Mark Bell's Power Project - Nourishing the Needy : The Heartfelt Mission of the KIZE Bar - Jeff Ragan || MBPP Ep. 1083

Episode Date: July 10, 2024

In episode 1083, Jeff Ragan the CEO of Kize Bar, Mark Bell, Nsima Inyang, and Andrew Zaragoza talk about how Jeff uses his business as a means to help as many people as possible. Buy the new Kize Steak Shake bar: https://kizeconcepts.com/products/chocolate-sea-salt-with-mark-bells-steak-shake Follow Kize on IG: https://www.instagram.com/kizeconcepts/   Official Power Project Website: https://powerproject.live Join The Power Project Discord: https://discord.gg/yYzthQX5qN Subscribe to the Power Project Clips Channel: https://youtube.com/channel/UC5Df31rlDXm0EJAcKsq1SUw   Special perks for our listeners below!   🍆  Natural Sexual Performance Booster 🍆 ➢https://usejoymode.com/discount/POWERPROJECT Use code: POWERPROJECT to save 20% off your order!   🚨 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   🥩 HIGH QUALITY PROTEIN! 🍖 ➢ https://goodlifeproteins.com/ Code POWERPROJECT to save up to 25% off your Build a Box ➢ Piedmontese Beef: https://www.CPBeef.com/ Use Code POWER at checkout for 25% off your order plus FREE 2-Day Shipping on orders of $150   🩸 Get your BLOODWORK Done! 🩸 ➢ https://marekhealth.com/PowerProject to receive 10% off our Panel, Check Up Panel or any custom panel, and use code POWERPROJECT for 10% off any lab!   Sleep Better and TAPE YOUR MOUTH (Comfortable Mouth Tape) 🤐 ➢ https://hostagetape.com/powerproject to receive a year supply of Hostage Tape and Nose Strips for less than $1 a night!   🥶 The Best Cold Plunge Money Can Buy 🥶 ➢ https://thecoldplunge.com/ Code POWERPROJECT to save $150!!   Self Explanatory 🍆 ➢ Enlarging Pumps (This really works): https://bit.ly/powerproject1 Pumps explained:      ➢ 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/markbellspowerproject   FOLLOW Mark Bell ➢ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marksmellybell ➢https://www.tiktok.com/@marksmellybell ➢ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarkBellSuperTraining ➢ Twitter: https://twitter.com/marksmellybell   Follow Nsima Inyang ➢ Become a Stronger Human - https://thestrongerhuman.store ➢ UNTAPPED Program - https://shor.by/JoinUNTAPPED ➢YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/NsimaInyang ➢Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nsimainyang/?hl=en ➢TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@nsimayinyang?lang=en   Follow Andrew Zaragoza ➢ Podcast Courses and Free Guides: https://pursuepodcasting.com/iamandrewz ➢ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamandrewz/ ➢ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@iamandrewz   #PowerProject #Podcast #MarkBell #FitnessPodcast #markbellspowerproject

Most people, they will build their wealth and they're like, oh, I should probably stop being a greedy sh**. I should give back to the world. What would the message be to other people? How could they navigate doing both at the same time? I think wherever people are at, you can always help. But it sounds like you believe into your core that through your bars, you can help change the world.

I've never been motivated by making money. I'm motivated by making a difference. And I've learned that if you can do that well, and it can grow from that, then you can just make a bigger difference. It's really cool that it started off messy. And now it's an amazing company with great products, but it didn't start off that way. Well, we're either going to figure it out or we just haven't figured it out yet. Yeah, give us a rundown. Give us some details on how you got Kaizen off the ground. It's an amazing company that only utilizes a few ingredients with the bars that you make.

Yeah. So like I said, my name's Jeff Reagan, founder and CEO of Kaizen. Kaizen is a name I made up, derived from the Japanese word kaizen, which is like continuous improvement and change for the better.

And it really went back to kind of in my early twenties, kind of like, what am I going to do with my life? You know, I was fortunate enough to go to college and I graduated, but I didn't have a job after that. It was like 2008, there were no jobs. So I kind of had this like, this is what success looks like. I'm going to get this great job and it's blah, blah, blah, blah, and anyways, all that fell apart.

And so I moved back home, I joke in my mom's basement. We didn't have a basement, but you know, moved back in, which was probably somewhat a shot to the ego of what I thought that was, but it was a real blessing in disguise because literally like that, I went pen and paper, you know, no bad, again, what's my passion? What's my purpose?

What am I good at? What do I feel like I've been placed on this earth to go do? And I really arrived at three things after probably six months of just seeing these notes and connecting dots, I really arrived at three things pretty consistent. One, love helping people,

don't think anything's better than that. Two, I loved health and fitness and that was kind of my means to help people. There was a lot of, hey, Jeff, can you give me a diet? Can you give me a workout? Can you motivate me? And three, I liked entrepreneurship. We're all created to create,

to go help do good with kind of what we have. And so I'd kind of put that together, and I started doing some like life coaching and boot camp type stuff while I ended up getting a full-time job. And so I would say I got a little further in that process and it turned more like one-on-one. And I just think the recurring themes were like,

I wanna be healthier, but healthy eating sucks and I don't have time. And this was probably in like, again, 2012. And I'm like, well, that's not true. And I'm like, I joke, I went chef Jeff in the kitchen, but I am no chef. I'm just a combiner of things. And so I basically took what was like a kind of protein

oatmeal I was making at the time, just protein oats, peanut butter. And then I just put honey with it and just kind of put it in this blob, like in this pan. It was just four ingredients, really simple, nutrient dense balance. It was a grass-fed whey, peanut butter, gluten-free oat and raw honey, local honey at that time in Oklahoma.

And I just kept giving it to people and I got really good response on it. And so I kind of turned my nights and weekends and lunchtime into just doing that and just iterating over and over and over again. And you weren't like a cook before. You weren't like a chef of any kind.

No, no, I joke because it rhymes and I like to rhyme. So I was chef Jeff in it, but no cook, no background. I mean, my upbringing was putting Eggos in the toaster and having a bowl of cereal, you know, but yeah, I just kinda- I think Encima learned recently that you can cook a Pop Tart. What do you mean?

I think you told us like, you were like, I didn't even know you were supposed to toast those things. Oh yeah, I was supposed to toast those things. He's a hungry boy, he doesn't have time for that. Hey, I get it, man, I get it. I remember, you know, cause I bought your bars like super early on. I think you were only going for just a couple months maybe.

I don't, I wouldn't say you bought the bars, you bought the bags. Yeah, I bought basically a bag of like melted peanut butter. Yeah, it was pretty nasty. It was basically a big. It wasn't nasty, it was amazing. Well, it wasn't nasty. It just looked kinda gnarly.

Yeah, yeah, so, you know, I'll get into the morphing of how we got here, but basically I had to figure out, okay, like you go down, you get this, I'm like, I'm gonna take a leap of faith. I feel like I'm being called out this way, quit my job, go for it. No clue still.

Not sure how much more of a clue I have now, but we're still going. But I had to just figure out how to put this in. So I had to find a bag big enough to put my hand in it. And so basically it was like this, I don't remember the size, but it's about three or four bars basically in the equivalent of probably six or 700 calories.

And I would just, I had a pan. At least four bars worth. Yeah, and I just took a knife and I call it like a healthy Kit Kat. And so I would just kind of perfect with a knife. And the idea was four ingredients, clean, simple, tastes good, flexible, resealable. So if you just want one or you want the whole thing again,

you wanna get the meal replacement, let's go. You want a little bite, someone smaller, cool. Well, the packaging again, it would just get melty. So, and then, you know, you don't know all these things. So- And were you shipping these too? Well, I wasn't, I wasn't, but I did. We were talking off before when we were chatting

this morning and I was like, I'm still not sure how I got to them. Cause that's where it's so meaningful to me. I literally think the first customer ever online, first customer ever out of the state of Oklahoma, like outside of my mom and friends and family. And I remember just kind of being- You guys are just like sitting on the other side

of the computer waiting for Kies to start shipping bars. In context, what year is this by the way? Oh, this is like 2012 or 13. Oh wow. Yeah. Okay, that's a long time ago. I mean, this is like 2012 or 13. Yeah. Okay, it was a long time ago. I mean, there's like 10 people

that probably know the bags, like for real. So anyway, I remember seeing this come across and I think I'm more in like shock than like excitement because I'm like, how did this happen? I don't know anybody, but I think somebody must have reached out. We were thinking maybe it was from a magazine at the time that maybe I sent samples to and then you got them.

