The Meat Mafia Podcast

Full audio
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[00:00:00]

There's millions of lawsuits

against Monsanto that are claiming

that people

are getting cancer from

the use of glyphosate

on these crops.

now there's a

loophole way

that glyphosate is able to be

classified as organic

whereas previously

organic had meant that there was

no glyphosate included.

The regulatory window

just like

keeps shifting slightly when no one's really looking.

Right.

I think there's plenty of evidence showing that glyphosate is a harmful chemical

especially when it's being sprayed on our food in the way

that it is today.

Now that organic labels

can introduce glyphosate into their characterization

that's pretty scary.

Harry, welcome to the show. Welcome to Define Success. I'm excited to have you here. What's happening, brother? Dude, I'm pumped to be on. It's gonna be great. Yeah,

So for anyone that doesn't know you, Obviously, you [00:01:00] are running the Meat Mafia podcast. Um, with Brett, you guys are putting content out there to really change the way people view food and nutrition. Um, you started Noble, a supplement, you know, grass fed protein. Like, that is, it's becoming a little bit more trendy now, but like, when you guys started out, I was like, I've never seen this before.

You know, we think about nutrition and the fact of like, the grass fed, um, ground beef and steak, but like, To have it in a protein powder, incredible. Um, tastes amazing, you know, you put it like, you guys got a connection with Sun Life, throw it in the, the acai bowl, um, so good. agency. You have a lot going on.

Um, so I'm proud of you for everything you've accomplished and just super excited to sit down. Um, you carry yourself in a very good way. You lead by example. So, um, thank you for being you. Dude. Thanks for the kind words. I appreciate it. Yeah. I'm excited to dive in. You know, a lot to share. We're working on a lot of stuff.

Moved down to Austin two and a half years ago to join the entrepreneurial scene down here. [00:02:00] I was working in corporate America before, so anything that I can share, I feel like I've lived a few different lives, so anything I can share that can provide value for other people, I'm all about it, so. Yeah, for sure.

So, let's start with Meet Mafia. Yeah. What is, what was like the call in that you were like, The food system in America sucks. And not only I want to eat differently and eat better for feeling myself and my body better, but also like I want to change society, the way society thinks through my podcast, Twitter.

Everything of that sort. Why was that important to you? Yeah, I had a turning point during COVID where I really started to dial in my nutrition and it wasn't the first time. Like I had always been someone who was focused on nutrition, focused on performance, grew up playing all the different sports, played baseball in college, so performance was important to me.

But I really dove down the rabbit hole of food quality during COVID and I really started eating an animal based keto diet then and just. [00:03:00] Coming across all different sources of information that led me to just want to find higher quality food. So I started ordering from farms. I ordered from this, um, this co op called Walden Local Pastures up in New England.

I was living in Boston at the time, and I just started cooking all my meals and I just see myself getting healthier and feeling great. And at the time I was I was really struggling with the fact that I hadn't really found my purpose I was working in a real estate job and You know, I had refound this vigor that I feel like I had during when I was playing sports and that to me was like Something I just wanted to bottle up.

I knew that if personal transformation could happen in these small ways just through diet and lifestyle and I could still be in this job that I didn't really necessarily love um, you know, there was something there so I really took to that, um, started connecting more and more with people. Brett, who's the co host of the meat mafia podcast.

Um, you know, [00:04:00] he and I were just looking to continue to build during COVID. A lot of our friends, you know, we saw were kind of picking up some bad habits. He and I were just going the completely opposite direction. So he and I actually ended up signing up for an iron man together down in Waco. And that was an experience for us because both of us really did have a passion for nutrition.

I think it was kind of a hidden passion. Both of us had entered the working world, forgotten about our old collegiate athletic days, and just started working. And for us, being able to come back together in a really insulated environment, we were both I was, uh, had recently quit my job. He was working remotely.

We had a month leading up to this race where it was literally just like me and him chilling out bros, doing some work, um, and then just training. And so we had this isolated period where a lot shifted for both of us, where we realized that this was both of our calling cards and we wanted to figure out a way to make it work.

So we were living in Austin, the race was in Waco, [00:05:00] and I ended up just deciding to move down here, um, for another, we lived together for another two months. I signed a lease, um, to stay down here for the full year. But, that was really like, the lightbulb moment was finding somebody else who cared about this stuff.

Cause my whole life, I was the one who kind of cared about this. But, yeah. didn't really have anyone else to share the passion with and realized pretty quickly that he was someone who cared about health and just looking around and hearing Brett's story, which is amazing. You know, he healed himself from ulcerative colitis through an animal based diet, but just seeing, you know, the trends in the U S and where they're heading.

I knew that with the path that I had taken previously, and working in corporate America, I really didn't find my purpose. So I wanted to find something that I could just like a hill to die on basically. And I saw that this problem with the health in the U. S. was a massive one. And it was also just like aligned with my interests.

So at that point, I was like, all right, I need to just do [00:06:00] something here. And that was really the start of it all. Yeah. So back in COVID, when you started eating healthier, And you recognize the importance of it. What changes have you seen since then? Like physically in your performance, mentally, how has that changed going from like, I'm going to eat like a normal American to something that people view as like almost weird, like, Oh, you're, you're eating steak every day.

Like, what's wrong with you? Yeah. Yeah. I think the first thing is just like an overall, and I think it's like the initial relative change, but the initial, brain cognitive function that I felt like I gained just through better food was incredible. I think I was just like, I had like brain fog, um, was just a little bit lethargic and that was not how I operated at all.

So having felt like I'd gotten to that point where I was starting to like slow down a little bit and like not be as sharp as I used to be. And then just like incorporating really high quality foods and feeling the benefits of just like, Like that improved sleep, [00:07:00] improved cognition, better energy. That, that to me, I'm like, you can't replace that.

Like, there's nothing that can replace feeling like you have boundless energy. Yeah, so for me, it was definitely some like physique improvements, but really the things that stuck and lasted and made me want to keep eating this way was just the mental clarity and like energy that came with it. What's a big misconception people have when they view food?

I think a lot of people really, it takes a lot of dumbing down. Um, but I, I do feel like the preparation makes the poison. So we oftentimes take food groups and just want to categorize them as unhealthy. And for the most part, That is helpful, but it really takes all the nuance out of it. So for instance, like I make raw milk ice cream pretty [00:08:00] regularly and it's raw milk, eggs, honey, maybe some vanilla in there and maybe some berries.

