What if the bravest promise a father can make isn’t “I’d die for my kids,” but “I’ll live for them”? That line sits at the center of our conversation with Dr. Jarett Stopforth—a scientist, founder, and devoted dad whose journey runs from Zimbabwe and South Africa to Seattle, with stops in academia, startups, and a few blistering hikes that reset his bond with his kids.
We dig into the values that shaped him—humility from a preacher father, grit from a mother who crossed class lines—and how those roots guide the way he co‑parents with intention and generosity. Jared opens up about reframing divorce as an opportunity to go all‑in on fatherhood, trading convenience for presence, and using travel to teach empathy and gratitude. He also breaks down a practical health blueprint for modern dads: high‑protein nutrition, daily steps, strength training, more sleep and sunlight, and less alcohol. Then we get into men’s health at a deeper level—why testosterone matters, how today’s lifestyle suppresses it, and what it looks like to support your body’s natural systems before considering hormones.
From the origin story of 21 Again to the choice to protect weekends and summers at all costs, this is a story about building a life strong enough to carry the people you love. If you’ve felt drained, distant, or stuck on autopilot, you’ll leave with a clear, doable plan to reclaim energy, show up with patience, and create the kind of memories your kids will remember.
Hit play, share with a friend who needs a nudge, and if this conversation helps, subscribe and leave a review so more dads can find it.
Please don't forget to leave us a review wherever you consume your podcasts! Please help us get more dads to listen weekly and become the ultimate leader of their homes!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_02 (00:03):
Hi, I'm Riley, and I'm Renner, and this is my dad's
show.
Hey everybody, it's Casey Jaccoxwith the Quarterback Dadcast.
Welcome to season six, and Icannot be more excited to have
you join me for another year offantastic episodes of
conversations with unscriptedand raw and authentic
(00:24):
conversations with dads.
If you're new to this podcast,it's really it is simple.
It's a podcast where weinterview dads, we learn about
how they were raised, we learnabout the life lessons that were
important to them, we learnabout the values that are
important to them, and really welearn about how we can work hard
to become a better quarterbackor leader of our home.
So let's sit back, relax, andlisten to today's episode of the
Quarterback Deadcast.
(00:54):
Thank you for your continuedsupport.
We've talked to over 315 dads,everybody, on our quest towards
a thousand, um, which I knowit's gonna happen and it's it's
exciting and secrets to noteverybody every time I interview
a guest, I get free therapy.
So I hope that you come withthat mindset as well that I'm
here to learn, uh, not only as ahost, but as a dad.
(01:15):
I want to learn from my guest umjust to ways to become better,
better husband, better father,better, better friend, better
person, um, really embracingvalues that are important to me,
which are humility,vulnerability, and curiosity.
So, with that, I'm excited tointroduce our next guest, Mr.
Dr.
Jared Stopforth, who ironicallyis from Seattle.
We're both on like a Zoom typefeature right now.
(01:36):
Shout out to Zencaster, butwe're doing this virtually.
And uh we're gonna learn today,not only is Jared the the
founder of many startups,specifically one he's he's
working on right now called 21and again, which we'll learn
more in the end, but he's he'salso a dad.
And we're gonna learn how howJared's working hard to become
an ultimate quarterback orleader of his household.
So further ado, Jarrett, welcometo the quarterback dad cast.
(01:57):
Thank you, Casey.
Nice to meet you.
Yeah, you bet, man.
Do you ever seen uh Spies LikeUs randomly?
No.
Oh, it's a great movie.
There's a Chevy Chase, DanAykroyd back in like the 80s.
Uh-uh.
But now I will.
Well, yeah, and there's a great,but if specifically the reason
I'm saying this is you're gonnalearn this about me.
I'm very random and goofy.
(02:18):
Whenever there's uh a doctor,there's a spot where they
pretend they're doctors, and sothey have this phrase that's
like doctor, doctor, doctor anddoctor.
It is it's like if once you seeit, you'd be like, ah, that's
what that guy was talking about.
But it's great.
Anyway, I digress.
Uh, we always start out eachepisode gratitude.
Uh Jared, so tell me what areyou most grateful for as a dad
today?
SPEAKER_01 (02:38):
Well, as a dad, Casey, uh, the health of my
kids.
I mean, I think uh any dad wouldsay that is uh the health of
your kids, number one.
Um that usually uh is followedby their happiness, whether it
is the sports that they'replaying or uh the friends that
they have or the activities thatthey're doing, right?
Uh I think one of the thingsthat uh as any dad would know is
(03:02):
when you go to bed at night, youyou say to yourself, like, was
this a good day?
Right?
Was this a good day?
Was it a good day for them?
Uh, and what can I do bettertomorrow?
Right.
And that's always my mindsetwhen I go to bed at night is
what can I do better for my kidsum tomorrow?
And in fact, I I spent thiswhole week.
Um I turned 48 this week.
(03:22):
Uh I spent this whole weekworking through a living will
durable power of attorney,setting up a trust, and and just
trying to get all that stufftogether, thinking to myself,
like, hey, there should be noquestions um when the time
comes, because it will, right?
Uh, and so, you know, I think uhtheir health is first and
(03:45):
foremost, and then of coursetheir happiness every night I go
to bed.
SPEAKER_02 (03:48):
Yeah, no, that's that's good, man.
It's I think it's those are youknow, someone could say, oh,
those are cliches, but they'renot.
I think you have to really slowdown and and be in the moment
and believe those things becausetime is all we got and in it,
and um um being present.
Um we've done a lot of episodeson being present and what what
(04:09):
that truly means.
I'd say for me, what I'm mostgrateful for is a couple things.
One, um, I never thought I'd saythis, but I'm grateful my
daughter gets to see herboyfriend today, yeah, which
feels weird to say, but I'mhappy for her because she's like
it's like her first bigboyfriend.
He's off to college, he's he'scoming home for the weekend, and
so they're gonna see each othertonight.
So she's really super excited.
And I'm also grateful my my sonis a sophomore in college, and
(04:32):
he's like had this like I thinkjust next breakthrough in terms
of like mindset.
And um, he plays golf incollege, and it's been just
super fun.
Some of the conversations he andI've had have been like really
deep.
And um like he lost I don't knowif you're a golfer at all, but
he he lost, he lost uh in amatch play event yesterday, but
it was a so most you know 18holes is around.
(04:55):
He he we went to push this guyto extra holes.
He lost in the 25th hole.
Whoa, that's a long day.
Oh dude, he was out there forlike seven hours, and but his
mindset was so good.
Yeah.
And um, before he left forcollege, I reminded him that
there's I said, just promise methese three things.
Promise me you're gonna believewhat you do matters no matter
what, believe in yourself.
(05:15):
Promise me you're gonna committo everything you do to your
fullest.
And then once you commit, youhave no control over after that
because you you've done yourbest.
And then three, when you playgolf, remember that your best
club is not in your bag, it's inyour mind.
Your mind's strongest the most.
100%.
And it is like he said it, andit's like it clicked, and I it
just was like from the heart oneday, and then like it clicked
(05:37):
with him, it clicked with me,and now I'm like, wait a minute,
I I can follow my own vice.
And so I'm really grateful forwe had that kind of like that
really cool father-son moment.
So man, that's great.
SPEAKER_01 (05:47):
I you know, I actually uh I have a saying uh
with my kids, you you kind ofsaid a few of the words there,
but it's uh dream it, believeit, achieve it.
I'm like, that's how you that'show you go after things.
Dream it, believe it, achieveit.
And uh I I tell them that atleast like once a week, right?
I mean, I think the the thingsthat a dad says, I always used
to uh I always used to likecriticize what my dad he would
(06:10):
always say, like, you know, justadjust your sails to the winds.
And I'd be like, Come on, dad,can you just let me be like
unhappy for a minute?
Or you know, let me be down fora minute.
Um, and then you become a dad,and you're like dropping these
sayings all the time, and youthink to yourself, like, okay,
there was some wisdom there.
SPEAKER_02 (06:26):
Yeah.
Where do you think you learnedthose three things that that
saying, where'd that come from?
SPEAKER_01 (06:30):
You know, uh, when I honestly, uh, so I was born in
Zimbabwe um and then grew up inSouth Africa.
That's where I started myschooling.
And I always had this vision ofjust like this open opportunity
and the ability to just tacklesomething and go get it.
And it wasn't until I actuallymoved to the US that I, you
(06:52):
know, that was a dream.
I was moved to the US, land ofopportunity, freedom.
Uh, there's such a massiveplatform here for people who
work hard, right?
If you work hard, you can youcan get anything done here.
And I think it was moving herebecause I'd spoken to my dad
about it quite a lot.
And uh I'd said, look, I wantto, you know, I want to get to
the US and I I just want tobuild things.
That's what I want to do.
(07:13):
And uh it was almost amanifestation of my own
thinking.
And uh I just told the kidslike, look, I had a dream to
come here and I worked hard, Ibelieved I could do it, and I I
did.
And uh, and so I just you know,I just kind of put that
together.
Like I had a dream, I believedin it, I went and got it, you
know, and uh and so that'ssomething I tell them all the
time right now.
Um, with their sports, uh whatthey want to do in life.
(07:36):
And uh I I firmly believe inthat saying.
Love it.
SPEAKER_02 (07:40):
No, it's good, simple but powerful.
Um, okay, so before we learnabout life in South Africa and
growing up, uh bring me insidethe the stop fourth huddle and
tell me who's on the team andwhat everybody's up to.
SPEAKER_01 (07:54):
Uh yeah, so I have a 11-year-old daughter, her name
is Tatum, um, and anine-year-old son whose name is
Loick.
And they have very differentpersonalities and very different
passions.
Uh, my daughter is a socialbutterfly, and she has a lot of
(08:15):
social skills and friendship.
She's vibrant, she's constantlysmiling, and she is all about
her friends and her network, andum very athletic and loves her
sports.
And then there's my son who'smore quiet and reserved, and he
uh he he loves sport.
Uh, you know, social comessecond, uh, he loves sport, and
(08:38):
he is just a really gentle soul,like a really nice guy.
But he um yeah, together theyare my tribe, and you know, they
uh they are so different, butwhen they're together, they are
a team, right?
They can fight.
Oh my gosh, can they fight?
But uh like there's so manyopportunities where I've or so
many instances where I've seenthe little brother standing up
(09:03):
for his uh bigger sister, andand I can just attribute that to
the love that they have for oneanother.
So that's cool.
And uh yeah, we live in Seattle.
My son's passionate aboutbaseball, like lives and
breathes baseball.
I can't help him with baseball,I have to like learn everything
on YouTube, right?
I grew up playing cricket andrugby, so uh I have to like
(09:24):
teach myself in order to helphim.
Uh, but he's passionate aboutbaseball, and then my daughter's
passionate about volleyball.
So yeah, but yeah, is your son aMariners fan?
Uh you know, he's he's anindividual players fan, like he
follows players, uh but he lovesthe mariners.
Uh we go we go to uh probablyfour or five games this summer.
(09:48):
Um he loves it, he loves thegame, he loves players, but
yeah, he loves the mariners.
Absolutely.
SPEAKER_02 (09:53):
Me and my son are diehard Mariners fans.
Um probably one of the coolestmoments of his podcast journey,
I think like in season two, twoor three, I can't remember which
one, but I interviewed uh RickRiz and Aaron Goldsmith.
So you're play by playannouncers for the Mariners, and
it was pinch me moment.
Like just interviewed a guy inWillie Bloomquist who used to
play for the Mariners.
Um that was a fun episode, too.
(10:14):
So if you're if your son's aRick Riz fan and wants to learn
about how he got intobroadcasting, it's kind of a
cool story.
Um that's great.
Um are we now we married?
Are we single?
Single.
Single?
Okay, cool.
Um you have the kids full-time,or are they 50-50.
SPEAKER_01 (10:30):
Uh, their mom uh lives about four blocks away
from from me, and uh we're justgreat co-parents.
Like we love it.
We tag team it together.
You know, we didn't work out asa couple.
Um life got hard and lots oftravel and kids, but um we we
game hard when it comes toparenting them and we support
each other.
Actually, she she right now hasuh one of my vehicles because
(10:51):
hers is in the shop.
We're just we're really goodfriends and we support each
other wholly.
Um, but we're not an intactfamily, but we are a very
supportive family of oneanother.
SPEAKER_02 (11:00):
That's awesome.
That's cool to hear.
We I've actually done quite afew episodes on co-parenting, on
helping dads who have gonethrough divorce.
Um, and there's been a coupleepisodes that really like you
know, knock on knock on wood.
I have not hope I don't everhave to go through that.
I've been married maybe 27 yearsin uh in February.
Um but uh but it happens.
(11:24):
And um, we've even done episodeswith um actually a former major
league baseball player, uh KennyLofton, who talked about the
court system and how it'schallenges for for fathers
who've gone through that.
And it was just really it waskind of eye-opening for me, and
I'm glad we were able to, youknow, again, I came curious, but
it was a lot of dads thanked mefor thanked us for doing that
(11:44):
because it was kind of a cool tobe able to just talk about
something different thanabsolutely, yeah.
So um, okay, well, bring me umlet's go back.
I want to go back in time andlearn about um Jared the the kid
and what was life like growingup and and talk about the impact
mom and dad had on you from avalues perspective.
SPEAKER_01 (12:03):
Yeah.
Um so born in Zimbabwe, as Isaid, uh you know, um kind of
wild ride.
Uh there was a lot of uhviolence in in that country
during my time of birth with thewhole um independence and the
shift from Rhodesia to Zimbabwe.
Um my parents eventually endedup leaving.
(12:24):
The family stayed on the ranchesand the farms uh over there, but
the rest of them, the uncles andaunts and my cousins, but my
folks kind of saw the writing onthe wall, and they took us down
to South Africa at a very youngage, um, down to uh Cape Town
area, and uh that's where Istarted my schooling and uh you
know grew up there.
(12:44):
We we had a real transitioncoming out of that life, right?
Um, into starting over again inSouth Africa.
And I you know, I only rememberthe good parts, but I'm sure it
was real tough for my folks.
