Latest / Zone2Speak Podcast / Fueling Endurance: The Tailwind Journey with founders Jeff and Jenny

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Fueling Endurance: The Tailwind Journey with founders Jeff and Jenny · Zone2Speak Podcast

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today. And now for the episode.
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Today, we have the pleasure of speaking with Jeff and Jenny,
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the brilliant minds behind Tailwind.
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From a shared passion for endurance sports, they have created a nutrition solution
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that has transformed the way athletes feel their bodies.
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Tailwind has become a go-to for athletes around the world, offering simple,
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clean hydration and fuel that powers long-distance adventures.
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We're excited to dive into their story, their journey, and how they are continuing
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to feel endurance athletes everywhere.
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Jeff and Jenny, welcome to Zone to Speak.
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Hi, everyone. Welcome to the Zone to Speak podcast. We're your hosts, Debbie and Juliana.
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Music.
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Can you take us back to the beginning? I think everybody that takes Tailwinds
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know, but I think it's such a spying story.
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And I think that's the story that also made me start taking Tailwind and why I love it so much.
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Because you went through all
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the struggles athletes go through to find the product that works for you.
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And you just had to create your own. Sure.
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I'd like to say that Tailwind got to start with my head in the trap skin at
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the finish line at the level 100, the mountain bike race.
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And i trained i think pretty well for that but i was something terrible doing during the day.
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I did finish but nothing had really gotten through and jenny was at the finish
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line and fortunately had a video camera i was like hey congratulations and you
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know came in for a hug and was like i had to write this french game picked up
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the muesli that for brinkton's 17 hours a row,
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which was totally identifiable.
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And that was just a confirmation. I mean, nothing had gotten through all day.
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So that was really frustrating because I put a lot of time, maybe six months
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of training in and then just to not be able to feel good was frustrating. That was the start of it.
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For me, that journey, like you said, I tried everything, all the products in
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the market to see if I could just find a better nutrition that worked for me,
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but I wasn't really having success doing that.
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And I also, I just didn't understand why I would pick one strategy over another.
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And so because I wasn't having success, I thought, okay, maybe if I understand how our bodies fuel,
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I might be able to uncover some of the reasons my stomach is not handling these
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nutrition choices and then see if I could just choose a better strategy.
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At the time, I wasn't thinking about starting a business or even creating my own.
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I started diving into the medical literature on how our bodies absorb fuel and
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what we really need during exercise.
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And as I really started to understand that more, I was looking around and saying,
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hey, I kind of understand why this isn't working for me and why that's not working for me.
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I didn't see a product that I thought really meshed and worked with how the
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body works. And instead, most of the products had ingredients that were challenging to digest.
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And so I was like, okay, well, let me try and work with the body and see if
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I can create something that will be easier to absorb during exercise when your
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body's very stressed already.
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And that's how I got started making my own powder.
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Sounds so risque, powder. Yes, well, it gets even worse.
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Because as I dialed it in for myself, I started to share it with other people.
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We are based in Durango, Colorado, which is a community that has a lot of terrific athletes.
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And so I started sharing this with friends around the area.
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And there's a Thursday night bike and beer group about biking and then go hit the bar.
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And then I show up with little dime bags of white powder handing it out to everybody.
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Did they have a flavor at the time?
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Yeah, actually, the made her in orange was the first flavor.
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Oh, how funny. And it's because I like it and I was making it for myself.
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That's why it was made her in orange, but the powder's white anyways,
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and it mixes up clear, so there's no kind of orange color to it.
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Yeah, folks had been coming back and saying, hey, this is the best stuff I've
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ever tried. Can I get some more?
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So then it went from the dine bags to I was packaging it in downsized ziplines
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and literally meeting people in parking lots and hitting off large bags of white powder and.
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That's crazy. It's hilarious. I know. So there was one person who asked for
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five bags and we met at a parking lot and he put it in his truck and we both
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kind of looked at it and he's like,
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I think I should put a blanket over that. Oh yeah, I think that's a good idea.
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Sometimes you think you come out with a new product. I feel like the hardest
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part is just if there's so many things out on the market, what's different about yours?
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I mean, obviously it helps that it's your friend. Yeah, there was definitely
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some arm twisting going on.
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Thank goodness you had that form of support to start this. That was really huge.
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And then I think in terms of convincing people, a few people had really good experiences with it.
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And then they told other people, and they're like, oh, yeah, okay, I'll try that.
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But this was still not a business. It was really just me trying to refine the
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project I was working on.
