The Stewards

Bīj is being shaped by a devoted team united by a shared belief: technology can help people return to presence, deepen their relationship with the living world, and contribute to meaningful ecological renewal.

At the heart of Bīj are co-founders Nicolette Shwarzman and Matthew Carter and —two people whose distinct paths, practices, and creative gifts have come together around a common vision. Their work is supported by a growing tribe of experienced mentors, advisors, artists, practitioners, and collaborators who have generously offered their guidance as Bīj continues to take root.

Some members of this wider circle have chosen to remain anonymous at this stage, allowing the work itself to grow before stepping forward publicly. Their insight, encouragement, and quiet support remain an important part of the foundation being built.

Nicolette Shwarzman

Steward of Presence & Soul

Bīj isn't simply something Nicolette helps create. It is an extension of the way she has chosen to live.

From an early age, Nicolette was drawn toward the contemplative path. At just twelve years old, she attended her first meditation retreat with Deepak Chopra, opening a lifelong relationship with stillness, self-inquiry, and the exploration of consciousness.

That curiosity has guided every chapter of her life since.

Rather than following a conventional path, Nicolette chose to immerse herself in communities devoted to inner transformation. She lived for a year in an ashram in Costa Rica, where meditation, service, yoga, and conscious living became daily practice rather than occasional retreat.

Her journey continued throughout South America, where she deepened her own practice while sharing it with others through cacao ceremonies, sound journeys, prayer, meditation, and sacred gatherings that invited people back into presence.

For Nicolette, spirituality has never been confined to a meditation cushion.

It lives in how a room is prepared. How tea is poured. How music is shared. How silence is honoured.

She has a rare gift for transforming ordinary spaces into sacred altars —places where beauty, intention, and stillness gently invite people home to themselves. Whether through ceremony, thoughtful design, or the simple act of listening, she creates environments that feel less like events and more like remembrance.

Prayer is woven into the way she lives and creates.

It informs her work not as ritual alone, but as a quiet orientation toward reverence, gratitude, and service.

Music is another expression of that devotion.

Her voice carries the same qualities she brings into every space she holds—gentleness, warmth, sincerity, love and presence. Whether singing, guiding meditation, recording spoken reflections, or weaving immersive soundscapes, she understands that sound can become a doorway into stillness.

That same philosophy extends into her creative work.

She has consciously dedicated her career to supporting people whose work serves humanity. Rather than pursuing projects for their own sake, she partners only with individuals and organizations whose values resonate deeply with her own.

Her gifts weave together storytelling, sound design, creative direction, brand identity, podcast production, and visual expression that help bring meaningful ideas into forms that people can genuinely feel.

Among the visionaries she has collaborated with are:

Chelsea Putman, creator of Made on Earth — a documentary series celebrating artists and makers who courageously follow their inner calling.

Blu, internationally recognized speaker, musician, and host of the Deja Blu Podcast, whose conversations have reached millions of listeners around the world.

Across every project, one thread remains constant:

Helping people reconnect with what is authentic. That same intention lives at the heart of Bīj.

As Co-Founder and Creative Director, Nicolette shapes the emotional, aesthetic, and contemplative experience of the platform. She guides the creative vision, meditation experiences, soundscapes, storytelling, visual language, and future retreat offerings, helping ensure every interaction with Bīj feels less like opening an app and more like stepping into a sacred space.

She will also become one of the guiding voices of Bīj.

Through guided meditations, Yoga Nidra, reflections, music, prayers, and spoken teachings, her voice will accompany members as they cultivate a daily practice of awareness and return.

She believes that true healing cannot be manufactured. It is remembered.

And that every small return to presence creates ripples that extend far beyond ourselves.

Bīj is an invitation into that remembering.

Matthew Carter

Steward of Vision & Form

Matthew is one of the guiding visionary leaders behind Bīj. His work lives at the intersection of contemplative practice, conscious leadership, creative expression, and ecological responsibility.

After many years of exploring meditation, yoga, breath-work, sound, movement, and nature-based awareness, Matthew began imagining a different kind of digital experience. One that would not compete for attention, but gently return it. Bīj grew from this intention: to create a quiet and accessible space where ancient practices, natural rhythms, and modern technology could exist in meaningful relationship.

Matthew brings extensive experience in leadership, operations, community building, and organizational growth. Throughout his career, he has helped build teams, guide people through periods of change, and transform early-stage ideas into structured, living experiences. Within Bīj, he leads the company’s vision, product direction, business development, partnerships, brand strategy, and long-term growth.

His approach to building Bīj is deeply personal. He believes that meaningful change begins with the quality of attention we bring to our own lives—and that inner awareness can naturally expand into greater care for one another and for the Earth.

For Matthew, Bīj is more than an application. It is the beginning of a living ecosystem: a place where daily practice becomes relationship, where technology becomes quieter, and where individual moments of awareness can contribute to something larger than the self.

Why We're Building Together

Every forest begins with a seed.

Looking back, it's difficult not to see how the seeds of Bīj were planted years before either of us imagined there would be an app.

We first met beneath a tree in 2020.

Within days, we found ourselves sitting together in meditation at the summit of a mountain.

Neither moment felt extraordinary at the time.

Today, they feel quietly symbolic.

Over the years, life invited us along different paths.

Matthew devoted himself to building communities through leadership, entrepreneurship, meditation, and human connection.

Nicolette immersed herself in contemplative practice, ceremony, creative expression, and the quiet art of helping others return to themselves.

Different paths.

The same direction.

What has remained constant throughout every season is trust.

Not the kind that appears overnight, but the kind cultivated through years of friendship, honesty, mutual respect, and showing up for one another again and again.

That trust is one of the foundations upon which Bīj is being built.

Not because we believe we have all the answers.

But because we believe the world is longing for places that are built from love rather than urgency...

from stewardship rather than ownership...

from presence rather than distraction.

Bīj is our offering.

Not because it belongs to us.

But because we feel entrusted to care for it.

Our hope is that long after we're gone, Bīj continues helping people reconnect with themselves, one another, and the living world.

If that happens...

then every seed planted—within the app and within ourselves—will have been worthwhile.

- Nicolette & Matthew

A Growing Tribe

Bīj is not being built in isolation.

Matthew and Nicolette are supported by a growing tribe of mentors, advisors, collaborators, artists, practitioners, entrepreneurs, and experienced professionals who have generously shared their time, insight, and encouragement.

Some have offered strategic guidance. Others have supported the creative vision, ecological mission, business development, contemplative foundations, technology, or community-building aspects of the company. Each has contributed in their own way to the ground from which Bīj is growing.

Several members of this circle have chosen to remain anonymous for the time being. This choice reflects a shared desire to let the integrity of the work speak first—to allow the roots to deepen before every person connected to the project steps into public view.

As Bīj grows, we hope to gradually introduce more of the people whose wisdom, care, and collaboration are helping shape its path.

Ecological Collaboration

Built Through Relationship

Bīj began with a seed of an idea, but it continues to grow through relationship.

Through the devotion of its founders, the quiet guidance of its mentors, the generosity of its collaborators, and the trust of its emerging community, Bīj is becoming more than any one person could create alone.

Together, we are cultivating a different relationship with technology—one rooted in presence, reciprocity, and reverence for life.