Uh but that is an incrediblecouple.
They um are still together,they're alive, they live in
(13:05):
Australia, where my sister andher family live.
Um, so my sister uh she her nameis Jade.
She uh ended up marrying um anAustralian guy who was a doctor
and they moved there and startedtheir family.
And soon after that, my folks uhonce they had kids, my folks
(13:25):
left South Africa and joinedthem there.
Uh, I was on the opposite sideof the world in the US at that
time.
So um, but yeah, the my folksare real incredible.
They're I I've it's been seldomthat I've seen a couple fall
more in love later in the years.
I've seen a lot of people stickwith each other, I've seen
people just tolerate each other,I've seen people be consistently
(13:47):
in love, but I've never seenthis.
I've seen the transition awayfrom my dad who was running the
businesses, traveling, and mymom still working.
Uh, they were both working theirwhole entire lives.
Um, but being home and takingcare of the tribe to my mom
still being active because sheis like me and we are tireless
and she will never stop working.
My dad is retired, and uh to himtaking the shift to doing the
(14:12):
groceries and doing doing thegarden and cooking the meals and
stuff while my mom still works.
In fact, she works for mybrother-in-law's uh practice,
she runs the books and stuff,and um you know, they have just
got better with age, stronger.
Uh they they're the kind offriends that you love to see in
(14:34):
a partner.
So I've only good things to sayabout them, but from a value
system, I mean, my dad is thekind of guy who'd give you the
shirt off his back, uh, likevery literally, actually.
Um, I got that trait from him.
My son has that same trait, uh,you know, generosity, humility.
The number one thing my dadtaught me is humility.
He said, Look, son, like thatyou will have successes in life
(14:57):
and things will be good.
But he's like, Look, I will tellyou the one thing is all of that
gets taken away in the blink ofan eye.
So don't be up there uh high andproud, you know, preaching about
all your wins and successesbecause humility is the number
one value I want you to takeaway.
So uh quite frankly, like thatwas the biggest thing he
(15:17):
instilled in me is humility andthe ability to just always be
thankful.
I was a preacher for over 40years, so I have uh I have a lot
of uh he's lessons, but alsojust uh the power of humility
and thankfulness for blessings.
So um while I don't actively goto church, I'm still very um
(15:38):
religious, and uh you know I gotthat from him.
So uh my number one takeawayfrom him was work hard, put your
head down, stay humble, be agood person, be somebody that
when you lay your head to bed atnight, you're okay going to
sleep because you didn't screwsomebody or you weren't uh a
tyrant, right?
Um my mom, a hardworking person,came from the other side of the
(16:01):
tracks in Zimbabwe, my dad onthe better side, my mom from the
other side, and she's one of theonly people I've actually seen
successfully cross a classbarrier um and uh that I know,
right?
And and say, look, I'm nevergoing there again.
And so she is a very frugal, butalso um very deliberate in
(16:23):
everything that she does,hardworking, uh, and uh just a
family person all around, right?
She's been the anchor in ourfamily honesty, uh, through the
troubled times, the terroristactivities in Zimbabwe, the
moving to new countries.
Um she's always her there's asaying in Africaans, right?
We speak Africa, which says uhHodi Blinkanpua, which means
(16:45):
always show the shiny side.
Like always put so it'sbasically it derives from when
you have guests come over andyou have silverware and making
sure that like the tray, thesilver tray is the shiny.
So she's like you always,always, always keep it shiny,
always show the shiny side.
So um some real good values fromthem.
Real good lessons, they're goodpeople, they're real
down-to-earth people, they'renot flashy, they've worked hard,
(17:08):
saved hard their whole lives.
They don't believe in flashy,they don't believe in big, they
they believe in comfort andseeing the world and seeing
their family.
SPEAKER_02 (17:16):
So, how how um that's awesome.
That was a really good job ofdescribing my kids.
Like I've met mom and dadalready now.
Um how talk about yourtransition from South Africa to
the United States.
SPEAKER_01 (17:28):
Yeah, it's very curious.
I uh when I was doing mybachelor's up in Pretoria, um,
we actually had a set of umexchange students come over from
uh Madison, uh UW Madison, anduh they I was um in the
biological and agriculturalsciences, uh I was the treasurer
(17:50):
for that department, and uh oneof my jobs was to entertain and
find housing for and show themthe ropes um in my last uh year.
And I ended up meeting uh thesetwins that came from there, and
we I took them all over theplace and took them back to
Zimbabwe, showed them the farms.
(18:10):
Um and one of them was you knowvery open to say, why don't you
do instead of graduating thisyear, why don't you do an
exchange program and come overand see the US?
Um, which I did.
And while I was there, I justfell in love with it.
I fell in love with the system.
I fell, you know, we'd watchedall the movies about the front
(18:31):
houses and the colleges andpeople having fun and all this
stuff, and you know, it it'sjust such a different system
than at home.
And I I fell in love immediatelywith it.
I fell in love with just as Itold you, the ability to do what
it is you can by just puttingyour mind to it.
And uh I decided then that Iwanted to do my grad work there.
Um so I graduated with abachelor's in microbiology, and
(18:55):
I made my applications to theU.S.
And while I was doing that, Idecided to go abroad to London
and live in London for a whileand um traveled all of Europe
while I was doing that.
Uh just working, I had somesavings and then working uh
menial jobs.
I I was actually a gift packerfor Herods.
(19:15):
I don't know if you're familiarwith Herod's the department
store, very uh flashy, one ofthe world's like best department
stores.
Um and uh then I ended updriving trucks for them because
they needed somebody who coulddrive uh trucks through London.
That was crazy.
And then I I got my acceptanceinto uh Colorado State and uh
made the move and uh startedworking on my uh master's and
(19:39):
then my PhD in microbiology andfood science.
Um and so I was there for uh sixyears um getting through my
program and publishing papersand book chapters, and uh, you
know, it was real academic atthe time.
I mean, I have almost 50peer-reviewed publications out
there in uh science and bookchapters, textbooks for for kids
(20:00):
in uh in college, and uh I wasreal academic at the time, but
nothing had sparked my interestmore than the entrepreneurial
side of life.
And so, you know, I was asked tobe a professor a number of
times, and uh you know, by by myprofessors and others saying,
look, we'd we'd love to have youin the world of academia, but
you know, for me it just didn'tmove fast enough, right?
(20:22):
It was um it was just not thelife for me.
So yeah, but that that was mytransition over.
I uh you know being in Coloradois incredible.
Again, it was uh kind of theWild West, right?
That you you see when you're inSouth Africa and you look around
and and truly in the ruralareas, it's just like that.
And um, I had a lot of friends,I made a lot of friends over
(20:43):
there and uh got introduced tothe culture a lot, and it became
for me home at that point.
Once I had graduated, I said,look, this is this is home.
Like that South Africa orZimbabwe will always be home.
That's where I was born, that'swhere I was raised, but this
became home for me.
SPEAKER_02 (21:01):
And what um then what brought you to Seattle?
SPEAKER_01 (21:04):
Uh actually, I I my first my first job out of call
uh out of graduating with mydoctorate was uh to come up here
to Seattle and help a uh a manuh Dr.
Mansur Samadhpuri owns thelargest um collection of
analytical labs in the US rightnow.
(21:26):
Um but it was to build out helphim build out a series of
analytical labs, uh doing foodand drug testing, and uh and he
really needed somebody who couldbe a right-hand man at the time
and just jump in and not get alot of direction, but show a lot
of initiative.
And uh, and so I ended upstaying here and working for him
(21:51):
for a number of years andlearning just a ton through that
process.
You know, we were involved inhelping, uh, I don't know if you
recall the big uh spinachoutbreak in the Salinas Valley
that killed a bunch of peopleand some kids and stuff.
And we uh it was his likebrainchild to go down there, get
involved.
It was Earth Earth on Farms atthe time, and uh to keep Earth
(22:12):
on farms up uh and running eventhrough that catastrophe and put
in place uh this food lottesting.
So as it comes off raw materialtesting it before it goes into
becoming produce such that wecould uh protect essentially a
raw agricultural commodity thatdoesn't really face any
lethality step.
Um so anyway, I I ended upcoming here for uh uh a job, I
(22:37):
ended up staying, and then uhyou know, actually while I was
living here, I was recruited toa place just outside of
Amsterdam to go and uh do somework for them.
And I and so I moved to theNetherlands for three years.
Wow.
And uh while I was there, uh Iwas back in Seattle on business,
(22:58):
um uh actually also for someproduce work, and I ended up
meeting the mother of mychildren at a bar on like the
last night um before headingback home.
And so we uh ended up justcommunicating for like three or
four months, just just emailsand texts and for like three or
(23:20):
four months, and uh theneventually we came together and
eventually we moved to Seattlewhen we had kids.
But in between, there wasChicago, Philadelphia, uh you
know, where we we had cometogether.
I had moved back from theNetherlands and we moved into
Chicago together, and then wehad a stint into Philadelphia,
(23:40):
and then after that we ended upuh coming to Seattle because uh
we have children, and and herfamily is here.
Wow actually in uh uh Auburnarea, so yeah, you'd you'd know
that.
SPEAKER_02 (23:56):
Okay, wow.
So with all the travels, um tellme what would be like your your
the biggest takeaways seeing allthese different cultures, all
these different experiences.
How is that how is that how havethose experiences impacted you
as a dad?
And then maybe what's how haveyou shared some of those
experiences with with both ofyour kids?
SPEAKER_01 (24:15):
Yeah, you know, I I'll tell you travel and
exposure to cultures is probablymy number one asset that I have
in life.
Not the house, not the vehicles,not the savings count, no, none
of that.
It's it's literally being theability to see how other people
thrive in their environments,right?
(24:35):
And uh just learning aboutpeople's values in different
places, learning about how theyconduct themselves as a family,
as business people, uh socially.
Uh, and you know, I've I've saidtime and time again to my kids,
uh, one of the best gifts that Icould give you is uh not
physical things, it's it'stravel, it's taking you places.
(24:59):
We uh have a holiday place downin Baja, um and it's uh pretty
rural, uh, and we go there aboutfour times a year, and it's
rural, we're not in the Kabotype environment, and we we get
to face the hardships of some ofthe rural areas there, and I we
(25:22):
we we talk through it a lot, andwe talk through um the ability
to be generous, to be helpful,to be sympathetic and
empathetic, and and to just knowthat like there's values to be
found in people regardless oftheir status or where they are
financially.
Um, and they've made some of thebest friends down there not
(25:42):
being able to communicate, themnot speaking Spanish, and you
know, their friends down therenot speaking English, and it
doesn't matter.
I see them on the beach, they'replaying, and it's it's just
fantastic, right?
So um I would say the exposureto other cultures who are not
necessarily as uh fortunate aswe are has probably been one of
the things I've learned themost.
Seeing the amount of love andthe amount of joy and just the
(26:04):
amount of thankfulness that uhfolks who have less than us
have, because what they have isreally wonderful, and that's
community and family andtightness and bond, right?
I've met some of the wealthiestpeople in the world whose
families are just messed up.
They have uh and and uhfirsthand um have met uh an
(26:25):
incredibly wealthy family whosefamily just don't like each
other, and and for me, I I Ialways say like that's the
poorest rich family, you know.
And when I look at folks who arein different areas and I see
just how tight they are as acommunity, I'm like, they are
the richest poor families,right?
So uh I think that's one of thelessons I want my kids to know
(26:45):
is that uh you see people forwho they are and not for what
they have.
And that's one of the thingsthat that travel taught me.
SPEAKER_00 (26:56):
Intention, integrity, IT recruitment.
We are McCann Partners, and I amMegan McCann, the CEO and
founder.
McCann Partners is aChicago-based IT recruitment
firm.
We support a growing portfolioof innovative organizations,
from Chicago-based startups tocompanies with a global
footprint.
We are dedicated to creating amore equitable and diverse
(27:19):
workforce and are proud thatmore than 70% of our talent
placements since 2020 have beendiverse hires.
We take pride in our work andinvest time to hone our skills.
Case in point, our work withCasey.
Casey helped me and my teamlearn new habits of success and
unlock the skills we alreadyhave been using.
(27:42):
The superpowers of humility,vulnerability, and curiosity.
If you, the listener, arecurious about our experience
with Casey and his impact on theteam and our business, please
reach out to me via LinkedIn.
SPEAKER_02 (27:57):
How hard was that to teach?
I mean, you got a nine andeleven year old, and obviously
it's different levels ofmaturity, but like uh three that
story you said speaks to mebecause that's um in my
corporate journey, I think I Iwas fortunate the the maybe the
the highs I had were probablyhigher than I thought would I
would have.
SPEAKER_03 (28:17):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (28:17):
And um, you know, like when we when I grew up, my
vacations were camping or andriding my bike.
And um, I didn't ride in myfirst airplane like legit to
like eighth grade, ninth grade.
I mean, and my kids have been ona ton um through like some of
the corporate things we did.
(28:38):
And so I was always worriedabout like making sure my kids
realize that's not this is notnormal.
And don't feel I don't want youto feel guilty, but I don't want
you to think like you'reentitled to this because it's
we're not taking into your pointit can like your dad taught you
it can be taken away tomorrow.
SPEAKER_01 (28:53):
In a heartbeat, right?
In a heartbeat.
So I I that resonates with metoo, uh, Casey, because uh, you
know, my kids I I have to tellthem, like, you know, we belong
to a uh country club over herewhere they go swimming and
playing tennis and stuff, andthey go to a private Catholic
school, and I sit them downoften and I explain to them that
like this isn't everybody, thisisn't everybody, and I know that
(29:17):
you may ask for X, Y, and Z andnot get it, and then think that
like you've been done in for,and I'm like, you I promise you,
you are not done in for.
It's a measure of not havingeverything you want in the world
because it's not that's justlike not how life works.
And and I think themunderstanding that is being
helpful because it's tough whenthey do have so much around them
(29:38):
uh to actually teach them thatlike this isn't normal, man.
It's not it's it's noteverybody, and it's very very
little of the population, infact.
Um, and so the lesson of well,we've got all this, why can't we
have more is is one that I stillwork on, right?
