Rhys George – Building With Purpose, Leading Through Adversity & Stepping Into The Arena

In Episode 9 of Rise To Your Everest, Adam sits down with Rhys George. Founder of Bearhug, entrepreneur, and long-standing supporter of the APEX community.

For the past three years, Bearhug has supported APEX from the very beginning. But for Rhys, this partnership goes beyond business. Last year, he stepped onto the start line himself, experiencing first-hand the challenge, the community, and what it truly means to stand shoulder to shoulder with others in moments of adversity.

Rhys shares his journey from leaving a secure career to build Bearhug, navigating the highs and lows of entrepreneurship, and the lessons learned through both success and setbacks. He opens up about leadership, the responsibility of family, and how losing his father reshaped his perspective on life, purpose, and what really matters.

This conversation explores the mindset required to build something meaningful, the importance of structure and performance, and why success isn’t fixed, it evolves with each season of life.

If you’re building a business, leading a team, or striving to create something with purpose, this episode will challenge how you think about pressure, resilience, and what it truly means to step into the arena.

🧭 Topics Covered

• Building Bearhug and taking the entrepreneurial leap
• Leadership through adversity and personal loss
• The power of stepping into challenge as a founder
• Performance, structure and high standards
• Family, responsibility and evolving identity
• Redefining success across different seasons of life
• The value of community and shared hardship

🌐 Connect with Rhys & Bearhug

Website: https://www.getabearhug.com

Instagram: @bearhug_ceo | @getabearhug

🎙 About Rise To Your Everest

Rise To Your Everest explores resilience, mindset, and personal growth through honest conversations with people who push beyond comfort and keep climbing through life’s toughest challenges.

📬 Get in Touch:

https://www.instagram.com/adamclayton.apex/

https://www.instagram.com/apex.officialuk/

 🔥 Podcast powered by: https://apexchallenges.com/

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

In this episode of Rise to Your Everest, Adam sits down with Reese George, founder of Bear Hug, and a long-standing partner of the Apex community. For the past three years, Bear Hug has supported Apex from the very beginning. But Reese isn't just a founder behind a brand. He's someone who believes in stepping into the challenge himself, taking on Apex, and experiencing firsthand what it means to be part of a community built on shared hardship. Reese's journey spans entrepreneurship, fatherhood, and navigating the pressures of building a business with purpose. From taking the leap to leave a secure career and start barefoot, to leading through personal loss and the responsibility of family life. His story is one of resilience, adaptability, and relentless problem solving. In this conversation, we explore what it really takes to build something meaningful, how to perform under pressure, and why success isn't fixed. It evolves with each season of life. If you're building, leading, or striving to create something with purpose, this episode will give you a powerful insight into what it takes to keep climbing. Let's get into it.

SPEAKER_04 1:16

Reese, welcome to Rise to Your Everest. How are you? I'm very well, thank you. Good for having me. No problem at all. Reese, this is your we're talking about Apex and Bear Hug quickly to start with. This is going into our third year of you supporting Apex. So I'm going to take this opportunity to thank you from supporting us from the start. And last year, you didn't just commercially support it, you actually threw yourself into the deep end. Yeah. And I loved having you there. You were there on the start line. Now, what made you go from supporting it as a business commercial idea to actually stepping into the arena and getting out on the mountain with us?

SPEAKER_01 1:54

Yeah. Well, I guess it really is what Bear Hague's all about, right? I mean, we weren't able to get there the first year that we um we supported you guys, uh, which is a real shame then having been there the second year and experienced it yourself. But I don't think there's anything better than that immersive experience of of being there with the community, actually doing it, right? As opposed to preaching about it, you know. Um, which was great-ish.

SPEAKER_04 2:26

Yeah, it's so true, isn't it? Because you you see it from uh I have this thing like it's so hard to explain what Apex is about unless you experience it. Yeah, and I don't know if you felt the same when you come away from that weekend, physically challenging, yeah, mentally tough, but you feel so alive, yeah, and so you know, part of something. Um I don't know if that was the same for you, is it?

SPEAKER_01 2:47

Yeah, yeah, no, 100%. Um, and there's probably lots of classic stuff that people would talk about, but you're you're making real connections with with people, um, and it doesn't matter whether you went up once, five times, six times, whatever. I mean, I think there were a couple of people that actually maybe didn't even make it up once, yeah. But they didn't leave. Yeah, they were still they were still there, and that kind of there were things like that as well during the weekend that kind of struck with me that um because I guess in some respects, right, you haven't just rocked up to do it. You've you've done some level of preparation. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 3:23

But it's so true, isn't it? One of our Sam Cunningham, who's now our community ambassador, he was a person who injured himself on the first lap. He trains hard. He's a he is an endurance athlete, he was he was gonna complete it, do the 36 hours. But he said any other event, he would have got in his van and gone home, but he stayed there till the very end, cheering people on. Yeah, and we could see just the passion in him, and and for that reason, really, and how he showed up, he's now our community ambassador because he's such a great guy and he really immersed himself into that into that environment. Yeah, no, great. Did the did the challenge, you know, in taking part, did it teach anything about yourself? Were there moments out there that you were having a quiet word of yourself and oh yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:11

Yeah, 100%. Um it's it was quite interesting. I've got a bit of a ramble, right? But um so on the Friday night, yeah, Friday night, I think, when everyone arrived, right? Yeah, yeah. So, and there was a few of us that did a bit of a few words in the tent beforehand, and I'd been outside whilst uh the nutritionist, I forget his Ben Coomer. Ben Coomer, I think, and had been on. Or Adam from Zag. Oh no, it's Adam, had been on and had been uh, as I now know, talking about preparation, so on and so forth, and whatever else. Uh and then I came in and went on and rocked up. And I think you might have asked me if you've got a strategy to the event or whatever. I was like, well, I'm just gonna, you know, see how it goes. I've got a kind of number in my mind that I think I might like to achieve, but we'll we'll suck it and see. And uh that wasn't a great strategy Just winging it wasn't the one, yeah, yeah. Winging it wasn't wasn't the one. Now look, it was uh was great to be uh you know immersed in it, and uh, I I guess I hadn't gone I'd I'd done some stuff but nowhere near enough, and just thinking about okay, you wouldn't you wouldn't approach other things like that, right? You'd you don't approach a business or whatever else without the the the kind of thinking and the preparation and what if scenarios and those types of things so um that was quite uh reflective talking to myself at moments of toughness on on the hill going right, you know, there's there's things you really need to think about here.

SPEAKER_04 5:49

Um so is that more leaning into kind of preparation? Yeah, underprepared going into that yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:55

And not not only under prepared, but undereducated, I think, to a point as well. And and actually I know I'm not an athlete or anything, but feel like you've got a level of fitness or whatever else, right? But nah, not not not enough, anywhere near enough um prep preparation in there.

SPEAKER_04 6:18

It's different, isn't it? Was that your first endurance event? Uh yeah, yeah. So it's it was for for me as well, really, and it was just and I was underprepared, and I was running it going into it, just and but it's about you have to make so many micro decisions that actually have a big impact, yeah. Whether that be the food, nutrition, kit, and you're making all the decisions under fatigue, mental fatigue, physical fatigue. Um, it is it is a really hard thing to do, and coming in underprepared, yeah, that that is challenging. Yeah, so what is there anything different you you're going to do for this year turning up?

SPEAKER_02 6:52

Already. Yeah, already, already.

SPEAKER_04 6:54

Already you have a pro professional nutritionist, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:58

Yeah, no, I mean to totally um yeah, uh the understanding the nutrition, uh increasing the level of training physically, you know, but also the other factor we were there, you know, there were two of us there, Jen and myself were there last year. You know, this year, we will be there again. Um, I will be doing it again, but we'll be going with a team. So now actually the only thing I'm going there to do the event. Yeah. I'm not going there to be bear hug.

SPEAKER_04 7:25

If that is do you know what I mean? Yeah, you haven't got to worry about that. I haven't got to worry about that.