Anyways, it's been super cool. Ever since then, we kind of stayed connected. I'm sure I've rambled and forgotten the first question. I'm kind of sharing the Genesis story, but. I remember asking you, because I was so excited because I taste it so good. I was like, can you send me the, can you send me like the, the raw like dough?

And you're like, it is raw dough. It's so bad. It's so bad. It's so bad. He's like, it is raw though. He's like, no, there's nothing cooked about it. I was like, oh damn. Oh dude, well, I mean, you know,

I'm glad you brought that up cause yeah, we have like probably eight to 10 pound bags of just like, now the, now that we don't make them by hand like with the equipment, it's like the inner working, you, I won't nerd out on the equipment, but I'll hook you up, I'll get you a bag. I'll get you a big boy bag. Just like walk through the factory with a spoon.

Well, since I know you're getting more, you're not having this one. Can you please throw me one before you eat them all? Yeah, there's one right there. We're down to one here. I froze this one. I'm like dying over here. Yeah, these are so good.

Yeah, hey, you know, doing a collaboration with you was great and you know, you and I have been talking for so long and then we just kind of, I don't know, got on the phone one day and I was like, you know, it'd be kind of neat to bring the steak shake in on this. My daughter, she's super funny, but she tried a bite of this. She doesn't normally like any of these protein things.

We always try to sneak protein powder into her smoothies and all kinds of stuff like that, and she does whatever with it. She doesn't mind it, but she doesn't usually like it. With this, she actually really loved it. But then she goes, why is it called chocolate sea salt? She's like, it just tastes like chocolate peanut butter. I was like, you're right.

It does taste like chocolate peanut butter. It does. But I think we were trying to give people a hint that it's gonna have some pretty good amount of salt flavor. Yeah. No, that's a great question. I think, you know, for me, it was super cool when you came and we started talking about that. Cause I think, again, for me, I'm very relational person.

So again, kind of like culturally core value of Kai is like, again, I would say like be great, love people. And it's fun being relational and not transactional. And so like, when you talked about that, I'm like, again, we have our own place. We've learned how to make items. And it was really unique when you're like, hey, like no one's doing this.

There's this kind of opportunity. And I'm like, man, if it can help people, we can partner. So I was like, it would be a challenge. So like, it's not in kind of our normal wheelhouse, but it was awesome. And yeah, we went down that path. So like, it's not in kind of our normal wheelhouse, but it was awesome. And yeah, we went down that path. And yeah, I kind of get like a, I was almost thinking when I was eating,

I was like, I'm gonna get like a fudgy kind of taste that I like about it. So yeah, maybe we can tweak the name, but there was the salt, which I think was the driver, but we put it together pretty fast, which was cool too. It wasn't this really long, drawn out process. It's a couple of months. Yeah, and I was gonna say to me, it tastes like,

I don't know, if you were to put chocolate over one of those peanut butter pretzels, once you're done chewing and it gets a little creamy, that's kind of what it reminds me of. Awesome. Way better somehow. It's like you don't have to deal with the shitty pretzels. Fumble.

Do you know? Gotta save it. I'm curious about this, because when you're going back to like, the selling the big bags of melted chocolate, sending that over to people, what was like the big transition to being able to get it, you know, formulated?

So it's like this, like what did that look like? Because it's really cool that it started off messy. And now it's like this really, it's an amazing company with great products, but it didn't start off that way. Yeah, I think just a lot of persistence, perseverance, you know, we always say, figure it out. You know, I think it's like,

I just arrived at this point of like, well, we're either gonna figure it out or we just haven't figured it out yet. And just kind of like life motto for me, just keep going. I try to find these few narrow paths and whatever, faith, family, friends, fitness, work, and just like pick the path and just like stay on it and try to stay faithful and stay focused

and one foot after the other and you got to fight. It's a fight word because you're gonna get attacked from distractions or critics or your own internal voices or whatever that's coming. But yeah, just learning the hard way and not being too discouraged to give up and just to keep pressing in.

And so a lot of trial and error and repetition on our own. And then really kind of learning the value of like, what are these ingredients do with this? And then when you of learning the value of like, what are these ingredients to with this? And then when you get to equipment and supply chain, and it's incredibly complex. And I used to kind of think like, oh, evil food people in big business and stuff, which to some degree, I still have some of that thought. But I also have more grace for understanding why people put preservatives

and why people put not great things in it because it's hard to control natural food and make something clean and simple. Nature doesn't give you the same thing every time. So the peanuts or the peanut butter that we get in, not the same every time. Crop was different because rain amount was different or vice versa, or even in our building,

it's raining outside and it's more humid. And why is it, you know, it's maddening in kind of a sense that way. But again, we are highly motivated to wanna make something truly great for people, not just on the product, but to bring them on a mission with us of like, hey, like real wealth is outside yourself. Just be motivated to go help serve and encourage somebody. And in that way, you're going to help yourself too. And so a lot of hard work. And our

team is so great. Again, it's, you know, when you start, it's kitchen table mixer, like we'd all have, and then you go up and the equipment's bigger and the four, it's all you know, when you start, it's kitchen table mixer like we'd all have. And then you go up and the equipment's bigger and the four, it's all different. And so there's all these changes along the way. So I think you just have to be like knowing that a change is gonna change a change and you have to be the first one to change

and acknowledge that to go out and try to improve. And our mission is changing lives for the better. And I think part of that for me is like, when I get these little nuggets or feedback to me of like, oh, this made a difference just for a customer that becomes a friend, or we've had some incredible stories for people that are on our team and some of the stuff they've overcome.

Or we've had a lot of people reach out going, I've had cancer and the Kies bars is like the only thing that can, we've gotten that 20, 30 times from people over the years. I'm like, I never thought that- Like it's the only thing that they can stomach during chemo. That they can stomach cause they said everything else tastes metallic.

And so like stuff you don't, and then we did mission trips in Haiti and we do stuff with the homeless and hungry and youth. And it's like, oh, that's a by-product of like what we have going here. But I'm like, none of that is possible if we don't get really good at making the products better and consistent.

And then ultimately figuring out how to, you know, again, get them out there to more people. So. What I think is unique about you is that you started this way, like from the beginning. Most people, they will build their wealth and then they're like, oh, shit, I got like a lot of money. I got a lot of stuff and now I should probably stop being a greedy bitch and I should give back

to the world, but you kind of started out that way with this mission, which I think is admirable and probably makes things maybe a little more difficult and tricky, so like when you're going, I'm imagining that you're going to these trade shows sometimes and you're hearing about the new, you know, XY whatever machine that can crank out X amount of bars, but then you're also going to Haiti

and you're helping at risk youth and all kinds of other things. You know, how you're doing both at the same time? Like how, like, I guess maybe what would the message be to other people? How could they navigate doing both at the same time. Like, I guess maybe what would the message be to other people? How could they navigate doing both at the same time? Yeah, that's a great question. I mean, I think wherever people are at,

you can always help someone. I think there's this real misnomer, exactly like you said, when I get here, then I'll do blank, not just for being generous, but for anything else in life. When I get to this stage, and the reality is like, it's really a heart posture. Like it's not a bank account number

or some social pressure to do that. I'm like, you either care about helping or you don't. And again, it's not a quantity issue. It's again, what do you have that can help someone? And so I remember, it's kind of funny. I remember, you know, my mom, when I was young and you know, tried to put a check in the offering or something, she said, you don't need to do that.