That's it. That's really not that bad for you. Like if you eat that post workout, you're fine. And as long as you're not hammering, like it's highly caloric, but it's also has tons of nutrients in there. So I think that's it. It's like people. Just try to avoid the nuance at all costs. And the downside of that is we just gloss over things like that, where it really is, it's like how you prepare most of these things is why they're bad for you.

So you take like French fries, for example, French fries cooked in vegetable oil, not good for you. French fries, French fries cooked in tallow. Not terrible for you. Yeah so I just think we try to We try to dumb things down and it it actually ends up shooting us in the foot because we just make blanket generalizations around food Can you explain?

Why there was this huge shift in our society of like if you look back a hundred years [00:09:00] ago There was never like the process packaged foods in the grocery store that we see today And now, like, we have so many options and people don't understand why it's so unhealthy. And maybe the food group isn't bad, but the way it's prepared, like you said, is causing all the damage.

Why was this such a big shift in our society, especially in America, that caused people to start to have more health issues? Yeah. It started It really started back in, like, the When industrialization in the U. S. started in the 1800s, cities started to become much more populated, like rural areas, people were fleeing rural areas, it was like a brain drain from rural America to urban cities.

And so that was like a tipping point for the food system. Food now needed to be, um, much more closely located to denser populations, but, um, we had fewer manpower, On those farms to create the food that we needed. So technology needed to keep [00:10:00] up and that ultimately led to the industrialization of food and the process of making food through an industrial process really has led us to eat a lot more highly processed foods.

So I think the easiest way to think about it is you have real foods and you have. Highly processed foods and real foods are things that are just God foods grown from the earth. They're single ingredient They're usually just raw materials for simple recipes like your grandmother's cookbook will just be full of real food Yeah, and then everything else is new It's just a new version of food and it's a play on these real foods.

So we've just turned Like many things, we've just turned it into this industrial process where we're going to mass produce. Um, all of these ingredients at scale, and then we're going to run it through this multi step process to get these food like substances in a, in a form where it's [00:11:00] edible, but they're really just edible food, like substances.

So the sh the shift really started happening in the 1800s, but it's, it's just sped up so much, um, through the different wars like war, war one and war, war two. Um, helped increase the capacity for the US to industrialize food because we have now we had all these factories that were once making military equipment now kind of empty, right?

So we have this workforce that is like, used to working the factories, and then we have these factories that are capable of making these foods. And then from there, it's just a matter of, um, kind of the system catching up with it. So we have, like, regulations around food starting to talk about, um, you know, food safety and what, what we can and can't do with food.

And so, you know, the early part of the 1900s, there was a huge battle around the pasteurization of milk and milk safety. And that's changed [00:12:00] milk forever. And then In the middle part of the century, we had a lot of guidelines starting to be formed around what we should and shouldn't eat. And that kind of came and coincided with incentives and subsidies in the food system that promoted us growing more corn, wheat, and soy.

So everything, all those factors have kind of blended together to create this like ultra processed food giant you. In this industry, it's like the, the evil boss at the end of a video game. Like that's the ultra processed food industry. And it's taken many steps in many iterations to get there. Um, but what we have today is so different than what we had a hundred years ago for food, like even varieties of food.

Like we, we only eat the Cornish cross chicken. Like that's basically the only only chicken that exists today. Uh, and there There are estimates that. 40 [00:13:00] percent of the protein consumption in the U.S is going to be coming from chicken by the year 2030. So, what does that say? It's like, we've taken the genetics of all these different breeds of chickens, diluted it down to one breed, and then hyperbred that one chicken.

It can't, it can't be that good, right? Like, diversity is a core, a cornerstone of, um, like, health in nature. So, if we're Breeding away all these other breeds and focusing on this one, you're really leaving that one breed to be susceptible to all these different types of diseases. And that's when we've now started to introduce like massive amounts of antibiotics into the food system.

Um, which Tyson, which is the largest producer of chicken seven years ago said they're never going to use antibiotics in their chicken. And they've since reversed that because they realize It's not really that all that possible now what happened with glyphosate recently is our organic produce produce I think I saw you post something about that.

[00:14:00] Mm hmm Is it like a lab now? I I might get this wrong But I think I think that now there's like a loophole way that glyphosate is able to be classified as organic whereas previously Organic had meant that there was no glyphosate included Um And that's, that's the other thing. It's like the information, uh, the regulatory window just like keeps shifting slightly when no one's really looking.

Right. Yeah. Like glyphosate is one of these things where the studies might say that glyphosate is not all that bad for you. There's millions of lawsuits against Monsanto that that are claiming that people are getting cancer from the use of glyphosate on these crops. So you know, You know, I I think there's plenty of evidence showing that glyphosate is a harmful chemical, especially when it's being sprayed on our food in the way, um, that it is today.

And now that organic labels can introduce glyphosate into [00:15:00] their characterization, that's like, that's pretty scary. Yeah, I agree. And I think part of the issue right now is people are so confused. Yeah. Like they think they're doing good, but they might not. Yeah. Like. I'm gonna eat chicken because chicken's healthy and it's protein, but might have antibiotics now or like fruit I'm gonna eat fruit, but non organic contains all these different pesticides and then Non grass fed ground beef like maybe it's a good option, but it's not the best because it includes this and the other so How can some what advice you have for someone?

That's like I don't know what to do. I don't know what to eat, where to get my food, like, I feel like everything is just like doing me harm. How can I get better? Yeah, yeah, I mean, I promise you, like, I don't have all the answers, but the one thing that my, like, I feel highest convicted around is just trying to make this message as simple as possible, because I agree, like, people are scared, or they just to do.

They feel like they don't understand it's too much information. There's too much fear mongering And that's not helpful. Like so many people on social media are just out there like slinging [00:16:00] something that they They read like two seconds ago And or like they're taking somebody else's information and then they're just like Layering a bunch of fear on top of it and posting it as their own information.

And now we have like this algorithm that's just like pumping out fear around food. And I don't think that's the right way. So I think the ultimate message is get as close to your food source as possible. Yeah. So you still might. End up coming across, you know, antibiotics in your chicken, or you, you might come across eggs that aren't perfectly pasture raised.

