Welcome to another exciting podcast, Apparel Redefined Chats with Jason Reinhardt! If you’re looking for a story full of energy, inspiration, and grit, you’re in for a treat. Jason Reinhardt isn’t just any guest—he’s a fierce entrepreneur, an Ironman athlete, and a tech-savvy leader who’s conquered business and battled leukemia.
Jason kicked off his career in healthcare, helping hospitals grow and improve their departments. But his path didn’t stop there. With a strong love for technology, Jason shifted into entrepreneurship, building businesses that solved real problems. One of his early wins was launching a clothing brand for athletes, thanks to his own experience as a triathlete.
And speaking of triathlons—Jason is an Ironman! That means he’s swum 2.4 miles, biked 112 miles, and then ran a full marathon—all in one day. He signed up for his first race just three weeks before it started. It was the hottest Ironman race on record, but Jason didn’t quit. Instead, he pushed through and went on to complete 13 Ironman races. Talk about determination!
That same mindset helped him build his next company, Brikl. Brikl was born from Jason’s frustration with outdated production processes in sportswear. So, when he saw a new tool that could turn 3D product designs into production-ready prints, he went all in. He partnered with a tech expert, and together, they created a solution that major brands now use to produce custom gear quickly and efficiently.
But Jason’s story doesn’t stop there. During the early days of COVID, he faced his toughest challenge yet: a leukemia diagnosis. Still, Jason kept moving forward. Even during chemo treatments, he was closing business deals and growing his company. His secret? Humor, heart, and hustle.
When asked about his success, Jason shared four key traits:
Empathy – Understand your customer’s pain.
Clarity – Stay focused with clear plans.
Adaptability – Be ready to shift when needed.
Consistency – Show up every single day.
Jason also offered one golden piece of advice: “Build like you’re going to own it forever, but be ready to walk away tomorrow.” That mindset helped him exit his companies with confidence and keep moving toward new ventures.
In this episode, Apparel Redefined Chats with Jason Reinhardt, we see what happens when heart, hustle, and high performance meet. Whether you’re an athlete, a business owner, or just someone chasing big goals, Jason’s story is a powerful reminder to stay the course—even when it’s tough.
Want to learn more or connect with Jason? You can find him on LinkedIn, and keep an eye out for his next big move—because something exciting is definitely on the horizon!
Key Highlights of Apparel Redefined Chats with Jason Reinhardt
• Jason Reinhardt’s Background and Entrepreneurial Journey 0:02
• Jason’s Iron Man Journey 1:04
• Transition from Healthcare to Entrepreneurship 4:24
• Building and Exiting a Clothing Brand 8:59
• Starting and Scaling Brikl 20:20
• Overcoming Personal and Professional Challenges 33:03
• Lessons Learned and Business Advice 34:28
• Final Thoughts and Closing Remarks 35:08
Transcription
Curt Anderson 00:02
Hey, John, LeRoy, how are you? Dude, I’m doing great. Curt, how are you? I’m doing absolutely phenomenal. Man. I am so pumped up for this conversation today. So we’ve got a dear friend, we’ve got a fierce entrepreneur. We’ve got Jason Reinhardt, Jason, how are you, man,
Jason Reinhardt 00:17
I’m doing great. Thanks for having me. We really appreciate it. My privilege,
Curt Anderson 00:21
so let’s just dive in. So give folks a little bit of background. I know you and John have come together, just a lot of symmetry, a lot of chemistry. Here you just you have a really fascinating career. We’re going to have your LinkedIn profile in the show notes. So really encourage anybody, everybody, to connect with Jason Chase, just give us a little bit on your background, how you got into entrepreneurship.
Jason Reinhardt 00:40
Yeah, absolutely. So I’ve spent my career kind of at the intersection of technology branding and operational transformation, so building platforms and teams that help businesses scale by simplifying complexity. So from launching startups to negotiating global merchandising deals, I’ve always been drawn to work that connects people with purpose. So on a personal note, though, I also used to race in the Iron Man circuit, so long distance triathlons, and I really learned that that endurance mindset, that grit and consistency with long term vision, kind of shaped the way I like lead, build and show up for my team. That’s really my background.