SPEAKER_01 7:28

So, you know, those kind of thought processes leading up to the event and everything, I'll have the benefit mentally, I guess, yeah, of that's what I'm going to do. Yeah. Not necessarily thinking about the other the other bits as well. So I'm hoping that will be a big, big change to it. And I did debate whether uh, because we've got a few few of us that will be doing it, and debated whether actually to come away from the solo and go for the team. I was like, nah, I need to do this. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I need to go back and do it properly. Yeah. Uh, or get you know, give it my best. Well, that's it, isn't it? Give it my best shot. Yeah. Um, so yeah, that's that's the yeah, there's gonna be a a big different approach this year.

SPEAKER_04 8:09

Yeah, amazing. But I think that's so important, even taking away the yeah, just turning up to do the challenge, not to worry about anything else, is is really important. We talk a lot about in our community about shared hardship and shoulder to shoulder, which I know it's a similar concept, which you're very aware of. What do you think, or what do what does shared hardship do for relationships and partnerships, whether that be in business or whether that be in sport, or just your general relationship going through those shared hard times?

SPEAKER_01 8:36

Yeah, well, if you can come through them together, you know, you're you're absolutely stronger. I mean, I I can think of uh well, uh maybe on a single hand, you know, key relationships over life that have been established, and if you actually look to the point of where those relationships really kind of were really forged, they were all in hardship, yeah, you know, or all in tough environments, you know, whether it whether that was sport or or work, the principles were the same, you know, when you're in the shit, yeah um, who's there, who's putting their hand up, who's who's willing to go through that hardship or whatever the next thing is together. Um it's like an unbreakable bond, then isn't it? You know, and and then you get to relive it time and time again when you meet with these people, generally over a beer, you know. But it's uh you know, that's it's powerful stuff.

SPEAKER_04 9:31

It's so true, isn't it? And it is you you know take it from the sporting analogy, you go through that from rugby, 18 minutes of a of a a pretty tough battle, and then you come off the field and you've you've almost gone to battle with those people, yeah, and it just brings you together. And it's the same with Apex, and and probably you've seen it in business, in relationships, however it is, but it's such a powerful thing, and it's uh it's something I don't think people who don't put themselves in those situations probably can't see the the positive the positivity that comes out of that.

SPEAKER_01 10:03

Yeah, no, I can I can I can see that. Um I think I think if I think about some work environment situations and stuff like that those that don't tend to be the people that can be quite negative as well. Um and and almost then I don't know when the whether they then look unenvious of those then that have have got that bond, yeah, but actually that's not a click necessarily. That's that's been worked at, you know, that that that's been literally forged together. You're you're choosing to hold yourself back or with you know withhold yourself from engaging in doing something. Um I don't know, it's a fascinating insight.

SPEAKER_04 10:46

It is, yeah, it's it's very true though. So yeah, it is true. Let's let's let's take you back. I want to go back to your cadet story that you've uh that you've touched on, the Duke of Edinburgh expedition. What did that tell us about that what that moment was, and then what did that teach you about kind of leadership and resilience back in those early days?

SPEAKER_01 11:06

Oh god, yeah, yeah. So um, yeah, so teenager, army cadets, uh it was the Duke of Edinburgh Silver Award expedition. I gotta say, I actually never completed a Duke of Edinburgh Award because the only bit I liked was actually the out on the hills and stuff, right? Yeah, rather than the tie in knots or whatever it was they had to do. The tie knots part. Yeah, so you only like this story. When you when I you know when I had the question and I and I thought about it, I was like, oh my god, this this kind of comes up every now and again this story, and um I guess it must it must then stick there as a kind of pivotal pivotal moment. But I remember when I got home from that weekend and I tried to articulate to my parents what had just happened, and I think they had friends staying for the weekend, right? And there was just you just can't a bit like the Everest weekend, right? You just can't articulate it, you can't get it across. And I just remember going for a bath and I just cried in the bath for like five or ten minutes, probably just with this overwhelming yeah, oh my god, what just happened um on the weekend, but yeah, so it was it was a silver expedition in the glorious parts of Wales when the weather's not great and whatever else. And uh I think there was five of us, five or six of us that had started out on the on the expedition, and the weather turned, and we were up, we were up on one of the hills, and one of the one of the guys wasn't looking too good. Um, you know, and we're teenagers, right? So we don't we don't really have the experience of knowing what's going on, but we knew something wasn't right. So we took the culture, turned around, come down off the mountain, find a farm. So, you know, your map reading in these days as well, right? So try and find a farm, come find the farm. Uh, you got your emergency coins. Oh no, we I think he let us use the phone. Okay. Um phone the phone the cadet team and we just no mobile phones or anything. No mobile phones or anything then. So we think, right, this is done. We're we're we're probably done. You know, they're gonna come and get the dude and uh we'll all be going home. Yeah. So we all got changed out of our wet gear into dry gear. But were you ready to go home at that point? You wanted to go home. I don't think no, I don't think we wanted to go home. Okay. Uh but I think we'd, you know, we'd gone as a team, yeah, and you're doing it, and you think, right, this is probably done. The weather looks pretty shocking. I'm sure they'll I'm sure they'll call us off. Uh no, that wasn't the case. So, you know, out comes the land. Yeah, takes takes the takes the dude away, and it's like, right, off you go, um, get get back out there and and get on with it. Yeah. So off we go back up the back up into the hills. And uh the the weather was turning, the light was fading, and we were like, look, we're not gonna make it, or we collectively decided we don't think we're gonna make it, and actually, rather than going on into the dark, let's just stop, yeah um, put up the tents and get on with it. But at this point, the wind was howling, you know, so trying to put a tent up, and in those days it was still poles and all that kind of stuff and everything. Um, so we had I think we had three tents between us, so we were like, right, get one tent in, get the kit in it, just try and get two other tents up, yeah, get in, get into the get into the tents, and we literally said, right, between us now, we just gotta take shifts. Okay, stay awake, make sure we're all still on the mountain and we're not gonna get blown off. You know, it it we're not on the top of Everest, right? But at that point we're thinking this is yeah, this is pretty hairy.

SPEAKER_04 14:40

Quite big decisions you're having to make at a young age as well.

SPEAKER_01 14:42

Yeah, yeah. Without realising it. Probably without realising it, right? So, I mean, in terms of I guess the team that we had there, I knew one of the guys the um the other teams didn't know, you know, that we'd all come together from different army cadet units or whatever they whatever they were called at the time. Um, but yeah, there was a I don't remember one person necessarily going, This is what we're doing, this is what we're gonna do. I I kind of remember it just being a collective um discussion and thought process to do it. So uh yeah, we wake up in the morning, it's that classic thing, the wind's gone. Um, but we we unzip the tent and this just wall of hail and and snow, I guess, was then that just kind of fell into the tent. We're like, oh shit, you know, this is that was a bit bonkers. Yeah. So we're like, right, forget this, let's look at the map again, let's get off the mountain. Yeah. Um, so we could see where we were supposed to get to, and then we could see there was like a reservoir down on the bottom. We're like, right, let's get down there, there's toilets down there, yeah. Um, we'll get we'll get down, get some food in us, and then we'll decide what to do. So we did it, we did all that, and then uh we thought, right, well, we've got to go to the end. So let's choose a diff let's choose a different route, let's um let's get to the end. Well, of course, as you said, there's no phones, there's not there's no communication. So we did make that, and the weather came in again and everything, but we'd made the sensible decision to come off the mountain. The finish point was uh uh a boffy that we were when staying in then, but we refused to stay in the boffy when we got there because to pass the expedition thing, yeah, you had to sleep in tents. Oh, really? Right? So we made the decision that rather than going into the boffy, we'd put the tents up again and sleep there, you know, the the second night. And as far as we were concerned, we hadn't died, right? Yeah, we'd we'd done the mileage and we'd got we'd got to the end, we'd done our job. Uh little did we know that the gold expedition had been pulled off the or they'd they'd quit like 24 hours ago and come off the mountain. The mountain rescue team had been called out for another team that was was out somewhere else, and of course they didn't know where we were because we hadn't hit any of the checkpoints we were supposed to be at. So they'd been out looking for us and everything as well, and then ultimately went to the finish line to see if we were there, and yeah, and we were there, and they're like, What you what you doing sleeping in the tents? Get yourself in the boffy so well rules of engagement, man. You're saying we've got to sleep in a tent. Wow, um, but yeah, it was it it didn't feel like it at the time. But like I say, I mean I got home and I guess there was a holy cow, what what happened?

