What It Takes To Build a Winning Brand w/ The Founders of Promix | The HigherUp Podcast Ep. 77

Hey guys and thanks for tuning into another episode of the podcast before we get into that really quickly I just want to say I'm excited to announce that I'm officially doing a 10 live event North American tour 10 cities, US and Canada, but here's the catch We're picking the 10 cities based on your votes So go ahead and hit the link below Laylow.com to place a vote for your city or a city near you so I can come see you guys on this tour I'm very excited. I can't wait. I'm wanted to do this for a long time and I'm pumped to connect with you guys in real life So we'll see you soon enjoy the episode Devon LeVayk, Albert Muthini. Thanks for being here guys. I'm so fucking glad we got this worked out Finally, dude, I know I'm grateful to know you guys I'm grateful to call you friends and I know we just started spending some time together recently But met you a couple years ago at Running Man and you guys are a light to the world and a light to the industry And I'm really just honored to know you so I appreciate you spending some time with me and coming on the show Yes, sir. Love what you're doing. Thank you, man. Love what you speak love how you go about it And thank you. I'm excited to watch you do it in front of live audiences more and more soon Yeah, man more and more soon more on that soon too. Well, dude. I We organized this for anyone listening organized this in like 24 hours notice Yeah, I told you guys I've never actually had a group podcast conversation on the show So this is a first so I'm very very honored that you guys are my first time. Let's go. What what are the last few months been like with the Selling off a portion of pro mix you guys are still partial owners. So of course you have say and install equity in the business But what has life been like since you got to Inception point of exit. What are you guys doing now with pro mix? What are you working on? Yeah, I think for me I'll go because I'll just set the tone. Let's run it. We don't stop Alverne I don't stop. I know we love growth. We love staying healthy. We love being around good community good people. We love building things um We just don't stop and I think as humans We've been evolving for 150,000 years and I think Alverne and I have that deep mindset of just growth whether that's family Health community whatever it is we just we like to build things and so We haven't slowed down if anything we've um We've we've probably gotten more precise and built better teams and better people around us in the last year since inception and um It just I think what what we really do in the last for me at least last couple of months is um Manage my time and how I'm spending and who I'm spending it with and Being extremely precise with that because you're never getting that back. Yeah Minute I just spoke you're never getting that time back, you know, and so I think we're very we're very um Precise on how we spend our time. Yeah, my dad's favorite quote was how do you spell love T.I.M.E This is just it's so precious so valuable. It's the one asset we're never making more of and so when someone gives it to you Like when I said thank you all for the time. I mean it because I know it's for everyone's as precious y'all is worth a lot and I appreciate it How how do you guys mesh on decision making and you mentioned like sharing a mutual mindset for how you spend your time But you both have different strengths different areas of opportunity different personalities. Yeah, so what is what is the dynamic like? Or how has it been I guess in building a business together because I know Story with pro mix. I guess let's take a step back You started to develop it when you were at university of florida and then you came in a couple of years later And you guys just blew it up together right? So what's the the dynamic been like between you two as business partners and friends How do you manage that? Yeah, what do you you go? Oh, all right? Yeah Yeah, Devon I have probably I would say we'd both say one most successful relationship. Yeah, for sure I'm married with a kid now, but um, I was a total not sure the story No, um, life's great. Dev is also great And yeah, it's a partnership Like you said like Devon are we sure like we represent differently, but we're very somewhere in a lot of ways like I'm kind of dev is like You know speedy guns all us like you see him running around and doing everything and I'm kind of more like the duck But there's like a bunch of stuff going on underwater So I mean we like that we like all the stuff Dev says is true, you know like we both like building stuff We just kind of you know impatient, excitable um And you know, it's it's been really good like where we You know Ricky Bobby, you know with Shaken Bake like it's kind of like yeah front end back end of stuff and He's an awesome guy to be out there kind of growing things and talking to people and Let everyone know about it and then I make sure the products deliver and we build the team together and It's been cool because there's a lot of trust that's developed over time, you know We've both had other businesses and so I've had good business partners and bad business partners and yeah It's a tough thing and building a team like our success is due to Our partnership and our team, you know like it's it's really like people say that and You know sometimes you build a team when once you build a great team you realize like wow it is actually the team Because like we do as we've grown We each have different skills and what's cool is if you build the team you get to do more of What you're good at because you kind of you start off and doing everything devs doing this and I'm doing this And then as you build the team you're like all right, we got this person Elizabeth is here She's better at this than either of us and now we don't have to think about it So now we can spend more of our time doing our thing. Yeah, you guys You guys have done something so awesome and I think it's incredibly rare for businesses in general And I want I won't you know that I know it and it's amazing which is You've built an insanely good product the product. It's it's a one of his best in class Like you've got the formulations clinically effective dosages clinical research to back everything And then you've got something that I remember you and I had a phone call and you talked about Why you love DiBloat and the story behind bail bulb? So it's a bail bob yeah, and you mentioned like people love to buy into a story and there's a real story behind that product paired with Scientifically back to ingredients and I think that's a really hard thing to do yeah to have a story that people buy into and then build a kick-ass Deliverable, yeah, how do you do that? Yeah, how did you get to that point? Well, I think back to your other question too. I think we just stay in our lane Yeah, they are very good at staying in our lanes and not Debeating outside of that and so I as when you when you have a partner you have to do if two people are doing the same thing one person's unnecessary and so We do that two totally different things, but we have the same mindset So I think that's where it matches on the storytelling. I'm a big kill two birds with one stone type of guy If I'm building a business I want to also make sure that I'm having fun. I'm traveling the world. I'm meeting new people and maximizing my time because I can never get that time back And so if we're gonna have a supplement business and vitamin company I want to travel the world. I want to go find the best possible ingredients on planet earth I want to meet the villages. I want to meet the village leaders. I want to meet the farmers. I want to I want to be out there learning Then I'm 100% not only educated on it, but I'm passionate about it because I know exactly where it came from from a to z our our fish oil From the Unimek Islands of Alaska Deep deep out there all line caught we went out there were with the fishermen were seeing how the fish are You know how they start from upstream they make their way up out to the ocean like we know the whole story Same thing with the cod liver same thing with the bail bob in Africa. We literally I'm going out there in three weeks to go to our bail bob farm Our way protein from our farm in northern California like we're physically there Testing the soil. We're meeting the farmers going out there And I think that's what brings so much passion out of me. I'm like wow like I get to I get to build this company But also travel the world like what better combo is that you're building something plus going around and meeting the eight billion people on this planet the seven different continents and so um And yeah, of course there's a story to be told with that, you know Well, you know most founders aren't telling the full story You know they they outsource to a manufacturer. They outsource um You know the ingredients or whatever is like they they they cut the corners which is fine and you know some people are okay with that but for us I like to tell the story. I like to travel. I like to physically be um in the trenches and and get out there Yeah, and I think what it does for me as a consumer because I use promic products all the time Is