I still work on becausesometimes I just feel I'm doing
the wrong the wrong thing as adad by surrounding them with
(29:59):
things rather than.
Then experiences and so I do tryto get we hike like crazy, we're
a hiking family, we get outthere.
I think that's the best timesI've ever had with my kids, not
flying down to Baja or flying toAustralia, which we just did
this uh Christmas to go and seetheir grandparents and cousins.
But it's it's really getting outand hiking and sweating and
(30:20):
working hard and seeing thebeauties out there and talking
about it.
And uh yeah, that's that's thebest because then it's we're not
we're not focused on anythingbut our health and being
together, right?
Yep.
SPEAKER_02 (30:33):
No, it's awesome.
Yeah, there's so there's so manyum amazing hikes around the
Seattle area, which I've notdone, many of them.
Um my daughter and her boyfrienddid one recently, like I think
it's called Snow Lake up in theSnow Palm Area.
Yeah, yeah.
Beautiful up there.
I'm like, how do I and itactually kind of made me feel
guilty.
I'm like, how have I I'm almost50?
(30:53):
Jared.
I'm like, how the hell have Inot done this?
Because I mean I've been justdoing my own thing and busy with
other activities, but like itshould slow down one of these
days, and like I'm going hikingtoday, you know.
SPEAKER_01 (31:04):
But I I I do it often where I just say, you
know, that's it.
I'm hiking this weekend.
And my the crazy thing is, I uhjust after I got divorced, um I
suddenly like had to like takecare of kids more than I had
before, right?
I'd been traveling and workingso much.
Uh that first year after I'mlike, oh my gosh, like I have to
(31:27):
do everything right now.
Like I have to prepare food, Ihave to prepare for classes, the
classes or the preschool orwhatever, and I have to
entertain these guys, likeright.
Um, and it was such a lesson.
I mean, it's it it it's actuallyone of the best things that's
ever happened to me.
It uh it took me from being sortof in their lives to
(31:47):
dramatically in their lives,right?
Um and uh it made me a betterdad and it made me a better um
friend to them.
Uh so I know while a lot ofpeople may say like divorce
crushed their souls and theirlives and stuff, it actually
like it actually gave me anopportunity at being the dad I
would never have been in thatmarriage because I was so
(32:08):
focused on work, traveling,being away, popping in, hey,
cool, you've got a birthdayparty, then I can take you to
good, great, moving on, right?
Uh, to hey, this is my week, andI've got to get everything done
in this week, but mostimportantly, like we've got to
form a bond and a relationship.
And we hiked almost everyweekend.
He was four, she was six.
(32:30):
And I'm not talking about a milehike, I'm talking four or five
mile 2000 elevation.
Uh and when I look back at it,I'm like, Are you nuts?
Like, what were you doing?
And and quite frankly, I think Iwas slightly nuts at the time,
but uh we we took on hikes wherewe would I would look back and
(32:50):
be like, I'm not sure today,like if I look back, I'm not
really sure how they did it.
I I I had to motivate them.
There's a lot of whining andcrying.
Uh we had these like energygummies, like which were just
gummies, like gummy worms.
And I would every every fewhundred yards, I'd it'd be I'd
call it a power-up gummy, andthey'd get a power-up gummy, and
we'd get through it.
But looking back, I'm like,there's no way a four-year-old
(33:12):
should be doing those hikes, buthe crushed him.
I mean, there was some whining.
But I mean, those that that'swhere we formed that
relationship the year after umhaving just got divorced, and I
just was thinking to myself theother day, I was like, man, that
was the best thing that everhappened for myself and my
relationship with my kids.
SPEAKER_02 (33:30):
Um, I don't know if I've ever asked anybody this,
but you're for some reason ithit me in the heart to ask you.
Um, I love your attitude andyour your mindset towards
fatherhood.
Um going through a divorce,which I don't think anybody
raises their hand saying, Ican't wait to go through that.
I mean, no one wants that, butit is what it is.
Um what tell me what would beyour, what tell our audience,
what would be one piece ofadvice you can give maybe a dad
(33:53):
going through a divorce thatmaybe thinks, oh God, life's the
I'm done.
Like that maybe a lesson you'velearned out of it, uh you kind
of just share one, but whatwould be a piece of advice you
might give a dad going throughthis that, hey, you can get
through this?
SPEAKER_01 (34:07):
I you know, I did just give you an example, but
I'll I'll elaborate on it.
Um divorce nobody wants, youjust said it, right?
Like it's a tough process andit's a it's an end to something
that was, you know, uh settogether by two humans who want
to spend the rest of their livestogether.
That's why you get married,right?
That's why you have thoserelationships.
Um but it happens, and ithappens more often than what we
(34:29):
actually know, right?
It's it's pretty frequent thesedays, which is sad and
unfortunate.
But what I would tell somebodyis this is an opportunity, this
is not the end of your life.
And I've had to like help a fewpeople through it along the way.
Uh, and for me, it's anopportunity, it's an opportunity
to take the focus away from thewhole process of you know,
(34:55):
dealing with the heartache,dealing with loss, dealing with
anger, and take that energy andput it into your kids.
Because had I not done that, Iwould have spiraled probably
like a lot do because it wasit's all about them.
You make it all about yourself.
Woe is me.
Uh, this sucks.
Like, will I ever be happyagain?
(35:17):
Like, well, and and you take allthat energy, right?
And you you see it as anopportunity to pour into your
kids.
Um, I mean, they've they'vebecome probably the only thing
that I truly care about, right?
Because I love working.
Like, work for me isn't aneffort, it's a joy and a
blessing.
Um, but everything I do rightnow is done with them in mind
(35:40):
because I can't think of abetter purpose, to be honest,
than you know, uh, here'ssomething I'll share with you.
Um, you know, I've I've we'llget into 21 again, but 21 again
was started for my own healthand for my own vitality and
energy and drive.
But um one of the things Ilearned along the way, and um an
(36:04):
influencer and founder, and andit stuck with me, and I share it
now with people every time I Ispeak to a dad um and somebody
who's looking to improve theirhealth, somebody who's just like
not in the best of health, butthey are doing great at work,
they're working hard, issomething that stuck with me.
You said, I know that you sayyou'd die for your kids, but
(36:25):
would you live for them?
And and that has stuck with me,and it it is like add years to
your life because they go sofast, and everybody warns you
it's gonna go fast, right?
Fatherhood like is is one ofthose things where parenthood,
uh, people tell you it's gonnago fast, and you say, Yeah,
cool, but I how can I slow itdown?
You can't, right?
(36:45):
And you know it, and then youstart telling people, hey, it's
gonna disappear fast, make themost out of it.
And sometimes people don't makethe most out of it, but people
don't make the most out of it.
Forget that next level job.
Forget that like if if it meansit's going to take time from
your kids, forget it, it's notworth it.
(37:05):
You you you just change yourmeans of living, do something,
but put the time into your kids.
And quite frankly, right?
Like, I do startups now.
Um, I haven't paid myself asalary in three years, right?
I'm living on savings.
Um, that's a startup world, it'show founding companies go until
you're profitable.
Um, and there I've had a numberof people um my network come
(37:27):
back and uh ask me to join thecorporate world again, be a VP
over here or SVP over there, andoffers of big money.
And quite frankly, like it'llnever happen.
It'll never happen.
I'll find a way to make, butit'll never happen because I I
lost so much time with my kidsdoing that that I can't ever
step back into that because thatI am the most present.
(37:48):
I'm out there two hours a daythrowing, catching, bumps at
spiking, like and you know, it'shonestly one of the things I
love the most.
So I would tell a father goingthrough divorce, I would say,
Look, man, you've just got thebiggest opportunity of your life
to pour more energy into yourkids than you've ever had.
Because for that week, dependingon your arrangement week or
(38:11):
three, two, two, or however itfalls out, for those days, it's
just you.
It's just you.
You don't you're not sharingthat time with anybody but them.
So put all your energy into itbecause, and I would say to
them, find ways to add years toyour life.
You know, I I saw something theother day which was so
startling, but it was like youhave a 70%, 75% of your kids'
(38:36):
attention up to the age of 10,and then you get or 75% of their
time, then it goes down to like60 when they turn 12, then it
goes down to like 40 somethingwhen they turn 16, and then and
and I was like, oh my gosh, likemy daughter's 11, my son's nine.
I said, these percentages arestarting to actually like go
down, and and that's when Irealized like you can't lose a
(38:59):
summer, you can't lose aweekend.
You can't.
You have to you have to make themost of it.
You you just cannot lose it bysaying, uh, let's just sit
around today, or let's you guysgo do your thing.
You've you've got to getinvolved.
Right.
So I love that.
SPEAKER_02 (39:13):
No, it's okay.
No, I love it, man.
That's that's I want my gueststalking more than me.
That means we're doing a goodjob here.
If I so if if there's a dadlistening at home is okay, I and
add years to my life, I want todo that.
Well, how do we do it?
Like, give us some examples ofhow dads can add years to their
life.
SPEAKER_01 (39:29):
Well, you know, I'll tell you how I did it right.
Um I there's there's a few ways,but I I noticed I turned 42, my
energy was low, my drive waslow, um, my libido was low, and
I realized like I had lowtestosterone, and this will come
into 21 again, and we'll we'lltalk about that in a minute.
But let's just and I realizedthat I was doing less.
(39:50):
I was less active, I was justnot motivated to do much.
And I also then started to learnthat you know the the the more
sessile you are, the more yousit around, the the more your
cortisol and levels go up, andthe more your cortisol levels go
up, the more you start actuallyum deteriorating your body's
(40:15):
production of testosterone.
And and testosterone is the mainit's the main machine that makes
a man a man, right?
It's it's not bravado, it's notalpha.
It is the engine, the mainhormone that drives everything
in your body.
And aging happens fastest withlow testosterone, right?
Which is why we're going to getinto 21 again.
I mean, the name says it all,like be young again, be vital.
(40:37):
But how I've added years to mylife and how I plan to add more
years to my life is focusing onthat engine and making sure that
it is the best that it can be,right?
My hormone levels are great sothat the rest of my body can
respond.
Uh I have I follow this likegeneral rule, which I think most
(40:59):
men over 35 should follow, 30,35 should follow, and that is
one gram of protein per pound ofbody weight every day.
50 ounces of water.
You gotta drink that water.
8 to 10,000 steps a day, nodebate.
Every day.
Every day.
I don't care if it's Sunday andyou just got back from church,
eight to ten thousand steps aday, and working out anywhere
(41:20):
from three to four times a week,those should be non-negotiable
to any dad.
Um a good diet, but I I focus ona high protein diet and a low
carb diet.
The one step I haven't takenyet, Casey, which I absolutely
need to take, and I know it, andI keep telling myself, and I'm
smart enough to know that Ishould be doing it, not just
(41:42):
talking about it, is decreasingthe amount of alcohol I consume,
right?
Because that's another absoluteager.
Um and I'm gonna get there.
Um, I've I've done good so far,but that's the one I've got to
improve on.
Um more active, I work out threeto four times a week, eight to
ten thousand steps, absolutely.
One gram of protein per pound ofbody weight, um, and again,
(42:08):
lowering the amount of alcoholthat you take in because alcohol
is a toxin, right?
Like it's the biggest toxin.
I know like there's this likegreat movement towards uh low to
no, right?
Low alcohol, no alcohol.
Um, and in fact, uh one of thefounders of Soylent and I um
actually started a company backin the day.
It's now I I'm not in anymore,he's not, but his wife is
(42:30):
running it called Kin K-I-NEuphorics or Kin Tonics, and
it's imbibing without alcohol,right?
So it's botanicals, nootropicslike used to help.
Um, but there's things like thatthat are out there, and uh
that's just one of the manythings, but definitely like
decreasing or stopping drinking,being more active, high protein
(42:51):
diet, lots of water, gettingyour steps in.
Oh, I love it.
That's that's how you livelonger.
And then supplementation too,right?
Which was clearly a passion ofmine and how we started 21
again.
SPEAKER_02 (43:04):
Good advice, uh, Jared.
So before we dive into 21 uhagain, I want to find out like
where did the passion get intofood science for you?
I mean, you obviously studiedit.
SPEAKER_01 (43:12):
Yeah, yeah, good question.
Um, actually, I was studying tobe a vet, um, go and work on
family farms and you know, allthat shifted, right?
Uh, when I was at school and thewhole uh Zimbabwe thing fell
apart.
Um, and what I found is that oneof the classes that really,
really intrigued me the most,and it was this professor uh
(43:33):
Klute, was his last name, EugeneKlute, um absolute brainiac uh
industrial microbiologist.
So he was an expert umconsultant and advisor to SAB
South African Breweries, whichbecame uh SAB Miller.
Um, but so he was an expert umadvisor to South African
(43:55):
breweries and uh in wild strainselection and optimization.
And you know, I remember sittingthrough some of these classes,
and some of the things that areoccurring today, I remember him
saying, Hey, look, nobody'slooked into this, but the
rhizosphere or the area aroundroots are filled with
microorganisms and they'rechallenging channeling and
messaging, and that's the healthof the plant, and all these
things I've seen some sciencedelve into today, but we're
(44:17):
talking, she's we're talking 30years ago, right?
Um and this guy's brain and howhe thought through things and
how he thought through being aprofessor, but you know, I told
you like I was encouraged to gothe academic route, but I wanted
rubber meets road more, right?
I wanted application, I wantedspeed, I wanted that.
He was that guy, he was aprofessor, but he was doing so
(44:39):
much consulting in the industrybecause he got to use his
knowledge and put his knowledgeinto application that gave him
satisfaction.
And it was him.
Like he started it.
And so I started taking someindustrial micro courses.
Um and uh in fact, in fact, mywhite paper, you know, it's a
little bit different uh in SouthAfrica.
You you graduate with yourbachelor's, but then you do an
(45:01):
honors, and it's a year in whichyou actually have to do a
practical application and writea white paper on it, right?
And mine was actually in some ofthe work that he inspired in uh
wild strain yeast selection.
