Nick Bare: The Mindset That Built a Multi-Million-Dollar Business | Entrepreneurship | E357

26:05Was it overnight? And then also, you know, you have a million plus subscribers on YouTube. How did your YouTube channel fuel all this? The YouTube channel was definitely the fuel to the fire early on. Now, not so much. It's because we've broadened our reach through athletes and partnerships. And the brand has grown beyond me, which was my goal. but early on, I remember sitting in my barracks room in South Korea in 2016. And when I got to South Korea, we were doing$2 ,000 a month in revenue. And this was February of 2016. And it was a nine-month rotation. And my goal was that after that nine-month rotation, we were doing$10 ,000 a month in revenue.

26:52So over in Korea, the time difference is significant. So I was waking up extra early to have conversations back in the States with manufacturers. And then after work was over in the evening, going back to work in the business, I mean, I just worked that entire nine months. Within the first 90 days of being there, we went from$2 ,000 a month to$10 ,000 a month in revenue. I launched new products while I was in South Korea, rebuilt our website. So transitioned from what was built on a friend's website hosting platform to Shopify. Love Shopify. Love Shopify. I learned how to vlog and do storytelling through watching and studying Casey Neistat's YouTube videos.

27:38And when I was in Korea, I mean, it was very slow, gradual growth from 2014 to 2016. When I was in Korea, I was filming videos all the time. I filmed this one video one day, just like I always was. Came back to my barracks room. Didn't think much of it. and I'm thinking like, what do I title this video? And I just titled it, A Day in the Life of an Infantry Platoon Leader. Didn't think much of it, it was just, that's what it was. And that video within the first couple weeks went over a million views, which for me back then was next level. But the subscriber growth in comparison to those metrics was remarkable.

28:20So I went from 30 ,000 subscribers on YouTube to 80 ,000 subscribers from that one video. Wow. And BPN sales didn't grow in correspondence with that, but there was more brand awareness and there was slowly this uptick in sales and revenue. So that back then, that video was a spark. And I think there's an opportunity when you go viral and that was viral for me back then. Yeah, I mean, it's viral now. Yeah, a million views. but it was a video that was very authentic to me. It was me sharing my life in South Korea, doing the work that I was doing back then, showing the business. So a video that went viral and popped off was one that was so insightful into who I am and what I was doing.

29:07It wasn't this random trend video that I created that has no relationship to what I'm actually doing and building and living. it gave people insight into, here's this guy building this business in South Korea while stationed in the army. And then it grabbed the interests of the right people who wanted to learn more about BPN. So that was definitely a significant step for me. And then after that nine-month rotation in Korea, came back to the States, my military contract was up. I started transitioning out. And in 2017, we crossed the seven-figure revenue mark for the first time, 1.7 million in revenue.

29:46And it was me, it was my brother, Preston, and it was our friend, Joe, who still works in the business. We signed a lease for a 6 ,000 square foot warehouse. We could barely afford rent for it. Cashflow was an absolute nightmare. I didn't know about financing inventory. I didn't know about lines of credit. I just thought that the money you have to spend is the money you have in the business bank account. And at the time we had 12-week lead times with manufacturers, no terms. So I would place a production order for inventory. I put 50 % of that money down. When it was completed 12 weeks later, I'd pay off the remaining 50%.

30:25So I'd pay all of it off before getting it. But the issue was that we were growing very fast then and we were running on the inventory. So I was having to stack production orders like 12 weeks out, eight weeks out, four weeks out. So all of our money was tied up in inventory that we didn't have yet with manufacturers. And there would be weeks where rent was due the next month or the next week for our warehouse. We didn't have enough money in the bank account. We'd run a flash sale online. We get just enough money to get by. I mean, 2017 was the hardest year of my life in terms of building the business, but I would go back tomorrow and live it all over again.

31:06Why? It was like waking up on Christmas morning, every morning. Three young guys who felt like we had nothing to lose, all to gain, living the dream. We had a 6 ,000 square foot warehouse. We're documenting our life. We were waking up every morning ready to just build and go to work. I'm doing it with my brother, doing it with a friend. And I've documented all this. I go back and watch those YouTube videos all the time, just like relive it. and as little money as we had and as hard as those days were and that year was, it was a blast. But that year taught us how to be lean and resourceful and get really creative with how we grow.

31:48Like how do you grow when you don't have money? Yeah, talk to us about that. How did you fix the cashflow problem? And we just like slowly dug out of it, but that's why I've always leaned into content and using organic content and storytelling to connect with a consumer. And I love long form content. I love long form podcasts, long form YouTube, never really gotten to short form stuff because I believe you can use social media platforms to bring a consumer in. And if a consumer resonates with what you're put out there, your core values, your purpose, your mission, your goals, they'll come alongside and they'll support and they'll fight alongside you.

32:32And when money was even tighter, we just leaned in harder to organic content. We had the laptop to edit. I had the camera to film. It was just man hours now of filming, editing, creating, uploading. I filmed and edited and published all my own content from 2014 till 2019 while building the business. And vlogs a week back then. And I think that's the power in building true, authentic, organic content platforms. Yeah, it's so true. Building an audience-based business or having that audience that you can sell to de-risks a lot of things. I think about it with my own business. Like, let's say for some reason, the social agency is slow.

