Digital Social Hour - How Gym Culture & Fitness Influencers are Changing the Business Game | David Poole And Marc Fabiani DSH #1249

Episode Date: March 19, 2025

🔥 David & Marc on Building an Energy Drink Empire, Gym Culture & the Business of Fitness 🚀 In this high-energy episode, we sit down with David & Marc, the co-founders of Old School Energy, to discuss their journey from gym ownership to launching a fast-growing energy drink brand. They share insider secrets about the supplement industry, gym culture, and how they built a business that’s taking the fitness world by storm. We dive into: ✅ How they went from gym owners to energy drink entrepreneurs ✅ The science behind their drink & why ingredients matter ✅ How influencers and athletes are helping grow the brand ✅ The future of fitness, wellness, and energy drinks ✅ How social media changed business & brand-building forever This episode is packed with business strategies, fitness industry insights, and the mindset needed to succeed in a competitive market! 📲 Follow David & Marc & Get Old School Energy: 🔗 Website: https://theoldskoolenergy.com/  🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theoldskoolenergy/  🔗 YouTube: Old Skool Energy ⏱ CHAPTERS 📌 00:00 – How David & Marc Manifested Their Business 📌 05:10 – The Journey from Gym Ownership to Energy Drink Entrepreneurship 📌 11:25 – The Science Behind Their Formula & Ingredients Breakdown 📌 17:40 – The Competitive Energy Drink Market & Big Players Like Red Bull & Monster 📌 23:55 – How Social Media & Influencers Are Changing the Fitness Industry 📌 30:10 – The Power of Gym Culture & Community in Brand Growth 📌 36:25 – Why Clean Ingredients Matter in Energy Drinks 📌 42:40 – The Business Side: Scaling & Expanding Nationwide 📌 49:00 – New Flavors, Product Development & Future Expansion 📌 55:30 – Advice for Entrepreneurs & Closing Thoughts SPONSORS: SPECIALIZED RECRUITING GROUP:  https://www.srgpros.com/ 🔥 Apply to Be on the Podcast & Business Inquiries: 🎙 APPLY TO BE ON THE PODCAST: https://www.digitalsocialhour.com/application 📩 BUSINESS INQUIRIES/SPONSORS: [e-mail]

What's crazy is we talk about this all the time. We have literally manifest this whole business. So like meeting you, meeting him, right? Meeting everybody we met was literally just a conversation we had two weeks before it happened. Damn. You know, so we'll, we'll say something like, wouldn't that be cool if, and then it happens.

Yeah, that's so not, it's just insane. And it will, from the very beginning. So David was a member at my gym and Yeah. And he came into my office and he said, I don't know what we're gonna do but I'm gonna do business with you someday. And I was just like, okay. And we just went to lunch one day and and then what we've known each other for what six years now seven years. Yeah. Long. And we but we've finally started this business just under three years ago. Words are powerful man. Yeah, absolutely man.

All right guys, got Dave and Mark here from Old School Energy. Thanks for driving in guys, nine-hour drive. Absolutely man, thank you for having us. Yeah, that's a long drive man. Actually no, I drove from Jersey to Cali once. I was gonna say that was the longest drive I've seen. That's a little longer yeah yeah but we did it in batches yeah of course yeah we stopped three times absolutely but you guys had to bring the bring the goodies right yeah can't really fly with liquids yeah let's crack this open it's uh been a long day for me so I need some more energy get you some old school man. Yes sir. So how'd you guys oh oh wow that tastes pretty good. How do you guys create this and talk to everyone about

what's in it and everything? Well, start from the beginning. We actually were gonna start with a supplement line and this just seemed to be a little bit easier to get started as far as sourcing ingredients and stuff like that. So my background, I coach professional bodybuilders, so I have like a knowledge of nutrition and stuff. And I took, I read medical studies on ingredients and things like that, and I only put in here something that I would be okay with giving myself or one of my athletes, right and so I Just literally forgot your question basically had you start the company and oh well so once we got put together like

where to get our ingredients how to Get our cans printed, where to have it manufactured, then we just started that process and did a really small pilot run and that went well and then we do a little bit bigger run and then that went well and now we're doing a lot more. Nice, because I know it's a pretty competitive space so the fact that you're having success is impressive, right? Yeah, man, that's, you know, it's a, we're definitely having a lot of fun. I mean, the drink is something distinct.

It's like its own type of flavor. People are always trying to guess what the flavor is because we don't tell anybody. Oh, really? It's just the old school original. So tell us what you think the flavor is. It's like something I've never had before I wouldn't even know what to put on it you know yeah yeah

like I can't compare it to anything and that's the goal actually is for people to for it to become its own flavor right like so when Coca-Cola started out a hundred years ago it had its own flavor now we all understand what coke tastes like right so that's kind of where we're at with that and then the new flavors about 100 years ago, it had its own flavor. Now we all understand what Coke tastes like, right? So that's kind of where we're at with that. And then the new flavors that are coming out, they're more distinguished, like, have more of a flavor that's distinguishable.

