January 3, 2024 • 41 mins
🎙️ Saeju’s immigrant journey from an unheated basement apartment to unicorn founder
🎙️ Decoding human behavior: insights from the Noom data treasure trove
🎙️ Building new habits with Cognitive Behavior Therapy
🎙️ Even in the age of Ozempic… there are still no shortcuts
This episode will help you get inspired and make a plan to be the best you in 2024!
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🤘 Dive into Mike's recommended reads and resources at mikesteib.com.
🎉 Up next: A serial entrepreneur, a CEO on a mission to cure cancer, and more inspiring guests. Submit your questions at 213.419.0596.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Welcome to Office Hours, where we sit down with the
chief executives shaping the world and answer your most pressing
questions about leadership, careers, and life. I'm Mike Steive and
today we welcome to the show an inspiring entrepreneur and
a fellow New York based technology leader, say Ju Jong.
Say Ju is the founder of Noom, the app that
has raised over six hundred million in venture capital in
(00:27):
over its fifteen year growth journey to help people with healthier,
happier lives. With a breathtaking seventy eight percent success rate,
Neom has proven to be one of the most effective
ways to build healthy habits and to get fit. This
being our first episode of the new year, I am
thrilled to bring our audience today an expert in the
science and psychology and technology around self improvement. So say Ju,
(00:50):
thank you for being here, and welcome to the show.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Thanks for having me as my honor to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
So we had a lot of questions from the audience,
people who want to hear a bit about your journey,
people who want to know more about noon. We've got
some real fans of the app, including your host here,
who thinks it's fantastic and will if it's all right
with you, we'll just we'll get right into them.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Fantastic. I'm ready, yeah, all right.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
So our first question came from Sofia in New York City,
who asked, I.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
Read that you immigrated to the United States. Can you
talk about your experience as an immigrant founder and how
it has shaped you as an entrepreneur and as a leader.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Thank you, Sophia.
Speaker 4 (01:29):
Being an immigrant was not an easy start, to be honest,
but the way I came to have to stay in
two thousand and five January that I was hoping, I
dreamed that I wanted to enter the bigal world. I
came from South Korea, beautiful country, but it is limited opportunity,
I felt, and also small world compared to all the
(01:51):
global portunity. That's why I came to New York City.
And when I came was hard. I have to I
had to learn everything again, literally relearn. I came when
I was twenty five years old, somehow, kind of like
a little adult, but not a real adult and haven't
featured a professional career yet, so it was kind of
like not a two x I think ten. It's difficult
(02:13):
than most of my peer by the time I have
no connections. I had no connections. I had to really
try to build a network one by one. Literally came
like I felt like I came to Mars.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
Like new language. I had to learn English.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
What was your first job that you took when you
got here to the US.
Speaker 4 (02:32):
I sold the Overagon wireless, the program I sold the
Origin wireless.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
That was my first part time job because my phone
based job. Yeah, because my landload.
Speaker 4 (02:42):
My landload friends has a retail store and she gave
a voucher of fifty dollars once I say, like the line,
So you were.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
Working these These jobs are different jobs than being a
successful entrepreneur and a CEO. How do you think it's
shaped you? There are plenty of successful immigrant founders and
CEOs in America, but it's a different journey. How do
you think it's made you a different leader or a
more effective leader? Perhaps?
Speaker 2 (03:10):
First of all, the.
Speaker 4 (03:11):
Way I got like really motivated and changed the way
I see the world is impacted by my father because
my father. I lost my father early on and when
I was twenty one years old and he was fifty one,
so he was too young and that, Yeah, I know,
it's a horrible experience is streateedy for our family. And
(03:33):
that really really worked me up. So I was at
the age that my old classmate at school work busy
for dating, just hang out summertime, you know, the college freshman,
What do you do? Hang out and fun, have a
good time.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
You deserve it.
Speaker 4 (03:50):
Act like, yeah, someday I will find a job, right, somehow,
I'll figure it. When I was twenty one, twenty something
like that, my father passed away and that really, like
that really impacted on my life and kind of like
opened up the Pandora box that oh he died. That
(04:11):
means it's true, I knew it, but I think I
would die anyway. The life is once and.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
It's a short and what should I do?
Speaker 4 (04:20):
And that kind of question really got me and I've
been thinking hard and I came to Nited States. That
led me to think about what should I do? And
it really clarified my priority of my life. And that's
how I drop out of college because I studied the
lecture in engineering, but I didn't have a passion. And
I became very honest with myself to answer your question, Yes,
I struggled.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
I struggled.
Speaker 4 (04:42):
I lived like cacarroach very difficult life. I had a
three different job to pay the bill six hundred and
thirty dollars rent per month at the basement, and that
was a lot, so three different jobs for years and years.
I actually slept with my jacket on because I didn't
tonnel the hero the same other I actually my window
(05:04):
jacket I wore every single night at night.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
Wow extra blanket too.
Speaker 4 (05:09):
I learned the love from military time, which is actually
beneficial for me. I third served at the military serves
for three years in South Korea. That really helped me
to restate what could be hard. So that kind of
finance challenge is kind of like I deal with it,
you know what. I don't have to buy the fancy stuff.
I can just like cook or buy like healthy and
(05:32):
cheap stuff, and I can just stay very lean. When
I say lean, extreme lean, right like very lean, don't
spend dollars.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
We've had a number of entrepreneurs on the podcast, and
there's a consistent theme of just tenacity and perseverance. Mary
Mnfci and Alexavon Tobo were on the last few weeks,
Tim Armstrong. They've all started businesses and heard from everyone.
Your idea won't work, and they just kept banging away.
They all hit obstacles. And so for you, it sounds
(06:02):
to me like you didn't have to adapt to hardship
when you became an entrepreneur. You were you were already
stealed for it from your military experience, your experience as
an immigrant, and and your path and your your path here.
Speaker 4 (06:14):
Yeah, because I had different So my world has shifted
a lot of Mike, since I lost my father, and
I was looking for what I should do right, I
was in different universe, meaning like I actually didn't care
how people think about me.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
By the time, it was morebile I was. I had.
I was deeply curious, deeply curious what should I do?
Speaker 1 (06:37):
I said, did you have all along passion for health
and fitness and self improvement? Is that? What is that?
What brought you to new Oh?
Speaker 2 (06:44):
Yeah, Mike, So let me get to the point, like
I believe.
Speaker 4 (06:48):
So I had a lot of conversation my dad before
he passed away, and one of the one a lot
of beautiful conversation, but one of the conversations really like
pour my heart and a tear of and I cried
so many times out of it was kind of like
my father was very tough and strong man. But he
goes like, you know, it's okay to me leave early one,
(07:10):
and I'm sure you'll become very strong out on my death.
But what I feel very difficult is I know you
will achieve a success, but I will not be there
when you achieve success, so I don't I will not
be able to see you. And that hurt me, and
that words really like tear my heart. But he said
(07:31):
he knew you would be successful. Yeah, he believed in me,
and I think that's a very very it's incredibly powerful,
and that led me to figure something in two years
after he left, meaning during the military duty service, I
was alone all the time at night and I was
kind of thinking about what should I do. I think
my father was trying to encourage to figure what potential
(07:52):
I have as a parent and wanted to encourage to discover.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
And do better and I love to So that actually.
Speaker 4 (08:01):
Led me to come to the state, and that actually
helped me to deal with what people are saying, like
Tennecy and perseverence.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
Why because.
Speaker 4 (08:10):
I was in the in the past and I want
to figure what I have and I want to do
my best when I have at this one time opportunity
life and the healthcare fitness is the answer why.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
I honestly knew.
Speaker 4 (08:24):
My company is our company name and everything what I
did is just a result of the passion to be honest.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
It's a form of action is we call entrepreneurship and business.
Speaker 4 (08:34):
But my passion, what I visioned, my vision and the
coding is use all the talent that I have with
the people who care about our mission and deliver healthy outcome.
We believe in our users. That's why news service is
all about, like we believe in you. That's why we
often ask in our application. We ask literally every time,
(08:56):
we ask, are you ready?
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Are you in?
Speaker 1 (08:58):
What are your goals? And deeper into your goals and
what do you and I remember in the in the
signup it says, what's the most important thing you have
to do next? Is like exercise, eat, riot and is believe.
And the right answer was you had to believe.
Speaker 4 (09:11):
You have to believe in yourself first and you have
to constantly encourage yourself.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
That's why we use a lot of psychology.
Speaker 4 (09:17):
Why why are we doing that? Because we want to
help you to lose weight. Yeah, that's part of the goal.