Curt Anderson 01:21
Well, alright, so let’s dive into that. So Iron Man, I mean, that’s, you know, I always have such massive respect for someone that can, like, let alone run a marathon. Let you know, go to the next level. So walk us through, like, kind of your your athletic journey, and like, how did you get to that Iron Man status? Then we’re going to dive back into your entrepreneurial
Jason Reinhardt 01:39
journey. Sure. So I used to amateurly race bikes and cycling, and I think, like most people, my dad was collegiate swimmer, so I knew how to swim at a very young age, and it just kind of and I will always say for transparency, I will always hate running, no matter what I say, no matter how good I ever got at it. I absolutely despised it every single step of the way. But what happened was I raced and like doing long distance races, I like the endurance. I feel my my brain turns on better when exhaustion hits in and everybody else is kind of crapping out. I’m, I’m like that. That’s my go time. I feel like I’m just, I have good mental grit. So that transitioned into, all right, I want to everybody talked about Iron Man. I looked it up, and I was like, it looks insane. Looks insane. I’m in. So I signed up for my very first one, which was the Louisville, Kentucky. And I signed up three weeks before the race started. That was my very first Iron Man. And I don’t recommend that, by the way, to anybody. And it also broke the record of the hottest Iron Man in the US, it had, like, I can’t remember, 30 something high drop. Did Not Finish rate. And I just remember that that race was so instrumental, was brutal, like the heat index is 111 It was hot. And what I loved about that race, and I remember, is, if I, once I finished it, my brain was like, okay, it doesn’t get any worse than this. So no matter how bad things get. So I when I raced all the other ones, when I got in that mindset where I was like, this sucks. I can’t do it. I was like, this is not nearly as bad as the first one. So I kind of jumped in and, like in like a lunatic. I did five in one year, five in the next year. So I was throwing them, and I did a lot of halves in between. So I did a lot to kind of grow in there. So if people don’t know, an Ironman is a 2.4 mile swim, then it’s 112 mile bike, and then it’s a full 26.2 marathon. And the funny note is, I’ve never run a marathon. I’ve run 13 marathons in my life, but I’ve never done it unless I was off the bike racing. I’ve never run like a real marathon, just the marathon. I’ve only done it in the race. That’s how much I don’t like,
Curt Anderson 03:47
dude. You’re, you’re like any, I tell you, John, anybody that does, you know, triathlons. Just, it just Iron Man. Just, you’re at a totally different level mindset, man. Just, I know you did a lot of athletics growing up. It’s just, you’ve gotta have your special breed going at that level, right?
Jason Reinhardt 04:03
Yeah, it’s a mental grit. I find the mental grit is harder than the physical grit personally.
Curt Anderson 04:09
So, so let’s slide in here. Let’s go from Alright, so athletic Iron Man, all the, you know, all these races that you’ve done, and just the, you know, the grit, the determination and resiliency to get I mean, just like, really pushing your body to a whole different level, let’s slide into entrepreneurship. So again, like looking at your background, fascinating background, like you said, a lot of branding technology. When did you really kick into, like, your entrepreneurial journey? When did that start?
Jason Reinhardt 04:35
The late 90s actually originated. I was in the healthcare sector. I used to design and implement medical medical staff plans, and I used to help hospitals scale departments to help do like growth and like market share take over into those areas. And I just was one of those things. I found my niche I was really good at that. Felt like it was a normal thing going into it, and I usually. At that point I learned, actually, in that age, and same in healthcare was leveraging technology was how I got it new brand, building out new Radiology Departments for hospital systems, with all the new Siemens technology for their for their technology or and scaling into that same thing with therapy. And so I really understood both from a I was an interesting journey, because that taught me technology, but also that was the human element, because you’re dealing with hospitals patients, and I always say I saw people at their worst, right? Nobody goes to a hospital because we’re all awesome. We go to a hospital because something’s broken and they need to fix it, or in horrible situations. So I really got a good education, I guess, from that in both aspects of it, from an emotional side as well as a business side. And that’s a really unique perspective, and I was able to carry that into launching a clothing brand that I since sold, and then, and then getting into the SAS and the tech side. But everything was always tech centered. I’ve always been kind of a technology nerd. I’m, I’ll date my age, since I had a Commodore 64 as a kid, which most people don’t even know what that is. So, like, I was that kid that had that
Curt Anderson 06:10
So, alright, so in what we’re always looking for is like, you know, success breeds success. So, you know, for entrepreneurs out there listening to this, we’re always looking like, you know, Jason’s had a great career, just kind of like, you know, looking for those clues. So it looks like, you know, really pursuing your passion. Bring this triathlon mentality into entrepreneurship. How did you always like, find like? It looks like, you know, you’ve, you’ve found yourself in different technologies or pursuing like, not the latest greatest, but always trying to stand ahead of the curve. I know you had a nice company that you’ve founded and built, and looks like you’ve exited. Just how did you how did you have the ability to kind of stay ahead, or stay with the technology waves?