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And I did start to share it with people in the Leadville community as well.
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And it kind of posts up on a forum. And then there was one woman that I had
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met at Leadville who had dropped out of seven races.
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Wow. And she could not get over the nutrition hump. It was always her stomach that was killing her.
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And so I sent her some of this powder. Didn't have a name at the time.
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And she emailed a couple months later and she'd
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finished the Shenandoah 100 and her stomach felt
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great the whole day and she broke down in tears as she was crossing the finish
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line and it was such a such a cool story and I think that's when Jenny and I
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kind of looked at each other and thought wow you got something yeah the feedback
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on this has often been really positive people think it really works well,
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but it's actually really meaningful if we can make a difference in somebody's life, right?
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That was the thing that inspired. When I finally found Tailwind,
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I was just like, finally, someone made something that doesn't have to be blue
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or orange because it's orange flavor.
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I don't need food coloring in my body. I just want something that works.
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I couldn't agree more.
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The flavors were all incredible.
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I think I started with Tropical Buzz and I loved the green tea,
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but I couldn't take a lot of those mixes either.
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And to me, that's the best way for a company to grow is organically like that
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because when you're hearing it for someone who you really trust.
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Who you're running with or riding your bike with or hiking with or what have
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you, it's much more meaningful.
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So that's really what drove our company were all these personal stories and
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personal experiences and people sharing those.
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Thank goodness you had that experience with that athlete in Leadville because
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that was a pivotal moment. And,
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to imagine this world without tailwind right now.
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Everybody knows about the product now. I've never heard a bad thing about it.
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Like you said, you get into this forum or a big group of people and I work at a shop.
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So it's always the go-to of, no, you got to try this.
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It's amazing how you go and take a chance and you've made such a huge difference
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and impact for so, so many people.
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I'm sure that's the thing that helps you keep going too in certain times where it gets tough.
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Sundays and Mondays are always our favorite days because that's when we hear
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back from people because they'll typically do an event over the weekend or they'll
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go out for a big ride or run or what have you and they write us and they talk
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about their great experiences and that really,
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that's that little adrenaline that we get on
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on sunday and my day so it's it's really awesome
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and then we hear these these stories that are hugely impactful of people who
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are using it not for its intended purpose but for other reasons so there was
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a gentleman who wrote in and he had gotten cancer and he was a big athlete and
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he got so nauseous going through chemotherapy,
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but Tailwind was one of the few things that he could take and he just told his story and it was just,
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Yeah, it was just really impactful. And there was another one we just received two weeks ago.
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There's a gentleman who had actually posted a review on our website,
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and he was participating in a triathlon and had a friend who was a paraplegic,
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and he really pushed him through the entire triathlon.
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And it was just, you know, stories like that that are just, yeah,
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they just. So that's hard.
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Yeah, that's why we're doing what we're doing. That's how we do what we do.
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How did the product develop? Now you have a big line of different flavors and
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you not only have the endurance, but there's also recovery protein.
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How did the tailwind shape up throughout the years? I know that you're coming
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up with new products, also the rapid hydration.
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I like that a lot too. I want to hear about the taste testing and how you came
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up with some of these incredible flavors too. That's fun stuff too.
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Right. We want to hear the logistics, but we want to hear that fun stuff too.
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How did you come up with the flavor? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
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Well, like I said, Man and Orange was the first one and it was because I like
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Man and Orange. So that was really for me. It's a bestseller.
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Yeah, it's still very much a bestseller.
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But I think to your point, Debbie, some of the design things that I had in mind
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in creating this and creating what became our endurance fuel was number one,
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to keep it simple and keep it focused on just what the body needs and nothing more.
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That's the key for why it absorbs quickly and easily and doesn't hang around
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in your gut or cause a feeling bloated or full, those kinds of issues,
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because those are really prevalent for a lot of athletes.
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Do you have any idea or input on why you think other companies are putting in these fillers?
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I don't know what their necessity is. Obviously, they're not needed. Yeah.
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And I think some of that goes to maybe our experience as athletes also combining with the science.
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So there's both the science and sort of how our bodies absorb fuel,
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what we need physically, but there's also the knowledge that just comes from
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getting out there and doing things.
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So like your brain kind of goes south after a few hours and then you start thinking
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about like, oh, did I take that electrolyte pill 10 minutes ago?
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Or was that the one from 45 minutes ago? I can't really remember.
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And you can't really do, yeah, you can't really do math. And so that's one thing
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is, you know, complicated solutions can make your experience really inconsistent
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because it's really hard to keep track of it.
