How I Built 3 Eight-Figure Brands After Rock Bottom | Nick Koumalatsos DSH #913

Summary

Digital Social Hour: How I Built 3 Eight-Figure Brands After Rock Bottom | Nick Koumalatsos DSH #913

Release Date: November 22, 2024

In this compelling episode of Digital Social Hour, host Sean Kelly sits down with entrepreneur and philanthropist Nick Koumalatsos to delve into Nick's inspiring journey from military service and personal struggles to building three eight-figure brands. Their conversation spans Nick's commitment to organic products, challenges in the cosmetics industry, his transformative health journey, and insightful perspectives on education and personal growth.

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1. Introduction and Building Johnny Slicks

Sean Kelly welcomes Nick Koumalatsos, highlighting his roles as an entrepreneur, producer, creator, and father. The conversation kicks off with a discussion about Nick's flagship product, Johnny Slicks Organic Shampoo.

Nick explains the founding of Johnny Slicks, emphasizing the decision to pursue an organic route. He shares a pivotal moment when his business partner, a Marine Corps member, experienced severe hair loss due to harsh chemicals in traditional hair products. This realization spurred them to develop a safe, organic alternative.

“We're real big on American manufacturing and American jobs.” (02:02)

Nick and Sean discuss the importance of vertical integration, with Johnny Slicks handling everything from manufacturing to marketing in-house. This approach ensures quality control and supports American job creation, standing in contrast to corporations that outsource and compromise on product integrity.

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2. Challenges in the Cosmetics Industry

Nick delves into the challenges of manufacturing organic cosmetics in the USA. He highlights the scarcity of specialized manufacturing equipment domestically, necessitating the customization and fabrication of machinery to produce high-quality products.

“You have to customize and build our own things... It's not even happening here.” (05:22)

The duo critiques misleading labeling practices, such as products boasting "Made in USA" while merely being packaged domestically, masking the true origin. They also discuss the deceptive claims of "organic," where companies include harmful substances under the guise of natural ingredients.

“It's hard, man. This is a, this is a freaking hard business to be in.” (05:22)

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3. Personal Journey: From Military to Entrepreneurship

Nick opens up about his transition from the Marine Corps to civilian life. Serving from 2000 to 2012 in Force Recon Marine Raider units, Nick faced significant challenges adjusting to life after military service. The abrupt shift led to an identity crisis, compounded by untreated mental health issues.

“I underestimated the whole identity crisis of leaving special operations and turning into just me.” (09:16)

He recounts the struggle of moving from a hyper-focused military role to building businesses, highlighting the lack of mentorship and personal growth during his initial entrepreneurial years.

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4. Health Transformation: The Role of Testosterone Replacement Therapy

A significant portion of the conversation focuses on Nick's battle with low testosterone levels and its profound impact on his mental and physical health. After leaving the military, Nick experienced severe depression, brain fog, and lethargy, reaching a critical point where he contemplated ending his life.

“I was on the beach in North Carolina with a gun and ready to call it.” (13:50)

Nick's turning point came through discovering Core Medical Group, where comprehensive blood tests revealed a testosterone level of 91, alarmingly low for his age. Initiating Testosterone Replacement Therapy (TRT) transformed his life, eliminating depressive symptoms, improving cognitive function, and restoring his physical health.

“I was 210 now at 10. I was 240 at 10.” (16:31)

He underscores the importance of personalized TRT programs over generic online solutions, advocating for human-centric approaches that consider individual health profiles.

“What I need to do with my business. I knew exactly the direction I had...” (17:08)

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5. Insights on Hormones and Aging

Nick and Sean explore the intricate relationship between hormones, aging, and overall health. They discuss how testosterone levels naturally decline after age 30, affecting muscle mass, bone density, and mental well-being. Nick emphasizes the societal implications of this decline, linking it to decreased motivation and productivity.

“If a guy is so bad in a bad situation that he can't even execute on his own, why not give him a leg up...” (21:02)

Furthermore, they touch on the impact of xenoestrogens and modern diets on hormonal balances, particularly in younger generations, leading to unprecedented testosterone deficiencies.

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6. Climbing and Saving Lives: A Life Beyond Business

Nick shares his adventurous spirit, recounting his four-day climb of Mount Rainier and a harrowing experience witnessing an avalanche involving Sherpas on Everest. These stories illustrate his resilience and commitment to facing extreme challenges.

“This was given to a friend of mine and he gave it to me because inadvertently, I saved his life through my book.” (33:08)

He reflects on the profound impact of his work, revealing how his book and Core Medical Group have saved lives, including that of a former FBI agent who reconsidered his life path after discovering his low testosterone levels through Nick's work.

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7. Views on Education and Youth

Transitioning to education, Nick criticizes the American public school system for its focus on rote memorization over practical knowledge. He advocates for project-based learning and fostering environments where children can pursue their interests passionately.

“They have nothing. That's a tragedy.” (38:32)

Nick praises initiatives like Apogee Academy for revolutionizing education by prioritizing student engagement and real-world skills, contrasting with the rigidity of traditional schooling.

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8. Conclusion and Resources

As the episode wraps up, Nick provides valuable resources for listeners interested in his products and services. He directs them to johnnyslicks.com and encourages connecting with him on social media for further insights.

“Johnnyslicks.com Go ahead. You can use my code. Nick, get yourself discount.” (40:53)

Sean thanks Nick for his transparency and inspiring story, leaving listeners with actionable advice on health, entrepreneurship, and personal development.

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Key Takeaways

• Commitment to Quality and Ethics: Building businesses rooted in ethical practices and high-quality standards can disrupt industries dominated by misleading practices.

• Personal Health is Foundational: Addressing underlying health issues, such as hormonal imbalances, can dramatically improve both personal well-being and professional success.

• Importance of Mentorship and Personal Growth: Seeking guidance and focusing on personal development are crucial for overcoming entrepreneurial challenges.

• Advocacy for Educational Reform: Rethinking traditional education to emphasize practical skills and passionate learning can better prepare youth for real-world challenges.