Yeah, that's an interesting approach, not to mention the flavor, actually. I don't know if anyone else does that, right? Well, there's energy drinks that have kind of their own thing. Well, like, for instance, Red Bull, they started out and who knows what that flavor was, but now everybody's familiar with what that is. Yeah, Red Bull's like, they've been around forever, right?

Red Bull and Monster, those are like the two totals. Absolutely, man. They've been around 20, 26 years. It's not longer than that. I don't know how long they've been around. But we love them. They paved the way for the whole market, you know, the industry.

There was one in Vegas I just sold for a lot of money. Energy drink? Yeah. Ghost. Yeah. It was a big exit. I never tried that one. That was Dr. Pepper bought them, right?

I think so. So these soda companies are buying these energy drink companies, it looks like. Yeah. And that's, you know, that's, I definitely foresee people coming at us, you know, for sure. But right now, I mean, we're just having fun and living it up. Yeah, going to events and-

I want you guys to have a good network of influencers to send this to, right? Yeah, yeah, we have a really good network and a lot of people now that are interested in wanting to kind of jump, because, you know, the way we do it over here is it's literally a family, right? So that's people want to join the family and kind of hang out.

And so we're having a lot of fun. I love them, man. Yeah, because you guys worked with some UFC athletes and fighters in the past, right? Yeah. I met you guys at PowerSlap, so you're tapped in the base. Right. It'd be cool to see you guys at PowerSlap down the road.

Yeah, we're coming to what's, is it PowerSlap 12? I think it's PowerSlap 12, yeah. Oh yeah? We'll be there. Let's go. That's the one in Vegas, right? Yeah. Yeah, they're in Saudi right now and then they'll come to Vegas and we'll go there and, you know, again, we're not trying to step on anybody's toes. We're just trying to make sure the fighters are taken care of and, you know, and they like the drinks, so... Searching for the perfect job can be overwhelming. You know it's out there, you just fighters are taken care of and you know, and they like to drink so. Searching for the perfect job can be overwhelming. You know, it's out there, you just don't know how to find it. The good news, you don't have to do it alone. Shout out to today's sponsor, Specialized Recruiting Group. Specialized Recruiting Group is here to help. Personalized job search support

tailored to your skills and needs. They connect job seekers with contract and full time roles. The best part is that it needs. They connect job seekers with contract and full-time roles. The best part is that it's completely free for job seekers. Specialized recruiting group is ready to find the talent you need. Go to srgprose.com, see how our recruitment specialists with a deep understanding of experience and expertise you need can find the right fit for your business.

After all, you deserve to see the best candidates possible, both active and passive. Visit srgpros.com today to start your job search. If you don't see the right job listed, SRG also recruits for confidential roles. Just call a local office to learn more. Take the next step in your career today at srgpros.com. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure.

I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure.

I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure.

I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. we're just taking a little bit of a piece of pie of that market and going crazy with it actually. I wonder if that's cause liquor sales are down. Yeah. You know?

Yeah, for sure. I mean, I think people are looking for a healthy alternative too, right? Like ours has, you know, pretty healthy ingredients. Yeah. Only 20 calories. You got L-theanine in here, right? Yeah, and thiamine.

You know, that's, we're definitely going to, you know, we're not a health drink, but we're a health conscience drink, right? That's what I always say. So people that are trying to stay away from those ingredients, they don't know what they are. They turn to ours and there's 13 ingredients and I will gain, right? Yeah. And only five grams of sugar I feel like I've seen some energy drinks have like 50 plus grams. Yeah, I'm gonna set us up with 140 grams Oh, yeah And a lot of companies they use high fructose corn syrup, which is an alternative for sugar, but Our bodies really don't process that very well And so just the fact that it has just a little bit

of actual cane sugar, our body can use that as actual energy where, I just don't want to put stuff in there that is not okay for your body to digest. And so like for instance, even we don't put any food coloring in it at all. There's really no point because you can't see the liquid anyways, right?

So why color it? Yeah, 100%. And a lot of people are really conscious of red 40. I think that's one of the food colorings that people are kind of afraid of right now. I don't know why, but we don't have any food coloring in ours. Well, they just banned one of the reds. I think that's the one, red red. Or, yeah, I think.

Don't quote me on that. Might have been red three or red five. But who knows? There's so many. Oh, yeah. Yeah. So many of them. And our is trying to ban high fruit, those corn syrup,

I think, too. Right. Yeah, and that's probably a good idea. Yeah. It is cheaper than sugar. But it's just not good for you. Doesn't look like it's the healthiest. No. Yeah, I don't think it's the healthiest. No.

Yeah, I don't think it's the healthiest alternative, for sure. Yeah, which sugar do you guys use? Just regular cane sugar. Oh god. Yeah, cane's probably better than the cheap sugar too, I assume, right? Yeah, for sure.

