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Steven Izen (Forbes 30 Under 30) - Founder (CEO)of Lokai & Elements of Balance
330 Plays3 years ago
Steven is the CEO of Lokai, each lokai bracelet holds water from Mount Everest and mud from the Dead Sea, the highest and lowest points on earth.
Lokai has sold over 10 million bracelets globally. And has donated over $9 million to charity as part of its 10% of profits to charity pledge.
In this epsiode we talk about...
- The Universal Human Experience
- Rational vs. Emotional Decision Making
- Turning Pain Into Purpose
- Navigating Life's Inevitable Highs & Lows
- His Grandfather & Developing Lokai
Follow Steven on Instagram @StevenIzen and get your lokai bracelet @Livelokai and check out his Elements of Balance drink @Elements.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to Steve Eisen and Key Topics
00:00:00
Speaker
Bigger Talks, Bigger Talks.
00:00:01
Speaker
Welcome back to another podcast episode and interview.
00:00:04
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And I have guests on, Steve Eisen.
00:00:08
Speaker
He's the founder and CEO of Loca, as well as Element Drinks.
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And we're going to talk about all things entrepreneurship, humanity, and evolving through pain and setbacks.
00:00:20
Speaker
Check it out.
00:00:21
Speaker
Welcome to the interview.
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Speaker
He's still a fire sign, people.
00:00:23
Speaker
He's a Sagittarius, you know, 12 with the 3.
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Welcome to Bigger Talks, and man, let's get into this discussion.
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Speaker
Before we get into it, I just want to do a rapid fire to kind of like break the ice.
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And a lot of these words will correlate to your story and behind who you are.
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So I'm going to say a word, whatever comes to mind, you just speak.
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Speaker
So, low-cost.
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Balance.
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Being humble.
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Part of life.
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Wow, next one is life.
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Highs and lows.
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Cornell University.
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An amazing time.
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Your grandfather.
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Inspirational.
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Here we are.
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The guy, the name.
Entrepreneurial Journey and Learning from Mistakes
00:01:04
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So Steven, tell me a little bit about you.
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Like tell me about your background.
00:01:07
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I've did my research, but if the younger you was listening to you today, how would you explain your childhood and who you are today?
00:01:15
Speaker
Yeah.
00:01:15
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You know, Eric, first off, thanks for having me on the show.
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Yeah, for sure.
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Absolutely.
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I think, uh,
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with age and time comes experience.
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And, you know, I think the younger me, and I think a lot of young entrepreneurs confuse the idea that being an entrepreneur is the idea that you're building within your company versus being an entrepreneur is a career path, which are very different things, you know, and it takes a lot of learning and an interesting skillset to be an entrepreneur and be a leader.
00:01:52
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And a lot of things that you learn, you learn through mistakes and that's life.
00:01:57
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And so I think the, uh, yeah, I'd say to my younger self, a lot of things that you're going to see that are exciting, a lot of hard things, but what you view as rewarding and why you do it absolutely changes as the years go on.
00:02:13
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Yeah.
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I think you have a amazing slogan or statement, the highs and lows, right?
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You know, life,
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just like entrepreneurship, you know, there's highs and there lows.
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And I guess it's all how you respond.
00:02:24
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So you talked about entrepreneurship.
00:02:26
Speaker
Where did that inspiration for
Inspiration and Founding of Loci
00:02:28
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you start?
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Like who inspired you to be an entrepreneur, to like work for yourself, to be innovative?
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Where did that start and what age?
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Yeah, you know, I was lucky enough that my father was an entrepreneur.
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So growing up, I viewed it as a very normal career path.
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And I was always the kid with the lemonade stand and trying to create a little business here and there.
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I had a little business in high school.
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And then when I was a freshman at Cornell, my grandfather was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.
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And that brought me to a low in my life because he was someone I was really close to growing up.
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He drove me to school every day, taught me to play golf and pool.
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And so, yeah, I was thinking about the highs and lows that I was going through and how everybody goes through highs and lows.
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It doesn't matter your age, your demographic, your income level.
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You know, we all have highs and lows.
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And I said, OK, well, what are the highest and lowest points on Earth?
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Mount Everest and the Dead Sea.
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And how could I take elements from those two places and incorporate them in a product that people could wear every day as a reminder to find balance, staying humble when you're on top of the world and hopeful when you've hit a low?
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And yeah.
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I told the idea to my father and he said, that's a great idea, but everyone has great ideas.
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Now I go execute it.
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That's the hard part.
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And so for the next three years in college, I just bootstrapped it, worked on it, and then launched Loci in June of 2013 when I graduated.
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So this June will be our 10th birthday.
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Congratulations.
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That's an amazing story.
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And I think it's a lot to unpack from that, from what you just spoke on.
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The first is, you know, your grandfather.
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I want to kind of like, if you can touch on just the details of your relationships.
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Like, is there like some type of quote he lived by?
