Ep. 29 | Steve Marada | Formulating Signature™ Supplements

Steve Marada is the Head of Product Development for Bodybuilding.com. A Master of Nutrition and Formulator for over two decades, Steve focuses on supplement innovation for the brand. Listen in to learn about the role of a formulator, how he developed our new wave of Signature, and which products match your goals. 💪

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Then then what's up Bodybuilding dot Com listeners? My name
is Daniel Bitzen. Welcome back to the bbcom podcast. Today,
I'm joined by Steve Marata. Steve has over two decades

(00:22):
of experience in the nutraceutical and sports nutrition industries, specializing
in brand development, product innovation, and end to end business solutions.
He has a proven track record of driving growth and
disruptive product development. He's currently serving as the head of
Product Development and Merchandising at Bodybuilding dot Com. He oversees
the strategy and innovation for third party in private label products,

(00:45):
leveraging deep insights into consumer trends and category dynamics to
deliver cutting edge solutions. Previously, as divisional Vice President of
private Brands at The Vitamin Shop, he managed a three
hundred and fifty million dollar portfolio of nine brands, launching
over four hundred and fifty new skews. Steve is the
co owner and founder of Gensutic Naturals and co owner

(01:06):
of Inner Armor Sports Nutrition. He founded Insight Nutrition, guiding
global nutraceutical brands and achieving market leadership through innovative strategies
and operational enhancements. Holding a Bachelor of Science and dietetics,
Food and Nutrition from Montclair State University. He continues to
influence the supplement industry through a commitment to quality, innovation,

(01:28):
and consumer centric solutions. Steve, Welcome to the pod.

Speaker 2 (01:32):
Thanks Danielle. Pleasure to be here.

Speaker 1 (01:34):
Excited to have you on a fellow colleague. We work
very closely on the day to day here at bbcom
and really the mastermind and the formulator behind all the
products that we're going to talk through today everybody. So Steve,
topic number one today, building and breaking down the role
of a formulator. Tell us what it means to be
a formulator and really the how behind the job.

Speaker 2 (01:56):
It's interesting, I've never heard anybody ask me the question
in that way, like what it means to be a formulator? Right?
A lot of people always ask like, how do you formulate?
What do you do? How do you go about it?
But what it means is really interesting to me because
it's just it brings on a whole different topic of
conversation for me. So it always starts. Bottom line is

(02:17):
this always starts with the customer, right, So you always
put your customer lens on. Who's the customer? Why do
they shop in the space? You know, what are they
looking for? But at the end of the day, it's
really it goes beyond that. You have to really truly
get into the consumer and understand the fabric of them,
Like what makes up that consumer, what makes them tick,

(02:39):
Who are they, what are they interested in? And when
you think of this space sports nutrition space and you
think of a bodybuilding dot com consumer, this is like
a rare group. This is they're cut from a different cloth.
And the way to think about it is like these
people basically have made a very deliberate decision. I would

(03:02):
say they get up in the morning and work out,
like they want to walk around this world in shape,
and that that is a very important thing to dig
into this consumer because it's a mindset, it's a culture.
They get up, they look at themselves in the mirror.
They want to be super proud of who they are

(03:22):
and what they represent. Because like, at the end of
the day, when you're someone that chooses to get up
and train and to be in shape and take care
of yourself, that's your brand. So like, you know, this
group of people that I've always known and been around,
like they take so much pride in how they look
and shaping their body and just trying to get a
little bit better in shape, right. They want to build
a little bit more muscle, they want to burn a

(03:43):
little bit more fat, and they just want to be
proud of the way they look when they go out
there in the world, whether it's going to the gym,
whether it's how they dress at work, whether it's going
out at night. Like, there's an immense amount of pride there, Okay,
and that's so powerful, you know, because I believe like
a lot of confidence stems from that also. So this

(04:05):
group really dedicated. So then when you ask the question,
like what does it mean, like the responsibility the purpose
of innovating and building a brand. You know, I look
at bodybuilding dot Com, I look at the logo, I
look at the b and it really has to resonate
with that consumer. So what we do here really has

(04:27):
to be the same DNA. So our logo has to
be the same DNA as the customer. It's not just
a logo, it's not just a bee. Every single thing
we do here internally has to really be exactly what
that consumer is looking for. And they may not even
know what they're looking for, they just know who they
are and what motivates and what gets them up every day.

(04:48):
So we have to be aware of who they are
and it's all of us, like we're all cut from
that cloth and internally so we understand the consumer. But
then at the same time, I believe there's an immense response.
It's ability to the ban two bodybuilding dot Com to
push those boundaries. At the same time, it's not just
a matter of like what we think they want, but
they expect. Look, they wake up and push themselves. So

(05:13):
it's on us to push the formulas, the products, the
standards to always bring them something that's beyond what they
expect or what they even know. And that's really what
it means. It's a big responsibility to make sure that
we're doing that. And the way that I look at
it is like iron sharpens iron, right, So like you've
got you know, consumers that are training hard and pushing

(05:35):
brands to be better brands, and then the same thing
happens on our side as a brand, pushing better products
and pushing the consumers.

Speaker 1 (05:44):
Yeah, I mean to your point, waking up in the
morning that they're ready to train and we have to
meet them where they are, and then we have a
responsibility and a duty to help them reach those new
heights right on a daily, monthly, annual basis. Now, there's
a science behind being a formulator, and you have a deep,
deep past and experience in the nutrition space. So let's

(06:06):
talk about the science behind this and really kind of
the formulation one on one there.

Speaker 2 (06:10):
Yeah, sure, so, like well, a lot of formulas tend
to gravitate towards the science, right, and you know, you
fall in love with it. If you love this business,
you love the industry, You're interested in taking products that work,
so you sink into the science, right. So I think
that's one of the most important things you do as
a formulator. There's a lot of science. There's a lot
of science fiction. And look, I'll be the first one

(06:32):
to mint I'm an early adopter. I see new stuff
come out, I get super excited. I'm like a kid
in a candy store. And at the same time, you
have to kind of reset yourself and just say, where's
the science. Where is it today? What's an efficacious dose?
How do we go about this making sure that we
deliver a product that you over delivers at the customer level,
because we all take these products, you know, we want

(06:53):
the products to do exactly what they're intended to do.
So so for me, it's always sinking into the science,
being transparent with the label and making sure that the
right doses are there for the customer.

Speaker 1 (07:05):
I think there you have to delicate the fine line
between innovation and chasing trends because you and I both
know a lot of brands out there are just in
the game of chasing trends, you know, and being that
that viral brand. You know, for you, how important is
it to really kind of promote the steady and the
secureness you know that's been around for decades at this

(07:27):
point to kind of you know, guide people towards you know,
this is what's been working for twenty years and it's
probably gonna work for another twenty years while giving them
you know, you know, throwing a bone and giving them
the flavors and giving them the collapse and kind of
mixing the two.

