Jeff Byers | NFL Center Turned CEO: "The Ball Always Gets Snapped"

Jeff Byers was the best high school football player in America. Then he had hip surgery at 19, back surgery at 20, and a doctor told him he'd never play again. He came back, became a two-time captain at USC under Pete Carroll, played in the NFL with the Seahawks, Broncos and Panthers, and today he's the co-founder and CEO of Momentous, the performance nutrition company that supplies every NFL team.

In this episode of the Intangible Podcast, former NFL center Chris Spencer sits down with his former teammate to break down the intangibles that carried Jeff from the locker room to the boardroom. They get into why discipline creates momentum and momentum creates motivation, not the other way around. Why the most consistent person in the building becomes the leader, not the most talented. What Pete Carroll did every single day that made him impossible to misread. Why the single most underrated performance tool for a young athlete isn't a supplement or a training program, it's sleep. And why the day football gets taken from you is the day you find out whether the game defined you or you defined the game.

If you're an athlete trying to figure out what separates good from great, a parent trying to give your kid an edge that isn't another travel team, or someone building something outside of sport with the intangibles you earned inside of it, this conversation is for you.

Jeff's line on the habit that separates good from great: the ball always gets snapped. Time waits for no one. You have to be ready, you have to have a short memory, and it's coming again whether you're ready or not.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

All right, welcome back to the Tanger Podcast. Excited to have a uh a conversation with one of my former teammates, Jeff Byers. Um, you know, before I get started, man, just you know, the resume that you've been able to um to create and accomplish throughout your career, man. You now are sitting as a co-founder of and co-founder and CEO of Momentus. Uh as a uh performance nutrition company. And again, I say that very slowly because I've spent a lot of money over the last couple weeks buying all your products. Actually, over the last you know, three months buying products. I almost sent you some pictures. But anyway, I'm gonna keep going here. Uh, former offensive lineman, um, we spent time together with the Seattle Seahawks in 2010, went on and played for the Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers. Um, he's a former USC Trojan, two-time captain. And I and I say that with with highlights because uh to become a two-time captain of a team is is really impressive uh from a leadership standpoint. So kudos to you on that, man. I'm really, really excited to dive into your current and dive into your story and what you're about. Um but again, you went on, you built your your reputation into high IQ, dependable leader, you know, locker room guy. Uh, and now, like I said, you spent a lot of time building, you know, this this unbelievable company and momentus to make sure athletes and and whoever, you know, whether you're a you know a weekend warrior, uh, whether you're a stay-home mom, to put the right nutrition in your body, uh, as well as with the right ingredients, um, which I don't think a lot of people focus on is making sure people have the right ingredients. So excited to dive into your story, Jeff, man. Welcome to the Intangible Podcast.

SPEAKER_02 1:40

Yeah, stoked to be here. And man, what a 360 moment uh coming in as a rookie and you being the senior all-star, like the old man on the team when I was a young man. Uh definitely old.

SPEAKER_00 1:54

Definitely old.

SPEAKER_02 1:55

In the nicest ways, Chris. In the nicest ways. Uh but uh, I mean, yeah, stoked to be here and also like just congrats on everything post post ball that you've done as well.

SPEAKER_00 2:06

Thank you, brother. Thank you. I appreciate that. Well, man, I you know, I want to start at the pinnacle here, man. You've you've gone from you've gone from the locker room to building a company and perform in the performance space. You know, what made you lean into that space um versus walking away? You know, I've started a company and and there's been times where I've wanted to walk away from it, and but there's always something that keeps pulling you back. You know, what was that thing that kind of kept that made you really lean into this space that you're in in today, the space that you're in today?