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Is there some type of intention he set for you as a kid?
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What is like your most memorable moments being with your grandfather that you can kind of like vividly picture and remember that kind of like, that's my grandfather?
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Like is there any like moments or comments?
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Because when you talk about it, I feel like, you know, you're a great storyteller.
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I'm envisioning a movie, of you in a movie with your grandfather.
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You know what I mean?
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And like in a moment he gets diagnosed with Alzheimer's
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You know what I mean?
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I'm just seeing it in my mind, but what was that like?
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Can you give me any details of our conversations?
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I don't know if you saw the movie Good Will Hunting and Robin Williams or whatever.
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Is it Matt Damon, I think?
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And he's talking to him on a bench, and he's like, he don't know what it's like.
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It brings me back to that moment, the way you were talking.
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So if you can kind of give me some of that from your perspective.
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Yeah, I mean, my grandfather was a Marine, so he was a tough dude, but had a heart of gold and was super soft on the inside.
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And he was very lighthearted, easygoing dude and just loved spending time with me.
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I was the grandkid that he lived closest to as well.
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How many siblings do you have?
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I have a younger sister.
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Okay.
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Are you an oldest?
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I'm the oldest, yeah.
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Yeah.
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So you said that military, serious, it was lighthearted, hardworking.
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We talked about that.
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And then you mentioned...
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the conversation you have with your father.
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And see, here's the thing I think in life, having those male role models in your life really shapes your identity and what you see the world to be and what you can become.
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And he said, everyone had great ideas.
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Now go out and execute.
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What is execution to you?
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Because I think anybody I know that's an entrepreneur, that's all they talk about.
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Like everyone can think great.
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It's all about execution.
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What is execution from your lens?
00:05:58
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Yeah, I mean, we can break it down to the product itself, right?
00:06:03
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Yeah.
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I started by Googling, how do you find a factory in China?
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Like, that's...
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how it started.
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That's a great thought.
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Thoughts become things.
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Yeah.
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I would say for good and for worse, there's never been an easier time to start a business, right?
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The amount of information that you can find on the internet, connecting through people on social media, like you can start businesses very easily right now, if you're passionate and hardworking, and it's something you really want to build, whether you'll be successful in the long run, that's a different story, right?
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But for me, it was just
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one day at a time, like, this is what has to get done to get the product made.
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Let me start there.
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For me, the executional side of anything is very easy.
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You have to know where you want to go.
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And once you know that, figure out how to get there.
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And you have to prioritize it, like not go to parties and not do other things.
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Sacrifice, yeah.
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Yeah, you got to focus your time.
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Would you say that's the reason why some people cannot execute is because the lack of focus on something that they say they want or they just don't know how because they don't have the blueprint?
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So I think that's a challenge for most people.
00:07:15
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They can do everything but execute.
00:07:17
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I think not know how is an excuse.
00:07:21
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I think not willing to put in the work or the fear of failing are reasons why people don't try.
00:07:29
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Yeah, because it's easy to make excuses like, oh, I didn't grow up that way or I don't have this.
00:07:33
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I don't have that.
00:07:34
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You're not willing to do the work.
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You got to be really passionate about what you're creating and building.
00:07:42
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Because there's no easy way, right?
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There's going to be highs and lows, and those lows are going to crush you.
00:07:49
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And you need that purpose and that passion to get through it.
00:07:55
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And so I think a lot of people start companies with the idea, oh, I'll start this company, I'll make a lot of money, and I'll sell it.
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Without actually caring about what they're building, when the journey takes...
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the whole time.
00:08:10
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Yeah.
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Lack of passion or lack of authenticity.
00:08:14
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to the product or the brand they're trying to create.
00:08:17
Speaker
So, Loka, where did the name
Early Struggles and Brand Origins
00:08:20
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come from?
00:08:20
Speaker
And I feel like your grandfather energy is, like, so in it, you know?
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I think his energy added to, like, being what it is today.
00:08:28
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Because I believe when people leave this earth and they go to, you know, another realm, they're still here with us, you know, from a spiritual space.
00:08:35
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And I believe he's in that product some way, somehow.
00:08:39
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But how did you come up with the name?
00:08:40
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I like the name, Loka.
00:08:41
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That's, like, a really...
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It sounds like a sneaker brand.
00:08:44
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It's just a nice name.
00:08:46
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Like, did you channel that?
00:08:47
Speaker
Like, how did you create that?
00:08:48
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Like, what did that come from?
00:08:50
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Yeah.
00:08:50
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So I changed the spelling, but L-O-K-A-H-I in Hawaiian means unity and to blend opposites.
00:09:01
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And I was just looking at a word that we could own, right?
00:09:06
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A single word that was
00:09:08
Speaker
ownable to us that really embodied the idea of balance.
00:09:12
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And I took out the inspiration from that word, changed the spelling to make it our own.
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And it stuck.