like I love when you upload the story and you're with the farmers with the beats and like your mouse all red You've got a fucking beat in your hand. Yeah, and they're in the background. You're with them right and it makes me as someone who buys the stuff Feel like I belong to something. Mm-hmm, right? I think that's like brands like yours or Nick bear with bpn People are so bought into the story behind the brand that that's what they're really buying This this era of the story brand is really big in social media. I think you guys crush everyone wants to be a part of something Yeah, everyone Whether it's a good family or a good business or a good community and I think we've um I used to work in hospitality. I used to run nightclubs in New York City and I love hosting people I love being around people. I love making people feel good Whether it's in you know a 10-minute span or a year's whatever it is I just like making people feel good and happy and healthy and whatever and so I think that's that's kind of what we're trying to encompass with this brand is is Is helping people wake up happier and healthier, you know, and and Hopefully inspiring people just to like get up and move and travel and take that flight and you know Say yes to more adventures and try new things because I think that's also where you find yourself and you become happier as a human if you like we're We're not pushing supplements down your throat if you have access to whole food. You don't even mean like we push stakes first or a good butter or good milk or good raw veggies. Like we're pushing that first. And if you can't get the nutrients you need, then yes, you can supplement in our things. But I also think there's so many other things that come with feeling good. Conversations, traveling, meeting new people are all big factors of your health. You know what I mean? If you look at the five blue zones in the world, the common denominator is community. You know, they all have great communities. It's not like they're taking a ton of supplements. It's not like they're going to the gym and going hardcore. Like they just have really good community. You know, and I think if we can push our brand and inspire people to travel and meet new people and be a part of a good community, you're gonna feel good if you take our supplements or not. And so I think there's a deeper meaning than just supplements. It's like how do you feel as a whole? I love that you said that because I literally had this conversation on a podcast last week about the Italians. They drink wine all the time. They, but they eat a nutrient-dense diet of real food and they're always together. That I literally said the commonality across blue zones and centarians is community and togetherness. And I feel we're such tribal creatures in this world has a mentor said to me once in a world where we're so connected, we've never felt more alone. And I think people feel so isolated. And it's why the community events that you guys do or running man is such a success because people are really craving, like you said, belonging to something. I think that's a huge part that is missing in today's world. I think there's also gonna be a revolution against AI and technology. It's already happening. You see the walkie-talkie phones come out? I'm not just getting ads on it, but yeah, people are throwing away their iPhone and just getting this walkie-talkie phone. Shut up. And I think it's gonna happen more and more as technology and AI and these, you know, Waymo and all these robotic cars are running around. People are gonna wanna take their shoes off more, be a part of in-person community more, get off screen time more and just like be out there raw on a farm, you know, riding a horse, feeling animals. Like I think we're gonna see that actually scale up over the next decade. Completely agree. Dude, I tried, I was looking at a Waymo last night and I was like, if I tried to describe this to my deceased grandfather who died just in 2018. He would say the future is now the world is ending. This is the apocalypse. It's all over. It's insane. The car's driving around with no one in it is bananas. I can't say it's fucking normal dude. No, it's so not normal. So weird. What do you guys think, and maybe you've had a frank conversation about this? What are the non-negotiables that you two have to be aligned on for the business to get to where it got, to get to the point of exit and growth? What are the non-negotiables where it's like dev, Albert, like no matter what, we have to be aligned on this before we make decisions. I think the Nord official anything, I think no matter what, we're never compromising the ingredient list with any bullshit ever, no matter what. And I think from day one, we've always had that non-negotiable. I think another non-negotiable is our branding. It has to be, it's like simple as luxury. It's very clean, very clean. We're not throwing crazy colors in your face. We don't have to have crazy branding to tell the story of how good our product is. We let the product do the talking. I'd also say who we let represent the brand is big. We're always going back and forth on who would be good to be a representative of promix. And so we're pretty strict with that. Reputation is what people think of you. Character is what you think of yourself. And I think Albert and I have really good character. I know we can both look at each other in the, we're look at ourselves in the mirror. And every morning, every night, we're doing the right thing right now. We're not compromising, we're being honest with it. We're not selling fake bullshit. And that speaks true to your character. I can sleep good at night knowing that. And so we have, we're non-negotiable there. And then just, I think from a business side, the profit. Like I think we've always been big believers in, look, the business has to make money. That this isn't a hobby. Like this, you know, you got to, you got to make my, so we're strict with our budgets, I'd say, right? Yeah. Yeah. What else am I missing? I think from a product standpoint, which is kind of like, where my brain is a lot, I never wanted to release a me too product. So we never did that. Like I don't like Devon mentioned earlier. Like we both like to create things. I don't want to do something that somebody else is already kind of doing unless I can improve upon it. Or, you know what I mean? So like that's my motivation as product is like, I want to, we've done certain products where I think I see other businesses do like packaging. Like we had at one point or different things. Like I like to do stuff that's going to move the industry forward a bit and like get a response or challenge other brands to improve or bigger companies to improve. Like that's great. You know, if you're moving the ball forward towards like better ingredients and better products and just conversations about like Grass Fed was something that years ago like that was kind of how the business initially started to do well. Like there just wasn't anyone else doing that. And you had this huge gap between like super, super expensive organic that was inaccessible and people couldn't buy versus local stuff and everything. That was like the origin of the business was like, how do you mesh like what you can get the farmers market with like the science side? And so I think doing stuff that no one else is doing Devon, like we'll always say that like no one is doing this. You know, if like if you don't say that, then it's like not that exciting. No one's doing this. Not long back, bro. No one's doing this. We have to launch a badass beef protein. And like then he goes out and like finds the best beef protein on planet earth and best farm. You gotta keep them excited. Yeah, yeah. It has to be like I don't want to launch another cryotherapy or another tallow or like some other stake oil that everyone's trying to get a quick win on for a couple of years and just try to a lot of these econ businesses, you know, like online businesses. There's last nickel out there. Everyone's trying to get a quick win on Shopify and that's not us. If we don't think that this product can last for another hundred years, we're simply not doing it. Fish oil is a staple, staple product and I mean that you have to take like your body does not make it. It's a staple. Humans need it for their brain, for their overall health. There's a ton of studies on it. That's something we know can last for a hundred years. Same thing goes with, you know, the one ingredient protein that really put us on the map, the grass fed. There's one ingredient. There's no flavors in it. It's literally grass fed way protein directly from the farm. There's no bullshit. That can last forever. So we're not looking for quick wins. We're looking for something that can be staple forever, you know? How do you guys avoid the temptation of attacking a quick win or looking at something you know you could crush but maybe it's not aligned with mission vision values ethics. What sort of vetting process do you go through to decide if it's the right direction to head? I'll say like, yeah. I want to hit one thing on the last bit. Like good shit with good people. It's kind of like something we always do too. I think that's been really important. Like I've learned that in business. I