Jason Reinhardt 06:47
So I think I’ll credit that back to probably my I would have the credit back to my father. So my father was an executive in the furniture industry. I grew up in that side of the business, and one of the things he always instilled was product knowledge. Product knowledge, like, I knew how a tree became a table, like I literally went through the factory setting and every aspect of it. And what he really instilled in me was he’s and I remember it very well. He would say, know your product inside and out, and know your competitors product better than they know themselves. And when you have that, you’ll start to understand where all the gaps are in the industry, and from there, you start to fill those in with solutions, and if you can keep in that mindset. So for me, whenever I’m tinkering in something, I just always want to know that I’m relevant, right? As you get older, I like to know I’m relevant. So you have to kind of kind of study and for technology, I’ve been kind of a nosy nerd, into looking at what tech trends are out and and I really enjoy that. So that part, I would say, is one of the key foundations, is I’m never complacent. I’m consistent, but not complacent. I always like to know what’s going on and where things are going to shift and how they’re going to go. That’s the only way, in my opinion, you can predict 18 to 36 months down the road is to really be be on top of that aspect.
Curt Anderson 08:05
Excellent. Okay, so let’s dive in. So we’re here with, you know, Apparel Redefined. You mentioned you started a branding company or a clothing company. Rather, dive in. Share us a little bit like, how did you pivot from, you know? You said, you know, hospitals, healthcare, you know, walk us through that transition. Where did that translate into branding, into apparel?
Jason Reinhardt 08:25
All right, so in my previous beginning life, I thought I was going to be in the fashion industry. My mother was an architect, interior designer, high level. My father also did the design work on the on the furniture side of things, new collections. And I was big into fashion at an early age, I realized you don’t make a lot of money at that unless you’re the top person. And I was young at that time, and then I wound up. I stayed in that sector, and then I had kids, I had transitioned into healthcare, and the truth is, I just did so well in that and made so much like most people, I’m like, well, once they go to college, I’m going to make a decision, then to go back to do what I want. And that’s exactly what happened. So my youngest went to Texas A and M, the second he took off, I immediately exited and sold my recruiting company and went into the sports and created a triathlon, cycling, running brand. And so from there, I understood it, because I raced. So I also worked with a lot of professional athletes, sponsored a lot of professional athletes, and really understood it, solidified strategic partnerships, which I think is where I succeed very well. And that led me to closing global merchandising deals with some of the biggest companies, like Super League triathlon, having exclusive global merchandising deals, because I was able to understand and build things that I mean the fastest athletes in the world, most of the ones that have medals are raced in in almost every Olympic event. And all the pros I’ve they’ve all they’ve all been wearing something I’ve designed or created so that. And that was kind of where I transitioned. That what happened in that industry, which makes it interesting, of how I got out of that industry, was it was so dated to to do a sublimated tri suit, and the cycling gear is like the same way it’s been done for decades, like it had just technology, just skipped over the custom industry. And so I started doing what most people are doing in industry. You start, like, duct taping things together, hoping, well, if I make this work and try to get that to work with this, I can what I’m trying to do is automate and go back to do what I do, well, sell and grow. But that operational side was incredibly difficult. There was no technology. So at that point, I had run into what was my, my former business partner, and we looked at a technology that would help automate that design to production process. And it really was by chance. I had no intention of it. It’s just that out of necessity, I was like, you know, if I can make this work from a technology point, I could make that scalable faster than I can do the sports brand. So I, I exited, sold the, my sports brand company, to the to the manufacturing company that was doing all the work on that side of it. And that was how I’ve jumped right into my, my former company, which was Brickle, and that was where we built a SaaS that would automate production of products. And that company is pivoted. We pivoted many times in there, but that, I always say, out of necessity comes the greatest creations, right? It’s, it’s where it was, and that’s, that’s really how that kind of journey went in
Curt Anderson 11:35
excellent. So, Jay, so let’s go here. So again, for entrepreneurs out there, what’s every entrepreneur’s dream, build up their company, maybe sell it someday. I want to dive into Brickell before we do. Can you just any insight that you’d want to share to any folks out there? Piece of advice, piece of advice that you wish that you had when you sold the company, when you sold the the the clothing company, were any like, did that go pretty smooth? Or things you wish you could have done differently, things that went exceptionally well, things that maybe could have gone better. What any takeaway there?