SPEAKER_04 17:24

But yeah, I mean it's stuck there as a well if if mountain rescue are out and the gold expedition being called off the mountain, there's something not quite right. Yeah, yeah. So yeah, that was Did you get your certificate? No, no, they didn't they didn't give it to you because you didn't I didn't finish the rest of the stuff. Oh, I see. Of course, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:39

I didn't go I didn't go and do the community stuff I should have done or whatever else. But I was like, you know, oh my god, got the memories though.

SPEAKER_04 17:46

Got the memories, yeah, and you've got a good story there. I think it's um probably in those moments you wouldn't have realised it, but did that what did that teach you about being in that team environment and not just having that one leader, probably who's who's taken control and you're having to shared discussion.

SPEAKER_02 18:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 18:02

Did that teach you much about kind of team spirit or team kind of coming together as a team in that mo in those moments?

SPEAKER_01 18:08

Yeah, 100%. I mean, I'd I played rugby when I was younger, um, so was used to team environments, I guess, then as as well. Um, but those those things must have had an impact. Yeah, you know, and I I kind of prided myself, I would say, in a professional sense, when going into work, that there was always consideration about the team. You know, yeah, okay, you've got hierarchy and you've got leaders and whatever else, and some are good and some are bad. Yeah. Um, but actually that can either be a figurehead or think be really good. And then you can either become you can either accept that that's what it is, or actually in your own situation, you can influence and and make decisions, and it's far easier to do it in a group and a team if you can bring people together to do that. Yeah. Um shared responsibility, you know, not taking the burden on all the time. And look, there's times in a place where you've got to step up and you've got to lead. But if you can take people with you, it makes it makes it easier.

SPEAKER_04 19:18

So true, isn't it? What type of um What type of leader do you think you are? Because you're naturally a leader. I can see that by spending time with you. You're the leader of Bear Hug. What type of leader do you do you see yourself?

SPEAKER_01 19:32

Good question. Um I've always approached it with I I've never asked anybody to do anything that I'm not willing to do myself. Yeah. Uh I might not be able to do it, right? And I might not be the best person to do it, but I'm I'm willing to do it. And I would historically would always probably lead by example. You know, and whether that's whether that is on a rugby pitch, um, or it is in a boardroom or a meeting room or whatever else. Um if it's about setting, you know, behaviours or examples, if it's turning up on time or whatever those it might be the minor things as well, but you know, don't leave any room for um challenge really, you know, if you're asking people to do things. Interestingly, I think over time, and even right now we're in a quite a pivotal stage for bear hug, uh you know, and actually then stepping back. So like in in in the work world prior to you know having bear hug, you're you're in a business with people, you've got teams, you've got departments, and and whatever else. Uh if your computer doesn't work, you you know ask IT. Yeah, yeah. Well, when you start your own business, that's you through that. Yeah, that's you, that's you, you've got everything. Yeah, true. So that shifts almost shifts you into leading in a different way, or I that's my my be my view and experience of it, and now actually coming towards or nine, you know, finishing nine years now, it's a very different place, and actually now switching to maybe go the other way and allow people who want to want to do stuff, yeah, right? You've got to kind of get out of the way a bit. So it's I I guess it it ebbs and flows and changes.

SPEAKER_04 21:30

Um also very hard things. Well, I find it personally quite hard to do that, yeah, to step out the way to let people who are probably better than me at doing most things to come in and actually do that job.

SPEAKER_01 21:39

Yeah, I'm saying, yeah, and reinforce it better than you at doing things, yeah. Yeah, yep.

SPEAKER_04 21:44

Yeah, so um, yeah, it's it's interesting, and I think that leadership, the the all blacks said it didn't. I can't remember who wrote the book, but about the you know, Richie McCall sweeping the changing rooms. Yeah, yeah. You know, you lead by example, yeah, don't necessarily have to always shout and bark orders, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:59

You can lead

SPEAKER_04 22:00

By your actions and good friend of mine, Chris Robshaw, he was he was the epitome for that. He would always be first on the training field, last to leave, that kind of leadership.

SPEAKER_01 22:08

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 22:08

Which is what I can see in you as well.

SPEAKER_01 22:10

Yeah. I mean it was what's lovely, but it does take us some adjustment, is you know, the team are pushing me uh away effectively, right? It's like, look, you need to go and do you need to go and do that. That's what you need to be doing. We can do this. Yeah. Let us do it. How else can I help? What more can I do? Yeah. Um but I think that only that only happens, I believe, if that leadership has been there in the first place to and and and to instill somewhere along the way the confidence for them to be able to do that as well. I think that's environment that you create then as well.

SPEAKER_04 22:48

Exactly, that's very true. You've obviously built that from the from the 10 years that you've been running, and culture is probably a massive part of that. Do you have a what does culture kind of look like for you and your team?

SPEAKER_01 23:01

Um yeah, good one. Supportive, yeah. Um encouraging do just just just do it. Yeah. Right? Is is probably probably one thing. Looking at Aaron over there, he's got any different. But um, you know, you there should be a safe it should be a safe environment, right? Fear of fear of failure or risk, take them. Take take the risk. It might not work, it might not be right, but trust me, there's nothing you can do that can fundamentally break it. Yeah. You know, we we I I won't let that happen. I don't need to let that happen. But everybody needs to grow as far as they want to, you know, they can push that as much as they want or or not, but it's um it's not about standing still, it's a it's about pushing. And what I've always done, whether it's my own business or you know, managing teams or any environment, it's encouraging people to go as far as they w want to go, basically. Um, you know, I have a I have a big thing about goal setting. Not everybody does, but who's right, who's wrong. I don't know. But um you've got to find the right thing for the right individual. So if they don't want to run their own business, or if they don't want to do this or don't want to do that, well that's that's fine. It's not for me to preach about it. But what's your what what what kind of limitations do you want to put on yourself? That's that's that's down to you. But what I'm want to promote is I'm not putting any limitations on it. You know, you will be provided with the opportunity to do whatever you want to do, you know, and and a big thing which would make a lot of sense with Bear Hug as well, right? It's about um encouraging movement, health, wellness, all that kind of stuff that is vitally important, of course, um, to make sure everyone's operating at the best they can be.

SPEAKER_04 24:59

Yeah, it's so true. And let's go back then, let's go to the the start of Bear Hug because from my understanding you've taken fairly big risks more than once, uh leaving secure roles, starting businesses, you know, building from scratch. Um, was it 10 years ago that you that you walked away from the secure job and the and the and started Bear Hug?

SPEAKER_01 25:21

Yeah, 2016.

SPEAKER_04 25:23

2016, okay. Yeah. So um so what made you do that? What gave you the conviction to do that? And then why Bear Hug?

SPEAKER_01 25:30

Yeah, cool. Um, yeah, so I'm in my mid-30s by by this point. Uh, and yeah, there was I started two businesses at the same time in 2016. Ridiculous kind of risk to take, I guess, in some respects, but with the full support support of my wife, who um was there right from you know, making making the decision to give it all up um and and and take the leap. But why why Bear Hug kind of starts right back as a 15-year-old, first time I had my first time knee injury that I had, uh, and then coming back to making the decision to do it is well, I'm in my mid-30s and I can't exercise without pain. Um, and these things I've been using since I was a teenager are shit, um, and nothing's nothing's changed in 20 years. Let's do something different. Um that's kind of the starting point of it, and then why bear hug? Well, that why bear hug that kind of answer changes and gets reinforced as the days and the weeks and the months and the years go by, right? And it becomes more and more about what actually it's not about me, it's about it's about the customers, it's about the community, it's about the impact that Bear Hug has on people's lives. And to think that effectively an orange piece of material can have that effect and create this such emotional connection with a with a brand, a product, and a person like blows my mind every every day. Um so it's like you can't stop now, you know. That's this is this is doing something that's good, you know, and and is good for people and and can help people, and and I love what I do.

SPEAKER_04 27:21

It's it's amazing because I I completely I love your products. It's got me through some rugby games in the latter years of my life and my career, um, more quite quite recently actually. So yeah, I can see, and you're changing changing people's lives and enhancing them. Yeah, so I can see why there's so much passion around there, and you've built a very strong community, but keeping kind of keeping in those early stages. Was it did you always have that belief that this would turn into what it is now? Or was it stubbornness or kind of what was your what was driving you at that point?

