Chief Endurance Officer

What does it take to transform a traditional sport into a dynamic global movement? Today’s guest is a visionary reimagining endurance sports! Introducing Michael D’hulst, co-founder and CEO of Supertri. Michael partners with host Gregory McDonough to share how an endurance mindset, shaped by his roots and triathlon passion, fueled his entrepreneurial journey. He also delves into adapting through uncertainty, building community, and making triathlons more accessible and exciting for all.

Takeaways:
  • Stay calm under pressure and train yourself to expect the unexpected. In both sport and business, success often comes from absorbing challenges and responding thoughtfully rather than reacting impulsively.
  • When faced with setbacks, encourage bold and even unconventional ideas. Creativity thrives under pressure, and what starts as a wild concept can lead to real innovation.
  • Set a clear, inspiring direction and keep your team focused on what’s possible. Celebrating small wins and staying future-focused helps maintain motivation during uncertain times.
  • Remove rigid barriers so that more people can participate, engage, and grow within your community or product. Inclusive design and targeted programs can dramatically expand your reach and impact.
  • Don’t hesitate to initiate conversations, even if you feel underqualified or unsure. Many opportunities begin with a simple message or unexpected connection.
  • Focus on building a loyal, engaged community rather than relying solely on traditional revenue streams. Use digital platforms to amplify your message, create connections, and scale your vision.

Quote of the Show:
  • “ We have that ecosystem where the professionals inspire and build the brand, they create the reach, and inspire participation. In turn, the participation is building the community.” - Michael D’hulst

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Chief Endurance Officer is produced by Ringmaster, on a mission to create connections through B2B podcasts. Learn more at https://ringmaster.com/ 

Creators and Guests

Host
Gregory McDonough
Greg McDonough is a seasoned executive who has owned and operated businesses in the professional services sector, navigating them through both good and tough times. He brings his personal experience of knowing what it’s like to be ‘in the owner’s seat’ when working with clients, taking time to ask the questions others may not.
Producer
Rebecca Leberman

What is Chief Endurance Officer?

Join host Greg McDonough on a transformative journey as "The Chief Endurance Officer" explores the incredible power of positive energy and sustained effort. This podcast delves into the real-life stories of individuals who have harnessed the endurance mindset to achieve remarkable goals in every facet of life – personal achievements, professional success, and athletic triumphs. Visit our website www.chiefenduranceofficer.com for additional resources and exclusive content, and subscribe to hear these inspiring episodes every Friday!

CEO_Michael D'hulst
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[00:00:00]

Greg McDonough: So I'm super excited to have this guest on our show today. He is a lifelong entrepreneur with a passion for triathlon In 2016, he launched a fast paced, innovative race format for the global audience, which has grown into a world class pro league, a thriving mass participation series, and a pioneering eSport event. Please welcome the co-founder and CEO of Super try, Michael Dehus. Michael, welcome to the show.

Michael D'hulst: Uh, well, excited to be here.

Greg McDonough: Awesome. Well, we were just chatting about endurance. And Michael, as you know, I love getting into this subject, so please tell me how your endurance mindset has impacted your life unexpectedly.

Michael D'hulst: I mean, I, I guess I'm originally from [00:01:00] Belgium, so we, we grew up watching cycling and, and, uh, so yeah, endurance and like, and big one day classics or, or the Tour de France is, is something that I kind of aspire to and, and watched from, from a very young age. But for me, triathlon came in 1996 when, uh, when Luke found the other one, Ironman, Hawaii, and that was really kind of a boost.

For many people in Belgium, a lot of my friends also got inspired, and, and we did, we started doing our first triathlons back in the day. Uh, and, and that's, that, that was my first touch point with triathlon. As I said, I've been doing some cycling and running before that. Uh, and actually it stuck with me ever since, since the mid nineties.

And a, from there I ventured onto. Going into business. I, I worked for, uh, Volkswagen for 10 years. Uh, I was sent to early on to China in early 2000. So had a, had a, had a corporate career. But find, found my way back to, I continued to train, triathlon and found my way back into triathlon. Sucked into back into [00:02:00] endurance.

Greg McDonough: That's excellent. So as, as you think about kind of the careers that you've gone through so far, your, your life so far, um. events that you've competed in, the businesses you've been involved in, right? There's sort of this endurance mindset that you have to have in order to get to those finish lines, to climb the corporate ladder. I'm really love to under, to dig deeper, Michael, into like as you've developed that mindset, mindset to accomplish what you've accomplished, anything like unexpected sort of come up that. didn't think was gonna be in front of you at some point in time, or you expected to go to point A and you ended up at point B.

