Heroes in Business - Dr Howard Murad Founder of Murad, sold to Unilever, Founder Modern Wellness

Episode Date: October 18, 2021

How to eat your water, and eat your sunscreen. Dr Howard Murad, Founder and Creator of Murad, sold to Unilever, Founder Modern Wellness is interviewed by David Cogan founder of Eliances and famous celebrity host of the Eliances Heroes Show broadcast on am and fm network channels, online syndication and on over 100 TV channels.  

Up in the sky, look, it's captivating, it's energizing, it's Alliances Heroes. Alliances is the destination for entrepreneurs, investors, CEOs, inventors, leaders, celebrities, and startups. Where our heroes in business align. Now, here's your host flying in, David Kogan, founder of Eliance's. That's right, and we're back. And again, can you believe it? I've done over a thousand interviews. Like, is that possible from people from all walks of life? And thank you again for the feedback we had previously, too. I really appreciate it. When we had, are you ready for this?

The president of Unilever. So make sure that you go to alliances.com. That's E-L-I-A-N-C-E-S.com to check out many, many past interviews and stuff. And, of course, the interview that we're going to be doing now will also be posted there. All right. So, you know, everybody seems to be always wanting to find the fountain of youth. We're going to talk about that today with our hero, our next guest today. Welcome to the show, Howard Murad, who's the founder and creator of Murad, which actually ended up being sold

to Unilever, and now the founder of Modern Wellness. And you can reach him at drhowardmurad.com, or of course, we'll have it on the website at alliances.com. That's E-L-I-A-N-C-S.com, the only place where entrepreneurs align. All right, Dr. Murad, let's jump right in. Why do you think everybody wants to find the fountain of youth? Well, everyone wants to be younger, right? So younger and healthier.

And most people think it's water. And of course, we can't do without water. And people think drinking eight glasses of water is going to do it for us, but it doesn't. It's all about making hydration in the cells where it needs to be instead of outside of the cells. So it's not that complicated. It's a way of looking at life and encouraging water to stay in the cells. So we want to make the cells healthy, reducing free radical damage to them that damages the cells and makes them lose water as time goes on. The aging process itself, whatever that is, also contributes to that. And it's not just that. It's a couple of other things. One of the things that really is devastating

to all of us, especially now, is what I call cultural stress. Cultural stress is the stress of modern living. It's all the rules and regulations, digital dependency. We used to go out and go meet people, go shopping. Now everything gets delivered to us. We sit at home and we become sedentary. We do nothing. As we're sedentary, we have more diabetes, more hypertension. We used to have friends. Well, we do have friends. We have, though, instead of physical friends, they're digital friends. We're sitting at home, being lonely.

Loneliness causes depression and anxiety. All of those depress the water in yourselves. So it's a way of understanding. It's something we can't do without. But it's not the stress. It's how we deal with it. And I've done many studies on how we minimize that. I have a bunch of what I call insight sayings that encourage people to look at the stress and deal with it in their own way.

So there are some sayings that I have. I can show you examples of them. Yeah, we want to know those secrets. We want to know your secrets. Why have a bad day when you can have a good day? Dance even though you can't hear the music. Forgive yourself. All of these sayings, insights that I've developed by seeing my patients and understanding them deeply and having a way for them to deal with the stress, you can't change it.

Some stresses you can change. You break your arm, you go to the doctor, you get it fixed. Stress of modern living, you can't change. It's here and it's only going to get worse. So how do we deal with it? It's not the stress. It's how we it's only going to get worse. So how do we deal with it? It's not the stress. It's how we deal with it. If it's no big deal, they'll make a big deal out of it.

All of these cards I make available to my patients and available online for free. You don't have to pay for them. There are 11 cards. Look at them twice a day and journal. And statistically, I was able to prove reduction in stress. Reduction in stress encourages you to have more in yourselves because when you're stressed, you have underarm perspiration, sweaty palms, damaging your body. So those are very important ways of looking at life.

