Benjamin Witte

Benjamin is the Founder & CEO at Recess, a recreational wellness brand creating products and experiences designed to help people feel balanced, centered and inspired so they can be their most productive & creative selves.

On the first hour of his day.

I wake up, immediately get dressed, and walk to a coffee shop on my block in the East Village called The Coffee Project.

I get an iced coffee, come back to my apartment, take a shower, and put some music on. Most mornings I’m cooking breakfast tacos at home or I like to have breakfast meetings at Lafayette in Noho.

After breakfast, I’ll walk to the Recess office a few blocks away and start my day.

Once I get to the office, I take a few minutes to map out my priorities.

On the rise of anxiety.

I was attracted to the idea of Recess because I've always been a wired, hyper, and somewhat anxious person who found it difficult to focus.

I tried many things throughout the years to try and feel calmer, but nothing ever worked well or stuck with me.

About two years ago, I started to see CBD pop up in a few places and began to experiment with the compound myself throughout my days.

Once I started using CBD regularly, I felt more balanced and even-keeled. As a result, I was more productive, more creative, and less stressed out and anxious.

On developing the Recess brand.

We wanted to lead with marketing the solution and establishing a new use case. We didn’t want to lead with marketing the ingredient, like coconut water.

Red Bull didn’t market caffeine & taurine. It marketed ‘Red Bull gives you wings.’

We don’t call it the caffeine category. We call it the energy category.

CBD and adaptogens unlocked a feeling for me: feeling calm, balanced, more productive, and creative. Importantly, we don’t focus on the idea of relaxation.

I don’t believe people aspire to feel relaxed. People aspire to feel balanced, centered, and able to adapt to stress in order to be productive, creative and in a state of flow.

The Recess brand is designed to be uplifting and inspiring.

On leading with humor.

Recess is a social commentary on living in 2019.

We’re talking about serious issues, stress and anxiety, in a way that is more approachable and thus impactful. The brand voice is meant to be tongue in cheek and humorous, yet thoughtful and intelligent.

Instead of saying CBD reduces anxiety, we say Recess is an antidote to modern times. We help you feel calm, cool and collected.

We’re looking to have a conversation with our community.

I believe when people are taking a Recess, they feel understood at that moment. Recess is made by real people who have thoughts and feelings and creative impulses.

We are one of you, not above you.

On making meditation personal.

Meditation and mindfulness have always been something I’ve explored and experimented with. I’ve tried to meditate off and on for a number of years, but it never really stuck with me.

I don’t have a formal meditation practice, but I have a “thinking” practice. Meditation for me is sitting on my couch listening to music and thinking.

It’s important to me to have a few hours a day to be by myself and just think.

I love to wander the streets of New York listening to music.

I like to use other sensory experiences like browsing photos and videos and getting inspired by ideas.

That, to me, is meditation. This has actually driven a lot of our Instagram strategy. Each post in itself is meant to be a mini-meditation.

It’s meant to capture you and make you think for a moment.

On his nightly ritual.

I wish I was better about not using my phone.

I typically go to bed listening to a Youtube interview, even though that may sound odd. I’ve always been an information junkie with a lot of different interests.

Politics, tech, art, design, and fashion, among other interests.

Every night I consume a range of topics via Twitter, Instagram, or Youtube for inspiration. It’s incredibly empowering to access so much inspiring content today.