Michael D'hulst: I think, I think it's, it's. I mean, my, uh, for me, the endurance mindset is, is is kind of, uh, teach me that, uh, expect the unexpected almost, or deal with the unexpected or be ready for the unexpected. I mean, my, my, my whole life has been, has been kind [00:03:00] of a, a series of events, uh, that, that, that you, that you deal with and, and you use the endurance mindset to create the most out of it.

I mean, even from young, from young, from young, I. Uh, I, I traveled a lot. I spent, I, I spent time overseas, studied in diff uh, different locations around the way from, from South Africa to Italy. Uh, went on and worked in Germany. They sent me to China and, and, and a lot of these, these kind of. Uh, go to new places, adventurous places, going to China in early two thousands and being sent there by Volkswagen Group to kind of bring their two joint Chinese joint ventures together.

You, you need to have a, you need to have a very flexible mindset and, and, and things are happening and you need to be able to deal with it in the moment. And, and I always kind of. I mean, even back then I was, I, I did some speaking engagements for, for universities and, and I actually always drew back to the endurance mindset.

The ability to kind of just kind of deal with, with the situation as they evolve, make the best of it. Don't panic, and, and [00:04:00] it's the same thing that we see in triathlon racing, right? I mean, you're going to race an Ironman this weekend, you know that something is going to go wrong, right? You know, don't know yet what, but you know that something is going to be.

Go wrong or not, not as expected, but you deal with it. And, and I think that that's what we learn in training, that's what we learn in racing. You learn to deal with those situations. They come up and, and, and you continue. And, and, uh, yeah. There's a lot of crossover for me between the endurance mindset and the, the, the business.

The business entrepreneurial mindset in business.

Greg McDonough: A hundred percent. Um, yeah, and you just may be fearful about what's gonna happen on Sunday, but there's always something. Um, and I've got an answer to this question, but I'd like to hear your answer first. So, how do you prepare yourself for the unexpected?

Michael D'hulst: Um, well, I think it's, for me, the process is very much to kind of, uh, take a deep breath and, and let it sink in and, and kind of, uh, of really [00:05:00] own the unexpected rather than, than, than, than than reacting. Uh, basically absorb it first, deal with the situation, consider it, slow down a little bit and, and don't, and don't get, don't go reactive.

That's, that's really my process to deal with. We don't expected situations, uh, because I think, yeah, if you, if you react too quickly, um, yeah, you, you, you are burning matches or, or, or you make wrong decisions. I, for me, like if, if I compare it back to triathlon racing, if I come out of transition, I say my first transition, I will walk the transition and take on my nutrition.

I just kind of reset and I get ready for, for the fa if it's an ira, a full disen environment. Get ready for the marathon or get ready for the half marathon, or even I raced an Olympic distance this weekend. Get ready for the 10 k walk that first stage station reset. Get, get in tune with yourself and go for it.

So that reset for me is key.

Greg McDonough: Any stories come to mind with

Michael D'hulst: I.

Greg McDonough: To the [00:06:00] business side where you kind of found yourself in an unexpected situation and you needed to use that same process to you through it?

Michael D'hulst: Well, there, there's, there's, there's so many. There's so many. But, but obviously there's one that, that I like, I think for a lot of people in business and especially in the events business, uh, like COVID threw through, threw us all a, a big curve ball. Right. So certainly, and especially for us. I had just moved the business from, from Singapore to London.

We were re, we had really big ambitions coming up, right? Uh, uh, hired a whole new team in London. We were still ramping up to do a number of acquisitions and, and, and growing and growing our event portfolio. And then COVID d hit and, and. Yeah, we had no clue. I mean, I remember talking to, to my colleagues, ah, yes, we'll probably stay home for a few weeks and we'll be back in the office at about four or something.

So yeah, let's that, that's what's going to be, right. So, and that obviously everything changed, right? And, and, um, and, and yeah, investors [00:07:00] started saying, look, what are we doing? What, what is your plan? And, and yeah, that, that for me, we, we kind of took our time considered it. Uh, did not panic. Start, start to be creative, uh, and think about all the opportunities that it actually presents.

Not just kind of, okay, this is a problem. We need to deal with a problem, but actually flip it upside down, right? And say, okay, this is actually an opportunity because. There will be less other sports, right? There will actually be less competi competi competition for us. We just have to kind of solve this little problem how you, how, how we do it.