00:09:20
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Yeah, that's creative.
00:09:21
Speaker
You kind of change the spelling around to kind of create the brand.
00:09:25
Speaker
And then before you guys reach some type of success within the company, how long did it take for you guys to kind of get a big break for it to turn over and do what it's doing now and what it's done in the last few years?
00:09:34
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You said it's 10 years in.
00:09:35
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That's a long time, man.
00:09:37
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Congratulations.
00:09:38
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Thanks.
00:09:38
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Yeah, it launched 10 years ago and then I worked on it for three years before it even launched.
00:09:43
Speaker
So it was like four or five years before we saw any success.
00:09:51
Speaker
And at the beginning, those first year or two, I had a display with my product.
00:09:57
Speaker
And I walked around New York City going store to store, walking into like boutique stores, yoga studios, surfy type stores and say, hey, is the manager owner here?
00:10:09
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Can I tell you my story?
00:10:11
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And will you carry the product?
00:10:12
Speaker
I got turned down 99% of the time, but every one win.
00:10:16
Speaker
So exciting and just fueled me to keep going.
00:10:21
Speaker
That passion, man, you can't buy that.
00:10:23
Speaker
I mean, I think, you know, like you said, people hear the story, they know the story, but until you experience it, like the rejection phase or getting started, you don't really know what it's like.
00:10:34
Speaker
You just think like, oh, I want to have this company and I want to make money.
00:10:38
Speaker
But you're living proof.
00:10:39
Speaker
You've done it.
00:10:39
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You're doing it.
00:10:41
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And how did that inspire you to do other investments or other products and brands and get into
Elements of Balance and Entrepreneurial Philosophy
00:10:48
Speaker
that space?
00:10:48
Speaker
Because you have another company, Elements and Balance, right?
00:10:52
Speaker
Elements of Balance.
00:10:53
Speaker
Oh, of Balance.
00:10:54
Speaker
Okay.
00:10:55
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which is a beverage and supplement brand that uses clinical doses of adaptogens to help balance your cortisol levels.
00:11:02
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We have four different products in energy, focus, calm, and sleep.
00:11:06
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And that company really was incubated and started out of Loci because Loci's mission is to inspire people to find balance in life.
00:11:15
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And so we wanted to create a second product that delivered on that promise.
00:11:21
Speaker
And quickly realized though that beverages and
00:11:24
Speaker
bracelets are very different industries.
00:11:27
Speaker
And so we separated the two companies, but yeah, I still run both of them.
00:11:33
Speaker
And it's so loci is elements of balance or in balance of, of balance.
00:11:39
Speaker
And what's, what's the concept of behind that elements of balance?
00:11:42
Speaker
Cause like what I'm, what I'm learning, like when I talk to people, I'm not looking at their name and it starts, I'm thinking about how they think, like the name is so simple, but it's perfect.
00:11:52
Speaker
like elements of balance.
00:11:54
Speaker
How did that come about?
00:11:55
Speaker
Were you just think tank, brainstorming?
00:11:58
Speaker
It's really simple.
00:11:59
Speaker
Look at you.
00:12:01
Speaker
Well, if you rewind for all the listeners, when I was telling you the loci story, I was talking about getting elements from the highest and lowest points on earth.
00:12:12
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Ah, look at you.
00:12:13
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Yeah.
00:12:14
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Okay.
00:12:15
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Got it.
00:12:16
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I pulled that through.
00:12:17
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And you just got it in the balance.
00:12:19
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the elements we use in the drinks and the supplements are clinical doses of adaptogens, which are plant-based ingredients.
00:12:28
Speaker
They're plants that have functional benefits.
00:12:32
Speaker
Yeah.
00:12:32
Speaker
I just like it.
00:12:33
Speaker
I just like the way you think.
00:12:34
Speaker
And I think,
00:12:35
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you just really believe in what you're doing.
00:12:37
Speaker
And I think it's so important for the listeners and people that will listen to this is that you've got to be passionate.
00:12:42
Speaker
Because, I mean, you can think about a hundred things, you can try to do it, but if your passion is not in it and you can't deal with rejection and failure, thank God for, you know, your dad, that blueprint of being an entrepreneur.
00:12:52
Speaker
I mean, that was your normalcy.
00:12:53
Speaker
You never knew, like, I'm not going to work for no one.
00:12:57
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I'm going to work for me.
00:12:58
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That's what dad does.
00:13:00
Speaker
And that's also, like,
00:13:01
Speaker
Stuff that helps when you don't entrepreneurship.
00:13:03
Speaker
You have to have self-belief.
00:13:04
Speaker
If you don't believe in yourself, no one else is going to believe in you.
00:13:07
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely.
00:13:09
Speaker
And it's so simple, but it's hard for some people to understand that when they're on their own, if they've never done it before.
00:13:15
Speaker
The universal human experience.
00:13:18
Speaker
Are you aware of Gary Zukav?