Speaker 2 (07:41):
Yeah, we're not going to chase, right, So we're going
to get excited, we're going to do the research, we're
going to look at it, but we're not going to
chase the trend, as you say, And sometimes that's painful
because you see products out there super successful lots of sales,
lots of hype, but we're always going to stay true
to what we believe in, and that's you know, making
sure that we're there with science backed formulas, ingredients that

(08:03):
make sense, clinical doses that make sense. And of course, look,
there's a lot of there's enough new always coming out, Okay,
you just have to be on top of it. There's
a lot of new science, there's a lot of new
interesting ingredients. There's a lot of things on the horizon
in this industry that are coming that a lot of
people aren't even aware of. So I'm of the mindset
that there is always new emerging science. You just have

(08:25):
to kind of sort through the ones that you want
to sync into that have the real data behind it
versus science fiction.

Speaker 1 (08:32):
Well put see before we move on to topic two
for today, kind of walk me through the product life
cycle of you have an idea, you want to start
from scratch and create a new line or create a
single new skew. Let's leave it at that, right, bring
us through step one all the way through getting it
in a customer's hand.

Speaker 2 (08:51):
It's a long process. So what I would say is
there's a lot of upfront research, right you're looking at
the space, you're looking at the category, you're looking at
how can we improve it? Right, We're not going to
do something if we can't make it better. If we
can't improve it doesn't make any sense. So we start
that robust consumer research, data driven we're understanding on the pulse,
the new ingredients, the trends, all that stuff. We take

(09:13):
it onto account and then we take a look at
what we can do to make it even better. Right,
So that's just part of the process. But what I
would say is everything starts with people. Okay, and sounds
like a little bit of a strange answer, but like
for me, it's like you're building a professional sports team,
you're building a business. It always starts with the right

(09:34):
people and the right internal culture to want to make
sure that they deliver a best in class product. So
what I would say is step one for us as
a business and as a company is to make sure
the right people are here internally that just demand the
best demand, that b represents the DNA of this consumer

(09:54):
and what we want it to be. So we start
there with the people, and then what we do is
find the right manufacturers, which is also part of having
the right people. Right, Being in this for a couple
of decades, I've been fortunate enough to know a ton
of manufacturers, a ton of row material suppliers. There are
literally hundreds of manufacturers in the country. There are thousands

(10:17):
of raw material suppliers. So, like, you know, your reputation matters, right,
You've been in this business, people, manufacturer's been this business
a long time. You know who the best of the
best are. You know where to go to get things made. So,
like when we're talking about creating a product and bringing
it to life, starts with that culture internally to do
the right thing, okay, and then it's really expertise and

(10:41):
knowing who the manufacturers are and who the row material
suppliers are, right, And my approach through that whole process is,
you know, trust, but verify. So like I trust people
because I know them for years and I know they
have a great reputation in the industry and they do
manufacturing for other big companies and brands. But at the
same time, we verify. So what does that mean? So, Like,

(11:03):
let's say we're ordering a product, or we get some
raw material in the building and it's creating mode hydrate. Well,
that goes through testing right, It goes into a laboratory
and the first thing that they test for is the identity.
So they say, okay, is this what we ordered? Is
it creating? So they test for identity right away. Every
time they test for purity. Is it pure? Is it clean?

(11:26):
Is it potent? Is it everything we wanted it to be?

Speaker 1 (11:29):
This?

Speaker 2 (11:30):
So the ingredients come in, so you hand pick the
best manufacturers, the best suppliers, You trust them, but everything
still gets tested right to verify. So what happens is
you get this purity, potency, and identity testing complete, goes
into production, and then post production there's also additional testing,

(11:50):
and then beyond that, there's systematic additional testing that goes
on way beyond post production process.

Speaker 1 (11:58):
And then where do we go from there? We wrap
up the product, it's approved, check all the boxes right
in your head, and then we're shipping it off to
the warehouse and we're getting in the customer's hands.

Speaker 2 (12:08):
Yeah, that's exactly right.

Speaker 1 (12:10):
So Steve, thanks for running us through that. I think
that's a really important foundational conversation for us to have
before we dive into the nitty gritty details. We're going
to slide into topic number two, which is building Signature. So,
for those of you who don't know, Signature has been
bodybuilding dot COM's house brands since twenty eighteen. Over the years,
formulations have changed and involved given the demand required by

(12:31):
consumers within the industry. Now, with Steve at the helm
of bbcom and our product innovation and development, Signature is
getting its biggest facelift to date. I think it's safe
to say that, right. So, removing artificial dies and coloring
sourcing from US based farms, ensuring ingredients are at top
of the line value and are just a few of
the changes that are being implemented for this upcoming line Steve.

(12:54):
So we're going to start to break it open here.
But first we're going to set the stage for Signature
and we're going to talk about the core values, what
are consumer centric approaches and any R and D insights.
But number one, let's start with those core values. You know,
we look at quality, transparency, and effectiveness. What does that mean.

Speaker 2 (13:12):
It's really a lot of what I was mentioning earlier,
you know about the quality the transparency aspect of it.
It's that entire process, that entire manufacturing process. It's vetting
the best of the best manufacturers. It's vetting the best,
vetting the best of the best row material suppliers, and
then making sure that we trust but verifying go through
that entire quality process of vetting everything that comes into

(13:35):
the building to be manufactured, testing everything post manufacturing, and
then even testing further out from them six months later,
a year later. We're constantly testing product for quality standards.

Speaker 1 (13:47):
And when we look at our consumer centric approach, you
know why these products were created for all levels of
fitness enthusiasts, right, So why don't we consider signature really
applicable to any fitness level or already any health enthusiast
out there.

Speaker 2 (14:00):
Yeah, I mean because it really is, to be honest, like,
the nutrition doesn't change, right, So, like no matter where
you are, right, there's always somebody out there, there's a
young kid. We all started somewhere, we all came to
bodybuilding dot Com for advice and information, and the nutrition
for them really doesn't change. So if you're a kid
and you're getting started and you're just trying to get

(14:22):
one plate on each side of the bar, the nutrition
is the same as someone trying to get two plates
or someone trying to get three plates on the bar
there's somebody at every level. The nutrition really doesn't change
for the most part. How much you need of something
could certainly change, like from a nutritional profile standpoint, but
in terms of products being applicable for a lot of

(14:43):
people eighteen years and older, it really remains the same.

Speaker 1 (14:47):
Touch on some of those points that I brought up
earlier about the entire Signature line and some of the
key differences from the old to the noon. By the way, everybody,
this is yours. At the end of December, going into
January of twenty twenty five, the full new line is
going to be available with SKUs that are going to
be upcoming even later in twenty twenty five. But Steve

(15:08):
share some of the before and afters that are key
to Signature. Like you said, removing some of the artificial dies,
what are we replacing with those? Just give us the
high level changes.