33:16I can just be like, all right, I'll launch a course. You know, I'll launch a mastermind and promote it and make a couple hundred thousand dollars and we're good. So having that audience de-risks if one part of your business is slow or something, you can just tap into your audience and sell what they want. So sticking on this creator entrepreneurship piece, you were really a creator entrepreneur before that term even existed. You were an influencer before that term existed. I feel like your approach was really awesome because you said you started as a creator entrepreneur, but then you tried to build a legacy brand and make sure that the brand wasn't really tied to you.

33:53And I feel like that's just a really good model for everybody to replicate. If you're starting a business, start a personal brand, get some brand awareness through your personal brand. And then you've got to figure out how is the business not just revolving around you because that's not sustainable, right? If you want a long-term business that survives without you. So how have you thought about that and made sure that BPN was a legacy brand? It's very hard to do when the brand starts built off of a person and individual. It's definitely doable, but it takes years to successfully transition. One of the approaches we took was building out an athlete and partnerships program.

34:34And we keep our athlete partnerships program smaller and leaner. We aren't in the business of adding hundreds or thousands of ambassadors and athletes and partners just for reach and exposure. But the athletes and partners that we do sign have to be very directly aligned with our core values, our purpose, and our goals. So we have 25, roughly, athletes and partners that we work with who are extremely aligned with our core values, our purpose, our goals, our vision, who can help us scale and grow the business going into the future. And that's been efforts of successes and failures and wins and losses along the way.

35:22Another piece of that strategy has just been building out a really strong team. I sat down with Ben Francis a few years ago. He came and visited our HQ. Ben Francis being the CEO and founder of Gymshark. One of the pieces of advice he gave me was that there's three components that make a business successful. It is brand, it is product, and it is people. And you have to be great at all three of those things. You need a great brand that is sustainable, different, and strong. You need great products. You can't build a strong business without great products. And the people matter almost more than anything else.

35:59If you have the wrong people on the team, it's gonna be really hard to scale and succeed. If you have the right people on the team, but in the wrong seats, in the wrong roles, that's also going to make it very hard to scale and grow. I believe so much in building a very strong culture that is both a family and a team. I take the hiring process very serious, but I also take the firing process very serious. And just having one wrong person on the team can erode and destruct an entire business. So we have a very, very strong team. Our HQ is here in Round Rock, Texas. Everyone is in-house. We don't have any remote roles.

36:36Oh, really? Yep. Everything's in-house. from media, brand, all of our videographers, photographers, editors, marketing. We use some agencies for certain parts of the business. All fulfillment is in-house. Everything's in-house. Why? These days, people like at least flex hybrid work. Why in person? We've tried it. And for the culture we've created, it just doesn't work. Our team is so dedicated and committed. It's more than just a job. This past weekend's a great example. We had a race this past weekend and it started Saturday at 12 p.m. And it went until Monday at 9 p.m. And we didn't have to ask people to come work.

37:20We said, here's a list of times that we need to fill. We're not saying you have to come work this weekend, but it'd be nice if you would. People signed up for multiple shifts. There were people who stayed there from Saturday at 12 p.m. until Monday at 9 p.m. No complaints, no negativity, all positivity, all optimism. I mean, it's like the power and building a really strong culture. And for my business, at least, remote does not work. We've tried it. It does more harm to the culture than good. I'd love to understand what makes your team so dedicated. What do you think it is that you guys do? I think there's real purpose and impact behind the brand.

38:02These events we go to, the message of Go On More, it truly does change people's lives. Our purpose is to show people that they have the ability to do whatever they want to do and helping them realize that and then providing them the tools, resources, the knowledge, the education, the community to go do it. People towed the line at this weekend's race, never running 10 miles before. And some of them ran 20, 30, 40 miles. So we're actually changing lives and creating impact. And when you're in person and you go to these events and you hear the stories from people, it's real. I mean, there are thousands of people with Go One More tattooed on their body because those three words, as simple as they are, they are so powerful when actually applied to your life.

38:53And when you realize you're working on something, in something, towards something that's much greater than yourself, which I believe is the greatest reward in life is you're building something that is much larger than yourself. It's selfless. That's what the power of being in the military is. There's a lot of appreciation and fulfillment and satisfaction in that. And it's hard to find that in many places. So I know you have a new book. By the time this interview comes out, it will be out. and available. It's called Go One More. So talk to us about that because you actually created this concept years ago.

39:29Why are you putting out a book now about it? And how has that term evolved? What does it mean to you today? What did it mean to you back then? Go One More for me has evolved over the years. And the reason I wrote the book is because it's evolved from just being an action to actually an outcome. So I'll explain all of that. I founded Go One More 2018, 2019, before it really came to life. I was training for a marathon, the Austin, Texas Marathon. And it was before I really started running marathons and building endurance. So running for me was very challenging. And it was a year after I got out of the military and me and my fiance then, wife now, we're living downtown Austin, right off Zilker Park in Barton Springs.

40:20That's where I live, Zilker. We loved living there. We're north now. I miss living like by the trail because I would run the Lady Bird Lake trail every morning. And that's where I was doing my marathon training. And in this one day, I had an 18 mile run scheduled. I got 10 miles into this run and my legs got heavy. I was tired. I decided to quit. So I stopped running. I started walking back to the house that we were running. And as I'm walking back to the house, I'm thinking, if I quit on this run, even though no one will know, what will this say about me as an individual and a leader in the business and my character?

