Mabel and the Future of Women’s Well-Being
*MABEL
*MABEL
Fungi exist mostly out of sight, sustaining life through vast underground networks of balance and exchange. For Pernille Brostrup, their intelligence became more than a scientific curiosity, it offered a way of thinking about women’s well-being differently.
With Mabel, the brand she co-founded with her sister Caroline, that philosophy takes form. Built on mushroom-based blends and mindful programs, Mabel reflects a belief that women’s mental health deserves tools that are clear, credible, and rooted in connection rather than performance.
At its core, Mabel is not about quick fixes but about creating conditions where change feels possible—much like fungi working quietly in the background, holding ecosystems together. It is wellness designed with intention and nuance, shaped by both scientific rigor and an understanding of women’s inner lives.
In our conversation, Pernille shares how fungi inspire her vision for a more grounded, intelligent approach to mental health, and how Mabel seeks to offer women support that is as subtle as it is transformative.
Read the full interview with Pernille Brostrup on Future of Skincare.
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- Your journey from the fashion world in Paris to launching a wellness brand rooted in natural healing is striking. What personal experiences led you to explore alternative mental health solutions?
There wasn’t one dramatic turning point, but rather a slow accumulation, years of seeing beauty as something purely external, of treating the body like an object to manage, and completely ignoring the inner life. What I didn’t realize at the time is that when your mental health goes untended, it will show up on the outside. It always does. Whether it’s through exhaustion, burnout, illness, or just this deep sense of disconnection, the inside eventually speaks through the outside.
It’s like a light that goes out. A kind of spark in the eyes that isn’t there anymore, no matter how “pretty” someone is. If your inner world and outer life aren’t in alignment, it’s visible. You just can’t fake it.
- You’ve shared your story of burnout and disconnection as a solo mother. How did that chapter of your life become the emotional foundation for Mabel’s creation?
That chapter showed me how easily women can lose connection with themselves. I had shared custody, so there were times I could focus on myself and my needs as a woman, but I was still carrying a lot. I was living abroad, away from family, balancing work, parenting, and trying to keep everything going. Motherhood, whether solo or in a relationship, can be deeply isolating. You’re always needed, always “on,” but also often alone. And in those repetitive moments of feeding, nappy changes, cleaning up etc, your mind can wander into places that aren’t always kind. Despite the exhaustion, there’s a bizarrely large amount of time to think. And it’s very easy to get stuck in rumination, in that quiet sense of not-enoughness or frustration with one's own life.
Though that period alone didn’t create Mabel, it reinforced this underlying feeling that something was missing. I, personally, would have loved to have something like Mabel while going through those transitions. A tool that actually worked, but on my terms. Something self-paced, that I could do at home, in my own rhythm, without pressure. Back then, even finding an hour for myself felt impossible. I longed for something that could meet me where I was, emotionally and practically, and offer a quiet sense of support. Something that helped me feel held, even when I was on my own.
- What was your first encounter with mushrooms as a wellness tool, and what did it teach you about the connection between nature and mental well-being?
I started studying herbal medicine because I felt I had lost agency over my health and sense of wellbeing. I wasn’t looking for a trend or a lifestyle shift. I had no idea at the point just how powerful they (the mushrooms) were. I was just trying to feel better.
The first mushroom I tried was Lion’s Mane. At the time, my biggest concern was brain fog. I had so many ideas and creative energy, but couldn’t focus. It felt like my mind was full of static. Lion’s Mane brought a real shift within the first two weeks of taking it. My concentration came back. I could think clearly for the first time in as long as I could remember, and that made me very excited about the potential of fungi.
The deeper I went into the world of fungi, the more fascinated I became. Mushrooms are foundational to life on Earth, resilient, efficient, and largely invisible. Yet, they exist everywhere: as spores in the air, as vast mycelial networks beneath the ground, and as essential agents in decomposition, regeneration, and communication between species. We just don’t see them.
Their underground networks form a living infrastructure, exchanging nutrients for carbon with trees, optimizing resources, even withholding them when conditions don’t serve the system. Their behavior is never random; it’s reciprocal, strategic and highly sophisticated. A constant negotiation for balance and survival.