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It kind of adds stress to the whole thing. The other thing is flavor and texture,
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which just from my personal experience, it's got to be light. It's got to be clean.
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If it's too sweet or sugary or sticky, those are things you just can't take
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over a full day, especially if it gets hot.
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And and then if you start abandoning
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your nutrition strategy part way through then then what good
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is it right so it's got to be super
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tolerable and and that means it's got a different taste profile if you just
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take take you know take something and you give it to people in a focus group
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or sitting on a couch they're going to choose something different than they
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would if you were giving them something six hours in.
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And so we designed for six hours in, not for the couch and for the circus group.
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And I think a lot of products are created by, in a more of a lab and study,
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but not necessarily combining that with the real world athletic experience and
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the things that matter when you're out there.
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I love how you said earlier, you needed to be able to work in a body that's already stressed. Yep.
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Right. Because our body can handle different things, but as soon as we,
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depending on the type of workout, it could be like a hit, a high intensity style
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right at the get-go, not kind of easing into some zone to some warmups first.
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And like our body can handle more and absorb a little differently.
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It has to be able to absorb in different ways. And another thing on top of that
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is just that I don't understand why companies are letting scientists make products for athletes.
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Everybody should be collaborating and testing on the products you're trying
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to sell to those individuals, along with so many other intended uses,
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like you said, for cancer patients, for dehydration, for so many different autoimmunes.
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It's so important what you're doing and how you did this. Yeah.
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So I think you hit the nail on the head. It's a combination.
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Of scientific basis and an experience in real life and on the trail, right?
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Combining those two things, and that's what can make a great product.
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So that's the approach we've taken to the other product lines,
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because we've heard for a long time from people that, hey, they would love to have a recovery.
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And for a long time, we kind of said, hey, well, if you're feeling well,
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that's one of the big keys to recovery is that you don't
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go into as big of a glycogen deficit
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as you do if you aren't feeling
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well so you know the endurance fuel
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was pretty effective at that piece of it but obviously doesn't include protein
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for to help you rebuild the muscles after you've completed your exercise and
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then there's a hydration aspect to that as well so that was really in response
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to a customer saying hey we really like something that that helps my recovery.
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And so, and this is where it gets fun with the flavors.
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We set out to create a recovery product that would hit those kind of three main pillars,
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replenishing your energy or your glycogen stores, which is super important because
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that's actually what makes you feel better faster.
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And it's what gives you that energy for your next workout the next day,
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right or even later in the same day and
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then the a really efficient complete protein
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that would help you to rebuild and repair your
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muscle muscle tissue and the hydration
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like our endurance fuel we wanted to make it available to everybody so that
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meant being being vegan not containing gluten you know dairy so it's really
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that that anybody who deals with intolerances could could use it as well.
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Yeah, I love that. Not having to have too many different products because some
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people get too caught up and there's too many skews, too much confusion.
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Just make a product that works for everybody equally. Yeah.
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Yeah, as a company, whenever you're coming up with a new product,
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we're like, well, we just don't want to introduce a Me Too product to extend our product line.
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It really needs to be different and provide a performance benefit above and
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beyond what's currently existing in the marketplace.
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So that's one of our key drivers whenever we're looking at introducing a new
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product or product line. I can see that too.
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You don't just come out with something just for the heck of it.
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Right. So we're pretty deliberate about that. Yeah. I think it says a lot.
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It says a lot about your service, everything across the board.
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So I appreciate it. I think you see how that performs, the feedback from everybody,
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and then some products become part of the line. Yeah.
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Yeah. So a big example of that recently was the DeWalter Melon flavor,
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which is a watermelon lime. So good. Yeah.
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That's something that we've been privileged to work with Courtney DeWalter for,
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I guess, eight years now.
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And she was like, I really love a watermelon flavor.
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Let's work on something together. And we did.
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That's where the watermelon line came. And we did that as a seasonal introduction.
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And people loved it. And so now it's part of our line and it's pushing the Mandarin
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Orange as the top selling flavor.
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Yeah it is really good and then
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i just saw the new grape because we just got some packs at
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the shop i haven't tried one yet but i've heard it's really good too i mean
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the grape is grape is also really tasty and again these are like the grape was
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like a top flavor request from our from our customers from athletes so it's
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that again we're trying to we're trying to take that input from athletes and.
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Combine that with the science to make products that are great we've always believed
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from the get-go, we've always wanted our customers to be part of the testing process.
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And so there's this thing called beta testing. And so from the very beginning,
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when we first introduced our caffeinated
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flavor, which is the caffeinated flavor, we threw it out as a beta.