SPEAKER_02 2:34

Yeah, I mean, I never wanted to be a supplement company CEO. That was not my goal. I didn't dream about it after the league or any of that. Um, but I love health and wellness and I love that performance mindset. And I think what has drawn me into being a business leader is a lot of what I took from sport and you know, almost filling that void that was athletics, like like massive, uh, massively high accountability, right? You put in what you get, get like you actually get out what you put in um on there really high stress moments um as a whole and team. And like how do you work and build and and do that? And ultimately why we ended up in like the sports nutrition, you know, nutritional supplement space was a bit a bit by necessity saying there's an opportunity here to create something special. And the original the underlying business that I started was doing some really cool things in elite sports and military, and it seemed like a natural, a natural pivot. Um, but what's kept me in it is just I don't know, as an athlete, like the day you say I quit is the day that is the worst day of your life, right? And get the shit all out. Get the shit. I I just like the grind is real. And what I loved about sport was it was hard. And you know, when people weren't watching is when it actually made a difference. And I feel like that's very, very similar to the business that I'm in is like nobody really knows what you put into it. Uh they see the outcome and they're like, oh man, you're so awesome. And it's like, yeah, well, that was like the little tip of the iceberg, and everything that went into, and I just love that suffer. I, you know, like I had a coach that said you gotta love to learn to be uncomfortable, you know. I don't know, you probably heard that one too. And it's like I really took that to heart of like you kind of find joy in the suffer and the suck. And I'd like I just fundamentally believe uh, you know, till my last waking breath in this business that I'm gonna figure out a way to make it work. Um, and we've had hard times and we've had really good times. Uh and it's like a sports career, like you got your ups and downs, and you know, it's really easy to say, ah, I'm good. Um, but that's not what gets you to the highest level or maximizes your abilities.

SPEAKER_00 5:07

Yeah. I mean, you you've seen a lot of things now. You've seen uh, you know, you've you've played as a collegiate athlete, a young athlete, a collegiate athlete, and then also from a professional um standpoint, and being in this space in the performance, the performance space, when you look at young athletes today or or collegiate athletes and then a professional athlete, what do you think they're missing when it comes to taking care of their body long term?

SPEAKER_02 5:31

Uh, that's a really good question. I I think I think we underestimate, right, the power of sleep. Um, especially as a young athlete uh as a whole. And there are so many things in today's age that are pulling kids away from what actually is the most important. Like sleep is sleep is the fundamental building block of strength, resilience, right? Emotional and physical resilience. Right. And when you think about like a high school kid, uh, you know, so my wife's a high school volleyball coach and has her own volleyball club. And but when you think about what the the what is required of these kids and with right, these things, sleep is sleep is hard, right? And sleep hygiene is bad. And right, like you gotta wake up and go to school. That's a non-negotiable, right? And you know, it's also hard to go to sleep at night. And so I think you know, the like sleep is probably the most underestimated thing. I mean, we know it's important, but it's how are you gonna tell a 16-year-old kid, like, go to bed, right? Like you want to stack the cards in your favor, sleep. Uh and it's kind of counterintuitive on there, and it's very counterculture, I think. And that's that's a tough thing. I think from like a nutrition perspective, it's not hard. Like supplements, supplements are meant to be supplemental. What you need to do is focus on good, healthy, you know, like real food nutrition, and then right, focus on the basics of like protein, omegas, right? Things that we know uh unequivocally are very good for young athletes. Um making sure you have the right fuel, right? And making sure your brain is properly fueled as well. Um, in those things. So I think those are are really important from a nutritional perspective.

SPEAKER_00 7:27

So me being the really mean dad, having my even my 16-year-old bring sh make sure he has his phone downstairs at night by nine o'clock. You know, he my kids are, they think I'm so mean by making them, you know, at nine o'clock have their phones downstairs on a charger, just so they can start to unwind and go to sleep because I know how important sleep is. Um, but they don't think so. They think it's it's it's me being a mean dad.

unknown 7:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:52

Well, it's torture. I mean, like, I mean, the good news and the bad news is right, these phones started as tools, and now they've become more than a tool. They've like been integrated into our lives. Right. And uh they're really great, but they're also made to be very addicting. And like that's you can say it as much as you want, and it's like, how do you how do you create that? Like, even for me, it's like it's hard, right? Like, yeah, my phone is a tool and it's a work tool, and I have work at my fingertips every single day, every single hour, every single minute, and that is unhealthy, and we know it is. Um, but it's still hard to say no. And I mean it's hard to say no. It's even harder when your brain is a 16-year-old and exactly wired to be addicted to it. So yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:40

Well, man, when I I I Jeff, I think about again your career, you know, and and what you're doing now. Was there any moment in your career that you realized, like, man, this is you know, the things that I want to do outside of football is is so much bigger than what I'm living right now in football. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:58

