Mark Bell's Power Project - From Bodyguard to Billion Dollar Brands | Bruce Cardenas On Leading With Value

Episode Date: February 16, 2026

Bruce Cardenas went from Marine and LAPD officer to running a high-level security company protecting celebrities — and then helped build Quest into a billion-dollar brand before helping scale Legendary Foods to the next level.Follow Bruce on IG: @bruceecardenasSpecial perks for our listeners below!🥩 HIGH QUALITY PROTEIN! 🍖 ➢ https://goodlifeproteins.com/ Code POWER to save 20% off site wide, or code POWERPROJECT to save an additional 5% off your Build a Box Subscription!🩸 Get your BLOODWORK/TRT/PEPTIDES! 🩸 ➢ https://marekhealth.com and use code "POWERPROJECT" for 10% off Self-Service Labs and Guided Optimization®.🧠 Methylene Blue: Better Focus, Sleep and Mood 🧠 Use Code POWER10 for 10% off!➢https://troscriptions.com?utm_source=affiliate&ut-m_medium=podcast&ut-m_campaign=MarkBel-I_podcastBest 5 Finger Barefoot Shoes! 👟 ➢ https://Peluva.com/PowerProject Code POWERPROJECT15 to save 15% off Peluva Shoes!Self Explanatory 🍆 ➢ Enlarging Pumps (This really works): https://bit.ly/powerproject1Pumps explained: https://youtu.be/qPG9JXjlhpM?si=JZN09-FakTjoJuaW🚨 The Best Red Light Therapy Devices and Blue Blocking Glasses On The Market! 😎➢https://emr-tek.com/Use code: POWERPROJECT to save 20% off your order!👟 BEST LOOKING AND FUNCTIONING BAREFOOT SHOES 🦶➢https://vivobarefoot.com/powerproject🥶 The Best Cold Plunge Money Can Buy 🥶 ➢ https://thecoldplunge.com/ Code POWERPROJECT to save $150!!➢ https://withinyoubrand.com/ Code POWERPROJECT to save 15% off supplements!➢ https://markbellslingshot.com/ Code POWERPROJECT to save 15% off all gear and apparel!Follow Mark Bell's Power Project Podcast➢ https://www.PowerProject.live➢ https://lnk.to/PowerProjectPodcast➢ Insta: https://www.instagram.com/markbellspowerproject➢ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/markbellspowerprojectFOLLOW Mark Bell➢ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marksmellybell➢https://www.tiktok.com/@marksmellybell➢ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarkBellSuperTraining➢ Twitter: https://twitter.com/marksmellybell

Your health is your greatest wealth. If you want to give advice, yeah, show up and bring value to somebody. Most people think there's some hidden, like there's something behind it, you know, and next thing you know, you're full time and you've got equity and your life's changed. I created my destiny. Wasn't it one of the fastest growing companies? It was a second fastest growing company in the United States. Our R&D department is bigger than probably any Kellogg's or any of these big food companies.

I was kind of in the Twilight Zone, and I had, it's called the Widowmaker. It's my left descending. It had 85% blockage. All right. We're here today with Bruce Cardenas. Bruce, thanks for being on the show here today. We're at legendary foods. Don't mind that.

We just brought some snacks to it. Yeah, exactly. Just in case we get hungry. Yeah. But no, I'm excited to talk to you that, you know, because a lot of people may have met you at trade shows and all these different things over the years. And you've always been someone who has been fired up and excited. And you're somebody that like when I see you, I get excited.

I start to smile because, well, because you're like that. You're kind of bring. you bring that energy to people. And I think that, you know, when you're with Quest for a long time, and now you're with legendary, and it's always funny because people are like, hey, is that guy the owner? And I'm always just like, yeah, you know,

I just kind of say, yeah, because it's just easier. It is easier than explaining. To kind of do that sometimes. But what has been your role over the years? And sort of how did it even happen? You know, I was living a great life. and had the bodyguard business, as you know, which was quite successful,

and I've always been above at law enforcement, and I met Shannon in the gym, and as I say, became fast gym acquaintances. And a couple weeks later, I was at the LA Fitness Expo, which, by the way, we were just there, and I stumbled across their little crappy booth all the way in the back of six-foot table

with horrible branding. And there's Shannon and Ron, I recognized from a gym and these other guys, and, oh, you have a protein bar company, and I took a couple bars, and I saw her a couple weeks later in gym and said, are phenomenal. And as you know, we grew up on some pretty bad bars. And then she proceeded to

talk for 40 minutes about how excited she was. And she made them all in her kitchen. And her husband had the business sense to make it a business. And after her talking with such excitement and energy, like she was literally like a super foodie. And I've never talked to anyone about food like that. And Shannon has a lot of energy. A lot of energy and a lot of passion for what she did. We, we, none of us would be here if it wasn't for Shannon. And I had this moment. I said, you know what? I don't know if I could help you, but I'm doing security at a big, Celebrity Golf Tournament and maybe I can get some bars to the PR people. I can't give it to talent.