Speaker 2 (15:17):
Yeah, I mean, I think you're touching upon them, right.
So if anything's not kneeded in, it's like get rid
of it, right, So there's always a few steps in
the thought process. Was one the quality So the sourcing changed, right,
Manufacturers changed, So we've improved by just going to the
best manufacturers out there great supply chain. You mentioned US farms, right,

(15:40):
so as an example to play off that topic, like
way protein coming from US farms, like, it doesn't have to.
You can get it overseas. You can get protein sources
from overseas. So we're changing supply chain of ingredients to
improve the quality. We've changed manufacturing facilities on some items
right to improve the qual process there. And then we

(16:02):
made sure that all the formulas they did get revamped
to make sure that we have efficacious doses. Right. So
we had what I would call some formulas that were
just outdated, not you know, not like bad or anything,
just outdated, right, They needed science and merges over years
and things change and you need x amount of this ingredient.
So we up things so things got stronger on labeled

(16:24):
products got stronger for the most part. And then we
removed unwanted, unnecessary items you're mentioning, So like you know,
if products had gluten in it and it wasn't necessary,
you know, we got rid of it. If products had
you know, soy in it, we didn't want it, we
got rid of it. So really just to clean up
and artificial dies was one of those.

Speaker 1 (16:42):
The Celiac sitting across from you. Thanks, you've heard gluten
and removal, you know it's great, Steve, Thanks for listing those.
I think you and I have had this conversation many times.
We really saw a large pivot in the industry since
covid right and gen pop became a lot more acutely
aware are really what they're putting in their body. So
we're seeing this massive wave of the higher demand for

(17:04):
cleaner products all around. And it's great that bodybuilding dot
Com is adapted.

Speaker 2 (17:08):
Under their sand yep, no doubt.

Speaker 1 (17:10):
So let's get into the fun stuff. Let's break down
the new products of signature. So we're going to get
to the solids and the studies of signature once we
wrap this piece up, but people want to hear about
the new products, and we're going to kick that off
with the signature EAA is. Now, this is a product
that's going to come and grape in watermelon. It's packed
with the central amino acids and it has an electrolyte

(17:33):
matrix in there, which is huge. I want you to
break that open a little bit, but tell us about
the benefits of this formula, this product and why you
added it to the signature line.

Speaker 2 (17:40):
Yeah, no doubt. Well, it's a critical component for our customers. Right.
It goes back to that customer DNA what they're looking
to do and making sure that the products support their
needs and then some Right. So, look, one of the
major focuses we know of our customers is building lean
muscle tissue. Right. So EAA was missing from the line, right.

(18:02):
So this the way we engineered this is to do
precisely that. So what we've done is we've handpicked ingredients,
right that do a few different things. One is literally
trigger the muscle building switch, right, so we have we
have ingredients in the product that will flip on the
muscle building switch in the body. Okay, and that's just

(18:22):
part of it, right. You have to you need a
few things to do that. You know. One of the
things you need is is stimulus from training. Hormones also
play a big role, Aminos play a big role. And
then what you also need is the essential the raw
materials to help you build muscles. So what we did
with this formula was make sure that all those raw

(18:42):
materials that your body is dependent on to build muscle
tissue and increase lean muscle mass is in the product.

Speaker 1 (18:51):
Tell Us about is in general, when's the best time
to take these do we want to stack them with something?
What's the best way to consume this product?

Speaker 2 (18:57):
Yeah, listen, I've seen a lot of different ways. I
don't want to say there's the wrong way or you
know anything. I could tell you personally what I like
to do and how I do things may differ depending
on the day and what I'm how I'm training and
all that type of stuff, But by and large, for
me personally, let's say it's a strength day where you
know you're gonna go in, you're gonna lift weights. I
like to make sure I've got a good meal two

(19:19):
and a half to three hours before. That's just kind
of where I start. And the reason why is I
feel better right when I train, when I've had something
a few hours before, I just feel stronger. Period. But
the other thing is it's alluding to what you're asking.
Is I like the fact that knowing that there's probably
gonna be amino acid circulating in the blood from that meal, right,

(19:39):
There's there's a chance depending on the meal, the size
of the meal, it was it a liquid meal versus
a solid meal. You know, old DeLay's gastric emptying and
the timing of those aminos to muscle. But what I'm
what I'm really getting at is I want to make
sure there's aminos around muscle tissue during the workout, right.
And there are some things that say maybe maybe not,

(20:00):
But what I would say is I want to be sure, right.
So for me, it's all insurance making sure that I
have the best environment possible for recovery and for muscle building.
So I get that pre meal that helps, but then
I'm really taking those EAA sipping them during the workout, right,
I just want to make sure I'm feeling the muscle.
I'm not risking anything. I make sure I've got aminos
floating in the blood if the body needs them, And

(20:23):
you know, I'd rather make sure that they're pulling them
from amino's in the blood than say muscle tissue or
anywhere else in the body. So for me, it's it's
an intra workout, you know, within the workout type of
type of deal.

Speaker 1 (20:35):
Moving on to signature hydration. So this this SKEW will
be available in lemonade and raspberry. It contains multiple forms
of sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium chloride to replenish the central
minerals lost through sweat. So we know hydration is having
a moment, right, everybody's out there getting their salt sticks.
What sets the signature hydration product apart?

Speaker 2 (20:57):
Yeah, well, I think again, it starts with you know,
you know what the why, like, why are customers taking it?
Why hydration is important? What are our athletes looking for?
And this is a great product because you could take
it during your workout, you could sip it, you could
take it before, you could take it after. You can
sip it during the day. Like I drink electrolytes during
the day, just just to drink them to mix it

(21:19):
up instead of taking straight water. So for me, electrolytes
are just like they sound, the electrical impulse of the
of the muscle tissue. So it is super important to
be properly hydrated and have the proper amount of electrolytes
in the body because of that nerve transmission, the electrical
pulse transmission of muscles and muscle contract contractions so super critical.

(21:41):
I'm also a huge believer in it because you know,
hydration just in and of itself plays a critical role
in muscle growth and muscle development. Right, you water a plant,
it grows. If a plant is dehydrated, it shrivels up
and dies. The same thing happens with the cells in
your body. The same thing happens with muscle cells. If

(22:02):
they are shriveling up, you know, apoptosis occurs. There's cell
death that occurs in the body. So hydration alone can
really put your body in the right primed environment just
for lean body mass and lean muscle mass. And in
terms of what we've done with the formula you mentioned
in electrolytes, of course it's electrolyte loaded, but it goes

(22:23):
beyond that. You know, the forms of the product and
the forms of ingredients that we've put in here also
help with pH in the body. Right, they're also helping,
you know, buffer that acidity in the body. So the
things are chosen and crafted very specifically to make sure
that we don't just have electrolytes, but we have things
that are clearing out that acid. As you know, acid

(22:45):
builds up in the body during training. It can be
very debilitating. So we handpick forms of ingredients to help
that process. And then we also do something really unique
in the product is we make sure you're getting all
the minerals Okay, well in addition to electrolytes. So electrolytes
are just part of the story. So we've had sources

(23:06):
of minerals of over seventy two trace minerals in the product, right,
and these can be taken from things like sea water,
can be taken from mind minerals like salt, pink kim
maleine salt. So these aspects are super critical because because
electrolytes are dependent upon many different minerals in order and
their enzymatic reactions that they trigger for electrolytes to work.