Jason Reinhardt 12:03
No. So it kind of goes back from working with so many boards and executives at health care companies where they were scaling and they were for profits, so some would sell and change ownerships independent physician groups. I think the best lesson I ever learned, and I asked this to most entrepreneurs are, are you emotionally attached to your product? Because if you’re emotionally attached to your product, you’re going to make all the wrong decisions. You have to be okay to just walk you build it like you’re going to be there forever, but you need to be prepared that your day should be ready to go the next day, and you’re okay with that. If you’re too emotionally attached, you won’t make right decisions. So for me, I never got like that. Everything was always everything’s for sale. It’s fine. There’s always a logical number that makes sense, and as long as that fits, I’m okay with letting it go. I find that’s the biggest struggle most entrepreneurs
Curt Anderson 12:52
have. You know, we had the privilege of interviewing the founder of big ass fans, and very brash guy. He I don’t he. He was a writer for Ink Magazine. After he sold his, you know, started it was a company that was failing miserably, built it into, like a half a million dollar company, sold it, and he said exactly what you’re saying, right there. Jace, he goes, You know what in I’ll never forget the quote. He goes, he goes, when I had my business, I treated like it was my pack of gum, and when you bought it, it was now your pack of gum. I mean, like, what a brilliant piece of advice, right? Yeah,
Jason Reinhardt 13:24
yeah, absolutely, yeah. Had I never looked at anything like my baby? It is my baby, but my unlike my child, child, this baby is for sale.
Curt Anderson 13:34
Yeah, that’s right. So all right, we’re going to cite in a brick. Oh, John, anything that you want to chime in so far?
John LaRoy 13:38
Yeah? Just want to ask. I mean, you know, being in athletics as well, three weeks before an Ironman, that’s, that’s a massive I mean, maybe if you didn’t do it that way, you wouldn’t have jumped into being, you know, a 13 timer. But, yeah, you’re talking about, like, the evolution of the tech in the wearables. And now you said you were an amateur cycler before that, but from your first Ironman to your 13th. Like, how much did the technology change from a bike standpoint your wearables, or were you pretty consistent all the way through
Jason Reinhardt 14:11
the training is consistent. The tools are different. So, yes, it was amazing that the first bike I did it on was a road bike, the next bike I did it on was a triathlon bike, a TT bike, and then also learning tools, like before was just outside training and then getting, all of a sudden, a Power Trainer inside, for a kicker as an example, like a wahoo kicker, where I could actually have real live metrics going from I’m going to do this much as my heart rate, and I’m going to go this speed to a watt. Is a watt. I’m going 180 watts. That’s my goal. Is to be 180 to 200 watts, because I know I’m expending a certain amount of power. So you get real adapt, a bit adapted into it. You go from no watch to a Garmin watch to all the tools you can have. And those things are really. Uh, like reminders of when to take a gel, whereas I didn’t know what I was doing. It was a hot mess that first one, but yeah, that part where you start to learn, you learn two things. You learn a lot about yourself very quickly. And you also learn, just like in business, you learn processes, right? I didn’t just sip on water. I had timers to tell me, Hey, whether you like it or not, you better eat that gel shot. Whether you like it or not, you better drink that water. Whereas before it was I’m hungry or I’m thirsty or I feel tired, and, you know, there’s, there’s a method to the madness, even in the sports side of it, and that made a significant impact on performance, yes, significant impact processes, right? Same thing in business. It’s just you got to have a process. Follow that process, it’s going to work itself out. I will tell you what I learned. The most valuable lesson that I always try to correlate for racing is when people say you had a perfect race. There is no such thing as a perfect race. You can’t account for a flat tire, a wreck, cramping wind, all of that is a variable, that is an unknown factor. And I’m like, That’s business. You just have to be adaptable very quickly and understand that that adaptability is part of the process you can’t get. Woe is me, frustrated. You just have to go, Okay, this is what happens now, what? Right? Just get through that part of it. So as long as you’re process oriented and kind of deal with that, the bumps that go along the way become much smaller bumps, as opposed to being, Woe is me. This is my lot in life, dwelling on it. You gotta, gotta get through it.