But this kind of provoking comment. But the weight loss
is not the final result at all, and that's not
the way we design our product at all.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
Weight loss is one of the benefits you receive by
forming a healthy have it. Why we are helping you
to build a healthy have it because we want you
to have incredible life. We want to help you to
become a better than yesterday and the other days by
improving your health by adopting healthy behavior. When I mentioned
healthy is not only physiological healthy. When I talk about
(09:51):
the healthy, I'm not going about weight loss, healthy body.
Your body is strong. I'm talking about your holistic health.
Your mind, your body, your relationship.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
They're all connected.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
Everything is connected, holistic outcome.
Speaker 4 (10:09):
To get there, we need to start to build a
healthy heaby.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
We need you to believe in yourself.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
Now, there's something remarkable about your app. I feel like
all internet design is premised on reducing friction. It is
get people to click the button as fast as possible, right,
and in order to use your app. I think I
spent maybe fifteen minutes answering questions, more than fifty minute usually,
but you just actually quickly finished the serving yep. And
(10:38):
it's so on it's obviously very effective, but it's so unusual.
Would you talk a little bit about that, about how
hard it is for me to get into the app
and then once I'm there, it's so hard, it's so
hard not to use it.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
Well, thank you, Mike.
Speaker 4 (10:55):
I clearly remember when we launch our service that we
were we were working very hard to make it shorter, survey,
to make it easy of ux. Right, that's kind of
trend still today. Right, easy to sign up, and we
realize the way we see us, we're kind of like school, Mike.
(11:20):
We have school, and if we don't provide a right filtering,
we cannot have.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
Motivated or ready to take a class student. Doesn't make sense.
Speaker 4 (11:34):
Yes, in our seventeen years of new his story, a
lot of people don't know we are that long company
or long history company. In early days of eight years,
we fondly believe everything has to be free service, and
we did it, and we were the most downloaded free
(11:55):
fittiness health application in the world in twenty eleven, twelve
thirty in and we learned it actually, if we want
to deliver healthy outcome that we can actually see that,
then we have to screen them out because.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
We are out of many free users.
Speaker 4 (12:16):
There are a lot of casual users, and our product
managers who build a product cannot get the.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
Right data that we can get.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
The right signals. Because you are right, you have you
have users who haven't made the made the investment they have,
they don't have skin in the game.
Speaker 4 (12:33):
Yeah, exactly, Mike. Because our product is not like game
or Uber or door dash or Spotify. I often give
this examp to our team, like, hey, our service is
weirdly is hard. Once you pay, you don't get the
benefit at all. We have to start to work. Like
let's say if you buy the flight ticket from some
(12:55):
booking dot complication, you got it done.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
Uber, you call the car, you get in three minutes. Done.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
That's right, there's no way off on day.
Speaker 4 (13:01):
One, transactional on new Yeah, Spotify, you pay now, you
can listen YouTube, you pay, you can watch definitely same.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Doom you pay. So what now we make you to work.
We make it to work.
Speaker 4 (13:15):
Move your body it less, go to Sivili do the
mindphon needs everything. What I mentioned, let's be honest, is
not naturally come to a lot of people, right, And.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
I didn't appreciate. I didn't know that you had served
in the South Korean Armed Forces. The extent to which
that experience and the discipline that that instills, yes, comes
through in the spirit of Noom. I've developed a better
appreciation for talking to you about it.
Speaker 4 (13:42):
I appreciate it, Mike, that you can connect with that.
So I also want I want to comment very softly
though we don't want to judge our users badly, we
actually don't judge our users. Why is that because the
way we recruit our users are talking about the says
the top which to weight loss. Right, That's the way
people understand new service. But once people arrive our platform
(14:07):
a lot of the service and realize, wow, this is
more than this weight loss.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
Yes, yes, yes, we got to build.
Speaker 4 (14:15):
Form healthy habit and we don't judge you because it's
so hard if I'm being judged so hard to start.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
It's a warm and sort of welcoming experience, but it
is one where you have to do the work. June
and Houston, as.
Speaker 3 (14:41):
BJ Fox has, the easier behavior is to do, the
more likely it will become habit. Have you found this
to be true? Has that kind of thinking informed your
product development? And what if you found are the keys
to building an app that helps develop good habits.
Speaker 4 (14:56):
I'm very proud of the words that behavior change in
the building healthy habit became a popular approach in healthcare
fittains category lately because if I may, if I may
get us some credit out of it. We are the
pioneer of that market. Why am I saying that? In
(15:16):
twenty fourteen when we explore this opportunity and launch news
service into some fifteen, we were so new a lot
of investors didn't even take a look our pitch because
what do you mean behavior change and a healthy behavior?
It's kind of like such a vague concept and there's
no business in preventitive approach all that. But these days
(15:37):
the market exists and look at newm and also there
are a lot of great services. And to answer your question,
I have seen like this is from physiological like our
nature of the body that we human body, we do
not like to change. We are designed that way, and
I think that's for survival reasons, right. We don't want
(16:01):
to change, and that is one of the visions that
build a resistance on a weight loss, and that is
why it's so difficult to change behavior. However, like using
new psychology or CBT, the cognitive behavior therapy. Then we
actually guide a very logical reason and once you put
(16:24):
a little healthier habit, we actually encourage the awareness of
how are feeling now and what you do do we
reinforce the polity behavior. That way, you can actually build
a new successful fly of yours completely your story and
your body, and you're the only one. You can actually
(16:44):
judge that how are you're feeling by choosing a little
better traice here and there, and once you like it,
then you build in form the will follow the will power.
They can actually stick with that, and once you stick
a little longer, it becomes your have it, which no
longer requires a ton of work. You know why because
(17:05):
over time your body or just it, your body adopted
a new level.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
How powerful is that?
Speaker 1 (17:14):
And I've personally found it so much easier to exercise
every day than every other day, because if it's every
other day, then I'm always it's always going to be
tomorrow or not today, right. Otherwise it's just consistent the
same thing, same time every morning. Just do it, and
then it becomes like showering and brushing your teeth. It's
just something that you expect to do.
Speaker 4 (17:35):
I actually want to highlight what you said, Mike, becau
those to you that you form the healthy routine and
have it, and I am the same. I actually built
it heavy around three years ago. I was kind of
a casual exercise your I meaning like a yeah and
weekend Jim.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
Warrior warrior yeah yeah, yeah, yeah yeah yeah.
Speaker 4 (17:54):
But one of my clothes like family member, he's a physician.
He was like, just don't even think about it.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
You should have go.
Speaker 4 (18:01):
People think like I go to gym is kind of
like I don't have time. Matter of fact, you actually
you will. You earn the time by doing investing in
your health. You will not lose your health. So you
will earn the time and don't even think about it.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
And I just like you.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
Said, Mike, there's some research that suggest for every hour
you exercise, you live nine hours longer. Right there, You're right,
so that's a stronger wife.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 4 (18:29):
So I have the habit now and I want to
brag about the benefit that just it's not like, don't
think about it. I know it's hard in the beginning,
but try stick with the healthy behavior. Start with maybe
twenty minute and then you will get it. But don't
don't cancel it. Just try twenty minute least, and then
then it will become like you brush your teeth or
(18:50):
drink water in the morning. So it's like they don't
even think it's we about something big. Just twenty minute,
very simple.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
Not the habit. Mm hmmm. One of the things where
I really wanted to start exercising more and I was
finding it was hard to get up. And you know
I didn't have the habit yet. You'll appreciate this giving
your your past sleep habits. I started getting dressed for
the gym at night, and I would sleep in the
gym close and I would put my sneakers and my
phone in front of the door, and so the alarm
(19:18):
was on my phone. When it went off, I had
to get out of bed, go get the phone, and
I'd be standing there already dressed for the gym. So
it was not only making a small commitment to the gym,
but it was also producing for removing the friction, removing
the decision making, no decision making.
Speaker 2 (19:33):
You are you standing at the door dressed to go?
Speaker 1 (19:34):
It's signed to go now. I don't expect to see
that in the new map. The new map is much
more scientific about this but that helped. That helped me.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
Mike, thanks for sharing that. I think you you you
had your brain.
Speaker 1 (19:47):
So we got a question from Lucas and Pittsburgh and
it's on the same it's on the same theme.
Speaker 5 (19:52):
I was always fit until I became a busy professional.
Now it is impossible to have the time to exercise
and line up three healthy meals, and there were always
snacks at work, and I'm not sure how an app
can help with that. Is there something I'm doing wrong?
Speaker 4 (20:08):
Yeah, I can tell. I'm with you, and I understand that.