00:13:20
Speaker
Mm-hmm.
00:13:20
Speaker
So Gary Zukav is the author.
00:13:22
Speaker
He wrote the book Seat of the Soul, and he has a new book called Universal Human.
00:13:27
Speaker
So I was like, I want to know if he got some of his ideologies from that.
00:13:31
Speaker
But can you kind of elaborate on the universal human experience with how you think and what that means to you and your brand?
00:13:39
Speaker
It's a great question.
00:13:40
Speaker
I think that the seed and the idea of Loci was about people's personal stories and experiences, right?
00:13:49
Speaker
We all go through the highs and the lows.
00:13:51
Speaker
And the bracelet is really just the vehicle for people to...
00:13:56
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tell their own story.
00:13:58
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and remember to find balance in those highs and lows in life.
00:14:04
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And so, yeah, I mean, our customer base ranges from little kids to grandparents, athletes, non-athletes, right?
00:14:15
Speaker
I were truly for everybody and which comes with some difficulties on the marketing side, but yeah, no, it's a brand and community about life essentially.
00:14:28
Speaker
And I think that universal, because Gary Zukav, the way he explains his universal human, the book or the mantra, the intentions behind it is that if we're just for who we're for, like our family, our culture, where we come from, then that's not being universal.
00:14:43
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It's not about being a universal human.
00:14:45
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Universal human is about community, about everyone, the whole, right?
00:14:48
Speaker
The collective.
00:14:49
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diversity.
00:14:51
Speaker
And when you're thinking about your products, you're not thinking about a demographic of people.
00:14:55
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You think about all people can use this.
00:14:57
Speaker
Everybody can benefit because everyone can relate to someone having Alzheimer's or someone being in a high or low in life.
00:15:04
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And it's all relatable.
00:15:06
Speaker
There's a quote by a good friend of mine.
00:15:08
Speaker
She said she had a company called Be Raw, Be Resilient, Authentic and Willing.
00:15:13
Speaker
And she said, everybody experienced the same emotions.
00:15:19
Speaker
but the challenges are different.
00:15:21
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Just because you have different challenges, they're still the same emotions.
00:15:23
Speaker
No matter if it's a million dollars in debt or a thousand dollars, right?
00:15:28
Speaker
The emotion is the same.
00:15:30
Speaker
It's all relative.
00:15:32
Speaker
And so as I've gotten older and been around different class of people and type of people, I realized like,
00:15:38
Speaker
We're all going through the same stuff, just some different phases and levels.
00:15:42
Speaker
And the fact that you can create a brand that you can bring people together and know that, listen, you might have this high, but you're going to have a low.
00:15:50
Speaker
How do you have balance in that, right?
00:15:52
Speaker
And how do you stay humble?
00:15:54
Speaker
Like when you think of being humble, what does it mean and represent for you?
Giving Back and Staying Humble
00:16:00
Speaker
And how do you stay humble when you have so many highs in life?
00:16:03
Speaker
That's a great question.
00:16:05
Speaker
Well, one thing we do as a brand that
00:16:08
Speaker
started from day one as we donate 10% of our profits to charity.
00:16:13
Speaker
And we've donated a little over $9.4 million.
00:16:17
Speaker
It's actually, it's more like $9.7 million.
00:16:18
Speaker
Wow.
00:16:22
Speaker
different nonprofit organizations.
00:16:24
Speaker
And, you know, I think just having, I serve on the board of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, giving back is so important.
00:16:32
Speaker
And when you're present and you're helping others and you're seeing and experiencing what other people are going through in life, it makes you feel very fortunate about your own situation and makes your tough times and struggles not feel so tough anymore.
00:16:48
Speaker
And so I think giving back is a really important
00:16:51
Speaker
Hard to find a balance and stay humble.
00:16:54
Speaker
That's listen, Steve, listen, man, that is I've never heard that because when people when I'm listening, I'm taking like bits and pieces on what you're saying.
00:17:04
Speaker
But you said the way to stay humble when you're in your eyes is to give back.
00:17:08
Speaker
Wow.
00:17:09
Speaker
That's a bar.
00:17:10
Speaker
Think about it, though.
00:17:11
Speaker
That's really good.
00:17:12
Speaker
Tony Robbins says the secret to living is giving.
00:17:15
Speaker
I like to say the more we give, the better we live.
00:17:18
Speaker
Because we can't take it with us.
00:17:20
Speaker
But we can give it out, we can share it, and we have other people experience what we feel.
00:17:24
Speaker
That is...
00:17:26
Speaker
Good.
00:17:27
Speaker
You got to quote that.
00:17:30
Speaker
The way to stay humble when you're on a high, whatever that is, is to give back in charity, make a wish foundation.
00:17:37
Speaker
Now, the question is, how does one, someone listening right now, they could be at home, they could be at a job, could have just lost a job, could have just broke up from a partner, and they're in a very low place.