think that's the same way. We're like, if you don't get a good feeling, you got, my gut has never been wrong. I feel like Devon feels the same way. It takes a few reps. Like when you're younger, you're still figuring stuff out. You don't know what you don't know. But like that feeling you get with certain people, you know if that's right. And like it's going to get you one day or another. And so Devon and I now, you know, sometimes you just have to say, yes, when you're younger to things and see where it goes and learn, but where we're at now, we can be like, what's the vibe? Do we like this person? Or do we think it's all cool? And that's been really important to like keep us on the right track. And when it comes to not looking for quick wins, it's really just like our goal is, to me, a brand is always, like it's a promise. It's what do you represent your customers? What do you deliver? What do you deliver consistency with? That's always been something I thought about brands. And if you do quick wins, like you're just compromising your brand long term. And our goal is to build this like, we always thought about it. Kind of like conceptually, but also just business-wise, it's a platform. So if you, if promix releases a product, you should be able to trust it. You should know it's high quality. You should know it's like efficacious. That's a big word for us. So just not releasing things that we can't stand behind and that we don't think will be around. So if it's not actually a confirmed benefit, that's ultimately where things go is, we, when he'll, you know, he's always got his hand on the pole. So I'd be like, what do you think of this? What do you think of that? And I always kind of dig into it. And if it's something where I go, I don't know that there's a real benefit from it. And that's what defines something that's going to be around and not because things can get hot because, you know, placebo effects, all that. Like, people get hyped and they think it works. And maybe it does. And, you know, but if it doesn't actually develop or benefit, that trend always goes away. And it's the products that actually give you like, you can feel a difference in things. And that's really what we focus on is like, did it actually like help you, you know? And if it doesn't, then like, it's just kind of a fake. Yeah, I also think the vetting genuinely, genuinely, just goes back to character. Like I don't, it's hard to sell something like, I don't know how to sell something that I'm not into. Right. Also can't get it possible about it. Like for me, yeah, I can't like, people are like, why are you so passionate in all your ads? And like, I'm like, 'cause I take this every day and I feel fucking amazing. What do you mean? I'm not like trying to sell you something. I'm just telling you, I feel fucking great. I'm 33, my skin is clear. I'm fucking accomplished. Everything I'm wanting to accomplish. Like if I die right now, I'd be okay. with it. Like I really have like done everything I've wanted to do. There's some other things I'd like to do, but like I feel so fucking good with the products that we make everything. Like I feel like my gut feels good, everything feels good. If I don't feel like that and I feel like we're just pushing something to push something like. There's no motivation. You make you make a lecture money. Does it impact your reputation? It impacts your character. I can't sleep good at night. Like yeah, if you want to get rich, go start an unhealthy company. Majority of humans on earth will buy it. It really will. If you want to get rich, really fast, go start. But I wouldn't be able to sleep good at night. And I would be like, this is just it's not me. I don't like I'm not even taking this product. I'm poisoning people. I'm you know, there's cancer. There's this. There's that like why am I doing that? Like it feels wrong, right? And I think I think that's our betting process is like, do we feel personally good about it with all the things we've done in our life, whether it's health wise, business wise, relationship wise, like do we feel good putting this out in the world? Will this actually help people? And then he digs into the science if it will or not. And I think that's our betting process. But yeah, for what good is it if a man gains a whole world before if it's a soul? Yes. That's what I think it's good. Well, I had scripture man. Bible. The ultimate self-help book. It's an interesting concept around. There are a lot of people in our space in every industry that are willing to compromise on ethics to make money. And I just can't I can't wrap my head around that. And I'm learning a lot for you guys because you mentioned earlier saying yes to a lot of things in your 20s and really just being willing to fuck it up a little bit. And I did. I said yes to a lot of stuff. I'm encroaching on 30 now. But I had a business partner and it went real sour. I didn't turn out well because I didn't do my due diligence. You know, I didn't vet properly. And I remember when I called my accountant because it was a money issue. So money had been spent. It was mine and whatever. And I called my accountant and I said, Hank, what would you do in my situation? And he said, well, Michael, I'm an 80 year old Jewish accountant. I would have never gotten in your position. But then he said something that I'll never forget. He said, when you have a good heart and you want to do business with your heart in the business, you assume that everyone has the same heart that you do. And that's not the case. No. And it's it's it honestly is very enlightening and hopeful for me to see two guys who have built a friendship and a relationship and a fruitful business and a good business. And I've gotten sort of the best possible outcome from it, which is an exit with something that helps people and makes the world a better place. For sure. I also think thanks for saying that. Of course. I also think I don't think I know the real person inside you comes out when you're given money. Meaning we have quite a bit of friends that have exited companies and made on your million, a billion, right? Their first million, whatever it is, that the person who is on the inside, not the person that was building the business, the person who's on the inside comes out post exit. What they buy, who they hang around with, what they do with their time, how they spend their money. And you can tell the type of person. So you can make a quick win, right? Online and or in a business. And you can and you can feel, say your napalarm. Yeah. My napalarm went off during a meeting today. And but and you can get the quick win, right? What I was saying, you can get the quick win for making some quick cash. But your real character will come out. And I think that's that's something to think about when you're building a business. It's not always like how fast can you make money? It's like, who are you as a person? And are you happy with yourself before you make the money? Like internally, not with the things, the stuff, the the cloud, whatever it is. It's like, are you happy internally? Because then when you do get the check, life's a lot better. It's just you're not depending on the money to make you happy anymore. You're you're already happy. Whether we whether we sold the business or not, like I was I'm a happy guy, you know what I mean? But that's because I found internal happiness first on the mountains, marathons, type two fun, like doing things that that fuel me. And I know he's the same way. Like we haven't changed in the last year. Like yeah, I bought my mama house. You know, he, you know, he just, you know, got some, you know, a new house. Like, but like besides that, like we're not we're doing the same shit. He wears the same thing from when I first met him until now. No bear look, no shoes. Basically barefoot. He has his slides on his words. Where's the slide? What are the people wearing those last. Yeah, we're seeing people, you know, V. Bay. I got my feet all jacked up from running for years. So I have to have wide comfortable shoes. And like I like other shoes, but like they're very free shoes like where they don't like hurt my toes. Were you distance running for a long time? Yeah. Gave it up. Yeah, I've had a couple different hip surgeries and stuff like that. Oh, wow. Yeah. Ultras, 50s, hundreds of marathoners. All like college track and then USA Traphorn. And then that was yeah, but I put a lot of miles on. Yeah. Yeah. I can imagine. I can imagine. So you're out of the game on endurance now. Yeah. I don't like it. It honestly, it's like physiologically doesn't feel good to me. I mean, I had like, you know, energetic devonus like I just when I was younger, I just had a lot of energy. I had to do something with it. And it's a great way to exhaust yourself. And then I found, you know, you, at some point I really said like when I gave up competitive sports, I was like, I want to just be competitive business. And also I think, you know, for years before, promix and things like I was trying all kinds of different nutrition on myself. And, you know, traditional what you learned in school and all that is just not it. And so I had to go through a lot of different iterations. And I think it took a while to like get to a spot where I was like fueling my body properly