Fungi have also shaped human progress. They’re behind some of the most important medical breakthroughs, antibiotics like penicillin, immunosuppressants, and emerging treatments for mental health, including psilocybin. They’ve always been part of us, even if we’re only just beginning to understand their potential.
There’s something deeply humbling about that kinship. Fungi operate in the background, out of sight, but their impact is everywhere. It shifted how I think about healing, not as a top-down mediator, but as something ecological, layered, and rooted in deep connection
That’s where I first began to appreciate the link between nature and mental well-being, not as a metaphor, but as something biological. There is no excess in nature. It’s an elegant, finely tuned system, perfectly equilibrated. Mushrooms don’t just support balance in the ecosystem, they are that balance. And when we work with them intentionally, that intelligence has the power to bring us back into balance too.
- Mabel is one of the first wellness brands in Europe to focus exclusively on women’s mental health through mushroom-based support. What inspired this women-first approach?
It started with a simple but frustrating observation: most wellness brands aren’t actually built for women, not really. Most “feminine” brands are created by men, shaped by male-led investment teams, and designed without a real understanding of the complexity of women’s mental and hormonal health. That disconnect will always show up, somewhere at some point.
We saw a clear opportunity to do things differently, because the truth is, women's health has long been underserved. Not just medically, but emotionally, often reduced to a side category or treated like a niche. But it’s not a niche. It’s half the population. And it deserves products and systems designed with intention, nuance, and care.
Mabel is our answer to that gap. It’s a brand built by women, for women, with tools that support mental and physical well-being in ways that feel accessible, intelligent, and emotionally honest. We meet women where they are, and we give them something real to work with. And of course, we welcome men as well. It’s not a gender crusade but wellbeing for all that feels drawn to our ethos.
- How did your sister Caroline’s background in marketing and operations complement your vision as a founder, and how do you navigate leadership as family?
Where I tend to think big-picture and instinctively Caroline is amazing at bringing structure, prioritise, and turning ideas into real systems that scale, without us stretching too thin. She also has an incredible eye for detail and aesthetics, which shows in everything from the way we present to how we build internally. Being able to lean on and spare with her, knowing things won’t slip through, is a huge part of how we move forward.
But of course, running a business with your sister is also emotionally complex. What we have come to recognise is that we need both business time and family time, and disciplined separation between the two. When things get intense on the work side (which they do), it’s easy to let the personal check-ins slip. But without those, the relationship starts to lose its grounding. We’re trying to protect that emotional layer, the one that came long before Mabel. Because in the end, it’s the trust, care, and shared history that allows us to do this together.
- Mabel integrates ancient plant wisdom with modern science. How do you ensure that both are given equal respect in your brand's philosophy and product development?
We do see ourselves as holding a dialogue between science and nature. And it’s worth remembering that modern pharmacology is rooted in the close observation of nature, of plants, fungi, and their effects. Much of what we now call “science” began as ancestral knowledge. What’s exciting is that the scientific lens is finally catching up again, with a surge of new research exploring the full therapeutic potential of fungi, uncovering bioactive compounds and applications we’re only beginning to understand.
So for us, it’s not about choosing one side. It’s about staying curious, rigorous, and respectful, while honoring the continuity between ancient practice and emerging evidence
- The Mindful Microdosing Program is much more than a product, it’s an ecosystem of support. What guided your decision to combine natural ingredients with digital wellness tools like journaling and meditation?
It came from my own experience as a newbie microdoser.
I had spent years doing everything “right”, the workouts, the clean eating, the meditations, the “self-help” books, even the vision boards. But none of it really stuck. It always felt like I was putting in so much effort just to stay in the same emotional place.
Then I tried microdosing. And in just a few weeks, everything I had been practicing for years, mindfulness, self-compassion, intention-setting, suddenly started to land. Like microdosing had been the missing link for all these tools to kind of fall into place. That’s when I understood something essential: microdosing doesn’t change you, it creates the space where the changes you wish to see become possible.
