The thing is, is that it's not like it's not like today you're
in menopause and tomorrow you're not.
It's like a several year process.
What did you do to kind of mitigate some of the symptoms of
menopause? A lot of sleep, as much inner
work as I possibly could. I did not do hormones.
I've always just really wanted to focus on keeping things
natural. With our nutrition.
We go back to what's always been Thousands of years ago, people
were eating meat, people were eating, you know, food from the
land that we know that that's best for us.
Thousands of years ago, people didn't have hormone injections.
Right now, metabolically and hormonally, I'm healthy.
There's a big push right now on social for the sugar diet.
You can have a sugar diet. That is the stupidest thing I
have ever heard. That is ridiculous.
And we are live. Robin, how you doing today?
I'm doing great. How are you doing?
I'm good, I'm good. This is your 3rd, maybe fourth
time on my podcast, I think something like that.
I think it's the third. It's the third, yeah.
Quite a few M quite a few M So you get you are the the brains
behind the what was keto con now is hack your health and we'll
talk about that for sure. But you've also got some pretty
cool personal things going on in life.
Now you are going back to the gym, all that good stuff.
So so let's just peel the curtain back.
Let's talk about let's talk about Robin.
Behind the scenes. I feel like people know you as
the conference person, but I want to get some more personal,
you know, down and dirty information on you.
I have done a really good job of keeping my private life super
private. Part of that was because I am
just a very private person and I always have been.
And I've been told many times that I need to get my face and
my mission out and it would help the event grow and help the
company grow. But I've just never been
comfortable making it about me. And I've struggled with what
that message would be so that I don't feel too vulnerable.
And that, I mean, it's very easy to get wrapped up in the ego
side of things. You know, this is my event, this
is this, this is that. And I don't want it to be about
that. I want it to be about everybody
else. So going on podcast has always
been really fun for me because I can share a little bit and I can
talk about what's going on in my life and I kind of can kind of
control what people know about me and what people don't.
But it's going to be kind of hard to do that with you because
you're a friend. So I'm going to obviously over
share where I probably wouldn't on another podcast.
Well, and I like that. I like that we're friends.
We've known each other for so long.
And you're right, it's it's very hard.
Like when you start going out on social and you have like a
public figure persona, a bad shit to know, like where to draw
the line between business, professional and personal.
And like, when Crystal and I first launched the business,
we're putting stuff out there like people, people can be
ruthless and they don't assume that there's a person behind
that keyboard, whereas there is, obviously.
But I think it all just stems down to, you know, what are your
intentions? Like if your intentions are pure
and well meaning and positive, then you just got to put your
faith in that. Like, if you're doing it from an
egotistical standpoint, then yeah, I mean, they may come back
and bite you. But if you're coming at it from
a positive standpoint and people interpret it incorrectly or they
try and throw shade, it's like, you know, in your heart of
hearts what you're trying to convey.
And if they don't see that, then that's kind of their problem,
you know? Right, right.
Yeah. I agree.
It's just a tough line to walk. But for me personally, what I've
been up to a lot. So I mean, since the last time
you and I spoke, at least on a podcast, I moved about an hour
away from where I was living before so I could live closer to
Ryan and his family because they have two children now.
So I wanted to be closer to my grandkids.
I have a 5 year old and a 1 1/2 year old grandchild right now.
So I see them several times a week.
I spend a lot of time with them and that's why I moved here.
But then of course, shortly after I moved here, my other son
Sam, who was living in North Carolina, decided to move back
to Florida. So he lives about an hour away
in the other direction. So and he's getting married in
October and so I'll have be having more grandchildren in the
coming years. So I'm going to have to make
some decisions where I'm going to live kind of like halfway in
between them. So but I've.
Met Sam? I don't think I've met Sam
right? Sam, I don't, well, he's not
involved in the event. He was there not this past year,
but the year before and he'll be there again this year.
So you'll definitely, I think you did meet him, but it was
probably only briefly. I mean, I tried to introduce him
to as many people as I could. Ryan, I obviously know very
well. Yeah, You know Ryan well, yeah,
so, and I mean, I've been for myself personally just focusing
solely on how to build this event with the same intentions
that I've had before when it was Ketocon and kind of balance
where nutrition and biohacking and all the other things that
are happening in the health space all kind of play together
and how and how they fit. Some things do fit.
Some things don't fit. I've So I've been working on
that and I shared with you a couple minutes ago that I've
headed back to the gym after a relatively long hiatus.
I'm embarrassed to say and learned that when you're in your
60s, although early 60s, that it's really hard to make a
comeback. It's much harder than I thought
it was going to be. So I've lost a lot of strength
and so I've had to kind of dial it back and almost like starting
over and my body is responding. My body does remember, but what
my brain thinks I'm capable of and what I'm actually capable of
at this point is different. So, but I'm really excited about
it because I miss the feeling of feeling great after a workout.
And, and now my challenge is going to be balancing running a
business with really spending a lot of time focusing on my
fitness as well. So that's that's new for me.
Why was there a hiatus to begin with?
Menopause. That'll do it.