But I do think that if you are buying directly from the person providing you food, it's gonna take out so many of these nodes that could introduce so many of these layers of the food systems that could introduce, um, some level of a chemical being added in, or even just like, it not being a local food source.

It just adds [00:17:00] some level of uncertainty around like where your food's coming from, what they're spraying on it and who's been handling it and caring for it by the time it hits your plate. Yeah. So that's, I just try to keep it simple with that. Like cut out as few, as many people as possible. That's good.

Yeah. Um, your diet seems pretty simple. Like it's effective, but you're like, I'm eating the same things over and over again. Simple, simple. Single ingredient foods. Can you break us down like what you eat on a daily basis? Yeah, primarily red meat, raw milk or raw dairy, eggs, um, and some fruit. Yeah, like that's probably like 90 98 percent of what I eat and yeah, the other 2 percent is just You know just fluctuates.

Yeah. Yeah, it's like I just try to keep it as simple as possible um, especially Like being single focusing on a bunch of entrepreneurial stuff like if I can just Take the [00:18:00] guesswork out of diet It makes it so much easier. So and i'll add like i'll add into like i'll go buy fermented vegetables or sauerkraut or um You know, just things that I can have in my fridge that I can just throw on to ground beef and make it taste great or throw into, uh, scrambled eggs and make it taste great.

So there's little things that I do here and there that, um, you know, just like having the fridge stock with some good, um, condiments and things like that. I like Primal Kitchen. It just makes life so much easier. Yeah, absolutely. I know everybody can't stay perfect all the time, like, whether you go get fast food, or some fried food, or chips, dessert, etc.

Like, as long as you're not overdoing it, like, no one's perfect. It's gonna happen. What are, like, five things you would just never touch? Mmm. Soda. Okay. Yeah. Soda, for sure. Um, I would say [00:19:00] Just like candy, uh, yeah, soda. I think like soda and candy for me. It's like, I just, they're so sugary. There's really no, no point in eating those types of things.

Like I saw, I saw some like young kid eating a like thing of nerds. And I remember as a kid eating nerds, like it's not, it's not normal. It's like, it's normal. You know, I just played a baseball game. I'm going to have some nerds like now no shot. Yeah. I think I would add cereal to that. Like most cereals are just garbage and don't really have any nutritional value.

What else? That's pretty good. Top three. Yeah. I might have to just stay with those. That's good. Yeah. I thought we were supposed to eat cereal for dinner. It's crazy. The information we're fed, it's wild. Yeah. It's, it's crazy too. The, when you understand some of the history behind it as well, Just the funding that's gone behind some of these [00:20:00] campaigns and corporate interest, like, corporate interest in food is by far the, the biggest problem in food because it, you know, I don't think food is really meant to be scaled.

I don't think food is really meant to be global in a lot of ways. And now we have people profiting off of food like substances that are Subsidized by the government and able to be made for very cheap and are hyper palatable. It's a recipe for disaster. Yeah, it's crazy Yeah, well, I'm grateful for people like you like spread this information Yeah, people like you other guys on social media.

I follow like the information is out there. Yeah better So just encouragement for everyone like try to make some changes even it's minor like replace one little thing and then just keep progressing from there So you started making that change in your life you start meet mafia with Brett You Now you get into running a business with Noble.

Yeah. You, this is a year ago. You've been. Yeah, last April. Okay, awesome. So a little bit over a [00:21:00] year. Where was the desire? Like, hey, we want a product now. We want to launch a business. We want to start selling. Why was that a desire of yours? Yeah, we had, we had really naturally fallen into everything that we started doing.

So we like started these anonymous Twitter accounts. That's how we started writing online. Then we launched the podcast and the podcast was the best thing that we ever did. It was a gateway for us to meet people in the health and wellness space that we otherwise really wouldn't have built personal relationships with if we had just stayed on Twitter.

We had this little bit of a Twitter following that was built after us talking about all these food topics that we basically just ran through. And, um, We really wanted to open up the conversation. So we started having conversations around what's happening in the food system, all these doctors and people who are involved with big food.

Like we had Callie means on the podcast who worked for Coca Cola. He was telling us all about big foods incentives and what Coca Cola boardrooms look like. It was, it was crazy. And [00:22:00] then we, after a year of doing that, we were like, we need to get in the game with something. And we had a few ideas, like we were thinking about doing a flavored cooking tallow, which we might come back.

Yeah, come on. We're going to do like beef sticks, which we might, might come back to. But the one question that we kept getting on the podcast was, where can we get high quality protein powder from? And we had, we'd seen and used products on the market before, but there was the, we saw an opportunity in the beef protein isolate market, just knowing that.

A lot of people tend to use whey protein, and when they choose an animal based protein powder, they tend to use whey. And knowing that a lot of people struggle with digesting whey protein, so we thought, Okay, we could create a beef protein isolate based protein powder. And one of the things we struggle with is we love eating organs.

There are a small amount goes a long way, but including them in your diet is important and is [00:23:00] necessary. So how can we include organs into this and a few other things that we really like, like colostrum and collagen. And so how can we include all that into a protein powder? And so we started messing around in the kitchen, just like mixing stuff up and seeing if it tasted all right.

Like putting, like, Literally decompartmentalizing organ capsules and putting it into shakes. And we're like, all right, this tastes pretty good. Let's see if we can get it made. And there was a few manufacturers out there who were, We're able to make it happen, but we really wanted to get in the game because we felt like there was this demand for it.

And, you know, quite, quite honestly, like making and monetizing information is hard. So you really do need a product out there. Um, whether it's like a course or a service, you know, we, um, we spoke about this a little bit before, but. The first way we started making money online was starting a marketing service.

So it's like Brett and I had both quit our jobs at that point. So we really were like, we need to figure out a way to make money. So, um, that was also part of it as well. [00:24:00] That's cool. So this is your first time launching a product, right? Yeah. What was the biggest challenge or like roadblock that you encountered?

Yeah, so we, we had done a good job at getting the right people in our corner through the podcast. I think Brett and I are naturally good with people and good at getting connected with the right people. So, we had a lot of people in our corner. I think, really, um, I think adhering to the vision is really hard, like, looking back through a year.

