Building Community and Business in Endurance Sports with Ed Chang

Today’s guest is a master of endurance—not just in sport, but in business and life. Ed Chang was a successful lawyer, an Ironman triathlete, and the co-founder of Varlo Sports, a rising force in endurance apparel. But what makes his story remarkable isn’t just the accolades—it’s the mindset, the strategy, and the lessons he’s learned along the way. How do you balance a legal career, a start-up, and training for one of the toughest endurance events on the planet? What can triathlon teach us about building businesses, and what can business teach us about racing smarter? Ed breaks it all down. Not only that, but Varlo as a business really know their 'Why' and they are on a mission to change the sport for good. Stick around to hear how Ed applies endurance thinking to every area of life and how you can do the same.

Highlights:
 - Ed's Journey into Endurance Sports
 - Building a Community-Centric Brand
 - Advocacy and Community Engagement
 - Balancing Law and Endurance Sports
 - Embracing Challenges and Growth
 - The Role of AI in Endurance Sports
 - The Irreplaceable Human Touch
 - Utilizing AI in Business Communications
 - Balancing Endurance Sports and Busy Careers
 - Memorable Triathlon Moments and Highlights
 - Books That Inspire: From Triathlon to Business
 - The Power of Community and Mental Endurance
 - Reflections on Personal Growth and Future Goals

Links:
Connect with Ed Chang through Instagram.

Explore The Limitless Life Workshop
We are living in a time of abundance, where entrepreneurs have more opportunities than ever before. With the rise of AI, colossal advancements in technology and the scope to reach millions of people in seconds, it has never been a more exciting or easily accessible time for your business to thrive. But are you riding that wave of exhilaration, or are you crashing and burning in a downhill spiral?

Please Subscribe to Business of Endurance on Apple Podcasts, leave a comment, and give us a 5-Star review.

This episode was sponsored by The Trusted Team and 4th Discipline

Episode Transcript

Ed Chang (00:06):
The apparel is designed to fit very, very
comfortably and the goal is tothat, when you put it on, that
you feel empowered, it feelslike a super suit and you feel
ready to conquer whatever goalsthat are set.

Charlie Reading (00:21):
Today's guest is a master of endurance, not
just in sport but in businessand life.
Ed Chang was a successfullawyer, an Ironman athlete and
is the co-founder of Valo Sports, a rising force in endurance
apparel.
But what makes his storyremarkable isn't just the
accolades.
It's the mindset, the strategyand the lessons he's learned

(00:43):
along the way.
How do you balance a legalcareer, a startup and training
for one of the toughestendurance events on the planet?
What can triathlon teach usabout building businesses?
And what can business teach usabout racing smarter?
Well, ed breaks it all down.
Not only that, but Valo is abusiness.

(01:03):
Breaks it all down.
Not only that, but VALO is abusiness.
They really know their why andthey're on a mission to change
the sport for good.
So stick around to hear how Edapplies endurance thinking to
every area of life and how youcan do the same.
So I know you're going to lovethis interview with Ed Chang of

(01:25):
Valo Sport.
So, ed, welcome to the Businessof Endurance podcast, really
looking forward to chatting toyou about the world of endurance
, sport, but also the world ofbusiness.
Today, I think we're going tospend more than our usual share

(01:47):
talking about business, whichI'm excited about, but really
I'd like to just kick things offand understand more about your
sort of.
How did you fall into the worldof endurance sport?
Just to start things off,what's your story around how you
fell into the world oftriathlon and endurance sport
and what was sport like when youwere growing up?

Ed Chang (02:04):
Yeah, I'm super excited to be here with you.
Charlie and Claire, thanks forhaving me.
Endurance sport.
You know I kind of fell intotriathlon through the running
side.
You know I ran a little bit ofcross-country in high school JV,
nothing serious.
I stopped running because mygrades weren't great starting
out in high school and parentswere gotta stop rafi so focus on
school.
So I quit pretty early on butreally loved the experience of

(02:26):
being on a cross-country team,being on that team and going to
going to meet.
That that team camaraderie feelstill stuck with me years out
of the year.
I would say I got back intorunning.
Probably I think it was around.
I ran a little bit throughout,you know, just college
recreationally.
But it's really when we turned,I think, about 25 or 30.
I can't remember the date, butmy wife was really the

(02:47):
instigator.
She was like you know what,we're hitting this milestone, we
want us to continue to stay fitwhile we were being in our
professional careers.
And she's like we're going tosign up for a race.
We're going to sign up for a.
In Philadelphia, which is whereI'm from, there's a race that
was called the 20 and 24.
It was an ultra relay tobenefit, a nonprofit back on my
feet, which was a homelesscharity that helps homeless

(03:09):
people get back on their feetthrough running, and there's a
24-hour relay.
That it was in the middle ofsummer, it's every July.
I think it ceased at some pointin the years.
So it's an ultra run.
So there are people that runfor 24 hours consecutively or
even doing relay teams.
We chose to do the midnight run, which is one loop.
It's the loop aroundPhiladelphia Art Museum, around

(03:30):
the trails.
It's a river loop.
We call it the Kelly Drive loop, which is the trail.
It's an eight-foot, four-mileloop.
So we just signed up for that.
Before that I hadn't doneanything more than say a 5K.
So that was just a fun kind ofwacky goal goal to do run at
midnight, people dressed up inlights and you're running in the
pitch dark, kind of trippingalong routes and things.
But that was our first goal andit was really just a fitness

(03:51):
goal to kind of um, you know,stay fit and have a goal from
there.
It just kind of did yourstandard kind of running
progression.
You know eight mile.
Then the 10 mile broad streetrun was just really well known,
phknown in Philadelphia.
Then you have half marathon,marathon.
And after that I was like kindof like, hi, you know what's
next, right, and then I think,like many others, I found
triathlon.
So it's nice, you get, you know, watching the NBC coverage you

(04:14):
know the annual NBC coverage onKona it was really inspiring.
I said, let's, let's give it ago.
I hopped in the pool, neverknew how to swim, you know, I
swam, knew how to swim, notdrown, right, I think, like many
people never, never, swam alapse or anything and stopped in
the pool of my local gym and atleast tried to land.
It was terrible.
It was terrible slipping fromone end to the other, but I

(04:36):
thought it was something likeit's something I could learn and
do and it wasn't horrible.
But then I started training formy first triathlon and that's
kind of my journey.
That was probably around2012-2013 time frame.

Charlie Reading (04:48):
Amazing.
So to switch then to business,because we're going to come back
to that and your sort of yourtriathlon journey, but to switch
into business, obviously we'rehere because you have a business
called Valo, which is very much, and I'll let you tell us a bit
, a little bit more about thatbusiness.
But you came in from a legalbackground.
So how did you end up going?
Tell us a little bit about yourlegal background and then how

(05:11):
did you end up in Valo and howdid you kind of end up doing
that full time?

Ed Chang (05:15):
Yeah.
So legal background, I was anattorney for 20 years, a partner
in a large global law firm, andtowards the end of my career
and the journey was really Ithink endurance sport was really
a diversion.
It was kind of a way to kind ofexercise your way around the
stretches of the job when I fellin the triathlon we're going to
get back to that but I reallyfell in love with the community.

(05:37):
I love the camaraderie.
I mentioned high schoolcross-country.
That feeling of a team, thefeeling of camaraderie, was
something that was really justwhat I loved about triathlon.
As a brand Barlow, our missionis to empower all humans to
conquer the goals of tomorrowand I think a lot of people when
they hear triathlon, they thinkyou know the sexy aero carbon

(05:58):
bike, the carbon wheels, theaero helmets that look like
Darth Vader, all that fun stuff,which I love.
I'm a big tech guy.
I love all that.
I geek out on that stuff aswell.
But I think what people may notacknowledge as much is the
community around.
The sport was just so amazing.
And it comes to waking up atzero to 30, and it could be your
local sprint triathlon.

