#11 Maxx Chewning - From Corporate America to a $40M Brand

Just to give you an idea, in September we'll have been in business for 4 years. Yep. And as of right now, we have sold 25 million bags of Sour Strips. Sour Strips collectively in those 3.5 years has done almost $40 million.

Fuck!

In candy. What wealth looks like to me, and it may not seem like that, but I was like, at any moment, any time, if any of my friends are like, let's go get dinner right now. Hey, oh, I know we have some groceries or something, but like, let's go out and get lunch. Like the fact that I can go to a restaurant for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and buy and eat I can eat any meal that I want, and that is what I— that's financial freedom to me.

Max Trueling, what's up?

What's up, dude?

How you doing there, bro? Are you enjoying Marbella?

I'm not going to lie, dude. Marbella is pretty tempting to kind of live here. You know something I randomly noticed? I've been in Marbella. I don't know if it's a Spain thing. No one passes people in the right lane.

In the right lane of a car?

When I'm on the highway, people would be riding my ass. Plenty of space to just go around me on the right. They're like, no. They wait for me to get over.

You know what? I'm still driving my right-hand drive car.

Oh, we're here.

Yeah, I know.

Oh, just stress me out.

Yeah. I get used to it after a day.

It's all good. No, but Barbados is beautiful, man. I mean, like the weather, it's, I mean, I know it's a little hot right now, but I can get the vibe. There's like the LA, but I mean, whether it's like the villas, the view, the mountains, the sea, the everything.

It's a good time. But now before we begin, okay, I've got a present for you and it's probably, I give, I've given it a few gifts on this podcast, But this is probably the best one I've ever given. I'm gonna go get it now, okay?

I'm excited, dude.

All right, all right, I'm gonna go get it, okay?

Yeah, I'll wait here.

You stay facing that way, right?

Okay. Just gonna be a giant dildo. Rob's like, it's the one I use.

All right, you have got You can open them. You've got the first ever— oh my gosh, ever, ever—

let's see this box of the new and improved Fuel Packs. Oh my God, look, look at this packaging, ladies and gentlemen.

Resealable. And if you're watching this podcast, it is live now.

Oh my God, bro, I'm so excited for you, man. I remember when you launched this brand, what, a year?

You bet, like 2020, 2021.

Yeah, so, but, and then, and then, you know, you ran into some supply chain and kind of issues and partnership, you know, you restructured the company completely. And I, you know, after getting into like the CPG space and then seeing our friends like go into it and find success at it and just go in, because I know the excitement I get with Sour Strips and like I can see it in your, your beautiful eyes, the passion you have behind it, man.

Having a physical product is like a different feeling. Like it's kind of like, it's kind of different than like obviously like doing coaching, you know, that's like obviously that's very fulfilling. And one of my favorite parts of the day is when like you hear feedback that you've changed changed someone's life and they've made huge improvements. But in terms of a business perspective, that's like, it's something else, making a physical product.

And it's huge response. Well, and you're making an impact in a space that's very like dominated by a lot of people. And now there's been a lot of brands, the OGs, the, what I don't think they call them Aunt Jemima anymore, but the OGs in the space, right? And then to come along and try to like, take shelf space from these companies And to, in the future, not even saying if, but when in the future, when people are like, yeah, my kids like have grown up on Fuel Cakes.

That's what I want.

Yeah.

Like that is literally—

'Cause you know the happiness that like you come from, it's kind of sounds interesting, but like, you know, the happiness that the pancakes that you had growing up as a kid, there's probably like a consistent brand that your parents used. Of course. And like now people are gonna be raised on Fuel Cakes.

That's honestly— Eating Jacks. Yeah, Jack Cakes. That's actually like, the vision I have. And that's the mindset that you got to think of. And you got to think of that in terms of like Sarah Strips or like Haribo, you know. You got to be like, this is the new household name. So that's what I'm saying, we're going to make it.

I'm excited, bro.

So who is Max Tuning? For the people that might be tuning in, who is Max Tuning and what is your mission?

So I, I still hold myself as a content creator, like through and through. If you're like, what do you do? I, I don't put candy mogul, right? No, I, uh, I, I'm a content creator by heart and an entrepreneur by accident.

Okay.

I think that's, that's how I would kind of classify myself.

And what about YouTuber as well?

That would encompass all like content creation and that. YouTube, out of all the platforms, YouTube is definitely what I hold dearest to my heart and what I put the most effort and thought into. And everything else is like a subsidiary, subsidiary, subsidiary of YouTube. It's an extension of my YouTube. But no, YouTube's To my core, I'm a YouTuber.

Okay, so let's strip it right down, okay? Because I've been an OG Tuning fan, okay? I've been following since day one, since the corporate days. So run us through that, okay? How did you— what did you used to work as and how did you get into that corporate life?

Yeah, so I, uh, right when I graduated college in 2013, I think it was, or university as you might say. Yeah, I went to school for like business administration management, which I use zero of that knowledge or information.

I love hearing that.

Yeah, zero of it. I was just retaining enough information to pass the test and then be like, gone, deleted. But no, I didn't have these wild expectations for my life when I was early on. I was just, don't care what job I make, just want to make a bunch of money. I want to have a briefcase in a corner office. I want people to be stressed when I'm like, can you come to my office for a second? You know, and I—

Yeah, dude.

You know, it's like, clear my schedule today.

Sandra.

Yeah, I just wanted to like have that, had that kind of authority. I was like, I didn't care what the job was. Um, but I ended up going into IT recruiting, which is essentially like job recruiting, headhunting. You, you hire people for other jobs. You're like the middleman between companies to hire people.

Kind of lame. Yeah. And why wasn't that for you? When did you realize you're like, this isn't it, I'm gonna pick up a camera?

The reason I got into that job was because— I don't know if it's still like that today because it's been a bit since I've done it, but at the time it was like the easiest job to get out of college that was a very traditional job because they would just take, as long as you had a college degree, didn't matter if it was in mathematics or business, you just had to have a degree and, you know, they just needed kids to answer the phones. So I got into it. My mom's been doing the same thing for a long time, so it just kind of like, you know, made sense. She was like, oh, this is great. And did it for a couple of years while I started YouTube. And then flash forward 3 years later in 2016, July of 2016, I I was like, you know what, I'm going to go off on my own. I'm going to flap my wings. I'm a caterpillar right now. I'm trying to be a butterfly.

And is it true, if I remember correctly, you almost, or you did get fired for making YouTube videos? Was everyone at work watching your videos?

Yeah. So I got fired from my first job right out of school. So I think, I don't know how long into it, maybe like a month or two, maybe like 3 months in. But essentially they caught me on an older video. They saw a clip where I was like filming myself in the office. But keep in mind, You know, nowadays everyone's like TikToking.

Yeah, no, there's someone paid to do TikTok in the office.

But I, I like had this one little 5-second clip, you know, I'm the king of Dave Eatings back in the day.

Yeah.

And, uh, in one of my Dave Eating videos, I set up my iPhone on my desk and I'm wearing like— there's no name tag or anything and there's a white wall behind me. You have no idea where I'm at. So if anything, I should have pushed back on it, be like, prove I was there.

Yeah.

But anyway, I set up my camera and it's like a 5-second clip in the middle of a 10-minute video of me eating a gummy worm, taking a sip of a Diet Coke with lime, and then that's the whole clip. I was just showing that I was eating that, and they were like, we saw you were filming in the office, you can never film in the office again. And as early on, I wasn't making— I was making like $50 a month, maybe. I was making no money, and I was like, it was just a hobby. And I was like, oh my God, absolutely, I'll never film again. I'll delete that video. And then they essentially didn't want to be associated with my YouTube channel because back then I was like, F this, F that, what's up, motherfuckers? Like, it was just like, just harsh language.

I remember.

Yeah. Yeah. It was like living the bodybuilding bro life.

Yeah. Yeah.

And they just didn't want to be associated with it. So they basically just searched my channel for some reason to get rid of me, fired me. I thought my life was over. I mean, I was like in tears. I mean, because I was early on my first job, I felt like a disgrace. I was like, what are my friends going to think? What my family going to think? I'm never gonna find a job again. I started looking up, I was like looking up, I was like, I'm gonna go like into the military or something. Yeah, like I thought my life was over, man.

So I got fired from many jobs, but there's one, it was the one that I got fired from, just a retail job. This was just the last one I did, one of the last ones I did before YouTube, okay? And man, I cried as well. Yeah, like, isn't it a really bad feeling when they're like, you, we're gonna have to let you go? Yeah, like you're just, it's such like a rejectful feeling.

It was, and I was I remember telling my roommate, he was, he was a bartender at the time, so he didn't have to go to work like when I went to work. And one day he's like, Max, you still here? I'm like, yeah. He's like, you're not going to work? I was like, nah, just taking a, taking a day off. He's like, you've been working for a month. Like, what do you mean you're taking a day off?

Like, I remember I didn't tell my family for so long. They're like, hey, you got to get up in the morning. Yeah. What are you going to do?

But when that happened to me, I had like almost a reflection. I was like, I should quit making YouTube videos. I was like, this is my career. I'm messing up like my real job. I was like, the YouTube thing is a hobby. I should just stop doing this. Why am I risking my actual career of how I can make money? Because again, different times back then, no one was really making money on social media. No one was really making money at YouTube.

Yeah.

So I thought about hanging up the towel. But, you know, my mom with her connections in the workspace ended up helping me get another job. In the same field by a company that kind of understood what I did. They were like, yeah, it's whatever, like whatever.

Did you have to tell them that you got like, back off of YouTube and they didn't mind?

Yeah, 'cause my mom knew someone that worked there. They went way back. So she kind of told them what happened. They're like, that's ridiculous. And they didn't like that company, it's one of their competitors anyways. They were like, fuck them.

Yeah, give us the info.

Yeah, exactly. So I went there, but what, it was a great thing for me because not only was it a better place to work at the new job, And that's the one I ended up quitting myself from. But it also made me reevaluate my YouTube content and it made me clean up my videos, clean up my image, kind of be like, hey, you know, I can, I can have like a cleaner image on camera. I don't need to curse all the time and be this like douchebag bro. So it actually really changed the trajectory of like my channel, how my content was.

Yeah. Some people say like, oh, you should be yourself, you know, you should speak how you speak. But it's like, Ah, you know, you also do want to put your best foot forward, really.

I'm not president. I'm not going to talk how I talk with like, yeah, Rob Lipsett or, you know, anyone else.

Max talks hella shit on his own. But so, okay, right, we're in the second job and then you're getting more into YouTube. Okay. And at this stage your content is very much Deadlift Bra. So explain where did the name Deadlift Bra come from and what— who is Deadlift Bra?

You know, I wish I had the exact like origin of Deadlift Bra, but I think it was just like the era of there was lots of— so rude.

Yeah, man, that was, that was amateur hour.

I think it was just because I was big on like the bodybuilding.com forums, and it was— I was a bro, and so it was this bra world. And so my old Instagram used to be insta_bra. My Twitter was yahbra.

That is the worst username I've ever heard.

I know. And it's the bra. I know. I don't— I think it was because at the time there was like Z's, and there was like chest bra, and people would just call someone who had really good, like, arms, like, your arm bra.