I mean, of course, I'm sure you remember a little bit of my background, like my college background where I got hurt super early on. I was really lucky, lucky looking back at it, in a sense of I had football taken away at a really young age. When I was 19, I had double hit surgery. When I was 20, I had double back surgery. And basically had, you know, anorthopede say, Hey, you're never gonna play ball again. Um and that was like a oh crap moment. Um it was like, you know, I remember calling my dad standing on top of a uh parking garage uh in greater LA right after meeting with my hip surgeon and saying, Hey, you need a second hip surgery, and it's not good. Um, and just bawling my eyes out. And he, you know, in little words, said, There's more to life than football, and nobody feels sorry for you. Um like you're at one of the greatest institutions on the planet, go figure it out. And it's not what I wanted to hear at the moment for sure, uh, but it's what I needed to hear. And I think for me, like I had football taken way early, and so I started thinking about life after ball really young, um, where that transition happens to every single human, right? I just got lucky that it was when I was 19, you know, and and got to be able to start thinking about it and start planning ahead and realizing that right, uh I think the challenge, especially in sports, I mean, in any type of like music, whatever it may, like you let those things define you as a human. Because right, to be all in, you kind of have to at times. And then when you shift, you realize, oh, ball doesn't define me, I define me, and and ball is a part of it, right? And then you start figuring out how does that all ultimately relate to who you are, and you can figure out what do I love about sports or whatever that activity is, and those things translate into lots of things in life. It's like like, why did I love I love ball? Let's go find those things in life to replicate. And what I'm really good at are those things, and that connection um between that. So I learned at an early age, like there was life after ball. Um, I didn't know, like, didn't know what I want to do. I got my master's in business, and like I thought I'd be in finance, and I realized finance was not who I was. And part of that is like what I loved so much about ball was this team aspect of it. It's like building, growing, culture, right? Those things, and finance is not that, right? Finance is like a lone wolf job, right? Right. We come from the ultimate team sport, right? And the ultimate team sport in the ultimate team position, right? Of offensive line, it's like team within a team, like you know everything and you got to work together flawlessly on there. And it was just like one of those things, like I need to, I want to go build, I want to go do. Um, and also like it's really hard when you've played at the highest level to then go retire and then to just go be a cog in a system, right? Because at the end of the day, the skill, like the intangibles you learn in sport are really, really valuable from a leadership perspective and like like getting things done, but they actually aren't the skills you need a lot of times to be in business. And so, like you and I can't go, right, when we retired to go be mid-level management or an executive at a real established company. Why? Because we don't have the skills that it takes to that. We have the intangibles that everybody wants, and that puts us a foot a step ahead. We still got to learn like the basic skills, right?

SPEAKER_00 12:43

Right.

SPEAKER_02 12:43

And so for me, it was like, well, I can go like start at the bottom, you know, with a bunch of 24-year-old kids, um, and I know I'm gonna accelerate faster, or I can just go figure it out myself and be an entrepreneur and build. And it's not for everybody, but it was something that I I knew like I could better myself. And what I loved about sport was really what I knew like early stage business and growing business was all about. Um so yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:13

Man, I you know, I think when we crossed path in Seattle, I knew you were always wired, you you were wired different. Um, and and I and I saw that right away. Um, what do you think that came from? What do you think in your upbringing, how you was raised, like, you know, are you able to pinpoint, like, where did that that kind of drive and that kind of focus come from?

