Unleash Your Power: Integrating Life & Work with Tim Rexius

23:16Mick:And, bro, I'm thankful for who you are. And I want you to know that from the bottom of my soul. And that's why I wanted to spend a lot of the podcast talking about Tim the human, Tim the leader. Because, again, I don't think publicly you get enough credit for just all the great things that you do. Because we know about the brands. We know about the products. And that's where I want to shift to. I want to give you the floor. Let's talk about the brands that Tim owns overseas, has owned, man. because, but I'm going to give you kudos after you talk about them. But, but there's a, there's a couple of products that I can't live without.

23:55Mick:And you are the owner of those products, brother. Well, we started out with the Rexy's nutrition stores. That was my first, I'm leaving corporate America. This is what I'm going to do. And that was the truest of all entrepreneurship hustles because I had no money. I mean, I, every dime I had left was on the walls of that shop. And so I've always explained to my staff, even to this day, 18 years later, I'm like, imagine every dime you had in your bank account. I want you all to write it down. I do this with my high schoolers. I do this with my college kids. I write it all down in that piece of paper.

24:26I said, okay, cool. I don't care if it's a thousand bucks. I don't care if it's 10 ,000. I hear it's 500 bucks. Imagine that was gone. And that was now represented by the products on the walls of this store. Now, how has that changed your approach to every person you meet, every person that walks in this door or walks by the front doors that doesn't come in. You know, change your approach to how you deal with people. And that's how serious it was. And, you know, for me, it's like, okay, well, nobody's going to let me come meet, you know, do a sampling table or I don't have any free marketing. So, but I can go to three gyms a day every day for three years.

25:02And I did. I met every person who worked out at any gym anywhere and just knew that, hey, this ability to make friends and shake hands and be authentic and organic and mean what I say and it'll work. And it did. It worked very well. And then, you know, um, fast forward into 2014, uh, this very good looking blonde girl shows up my store, AKA my now wife. Um, and in one year we went from one state to five states operation. Wow. And it just shows you how powerful and important it can be the partner you choose. And when somebody else says behind you, you're not crazy. You can do this. You actually need to go harder.

25:42And that had never been told to me in my life. Everybody else said I was crazy. You're nuts. They have a backup plan. Where's that safety net? Don't do this. Don't do that. That's what I heard from everyone, including my parents and God love them. You know, my brothers and Brittany came in and she was like, oh no, you can do way more than this. I'm like, you know, I was kind of feeling pretty proud of myself at that point a little bit, you know, cause I'd come through and, um, moved out of the hood and into at least a more decent neighborhood. And she's like, no, you can go way harder. And I needed that.

26:14And then my wife's an accountant by trade, which means now when I have a crazy idea, I actually have to bring the numbers to prove my idea, not just the crazy thing I thought of. So it's a great dynamic and it's great. Then we got into the gyms, I was bodybuilding and I got kicked out of the local health club system here for intimidating other guests, which is absolute BS. I talk more than I lift. I'm a salesman, but it was more or less. I sell supplements. The gym chain wanted to sell supplements. They wanted me out of the way. Um, and so two weeks later, we, uh, signed a lease on an 8 ,000 square foot Bay and started our first iron heaven gym.

26:48And now we have three of them and they're massive. And, um, I love it. It's so much fun. And, uh, and now that I'm more in the retired space of the bodybuilding, um, I'm not doing it hard like I was before. Um, being that big in my forties is not exactly the healthiest thing on the planet. When I was in my thirties and I was indestructible walking around 320 off seasons, one thing, but in my forties, I'm like, no, I'm just trying to keep heart healthy. You know, I'm going to be, I want to be that obnoxious, embarrassing grandpa for a very long time. So, you know, I, and, uh, and at the same point, we started a nutraceutical brand just because, you know, as a CEO, I started identifying different health concerns that I just happen.

27:26When you get into your late thirties, you get into your forties and the CEOs and entrepreneurs, the lack of sleep, because we stress, we all do it. We can't, We try to turn it off, but man, it's hard. And if you're worried about stuff and getting that good sleep and reducing that cortisol, and then most of the nutrition industry is focusing on copying each other's stuff and just giving it a new fancy label and a new name and charging you more for it. That's kind of the song and dance. And I'm like, let's focus on sleep. Let's focus on stress. Let's focus on health concerns specifically. And I've always had an adage this.

