How To Build a Brand SO Magnetic, Corporate Giants Beg To Buy w/ Brian Mazza

Summary

Sweat Equity Podcast Summary

Episode Overview

Title: How To Build a Brand SO Magnetic, Corporate Giants Beg To Buy w/ Brian Mazza
Date: May 20, 2026
Hosts: Alex Garcia & Brian Blum (Marketing Examined)
Guest: Brian Mazza (Serial entrepreneur, brand builder & founder of HPLT)

The episode dives into the playbook behind building magnetic brands and world-class experiences, using Brian Mazza’s journey—culminating in the sale of his company HPLT to Lifetime Fitness—as a central case study. Discussions range from experiential marketing and the evolution of the fitness industry, to lessons in personal branding, organizational innovation, and reinventing hospitality for modern consumers. Mazza openly shares hard-won insights, concrete brand narratives, and the mindset required to build—and sell—community-driven businesses that cut through noise and win attention, loyalty, and even corporate buyouts.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Story of HPLT’s Sale to Lifetime Fitness

• Background: HPLT started as both a personal incubator and community-centric brand, not with the explicit intention of being acquired.
  • "The business wasn't built to really do that. It was more of an incubator accelerator for me personally as well as building a community..."
    — Brian Mazza [01:13]
• Acquisition Path: The catalyst was a Lifetime Fitness VP attending an HPLT summit, and recognizing its potential as an internal retention and development tool.
• Negotiation & Alignment: Multiple touchpoints with Lifetime’s leadership focused less on the metrics, more on shared values, family, and vision.
  • "We talked everything but Lifetime and HPLT. We talked about family, how we wanna continue through life and what means a lot."
    — Brian Mazza [02:47]
• Integration Benefits: HPLT gains massive operational resources—finance, marketing, club access—amplifying their reach and event scale.
  • "I get the finance side of the things. I get help there, the marketing as well, and just the resources within all the clubs and the members get to have access."
    — Brian Mazza [05:32]

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2. The Future of Fitness: Community, Content & Experiences

• Lifetime's Positioning: "Athletic country clubs"—holistic, family-centric wellness hubs that foster community horizontally (peer-driven), not just vertically.
  • "Lifetime is the best of what they do, right? It's these athletic country clubs, and no one can really touch them in that space."
    — Brian Mazza [06:41]
• Innovative Potential: Lifetime's scale allows for niche sporting competitions, rich content franchises, and highly differentiated member experiences.
• Market Trends: CrossFit is losing cultural edge; Hyrox brings mass participation but lacks the ‘awe’ factor; there's a gap for hybrid events blending power and endurance.
  • "There's nothing in the middle that has the strength and power while still adding endurance...that addictive factor...the more power, explosive factors."
    — Interviewer 2 [09:48]

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3. Mainstreaming Athletic Competition: What It Takes

• Brand Integration: For competitions like Hyrox or CrossFit to ‘transcend,’ they must:
  • Land big brand deals (e.g., Nike, Adidas launching specific shoes)
  • Spotlight compelling personalities who move culture (the 'Michael Jordan effect')
  • Secure meaningful media deals for scale and mainstream viability
  • "Now if Hyrox really wants to go to the next level, they're gonna have to get it on TV, get real partnerships and athletes...have a league."
    — Brian Mazza [14:51]

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4. The Psychology Behind Extreme Experiences (And Why They Win)

• Algorithmic Extremism: Social and media platforms reward maximalist, extreme feats—often driving unhealthy or performative behavior in fitness.
  • "Everything has to be extreme to stick...That's what the algorithms desire...It's societally toxic."
    — Interviewer 1 + Brian Mazza [16:48–17:19]
• Authenticity & Balance: Mazza advocates for “training to be a fit, healthy dad”—pursuing excellence, but without letting performative extremes override genuine wellness.

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5. Building a Relatable, Aspirational Personal Brand

• Early Playbook: Leveraged PR (Page Six, GQ, Men’s Health covers) for initial social proof. Pivoted to Instagram at the inflection point of social media.
  • "So important. Right. Getting into GQ, getting into Esquire, I got on the cover of Men's Health...that was the game."
    — Brian Mazza [19:28]
• Content Formula: Blended lifestyle, fitness “aspirational yet attainable” posts with distinctive features (i.e., tights, energetic imagery, motivational captions).
• Brand-First Approach: Expanding events, collabs (Kane, Athletic Brewing), and user-generated content focused on network over founder celebrity.
  • "If the brand has that loyalty and the network of the people are really the brand, I think it'll go super far."
    — Brian Mazza [29:10]

Notable Growth Hack:

• Fast turnaround for event content—delivering high-quality, ready-to-share photos and videos within hours, cementing attendee status and amplifying reach.
  • "If you can get people to go, the content right away, that's edited and easy for them to post, they feel so cool."
    — Brian Mazza [48:10]

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6. Playbook for World-Class Experiences (and the Future of Events)

• Trauma Bonding By Design: Opening every HPLT summit with a Navy SEAL cold-water “sufferfest,” forcing immediate camaraderie through discomfort and overcoming adversity.
  • "I have to hold your arm right now...and we're going to get smacked in a 40 degree wave together. I can't let you go."
    — Brian Mazza [19:19] / [30:57–31:17]
  • "You just immediately make them trauma bond. You're immediately hooked."
    — Interviewer 1 + Brian Mazza [31:22–31:24]
• Actionable Advice: It's not about the founder, but the guest network and shared experience. Founder ego must take a back seat to sustainable community.
  • "If you make it too much about the founder, it's only gonna have a shorter shelf life...the network of the people are really the brand."
    — Brian Mazza [29:10–29:15]
• Impact: Guests undergo mindset shifts—quitting jobs, changing life paradigms, making lifelong friends, investing together; the experience drives transformation, not just information.

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7. Reinventing the Hospitality/Bar Industry

• Industry Shift: Social/fiscal trends and wellness movements (sobriety, sleep optimization, anti-drinking culture) are fundamentally challenging traditional bars and restaurants.
  • "You could drink and do drugs and it was fine...now in the space of all of these podcasts and information that people are getting...it's forcing it down your throat."
    — Brian Mazza [39:51–40:01]
• Necessity of Creativity: To survive, venues must craft memorable, highly shareable experiences (i.e., viral extremes) and unique differentiators; citing past experiments like the Mac and Cheeseburger Challenge and 24k Gold Wings.
  • "Let's do three burgers...whoever can eat this burger in 45 minutes...gets $750...Kobayashi did three of them in a row."
    — Brian Mazza [44:14–44:49]
• Pop-up & Eventification: Traditional hospitality modeled on vibe and exclusivity must further adapt—either with pop-ups, specialty events, or aligning with wellness and experiential trends.

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8. The Power of Referrals & Word of Mouth

• Referral Engine: HPLT’s summit growth is primarily organic via attendee referrals, leveraging word-of-mouth credibility, especially after extreme shared events.
  • "That referral is huge for us. Like, we don't even market really that much."
    — Brian Mazza [36:38]

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9. Fatherhood & Intentional Living: The Ultimate Brand Story

• Personal Superpower: Mazza details the role of fatherhood as the ultimate driver for authenticity, grit, and accountability.
  • "I stopped drinking 10 years ago because I never wanted my kids to see me have a drink...I have them taste the blood a little bit often. Yeah. So they can continue to go."
    — Brian Mazza [49:18–51:46]
• Role Modeling: Instills work ethic, self-belief, and perseverance in his children by daily example—serving as the deeper “why” of his personal and business philosophy.
• Unique Messaging: Building a network, brand, and family legacy with “Coach Hat” and “Dad Hat”—guiding by both challenge and support.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "People are going to judge you no matter what. And 99% of the people want you to fail, but I love that shit."
  — Brian Mazza [00:00, 25:17]
• "You just immediately make them trauma bond."
  — Interviewer 1 [31:22]
• "If the brand has that loyalty and the network of the people are really the brand, I think it'll go super far."
  — Brian Mazza [29:10]
• "Everything has to be extreme to stick...That's what the algorithms desire...It's societally toxic."
  — Interviewer 1 + Brian Mazza [17:08–17:19]
• "As a leader, you have to put people in the right room for them to be successful...they're getting sharp and they're learning how to be weapons and they go back and apply those tools with confidence."
  — Brian Mazza [37:28–38:50]
• "If you want anything to be successful that you are part of with a bunch of different people, as a leader, you have to put them in the right room."
  — Brian Mazza [37:28]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• HPLT Sale & Origin Story:
  [01:08] – [05:36]
• Lifetime’s Strategy & Fitness Trends:
  [06:00] – [09:48]
• Hyrox, CrossFit, and Media Brand Models:
  [13:30] – [15:23]
• Algorithmic Extremism in Fitness:
  [16:37] – [18:08]
• Mazza’s Personal Branding Evolution:
  [19:07] – [24:09]
• Content Creation & Growth Hacking:
  [24:35] – [27:00]
• World-Class Event Design (Navy SEAL Activations):
  [30:03] – [32:50]
• Hospitality Industry Transformation:
  [39:03] – [44:05]
• Extreme/Viral Experiences as Customer Acquisition:
  [44:05] – [46:20]
• Fatherhood, Role Modeling & Daily Discipline:
  [49:18] – [54:32]

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Final Takeaways

• A magnetic brand is built not just on product but by engineering visceral, shareable experiences—and creating an environment and network that perpetuates itself beyond the founder.
• The most valuable modern marketing is organic—born out of genuine transformation and word of mouth, amplified by frictionless, instantly shareable content.
• Leadership = curating the room; the right environment sharpens individuals into their best selves.
• Authenticity, community, and a bias for boldness trump fleeting trends or superficial brand-building.
• True innovation draws equally from old school hustle (service, saying yes, being reliable) and modern agility (content, social, network effects).

