S E760: Healing Without Needles with Dr. Tommy Rhee: Disrupting the Stem Cell Industry

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Cost is a big effect, right? Everybody knows that, you know, if you can't afford it, you're going to be priced out. So then the worst thing about it is that they don't benefit. You want everybody to benefit this. You want everybody to benefit from like reducing the pain by healing the tissue, or even think about where secondary, you know, the outcome is gonna be elongating, elongating or longevity of your life.

Step into the world of success with Your Brand Amplified, the ultimate podcast designed to unravel the intricacies of thriving businesses. I'm your host, Anika Jackson, and I'm on a mission to uncover the stories, strategies, and secrets that have propelled entrepreneurs and business leaders to success. On this episode, we're gonna talk to someone who's done something pretty audacious. He looked at a multi-billion dollar industry and said, what if we're doing this wrong? Dr. Tommy Ree is a Navy aviator, a TEDx speaker, and the founder and CEO of Regen, a biotech company pioneering topical regenerative medicine. But here's what makes this story really remarkable. It didn't start in a lab. It started in a chiropractic clinic treating professional athletes and Olympians. Watching them suffer through invasive, expensive procedures that kept them on the sidelines. That frustration became the catalyst for innovation. Dr. Rhee spent years developing a patent-pending topical therapy that delivers the healing power of regenerative medicine without injections, without downtime, and without the $1,000 price tag. He's also a bestselling author, and his recent TEDx talk about how science fiction is inspiring real-world healthcare breakthroughs has been turning heads. So let's talk about Dr. Rhee's journey from the operating room to building a company that's reshaping how we think about healing, recovery, and accessibility. Thank you so much for being here, Dr. Tommy.

Oh, you're welcome. And thank you very much for this opportunity to talk to you and your guests.

Yeah, I am very excited. So let's first talk about, you know, you were a US Navy aviator at S-3 jets. How does that background shape the way that you approach problem solving today, especially when building a biotech company that's doing it differently?

I guess the biggest thing is you just imagine what you have to do as far as like flying in a plane. I'm in the back seat, right? You have the pilot, the co-pilot, the TACO, and me, the sensor. And my responsibility is the sensory component of it, right? We're trying to track somebody, we're trying to search, we're trying to hunt, we're trying to deploy, we're trying to really like destroy. So those variables are very taxing to me and the crew, and we have to work as a team. So because of that, it's all about preparing. It's all about prepping the actual mission, making sure you practice, execute. And I guess just like anything else, you know, the more repetition you do something, you get better at it. And then because of that mindset, you go into the world of being a doctor and it's the same thought process, right? Study, practice, apply, go make your mistakes, correct it, don't make it again. And then be that practicing type of provider. And then when it became in the world of looking for new technology, new type of therapy, well, that's where regenerative medicine, stem cell therapy, all those things that you're trying to solve the problem at hand and you try to think outside the box. So from the Navy days of giving you the good template of applying yourself and then really taxing yourself and solving problems and work as a team, and then moving into the world of where I'm at now, it was like an easy transition.

Wow. You make it sound so easy, but I don't think for most people that it would be. Yeah. So you're bringing military culture, precision, discipline, mission focus under pressure, like you said, the study, the prep into a startup environment where there can sometimes be ambiguity, regulatory unknowns, and massive R&D investment.

That's the biggest thing, the investment, the money. I mean, everybody has an idea, but once you go into action, that's where the old road meets the rubber or the road— rubber meets the road. So that's where the actual, like, devotion and your commitment to what you really want to see to its end. So we all have that kind of like that theory or that ideal, and it's just that I don't have that gut to do it. Well, thank God the military say, hey, just take small bites, apply yourself, and see where it goes. And then that type of like questions you're asking yourself, like, does this work, will apply— and that's your R&D, you know, do a little science research and just take pieces at a And all of a sudden it starts getting momentum. Once you get the momentum, your confidence go up. Now you have some science behind you, some data, some confidence, and then keep going forward. And that's what the military really instilled in me was that ability to take small pieces, accomplish those little micro victories, and then go into the big stuff.

I like that phrase, micro victories. I don't know if anybody's said exactly that on the show, but that's something I'm going to definitely keep in the back of my head because we do, we need those little points of satisfaction, then we know, okay, we did this, we can move on to the next thing. And, you know, you've done quite a bit. You're the former team chiropractor. I'm looking at my other notes for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, also at UCLA, right? You've done so many different things in your career. Can you talk a little bit about your journey from military to becoming a doctor, to being with big teams and, and well-known organizations, and then deciding to take a little bit of a pivot?