I think, Coming up with a solid plan and adhering to the vision is very, very hard because there's so many opportunities that pop up along the way that seem like they're going to be the perfect thing or the right thing. So I would definitely say that I think the hardest thing that we ran into is just figuring out like, like the nuts and bolts of business, like figuring out how to manage the supply chain.

Yeah. Like for Brett and I both, I think I am, More marketing [00:25:00] brain oriented. He's more sale brain oriented. Neither of us are really like operation supply chain guy oriented or like we just didn't have that experience. Right. So for us, like lacking that it was, it was tough, but I mean, we've learned so much, whether it's negotiating or partnership, um, confrontations, employee confrontations, just things that you don't learn being an employee.

Like Just figuring out how to put the right team in place. All these things that really take time. No one sees, you know, everyone just sees like brand on the shelf or brand on social media. And there's a lot going on behind the scenes. So I think we had a good year one. We definitely learned a lot though, uh, in terms of just understanding what it really means to own a business.

Yeah. You know, you just jump straight in, you know, just go for it. It's so cool. And it's paying off so well. Like I see it all over the place. You guys are posts on social media, people [00:26:00] using it, like, It's definitely making its mark and especially like in Austin, people are supporting it's around. Um, it's so cool to see, like, That was just an idea that you guys had.

Yeah, dude. Let's turn it into something. Yeah, yeah, I hope it, I hope people take to that, because I was definitely the person, I'm definitely a dreamer, but I'm also the person who can get struck in, stuck in dream mode, being like, whoa, that, like, that's crazy, I can't believe that happened so quickly, or that, You're able to make that and having gone through those steps, I think that I would just encourage as many people as possible to get in the game.

If you have an idea, just go do it because there will obviously be friction, but it's like the good type of friction. It's the friction that forces you to grow, force you to learn. So I would, I would just encourage anyone who's out there who has an idea, whether it's now or in the future, and you know, a year or two years from now, just like, Get that idea out there.

The world needs it. The world needs more builders. Yeah, that's great. Yeah. [00:27:00] You mentioned your marketing agency. Yeah. You know, you're building there as well and you built a team and you have, so you have the meat mafia HQ on Cesar Chavez. It's so cool. You're just like, come over. We're going to do the first appointment there.

We're going to do a retreat. We're going to do dinner parties. Like you guys got your own little spot that just like, it's almost like an open door policy. Like let's just, you know, invite like minded people here. Um, but you have a team working out of there. Yeah. It's cool. Like Tuesday mornings were over there.

You go to leave at 8am and like some of your staff just like coming to work, popping, you know, it's so cool. Um, how do you build a team first? Like where do you find the people? It's like these people live in alignment with our mission and values, but also like they're going to be good workers. Yeah. I actually think we could write the book on this.

You should. Yeah, I really do because the way that we've found our employees has been incredible. So, we started on Twitter. That was how Brett and I started getting traction, started believing that we could actually build something. [00:28:00] And so, when we launched the podcast, that was where we distributed the podcast.

And we'd really built up this brand of the Meat Mafia on Twitter. Mm hmm. And so, After about six months of having a podcast, Brett and I are like, well, you don't have a job. I don't have a job and we're not making any money. So we should probably figure that one out. It's been fun. But yeah, so, um, we decided to start pitching brands that we're having on the podcast on helping them with marketing services.

So Our bread and butter was writing. We'd figured out how to write and we'd figured out how to write on social, specifically Twitter, but on social media platforms. And writing really is, it's, it's like the DNA of most brands, right? Like if someone, if you can write really, really well, you can take that writing from Twitter and put it on Instagram.

Whether it's, uh, you looking [00:29:00] at the camera and just reading the script, reading the tweet or a UGC creator running with it and making an ad out of it, whatever it is, writing is the foundation in the DNA of the brand. So we were like, and that, and that didn't come to us for a little while. We were just like, we need to make money.

Let's write on Twitter for these brands. And so long story short, We developed a Twitter agency where we were working with health and wellness brands in the Twitter space. And so this niche that we had developed was super specific. Like you had to be on Twitter and you had to know a lot about weird health topics, like trending, trending health.

And so we're like, we're like, what are we going to do? Post on LinkedIn? Like that's not going to work. So. We, last April we had hosted, uh, Alt Health Summit in Nashville and at that time we had had a bunch of people DMing [00:30:00] us like, Hey, we'd love to work with you guys. Hey, like, you know, if you guys ever need help, like, let me know.

And so we just started like paying attention to those types of people. And one of which was, um, Carlisle who works with us. She, we had gone on her podcast. She came on our podcast really early on. I think she was episode like 51 on our show, but we were like, this girl rocks. One. Super cool. 2. Knows her stuff.

3. Loves Twitter. Alright, she'd be a great fit. But she has no working experience, like basically no working experience had worked in Hollywood as an actress and had some other working experience. Um, but like really unconventional. And she showed up to the alt health summit, clearly interested in like getting involved, wanted to be doing stuff in the space.

And so we were like, all right, well, we're kind of making enough money where we don't have the time to keep doing this and building the other stuff that we're building. We really do need to like hire somebody, hire somebody to help us out. So. [00:31:00] We brought her in, interviewed her, and we're just like, this girl's it.

We'll teach her whatever we need to know. And really, the thing, the lightbulb moment there, was like, find people who are, their only qualification is that they care as much as you do about what you're building. That early on, just, you need to find people who are, their heart is full with, you The desire to build the business and the vision that you are building and they're not necessarily an expert in One thing or two things or three things all like the really the only qualification is that they just love what you're building uh, because There are just going to be days when you have to be like, um carlisle We're going to dallas and we're sampling noble today, and you don't even work on noble Uh, is that cool?

And yeah, and so like there there's just You There's just that you need people who are willing and able to step up [00:32:00] and want to step up and just want to be a part of something cool. Um, and so she was the perfect first full time hire. And I actually forgot about an intern that we had, who's also an example of someone that we found on Twitter.

Um, and again, just somebody who was like, All bought in. We let him live with us for the summer. So he had like such a sweet experience. He was living with Brett and I, um, and he was just helping us with social media and the podcast and he crushed it. And again, just someone where you could see that. When you put him in an environment without restrictions and just said hey, this is this is the thing you're working on Just like go be creative and go do it He just loved doing it so much that he would be up late working on it.