Speaker 1 (23:30):
And to your point, I mean, this is something you
can sip all day long. I mean this is not
just to replenish after a workout or a sauna session.
You know, you may not even maybe a rest day
for you, and this is still crucial to get in.
I think we're starting to see the tide turn. Like
I said, hydration is having a moment right. People are
getting up in the morning and they're looking for the
hydration formulation to hydrate after a night of sleep. We

(23:54):
lose so much as our body goes through those processes
when we're sleeping at night and we go what eight
hours or hopefully you're going eight hours on interrupted, Right,
that's the goal or the hope rather, but I love
to see it. And now you you did put some
electrolytes into that EAA. Not to go back, but you
put in the EAA. What was the purpose there again,
just to ensure that hydration throughout the workout.

Speaker 2 (24:16):
Yeah, you want to make sure it's there, you know.
I mean, look, you you're so like you know, it
doesn't hurt to put electro lights in a lot of
different products, right, You want to make sure consumers are
getting them right. We want to make sure they're getting
the full benefits. Not everybody's going to buy multiple products, right,
So you keep that in mind and you say, look,
I wanted to be the best products for the consumer,

(24:37):
no matter what, whether they buy one product, two products,
or or they're filling the basket as we say, with
multiple products. So it's a very important component of training
and the formula. So we make sure it's in there
and other products as well.

Speaker 1 (24:50):
I mean, yeah, we can take care of two things
in one powder. I mean, why not. Moving on to
our third newest product in the Signature line. I'm personally
excited about this one. It's our signature plant protein. It's
the long awaited signature plant protein. It delivers twenty five
grands of protein per serving, and it blends p, rice
and fava bean proteins to create a complete amino acid.

(25:13):
There's a lot of haters out there when it comes
to this. I want to talk about why you chose
the blend between the p the rice and the fava
being you know, oftentimes sometimes you just see that complete
peat protein. But tell me about this product all in all,
and tell me about why you chose the formulation that
you did.

Speaker 2 (25:30):
Yeah, I mean, look, I mean there's a consumer for
plant based right, Like, like you said yourself, you're excited
for it. So look, we sell a lot of way
wave proteins are biggest seller. It's the biggest seller in
the protein space. And I think, really people have to
understand where a lot of this came from. You know,
way back, once upon a time, you know, they started
really analyzing protein sources, right, and they would analyze them

(25:54):
for what they're made up of, like their constituents within
each different protein. Right, So you can take a look
at dairy protein, egg protein, they'll look at fish, they'll
look at steak, they'll look at plant sources beans, you know,
they'll go through the process and they'll start basically really
giving scores to a lot of these things like, Okay,
what's in it, how nutritious, how many of these essential

(26:17):
amino acids are in these products? And then they take
it a step further, how well does your body digest
it and assimilate it? Right, So, when they did this,
originally egg actually was kind of like the Holy Grail.
They kind of started with egg and said, like, egg
is a perfect score of one hundred, and then they
started measuring everything off of that. And then when they
started measuring way protein, it bumped up above egg and

(26:40):
it became known as like okay, as a premiere source.
So plant based proteins were always seen as not quite
as biologically available to the body. Right, So you take
it in and you can take in great sources and
mix sources to make sure you have all the proper
amino acids there, but maybe your body didn't utilize them
as much. Well, things have changed, Things have come a

(27:00):
long way. Biological value of a lot of these suppliers
on plant proteins has gone through the roof. They contain
all the essential aminos. You're asking, why do you blend
certain things. Look, there are a couple of aminos that
plants can be a little bit lower in, like a
lysine or methionine and things like that. So what we
do is we engineer the product so that you're getting

(27:22):
everything you need to build that lean muscle tissue with
those essential amino acids being super critical. So the product delivers.
It gives you everything that you need to build muscle tissue.
And if there's anybody out there with any doubts, what
I would say is just look at the research, look
at the EAAs. You can build muscle with many different
types of protein sources. And look, if you feel like

(27:44):
you need a little bit more plant in the blender,
then do so. But tremendous product and yeah, we're excited
for the launch because consumers do demand it. And what
I would say is to ways not for everybody, right,
even though we know it's ninety percent of the sales here.
What I would say is use your brain, like everyone's
a little bit different. So if it doesn't agree with you,

(28:05):
or if wave protein bothers you, or it's causing mucus
which some people do get from whey protein, that may
be a sign that maybe you don't. Your body doesn't
assimilate it and use it quite as as as as
well as it may a plant protein. So what I
would say is it's something because it is, you know,
for for people that really want an alternative to dairy

(28:25):
or just want to reduce animal consumption of products, because
that is obviously happening.

Speaker 1 (28:30):
Looking forward to it. We're going to move on to
our next newest addition to Signature, which is Signature Shred
Love It Steve. It's very unbrand designed to serve as
a thermogenic fat burner. This has some tried and shrued
ingredients in it that have been used for years now.
So what makes this unique to others?

Speaker 2 (28:48):
Yep, not a good question. So great produce is a powder,
by the way, so like you know, we you know
there are thermogenic capsules and we do have stuff like that,
but this is a This is a shred powder in particular,
and you really need We really needed it in a
powder to get the clinical doses we wanted to get
of everything in there. And what I would say is
the best way to think about this product is it's

(29:10):
multi pronged. So for me, it's always starts with how
do you free up fat fatty acid cells okay, from
fat tissue. Right, So it's kind of like that's always
like the beginning. That's why like people you know, will
train a certain way. The goal is to really free
up these fat cells and get them moving and get
them mobilized into the body. Right, So how do you

(29:32):
do that with the supplement? People do it with training.
You could do slow walk cardio, you can do you know,
high intensity training. There's different things that can really help
stimulate the release of fat from fat, fat cells from fat.
So we do that by starting with ingredients that help
your body release fat from fat. Okay, fat cells from fat.