(06:19):
You smell that dew of the grass, the butterflies in your
stomach.
And then you see a friend intransition.
You're nervous, they're nervousand hey, good luck today.
Good luck today, claire, have agood race.
Then you get to see them on thecourse, slap a high five, cross
through and slap a high five.
But it's that feeling ofcommunity that I truly fell in
love with when I did my firsttriathlon.

(06:41):
I met more and more people inthe sport.
I was doing this on the sideand I really, you know, after I
finished my first Ironman, likeclass in 2016, I wanted to see
how I could give that for it.
As a triathlete kind of, we tendto be terrible cyclists, so a
lot of our training in the US, alot of my training, was on the
local trails which are off.
You know, they're kind of pavedtrails, no cars.

(07:02):
I spent a lot of time on theSchuylkill River Trail, which is
a long trail from Philadelphiaall the way out to the suburbs.
You'll see a lot of triathletestrain there because they're
safe, there's no cars, you canrun on it.
And I joined the PhiladelphiaBicycle Coalition of Greater
Philadelphia, which is the localnonprofit group that advocates
for trail development as well asroad safety, because I was like
hey, as a trail user, I did myIronman training a lot on the

(07:24):
trails I wanted to get back andtry to advocate for building of
more facilities andinfrastructure.
So I joined the board.
That was on the board for anumber of years and at an event
in 2020, that's when I first metSajiboh, the founder and CEO of
Volo, before he was justgetting started with the company
, he actually came to an event,a Vision Zero conference, which

(07:47):
is a road infrastructure safetyevent.
He came to a cocktail hour tofind me because and I learned
this after the fact you know,there I just happened to bump
into him, but he tells me afterthe fact that he came to find me
just because of my connectionsin the local cycling and
triathlon community.
At the time, he came up to meand said hey, I'm founding a
apparel brand for triathlon.

(08:07):
I was like, well, that'samazing.
Well, triathlon, let's talk.
So that's when we first gotconnected and it was literally
the week before the COVID shutdown.
So I met at this big, largeevent which was there was some
COVID thing in the background.
I was like should I even go tothis?
I was like should I even go tothis Probably isn't, but
whatever Went to this event with, like you know, 100, 200 people
.
And then that was Saj.

(08:27):
We met for a lunch meetingwhere he kind of did a little
mini presentation on what Iwanted to be.
Again, that was another meeting, literally the week of COVID.
Covid was Friday, the 13th March.
Shutdown that was probablyTuesday.
I met with him.
He was the last person I met inperson before the COVID shut
down for months.
But I followed along thejourney.
The company was founded inMarch 2020.

(08:49):
So around that same timelaunched operations, launched
sales in September 2020.
I followed along the journey,kind of set up with connections
and folks that I knew in thesport and kind of followed along
.
A lot of my friends wereinvolved in the brand as well
and jumped all in and kind ofbecame an investor and co-owner
in July of 2021.

(09:09):
It was kind of the the timeframe there it.

Claire Fudge (09:12):
It seems like you had so many plates spinning at
that time from doing your, youknow, working in law working
which will come back to thebicycle coalition, because I
think that sounds reallyinteresting and the and the
connecting the trails as well.
What does, as a brand, whatdoes VALO represent?

Ed Chang (09:28):
because it's it seems from you know certainly what
we've read it's VALO seems torepresent something more than
just a triathlon brand of, yeah,clothing yeah, so you know, I
saw that question and actuallywe just went through a strategic
planning process to kind ofregroup, which we do annual
internally.
But it's about, you know, ourthree uniques and I think that
was one of the questions you allwere looking into.

(09:49):
Really, our three uniques are,you know, number one it's a
community-built experience andwe create a welcoming and
supportive environment whereeveryone is encouraged to bring
their full selves, encouragingmeaningful connections.
So it kind of goes back to whatI I was talking about, my
cross-country days, the, thetriathlon teams days.
It's a community where we seekto uplift one another.

(10:11):
We always say at barlow, likeif we, if we sell apparel, if it
comes down selling apparel,we've already lost.
We don't sell apparel, we sellempowerment.
I think the way size was put into others before is, I don't
know, player or Charlie, if youthink of, think in your mind
right now a moment where youcommitted yourself to achieving
something maybe it was toqualify Kona, as you both have

(10:33):
qualified.
Think about how that felt, youknow, when you set that goal.
Think about the commitment andsacrifices you made.
Think about, maybe, people whomay have doubted you and said,
hey, that's crazy, you're nevergoing to qualify for Kona.
Think about maybe people whomay have doubted you and said,
hey, that's crazy, you're nevergoing to qualify for Kona,
that's an unreachable goal.
And then think about when youactually cross that finish line,
the feeling that you felt whenyou crossed that finish line and
how empowering that was.

(10:55):
That feeling is what Varlow isselling.
That is really the purpose ofwhy Varlow was founded and we
believe everyone should beentitled to experience that
feeling.
It's a privilege to be able todo that, to train to achieve and
really to have belief inyourself.
It really is a privilege toachieve something, to be able to

(11:16):
achieve and have the communitysupport you to achieve that, and
we believe everyone is entitledto it and that's kind of the
genesis of Varlo.
So it comes from thatcommunity-built experience.
Yes, our apparel is great.
You know we feature intechnologies and we want to make
things comfortable andhigh-performing, but it's that
inspirational personal growth,that achievement when we say

(11:37):
conquer the goals of tomorrow.
It's that and that's why, ifyou look at more social media
and the people that follow usand ambassadors, it's a very,
very common theme behind thebrand.

Charlie Reading (11:49):
So how do you hope to achieve that?
So is that a reflection on kindof how you run the company, how
you're building the community?
Is it a reflection on thedesign of the product?
How do you look to deliver thatthrough an apparel company,
because that's not an easy thingto achieve.

Ed Chang (12:06):
Yeah.
So I think it comes in terms ofthe messaging.
It comes in all those things.
It comes in the brand community.
We have a team of very lowbrand communities or brand
ambassador community or 500members this year.
That's part of it, Having seenthe people within the community,
the designs that we create, howthe apparel is crafted and how
it feels on body.

(12:28):
The apparel is designed to fitvery, very comfortably and the
goal is that when you put it onthat you feel empowered, it
feels like a super suit and youfeel ready to conquer whatever
goals that are set.
So it's a mix.
It actually has to come in fromall aspects.
It has to come from a place ofauthenticity.
You can't just say it or justsay it in ad copy, say it in

(12:48):
your social posts.
It really has to come from theheart.
It has to come fromauthenticity.
But I think you know, as fromthe founders, it really comes
from the top.
You know, when you talk to Saazor myself or anyone in our
leadership team, it's speakingthose words to reality.
It's speaking that empowermentand it comes through, it comes
alive via the actual physicalapparel.
But it's if it also comes fromevery aspect that surrounds the

(13:12):
brand and do you?

Claire Fudge (13:13):
I was.
I was reading actually as wellthat you know through your brand
, that you'll also attend racesand have this.
You were talking aboutcommunity, but is that also how
you try and create thatcommunity so that you're
supporting other other people?

Ed Chang (13:27):
absolutely so.
Yeah, we do attend variousraces throughout the course of
the season and that's ouropportunity to really reach out
and and meet new, meet newpotential customers, meet new
potential community engagementmembers.
We also have in our team barlowspecific focus races where we
that, where we attend, and I'llspeak a little bit about this
because I'll get to some of theother questions.
But you know, we have annuallya live event.

