IAM1082- Co-founder Infuses Drive to Health and Wellness

Jason Wrobel is the co-founder of Wellevatr and the co-host of the podcast This Might Get Uncomfortable. He’s the Amazon and Globe & Mail bestselling author of the Hay House cookbook and lifestyle guide, Eternity. As the first-ever plant-based chef in history with a primetime television series, his groundbreaking show “How to Live to 100” on Cooking Channel and Food Network Canada taught millions of people worldwide how to prepare delicious, organic, healthy meals at home. Described as the love child of Jim Carrey and Alton Brown, he infuses his live speaking events, videos, and digital teachings with a relentless drive to grow and a lighthearted, joyful approach to health and wellness.

• CEO Hack: (i) Being organized and task management- Airtable and TickTick (ii) Time blocking using a Pomodoro timer
• CEO Nugget: Having a mentor in my life
• CEO Defined: Being the shepherd for the unseen dreams, visions, and future of humanity

Website: https://www.jasonwrobel.com/

https://www.wellevatr.com/

Podcast: http://podcast.wellevatr.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wellevatr

Full Interview:

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Transcription

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00:14 – Intro

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00:42 – Gresham Harkless

Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast, and I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Jason Robell of Welllevator and this might get uncomfortable podcast. Jason, great to have you on the show.

00:51 – Jason Wrobel

Yeah. It's so good to see you again. Thanks for having me.

00:53 – Gresham Harkless

Definitely super excited to have you on. And before we jump into the interview, I want to read a little bit more about Jason so you can hear about all the awesome things that he's doing. Jason is the cofounder of Welllevator and the cohost of the podcast, This Might Get Uncomfortable, which I've been a guest and been definitely grateful to share the mic with him. And he's the Amazon and Globe and Mail best-selling author of the Hay House cookbook and lifestyle guide Eternity. As the first-ever plant-based chef in history with a prime-time television show, his groundbreaking show, How to Live to a Hundred, on Cooking Channel and Food Network Canada taught millions of people worldwide how to prepare delicious organic healthy meals at home.

Described as the love child of Jim Carrey and Alton Brown, he infuses his live speaking events, videos, and digital teaching with a relentless drive to grow in a lighthearted and joyful approach to health and wellness. And as I said, I had the pleasure of being on the show. We were connected over sports injuries, interesting enough. And, he's an overall awesome guy, a mover and shaker, who does so many things, that are awesome, especially in the health and wellness space. So, Jason, appreciate you taking some time out. Are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

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01:53 – Jason Wrobel

Let's do this.

01:53 – Gresham Harkless

Alrighty. Let's do it then. So to kinda kick everything off, I wanted to rewind the clock a little bit here a little bit more on how you got started, what I call your CEO story.

02:01 – Jason Wrobel

Yeah. You know, for me, it's interesting because as a little kid, I remember feeling very rebellious. And this sense of rebelliousness manifested in all kinds of crazy ways. I mean, we have to probably do a whole separate episode talking about the crazy stuff I did when I was a young man. However, I realized that as I graduated college, I graduated with a marketing communications degree and worked in the advertising industry well before I became an entrepreneur. So I spent an entire decade in the advertising and marketing space. And I remember I had a moment of realization. I was talking to my mom back in Detroit where I grew up. And I think I was maybe, like, seven, eight years into my career as a copywriter and marketing director.

And I said I don't think I meant to work for other people. I just it was this thing of, like, remembering that kind of childhood rebelliousness and drive to to do things my way. Right? I was just very, very, very bullheaded in that way. And, for the last eleven years, I have been running my own business. I have two companies, my own, is Roboliving LLC, which is the food side of things. And then with the more business focus, social media, mental health, the podcast you mentioned, that's all on the Welllevator. So for the last eleven years, I have had these two brands. And, you know, of course, being an entrepreneur has its challenges.

I mean, we could recap all the things it takes to mentally and financially survive as an entrepreneur. But you know what, Gresh? I don't think I could go back ever to working for someone else. I think that I'm, again, reflecting on childhood, just intrinsically wired to kind of just do things my way, do things in the vision that I see. So, once I realized that, it was like, alright. We're going. We're doing this. And, you know, as Tony Robbins says, we're burning the ships and we're not turning back. So that's in a nutshell kind of my my entrepreneurial journey and and how I think my makeup has led to this point in my life.