SPEAKER_01 27:52

Um I guess the first the initial part is finding something for yourself, yeah. Right? Oh my god, this works, right? I think just for yourself to start with, it was not not not the no no. There was about I I guess the initial bit was can we find something that helps with current situation? I got a bad knee, it hurts, um, I can't do what I want to do, and the the things that are out there, and it wasn't necessarily about a product like this at that point, that was just a pain point. Yeah, can we do something to address a pain point that is not currently being catered for? What could this be? Is it a treatment, a pill, a rub, a gel, um, a product, or whatever else, right? And and also then, but this in their area, this area is I had one of these things when I was 15, and I used to tape it up with electrical tape to hold it in place when I played rugby, and that still didn't work. Um, I I was given a tubi grip when I left hospital the first time, right? Uh my dad had arthritis, and he used to wear the thick neoprene Vulcan products, the just vile, you know, kind of material to use. And like when when it kind of came down to options and started narrowing it down to that with that personal experience, is like nothing has changed for 20 years. Yeah, uh, there's got to be something better. Then it was kind of being able to utilize the business experience, I guess, over the previous 20 years. Then looking at that product area in a category and going, okay, could this be something? What could this look like? I think we could do something different here. It could be disruptive to the category, um, and let's take a different approach. Let's just not follow everyone else. Um, you know, blues, blacks, greys, um, negative connotations. Let's let's let's take a different approach to it and see if there can be a positive kind of um approach to it and and twist, I guess, on it. So that that that's that's then where it formulated into what could this be? And is there yes, okay. Look, is there a genuine business opportunity? Yeah, I think there is. Well, let's see if we can make it happen.

SPEAKER_04 30:11

Amazing. So you've said you've the the market outdated, nothing's really evolved. Yeah. So you've come in disrupted and really completely changed that that that niche, that industry.

SPEAKER_01 30:23

I I I think so, yeah. Yeah, um, you know, in our own small way, there's still vast amounts of opportunity to go after in this country and you know, fur further afield. But yeah, I think we're doing something different, um, and doing it differently. That's I think that is the real point. The product is a point of difference, but above and beyond that is about who we are and how we do it. I think that is the real point of difference that kind of people buy into.

SPEAKER_04 30:54

Has it always been Bear Hug? Was that the name from the start?

SPEAKER_01 30:56

Yeah, yeah. Amazing. Yeah. Same orange? Yeah, the orange. Um, I remember giving the brief to um the guy who did the original uh design and and colour. So I was helping him find a cheese factory, would you believe, for a product idea he had? He was a he was a designer. I'd obviously come from the food industry world. Yeah, I was helping him on that front. I was like, right, I've got this, got this brand that we're looking to put together. This is the name. Um it will need a bear. Um, you know, and here's here's like uh you know, mood board, yeah, and here's my inspirations, and uh I love a Land Rover and and whatever else. And I was I sent him some pictures of these orange and black Land Rovers, and I was like, that's the that's the colour scheme. Yeah. See what you could do.

SPEAKER_04 31:42

And it was born. Yeah. So in those first 12 months of founding the business, was there any real scary moments or you know, uh Yeah? Is there fear there? And how do you how do you overcome that?

SPEAKER_01 31:58

Yeah, so probably the uh fear fear of embarrassment, probably, right? So of of failing or no, not of failing, of move this had personal experience of using a product, right? But I'm not a medical person. Um I I'm I'm I'm not a I'm not a physio or any of that kind of stuff, and and coming from that world. I worked in the food industry. So I remember going to a meeting uh with a physio clinic, they agreed to you know see us and and chat to us, and we went in, and there was like five of them sat there, and we're like, right, what's the message? What are we gonna say here? You know, what what are we gonna talk about? All that went out in the window, right? I I I'd done pictures and I'd been in meetings and you know, had coping mechanisms of how to approach those things and everything, and and know how I'm gonna do it. And I went into that and I was sweating, you know, and and I was like, I don't know what I'm talking about. Yeah, like they they they they asked one question and I felt the pieces, you know, and and it was the medical science side of stuff, right? How is this doing this to this condition or that condition? And I'm like, shit, I don't know, right? And and that that was before going into that meeting, I was expecting those types of things, but a bit like the Everest, underprepared. Yeah, but put yourself in that position because actually that wasn't damaging, that was a really good experience. These are the things I need to know about. I need to know more than like that other than it works, yeah, you know, my knee doesn't hurt anymore. There's another level that you know needed to go to, so really important part of the journey.

SPEAKER_04 33:45

It's so true, isn't it? You've put yourself out there, you've put yourself in that position to take it forward. So, what do you think separates people who build like yourself or from people who just talk about it? Do you think there's like a limiting belief there, or or is it from our parents, or what's it?

SPEAKER_01 34:03

It could well be. I mean, I I think there's um I think there definitely is an environmental thing as you're you're growing up. Um maybe the conditions that you're in and whatever your family might have done before, or whatever else. You might, you know, those you're you know, you're born without any of that and you learn it, or you're taught it about what you might pardon me, what you might think. Um the ultimately though the limiting factors come down to you, right? And what what you believe the what believe you can or cannot do. I think fear of failure is a is a big one. I mean the biggest thing I I see is is action. That's the that what what's the difference between people that do or don't? Action. Yeah, it's simple as that. Like people say to me, why are you telling them why why are you telling that person that much information? I'm telling you, they ain't gonna do anything with it. So that there's there's no harm in me sharing this information because actually by sharing this information, it's only it's only enhancing what I'm doing, is my is my belief. Um, and actually, if this person does do something with it, then maybe I've inspired them to do something. You know, it's it's that that's that to me, what's the difference between b people that do and don't is is literally do. It is, isn't it? It just do it.

SPEAKER_04 35:22

It's so true. I was talking to my wife about that the other day about because I was feeling a bit anxious about something, and and it came down to not taking action.

SPEAKER_02 35:29

Yep.

SPEAKER_04 35:29

And I don't even know if disaction's a word, but it was like I wasn't going forward, I wasn't doing what I needed to do, yeah, and that was creating anxiety, yeah. And it was as simple as that, yeah. But I like- Literally do it, it is, isn't it? But I guess people don't I don't know if they don't see that or they don't understand, or knowing what to do, what that first step is.

SPEAKER_01 35:51

Yeah, um, but uh it's one step after the it's like literally, you know, one step after the other, just just shuffle to whatever that next thing is, and a really interesting um conversation I had with a very experienced industry, like heavyweight, right, from the outdoor sector that I was talking to last year, and I was chatting about where the business is now, and uh there were some options that were coming up, you know, probably some decisions I needed to think about and which direction to take this, that, and the other. And he said, Look, where you're at now, um, you know, the first he's done this a few times in terms of building businesses or taking businesses and scaling them. Like the first milestone, million quid. Absolutely the hardest thing to get to is a million quid. Well done, you've done that. But where you go after that, the next phase is like don't think about it too hard, just keep doing what you're doing. Because it that will happen. The the the the the next steps will just come in into view basically, and then you'll know which ones to take. Yeah, they might not be the right, you know, you they might not end up being the right ones, but they it'll kind of don't force it, don't think about it too hard. You know, the next bit is there. If you want to go again, maybe then yeah, you might need some more input or some more thought process or whatever else. Yeah, but I was like, yeah, that's that makes a lot of sense and kind of applies, I think, in lots of lot lots of ways. Like whatever you were debating, you know, just yeah, just do something. It is write it down, or you know, it it doesn't necessarily need to be a significant action, it's just doing something that gets out of that mental block, I think. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 37:40

So true. Was there in the early stages still on Bear Hug? It was there a big was there any pivotal moments that you were like, we've definitely got something now, but this is full steam ahead, or has it just been slowly building over the past 10 years?

