How To Grow 16,000% Omaha Protein Popcorn's Tim Rexius | ROI Podcast™ ep. 497 | Law Smith @LawSmithWorks + Eric Readinger
Tim Rexius, CEO of Rexies Nutrition Store Chain, GILF, DILF, Iron Heaven Gyms, and Omaha Protein Popcorn, discussed his extensive business ventures. Rexies Nutrition has 700 retail locations, Iron Heaven Gyms has three in Omaha, and Omaha Protein Popcorn is distributed in 14 countries. Tim highlighted the popcorn's unique features: high-grade hydro-isolated protein, long shelf life, and targeted macronutrient ratios for pre and post-workout. The popcorn's success is attributed to its appeal to various demographics, including older consumers and children. Tim plans to expand into 120,000 gas stations in the US by 2026.
Tim Rexius' Business Ventures
CEO and founder of Rexies Nutrition Store Chain
Iron Heaven Gyms founder
Omaha Protein Popcorn creator
Involved in Vital Health International Nutraceuticals
Business coaching and keynote speaking engagements
Lightning Round Questions
Wake-up time
Favorite snacks
Personal weightlifting records
Emotional story about grandson
Discussion of personal achievements
Advice and Personal Stories
Advice to younger self: ignore haters
Importance of "scoreboard moments"
Overcoming challenges in education
Understanding macronutrients
Marketing protein snacks challenges
Challenges and Successes in Business
Initial financial losses in protein popcorn business
Successful consignment deal with Hy-Vee
Snacks convention experience
Rebranding efforts
Significant sales increase
New distribution deals
Expansion and Future Plans
Rapid business expansion
International market entry
Challenges in US grocery market
Plans to expand into gas stations and grocery stores
Commitment to high-quality ingredients
Final Thoughts and Future Collaborations
Family's role in business success
Potential comedy club partnerships
Discussions about future opportunities
Gratitude for podcast invitation
Eric Readinger 0:00
Can you can you speak? Yeah, sorry. My bad. I'm trying to look at we're not used to doing the three way zoom call here. And I'm like, is this the best way to do things? So Don't mind me. You're good. No
Law Smith 0:12
worries. The hoodie, the cut, the cut off hoodie sweater.
Eric Readinger 0:16
This is my signature. My signature look.
Law Smith 0:20
Yeah, don't copy Yes, in case your head's cold, but your arms are not well.
Eric Readinger 0:25
Yes, two guns. I could be cold, but we still got to see the gun. You
Law Smith 0:30
like you. Mike Evans rocked that. I don't know how they do practice in copying me, bro. He did. He did the the Hall of Fame wide receiver definitely looked at your your look.
Eric Readinger 0:42
He was right near me, by the way, I'm gonna copy my daughter's friend's neighborhood. So he probably did see me wearing it. It's probably
Law Smith 0:49
what happened, yeah, yeah. He's got broken collarbone. What he does now is he just looks around for guys that look like Moby, right? And he goes up that look glasses. You definitely look like Moby with the glasses. Dude. Moby had some hits. Tim, why don't you let our audience we we do the really proper kind of move, and we let the guest give their own bio, instead of us trying to, you know, go through what or the booking agent gave us, because it's usually wrong anyway. So why don't you tell people who you are, what you do, why you're better, all that, all that stuff.
Tim Rexius, Omaha Protein Popcorn 1:29
All right, my name is Tim rexius. I am the CEO and founder of the rexies nutrition store chain. We have retail locations in seven states here in the US with rexies franchising, most of them are franchises. Now I'm also the co founder and co owner of iron heaven gyms, fitness facilities here in Omaha, Nebraska, we have three major fitness facilities. I'm the founder and a mentor of vital health international nutraceuticals, currently distributing nutrical nutraceutical supplements in three countries. And I am the founder and CEO of the Omaha protein popcorn company, along with my wife, we are currently distributed distributing 14 countries, expanded about 30,000 new retailers this year. And then I Timothy D Rex is business coaching and keynote speaking. I speak all over the US and internationally, in Mexico and Canada, business operations, motivation, how to scale brands without money. I basically talk a lot and businesses that are associated with it.
Law Smith 2:25
Yeah, we could. We can tell you're a lot more eloquent than we are being
Tim Rexius, Omaha Protein Popcorn 2:30
given so many high school and university speeches. Lately, I've been really trying not to swear as much, because I can't help it, and I have a six year old
Eric Readinger 2:37
to go. Now's the time to let it out. Let it out. Now get a modeling while you're on our show, there you
Law Smith 2:42
go, Eric, I don't think your mics on dog. I don't think it's hooked. It is. It doesn't sound
Eric Readinger 2:47
like it. It is. It's because my audio is going through the my laptop.
Law Smith 2:52
Gotcha okay, just making sure
Eric Readinger 2:54
you could see he does a lot of the technical stuff. Yeah.