Um, like socially distanced, right? Uh, and, and I think, yeah, that, that's where we, we remain creative. We remain focused and, and we came together as a, as a team. We took our time, but in hindsight, we made decisions like this, right? If you look then back at it, we made very quick decisions and we, we, we were actually.

Yeah. Quick to react. So yeah, I think that's a great example. And, and, but there's many more of those.

Greg McDonough: Certainly. Um, [00:08:00] and I don't, on this show, I, I've tended to lean away from the COVID years, um, because a lot of us experienced them in different ways and the story kind of gets repetitive. But in your case, with an event business. That was, you know, a shut, a complete shutoff. Right.

Michael D'hulst: I.

Greg McDonough: I would love to understand, and you touched on it briefly, like you and your team, how did, how did you sort of handle that sort of day to day?

Like just, you know, the process of sort of staying positive and getting to the next level and being creative and not sort of looking internally and being like, you know what, this thing's. This is, we're through.

Michael D'hulst: Yeah.

Greg McDonough: How do you, how do as a, in a team perspective, sort of encourage each other to stay positive and creative?

I'd love to know more about what kind of tactics or processes that you used.

Michael D'hulst: Well, I think it, it all, it all starts with, it all starts with with, yeah. With sparking creative ideas, right? And then, and then starting to break them [00:09:00] down. But yeah, you have to kind of start with creative solutions and, and, and not, not dismiss, not dismiss any of the opportunities for being too crazy or too outlandish.

Right. And just kind of take your time to, to, to bring it down to what, what is, what is feasible as a business. And I think, yeah, for me it all starts with that vision. So. Uh, something happens. Create an opportunity, uh, create an opportunity, and then even don't be afraid to be outlandish and the opportunity you create, but create the opportunity first, and then start, start breaking down the opportunity and, and, and, and probably scale it back a little bit in terms of.

Yeah. Craziness, right? To make it more realistic. But I think, yeah, you, you have to create, you have to start from, from the creation or from, from something that, that inspires rather than, than, than, than from all the problems that you have, right? Um, once, once you have that kind of. Inspirational points that you can work with, then you can kind of dial it down and, and, and, and dive it back to reality.

[00:10:00] And I think that is, that is important always. Like, yeah, bringing it back to, to racing. Right. Create a, what is the opportunity? What, what can I still achieve? Right. And then, okay, let's, let's now deal with the facts then. But yeah, if, if you. I think in life, whether, whether in racing or in business, if, if once you lose the, the motivation, once you lose that goal, once you lose the creativity, uh, to me, um, yeah, you're at the beginning, beginning of the end.

Greg McDonough: Yeah. I like what you said of, uh, what can I still yeah. Whatever the situation you're in, what can I still achieve? Right? You're at the back half of the marathon. a long distance triathlon and your feet are blistering. what can I still achieve? Right? Like, what can I get a PR in my a mile?

Can I the eight station properly? So, I like the way you said that, any, was there, was there a crazy idea that came across the table during that time that you now look back and say, I'm so [00:11:00] thankful that we didn't touch that because it would've just blown up in our face.

Michael D'hulst: Well, uh, I mean, uh, that's a, that's a difficult one. I think I embrace all the crazy IDs. We had a, we had a, a few. We had a few interesting, I we had a few interesting ideas, like, okay, putting triathlons, uh, if putting swim, bike, run containers and shipping containers to athletes. We, uh, one of the, one of the ideas was if, if we can't, we can't bring the athletes to the event, let's bring the event to the athletes.

Right? Uh, uh, and, and it probably, it would've been logistically a bit of a nightmare. But I, but I, yeah, there's still an aspect of me that liked the creativity of that idea. So, yeah, I think. I've always been in, in everything we do and everything we, we are building, I've always kind of looked, okay, how can we create something complete?

Right? So I'm not afraid of anything creative and no regrets.

Greg McDonough: That's awesome. Yeah, I can just see the shipment coming in. Right. And there's an endless pool. There's a, a bike, uh, [00:12:00] trainer, and then a

Michael D'hulst: Yeah.

Greg McDonough: And it's all connected already for you to sort of go online and join your

Michael D'hulst: Yeah.

Greg McDonough: Like

Michael D'hulst: Yeah.

Greg McDonough: To Strava. I love it. Um. Michael, let's talk about super. Try give us, give this audience, uh, some background of, I mean, I mentioned earlier we, you started in 2016. us a little bit through the journey and then let's really get into the details of what you guys are working on now.

