EFR 772: Why Closing a $1.6 Million Dollar Business is a Good Idea, Getting Engaged, and What Happens When Life Takes Over Your Training Routine with Maxx Chewning

00:00 - Speaker 1 leather on leather, hot leather on leather. That's gonna be the name of my only fans account.

00:09 - Speaker 2 Were you ever pissed when I started a podcast? Because you're like podcast guy.

00:13 - Speaker 1 I was like everybody, and their brother now has a podcast because I was pissed when you started vlogging.

00:18 - Speaker 2 I'm a genius. I love the idea that, uh, that I've locked down a girl. She can't leave me. You know there is no benefit to a man getting married. There is no upside to a man, there's only potential downside. The only upside is for a woman is.

00:32 - Speaker 1 Taylor, the reason you broke up with fitness weaker. You don't compete anymore. We were in the gym this morning. I think you did four sets of one exercise. Mm-hmm, five sets. Has that been the new consumption when it used to be the gym?

00:46 - Speaker 2 Well, that's what happens, dude. You fall in love, then you get fat and I stop powerlifting, because In what world would I keep doing a business that, when I put my heart and soul for five years it gets to 1.6. And then now we're gonna do 25 million dollars this year with Sarah strips. What's up, guys? My name is max tuning. I am Chase's younger, better-looking brother. Today we're gonna talk about a little bit about everything. You're gonna laugh, you're gonna cry, you're gonna cringe. It's gonna be a great time here on ever forward radio. Let's go.

01:22 - Speaker 1 Why are you the way you are? This is your number one source for inspiring content from people who are putting a purpose to their passion and Truly living a life ever forward. I am your host, chase tuning. This is ever forward radio. Hey, what's up everybody? Welcome back to ever forward radio if you're new to the show. Thank you so much for tuning in with me here today. This is a very special episode for a few reasons.

01:57 One it's always a pleasure to sit down with the younger bro, max tuning. This is his fourth, fifth, sixth time, I believe. Honestly, I'm beginning to lose track. He has Guested on the show over the years and every time we sit down we just have an incredible conversation. It's so chill, it's laid back, it's raw, it's honest. It's two brothers sharing what is working well in their relationship, their fitness, their business and this one does not disappoint. But more specifically, max and I got a great little podcast Collaboration day for you.

02:27 So if you're tuning in here today, maybe you're coming over from the interview I did on his show don't be sour. Or if you want to get more of the tuning brothers content here today, when you're done with ever forward radio, make sure to head over to his podcast. It's called don't be sour. I'll have this link for you down in the show notes. I was in his studio down in Houston, texas. We've got audio video. We've got hours and hours of team tuning for you here. So thank you all so much for tuning in. If you're coming over from don't be sour, max's content, what's up? Hello, good to see you. Welcome to ever forward radio.

03:00 My name is Chase. I'm an army veteran, certified health coach and wellness entrepreneur, been doing the show now for seven years. Today, not only a great brother podcast is the seven-year mark of ever forward radio. We are going into the seventh year. I launched this podcast January 22nd 2017. Now, I know a lot of you didn't even know what a podcast was back then. I was new to it, but I knew that I loved it and I had just been putting in episode after episode, week after week, year after year, and I'm so proud to make this one here today, the anniversary episode with max and kind of.

03:37 The third reason why today's episode is so special is because Not only is January 22nd the anniversary of ever forward radio, it marks the memorial of our dad's passing. If you're new to the show or maybe you haven't heard this in a while, our father, who was very near and dear to my brother, me, our whole family, our whole community. Honestly and unfortunately, he passed away at the age of 43 in 2005, after a very significant and hard battle, to put it lightly, with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. And ever forward was this mantra that he instilled in us growing up that he lived by, that he made his entire life by. He lived, it ate, it, breathed, it, walked the talk, all the things, and he just imprinted hard on what it means to move forward in life, no matter the obstacle that comes before you. And this is something that max and I have Carried the torch with for years, and you're gonna hear how max applied it in his apparel company ever for to peril and why. Now in today's episode he is announcing that he's actually taking a step back, no longer putting out fresh threads and ever forward apparel, because his new baby sour strips Well, new ish, it's about three, four years old now has just completely taken over his world. His business has taken over the sour candy world and you're gonna hear why he is closing the doors to ever forward apparel so that he can open the floodgates for sour strips.

05:07 Also into this episode we get a little sneak peek behind the curtain of what it's like to be engaged. He is newly engaged, shout out, taylor, cannot wait to welcome you into the family and what that means for his life, his personal life, how it has opened him up emotionally, mentally, and you know, even I poke a little little jab at him why it has maybe changed his fitness routine and what it means once you're in a serious relationship, long-term relationship, what it means to get engaged and how it might influence your, your goals, your why your frequency in the gym. But besides the podcast, we actually had a lot of great quality time together. I was there at his home, my wife and I were there, our moms and family members, our sister. We had a great Christmas time for about a week just setting up shop and it was really fun to celebrate Christmas with our nephew and some other family members. And I actually still had a gift under the tree this year for max and I had to put him on one of my favorite Daily routines, one of my favorite skincare items called era lab.

06:04 I actually hooked him up with the regimen. It's a super easy, clean, effective men's skincare routine from caldera lab. So, guys, listen up. Let me put you on this if you have a face wash or skincare routine, I would challenge you to maybe check it out. Look at the ingredients, do a little bit of research as to is this exactly what my skin needs? What are the ingredients? Are they safe? Are they effective? Do they have any clinical trials or evidence? Because caldera lab does their skincare lineup, the regimen, like I said, this face wash, nighttime multifunction serum, moisturizer are the three go-to things I would recommend any guy to swap for or to start with. And this is exactly what I gave max because I've been using it for years. I love it and, in fact, especially with the good their multifunction serum 97% of guys saw a visibly improved appearance in their skin. Me personally, I've noticed a reduction in fine lines and wrinkles. Overall, the best thing that I saw in my skin Was an improved skin tone, reduced redness, overall complexions just look great.

07:01 If you want to check out Caldera lab which I always encourage you to do all the things I talk about here on the show or because I use them, I love them, I believe in them. I didn't gift them out to my family members and even save 20%. Check the link in today's show notes under episode resources or heads at caldera lab calm. That's C, a, l, d, e, r, a, l, a, b, calm and a check out. Use code ever forward to scoop up any of their packages or any one-off item. You're gonna save 20% at caldera lab calm with code ever forward and if you don't love the way that your skin looks or feels, they got a money back guarantee. You got nothing to lose.

07:39 Alright, let's go ahead and jump into today's episode with the little brother, max tuning. We got audio for you here on the podcast. We got video. I'm gonna link the YouTube channel down in the show notes and, again, seriously, make sure to go ahead and check out don't be sour when you're done with this one, for even more amazing content with the bro, and I thank you and ever forward. What's up dude, what's up bro? This is a man feels like just five minutes ago we're on that side of the room. Yeah, you're gonna tell people. We just did a whole podcast. We did, we did. We just did a podcast for don't be sour. We're in the don't be sour studios. Mm-hmm Houston, texas, houston.

08:14 It's just easier to say Houston, but it's easier, right, yeah, but it's a sugar land.

08:19 - Speaker 2 This is sugar land. Sour strips warehouse in sugar land, Texas. What?

08:24 - Speaker 1 a time I just had like four strips, so in about five minutes and be all hopped up. But uh, welcome back bro. So up, dude you're. I think I was doing trying to do the math and I don't math good, but I think you are the most repeat person I've had on on the show. It's been like there's a third time. That's no, no, no, um one, oh. I think I'm like all the ones we've done. Yeah, I think you're six.

08:47 - Speaker 2 Oh wow, six times. People are gonna love it or hate it.

08:50 - Speaker 1 I don't know one or two, because I was like you know what, right before you started your show I was like you know, I would love to come up, come on, ever forward radio, let's do a little like a co-host situation. We did it. And then I like to believe that you love podcasting so much You're like, no, I'm gonna go do my own now. And then you did, and that was many years later and yeah many years later, to every dude the co-host that you can't. Yeah, what can what?

09:17 - Speaker 2 Partnerships in anything, bro. It's more of like I'd rather just not Potentially have a downward spiral if this goes awry and mess up a relationship. So, like I try to, I try to stay away from Partnerships, co things of like people that I really about a lot cuz I don't want to screw up that. I care more about the relationship out of the person. Then, like the thing we're trying to do, I totally see your point.

09:41 - Speaker 1 But I'm like man, I don't know, it was just like kind of hitting a wall with Topics or guests, but there is. There's a really unique component to it's. Also, it's really easy with you because we're brothers, yeah, like we know each other really well, but there's just such a unique, easy, your component to doing a podcast when you know that you don't have to do all the legwork, you don't have to carry it all.

10:03 Yeah and you know, especially someone like yourself and me. We got a lot in common. We talked about a lot of the same things. I was like, yeah, it would just be a relief, relief and was, and it was fun. And then you left me. For don't be sour.

10:18 - Speaker 2 Bro, that was you had the idea to do like co-host on stuff like Five years before I started.

10:26 - Speaker 1 And then it didn't happen, and then it did, and then it didn't happen Did were you ever pissed when I started a podcast?