I often describe it like this: microdosing is the key that helps unlock the door, but you still have to walk through it. And to support women in walking through that door, we created the Mabel program.
The thing most people ignore is that Psilocybin doesn’t add anything external to your brain. What it does is lower activity in the default mode network (DMN), the part of the brain where rumination, self-criticism, and old thought patterns live. When you quiet the DMN, even temporarily, your brain gets a window of freedom to form new emotional and behavioral patterns. This is what’s called the critical period.
This framework was what I wanted to reproduce as the basis of the Mindful Microdosing Program. During those five weeks of dosing, you’re not just taking a microdose every other day, you’re actively engaging with a self-guided experience co-created with Dr. Shauna Shapiro, a renowned psychologist and mindfulness expert.
The program moves through five essential themes: Mindfulness, Self-Compassion, Gratitude, Forgiveness, and Manifestation.These are the things so many of us try, and give up on, because they don’t land. But with the right neurological conditions, they do
The results have been powerful. Women (and men) of all ages have shared how they feel lighter, more present, more themselves. It’s not so much about reinventing who you are, but rather remembering who you are.
- How did your collaborations with neuroscientist Dr. Amir Lotfi and mindfulness expert Dr. Shauna Shapiro shape the program’s scientific and emotional integrity?
Amir isn't just a collaborator, he’s a core part of the Mabel family. As our Chief Scientific Officer and a shareholder, he’s been with us since the beginning. From the outset, Amir and I shared a clear goal: to address one of the biggest issues in psychedelics today, especially around microdosing, which is proof. How do we validate something that feels deeply transformative, but doesn’t fit into traditional clinical trial models?
Because of psilocybin’s legal status, double-blind trials are difficult to run, and the default narrative has been that “there’s no scientific evidence” microdosing works. We wanted to challenge that. So together, we built a light but powerful framework to begin collecting data in a way that respects both scientific standards and user privacy.
Before beginning the five-week microdosing journey, every participant fills out a baseline questionnaire, developed by Amir, that assesses emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being. It’s grounded in validated clinical research but tailored to be manageable for everyday users. At the end of the program, the same questionnaire is taken again. That comparison gives us the ability to measure perceived impact over time. And for the client, it often reveals changes they felt but didn’t know how to articulate until they saw them on paper. It’s powerful.
This feedback loop is partly anonymized and protected under strict data protocols. But it helps us continually learn, evolve, and, hopefully, contribute something meaningful to the field.
Shauna brought something equally essential: warmth, wisdom, and deep emotional intelligence. As a renowned mindfulness expert and psychologist, she helped us shape our first program, what we now see as our “beta version”, into something beautifully simple and emotionally resonant.
We shared the five core psychological themes we kept seeing in our community with Shauna; the foundational struggles that so many women carry. She then developed a series of short, powerful classes and exercises around each theme, combining her clinical expertise with a softness that really speaks to the heart.
In today’s world of self-proclaimed wellness gurus, especially in the mushroom space, we felt it was critical to take a different path. At Mabel, every piece of content, article and class is created or co-developed by an expert, someone trained and credible in their field.
- Your functional mushroom blends, Morning Manna and Midnight Manna, are crafted with precision. How did you approach designing formulas that reflect the nuanced hormonal and energetic needs of women?
We approached these formulas with one non-negotiable principle: clarity. So many wellness products on the market today throw everything in at once, adaptogens, herbs, nootropics, with little regard for how those compounds actually interact. That kind of ingredient overload can send conflicting signals to the body, especially in women whose hormonal systems are already in flux. Overstimulating one pathway while trying to calm another rarely leads to balance.
And beyond the conflicting effects, there’s a clinical reality: when you try to cram too many active ingredients into one capsule, there simply isn’t enough of anything to deliver a real, therapeutic dose. You end up with a long label and no results. People take handfuls of supplements and still don’t feel a shift.