27:58I'm not trying to be everybody's everything. I'm trying to be somebody's something. Don't try to fix the whole world's problem. Fix, you know, be like, hey, here's who I am. There's got to be people like me who look like me, who think like me, who maybe have the same struggle as me. Let's fix that problem. Let's just do it. Do a stick to our niche and what we're good at. And there's nothing wrong with that. I mean, yeah, I mean, we, yeah, we'd be all trillionaires if we could fix everyone's problems. And trust me, if I had a solution for that, I probably would have tried it already. But I'm doing that.

28:28And then the popcorn, Omaha protein popcorn, that's the one that, you know, out of nowhere, I mean, out of nowhere, I mean, had doing some diet plans from some pro athletes at the same time trying to convince us. Well, he's now seven, but at that time trying to convince my little ones to eat protein that didn't come in the form of a chicken nugget or chocolate milks like negotiating with Al Qaeda. So, um, yeah, it was like, okay, let's start goofing around the one, you know, around our house. The one thing that they'll all uniformly eat is popcorn. Right. I can't, I mean, I get the bars for free, brother.

28:59They won't touch them. You know, and because they opened it up, looks like a chocolate cake on the outside of the package, looks like a brick on the inside of the package. They go, yeah, you know, but when you're in bodybuilding, that's a treat, but for the average person, it's not. Right. And, you know, 600 batches. People realize the first batch of the caramel corn from a hot protein popcorn took 600 batches until we figured it out. It's a year. I mean, three batches a night, my wife and I goofing around, just trying to figure out a way to, and some really bad ones. Like my wife says I'm dramatic when I say this, but I bled for this company.

29:32She forgot to take the seeds out of one batch and I cracked a tooth. So, but I mean, most of them were really bad. We finally hit a eureka moment and they're like, we're not going to do lower quality. I mean, that's the thing that's dominated and especially here is everyone uses the lowest quality ingredients because it maximizes profit. And I said, let's make this for like, we're going to give this to our kids and my parents. Let's make it as high quality as we can. And that's really the secret to our sauce. It's sort of like, it doesn't taste like protein. It doesn't, you can't tell and it doesn't hurt my stomach.

29:59It's like, cause I use the highest grade in the world. I mean, the average protein snack can take two hours to digest this popcorn, six minutes. So, um, and my grandparents could eat it, you know? And so then we launched optimal performance popcorn in 2018 and we had some pro sports teams buying it for pre and post workout nutrition for athletes. And, um, and you know, always some gyms and some stores started picking it up. I had some international contacts just because I keep up with everybody and got it in Australia and New Zealand. And that's kind of where it went, you know, and, and, uh, in about 20, 2022, and I had probably lost a significant level of money into this particular venture.

30:39And I'm like, I don't get it. Like it tastes great. Everybody who likes it, who buys it, likes it. But I just, this is where one of those times where I got to eat humility, like platefuls of it. um i became the president of the chamber of commerce i got voluntold into that one i'll never do it uh and uh uh you know if that's my taste of politics they can keep it um and uh hy-vee foods grocery chain here in the midwest is in my chamber and one of the locations my mom shops at actually was like hey let us sell that popcorn and i literally my friend i go it's not gonna work i've tried that route and i tried to talk him out of it and so he made a deal for consignment i said don't even pay me because that way i don't have to give you money back and it's how much my belief in that particular general public had dropped yeah they outsold my own retail stores 50 to one in a month and so i sent my daughter down there my oldest daughter now oldest daughters have a special place for a dad um they turn you gray faster okay they challenge you in ways that your rest of your kids just won't yeah and so i sent her down and i said go spy for me because i at this point i'm still bodybuilding i stick out like a sore thumb right little old ladies and little kids are buying your popcorn like it's their job so i go down there talk to the dietician and they're like yeah it's the only snack we can get our elderly elderly patients and our youth patients to actually eat so i went to 10 hyvees same thing.

32:09And this is where the big dose of humility comes. Um, the Hy-Vee, the corporate, corporate headquarters over in Iowa was like, you should go to sweets and snacks conference. And I'm like, they have snacks conferences. That's a thing, brother. If we haven't been to a snacks conference, we have missed out on life. Cause I went in Chicago in May of 22. Hershey's got like a 6 ,000 gallon chocolate fountain. I'm like, I told my wife, I think I'd rather be fat and just jump in there. Um, cause that just, cause it looked delicious. And so we have a new banner backdrop and the whole works. Optimal performance popcorn is what it was called at the time.