03:45- Gresham Harkless

Yeah. I appreciate you sharing that so much. And, yeah, in order to take the island, you do have to burn the boats as Tony Robbins said. So I absolutely love that. But I love it too because I think so many times, you know, kids and I feel like I had, you know, some of those entrepreneurial tendencies when we were younger. And sometimes if they're not cultivated in the right way, they can turn, you know, to more destructive things or things that aren't as helpful. But I think when you start to look at those characteristics, you start to see, like, some of the best innovators, great leaders have a lot of those tendencies when they're younger. And if they're cultivated,  they turn into really remarkable things, some of which we're enjoying right now in these technologies.

04:15 – Jason Wrobel

Yeah. And I didn't realize it. Right? You talk about it being cultivated because the the archetypes that I had in my family growing up on both sides, mom and dad's side, were very much, again, and no judgment on this, but very much in that nine-to-five mold. You know, in Detroit, it's like, what do you do? You go work for one of the automakers. Right? You work for Ford, you work for Chrysler, you work for General Motors. And I just there was something in me that was like, that's not my path. But it was confusing for a while because I'm like, I don't know.

Well, what is my path then? If it's not that and I'm not and I'm not aligning with the archetype that my family has set forth, woah, then I'm gonna be like the weirdo. And so for a while, I very much felt like kind of an outsider in my family because I was taking that different approach. So it took them a little while to, like, get used to the fact that, alright, Jason's doing things a little differently. But I'm glad I gave myself permission to follow my heart and do it my way.

04:59 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. I appreciate you so much for sharing that. And I the story that you're telling is very similar to mine. I feel like I might have grown up in Detroit. He might be talking about my family in the same way because I could definitely feel, you know, sometimes you just have to have the courage and you don't know why you're doing it, but you have to lean into who you are, what you feel is right. And even if those that are around you may not necessarily agree with it, a lot of times they'll come around later once they see that this is not just something I'm trying out. It's something that's truly my calling and who I am.

05:22 – Jason Wrobel

Yeah. And I think once they realize, oh, this isn't this isn't a hobby. Like, this like, dude is serious. He moved all the way to California. He moved twenty-five hundred miles away, and he's, like, he's committed. So to your point, I think when certain people who, you know, maybe are doubters or they don't understand the vision, they don't understand why in your heart you have this drive to do what you do, you know, for better or for worse, when, you know, success is kind of like the metric that people like, oh, okay. Alright. We believe you now. It's not just a hobby. So it took a few years for them to get behind it, but now, my family is very, very supportive of everything I do.

05:54 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. That's that's awesome. And I think you're absolutely right where I always kinda remind myself that sometimes, the vision that you're giving is for you. Sometimes it's not for those that are around you and sometimes they have a different vision and that's completely okay. That's why we all have different gifts and abilities. So I love that you leaned into that and reminded us to do that as well too. And so, I know you touched on the kinda two different businesses that you have. Could you take us through a little bit more about that and what you're doing to kinda serve the clients you work with?

06:18 – Jason Wrobel

Yeah. Absolutely. So the one business I've been doing longer than the other, which is a Robot Living LLC, is very much specifically focused on the side of health and wellness, nutrition, food, cooking, and all of that. And I've been doing that forgot at the time of this recording, I've been incorporated for eleven years now. So just past the decade, Mark. And that was really born out of sort of this hybridization of having the marketing background as I mentioned. But then getting into the food space and going to culinary school, I started the company right I mean, right when social media was just starting to take off. People were finally getting, a hold of what YouTube could do.

Instagram had just started, I think, in twenty-ten. So back then, it was like, okay. What's this Facebook thing? What's YouTube? What's Twitter? What's Instagram? So for me, it was just this vision of how do I get culinary media out there with this emerging technology of social media and do it in a way that's fun and engaging and comedic and irreverent because at that time, one of the inspirations to start that business was when I was watching cooking videos and I was watching nutritional content, health and wellness, it was all boring. I mean, to the point where it was like a snooze fest, you know, I'd be watching people taking me through a yoga class or a cooking tutorial and it was very, like, monotone and very boring and very technical.

And I thought I needed to funk this up. I need to come in and make it fun and be the goofball that I am and again when I gave my permit myself permission just to be myself. I'm gonna do this comedically. I'm gonna be goofy and teach people at the same time. I realized realized something important with that business. You talk about how I serve serve my clients and my fans. I realized that if you get people laughing, energetically, they are open to receiving new information. Mhmm. And so when I go out and I do a lecture tour, I've gone on book tour, I do my YouTube videos, my Instagram, I always try and make sure it's comedic and try and entertain people because then they're open to receiving new ideas. And I realized that laughter laughter is a delivery mechanism. It kinda opens that door.