Michael D'hulst: Yeah, well, so, uh, for Super Tri Look, we, we are co-founded by three very passionate triathletes. Uh, myself and my other two co-founders, one, Chris MCC Mack is obviously very chief, uh, world champion and triathlete himself. And then the third co-founder is a, is a, is an entrepreneur who. Who's been very successful in business, but found and found triathlon later and live.

And for him, I mean, he's still qualifying for Kona. He's still fully committed. And, and we came together and we recognized, okay, there's a, there's a. According to studies, there's 150 million people who say that they're interested in triathlon. Uh, and, but there is actually, the product [00:13:00] has not matured. Uh, I, I love this, I love what triathlon has to offer, but there's been, there's been new, no new products that are in tune with, with, with modern audiences, right?

And so we, we, we took that and we said, look. The world is shifting, the attention spans are shortening the, the younger generations. They're engaging through, through social media much more through TikTok, um, uh, YouTube shorts, et cetera, et cetera. Everything gets short and faster. Uh, if, if we want to, uh, build a triathlon product for the future.

Uh, that's what we have to do. Right? And then, and then the other component of that was we need to focus on what our own experiences, we need to inspire people, right? So we got creative with the formats and we said, look, how can we create a sport that is, how can we create a version of the sport that is like, it feels like you're in a city stadium, right?

And our events take place on a one one mile loop. So very, very short. If you come as a spectator, there's always, there's always action packs. We do swim, bike, run, swim, bike, run, swim, bike, run. Three times [00:14:00] back to back, which means each discipline doesn't take more than than five minutes, right? So it's very fast, very, very dynamic.

Uh, we have the best of the best racing, right? So, uh, which is fantastic. Out of the 18 medalists of Paris, uh, 11 were, uh, came and, and true racing super try. Uh, and, and so that's, that was our, was our starting point. And yeah, we, we grew very big, uh, on social media. We are the, we have the largest following.

Um, of all triathlon rights holders on, on YouTube, um, they got great broadcast, uh, broadcasting, et cetera. And so that for us was, is the core proposition. We built a brand on, on being dynamic young, fast, and, and, and really something that is en engaging for. Spectators, whether you are at home following it through social media or when, or whether you come to, to one of our venues, you see some of the pictures in the background here.

So that, that was the core proposition. And then afterwards we, we pivoted and say, look, let's, let's now move from [00:15:00] being a rights holder to become a community. And that's where we started now, adding mass participation to it, right? And I think there is a, there's a great opportunity to, to kind of coexist in the ecosystem of triathlon, where we focus on building a brand of short course triathlons.

So super sprint, sprint and Olympic distance, and create a brand around that for high profile events. So we have events like Chicago, uh, we have an event now in Austin. We did an event last weekend. We had an event in Toronto. We have an event in la. They're city events. They're, they're big events and we deliver a high quality experience.

So similar, like you, you sign up for an Ironman, you know what's going to happen, you know, this is going to be a quality experience. That's what we deliver for, for short course. And, and yeah, we've, we've seen the numbers, we've done the studies and we see that there is a, a lot of. Interesting, especially of the younger generations, the 20 to 35 year olds to get into the sport.

And they're looking for, for these kind of community, shorter experiences that are very engaging quality, [00:16:00] but But also, yeah, but also enriching, right? So, um, yeah. That, and that's where we are now. So we have that ecosystem where the professionals inspire, uh, the professionals build the brand, they create the reach and they inspire the participation.

And then the participation is obviously is building the community, right? And, and, and then there's a lot of value in, in, in that community and engaging with that community.

Greg McDonough: You know, one of the hurdles. Um, and I think you might be solving this, but one of the hurdles for tr what we see in the triathlon right, is the swim, that open water swim. It's just, it's something that many of us aren't comfortable with and a lot of people will stay away from the sport. 'cause in fact, I was talking to somebody yesterday about it in your format, is that a, a pool swim?

Is it like, give me a little bit more detail of how, or the audience a little bit more detailed and how

Michael D'hulst: Yeah.

Greg McDonough: That works.

Michael D'hulst: mean for the, the, the very accessible format. I mean, now we've been talking about the outdoor format. As I, as I touched on earlier in our conversation, we have our [00:17:00] super troye that has, that, that started from COVID Pivot. That is, that is an indoor format where we swim in a pool, where we ride on a stationary bike and we run on a treadmill.