John LaRoy 16:34
Yeah, yeah. So cool. I mean, the training part of it, I feel like, more than anything. I mean, just 1520, years ago, even training for college or high school, there really wasn’t it was more of like just a football mentality, just get through it. And if you don’t, you’re you’re weak, you know, type thing. And thinking back to the triathletes and ultra marathoners, when wearables weren’t a thing, you know, you didn’t have a watch that was telling you your heart rate or this or that, and like, you really had to be in tune with your body. And that doesn’t come on one, you know, the first try, second try, it’s probably eight, 910, 11 tries where you are understanding what’s happening and when you need that gel. And there’s nothing kind of telling you, it’s just your intuition. It’s just It’s wild that that stuff was happening, but such elite level, and now it’s like anyone, not anyone, but like you can have access to that same type of biometric feedback that can help you become a different level of athlete.
Jason Reinhardt 17:36
Yeah, you know what I learned, that’s the most valuable lesson. I actually said this in a business conference when I was speaking was, I’m always shocked at how many people like, when somebody sees somebody with success, they’re like, Tell me about that success. Tell me in the Iron Man, like, how did you do it? What are you taking? What’s your nutrition? Like, they’re doing it, and people want to mimic that. And it’s like, yes, but that’s them, right? You’re a five foot, 835 pound, damn near professional athlete, and you’re going to give advice to a five foot 105 pound person on how to eat, what to do. It’s like aura, or a 210 pound six foot two gorilla. It’s like, those are different animals. It’s you really have to map it out. And that was the part that I’m always amazed is you can understand what they’re doing. You have to do it for you. It still has to be dialed in for you. And that’s the part where people are looking for that miracle pill. I’m like, it doesn’t happen. There’s no such thing to make it happen. Yeah, I’ll give you a great example. So I watched a guy that was incredibly athletic, brilliant, disciplined as I’ve ever seen. But he also was a guy. He carried, he worked out a lot, and he took supplements, but part of his supplements were appetite supplements. Well, he was giving that advice to some of these female athletes who were, like, as skinny as a twig. And I was like, they don’t want take all of that and shove it in the trash. They need to eat like, I understand that works for him. He spent years getting to that level. You’re not going to get it overnight just following what he did and do the same thing, get the same results. That’s an that’s the problem people have. Yeah, in both sport and business, they just think if I do what they’re doing, then it will be the same success or more. Doesn’t happen that way. That’s the case.
19:16
Yeah, that’s awesome. And
Curt Anderson 19:18
light of parallels with entrepreneurship as well, right? You know, I just, I love what you’re saying, Jace, you know, like strategic partnerships, processes, not being emotional attachment, you know, like, you know, I and I would imagine when you’re running, you know, after you just knocked down 100 and whatever miles, you know, on your bike, and now you gotta go run a marathon, you know, try not to be emotional about it, right?
Jason Reinhardt 19:38
Yeah, yeah. You get I always say exhaustion gets rid of a lot of emotions. You don’t That’s right. Energy left to be emotional. Just don’t quit. Don’t quit. Please, don’t quit. Don’t quit. Don’t do this.