Yeah, yeah.

And I think it might have been Nick Wright that just— someone said something of like, yeah, you're the deadlift bra, and it just stuck with me, and I became the deadlift bra, and I leaned into it. I made shirts of deadlift bra.

There are still deadlift bra t-shirts out there somewhere. Like, that's crazy.

Maybe at the Goodwill, like, people threw them away. They're still on the clearance rack.

Some homeless dude walk down the street wearing deadlift bra t-shirts.

Sure.

Why did you gravitate so much towards powerlifting? Whereas like most people on YouTube do kind of like bodybuilding style workouts. Why did you get into powerlifting?

Have you seen the way I look?

Is it the genetics?

It was one of those things that like I never planned on getting into powerlifting. I never planned on getting in the street. It was like, I think every, you know, might be with the girl world too, but guys are always like, you know, friendly competition in the gym. You know, I can lift more than you. It's like, and so my buddies that I would lift with, we were all relatively the similar strength. And we would always be like trying to push each other and who can do more reps and, oh, you can't do the 70s on the overhead press. I can do it like that kind of thing. And we started doing deadlifts, incorporating deadlifts into my workouts. We learned how to do them. And I just always was just naturally a little bit stronger than my friends. And because of that, it pushed me to like, oh, let's see how strong I can get. So when you're good at something, you lean into it, of course, try to get even better at it. And I just kept deadlifting, kept deadlifting. And, and that's what like I came on to YouTube with over 500-pound deadlift. And what's— it's funny, it's a full circle moment because throughout my entire career on YouTube, I've been, you know, made fun of for the way I look. You know, you didn't take advantage of like bulking when you were young— younger, which I agree with. When early on I tried to stay so lean, which I could have put on more mass, and a lot of people would give me shit about the way that I look. But it's funny because if I didn't look like I couldn't lift a lot of weight, I never would have had the same growth, you know, success.

Yeah.

If I had been jacked, they'd be like, oh, you're jacked. Of course you can. You're strong at deadlifts. But only it's because I looked like I couldn't deadlift a lot.

Yeah. It was like viral. It's like virality.

Yeah. And then, and then I like, I stuck with it so much because I thought that my identity was deadlift brah. I was like, if I can't be the one who can deadlift the most, hit PRs all the time, then I'm nothing. Like I have to just deadlift, deadlift, deadlift. And then it slowly, you know, and when someone was able to finally out deadlift me, I was like, I'm over, I'm over. But then I wasn't. And that's when I realized I was like, oh, I don't have to always be stronger to like find success on this. I can— I started incorporating more of my personality in there. And now I've— now I'm like, fuck the deadlift.

Yeah. Now I'm like, is there even workout parts to your videos anymore?

No. I'm like, what's the quickest segment of this fitness day to show I went to gym?

My last video, the the private jet vlog. It did— it had zero working out in it, and like everyone's like, hey, this is awesome. But run us through some of your peak numbers that you've hit, cuz you had quite a powerlifting career. You've done quite a few powerlifting meets.

Yeah, I've competed probably like, I want to say almost 10 times.

That's a lot.

And out of those, probably 9 of those placed first, you know, hit— I've hit PRs. I've hit PRs at probably 8 or 9 of the pow— every meet I would hit a PR. Um, so in pounds, my, my best lifts totals are a 501-pound squat, uh, a 650-pound deadlift. That is with a deadlift bar. Without a deadlift bar, I've deadlifted about 620 or something. Pathetic. It's ridiculous. Yeah. And then 50, and then on bench, uh, 635. So, so my, my, my bench to deadlift ratio is terrible, but it— I just Yeah.

Wait, 635 on bench?

No, 335.

335.

You said 635.

No, no. I was like, there's gotta be some error.

But it took me forever to hit 315. I'm talking, I didn't hit—

I remember.

I didn't hit 315 until 2018. And I started lifting in 2000 and like 10. It took me 8 years to hit 315.

That is like, for anyone out there, this thing needs a bit less than patience. I think that's it right there.

And then from 315, which was 2018, it took me— it's taken me 3, like 5 years to go from 315 to 335.

Would you ever just go on like a massive bulk or go on trend?

I, I've never— for me, I've always gone through these bulk things, but it's just, I prefer— for me, it's about also the eating of the calories. Like, as much as it may sound like I'm like a little pathetic man for like being like, oh, I just can't eat that many calories, because normally be like, oh yes you can, you know, make the shake with the olive oil and all this stuff. But like, that doesn't interest me of like my lifestyle. I don't want to make a 2,000-calorie shake so I can gain weight and stuff. I was like, I just want to eat how I want to eat when I'm hungry. I want to eat the proportions I want to eat. I don't want to feel miserable. So for me and my lifestyle and my body type, maintaining this like relatively smaller frame is just like what is natural for me. Yeah, in terms of like my natural enjoyment of food. And, um, you don't have to think about it. And I've noticed I've been You know, I'm like 163 pounds right now, but I've— the heaviest I've ever been was only 182. I've only broken over 180 like 2 times in my life, and I was not— I just looked like shit. I wasn't any stronger. I just assumed I was like, the more I eat, I'm gonna get stronger. It, it, it didn't. And then I'd be like, I know I don't want to stick with this for 2 years and look like shit so I can add 10 pounds on my deadlift. I don't give a fuck.

Oh man, I'm like, so obviously I competed like what, 6 weeks ago?

Yeah.

And so since then I think I've gained about 10 pounds, and it messes with your head so much. Like, obviously I went from being turbo lean to like normal now.

Like, you know, oh, men have the most body dysmorphia.

Oh man, it's, it's terrible.

Like, you and David and stuff, and even here, you were saying like, you were complimenting on my physique.

Yeah.

And, you know, saying like, oh, actually look pretty jacked. But what's crazy is the peak of my diet, when I really was like the leanest, yeah, was a month ago, and I've really like— I've actually fallen off my diet. I haven't been keeping up with as much. So in my mind, when I look at myself, I'm like, I look like shit compared to like a month ago. But to like average people, like, you look great.

Yeah, I know.

Guys are like— that's why every guy wants to like think you have to get so lean, but it's like, it's only the dudes— it's only like the dudes that even care about what you look like.

I'm like, Linda, do you care whatsoever about me gaining a few pounds post-show? She knows you shouldn't even notice it. But yeah, I was like, there's been like a few days where I'm like, I get up and I don't want to record because I think I like look fluffy or something. And then you'll just get yourself in good lighting and you're like, oh, I actually look decent.

Yeah.

But speaking of recording, what do you think of YouTube fitness scene back in 2016 when I think it was the golden era?

Yes.

Versus now, you know, what do you think of the changes and how would you grow if you were to start now?

So I think if you compare just my early on career with all the YouTubers that were there, I felt like it was a more— and this is a double entendre, if you will— but it was a more natural type of world because it was just like people that didn't look like freaks of nature, just like, yeah, I work out. Like, I don't, I don't have like crazy muscles, but like, you know, I'm working out, I'm enjoying myself. And, and nowadays I feel like the threshold is you need to be Dick Bone shredded at 20 years old, so strong, 800 pounds. And that's what they think, you know, you need to do, or like, it's just like they're trying to compete with everyone on how like shredded you look. And, and obviously, uh, I think taking gear has been a big— it's more openly accepted now. Yeah, everyone just assumes, and people are starting earlier on and earlier on rather than building up a foundation and learning their body before they make the decision as an adult to, you know, understand what these things are going to have, have effects. And if you make that decision and you understand, you know, everything that goes into it, that, that's fine. But when these 18, 19-year-old kids are just blasting gear, I'm like, bro, I don't— and they're just like, whatever their friend's giving them, they don't, you know, it's not— they don't even know scientifically dosed and whatnot. So I mean, that's a whole nother topic about like, you know, I've— as you can tell, I'm quite natural. Um, but in terms of like the content, I definitely think it's evolved and, and I understand it. Whereas now people are people are creating social media now because they see the life you can live. They see the life that they aspire to live with the money, the, you know, the Lambos. You see all these people making this crazy cash and they start it and they— their only goal is to get to that point as fast as possible. Whereas when I started, and it's not like I'm some, you know, holy person of like righteousness because it's like, but there wasn't that money to be made back then.

Oh, like, like, did you see like a young Sousprat. Yeah, he just bought like a new Porsche.

Yeah.

And like, you know, I'm pretty sure he just does like— his main thing is like Young LA, you know. Like, we would have sponsorships back then, but it's like, I think there's supposed to be so much more money in it now.

Yeah, it's crazy.

All like, when we were that young, we were not— everyone was not buying these, these ridiculous cars.

And that's—

yeah, by the way.

Yeah. And I look at like kids like, you know, him or whoever. Yeah. And for me, I'm like, oh, like you shouldn't be buying all that shit. But then someone asked someone to meet. They're like, Max, if you were to go back to 22-year-old Max, if you were making the same money you're making now at 22, would you— I'd probably be like, I'd probably be buying all sorts of shit.

I would be buying two villas.

Yeah. So I don't know. So I guess the whole reason I kind of mentioned, mentioned that of like the not money is back then is everyone was like almost like creating content for the pure form of delivering value, education, entertainment, rather than trying to have this metric of like financial success as quickly as possible. So it was more, I feel, authentic.

I think it was more innocent. It was more like authentic.

And it's not to say that I'm better than anyone. It's just it's different. And it's like, and now you can't go that same route. So, you know, love it or hate it, it is what it is. And I'm just the old man yelling at the cloud.

And if you were okay, you were to completely start an Instagram account today, you're starting from zero, uh, what would you do in terms of content? Like, your advice for a content creator who wants to make a living out of it and grow now, what would you do? Yeah, yeah, pretty much. Would you do like the more informative route or the raw stuff? Like, does vlogging even still work?

You know, it's tricky because if you make fitness-only content, everything has been taught, everything has been— you know, back then I would make sit-down videos of why fiber is important, why creatine is important, and that was entertaining stuff back then. I would watch those videos. But now everything has been made. You don't need to show people how to do a lat pulldown. There's no secret tips on how to, you know, grow your biceps. It's all out there. Yeah. Period. And if— and there's plenty of information that's better than what— with actual science behind it of someone who's older that's already put the content out there. Um, and then vlogs, it's like, why should someone care about your life randomly? Like, you know, what's so special about you? So I think it is more difficult it's the easiest time it's ever been to make money. But I think it's the most difficult time to make money because everyone's able to make that. You know, there's no gatekeeper. The access to entry is, is available to everyone. So I think you really need to ask yourself, like, why would I watch my own content?

Yeah.

Like, what about it? Because if you're like, oh, I'm going to show people my, my daily habits of like, I eat this food and go to the gym, like, yeah, you and 800 million other people do that same thing. Like, what about you?

Exactly.