(29:52):
That's step one, get it moving in the body number
one most critical. What are those ingredients, Well, certain things
like basics, like so like caffeine I'll use as an example,
has been shown to do that. Just caffeine alone, believe
it or not, can increase the mobilization of fat from
fat cells as one example. Then what we do is
we handpick really the only ingredient in the human body

(30:14):
that transports fat. So it's like one thing to get
it moving, but then you really need to get fat transporting,
Like well, why we want to transport well, you're transporting
it to go get burned, right, you want to bring
it to the furnace. You want to burn that fat essentially,
So then we do that, We hone in and we
pick that ingredient. And there are some other ingredients that help,

(30:35):
these lipotrophics that help, but really we hone in on
that one ingredient in your body that picks up fat
like a bus transports it over to get burned. And
then we're using thermogenics, things that increase the heat and
calorie burning calorie expenditure in the body. And that's really
where it gets interesting because increase in that thermogenesis, we're

(30:55):
sinking into things that have been shown to increase calorie
burning five fold, so that's five hundred percent increase in
calorie expenditure. So these are so the product is thought
out from that perspective, and then the final part I
will say is we'll see the things that have been
shown to help preserve lean body mass. So anybody going
through fat burning efforts and stages is always very cognizant

(31:17):
about maintaining lean, lean muscle mass at the same time.
So we craft the product and engineer it that way
so that we're addressing all of these things for the consumer.

Speaker 1 (31:27):
I love the bus, driving to the furnace and the
a good one. What's our recommended intake for this for
this type of product? How often are we taking this?

Speaker 2 (31:35):
Look? I mean, can It can vary, you know, so,
I mean we're always going to be conservative you know,
on label. So you know, for me, it's going to
be a scoop, you know, but it can be done
a couple of times a day for sure. You can
scoop once or twice a day, no problem. You can
take it daily, you know, you can take it pre workout.
So there's a lot of different ways people will take it,
but it's it's a daily use for sure.

Speaker 1 (31:57):
Great. We're going to go into our second to levee
new product for Signature, which is our appetite control. So
with the craze around GLP one, we are coming out
with an appetite control that will help curb cravings and
help you feel more full. Let's let's let's spend a
little bit of time on this one, right because appetite
control supplements have definitely had their highs and lows over

(32:17):
the years. Let's talk about the why behind this.

Speaker 2 (32:21):
Yeah, and look, I mean, the funny thing is is
and you know, I love the science on GLP. I
love it brings awareness to it. But the truth of
the matter is is like you know, a lot of
these products and ingredients have existed in nature, you know.
I mean when I look at things, it never ceases
to amaze me. It's like, whatever there's a need in
the world or for something or a goal, there's a

(32:45):
plant for it. Like there's literally a plant, Like nature
has a plant for it. And that's where a lot
of these former drugs you know, get their inspiration from
and stem from. But in terms of like appetite control,
we're going to do it regardless of the GLP craze,
right because it's always been a tried and true category.
There's always been a customer that's really you know, looking

(33:05):
to curb appetite. I think we all are, right, we
all could walk around eat all day, So you know,
this is something we're going to do anyway, So you know,
you know, keeping the GLP theme, and again some of
these things are not new, but just that you have
to understand what ingredients to hand pick and what you're
looking for. H The product is engineered to do a
few things, and research shows like what we're what we're

(33:28):
including in this product, Research shows that certain ingredients, certain
herbs can just stimulate your body's own natural GLP production, Okay,
which is which is unbelievable. So just again, they've been
out there, they've been in the nutraceutical world for a
long time. There's just the attention hasn't been brought on
them because it hasn't been become you know, mainstream conversation.

(33:51):
So so we hand pick an ingredient that basically helps
your body produce and trigger at least some science shows
that that triggers natural production of it. But then there's
also other things that you act like a GLP one
agonist is what I would say, so like a mimetic,
like it'll work as it right. So then there's also

(34:12):
ingredients in nature gaining a lot of popularity. They gain
popularity for GLP implications, they gain popularity for anti aging applications.
But there's also the ability to put ingredients in here,
which we did that will also act in a very
similar fashion to a GLP agonist what you're seeing out there.
And then there's things there's ingredients that help the entire process,

(34:35):
the whole process of this how this happens with GLP
and the pancreas and insulin and then getting to the cell.
So then we add ingredients that kind of enhance or
amplify the entire process as well.

Speaker 1 (34:49):
Incredible. Now is this something I'm on day one? Is
this going to work on day one or is there
some ramp up time?

Speaker 2 (34:56):
Everything works the minute you consume it, right, I mean
like it starts working right. People ask that all the time,
but I mean theoretically, like everything starts working right no
matter what you take, whether it's hydration or you're taking
your EAAs for muscle protein synthesis, everything starts working the
minute you consume it. But of course, like every place

(35:17):
the same thing. You go to the gym, you work out,
it works day one, right, You're doing.

Speaker 1 (35:21):
Something bigger day one.

Speaker 2 (35:24):
Not necessarily, but they start working. You know, everything starts working.
But of course consistency is the key to all this stuff.

Speaker 1 (35:33):
Yeah, yeah, thanks for breaking that one down. We're going
to round it out here with our signature diuretic so
last but not Lease. It's our weight management product and
a new addition to the line, and this is really
aimed at to help with float reduction water loss, So
tell us a bit about it.

Speaker 2 (35:51):
This, Yeah, another very popular category in the diet arena, right,
like people always looking the shed a little bit of
extra water, some people carry extra water. Very popular during
this summertime. Diuretic sales always ramp up dramatically then, But
you can take it obviously year round or any time.
But you know, same thing. We're engineering it with mainly
a blend of herbs, right that have been shown to

(36:11):
help get rid of excess water in the body and
really help that process. But what I like what we
did on this one as we also aided something that's
going to make you sweat, okay, so you get a
little bit of that, you get that thermogenic activity here
with this product. It's not just your traditional blend of
product blend of herbs that are going to help from
a diuretic standpoint, But you will sweat from this product.

(36:33):
You will know that you're shedding water and you're going
to get that diuretic component. And yeah, you're going to
feel this one for sure. I would say not to
not to overdo it and really take it slow because
it's going to create that sweating effect.

Speaker 1 (36:46):
Is it going to create that swin in fact, even
if I'm just sitting here.

Speaker 2 (36:49):
Yeah, yeah, one hundred percent. That's what you want, right,
I mean it's a diuretic. You're trying to get rid
of water.

Speaker 1 (36:54):
Love it, Steve. Thanks for walking us through all the
new additions to signature. We're so excited to see those.
In twenty twenty five, we're going to move on to
what we consider the steadies of signature, So we'd be
remiss not to mention the heavy hitters of the line
that have been at the core for I mean the
inception of signature really, So we're going to break those
those down similar to what we just did for the

(37:16):
new edition, and we're going to start that combo with
our number one our signature, one hundred percent Way Protein.
So we love a Way Protein at bbcom. Our customers
love a Way Protein. Talk about all the things that
we've kind of touched on, the sourcing, the benefits of
the use cases, et cetera.