I don't want you to think you're wrong. I want
to congress that you have awareness that you want to
shift your lifestyle toward or the more party way, the
awareness that you don't awareness that you have that you
(20:28):
don't like the way of your lifestyle, including your snacking
and all that, or the activities last gym and the
fittings like that. That's a good start. I want to
highlight that. And second, do me an ad but you
get like full curriculum with a human coach and the Ladies'
science typically proven. The service that is curriculum is designed
(20:50):
for you and deliver healthy outcome.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
That any other services.
Speaker 4 (20:55):
So you are signed up to study about the lifestyle
and you get a benefit. So it's an app. It's
powerful the way we guide you that we consult Mike,
you just mentioned that we have very long the serve
in the beginning and then based on your profile, where
you are, your goal, your circumstance, and we customize the
(21:18):
program and then we guide you to build your habit.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
We are a result.
Speaker 4 (21:24):
We are yelling at your ear drum. We don't want that.
We want to be the best coach, the guide there
with the scientific the research that is the best curriculum
for you, and we we automatically shift and change to
match the best curriculum that is working for you. We
hope we can we can have a higher williulate rate
(21:46):
that you form a better version of yourself. And once
you once you receive the benefit, you will have AHA moment.
And that's the thing that we want to achieve. It
the first step together and.
Speaker 1 (21:58):
You have this. One of the Lucas is getting at us.
He's surrounded by unhealthy choices. Your wrapp guides people to
these green, yellow, red food choices where you can proactively
choose a food that's that that is healthy to what
extent is replacing the bad foods with the good food.
So to what extent is planning ahead or anything else
(22:19):
that the new map suggests in how you diet something
you want a listener to take away today.
Speaker 4 (22:24):
So the way we actually category as a food to
carigory like too we have a green, yellow and orange
is not like we don't. We actually changed from red
to orange color because we didn't design to carabise red.
It's kind of like, oh my god's bad, don't touch that. No,
it's more based on biolometric the theory that how we
(22:45):
can guide you to manage your way better. But we
don't screen a or we don't. We don't compare this
is bad for good food. It's just like a color
density perspective. The color is following that our recommendation is
to not We don't. We don't particularly support one trendy diet.
The reason is it is not often it's not so sustainable.
(23:09):
The way we our our service has in designed that
we don't prohibit any type of the food item or
we don't also prom only specific diet because we wanted
to figure what is the most sustainable way people can
stick with a long term healthy lifestyle. Let me give
you an example. We don't say like you cannot have
(23:33):
like chips or chocolate or ice cream forever. We don't
do that. We ask you to think about like how
did you manage your intake diet lately and today and
based on your effort and based on your uh the balance,
and how will you know when is the right time
(23:53):
and how much portion.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
Will you intake?
Speaker 4 (23:55):
Which we call orange food because it has a high
density of the calories.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
More mindful approach to.
Speaker 4 (24:01):
Enjoyingly and also staging of the food. Staging means like
we also encourage it to you know, be mindful when
you eat with over like we want you to fully chew,
take some time to digest, have some composition if you're
eating with your uh, if you have a company together.
That's why we'll increased to not watch TV while you're eating.
Speaker 1 (24:22):
Then the app discourages that if the app really wants
you to, if you're going to have food, enjoy it.
Speaker 4 (24:28):
Enjoy it, enjoy it something like that That will all
create a better environment that you have less craving of
like comfort of food or salty food or sugar et
food because you that's why we call that using psychology. Right,
it's not a lot of people think I think one
of your questions from Houston self and what's wrong with me?
Speaker 2 (24:48):
And people?
Speaker 4 (24:49):
People, a lot of them are are usuals are saying again, oh,
I don't have a willpower. I don't think. We don't
think it's a willpower issue. It's about like we actually
do not fully learn about the full relationship and the
psychology related to our lifestyle.
Speaker 2 (25:03):
That's why we are re educating it.
Speaker 4 (25:05):
And by that and also if you're probated, like oh,
do not touch digit, do not eat the cookie all
the time, then you know what, somehow body increase like.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
That craving of them. Oh my god, I want to
have that.
Speaker 4 (25:16):
Cookie, that damn cookie, that cookie. You wake up at
one am like five cookies, you know. So we don't
want to create a kind of like the scarcerity your
body crave more. We want to have enjoy a cookie.
Why don't you enjoy the cookie with the tea, the
warm tea, have the milk, which will increase your satire
(25:37):
and you feel like very good and you feel pretty
good about having a bite. Enjoy it and that's all
good enough. You're not going to have five cookies in
a row. So it's all about moderation and also there's
a lot of impact. That's why we also encourage to
think about how you sleep lately and how what's your
what's your like, how do you messine your sleep, resting
(25:58):
and activities all that Why if.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
You're when you're not recovered, it's really hard to maintain
your discipline if.
Speaker 4 (26:04):
You don't have a good recovery in mind, you know
how it works, and you your colleage or the stress
onemore coming high, and you will increasepecture. Your body want
to create, to have more fatty food, sugary food. Your
body is kind of like a survival mode and you're
going to your body want to restore the counteries, so
you create our body is naturally following how you invest
(26:26):
in your bodies such as resting, sleep, meditation, which is
anxiety management, and also activity is all that. So everything's
related and we are very mindful and we are guiding
just one by one to understand. You know what, there
are five important pillars diet, exercise, stress management, sleep, wresting,
(26:47):
and community the relationship. So that's the way we help
them to understand.
Speaker 1 (26:52):
I want to pivot with our next question from what
the new map has done for the for its users
and what you've learned about good habits more to how
you personally scaled up and Nia in Atlanta.
Speaker 6 (27:07):
Asked as a founder, how have you scaled up your
leadership and management abilities in a fast growing environment? What
are the things you advise other professionals to do to
accelerate their learning curves?
Speaker 1 (27:19):
So you went from selling wireless plans and shoveling the
sidewalk to running a well funded, exciting digital company. There
must have been so much you didn't know how to do?
How did you get up the learning curve?
Speaker 2 (27:35):
True?
Speaker 4 (27:35):
I'm going to share my really deep like personal side
too to help the other fellow entrepreneurs. Once I have
found found the co founder and also founded members and
build a company, I constantly ask because I'm an immigrant
and I don't know, and I'm not a product guy
by the way, I'm just like founder, a business guy,
so I don't know. So I had to ask, and
(27:57):
I learned a medical medical thing.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
Asking is a.
Speaker 4 (28:00):
Powerful be genuine yeah, exactly, kind, not pretend kind, genuinely
kind with the polite and respect, and ask for help
and I bet people will help you. I guarantee if
you pretend or you know, they will not like you.
They know you don't know, especially early stage company. And
(28:22):
if you actually admit you don't know but you want
to learn and need to help, you will move people's
heart and they will help you out.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
That's number one. Number two professionally is sick for the
divisors professional advisors.
Speaker 4 (28:36):
Meaning like when the company is growing, constantly asking not
only getting like three sixty review from your peer and
your people, but also find like who do you like?
Go find a company that is much of the best
in your stage and ask what am I missing? Share
your dream and ask what am I missing to get there?
(28:56):
Because often the only stage entrepreneurs they don't know what
they don't know.
Speaker 2 (29:01):
They actually don't know.
Speaker 4 (29:02):
They are busy and they're working so hard, and they're
often very smart, so they think they are doing the
right thing right, you know what, they don't know what
they are missing, So ask too. In the simile industry
or at the best stage of your company, but your demyer,
then they will help you out where you're missing, and
this opportunity you can learn or you can invite on
the talent into your team so you can continue to
(29:24):
build evolved as a company together.
Speaker 1 (29:37):
The thing that's going on in the market right now
that was interesting to a lot of our listeners. I
got a few questions on this. Jordan and chappaquad texted
and asked have ozembic and other weight loss drugs impacted
demand for apps like now and how might they shape
the health and finished landscape in the future.
Speaker 4 (29:54):
It is very effective drug. The ODMP the group type
GP one tile of the drug. We to remind you
that we are the first world first digital CampaignOn for
drug in two sageant eighteen nineteen. We actually work with
an Overroads, the inventor of the firm the drug in
(30:17):
the Denmark, so we were early on this year two
on twenty three to their second generation we go bib
Jeff came out and it became widely accepted. As it
is a second generation rather daily is a once per
week so it's easier to the minister.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
It is very effective and powerful. That means powerful is
it does deliver traumatic weight loss results often and as
I shared Mike at the beginning of our interview, our
body do not like to change. If our body allows
us to change all the time, I don't think we
can live like healthy way. I mean our body is
(31:01):
natural natural tofoild the body wanted to keep the balance
and this drug is so powerful. Lose more than fifteen
percent body weight that quickly, and that means FDA recommend
and it comes with the drugs that must adopt healthy
the behavior change. So it's the part. It's not an optional.