• Resilience and Transformation: Personal struggles and resilience can lead to profound transformations, inspiring others through leadership and innovation.

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Connect with Nick Koumalatsos:

• Website: johnnyslicks.com
• Social Media: Search for Nick Koumalatsos on your preferred platforms for updates and insights.

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Thank you for tuning into Digital Social Hour. Stay inspired and keep striving towards your goals!

Transcript

[A]

We have a guy who is on the couch. He's overweight, lethargic, and he just has no drive to go to the gym. He has no drive to do things. If he does go to the gym, he's like, dude, I went one training session, sore for three weeks back to the gym. Like, how are we ever going to get that guy moving? But if I can get him. If I can do a blood test and get him moving, dude, he's not gonna be able to sit on the couch. He's like, I have to go do something. Even though he's not doing it naturally up front, it's giving him the most. The motivation. It's giving him the. The drive to go himself.

[B]

All right, guys, Nick Kumalatos here today. Entrepreneur, philanthropist, producer, creator, and father. Thanks for coming on, man.

[A]

Thanks, Sean. Thanks for having me.

[B]

You brought the Johnny Slicks, right?

[A]

Johnny Slicks, Yeah. Careful with that. It's dangerous.

[B]

Yeah. Organic shampoo.

[A]

Yeah. Your wife will, like, like it. Body wash hair stuff.

[B]

Oh, it does everything we got.

[A]

We got it all. Nice. This is the black Label, Okay. Yeah.

[B]

Why'd you decide to go the organic route? I've never seen that in a.

[A]

So my business partner was John. My business partner, he was 22, and he was kind of in the barber community. So, like, you know, pompadour, like, really, like, styled haircuts, and he was using a bunch of product, and his hair actually started falling out at, like, 22 years old.

[B]

Whoa.

[A]

He was like, what the hell? And then he was still in the Marine Corps at the time, and he realized. He goes, dude, what's going on? So anyways, he realized that it was the product. He looked at the ingredients of the product, and it was like, you know, you've seen products where it's like a paragraph of ingredients that you can't. You can't read. He started doing research. He's like, oh, dude, this stuff is making people's hair fall out. So he's like, okay. Anyways, wrote, went down the road and figured out an organic solution, and it took a couple years, and then we launched the business. Him and I partnered, and we launched the business in 2018. And. And we're real. We're real big on American manufacturing and American jobs.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Um, so not only are we, like, really want to go down the organic road, because the reality is there's corporations that are poisoning people and then profiting on the back end of that. Of that poison. So.

[B]

Wow. Double dipping.

[A]

Yeah. So it's interesting. There's several videos that if you look at, for instance, you look at shampoo conditioners or hair or hair gel or anything like that, those products are actually causing problems. And then the same company is also selling, you know, hims and Rogue and all this stuff to like fix it evil empire type of stuff. So we're just a small company, you know, that's, that's trying to help people out and that. Like I said, the big thing for us is American made, American manufactured. Like we're manufacturing our own products.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

We're fulfilling our own products. Our marketing team, like we're completely vertically integrated and that because everybody's pushed us to go outsource. Outsource? Outsource. Outsource. You'll make more money. Yeah, we would, but that means we couldn't, we couldn't give people really good paying jobs like our. We start employees at above, at above the national average.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

And we wouldn't be able to do that. So if you look back into like all the way back to the 20s, where the America had the boom is in manufacturing, over the years we've been outsourcing to China, but where all those damn jobs going? Where's this, where are these neighborhoods going? And if we constantly keep doing that, it's just going to, you know, degrade America, if you will.

[B]

Absolutely.

[A]

So companies like us, companies like Origin, you know, few will hunt that are, that are pushing back and really trying to manufacture things back in the United States because the quality is just superb. And you know, anybody that uses this knows that like this is like really good stuff.

[B]

The manufacturing is key. So I just found out, if you go to the grocery store and you go to the meat section, it says made in the usa. Doesn't mean it's from the usa. Isn't that crazy?

[A]

Yeah, it's packaged.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So all they do is ship it here. And if it's packaged in the U.S. they could say made in the U.S. yeah, it's, it's.

[A]

That's sleazy.

[B]

That's disgusting. So who knows where we're eating the meat.

[A]

Yeah. And what's great about our company is if you look up, well, who is Johnny Slicks? Who's running Johnny Slicks? Like you see, you see every employee, you know, we do interviews with them. It's kind of like, it's funny. We do some videos that are almost like office space because we want the customer to know, like, hey, this stuff is being made by us. And it. And it's like, we care, we care about your family, we care about your Health. We, you know, and we want you to freaking look and smell good.

[B]

Right?

[A]

You know, that's it.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. There's, there's very few brands that are doing this, to be honest. When you go to like a Target or Walmart and you go to the shampoo section.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I have this app called Yuka. Have you seen this?

[A]

No.

[B]

It's so you scan the barcode and gives you a health score out of 100.

[A]

No kidding.

[B]

So.

[A]

Oh, we're gonna have to play with that.

[B]

A hobby of mine is I'll just go to Target for fun.

[A]

Check it out.

[B]

While I'm shopping, I'll scan the whole beauty AIs. Almost everything's a zero, dude.

[A]

It's like no kidding.

[B]

Because they put these.

[A]

What about the natural stuff?

[B]

Those are better. I've seen like 80s and 90s almost. But even some of those like native has a couple ingredients. I'm not trying to call them out, that are kind of questionable.

[A]

Yeah. So what hap. What's crazy is you can say all natural. Like we have some competitors in our space that they're heavily watching us. Then they say all natural. But you know, formaldehydes, all natural. Asbestos is natural.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

I mean technically, you know, so you can, they can. And the usda. The USDA has a limit on chemicals. So you can say, you can say USDA organic approved. And it's up to like 10 of an outside chemical that they still approved. Let's call it organic. Yeah.

[B]

Oh my God.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So organic doesn't even mean organic.

[A]

Doesn't even mean organic.