(13:50):
We used to hold it in boulder,we've had in philadelphia and
now we're going to have inchicago next year, this year at
the super chain chicago.
So, yes, community beingpresent and we always say you
need to be present to when youcan't just building a brand,
you're're building a new brand.
You can't just be kind ofposting Google ads, posting
social.
It really comes from thatengagement that's kind of

(14:11):
pressed in the flesh, as youknow, from the politician's
standpoint of view, but meetingpeople and just telling them
about the mission of what we'retrying to do, you know, in the
sport.

Claire Fudge (14:20):
I'm just thinking about the community as well and
the rails to trails.
So I was interested to know,because you were saying that
actually that's how you met thefounder of VALO as well.
So how has that developed intowhat you're doing with Rails to
Trails, if you don't want totell us a little bit about what
that is?
Yeah, absolutely so there aretwo non-profits.

Ed Chang (14:40):
I'm on the board of Philadelphia Bicycle Coalition
as well as Rails to TrailsConservancy.
The Bicycle Coalition ofPhiladelphia is our kind of
local advocacy group so weadvocate for safer streets,
traffic infrastructureimprovements.
We have a youth cycling programthat works with inner city
youth throughout the city to getthem on bikes, teach them
healthy habits and also how torace and engage in the sport of

(15:03):
cycling.
So that's kind of acity-centric advocacy group.
And then Rails to Trails ismore of a kind of national group
that advocates in the UnitedStates for the construction of
trails Probably over 44,000miles of trails throughout the
country and where we advocatewith local communities, local
government systems to advocatefor funding as well as

(15:25):
development there.
From the Spice Coalition portionyou know through my work is
that also stemmed through mylove of triathlon.
I know I was engaged with manyof the local triathlon groups in
Philadelphia and the greaterPhiladelphia region, which is
Pennsylvania, new Jersey andDelaware as well.
So I had a lot of connectionsjust kind of advocating through
the work we do with thecoalition but also had a lot of

(15:46):
friends and teams and groups andclubs that I've worked with,
engaged with.
So that was kind of theformation of my kind of
community that was buildingthroughout, let's say, 2015,
2016, all the way through 2020.
And those were kind of thenetworks that I leveraged
ultimately to.
You know help grow, grow thebrand at the outset.

Charlie Reading (16:05):
I think you're, you're, you're really right
with the.
So the community in in thetriathlon world and the cycling
world and the running world, isjust, it is really very special
and we've talked about this withquite a few of the guests over
the years.
How do you like, where do yousee the future of this?
So if we, if we look at threefrom now, how do you think you

(16:26):
can have made that communityeven stronger, both for the
business but also for the sport?

Ed Chang (16:32):
Yeah, because we're selling what we.
The purpose of Varlo is thatcommunity-built experience.
Our purpose is to grow thesport.
Yeah, we're at this point.
We're beyond triathlon.
At this point we're beyondtriathlon.
We sell cycling apparel in REICo-op, which is the largest
outdoor retailer in the UnitedStates $4 billion in annual
revenue, and that's cycling.

(16:53):
So our goal is to kind of growthe sport by bringing more
people into the sport andbringing more eyes into the
sport.
We intend to actually do thatthrough our partnerships with
REI as well as SuperTri.
Currently, and it all comes kindof post-COVID.
I mean, we're kind of Marla's,kind of a COVID baby, shall we

(17:13):
say.
Right, we kind of came from theturmoil of COVID, but that also
brought so many new people intothe outdoor space.
You had people realizing forthe first time the benefits of
being outside.
Maybe it was they took theirfirst walk outside on the trail,
maybe they did their first 5K,maybe they started cycling for
the first time, for kind of themental elements, the physical

(17:36):
elements.
So you're really, I think,post-covid, riding this big wave
of people really new to theoutdoors, new to endurance
sports.
So people are starting to getoutside for the first time and
say, hey, what are these thingsto do?
And maybe they started running,maybe they started cycling for
the first time, and then that'susually what leads into
triathlon.
Is that similar to my journeyand the journey of many others?
So, from a community aspect thegrowth aspect our vision is to

(18:00):
really to grow the sport to bybringing more people into the
sport, by showing them that thisis really for everyone.
I think it comes down to some ofthe things, the challenges of
triathlon.
I think triathlon gets a badrep because it's viewed as
elitist, it's used as expensivebut in.
But in fact, what draws peoplethere is the complete opposite

(18:21):
is that it's it's welcoming,it's.
I've spoken to some of our proathletes and others about this,
this, this concept.
Everyone you meet in triathlon,they could be from a beginner
to the very tops, the pros, theelites Bob Babbitt, you know who
we have a great relationshipwith at the very top.
They're so welcoming, they'reso amazing.
You ask them a question, they'llanswer it, they'll help you in

(18:44):
any way they can, and I reallydo believe it stems from this
aspect that if you're atriathlete, somebody helped you
along the way, like nobody knewhow to swim, bike and run,
period If you were a collegiateswimmer, you're a great swimmer,
but you probably clipped in andfell over the first time on the
bike and there was someonethere to teach you and help you
out, right?
If you're a collegiate runner,you know, or a club runner, then

(19:06):
maybe you never knew how toswim and someone taught you to
do that.
And I think that humbleness,that empathy, is really
instilled in almost everytriathlete that you meet,
because they remember thatsomeone helped them get to where
they are.
So I think that's one of thekind of not so emphasized points
of truth on this care I loveand it's part that we try to
bring and that's that kind ofcomes into that community,

(19:28):
because you really need acommunity to help you get into
the sport.
And it doesn't have to beexpensive, it really doesn't.
You can throw on some runningshoes, get some goggles and ride
your you know kind of bike youbought from Macy's right for
your first sprint.
It really doesn't have to beexpensive, it can be very fun.

Claire Fudge (19:48):
I think you're absolutely right about that
triathlon community and I thinkif you speak to anybody, you
know we've all got a story totell about.
You know who helped us withcertain aspects and I can think
now you know some of the big,you know memories that I have of
people helping me to get towhere I've been and that is just
purely because they love thesport.
So I think you know, I thinkthat's that's really true.
What do you think there's twosides to this question.

(20:09):
What do you think that yourcareer as a law career has has?
What have you brought with you,I guess, into the world of your
own racing and sport, and whatdo you think endurance sport has
taught you in terms of businessand the business that you're in
now?

Ed Chang (20:24):
yeah, I would say the career.
You know, the irony is, nowthat I'm in the sport I'm
probably the least trained, thatI've been probably over 15
years.
Just because you know, I thinkyour triathlon when I was a
lawyer was a diversion, you know, I kind of it was my way of
kind of releasing the pressuresI was under.
I actually was just reminded ofthis because I actually raced
my first 70.3 in WilmingtonIronman.

(20:45):
My three last October was myfirst race and serious race and
probably, geez, the three orfour years since, since getting
involved in varlo.
But what I loved about triathlonwas that mental space.
I think triathlon when I wasracing specifically it was one
of the few moments that I wouldhave where it was pure focused
mind, body and soul into themoment.

(21:06):
You can talk about going outfor a run and you're thinking
about work.
You're thinking about who youhave to call or you forgot to do
this or that.
You know every single.
You know you could do that samething cycling and swimming on
its own, but when you're in therace there is you have no choice
but to focus specifically onwhat your body is feeling.
You know what really feeling atone with your body and your

(21:38):
mind, and it was one of the fewmoments that I've ever
experienced, that I've ever beenable to kind of let go of
everything that's going in yourhead and really just focus on
the now.
So I think triathlon reallykind of gave me that focus and
kind of chasing that feelingalso to that feeling of calmness
and zen, right to be able tomeditate and release almost
everything in your mind.
But what you're in in this verymoment, I think, is what's what
has taught me the and I stillnot to say I still don't fall
into it, but you know, from thatworrying thinking but I think

(21:58):
triathlon really gives you thatpiece of zen, because when
you're in the racing it's reallyone of the few instances that
you can experience purely beingin the moment.