Probably not the conversation that your listeners want to
hear, but I mean it's the truth. It was.
I was carnivore and keto during that whole process.
But my better, my better, my metabolic health was good.
But my ability to like balance running a business, putting on
it, you know, doing all the stuff that I do, which most of
it is, you know, I do by myself. It's, there's only been so many
hours in a day, you know, So I let work and other things take
precedent. And then there was also, you
know, a period of time where I just needed more sleep.
And so I gave it to myself and I let myself sleep until 7 instead
of 4, you know? Yeah, ain't no shame there.
It's it's interesting. Like I've actually talked about
menopause extensively on this podcast because like, HRT is so
popular right now. Yeah.
Are you did, did you go that route or what did you do to kind
of mitigate some of the symptoms of menopause?
A lot of sleep, as much inner work as I possibly could.
I did not do hormones. My nutrition, I mean, I really
dialed in making sure, you know, low carb.
I've never done well with really high protein.
So I have to really keep an eye on, unlike some people who
struggle to get enough, I have to, I have to monitor not
getting too much. So I just paid attention to my
nutrition and my sleep and my mindset, and that's really all I
did. Nice and you feel much better.
Yeah, Yeah, I'm fine now. I mean it's The thing is, is
that it's not like, it's not like today you're in menopause
and tomorrow you're not. It's like a several year
process. Oh, I also started taking
Berberine. That did help quite a bit.
That did help a lot. So I'm curious, I mean,
especially with you, you know, leading a biohacking conference,
you know, HRT being as popular as it is right now, there's like
this massive push for, you know, women going through
perimenopausal, menopausal years to, you know, use hormone
replacement therapy. Because a lot of the science
that was put out saying that it would have all these adverse
effects has kind of been negated as new sciences surfaced.
So like most people are taking the approach of like this is
just simply the best way to go about it.
It it's safe, it's going to make you feel better, it's going to
make you perform better. Why would you not go that route?
Well, it's only recently that that new science has been made
public or, you know, more mainstream.
I mean, I went through menopause.
I think I was, I would easily say I was on the other side of
it by like 60. So that was three years ago.
I, I've always just really wanted to focus on keeping
things natural and I don't have anything against people using
it. I think that if it, if the
science had been different when I was going through it, I may
have been more open to it. But when I was going through it,
the science wasn't there. That, you know, the studies
weren't published, the information wasn't there, and I
didn't feel safe doing it. Although, I mean, there were a
lot of doctors pushing it at that point.
I just felt that, gosh, I mean, we're with our nutrition.
We go back to what's always been.
Thousands of years ago, people were eating meat, people were
eating, you know, food from the land that we know that that's
best for us. Thousands of years ago, people
didn't have hormone injections. You know, I mean, I realized
they didn't live as long. Maybe they didn't live as well.
I just didn't feel comfortable with it and.
Totally respect that. I mean, it's, it's interesting.
It's, it's good to hear that perspective because like I'm
just been inundated with the overwhelming push on the
opposite of that, you know, take the HRT.
And again, nothing against that. And I mean, I'm not going to go
to menopause, so I don't really have a dog in the fight, so to
speak. But you know, like my mom, she's
63 as well. She didn't take any of that.
And like she feels amazing. She's been doing keto for a
while now. She's super vibrant, energized
and healthy. It's like a lot of people think
if they don't take it, it's like a death sentence and their
quality of life is going to be subpar.
But it's like you can totally get through it.
Yeah. You know, I, that's interesting
you say that because I mean, I've, I've noticed that the talk
has just like done a complete 360 so or complete 180 there.
It used to be if you did it, you were taking a lot of risks.
Now, if you don't take it now, if you don't do the hormone
replacement, you're taking a lot of risks.
I mean, what people are telling me is that it's protective.
Having those hormones in your body at my age is protective.
I don't know. I just 20 years from now, I
don't, I don't want the science to switch the other way.
Oh, by that time I'll be 83. So what difference does it make?
But. Well, you live to be 120, so
it's like a lot of time. Yeah, I mean, you know, for me
personally, my journey, I'm, I'm on the other side of it.
I don't see the need for it at this point.
Things could change, but right now, metabolically and
hormonally I'm healthy, though my hormone levels are not what a
20 year old is. But I'm not 20 years old.
So until I see some kind of like, overwhelming evidence that
it's going to improve my life to the point where it's going to be
worth the risk, then it's just not for me right now.
Yeah, no, I'm, I'm in the same boat.
I mean, I compete in natural federation, so like HRT for guys
is super popular as well. And I haven't gone that route
either, and I don't really intend to unless I've got a
health concern that would warrant it.
But it is weird because like we, especially in the space that you
and I are in, it's like we're blending the world of what is
ancestrally consistent and as natural and primitive and pure
as possible, but then also blending in tandem with science
and technology and all that we're learning in biohacking.
So it's kind of like 2 opposing sides that we're trying to marry
together. Interesting.
It's interesting concept. Yeah.
What's really what's really fascinating to me is how these
two camps, if you will do so, like blend so well together.
When we first started bringing in the biohacking part to the
event, I didn't know how well those those two groups were
going to play together because there's not a strong nutritional
foundation in the biohacking world.
