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Today, we sit down with Mari Llewellyn for an unfiltered, inspiring conversation about her life transformation—physically, mentally, and professionally. Mari’s journey isn’t just about weight loss; it’s about building a wellness empire from the ground up while staying true to her core beliefs in holistic health, mental well-being, and fitness. This episode dives deep into how she used discipline and grit to reshape her life and business.
Here’s what we unpack:
- How Mari lost 90 pounds, not just changing her body but reshaping her mindset and approach to life.
- Starting from scratch with $5 workout guides and turning that hustle into a thriving fitness business.
- The importance of staying rooted in nutrition, fitness, and wellness to build a lasting media empire.
- The role of daily habits and discipline in both fitness and entrepreneurship, and why consistency is key.
- How mental health, nutrition, and long-term success are intertwined, impacting both life and business.
Mari Llewellyn is the founder of Bloom Nutrition and hosts The Pursuit of Wellness podcast. After struggling with mental health challenges and overcoming personal setbacks, she lost 90 pounds and created a successful wellness brand. Her dedication to healthy living, weight loss, and mental resilience has inspired millions to take charge of their own health journeys. Mari’s story of resilience, discipline, and authenticity has made her a leading voice in the wellness and fitness industry today.
Use Code 'MEATMAFIA' for 15% off All Bloom Products! - https://bloomnu.com/
Timestamps:
00:00:00 - Introduction: Mari’s Weight Loss and Wellness Journey
00:01:00 - Losing 90 Pounds: How It Transformed Her Life and Business
00:04:00 - Mental Health, Nutrition, and Entrepreneurial Success
00:07:00 - Childhood Struggles and Mental Health Challenges
00:09:00 - Binge Drinking, Depression, and Self-Harm in College
00:10:00 - Diagnosed with BPD: The Turning Point
00:11:00 - Dropping Out, Moving Home, and Focusing on Health
00:12:00 - Food as Medicine: Changing Diet and Coming Off Meds
00:15:00 - Greg’s Role in Mari’s Weightlifting and Fitness Transformation
00:18:00 - Building Mental Strength Through Fitness
00:20:00 - Isolation’s Role in Personal Growth
00:23:00 - From $5 PDFs to Bloom Nutrition: Building a Wellness Brand
00:29:00 - Navigating the NutriBolt Deal and Raising Capital
00:33:00 - Fitness Work Ethic Applied to Business Success
00:45:00 - Future Goals: Public Speaking, Podcasting, Writing a Wellness Book
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Creators & Guests
What is The Meat Mafia Podcast?
The Meat Mafia Podcast is hosted by @MeatMafiaBrett and @MeatMafiaHarry.
We're two guys who walked away from the typical path to carve out something different. Based in Austin, we’re on a mission to figure out what it takes to live a fulfilled life in a world that often pushes us away from meaning.
We have conversations with people we believe can help us, diving deep into the pillars of health, wealth, and faith, as the cornerstones of our mission.
Whether it's challenging the modern food system, questioning conventional health advice, or building something from the ground up, we're here to explore the tough questions and share the lessons we’ve learned along the way.
If you're tired of the noise and ready to find meaning, tune in and join us!
367 - Mari Llewellyn
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[00:00:00] You're good. We're live. Mari, long time no see. Welcome to the Meme Mafia podcast. Thanks guys. Fancy seeing you here. Cheers. Cheers. Thanks for having me. Thanks for doing the podcast swap. We just had a great episode on your show. You're such a talented interviewer. Thank you. Guys, they were amazing. Come listen to it.
They were awesome. You got thrown into the fire with your first episode of interviewing Liver King. Yep. So, I'm sure you've learned a lot along the way about how to ask those questions, but it was great to just be on your show and, um, yeah, share some of the stuff that we've been going through over the past few years.
It was really interesting to learn more about you guys, so thanks for coming on. It's gonna lead to something really special, I think, too. That's, I think that's the beauty of the podcast, is like, just the serendipity and relationships that come from that. You just, the way that it just snowballs and you connect the dots looking backwards.
I'm sure it's been The same thing with the pursuit of wellness as well. I just feel like when do you ever sit with someone for an hour plus and like look directly in their eyes and you don't touch your phone and you just talk. It's like you [00:01:00] skip every step before you skip all the fluff and you just get right into it.
Definitely. So I feel like I've walked away with so many great relationship. It's just changed my life completely. Definitely. Outside of, outside of like the health and wellness stuff, is there anything that you've just taken away from? Having started the podcast, the Pursuit of Wellness podcast, where you're like, this is just an interesting insight into how I want to operate, like, in my life going forward.
It has made me a much better person. conversationist. Is that the right word? Conversationalist. Um, I feel like I'm a much better listener because of it. Um, I think I've realized that social media can be quite self centered. Um, the podcast has made me look back and be like, wow, a lot of my content in my career was about me.
And I, there's a time and a place for that. You know, I was telling a story, I was building a brand, but getting, um, other people on the show who are experts in areas that I'm not an expert in, [00:02:00] it feels good to give other people a platform and let them have a moment to tell their story. And I think it's just a lot more fulfilling than constantly posting about yourself.
Definitely. It's like this paradox of my story is really resonating with people, and the more I share it, it's going to help a lot of people. Yet also learning from all the experts that you have on your show It's like what's what's the balance and that's the difficult piece to figure out But it seems like you're doing a great job of that Thank you.
Um, and I feel like with wellness there's so much to learn, you know Like I went through what I went through I definitely learned a lot but every time I have a guest on i'm learning something new. Yeah, so that feels good, too Yeah,
M1
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I think the ethos of a lot of your brand is that word transformation Which is a word that we hear a lot about but I actually think that most people don't believe that transformation is possible.