08:02 – Gresham Harkless

Right.

08:03. – Jason Wrobel

And then people can walk through and receive what you have to say. So similar to Welllevator, which is the newer business, my business partner, Whitney and I have been doing that for three years now. That's focused a little more specifically on mental health, and emotional wellness, addressing some of the socio-economic issues we're facing in this country. And so what we do with that, we have several courses. We have wellness warrior training and a consistency code, basically teaching people some tools to keep themselves mentally healthy and emotionally healthy.

So, leveraging a lot of digital technologies, we have a new platform we're gonna be using called Hello Audio. So one of the takeaways from both businesses, man, is, always experimenting with new platforms, new offerings, and new products, and seeing how people respond to it. So relentless experimentation, I think, is the thread through with both businesses.

08:44 – Gresham Harkless

I absolutely appreciate that. And so would you consider that to be what I like to call your secret sauce? The thing you feel kinda sets you apart and makes you unique. It could be for your business or yourself personally, but is it that relentless experimentation and that feeling to lean into who you are that you feel sets you apart and makes you unique?

09:00 – Jason Wrobel

Yeah. And I think that is definitely part of the secret sauce. And I also wanna say curiosity is part of the secret sauce. And I had a a great mentor that I worked with a couple of years back, a shaman in fact. And we were talking about the mechanics and nature of fear and how fear, you know, guides our decision making, fear guides our belief systems. I mean, fear is a very powerful emotion. We can all agree. Fear does make us do some really interesting things. And he was saying, what if in the moments that you feel fear, you replace it with curiosity? And I thought, interesting. So part of that secret sauce of the relentless experimentation, I think, is curiosity. Well, what if we try this?

We don't know how it's gonna go. Well, what if we invest this money? Okay. Is it the money we can afford to invest and maybe lose? Okay. Let's do it. Like, you know, I'm I'm going through that with, like, crypto and investing right now. Like, okay. We have no idea what's gonna go on with any of this crypto game, but I'm curious, and I'm gonna experiment with it. And so I think I think the curiosity crash is a big part of that. And what I'm trying to do when I feel afraid is instead of being afraid of something to get curious about it, and that's been a huge game changer for me.

10:06 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. That's a huge thing. And I think so many times when we allow stuff to kinda stay in our heads, it can sometimes build up to be, or to look worse than sometimes it ends up being. So I think it's something huge that we can kinda lean into. And so I wanted to ask you now for I wanna switch gears a little bit, and I wanted to ask you now for what I call a CEO hack. Okay. This could be like an Apple book or a habit that you have, but what's something that makes you more effective?

10:26 – Jason Wrobel

For me, I wanna give two real quick. And I've realized that, as a rebellious person, one thing, Gresh, that I resisted in the early days of business was, being organized. I thought I could just, like, allow my creativity to kind of guide them and it did. It is and it still does. Like, at the core, I think I'm an artist, you know, at the core of who I am who also happens to be a business owner. But for me, organization and time blocking is everything. So I wanna give a few little tips here. The first thing that I love using is a Pomodoro timer. There's a company called Tomato One. There's a bunch of them out there, but this is a free one. It's from a brand called Tomato One. You can download it on your laptop or your smart devices.

And time blocking has been a game changer. Right? Because I'm the kind of dude, I will sit in this chair for three to four hours, and my eyes are crusting over, and I haven't drank water, and then I realize three hours went by, and I'm less productive. Right? So Pomodoro timer, you download it, and you can set time blocks. So what I like to do is I will do three rounds of twenty-five minutes of work and five minutes of rest. And after those three rounds of twenty-five and five, I'll take a fifteen-minute break. I'll go outside. I'll stretch, get my glass of water, move my body, and then come back and do three more rounds. So my work day is just an all-time block. And I found that I'm much more efficient.

I'm much more fresh. My energy is on point because I'm taking those breaks, which might be counterintuitive, but actually helps me go longer in my work day. So that's one thing. The second thing is I'm big into, task management. So I love Airtable as an online organizer, and I also love TickTick. TickTick is basically an online to-do list that allows you to, do a workflow with, like, Whitney's my business partner. So we have a workflow there. So Pomodoro timer from Tomato One, Airtable for organizing tasks, and to-do list with TickTick. Those are three every single day, I use those three tools.