He would be up early working on it You could see him being obsessed and he didn't have the skills. He wasn't like, yeah, I'm a polished Podcast producer. I'm a polished video editor I'm just gonna learn this as I go and yeah And that was really what we were looking for just people who wanted to learn people who wanted to grow and we've just replicated that model we've done We've missed a little bit on a few, [00:33:00] but we found two other people from Twitter.

Um, one of which was like a video, one of which they DM us directly for months on end. And finally I was like, um, when he first DM me, I said, start your podcast and DM me again in a month. It started his podcast. He had done like 15 to 20 episodes in a month. So i'm like, all right Like you're doing the thing and then he kept tweeting And so I saw like this progress that he clearly wanted to be doing something in the space and he ended up coming to the same same event that we had hosted and we just got to know him better and It was someone we felt really comfortable taking a chance on it's been a great bet and then the other employee that we've hired Um again, like someone who just cold hearted Made a video and sent it to us in our DMS and was like would love to link up with you guys Wanted to learn more about what you guys are up to we met for a coffee the next day He came to the first appointment I was like, alright this guy in the first appointment is the men's group that we [00:34:00] host in town like alright So this guy is someone who's gonna show up and wants to be there and that's basically like qualification number one two and three So amazing.

Yeah. Yeah, you mentioned at one point having a vision When you're trying to build a team and being a leader, there's a story I love from Steve Jobs. He's building an Apple. One of his friends was the CEO of Pepsi at the time. I think his name was John Sculley. And they were going back and forth for a while.

And Steve's like, I want you to come work for Apple. Pepsi's all the way up here. Apple's just starting. And he's like, come work for me. He's like, no, you're your startup. Like, I don't see the potential. And it wasn't until Steve Jobs called him one night and went to voicemail. And he just said, like, Scully, Do you want to come change the world or are you going to sell sugar water for the rest of your life?

and he like Listen to that voicemail. He's like, it's kind of right. Like I am selling sugar water It's like i'm gone going to apple and that was like it wasn't the Hey, here's the phone. We're going to produce. Here's how much we're going to pay you. Here's how our [00:35:00] operation works Here's all the technology.

It's Here's the vision. We're going to change the world And I think you're in the same shoes there like you're you're wanting to enact so much change in society People can see that. But how important is it for you to show and tell people, especially on your team, like this is what we're going to do as the meat mafia.

And I want you to come with me. Yeah, it's everything. I think that like, they're the people that we have are. I think their priorities are working in a great environment and being around people that are pushing them and Driving them to be better people and work on really cool things and they want to see change in the world um I think that that's why they're bought in I think they're bought in because they believe that The world needs to see a healthier Version of what we have right now in the U.

S. Specifically, and they, they want to be a part of that. And I think it's really, [00:36:00] it's really challenging to, you know, as, as a leader, you, you, you paint the vision, but you also have to sell the vision. You know, you, you can have this vision in your head, you can believe it, but getting other people to buy in and really be invested in what you believe can, can happen.

It's, it's, um, It's a challenge, but it's it's amazing. Once you start to see the pieces come together because this point it's like, okay, we have This like group that really cares about this stuff and cares about how to get this information out there now Now it's like painting a whole new vision because you see the people that you have and you're like, oh my gosh This could be like This could be way bigger than like what Brett and I were dreaming up a year ago, you know?

So I think like re evaluating the vision too and making sure that you're not selling yourself short after you kind of get to certain levels as well. That's good. Yeah, not being too comfortable just because you expand your team. Yeah. Yeah. And finding people who can really [00:37:00] champion the message and care is really hard, but it's so important.

Like, finding those people who are just, they are ride or dies. Like we've had every single one of our employees basically like look us in the eyes and verbally say, like, we're, we're in this, like, you know, we're in this and we're going to make this happen. It's like, once you, once you get that buy in, you're like, all right, like, let's make it happen.

Yeah. We can do this. Yeah. So good for you. It's awesome. I'm excited to see the progress continue to unfold. Yeah. Um, one thing I see out of you, like one of your biggest skills is leading by example, whether it's in your faith, business, fitness, et cetera, You show up, you do the work, whether you document it or not, like, it's getting done.

And, you show up as a different person because you're like, I have experience, and I'm taking care of myself so I can take care of others and put this positive message out there. One great example of this is the past 7, 8, 9 days, you've been doing the Chad. [00:38:00] Talk to us, what is the Chad, where'd that come from, and what the hell you're doing right now.

Yeah. I do challenges like this, like often, but this is the first time really like posting about it. And I love, I've actually really enjoyed posting about it cause it's been an extra layer of accountability. So yeah, eight days ago I, I just, I was like, I'm going to do a chat and post about it. And didn't really have a plan.

I still don't really have a plan. I just am enjoying the process, but the chat is a hero workout. It's named after Chad Wilkinson, who's a veteran, and it's similar to the MRF in the fact that it's a hero workout. So it's in honor of a veteran. Uh, he passed from, uh, uh, suicide related to PTSD. And so his workout was a thousand step ups with a weighted vest.

And it sounds easy on paper, but it's a pretty, uh, Great workout to start the day because [00:39:00] I found that it's one of those things you just put your head down and you just go yeah, and Yeah, your legs are sore at the end. But really like you just break a sweat like by 300 400 steps in like I've broken a good sweat and then from there it's just like Um, getting into flow state and feeling really good.

Um, kind of like a long run. Um, so I've just enjoyed the process of doing the workout. Um, but I really wanted to share a side of me that I really don't share all that often. Like I really like being the quiet person who just does the work. But I think I've gotten to a point where I've almost, I almost view that as a little bit selfish, um, in myself.

And so just trying to, I've got friends back home that I would love for them to see that video. And we talk regularly. They tell me what their aspirations are with their health. And I'm always offering to help if they need it. [00:40:00] Um, I would love for them to see that video and go after it and go do it, you know, go do the workout and get in the game.

Um, so just really trying to, Inspire people through action. And I think things like this are fun. The fact that you did, it was so awesome because. That is part of it, like, I want people to see that other people are getting in the game and doing it, like, you doing it is so huge because it's just a little bit of validation to other people to be like, oh, it's not weird to go, like, do the chat and post about it and tag Harry, like, that's, uh, it's so fun, and I think it's, it speaks to the power of social media in a good way, and, yeah, I think it's something I'm definitely gonna keep doing it.