That started our relationship. The next day she dropped off like three boxes, three like little boxes of bars for that tournament. What's something that maybe a younger person who's trying to, you know, just start a career or land a job or maybe they want to be an entrepreneur? What is something they think you think they can kind of grab from that story? Because in that story that you just told, there wasn't really any mention. of like a job, there wasn't really any mention of like money. It was like, hey, I actually like these too. Maybe I can help.

And you were just offering help, offering assistance. Correct. Now, that's in my DNA. And I know if you want to give advice, yeah, show up and bring value to somebody. You know, a lot of people say, oh, you, that was unique. You know, big companies don't do that. Yeah, they do. You can show up at any big company, a music brand, a food brand and say, I want to come here

and work as an intern for free. When people hear free, oh, okay, this person's stupid enough to do it. Yeah, sure. hang out and that's like we this is our philosophy here Ron says come hang out tell everyone come hang out check it out you want to work in R&D you want to work in bioship but most people think there's some hidden like there's something behind it you know and next thing you know you're full time and you got equity and your life's changed but people aren't willing to they first need to know I need a trade paycheck I need to

be guaranteed most people right I'm out of college I need a guaranteed paycheck and I say listen go work as a brist in the morning and then come hang out for free that is interesting point that you bring up because I think you have to be maybe in a spot where you can be a little bit more carefree with your time. Yeah. I mean, listen, we got a pair of bills, right? Right. But sometimes people can't get past that. I need a nine to five, but what about after five o'clock? Start that side hustle, go volunteer. You know what I mean? There's always opportunities. Right. But I created my destiny. That's, that's, I think that's a good perspective to have. What do you think are some of the key ingredients to Quest and now legendary with how much

success because it's one thing, you know, to have, you know, some protein powders. It's another thing to have supplement companies. We see some companies do some great things. But Quest, I believe, was sold for a billion dollars and now legendary seems like it's on track to even surpass what Quest was doing. It probably will. And I think early on, I think, listen, there's a lot of factors. Obviously, taste and texture got us into the arena. And then, yeah, there's luck in timing. There was nothing out there before that. Fast forward, five years into the Quest journey, people were knocking us off, making them Kirkland, you know, Costco made their own version. But we were the first with the taste to texture ingredients and people flipped it over and said, oh, fairly clean.

And I think so a lot of those factors. And then it was just a matter of, by the way, I remind people that want to start a food company, it was not easy at the beginning. I remember working my first NPC show, Bodybone show at Ron. And hey, would you like a protein bar? Are you kidding me? Like, I don't want another protein bar. And you know, that was, that's how we were treated when we first started. Protein bars at the time, or not only did they not taste. good but they were basically bad for you bad for you so initially there was no people oh you guys yeah you had all the success no we didn't we got kicked in teeth a few times I guess I should correct myself isn't it weren't necessarily bad for you

they weren't great for physique athletes that wanted to you that are getting judged on their aesthetics or because the calories were too high because yeah they had glycerin and things and that was one unique thing about us when when Ron we took the dough if you want to call it to the manufacturer they said we can't make this because you need to add you know liquid agave or glycerin or anything and a whole The point was we didn't want to do that. So that's another thing. We were very unique, low carb, high protein gluten free.

Yeah, there was never a bar. They're actually still, it's still rare to see bars that are similar to the original Quest bar. Yeah, correct. And now it's, you know, secondary. But so we, we created that culture and this, and I'll be honest with you, we've created, they were rabbit fans, like loyal to a core. And all of a sudden, I didn't even know what celiac disease was when I, when I, and so

all of a sudden someone wrote from this community, hey, we have celiac disease and we can eat your product. The obese community. hey, I've had gastric bypass and I'm able to eat your bars because I'm able to digest them. And all of a sudden, I say it like this, we went from really being a protein bar company to a mission-based company. Like people are literally saying, you've changed my life. I lost 40 pounds by eating your bars instead of Agendos, you know? Did you see the very beginning? Did you see like the company, like were you there at the beginning, beginning when the company was maybe just barely successful or

not really? I think the first wife's hanging out. I think we had three million in sales, but I wasn't there when Ron and Shannon, the guys were making them in the commissary, rolling them out. But I was there early on. What was that like? Like, it must have been crazy to see it go from, you know, for $3 million to $30 million is a big deal. And then $30 million to like $300 million. It's like, holy, crap. Yeah, I think the peak was maybe $440 million in five years.