And it's so little that's in there. Because we have to round up, so it's actually a little less than five grams of sugar, but we have to round up just in case. Round up to be safe. Right, just to be safe, you know? And so it's only 20 calories in a 16 ounce can. I feel that.

And that's pretty reasonable, I think. Yeah, what were you guys doing before this? You're both from Idaho, right? I'm actually from California. And I, says you're both from Idaho, right? I'm actually from California. And so I had did a couple of things. I coached pro bodybuilders, but I'm also a retired policeman. And so I was a policeman for about 23 years. And actually, how this started is one of the guys that I worked with

at the police farm, we started a, a gym called old school iron and, uh, has the same exact logo. And so when we, when David and I started this company, we use the same logo and just changed iron to energy. And because the gym was really kind of a cult following a lot of really professional like power lifters and strongman trained there and stuff so we just and we just love the logo I mean it's kind of it's clean it's pretty cool yeah it's super clean gives me like Gold's gym vibes yeah the old school

right yeah yeah school yeah I think the one by me where I grew up shut down actually are they still doing well at Gold's Gym? No, I don't think so. I think they're around. Damn. Most of them have been sold off, and now those gyms that were Gold's Gym are named something else.

Wow. I don't think they were around, yeah. They were like an empire back. They were massive. Yeah, they were everywhere. I wonder if they couldn't adapt to the changing gym culture. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know if somebody sold out. I don't know how it happened. I wonder if they couldn't adapt to the changing gym culture. Yeah, I don't know.

I don't know if somebody sold out. I don't know how it happened. I have no idea. I just know they were everywhere at one point and then gone the next. Well, I'm part of Lifetime and they seem to be killing it, man. Oh, really? We're building a third one in Vegas in a year, allegedly.

And dude, it's $400 a month now. Wow. Oh, for a gym. Isn't that nuts? That's crazy That is that's a lot. Yeah in Idaho people complain about $39 for Dude I wish and it's only going up when I first joined it was 200 and they keep raising like 50 bucks a year Yeah, that's insane, but you have to remember at it in a gym

You know problem. I don't know, I've never been into that gym, but there's probably half a million dollars worth of equipment in there that you get to use. Probably. And so you're basically renting time to use half a million dollars of equipment. Yeah. They're also like more than just a gym.

I think they call themselves like a wellness center or whatever. Yeah. Cause they got like the sauna, the cold plunges. Yeah, and like all of that costs money. Yeah. That's a lot. For a real good quality treadmills,

it could be like $6,000 just for one of them. Wow. And some gyms have like 20 of those. Yeah, some gyms has like 50 of them. Holy crap. Some of them have like the Peloton bikes. Yeah, and those stair steppers. Yeah, stair master. They're like 10 grand for one. Yeah, and those stair steppers. Yeah, stair master.

They're like 10 grand for one. What? Damn. Yeah, Lifetime has like eight of those, I think. Yeah. It's a big investment up front. Holy crap. So getting the gym business is not appealing to business,

is what I was like. I mean. I own a gym and actually we franchised it and just bad timing, all the COVID shutdowns killed like six of our franchisees because they had just opened and then they just couldn't keep the doors open. Yeah, I remember when Bradley Martin was,

he had a gym out here, right? And he was staying open during COVID, taking those penalties. Oh yeah. Yeah, he was taking a lot of a day or something crazy. Yeah. It was sad. Wiped him out. And I agree with what Bradley said, too. You know, like it's he's keeping it open because for him, you know, it helped with his mental focus.

I helped with getting him through that time. And so I 100 percent agree to exactly what he said. Yeah. You know, keep the gym open. You got people in there that are maybe suffering from mental health or whatever. And this is kind of helping them. 100 percent agree to exactly what he said. You know, keep the gym open. You got people in there that are maybe suffering from mental health or whatever, and this is kind of helping them. 100% agree. Yeah.

Yeah, shout out to him for sticking it out. He wants to build one in Vegas too, so I love that. And it's a new era of content creators coming into gyms now and filming their workouts and everything. Oh, for sure, yeah. It's a lot different than before. Yeah, you're seeing a lot of people, like getting healthy is the thing now, right? So you're seeing everybody do it, you know, yeah, and it's really good to see

Yeah, I think health is like the new wealth. Honestly, absolutely People care about how healthy their business partners are their friends are their family are before wasn't scared about I feel like Yeah, it seems like more people are more conscious about what they're putting in their body and what they're doing with their bodies Well, look at mr. B's David Dobrik, right? Like they just lost a ton of weight. They look phenomenal. Dobrik's was crazy Yeah, Dobrik's was crazy doing I'll be in steroid videos coming out People are accusing him of taking steroids. Yeah, I don't know man. He looked good. He looked great It didn't look unnatural to me, but who knows? No, man. He looked he looked good. That was a lot of hard work for sure I haven't seen mr. B's yet. I got to check that one out. Yeah, he looks he looks good, man

I just saw a video with him. He looks shredded. Yeah, and his face he looks good. Yeah, damn good job I've been watching beast games, but I haven't noticed his shirt's always on and now you know, yeah Yeah, you guys been watching that show beast games. I haven't seen it yet. No, I haven't we've been so busy man I've been yeah, we we've been all over we stay very very no time for squid game or Netflix or anything I got kids so my kids fill me in on what's What's happening? Yeah, these games was nice man. He gave away five million dollars. Yeah. Wow crazy. He can afford to do that. Yeah Mr. Beast it wasn't his movies man. He got investors, but still On time he seems like a good guy though, you know. Yeah, but content's like the new celebrity.