And there's such a strong foundation, such a strong
nutritional foundation at our event.
Like it's still very the very foundation of our event.
And I didn't know how they how well they would blend.
And it's done really, really well.
I think that the biohacking world is starting to accept or
become more open minded to different nutritional protocols
and the carnivore slash keto community slash low carb
community is becoming on the other side of being
metabolically I'll when they're begin to get well, they're
looking for other optimistic, other ways to optimize their
health. So that's been really
interesting for me to watch and you know.
Is the key, you know, like people want to optimize and from
a nutritional standpoint that I mean, we, we're going to sound
biased, but that points to a well formulated ketogenic diet.
And then from a, you know, technology biohack standpoint,
like obviously all that's, you know, catered towards
optimization in some form or fashion.
So when the root common denominator is optimizing 1's
health and performance, they go hand in hand perfectly.
Yeah, yeah. It's, it's, it seems to have, it
seems to be going like that. So now as we bring new people
in, new people who you know, are not well and are looking for
ways to improve their health when they're just beginning, I
feel like this is a, this is also a great place for them to
be because there's just exposure to so much information and
hopefully not too much information because that can be
bad too. So I'm kind of like balancing
all of that. Yeah, totally.
What what do you feel about because because the conference
is in November, this will be, there's a lot of changes this
year for Hacker Hill. So it's not in Texas anymore.
It's not in what? What month was it?
It was it June. August.
Well, we were always at the mercy of what the event, the
dates that we could get in Austin, but it was either June,
July or August. It was always June, July or
August. And now it's in November.
So you there are things moving in this trajectory that has you
pretty excited about all the changes or is it going to be
kind of like a hurdle? We're definitely excited.
So there there are no events in this area like the one like Hack
Your Health. So there are some events that
have, you know, I don't know a few things in common, but
nothing like what we do. So I'm really excited to be able
to bring that here. I mean, part of the reason why
we did this is because Ryan and I live here.
So you know, it's really hard to have local representation in an
area when you don't live there. You're not, you don't know the
local community, you're not meeting business people, you
know, you're not meeting community members.
It's really hard to grow a business in an area where you
don't have that. So especially in a business like
this. So part of the reason that we
did this was so that we could bring it home, one, to serve the
local community, but also in a place where we could be present
in the community. And so that's worked out really,
really well. I think that we're going to
have, so far we're, we're seeing a lot of new people.
The only way I can track this is by use of discount codes.
So I mean, we, we send out a lot of emails for people to attend
who have attended in the past and we give them a special
discount code. So I can see if people are using
that code to buy tickets. But I'm guessing I'm projecting
that we're going to have more attendees this year than we've
ever had before. And it will be a mix of of
people who have attended in the past and just us building this
local community here. So we draw from not only Tampa,
but also Miami, Sarasota, Jacksonville, Orlando, so
Tallahassee. So those are all those are all
great communities to build from, from a Wellness or health and
Wellness perspective. Totally, yeah.
I feel like, you know, the the main part with it being in
Austin, it the Palmer Vince Center was that you were then
walking distance of Terry Black's barbecue.
Yeah. What what what is the equivalent
there in Florida? Florida.
Is it like a raw oyster bar right across the street?
The events going to be. There's all kinds of like
Brazilian steakhouses and seafood places around.
The Tampa Convention Center is right on the water, so it's a
beautiful environment, but also there's restaurants, dozens of
restaurants within walking distance of of the Tampa
Convention Center. Nice, nice, very exciting.
And y'all have grown pretty much every single year that y'all
have hosted it, right? Like it's, it's continually, you
know, been a positive trajectory.
Mm hmm. It has the first year we came
back from COVID was our the the one year that we didn't grow at
all. We, I don't remember the exact
numbers, so I'm, I'm not going to make something up.
So I, I just remember that it was disappointing for us, but it
was also the first year of coming back from COVID and a lot
of people weren't comfortable, you know, going to public
events. But then every year after that,
we've continued to grow. Nice, nice.
What is it like for you as you know, the the the organizer, the
promoter, the the host of all this to have like this one event
a year, which is pretty much what you're working for non-stop
throughout the year? Like is that like I would assume
that that is super stressful because like you get how much
riding on this one weekend? Yeah, it is very stressful.
It's financially, it is a bear to manage and.
Well, I mean, with event planning, you never really know
what to expect, you know, until you're in a place in event
planning, until you're in a place where the event is
profitable and there's enough money after the event to keep
the business going until you do the next event.
That's the challenge. Until you get to a place where
you're doing that it it, it's really challenging.
There's been many years where I have put money into the business
to keep the event going until the until the event starts
generating revenue for the following year.
There were many years I've done that and my dream is to not have
to do that again. Yeah, no, that's a it's a
worthwhile dream for sure. This will be my first year as an
event planner. So I'm hosting A bodybuilding
competition in September of this year.
So like I'm having to, you know, booked out the venue, have to
figure out registrations. I'm have to do a lot of stuff
that you're doing on a much smaller scale.