And wasn't it one of the fastest growing companies? It was a second fastest growing company in the United States. The irony of it was the first number one company, they were based in El Saganza. as well they made kids educational iPads and they went out of business the next year so I think kind of tongue-in-cheek we were we were number one I mean because they went out of business but it's kind of crazy right and and being part of this for so long like you you've been someone that that loves lifting weights you've been a physical person for a long time you were a marine you own your own security company what what's the physical culture like here because it seems like

It seems like almost everybody here is into training to some degree of some sort. Almost everyone, even in the Quest days, I mean obviously as you scale and get more and more employees, not everyone's going to be. But most of the guys, all the RD guys are workout, hardcore, whether it did parkour back of the day or CrossFit or bodybuilding or fitness. Everyone's been pretty active here. And then recently you lost how much weight? Gosh, you know, 55 pounds, all from food.

Yeah. I just, I mean, I've done, I've been down this road. I mean, like you, I've been in this game for a long time. I knew what I was supposed to do, but I wasn't doing it. Yeah, what do you think that disconnect is? Because there's not lack, it's not like there's a lack of information out there, especially with YouTube. I just, you know, we rationalized bad behavior.

I really do believe that. And I got into a rut. I mean, I was still big and, you know, I carried myself well, but it was a turning point. I was speaking at an event. And afterwards, someone sent me some pictures. And I literally said, who's that fat dude up on stage? I'm looking saying, oh my God, you're wearing a double X sweatshirt.

And I said, I can't post that on Instagram. I started becoming like a bikini girl. Like, oh, I don't have a good angle. Right. And then my friend Carl, who on Sunfair, these angles are terrible. These clothes suck. I don't know.

I'm not that big. And then my friend Carl said, hey, listen, why don't you try my meal prep? He goes, I ask three things. It's crazy. I tell people this. There's no secret to this. He said, weigh yourself every morning

and take a picture of this gallon and send it to me. Eat only what's in the cooler and drink a gallon of water a day. And when I would send in pictures a couple days ago, he didn't drink enough water today. And I realized how important water is,

because sometimes you think you drink a lot of water and maybe it's only a liter or two leader right now I do like but and I followed that and I just it just started coming off and I realized there was no magic to this there really wasn't it just eat what you're supposed to eat and I was I wasn't starving first couple days you did it was it hard um first couple days it's okay wait when's my first snack coming it's 1130 and the only thing I did I haven't had an artificial but I love Diet Coke I don't but I only drink black ice coffee and water right and I'm fine That's a it's interesting to be able to like you know turn it all around and but I think that I think sometimes

Because there'll be a point where you're gonna be in between that right there's a point where you're gonna start to eat more normal foods right and I am now yeah yeah for sure and like here's the best analogy And I know is I've gone off the rails I have you know Super Bowl party or Christmas Eve or whatever He said the key thing is what happens is you have a cheat meal and then the next day oh let's have a piece of cake. Oh, it's just a little snack. Oh, it's a He goes just get right back on track the cheat meal turns into the cheat meal cheat week. Cheat week. And next thing you know, you're up 10 pounds and well, I'll get back on track eventually. And so I just, if I have a cheat and by the way, it's interesting how your body becomes

conditioned to clean food when I do have like I go to Mexican food. The next day I wake up and I feel like, God, my face is, you feel like you're small. You feel your fingers and feet are swollen. And I think, God, if I eat like this all the time, now wonder people are not healthy. But we all deserve it. I love pizza. But I just get right back on track. You mentioned artificial sweeteners and stuff like that.