[B]

What?

[A]

Yeah. So it's hard, man. This is a, this is a freaking hard business to be in. Like the one the American made. Just the supply chain alone to be. You got to think we're this year will be an eight figure company. So we're having to manufacture that many products and you're talking about, you know, that amount of coconut oil, beeswax, you know, organ oil, all these different ingredients that we use to cook products. And then, and then there's not even manufacturing equipment in the states to manufacture cosmetics. We have to like build our own machines and we're talking huge vats.

[B]

Damn.

[A]

You know, so even rent a machine.

[B]

You have to, you basically have to.

[A]

Go customize and get. For the way that we cook products and make these different products, we have to customize and build our own things. Now there, there are different companies that use them for different things and we have to fabricate them and change them so that we can make cosmetics.

[B]

Wow. Yeah, that sounds Intense. Yeah. Because in China you could probably get it for a third of the price that.

[A]

And then they've already, they're already mass producing, you know, shampoos, conditioners and different things, but it's not really happening here.

[B]

But now they're seeing that these supplement companies are in bed with pharma.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

They're finding heavy metals. They're finding all these huge class action.

[A]

Lawsuit on several big name brands that had lead in their products.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. It's scary, man.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Like you think you're taking these supplements to get healthier and it's actually making you worse.

[A]

Making you worse. Yeah.

[B]

Like you really got to be careful.

[A]

You got to pay attention to what you're doing.

[B]

Absolutely.

[A]

And the thing is, is like. Yeah, could we make more money at what cost now? I mean, we have families that work for us. We literally have multiple people that are husband and wife working for our company and even their kids. We have one couple that they're, they're teenage boys working for us.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

You know, so that's what, that's what more we're about. We're more about America. We're more about community. And so when you buy Johnny Slicks one, your money stays here. You know, it's going to some family that's in the United States and you're taking care of your family.

[B]

Love it. I mean, are you in any retail yet?

[A]

So we're on Amazon and we are in talks with a retail. Nice company, a large retail company. Yeah.

[B]

Does that really change the game once you get some of those retail locations?

[A]

Yeah, it does. I. But it's a big scary thing like you can't mess up, you can't mess up your first going to market with, with, you know.

[B]

Yeah. Because Jake Paul just did it with his brand.

[A]

Did you see the prime?

[B]

No, that's Logan Paul.

[A]

Oh, okay.

[B]

So Jake Paul started a competitor to you.

[A]

Really?

[B]

Yeah, I forget the name of it, but yeah, it just got in Walmart.

[A]

Oh. Yeah. So like you cannot mess up that first launch. So we're being very cautious of what that manufacturing is going to look like, what the lead times are, you know, what the contract's going to look like. But we are in talks with a pretty large manufacture, a large retail unit.

[B]

Nice.

[A]

Exciting.

[B]

Yeah, that's super exciting. And this is your third eight figure company now. So how do you think you've been able to replicate success in different industries? Because the other industries you're in are totally different.

[A]

Yeah, I had a lot. I think that I found 10,000 ways not to do something, you know, because I started my entrepreneur career in 2013 and dude, I struggled. I struggled for probably five, six years.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Because you didn't have a mentor.

[A]

You nailed it. You nailed it.

[B]

That's what I struggled with my first five years.

[A]

That I didn't. I didn't get any mentors. I didn't get any coaching. And that's when. When I got coaching and mentors, that's when everything turned around.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Actually, we were talking about. BB Was one of my first big coaches. I paid him and that's. Things started to kind of turn around 100%.

[B]

Same thing with me.

[A]

Which be. Get on the show. Come over.

[B]

Yeah. Shout out to you for that.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

But so you hired him. And that was the catalyst to.

[A]

That was. That was one of the catalysts. I'm obviously, I started small. I started. You know what the other thing was? I started really working on myself, my own personal growth. I was, I was real focused on these businesses, but I wasn't focused on myself and my own. And you got to remember, I. I was in special operations. I had a. I had a tremors transition out of the military into civilian life. I served from 2000, 2012, very heavily involved in combat and deploying a lot. And so I underestimated the whole identity crisis of leaving special operations and turning into just me.

[B]

Right.

[A]

And so once I navigated that, I was really just. And while I was navigating that, I was really just focused on the business. And I realized through the years that it was. I was the asset. I need to get healthy, I need to learn, I need to grow. And when I started focusing on me being the best version of myself, both physically, mentally, spiritually, that's when things started to turn around.

[B]

Right?

[A]

And so anyways, that's. That's really where it came from. And then I started seeking. I started seeking growth. And as I see growth, I, you know, people. People think like, how do you find these type of people? Or how do they. How do they find you? Etc. I'm like, well, you're not going to find them doing nothing. You got to go walk the yellow brick road. You got to go on the journey. And as you go on the journey, you'll. You'll just come across people, right? You. You'll just. Oh, you meet a new person. You're like, I like that dude. I vibe with them. He's got something I don't. I want to learn from him. And that's when. That's when, like, you know, you 10x your life.

[B]

Yeah, 100%. And that's why I go to events and conferences.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Because you'll meet at least one at every one.

[A]

Your network is your network or your net. Yeah. Your network is your net worth.

[B]

Yeah, 100%. How was your mental health when you were serv. Marines?

[A]

Decent. I mean, I was okay. When I was serving. That was fine. I was very. You gotta think I'm in my 20s, right?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I'm in my 40s now. So during the time I was very hyper focused on that job of what I did as a, as a Force Recon Marine or Marine Raider, very focused on that. I didn't really even. I guess you can say I really didn't even believe in mental health.

[B]

Oh yeah.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

I, it's, it pains me to say this, but I, I straight up told people that had, like, if you have ptsd, you're just, you're just weak minded and not meant for this job.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

I said that out of my mouth.

[B]

A Marine?

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

Yes. I was a team leader and in, in, you know, in force recon. And I said that damn. And then come. And then, you know, karma's a bit. Because I get out and the next thing you know, I'm dealing with a whole bunch of stuff that happened six years ago that I had no idea affected me. And it, and it did.