And you just got to ask yourself, what is the unique thing? Because everyone has it. And you know, for me, I realized at a certain point, okay, being the strongest guy competing in powerlifting, bodybuilding, whatever, that's not really a long-term plan for me. I'm not going to be that biggest, the jacked person. I'm not gonna be the strongest. There's always someone stronger, leaner than you. Um, but for me, I realized that love it or hate it, my kind of goofy personality is what keeps people around. And I lean into that and I showcase my life. And, um, I don't know. I think, you know, when, when I started, there was no blueprint. There was no person to look to be like, that's exactly what I need to do. There was no strategy. There was no, I'm going to try to perfect the algorithm. It was like, I just put out content because I want to put out content and it's what I want to make. And I'm going to, I'm going to grow or I'm not going to grow and I'm going to pivot a little bit. So I really— it's not like I have some secret formula because, you know, it's taken me 10 years to get to where I'm at, and a lot of people want to get to where I'm at in 6 months.

Yeah.

And if they don't, they're like, fuck this, stupid, I hate it, I'm out.

My best— my favorite piece of advice that you've given about social media, and a lot of people, you said, come up to you at expos and they're like, hey, should I start a YouTube channel? I'm thinking about it, I'm thinking about it. And you nailed it. I I'm pretty sure you've said this to the people in person and their faces kind of drop. But here you go. If you're going to be successful on social media, you're not going to ask anyone for permission. Yeah, that is like the best piece of advice.

And they're like, I'm thinking about starting a clothing company. I'm like, if it was like, what do you mean you're thinking about it? Everyone's like, didn't just do it? Like, why do you need me to tell you to go after it?

That's, that's it. And it's like, should I start a YouTube channel? It's like, I don't know, should you? Yeah, it's like, if you're asking Max Tuning, you should, you start a channel, then probably not. It's like, you need permission to start it.

And, and, and again, every successful business as well, every successful person that I know has not really needed to ask how to do something. Everyone just figures it out. And the biggest— all you're doing in business is solving problems every day, every single day. And if you're thinking about starting a business and you need advice so early on before you've even started, then you're already— that's not— I don't think in the cards for you because it's like the first problem is figuring out how to start your business and you can't even solve that first problem, you can't get over the first wall, then you're in for a world of hurt, right? And again, people just think that people are gatekeeping or trying to, you know, limit their success. But I'm like, no, no, I've been through all of it. And I'm telling you, figuring shit out, making mistakes, wasting time, wasting money. Yeah, I wish that I didn't do a lot of them, but it's made me who I am today and it's taught me what I've learned today. And everything that I've gone through, I know how to adapt and evolve, and it's turned me into what I am.

So tell us the story. Okay. Just on about figuring things out for yourself. Tell us the story. It was either you or Christian. One of you had a manufacturer and you wouldn't— and I'm pretty sure he wouldn't give you his money.

I wouldn't give him—

you wouldn't? Yeah. Tell us about that.

Yeah.

So because I think it's very interesting.

So Christian Guzman, who owns Alpha Elite, at one point before he started Alpha Elite, was like, hey, Max, you have Ever Forward. Can you give me your clothing manufacturer? And I said, no, I can't. Now, when you hear that, you're going to be like, what a piece of shit. Max is, oh my God, whatever. Christian's done so much. I can't believe back then he should never have been friends with you. And I never processed when he said that on an episode. I— that unlocked a memory for me because I remember him asking and I remember saying no. And then when that— when I heard that from him, I had to think of like, why did I say no? Right? Like, what was my reasoning? And I realized that. So I had a buddy, his name was Peter, and he owned a company called Ape Athletics. It's no longer around at the moment. Yeah, I remember. But he was a non-social media person, but utilizing social media influencers. He was kind of following in the footsteps of Gymshark, right? They didn't have a following. They just were using influencers. And basically when he started, he asked someone and like, can I have your manufacturer? And that person told him like, oh, in this industry, like, people don't share that. So not in a mean way, but he was like, oh, okay. Like, and then he figured it out. So when I asked him, he's my friend, he told me the same thing that that person told him. And again, someone could have broken the cycle, I guess. But it was more of a— I was new to it and I just thought, oh, that's, that's what people do. People don't share it for whatever reason. And if I look back now, I'm like, yeah, I should have just given it to him. But it was more like, oh, that's what happened to me. And I just thought that was the norm, as weird as it is. Because it's not now.

Do people share manufacturers now?

I think it's just for like clothing and stuff. Like if, if, if you wanted my clothing manufacturer, like I've talked to any of my friends, like I'm— you can ask a bunch of people. I've linked them up with, you know, someone wants to make hats. Like, oh, I have a— I'll say I have a hat manufacturer. Hey, you need to box the promo boxes. I want to say Christian, but I think like Heidi, I want to say maybe even Shawlie, like the people who they make their promo boxes. Is the person— is my person. I gave that to them.

Yeah.

And like, so it— now it's totally fine because again, there's room for everyone. And it wasn't like I was trying to be like, no, I'm having success with this, I don't want you to have it, Christian. It was just at the time I was young and naive and I just— someone told me no and said people don't share that information in this industry. And I was so new to it, I was like, oh, okay.

Yeah.

So when someone asked, it was like, oh yeah, no, people don't share that information.

Yeah. And there's also a lesson there as well, like, off you learn how to sample.

Yeah.

And find out—

he was like, oh, like, that was the best thing ever. Because he learned how to do it. And it's not like I'm like, that was my strategy all along. It was to teach you how to fish.

Yeah, you're such a good guy.

But I'm telling you, like, 100% of my reasoning was just because my friend Peter said no. And I don't think any ill intent of him because he's just— he heard it from the person before him. He's like, oh, people don't share that information. It's like, it's like a trade secret. Yeah. Okay.

That's wild. And so, right, let's talk about manufacturing now. How did Sarah— this is a big one. I think your identity has shifted from like a deadlift bra. Now it's like people look at your channel because they want updates on Sarah Strips, your growth as an entrepreneur.

No one cared until I put on the mask.

That's exactly what it is. Seriously, like, I think it's like, I'm always very interested in your updates, and I think that's kind of like a thing on your channel. So let's dive right into that. How did Sarah Strips come into play? How was it born?

So Sarah Strips is a candy company that's predominantly in the United States, but we are worldwide. I mean, we If you go to like, I think the like Dubai airport, we're there. I mean, we're, we're all over the place and it's been the fastest growing business endeavor of my life that I never imagined that it would. And it's, you know, I worked on Clever Forward, my clothing brand, for like 5 years and, you know, it never even saw a piece of the success that Sour Strips has had in, you know, 3 and a half years.

Why do you think that is? I think, I think it kind of went viral.

It did. It still is. And it's, it's, uh, it's, I don't know. I mean, there's, it was, I attribute the success of Sour Ships to a lot of things and, you know, um, I think it's like the harder you work, the luckier you get. And it was launching a great product, great brand at the right time with, after I had built up, gave value to people, had built an audience up for a long period of time. It was just the perfect time. It was this perfect storm of serendipitousness, you know? And, uh, but yeah, so the origin of how it kind of came to be was I have just been a diehard candy fan my entire life. And a lot of people are like, oh, I like candy too. I'm like, no, no, no, you are, you don't even begin to understand how much I can like eat, enjoy, think about candy. I can just eat it until I'm physically ill. And you do. I do. Everyone's seen it.

Still do.

I still do. Um, so as someone who's seen everything on the market, uh, I realized that there was just an opportunity for a new player because I've seen everything. I've tried everything. The candy industry is not necessarily the same as the drink industry, whereas, you know, a lot of people are having success with energy drinks or, you know, uh, even alcoholic drinks or whatever. Um, but there's new players every day, whereas in the confectionery space, it's not as common for a new product to come on the market. And if it is, it's generally from the major Players, the Trolley, the Haribo, you know, whatever. And, you know, as a kid, whenever there was a new product on the shelf, because I'm not even exaggerating, even to this day, especially to this day, uh, when I would go into a convenience store, gas station, whatever, I always would go down the candy aisle because I'm, you know, I'm looking for— I'd grab the candy I'd want. And then you would, if a random company would have a new product, you would notice it because it's not every day that there's something new. And most of the time you would try it and it'd be like extra sour and you'd eat it and you'd be like, this sucks. Like, it's like, it's like, why are you lying to me? Um, so So I, because I'm such a consumer of it, I knew what people like me would want in the packaging. I knew the experience they would want when they eat it. I knew how the product needed to taste. I knew, you know, that they wanted to be able to view the candy. I knew how to separate myself from the branding. You know, I'm like, it's like a candy brand for the people, by the people kind of thing. It's not some, it's not like I run a, you know, women's supplement company and I'm, you know, and I have like, I don't use those. Like, I'm just making money off of it.

Yeah. I joke that the CEO, like, you know, we follow each other. No shade on them. But the CEOs of Women's Best are like two dudes, you know? Yeah, they're obviously killing it. They're really nice guys, successful dudes. But, you know, it's cool when the CEO, the owner of the company, is truly—

yes, I'm very, very in it. Yeah. And, um, I guess I had always early on had had the mindset, and I've said this in many videos, was like, candy companies should hire me to be the final, not like, not just a taste tester, but like the final seal of approval for new sour products going out. Because I was like, I know what people want in the candy world because I, I've experienced it all. And so I've always joked about that. And I feel like I get a lot, got a lot of inspiration when Christian launched 3D Energy Drinks, because it really put the idea in my head that, oh, you can do something that's completely non-traditional in the fitness space. Everyone starts at clothing. Line merch. It's just, it's the most tangible, easy, easy. It's not easy, but it's like the easiest thing to get into. It's everyone's doing it so that all the information's out there. So when he did the energy drinks, he was the energy drink guy, right? And for me, I was like, well, I'm the candy guy. Not only have I been promoting other people's candy for 10 years on my YouTube channel, um, I also, when I'd go to expos, you can look at any video that you've seen me at an expo, look in the background on the wall, you'll see mounds and mounds of sour candy. So it was just a very organic, natural thing, right? So when I saw it was possible from Christian, that put a spark in my head originally on because Christian has partners, because again, he knows nothing. You know, now he does, but he didn't know anything about, you know, beverage distribution, retail expansion. He didn't know any of that stuff. So he had partners because he's like, you handle the business, I'll be the face of it, I'll be the marketing. And it makes totally sense. And that's what a lot of people do because it that makes sense, right? And I started going down that path and got some business partners, but we ended up not being able to source a manufacturer as well as we thought we could. And they kind of fizzled out. Then, you know, this is in 2018, early 2018. Flash forward, I kind of gave up on the idea for about 6 months, moved to Texas. And then one day I was just like, I really want to— I'm gonna, I'm gonna try again. Like, I'm gonna sit, I'm gonna get— sit down, I'm gonna do all my Googling again. I'm going to reach out, back out to people. I'm going to keep reaching out to manufacturers because the problem is, you know, when you're launching a new product, you have no idea the success it's going to be. And for all these candy manufacturers, uh, the— for them to take on a new client, you need to have a massive amount of production that you need to do because they're not going to stop a line on their production plant for one pallet of product to see if it works. They're like, no, you need to order, you know, a boatload of it.

Yeah.

And you're like, well, I don't need that much. They're not going to take you on as a client. And so there's a lot of like hurdles you have to get over. And, you know, I really believed in it. I ordered a large amount and, you know, tested it and had this big marketing plan behind it and launched it on my 30th birthday. And I built this hype up for like 6 months on it. And I even— I didn't tell people what it was, but I told them what the cost was going to be. I was like, look, it's my 30th birthday. And I kept saying this. I was like, I need you to save up $25, everyone. $25. That's what it's going to be.