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We had no idea how it was going to perform or do, but we had had a class for caffeinated flavor.
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And I remember bringing it out. We just slapped a sticker on it and put it up on our way.
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And we said, well, the package isn't very pretty, but we know that you really
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care about what's in the package and not necessarily the outside of the package.
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Go ahead and test it out. Tell us what you think. And again,
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the feedback was great on both the flavor and the fact that it contained caffeine.
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So then the caffeinated products became part of our product line.
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And we also did that with our recovery.
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We were first thinking about our recovery and bringing it to market and had
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our customers really participate in the beta process and inform us on, is the flavor right?
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Is the texture right? Is it consistency right? Is this something that you really want?
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So that has always been a part of our process. And I think it's so important
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to us as a brand as well, because we've always been driven by our customers.
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And to have them be part of that process is great. Yeah.
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That didn't stop us from experimenting on our kids. Of course not.
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Yeah. Mad scientist, yeah. We had one of our daughters play soccer.
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And so she became the guinea pig on the recovery mix. And as we were working
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on building out the protein, the protein contains a lot of amino acids,
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some specific amino acids, and amino acids are bitter.
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And I gave her a bottle of this to drink after a game.
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She takes one sip and she goes, I'm not drinking this and you can't make me drink.
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To the drawing board, dad. To the drawing board.
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Not good. That's terrific. Kids have no filter.
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They're so good at telling Juliana that. It's always, if you can ask your child
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if they like something, you're getting kind of a stamp of approval right there. That's right. Yeah.
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So continue with what you were saying on the products. Because what you were
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saying about customers, you know what?
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I think some product lines say they want customer input, they love a good review.
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But when it comes down to it, they're not really listening to what customers
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are asking for or what they need.
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You started this pretty much as a customer looking for a product that worked
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and nobody was producing this.
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So you did it on your own. So it's of no surprise to me why it's so important
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and why that you take part of this so seriously.
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I love about the, you were saying, what is it, like a newsletter or a blog or
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something with comments.
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I don't know if you do any, do you do anything on your website like that?
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Like release any like comments or anything like that?
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Well, whenever somebody buys some products from us, we'll follow up in a couple
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of weeks and say, hey, do you want to provide a customer review?
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And it varies from person to person. Some people write a tome.
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Like someone who's like, good, this is great. There are others who almost,
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in effect, write a race report of their entire experience.
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And then if they do, if there is an issue with the product, it's also really
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great for us to hear that so that we can follow up with that and understand,
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okay, was it something with the product or is it something in how they used it?
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Or maybe they misunderstood from how to fuel standpoint. we find that a lot
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where, and I was a victim of this until we started Tailwind and Jeff told me,
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but I used to, my background is in ultra cycling.
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And I was always told, boy, you need to take in as many calories as you're expending.
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And so back then we had the hostess pies, which were about 450 calories.
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And I'd be trying to take them down and my stomach would just revolt.
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And I'd be up on the side of the road with my legs in the air and massaging
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my stomach and trying to get those calories through.
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And then I found out, well, you can only absorb between two to 300 calories an hour.
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So no wonder. And we actually find that with a lot of our customers where they're
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taking tailwind and then they go through an aid station and those M&Ms look so great.
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And so does the watermelon and all these other different things.
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And they can really mess up their nutrition plan versus the one that they had
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already designed going into the race.
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And so So we kind of go back and unwind all that to really understand what's going on here.
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So the customer reviews or customer feedback, those are really great tools for
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us to use, not only for hearing the good things, but also surfacing some issues
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that may arise with our products.
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And I think we find that people really also love to hear other people's experiences and stories.
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So when we come across a story that's terrific, we'll ask if we can share that.
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Can we share it on social media?
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Or would you be willing to write a blog about your experience?
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And then that just sparks discussion amongst the community. And yeah,
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because nutrition is tricky.
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And it is a little bit different for every person. and it's different for every scenario.
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So I think maybe we try and focus on our customers and their experience.
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And really our mission is to help people achieve their athletic goals.
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So that's what drives us versus like, I think some companies focus on them,
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like what they're doing versus what we're focused more on what our customers
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are accomplishing and how we can help them do that.
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And that plays into the products. That's where rapid hydration came from was
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that, hey, endurance feels great, but I don't always need those calories.
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Even endurance athletes are not always going out and doing it.
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It's not every workout is an endurance workout, but they still wanted to be
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able to hydrate and to use the same mechanism that we have in endurance fuel
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to be able to hydrate quickly.