10:32 - Speaker 2 because you're like podcast guy.

10:33 - Speaker 1 I was like everybody in.

10:35 - Speaker 2 Their brother now has a podcast because I was pissed when you started vlogging at one point.

10:42 - Speaker 1 It really I could tell I know yeah. Yeah, yeah, this is like I'm the vlog guy.

10:46 - Speaker 2 Yeah, it's something I'm not proud of, the way that I felt back then, honestly, I Think about it now, but already in our feelings, yeah, but no, I yeah I don't like the way that I felt about Back then when you like tried vlogging and I was more like mad that you were Like in my mind, what didn't you like about it. Because in my mind I was like Chase is trying to do what I'm doing, like, and I'm like this is my, because the YouTube was like such as more of a unique thing. Now. Now it's like, oh, social media, yeah, start podcast, whatever. Yeah, like then it was so unique that I'm like I've worked so hard and I've like tried to build this audience and I put in all this work and it's like a unique thing and I had to go through all the people talking shit about me, whatever. And then Now my brother's gonna try to do it, and what if he makes? What if he's cooler than I am at it? And it's a dumb way to think turns out he's not.

11:35 - Speaker 1 I Love, I loved YouTube, man. I've been. Honestly, youtube has been pulling on my heartstrings. Yeah, this last maybe year, dude, it was so much fun and the only reason I ever started a YouTube channel was because of when I would pop up on a video here and there with you, your people were like, oh, when it, when is? When is your brother gonna start a channel? When's your brother gonna start a channel? The only reason I started a YouTube channel what eight years ago was I was okay, I had a technically YouTube account linked to Gmail's if I get 500 subscribers. But I thought back then was like killing it, yeah, I'll start one. And then I put that out, I think on an Instagram story or something or maybe I said it one of your videos. Like three days later, I have like 700 subscribers. What I was like shit, the people really want me like everyone can do it.

12:24 - Speaker 2 Yeah.

12:24 - Speaker 1 I loved it. I loved YouTube. I still would love to come back to it in some capacity. I don't know what that's gonna look like, if it's even realistic, but I mean, you know, it's just there's some unique creative fun Outlet part of that. That is just you have to think about your whole day. We think about a vision for a video, and then you, you translate that, you execute it. You translate it, you edit it.

12:47 - Speaker 2 Dude, I loved it, I had so much fun, I think what I think, what I like about YouTube the most, is that I feel like a lot of people have these, whether it be like Ideas or creative outlets or something that goes on your brain and when, when you're doing YouTube, like you can almost do that in the comfort of your own brain, in your own time, and then you get to like put that out in the world, but it's exactly like it lets people into your brain and you don't maybe feel uncomfortable about Talking about these things and like front of other people, you can like I can just talk to, yeah, the camera, yeah, and I, technically they don't exist. I've never pictured. Well, I've never gotten nervous in front of the camera because I've always just been like, oh, it's just a camera, yeah, and then I put it out. But then I'm excited for the world to see Like the ideas I had in my brain and you know it.

13:32 - Speaker 1 Sometimes it goes well, sometimes it doesn't, but dude, I think I could have had something special, man, we did like a tuning rose channel.

13:39 - Speaker 2 Yeah, but I never want animosity of like Someone can't do this or like someone gets more into it, gets upset if, like you, can't yeah, you're inviting that potential into into that.

13:49 You know it could be really great or it could be really not great People yell me all the time to get Joe as like a permanent co-host, yeah, and I'm just like, yeah, until I do that, and but then he wants to not do it or something like I. So I just I'd rather, I try to, and I think it comes off as a way of like, oh, you just like don't want to do anything with anyone else and I'm more like I Try to think that I'm just being a better person and trying to save you, our relationship, by not potentially having a downward end.

14:25 - Speaker 1 You know, that's one thing I've come to Realize I think I realized it a long time ago, but actually really like trust it and embody it is that you have a plan in your mind for like damn your everything.

14:42 You whether I think you realize it or not, maybe this is just perspective now like years looking back of family dynamics, internet stuff, whatever you you have like this plan, this vision in your mind of how you want things to be in the end was up dude, and it's hard to kind of get on board with that.

15:02 Sometimes I think, yeah, youtube channel thing, you know, I was like, yeah, I'm not fucking stupid, you know. I was like, oh, like I have this idea for a video, I want you on it, kind of thing, and like I feel like you would do it kind of begrudgingly. But I was like you know, all right, well, you know, then I would see, then I would see you do or say something, and it like Made sense for that. I was like, oh, there, it is kind of thing You've got this, this vision in your mind that like it's hard to like and not necessarily Does anybody have to, in order you have to translate it to other people's, your life and do what you want to do, but like now, I get it. I'm a genius.

15:35 - Speaker 2 I don't disagree, dude. I like to think, I like to think myself like a mad scientist, yeah yeah, so you've been doing social media.

15:42 - Speaker 1 I'm gonna jump around a couple of my questions here. We're kicking off in a great way.

15:45 - Speaker 2 We really just got off of a two hour. Yeah, I got two hour podcasts and we took a three minute break and then here we are. I've never done a back-to-back podcast. Have you ever done back-to-back?

15:55 - Speaker 1 Yeah, it's not my favorite, honestly. Oh it's, but only swapping shows.

15:59 - Speaker 2 I've had like an hour in between a completely different guest, but I've never been like one for mine one for yours, same people.

16:05 - Speaker 1 It's honestly not my favorite.

16:07 - Speaker 2 I guess, well, because what if we talk about something over there, I know, talk about over here, I know, I know? Then I was like oh, that's why I made sure to do what mine first he did.

16:14 - Speaker 1 He was like no, because I have a couple jokes in mind. I want to make sure that you know I get him out on my show before you do well.

16:19 - Speaker 2 I'll tell you the biggest reason why I wanted to do my show first was because I knew I was gonna ask you to be my best man. Oh. I didn't want the conversation to come up in here.

16:31 - Speaker 1 I'm gonna ask my show. I just smacked you, sorry, so now I'm your best man. You are, you're engaged.

16:37 - Speaker 2 You're my bestest minch.

16:40 - Speaker 1 Was that?

16:41 - Speaker 2 You know I'm gonna speak your freaky-deaky. You don't watch the office. Oh, Of course I watch the office. Yeah, Dwight gets married in Bestest minch. That's the gym is the bestest minch, but what is that?

16:52 - Speaker 1 He's not a beat farmer, be farmer. What is that Quaker? Quaker what it's? Some true farm, yeah, it's like origins. Anyways, you give me all distracted. I was saying oh, you're, so, yeah, best man, mm-hmm. Which means you're getting married, which means you're engaged. Now, what's that are?

17:12 - Speaker 2 We're over two months in November. Yeah, two months. October 24th was Mm-hmm 24th 20. Remember that, whatever the Tuesday was whatever, the 22nd, 24th, I guess 24.

17:23 - Speaker 1 I love you. I love you, right, yeah. So what's it get was being engaged like with you or for you. Well, it is.

17:31 - Speaker 2 You know, it's just like oh same kind of thing afterwards.

17:33 I don't know, I think it more I get it. I Love the idea that that I've locked down a girl. She can't leave me, you know, but no, I she can, she better not. I love the excitement of knowing that I've like found my person and that I've of established this foundation, this relationship and this promise to to her that you know, that we're gonna, we're gonna try out this whole life thing, you know, until the wheels fall off and I seeing her super excited about it, and every time I Like look at her hand and look at the ring.

18:15 Yeah you know that that she got it like reminds me of that and I, yeah, I'm really excited. I, I was someone who I Listen and watch a lot of content. I watched a lot of content, just in general, and I like to absorb a lot of things, even if I it's like extreme stuff, like in the the red pill space of you know, you know there's there is no Benefit to a man getting married, there is no upside to a man, there's only potential downside. The only upside is for a woman. And I will say that, oh yeah, well, because they would say, like they're like, what benefit does a man get by getting married?

18:55 - Speaker 1 They're like that, that's the concept, like there's, like a woman gets Actually saying getting married, or like falling in love and like having getting married, getting physically married, like getting legally married, getting legally married.

19:08 - Speaker 2 They said that there's like zero upside for a man, there's only the potential downside and loss of every you know, loss of all your stuff, kind of you know. That's one way to look at life, yeah, and so what? I would absorb all these things, and I, and I especially, because I know it was single for so long that I just assumed that I you were single for seven years. Yes, seven or eight years and.

19:31 But now, as someone who is on the other side of the table, where I've mentally fallen in love and fatuated with her, it is a beautiful thing.

19:43 - Speaker 1 You know how you get in between meals or you're on the go and you just need a quick snack, but you want to make the best choice possible for your health and wellness goals. You're not trying to put any more crap in your body. You want something that's gonna maybe fuel. You give you something that's actually good for your gut health, not to mention, ideally, something that's protein packed. Well for me, when I'm in this situation, before I get hangry, I reach for the grass-fed and grass-finished beef sticks from today's sponsor, paleo Valley. Now these aren't just amazing, they aren't just delicious and coming.

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21:16 Click the link in the show notes today. I got an exclusive offer for you. This link only will give you 80% off details around the show notes today under episode resources. What, now that you're in LERB? What do you think? What busted you open the most? What was the biggest Misconception you had about? Like oh wow, never find love, I'll never settle down. Or like marriages, all these other things where now you're realizing kind of like, oh like, that's not true.

