Podcast Summary: My First Million – Episode: "$100M Founder Predicts What Will Be Big in 5 Years"

Host: Sam Parr
Guest: Justin Mares
Release Date: March 31, 2025
Duration: Approximately 56 minutes
Transcript Excerpts: Provided by Hubspot Media

1. Introduction to Justin Mares and His Success

In this episode of My First Million, host Sam Parr welcomes Justin Mares, a successful entrepreneur known for scaling his bone broth company, Kettle and Fire, to a remarkable $100 million in annual revenue.

• Sam Parr [00:05]: "You're one of my healthiest buddies... clearly you are like already thinking and acting on a lot of these things."
• Justin Mares [01:38]: "Yeah, north of that. Yeah."

Justin shares his journey from quitting the tech industry to focusing on health-oriented businesses, highlighting his commitment to building efficient, profitable companies with minimal capital.

• Sam Parr [03:13]: "Damn, that's awesome that you have proven me and I'm sure many other people wrong."
• Justin Mares [02:57]: "No, we're profitable... we've raised only $10 million in primary capital since starting the company."

2. Health Trends: Chronic Disease and Pet Health

Justin delves into macro health trends, emphasizing the parallels between human and pet health, particularly in combating chronic diseases like cancer and obesity.

• Justin Mares [03:23]: "Make America healthy again... 1 in 4 dogs are going to get cancer at this point."
• Sam Parr [05:05]: "Is this true? You say here that in some cities there's more dogs and babies?"

He identifies a burgeoning market where pet health products can mirror human health innovations, suggesting significant opportunities for new businesses in this niche.

3. Light Labs: Enhancing Transparency in Food Safety

Justin introduces Light Labs, a venture co-founded with his brother, aiming to revolutionize lab testing for consumer brands by providing comprehensive toxin assessments.

• Justin Mares [09:08]: "Light Labs isbasically building a lab testing toxin testing company like a modern one for consumer brands like Kettle and Fire."
• Sam Parr [14:17]: "Does he have any revenue now, your brother?"
• Justin Mares [14:30]: "Yeah, they've launched a couple months ago and they've started to get revenue."

Light Labs seeks to offer greater transparency in the food supply chain, allowing consumers to access detailed lab results via QR codes, thereby fostering trust and driving demand for cleaner products.

4. Function Health and Superpower: Personalized Health Tracking

The conversation shifts to Function Health and Superpower, companies specializing in telemedicine and comprehensive health marker tracking through blood tests.

• Justin Mares [20:52]: "Function Health and Superpower... test your own blood for over 190 markers."
• Sam Parr [21:42]: "I think they announced another fundraising, but they got to nine figures in revenue in two or three years."

Justin praises their rapid growth and the increasing consumer demand for personalized health insights, predicting a surge in products and services aimed at optimizing individual biomarkers.

5. The Challenge of Nutrition Labels Accuracy

Justin critiques the reliability of nutritional labels, citing significant variances and regulatory leniencies that undermine consumer trust.

• Sam Parr [18:07]: "There’s no way that nutritional labels are accurate with just the calories, let alone like whatever else."
• Justin Mares [18:07]: "The FDA allows for... often upwards of like 30, 40, even 50%... really makes a lot of this nutrition stuff even harder to figure out."

He underscores the need for more precise and transparent nutritional information, aligning with his investment in Light Labs to address these discrepancies.

6. Skincare and Gut Health: An Inside Perspective

Justin advocates for a holistic approach to skincare, linking gut health with skin health and critiquing the effectiveness of many skincare products on the market.

• Sam Parr [40:12]: "So your stance here is that skincare is mostly a scam."
• Justin Mares [41:10]: "A lot of the anti-aging stuff, anti-wrinkle cream... just do not work or are so marginal it's basically not worth doing."

He proposes integrating gut-based interventions with topical skincare to create more effective solutions, pointing to research that connects internal health with external appearance.

7. Home Health: Addressing Environmental Toxins

The discussion turns to the health impacts of household environments, including air quality, EMF exposure, and the presence of volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

• Justin Mares [27:30]: "Water toxicity, like off-gassing, things called volatile organic compounds... they're being slowly poisoned by the house they live in."
• Sam Parr [31:57]: "How much does it cost?"

Justin highlights Lightwork, a company focused on assessing and improving home health through comprehensive testing, and discusses the potential for technology to make such assessments more accessible and affordable.

8. Controversial Health Stances: Vaccination Schedule

Justin shares his contentious views on the current vaccination schedule, advocating for fewer shots spaced out over time to mitigate potential chronic health impacts.

• Justin Mares [53:14]: "I feel pretty confident that our current vaccine schedule is very much not good from a chronic disease standpoint."
• Sam Parr [53:38]: "And they don't let you."

He expresses skepticism about the necessity and timing of certain vaccines, particularly those added unexpectedly to the infant schedule, emphasizing his belief in re-evaluating established health protocols.

9. Final Insights and Future Opportunities

Wrapping up, Justin reiterates his focus on nutrient-dense diets and the potential for innovative health solutions that go beyond conventional approaches. He mentions his latest venture, True Med, which facilitates the purchase of health supplements using tax-free HSA or FSA funds.

• Justin Mares [55:46]: "My company now is called True Med... you can buy exercise, healthy food supplements using tax-free HSA or FSA money."
• Sam Parr [56:15]: "True Med has a podcast. It's great."

Justin emphasizes the importance of integrating health awareness into everyday choices, from diet and skincare to home environments, forecasting significant growth in these sectors over the next five years.

Notable Quotes

• Justin Mares [03:23]: "Make America healthy again... 1 in 4 dogs are going to get cancer at this point."
• Justin Mares [09:08]: "Light Labs is basically building a lab testing toxin testing company like a modern one for consumer brands like Kettle and Fire."
• Justin Mares [21:09]: "Function is like 500 bucks a year."
• Justin Mares [41:10]: "A lot of the anti-aging stuff, anti-wrinkle cream... just do not work or are so marginal it's basically not worth doing."
• Justin Mares [53:14]: "I feel pretty confident that our current vaccine schedule is very much not good from a chronic disease standpoint."

Conclusion

This episode provides insightful perspectives on emerging health trends and business opportunities within the health and wellness industry. Justin Mares shares his expertise on building successful health-focused companies, the importance of transparency in product labeling, and the integration of technology in personal and home health management. His forward-thinking approach underscores the potential for significant advancements and innovations over the next five years.