You know, I got us for a family. You don't have much and whatever. I'm like, but I want to help, you know? And so I think just that and compounding it and thinking of it all the ways, again, you may be gifted at encouraging people. That's a gift. Take an unencouraged person and you give them encouragement,

that's making a difference just as much as, you know, writing a check or something like that. So I think for me, it's more about like having a generous heart, mind, eyes, and like just acting from that. And that's why we're like, we've had all these different things. And sometimes it's hard to explain Kai's because people that like really get into it, they're

like, Oh, well, you do a lot of different things. You should just say it's this and this. But I've always kind of had resistance to that because I'm like, it's not like a cause marketing deal. It's really just a lifestyle to want to love and serve in, you know, I mean, you know, what I used to call the UROI, the unavoidable return on investing in others. It's like, man, if I give to you and I give to you, I'm not giving selfishly, but I feel better. Like I am better for helping you. And I've just really.

I understand you don't necessarily even need something to come back in some sort of weird cosmic way. You already got it back because it makes it feel good to help somebody. Yeah, and to me it's like, it's, if you then can be a beneficiary of that, and then you go do that to your wife, to your kids, to your work, to your team, you know, again,

that's how you're gonna change life. You should better live out the kindness. That's how you're gonna change the world. It's one choice at a time. It's not waiting for this, you know, again, you arrive at this level of wealth or something. And yeah, sometimes you might have more time with that. But again, for my life and my encouragement,

everybody's got something they can give, right? Everybody's got a talent. Everybody's got strength. Everyone's got a gift, time. In today's age, it's like, again, open your eyes, open your ears, look out. And I do a little test when we go on walks and I'll try to just wave and say hi to people.

And it's pretty amazing how many people like look shocked. And I'm like, am I an alien? Like, do I know that person? Sometimes I think I am. Yo, why'd you fucking wave to me? Yeah, well, especially no offense, but especially like if I'm in like California, I'm from Oklahoma.

You're from the Midwest. Yeah, I'm from Oklahoma City. So it's like, I'll come in and I'll like, way over like open a door and someone, yeah, exactly. They're like, you're weird. You're not, you're not from here. I'm like, all I did was open the door and say, hi, what is going on?

When I moved to Ohio, a guy reached into the back of this truck that we had that was, you know, with furniture and TVs and stuff, and the guy grabs the TV and I'm like, oh shit, what's this guy doing? He's like, where do you want the TV? I was like, what? I was like, oh, you're just helping me move shit in? Are you for real?

Oh, you were taking that shit. Oh, it's getting punched in California. Or the East Coast. Yeah, what are you doing? Are you stealing my TV? That's the immediate thing. Yeah, what the fuck are? Are you stealing my TV? That's the immediate thing. Yeah, what the fuck are you doing? Yeah, it's wild, but I'm like, well, I am who I am,

you know, so, sorry. I'm curious about this, man. The back of the bar talks about a bunch of the mission statements, and one of them is serving our homeless neighbors. So like, what does KAIS do for the homeless in the United States? Because you also do things for people outside the country,

but like, how are you serving the homeless? That's cool. Yeah, great question. So I was kind of telling Mark off stage. So when we first started and we're doing the bags, it was all, I just rented a little table at the back of this warehouse, kind of outside of downtown Oklahoma city.

And when we were blessed and fortunate to take growth steps, we got to this point where we needed to build our own facility. Well, it got to the point where there was land available across from the homeless shelter. And so it was really the most kind of homeless populated area of Oklahoma city where I'm from and where Kai's is headquartered. And anyways, we ended up taking that space,

building a building there. And I'm like, again, they're our neighbors. So I'm like, again, just kind of going back to, hey, we want to love our neighbors. We got to get to know our neighbors. So currently, really daily interactions on one, feeding bars, coffee, water. Probably shouldn't say this on record,

but you know, I give people tents or sleeping bags just because I've driven down there for years. And it's a polarizing thing on people. So I'm not here to say that, but for me personally, I'm like, I can't see someone that I've seen over and over and over again. And if I drive up, their head is on the curb of our building when we're going in.

Or again, it's freezing or whatever. I've just gotten to that point now. If they ask, then I'm going to try to help because I can. And so it's a tough one. Again, I don't have all the answers. And then we do a big monthly party, which I just call it neighborhood block party. So my friend who went to Haiti with us

when we used to do mission trips in Haiti pre-COVID, she had a deal in Oklahoma city that's for at-risk youth, kids in juvie, kids stories that will break your heart. But so we mentor and volunteer, but the idea was getting them to serve also. So we bring them once a month on third Saturday of every month at our building, just open up the gate. We grill out clothes, coffee, water, tea, bars.

So we gave a bunch of these out last week cause I was like, it'd be cool. We're actually gonna be giving bars to our homeless neighbors before anybody else has the access to kind of get them. But, and just being people and to me, the power again is just creating places for people to come together and be human again. And it's incredible the stories that we hear from people. And it's like, how many people are saying, God bless you and you're the best. And you made my day. And I'm like,

I'm just talking to you and you're inspiring me. So we do a lot of that. And then we've actually hired a lot of people from out there. And even just last weekend, it was like, which actually that makes me the most proud because there's a guy, like guys on our team are now doing, it's not even from me,

which like kind of going back to the culture or like this contagious, like again, got like let's love helping people. Again, or like this contagious, like again, got like, let's love helping people. Again, we've had our, like anything, we don't bat a thousand with getting things right. So we've had challenges, but again, finding people, again, if you can give them a job, there's great value in that. If you can give them a job in a healthy place,

we've had a lot of people that have overcome addiction. So like, we kind of have that culture that can A, see it in people and call out their BS, but B, like help provide resources and tools to kind of walk them to better, if you will. So that's really been our focus right now. And then we just, I got a foundation, but I would like to use where we can make food

that we can ship across the world to the hungry and homeless. So again, what do we have? How can we be generous from that? We made an item in response to COVID, which was, you know, we were just dying and trying to survive, but we made something to help feed kids in the Oklahoma City public school system because most of them eat at school. And then school is closed.

So there is a great need for food. And I'm like, well, shoot. We got no orders anymore because everything's died. So how do we keep doing something? Wait, so during COVID, you just didn't get orders for bars anymore? Oh, yeah. We got killed.

Well, we were mostly retail. So we don't have a big online presence. And so all the retailers closed, you know, we had a lot of mom and pop gyms, juice bars, coffee shops, colleges. And I mean, so we had just built this building and the sales went down. So it was bad math. But again, we use that to help. But now we try to use that item and other items that we have to get to people. Because what I've seen in the food bank system or like the hunger relief space is it's usually cheap, expired, or heavily processed food.

So again, to me, the word is dignity. How do we get a dignifying type food to people? More balanced, nutrition better, fresher. Not scraps. Yeah. That's the, better fresher. Not scraps. Yeah, that's the exact word. Not scraps. Yeah. Hey, we made this for you.

Again, in things like that, that's still great. It's a bad packet, just not a bad item. It's a fresh item. So again, just constantly thinking about how can we use this platform that we have to serve and help. And so I really think of that inside out from where we are, again, kind of in our homeless area, who's on our team,

again, those with homeless, hungry, drug addiction. And then how do we spread that out nationwide, internationally to help? And again, that's the cool thing about a package bar is you could ship that all over the world. So again, for me, like, how do you find that balance of, okay, yeah, you got to make the business work, but how can we like multiply the goodness of that

and get other people involved? So it's been a fun challenge. People that are addicted to drugs, people that are coming off of drugs, people that are trying to make change. people that are trying to make change, it's great when they make change, but we know a lot of people end up kind of going back. So have you, I'm thinking like some business owners

might be thinking like, man, that would be really cool, but holy shit, that'd be really hard because hey, where's Jason today? You know, like make it in, you know, and he's been gone the last couple of days because maybe he, unfortunately, maybe went into remission or something like that. Yeah.