Law Smith 2:58
Hey, I got I got two ears. I got it. I got it. Two ears,
Eric Readinger 3:02
one mouth. Sometimes you gotta lose now, you know what it's like to be a guest. That's what they hear. Yeah, they're probably thinking, we suck the whole time. They all. They get on the and they hear it, and it's actually through a mic. But when they're hearing it, they're probably
Law Smith 3:16
nervous, man, he's he's not gonna be able to use any of this. We're good. I'll give you the
Eric Readinger 3:22
Opus clips later. Good technical talk. Good technical podcast talk. Well,
Law Smith 3:27
I know Eric and I are fans of protein popcorn. We didn't know it exists until you mentioned it. But before we get into that, and you're speaking and not cussing because you have a six year old. We'll do some lightning round questions that again, I'll put the I'll put some of the music behind it later in post, because we always fix this in post. And by always, I mean it goes out pretty raw.
Eric Readinger 3:58
And by we, you mean me, who
Law Smith 4:01
found Adobe podcast enhancement, hmm, who's the purveyor of that?
Eric Readinger 4:06
King of the shortcuts over here is Timbo.
Law Smith 4:10
Is a hot dog? A sandwich? No, it's a hot dog. Okay, you got one? Aaron, yeah.
Eric Readinger 4:17
Uh, what time you wake up in the morning, four, my man four. Ah, in protein into stuff that doesn't have protein,
Tim Rexius, Omaha Protein Popcorn 4:28
like I, you know, with that many companies, it's the only time I really get silence where I can really hammer through stuff.
Eric Readinger 4:34
Exactly, yes, no one takes your ball. Who was I say? It's the one time you get to yourself,
Law Smith 4:39
yep, yep, unstoppable force or movable object.
Tim Rexius, Omaha Protein Popcorn 4:44
Oh, unstoppable force, okay,
Eric Readinger 4:51
was the last time you cry and why.
Tim Rexius, Omaha Protein Popcorn 4:55
Two days ago, had a video on. On social media, my daughter, my oldest daughter, they named my grandson after me eight months ago, when he was born, and then they put it on video. And so every time it circulates back around the internet, with the 50 million views, immediately, I just get shot, though, that was the coolest experience, most honorable things you can possibly mean, I had no idea it was coming. Everybody else knew, and they got me. I mean, it gets me everything. Oh,
Eric Readinger 5:22
yeah, well, that'll do it, yeah, for sure. No, I've those ones, the kids and parents, you know, gets me all the time. Is the the kids that were getting adopted, they have a stepdad that's gonna oil up them. That one always gets me for whatever reason.
Tim Rexius, Omaha Protein Popcorn 5:37
Coolest story ever, that's, that's my adopted daughter, and to have my first Brienza named after me. I mean, it was just, I mean, Wow, so
Eric Readinger 5:45
cool. So, okay, so yeah, to your factory.
Law Smith 5:49
Never asked to guess this question in lightning round, but I think it's appropriate. What's your personal record? Bench press, squat and deadlift.
Tim Rexius, Omaha Protein Popcorn 5:58
Bench Press, 475, good. Oh, Scott squat, 705. Deadlift. I hate it. I suck at doing it. So I just usually lie. And I can lie really well for you if you want me to, but I suck at it. I look uncoordinated and uncomfortable. And my 20 year old son can out deadlift me, and he knows it. So we just once that, once your kids can out, do you on something, you retire from that, whatever the hell it is,
Law Smith 6:23
right? I'm still my my line. I tell my kids I'm the fastest in our family until I don't want to be. Yep. Hey, man, John, wrong. You know, yeah, they want to race me all the time, and I still have. I'm still kind of fast for a 41 year old, but I know once they get about 13. I'm done.
Tim Rexius, Omaha Protein Popcorn 6:41
That's my 13 year old son. He like, we're still wrestling around the house and stuff, but he's gonna get to the point in the next two years where he can beat me, and that's when I retire, because I'm not gonna have him. I'm not gonna let him get that over me. Sorry. No way. He's got my mouth. I'll never hear the end of it.
Law Smith 6:53
So Well, the last few questions we asked, Did you watch or listen to this podcast before going on?
Tim Rexius, Omaha Protein Popcorn 7:00
Yeah, my sister heated up. So
Law Smith 7:04
we That's rare. We rarely
Eric Readinger 7:06
have that you're skyrocketing to the top of our favorite guest list very easily. Me, personally,
Law Smith 7:12
your PRs are better than mine, for sure. So and then,
Eric Readinger 7:15
yeah, you didn't expect that? Did you expect that? Numbers? I
Law Smith 7:19
got, I did some background on him. I got, I know you can, he can hit the weight so he hit that iron paradise, you know, iron, iron hits iron, or whatever that biblical quote is that's in every gym, really, that one that, that's a tough one to remember for some reason. What advice would you give me this world self? What's that? What advice would you give your 13 year old self?