Transformation
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I actually think most people think about incremental improvements. I'm going to go from 40 percent to 75%. They don't think about what would it actually look like if I [00:03:00] become that person that I ultimately dream of becoming. And I think a lot of people, their head hits the pillow and they just feel like a lot of them is just still locked up and they haven't gotten that ideal version of themselves out into the world.
And it seems like, That's the message that you really put out when you started creating content. And just for our audience, I think just hearing your backstory is going to be super inspiring for people. So we'd love to kick it off there. Let's do it. Um, yeah. So my life used to look very different to how it does now.
Uh, back in, I mean, I kind of want to start giving full context. I kind of grew up in a unique way. I was born in London, lived in Switzerland for three years, moved back to the UK. Um, New York, Philly, Colorado, California. I've lived in a million places. My dad works for the UN, so I grew up moving around a ton.
Um, in a way, I had a great childhood. I traveled a lot. I saw a lot of things. I was exposed to a lot of different cultures, but I would say my internal family [00:04:00] situation was pretty chaotic and I didn't necessarily have a good example of um, emotional regulation or how to handle conflict or a good example of a loving relationship.
There was just a lot missing and I think I could tell that my mental health was always a little rocky starting like high school age, always felt like a little bit different. And I think especially being from the UK, going to an American high school, I grew up in Westchester, New York, and it was, um, you know, the town I lived in Most people were Jewish.
Very, very wealthy. I was neither of those things. And, um, wealth wasn't exactly admired in my household. It was kind of like, there was humor around being rich and like, oh, those rich people, like, will never be like that. That was sort of the messaging and I kind of grew up with that mindset that, oh, I'm never gonna be wealthy.
Um, I'm never gonna have success. So, going [00:05:00] to college was, a pivotal moment for me. I think I went to college with a lot of anger, truthfully, at my family, feeling like, I felt very alone, um, in the American school system. I felt like I never really fit in. I felt a little bit just angry at the way I was raised and my family breaking apart, ultimately.
It was just the four of us in the U. S., so them splitting up and us all kind of going our separate ways felt really, um, sad to me, and going to college, I definitely, dealt with my emotions in unhealthy ways. I discovered drinking and, you know, mentioned that on my show. I think the culture around binge drinking in American colleges is alarming.
And I look back and I'm like, I had the time of my life, but at the same time, I'm so shocked I made it out alive, like truly. Um, I was drinking to blackout frequently, out every night, uh, meeting new [00:06:00] people, making new friends, and academics were not my priority by any means. I was on academic and social probation within the first semester of being at school.
That was a reality check. Um, I definitely was just, I think, excited, but also numbing. pain that I had with these unhealthy habits and things kind of snowballed. You know, that was freshman year. I kind of continued with my habits. I joined a sorority. I made friends and I was kind of just floating by like when I think about my life before my journey.
I was okay with being average. Average grades, average performance, never really tried too hard at anything. I think my focus was on how can I numb out the pain that I feel. And I would say around junior year of college, that was my first experience with self harm.
Teaser
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So, trigger warning, um, I struggled in many [00:07:00] ways.
with my mental health. Being alone was a huge thing for me. I would avoid being alone at all costs because I didn't want to feel or think about my thoughts. I struggled with a sense of identity. Just, like, this feeling of, um, I always describe it as, like, third degree burns on my emotions, so everything felt way heavier than it needed to, in a way.
And, um, ultimately I ended up self harming, I was cutting myself, and it was Greg, actually, my now husband, who was like, I think, I think you need to go see a psychiatrist, like, this is getting really scary. So, um, I went to see a psychiatrist and I was diagnosed with BPD, Borderline Personality Disorder. And in a way I was super relieved, because I was like, oh my gosh, finally an answer as to why I can't be alone, and why I have these strong reactions to things, and why I always feel empty inside.
Um, but looking [00:08:00] up BPD on the internet it was like, Therapists don't even want to work with these people. They're so manipulative that this disorder is evil You'll have it for the rest of your life. A lot of people with BPD kill themselves. It was really really Morbid so dark. Yeah, so dark and reading it.
I was like, okay, like I guess that's me Like I'm just meant to have this and this is what my life is gonna look like They put me on, you know, I'm not a doctor, I'm not qualified to speak on medications, but they put me on a number of medications. So, antidepressants, anti anxiety, mood stabilizers, it was like three different things at once.
Heavy stuff. And the result of that was me being completely numb.
Teaser
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Like, really just no sense of reality, no sense of myself. I was a semester away from graduating. I stopped going to class, um, failing every class I was in, [00:09:00] couldn't get out of my bed, still self harming, gaining weight rapidly, and my life was just a complete disaster at this point.
I'd lost every friend that I had. I was really like a shell of a person at this point, um, and it was then that I decided to drop out of school and move back home with my dad, which to me was like the biggest humiliation, I felt like a failure, um, but, I was completely rock bottom. I didn't have a goal, didn't have a job, didn't have a degree.
I was completely lost
Teaser
---
and I remember moving home and my dad put this book in front of me called Food is Medicine or something like that and I remember looking at him and rolling my eyes and being like, you're so funny that you think food is gonna help me right now. Like, this is so beyond that. Plot twist, like, food changed my whole life, but we'll get there.
Teaser
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Um, so I remember being so angry, and it was then that I decided to cold turkey come off of the medication. And for anyone who's been [00:10:00] on SSRIs or any of those medications, like, you know coming off of it is even worse. than getting on. Like you have this crazy come down, it takes months to get out of your system.
Uh, I had a really weird reaction to it, um, where I had very impulsive, um, behaviors. So like shoplifting, something I had never done in my whole life, ever, would never dream of doing it. Suddenly I was having impulses to take things from stores and I ended up getting caught for it. It's just a messy time in my life when I think about it.