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"Come to HPLT if you want to get waterboarded. It's really not that bad. It's super fun."
— Brian Mazza [55:16]

Transcript

[Brian Maza]

People are going to judge you no matter what. And 99% of the people want you to fail, but I love that shit.

[Interviewer 1]

Brian Maza is a lifestyle entrepreneur who recently sold his company HPLT to Lifetime Fitness last year. He's a master at building hospitality companies and world class experiences, not to mention being a creator. With over 800,000 followers on social media,

[Brian Maza]

I have had people leave the summits and within an hour be like, I just quit my job of 15 years. Thank you. All right, dude, I don't know you, but I have to hold your arm right now and we're going to get smacked in a 40 degree wave together. I can't let you go.

[Interviewer 1]

You just immediately make them trauma bond.

[Brian Maza]

You're immediately hooked.

[Interviewer 1]

We talked to him about what it takes to build a world class experience. Lifetime's goal of becoming the go to third space in communities across America. And something I think y' all will love is how he'd saved the struggling bar industry. You're gonna learn a ton in this one about the future of experiential marketing. But first we gotta get into the story that he told at the beginning of the show. We'll see y' all there. All right, so we're on the one year anniversary of you selling HPLT to Lifetime. I'd love to just kind of hear how Deal came together, talk a little bit about the background of the business as well. You know, how Lifetime came to the table, all that stuff.

[Brian Maza]

Yeah. So, well, thanks for having me here.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah, of course. Thanks for having us in the facility.

[Brian Maza]

Yeah, I know. It's a great facility here. Yeah. So I, I really had no intention of ever selling hplt. The business wasn't built to really do that. It was more of a, an incubator accelerator for me personally as well as building a community and just chasing something that I've missed my whole life as being an athlete. Right. So I created this brand so I can continue to grow my network, continue to be around people that are going to sharpen my tool throughout all the summits and kind of play both sides. Right. So I can do my personal branding stuff, but leverage hblt. And HBLT can leverage my personal branding stuff as well. Right. So we can all dance in the same pot. But we had a summit for 10,000 in September the previous year. And they had a VP from lifetime attendant. I didn't know them. I didn't really know much about Lifetime prior to that. I was an Equinox guy and then when I moved to the suburbs, I didn't go to Lifetime, I had my own gym, so I just trained out of my own facility there, which we still have, which is great. And then this guy, Jason Love, who's been at Lifetime, a wonderful guy, we hit it off all weekend. And he was like, man, this could be something really cool for a retention tool internally at Lifetime. So. So maybe you could throw some summits for us internally and we can bring our top talent, top instructors, or personal training employees in and it could be just a really cool reset weekend or offer tools to get them to perform a little bit better. And we were into it and it was so turnkey for us at this point that we could have done this. I mean, I could do one tomorrow if I need to. And then he was like, hey, I want you to speak to this other. My boss, this, this awesome guy ifanda. And we hit it off on, on a call and we were very aligned. And he was like, hey, actually can you come to Boca? I want to just spend some time with you. I want to show you the Boca clubs. And I was like, no problem, I'll fly out tomorrow. So I went out there and this again was just always get on the jet. I've always been that, that way my whole life, right? I've always been a yes man in that sense of if there's any opportunity that I feel like I can just meet new people and continue to grow, I'll travel. Where I need to go. Goes back to when I was in the hospitality days as a bottle runner. You know, I was that 22 year old kid when all these mega nightlife people needed iced coffees in the morning. Even though I was hungover as hell, I would still go get the iced coffees and the bagels for everyone. Yes, they had nice cars for me to drive in the Hamptons, but I was like, if I go do all this stuff, pick up their laundry, do all these things, they'll know that I'm reliable and they'll always keep me around until there's opportunities, right? So I got on that plane, went to Boca for 24 hours and I felt like it was kind of an interview for me. And I spent about three hours in the car with this man I've never met before. And we talked everything but lifetime in hblt. We talked about family, we talked about just how we wanna continue through life and what means a lot to me. And then after that, he was like, hey, you kind of passed the test. And I was like, what are you talking about? He's like, we're really interested in your business. I need you to speak to this woman, Jessie, who I think you've met. And she runs New York at the time. And I met her, and we hit it off right away. And she was like, dude, I think we really need to have this internally, but I think we could do a lot more with it where we can help you reach more people. We can bring this summit to the masses and utilize our clubs and shoot content and all of that. And the conversation continued for about four or five months. And then I finally met the big man, BA who's the boss and runs everything. And, you know, we hit it off, and it just came to, hey, we want to acquire your business. Let's see how it goes for the year. And we're rocking and rolling, so that kind of accelerated really quickly. And then we sold it a year ago.

[Interviewer 2]

Is this the same Boca trip where you got recognized?

[Brian Maza]

No, it's different Boca trip, but so funny, right? I need to move to Boca. It's a different trip.

[Interviewer 2]

I was like, you got to attribute that. That's like, good social proof. If this is the Boca.

[Brian Maza]

I'm thinking about it. Wow. Like, good things happen in Boca. So I need to, like, move.

[Interviewer 1]

You might actually have to move down there.

[Brian Maza]

I didn't think about that.

[Interviewer 1]

That's. That's fascinating. So they wanted to almost use it as a professional development, internally tool.

[Brian Maza]

Yeah, that's what I was told. And I was like, oh, that's really neat. And then I was speaking to Melissa, who runs the business, and I said, hey, this could be, you know, maybe 5, 6, 7, 8 events per year that we can just add as revenue.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Brian Maza]

So let's. Let's do it. Why not? It'll be very easy for us to.

[Interviewer 1]

And so have they. Have they kind of amplified the scale of the business thus far, like, so.

[Brian Maza]

Yeah, I mean, it's great that we get to utilize all of their resources internally that I didn't have previously. Right. It was just me and Melissa running the business. But now, you know, I get the finance side of the things. I get help there, the marketing as well, and just the resources within all the clubs and the members get to have access to come. So that's been great.

[Interviewer 2]

Right.

[Brian Maza]

But we still have such a big network of our own that we utilize a lot of our members still. But it's a great amenity for the lifetime member.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

And I just look at. I look at overall, what is the future of fitness look like? And if you look at Nike and what they're doing with Like Training After Dark. You look at bandit running in their run clubs. You look at the different lifting programs that all these facilities are having in, like, this idea of creating a space where people can interact with each other and truly build a community to where it's like more of a horizontal relationship than vertical and top down. It's an interesting play from Lifetime to see that, know that come to you because you've already built it and be like, okay, how do we integrate this into what we have, the infrastructure that we have, the audience that we have, and then be able to take it, make it even bigger. What does that look like in the future for them on, like.

[Brian Maza]

Yeah. I mean, I don't even think we scratched the surface yet with them. I think there's so much more that we can contribute to what Lifetime wants to do on the innovation side of things. You know, Lifetime is the best of what they do, right? It's these athletic country clubs, and no one can really touch them in that space.

[Interviewer 2]

I like that positioning, too. Like athletic country clubs.

[Brian Maza]

I mean, my kid, we go to a country club in my town, right? My kids don't eat, want to go to the one that I pay for. They're like, can we just go to Lifetime in Westchester? There's slides, there's rock climbing, there's basketball, there's pickleball, there's tennis. I mean, there's everything that you could do for a kid. And as a parent, you have childcare, too. Not that my kids would go to that, but you have built in childcare. I mean, who does that? So everyone wins there, right? You can. But when we go to Lifetime in Westchester, it's. The pools are awesome, the amenities are sick. I get to relax, my kids run around. They know so many people. There's. But in terms of. Back to your question, you know, I think I would love to be tasked with more opportunity to innovate for them on these special projects. Right? Because content is king. And just look what BPN just did with their Ultra. Right? I mean, I can't even imagine how many eyeballs.