SPEAKER_02 13:35

Yeah, that's a good, I mean, uh I think, right, attitude and effort are are definitely learned qualities in life. Um and I was super lucky, my old man like literally beat that into me, right? Of like, control what you can control, don't worry about anything else. There's so much noise that's out there. And at the end of the day, you get to look at yourself in the win in the mirror and figure out is that who you want to be? And it did you did you did you actually put it out out there? And so we talked a lot about attitude and effort growing up in my household, and those were non-negotiables in school, right, in our family lives and in sport, right? It's like right, hey, you're not the smartest kid, but you're gonna outwork everybody. Because if you outwork, right? Like as you know, this is like, hey, talent is great, but effort gets you pretty close if you don't have that talent. And if you have talent and you have a lot of effort, you crush. Um, and so it's just like right, show up. If you outwork people, good things happen, right? And also like bad things, like you can feel sorry for yourself in life, right? But that is your attitude, like how you show up and how you deal with people and deal with uh adversity and all of that. Like everybody has hardship, but the people you choose to move forward, even when it's uncertain, are the people that typically get past it must much faster. And so I would say those are super important. I also just had really great role models, right? Like I remember, you know, I remember in high school having a couple guys that were playing college ball come back and like, you know, talk to us. And like I remember them like, hey, you want to be great? It's not uh it's not on game day, right? Like it starts in the weight room, right? And this was in like my ninth grade year, like we had these, you know, guys from University of Nebraska and stuff come back and like you want to be great, you got to come put the time in the weight room. It's like, okay, right? Like, I want to be great. And it wasn't, it wasn't game day, it's like everything else. Uh, and I think uh creating those habits and that discipline, right, ultimately creates movement, which creates motivation. Like motivation, everybody's motivated. Very few people actually do. And I think it's just like it starts with discipline and habits, and those discipline and habits start creating momentum, and momentum ultimately creates motivation. I feel like motivation is so far down the road. It's just like you gotta create discipline in your life that creates momentum, that creates motivation. And that's like that circle. And then, right, it creates more and more and more, anyways. Um it was just the way you said that.

SPEAKER_00 16:14

Yeah, I like the way you said that.

SPEAKER_02 16:16

Nobody wants to be like nobody wants to not maximize their ability. Like nobody wants to be able to do that.

SPEAKER_00 16:23

What are those habits? Yeah, what are those habits that I have to create to even just get myself started? I'm thinking about, you know, I had ended up over the last three, four months with two herniated discs in my neck, you know, old plan injuries, and and and I haven't worked out in about three months. And so now it's like, all right, I gotta go back to my daily habits and just kind of get my habits so I can get motivated to working out again, so I can get that momentum and get back into it. And so it it it it when you understand that you always know how to get back to it, you know. And so, and so I think that's why it's really important as you say, you know, that's why I love that analogy because it it does take those little habits that you can get to to then kind of get yourself back going. Um, but you have to be aware of those.

SPEAKER_02 17:05

Yeah, 100%.

SPEAKER_00 17:07

Yeah. Well, man, I you know, um, you became a captain at USC, uh, huge responsibility, uh, which also means that, you know, I I equate this to being very relatable. You know, you have to be relatable where other teams, your your teammates pick you to be that kind of leader. And I think about your role that you're in right now as a CEO as a company, you know, um, you know, what did that what did that moment feel like? What did it feel like to have that kind of responsibility? Uh, and do you think about that now as a as a CEO of a company of like, man, you know, being in college also prepared me to be a leader of of people? I uh we both play for Pete.

SPEAKER_02 17:45

And like Pete's a special leader. And I think a lot of uh right, how you become a leader and how you become a great leader is uh consistency, right? Like nobody follows a person who they don't know what they're gonna expect. Right. And leaders, like leaders and you know, as you get uh, you know, hey, yes, you have to be a a good player typically to be like you have to have talent. Um, but the people who get nominee captain, who end up being leaders, right, are people who show up consistently every day the same. Like nobody's questioning, are you gonna come work hard today? Are you gonna miss weights? Are you gonna be on time? Are you gonna like like know your plays? That's how things happen. And great leaders, and one of the things I love so much about Pete is nobody was confused on how Pete was gonna show up any day, right? Every single day was gonna be the same. Every single day. And he had like, and he built process around it. And it's like Pete had bad days. I don't remember them, but he definitely had bad days, right? He just didn't let anybody know because he chose to show up a certain way and be that person. Because when you show up consistently, and we've had bad coaches and bad leaders that we've been around, and people who you don't know what you're gonna get, it's really hard to give it your all because when you don't know how somebody's gonna respond, good or bad, that's problematic. Um there. And so one of the biggest things that I learned from Pete was right, leaders show up consistently, and their team and the people around them are never gonna be confused on what happens or why it happens. So, like that accountability, that level of discipline, um, but also that level of consistency and approach is critically important here. It's like I and that's translated so heavily into being a leader of a business, is like nobody wants to follow somebody that is sporadic, right? Uh, they want to follow people who they know. Like I have a unique skill set, my co-founder has a unique skill set, and we show always show up the same, very differently, but we show up as each other every day the same. Um, and I think that's so critically important because when you walk into a meeting or times are hard and they know, oh, I know Jeff's gonna do this, he's gonna lean in, he's how he's gonna respond, he's not gonna get like those things are critical um in leadership.

