do me a favor just introduce your name for those
that's not watching it and then the name of your
business for me so my name is justin h snyder
my business is called forest superfoods and um
yeah it's a superfood whole food wellness company
that i started about 11 or 12 years ago now oh
don't stop now justin oh don't stop now you got
to keep it going So it was it's an amazing story
about how you started. And you got to tell them
about the fanny packs because I'm in that era.
Fanny packs was legit, Justin. So, yes, please
go all in. I'm listening and I know someone else
is intrigued to listen as well. OK, so. i grew
up working in my grandfather's jewelry store
and when i and i still remember when i was like
13 years old like 30 years ago working at his
store and just loving that relationship between
the customer and the and this and the and the
seller and having that kind of banter with people
and a laugh with people and giving them this
incredible experience and giving them an amazing
beautiful piece of jewelry that they loved and
that kind of like There was, you know, I look
back on those years where I spent all my weekends
working and I look back on that time with fondness
because I just loved that experience. And so,
like, my grandfather was in business, my dad
was in business, my great -grandfather was in
business, and business was just in my blood.
It was just something I always wanted to do.
And when I was in high school, I started this
business called Happy Cow, which I still have
now, which sells, like, fashionable fanny packs,
beautifully handmade leather bags that aren't
dorky, that look really cool, but it was always
a very niche market. And so I always thought,
like, I want to start another business that is
going to have legs and is going to really grow
into something without me needing to spend millions
on dollars of creating demand. Because in business,
it's very difficult to create demand. I think
it's much easier to kind of just do a really
good job of supplying the existing demand that's
already there, particularly when you don't have
a lot of money. When I started Forest Superfoods,
I had $100 in my bank account. So I had no money.
So I was traveling around India after high school,
spent three or four years backpacking around
India, walking barefoot. All the Indian people
would come and offer me money because they're
like, are you okay? And I'm like, no, I'm doing
it by choice. It's okay. And because India has
got this like incredible history of Ayurvedic
medicine and also vegetarianism where people
don't really eat. Most people there don't eat
meat. And so they have other foods that they
eat in order to get their protein and iron and
B12 and those kind of nutrients that a lot of
us who eat meat, we get it from the meat. And
one of those foods is spirulina. And I remember
walking through the market and they had these
green chips in a tray. And I thought that this
was, you know, this was over 20 years. This was
over 20 years ago. And I still remember like,
and I didn't know what it was. made some inquiries
and they were spirit they were called spirulina
and it's this algae that grows on top of the
water on the surface of the water the united
nations is called um the food of the future because
it's so nutrient rich that they're like doing
all this research to work out where they can
use this food as a way to help people who are
malnourished in like developing countries because
it's so easy. So you can grow a lot of it and
it's so nutrient dense. So it's got huge amounts
of protein and iron and B vitamins and beta carotenes
and all these incredible nutrients and vitamins
that the human body needs. And so that kind of
got me started on this journey of like, But that
kind of blew my mind in this idea of that the
food we eat can impact the health of our bodies.