"$25." That's good marketing.

It's $20, $5 for shipping. So even you don't know what it is, but I need you to save $25. You've never bought anything for my 30th birthday. You've been watching my videos for 7 years. This is my birthday present. I want you to spend $25. I'm asking you to spend $25. Support me on this because I knew that it had to be a success out of the gate or it wasn't going to work. It needed to blow up and— Flash forward, you know, here we are and we've continued to grow and grow and grow and learn and something that's different about me, not in like a boisterous, boisterous, boisterous way. I'm very, very, very hands-on in the business. Yeah. In the weeds, in the operations, in the manufacturing, in the distribution. I am, I am very much on the day-to-day operations administration every day. And, and I'm so— and I still make my content, but I'm not like a content creator that is a face of a brand. And just, you know, is approving something and then going on with the content. I'm like, no, no, I want to become a businessman.

Yeah.

And so I'm learning every day and I still don't know really what the fuck I'm doing, but I'm figuring it out.

Well, that's comforting. Now there's a few things you're in flow there, so I didn't want to interrupt, but so you said that Christian's 3D inspired you to start with physical product. Well, you guys actually inspired me to start.

That's some full circle stuff.

That's literally full circle stuff. Like, so that's, that's literally, you know, why I started, you know, And for anyone trying to— who maybe they're a creator or, you know, maybe they want to make physical business, okay, build a community first.

Okay.

And why is— and then you build the product around that community. Instead, people do it the opposite.

It has to make sense.

Yeah, people do the opposite. They're like, build the product first. They're like, hey, where is everyone? Why did you— why did you buy my stuff? And like, you don't have to be like, you know, get a million followers. Like, even if you just build like an email marketing, just some sort of community, and you build your product around that. And so with me You know, my first ever viral video was how to make protein pancakes. So I said, how can I make something that I don't have 20 ingredients laid out all over the kitchen, mess up the place, something convenient, packaged well, and something that I know my channel—

protein.

Yeah, there you go. And fits my channel. So the first thing I want to say is thank you guys for inspiring me.

Absolutely, dude.

And then the second one, you— I did not actually know that you had business partners and you stopped for a couple months. I only saw the, the second.

Yeah, so I—

that's where I'm currently at. Remember, I partnered up with not, not necessarily the wrong people. So for anyone listening, you know, I basically did— gave 30% of the company away to like, I guess they're kind of like an influencer management company. Like Mike is with them, Matt Does Fitness with them. Like they just like, you know, help you build a brand. And basically there was just a breakdown communication. I was just like always waiting weeks to get a response from an email and like you know, it's always tough to get other people to care about your brand, but especially when they're managing like 100 other brands. So I had to, you know, they took the manufacturers because they, that was their thing. And so I basically had to just start from scratch again myself. And now I'm, you know, 100% owner again and completely made in Ireland now. New manufacturers, better packaging, more flavors. But I didn't know that you had that falling out.

It's because— so I got this. And when I say business partners, they weren't like masters of confectionery, masters of CPG. They were literally like real estate guys that I knew that were just like very financially, very successful at what they do in the business world, not social media guys at all. And they were just like, oh, we can figure it out. Like, but— and I was going to split it like 33% each. So a third of the company. And my idea was I just thought that was what you had to do. I was like, oh, I can't— what do you mean? I can't figure this out myself, right?

Yeah.

So I was like, you guys figure it out. I'll be the face of it. They're like, you don't have to say— you can say you own 100%. You know, we can— we cannot even exist. We don't care. We don't care. We'll do all the backend stuff. And I just thought because Christian had business partners, again, similar to how, you know, my friend said, you can't have my clothing manufacturer. I just thought that's how it is. I was like, yeah, no one can just figure out how to make a company like this. And and so I thought it was just impossible. And when I had to do it on my own, because it wasn't like they stopped caring, it was more like we just ran into roadblocks and then just fizzled out.

Yeah.

Because I was just expecting them to, you know, figure it out and then I would market it when it's time. And I realize now that was absolutely the best. Not only now do I own 100% of the company. Yeah. But also I know everything about my company. Yeah, man.

I know everything. I didn't, you know, and that really got to me and I was like, I would look at guys like, I would look at you or even like Christian, Nick Bear, Ben Francis. I'm like, do you think they are like outsourcing it to some influencer agency? Yeah. You know, I was like, this is not like— I felt like a little bit of a fraud. I was like, this is not what a true entrepreneur, how they would do it.

Yeah. And it brings me— and again, there's, there's a lot of pros to having partnerships. There's a lot of reasons why you would do it. And it, for a lot of times you have the right partners, it'll catapult you to a much faster growth pattern than if you did it by yourself. But and again, this is not saying one's better than the other, but the amount of pride that I have in building this business, knowing that I have like put the sweat equity into this, been on the floor, learned how, like, you know, it built. I was like, how do you like, where do you make barcodes at? Yeah, I don't know what, like, what do you have to— how do I make barcodes? I figured it out.

I'm like, how do you scan this?

Yeah, exactly. I was like, well, how does the barcode, tell the stores. I had to learn that. I had to figure out like, oh, what is, you know, when you, when you deliver to stores, like, how do you do that? What's the best way to ship it? And I've— we've learned everything. And we've had some really good key players that have been with us day one, that everyone who works for me at the moment, um, has not come from any experience in the field they're in. Everyone has learned their role through this role. They started like packing orders for Ever Forward. Yeah. And now people are like running the operations, running the billing and administrative systems. So it's— everyone has learned how to be in the role that they're in. And we've all just been figuring out every single day of what works, what doesn't work. We've done a lot of— we've hit a lot of mistakes. We've run through a lot of issues. We've wasted a lot of money. But better. Yeah, no, bro, like in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. And it's just— but I can't because— because as it continues to grow and as we continue to get into more stores, I just feel proud because I know that that is because of the hard work that myself and my team has done, not because of someone else doing some shit for me.

Yeah. I'd say it's one of the best feelings in the world when you walk into a store, especially if you're kind of not expecting it.

Oh, yeah.

And you see it. That's probably the best feeling ever.

1,000%. Yeah.

That's insane. And so how many— you talk about your team there. How many employees or members of staff do you have at the moment?

Full-time, like salary, we only have, like, like 6 other people.

That's crazy.

Yeah. And then we have a warehouse. We have about probably 10 other like hourly full-time people that are in the warehouse every day. And they'll probably— a lot of them will evolve into like a full-time salary role. But those people who are even hourly are full-time. They're just hourly at the moment because of the job that they're in. And again, in the beginning of a company, you'll see a lot of— you'll see a lot of brands start out that'll be like less than a year old. And they're like, you know, here's the, the CMO, the CEO, the CFO, the chief of— I'm like, you don't need— like, everyone needs to have a lot of hats on and everyone needs to figure it out because again, it's like no one knows what they're doing and you need to evolve the company as it— you don't need to feel like you need to be a corporation day one. And, you know, um, and for us is like roles evolve as they need, you know, it's like I didn't need someone to handle the logistics of, you know, inventory management and delivery until I needed to get a second warehouse and and buy a 36-foot or 26-foot box truck, you know? That role didn't exist until it did. And I didn't want to just call someone some role just because it sounds fancy, because there's not actually that role, right?

Yeah. It's like people who are like a personal trainer or online coach, they're like, I'm CEO of this thing. Yeah, no.

And so our team is very, very small. And, you know, the company has grown so big. And we're about to expand into new warehousing. We're going to have to grow our team over the next probably 6 to 12 months. And I'm— it'll probably be the next hire that I do will probably be the first time that I need to hire someone that comes from experience.

Okay.

Yeah. In this space, whereas not one of your buddies, you know, the next role will be like, I need someone who can do like inventory forecasting for ordering purchase orders. But, but up until now it's always been like, hey, John, you're now going to handle the info. He's like, I'll figure it out. But now it's like we're at the stage where not only can we afford someone, it's the proper time to bring someone in that's— I need someone that has, you know, 5+ years of experience doing that exact role for a relatively similar company in the space because that's what I need. Whereas before, not only could we not afford that type of thing, it just wasn't necessary. And I was like, you know, I can do it or someone else can do it. And everyone's wearing a lot of hats and And in a startup and a new business, like you, you have to, and anyone who works for you that is like, I don't want to do a couple of different things. I want to do only one thing. Be like, well then a startup isn't for you. You could go work at any startup and you're not going to do one thing. You're gonna do 10.

Yeah.

Because that's just what it is. And the people who stick with you from day one are going to benefit over the long run of sticking with and putting in the time, the sweat equity. And, um, we have a great team, a really good, really good team. And it's only going to continue to expand. But I thought early on that I needed to hire a million people for a million positions. And it's not so I can like save a bunch of money. That is a benefit of it, but it's also like, it's not necessary.

Yeah. And I think people like to flex. They're like, I have 100 employees.

Yeah.

No, it's not a flex. It's such a pissing contest, you know? I think it's, it's become like a thing that people just like to say and it's completely unnecessary.

But I want another— a great thing that I love about Sour Ships is like the more that it grows, the more that I'm, you know, you could say I'm stimulating the economy, but it's actually like—

Nice press.

Yeah, but like the amount of jobs that I'm providing, not only in my circle, but guess what? Now I'm improving like the, all of the 6 different manufacturers used for like packaging materials, whatever. I'm now an account for them and I'm growing their business and now they need someone to do that. And it's like, it's so cool that like one idea is having this ripple effect of growing other people's businesses, bringing in new employees, you know, and it's a cool full circle thing that you're like, I'm doing this.

Yeah.

And I'm not like, I did it. Yeah, but it's just cool that like an idea of like, I'm gonna start a candy company has impacted a lot more people's lives than just who's at my warehouse right now. Yeah. And it's cool. I like that feeling.

It's a good feeling. And so you've seen obviously crazy growth. Okay. What are some of the struggles that you faced when seeing this growth? And what are some of the failures you've encountered? I'm interested to know myself because I'm probably about to see some failures.

What are you getting into?

Yeah. What am I getting into? Yeah. So what, what am I in for?

I think a lot of people who start businesses think that everyone knows everything or understands the best way to do everything. And we really don't. Yeah. Um, the biggest struggles that we have is managing the proper amount of inventory, having not too little and not too much. And there's a lot more of things that go into that because it's not just the product, but it's all of the, the packaging materials that go into it. It's, you know, the, you know, it's like you need the product. Then there's a manufacturer for like the bags. Then there's a manufacturer for the boxes that these bags go into. Then there, you know, there's so many layers of this and you need to have the proper amounts where you're not sitting on, you know, too much. Cash flow has been something that I've struggled with a lot. And again, I could have very early on hired a CFO, paid him a huge salary, gone into debt on the company, taken investments to pay them and not had that stress. And I'm not saying I wanted to learn how to balance months, you know, our accounting and like cash flow. But I now understand, you know, mistakes and whatnot of what to do and what not to do. But understanding how much cash you have coming in, how much cash you need to have the business survive a certain amount of time. Um, there's been plenty of times we've gotten down to like the last few bucks in the account. And I'm in a very— yeah. And I'm in a very privileged position because I have other streams of revenue.

Yeah.