Yeah, so I guess it started, you know, let's— we'll start when we're— I'm young, you know, I was an athletic kid. I love sports. I love that environment of like competing, performing, and, you know, hopefully be that winner. But the problem was is that I knew that I wasn't going to be that large figure that's going to be in that kind of professional lifestyle, that 6'5", 300 pounds, kind of like that, that body structure. But my dad was a physician. I saw what he was doing, and I basically kind of like, you know, understood that that's my pathway. I just love the way the relationship between the patient, doctor, my dad built, and that trust and the reward that came out of that. You saved me, you helped me, so thank you, and all that. So then I said, hey, that's the path I know I want to go down. And then that kind of like mended together, and that's what I wanted to do. So the military put me in its foundational kind of course of the template, applying it. And then, and then once I knew that I want to go down that path, it was basically just finding the right and the strongest and the biggest, the best sports doctor. So I followed that pathway and I understood that that's the, that's the mechanism or that's the path I want to take. So luckily enough, I was fortunate in the world of being known in my world of what I did was it's called the ART, the Active Release Technique. And then, you know, I was fortunate enough that I had a coach that was seeking out this type of therapy, and I was there. So because of that, you give a couple of tries with some of these kids at UCLA, and they see what happens. Are you good enough to get this athlete on the field? And sure enough, I was OK with that. It worked on its potential to talk to other teams. And here I am working with the athletic department working on specific players at different teams. And then you start traveling with teams, and then you're becoming that type of provider. And then with that, these kids graduate from college, they go in the pro world, and then you just follow along. And then here you're going into this other realm of Olympic level professional teams, other sports, and then you get to be known out there. And then of course I came— let's say I was in Tampa, Florida. So I was in Los Angeles first, and then Tampa, Florida, and then When I got to Tampa, Florida, it was a professional tennis group that I was with. And then that led to WWE with the wrestlers, working with those guys. And then finally with the Buccaneers when they needed a guy like me, a chiropractor, but really specialized in ART, Active Release Technique, and little advanced therapy. Because when you're with— the thing with when the professional team, they only have so many providers or athletic trainers to work on these athletes. So if you look at a roster of 53, there's only so many people because of their limited type of, you know, staffing. The ratio is like maybe every 10 players is one provider. So you don't get that real one-on-one therapy. So a lot of, a lot of athletes will go outside. So in order for me to get involved with them, they wanted the specialized guys like me to go in there and take care of that, that unique type of therapy. So that's how I got with the Bucks. So when I got with the Bucks, it mostly like, you know, the typical chiropractic, you know, the— you hear about the adjustments and the spinal manipulation. But when it came to like real specialized type of soft tissue problems or injuries, they would bring me involved with stuff like that. And that's how it all evolved. But during that whole course, you know, you understand athletes' performance, their injuries, and how they get to that point. And then you understand the second side, which is basically the recovery. You have to understand that it's all about how to return back to play fast as possible. So that's, that's where I really learned how to think about training a little differently than other people. People think about pushing, pushing, pushing their body to the maximum. I think about returning them quick as possible. So it's like I'm looking at the second side instead of the front side of the, uh, problem of training.

Yeah. And that mindset shift, I'm sure, means that you do different protocols, right? You have different methodologies and you have ways that help them not push, push, push, but actually get back in a healthy manner to the field.

Yeah. You know, the sad thing about this whole professional world is that there is an ability to get everybody back to normal if you put them in the right environment and time. But the problem is with time is that a lot of these athletes don't have the time to have that 2-week rest. They need to get back on the field to play because that performance is basically tied into their contract or agreement. So they want to make the money. They have to be on the field. They don't have the time to recover. So what they do, pain management. They want to mask the pain so they can go ahead and continue to play on their injury role, but they're numb there. They can't feel the pain so they can continue play. And that's why you hear about those offseason surgical procedures or some type of therapy that they do offseason.

Fascinating. And you had a pivotal moment in the NFL. Right? You're treating a quarterback, career-ending injury, and you had a realization at the time about the traditional approaches and what you could do differently. Can you talk a little bit about what that was and how that led to the questions, the line of inquiry that became Regen?