21:46 - Speaker 2 At all, if I can be totally honest, this safe space.

21:51 - Speaker 1 You're in the circle of trust.

21:53 - Speaker 2 I thought that, because this is what I experienced, I Basically took every experience that I've had with women and and assumed that is the deep, that is how they all are, like I was like this is just how they all are because every single one has had some Part of that right and it really comes down to like I think that I used to think that all women would be, would be like promiscuous and and like messing around messing around.

22:28 Texting other guys, talking to other guys, justifying why something that is like something that they should be doing is fine, or all these things that I just I Whatever, whatever, there, there who hurts you max like whatever they're texting me when we were just started getting involved. They're texting these other guys and stuff and I get I wouldn't like, as you could look at it as like an insecurity thing, but it was just more like I experienced. Right, I would, I would.

22:54 - Speaker 1 So why wouldn't it happen?

22:55 - Speaker 2 That's where I'm like trying to like compete. When I'm like talking to someone, I'm still competing with all these other guys and Taylor was the first girl that I've ever met that like From the second. We had our first interaction and it was just like game over. It was like I, the way that I felt about her. I could tell she felt about that, about me, and it was. It was actually One of the things that stood out the most about Taylor. I mean, a lot of things stood out, but um, so Kind of the backstory is we. We met through mutual friends and then we our first date was a Mexican restaurant, obviously, and we were technically for the record.

23:34 - Speaker 1 Didn't I meet Taylor first?

23:35 - Speaker 2 Yeah, it was that on a technical, we're at parties and stuff Like, but we met through friends. She was that it doesn't really matter like we. We met at party. We kind of knew we who each other were, but never interacted before. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. We met, went on a date, went on a date for four hours, which is against every man code. You're supposed to be like 30 minutes.

23:54 - Speaker 1 Make her want more leave you know, wait, so you were going into the day going. Alright, I only have this amount of time. Oh, no, no, no, I've never followed that like I think it's stupid.

24:04 - Speaker 2 Okay, but went on a date four hours, got along fantastic. I mean, who goes in day for four hours at one play? We didn't go. We didn't like go to other places, stayed at a restaurant for four hours. They didn't kick you out. I know we were after 90 minutes.

24:17 I know so yeah, so we got along really well. And then, like the second date was Then she like came over like two days later we like watched a movie, ate some pizza, so it's got like casual. And then we kind of joked around I think it was the third one, yeah. So we kind of joked around, we're saying hey, for the third date, like Taylor, you have to. Like you have to like what we do is up to you, like you have to plan on a third day, okay. And she was like let's go to. Her idea was let's let's take your dog and you and let's let's drive an hour to Gallison and like let him run around and like Go spend the day at the beach right yeah the beach area and I was like wait what you know, you just don't like, you don't like go to the bar.

25:01 - Speaker 1 You want to make it about me and you want to do something that isn't like me buying a bunch of stuff.

25:06 - Speaker 2 It was like it didn't involve like us. Just everything before was like dates, typical dates. It was like restaurant, go to bar, get drunk or drink or something. It was like let's go have an experience together. Let's go drive for an hour We've only known each other for like two dates and I was like, okay, and it was so fun and it was, we were singing songs on the way up there and it was just. It was unlike anything I'd experienced before.

25:33 - Speaker 1 I remember talk I don't know if it was specifically around this date, but I'm like, very early on I Think it may have been like the second or third I was like, oh, like the same girl. I said what happened? He's like, yeah, I Just don't immediately want to get rid of her, mm-hmm, that's how you know it was.

25:50 - Speaker 2 Yeah, that's the first time she ever stayed over in the morning I didn't just be like when is she gonna leave? And that sounds like a goofy thing, but like I'm, it was like hey, let's keep hanging out.

26:03 - Speaker 1 What is that? What is that like? Go back to that moment, go back to that memory, that that, because it's more than just like oh, I want to keep hanging out with you. You probably were like wrapping your head around, like why is this different? Why do I feel different? Why don't I want her to go? Were you aware of that kind of stuff when it was happening? Or just reflected? I?

26:20 - Speaker 2 think I wasn't like, I wasn't like what is like?

26:24 - Speaker 1 along came Polly, where he's, like you know, putting in like a formulation of like yeah, yeah, I'm optimal girl or whatever, like my algorithm of risk, yeah.

26:31 - Speaker 2 It wasn't like I was processing all these things, but I think what was happening is that everything we were talking about the, the way she would answer Questions, the way she would talk to me, the her like, though the words she would use I was just, I was just like this girl is different and factuated. It was. I was like she's smart, she's articulate, she has conversation. She's not just like an attractive girl that I want to hook up with. It was like it was. She had like a lot of depth to her and and I I think I just in my brain, I was like.

27:09 It wasn't like I was thinking about this in the moment, but I think just something stood out about her, about the way she was like talking with me, that I could tell that I'm gonna use these words, which is a weird thing, but like I Felt like she was a pure soul, like oh wow, I felt like Pure. I felt like she was just like a I had always, for the longest time, I'd always said like I was, I've always been attracted to like the southern girl, yeah even in Virginia you had a type forever was just like the other bell.

27:38 Yeah, just like. Yeah, wants to look, not wants to look cute and go out like on a Sunday, whatever for the river reason. Just that's how I was in Virginia. And then With Taylor, I was like I, she was like checking all these boxes, I wasn't like doing it mentally, but she was just the one. After the first date, I deleted all of my dating apps. Wow, yeah, because I was just like I want to keep hanging out this girl and like I don't need to, even after you. And I did that great Bumble campaign. I know well, normally, bro, I would like, if I went on a date with a girl, I would, I mean immediately. I'd be like you know whether she's attractive or whatever. It's, just like the next day I'd be. Even if I was still texting her, I'd be like Swiping like, like.

28:21 - Speaker 1 What is the next candidate? Like you know, like like what else is out there? No real commitment on yeah. I was just like what else is out there?

28:27 - Speaker 2 like, okay, I'll go in dates but I don't need to commit to one girl. But, like when I interact with Taylor, I was like I want, like at least for the time being, I don't want to even look at another girl and and from that moment I never, I never. From the moment that Taylor and I went on that first date which is when I consider us like of starting that, like my mindset on her was having that interaction with her, from that moment on I never, there was never a promiscuous Flirty text I sent to any other girl. There's never just a flirt. Yeah, there's just no flirting. It was like I was laser focused on.

29:06 Taylor and I didn't care about I, was like I want to make, I want to keep working with, I want to keep talking to this girl.

29:13 - Speaker 1 Man, I hype what I.

29:15 - Speaker 2 I simp hard for Taylor and I think you should Absolutely.

29:19 - Speaker 1 man. I was telling you the same thing on on your show. It was like when I met May.

29:23 - Speaker 2 It was Game over yeah and the craziest thing is, I was like I think that she feels the exact same way I. I, you can totally feel. I've never gotten an inkling that Taylor does not yeah feel the same way that I feel about her.

29:39 Everything she says to me, the way she like interacts with me. I've never had to Worry about like anything with her. I've I've never. The perfect thing. Here's the perfect scenario. I don't know we're going to rant about how awesome Taylor is, ship it, but one time this is like Maybe like well over a year of dating, I had to go travel for something, and usually she goes ever with me. But like this read, I was by myself and I had I was I like to watch like movies on planes. I don't do work or anything. I watch like Netflix or something, so download shows. But I had, she had an iPad so I'd take it to watch stuff and I I wanted to do like this transition, this scene for like my YouTube video where I put like a green screen on on the iPad so that can like go into another scene and post editing right. And when I did it, I was like I was like, oh, all of her photos are like synced to To her phone on iPad.

30:42 So when I opened it I was like, oh, these are all her photos and not one part of me was like I'm gonna go through, didn't? I immediately was like I don't need to look, like I don't need to. It's not an ounce of me is like I wonder if she has any Screenshots, anything, any, whatever. I don't care like I trust her 100% because if you look over something you can find it. Yeah, and I just I've never. I've never been like who is she DMing? Because I've never felt like she's. I trust her 100%. And some people would be like that's dangerous, bro, but I'm like I don't think you understand how infatuated she is with me and I'm that way with her and I don't like with every other girl. It'd be like who are you texting? Why are you on your phone Like who's in your DM?

31:28 I've never needed to look at her DMs. I've never looked at Taylor's phone. I've never looked at any text messages on her phone. I've never looked. I just learned her like passcode, like a month ago I guess I was yeah, and the same way with me At any point. I'm like Taylor. At any point. Taylor can take my phone and spend hours looking for something and she won't find anything because there's nothing that exists, there's nothing that could be perceived to be taken the wrong way. Yeah, I fit this whole podcast.

31:54 - Speaker 1 I will, I'm gonna ask a question that I think a lot of people I love that girl. It's on their minds. Max, is Taylor the reason you broke up with fitness? Broke up with fitness? Let's paint by numbers here. Okay, so two years you've been dating Taylor. Right, you're not even engaged. I'm weaker, you're weaker, you don't compete anymore. We were in the gym this morning. I think you did four sets of one exercise, five sets. Wait, has your love for Taylor been? Has that been the new consumption where it used to be, the gym?