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And same kind of principles of having something that's easy to drink and doesn't
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taste overwhelming or have that kind of, like a lot of electrolyte drinks,
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have a stevia or a mug fruit aftertaste to them, keep it really clean.
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So that's where that product came from is responding to those requests.
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And also people who say, hey, I need to hydrate, but I never go out and do two plus hours.
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Or we've also found people that say, I love your product for the hydration aspects
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of it, but I want to take some other food.
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So, you know, can you give me something lower calorie that lets me have to get
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those carbohydrates from someplace else?
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So it kind of serves all those purposes, but very much driven by requests from customers.
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I think your lineup is so well-rounded in that way now.
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Perfectly because it really touches
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on every aspect of what you'll need depending on the type of workout.
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And it's very mild with the flavor. That's what I really like.
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It's not overpowering. It's almost just like a little flavor in your water.
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A lot of people were looking at nutrition and say, oh no, there's so many calories.
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And I'm like, there's different ways to use it. Let's talk about that.
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Remember, and you even list that on there, which I love, which is you don't
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have to put the entire packet in there.
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A mistake that people will make is they'll not really feel themselves adequately.
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And then it's just much harder than it needs to be.
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And that might turn them off even from trying to go further.
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But that's where we try and help people with the education and just encouragement.
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Like, all right, just try. Just try this. And,
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It'll just give you the, it'll take away one of those concerns.
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You know, you still have to train, you still have to do the work,
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but at least your nutrition shouldn't be the thing that's holding you back.
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We know that the nutrition is working when you're not even thinking about it.
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It's just, it's seamless.
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Yeah. You said it right there because that's a tricky part for a lot of people,
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is the nutrition aspect of it.
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There's always, there could be something, it could be the cycling,
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There could always be a harder part, but the nutrition, like you said, can be so tedious there.
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I see from the shop, most of it is you'll see people under, you know,
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under consuming or consuming.
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And you get answers all over the mouth and it's confusing.
27:07
So, you know, again, like our approach is just trying to be as simple as possible.
27:12
Keep the product simple. You don't need to juggle four different things.
27:16
And you have to drink water. And if you do a good job of that and you mix Tailwind
27:22
in with it, then you're actually going to get what you need to keep going. So keep it simple.
27:29
A hundred percent. And you focus a lot on simplicity and balancing health and performance.
27:37
Are there any thoughts on sustainability as well? That's a big talk around,
27:41
you know, what companies are doing for sustainability and the environment.
27:44
Mm-hmm yeah and this is something that we're working on being able to be more
27:50
transparent about the things that we're doing because it's actually something that our,
27:54
company kind of our employees are very interested in as well so there are a
28:00
number of things that that we're already doing and then there are other things
28:03
that are on the roadmap that we're excited so some of the things we're already
28:07
doing like all of our cardboard boxes that we use are 100% post-consumer recycled.
28:13
So they start out as a recycled material and,
28:17
And then we reuse them and then recycle them.
28:21
But also the ink is a carbon sequestering ink that we use on the boxes.
28:26
So it's actually a little bit of carbon negativity there.
28:30
We just this year introduced the first home compostable scoop that goes inside the bags.
28:36
So it's actually a carbon-negative product because it's made from the sugarcane
28:45
slash that would otherwise be burned.
28:50
But by diverting it into making this scoop, it's actually avoiding that extra carbon release.
28:59
So it's a carbon-negative scoop in its manufacturer, and then it's home-compostable.
29:04
You can actually just throw it in your compost into your garden.
29:09
So that's really cool to kind of get rid of that.
29:12
Very cool. Very cool. Yeah, because there's so many scoops. And I'm always getting
29:16
annoyed, like, oh, my God, one more scoop.
29:19
I know. And I wish we could get rid of them. But at the same time,
29:23
people will also grab a bag at a store and then head right out to the trail
29:26
and then find out there's no scoop in there.
29:29
But you found a solution. So that's really, really cool. I love it.
29:33
It is cool. It is really cool.
29:36
And then later this fall, we're installing solar panels on the roof of our production
29:42
facility, and that will meet all of our logical needs.
29:46
So that's really cool too. And on the packaging front, we're working on some
29:52
concepts to avoid packaging in general, but also...
29:57
We are, I'll say we're experimenting with PCR content in our packages.
30:03
We had one experiment, which we did pretty broad scale, but then found more damages.
30:10
And so we had to pull back on that. And we're trying some different avenues on that.