So that is very, very accessible. Yeah. Not, not only is the pool super safe, but also Yeah, in terms of bike riding, there's no chance of crashing because you're, you're riding on a stationary bike. So that is, that is completely risk free. If you look at our out, uh, outdoor triathlons Yeah, we, we, we recognize that, that the swim is, is, is the scary part.

So what we, what we are doing is we're offering free first timer programs. So we en we, we engage the local triathlon clubs, so we support the local tri clubs and local communities to get people. Into, into the sport and, and make them feel comfortable with, with swimming, with cycling. I mean, in Chicago we have something, we have a divvy bike wave, right?

Where, uh, people don't, don't have a bay a bike. They can use it, the Chicago divvy bikes to kind of do the bike, right? They don't have to. So we make it very, very accessible. We also heavily promote [00:18:00] relay teams, right? So there's, there's a big movement there. To, to get people into the sport and, and where we put a lot of emphasis, uh, and support for, for people who wanna come and, and try and, and we see success in that.

I mean, we, we, in, in our events, we have an average of about 38% of, of people who do their first triathlon. So, uh, a very high number.

Greg McDonough: I would imagine from logistical and event planning perspective. Like dealing with the city for a much smaller sort of street shutdown has gotta be easier than, you know, 112 mile bike

Michael D'hulst: Yeah, no, definitely. I mean, I think there's a, we've seen a trend over the last decade where, where the long distance events are, are migrating out of the city and they become much more destination events because I think generally cities are, are, are. Yeah, they don't like the disruption, right. Um, where we, yeah, we,

Greg McDonough: I.

Michael D'hulst: We, we, we, we cause less disruption.

What we, what we still see is okay, and, and we are [00:19:00] focusing on venues with, with legacy and triathlon where there is a good, there's an existing good relationship with the cities for, for good road closures, right? Because, because it is key to, to deliver safety at scale, right? And, and, and ultimately for us.

We, we, we are targeting to have big events. Our event in Chicago has 8,000 people. I was, our event in Toronto this weekend had 3000 people. We see strong growth. Uh, uh, Toronto grew 20% year on year. Chicago is growing 13% year on year. So we see, we see strong growth. So these courses is tricky and, and that requires a lot of collaboration and good relationship building with, with, with local cities because even if they're shorter.

Yeah, it is still, it is still disruptive to a city, but we are solving that. We're solving that.

Greg McDonough: So an audience member's curious to find out more like what social media platform or website should they go to to learn more about super

Michael D'hulst: Uh, they should go to super [00:20:00] tri.com or follow, uh, and, and on super try.com you'll see the Buy Super Tri, which is basically all our Miles participation events, right? Uh, and, and uh, yeah, those we, we brand under buy Super Tri because we still want to hero the city. So it's Chicago Triathlon. Buy Super Tri Toronto triathlon by Super try.

'cause we want a hero. The city and, and being the triathlon in that city. Uh, but we put the, the super tri quality stamp there so that they know, okay, I, I, I'm in for this experience. We are offering our free first timer program. We're offering different experiences such as the finish line, finish line first, et cetera, et cetera, to make sure that the people know that what they're.

What they're expecting and having a, the 38% new people having a great experience and coming back and staying in the sport, which is ultimately what we, what we want. Right. So I, I, yeah. I'm very passionate about getting, growing the sport and getting more people in the sport of triathlon.

Greg McDonough: I love it and we'll include those links in our show notes. Um, Michael, what's the next five [00:21:00] years, five, 10 years look like when you're doing your strategic planning for super try with your business partners. You're gotta going after crazy ideas again, you know, what does the next five to 10 years look

Michael D'hulst: Well, for us, the, the next five years we're actually now raise raising money, uh, to, to acquire and, and bring more mass participation events under this umbrella. I think it is important for us to, I mean, we have eight events now. I want to grow that to. 40, 50 events, uh, across North America and and Europe, right?

And I'm getting a good penetration in those markets, establish our brand in those markets. And I'm giving people the opportunity to, to come and race with super choice. Every other month if they want to. Right. I also think that helps build out the entire triathlon ecosystem. Collaborating with Ironman, collaborating with, with the grassroots events.

Um, so yeah, that, that's, we are raising money to predominantly do that, acquire more events, bring them all in one umbrella. We are [00:22:00] focused geographically on. The on North America and Europe, because I think it is important to kind of really go deep and in the community rather than having one event, um, in, in, in, in an area.