40:57Like, what else will I quit on? Will I quit on my business? Will I quit on my family? Will I quit on my wife? Can I like take myself serious, honestly serious, if I quit on this run? So I turn around as I'm walking back. I go back to the trail. I finish the run. I run 18 miles. And then I run one more mile just to prove to myself I could. I ran 19 miles. And I came back to the house we were running. I took my hat off because I'm always wearing a hat. And I wrote one more under the bill, took a photo of it, posted it on social media. And that was it. There was not much other intention behind it.

41:34and it struck a chord amongst a lot of people. And all these other people started writing one more on the bill under their hat, taking a photo of it and sending it to me. Cute. So I'm realizing, okay, there's something here. It's like the power of doing the action of go one more. Well, one more evolved into go one more. We trademarked that. That became part of our business and my mission. And back then for those first couple of years, it was just the action of doing more. Just go do more of anything and everything. Work one more hour, do one more rep, run one more mile. And I just realized that people didn't have the ability to truly understand when, why, how, and what was appropriate of doing more of anything.

42:21And that I did it myself thinking that just by doing more of anything or everything was gonna result in success regardless of what you were doing more of. I think sometimes we make the mistakes of putting a lot of effort into one part of our life, say our fitness. Sometimes I made this mistake myself. You're doing all this training, you're running, you're working out, you're lifting, you're eating healthy, and you're spending all this time. And you think that that success in that department of your life carries over to other parts, and it doesn't always. Now, I've had employees before who spend all this time on their nutrition and their body, and they want that work and that action to be rewarded saying, well, look how hard I work.

43:09Well, you're not working hard in your job. You're working hard in something that you're not being paid for. I respect and appreciate that. But for what you need to do, let's apply that same amount of effort elsewhere. So I've realized over time that go on more is not actually just an action. That is part of it, but it's this outcome that we can achieve and experience when we are very intentional with the decisions we're making. And there have been multiple times in my life where I've had to make a decision that has shifted the trajectory of my life. Starting my business in college, that decision changed my life.

43:43Picking up a camera and documenting everything changed my life. Turning around on that training run and running one more and taking a photo of my hat and posting online, that changed my life. Stepping down from the CEO role of my business and coming back, that changed my life. All these things that I've done along the way have shifted the trajectory of where I am right now. And we all have the power and ability to make these decisions. But if we go through life that lacks intentionality and focus and clarity around these decisions, we're gonna end up somewhere we don't wanna be. and that's not the success or outcome of going more.

44:23It's being lost and unsatisfied and unfulfilled because we weren't intentional with where we were spending our time, how, with who, on what. Something that just made me think is you step down from your CEO role. So you could have just been like, you know what, I'm just going to keep going. I'm just going to go on more. I'm just going to keep being the CEO. Sometimes you do need to actually quit, pause, and not go one more. So is there some sort of framework that we should go through to decide whether or not we're going to go one more? Yeah, I mean, I think it's really easy to just keep pushing.

45:00One of my favorite books is called Necessary Endings by Dr. Henry Cloud. There have also been many books in my life that have come to me at the right time and the right place. And in Necessary Endings by Dr. Henry Cloud, he talks about pruning. and the analogy is around a rosebush. So like if you look at a rosebush and if you don't tend to it, it's a mess. There's thorns, there's stems, there's dead petals. And in order to help this plant and bush flourish, you have to prune it. You have to cut away the dead leaves and the stems and the thorns. And for a moment of time, it's going to look bare and empty and dead.

45:47But you're actually helping it grow and become stronger and larger and more durable. I think that's applicable in our same life, where there's going to be moments where we have to create unnecessary endings, and we have to prune parts of our life. And for a period of time, it's going to feel empty. It's going to feel bare. It's going to feel like we took a step back. But in that moment, we're allowing ourselves to grow and flourish. Another one of my favorite authors, he's a pastor, Erwin McManus. he talks about these moments of quietness or these lulls in life it's an opportunity to sharpen your axe and he uses this story which i absolutely love and when he was younger he was a lumberjack and he showed up to be this lumberjack among all these old men and you got paid based off of how many trees you chopped down for the day.

46:42So he's looking around all these older men look weak and tired. And he's like, I'm going to crush them. I'm going to make so much more money and cut down so many more trees than them. And the end of every day, he would come up short. All these older, weaker, fatigued men were cutting down more trees and they were making more money. So he said, why is this happening? What was happening was he kept just swinging a dull axe at trees all day, all night, every day. And in order to chop down each additional tree, he had to put forth more effort, more strength because his axe was dull. What the old wise gentlemen were doing was they would take breaks during the day, they would drop off their axe to get sharpened, and then they would rest and nap.

47:33So when the ax was sharpened, they'd come back and with every swing, it was sharp and they were more effective, more efficient. So he quotes the Bible and I believe it is, when the ax is dull and unsharpened, more strength and effort is required. So sometimes you'll look at someone's life and you're thinking, oh, they're not doing anything. They're in this lull. Or maybe you're in a lull right now. I'm in between jobs. I'm in between careers. I'm not sure what the next path is for me. And it's really hard to sit in that lull of time where you're not actually making progress and pushing forward.