30:14
So that's just like a constant that's going on for us is like trying to reduce
30:20
or reduce with their different form factors, just eliminate the need for plastic in the packaging.
30:27
And that's a tough one because the packaging is there to protect the product
30:32
and it has to be able to get to people.
30:34
It has to be able to get to the stores. It has to be able to get to be shipped
30:38
to people and have that survive.
30:41
So that's a work in progress. I can't say we're all the way there yet,
30:44
but that's very top of mind for us. Yeah, I'm sure there's going to be more advances down the road.
30:50
What's the best way for listeners to connect with Tailwind and how they get
30:56
started with your product?
30:58
And like, I know I was in the US and I'm internationally, luckily I'm in Spain
31:01
now. So there is a rep here I can order.
31:04
But if you are not in the US, like what's the best way to connect with Tailwind?
31:09
Well, I think number one would be your local store.
31:12
If you're an area that has a shop that carries Tailwind, definitely go check
31:17
that out because that's where you're going to get that face-to-face help and support.
31:26
So that's number one. And then tailwindnutrition.com is our website in the US.
31:33
We do have a little bit of a...
31:38
Checker that will notice if you're coming from another country that has its
31:43
own distributor and redirect you to that site.
31:46
So that's one way to find out there. We are, we have fortunately distributed
31:52
in a lot of countries right now.
31:53
I think, I think 40 or so countries. I think the interesting tidbit there is
31:59
that the bulk of how we are sold throughout the world, the country managers,
32:04
so to speak, our partners,
32:05
the bulk of them were former Tailwind customers, and they loved the product
32:09
so much that they wanted to bring it to their country.
32:12
And so they started their own little Tailwind business.
32:16
And so these are people who are passionate around the product,
32:20
are athletes themselves, very much aligned with our core values.
32:24
So if you do have a distributor in your country, like Jeff said,
32:28
you'll get redirected to where they're located, and they're great.
32:32
That's wonderful. Wow. I never thought about that.
32:35
That's a nice way to bring the product in.
32:39
It is because typically, your standard distributor will have a lot of different
32:44
products and represent a lot of different products.
32:47
Whereas our partners are just representing Tailwind because they truly are passionate
32:52
around the product and are very knowledgeable about it as well.
32:55
So they're losing it. Exactly.
33:01
Exactly that's their primary source I think for sure it's a go to,
33:07
anybody should be honored to honestly be a partner because it's an amazing product
33:15
like Jules said I just love it from soup to nuts it's simple the process works,
33:21
it digests well I love that it's no frills like that, everything's kept just pure,
33:28
And that's why it works so well. The recipe works so well, I believe.
33:32
Yeah, and like Jenny said, I think also it's really word of mouth.
33:36
You know, I learned about Tailwind because I was struggling and someone told
33:39
me about it. And then I was actually upset. I was like, how did I not know about this before?
33:44
Struggle for so long, you know, all is changing, trying, trying,
33:47
trying. And then Tailwind came into my life.
33:52
I know. I remember when you told me that you started using Tailwind.
33:56
I was like, oh my God, it's amazing.
33:58
And I would assume she knew about it. She told me about other products too.
34:02
And it's always hilarious.
34:03
I mean, there's no mistaking why we do the podcast together and why we're best friends.
34:07
All these products that we use or that work for us, we always align with them.
34:11
And we just happen to be using them already.
34:13
To me, it feels like I know the business because we've had you in the shop since
34:19
I started working there.
34:22
It was pretty much new when I started. So we were like, we started together.
34:30
We grew up together. Yeah, we grew up together. And it's still thriving.
34:35
And right now in the industry itself, it's changed a lot.
34:39
Just like we're getting less and
34:41
less customers into the shop just to buy products rather than go online.
34:47
It's the same with nutrition products in general, too.
34:52
There's either too much out there and it's lab tested. it's not really backed
34:59
by athletes. You can tell what is more backed by athletes now and what's lasting is more simplistic.
35:05
One thing I love is you do have a big following online, but it's also big in the shops.
35:12
And I'm noticing that most of the shops are caring.
35:15
So that's for me, I love that because to support that, like from word of mouth,
35:21
that says everything because it could be hit or miss online.
35:25
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I will emphatically say that the retail stores are our lifeline.
35:33
And to me, they're an extension of our company because they understand and know our products.
35:38
And so they're sharing that with the customers.
35:41
I view us not only as a company that develops products, but we've learned so
35:46
much through this process about nutrition and nutrition.
35:51
You know, challenges you face as an athlete with nutrition.