Speaker 2 (37:31):
Yeah, I mean number one seller by far is protein
and rightfully so, right because it's food, right, And that's
when people ask me what to take where to start with,
It's like I always think into food first, right, So
that's why you know protein is so one of the
reasons it's so popular, right, it helps people straighten out
their diets. Right. There can take it instead of a meal,
they could take it in between meals. It's quick, it's easy,

(37:53):
it's a good snack. They it tastes great, and really
you're getting that full nutritional profile, right, You're getting twenty
five grams of protein. You're getting all of your EAAs, right,
You're getting almost twelve grams of EAAs in a scoop
of protein. You're getting huge amounts of BCAAs in there,
all things that basically muscles depend on for muscle muscle

(38:14):
energy or muscle protein synthesis in the body. So yeah,
great taste, great nutritional profile, low calories right, low fat,
low carb. It really checks all the boxes. Is a nice, easy,
clean source of protein. And you did mention we talked
about a little bit. But you know us farms, right,
I mean, let's not understate that, like I mean, it's here,

(38:36):
it's local, it's transparent, we know exactly what's happening, and
you can visit the farms, you can go see them.
There's a sustainability factor there. Also, we're not flying stuff
all over the globe for cheaper prices. We're just we're
syncing into local US family farms and manufacturers for our
Way Protein.

Speaker 1 (38:55):
Love that tell everyone about some of the unique flavors
that would be coming out the way.

Speaker 2 (39:01):
Sure, chocolate and vanilla dominate, but you know, we go
beyond that as well, Like fruity cereal is really popular one,
so you're gonna get that fruity cereal. You're gonna get
a cinnamon cereal, which is just unbelievable. So those are
just you know, great tasting flavors. They'll be strawberry in there,
which is a fan favorite. And then of course we're
gonna be adding to that as we go. There'll be
flavor drops on going for the entire series.

Speaker 1 (39:22):
Awesome excited for that one. We're gonna move over to
our signature one hundred percent Way Isolate. Now let's go
one on one for a second. Let's just let's talk
about the difference between a Way Protein and a Way isolate,
like just one on one.

Speaker 2 (39:34):
Okay, yeah, sure, so some similarities of course, right, and
some small nuances, but there are different customers for each
believer or not. So the way that I would say
to think about about it is a way blend. So
our Way blend does have some iceolin in it, and
it has what's called way concentrate in it. Okay as well,
So I say a couple of things. It's less processed. Okay.

(39:57):
Away concentrate is typically less pros sest than a way isolate.
So what does that mean. It's in its more natural state. Okay,
So when it come when when you get away concentrate,
there'll be things naturally occurring there. It'll have a little
bit more fat in there, a little bit more sugar
carbohydrate in there, and then it'll also have some of

(40:18):
the immune benefits in a lot of cases that just
come along with way protein with mother's milk. Right, none
of that gets stripped out. There's a lot of things
immunal globulins that things that are needed for an infant
or for a calf or a baby that are basically
delivered through the mother to that infant. They're more likely
to still exist in a concentrates you get some immune

(40:39):
benefits to It does carry slight little bit more a
little bit of fat and a little bit more carbs,
and it can also be generally a little bit cheaper.
So you know, if people don't care an extra gramma
fat or an extra gramma carbs, and it saves them
five bucks on a container. That's who really is going
to pick up that way blend?

Speaker 1 (40:56):
What are we looking at flavors there? Similar to the
the way protein?

Speaker 2 (41:01):
Yep, yep, no doubt about. Yes, similar flavors as you know,
as a start, and where we are today with the
base flavors, but certainly going to expand there.

Speaker 1 (41:09):
Awesome, our favorite, Steve creatine monohydrate. Creatine is king. So
let's talk about you know, creatine monohydrate. It is an
absolute staple right there with the way protein for us.
Just just break it down for us, let's just talk
about why we hold creatine on the pedestal that we do.

Speaker 2 (41:30):
It's it is hands down the most popular supplement of
all time, right outside of protein being food and like
we just discussed, the single most popular ingredient ever is creating.
So your question is a good one, like why, like
how did you get here?

Speaker 1 (41:45):
Like?

Speaker 2 (41:45):
Why is creatine kings? As you just said? And what
I would say is, you know, understanding again the consumer
what their goals are. Right, this is the holy grail
for strength and lean muscle building, right, So I think
that says a lot about the consumer base, right and
who they are. And they're waking up. They want to

(42:05):
get stronger, they want to go to the gym, they
want to look better, they want to add strength, they
want to add leen, muscle tissue. So how does creating
do that, I think is your question, or why it
does that? So think of it this way. Easiest way
to explain it is this. You wake up, you get
to the gym, you start training. Even as we're talking here,
you know your body is using things for fuel, right,

(42:27):
just to function. So let's say you start. You mentioned
bicep curl. You start doing a bicep curl, and you
start that exercise. Your body's gasoline is ATP, so it's
really relying on ATP to do that. A lot of
that function, right, So you start that bicep curl. You're
using ATP for energy. That's your body's gasoline. The problem

(42:48):
is that gas tank runs out quick like ATP. This
is like crazy, since your whole body relies on ATP
for everything, you only have enough ATP to last. I've
seen it anywhere between three and eight seconds. It's probably
between three and five. Most people say, you just have
a very small amount of ATP in muscle cells that

(43:09):
allow you to do that exercise and do that lift. Right,
So what happens like you burn it, you're three to
four seconds in, you start depleting ATP. Your body's in
a mad scramble mode to make more ATP and it
does this from a lot of different fuel sources that
can pull a lot of different things in the body
to do so. But really what's sitting there waiting to

(43:30):
be converted into ATP is creating. So now your body
is turning to creating to make more fuel, to make
more energy to make to allow your muscle to keep
firing during that exercise. So that's why this has become
the holy Grail because we know you only have so
much ATP sitting there in the muscle cell. We know
it's only going to last you three to five seconds. Now,

(43:52):
imagine if you had more of its backup energy source
sitting there right next to it in the muscle cell.
If you can get more creating into that muscle cell
so it's readily available, Well, that's a lifter's dream. That's
why they always said it's like it's a it's a
football player's dream. The short burst activity dream for these
athletes because it gets you stronger, it gets you an

(44:12):
extra rep or two on the bench, It makes you
fire faster and run a little bit longer in terms
of a sprint speed. So creating has become the holy
Grail because of that. It also has some other side
effects to it that I like, in my opinion is
again it helps. It helps the muscle hold water okay
in the cell. Right. That's very different than extracellular fluid.

(44:35):
This puts intracellular fluid fluid inside the muscle cell, right.
And we talked earlier about the benefits of hydration being
able to have better performance. You know, you get more
endurance out of hydration, but just adding water to that
muscle cell helps put it in an environment, you know,
where it's primed for growth.

Speaker 1 (44:54):
Now, creatine does not discriminate. So creatine, uh, you know,
I've put my sixty five year old parents on creating,
which is awesome. They take a protein powder and they
take a creating powder every day because creatine. We've now
kind of uncovered more recently not only the benefits that
you spoke to, Steve, but a lot of cognitive benefits

(45:15):
as well. There's starting to be some research around you know, Alzheimer's,
demetric et cetera, really brain impacted diseases, and how creatine
can play a positive role in the possible prevention or
lower risk associated with some of those diseases. So all around,
you know, our model here is creatine does not discriminate.
You know, all walks can really be taking this fantastic supplement. Now.