SPEAKER_01 37:53

I think it's there there's a definite kind of nice slow yeah, slow progression, but there are a few moments you know that go, oh wow, like you know, really early on, um Christmas Wales rugby derby, you know, was on the telly. Yeah, and you sat there on Boxing Day watching it, and uh oh, hang on a minute, what's that? Paul pause, rewind, and there's a front row, you know, going down, and uh the hooker was wearing one of the wrist supports, right? That's pretty cool, you know. Probably done about four grand of sales at that time or something like that. Like, oh yeah, that's that's that's nuts. That is cool. Um there'd be like little ones like that, and we would always talk about, or we we still do you know, seeing it in the wild. Yeah, because you're exposed to it all the time, and you get people sending in images or we're you know out taking the content and whatever else, actually seeing someone that you don't have any kind of association with wearing it. That's that's pretty cool. Do you still get that sense of like yeah, absolutely? I get it when I see it for you. Yeah, well that's we then have people going, oh this do you know someone in Devon? I mean, that was literally absolutely um no, but yeah, well, I've just been on the beach and there's someone wearing a bear. Like here's a pic, you know, you've got people in chasing people after you know taking pictures. Um so that that that's pretty cool. And then yeah, a couple of years ago, I landed in uh Edinburgh on the Sunday of the London Marathon, and we uh we booked into the hotel and put the tally on, and it was just at the end, you know, when they've all kind of gone through and um they're kind of chatting on the TV, and you've just got people running in the background. I was like, Oh, there's a bear hug. Oh my god, there's another bear hug. Oh, there's a bear hug. And like in the space of a couple of minutes, that I reckon there was about half a dozen to a dozen you know, bear hugs running past the screen. I was like, okay, that's cool, that's pretty cool. Yeah, yeah. Um, so that it's a little bit it's like a snowball effect, yeah, you know, and uh the more that's happening, the more that's there, and the more people see it, the more people buy it, and so on and so forth. And it's that kind of that trusted element is is cool. Eddie Hull, world's strongest man. You know, uh, we still get people sending clips now because it's all on YouTube and everything, but he bought them, did he? He's bought them, wears them. It's like that's yeah, that's pretty cool. Yeah, you know, so those those those little things, yeah. Those moments still mean a lot.

SPEAKER_04 40:19

Yeah. I've um I've actually become very good friends with someone through seeing him in products. Okay, so yeah, slightly different. But I he goes to the gym where I train up at Woodbury, and it's a slightly older demographic, so that you see quite a few of them up there, and the guy's always in double double calves sleeves, and I think he does a lot of running and cycling. And I just said to him, Oh, how are you finding the bear hugs? Uh, just at change rooms, and we've become pretty close now through bear hugs. Yeah, so yeah, it's amazing. Yeah, just just um yeah, it sparked a conversation, and now we have a coffee every now and again in the in the cafe there.

SPEAKER_01 40:53

Right, and that that's that is exactly like one of the things that we were super keen to be able to do. And that is uh it's a it's a it's a conversation starter. It is, right? If someone wasn't wearing an orange item on their calf, I probably wouldn't have yeah, would you would you have said anything?

SPEAKER_04 41:11

Probably not, you know?

SPEAKER_01 41:12

Um, you know, we got one of our guys, Ross Jones the Barber, um, who well he's he's a barber, right? He's not one of our guys, but he's one of our community. And um he was running the Great North Run, and he he runs in calf sleeves, he's on the start line, and you know, people coming up to him and like, Oh, you're you're Jones the Barber, right? Yeah, and yeah, and and it's the bear hug and the content and stuff like that, and he's like, This is nuts. That's so cool, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 41:41

Love it. It does, it's it's only it's not just uh a product, it's actually building a community, it's it's a conversation startup, yeah, it's creating friendships, yeah. It's amazing. Um, what's what's a couple of or one founder's trait that people don't see in you? Or yeah, one of the traits that's probably kept you going over the past ten years that you've always left back to um resilience, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 42:09

Uh you know, 100% uh that willingness to just keep going where there's been so many times when could have just stopped. You know, the easy decision would be to just pick up the phone to someone from the past and go can have a job, you know, and um that that could have been done. There's there's uh uh as many highs, there's all the lows, so yeah, just to keep digging in, basically. And I don't and there you're digging in in the dark moments, you're you're digging in when you're on your own, you're digging in when you ain't sleeping at night or getting up at the crack of dawn or whatever else. There's no one else there. Um that's when you've got to find that kind of inner strength.

SPEAKER_04 42:58

And what is that? What is that for you? Do you have a why that you that you lean into that you dig into when you need it?

SPEAKER_01 43:05

I think it comes back to the belief, right? Which is which has come from the community. Yeah, I can't I can't let this go. This is this is this can't happen. This can't not go. This is working for people. Yeah. You know, and that's got to keep going. That has to keep going because it it's it's doing something else. I think it would just be so sad if it if it wasn't there. Yeah. That that's that's the kind of bit that keeps going. And I, you know, I don't want to fail, um, but that's the bigger motivator, I think.

SPEAKER_04 43:40

Seeing people do better, be able to do more, be able to go for a run. Yeah, yeah. The guy in the guy who goes to the gym I go to, seeing him be able to go to his cycle class cut uh because his calf's being looked after.

SPEAKER_01 43:54

Absolutely. You know, those comments that come in, yeah. Um, you know, my my wife does the customer service. And you know, it's she knows when people are in pain. She can sense that. You you can get it in the tone and everything. But then it's the as many of those might be there, and the it's the ones when it's the oh my god, this this actually works. This is what I've been able to do. Yeah. Thank you so much. You know, those bits are the bits that really keep you going. The business is the business, you know, and the and the that kind of happens as a result of doing these things, yeah, of making better products, um, of of how we do it and inspiring people to do it. That's that's what it is. And then the sales are the byproduct effectively.

SPEAKER_04 44:42

So too, isn't it? Because it almost, when you get to a point, it almost takes the business almost takes care of itself, yeah. Once you've built an excellent product, you've done all the research, you're helping people, and then it's yeah, then you're doing such great work, you'd hope to think that then the business can just start, it's like a it's like an operating wheel, then isn't it?

SPEAKER_01 45:02

A system exactly that, exactly that, which then creates wonderful opportunities to do crazy things.

SPEAKER_04 45:09

Good, like take on uh Hellvelin ten, nine times, yeah. Um you you mentioned losing your dad at 33, and I I I'm fortunate enough to have both my parents, so that that changes a man. Yeah. How did losing your dad reshape you and your responsibility?

SPEAKER_01 45:30

Yeah, um, it's like brutal, right? It's you know, and I've I was I I mean there was definitely people around me that lost their dads at a younger age as well, but still pretty early, versus like friendship groups and contacts and everything of losing losing their dad. It's like there's nowhere else to go. Like, if you you know you talk about the buck stops with you and all that kind of stuff in in jobs and so on and so forth, but in this scenario, that is it. There is no higher authority, you know, if if you like, that head of the family has gone, so the family look to you, you know, and that's not not only have you got to deal with your own loss and grief, but you you're you're kind of shifting into a different role as well. That I guess you know at some point is gonna happen, but you just don't think about it, right? You don't you don't plan for it.

SPEAKER_04 46:30

No, of course, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 46:31

Um and uh I I reckon it was two years of navigating that of navigating that, yeah, yeah, with so many other things going on. Um, but definitely changed. I can't I I I I can't really necessarily pinpoint it, yeah, but there was definitely a shift in me as a result of uh of that. Did it change what success meant to you? Um I mean the success you know you asked the the pre-question as well, and I've thought about that and I was like, God, it's such a great question which you can kind of farm out the you know standard answers and what does it look like and everything. But I was like, I I've reflected on that beforehand, and did that change it? Yeah, it probably did, but I think everything through my life to date will probably have had an impact in what success looks like, and it shifts to to time, so uh uh at uh at or of the time, right? So, you know, yeah, okay, so when I lose my dad, do then did I then shift into okay, right? What am I gonna be? What does success look like as the head of the family or whatever else? No, I it didn't kind of go into that um thought process, but it definitely it probably definitely threw everything up in the air. And like I say, probably for two years juggling many things, you know, a lot went on uh in that in that time around um my own career and things like that as well. So it was definitely a major contributing factor to who I am and what I'm doing now, you know. I I think there was a maybe there was a shift into maybe I shifted in a gear into um leading more. Maybe I maybe I just took that on in every kind of facet. Um Yeah, I don't know. It was tough, it was i i it it's a tough one, but it's the the success thing is an interesting thing because I just I just for me that changes all the time.

SPEAKER_04 48:45

Yeah, and and I guess it's sort of uh a difficult question to answer because success is so different to m to everyone. Yeah. This is a different outcomes, isn't there, for the success.