Uh, I think it's a great time. Uh, there's a great opportunity in the US now with the LA Olympics coming up. We have a lot of our, we have a lot of our, uh. Of the American ho uh, Olympic hopefuls with Project Podium and USAT collaborations that we have, uh, building towards that. So we are starting to build that narrative, and I think that's, uh, an opportunity for us to make short course triathlon more popular, sexy, attractive again, right?

And actually grow the entirety of the sport. Um, so yeah, that, that's, that's, that's very much the focus for us is, is to build out that network of, of mass participation events. Geographically targeted, regionally targeted, so we can really, yeah, engage with the community, grow that community, [00:23:00] have multiple touch points with the community.

Um, then obviously continue to grow our pro event series on top of that to continue to inspire. Um, but yeah, yeah, that's, that's where we sit for the moment. And, and I think, yeah, we, we are well set up to do that. We are well on the way with our fundraising and, and yeah, we are looking at closing that in the next few months.

Greg McDonough: That's awesome. You know, the, the light bulb that was coming on for me when you were describing it and talking about the La Olympics was, I wonder in the future if like the Olympics will change its format to a super try format.

Michael D'hulst: Well, I mean, it, it, I don't think it should change it. I think there's an opportunity to add it. I mean, if you look at triathlon in the Olympics, there's only three medals for the moment, right? I think the sport can benefit from adding a fourth and a fifth medal, right? So to put a super tri format, male, super tri format, female, add some more medals, uh, I, I think that is great opportunity, right?

I think. I mean, ultimately the sport always, uh, triathlon as a sport has always done great in the Olympics. We've always delivered, [00:24:00] uh, very exciting racing, uh, and, and, and, and done very well in, in, in, in, in viewerships, right? I was actually in Paris when the Olympic, uh, when the Olympic, uh, the triathlon was on.

It was fantastic how the, the crowds, right? So I think it's, there's a great opportunity to expand the footprint of our sport. In the Olympics and indeed the shorter formats or maybe even the longer formats can add to that. Right. Um, uh, we, we, I think with what we are doing, we see a lot of interest of the younger generations.

So, uh, opportunities there.

Greg McDonough: So I'm change the subject on you slightly. So what else do you do for fun?

Michael D'hulst: Well, I mean, uh, I, I, I, I have three young kids and they all swim. They're not, uh, and, and they, they obviously, they, I, I get them looking at bikes and running a little bit. So, but yeah, I spend, uh, I spend time in the pool with my kids swimming. Um, I do still also train and race myself quite a lot. Uh, I love, I love the endurance events.

It keeps me, it keeps me going. So, yeah, it's, it's all [00:25:00] about this endurance mindsets. For fun or professionally, it's only one life.

Greg McDonough: That's exactly right. You know, it is funny, you know, I've been doing this now for 10, the endurance. distance, uh, racing for, and I'm a back of the packer. I finished with the glow sticks on, but, um, my kids think it's normal, right? And in fact, I was, we were down at the Marine Corps Marathon a few years back, um, and I was holding one of my daughters and the were running by and I was like, I don't know, miles 16 or 17 on the course.

And my daughter turned to me and goes, so when did they swim and

Michael D'hulst: Yeah.

Greg McDonough: And so it's like, it's become so routine. I'm curious, like how do, what are your kids' perspective on triathlon, on swimming, on endurance, on like the craziness that we're putting ourselves

through?

Michael D'hulst: Well, they love it. And for them, I

mean, I'm taking them to events, et cetera. So they're also, they're also kind of growing up with,

Greg McDonough: Hmm.

Michael D'hulst: with, with the athletes. They, yeah. They swim, bike, run. Right. Uh, that's ultimately what they perceive as a, as a. Kind of a complete sport, [00:26:00] right? Uh, and, and yeah, like even in Toronto, I had one of my kids there, they, they interact with the athletes.

They ask questions. They, they think I for them, they are the heroes, right? Uh, in our household, they're, they're bigger names than football players, right? So, uh, it, it's very, it's very biased. But, but, but I, yeah, I think it's. I mean, that's also the nice thing about our sport. I think it's still very, very accessible.

Uh, and because it's not only my kids. I see that with, with a lot of the kids and a lot of the community hanging around. At the event we had in Toronto, we have Cassandra, Bo, Bo Grand there, Olympic gold medalist, Alex, he Olympic gold medalist. They interact, they were standing at the finish line. They were giving medals to, to age groupers who are finishing, they're taking pictures with, with people everywhere.