[Interviewer 1]

Lifetime could do five different series like that without it. They could do a pickleball niche. They could do like a swimming niche. They could do anything.

[Brian Maza]

Right. It's just a matter of allocating resources and having a.

[Interviewer 1]

Having a change agent in the organization.

[Brian Maza]

Yeah, exactly. So I think we're like, you know, kind of that. That stallion group that can do it.

[Interviewer 1]

Your acquisition, to me is the signal that they know what they're doing. Between the Lifetime Austin build out, which for context, for people is like this entire childcare with a wet suite, which is sauna, cold, plunge, all in one. It's this massive gym. They got a, they have a bar in there, you know, like that's even counterintuitive. Yeah, you can, you can turn up.

[Brian Maza]

You can turn up and I'll tell you, it's so crazy. We were just.

[Interviewer 1]

No, I haven't been.

[Brian Maza]

I haven't. He hasn't, but maybe he will. But we were just at Coral Gables. We did our micro summit, which is our one day summit. And the pool was. I thought it was a nightclub. Yeah, I was. People are like, dude, what are we doing? I'm like, I have no clue. It was crazy.

[Interviewer 1]

Sometimes it gets going.

[Brian Maza]

Gets going.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Brian Maza]

But yeah, I think, you know, they, they definitely know what they're doing. Right. They're in top of the game. I just think there's more opportunity for us to really do something really incredible.

[Interviewer 2]

I think there's a huge opportunity just because I think about if we look at the fitness landscape and we look at like the competition quote unquote landscape, you've CrossFit here, which is slowly dialing, dying or losing its reach, which sucks because I enjoy watching it. But like overall as a sport kind of dying, then you have high rocks, which is built for more so the endurance athlete. Right.

[Brian Maza]

Like, and it's democratized. Like anyone can really do that.

[Interviewer 2]

Anybody can do it. And to me there's no like not saying the guys that aren't winning aren't specimens. But you look at CrossFit or like football players or basketball players and there's like elements that make them freak athletes that are the thing that you want to watch.

[Interviewer 1]

Like you can't be one of them.

[Interviewer 2]

Yeah, like no one here is jumping 40 inches. Known here is benching probably 315.

[Interviewer 1]

I mean you've been on camera saying you have 40 inch bur.

[Interviewer 2]

No, 36. I just got.

[Brian Maza]

I've seen you training lately, bro.

[Interviewer 2]

Good stuff. Thank you. Thank you. 36. See?

[Interviewer 1]

God damn, Brian.

[Brian Maza]

I've seen the sprints. I've seen the sprints. I haven't seen the jumping. I've seen the sprints.

[Interviewer 2]

He's got it on video.

[Interviewer 1]

Don't feed the ego.

[Interviewer 2]

You've got high rocks over here. That's very rare, endurance based. But there's nothing. And I know you guys are working on something, but like there's nothing in the middle that has the strength and power while maybe still adding some of the elements of endurance. But it's not the Sole focus. Because I think this is like fun to do one time and unless you're competing, it doesn't have like the addictive factor that something that's like, hey, I go from benching to 25, 10 times to you know, 20 times or I go from a 30 inch vert to 36 inch vert or whatever the case may be. But like the more the power explosive factors and I feel like there's nothing that gets a crowd like more pumped up than seeing, you know, like a 315 clean.

[Brian Maza]

Yeah, well, I mean I think the LT Games is, has been a great way to kind of blend everything there, you know, with the high rock stuff. Listen, I think just fitness in general, if you're getting after it, awesome, right? And that's the whole M.O. there. I don't think you're gonna. Me personally, I've never done Hyrox. I have really no desire to do it. And I know a lot of brands are like, we need you to get into Hyrox. And I'm just like, it's not my thing. It's just really not. I don't, I have no desire to do it. I'll go and like celebrate the homies and stuff, but with Hyrox, I think it's like maybe four or five times max. How much better are you really going to get unless you're dedicating your whole

[Interviewer 2]

life to that few minutes.

[Brian Maza]

Right. So if you're doing your thing. Sick. The LT Games, it's, it's really technical. You have to be super strong.

[Interviewer 1]

Talk about the LT Games a little bit.

[Brian Maza]

Yeah, the LT Games is sick. I mean you have like. I think Noah Olson won the first one who was a CrossFit legend, you know, competing there. And he was like, it was pretty tough. So I know they also do high rocks and stuff, but when you see them do high rocks, it's really, in my opinion, I think they're just going through the motions of it. They're still crushing times. But the LT Games is very difficult and I think when you watch that, you see real athletes, you see real strength and power and what, you know, games should be. It's like when you used to watch. I was talking about it with my trainer Tommy today. I don't know if you guys remember during the CrossFit games when they had the race through all of those like dummies and that was real athleticism. And Matt Frazier showed that he could do.

[Interviewer 2]

Cooked him.

[Brian Maza]

Cooked him. He like did. It was like you training, right? He could beat anybody, right?

[Interviewer 1]

So quick feet.

[Brian Maza]

I like to see when people have to be real deal athletes now. I'm not taking away from Hyrox. It's great. The community is. Is pretty wild. Their growth is insane from when it first came here.

[Interviewer 1]

I would be down to get canceled by the high rocks community on this podcast though. Like, if we started saying some controversial shit, they could come for us.

[Brian Maza]

Maybe it's fine, but I don't have any desire to like, really watch. Like if they. If it was on tv, I think it's just, I would never watch it.

[Interviewer 1]

It's done such a good job with modern branding and social media for sure. That's the thing where it just seems like the CrossFit Games and even like the Lifetime Games to an extent. Like, I think the model from Hyrox is there. Right. It is incredible photos of everybody. You look sick when you go.

[Brian Maza]

We all look the same too. That's another reason why I don't want to go is because we all, we all have the same leg sleeve with all the same lives.

[Interviewer 2]

Everyone's like black on black on all the same people.

[Brian Maza]

And it's like, I don't want to go and be my, like, be with everyone like myself. I want to do other stuff. But we always joke about it. It's like just to be like looking in the mirror for, for three hours. Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

Yeah.

[Brian Maza]

But the homies that do it, I have a lot of friends that do and they do do it really well. And I applaud them and I think that's great.

[Interviewer 1]

It's a mission, you know, it's like a good thing to go pursue.

[Interviewer 2]

But I do think the opportunities in that, in that middle ground of like, what CrossFit couldn't be with like what cross or with what Hyrox did because like you guys said, they, they modernize the branding of sport and of fitness. Because you still look at CrossFit branding overall, like it's very 2001. You know what I mean?

[Brian Maza]

But also impossible for the normal Joe to do. Yes.

[Interviewer 1]

Right.

[Brian Maza]

Like, if you can't Olympic lift. Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

You're done.

[Brian Maza]

You're.

[Interviewer 2]

You can't compete.

[Brian Maza]

No way.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

And I think that middle ground is. Is such an opportunity. And the other thing I think about too is like, what do you think is needed to almost like transcend these games or these competitions? Right. And what I'll reference is Michael Jordan transcended basketball. OBJ in many ways. Like transcended football. No. Lyles is trying to transcend track. Right. With like being bigger personalities outside of the sport. Where do you think you have to go to be able to like transcend and makes something like this mainstream?

[Brian Maza]

Well, I think now with Hyrox, it's pretty incredible that these major brands are finally, I'm talking about like major, major brands. Adidas, the Puma, the Nikes, they're finally buying into it with creating a shoe. I think it starts there, right? Like when Michael Jordan created his, his Jordan ones, right? They like, they created that for him for basketball. I don't think they knew how big that was going to eventually get. I think they knew he was going to be wonderful. But I think he's the highest paid athlete still on residuals. It's crazy. So I think now, you know, especially with Adidas, when they're coming out with this new shoe that looks great, right? You know, when reebok was doing CrossFit, they never made a good looking shoe. It was never a good looking shoe.

[Interviewer 2]

You tell me you didn't have 10 pairs of the Nan.

[Brian Maza]

No one made a really cool CrossFit shoe.

[Interviewer 2]

Yeah.

[Brian Maza]

Now Puma is making a cool high rock shoe. Adidas now is finally jumping on board and making a cool Hyrox or hybrid shoe. Right. They're not gonna say Hyrox hybrid shoe. So I think that's the first start. And then once you have those big brands and big money behind it, they could start really getting the right athletes in there. Now if Hyrox really wants to go to the next level, they're gonna have to get it on tv. They're gonna have to get real deal partnerships and athletes in there to have a league. Now. I don't know. Is anyone gonna really watch Hyrax on a Sunday? Probably not.