Right. Oh, for sure. These streamers and social media stuff. When we were in Power Slap, you know, down in Vegas, there was a lot of kids, I had no idea who they were. And they were like, oh, this kid has got this much and this kid's got this much. And I was like, I'm like sending pictures to my kids.

Like, who is this? They were probably freaking out. Oh yeah, for sure. They were like- Bryce Hall was there, he has like 30 million. Yeah, I talked to Bryce Hall when I was there. Nice guy. 30 million followers, but you would never know

if you're just like, you know, grown ass man walking around like who is that? Yeah, you have no idea. And they were all super friendly, super nice, so. Yeah. Do you guys even have TikTok? No. No, not yet, no. Nothing, Instagram, YouTube?

We have Instagram. Yeah, and... So we actually are starting our tick-tock but this nine-hour cancellation or whatever happened really put Kind of blocked us for a little while things had to get back up and going and so we're in the process of that Yeah, you can't even download that right now. No, it's great. Yeah, if you deleted it I saw phones were going for like 40 grand or something like that on eBay, that's insane, dude. I think some sold for, yeah, like 10, 20K. Yeah, that's crazy.

I'm not paying that. I might sell one of my old phones that has TikTok on it. If I get 10K, I'm down. Yeah, absolutely, man. People are obsessed with that app, it's crazy. I know, it is crazy. I remember when it was a dance. I still think of it as like a dance thing.

That's how it started. Yeah. That's how they got it user-based. Are your kids on it all day? I think we have all. I remember when it was a dance. I still think of it as like a dance thing. That's how it started. Yeah. That's how they got a user base. Are your kids on it all day? I think my mom and kids are on it. All my kids are like growing up except for my youngest. Okay. But they're all on it.

Yeah. My screen time is pretty bad. It's eight hours a day. Is it bad? I mean, that's pretty high, right? Yeah. Third of the day. Oh yeah, damn.

But I'm working on it, so that's how I make excuses for it. Absolutely. Yeah. You never scroll it? I do scroll too, I'm not on it, so that's how I make excuses for it. Absolutely. You never scroll it? I do scroll, too, I'm not gonna lie. It's fucking addictive. I have a goal I set for two hours a day, and I always go over just a little bit. That's solid, though, two hours? Well done, man.

Yeah, because it's like, before this business, I wasn't on it at all, but you have to be on social media now, right? And so I wasn't on it at all. And, but you have to be on social media now, right? And so I'm always kind of checking in to see what our growth is and stuff like that and what our engagement is. So I still, I still stay pretty close to two hours,

but I don't normally make two hours. This is a little bit more. Yeah, well done, that's love, that's love. But yeah, these days you need it, it's inevitable, right? Oh, for sure, yeah. I mean, look at how PowerSlab grew, look at how companies are growing off TikTok Live. Yeah, and my background was business.

So I've been in business for, what, 13, 14 years? And I was kind of pre that, like I mean, I remember when Facebook was, there was no way to, I mean, you could advertise on Facebook, but nobody knew how to do it right so it was all you young kids I knew how to do it not us but uh now I'm watching it just and now we're in it it's crazy well we have a 22 year old guy that helps yeah and you got a couple kids yeah help us out but no man it's it's an important thing and it's definitely very important 2025 that you stay alert and that you're on it,

and you're staying interactive, right? That's the hardest part is just to be posting constantly and keeping gaining constant. 100%. Yeah, even myself, I mean, I'm only 27, pretty young, but I hire these teenagers or kids in their young 20s to stay in the loop with trending in social media. They're all solid age out too.

Yeah, it changes. It changes quick too. Dude, quick, because yeah, I'm 27, but I've been in social media for 10 years now. So I'm considered like a veteran to some of these kids, which is crazy, right? So you're old school. In the social media space, I'm technically old school, yeah.

Because not a lot of guys may get 10 years on any platform. You've been on platforms for 10 years? Instagram, yeah. Dang. It's a tight yeah. Dang, man. It's a tight school. Wow. That's crazy. And that's super rare.

If you go on YouTube, barely anyone has been around for 10 years. Well, Bradley Martin's been around for a while, right? Yeah, he's out there. But there's not many guys. But him and Mr. Beast have been around for a while. But a lot of guys fall out. Oh, for sure.