So throughout this whole process, all the way from UCLA back in 2005, all the way now, you hear about some type of regenerative medicine world, either it's like these prolotherapies, PRP, stem cell, but they're always delivered through the injection. It's all about the needle. Now the problem is with the needle is that you have an injury and then you basically take a needle and then you invade the area. Well, you made a secondary injury site, so you have that problem. Then you have the risk factors of like infection or compromised tissue But another big thing is that you need downtime. So when you hear about regenerative medicine, they're always talking about you need to do a little bit of downtime, couple of days, maybe a week or two. And a lot of athletes don't wanna do the regenerative medicine stem cell therapy during the season. So throughout this whole world I'm in, I'm hearing this type of on-season problem. Basically nobody can do the regenerative medicine that affects their playtime 'cause of downtime. And they don't want to do that. So they rather do the masking, the hiding the pain with the pain management. So because of that, I saw the actual— there's a void in this whole industry about how to deliver it. That's how topical came up. Topical is non-invasive. Topical is something that you're going to apply just on the— directly on the skin, and it's going to absorb in and it's going to penetrate and get to the damaged tissue. But before that, I had to understand what stem cells are all about. People talk about, I have live stem cells. It's all about the live stem cells. Well, it made me curious, like, what are these? Why do you want live stem cells? Then they talk about these stem cells, the mesenchymal stem cells, they differentiate, they turn into the cells. And I said, well, that's, that's kind of tough because if you look at a stem cell and they have their own nucleus and their chromosomes, well, they have their own codes. How does that code match to your own code? And you start thinking it can't. So what it does is it's going to do one or two things. It's either going to have the own existing code into your tissue and make an irregular tissue. Now you're in a world of tumor formation. You don't want that. So what it does instead is secretes information, these little EVs, extracellular vesicles. These little information comes like, like proteins, like some type of cytokine enzyme. There's some type of information that's non-cellular in the sense there's no nucleus. It's just capsulated with a little bit of, you know, a membrane and the information. And the neat thing about that is a smaller molecule. Now I know it's a smaller molecule. Now I have the ability to think about it cannot be delivered in a, in a needle sense because it's smaller. Now I can think about doing a transdermal, smaller molecule, better probability of getting to the skin. That's how all that came up. So now I understood stem cell is not about the live cell, it's about the information, the smaller molecule. Now I can put in a transdermal cream and then have an agent that kinda opens up that stratum corneum, the top layer, to kinda get— kinda pull that through. And once you get it through, now you're doing what they really do, which is signal. When you signal your existing tissue to do its regeneration, now you're actually doing the proper job. So that's how this all thing evolved from the injectables, how I got involved with it, and how it became this topical. Now, going back to that quarterback, sorry about this long route here.

No, it's perfect because I— you're highlighting something. I mean, businesses are created to solve problems for people, but most people don't take it that extra step of, yeah, I can do this work and you could live a great life, right? And you can be fine and happy and you'll still have a lot of business, but you took it a step further. And so I think that's one of the key points of our conversation.

Let me, let me, if I can just keep going with the story. Okay, so this quarterback, so during this process I'm developing it and I'm just trying to like just, just formulate it based on science and what I feel on my own self. Yeah, you know, I'm not really doing the actual like the application or applying or the trial on it. Well, this quarterback came up and we talked about his, his bilateral left-right Achilles tendonitis that was probably like at a stage where it's gonna rupture. So it became bulbous and it's about to rupture. Like you hear about these days, these guys with the faster bodies, bigger heavy bodies, and the turf's tougher. So the only thing that compromise is the tendon, the Achilles tendon. So he was concerned about that. He's also concerned about, it was his last year in his contract. When you go in your last year contract, you don't want to have an injury because that becomes a negotiating tool. So you don't want that. So he was concerned about all these factors. And then I talked to him about, hey, I've got a topical stem cell cream. Let's look into that. He goes, I'll do anything. So he was the one that helped me actually really like work on the formulation. So as we, we start going into this, this little application, he's given me a feedback of like, it's too hot, it's too cold, it has a little bit too much of a sting. So we kind of like worked around his feeling into this whole topical application during his game and season. And he really tuned it into where he goes, okay, I feel great, leave it right at this percentage. And that's how we set it. So then with that, he was able to play the whole season. It wasn't a concern with the medical staff and he was able to continue on playing football with not that negotiation piece in there. So then I said to myself, if this quarterback can handle at a high aggressive time trauma world, it's gonna definitely work for us as a weekend warrior or just, you know, everyday person in our arthritic side, or maybe like some type of repetitive injury or just to heal faster. So that's where we're at right now is to get this into everybody's hands, huh?