I don't know how long but Brett was saying Brett was like you should do it for a thousand days. I was like, well, that's That's wild a lot, but Maybe maybe yeah, i'm not gonna rule it out It's definitely catching on. Yeah more people are doing it. Yeah, I mentioned people are recognizing. Yeah [00:41:00] Um, but yeah You're exactly right.

It sounds easy on paper. I think you posted the first day. I was like, that's crazy. Yeah, I love that stuff I'm just like sign me up. I'll try it. I love that. You just did it Yeah, and you got to like I think it was your fifth day I was like, I'm gonna do it too and you know drew and I we set it up and I was like All right.

Talk to Harry yesterday. He said, you know 40 pound vest. He's trying to do ten sets of a hundred I was like, all right, I'm gonna start with a hundred. I do a hundred step ups. I'm just like There's no way like So I do I think I did sets of 100 until 300. Yeah, and I was like, it's got to be 50s like i'm cooked But I think that's what I think that's what I did my first day.

It was like either 300 or 400 Of the just full 100 sets and then I had to break it up. Yeah, but I'm, like it's pretty insane how quickly the body adapts. I think my heart rate is on Average, I think i'm down like 10 to 15 beats per minute on heart rate and then I've been able to expand the I did my first day [00:42:00] yesterday was 200 straight step ups and then My goal is to get the sets Down as low as possible.

Yeah, like I I'm gonna do it until I do a thousand straight. Yeah, so Uh, that will be that'll be fun. Yeah, you're getting quicker too. Yeah My times have gotten way better. Yeah, I wonder I wonder how quickly I could do it because it really Doing it fastest would be really tough Um Like I would almost have to do like skier.

I know it's kind of what I did towards the end. I'm like, I'm just getting this over with. I've done a few that were like a few sets that are more like the skiers, but yeah, it's a great workout. And I just, I think one of the missions behind like the meat mafia and what we're doing with noble is just trying to make health being healthy, less weird and more fun.

Um, more community, less isolated, like. Do stuff with people or like share it with people don't need to make [00:43:00] everything so complicated. Yeah, make it simple. Yeah, like basically anyone who's trying to get in shape if they just woke up every day and said I'm gonna do this one workout for 40 minutes they would be Way better off in 90 days.

They would be very fit. Yeah, and like no decision fatigue You're gonna show up better at work and family life. Totally. Yeah, that's been the biggest That's been the biggest shift for me is noticing like dramatically know because I would work out in the morning But it would a lot of times I just noticed I'd fallen into this really bad habit of getting to the gym Kind of knowing what I wanted to do not really having a full plan Lifting a little bit and like it was Decent workout, but it wasn't super intense and then I would go on with my day and now there's no decisions It's literally get to the gym put vest on do stuff Make sure I don't miss count such a Chad and then I Like the flow state [00:44:00] is so real.

Like I feel really really good afterwards I feel super creative and able to plug in like I've now started to layer on Into my mornings a block right afterwards where I'm going and doing more deep work deep creative work Is that I found that it's really opening that pathway up for me where right afterwards I'm like all I want to do is just like sit down and write or sit down And plan something out like plan out a certain set like Product launch or merch launch, something like that.

Like all these ideas just have surfaced through the workout. And then I'm like, all right, I need to go work on these. So it's good. It's awesome. I'm loving it. One thing, a big takeaway I had, and I told drew this when we were like 750 in. Um, so we did it on Wednesday of this week, the day after first appointment.

And I was like, You know, Drew, it's like crazy to think like there's always someone doing better than you. And like, I know you're a humble guy, but like, I just, let me give you your credit. Tuesday morning we meet at 6 30 in the morning to go for a 30 minute run, sit down for an [00:45:00] hour, discuss. You did all of your step ups before 6 30.

You're back at the house, ready to go on the run. You're the first person done with the run. And it's just crazy to me. Like, there's always ways we can look for inspiration from others. And if you get around those people that, yeah, maybe they're doing, maybe they have more experience, maybe they're stronger, whatever the situation is.

If someone's above you, like get around those people get better. Like, there's so much of that around us. And like, if people aren't doing that, you're seriously missing out. Definitely. And it's usually, um, another I word insecurity holding you back. If you don't want to be around people that are pushing you, because The biggest gains I've ever made in my life is putting myself in the room with people that I'm totally unqualified to be around and they just Just being, but through osmosis or whatever it is, like I'm just like training with them or In, like the past, over the past few months, [00:46:00] like being around people who are really intentional about their faith and Me being pretty early on, just being able to learn from them and how they approach their life, it's You need to be in the right room around the right people who are just able to push you.

And do it in a way where you feel, um, pushed and not, um, defeated. Like, I think, you know, there's a certain level of, you know, just, you don't want to go from, like, Right off the couch to the major leagues. Yeah, but you know, you really do want to be around people that push you It's so important. I love austin for that.

I feel like austin's the best city for that There's so many communities down here. There's so many people doing cool things Um so many hard working people So yeah the same age group too yeah, all your friends can be people that are like Inspire you doing better than you doing the same thing as you just like You have access to it all.

Yeah, definitely. Yeah, and I think a lot of life experience too down here, [00:47:00] like people who have just come to Austin intentionally, maybe they were working a job that they didn't love, and they made a big leap and left, and came to Austin looking for something. So I think there's a lot of people in Austin who are seeking better versions of themselves, which is really cool.

Because, you know, communities like Squatch and communities like Collective, You walk into the room and it's just people making themselves better every single day. Yeah, that's where you want to be. Inspiring. Yeah, yeah. One thing that inspires me a lot is going to First Appointment, which you host at the Meet Mafia HQ that I mentioned.

Can you explain, first, what is First Appointment for everyone listening to this? And also, like, how did it start? Why were you like, this is a gap, you and the others, this is a gap in Yeah, I think this is a good example of putting yourself around people who push you. So I had started going to Thrive Austin Church here in Austin, smaller church off South Lamar, and the pastor there really, I started showing up [00:48:00] to a small group with Natasha, who runs NVDM coaching.

Um, I was a part of that small group for a while. And then. I had gone to it probably for about six to nine months. And Scott approaches me and goes, Hey dude, you could host one of these. And like, it could be like a guy's group and we could have like a little fitness component to it. And he planted that seed.