35:56
And so just sharing that knowledge, it's been really rewarding when you just
36:00
see these, you know, people like, Oh, it makes sense. Okay. I get it.
36:05
Yeah. And I think, you know, the messages online, the ones that are really worthwhile
36:10
are the community ones, right?
36:11
Where you have people, you have people just interacting,
36:15
the ones that are coming from like brand advertising, like you,
36:18
that's just a function of how much money you have to
36:21
spend you know and yeah marketing like develop the product i know if more people
36:28
are talking about your product i feel like they're taking it that's more beneficial
36:33
yeah yeah yeah and that's what i think is super beneficial about going to a
36:36
shop is that most people who work at a shop are there because they love the sport right.
36:41
And and so so they're they're going to have an opinion they're
36:43
going to have experience and that's that's valuable yeah
36:47
and that's the brick and mortar like you said those shops are your
36:50
lifeline i was just to say we were we were
36:53
really lucky because when we started in 2012 is
36:56
when facebook was first getting started and it was very genuine and authentic
37:01
and people were sharing their stories you didn't have influencers you just had
37:06
people who were going out and terrified about running their first marathon or
37:11
riding their first you know 20 miles i remember When I first rode six miles,
37:15
I graduated from college and a friend of mine invited me to go on this bike trip.
37:20
And so I brought her sister's bike and loaded 10 years on and I rode six miles.
37:25
And I was like, I did that.
37:28
You know, it was like so life-changing for me. And then that was a path for
37:33
me to really start riding a lot more.
37:36
But it's those stories that people can share online, I think,
37:41
in our early years that really helped drive our brand.
37:44
It put us on equal fitting with a lot of these very large brands who have these
37:49
massive advertising budgets.
37:51
It was much more organic. It took a lot longer, but it was totally worth it.
37:58
So much sweeter that way, too, though. Yeah. Yeah.
38:02
Yeah. I just loved it. So it was great.
38:07
Well, we do have a terrific recipe. If you jump up on Google,
38:11
we have a jalapeno margarita.
38:13
Oh my goodness, I want to try yours.
38:16
And we've actually, that was what we were serving up at the World Single Speed
38:19
Championships a couple of years ago. Here in Durango, when they held it in Durango.
38:24
It's a great... It's been trading at the same time. And our big jumps, so...
38:32
Anything new that's coming out like that
38:35
you can tease well we have we have some limited
38:39
editions in store that's still this
38:42
year so a couple of those to look forward to
38:45
and and then we've been doing some beta testing on a high carb product has been
38:53
really well received and and has it mixes very easily and it has also kind of
39:00
attention to the flavor profiles that our other products do,
39:05
And, and, and is, has actually, some people have been using it and winning races
39:11
and, and having really good experiences with it.
39:14
So we're excited to bring that to market. Oh, that's exciting.
39:17
I see. That's huge. And the ultras, endurance, pro, like that's going to be really big.
39:24
I love all this. And I'm sure it's just going to have that classic tailwind
39:29
taste. It's going to be perfect.
39:31
You're not going to put it out otherwise. nice we're super
39:35
excited so the feedback is feeling really
39:38
do you have any advice if somebody else has
39:41
kind of a good idea and they don't really know about
39:44
kind of what they would do to bring something
39:47
to life like you did this certainly one way
39:50
to do it way to do it if you if you're kind of solving a problem that you really
39:53
had something i think the key is to really understand the
39:56
problem so if if it's if it's
39:59
not for you really understand who it's
40:02
for and get them involved from
40:06
the get-go from the get-go because it
40:10
can be daunting and difficult to
40:13
kind of distill down from all the potential ways
40:16
you could go to distill down to like what's the real what's the
40:19
real essence of the problem you're trying to solve and and
40:22
to be very very focused on that and just
40:26
start with that it's don't try and solve every problem out there right solve
40:30
solve one solve one problem and then move on to the next yeah it's like how
40:35
you just developed the endurance powder first and start with one flavor that's
40:41
really really really good advice.
40:44
So the other thing that i would add you know once you've solved this problem
40:48
and talk into the community.
40:51
It's amazing how many people are eager to help you and to help you be successful.
40:59
Here in Durango, we've just had a marvelous support system from the get-go.
41:05
You talked about the shops and we had a product, we didn't even have packaging it.
41:10
And I've seen QO on mountain bike specialist. He said, I'll carry it.
41:15
So it's just... So we went home and we're like, I guess we got to figure out packaging. Yeah.