Yeah. Wow. No, that's truly amazing because I do think like, what if you just stuck with a conventional playbook? What if you hadn't actually gotten to this point where you could do something differently, but you actually made it happen.

Yeah, you know, the interesting thing is that I don't know where it was set in my whole thought process, but it's almost like one of those things that if you asked any entrepreneur or anybody starting a business, we always think different. It's always about the, that different way of thinking. The normal procedure, there's always the normal 80, 90% of people doing something, and then you got these other guys, and that's where I'm at. I'm over here thinking There's gotta be something easier. And then it's like, wow, it's real simple. Let me go ahead and do my own type of R&D. And then it makes sense. And then people pick up and goes, hey, there's something here as far as a business side of it. So, you know, I, I look at it that way. I just, I just see things different when it comes to problem solving.

Yeah. Well, and starting your own chiropractic practice, of course, is being an entrepreneur, starting a business, but this was starting a whole other business. On top of that. So can you talk a little bit about the push-pull, right, of starting a new business? You obviously had a great test case, but then you still have to build up more test cases. You have to show that it's not just for these really high-performing professional athletes, but it's for everybody else as well.

Yeah, you point out a good thing. So I have two businesses. One is an active chiropractic office that I really tailor into the sports world. Our Mission statement is, you know, we treat everyone like a professional athlete. So if you're a weekend warrior or just an everyday person, you're going to get the same therapy and treatment as a professional athlete. So I'm having that issue, just like running that business and then knowing that that has to do with marketing and then every component with expense, you know, everything you have to do with payroll. So that has its own entity. Then starting this other company, which is a passion of mine now. I'm looking at really understanding the R&D. So I'm getting to a point where do I constantly look at and try to perfect it? Yeah, you have to. You have to really see where you're at in far as like the feedback from the patients and your outcome. Now, I'm lucky that I have an active office here, so I have patients that are like almost like my own clinical trial here. I said, hey, you have this issue, try this. And it goes, oh, he does well. We'll do a pre and post X-rays. We'll do fun things that we have the ability to do here in our office. Then the neat thing where I feel that I am going towards is that this sourcing right now, the product that I have, is from human tissue, right? So there's stem cells, and we're looking for the information as EVs. Now it's all about the signal because we're trying to take the existing tissue that we have a damage to it, and we're asking, hey, regenerate, get the signal, and then do your job. Well, believe it or not, these same signals that come from human tissues, these EBs, well, they come from plants too. So now we're finding out there's plants that do the same exact signaling as this human tissue. The wonderful thing about this sourcing is the cost. The cost is so much better. And now I can go directly to consumer when I go through the old FDA OTC route. Once you go down that route, you're at an advantage where I can go directly to consumer, whereas the other one I have to go to the provider or doctor and then they dispense it to their patients. So this other route, it's a much easier direct contact for with, with me and the patient as far as getting it to their hands. So I'm excited about that.

Yeah. Well, and for Regen, did you have investors? Did you self-fund initially? And you, you'd mentioned the FDA versus being able to go straight, you know, doctors versus being able to go straight to consumers. So the regulatory landscape also, I'm sure that's a huge learning curve. Yeah.