32:28 - Speaker 2 Well, that's what happens, dude you fall in love and then you get fat and you lose all your muscle.

32:33 - Speaker 1 You could see going to the vet.

32:35 - Speaker 2 No, I would not correlate my changing of mindset of fitness to anything to do with Taylor. Honestly, I think that's all personal decisions.

32:45 - Speaker 1 Like what.

32:47 - Speaker 2 Well, I stopped powerlifting because powerlifting is something that like I, just I was just strong. I never cared about being a competitive power. I always said I'm not a competitive powerlifter, I'm someone who trains in powerlifting fashion and I compete sometimes.

33:07 When it's convenient for me, when it's down the street, when I'm feeling strong, I'm not gonna travel. I'm not gonna get on a plane to go lift somewhere or to compete somewhere, I don't care about that. So I've always been like strong I guess, and I liked competing. I've competed like eight or nine or 10 times I've placed first in probably seven or eight of those I've just like I've don't. I never did any like national level competitions where I'd get smoked on it, but every competition I would just pick random ones and I'd just win right.

33:38 - Speaker 1 You think you would get smoked at your cause. You would compete, always, go to your best Like 165?

33:42 - Speaker 2 Cause that's yours. Yeah, Chase, there's some freaks of nature out there 165 pulling more than you yeah.

33:47 - Speaker 1 Oh yeah.

33:47 - Speaker 2 There's people that are like there's a guy that lifts at district barbell, my old gym that is 145 pounds and is deadlifting 700 pounds at district. I think I'm just it's disrespectful, honestly.

33:59 - Speaker 1 Yeah, they should kick that guy out, but no no, bro, like I'm, I'm.

34:03 - Speaker 2 How old is he? Young, 22, 23. Shut up, yeah, something like that. I think his name's Nabeel or something, I don't know. But anyway, I can, I train strength, whatever, and basically I got to a point of like I would say for me elite strength.

34:20 - Speaker 1 Yeah, like I got to commit, make this like a thing, yeah, I hit a 501 pound squat.

34:25 - Speaker 2 This is all. This is all at like, right around or under 170. Yeah, 170 pounds, 101 pound squat is in competition. I've hit a 650 pound deadlift sumo with a deadlift bar, but I've lifted conventional like 623 or 630. And then a 335 bench with no lift off, by the way, no spot. And so I got to this point. And then when I I associate all of my changing of my, my love for powerlifting to business taking over, because the amount, the amount of dedication and effort that I know that I'd have to put in to go above those numbers is a level of commitment that I don't have right now. Like, you can't, you can't deviate from your training. You can't. When you travel, you got to take, you need to go to specific gyms, you specific barbells, you need to take your equipment.

35:22 - Speaker 1 Take your food.

35:23 - Speaker 2 Yeah, powerlifting is less stressful about that, you can just eat whatever. But like you got to take out your equipment you got. Does this gym have a deadlift bar? Does it have, you know, the right equipment? It was just like you had to plan and strategize and I'm like I ain't making money from this and I've already hit these monumental numbers that not only am I super proud of are are cool, huge benchmarks objectively yeah.

35:46 Objectively very strong, very, very, very strong. And I just got to the point where I was like I don't want to put in what's necessary to get above those numbers and lifting, not only do I think, also with my small frame, like and I've had some minor injuries here but I was like the risk to reward wasn't there and would deadlifting you know, seven plates, 675 or hitting 700 pounds, would that be cool? Yes, will it make me any happier? No, will. Will squatting 525 make me any happier than squatting 500? No, like, so I just don't care. Yeah, and I think that I used to think that I had to always be the deadlift guy, strong guy, but I think I get to a point.

36:29 That's really what you got known as yeah and I just yeah, with work and everything I just now, when I would lift, I couldn't just focus on the weights, I would be thinking about all the stress of work. I could never just turn it off. And I love fitness, I love working out. I still vary. I do it most weeks. I do it, you know, six times a week. I, um, I like to maintain my physique and uh, but I just for strength. I think that was a very big part of my life that I'm comfortable and happy and fine with Like being like. I'm done with that, I'm done. I'm done. Competing, I'm done. Powerlifting. It doesn't. It doesn't fit in my life anymore.

37:12 - Speaker 1 So it was like a measurement of happiness. It sounds like you recognize kind of at a point of I either need to really commit in order to get the same level of happiness out of it, or was it this recognition that, oh, I already have happiness in other areas of my life and I don't need to chase further happiness in this avenue?

37:30 - Speaker 2 Yeah, it's just like everything changed Now when I moved to Texas was essentially the decline of my like. I hit my bench PR here and I hit a little heavier deadlift while I was here, but really my my peak, my strength gain in peaking Really. Yeah, it was because when I hit the 500 pound squat and the 315 bench that never hit before and then a six like 35 deadlift, was two weeks before I moved to Texas. I competed in Virginia and I should have just gone out at that point because I competed one last time in Virginia. It was like I'm moving in two weeks I hit these. I hit 500 squat like a monumental number. I finally hit 315. I hit a deadlift. I hit all PRs first place leaving Virginia Like that should have been like the epic ending ending.

38:17 But because I at that point, leading up to that, all my friend, I would have friends like my circle of friends were like no one was so stressed with work is like all of our buddies at district barbell, the gym that I owned, part owned We'd all lift together, strength train together, work out at the same time. Everyone was pushing each other and then when I came here, everyone's so business focused and then I didn't have this community of like the I didn't really gravitate towards, like people who power lifted. So I'd lift with like my friends here, like Christian Shalie, they don't care about power lifting, so I would like kind of work out with them and I started traveling more and getting more of them works. I was traveling.

38:53 - Speaker 1 So the community dynamic kind of changed the influence, your training style.

38:57 - Speaker 2 Yeah, the people I was lifting with in Virginia strength, strength, consistency, focus on gym, and here is just more like bodybuilding, yeah, and like, yeah, there's powerlifting community. I just, I don't know I think is it was just a different point in my life and now it's, I'm fine with it not being like a big focus of my life.

39:18 - Speaker 1 So with fitness having been such a big focus of your life and it not being a big focus of your life now. Do you feel like there's? Well, fitness is definitely a big part of it, just right, ok. Ok, so that unique aspect is is there. Do you feel like there's something missing then, especially because you built up like a career and identity around such a unique aspect of fitness? The fact that you chose to not really do it anymore. Is it like, ah, like there's something not there anymore?

39:49 - Speaker 2 I definitely probably had some a little bit of battles of like, especially with like, maybe work or my social presence of people that I feel like I'm like. I felt like if I wasn't allowed to stop doing something that people knew that I was doing, like oh, I'm a powerlifter, I can't stop being, I have to, I can't I have to keep going.

40:09 - Speaker 1 People only come to me and keep watching myself Because, like I, and if I?

40:13 - Speaker 2 stop. It's because I couldn't get any stronger and I'm giving up and I'm quitting and excuse me, but I felt like that was what was kind of going through my head and once I got over that of I was like no one really cares, honestly, and again, I wasn't really money was a byproduct of like building my audience through that, but like I didn't make any money directly from powerlifting. I never sold programs. I never sold apps.

40:39 - Speaker 1 So you never got into like coaching or anything right Like no, no, which not to like derail your story, but that's actually a really odd thing.

40:48 - Speaker 2 Oh, I could have made hundreds of thousands of dollars by selling like deadlift programs If for sure.

40:54 - Speaker 1 Imagine this for how many years, if people were like with the numbers and the age and the weight that you were at like to just give them your program dude, you could have made a killing.

41:05 - Speaker 2 Yeah, I just I didn't, I didn't feel right about it. Why didn't?

41:08 - Speaker 1 why I would always the proof is there. You were doing it, yeah, but like, and you even got, didn't you get? A personal trainer certification at Gold's? Yeah, yeah, so you had credentials.

41:20 - Speaker 2 I. I always felt like my deadlift, specifically with all about deadlift, was I. Just there was no. I would follow random programs and then I would always like take some bits and pieces and programs and then kind of make my own mumbo jumbo right, but I had no rhyme or reason of to like we'll see, even say like scientific. There was no backing or reasoning of why I was lifting specific weights that week, that day, what percentages those were, why I'm doing these reps. You couldn't trace it back to the program.

41:56 - Speaker 1 I was just like.

41:57 - Speaker 2 I just want to do that, I just am lifting more this week, like, whereas people have. Like, you have to, you have to build up and you taper and you do this and you're lifting these weights, you don't overload. And I just basically was like there's so many, there's so much more, there's so many more knowledgeable individuals that actually know what they're talking about, and I just I just lift the weight for whatever reason, I just keep getting stronger, like, and yeah, I could have people could have been like, yeah, I don't care about that. If I could have been honest with people and be like this is a program, it's just what I do, but I just so what about it? I just didn't feel right about it. I just didn't feel because in my mind I was like Jim Winnler, five through one is a program that I think. I love it. Did you preach that? From the mountaintop I have?

42:39 I think it's it was so enjoyable and in my mind I was like that is a, that is a better program than I could write, because there's reasons why he's doing it. I'm like that's 20 bucks, get that. Don't listen to me, Get that. Yeah, follow that. And I just, I don't know, I, I never got into it, I never.