And I find this whole topic to be really fascinating. I think sometimes people get caught up in the minutia. They get caught up in these kind of smaller details. And sometimes people are like, hey, you know, that legendary stuff, that's processed food. Sure. But I think what Ron's doing and what you guys are doing here is actually opening up everyone's eyes to the possibility that technology and the flavoring that we can do with some of these foods could potentially turn a lot of people around. 100%. And I always say it like this.

any of these Quest bars, any of these product, legendary foods, it's a healthier option then, right? You're on the go. I'd rather have a 20 gram pastry than a regular cookie or whatever. It's a nice, it's a nice hit. And I still feel like I've had regular Kellogg's Pop-Darts and eat, I mean, ours are delicious. And so it's an option. And when people will start preaching from the pulpit about, you know, it's really weird talking about, I used to always say when I was in the Marine Corps, you can't talk about politics and religion. Now I find you can't talk about nutrition without someone coming down your throat, right? Oh, you got this sweetener. I said, that pin drop, that's the least you need to worry about. What about the vaping you're doing

or what about the drugs you're doing and you're worried about a pin drop of some kind of sweetener? The alcohol I'm drinking on the weekend. That's not affecting my liver, but that's sucalose or that sweetener. So it's all relative and I don't get up on a pulpit about it. If it's not for great, it's not for everyone. I will tell you this, eat real food. That's your best option in life. But when I'm at the airport, I'll grab a couple bars or if I'm traveling, I have a box of these in my, you know. What are some things you learned? Because I've seen you in action.

I've seen you at Gold's Gym. I've seen you around celebrities and around some high-level people. And you have an interesting way about you where you're able to get the product to somebody and you kind of make it seem like not a big deal, but you do mention a couple things about it. And you kind of make it quick and easy and you talk kind of quick and you just like you put it, like here, this is going to change your life. Microwave that for 10, 15. Talk to you later.

You really like it a lot. And then you try to leave them alone because those people, like, if we're very honest, a lot of these people are getting hit up all the time. But you're just trying to get someone to just try it. I literally, and I tell people this, if you have a food item or any kind of product, you want to get people saying, Gold's Gym was really my success. I would go to Gold's Gym on a Saturday morning. That's where me and my brother met you.

Yeah. And, you know, I have my gym bag and, oh, hey, Mark, check this out. And I'd say hi and keep walking. And then you'd come track me down an hour late. Hey, I just tried that product. Like, who are you? Oh, no, I'll talk to you later. Me and my brother are like, we got to find this Bruce guy.

We need more of these bars. I do that all the time. I literally will walk by and just drop a product on someone's gym bag and then later on, hey, did you leave that? I said, I don't know. Someone did. I've never been that atrusive guy. Like, hey, please, here's a product and please post for me.

It's not, it's the first rule of fight club. I don't want people to talk about us. Yeah, and you guys aren't really big on, I mean, you guys are huge on social media, but again, you have an interesting way that you guys run that as well, where it's, it's very passive. It's like, hey, you know, you know, You know what? Because I think that you guys are of the belief and correct me if I'm wrong, but you guys are of the belief. These products taste really effing good. And people probably are

going to post about it if they enjoy it. So I'm just going to give it to them, give them the opportunity to try it and let them decide. That's our philosophy. And there's, I don't like when brands send me. Sometimes brands send me apparel. Hey, can you post about it? I don't know. I'll see if I like it. It's genuine and there's been some very big names like that would literally, I would send a product and the assistant would call it, hey, what can we do for you? I'll go, nothing. And the next thing you know, they're doing some post, which I didn't ask them. I'll even push back.

Say, no, no, no, please don't talk about it. And they do it. You do it because they enjoy it or they like it, you know? I've heard that this place, legendary, I've heard that it only has one problem. What's that? And the one problem is keeping up with sales, being able to manufacture enough product. And now you guys have your own plant and everything. so I'm sure that that's getting more and more taken care of.

We have a wrong plan. But you guys don't, I don't think you spend any, well, I shouldn't say you don't spend any money on marketing. You guys don't, at least my understanding is you guys don't do any paid advertisement at the moment. Limited, yeah. If anything, I think most of our money goes to R&D research and development. And our R&D department is bigger than probably any Kellogg's or any big food companies. Because those other companies, they just have a recipe, it set it for decades.

We are constantly, I tell people, if you try a donut today, it'll be a different formula in six months because we're always looking for the next best quality of everything to make it more enjoyable so we're always changing that's why we have such a big R&D department I'll communicate with Ron Penna the owner and I'll text them here

and there and say oh man the last thing a donut that was really good he's like that's nothing where you try the new ones that are coming out next week as you know if Ron sees you eating a donate he'll grab the pack and say well wait that was two months ago he'll have you messaging sending people product yeah

What are some things you learn from being around someone like Ron Penna? He is a unique individual. I personally have never met anybody quite like him. I don't think I've met anybody. There's maybe a couple other friends that I can think of that may be put in a similar category. But how well versed he is on so many different topics. You know, he's in really good shape. He's got a lot of money.