Speaker 4 (31:25):
Any patients received that jpion one must adopt the behavior
change along with the drug. Otherwise the return gain the
yo yo or lose fast losing the muscle. It's all
(31:46):
the problems. So to answer your question, yes, we see
this is changed the way people think about what it
lost greatly and because and it's quite noisy and people
now after it's almost one year now, JPI one drug
the second generation came out and now people are aware
it is working. But people are also aware it is
(32:07):
not for lifetime.
Speaker 1 (32:08):
And also you have to you have to couple it
with healthy habits.
Speaker 4 (32:12):
Correct otherwise we gained the weight. You don't want to
stick with that forever. It's also pricey. There was a
solution and we all know I'm sorry, I will speak
very honestly. There's no shortcut. So our service room receive
more benefit and also attention to be honest.
Speaker 2 (32:31):
So I ree from yeah, I see from payers.
Speaker 4 (32:34):
The insurance companies are now recommending using NEOM service before
they started seeking out for JPY one, because without be
able to change effort, it's not going to be the
Pomer solution anyway.
Speaker 1 (32:49):
Last question, I was excited to ask you because you
you set a top of millions of people who are
trying to create new healthy habits and change their lives,
and you you've helped so many millions of people do it.
Accent asked us.
Speaker 2 (33:02):
Happy New Year.
Speaker 1 (33:02):
Everybody, just calling to ask as you, as you look
at the new year ahead, what are your resolutions and
what's your plan?
Speaker 4 (33:09):
My new real evolution is not lead to just weight loss.
It's more about how I can change my routine of
my days and week and months. I'm trying to I'm
trying to explore as that which led me to found
the company. Remember, I'm constantly exploring what I can do
(33:31):
better and more. And New Year, I'd like to locate
my time and opportunity wisely to make a greater impact
for noon, which leader leads to help more lives. I
have done the best in the last seventeen years and
it's a great opportunity I can actually explore a new
(33:53):
way I can do more. So, for instance, I would
develop the skills. I will explore and see how it
can work. And I will put my the management team
and also my actual spouse as a the mentor and
hold accountable.
Speaker 1 (34:13):
Person accountability partners, kind of a.
Speaker 4 (34:15):
Bit of partners. And this is the part that I
have seen all the time. One of the key components
to achieve success from new experience. We at new platform,
we also connect with the human coach and make sure
that we are supporting, but we also holding a very
friendly account of bility. Why is that because it is
(34:36):
very important as we are human that somebody's cheering chair
up for you.
Speaker 2 (34:41):
It means a lot, It means a lot, and I
want to see and.
Speaker 1 (34:45):
You don't want to let those people down when you
have any partner that mike and also want to get
their devices.
Speaker 4 (34:51):
I shared my lessons to other fellow crineers. I might
I might not know what I don't know.
Speaker 2 (34:59):
I I may not know. So by having accountability person
around me, they will be able to comment here and there,
which I get a lot of the mentorship. So that's
my New year resolution.
Speaker 4 (35:11):
And I hope this will give us, give me more
aligned interests of conversation at my family and my company, and.
Speaker 2 (35:20):
Also help me to explore what I can do better.
Speaker 1 (35:23):
Fantastic Well, my twenty twenty three resolution was to start
a podcast. So here we are.
Speaker 2 (35:30):
Oh you did head, we did it.
Speaker 1 (35:32):
We did it now in twenty twenty four, and I
did it the new way. I had to break it
into small jobs, right First, I had to find an agent.
Then I had to find a distribution partner. That I
had to find someone who agree to be on the podcast.
But it's sort of at each stage, as it wouldn't
surprise you, it becomes more and more rewarding because you're
building on the small action to get closer to the
(35:52):
thing you want to do. In twenty twenty four, I'd
like to I'd like to write more. I'm finding that
through the course of doing this podcast, I'm learning an
incredible amount from our guests. And while you know, I
wish everybody would listen to it every week, I'm sure
there are lots of folks who could learn from what
I'm learning in these podcasts, and I'm going to find
a way to put it in writing and put it
in front of more people, and the way I'll make
(36:14):
sure it sticks is for me, what really works with
habits is the calendar. If I say every Sunday from
seven am to ten am, I'm going to write that,
I will because it's in my calendar, and my calendar
and I have a good relationship.
Speaker 2 (36:27):
I like that you're a very discipointed man.
Speaker 4 (36:29):
No wonder why I'm so successful and so humble, because
you're churious to see the next I can see that mind.
If I ask one question for you, please, what triggered
you to start the podcast?
Speaker 2 (36:43):
What are trying to achieve? And what make you happy
with that?
Speaker 1 (36:46):
Sar, thank you for asking. I did not have earlier
in my career access to the kinds of people I
have access to today, who lived a lot of life
experiences as executives and as founders and entrepreneurs. We've seen
(37:08):
a bunch of the things that I hadn't seen yet
and had found solutions to them. I felt like earlier
in my career I was trying to figure out how
to solve every problem myself as if it had never
been solved by someone else. And now that I'm I'm
sort of on the other side. Of that, and I
have access to people who have all this wisdom. I
just really wanted to find a way to use my
(37:30):
access to open it up for more people. And you know,
we're still you know, we're only fifteen or sixteen episodes
into this, but I've heard from tons of folks who
you know, some who are friends, but a lot of
who I don't even know, who told me something important
that they took away from these conversations. And so my
you know, I think the thing that I'd hoped to
achieve is starting to click. It makes me very happy.
Speaker 4 (37:53):
So you do this for sharing the knowledge, opening up
all all the assets of the lessons that you want
to You want to share that to probably junior, younger
entrepreneurs and who are seeking for the career and seeming
(38:14):
to feel like you, so they can actually get the benefit.
Speaker 1 (38:18):
I think anyone who's still and most of us are,
anyone who's ambitious in their careers and still feels like
they're on their way up with more to learn. And
that may be someone who's younger, maybe someone who's older
at the age and experience matters less than curiosity and
an ambition.
Speaker 2 (38:33):
I like that a lot.
Speaker 4 (38:34):
It's what a noble cause that led you to do
this work. I appreciate that, sir. It's very inspiring. You know,
it's inspiring.
Speaker 1 (38:45):
This whole conversation for me has been inspiring. Your your journey,
your journey to America, what you've what you've learned through
through losing your father and then becoming an entrepreneur and
building your company, and all the.
Speaker 2 (38:59):
People you've felt.
Speaker 1 (39:00):
It's a really it's a nice tale that you've shared
with everyone today, a lot of people who didn't know it,
and I think a lot of people will find not
only inspiration and have put a lot of lessons for
their own lives.
Speaker 4 (39:11):
So thank you, my CENCR honor that I could actually
be invited to share my story a bit with you,
and thankful hosting.
Speaker 1 (39:25):
Well friends. Today we heard from a really inspiring entrepreneur,
an immigrant to America who's created this incredible journey for
himself and has been hugely, hugely successful with Newman. Equally importantly,
more importantly, has made millions of other people successful in
their journeys to create good healthy habits. This being New
Year's everybody, my one takeaway is it's time to set
(39:48):
our news resolutions. It's time to pick that one way
in which we want to be a better version of
ourselves in twenty twenty four. And what came through very
clearly in today's conversation is that the path to doing
that is having a reason for your resolution, a reason
for the behavior change, a reason for the new habit
(40:09):
that's important to you, and starting small. Save you advised,
don't try to exercise an hour a day, just go
twenty minutes, but do it consistently, do it every day.
Find that thing for you, and if it's a big goal,
break it down into some smaller projects, some smaller initiatives.
Give yourself that one small thing to do in January
and take a step toward being the best version of
(40:32):
you in twenty twenty four. And you know where to
find me. You can hit us up anytime at two
point three four one, nine oh five nine six. You
can get me on LinkedIn, slide into my DMS, or
comment on any of my posts. You can do that
to send questions in for the show, or if you
just have need for advice, you want a little extra support,
(40:52):
We're here to help. We got some amazing guests coming
up in the next few weeks. Everybody, we have a
CEO who's helping to cure cancer. We have a marketplace CEO,
we have a serial entrepreneur, a lot of fun topics
on the horizon. I want to thank Saji for coming
in today, and of course Jen, Cara, Meg Jada, Matt,
(41:13):
the whole team at Blue Duck Media for pulling this
all together. I want to thank Dylan and Sasha Gay
and Christina at iHeart and Ben and the team at
William Morris Endeavor for all their support. Office Hours is
a production of Blue Duck Media. We are distributed by iHeartRadio.