00:17:50
Speaker
What would you recommend or what would you...
00:17:53
Speaker
What would you say they should do and how do they come up out of that?
00:17:55
Speaker
I mean, because, I mean, you created a product from your grandfather's situation, but what is it a person should do when they're in a low state?
00:18:04
Speaker
How do you get back up and how do you stay even keel and get high enough and not too low enough, you know, stay the middle ground?
00:18:10
Speaker
How does that work?
00:18:11
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I can't speak for others, but for me, first, I try to really understand the situation, what's going on.
00:18:19
Speaker
And if it's a self-imposed emotion of being upset and down, and then how to move forward and keep going and get out of it.
00:18:28
Speaker
And you can really just take it one day at a time.
00:18:31
Speaker
But being an entrepreneur, there's some crazy highs and crazy lows.
00:18:34
Speaker
Yeah, I know.
00:18:35
Speaker
And it's like,
00:18:37
Speaker
Whoa, I feel good.
00:18:38
Speaker
Oh, what just happened?
00:18:40
Speaker
We need balance.
00:18:41
Speaker
Elements of balance.
00:18:42
Speaker
Loci, get your bracelet now.
00:18:44
Speaker
Have a drink.
00:18:47
Speaker
I wanted to talk to you about emotional intelligence and rational decision making.
Leadership and Emotional Intelligence
00:18:52
Speaker
So what is your take on EQ, having a good EQ or just emotional intelligence as an entrepreneur?
00:18:58
Speaker
And what is rational decision making?
00:19:00
Speaker
What is your perspective on that?
00:19:03
Speaker
Yeah.
00:19:04
Speaker
So bringing it back to the Make-A-Wish board, one of the most incredible learning experiences I've ever had.
00:19:10
Speaker
On that board sit some amazing business operators from all over the industries.
00:19:17
Speaker
And what I've really watched from them is how emotional they are about the mission and what the large vision is of the organization and
00:19:33
Speaker
or the companies that they are running, but then taking all emotion out of the decision-making within the business.
00:19:42
Speaker
Because being emotional about the business decisions can cloud your judgment and you can just make the wrong decision or it's maybe you're making a irrational decision because you feel a certain way, which isn't best for the company.
00:19:58
Speaker
And so I think being able to separate those two
00:20:01
Speaker
has really helped me as a leader.
00:20:04
Speaker
It's one of those things where you know of it, but like, again, when you experience and you gotta really be really aware of your emotions, right?
00:20:13
Speaker
You have to be in tune to know that it is the emotional decision or this is a rational decision.
00:20:19
Speaker
I'm making this from logic or just fear or scarcity or shit.
00:20:23
Speaker
You might just be so happy, you know, you make an emotional decision, right?
00:20:27
Speaker
So I think it's important.
00:20:29
Speaker
This one thing I realized about life, having a high EQ,
00:20:33
Speaker
and being able to regulate your emotions when things are not going your way.
00:20:38
Speaker
Because when we're triggered or things go out of whack, you got to be able to center and say, okay, what's a rational move here?
Sustaining Success through Discipline
00:20:46
Speaker
Because I'm triggered by this response of this thing.
00:20:50
Speaker
How do I respond?
00:20:51
Speaker
How do I react?
00:20:52
Speaker
How do I stay humble and stay balanced with these lows and highs of life?
00:20:58
Speaker
And I think you are a representation of
00:21:01
Speaker
someone who continues to show up, someone who believes in a product, who believes in humanity, who believes in the betterment of the universe, then you're putting products out there in the marketplace to enhance someone's experience, to increase their vibration, right?
00:21:16
Speaker
And I think it's remarkable, you know, for you, and if you know, if you don't know, to be proud of yourself, man.
00:21:24
Speaker
Like, I think entrepreneurs alone don't get enough credit
00:21:27
Speaker
It's like, oh yeah, easy for you.
00:21:28
Speaker
Your dad was an entrepreneur.
00:21:29
Speaker
You got these, it's like, yeah, but you deserve your just due.
00:21:32
Speaker
You deserve your acknowledgement.
00:21:33
Speaker
You deserve not even your accolades, it's just the awareness that I see you, man.
00:21:37
Speaker
Like Steven, I see you.
00:21:38
Speaker
Congratulations, keep going.
00:21:40
Speaker
There's other people that aspire to be like you, to be in your position.
00:21:44
Speaker
And I just love what you're about.
00:21:46
Speaker
You say the highs and lows of life and having balance.
00:21:50
Speaker
And just being of something that has meaning to people out here, I think is very important.
00:21:55
Speaker
Thanks, Eric.
00:21:56
Speaker
You deserve it, man.
00:21:57
Speaker
Because I just think what we're getting to in this world, social media has created this, I can't say a false reality for most people.
00:22:05
Speaker
But when you look at people that's up there and that's doing great, you don't understand what they go through on the day to day.