[B]

So an incident from six years ago resurfaced.

[A]

Yeah. When I got out. And you got to understand the reasons why. So I wrote a book called Excommunicated Warrior, the seven stages Transition. You got to understand that when you're in that job, you're moving 300 miles an hour. So it's like the analogy I use is like you're on a, you're on a train going 300 miles an hour. As you go through your life, and this is with anybody, it's not just the military, as you go through your life, you are collecting train cars of baggage.

[B]

Right?

[A]

Right. Well, when you get out, you go from 300 miles an hour to 10 miles an hour. Guess what? All that baggage, still going 300 miles an hour. Bam. Right in the back of the head. And that's what I was doing. I was out running because it was always the next deployment, the next thing, the next workup, the next training thing. So if somebody got hurt, died, whatever, something bad happened, I got hurt. It was.

[B]

You just, you kept it moving.

[A]

You just kept moving. You got to keep moving. It's the next mission. Right.

[B]

No time to reflect.

[A]

No, you have no time to Deal with it. No time to reflect. You say your buys, and then it's the next mission. And then it's not until you stop and you're like, what the hell?

[B]

Right?

[A]

And then it comes all hitting you as weird. I had. I remember about. About six months after I got out, I called a friend because we had. There's somebody lost a. Lost a brother, and, you know, he passed away in combat. And I started seeing him in, like, groups of people.

[B]

Whoa.

[A]

And it's my subconscious, like, bringing this up, right? So I would see him, like, I would be driving down the road or walking through a mall or something. I'd see a group of people, and I would see him on the side of the road or see him in the group people. And it was like one of those double takes, you know, you're just like. But you're not looking for him. So it's. Your subconscious is like, bringing this person back up. And, you know, I just started to have a lot of guilt about that. And so I called a friend who had gotten out after that deployment. I said, hey, man, you know, it's going to sound really weird, but I'm seeing. I'm seeing these people, you know, I'm like, reminiscing on Gary and Dustin and. And he's like, dude. He's like, welcome to the club. Like, everybody had dealt with that when they got out.

[B]

Whoa.

[A]

You know, you just. You just put it on pause for a while, Right. And so there's some things I had to work through.

[B]

Psychological toll.

[A]

Yeah, it definitely did.

[B]

What do you think helped get you out of that?

[A]

Kind of like the same thing. So it culminated on a. In the book, I tell the story, but it culminated at a point to where I'm on the beach in North Carolina with a gun and ready to call it.

[B]

Whoa.

[A]

Yeah. Ready to read it in my life. And thank God that. That I didn't go through with it, that I found some strength right there to figure it out. Now, granted, I didn't have any tools, so I, like, I went back to my house, walked in the door, and then just went right to the bottle and started drinking again. And because I knew that something had to change, I just didn't know how to change it. But that's when I really leaned into, like, okay, something's not right. I need to address it. And that's where the work began. It didn't get solved overnight, but it was just like, I'm gonna do the deep, personal work. So you're talking about, you know, emdr Therapy, you know, brain clinics. I had a T, I had multiple TVIs. So I went to a two week inpatient brain clinic. I started working with different people and I just like became real vulnerable and open and said, screw it. I'm just going to use myself as a test on me and go through all this stuff to figure out how, how I can fix it. And time collapsed. This, this healing. And as I did that, more and more things just got like drastically better. One of the biggest things and it's in there is my work with Core Medical Group. And the reason why for that is, is I had a friend that said, hey, Nick, you know, I'm not trying to overstep. He was a civilian. But he goes, a lot of these things you're having, man. You ever had a blood test and check your hormones? And I was like, no. And he's like, I think you might have some low testosterone issues. Come to find out, I'm, I think I'm 30 or 31 years old with a testosterone level of 91.

[B]

Holy crap. That's the lowest I've ever heard.

[A]

And I mean, no wonder I was like wanting to kill myself, you know what I'm saying? You know what I mean?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So now my work. So now I work. I'm a managing partner of Core Medical Group that services say service everybody, national clinic and heavily in the vet veteran popular population as well. And man, I can't even tell you how many, how many people don't even know how bad they feel until they feel good. So we get them on and do this really in depth, 28 panel blood test and then get them with the doc and build out a specific customized protocol based off of their symptoms and their needs.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And then bam. And then, I mean, dude, you're getting, you're getting messages from them, their wife, like, thank you for giving my husband back. Thank you for giving my. And the dude's just like on fire again. And that was what happened to me as soon as I, I, I figured that out. And I went and, and got on TRT and brought my levels back to normal. Dude. It was like my brain, my brain was on fire. It's like I knew I had clear direction. No more brain fog. I was sleeping better. I lost all the weight. I mean, I literally, Sean, when I, when I got out, I'm like 24010 body fat.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Huge. Like I'm 210 now at 10. I was 240 at 10. Yeah, 240 at 10. And then I went, if there's pictures of me that I love posting them. There's pictures of me in, like, I think, 2016, and I'm 240 and, like, 28.

[B]

Holy crap.

[A]

There's never chubby. Yeah, man. And that's not me.

[B]

Yeah. That's when you were 91 to Sauser on.

[A]

Yeah. And I was. And I'm looking at. I'm looking at me picture. A picture of me on the beach in Greece with my kids, and I'm just like, who is this? And that's when things started to turn around.

[B]

Wow. 91, dude, that's so low.

[A]

But again, like, I'm, you know, brain fog, can't sleep, can't recover. I mean, I'm just a wreck. And as soon as I fixed that, it was like I knew exactly what I needed to do with my business. I knew exactly the direction I had, the time, energy, I was sleeping good, recovering in the gym. I mean, it was just. Life turned around.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And. And I wish. There's so much bad stigma about trt.

[B]

A lot.

[A]

A lot. And it's all.

[B]

It's all my stance on it is because I took a blood test and I. I was at 520, which is kind of like.

[A]

How old are you, though?

[B]

I was 26.