and stuff like that. But, you know, some of the some sports are like, you know, doing your 20s. I definitely don't, I didn't leave anything. Yeah. You know, you need to do the tank on really. Yeah. You got to do that. And so I, you know, I did as much as I could. And then now I enjoy like I feel great from lifting. Like running, I didn't do much during the day, man. I don't know if like, I don't know. Devs got got a crazy motor. But like if you do a crazy amount of endurance, you know, it affects your hormones, whereas lifting kind of helps your hormones in like a really simplistic way. And I would just be tired. You know, like you go run 20 miles a day. Like I had many years of like 100 mile weeks consistent. That was just my training. And I was just tired all the time. Like so much. You just didn't have that much like, I don't have brain power like do stuff. And I see other people struggle with that where it's like training all this time. And you know, if you're training three or four hours a day, it's like you're also trying to eat and recover and do all this stuff. And it's like, that's your whole day. You know, so when you really want to get serious with something, I think it's you do got to prioritize certain things. Yeah. Yeah. And it's it's it's also important to allude to that because now we're in this era where endurance and marathoning and ultimate. Arthony is becoming not common but popular in young people. I saw a guy the other day. I was scrolling and we have some mutual friends. He's he's a 22 year old kid ran for 24 hours straight on a treadmill to donate a iron snout. I think his Instagram handle and good. Huh? What? Oh, yes. Yes. Iron Ed. Iron Ed. Thank you. He's in Charleston. Yeah. He is. I met him through. I didn't meet him. I saw him on my boy Matthew scribbs social media. And you know, Skrev. He lives in Charleston. He's a creator. Yeah. Big big creator. Great dude. Okay. But point being this endurance era has become almost normalized. Right. And I think it's cool. I run marathons. I've learned a lot about myself. I encourage people to do endurance. You fucking bear crawl to marathon. You maniac. But there is something incredibly powerful for seeing what your body's capable of. 100% when you ran a distance you once could have only perceived driving. I learned I remember the time I crossed the finish line of my first marathon. I remember that was the first time I really felt like I believed in myself. And then I could actually do anything. That's cool. And so I really encourage people to do that. But conversely after the New York marathon, I took 60 days completely off running. I think I ran maybe five miles a week. Yeah. So not completely off. But a little bit. I felt 10 times better. Yeah. Just lifting heavy. Yeah. And walking and sleeping. I have to weigh in a couple of things because I have a lot of thoughts as please, please. Yeah. I agree. I think the mental aspect is incredible. I think Devon and I, Devon's a mentally tough guy. And like I'm the same way. You gotta have that. You just gotta have that like bro. You just keep going. You know, I love like the martial on the edge. Yeah. Kind of a doggy. But the dog, you know that martial on lunch quote where he's it's one of my favorite quotes all the time. He goes, yeah, I just figured out that if you just, you know, run through someone, they don't like it too much. So he just keep going and going. And he just keeps saying it for like five minutes. He's like, I'm going and going. And he just keeps going. Like, but that's crazy. But that's just how he was. And that's like, you have to have that approach in life. And I think whatever you're passionate about. But the running thing like, it's awesome for the mental aspect because it's one of the hardest things you can do. Swimmers, you know, fucking bear crawl mirror. You know, like all that stuff is like so good for your mental because you can accomplish anything with your mind. But then physiologically, yeah, it's really, really hard. There are certain people that are built for it too. And that's the, that's really the thing. It's like running is actually such a high demand activity. Most people shouldn't be doing it. And it's, there's a lot of downsides, you know. And so I think like for most people, it's, it's not the best choice. I think like walking's great, I think lifting's great. And if you gotta do it for the mental aspect, I think that's wonderful, but then balance everything else. And then also remember that a lot of these people you see are one of the few, and so don't kind of repeat that template. And a lot of guys also run a little bit of extra stuff that you're not aware of that makes it all seem like, - Yes. - You know, and that's my big issue is, you know, Devon is a legit on my mother. Like he literally doesn't do anything other than promix. The guy just, yeah, like serious, seriously. - Never got guys, never tear a team, or steroids, never need, like true to it. Like I'd get my blood tested, you know, rhythm every month. There's nothing, 'cause I don't, I don't. - I put genetics, yeah. - My father was a pro weight lifter, my grandpa was a pro weight lifter. My mom was a pro arm wrestler. - He's also very durable. - Yeah, like your mom was a pro arm wrestler. - Yeah, she's a beast. - That's fucking sick. - Crazy, yeah. - That's so niche. - You never hand, like shaker hand. - Yeah. - It's like an overwhelming experience. - Yeah, yeah. - Very strong. - Like weirdly strong. - I am so excited to say that we have officially landed our first podcast sponsor. And before I even say who it is, I wanna thank you guys for listening to the show and making it a podcast worthy of sponsorship. This means a lot to me, feeling the first ever sponsorship gap was a big decision. And I'm excited to say that the guys I'm wearing right here, on my head and right here on my eyes, are the brand sponsoring the show. So this podcast is now brought to you by Dream Recovery. They have incredible products for you to get the most out of your sleep. And I have been using the products for well over a year now. Like the Blue Light Blocking Glasses, the hat, which is just an added bonus, and looks good with an outfit. But two of my favorites are their performance sleep mask. And most importantly, the thing you hear me talk about all the time, mouth tape. I started taping my mouth shut when I was going to sleep at night and I have noticed a huge difference in my recovery on both my whoop engine. It just in what I feel in my day to day life. They also sell performance nasal strips for exercise and sleep, which unfortunately I'm currently out of because I used all of them. So if you want to save some money at checkout, at the Dream Recovery website, you can use code HU to say 15% on your first order. That's dreamrecovery.com code HU. There will also be a link in the description so you can go check it out and get more out of your sleep. - Did you place ports growing up? - Yeah, football basketball baseball. And then I played football in baseball in college. - We're at Long Island University. - Okay, so you have a big athletic background. You were a runner. - Yeah. - But to the running point, man, my best weeks have probably been in the last. - You look great now because you was doing too much running. - I was running a lot, man. - I was doing too much running. - My best weeks, I'm not getting, like a couple weeks ago. Literally this is my workout. I was snowboarding in Montana for two days. I then came home, I lifted two days in a row. I did upper body than lower body. I then went into the ocean, swam a little bit, son of cold punch, and then I took a rest there. And that was like the best wellness week I've ever felt of all time. I think I might have ran a mile, but that's a mile. - One mile. - But that's it. And I think that's wellness. Like that's where you feel good. You're traveling, you're moving your body a little differently. You're getting the blood flowing. Motion is, motion is a lotion. So you gotta keep moving. Man, the whole running thing, man. I don't know. You don't feel, by the way, my testosterone, when I was running a lot, was at 300. 300. I just got tested last month, 900. And I don't take anything. It's shot up within two months just by switching. - And it was lifting, you started lifting up. - I started putting it on like more. - Good weight. - Yeah, you looked bigger since the last time I saw you. - For sure. - Thank you. - You looked good. - Yeah, a little pro. - I take 200 grams of protein a day, too. I weigh 182. 