May 29, 2025 • 57 mins
What separates truly successful brands from the countless others competing for attention? The answer might be simpler—and more profound—than you think.
"I think that success is defined by how you represent yourself and how you treat others," shares our thoughtful guest Hayden Jones, an MBA student specializing in strategic management. In this captivating conversation, we explore the intersection of personal values and business success with refreshing candor and practical wisdom.
Hayden reveals how watching entrepreneurs in her family shaped her perspective on leadership and business ownership. "My dad is an entrepreneur... my grandfather owned his own jet company... I've always wanted to pursue something where I can be a leader and manage my own business." This entrepreneurial spirit informs her insights throughout our discussion.
We dive deep into what makes brands truly connect with their audiences. Beyond logos and products, we explore how community integration, authentic storytelling, and genuine service create lasting relationships with customers. As Dr. Justin notes, "If you optimize service and constantly do it, you're going to have customers for life."
Perhaps most valuably, we address the mindset barriers that prevent many aspiring entrepreneurs from achieving their goals. "A lot of times people see things as difficult so they don't start it," Dr. Justin observes. Hayden adds wisdom about living in the present rather than getting caught in anxiety about the future—sage advice for anyone building something meaningful.
Whether you're an established business owner, aspiring entrepreneur, or simply interested in the human elements that drive successful brands, this conversation offers refreshing perspectives on building businesses that reflect your values while creating genuine connections with those you serve.
Subscribe, share, and join us as we explore wellness, athletics, and the principles that drive success across all areas of life.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to the good, the bad and the great podcast,
where we shine a light onwellness, personal growth and
relationships.
Together, we'll discuss highsand lows and the in-betweens,
offering different perspectiveson health and wellness.
Tune in as we peel back thelayers of life, revealing the
good, bad and the great.
Ready, cool welcome back to thegood, the bad and the great
(00:41):
podcast.
I have a special guest in thebuilding.
This is the world is anathletics edition.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Yes, uh I a special guest in the building.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
This is the World is an Athletics edition.
Yes, I have Hayden in thebuilding.
Hayden, what's up?
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Hi everybody.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Hayden.
So where are you from?
Speaker 2 (00:53):
I'm from Austin, Texas.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Austin and I go to school here in Tuscaloosa.
Okay, so what brought you toTuscaloosa?
Speaker 2 (01:00):
So, first of all, so I'm in grad school right now,
but I did undergrad here, and Ihave a bunch of family members
that live here and teach at theuniversity, um, and they are
very generous with theirscholarships so that's what led
me to come here, and I'm so gladI did.
I had a really good undergradexperience and now I'm loving um
grad school as well nice wait.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
So austin texas.
Obviously we now.
We both know a little bit aboutaustin.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
It is awesome, people are super nice so nice it's so
weird so yeah, keep us awesomeweird and I didn't understand it
until I.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
I was like wait, what is like?
I've like a number of timesI've been to like the gym and
other places people actuallyhold they like will talk to you.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Yes, hold the door like what is?
That.
What is that?
Speaker 1 (01:49):
no, like, not just like hold it for like a split
second, like maybe five seconds,six or seven second holding the
door for you they ask how youare.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Yes, it's so refreshing what I don't know
what that is.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
That's not Texas.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
No, it's only.
It only happens in Austin.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
That it blew my mind.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Yeah, it's crazy.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
For sure, but yeah, so tell us a little bit more
about yourself.
So you said you're in gradschool for yes.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
OK, so I'm getting my MBA right now and I'm
concentrating in strategicmanagement, which is exciting.
What else?
I have a dog and Aussie Doodle.
He's a year and a half.
He's very bad, oh man, but he'sentertaining and sweet, so it's
(02:34):
okay, makes up for it.
And then what else?
Um, I work at innisfree.
I love it there all my bestfriends work with me.
Um what else I'm a?
Speaker 1 (02:38):
ta nice, I'm a teaching assistant.
How's that that life?
It's honestly really funbecause I get to like help all
the students learn everything.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Do tutoring.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
Oh man.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
So and honestly like it helps me learn stuff more and
like learn how to teach people,so it's a really good
experience.
I love the gym.
I go every day.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Every day.
I see Justin there all the time.
Yeah, you yeah yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
You, yeah, yeah, um, you used to be like a 4-8 or
early morning person.
What?
Speaker 1 (03:08):
happened and then and I just fell off and I'm there
just whenever.
Yeah, I was there at noon.
Well, you do kind of work likeyou know.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Yeah, if I work, if I work until, if I work the night
shift, I'll usually go to thegym a little later so I get some
sleep, but I do like going at 5am because it's like dead it's
like no one there no, it's notdead, she's not anymore she's
there.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
No, it's not dead at 5.
Not anymore.
She's there at like 3.
Oh, you go at 5?
.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
I go at 4.
4?
.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Yeah, she's there 4?
Speaker 2 (03:28):
That's awesome though she's like 4?
, 4?
.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
That's awesome.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
I'm like, wait, let's do 4 am.
Yes, 4 am is good.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
when you leave no, yeah, it's good because the
crowd that's there are usuallythere to work, but it's like
three or four people maxsometimes if I go in the
afternoon.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
The thing is is, if you go in the afternoon you're
gonna see all your friends, solike you're gonna be talking to
your friends which is goodusually, but if you just like
want to go in and work, thenlike you got to go in the
morning yeah I feel like thatpart.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
That part is is like I don't like going in after
doing this.
I have to.
But when you have to talk, youknow, when you see all your
friends, you have to talk theentire time.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
I know, then you're suddenly there for like three
hours.
I'm like I've been here from 1pm to 4 pm, Don't make it a
cardio day, because you're thereso long yeah.
Sometimes people will come talkto me when I'm running on the
treadmill.
I'm like wait, I can barely dothis to begin with.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
And I'm trying to talk.
Wow, yeah, and do you thinkthat's rude, though, like, how
do you feel about, how do you?
Speaker 2 (04:31):
really feel about that, about talking in the gym
or talking while I'm running,talking while you're running
while you're working, I feellike people that don't
understand.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
so I don't think it's rude, but like I'm not gonna
lie like I don't get irritated,but I'm like I'm I'm trying to
run like let's chat.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
I can chat after, though, because I'm like
profusely sweating.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
I'm like I can't even get words out and then you have
to work a little bit harder ifyou're talking and running
honestly.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
Maybe they're like doing it so you can like get
better.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
I don't know they're testing your limits, like let's
see how much you can.
That's definitely not why?
Nah, because they're notrunning as well.
But yeah, okay.
So I we do have some questionsfor you.
Okay, because we want to get toknow you on the pod first.
So with this chapter of thepodcast, just two questions.
I ask all new uh guests okay,what are you saying hello to and
what are you saying goodbye to?
Speaker 2 (05:22):
okay, so I'm trying to say hello to doing more
spontaneous things.
Okay, um me and my friendsophie.
We're best friends.
We're going to visit my friendtaylor in europe nice so we just
booked that yesterday and I waskind of unsure because it's a
little bit spontaneous, but wewent ahead and booked it because
we were like we're so young andmy mom always says you should
go travel the world while you'reyoung.
(05:44):
So I used to be very spontaneouswhen I was very young in
undergrad and then I kind oflike liked more structure,
obviously going to the gym at 5am and like I became boring.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
So now.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
I'm trying to like, channel my spontaneous nature
and like be, young again.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
So I've been trying to do more things like that okay
what else?
Speaker 1 (06:07):
what are you?
Are you what?
Are you saying goodbye?
You can leave it there or youcan continue on that.
What do you say hello to?
Speaker 2 (06:13):
saying hello.
Was that a hello or goodbye?
I guess it's goodbye to boringhello yeah, to to spontaneity
yeah, yeah so so it could beboth yeah, but we need something
that I'm trying to keep in mylife yeah is like I feel like
I'm typically a pretty positiveperson and I think it's really
(06:33):
important to like spread, to bekind to everybody, because you
never know what people are goingthrough a lot of people put on
like a very happy face, um, andyou can really never tell what
certain people are going through.
That's true.
So something I'm trying to keepin my life, even when I'm
really stressed out, is like toalways show people grace and
always be kind and like littlethings that you can do, just
(06:58):
small things like holding thedoor for people or like telling
someone like I like your outfit.
Not a lot of people do thatnowadays and I think that that's
really important and like alsoto your own self being.
It's all about like what yourmindset is, that like projects
onto your entire life.
So I try and stay reallypositive and like find the good
(07:19):
in every day.
Like me and my mom, we alwayssend five grateful things every
morning, so I think that that'sreally important.
I think that people get lost inlife and they forget how like
lucky we are to even be here.
All of us that are probablylistening to this, and, like I
know, all of us are very blessedand like yes very lucky to live
(07:39):
the life that we live, and Ithink some people just get lost
yeah, forget those things yeah.
So I think it's important tolike, always stay positive and
always uplift others in yourselfthat's good, see, that's why
she's here today.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
Um, that's, that's really like you're, I think you
know.
Just just to piggyback on that,like my initial observation
when I've seen you is just likethat personality, that
positivity.
You're always bright, you know,in terms of like saying hello,
small things you're, you got,you make time to make, say
something to certain people, andI think that's huge.
A lot of people in a gym, oh,my god, like I get it.
(08:12):
We are, we're all going throughsome things, but you know those
small moments just to say, hey,how you doing good exactly that
that means a lot.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
It goes a long way yeah, and some people you don't
even know need it, do need it ohman and like I think that even
some people just say thatthey're good and they'll just
move on with their day.
But even you just asking themand showing like, oh, I actually
care about you and like Iactually want you to be doing
well, I think that like makes aworld of difference.
No, like, a lot of people justdon't ask that nowadays.
So I think it's important tomake people feel cared about.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
Nowadays.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
I agree, I agree, I 100% agree with that.
So, hey, renee has somequestions for you, okay, and we
want to start off for y'all,okay For us, the both of us.
All right, what questions doyou have for us, hey, renee.
Speaker 3 (08:59):
I I caught a little bit like the end.
I caught a little bit like theend.
It's your degree is in.
You're studying what?
Speaker 2 (09:06):
So it's MBA, so it's business administration, so it's
basically like everything to dowith running a business and
like management.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
That's your concentration.
Yes, okay, how did you get intothat?
Like what made you want topursue that?
Speaker 2 (09:19):
Okay, so my dad is an entrepreneur and he started his
own business and, um, it's moreof a financial business.
It's like auto refinancing, andthen my grandfather owned his
own jet company a while ago.
So I have always um looked upto these like entrepreneurs and
like they're very much leaders,um.
(09:41):
So I've always wanted to pursuesomething where I can be like a
leader and like manage my ownbusiness, be my own boss and
stuff like that, and I feel likethe MBA program would help me
get there, because I've alwaystried to like do things where it
would help me become like abetter leader to others.
So that's like one more stepyeah that's how I chose that
(10:03):
huge.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
Uh.
First, shout out to your dad,shout out to your mom too, for
you know, like the small, I'mjust hearing what you, how you'd
express, like what you guys do,those four things you guys say
each day.
Then also your dad beenentrepreneur and that rubbing
off on you, that's huge.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
I have really like good people in my life to like
thank for everything they'vetaught me.
My mom she was also a realestate agent, so it's kind of
like she did her own, she ranher own business.
So, honestly, everyone thatI've always been um surrounded
by have been like go-getters andlike they always want to like.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
If they want something, they're gonna go get
it, so I'm like very lucky thatI was raised by people like that
well, I'm I'm happy to beassociated with you, because
that is me all day.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
Like, if I want to do something, I'm going to go do
it yeah.
So that's huge.
What other questions?
Speaker 3 (10:50):
What is your bachelor's degree in business as
well?
Speaker 2 (10:52):
Yes, so my bachelor's degree.
I majored in marketing andfinance and then my minor was
real estate.
Oh girl.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
Okay, she ain't playing.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
No, she ain't playing no she ain't playing it.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
It was fun, though finance is a little boring, but
marketing was really fun.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
Finance was fun too.
Speaker 1 (11:10):
I love numbers, but I just your math whiz I love math
wow, it's different.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
I don't know if it's different sitting at a table
crunching numbers all day.
It's for me?
Nah, probably not.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
Yeah, well, if you need something to fall back on,
you got something exactly justthe NBA itself is already huge,
like being able to kind of begeneral in business and go in
any lane you want to go in.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
That's huge.
What else you got right now?
Speaker 3 (11:35):
so what?
How much um?
Do you plan on working withbrands?
Speaker 2 (11:40):
I think that that is huge.
So it really depends what I doafter my MBA.
So there's three differentfields I would want to go in.
I either want to do somethinglike this, like run my own
athletic brand.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
Like, whether that be like apparel or supplements,
gym, whatever.
I've also thought aboutfollowing my grandfather's
footsteps and selling jets.
I think that'd be reallyawesome.
That's a huge dream, though.
Um, and then I also.
My lifelong dream was to alwayswork for the NFL, so I guess
with all of those you can workwith different brands.
(12:17):
I feel like if I did somethingwith athletic, like if I ran my
own athletic brand that would bemore associated with other
brands yeah but nfl could alsobe associated with other brands
too like working with I feellike in every field you work
with other brands yes even withmy dad's job, like he
collaborates with, like otherbrands for like vehicle, like
(12:38):
warranties and stuff so I feellike it goes with everything
nice don't feel any pressurewith these questions no pressure
with these questions, just likeyou know um, this like a little
general question, maybe like anopinionated answer you'll give
what makes a brand more thanjust a logo or a product?
oh, I feel like we talked aboutthis a lot yeah, we have okay.