48:12Maybe you had to take a step back, but that is the opportunity to sharpen your ax. So when you come back and swing it again, it is sharp, refined. It requires less effort because you have a strong blade. So that framework has really shifted the way that I think about life in terms of it's okay to slow down. For me, I never want to lose momentum. Slowing down is not losing momentum. You're still moving forward. But sometimes we have to slow down or maybe even stop and recognize, okay, I'm at a point where I have to make a decision. Do I go left? Do I go right? Do I go forward? Do I go backward?

48:52Make very clear decisions that are guided through intentionality and then swing again with a sharp ax. But if you keep just pushing forward, the ax becomes duller and duller and duller. More strength is required and you're not actually making effective or efficient progress. I feel like I'll never forget that story now. I love that story so much.

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52:01Young and profiters. I know there's so many people tuning in right now that end their workday wondering why certain tasks take forever, why they're procrastinating certain things, why they don't feel confident in their work, why they feel drained and frustrated and unfulfilled. But here's the thing you need to know. It's not a character flaw that you're feeling this way. It's actually your natural wiring. And here's the thing. When it comes to burnout, it's really about the type of work that you're doing. Some work gives you energy and some work simply drains you. So it's key to understand your six types of working genius.

52:36The working genius assessment or the six types of working genius framework was created by Patrick Lencioni, and he's a business influencer and author. And the working genius framework helps you identify what you're actually built for and the work that you're not. Now, let me tell you a story. Before I uncovered my working genius, which is galvanizing and invention, so I like to rally people and I like to invent new things, I used to be really shameful and had a lot of guilt around the fact that I didn't like enablement, which is one of my working frustrations. So I actually don't like to support people one-on-one.

53:07I don't like it when people slow me down. I don't like hand-holding. I like to move fast, invent, rally people, inspire. But what I do need to do is ensure that somebody else can fill the enablement role, which I do have, Kate, on my team. So Working Genius helps you uncover these genius gaps, helps you work better with your team, helps you reduce friction, helps you collaborate better, understand why people are the way that they are. It's helped me restructure my team, put people in the spots that they're going to really excel. And it's also helped me in hiring. Working Genius is absolutely amazing.

53:37I'm obsessed with this model. So if you guys want to take the Working Genius assessment and get 20 % off, you can use code profiting. Go to workinggenius.com. Again, that's workinggenius.com. Stop guessing. Start working in your genius. So one of the things that you talk about a lot is consistency. And you talk about the need to be intentional and not mechanical. So walk us through some examples of somebody being mechanical with their consistency and what that would result in versus if you're intentional. I think consistency and being consistent, it's such a strong ability to harness, but everyone's preaching it.

54:14Just be consistent. Just be consistent. Like, what does that mean? What does it mean to just be consistent? And my running coach, Jeff Cunningham, who's based down at Austin, Texas here, he said this on my podcast years ago, and it clicked so well. And he said, it's better to be consistently good than occasionally great. And sometimes being consistently good isn't sexy, and you're not throwing the Hail Mary pass, and you're not hitting the home run and you're not coming out in first every time, sometimes the most consistent person is middle of the pack and they're not falling behind, but they're doing all the things right and they're moving forward and they're very unassuming, but they're consistently making progress.

55:03And then, I mean, I can think back to high school where you had like the occasionally great athlete who nine times out of 10 would show up looking like a soup sandwich, missed the passes, struck out, wasn't focused, didn't care, but occasionally they would hit the home run and they would catch the game-winning pass and they became the hero. But you couldn't count on them nine times out of 10. It is better to be consistently good than occasionally great. And there's a caveat to that where there's a difference between being all in and all consumed. And Jeff also taught me this, where when you're all consumed, if you have a goal and you're all consumed by it, which I have been many times in my life before, it actually is destructive.

55:55It takes away from, it doesn't add to. And it's different from being obsessed. Being all consumed is where you actually create more harm than good because you can't get out of your own head and you can't distract yourself by being present with your family or friends or your business, being all-in is this hyper-focused ability to really be consistent towards your goals without it being destructive towards your life. Now, I've had to learn the hard way that being all-in is different from being all-consumed, especially now being a husband and a father to two young kids. Life looks very different now than it did four years ago.

56:38And you can be consistently good, and you can be all in without it being destructive to your life. Because I have felt the destructive path. Well, talk to us about how fatherhood changed how you think about going more. They changed everything. Fatherhood shook up my life in the greatest way possible because when my daughter was born, so my daughter will be three in July. My son will be one in August. And when my daughter was born, it was around the same time that I was stepping down from the CEO role. And all of these things happened at once because I didn't think that I could be the ambitious entrepreneur that I wanted to be.

57:19And also a present and content husband and father that I wanted to be. I thought I had to choose between one or the other. And I realized over time that, well, you can be both. And go on more for me is the outcome of what it looks like is being a successful entrepreneur, a really strong leader, making decisions, building product, leading the brand through morals and values and ethics and creating success for myself and other people with me. But it's also being a really dedicated and committed husband and father. And with that just comes a lot of sacrifice and saying no to a lot of other things.

58:04There's not much in my life right now outside of my work, faith, and family, and my fitness. And that's completely okay with me. There's not really any hobbies in my life right now outside of that. Because there's something I said this past year or these past two years that connected with so many people. And it's not in the book because the book was written prior to a lot of this. And it's that if it matters to you, you will make time. And I briefly discussed parts of it in the book, but the whole message of it really didn't develop until recently. And this connected with so much of our audience that if something matters to you, you will make time.