(45:39):
I think something that a lot of people ask about
for creating is the loading phase? Is the loading phase?
You know? Tried and true? Do I need to start
out with a smaller dose to start? Am I ramping
it up? What are we doing here?

Speaker 2 (45:53):
Personal preference? Right? And I've done both. I've done both.
I've talked to a ton of people.

Speaker 1 (45:59):
The motto at this point podcast is it always it depends.

Speaker 2 (46:01):
It always, It depends, yeahs. And that's just everything in life, right,
you know. So what I would say is for me,
I do believe personally that you will load. See. The
goal of the reason you're asking that and why that
became popular is because people were like, well, how much
can actually saturate and muscle and how long does it

(46:22):
take to be fully saturated? Like really top the gas
tank off completely? One hundred percent. So there was a
lot of research in people saying like, Okay, if you
took a scoop a day, five grams at creating a day,
you're going to slowly build up levels. Right, You're going
to start filling the gas tank, but it may take
you a month to do so. Right. That was a
lot of traditional thought. So then people said, hey, if

(46:43):
you want to fast track it, take to take the
speed pass, right, take this multiple times a day. Right,
you might take five gram scoop four times a day
for a week and that would get you there quicker.
So what I would say is it's really personal preference
for people. I don't load anymore, but I did load,
and I did find that it did fast track things

(47:04):
for sure, no doubt about it. So but again personal
preference on that and the other thing i'd say too,
just on your comments about it's for everybody type of thing.
The other important thing here to notice is like you
mentioned your parents, right, or people that are in their sixties,
and like creatings can be super beneficial. You mentioned potentially

(47:24):
for cognitive and there's ongoing research on the cognitive front, right,
But really what's interesting to me is just the muscle
strength aspect of it, because there's a lot of research
that says, like, you know, muscle strength, being strong when
you're older, you know, decreases all cause mortality, as they
say it, right, so like if you're strong when you're older,

(47:45):
you live longer, right. You know, they do a lot
of measurements, like the measurement of grip strength. It like
determines these things. So you know, just you know, as
the research evolves to see what exactly how it's working
in brank because people aren't really one hundred percent sure.
They're saying, like it may even be physiological. It may
even have to do with the fact that your muscles
are stronger that's impacting the brain. So they're still researching that.

(48:08):
But the fact that it can help people be stronger
is super important for elderly.

Speaker 1 (48:14):
I love that point. I mean, maintaining the autonomy physically
is so crucial to avoid the risk of injury as
you get older. But to your point, we have proven
now the higher muscle mass, the decrease in the all
cause mortality. I hear all the time. We're going to
be the Jack generation. We're going to be the grandparents

(48:35):
that are walking around with the tattoos and the big
biceps because we're going to continue lifting. It's great to
see the generations who maybe didn't grow up in the
same gym culture really starting to adopt this type of lifestyle,
open to taking some supplements, open to strength training. We
say it all the time here. Just like creating and
hydration are having a moment, strength training is having the moment.

(48:57):
But you and I often say this. You know, bb
Comm's been doing that since day one. I mean Bbcom's
been talking about creating since two thousand and two. We'll
pull up the whole website for you here, and you know,
obviously strength training has always been, you know, at the
core of our business. So all in all, that's a
bit of a bragging point. But it's great to see,
you know, the masses really start to adopt some of

(49:18):
this stuff.

Speaker 2 (49:19):
For sure, big impact on bone density as well, as
you're talking about while we're on the topic of elderly
and aging, and it may be weight bearing exercise and
strength may be the most important thing for bone density
as you age as well.

Speaker 1 (49:32):
So yeah, you know, I think, you know, let's say
people in their sixties are above you know, back to
my point before, maybe they were really coming up in
a time where aerobic exercise was the key and the king. Right,
it was let me get on the treadmill, let me
get it on the elliptical. Okay, not a lot of
strength training in comparison to what we're seeing today, But

(49:53):
muscle production actually starts to slow as early as thirty
years old, and that's pretty crazy. So the earlier you
can are adopting this routine and getting muscle on your
body and maintaining that through your through the older ages,
the better, no doubt. Signature pre workout. So you have
added an electrolyte mix and lions main into the new

(50:14):
signature pre Tell me about those choices.

Speaker 2 (50:17):
Yeah again, you know, so we we tweaked the formula.
You know, we had a pre workout, so we enhanced it,
made it better, and a couple of things that you
do mention are new additions to it. So the electrolytes
we covered pretty much in depth and why that needs
to be in there, and you know, and like I
had said earlier, we're just trying to put it in
whatever products we can. From a hydration standpoint, it's that important, right,

(50:39):
So I just want to make sure whether you're taking
a PRE you're taking an EAA, or if you're buying
electrolytes separately, I just want to make sure you're getting
those electrolytes and in everything you do, it's that super critical.
And then we did add a cognitive component, cerebral component
there from lines main lines, main you know, even goes
beyond that in my opinion, So it's known as the

(50:59):
brain as the brain mushroom, right, But what I would
say is there are datogenic properties in there as well
from a physiological standpoint, so it just makes sense. I'm
a big mushroom believer, take a lot of different mushrooms,
so that that just was a natural choice to be
added to that product. Cognitives is critical. You know, when
you take a step back and you look at all

(51:20):
the products in the stores, all the products that you
can buy, we're so focused on the body and the
organs and the muscle, and we neglect the brain. Right,
the thing that's controlling everything is often overlooked. So I
think it's important that you know that finds its way.

(51:40):
It's nice to see that that's finding its way in
sports nutrition.

Speaker 1 (51:43):
Finally, I love that throughout this dialogue and us covering
all of these products, you continue to just kind of
give people really more bang for their bucket. Like let's
just call it that, right, you're injecting everything that they
really need into a single skew. So pre work out
your thing. Well, guess what, you're also going to get hydration,
You're going to get some of that clarity and that
cognitive benefit. And we're seeing, you know, that show up

(52:04):
in some of the formulas that we've discussed today. So
just so impressive to see and it's the right thing
to do. Like you said, for the customer, we're going
to round it out with signature b cias. Now, Steve,
we have some naysayers out there, are BCA is still
relevant today you added an EAA, Do we still need
BCAA so differentiate the two for us.

Speaker 2 (52:23):
So we definitely need both from a consumer standpoint, there's
no doubt about it. Right. So the history and why
the evolution, you know, you really have to have been
in it for quite some time to see it. So,
like you know, BCA's got a lot of notoriety in
the beginning, like years and years and years ago.

Speaker 1 (52:42):
And baas are branch chain amino acids branch EAAs are
essential amino acids exactly.