It's very real. Or relapsed, I should say. It is hard, but I'm sure as you guys know, it's hard to build a great physique. It's hard to build a great relationship. There's a cost to everything. There's pain involved in gain. And so for me, it's just really,

it's just the cost of it. But yes, recently, the last several months, I mean, just being very candid, we've had a couple guys relapse to the point of hospitalizations and other things, but it's probably a strength and a weakness of me. I don't know how to quit on people. And for me, I always think of grace and a greater standard.

And so just meeting people where they're at and being like, walking with them, letting them know we love them first and foremost. You know, I've learned a lot from the guys from the AA space and a lot of kind of, a lot of stuff a lot of them have been through, but there's just power in community. And I think there's power in, again, letting people know that you're loved and believed in

and you may have made mistakes and you're shame cycling yourself or someone else has thrown you away, but like, we're not. Like, yes, you have to do certain things to like still be a valuable part of the team. But yeah, we've continued to like, really just try to work through that. I don't, I'm not, I don't know how to say this.

Like, to me, sometimes that's the, I don't, I'm not, I don't know how to say this. To me, sometimes that's the, if you're willing as a business owner or a hiring manager or something like, it may be really painful and really unproductive for a period, but the ability to like, love somebody through that and help them through that season of stumble or relapse or whatever, it's a big if because they decide ultimately, they have to make the change. You can't decide for them,

but it's pretty transformative, I would say too. So again, it's what's your pain tolerance? Or again, what is your patience with something like that? But on the flip side, there's nothing better than watching somebody transform out of that lifestyle. I mean, there's, I mean, we've got some people on our team again that they inspire me so much for what they've overcome. I've never struggled with drugs, you know, like I don't know what it's like, but I liked,

I mean, I put it in my own mind. I'm like trying to relate. I'm like, I don't know what it's like, but I liked, I mean, I put it in my own mind. I'm like, trying to relate, I'm like, I love food. I'll eat 20 of these in a day someday. And I'm not hungry sometimes when I do that, right? And I'm like, so people are like, well, I don't know how they realize they're doing so good. I'm like, I do it with food.

Mindlessly, next thing you know, and I'm going, you know? So I'm like, you know, it kind of makes sense to me. So I'm like, we all have our things. You know, that may be less socially acceptable doing that, but again, our people are awesome. That's the biggest joy for me is being there with our team and customers and awesome people like yourself. The relationships is the real richness for me

in the process. So seeing people overcome stuff is worth it. But yes, there is a big cost to that. So it's not for everybody. For years on this podcast, we've been talking about the benefit of barefoot shoes. And these are the shoes I used to use back in 2017, 2018, my old Metcons.

They are flat, but they're not very wide, and they're very stiff, and they don't move. That's why we've been partnering with and we've been using Vivo Barefoot shoes. These are the Modest Strength shoe, because not only are they wide, I have wide ass feet and so do we here on the podcast, especially as our feet have gotten stronger,

but they're flexible. So when you're doing certain movements, like let's say you're doing jumping or you're doing split squats, or you're doing movements where your toes need to flex and move, your feet are able to do that and perform in this shoe, allowing them to get stronger over time. And obviously they're flexible. So your foot's allowed to be a foot. And when you're doing all types of exercise, your feet will get stronger, improving your ability to move. Andrew, how can they get the hands on these? Yes, head to vivobarefoot.com slash power project

and enter the code that you see on screen to save 20% off your entire order. Again, that's at vivobarefoot.com slash power project. Links in the description, as well as the podcast show notes. While building your business, man, did your health ever get away from you? Cause like one thing you notice like this, like your business, Mark's business, right?

You guys have big businesses and something you notice with a lot of people is like when they're doing that, they just kind of let the health go to the wayside and focus on it. But obviously you look like you're in great shape. Was there a time that you let that get away? Oh no, I feel like I've let it got away now.

It's actually a great question. So now it's like, you're not in the good shape you want to be in. No, no, I'm not. Yeah, well, I was saying, you know, when I was 20 something, you know, I didn't have, I've learned there's almost like finite decision or like mental energy. And when I was young, it all went to like working out

and being fit and doing that. And then as the Kai's journey has gone and there's more responsibility, I just feel like the mental and really physical, emotional energy that goes with that really kind of takes away from like the physical training space. I still eat good.

Again, I basically make a smoothie, eat a bunch of bars and eat meat. I was talking about my beef that I make, but- So I- Oh yeah, you make some jerky, we're saying. Yeah, I make just a little grass-fed grass-finished local, just sliders. It's literally just ground beef and that.

And they're just on the go. And I mean, I'll do my pound of beef and other stuff too, and steaks. But I keep that simple. So like the food part has been pretty good. But as far as a physical training, just the nicks and out of bounds, and I just don't put as much time into it as I did.

And the energy level is just not the same. So I was telling him, like he's talking about running and, you know, his wife just did a swim meet and all this stuff. And I'm like, dude, I gotta get back to like a goal that like excites me and get all the nonsense like away. But anyway, so trying to figure it out. But yeah, it got away. Well, most people are like looking at you and saying,

okay, this is what you look like when it's gotten away. So, what are you doing still that it's gotten away? Yeah, Jeff, you really let yourself go. Because you're really fat right now, Jeff. Well, my buddies and I joke. I think we sometimes get in a negative cycle of joking, self-deprecation. But it's like, yeah, people are like, you can't say that.

I'm like, I don't know how to say this kindly. It is kind. I just care about the better version of me that I'm comparing to, not like what you think I am. So that may be good, but I'm like, my Achilles is messed up, my back hurts, my basketball game is terrible. And you're a little softer in a few areas

than you wanna be, and more so, there's just not the deep intensity and focus that like goes in. Like, you know, like you guys know, like you pick something, you go hard at it, and it's a transformative health thing, right? It's not just the physical, mentally, spiritually, emotionally, like your whole self is getting stronger

and better because you've gone that, you've attacked that, you've gone through kind of the peaks and valleys. So I think I've just, I've lost like a clear goal and a fight for that because it's become like pain management. I just don't want to hurt that bad. And then like, I think I've lost just kind of the, I don't know, I'd say tenacity or like the deep intense focus again, like I said, I'll pick something and I'd say tenacity, or like the deep, intense focus. Again, like I said, I'll pick something

and I want to go the long road in the same direction and stay focused. But as you know, little injuries and stuff throw you off. And I was telling him my mindset when I was young, I would push through any of that. And now when I'm older, I'm like, am I wiser? Yes. Because I'm like, this is actually

on the cusp of being a significant injury. So he's like, hey, we should go for a run. And I'm like, yeah, I'm like, you know, I'm like, quite frankly, I'm just not there right now. Sorry, but I'll go lift. Like these three areas of my body that don't hurt. No, but yeah, it's changed. So I mean, I love that you asked me that. And I get, again, people dog me on that, but I'm like, I'm just being honest. Like I'm not pumped about that direction of my life.

So I want to turn that around. I'd say you could get probably most of that back in like three workouts, you know, or maybe two weeks or something like that. Cause you said you lost it, but I don't think you lost it. I think it's still there. It's all the fire still in there. Especially all the stuff you're telling us

about what you're doing with your business and how you're helping homeless people and you're helping underprivileged youth and stuff like that. I mean, it sounds like there's a lot of fire in there. It's just a matter of like, I guess, reorienting it because you've been, you know, your business went through a tough time.

I think we don't give ourselves any grace, like, because you're just like, well, excuses are for losers. Like, I'm not gonna give you any excuses, but there are things that consume time and energy that you literally have to take care of. And when you're taken care of, X amount of people at KAIS, there's a lot on the line.

There's a lot to think about. And it's not just like, oh, I need to go do another run. You have to really think about the lives of the people that you're supporting and the mission that you have. Again, I'm not trying to make excuses for you, but it's like, you can take care of that for a little bit and you can always get back to your fitness and your other stuff.