00:22:11
Speaker
Cause it's not about creating a brand and having things go.
00:22:14
Speaker
It's like, how do you sustain it?
00:22:15
Speaker
And that's what I wanna ask you.
00:22:16
Speaker
You know, how do you, sustainability, how do you sustain the product for so long?
00:22:21
Speaker
What's the key ingredients?
00:22:23
Speaker
I know you talked about execution.
00:22:25
Speaker
How do you sustain this, man?
00:22:26
Speaker
Cause everybody can get the job and get the girl and make the money and go pro.
00:22:30
Speaker
How do you stay there?
00:22:31
Speaker
And how do you keep going and elevating?
00:22:33
Speaker
Like what's the secret magic of sauce?
00:22:35
Speaker
10 years?
00:22:37
Speaker
discipline and creating a lifestyle that you can do for the long run.
00:22:44
Speaker
So like, I want to do what I'm doing for the next 50 years, whether it's low-tech elements or other ventures after.
00:22:54
Speaker
So I live by my calendar.
00:22:57
Speaker
I'm asleep by 930.
00:22:57
Speaker
I'm up at five.
00:23:01
Speaker
I have times blocked out during the day to be with my kids, right, in the morning and then from 5 to 7 p.m.
00:23:10
Speaker
to feed them, bathe them, put them to bed.
00:23:12
Speaker
So I really try to live my life in a sustainable way that I can keep doing it.
00:23:19
Speaker
I think if you're sprinting and you're working until 3 in the morning every night in that grind, grind, grind type culture that you see on social media and –
00:23:29
Speaker
Yeah, like I think that's totally false.
00:23:32
Speaker
You could do it for a month or a year, but you're going to burn out quick.
00:23:36
Speaker
I want to do it for 30, 40, 50 years.
00:23:39
Speaker
So you would recommend time blocking.
00:23:41
Speaker
I have a good friend.
00:23:41
Speaker
Like she is to the T. She has four kids, married, CEO.
00:23:45
Speaker
She might tell her husband, hey, look, babe, we got 31 minutes.
00:23:48
Speaker
We got to get the kids home and change them and put them.
00:23:50
Speaker
It's like what you look at, you look at their life and you're like, they're successful because they have discipline.
00:23:55
Speaker
They're by the book.
00:23:57
Speaker
And it's so odd because you're like, really?
00:23:58
Speaker
You really go to bed at nine?
00:24:00
Speaker
You're really up at five?
00:24:01
Speaker
Like, I'm up at five, but every day of the year, as much as you can.
00:24:05
Speaker
And I think that's not talked about enough, the discipline that it takes.
00:24:10
Speaker
I think something else that I do is, maybe it's a weird thing, but I always think about the last day on earth for myself and looking back in my life.
00:24:21
Speaker
What am I going to regret?
00:24:22
Speaker
What am I going to be proud of?
00:24:24
Speaker
What am I going to wish I spent less time on or more time on?
00:24:27
Speaker
And I try to live that every day.
00:24:30
Speaker
And so I cut out everything that doesn't fit within my fitness, my work, my family, my friends.
00:24:39
Speaker
I just don't do it.
00:24:40
Speaker
And I mean, here's again, man, like how you think.
00:24:45
Speaker
It's like it's these little nuggets.
00:24:47
Speaker
You said, I think about my last day on Earth.
00:24:50
Speaker
And if those things that I'm doing doesn't contribute to me being my best self, whether that's my legacy, whether it's, you know, family man, the entrepreneur, the son, whatever, then it doesn't deserve my time and energy.
00:25:05
Speaker
And I think you being so intentional about that is why, you know, you have success in the space you're in, but you are a successful person.
00:25:13
Speaker
I think that's not talked about either.
00:25:14
Speaker
Like we always say the brand and the company is successful, but
00:25:17
Speaker
people are successful people as how they show up with themselves and their family.
00:25:21
Speaker
Cause you have a family, you have something outside of business that you have to commit to.
00:25:25
Speaker
That's a whole nother like realm of commitment and thinking and responsibility and attention to detail that, you know, like I said, I think people don't think about it.
00:25:35
Speaker
Like, Oh yeah, it's father.
00:25:36
Speaker
And you got just like, yeah, it's work all around the board.
00:25:40
Speaker
So again, attention to detail and just like being disciplined, having passion,
00:25:47
Speaker
and having meaning to what you do, man.
00:25:50
Speaker
And is there anything fun you got coming up or anything that, you know, the listeners should know about outside of, you know, low-cost?
00:25:57
Speaker
Can I get them at a local store?
00:25:59
Speaker
Where can I go?
00:26:00
Speaker
I want to get, I'm into, I'm very spiritual.
00:26:02
Speaker
So I'm into the bracelets, all the things, anything, crystals, all that.
00:26:07
Speaker
Yeah.
00:26:08
Speaker
I mean, you can get Loci at loci.com.