Happy New Year, everybody, stay on your grind.
Welcome to Office Hours, where we sit down with the
chief executives shaping the world and answer your most pressing
questions about leadership, careers, and life. I'm Mike Steive and
today we welcome to the show an inspiring entrepreneur and
a fellow New York based technology leader, say Ju Jong.
Say Ju is the founder of Noom, the app that
has raised over six hundred million in venture capital in
(00:27):
over its fifteen year growth journey to help people with healthier,
happier lives. With a breathtaking seventy eight percent success rate,
Neom has proven to be one of the most effective
ways to build healthy habits and to get fit. This
being our first episode of the new year, I am
thrilled to bring our audience today an expert in the
science and psychology and technology around self improvement. So say Ju,
(00:50):
thank you for being here, and welcome to the show.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Thanks for having me as my honor to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
So we had a lot of questions from the audience,
people who want to hear a bit about your journey,
people who want to know more about noon. We've got
some real fans of the app, including your host here,
who thinks it's fantastic and will if it's all right
with you, we'll just we'll get right into them.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Fantastic. I'm ready, yeah, all right.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
So our first question came from Sofia in New York City,
who asked, I.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
Read that you immigrated to the United States. Can you
talk about your experience as an immigrant founder and how
it has shaped you as an entrepreneur and as a leader.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Thank you, Sophia.
Speaker 4 (01:29):
Being an immigrant was not an easy start, to be honest,
but the way I came to have to stay in
two thousand and five January that I was hoping, I
dreamed that I wanted to enter the bigal world. I
came from South Korea, beautiful country, but it is limited opportunity,
I felt, and also small world compared to all the
(01:51):
global portunity. That's why I came to New York City.
And when I came was hard. I have to I
had to learn everything again, literally relearn. I came when
I was twenty five years old, somehow, kind of like
a little adult, but not a real adult and haven't
featured a professional career yet, so it was kind of
like not a two x I think ten. It's difficult
(02:13):
than most of my peer by the time I have
no connections. I had no connections. I had to really
try to build a network one by one. Literally came
like I felt like I came to Mars.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
Like new language. I had to learn English.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
What was your first job that you took when you
got here to the US.
Speaker 4 (02:32):
I sold the Overagon wireless, the program I sold the
Origin wireless.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
That was my first part time job because my phone
based job. Yeah, because my landload.
Speaker 4 (02:42):
My landload friends has a retail store and she gave
a voucher of fifty dollars once I say, like the line,
So you were.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
Working these These jobs are different jobs than being a
successful entrepreneur and a CEO. How do you think it's
shaped you? There are plenty of successful immigrant founders and
CEOs in America, but it's a different journey. How do
you think it's made you a different leader or a
more effective leader? Perhaps?
Speaker 2 (03:10):
First of all, the.
Speaker 4 (03:11):
Way I got like really motivated and changed the way
I see the world is impacted by my father because
my father. I lost my father early on and when
I was twenty one years old and he was fifty one,
so he was too young and that, Yeah, I know,
it's a horrible experience is streateedy for our family. And
(03:33):
that really really worked me up. So I was at
the age that my old classmate at school work busy
for dating, just hang out summertime, you know, the college freshman,
What do you do? Hang out and fun, have a
good time.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
You deserve it.
Speaker 4 (03:50):
Act like, yeah, someday I will find a job, right, somehow,
I'll figure it. When I was twenty one, twenty something
like that, my father passed away and that really, like
that really impacted on my life and kind of like
opened up the Pandora box that oh he died. That
(04:11):
means it's true, I knew it, but I think I
would die anyway. The life is once and.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
It's a short and what should I do?
Speaker 4 (04:20):
And that kind of question really got me and I've
been thinking hard and I came to Nited States. That
led me to think about what should I do? And
it really clarified my priority of my life. And that's
how I drop out of college because I studied the
lecture in engineering, but I didn't have a passion. And
I became very honest with myself to answer your question, Yes,
I struggled.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
I struggled.
Speaker 4 (04:42):
I lived like cacarroach very difficult life. I had a
three different job to pay the bill six hundred and
thirty dollars rent per month at the basement, and that
was a lot, so three different jobs for years and years.
I actually slept with my jacket on because I didn't
tonnel the hero the same other I actually my window
(05:04):
jacket I wore every single night at night.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
Wow extra blanket too.
Speaker 4 (05:09):
I learned the love from military time, which is actually
beneficial for me. I third served at the military serves
for three years in South Korea. That really helped me
to restate what could be hard. So that kind of
finance challenge is kind of like I deal with it,
you know what. I don't have to buy the fancy stuff.
I can just like cook or buy like healthy and
(05:32):
cheap stuff, and I can just stay very lean. When
I say lean, extreme lean, right like very lean, don't
spend dollars.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
We've had a number of entrepreneurs on the podcast, and
there's a consistent theme of just tenacity and perseverance. Mary
Mnfci and Alexavon Tobo were on the last few weeks,
Tim Armstrong. They've all started businesses and heard from everyone.
Your idea won't work, and they just kept banging away.
They all hit obstacles. And so for you, it sounds
(06:02):
to me like you didn't have to adapt to hardship
when you became an entrepreneur. You were you were already
stealed for it from your military experience, your experience as
an immigrant, and and your path and your your path here.
Speaker 4 (06:14):
Yeah, because I had different So my world has shifted
a lot of Mike, since I lost my father, and
I was looking for what I should do right, I
was in different universe, meaning like I actually didn't care
how people think about me.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
By the time, it was morebile I was. I had.
I was deeply curious, deeply curious what should I do?
Speaker 1 (06:37):
I said, did you have all along passion for health
and fitness and self improvement? Is that? What is that?
What brought you to new Oh?
Speaker 2 (06:44):
Yeah, Mike, So let me get to the point, like
I believe.
Speaker 4 (06:48):
So I had a lot of conversation my dad before
he passed away, and one of the one a lot
of beautiful conversation, but one of the conversations really like
pour my heart and a tear of and I cried
so many times out of it was kind of like
my father was very tough and strong man. But he
goes like, you know, it's okay to me leave early one,
(07:10):
and I'm sure you'll become very strong out on my death.
But what I feel very difficult is I know you
will achieve a success, but I will not be there
when you achieve success, so I don't I will not
be able to see you. And that hurt me, and
that words really like tear my heart. But he said
(07:31):
he knew you would be successful. Yeah, he believed in me,
and I think that's a very very it's incredibly powerful,
and that led me to figure something in two years
after he left, meaning during the military duty service, I
was alone all the time at night and I was
kind of thinking about what should I do. I think
my father was trying to encourage to figure what potential
(07:52):
I have as a parent and wanted to encourage to discover.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
And do better and I love to So that actually.
Speaker 4 (08:01):
Led me to come to the state, and that actually
helped me to deal with what people are saying, like
Tennecy and perseverence.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
Why because.
Speaker 4 (08:10):
I was in the in the past and I want
to figure what I have and I want to do
my best when I have at this one time opportunity
life and the healthcare fitness is the answer why.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
I honestly knew.
Speaker 4 (08:24):
My company is our company name and everything what I
did is just a result of the passion to be honest.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
It's a form of action is we call entrepreneurship and business.
Speaker 4 (08:34):
But my passion, what I visioned, my vision and the
coding is use all the talent that I have with
the people who care about our mission and deliver healthy outcome.
We believe in our users. That's why news service is
all about, like we believe in you. That's why we
often ask in our application. We ask literally every time,
(08:56):
we ask, are you ready?
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Are you in?
Speaker 1 (08:58):
What are your goals? And deeper into your goals and
what do you and I remember in the in the
signup it says, what's the most important thing you have
to do next? Is like exercise, eat, riot and is believe.
And the right answer was you had to believe.
Speaker 4 (09:11):
You have to believe in yourself first and you have
to constantly encourage yourself.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
That's why we use a lot of psychology.
Speaker 4 (09:17):
Why why are we doing that? Because we want to
help you to lose weight. Yeah, that's part of the goal.
But this kind of provoking comment. But the weight loss
is not the final result at all, and that's not
the way we design our product at all.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
Weight loss is one of the benefits you receive by
forming a healthy have it. Why we are helping you
to build a healthy have it because we want you
to have incredible life. We want to help you to
become a better than yesterday and the other days by
improving your health by adopting healthy behavior. When I mentioned
healthy is not only physiological healthy. When I talk about
(09:51):
the healthy, I'm not going about weight loss, healthy body.