Curt Anderson 19:51
Right, right? No, no, no atheist and a fox hole. No, no atheist. On when you’re jumping into the marathon after into the marathon, right? So let’s dive into Brickell. So I you piqued my curiosity. So you had the apparel business decided to exit. You sold it. So, you know, again, that’s every entrepreneur’s dream is, you know, like, was it? 80% of all businesses just vanish. Yes, you know. And especially if you think about those folks that like built their baby, the ones that do have that emotional attachment and now it just goes away. So God bless you. You sold your business. Let’s dive into Brickle. Now, did I hear you say it was almost like, were you? Was it almost like an accidental entrepreneurship opportunity? It was a partnership like, walk us through that story, how you how you found it and built up
Jason Reinhardt 20:32
Brickle. So again, going back to being a computer nerd, I always had like, three to five monitors wrapped around me, and one over here. I always had, like, a script that would pull up any new trends that I could see, kind of like a news feeder that were specific to me. And one I had always been looking for was like a configurator that could help with the sublimation and the designs. Well, one had popped up, and it was literally, kind of just past really prototyping. It was just coming out, and I was shocked when I seen it, and I usually kept up with everything. So I’d not knowing it existed surprised me. So I pulled it up and realized it had only been out for two weeks, so I was still on top of where it was, and I reached out to my former partner, who, who was the one that put it together, and reached out and said, Can this be put into my platform? Kind of went through my business and everything else. And from that point, we talked about store technology and being able to be able to cater to teams and consolidate orders for production, because that’s such a nightmare. In that moment, we bonded very well. The mindset was the same. I brought in that front end side of the business of of the sales and operational sales side of it, he brought it came from a manufacturing side, so he knew everything after a sale was done, what needed to be done. So it was a really good fit. And at that one moment, I’d always said, If I found somebody that could really build the technology, I would do that. But finding somebody people telling you they can do it, and people being able to do it. Those are not synonymous things. Those are not the same. So he actually had the partner at that time was also our CTO. Went to be our CTO. He knew how to build everything on that side of it and really grow that part. So we transitioned into that. And that was what I said. I remember saying it very clear as day, if you can make this do what I’m asking it to do, I’ll get rid of this, and I’ll do that, and I will jump right into that. That’s how much I’m I know this would be a working product that would scale, and that’s exactly what happened. So just kind of transition from
Curt Anderson 22:35
there, man, I’ll tell you, dude, like that. Such such courage, right there. So for folks out there that are not I, so I’m a configurator junkie. Okay, so, like, now you’ve, like, completely, like, Man, I’m having like, a total bromance right here. John, so you mentioned configurator. For folks out there that aren’t familiar with the configurator is kind of give us, like, a little one on one, and then kind of, can you describe exactly what, what was the solution that Brickle, what? What was so attractive to you that you dropped everything to go all in on this Sure.
Jason Reinhardt 23:05
So what happened was, I was in sublimation and print cut so, so it wasn’t like just, uh, blanks that got embroidery. It was actual lycra basically being sublimated and have to be stitched together. So those are all pattern based, so they’re not as easy. Well, what had been created was taking that they could digitize my patterns, so as a 2d pattern, and I could do all the designs I normally do, but I could drag and drop that pattern into that configurator, and instantly was in 3d what made it phenomenal was you could actually change things on the 3d so a customer could come in and change the color, add a logo, put their name, put their number, but what they didn’t know was the system, in real time, was reverse engineering it back into a 2d production, ready print, ready pattern. So the amount of time that is invested, people don’t realize when you order like a trisuit or a cycling kit, and you want your name and number? Well, if there’s 25 people putting their name and number, you are technically making 25 different production patterns for all 25 of those. So when people want their name and number on it, it’s not quite as simple at scale as you would think it is. That’s what that configurator was able to do, and as a result, we worked with almost every major cycling brand in the in the world that that sponsored pro athletes on some of the all the biggest names used our system on that side. Yeah, so that’s where it really started.
Curt Anderson 24:36
Was awesome. Well done. Anything, John, anything that you want to chime in before I move on? No,
John LaRoy 24:40
it’s incredible. I mean, that the cut so is, is so hard to do and do it well. And you saw, like, the onset of sublimation, and not just in performance, like, you know, just a bullshit t shirt where the seams didn’t line up, and all the, all the problems that you had in. What I would consider, like, value based sublimation, and then take it to the technical perspective on garments that need to perform, not just for a couple hours, for, you know, for days, and that’s incredible. It’s really, really cool stuff, and just the technical sewing and all that type of stuff to be able to do that, like, well ahead of its time, you know, I mean, like the 2d to 3d modeling is something that our industry still struggles with, right? You know, it’s what’s the most return item in e com apparel? Yep, you know, because your avatar the brand, everyone’s different, and it doesn’t totally mesh, you know, it’s bringing the digital into the real, and apparel is really tough to do.
Jason Reinhardt 25:40
Yeah, yeah, I know
Curt Anderson 25:46
for sure. So, Jason, let’s go here. So you, you started the company in 2019 now, how did, how did COVID impact you?