And I'm like, man, there is no way I'm going to be in the green
after all this. Like I've already lost money.
Like there's, there's no way this is going to make sense on
paper. So I'm just hopeful that it's a
positive experience for people that are there and it just
continues to grow year after year.
Yeah, it's tough. It's really tough when you're
trying to scale a business like this, the tools that you need to
so that I'm not like up to my ears and spreadsheets managing
things. Those tools, those software
applications are incredibly expensive.
So an example would be, I think it was 2019.
We had, we didn't, we, we didn't have a registration platform.
We, we were using a WordPress website and we used I an app
within the website to sell tickets.
And then we do you hear that Thunder?
It's getting ready to rain. Sorry.
Then we took a download from the website to an Excel document and
then took sent the Excel document to a printer and had
them print the name cards, the bet for the badges, and then me,
Brian, Mary, 5 or 6 other people from 8:00 in the morning until
9:00 at night stuffing name badges into those plastic
sleeves to get all 2800 of them done.
That is so much work and so stressful because you know, when
you when you, when you import something onto, when you export
something out of a site and onto a spreadsheet there, it's never
perfect. So we had people's names who got
cut off and you know it, that was a nightmare.
So all that to say that the software that I have to replace
having to do that is incredibly expensive.
So that software is integrated into our website.
So when you go onto our website and you buy a ticket, that
information goes into their system and then at the show when
you check in, that system will print your badge right there.
Nice. That way we don't have 10 people
spending 12 hours stuffing plastic sleeves, but the cost to
do that could pay a full time person.
Yeah, software is no joke. Like the amount of money that I
spend on the software that we use at keto brick and and
whatnot, it just like it. I didn't even know software cost
that much money. Like it blows my mind, but the
idea of not having that software at the time cost doesn't make
sense either. So like, you have to have that
as an investment. But yeah, it's not cheap.
Nothing's cheap. No, no.
And unfortunately it's not changing like I've, I've yet to
be able to find ways to cut corners that didn't have, you
know, a negative impact. You know, everything that we
need to do to keep growing requires a financial investment.
And I mean, I've always taken the approach that if I can do it
myself, I'm going to do it myself.
And I still do a lot of that, but it's been pointed out to be
many times that paying someone else would give me more time to
do more, to do other things. But I'm not paying myself.
So, you know, it just doesn't. It just doesn't work out on
paper. It just doesn't.
So I just keep doing it. And eventually, I know myself,
I've always been very stubborn. So I know that if I keep doing
this, I keep plugging away at it, I will find ways to make it
more profitable and I will get to what I've envisioned this
event to be. I know I will.
It's just going to take more time.
What do you envision the event to be like?
What is your picture quintessential version of of
Hack Your Health? In the future I would.
Love to see. I would love to see us have like
5000 people there. That'd be double what we did
last year. And for every exhibitor to just
be exhausted at the end of the weekend from talking to people,
you know, meeting new people, finding new clients, new
collaborations, all the things that happened today, but on a
smaller scale, I would just like to see it be more.
And I would really like, I mean, I know that when people come to
this event, if one person comes, they're going to go home and
share information with at least two other people.
So if I have 2500 people there, I've impacted, you know, 7500
people. So if I have 5000 people there,
then maybe I've maybe I've impacted 15,000 people.
And on scale like that, it just continues to grow.
So right now is a prime opportunity for that because
there's just so much attention on natural health, on nutrition,
on food additives, on all those things.
So if I'm good at what I do, hopefully what I do can catch on
to the the groundswell that's happening with that.
And so wow, if I could help other people at my age, people
that are your age or how, you know, when I was in my 20s and
30s struggling with my health, if I can help people avoid that,
then I've really made a difference.
And at this point, I mean, I really don't want to do anything
unless I'm making a difference because just doesn't make sense.
So that's kind of where I am. You're making a difference for
sure. I mean, I've always enjoyed your
conference. I enjoyed it when it was Keto
Khan. I enjoy it when it's like your
health, like I always I've always enjoyed it and you 100%
are making a difference. Like it's it's hard to to
recognize it in the day-to-day, especially when you're stuffing
a whole bunch of name tags in a card.
Thank God I'm not doing that anymore.
But it's definitely apparent, it's definitely felt.
It has a reverberating effect that just compounds and you
know, I feel like like for me, I love going to the conferences.
I love, you know, speaking, I love being a vendor.
I love like being boots on the ground face to face with people
that I'm normally interacting with on Instagram, direct
messages or emails. But like, I actually meet people
face to face. And you can't really do that
unless you're at the conference. So it's it's super impactful.
Yeah, You know, I, I was reading something recently about
accountability and community and how to become better at being
part of the community. So I have an endpoint to this.
But I, I, it, it occurred to me that people can go to an event
like this and expect to be overwhelmed by the, the amount
of people and the amount of conversation, the, the amount of
new things to learn. But if you can go to an event
like this without the intimidation factor, it's going
to make all the difference in the world.
And that's one of the things that I think really this event
makes is different than others because the community is so
welcoming to new to new people. So people like myself, people
who have been through, you know, a health crisis and are
attending these types of events because it keeps them
accountable, it keeps them part of a community.