That if I needed to put money in the business, I could. But I, I've— it's almost like a game for me where I put $50,000 to start Sour Strips and I've almost been like, I want to see how big I can grow this without needing to put any more money in, without taking investments. So we've taken no outside cash. We've— I've never put another dime into the company besides that original $50K. I think I even paid myself back on that $50K. Yeah, I think it's nice on its own.

Damn, that's insane. Yeah. Pure profit.

Yeah. So it's, it's been a wild journey. So, I mean, I think just understand you're going to make mistakes. And understand that you're gonna, you're gonna spend some money you didn't think you were gonna have to. You're gonna need to expedite things because of errors that you, that you made when it comes to the inventory. You know, we've had to spend a lot of money on expediting shipping because of errors that I made or someone else made because we didn't understand. And we've grown from it. And do I wish I could go back and say, you know, I should have hired people who were super proficient in it and then we would have never made these mistakes and their salaries would have counteracted you know, all of the wasted money because I wanted to try to do it myself. I enjoy that we went through all that shit.

Yeah, I feel you do. Like, I've even just been talking to you now, like, and even like, obviously, you know, I was kind of with you during the whole process of it, and I feel you actually do enjoy it, figuring it all out, you know?

Yeah.

Like, like, I feel, I feel like you kind of revel in it.

It's, it's, again, it's, it's business. Business is solving problems. It's literally just like, okay, there's an issue, How do I solve it in the most effective and efficient way possible? And I think when you do that, when you solve a problem in one area, I think it has carryover to completely unrelated things in the business that you're going to be able to solve that have nothing to do with that. But because you analyze that situation, it's one of those things like you can't understand it until you're in it because I wish I'd never made any mistakes, but I also am glad that I've made every mistake that I've made. And you just learn about— I think they have carryover. And the information is invaluable. And again, the, the amount of pride that I take in knowing my business, not just being like, yeah, I kind of don't know the back end of it, but it's like you ask me anything about the way our shit's packaged, why we have this specific design on here, you know, I can answer any question about our business besides how much does it cost to ship a pallet to California. That's my operations handle that. But like overall, like like, you know, I'm in it. And I'm proud to say that I am like building this business, not just own a business.

Yeah. And I think your customer base, like, they know that. And that's a reason people buy it as well. And so you mentioned that you bankrolled the first $50K to get it starting. OK, so what are you, Maxx Choon, what are your main sources of income? I'm also interested to know, like, if you take— do you pay yourself a salary from Sarah's Trips? So go through all your— how does it— What hits Max Tuning's bank account? What are your main sources of income?

Well, the billions just come in from all sorts of ways. I have— I just categorize in 3 different ways. It's— I call it my social media max, and that is brand deals, YouTube AdSense revenue, sponsorships. That's just everything social media related. Yeah, is social media. I've Ever Forward, my clothing company, that money goes into Ever Forward and then Sour Strips as well. So those are my 3 main things, right?

Interesting.

And then I do have some investments here and there, but that's, that's more like long, long-term kind of stuff. I don't have any courses, I don't have any online clients, I don't have any apps. I don't, I don't have anything like that. It's just those 3 things. But in them there's more depth to them. And for the longest time, the benefit of me is that because I'm so into my social media and I've maintained it so well.

Yes.

And been able to maintain like an audience where I can monetize my audience. I've never needed really the money from these businesses and I can let them just funnel back in. And again, not everyone is in that position. So you starting a company who you don't have a social media following or other streams of revenue, it might be even— it's going to be more stressful for you because you're either not need to take any money out or if you do, you know, you're sacrificing money for the business to grow. And there's a lot of different variables on it. Yeah. But now I have this thing called a holding company, which is really just like a parent company that owns all of these. It's the three. Yeah, I have a parent company that owns Social Media, owns Ever Forward, owns Sour Strips. And basically each of those companies, all Sour— all, all Social Media money funnels into that one. And then Ever Forward and Sour Strips pay a management fee. So it's basically like paying a fee to that company to manage them. And it's really all for tax purposes.

Okay.

So I take a salary from that holdings company. But, but when you really like pull back the covers, like Sour Strips and Ever Forward only pay enough money into that holdings company to pay anything that like the holdings company needs to pay. Yeah. But because my social media does so well for me, that is essentially where 90% of my income from, like when I want to buy something personal, my, my mortgage, all of that, that is not coming from Sour Strips.

Okay.

Coming from it. But yeah, so now Sour Strips, I do take a little bit of money, but it's like these management fees. But yeah, but if you see me buy a car, if you see me buy anything, that is not me pulling money out of Sour Strips.

Okay.

It's not, it's not.

That's similar to how I do it as well.

But again, it's like if I, I stopped doing social media and had no income from social media, I would need to just pay myself a salary. And at that point I would try to take as little of a salary as possible to keep as most money in the business. But you know, because again, you don't know, we're about to go through a phase with Sour Strips that I'm going to need a lot of capital to, you know, disperse out into a lot of different ventures that we're doing. And because of that, it's been great that I've not pulled a bunch of money out of Sour Strips because now there's a, you know, we're very healthy financially that I can afford to, you know, float a giant project for Sour Strips for 6 months and it not impact the business on all the other things that I need to do to grow it. Yeah.

So you say you're very lucky to have that kind of little social media cushion, you know, that you can live off that and then let the companies—

Yeah. And social— and that's why, you know, social media is is still such a thing. I've not only do I love doing it, been doing it for 10 years. So, you know, there's no doubt that I enjoy making content, but also financially, it's still a very, very lucrative stream of revenue for me.

And how much is Saraswaps worth now?

I mean, worth is a large number. I mean, just to give you an idea, we're in September, we'll have been in business for 4 years. Yeah. And as of right now, we have sold 25 million bags of Sour Strips. What? Over 25 million bags.

And how much is each one, each bag?

I mean, well, that takes the facts of like, you know, promotional things. We have dispersed 25 million.

Yeah, yeah.

I mean, so yeah, Sour Strips collectively has done in those 3 and a half years has done almost $40 million.

Fuck.

In candy. Damn, which is—

you really are a candy mogul. $40 million. Yeah, that is absolutely insane. Would you ever sell it? Would you ever sell Sour Strips?

You know, the number one question I get asked is first, like, why candy? But then the second thing would be like, would you sell it? And for me, I have zero interest in selling this company to any sort of private equity firm, whatever, that just wants to use it for cash flow, run a business. The only interest I have in giving away equity in the company or giving away ownership or stepping away from it is if there's an opportunity by another player in my space that can utilize their resources to, to get this brand to where I want it to be at a faster pace because of their, you know, they can lower the cost, increase our distribution overnight, um, and have the ability to expand a lot more, uh, items because because this, this is— the brand is very profitable, so I can continue to run this business and I'll make a good, great amount of money, like more money than I need, right?

Yeah.

So it's not like I need just a big payout because, yeah, it'd be cool to have a super large amount in your bank account, but I'm not going to be any happier from that. And the way the business is going, because of everything we've done, it's going to continue to print money. You know, it's going to be profitable for the foreseeable future. So there's no reason to get rid of it, right?

Yeah.

But, um, I was just telling David, this is like, my future for Sour Strips is not this huge payout. That's not what I want. What I want is I want Sour Strips to be a legacy brand that in 30, 40, 50 years from now, still around.

Yeah.

I want the kids that are trying, that I'm, that I have like introduced them, that are 7, 8, 9, 10 years old, when they're 30, I want them to be like, man, I've been eating that since I was a kid. Like, I want it, I want it to be, I want it to be one of the brands. I want it to be a Haribo. Yeah, I don't, I have zero interest in getting into physically owning a plant and manufacturing it. That's not in my interest. So having a great co-manufacturer, um, and supplier is crucial for me. Um, but for me, I just, I want this Sour Ships brand to be be what people are raised on.

And that pumped me up, man. Yeah, that pumped me up.

Yeah.

Now, so I will also— your income has probably increased over the last couple of years. You talk about big payout there. Do you find having more money makes you happier?

You know, I'm not— it's a—

I—

it— that's kind of a two-part answer because money still kind of runs my life and it stresses me out a lot.

Yes.

And I, I still am checking my bank account every single day. Every, every morning I wake up because to see, for me, I'm like, the business is growing if the business account is growing. Yeah. And, you know, when, when I have a down month, that's still substantial amounts of money. I'm like, oh my God. Like, oh my God, it's over. It's over. It's over.

It's over.

Yeah. And so I don't want anyone to think that I'm just like living stress-free all the time, you know, mo money, mo problems.

Yeah.

And but I don't think exponentially more money makes you exponentially more happy. I think that once money provides freedom and security, and once you have enough money, whatever that is for you, to not stress about the mortgage, the bills, to be able to— you know, for me, the fact— I was actually joking with, uh, with Taylor the other day, my girlfriend. Um, in our fridge at home, we have— you open it up and it's like a whole bunch of, you know, at the moment Ghost doesn't have ready-to-drinks, they're reworking their formula. So at the moment I have a bunch of these like ready drink proteins.

Yeah.

That back in the day, you know, that's expensive.

Yeah.

No one just has those ready-to-drinks. And I joke about it, but I was like, the fact that I can just— if I want any drinks in my fridge, I can order them, the expensive ones, and have them ready to drink. That's what rich looks to me. It's like the ability to like buy what I want when I want it, to be able to go out to a restaurant and it doesn't matter what the bill is. It doesn't matter. You know, when I'm with friends and I want to pick up the check, I don't need to fucking— I don't care about if someone ordered an extra couple of drinks or a more expensive something. You know, it's like That is what a financially successful life looks to me. It's for, you know, when I raise a family with my, you know, future wife, right? I want to have a beautiful home with her. I don't want— I want her to be able to, you know, which she wants to do is, you know, live the traditional life of she raises the kids and I support the family. I want to do that.

Yeah.

And that's what I think. And when you have enough money to do what fills your heart and fills your, you know, desires of material items you want. I think that is what financial success means to me. And unless you're someone who wants the lifestyle of, you know, yeah, it's cool, you get the private jets and the yachts and stuff, but I'm not someone who really— that's not my goal.

Yeah.

And unless you want to level up your lifestyle all the time, once you hit a certain amount of money and you can do everything you want and you have, you know, enough money to survive for the rest of your life, like, you know, I think you're good and more money is not going to do that. And then it's just about fulfillment.

Yeah.

You know, you know, I'll be honest with you, I could, I could not make a single dime for the next like 50 years and have a, and have enough money to live a very comfortable life for literally almost until I die. And that's if I didn't make a penny more.

Damn.

But like, I— and I say that, but I'm still hungry every day, not because I want to buy more shit, but it's because I want— I love the chase. I love the fulfillment of building these brands, of seeing the enjoyment on people's faces. And it's— I love the chase. I love solving problems. And I think that's what— that's what the entrepreneurial mindset is. If you're just chasing money, you're never going to be happy. You're chasing pride, chasing fulfillment, chasing passion. And, you know, but again, You need money as much as people, people hate it. But again, you know, once you hit enough and you can buy everything you want, support your friends, help your family, have enough for raising your kids, whatever, it's not going to make you happier. If anything, it's just going to stress you out more.