So I feel like for a brand to bemore than a logo.
(13:02):
It's really important for abrand to be integrated with not
only their customers but thecommunities um that they're in.
I know a lot of brands that getinvolved in the community um,
specifically with fitness.
They get involved with, like,local gyms um, local restaurants
.
They do things for the people.
They'll like run 5ks um allthat stuff.
(13:25):
Get involved with charity, likethe non-profit that you do.
I think that it's reallyimportant to be a helping hand
to the people that buy yourproducts, um, because I think
it's more important to have morelike usually the relationship's
just customer and then, likeyou sell to them.
But I think it's important tofoster a relationship where it's
actually a bond and, like youcan help each other grow yeah
(13:51):
and to like just get involvedwhen should a founder step back
from being the face of the brand?
Speaker 1 (14:04):
oh well, I'll say my opinion first.
While she's and this is mypersonal opinion I think, um,
every creator, you know you, youbirth something, you birth your
baby, right?
I think that is important atsome point to hand it off and
step away from it, I think thatpoint come.
That point comes to where you.
(14:25):
That point comes when you feellike you never were going to
perfect your brand becauseyou're looking at it all in one
way, but when you feel likeyou've done enough for it.
That's when it's time forsomeone else to take it from you
so they can do more with it.
And that could be like beforeyou even launch it.
It could be like you justperfected a design and you feel
like you can go no further withit.
(14:45):
That's when it's time to handit off to someone else to look
at it so they can make theircritiques to it, because you
have this bias, you know,observation or perspective of
what you created.
At some point, you know you'regoing to be your own enemy
because you think it's the bestthing ever.
When it's probably not.
It's probably a five out of ten, and someone else can take it
to an eight.
You know it's probably a fiveout of 10.
And someone else can take it toan eight, you know.
So I think when you feel likeyou've done everything and
(15:06):
exhausted all your you knowtools to get it to a certain
point, that's when it's time tohand it off, because that was my
opinion.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
I actually completely agree.
I think that when someonefounds a business, they have
like an idea of what perfectionlooks like, and I think that you
(15:33):
have people under you workingfor you.
And I think that when you startgetting like tunnel vision and
like not letting other people'sopinions help, like build and
transform the business, I thinkthat's when you step back,
because it's important to haveas many perspectives as you can
to like grow the business asmuch as you can.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
That's huge.
That's a great answer.
So yeah, world of Athletics isthe brand that we're discussing
um and what inspired?
Speaker 3 (15:48):
okay, sorry, go ahead .
Oh, go ahead what inspired youto start this brand yo um.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
So the inspiration behind the brand is essentially,
you know, I deem mental healthor wellness as a whole as uh,
you know, an outlet for mostpeople, whether that's mental,
physical or spiritual wellness.
Also, social wellness is athing, but I saw that you know a
lot of in the past, a lot ofbrands weren't partnering with
(16:14):
or supporting mental healthorganizations to, you know, help
build the representation for it.
I think how can we supportpeople that have these mental
health, say, needs, but theycan't afford it?
And the brand kind of like justbirthed from there.
It was like okay, how can weshow people that we are
supporting and how can we bringawareness to mental health?
(16:35):
The brand itself, attached tothe nonprofit, was a way to
raise funds, get people moreinterested in what this is about
mental, physical and spiritualwellness and that's something I
think that holds dear to myheart.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
So that was like your goal when you created it.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
It was one of my outlets to express my passion of
supporting people in some formor fashion, like, how can you
get someone, how can you createsomething for somebody that you
know means something to them?
Or how can you create somethingthat can stand for something
for someone else right, like,for instance, some of the
designs that we we create.
They represent like physicalwellness or mental wellness, um,
(17:15):
depending on how you're feeling, and I want, I wanted to always
create something that couldexpress that for that individual
that couldn't express itthemselves okay, I liked it.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
Um hayden is it more important for a brand to be
consistent or adaptable intoday's fast changing world?
Speaker 2 (17:34):
I think, adaptable, with some sense of like staying
true to who the brand is.
Yeah, I think you should alwaysstay true.
I think that every brand has,like a core mission within them
that sticks with, like all theircustomers, and everyone views a
brand a certain way and I think, to a certain extent, it's
important to maintain that.
(17:56):
But I also think that it'simportant to adapt, like I think
the world's like ever changing,like people's tastes and
everything like that, so I thinkit's important to adapt to
those changes.
But I think the world's likeever changing, like people's
tastes and everything like that,so I think it's important to
adapt to those changes, but Ithink it's important to stay
true to who the brand is as wellyeah, okay, like that and I
think if there's something thata brand knows they can improve
on, like whether that be likeintroducing, like the non-profit
(18:18):
, or like getting more involvedwith people.
I think they can make thosechanges while like staying true
to themselves yeah um.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
Do you have a slogan for wellness?
So?
Speaker 1 (18:29):
our initial slogan, or is it slogan it's funny, you
talk you ask that because our um, our social media manager, we
had discussions this morning, soinitially it was, and more
right it was wellness.
It was wellness athletics is ismore right and I think
initially that's vague.
Obviously more what right?
You're gonna ask the questionmore, more what?
Um, where, where you come, likeclothes, um, I think now it's
(18:54):
more of um.
So more service is the biggestthing for us now, like how?
Speaker 3 (19:02):
do we serve in that service?
Speaker 1 (19:03):
it's, don't play, it's the brand, it's.
You said it the other day.
It all comes back to service,right?
So the brand itself and and Ikind of talked to uh, hayden and
felicia about this like thebrand itself is it's more of a
service brand.
And, right, I think when youthink of clothing brands, you
think of, you know, brands thatdrop all these cool, stylish
type of designs, which is great,we that.
(19:24):
But we want to make sure thatour mission, the clothing, is
not bigger than the mission andis not bigger than the call.
So how do we continue to pushthat?
And I think we have to do thatand we can do that through
service.
So, if the brand is serving, Ithink we're doing what we're
intended to do.
Speaker 3 (19:41):
So, yeah, Are you in like a rebranding phase?
Speaker 1 (19:44):
we're in a transition phase, yes, good.
So this new drop and this newlook, this new push for the
brand is different, and what Imean by that it is it's more of
you know.
How can we, like I go back tothat how can we serve?
And I think, more than us justbeing a clothing brand, we want
to be a service brand.
(20:05):
So there are different thingsthat we can attach ourselves to.
Obviously, mental health we'vealready done that.
We were attaching ourselves toa mental health, to a nonprofit.
But also one of the biggestholes I've seen, or the biggest
opportunities I've seen, is thata lot of nonprofits don't
really collaborate much.
So as a brand, I think, aswe're traveling this summer and
(20:27):
that's something we're going tobe doing a lot we want to kind
of connect with some of thesenonprofits.
How can we support, you know,even if it's raising money or a
percentage of what we sell fromour clothes or services, how can
we give that back to you?
I think the more people seethat other brands are doing this
, not just to one specificorganization, then they'll be
(20:49):
more inclined to do it too aswell.
So it's more about leading byexample here.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
So, Hayden, how do you think that Dr Gray can
navigate rebranding withoutlosing his existing customers?
Speaker 2 (21:02):
Okay, so I was actually just thinking about
this.
I think that the second that Iwas introduced to this brand, I
always knew that there was likea sense of community, like he's
always, you're always talking toeveryone at the gym, like
everyone always has very goodthings to say about you and the
brand I can't stand Justin, butI love it.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
There's very good things to say about you and the
brand.
I can't stand Justin.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
I know, but I love the brand.
No, but I think everyone has alot of respect and it has only
good things to say about you andthe brand and I think that you
did a really good job,especially even when you were
starting out building acommunity.
I think attaching thenon-profit to it was also a big
step.
Yeah, and I think that wehaven't really done a lot with
(21:49):
the transition phase yet, but Ithink ever since you even
started, it's been transitioningthe whole time yes, so I think
that you've always stayed trueto keeping it well within, like
the community, and making that areally important part.
Um, whenever I go into crunch Ialways see people wearing the
apparel and they all know whoyou are, like one of my really
(22:10):
good friends, rea.
She's awesome, like she knowshim it's just like a really big
community and I think thatthat's always stayed true to who
the brand is and I think whenwe travel this summer and like,
still go through that transition, I think that it's just going
to build upon still making it acommunity just like a bigger one
yeah
Speaker 3 (22:27):
absolutely yeah, I've had someone ask me hey, where's
justin?
The one with the brand one withthe brand like um, he's not
here.
I can't tell you where he is,but he's not here with the brand
.
Um, what's something aboutbuilding a brand that no one
talks about?
Speaker 1 (22:44):
oh, the struggle in the building process.
I think there's a lot ofsacrifice and you have to really
choose and sometimes you don'thave a control, but you have to
choose.
If you can choose what youyou're going to sacrifice in the
beginning.
A lot of times you're going tosacrifice more than you expect
yeah if you're truly trying toget it to the place it needs to
(23:05):
be.
The second thing is I don'tthink most people know in terms
of clothing brands, I don'tthink people know the clothing
brand is not that profitablebrand, it's business.
The business is not profitablebecause it's so saturated.
A lot of people have clothingbrands and then the big brands
themselves are already doing somuch.
(23:26):
It's kind of hard to find yourown niche unless you are like,
extremely creative or you have adifferent vision for your brand
.
So, like even everyone that Italk to that are like they're
wanting to start a brand, I telllike, hey, make sure that
you're attaching something elseto this and nothing is taken
personal when you're startingthis because you're going to see
, you're going to go into itlike wide eyed oh, this is great
(23:48):
.
You're going to start seeinglike, ok, this is a little bit
more difficult than I thought.
I'm not saying that to makeanyone quit.
I think it's still a greatthing.
Is your passion about it isstill a great thing is, if
you're passionate about it, um,but also like, even if you're
trying to come up with a productlike you talked about, you know
athletic wear or somethingdealing with you know nfl or
something like that.
(24:09):
Don't limit yourself to what youhave to offer, because I think
that's what we we're doing.
We're wiring our reach like howdo we find?
And then once we, how do wefind something that we are, we
can get good at and that ismissing, that has its own lane.
Basically, you have to widenyour reach.
First, don't be too specific,because in that case it will be
(24:30):
a lot harder for you to grow.
And that's my personal opinionand that's why you've seen us
like with some of the drops.
They're essentially on par witha trend, like the camouflage
drop.
It was on par with the trend ofcamouflage being in, but we we
tailored it to where it wasstill our thing, so it was kind
of like a branch off of thattrend, but we still rode the
(24:51):
trend.
So I think it's it's importantto kind of be a little bit
broader with your reach and notso specific, unless you feel
like, unless you're kimkardashian if you're whatever
you want, if you have, if you'rea celebrity, oh, whatever you
want, you got because youalready have the, the following,
the reach, and you can dowhatever you want.
But if you're starting from thebottom, attach something to what
(25:12):
your brand is.
It needs to have meaning.
I mean because, at the end ofthe day, people like you're
saying they connect with thatyeah, yeah, connect yeah so um
yeah I think that's.
That's what I would say aboutthat I'll go ahead sorry.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
I think like also going off of that, like watching
my dad run his business, um,and my mom.
I think that a big thing thatcomes with it is fear, and I I
think that fear makes peoplescared to do things that they
need to do, to, like, reach thenext level, like they're scared
to take that step or they're ata crossroads and they don't know
which way to go, and I thinkthat fear is something your
(25:50):
brand could be so much biggerand better than it is, and I
think fear like is kind ofwhat's the word like it's, it
hinders you.
Speaker 1 (25:58):
Yeah yeah, that's true.
Fear, man, and kind of that'swhat we talked about from our
last pod, like we did a pod.
We were talking about like fearand faith, like just having
that, that mindset that you cando whatever you want you put
your mind to, but that feardefinitely hinders you and like
fear of failure.
Speaker 2 (26:15):
I remember someone that, like I like look up to a
lot.
He said he was like I'm reallyscared um to fail but, I think
that that comes with likeeverything that could be great,
like there's always a chancethat you're gonna fail yeah and
like even if you do fail, likeyou just learn from it there you
go.
Speaker 1 (26:31):
Yes, that is, that is huge.
You just said that it's a goodquestion what's the classroom?
Speaker 3 (26:38):
um steps of building a brand.
Ooh.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
Classroom steps.
Speaker 2 (26:43):
What's a classroom?
Speaker 1 (26:43):
step Like from MBA.
Speaker 3 (26:45):
Yeah, oh.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
Not you engineer.
Okay, I need a second to thinkabout that.
I don't know specifically thesteps, but I think a lot of what
MBA has taught me is thatconnections are everything.
So once you come up with anidea, it's important to network
(27:09):
and like find people that aregonna help you, and like people
that want to like be there foryou and help you, um like go out
of their way essentially tohelp you build your brand.
Um, and then, along with that,obviously there's all like the
marketing and the finances andyou have to build.
I think it's taught me like themost important thing about
building a brand is like thepeople that you have behind you
that's important um to likesupport you like, you need to
(27:31):
have people that are like veryreliable.
I think that it's hard to find.
I think to find ethical peopleis the most important part,
because having to find peoplethat are always going to do the
right thing is hard in today'sworld.
But I do think that findingpeople that are going to do the
right thing no matter if it'snecessarily the right thing for
(27:53):
them, but like they have to dowhat's right for the brand.