43:01 - Speaker 1 Yeah, I just know. So you moved here and a lot. I should prep this by saying a lot of your backstory a lot of you people can find I'll link down in the show notes of video notes, other episodes you've been on to kind of really learn more that needy greedy. But so you moved here and your training style changed. Your relationship has changed, your community has changed in a big way and my words, not yours, I'll say moving here, you plugged into a different community to get things going for yourself and for business and I feel like your community dynamic has changed a little bit over the years. Relationships, I mean, you got some great people, great relationships people with here, with people that are here, but it's just like is everybody getting busier? Is everybody getting older? What's the what's the like, the drawback to? I want to say draw back to relationships, but it feels like relationships are just harder to maintain nowadays and is like friends and stuff with your friends, yeah, even when you got your core, like your circle, your people right.

44:03 Have you experienced that and why do you? Why do you think that?

44:05 - Speaker 2 is yeah for sure. And the last thing I'll say on the whole moon in Texas and like shifting in fitness is basically I traded. I traded like constant fitness, strength growth for business growth, like it was almost like I need to choose one or the other because there is no world where I can do the level of business that I'm doing and continue and I know maybe there's people out there that can but like to do what I'm doing every day and to put that the focus that I know that needs to go happen to hit strength levels Impossible. I would, I would implode.

44:43 - Speaker 1 I would implode. So I want to get to a lot more of the business stuff here in a minute because that's definitely been a clear trajectory shift in you.

44:50 - Speaker 2 I think, yes, I moved to Texas because I it was kind of like everyone's, you know an influencer. We hang out a lot, we film videos throughout the day, and then it's like when I moved here, the longer I've lived here, the less that all of that happens Really. Yeah, you know, before it'd be like middle of a, we'd go work out at like 11 on a Wednesday and then after that go get some lunch and then just head back to the Christian's house or something Maybe, like throw on a show, watch something, maybe edit Christian Guzman let's, yeah, let's go.

45:23 Let's go to the bar, let's go do something fun, and now it's just like everyone's gotten so busy, busy, busy, busy, busy busy. The businesses are not that they weren't big back then, but you know, when you're doing down here on revenue and then you're doing here, like your output is going to be way higher when you're up here. And yeah, it's, I get it, I understand it, but it definitely sucks.

45:48 - Speaker 1 So in an ideal world, what would you do to to change it? Not to say go back to the good old days, but because, look, you're different. They're different things are different now, but if that's what you want in the assumption, you'll make the assumption. That's what they want, not anybody in particular. But like what would you do? How would you go about navigating, maintaining better relationships with your core people as an adult, as an entrepreneur?

46:10 - Speaker 2 I guess I always thought, I Guess I always felt like I wanted to hang out with all my friends here more than they wanted to hang out with, like All of our friends here max, you just like us way more than we like you.

46:21 Yeah, basically I don't really know what I think should change or whatever I I think everyone just needs to understand that like not everyone needs to like do it all on their own and, you know, be in this entrepreneurial journey by themselves, like it's, it's okay to like just rely. I guess I tried to be the example that you can build a business and still Go to dinner a couple times a week with your friends.

46:53 You can build a business and still watch Go to bed before two a yeah, tv shows at nighttime, because I would look at the other people if, if they weren't doing this thing. So I was like, wow, it's because they're working hard on the meetings, because they like care more about business than I do, and like, no, I just like it's not everything to me like I wanted to grow. So, yeah, I don't even know it's hard to you know, hindsight's, 2020, and I don't know what I would possibly change. But I, I appreciate every stage of my life and I'm the happiest that I've ever been. Now I associate a lot of that with Taylor, but I mean, I'm the most stressed I've ever been. Everything is at an all-time high, except my strength.

47:31 - Speaker 1 Everything's the highest my love, my happiness, my stress. Yeah, would you say that you have meaning in your life right now? Yes, and what does that feel like to you?

47:45 - Speaker 2 meaning in my life at this moment is I Was just talking to my fiance, taylor about this is. I who's your fiancee? I'm talking as if the people dude. I haven't heard of her. Taylor Kessler miss Texas 2020 and 2021 technically, yeah, loophole.

48:02 I I told Taylor that I live. I that only live my life. A quarter mile in time I I look at where I want Our life to be in five years and I work backwards from that. I was talking to her there today about this. I was saying, you know, in five years I want us to Like this new house we want to build. I want it to be built. I want to have another dog. I want us to have one or two children. I want us to be married. I want to.

48:31 I want to make sure, when we have kids, that I'm at a point that I can Be at every single event of those away. A little more of those kids lives. And now it's like, how do I get there? So that's why I picture what I want my life to be in like five years and I go, how do I get there? And that's how I live my life. And that's like the purpose now is to build this, this home and this family with her and to build a future where you know, mike, my kids don't have to worry about Bills, taylor doesn't need to worry about bills, we'll have this house that's gonna be paid for and it's gonna be like, no matter what happens, we have this home, we have you know, and like I want to work towards these things and I have these big goals and I just kind of work backwards at this point.

49:17 - Speaker 1 I feel like you and I in some ways it's a way to say this I'm realizing our differences more and more, and I said something out loud recently I'm good-looking, you're not. That's the biggest lies. Big, leaner, small leaner only the cold plunge. We already went over that, trying to find it still. I said this thing out loud to a friend of mine recently. We're talking about business in life and he's a couple years older, he's married, he has kids and kind of just like you know, shooting the ship but also getting real and I said this thing out loud.

49:53 It really has been like sticking with me for a couple months now.

49:55 I have so much meaning in my life, like I have meaning fulfillment, I am content, I feel like I have purpose, I feel like I have Such high levels of these things Dude's finally waking up I have such high level of these things that I feel like people go years and years and decades, if not ever like and they don't have it.

50:17 And I said it out loud and kind of made me realize how much in my professional life, in my business, that was kind of I Don't say limiting my potential. I was being naive, maybe because what I've been doing, especially being self-employed, doing my own thing for like six years now, was always more in the pursuit of alright, I'm chasing this, and if it makes me feel better and if I'm getting healthier and if I'm working through, you know, traumatic events and my physical, mental, emotional, spiritual well-being are progressing, then it has to be great. And then one day I'm just gonna make it and I said it out loud and kind of we went over the other day too about you know, like passion doesn't really pay the bills.

50:54 You know, and it's like great, I have such meaning and fulfillment in my life. And then I realized how much that was blinding or I was being naive to Like the drive and potential and like business acumen that I see in you. And I'm not to say that you haven't had meaning and purpose in your life, but I kind of feel like what you just described, like you have developed now over the last like two years, where for me it's been the last six or seven, and now I'm just kind of doing this, this flip of going like oh okay, so if I have meaning and fulfillment in my life, how well, how now can I be like a better owner, a better boss, a better Business man and all this stuff? And so like I kind of like look to a lot of what you have done and try to reverse, engineer, that of like now.

51:37 I'm saying it out loud into myself like I will max do how max operate in the situation. So, meaning of a film I don't know if there's like a question in here, I'm just saying like meaning and fulfillment is such a unique thing, especially as it ties into like when you're doing your own thing for making a living that I don't know.

51:53 - Speaker 2 I'm just kind of like unpacking an unique way now I think when you get older, you start realizing that it's good to have like a purpose and a reason to, you know, get up and get out of bed and go, yeah, work and better yourself. And you know, business has done that a lot for me, relationship has done that a lot for me and it's and I think, the biggest thing is just getting older and realizing that, like you know, there's, there's there's bigger things than you in this world, and so it's like you know, when you're gone, how can you set up for the people you love and the people around around you to be in the best scenario, to leave, you know, a mark and Exciting?

52:31 - Speaker 1 thing, man, it is, it is. What are you doing differently now? How is how has, if it has, your dynamic change with, let's say, social media? Because that's kind of like how you, that's definitely how you got your start. Do you still love social media the way you do now that you did when you started?

52:48 - Speaker 2 No, I, it's just different.

52:52 - Speaker 1 Yeah, now it's different, or are you different?

52:56 - Speaker 2 probably both. I Think my, my view of social media is like I was obsessed with the sessas, that it was like my world, and then and then when, like you know, tick-tock and Social media started exploding where, like, everyone became an influencer, it became less of this, like more unique thing and, I guess, looted, like yeah, and a lot of it was like maybe worry of, oh, I need to keep up on my views are going down or whatever. But I think the biggest saving grace of Social media whereas not only did I not go into the the dark side of YouTube and get into like Desperate for views, where I'm like doing ridiculous things and becoming one- of these only making things that you, you know that they want now, yeah, and just doing these like rid.

53:42 There's a lot of like just like Ridiculous people on social media that are making a bunch of money, that are getting crazy views, but I'm just like I don't want to be that person, like I don't, like I dislike what they're doing. It's like they're gonna grow out of this. They're they're thinking this is like funny, but it's like it's not, like it's so immature and you can't like keep that up really.

54:04 Yeah, you can't. And what saved me a lot from that has been Probably sour strips of how not only focused and passionate about the business, but also just the success of the business has allowed me to be like. Now social media can go back to be in what you started it as of, for fun.