It's a, it's a learning curve. It's everything's a learning curve right now. 'Cause this This is, you know, I mean, a chiropractor working on the biotech world. I mean, it's unusual just hearing that. My grace is my sports med. I know. So if you look at my experience and then the surrounding world I'm in, it lines up perfectly. And then in the chiropractic world, we're all about our own body healing itself. So, and you think about what they try and do, they try and take the spine and make no disturbance to the nerve function to all your extremities, your body parts. And so you have a good flow. So it's about innate intelligence. Well, when you come to regenerative medicine, same idea. We give you a signal. The signal tells your own body to do its job. That's all— that's all about is telling your own tissue to do proper. There's no more forcing, no chemistry, nothing weird in the sense of like taking an outside kind of variable and putting into your body. So because of that, I went this route. Now, as far as understanding the regulation in this world and really applying, like, where do I follow? That's a learning curve that everybody would have to go through if they start a business, but mine's a little more complicated. But it's also easier because, believe it or not, we have that good friend we all use, is called AI, right? AI helps us a lot. So there's a lot of great information out there that helps me along. Now, when I'm moving towards where I'm at now with this human tissue sourcing and then going into OTC, the plant-based You have to understand that there's a high cost. There's a lot of cost involved with testing. You have to do this, this kinda like, you have to prove that you could go through the skin, this transdermal component. So there's a test component of it that costs money. You have to find the right lab that can conduct it and understand your wants and needs. 'Cause some tests would just do a permeability test that just goes through all 3 layers of skin, but then it doesn't tell you the function at the end. You want to know the function. Do you get to have all the delivery mechanisms down to that level? So we have that test now. We have that at— well, I can't say too much right now as far as— I, I don't want to give out too much of this, this world because of the secrecy right now. But there is a great advantage of what's going on right now, and we're having great positive results. So give me about a month or two until I finalize all my findings, and then we can have a discussion then. So there's that component. So there's, there's a regulation, regulatory, but then you have to have the proof. You have to have the actual, like, the data to support what you're proposing. So that's the biggest thing, is the proposal and the proof and the science behind that whole mechanism. So it does take time. Now, do I have investors? No, I'm self-funding. So it's tough. It's very tough on me. But I know that I know the direction, and when I do something at the very initial start, I want to get to proof of concept. Once I get the proof of concept, then I feel like I can raise money. But until then, I feel that in the past when I did a partnership, it didn't do well. It doesn't do well until you find the course where you feel that your proof of concept is in place. You have a direction. Now the investors look at those variables and say, okay, we continue on that course instead of having some, you know, blank slate and say, all right, we're going to go this way when you know it should go that way. And so that's, that's my biggest thing is that making sure that I'm on my course. It's tough when you're self-funding. It's very difficult.

Yeah.

But you do what you can to keep going to, to get that little fruit at the end of the old, uh, tree there.

Well, I appreciate it cuz I usually, you know, people come on and maybe they already have the business launched. I love the fact that yes, you have the business launched, but you're in this next phase of iteration. To make sure it is something you can take direct to consumer. So I appreciate you coming on and sharing kind of the, the warts and all, like all the background of all the things that you're having to consider and go through before you take it to the consumer market in general.

Yeah, I mean, it's not fun, but it's exciting. If you like discovering and researching and finding out if your theory is correct, this is a great place to be. You just gotta have that, that thick skin and that that, I wouldn't say deep wallet, but you have to be ready to spend some money. You've just gotta understand that I'm fortunate enough that I have an office and a practice that kind of feeds this other business. So I've got that advantage. And then, you know, it, it costs money to do research or testing and R&D. Luckily I'm at that environment where I can do it in-house where I don't have to pay an outside source to do that right now. Yeah.

Well, and let's talk about your book. Most founders aren't gonna write a book about this, their topic, until they've quote, made it right. But you've actually, you're building the company and this is a different strategy. You publish The Future of Regenerative Medicine while you're still in development. What made you decide to put your ideas out there in book form?

Okay. That's, I'm gonna tell you, this is a funny story. So I, I love explaining things and just teaching people. When, when you talk about stem cell therapy or regenerative medicine, people really don't know what this is all about. They think it's just a cell and it's going to differentiate, it's going to change into your cell, and there it is. You don't need to know about how the mechanism— it's just going to do it. And so when I talk to other doctors and providers and I try to explain to them, well, you know, this information, the signal is what's really important, not the stem cell, he goes, well, that's not what my friend down the road told me, or that's not what this other doctor told me. I go, well, they're sort of right, but they're not right. So after this repetitive conversation with just not one but multiple doctors, I said, I gotta write a book. If you write the book, it's easier for me to say, here, read the book, it's only 100 pages, understand about the science behind it. So this— the book is really for me and the convenience of me to give it to somebody, says, here, read about it, instead of me going to this 20, 40-minute conversation about stem cell therapy. So that's, that's out my selfish need for that purpose.

But it's giving you thought leadership and expertise and showing that, yes, you're still building this company, but you have this expertise already and you can share it with people. And then they now have a go-to when they have questions. Maybe they have further questions, right?

I love questions. I know I love it when— if you— I mean, if you really want to talk about like this whole regenerative medicine, you need to talk to your provider and see if they can answer the questions. ChatGPT does a great job of giving you some good insight of what this is all about. Now take that piece of paper, print it out, right? Take it to the doctor and say, hey, tell me about what interleukin-6 is. Tell me what— tell me what this— like, this, this factor that we're looking at, these growth factors. Explain it to me why we're trying to go after these type of target tissues like satellite cells or chondrocytes. If they can't explain it to you, then they're pretty much in the same place where like a lot of the other providers that just wanna have a business, you know, they just say it works, trust me, and then do the injection and spend your $5,000.