SPEAKER_01 48:56

So i talking about him, for example, and when he was you know 60 62 but he'd planned to die before he retired. That was his life, right? He was in financial services and everything, right? So he executed perfectly his plan, which is nuts, right? And for loads of stupid reasons and whatever else, right? Um wasn't killing himself or anything, he wasn't he wasn't well, but in terms of what he'd kind of set out, that's he nailed his plan. So it's like okay, his dad, my grandfather, he died at a similar age, um, his uncle had died at a similar age, you know, that was hit history repeating itself effectively. So I think one thing would be for successful is I I get past sixties, you know, would be would be one of those things that's in there. Yeah, and you know, physically wise, I'm in a very different place to that generation and the generations that went before at this age. Of course. Um, so stuff like that, probably actually underneath is is some form of success measurement or goal that's there to uh die older.

SPEAKER_04 50:06

100%, yeah. I know what you mean. Yeah, live a longer life. Yeah, the um, yeah, like I said, you I can't, it's difficult for me because I haven't lost a parent, but my wife lost her dad probably ten years ago, and she she was chasing a life she didn't want for him, so she was in the corporate world in London, yeah, burnout, and she wanted to look like she was being successful for him. When he passed away, her whole life changed completely. Yeah, she retrained to be, she was in corporate, she retrained to be a yoga teacher, and now she loves what she's doing. She moved out of London and she's teaching people how to become yoga teachers now. So there is, I guess, again, I can't directly relate, but is there that element of you're doing things you might not have been the same, but doing things for him that really good?

SPEAKER_01 50:54

I love that, and actually, I totally 100% agree with that. I if I now listen there and reflect back over it, definitely some of the things that I were doing, you want to be deemed to to you know be successful, I guess, right? And you know, we talked earlier about your environment and upbringing and so on and so forth. I think he was probably doing the same with his father or had done the same with his father. Yeah, um I would yeah, I could I could say that I was I was doing the doing the same, and actually, with him not being there, maybe that it's not a burden, but you're there there is now no comparable. This is all you now, yeah, yeah. This is where you take it, this is what you want to do. Um, those limiting factors are set by me. Is there a legacy that gets left or whatever else, or am I happy? But that's now my choice. Down to you, yeah. Um and and down, yeah, down down down to me, and and nowhere else. There's nowhere else to go. Well, exactly.

SPEAKER_04 51:57

Yeah, it's so true, isn't it? And when she told me that story, because I wasn't with her at the time, but um when we got together, she was telling me that, and it made me think about my relationship with my dad who's still around. Yeah, and like, am I doing things to please him? Yeah, or am I am I on the path that I want to be on? Yeah, so it is just an interesting relationship. I think we all have different relationships with our parents, and you know, they have such a they can have such an overpowering um I guess belief on us or something around that that we probably don't realise, subconsciously don't realise. Yeah, yeah. But yeah, so what does leadership look like for you now within your family? Do you're father of three? Is that correct?

SPEAKER_01 52:34

Father of three lads, three boys, three boys, 19, 17, 14. Wow. Um, yeah. It's fascinating because um my eldest is in university now, uh, but he finished his A levels, didn't know what he wanted to do, came to work for us for a year. Um, my second son is currently working for us. Um, still not quite sure what he's what he's gonna do. So you well, I certainly go, okay, how do I I don't want to be a preacher, you know, to to them. I don't want to be a dictator to them as a father and whatever else. So I'm trying to take the approach of um that advisor, you know, ultimately. I in some ways I'm trying to be consistent whether I'm in work or out of work. I'm I'm trying to be the same person all the time, and that's that should be the best of me, right? So what what I know from chatting to them they don't say this directly, right? But what I can pick up from, you know, uh and and believe, I should say, they're not known necessarily, yeah, is that I I I believe that they are inspired by what they've seen, you know. So my son's 19, so he was nine when I when I you know went to work for myself. Um the other one was seven, um, and the other one was four, right? So he did so he knows the the youngest one knows nothing other than me working for myself. So I I think that would probably be different for each one of those as well, because he knows no different. Um, but you know, Cole, my eldest, then, has seen would have known that something changed, right? Um I mean he talks, he's got a funny story, and I don't really know where this comes from. And my wife and I kind of go, I just didn't really realise this, but this is what the the the kid took on is that we didn't have any food in the fridge. So he felt or he feels that during that process the hardship of you know taking that change of direction and um you know the ebbs and flows and the ups and downs of the businesses actually did come into the house, right? Okay, did come into the family, and his measurement of that was whether there was food in the fridge or not. Yeah, being a young lad eating probably a lot, right? Yeah, um so but I know that they're you know, they both the two older ones both talk to me about wanting to work for themselves and and those types of things. So I think I think that's that becomes the environment again, right? That's yeah, that's norm to them, they've seen that as the norm, so they know that that's an option, you know. It's there's no limit again, it's not back to that limiting belief or limiting factor. You know, you can do whatever you want to do. Um, we're not gonna hold you back, you know, that's kind of on you. So it's pushing and encouraging, yeah, but not dictorial, uh, which hopefully is the balance I strike every day.

SPEAKER_04 55:48

So it's interesting that they that they've taken that from you as your your kind of like your entrepreneurial self and they want that for themselves as well. So you've obviously doing something very right well within the business and within the household.

SPEAKER_01 56:02

Or the question is back to what we've just been talking about, is are they already now forming that thought process of oh well dad did this, so actually my measurement of success is a minimum of what he's done. Am I trying to do something for for him or they're trying to do it for themselves? And that's that's one thing that I try to though kind of bring out from them is yeah, this is don't don't do it for me, you know. What what what is it? Let's try and work out what it is that you do want to do.

SPEAKER_04 56:29

Finding out what they want to do, yeah. Yeah, which is which I guess at that young age it's probably quite a hard thing, isn't it? Because life has changed so much from when we were kids and younger and to what it is now, yeah. Yeah, I think it's a it's a lot harder. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 56:45

Well, yeah, it's different, absolutely. Um they can get all their opinions from somewhere else. Well, exactly, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 56:51

I know. You talk about relentless problem solving and and you love performance metrics. You look at that quite heavily into your business. Yeah. Um, your words that you love a spreadsheet. Yeah. What does structure well where does structure fit into kind of what you're doing day to day? Is it a big part of it, the structure, the routine, the knowing what you need to do?

SPEAKER_01 57:14

Yeah, not to a level that it's so rigid and restrictive of you can't do anything else. Okay, right. Yeah, but there's it I guess some of it's almost like muscle memory, right? And uh I'll joke about with the the team that you know I I've done most of the metrics while I'm on the toilet right in the morning type thing, you know, but it's with the technology and whatever else you can do stuff, yeah. But you know, you're up and you're awake and it's like, look, this this isn't this isn't this isn't going to consume my day, but it's just an important check-in to the to the business, yeah. You know, with a glance at a couple of metrics. Yesterday was, you know, it's in the right ballpark or whatever else, everything's cool. Um, get on, get on with whatever's, you know, whatever's next.

SPEAKER_04 57:56

Can I ask what your what your metrics are? What not the numbers, but what you're checking? Is it is it sales, is it social media? What is it that you're uh you want to have a glance at every day?

SPEAKER_01 58:05

Quite simply, what's the revenue, yeah, and how much we spent on marketing? Okay, ultimately they're the two big drivers. They're the two big drivers um that effectively make or break the business. Yeah. Um so the the rest the rest of it, and then in terms of structure, you know, that's that's like a daily routine, you know. Weekly, then we we have the team together, um, and we you know, and as we're growing as well, then there needs to be some touch points and there's some structure, but within within a week, like I say, we don't create I don't create restriction for myself, and I don't wish to create restriction for the team, but we have to have some sort of structure to be able to bring things to bring things together, um but making sure that that's just not time wasted, you know, it needs to be sharing information or receiving information and and checking in on are we on the right track? That's really as simple as that. What I've had to build in this year is I have had to be a bit more not rigid, but uh there's so much going on in terms of work and the um other activities and the plans and training and so on and so forth. It's without a plan, you've got no chance. Yeah, you know, there's got to be some sort of um structure to it and some sort of plan, otherwise you're just like a headless chicken.

SPEAKER_04 59:28

So, do you have a weekly structure for that? What your your team, they know what they need to do.