So basically sampling out of theenvironment, finding one that
could then be optimized for uhefficiencies of uh brew methods,
(45:22):
so basically could make theyield of brewing a lot higher
than just the typical strainsthat they were using.
So uh it was really cool.
I was very inspired by it.
You know, I was in the lab doingailes and loggers and and just
trying to see like how thestrain functioned, the strains
that I'd selected functioned inyield, and it was really fun.
And I just I was hooked.
(45:43):
I was like, look, man, I'm gonnause this knowledge to to build
things, right?
And uh and the rest was history.
I came to the US and did my PhDand I was off to the races.
SPEAKER_02 (45:54):
Wow.
So cool.
All right, so we've teased thisenough.
21 again.
Talk about let's talk about howit was how it was built, how it
was formed, and and how this howdads at home can learn more
about um what you're doing.
Yeah, thanks, Casey.
SPEAKER_01 (46:09):
Um 21 again, absolute passion project.
It's a it's a personal journey.
Uh I turned 42, been an activeguy my whole life playing rugby
and cricket and swimming andwater polo.
And um I I was active all allthe way through, and you know, I
turned 42, I remember it to thisday.
And I during that period oftime, I noticed a complete lack
(46:34):
of just energy and drive andmotivation.
Um, my sex drive was low, I justdidn't really care about it all.
And it took me a while torealize, like, hey man, I'm out
of it.
I'm really out of it.
And like when I sat down andanalyzed it, I said, you know, I
think like my hormone levels arelow.
Like, I think my testosterone islow.
(46:54):
And I went and got mytestosterone tested, and uh it
was 270.
Now, if you go and look at whattestosterone levels are for
normal, they say, you know, uh250 to 1,000.
But it's total bogus.
All these tests, and it's totalbogus.
Like a man needs to be operatingat 500 plus for everything in
your body to be working, to notbe like fat depositions, to have
(47:16):
drive and motivation, to be yourmood, right?
People have confused this often,Casey, where they say, Well, if
if you're boosting yourtestosterone, is uh isn't it
gonna make you angry or mad?
Or aren't you gonna getaggressive?
And I'm like, well, hold on.
I I think you I think you've gotto differentiate taking anabolic
steroids, which are hormones,but anabolic steroids and
plugging them into your bodyversus taking the main hormone
(47:39):
that makes you work.
And actually, having lowtestosterone will likely make
you more moody and more grumpybecause your body's not happy.
You're not happy, and you can'tbe happy.
And so I knew I had low tea.
After seeing that, I tested, Iconfirmed it, and I was like,
look, I'm on a journey to getthis up.
I need to get this up.
But I like many men and a lot ofpeople men won't know that their
(48:02):
low drive is from the fact thatthey like have low tea.
And that's part of part of ourjobs is not just to sell a
product, it's to educate.
We're gonna have a journey.
We're building a community.
We sport somebody on to build acommunity so that there's
interactivity, there's sharingof experiences.
Hey, what workout works for you,what diet works for you?
We're gonna build a communitybecause what we want to do is
improve men's health.
The whole ethos about it ishealthier, longer, right?
(48:25):
That's that is the whole ethosof 21 again.
Healthier, longer.
I started down the route ofincreasing my testosterone, but
I didn't want the injections.
I didn't want the gel or thepellet or the patch.
The thing with that is, I'm ascientist, I'm smart enough to
know that you take testosterone,you're taking it for life
because you once you starttaking the actual hormone that
(48:49):
you're injecting into your bodyor the pellet you're putting
into it, you are stopping yourbody's natural production.
You stop that system, you shutit down.
Sometimes it never comes back,but it will take years when you
stop for it to come back.
So the next alternative is toboost your body's natural
system.
It's to give your body thesignals to go and make it, to
give it the cofactors to buildit, and and to help it not get
(49:12):
converted to estrogen because alot of times, you know, um the
the body when it starts aging,uh here's here's a cool stat for
you.
Once you turn 30, some magical30 number, but there's stats out
there that have done it instudies, your T your
testosterone production drops byone to two percent every year
(49:32):
for the rest of your life.
I'm 48.
That's that's 18 years.
That's at a max of 36% less.
Where I am today is 36% lessthan when I was when I was so
I'm I'm two-thirds of theproduction it was, right?
They looked at the T levels ofpeople my age, say 40-year-olds
in the 80s, 40-year-olds today.
(49:56):
Half.
We are at half the T levels thata 40-year-old was in the 80s.
And you say, why?
Cessal nature.
We're in front of these laptops,we're on our screens, social
addiction, we are eating worse,we have bioplastics in our food,
the nutrition has gone by thewayside, uh, activity levels
(50:16):
have gone by the wayside, ourstress level has gone up.
We're all doing more than onething.
Cortisol levels are up, cortisollevels are enemies of
testosterone.
Everything that our lifestylewas was not in the 80s.
And right, the 80s you wereoutdoor, you were active, you
know, dad's were macho guys,mullets and mustaches, right?
This is not this is this is notuh by default.
(50:39):
We're uh kind of modeling somepics and stuff about it.
But um these were hardcore guys,right?
And uh, and it's just very clearlike our T levels are the lowest
they've ever been.
They continue to be lower, theywill be lower.
It is the very most importantthing for a man, and it should
be the very biggest trend rightnow is men taking over their
(51:01):
hormonal balances and ensuringthat they get their engine
right.
So I started taking supplementsbecause I'm like, look, I'm not
gonna put my uh the hormone inmy body and shut my engine down.
I got many, many years left.
Hopefully, that's the point.
Um, and I started supplementing.
I started tested a dozensupplements, tested them for 60
to 90 days each, and I justwasn't happy.
(51:22):
Started looking into it more,doing research as I do, and what
I found is just terriblecombinations of ingredients by
these companies making buckubucks, very ineffective doses,
maybe one-tenth of what theyshould be, so that they can make
great margins, right?
They tell you it's this, theytell you it's that, oh, it's
gonna change your life, and thenthey give you these ingredients
and they give them to you atone-tenth of their effective uh
(51:44):
dose.
And I said, Look, there's abetter way for this, I'm gonna
build it myself.
So I built it myself, startedtaking it.
After 90 days, I couldabsolutely tell after 30 days.
I could tell my energy andstuff, but after 90 days, I was
like, man, this is great.
And I've been taking it eversince.
That's a few years back.
Um, and I started sharing itwith my friends, and they came
(52:07):
to me and they said, Look, thisis incredible, guy.
You've actually got to make thisavailable to men.
And that's when uh I actuallyended up partnering with uh my
partner Jay, um, a wonderfulguy, brilliant man, uh, a number
of successful brands that he'slaunched and run.
Um, and he was like, Jay, I havethe same symptoms that you have.
Uh went and tested his and hiswas low too.
(52:29):
Um, so I lifted mine from 270 upto 530 by just supplementing.
It's it's kind of plateaued,which I would expect, right?
It's it's not an ever-increasingriser.
Again, you're not injecting ahormone into your body, but it's
these beautiful combination ofingredients at clinical level
doses.
So, what we're giving you issomething that's effective.
We have no interest in makingmoney if we're not changing
(52:51):
people's lives.
The journey is about healthierlonger for men.
Um, and and and so 21 again wasborn, right?
And the name says it all.
It's we want to feel like we didwhen we were 21, when our libido
was up, when our energy was up,when our power was up, when we
had a anywhere from a two to asix pack, depending on how much
(53:11):
you worked out, right?
Um, and uh we just we just wantthat back.
And you know, I've I'm I'mthere.
I'm there.
I I've never been more excitedabout my health than now.
SPEAKER_02 (53:25):
Love it.
That's so cool.
How can we make sure peoplelearn about it, find about it?
Where can we send them?
SPEAKER_01 (53:31):
Yeah, I mean send them to our site, send them to
uh our Instagram, but it's21again.com, right?
Um send them to uh ourInstagram, but you know, you go
there, you subscribe, you getproduct, but look, we're we're
just launching now.
It's been available, you canorder it.
Um, but we're gonna have acouple launch events uh to boost
(53:54):
its exposure.
Uh we're building a community umon circle.
It's gonna be where people cancome and interact and say, look,
I I do want to boost my tea.
I'm worried about injections,I'd like to take supplements,
I'm not sure if they work, I'm alittle skeptical.
So people can talk.
So people can interact.
So it's not just us tellingthem, it's other people telling,
(54:16):
it's men telling other men,look, it's helping me, it's
helped me like this, it helpedme, but then it tapered off, but
I'm changing this and I'mincreasing that.
And and so people can talk,right?
Because our whole idea here isto increase men's health.
And the end of story.
And I know you have a deadpodcast.
It's again, will you live forthem?
We know you'll die for them.
Will you live for them?
And and that's what we want.
(54:37):
We want you to live for them andwith them, right?
So have energy, have energy, goand play with.
I am more active outside with mykids than I've ever been in in
the last two years.
I've never spent more time.
I I don't make the excuse rightnow of like, look, dad's busy.
I'm like, look, I have to finishwhat I'm doing right now.
I'll see you out there in 30minutes.
And I make it a point.
(54:58):
I'm out there more with themthan I've ever been in my entire
life, right now.
And and I'm probably also thebusiest I've been.
But um that that's one of thebenefits, Casey.
And I think I think any dad youspeak to will say, Look, man,
time with my children is highlyvaluable.
And if this gives me thatmotivation, that spark and that
energy to get in the gym, to goand do my 10,000 steps, to play
(55:20):
with my kids, to spend moretime, to be a more present
partner to my, you know, to mypartner, like then it's for you.
And I encourage, I encourage menwho are like even question where
their energy is, go and testyour T levels and then delve
into supplementation before youever start injecting or taking
pills.
Because once you go that route,you've gone that route.
(55:40):
You educate yourself.
And we're here to help educate.
That's part of ourresponsibility with having a
product is helping bring peoplealong.
SPEAKER_02 (55:48):
Love it.
Um, so good, man.
I'm grateful our paths arecrossed.
I'm grateful to more about you.
Um uh love the the story of howyou're raised, love the impact
your parents had on you.
Um, I love the mindset of ofco-parenting.
I think that's gonna speak to todads at home.
So shout out to you and youryour your mother, your children,
(56:09):
your ex-wife, for for how youguys are doing that.
Um, it's now time, Jared, to gointo what I call the lightning
round.
This is where I um show you thenegative hits of taking too many
uh hits in college, not bonghits, but football hits.
And uh your job is to answerthese questions as quickly as
you can.
My job is to try to get a giggleout of you.
Okay.
Are you ready?
Uh let's go, man.
Okay.
(56:29):
True or false.
Uh, Guinness Book of WorldRecords said you have the best
mustache and mullet in America.
This one's true.
I just laughed at my dumb firstjoke I lose.
Okay.
Um favorite 80s movie of alltime is you're not gonna know
(56:52):
this one, but it's called LoveLines.
SPEAKER_01 (56:54):
Love Lines?
Love Lines, and it's a USproduction, and it's what
brought me to the US.
It's about this college life andthese dueling bands, and they
have got like this Love Linesthat connects people, it's
called Love Lines.
Nobody knows it.
And apparently, I don't know howit made its way to Africa, but
it made its way there.
I saw it and I was like, I'mgoing to America.
And I got here, you know, theguy from uh police academy who
(57:15):
like does all the funny noises,like he's on it.
Like nobody else, you don't knowanybody else on that thing, but
it brought me to the US.
I was like, I want to go there,this looks incredible.
Oh my god, so good.
SPEAKER_02 (57:25):
Yeah, um, favorite um favorite song you love
listening to?
SPEAKER_01 (57:33):
Uh that's that's a good man.
I have so many, but I would sayor genre music.
How about that?
Oh, genre is definitely the 80s,man.
I grew up in the 80s, but it'sit's tough for me to pick one of
those.
But if I had to say it would beum gosh, what's the name of the
song?
It's like nothing ain't nothinggonna break my stride.
SPEAKER_02 (57:52):
Oh, slow me down.
Oh no.
Yeah, there we go.
Love that song.
Um, if I was coming to yourhouse for dinner tonight, tell
me what we'd have me, you andthe kids.
What would we have?
This one's real easy, man.
SPEAKER_01 (58:02):
I make the best steak ever.
I make the best steak ever.
I'll cook you the best steakever.
I make an incredible Caesarsalad that accompanies it, and
you would have wonderful steakmeal with a wonderful salad,
some asparagus, it'd beincredible.
Like I will cook that six out ofseven days.
I just the seventh day I gottado something else.
SPEAKER_02 (58:23):
Love it.
Love it.
Um, if you were if there was tobe a book written about your
life, tell me the title.
Oh, jeez.
The Wanderer?
The Wonderer?
Wanderer or Wanderer?
Wanderer.
Wanderer, okay, cool.
I like that.
So now hey, it would be W O.
W O, okay The Wanderer.
(58:45):
So that book is now sold outeverywhere.
Africa can't take get enoughcopies of Zimbabwe.
It's out, airports are out,Seattle, it's going left and
right.
So now we need to make a movieout of it.
You're the casting director.
Jared, who's gonna star you inthis critically acclaimed hit
new movie Wonder?
Wonder, I mean.
Gosh.
SPEAKER_01 (59:03):
It's gotta be James Dean, man.
If he was a liar, it's gotta beJames Dean.
SPEAKER_02 (59:07):
Love it.
And then last question tell metwo words that describe what it
means to be a dad.
Beyond blessed.
Beyond blessed.
Love it.
Lightning round's complete.
I laughed at my own joke.
It means I lose, which I alwaysdo.
Uh man, it's been grateful tolearn about you.
And 21 again.
I'll make sure that I'm gonna domore research.
I'm gonna make sure our guestslearn more about it.
Dad, if you're if you're ourage, getting close to 50, and
(59:30):
you have not checked yourtestosterone, which is it's me,
I have not.
I'm I have action out of thiscall, which is I'm grateful to
learn more about that.
But appreciate your time, man.
It's been grateful spending withyou and um wish you the best,
uh, you and your your businessin the future, and also just you
and your kids, man.
Thanks again for spending timewith me.
And you, Casey, and thank youfor what you do for dads.
Really appreciate that, man.
You bet.
Bye bye.