200 grams of protein a day. Mostly from Whole Foods and then a pro. - Yeah, I put, I actually put the beef protein in my coffee every morning, 'cause it's one scoop, 30 grams of protein. And it's like, you know, it's tasteless. So I throw that in. And then yeah, I'll have steak throughout the day. Like burger meat, like pumpkin seeds, and then I'll have a couple of promix bars. Dude, I had a strawberry puff bar on the way over here. - Oh, yes. - I love those things, dude. - Do the sunflower butter one or sunflower butter one? - Oh yeah. - We love the sunflower butter one. - Dude, we have a couple more of those. Coming out because like, yeah, I've been trying to do that 'cause we always, the bars too are, you know, it's made in gluten-free facility and all that. So like, could be for your kids and a lot of kids take it 'til it's school and stuff. And like, yeah, the sunflower one, we were really excited. So we have a couple of their like derivations of that coming out. - You do. - Like a jelly one and stuff. - Oh, yeah. - Yeah, it's sweet on my. It's also a perfect intro run and pre run. - Yeah, I love these before run. - Yeah. But I do think it's protein, of a creasing massive, you need to do it. - Every day. - Yeah, I actually, I just remade a video about creasing. The, I don't know if I'm in a hyper-responder category, but I notice a belief look fuller 'cause obviously the water is intracellular, you hold water, but some research suggests that there's been up to a 10% increase in force output from creasing supplementation. That's fucking substantial. - Yeah, it's a lot. - That's 30 pounds on a 300 pound bench, dude. - That's crazy. - That's insane. So that's where you write what you said earlier, that supplements are meant to supplement an already healthy lifestyle. But if you're eating one gram per pound of protein, 80 to 90% whole foods, your training is on a proper progression, adding in a creatine, you mentioned Omega's earlier. I started ripping those for the last two weeks. I do feel different. I was deficient in my bloods in Omega threes. And those two things have made a difference 'cause I was 98% there and that 2% I can now feel. So you're right, proper protein intake, hard training, sounds like you're running less than you ever have. - Less, yeah. - Yeah, really? - Maybe like four miles a week. - Really not at all. And you're running not at all either, right? - Yeah, and I'll, like, I love runners and there's special community, but you also, depending on your aesthetic goals, but like if you're just a guy who's trying to get bigger and like lift and look good, like, you know. - Can't run. Running is running simple. - Your body is, it doesn't, it is counterproductive. - They're counteractive stimuli. - Yeah. - And so it's just like, what are you telling your body you want? And so like if you're a guy who's like, well, I want bigger arms and bigger tests and all this stuff, like, running is not going to get there. You know, I think that's just like, one of my passion projects, Dev and I have a gym we're working on, but like, I see people put in the time. That's the most frustrating part is it's not that people don't make the time to go to the gym. You go to the gym a lot. You're a gym guy, like, you just see a lot of people do it inefficient shit. And I'm like, the bro's here an hour every day, man. And like, you don't even need an hour. - No. - But like, I just want people to do the right stuff. And it's not that complicated. - You know what I mean? - There's this misconception around, because the hybrid athletes become so sexy, people want to do that. And I do think it's cool. There's an element of fitness where if I can go out and run 10 miles and feel okay and bench press three plates, I feel fit. That's fitness. It's a balance. But there's dichotomy. If I want to run a three hour marathon and bench 315 and they've never lifted in their lives, I'm like, you know what I'm saying? A lot of these hybrid guys have trained-- - Have trained-- - Round and power lifting for years. - For 10 years. - And then they started running. - You can tap back into that. - Yes. - That muscle memory and everything. - Yes. - And still move some weight. - Yes, you bounce back quickly. - Yeah. - Even like, I don't have some insane physique, but I trained for eight years with weights strictly and walking before I ever ran. Ever. So I have a foundation. But I noticed, to y'all's point earlier, I look flatter and I lose muscle tissue when I'm on marathon prep. Guaranteed. Every time I look worse, I'm on London marathon prep right now and I'm progressively, I'm the heaviest I've been in a long time. But I've dialed it in the last two weeks. Scales going down. - Yeah. - Muscles are a little flatter. It's just, it's a byproduct. And I'm probably after this race, gonna turn that off 'cause that period of just eight weeks of bulking and training and first strength, I was like, wow. - Yeah, you feel-- - For God help. - Jack, good. - Yeah, I feel good. - I was so used to being sore. - No, yeah. - I was like, banged up. - No, no, no. - You just get energized. - Yeah, I feel amazing. I also think like the whole hybrid athlete thing is like, I mean, go play basketball. - Yeah, that's the best. - Go left, go left. - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. - Go snowboard, do something athletic. Don't just run and live. Do something through baseball. Go surf, go snowboard, go do more activities than just running and lifting. I think that's a real hybrid athlete too. Anyone can run and lift. - It's not. - It's funny. They call it an athlete. It's just running in a straight line. - Yeah, right. - And then let's see. - I'm like, dude, I'm not a hybrid athlete. I just lift weights and run. - Yeah, right, it's not. - It's genius, genius branding though. - Yeah. - What does y'all's day to day look like right now? In the business and your fitness, like Albert will start with you. What are you doing right now training wise? And then what's the typical work day like right now? - The having a baby added some time to my day. 'Cause I just wake up earlier. I just keep trying to wake up earlier. So I get up very early, do some work, get everything ready for the kid and the house and all that stuff. And then basically just on the computer. I think that's like really quick aside. When you think about what you wanna do in life, like thinking about how you wanna spend your days and Devon's gonna get out with that. And I've found what works to me. And neither of us are optimized and it changes over time. But I do like to work of computers because you can expect change that's so big and reach so many people, so anyway. Start the day on the computer. Now I do my walk with my family in the morning to walk a couple miles with the dogs and stuff. And then come home, I eat a pound of beef. I have a butter coffee when I wake up, sourdough with a bunch of butter. So I end up like kind of fat and protein in the morning. And then I'll go work and have basically another like black coffee. And I kind of just, I was talking to Elizabeth my way over like, I'm not getting a crazy amount of sleep right now, but one thing years ago I figured out was like, it's hard to be sleep-free if you're hungry. So like I do, Morning the meal and morning at night and I just don't eat anything during the day So I get like 12 hours at least of that time So you do sort of an iteration of intermittent fasting, but you feed fast feed Yeah, and it works for me because like when I used to I used to have lunch or different things and like I don't know anyone that doesn't have lunch and then you feel kind of a little sleepy or something or you got I had another coffee and that's kind of waiting the day and then my mess up your sleep and like so just like What if I you know I'm just not gonna eat and I feel good because like when I would normally get tired in the afternoon And I'm 132 I'm starting to get hungry and it's kind of like I'm getting a little but then like I'm getting hungry So I feel good and then for me working out is like a mental break and I think That's the same way like again with running. It's like where have you get that mental health? That's what I do for my mental health is workout and I see my friends and all that stuff So I get like an hour in and I do that right before I go home So I finish my work day. I'm looking forward to working out. It's way better than seeing on the computer and then go home See kid and dogs and all that stuff and then have another like big stake or something some blackberries a lot of milk and cream You track your clerk intake or protein intake it all right. I just focus on Whole Foods No, yeah, just focus on Whole Foods like what I found for me and everyone's a little bit different But I think most listening right now he's fucking jacked This is why I'm asking questions so I'm for most people like and this is what I screwed up when I was younger was There wasn't much information, but especially as a distance athlete I was sure told you need lots of carbs and like some protein but mostly carbs and I really didn't need enough fat at all and like eating fat Eating fat has been like the biggest game changer for me like I didn't realize that like You don't have to be hungry all the time Like I just when I was running all the time I just thought I was hungry all the time But I was just never eating fat and that's what my body really needed So like having a bunch of butter and cream and everything like that in the morning and then at night I have butter and cream and fatty steaks and all that and I just feel good like you feel full and you're just happy your blood sugar is good and all that stuff so that's really been the biggest game changer even adding I still do like a bowl of proof style coffee NTT butter Cinnamon in the morning and that really helped me reduce my caffeine intake because I think it just blunts that spike and and so that's been really helpful That's my number one thing for people is like and that supports your hormones Yes, that was the same game changer for