58:49And I truly believe that. And if you say your family matters to you, but none of your time in your calendar reflects that. well, then does your family really matter to you? If you say that you want to build a nine-figure business, but your calendar doesn't reflect those priorities, does it really matter to you? And I believe there's a difference between responsibilities and routines. And before my kids were born, I would get really caught up in my routines, especially my morning routine. And when I became a father and had kids, I realized the hard way that those routines were oftentimes going to be disrupted and broken.

59:34And that's okay. And we have to place our responsibilities in life over routines. And your routines can flex and change and adapt and evolve as long as you consistently prioritize your responsibilities. And my responsibilities are my family, my business, my faith, my health and fitness. One more question about Go One More, and that is about motivation. You talk about the fact that we need to prove ourself right rather than prove others wrong. So talk to us about that. This ended up being a brand campaign we launched a few years ago. And I've never been someone who's been motivated by having a chip on my shoulder or trying to prove others wrong.

1:00:20I believe some people are motivated. do that. And that's okay to each their own, but it doesn't work for me. I share it in the book because my hope is that that connects or resonates with some people. You know, I've never been someone who wants to spend time pursuing a goal or objective just to prove someone else that I can do it. Like, what does it matter if someone else thinks you can or can't? One of my favorite things to say, and I share it in the book, is that doubt is only dangerous when we start doubting yourself. Everyone can say you can't do something. Everyone in the world can doubt you.

1:00:55Let them think that. But if you allow that doubt from them to shift over and transpire into yourself, that's when it's dangerous. It's dangerous when you start doubting yourself. And I guess it was 2020, I went for my first sub three-hour marathon attempt. And above my go one more tattoo, I wrote in Sharpie marker, you effing can't. Because I didn't believe in myself. And when I do these fitness challenges, I make them public. And there was a lot of doubt online from critics on forums all over the place saying, you, Nick Bear, will never run a sub three-hour marathon. So I made that marathon thinking I'm going to prove everyone wrong.

1:01:37So I wrote, you effing can't above my get one more tattoo. I didn't believe myself. I was setting out for that goal just to prove others that I could. And I missed that goal by 24 minutes. I ran three hours and 24 minutes on that marathon. It's a huge miss. It's not a small miss. So after that, I went back to training for another year, not because I wanted to prove to anyone else that I could, but to show myself, you can actually do this, man. Like you can run sub three. So I trained and I ran two hours, 56 minutes, and I got it. I did it. And I've just learned over the years that if you set out on a life to consistently keep trying to prove to everyone else that you can and prove them wrong and you have a chip on your shoulder, maybe that works for you, but that does not work for me.

1:02:28And for me, that comes from a place of insecurity and weakness as opposed to wanting to be better and reach your full potential and continue to pursue greatness. And it's a small shift in just mindset and positioning, which might not seem significant, but it deconstructs and rebuilds the whole framework in which you go to pursue all these other areas and aspects of your life. Let's move on to talk about nutrition. Just a few questions about nutrition and health. One of the things that I've been really interested in, which is new, is creatine. And I know that's one of the products that you guys sell at BPN.

1:03:07And I remember all my guy friends always using creatine, but suddenly now I feel like more girls use it. My wife uses it. Yeah. And I'm really excited to try it because I love to work out. And as I'm getting older, I used to feel like I would just do squats and gain muscle like right away. Now I feel like I need something else to kind of help me build muscle. So talk to us about creatine, the benefits of creatine, if men and women need to take it differently or think about it differently. I mean, creatine monohydrate is the most studied sports performance supplement in the world. It's been extensively studied.

1:03:40Now, there are different forms and purities of creatine monohydrate on the market. The most pure form you can get is called CreaPure. It comes from this manufacturer called Alice Chem. So it's the most pure and safe form of creatine monohydrate in the market. And there's a lot of misconceptions about what creatine does. So many people think, oh, it's just going to make you hold water. Yeah, I've heard that, hold water in your muscles. And you're going to go bald and steroid and all of these things. The way that creatine works, creatine has so many different benefits, not from just power output and muscular development and muscular endurance, but there's also studies now showing the benefits for mental processing and mental acuity.

1:04:28And I believe that everyone can benefit from creatine monohydrate. So when you consume creatine, and the typical dose is three to five grams per day, it doesn't really matter when you take it. It doesn't necessarily have acute benefits. Like you take caffeine and you feel the effects of caffeine in 20, 30 minutes. Creatine doesn't work that way. Creatine loads into the muscle. So when you consume creatine, it is stored in the muscle in what's called creatine phosphate. So it's stored in the muscle. And when you train, when you work out, you're breaking down the energy source of ATP. And as you're working out and you're breaking down ATP, it's degraded and it loses a phosphate molecule.

1:05:13The way creatine works is it's stored in the muscle. It sees that ATP is degraded, breaking down. So it donates a phosphate molecule to regenerate ATP. So you have more muscular energy and ability. and because creatine is stored in the muscle, it will store some water with it, but it's storing water intracellular, intramuscular, where you want it, which is great for the muscle. So you should look fuller and maybe bigger and stronger, but it's not subcutaneous where it's under the skin and it's making you look watery. It should make you look and feel fuller, more muscular. Yeah, I'm excited to try it.