(59:51):
Well, thank you again,everybody, for listening today,
and appreciate you uh youhanging hanging with us as we
continue to uh finish up seasonsix.
Uh, if you have not taken Timeto leave us a review, please go
to the app, uh, the Apple app,the Spotify app, wherever you
consume these podcasts, andplease leave us a review, uh,
leave us a rating, and evenshare this episode with a friend
or family member.
(01:00:12):
And lastly, if you know anybodywho's looking to be a sponsor,
we're looking to increasesponsorship and uh as we head
into 2026.
So if there's a company you knowof that would be interested in
getting behind the quarterbackdad cast, please have them reach
out to me at casey atcasejcox.com.
Thanks everybody again forlistening.
unknown (01:00:27):
Bye.
Hi, I'm Riley, and I'm Renner, and this is my dad's
show.
Hey everybody, it's Casey Jaccoxwith the Quarterback Dadcast.
Welcome to season six, and Icannot be more excited to have
you join me for another year offantastic episodes of
conversations with unscriptedand raw and authentic
(00:24):
conversations with dads.
If you're new to this podcast,it's really it is simple.
It's a podcast where weinterview dads, we learn about
how they were raised, we learnabout the life lessons that were
important to them, we learnabout the values that are
important to them, and really welearn about how we can work hard
to become a better quarterbackor leader of our home.
So let's sit back, relax, andlisten to today's episode of the
Quarterback Deadcast.
(00:54):
Thank you for your continuedsupport.
We've talked to over 315 dads,everybody, on our quest towards
a thousand, um, which I knowit's gonna happen and it's it's
exciting and secrets to noteverybody every time I interview
a guest, I get free therapy.
So I hope that you come withthat mindset as well that I'm
here to learn, uh, not only as ahost, but as a dad.
(01:15):
I want to learn from my guest umjust to ways to become better,
better husband, better father,better, better friend, better
person, um, really embracingvalues that are important to me,
which are humility,vulnerability, and curiosity.
So, with that, I'm excited tointroduce our next guest, Mr.
Dr.
Jared Stopforth, who ironicallyis from Seattle.
We're both on like a Zoom typefeature right now.
(01:36):
Shout out to Zencaster, butwe're doing this virtually.
And uh we're gonna learn today,not only is Jared the the
founder of many startups,specifically one he's he's
working on right now called 21and again, which we'll learn
more in the end, but he's he'salso a dad.
And we're gonna learn how howJared's working hard to become
an ultimate quarterback orleader of his household.
So further ado, Jarrett, welcometo the quarterback dad cast.
(01:57):
Thank you, Casey.
Nice to meet you.
Yeah, you bet, man.
Do you ever seen uh Spies LikeUs randomly?
No.
Oh, it's a great movie.
There's a Chevy Chase, DanAykroyd back in like the 80s.
Uh-uh.
But now I will.
Well, yeah, and there's a great,but if specifically the reason
I'm saying this is you're gonnalearn this about me.
I'm very random and goofy.
(02:18):
Whenever there's uh a doctor,there's a spot where they
pretend they're doctors, and sothey have this phrase that's
like doctor, doctor, doctor anddoctor.
It is it's like if once you seeit, you'd be like, ah, that's
what that guy was talking about.
But it's great.
Anyway, I digress.
Uh, we always start out eachepisode gratitude.
Uh Jared, so tell me what areyou most grateful for as a dad
today?
SPEAKER_01 (02:38):
Well, as a dad, Casey, uh, the health of my
kids.
I mean, I think uh any dad wouldsay that is uh the health of
your kids, number one.
Um that usually uh is followedby their happiness, whether it
is the sports that they'replaying or uh the friends that
they have or the activities thatthey're doing, right?
Uh I think one of the thingsthat uh as any dad would know is
(03:02):
when you go to bed at night, youyou say to yourself, like, was
this a good day?
Right?
Was this a good day?
Was it a good day for them?
Uh, and what can I do bettertomorrow?
Right.
And that's always my mindsetwhen I go to bed at night is
what can I do better for my kidsum tomorrow?
And in fact, I I spent thiswhole week.
Um I turned 48 this week.
(03:22):
Uh I spent this whole weekworking through a living will
durable power of attorney,setting up a trust, and and just
trying to get all that stufftogether, thinking to myself,
like, hey, there should be noquestions um when the time
comes, because it will, right?
Uh, and so, you know, I think uhtheir health is first and
(03:45):
foremost, and then of coursetheir happiness every night I go
to bed.
SPEAKER_02 (03:48):
Yeah, no, that's that's good, man.
It's I think it's those are youknow, someone could say, oh,
those are cliches, but they'renot.
I think you have to really slowdown and and be in the moment
and believe those things becausetime is all we got and in it,
and um um being present.
Um we've done a lot of episodeson being present and what what
(04:09):
that truly means.
I'd say for me, what I'm mostgrateful for is a couple things.
One, um, I never thought I'd saythis, but I'm grateful my
daughter gets to see herboyfriend today, yeah, which
feels weird to say, but I'mhappy for her because she's like
it's like her first bigboyfriend.
He's off to college, he's he'scoming home for the weekend, and
so they're gonna see each othertonight.
So she's really super excited.
And I'm also grateful my my sonis a sophomore in college, and
(04:32):
he's like had this like I thinkjust next breakthrough in terms
of like mindset.
And um, he plays golf incollege, and it's been just
super fun.
Some of the conversations he andI've had have been like really
deep.
And um like he lost I don't knowif you're a golfer at all, but
he he lost, he lost uh in amatch play event yesterday, but
it was a so most you know 18holes is around.
(04:55):
He he we went to push this guyto extra holes.
He lost in the 25th hole.
Whoa, that's a long day.
Oh dude, he was out there forlike seven hours, and but his
mindset was so good.
Yeah.
And um, before he left forcollege, I reminded him that
there's I said, just promise methese three things.
Promise me you're gonna believewhat you do matters no matter
what, believe in yourself.
(05:15):
Promise me you're gonna committo everything you do to your
fullest.
And then once you commit, youhave no control over after that
because you you've done yourbest.
And then three, when you playgolf, remember that your best
club is not in your bag, it's inyour mind.
Your mind's strongest the most.
100%.
And it is like he said it, andit's like it clicked, and I it
just was like from the heart oneday, and then like it clicked
(05:37):
with him, it clicked with me,and now I'm like, wait a minute,
I I can follow my own vice.
And so I'm really grateful forwe had that kind of like that
really cool father-son moment.
So man, that's great.
SPEAKER_01 (05:47):
I you know, I actually uh I have a saying uh
with my kids, you you kind ofsaid a few of the words there,
but it's uh dream it, believeit, achieve it.
I'm like, that's how you that'show you go after things.
Dream it, believe it, achieveit.
And uh I I tell them that atleast like once a week, right?
I mean, I think the the thingsthat a dad says, I always used
to uh I always used to likecriticize what my dad he would
(06:10):
always say, like, you know, justadjust your sails to the winds.
And I'd be like, Come on, dad,can you just let me be like
unhappy for a minute?
Or you know, let me be down fora minute.
Um, and then you become a dad,and you're like dropping these
sayings all the time, and youthink to yourself, like, okay,
there was some wisdom there.
SPEAKER_02 (06:26):
Yeah.
Where do you think you learnedthose three things that that
saying, where'd that come from?
SPEAKER_01 (06:30):
You know, uh, when I honestly, uh, so I was born in
Zimbabwe um and then grew up inSouth Africa.
That's where I started myschooling.
And I always had this vision ofjust like this open opportunity
and the ability to just tacklesomething and go get it.
And it wasn't until I actuallymoved to the US that I, you
(06:52):
know, that was a dream.
I was moved to the US, land ofopportunity, freedom.
Uh, there's such a massiveplatform here for people who
work hard, right?
If you work hard, you can youcan get anything done here.
And I think it was moving herebecause I'd spoken to my dad
about it quite a lot.
And uh I'd said, look, I wantto, you know, I want to get to
the US and I I just want tobuild things.
That's what I want to do.
(07:13):
And uh it was almost amanifestation of my own
thinking.
And uh I just told the kidslike, look, I had a dream to
come here and I worked hard, Ibelieved I could do it, and I I
did.
And uh, and so I just you know,I just kind of put that
together.
Like I had a dream, I believedin it, I went and got it, you
know, and uh and so that'ssomething I tell them all the
time right now.
Um, with their sports, uh whatthey want to do in life.
(07:36):
And uh I I firmly believe inthat saying.
Love it.
SPEAKER_02 (07:40):
No, it's good, simple but powerful.
Um, okay, so before we learnabout life in South Africa and
growing up, uh bring me insidethe the stop fourth huddle and
tell me who's on the team andwhat everybody's up to.
SPEAKER_01 (07:54):
Uh yeah, so I have a 11-year-old daughter, her name
is Tatum, um, and anine-year-old son whose name is
Loick.
And they have very differentpersonalities and very different
passions.
Uh, my daughter is a socialbutterfly, and she has a lot of
(08:15):
social skills and friendship.
She's vibrant, she's constantlysmiling, and she is all about
her friends and her network, andum very athletic and loves her
sports.
And then there's my son who'smore quiet and reserved, and he
uh he he loves sport.
Uh, you know, social comessecond, uh, he loves sport, and
(08:38):
he is just a really gentle soul,like a really nice guy.
But he um yeah, together theyare my tribe, and you know, they
uh they are so different, butwhen they're together, they are
a team, right?
They can fight.
Oh my gosh, can they fight?
But uh like there's so manyopportunities where I've or so
many instances where I've seenthe little brother standing up
(09:03):
for his uh bigger sister, andand I can just attribute that to
the love that they have for oneanother.
So that's cool.
And uh yeah, we live in Seattle.
My son's passionate aboutbaseball, like lives and
breathes baseball.
I can't help him with baseball,I have to like learn everything
on YouTube, right?
I grew up playing cricket andrugby, so uh I have to like
(09:24):
teach myself in order to helphim.
Uh, but he's passionate aboutbaseball, and then my daughter's
passionate about volleyball.
So yeah, but yeah, is your son aMariners fan?
Uh you know, he's he's anindividual players fan, like he
follows players, uh but he lovesthe mariners.
Uh we go we go to uh probablyfour or five games this summer.
(09:48):
Um he loves it, he loves thegame, he loves players, but
yeah, he loves the mariners.
Absolutely.
SPEAKER_02 (09:53):
Me and my son are diehard Mariners fans.
Um probably one of the coolestmoments of his podcast journey,
I think like in season two, twoor three, I can't remember which
one, but I interviewed uh RickRiz and Aaron Goldsmith.
So you're play by playannouncers for the Mariners, and
it was pinch me moment.
Like just interviewed a guy inWillie Bloomquist who used to
play for the Mariners.
Um that was a fun episode, too.
(10:14):
So if you're if your son's aRick Riz fan and wants to learn
about how he got intobroadcasting, it's kind of a
cool story.
Um that's great.
Um are we now we married?
Are we single?
Single.
Single?
Okay, cool.
Um you have the kids full-time,or are they 50-50.
SPEAKER_01 (10:30):
Uh, their mom uh lives about four blocks away
from from me, and uh we're justgreat co-parents.
Like we love it.
We tag team it together.
You know, we didn't work out asa couple.
Um life got hard and lots oftravel and kids, but um we we
game hard when it comes toparenting them and we support
each other.
Actually, she she right now hasuh one of my vehicles because
(10:51):
hers is in the shop.
We're just we're really goodfriends and we support each
other wholly.
Um, but we're not an intactfamily, but we are a very
supportive family of oneanother.
SPEAKER_02 (11:00):
That's awesome.
That's cool to hear.
We I've actually done quite afew episodes on co-parenting, on
helping dads who have gonethrough divorce.
Um, and there's been a coupleepisodes that really like you
know, knock on knock on wood.
I have not hope I don't everhave to go through that.
I've been married maybe 27 yearsin uh in February.
Um but uh but it happens.
(11:24):
And um, we've even done episodeswith um actually a former major
league baseball player, uh KennyLofton, who talked about the
court system and how it'schallenges for for fathers
who've gone through that.
And it was just really it waskind of eye-opening for me, and
I'm glad we were able to, youknow, again, I came curious, but
it was a lot of dads thanked mefor thanked us for doing that
(11:44):
because it was kind of a cool tobe able to just talk about
something different thanabsolutely, yeah.
So um, okay, well, bring me umlet's go back.
I want to go back in time andlearn about um Jared the the kid
and what was life like growingup and and talk about the impact
mom and dad had on you from avalues perspective.
SPEAKER_01 (12:03):
Yeah.
Um so born in Zimbabwe, as Isaid, uh you know, um kind of
wild ride.
Uh there was a lot of uhviolence in in that country
during my time of birth with thewhole um independence and the
shift from Rhodesia to Zimbabwe.
Um my parents eventually endedup leaving.
(12:24):
The family stayed on the ranchesand the farms uh over there, but
the rest of them, the uncles andaunts and my cousins, but my
folks kind of saw the writing onthe wall, and they took us down
to South Africa at a very youngage, um, down to uh Cape Town
area, and uh that's where Istarted my schooling and uh you
know grew up there.
(12:44):
We we had a real transitioncoming out of that life, right?
Um, into starting over again inSouth Africa.
And I you know, I only rememberthe good parts, but I'm sure it
was real tough for my folks.
Uh but that is an incrediblecouple.
They um are still together,they're alive, they live in
(13:05):
Australia, where my sister andher family live.
Um, so my sister uh she her nameis Jade.
She uh ended up marrying um anAustralian guy who was a doctor
and they moved there and startedtheir family.
And soon after that, my folks uhonce they had kids, my folks
(13:25):
left South Africa and joinedthem there.
Uh, I was on the opposite sideof the world in the US at that
time.
So um, but yeah, the my folksare real incredible.
They're I I've it's been seldomthat I've seen a couple fall
more in love later in the years.
I've seen a lot of people stickwith each other, I've seen
people just tolerate each other,I've seen people be consistently
(13:47):
in love, but I've never seenthis.