He's figured out business. He's figured out a lot of things really well. He is someone I've learned over these years. It doesn't matter the subject matter. He knows more than the person he's talking to. And it could be a dentist, it could be a chiropractor, it could be a nutritionist. And he'll say, so tell me about this dental thing.

And he'll know things. I'm thinking, how does he know about dentistry? And he knows everything. He's well read. He's well educated. And he's a bit of a savant, you know, in certain ways. And including the medical field, he knows more about medicine than all of us combined here. And that's why we're putting all this energy into medicine.

And on top of it, he keeps me, like I wake up in the morning and I'm motivated. He's not a guy who's like, what have you done for me lately? He's more like, what are we doing together? What are we doing to make this a better place? You know, it's a different kind of culture and environment. Yeah, I think he just has a crazy knowledge base because he reads all the time. Ferocious. It seems like he, I mean, if I text him, he might not get back to me for three or four days.

Yeah, yeah. You know, because I think it's not on his his phone and messing around on his phone. is not unnecessarily his to-do list. Yeah, exactly. It's very unique. I mean, I've learned so much. Personally, I'm not super structured that way. You know, it seemed like he's real structured with his day

because he's, you know, has his phone pinging all the time going to the different meetings. And his true calling is R&D. He loves it and that's what he really likes to focus on. The other stuff is, you know, who cares about running a business? Honestly, it's the R&D that's going to make us become a phenomenal company. You guys just came out with the macaroni and cheese, and that's like flooring everybody. It's, I've never been a mac and cheese guy, but I got to tell you, I'm a mac and cheese guy now.

And I've compared them now with the, you know, craft and all the others. And you got 47 grams of protein in a cup. I mean, that's insane. And now we have a lot of, we have some competition going on our ambassadors that are making their own recipes. Some without cheese, you know, making casseroles. Right. Chef Rush, who you know was here last week made a lobster concoction. And so we're doing a lot of cool things.

Are his arms still like that big? Yeah, I think 23 natural, yeah. It's insane. It's insane. Yeah. It does like 2,000 push-ups or something. Something ridiculous. Yeah, I think mac and cheese is just the beginning of another food line that people are like, wow.

I say we, legendary. Can you talk about any new stuff or is that it kind of under wraps for now? Yeah, because we're only going out to a couple people on the show. So we have some cool. Yeah, who the heck's watching this thing? Yeah, no one's watching this. I would just say there's some really innovative things. I say this.

Quest was really cool things. Legendary is much more relatable. Protein pastries, pop darts, sweet rolls, you know. I see. Donuts. Who has not, I mean, to me, when I eat those donuts, it just reminds me when I was a kid, does a little sleeve of hostess donuts or whatever.

And now mac and cheese, which is an American staple. And we have other things coming out that are right in line with all relatable food items. Country foods. Was your grandfather or your grandpa or your mom? Like who in your family was driven the way? that you're driven because you were telling me you already worked out today.

You know, and you seem like you're very driven person. Yeah, yeah. My dad. Okay. My dad, my dad. He was a Vietnam vet, a combat veteran, and I grew up. He had been burned a lot in the military second and third. He burns, and he had tremendous work ethic,

and I think he was really about providing for five of us. It was really an integral part of his life. I say it best, back then you'd be called a workaholic. Now you're an entrepreneur. Like he worked. He was worked as like an electrical contractor, but then he started a Boy Scout troop. And I got to tell you something, when you're a kid, you don't appreciate what's going on, right? Your dad's not that cool, right?

But all my friends wanted to hang out at my house and my dad. And we would go repelling, cave dwelling, you know, splunking. How cool. Canoe trips for a week and hiking in the Appalachian Mountains. And we make her own like beef jerking, you know, boil it and rap. And so he was almost like a modern-day jocco back then. But I didn't appreciate it until, you know, later on. But so he taught me everything about, you know, we didn't have a lot of money, but they're like, like a Renaissance man or something.

I don't renaissance man. He even said to me one time, because, you know, I remember this very clearly. You know, my buddies were starting to get dirt bikes, you know. And he's like, you want one, don't you? Yeah, of course. He goes, listen, if you come up with half the money, I'll match it. He didn't know this.