They get a year, like the Hawk Tuah girl, get a solid year, however long she lasted, and they're done. Well, it's like any business, you know? Like, people get tired of it. It's not what they thought it was, you know? And just like any business, people will start a business, and then they'll just kind of fizzle out

because they didn't make the money that they thought they were gonna make, or it's harder than they thought it would be, you know So there's all kinds of reasons why people yeah hundred percent. Yeah, and some businesses are meant to last forever, too, right? Yeah I'm on like my pie 10th one by now. Yeah. Yeah, this one is finally doing well though. Thank you man You gotta just keep firing, you know, yeah stay persistent. Yeah caught the podcast wave at the right time Yeah, you like it? I love it, dude. It's a lot of fun.

Yeah, man. Like 1,400 episodes, some really cool conversations. I watched a lot of your content, dude. You're really good. Dude, thanks. Yeah, a lot of interesting people, man. Yeah. And isn't that fun?

You get to meet all these interesting people and sit down and- I know, like 10 years ago, I would have never known anyone from Idaho or, you know, wherever. I've had people from Alaska, Idaho, other countries, all sorts of religions, political beliefs. Yeah. It's cool, wherever. I've had people from Alaska, Idaho, other countries, all sorts of religions, political beliefs. Yeah. It's cool, man.

It's awesome, man. I'm happy for you. You're killing it. Dude, thanks. Yeah, but I just imply people watching this, stop living in a bubble, you know? Yeah. You're talking to the same beliefs as you. You got to get outside the box.

Absolutely. It's important. Super important, right? I see that on Twitter, people are just arguing. It's like, dude, get some new perspectives. You know? And actually take it in, you know? And listen to them and see maybe a tweeter, you know?

A little bit of it, maybe. Absolutely. Who do you guys watch the most right now? On what? On podcasts or YouTube or content wise? I watch a lot of the Nelk stuff. I'm a big fan of Nelk. My kids are like huge fans. They watched Nelk stuff. I'm a big fan of Nelk. My kids are like huge fans.

They watched Nelk since they were like staying in kids apartments because they were traveling around the country. So like pre-Steve and all that stuff. So Nelk, Bradley, anything to do with fighting really. Can you pay attention to my guy over there, Marcus T. Marcus T. Yeah. I have to admit, I don't watch a lot.

I would say I only watch Supercross and Motocross. Whoa. Yeah, that's literally the only thing that I will sit down and actually take time to watch. Wow. I've never heard of someone watching that, to be honest. Yeah, I swear, yeah. And what's crazy is it's...

It's boring, man. It's huge. It's millions of people watching, right? You know, and I remember when I was a little kid, my dad bought me my first dirt bike. I wasn't even in kindergarten yet. And so it's just something I've done all my life. And I'm not very good at it compared to these guys, you know, but it's, I under, at least I understand what it takes for them to do what they're doing.

And it's just fascinating for me to watch. And so- That's a good point, though. You can't truly appreciate how hard something is unless you actually go out and try it. Yeah, yeah. I try it. I got a lot of broken bones from doing it, but.

Yeah, because all it takes is one bad fall and you're wrecked, right? Yeah, and these guys, they don't get paid enough. They go out there and it's one of the most physically demanding sports there is. And they're getting paid, in my opinion, a lot lower than they deserve because it does, they do have a lot of fan base.

I know, I look at risk to reward ratios. I don't know what that one is, but we were talking about power slop earlier, it's like damn, 5K to get potential concussion. No thank you. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, well I don't know what that is, that sounds pretty intense though,

because they're high up in the air on these jumps, right? Oh yeah, like, you're looking way up at them, you know. And then of course when you're watching on TV It's it's hard to put a perspective put in perspective Yeah, but it's it's a I love watching it, you know And I do kind of go down the rabbit hole on on YouTube videos, you know, and you look learn stuff You know and I learned I learned a lot about Energy drinks just watching YouTube videos.

Really? Wow. Yeah, YouTube University, baby. Yeah. YouTube University, yeah. I mean, I learned more YouTube within college. You know, like we were talking, when we started this company,

one of the reasons I've been so all in is by watching the YouTube videos and other entrepreneurs and stuff, it changed my mindset, right? I thought, you know, this big, and now I think at a much massive level what I used to think, you know? So, just some of those, watching those videos

of those guys that did it before us changed my whole mindset. And that's one of the reasons we're here. And I think his mindset was always bigger than most people's. Sure, yeah, because you said you came from business, right? Yeah, yeah, and I saw this, I mean, I didn't foresee what happened with us at all. I mean, what's crazy is we talk about this all the time,

we have literally manifested this whole business. So like meeting you, meeting him, right? Meeting everybody we met was literally just a conversation we had two weeks before it happened. Damn. You know, so we'll, we'll say something like, wouldn't that be cool if, and then it happens. That's so nuts.

It's just, it's insane. And it will, from the very beginning. So David was a member at my gym yeah and he came into my office and he said I don't know what we're gonna do but I'm gonna do business with you someday and I was just like okay and we just went to lunch one day and and then what we've known each other for what six years now seven years yeah and? But we've finally started this business just under three years ago. Words are powerful, man.