And that's why I call it modern wellness, because wellness from before didn't necessarily deal with cultural stress. Right. I want to talk a little bit about, again, you're the creator of Neurot, which was sold to Unilever. Like that's a big deal. How did you build such a large company and end up selling it? Because I was stupid. Yeah. People say, you know, I was a very traditional dermatologist but i saw my patients differently i i was a pharmacist before i went to medical school and i created different products i made available

to just to my patients and i decided i was going to make that available to the general public everybody says you're stupid you're not going to be able to do this. It's too ridiculous. You don't know anything. That's true. I didn't know anything about business. But I had the passion. I wanted to make something happen. It was something I wanted to do. It wasn't just about the money.

It was about making a difference in people's lives, which I did with my own patience. And I made a lot of mistakes along the way. But I kept on going. I believed in myself. And I made a lot of mistakes along the way, but I kept on going. I believed in myself and I made it happen. I turn I say sayings like turn obstacles into opportunities. There were a lot of times I just totally failed. People used to like me a lot because I used to sell just to directly to spas.

And then I said, why should I just sell to spas? I'll be on infomercials and two. And they did well in the infomercial. But the spa people that hated me, I said, why should I just sell to spas? I'll be on infomercials and two. And they did well in the infomercial, but the spa people, they hated me. They said, we were exclusive. We used to only sell your product, and now you're selling to them. Now they would love me to do that. Anyway, so kind of different things. Willing to take risk is, I think, the most important thing.

Failure leads to success. I have a lot of what I call insight sayings and feelings about things. Well, absolutely incredible. You're right. It is about taking risks, and you certainly have, too. And again, you're listening, watching me, David Kogan, host of the Alliances Hero Show. So make sure you go to alliances.com. Why? Because it is the only place where entrepreneurs line. That's E-L-I-A-N-C-S.com because we have with us Howard Murad, who is the founder and creator of Murad, which he ended up selling to Unilever. You know, that ginormous company. That's right. He's the founder now of Modern Wellness. You can reach him at drhowardmurad.com. All right. So Howard,

you sell the company to Unilever. Why not just stop, retire, and just live on a boat? I don't know. Paint. Well, my passion is helping people live happier, healthier, more fulfilling lives. And it's not about the money. It's my passion. So I don't make money on these cards and get them for free and the science and the studies I did, the cost of them I did on my own. I don't charge people for it. It's just the idea of letting people understand there's a pathway to happiness. There's a pathway to success and there's a pathway to living younger, happier, more fulfilling lives. And that is encouraging hydration in a different way. It's not about water. It's about all of these other things we just talked about. Right. So you mentioned water a number of times. Do you only

drink water or do you drink other liquids? No, I eat water. The best thing to do is to eat your water instead of drinking it. Water, just water. You drink it, goes right through you and you make a trip to the bathroom. But when you eat your water, raw fruits and vegetables, you're getting the water in the structure. It's gradually released. It's got phytonutrients, phytochemicals, all kinds of agents to help you stay younger, healthier lives and reduce the risk for cancer and other diseases as well. So we all know it's healthy for you to eat raw fruits and vegetables and other agents that contain water. If you look at foods that you eat, the ones that contain the most water tend to be healthy. Even beans absorb about 60, 70% of the water when you cook them and eat them. So you get the protein, plus you're getting all the hydration and other things, 70% of the water when you cook them and eat them. So you get the protein,

plus you're getting all the hydration and other things, other benefits of the food. So eating your water is very, very important. And understanding that it's not just drinking, because that's just water and you need it. Not telling you don't drink water, but I think when you eat water, it's going to make a big difference. So what's some of the top two or three things to be able to eat water? You know, I tell people, everyone's an individual. There are foods I could tell you, if you don't like them, you won't eat them. So foods that you like generally, the more colorful, the raw fruits and vegetables, the healthier they are. And actually some of them, if you're worried

about skin cancer and sun damage, I tell them, if you're worried about skin cancer and sun damage, I tell them, eat your sunscreen, which means eating these ingredients like watermelon, pomegranates, pink grapefruit, all of those things enhance sunscreen from within. So you put sunscreen on your face to protect you. But if you eat these from inside, it's going to help. So that's one thing for skincare, that you're going to eat your sunscreen, you're going to help reduce the damage from the sun and the environment. What do you do as a dermatologist? We get a number of questions. One of the questions is, for example, how do you get rid of brown spots or spots on the face?