32:45And I'm like, here we go. And not a single person stops by my booth the first day. I'm out like 10 grand. And I'm like, I'm upset. You know, and my wife, she's like, what do you want to do? I'm like, I kind of want to go to the bar. Kind of what I want to do. I forget this day ever happened. And then this is where eureka and humility hits you at the same time. She goes, do you think it hurts us? It doesn't say protein or healthy anywhere on our label. Now, mind you, this is after four years and probably a half a million dollars. I go, oh my God. Because everything I do in gyms and nutrition stores is all this related.

33:20I was so in my own field. I never thought about asking, you know, outside the box. And so here we are at midnight at a Staples in Chicago, getting a 10-foot banner that says protein popcorn on it. The next day, we safety pinned it on top of my brand new backdrop. We had a line of 400 people for two days.

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34:54My wife was like, you do realize you haven't gone grocery shopping in 10 years. I'm like, yes, I have. She goes, no, you haven't. We don't let you go. Last time I sent you out for a box of rice, you went to Sam's Club, bought the 50 pound bag for 20 bucks. And it's been sitting in our pantry collecting dust. I'm like, all right, because I'm still operating on broke entrepreneur dad. Right. You know, and so I realized at that point I have three daughters and a wife. and my daughter seemed to think a credit card limit is a challenge. The amount of TikTok, shop, Amazon, Facebook meta packages that show at my house, I still don't know what it is.

35:30And I don't know why that guy's at my house six times a day dropping off 11 packages. But these girls are my key demographics. So they designed the package. Omaha Protein Popcorn stick with the same acronyms. The mascot, the popcorn flexing kernel, or as my daughter called it, aesthetically pleasing packaging. And launched in 23 and we're up 25 ,000 % currently selling in 16 countries and we're opening them up as fast as we possibly can. And, you know, it was a great dose of humility that led to, you know, to massive success. And it goes back to our former point when I talked to doing family meetings.

36:10It's around that time that we started doing that and realizing that your kids and your family, they may not be your exact skill set. They may not be exact clones of your work ethic, but understand that every one of them represents a customer base. Yeah. That their uniqueness to them. I mean, I made fun of TikTok, brother, for years. I'm like, that's kid stuff, you know, Snapchat. I ain't doing none of that garbage.

36:36Mick:Yeah. And then I started looking at my kids as a test plot. I started asking questions instead of ridiculing because I didn't get it. I'm like, why do you watch that? What is it about YouTube shorts? Like, why are you doing that? Why did you buy that? What about that ad? I just started looking at my six kids who span 20 years apart in age as the ultimate test plot. I don't have to pay for market research. It's right in my house. It's right in my neighborhood. It's my neighbors. It's my parents. And looking at every one of my family and circumference and my circle as information that I should be a student to learn from versus sitting around boasting my ego about the three other companies I built.

37:14And I got back to that eager student mindset and asking my daughters no longer like, Hey, quit buying that stuff on my credit card, which I still say that cause I'm still on a dad. I'm like, why'd you buy that? Why that ad? What about that got you to buy this? And all of a sudden it's critiqued this company into something that's growing at leaps and bounds because I became a student again, back to like I was when I started the first company. And that's been really fun. And you I still don't understand TikTok, but I'm selling there and I'm learning.

37:49Mick:You have to, bro. And that's the crazy thing. And I talk about this. I was on stage a week ago talking about buying and buying signals and buying habits and how we just buy differently now. Your kids are like mine. They don't watch TV, bro. They don't listen to the radio, but they still buy things. Right. Traditionally, you and I growing up, it was if it's in a magazine, a newspaper, TV, radio, that's how we heard about something. Right. Fast forward to the early 2000s. If it's not on the Internet. Right. You don't buy it. People buy so differently and you can't be stubborn. So if you're a business owner, if you're an entrepreneur right now, and Tim is exactly right, you can't be stubborn and you can't think from your lens.

38:38Mick:Right. Like Les Brown told me you can't read the ingredients when you're inside the box. Right. But you've got to be able to to get other perspective and be willing to be uncomfortable because just like you, like I I'm still not really on TikTok, but like my executive assistant runs that page for me. and I'm like, Chris, I don't understand it. I'm not trying to understand it, but we got to be there. Yes, exactly. Exactly, yeah. Well, and that's a lot of what it is. And like I said back in 04, 05, you want to talk to me about a radio ad campaign. You want to start talking about print. I'm your guy.

