Top Takeaways From Year 1 of Building Edge Theory Labs

The singing of the national anthem mixed with the crisp cool air sent a chill down my spine.

My feet were already numb standing on the cold shaded sand of Oceanside in north county San Diego.

Without invitation, an ocean breeze whispered into my neoprine wetsuit interupting the warm hug it was embracing my skin with. A steady drip of adrenaline stepped in to keep me warm.

A cannon fired a loud blast echoing through the harbor, sending a few local seagulls scattering.

I put my earplugs in, tucked under my swimcap and fastened my goggles tight.

Standing with my cousin Rob, we eyed down the ‘SWIM START’ chute of Ironman Oceanside 70.3.

We fist bumped and entered the water. Game time.

As I settled into a breath and movement rhythm of flow, I couldn’t help but reflect on the day – April 1st, 2023 – and just how much can change in a year.

A year ago to the day on April 1, 2022, my cousin Rob and I had launched our business after a near all-nighter sprint with our Director of Marketing, Cat to publish the website. We launched as a vendor at the 2022 Ironman race and dreamt to be back next year racing it, maybe at that point with a team and proof of concept in our business.

Over the course of the ensuing 52 weeks, reality far surpassed our wildest dreams.

In the year since launching, we had positively impacted thousands of people, earning millions of dollars in sales as a result with profit to spare. We had built a team of over a dozen incredible humans working with us in a vibrant office space changing the paradigm of work and play. We had boarded the rocketship.

Here are My Top Takeaways From Year 1 of Building Edge Theory Labs

1. It CAN be fun

“The more fun you have, the more fun you have. The better it gets, the better it gets.”

What if building a startup doesn’t have to be a “grind at all costs” and “there’s time to sleep when you’re dead” pursuit?

That to me is an outdated ideology that’s long been adopted by the entrepreneurial community. One that I subscribed to for a long time in the beginning of my career pumping my body with a mainline of caffeine and motivational speeches on loop, feeling that progress was tied at the hip to struggle.

Perhaps the biggest lesson I’ve learned this year – It CAN be fun.

I’ll take it a step further – It MUST be fun. Because if it’s not fun, it’s not sustainable.

And if it’s not sustainable, you will experience burnout and flame out when a challenge presents itself.

Of Course we deal with challenges and curveballs. But when we do, we practice approaching it like a puzzle or chess game, which makes it instantly more fun and solvable.

And one thing we know about fun is that she often comes to the party with her cousins, ease and flow.

2. Mirror for growth

Starting a business is like holding a mirror up to your face.

It points out the things you need to work on. The triggers. The insecurities. The fears. The doubts. It’s a course of personal development – one that you are taking while the rest of the world watches you.

One thing has become evident to me through this process. The degree to which we are willing to face the mirror, turn the flashlight towards the shadows, and lean into the uncomfortable edges we push up against, is ultimately the same degree of personal growth we will have and growth the business will experience as a result.

As I’ve learned from one of my mentors, Giorgio Genaus, the growth we want doesn’t show up on our doorstep on a gold platter. It comes disguised as the very challenges we want to avoid.

So I practice choosing to see the challenges as brilliant growth opportunities dressed up in a halloween costume.

You gotta be willing to do ‘the real work’ and face the mirror.

The real work in building a business doesn’t happen at your desk at 9am on a Tuesday. It happens internally on yourself as you explore your own edges.

3. Put the effort where the effort belongs

“To get where you want to go, effort is necessary, struggling is optional.” - Zander Fryer

Effort is certainly necessary – but suffering, struggling, pounding the pavement is a choice. 

It’s all about putting the effort on high leverage activities that make all else easier.

I put high effort into showing up 10/10 each and every day in the office awake, alert, aligned, and activated, because I know for a fact that when I do show up in that energetic state – **everything** becomes easier.

It’s a lot like spreading butter on toast.

Rather than trying to force cold butter to spread on toast which can be a highly difficult (and destructive) task, I can focus on heating up the butter first to then make the same task with the same ingredients a smooth (and quite satisfying) process. 

That is putting the effort where the effort belongs. It invites a shift from forcing to flowing. Doing to being. Making to allowing. Attacking to attracting. 

You become a magnet for everything that you’ve asked for, riding downstream currents of fun, joy, harmony, peace, and magic throughout the day.

4. The blessing of a co-founder

Thank god for Rob.

That’s something that’s said on the regular.

I have the blessing of not only having a co-founder who is one of the smartest, most genuine people I know, but he also happens to be my cousin.

And thankfully very naturally, our skill sets couldn’t be more complimentary. When I look at his desk and see him joyfully jamming deep within spreadsheets of demand planning and financial projections, I cringe. When he sees me buzzing on 10 calls a day and filming heaps of content he is watching his literal nightmare playout.