So I think finding people likethat is really important.
So I guess, like find people tosupport you and finding people
that are always going to do theright thing, it's important,
okay, I think that that's.
I think that finding goodpeople that are going to work
hard is more important thanfinding the best person at the
(28:14):
job.
Speaker 3 (28:14):
Oh my god, I can rent like yeah, an hour about that
so, justin, what were the thingsthat led you to how you built
your brand?
Speaker 1 (28:24):
initially the vision and, I think, after the vision,
communicating that and findingsupport.
I think a lot of peopleentrepreneurial, who that want
to be entrepreneurs, they theylook at like, oh, I gotta do all
of this and they try to put,they try to carry a lot of that
by themselves, when you know,it's always great to find great
support, but that's thedifficult part is finding
(28:44):
individuals that will supportyour brand or that is, they have
great intentions and I thinkthat's an important piece.
But it started with a vision.
Finding out, you know, making agame plan of what the mission
for the brand is A second piece.
So I had a vision for the brand.
Now, what is the mission?
Like what?
What do I want the brand tostand for?
(29:05):
What do I want it to do?
Um, once I figured that pieceout then it was like, okay, cool
, how can I create somethingthat no one else has?
What is our lane?
So you know, I begin to havelike different inspirations
behind the brand.
Like, okay, cool, like I, likethis type of brand, like dark
sports, I like you know, like um, la, these are cool brands, but
(29:25):
how can we stand out and createour own lane?
So I think a lot of it was likeoh cool, let me express how I
feel and maybe even partner withsomeone and collab with them
and see how they feel, andexpress and created a design
that actually people would enjoyyou know, watching or wearing.
(29:47):
And then from there it was likeOK, finances, what makes sense?
How do you back this brand withyou know the finances, and
where do you go to get thefinances if you don't have it?
I was lucky to kind of likealways have a job and income, so
I saved up a good bit to topush the brand and and put in it
.
And I think that is importantthat most people don't
(30:08):
understand Like you need to makesure that you are financially
in a place to launch yourself orlaunch your brand, because if
not, you're just going to belike you know, pushing yourself
in more debt and you don't wantthat.
Speaker 3 (30:22):
But yeah, so how?
How are you standing out?
Because you said that themarket is kind of oversaturated.
So how do you stand out?
Besides, like, well, I thinkyou have a great um, what's the
word identity?
No, like you have a lot ofdifferent people that rock your
(30:44):
brand.
I literally see them and I belike, oh he know, justin.
Speaker 1 (30:47):
That's how I know, they know you, they know Justin.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
I think the same thing, all the people who know
Jerry Master.
I'm like, wow, look at allthese people, look at all these
WA's up here.
Speaker 3 (30:59):
Look at all that camo going on.
Oh my God, yeah, looking atthese wa's up here look at all
that camo going on.
Speaker 1 (31:04):
Oh my god, yeah, um what's your question?
How do you?
Speaker 3 (31:07):
stand out in the overcrowded or over.
So it's difficult.
Speaker 1 (31:12):
I'm gonna say this like there are a lot of brands
that copy other brands, like weeven have dupes, if you want to
call them of other brands, butthey have a great quality andes,
if you want to call them, ofother brands, but they have a
great quality.
And I think that's the otherdifficult part in terms of
standing out, because everybodyis copying everyone, like once
someone has a great product,they can go overseas and get
(31:34):
like an exact duplicate of what.
That is right and, I'm going tobe honest, it's easy to do that
.
But in terms of standing out, Ithink the standing out part is
basically, I would say, justhaving a meaning behind what
you're doing, like always havinga tone or a theme about where
you're dropping and why thestruggle or a reason behind
(32:02):
something, because that makesthem feel a little bit more
relatable to you and your brand.
For instance, if you look at alot of the trendy brands now I
go back to Dark Sports they havea brand and they do some
collabs with anime.
A lot of people love anime.
It's like oh, if you collabwith something that people can
(32:23):
relate to, because they wereraised on that type of stuff,
they're gonna buy it.
They really don't even care howit looks, they're just like oh,
this is my favorite, you knowcharacter, I'm gonna buy it.
So, uh, finding things peoplecan relate to, whether that is
you know, you know anime or orother different type of things
that you can see.
What do, do you think, hayden?
Speaker 2 (32:41):
Okay, I just want to say I can reference other brands
, right.
Speaker 1 (32:43):
Yes, okay.
Speaker 2 (32:45):
So I really like Define and I was telling you
this On the inside of theirclothing it has a little line
and it says let no one defineyou.
And I think that that's reallycool because it's something
that's really subtle, but Ithink, like let no one define
you, it's just like a littlephrase that like pushes you and
like on the days where you don'tfeel like doing anything, like
(33:05):
you read that and you're likeready to go.
So I think that like um, havinglittle things like that they
remind people like their purposeand their reason for doing
something and always motivatemotivating them is good.
And then also like in localbrands like five star nutrition,
every time I go in therethey're so friendly, they always
remember like who everyone isand they always like they're
(33:26):
like how are you doing?
And I think it's reallyimportant.
We sound like a broken record,but like again, like connecting
with the people.
That you're selling to.
I think it's really importantbecause I walk in there and I
feel like they're actually likeTrying to help me, not just
trying to sell me a product, andlike trying to do what's best
for me and for them.
So I think that that's reallyimportant too nice what's the
(33:48):
question?
Speaker 3 (33:49):
I haven't been there in so long.
I haven't either.
Speaker 2 (33:51):
Honestly, oh, man, but I like when I used to go
like they would always be sohelpful and so nice I used to be
like, get on these things soyou can see how much body fat
you got.
I'm like I don't want to get onthat thing.
Speaker 3 (34:03):
I got time, baby, I gotta go.
Speaker 2 (34:05):
Thank you, I'm not taking my shoes off to get on
that thing.
Speaker 1 (34:08):
I'm in and out, I gotta go.
They trying to sell you as aproduct, man.
Speaker 3 (34:11):
They want to care, they care yeah, they care they
care, get on this thing cool,it's okay, I'll go by how my
clothes fit I don't care aboutnone of that, um, how has
working in branding shaped yourview of business as a whole,
both of y'all you want to gofirst, hey?
Speaker 2 (34:31):
wait, can you repeat that one more time?
Speaker 3 (34:32):
how has working in branding shaped your view of
business as a whole branding asin like what do you mean?
Well working with a brand, solike maybe, maybe you should go
first because you have a brand,yeah, so how has working?
How has working with your brandshaped your view of business as
a whole?
Speaker 1 (34:51):
um, I think it's, I would say it.
It has emphasized that.
I want to say service.
But service is important.
Connection, a connection isimportant.
It's emphasized, like thingswe've already kind of talked
about.
It's like you know, peopleconnect with you, know what's
(35:12):
relatable, obviously, but alsoif they see you, you are there
and you're serving in some formor fashion, they'll they'll
connect with that.
So I think just it showed methat service industry in general
, if you're talking aboutrestaurants or retail, a lot of
those industries are likeChick-fil-A, like you know, if
you think about what kind ofpushed them over the edge
(35:33):
outside of the chicken beingpretty good service they have
and they don't innovate anywhereelse outside of service right
now.
If you think about it, if youlook at how they initially
started serving people to theircars, now they're probably every
location is investing in theirtraffic in the way that you know
their customers move in and outof their, their facility.
(35:55):
That's service.
So they're optimizing serviceand I think that's why they're
still growing to this day andthey're still like one of the
number one fast food restaurantsBecause they're optimizing
service and a lot of peopledon't see that.
But if you can optimize serviceand constantly do it.
Oh man, you're going to havelike customers for life.
Speaker 2 (36:17):
So yeah, like always getting better, yeah, always
improving.
Speaker 3 (36:19):
I agree.
Speaker 2 (36:21):
Um, I think I've worked um for a lot of different
businesses, like a lot ofdifferent food places, um, for
my dad.
I think that the most importantthing that I've noticed in
business again is like theconnections that you make with
people.
I think, like making someonelaugh, asking again, asking how
they're doing.
I think it's all about how youlike I think the people you have
(36:45):
working for you portrays whoyou are as a business and I
think that's how people aregoing to see you.
And I also think that, watchingentrepreneurs, they always know
who is going to put their bestfoot forward, like not only like
welcoming and customers andlike making people feel welcome
and building those connections,because that is so important.
But I also think they know whois always going to try and
improve and who is going to workhard and like who's going to
(37:09):
pick up shifts and who's goingto like come work overtime and
like do all that.
They always know who's going todo that.
No matter if you think they door they don't, they know who the
hard workers are.
So I think that, from workingin several different businesses,
the most important things thatI have learned is it's important
to always work hard, but alsolike put your best foot forward
(37:31):
and like put on a happy facewhen you go into work and always
like welcome everybody in andalways like welcome everybody in
.
Speaker 1 (37:38):
Yeah, I think, because you never know, you're
always in another interview,somebody's always watching you.
So you could be interviewingfor another job without even
knowing it.
Speaker 3 (37:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (37:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (37:48):
What else you got?
What's a failure or setbackthat ended up being a turning
point for you?
Man that's a deep one.
Speaker 2 (37:57):
It's not that deep A failure or setback.
I think I have one one.
Oh, let's go, okay.
So when I was a senior, I waslooking for jobs.
Got none no job offers, um.
So that's actually what led meto apply to grad school, and I
think that's the best thing thatI ever did.
I think that it was a reallygood thing for me and I was
(38:18):
really upset that I didn't get ajob and I was like ready to go
and like start my life.
So it was really hard, um, butI think that staying here, I
have met so many amazing people,um, I have learned so much and
like built a lot of connections.
I'm really actually glad thatit happened that way.
Even though in the moment itwas really hard and it seemed
(38:40):
like not the best outcome, Ithink that it worked out in my
favor nice, wow, what was thequestion?
Speaker 1 (38:45):
again, I like to make her repeat things.
She's awesome, you're awesome.
Speaker 3 (38:51):
What's the okay, thanks.
What's a failure or setbackthat ended up being a turning
point?
Speaker 1 (38:57):
in business.
Speaker 3 (38:58):
It could be in business me specifically, with
wellness and what is athleticsum failure or setback I would
say, not failing over here.
Speaker 1 (39:08):
Right setback.
I think it would go into likebringing associating with the
wrong type of people.
I think that there have been alot of setbacks with that and
and it is also because, as anentrepreneur, you have to learn
a lesson of how to choose theright people yeah you don't know
in the beginning, becauseyou're like so bent on, like
(39:31):
getting to a certain point anddoing something that sometimes
you're blinded by the personwanting to be there versus them
actually being there for adifferent type of reason.
And, um, you have to very, verywell just be aware of that,
because sometimes you'll getused, which is cool, because
that's part of business, a partof the process.
But I don't see it as a failure.
(39:52):
I think it's like a learningcurve, like OK, cool, this is
not the type of person I wouldwant working for the business.
This is not the type of personI would want working for the
business.
This is not a type of person Iwant to be associated with, with
the business, and I think thathas been like one of the
setbacks is kind of figuring outthe right people and and moving
forward with those individualsyeah, I think that who you
(40:15):
associate with um is veryimportant.
Speaker 3 (40:17):
Yeah.
I realized that too, it's noteven just in business and life
in general.
Speaker 2 (40:23):
Life, yes, yeah, I think that's like the most
important part about life is whoyou are and who you surround
yourself with yes, because, yeah, we don't even have to go into.
Speaker 1 (40:34):
That could be a whole podcast.
We'll do it later.
We'll let Hayden just take thatone um Hayden.
Speaker 3 (40:41):
What role does personal branding play in
building a company brand so like?
Speaker 2 (40:46):
okay so I kind of just talked about that.
I think that your personalbrand is everything.
I think that, um, I say like,put on a happy face when you go
into work, but I think that Ithink that your true colors
always come out.
So, like, I think that yourtrue colors always come out, so
I think that your personal brandis everything, and if you are
truly happy and at peace withyourself, you're going to put on
(41:10):
that face every day at work,because that's just who you are,
and I think that's important.
Also, in your personal brand,your work ethic is really
important, obviously when you'reworking.
So I think that having likeyour attitude is everything,
whether that is being positive,being happy, caring for people,
(41:31):
working hard All of those arereally important things that
play into a business, and Ithink that in order for a
business to like grow and thrive, you need people that are going
(41:51):
to want to like work hard, gothe extra mile and like actually
care about the business.
Like care about themselves butalso care about the business and
, like I said before, doingwhat's right by the business
sometimes like most of the timeover what's best for yourself,
like you always need to dowhat's ethical and like just
like doing the right thing allthe time.
I think that that is likereally important and, ultimately
, like the people that work fora business are going to be the
face of the business and that'swho is going to be attracting
(42:14):
your customers.
Speaker 1 (42:15):
Yeah, that's good, hmm, um.
Speaker 3 (42:17):
Yeah, that's good, mm .
Hmm.
Um, how do you think achallenger brand success can
successfully position itselfagainst like another brand?
Speaker 1 (42:32):
How do you say it again?
Speaker 3 (42:34):
Yeah, like a rival brand, Like how can a challenger
brand successfully positionitself against even not even
just what other leaders?
So, like you are and you mayhave already answered it when I
might be just asking it in adifferent way but like you're
competing and I put that inquotation marks- with
competition other.
(42:55):
So how do you, how do youposition yourself?
I?
Speaker 2 (43:00):
I think the big thing with like wellness and
athletics is like the fact thatthere's that aspect of like the
nonprofit and the mental healthand like the community.