[Interviewer 2]

I don't know.

[Brian Maza]

But listen, the Premier League was able to do it and look at them now. And they did that big monster deal with Peacock and NBC. No one. I'm a big soccer guy. No one watched the Premier League back in the day. It was like cdi. We watched Italian League.

[Interviewer 1]

All right, so over the last two years of building Nibble, shipping nearly 8,000 UGC ads, and getting performance data on every single one of them, it became super clear there are two types of brands. Those that understand creative volume and those that don't. The core difference was what they focused on. Brands that focused on volume plus hit rate were never complaining that Meta changed the algorithm. Their stuff just worked. And anytime we did work with one of those savvy brands, it was always on the same platform. Motion. Motion is by far the best tool to optimize your creative pipeline. Provide structure, visibility and insights that your creative team needs to make better decisions. I like to think of it as like, what meta would actually show you if they cared about your success. All the key metrics, like three second stop rate, winning angles, formats, competitor research, it's all built into their platform so you can make quicker and better decisions. They even just launched their new AI agent, Runneth, which functions as a 24.7creative strategist, providing recommendations to your ad account. Y' all make sure to go check them [e-mail] all right, let's get back to the episode. I think the challenge will always be. I mean, it's just not really like that much of a spectator sport and

[Brian Maza]

it's kind of cringe. Yeah, right. Watching the same person who looks the same continue to do it.

[Interviewer 1]

Right, right, right. Yeah. It's hard to, like, really stand out.

[Interviewer 2]

There's a. There's a world where if you kind of did it, like the BPN Ultra, like, people would tap in a little bit. Like, if you like XYZ Athlete, the

[Interviewer 1]

BPN thing works because it is extreme. And I think, like, with content in particular, you have to have some sort of extreme or maximalist concept. You have to have some reason where you're like, all right, is someone gonna die at this ultramarathon? Like the last main standard.

[Brian Maza]

But I think that's the problem with fitness too, a little bit. And everything has to be extreme. Everything has to be extreme to stick.

[Interviewer 1]

The challenge is that's just sort of like what the algorithms desire.

[Brian Maza]

But I think that is unfortunate. Sometimes it's extremely.

[Interviewer 1]

It's societally toxic.

[Brian Maza]

It kind of is. Right. It's like, I hear people in gyms, if your hyrox time isn't good enough, they don't talk to you.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah. That's actually like the entire city of Austin, Texas.

[Brian Maza]

Yeah. Like, what are you doing? And it's like the. It was. I think running went through that too. Right. It's like if you didn't run a sub 3, you're not cool.

[Interviewer 1]

Totally.

[Brian Maza]

Like, I'm not going to change my whole life to run a sub 3. No.

[Interviewer 1]

It's a lot of training.

[Brian Maza]

I don't care enough to do that. I've made more money not going sub three.

[Interviewer 1]

Right, Exactly. Exactly.

[Brian Maza]

If I go sub three, it's not like I'm going to make another million dollars. It's just not going to happen. Right. So listen, I think people getting after. It's great. Do your hard feats. It's Amazing. But also, people have to stop training for the craziest stuff just to be seen. Like, be authentic in yourself, be cool, have some style, and you should be okay.

[Interviewer 2]

I think everyone's fallen into the trap of trying to do the most extreme, novel thing. And you see it where it's like, I'm the first man to run. It'd be like the crazy. Like, the first man to run from here to Florida taking this route. And it's like, what are we doing now?

[Brian Maza]

Listen, if you have a charity component to it, awesome, right? But I think I would like to see people get back to. I'm training to be, like, a really healthy, fit dad. Right, Right.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah. Like being a good role model.

[Brian Maza]

Yeah. Being. I mean, I'm not saying these people are bad role models, but let's tone it down a bit.

[Interviewer 2]

It's become very performative.

[Interviewer 1]

Let's talk a little bit about, like, content strategy and positioning, because you've actually done a really good job building your personal brand. And then now you've worked with ro, you're launching your own brand. Caciope.

[Brian Maza]

Yeah, Caciope. Yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

And I just want to hear about, like, A, how you kind of went about positioning your personal brand.

[Interviewer 2]

Right.

[Interviewer 1]

Because it clearly resonated with hundreds of thousands of people. And B, was there a goal to make that fit with certain brands, or did the brands come after?

[Brian Maza]

So when I first started dabbling in this world, I don't know how old you guys are, but.

[Interviewer 1]

30.

[Brian Maza]

30. Yeah. Wow. Okay. I'm 41. So when I was doing kind of mogging.

[Interviewer 1]

Us right now.

[Brian Maza]

Yeah, you guys are young. But when I was doing this in, you know, in 20, when we had the Ainsworth and the club in the Hamptons and all that, you know, this is when it was Page Six was super important to get into in the New York.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah. PR was still a thing.

[Brian Maza]

So important. Right. Getting into gq, getting into Esquire, I got on the COVID of Men's Health twice. So that was kind of the game. And that's how I was always known. Like, oh, that's the restaurant guy who was on Men's Health. Right. Cover. And I always had this belief that I could do more than I was doing in the restaurant space. Even though we were the premier spot, I just felt, you know, as an athlete, I had a lot more to give and I wanted to be challenged. And when you start getting those PR opportunities in New York City, at the time, that was the Instagram. Right. That was the content play. People read the magazine and Whatever. You put it on Facebook, right?

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Brian Maza]

And then once Instagram came out, I said, okay, wow, let me see if I can position myself as the fit restaurateur. I didn't want to just be the restaurateur. I wanted to. I was getting really fit and I was training at Tone House. I don't know if you guys ever heard of that place. It's probably the hardest workout spot in New York. It's insane. It's wild. And if you trained at Tone House and you wore the hat in the street in New York during that time, people would be like, oh, word. Yeah, yeah, totally.

[Interviewer 1]

This guy gets it.

[Brian Maza]

This guy trains.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Brian Maza]

And that's when, like, we were talking about before that, we started filming. Like, there was no real fitness in New York. Then you went to a big box gym and that's it. You didn't have all these boutique studios. Yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

You had, like, Crunch fitness, probably and stuff like that. Exactly.

[Brian Maza]

And then Tone House kind of sparked that and Barry's came into play. So I went to a Nike event where they were super smart. When we started doing this in 2012, maybe 11, they would bring a bunch of people together at Pier 40 on the rooftop, and they would shoot a whole turf workout with Tone House. But they'd have drones and photographers on site and they would get you that. Those pictures, you couldn't post videos. And there was no stories at the time. Right. This is crazy. This is crazy. This is OG stuff. Like, terrible. Filter stuff.

[Interviewer 1]

This is like really bare bones.

[Brian Maza]

Bare bones. Ig.

[Interviewer 2]

No carousels either.

[Brian Maza]

No carousels. One photo and that's it.

[Interviewer 1]

Grainy with a filter.

[Brian Maza]

Yeah, grainy. And you hoped a hashtag worked. I don't even know if that did work, but whatever. So they would give you the content that night with hopes what people would post now, I don't know if people did, but I was like, fuck, I'm in incredible shape right now. And I was like the OG guy to wear tights with no shorts back in the day, no shirt. And people like, who is this guy? And I was just always very comfortable and confident that I was like, fuck it, I'm going to roll like this because more people that are going to hate are going to be following and whatever.

[Interviewer 1]

Smart.

[Brian Maza]

So we went to this shoot or this. This workout, and I did a. Like a. A jump in the air and I was higher than everyone and they snapped it perfectly and I was like, fuck, this is a dope photo. I'm gonna post it on Instagram in the morning. And I'M gonna put some cheesy caption and say, rule number one, don't be number two. And I got like maybe 300 likes. And I was like, oh, shit, 300 people like this? This is really cool. So I called up my best friend, Chris Caro, who's a photographer. I was like, meet me on the east side. I have all these tights, bro. We're gonna do a corny workout shoot on the turf, running the track, playing soccer. I love that, right? And he was like, really, bro? And I was like, don't make fun of me. Yeah, just fucking meet me at the sunrise and you're gonna shoot me running around.

[Interviewer 2]

And he's like, okay, I told you, no questions. You just have to meet me.

[Interviewer 1]

Stop telling your boy like, meet me. I got seven pairs of tights is crazy.