SPEAKER_00 20:06

Yeah, but you know, when you you're a young, you're a young talent, you're a young athlete, um, in that kind of in that in that type of role, you know, again, in a locker room with a lot of talent, you know, and guys who are used to being the guys, you know, how do you how do you at that age start to think about how do I lead these guys? Um or is it or is it even a question of you thinking about it, you just do it, show up and do it, you know? Because I think when you're in a locker room with a lot of guys who've been the guy all the time, it sometimes that's a lot of pressure. Yeah, I don't like that's a good question.

SPEAKER_02 20:40

Um, and I don't really know. Um I I think it was like I think there's a lot of coaches that help like like you know put your arm around you and say this is what's expected. And you also learn from others, right? You uh we've all had, we've all been the young guy, right? Whether it was a freshman in high school or the freshman in college, right? Or a rookie, and you saw the older guys that were leaders, right? Nobody was just like born, I'm a captain as a ninth grader or rookie, right? Very few. You've seen what it looks like to lead and have other people's follow. And you have also seen what it looks like the other way. Like we've all seen the great players that are never captains, right? Right, right because nobody follows them. They're like, hey, awesome, we love you.

SPEAKER_03 21:28

Uh keep making your thing, keep doing your thing.

SPEAKER_02 21:32

Uh, but nobody's following them, right? Because their behaviors and their attitude and how they approach the game is not how majority of people have to. And I think it's like leadership is uh it is a learned skill, and you learn it from others, right?

SPEAKER_03 21:50

Right.

SPEAKER_02 21:51

We all know what good leaders and bad leaders look like. Like my my my oldest boy is 12, almost 12. Um, and he's seeing that, I'm seeing. That right now in his sport, where it's like, I'm not stoked on how things are happening, right? And he's already like leaning away of like, oh, this is not how sport should be done, right? And I don't even have to tell him that, right? The kids are leaning away because the leadership that they have on that team is not right, what they have seen work. And I think that's so interesting on it. And now, if all they're exposed to is bad leadership, then you create more bad leaders and you create bad habits, right? And that's like that's my biggest fear as like a dad is like making sure good role models, because that's how great leaders happen, is great role models, right? Absolutely, absolutely. You had it when you were young, right? Like I came to Seattle and you were an old guy. Um, I don't even know, like you were in probably your you weren't that old, probably 30. Um, you know, we're old, we're really old now. Um but like you've been there and you'd done it and you'd like and like you showed up, and that like that type of leadership is oh, that's what Chris does, like that's what that's what's required. Um and I think that's important. And then we played with guys that were maybe the highest paid, may like the superstars that were never the leaders, right? And right you also know this, like sometimes the best players who are superstars get are captains, and they shouldn't be, right? Right, right. And that's okay too, right? But the locker room follows leaders, and just because you have a C or not on your jersey, I you know, we played with a lot of people that were incredible leaders that were never captains, but like the team, you know, yanked and gang because of them.

SPEAKER_00 23:46

Right, absolutely, absolutely. Well, I you know, now I think about some the hard part of it is when you are that type of leader, have you ever had to step up and say something that was really uncomfortable?

SPEAKER_02 23:58

Oh man, I the biggest thing I've I've learned uh from being like a captain like on a team to being the CEO, it's like you gotta deal with people, like hard people stuff. Right. And people like at the end of the day, like we're all humans. And I I guess I didn't I took for granted how hard it was for coaches and GMs to make people decisions. Um because we are all humans and we want to have respect for those humans. And so like it's really hard and it should be to have really hard decisions. And I think what what I've learned over the years is with especially with people and having those, like if you think it, it's probably true, say it and be candid and do all people things out of love, right, to help that person grow or evolve. And if it's not working for you, it's probably not working for them. And as a leader, it's your job to say something because if they say something, that's a problem, right? Um as a whole. And so be on the front foot. Uh yeah, I mean, like the hard, I mean, you know, as a we're about 80 people now of, you know, internal and like people are hard, right? And right, values, right, are important in our business. And those are the hard conversations when people aren't abiding by those and having the hard conversations is hard. Um, but it's also very rewarding when you see somebody and you have a conversation and you see them change. Um, absolutely. You know, then I look back at the coaches we've had of like every coach has had a little project, right? And when you see that project flourish, it's pretty special. The greatest thing ever.