And it seems like such an obvious idea. But back
then and even today, I think, you know, a lot
of time if you go to the doctor and you've got
a rash or you've got something happening, they
don't ask you, what's your diet like? What are
your stress levels like? You know, that's like
it's just kind of like look at the symptoms and
treat the symptoms. And I've had my own experiences
with that around the same time, which really
kind of. discouraged me in some ways to go like
oh maybe like the west amazon doesn't have all
the answers it's definitely got some answers
but maybe it doesn't have all the answers and
i really became kind of fascinated with this
idea that there were foods out there like the
spirulina that could change our lives for the
better and it's it doesn't mean you need to take
some pharmaceutical that can have these side
effects or that you know you have to run marathons
every week it's just it's just adding some some
really nutrient dense special foods your diet
can have all kinds of impacts and like for example
one of our best sellers ashwagandha is has been
shown in lots of different studies to naturally
reduce cortisol levels so like so many of us
are stressed and anxious but like this incredible
root ashwagandha which is a plant like i put
up a video yesterday because i'm growing heaps
of ashwagandha in my garden and i was running
around harvesting it all like look at the size
of this fruit so look at this and it's like it's
just a root you know it's not made in a lab it's
made it's made in the soil the way food is meant
to be made and it does incredible things for
anxiety and um stress and a whole lot of other
stuff as well but it's a food and so i really
got i it's from you know over 20 years ago my
mission has really been about Get people eating
real food again. And it's not just the superfoods
and the exotic stuff that, you know, comes from
all different kinds of countries, all different
places around the world and the mushrooms and
that kind of stuff. But it's really just eating
food that to our grandparents. It was just food,
whereas now we have this confusion about what
food really is. And we have this ultra -processed
stuff that comes in a pretty packaging or we
get from the supermarket or we get from a fast
food restaurant or whatever it is. And it's not
actually food. It's processed in such a way that
a lot of the nutrients have been removed and
that the human body doesn't even recognise it
as food because we've evolved over thousands
of years to recognise. Whole foods is food, like
an apple, like a mandarin, like things that are
in their natural state. That's what I believe
our bodies are meant to eat. And so that's why
in business as well. we don't sell any extracted
products we don't sell any synthetic ingredients
we don't sell any you know any any products with
fillers in them or with any of this stuff we
just take like these incredible foods from nature
like lion's mane mushroom or the ashwagandha
or the moringa or the spirulina and we freeze
dry we grow them organically we freeze dry them
and put into capsules so there's no no extra
processing we just take those whole foods and
provide them to people as close to how they appear
in nature as possible and then on top of that
we're really like So, you know, my accountant
hates it because we do so much stuff for free
because we don't, like, we don't care about making
money. We just want to get people healthy again.
And so, like, we teach people, like, here's how
to grow all this stuff at home and here's how
to grow herbs on your balcony and here's, you
know, here's the foods that you should only eat
organic and here's, like, you know, some good
ideas for recipes for beautiful salads you can
eat with your meal. And, like, so our whole thing
is just about getting people eating real food.
because we know that translates to incredible
health benefits and benefits overall for everybody
and so we're really focused on just getting people
healthy and like living their best life because
life is short you know life is too short to wake
up feeling crap and to you know wake up feeling
exhausted and there's so many people who like
you know and not in a good way and you know modern
life can be really tricky and so just doing what
we can to kind of help people to have better
lives. And that's the end of my rant. Please,
let's just debunk that and tell me why it's so
important, in your opinion, that regardless of
the money that people want to spend, we're going
to spend it somewhere. But what's the importance
of eating whole foods and spending the money
on that and being okay with that? I think like
there's a lot to that. I think first of all,
like whole foods are expensive and organic foods
are expensive when you buy them from the supermarket
or from like whole food markets and that kind
of thing. But if you go to your farmer's market,
they're not expensive. You know, if you grow
a little bit of your own food, that's virtually
for free, you know? And so like even things like
garlic, which are in Australia, you know, $80
a kilo, like you can grow garlic so easily in
a tiny bit of land, you know, or you grow your
herbs or I think. You know, I think it doesn't
necessarily have to be organic, but I think try
to eat as many whole foods as possible. And if
you can get your berries and like green leafy
vegetables and things that get sprayed a lot,
if you can get them organic, that makes a huge
difference. But things like a banana, for example,
you know, it's got a thick skin on it. So like
eating those not organic is probably not as bad
as eating berries that aren't organic. But I
think there's ways around it. But I also think
like the other side of that coin is I've got
this great, great quote on the wall in my office.
It says like the healthy man has a thousand different
dreams and the sick man has only one. You know,
and it's like that whole thing of like, yeah,
okay, it might cost a bit more to buy this food
and it might take a bit more to prepare it than
just getting fast food. But like. What's the
alternative? You know, it's so important to like
keep your body in good health. And when your
body is not in good health, you realize how important
that is. And then we get healthy again and we
go and we forget about it. But like being healthy
is so important. And it's like, you know, there's,
you know, Gary Brecker, the guy, he's a really,
he's pretty famous. I think he's in the US and
he's. He's a human biologist who specializes
in longevity. He says in order to have, like,
a long, healthy, fulfilled life, you need three
things. You need community. You need daily exercise.
And you need whole foods. And so I think, like,
I love that because it makes it really simple
because there's so much different advice out
there of, like. you should do this and you should
do that and avoid this food and don't do this.
And I think if you could just focus on those
three things, like just move your body every
day, you know, put time and effort into having
community around you and people you really love
around you and eat as many whole foods as possible.