I've seen the transition awayfrom my dad who was running the
businesses, traveling, and mymom still working.
Uh, they were both working theirwhole entire lives.
Um, but being home and takingcare of the tribe to my mom
still being active because sheis like me and we are tireless
and she will never stop working.
My dad is retired, and uh to himtaking the shift to doing the
(14:12):
groceries and doing doing thegarden and cooking the meals and
stuff while my mom still works.
In fact, she works for mybrother-in-law's uh practice,
she runs the books and stuff,and um you know, they have just
got better with age, stronger.
Uh they they're the kind offriends that you love to see in
(14:34):
a partner.
So I've only good things to sayabout them, but from a value
system, I mean, my dad is thekind of guy who'd give you the
shirt off his back, uh, likevery literally, actually.
Um, I got that trait from him.
My son has that same trait, uh,you know, generosity, humility.
The number one thing my dadtaught me is humility.
He said, Look, son, like thatyou will have successes in life
(14:57):
and things will be good.
But he's like, Look, I will tellyou the one thing is all of that
gets taken away in the blink ofan eye.
So don't be up there uh high andproud, you know, preaching about
all your wins and successesbecause humility is the number
one value I want you to takeaway.
So uh quite frankly, like thatwas the biggest thing he
(15:17):
instilled in me is humility andthe ability to just always be
thankful.
I was a preacher for over 40years, so I have uh I have a lot
of uh he's lessons, but alsojust uh the power of humility
and thankfulness for blessings.
So um while I don't actively goto church, I'm still very um
(15:38):
religious, and uh you know I gotthat from him.
So uh my number one takeawayfrom him was work hard, put your
head down, stay humble, be agood person, be somebody that
when you lay your head to bed atnight, you're okay going to
sleep because you didn't screwsomebody or you weren't uh a
tyrant, right?
Um my mom, a hardworking person,came from the other side of the
(16:01):
tracks in Zimbabwe, my dad onthe better side, my mom from the
other side, and she's one of theonly people I've actually seen
successfully cross a classbarrier um and uh that I know,
right?
And and say, look, I'm nevergoing there again.
And so she is a very frugal, butalso um very deliberate in
(16:23):
everything that she does,hardworking, uh, and uh just a
family person all around, right?
She's been the anchor in ourfamily honesty, uh, through the
troubled times, the terroristactivities in Zimbabwe, the
moving to new countries.
Um she's always her there's asaying in Africaans, right?
We speak Africa, which says uhHodi Blinkanpua, which means
(16:45):
always show the shiny side.
Like always put so it'sbasically it derives from when
you have guests come over andyou have silverware and making
sure that like the tray, thesilver tray is the shiny.
So she's like you always,always, always keep it shiny,
always show the shiny side.
So um some real good values fromthem.
Real good lessons, they're goodpeople, they're real
down-to-earth people, they'renot flashy, they've worked hard,
(17:08):
saved hard their whole lives.
They don't believe in flashy,they don't believe in big, they
they believe in comfort andseeing the world and seeing
their family.
SPEAKER_02 (17:16):
So, how how um that's awesome.
That was a really good job ofdescribing my kids.
Like I've met mom and dadalready now.
Um how talk about yourtransition from South Africa to
the United States.
SPEAKER_01 (17:28):
Yeah, it's very curious.
I uh when I was doing mybachelor's up in Pretoria, um,
we actually had a set of umexchange students come over from
uh Madison, uh UW Madison, anduh they I was um in the
biological and agriculturalsciences, uh I was the treasurer
(17:50):
for that department, and uh oneof my jobs was to entertain and
find housing for and show themthe ropes um in my last uh year.
And I ended up meeting uh thesetwins that came from there, and
we I took them all over theplace and took them back to
Zimbabwe, showed them the farms.
(18:10):
Um and one of them was you knowvery open to say, why don't you
do instead of graduating thisyear, why don't you do an
exchange program and come overand see the US?
Um, which I did.
And while I was there, I justfell in love with it.
I fell in love with the system.
I fell, you know, we'd watchedall the movies about the front
(18:31):
houses and the colleges andpeople having fun and all this
stuff, and you know, it it'sjust such a different system
than at home.
And I I fell in love immediatelywith it.
I fell in love with just as Itold you, the ability to do what
it is you can by just puttingyour mind to it.
And uh I decided then that Iwanted to do my grad work there.
Um so I graduated with abachelor's in microbiology, and
(18:55):
I made my applications to theU.S.
And while I was doing that, Idecided to go abroad to London
and live in London for a whileand um traveled all of Europe
while I was doing that.
Uh just working, I had somesavings and then working uh
menial jobs.
I I was actually a gift packerfor Herods.
(19:15):
I don't know if you're familiarwith Herod's the department
store, very uh flashy, one ofthe world's like best department
stores.
Um and uh then I ended updriving trucks for them because
they needed somebody who coulddrive uh trucks through London.
That was crazy.
And then I I got my acceptanceinto uh Colorado State and uh
made the move and uh startedworking on my uh master's and
(19:39):
then my PhD in microbiology andfood science.
Um and so I was there for uh sixyears um getting through my
program and publishing papersand book chapters, and uh, you
know, it was real academic atthe time.
I mean, I have almost 50peer-reviewed publications out
there in uh science and bookchapters, textbooks for for kids
(20:00):
in uh in college, and uh I wasreal academic at the time, but
nothing had sparked my interestmore than the entrepreneurial
side of life.
And so, you know, I was asked tobe a professor a number of
times, and uh you know, by by myprofessors and others saying,
look, we'd we'd love to have youin the world of academia, but
you know, for me it just didn'tmove fast enough, right?
(20:22):
It was um it was just not thelife for me.
So yeah, but that that was mytransition over.
I uh you know being in Coloradois incredible.
Again, it was uh kind of theWild West, right?
That you you see when you're inSouth Africa and you look around
and and truly in the ruralareas, it's just like that.
And um, I had a lot of friends,I made a lot of friends over
(20:43):
there and uh got introduced tothe culture a lot, and it became
for me home at that point.
Once I had graduated, I said,look, this is this is home.
Like that South Africa orZimbabwe will always be home.
That's where I was born, that'swhere I was raised, but this
became home for me.
SPEAKER_02 (21:01):
And what um then what brought you to Seattle?
SPEAKER_01 (21:04):
Uh actually, I I my first my first job out of call
uh out of graduating with mydoctorate was uh to come up here
to Seattle and help a uh a manuh Dr.
Mansur Samadhpuri owns thelargest um collection of
analytical labs in the US rightnow.
(21:26):
Um but it was to build out helphim build out a series of
analytical labs, uh doing foodand drug testing, and uh and he
really needed somebody who couldbe a right-hand man at the time
and just jump in and not get alot of direction, but show a lot
of initiative.
And uh, and so I ended upstaying here and working for him
(21:51):
for a number of years andlearning just a ton through that
process.
You know, we were involved inhelping, uh, I don't know if you
recall the big uh spinachoutbreak in the Salinas Valley
that killed a bunch of peopleand some kids and stuff.
And we uh it was his likebrainchild to go down there, get
involved.
It was Earth Earth on Farms atthe time, and uh to keep Earth
(22:12):
on farms up uh and running eventhrough that catastrophe and put
in place uh this food lottesting.
So as it comes off raw materialtesting it before it goes into
becoming produce such that wecould uh protect essentially a
raw agricultural commodity thatdoesn't really face any
lethality step.
Um so anyway, I I ended upcoming here for uh uh a job, I
(22:37):
ended up staying, and then uhyou know, actually while I was
living here, I was recruited toa place just outside of
Amsterdam to go and uh do somework for them.
And I and so I moved to theNetherlands for three years.
Wow.
And uh while I was there, uh Iwas back in Seattle on business,
(22:58):
um uh actually also for someproduce work, and I ended up
meeting the mother of mychildren at a bar on like the
last night um before headingback home.
And so we uh ended up justcommunicating for like three or
four months, just just emailsand texts and for like three or
(23:20):
four months, and uh theneventually we came together and
eventually we moved to Seattlewhen we had kids.
But in between, there wasChicago, Philadelphia, uh you
know, where we we had cometogether.
I had moved back from theNetherlands and we moved into
Chicago together, and then wehad a stint into Philadelphia,
(23:40):
and then after that we ended upuh coming to Seattle because uh
we have children, and and herfamily is here.
Wow actually in uh uh Auburnarea, so yeah, you'd you'd know
that.
SPEAKER_02 (23:56):
Okay, wow.
So with all the travels, um tellme what would be like your your
the biggest takeaways seeing allthese different cultures, all
these different experiences.
How is that how is that how havethose experiences impacted you
as a dad?
And then maybe what's how haveyou shared some of those
experiences with with both ofyour kids?
SPEAKER_01 (24:15):
Yeah, you know, I I'll tell you travel and
exposure to cultures is probablymy number one asset that I have
in life.
Not the house, not the vehicles,not the savings count, no, none
of that.
It's it's literally being theability to see how other people
thrive in their environments,right?
(24:35):
And uh just learning aboutpeople's values in different
places, learning about how theyconduct themselves as a family,
as business people, uh socially.
Uh, and you know, I've I've saidtime and time again to my kids,
uh, one of the best gifts that Icould give you is uh not
physical things, it's it'stravel, it's taking you places.
(24:59):
We uh have a holiday place downin Baja, um and it's uh pretty
rural, uh, and we go there aboutfour times a year, and it's
rural, we're not in the Kabotype environment, and we we get
to face the hardships of some ofthe rural areas there, and I we
(25:22):
we we talk through it a lot, andwe talk through um the ability
to be generous, to be helpful,to be sympathetic and
empathetic, and and to just knowthat like there's values to be
found in people regardless oftheir status or where they are
financially.
Um, and they've made some of thebest friends down there not
(25:42):
being able to communicate, themnot speaking Spanish, and you
know, their friends down therenot speaking English, and it
doesn't matter.
I see them on the beach, they'replaying, and it's it's just
fantastic, right?
So um I would say the exposureto other cultures who are not
necessarily as uh fortunate aswe are has probably been one of
the things I've learned themost.
Seeing the amount of love andthe amount of joy and just the
(26:04):
amount of thankfulness that uhfolks who have less than us
have, because what they have isreally wonderful, and that's
community and family andtightness and bond, right?
I've met some of the wealthiestpeople in the world whose
families are just messed up.
They have uh and and uhfirsthand um have met uh an
(26:25):
incredibly wealthy family whosefamily just don't like each
other, and and for me, I I Ialways say like that's the
poorest rich family, you know.
And when I look at folks who arein different areas and I see
just how tight they are as acommunity, I'm like, they are
the richest poor families,right?
So uh I think that's one of thelessons I want my kids to know
(26:45):
is that uh you see people forwho they are and not for what
they have.
And that's one of the thingsthat that travel taught me.
SPEAKER_00 (26:56):
Intention, integrity, IT recruitment.
We are McCann Partners, and I amMegan McCann, the CEO and
founder.
McCann Partners is aChicago-based IT recruitment
firm.
We support a growing portfolioof innovative organizations,
from Chicago-based startups tocompanies with a global
footprint.
We are dedicated to creating amore equitable and diverse
(27:19):
workforce and are proud thatmore than 70% of our talent
placements since 2020 have beendiverse hires.
We take pride in our work andinvest time to hone our skills.
Case in point, our work withCasey.
Casey helped me and my teamlearn new habits of success and
unlock the skills we alreadyhave been using.
(27:42):
The superpowers of humility,vulnerability, and curiosity.
If you, the listener, arecurious about our experience
with Casey and his impact on theteam and our business, please
reach out to me via LinkedIn.
SPEAKER_02 (27:57):
How hard was that to teach?
I mean, you got a nine andeleven year old, and obviously
it's different levels ofmaturity, but like uh three that
story you said speaks to mebecause that's um in my
corporate journey, I think I Iwas fortunate the the maybe the
the highs I had were probablyhigher than I thought would I
would have.
SPEAKER_03 (28:17):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (28:17):
And um, you know, like when we when I grew up, my
vacations were camping or andriding my bike.
And um, I didn't ride in myfirst airplane like legit to
like eighth grade, ninth grade.
I mean, and my kids have been ona ton um through like some of
the corporate things we did.
(28:38):
And so I was always worriedabout like making sure my kids
realize that's not this is notnormal.
And don't feel I don't want youto feel guilty, but I don't want
you to think like you'reentitled to this because it's
we're not taking into your pointit can like your dad taught you
it can be taken away tomorrow.
SPEAKER_01 (28:53):
In a heartbeat, right?
In a heartbeat.
So I I that resonates with metoo, uh, Casey, because uh, you
know, my kids I I have to tellthem, like, you know, we belong
to a uh country club over herewhere they go swimming and
playing tennis and stuff, andthey go to a private Catholic
school, and I sit them downoften and I explain to them that
like this isn't everybody, thisisn't everybody, and I know that
(29:17):
you may ask for X, Y, and Z andnot get it, and then think that
like you've been done in for,and I'm like, you I promise you,
you are not done in for.
It's a measure of not havingeverything you want in the world
because it's not that's justlike not how life works.
And and I think themunderstanding that is being
helpful because it's tough whenthey do have so much around them
(29:38):
uh to actually teach them thatlike this isn't normal, man.
It's not it's it's noteverybody, and it's very very
little of the population, infact.
Um, and so the lesson of well,we've got all this, why can't we
have more is is one that I stillwork on, right?
I still work on becausesometimes I just feel I'm doing
the wrong the wrong thing as adad by surrounding them with
(29:59):
things rather than.
Then experiences and so I do tryto get we hike like crazy, we're
a hiking family, we get outthere.
I think that's the best timesI've ever had with my kids, not
flying down to Baja or flying toAustralia, which we just did
this uh Christmas to go and seetheir grandparents and cousins.
But it's it's really getting outand hiking and sweating and
(30:20):
working hard and seeing thebeauties out there and talking
about it.
And uh yeah, that's that's thebest because then it's we're not
we're not focused on anythingbut our health and being
together, right?
Yep.
SPEAKER_02 (30:33):
No, it's awesome.