SPEAKER_00 25:51

Yeah. So even as a player, you know, working with certain guys that, you know, especially when you become the old guy in the locker room and now they're looking at you as the player coach, and you got the little project going, and you see them finally that that aha moment happens for them, it's like it's like the best feeling ever. So it's you know, the same thing in work and and being just being authentic with people and being real, having real relationships. I think that's you know, being that kind of leader goes a long way. So um, well, Jeff, I I already kind of go back to you know, dealing with injuries. We think about what what these young athletes are dealing with now, uh, because of all the pressure with social media and uh NIL transfer port and all those different things, that there still is a process that you have to go through. It's still you still have to put the work in. And so you dealt with injuries early on in your career. How did you how did that how did you shift your perspective of how you approach your body?

SPEAKER_02 26:43

Yeah, I mean, ultimately, I mean, you talked about a lot of things that I'm very grateful that I didn't have to deal with, right? And I absolutely support all any of that stuff, right? I mean, it's so noisy and it's also a distraction, I I think, and is and we've done our guys a disservice, the young guys a disservice, um, because it it takes your eyes off the ball when you're thinking too far ahead. Um and I think what I think about taking care of your body and what it is, it it it everything matters. Um, and I think it's uh, you know, I think it's one of those things that we all have learned the hard way of like, hey, we all get hurt at different, various different stages. Yeah. But for me, I learned that right, taking care of your body, right, and learning when you got to push through versus when you got to throttle back is actually very hard. Right. And like, you know, my my MO was like I was the effort guy, try hard, full gas all the time. And like that wore me down, but it was who I was. Like that was my MO. Um, and that was really good for me, but it also meant I had to put extra time and effort into taking care of my body and knowing what mattered and what didn't matter. And I would say, like, early on, like when I was in high school, I was just a thoroughbred. I could just go, right? And when you're 18 years old, 19 years old, until you get that first major injury, like you're just like kind of untouchable. And then it hits, right? And then you have to figure it out. And I would say, I would say uh how you take care of your body is like one day at a time, one movement at a time, you know. And for me, I also just became really good friends with the strength coaches, really good friends with the PTs, really good friends with the trainers. Why? Because ultimately, like they're there to keep you put together. And the more you learn and the more you dedicate to it, the better you get. And it's often overlooked. And like it's like, you know, the training room, you know, some coaches are like, wow, we don't want guys in the training room. It's like you got like you gotta knowledge is power to play a long time. Yeah, and you gotta learn how to take care of yourself. Like nobody wants to be hurt all the time. Um, but like if you don't learn, and it does start, it starts in the weight room, it starts with movement. Um, you know, like practice is not where you take care of your body, it's everything else outside of practice and games, right?

SPEAKER_00 29:16

Like sleep. Like sleep, 100%. Well, Joe, we're gonna we're gonna take a quick pause here and do a quick two minutes, some rapid fire questions, man. Just uh two minutes going into halftime, easy soft tosser. So let it rip. Um, all right, give me a leader who has shaped how you show up today. Oh, Pete Carroll, all the way. Yeah, I like that. I would say that too. Um being a captain, what did that actually mean to you?

SPEAKER_02 29:44

Oh, it was uh a huge amount of responsibility um and accountability. Like when you're a captain, like that amount of accountability to your team to show up and not let people down is massive.

SPEAKER_00 30:00

Yeah, absolutely. Um when you think about great teams, what do you think they get right? I think they get culture.

unknown 30:10

Right?

SPEAKER_02 30:11

And by culture, I mean I like it's like how you show up, how you work, how you work through loss um and struggle uh as a whole, as a team. Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 30:24

Uh, now I know this is this question, I know there's a lot of habits, but can you give me one habit that separates good from great?