Yeah. That's insane. Um, now are you currently selling into doctor's offices?

Yes.

Are you? Yes. Okay. So you've already, so that part of the business has been launched.

Yeah. Now here's the thing, so it's tough right now because I'm like a one-man shop right now. So it's not only just this R&D and research, it's the sales, it's all that. So it's very tough. I mean, my thought right now is that I'm in a transitional kind of space right now. I'm going from human tissue source into plant-based. I do sell the other one with the human tissue source, but my dream is to move into that world because that has a better probability of getting to the customer easier at a lower cost. 'Cause this stuff, you know, because of the vetting of the patient, the donor site, right? And then the whole, like the, the, the system of getting it into a topical, it's costly. So when you start looking at that, it still has a high end up cost. But when you go down to the, the, the plant-based, it's an easier vehicle to get it to the patient hand with a cost that's under $100. Wow.

That's incredible. And I mean, it also sounds more ecologically sound, sustainable, environmentally safe. A lot of other things that are really good about moving to the plant-based system.

Yeah. Now here's a tough thing about the opposite side. So you can see that it's getting to be a kind of like a, a mainstream type of procedure, the stem cell therapy injection. You're hearing about it out there, live stem cells. And the problem with that is that you're getting a higher demand. Everybody's now into this whole stem cell therapy world. Well, the tough thing is that your donors are not increasing. Because you have to get the donor that's willing to do a C-section delivery. Then you get that particular— that delivery, and then you're asking the patient, all right, answer these questions to make sure that you don't have no pathologies, no type of diseases, and then see your family history. Then when you get them all perfectly, uh, donated, now you can obtain that by giving them a discount to bank their blood. Well, here's a problem. You only have so many of those patients. The demand goes up and then all of a sudden the supply is not there. Something gives. Well, what happens is that you're hearing about FDA shutting down these labs because these tissues are not really from that stem cell mesenchymal world. They're coming from animal tissue. They're coming from somewhere you don't— you can't believe. Bovine, pig. They don't care because the end user don't know. When you see this lab that tells you I have these mesenchymal stem cells, and they're live, and they're coming to you via the cryo delivery, and you get it, and you put it in your hand, you shock thaw, all you see is a little vial with a little bit of liquid in there and a little bit of like maybe some cells. You don't know what they are, so you're just assuming, and you inject it into your patient. You're hearing the FDA shutting down a lot of labs out there because of this unethical procedure. So now the question is that when does it stop? How do you know what you're getting? There's, there's an end-stage testing, but it's very costly. I think the FDA is gonna start really coming down on this procedure. So that's the X factor because you might have a very, like a trustworthy clinic that you're going to, but the problem is, is that the, the primary place, the lab, do you trust them? How do you know who they are? So that's the tough thing right now. And that's why plants are more like ethically understood that you know exactly what you're dealing with. Cuz the FDA's in, in control of that whole product line.

Mm-hmm. You're just making me think about how I, my daughter just turned 18 and we have been storing her cord blood from my C-section all these years. And they, at, at the time they're like, wow, this is like a big quantity. But that's a quantity that I wanna use in case something happens to us. It's not something I wanna give to other people. So yeah.

But that's, that's the thing is like, you know, like you have to think that there's some people— this is the interesting part— so there are some donors out there that are candidates, but they're candidates because of the questions and their answers. So let's say they use it, you say, I never had cancer, never, but, but they can say, hey, listen, if I wanna get a 20% discount, I'll just say I don't have breast cancer. Boom, I click that. And all of a sudden you don't know what tissue you're getting. It could, you could have that genetic code to kind of like get into your body that you have that pathology for that type of like that cancer. So that's why it's tough right now. It's tough in the sense that where do you want to go in long-term use of the stem cell world? So that's why I feel more like there's a transition that's happening with me and Regen moving away from that into plant-based.

Yeah. Well, I think that's a huge bonus, and I think you'll have a lot more consumers who are really excited about the product because of the shift that you're making. I'm already also thinking of other podcasts that I want you to go on from people I know who are in the sustainability space. Because I think that could be a really interesting conversation. But getting back to our conversation right now, TEDx, which came first? Book, TEDx, business?

Okay.

Okay.