I think like that's the recipe to having a long,
healthy life. And it's so simple. And I think
it's like Michael Mosley had that great thing
that like, if you want to eat a triple chocolate
cheesecake, with you know cream and chocolate
biscuits and everything else on top you can but
you have to make it at home yeah that's the rule
you know so you can eat whatever crap you want
but make it at home because when you make it
at home it hasn't been prepared in a way that's
going to extend the shelf life as much as possible
it hasn't been made in a way that's going to
like um make you know it's designed to like encourage
you to eat the whole thing rather than just have
one piece so they use a whole lot of chemicals
for that and there's always extra ingredients
and emulsifiers and all these different crazy
stuff they put in when they put the product on
the shelf and you you know you and one of the
things we say to our you know to our audience
all the time is like read the ingredients on
stuff yeah you know like just even sushi you
know like we in australia we love sushi like
we're obsessed with sushi and like you think
like a sushi is like rice a bit of fish and seaweed
and you look at the ingredients and it's like
40 ingredients you know in a piece of sushi and
it's like that stuff isn't good for you you know
but if you make the sushi at home you can do
it with three ingredients and it's fresh and
it tastes better and so like I think a lot of
us and I mean included you know you can have
like a massive sweet tooth and like really salty
foods and like french fries and you know burgers
and all this stuff and that's okay and life's
too short to not eat the foods you love But there's
a big difference between making that at home
with love, with good quality ingredients compared
to just buying, you know, from a fast food restaurant
or something like this, you know, or the supermarket.
Tell me more about your vision. So my vision
is to get people to improve their lives naturally.
I guess that's what it comes down to, right?
And so we're all about, like, encouraging people
to live better lives. And a lot of that comes
down to the food we eat because the things you
put into your body have a direct impact on how
you feel, how well you sleep, how angry you are,
how sad you are, how stressed you are, how well
you can think, how well you can relate to others.
You know, food is such a – and my wife's Italian,
you know, so I get a lot of this, like, food
is everything thing from her and from her side
of the family. But, like, you know, you need
to – it's really important to think about the
stuff you put in your body. And it doesn't mean,
like I remember my dad saying to me, you know,
a few years ago, he said, all the good food,
something that's good for you doesn't taste good.
And that's not true. You know, it's not true.
You can have stuff which is good for you, which
tastes amazing. I eat it every day because, you
know, we cook every meal. My wife cooks every
meal that we have at home with love, with stuff
we've grown in the garden and with stuff she's
gotten from the farmer's market. And, you know,
and you could taste this incredible, beautiful
flavorful food that doesn't have all this extra
crap in it i think that's the real fallacy this
idea that like you know food that's good for
you doesn't taste good you know think about an
apple you know a good apple or a good mandarin
or a good banana or whatever you know is it is
delicious it's a you know and you know it fills
your soul and like those foods are super good
for you have all these incredible nutrients and
vitamins in them and so um i think it's super
important to have the right perception in terms
of improving your health and to really be you
know to do it for yourself and to do it because
you want to live a good life and you want to
live to you know you want to live a long healthy
life and it's you know it's one thing to live
a long time but to be frail and not particularly
healthy but you know what you really want to
do is to live a really long life and be healthy
right up until the end and The stuff we put in
our bodies has a huge impact on that. I don't
know if there's anyone these days who would argue
that it doesn't. Justin, I'm going to switch
gears real quick because I hear the passion in
you. And I know I keep saying that, but I tell
you, if I haven't learned anything, it's just
like, just put better foods in your body. Yeah.
