Meet the Founder of Naked Nutrition
PLUS a Peppermint Mocha Smoothie Recipe
Starting your own business and becoming your own boss may seem like the dream, but it’s no easy feat. As a holistic business coach and entrepreneur myself, I know that the best way to learn is by seeing how others have built their empires and learning from their journey.
So I was thrilled to chat with Stephen Zieminski, the founder of Naked Nutrition, to see how he manages his busy lifestyle. Naked Nutrition differentiates itself in a crowded supplement market by focusing on what’s not inside, keeping the ingredient list as short and pure as possible. Their philosophy and standards have earned them accolades in BuzzFeed, GQ, Shape, Self, Prevention, and oodles of other media outlets we admire.
Stick around until the end of our interview for an easy-to-make, peppermint mocha smoothie recipe!
STEPHEN ZIEMINKSI
FOUNDER OF NAKED NUTRITION
Q. How do you structure your daily routine? Take us through your day.
I’ve never been much of a morning person so the freedom of entrepreneurship has made me even less of one. When I wake up, I typically go through my inbox on my phone to get rid of any unnecessary emails.
Then I clean myself up a bit, make some coffee, and then get to work handling the big items for the day. Since I’m a night owl, I tend to get a lot of work done at night and stay working until I’m too tired to work any longer. I’ll typically have a show or sporting event on in the background but I’m on my computer for the most part until I fall asleep.
Q: How did you get started in the health and fitness industry?
As a former collegiate athlete, fitness and nutrition have been part of my life for quite some time. While working in New York City, an opportunity came about to work on another protein brand which reinvigorated my love of entrepreneurship and business. Ever since I was a teenager, I had always been trying different business ideas but after taking my first serious job, I lost sight of that.
Q: What gave you the push to decide to start your own business?
The biggest push I received was being fired from a job at an investment bank. Prior to that, my focus was mainly on the bank job versus figuring out e-commerce.
Q: What is the biggest lesson you have learned as the company has grown?
Starting and owning a business is very much like a relationship. Depending on where you are in the lifecycle of a relationship or a business, different things are needed. How you spend your time and money varies widely depending on the stage of the company and you can’t forget that. Otherwise, you will be the one holding things back since you can’t let go of things you should no longer be doing.
Q: What is something unexpected that you dealt with while growing your business?
Sorry for the broad answer but when you own and run a company, everything can be running incredibly smoothly for months at a time and then in one day numerous things will blow up.
No matter the size of your business or number of people you have in place, there are always going to be surprises.
Q: How do you personally maintain a healthy work / life balance?
For me it’s not necessarily about balance, it’s more about being able to do what you want to do, when you want to do it. I actually enjoy work so a lot of times it’s very hard to pull me away from it. My days are broken up with meetings with colleagues, friends, physical activity, and whatever else might be on schedule for that week.
Q: What is your main motivation to get up and be a great leader every day?
The biggest motivator for me is growth. There are many analogies out there but the simplest way to put it, in my mind, is that things can only grow if attention is paid to them. So, I wake up every day ready to give attention to where it’s needed. However, giving attention to where it’s needed isn’t always the easiest thing to figure out.
Q: Lastly, what is the best advice you can give to people who are thinking about starting their own business?
Starting a business isn’t unlike a lottery ticket. Just because you want to succeed doesn’t mean that you will. Matter of fact, more often than not, all you will do is lose money. For this reason, I recommend working on your business or idea on the side and keep your day job. Only when you’re confident that your new business can replace your other source of income should you go all-in on your business idea. Sales and profits won’t lie to you, so try and keep emotion out of your business idea wherever possible.
Such great advice! Market research is key when starting a business. I tell my students this all the time! Don’t guess, - ask your target audience directly if you can! Test it, and test it again.
Now that we’ve learned a ton from Stephen’s journey, it’s time for the fun stuff a winter smoothie recipe!
Winter has now settled in – the trees have shed their leaves, the temperatures have dropped, and we’re almost waving goodbye to 2020. During these colder seasons, it’s easier to neglect your fitness and over-indulge in all the sweet, festive treats that are on offer.
The colder weather can make it much harder to motivate yourself to leave the warmth of your home to work out, and the idea of ditching your meal plan can be pretty tempting. Yet, prioritizing your health in the winter is just as important as any other time of year.
In fact, the winter season also brings around common viruses and infections, putting your immune system at an increased risk. This makes it even more important to stay on track with your health and ensure that you’re looking after your body with the right nutrition.
Still, we all like to treat ourselves now and again – and it’s only going to worsen your motivation if you completely ban any indulgences from your diet. By experimenting and changing up a traditional recipe, you can create a delicious, healthier alternative to the typical festive delicacies.
With this recipe, we’ve created a special smoothie that works to capture the flavors of the winter season while also supporting your overall health. Though the grass-fed whey protein powder in this recipe helps maintain and build lean muscle, it also provides many other great health benefits.
Whey protein powder has been linked to many studies suggesting that it can help moderate blood sugar, reduce blood pressure and reduce inflammation.
For example, taking whey protein powder before or after a workout will aid faster muscle recovery as the extra protein helps decrease post-workout inflammation. Likewise, whey protein helps moderate blood sugar after consuming high-carb meals which also reduces general inflammation.
This protein also contains certain amino acids that are vital for the production of an important antioxidant known as glutathione. Therefore, this type of protein powder has also been shown to boost the body’s antioxidant defenses which work to prevent cells from getting damaged.
But why are antioxidants important? Simply put, when your body breaks down food, molecules called free radicals are released. These free radicals are unstable and have the ability to damage your immune system, making you more vulnerable to infections and viruses.
Antioxidants, however, work to neutralize these free radicals and stop them from damaging your body. By consuming foods or supplements that promote antioxidant production, you are making sure that your body has the right defences to protect your health.
Another important ingredient in this recipe is the peppermint extract. While this type of herb is excellent for capturing the essence of winter, it also provides its own variety of health benefits.
These benefits range from preventing infections and relieving headaches to improving sleep and increasing energy. All in all, this recipe is full of healthy ingredients to ensure that your body is at its best this season.
PEPPERMINT MOCHA SMOOTHIE
Ingredients:
- 1 frozen banana
- 8 oz of dairy or non-dairy milk
- 2 scoops of grass-fed whey protein powder
- 2 tbsp. of cacao powder
- ½ tsp. peppermint extract
- Ice (as needed)
Directions:
First, add milk and two scoops of Naked Whey to a blender and blend for a few seconds.
Continue by adding the banana, the cacao powder, and the peppermint extract to the blender before mixing until all the ingredients are combined.
If you want to make the smoothie thicker, add ice cubes and blend until it reaches your desired consistency.
Enjoy!
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*Recipe supplied by Naked Nutrition’s team nutritionist.