54:24 - Speaker 1 I only make what I want to make yeah, and it's like I can take.

54:29 - Speaker 2 I was talking to Taylor about like I don't have a laptop, for example, and when I travel it's like I just need to do some emails, so I'll do them on the iPad or my phone, and if I need to edit a video, like I'm, I'm never traveling for like longer than like a week or something. I was like, oh, I just I'll be one video ahead or I can just take that week off, like I just don't need to like I don't.

54:47 - Speaker 1 I don't need a laptop.

54:48 - Speaker 2 I don't need to do anything on a laptop you feel like you have to do it.

54:52 Yeah, so it's like at this point, like I'm like the money is still great from what I do on social media. It's I keep doing it as a big part of like, because it's a big part of my income, but I also love doing it and I've been doing it for like 10 years, so it's like a part of who I am. But also I Could stop doing it tomorrow and just focus on the business and I'll be fine, like I'm not just like saying it, like I will, I'll be fine, like I don't need it anymore, but I I need it. In terms of like, I love the way it allows me to vent and talk and I've never been a therapy, but I feel like YouTube is like my therapy. I I never been a therapy.

55:26 - Speaker 1 No I.

55:27 - Speaker 2 I talk about stuff on YouTube that I think a lot of times I'm just saying because I just want to get it out, mm-hmm myself, because a lot of times I want I'll cut out parts of my video and stuff and I was like why am I getting so personal to like the internet? Why am I literal strangers? Why am I, yeah, like like saying like such Deep things and like how I'm? I just like I see everything, I'm thinking, I say it and put it out camera and sometimes I'm like I'm putting too much out there.

55:53 Clearly it needs to come out, or else it wouldn't yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, but I don't know like lights different. I still love social media, but you know I go like a month without posting an Instagram photo. I but I, I still love, I still love YouTube like I really do and I like now I'll I'll probably keep making videos for a long, long, long time. I haven't made videos in the past like a week and a half, well really well during the break in the family in town and it's been like kind of weird because I'm like, oh, this is like the eighth day in a row.

56:21 - Speaker 1 I haven't, yeah, I haven't filmed, like you kind of like, alluded to it, was it like? Was it this year, last year? You're like oh, my 10 year anniversary is coming up, like the end of YouTube, the end of my channel. Yeah, I'll probably never stop, you know stuff.

56:34 - Speaker 2 Well, I mean no cuz, like something's always happening, like I'm at this point now when I think my content's like super boring and repetitive because I'm just every video.

56:41 - Speaker 1 We're not going anywhere, yeah we're not going anywhere.

56:44 - Speaker 2 Every video right now is just like here's a warehouse update, here's a business update, business update, business update, business update. But I'm like I got the wedding coming up, then it's, I'm gonna start building this house. I'm like that's gonna be cool content, yeah, and I think it'll be cool that Down the road, like my kid can be like hey, dad, like what were you like when you were 25? Back, I'll show you. I got 10 years of. I'll show you. Yeah, you know, and yeah, I just I really like it yeah so sour strips Mm-hmm.

57:15 - Speaker 1 That's the big baby right now that you got going on. It's this Huge candy company that's taken over the world. What is your biggest pain point right now? Running sour strips cash flow. Besides that which is always the problem.

57:34 - Speaker 2 I mean, my default answer is always just like being a boss, being a leader, because it's like I didn't well being a boss or being a leader.

57:41 - Speaker 1 Do you view them as the same thing? Kind of okay, kind of there's no right or wrong answer. I'm just curious.

57:47 - Speaker 2 Yeah, I um, you know it was all it was like for the longest time I would, when I had, like you know, just like doing the clothing or whatever, I would always just like I need just someone to help me pack orders right. Or, like Duke, I was just like I just need like one person to kind of tell me do like one thing. But there's a big difference to now of having like 15 people that are like relying on me for life, their livelihood, like all of their money comes from you know, all their Work, income, full-time employment, yeah, comes from me, and like I can't like I need to keep this train going so they can keep making money, and so that's like a big stressful thing and just yeah, yeah, the biggest struggle is, like you know, comparis, comparing yourself to other, like businesses and what people are doing and you know everyone will try to make it seem like they're doing like you know way better than they maybe are or something, and you're like compare yourself and you know that kind of sucks comparisons of thief, of joy and but I'm really enjoying that

58:48 quote I'm very hands-on in the business and I do it on Purpose. A lot of people like delegate, delegate. I was like, yeah, I delegate and then, and then what I would do, what would I do, like something else in the business? I was like, no, I do everything already, like there's not something that. I'm like man, I really wish I could do this, but I just have all this other stuff. Yeah, no, no, I do the things I want to do and I do delegate the out. So when I talk about, I'm so stressed, I'm so stressed I was like that wouldn't change. I was like I don't want to just not do anything in the business. I'm doing the high-level stuff. I love working on the business and love it, love it.

59:22 - Speaker 1 If you could wave a magic wand over your business, over don't sour strips, to Make it like the smoothest operation, the most successful, like you know, solve any pain point what would that look like? But you walk in from start to finish. It's just like the perfect day.

59:43 - Speaker 2 It would be a perfect, perfect flow of Inventory and forecasting of inventory in all the meaning what like, what you have, what's coming in, and how much we need how much?

59:58 - Speaker 1 is orders are coming. How many?

59:59 - Speaker 2 orders are coming in. How's that going to affect all of our packaging, all these things? And we're doing a lot of things to implement, to get better at that, and I plan is to I know I actually interviewed a couple people to like have full-time people do that, because that's the biggest stress of my day is like Ordering, enough running out. But but with our business, the way that we're growing, it is not just as easy as a lot of people think of like a plug-and-play, like when you have the growth that we're having, it is hard to forecast because you can't just Extrapolate the data.

01:00:30 - Speaker 1 It's not always.

01:00:31 - Speaker 2 If then, if then yeah, and it's not just like oh well, what you do last month, add 20%, you could. You could plan all these things and then out of nowhere, it's like Insane bucket ship growth of like another account or something and like. So it's just like it's very hard to do it, but I can't you just plan for insane rocket ship growth?

01:00:47 - Speaker 1 You would think you would think I Just take whatever project, whatever projection. It would be like you know what Times 40%, yeah.

01:00:56 - Speaker 2 I mean no, I mean the business, it's really really, it's really fun. But I think, like I'm always like in my brain about a lot of things. You know, if there's many days where I'm just kind of waiting on some emails and I'm like what should I be doing? I'm always like what should I be doing? Like what should I be doing to push this brand further? If I'm waiting on some emails, like what should I be doing? What should I be doing? What should I be doing? And yeah, I'm always like in my head about it Because I don't have, like I try to. I always say it a lot and I don't mean it in like a gloating way, but like I don't have any partners in this business that are. I mean, if you look at, All the responsibility, all the answers all the problems are here.

01:01:36 Yeah, you look at like. I mean, look at companies like and this is not to bash anything but like, look at companies like Logan Paul with Prime and stuff.

01:01:43 - Speaker 1 Oh yeah, the energy business Logan Paul is not Figuring out like optimizing where he's not. He's not in warehouse, not doing inventory.

01:01:52 - Speaker 2 He couldn't like. He's not in the business like I am, for better or worse. He's doing bajillion times better than me and it may be that's a better strategy to get stronger. Implement is it implemented like. You know business people to like so you can just be the face of it, but like, if that's what you want For what I'm doing with the business, it is unlike anything else of any of these other, a lot of the most of these influencers where, like, my level of like work is insane compared to like. I watch interviews with these people and, again, it's like not to knock them and not to just assume. I just know, because I can know by the content they're putting out of like there's no way that they could be doing this and running the business like that. Like there's someone else running the business. They are just yes or no. I want that color. Yeah, that's flavor. Okay, let's do another sample. I'm not saying they're not doing work, but like I am like in it, I'm in it.

01:02:50 - Speaker 1 Do you ever not want to be in it?

01:02:52 - Speaker 2 No, I love it. I love it. I get stressed out, but like I get, I mean I still I'm here at the office like 8.30 every day, unless I got a film or go to an appointment or something, but like I'm here at the office at 8.30. I love being at the office. I love being at work. I like optimizing the business. No, I mean, who knows if I ever sell the business? I don't know. I don't know what I'd do with my time.

01:03:16 - Speaker 1 Well, let's talk about where it is right now and how it has kind of I don't want to say force, but you've reached another place to where you've had to decide where and how you're going to put your time and resources, and that's an ever-forward apparel. The second thing that you got started with after social, after YouTube, that has kind of afforded you. That has gotten you to the point where you are now to have sour strips, and sour strips has superseded that business, so much so that you're like putting a pause on it, right.

01:03:51 - Speaker 2 Yes, probably an indefinite pause.

01:03:53 - Speaker 1 Okay, walk us through that decision. What was it like going the thing that I thought that I was going to be doing, maybe forever, or just like this is my thing, this is who I am and then I made this offshoot thing. The offshoot thing is now taking over the main thing. Like that could have been an easy decision.