Absolutely, man. Yeah, that's so relatable though. I look at everything I've accomplished now and I'm like, I had these stocks years ago, 100%. Yeah, I'm sure you've talked it into existence as well, right? Yeah, especially certain guests. I'm like, when I first started the show,

I had a list of names I wanted to get on, you know? And I'm just slowly crossing them off. That's awesome. I'm big on visualization, manifestation stuff, for sure. And we're doing it every day, all day, and we're talking to different people. And it's just weird how, you know, like our friend, Reese, that's our boy, man.

We love that guy to death. Shout out to Reese. And, you know, he's always keeping us kind of in the forefront of everything he does, so, yeah. Yeah, the network. There's just guys like that, man, that have come around that have been really, like Marcus, Rees, you know,

that just kind of does the introduction, and then from there, people love to drink, and bow, we're off. Yeah, so win-win, because you're giving them a good product, too. Yeah. That's the key, I noticed. You need some value to offer, whether it's a product,

a service, information. Well, when we started, we were like, we want to make something that is cool to look at, tastes good, and actually works. And we nailed all three of them. At least that's the feedback we're getting. And so it's just taking off like crazy. I love it.

We just today got done with another round of hundreds of thousands of cans, and they'll be gone so fast. Holy crap. Yeah. Every time we do another run, we're not just doubling the number. We're like quadrupling the number.

Damn. So people are reordering. Oh, yeah. Big time, yeah. Wow. It's insane. And the amount of stores that are reaching out and just basically begging us to carry our product

is, it's insane. Dude, that's incredible. And that's something we didn't, like I for sure never foresaw, you know? Like I mean, I knew eventually it would happen, I didn't think it would be, because you gotta think, we've only been selling products since, for seven months.

That's it? Yeah, since March. Whoa. And we're like, so seven months. That's it? Yeah, since March. Whoa. And we're like, so he'll call me up and be like, hey, I just talked to, I'm not gonna say who it is, but it's a massive, like massive accounts. And I'm like, and so I'm the operations guy

and he's the business guy, right? And I'm just like, how am I gonna make all that? You know, and it's like, I have to do this, I have to do this, I have to do this, I have to do this in order to turn it into a product that people can drink. It's a tough space, people don't know about the net terms with these retailers, so you don't get the money for some of these.

Yeah, and the other thing too is, this can right here, it took us four months to get it. So when you start sourcing ingredients, you buy the can, you plan that out, you've gotta wait for this company to do that. And so if someone wants to order 100,000 cans for their store, we have to have that on hand

where it takes us three to four months to make it. Holy crap, it takes that long to make cans? Well, it's not just cans, it's making the can, printing the can, sourcing the ingredients. Oh yeah, it's printed on there. Yeah, and getting it run at a co-packer, and packaging it, and then you have to ship it. You know, it all, and everything takes time.

Like this, after this is made, it has to sit for a certain amount of time, and they test for microbials and things like that to make sure that it meets the requirements. And this has a two year shelf life. That's pretty long actually. It is pretty long with the minimum amount of preservatives that we have in it.

Just very minimum. Like there's brands out there that have like a flavored water that has more Ingredients than this has and that's including the caffeine the L Theanine and the thiamine in it And we can talk about what those are too if you want Yeah, well, let's break down the finding because that's what you pride yourself on in this right? What the L Theanine and the thiamine So thiamine is an ingredient that is we need and we're almost all deficient in it and it reduces inflammation but it all and it but specifically in the brain and so it makes you think clearly when you have thiamine in your in

your system. So all the foods that are processed are stripped of thiamine. And so we put it in the drink, and you think more clearly when you have it. Wow. And so that's one of the reasons I put that in there. The L-theanine is, it calms the central nervous system down. So like when you take in 200 milligrams of caffeine is what this drink is, you can get jittery and have a crash because of that. Well, the L-theanine counters that because it brings down

like anxiety and things like that. But, and it's becoming more popular, but I believe some companies that are using L-theanine, I probably shouldn't say this on the camera, they use too much and it kind of cancels out the feeling of the caffeine and so we have the right blend. I'm not gonna say what the blend is that's our side there and So you get a very focused energy without any of the jitters in the crash afterwards That makes sense. So you guys really thought this out. that's cool. Oh dude, not we, this guy.

So I mean, people ask me all the time, right? Like I always give this dude credit because it was months. I'm not lying to you. Like I'm doing the business side, getting everything set up, right? And he's calling me with, hey man, I think we should do this much L-theanine and this much, I have no idea what he needs.

So people ask me all the time, like, what does this do? I don't know, ask Mark, I have no idea. So, no, this guy. That's cool though. And I actually, like, I mean, this is how boring I am. I would read medical studies on every ingredient that's in this. I've read medical studies, multiple medical studies on it.