1:05:54So I think a lot of people tuning in are like me. They're entrepreneurs. They work out. Maybe they don't train. I know there's a difference between working out and train. They might be in really great physical health because I feel like a lot of high achievers are. What would you recommend in terms of supplements? And what would you say are typically the big mistakes you see in people's nutrition? Biggest mistakes people make in nutrition, there's like a bunch of different ways you can take this. I think what's hard right now for so many people is that they're being fed so much different, contradicting information.

1:06:26Yeah, it's like can't eat anything. There's this fear mongering online of every food is going to make you sick or you should fear it. Do you not eat meat? Do you go plant-based? Do you only eat meat? Should you avoid seed oils at all costs? Should you go organic, non-organic? There's like so much out there. And I think you just have to find what works for you and what you prefer. I prefer a diet that's well-rounded of meats. I mean, I love cooking meat. I could probably eat all meat for my diet, but meats, I eat lots of lean red meat. I incorporate eggs into my diet, whole grains, oats, fruits, vegetables.

1:07:07I'm an endurance athlete. So high carb, moderate protein, moderate fat. And that for me works. I like a well-balanced approach. For some people that might not work and they don't enjoy that. So I think you have to find a diet that works for you, that you enjoy, that you feel good with, but also isn't deficient in the macronutrients that you need to fuel your body. The macronutrients are proteins, fats, and carbs. They all serve a different role. And then micronutrients as well. And for most people, I don't think you have to get caught up in the deficiencies of micronutrients you're gonna experience.

1:07:43You can get blood work done if you want to, but I think if you focus on just a well-rounded diet, it's going to point you in a good direction. Most of us know what we should be eating. It's just making the decision to do that. And I think most people can set themselves up for success by meal prepping and having the right foods in their house at the right times. Living here in Austin, we have accessibility to great foods. I saw just around the corner, there's a store called Local Pastures, which I don't know if you've ever been there. I've never been there yet. Highly recommend it where they have the best eggs there that are open pasture, fresh eggs, cage-free, a lot of organic grass-fed meats and produce.

1:08:30And there's also a really cool grocery store and butcher in East Austin called Radius. I don't know if you've checked that out yet. No, I'm so new. I don't know anything. I get all the food. Yeah, you got to let me know. I'm a big foodie myself. But I also, I love going out to dinner with my wife and friends and family and enjoying a meal. I don't get too rigid or strict with that. And I believe food should be celebrated and enjoyed. But 90 % of the food, maybe 95 % of my food and diet is, it's dialed in, it's accounted for, it's fueling my body. I look at foods in terms of like, how is it going to make me feel?

1:09:07Not necessarily what am I craving, but like, how is this going to make me feel? and that I crave a certain feeling. Like I know if I'm gonna, for lunch, eat some rice and some veggies and some ground elk or bison or beef and maybe some hummus with that, that's gonna make me feel really good. I crave that feeling as opposed to like, I'm gonna go crush two double cheeseburgers. It's gonna taste really good, but I have this association with the feeling that drives my cravings. That's where most people should start with diet. it. Don't get all caught up in the minutia, but it's important to find what works for you, what you actually enjoy, and then educate yourself around food and nutrition through credible people and resources.

1:09:53So I believe that's the first step there. For me, like having a whey protein powder or a plant-based protein powder in the house is like a non-negotiable. You have to, in my opinion, have that. Getting enough protein in our diet helps with building lean muscle tissue, keeping you full for longer. If you go and make a protein shake or a protein sludge bowl, that's gonna keep you full and fueled and filled up for longer than just going to eat some simple carbs. So having a protein powder source in the house for convenience is super beneficial. Creatine is another one of those products that I believe everyone should have.

1:10:35I'm personally a big fan of omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil. So I take fish oils every day that are concentrated in EPA and DHA, great for the heart, the mind, the body. I take a multivitamin every day just to ensure all of my nutritional insurance is covered and not deficient in anything throughout that day or the week or my life. And then from there, it's what are your specific goals? Are you trying to solve for digestive issues? Are you an endurance athlete? Do you need carbohydrates and electrolytes and fuel sources around your training? The minimums for everyone are lower, but then goal-specific independent, what do you need supplements for that you can't get in your diet?

1:11:24For me, if I'm in a big endurance training block for an Ironman or an ultra or a marathon, I need electrolytes, I need endurance gels, I need carbohydrate powders because my energy demands are much higher and those products help facilitate higher performance demands and needs. So I think that's the best way to approach it. What are the minimums to cover your bases? Protein, multivitamins, fish oil, creatine. And then from there, what are your goals and what products need to support those goals. That makes a lot of sense. That's smart. Okay, I want to end our conversation with a fun game called supplement this.

1:12:06So basically, I'm going to throw out a common challenge that entrepreneurs face. And then I want you to give us the solution with supplements. So if I say like burnout, you can say, okay, the solution might be taking a pause, taking more breaks, whatever. So ingredients can be hypothetical, not like real food or anything like that, okay? Ready? I'm ready. Okay. How about somebody who's afraid to launch their business? How would you supplement this? Action. We all have these curiosities, and that curiosity will always be a curiosity if you don't have the courage to take action. I believe courage is the answer to many of life's problems.

1:12:51Apply courage when you have a curiosity because a curiosity will maintain and be a curiosity as long as you just wish and hope for it. So courage and action. Apply courage and action. How about somebody who feels like an imposter? They want to be a creator entrepreneur, but they feel like an imposter. Just accept the fact that we all go through that. Everyone feels like an imposter at some point. That's one of the reasons I stepped down from the CEO role of my business. That's why I struggled creating YouTube videos in the beginning. I wish people could see what the early years of YouTube looked like.