Your body is strong. I'm talking about your holistic health.
Your mind, your body, your relationship.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
They're all connected.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
Everything is connected, holistic outcome.
Speaker 4 (10:09):
To get there, we need to start to build a
healthy heaby.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
We need you to believe in yourself.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
Now, there's something remarkable about your app. I feel like
all internet design is premised on reducing friction. It is
get people to click the button as fast as possible, right,
and in order to use your app. I think I
spent maybe fifteen minutes answering questions, more than fifty minute usually,
but you just actually quickly finished the serving yep. And
(10:38):
it's so on it's obviously very effective, but it's so unusual.
Would you talk a little bit about that, about how
hard it is for me to get into the app
and then once I'm there, it's so hard, it's so
hard not to use it.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
Well, thank you, Mike.
Speaker 4 (10:55):
I clearly remember when we launch our service that we
were we were working very hard to make it shorter, survey,
to make it easy of ux. Right, that's kind of
trend still today. Right, easy to sign up, and we
realize the way we see us, we're kind of like school, Mike.
(11:20):
We have school, and if we don't provide a right filtering,
we cannot have.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
Motivated or ready to take a class student. Doesn't make sense.
Speaker 4 (11:34):
Yes, in our seventeen years of new his story, a
lot of people don't know we are that long company
or long history company. In early days of eight years,
we fondly believe everything has to be free service, and
we did it, and we were the most downloaded free
(11:55):
fittiness health application in the world in twenty eleven, twelve
thirty in and we learned it actually, if we want
to deliver healthy outcome that we can actually see that,
then we have to screen them out because.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
We are out of many free users.
Speaker 4 (12:16):
There are a lot of casual users, and our product
managers who build a product cannot get the.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
Right data that we can get.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
The right signals. Because you are right, you have you
have users who haven't made the made the investment they have,
they don't have skin in the game.
Speaker 4 (12:33):
Yeah, exactly, Mike. Because our product is not like game
or Uber or door dash or Spotify. I often give
this examp to our team, like, hey, our service is
weirdly is hard. Once you pay, you don't get the
benefit at all. We have to start to work. Like
let's say if you buy the flight ticket from some
(12:55):
booking dot complication, you got it done.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
Uber, you call the car, you get in three minutes. Done.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
That's right, there's no way off on day.
Speaker 4 (13:01):
One, transactional on new Yeah, Spotify, you pay now, you
can listen YouTube, you pay, you can watch definitely same.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Doom you pay. So what now we make you to work.
We make it to work.
Speaker 4 (13:15):
Move your body it less, go to Sivili do the
mindphon needs everything. What I mentioned, let's be honest, is
not naturally come to a lot of people, right, And.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
I didn't appreciate. I didn't know that you had served
in the South Korean Armed Forces. The extent to which
that experience and the discipline that that instills, yes, comes
through in the spirit of Noom. I've developed a better
appreciation for talking to you about it.
Speaker 4 (13:42):
I appreciate it, Mike, that you can connect with that.
So I also want I want to comment very softly
though we don't want to judge our users badly, we
actually don't judge our users. Why is that because the
way we recruit our users are talking about the says
the top which to weight loss. Right, That's the way
people understand new service. But once people arrive our platform
(14:07):
a lot of the service and realize, wow, this is
more than this weight loss.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
Yes, yes, yes, we got to build.
Speaker 4 (14:15):
Form healthy habit and we don't judge you because it's
so hard if I'm being judged so hard to start.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
It's a warm and sort of welcoming experience, but it
is one where you have to do the work. June
and Houston, as.
Speaker 3 (14:41):
BJ Fox has, the easier behavior is to do, the
more likely it will become habit. Have you found this
to be true? Has that kind of thinking informed your
product development? And what if you found are the keys
to building an app that helps develop good habits.
Speaker 4 (14:56):
I'm very proud of the words that behavior change in
the building healthy habit became a popular approach in healthcare
fittains category lately because if I may, if I may
get us some credit out of it. We are the
pioneer of that market. Why am I saying that? In
(15:16):
twenty fourteen when we explore this opportunity and launch news
service into some fifteen, we were so new a lot
of investors didn't even take a look our pitch because
what do you mean behavior change and a healthy behavior?
It's kind of like such a vague concept and there's
no business in preventitive approach all that. But these days
(15:37):
the market exists and look at newm and also there
are a lot of great services. And to answer your question,
I have seen like this is from physiological like our
nature of the body that we human body, we do
not like to change. We are designed that way, and
I think that's for survival reasons, right. We don't want
(16:01):
to change, and that is one of the visions that
build a resistance on a weight loss, and that is
why it's so difficult to change behavior. However, like using
new psychology or CBT, the cognitive behavior therapy. Then we
actually guide a very logical reason and once you put
(16:24):
a little healthier habit, we actually encourage the awareness of
how are feeling now and what you do do we
reinforce the polity behavior. That way, you can actually build
a new successful fly of yours completely your story and
your body, and you're the only one. You can actually
(16:44):
judge that how are you're feeling by choosing a little
better traice here and there, and once you like it,
then you build in form the will follow the will power.
They can actually stick with that, and once you stick
a little longer, it becomes your have it, which no
longer requires a ton of work. You know why because
(17:05):
over time your body or just it, your body adopted
a new level.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
How powerful is that?
Speaker 1 (17:14):
And I've personally found it so much easier to exercise
every day than every other day, because if it's every
other day, then I'm always it's always going to be
tomorrow or not today, right. Otherwise it's just consistent the
same thing, same time every morning. Just do it, and
then it becomes like showering and brushing your teeth. It's
just something that you expect to do.
Speaker 4 (17:35):
I actually want to highlight what you said, Mike, becau
those to you that you form the healthy routine and
have it, and I am the same. I actually built
it heavy around three years ago. I was kind of
a casual exercise your I meaning like a yeah and
weekend Jim.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
Warrior warrior yeah yeah, yeah, yeah yeah yeah.
Speaker 4 (17:54):
But one of my clothes like family member, he's a physician.
He was like, just don't even think about it.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
You should have go.
Speaker 4 (18:01):
People think like I go to gym is kind of
like I don't have time. Matter of fact, you actually
you will. You earn the time by doing investing in
your health. You will not lose your health. So you
will earn the time and don't even think about it.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
And I just like you.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
Said, Mike, there's some research that suggest for every hour
you exercise, you live nine hours longer. Right there, You're right,
so that's a stronger wife.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 4 (18:29):
So I have the habit now and I want to
brag about the benefit that just it's not like, don't
think about it. I know it's hard in the beginning,
but try stick with the healthy behavior. Start with maybe
twenty minute and then you will get it. But don't
don't cancel it. Just try twenty minute least, and then
then it will become like you brush your teeth or
(18:50):
drink water in the morning. So it's like they don't
even think it's we about something big. Just twenty minute,
very simple.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
Not the habit. Mm hmmm. One of the things where
I really wanted to start exercising more and I was
finding it was hard to get up. And you know
I didn't have the habit yet. You'll appreciate this giving
your your past sleep habits. I started getting dressed for
the gym at night, and I would sleep in the
gym close and I would put my sneakers and my
phone in front of the door, and so the alarm
(19:18):
was on my phone. When it went off, I had
to get out of bed, go get the phone, and
I'd be standing there already dressed for the gym. So
it was not only making a small commitment to the gym,
but it was also producing for removing the friction, removing
the decision making, no decision making.
Speaker 2 (19:33):
You are you standing at the door dressed to go?
Speaker 1 (19:34):
It's signed to go now. I don't expect to see
that in the new map. The new map is much
more scientific about this but that helped. That helped me.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
Mike, thanks for sharing that. I think you you you
had your brain.
Speaker 1 (19:47):
So we got a question from Lucas and Pittsburgh and
it's on the same it's on the same theme.
Speaker 5 (19:52):
I was always fit until I became a busy professional.
Now it is impossible to have the time to exercise
and line up three healthy meals, and there were always
snacks at work, and I'm not sure how an app
can help with that. Is there something I'm doing wrong?
Speaker 4 (20:08):
Yeah, I can tell. I'm with you, and I understand that.
I don't want you to think you're wrong. I want
to congress that you have awareness that you want to
shift your lifestyle toward or the more party way, the
awareness that you don't awareness that you have that you
(20:28):
don't like the way of your lifestyle, including your snacking
and all that, or the activities last gym and the
fittings like that. That's a good start. I want to
highlight that. And second, do me an ad but you
get like full curriculum with a human coach and the Ladies'
science typically proven. The service that is curriculum is designed
(20:50):
for you and deliver healthy outcome.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
That any other services.