And you're right. And I think the key is, and this would be my encouragement for anyone listening on anything else, it's like, it's not all linear and progressive at all times. Just don't abandon the path. You know what I mean? So it's like, I still show up. Like, don't let me, I still go to the gym and do something.

You know, I used to joke, people are like, yeah, people go to the gym, but they don't do anything. People go to work, they gym and do something. I used to joke people like, yeah, people go to the gym, but they don't do anything. People go to work, they don't do anything. People go to all these things they think are good. And they are, like the environment is good for that, but you still have to give it. You still have to put the work in. And so for me, it's like, yeah, I go to the gym,

but like, again, just the goal, the plan, the tenacity, but I like how you said too, and I was reading this recently, you know, people are, you know, time is the most valuable thing in the guy, the book that I'm reading, they're like, he says, it's not time, it's energy. And so when you said time and energy,

cause it makes sense, I'm like, man, we can be here together, but if I'm lethargic, and I mean, how's that going to help our relationship? You know, again, I can put time into gym, I can put time, but where's my energy? And so for me, that's kind of got me thinking through of like that energy management. So I was telling you, well, I want to get back

to getting massages again, because I've noticed the period of my life when I did that, and I didn't, it was more energizing for me, and I could live better and work and do all those things. And so, yeah, I think that's a really good point. You have to have grace for yourself, and it does require all that energy. And again, you only have so much.

So sometimes, again, I'm not even a parent, but you hear it all the time with parents. It's like, I got a newborn. Well, yeah, it makes sense why you're not training that hard because now you're trying to raise a human. So it's like, yeah, grace for that. Yeah, so when you first launched, obviously it wasn't as popular as it is now.

Did you have any, I guess, were there any big roadblocks that you really had a hard time with getting that bar out to more people as far as like, all right, I know I have this, like the most amazing natural ingredient bar. How the heck do I convince all these people that this is actually good for them? Oh yeah, I mean, we still face that to now, right?

Cause it's a marketing and awareness battle. And a lot of times that comes down to dollars and we don't have that. And we make our own products. So we spend a lot of our time learning the manufacturing part too. So that's probably our next phase of really trying to go, hey, how do we take this step where we've got some national,

but more localized and like Oklahoma and Texas, and, you know, the areas where we're more located, but I think we're trying to figure that piece out now. So like, so grateful just to be here and to again, a new audience and new people to share with. But our most effective way to get out there has always just been demoing, which is like going to farmers markets in the early days.

And like this past part of the year, we got in some Costco's and Sam's clubs to doing like those road shows or those in-store demos, you know, different trade shows, stuff like that. So we're going to have a nationwide rollout with Sprouts in here soon. We'll have a HEB launch in Texas. And then we're hoping to get a Sam's Club

or a Costco expansion. We're doing pretty well in those stores. So if anyone knows those buyers or goes to those stores, ask them to put in Kai's Club or a Costco expansion. We're doing pretty well in those stores. So if anyone knows those buyers or goes to those stores, ask them to put in Kies, that would be great. But we're just trying to learn that right now. But I think for us, we're people, people. So again, telling stories, meeting people in the stores, and then trying product. I mean, it's a food item. And again, there's kind of this like, do I really want to pay for it if I don't know I'm going to like it, whether that's said or not said. So again, the ability to like, just get in front of people and try it. We're trying to figure that out because like, I can't be everywhere demoing now. So we're trying to figure out

again, like we say bars and mouth, you know, like how do you get more bars and mouths and you know, sharing the story. So, yeah. When it comes to, you know, like mismanufactured stuff, like these bars are the bars that you brought that are on the table that you said that a lot of times you eat, the packaging is like kind of all connected. Give us like a good like horror story.

Like how much of this stuff have you had to eat over the years? Or like, you know, there's like mold in something or the sealer of the wrapper didn't work all the way. And it went to a customer and you're like, oh my God, batch 447. And it pulled the whole thing. And it gave us some nightmare fuel here. How man, gosh, how much time do you have? I mean, you just basically said a lot of them,

so it's the biggest nightmare stuff. Packaging machine has been our enemy for a long time. You know, you never realize how trustworthy hand-making something is. 100% efficient when you're making it and sealing it by hand. Can't do that many. So when we went to the equipment route and again,

oh, you can do more and you can reach more people. But it's like, we'll get these little nicks that we can't see and they'll oil out or again. Oh yeah, like oil on the outside of wrappers. I've had that happen with other things. Yeah, so like it's, a lot of stuff's invisible. So like, you don't know this package. It looks so simple. It's like three different layers of all this science and then like how it's hitting the packaging machine, the jaws. It's like the heat, the pressure, the time.

There's air pressure going into the packet. So the packet doesn't stick to the material and everything. There's so much going on. And then it's like, again, in the perfect world for me, I'd keep them all cold. We're sold in the shelf, but I'd love fridge because again, it takes a variable out and it keeps it kind of like fresh in time. So again, it's like, if it leaves our building and it's a hundred degrees outside and people are like,

why is it? You know, like, and we don't know that a lot of times too. So like for retail, it's just been a nightmare, you know, getting those. But again, I, you know, I've learned and I try to teach our team, like every time someone complains, like they go out of their way to message our contact page or something,

it's actually a gift. It's not a fun gift and it's not an immediate gift, but it gives us the opportunity to try to learn, reflect, and really understand how to get better. And sometimes it's nonsense. A lot of times it can be nonsense, but a lot of times it's tipping you off to there is a bigger issue.

And so like you said, batch 44, so we're going, thanks for reaching out. What's the batch number? We keep what we call retains, and then we can look back into that stuff. What does that mean? So the back of the wrapper has the number. And so we make extra of that batch.

We make extra and we keep it, like shelf life testing. So someone says, hey, this was two, whatever, we'll go, we'll find this number, we'll open them up. And basically we start doing investigations into all of it. And we've learned a lot, but yeah, I mean, we've had so many horror stories on so many things. I mean, Prop 65 stuff in California, the mold,

all these different, you know, oiling too dry, too hard, again, just learning the natural food stuff. Again, when it rains outside, that humidity, and then how that affects with a protein powder or something else. So it's definitely hard, and I could see how, it definitely, you know, probably aged me

a couple of decades. But we've- Have you ever had anything that was really costly, financially, where it's like, holy shit, that's- Yeah, for sure. Yeah, those are brutal setbacks. We've had a lot of, again, the packaging stuff is the most costly.

Again, we kind of got extorted on this Prop 65 deal in California and some other nonsense legal stuff. I've just kind of learned from people in the space is like, the bigger you get, the more people are going to come at you and stuff. And so trying to learn that. Recipes that are mislabeled. The number one thing I think the FDA says

is the wrong recipe in a package. You get these undeclared allergens. recipes that are mislabeled. The number one thing I think the FDA says is the wrong recipe in a package. You get these undeclared allergens. And so you'll see these big recalls nationwide and stuff. We've been pretty fortunate to not have that. But one year, I'll actually tell a funny story. It wasn't that costly in hindsight, but it was most terrifying.

So we used to say, you probably would have had it at some point, an old version, we were still hand making and wrapping. It was in a bag that was originally made for coffee beans and we wrapped it. And on the front, we tried to have the mission, you know, changing lives for the better. We were on the airplane going to Haiti for one of our mission trips and one of our, and we were taking most of the team, but we had a few guys stay back. There's a store called Central Market in Texas,

which is kind of like a higher end version of HEB. And we were running this big check stand sale and they called and it said, instead of changing lives, somehow the sea had fallen off. And it said, hanging lives. Hanging lives.