I think that that's what likesets it apart from other brands
and how they can likeout-compete, like define or like
navigation, because like thoseare just brands that are selling
(43:20):
a product but they don't havethat other aspect of like the
connecting part yeah, I thinkalso and this is something I
kind of got from talking tohayden a while back it's like
the story, our story, we don't.
Speaker 1 (43:32):
I don't think we did a good job and I don't think I
did a good job with expressingthe story behind it and showing
people, like, what is reallygoing on, how do we, how we got,
how do we get from here tothere?
Uh, because a lot of peopledon't know much, much about me.
They don't know that you know,I'm actually a engineer by trade
and you know, like I have otherdifferent things that I, I, um,
(43:55):
I do but as.
But more than anything like,why did it start?
When did it start, I?
When did it start?
I think we could have did abetter job at that.
If we did that, that would havebeen a better positioning for
us to kind of say, okay, cool,now people would look at us
versus just looking at the bigbrands out there.
I think that's a betterposition is expressing your
story, telling your story.
Speaker 3 (44:16):
Have you gotten a lot of feedback and if so, what
kind of feedback do you get?
Speaker 1 (44:22):
regarding your brand.
Um consistency, we have beeninconsistent with our posting
and that's all me.
I'm gonna be 100.
Speaker 3 (44:28):
Anything, any of our weaknesses is me because you
were working on something forsure but there's no excuses.
Speaker 1 (44:36):
True, I think, in trans, like, like hayden said,
we're always in transition.
I think it's good always be intransition because you're
constantly building, you'reconstantly trying to evolve and
be the best, the better versionof yourself, um, but yeah, I
think, yeah, feedback we get isconsistency.
Uh, new drops, like we loveyour drops.
Why don't you guys do differentcolors?
Speaker 3 (44:57):
um, yeah, things like that where do you see the brand
in five years?
Speaker 1 (45:01):
oh, five years, man, five years.
I see the brand like 30, right.
I see the brand like everyoneknows his identity.
Everyone knows and canrecognize with that logo, of
that wellness athletics logo,like okay, I know what that is
yeah, yeah, definitely.
Speaker 3 (45:20):
Um, how do you balance growth with brand
integrity?
Like you know, sometimes peopletalk about certain brands and
they're like the the ingredients, are they not as good?
So?
Speaker 1 (45:36):
um, not being cheap curry, yeah.
Second is and this is somethingthat we are I think we're going
to dive into is like how do wefind individuals that actually
can, you know, can body thebrand, versus just us
communicating with someone thatis just out here just?
Speaker 2 (45:55):
for anything.
Speaker 1 (45:57):
And they have like an entire different persona and it
doesn't, you know, correlatewith the brand.
Speaker 2 (46:02):
So yeah, so I think that's, if you want to make some
say something on that, youcould I agree, like I think that
the people that we bring onboard, like for photo shoots or
whatnot, or like working on thebrand, like it's important that
they also value the same things,that the mission of the brand
is, like the mental healthaspect, um that they like value
fitness, like wellness, mentalhealth all of that I think it's
(46:24):
important that everyone that webring on board also values that
so is it?
Speaker 3 (46:28):
but for as far as that's the the background of the
brand, like to make the enginerun, yeah, but as far as like
wearing it, that's anybody isopen to it.
They're going to buy it, theycan wear it.
Speaker 1 (46:43):
What do you mean by that?
Speaker 3 (46:44):
Like you don't.
I'm saying like you, you don'tcare who wears your brand, no,
it's just who represents it.
Speaker 2 (46:50):
Yeah, I think like, to a certain extent, like your
customers, represent your brand.
But I also think that thepeople that buy your brand
usually represent kind of whatthe mission is, because they're
drawn to your brand, by yourmission.
Speaker 1 (47:06):
I agree just wondering that was a good
question how do you definesuccess?
Speaker 3 (47:15):
I want both of y'all to answer this, and it's not
just a financial or emotionalthing.
I am beating a dead horse here,but I want both of y'all to
answer this, and it's not just afinancial or emotional thing.
Speaker 2 (47:21):
I am beating a dead horse here.
Speaker 3 (47:23):
Yeah, she's going to say you already know what.
Speaker 1 (47:25):
I'm going to say we know what your beliefs are now.
Speaker 2 (47:28):
I think that success is defined by how you represent
yourself and how you treatothers.
And should I go like deeperinto that again?
And should I go like deeperinto that again, like?
I think that success is definedby, like the way that you care
about yourself and care aboutothers, um, and all of the
values that you say that youembody.
(47:50):
I feel like you need toactually like put that into
action, not just say that, um, Ithink that a lot of people
recognize like who people are asa person, and I think it's
important to show people thatyou care yeah, I agree and
always stay true to your moralsand your ethics.
I think that love is reallyimportant caring, working hard,
(48:13):
kindness I think that thatkindness.
I think that is success I'mworking on it.
Speaker 1 (48:16):
I'm all that, I think I'll be short.
I think success to me is man, Ijust got stuck that quick.
I had it, but it just left me,so I'll try to just play around.
So I think success to me,individual success, is just
realizing something that is ofvalue to you and accomplishing
(48:41):
that versus, you know, comparingyour outcome and the reward
with someone else's outcome ortheir reward.
So I think it's just more ofindividual success.
It's more of like what yourealize is of value to you and
you accomplishing that.
Speaker 3 (48:58):
Okay, yeah, so you, hayden.
You say you've worked withbrands and businesses.
Yes, what's your dream?
Collab, ooh, Ooh, my dreamcollab.
Speaker 2 (49:13):
I love Define.
Speaker 3 (49:15):
Wait but.
Speaker 2 (49:16):
I more than Define.
I love Dark Sport.
Speaker 1 (49:18):
Dark Sport is dope I think they're so awesome.
Speaker 2 (49:20):
I think that they do things that no other brand ever
does.
They host like competitions,they take, they do brand trips.
Like every single drop thatthey do has like some sort of
meaning.
I was wearing like a dark sporttop today.
It has all sorts of slogans,like I think I told you this
like whenever you go on thereand like there's something that
(49:41):
pops up and it's like I thinkit's to sign up for their text
or something and it's like nevergive up yeah, like everything
that they do, every single partof their website, has, like some
sort of meaning to it and Ireally like that part of um dark
sport and, like every athlete,that embodies their brand um,
like I know embodies theirmission too.
Speaker 1 (50:00):
Nice.
So dark.
Sports is never give up, anddefine is never define.
Let no one define you so that.
Speaker 2 (50:08):
I think defines more about being your own individual
and like being confident inyourself, I guess.
Speaker 1 (50:13):
They don't make guy clothes there.
Speaker 2 (50:15):
Define, I don't know Okay.
Speaker 1 (50:17):
I don't think so.
Speaker 2 (50:17):
I don't know, but dark sport.
Speaker 3 (50:19):
I think she's not clicking on that tab.
Fine, I don't know.
Okay, I don't think.
Speaker 2 (50:22):
So I don't know, but dark sport, I think I think,
dark sport is more like pushthrough hard times yeah, that's
good, that's good, that's a goodquestion cool dream collab
dream collab, yeah oh not even.
Speaker 1 (50:33):
Not even with the brand, like maybe with the
person person um dream, um dreamcollab with like what would it
be?
Clothing, what would it be?
Speaker 3 (50:44):
put him the way you close oh um the rock, of course.
Oh, if the rock would just wearone shirt oh, have you done his
leg day huh, have you done hisleg?
I have never done?
Speaker 1 (50:54):
have you done his leg day crazy?
Oh yeah, but the rock.
For sure I like I like him, Ilike what he stands for I love
the rock and I love where he'scome from and I think that's
that's the biggest thing is likethat grind to get to where he
is.
Speaker 2 (51:07):
So the rock would be a dream and at the same time
he's like funny.
I think he's so funny.
Speaker 1 (51:12):
Oh yeah, he's funny, see being funny like what's
better than that oh, okay, wedon't have to talk about guys.
Here you guys are, don't do it,you guys are um, what's your,
what's been your biggest ahamoment?
Speaker 3 (51:26):
or like something that's clicked for you while
studying business?
Speaker 2 (51:31):
oh, I think that there's not.
I think everyone in their early20s especially is so focused on
trying to figure out what do Iwant to do?
What do I want to do.
I feel lost and I think thebiggest thing I actually talked
to my friends Sophie and Feliciaabout this like every day we,
we all always say like we needto, like slow down.
(51:51):
Anything you do in life canchange, like you're never stuck
in anything.
A lot of my friends in their20s that don't like their jobs.
I'm like that's okay, just youcan change what you're doing,
even though it's scary.
Um, so I think the biggestthing is like just knowing that
there's always a path, adifferent path, that you can go
on and nothing's ever set inplace and you can come back from
(52:12):
any anything what's been yourbiggest aha moment, um kind of?
Speaker 1 (52:17):
like piggybacking off of her, like just viewing
things as a stepping stone and apart of the process, I think a
lot of times people see thingsas difficult so they don't start
it.
But if you have that moment towhere he's like, okay, cool, I
want to get this done and hereare the things I have to do to
to get there, and just viewingthose as a part of the process
will get you a lot further,because your mindset will be
(52:40):
already set and you won'tbasically, you know, sabotage
yourself in the beginning by notstarting.
If you're just thinking aboutit as difficult or hard and I
think a lot of people do that'swhy they don't start their
brands, that's why they don't,you know, shoot for a different
career.
It's like they fail before theyget started and a lot of that
is in that mindset.
Speaker 2 (52:58):
Yeah, I feel before they get started and a lot of
that is in that mindset.
Yeah, I feel like when you lookat things in like such a big
picture um or get zoomed in.
Speaker 1 (53:08):
I don't know which one like it can be daunting.
Speaker 2 (53:09):
Yeah, now I guess you have to zoom out and like just
notice that you have to take itday by day and like.
The end goal is a lot, but eachstep that you take is small I
think that makes it easier.
Speaker 3 (53:18):
I think that makes it easier.
What's um?
To close it out like what?
What is Some advice that youwould give someone that is
wanting to?
It might be like A circle backfrom what you said before, but
some advice you'd give Someonethat is wants to be like when
you are.
They need to be careful, though, because you wear a lot of hats
(53:40):
, sure Well.
Speaker 1 (53:40):
I mean to be like where you are.
I would say they need to becareful, though, because you
wear a lot of hats, sure?
Well, I mean then I, who elsebetter?
to give them some advice I wouldsay um, don't, don't get
drowned or don't swim too muchinto what, how to be successful,
I would say focus or swim morein the fact of how not to quit
something.
(54:01):
I think a lot of times andpeople don't realize this, but
we're more, most people are moreinclined to quit than anything
versus inclined to be successful.
But anyways, yeah.
But I think you know the adviceI would give is like unlearn
quitting If you've been quitting.
Unlearn it If you haven't.
Youarn it if you haven't.
(54:21):
You know, if you don't quit,that's good because that means
you can work through something.
You're always in the long game.
I think personally, for me, thereason I've been able to
accomplish, you know, finish myPhD, start a business because
I'm always in the long game, butI'm also never in a quitting
game.
So I know that I'm going tocontinue to work at it, chip at
(54:41):
it until I get there.
I'm never quitting.
I may fail.
Failing is good because I canlearn from that, but if I quit,
I'm never going to go back to it.
So I think unlearning the artof quitting it should be a book.
Maybe we'll just write that wedon't know how to quit around
here unlearning the art ofquitting, and you know, just
keeping that mindset.
You don't have to to quitaround here learning the art of
(55:01):
quitting, and you know justkeeping that mindset.
You don't have to always keepthe success mindset, just don't
quit.
If you start something, keep,keep at it, play the long game
and just chip at it.
You want to go.
Speaker 2 (55:12):
I think, going off of that, I think that living in
the present is really important,and I think that, um, I know I
get caught up living in a worldof like anxiety, and I think
that, um, I know I get caught upliving in a world of like
anxiety, and I think that, um,it's important for everyone to
realize that there is a presentmoment and everything will work
out the way it's supposed to,and we need to not get so caught
up in either worrying about thepast or worrying about the
(55:32):
future.
Um, as long as you worry aboutwhat's happening right now,
everything will like fall intoplace and work out that's so
true, man.
Speaker 1 (55:41):
That's.
That is my mantra for the theyear of 2025 like being present.
Speaker 2 (55:46):
Yes, I'm bad at it being so present.
Speaker 1 (55:49):
It's man.
Speaker 3 (55:49):
All right, I could talk about it for days, but that
is good talk about anything fordays for sure I like that,
though not like not being afraidto fail yeah or not, even if
you do feel like it's not theend of the world that's like
where I'm living.
Speaker 1 (56:04):
That's what I'm going through now.
Speaker 3 (56:05):
So yeah, it's like yeah, life goes on.
Speaker 2 (56:09):
It does.
Life always will go on, nomatter what, with or without you
yeah, all right so you gotanything you want to say, or
that was no that was itden.
Speaker 1 (56:17):
Do you want to give everyone your social media
handles so they can?
Speaker 2 (56:20):
know you're fine.
Okay, my Instagram is Hayden RYJones.
That's about it, instagram.
Speaker 1 (56:27):
Instagram, instagram's all I got really All
right, guys, you want to giveus our?
Speaker 3 (56:33):
Good, bad, great on TikTok, and the good, the bad
and the great on Instagram andYouTube, and the good, the bad
and the great On Instagram andYouTube and what I don't know.