[A]

26.

[B]

So it's a little low.

[A]

Lifestyle issues, maybe?

[B]

Could have been. Yeah. I wasn't exercising, working out.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So. But no, as soon as I raised it, which. Here's my take on the trt. I think you should try to raise it naturally at first, if possible.

[A]

I got something on that, but go ahead.

[B]

Yeah. And then I'm not opposed to taking it if you can't do it naturally.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

But, yeah, I raised it, like, 150 points, and I felt way, way better.

[A]

What'd you do?

[B]

Tongue cut. Ali. Vitamin D, magnesium, all the natural supplements.

[A]

And you're in your 20s.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah. And a lot of that stuff can be fixed by, like, weight loss, sun exposure.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Sauna, sleep, sauna, things like that. Real good diet. Like, a lot of the things that we're consuming have xenoestrogens in them, so they're actually caused. I don't know if you guys know this, but the perineum, you call it the taint is actually shrinking in men and young.

[B]

Oh, really?

[A]

Yeah. So the. Ain't the space between the anus and the. And your. And your ball sac is actually shrinking because of the xenoestrogens and the things that parents or mothers are consuming, and they're passing that to their children.

[B]

So what does that mean.

[A]

It means that boys are growing up with more estrogenic properties, less testosterone. And you can see that in their bone structure. You can see that in their. In their physical capabilities. And we really do have a low testosterone epidemic because of our quality of life, our foods, the poisonous foods that we're consuming, the red dyes that they're feeding kids, sugar, etc. So it's good that you did that. But post 30 with no trauma. Post 30 with no trauma, you are. Your testosterone is going down. Part of the aging process. There's nothing you can do about it.

[B]

Even naturally.

[A]

There's nothing. It's going down.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

Now. Yeah. If you're fat and you eat like. Yeah. Can you improve it a little bit? Sure. Like, you lose weight and you. And you start eating good, start sleeping better, it will improve, but only to a point, because at 30 is the aging process of when that's on a decline, Right.

[B]

One percent a year, right?

[A]

Something like that. Yeah. So now you add in brain trauma, you. You id. You add in trauma to your gonads, adrenals, lifestyle, whatever, food, and it's even getting worse. Okay. So it's not coming back up after 30. Like, other than doing a couple little things, you're still not going to get a 9. You're not going to get an optimal score, you know, at whatever that is now. So I'm glad you say you should. You should do it naturally before going on trt, because I have one caveat to that. It's. And it's the whole, what comes first, the chicken or the egg? So if we have a guy who is on the couch, he's overweight, lethargic, and he just has no drive to go to the gym. He has no drive to do things. He's like, like, he's like me, 91. You know, he's got a testosterone score, 91, and he just can't do it. If he does go to the gym, he's sore for three weeks and he's like, dude, I went one training session and I'm like, sore for three weeks. I can't even go back to the gym. Like, how are we ever going to get that guy moving, right? But if I can get him, if I can do a blood test and get him moving, dude, he's not gonna be able to sit on the couch. He's gonna be like, I have to go do something. I have to go execute. I gotta go. Better my life. Because your brain's firing better. Your. Your everything in your body is functioning better. So even though he's not doing it naturally up front, it's giving him the most. The motivation, it's giving him the. The drive to go take care of himself.

[B]

Interesting. You know it spikes it that quickly.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Where it will give them like, dude.

[A]

Your brain will be on fire. Like, I can't sit here, I gotta go do something. I go start a business, I gotta go start working. I gotta change my life. I want to.

[B]

That's a good take. I've never heard that.

[A]

You see what I'm saying, though? So it really is. It's a case by case basis. But if a guy is so bad in a bad situation that he can't even execute on his own, well, why not give him a leg up and you know, he's 35 years old, 50 pounds overweight, like, get him moving.

[B]

Right.

[A]

And then watch what everything. And then it only improves from there, you know? But if you're young and you're playing video games too much and you're eating and drinking sugar all the time. Yeah. You need to, you need to, you know, look at you, reevaluate your life and your priorities.

[B]

Yeah. So what did you raise yours to? From 91.

[A]

So I. So I'm. I'm right in the range of 900.

[B]

Holy crap.

[A]

Yeah. So we. Well, over the years, and I've been a managing partner of CORE with. For six. Six years now, I think. So we have found that men operate the best at around 9, 900 to 1100.

[B]

So I got to raise mine even.

[A]

More then I think. I think you got.

[B]

Yeah, I'm at 650. Right.

[A]

Yeah, I like that line. Like, those are rookie numbers. We need to boost those numbers up.

[B]

I don't think I've ever been that high though, so I don't know how I'd feel.

[A]

Yo, you've definitely been.

[B]

You think I have.

[A]

Oh, yeah. Over the year. I mean, it depends on your lifestyle. And say you were like 18 years.

[B]

Old, so you're not the best. I was a PC gaming nerd.

[A]

Oh, really? Yeah. So then probably not. But if you were, if you were into weightlifting, maybe playing some sports, soccer or whatever. I mean, you're tall, basketball. You know what I mean? Then you probably were running around. You know, there's come. There's some kids out there in the like late teens, early 20s, like pushing like 1500.

[B]

Damn.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Do you think it gives you a big edge in sports to have high testosterone?

[A]

Absolutely. I mean, that's the reason why people like, you know, abuse them. Yeah. Your recovery, your Ability to just work out your muscle mass, your density, all of it.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

You gotta, and you gotta look at it as the reason why we die is part of that. It's our hormones. Because as you start, as your testosterone starts, as your hormone starts to decline, your bone density, your muscle density, it also becomes smaller, it all becomes weaker. And then eventually your organs start to shut down and fail. And that's just part of the aging process. We've got guys with core who are 85 years old still having sex.

[B]

What?

[A]

Yes. Like, good sex. 85, still having sex. Ice climbing. Like, I don't even ice climb. That shit's crazy.

[B]

That's intense.

[A]

Yeah. 85 years old, ice climbing, surfing, living life, rock climbing, doing all kinds of stuff.