So we stripped it back. Instead of trying to fix everything at once, we focused on doing a few essential things exceptionally well. We identified four core areas that women consistently struggle with:
Energy — persistent fatigue, feeling flat
Focus — mental fog, poor concentration
Calm — stress reactivity, emotional overwhelm
Resilience — poor sleep, weakened immunity, toxic load
Each Manna formula is built around these pillars with only two mushrooms per blend. Nothing more. No fillers, no fluff, no opposing compounds fighting each other. Just clean, functional support designed to do exactly what it says it does.
Morning Manna uses Cordyceps for steady energy and hormone support, and Lion’s Mane to sharpen focus and lift mood.
Midnight Manna uses Reishi to calm the nervous system and support deeper rest, and Chaga for inflammation and immune balance.
And lastly, we went liquid, not just for the experience, but for the science. Extracted into organic flaxseed glycerin, our formula is incredibly bioavailable. It partly absorbs under the tongue, bypasses digestion, and reaches the brain fast. That means real potency, felt within minutes and lasting hours. You don’t have to wonder if it’s working. You know.
- As mushroom-based wellness becomes more visible, how does Mabel stay grounded in authenticity amidst a rapidly growing trend space?
The mushroom space is getting loud, that's for sure. We’re not here for the noise though. Mabel stays grounded because it was never about the trend. It’s about sharing what worked for us and that continues today, building something real for women, for people, who are done settling and sincerely seek to improve a sense of wellbeing, balance and clarity
No white-label shortcuts. No borrowed formulas. We start at the beginning; science, supply chain, story. If we don’t know where it comes from or why it works, it doesn’t go in.
- Many women remain cautious about exploring natural alternatives to pharmaceuticals. What role does education play in helping them make empowered, informed choices?
That’s true, and education plays a huge role. But let’s be honest: it’s also a slow road. When you’re educating, you’re not converting, not right away, at least. You’re building trust. You’re planting seeds. And that takes time, energy, and a lot of investment.
But when it lands? It really settles. Once women feel informed, not pitched to, they become some of the most loyal, curious, and vocal advocates. Because it’s not just about the product. It’s about feeling empowered in your own health. Being invited into something new, without pressure or hype.
We like to think of Mabel as a door. Once it’s open, many women are surprisingly ready to walk through it. They’re tired of feeling unheard. Tired of side effects and quick fixes. What they want is clarity, compassion, and credibility. And when you can meet their questions with real answers, that’s when they start to feel safe.
And that’s what it’s really about: creating safety, so women can start making choices from a place of power.
- What’s your strategy for ensuring legal clarity and ethical transparency as you operate across different markets in Europe and beyond?
It’s a very exciting time. Psychedelics, and their incredible therapeutic potential, are finally on the table, from grassroots communities to major pharma and government bodies. The cat’s out of the bag, and there’s no putting it back in. But it’s important to understand that the legal grey zone around psilocybin isn’t rooted in science, it was born out of politics. Nixon’s drug bill in the 1970s was never about protecting public health. It was a control strategy, plain and simple.
What’s encouraging today is that most European countries now have some form of clinical research underway into psilocybin and microdosing. THIS is the future, the only real question is what shape it takes, and who gets to profit from it. A healthy, thriving population isn’t exactly lucrative. Chronic illness, anxiety, burnout, those are billion-euro markets. So it will be fascinating, and honestly critical, to watch how this all plays out.
As for us, we’re very transparent. Mabel is a fully legal company based in the Netherlands, operating with proper licenses and funding. For functional mushrooms, there are no legal issues whatsoever, it’s plug and play. For our microdosing clients, we’re clear that psilocybin remains in a grey legal area in some places. We don’t make medical claims, and we don’t ship anything illegal. But we do support informed choice and agency. And we believe deeply in a future where this kind of support isn’t the exception, but the standard.
In parallel, we’re developing the blueprint for our first clinical trials, which we hope to initiate by Q4 this year. There are several compelling pathologies we’re interested in exploring. Our vision is to operate from a place of integrity: to say, “Here is our data. This is what it shows.” Combined with the lived realities of the women we support, this dual perspective, empirical and experiential, is what will allow us to contribute meaningfully to the larger conversation.