And he took that to Haiti. No, we were going to Haiti and I'm pretty sure they had to sign up in the store of doing that and it said hanging lives and I'm like on an airplane and I was trying to like turn the phone off for a week and I was like, how does that happen? But yeah, that was costly. So we had to pull all that stuff too

and get with the printer. And like, how did the C fall off of the thing? How about any like terrible taste test or something where you're like, this is probably going to taste good. And it just came out of the sample and you're like, oh no. Yeah. So we do a lot of R&D again. I think it's kind of funny how things you do at one part of your life, you don't know like down the road

how they're gonna have value later, but like all those years of just kitchen mixer and doing that over and over, like we've actually developed a process that now we can do that pretty quickly, just like we went through with this. Like it starts in a handmade, just like you and your kitchen, but we know what we're looking for

and how it would transfer onto the equipment and the ability to test it on the line and all that stuff. But oh, gosh, we've run some bad flavors on some stuff before. We've run a lot of unique stuff. We made a project. Well, it's still kind of ongoing for a company that they wanted a coconut curry and a taco flavor, which they tasted like them.

And I was just like, that is interesting. The flavor is interesting because people wanna get creative. I think that's what I've learned. So we do some like R&D for other people too. So we make items for other people. But they- Super interesting.

It is interesting. And they're good. I just like, I've just tried to get honest with people and just go, hey, from my experience, it's fun creating, it's fun getting unique, but there's a certain range of flavors that are going to sell better. And so we can go through all these exercises and we can get unique and we can do all that. And again, if you want to pay for it, it's great, but we also have a interest committed

to like paying for R&D work or one production run is not really a value to us. We want long-term partners that we really can believe in and grow. And so it's like, Hey, you got to go with the chocolate something, a peanut butter, something, maybe a fruit, something, another kind of deserty, but like those are just proven that people love Snickers and Milky Way and peanut butter cups. So it's kind of stay in that range. Yeah. It's just- Not try to make a Skittle protein bar. Yeah, or again, like, I think we tried some like- People like Skittles. No.

I've seen some matcha stuff that people have out there, and again, I'm like, you know, maybe, but like, we have a cinnamon roll flavor, and we had a lemon cake for a little bit, and it's like, yeah, those are great, except for guess what? The sales proved that people don't like, the people that love them love them. And that's where again, sometimes it's hard to like

filter out what people are telling you and they get excited about. But yeah, it's an experience for sure. I think this is like one of the more important things that we're gonna talk about here. And you said you've eaten 20 of these in a day. And I've done this with many other things. I've eaten 15 fucking-

I've seen them. Yeah, yeah, the legendary tasty pastries. Or even the breakfast sausages from McDonald's. Breakfast sausages, I've eaten 10 of those in a day, right? Go hard or go home. Like for example, the legendary stuff's good, but you can only have a certain amount before your bowels start to be like, that's not okay.

So after eating 10, 20 Kais bars, because I'm definitely going to do this at some point, how do you feel for you? Well, you'll have to test, yeah. Because eight ingredients, I feel like that probably is not going to do rough on exactly. Right? So how's that been?

I do well. So I've kind of found a threshold, if we're being honest. Okay. And I was learning this for years. Maximum passbar threshold. No, no. So I've done my research. For legendary, it's like three.

No, it's much higher than that. I would say once you get into the double digits, you've just consumed so much of the nutrients or whatever that, again, you're going to be getting movement. But I think I feel great and energized. And again, I'm a good test example because I mean, I'm the world record holder for most bars eaten. And I probably have any time. I mean, I'm sure there's other people that work around companies like that, but I'm like,

people don't believe me. I'm like, ask our team. I'm eating them all day every day and I feel good. I enjoy again. It hasn't really impacted me. I think when you get a threshold on anything, it's too much. So the ones I think that have the egg protein is the ones I think they get me. So if I do the ones that don't, I'm usually good. You brought that up. So I'm curious, like, what proteins do you use? I know that was one comment that kept coming up

with the Steak Shake Bar, and it was that fact that it had pea protein and people kind of Got their panties in a bunch about that So can you talk about the types of proteins that you use in the in the Kais bars? Yeah, great question So originally the first one I talked about the peanut butter is just four ingredients. It was a grass-fed whey We use an egg white protein in our peanut butter chocolate chip and cookie dough. We use pea when we started getting the kind of plant base or vegan requests.

And then now we use the awesome steak shake protein. The pea in that was really just a function of neutralizing some of that flavor to kind of really help with that and a more known model that it would run well and support. It's got organs in it, people. Yeah. So I'm trying to mute that a little bit. Part of the complexity of making things

is we're trying to use principles that we feel give us a higher likelihood degree to do that. And the nice thing about it, so we had made some keto options before low sugar options. So we kind of started with that base and working in the protein. And so at that point, you can't run everything at full line production line scale. You could never afford that and get all the learnings from you want that. So it's trying to do that. But that was really the main thing was to keep that protein level high, that sugar low, and to neutralize some of that organ kind of protein tissue.

And there's a very small amount of it. So cool. And then what about just using something like just straight whey protein? Yeah, our first generation ones like the ones Mark would have found way back in the day, that was the grass-fed whey protein that we use. So we have that, and we're looking at some other items.

So yeah. And you still have a lot of bars that are under five or six ingredients, right? Yeah, yeah. You have a lot of, you still have a lot of bars that are like what, under like five or six ingredients, right? Yeah, yeah. So they're kind of all the first iterations were all like, yeah, four, five, six ingredients. So we try to be eight or less if we can. Again, as we've learned more as we go, it's like, is it more important to have one less ingredient

or to make a better item? So again, our really value system that we've kind of really gotten clearer on through all the trial and errors, like we wanna make clean, simple, tasty, make a difference. So really kind of learning through that. Cause we've talked about making like a 15 gram protein bar, you know, different things.

A lot of people have asked us for like bites or little kind of sample stuff. So we're kind of trying to learn through like all that. And again, it's kind of a blessing and a curse because you've taken all this information, but at the same time it's like, what are we really good at and we can do well? And like, you know, this is one thing

I was getting challenged on by kind of a mentor of like, where's the breakthrough coming from? You know, and I think for us, it's like, hey, we want to make a clean, simple, tasty thing that we could ship all over the country and like people could enjoy. And so just like continue to try to find that. So where other companies,

and I really appreciate this about the Kies bar. So I know for me personally why I'd reach for a Kies bar over another company's bar that uses artificial sweeteners, but they will use that to easily keep the calories down, maybe pump in some more grams of protein to make it a high protein bar to kind of, I guess I'll say satisfy like the bodybuilding space or the fitness space

where they're like, hey, it's gotta have, you know, X amount of protein per X amount of calories or else it's like kind of worthless. But why did you decide to stick with honey even though it is more calories? And yeah, it kind of is gonna throw off that ratio of protein to calories. Yeah, it's a really great question.

So I've been a giant honey consumer my whole life. And so I'm a real personal believer in the benefits of honey. I mean, my mom used to spoon feed me raw local honey for allergies and stuff. But I also found I felt really good natural energy from that, and this is a nerd thing. But when I had a previous job,

I took a beekeeping workshop class and just learning about honey. So like, I've always loved like the value that bees provide in honey. And again, you're getting vitamins, minerals, micronutrients from that, that they're extracting from the plants and it's pre-digested.

So it's kind of a quicker source. So between the nutrient profile and the taste is kind of why we've always stuck with that. And again, we've tried other ways, but you know, our preference is honey and dates as the best one. So we've made things with other things and the other part, to your point, we do get that sometimes I'm going,

well macros or ratios or whatever, I'm going, hey, that's great. Like our focus is on hey, that's great. Like our focus is on inputs, not on outputs. So like we're ingredient focused. Because like you said, people can manipulate the back of a label. Easy.