Well, it's hard to get rid of them permanently unless you go to extremes and have some major laser treatment or something like that. But the idea is to help minimize them. And there are ingredients and formulas that you could put on that minimize it. So there are a lot of formulas that you can put onto your skin twice a day, reduce sun damage. Ingredients like vitamin C on the face can make a big difference. Alpha hydroxy acids or glycolic acid is also a great ingredient. So there are many different ingredients that you can use in formulas that you can apply to your face a couple of times a day,

morning and night, and go out, use sunscreens whenever you do, and also eat your sunscreen. All of those together. I want to go back in time here and stuff that you weren't born in the United States. I was born in Iraq. Uncle Sam was very nice to me when I was six years old, he allowed my family to come to the United States. At that time, there was a quota of people coming from Iraq to the United States. And I came to New York. I was seven years old. And basically, I lived in New York until I went to medical school when I was in my early 20s. What a success. What a story. I mean, you came and you came with nothing, right? Your family.

Absolutely nothing. You know, we, I was the the youngest of six and we lived in a tiny apartment. It was like two tiny bedrooms and everybody worked. I worked. I used to go around the neighborhood and and I used to deliver newspapers. I was a caddy in the I was a caddy in the gyms. I used to do pin setting in the bowling alleys. I used to do all kinds of things. I worked my way through everything I ever did. And in the beginning, even the money, the little pennies that I made,

I gave it to the family so we could have enough food to eat. So we all worked. We all managed. And we all worked, we all managed, and we all became successful, all of my siblings and myself as well. What do you think of the world now of everything going on? I mean, from where you came from to where you are now and the history that you've seen, and certainly knowing what's going on in the country where you were born to now the United States and having been so successful? You know, I can say that as far as I can tell you,

there's no country that would ever have, if I had moved to any other country in the world, I don't think I would have been as successful. I think in the United States, we have an opportunity to really, if you work hard and you try hard, do the best you can do, you have an opportunity to make really things happen. And it's up to you. I say magic only happens when you create your own. And you don't necessarily rely on other people because they give you good and bad advice, but ultimately it's you. You make those decisions of what you're going to do and make the right decisions. And you make the wrong decisions and you fail a few times. That's okay. You learn from your failures. I want to do some snooping now. We're in your family room doing this interview and you've got a lot of cool artwork behind you, sculptures and stuff like that. What's one piece maybe that you find unique that you could talk about?

Well, you know, any of them. The whole thing about art is about allowing failures to lead to success. Up until 15 years ago, somebody said, you're an artist, I'd say, BS, I could never do any art. I don't know how to do art. I don't know how to draw a circle. I can't do anything. My wife forced me to take a class one day when we were on vacation in art, and the teacher said, please don't take any more art classes. I said, what I did, was that bad? She said, no, you're that good. You have talent you didn't even realize you had. And she said, go out and buy these heart supplies and things like that. And I did.

I bought them. But I got busy. And then one day I had a retinal detachment, a problem with my eyes. And I needed to do surgery. And my chin had to be on my chest for about a had to be on my chest, excuse me, for about a month. I had nothing I could do. I couldn't go to work. I couldn't shave. I barely could eat. And I started doing art. And then it became something I love. So here's what I tell people to do to learn about what their opportunities are if you want to look. I say take a piece of paper and give yourself 10 seconds

to do a doodle. So you do a doodle. And I can guarantee you the doodle you do is going to be different than anybody else's because each of us is a unique person. I say allow the unique you to prosper. Allow the unique you to be happy. So you're going to do that doodle. And where you put the doodle in that paper is where you think your potential is. But all that white space around it is what your opportunity really is. So don't stick to what you think you can do and allow things to bring to you, just like the art did for me. I never realized that i had a talent uh but i allowed it to happen so give yourself permission to be happy give yourself permission to take a chance give yourself permission give yourself permission become yourself because yourself is different

than anyone else and you have a unique talent that nobody else has. The picture behind you, are you telling me you painted that? Yeah. Incredible. Yeah, I've done over 600 pieces. And if you come to the offices at Murad, many of them are just there and I have them obviously in my home as well. Unbelievable. Absolutely incredible.