And so I feel confident that this is something that I would regularly put in my body, you know. And. That's cool, man. That's what it takes to make it in this business, right? Yeah, and then I was just as anal when it came to the flavor, too. I mean, those poor guys that,

it's like a lab, like a flavor house, you know? And those poor guys were like, you tasted like 30 or 40 different variations of it, and I drank so much of it that I was like jacked. It was because I had drank so much energy drinking. The next flavors we'll do, I'll spit them out like you're supposed to do with wine tasting. That's so cool. Is there a crash from this one?

There was no crash. Even after I drank all that, I didn't crash. I was able to sleep afterwards, too. Yeah. That's always my issue with certain beverages, right? Like, certain coffees are really strong. Yeah, yeah. You just crash.

Yeah. And I mean, you come down, obviously, but you don't feel that sudden crash. It's just kind of like, oh, I don't have that energy. I don't feel that energy. And so you do notice it it but it's not that That's sudden crash that because what the crash is is so Caffeine sits on a receptor site that blocks a deniseine and

That's the tired hormone in our body. That's what makes us feel tired. So caffeine sits on that hormone in our body. That's what makes us feel tired. So caffeine sits on that receptor site, and so you have all this adenosine floating around with nothing to do. And so as soon as the caffeine is done and leaves, then you have all this adenosine that just attacks those receptor sites, and that's why you have the crash. And L-theanine kind of mellows that whole system out. Nice.

Yeah, man, you guys are a good duo because he knows the science and you know the business side. For sure, yes. Yeah, that's what we talk about all the time. We talk about, on the way here, we're talking like, we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him and we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for me. We just work together so well. His strengths are not mine. Definitely, his strengths are not mine. That was so, dude, I mean, it was days, months know, and so. It definitely is strengths are not mine. Yeah.

Like that was so, dude, I mean, it was days, months and months and months. Yeah, months of. I bet you were ready to go. I was just. You're like, hurry up. Let's just do something. And then I tasted it the first time and I was like,

ooh boy, we got one. Yeah. We got it. I love it, man. So yeah, and then once it, once the people started tasting it is when I got really excited. Cause you know, like us, we're biased, right? It's our drink.

So we're going to be kind of biased to it. But once the public, because the first time a person tried it that wasn't with us, it was like some waitress at a restaurant. She was like, man, it's not great. I was like, oh no. Yeah. Well, so what happens is they send us samples, right? And then when we get it really close, then you fly down to where the lab is,

and it's here in Southern California, and then you taste it, and then you mix it, and taste it, and get it dialed in. And then once it was dialed into the flavor that I thought was good, we've had nothing but just, like almost 100% positive feedback from it. You know, and maybe some people say nice things because they're in front of you, but overwhelmingly like people love the flavor of it and they love how it reacts,

how it gives them energy for real. Like I have a friend that she has a really boring business, and she has a bunch of paperwork she has to do, and she says she'll drink one of these just to get her paperwork done. Wow. Because she's so focused. Yeah, that's incredible.

Like you mentioned earlier, it's hard to balance the health side with the taste side, with the benefit side, right? Yeah. Because a lot of healthy things do not taste good if we're being honest. Absolutely. Yeah, for sure, right?

That's why diets never work, right? It's like a scale, like the healthier it is. The worse it tastes. The worse it's gonna taste, exactly, man. And we do have two flavors that we're in the process of bringing out two more flavors. Absolutely amazing. Better than this one?

Because this one's pretty good. Man, I don't know. It's as good or better, we'll put it that way. So should we just tell them what the flavors are? So nobody's gonna know what the flavor of this is. But we're coming out with a mango raspberry lemonade, and a prickly pear coconut. Damn, I've never heard that combo.

Yeah, and- Prickly pear coconut. I love both of those. So like, so coconut can be kind of overwhelming, right? Yeah. And so we use just a little bit of coconut to kind of soften the taste of prickly pear because prickly pear can be really, really sweet.

And so it just balances it out so good. I'm pumped to try that one. Yeah. Yeah, I'm big on coconut water and I like prickly pear juice. The one at Panera, have you had that one? Uh-huh. Dude, I should slap. Oh, at Panera? Yeah. There's, yeah, no, I haven't had that juice. The one at Panera, have you had that one? Huh? Dude, I should slap.

Oh, at Panera? Yeah. There's, yeah, no, I haven't had that one. Yeah, that one's good. But I'll have to go in there and try it now. Yeah, try it. I'm sure you guys are testing your competitors, right? Seeing what it tastes like.

Yeah, I buy stuff that I've never tried before just to see what the flavor is, you know, and usually I'm disappointed. Yeah. But. Well, you're biased too. I'm super biased, right? Well, yeah, I'll test out, like,

I'll study the top podcasts and stuff, and I try to stay objective, but obviously I'm gonna be a little competitive. Right, of course, yeah. And we're very competitive by nature anyways, right? Like, I'm sure you are, you play basketball. Yeah, you're an athlete, yeah. So, uh, yeah, it gets, like, if I do it too much,

then I'm just like, I'm up till five in the morning, just, how do we beat these guys? Yeah. Because you're never gonna beat Monster or Red Bull, right? Or any of those guys. So we don't even try, we just focus on what we're doing and just. Yeah, you guys could be the next ghost, you know?