It it's everybody there is for everybody that's there is for
the same reason. So everybody is excited,
enthusiastic about learning new things to optimize their health.
And so bottom line is it's a very positive reason to be
together. And that kind of energy is
contagious. So people who come to this event
as a newbie will feel that as soon as they walk in the door.
I feel like like the community that we're a part of is so
special in the fact that like you look at other communities,
you look at like the real estate community or you know, the
athletic community, it's like there is a an underlying level
of ego there because it's everybody's measuring up against
everybody else. Like what have they
accomplished? How much money are they making?
How many houses have they sold? Whereas like when you've lost
100 plus pounds, reversed your type 2 diabetes, or totally
transformed your health, like you just want to start posting
information online because you want to help other people and
save them the heartache that you've endured.
And when you're at a conference filled with hundreds and
thousands of people of that same caliber, like it's, it's all
positive vibes. Yeah, yeah, that's, I've said
this so many times before, but that's really my favorite part
about the entire three days is when we first open the doors to
the event and all those people come walking in.
I almost said rushing, but that sounds too some of them are
rushing in. But anyway, when all those
people start coming in, you can feel, you can feel the vibe.
So I mean, that's, that's one of the reasons that's one of the
things that keeps us doing this every year is just that energy
fills you up. Do you have a like a like a do
you have something that you do after the conference is over
every year as like a way to, you know, put a bookend on it like
to treat yourself or relax or like go to the freaking massage
or go that to a nice meal? Like, do you do something
personally, like habitually every single year after
conference is over? No.
You should. You should.
I know I should. You'd think that I would have
figured that out after all these years, but I don't.
I mean, usually by the time the event is over, we've shared the
information for the date for the next event.
Exhibitor sales, ticket sales should be live.
And we're right away. We start planning again now this
year being at the Tampa Convention Centre.
I don't know if we're going to do the event at the Tampa
Convention Centre again. It's just going to see.
I want to see how how things flow.
It will be in Tampa again in 2026, but I'm I'm not 100% sure
we'll be at the convention centre.
I do have the dates from them. We are working on the contracts,
but I really want to see how things flow there's.
I'm getting totally off your question.
For me, after the event is over, I spend a month after the event
working on the video content that was captured during the
event so we can put it on the site for people to access.
I do all the bookkeeping and you know, closing out the books.
So that's, I mean, probably six weeks, 6 to 8 weeks to close all
that out and start over again. So I mean, that would put me in
November, December, January, that would put me in like
February, perfect time to take a vacation.
So maybe this, maybe this year, maybe this year, I'll do it.
I love the cold weather. So February would be a great
time for me to for travel. Yeah, 'cause I think of, of this
for you kind of like akin to like when I'm doing a
competition prep and I'm like super, you know, just stressed
out and rigid and strict with everything.
But then after the show is over, after my last show is over, like
I've got like this symbolic way to just put a cherry on top, so
to speak. And it's like you need then to
be able to just kind of have that, you know, metaphorical
bookend to it so that you're able to start fresh the next.
And then everything crazy like, yeah, but you got to, you got to
definitely treat yourself to something that's symbolic for
you in that way. What?
What do you do? So after the competitions, I'll
typically like when my last competition's over, I'll have
people with me, like my wife will be with me.
I'll have my ideally my family, my close family and friends,
some of my employees with me. And then I'll take us all out to
like a Brazilian steakhouse. And I'll be able to like just
eat as much food as I want. Not been able to do that for
like 33 weeks. And then the next day, like I'll
sleep into whatever time I wind up waking up, which is usually
still pretty early. And then I'll just do whatever I
want. But it's just with, with my
family and friends and no, no rigid structure because like
I've been super rigid up until that point.
And it's nothing fancy. Like I don't do anything
extravagant, but just simply having that 48 hour window where
I'm able to just relax and exhale.
If I want to journal it, I do that.
Whatever it is I want to do, I just do that.
But I feel like that recharges me and gets me excited to start
it all over again. That's a great idea.
I have to figure out a way where I can get myself to do that.
Yeah, user. It should be it like you said
it, you need a bookend. You need something so that
otherwise it's a never ending, never ending task.
Yeah, and that's you don't have. I mean, the y'all's team is
relatively small. I mean, how many people are on
the team right now? I mean, we have Ryan and I, we
have one person who does web development, but I mean that's
not somebody that's like full time.
I have Josh that handles affiliates and like partners on
social media and interacting with people on social media.
I recently brought on somebody who is creating some video
content for us, but that's not like a full time person.
That's just somebody who's creating a certain amount of
content, video content for us a week, and then like Autumn, who
runs our volunteer program. But that's once a year.
So I really don't have a whole lot of people.
That's it. Yeah, it's like 3 to 4 people.
Yeah. And it's some some odd, you
know, Yeah. And you have like a bunch of,
you know, agencies and stuff and contractors, you know, closer to
the event, like the lighting setup crew, all that jazz.
But like. The.
Year is just a handful of you. Yeah, the AV team.
I have a new AV team this year. He's local and that's a once a
year thing, which is another like the bill for that just
blows me away. It really does.
