We had the good fortune of connecting with Thane & Cynthia Murphy and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Thane & Cynthia, how does your business help the community?
Cynthia and her husband Thane have been married for over 14 years and have quite a remarkable story to share. Cynthia has transformed weaknesses into strengths and used her experience to not only become an example of but to also be a source of guidance for healthy vegan plant-based living through their award-winning website and iOS app Assuaged. Cynthia was born with Treacher Collins Syndrome, a craniofacial disorder that has caused her to undergo over 16 medically-necessary reconstructive plastic surgeries because she was born without bones in her face. Her craniofacial disability has also caused her to experience many other adverse health effects. Her story is one of insecurity and, at times, social torment. Ten years ago, Cynthia was on multiple prescriptions, which would alter her personality, since then she has made different lifestyle and dietary choices that have dramatically improved her health. After enduring a tormenting childhood of bullying and various forms of abuse from home, she remained determined to help others whenever possible. After a near suicide attempt by her husband, Thane, they both knew change was the only option for survival and became inspired to help others do so in the process. The tragic events of 9/11 inspired her husband, Thane Murphy, to join the USMC while residing in Canada. Before starting boot camp in the United States, he was homeless, living in his truck and showering at 24-Hour Fitness. Thane has reversed obesity, losing over 110 pounds, and he reversed his chances of diabetes by choosing plant-based vegan choices. Unfortunately, his service was cut short when he sustained a Traumatic Brain Injury during a vehicle accident while on duty. Despite fighting to stay in the military, he was honorably and medically discharged. He felt incredibly lost during the transition back to civilian life. Amid Thane’s challenges, Cynthia also was suffering from depression and chronic disease attributed to her craniofacial condition. Thane and Cynthia were both having trouble communicating, which often led to volatile, verbal fights. Thane, unable to work, increasingly felt abandoned, especially when Cynthia was at work or school. The idea of her becoming the breadwinner had left him feeling depressed and defeated as a man. It wasn’t easy for Cynthia to watch her husband suffer from PTSD, agoraphobia, and paranoia. It was unnerving for her to see his loaded 9mm handgun attached to him for regular perimeter checks (even in the shower). He was angry, manic, and suffering from insomnia. Cynthia felt heartbroken and helpless. She didn’t know how to fix the broken pieces. On August 9th, 2012, Cynthia arrived home from work to find Thane pacing back and forth while erratically beating himself in the head with a loaded gun. He was irrationally convinced that she had been dishonest. Horrified, Cynthia dropped to her knees, sobbing and pleading with him while simultaneously on the phone with his mother and 911. It broke her heart to see him taken away in handcuffs to a state mental health facility and booked as a 5150. During his stay, he had no family members visit him, except for Cynthia. However, Thane didn’t want to see her, he wanted a divorce. His family feared his rage. While they never feared for their own safety, they did fear for his own. The movie Concussion starring Will Smith, depicts the behavior of someone suffering from the same type of head injury as Thane. This traumatic event led Thane and Cynthia to heal and build a stronger marriage. They reversed many physical and mental illnesses caused by excessive prescription drugs and contaminated food and water supplies. Our flawed health-care system led them to find a better way of caring for their physical and mental wellbeing. Thane selflessly used his military settlement funds to build their free, award-winning iOS app and website Assuaged ® with their celebrity developer Creative27 (iHerb & Dr. Dre’s Beats app). Their proprietary wellness technology is founded on the passion for sharing guided information with others, so they can help people suffering from chronic disease and disabilities, both seen and unseen. The Assuaged interactive mobile app offers curated products, recipes, meal plans, health consultations, and a safe community to share healthy vegan lifestyle choices. It focuses on chronic disease, disabilities, animal and environmental awareness, and how a plant-based organic lifestyle eases all of those issues. Together the Murphys have created specialty organic vegan meals for celebrities and individuals suffering from chronic illness. Today, Cynthia is a craniofacial disability activist, an aspiring model, a creative writer on The Mighty, and a graduate student finishing a second Master’s degree in Public Health, all while working on an internship for Patients Rising, as an advocate for people with chronic and life-threatening illnesses. Thane is a private and virtual celebrity chef who graduated Summa Cum Laude from Purdue University, specializing in Nutrition. He is now pursuing his Ph.D. in Holistic Medicine. Thane and Cynthia are immensely thankful for their supporters. Their charitable investment has accrued immense value as a digital product and service to others in need of optimal wellness. To date, the Murphys have funded over $330K towards Assuaged operations using Thane’s disability military settlement funds. There are presently 44 passionate health volunteer interns that are all working hard to make this valuable and innovative app grow to achieve monetization. The Murphys are seeking to raise public awareness in efforts to help to create jobs for these amazing people who believe in the Assuaged mission; we are all collectively assisting consumers in combating the global burden of chronic disease through disruptive technology. Their motto is, “Be your healthiest and live longer.”
Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
It is not easy building a business, it takes considerable time and effort to build a brand effectively. There must be partners and advocates who understand and believe in your mission. We have been crafting our curative business for over three years now. Many have aligned with us because they have direct experience in combating and healing disease by consuming herbs and healthier foods. They resonate with our story at a soul-level and instantly feel connected to us. We are grateful to serve as a beacon of light for everyone seeking to be their healthiest. After spending over $330K on the Assuaged mission, we invested the bulk of our money on technology and networking costs; however, there were some takers that we encountered in the process that took advantage of us. We had a few faulty advisors, and coaches make us promises that they couldn’t keep. Additionally, we encountered a few people who presented us with fraudulent contracts that our lawyers highly disapproved of us signing. However, despite these happenings, we kept at it, not giving up on our mission. Then we found several advisors who led us on the path to successfully executing business operations, and for that, we are so grateful. Assuaged is helping consumers combat the global burden of chronic disease and providing healthy curated options that promote wellbeing and further sustainable lifestyles and lighten carbon footprints. We share tried and tested methods, recipes, supplements, and news that we have personally found valuable in balancing the body and mind. We are here to help those who are suffering from diseases and battling broken health care systems, within and without, and people with chronic conditions that are looking for alternative options to put the power back into their own hands. Add professional expertise with personal experience and determination to help others find their way onto the path of longevity and wellness, and those are the ingredients of Assuaged. 3.3 trillion dollars spent annually on preventable illnesses, those expenses can go into stronger healthcare or sustainable agricultural systems. Considerable time, money, and energy are poured into pharmaceuticals and invasive treatments when the real cure lies within oneself. Lifestyle changes are prime challenges when the choice comes to the foreground in life but are usually most imminent to maintain. We’re here to give a guiding, and supportive hand, the path less traveled is often most rewarding. Our propriety award-winning iOS app and website Assuaged.com helps consumers combat the global burden of chronic disease. We lead the way to patients accomplishing an internal locus of control, giving them the power back. We empower people to believe and take action to engage in healthier dietary and lifestyle practices through an accepting community that has like-minded people who are also transitioning to healthier ways. Life can be lived disease-free and without medical debt. Our medical system is broken because we call on it too much. If only we applied healthier ways in our daily lives, we could then utilize the healthcare system for times really needed. Be your healthiest and live longer.
Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
When our friends come to visit we treat them to a hearty dose of nature in our backyard at 7300 feet in the mountains where it is so rural, you are surrounded by nothing but wilderness in Southern California. We go on nature walks and meditate while hearing the beautiful natural sounds and smelling the fresh, crisp air. At home, we would watch inspiring movies and cook a home-made meal from scratch using organic herbs and plant-based foods, a culinary delight better than a restaurant experience.
Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
We would like to give special thanks to VoyageLA for this opportunity. We appreciate that you help meaningful causes like ours survive and thrive. We would like to thank Vasile Tiplea, Vabotu, and Creative27, our Celebrity Development Team, Kiss the Monkeys, Arnel’s Originals, PETA, Maharishi Ayurveda Products International (MAPI), Purium, Journalist Heidi Jean Doerfert, Herbal Healers CBD, NutriAdmin, Barcroft, Born Different, The Mighty, Yahoo, eReleases, Thrive Market, Monday.com, Slack, HubSpot, Hubsnacks, Fiverr, G-Suite, Harvest, and Rapper Keybeaux, for helping to advance our mission.
Additionally, we are especially thankful to our key team members and our dream team of 55+ interns and growing! Curtis Roberts, Esq., our Corporate Attorney David Tyler Bennett, our Trademark Assets Attorney Bonnie Hearn Hill, Best-Selling Author + Content Contributor; Hazel Dixon-Cooper, Best-Selling Author + Content Contributor; and Alexander Harris & RaQuel Sanchez, our Kiss the Monkeys Celebrity Partners, Dumisani Maraire Jr. at Red Carpet Series, our Celebrity Photographers, Amy Venner Hamdi, Pete Danielson, and Theresa Sanchez our Marketing Advisors, Craig and Jenny D., our Brand Influencer Partners, Ashley Woods, our Content Director and Jason Ast from Qurate Tech.
We especially want to thank our hardworking interns Chen Du, Tyquon Jackson, George Perkins, Edgar Lua-Torres, Nazia Azamy, Donna Faith Gilmartin, Juming Delmas, Travis Mallard, Jennifer Pagel, Gregory Sonnen, Bonnie Hertneck, Alan Ortega, Kevin Ahn, Archana Nair, Gauri Ganjoo, Veronica Guzman-Carillo, Emawayish Haile, Hector Salazar, Marlee Septak, Ruchika Anand, Sara Mahmood, Melanie Reilly, Yugg Patel, Paola Marin Veites, Jeremy Busto, Ramin Khan, Jennifer Poole, Molly Cardosi, Ashley Ishibashi, Jose Correa, Elizabeth Shapiro, Qintian Qi, Stephen Grover Grover, Davide Pigliacelli, Britney Phekoo, My Vu Nguyen, Wenting Zhu, Donna Cobb Sean Gallagher, Sabrina Rodriguez, Eamon Bedford-Panori, Ashley Lam, and Joe Glogowski.
We would like to thank Rebecca Baron at the Carrot Campaign and her niece Abigail the Advocate, and her father Steve Adams for their continued advocacy and support. Last but not least, we would like to thank Ryan Long of City Summit and City Gala for bringing them where they are today. While Ryan is no longer with us, his spirit and legacy shall live on. Thank you, Michelle Marie Matich, for your continued love and ongoing support.
Website: https://www.assuaged.com/our-story
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/assuagedapp/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/assuaged/
Twitter: www.twitter.com/AssuagedApp
Facebook: www.facebook.com/AssuagedApp
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkOi2pQf3_LUUtJwNUeFydg
Other: Pinterest >> https://www.pinterest.com/AssuagedApp/
Our Brand Videos >> https://youtu.be/IcoFuOqB0F8 >> https://youtu.be/M9W1KcgPj58 >> https://youtu.be/IILJpO2WcN0 >> https://youtu.be/T0DftUvP7So >> https://youtu.be/gCGpwt0KTiM >> https://youtu.be/o52vNl9FUiY >> https://youtu.be/v5iEXFLQdoE
Download our FREE iOS App >> https://apple.co/2mwKQ7x
Interns & Careers >> https://www.assuaged.com/careers
Our Dream Team >> https://www.assuaged.com/dream-team
Cynthia’s Advocacy Writing >> https://themighty.com/author/cynthia-murphy/ U.S. Veterans Magazine >> https://www.usveteransmagazine.com/2019/09/disabled-veteran-fighting-others-ptsd/
Image Credits
Assuaged, Inc. Dumisani Maraire Jr. at Red Carpet Series, our Celebrity Photographer Ryan Long of City Summit and City Gala