SPEAKER_02 30:31

Oh, one thing I love uh uh and you'll like you'll you'll love this, is like I had this whole thing is like the ball always gets snapped, the ball always gets snapped, right? Time waits for nobody, the ball waits for nobody. And so it's it's this this habit of if you're not ready to go, you can't actually play the game, right? You if you want to play the game, you have to be ready when the ball always gets snapped, because it's always gonna get snapped, and time is our enemy. And that means that you have to A always be ready to go. You never know when it's gonna happen. B, you gotta have a short ass memory because we're all gonna get beat in life and there's gonna be problems. But if you bring that to the next play, you're in trouble, right? And then right when during the play, whatever that may be, you gotta fight your ass off to win. And you're gonna lose some, and like you gotta learn. And guess what? Ball's getting snapped again. The ball gets the ball always gets snapped, it waits for no one. Right.

SPEAKER_00 31:29

And in that same vein, uh, the ball always gets snapped. Who is one of the toughest defensive linemen you you face?

SPEAKER_02 31:35

Oh god. Um I have a vivid memory of uh Julius Peppers lining up at three technically on my third play against the Chicago Bears. And uh, I don't know if I touched him. So uh so that I mean that was like uh uh Julius Peppers was a special human, as we all know. Um I would say like the little pap man didn't touch him. Uh I would say like Sue was really, really talented. Uh and so was um, oh gosh, non blanking as him. He actually lives in Park City um from Oregon. Played for the uh Ravens for forever.

SPEAKER_00 32:18

Umoda? Hello, no, uh Helodi. Helode. Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:27

Another beast.

SPEAKER_00 32:28

Yeah. Uh just just a strong, big, just a big man. He's still he's still a big man. He I see him walking around town. I'm like, oh god, like I'm still afraid of you. All right, last one for you, Jeff. Uh, what makes someone reliable?

SPEAKER_02 32:47

Uh consistency. I mean, like showing up the same all the time. No surprises. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:54

Well, man, that was awesome. Thank you for those, man. We're gonna jump back in um as we start to get ready to wrap this thing up, but I want to kind of go back to just building momentous. Like, you know, you stepped into building this company. What problems were you really trying to solve when you started this process?

SPEAKER_02 33:11

Yeah, I think I think overall, the business that I founded in 2018 was this really unique niche high performance business. We were really lucky, we were partially funded by the Department of Defense. And we were trying to build what I call the next great high performance company. Don't know what that meant, still trying to figure it out, but it sounded super cool on there. And ultimately it led us into 2021 becoming a nutrition and nutritional supplement business. And the reason why we went into this space is A, I said no for a long time. And why did I say no? Is I just didn't see myself as a supplement company CEO. The space is crowded and messy and not a lot of differentiation. Um, and one that I didn't trust, even though I used it all the time. Uh, there wasn't a lot of brands that spoke to me, or that I'm like, I'd be proud to talk about this. Anyway, so in 2021, middle of 2021, we acquired this little brand that was born in pro and college sports and had this idea of how do we make a great, you know, sports nutrition, you know, dietary supplement company. And we've really transitioned uh beyond sport. Like we still are super lucky. We sell to every NFL team today and nearly every other professional and college team. But the majority of our business is consumers. And, you know, we call them, you know, we call ourselves a performance for life company, right? Those people who are seeking, actively seeking to do better, right, to do the things they love for longer. And our consumer range is pretty high, like a pretty wide range of people. But um, you know, when people think about quality, transparency, and certifications, like that's our brand. Um, and it was realistically of like ultimately, I do, I'm really passionate that people who are healthy and happy, right, make the world a better place. And it doesn't start with supplements, but supplements can be a core building block of how do we dictate that. And then it just ultimately came how do you do it better than it's ever been done before, to use a line that Pete always said. And I believe that our category was something that people aren't thinking about doing it better than it's ever been done before. They're just trying to make money. Um, and yes, all businesses need to make money, but if that's your sole driver, it's tough, right? If you're trying to like it's the same with football, like, hey, you can make a lot of money, but do you want to be truly great? You know, and you want to you want to, you know, uh transcend what is sport or what is your position, it's hard. And you gotta have that mindset. And that's where, you know, in 2021 we took this mindset of how do we do it better than it's ever been done before, and how do we serve consumers in a bigger, better way.

SPEAKER_00 35:50

Now, a couple more questions for you. When you you've worked with a lot of athletes, you've worked with military, you've worked with a lot of different teams, you know, what does high performance all have in common?