I mean that I pay them more for three days than I pay myself a
year. Yeah, it is.
Wow. It is wow.
How that works? Yeah.
What? What do you feel about like the
just the landscape of the space that we're in right now in
general? Like obviously you've got from
political standpoint, you get the Maha movement.
I feel like that's only, you know, positively conducive to
the message that we're trying to put out.
But what do you feel about just like conferences in general?
I've seen there's a lot more conferences now than ever
before. Do you feel like that is a
positive or do you think it's almost like just too much noise
in the equation? Like what's your take as a
promoter? There is a lot of noise, a lot
of noise. And I, I think it's a shame
because I mean, there's a lot of people who are lost and a lot of
the information is conflicting. And I don't think that's fair
to, I mean, I guess people have to take the responsibility to
find what works best for them, but there's a lot of conflicting
information out there. But in the event space, in the
health event space, I'm seeing a lot of like smaller meetups
popping up, which I think is really good for the attendees
because there's less travel involved, there's less expense
involved for sometimes for them. The large events there's, I
think there's three in my space that are the size of what we do
and also part of the reasons why, part of the reason why I
left Austin because they're both in Austin.
So I don't worry so much about them and I really don't worry
about the smaller events either. I guess your, your question is
about the event space in general.
It's definitely growing. What I'm seeing in in the
predictions and financial stuff is that the industry is going to
continue to grow so long as the event provides experience.
So as long as we continue to provide more than just a lot of
speakers and a bunch of vendors. So there's got to be more than
that so that people feel emotionally fulfilled at an
event, more so just as much as learning and meeting people, but
feel emotionally fulfilled, feel motivated, have have had like
hands on experience with things like I'm sure you see, when you
go to events as a vendor, there's a total, the connection
between you and the attendee when they try your product is
totally different than when you're, you know, online
promoting a product. Until you have that face to face
interaction, until the attendee actually physically tries
something, they're not that they're not invested, you know,
but once they've tried it, they're going to want to buy it.
So I mean, that's part of the reason why we do like we brought
in like the cold plunge experience, we bring in the the
DEXA scans and the saunas and that kind of stuff.
Because some people just don't have an opportunity to try
things like that. And when you're at an event like
this, trying it makes you go home and want to either
incorporate this into your lifestyle by going to a gym that
has it or investing in something to keep in your home.
Yeah, yeah. It's hard to put a price on the
face to face interaction just removing that barrier because
like everything's online these days.
I mean, everything's online these days, but, and that's
great. But like nobody shops in person.
So nobody can like, pick up and feel and touch and see things
with their own two eyes unless you're going to a conference
like this. And like we don't even have a
physical storefront presence, like just speaking on our end.
So this is our opportunity to interact with people in that
setting and it's just awesome. Like I you can, you can address
people's questions, concerns and feedback real time, which is
invaluable. I mean, that's super great.
And then for me is like when I speak at your event, I guess
that's super fulfilling because, you know, I can speak on a
podcast, I can speak on a YouTube video, and then I can
get the comments and the, you know, questions and stuff in
the, you know, DM messages afterwards.
But like, being able to field questions from people, raising
their hands and be able to speak to them real time like that to
me is, you know, super fulfilling.
Yeah, yeah. You know, as a, as a person who
has attended events for me, I always, when you reach across
the table to shake someone's hand and they are the person who
has developed or formulated whatever it is that you're
looking at or learning about. That's, that's pretty impactful
for me personally. So I like to meet other
entrepreneurs. So to understand, you know, what
they're doing, why they're doing it.
I find that really fulfilling. So I think that for the
attendees, it's, you know, it would be the same thing.
No, 100 percent, 100% in, in times changing over the years
because the first, the first keto con was 2019, right?
17/20/17 and this is going on 2025 now.
Have you like changed your speaker line up and kind of like
the messaging that you're targeting from a speaker
expertise standpoint based off of what you're seeing in the
space as far as like where people are having questions or
interests, like how has that shifted over the years?
Well, I base it on what not only what I'm interested in, but what
the feedback that I get from attendees.
So I mean, we ask attendees at the event, what are we not
covering that you would be interested in learning about?
I, I try to pay attention to what's popular, what the
conversation is. And, and then there's kind of
like foundational topics that we're going to cover every year,
no matter what, because there's always going to be new people
that need to understand what, you know, insulin resistance is,
you know, there's always, there's always going to be those
topics. I really love the pain to
passion story, you know, people who have experienced health
crisis and found ways to address those and turn that into
something that they do for their career, which is exactly my
story. So I try to keep some of that in
the event as well. And then, you know, I have to, I
have seats to fill, you know, so if there's 1800 seats in, in
that mainstage, I have to bring people into the event that are
going to fill those seats. So it's a combination of a lot
of different things. There's a big focus on Women's
Health this year at the event, but we're also this year doing
for the first time in men's panel.
And so I, I don't really have a single formula where I decide
who's going to be speaking. It's really all of those things.
Yeah. Do you feel like there's a like
this movement away from, you know, keto, carnivore, ancestral
nutrition? Like do you think that's on the
decline or do you think that is continually on the rise?