I was kind of like in and out of it. reality and not sure of what was going on. And coming off of that medication slowly but surely, I feel like I started to recognize what was going on with my body, how much weight I had gained, probably like over 60 pounds at this point. And weight was never something I thought about growing up.
Food wasn't a big focus in my family. Like, we ate kind of a European diet, like baguettes, ham, cheese. It was fine, [00:11:00] but it wasn't, you know, a big health wasn't a big focus in my household. Um, you know, the fact that I was living at home and everyone else was getting their degrees and graduating and getting jobs and I was just stuck home and I think it was this moment of, wow, like you, you did this to yourself, like you are at rock bottom.
Your life is going nowhere and it's because of you.
Teaser
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I think before that I had looked for other people and other reasons to blame, like whether it was my family or circumstances or whatever it may be, feeling like abandoned by people. This was the first time in my life where I took responsibility for where I was at.
And it was a big turning point for me. And I, I'm very grateful that I hit this rock bottom moment because I think a lot of people coast through life being unhappy, like, relatively unhappy with their job and their life, but it's not so uncomfortable [00:12:00] that they have to do something about it. I was in this position where it was like, You better fucking do something about this or you're done.
Like, you barely survived.
Teaser
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Like, I was so close to hurting myself beyond repair. You Through self harm, I was so close to doing drugs, like, there were so many times where I saw the path I could have taken, and it was this close. And it was like one decision to go home that truly saved me. Um, Greg was still in my life, in and out, at this point, because I was not even really a human.
Um, and I remember making the decision of, okay, well, It feels like a lot to go finish my degree. It feels like a lot to get a job right now. Let me just focus on the thing I can control, which is my health. I called Greg. My husband Greg has been bodybuilding since he was in, since the womb. I don't know.
He's just been like jacked ever since I've known him. He's classic New York. Yes. Gorilla. Yeah. Yes. And when I met him, he was like meal prepping and going [00:13:00] to the gym twice a day, which no one in my school was doing. We were all eating It was in college. No, we were all eating Chick fil A and Subway or whatever.
So I called him and I was like, I really want to do this. And he was like, okay, well, let's do it. Um, and Greg was never, like, he never tried to persuade me to do fitness. Even when I was with him before I was into fitness, he would go to the gym twice a day. cook his meals. He never tried to push me to do it with him.
But the second I called him and said I wanted to do it, he was on my team. He taught me how to weightlift. I learned how to weightlift from a bodybuilder, which I'm so grateful for because I think a lot of women go into fitness like, I want to be tiny. I want to do tons of cardio. I want to be skinny. He was like, no, like we're getting jacked.
You know, I was so into that concept because for me it was like, okay, Let me show everyone that I have the discipline that I thought I didn't have. Like, a woman with muscle, to me, is the most amazing thing. Because to get muscle isn't, I think [00:14:00] there's this fear around getting bulky, but in reality, to get good muscle as a female takes a lot of hard work and a lot of dedication.
So, I was so excited about getting strong physically and mentally. Because I think my biggest insecurity at the time was how mentally weak I felt.
Teaser/short
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Like, because of, you know, BPD and medication and all this mental health issues I'd had, I had a hard time going to the grocery store and looking someone in the eye and having that interaction.
I had a hard time doing anything alone. Because I had made sure I was never alone, not even once in college. And for the first time in my life, Greg was still at school. My dad was gone, I was alone, um, and I think weightlifting for me was almost like a representation of mental strength. And if I can just do one more rep and one more set and show up every single day, I will come out of this a better person.
I didn't really know [00:15:00] what the end goal was. Like, I didn't go into it saying, I'm going to lose 90 pounds. It was just like, I'm going to show up every day. I'm gonna keep my own promise every single day, and I'm gonna keep chipping away at it. By no means did I expect to have a career from it, or any of the things that I have now, but I just knew that it was meant, I was meant to do something with fitness.
And I kept going for nine months, I lost 90 pounds. Completely changed my life, my identity, the way I show up every day. I feel like I found the true me. For the first time in my life.
Teaser/short (above)
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Is there a corner that you remember turning around in those first few days where you realized that instead of kind of, you know, half committing, which I feel like a lot of people kind of struggle with, you were in that place of knowing that this was going to happen, you were going to make this, this change happen.
It's a good question. I think, for me, nutrition was a really big piece of it and that was actually the first thing I [00:16:00] changed. Switching from, I mean, I was having like two muffins every morning and a giant iced coffee with milk and sugar and I switched, the first meal I switched was breakfast to exactly what Greg ate, which was by far way too much food, like oatmeal and eggs and crazy.
But, like, The way I immediately felt better, like it was almost like a fire was in my brain, and the second I switched to Whole Foods. It like, simmered a little bit and just that relief alone, I was like, oh my gosh, like I can't believe that I've been setting myself up this way. Because when you already struggle with mental health, maybe you have it in your family genetically or you have a diagnosis, to be adding in sugar and processed food and, You know, tons of caffeine, like that's never gonna help.
That's not gonna put you on the right foot. Um, so the second I realized that I could feel better and get endorphins from exercise, I was like, [00:17:00] I need to do this for myself right now.
Short - nutrition help
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Um, and then also one memory I have is going to the New York Pro. Do you guys know what that is? No. It's a bodybuilding show in White Plains, New York.
And, uh, Greg was like, oh, we have to go. So I was like, yeah, let's go. We both were so into it. And I remember seeing Miss Bikini Olympia at the time, Angelica. I got to meet her. And just this feeling of, like, being in a community and feeling, like, amped up to be there and oh my gosh, this is the first time I've really cared about something.
