Matt D’Amour is the Chief Wellness Carrier at Tribe 9 Foods. Tribe 9 creates delicious, nourishing, and functional food to improve the lives of others. Tribe 9 Foods is comprised of Ona, RP’s Pasta Co., Taste Republic and YumButter. Prior to merging these brands together to form Tribe 9 Matt was the Co-Founder of YumButter, a world changing brand of nut butters. This stuff is seriously super good! On this episode of The Midlife Male Podcast Matt talks about starting YumButter and the challenges of scaling the business, his relationship with his partner, the lifestyle and social impact that is so important to their mission and how he remains focused throughout. As a holistic health expert, Matt is living proof that high quality, nutrient dense foods can lead to better health and longevity.

Michael Alfaro is a preeminent figure in the world of fitness, technology and brand partnerships. His latest venture is NEO U (“New You”). It’s being called “The Amazon of Wellness”, a one of a kind gym which brings together trainers, fitness instructors, brands and celebrity fitness personalities to create and shoot content that can be shared globally on a subscription basis. The company has raised over 20M and is about to launch their flagship studio in Midtown Manhattan, which can be transformed to look like a trainer is shooting content on a beach, in the mountains or pretty much anywhere in the world customizable to the individual and the brand. He’s a husband and new dad and splits his time between New York and Miami Beach.

Joel “Thor” Neeb is a husband, father, former fighter pilot, an Ironman competitor, American Ninja Warrior, stage IV cancer survivor, expert leadership expert, and President of Afterburner Inc. As an F-15 pilot, Thor escorted the U.S. President through the sky and flew missions to ensure the safety of the country after the attacks of 9/11. He was the tactical leader of 300 of the most senior combat pilots in the Air Force and he oversaw the execution of a $150M/year flight program. Thor was named the Top Instructor Pilot at the Air Force Flight Training Headquarters and he’s flown thousands of missions teaching pilots from 25 countries around the world. In 2010, Thor was diagnosed with Stage IV cancer and given about a 15% chance to live. Instead of giving up, Thor decided to give back. He started a youth outreach program in San Antonio that has grown to help more than 15,000 at-risk kids. Their efforts have been featured on every news channel for 100 miles and one national media outlet. In 2012, he was selected out of 62,000 people to receive the AETC National Public Service Award. Thor completed the New Zealand Ironman Triathlon in March of 2015 to commemorate the five-year anniversary of his Stage IV cancer diagnosis and to raise awareness for the rare and deadly cancer that he battled. As Afterburner’s President, Thor leads a team of more than 70 elite military professionals. He has helped achieve strategic objectives and foster elite teams for Fortune 100 companies within the tech industry, pharmaceuticals, finance, medical devices, retail apparel and several NFL teams. He has also competed on American Ninja Warrior.

Michael Chernow is the founder of Seamore’s Restaurants which focuses on sustainable seafood and has 6 locations around New York. He is also the co-founder of The Meatball Shop, a chain of successful, fast casual restaurants. He has been working in restaurants since he was a teenager and went on to graduate from the French Culinary Institute with honors with a degree in both Culinary Arts and Restaurant Management. He is a passionate fisherman, athlete, husband and father. He describes himself as a “fitness nut and food dude, with a keen eye for aesthetics.”

Nate Checketts grew up in a prominent sports family. His father Dave was the President of The NY Knicks and MSG. We could’ve talked sports for hours. He’s also got a brother who’s a sports talk host so it comes naturally. But rather, what we got into was his close, loving and respectful relationship with his family and how he was raised with chores, responsibilities and having to earn and learn for himself along the way. An entrepreneur from his early teen years starting a camp at age 13, collecting golf balls and re-selling them he’s resigned to the notion that entrepreneurship is his path and that creating, building and cultivating a business and brand is his calling. That brand is RHONE, a high end activewear brand for men. Founded in 2014, the company launched as an online retailer only. In 2015, it went out to retail in such places as Nordstrom and Equinox. It has continued to grow into one of the premier brands in a highly competitive marketplace. Nate is a husband, father and teacher, volunteering his time to teach high school kids during the week. He’s also one of the most structured planners I’ve had on the show. Hearing about his productivity planner and schedule was eye opening. His perspective on flow and living his days with intention really hit home. Enjoyed this conversation immensely and look forward to sporting RHONE at this year’s Decathlon and supporting the brand and Nate as they grow