Right? And so for us, again, I'm going, we just might not be the perfect fit for you. And just learning that that's OK. Like I would still encourage you to try. It helps me. I'm a passionate. But again, I eat 10 a day on average. And I feel good. Like I would still encourage you to try. It helps me. I'm a passionate, but again, I eat 10 a day on average

and I feel good and I enjoy it. And if that can help you live healthier and it can fit your life, great. Like go eat 10 of these a day. Like if you want less sugar or something, less carbs. Again, we want to have options for people but it's still gotta be in a way that like we can do it, we feel good about it. And just, it's the age old,

you can't be all things to all people. And so if you want to go, you know, count and look at the back, like, I hope you find as you're looking at something on the back, you scroll down to those ingredients and go, well, this actually looks better than this other thing that I might like the ratio better. And again, trying both and see how it processes

on the body, see how you feel. And again, if you're going, oh, well, this company stands and is doing like meaningful things and action and like, that's important to me, then cool. We would love your support and to join our journey, but yeah, we just can't be all things to all people. And again, we don't want to do artificial anything. And there's several other ingredients and things

I know people do, in particular, with bars that I don't believe in personally. It's not throwing stones at anybody else. But like you said, you do something, I'm processing it. And I'm going, ah, I don't want to add any added fibers. Or we don't want to add added fibers or artificial things. We don't want to add oils or any stuff like that. So it's like, again, we wanna keep it clean

and simple and tastes good. And our hope and our belief and our experience so far is there's other people that want that too. And so we hope that we can be of service to them and vice versa, they can help support us in our journey and we can all go do good together. So that's kind of the ultimate goal of this like, them and vice versa, they can help support us in our journey and we can all go do good together. So that's kind of the ultimate goal of this like win, win, win of consumer business, you

know, world. Yeah. And I mean, that's what it is for me. So like one, it's pretty difficult to just find anything without artificial sweeteners these days. But the other thing is like when I do consume them, I don't feel as good. And then when I have honey, like I've been kind of a nerd for honey this whole year. Like I've been dying deep and this is the first year that I don't need allergy medicine.

And like I've been doing really, really good. Awesome. So shout out to the bee box and golden honeybee. There's some local, you know, some beekeepers because yeah, I just, I feel so much better when I avoid those things. Now the, the, the documentation, the paperwork, all of the, you know, the studies will say like, oh, there's nothing wrong there.

But when I have your bar, when I have this other bar, I feel different, right? So again, just trying to encourage people to like, hey, just give it a shot. You might see that you have more energy, even though the macros ain't perfect, but oh, you had a really good workout because you had a better energy bar.

Yeah, and I think, you know, we just talked about too, like what is that fleeting currency? You know, people say something like energy. So doing that, having the self-awareness to do that energy comparison is huge. And I would encourage everyone to do that. And not just on the food you eat, but the people you hang around with in your life,

do they energize you or do they drain you? Do they give life or do they take life? And then in turn, how do you do that to people? So I hope today, like you guys are all great cause I'm highly energized right now and haven't even worked out or done anything, which is usually a form of energy for me. So I think encouraging people to find that.

And then the other thing I would say is I always kind of use this question. What did people do a thousand years ago? That's just kind of a question I ask myself a lot. Like, what did they do a thousand years ago? And honey is an ancient, I mean, there are some, I'm not gonna get into it, but there are so many benefits from it

that again, maybe some of, you know, they weren't counting macros back then. And again, not some of, you know, they weren't counting macros back then. And again, not knocking that, but again, they're just, I'm a pro honey guy as well. And so I'm, it's awesome to hear you've, you've seen that. And I mean, I really wish we could get, there's not enough supply chain, but we were trying like very specific, like this flower type of honey in a bar. And it'd be awesome.

It's just, it's hard to get enough supply to make that. But I mean, I've nerded out on some cool honey types. I want to have a serious conversation with you about your balls. And I'm being serious here. On this podcast, we talked about a lot of things to help men improve the health of their penis, because it's important.

And your balls have very thin skin. This is true. You can touch them right now and you know it's pretty thin. Women do a lot of things to take care of their vaginal health and men, we don't really think about the things that we put right directly on our balls, like our boxers. A lot of popular brands out there have chemicals that are literally touching your balls.

Think about this, when you're in the gym sweating, when you're at work sitting, when you're doing all these things, these things could be permeating into your scrotum. Things like BPA, phallates, pesticides, incesticides, toxic dyes, toxic fertilizers, formaldehyde, all of which could lead to and could exacerbate lower testosterone, erectile dysfunction, and potential infertility. That's why you've partnered with NADS. And NADS is made with 100% organic cotton and no toxic dyes. So instead of putting just anything on your manhood, it's a good idea to get your

hands on some NADS. And Andrew, how can they get it? Yes, that's over at nadsunder.com. That's N-A-D-S-under.com. And at checkout enter promo code powerproject to save 15% off your entire order. Again, that's at nadsunder.com links in the description, as well as the podcast show notes. You hop on a plane and you head over to Haiti. How far away is that? How long does it take to get there? Uh, it's a mostly day trip.

So from Oklahoma city, we would fly to Fort Lauderdale and from Fort Lauderdale to Haiti. Um, and then it was a multihour bus, not really a bus, a vehicle transportation then. And that was really transformative for me. You were there for a week or so? Yeah, there for a week. And we had partnered a girl that I had met from Tulsa,

had a nonprofit that went down there. And when we were in the early CH Kai's years, again, for me, and we had probably four people on the team. And again, I'm like, you can't pay anybody anything. But it's like, again, how do you change your life? How do you make a difference? And they invited us to go down to Haiti with them. And I was like, yeah, let's do it.

And again, you go over there and your idea is to help. But what I'm imagining happens is that as much as you're pouring into this and as much as you're trying to assist and help and whether you can do stuff providing bars or time or money or whatever it is, I'm imagining that somehow you walk away with more than what you were able to give those people

for having a different experience. What's Haiti like and what did you learn from being give those people for having a different experience. What's Haiti like and what did you learn from being there? Yeah, such a great question. So, you know, the people prepping me before that had gone, they're like, you will get more out of it than you'll give. And it's like, okay, again, you can hear it. You can look at pictures and feel the sadness or whatever, but again, you don't know until you go.

I think going back to those first years, you know, we probably had four young single guys in our twenties that were going down there to do it. But I think once we got down there, I mean, I know I've never been probably the same, because again, I've, I mean, I've never been in a world like that. And so we, you see people that struggle

for their physical needs. So shelter, water, food, not the best. Again, you wake up and where am I getting water today? But when you see the vibrancy of the soul and the bigger smiles, more passionate eyes, just like genuine that. I mean, it shakes you. And I remember at the time I was coming from,

before I started KAIZ, I was working at oil and gas company in Oklahoma City. And at the time I was like, you know, you see people what you think success is and they're, you know, this level, and this money and material. And I just remember coming back to them, like, the rich people are the people in Haiti. Cause again, I'm like, I mean,

they didn't have five cents or anything, but again, the faith, the sense of family, the friends, again, just genuine joy and peace. And like, I mean, people clapping and praising, good, bad, happy and sad. And the main lady that we supported, I never met Mother Teresa, but I read a few books. And I was like, this lady is like the Mother Teresa of Haiti.

That's just how I would describe her. She couldn't have kids on her own. She ended up adopting like 40 kids that she was saving people after an earthquake. And she was basically the matriarch of this community. And they had a school and they ended up starting like farms and like healthy gardening and a chicken operation because they were trying to be sustainable. And it was just really, really unbelievable. Again, you're sad because you've never been like,

I never had to, I didn't even know finding clean water was a thing for people at that point in time. You know, and I'm like, that's a daily struggle. But again, kind of like I was telling you earlier, like it's incredible. You start helping people, they start helping you back. And then like the rich relationship that you have and everybody's better for that.

So I remember the first year there was a guy that his name was Gomon and he had been in a motorcycle accident and he couldn't work. And we had like, we'd heard like his wife left him and he had three kids and they had no food. So like, once we heard that story, we took some of our extra food back and we went kind of to his hut.

And I'll never forget this. I probably could find a photo that maybe I could share later, but he came and grabbed me and our two other guys and he grabbed their hands. And I remember I had the phone, so it'd be like you two and he's in the middle and I'm taking this photo and he's holding their hands and

they're going back this way and he basically took us on a day in his life and he couldn't speak English and we couldn't speak French Creole which is what they speak down there and he was just kind of pointing us to like over there and it's like water and then all these guys are just walking in the water slapping the water and they're just trying to get fish to come up and move over to the guy with the net like, slapping the water, and they're just trying to get fish to come up and move over to the guy with the net. Like they didn't even have a boat. They're just kind of trying to walk them in.