- You’ve created a brand that not only offers support, but helps normalize open conversations around mental well-being. How are your customers reshaping that conversation through their own stories?
Here’s the thing: mental health has, and still is, largely treated as a clinical affair. The universe surrounding it tends to feel either sterile and pharmaceutical, or overly spiritual and woo woo. We wanted to shift that image completely.
It started with design. Packaging and language to augment communication and encourage conversation. The goal was to create something women would find culturally relevant, aesthetically elevated, and aspirational. Something they’d want to have out on the shelf, not hidden in a drawer. That’s not surface-level; it’s about dignity. When a product looks and feels like it belongs in the beauty and wellness space, it changes how people relate to it. It makes space for pride instead of hesitation. It reframes support as something powerful, stylish, and emotionally intelligent.
From there, the shift starts to ripple outward. And it’s being led by our customers.
We see it every day, through DMs, reviews, one-on-one calls. Our team puts a huge focus on personal support. We don’t hide behind generic advice. We reach out individually, engage in dialogue with clients and women reaching out. That level of care builds trust, and from there, something powerful starts to happen.
Our customers take agency. They absorb the knowledge quickly, begin to understand their own patterns and physiology, and gain the confidence to try something different. And they don’t keep it to themselves. They pass it on to friends, sisters, and colleagues. They start reshaping the conversation about mental well-being inside their own communities.
So while Mabel isn’t structured as one singular community, what we’re seeing is something just as meaningful: a decentralized, organic spread. One woman finds something that works, feels supported, and becomes a quiet catalyst in her own circle.
What’s powerful is how contagious that honesty becomes. One person opens up, and suddenly ten others feel safe to do the same. That’s where real change starts: when mental health stops being a secret and becomes a shared, respected experience. Our customers are making that happen, not just for themselves, but for the women around them.
- Women’s mental health is often entangled with hormonal shifts, societal pressure, and emotional overload. How does Mabel hope to lighten that load, both physically and symbolically?
We built Mabel on one clear belief: women’s mental health is inseparable from hormones, identity, and the cultural pressure to hold everything together. For too long, support has either been overly medicalized or mystified. We’re here to offer something different, tools that are both biologically grounded and emotionally intuitive.
Our Mindful Microdosing Program introduces psilocybin not as a quick fix, but as an opening. When dosed intentionally, psilocybin creates a window in the brain, a time when you're more receptive to new thought patterns, access to memory, behaviors, and emotional shifts. We layer this with neuroscience, mindfulness, and manifestation techniques to help women use that window meaningfully.
Because change isn’t just abstract, it’s biological. Especially for women navigating hormonal chaos, trauma, guilt, burnout, or disconnection from self, this is a new kind of reset. One that works with the nervous system, not against it.
The format is built to meet real life: ten minutes every other day, on your time, wherever you are. No clinics. No gatekeeping. Just something that works, and feels good to do. Because let’s be honest: time, money, and access are still massive barriers in women’s mental health. Mabel is here to lower those walls.
And we’re just getting started. The vision is bigger than the product, we’re building a space where women can feel seen, supported, and invited to care for themselves in ways that feel real and consistent.
Because wellness and mental health shouldn't be something women have to figure out alone, in the cracks of their day. It should be integrated, supported, and personal.
- If Mabel could spark one lasting change in how women care for their minds and bodies, what would that legacy look like?
That women remember how to truly love themselves, not in a performative or curated way, but with real authenticity. The kind of love that has room for complexity. That allows for softness and wildness, ambition and rest.
We’ve spent decades being shaped by systems that told us what health, beauty, and success should look like, always from the outside in. The result is a deep disconnection from our own needs, our own pace, our own rhythms. We're being fed impossible standards and told to strive, shrink, or numb ourselves to meet them.
If Mabel can help dismantle that, if we can support women in creating space to tend to their own internal landscape without apology, to care for their minds and bodies in ways that are honest, sustainable, and self-directed, that would be the legacy I'd want.
Authenticity and self-love aren’t soft ideas. They’re acts of sovereignty. And they’re where real change begins.