I can't explain it. I can't explain it. It just, like, there was no option for me to not fully commit. Wow. I appreciate you, um, Like actually being willing to be vulnerable and share those things that are probably maybe in the past it was uncomfortable to share that. But I think the reason why you do that is that I would imagine that someone that's listening to this should be inspired because this isn't that long ago.
This is what, 2016, 2017 is when you really made those changes. Yeah. And you look at what can happen in [00:18:00] just a few years of going all in on that person that you want to become. Um, my follow up question to you is, we're really good friends with this guy named Zach Pogrob. He's got this big Instagram account.
It's all about like cultivating obsession. You might have even, it's all black and white. He's an amazing endurance athlete, but he's also a really talented runner. And he just has this ability to put out these lighting pieces that just kind of like hit you right in the soul. And one of the things that he talks about is in order to cultivate that obsession or that transformation, a period of isolation can actually be a good thing.
And it sounds like you did have that period where you were Away from your dad, you're away from school, you're away from Greg. Do you think that that isolation is potentially necessary for people to really have that change? I'm just curious because you mentioned that. I do. I do. And I, I don't like to sugarcoat my journey because I think a lot of people want me to say like, Oh, you can do it in a chill way.
Short - isolation/change
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You can like, kind of do whatever. To me, I think going off the deep end, I I cut off a lot of my friends. They were like my drinking friends at school. They expected me to [00:19:00] continue to go out and do the things I was doing. I cut them out. Greg was far away from me. I didn't really have anyone around me and I think for me that was such a big part of my journey.
Like, learning to be alone, um, and also when you're isolated all you can really do is focus on the mission at hand and I was really intense about it. I was definitely obsessive and since the journey I've had to learn to sort of control that obsessiveness because it is something I think that's innate to my personality.
I like to obsess about things, but for me at the time it was the most transformative thing I could have ever have done. I'm curious to see that guy's account also. Well, it's got like, he blew up, he's got like 1. 4 million followers or something like that. Because I think that's a testament to that writing that just strikes people like right in their heart.
Yeah. There's truth to the words that he's putting out. We brought up Greg a lot when we came on your podcast. I'm curious, I think it's so cool when couples meet at a young age and then they continue to [00:20:00] grow together and you've gone through so many. Probably transformative shifts over the last decade together.
Yeah. Why do you think he stuck by you when you were at your lowest moment? Such a good question. I've literally asked him the same thing. Um, I would like to think he saw the best in me when I, I didn't. You know, I think maybe he saw a part of me that I wasn't even aware of. But at the same time, when, when Greg and I met, Neither of us were particularly high achieving or high performance, like, he was horrible at school too, he was fired from multiple jobs.
Both of us were kind of, like, just floating around, and we, we definitely really liked each other right away, we were very connected from the, from the get go. But I wouldn't say we treated each other the best at the beginning, um. I, I, I like to be honest about that because I do think on social media, people tend to paint this perfect picture of couples they see.
And when we first met, we were both in Greek life, we were in college, we were both drinking all the time, it wasn't picture [00:21:00] perfect. But I think we saw in each other this potential, and we kind of, stuck by each other and kept trying. I also think with TikTok now and relationship advice, it's like, if he's not perfect, dump him.
If he's not this, dump him. And it's like, well, no, like you got to give people a chance and also lean into the things you do love about people. So I think he saw in me. Says something he must have Yeah, yeah, I think so. Um, And I think greg and I have continued to improve as partners Like we're the best now that we've ever been and we've been through so much together through being co founders and Getting married and just there's been a lot of ups and downs and the entrepreneurship journey is not Easy, um, it's not for the faint hearted.
Short - Greg/romance, leaning into what you love
---
That's for sure so You Yeah, I think we just watched each other kind of like tap into the best sides of ourselves and make that more and more the biggest part [00:22:00] of who we are, if that makes sense. I love what you're saying about just kind of the modern view on like finding your, your partner. And a lot of people just almost show up looking for the finished product or looking for somebody who's just has it all.
Yeah. Um, it's so powerful. Just. I just think being able to support somebody through a season of hard time is like one just a testament to the character that he has it's like i'm, you know, he Said something to you. I was like, Hey, I think you need help. And you listen like that's just a sign that you guys Like both kind of care about each other And then I just think that there's so much power and growth that comes from like being in that difficult season together Yeah going to those dark places as a couple is probably like a superpower at this point, right?
Oh my god, it makes you so resilient, you know, like I almost wonder if that was setting us up for the insane stresses we have now in business. Like, I think I mentioned to you guys, we took an [00:23:00] investment from Nutribull, um, very recently. And that deal took a year to go through. And that was a life changing deal.
It meant that we were moving to Austin. It changed the trajectory of our life, our business, everything, and we were sitting and waiting for a year. And it was by far the most stressful thing we've ever been through as a couple. Business wise, but at the same time, going through what we went through back in the day, it almost prepared us for that.
And Greg and I have had amazing moments together and really hard moments together. And I think proving that you can get through both of them and stand by each other is really powerful. Yeah, that's why I'm excited to dig into just your, your overall journey of creating content in the businesses, because it's, it's probably very easy for someone to go to your Instagram now and see your podcast.
Almost like this, more of a finished product, not that we're ever finished products because we're continually learning and growing, but seeing you and not having this context for your backstory and not maybe understanding your transformation journey and seeing, Oh my [00:24:00] gosh, it must be nice to be her. They just got this incredible deal from Nutribull.
If you're not realizing that seven ish years ago, you guys were selling 5 PDF workouts, uh, for PayPal, both you and Greg shooting at the people back and forth. Yeah. A little bit. I guess number one, what, what feeling did you have when you looked at the scale and realized that you had lost 90 pounds in seven months?
