P. Brendon Lundberg

Go. Without Fear. The success, the joy, the reward comes in the doing. So go and do.

 

P. Brendon Lundberg, a previous chronic pain suffer, co-founded Radiant Pain Relief Centres, along with David Farley, MD, a Harvard-MIT trained physician, with a vision to build the safest, most consistently effective and appealing solution to the epidemic of chronic pain.

Combining a mission to change the way chronic pain is understood treated with deep experience in healthcare management, marketing, business development and sales, Brendon and Dr. David Farley opened Radiant Pain Relief Centres in Portland, Oregon, USA, in February 2014. Following the success of the first center, they are laying out a plan for expansion to open new centers in new markets nationally and internationally.

Their story and vision for the future of pain management can be understood by reading their book, Radiant Relief – A Case For A Better Solution To Chronic Pain.

Previous to founding Radiant, Brendon played key operational and business development roles for two Portland-Area Portland Business Journal and Inc. Magazine Growth Award winning companies, and was the Director of Sales and Marketing for another Portland-based medical device start-up. Brendon holds a BS in business marketing and an MBA.

More information can be found at www.radiantrelief.com

Where did the idea for your company come from?

In many ways the idea and vision for Radiant Pain Relief Centres is culmination of all of my professional work and a lot of my personal experience. I saw an opportunity to build a company around a technology that had been misunderstood and ignored by mainstream medicine. I realized that it was not a matter of efficacy, but of how this technology had been commercialized. I built a different business model, a direct to consumer clinical business approach which was similar to other clinical business models I had worked with previously – specifically the hearing aid clinics. I am a chronic pain sufferer so I saw first hand how limited the current approaches (and understanding of chronic pain) are. My wife also dealt with some strange but difficult health challenges for over 10 years and didn’t find solutions in the many clinical professionals and approaches we pursued for her. So this gave me even greater understanding of the struggle both physically and emotionally when it seems your body is betraying you and no one can explain why or give you an effective treatment. I have felt compelled well beyond my own ability and experience to try to build something that can make an impact. Our vision is to completely change the way chronic pain is understood and treated – lasting relief without drugs, needles, surgery or side effects.

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

I wear many hats at this stage of the business so each day is pretty dynamic – from investor relations and development, to press and media, to helping with operating needs in the business, etc. I have many things on my plate. We published a book at the end of August, which made Amazon Best Seller status right away. The book tells our story and lays out our vision for changing the way chronic pain is understood and treated. This has resulted in a lot of media and podcasts, etc. Additionally, we have recently filed with the SEC to begin a RegA+ crowdfunded public offering, as well as continuing to raise money privately as we await SEC approval for that offering. My day typically offers many challenges. To stay productive I exercise daily, (try) to get enough sleep, really focus on my mindset, and revisit my goals/my whys daily.

How do you bring ideas to life?

I have no shortage of ideas. I get frustrated sometimes at how hard or slow it feels to realize those ideas into life. The first is I don’t give up and I stay at it. There are plenty of ways to reach the summit of a mountain, but you have to keep climbing. If you look at the whole of what we’re doing with Radiant – we’re disrupting a major industry, on science that most clinicians haven’t been trained on, and through technology that sounds too good to be true. Our model is capital intensive, and consumer facing, which requires a significant amount of marketing, education and social proof. The journey to bring this big idea to life has been harder, slower and lonelier that I ever expected it to be. You’re not a success until you are, but I see the vision, I feel it: I know it works from both a clinical and business perspective. We are uniquely positioned I think to make a big impact on millions of people’s lives. So I would say the number one tip to bring an idea to life before it is real is to feel it, to build it and feel every part of it before its created; to be be all in on it – no matter how crazy or hard it seems. And then to chose to be ok with the journey – as my mentor and friend, Brendon Burchard teaches, “honor the struggle”; and to “bring the joy”; into the struggle. It changes the energy of thing idea and the effort it takes to bring it to life.

What’s one trend that excites you?

I sense that there is a converging of science and spirituality. There is a growing body of clinical proof that things like meditation and mindfulness can change health outcomes. I am honored to be a part of that trend. 100 million Americans have chronic pain, 72,000 people in the US died of opioid overdoses last year. Masking pain with a drug is not the answer and neither have the other tissue focused therapies proven to be. Our approach, which is based upon more recent pain science allows us to retrain the brain and restore the brain and body back to a more normalized perception of pain. Not only does this allow us to help our clients achieve lasting relief without drugs, needles, surgery or side effects, but it empowers clients with knowledge. They get off medications as they feel better, and then they become motivated to move better, sleep better, eat better, think better – it opens a path to holistic healing and personal empowerment and enlightenment that is very rewarding to see.