Yeah, definitely. I agree. And you know, there's even studies to show that there's a certain cutoff point. And like you said, once you get to that point, you're living comfortable, you don't have to be thinking about it non-stop. You hit there and then and you don't really notice anything different. Like, if you actually look at what I do on a day-to-day basis, my lifestyle, you know, traveling, going out to eat, whatever, um, it hasn't changed in like 4 or 5 years, you know. Like, I've, you know, even though I've— my income has gone up, my lifestyle— I've achieved the lifestyle that I want to live.

Like, now, now at Chipotle, I can get the double meat and not worry about it, you know. Now it's like, if I want the nicer couch, I I can get the nicer couch, but I'm not trying to like live a lifestyle that is not me.

Yeah.

You know, just to not only show people how successful I am. Um, it's just, yeah, I have no desire. And even Taylor, my girlfriend, like our interests are having a, you know, a beautiful home with a family, a couple of dogs, being there with each other, being able to, you know, see my kids grow up, be there for them. That's what my future is. It's not, it's not driving around on, you know, yachts and Lambos every day. And again, there might be a time in my life where I'm like, you know what, I'm gonna get a sports car.

Maybe life surprises.

Yeah, something. But like, it— right now, that's not what I'm working towards. Because again, it's like— and it's not even I'm trying to say a flex or anything, but it's like, I have enough money.

Yeah.

But I'm working on, on bigger things.

Yeah. What do you spend most your money on?

Food, bro.

Me too. Yeah, no, it's terrible. Like, so I, I've got like my account, like, breaks down your spending. Like, it has like health, uh, you know, leisure, uh, restaurants, bar. Like, it shows, it's really detailed. It's a really good app.

When I was in like college and stuff, there was a lot of times, because again, I didn't have a lot of, I didn't have a lot of money, I remember setting up like almost like either daily or weekly things where I was like, every day I'm only gonna spend— I said I'd be able to eat like one meal out a week or like I'm only going to spend $15 a day on food. That is my cap. Yeah, that is my cap. I'm going to do. And what I have— and I've talked about this with my girlfriend and like I was like, what wealth looks like to me. And it may not seem like that, but I was like, at any moment, any time, if any of my friends are like, let's go get dinner right now. Hey, oh, I know we have some groceries or something, but like, let's go out and get lunch. Like the fact that I can go to a restaurant I want for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and buy and eat any meal that I want. And that is what I— that's financial freedom to me. Yeah.

Like, by the way, thank you for picking up the bill last night. Oh, me and Linda were talking about this morning. That was super kind of you. I did not— you are a slick Rick with that. I did not know you did that, but thank you. And so me and Linda were just talking about that as well. So we're going home in 6 days, so we're like, Hey, you know what? We're not doing the groceries this week. Yeah, we're eating out every single day. And I love it. Yeah, I love the whole experience of eating out.

Like, I love it.

When my app was like, you spend thousands per month on eating out, I was like, I'm fine with that. I was like, oh, that's okay.

There's plenty of meals that like my girlfriend and I will like make at home and stuff. But I just, again, it's like because I remember this, I remember having the mindset of like, I'm only gonna spend $50 a week on food. Yeah. And it's not that you need to spend a bunch, but like Like to me, that was what I felt like because I knew that like there was times where I was like, oh, I wish I could go out, but like, I don't have the money for it. Yeah. And for me, I was like, I'm going to feel rich when I could be about to make dinner and my friend could be like, dude, let's go get a steak. Yeah, let's go to get some Mexican food. Sure. I don't have to think about the cost of it. I don't have to think about, oh, oh man, what if, you know, I just bought this food and I'm not going to like waste food. It's just the ability to like not even have to think about the bill.

You're motivating me now to bring Linda out for dinner again tonight. I can see she's real happy over there. Have you watched How to Be Rich on Netflix? Yeah, man, you're mad. I knew you would love that. I actually think you put up a story often.

I'm trying to get him on my podcast, but he won't respond to my DMs.

He actually— I tagged him on a story, he responded, so maybe that's why.

Me begging him to come on my podcast. Yeah, but no, he's awesome. No. And his perception—

Ramit, Ramit. Yeah.

Yeah. And his thing of like, you know, what your rich life— and it's like, you know, people's perception of like needing this certain amount of money and it's like, what is that going to change? Like, what does rich look like to you? If, if, if you're like, hey, like how much money do you need to think you're like ballin' rich? Someone's like $5 million.

Yeah.

Something like that. Right. You'd be like, okay, poof, you have $5 million. Like, what are you going to do? They'd be like, oh, uh, Well, I mean, nothing, nothing different. It's like, why do you think you need $5 million? And it's, it's, it's, there's a lot of depth and complexity to these types of conversations. But again, it's for me, financial freedom and wealth and me being rich is what I want to spend my money on is a beautiful home. Yeah, right. Like I'm going to, I want to build my dream home and it's going to be a lot of money. It's going to be a bougie house, but that's what I want to spend my money on. And other than that, it's going to be but there are certain things like when I go stay at a hotel by myself, I get the cheap-ass room because I'm like, I don't care about that, right? It's not just because I can afford it. I'm like, oh, I don't— there's a $1,000 room or $150 room. The $1,000 room is not going to affect my finances whatsoever, but I'll get the $150 room.

Yes.

But on certain things I'll splurge on.

Yeah, it's, you know, he said that as well. You know, be very specific on what you want. And there's a few things like cars, I never really— yeah, you know, I could have bought like an Auréate or a Lambo last year, you know. I bought the villa instead, and this was the most fulfilling thing ever.

Like, beautiful.

Thank you. I always wake up— Linda, how grateful am I every day I wake up? We've been in it nearly a year now. Well, not really, it's only— we know we started— we finished the renovation like last October. But like, we didn't even like— we only got Wi-Fi in like, you know, November, December. So— but then we only got like the wardrobes in last week. It's fully done now, but I still haven't got used to it. I still don't take it for granted.

And that's what it's like. And again, you can't knock people who maybe come from money and don't, you know, have— you know, I don't say an easier life of not having to worry about finances, but, you know, myself and you and like, you know, when you wake up in a house that you're like, I worked my ass off to get this house and like you feel, you feel this type of thing. Yeah. That you can't buy. Yeah, I mean, well, you bought the house, but you know what I mean? You know the work that you put in, and that's, that's what, that's what drives me each day.

Yeah, there's actually a, there's a few people have commented this, and it's like the nice thing ever. And they're like, especially on the videos that are about the villa, or where I start off in the villa, and they're like, Rob, crazy to just click videos oldest to newest, and you see, you know, I lived in this fucking weird house with shared accommodations, another story there. I, you know, shit would get stolen out of my room and everything. It was terrible. I hated living there. You know, strangers would start a fight on me in my kitchen. They'd come in drunk and I'm just like trying to do YouTube. And just comparing that until now, and it's like, it's not even that long ago. Like, the video, it says uploaded like 7 or 8 years ago. I think it's actually coming up, coming up to 9 now on YouTube. But that's not long ago. Like, my life has completely changed in under a decade. And so for me, like when someone leaves a comment like that, it's just—

yeah. And that's what a lot of, I think, the younger generation who gets bummed out about maybe not having the, the growth success they think they have, be like, you got to look at individuals like myself, for you, that like it takes time, it takes years and years and years. And, you know, it's— for us in the very early phases, there wasn't the ability to make boatloads of cash, right? But we've— can we continue to push on because the things that we're passionate about and the hard work has paid off. And everyone that, you know, all the people that were giving me shit 10 years ago, I'm like, you know, about making fun of me back then, I'll be like, let's compare our lives. You know, I stuck with the thing that you were giving me shit for and look where it got me because I had this vision of where I wanted to be in the future and I've continued to work towards it. And I think the future is gonna be something beautiful for myself and my family and my businesses. And I'm so, you know, grateful and have so much pride in where I've started and where I'm at and how far I can go.

That's a beautiful thing. And I'm actually glad that— it sounds strange to say, but I'm glad it took us this long. I'm glad it wasn't like a big overnight blow-up.

I would have been blowing my money way faster.

Same. Blow my money, blow my load.

Yeah.

I also think that, how do I say it, like we've got really hardcore audiences. Like, you know, we've got just the nicest people. I come and think we meet them in person. We've built up a really good community. I think if you blow up on social media and you do it too fast, you don't actually have time to nurture that community. If you know what I mean, makes sense. Like, so I think that, you know, we've done it in a nice kind of sustainable way. You know, that's like that we can build like, you know, companies off the back of it. So I'm glad that it's, taken this long. And so talking about the future, okay, you mentioned, you know, your family, relationships and everything. Why were you single for so damn long?

Because of all these damn hoes. Yeah, it's, uh, for the longest time I just thought that it was, you know, impossible for me. I would just, you know, I'd meet— I would meet beautiful girls, I'd meet beautiful women, and, you know, have connections with them, but just something wouldn't be there. Yeah, there's something I'd be like, they're attractive, we get along, but nah. And I don't know what— it's like I can't explain what that was. And then for the longest time, I thought that like girls would just slow me down. So I was like, oh, I'll just— I'll be single. I'll have, you know, I'll have my fun while I'm single, and I will just focus on myself because there's no girl in the world that'll be able to put up with my like schedule and my, my process and my annoyance.

Yeah, your craziness.

And so, you know, but it took— I never believed in like the whole soulmate thing because I thought it was just lame. But I think it's truly like when you meet the person, you just know. And that's how I felt. And I never experienced that until I met the girl that I'm currently with. And it was just— she changed my world. She changed my views on what I thought was possible, what I thought— as lame as it sounds— like what I thought love could be. And how like head over heels you could be for someone. And, you know, I— my audience has seen me not only introduce this girl, fall for this girl, and a year and a half in, just— I'm not— I'm not afraid to tell people how much I love Taylor. I'm not afraid to show people how much I love our life and how happy I am with her and how much I adore her. And like, I— and it's— and it's a shame that in the world that's looked at as a weak man or like a simp or like, oh, you need to protect yourself. Be like, I, you know, I think being in a happy relationship should be celebrated. And I think, and I think it should be shared with the world because I don't think there's enough of it out there.

Yeah, I think the world's gone a little bit too hard in a sense, and that it's like men versus women, Mortal Kombat. I know. And it's like, I actually think it's more masculine if you want to, you know, use that word, to show your love. And to put your heart on your sleeve and be like, hey, you know, I'm gonna look and care for this person and I love this person. And by the way, right, I'm gonna listen, okay? People might look at Max and think he's, you know, oh, this fun, goofy guy. No, I've seen hot-ass chicks fawning over Max in Vegas, Miami. I'm telling you. And even you probably realize now from this podcast, dude's a savage businessman. So you're not, you know, you're not You know, you're like, you're a masculine dude. So, you know, to hear you say that, I think it's a good thing. And you had Fresh and Fit on your podcast, right? Yeah. What was that like? I watched it, but I can't remember.

It was, it was good. I mean, I think that they bring up a lot of valid points.

Yeah, I agree with most what they say.