I know. Well, you know, the book came first. The book was one of those things that are a necessity, right? So I was like, hey, let me, let me save some time. But TEDx came down later. And let me tell you about TEDx. TEDx is a great way to converse and have a conversation and, you know, get yourself out there, your message. But that was the most stressful thing I ever did in my life. Yeah, TEDx is not one of those things that are just go up there and ad-lib and have fun. No, you, you have to stay on script. Here's the compounding factor, is that when you're a medical and then you're talking about science, you have to cite your source, and it has to be your script that you, you provide has to kind of flow along with what you're saying, and then they have to actually like like edited, or I'm not edited, but they have to like, you know, check it and make sure and verify that your sources are correct and make sure those are factual information. So that's a 10-minute speech I had to do. You know, I'm not good at like, like repetitive or repeating or some type of memorization. So that was a challenge by itself, but I had to be— I had to do it because I knew that was a platform that I need to get involved with. So it was fun. It was a fun environment to understand what that all takes in the backstage world and how to prep and then where it's at now. So TEDx is kind of fun in that sense.

Oh, and it's another way to get your thought leadership out there and really craft this space for you as not only the creator of a different type of medicine, right? But also the subject matter expertise, the leader, the inventor, all of these things. And so you've already seeded the market. Before you even have the general consumer product out there.

Hey, thank you very much. You know, I really appreciate how you're intuitive of what, uh, my approach is.

Very good. Yeah. Oh, thank you. Well, I would hope so because I am a marketer and I love talking about brand. And I mean, I, that's what you're really establishing here. I mean, even to the name of your company, it's your last name, right?

Yeah. That was by chance, you know, because everybody talks about, you know, like regeneration, you know, like, and all of a sudden it was like, wait a minute, my last name is Rhee. It's like it just kind of flowed easy. I was like, okay, well, there's my branding, how simple that was for my name.

Amazing.

And, you know, talking about what you're mentioning about, about applying like expertise and knowledge prior to this big launch with the OTC and my, my plant-based I always thought that when it comes to like a product and then you're going to be the developer, the founder and all that stuff. So the big important factor is not so much the product right now. It's about the actual, like the, the person behind the new product. And it's a very easy way. I could have went easily into the cosmetic world, but there's a disconnect there because I'm a sports guy. I've been in the sports world for many years. I know exactly what these athletes do, and I know what our everyday person— so I went with the MSK, the musculoskeletal world, the soft tissue, the, you know. And then because of that, I want to make sure that people understood that whatever I say, it— whatever I back is going to be 100% from me, the guy that knows, and his proof of pudding is his resume. So yeah, absolutely, you're, you're on target. What— yeah, you're good at this. So nobody approached this way, so that's why I'm kind of shocked right now. Oh yeah, that's That's key. I'm glad you picked that up real fast.

Yeah.

'Cause a lot of people think this differently.

Well, and the approach that you're taking, staying in your world, in your lane, instead of do— going after the easy money, I think also you're not going after vanity metrics or people who are doing this for vanity, that you're going after people who actually have a passion for sport that you do. And that's also very evident in our conversation and just what you're trying to achieve.

I think the easiest thing about the, the athletes, everybody moves, everybody is active in some aspect. It's not the high-caliber activity, I mean, movement, but it's going to be some movement. So it always translates no matter what, right? It's like one of those, like those trickle-down effect. You got the pro athletes that work at this high speed and high workouts. It'll come down eventually, get to the everyday person that does the same movement, but not that expressly fast and high-level stuff. So that's why everybody can relate to athletes.

Yeah. At when do you anticipate, do you think that the plant-based direct-to-consumer model will be on shelves?

Okay. So we're almost finished with 2 tests. Whatever those outcomes come out, hopefully, I mean, we keep on getting pushback. So I'm hoping by November-ish, you know, I wish it was earlier, but I mean, it's like one of those construction quotes, you know, you get a contract that says, 2 weeks, 3 months later. So I hope it's gonna be November-ish of this year.

We'll have to have you back on because that's a whole other side of what about getting space on shelves? What about packaging? Like all of those other things that we have to think about if you are going to go that route. So we'll definitely have to have you back on to see how your marketing has changed, any other things that you're putting into your brand or taking out. But I'm really struck by the fact that you're not just creating a solution for the pro athletes that you work with every day, but you're also looking at how can this be accessible? How can healing truly be accessible to others who can't afford that $5,000, $10,000 injection? They don't have access to these elite sports medicine clinics. You know, this is not just a sentiment, this is a really, really great business model. And I think that's part of why I was so intrigued and wanted to have you on the show. Is this is a story that should be shared. This is the best possible case of how somebody should go about approaching a problem solution that they can take out and really create a brand that's going to impact a lot of people.