The wellness, it's justwellness.
Yes.
Speaker 1 (56:45):
So what is at wellness and athletics Dot com,
if you're, if you're shopping,and at wellness athletics On
Instagram, tiktok, and we'reprobably gonna be Doing some
more YouTube.
With that being said, be on thelookout for me and Hayden.
We're going to be possibly inyour city this summer.
We're going to be traveling,we're going to be doing some fun
stuff Gym crawls, coffeeratings, maybe some restaurant
(57:09):
food reviews, some fun stuff soyou guys can get to know us and
the brand a little bit more.
I'm excited about it.
Like Aaron said, like, share,subscribe, follow us on any of
those platforms and yeah, we areout.
Speaker 2 (57:26):
Bye, bye everybody.
Welcome to the good, the bad and the great podcast,
where we shine a light onwellness, personal growth and
relationships.
Together, we'll discuss highsand lows and the in-betweens,
offering different perspectiveson health and wellness.
Tune in as we peel back thelayers of life, revealing the
good, bad and the great.
Ready, cool welcome back to thegood, the bad and the great
(00:41):
podcast.
I have a special guest in thebuilding.
This is the world is anathletics edition.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Yes, uh I a special guest in the building.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
This is the World is an Athletics edition.
Yes, I have Hayden in thebuilding.
Hayden, what's up?
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Hi everybody.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Hayden.
So where are you from?
Speaker 2 (00:53):
I'm from Austin, Texas.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Austin and I go to school here in Tuscaloosa.
Okay, so what brought you toTuscaloosa?
Speaker 2 (01:00):
So, first of all, so I'm in grad school right now,
but I did undergrad here, and Ihave a bunch of family members
that live here and teach at theuniversity, um, and they are
very generous with theirscholarships so that's what led
me to come here, and I'm so gladI did.
I had a really good undergradexperience and now I'm loving um
grad school as well nice wait.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
So austin texas.
Obviously we now.
We both know a little bit aboutaustin.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
It is awesome, people are super nice so nice it's so
weird so yeah, keep us awesomeweird and I didn't understand it
until I.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
I was like wait, what is like?
I've like a number of timesI've been to like the gym and
other places people actuallyhold they like will talk to you.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Yes, hold the door like what is?
That.
What is that?
Speaker 1 (01:49):
no, like, not just like hold it for like a split
second, like maybe five seconds,six or seven second holding the
door for you they ask how youare.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Yes, it's so refreshing what I don't know
what that is.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
That's not Texas.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
No, it's only.
It only happens in Austin.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
That it blew my mind.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Yeah, it's crazy.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
For sure, but yeah, so tell us a little bit more
about yourself.
So you said you're in gradschool for yes.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
OK, so I'm getting my MBA right now and I'm
concentrating in strategicmanagement, which is exciting.
What else?
I have a dog and Aussie Doodle.
He's a year and a half.
He's very bad, oh man, but he'sentertaining and sweet, so it's
(02:34):
okay, makes up for it.
And then what else?
Um, I work at innisfree.
I love it there all my bestfriends work with me.
Um what else I'm a?
Speaker 1 (02:38):
ta nice, I'm a teaching assistant.
How's that that life?
It's honestly really funbecause I get to like help all
the students learn everything.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Do tutoring.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
Oh man.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
So and honestly like it helps me learn stuff more and
like learn how to teach people,so it's a really good
experience.
I love the gym.
I go every day.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Every day.
I see Justin there all the time.
Yeah, you yeah yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
You, yeah, yeah, um, you used to be like a 4-8 or
early morning person.
What?
Speaker 1 (03:08):
happened and then and I just fell off and I'm there
just whenever.
Yeah, I was there at noon.
Well, you do kind of work likeyou know.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Yeah, if I work, if I work until, if I work the night
shift, I'll usually go to thegym a little later so I get some
sleep, but I do like going at 5am because it's like dead it's
like no one there no, it's notdead, she's not anymore she's
there.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
No, it's not dead at 5.
Not anymore.
She's there at like 3.
Oh, you go at 5?
.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
I go at 4.
4?
.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Yeah, she's there 4?
Speaker 2 (03:28):
That's awesome though she's like 4?
, 4?
.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
That's awesome.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
I'm like, wait, let's do 4 am.
Yes, 4 am is good.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
when you leave no, yeah, it's good because the
crowd that's there are usuallythere to work, but it's like
three or four people maxsometimes if I go in the
afternoon.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
The thing is is, if you go in the afternoon you're
gonna see all your friends, solike you're gonna be talking to
your friends which is goodusually, but if you just like
want to go in and work, thenlike you got to go in the
morning yeah I feel like thatpart.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
That part is is like I don't like going in after
doing this.
I have to.
But when you have to talk, youknow, when you see all your
friends, you have to talk theentire time.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
I know, then you're suddenly there for like three
hours.
I'm like I've been here from 1pm to 4 pm, Don't make it a
cardio day, because you're thereso long yeah.
Sometimes people will come talkto me when I'm running on the
treadmill.
I'm like wait, I can barely dothis to begin with.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
And I'm trying to talk.
Wow, yeah, and do you thinkthat's rude, though, like, how
do you feel about, how do you?
Speaker 2 (04:31):
really feel about that, about talking in the gym
or talking while I'm running,talking while you're running
while you're working, I feellike people that don't
understand.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
so I don't think it's rude, but like I'm not gonna
lie like I don't get irritated,but I'm like I'm I'm trying to
run like let's chat.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
I can chat after, though, because I'm like
profusely sweating.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
I'm like I can't even get words out and then you have
to work a little bit harder ifyou're talking and running
honestly.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
Maybe they're like doing it so you can like get
better.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
I don't know they're testing your limits, like let's
see how much you can.
That's definitely not why?
Nah, because they're notrunning as well.
But yeah, okay.
So I we do have some questionsfor you.
Okay, because we want to get toknow you on the pod first.
So with this chapter of thepodcast, just two questions.
I ask all new uh guests okay,what are you saying hello to and
what are you saying goodbye to?
Speaker 2 (05:22):
okay, so I'm trying to say hello to doing more
spontaneous things.
Okay, um me and my friendsophie.
We're best friends.
We're going to visit my friendtaylor in europe nice so we just
booked that yesterday and I waskind of unsure because it's a
little bit spontaneous, but wewent ahead and booked it because
we were like we're so young andmy mom always says you should
go travel the world while you'reyoung.
(05:44):
So I used to be very spontaneouswhen I was very young in
undergrad and then I kind oflike liked more structure,
obviously going to the gym at 5am and like I became boring.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
So now.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
I'm trying to like, channel my spontaneous nature
and like be, young again.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
So I've been trying to do more things like that okay
what else?
Speaker 1 (06:07):
what are you?
Are you what?
Are you saying goodbye?
You can leave it there or youcan continue on that.
What do you say hello to?
Speaker 2 (06:13):
saying hello.
Was that a hello or goodbye?
I guess it's goodbye to boringhello yeah, to to spontaneity
yeah, yeah so so it could beboth yeah, but we need something
that I'm trying to keep in mylife yeah is like I feel like
I'm typically a pretty positiveperson and I think it's really
(06:33):
important to like spread, to bekind to everybody, because you
never know what people are goingthrough a lot of people put on
like a very happy face, um, andyou can really never tell what
certain people are going through.
That's true.
So something I'm trying to keepin my life, even when I'm
really stressed out, is like toalways show people grace and
always be kind and like littlethings that you can do, just
(06:58):
small things like holding thedoor for people or like telling
someone like I like your outfit.
Not a lot of people do thatnowadays and I think that that's
really important and like alsoto your own self being.
It's all about like what yourmindset is, that like projects
onto your entire life.
So I try and stay reallypositive and like find the good
(07:19):
in every day.
Like me and my mom, we alwayssend five grateful things every
morning, so I think that that'sreally important.
I think that people get lost inlife and they forget how like
lucky we are to even be here.
All of us that are probablylistening to this, and, like I
know, all of us are very blessedand like yes very lucky to live
(07:39):
the life that we live, and Ithink some people just get lost
yeah, forget those things yeah.
So I think it's important tolike, always stay positive and
always uplift others in yourselfthat's good, see, that's why
she's here today.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
Um, that's, that's really like you're, I think you
know.
Just just to piggyback on that,like my initial observation
when I've seen you is just likethat personality, that
positivity.
You're always bright, you know,in terms of like saying hello,
small things you're, you got,you make time to make, say
something to certain people, andI think that's huge.
A lot of people in a gym, oh,my god, like I get it.
(08:12):
We are, we're all going throughsome things, but you know those
small moments just to say, hey,how you doing good exactly that
that means a lot.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
It goes a long way yeah, and some people you don't
even know need it, do need it ohman and like I think that even
some people just say thatthey're good and they'll just
move on with their day.
But even you just asking themand showing like, oh, I actually
care about you and like Iactually want you to be doing
well, I think that like makes aworld of difference.
No, like, a lot of people justdon't ask that nowadays.
So I think it's important tomake people feel cared about.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
Nowadays.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
I agree, I agree, I 100% agree with that.
So, hey, renee has somequestions for you, okay, and we
want to start off for y'all,okay For us, the both of us.
All right, what questions doyou have for us, hey, renee.
Speaker 3 (08:59):
I I caught a little bit like the end.
I caught a little bit like theend.
It's your degree is in.
You're studying what?
Speaker 2 (09:06):
So it's MBA, so it's business administration, so it's
basically like everything to dowith running a business and
like management.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
That's your concentration.
Yes, okay, how did you get intothat?
Like what made you want topursue that?
Speaker 2 (09:19):
Okay, so my dad is an entrepreneur and he started his
own business and, um, it's moreof a financial business.
It's like auto refinancing, andthen my grandfather owned his
own jet company a while ago.
So I have always um looked upto these like entrepreneurs and
like they're very much leaders,um.
(09:41):
So I've always wanted to pursuesomething where I can be like a
leader and like manage my ownbusiness, be my own boss and
stuff like that, and I feel likethe MBA program would help me
get there, because I've alwaystried to like do things where it
would help me become like abetter leader to others.
So that's like one more stepyeah that's how I chose that
(10:03):
huge.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
Uh.
First, shout out to your dad,shout out to your mom too, for
you know, like the small, I'mjust hearing what you, how you'd
express, like what you guys do,those four things you guys say
each day.
Then also your dad beenentrepreneur and that rubbing
off on you, that's huge.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
I have really like good people in my life to like
thank for everything they'vetaught me.
My mom she was also a realestate agent, so it's kind of
like she did her own, she ranher own business.
So, honestly, everyone thatI've always been um surrounded
by have been like go-getters andlike they always want to like.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
If they want something, they're gonna go get
it, so I'm like very lucky thatI was raised by people like that
well, I'm I'm happy to beassociated with you, because
that is me all day.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
Like, if I want to do something, I'm going to go do
it yeah.
So that's huge.
What other questions?
Speaker 3 (10:50):
What is your bachelor's degree in business as
well?
Speaker 2 (10:52):
Yes, so my bachelor's degree.
I majored in marketing andfinance and then my minor was
real estate.
Oh girl.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
Okay, she ain't playing.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
No, she ain't playing no she ain't playing it.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
It was fun, though finance is a little boring, but
marketing was really fun.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
Finance was fun too.
Speaker 1 (11:10):
I love numbers, but I just your math whiz I love math
wow, it's different.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
I don't know if it's different sitting at a table
crunching numbers all day.
It's for me?
Nah, probably not.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
Yeah, well, if you need something to fall back on,
you got something exactly justthe NBA itself is already huge,
like being able to kind of begeneral in business and go in
any lane you want to go in.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
That's huge.
What else you got right now?
Speaker 3 (11:35):
so what?
How much um?
Do you plan on working withbrands?
Speaker 2 (11:40):
I think that that is huge.
So it really depends what I doafter my MBA.
So there's three differentfields I would want to go in.
I either want to do somethinglike this, like run my own
athletic brand.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
Like, whether that be like apparel or supplements,
gym, whatever.
I've also thought aboutfollowing my grandfather's
footsteps and selling jets.
I think that'd be reallyawesome.
That's a huge dream, though.
Um, and then I also.
My lifelong dream was to alwayswork for the NFL, so I guess
with all of those you can workwith different brands.
(12:17):
I feel like if I did somethingwith athletic, like if I ran my
own athletic brand that would bemore associated with other
brands yeah but nfl could alsobe associated with other brands
too like working with I feellike in every field you work
with other brands yes even withmy dad's job, like he
collaborates with, like otherbrands for like vehicle, like
(12:38):
warranties and stuff so I feellike it goes with everything
nice don't feel any pressurewith these questions no pressure
with these questions, just likeyou know um, this like a little
general question, maybe like anopinionated answer you'll give
what makes a brand more thanjust a logo or a product?
oh, I feel like we talked aboutthis a lot yeah, we have okay.
So I feel like for a brand to bemore than a logo.
(13:02):
It's really important for abrand to be integrated with not
only their customers but thecommunities um that they're in.
I know a lot of brands that getinvolved in the community um,
specifically with fitness.
They get involved with, like,local gyms um, local restaurants
.
They do things for the people.
They'll like run 5ks um allthat stuff.
(13:25):
Get involved with charity, likethe non-profit that you do.
I think that it's reallyimportant to be a helping hand
to the people that buy yourproducts, um, because I think
it's more important to have morelike usually the relationship's
just customer and then, likeyou sell to them.
