Changing the Dial: A Conversation with Charles Ftacek
In this week’s Driftwood Conversation, I sit down with Charles Ftacek, a clinical nutritionist, apothecary maker, and doctoral student whose life journey weaves together hardship, healing, science, and spirit.
You may know Charles from the Joshua Tree Trading Post, where he pours tea with an open heart and an easy laugh. But behind his grounded presence is a remarkable story of survival, transformation, and purpose. Charles shares candidly about growing up with depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts; finding himself in and out of rehab centers; and the diagnosis that changed everything.
In our conversation, he reflects on walking away from a promising country music career, rebuilding his life through food and functional medicine, discovering the root causes of illness, and learning how environment and lifestyle shape our well-being. We explore men’s health, emotional resilience, the mind–body connection, and the wisdom he’s gathered through years of personal and clinical experience.
This is a conversation about re-patterning, reclaiming health, and the courage it takes to choose a new path.
It’s raw, illuminating, and full of heart.
Listen in, and let Charles remind you that healing is never a straight line—it's a life’s work, shaped by inner listening and the environments we choose to live in.

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