Speaker 2 (52:47):
Yeah, you know, so branch chains are just that you
look at them under a microscope, they look like a
tree branch. They got their name that way, you know,
other scientific meaning other than they look like tree branches.
But why did people in on these? They honed in
on because they made up roughly thirty to thirty five
percent of muscle tissue. Okay, So anytime you have ingredients

(53:09):
that are concentrated in muscle, people start looking at it
from a sports nutrition standpoint like, well, why why is
this thirty five percent of your muscle tissue? What do
they do? They are involved in some muscle energy while
you train. They're there. One of them can't be oxidized
for you know, for energy. It's there for muscle building itself. So,

(53:30):
you know, people start selling BCAAs, and consumers started buying
BCAAs and bcas with a rage as well as glutamine,
which is you know, sixty plus percent of muscle tissue
as well. So these aminos really got a ton of hype,
right and rightfully, so they're in muscle tissue. I drank
bcas forever, and then what happens is, you know, science

(53:50):
continues to evolve, right, And that's why I love the
business in the industry is like you're always pushing the
envelope on what's next and what's better. And that kind
of goes back to our early conversation about the consumer,
like sometimes they you know who they are, they know
what they want, they know what their goal is, but
sometimes they don't really always know what they want, like
they want BCAAs. But now science is saying you want EAAs, right,

(54:12):
So what's the difference. Basically, easy way to say it
is the EAAs are nine essential aminos. You need all
of them to build muscle. Okay, So it's like building
a house. You out there, you say, hey, we're going
to build a house. Let's do it. Let's go. You
need the raw materials to do it. To construct that house,
the bcas are three of them. Okay, you need nine

(54:34):
essentials that What does essential mean? It means you can't
get it or you can't make it yourself. You need
to get it and die it, right, so your body's
not gonna make it itself. So therefore it becomes essential
to the human body to consume it. Okay, you need
all nine of these essential amino acids in order to
build muscle, construct muscle. So the BCAAs valuable, Yes, drink them. Yes,

(54:59):
people still by, I'm like crazy, it's super beneficial. If
you're asking me if I had to choose one of
the other's EAAs all day long.

Speaker 1 (55:06):
Awesome. So topic number five for today, Steve, we went
through the Signature new We went through the studies of Signature.
What's next because the we don't stop here. We know
Signature has has a road ahead of it, and we're
going to talk about Signature series and beyond. So what
kind of sneak peaks can you provide us for upcoming

(55:26):
products flavors that potentially are in development.

Speaker 2 (55:29):
I'm not going to tell you that, come.

Speaker 1 (55:31):
On, Steve, but this is the exclusive.

Speaker 2 (55:33):
What I will say is what I will say is
what we have today. You know, we have a lot
of new products coming in. It's really the core is
what I would call it, right, your wave proteins, your pre's,
your electrolytes, your your aminos, your creatine, your test booster.
You know, we have the whole gamut, diuretics, the shred,
you name it. Next generation is stuff that's really emerging

(55:58):
science around leveling up things that will you know, cost money,
be more expensive, it be maybe even different series in
the line. But those are things that we're working on
in the background. There's some really exciting science happening, and
what we're doing is we're going to sink into a
lot of those things you mentioned. Flavors, Yes, there will
be flavor drops, There'll be fun flavors. We're working on

(56:21):
insane flavors right now. For some of these products that
we're definitely going to continue to launch in terms of
new formulas and exciting formas, they'll be boundary pushing formulas
that come next from us.

Speaker 1 (56:32):
How important is it for you to hear back from
customers on some of this stuff in terms of the
feedback in terms of how you're taking into account, you know,
potentially future decisions around you know, what you're thinking. How
important is it to hear from the customers who are
consuming from the products that you're formulating.

Speaker 2 (56:47):
It's the most important thing ever in like period, you
know the customer, you know the transaction doesn't happen in
an office or behind a computer, or you know that
this happens real life customers making decisions doing research, you
have to understand what's going on in the market and

(57:09):
their what their questions are and how they think and
like what their goals are. So like, we think we
have a really good idea, but things are always evolving.
You have to listen to customers. It's number one, and
I take it beyond that. It's like this isn't like, Hey,
let's you and I come up with concepts and ideas
and just go to market with them. It's a combination
of everything. It's a combination of you know, what's research say,

(57:32):
what's the customer say? Most importantly, what's internal team feel like?
What do you feel as a customer? You're a customer, like,
I want to know what your thoughts and feelings are
around product and why to do it and why to
launch it. So innovation comes from everywhere. Every facet of
our building comes from our customer service team, but customers
are obviously at the forefront of all that.

Speaker 1 (57:54):
I love that if you're a customer who's listening and
you've tried signature old and new, we invite you to
share your thoughts and feedback here in the comments of
this episode, hit us up in our DMS. Our team
is always ready to take those on and chat with you.
And hey, escalate to Steve Marata are area.

Speaker 2 (58:11):
Course, let's do it.

Speaker 1 (58:12):
So we're going to round out the conversation today. Steve.
It's been such an insightful sit down with you, but
we want to know about Steve Stack. So you've been
doing this a long time and you practice what you preach.
Why don't you break down your daily stack and you
know why are those your personal supplement go tos?

Speaker 2 (58:29):
There's too much there to go through. What I would
say is this, let's get let me think, let's do that.

Speaker 1 (58:34):
What are your top three?

Speaker 2 (58:36):
Well, it depends, right, It always depends, always depends. So
what I would say is if it's sports nutrition minded, okay,
let's just say we're sports intrish mind because there's also
an anti agent component going on in my brain every day.
So what I would say is from a sports nutrition mate,
it's always start with the core. Start with the basics.
Make sure you get your protein right daily. So for me,
it's protein every day. Okay, it's a shake every day,

(58:58):
and maybe it's one, maybe it's two, but it's at
least one. So I would say that is tried and
true the core for me. The second thing is EAAs right,
So a lot of people will be amped up on
a lot of pre workouts and that'll be their next
go to and that's really our next best seller is
of pre workout rightfully. So my issue is is that
I consume a lot of caffeine and a lot of
coffee in the morning, so that's kind of my pre workout.

(59:21):
So like I kind of do like a lot of
caffeine and then I do my EAAs with it so
that I'm making sure. So for me, it's protein one,
EAAs two and then number three would be creating just
because you have to for strength.

Speaker 1 (59:36):
Awesome, Steve, thanks so much for stopping Well, hey, I
mean I think I'm looking at our producer Carly. I
think that's going to be a part two. Yeah, yeah, sure,
stay tuned everybody. Steve, thanks for stopping by today. We're
excited to see Signature back and better than ever and
can't thank you enough for stopping by. We're excited to
see it all come to life.

Speaker 2 (59:56):
Awesome. Thanks for having me, appreciate your time.

Speaker 1 (59:58):
Thanks for tuning in to the Becom podcast. You can
shop our Signature line series on bodybuilding dot com. Build
your Body, Build your Mind, Build your Life. H