And I was like, this is exactly what I want to be doing. Like, I love, not, I love coaching, but I love being a part of the growth process for other people and myself. And I think like creating space for that is really important. So. I had just been, early on in my faith, really convicted and wanted to be around other people who were really faith based and driven to learn more about the Lord and build their relationship in the Lord.

So, Scott and I came together and last September started the first appointment, which is a men's group for guys, you know, 20 to 30 years old. And, um, just trying to, [00:49:00] faith. So we go, we work out for 30 minutes, we do a 30 minute run and then we do like an hour of discipleship, just fellowship, um, reading through a book.

And it's great. Like I've developed so much as a person, just being a part of the group and meeting people and, Learning how to speak into people more like when people have questions or when people ask questions that I don't know the answers to like being confident enough to be like, I have no idea what the answer is to that question.

Just putting myself in different situations and I really credit scott with the leadership ability of calling me out and being like dude you can start this and Um, he helped me get it off the ground and he's still a huge part of the group. But um, yeah, it's it's been it's been great like I think so many great guys have come through the doors and Been able to sharpen each other up in ways.

That's super genuine and we're not [00:50:00] asking for anyone's money It's just like Get there at 630. Yeah. a run. Yeah. And we're gonna, we're gonna dive in. And it's gotten a lot better over time as well. Really authentic conversations, so. Yeah, it's been cool seeing you come, too. Yeah, I love it. And one thing about you and First Appointment in general is, it's just so inviting.

Mm. And I remember a few months ago, you posted on Twitter, and like, we connected last summer. Yeah. Like, not much since then, like for months. And you just posted on your Twitter and said, I'm gonna open up a Zoom tonight, like, DM me if you want in. I don't know where it's going to go, but like, let's just talk.

So I was like, cool. I got nothing tonight. Hop on. And we just have this good, good discussion. It turned into like a faith discussion towards the end. And I forget what you would ask exactly, but I was just like, yeah, like I made a decision this year. I want to get back into my faith. I grew up Catholic, didn't really know what next steps after high school, college kind of fell off, try to get back into it.

Wasn't the right time. Kind of just lost. sharing that part of my [00:51:00] story, you were just like, you know, where you are right now is where I was two years ago. And that was so reassuring. Cause I was like, okay, I follow Harry. I see he's doing all these things. He's going to church. He's just been a man of God his whole life, like 30 years.

He's just been perfect. Right? Like that's how we view some people. And it's intimidating. You're just like, how am I going to get there if like I want to start now? And the best part was like, after you're just like, Hey, if you want, um, We got Easter Sunday service at Thrive. We got first appointment on Tuesday.

If you want to show up, show up. And I came to both. I'm just like, this is the real deal. And like that, I want to thank you for that, like one on one because that has opened up the door for me to start to come to first appointment more consistently. Um, I go to Red Rocks almost every single Saturday night.

If I'm in Austin, um, go to that service. It's like, it's changed a lot. And I see things about my life changing, getting back into that. And that would never happen if like, That invitation was never there. Or if someone wasn't like, Hey, I make [00:52:00] mistakes too. I'm not perfect my whole life. But like, I went on a journey.

And like, you can do it too. Like where I am, that's achievable. Dude, that's so powerful to hear. Yeah, the power of an invitation and the power of accepting an invitation. That was something I learned early in Austin is when the right door is knocked on, it's open. Yes, or at least be open to the idea. Like I remember walking into thrive for the first time, Natasha had invited me.

So Natasha, this amazing triathlon coach, um, like, I feel like I viewed her in this light. I was like, this is the type of person I want to be like, and she's like, come to thrive. It's great. Great place. You're getting back into your faith. You'll see if you like it. If you don't, It's like one Sunday out of your year, you know, and so I go and show up and it's like in a dance studio.

I'm like, Oh my gosh, I'm like this single dude in this like young dance studio. There's 50 other people there. Like this is a [00:53:00] little weird, but I loved it. It was like small and diverse and Scott's amazing at preaching the word. I think just the power, the lesson there is the power of accepting an invitation.

It might be uncomfortable. You might be like, Oh man, first appointment. Like what is this? Like, you don't know anybody. I don't know anyone. Like what are they going to be talking about? Are they going to be talking about like something like something way deeper than I understand or like something that I'm not going to relate to.

So it's really is an intimidating invitation. So dude, I mean, kudos to you for accepting the invite, man. I appreciate it. Like, yeah. It's also awesome what doors open up like from that. You know, get into those groups, get into church. Like, a couple weeks ago, or I guess a month ago now, we did the Fit and Faithful retreat.

And that was so cool. Like, some, like, very familiar faces, but some people I'd never met before. Like Luke, for instance, first time meeting him. It's like, it's so cool to see, like, where everybody's at, and, like, the change that two days can make. It's like, you're with them, you know, almost the entire day, doing different things, you're working [00:54:00] out, you're getting to the Word, you're having fun.

Um, you It was just like so powerful and like now you make like such close bonds with people that like I knew like Connor pretty well before then after that just like oh like he's a brother now. Yeah, you know, I view you the same way Just like yeah, I knew of Harry. We met once or twice and I was just like, oh Harry's my guy Yeah, it brings you so close.

So that's the best part Yeah just being able to go deep with people and really understand who they are a little bit more like The first appointment's great, but I'd always had this feeling that the group, we would always get momentum in a conversation and then it would be all right, time for work, you know, you're like rushed out of there.

So Dom was just, you know, Dom Fusco is amazing. Like one of our brothers, he's came up with the idea and it was so perfect because it allowed us to actually get to know each other a little bit more and like chill out, not be in a rush, actually start to develop conversation around what it is to be a man of [00:55:00] God and be a man of faith.

And those conversations were incredible. Like I noticeably I remember thinking there was a noticeable change between the first appointment the week before that event and the week after. And there was a lot more vulnerability, a lot more intimacy with the group, just people, you know, dapping each other up feeling a little bit more brotherly.

And I think that the spirit of the group totally changed after that, which was awesome. Like that was the whole point of it. I think even like that weekend itself, we show up there Friday night for dinner. Like people kind of just like interact in a little bit, but you kind of stay with the people, you know Saturday nights like everybody's tight with each other.