[B]

85, that's exciting.

[A]

Like, if I'm 85, that's the kind of life that I want to be. I don't want to be a decrepit old man, you know? And that's the reality is what they're doing is they're just optimizing their health to a point to where they have a really high quality of life. I'll say this just for everybody listening. It's not all about your testosterone score. There's a lot of other things that go into your blood work that, because you could have, say you have a 600 testosterone score, you're like, okay, that's, that's okay. It's good. It's better than 91, right? But you still feel like you sleep, like, whatever. Well, that's not all that, that number doesn't mean everything because your sex binding hormone goblin, which nobody ever talks about or checks, could be through the roof. And what, that, what that, what happens then when you're, when your SHPG is through the roof? What happens is it's like you say you're a Ferrari, so you've got a high testosterone score. You're young, you got a high testosterone score. You're. You're a freaking Ferrari. But you have four flat tires. So you have a great car. You have a great car, Great score. But guess what? You can't use it, right, because you got four flats. That's what that is.

[B]

Got it.

[A]

So I've got to fix that so you have access to your free testosterone and you can kind of go from there.

[B]

Makes sense.

[A]

Yes. That's why, like, these, a lot of these online, you know, TRT mills that you never ever talk to a human being like it's a cookie cutter program. And that's what they, they, they do like a, a finger Prick test. And then they're like, oh, your testosterone is this. And it's like you test four things that. That's.

[B]

And you could just get on TRT from that test.

[A]

Yeah, but the problem. But the problem is it's not customized to you. It's just like a stamp. Here you go.

[B]

Right.

[A]

And so with us, the CEO Sidney Gordon has really always been. It's just been a requirement that we scale human beings. So as the company grows, we bring on more people to be patient coordinators so that you have a human being connection.

[B]

I like that.

[A]

Because you got to think, man, like, when somebody's dealing with this stuff, you're dealing with people's emotions, you're dealing with their lives and they have symptoms where maybe they're having sexual dysfunction. They're. You're. They're depressed. I mean, this is a very personable human being problem.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Last thing I want to do is just like, put that in some form.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I want to talk to a person that. That cares about me. And they do. They, like, genuinely care about your well being.

[B]

Agreed.

[A]

You know, and that's the reason why I think we've won over the years. I love that we continue to do.

[B]

Yeah. So is TRT a steroid?

[A]

So trt. So this is a great thing. The difference between trt. I actually made a video about this on my channel, the trt. The difference between TRT and steroids. So steroids is. I mean, hypoth. Yes, in layman's terms it is, but it's a bioidentical. It's a hormone that's already being produced by your body. Now, when you get into abusing steroids, like, and you're talking about trend and D ball and, you know, equipoise and all these, those are steroids. Those are not things that are naturally created in your body. Right. You know, primo mastro and all this kind of stuff that. Those are things that are not produced naturally.

[B]

Got it.

[A]

What we're focusing on is your testosterone and your estrogen and then your overall quality of life. We might be having to give you vitamin D, we might need to give you some peptides, B12, et cetera. But these are all things that are already in your body that we test on a blood test and we can see where your levels are and then we can optimize around.

[B]

That makes sense.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I didn't know that. That's good to know, though.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I guess my thing is, is, is it considered natural, then?

[A]

It's what your body's already Making it naturally, but you are giving it a synthetic version of it.

[B]

Got it.

[A]

But here's the deal. Like I said before, after 30, buddy, it ain't coming back. Like you can do all the things in the world. It's not coming back. Yeah, like it's part of being, it's part of getting older. So you just have to, you have to decide. You have to decide what quality, what kind of quality of life that I want. Does that make sense?

[B]

Yeah. I could see why you said woman like it. Because, yeah, 90 tests. You're not having sex.

[A]

No, you're not. So like with me personally, like, I can speak from personal experience. My, everything, my, my equipment worked, but my interest in it was not there.

[B]

Right. Like she had to pursue you.

[A]

Yeah. And even then I was like, man.

[B]

Yeah, 90 is super low.

[A]

Yeah, it's super low for a man. You know, like we see women that are operating best somewhere between 120 and 150, maybe 175.

[B]

So women were higher than you?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

That's crazy.

[A]

That's crazy, right?

[B]

Are you seeing issues with women with estrogen levels?

[A]

Yeah. So women are, women are complicated. I mean, women are complicated in general, but when it comes to hormones, women are very complicated. And thank God that we have the professionals to do that. But yeah, they have a lot more balancing of progesterone and estrogen. Plus they have a cycle that they have to deal with that also, as that month goes on, that cycle is also changing the progesterone, testosterone, estrogen. So we have some really, really smart on the medical staff that takes care of women as well. My wife's on it, so they manage my wife as well. She's 39.

[B]

Nice.

[A]

What? My, my mother in law is on it. What's amazing is, is, you know, obviously menopause for women is what makes them turn into basically old women. Right. Well, as you're getting into like pre menopause, if you go on hormone replacement therapy, you can actually stop menopause. No way. Yes. My mother in law's in her 60s. She probably hates me saying this. Hopefully she doesn't see this. But she still has a period.

[B]

What?

[A]

Yeah, I thought that stops at like 40 if they go through menopause. Damn. So that doctor was like, hey, listen, technically you guys got to be careful because technically you could get pregnant. You know what I mean? But, but that shows like the vitality of their health. Right? If you're still having a period in your, in your early 60s, it just shows. But you can, you can Kind of stave off menopause by going on hrt.

[B]

That's interesting. I didn't know they started aging heavily. Once that ended, that's really what.

[A]

That's really when. And that's the same thing with men. When that testosterone starts to dip.

[B]

Right.

[A]

That's when our aging process starts to really, really kick in. You see, guys look really old and frail. Same thing with women. Their hair starts to thin, their bone density starts to weaken. They're just, you know, less physically fit. You know?

[B]

That's interesting.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I'm sure if they did a study on old men that are active, their testosterone would be pretty high.