I think that there's a camp of people who jump from one diet,
excuse me, one diet to another. And until they until they figure
out that that doesn't work, they're going to keep on doing
it. But for the most part, I think
that it's continuing to rise. Yeah, there's a big push right
now in social for the sugar diet.
Are you gonna have a sugar diet? That is the stupidest thing I
have ever heard. Is that for real?
Like I saw, I saw. That is ridiculous.
Yeah, yeah, it is pretty popular right now, actually.
It's garnered quite a bit of attention.
So I haven't really paid that much attention to it because I
thought that's the stupidest thing.
So tell me about it. Yeah, I put basically it's, it's
looking at the I, it's, it's looking at the FGF 21 hormone.
And what people are doing is they're eating nothing but
sugar, high glycemic index sugars from either fruits or
like table sugar, honey, things like that.
And keeping protein minimal or non existent for specified
periods of time to increase FGF 21 hormone, which
consequentially allows you supposedly to have increased
caloric expenditure. So you're able to eat lose
weight while eating the same calories or maintain weight
eating much higher calories. But the mechanism of action
isn't so much the sugar as it is the minimal intake of protein.
So yeah, I'm kind of doing an experiment right now.
I'm not doing the sugar diet, but I'm doing a four to one
ketogenic diet. So very high fat, relatively low
protein to illustrate a point. But yeah, there's a lot of
people doing the sugar diet right now.
It's pretty popular. I, I saw stuff about that on
social media and the first time I saw it, I was like, that can't
be for real. I didn't even read it.
But then when I saw, I think I saw, was it Sean Baker was
saying something about it on YouTube?
Yeah, he was doing, he was doing, he's basically, he's
doing what I've been doing in that we're basically proving
that you can replicate the same results from incredibly high
fat, very minimal protein without sugar, right.
So he and I were talking about that at the last conference that
we were at together. But yeah, it's it's pretty
comical. I mean people.
I mean. We jump around.
I got to imagine you feel like hell.
Well, I mean, that's the thing. People are all advocating how
great they feel, how they're effortlessly losing all this
weight till they're having great workouts and tons of energy and.
Well, I wonder what their insulin and blood sugar look
like. I mean, are they wearing, are
they wearing glucose monitors? Yeah, some are, I mean, some are
suggesting that it's improving metabolic flexibility and
improving insulin sensitivity and all these things.
But for me, it's like, I just, I'm interested in the long term
payout of things like I, I'm interested in what your body
does in 20 years of following a, you know, specific dietary
protocol more so than three days.
Right. I mean, what about the fact that
sugar promotes glycation and and all these other things?
What's your skin going to look like after a month that?
Yeah. What's your teeth going to look
like? Yeah, yeah.
Well, yeah. I mean, I'm not going to be
doing it, but it's definitely popular right now.
No one is going to be talking about that at Hacker Health, I
can tell you that right now. All right.
Good to know. Good to know.
It may fill some seats, but I don't know if you'd want those
seats filled. Wow, I would not promote
anything like that. And the ketogenic side with fat,
yes I would. That makes total sense.
But the sugar table sugar no. Not AI mean it's like candy,
like straight up candy. A lot of people are using, you
know, sweet Tarts and gummy bears and Sour Patch Kids as
their primary dietary staples, which to me just doesn't seem
like a good long term strategy. I would have such a headache,
like, you know, I mean, I've always said what works for one
won't work for someone else. I mean, everything's different,
everybody's unique. But I can tell you right now I
would not do well on that. Yeah, I mean.
I'd fall asleep is what I would do.
Yeah, it would not be my good to.
Plus you wouldn't be able to just fight the big old juicy
steak. And I mean, what is that, you
know, good. Point.
Yeah, very good point. But what else has got you
excited, Robin? Totally independent of the
conference. Totally independent of what?
I guess the fact that you're closer to your grandkids and you
potentially have more grandkids on the way.
And that's awesome. But what else has got you
personally, you know, hyped up and ready to run?
But I mean, right now it's just getting back into shape,
starting to build muscle again and and experience that feeling
in the morning when you look forward to going to the gym
that's. Really.
When did you start hitting the weights again?
Hard and heavy. About two weeks ago.
How's that going so far? I mean, I know you kind of
alluded to the fact that you're not lifting as much as your your
brain thinks that you would be, but yeah, is it, is it feel easy
to wake up and go to the gym? Are you still kind of dreading
him? I'm not dreading it.
I'm looking forward to it. I mean, because in my mind, I
kind of like have an end goal, you know, not an end goal, but I
have a goal of, you know, just being in better shape by the
time the event comes around. So that's kind of like a that's
kind of like a goal in the future for me.
But I'll tell you what, that first week I can barely walk.
Pretty rough, little dumb. Oh my God, Trying to doing
squats and then trying to walk two days later, yeah, that was
painful. Yeah, when you, when you take
some time off from working out, then you do a heavy squat.
They, I mean, you don't look forward to going to the bathroom
because then you got to sit and that's no fun.
Yeah, sitting or getting up from it, yeah.