Charlie Reading (22:07):
Brilliant and to flip it the other way.
And so what have you taken fromyour business life and how's
that helped you in the world ofendurance sport?

Ed Chang (22:16):
I think the business life is just a level of
professionalism andcommunications.
All of us that kind of involvedin barlow we actually come from
very professional backgrounds,professional degrees.
Saj, our ceo, ceo he's you know, he came from 20 years of sales
and you know, with majormedical devices bringing new
products to market.
I came from 20 years of saleswith major medical devices
bringing new products to themarket.
I came from a legal backgroundbut a professional background

(22:42):
and Lens it just gives that, Ithink, an aspect of
professionalism to the brand andhow we conduct ourselves.
For me and my work and myeveryday business it's just
communicating.
It's actually not that muchdifferent than what I was doing
as a lawyer is just being verycommunicative, working with
clients, learning to understandwhat the needs are and
fulfilling those.
It's kind of listening, askingbehind the whys and executing

(23:04):
upon that.

Charlie Reading (23:05):
But it must feel quite different going from
a partner in a big law firm tobeing in a startup, zero salary.
How has your entrepreneurialjourney been since taking that
brave leap?

Ed Chang (23:17):
It's been amazing.
I would say it's funny becauseit's not as different as you
would think, because a big partof being a lawyer is being able
to communicate articulatearguments, but also just
communications and clearlycommunicating and understanding
wants and needs from the client.
And that's kind of what youknow, what we focus on here at
Vrlo in my specific areas thatare focused, which is, you know,

(23:39):
I work with major partnershipsand also manage the custom side
of our business, which isworking with a multitude of
custom teams, clubs,organizations such as you know
Colin Cook at Top Guns, supertri, you know REI.
So it's about communicating andalso just serving.
I think when I first became alawyer, it was kind of I wanted
to help people, which is a bigthing.

(24:01):
I enjoy helping people, I enjoyserving and it's why I got
involved into nonprofits.
But you know, from a businessperspective, it's really
understanding and learning aboutthe customer's needs and
fulfilling them.
It's not as different as youwould think and it doesn't feel
that different.
I tell people like my job's notthat different, except that I
don't need to deal with lawyerson the other side.
I can deal with inspirationalpeople such as yourself, charlie

(24:24):
, and Claire, coaches Everyone'son this journey of
self-development, I think, inthe sport, and trying to push
the boundaries and kind of pushbeyond their comfort level.
And that's why I love triathlonand triathletes.
It doesn't matter, you knowwhat level you are, you can be
just getting into it, you couldjust be, you could be a Kona
qualifying or a pro, but it's,it's that same characteristics

(24:47):
of being willing and able topush beyond their comfort levels
and seeing what the human bodyand mind are capable of
achieving.

Claire Fudge (24:55):
That leads perfectly onto my next question
as well.
I'm wondering like in you knowyour career in law, you
obviously experienced times whenthere was a lot of stress and
suffering in a very differentway from running an Ironman
triathlon.
So how, as an entrepreneur now,but also in the world of
endurance sport, how do copewhen times get tough?

(25:16):
What do you?
Did you have any specifictactics or perhaps mantras like
how do you cope in that world ofof stress when things are
really hard?

Ed Chang (25:25):
I think it really, again, triathlon does come back
to it because it comes back toand it's a very stoic philosophy
but you can control what youcan control, right.
That is that that's critical.
And when my wife was learningto, she was getting, she dabbled
in triathlon and like many,including myself, she struggled
with the open water, the panicright Kind of getting into her

(25:45):
first open water swim.
And she went to a local swimclinic in New Jersey which is
really close to our office andwho we work with, eta coach.
It's an open water swim venueat a YMCA camp and this coach,
jason Kildare, who was alsoultimately my RMA coach.
My wife went to this pond.

(26:06):
It's a lake in Medford, newJersey.
Dark water, it's cedar, I think.
So the water is very, verybrown.
I think it has to do with thecedar or something with the
trees there.
So kind of weighing in wastefirst.
And you know, my wife is likeasked the coach, coach jay, how
deep's the water?
And he says and he says, don'tworry about it, you control what
you can control because itdoesn't matter how deep it is,
you still got to go in there toyour swim, right, so don't worry

(26:29):
about.
And that actually mentallyhelped her quite a bit, just
like, well, it doesn't matterhow deep it is, like, can you
control that?
No, but you can control howyou're going to feel and how
you're going to react.
And you know when things getstressful, you know it's kind of
you go back to that right,think about the things that you
can control, right, how you willpersonally react to things, how
you will allow things, how youwill allow yourself to react to

(26:51):
things, and it kind of goes backto that stoic philosophy which
I think pervades in the sportbrilliant and and I love the
control, the controllablessaying I think it's so powerful
in so many aspects of our lifethe.

Charlie Reading (27:02):
The person I always think of on this podcast
when somebody says that ismckeely jones, who is, you know,
just absolute legend of atriathlete, but she reiterated
that so many times when weinterviewed her.
But she, she is also one of thepeople that has embraced tridor
, which I know colin has,obviously for those.
We've mentioned it a few timeson the podcast because I use

(27:23):
tridor.
But bringing ai into thetriathlon coaching, how do you
see ai helping your business anddo you see it as a great,
amazing threat or an amazingopportunity, or is it both?
To Valo, how's AI going toimpact it?

Ed Chang (27:38):
Yeah, I mean, I think it's a tool.
I think you know we alreadyhave a brand.
You know, as a company, ifyou're not using AI, you're
probably leaving things on thetable and it allows us to
accomplish things that it may betaking longer to do do.
So you definitely want to beusing ai to the extent possible.
I don't view it as a threat.
I think it's just a naturalprogression of things.

(27:59):
It's a tool like any other andneeds to be utilized to the
extent possible because all ofour competitors are using it.
You know, I think, in terms ofthe ai training I, I just, you
know, I was recently introducedto com to through to eric har,
who's the founder of Maxium,which is an AI-driven coaching
platform, but also nutrition.
So I actually started usingtheir platform a little, dabbled

(28:20):
in it a little bit.
They just released it earlierthis year.
I think it is a very powerfultool, right.
It gives you the learningability, the capabilities.
It's kind of mind-boggling, butat the same time, you still
need to maintain that humanconnection.
At the very least, it needs tobe tempered with that human
connection.
Maybe it's through a coachreviewing the data, reviewing,

(28:42):
providing guidance on more ofthe specifics where the AI can
assist and serve as perhaps abaseline.
But I think that having thathuman connection is still so
important.
But again, ai can never replacethat community experience.
Right, you can chat with the,although I think there's that
documentary or that movie,there's that movie with Joaquin

(29:03):
Phoenix where he interacts withthem, kind of get lost in that
world.
I think AI can't replace thatcommunity, that sense of support
and it's a tool.

Charlie Reading (29:12):
I agree, agree, I think so.
When we talked to colin aboutit, we, we, you know, we said
you know it frees the businessup to to focus on the things
that humans do best, to be morehuman, and you know whether
that's in coaching, whetherthat's empathy, creativity,
leadership, that sort of stuff.
If, if they're not, you knowtyping emails and writing
letters and designing trainingplans and they're freed up to do

(29:34):
the empathy, creativity andleadership, it's much more
empowering.
You gave me a really goodexample of how you've played
around with AI in the trainingworld.
Can you give me a specificexample in business, how you've
utilized AI to help Barlow?