1:13:25I remember this one night, the first year I started YouTube, I was afraid to film anything outside of my apartment because vlogging wasn't really a thing then. And it took me years to get comfortable walking around in public holding a camera. Where I got really comfortable with that was actually South Korea because I realized no one really knew what I was saying or could understand me. And I felt like I was invisible. So in 2014, I remember setting up my tripod in my apartment, speaking to the camera because I won't take that camera outside of the apartment. And somebody, one of my neighbors was passing by and they looked into my window and they saw me filming myself.

1:14:03And I was so embarrassed that they saw me. And in that moment, I felt so stupid that I was embarrassed that someone who I didn't know and didn't know me was looking at me and I just assumed that they were making fun of me even though they weren't. And we create these narratives in our head that everyone cares what we are doing and is thinking about us all the time. And the reality is they're not. So if you think you're an imposter and that people think you're an imposter, they're not spending that much time or energy thinking about you. I can promise you that. It's in your head. It's in your head.

1:14:35So just be okay with being an imposter and a new person early on. I love being the new guy now. I love being vulnerable and putting myself in positions that I don't know what I'm doing. And if you get and become okay admitting that, like show up somewhere and say, I'm new to this. I don't know what I'm doing. Can someone help me? Ask me for help. Automatically, it says, I'm starting at baseline. Everything from here is up in growth. You want to be the new guy in certain positions and places. Be okay with that. Let's say your business is stagnant. your business is not growing? There's a reason.

1:15:13I have to tell myself that there was this three-year business growth rule because people told me, oh, don't worry. You know, those first couple of years, don't worry. It takes three years for business to really start getting off the ground. And I bought into that. So year two, I thought, well, I'm not at the three-year mark yet. It's just going to take time. Three-year mark, no growth yet. Like People told me it takes three years, what's going on. You have to have the ability to take responsibility for lack of growth. If something's stagnant, it's not the market's fault. I hate that excuse. Oh, the market's not primed right now.

1:15:51You have to be able to identify that you are responsible, take accountability. You're probably going to have to make some sort of change or pivot and just continue to find resources and tools and learn and test and try and see what works. One of my favorite podcasts is Founders. Host is David Senra. I can't remember who he quoted in this one episode, but he said that change breaks the brittle and that if you aren't willing to change, what that quote means is if you aren't willing to change and if change scares you, it is going to break you because it's a weakness. So the strongest people or the most successful people the most durable people are okay with change.

1:16:34They embrace change. They allow change to be an invitation and not a threat. It's one of the ways I describe it in the book. And if you view change as necessary, you'll make decisions and you'll do things when growth stops and halts and ceases and lean into that as an opportunity. And being honest with yourself about things need to change, things aren't going well, you've got to change something in order to progress. Right. Okay, last one. Now, what if you're an entrepreneur who feels like they have no energy? Wake up every day with no energy, no drive. How would you supplement this? Well, I think all entrepreneurs are pretty tired.

1:17:16So like that type of energy, I would say that probably feels normal, especially as responsibilities grow. But in terms of like having the drive and purpose, I need to be honest with yourself. am I doing something that I truly love? Am I truly passionate about it? Someone once told me, if you're doing something you don't like, change it. But if you can't change it, change the way you think about it. That has always stuck with me. There are certain parts of our life, especially as entrepreneurs, we have to do things that we don't wanna do. 90 % of my job is doing things that I don't wanna do. But how do you shift the way you view it and position it to realize that it contributes to a greater cause and good.

1:17:59But if you can't find passion in what you're doing ever or appreciation, it might be a point in time where it's time to pivot. I referenced Lewis Howes in my book and he talks about identity foreclosure. And I think a lot of people are afraid of identity foreclosure where you're doing this thing for so long, this job, and this job becomes part of your identity, but you don't like it. You try to change what you think about it, but you still don't like it. So many people are afraid of saying, okay, I'm done with this. I'm gonna go do something else. And certain situations in life, you just can't do that.

1:18:36If you have responsibilities, you have a family, you have people you have to take care of, I get it. But if you can make that change, close that identity that you've created for so long, shift and do something new that brings life to you. Because I don't wanna be looking back on my deathbed thinking like, I did this job for 40 years that I hated just to make a certain amount of money, it's a wasted life. Yeah, a lot of founders, especially first-time founders, you forget that you can sell your company, start something new. Yeah. Where do you see BPN in 10 years? I set all of our goals for actually 10-year targets.

1:19:12And I just reset all of our 10-year targets this past year. So I reference a lot of books because I read a lot of books. But one of my favorite books is, that I read in the past few years, is BE 2.0, Beyond Entrepreneurship 2.0 by Jim Collins. That book transformed my business this past year because chapter four is all about vision. Jim says there's three components to vision. It's core values, purpose, and goals. Core values and purpose shouldn't change more than one time every 100 years. Goals are 10 to 25-year targets. So we hit 10-year targets for ourselves. Wow, that's like a really long vision.

1:19:49Exactly. Yeah. So some of our 10-year targets are that we are the most respected and trusted endurance consumer brand in the world. We are known as the Nike or Apple of endurance performance. We sell more endurance gels than all other competitors. And this is by 2035. And that we inspire more lifters to be runners and more runners to be lifters. And that G1M Sport and the extensions of G1M Sport that fall under that product offering line, that product line alone does 100 million in revenue by 2035. So those are where we want to be in 10 years, owning the endurance performance space, being the most trusted and respected endurance consumer brand in the world.