39:16Like a TV, you know, I was like, oh, you know, now you've elevated TV. And then as I progressed into this and we're doing now, we're running ads pretty heavy for popcorn for a year across, I mean, like in six different languages. And so it's this whole monstrosity. And I started looking at data. And so thank God my marketing company, they're fantastic. I'll ask questions. I go, talk to me like you're talking to a fourth grader and just bring it down to my level. And I started, cool if I ask, because I really want to understand it. Not because I'm trying to replace you, just because I want to make better decisions.

39:47And I said, why is it like this on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, whereas Google and YouTube, it's different? And they said, well, people who search on Google or on YouTube, they're searching for it. that's an active interested person because when you're on facebook instagram and tiktok with an ad you're interrupting them yep i said okay and so i took that as i because my kids my wife will laugh if i if i got a sport sporting event on tv and they start asking me stuff i do this angry pause what because like i'm into the game like i'm there as far as i'm concerned i'm in the stadium i'm such a sports fanatic you paid to

40:23Mick:be there. Yeah. Yeah. So at that point they're going to interrupt me. I'm like, you better be bringing me some money or it better be funny. Right. And so I kind of changed our tune with what we're doing on social media. I'm like, guys, if we're going to interrupt people, we better be showing how to save a bunch of money, make a bunch of money or entertain them. Not just put an ad for our benefit. What are we doing for their benefit? So it kind of changes your mindset because I start to understand things and it took one of their people to explain that to me. I was like, okay, cool. And I think just taking this different approach of I'm a student again in a space that I'm not terribly comfortable with, but is necessary.

40:59And realizing that the 18 year old who spent way more time on this and grew up with this than you and I did, they're going to have significant more insight. That's a completely valuable to us because they're buying demographic. I want them to buy it. I want them to like it. and you know then i started asking my my mom you know they're in their 70s she could kill me when she hears i said that out loud but you know um yeah i'll take it and i'm like okay what are you watching what are you doing like what are you listening to like you know and she's like i'm on podcast i'm like really fantastic okay what are you listening to like what brought you to that and just start asking questions and quizzing um and it's fun being a student again man like it's and every time i feel like i learned something new i'm like i got another inch another you know

41:44Mick:link in the armor that we can go battle with. And I think that, you know, that dose of humility is the best thing that's happened to me in the last decade. Absolutely, brother. Absolutely. You've been really gracious with your time, man. I have one question before I get you my rapid fire, hot fire, right? Yeah. And I call this, this question, the room. Like every great leader, every great entrepreneur that I know, there was a room, a meeting, a dinner, an introduction that changed their life. Was there a room, a meeting or anything that changed the trajectory of your life, your business career, anything?

42:24Uh, yeah. I mean, it was back when I wasn't, and I took the break from entrepreneurism, um, and was working in corporate America and, uh, I won the rookie of the year and I won the sales awards and I got brought in the room by the CEO along with these guys who've been in sales for 30, 40, 50 years, not realizing that I just broke most of their records um and i was just excited like and and they spoke some life into me they're like you're not gonna be here long and at first i was like what do you mean by that they go if you did this at this stage if you're still here in 20 years and i'm still alive i'm gonna kill you that's what one guy told me he goes you need to go out needed you you need to be at the helm you need to have boundless opportunity and the only way you can do that is to run your own shit.

43:07And that was from the CEO himself. I'm like, so I just made you a bunch of money and you told me if I'm still here, you're going to kick my butt basically. And it's what an honor to be spoken to be, to have that kind of truth spoken into you at such a young age. Um, and you know, unfortunately he, he passed away about five years after that very stroke, very suddenly at 59, which taught me two things. One, none of us, no matter how much money you got, we don't know when that day's coming. So we need to appreciate every day. And two, that's the big guy upstairs telling me, he's like, all right, time to fly.

43:42And, you know, so that, that was a room that I was in that I, you know, and, and thank God I was present for that moment. You know, I was present and I learned and I listened and, and they, what they said shocked me so incredibly much. I don't, I don't know if I'd be sitting here without those words being spoken into me. So I always make sure that I invite people into the room myself, the rooms that we're in, and I try to speak something into them that makes them believe more in themselves than probably they ever have.

44:13Mick:There it is. I love it, man. I love it. Tim, again, you're gracious of your time. I know how busy you are. I call this the unplugged five. Rapid fire. I don't know if you're ready. I'm ready. Let's do it. deserted island. You can only bring one snack with you. What snack are you bringing? Oatmeal cream pies. Okay. Didn't see that one coming. I thought I was going to get a popcorn. So that's going to lead me to my next one. What's your favorite? I have an oatmeal cream pie obsession since I was like this big. That's my jam. So yeah, it's my dirty jam. That and some peanuts. That's the breakfast of champions for me.