01:04:11 - Speaker 2 Sometimes the writing is on the wall. I'll put it this way, because I take out the reasoning for starting the clothing, take out the reasoning of ever-forward, take out all these things. Look at it as a business. Okay, I for five years. Okay, our peak revenue with ever-forward was $1.6 million in 2019, same year I started sour strips, like annual sales, annual revenue, yeah, $1.6 million. Okay, and that was me working on ever-forward. I mean, you lived with me, you saw me. You saw me. I was living, breathing clothing, trying to make the brand better, promoting it, talking about it, learning about fabrics, measurement. I was doing everything. I was working on it.

01:04:58 I was like all my days was this business, and at the peak I get to $1.6 million, okay. And then you have all the people around me that are doing million dollar launches, like million dollars a month, and I'm just like I don't understand, like I'm like I have this big audience. I, the clothes are very good, it's in the same feel. I was like why aren't people buying it, like they're buying these other brands? I it's like gym shirts, gym shorts, joggers, like similar things. I have a big audience.

01:05:33 But I'd go to Expos and 90% of people are wearing alphalete, 90% of people are wearing other brands and I'm like I couldn't understand it. I was like my love is in it, the quality is great, I have great pricing, I have a big audience, but I just it never like exploded and I was putting all my effort. And then I start a candy company and you know we're doing like we'll do. We'll have months. We'll do months that we're doing $2 million a month. Holy shit, yeah. And I'm like so as a business thing, in what world would I keep doing a business that when I put my heart and soul for five years it gets to 1.6, and then now we're gonna do $25 million this year with Sour Strips. Why would I do like? Why? Why would I do the?

01:06:19 - Speaker 1 clothing Objectively a business lens?

01:06:22 - Speaker 2 Yeah, that makes sense, but like so I'm like but but here's the thing. I was like why would I take away any focus from this business? Why would I now like all I want to do is I want to run Sour Strips as a business and then I want to spend my time with Taylor and I want to spend time with my friends and family and like I want to, that's what I want to do. I don't want to spend 90% of my work brain on Sour Strips, then carve out some time if I can make it for a brand that I'm just trying to keep it going, cause like I can make a little bit of money and like I can do all these things, so it's just like my passion isn't there, if I can go like. If I go like oh, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven days a week, two weeks, without even thinking, without doing a single piece of work for EverFord, that should be enough of a writing on the wall to be like you're not, this isn't on your brain, this isn't thinking.

01:07:18 - Speaker 1 And I felt similar. Stop trying to make it happen.

01:07:20 - Speaker 2 Similarly with the powerlifting, I would be like like I felt like if I quit, I'm letting everyone down. With EverFord, I was like if I stop doing this clothing, I'm letting everyone down. I'm letting everyone down because of what it means. I'm letting everyone down of like I'm giving up on it, like I'm-.

01:07:39 - Speaker 1 Just most of my audience. Like you know, we built this together, yeah exactly and I just I've.

01:07:43 - Speaker 2 I'm at a good place where, like, I'm comfortable with being like, EverFord was and is a huge part of my life. And then the clothing brand itself was a huge thing for me and I loved it and I put my passion in it. But, just as a business mindset, it was not the thing for me that was going to be my golden egg. It was not. It wasn't in like it did great, it was the-.

01:08:10 - Speaker 1 I'm not doubting it, the thing to get you to your thing maybe.

01:08:13 - Speaker 2 I'm talking to my friend Daniel today. He's like hey, there's a brand across the street. They have 40,000 followers on Instagram. Okay, 40,000. So my audience way bigger. He's telling me they're selling like a hundred thousand wife beaters shirts and doing like a million dollars a month and I'm like I had a whole following. I would talk to it and it's not like a way of like writing people by my shit, but I'm just like there's a clearly reason, like it just wasn't my thing.

01:08:39 - Speaker 1 Geez, dude, that hurts man. Yeah, so it's like it, it.

01:08:44 - Speaker 2 It never was a like I'm so mad at people for not spending money on mine, it was just more like I was just kind of like, why, like, why? Why did it never really take off? Like like it did good, it did great. There's nothing shabby about a million dollars.

01:09:01 - Speaker 1 No, I mean well 0.6.

01:09:03 - Speaker 2 Yeah but you know, it's just uh, I get excited, I get frustrated, when I'm talking about clothing. I get excited when I'm talking about candy. And that's been your entire life.

01:09:17 - Speaker 1 It's just why sour shirts make so much sense for you. You've been obsessed with candy your entire life.

01:09:20 - Speaker 2 Well, I've been, I've been trying to tell people and I keep telling them, but like I almost need to go through each of my family members, like I'm like when I was a kid I was eating candy. When I go to your stupid baseball games, as a kid I'm eating fun dip. I mean the coffee shop next door of 7-Eleven. I'm getting sour straws, I'm getting sweet tarts. Like I was, I've been eating obsessed with candy forever.

01:09:38 - Speaker 1 It's been in front of you the whole time, man. It's been in front of you the whole time. How do you know what to say yes to in your business? Things I want to, things you want to yeah.

01:09:47 - Speaker 2 I'm at a point like I don't need to say yes to anything. I don't want to, especially, especially just in my life and sour strips, because it really comes down to like, when you get to a point in the business when it's healthy enough, cash flow enough, I don't need to say yes to every opportunity. I can turn things down and even in my life I'm like most people, like I don't. It's really fortunate and a blessed place to be, but I don't need to do anything that I don't want to do. It's like I do things that I want to do. Yeah, period.

01:10:16 - Speaker 1 So, as this is going live now, we're in 2024, right? What do you want to do most this year that maybe up until now, with maybe the new flexibility of pausing, some other things that you felt like you haven't had the ability to say yes to?

01:10:33 - Speaker 2 Me pausing ever forward. It does not open up any more time to do anything else. Really, yeah, I was like I was sacri, I was. I was just, like you know, on the way to the bathroom from my desk. Let me like message my supplier real fast. Okay, let me go back to sour strips Like yeah, there's not like a oh, now I have the ability to grow the business. It was just ever forward, was it? It was a distraction at this point in what I'm doing, damn.

01:10:59 - Speaker 1 Yeah, and like the clothing, and that can't be easy to say.

01:11:02 - Speaker 2 I'm getting more like fine with saying it, but yeah, no, it's not like I haven't. Now I can have more time to do this because I don't have to do the clothing. I wasn't putting any time at ever forward, I wasn't, and that was the thing is like I could put almost zero effort into ever forward and I could still probably have it do $400,000. I could put the most minimal of effort possible. And so you might be like, well, why wouldn't you keep doing that? I don't feel right about doing something that I am not passionate about, just cause I can make money from it. Why didn't I do powerlifting program? I wasn't passionate about trying to sell programs.

01:11:44 - Speaker 1 Yeah, yeah, there's your pattern. I don't.

01:11:46 - Speaker 2 I do not do things to make money unless I am passionate about hardcore, passionate about it, and I'm just not about that with clothing right now. So I have no qualm with taking a step back and just because I could do the most minimal effort and maybe pocket an extra 200, 300 K a year, not only am I at a point with the businesses where like that isn't gonna change my life, it's also like I don't want to do something just cause it can make money, which some people be like you fucking idiot. But I'm like I live and breathe sour strips at the moment and that is where all of my thought. I think about it when I'm going to bed. I think about it when I'm walking dude. I think about a lot of other things as well, but like when it comes to like when I'm thinking about business, laser focused sour strips- In what way?

01:12:48 - Speaker 1 in what way do you think you might be a limiting factor for even more rocket ship growth with sour strips? I don't really think.

01:13:02 - Speaker 2 I don't really think. I don't think that I'm like preventing anything from sour strips keeping to grow.

01:13:09 - Speaker 1 Or maybe at least not anymore, cause you have no more distractions in other businesses, right, yeah, I mean really sour strips is.

01:13:16 - Speaker 2 It's a brand that I think time is the biggest thing that I just have to be patient with for continual growth.

01:13:26 - Speaker 1 How's that meaning? Just just gotta keep it going.

01:13:28 - Speaker 2 You can either with brands is you can either have this like you can have this unsustainable rocket growth where you need to be injecting cash all the time, getting investors, whatever cause. You're just trying to. You're not chasing profit, you're chasing revenue so you can get bought out, like that's what a lot of companies are doing. They're just like make as much money as possible so I can get bought out and I'm dipping, whereas me I'm like I'm trying to make a brand that is gonna be around for a long time, I'm trying to have fun while I'm doing it and I'm trying to be profitable and not. My goal is sour strips is to grow as fast as possible, where I do not need to take any money from anyone else.

01:14:06 - Speaker 1 So you don't wanna take investors, you don't wanna sell.

01:14:10 - Speaker 2 Well, I've always my thing with selling is I would always be open to a conversation. I'm not gonna someone's like, hey, max yours $700 million. I'd be like, okay, cool.

01:14:20 Yeah, you can have it you know, or even you know a good amount less than that, but, like at the moment, it's like why would I sell it? Like I love doing it, we're profitable, we're growing, why would I sell it? Right, the only thing I would do is if a large candy company wanted to bring it into their world to help take the brand even further.

01:14:43 - Speaker 1 To be the next leg up, Then I could then.

01:14:46 - Speaker 2 I'd be open to doing that and I still wanna be a part of it, because I think my vision, my vision at the moment, is only limited by time, money and my resources. Right, so someone else can open that up. Where they're like hey, max, we can get into every store that we can get our products into, which is every single one, which is like 300,000 locations there's that you don't need to worry about capital at all.