And then was there anything that you did to kind of overcome that fear of content creation when you put out that first transformation picture? Because so many people get lost in that initial like imposter syndrome phase. Yeah, no, I so get that. Um, I mean, so truthfully, Greg was weighing me my whole fitness journey cause I didn't want to look at the scale.
So it kind of didn't even really hit me. And although yes, I was using the scale as like a way of tracking my weight loss. I was also very. observant of muscle gain and how are my clothes fitting and how am I feeling? It was so much more about those things for me. But yeah, [00:25:00] realizing you've lost 90 pounds is kind of a trip and also thinking back to how unhealthy I was before was like the craziest thing for me to think about.
Um, when I, my life was so dialed in, I ended up going back to school, finishing my degree. I was working the front desk at Orange Theory Fitness, which is, you know, I was making minimum wage, cleaning bathrooms, having a heart rate monitors thrown at me every day, uh, which was humbling, you know, it was, yeah, humbling.
And, um, I'm glad I did it. I was bringing my Tupperware every day. I was so dedicated to improving myself. Posting that first transformation, I remember I made this side by side and I was honestly just really proud of my biceps. I think that was the main reason I had made it. And I sent it to Greg and I was like, Oh my God, look.
And he was like, you should post that Mari. Like you, That's so crazy. You should be so proud. I had 900 followers at the time and it was all Drexel kids and people I grew up [00:26:00] with and I was like, oh my god, no, I'm so embarrassed. I hadn't even posted anything about my weight loss journey publicly. And, um, I think, you know, since I had gained a lot of weight, I never, you know, shared online because I was just insecure about how I looked and how I felt.
And again, I was completely isolating myself. I didn't even really think to share, but I was a really big fan of other fitness influences. I followed, uh, Buffbunny, Christian Guzman, all the OGs. Uh, I was like a huge fan of Whitney Simmons and Taylor Chamberlain. And I was like a big consumer of fitness content.
And he was like, throw it up, you know, who cares? And at the time I basically had no friends. So it's like, well, If I put it up, like, why do I lose. Yeah, what am I gonna lose? Um, so I put it up, and at the time, I guess it was November 2017, it was like the era you could organically grow on social media still, and it wasn't, like, overly saturated.
And I also think no one was [00:27:00] really coming from the angle of, hey, I was overweight and really unhealthy and unhappy. And I'm going to tell you about it. People were like, oh, this is my airbrushed bikini photo. You know, there wasn't really any candid sharing. And I posted it. I remember my phone exploding.
Like, notification, notification, notification. I wasn't used to that. And I was getting all these messages. These big fitness meme accounts were reposting it. It was everywhere. And all these girls were like, how did you do it? What did you eat? What workouts did you do? And I was like, oh, cool. Like, people really care.
And like, I kind of feel like I have this little secret. Like, I completely fixed my life and it was all through fitness.
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So I started talking to the camera, sharing, uh, recipes and workouts. And I was so new to it. And I was really treating it as like a diary. And I think because I was so alone, it was like my place to go connect with people.
Like, I'm actually happy that I was so [00:28:00] lonely at the time because it made me really pour everything into this platform.
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I think a lot of people did that during COVID too. Like they got on TikTok just to have people to talk to, you know? Um, yeah. So yeah, I started sharing really candidly and the, my page just kept growing and growing and growing because I think there was really a need in the female fitness space for people to feel like they could connect with a personal story that they related to.
It's difficult to relate to someone who's been, had a six pack their whole life, you know? Um, And yeah, that was like essentially the start of my career Was did anyone reach out to you who had seen you at your worst? and give you any sort of insights like after a few months of you getting started because I do feel like you know There is that as brett was saying, you know when you hit send on that first post It's like oh man, i'm gonna have to like just deal with that fact that So many people from whether it's family or past are just gonna see this like basically new version of yourself That you have to start identifying with [00:29:00] and it is cool to hear people like reach out From your past when they've seen you at some of your worst days, you know, what's funny.
I think I was like Secretly hoping that would happen. Yes, but no one did really not one person and I even I tell this story a lot But I was working out at Planet Fitness the whole time. I was losing weight. Like I lost a full Like almost 90 pounds of Planet Fitness and the day I cancelled my membership to go to Crunch or something The guy at the front desk was like, did you lose some weight?
It's like oh my god Literally changed my whole life and this man just noticed and I think the biggest thing I learned was like No one else really cares. No one cares except you. And you have to learn to validate yourself and clap for yourself because no one else cares. I was like, are you serious?
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But obviously I had Greg hyping me up.
It wasn't until later and you know, now I get a lot, a lot of people from my past reaching out like, Oh, talk about me on your show [00:30:00] or whatever. Um, but no, I didn't get a ton of outreach. It was all women who just wanted help on their journeys. And, um, you know, ultimately that turned into me creating these PDF guides.
I went to Barnes and Noble and typed up the exact workout plan. I did the exact grocery list and recipe, you know, book that I followed and selling it for 5. Just emailing it to people. Yep. So they would DM me, What did you do? And I'd be like, Oh, I actually have a guide if you want it. PayPal me 5 and I'll email it to you.
So Greg and I would be on our phones all day. At the gym, in the morning, like, while he was in class just selling these guides, which was insane. Like, it was such a crazy system. Ultimately figured out how to automate the whole thing, make a website, which was very helpful. But we sold a ton of those guides.
Like, it was the, that guide is the reason we were able to start Bloom.
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We would not have had the money [00:31:00] to do that otherwise. Yeah. There were a couple things that you said earlier that I think are really impactful to people. Number one, you said that you treated your Instagram like a diary. Yeah. And I think when you have that mindset of like, I'm not creating this overly done piece of content, I'm just documenting and sharing the things that I'm doing.