00:26:11
Speaker
We're also on Amazon.
00:26:13
Speaker
And then some big retail partners.
00:26:15
Speaker
We're in Kohl's.
00:26:16
Speaker
We're in Dick's Sporting Goods.
00:26:17
Speaker
Oh, wow.
00:26:19
Speaker
And then we're in a ton of surf shops, yoga studios, boutique stores around the country.
00:26:25
Speaker
And then Amazon, easiest place is just – or sorry, Elements, easiest place is just Amazon.
00:26:31
Speaker
Oh, yeah.
00:26:31
Speaker
I got to get some.
00:26:32
Speaker
I got to prime it.
00:26:34
Speaker
I like trying new stuff, man.
00:26:35
Speaker
You know, I work out a lot.
00:26:36
Speaker
And I always say, motion changes emotion.
00:26:39
Speaker
You know, every day we had them highs, we had them lows.
00:26:41
Speaker
But sometimes when I wake up, I don't feel high.
00:26:45
Speaker
Need a little push.
00:26:46
Speaker
Now, you said I saw something on you.
00:26:48
Speaker
So you say Dream Pop.
00:26:49
Speaker
You're just an investor in that company, right?
00:26:51
Speaker
Yeah.
00:26:52
Speaker
David Greenfeld, one of my best friends, is the founder and CEO of Dream Pops, which is a plant-based confection company.
00:27:01
Speaker
And yeah, invested in Dream Pops at the very beginning.
00:27:06
Speaker
So you just, you invested all the way through.
00:27:09
Speaker
So outside of like entrepreneurship, like what is your life like?
00:27:12
Speaker
Like what do you do for fun?
00:27:13
Speaker
Like how do you find balance?
00:27:15
Speaker
Working out is my, that's where I feel the most balance.
00:27:20
Speaker
Cycling, running.
00:27:21
Speaker
Got it.
00:27:22
Speaker
Triathlon?
00:27:24
Speaker
I haven't done one yet.
00:27:25
Speaker
I'll do an Ironman.
00:27:27
Speaker
Once I get out of two little kids and two companies and have time for that, I'll put it on the plate.
00:27:34
Speaker
But not right now.
00:27:36
Speaker
Got it.
00:27:36
Speaker
Got it.
00:27:37
Speaker
No, I think working out, I've been working out since I was a kid and people look at it for how you look, but it's more so how you feel.
00:27:43
Speaker
Right.
00:27:44
Speaker
A hundred percent.
00:27:45
Speaker
Mental health, you know, how you think it clears your mind, get those endorphins.
00:27:49
Speaker
And I always think if I didn't have motivation and fitness, where would I be in life?
00:27:54
Speaker
Because that's what got me through any low.
00:27:56
Speaker
Right.
00:27:57
Speaker
Yeah.
00:27:57
Speaker
Staying on and staying active, you know, running weights.
00:28:02
Speaker
And I think it deserves more attention than just the look of it that comes from it.
00:28:06
Speaker
So before we get off, I always try to ask like some ending questions.
Current Challenges and Team Focus
00:28:11
Speaker
And I got three for you.
00:28:12
Speaker
So the first two is what's working for you right now in business and life?
00:28:17
Speaker
And what is a challenge?
00:28:19
Speaker
It's a great question.
00:28:21
Speaker
What's working?
00:28:22
Speaker
is focusing on my people and my team on the business side, right?
00:28:28
Speaker
You have a big staff?
00:28:29
Speaker
Huh?
00:28:30
Speaker
You have a big staff of people?
00:28:32
Speaker
Between the two companies, like 25, 30.
00:28:34
Speaker
Okay, that's more than enough.
00:28:38
Speaker
What's challenging, it's the macro economy, bro.
00:28:41
Speaker
It's hard to always put your finger on exactly how or why, but when the market's down and
00:28:54
Speaker
Like you feel it in the businesses.
00:28:58
Speaker
Everyone tightens up.
00:28:59
Speaker
Like retail partners tighten up.
00:29:02
Speaker
Customers tighten up their spending.
00:29:05
Speaker
Things move slower.
00:29:07
Speaker
Fundraising is harder.
00:29:09
Speaker
Getting through the hard times.
00:29:11
Speaker
The lows, you know.
00:29:12
Speaker
And I mean, you have the pedigree for that.
00:29:14
Speaker
And I think that's real for everybody.
00:29:17
Speaker
Because, you know, everybody can put on a good poker face, right?
00:29:19
Speaker
But we're all going through it in some capacity, whether it's, you know, the economy, whether it's mentally, emotionally, spiritually, physically, you know, relationship-wise.
00:29:28
Speaker
And like here on Bigger Talks, I just like to be transparent with the audience and be authentic.
00:29:32
Speaker
Like, listen, we're all going through it.
00:29:34
Speaker
No one has it figured out.
00:29:35
Speaker
No one has the answers.