01:15:08 - Speaker 1 Give us all your ideas, all your current pain points and limiting factors yeah, give us your ideas.

01:15:12 - Speaker 2 You just won't make everything happen. I'd be like I got it, I'm good, like let's go then. So I'd be open to a conversation of getting assistance from another brand. But like if a private at least I say this now but like if a private equity company was just like we wanna buy it so we can have the cash flow of it, we'll give you this bunch of money. I'm like no, because I want this to. I want my kids kids to be eating sour strips and like that's what they grew up on.

01:15:41 - Speaker 1 It hasn't reached its potential yet.

01:15:43 - Speaker 2 Yeah, we're just scratching the surface. I mean, we're in by the end of this year, by the end of 2024, we'll probably be in like over 20,000 locations. Holy hell, dude, in three years, by the end of it'll be five years, five years, okay, wow, we've been in business for years, but there are like 350,000 possible locations that you could sell a product like ours in.

01:16:04 So we're getting scratched the surface and the fact that we're starting with the big dogs, the fact that you even know that dude like this is the shit I'm talking about.

01:16:11 - Speaker 1 Your brain just works to the next level, man.

01:16:13 - Speaker 2 Well, and a lot of people work so hard to get into like these mammoth retailers, these you know the Walmart 7-Eleven, you know Target, things like that and like we're in them already. So now it's we're almost going like top down right.

01:16:27 Yeah like, where else do you go? Yeah, so now it's like and I never talk about Star Ships and like we're so cool, everyone's gonna want us, we're gonna be everywhere. Because, like we're the shit, like, yeah, it's a matter of time. So all these other retailers, like you know, come begging at our feet. I'm like no, I'm so thankful for every relationship that I have and I've worked hard to get us there, and I just know how big this brand can get. And I just think if there's ever someone to bring a fresh light into the candy world, it is me, and I see a lot of other people.

01:16:58 - Speaker 1 Well, you are extremely pale, so just shine a light on them, he'll glow.

01:17:02 - Speaker 2 And I see a lot of there's been a lot of other people that have there try to either mimic what I've done or try to start something like similar Do you have?

01:17:07 - Speaker 1 the copycats. Oh yeah, oh yeah, really.

01:17:10 - Speaker 2 Yeah and like, but I just I know that because I know my obsession with this product I was like a lot of other people are just trying to make money. I'm trying to build a candy brand and I think there's a difference and I think and I'm doing it because I know what people like me, who love stuff like this, want, and so I am building a brand for the people, by the people, and that's what like and as surface levels that you may sound as candy, that's how I feel about it and I hopefully, when people hear me talk about sour strips or just candy in general, they can hear by conviction in what I, what I say.

01:17:48 You can feel the obsession, yeah, and like, I'm just like because I live and I live and breathe it and I and I know everything about it and I want to keep learning more and I just I love it, I love the business, I love learning and you know. And then the success of the money and how it's going to change my life and my family's life is a byproduct of me being obsessed with this. It is not the main driving force of what I've done and hopefully, the little things that I've done in the past of never did a program because I felt there's other people that are more qualified to sell you something for this, buy it from them. Why are you stopping ever? For me, just make a bunch of money from it because I'm not passionate about it. So it's like when I say I'm passionate about this and I'm, I make money by things, that is a byproduct. I make YouTube videos.

01:18:37 For 10 years I didn't make money for a long time. I started doing well on financially from YouTube because it's a byproduct of me liking to put out videos. It was never because I just wanted to make money, a byproduct of, yeah, and that is what I'm doing. I like to make money If I can make a lot, I love to. I love making money, Love it. I love making a lot of money, but I love making it because it's just a result of me doing something I love to do, because of how it was made, correct.

01:19:02 - Speaker 1 Yeah.

01:19:03 - Speaker 2 It's. I don't try to just make as much as I can by any means possible. I want to do cool things and do things that I love doing, and the money will come.

01:19:14 - Speaker 1 Dude. Well, the obsession is real, the energy is real, the passion is real. I mean, there's no denying and nobody would you spend two seconds with you? There's no one's going to deny that, like you don't have all those things. For everything that you put your mind to, and even in your conviction of, like, saying what you're going to say no to, I think you have to have that same level of clarity passion, purpose, obsession and what you're saying no to as you do what you're saying yes to, or else you're, you're probably making a mistake, right, you're probably making a mistake or you're hanging on to something that you shouldn't hang on to.

01:19:47 - Speaker 2 Yeah.

01:19:48 - Speaker 1 We have a regret or resentment. Absolutely no regrets, no Ragrats.

01:19:53 - Speaker 2 No, ragrats.

01:19:53 - Speaker 1 Well, I do want to be conscious of our time, because rest of our family is waiting on us, I think, for dinner, and we're going to run out of storage space.

01:19:59 - Speaker 2 We're going to run out of storage space.

01:20:01 - Speaker 1 But you know, today, as we're going live, is a very special day January 22nd 2005 to now, 2024, 19 years. You and I would not be here who knows really but in some capacity we wouldn't be here having this conversation, doing the things, a lot of things that we're doing, it wasn't for the unfortunate passing of our dad. I personally am at a place where, like my audience knows the story and I don't need to kind of go down with that. You know my dad died story, but I'm so excited now when I talk about it because today it gives me so much new hope and purpose and meaning to kind of bring a full circle. And so I want to ask you one other question before my final question you, me and dad, the magic wand, like tomorrow or today, you know it's like we're back together, like what are we doing?

01:20:51 - Speaker 2 Well, I see, I first thing I'd say is we're going to Washington.

01:20:54 - Speaker 1 a skate park, dad's going to be there on a motorcycle to do shit too.

01:20:57 - Speaker 2 I can't skate, so the three of us you know, I think I would say I'd say, go into the mountains.

01:21:10 - Speaker 1 Absolutely Fucking Luley man, like I'd say we go camping, we'd go hiking, chop some wood. Yeah, just that's what we did.

01:21:15 - Speaker 2 We like the woods, yeah, into the woods, yeah, like I would just.

01:21:20 - Speaker 1 Yeah.

01:21:21 - Speaker 2 That's exactly what.

01:21:21 - Speaker 1 I would do. I had that. It's weird you say that I had that so top of mind right now. We, like two weekends ago, when some friends to mammoth and California ski trip it's like five hours north of LA, the mountains, bro I just felt so like God, this is what I'm supposed to be we went hiking through the woods and somebody had just come and chopped fresh wood and I was like I need an axe, I need an axe, I need axe, I need my bro, I need my dad. Like let's just go chop wood for hours, set up camp and come back to my home.

01:21:50 It's the best man. Well, the last question asked everybody and you've done it the most times now is ever forward. When you hear those two words, what does that mean to you? It's clothing company that I shut down. It's a reminder of what I'm not doing. How do you live a life ever forward now, today, 2024.

01:22:10 - Speaker 2 By understanding that everything that I'm doing has a bigger purpose and reasoning behind it than just to benefit myself. And it wasn't until I met Taylor and just got older and have become more clear in the what I want my future to look like that it made me realize that and that just I am a I am I am doing something in this life to help the future of the world that I can be a part of, if that makes sense. So is even just like the happiness of like the sour strip thing. I love that when I see the kids you know, eating it and being like this is like this. I was obsessed with a kid as I potentially could change like the future of like this kind of thing.

01:23:02 And on a personal level, it's like family is just like I want to. Like I want I don't want my family to ever and I hate it's been like it looks at his bad thing, but it's not like I think of our family is splitting up. It's like so bad, but like I want my family to. Like I don't want our family to split up.

01:23:17 - Speaker 1 I don't want our kids to go in different directions.

01:23:19 - Speaker 2 I don't want finances to ever be a thought of stress for my wife, for my kids, for my family. If my family needs something, I got them, I got them and not in a way of like, oh, that's so cool, but it's like what's? What else is the point? Like why, who cares? If I can like, I just want to. I want to. I want to help everyone around me and I want to like, when I leave this earth, to leave the people that are a part of my world and family in a in a better place because of, like, the efforts that I put in.

01:23:52 - Speaker 1 Well, I don't think anybody would argue with you on that man, but I also. I tell everybody there's never a right or wrong answer.

01:23:57 - Speaker 2 Yeah.

01:23:57 - Speaker 1 You're truly a selfless dude. I've been loving, just like, growing with you, our dynamic over the years and, just like, dude, you're killing it. Man, I'm just so happy to like, I'm just so happy to see you, so happy to like, have for you to have unique happiness now in your life with Taylor, and thanks, dude, I feel like this is coming in 2025. Well, all right. Well, let everybody know where they can find you If they haven't heard of you before. What are you doing? The most.

01:24:24 - Speaker 2 Hmm, max tuning on everything and if you're losing this episode, make sure you come out. Check out the other one we just did on we're doing a show Don't be sour. We're doing a collab bro. Yeah, to get to feel this is good we have. There's another one that's two hours long. Link in the description. Don't be sour.

01:24:40 - Speaker 1 Yeah.

01:24:40 - Speaker 2 All right cool.

01:24:42 - Speaker 1 So I'll kill it there.