I think that's a really helpful way for people to overcome imposter syndrome. And also when you look at the brand you've built now. It could have all been stopped by this fear over these like 900 Drexel followers that you had Yeah, I felt the same way too when Harry and I first started creating content and just being like But what is this like old baseball teammate gonna think are they gonna think i'm crazy?
Are they gonna judge me and then I went through the list and i'm like would you? Trade lives with any of those people. No So why are you gonna let this fear like get in? You know that creating content could be the gateway to your dream life. Yeah, you're gonna you're gonna stop that By caring so much about what other people think so it's almost like That bottleneck of the first 900 would never let you get to now Which is what over a million followers or [00:32:00] something like that?
Yeah, not that that metric matters to you because you're so much deeper than that But like I don't know I just think about these things that could just derail people in the beginning totally and I do get that question a lot and I think I was in a unique position because again, I had no friends and no one to really think about in that way But I I do notice a lot of people You Getting stopped at the beginning because of an insecurity they have that oh, I'm not qualified enough.
Oh, I don't have Permission to do that. I'm not X enough like people come up with a million reasons why they shouldn't be the one to do it But I always say if not you then who like who else is telling your story? No one So yeah, I think pushing past that point and look at how many people's lives have been changed by the internet It's insane.
Even the Demure guy right now You know that? No, who's Oh no, guys. Who is this? You haven't heard everyone being like, So demure? No, you're kidding. Oh my god. Wrong demo, wrong demo. [00:33:00] We only talk about ribeyes off the show, so we don't know anything. Look up demure and you're gonna be like, oh I was missing on a huge cultural moment.
You're gonna see all every brand ever is saying the word demure right now. Yeah, anyway that guy Pushed past his insecurities to post, guy or girl. I'm not sure. Um, well Yeah. Okay. Maybe edit that out. Um, anyway, I'm just saying people's lives are being changed by the internet every day. It's insane. I have a quick side question for you.
Is the lunk alarm at planet fitness a real thing? Yeah. Did you ever set it off? I think I did set it off one time. So their business model is genius. They build a gym where they don't want people to go to it. And so they have this thing called the Lunk Alarm, where if you like throw weights or you lift too much weight, it literally sets off the Lunk Alarm.
Oh wow, that's crazy. Yeah, I'm pretty sure Greg and I did set it off at one point. Yeah, I remember it. Yeah. And Planet Fitness was such an interesting, this is like a huge plug for Planet Fitness, but um, it was such [00:34:00] an interesting place to To learn how to work out because there's people of all walks of life there and I was there like I was so intense.
Like, headphones, hat, working out for an hour, like, I was clearly going through something at Planet Fitness. Did you have the lifting gloves? No, I never went through the glove phase. Greg told me they're lame, so I never did them. He told me, you can edit this out if you don't like it, he told me Gymshark's lame, never wear Gymshark, never wear lifting gloves.
What else did he tell me? Oh, never drink, uh, Quest protein. He's on the ball. So I had like rules going into this. We're a thousand percent leaving that in. Yeah. There's, there's something about getting in the right headspace at the gym too. Like having, I don't know, like, I don't think I could ever go to the gym with gloves on because it would throw me off so much.
Imagine you in gloves. Oh my gosh. Harry, I really can't picture you in gloves. It's not, it's not for me. At all. Yeah. It's not your vibe. No. But I'm curious about that headspace that you were in when you were just going there. Was it like, [00:35:00] Throw music on throw a podcast on like what was kind of that primer for you to just like get in the zone and be Like I'm here.
I'm doing the work I'm not watching this guy on the like I've seen some crazy planet fitness videos of like No, there's some insane people there Number one. Okay. Do you guys like pop smoke? I don't even know what that is. Brett, what is going on with you? I only talk about ribeyes. We are, we are the most uncultured people.
We're like, we're Amish, basically. Yeah, think of us as, yeah, play pop. You're missing out. Think of us as like one step above the Amish. This is insane. Who am I sitting with right now? The meat mafia. The meat mafia.
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Okay, so he's dead now, which is really unfortunate. I don't know if I've ever heard a song by him.
You don't know this? I don't think so. I've heard this. I've heard this, yeah. Okay, either that, [00:36:00] or I'd look to that. I can't believe you guys aren't fans of Or Meek Mill, which is an obvious choice. So that would get you in the zone? Ooh. This was me talking to my haters. You ready? So yeah, that. A big part of the workout routine.
The power of music. I know. When you're going through that. It's like, hypnotic. Yeah. Like, I thought that I was like, in the music video. Mm. Yeah. And I feel like when you're going through something emotional and having that super intense music, it just like, helped me so much. And then also, I do want to say, I think when you're at the beginning, Of a fitness journey and maybe you're like, not super confident in your body or whatever.
There's this fear that everyone's looking at you when you're like, new to lifting weights or whatever. Hat, headphones, like, don't talk to me, uniform, crucial. And then also just know like, no one's looking at you. No. You know, like, everyone's just focused on themselves. If they are looking at you, they're weird.
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That's on them. [00:37:00] That's fair. Yeah, I think there's something about that like initial transformation when you're just trying to like figure out what to do in the gym That's like a pretty special period looking back cuz you're like man. I was like so uncomfortable You're like, what is that thing what is yeah all the equipment I remember like the like the hamstring machine I was like, what the heck is that?
I was really lucky I had Greg honestly to show me the ropes, but there's so many resources online now you can like Practice the exercise at home and then go in or, you know, just get comfortable. I also think having a plan, so you're not wandering around. Totally. Really crucial. Stick to the script. Stick to the script.
