Growing up in Indianapolis, as a child I was about 10 years old, I used to go to the Indy Motor Speedway looking through the chain linked fence because I could never afford entrance into the track. I would watch and listen to the cars roar past me with a dream of one day getting a $5 ticket to get to the other side of that fence. After years of never being able to be on the other side I educated myself, travelled, I moved away from Indy, I married, had a family but never lost the love for racing. My beloved son, named Brandon, was born in Alaska. He was quadriplegic and undiagnosed. He couldn’t walk, talk, he could only eat pureed food and was diapered his entire life. He has unfortunately passed however he loved racing. One year when he was 8 years old, I was still dreaming about racing. I had moved my family to Detroit and I had the opportunity, with Brandon, to see one of my race car hero’s, world champion, Emerson Fittipaldi at an autograph signing. Still behind the fence I was mesmerized. I was never able to see a single race car driver that close from behind the fence before. I was in all my glory. But then what happened next was Emerson happened to spot Brandon from behind the fence and invited us as his guest for the next days race weekend. That was my 1st meeting of Roger Penske, Emerson’s team owner. I have now trained dozens of race car drivers in Indy Car, Formula 1, NASCAR, and Sports Car because of meeting Emerson that day because of Brandon.
Can you share with us the most interesting story from your career? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘takeaways’ you learned from that?
Absolutely. My story about meeting Fittaplody because of Brandon…I can’t top that story. Also because of meeting him I transitioned my life to human performance, health and safety awareness and dealing with stress, hence how I became America’s Stress Doctor.
You are a successful leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
After raising a special needs son to an adult age with an undiagnosed disease who has recently passed I have researched for decades natural healing and safety remedies to preserve and enhance life. You can imagine the stress I was under trying to help my son. This is how I was able to teach corporate america, professional athletes, the military, individuals suffering from PTSD to your everyday housewife how to cope and manage stress. MESP… Mentally… Visualize your success…. Emotionally…. Feel the pain but do it anyway. Spiritually, Believe and stay true to yourself. Physically….. controlled breathing to control performance. My life dream has always been to impact people to be the best they can be. Life execution is about taking a concept and putting it into reality to impact others and our planet. If something is natural and it works let the rest of the results take care of itself.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that might help people?
Yes. Smart BioHemp Wood Protectant is our industry leading product. It’s our unique proprietary patented wood treatment solution which incorporates hemp seed oil that is a proven medicinal life and wellbeing enhancement resource. With the new green regulations, the toxic chemical wood treatment application is on the decline. We are the answer to next generation safe wood treatment. As the only USDA Bio preferred wood treatment product that is nontoxic, UV light resistant, and University tested, not only will it safeguard your home, family, pets and your environment, it will extend the life of all your wood surfaces.
Ok, thank you for all that. Now let’s shift to the main focus of our interview. What pivotal moment led you to dedicate your career to sustainability, and how has that shaped your approach to environmental challenges?
Yes. Absolutely. I want to first say that I met my business partner, Michael Baughman, through the love of racing. We met on a track in Daytona, FL in 2007 and have kept in touch ever since. And after losing my eldest brother to cancer, my eldest son to an undiagnosed disease and Mike, who lost his wife to cancer, we are on a mission to make the world a safer place regarding how wood treatment toxic chemicals impact human life and the environment. And why wood you might ask?? Because Mike’s background is in wood treatment and my background is in health and human performance awareness where I have studied hempseed oil for healing treatment, one day we sat on Mike’s boat and we came up with the idea of wood and hempseed oil and so it began.
How do you navigate the balance between economic growth and environmental preservation in your sustainability strategies?
The economic growth must be aligned to the preservation of health, happiness and productivity.
What emerging technologies or innovations do you believe hold the most promise for advancing sustainability and why?
The innovation of the green new world of health and wellness for everyone.
Based on your research or experience, can you please share your “5 Top Strategies for a Cleaner Planet”?
1 . Toxic free products
2 . Family friendly and safe
3 . Environmentally sustainable
4 . Green and everlasting
5 . Next Gen research driven
In your view, what are the key steps individuals, communities, and governments need to take to achieve a more sustainable future?
Embrace the New Green opportunity to preserve health and life expectancy.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
Safe wood treatment for the planet
What is the best way for our readers to continue to follow your work online?
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent on this. We wish you only continued success.
About the Interviewer: Wanda Malhotra is a wellness entrepreneur, lifestyle journalist, and the CEO of Crunchy Mama Box, a mission-driven platform promoting conscious living. CMB empowers individuals with educational resources and vetted products to help them make informed choices. Passionate about social causes like environmental preservation and animal welfare, Wanda writes about clean beauty, wellness, nutrition, social impact and sustainability, simplifying wellness with curated resources. Join Wanda and the Crunchy Mama Box community in embracing a healthier, more sustainable lifestyle at CrunchyMamaBox.com.
The Future Is Green: Terry Lyles On Their Top Strategies for a Cleaner Planet was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.