41:25
And so, yeah, so it seems like at every phase that we've gone through,
41:29
there's always been someone in our community we've been able to reach out to
41:33
and ask for help and for guidance.
41:35
And that's been really wonderful. It's a big difference.
41:40
Yeah, I think Jenny's sitting on two points. One is awesome.
41:44
It's important is you don't have to have everything figured out to move forward.
41:48
Right don't don't let the don't
41:51
let you know being being perfect and having it all planned out the thing that
41:55
keeps you from from getting out there because the feedback from your customers
42:00
or your constituents is really going to be eye-opening and might change the
42:06
way you way you think about things and where that's where it's at right there is just staying,
42:10
focused where it's at and asking for people that care about you and listening
42:14
to what people have to say.
42:16
It's funny because people look at where we are now. And I think if you talk
42:21
to anybody who started businesses like this,
42:23
what they don't see is myself and Jeff taking all of our inventory in the back
42:29
of our pickup truck and going to a race and then receiving orders on the road
42:34
and literally having our little printer in the back of the truck,
42:38
printing off the labels to send the product to the customer and going to the
42:41
local post office to ship off those orders.
42:44
So it's it doesn't happen overnight but i
42:48
will say that every step has done has
42:51
been amazing when you look back on it and you're like oh my gosh and those are
42:55
some of the stories that you really hold dear like oh my gosh can you please
42:59
we did that oh yeah we did wow that was fun cherish those roots of where everything
43:06
comes from i feel like you have to go through that too,
43:09
to appreciate it more. You do.
43:14
I love those stories. I can't wait to hear more.
43:17
Awesome. This has been really fun. This has been really fun.
43:19
It's nice to meet you both and I'm just like humbled by your experience and
43:25
just it's really nice of you to say how much you like product too.
43:29
We love it. And just getting the opportunity to talk to you too,
43:34
along with just so many people that inspire us in so many ways. This is an honor.
43:39
I still am pinching myself all the time. Well, if you're ever in Durango, we'll let you know.
43:47
It feels super special to talk to you.
43:52
I really appreciate your time. And thank you so much for being part of Zon2Speak.
43:57
Thank you so much. Thank you so much. We really appreciate the opportunity.
44:00
Great to talk with both of you.
44:02
Thank you, Jeff and Jenny. We appreciate you.
44:05
Thank you. Okay. Thanks. Bye-bye. Bye.
44:09
In this episode of Zone to Speak, we also spoke with a couple of pro racers,
44:15
Sonia Looney and Ellen Campbell, and here are their testimonials about Tailwind.
44:21
My name is Ellen Campbell, and I'm a professional mountain bike and gravel racer
44:26
here in the U.S., and I use Tailwind Nutrition at all of my races and in training.
44:31
I've been using Tailwind Nutrition for the last 10 years, and it's a great product
44:36
to get me through the hardest days and help me recover from the biggest races.
44:41
Hi, I'm Sonia Looney, professional mountain biker, former world endurance champion,
44:46
and stage race specialist.
44:47
I love Tailwind Nutrition because I never have to worry about my nutrition or
44:52
my hydration when I am pushing my limits, racing the hardest mountain bike races in the world.
44:57
All of Tailwind's products are using clean ingredients, which is very important to me.
45:02
They also are very supportive of female athletes across multiple endurance disciplines,
45:07
and that value is something that I look for whenever I am working with brands
45:13
and also when I'm simply a customer of brands.
45:15
I first discovered Tillin because their recovery mix was the only recovery drink
45:20
I've ever been able to enjoy.
45:22
That might sound extreme, especially because I've been racing for 20 years,
45:25
but a recovery drink was simply not part of my process.
45:29
But whenever I found the recovery mix, I found out it was plant-based and it
45:33
has a great taste and texture, which I love.
45:36
And the great taste and texture is the reason why I was able to drink it compared to any other drink.
45:44
It doesn't have the chalkiness, it doesn't have the gross flavors,
45:47
and it has plant-based ingredients that are healthy for you.
45:50
I'm also a mom of two very young children, so having the best recovery tools
45:55
and nutrition is so important to me because I'm always in a hurry,
45:59
I am always moving, and it is probably one of the most important things that
46:04
helps me continue to race at a world-class level.
46:07
The endurance mix is also part of my nutrition, and I am so happy that I can rely on it.
46:12
It comes in all these different sizes, so whenever I'm traveling,
46:15
it's not hard to take it with me.
46:17
And I never get bored because Tailwind is always coming out with different,
46:21
unique flavors, and they're so creative in that process.
46:39
Music.