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

I have invested heavily in my own personal development. I tell people that entrepreneurship is first and foremost a mental game. I surround myself with great, motivated, positive people. I am in several masterminds and networks of like-minded entrepreneurs and doers. I have times when I feel down, discouraged, tired, etc. But I don’t dwell there. I chose daily how I want to show up. I set reminders in my phone to go off throughout the day to remind me of how I want to show up -words, phrases, encouragement. I seek to bring a positive energy and gratitude into each interaction I have with others. That has reciprocity and returns back good vibes.

What advice would you give your younger self?

Go. Without Fear. The success, the joy, the reward comes in the doing. So go and do. There is never a perfect time, place, amount of money, etc. Put your ideas into action. You may fail, but you will learn. Learning is growing and growing is fun if you don’t stop. Keep learning and getting better by doing!

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

Pain comes from the brain – not the tissue (tissue actually has not ability to feel pain). Therefore chronic pain is a problem of the brain, it becomes ‘wired’ to expect and perpetuate pain regardless of what is going on in the tissue. The future of pain management is in the brain. We’re still in the early years of this science and this therapy, but it is very exciting and should bring a lot of hope to people.

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

I try to remind myself all the time of two things:

1. “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” -Aristotle. I try to be consistent in thing things that will bring excellence and success every day.

2. “When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this – you haven’t.” – Thomas Edison. I keep going, its only a dead/done end if you give up. I am constantly amazed and how things come together in surprising ways and I am equally confident in my ability to figure things out.

What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business? Please explain how.

I ask for help. Probably not as often as I should, but no one can build a company alone, so getting help from others is critical. I haven’t often had the budget to hire the talent that I would like, but there are brilliant capable people who can help in some way – listening and sharing ideas over coffee if nothing else. And at the same time, I remember that no one will fight for this like I will. “Success has many fathers, failure has but one”. At the end of the day it is my responsibility to own every aspect of what we’re doing. This helps me not take it personal when I don’t the support that I might like, and take the ownership for making it happen.

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

I have had many failures, but one is that I have learned the hard way that I am not a great hiring manager. So I totally delegate that. I’ll meet with each candidate, but I generally don’t make the hiring decision because I really genuinely like people. I tend to see the best in the them, while ignoring other flags. So I have found that we get better employees, with more balanced skills if I am not the one making the hiring decision.

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

Hmm. I can’t think of one, but I would say that if you want to start a business, do it! There is nothing more rewarding, challenging or fun. Many businesses fail, or least fail to make money (which I don’t think necessarily means they were a failure), so chose something that is important to you beyond money. It will be rewarding and enjoyable, even if its not financially successful. That said, if you do want start a business, obviously success, financial success is likely the goal, so try do something with very low start up/operating costs. The ability to monetize some expertise via online delivery is remarkable and the cost to do it and grow it, far less than traditional brick and mortar businesses.

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

Dinner and dancing with my wife last Friday night. Because you got to have fun. You got to out and celebrate life, often and fully!

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

This is the hardest question for me to answer. I am not very tech savvy to be honest. But aligned with some of other answers, I would say that I use the Reminder App more than just about anyone I know. I set it up for daily mindset/attitude reminders to go off through out the day. I use it for tasks I need to do and things I need to remember. I love that the reminder can be triggered at time or a place. That location feature has helped me not forget something I needed to grab at the office on the way to airport dozens of times. Unlike calendar reminders, they stay on your lock screen until you mark them as complete – there’s no escaping or ignoring.

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

“Will Power Doesn’t Work” by Ben Hardy.

Ben is brilliant. He teaches that will power is a finite resource. It will inevitably exhaust. The key to success then is to create the environment that will make success inevitable. Ben lays out some super impactful frameworks to help achieve more success, not by trying harder, but by working smarter. Read it!

What is your favorite quote?

I already used a few of my favorites. But one that is catalyst for our work at Radiant is:

“I do not fix problems. I fix my thinking. Then problems fix themselves.”
― Louise Hay

Key learnings:

– Entrepreneurship is often a mental game, one that is benefited by having a strong mental mindset

– Take action, because in action comes learning and clarity

– Success comes from changing our thinking and changing our environment and when we think we’ve run out of options, we haven’t

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