Yeah, for sure. So when there's a $60 million exit, something crazy like that. Yeah. And I feel like Celsius crushes it, right? Celsius. Well, Celsius, yeah, that was purchased by, I could be wrong, but I think it was Pepsi

that purchased some, something like that. But, you know, like those companies are so massive, and we've had people say, like, how are you gonna compete with Monster or Red Bull? And like, we're not. You know, those guys paved the way for companies to come along, and because the market is growing,

there's room for more people you know yeah so if you carve your own lane absolutely yeah that's the goal I got asked you this since you're a football player who do you got winning the Super Bowl next week man oh I don't know if I'm betting I'm going Kansas City yeah but I would love to see Philadelphia pull it off I'm with me come on did you watch that Bills game? It was kind of sketchy, right? Yeah. If I'm betting, I'm with you though, Chiefs.

Of course. That's gonna make the storyline. Absolutely, the NFL's gonna love that. They're gonna make billions of dollars and everybody will be happy. But for me, I don't know. If they're not on a dirt bike, I don't know. Eli Tomac, I like him because he's like 34, I think.

He's like one of the old guys for Motocross. But Jet Lawrence is gonna be probably the champion. Up and coming. I wonder if you could bet on Motocross. Oh, for sure, yeah. So like Jet Lawrence, him and his brother from Australia, they're just super young kids. And Jet Lawrence, his rookie year in motocross

won every single race, 22 races. Holy crap. Yeah. So you kind of have to bet on that, right? Yeah. Sorry, I don't watch a lot of football. No, motocross, you probably can't really rig those. So that's individual.

There's no way. There's no way you could do it. Yeah, I feel like with football, there's a lot of allegations coming out, and it's interesting. I know, and that's sad, because, you know, it's like, the whole point of watching a sport is to see them, the best go at each other, and fairly.

Well, the money's so insane now. Oh, yeah. You know? It's crazy. Like, it's just nuts. I mean, I don't know what Pat Mahomes is making. What is he? Is he selling out?

It's gotta be nine figures by now, right? That's like 450 million or something. Yeah, and the sports betting market's even bigger than the actual sports time. Yeah, it's the same, man. And I don't know, I watched Buffalo Bill's game and sort of the rest of America, so. We just ate at Circa last night

and walked through and watched their sport book. Biggest sports book. I was like, man, this place is huge. And I think, you weren't just saying that on the Super Bowl there, the whole screen is the game. Oh, that's cool. Shout out to Circa, like Richard over there. They got my favorite steakhouse, Barry's.

Oh, yeah. That's where we almost ate at Barry's yesterday. Oh, you almost ate there? We didn't get a chance to get in. Ooh. Next time you're in Vegas, check out that spot. Yeah. It's good.

Shout out to Chef Barry. Yeah, he's coming on the Pogsson. Nice. Yeah, I'm a big foodie, man. Really, you guys big in the food scene? Absolutely. So I got to get your opinion. Best city for food.

Oh, man. Oh, man. Where do you love to go to eat? Vegas, probably. OK. For sure. I mean, if you're going buffet style, you got to go to Vegas. For buffets, 100%.

It's not close on buffets. And they got really good steak houses, right? Steak houses, we got to be up there with New York, yeah. Yeah, I mean, Boise's got Chandler's, which is great. It's independently owned. Shout out to Chandler's. I gotta try that one, too. Yeah, dude, it's really good.

But I've been craving a good steak, right? Yeah. And I've been to Las Vegas twice in a week. Okay. And just things have happened, I couldn't go get a steak, right? I don't for steak. And I know, and that's what I've been trying to,

so I don't know. I haven't been to Vegas enough in the food scene yet to know which one to go. So I'll have to talk to you afterwards. I'll give you some recommendations. Vegas is high for me though. I'm glad you said that. You're the only person I've talked to

that said Vegas is number one. Really? Where do no more people pick Where do you York LA? Usually those two I'd say LA's all right. We don't we don't go to those two plays very often For like Italian and pizza, oh yeah Yeah, sometimes people say like Texas like if they like barbecue. Yeah. I guess it depends on the cuisine, you know? Yeah. But I was talking overall, I'd say Vegas is up there. We get a lot of good restaurants.

Vegas is the, yeah, because look at how many people they get a year to visit and they have to have good food. Yeah. Oh yeah. That's a good point. And then even when you go off the strip, right? And you go into like, what do you guys call it? Yeah. Yeah. You go to like off the beaten path places, right? Those are usually better to be honest. Yeah. Yeah Well guys, it's been cool. Where can people can people buy this online yet or no? Yeah, the old school energy comm cool We'll link it below anything else you want to close off with

No, I was yeah get on there and buy it quick those fast yeah, it's going super We'll link it below. We'll tag you guys up and everything. Thanks for hopping on, gentlemen. Absolutely, man. Thank you for having us. Yup. Thanks for watching, guys. See you next time.