Yeah, like everybody's saying bye to every single person. It was so cool to see. Yeah Yeah, it's great. And I think that um Just allowing for that stuff to happen and people Wanting growth in that way and being curious To the point where they're willing to show up for two days Two days out of their weekend.

Yeah It's just so so [00:56:00] encouraging to me like I just remember being in a place when I was in my early 20s. You're at 23? Yeah, dude, that's crazy You're so you're so mature for a 23 year old. I appreciate that. But you know, I remember being 26, 27 in Boston Not being not being rooted in my faith And feeling like I didn't have a mentor or peers around me who were pushing me in ways.

And I just let this part of my life go completely stale. Like I didn't really have a spiritual, uh, backdrop. And so just seeing what it's on for me and being able to now facilitate and create space for other guys to start to orient their lives around God is incredible. So even if it's just the handful that we have now and just all of us coming closer together and being able to work on each other and and develop new insights into how to become closer to God in different areas.

Like I'm still doing that week to week. Like there's things I've kind of figured out. There's things I'm still working on big time. So it's [00:57:00] just a process, but it's so fun. I think it's Scott says it best. It's like, um, you know, following Jesus is the ultimate. Roller coaster. It's the ultimate adventure.

Yeah, and I truly believe that with all my heart. Most rewarding. Yeah. Yeah, totally. It's amazing We'll keep doing what you're doing. Dude, I appreciate you. Yeah, absolutely I got three more questions for you. All right. So first one being how do you define success? All right. I'm gonna steal from Scott Hatch my pastor on this one He defines success as obedience to God And I think before I heard him say that I probably would have said some answer.

Like, um, you know, maybe I don't think I would have said money related, but maybe like, um, you know, actually there was a clip on a podcast before I heard him say this. And I think I said I would describe success as, um, if my 80 year 80 year old self and my eight year old self viewed my life in the same way, I would view that as a successful life.

[00:58:00] Now I would say, Obedience to God's word is how I define success in my life. Yeah. So I like both those answers, but I think, I think when you're obedient to God, you find that you're not chasing things that are centered around pride. You're chasing things that are centered around love and helping other people and, uh, living a life of service, which is ultimately if I live a life where I can generous and Be of service to as many people as I possibly can that would be an incredibly successful life amazing Yeah, what is one thing you believe in that most people would disagree with you on?

I? Don't know if this is the case in Austin This is the first thing came to mind when you said this But I'm a big believer in the future of Bitcoin and how it's gonna change The monetary system and so I would say Bitcoin for my answer. I think You [00:59:00] We have lost the understanding of what money is and it's a rabbit hole that I've gone down and I didn't understand and I didn't have a good, um, even though I studied finance in college, I was like, I didn't understand what real money was.

And so I really do think that has the potential and power to do the same thing that the internet did. But. With money and helping people in countries that don't have access to the banking system start to bank the unbanked people who never had a chance to contribute in the global economy. They now do.

So I think it's incredibly powerful. Did I see somewhere you were and you're accepting Bitcoin for noble for noble? Yeah. I love that. I saw it because I think someone's a pain center. Yeah. Someone said like, A little bit before like, Hey, can you accept Bitcoin? You're like, watch it's coming. Yeah. That's so cool.

Yeah. Um, last question for you. [01:00:00] So for someone listening to this, that they want success in their life, they want to go down that path. They don't know how to get there. What is one piece of advice you leave them with? Yeah, I can only really speak to my own experience, which is really focus on your health and focus on putting the right inputs in.

In all different areas of your life. like do an audit of what you're eating, what you're listening to, who you're surrounding yourself with your, your informational diet is as important as your nutritional diet. So if you're around people who are negative, guess what? You're going to be associated with that and you're going to be negative and you're going to start maybe thinking less about yourself.

So I really do think that, you know, doing an audit and really understanding that like all things grow from, um, Just how you take care of yourself and going back on another point that we've already hit on, but surround yourself with the right people. Like, [01:01:00] it's a cheat code. Surround yourself with the right people.

If you want to change, change the people who are around you. It's that simple. That could be free too. Yeah. Like you don't need to go pay for the best mentor. Like, just get a better friend group. Go find them. Or move, move somewhere to find them. And they're out there. Like, and I think that's one thing that I felt, you know, So when I lived in Boston, I felt slightly trapped around just this idea that I had all these established beliefs.

I'd gone to school up there. I had a friend group, and so it was hard to make the change. So moving to a new city can be a total unlock in that sense where you have to make a few new friends. You have to reestablish your habits. It's if you're looking to make those changes, if you're frustrated moving cities as well, I'll put that one on the table is another thing that you can do to really reestablish yourself and start making some change.

Yeah, I agree. I'm from Pennsylvania. I was like, this was the best choice I could have made. Yeah. Like hands down, getting this community just changed my life. When'd you move down here? Two years ago. And the [01:02:00] first like nine months, it's kind of slow. I was like, cause we. Me and my buddies, like we just graduated college and we're just like, we want something different.

And like, look at the map. We're like, you know, Pflugerville is kind of close to Austin. So we got rented a house there and we've been there. Like we're moving next month into, into Austin. But yeah, it was just like, it was so easy to say no to things or like, so easy to be like, no, I don't need to go to the city cause it's 25 minutes away.

Yeah. So I was just like, yeah, I'm going to stay up here. And then something changed like a year, year and a half ago. I'm like, I need to get pulled more closer to this and like nice that's why I meet like the dope people like you I'm just like yeah, that's that's when that the turning point was Thank you, that's dope before we let you go.

Where can we find your podcast your Twitter? If people are in Austin, where can they get your protein? So, yeah. Yeah. So the podcast is the meat mafia podcast. You can watch it on YouTube, listen to it on Spotify. And then my handles are meat mafia, Harry on Twitter and Instagram. [01:03:00] Um, and then noble origins is the supplement company.

You can look that up online, or if you're in Austin, go to sell life, organic central market alive and well. And I think that's it for local pickups in Austin as of right now. More to come. Yeah, more to come, for sure. More to come here and more to come in other cities. Yeah. Yeah, it's about to blow up. Yeah, dude.

And we're going to be like, hey, we saw Harry start this. I knew that guy. We'll have to come back on. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Well, Harry, thank you so much for joining. Dude, I appreciate it. Love this conversation, amazing answers, and I'm proud of you, bro. Dude, you're the man. I appreciate it.