Speaker 4 (20:55):
So you are signed up to study about the lifestyle
and you get a benefit. So it's an app. It's
powerful the way we guide you that we consult Mike,
you just mentioned that we have very long the serve
in the beginning and then based on your profile, where
you are, your goal, your circumstance, and we customize the
(21:18):
program and then we guide you to build your habit.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
We are a result.
Speaker 4 (21:24):
We are yelling at your ear drum. We don't want that.
We want to be the best coach, the guide there
with the scientific the research that is the best curriculum
for you, and we we automatically shift and change to
match the best curriculum that is working for you. We
hope we can we can have a higher williulate rate
(21:46):
that you form a better version of yourself. And once
you once you receive the benefit, you will have AHA moment.
And that's the thing that we want to achieve. It
the first step together and.
Speaker 1 (21:58):
You have this. One of the Lucas is getting at us.
He's surrounded by unhealthy choices. Your wrapp guides people to
these green, yellow, red food choices where you can proactively
choose a food that's that that is healthy to what
extent is replacing the bad foods with the good food.
So to what extent is planning ahead or anything else
(22:19):
that the new map suggests in how you diet something
you want a listener to take away today.
Speaker 4 (22:24):
So the way we actually category as a food to
carigory like too we have a green, yellow and orange
is not like we don't. We actually changed from red
to orange color because we didn't design to carabise red.
It's kind of like, oh my god's bad, don't touch that. No,
it's more based on biolometric the theory that how we
(22:45):
can guide you to manage your way better. But we
don't screen a or we don't. We don't compare this
is bad for good food. It's just like a color
density perspective. The color is following that our recommendation is
to not We don't. We don't particularly support one trendy diet.
The reason is it is not often it's not so sustainable.
(23:09):
The way we our our service has in designed that
we don't prohibit any type of the food item or
we don't also prom only specific diet because we wanted
to figure what is the most sustainable way people can
stick with a long term healthy lifestyle. Let me give
you an example. We don't say like you cannot have
(23:33):
like chips or chocolate or ice cream forever. We don't
do that. We ask you to think about like how
did you manage your intake diet lately and today and
based on your effort and based on your uh the balance,
and how will you know when is the right time
(23:53):
and how much portion.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
Will you intake?
Speaker 4 (23:55):
Which we call orange food because it has a high
density of the calories.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
More mindful approach to.
Speaker 4 (24:01):
Enjoyingly and also staging of the food. Staging means like
we also encourage it to you know, be mindful when
you eat with over like we want you to fully chew,
take some time to digest, have some composition if you're
eating with your uh, if you have a company together.
That's why we'll increased to not watch TV while you're eating.
Speaker 1 (24:22):
Then the app discourages that if the app really wants
you to, if you're going to have food, enjoy it.
Speaker 4 (24:28):
Enjoy it, enjoy it something like that That will all
create a better environment that you have less craving of
like comfort of food or salty food or sugar et
food because you that's why we call that using psychology. Right,
it's not a lot of people think I think one
of your questions from Houston self and what's wrong with me?
Speaker 2 (24:48):
And people?
Speaker 4 (24:49):
People, a lot of them are are usuals are saying again, oh,
I don't have a willpower. I don't think. We don't
think it's a willpower issue. It's about like we actually
do not fully learn about the full relationship and the
psychology related to our lifestyle.
Speaker 2 (25:03):
That's why we are re educating it.
Speaker 4 (25:05):
And by that and also if you're probated, like oh,
do not touch digit, do not eat the cookie all
the time, then you know what, somehow body increase like.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
That craving of them. Oh my god, I want to
have that.
Speaker 4 (25:16):
Cookie, that damn cookie, that cookie. You wake up at
one am like five cookies, you know. So we don't
want to create a kind of like the scarcerity your
body crave more. We want to have enjoy a cookie.
Why don't you enjoy the cookie with the tea, the
warm tea, have the milk, which will increase your satire
(25:37):
and you feel like very good and you feel pretty
good about having a bite. Enjoy it and that's all
good enough. You're not going to have five cookies in
a row. So it's all about moderation and also there's
a lot of impact. That's why we also encourage to
think about how you sleep lately and how what's your
what's your like, how do you messine your sleep, resting
(25:58):
and activities all that Why if.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
You're when you're not recovered, it's really hard to maintain
your discipline if.
Speaker 4 (26:04):
You don't have a good recovery in mind, you know
how it works, and you your colleage or the stress
onemore coming high, and you will increasepecture. Your body want
to create, to have more fatty food, sugary food. Your
body is kind of like a survival mode and you're
going to your body want to restore the counteries, so
you create our body is naturally following how you invest
(26:26):
in your bodies such as resting, sleep, meditation, which is
anxiety management, and also activity is all that. So everything's
related and we are very mindful and we are guiding
just one by one to understand. You know what, there
are five important pillars diet, exercise, stress management, sleep, wresting,
(26:47):
and community the relationship. So that's the way we help
them to understand.
Speaker 1 (26:52):
I want to pivot with our next question from what
the new map has done for the for its users
and what you've learned about good habits more to how
you personally scaled up and Nia in Atlanta.
Speaker 6 (27:07):
Asked as a founder, how have you scaled up your
leadership and management abilities in a fast growing environment? What
are the things you advise other professionals to do to
accelerate their learning curves?
Speaker 1 (27:19):
So you went from selling wireless plans and shoveling the
sidewalk to running a well funded, exciting digital company. There
must have been so much you didn't know how to do?
How did you get up the learning curve?
Speaker 2 (27:35):
True?
Speaker 4 (27:35):
I'm going to share my really deep like personal side
too to help the other fellow entrepreneurs. Once I have
found found the co founder and also founded members and
build a company, I constantly ask because I'm an immigrant
and I don't know, and I'm not a product guy
by the way, I'm just like founder, a business guy,
so I don't know. So I had to ask, and
(27:57):
I learned a medical medical thing.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
Asking is a.
Speaker 4 (28:00):
Powerful be genuine yeah, exactly, kind, not pretend kind, genuinely
kind with the polite and respect, and ask for help
and I bet people will help you. I guarantee if
you pretend or you know, they will not like you.
They know you don't know, especially early stage company. And
(28:22):
if you actually admit you don't know but you want
to learn and need to help, you will move people's
heart and they will help you out.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
That's number one. Number two professionally is sick for the
divisors professional advisors.
Speaker 4 (28:36):
Meaning like when the company is growing, constantly asking not
only getting like three sixty review from your peer and
your people, but also find like who do you like?
Go find a company that is much of the best
in your stage and ask what am I missing? Share
your dream and ask what am I missing to get there?
(28:56):
Because often the only stage entrepreneurs they don't know what
they don't know.
Speaker 2 (29:01):
They actually don't know.
Speaker 4 (29:02):
They are busy and they're working so hard, and they're
often very smart, so they think they are doing the
right thing right, you know what, they don't know what
they are missing, So ask too. In the simile industry
or at the best stage of your company, but your demyer,
then they will help you out where you're missing, and
this opportunity you can learn or you can invite on
the talent into your team so you can continue to
(29:24):
build evolved as a company together.
Speaker 1 (29:37):
The thing that's going on in the market right now
that was interesting to a lot of our listeners. I
got a few questions on this. Jordan and chappaquad texted
and asked have ozembic and other weight loss drugs impacted
demand for apps like now and how might they shape
the health and finished landscape in the future.
Speaker 4 (29:54):
It is very effective drug. The ODMP the group type
GP one tile of the drug. We to remind you
that we are the first world first digital CampaignOn for
drug in two sageant eighteen nineteen. We actually work with
an Overroads, the inventor of the firm the drug in
(30:17):
the Denmark, so we were early on this year two
on twenty three to their second generation we go bib
Jeff came out and it became widely accepted. As it
is a second generation rather daily is a once per
week so it's easier to the minister.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
It is very effective and powerful. That means powerful is
it does deliver traumatic weight loss results often and as
I shared Mike at the beginning of our interview, our
body do not like to change. If our body allows
us to change all the time, I don't think we
can live like healthy way. I mean our body is
(31:01):
natural natural tofoild the body wanted to keep the balance
and this drug is so powerful. Lose more than fifteen
percent body weight that quickly, and that means FDA recommend
and it comes with the drugs that must adopt healthy
the behavior change. So it's the part. It's not an optional.