We are aligned on the major things, yet we see most things very differently which I’ve come to learn is a massive benefit. Because we have differing views and perspectives on things (and we genuinely seek to see each other's perspective) it leads to fruitful conversation and ultimately more thought through decisions.

We prioritize having honest communication which has allowed us to actually strengthen our relationship and enjoy spending time together even more than day 1 of the business.

It’s so critical to have someone strapped into the rollercoaster of ups and downs with you.

Thank god for Rob

5. Control the controllables

“Energy flows where attention goes” – Tony Robbins.

Wherever we focus on expands.

Unfortunately for us ancient human beings living in this modern world – it’s SO easy to focus on the problem at hand and let it start to take up real estate, weighing us down.

One thing that is said in our office on the daily is ‘control the controllables.’

There’s SO much out of our control in life, but our response, our attitude, and our mindset is ALWAYS in the controllable column.

Business is simply a magnified arena of that. How can we focus 5% on the problem, 95% on the solution?

When I find myself in moments of doubt or fear (which let me tell you – are more often than you might think), I know there’s an opportunity to shift the energy.

Rather than dwelling on the problem stumbling down the spiral staircase, I will intervene. Sure, this one thing may not be working and feels crummy at the moment – but what IS working and what feels good?

Once I bring my focus there, that feeling expands, eviscerating any doubt or fear.

6. Business (and life) is a team sport

“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” - African Proverb

The effect of good quality, invested, aligned, and like-minded people coming together to work towards a shared goal is one of the most humbling and special things I’ve been a part of.

Each team member we add on exponentially expands the amount positive focus, energy and attention we have on our mission, vision, and goals. It raises our collective point of attraction and amplifies our impact.

Every day, there are a over a dozen people whose energies are fully focused in the same direction of seeing this succeed. That energy is powerful!

And the dream team of Edge Theory Labs extends far past our team of epic employees.

It’s also our mentors, coaches, and advisors supporting our growth through providing invaluable feedback, insights, and experiences.

It’s also our incredible community of customers, partners, affiliates, influencers, athletes, and family members that are on board with this mission and supporting in their own way.

Building this dream team has been perhaps the greatest highlight from this year.

7. Trust the process and focus on the Next Indicated Step

People often ask – how did you guys go from 0 to multi-7 figures in one year and get connected with some of the biggest celebrities/athletes/influencers in the world?

The answer is simple. We took aligned action, one step at a time.

When you can listen to the clues that your intuition whispers, follow the breadcrumbs of what interests you, keep a curious mind and open heart, you put yourself on a crash course collision with remarkable opportunities.

Make room for miracles and for your expectations to be blown away. Delegate the heavy lifting to the universe so you can focus on the task at hand. Because you don’t need to see the entire path to the summit from the trailhead.

You just need to see the next step in front of you, and trust that will lead you to a new vantage point of your subsequent step.

Big projects, big goals, big visions become a lot more attainable when you focus simply on the next indicated step to move it forward one stride.

When you can adopt this approach and fall in love with the process, trusting the path leads to the summit – before you know it – you’ll be admiring the most incredible view from above.

8. Building a new paradigm for an office

In a world where most companies are getting out of their leases and going into a full work remote force, we have been doing the opposite.

Rob and I had dreamed of crafting a company philosophy that people actually wanted to get behind, and build an office space that people were actually excited to come into every day, so we’ve outfitted our office with workout equipment, a fridge stocked with healthy snacks, a sauna, and cold tubs.

I knew we succeeded when one of our team members was supposed to be working from home, but came into the office because she had FOMO!

Part of our philosophy is also encouraging our team to push themselves and continue their personal growth. So we created a Misogi Fund. At its core, misogi is about transformation and challenging yourself deeply.

For each team member, we have committed to funding a part of some endeavor each year – whether it’s a personal development course, an entry ticket for an Ironman or half-marathon, a mountain climb, or something in between.

We are committed to walking the walk and building a new paradigm of what working at a company can look and feel like.

9. The path of service

There’s not a single thing that I can attribute our collective success to. But one thing is for certain – none of this would be happening if we weren’t on a path of service at the core of this all.

From the beginning – we weren’t trying to figure out how we could hack the business equation to start a multimillion dollar company, we both had felt the impact that the cold had on us and saw the potential for it to reach thousands.

One of our key pillars at Edge Theory Labs is “More Than Just A Tub.”

It really is about way more than just a tub. It’s about helping facilitate a deeper connection to people with themselves so they can show up as their best selves day in and day out.

I believe that it is in the greatest good of the universe and for all of humanity for this business to be successful.

I know that keeping this genuine, authentic, and relentless path of service close to heart we will continue to succeed and jump over any hurdles that come in our way.