I had a paper out. And he knew I had a paper out, but I saved every, I had like a can. And the next morning I came down and said, here's half my money. He's like, you have it? And he, I don't even know that, I don't know how stressful it was on, but he came up with half and I bought my first dirt bike. But he taught me lessons like, you know, nothing's free. Like you want to, you want something, you got to contribute to the cause, you know.

We weren't rich, so. Do you think a lot of that background and a lot of the stuff, do you think a lot of that background kind of led you to be able to have the security company that you had? Because, you know, I see pictures of you with everyone from Ronald Reagan to Arnold. I mean. I wasn't wired that way. I mean, I knew early on, it's a word I call now a servant leader. I think when I went in the Marine Choir finally true my, I found my why in purpose, you know,

serving the country and providing protection. And then when I became a cop, I was like, this is really my calling. I really do enjoy serving other people. Protection, serving. And even the bodyguard thing, I really, I'm okay being behind the scenes. I mean, a lot of those photos were taken by paparazzi when we're coming out. I didn't have any iPhones then. I've always been good at kind of behind the scenes, but serving other people.

Even now, like I like serving our community, our nutrition. Yeah, you were LAPD for a long time. And I'm still reserve of the sheriffs. Yeah. almost 30 years. I will never go to a doctor ever again about my general health. All they want to do is put you on pills. Really well said there by Dana White.

Couldn't agree with them more. A lot of us are trying to get jacked and tan. A lot of us just want to look good, feel good. And a lot of the symptoms that we might acquire as we get older, some of the things that we might have, high cholesterol or these various things, it's amazing to have somebody looking at your blood work as you're going through the process,

as you're trying to become a better athlete, somebody that knows what they're doing, they can look at your cholesterol, they can look at the various markers that you have, and they can kind of see where you're at, and they can help guide you through that. And there's a few aspects, too, where it's like, yes, I mean, no, no shades of doctors, but a lot of times they do want to just stick you on medication. A lot of times there is supplementation that can help with this. Merrick Health, these patient care coronators are going to also look at the way you're living your lifestyle, because there's a lot of things you might be doing that if you just,

just that, boom, you could be at the right levels, including working with your testosterone. And there's so many people that I know that are looking for, they're like, hey, should I do that? They're very curious. And they think that testosterone is going to all of a sudden kind of turn them into the Hulk. But that's not really what happens. It can be something that can be really great for your health because you can just basically live your life a little stronger, just like you were maybe in your 20s and 30s. And this is the last thing to keep in mind, guys. When you get your blood work done at a hospital, they're just looking at like these minimum levels. At Merrick Health, they try to bring you up to ideal levels for everything you're working with. Whereas if you go

into a hospital and you have 300 nanograms per deciliter of test, you're good, bro, even though you're probably feeling like shit. At Merrick Health, they're going to try to figure out what's like things you can do in terms of your lifestyle. And if you're a candidate, potentially TRT. So these are things to pay attention to to get you to your best self. And what I love about it is, a little bit of the back and forth that you get with the patient care coordinator. They're dissecting your blood work. It's not like if you just get this email back and it's just like, hey, try these five things. Somebody's actually on the phone with you going over every step and what you should do. Sometimes it's supplementation. Sometimes it's TRT and sometimes it's simply just some lifestyle habit

changes. All right, guys, if you want to get your blood work checked and also get professional help from people who are going to be able to get you towards your best levels, that's AmeriHealth.com and use code Power Project for 10% off any panel of your choice. How difficult was it for you in the beginning to communicate with people when you were going to get a gig, you know, potentially protecting some of these people that are, you know, of really high stature, high celebrity. Well, I got a lot of referrals. I got my, I had my, I worked for retired Beverly Hills cop who hired, he, I ran into him.

I take a report from him as a cop and he said, you seem like a really personal guy, Bruce. He goes, I own the security company. maybe you want to work at nights or weekends, and I started doing that. And after about six months, I had this moment, and I said, I want to start my own business. I could do this. And I started, and I called a couple of my friends who had some level of success in their own, one I had a limousine company.

And he said, oh, great. And all of a sudden, my phone started ringing. And he referred me that Mariah Carey's of the world and Courtney Loves. And I found I didn't have to really talk a lot because security business is all about actions. They don't want you to be seen. I was a very logistical coordinator, so getting people in and out of situations, getting in and out of restaurants

and wedding venues without being seen. So I really became a methodical thinker and what they needed. It's not so much, I wasn't a 300-pound guy at the door of the club, you know? I was more like, let's get in and out of here with no hassles and problems. And it became my expertise.