Yeah, there's so there's so manyum amazing hikes around the
Seattle area, which I've notdone, many of them.
Um my daughter and her boyfrienddid one recently, like I think
it's called Snow Lake up in theSnow Palm Area.
Yeah, yeah.
Beautiful up there.
I'm like, how do I and itactually kind of made me feel
guilty.
I'm like, how have I I'm almost50?
(30:53):
Jared.
I'm like, how the hell have Inot done this?
Because I mean I've been justdoing my own thing and busy with
other activities, but like itshould slow down one of these
days, and like I'm going hikingtoday, you know.
SPEAKER_01 (31:04):
But I I I do it often where I just say, you
know, that's it.
I'm hiking this weekend.
And my the crazy thing is, I uhjust after I got divorced, um I
suddenly like had to like takecare of kids more than I had
before, right?
I'd been traveling and workingso much.
Uh that first year after I'mlike, oh my gosh, like I have to
(31:27):
do everything right now.
Like I have to prepare food, Ihave to prepare for classes, the
classes or the preschool orwhatever, and I have to
entertain these guys, likeright.
Um, and it was such a lesson.
I mean, it's it it it's actuallyone of the best things that's
ever happened to me.
It uh it took me from being sortof in their lives to
(31:47):
dramatically in their lives,right?
Um and uh it made me a betterdad and it made me a better um
friend to them.
Uh so I know while a lot ofpeople may say like divorce
crushed their souls and theirlives and stuff, it actually
like it actually gave me anopportunity at being the dad I
would never have been in thatmarriage because I was so
(32:08):
focused on work, traveling,being away, popping in, hey,
cool, you've got a birthdayparty, then I can take you to
good, great, moving on, right?
Uh, to hey, this is my week, andI've got to get everything done
in this week, but mostimportantly, like we've got to
form a bond and a relationship.
And we hiked almost everyweekend.
He was four, she was six.
(32:30):
And I'm not talking about a milehike, I'm talking four or five
mile 2000 elevation.
Uh and when I look back at it,I'm like, Are you nuts?
Like, what were you doing?
And and quite frankly, I think Iwas slightly nuts at the time,
but uh we we took on hikes wherewe would I would look back and
(32:50):
be like, I'm not sure today,like if I look back, I'm not
really sure how they did it.
I I I had to motivate them.
There's a lot of whining andcrying.
Uh we had these like energygummies, like which were just
gummies, like gummy worms.
And I would every every fewhundred yards, I'd it'd be I'd
call it a power-up gummy, andthey'd get a power-up gummy, and
we'd get through it.
But looking back, I'm like,there's no way a four-year-old
(33:12):
should be doing those hikes, buthe crushed him.
I mean, there was some whining.
But I mean, those that that'swhere we formed that
relationship the year after umhaving just got divorced, and I
just was thinking to myself theother day, I was like, man, that
was the best thing that everhappened for myself and my
relationship with my kids.
SPEAKER_02 (33:30):
Um, I don't know if I've ever asked anybody this,
but you're for some reason ithit me in the heart to ask you.
Um, I love your attitude andyour your mindset towards
fatherhood.
Um going through a divorce,which I don't think anybody
raises their hand saying, Ican't wait to go through that.
I mean, no one wants that, butit is what it is.
Um what tell me what would beyour, what tell our audience,
what would be one piece ofadvice you can give maybe a dad
(33:53):
going through a divorce thatmaybe thinks, oh God, life's the
I'm done.
Like that maybe a lesson you'velearned out of it, uh you kind
of just share one, but whatwould be a piece of advice you
might give a dad going throughthis that, hey, you can get
through this?
SPEAKER_01 (34:07):
I you know, I did just give you an example, but
I'll I'll elaborate on it.
Um divorce nobody wants, youjust said it, right?
Like it's a tough process andit's a it's an end to something
that was, you know, uh settogether by two humans who want
to spend the rest of their livestogether.
That's why you get married,right?
That's why you have thoserelationships.
Um but it happens, and ithappens more often than what we
(34:29):
actually know, right?
It's it's pretty frequent thesedays, which is sad and
unfortunate.
But what I would tell somebodyis this is an opportunity, this
is not the end of your life.
And I've had to like help a fewpeople through it along the way.
Uh, and for me, it's anopportunity, it's an opportunity
to take the focus away from thewhole process of you know,
(34:55):
dealing with the heartache,dealing with loss, dealing with
anger, and take that energy andput it into your kids.
Because had I not done that, Iwould have spiraled probably
like a lot do because it wasit's all about them.
You make it all about yourself.
Woe is me.
Uh, this sucks.
Like, will I ever be happyagain?
(35:17):
Like, well, and and you take allthat energy, right?
And you you see it as anopportunity to pour into your
kids.
Um, I mean, they've they'vebecome probably the only thing
that I truly care about, right?
Because I love working.
Like, work for me isn't aneffort, it's a joy and a
blessing.
Um, but everything I do rightnow is done with them in mind
(35:40):
because I can't think of abetter purpose, to be honest,
than you know, uh, here'ssomething I'll share with you.
Um, you know, I've I've we'llget into 21 again, but 21 again
was started for my own healthand for my own vitality and
energy and drive.
But um one of the things Ilearned along the way, and um an
(36:04):
influencer and founder, and andit stuck with me, and I share it
now with people every time I Ispeak to a dad um and somebody
who's looking to improve theirhealth, somebody who's just like
not in the best of health, butthey are doing great at work,
they're working hard, issomething that stuck with me.
You said, I know that you sayyou'd die for your kids, but
(36:25):
would you live for them?
And and that has stuck with me,and it it is like add years to
your life because they go sofast, and everybody warns you
it's gonna go fast, right?
Fatherhood like is is one ofthose things where parenthood,
uh, people tell you it's gonnago fast, and you say, Yeah,
cool, but I how can I slow itdown?
You can't, right?
(36:45):
And you know it, and then youstart telling people, hey, it's
gonna disappear fast, make themost out of it.
And sometimes people don't makethe most out of it, but people
don't make the most out of it.
Forget that next level job.
Forget that like if if it meansit's going to take time from
your kids, forget it, it's notworth it.
(37:05):
You you you just change yourmeans of living, do something,
but put the time into your kids.
And quite frankly, right?
Like, I do startups now.
Um, I haven't paid myself asalary in three years, right?
I'm living on savings.
Um, that's a startup world, it'show founding companies go until
you're profitable.
Um, and there I've had a numberof people um my network come
(37:27):
back and uh ask me to join thecorporate world again, be a VP
over here or SVP over there, andoffers of big money.
And quite frankly, like it'llnever happen.
It'll never happen.
I'll find a way to make, butit'll never happen because I I
lost so much time with my kidsdoing that that I can't ever
step back into that because thatI am the most present.
(37:48):
I'm out there two hours a daythrowing, catching, bumps at
spiking, like and you know, it'shonestly one of the things I
love the most.
So I would tell a father goingthrough divorce, I would say,
Look, man, you've just got thebiggest opportunity of your life
to pour more energy into yourkids than you've ever had.
Because for that week, dependingon your arrangement week or
(38:11):
three, two, two, or however itfalls out, for those days, it's
just you.
It's just you.
You don't you're not sharingthat time with anybody but them.
So put all your energy into itbecause, and I would say to
them, find ways to add years toyour life.
You know, I I saw something theother day which was so
startling, but it was like youhave a 70%, 75% of your kids'
(38:36):
attention up to the age of 10,and then you get or 75% of their
time, then it goes down to like60 when they turn 12, then it
goes down to like 40 somethingwhen they turn 16, and then and
and I was like, oh my gosh, likemy daughter's 11, my son's nine.
I said, these percentages arestarting to actually like go
down, and and that's when Irealized like you can't lose a
(38:59):
summer, you can't lose aweekend.
You can't.
You have to you have to make themost of it.
You you just cannot lose it bysaying, uh, let's just sit
around today, or let's you guysgo do your thing.
You've you've got to getinvolved.
Right.
So I love that.
SPEAKER_02 (39:13):
No, it's okay.
No, I love it, man.
That's that's I want my gueststalking more than me.
That means we're doing a goodjob here.
If I so if if there's a dadlistening at home is okay, I and
add years to my life, I want todo that.
Well, how do we do it?
Like, give us some examples ofhow dads can add years to their
life.
SPEAKER_01 (39:29):
Well, you know, I'll tell you how I did it right.
Um I there's there's a few ways,but I I noticed I turned 42, my
energy was low, my drive waslow, um, my libido was low, and
I realized like I had lowtestosterone, and this will come
into 21 again, and we'll we'lltalk about that in a minute.
But let's just and I realizedthat I was doing less.
(39:50):
I was less active, I was justnot motivated to do much.
And I also then started to learnthat you know the the the more
sessile you are, the more yousit around, the the more your
cortisol and levels go up, andthe more your cortisol levels go
up, the more you start actuallyum deteriorating your body's
(40:15):
production of testosterone.
And and testosterone is the mainit's the main machine that makes
a man a man, right?
It's it's not bravado, it's notalpha.
It is the engine, the mainhormone that drives everything
in your body.
And aging happens fastest withlow testosterone, right?
Which is why we're going to getinto 21 again.
I mean, the name says it all,like be young again, be vital.
(40:37):
But how I've added years to mylife and how I plan to add more
years to my life is focusing onthat engine and making sure that
it is the best that it can be,right?
My hormone levels are great sothat the rest of my body can
respond.
Uh I have I follow this likegeneral rule, which I think most
(40:59):
men over 35 should follow, 30,35 should follow, and that is
one gram of protein per pound ofbody weight every day.
50 ounces of water.
You gotta drink that water.
8 to 10,000 steps a day, nodebate.
Every day.
Every day.
I don't care if it's Sunday andyou just got back from church,
eight to ten thousand steps aday, and working out anywhere
(41:20):
from three to four times a week,those should be non-negotiable
to any dad.
Um a good diet, but I I focus ona high protein diet and a low
carb diet.
The one step I haven't takenyet, Casey, which I absolutely
need to take, and I know it, andI keep telling myself, and I'm
smart enough to know that Ishould be doing it, not just
(41:42):
talking about it, is decreasingthe amount of alcohol I consume,
right?
Because that's another absoluteager.
Um and I'm gonna get there.
Um, I've I've done good so far,but that's the one I've got to
improve on.
Um more active, I work out threeto four times a week, eight to
ten thousand steps, absolutely.
One gram of protein per pound ofbody weight, um, and again,
(42:08):
lowering the amount of alcoholthat you take in because alcohol
is a toxin, right?
Like it's the biggest toxin.
I know like there's this likegreat movement towards uh low to
no, right?
Low alcohol, no alcohol.
Um, and in fact, uh one of thefounders of Soylent and I um
actually started a company backin the day.
It's now I I'm not in anymore,he's not, but his wife is
(42:30):
running it called Kin K-I-NEuphorics or Kin Tonics, and
it's imbibing without alcohol,right?
So it's botanicals, nootropicslike used to help.
Um, but there's things like thatthat are out there, and uh
that's just one of the manythings, but definitely like
decreasing or stopping drinking,being more active, high protein
(42:51):
diet, lots of water, gettingyour steps in.
Oh, I love it.
That's that's how you livelonger.
And then supplementation too,right?
Which was clearly a passion ofmine and how we started 21
again.
SPEAKER_02 (43:04):
Good advice, uh, Jared.
So before we dive into 21 uhagain, I want to find out like
where did the passion get intofood science for you?
I mean, you obviously studiedit.
SPEAKER_01 (43:12):
Yeah, yeah, good question.
Um, actually, I was studying tobe a vet, um, go and work on
family farms and you know, allthat shifted, right?
Uh, when I was at school and thewhole uh Zimbabwe thing fell
apart.
Um, and what I found is that oneof the classes that really,
really intrigued me the most,and it was this professor uh
(43:33):
Klute, was his last name, EugeneKlute, um absolute brainiac uh
industrial microbiologist.
So he was an expert umconsultant and advisor to SAB
South African Breweries, whichbecame uh SAB Miller.
Um, but so he was an expert umadvisor to South African
(43:55):
breweries and uh in wild strainselection and optimization.
And you know, I remember sittingthrough some of these classes,
and some of the things that areoccurring today, I remember him
saying, Hey, look, nobody'slooked into this, but the
rhizosphere or the area aroundroots are filled with
microorganisms and they'rechallenging channeling and
messaging, and that's the healthof the plant, and all these
things I've seen some sciencedelve into today, but we're
(44:17):
talking, she's we're talking 30years ago, right?
Um and this guy's brain and howhe thought through things and
how he thought through being aprofessor, but you know, I told
you like I was encouraged to gothe academic route, but I wanted
rubber meets road more, right?
I wanted application, I wantedspeed, I wanted that.
He was that guy, he was aprofessor, but he was doing so
(44:39):
much consulting in the industrybecause he got to use his
knowledge and put his knowledgeinto application that gave him
satisfaction.
And it was him.
Like he started it.
And so I started taking someindustrial micro courses.
Um and uh in fact, in fact, mywhite paper, you know, it's a
little bit different uh in SouthAfrica.
You you graduate with yourbachelor's, but then you do an
(45:01):
honors, and it's a year in whichyou actually have to do a
practical application and writea white paper on it, right?
And mine was actually in some ofthe work that he inspired in uh
wild strain yeast selection.
So basically sampling out of theenvironment, finding one that
could then be optimized for uhefficiencies of uh brew methods,
(45:22):
so basically could make theyield of brewing a lot higher
than just the typical strainsthat they were using.
So uh it was really cool.
I was very inspired by it.
You know, I was in the lab doingailes and loggers and and just
trying to see like how thestrain functioned, the strains
that I'd selected functioned inyield, and it was really fun.
And I just I was hooked.
(45:43):
I was like, look, man, I'm gonnause this knowledge to to build
things, right?
And uh and the rest was history.
I came to the US and did my PhDand I was off to the races.
SPEAKER_02 (45:54):
Wow.
So cool.
All right, so we've teased thisenough.
21 again.
Talk about let's talk about howit was how it was built, how it
was formed, and and how this howdads at home can learn more
about um what you're doing.