But I think it's important tofoster a relationship where it's
actually a bond and, like youcan help each other grow yeah
(13:51):
and to like just get involvedwhen should a founder step back
from being the face of the brand?
Speaker 1 (14:04):
oh well, I'll say my opinion first.
While she's and this is mypersonal opinion I think, um,
every creator, you know you, youbirth something, you birth your
baby, right?
I think that is important atsome point to hand it off and
step away from it, I think thatpoint come.
That point comes to where you.
(14:25):
That point comes when you feellike you never were going to
perfect your brand becauseyou're looking at it all in one
way, but when you feel likeyou've done enough for it.
That's when it's time forsomeone else to take it from you
so they can do more with it.
And that could be like beforeyou even launch it.
It could be like you justperfected a design and you feel
like you can go no further withit.
(14:45):
That's when it's time to handit off to someone else to look
at it so they can make theircritiques to it, because you
have this bias, you know,observation or perspective of
what you created.
At some point, you know you'regoing to be your own enemy
because you think it's the bestthing ever.
When it's probably not.
It's probably a five out of ten, and someone else can take it
to an eight.
You know it's probably a fiveout of 10.
And someone else can take it toan eight, you know.
So I think when you feel likeyou've done everything and
(15:06):
exhausted all your you knowtools to get it to a certain
point, that's when it's time tohand it off, because that was my
opinion.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
I actually completely agree.
I think that when someonefounds a business, they have
like an idea of what perfectionlooks like, and I think that you
(15:33):
have people under you workingfor you.
And I think that when you startgetting like tunnel vision and
like not letting other people'sopinions help, like build and
transform the business, I thinkthat's when you step back,
because it's important to haveas many perspectives as you can
to like grow the business asmuch as you can.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
That's huge.
That's a great answer.
So yeah, world of Athletics isthe brand that we're discussing
um and what inspired?
Speaker 3 (15:48):
okay, sorry, go ahead .
Oh, go ahead what inspired youto start this brand yo um.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
So the inspiration behind the brand is essentially,
you know, I deem mental healthor wellness as a whole as uh,
you know, an outlet for mostpeople, whether that's mental,
physical or spiritual wellness.
Also, social wellness is athing, but I saw that you know a
lot of in the past, a lot ofbrands weren't partnering with
(16:14):
or supporting mental healthorganizations to, you know, help
build the representation for it.
I think how can we supportpeople that have these mental
health, say, needs, but theycan't afford it?
And the brand kind of like justbirthed from there.
It was like okay, how can weshow people that we are
supporting and how can we bringawareness to mental health?
(16:35):
The brand itself, attached tothe nonprofit, was a way to
raise funds, get people moreinterested in what this is about
mental, physical and spiritualwellness and that's something I
think that holds dear to myheart.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
So that was like your goal when you created it.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
It was one of my outlets to express my passion of
supporting people in some formor fashion, like, how can you
get someone, how can you createsomething for somebody that you
know means something to them?
Or how can you create somethingthat can stand for something
for someone else right, like,for instance, some of the
designs that we we create.
They represent like physicalwellness or mental wellness, um,
(17:15):
depending on how you're feeling, and I want, I wanted to always
create something that couldexpress that for that individual
that couldn't express itthemselves okay, I liked it.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
Um hayden is it more important for a brand to be
consistent or adaptable intoday's fast changing world?
Speaker 2 (17:34):
I think, adaptable, with some sense of like staying
true to who the brand is.
Yeah, I think you should alwaysstay true.
I think that every brand has,like a core mission within them
that sticks with, like all theircustomers, and everyone views a
brand a certain way and I think, to a certain extent, it's
important to maintain that.
(17:56):
But I also think that it'simportant to adapt, like I think
the world's like ever changing,like people's tastes and
everything like that, so I thinkit's important to adapt to
those changes.
But I think the world's likeever changing, like people's
tastes and everything like that,so I think it's important to
adapt to those changes, but Ithink it's important to stay
true to who the brand is as wellyeah, okay, like that and I
think if there's something thata brand knows they can improve
on, like whether that be likeintroducing, like the non-profit
(18:18):
, or like getting more involvedwith people.
I think they can make thosechanges while like staying true
to themselves yeah um.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
Do you have a slogan for wellness?
So?
Speaker 1 (18:29):
our initial slogan, or is it slogan it's funny, you
talk you ask that because our um, our social media manager, we
had discussions this morning, soinitially it was, and more
right it was wellness.
It was wellness athletics is ismore right and I think
initially that's vague.
Obviously more what right?
You're gonna ask the questionmore, more what?
Um, where, where you come, likeclothes, um, I think now it's
(18:54):
more of um.
So more service is the biggestthing for us now, like how?
Speaker 3 (19:02):
do we serve in that service?
Speaker 1 (19:03):
it's, don't play, it's the brand, it's.
You said it the other day.
It all comes back to service,right?
So the brand itself and and Ikind of talked to uh, hayden and
felicia about this like thebrand itself is it's more of a
service brand.
And, right, I think when youthink of clothing brands, you
think of, you know, brands thatdrop all these cool, stylish
type of designs, which is great,we that.
(19:24):
But we want to make sure thatour mission, the clothing, is
not bigger than the mission andis not bigger than the call.
So how do we continue to pushthat?
And I think we have to do thatand we can do that through
service.
So, if the brand is serving, Ithink we're doing what we're
intended to do.
Speaker 3 (19:41):
So, yeah, Are you in like a rebranding phase?
Speaker 1 (19:44):
we're in a transition phase, yes, good.
So this new drop and this newlook, this new push for the
brand is different, and what Imean by that it is it's more of
you know.
How can we, like I go back tothat how can we serve?
And I think, more than us justbeing a clothing brand, we want
to be a service brand.
(20:05):
So there are different thingsthat we can attach ourselves to.
Obviously, mental health we'vealready done that.
We were attaching ourselves toa mental health, to a nonprofit.
But also one of the biggestholes I've seen, or the biggest
opportunities I've seen, is thata lot of nonprofits don't
really collaborate much.
So as a brand, I think, aswe're traveling this summer and
(20:27):
that's something we're going tobe doing a lot we want to kind
of connect with some of thesenonprofits.
How can we support, you know,even if it's raising money or a
percentage of what we sell fromour clothes or services, how can
we give that back to you?
I think the more people seethat other brands are doing this
, not just to one specificorganization, then they'll be
(20:49):
more inclined to do it too aswell.
So it's more about leading byexample here.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
So, Hayden, how do you think that Dr Gray can
navigate rebranding withoutlosing his existing customers?
Speaker 2 (21:02):
Okay, so I was actually just thinking about
this.
I think that the second that Iwas introduced to this brand, I
always knew that there was likea sense of community, like he's
always, you're always talking toeveryone at the gym, like
everyone always has very goodthings to say about you and the
brand I can't stand Justin, butI love it.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
There's very good things to say about you and the
brand.
I can't stand Justin.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
I know, but I love the brand.
No, but I think everyone has alot of respect and it has only
good things to say about you andthe brand and I think that you
did a really good job,especially even when you were
starting out building acommunity.
I think attaching thenon-profit to it was also a big
step.
Yeah, and I think that wehaven't really done a lot with
(21:49):
the transition phase yet, but Ithink ever since you even
started, it's been transitioningthe whole time yes, so I think
that you've always stayed trueto keeping it well within, like
the community, and making that areally important part.
Um, whenever I go into crunch Ialways see people wearing the
apparel and they all know whoyou are, like one of my really
(22:10):
good friends, rea.
She's awesome, like she knowshim it's just like a really big
community and I think thatthat's always stayed true to who
the brand is and I think whenwe travel this summer and like,
still go through that transition, I think that it's just going
to build upon still making it acommunity just like a bigger one
yeah
Speaker 3 (22:27):
absolutely yeah, I've had someone ask me hey, where's
justin?
The one with the brand one withthe brand like um, he's not
here.
I can't tell you where he is,but he's not here with the brand
.
Um, what's something aboutbuilding a brand that no one
talks about?
Speaker 1 (22:44):
oh, the struggle in the building process.
I think there's a lot ofsacrifice and you have to really
choose and sometimes you don'thave a control, but you have to
choose.
If you can choose what youyou're going to sacrifice in the
beginning.
A lot of times you're going tosacrifice more than you expect
yeah if you're truly trying toget it to the place it needs to
(23:05):
be.
The second thing is I don'tthink most people know in terms
of clothing brands, I don'tthink people know the clothing
brand is not that profitablebrand, it's business.
The business is not profitablebecause it's so saturated.
A lot of people have clothingbrands and then the big brands
themselves are already doing somuch.
(23:26):
It's kind of hard to find yourown niche unless you are like,
extremely creative or you have adifferent vision for your brand
.
So, like even everyone that Italk to that are like they're
wanting to start a brand, I telllike, hey, make sure that
you're attaching something elseto this and nothing is taken
personal when you're startingthis because you're going to see
, you're going to go into itlike wide eyed oh, this is great
(23:48):
.
You're going to start seeinglike, ok, this is a little bit
more difficult than I thought.
I'm not saying that to makeanyone quit.
I think it's still a greatthing.
Is your passion about it isstill a great thing is, if
you're passionate about it, um,but also like, even if you're
trying to come up with a productlike you talked about, you know
athletic wear or somethingdealing with you know nfl or
something like that.
(24:09):
Don't limit yourself to what youhave to offer, because I think
that's what we we're doing.
We're wiring our reach like howdo we find?
And then once we, how do wefind something that we are, we
can get good at and that ismissing, that has its own lane.
Basically, you have to widenyour reach.
First, don't be too specific,because in that case it will be
(24:30):
a lot harder for you to grow.
And that's my personal opinionand that's why you've seen us
like with some of the drops.
They're essentially on par witha trend, like the camouflage
drop.
It was on par with the trend ofcamouflage being in, but we we
tailored it to where it wasstill our thing, so it was kind
of like a branch off of thattrend, but we still rode the
(24:51):
trend.
So I think it's it's importantto kind of be a little bit
broader with your reach and notso specific, unless you feel
like, unless you're kimkardashian if you're whatever
you want, if you have, if you'rea celebrity, oh, whatever you
want, you got because youalready have the, the following,
the reach, and you can dowhatever you want.
But if you're starting from thebottom, attach something to what
(25:12):
your brand is.
It needs to have meaning.
I mean because, at the end ofthe day, people like you're
saying they connect with thatyeah, yeah, connect yeah so um
yeah I think that's.
That's what I would say aboutthat I'll go ahead sorry.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
I think like also going off of that, like watching
my dad run his business, um,and my mom.
I think that a big thing thatcomes with it is fear, and I I
think that fear makes peoplescared to do things that they
need to do, to, like, reach thenext level, like they're scared
to take that step or they're ata crossroads and they don't know
which way to go, and I thinkthat fear is something your
(25:50):
brand could be so much biggerand better than it is, and I
think fear like is kind ofwhat's the word like it's, it
hinders you.
Speaker 1 (25:58):
Yeah yeah, that's true.
Fear, man, and kind of that'swhat we talked about from our
last pod, like we did a pod.
We were talking about like fearand faith, like just having
that, that mindset that you cando whatever you want you put
your mind to, but that feardefinitely hinders you and like
fear of failure.
Speaker 2 (26:15):
I remember someone that, like I like look up to a
lot.
He said he was like I'm reallyscared um to fail but, I think
that that comes with likeeverything that could be great,
like there's always a chancethat you're gonna fail yeah and
like even if you do fail, likeyou just learn from it there you
go.
Speaker 1 (26:31):
Yes, that is, that is huge.
You just said that it's a goodquestion what's the classroom?
Speaker 3 (26:38):
um steps of building a brand.
Ooh.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
Classroom steps.
Speaker 2 (26:43):
What's a classroom?
Speaker 1 (26:43):
step Like from MBA.
Speaker 3 (26:45):
Yeah, oh.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
Not you engineer.
Okay, I need a second to thinkabout that.
I don't know specifically thesteps, but I think a lot of what
MBA has taught me is thatconnections are everything.
So once you come up with anidea, it's important to network
(27:09):
and like find people that aregonna help you, and like people
that want to like be there foryou and help you, um like go out
of their way essentially tohelp you build your brand.
Um, and then, along with that,obviously there's all like the
marketing and the finances andyou have to build.
I think it's taught me like themost important thing about
building a brand is like thepeople that you have behind you
that's important um to likesupport you like, you need to
(27:31):
have people that are like veryreliable.
I think that it's hard to find.
I think to find ethical peopleis the most important part,
because having to find peoplethat are always going to do the
right thing is hard in today'sworld.
But I do think that findingpeople that are going to do the
right thing no matter if it'snecessarily the right thing for
(27:53):
them, but like they have to dowhat's right for the brand.
So I think finding people likethat is really important.
So I guess, like find people tosupport you and finding people
that are always going to do theright thing, it's important,
okay, I think that that's.
I think that finding goodpeople that are going to work
hard is more important thanfinding the best person at the
(28:14):
job.
Speaker 3 (28:14):
Oh my god, I can rent like yeah, an hour about that
so, justin, what were the thingsthat led you to how you built
your brand?
Speaker 1 (28:24):
initially the vision and, I think, after the vision,
communicating that and findingsupport.
I think a lot of peopleentrepreneurial, who that want
to be entrepreneurs, they theylook at like, oh, I gotta do all
of this and they try to put,they try to carry a lot of that
by themselves, when you know,it's always great to find great
support, but that's thedifficult part is finding
(28:44):
individuals that will supportyour brand or that is, they have
great intentions and I thinkthat's an important piece.