Ed Chang (29:53):
Yeah, I think just in the communications draft you
have certain communications in adaily business.
Again, it's not.
I feel like ai is to a pointwhere you can tell and I can
tell like someone, someonereplies to me like that was an
ai reply, so you can't just relyon it solely.
It can get you started.
I think at this pointeveryone's utilized it so, like
they can get, you can think Iyou know, we were interviewing
people.
I think someone sent me a.

(30:14):
It was either a cover letter ora thank you.
I was like that wasn't ai, itwas generated and kind of put
that to the side.
So I would say it's a tool.
I think it's in thecommunication aspects.
I utilize it in some aspects,but again it's.
It really serves as a startingpoint and needs to be revised
and needs to be refined at thispoint at some point maybe, maybe
it will be.
You can type it in and just geta response.

(30:35):
But I think, because all ofthese AI platforms utilize
similar baseline databases, datasets, I think it becomes
obvious you can't social mediaposts.
It becomes obvious whensomeone's just using it straight
up to do that.
So you can't just plug it inand go.
But I think oftentimes itcreates a starting point to get
you going in terms of gettingthe juices flowing, getting the

(30:58):
writing flowing, and you cankind of work with it from there.
So I utilize it to really getthe starting point going.
As a writer, I think, as alawyer, you oftentimes have to
write.
Sometimes it's that initial bar, that kind of like oh, I don't
know what to say, or I just Ijust kind of want to you get
stuck in that kind of writer'sblock, whereas I can just type

(31:19):
something in AI.
Let me start it and then I canrefine it and work on it from
there.
At least it gets that.
It helps get the ball rollingmuch quicker than if I were to
do it myself.

Claire Fudge (31:37):
Yeah, I think you're absolutely helps with
clarity, doesn't it?
And then you can kind of directyour mind a little bit better.
Yeah and yeah, and keeping thehuman for being human, in terms
of you know, whether that'scoaching or you know, with your,
with your community as well.
We've got lots of listeners whowho juggle, doing endurance
sport of some sort, whetherthat's ultra running or
triathlons, but they're alsobusiness owners or work in in
really busy jobs in business.
Have you got any advice or tipsthat you could give?
Like, how do you juggle?
You know all of these differentspinning, all these different

(31:58):
plates and doing your.

Ed Chang (32:01):
You know your sport and doing endurance for us yeah,
I would say I would say at themoment I don't.
I'm focused right on more onrunning right now and indoor
cycling.
Do I conserve time running justbecause you can throw on a pair
of shoes wherever you go?
We travel a lot I alluded to.
We travel a lot during the raceseason so it makes it really
hard to get in those longworkouts, either on the bike or
on the run a little bit less, soit's hard to get to the pool.

(32:23):
So the short answerunfortunately, because I'm in
the industry, I'm probably theleast well trained.
But when I was a lawyer and Iwas training for an Ironman, it
really just and also a lot ofthe people in the community and
people just wake up at reallyearly hours.
I think it's funny when you'retraining for that Ironman, you
find the time somehow.
You wake up really early, oryou're working out late at night

(32:45):
after work or after familyobligations, and you really have
to first of all find the whyright.
You have to understand why.
Why am I doing this?
What am I trying to do with bydoing this?
Is it's that important tounderstand that?
But you make it happen.
I remember like after Ifinished my first iron man yeah,
after you finish those races,all of a sudden you're like
sitting around, like I don'tknow, I found the time.

(33:06):
Somehow you do it.
Where there is a will, there'sa way, and I think it comes down
to the why.
Like when you, when youidentify that why it's, you will
find the time to do it.
And, uh, it's about squeezingit in at all at all hours.
I think is what I would sayit's, it's when it becomes
important.

Charlie Reading (33:23):
Enough, isn't it?
If you know your why, that'swhy that's when it becomes
important, and then you're right.
You just sort of cram it in.
Coming back to your triathloncareer, is there a particular
highlight?
What's the, what's the, themoment that stands out that
you're most proud of, or thethat is most memorable so far in
your craft, your triathlonjourney?
It sounds like you might needto come back to this, this

(33:44):
ironman journey, in due course,but what's the highlight so far?

Ed Chang (33:47):
oh, it's got to be.
I mean, my first time I washiring like plasma 20 and kind
of crossing the finish line.
Hearing Mike Reilly call you inis really just and again, so
something I want.
So I have a box set of all Ironman DVDs.
I think it was like from 2008to 2012.
Iron man used to give out thesebox sets.
They used to sell not give out,sell these DVD box sets of all

(34:08):
the prior kind of NBC coverages.
I don't know why they don'tsell that anymore, but I have a
DVD box set in my kind of paincave and watching all those.
You know Chrissy Wellington andChris McCormick, you know
Trolley and just all the kind ofgreats.
Just hearing Mike Riley, youare an Ironman, yeah, so that
was something that was justtremendous.

(34:30):
I think I remember Lake Placid.
It's a two-loop run on themarathon, if you're familiar,
and I remember because when youdo the first loop you can hear
because I'm the middle of thepackage group I could hear Mike
Riley's voice calling people inLike you are an Ironman, charlie
, you're an Ironman, claire.
I remember thinking at thatpoint you know that's not my
time, that was not my time.

(34:59):
I gotta, I gotta do this onemore time.
But but it's like that, youknow that's, that's that hearing
that voice and going back outonto the blue river river road
and coming back and kind ofcoming around the oval for that
final time into that finish, waslike a very emotional moment
for me because, you know, it wassomething I had thought about
for so many, so many, so many,uh, so many months, you know,
training, but also years ofimagining myself as an Ironman.
And it was, it was, I would saythat was definitely my peak.
And then I love that course,that Lake Placid is just such a

(35:20):
magical course, such a magicalcity.
I've gone back every year sincethe training box here, you know
watch, you know they.
Just I just love Lake Placid.

Charlie Reading (35:29):
That's really interesting here, actually,
because I I have.
The only race I've done in theUS is Kona, and Lake Placid is
the one that I'd earmarked asthe one to do, because that
stood out to me, as you've soldme on that being the top of my
bucket list.
Us races Is there a particularrace that stands out for you?
Is there a particular race thatyou would you would love to get

(35:50):
to or race?

Ed Chang (35:51):
You know, I always wanted to race in Europe.
I have not raced in Europe, Idon't know, I haven't
specifically identified one Ilove.
I've only ridden in Europe,ridden in Europe, cycled in
Europe, once in Girona but Iwould love to race out there.
Maybe it's Nice, maybe it'sSwitzerland, but Europe, I love
Europe.
It's just so gorgeous andbeautiful and I would love to do

(36:12):
a race out there someday, andit's just the time, obviously.
But Supertry Toulouse is now anage-old race, so maybe I was
thinking maybe Supertry Toulousethat's going to be, I believe,
october or November time frame,that's a mass participation race
this year and that's abeautiful French town where
people are just crazy abouttransplants, so maybe I can
start there.

Charlie Reading (36:30):
Well, there is still spaces at Ironman Austria
in June, and I know because it'snot that long since I signed up
.
So if you want to bring Valo toIronman Austria, you've got
like five months to get you.
Well, six months, six monthsit's actually six months and two
days, I think.
So that's loads of time.
You'll be fine.
Austria would be beautiful,gorgeous, I can imagine.