Right. It is that. Is that close knit community that is, that is, that is very attractive. Right. And, and there's little other sports that have that, that can offer that where you have a professional sport, right? For us that does great on television, does great on [00:27:00] media, but also there's the participation and the interaction and the, the, the pro athletes are still accessible to, yeah.

To anybody back in the packer first finisher. It's, it's one close knit community.

Greg McDonough: hundred.

Absolutely. You know, one of my favorite moments, um, was at

Michael D'hulst: Yeah.

Greg McDonough: Roth in 2016. I knew Welling, Chrissy Wellington was doing a relay and I assumed that she was gonna be on the bike. And so when I got on the bike, I kept looking for her and looking for her in her.

Michael D'hulst: Yeah.

Greg McDonough: a two loop course.

So eventually she's gonna pass me. Um, and she never did. And then I start the run. I think there's like a forward

Michael D'hulst: Yeah.

Greg McDonough: run and I just hear like the crowd getting louder and louder and here she comes with that big smile like running past me and I'm like,

Michael D'hulst: Yeah.

Greg McDonough: made my day. And I like, she dropped me so fast.

But uh, to your point, that's something really special about our sport. It's

Michael D'hulst: Yeah.

Greg McDonough: To those pros, and I could just imagine as an age [00:28:00] grouper coming across the finish

Michael D'hulst: Yeah.

Greg McDonough: seeing a gold medalist with a your finisher's medal to

Michael D'hulst: Yeah.

Greg McDonough: your neck. And,

Michael D'hulst: but, but, and I think what, what is interesting, right? I, for me, this is also, this is also a business opportunity the way I see it, right? Because if you look at, if you look at now the sports business in general, uh. Over the last few decades, it's been built up as a, as a media business. Uh, most sports backed by media rights, right?

But obviously now with, with streaming and, and, and, and, and, and basically the decentralization of platforms that, that secured revenue stream of, of media rights for many sports outside of the big ones, right. Is falling away. Right. And, and more and more sports have to now rely on community to, to kind of create a, an economic model that is sustainable.

But for us, right. It's al already endemic to our sport. Right. So I think actually there's an opportunity here for triathlon to actually level up because it's a step ahead of, of, of [00:29:00] what for many of these sports will become a, an economic challenge for their business model. Because Yeah, smaller sports where, where, yeah, let's say a decade ago.

ESPN or NBC would be looking at spending money on, on smaller sports to kind of add to its portfolio of, of, of, of content for the moment. That's not how it works anymore. The, there's too much fragmentation. Um, and, and there's also too much entertainment around it now. So I think our community is important and I think it's very important to nurture that community, but it's also what sets us apart and actually will, will future proof.

Uh, as, as, as a sport and as a business.

Greg McDonough: really, really well said. So Michael, I, I've been thinking about transition from corporate life to being an entrepreneur, I would really appreciate sort of hearing that story of how that changed. I think you said it was Volkswagen, know, traveling the world, right? You're, you're signing the back of the [00:30:00] paycheck, then you become a co-founder and CEO, and now you're signing the front of the check. Um, give us that story, like

how did all that develop?

Michael D'hulst: Oh, that's a, it's, that is, that is an endurance event by itself. So, I mean, look, I, I was, I was at Volkswagen. It was a very exciting time. I mean, as I said, I was Volkswagen investment groups sent to China early two thousands. And with the idea of, uh, bringing two joint ventures, uh. Closer together. And then, and then, uh, building towards 2000, 2008, when was the Olympics in create, creates, uh, local manufacturing capabilities for cars.

So, uh, they would not be subject to import tax, right? Uh, if start producing locally in China more. Very interesting. That project came to an end, uh, in 2010. And, and Volkswagen, as any big corporate said, well, now you can go back to Germany. You've, you've done your time. And I like, well, hold on. I have this dream where I wanna qualify for Kona.

Why don't I, why don't you offer me a sabbatical and I'll just, I, I, I, I [00:31:00] wanted to study some Chinese and, and, and, and, and, and train to qualify for Kona. Uh, the, the Chinese study was a little bit less, but the qualifying for Kona worked out well and, uh, and one of the first events I did was, uh, was, uh, challenge Oneika.

And at Challenge, aka I met Felix, wall Surfer, uh, uh, well founder of of of Challenge Roth. And, uh, and I said, well, there's a, there's a bit of an opportunity to grow the sport in Asia. I know Asia quite well. I speak a bit of the language. Why don't I help you develop this? And I started an event called Challenge Taiwan.