[Brian Maza]

Yeah, I know, right? So he was like, I'm down, bro. Let's do it. The group chat, everyone's making fun of me. But we did it. And then I started posting more of those quotes on top of these photos. Like, you couldn't even do any of that, like, in the captions. And it started picking up, started picking up. Nike started liking it, all these things. Then next thing you know, I'm getting invited to a Nike event, an Adidas event, all these different pop ups. And then next thing you know, Men's Health hits me up. From someone who saw this and was like, hey, can you be on a cover? Come to this shoot? And once that happened, I was like, oh, this is for real, right? And then that Men's Health cover turned into meeting the CEO of Amex, who then did a hospitality Christmas event at my bar. Then I was like, oh, my God, dude, I can get all these fitness people to come to the bar and do their parties. And then I was getting more press and more press and more press. And then Instagram slowly developed, right? And then everyone was getting involved in it. And then it was like, okay, I have a five year Volvo deal. And that's when, like the new XC90 came out, when the new body style and they let me wrap it in green. And then I did that and all these things started popping up. And then that's when I, you know, I ended up leaving in 2018, the restaurant business. But we did events better than anybody, and I was on the forefront of doing that. So I was like, dude, I can create a fitness company and learn. I learned so much on that five year journey of Instagram that I could just replicate it now with hplt. And we got David Goggins to do our first summit. And then I was like, I could just crush so much content, UGC wise. And all these brands are going to want to dance with us because we were the first people to do it.

[Interviewer 2]

And that's peak David Goggins era too.

[Brian Maza]

Yeah, that was the first. Like, you could DM him and he would DM you back.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah, I was like, first Rogan episode.

[Brian Maza]

Yeah. So I DM'd him. He got back to me and he was like, hey, speak to my manager, who's his fiance. And funny story, like, we got on a call and I didn't have a company, really. I made it up. I was like, I have a company. I want to do an event in May. And she was like, all right, send me your deck. So I, I immediately, when I left

[Interviewer 1]

the restaurant, go make the deck.

[Brian Maza]

I called my girl. I was like, yo, please make me a deck. She made me a deck. I sent it over. He's like, he'll do it. It's, you know, gonna be 50 grand for him to speak for an hour, which is like insane now. Like, I would do that all day now. He's probably like, what, 500, 150 or 175 for an hour. And she's like, yeah, he'll do it. Hop on a call with you and talk through it with him. I was like, what the is going on? And then I wired the money and my wife didn't know. I started a new business. And that's a whole other story. But we did it. So I think for me, you know, any advice I could give people is like, you know, you have to be as confident as you possibly can, and people are going to judge you no matter what. And 99% of the people want you to fail rather than you win, but I love that shit. So I'd rather have everyone thinks they want me to fail and not do well.

[Interviewer 1]

People almost never punch down. Right. They always are punching up. So I mean, it just really.

[Brian Maza]

So I was like, fuck it. And then I think with the, the user generated stuff, it was just brands started to see what we were able to do on the HPLT side and the reach side and kind of just took off from there.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah, because, I mean, that's actually one of the first times that I saw your stuff was when you did the collab with Kane.

[Brian Maza]

Yeah. And so, so we launched Kane, right? Like my. We launched Kane at HPLT in 2021. Rob Pinell, best lacrosse player ever. Who's my best friend? I was like, hey, you got to meet this guy, John Gags. Meet him at the OG we met at a diner in Westchester. And he was like, dude, I have this shoe. What do you think about it? I was like, oh, reminds me of Crocs. And he's like, yeah, exactly. But we're better than Crocs. And I was like, I can help you do this. He's like, really? I'm like, yeah, dude. I have a summit coming up in May in Miami, and I'll have all the right people there. I have Eric Hinman there. All these right people give everyone pairs of shoes. You're gonna speak with your designer, and I'm gonna blow this up for you. He's like, really? I'm like, yep. So he came, we blew it up for him. So pretty much every athlete I brought to the table for them. Matt Choi, Nick Baer, Eric Hinman, the list goes on. That all came through HPLT in our network. And these are all friends, and John's a very good friend of mine. And I was like, dude, if you trust me, I will funnel you the right people. Then you take it from here. And I don't need to, like, do anything from there.

[Interviewer 1]

Do you think? I'm curious if you think that playbook is, like, as effective in 2026 as it was in 2021.

[Brian Maza]

I think it will always be effective because people need to trust the people behind the brand. If you can build that brand loyalty, you'll always do well.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Brian Maza]

And that's why I think HPLT has been so successful the past eight years, is the amount of speakers we bring in, the brands that we bring in, people know that we really believe in them and we trust them. And they come and like, look, we did the same thing with Athletic Brewing, you know, in 2018 when we. We launched in LA with Seal Team 6 and stuff. Like, they were the logo on the shorts.

[Interviewer 2]

Right.

[Brian Maza]

And then I'm not saying we helped them take off, but they believed in us to get that content out right away.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

Looking at where the space is going from, from the event side, what have you learned over the last. What has it been, eight years, roughly? Putting on events, putting on experiences, putting on things that. That have, like, these die hard followings. Because looking at where the landscape's going, all the brands are starting to try to put in, like these. These in person experiences. Yeah, right. Especially everybody's talking about, like, this analog era, and we want to, like, use digital to bring people together.

[Brian Maza]

Especially on the luxury side, too.

[Interviewer 2]

Especially on the luxury side.

[Brian Maza]

Luxury Brands now are doing experiential. They're getting away from strategic PR that they used to do. And you have like Montclair going on a ski trip. Yeah, right. Like Kith does that all the time. Right. They, they work with those brands and they do really cool stuff, which is brilliant.

[Interviewer 2]

But what are some of the mistakes that you make that you can tell people now so that they don't make the same mistakes as they're trying to lean into this? Yeah, those mistakes probably could cost fifty hundred thousand dollars.

[Brian Maza]

It costs so much money. And you can ask my partner Melissa on this. I'm the cheapest guy ever with this stuff. So I'm very strategic with it. But I think no matter what, our brains now are so wired to consume, consume, consume, consume. Right. It could be good, it could be bad. And people's attention span is shot. I mean, mine's shot. I can even like. What did I just look at? I need. I forget. Right. So brands have to understand that people are gonna consume the info no matter what, but that just means that they're digesting it, they're just taking it in. And what are they gonna do with that? What we've done a very good job that I had to learn along the way is people need to really be impacted by the surrounding network and people that are part of the event. I never wanted it to be about me when they go to the event. If you ask anyone, I'm actually kind of standoffish at the events because I want the brand and the network to speak for itself. When you make it too much about the founder, it's only gonna have a. I believe it's gonna have a shorter shelf life because what happens if something goes wrong with the founder, doesn't interact or there's gonna be something or whatever. So if the brand has that loyalty and the network of the people are really the brand, I think it'll go super far. Now, we just spoke about Montclair. They're going to be fine. They have so much more money than I have in this stuff. Right. But when they do their events, it's not about the founder of Montclair. It's about the experience and what they're doing and the people that are going to the summit. So we're very intentional with who comes to the summit because we want people to have no ego. We want people to really interact with each other. And there's so many people that have become best friends, have invested in each other's businesses together by coming to our summits. And I think that is where they're consuming the information, but they also have an action plan to do something with it after.

[Interviewer 1]

What are some of those ways you go about making an experience more memorable for your guests?

[Brian Maza]

Well, no matter what, we always do, whenever we're by a body of water, we bring in Navy seals. And I think no matter what, I always have to do that a. Because I love doing. I love to suffer in the cold water with everyone. But there is nothing like that in these summits or experiences that are people doing right. So it's two hours. You're getting waterboarded. You're doing everything as a group. You are with Navy SEALs that have been in the craziest situation willingly getting waterboarded. Willingly getting waterboarded. And it's really uncomfortable for two hours. But I think it gives you a huge reality check when you're done. You're like, oh, my God, there's so much more I can give.

[Interviewer 1]

Life isn't that bad.

[Brian Maza]

Exactly. And that really sets the tone for the weekend because the camaraderie between everyone is just so on fire. And then we take them through, you know, a mind, body, soul journey throughout the whole weekend. But that sets off the tone.

[Interviewer 2]

So you do that at the beginning of the event.

[Brian Maza]

We do it right away.

[Interviewer 2]

It's almost like the hook.

[Brian Maza]

People don't know each other yet. They're still a little standoffish, but then it's like, all right, dude, I don't know you, but I have to hold your arm right now and we're going to get smacked in a 40 degree wave together. I can let you go. And by the end of that session, I'm like, dude, when am I coming to visit you in Austin?

[Interviewer 2]

She saved your life. Yeah, basically.

[Brian Maza]

It's so crazy. You're like, dude, you're my man. You're my man now. Right? So I think it's super unique.

[Interviewer 1]

You just immediately make them trauma bond.

[Brian Maza]

Yeah. It's like you're immediately hooked.

[Interviewer 1]

That's brilliant.