12:09 – Gresham Harkless

I love both of those, those hacks. And so I wanted to ask you now for what I call a CEO nugget. So this could be a word of wisdom or a piece of advice. It might be something you would tell your younger self if you were to jump into a time machine or you might also tell a client.

12:21 – Jason Wrobel

So I have been blessed with having a a mentor in my life. His name is Michael Park, also a business owner, but not just a business. He's really been more of a life mentor. And one thing he said to me years ago that has always stuck with me, like, just drilled in my brain. He said, what is, like, what is happening is good and to your advantage whether or not you can see it or feel it in the moment. And there's so many like you said, Gresh, so many moments where it's like, can I even do this? Can I keep going?

Do we have the cash flow to keep running? I mean, there's a million situations we face where it's like, I don't know if this is gonna keep going if I can even do this. But that thing reminds me that I believe we live in a friendly universe. Albert Einstein once said the most important decision you can make is choosing whether you live in a friendly universe or a malevolent one.

13:11 – Gresham Harkless

And so, I want to ask you now my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. We're hoping to have different quote-unquote CEOs on the show. So, Jason, what does being a CEO mean to you?

13:20 – Jason Wrobel

Well, I mean, it's funny because I'm technically a co-CEO right now with Whitney, which is the first time I've ever actually run a business with anyone else. You know, I've been a solopreneur for, again, eleven years. So the past three years have been a co-CEO. What does a co being a CEO mean to me? I think it means being a shepherd for the unseen. We have visions. We have dreams. We have things that are burning in our hearts that we want to birth into the world.

And I think being a CEO is being a steward for the unseen dreams and the visions and the future of humanity. Right? It's like it's it's almost like being an alchemist. You have these things on and you have all the all the white papers. I have my whiteboard back there. Mhmm. It's like so as a CEO, how do I take the visions, the dreams, the words, and actualize them and turn them into material reality?

14:08 – Gresham Harkless

Jason, truly appreciate that. Of course, I appreciate your time even more. What I wanted to do is just pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional that you can let our readers and listeners know and, of course, how best they can get ahold of you. Subscribe to the podcast, get a copy of the book, and find out about all the awesome things you're working on.

14:21 – Jason Wrobel

Yeah. For sure. So, I just wanna say that we have a lot of free resources. So anyone out there looking to get perspectives on consistency, habit building, mental health, and resilience, at elevator dot com, w e l l e v a t r dot com. We have a free resources section with multiple ebooks, and two video trainings, all free, just just completely complimentary. Just kinda get you in the flow of the systems and the protocols and the coaching that we do with Welllevator. And then we also have the great podcast you talked about, Grash, that you were a wonderful guest on.

This might get uncomfortable. We've got almost two hundred fifty episodes right now, and that's on all the major podcast players, Spotify, Syncfify, Apple Podcast, Amazon Podcast. And then, we also have two YouTube channels. I've got my individual YouTube channel, which is mostly focused again on nutrition, wellness, and human optimization, and then we also have the video versions of all the podcasts on our Welllevator channel. So if people just wanna Google Welllevator, w e l l e v a t r, or punch in my name, Jason Wrobelts, w r o b e l, there are literally hundreds and hundreds of videos, free training, courses, and podcasts.

There's a lot of goodies out there, and most of them are free because I think, Gresh, you know, if if you really, as a business owner and a content creator, just deluge people with value and give them really good stuff and know that, you know, they know that you deeply care about their growth and their evolution, that creates long, long term relationships. And many, many clients of mine over the years have become friends. And you know what, man? That's, like, one of the greatest gifts is you work with someone professionally, but you create such a deep bond that they end up becoming friends. And, I'm proud to say that many, many clients have gone down that road with me.

15:52 – Gresham Harkless

Nice. Well, I truly appreciate that, and you can definitely Google everything or to make it even easier, we'll have it in the show notes too just so that everybody can click through. But I think so many times we forget about it. I always say the human, you know, part of life and business, and I love that that piece that you talked about is that you get the opportunity to provide value for somebody and you get an even stronger human connection as a result of it. I think so many times we forget about that. So thank you so much for, you know, taking some time out. Thank you so much for all the awesome work that you do, and, I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

16:19 – Outro

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

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