Do you think you learned a lot from those people, like just being a fly on the wall and probably hearing some conversations and stuff they have? 100%. I mean, listen, one thing I tell everyone because I think people get enamored with social media and TMZ and oh my god look at the they all have the same problems i say this they all put their pants on the same way they all have they all have they all have their own crisis

if anything magnified in life and while oh yeah he's rich he's worth five you know 50 million dollars they have their own problems their own depression their own alcoholism i've taken three well-known celebrities to rehab one one died you know after going multiple times so my point is as much as people think they live a whole home life sometimes life is great being where you are you know don't don't think else has it better what does a what does your lifting look like now what's your what's your you know compared to maybe when you were younger what's your age it's bc before christ um so when i was younger yeah i was all about the heavyweight the Olympic bar with the you're still strong we worked out a particular but even now like and i and i hammer strength was my is my favorite the plates and

now i'm almost all cables or machines that have cables is that just because of joints and so on just feel. Now I feel like at my age, I'm maintaining no injuries. And I'm getting, you know, everything's working. That's good. And I'm leaner, and I just found I'm in and out faster. You know, before, even my training partners four years ago, we're like on our 22nd set of chest.

Well, yeah, we did decline, incline cable dumbbells now. It's like, let's do four sets or five sets and move on to triceps or something. Yeah, just get a little bit of work. Yeah, a little, yeah, touch it. But I love it. I mean, it's a, if I miss the gym for a day, it's a little like, oh, wow, some part of my day is not, not, not clear, you know. And you kind of work out like a body builder, right?

Like kind of shorter rest interval. Yeah, I do. I try and go three or four sets of 10. Yeah, I don't even go higher reps. 10's the lowest. Sometimes I'll go 15 reps, you know. And is there a big difference between when you were, you know, in your 20s and stuff with how you feel when you're working out or I feel, you know, it's crazy.

I feel the best I've ever felt. Besides, obviously, you know, I have some heart issues with some calcification, but I feel the best I've ever felt, hey, because I'm lighter. and I just feel good. Let's talk about that for a second. In calcification, I think that's a good spot. I think one thing I would say about just youth is that it seems like when you're younger, it doesn't seem like you really have to work for it or work at it as much.

Yeah. And as you get older, it's like a little bit of almost like a full-time job. Kind of taking care of yourself on a day-to-day basis. It's like maintaining a vehicle, a car, I think. You check oil today when you wipe her down because I really feel like, that's why I get my blood every three months tested. I feel like it changed that much. Even though insurance doesn't cover,

and that's why people only get it done once a year, I feel it's important because all of a sudden I went, oh, my cratting levels were a little high. And it happens overnight, so. So you're getting your blood work done. And then how did you find out about having, I think you had a surgery or something like that at some point too? I will tell you this.

10 years ago, 10 years ago, because it was the Super Bowl 10 years ago, Ron said, hey guys, I'm going to have a cardiologist come in with their team to do some, like just, basic testing in one of our offices. I said, yeah, let me check it out. I've never been to a cardiologist and did the basic EKG, the karate like we're doing here.

And the interesting thing is he found nothing. He said, but you know, you're not the youngest guy in the company, why don't you come in for more testing? No reason, he just said, maybe you should come in, so I went. Three tests later, they found I had 10% of my heart was not getting blood. He didn't know why.

They went in an angiogram, which is running the wire through your wrist and I was kind of in the twilight zone. And I had, it's called the Widowmaker, my left descending had 85% blockage. So they put a stint in. Now that was 10 years ago. What tests did they run? It wasn't a calcium scan, right?

Well, at the time they didn't have that. It was basically, you know, they put the imaging fluid. I see, I see. Okay. But my point is it wasn't for Ron being a forward thinker 10 years ago. Hey, we're nutrition guys, but I think I'm going to bring this team and just to check us out. So that was 10 years ago. Now, fast forward to this past year, they now, they, now, they clearly.

clearly test, which you're familiar with, the imaging of your heart, they sent me, and I have a similar problem in a different area, 70% blockage, and my calcification score is off the charts, highest that they've read. So it's a little alarming. The good news is, and honestly, because of once again, because of Ron's forward-thinking, and John's led you, you know, the doctor, I'm on a protocol, and but once again, and I say this to all these guys that are, all my friends, Now I tell them, hey, you got to get checked out. And I always get the same response from guys over 50. Oh, I had my annual checkup.

What's that look like? Oh, EKG and a little blood pressure. Blood pressure and a urine test. It's not enough. I said, and I said, you know why you get that? And you got a clean bill of health because that's what insurance covers. I said, invest in it clearly. And I've had friends call me back and said, Jesus, I'm going to die a heart disease.