I think one of the cool things about fitness is that there are a lot of things in life that really aren't fair. But fitness is one of those few things where it's like, if you eat the right foods, if you train the right way, I think anyone can get benefits from it. And that feeling, I don't know if there's a better feeling, there probably wasn't a better feeling when you were going through that journey of just like locking in that routine that you loved.
[00:38:00] Mm hmm. And actually noticing, feeling, and getting compliments on the changes that people were observing with you, right? Yeah, and it like gives you structure. I think if you're someone who, like I felt like my life was chaos, you know, like I really had no control over anything. I felt very Yeah, out of control, and I wanted this sense of structure, and calm, and I'm in control, I have a regimen, fitness can give you that.
And I also felt like going to the gym at the same time every day was very helpful, because there was no questioning of when am I going? When, what works for my schedule? At that time, I needed to go 7am every single day. I know I'm going to come home. I know what meal I'm going to make. I used my fitness pal.
I tracked everything like it was the ultimate control, which is a little extreme for sure, but it was what I needed at the time. Yeah. Do you still like for people that are earlier in their fitness journey? Do you think calorie counting is a good thing? For me, I think it was more about the [00:39:00] macros. I had no knowledge of what a macro was.
I didn't understand what was a protein, a fat, a carb, how do I eat in a deficit, a surplus, maintenance, I didn't understand any of that. Tracking taught me loosely, okay, this is how much a piece of salmon and sweet potato, like, how much protein I'm getting, how many calories I'm getting, and after a while of tracking you just sort of learn to eyeball And get the hang of it and I haven't used it since but it was necessary for me at the beginning because I just had No understanding of food at all And then also learning like oh a starbucks frappuccino has 600 calories.
I could have a whole meal Instead of that. Yes drink. Do you know i'm saying and with two muffins? You're like that's probably 1600 calories if you're if you're not working out, that's probably like Maybe you're burning 500. Okay, I'm already almost at my daily allotment with breakfast. Like I've gone through that phase.
I'm like, Oh my gosh, I can't believe what I just did from this one meal. Yes, totally. And like, look how much more food I could [00:40:00] have if I just made different choices.
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With that transformation framework, that first initial one that you went through losing the 90 pounds, have you. Been able to replicate that just like not obviously not like losing the weight but just the idea of Transformation in other areas of your life or like even just going further with the fitness stuff I think that journey Taught me everything I know about work ethic and it was the same principles.
I applied to growing bloom,
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you know, like I I'm, not someone with a business degree. I don't do well with numbers Um, I never anticipated being in business But I outworked everyone I knew
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You know, and Greg is the same. Like we put our heads down. We have very different skill sets and the same ethic I took from doing extra reps, extra sets, like, as you said, the work you put in and fitness, you're going to see the results from.
I felt the same with business. I was like, I just proved to myself I can do that hard thing. [00:41:00] Therefore I should be able to do this hard thing. And just by chipping away every single day. And working harder than anyone else I knew, we were able to build a business. And, um, I think it's weirdly similar, the work ethic you can apply to fitness and business.
It's striking just how simple and effective hard work actually is and the things that we do in modern society to try and justify that of like, work smarter, not harder. You know, you just need two to three hours of deep work, work life balance. Like, I'm sure there are, there are definitely are validities to those things.
But, um, I think people, the reason why people run away from work ethic is that deep down, we really know that it works. It just sucks doing it in the process. Like it just sucks and it's going to suck. But on the other end of that, it's going to be something magical. And I feel like you're the perfect Testament of that too.
Thank you. Yeah. I felt like, I think the biggest thing I took away from the fitness journey and from building my business is when I say I'm going to do something, I'm doing it. That's just [00:42:00] point blank. And I've kept that. consistent throughout my life ever since the journey. Um, and yeah, building a business, it's like, I think a lot of people would be really intimidated by it, but it was just like taking action.
Like, we built the website ourselves. I took every single product photo. I designed every label. I did all of our copywriting. We did customer service ourselves. Like, it wasn't glamorous. We wore every single hat at the beginning, but we were willing to take action and just get it done. And I think that's the biggest difference between someone becoming successful and not.
It's like, how much are you going to talk about it versus actually doing it?
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How do you measure that success? Um, there's, I guess in the business world, like what gives you that feeling of success? Um, I definitely feel like I feel we've had success. I wouldn't say I feel like we're done [00:43:00] just because I feel like there's so much more we want to do.
I think. The first time I felt like we were maybe, maybe becoming successful was when we got the product in Target because that was such a big goal of mine from the beginning. I knew the girl that I was making products for was a Target girl and we had to pitch Target like five times and they laughed in our face five times.
Um, it was pathetic. Like we were begging for calls, no one wants to take greens powders. What do you mean? Like this would never do well in my category. Um, now we're the number one supplement in their section. So I think that, that was a huge moment for me. Um, seeing it on the shelves is huge. Meeting people in person for me is very fulfilling.
Um, it, it took a long time though and it took a lot of not being taken seriously because of how young we are. How inexperienced we are. A lot of [00:44:00] these companies in Target go about things in a very traditional way. We're kind of the opposite of that. We've always done things our own way. Um, so yeah, there's been a lot of different stepping stones, but I feel like there's still a lot of meat on the bone.
No pun intended, no pun intended, meat mafia podcast. Are you the type of person where when those buyers are almost laughing you out of the room, was that motivating to you? Uh, for Greg, it was for sure. Like, Greg is very much like, Oh, yeah? Like, okay, I'll show you. Um, I think for me, too, with the fitness journey, like, a little piece of me was trying to prove to people that I could do it.
You know, I felt like I had a lot of doubt around me. And, um, yeah, I think we both kind of have a chip on our shoulders. For sure. That's a super power. Yeah, it's very helpful. And I think it gets you a certain um, It gets you far enough. Like I think having a chip on your shoulder and being a little angry and trying to prove it gets you far enough.