[Brian Maza]

Right? And then you go throughout the next couple hours and then you do breath work and you're tapping into your inner child issues and you're crying together.

[Interviewer 1]

Do y' all do WIM hof?

[Brian Maza]

We don't do wim hof. We do hypno breath work with Francesca, this. This woman out in LA who's wonderful, who's been to all of our summits. So we try, try to make every experience inside of the summits where you have to second guess your life at some point where you're like, Maybe I should do that. Maybe I shouldn't do that. I mean, I've had people leave the summits and within an hour be like, I just quit my job of 15 years. Thank you. And I'm like. Or a guy's like, I'm not getting married now. I just bought a. I just rented a new home and I literally just texted my fiance that it's over. And now I'm not saying that's what we try to do, but it's so impactful for people that they're like, it's a mindset shift. It's totally.

[Interviewer 2]

They see life through a completely different lens.

[Brian Maza]

Totally.

[Interviewer 2]

Yeah.

[Brian Maza]

Now you're getting the dopest gear as well, right? Like, you're getting the new Solomon run shoes. You're getting all this stuff. You're feeling fly, you're doing all these different activations.

[Interviewer 2]

So come out that motherfucker a new man.

[Brian Maza]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

You're like, oh, yeah, it never looks so good.

[Interviewer 1]

You gotta start giving haircuts while they're too give them a pair of tights.

[Brian Maza]

So I think that's what we really try to do. It's worked really well. And the brands that come in and the founders that speak, really, we always tell the founders, we. We want you to kind of be here for the whole summit so you can really get close to the people because then they'll be lifers.

[Interviewer 1]

Now, y' all already know we are super skeptical on this show about most AI tools promising the world. They have flashy demos, huge promises, and ultimately under deliver. But I do have to tell you about one that has blown me away and saved my team countless hours of time. And that's Rich Panel. Imagine a 247 customer support engine that handles all of your tickets, seamlessly escalates anything requiring human intervention. And here's the best part. Upsells your custom customers in the process. Their onboarding process is frankly one of the craziest things I've ever seen. You input your brand and within 15 minutes it has full context on the latest drops, product information and plugs into all of your apps. That's not even to mention the cost savings. They're like three times more affordable than their competitors. I couldn't recommend this enough. So if you're a brand looking to turn support into an asset, go check out richpanel.com and tell them we sent you.

[Interviewer 2]

I've never thought about that. Where the very interesting point to think about, the first thing that you do almost as like a hook. Something that gets everybody very connected because Like, I don't know if you guys listened to the Rogan and it was Ben Affleck, Matt Damon episode.

[Brian Maza]

Yes.

[Interviewer 2]

Where he's talking about like, it's. Hollywood has shifted how they film has shifted how they come up with movies

[Interviewer 1]

because they know people's attention spans are

[Interviewer 2]

cut, so they have to make. They were talking about the movie, the new movie that they just put out. I don't know why I can't remember the name.

[Interviewer 1]

Kyle. Mary.

[Interviewer 2]

Maybe the first five seconds, right? Somebody gets popped right in the first five seconds.

[Interviewer 1]

That's every show right now. Someone just gets shot in the head immediately.

[Interviewer 2]

And then it goes into like storyline. And then they break it down on the Rogan episode where it's like, well, Netflix has to do that now because if not they got the data that people are gonna be scrolling. They're trying to find something else to watch. Not that that could happen at an event. But if you think about the first event, we're not the shoot em in

[Interviewer 1]

the fucking face immediately.

[Interviewer 2]

But you think about the first event as, okay, we need to get them to buy in and be completely submerged and immersed into this experience through the first event. The first thing that we do is. That's a very interesting concept.

[Brian Maza]

Yeah. And we did that in Antigua. So we did a summit overseas. And Kajal Larson, who's an incredible Navy seal, I was like, dude, I honestly want to do the Navy SEAL activation after dinner the first night. He's like, really in the dark. I'm like, yeah. He's like, okay, say no more. So he, he ate quickly and went out in the ocean and was like floating by the boats. And we had everyone eat and we're like, okay, first activation starts now. Go to your room. Change me down here in five minutes. And I saw grown men extremely, extremely nervous to get into the ocean in the middle of the night. I mean, I, I was hurt actually, so I didn't have to do it, thank God. And I do all the activations with everyone. So I still love this. That's why I really do it because I get to just fucking train with awesome people. And he was at the boats floating, and people are on the beach lined up and he comes out of the water, he swims in his Speedo, comes out and flippers. He's like, I'm a lieutenant Kajal Arson, blah, blah, blah, blah. And people are like, oh my God. He's like, get in the water, swim around those boats and come back. And people are like, but again, after that moment, people feel like superheroes. And then the weekend flows so perfectly because people are bought in. People see that the leaders are bought in, and they're like, I can't let you down. I can't let you down. I have to train hard this week, and I have to be dialed in throughout all the seminars. And it's really incredible. You become a team.

[Interviewer 2]

I was gonna say, you made me think of a complete other side of it where there's probably so much affinity built into HPLT because of how you make them feel at the end of, you know, however many days you guys put them through through the ringer, where if they come in feeling like, oh, I'm anxious, or I deal with, you know, I don't have confidence in the work area. But then, like you said, they leave that experience feeling like a superhero. That changes their whole life. But it also is. They're going to know the friend that's dealing with something and go right to like, yo, Brian, yeah, you've been doing it. You should definitely do this. And, like, you have this, like, word of mouth engine.

[Brian Maza]

We get. That referral is huge for us. Like, we don't even market really that much. I.

[Interviewer 1]

It almost kind of has to come in through a referral.

[Brian Maza]

Yeah. Because, you know, if you're new to this and I post the Navy SEAL workout, and. And you see Ray Cash screaming at you to get in the water, you're gonna be like, I don't know if I'm gonna do that. Then I have to convince you to do it right on a call, which I don't want. So I'm like, hey, dude, reach out to your homie. I know you told me he's going through some stuff. I'll even discount him 500 bucks. So he comes, right? And he's like, really? And then they come like, you saved my life. I've heard that so many times. And I'm like, I didn't do anything, dude. The Navy Seals did that. I just put you in that room. And I think that's the key of real leadership, especially for coaches and anyone in this world is if you want anything to be successful that you are part of with a bunch of different people, you have as a leader, you have to put them in the right room. I wrote about this in the newsletter the other day. It's like a water bottle, right? A water bottle at CVS is 2 bucks. A water bottle at the airport is $7. A water bottle at the Met game is $12. Same water bottle. Just different prices, but different environments. Right. Look at. I don't know if you guys watch soccer or Champions League. Olise and Harry Kane and Diaz right now at Bayern Munich. Harry Kane didn't win anything at Tottenham. Nothing left now. He just won back to back and he might probably win Ballon d'. Or. Michael Alise, Crystal palace didn't really value him, man. City cut him as a kid. Now he's on Bayern Munich and arguably the best player or winger in the world. I like him better than Jamal. You could fight and fight me on that. Sam Darnold.

[Interviewer 1]

Sam Darnold just won a Super bowl

[Brian Maza]

after being Diaz, who was on Liverpool, left, and went to Bayern Munich. Now these guys are going to probably win Champions League. They're all going to crush in the World Cup. Same players, same exact style of players. Different environment, different coach. Right. So as a leader, you have to put people in the right room for them to be successful. So I would actually like all the CEOs, that of their, their employees that come to my summit, send me a nice thank you. Because I make them so much sharper, right? Because they're around steak knives all day for those three weekends. They're not around butter knives, they're on steak knives. They're getting sharp and they're learning how to be weapons and they go back and apply those tools with confidence. And confidence is the best tool in order to be successful, in my opinion.

[Interviewer 2]

You'd even say the same thing about LeBron. Right? Like LeBron going from Cleveland to Miami, getting in the right room with Wade and Pat Riley, of course, completely shifts who he was as a player, then comes right back to Cleveland, wins it. Right. It's a complete shift.

[Brian Maza]

Now, the way he did it might have not been for sure. Awesome.

[Interviewer 1]

Questionable rollout.

[Brian Maza]

Questionable rollout.

[Interviewer 2]

Well, he wasn't in the room yet, but.

[Brian Maza]

He wasn't in the room yet. And he got real sharp. They got sharp.

[Interviewer 1]

So you were a hospitality entrepreneur. You got your start in the bar space that's obviously struggling quite a bit. And then now you're a fitness kind of experiential entrepreneur. Like, what do you think happens next in this bar industry? How does a bar or a members club or some sort of hospitality experience replicate what you just said, which is that first interaction is so strong that they build massive affinity for your establishment. Like, how does someone do that?