Oh boy, no. That's serious business.
But yeah, I mean, that's really what what I'm that's really my
focus right now is my family and the gym and this event.
That's pretty much what I do every day.
I mean, it's June in Florida, so it's too hot to really, you
know, plan anything outside. I mean, obviously I am outside,
but I don't spend a whole lot of time in the middle of the day
when it's 95° outside. So I look forward to September,
October, November when things cool off.
I did. I did take a vacation this year,
though. I went to Scotland.
Oh nice. Yeah, in April and I was there
for two weeks. It was the first time I've ever
travelled internationally by myself and I I signed up with a
tour group and travelled all over Scotland.
It was pretty incredible. What was the motivation for
going to Scotland specifically? Kind of like a bucket list trip.
Nice. And I've I just love the history
and the fact that there's evidence of the history.
So you know, when you walk through the grounds of a castle,
it's pretty amazing. I mean, the stones on the bottom
of those walls that have been there for 1000 years makes you
feel kind of small, but I just find it really fascinating.
It is my my grandmother on my mom's side.
She did like a deep dive into all of our family history and
lineage. And apparently I've related to
King Robert the Bruce in some form or fashion.
And she's got like all this paper documentation that like
doc, like, you know, verifies it.
So I want to go there and like see it for that, have all that,
but I don't know. I got to go look at all of her
paperwork, brush up on it. But it is pretty cool, all the
history back there. Yeah.
And did you, there's a series called Outlander that was all
about like from around 1100 I think maybe a little bit later.
But anyway, that series, they went to a lot of the really
historic places where these castles are, where there were
battles, where there's a, you know, story about clans fighting
each other. I just found it really
fascinating. So you'd love it.
The landscape is just breathtaking.
Just. Breathtaking.
I've been to Iceland and I've also been to Nova Scotia,
Newfoundland, and the landscape is very similar.
It's very rugged, very like sharp cliffs from, you know,
down to the ocean, very green. It's it's really beautiful.
See, that's what you should do. After every conference, you take
a week or two and you go on a solo trip to some country that
you aspire to see. Like that's that should be your
thing. Yeah, that's a good idea.
I have to see if I can do it. What's the next one going to be?
What's the next country? I don't know.
I have this. I have an interest in going to
doing some travelling in Colorado.
I lived in Colorado when I was in my 20s and I loved it there.
I really like the mountains. I like the greenery.
I like cooler climates. I like to get away from cities.
And so I think that next year, rather than traveling to another
country, I might spend some time in Colorado.
Although February it might be too cold, but maybe Colorado or
Portugal. I've also wanted to go to Spain,
so we'll see. Well, we got mountains in
Arkansas. Come see me in Arkansas.
OK. It'll begin well, Robin, give
everybody the the scoop on when the conference is, how they can
sign up, what they should look forward to, all that good jazz.
It's hackerhealth.com. The the tickets are available
now. We're actually doing a price
increase in July, but right now the three day pass is only 299.
We have a code created for you. It's Keto Savage that is $100
discount, so it would get the three day pass for 199.
That code is live by the way and the speakers are all showcased
on the website. The brands that have signed up
to come are on the website that we we have probably space for
maybe 30 or 40 more. So those will all be filling up.
That updates regularly as people sign up.
And the interactive experiences are all listed on the website as
well. There's links to discounted
hotels on the website. So we'll try to make it as easy
as possible for people to get information.
Right now I have 7070 speakers. We're doing several panels
though, so there's like four or five people on each panel.
There's a lot to be happening there a lot, and all the
information is on the website, but I would encourage people to
come. November is really beautiful in
Florida. Not super hot still go to the
beach. Tampa is a great city and the
Convention Center and the hotels with are right next to the
Convention Center is like a 10 minute, 15 minute Uber ride from
the hotel from the airport. Excuse me?
So Tampa airports won all kinds of awards.
Beautiful airport. So I would encourage people to
come and if they do, please find me and introduce yourself.
Yeah, no, I'm super excited about this.
This will honestly be the kind of kind of broken hearted, but
this will be the first I've spoken every every hacker health
conference. This will be the first one that
we don't have a keto brick booth at.
So I'm a little broken hearted there, but this we get our my
second sons do literally any day now, like my wife could
literally call me right now in 5 minutes and say, you know, we're
going to the labor. So I didn't want to commit to
anything until that all kind of got, you know, figured out.
But I'm super excited to be there.
I am incredibly grateful and, you know, humbled and honored
for you to ask me to speak again.
I mean, I think the world of you, Robin, and it's awesome to
just be a part and help in any way I can.
So it's you put on an amazing event and you impact a lot of
people's lives and you're an incredible human being.
So hats off to you. Well.
Thank you for saying that, I really appreciate all your
support. Absolutely.
Well, I will see you in November for sure.
Until then, I'll link out to the site and make it easy for people
to find you, and we'll see if we can drum up some more
attendance. That sounds great and good luck
next couple of days. Yeah, yeah, I'll send you a
picture for sure. This little guy is.
Doing tell Crystal I send my love.
I'll do it. Appreciate you, Robin.
Take care.