[A]

It's higher. Yeah, absolutely. It's high. It's going to be higher. And, and what they've actually done, they've done studies on the. On the muscle density and the size of muscle, which is why, like, you know, as you age, it's important that you lift weight to strengthen your bone density and muscle mass.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Because it's going to keep you. It's going to keep you young.

[B]

Damn. So I got a lift on to lift, man, I don't lift.

[A]

You got to lift.

[B]

Is it that important?

[A]

You think it's that important? And I'm not saying you got to be a bodybuilder, but if you lift weights, if you do squat, bench, deadlift with some accessory stuff three times a week, if you go lift for 45 minutes three times a week, you will add, you know, years and quality of life to your. To your life.

[B]

Whoa. Years.

[A]

Years.

[B]

Holy. Yeah, and you put it like that.

[A]

Just like three. Three days. And I'm not, like I said, I'm not saying. I'm not saying you got to be some fitness influencer, like, and looked a certain way, but just three days a week, 45 minutes of lifting will drastically change your life over a very long period of time. So we're talking consistency. Long period of time.

[B]

Yeah. How often do you have to take the TRT once you're on it.

[A]

So again, you know, once you're on trt, you're on it now, you can get off of it, but you're just going to go back to what you were.

[B]

Right.

[A]

It doesn't. It's not a fix because your body is what it is. Your age, your aging process, it's going down. So it is what it is. And then.

[B]

Yeah, you know, but is it like a weekly thing or is it.

[A]

Yeah, it's a weekly. So. So it depends. So, like, when I first started, I did one shot a week as I Got like three years into it and I got. I got to know more about it. I started splitting my dose because there's a half life cycle. So I just want to be more balanced.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So now it's like every three days I'll take another shot. So as. As. As testosterone sipinate is starting to decline, I'm taking another shot to keep it more level. Some people even do three shots a week subcutaneous. They use insulin needles.

[B]

That's a little.

[A]

That's a little much for me, but. So I just do two.

[B]

I was never a fan of the needle part of it.

[A]

You get. You really used to it?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah, you get really used.

[B]

You do it like in your ass, right?

[A]

Ass. You can do it your ass. You can do it in your, in your thighs. The easiest way if you're going to self administer for this is my opinion, easiest way is you just sit down, sit down, sit down. And you just go. You just go to an angle at the top part of your thigh and you just go right there.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Thighs, relax, you're sitting down, everything's cool. Boom. Done.

[B]

You don't feel it at all?

[A]

No. It doesn't take much shot. You've had a shot before?

[B]

Yeah. I regret getting most vaccines these days, though. That's a whole nother podcast.

[A]

We'll leave that to another one. Yeah.

[B]

No, but now you're super active. I saw you just climb the mountain. Mount Rainier.

[A]

That was a few years ago.

[B]

How tall is that?

[A]

I will say, man. Listen, I was in special operations. I've done some things in my life that was a kick in the pants.

[B]

Really?

[A]

Yes. And I'm 100% transparent on it. That was a really, really kick in the pants for me, man. I had to go to a dark place right there.

[B]

Holy. Yeah, it was that tough.

[A]

It was tough.

[B]

How many days?

[A]

It was tough. We were on the mountain for four days.

[B]

Holy crap.

[A]

Well, because you have to go to base camp and then you gotta out, you gotta. You gotta acclimatize and then it's a weather call from there. But yeah, there's a. There's a YouTube video called Journey to the Top. It's on my YouTube channel that documents the whole process.

[B]

I gotta check that out.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So you're not climbing Everest anytime soon?

[A]

No, I think, I think my mountain climbing days are over. Maybe some, some small fun stuff.

[B]

It sounds fun when you say it.

[A]

So I was actually very interested after that to go climb Everest. And I was. And I was younger and I was in the process of doing that. And that's when the. The icefall had an avalanche and all those people died.

[B]

Icefall.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So is that at Everest or a different.

[A]

It was. It was at Everest in the ice. In the. They call it the Icefall. But yeah, there was actually. There's a documentary on it. They were there filming a show about Sherpas or documentary about Sherpers. And they. And it happened while they were there. So they pivoted and this. And they filmed the documentary about. About the avalanche.

[B]

Holy crap.

[A]

A lot of people died. It was a really sad situation.

[B]

That's a terrible way.

[A]

This actually is from a Sherpa from Nepal.

[B]

Oh, yeah.

[A]

That was there at the. When that happened. And this is. This was given to a friend of mine and he gave it to me because inadvertently, I saved his life through my book. So he gave this to me. That's why I wear it, because it's a reminder of you might be me doing what I do. I could be saving somebody's life and I'll never know about it. So. But through all the. And all the negativity and all the stuff that I do, I wear this to remind myself to stay on the path.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

Because you never. You never know who you might be affecting.

[B]

I love that.

[A]

By doing what you're doing.

[B]

Yeah. I'm sure your book has saved lives. You. You'll never even read those people.

[A]

Yeah. And. And I say that book saved his life. He was. He was. He was a former FBI undercover agent overseas. Got out and didn't know testosterone was low. He didn't know. Yeah. Body. Body bag. Went to a hotel in Bethesda. Rented a hotel. Was going to put the body bag in the bath. Did put the body bag in the bathtub and was going to basically kill himself. Like zip it up and then kill himself. So it was like easy cleanup.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And went to go get a coffee. Randomly found my book at a coffee shop, read it cover to cover and didn't do it. No way. Yeah. Got with Core Med, got his testosterone checked. It was super low. Got it fixed. Saved his life. Now he's. Now he's. His name's on amphibious Spartan on. On Instagram and he swims to raise money for charities now.

[B]

Incredible.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And that was impacted by you.

[A]

And he. And he. And I didn't find out for like three years later. And then. And then I had. I found it through. Found out through Core Med. He's like, hey, do you know this guy? I'm like, no, I have no idea. And he told me the story. I was like, dude, why would he ever reach out to me? So I had him on my podcast and he told the whole story about him being undercover and everything that he did, which was a wild story. And then he gave me this and I was like, that's a reminder. I need to wow your mind.