Yeah, thanks, Casey.
SPEAKER_01 (46:09):
Um 21 again, absolute passion project.
It's a it's a personal journey.
Uh I turned 42, been an activeguy my whole life playing rugby
and cricket and swimming andwater polo.
And um I I was active all allthe way through, and you know, I
turned 42, I remember it to thisday.
And I during that period oftime, I noticed a complete lack
(46:34):
of just energy and drive andmotivation.
Um, my sex drive was low, I justdidn't really care about it all.
And it took me a while torealize, like, hey man, I'm out
of it.
I'm really out of it.
And like when I sat down andanalyzed it, I said, you know, I
think like my hormone levels arelow.
Like, I think my testosterone islow.
(46:54):
And I went and got mytestosterone tested, and uh it
was 270.
Now, if you go and look at whattestosterone levels are for
normal, they say, you know, uh250 to 1,000.
But it's total bogus.
All these tests, and it's totalbogus.
Like a man needs to be operatingat 500 plus for everything in
your body to be working, to notbe like fat depositions, to have
(47:16):
drive and motivation, to be yourmood, right?
People have confused this often,Casey, where they say, Well, if
if you're boosting yourtestosterone, is uh isn't it
gonna make you angry or mad?
Or aren't you gonna getaggressive?
And I'm like, well, hold on.
I I think you I think you've gotto differentiate taking anabolic
steroids, which are hormones,but anabolic steroids and
plugging them into your bodyversus taking the main hormone
(47:39):
that makes you work.
And actually, having lowtestosterone will likely make
you more moody and more grumpybecause your body's not happy.
You're not happy, and you can'tbe happy.
And so I knew I had low tea.
After seeing that, I tested, Iconfirmed it, and I was like,
look, I'm on a journey to getthis up.
I need to get this up.
But I like many men and a lot ofpeople men won't know that their
(48:02):
low drive is from the fact thatthey like have low tea.
And that's part of part of ourjobs is not just to sell a
product, it's to educate.
We're gonna have a journey.
We're building a community.
We sport somebody on to build acommunity so that there's
interactivity, there's sharingof experiences.
Hey, what workout works for you,what diet works for you?
We're gonna build a communitybecause what we want to do is
improve men's health.
The whole ethos about it ishealthier, longer, right?
(48:25):
That's that is the whole ethosof 21 again.
Healthier, longer.
I started down the route ofincreasing my testosterone, but
I didn't want the injections.
I didn't want the gel or thepellet or the patch.
The thing with that is, I'm ascientist, I'm smart enough to
know that you take testosterone,you're taking it for life
because you once you starttaking the actual hormone that
(48:49):
you're injecting into your bodyor the pellet you're putting
into it, you are stopping yourbody's natural production.
You stop that system, you shutit down.
Sometimes it never comes back,but it will take years when you
stop for it to come back.
So the next alternative is toboost your body's natural
system.
It's to give your body thesignals to go and make it, to
give it the cofactors to buildit, and and to help it not get
(49:12):
converted to estrogen because alot of times, you know, um the
the body when it starts aging,uh here's here's a cool stat for
you.
Once you turn 30, some magical30 number, but there's stats out
there that have done it instudies, your T your
testosterone production drops byone to two percent every year
(49:32):
for the rest of your life.
I'm 48.
That's that's 18 years.
That's at a max of 36% less.
Where I am today is 36% lessthan when I was when I was so
I'm I'm two-thirds of theproduction it was, right?
They looked at the T levels ofpeople my age, say 40-year-olds
in the 80s, 40-year-olds today.
(49:56):
Half.
We are at half the T levels thata 40-year-old was in the 80s.
And you say, why?
Cessal nature.
We're in front of these laptops,we're on our screens, social
addiction, we are eating worse,we have bioplastics in our food,
the nutrition has gone by thewayside, uh, activity levels
(50:16):
have gone by the wayside, ourstress level has gone up.
We're all doing more than onething.
Cortisol levels are up, cortisollevels are enemies of
testosterone.
Everything that our lifestylewas was not in the 80s.
And right, the 80s you wereoutdoor, you were active, you
know, dad's were macho guys,mullets and mustaches, right?
This is not this is this is notuh by default.
(50:39):
We're uh kind of modeling somepics and stuff about it.
But um these were hardcore guys,right?
And uh, and it's just very clearlike our T levels are the lowest
they've ever been.
They continue to be lower, theywill be lower.
It is the very most importantthing for a man, and it should
be the very biggest trend rightnow is men taking over their
(51:01):
hormonal balances and ensuringthat they get their engine
right.
So I started taking supplementsbecause I'm like, look, I'm not
gonna put my uh the hormone inmy body and shut my engine down.
I got many, many years left.
Hopefully, that's the point.
Um, and I started supplementing.
I started tested a dozensupplements, tested them for 60
to 90 days each, and I justwasn't happy.
(51:22):
Started looking into it more,doing research as I do, and what
I found is just terriblecombinations of ingredients by
these companies making buckubucks, very ineffective doses,
maybe one-tenth of what theyshould be, so that they can make
great margins, right?
They tell you it's this, theytell you it's that, oh, it's
gonna change your life, and thenthey give you these ingredients
and they give them to you atone-tenth of their effective uh
(51:44):
dose.
And I said, Look, there's abetter way for this, I'm gonna
build it myself.
So I built it myself, startedtaking it.
After 90 days, I couldabsolutely tell after 30 days.
I could tell my energy andstuff, but after 90 days, I was
like, man, this is great.
And I've been taking it eversince.
That's a few years back.
Um, and I started sharing itwith my friends, and they came
(52:07):
to me and they said, Look, thisis incredible, guy.
You've actually got to make thisavailable to men.
And that's when uh I actuallyended up partnering with uh my
partner Jay, um, a wonderfulguy, brilliant man, uh, a number
of successful brands that he'slaunched and run.
Um, and he was like, Jay, I havethe same symptoms that you have.
Uh went and tested his and hiswas low too.
(52:29):
Um, so I lifted mine from 270 upto 530 by just supplementing.
It's it's kind of plateaued,which I would expect, right?
It's it's not an ever-increasingriser.
Again, you're not injecting ahormone into your body, but it's
these beautiful combination ofingredients at clinical level
doses.
So, what we're giving you issomething that's effective.
We have no interest in makingmoney if we're not changing
(52:51):
people's lives.
The journey is about healthierlonger for men.
Um, and and and so 21 again wasborn, right?
And the name says it all.
It's we want to feel like we didwhen we were 21, when our libido
was up, when our energy was up,when our power was up, when we
had a anywhere from a two to asix pack, depending on how much
(53:11):
you worked out, right?
Um, and uh we just we just wantthat back.
And you know, I've I'm I'mthere.
I'm there.
I I've never been more excitedabout my health than now.
SPEAKER_02 (53:25):
Love it.
That's so cool.
How can we make sure peoplelearn about it, find about it?
Where can we send them?
SPEAKER_01 (53:31):
Yeah, I mean send them to our site, send them to
uh our Instagram, but it's21again.com, right?
Um send them to uh ourInstagram, but you know, you go
there, you subscribe, you getproduct, but look, we're we're
just launching now.
It's been available, you canorder it.
Um, but we're gonna have acouple launch events uh to boost
(53:54):
its exposure.
Uh we're building a community umon circle.
It's gonna be where people cancome and interact and say, look,
I I do want to boost my tea.
I'm worried about injections,I'd like to take supplements,
I'm not sure if they work, I'm alittle skeptical.
So people can talk.
So people can interact.
So it's not just us tellingthem, it's other people telling,
(54:16):
it's men telling other men,look, it's helping me, it's
helped me like this, it helpedme, but then it tapered off, but
I'm changing this and I'mincreasing that.
And and so people can talk,right?
Because our whole idea here isto increase men's health.
And the end of story.
And I know you have a deadpodcast.
It's again, will you live forthem?
We know you'll die for them.
Will you live for them?
And and that's what we want.
(54:37):
We want you to live for them andwith them, right?
So have energy, have energy, goand play with.
I am more active outside with mykids than I've ever been in in
the last two years.
I've never spent more time.
I I don't make the excuse rightnow of like, look, dad's busy.
I'm like, look, I have to finishwhat I'm doing right now.
I'll see you out there in 30minutes.
And I make it a point.
(54:58):
I'm out there more with themthan I've ever been in my entire
life, right now.
And and I'm probably also thebusiest I've been.
But um that that's one of thebenefits, Casey.
And I think I think any dad youspeak to will say, Look, man,
time with my children is highlyvaluable.
And if this gives me thatmotivation, that spark and that
energy to get in the gym, to goand do my 10,000 steps, to play
(55:20):
with my kids, to spend moretime, to be a more present
partner to my, you know, to mypartner, like then it's for you.
And I encourage, I encourage menwho are like even question where
their energy is, go and testyour T levels and then delve
into supplementation before youever start injecting or taking
pills.
Because once you go that route,you've gone that route.
(55:40):
You educate yourself.
And we're here to help educate.
That's part of ourresponsibility with having a
product is helping bring peoplealong.
SPEAKER_02 (55:48):
Love it.
Um, so good, man.
I'm grateful our paths arecrossed.
I'm grateful to more about you.
Um uh love the the story of howyou're raised, love the impact
your parents had on you.
Um, I love the mindset of ofco-parenting.
I think that's gonna speak to todads at home.
So shout out to you and youryour your mother, your children,
(56:09):
your ex-wife, for for how youguys are doing that.
Um, it's now time, Jared, to gointo what I call the lightning
round.
This is where I um show you thenegative hits of taking too many
uh hits in college, not bonghits, but football hits.
And uh your job is to answerthese questions as quickly as
you can.
My job is to try to get a giggleout of you.
Okay.
Are you ready?
Uh let's go, man.
Okay.
(56:29):
True or false.
Uh, Guinness Book of WorldRecords said you have the best
mustache and mullet in America.
This one's true.
I just laughed at my dumb firstjoke I lose.
Okay.
Um favorite 80s movie of alltime is you're not gonna know
(56:52):
this one, but it's called LoveLines.
SPEAKER_01 (56:54):
Love Lines?
Love Lines, and it's a USproduction, and it's what
brought me to the US.
It's about this college life andthese dueling bands, and they
have got like this Love Linesthat connects people, it's
called Love Lines.
Nobody knows it.
And apparently, I don't know howit made its way to Africa, but
it made its way there.
I saw it and I was like, I'mgoing to America.
And I got here, you know, theguy from uh police academy who
(57:15):
like does all the funny noises,like he's on it.
Like nobody else, you don't knowanybody else on that thing, but
it brought me to the US.
I was like, I want to go there,this looks incredible.
Oh my god, so good.
SPEAKER_02 (57:25):
Yeah, um, favorite um favorite song you love
listening to?
SPEAKER_01 (57:33):
Uh that's that's a good man.
I have so many, but I would sayor genre music.
How about that?
Oh, genre is definitely the 80s,man.
I grew up in the 80s, but it'sit's tough for me to pick one of
those.
But if I had to say it would beum gosh, what's the name of the
song?
It's like nothing ain't nothinggonna break my stride.
SPEAKER_02 (57:52):
Oh, slow me down.
Oh no.
Yeah, there we go.
Love that song.
Um, if I was coming to yourhouse for dinner tonight, tell
me what we'd have me, you andthe kids.
What would we have?
This one's real easy, man.
SPEAKER_01 (58:02):
I make the best steak ever.
I make the best steak ever.
I'll cook you the best steakever.
I make an incredible Caesarsalad that accompanies it, and
you would have wonderful steakmeal with a wonderful salad,
some asparagus, it'd beincredible.
Like I will cook that six out ofseven days.
I just the seventh day I gottado something else.
SPEAKER_02 (58:23):
Love it.
Love it.
Um, if you were if there was tobe a book written about your
life, tell me the title.
Oh, jeez.
The Wanderer?
The Wonderer?
Wanderer or Wanderer?
Wanderer.
Wanderer, okay, cool.
I like that.
So now hey, it would be W O.
W O, okay The Wanderer.
(58:45):
So that book is now sold outeverywhere.
Africa can't take get enoughcopies of Zimbabwe.
It's out, airports are out,Seattle, it's going left and
right.
So now we need to make a movieout of it.
You're the casting director.
Jared, who's gonna star you inthis critically acclaimed hit
new movie Wonder?
Wonder, I mean.
Gosh.
SPEAKER_01 (59:03):
It's gotta be James Dean, man.
If he was a liar, it's gotta beJames Dean.
SPEAKER_02 (59:07):
Love it.
And then last question tell metwo words that describe what it
means to be a dad.
Beyond blessed.
Beyond blessed.
Love it.
Lightning round's complete.
I laughed at my own joke.
It means I lose, which I alwaysdo.
Uh man, it's been grateful tolearn about you.
And 21 again.
I'll make sure that I'm gonna domore research.
I'm gonna make sure our guestslearn more about it.
Dad, if you're if you're ourage, getting close to 50, and
(59:30):
you have not checked yourtestosterone, which is it's me,
I have not.
I'm I have action out of thiscall, which is I'm grateful to
learn more about that.
But appreciate your time, man.
It's been grateful spending withyou and um wish you the best,
uh, you and your your businessin the future, and also just you
and your kids, man.
Thanks again for spending timewith me.
And you, Casey, and thank youfor what you do for dads.
Really appreciate that, man.
You bet.
Bye bye.
(59:51):
Well, thank you again,everybody, for listening today,
and appreciate you uh youhanging hanging with us as we
continue to uh finish up seasonsix.
Uh, if you have not taken Timeto leave us a review, please go
to the app, uh, the Apple app,the Spotify app, wherever you
consume these podcasts, andplease leave us a review, uh,
leave us a rating, and evenshare this episode with a friend
or family member.
(01:00:12):
And lastly, if you know anybodywho's looking to be a sponsor,
we're looking to increasesponsorship and uh as we head
into 2026.
So if there's a company you knowof that would be interested in
getting behind the quarterbackdad cast, please have them reach
out to me at casey atcasejcox.com.
Thanks everybody again forlistening.
unknown (01:00:27):
Bye.
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