me, especially as a former fat kid. Yeah, the big appetite. Yeah, man It just going number one I go protein fat in the morning to because I like I feel better It's like a satiety without a fullness. Yeah, I don't feel lethargic because my stomach is full you just satiated blood sugar stable and Then I sort of have my carbohydrates in the evening post trainings when I have the bulk of mine But dude, I feel that way too hormones seem better and way more satiated I have probably a similar approach to you with 100 plus grams of fat a day 198 200 grams of protein. Yeah, that's the same approach. So strength training are you? Yeah, what are you doing there? I do basically I found I'm an old guy now so like for real For me circuits because it's like a mix and I've always done just like an all-around workout So my whole structure and this has been and I was a trainer for 10 years What I like to do is two circuits where I have basically three exercises. It's a compound exercise Upper body push upper body pull and I run that five times and then I do another circuit With three more of the same type of thing and I've got like a library in my head of you know 30 different exercises And I just kind of rotate through those and certain days that compound things like I'll call a you know deadlift compound and I'm doing push up pull up that type of thing But there's a decent amount of body weight stuff always push ups like every day is always 100 push ups always 60 pull ups And work every day. Wow. It's just kind of like I mean that's also one of those like non science-based like OG What I grew up with in Florida. Do you just see old dudes that are still looking good? You're like yo how old are you and he's like yeah? I'm 65 and there's just these kind of wiry strong dudes and like You know you see those guys because I know you like this and does like this you see certain guys a lot of times the calisthenic guys You know, they're like Bro's like seems like doesn't get hurt and he keeps it physique a lot of them don't have any legs So I'm like I still want legs so I gotta do my squats and deadlift and lunges and all that but like that stuff really sticks with you And it does build a different type of muscle which I found and for me like I've had some injuries He used this one a lot have shoulder things and all that like I don't do any kind of straight bar stuff It's all body weight Dumbbells are kettlebells no fixed bar patterns no fixed bar patterns where we can't do any of that Or shit just hurts and so like everything I've gone and I've had hip surgeries and things everything's pretty much unilateral stuff so I'm not loading too crazy still get my deadlifts in I love like farmers carries and stuff like that, but that's basically the set And so my heart rate gets up a decent amount usually one of my compounds is like an assault bike or like ball balls or something like that But that's been good Kind of you know you feel like tired, but you're not and and realize when I was younger man You just you know you pull as much ways you can do all that you never actually get in your best shape Your best shape is like if you're just going 85 90% 80% you know and you kind of take you know I'd never take a day off though either. I think there's like for me. It's it's mental health really and just like Doing something every day. Yeah, people people make the good mistake You have to feel crushed by a workout. We've gotten a good workout. It's one thing to grid check yourself every now and yeah But you should walk out feeling I heard Salda Stefano one of the guys on the mind pump podcast say you should walk out feeling Pushed but not crushed. Yeah, you should be able to go about the rest of your day Maybe a bit sort of more. Oh, but that that is where the progress is and that 85 to 90% That's my biggest mistake in training when I was younger. I go fucking hard, you know Just every day was maxing like running when you're with a team you get pulled into stuff too, which is the best You know, it's the day I wouldn't trade it, but like you do dumb shit You go, okay, you want to hit one right now? Yeah, yeah, yeah, like immediately I still would do it And that's why I don't do competitive stuff because I just get too excited like I will hurt myself Like I don't you know, I just like want to want to go 100% You know, and so that's when you you get older and you're like oh like I'm actually it doesn't even make sense in your mind That you're like I don't have to kill myself every day I actually get better results and you're actually compounding. It's almost like investing You know, it's like don't fucking go mean points all the time like you just put your money in you like look where you end up Yeah, I think don't put a million in dope Yeah, versus like Don't do that. What about you man? What is the nutrition and training and even just the work day look like how are you stacking your day right now? Yeah, um You know, I have been traveling a lot lately so I don't have the best most consistent routine, but I do know when I'm home I haven't set an alarm for like six years. I kind of just let my body wake up naturally naturally naturally like 607 That really literally 606 607 It's a weird wake up sometimes 703. It's like one of those. It's so weird. I don't know. I just always regardless of what time it goes a bit Regardless that happened this morning. I didn't know alarm just woke up. No, we had to run this morning. Yeah 5k not sitting on alarm for that It's crazy. Yeah, you really trust that nothing. Yeah Everest didn't send alarm. I know I just don't I don't know I feel like it could it would control me too much and so let my body wake up Go in grab a deep bloat drink that every morning and then you know let the dog out and Drink my coffee with butter every morning push at home and then I go to the gym I've been doing a lot of weights lately Actually more bench dumbbell incline press some Some cable machine stuff I will go back though to my morning before I do take a shower every morning and before I take the shower I do 100 pushups and 50 squats 20 20 pushups 10 squats 20 pushup 10 squats five rounds jump in the shower If you're trying to get a big chest massive massive Would recommend that and then so Right by I don't know probably 9 a.m. I'm going to the gym and like within that time People are probably calling me whether it's the businesses or family or whatever it is I'll take calls at the gym while I'm working out But yeah, I think at the gym, I'm you know, I haven't really been running lately I'll go on the bike and just like hit 30 minutes on Not the assault bike, but the other just like whatever that bike's called. Yeah, just a cycle bike And that gets a nice sweat going and Then sonnacle plunge no matter what all the protein shake And then grab some good whole food probably you know burger or something like that and then I take my calls mainly Between 11 and three and I don't and I don't really give people more than 15 minutes Because I feel like if you're taking hour calls like that's the fuck you talking about for an hour You know what I mean like that's a long time like Understand what's happening in though in those 15 minutes and that's it and like I want I want them to be prepared I want myself to be prepared and You don't get more than 15 like I have shit to do you know what I mean? And so I mean we have a 30 minute pro mix call every Monday But that's honestly that's my goal is called yeah, it's literally 15. Oh, it's legit like we're we're on it. Yeah and then by the end of the day by three four I'll probably play basketball pick a ball be outside go to the beach like just do something outside Him and I are opposite. I don't like I have a computer I don't remember last time I opened the computer. I'm a call guy like I feel like I'm always on calls moving around like I'm shaking a bacon He's behind the scene just fucking getting the things done. I'm kind of out in the field, you know calls meeting people You know doing the things so that's that's how I work the best If it's not on my calendar. I'm not doing doing it. And I also don't allow things on my calendar if they don't have something to do with family health community freedom of time or giving back freedom of time is a little different. But those those other four if if there's something on my calendar that doesn't go to one of my values, I'm just simply not doing it. Period. I'm very strictly I'm very stubborn that I don't care how much money you want to offer. I don't care what the opportunity is. I don't care what's the lab or this or that whatever it is. If it doesn't have to do with family health community or giving back, I'm just not doing it. And that's how I create my freedom of time and doing things that I want to do. By nighttime, I'm having probably a stake. I ate a last stake and then I might honestly had another son of a cold plunge at the end of the day. And then you know, watch a movie hang out and then go to sleep. I love it. And contrast with a bed. Yeah. Love it. Yeah. It's my favorite thing. Yeah. I don't know. I like I used to own a beer garden and I just I like a good IPA and so sometimes I'll have that at night. But yeah, I don't know. That's that's my routine. It works for me. And then you know, when I'm getting ready for like a big mountain, you