Jason Reinhardt 25:56
It was interesting. So COVID was like, at the beginning, so, like, the March part of it, it was like, All right, what’s going to happen? And we really just kind of targeted, I’ve said, All right, let’s go after the cycling brands that will be where we target. So that was the mindset was, excuse me, triathlon and cycling brands. I had already landed the Super League that I had with my previous company. So we built that and put that on bricks. So the triathlon for the Super League triathlon, which is a global the fastest racers and pro athletes in the world, race that. So having that as your kind of your footprint as an example of they’re using us, here’s how that brand works, was a way for us to target companies like zoot, hand, Cappy Garneau and all the bigger names that were globally in there. We had some in Europe as well, but they didn’t join quickly. So there was this kind of moment that really was a defining moment, and it’s an interesting one. So we’re in the middle of COVID. It’s July at this moment, I live in South Texas, and it is now a COVID hot spot. At that moment, I also was diagnosed with leukemia, so I was in a hot spot and getting chemo for my leukemia, while in the chemo chair, negotiating deals to close these cycling brands, and I knew we were in talks with them, VCs interested in us, and I just flat out said that I can get all of this done by the end of September, if and this nothing the chemo now that’s going to stop me, and that’s exactly what happened so close to every single one of the cycling brands, we then got back by a VC and things just kind of took off from there. So at that point, we wound up working with Foot Locker for the East Bay division, and just really before they sold the BSN, and just things kind of took off from there. So it was really good. Wow. Okay, yeah.
Curt Anderson 27:52
How is your health now? Other
Jason Reinhardt 27:55
than I feel older and I feel older literally, not just I am good, leukemia is still in remission, so haven’t had any issues with that. I’ve just, like, I would say, normal old guy, I’m falling apart, but it doesn’t go back together quite the way it used to. Well,
Curt Anderson 28:11
God bless you for for no surprise, John whatsoever, that Jason, just like, you know, you know cancer coming. You know leukemia comes in a way. And John, Jason, just like, dude, just get out of my way. Like, I don’t have time for you. I don’t have time for this. I’m a busy guy. Get out of here. So how? I will
Jason Reinhardt 28:28
tell you it’s interesting. So in the chemo chair, where I learned with having leukemias, it bothers more people, it hurts all the people you love way more than it affects you. And so what I did was I always like to take humor in anything. So I had taken like, labels from liquor bottles, like tequila and stuff, and every time I went in, I slapped that on my IV bag, and I would have a selfie just getting a little bit of Jose Cuervo, and send those out so people weren’t so worried that I was like, so it was my way of giving a good message and keeping the energy good. And I used to put that out. And the nurses would always come over and like with the selfie, look like they were putting it together with my liquor bottle bags that they were putting in to make it fun. That’s hysterical, dude.
Curt Anderson 29:09
Alright, so Brickle, so let’s kind of fast forward what you know again. Love for our listeners, connect with Jason on LinkedIn. Just a dynamic career that you’ve built just a wonderful profile I’m looking at and just your, is there any particular thing you’ve talked about, like superpowers, being like your processes, strategic partnerships? Was there any particular thing that you feel was a main contributor to your success at Brickle? And then let’s lead up to your exit.
Jason Reinhardt 29:38
Yeah. I mean, I think all of what, what got me to the door, built the foundation. I think one of the things I had is a very unique experience that you don’t get unless you have my background was I worked hospitals. Brought me in when they were in trouble and I was my job was either working with the board of the executive team to help redesign their. Staffing plans and to help expand them. What was interesting about that is I worked with hundreds of hospitals over the period of a couple of decades. So I worked with a lot of hundreds of CEOs, hundreds of CFOs, coos, CNOs, and so I got perspective from nonprofit governments for profit, right, small to scale, HCA through tenants, but everybody’s from an executive level looks at how they want to do things differently. So what I learned a lot was the value of, how do people think when they’re scaling? So when I’m talking to other executives now and negotiating and doing business deals, I kind of have an idea. I can I can say, He reminds me of Bruce, he reminds me of Tim. That reminds me of Susan, right? I can remember that’s choice who ran a whole division, and I could see how they scaled things. The mindset is kind of the same for executives I’ve worked with so many whereas most people come from a background that they’ve worked well, even if they’re on a long career that, let’s just say, they worked a dozen jobs. You’re going to have experience with 12 executive teams. I worked with 12 executive teams in any given month doing things. So I really, and they, none of them, ran things the same. So that really helped give me that key foundation that I know when the problems occur and how they were for scaling, and then also which mindset kind of avenues were people looking at that kind of carved out the right pathway. So I felt like I always had a shortcut in understanding just because I had a different type of education than you you don’t get normally.