That's awesome. You know, in addition to that statement, what you're saying about transitioning, right, the cost. So I knew from what I was hearing from providers out there, what their patients are talking about, cost is a big effect, right? Everybody knows that, you know, if you can't afford it, you're gonna be priced out. So then, The worst thing about it is that they don't benefit. You want everybody to benefit this. You want everybody to benefit from like, you know, reducing the pain by healing the tissue, or even think about where secondary, you know, the outcome is gonna be long gain, long gain or longevity of your life. So the big thing is that I knew that it's about the signal and I said, there's gotta be a signal that compares to this tissue and plant. I said, okay. So then there's a lot of research. Then you go— what I did is I looked at every single target tissue, and then I see, all right, this human tissue source, what are they secreting? What information? What cytokines? What, you know, what, what are they sending out? Then you cross it over to the plants because, all right, there's a plant that does a similar action just like this human tissue. And you go one at a time, and it's all out there. There's so much science out there. So then you start looking at it, goes, well I've got the same information from plants as human tissue, but look at my cost. Now I have the FDA that's going to follow along with me because they don't want to touch human tissue in a consumer-friendly type of product. They would rather say no way, you're— that's not— all stem cell therapy or human tissue is what they call for experimental use or some type of like research use. There's not one that goes strictly to the consumer. I would never go on that pathway. But you go this other route and plant-based, absolutely, because there's a whole bunch of studies out there that are proving that it's safe, the effectiveness, and the cost. So that's where I'm at. So that's what I'm excited about. You're talking about the same type of information, but now at a plant-based, at a fraction of the cost. That's why it's so great what I've done in the past as far as working with these athletes, work with stem cell therapy,, and then the topical production, and now I segue into the plant. It just flows so well. So it's like, it's, it's very simple. That's why when you feel like you're doing something and it's getting easier and easier, I mean, the time consumption and the actual, the effort goes hard, but everything else is easy. You're on the right path. You're not forcing this product into somebody's, you know, house. It just goes easy in that process.

And that's a good reminder for everybody who's listening who has a business, aspires to have a business. Or is anywhere in your journey and even looking at starting a second business, making a pivot, you know, think about this path. And I, I do agree, things open up very smoothly when you're on the right path, just like you are, Dr. Tomi. So where is the best place for people to reach out to you to learn more about everything that you do?

Okay, well, I guess the easiest one is my website. You can go to R-H-E-E gen.com, and you can learn about the human tissue stem cell topical cream and all that stuff. And then as far as the new stuff, stand by, and then they'll be released. As far as information on that, you can go on Amazon, look at my book, and then you'll learn about stem cells and then all the information in the future of that stuff. And that's called The Future of Regenerative Medicine. And then lastly, you can just kind of Google me, find me out there. I'm out there, you know. I just like talking to people and figuring out, you know, who and what and where and all that stuff. So that's why I'm here.

Amazing. Well, and we'll have all the links in the show notes. I always like to ask one last question. Do you have a favorite quote, mantra, verse, poem, family motto, words that continue to inspire you?

Yeah, it's Bruce Lee, like, be like water. You know, the water's in the cup, you're a cup. The water's in the pool, you're the pool. Just be like water, go with the flow.

Beautiful. That's a, uh, it's funny that you should say that cuz I was absolutely thinking about water when we were talking about how things open up when you're on the right path. So couldn't have said it better myself. This has been such a fun conversation. I can't wait to try out the product when it comes to the generalist market and, uh, give it to the athletes in my life. So Dr. Tommy Rhee, thank you again for coming on and sharing All of this information about how to build a business, how to follow your passion, how to continue going down a line of inquiry even when nobody else is doing it, and how to build another business, how to make it even better and make it accessible. Because, you know, we, we need these stories of human interest. Like you said, we can do a lot with AI. It can give us a lot of information, but we need the, the stories about the people behind the products and the fact that you are not just resting on your laurels, giving it to people. For certain segments of the market, but really opening it up is going to be the game changer for all of us.

Oh, thank you very much. I really appreciate those kind words.

Yeah, I mean all of them. So, and thank you to everybody who is listening to this episode or watching it. I'll be back again with another amazing guest to share their story and their journey very soon. Thanks for listening or watching to this episode of Your Brand Amplified. Don't forget to leave us a rating or review on your favorite podcast listening platform. And if you want to learn more, check us out at yourbrandamplified.com.