But it started with a vision.
Finding out, you know, making agame plan of what the mission
for the brand is A second piece.
So I had a vision for the brand.
Now, what is the mission?
Like what?
What do I want the brand tostand for?
(29:05):
What do I want it to do?
Um, once I figured that pieceout then it was like, okay, cool
, how can I create somethingthat no one else has?
What is our lane?
So you know, I begin to havelike different inspirations
behind the brand.
Like, okay, cool, like I, likethis type of brand, like dark
sports, I like you know, like um, la, these are cool brands, but
(29:25):
how can we stand out and createour own lane?
So I think a lot of it was likeoh cool, let me express how I
feel and maybe even partner withsomeone and collab with them
and see how they feel, andexpress and created a design
that actually people would enjoyyou know, watching or wearing.
(29:47):
And then from there it was likeOK, finances, what makes sense?
How do you back this brand withyou know the finances, and
where do you go to get thefinances if you don't have it?
I was lucky to kind of likealways have a job and income, so
I saved up a good bit to topush the brand and and put in it
.
And I think that is importantthat most people don't
(30:08):
understand Like you need to makesure that you are financially
in a place to launch yourself orlaunch your brand, because if
not, you're just going to belike you know, pushing yourself
in more debt and you don't wantthat.
Speaker 3 (30:22):
But yeah, so how?
How are you standing out?
Because you said that themarket is kind of oversaturated.
So how do you stand out?
Besides, like, well, I thinkyou have a great um, what's the
word identity?
No, like you have a lot ofdifferent people that rock your
(30:44):
brand.
I literally see them and I belike, oh he know, justin.
Speaker 1 (30:47):
That's how I know, they know you, they know Justin.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
I think the same thing, all the people who know
Jerry Master.
I'm like, wow, look at allthese people, look at all these
WA's up here.
Speaker 3 (30:59):
Look at all that camo going on.
Oh my God, yeah, looking atthese wa's up here look at all
that camo going on.
Speaker 1 (31:04):
Oh my god, yeah, um what's your question?
How do you?
Speaker 3 (31:07):
stand out in the overcrowded or over.
So it's difficult.
Speaker 1 (31:12):
I'm gonna say this like there are a lot of brands
that copy other brands, like weeven have dupes, if you want to
call them of other brands, butthey have a great quality andes,
if you want to call them, ofother brands, but they have a
great quality.
And I think that's the otherdifficult part in terms of
standing out, because everybodyis copying everyone, like once
someone has a great product,they can go overseas and get
(31:34):
like an exact duplicate of what.
That is right and, I'm going tobe honest, it's easy to do that
.
But in terms of standing out, Ithink the standing out part is
basically, I would say, justhaving a meaning behind what
you're doing, like always havinga tone or a theme about where
you're dropping and why thestruggle or a reason behind
(32:02):
something, because that makesthem feel a little bit more
relatable to you and your brand.
For instance, if you look at alot of the trendy brands now I
go back to Dark Sports they havea brand and they do some
collabs with anime.
A lot of people love anime.
It's like oh, if you collabwith something that people can
(32:23):
relate to, because they wereraised on that type of stuff,
they're gonna buy it.
They really don't even care howit looks, they're just like oh,
this is my favorite, you knowcharacter, I'm gonna buy it.
So, uh, finding things peoplecan relate to, whether that is
you know, you know anime or orother different type of things
that you can see.
What do, do you think, hayden?
Speaker 2 (32:41):
Okay, I just want to say I can reference other brands
, right.
Speaker 1 (32:43):
Yes, okay.
Speaker 2 (32:45):
So I really like Define and I was telling you
this On the inside of theirclothing it has a little line
and it says let no one defineyou.
And I think that that's reallycool because it's something
that's really subtle, but Ithink, like let no one define
you, it's just like a littlephrase that like pushes you and
like on the days where you don'tfeel like doing anything, like
(33:05):
you read that and you're likeready to go.
So I think that like um, havinglittle things like that they
remind people like their purposeand their reason for doing
something and always motivatemotivating them is good.
And then also like in localbrands like five star nutrition,
every time I go in therethey're so friendly, they always
remember like who everyone isand they always like they're
(33:26):
like how are you doing?
And I think it's reallyimportant.
We sound like a broken record,but like again, like connecting
with the people.
That you're selling to.
I think it's really importantbecause I walk in there and I
feel like they're actually likeTrying to help me, not just
trying to sell me a product, andlike trying to do what's best
for me and for them.
So I think that that's reallyimportant too nice what's the
(33:48):
question?
Speaker 3 (33:49):
I haven't been there in so long.
I haven't either.
Speaker 2 (33:51):
Honestly, oh, man, but I like when I used to go
like they would always be sohelpful and so nice I used to be
like, get on these things soyou can see how much body fat
you got.
I'm like I don't want to get onthat thing.
Speaker 3 (34:03):
I got time, baby, I gotta go.
Speaker 2 (34:05):
Thank you, I'm not taking my shoes off to get on
that thing.
Speaker 1 (34:08):
I'm in and out, I gotta go.
They trying to sell you as aproduct, man.
Speaker 3 (34:11):
They want to care, they care yeah, they care they
care, get on this thing cool,it's okay, I'll go by how my
clothes fit I don't care aboutnone of that, um, how has
working in branding shaped yourview of business as a whole,
both of y'all you want to gofirst, hey?
Speaker 2 (34:31):
wait, can you repeat that one more time?
Speaker 3 (34:32):
how has working in branding shaped your view of
business as a whole branding asin like what do you mean?
Well working with a brand, solike maybe, maybe you should go
first because you have a brand,yeah, so how has working?
How has working with your brandshaped your view of business as
a whole?
Speaker 1 (34:51):
um, I think it's, I would say it.
It has emphasized that.
I want to say service.
But service is important.
Connection, a connection isimportant.
It's emphasized, like thingswe've already kind of talked
about.
It's like you know, peopleconnect with you, know what's
(35:12):
relatable, obviously, but alsoif they see you, you are there
and you're serving in some formor fashion, they'll they'll
connect with that.
So I think just it showed methat service industry in general
, if you're talking aboutrestaurants or retail, a lot of
those industries are likeChick-fil-A, like you know, if
you think about what kind ofpushed them over the edge
(35:33):
outside of the chicken beingpretty good service they have
and they don't innovate anywhereelse outside of service right
now.
If you think about it, if youlook at how they initially
started serving people to theircars, now they're probably every
location is investing in theirtraffic in the way that you know
their customers move in and outof their, their facility.
(35:55):
That's service.
So they're optimizing serviceand I think that's why they're
still growing to this day andthey're still like one of the
number one fast food restaurantsBecause they're optimizing
service and a lot of peopledon't see that.
But if you can optimize serviceand constantly do it.
Oh man, you're going to havelike customers for life.
Speaker 2 (36:17):
So yeah, like always getting better, yeah, always
improving.
Speaker 3 (36:19):
I agree.
Speaker 2 (36:21):
Um, I think I've worked um for a lot of different
businesses, like a lot ofdifferent food places, um, for
my dad.
I think that the most importantthing that I've noticed in
business again is like theconnections that you make with
people.
I think, like making someonelaugh, asking again, asking how
they're doing.
I think it's all about how youlike I think the people you have
(36:45):
working for you portrays whoyou are as a business and I
think that's how people aregoing to see you.
And I also think that, watchingentrepreneurs, they always know
who is going to put their bestfoot forward, like not only like
welcoming and customers andlike making people feel welcome
and building those connections,because that is so important.
But I also think they know whois always going to try and
improve and who is going to workhard and like who's going to
(37:09):
pick up shifts and who's goingto like come work overtime and
like do all that.
They always know who's going todo that.
No matter if you think they door they don't, they know who the
hard workers are.
So I think that, from workingin several different businesses,
the most important things thatI have learned is it's important
to always work hard, but alsolike put your best foot forward
(37:31):
and like put on a happy facewhen you go into work and always
like welcome everybody in andalways like welcome everybody in
.
Speaker 1 (37:38):
Yeah, I think, because you never know, you're
always in another interview,somebody's always watching you.
So you could be interviewingfor another job without even
knowing it.
Speaker 3 (37:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (37:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (37:48):
What else you got?
What's a failure or setbackthat ended up being a turning
point for you?
Man that's a deep one.
Speaker 2 (37:57):
It's not that deep A failure or setback.
I think I have one one.
Oh, let's go, okay.
So when I was a senior, I waslooking for jobs.
Got none no job offers, um.
So that's actually what led meto apply to grad school, and I
think that's the best thing thatI ever did.
I think that it was a reallygood thing for me and I was
(38:18):
really upset that I didn't get ajob and I was like ready to go
and like start my life.
So it was really hard, um, butI think that staying here, I
have met so many amazing people,um, I have learned so much and
like built a lot of connections.
I'm really actually glad thatit happened that way.
Even though in the moment itwas really hard and it seemed
(38:40):
like not the best outcome, Ithink that it worked out in my
favor nice, wow, what was thequestion?
Speaker 1 (38:45):
again, I like to make her repeat things.
She's awesome, you're awesome.
Speaker 3 (38:51):
What's the okay, thanks.
What's a failure or setbackthat ended up being a turning
point?
Speaker 1 (38:57):
in business.
Speaker 3 (38:58):
It could be in business me specifically, with
wellness and what is athleticsum failure or setback I would
say, not failing over here.
Speaker 1 (39:08):
Right setback.
I think it would go into likebringing associating with the
wrong type of people.
I think that there have been alot of setbacks with that and
and it is also because, as anentrepreneur, you have to learn
a lesson of how to choose theright people yeah you don't know
in the beginning, becauseyou're like so bent on, like
(39:31):
getting to a certain point anddoing something that sometimes
you're blinded by the personwanting to be there versus them
actually being there for adifferent type of reason.
And, um, you have to very, verywell just be aware of that,
because sometimes you'll getused, which is cool, because
that's part of business, a partof the process.
But I don't see it as a failure.
(39:52):
I think it's like a learningcurve, like OK, cool, this is
not the type of person I wouldwant working for the business.
This is not the type of personI would want working for the
business.
This is not a type of person Iwant to be associated with, with
the business, and I think thathas been like one of the
setbacks is kind of figuring outthe right people and and moving
forward with those individualsyeah, I think that who you
(40:15):
associate with um is veryimportant.
Speaker 3 (40:17):
Yeah.
I realized that too, it's noteven just in business and life
in general.
Speaker 2 (40:23):
Life, yes, yeah, I think that's like the most
important part about life is whoyou are and who you surround
yourself with yes, because, yeah, we don't even have to go into.
Speaker 1 (40:34):
That could be a whole podcast.
We'll do it later.
We'll let Hayden just take thatone um Hayden.
Speaker 3 (40:41):
What role does personal branding play in
building a company brand so like?
Speaker 2 (40:46):
okay so I kind of just talked about that.
I think that your personalbrand is everything.
I think that, um, I say like,put on a happy face when you go
into work, but I think that Ithink that your true colors
always come out.
So, like, I think that yourtrue colors always come out, so
I think that your personal brandis everything, and if you are
truly happy and at peace withyourself, you're going to put on
(41:10):
that face every day at work,because that's just who you are,
and I think that's important.
Also, in your personal brand,your work ethic is really
important, obviously when you'reworking.
So I think that having likeyour attitude is everything,
whether that is being positive,being happy, caring for people,
(41:31):
working hard All of those arereally important things that
play into a business, and Ithink that in order for a
business to like grow and thrive, you need people that are going
(41:51):
to want to like work hard, gothe extra mile and like actually
care about the business.
Like care about themselves butalso care about the business and
, like I said before, doingwhat's right by the business
sometimes like most of the timeover what's best for yourself,
like you always need to dowhat's ethical and like just
like doing the right thing allthe time.
I think that that is likereally important and, ultimately
, like the people that work fora business are going to be the
face of the business and that'swho is going to be attracting
(42:14):
your customers.
Speaker 1 (42:15):
Yeah, that's good, hmm, um.
Speaker 3 (42:17):
Yeah, that's good, mm .
Hmm.
Um, how do you think achallenger brand success can
successfully position itselfagainst like another brand?
Speaker 1 (42:32):
How do you say it again?
Speaker 3 (42:34):
Yeah, like a rival brand, Like how can a challenger
brand successfully positionitself against even not even
just what other leaders?
So, like you are and you mayhave already answered it when I
might be just asking it in adifferent way but like you're
competing and I put that inquotation marks- with
competition other.
(42:55):
So how do you, how do youposition yourself?
I?
Speaker 2 (43:00):
I think the big thing with like wellness and
athletics is like the fact thatthere's that aspect of like the
nonprofit and the mental healthand like the community.
I think that that's what likesets it apart from other brands
and how they can likeout-compete, like define or like
navigation, because like thoseare just brands that are selling
(43:20):
a product but they don't havethat other aspect of like the
connecting part yeah, I thinkalso and this is something I
kind of got from talking tohayden a while back it's like
the story, our story, we don't.
Speaker 1 (43:32):
I don't think we did a good job and I don't think I
did a good job with expressingthe story behind it and showing
people, like, what is reallygoing on, how do we, how we got,
how do we get from here tothere?
Uh, because a lot of peopledon't know much, much about me.
They don't know that you know,I'm actually a engineer by trade
and you know, like I have otherdifferent things that I, I, um,
(43:55):
I do but as.