Speaker 4 (31:25):
Any patients received that jpion one must adopt the behavior
change along with the drug. Otherwise the return gain the
yo yo or lose fast losing the muscle. It's all
(31:46):
the problems. So to answer your question, yes, we see
this is changed the way people think about what it
lost greatly and because and it's quite noisy and people
now after it's almost one year now, JPI one drug
the second generation came out and now people are aware
it is working. But people are also aware it is
(32:07):
not for lifetime.
Speaker 1 (32:08):
And also you have to you have to couple it
with healthy habits.
Speaker 4 (32:12):
Correct otherwise we gained the weight. You don't want to
stick with that forever. It's also pricey. There was a
solution and we all know I'm sorry, I will speak
very honestly. There's no shortcut. So our service room receive
more benefit and also attention to be honest.
Speaker 2 (32:31):
So I ree from yeah, I see from payers.
Speaker 4 (32:34):
The insurance companies are now recommending using NEOM service before
they started seeking out for JPY one, because without be
able to change effort, it's not going to be the
Pomer solution anyway.
Speaker 1 (32:49):
Last question, I was excited to ask you because you
you set a top of millions of people who are
trying to create new healthy habits and change their lives,
and you you've helped so many millions of people do it.
Accent asked us.
Speaker 2 (33:02):
Happy New Year.
Speaker 1 (33:02):
Everybody, just calling to ask as you, as you look
at the new year ahead, what are your resolutions and
what's your plan?
Speaker 4 (33:09):
My new real evolution is not lead to just weight loss.
It's more about how I can change my routine of
my days and week and months. I'm trying to I'm
trying to explore as that which led me to found
the company. Remember, I'm constantly exploring what I can do
(33:31):
better and more. And New Year, I'd like to locate
my time and opportunity wisely to make a greater impact
for noon, which leader leads to help more lives. I
have done the best in the last seventeen years and
it's a great opportunity I can actually explore a new
(33:53):
way I can do more. So, for instance, I would
develop the skills. I will explore and see how it
can work. And I will put my the management team
and also my actual spouse as a the mentor and
hold accountable.
Speaker 1 (34:13):
Person accountability partners, kind of a.
Speaker 4 (34:15):
Bit of partners. And this is the part that I
have seen all the time. One of the key components
to achieve success from new experience. We at new platform,
we also connect with the human coach and make sure
that we are supporting, but we also holding a very
friendly account of bility. Why is that because it is
(34:36):
very important as we are human that somebody's cheering chair
up for you.
Speaker 2 (34:41):
It means a lot, It means a lot, and I
want to see and.
Speaker 1 (34:45):
You don't want to let those people down when you
have any partner that mike and also want to get
their devices.
Speaker 4 (34:51):
I shared my lessons to other fellow crineers. I might
I might not know what I don't know.
Speaker 2 (34:59):
I I may not know. So by having accountability person
around me, they will be able to comment here and there,
which I get a lot of the mentorship. So that's
my New year resolution.
Speaker 4 (35:11):
And I hope this will give us, give me more
aligned interests of conversation at my family and my company, and.
Speaker 2 (35:20):
Also help me to explore what I can do better.
Speaker 1 (35:23):
Fantastic Well, my twenty twenty three resolution was to start
a podcast. So here we are.
Speaker 2 (35:30):
Oh you did head, we did it.
Speaker 1 (35:32):
We did it now in twenty twenty four, and I
did it the new way. I had to break it
into small jobs, right First, I had to find an agent.
Then I had to find a distribution partner. That I
had to find someone who agree to be on the podcast.
But it's sort of at each stage, as it wouldn't
surprise you, it becomes more and more rewarding because you're
building on the small action to get closer to the
(35:52):
thing you want to do. In twenty twenty four, I'd
like to I'd like to write more. I'm finding that
through the course of doing this podcast, I'm learning an
incredible amount from our guests. And while you know, I
wish everybody would listen to it every week, I'm sure
there are lots of folks who could learn from what
I'm learning in these podcasts, and I'm going to find
a way to put it in writing and put it
in front of more people, and the way I'll make
(36:14):
sure it sticks is for me, what really works with
habits is the calendar. If I say every Sunday from
seven am to ten am, I'm going to write that,
I will because it's in my calendar, and my calendar
and I have a good relationship.
Speaker 2 (36:27):
I like that you're a very discipointed man.
Speaker 4 (36:29):
No wonder why I'm so successful and so humble, because
you're churious to see the next I can see that mind.
If I ask one question for you, please, what triggered
you to start the podcast?
Speaker 2 (36:43):
What are trying to achieve? And what make you happy
with that?
Speaker 1 (36:46):
Sar, thank you for asking. I did not have earlier
in my career access to the kinds of people I
have access to today, who lived a lot of life
experiences as executives and as founders and entrepreneurs. We've seen
(37:08):
a bunch of the things that I hadn't seen yet
and had found solutions to them. I felt like earlier
in my career I was trying to figure out how
to solve every problem myself as if it had never
been solved by someone else. And now that I'm I'm
sort of on the other side. Of that, and I
have access to people who have all this wisdom. I
just really wanted to find a way to use my
(37:30):
access to open it up for more people. And you know,
we're still you know, we're only fifteen or sixteen episodes
into this, but I've heard from tons of folks who
you know, some who are friends, but a lot of
who I don't even know, who told me something important
that they took away from these conversations. And so my
you know, I think the thing that I'd hoped to
achieve is starting to click. It makes me very happy.
Speaker 4 (37:53):
So you do this for sharing the knowledge, opening up
all all the assets of the lessons that you want
to You want to share that to probably junior, younger
entrepreneurs and who are seeking for the career and seeming
(38:14):
to feel like you, so they can actually get the benefit.
Speaker 1 (38:18):
I think anyone who's still and most of us are,
anyone who's ambitious in their careers and still feels like
they're on their way up with more to learn. And
that may be someone who's younger, maybe someone who's older
at the age and experience matters less than curiosity and
an ambition.
Speaker 2 (38:33):
I like that a lot.
Speaker 4 (38:34):
It's what a noble cause that led you to do
this work. I appreciate that, sir. It's very inspiring. You know,
it's inspiring.
Speaker 1 (38:45):
This whole conversation for me has been inspiring. Your your journey,
your journey to America, what you've what you've learned through
through losing your father and then becoming an entrepreneur and
building your company, and all the.
Speaker 2 (38:59):
People you've felt.
Speaker 1 (39:00):
It's a really it's a nice tale that you've shared
with everyone today, a lot of people who didn't know it,
and I think a lot of people will find not
only inspiration and have put a lot of lessons for
their own lives.
Speaker 4 (39:11):
So thank you, my CENCR honor that I could actually
be invited to share my story a bit with you,
and thankful hosting.
Speaker 1 (39:25):
Well friends. Today we heard from a really inspiring entrepreneur,
an immigrant to America who's created this incredible journey for
himself and has been hugely, hugely successful with Newman. Equally importantly,
more importantly, has made millions of other people successful in
their journeys to create good healthy habits. This being New
Year's everybody, my one takeaway is it's time to set
(39:48):
our news resolutions. It's time to pick that one way
in which we want to be a better version of
ourselves in twenty twenty four. And what came through very
clearly in today's conversation is that the path to doing
that is having a reason for your resolution, a reason
for the behavior change, a reason for the new habit
(40:09):
that's important to you, and starting small. Save you advised,
don't try to exercise an hour a day, just go
twenty minutes, but do it consistently, do it every day.
Find that thing for you, and if it's a big goal,
break it down into some smaller projects, some smaller initiatives.
Give yourself that one small thing to do in January
and take a step toward being the best version of
(40:32):
you in twenty twenty four. And you know where to
find me. You can hit us up anytime at two
point three four one, nine oh five nine six. You
can get me on LinkedIn, slide into my DMS, or
comment on any of my posts. You can do that
to send questions in for the show, or if you
just have need for advice, you want a little extra support,
(40:52):
We're here to help. We got some amazing guests coming
up in the next few weeks. Everybody, we have a
CEO who's helping to cure cancer. We have a marketplace CEO,
we have a serial entrepreneur, a lot of fun topics
on the horizon. I want to thank Saji for coming
in today, and of course Jen, Cara, Meg Jada, Matt,
(41:13):
the whole team at Blue Duck Media for pulling this
all together. I want to thank Dylan and Sasha Gay
and Christina at iHeart and Ben and the team at
William Morris Endeavor for all their support. Office Hours is
a production of Blue Duck Media. We are distributed by iHeartRadio.
Happy New Year, everybody, stay on your grind.
Host
Mike Steib
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