[B]

That's incredible, man. So having been through everything you've gone through and if your kid approached you wanting to join the military, what would you say?

[A]

Oh, that's a hard one, dude. I don't know. I'd have to really talk about why. I'd have to really, really talk about why. I, I, Because I kind of know what's going on and it would really be based off of why he wants to join the military, what he wants to do. And at the end of the day here he's. If he' 18, he's got to make his own decisions. You know what I mean? I can say, listen, I don't want you to do this, or I do want you to do it. It really is up to him. You know, it's my role at that point to guide him, not dictate his future, but as far as my own desires. That would be hard, Sean. Yeah, that would be hard because. And it really depends on the administration. Right, right. Like, I don't think I really want him serving under this administration.

[B]

No, I heard terrible things about this one.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah. The whole abigate thing and, and the withdrawal of Afghanistan makes me sick. The, the 13 that died is unnecessary, like completely unnecessary deaths. Those young, those young guys and, and women. It's just a tragedy that would not have happened under a different administration. So that's hard to stomach for me.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Especially with much time as I spend in Afghanistan and, and, and fighting that fight.

[B]

Did you join because of 9 11?

[A]

No, I joined before 9 11.

[B]

Oh, before. Wow.

[A]

Yeah, I joined before 9 11. Obviously 911 was a pivotal point of. That changed my life forever. But yeah, that would be hard. That would be hard. But again, it'd be. Have to be his decision and it'd be my, it'd be my decision to guide him based off of what he was doing.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, it'd be tough. I don't even even have kids yet, but I think of these things.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Like public school and like how I'm gonna raise them and yeah, he'll need.

[A]

So I got, I got a 22 year old, an 18 year old and then a four. I hit the reset button. I got a four year old boy. Yeah, I'm trying for one more. I'm trying to squeeze out one more kid with my wife, obviously, and. But yeah, he'll never see the inside of a public classroom.

[B]

Hell no. No, it's changed too much.

[A]

No, it's not the same. I mean, it was bad when I was a kid based off the structure, but it's even worse now, so.

[B]

Bad enough like you could be a cat.

[A]

Yeah, I. I give it. I'll give a shout out to Matt Bardu in the Apogee Academy. Those guys are really doing something with school. They're flipping. They're flipping school upside down. Nice.

[B]

What are they doing?

[A]

It's a. It's more. It's true education. So it's more. And you have to. You have to look it up. Because I'm not as educated as Matt is on the subject. But it really, more is about giving. Like for instance, kids. I think it's Norway somewhere over there. Sweet. Not Sweden. Finland. Maybe the kids don't start school until 7 or 8.

[B]

What? That's late. Right? That's late because we started up five.

[A]

Even preschool at four.

[B]

Right.

[A]

So they don't start as kids till seven or eight. Because kids are not even in a mode to learn by then. They're still playing. So kids just need to play.

[B]

There's some smart Norwegians, man. The best chess player in the world is from Norway.

[A]

Right. So we're. We have all this schooling in America. How, how smart are our kids?

[B]

Not that smart.

[A]

No. They're being taught to memorize facts.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Memorize facts that the public school system want them to know. You know, you take a kid at. You take a kid out of high school. Does he know anything about credit?

[B]

Nope.

[A]

Mortgage processes, investing, a P. L? Anything that's actually going to benefit his life. He can't even remember the stuff that he was supposed to memorize for a test. It's in and out, done.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

They have nothing. That's. That's a tragedy.

[B]

It's really bad.

[A]

But if you take a kid from one of those different classes or a different country at 18, they know some. They're smart. They're educated. Truly educated. Not schooled. Educated.

[B]

Right.

[A]

And I think that's different. So what they're doing is they're really giving the, the, these youth the space to learn. What are you interested in? Because when you're interested in something, you will freaking dive in deep 100%. And you're like, I want to know this because I'm excited about learning this stuff.

[B]

Yeah. Learning should be fun.

[A]

Learning's supposed to be Fun.

[B]

But for us it wasn't.

[A]

Why were you. Yeah, why are you forcing this kid to learn about something that he's never going to use and he's not interested in all the other stuff? Comps. Yeah, we over complicate the process. It's funny on the podcast I have with Matt Beau talking about this subject, I'm so. We, we're all so programmed in the public school system that it was hard for me to ask questions.

[B]

Really?

[A]

Yeah, because I was like, I didn't know what questions to ask. I was like trying to think and he, and I was getting stumped and he was laughing. He's like, it's, it's hard, right? He goes, yeah, because you're so programmed. He's like, well what about writing in arithmetic? You know what I mean? Or what about math? And he's just laughing. He's like, it's history class. Yeah. You know, and so what they do is a very much more project based and, and giving the kids room to learn and teach. So like so say a second grader might be teaching or helping mentoring a first grader.

[B]

Wow, that's cool.

[A]

You know, or if you're in ninth grade, you're teaching the eighth grade.

[B]

That's more relatable though because you're not going to listen to a six year old.

[A]

And what's, what's any. Anybody who knows anything about education is if you can teach it, you actually know it.

[B]

Right.

[A]

If you really want to learn something, teach it to someone, go get educated on it and then have to create a lesson plan. So what? Or educate someone else on it. You know, when you can teach a subject, that's when you really know it.

[B]

Absolutely. What we'll link it below. Are they everywhere in the country or just certain states right now?

[A]

So, so they first started with one with Tim Kennedy in, in Texas and then they slowly started to open up branches all over the United States.

[B]

Nice.

[A]

Yeah. So they're. It's growing. It's growing, dude.

[B]

It's been a blast. Where can people get the product and learn more about you, man?

[A]

Johnnyslicks.com Go ahead. You can use my code. Nick, get yourself discount. And then for me at social media, Nick, on anything.

[B]

We'll link below. Thanks for coming on.

[A]

Yeah, thanks, Sean.

[B]

Yep. Thanks for watching guys.

[A]

See you next time.