[Brian Maza]

Well, first and foremost, back in the day when we were doing the restaurant world, like you could drink and do drugs and it was fine. Yeah. Yeah, right. Like there was.

[Interviewer 1]

Societally.

[Brian Maza]

Societally it was like totally fine. Now I think in the space of all of these podcasts and information that people are getting.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah. The Wellness Industrial Complex.

[Brian Maza]

It's kind of like forcing it down your throat now in a way of saying, like, wow, I shouldn't have a glass of wine or I shouldn't be drinking. Look what it's doing to my.

[Interviewer 1]

Huberman told me. It'll kill me.

[Brian Maza]

Exactly.

[Interviewer 2]

So we were at a over in Little Italy yesterday. We were having dinner, and the guy's just like. The waiter's just like, playing with my daughter the whole night and being really sweet with her. At the end of the night, he brings shots and he was like, hey, you guys drink? I was like, yeah, I'll take a shot. Well, the first thing Tommy says, I can't take a shot. It'll ruin my sleep score. I was like, no, dude.

[Brian Maza]

So now, in a way, it's like, in a way that's good, but then in a way, it's also not good, right? Because you kind of have to live a little and you're over optimizing everything. So I understand that, but I think people are more hyper aware now of everything that they're doing and how it can affect your sleep score and your longevity and how you look and how you act. And again, people want to be cultish and be a certain way, right? So they follow the wave. Now, restaurants, you know, when we did Ainsworth, we created experiences, right? We were the Sunday Fun Day Kings. We were the first people to really have a DJ during Sunday football. We had bottle service at noon on Sunday. It was crazy. So we created that experience for people. We had celebrities and athletes and all of that stuff all around. So again, restaurants now are still. They're going to have to get creative and they're going to have to create experiences within the restaurants. Now, New York City is crazy because rents are so high and especially the new mayor, and everything is kind of wild. It's the wild, wild West. Now, I don't know if restaurants are going to be able to get that creative on their budget and their cash flow, because you have rainy days, you have bad days, it crushes you as a restaurateur. But then you look at it like, I think Vegas is even getting affected by all of this, right?

[Interviewer 1]

Because Vegas is the poster child now.

[Brian Maza]

Look what they're doing. You're going to Aspen, you're going to ski resorts, and you have not Avicii. I just saw him. He just passed away. The anniversary, you get David Guetta coming to Aspen to perform on a ski weekend that never happened. So people are seeking different locations for experiences. Right. But that's where the restaurants need to get really creative and follow to these different locations and do pop ups and do all these things to stay relevant because they're not going to be able to hang along in these environments anymore because people aren't drinking as much, people are training more and people are buying into their health. So especially with like seed oils and all of these things. Like, does this have seed oils on it? Like, dude, you did cocaine, like, yeah,

[Interviewer 1]

two to three weeks ago.

[Brian Maza]

You worry about seed oils. Right. It's nuts. So I think people need to kind of slow down with that. But restaurants, I feel like, definitely have to change their environment and their landscape because people aren't eating out the way they used to be and they're not drinking the way they used to be.

[Interviewer 1]

Do you think members clubs, like, there's this massive bubble.

[Brian Maza]

Massive here.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Brian Maza]

You know, and you're in New York City. Right. So the amount of wealth is unmatched. So you can do that here. But in other cities, maybe one or two max. Maybe one. But people want to be exclusive. People want to show again their experiences on their phone. And I'm cooler than you. I could go to this club. I could do that.

[Interviewer 1]

I got access to this.

[Brian Maza]

I got access. You don't. Right. And that's the world we live in.

[Interviewer 1]

Dave Grubman was on a podcast recently and he said he's on Mark.

[Brian Maza]

Was he on Mark Brazil's podcast?

[Interviewer 2]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

And he came out and said the quickest way to make sure someone never comes back to your bar is to give them a VIP card because then they don't have, like, the illusion that I might not be able to get the rest.

[Interviewer 2]

Right.

[Interviewer 1]

Like, if, if I don't know if I can get the place, then like, I probably want to go more rather than, oh, that's my, like, default. That's my go to. And he said he keeps that exact mentality through all of his different restaurants.

[Brian Maza]

Yeah. And then, you know, you have these run clubs that are super popular.

[Interviewer 2]

Right.

[Brian Maza]

Especially in Austin and New York. And here it's like, I can't drink tonight because I have to be super fly for my run club tomorrow. I get it. But I think restaurants are in for a rude awakening.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Brian Maza]

I mean, they barely survived Covid. Right. That landscape changed everything. Now people drank a lot during COVID and they were like, oh my God, I have a drinking problem now. And they got out of it. But restaurants are. It's gonna be tough.

[Interviewer 1]

I think a restaurant could solve its problems by just reverse engineering what works on social media. Right? So, like, if you have we talked about extremism earlier. Like, if you have an extreme steak.

[Brian Maza]

I used to do the Mac and cheeseburger challenge. I don't even know if you guys know that. Like, dude, this is crazy. So I created a burger called the Mac and Cheeseburger. So it's a burger panko, Mac and cheese that was frozen, then got fried. So then you had that Mac and cheese on top and then Mac and cheese on top of that. But I was like, oh, this is dope. It's going viral on, like, infatuation and all these things. But I was like, fuck, it's not enough. So let's do three burgers on top of each other, and whoever can eat this burger in 45 minutes without throwing up gets, like 750 bucks.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah, it's like man versus food.

[Brian Maza]

And then, yeah, Kobayashi came and did three of them in a row and didn't throw up.

[Interviewer 1]

So was that nine total burgers?

[Brian Maza]

That was nine total burgers.

[Interviewer 2]

It was, dude, eight pounds of Mac and cheese.

[Brian Maza]

It was eight pounds of Mac and cheese. It was this big. He ate all of it. So he was dipping it in water and eating it. But it was a huge social moment. Then the food God, who I've known forever through the hospitality industry, Jonathan Chevin, I saw him out when my son was like, one. He was passing my bar and he was like, yo, dude, let's do something together. So we created 24 carat gold wings. Do you guys remember that? So I created that with him. And then that went viral. I think we won, like, the PR awards during that time because we had 24 karat gold wings that were $1,000, and you got a bottle of Ace of spades with it, right? So we partnered with that, and we. And people were like, dude. So we were doing this stuff.

[Interviewer 1]

I remember.

[Brian Maza]

It's so crazy. Casey neistat, right? The OG YouTuber, calls my phone one day. I'm like, hello? He's like, it's Casey. I'm like, casey who? And he's like, he tells me. And I'm like, oh, what's up? He's like, dude, I heard you got those wings. He's like, I got a drone flying out of your bar on 3rd on 3rd Avenue right now. Can I come in? I'm like, yeah, cops come because there's a drone. You can't have drones in New York City. And then he shot this whole thing on YouTube for us for free. And it went nuts.

[Interviewer 2]

Was this when he was vlogging every single day.

[Brian Maza]

He was vlogging everything. And he's in there eating the 24 calorie gold wings, wants to know how it's made and all that stuff. I mean, they were terrible, but it was a. They were brutal. But it was a huge pr. So, yeah, you have to do things that are wild, Right. To get people indoors. Just like when you're creating a clothing brand, Right. You need to. It is short lived, but your other products and your foundation have to be gnarly. They gotta work.

[Interviewer 2]

But it's like now the low is higher. Right? Like, you go to an extreme high. The low is here. You're now like right in here.

[Brian Maza]

Right.

[Interviewer 2]

And you can like almost like use it.

[Brian Maza]

Right. We're a T shirt brand. That's our, you know, simple pleasures. All of our T shirts are made in the US that's our bread and butter. We sell the most of those. But we're doing like really cool novelty pieces which get traffic into the site.

[Interviewer 1]

Totally. You gotta do the little.

[Brian Maza]

So we're doing a cool jean jacket. Like, we would never really make that, but people are like, dude, we did these shorts for the World Cup. I posted it the other day on Social. I mean, that was the most I've ever received from people regarding the clothing brand. But now our T shirts are selling more because people are going to the site. Yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

You gotta bring the traffic up.

[Interviewer 2]

So it's like if you're gonna buy the denim, you're gonna look for the thing that matches. And you might as well look for where you're already searching.

[Brian Maza]

Yeah. Like, you run. Clubs are cool, right? If you want to be a runner, it's awesome. You get good fitness. But there's hot chicks at it.

[Interviewer 1]

The guys are gonna go, yeah, it definitely helps.

[Brian Maza]

Definitely.