SPEAKER_02 36:02

I think it's this re uh relentless pursuit of better. Right? There is almost like nobody in high performance is okay with where they're at.

SPEAKER_00 36:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 36:17

They're always, they're always, always looking to be better. Because they know like they know they they will never be perfect, but they're on this relentless pursuit of it. Um, on there. And I think it's it's like once you start sitting on your hands and saying, oh, this is good enough, that's that's when you start declining. That's when the end begins. Uh and nobody in high performance, right, is is doing that. So I think that is like this through line of like it's never enough. Right? Like, I'm gonna find a way to get better, I'm gonna work a little bit harder, I'm gonna do this a little bit better. Um, and it's like mastering that craft. And the other thing is everybody, everybody still does the basics, and people like I it's so funny, like you see this in new sport, and they're like, Oh, we like we don't need to do that. And I'm like, you know, uh, I started every practice in the NFL with like a zone step right inside zone step every single day, every single day. We did the first step of every major play, right? And we were pros. And it's like no at 16, you're too good to do basic footwork, and it's like those fundamentals are what actually matter, right? Everything else is noise, like you do like that gets you 90% of the way there, and so I think it's like this resent, relentless pursuit to perfection that you're never gonna achieve perfection, but you need to continue to do that, and then it's like just this relentless, relentless focus on fundamentals. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 37:53

Well, Jeff, I got a couple more for you, man. You've led teams, you're building a great team. You know, what matters the most at this stage of life you're in right now?

SPEAKER_02 38:05

Oh man, what matters the most, I think a lot about impact. Um, to me, like to me, what matters the most to me is impact. Like how do I come in con forceful contact with others to change their trajectory? Um, whether it's a consumer, right, a customer, a teammate, or a family member. Um, I believe we as humans all have an obligation to create impact, and that means leaving it better than we found it. So I think a lot about impact and how do I uh how do I positively impact the people that I get to deal with every day? And one of the great things about building a company is as I scale, the bigger the impact that we can have, but also great the greater the responsibility that we have to create that impact.

SPEAKER_00 38:51

Absolutely, absolutely. I love that. All right. If you had to go back and talk to your younger self, what would you say to him?

SPEAKER_02 39:06

I I would say, right, uh never, never forget the people who helped you get to where you are. Right. It's it's a hard like when you're in the mix, you forget, and then you're like, oh man, I'm so grateful for those. Like uh, I'm in a lucky phase where I get to take a little step back and think about that. I'm like, man, I wish I would have done things. I wish I would have taken better care or been more grateful, had more, you know, like more gratitude towards some of those people that had such a big impact in my life. And I now I just rem tell myself remind myself as it's never too late to say thank you. Right. Um, but I wish I would have done more of that younger in my in my career, of like the people who drew like were so impactful in me today. It's like I just wish I had a little more gratitude.

SPEAKER_00 40:01

Strong. Last one for you. Look at your life, look at how you grew up, look at you know, all the things you accomplished in sports and now the things you're accomplished accomplishing in business. You know, what would you say the several intangibles that has made Jeff Byers who he is today?

SPEAKER_02 40:18

I would say uh never get like relentless effort, right? Like uh when I started, like I'm not the smartest guy in the room, but I'll outwork everybody and I will do that. I will say always showing up right matters, right? Like uh it's really simple to show up, but it's really hard to always do because you're tired and all of that. Like, um, and then like taking care of people matters. Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 40:50

Well, Jeff, man, this has been awesome. Thank you for sharing your story, man. Uh, you know, I love you as a player. I love you, all the work that you're doing now. I love the transparency of and it's it's it's carried over not just as a player, but and in the work you're doing now, and and making sure that the things that you're doing has has real authentic drive behind it. And so I really appreciate your transparency and all the things you're doing, man. I um rooting you on, I'm I'm buying your products every day. Uh we got you know all three athletes in the house, and so um they walk around with the the tearways, they walk around with the big jugs and making sure that they stay um stay supplemented because there's a lot of a lot of things that they're doing with all these different sports, and it's not enough time in the day to make sure that they they have the right nutrition. So I really appreciate what you're doing, man, and and um and I'm cheering you on, brother. Thanks, Chris. Appreciate you.