know, climb, I'm doing Denali in June. That's a three week climb. Like I'll increase to more stair master or putting, you know, weighted vest on and just what we're in that all day long. Like a 30 pound weight vest. Just wear it for like 12 hours. Are you willing to a series? Yeah. Just registered. It's like it just doesn't. It doesn't. It doesn't. It doesn't like honestly. He doesn't bullshit. Like if you just says something random, and you're like, I don't know if he's really doing that. He's like actually doing that. Yeah. I feel like someone like you just has a genetically higher threshold for discomfort in pain. Like there's some you got an extra tendon or something in your elbow. Like the pain goes there. It's your grit level. And I think, I mean, I think from bear crawl in the marathon and climbing all these mountains and Everest and all that fun stuff. It's like, it just it, you're right. It's like crossing the finish line out of marathon. It gives you that confidence that wow, I can literally do anything I want on this planet. I am unstoppable. Like I feel like nothing's impossible. I can literally do anything I want. But it's because I've done these physical challenges that tested me mentally. And yeah, then you just keep increasing your grit level. I would be terrified to go to Denali 10 years ago. A lot of avalanches, a lot of deaths. You're carrying 80 pounds. You're pulling 100 pounds sled. Like that's tough. You're out there for three weeks. I feel good. I feel good. If God wants to take me and send an avalanche my way, that's on him. But for me, like I'm prepared. I'm good. I know what to wear. I know how to use, you know, the all the gear. I know my body is capable of bend to that height before. Like you're just increasing your grit level. And I think that's what happens with business as well. Like, yeah, you start one might fail start one. You see a little success. I genuinely think that Albert and I can start and succeed at any possible business that is thrown our way or that we want to start on this planet because of what the partnership we have at ProMix and what we've been able to do with it. And I also feel that way with any physical, you know, activity. Like if someone called me right now and they're like, yo, let's go run 250 miles right now. I could do it. Genuinely, like I feel I'm very confident and I haven't ran for two, three months. I'm confident enough. My grit level is high enough. I could go do it. And I think everyone should feel this confidence. If you don't have this confidence, start doing hard shit and see what happens to your confidence levels when you walk into rooms when you, you know, our approach with a shitty situation in life, it doesn't feel that shitty because like you've already overcome the impossible. You have evidence. My favorite quote of all time, you don't become confident by shouting affirmations in the mirror, but by having a stack of undeniable proof that you are who you say you are. Love that. I'll work yourself out. I said, you guys, you guys have a ton of evidence and behaviors. You're like a chat GPT of quotes. Give me more. Call me every morning. Just give me a new one. I can do that. I've done it. I've done it for like 45 days. It's my niche talent. I have a steel trap mind for aphorisms. Me and me and Williams and we talk about that all the time. We just speak and fucking quotes to each other. Unbelievable. Thanks, man. I appreciate it. Wow. I did. There's so much more. I want to unpack with you guys, but I know I know we're on a time constraint. Yep. I wanted to ask you for me, for the people who listen. If there were one was one piece of advice, we'll do two veins that you would want to tell a young business owner, a young entrepreneur, and then a human advice for business, one piece, an advice for life, how to live a fulfilled life. And he talked about how you have this deep confidence. You have this certainty of peace with death. That's something a lot of people don't have. Man, that's heavy. It's a big deal to be able to say that and mean it. I can feel you mean it. For sure. So if there was one thing you would want to leave an entrepreneur business owner to tell them to run a successful business, what would that be? And then maybe one piece of advice you would want to give someone to live a successful and fulfilled life. Yeah. I'll give a quick story. When I submitted Everest, I was coming down. I was at 28,000 feet. And we're on this ledge. And there was a hundred people on the ledge. And my auction was running out. This ledge is super sketchy. It's called the the Hillary step from named after Sir Edmund Hillary, who submitted Everest in 1953. It's like this really sketchy ledge. I thought I was going to die like legit. I was like, this is my last day on earth. Probably my last 10 minutes because this is going to collapse. There's too many people on it. I can't get by and like didn't know it's saving you. I thought I was going to like I looked at a rock and I'm like, I'm going to hit my head on this and fuck it and fall down there. And I'm telling you that because when you look at death and the face goals go out the window and only the truth comes out. And the truth, there was three things I thought about. And this is this would be my advice for people to think about as a business owner. What would your mom say at your funeral right now? Like genuinely if you die right now, what would your mom say about you? The woman that brought you into the world, what would she say about you? As a character, as a man, as a woman, as who you are right now in the planet, what would she say about you? Have you fully lived up until this point? Would you be okay with dying? And if you do survive what would you change about your life? And I've thought about that over and over and over again since that day, May 21st. And I don't know, that goes for business owners personal. Like think about those three things constantly. I'd also say that don't take it so seriously in regards to making a big business or trying to scale fast, like have fun because you're never getting the time back. The amount of people I know that have built businesses and sold, but have a bad back, have lost hair, have bad skin, have ruined relationships, have gotten through a divorce. It's like, bro, it's not that serious. Like have fun, have fun while you're building it. Because time's going to pass. And so you got it, you got to value that time as much as possible and do the things that you like to do. You know, mean don't take it so seriously. So yeah, that would probably be my advice. It's a great answer. Thanks, brother. I appreciate it. I have just probably a good way to learn how we're sure. I was going through a lot of different things in my head, but I think one kind of life thing is just like the full ownership thing is really important. That's just like a good, I don't think enough people adopt that and the people that do, I think are successful that everything's your fault. You got to operate like that. You got to have that mindset because that makes you in control of almost every situation or at least gives you the illusion of control and empowers you. So I think that's a core philosophy for me. I don't get mad at other people. I go, what could I have done? They would have prevented this or whatever. It's a great business monomer mindset. It's also good. You're going to show up to your partner in a self in the right way if you're like, all right, what could I have done? I wasn't clear here. I wasn't that. So I think that's a good thing. I think the facing your mortality is really important. I've had some near death things and sometimes you got to wake the fuck up basically. You got to be like, oh shit. Because a lot of people are real, people talk about being comfortable. Yeah, it's like, well too comfortable. Yeah, you got to be like, it's fucking real sometimes. When you really feel that, you're like, oh my God, that was almost it. Then you kind of got to get shook and out of that. And I think that's what sports are good for and all that. You get rocked in a game or you like, you finish your marathon that you didn't think was possible and stuff like that. Like that really wakes you up. I have one other really good one, man. Think about death often. I think it's really us. Yeah. Think about the three. I thought about death probably 10 times today. So I'm not forgetting. I'm like, man, I could get hit right now. I could meet you. I could come down. I'm like, we could blow up. Like I'm constantly thinking about death in the weirdest way. But I think that's what helps me maximize time and life and really appreciate it. Like we're lucky. By the way, that ledge, I got over the ledge. It collapsed right behind me 30 minutes right after five people. Yeah. So it's like, we're lucky. We're like, we're genuinely the lucky ones. If you're listening or if you're alive, you're so so lucky, you better don't get too comfortable. You know, maximize that. The one I think people get caught up in and this is like combo. You got to be around people that are, are inspiring to you. That's huge. Like where I was from, like, my mind wasn't aware. And that's where I tell, if you don't know what you're, if you don't know what you want to do, being a trainer is a great career. Devon and