My Day One
I remember it like it was yesterday. I’d just vowed to leave the supplement industry for good.
I’d been a content creator for different brands for years, and every company I worked for was exactly the same. Buzzwords. False claims. Empty promises. And products that never did what they claimed on the packaging.
Enough was enough, I thought to myself. I got into this world to help people get healthy, and I feel like I’m doing the complete opposite..
This was the day I consider my ‘Day One.’
This was the day that everything changed. The day I surrendered and gave up all hope of every making a difference in an industry full of charlatans.
That day I got a call from my now business partner Salvatore. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Where it all began
I struggled a lot with my health growing up. Gut issues, acne, and a crippling lack of self confidence defined my teenage years.
When the doctors couldn’t give me the answers I was looking for, I took a deep dive within. I started learning all I could about the human body; specifically about nutrition, and the way the food we eat impacts the way we feel.
Bit by bit I started to feel well again. My energy levels soared, my gut issues went away, and even the negative thoughts that used to occupy every waking second began to dissipate.
This was the beginning of a lifelong commitment to my wellbeing; one which continues to unfold even to this day.
As I realised the impact that good nutrition had on my day to day life; I vowed to do everything I could to help others feel the benefits too.
So I dedicated my life to studying food and nutrition, and eventually found myself working in the supplement industry.
Snake oil for sale?
I always loved to write. It wasn’t surprising, therefore, that my first role was as a content creator for a well-known supplement brand.
Initially I loved the role. Researching and writing about health and wellbeing all day – what could be better?
But over time, I noticed things started to change. My assignments shifted from providing genuine health advice to pushing product sales. The worst part was that most of the products I was selling were far from healthy.
I felt like a spin doctor trying to trick people into buying things they didn’t need to solve problems they didn’t have. I realised the people at ‘the top’ didn’t care about helping people to be healthy; they just cared about protecting their precious profit margins.
The pattern repeated itself at the next brand I worked with. And the next one. After setting out on a mission to help others get healthy, I was only succeeding in lining the wallets of people that couldn’t care less.
Completely disillusioned, I threw up my hands and vowed to leave the supplement industry. For good.
The call that changed everything
On that day, I received a call that changed the course of my life entirely.
It was from my now business partner, Salvatore. He’d read my work and was looking for a content creator who could help him with his brand new supplement company called Vivo Life.
The vision of Vivo Life was to create a worldwide awakening about the power of nutrient dense, plant based foods on the health of people and planet.
Salvatore had his own story and his own personal ‘Day One.’ It goes a little something like this.
But I’d heard it all before, I told him. What makes this any different?
A few things, in fact:
I was sold; and it was the first step of a journey on which I’ve never looked back.
This was the day I consider my ‘Day One’ at Vivo Life.
Doing Life Differently
When we created Vivo Life, we chose to take our own path.
We explored innovative new ways to feed your body the nutrients often missing from modern diets; from uniquely formulated plant based ingredients, that are better for you, better for your health and better for the planet.
This wasn’t the easy path, but at every crossroad then and now we’ve chosen the better way to do things – even when it takes longer, even when its more expensive, and even when its never been done before.
Salvatore and I worked so well together that we eventually became business partners; and have dedicated every day since to the wellbeing of people and planet.
Like any business owners we’ve had our fair share of ups and downs along the way, but I speak for both of us when I say how grateful we are to be doing the thing we love most for a living.
Thank you for all of your support that helped turn our ‘One Day’ into ‘Day One’.
Josh and Salvatore