SPEAKER_01 59:32

They come in, is it a Monday morning meeting, and then you just Yeah, no, Mondays are generally um we we try and if we can everyone gets together on a Monday, but that's more of a connection point rather than anything else. It's quite a heavy operational day on a Monday for the business. Um, you've got all the weekend orders, yeah. So we we try and condense all the nuts and bolts and the operational stuff around a Monday, get that out of the way. Yeah. Um, Tuesday, yeah, right. Where was last week? Are we on track? All that kind of stuff, what's on the agenda, what's the priorities for this week? Um, try and get all that done. And then really the the middle to the end part of the week is what we need to be doing. Yeah, getting out there, coming and doing things like this, yeah, yeah. Um, picking up those meetings, and then just making sure there's time in there then to actually do the work and do the actions and and get on with it. And then as the season, you know, as the year goes on, obviously event season starts kicking in and things like that. So uh there's a there's a there's a there's a kind of a bit of a structure to the year forming as well, then as well as we as we do things, so we know um we talk about sprints, and maybe we'll have like three or four sprints a year where we really focus on getting shit done, um, but then we need to protect that time to be what Bear Hug is, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:54

Um, you know, and out there doing are your are your because you talk about you've talked about goal setting as well. Do the do your sprints align with your is it three years you look, you look at three years, one year, twelve months, yeah, to the week.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:09

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Never never go beyond three years. Three years is your max. Like, what's the point? Yeah, you know, you can have a nice, lovely, lofty, um, you know, North Star if you like, yeah. But in terms of that kind of business stuff, three years just seems this is no point in going any further than that. So much can change or happen. Um, but then bring it down yeah, to annual, yeah. You know, whether it's a budget or a target or whatever the whatever the plan is, but then it's it's all about breaking it down into bite-sized manageable chunks, right? Um, and yeah, it does go all the way down, you know, what are you gonna do today, right? One thing, just do one thing. Yeah, if you do one thing every day, that's five things. And if everyone does one thing every day, that's five things, you're getting a lot of stuff done.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:56

And it's making sure those things, those tasks, are going towards the same goal. Yes, going towards that yearly three yearly goal, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:04

And then like the check-in would be month or whatever else, you know, maybe a quarter might come up a bit then as well. It's like, look, we done too many of those things. They're then they're not adding, they're not adding the value, and actually, it's continuing to be ruthless, I think, then as well, because it's so easy to just keep adding in shit, right, and picking things up and everything that just don't add any value, lots of noise, lots of activity and whatever else, but it there's there's it's not doing anything, so we've got to be brutal because otherwise you could end up just employing people just to be doing stuff, yeah. It's the wrong stuff, but just we've got to keep coming back to what's right. So true, isn't it? Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:51

But keeping on the business, um, if someone wants to perform at a higher level, what should they track?

SPEAKER_01 1:02:58

Oh wow. Like on a performance of here, or do you mean in business?

SPEAKER_04 1:03:05

In business, okay. You you yeah, yeah, stick to kind of yeah, business. What are they yeah? What should an entrepreneur who's just starting out, what should the the the five metrics or three metrics they should be they should be tracking?

SPEAKER_01 1:03:18

Revenue has to be there. It doesn't matter what business it is, right? It one assumes you've got a business that's gonna be is gonna need some revenue to do something. Um, so that that has to be there. I guess it's really gonna depend on your type of business, right? But what whatever it is, you know, we've got different businesses. Um, you need revenue, um, and then there's a cost of acquisition, whatever that may be, whether you're selling houses, filling events, or selling products. You know, those are two I say I look at every day anyway, so they have to be on there. Um I guess product, you've got a product, I've got a product, different products, but the product has to be how do you measure the product, right? It's reviews, it's feedback, it's it's whatever else there. That that that's that's gotta be one that's in there.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:08

You're looking at customer reviews, customer reviews, something like that, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:12

Um, you know, complaints per 100,000 or whatever whatever it is, whether it's a food product, drink product, product like this. Yeah, um, I guess it would be a slightly different, you know, the metrics might be different depending on the volumes, but quality control effectively. Yep. Yeah. Um and then your costs, what what whatever they are. Yeah. You know, you could keep writing a list, but for me, that's probably four. Yeah. Just nail those. Nail them. Yeah. From the start. From from from the start. Um, and you might not be making money, but understand them. Yeah. You know, and you know, and and work out how it's going to work and keep hold of them. Yeah. Don't don't let go of them because it's too easy for one in the excitement, you know, your revenue might be wonderful, but any one of those might go out of the window. You haven't got a business. Yeah. It's as simple as that.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:09

What's one perfor what's one performance habit that compounds that if anyone listening right now needs to have a daily habit that compounds over time? Is there anything that's stuck with you over the ten the ten years? Is it metrics? Is it just checking those metrics every morning?

SPEAKER_01 1:05:28

Yeah, I think it would. I honestly I I I I think it would be because you you can't and and those four I've just talked about, they have to be in balance, really. You know, you can't have one going out the the window. You know, we we've we've had this this last year, I would view as maybe a bit of a consolidation year. So we'd had years of doubling growth, you know, three three consecutive years of doubling growth from a revenue. point of view from those metrics. Um none of the others were negative as such, but then when you look at the infrastructure behind it, it was lagging behind. So we've needed to address that, you know, to to kind of be able to go again in the in the next in the next phase. But you can only do that once you've actually created the problem if that if that makes sense. If you obsess about some of that stuff too early, don't worry about that. You haven't got anything to worry about yet.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:32

Yeah, yeah. Just keep moving forward. Just keep moving forward. Yeah, yeah. Exactly. Do you um do you believe in balance? Yes. Yeah, how do how do you because you're obviously very busy, you got your business, how do you you've got three kids? Yeah. You're now training for all these events this year. Yeah. How's that working for you?

SPEAKER_01 1:06:51

Uh I I think I think I'm doing okay. Good. You know, like coming up to eight weeks into 2026. I have not always been in balance. In fact for a long period of my working life 100% not been in balance you know it was way way the wrong way in terms of work and you know daily hours, weekly hours and so on and so forth would would be would be nuts, right? So um but I guess is there a view that without having been that person and working like that would that have would I be where I am now without it so I don't regret anything around around those lives but balance definitely is becoming more and more important as the age you know progresses as well. Like I said I I want to live into my 70s or 80s or whatever else. And I just want to I don't want to like exist. I want to live yeah yeah so that that has to be about the physical mental wellbeing because otherwise what's the point you know so um there is a big adjustment which I'm I work hard on and harder on now because the guilt is one thing that kind of hits me. If I'm in the gym or if I'm on a hill what am I not doing for the business but actually then accepting that being in the gym or being on the hill is for the good of the business and I don't mean from a content perspective necessarily but from me from my physical mental wellbeing I need to be the best I can possibly be for the business.

SPEAKER_04 1:08:36

So true that's you can show up better when you're in the office. Absolutely yeah and has there been part previous years where you probably haven't done that 100% just working too much.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:48