I were both trainers. You get to be, it helped me reset my mind and I'm not someone like, I think you do. You know, both of you all probably do like good self development stuff. I'm like, like Dev and I share that we're extremely stubborn. Like I just certain things just like do not enter my mind or definitely like, yo, I'm not doing this like he's legit not doing this. It's like insane. It's not happening. It's not happening. What are we talking about? It's crazy. It's what it takes. But if you put yourself, if you're, if you're a trainer, your job just show up positively and help that person and most trainers is about somebody like him to hang out with you for an hour. Like it helps if you know what you're doing. But like that really helped me with my mindset of being like, yo, you're just the positive guy. Like you just always have entered into regardless of what's going on, how to compartmentalize whatever the fuck's going on in your life because somebody's paying you for an hour. You just show up and lock in and be attentive, care about their needs. Like that's such a really healthy kind of like serving mindset or whatever. But like when you start showing up for people in that way, it actually makes you feel good. And you can like, there is the faking it of like Devon and I'm sure both had like tough times. And then you got a client and you're like, yo, man, Mike, what's going on? This is fucking awesome. Let's do this. Let's do that. And you just start, you start giving him energy and you realize that you're getting more energized, which is fucking cool. Yeah. And and then for us, I think both of us like, you know, we didn't have, I didn't think I had amazing mentors. But when you train people, I was in my head. I was like, yeah, if somebody's working out 11 a.m. on a Monday, they must have done something right. You know, and I'm training them. So it's like, yeah, I didn't even know you could do that in life. Like I'm paying 250 bucks a session or whatever. It's fucking crazy. Like, yeah, you know, fucking mind too. I'm $12 an hour, $8 an hour. It was what I used to. And then the fact that you could actually someone will pay you for your time. And that was really cool to be around people that are successful. And you can see that they're not, they're not doing anything different. They're not more special than you, especially as a trainer. They're kind of coming to you for advice. They're open. You say, oh, man, I can do this. And you just don't even know what's possible in the world. That was such a, I think so many people saying with nutrition, you don't know how good you could feel. I didn't eat well for, you know, a good chunk of my life when I was early on. And you didn't know that you could feel good. And I think that's the hardest thing in America is your trapped in a box with your mind and your body about like, you could feel like this every day. You could feel like Devon every day. Devon's jacked up all the time. And like, that's how you should feel like he's literally jacked up all the time. So like, get yourself into positions. I tell everyone, I'm like, go move to New York, move to Austin, go somewhere where there's like stuff happening. Bees your closer to the hoop. You know, it's not going to go in if you're fucking far away and you're not around people who inspire you. Like you're that, you know, the sum of the five people, like that's some of the realist advice because I was around my friends, you know, certain friend groups and stuff. And I was like, there's nothing. Yeah. Nothing going on. Man, I love that analogy closer to the hoop. Yeah. You got to be and like shit falls out of the hoop and you're like, holy shit. Yeah. Like, wow, you know, like crazy stuff is like, you know, it's you're just in a different world, where it's like, yeah, I'm going to get a new car. Here's a car or something. And you're like, just like a thrown out like, yeah, like when you're around, you've got to be around it. I'll also say like an ad value of those people that add value. And if you're a business owner, don't try to learn everything. Like it's impossible for us to get really good at something. Yeah. It's impossible for us to learn everything while we're on this planet. It's impossible. There's none of time. Delegate higher the best possible people around you that are really good at what they're good at. And that specific thing, like start to build a team like that. Don't try to don't try to learn everything. It's impossible. Also, like do what you love to do. Like only focus on that. And if you don't, if you don't like accounting, if you don't like marketing, if you don't like this, so that higher someone for that and the best possible person. Yeah. Yeah. We're just a couple more minutes here. I wouldn't had, I literally wouldn't add a single thing. I would say the most alive I've ever felt has been on the other side of experiencing death, watching my dad die, taking care of him was the way it's I've been. I'm so grateful for that experience because I'm so on fire and people ask me, how do you take risks? You guys have taken massive risks in your life. I know I'm going to die. It's not a risk if my safety isn't threatened. It's not a fucking risk. It's not real. Yeah. Yeah. So wake up. Let's get away. Wake the fuck up. It's not real. Yeah. And and the sum of being the five people you spend the most time with, I feel the opportunities of how to mean you guys being on the show today was a byproduct of me being at the party last night. Yeah. You got to go. You got to take, yeah. Literally go outside, put yourself in positions to get the opportunity. We were not going to be on the podcast day unless we bumped into each other last night at the party. We're like, all right, let's make it happen. Four o'clock done. Yeah. Like that would have never happened. Yeah. Luck is where preparation and opportunity meet. And that was exactly what happened. These fucking quotes. I can't believe it. I cannot believe it. It's like the opposite of brain right. Yeah. I love it. Brain I purchased. Yeah. Well, guys, I'm, I'm honored that you chose to sit down in the middle of a busy day and and chat with me for a little bit. What are you guys working on? What are you pumped about? Where should the people go look for? Yeah. Monroe. We're opening an amazing wellness club in Austin, right downtown on Monroe Street, right off South, Congress, huge indoor outdoor space co-working. We have the well in there, which is a great restaurant in Austin. Good bone broth and great food. That should be opening in May. Working on rhythm. My, my blood test company monthly blood test. We have more products coming out from promix, more vitamins, a bigger vitamin line. We have some light pizomals coming out, which you're the first to hear about it, which are badass. We got to create a team when coming out. You know, what else? What else we got going on? I'm trying to do less. Less. Yeah. It's a game, man. Yeah. A family or kind of wellness club project, promix, whatever it does got going. But yeah, man, just like that's the other part of it. When you get things going and you're, you experience this, I think everyone like, you work so hard, do you like get to a spot? And then you got to go, wait, I got to reset, you know, and that, yes, I think that's a good life progression. You go from say yes to everything. And then at some point you go, okay, I'm like, okay, I've got too many, I've got too many, yes, things going on. Now people want more, yes, it's for me. And then you start to say no to certain things and try to refine what you want. Otherwise, you get pulled into major different directions. So it goes back to the values, figure out what your five absolute no matter what's our family, health, community freedom of time, they give them back our mind. And so I don't do anything outside of those, you know, now I can start saying no to anything that's not in those. So yes, yes, yes, probably in my 20s. And then no in my 30s, you know, 33. And I think that's, you know, that's help. Helps you stay on track without a doubt. You know, yes, there's so many things until you build up the luxury to be able to say no to certain things. That's it. Is that your cool or that's a good, I don't agree. That's an easy approach to life. Young guys not saying yes, the stuff is insane. You know, you just got to go out of being the many other nuts. Yes, yes, was like to say us everything in your 20s. Yeah, and I did. And now we're at the point where things have built up and I've built a brand in a life for myself where I can be a little more selective. Yeah, and that's a luxury. Mm-hmm. You know, it is pressures of privilege. That's a good one. Pressures are prevalent here. It's lucky to have the pleasure. Yeah, this is good. I'm, I'm very appreciative of y'all and I'm proud to know you guys and call you friends. Thank you for being here today. And thanks for chatting with me. Appreciate it. Appreciate it. Absolutely. Let us know what you thought of the episode in the comments. If you're on Spotify, give it a rate. Let me know what you thought of it on YouTube. Make sure to subscribe and drop a comment. Go check out promix. Go check out Monroe. It's going to be fucking sick. I'm so excited to come see it. We'll see you in the next episode. Peace. Thank you.