Brad Pyatt

Even if things are going great, there is still room for improvement and bettering a service, marketing strategy or making your products better. Because in any business, competition is stiff and business owners, seasoned and new, are staying relevant.

 

Brad Pyatt is a former professional football player, an entrepreneur, and health fanatic who created a health and wellness company that prides itself on products that were accessible by everyone. He attended Arvada West High school, where he is now a coach for his alma mater and went on to study kinesiology and exercise science at both the University of Kentucky and Northern Colorado University, where he was a model student before being drafted by the NFL in 2003. Mr. Brad Pyatt spent four years playing for different teams, including the Indianapolis Colts, then went onto Arena Football. Once he retired from the pros, Brad Pyatt wanted to create a company that focused on health and wellness, which began in his garage and turned into a multimillion-dollar empire. In his spare time, Brad likes playing golf, watching television, going to the movies, and spending time with his family. Brad Pyatt also loves to help others who are less fortunate and promote ways to implement healthy living with people around the world.

Where did the idea to become an entrepreneur come from?

The idea came from my passion for helping others live their best and healthiest life. We all want to have good health and stay fit, but sometimes need a different set of tools to make it a reality. From there, I came up with the idea of creating my former company with that in mind and had three others on board, who had the same beliefs and values I hold dear. That was the foundation we needed to make it happen, and we hit the ground running.

What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?

My typical day is filled to the brim with meetings, product creation and coming up with marketing strategies. I make my day productive by planning my days out from start to finish in a calendar and then writing any tasks I need to do on a list. For each thing I complete or meeting I attend, I check that off of my list and move onto the next thing. For me, this gives me a visual on how much I got done throughout the day, and if it wasn’t what I was hoping for, then I work on knocking my list down a little more.

How do you bring ideas to life?

I research a lot of trends and read a lot of customer input, to come up with new ideas for new products and how we can improve what we currently have. From there, I study about how this will help empower each customer to improve their health, write down the pros and cons for each idea, then present it to my partners. After that, we come up with a few protocols and then test them out, before letting customers try out our innovations. Once we get the green light, we will give our loyal base to try it out, then fix anything that they may not like about it before sharing the new product with the rest of the world. So, it might take a while from start to finish, but as the saying goes, the best things go to those who wait.

What’s one trend that excites you?

Right now, the big thing is clean eating, and I am seeing more companies focusing on creating cleaner products for health fanatics. The millennial generation has been more focused and cautious on what they put into their bodies and want to make sure that each bite they take is as natural as you’d find from the garden. I am excited about this, because not only does clean wellness products tap into a newer market, but I see this as a long-lasting trend that will be popular for many years, if not indefinitely.

What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?

I plan everything in my day out from the time I wake up until the time I go to sleep. For me this keeps everything organized, and I can check my to-do-list on my calendar off as I complete them. I also never pay attention to the clock, because if a person only focuses on how long it takes them to finish what they need to do throughout the day, then it’s going to make them take longer to complete things. I also know when it is time to take a break and relax, to help me better focus on everything. These are the three things I do to stay productive and get things done.

What advice would you give your younger self?

There are a few pieces of advice that I could give to younger Brad Pyatt, that would have helped me throughout my career during my time in football and my former business. One of those pieces of advice is that even when things start going wrong, continue to believe in yourself and the abilities that you possess. I say this because everyone gets down on themselves when life isn’t going their way, but they have to stay optimistic to overcome those obstacles. Another piece of advice that I’d give to myself is patience pays off. Again, when it comes to any venture in your life, whether personal or professional, things aren’t going to fall into your lap right away. It takes a lot of perseverance and hard work to make anything we touch easier to reach.

Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on?

Hmm….well before the clean eating phenomenon became apparent, I mentioned something to my former business partners that we should look into this more and create products around the growing trend. But many of them were like, no we don’t see this working out, because if you want whole food-based diets, then you head to your local farmers market. As you can see, clean eating and products that fit into the way of life have taken off a thousand-fold, and more companies than ever in the industry are cashing in on the popular niche.

As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?

I continue to improve every aspect of the company when I worked there. Whether it was customer service or coming up with a new product, I always stayed on top of the trends along with what works. You want to keep ahead of the competition to remain successful and make sure that your customers feel valued and listened to because it is them who’s the backbone of any business and its success.

What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?

Persistence and always perfecting each product we sell. Even if things are going great, there is still room for improvement and bettering a service, marketing strategy or making your products better. Because in any business, competition is stiff and business owners, seasoned and new, are staying relevant. That has worked for me in the past and currently because of new or improved shows not only customers that you are listening to their needs, but it also gives the owners a sense of accomplishment.

What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?

Well, I ran into some snafus a few years ago with my former business that needed to be corrected right away. We partnered with an individual who did not help with growth at all, and we felt the impacts of his doings. I overcame it by focusing on making sure that our strategies were on the up and up, so we could help customers receive quality products that our brand is so well-known for.

What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?

There are tons of business ideas that anyone can do to make money. Each new entrepreneur should ask themselves, what are their skills, and what can they do to make those skills marketable? How can you beat the competition and show customers that what you offer is better? It’s all about mindset and finding the right angle to market your skills or products that haven’t been tapped yet. Anyone can start up a business with the skills they already possess.

What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?

The best $100 I spent was for a kid that I used to coach, whose family is going through some tough financial times. So, I helped him out by paying for his summer football camp that the team I coached for does every summer, to keep their game in check. I like helping others who are less fortunate because you never know when you may need the assistance or they can pay it forward to someone else who might be struggling.

What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive? How do you use it?

I have been a massive fan of Wellness Living, which is similar to a Customer Relationship Management behemoth such as Salesforce, but more focused on the health and wellness industry. It helps with managing customers, you can market locally or worldwide from this, if you want customers to book online, you can set it up through the software. The possibilities are endless, and you can cater Wellness Living to your specific needs. I am also a big fan of Dropbox to share files with business partners, where we can collaborate on many things.

What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?

There are two books that I think are great for those who are looking into getting into the health and wellness field or any business for that matter. The first one is “Mastering Your Wellness Business: Helping You Put the Pieces Together“, by Gail Sophia Edgel and Traci Brosman. I recommend it for anyone looking to become a wellness coach or starting their own business surrounding the industry because they create this perfect blueprint on everything from product creation to how to market your products to the right customers. The book is wholly detailed on everything and doesn’t leave any stone unturned.

Another book that has helped me and I recommend for anyone going into business for themselves is “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie. I cannot recommend this book enough since it has been around for almost eight decades. It teaches you the psychology of each person you meet and how to turn them into lifetime customers. It also illustrates the power of influence and how to make yourself more influential to those you attend.

What is your favorite quote?

My favorite quote is “Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking“, by Marcus Aurelius. That is because the only person who can make themselves comfortable and successful is you. It’s your train of thoughts and belief in one’s self that will make or break a person and their happiness in everything that they do.

Key learnings:

● Stay optimistic, even when life throws rocks at you
● You are the only person who can make things happen. Nothing is going to fall into your lap.
● Even if you have a great product or service, there is always room for improvement to make things even better. It shows customers that you are listening and catering to their needs.