Yeah I mean 2024 was brutal in in the year and one of the the way that manifests it physically for me is gout. Right okay and I I don't know whether you've ever had gout I hope you haven't because it is horrific really right and people go oh yes too much Chinese you know a port or blah blah blah nonsense right it absolute nonsense but what I've been able to um there's a few things I know that trigger it one of them is without a doubt stress okay uh which is really interesting because in my again back in my formative years when I was 19 I worked with this guy who was an ex-army guy and uh his belief he had this he had this phrase that he would always reel out to the you know the youngsters in us he was like there's no such thing as stress it's the inability to cope that that was his that was his mantra and uh absolute nonsense that um you know as you kind of as you can just kind of get to it however though in 2024 I guess I was struggling to cope with what was what was going on and that manifested itself in gout and in the worst attack I'd ever had I had it in both feet both legs um and it took me out I wasn't I wasn't active I was on crutches it was ridiculous you know and I was was doing this when we we opened a pop-up shop um at the Cardiff Half in the October which I was supposed to have been doing the Cardiff Half that never you know that never happened and whilst everyone was out running the Cardiff half I was lying in the pop-up shop on the sofa with my wow with my legs up I mean it was it was horrific and that probably went on I don't know best part of nearly four months really you know the longevity of it of working yes stress and working too much yeah wow yeah 100% so I I I had to make changes at the end of that year um I have not had you're looking very fit now mate oh thanks man um I have not had an attack since then so I went I went through 2025 yeah without a gout attack which was like nice good progress yeah um so yeah that was like I've got to I've got to address this I've got to get the balance back. And how are you finding that now then balancing your own personal health yeah business and family time uh yeah I think I think it's doing no I think it's doing okay yeah you know ask my wife what she thinks but um but we're kind of but interestingly what what I took from it which led into how we operate now probably more so is okay I recognise I absolutely recognise that I need to change something here to get the balance right but actually this isn't just about me because how am I how is this affecting everybody else the team and so on and so forth the family so actually it was an open discussion about what are we going to do and how are we going to do this and this isn't this isn't about me this isn't all about me right but this is what I need to do I want to do this and this is how I'm gonna go about approaching it but how are you? What about what are you guys doing? How are we gonna do that? So again it's that I guess transparency but then openness as well to go look I need your support to help me do this this is what I am planning on doing as a result I kind of need you to get on board with that which didn't even need to be asked to be honest because it was like yeah of course you should yeah you know again you need to be doing these you need to be doing these things we need you to be the best you can be so please do it yeah you know so that's I guess that um approval you know from from that kind of tight knit team um is it was important and is still important and now it's about holding each other to account you know for for those for those actions like look why are you still in the office go go and do the gym oh well I am got you know you have got time yeah go and do it go and go and do what you need to do because I need you to be the best you can be as well you know it's it's it's not just about me and that comes down to that and that and that's the culture you're you've built on building yeah you know if people need to go and do a gym session I guess you can because they're gonna turn up yeah turn up and perform better. Absolutely yeah yeah moving into you're now entering year 10 of Bearhug we've touched on um and launching the 10 in 10 challenge yeah so let's let's talk about that what is what what what is 10 in 10 so it is basically taking on 10 events yeah endurance challenges uh not all of them are yet you know defined um to celebrate 10 years of Bearhug um but and doing it doing it through Bearhug you know and and kind of promoting I guess the you know the as a result the benefits of Bearhug and so on and so forth. Yeah but what's really cool and exciting is as we've been talking to to people about doing this actually the the support coming back the other way you know like you guys uh uh are gonna form part we're gonna be are gonna are gonna form part of it right yeah um so that's that's that's pretty cool yeah so we're with the first one is uh kicking off in May May the 7th uh which is what we call the pen 10 I don't believe this exists but basically it's a mini um it's a mini Everest apex event um so it's ten cents a pen of van consecutive um you know a cent of pen of van which actually is literally half an Everest half an Everest amazing half half an Everest yeah so that's the one that kicks it off um and then there's ten in for the 10 but we've got a couple of months off then for you know summer and Christmas basically but there will be an event then every every month um of which Apex Forge is one of them and um Everest in uh Apex Everest in September is forming part of it as well.

SPEAKER_04 1:15:15

Amazing well we're very much looking forward to being part of that um what does what does the challenge represent to you personally because this is obviously a big momentous year for you it's your it's your business it's you you've done for 10 years.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:26

Yeah what's personally what does it mean to you I've never done anything like this you know like we said right at the beginning was last year's apex Everest my first endurance event yeah am I an endurance athlete no am I going to be an endurance athlete by the end of the year maybe um or can I call myself uh you know an ultra endurance athlete I don't know but we'll we'll we'll we'll go for it this is you know my my knee has been crocked since I was 15 so there's an element where I have definitely held myself back from doing things yeah um over those years for many many reasons you know work life family so on and so forth and this year just feels like a fantastic opportunity because of the the the work I guess that's happened over the last nine years I'm now really really fortunate that the business is in a position where I've got the ability around me to actually now put the effort in to do this which is pretty insane. Yeah it's amazing so that that's before even doing it like the ability to be able to actually put that as a thought yeah and go okay I'm gonna I'm gonna do this um because the ability there is to do it I'm not saying I've got the ability to do it yet we'll see how it goes but it's a it's a it's a new I guess it's a new opportunity in some ways as well it's it's almost like I don't know not say maybe it's going far as starting a new business again but it's a st it's a step change yeah um in in something whilst the business will be will be going on there's still going to be a you know I'm sure there will be challenges it will draw me back in and so on and so forth but that will also be a really brilliant test of how the business you know what does the business look like at the end of year 10 versus the start whilst also doing this yeah and if it's where I hope it will be absolutely amazing you know and and that that almost then gives the um maybe the opportunity to then go wow well what's next exactly yeah which might not be endurance events but it might be what's next for the business because actually if I can do that and that time that that takes as well yeah um and the business is still there working okay interesting place to be yeah I love it that the fact that you've celebrating these 10 years through challenge yeah and not through a massive party or you know taking all your staff out to Vegas or something. I don't know and you're doing it through you're choosing challenge you're choosing discomfort love that yeah really interesting because uh there's one of the guys um who's he'd probably been around eight of the ten um eight of the nine years so far who's been a kind of mentor advisor or whatever else and he's like you're just always seeking out you're always seeking out something something something else yeah you know um or if it's if it's working you're not happy you know and you you want to find something else to to fix so maybe in this regard I'm avoiding that and actually I'm gonna fix something else right in instead might might be might be part of it as well but I think it's always if I look back a bit right since the beginning um I've thrived on discomfort I guess right and and environments and opportunities to improve something not necessarily fix. Fix would be I was thinking about saying the word fix but it's not necessarily about fixing it's about improving I always used to love going into underperforming you know businesses or environments um and making them better. Yeah but then once you've made it better the buzz needs to come again you know what I mean from from something else so of course yeah it could be could be an element of it exciting and what what is the most exciting what what excites you the most about the year ahead is it any particular one challenge or just the volume the volume of it all the the volume of it all those seeing how far you can go yeah um and it's the whole it's not the events are the events right but it's it's everything that leads up to those events you know this started on January the first really you know it was already kind of there mentally in terms of I can't you know the first event is me I can't start on May the first you know it needs to start now this this is this is the build up to it of course and and actually whether I do get all the 10 done or whether I complete all of the ten I don't know I'll give it a go but the the process everything else that will come with it is only gonna make me a better physical you know um thing you know maybe maybe there'll be other things that come away so it's that it's that whole that's what I'm up for yeah is is the experience of the whole thing um and these kind of events are the little spikes along the way and seeing how you come out of it at the end of it not I think not just physically but everything.

SPEAKER_04 1:21:03

It changes a lot of things right yeah I think I yeah it it it could well do and I you know I've had conversations with various people and going well yeah okay so what happens after this gonna stop so there'll be something else maybe something else there will be okay Reese if someone listening wants to build something meaningful can you give us one mindset shift one daily habit and one non-negotiable Christ can we go over them again one mindset shift one mindset shift one mindset shift I think positive affirmations right yeah like that you you've got to tell yourself look in the mirror and I I went through a period where I actually did this um tell yourself what you're gonna do today you are good whatever it may be whatever you know is on the horizon tell yourself tell yourself every day so true build that confidence kind of within you yeah yeah one daily habit check your metrics yes and one non-negotiable one non-negotiable no excuses no excuses oh the weather oh the train was delayed oh there was traffic lights no no you're in control you know it's on you it's easy to make excuses in it the world we live in right now yeah amazing love all that Reese right now in this season of your life what does rising to your Everest mean to you it is the 10 in 10 this you know it's the that's don't look too far ahead that's it's massive in terms of you know what have I done before um it's the 10 in 10 and what the business looks like at the end of year 10.

SPEAKER_01 1:23:09

Yeah and if that's still rocking and rolling and I'm still rocking and rolling then good that that'll be a good one.

SPEAKER_04 1:23:17

So that's what you're climbing this year. Yeah I love that. Ruth it's been an absolute pleasure to have you on where can people find you what the what the social handle we'll put it all into the show comments but yeah anything you want to give a quick shout out to now?

SPEAKER_01 1:23:28

Yeah get a bear hug. Get a bear hug get get a bear hug on the socials get a bearhug dot com on the website if you want the gear and if you want to follow my ten in ten it's uh at Bearhug CO.

SPEAKER_04 1:23:40

Perfect. We'll put all that into the show notes. Reese absolute pleasure thank you for your time. Cheers.