00:29:36
Speaker
I don't care what they got in that bank account.
00:29:37
Speaker
I don't care what their net worth is.
00:29:40
Speaker
But one thing I would say is don't be fooled.
00:29:45
Speaker
I like to win.
00:29:47
Speaker
Yeah!
00:29:50
Speaker
the hard times are where the real winners show yeah that's where your character's built you get to see who you really are I said come on I tell myself come on Big E come on you target all this energy what's up you in the deep end with the sharks how you gonna swim low-cost man get you some elements of balance but uh yeah and then last question
00:30:12
Speaker
You can take your time with this because you talked about this earlier, but it just came to me.
00:30:17
Speaker
For your last day on earth, what is one thing you will have to do and what would be one message you would leave?
00:30:24
Speaker
I don't know that answer yet.
00:30:26
Speaker
That's okay.
00:30:29
Speaker
It's okay.
00:30:31
Speaker
I still got a whole life of learning before I know that message.
00:30:35
Speaker
Yeah, you know, but what would one thing you would do?
00:30:38
Speaker
Like I say my last day
00:30:41
Speaker
I don't know if I would have to work out, man.
00:30:42
Speaker
I would have to work out.
00:30:44
Speaker
Even if I could, no, I had to just work out.
00:30:46
Speaker
You know, some type of working out.
00:30:48
Speaker
I don't know.
00:30:48
Speaker
I probably would say it's miracle season.
00:30:50
Speaker
But, yeah, man, I just think these things we don't think about.
00:30:53
Speaker
You know, and I had to leave you with this, and the people listening.
00:30:57
Speaker
I had a client that I trained and coached very well off and, you know, buried a, you know, family member.
00:31:03
Speaker
And he was saying, like, when you leave the people behind, it's like, what is life?
00:31:07
Speaker
He's like, what are problems?
00:31:09
Speaker
Right?
00:31:09
Speaker
Like when you experience something like that, you just want to be more meaningful.
00:31:13
Speaker
He was like, you know, maybe I should be like she was and just be, be more of service, you know, as he talked about giving.
00:31:20
Speaker
And I think at the end of the day, there are, we all have a, you know, an end day, an end mark.
00:31:27
Speaker
I don't think nowhere near now, but it'll happen when it's supposed to.
00:31:30
Speaker
But I think what you're doing for the world and for your family and for yourself and for the legacy of your grandfather is beautiful.
00:31:36
Speaker
And that is a miracle season because it gets you where you're at.
00:31:39
Speaker
Wasn't easy.
00:31:40
Speaker
Wasn't handed to you.
00:31:42
Speaker
You had to go through it to get to it and you're still moving.
00:31:45
Speaker
So, pat yourself on the back, man.
00:31:48
Speaker
I wish you nothing but more success, more abundance, more momentum, more love, more joy, more happiness.
Connecting with Brands and Social Media Presence
00:31:54
Speaker
And by the way, you got so many social media accounts.
00:31:56
Speaker
How do we connect with Steven?
00:31:58
Speaker
Where should we follow you on, you know, to get the products, to get your IP, how you think, your ideology?
00:32:05
Speaker
Like, where are you the most active and what is the Instagram handles for your accounts?
00:32:11
Speaker
For me, just at Steven Eisen.
00:32:13
Speaker
I'm not too active, but if anyone, if you DM me, I'll respond.
00:32:19
Speaker
And then it's just at LiveLokai and at Elements.
00:32:23
Speaker
Oh, it's just Elements.
00:32:24
Speaker
Okay.
00:32:25
Speaker
So at Lokai, at Elements, Steven Eisen.
00:32:28
Speaker
I LiveLokai.
00:32:30
Speaker
What is it?
00:32:31
Speaker
Live low-cock.
00:32:32
Speaker
Oh, I'm sorry.
00:32:33
Speaker
Live low-cock, people.
00:32:34
Speaker
So you hear that.
00:32:35
Speaker
Yeah, man, this was phenomenal.
00:32:36
Speaker
This was great.
00:32:37
Speaker
Thank you for being so vulnerable.
00:32:38
Speaker
Thank you for sharing your story and your testimony.
00:32:41
Speaker
And I'm here to tell you, man, keep going.
00:32:43
Speaker
Like, keep going, man.
00:32:44
Speaker
You know, they say everything's greater later.
00:32:46
Speaker
It gets better if we just keep showing up.
00:32:49
Speaker
Sometimes 90% of the game is showing up.
00:32:52
Speaker
The rest, the universe and yourself will figure out.
00:32:55
Speaker
So I think you're doing more than enough for the world and the planet.
00:32:58
Speaker
And I'll continue to share your light and your energy with us.
00:33:00
Speaker
And thank you for being on Bigger Talks.
00:33:02
Speaker
Have a good one.
00:33:03
Speaker
Thanks, Eric.
00:33:04
Speaker
Amen.