But it doesn't take you the whole way. [00:45:00] You need to have like, more of a purpose behind that too, but it is helpful. Yeah. You mentioned Christian Guzman and a few of those other OG, uh, fitness influencers. Yeah. Is there anyone in the business world that you guys or you in particular turned to where you're like, Oh, this is someone that I want to kind of model my, my game after.
It's funny you say that because at the beginning really no, like there wasn't anyone doing it. the way we wanted to do it. For me, I've seen a lot of female entrepreneurs online, Danielle Bernstein crushes, Grace Beverly crushes. I kind of viewed it from, like I always looked at other faces of brands as an example because it was helpful for me with content creation, community, what I wanted to do.
Now that we've gotten bigger, we have gotten to meet a lot of other entrepreneurs in the space. Um, I know Greg really looks up to Doss Cunningham, the founder of C4, massive company. He's, [00:46:00] you know, remained the CEO for many, many years and taken it really far. And I think there's just, when you meet these entrepreneurs, I think there's like a through line of everyone having a little bit of a chip on their shoulder A little bit of a story.
I, I don't know if I've ever met someone super successful that hasn't been through some kind of struggle. Um, but yeah, it's really interesting meeting these super successful people and hearing how they got there. Like, we recently talked to someone, he's the founder of, um, Deep Eddie Vodka. Waterloo. Um, and, um, he worked on boats, like making minimum wage, working on boats. And he was like, I actually want to own one of these boats. And he wasn't successful until later in life, like 35 or 40. So talking to people with that kind of wisdom at this young age is really, really helpful.
I forget the original question. I fully just went on a tangent. Just your business [00:47:00] inspirations. Oh, right. Yeah. No, I mean, Honestly, we didn't really have many at the beginning because we were kind of like doing it in such a unique way. But I feel like we pick up pieces as we go and as we meet more people.
Yeah. It seems like there's this blend of like vision of who you could become and then a healthy dose of chip on your shoulder too. It's like the carrot and the stick methodology. Like they both have their place. You just have to figure out, pick and choose one and you probably shouldn't let one consume you.
Yeah. Um, totally. What was the feeling like when the NutriBolt deal happened?
It was obviously such a huge moment and such a um, a massive pivot for our business and our life but it's so much more stressful than you would think. I think nowadays we hear a lot about businesses raising money and we see these giant numbers and it sounds awesome. I would love to say we were self funded for, majority of our time with [00:48:00] Bloom.
Like, this is our most, this is our only transaction. Happened about a year ago. Up until that point, we were completely self owned, self funded. And the only reason we wanted to take a partner was because we wanted to develop a drink and we had no experience in the beverage space. It's a very different space to powders.
We knew DOS was, would be a fantastic partner. But going through a deal like that is so stressful on the founders on the team, everyone around us was stressed out. It was really, really tough. And then having it go through, I think there's this expectation of like, it's going to be so different once the deal goes through.
And don't get me wrong, like we, I love my life. I feel so lucky to live in Austin. I love my house, the freedom we have to travel and things like that, but not much changes. If anything, we work harder now than we did before. So I think I've met a few entrepreneurs who sell their companies or You [00:49:00] know make a bunch of money on a deal and you think happiness is on the other side But it's you still have to do the internal work.
The money doesn't really change it If anything, it kind of makes your life harder You're doing so many cool things at a young age. What's giving you the most life right now? Is it bloom or is it podcast? Is it kind of just like spending time outside of the business world? Hmm Podcast is definitely a huge passion of mine.
I really love it. I want to keep getting better at it I really admire people in the podcast space Um lewis house jay's andrew you guys are crushing joe um I just love the art of interviewing. I think it's really, really cool. I'm excited to kind of focus a bit more on my personal brand. Bloom is absolutely crushing.
I love being involved with Bloom, but for the first time I kind of have the space to focus on what I want to do. I love public speaking. Um, I'd love to write a book one day. That's been a huge goal of mine my whole life. But I also, um, [00:50:00] For the first time have like, allowed myself to have fun outside of work.
Yes. Um, I love horseback riding. It's a huge part of my life. I really want to keep going there. Um, I'm like animal obsessed. I have chickens, two dogs, a horse. So I'm excited to expand my farm, quote on quote. I love that. We have a speaking opportunity for you in November. We'll talk about it off camera. Oh, cool.
I'm down. Were you thinking about that too when she said that? It would be awesome. I'm down. I'm down. That's amazing. That's probably, it probably feels, I really appreciate that honest perspective too, because it is so easy to get fixated on this goal of raising capital and acquisition. You put so much effort into it.
And I think it's really honest and good perspective of like, it's been such a blessing, but also at the same time, not that much has changed. And then even like, after you complete the mission, there's, you have to find your next mission too. You can't just rest your laurels on that mission. Right? I think that's where a lot of people, You hear these founders getting like really depressed after they sell because they [00:51:00] never thought about the next mission after that.
Totally. And the joy is in the journey, you know, like we love bloom is our child. We love it so much. I cannot picture my life without it. It's a huge part of my identity. Greg would say that tenfold. So we're not in a rush to get through these stages. I think we're just enjoying the ride and it's nice to have a strategic partner now that we love working with so much here in Austin.
Yeah, if anything, it's more work than it was before. Well, we're so excited to see like what the next steps look like. I'm sure there's going to be tons of surprises in a good way that come your way. So it's been great having you on and just appreciate the humility and vulnerability of the story. And I really hope our audience gravitates to it.
Just the idea of transformation is so powerful. And I think your story is just a perfect testament to it. So I appreciate you coming on, Mari. Thank you guys for having me. Thank you so much. Thanks. See you collective. Get a lift in. See you there. Sweet.