In today's episode we have Connor Young, the founder of Ample Foods, who doesn't really fit the norm of most Silicon Valley entrepreneurs. Why? Simply because Connor and his team actively promote a much healthier way of living, in which you actually make sure your body gets all the essential nutrients it needs no matter how many days you have until your MVP roll-out or how many VCs you're pitching that day.
Listen to this week's episode to hear the first half of our interview with Connor that focuses on Ample Foods, their magical food replacements that taste like heaven and Connor's definitely not boring journey through the health & fitness sectors. And two weeks from now, you'll get a chance to listen to the second half of the interview where we dig deeper into all things nutrition.
Three Things You Will Learn
1) What Is Ample & Who Is It For
Connor founded Ample with a simple goal in mind: to solve the issue of living a health conscious life next to a busy schedule. Unfortunately as life gets faster, our schedules get tighter, but the number of hours in a day remain the same, sometimes our diets suffer the consequences. Which is what Connor's friends experienced as well, when they started to bug him for a solution.
As he couldn't find a reasonable solution that was already on the market, he decided to create one. And this is how Ample was born. Ample is a meal replacement that includes your optimal nutrition in powder form packed into a very minimalistic plastic bottle. All you have to do is some water, shake it up and enjoy not just a healthy and nutritious, but also very tasty meal.
You can get Ample in 3 different versions. The OG, which is higher in protein, is for anyone and everyone. Ample V, the plant-based version, is for all vegans or those who are lactose intolerant. And Ample K is for people following a Keto diet and look for something very low in carbs. Press play to learn more about the difference between Ample and other meal replacement companies. And of course to decide which of the 3 Ample versions should be your emergency!
2) The Path From CrossFit Through Sales To Nutrition
Before founding Ample, Connor had gone through a very interesting journey in the health & fitness industry. He started with a degree in Biology, became obsessed with CrossFit during college which then led him to opening his own CrossFit gym.
After getting bored with CrossFit, he joined a big corporate to sell their medical devices to hospitals. He realized that the medical industry was broken and wanted to get out of the system as his goal was to make a real difference.
Tracing back the root cause of the problem to the poor diets & exercising routines of people, he then built a patient engagement physical therapy platform. However quickly arrived to the conclusion that physical therapy is another sector where he couldn't make a difference.
So then when a bunch of his friends highlighted another major problem in their own lives, which is not having the time or the access to proper nutrition next to their schedules, he started working on Ample. Listen to this week's episode to hear all about Connor's interesting story and his first nutrition lab aka his own kitchen!
3) The Ample Community
The immediate short-term goal of Ample is to provide everyday individuals with the optimal nutrition on their busiest day. However the long-term vision is much bigger than this.
Connor doesn't only want to build a brand, he also wants to build a community. A community that is built around a health conscious way of living. A community that spreads this idea and grows continuously. And he wants to use Ample as a tool to turn this vision into reality.
Listen on to learn more about why Connor thinks that we need this big shift in our current lifestyles and how Ample will help us in getting there!