Ken Lubin helps people achieve their dreams and companies to reach their goals. He has been in the Executive Search business for over 20 years and is The Founder of Executive Athlete Organization, which currently boasts over 16,000 members. He also recently launched The Executive Athlete Podcast. A competitive skier growing up he initially wanted to be a competitive skiing coach and realized that financially for him (and his girlfriend at the time and now wife...) that it wasn’t going to work. He took his love for coaching and turned his focus towards recruiting. He has remained an athlete throughout, competing and winning in Spartan, Ultra, Death Race and various other adventure races around the world. His mantra is on being your most authentic self. Recruiting is just like matchmaking and connecting, competing and networking with other likeminded executive athletes has enabled him to combine his business with his passion for athletics and adventure. At the end of the day people just want to work and be around people that they like. Ken’s a husband, father and resides in Massachusetts with his family.

Eric Falkenstein is a top Broadway producer. His company, Spark Production’s credits include “The Iceman Cometh”, “The Color Purple”, “All My Son’s”, “Long Day’s Journey Into Night,” and “The History Boys,”. He’s received multiple Tony Awards and nominations throughout his career. He’s also a husband and father to 3 children. We talked about the challenges of developing and mounting Broadway productions, juggling his professional and personal schedule, the need for work/life balance and the importance and value of being a good husband and parent. There’s even a great Midlife Male moment when his wife calls in while we’re on doing the podcast. So real. So perfect we had to leave it in. Enjoy!

Met Shayn Robinson thru The D10 Decathlon. He’s a super executive athlete, husband, father, entrepreneur and Midlife Male. Really enjoyed competing with him, getting to know him and he’s a super bright guy with a very sound and balanced perspective on life, business, family and health and fitness. He’s been one of my favorite guests to date as we share many of the same interests, values and similar positions in life. Shayn runs DARROW & Co. DARROW is a Houston based commercial real estate firm focusing on private equity placement for the acquisition, development and management of multi-family properties. From 1999 through 2014, Shayn ran DARROW as a private holding company, acquiring, repositioning, managing and developing various commercial properties in both Texas and Florida. With a 15 year track record DARROW turned outward facing in 2014, seeking partnership opportunities for acquisitions and new developments. Previously Shayn was a Senior Commercial Real Estate Consultant with Deloitte, advising clients on complex valuation, development and due diligence transactions. Prior to that Shayn worked as a Management Consultant in the financial services industry in New York and Houston.

Huge day on The MidLife Male Podcast. My guest is Chad Lemons - Mr. Drive himself, The Lone Wolf. Founder of The Drive Clothing Company and The Drive Diet program Chad has a distinct history and background in weightlifting, bodybuilding and nutrition along with being a successful entrepreneur and influencer on social media with his motivational and inspirational posts, videos and stories. Chad and I got to talk about the challenges of building a brand from the ground up, where he developed his work ethic and drive and what he does on a daily basis to keep moving forward and where he wants to take The Drive Brand. It’s a very candid, open and vulnerable glimpse into the way Chad thinks, operates, shares and promotes his message of positivity all while staying true to himself and his values. Check it out!

I read this story on Facebook and was completely moved. Luke Marklin, Bellhops moving company chief executive, gifted his car to an employee named Walter Carr in Birmingham, Alabama on July 16 after Carr walked nearly 20 miles to his first day of work when his car broke down. On so many levels this is beautiful and inspiring. From the commitment, perseverance and work ethic of Walter to the kindness of the police officers who bought Walter breakfast to the good nature of the Lamey’s who were moving that day and shared Walter’s story to Bellhops CEO Luke Marklin giving his new employee his own personal vehicle so that he could have a reliable car to get to work each day. These are the examples we should strive to set. This is truly leading by example. Paying it forward. Being of service. Being of value. I reached out to Luke right after I read the story – I really just wanted to say “Great job” and that I was moved by the entire story and chain of events. I wasn’t expecting to hear back. After all the story has gone viral and picked up by almost every major news outlet. But, I did hear back and Luke and his team set up a call where we spoke for over 30 minutes about how he first learned of Walter’s story, his call to action, the kind of company and culture he wants to have at Bellhops, the example he wants to set for his own two young son’s and the anticipation and feeling he had during that ride to Birmingham to present Walter with his car. At just 33 years old, he’s not a Midlife Male yet, but safe to say we can all learn something from Luke Marklin no matter what stage of life we’re at.