Yeah, I think they do. I think it's a lot of it's for content a little bit, but I, they, they deliver it in a very extreme, aggressive way. And I think there's different ways to deliver the type of concept you're trying to put out in the world to just make people maybe, you know, realize different views on certain situations that do make sense if you logically look at it without maybe emotions attached to it of just like initial, like anger. Right. But I understand that the way they delivered of like shock, women are hoes, women are hoes, men are everything, women need men. Like I was like, yeah, okay. You know, like that may not be the best delivery mechanism.

Right.

Um, so I think it was important for me to have them on because I feel like if, if they only interview people that fully agree with them, they're gonna be in this echo chamber forever. And I think although controversial, and a lot of people gave me shit for having them on, I was like, I don't, I disagree with a lot of things that they say. And I think it's important for people like myself to interview these people and, you know, be like, hey, I understand what you're saying. I respect it. I disagree with it. And here's why. Or to push back of like, why do you feel this strongly about this thing? And here's someone that, like myself— because again, I, I consider myself a high-value man, a top 1% of people. And, you know, I, I think there's good and bad about this whole manosphere thing, but I think the bad that comes out of it, um— because I think the good is that it's pushing men to become the best versions of themselves.

Yes.

Um, to level themselves up because of this social, you know, the— what do they call it— the, the red pill mark— the marketplace.

So as social SMV, sexual marketplace, face value or something like that, right?

So I think there is good in all of this stuff because it's leveling everything up. And, you know, there are always— there's always going to be outliers, um, and— but I think the bad thing is that it's making this thing of like, men should fear women, men should think that all women are bad, men should think that all women are out to get them. Yeah. And, you know, and if— and if you are a high-value man, then the only reason that any girl is gonna like you is because of your status.

Yeah.

And I'm like, well, no shit, a girl's gonna like you more if you're a successful guy. Yeah, you know, like, yeah, I would, I would like a successful guy, you know. Like, it's like, I think that's the dumbest concept of like, yeah, this girl only likes you because you're successful.

Yeah, it's like, well, yeah, yeah.

And I'm like, well, I'm only in this situation because of everything that I've done to get to here, so I would have never met— it's, it's a complex thing, but I think that, I think it's, uh, it should be embraced that men can, you know that can have soft spots, that don't have to be this hard alpha all the time, that can, you know, I lay and talk in little goofy voices with Taylor, and, you know, I'm texting like emojis and like 4 Y's on my hey's and stuff. And, you know, the freshman guys, but I would never do that, dude, that's a simp mode. I'm like, I mean, me and— if you were a fly on the wall hearing me and Taylor talk, you'd be like, you guys are so fucking lame.

No, no, no, Linda, like, we have accents, we talk with each other. I think every— most couples are the same. No, we have our own language. Yeah, it's, it's a mixture between Irish and like, I don't know what the other language is.

It's, it's none of it makes sense, but in my mind I'm like, that's real. Yeah, that's real.

And I think like sometimes I just call Linda Noreen.

Yeah, there's all these things and like, you know, people are so against like Andrew Tate and all, and all this stuff, but I was like I was like, bro, if every man was the exact same, like, hardcore mindset of Andrew Tate, I was like, that'd be a weird world.

Yeah, yeah. I like, I like Andrew Tate. Oh, me too.

He, he brought a lot of good into this world. Yeah, there's a lot of things that again are very extreme, but I think are for shock value.

Yeah. And a lot of guys take it way too far and they like to just make it their identity. Yes, really. It's like they, they take it further than also like the Tates and the Fresh and Fits themselves.

Yeah. And I think a lot of it's like, yeah, if you are a guy that that, you know, goes to places like Miami and goes to clubs and goes after these specific types of girls, yeah, you're probably going to have this specific view towards women because you're put— you're in these environments. But for the people like myself, I was like, I think I'm a good-looking dude, very successful, top 1%, and I think you can have a very healthy relationship and not be in fear that, you know, she's talking to 12 other dudes. So I was like, and you just have to, you know, understand and do understand. And, you know, not— I'm not saying be with women, like sleep with a bunch of women, but like you have to experience the world to know what values you align with and what, uh, attributes about women that you like and dislike, so that when you meet a girl, you can very quickly realize that she's for you or not.

Yeah. And what are, what are some of those values that you look for when you're getting into a long-term relationship?

For me, and this is, you know, everything that Taylor has would be— it's, it's— I look for I want to live in the future, I want to live a very traditional life.

Yes.

I want the woman to be a woman. I want the man to be a man.

What do I— you would say they, them, you know, you can be multiple now.

You know, it's a world out here. I, I just, you know, I think that I live in the world of a man, not because women need it, but because like I choose to provide financially, be for my household. And when, when, when we have children— I, which she does want to, you know, to raise the children and that be her role in, you know, she carries the feminine, feminine energy, feminine energy. And I'll, you know, I'll be the man. Yeah, yeah.

No, no, me and Linda think the exact same, you know. I think you're probably very, very similar couple to us. And so have you guys spoken about what are your thoughts on, on marriage and having kids and all that. Yeah, we're getting old, man. We gotta—

we're, we're very much, uh, it's all gonna happen. And again, I was kind of— yeah, I was, I was very indifferent on marriage because again, you know, marriage is a great example where I understand the complete concept of, you know, why do you need to have a contract? Why can't you just be with someone, right? I'm like, because to me that makes sense. It's like, why do we need to sign a contract or whatever? But when I met Taylor, where has she has a very, you know, religious background and her values and what marriage means to her is very, very important. It's not to like lock down a man. It's because it's this commitment one has with another man is with woman, you know, and like through, you know, thick and thin, through sickness and in health, through bad and good. And, and like I— and after spending so much time with her, like, I truly believe that that is like like what— why she wants to get married, um, not to lock down a man. And for me, I'm like, I understand why this means a lot to you. And while if you were fine with just not being married, I'd be okay with that as well, because it means— not just because I'm doing it because it means a lot to you, is I understand your views on marriage, and I, and I accept that, and I am totally fine with, with getting married to you.

Yeah.

And whereas before I was like kind of against it, but again, I think when you meet the right people, your views change. And, uh, of course I want to live a very traditional life. I want to raise a very traditional family. And I think finding people that align with that is, uh, is difficult. And, but it's also important. And to, you know, compromise when necessary, but also to stick with your, you know, these are my non-negotiables.

Yeah.

Yeah, these, you know, if a lot of times people are like, one person really wants kids, one person just like, I do not want kids, but then you're like, okay, I, I guess I'll have kids. And then you get 3 years in and they're ready to have kids and you're like, I changed my mind. Like, what a waste of fucking time.

Yeah, yeah, you got to be on the same page. And one thing I'm always wondering this, okay, it's not really a thing in Ireland, okay, but with America, it's 12 inches, not a thing in Ireland. So in America, so when you're aligning your values and your beliefs, do politics come into play? Like, do you all have to have like the same politics? Like, if maybe the girl is like left-leaning and the guy's right-leaning, is that just destined for failure?

Uh, I know there's like dating apps where it's like, I, I guess that would play a, a part, but to— for me, I am so just honestly like embarrassingly unaware of what's happening in the world.

You're better off, better off.

Where like, I don't have a— if you ask me like very specific questions to like figure out which way I probably lean, I would answer questions and like how I believe, and you'd be like, oh, because of all these answers, you are more a Republican or a Democrat. Yeah. Um, you know, and, and so, but I don't lean any sort of way. Um, but I don't think it's about like Taylor, you like Trump? You like Biden?

Fuck out.

No, it's, it's— and again, if, if I ever met anyone that had this hardcore thing, I'd be like, we already aren't going to mesh. Not because of the politics, but because of just you're so hardcore where you'd like a— it's, it's a complex kind of answer. But, but no, I wouldn't really say that. I mean, I think Taylor has probably more specific, uh, political views than I do, especially with you know, uh, you know, pageant past where she has to be involved in a lot of these things and understand what's going on in the world. Um, and she's very well, uh, versed and educated on these things, significantly more than me. Okay. But that never impedes in our relationship. And again, after spending nearly every second of the day, you know, for the past almost 2 years with the girl, you should get a very understanding of whether you're a good fit for the long haul.

Yeah.

And for me, 1000%. There's not a doubt in my mind, and, um, I'm excited to spend the rest of my life with her.

That's beautiful. Yeah. So quick one on the politics, and, uh, I know you had him on as a previous recent guest. Chris Jones once said the best thing. Uh, he probably does not realize this, okay?

Yeah.

It was— must have been in 2016. It was around election time, and I was just watching one of his vlogs, and he was like, I don't give a fuck who— because you know the way he talks— who becomes president. He goes, I'm gonna wake up tomorrow and I'm gonna work my ass off and do the same thing I'm gonna do.

1000%.

I don't know how people— it's like the people that they think that it's going to make like this big difference for all their lives. I, I saw another good one. So it's like, uh, it's like the extreme— you're either extremely broke or extremely rich if you think—

yeah, I think with politics like that is like no matter what, if the left or the right gets elected and that's gonna affect your tax— if you're like, well, if this person gets elected, Max, your taxes are going to go up. And I was like, yeah, well then I guess I'll have to make more money then.

Yeah, you know, I'm like, same with everyone's then. Yeah, yeah.

I was like, guess what? So does that. I'm just like, I just adapt and evolve. And if I have so many things that stress me out in the day and I have to— if I have to add the stress of the political decisions in and how that's going to impact my day-to-day basis, I'm still going to go get Chipotle tomorrow. If because this person's in office, it's an extra 50-cent tax or whatever. And again, it's not just because I have more money, but it's like It's kind of like gas prices. You can bitch all you want about gas prices. Yes. You're still gonna get gas.

Yeah. Yeah. I'm like, everyone is, it's the gas price is going up. It's like, well, same for everyone.

Yeah.

We're all in it together.

That's where I'm like, I don't really care what the price is cuz I need gas. And it's like, and if I can't afford it, I'm gonna, I'm drive less. I'm gonna get rid of it. Like, it's like, I'm just, I'm just gonna adapt with it because that's just who I am. And like, you can get all frustrated or whatever, but guess what? All the anger and the stress that you have about out, all this other stuff. I don't experience any of that.

Nice.

None of that.

What do you say you stress about the most on a daily basis? What are something— some things that stress you out?

Uh, I'd say honestly money, like, but it's not because it's just you're constantly doubting yourself and thinking that if there's ever like one step back that everything is going to crumble, man. Or like I have a dip in followers, it's all over. Oh, the business this, you know, even last, last month, even for Sour— I'll, you know, I'll be honest with you, Sour Strips had a down month last month. It is still substantially a large amount of money.

It's all over.

Like a year ago. I mean, it's like double, triple of this time last year, this month. But I'm like, oh, it's a, it's a down from the month before. We're fucked.

You're done. You're done.

Exactly. So I mean, stressing about that kind of stuff definitely does.

Yeah, I'm the exact same. I remember like even and, you know, I was looking at my accounts on a yearly basis and I was like, you know, I see this huge dip this year because I bought a house. Yeah. And that, you know, for over half a million, then renovated it, which was like all in cash, pretty much about $150K in total. And I'm like, ah, you know, where's— I was like, Linda, look, there's a dip. And she was like, look around you, you bought a fucking house. And I'm like, oh yeah. Like, I get attached to the number on the screen as well. So like, you know, I'm same with you. And I think the best— one of the best traits, uh, or qualities that you can have as an entrepreneur is to be stoic, okay? Is to not get attached when, you know, the charts, the, the analytics dip, or don't get too excited when they go up. I think stay in the middle. Don't celebrate when times are good and don't get caught up in it.