But more than anything like,why did it start?
When did it start, I?
When did it start?
I think we could have did abetter job at that.
If we did that, that would havebeen a better positioning for
us to kind of say, okay, cool,now people would look at us
versus just looking at the bigbrands out there.
I think that's a betterposition is expressing your
story, telling your story.
Speaker 3 (44:16):
Have you gotten a lot of feedback and if so, what
kind of feedback do you get?
Speaker 1 (44:22):
regarding your brand.
Um consistency, we have beeninconsistent with our posting
and that's all me.
I'm gonna be 100.
Speaker 3 (44:28):
Anything, any of our weaknesses is me because you
were working on something forsure but there's no excuses.
Speaker 1 (44:36):
True, I think, in trans, like, like hayden said,
we're always in transition.
I think it's good always be intransition because you're
constantly building, you'reconstantly trying to evolve and
be the best, the better versionof yourself, um, but yeah, I
think, yeah, feedback we get isconsistency.
Uh, new drops, like we loveyour drops.
Why don't you guys do differentcolors?
Speaker 3 (44:57):
um, yeah, things like that where do you see the brand
in five years?
Speaker 1 (45:01):
oh, five years, man, five years.
I see the brand like 30, right.
I see the brand like everyoneknows his identity.
Everyone knows and canrecognize with that logo, of
that wellness athletics logo,like okay, I know what that is
yeah, yeah, definitely.
Speaker 3 (45:20):
Um, how do you balance growth with brand
integrity?
Like you know, sometimes peopletalk about certain brands and
they're like the the ingredients, are they not as good?
So?
Speaker 1 (45:36):
um, not being cheap curry, yeah.
Second is and this is somethingthat we are I think we're going
to dive into is like how do wefind individuals that actually
can, you know, can body thebrand, versus just us
communicating with someone thatis just out here just?
Speaker 2 (45:55):
for anything.
Speaker 1 (45:57):
And they have like an entire different persona and it
doesn't, you know, correlatewith the brand.
Speaker 2 (46:02):
So yeah, so I think that's, if you want to make some
say something on that, youcould I agree, like I think that
the people that we bring onboard, like for photo shoots or
whatnot, or like working on thebrand, like it's important that
they also value the same things,that the mission of the brand
is, like the mental healthaspect, um that they like value
fitness, like wellness, mentalhealth all of that I think it's
(46:24):
important that everyone that webring on board also values that
so is it?
Speaker 3 (46:28):
but for as far as that's the the background of the
brand, like to make the enginerun, yeah, but as far as like
wearing it, that's anybody isopen to it.
They're going to buy it, theycan wear it.
Speaker 1 (46:43):
What do you mean by that?
Speaker 3 (46:44):
Like you don't.
I'm saying like you, you don'tcare who wears your brand, no,
it's just who represents it.
Speaker 2 (46:50):
Yeah, I think like, to a certain extent, like your
customers, represent your brand.
But I also think that thepeople that buy your brand
usually represent kind of whatthe mission is, because they're
drawn to your brand, by yourmission.
Speaker 1 (47:06):
I agree just wondering that was a good
question how do you definesuccess?
Speaker 3 (47:15):
I want both of y'all to answer this, and it's not
just a financial or emotionalthing.
I am beating a dead horse here,but I want both of y'all to
answer this, and it's not just afinancial or emotional thing.
Speaker 2 (47:21):
I am beating a dead horse here.
Speaker 3 (47:23):
Yeah, she's going to say you already know what.
Speaker 1 (47:25):
I'm going to say we know what your beliefs are now.
Speaker 2 (47:28):
I think that success is defined by how you represent
yourself and how you treatothers.
And should I go like deeperinto that again?
And should I go like deeperinto that again, like?
I think that success is definedby, like the way that you care
about yourself and care aboutothers, um, and all of the
values that you say that youembody.
(47:50):
I feel like you need toactually like put that into
action, not just say that, um, Ithink that a lot of people
recognize like who people are asa person, and I think it's
important to show people thatyou care yeah, I agree and
always stay true to your moralsand your ethics.
I think that love is reallyimportant caring, working hard,
(48:13):
kindness I think that thatkindness.
I think that is success I'mworking on it.
Speaker 1 (48:16):
I'm all that, I think I'll be short.
I think success to me is man, Ijust got stuck that quick.
I had it, but it just left me,so I'll try to just play around.
So I think success to me,individual success, is just
realizing something that is ofvalue to you and accomplishing
(48:41):
that versus, you know, comparingyour outcome and the reward
with someone else's outcome ortheir reward.
So I think it's just more ofindividual success.
It's more of like what yourealize is of value to you and
you accomplishing that.
Speaker 3 (48:58):
Okay, yeah, so you, hayden.
You say you've worked withbrands and businesses.
Yes, what's your dream?
Collab, ooh, Ooh, my dreamcollab.
Speaker 2 (49:13):
I love Define.
Speaker 3 (49:15):
Wait but.
Speaker 2 (49:16):
I more than Define.
I love Dark Sport.
Speaker 1 (49:18):
Dark Sport is dope I think they're so awesome.
Speaker 2 (49:20):
I think that they do things that no other brand ever
does.
They host like competitions,they take, they do brand trips.
Like every single drop thatthey do has like some sort of
meaning.
I was wearing like a dark sporttop today.
It has all sorts of slogans,like I think I told you this
like whenever you go on thereand like there's something that
(49:41):
pops up and it's like I thinkit's to sign up for their text
or something and it's like nevergive up yeah, like everything
that they do, every single partof their website, has, like some
sort of meaning to it and Ireally like that part of um dark
sport and, like every athlete,that embodies their brand um,
like I know embodies theirmission too.
Speaker 1 (50:00):
Nice.
So dark.
Sports is never give up, anddefine is never define.
Let no one define you so that.
Speaker 2 (50:08):
I think defines more about being your own individual
and like being confident inyourself, I guess.
Speaker 1 (50:13):
They don't make guy clothes there.
Speaker 2 (50:15):
Define, I don't know Okay.
Speaker 1 (50:17):
I don't think so.
Speaker 2 (50:17):
I don't know, but dark sport.
Speaker 3 (50:19):
I think she's not clicking on that tab.
Fine, I don't know.
Okay, I don't think.
Speaker 2 (50:22):
So I don't know, but dark sport, I think I think,
dark sport is more like pushthrough hard times yeah, that's
good, that's good, that's a goodquestion cool dream collab
dream collab, yeah oh not even.
Speaker 1 (50:33):
Not even with the brand, like maybe with the
person person um dream, um dreamcollab with like what would it
be?
Clothing, what would it be?
Speaker 3 (50:44):
put him the way you close oh um the rock, of course.
Oh, if the rock would just wearone shirt oh, have you done his
leg day huh, have you done hisleg?
I have never done?
Speaker 1 (50:54):
have you done his leg day crazy?
Oh yeah, but the rock.
For sure I like I like him, Ilike what he stands for I love
the rock and I love where he'scome from and I think that's
that's the biggest thing is likethat grind to get to where he
is.
Speaker 2 (51:07):
So the rock would be a dream and at the same time
he's like funny.
I think he's so funny.
Speaker 1 (51:12):
Oh yeah, he's funny, see being funny like what's
better than that oh, okay, wedon't have to talk about guys.
Here you guys are, don't do it,you guys are um, what's your,
what's been your biggest ahamoment?
Speaker 3 (51:26):
or like something that's clicked for you while
studying business?
Speaker 2 (51:31):
oh, I think that there's not.
I think everyone in their early20s especially is so focused on
trying to figure out what do Iwant to do?
What do I want to do.
I feel lost and I think thebiggest thing I actually talked
to my friends Sophie and Feliciaabout this like every day we,
we all always say like we needto, like slow down.
(51:51):
Anything you do in life canchange, like you're never stuck
in anything.
A lot of my friends in their20s that don't like their jobs.
I'm like that's okay, just youcan change what you're doing,
even though it's scary.
Um, so I think the biggestthing is like just knowing that
there's always a path, adifferent path, that you can go
on and nothing's ever set inplace and you can come back from
(52:12):
any anything what's been yourbiggest aha moment, um kind of?
Speaker 1 (52:17):
like piggybacking off of her, like just viewing
things as a stepping stone and apart of the process, I think a
lot of times people see thingsas difficult so they don't start
it.
But if you have that moment towhere he's like, okay, cool, I
want to get this done and hereare the things I have to do to
to get there, and just viewingthose as a part of the process
will get you a lot further,because your mindset will be
(52:40):
already set and you won'tbasically, you know, sabotage
yourself in the beginning by notstarting.
If you're just thinking aboutit as difficult or hard and I
think a lot of people do that'swhy they don't start their
brands, that's why they don't,you know, shoot for a different
career.
It's like they fail before theyget started and a lot of that
is in that mindset.
Speaker 2 (52:58):
Yeah, I feel before they get started and a lot of
that is in that mindset.
Yeah, I feel like when you lookat things in like such a big
picture um or get zoomed in.
Speaker 1 (53:08):
I don't know which one like it can be daunting.
Speaker 2 (53:09):
Yeah, now I guess you have to zoom out and like just
notice that you have to take itday by day and like.
The end goal is a lot, but eachstep that you take is small I
think that makes it easier.
Speaker 3 (53:18):
I think that makes it easier.
What's um?
To close it out like what?
What is Some advice that youwould give someone that is
wanting to?
It might be like A circle backfrom what you said before, but
some advice you'd give Someonethat is wants to be like when
you are.
They need to be careful, though, because you wear a lot of hats
(53:40):
, sure Well.
Speaker 1 (53:40):
I mean to be like where you are.
I would say they need to becareful, though, because you
wear a lot of hats, sure?
Well, I mean then I, who elsebetter?
to give them some advice I wouldsay um, don't, don't get
drowned or don't swim too muchinto what, how to be successful,
I would say focus or swim morein the fact of how not to quit
something.
(54:01):
I think a lot of times andpeople don't realize this, but
we're more, most people are moreinclined to quit than anything
versus inclined to be successful.
But anyways, yeah.
But I think you know the adviceI would give is like unlearn
quitting If you've been quitting.
Unlearn it If you haven't.
Youarn it if you haven't.
(54:21):
You know, if you don't quit,that's good because that means
you can work through something.
You're always in the long game.
I think personally, for me, thereason I've been able to
accomplish, you know, finish myPhD, start a business because
I'm always in the long game, butI'm also never in a quitting
game.
So I know that I'm going tocontinue to work at it, chip at
(54:41):
it until I get there.
I'm never quitting.
I may fail.
Failing is good because I canlearn from that, but if I quit,
I'm never going to go back to it.
So I think unlearning the artof quitting it should be a book.
Maybe we'll just write that wedon't know how to quit around
here unlearning the art ofquitting, and you know, just
keeping that mindset.
You don't have to to quitaround here learning the art of
(55:01):
quitting, and you know justkeeping that mindset.
You don't have to always keepthe success mindset, just don't
quit.
If you start something, keep,keep at it, play the long game
and just chip at it.
You want to go.
Speaker 2 (55:12):
I think, going off of that, I think that living in
the present is really important,and I think that, um, I know I
get caught up living in a worldof like anxiety, and I think
that, um, I know I get caught upliving in a world of like
anxiety, and I think that, um,it's important for everyone to
realize that there is a presentmoment and everything will work
out the way it's supposed to,and we need to not get so caught
up in either worrying about thepast or worrying about the
(55:32):
future.
Um, as long as you worry aboutwhat's happening right now,
everything will like fall intoplace and work out that's so
true, man.
Speaker 1 (55:41):
That's.
That is my mantra for the theyear of 2025 like being present.
Speaker 2 (55:46):
Yes, I'm bad at it being so present.
Speaker 1 (55:49):
It's man.
Speaker 3 (55:49):
All right, I could talk about it for days, but that
is good talk about anything fordays for sure I like that,
though not like not being afraidto fail yeah or not, even if
you do feel like it's not theend of the world that's like
where I'm living.
Speaker 1 (56:04):
That's what I'm going through now.
Speaker 3 (56:05):
So yeah, it's like yeah, life goes on.
Speaker 2 (56:09):
It does.
Life always will go on, nomatter what, with or without you
yeah, all right so you gotanything you want to say, or
that was no that was itden.
Speaker 1 (56:17):
Do you want to give everyone your social media
handles so they can?
Speaker 2 (56:20):
know you're fine.
Okay, my Instagram is Hayden RYJones.
That's about it, instagram.
Speaker 1 (56:27):
Instagram, instagram's all I got really All
right, guys, you want to giveus our?
Speaker 3 (56:33):
Good, bad, great on TikTok, and the good, the bad
and the great on Instagram andYouTube, and the good, the bad
and the great On Instagram andYouTube and what I don't know.
The wellness, it's justwellness.
Yes.
Speaker 1 (56:45):
So what is at wellness and athletics Dot com,
if you're, if you're shopping,and at wellness athletics On
Instagram, tiktok, and we'reprobably gonna be Doing some
more YouTube.
With that being said, be on thelookout for me and Hayden.
We're going to be possibly inyour city this summer.
We're going to be traveling,we're going to be doing some fun
stuff Gym crawls, coffeeratings, maybe some restaurant
(57:09):
food reviews, some fun stuff soyou guys can get to know us and
the brand a little bit more.
I'm excited about it.
Like Aaron said, like, share,subscribe, follow us on any of
those platforms and yeah, we areout.
Speaker 2 (57:26):
Bye, bye everybody.
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