One of the things that I would like to ask is,
How easy, I won't even, I guess that might not
be the right word, but how easy is this for it
to actually be your business? It's, I heard something
the other day that said to start, you know, to
start a business, you have to be a little bit
crazy because like it takes so much risk and
it takes so much time and there's no guarantee
it's going to go anywhere. And there were like
a lot of years. where it was a massive struggle
where like you know i was paying myself a hundred
dollars a week and somehow surviving off that
because i had that happy cow business as well
so i was really lucky that i had something like
that to fall back on and that's what i always
tell people who come to me for business advice
is like don't quit your job straight away you
know don't take out a mortgage on your house
don't you know don't do anything crazy like that
because statistically there's a 90 chance your
business is not going to make it you know that's
the statistics so like you need to be aware of
those odds and you have to be realistic so start
your business in the evening after work while
you're watching tv or instead of watching tv
or on the weekend you know instead of getting
drunk with your friends or whatever like like
there's so many there's so many hours in the
day where that we can do stuff that we you know
it's really important to think about um you know
the time is so finite and the time goes so quickly
and today will never happen again you know like
this is the only time we're going to have today
and so Think about the way you spend your time
and the way you spend your hours. And you could
spend it seeing it for other TV, you know, scrolling
through Instagram and watching some show that
does nothing for you. Or you could spend it starting
to build your business from the ground up that
you're passionate about. And I think it's really
important to be passionate about what you do
and really believe in it because there's a lot
of times when it's hard, particularly at the
start, where, like, you don't know how you're
going to pay your bills and, you know, there's
not money coming in. And you have to really believe
in what you're doing. And I just kind of really
believed it because I saw the benefits that I
was getting from these amazing foods. And I saw
the benefits that customers were getting as well.
And so that kind of like has always kept me going.
Like we get, you know, we get thousands of emails,
you know, every year from people saying like.
Thank you so much. This product has changed my
life. You know, people who are, you know, who
have really bad arthritis. So then they take
Moringa, which is an incredible anti -inflammatory
and it's a leaf. It's a leaf of a plant. And
all of a sudden they, you know, they can wear
their wedding ring again and their fingers aren't
swelling and they could walk upstairs. And it's
just from eating a food and people like. Of course,
when that happens, they're so grateful and they're
so incredibly energised and, you know, they get
this new burst and this new kind of energy for
life. And that kind of experiences and seeing
that I was really helping people and changing
their lives really kept me going through those
difficult times. And maybe my mum would probably
say it's because I'm so stubborn as well. But,
like, I was like, I just, it was never an option
for me to quit. Like, I was just like, I'm going
to make this work. or I'm going to get to the
end of my life and die having spent my life trying
to make it work. So it was like, you know, it
was going to be one or the other. I wasn't, giving
up was never an option for me. And so I think
like, I think you have to be really passionate
about what your business is. But also I think
one of the things I did really good, and I made
a lot of mistakes, but one of the things I did
really good was I never took any money from anybody.
I never took on any loans. I never took on any
– I never gave away – I still own 100 % of the
company. And we're going to – we'll do eight
figures this year. And so like – and there's
no board of directors and stuff like that. Like
I just have complete control and I do things
that I feel good about and that I feel the right
thing to do for my customers. I don't have to
answer to any investors. I don't have to answer
to any banks. I don't have to answer to any board
of directors or managers or anyone like that.
And so I think that's really important as well
because I think one way to really take the fun
out of it is to have – this massive debt against
your business particularly in the start and so
i think people should find a way particularly
now with online business you know before online
business you know to start a business would cost
would often cost hundreds of thousands of dollars
you have to open a shop and you have to fit it
out and you have to get insurance and if you
sign it now with an online business you can start
a business with no money like i I started Forest
Superfoods with $100 in my bank account. I taught
myself how to write code because you had to code
back then. There was no chat GPT. I taught myself
how to code. I taught myself how to do marketing.
I taught myself how to do the ordering of the
stock, how to negotiate with suppliers, how to
work out which products were going to be good
for people and which stuff I should stay away
from because there wasn't a lot of scientific
studies around it. All that stuff, I just learned
as I went. Everyone can do that, you know, especially
with the internet. You can learn what you need
to do. And I think a really good trait for when
you run your own business is to just go, what's
the next step? I've never had a business plan.
I never went, this is where we're going to be
in five years. This is where we're going to be
in 10 years. It's just like, I know I want to
keep growing the business and I want to keep
reaching more and more people. So like, what's
the next thing I need to do today in order to
get to be able to reach more people? Thank you
for being here today. I'm really happy that you
tuned in to Vision Pros Live. I'm looking forward
to seeing your reactions as these episodes continue
to move forward. This is going to get more and
more fun. We'll have more and more engagement
as well. We'll invite people to participate in
the show. And thank you for giving us your time
and attention. Have an excellent time building
out your vision and becoming a vision pro yourself.