I was also in, involved in an event, uh, in the Challenge Philippines. And we had a, another event, uh, a challenge ette, right? And, and so I started that event. Um. And actually at cha at Challenge Philippines ran into Sheikh Nassar from Bahrain. Uh, and, and he also passionate triathlete. He wanted to do something.

So, uh, we started collaborate. Uh, me and Chris Komack started collaborating with him and developed the b the [00:32:00] Bahrain, uh, endurance, uh, the, the tri, the professional triathlon team with him. So. Uh, through passion, one thing led to another, uh, and, and we continue to evolve, uh, and, and meet new people, found new challenges and continue to, to develop and, and, and actually, yeah, that's, that's one of those journeys of.

Of, of endurance. So, um, and, and ultimately through that same, through that James journey, met, met my other co-founder at, at, uh, at, at Super try. And, and yeah, the conversation we had is, okay, how can we really innovate the sport? And that's what I was really passionate about. I'm still involved with, with all the other projects.

But yeah, super try is my focus.

Greg McDonough: That's such a great lesson, right? Through passion, one thing leads to the other, and I have found across my career. That it, it feels many

times like a random walk,

Michael D'hulst: Yeah.

Greg McDonough: you stop and you look back, it's a straight line.

Michael D'hulst: Yeah.

Greg McDonough: exactly here, sitting right here today because of [00:33:00] something that happened

six months ago that I

Michael D'hulst: Yeah.

Greg McDonough: was random or a month a year ago that I felt was random.

Michael D'hulst: But I mean, I think, uh, one, one important lesson there is never be afraid to pick up the phone because I was, I was a, I had no experience with organizing triathlon events. I was in, in, in, in, in, I was based out of Taiwan, right? And, and yeah. Ran into Felix Wal sofa, said, why don't I organize an event for you, right?

Uh, com going completely on a limb, right? That event is now challenged. Taiwan is one of the biggest events in the world, still exists, right? Still doing great. And now was then thinking, okay, now if I have this event here. Why don't I bring one of the biggest names in the world, in the sport at the time?

Chris McCormack. I need to bring him to my, i my events to, to, to make it big and just write him an email, right? Just kind of, Hey Chris, you don't know me, but why don't you come and raise my event in Taiwan and as I dunno luck or coincidence or just perseverance. Uh, he answered and, and, and, and that's how like, like.

I think there's always an op. [00:34:00] That's why I'm going back to, there's always an opportunity. Never be afraid of something. Think big, right? And, and sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn't happen. If it doesn't happen, don't be, don't be afraid of, of like the setback, right? I think there's always these, these traditional kind of graphics where you see the journey of a, of an entrepreneur, right?

Where, where it's up and down, up and down. We remember the great things, but there's. A million things that went south. Uh, but ultimately you remember the the great things and it's the great things that, that move us forward ultimately. Right?

Greg McDonough: Absolutely, and it, and again, it relates so well

to endurance racing

and

Michael D'hulst: Yeah.

Greg McDonough: right? There's all

those dark mornings or

Michael D'hulst: Yeah.

Greg McDonough: rides that you bonk 'cause your nutrition was wrong, or knows. You

name it, you get hit by the car like. We've got, but we try to minimize those memories and we, we remember the strong finish or the, know, powering past somebody

to, to get a

pr.

Michael D'hulst: Yeah,

Greg McDonough: Michael, an audience member wants to get in touch with you. What's the

best way to get in touch with

[00:35:00] you?

Michael D'hulst: I'm available on my email address, Michael, at super try.com, so that's fair. Fairly, fairly straightforward and, and yeah, I'm always, I'm always, uh, always open for great ideas. As I said, I, I mean. I got to where I am now because people answered my emails, uh, and, and unexpected things happen.

So, uh, yeah, I, I embrace that journey.

Greg McDonough: That's a, a great way to close out the show. Michael, it's been awesome having you on this show. I, I'm super excited to learn more and participate and super try. Um, it's a new idea for me as well, and as a traditionalist in this sport, I'm happy to see that there's, there are other options. Um, audience members, if you got some value out of today, please subscribe.

Please follow Michael on all of his social media platforms. Check out. Super try.com. Michael, it's been great

having you on the show.

Michael D'hulst: Thank you. It's, it's been a, yeah, it's, it's, it's great to talk to a passionate, uh, endurance athlete and, uh, who has so much depth also in the sport. So thank you for having me.

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