What do you mean? Well, I got 60% blockage. But they don't know because their doctors said they have a clean bill of health because they checked out their blood pressure. Right. So a lot of people are, you know, it's, I don't know it's the number one killer, but it's up there.

Taking care of your own health is, yeah, it can be expensive, and it can be frustrating, it can be annoying, but it is something that people need to try to get done. I tell people this, it's, it's, I just wrapped up my book, it's almost done,

and I added the last chapter, and the publisher's like, what are you talking about? I said, I need to add a final chapter, and it's really called, your health is your greatest wealth. After I did this transformation and whether I'm dealing with my heart,

you know, you see guys, it doesn't matter. 40, 56 year old, they might have tremendous success and they drop dead. You don't even get to enjoy the next couple decades. Right.

Tell me more about your book. So book is called Leads with Value. Self-doubt caused me not to write a book. But you know Beidros Kulian? Absolutely. A good friend of mine, mentor. I spent the day with him several years ago. We worked out and had lunch.

He's motivating himself. Oh my God. He's a savage. Talk about his success. Coming here as an immigrant. And he didn't speak English. So we spent the day together and he said, Bruce, you got to write a book. I said, nah, no, no, no, my.

He goes, everyone on Earth has a book in them. Even if your mom buys it, you know, like one fan. He goes, you might have seven books. I go, that's bullshit. He goes, what? LAPD, Marine Corps, bodyguard. What? Whoa.

Yeah, you have Forrest Gump style. Yeah, yeah, Boris Gump. Yeah, a box of chocolate. So I, it's done. So it's called lead with value. And one of my themes is, and hence how Quest happened, you know, bringing people, bringing others value with no expectations in return. And really, when I was helping them,

even to this day, it's always a laugh whenever I tell people a story. After nine months of helping, you know, the team, get pro. Ron took me to lunch and said, hey, man, we're stealing from you. You're bringing us all this value and we're doing nothing in return. And I said, but I get free protein bars.

He's like, I think you're worth more than protein bars. I was like, I thought I had a good deal. But my point is, that's what the book's about. Bringing value, of course, my life's lessons and things that, you know, barely, I had to go to summer school to get my high school diploma. The failures I had, but also, hey, I, if a dumb kid from New Jersey can kind of have some level of success,

this book is for the kid that's in the middle of nowhere, thinking, God, I'm stuck in this town, I don't want them to do. And whether the Marine Corps got me to where I am and, you know, whatever it takes to become that next level, the opportunities are there. My son went to summer school, and I just remember being like, oh, this will fix them.

Like he'll go to the class during the summer when his friends are doing other stuff, and he'll be annoyed. But then he went to summer school and he loved it. Yeah. So he went to next year too. Yeah. I went to summer school. I hated it, but my mom had finally a frank conversation.

He said, Bruce, if you don't get your diploma, you're not going to become a cop. I go, Bruce, you're not going to become a cop. You needed your diploma. So I had to. But yeah. When's the book come out? I think in three, we're going to have a launch part. I'll bring you down.

I think that'd be great end of March yeah I'm excited and now I have another book already lined up and where will people be able to get at Amazon

stuff like that Amazon all those places I was gonna do the let me just put it on Amazon and then once again Pedro's like if you're gonna do it do it right

let's let's get some PR behind it and we'll do a little podcast tour you know with some key people and promote it a little bit I know that you guys are working on trying to get more people here for testing and sometimes some of the testing slots

are full but let's plug that little bit so that people can get. Yeah, for sure. So it's the Bioshev Research Foundation, and I think you find that online. We're looking for men and women over 50 for sure, and a lot of women and women of color. You'd be surprised how many people, and I think we're educated. People know that people die of heart disease and cancer, but I don't think they want to, they don't think about it. Like, it's not me. And one thing I found from this testing, we found, what you look like on the outside has no, nothing to do what's in the inside.

We have some guys here, you know, we have people come through here obese. and their pipes are clean like a baby. And then we have people that are doing iron mans and have calcification. So don't think because your body mass is a certain weight, right? That doesn't mean inside is not working properly. So I encourage you, if it's not us, go get checked out. The good news with us, we pay for everything.

So it's free. Awesome. Thank you so much. Thank you. Really appreciate it. Yeah. Strength is never a weakness. Weakness never strength. Catch you guys later.

Bye. Bam.