Is there anything that like, I mean, it seems like everything you touch becomes a success. Well, I take the chance. Give yourself a chance. Allow the unique you to blossom. And for you, it may be not art, it may be something else. So in a way, think about it. And, you know, you make your mark on the canvas of life and kind of let it direct you a lot of things come into life and sometimes you don't pay attention but you take a chance um have so many different what i call insights or sayings you know one is we all are born with a unique talent unique talent um and it's up to us to make it happen. So it's up to you to make that difference. Excellent. Absolutely incredible and stuff. Howard, you've been to an Alliance's experience.

In fact, you were actually at the Alliance's private round table. I was. Share with our audience what your experience was like attending, and you attended that virtually, we have it hybrid online and in person, what that experience was like attending, and you attended that virtually. We have a hybrid online and in person. What that experience was like for you? I think that was amazing because there were so many different people with so many different ideas of different things that they're doing. And if you go to one of those conferences with an open mind and listen to what people were saying, something may stick with you. And if you make it happen, you know,

just listen to yourself and say, you know what? That sounds crazy, but maybe it works. Maybe I should try it. Maybe I should do something like this. And if this person's doing that, and I said, don't emulate because you'll never be as good as the other person, you have to make it your own. Say, yeah, that distance did so and so.

What if I just change it a little bit and made this or think about what's going on? So, so much you learn by those conferences about all of these different people and all of the things they've done gives you an opportunity to look at opportunities for yourself as well as listening to what other people are doing. I think it's amazing and incredible because they're just not one or two. There are so many different people there giving you what they think and what they like and their advice, why they were successful, how they did it. I think that that's amazing because you get it all in one place. Like right now, we're just doing me. You're just hearing about me. What about if you had 100 bees, How they did it, I think that's amazing because you get it all in one place. Like right now, we're just doing me. You're just hearing about me.

But what about if you had 100 bees, you'd be even better. And again, you can go to alliances.com to find out more information about that at E-L-I-A-N-C-E-S.com. Dr. Howard, you've got grandchildren, right? Five. Five grandchildren. So what kind of secrets do you share with them about how to make an impact in the world like you've done or how to share and or find their talents? We want to know what those secrets are that you could share. Well, the ones I share is they try to remember where you were before you were three. So what does that mean? I said, look,

if I gave you coloring paper when you were two or one and a half, where would you do? You'd color all over the lines. You wouldn't stick just where the Mickey Mouse was or whatever. So as we get older, by the time we're three or four, our mother, our teacher says, or father say, you got to color inside the line. So that means we can't think out of the box. So we have to think maybe out of the box a little bit, but we have to make believe there was no box so we can create more things that we ordinarily couldn't do. The other thing is fear of failure leads to failure. When you were one, you started walking or whenever the age was that you started, When you were one, you started walking or whenever the age was that you started. But you did it on your own.

You learned on your own. You failed a thousand times and you still did it. You also didn't have negative feelings about yourself. As we get older, sometimes we feel like failures and we begin to have negative feelings about ourselves. You didn't realize that, you know, when you made a mistake, it's okay. You were also very becoming and outgoing and creative. You saw the sky was blue. Why is it blue? How come it's sad?

So the idea of allow that inner child to be a big part of you. Try to remember as a toddler what you were like. All of those creative things that you had, as we get older, we begin to lose them. So try to remember. Become yourself. Become that toddler you used to be when you were two. I love it.

We'll become that toddler. That's awesome. Well, Howard, you created the Murad method and modern wellness so all can have better skin and better quality of life. Eat your water. The Modern Wellness Show. I'm David Kogut. I'm David Kogut. I'm David Kogut. I'm David Kogut. I'm David Kogut. I'm David Kogut. I'm David Kogut. I'm David Kogut. I'm David Kogut. I'm David Kogut. I'm

David Kogut. I'm David Kogut. I'm David Kogut.

I'm David Kogut. I'm David Kogut. I'm David

Kogut. I'm David Kogut. I'm David Kogut. I'm

David Kogut. I'm David Kogut. I'm David Kogut.

I'm David Kogut. I'm David Kogut. I'm David

Kogut. David Kogut. David Kogut. David Kogut. David

David Kogut. David Kogut. David Kogut. David Kogut. David Kogut. David Kogut. David Kogut. David Kogut.

David Kogut. David Kogut. David Kogut. David Kogut. David Kogut.