44:53Your favorite popcorn. I'm a nacho cheddar Omaha protein popcorn. I eat a bag of that stuff every other day. Every other day.

45:01Mick:That is my favorite. So when I said there's something I can't live without, the nacho cheddar, bro. Yeah, the nacho cheddar is fire. It's fire, dude. I absolutely love it. Every night. Like literally every night. That's what I have. What's one tip of advice or piece of information that you want to give on supplements and nutrition for, let's just say, men over 40? Start taking creatine now. Take it every day. Never stop taking it. It's cheap. The commodity has lowered in price so dramatically. And, you know, I spent 35 years ago explaining to people that, no, this does not ruin your kidneys because that was the thing that happened in the 90s because all the moms against creatine.

45:49Now they're finding that doses of 15 to 20 grams a day literally stops Alzheimer's and dementia in their tracks. And if you take that, you're going to see a 70 % reduction of Alzheimer's and dementia across this country. The health benefits are astronomical. No nasty side effects, just the cheap, unflavored stuff. Add it to whatever drink you want. Take 15 to 20 grams a day. Your brain, your mind, you'll stay just as sharp at 75 as you were at 35. Can I order some from you now? Oh, yeah, I got you. It's cheap. You know, it's a great product. You can get it everywhere now. And that's why I'm so happy because 30 years ago it was premium priced.

46:26But now you can get it in bulk and it's great. Okay.

46:30Mick:What's one book you're reading right now?

46:36Actually, this is not a soapbox thing. I have Moments for Men. it's a it's a daily devotional literally for men in business that i i picked up and um i've just been reading it just trying to trying to get myself back into the word more because i find myself using a lot of excuses about the busyness of my schedule my travel schedule not to be doing things for my faith and also focusing specifically from a man's standpoint um and so it's a book i picked up that right now i'm going through um and then eric oberm has a book i've been i've been starting to pan through that a little bit more right to the throat for entrepreneurs that I, that I've just picked up.

47:13So.

47:14Mick:I dig it. I dig it. And then the last one, because I gifted you dad, so you can't say dad. When the story of Tim is being written, what's one or two words that you want to make sure in there that define you?

47:33gratitude extreme levels of gratitude he was very very had a lot of gratitude for the blessings in his life um that to me would mean everything and i hope that someday if my kids are told you're just like your dad that makes them smile that you know that uh that they have that heart on their sleeve like I do. And yeah, some people might call me a sucker and that's fine. I'm good with that. But I'd like the guy to give a thousand chances. I'm fine with that title.

48:04Mick:I love it. I love it. Well, if you are watching this, if you're listening to this, do me a favor, follow Tim on social. Go check out his many websites. If you're watching this, there's a QR code right behind his head. Go ahead and flash your phone on that QR code. See what pops up. but I can promise you this. I'm not going to lie to you. I'm not going to dissuade you. Popcorn is probably the best thing you're ever going to have in your life. I promise you. And when you come out with papaya flavored popcorn, you got to let me know. I think that should be the next one. I got, I got you brother. Tim, I appreciate it, man.

48:44Mick:Where do you want people to find and follow you personally? If you go to timrexius.com, that's T-A-M-R-E-X-I-U-S.com. That leads to all the socials. it leads to all the brands, all the businesses. I'm mostly active, like personally active on Instagram and it's just Timothy D. Rexius on Instagram, um, because I understand it. Eventually, I mean, we're posting on Tik TOK, but I'm gonna be real. That's, that's, that's, that's my daughter. Um, I don't, yeah, that's the team. Um, but I'm very active on Instagram, um, myself personally, but if you go to the website, at least all the businesses and the emails in there, go to Alejandra is one of my assistants and she's a notorious for making sure I do not forget.

49:20Um, and yeah, We get a lot of messages, but trust me, we will get to it because I'm honored and graciously honored that if people think I can help them, then it's my honor and duty to do so. There you go.

49:33Mick:And I'm also going to throw this out there. Shameless plug for Tim. If you are the leader of a conference, of an event, of a mastermind, this is a guy you need to come speak. I can promise you he will move mountains and he will fill the room. So, Tim, brother, I appreciate you more than you know, man. Thank you for being here. Thank you, Brian. everyone. I appreciate it. Incredibly honored. You got it. And for all the viewers and listeners, remember your because is your superpower. Go Unleash It.