Yeah, and it's like, just like with— it's like, just expand out and be like, it's not about the day-to-day, the month-to-month, it's about the year-to-year, the 5-year-to-5-year. It's like there's a difference of having a dip and, you know, understanding that's going to happen, a little fluctuation, and also understanding that like, hey, and if it's happening again, okay, as a business owner, like, let's take a look back. Why is this happening? You know, how can I improve on that? How can I, you know, shift? How can I evolve? How can I pivot? Right. And I think that's what's important is, you know, if it keeps going down, down, down, down, down, there's a problem.

Yeah.

And you're just getting in comfort mode and thinking that you're only going to go up, up, up, up, up.

Up.

So it's analyzing. But I think no matter how successful you get, you're still going to stress. Again, mo money, mo problems. And yeah, and it's just— I guess a big stress that I have is always just wondering if I'm doing everything that I can to my fullest ability.

Yeah, me too. I always feel like I beat myself up a lot when I'm like not having—

relaxing.

Yeah, relaxing. And that, like, Linda will tell you that. She's like, that's one of my worst qualities probably is that like, I can't have a day where I'm like, if I like lay around all day and like, even if I've had a really good month, I will not be able to enjoy myself. And so one thing last year, I really went hard on myself. So I was renovating the house. We were kind of like, just ended up traveling loads. I was out in Texas for a little bit, Tulum, you know. And so I, we like traveled around a lot, I ate out loads, and like I was building this house, which is a huge achievement in itself. And but I felt I was like, I wasn't, you know, on my laptop productive and everything. So I was so hard on myself and I couldn't even enjoy my whole summer. Like last summer I really didn't enjoy it because I felt I didn't deserve it. But this one, this time I went like monk mode, you know, didn't even consume alcohol for like 100 days. February, March, April, May, competed, filmed an Alfie documentary, finished the house, relaunched this, started Top 5% Podcast. Now I can feel I've earned my summer. But that's not good that I feel that I have to, you know, do something to make myself relax and that I beat myself up when I'm not being productive enough. But look, it's a burden we must carry. And does Taylor help you relax your stress a little bit?

That's actually like one of the— what I thought that a relationship would pull away from my business because I'd have to spend time with, you know, my girlfriend. And that's actually like, she makes me not— it's not only an outlet to talk to, talk about the day, whereas before I maybe didn't have that on a regular basis. I kind of bottled up a lot of stresses and, um, where I can have her opinion of a complete kind of outsider in the space. Um, that's really beneficial, but it's made me realize that it's fine to relax. And for us, like, I mean, I still have my phone and if I get a text or an email, I'm going to answer it. Um, but like around 7:30, 8:00 PM, I mean, I really— I— we make dinner and I sit down and I— we sit and watch Netflix and walk the dog for the next like 2, 3 hours. And whereas, you know, and I— but now I'm at the point where I have the system set up that I can do that.

Yeah.

Right. I had to put in the years of being 24/7. You know, I—

what—

how I live now is not how I lived to be able to get to this point. Yes. And yes, Taylor has 1,000% allowed me to relax, de-stress, and realize it's okay to step away from the computer, to step away from the business, and like nothing's gonna crumble. And if anything, it's only helped me grow even more because of the, uh, the benefit that she's, she's brought without even meaning to. Just her just being a great person and being a great girlfriend has been like, wow, this is like— I thought it was gonna be a negative having a girl. It's such a positive. Yeah, in so many ways.

I remember when I was single, I was like be actually way less productive. I'd be like in the DMs all day, going out constantly, like in nightclubs and everything. Not the best place to find a girl. Yeah, by the way. But when you're actually in a relationship, I find I have a lot more time. But I love what you said there as well about how you can't— you can do that now because you've did something else in the past. Like, I remember in 2014, '15, '16, you know, when I just started the channel, just in the fitness industry there was no flights to the Maldives. I'd hardly ever go out. I would drink maybe a handful of times a year. But they were like integral years to allow me to have the lifestyle that I have now.

Yeah, and it all just evolves over time. It's not like you're like, okay, I have to do this for exactly 1 year and at this moment then I can start doing this thing. It just naturally changes your life. Your life will naturally change, and when it's appropriate to do more, you'll do more. When it's appropriate to do less and it not impede your business. And yeah, you could be on 24/7 and, you know, min-max everything you're doing and make the most amount of cash every second of the day. But I have, I have zero interest to do that. I'm not trying to monetize everything I do. Again, I really enjoy playing some nerd video games on the weekends. I'll spend like, like hours, hours on the weekend. Like, yeah.

What games?

Like Path of Exile, Diablo, Fortnite. You nerd. I know. And I don't stream it. I don't try to make money. It's just, and it's like, I'm really wasting time. But like, for me, like, I'm like, and for a long time I'd be like, I can't do these things I like because I'm not working on my business. I could be designing new packaging, I could be editing a podcast. And I'm like, now I'm like, those can wait. Like, I'm going to spend the next 4 hours sitting here literally doing nothing. Yeah. But, and, you know, but I couldn't always do that. And it's not like I'm like, you know, work hard so you can play video games all day. But I have a, I have a very good work-life balance now.

Okay.

Very good.

I'm actually interested to know, and I do not know this, what is like a day in the life of Maxx Chewning? Like, what time do you wake up at? And like, what's your daily routine? Actually, I have no idea.

Uh, during the week it's pretty repetitive. Uh, I wake up at 7. My alarm goes off 7 AM every day. Uh, usually I, I'll naturally get up like 6:30, but I wake up, shower, always walk my dog, uh, come back in, make some greens for me and my girlfriend because I've realized you basically need to keep your girlfriend alive with protein intake and nutrients and stuff. So I'm like giving Taylor greens. Protein.

She doesn't drink water. I know, like, she didn't drink water. I'm like, how are you alive?

Taylor literally told me while we're walking, and she goes, yeah, sometimes I forget to breathe.

Uh, no, and I'm not surprised.

She's like, I'll go like 30 seconds and realize I haven't taken a breath. I'm like, what? I was like, I'm like, one more thing I have to remember you to do. But no, I, I— so then I usually leave for— because I work, I prefer to— I can work from home any day of the week, uh, and at the moment I am because we're in between offices, but I prefer kind kind of separating my work a little bit. And for me, it's a little different because I have a distribution center. So I have the space for it. Um, but I usually get to the office around between 8:30 and 9:00. I'm there until, and then I'm there until about 4:00 at work. And then at 4:00, usually that's when Taylor will come and we go work out. We get home around 6:00, 6:30. We'll go usually grab some, if we're not going out to dinner, we'll grab some like stuff in the grocery store. We get groceries for like that night's dinner. We don't, we don't get groceries for like a week.

Man, we do the weekly shop.

It would make sense, but like, it's just because like we just stop by Target on the way home and get like one pack of turkey, one pack of veggies for that night's dinner, even though we're gonna have it the next three nights. So we'll like make dinner on— we like get home, shower, usually eat dinner around like 7:30, 7:45, watch a movie, watch a show, take the— do take my dog for a walk. Yeah, go, go to bed around 10, repeat it. And then on the weekends, it's unless we have something planned with friends Yeah, I usually like, I wake up and I'd say for the first like couple hours, the first part of the day, that, that's when I go play my video games.

Damn, in the morning?

Yeah, cuz she'll like lay, cuz like, we'll, I still wake up at like 8, like she was kind of lay and just like scroll on social media and just do whatever she enjoys. Um, if I need to get caught up on work, I will. And like Saturdays we'll go to the gym around 11 and just whatever, like take the dog to the park. We'll go, you know, the pool, we'll go maybe on a little trip, but yeah. We just kind of hang out, like the weekends usually like relax mode.

Yeah.

Like it's usually like you have your, your weekends.

Yeah. Wait, so you said 9 to 4 you're in the office. So I'm like, well, that's the bulk of the day. You didn't go into too much detail there. I'm like, what are you doing?

I'm sitting at my computer. Okay.

From 9 to 4.

Just, yeah. And like, I'll need to go to distribution. It depends if I'm filming that day, I'll be like, okay, what cool things can I do today to like make it seem like I'm really cool? So I'll, you know, filming days are a little different. Different. But if I'm not filming and I'm in the office from 9 to 4, I am sitting at my computer, spreadsheets, emails, planning. But I do procrastinate. I watch some YouTube videos. Like, yeah, I'm not like locked in the whole time, not, you know, never. I'm scrolling social media a little bit. But yeah, I just, I just, a lot of what my world is now, especially in, uh, the, the candy space and even the clothing It's a lot of like you do a lot of stuff and then you wait for things to happen.

Yeah.

So it's a lot of like emails, you know, design concepts you need and like it's my of like, here's what I need, send it off to the people that I need and I wait for a response. And until I get that, there's only so many things I can do. And when, when, when I get the response back, okay, that triggers me needing to do this other thing, man.

I, you know, I actually like relate to that so much. It makes me feel so much better. Like this has taken me a year. Yeah, this has taken me a year to get the, the graphic design, the packaging, the formula. Like, I had to get like the, the measurements. I'm like, I had to choose, does foil go at the bottom of this? Like, everything. How much is the shipping going to cost? Shit takes so much time when you're making physical products. And tell me, what is the game plan for the second half of the year, Max? You got some big things lined up.

We really do have a lot of big, uh, I'm traveling like a lot. Uh, we have We're doing a pop-up event at Gymshark. Yeah, pop-up in LA. Yeah, something that I actually had— this would be a Game Plan exclusive. Okay, all right, hit us up. We're actually doing a booth at F1 in Austin with a kind of a collaboration with Red Bull Racing. Yeah, so we're gonna— so that's Sour Strips. That's wild.

Like, that's like— that's like, how do I say, mainstream. Yeah, you know, that— that's huge.

So we're doing that. I have a couple weddings to go to. I have which are, you know, ones in like Napa Valley, ones in Iceland I'm going to. Yeah, there's a big collab which we can't say, you know, coming up in September that's going to be massive. So some huge retailers we're going into with Sour Strips, moving warehouses. So honestly, for the next— yeah, what, 5, 4 or 5 months, the end of the year, it's jam-packed and I'm super excited because it's going to set us up for an amazing 2024. And, and on.

And life's gonna be good. Now everyone already knows where to find you, but I think it's common courtesy to give yourself some plugs before we wrap up.

The only thing I don't like to plug any— I just like to be like, go check my YouTube channel out, you know, come on, come, come check out the vlog, see what I'm about, see, you know, if I'm just as real as, you know, on my here as I am on my vlogs. Um, you know, I'm not everyone's cup of tea, but come over, be entertained. See what I'm up about. And then, you know, I have a lot of businesses and extensions of things that I work with, and, you know, get involved.

Nice. Max, I want to say, not only am I very inspired, I've learned so much from this conversation we had today. I also want to say how proud of you I am, and just to call you a friend, and really impressive what you've done. And that's a real feeling to have you here in the Lipsett on the pod. Fucking smashed it today, dude.

Boom. Cheers.