(36:50):
It looks like a beautifulcourse, and it's not too.
It's a rolling bike, flat run,beautiful lake swim.
It's.
It's a race made in heaven.
So so we one of the questionswe ask every guest that we get
on the podcast is for books thathave inspired them on their
journey.
So are there any books that youfind yourself recommending to
other people, or books thatreally stand out as helping you

(37:11):
on your journey, and that thatcan be business or sport or life
?

Ed Chang (37:14):
yeah.
So I would say both trismccormick's I came to win is is
my favorite in triathlon.
It was almost my bible as I wasgetting into triathlon just
because of the training tips.
But the inspiration, but evenhis journey, is inspired myself.
There's a story in there thathe tells in the beginning about
how he was trained as anaccountant.

(37:38):
After university his mom anddad were saying do the
reasonable, sensible thing right, become an accountant.
You give up this triathlonbecause you've been racing as a
youth a little bit and havingsuccess.
Give up that and do what'ssensible.
So he would take the train orthe bus to work and he'd look at
these people and just say thesepeople all look miserable.

(37:59):
I guess that's why it's calledwork and not play right.
But his journey of how he kindof left, you know, he kind of
quit his job as you know, astable accounting job, moved to
Europe to train on the ITUcircuit In my law office.
Actually this was before yearsbefore Varlo actually had like a

(38:20):
triplet of Macca's photos thatI had blown up and that was my
law decorations.
I didn't have diplomas, Ididn't have law degrees, I had
Macca's.
There was a swim, bike runtriplet of his I think it was
the 20, his second win at Konaand you know, I think it's it
reminded me.
You know, always dream, try todream big.
You know, think of what'spossible.
And that book especially, Ithink, really, really inspired
me.
And as long as it's trainingtips, I feel like a lot of the

(38:43):
triathlon books you read fromother folks.
They don't really delve intothe training.
Maka's very specific.
You learn a lot, a lot abouthow to train, how to listen to
your body.
He's very, very open andsharing a lot of his, his tips.
So I I followed that book to at and actually his on my um, on
my what is it?
The?
The road id actually I thinkclaire you mentioned like

(39:03):
mantras I embraced the suck wasmy mantra for my road id for
years and years.
So I still follow that andthrough through varlo.
I actually got to meet macalast summer at Supertri, at the
Boston and the Chicago event.
So that was huge for me andagain, he was just amazing.
It's just kind of meeting thepeople you know, heroes.
He was just amazing, so open,so friendly.

(39:24):
So my favorite book.
I definitely came to win.
But from a business perspectiveI enjoyed biographies, walter
Isaacson's books.
You know Steve Jobs, um, elonmusk's are two of my favorite I
just find fascinating.
Steve jobs is a real was a realsource of inspiration for me,
just even in the varlo journeyas well.
You know his idea and a quote,I'm gonna probably paraphrase it

(39:45):
.
But basically, to be great atanything, you really have to
love what you're doing.
And it kind of goes back tolike the lawyer and I read that
and it was like reallymeaningful to me because you
know I was.
I was a good lawyer and I feltlike I was successful, but I
didn't have a true love andpassion behind it.
I didn't feel like I could everbe great at it.
I wanted to do Barlow, I wantedto get involved with Barlow

(40:08):
because I had a true passionbehind the sport and I truly
believe that it's something thatto achieve greatness, it's that
passion behind it and that'swhy I sought out something like
Barlow that I truly love andwant to make it great and
achieve greatness through it.

Charlie Reading (40:26):
Well, if you're passionate about what you do
for a living, then you neverwork a day in your life, do you
from a business life of being alawyer?
And triathlon was your escapefrom that to now not feeling
like you need the escape becausebecause your business is based
around the thing that you'repassionate about.
So I mean that's amazing.
I also love the ChrisMcCormack's book.

(40:48):
I think it's.
I hadn't really picked upbecause I wasn't really
following triathlon when he wasat the top of the sport, but the
mental games that he playedwith the other athletes was, I
mean, I get the impression theyall hated him and yet they all,
like, respected him because hewas so good at just kind of
getting in their head.
I mean it's just incredible,isn't it?
Did you?

(41:08):
Did you?
What did you?
What was your take on hismental strategy?
Because you obviously beenfollowing him for a lot more
than than me what, what wereyour take on his mental games in
the sport?

Ed Chang (41:19):
It was more of, I mean definitely the embrace the suck
was meant as huge.
I think from an age groupperspective it's just like
embrace the suck comes fromrecognizing, hey, you're going
to suffer out there.
This is not an easy sport ifyou're going to push yourself.
But really when you feel itknow, believe in your training,
believe in what you've beendoing up to that point and
embrace it.
It's going to suck but you'regoing to persevere and go

(41:43):
forward.
So I think that's definitely amantra.
I love the kind of mental gamesPeople.
I think he gets a.
I would say Chris Smaka gets abad rep because you know he was
known as this brash kind oftrash.
He was kind of the first trashtalking person if you can call
it trash talking, but intriathlons there's a very much
obviously.
If you can call it trashtalking, but in triathlons
there's very much obviously inyour civilized sport.
But I think you know he talksabout in the book.
It's just you know he'sprofessional.
And then I think what was reallyinteresting when he described,

(42:06):
especially in the Ironman racing, like as an Ironman pro you're
racing out there, the same aswith the age group.
So if you have a bad day youcan have age groups beating you
Right, and it happens all thetime.
Right, people walk and you knowage groups passing you, but for
them this is professional, it'sa livelihood.
So he's going to use everyadvantage that he can, if that
means kind of, you know, puttinga little seed of doubt in the

(42:27):
mind of his competitor.
I think there's one story ofhim and norman statler, I think
was the german, you know, proathlete, two-time winner of kona
and, I think, career race.
I love this story where hewould say they're on the podium
talking, you know, you know onthe podium, but on the on the
press circuit he's like oh,norman Stadler, he's got a great
race, he's got, you know, he'sreally well trained and but he's
got the weight of, like Germanyon his shoulders for this race.

(42:47):
You know, they're really havebig expectations for him, for
him, because you know he's he'she they expect in the women
that's a big weight to carrythrough throughout, right.
So they'll say these littlethings.
But you never know.
And it kind of comes back toVarlo, I think for Varlo as a
brand, we talk about empowerment, but it's not just a tagline,
it's not just like a sellingpoint when we have a brand,

(43:08):
ambassador, team meetings, whatwe tell all of our ambassadors
and communities like we don'task them.
We don't ask them.
We don't ask that you, youdon't have to win the age.
We don't ask them the wins youhave, you know, to join the team
, join our ambassador team.
We don't ask that you make Xposts per month.
What we do ask is that you lookto your left and look to your

(43:29):
right and help and support yourfellow human being.
When you see them, so when youput on that piece of Varlow
apparel, you feel supported andempowered and it's something as
a partnership.
When we, you know, we organizea get together.
When we're at a race at LakePlacid, I get together all of
our custom teams that wearVarlow apparel and we work with
all the coaches and make surethat all the teams get to know

(43:52):
each other, because they couldbe from Top Guns, they could be
from no Limits or RTA Triathlon,but they're all wearing the
Barlow.
So when you see them, supporteach other.
But it comes from that mentalbit.
You know all the training, allthe aerodynamics, all the
lightweight carbon fiber is notgoing to do you a single bit of
good when your mind goes to thatdeep, dark place in the middle

(44:13):
of the course and you just giveup and it's maybe that one
little piece of Charlie orFarrah passing me and say, ed,
keep it up, right, keep it up,mate.
You know, keep going and keeppushing.
And so it's those couple ofwords that you can hear.
That's the empowering, that'sthe secret weapon, it's what
Mach identified.
It's that secret.
When Norman Statham's in thatdeep, dark place and he's

(44:34):
thinking of the weight ofGermany, kind of looking at him,
maybe that's going to send himthe other way, for Varlo is the
opposite.
We hope it'll bring you on theother side.
You think about all the peoplethat are empowering you.
Maybe you see someone on theircourse and they gave you that
slap on the back.
But that that, it's that extrapiece of performance, is that
mental endurance that's socritical in, in, in the, in what

(44:56):
we do.