[Interviewer 2]

But I think like, everything you've kind of touched on so far is you. You truly understand how to like make, whether it's macro experiences or micro experiences, like the 24 Karat wings, to get people to talk about it and to get buzz about it and to almost like understand the infrastructure that people want to pull out their phones and, and put that out there, show that they can do that. Whether it's a status symbol of like, hey, I completed the Mac and cheeseburger challenge. Or b, you know, 24 karat wings. Or even like down to the Navy Seals, like, I was waterboarded by a Navy SEAL at night.

[Brian Maza]

Yeah. And like, you know, the most wild part is like the mothers and the Women that come and do the Navy SEAL stuff are. They love it. I feel like they get more out of it because their kids see, wow, mom just did this. And that's what they talk about. Like, my kids think I'm cool now. My kids know I'm strong. My. My kids know I can do this. So for me, that's a huge win. Right. So anyone who does the Navy SEAL activation is immediately on social right after, and we turn around content within hours. That's our other thing. I've. And I've always done that for brands. We shoot and we get it to you. And that's cheat code. Right. If anyone's listening out there, if you could do that with good people, I mean, he knows a lot of the people that we worked with back in the day. Boom, boom, boom, content out. So if you can get people to go, the content right away, that's edited and easy for them to post, they feel so cool. And they say they just did the name, of course.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

Wasn't that a big transition for you on the growth of hblt? Because it started just as mostly males, right?

[Brian Maza]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

And then you. You added in females and them being able to do it as well. Was that like a big growth spurt?

[Brian Maza]

It was. Yeah, it was. It was hard because my wife's like, women are not going to want to do the Navy SEAL stuff. And I'm like, I don't know if that's necessarily true. Women are actually tougher than men with this stuff. They don't complain. The men complain the most during the Navy seal. The women just deal with it. We have to introduce it to them. Right. So that was, you know, in the beginning, when you start a business, you rely on the homies. I told all my friends, you have to come buy a ticket, like, support my business. And they did that. And then it turned into, oh, my God, this is real. This is really impactful. And then it's like, hey, can I bring my wife? My wife wants to join. And then that's how it really started with people bringing their spouses and then their spouses bringing their friends.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah. And something you've talked about a lot is, like, being a dad and just like, you're very family oriented. Has that kind of been a superpower for you in growing your business?

[Brian Maza]

Yeah, I think so. Because first and foremost, like, I stopped drinking 10 years ago because I never wanted my kids to see me have a drink. And I was like, I always want to be in control. And not that drinking is terrible, but I just don't want them to know that's how I roll. And I always never want them to see me tired, and I never want them to outwork me, right? I will die on the track when my son beats me in a mile. Like, it's just not gonna happen, right? And my son's 8 years old, he runs a 620. And I'm like, all right, bro. Like, we're gonna.

[Interviewer 1]

That's disgusting.

[Brian Maza]

We're gonna cook. And he's not in a run club and he doesn't do hierarchy.

[Interviewer 1]

Don't need either one.

[Brian Maza]

Me and him are the run club. But fatherhood for me allows me to check myself in saying, okay, how good can I really get as a human being and what line can I ride there of being as strong as I could be, as fit as I could be, as emotionally supportive for them, be their dad and best friend? How can I juggle all of that? So I think for me, it's been a really fun ride in that sense of, okay, you know, you want your kids to be good athletes. I have two boys and I want them to fall in love with sport because not that they're gonna go pro with it, but sports are so important for their professional life, right? If I want them to learn how to fail, learn how to win, learn what grit really means working with people. Work with people, Be a good teammate. Because when you go get your job, I need you to be liked here. Like, likability is huge. And I find what I do is super important for them to see me do it. So I'm going for a run. It's gonna be 10 miles. I'll be back. Wow, you ran 10 miles. You're dripping wet. I'm going for a lift. I'll be back. Daddy, your muscles, your arms. Yeah, guys, you can look like this if you do this. I need them to see me intentionally suffering every single day. And that has transcended them into understanding. And they're six and eight and we have accountability calendars. They're doing their push ups, they're making their bed. They're doing all of these things which are structure for them. So when they get. When they don't need daddy anymore, they could thrive. And I think for me, that's my great. It's always going to be my greatest work. When I see them performing in sport and doing really well, I'm just like, dude, it's incredible. We test our mile four times a year in our soccer club, and my son went from an 816 to a 621 in like, seven months. And we film it. I film it. And yeah, it's cool. Content. But it's the internal dialogue with him of him believing in himself is so crazy.

[Interviewer 1]

It's very cool to see too.

[Brian Maza]

It's so cool. Like, dude, you can do. Look what you just did. It hurts. It's gonna hurt, right? I always talk about it like, I need you to taste a little blood today. Like, you're gonna taste the blood. You taste the blood, dude. It's gonna be fine. Taste too much blood. It's not going to be good. So I. I have them taste the blood a little bit often. Yeah. So they can continue to go.

[Interviewer 2]

I'm curious to hear your POV from this because, like, when I was younger and I was playing football, like, the NFL was my singular goal, I guess. You know, like, you had very. You were very similar. Like, you had a goal playing professionally, et cetera. And, like, you didn't probably think you could be more driven than that scenario. And then you have kids and you're like, wow, I'm doing everything times 10. Like, I'm more driven because of this little human being that I. Like you said, like, I never want them to see me tired. I always gonna do things like, they're watching me as I. As I do. Has your mindset or even, like, intensity has shifted because of your kids.

[Brian Maza]

Yeah, I. I just feel like I never want to turn off for them. I'll never say no to them when they want to do anything outside, ever. My dad never said no to me. Dad, I want to run routes. Okay, let's go. I want to take ground balls. Okay. I want to do pop ups. Okay, okay, okay. Yo, let's go. I take them everywhere I go. You want to go to Europe? Let's go to Europe for a game. You want to go to the grocery store? Let's go to the grocery store. We always roll like that. Because I feel like it's so important to have this type of relationship with your kids, boy or girl, because they need to know that they're in a safe space. But they also. And my kids are really great at this, and I don't know why, but I talked to them with Coach Hat and dad Hat. So when we ran that 621mile, I said, you could do better. I'm not happy with your time as a coach. Hold on one second. Let me put my dad. I am so proud of you, bro. That was great. You crushed it. But as a coach, you could do better. I know you could. He's like, I know I could do better. And then he understood. As a dad, I'm like, dude, I'm so proud of you. Like, you crushed that. And if I can live in those both worlds with them, I feel like the sky is the limit for them. And they understand it with schoolwork, they understand it with work ethic. They're doing well on things. So. Yeah, I can't turn off. I don't want to turn off. I want to. You know, I'm playing in TST soccer tournament, the million dollar tournament May 25th.

[Interviewer 1]

Oh, is that like TBT?

[Brian Maza]

TBT? It's TST.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Brian Maza]

The same guys own it. Yeah. So that tournament is really wild. I'm broken in batter. Like, my body should not be going out there, but I have. They have to see me play. Like, I will take any injury after I'm gonna do it. Like, they have to see me touch a ball in real setting.

[Interviewer 2]

I'm gonna sign up for arena football after this.

[Brian Maza]

They have to see run through a

[Interviewer 2]

brick wall, U35 or whatever.

[Brian Maza]

You know, they have to see you do hard things. It's so important. And I think it translates back to why Lifetime wanted to buy hblt and why HBLT works when parents come so they can. Look, little Johnny. Look what I did with these Navy seals. You know who the Navy Seals are?

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Brian Maza]

And Mommy, you did that? Oh, look, I did a 10 mile run or did a trail run. Like, wow. So I think it's way more than the content for the personal person. It's such an evolution of why these people want to come. They just open up and they become so much sharper as human beings. So as long as I can continue to give that to people, I think this brand can go on forever. And I hope Lifetime wants to continue to keep it going as we're doing it. Yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

Well, dude, Brian, that was awesome.

[Brian Maza]

Thank you. And I'm huge fans of you guys. You know, the first time we met, but I've, you know, we. Yeah, of course we've kicked it before, but you guys are doing awesome. Your content is great. I love how you highlight people. It's very, very cool. Yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

Well, tell them where to find you, where to support.

[Brian Maza]

Yeah, you guys could just find me on Instagram at. Brian Maza, thank you so much for all the support. Come to HPLT if you want to get waterboarded. It's really not that bad. It's super fun. You're in New York now, so you have no excuse if you're around here. May 14th.

[Interviewer 2]

I need that footage.

[Brian Maza]

You might be drowning.

[Interviewer 2]

I need that foot. Yo.

[Interviewer 1]

I'm going to be bobbing, dude. I'm so cooked.

[Brian Maza]

But keep doing what you guys are doing. It's super cool, and I know you guys have a ton of fans.

[Interviewer 2]

Thank you.

[Interviewer 1]

Appreciate it, man. Thanks.

[Brian Maza]

Thank you.