Brian, co-founder and CEO of Prüvit, leader in ketone technology. He is an entrepreneur, thought leader, speaker, philanthropist, former Kentucky Wildcat basketball player, podcast host, and devoted father of three.

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3 Value Bombs

1) Most successful people in the world learn about themselves through the journey of success than anything else.

2) The only thing that can stop you is you. Once you have that certain level of success, don’t underestimate the power of collaboration but don’t underestimate the power that you have.

3) Dream big and be bold and mighty forces will come to your aid. Its not always easy but it is always worth it.

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Show Notes

**Click the time stamp to jump directly to that point in the episode.

Today’s Audio MASTERCLASS: Brian Underwood on Prüvit’s Acquisition by Herbalife, the Future of Wellness, and Building an Iconic Brand

[1:00] – Brian shares something that he believes about becoming successful that most people disagree with.

After you become successful, life becomes easier. The more success you have, the more you grow through that and you can carry more weight so there is more opportunities or problems for you to solve. Problems don’t go away but success peels back the onions of who you are as an individual and it gives you a lot of opportunities to grow as a person not just financially or a company. Most successful people in the world learn about themselves through the journey of success than anything else.

[2:07] – Brian talks about going from single idea to building a company that did $2.2 billion in sales and what advice he gives to the listeners who have dreams of launching a business like this.

Don’t underestimate the power you have. The power of thought and taking massive action.
When they launched Prüvit, it’s the idea of commercializing something that most people said no to and that is BHB or Ketone technology.

[2:55] – Brian talks about the biggest challenges he faced in scaling Prüvit to this level.

There are personal and business challenges.
Their first challenge came within 30 days of launching their D to C model. They got 19,000 back orders in their first 30 days.
They stayed resourceful and look at the positive that there are resources that are coming in their aid. Fortunately they have great partners and great relationships and that is the first opportunity they had to see how resilient they were because they were able to catch up within 65 days.
Their second challenge was right in the tail end of that. They has someone who tried to circumvent their license to sell ketones and they found themselves in federal court. They prove that the concept will work and they want to take in the “bigger fish” and since then it been one opportunity over another in scaling.
Maintaining efficiency and growing not trying to solve everything and be perfect. “Don’t mess good for perfect” has always been their slogan. They focus in the business they are in and growing it simultaneously gave them the ability to innovate as they are moving forward has been their philosophy.

[4:44] – Grian talks about the personal challenges.

Having an Impostor Syndrome. Being a CEO who started from scratch then suddenly becoming a million dollar revenue company with over a $100M over the first 3 years. He questions himself if he is ready to carry the weight and if he has what it takes to be the CEO. This personal challenge led to other personal challenges like divorce, maintaining to be a father and operating a company. He believes it made him a better person.

[6:14] – Brian talks about why Herbalife is the right company to acquire Prüvit.

Herbalife is the perfect fit to acquire Prüvit. They were not looking to sell and their goal is to take ketone conversation around the world for as far they can take it and to cross the chasm from gleaning edge technology to early adaptors into mainstream audience.
With Herbalife, they have accomplished in over 107 countries, $44B market capital, multibillion dollar per year in true resources, it gave them an opportunity not to sell out but to get a bigger boat to leverage the distribution power for more growth and more innovation.
Herbalife has not acquired a company in 45 years and they are in this unique position in the market place that a brand new era is going into health and wellness. Herbalife is looking on how they can innovate and with Prüvit’s innovation, it becomes a leader in that space.

[9:31] – Brian tells if this will change the direction of Prüvit.

Nothing is going to change. Herbalife will allow Prüvit to operate independently while they start to integrate new initiatives together like personalized wellness.
Prüvit is not going to sell Herbalife products but they are going to utilize resources with Herbalife and the international approval of BHB Ketones.
From a cultural shift, there will not be much, they will be operating independently while integrating.
In the future, they are going to have joint initiatives or methods of operations to where both Prüvit and Herbalife distributors will be able to participate together.

[11:28] – A timeout to thank our sponsor!

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[14:21] – Brian talks about the lessons he learned from this acquisition.

The biggest lesson as Covid came was the need for innovation in new markets to create stimulation because people’s attention span is very short nowadays because of social media.
The world became different after Covid so to innovate faster is something they could have done.
In terms of lessons in the acquisition, they were not looking for something to acquire but it was a relation based. Their CEOs met in a direct sales event and they forge a great relationship, aligned vision and the power of showing up and being present and open.
They were able to keep the same culture and the same way of integrating and corporate expectation.
The lesson for entrepreneurs is the power of proximity and the power of staying open and the power of vision.

[17:16] – Brian talks about how to maintain company culture through massive growth plus an exit.

Their culture is heart base leadership. First is company, corporately and externally in the field.
Its not always perfect. They want to be fast but remain nimble and hope to maintain the speed of innovation by piggybacking on Herbalife’s massive infrastructure.
Keep trying and don’t stop if you fail. They have a core base that they continue to build on.
The more successful you are, the more you are going to see the psychology of resistance and they are resilient of that. Their partnership and alignment with Herbalife is what they want to maintain.

[19:30] – Brian talks about what’s next for him after this deal.

Doubling down is next. A new energy, a new spirit, a new ceiling – The Law of the Lid.
This partnership has given him a bigger vision of how to tap in to his personal potential as well as more of the impact they can make in being a part of a bigger system.
Double down on the power of Ketones and get the message out in BHB and the new era of health and wellness and going to personalized wellness.
To be laser focused to see how far they can take it.

[21:05] – Brian talks about one piece of advice he wish he had when he first started Prüvit.

He has good mentors. Prüvit started out in series of stepping stones with his personal challenges and opportunities in the past.
The only thing that can stop you is you. Once you have that certain level of success, don’t underestimate the power of collaboration but don’t underestimate the power that you have and don’t ever fall victim to Impostor Syndrome.
Once you have the success, surround yourself with a lot of people because you are as good as your team.
What defeats you is within and not the outside competition. Its who you surround yourself with or the voices in your own head.
Stay very strong in your vision and mission and know that every adversity has a purpose and there is a solution for every adversity.
Embrace those challenge, embrace those plateaus and keep moving forward. There will always be challenges as you go forward.

[23:09] – Brian gives his key take away.

Realize that people fear what they don’t understand and for anyone who is in the process of being an entrepreneur, keep charging forward.
A lot of people will not understand the decision that you make as you become successful.
Dreams can come true and dreams can be bigger than you ever imagine if you keep the faith and the faith in people.
Dream big and be bold and mighty forces will come to your aid. Its not always easy but it is always worth it.
Its about the journey and who you become in the process and what you are able to give back to the world and people.
Stay positive and confident, eliminate distraction. Remember that the real competition you have is the internal one within yourself. Stay on fire.

[26:11] – Call to action

Brian’s Website – Checkout Brian’s website.
Brian’s LinkedIn – Connect to Brian on LinkedIn.
Brian’s Facebook – Follow Brian on Facebook.
Brian’s Instagram – Follow Brian on Instagram.

[26:45]– Thank you to our Sponsor!

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