Charlie Reading (44:56):
That's brilliant and that is why the
triathlon community is sospecial.
I remember when I'm in an earlytriathlon what it was my
probably was my first offIronman, I think and I was
cramping up horribly on the runand I was and I made the mistake
to stop the stretch andsomebody just said, just keep
moving.
And I was like, oh, that'sactually really.

(45:17):
And I remember getting to theend thinking thank God for the
advice that he gave me.
And in fact, in Ironman SouthAfrica in last April, which is
where I qualified, somebody wasdoing the same thing and I just
said to him just keep moving.
And the following day I bumpedinto him at a cafe and he just
was like, so grateful, I mean,mean, it felt like it's the

(45:38):
easiest thing in the dude worldto do, isn't it?
But actually it's, it's, youknow, it's a really lovely thing
to receive.
So we also have a tradition onthe podcast where the last guest
asks the next guest a questionwithout knowing who that is.
Now our last guest was thisamazing south african guy,
richard wright.
He's recovered from terminalcancer diagnosis four times, but
he's done five Ironmans whilehe's been going through four

(46:01):
terminal diagnosis.
So I think Claire's gotRichard's questions, rather than
just a single question.

Claire Fudge (46:07):
Yeah, these are good ones, Ed, so prepare
yourself, OK.
So the first one is who are you?
And the second one is what doyou like and dislike about
yourself the most?
So the first one is who are you, and the second one is what do
you like and dislike aboutyourself the most?
So the first one is who are you?

Ed Chang (46:21):
So who am I?
I would say I'm a human being.
I think that's something thatone of our other co-founders,
jake Brown, always says.
I'm a human being, but I thinkit's because it relates to Varl,
in the sense that, as a human,I think, as a brand, this is
what we look towards.
It's a very all humans seek avery basic thing, which is to
feel like they're supported andthey're seen and that people

(46:43):
believe in them, right.
So, as a human, that's what Iseek.
I think that's what most humansseek, and it's something that
you know as a brand we try toseek to empower.
It's just that you know we wantto, we want everyone to feel
seen included and seen included,and we want to instill that
sense of belief in everyone thatwe believe in you, we can, we
believe you can achieve thosegoals that maybe others may not

(47:03):
have believed in you or may havedoubted.
So it says who am I?
I would say I'm a human.
Those are, those are the thingsI I seek and those are the
things that I try to kind ofinstill upon others fantastic.

Claire Fudge (47:15):
Yeah, I love that part about being being human and
actually what that means, likewhat do we need as as as human
beings?
So the second part was what doyou like and dislike about
yourself the most?

Ed Chang (47:27):
it's a hard question yeah, that's a hard one, I would
say.
I would say I like myselfbecause I am a community person.
I'm more.
I believe in getting back.
I think those are the partsthat I enjoy the most, I think,
wherever I am.
It was actually when I left mylaw job, I think I thought about
when I walked in my office,like literally the last time I
walked in to unpack, bring mystuff home, and I had this odd

(47:49):
feeling like what was I leavingbehind?
Was I leaving something behind?
It was, you know, I didn't feelany particular sense of pride
in cases that I've won or thingsthat I've achieved as a lawyer
per se, because as a lawyer,like it's really a thankless job
because if you win somethingyour clients say, oh, you should
have won, I paid you a bowl ofhoney, so you should have won.

(48:10):
So you don't really get muchsatisfaction of that and usually
on the tail end of it isusually you probably spent too
much money on like bill thatcomes in, so you end up kind of
cutting the bill down.
So there wasn't much of a senseof achievement there.
But I think walking out there itwas the connections right I
enjoyed.
I made a lot of friends at thefirm.
I still am friends with people.
It's that human connection.
So I think that communityaspect of myself, and it's

(48:32):
something that carries forwardthrough barlow, is what I like
about myself.
I'd say what I dislike isprobably, like many triathletes,
anxiety or just things.
It's something you know.
One of the mantras of our, ofour company, is you seek
progress, not perfection.
It's something I have to workon, because sometimes you want
to like perfect everything, orwhat's this or what could happen
, what can that, and you kind ofyou'd become frozen into not

(48:55):
inaction or overthinking things,and it's something I would say
I tried to get myself out of.
But I think it's also probablycommon to a lot of triathletes
we tend to be focused andneurotic on certain things.

Charlie Reading (49:07):
I think those are very wise words.
I remember I think I first sawprogress, not perfection,
perfection in a Bob Dr BobRotella book about golf.
And that's my golf, my golf,golf, golf.
Mantra is pro I'm now closer tothe hole than I was.
I'm not as close as I wanted tobe, but it's progress, not
perfection.
So, and that is a great mantrafor life.
Where dovalo ship to the uk ineurope as well is it?

(49:29):
Is it a global brand?

Ed Chang (49:31):
yeah, absolutely yeah.
So one of our major partners issuper tribe, who's based in
london.
So you are you're kind beerkind of outfit with all the
olympic athletes this year,which is pretty cool to see.

Charlie Reading (49:42):
But yes, we ship all over there all over the
morning absolutely brilliantand if and if listeners want to
find out more about varlo andalso more about you, where's the
best place to to direct them to?

Ed Chang (49:51):
check out varlo sportscom.
That's our retail site ifanyone's interested.
In kind of that's the retailwork that we do, but there's
also links to custom apparel.

Charlie Reading (49:59):
So varloesportscom is where we do
amazing.
And then just one last thing tofinish up what's the the single
biggest mission for varlo?
Where are you going next?
What are you excited about inthe future?

Ed Chang (50:11):
I think we just continue to grow the brand, I
think, beyond triathlon, andkind of we were the growth.
The goal is to grow beyondtriathlon but also bring people
back into it.
So as we grow beyond, triathlonis still our roots, it's still
where our passions will alwayslie.
But I think it's kind of wewant to grow it, grow the brand
outside of the sport so that wecan redirect people back into

(50:31):
and bring visibility into thesport.
Triathlon as a sport is verysmall.
I think there's only a couplehundred thousand annual
participants in the USA.
It's probably a lot, I knowit's a lot more in Europe, but
as a sport it's a fairly smallmarket.
So our intention is to kind ofbring more people into it.
But even companies like, say,rei Co-op we sell cycling gear

(50:53):
and they don't sell triathlongear but we've heard a lot of
interest from store managers,employees and staff.
People ask about triathlons incertain markets, whether it be
San Francisco, chicago,washington DC.
So because we're in theseplaces where other triathlon
brands are not, we have theability to drive interest and

(51:13):
growth into the sport.
And that's really, I think,where our passion lies.
And it also comes down to how weview partnerships.
I mean we're partnering with,say, for example, supertri and
REI.
We're looking at ways to bringthose two together.
You know, talking to you knowSuperTri purchased a lifetime
triathlon in the US whichencompasses Chicago Triathlon,

(51:34):
long Triathlon, which is on theUS Olympic course in Long Beach.
So we're in talks with seeinghow we can collab with REI and
SuperTri.
Maybe hold events at an REI youbring more people into REI so
that achieves their goals of youknow they always need traffic
and visibility into their REIstores, but often the SuperTri
perspective it brings peopleoutside of the sport with eyes

(51:56):
on it.
If you have an event at an REIChicago, you have a lot of
people who may be interested incycling or running.
They know that Super Tri TriChicago is the largest triathlon
in North America with over7,000 participants.
Like, oh hey, they have asprint triathlon, they have a
kids race, they have a city bikecategory where you don't even
need a bike.
You ride the chicago city bikesto do your bike.