1:20:34And the reason it's so important to define and write down vision is because your team can then go operate and create strategy and tactics, knowing that they are aligned with the core values, the purpose, and the goals of the organization. And if that's not defined, then people, teams, departments will create strategy and tactics that might be aligned with your vision. But it's hard to tell if it's not clearly defined. And it's great that it's not changing very often because I know one big complaint from people is, oh, my goals are always changing, so I don't know what to do. And then things get messy.

1:21:11So having these consistent goals that are so long term, I feel like is really valuable. Yeah, I agree. If somebody never buys a single product from you, but they follow your brand, what do you hope to leave them with or inspire them with? The power of going more and that there's a realization that there is so much power and ability in the decisions we make in our lifetime. There's millions and millions and millions of decisions, some way more than others and can shift the trajectory more than others. but we have a responsibility to be very intentional with the decisions we make because my goal in life is to create a legacy that I'm proud of, that when I'm old, that I'm trusted and respected and that my kids wanna be with me and my wife wants to be with me, regardless of how much money I make or how big the business is.

1:22:06And if people can implement the action of Go One More, but also understand the power and the outcome, I believe that can guide the trajectory of people's lives to a place where they can be really proud of the legacy they leave. I ask two questions at the end of all my shows to my guests. The first one is, what is one actionable thing our young and profiters can do today to become more profitable tomorrow? I mean, I'm a brand guy. So I would say you have to recognize that we're all building brands. And that brand is much different than product. Brand has a heartbeat. Brand bleeds. Brand has DNA.

1:22:49You build a brand in drops and you lose it in buckets. And to be profitable and to build a really strong business, doesn't matter what business you're in, I believe that building a brand through storytelling and connecting with an audience is extremely powerful and beneficial. and that brand needs to be focused through a vision, hyper-focused through a vision. And what would you say your secret to profiting in life is? And this can go beyond business advice. I honestly think it's consistency. I say this very humbly. I'm a very consistent person. You will never see me winning races. You'll rarely see me being the occasionally great, but I can promise you I am always very consistently good, even in terms of my running.

1:23:40I wake up every morning and I go for my run regardless if I want to or not, whether I got one hour of sleep the night before or eight hours of sleep the night before. I find so much power in being consistently good and you might not see the benefit from it in a week, a month, or even a year, but I've been building my business now for 13 years. Yeah. And just being consistently good for 13 years can take you quite far. 60 million in revenue, annual revenue. I mean, that's huge. It compounds a lot. It does, yeah. That's amazing. Nick, this has been such an awesome conversation. I really enjoyed it.

1:24:16I think our listeners are gonna love it. Where can everybody learn more about you and everything that you do? So on YouTube, if you search Nick Bear, I've been documenting my life literally since 2014. Over a thousand videos there. So the whole story is there. Can we see those early videos in that warehouse? They're all still there. We've kept them all up. my company's website is bpnsups.com. And then Instagram, it's Nick Bear Fitness. And then my book, Go One More, launches June 24th, 2025. We'll stick all those links in the show notes. I think this will be out by the time we put out the episode.

1:24:50So everybody go grab that book, Go One More. And thank you so much, Nick. Thank you, appreciate it.

1:24:59Well, young and profiterers, what an incredible conversation with Nick Bear. a true example of what happens when you stop making excuses and start making moves. Nick's journey from army barracks to building a multi-million dollar brand reminded us that success isn't just about having perfect conditions. It's about showing up consistently, especially when nobody is watching. You make time for what matters and consistently prioritize what matters to you and the goals that you have. What really struck me today was his distinction between being consistently good versus occasionally great. So many of us get caught in chasing those big breakthrough moments, but Nick built BPN by making the choice to show up every single day, whether that meant filming YouTube videos from his barracks or grinding through the unglamorous parts of building a business.

1:25:49As Nick put it, doubt is only dangerous when you start doubting yourself. And he's absolutely right. Courage in action is the answer to life's many problems. The strongest people embrace change, and that's exactly what Nick demonstrated throughout his journey. I loved how he redefined what it means to go one more. It's not just about doing more for the sake of it or pushing until you break. It's about the moment when you want to quit, when your mind is telling you that you're done and you choose to just push a little bit further. That's where growth really happens. So here's my challenge to you, Young and Profiters.

1:26:22What's your one more moment gonna be today? Where can you just push a little bit further than you think you can? Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Young and Profiting. If you listened, learned, and profited from this powerful conversation with the inspiring Nick Baer, do us a favor and share this episode with somebody who needs a reminder that consistency, discipline, and courage can change everything. And if you enjoyed this show and picked up something valuable, we'd be so grateful if you dropped us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to the show. Your support helps us reach more people who want to profit in life.

1:26:55And if you guys like to watch your videos on YouTube, head to our YouTube channel, subscribe, and drop us a comment on your favorite video. You'll find all of our episodes on there. You can also find me on Instagram at Yap with Hala or LinkedIn, just search for my name, it's Hala Taha. And of course, I have to thank my amazing Yap production team. It takes a village to put on this podcast. So thank you for all that you do. This is your host, Hala Taha, AKA the Podcast Princess, signing off.

1:27:30Thank you.