Curt Anderson 31:27
Yeah, excellent. All right, I tell you, dude, you are such an inspiration. John, we’re going to start wrapping up here your thoughts takeaways from the conversation here. I’ve got one more question for Jason, and we’ll get him on with his busy day. What are your thoughts? No,
John LaRoy 31:40
it’s just so insightful. I mean that perspective with the boards and strategic partners and all the people at the healthcare level, and my wife’s in healthcare, and I hear her conversations all the time at the behavioral health level and major hospital networks here in Chicago, they could probably use you back. Man, it’s, what a mess, but yeah, it just, I just want to say thank you too. I mean, we’ve known each other for a couple months now, and, you know, through AK and just the, I could totally tell the process orientated mindset that you have just on structuring what we did these last couple of shows and the follow up after that, and then now moving into some of the marketing campaigns. It’s really appreciative of your time and expertise and also just helping, you know, as as a CEO, as in, you know, in charge a lot of things, you got a lot of things on your plate, it’s hard to get focused on certain things when you have to focus on 20 things at the same time, right? And getting in on something like this, and having more than just an idea but an actionable, executable plan, to take that from concept to execution to results, is really important. I feel like, back to your training, right? You know you have, you have the concept of what you want to do. You gotta execute on your training, and then you go run the race and have your results. It’s you just keep doing that iteration over and over again until, like you said, nothing’s perfect, but a 1% improvement over 13 races is pretty good improvement.
Jason Reinhardt 33:16
I think that the best way I describe it right is I when people say, Well, you raced, yes, but I spent six to eight months training for a one day race. And I can assure you that training was way harder in most cases than the race was. And that’s where I go to business like, I’ve been asking, what’s wild success feel like or like? How do you get there? And in my experiences, it’s a combination of four things. It’s empathy, clarity and adaptability. Where you have empathy, because you you don’t deeply understand your customer’s pain, so you’ll never solve it. You have to have clarity, because systems and executions are the best ideas. Your adaptability, because the game is always changing, and companies have to evolve fast win. And then above all is consistency. The people who win aren’t the loudest and the flashiest, they’re just the ones that show up every day with precision and purpose. It’s as simple as that repetitive behavior, man,
Curt Anderson 34:12
I’ll tell you, Chase, this has been a master class. So again, just kind of recap, empathy, clarity, adaptability, consistency. And I’ll tell you, as a serial entrepreneur, Iron Man and cancer conqueror, Dude, you are an incredible inspiration, and maybe you’ve already answered this, but I just I always love asking folks best business advice. What’s the best business advice that you’ve ever received and or want to pass along? And I don’t know if it’s those four points if you have something else. But is there something that rings to you that you’d want to share?
Jason Reinhardt 34:43
I go back to the same thing. Build like you’re going to own it forever, but stay ready to walk away tomorrow. The best advice I can ever say to somebody that guided me through startups, exit sets, backs and growth, it just forces you to create integrity with intention. Best to keep you sharp. I’m. Attached open to the next evolution. So it’s all about playing the long game without losing your agility. That, to me, is the best advice I can give anybody. All
Curt Anderson 35:08
right, man, this was, this was absolutely phenomenal. So Jason, thank you. We appreciate you again. Best place for folks to find you. LinkedIn, anywhere else,
Jason Reinhardt 35:16
yep, LinkedIn for right now, keep watching. There’ll be some new things coming up soon that I I’m looking forward to sharing.
Curt Anderson 35:22
Well, dude, when you are ready, I know you’ve got something up your sleeve, and so when you are ready, please reach back out to us, or we’ll nudge you. We’ll bother you. We would love to have you come back on. So whatever your next venture is, we just wish you massive, massive continued success again. Such an inspiration. Your great dad kicking cancer’s butt just, you know, fierce athlete and just a wonderful entrepreneur. So we appreciate you spending time with us. And thank you. Ask you to hang out with us for one second. John, any closing thoughts as we close out?
John LaRoy 35:51
No master class is a great word. Man, that was, that was great. Thank you so much. Jason, pleasure talking to you, and thank you for for everything you’ve done thus far. Appreciate it.
Curt Anderson 36:01
You got it. Thanks so much. All right, guys. All right, catch us. And then I see, I think I say this every time, dude like you, just keep raising the bar. I don’t know how we’re going to top this one, but Jason, God bless you. Thank you for being such an inspiration to us. And so hang out with us. We’ll catch you guys on the next episode. Thank you. John.