(52:18):
You don't even need your bikeso anyone can jump in and do it
and that that's.
That's kind of where varlo seesherself.

Charlie Reading (52:24):
We see that we see ourselves at that as a hub
of knowledge, the hub ofcommunity connection and we want
to grow the sport by bringingyou know kind of visibility from
outside and growing in thesport from the outside in
Amazing and I mean it's such anamazing sport for reasons we've
already talked about, but it's asport that needs brands doing
that because, as we've foundover in the conversations we've

(52:46):
had with lots of people,actually there was, it almost
seems to have meant that a lotof people have gone away from
triathlon to more ultra runningand all that sort of stuff.
So I love this concept of of ofoffering offering much more
than just triathlete stuff, butwith a view to bringing them
back into triathlon.
So, ed, it's been reallyfascinating chatting to you.

(53:06):
I've loved talking about thebusiness side of things as much
as the triathlon side of things.
So I wish you huge success withwith valo and I look forward to
seeing you.
Ironman austria June, I wouldlove to do it.
No, but thank you for coming onthe podcast.
It's been.
It's been an absolute pleasurechatting to you.

Ed Chang (53:24):
Absolutely Thanks for having me.

Charlie Reading (53:26):
So what did you make of the interview with Ed?

Claire Fudge (53:28):
Yeah, it was a really good and a really
different interview.
Actually, just listening, youknow how he's moved from his
high-flying job as a lawyer, orcareer as a lawyer, into a
triathlon clothing brand, so itwas really interesting, I
thought, to kind of hear howsomebody kind of progresses down
that route.
But also, one thing that reallystood out is is this kind of I

(53:51):
think he said to be great atsomething?
I think he was quoting somebodyelse, wasn't he?
But to be great at something,you have to love it and the fact
that he's found something thathe actually really loves doing
and getting that community justcame across so much, didn't it
in terms of creating thatcommunity, and he seems to be
involved in so many differentcommunities as well yeah, I
think I thought it was reallyinteresting that, yes, he, when

(54:12):
he was a lawyer, triathlon washis escape and now he almost
doesn't need triathlon as anescape because he's doing
something he's so passionateabout.

Charlie Reading (54:20):
So I thought that was that was interesting.
I expected him to say from apsychological point of view,
that running you know, running astartup was completely
different and completelydifferent concept to being a
lawyer.
But he seemed to think it was.
He was like I couldn't get myhead around how, how that was.
I think I sort of asked thequestion a second time and I
still got the same answer.

(54:41):
It didn't make any sense to mebecause it feels like it would
be so different, but but clearlyin his mind it was, it was the
same.
So I thought it was reallyinteresting.
What else, what else did youget from the conversation?

Claire Fudge (54:51):
I thought you know one of the the biggest.
Oh, there's a number of bigthings actually, but one of the
things I also got from from abusiness perspective is actually
how he was talking aboutconnections, so how he was
connecting like he was.
You know, he's involved in theboard of directors on the rails
to trails and the the bicycle.
REI, I think yes and actuallyhow he comes across actually

(55:14):
when he's talking, actually asthis connector and he brings all
of those connections into thisnew business and I just thought
that was really interesting theway that he was talking about it
, because actually when you'regrowing a new business, you need
all of those differentconnections but connecting out
to bring people back in.
I thought that was just areally interesting concept.

(55:35):
I know you often talk aboutpartnerships like what's your,
you know what's your take onthat in terms of going out to
some slightly differentpartnerships and bringing people
back in well, I do.

Charlie Reading (55:45):
You know what it was particularly so.
He touched on this a few times,didn't he?
Particularly at the end wherehe was talking about working
with with other firms.
You know, for example, gettingpeople into their, into a shop
and yeah.
So so we talk about it in thetrusted team.
We talk about the partnershipplaybook and that's basically
finding other companies thatwork with your ideal clients but

(56:09):
aren't in competition with you,because that way you know if
you can build a partnership witha firm that has a room full of
your ideal clients with a firmthat has a room full of your
ideal clients, in one, you know,interaction, you might find a
hundred or a hundred thousand ora million new clients, as
opposed to going out and tryingto get those clients on a
one-to-one basis.
So I thought that was reallygood.
He you're absolutely right, andI've no doubt his legal

(56:31):
background was was a factor inthat.
You know, let's, how can webuild different partnerships
with different companies andbring people back into so that
they come back to varlo, theycome back to triathlon and build
that community?
I think that was.
I think that was reallyinteresting.
It was one of the things that Iwrote down, but I thought was
something that they're clearlyvery strong on there.
The other thing I thought wasinteresting was the the ai

(56:54):
conversation, which you knowbringing it back, which I
squeezed in, which wasn't evenon the agenda.
I didn't warn him about that.

Claire Fudge (57:01):
Like how did you shoot your net in?
But?

Charlie Reading (57:03):
it's just.
Like you know, I thought heactually gave a very similar
message to Colin Cook, albeitColin was talking about it from
a coaching point of view.
You know, use AI to do thedata-driven stuff, allow the
human to do the stuff that thehuman does better, and there
you're doing exactly the samefrom a business point of view.
How can we use AI to enhancethe human being, as opposed to
replace the human being?

(57:24):
I thought that was reallyreally brilliant.
So, yeah, I thought it was agood conversation, and I think
it's.
I mean, it must be achallenging sector to build into
, and yet it strikes me thatit's those partnerships that are
really taking them to anotherlevel, which is which I think is
really interesting, and,ultimately, that's why Colin

(57:44):
spoke so highly of themabsolutely, and I think that
comes back to those two otherthings is how you connect people
, and you connect people thenaround that brand, but also just
being human.

Claire Fudge (57:54):
You know he talks about racing and actually it's
so true.
You gave some examples and Iknow you know in the past I've
had people say the same in termsof, you know, just keep going,
whatever it might be, although Imight be angry with it at the
time for them to say that to me.
Actually, it was probably quitea nice thing to do, but you
know, that's really interestingabout that people need people to

(58:15):
be human, or humans to be human, and that also came back in his
AI conversation, didn't it aswell?
We need the human being plusthe AI.

Charlie Reading (58:23):
Well, and it came back from Colin's question
to him, not Colin's question,richard's question to him, which
is who are you a human being?
And I thought he was going togo on and say we do the piece
around human being, not humandoing and connecting more with
you know what's really important, as opposed to just achieving
goals or owning things.

(58:45):
So, yeah, really good guy,insightful guy, but also really
interesting to kind of dive intoa business conversation in a
bit more detail again.
So, another brilliant interview, another really fascinating
guest, and obviously he gave youthe place to find their.
Check out the valo website, sogo check out that.
And also on instagram they arevalo dot apparel, so go check

(59:08):
them out.
A really interesting company.
And in the meantime, until thenext episode, keep on training
if you want us to keep gettingamazing guests onto the Business
of Endurance podcast.
We don't ask for you to pay forus.
We don't ask for patronage.
All we ask for is that yousubscribe to the podcast,

(59:30):
ideally on Apple.
Give us a five-star ratingbecause it shows us you care,
and if you've got time, leave usa comment.
One word is fine, somethinglike inspiring or amazing or
something like that, but wereally do appreciate it and it
will help us to continue todeliver amazing guests on what
we hope you find to be anamazing podcast.

(59:51):
Thanks very much.