And then over there and there's coconuts and he ended up getting them Shetty and cutting them down and open this coconut water. But it was like, the takeaway for me was like, we didn't do much. Like all we did was go take them some extra food that we had. And it was the biggest thing to him. And it was like, he was indebted to us, like of his joy of like, let me, I'll do whatever

and help you. And then we ended up making him a home, um, like a little cinder block home. And I'll just never forget those things. Cause again, like sometimes just getting in front of people and being in the right, I mean, I'm a big believer in environment and influences. So being in the right environments with the right influences, you never know what can happen.

And anyway, that was really big. But I'd say the other thing we saw down there too is just the power of service trips with people you love and care about or strangers. So for me, some of our strongest relationships are people that went on those trips together. Hey, a couple days together in service of something greater than yourself is really big. Because sometimes again, we just get in the argument like, you know, how's the weather? And have you seen the news?

And it's like, no, man, like what's hurting you right now? Like what's going on? I just, the other word for me, there was vulnerability. They're just highly vulnerable situations, but you gotta be vulnerable to be as valuable as you can be, you know, to yourself and others. So it's like self-transformation only comes from self-revelation.

You gotta drop the wall to open it up and get out there. So it kind of sounds like you have a belief that, even though I know the bars that you have are, it's a business, right? It's a business that you profit from, you make money from, but it sounds like you believe into your core that through your bars, you can help change the world because you can help change some lives

because if you can even just make someone's life better for 15 minutes, then you're serving what you're trying to accomplish, it sounds like. Yeah, great question. Yeah, I'm trying to stay on mission. So for me, our mission is changing lives for the better. I hope we have that on the packaging. Maybe we don't on this one, but that's our mission.

And really it's extension of my personal life mission. Again, I feel most energized and alive when you're helping people live better. This one says life hanging bar. Oh, no. Another one. That's happening again.

That'd be funny to see how that would happen now. Oh, great. But yeah, I think for me, I read this in a book once, and I thought it was good. It was advice this guy was giving. He said, you'll only hear about 1% or less of the people that you make a positive difference on. And it basically was when you're discouraged and you don't think that you're making a difference, keep going and know that you are making a difference.

And so I think for me, seeing those moments, like you said, that 15 minute or that interaction, like that stuff is so life-giving and reaffirming that you are making a difference, keep going, like stay the course with that. But yeah, I mean, to me, I've never been motivated by making money, I'm motivated by making a difference.

And I've learned that if you can do that well and it can grow from that, then you can just make a bigger difference. Because I've been fortunate to talk to a few other business owner guys. And they're like, yeah, well, the best way you can make the most difference is make a bigger business. So there still is that motivation

to make the business excellent and do all that. And again, it's hard and you know, we're trying to figure all those things out still, but keeping the core there, keeping the heart there and not shying away from that and making sure our whole team is grown that because like we talked offset, like you said, sometimes when people grow and you get disconnected from the founder, you get disconnected from the CEO, you lose that culture, you lose that kind of original excitement and then it's just another job and it's just another thing. And, you know, like this place is awesome.

Like you guys clearly have a great work family and an environment, like I want that forever. And I probably care more about that than I should in some other things. And so that's probably the challenge for me. But again, like, why would you have a place you go hate to be at every day? Like, you know, like that makes zero sense to me.

And if I have anything to do with it, which I do in this case, like we don't want to be the case. Yes, you have to work and work is hard and anything meaningful takes time, energy, attention. There's peaks and valleys, but yeah, we just wanna stay hyper-focused on, hey, this is the mission. Stay mission-minded first and foremost

and go out and make a difference. And again, I always say rare care, act with rare care. Rare care for people, rare care and attention to detail, rare care to how you talk to people and let people know you care with that rare care, because sometimes that goes a long way. Yeah, hey, sorry, we made a bad batch. We don't know why it happened either, but we care.

We didn't. Those ingredients are still good, baby, so eat it up. We didn't want to make that bad item, and I'm sorry you're mad, but like, you know, like we're trying to do good, I can assure you. Your girlfriend, she will eat your jerky that you make, but she's not a fan of the sliders. Yeah, well, you know, she's coming around to it, but.

What are these sliders? You just, you said it was this ground beef? Yeah, so- You're letting ground beef just like sit out in the sun and dry out or something? What do you know? Dude, that's my next step, pretty much. I like this.

Sustainable, little fermentations. I was gonna say, I need to come back and bring you guys some of those. But yeah, so I bought, I love the local honey. I also love the local beef. So I've been buying from this farm, a cow for probably the last six or seven years. Not a live one, obviously butchered,

but grass fed grass finished local. And there was a kid I was mentoring. I was trying to find a way to connect with them. And he was telling me all about making jerky and getting it to hydrate. And I was like, that sounds cool. And so I just bought a little cheap dehydrator as a thing I thought we could do together.

And I didn't know how to make jerky. Truthfully, I just started with the ground. The most thing in the cow is the packaged one pound ground beef. So all I did was open up like I was making burgers, but just a little side and I just put it on the hydrator and just let it go. And it worked, right?

And it worked and I loved it. And then again, you know, a few of the people I've gotten to, everyone loved it. And again, it's not jerky if you're expecting jerky. So the naming of it. Yeah, she was trying to be sweet and polite. She was like, I don't really like it that much. Yeah, well, you know, she's.

But she said it's growing on her. Yeah, so, you know, again, patient persistence over here, but more for me to eat and to share for others that would appreciate, but yeah. I also make my steak strips though, so that's more like jerky. How much is the dehydrator? It's like 50 bucks.

Really? It's cheap, yeah, it's cheap. Yeah, my wife Stephanie makes jerky, well, she used to make it all the time, but she would use a little bit of like a, it's like a cure package, so it wouldn't be just like the raw ground beef sitting on the thing, dehydrating overnight.

And we found that actually ground turkey, I know nobody loves it, would be less greasy and be a lot more enjoyable to eat. The challenge of the cheap dehydrator with the ground beef is there's a little more fat in that than regular, so the fat goes to the bottom. And I was like, is this gonna catch my house on fire when I come?

Like, I don't know. But you do get like the white, seeing the white of the fat of that coming there. But I love it personally. And again, it's a way to diversify from my 20 or 10 bars a day. So I'll kind of like mix it up sometimes. So then it's like eat a pound or a half pound in a day

and just go back and forth. Yeah, I got a bag of these carnivore crisps the other day, the brisket, and it was almost all white. It was perfect. I know it was, it was so good. I was like, hmm. They probably messed up, but you're like, yes. Yeah, it was unbelievable.

Hey, thank you so much for your time today. Where can people, oh, there we go. You've got an old picture of the old. Oh, okay. Literally that package was very close to the Hanging Lives one and it was that green. It was the next iteration of that label, but it was that brown bag in the green one with no C. Where can people find out more about your bars and where can people find you?

Yeah. www.kaisconcepts.com. We'll make a gift code. What should the gift code be? Mark Bell. There you go. Power Project. Mark Bell, Power Project. We'll make them both. Use them both. So yeah, come check us out. Love to support. Yeah, like I said, we're going Sprouts nationwide here in June, they should be in stores. HEB, Sam's in Costco, hopefully Amazon.

As of right now, we self-fulfill ourselves from Amazon, but love people to come try the new bar for right now. We just have it on the website, but maybe we'll distribute that to some more places if you're up to it and see where we can help. I'll give you some words of wisdom from our good friend Ron Penna. Ron Penna once said,

oh, sounds like you need to make more money. So make more money and get those products into Costco and Whole Foods and whatever other place you can. Strength is never a weakness, weakness is never a strength. Catch you guys later, bye. Thanks for having me.