Tim Rexius, Omaha Protein Popcorn 7:44
Don't listen to the haters. Ever do exactly the opposite. Whatever they say to
Law Smith 7:51
do that falls kind of more in line like I'd say the overwhelming majority kind of have some kind of statement like that. What does that mean? Let's go backwards to when you're 13. You're a young grandpa. You look younger than us, yeah, 44
Tim Rexius, Omaha Protein Popcorn 8:11
honestly, like every you know it was, I'll give it to my mom. She goes, if you ever use your mouth for business, you'll be very successful, because your mouth is either going to enter you up in jail, or it's going to get you well paid. And thank God, it got me well paid. You know, I was the clout was he was the entertainer, right? I was the one I wanted attention, and that was me. And every idea I had, oh, you're not studious enough, your grades aren't good enough, whatever it might be. And even when I started my first retail business, my dad said, No, I think it's a terrible idea. You're making a terrible mistake. And so getting to have those scoreboard moments for all the people that told me I couldn't do shit and then just crush it. And I always told my kids the same thing, you live for the scoreboard moment, right? Because everyone who said you couldn't do it will tell stories about how they always believed in you and how they were your first customer 10 years later, and I never correct them, because, I mean, to me, it's almost funny. I've done this five times now, and every time it's the same story, and it's the best the scoreboard moment where they all of a sudden start telling stories about how they met you and how they were there are 1000 people that claim to be my first customer. My first customer was my mom. So I'm but, you know, I don't correct them, because I want their money.
Law Smith 9:21
Yeah, that sounds oddly similar to my except for the serial entrepreneur, entrepreneurial lifestyle. My mom would say similar things. I'd be a c plus student. But could, you know, could talk my way out of stuff or talk my way into one of my greatest feats in high school is being able to get an 89 and talk my way into an A and psychology and stuff. Shout out coach Bosa.
Eric Readinger 9:49
I did that in high school. Yeah. Junior year, I had, by the first quarter, I had really bad grades, and my parents were like, room two, and I was like, I could get straight A's if I want. I just don't feel. Doing. They're like, if you get straight A's, we'll buy you a car. I was like, All right, go. I went out and got straight A's, 3.0 the rest of the way sight See, told you flat
Law Smith 10:10
line happened at Harriet.
Tim Rexius, Omaha Protein Popcorn 10:12
Happened. It happened in college. I failed accounting one three times. I just didn't get it the widgets. Like, it's just so dumb. And then I signed up a four times. I had to have it for my degree. And the guy goes, you're coming back again. I go, Yeah. He goes, I'll give you a C not to come back in here. I'm like, I paid for this four times. I'm not leaving without a B, and that's how I passed accounting one at Wayne State College.
Law Smith 10:33
Yeah, the widgets, when they use widgets and micro, macro economics, it always, I always got stuck there. I'm like, What's a widget?
Tim Rexius, Omaha Protein Popcorn 10:41
Yeah, what the hell is a widget? It had no Apple game bat or something. They had another one that was so, yeah, just so dumb. And and so then when I signed up for accounting too with the same professor, he goes, Oh, maybe you see not to come back in the room again, because he found me so annoying. I said, deal. It's all I needed to graduate so. And now I do accounting every day. Yeah?
Law Smith 10:59
Bigger, yeah. You probably, you probably do that more than anybody in your accounting class. I think about that a lot. You do your income statement, especially if you have several brands run once you're looking at your eBay. All the Got it. Got to
Tim Rexius, Omaha Protein Popcorn 11:13
do it, because the popcorn company is obviously being groomed to sold, be sold eventually. So I've got to do the, you know, the EBITDA, the LTV versus CAC ratios, all the fun shit that I thought was boring as hell, but now you need to put your dollar sign and your money in front of it. Now it makes sense.
Law Smith 11:28
Well, the four holy metrics we've said in marketing for forever is cost per lead, cost per acquisition, average revenue of a new customer. Give it a timeline, within a year or so, and then lifetime value, which I'm sure yours, is probably high, once you get the product in front of someone, well, you know, it's different, because
Tim Rexius, Omaha Protein Popcorn 11:47
you have different ones. You have direct to consumer, and that's a whole different LTV to CAC ratio versus wholesale distribution. It's, it's, it's massive, you know, you're looking at, you know, a 5000 to one ratio when you call, you know, you talk to wholesale distribution, but it's getting there. But you have to have the consumer. So it's like, it's multifaceted. And, you know, I have investors with the popcorn company, so I have to prepare these documents for them, and then act like I'm excited about all the bullshit data. But, you know, and they were moving product, they're making money. Usually, everyone's happy.
Law Smith 12:16
So and your your foxy wife, is helping out. I saw her picture on the website,
Tim Rexius, Omaha Protein Popcorn 12:21
yep, yep. She now, then no, she No, I'll kick my coverage a long ways. Not only she hot, but she's also way fucking smarter than I am. So like it's and she's not too far away. She can hear me right now, and so right now we're this is great for me, guys. So the guys this fantasy coming. So she's got her headphones in. Usually, when I talk too much, she puts her headphones in. She have to listen to me, but that's proof that salesmanship is everything. Now, kick your coverage with a woman who's significantly better off. I mean not how I told her the day we got married. This is the best I will ever look it only gets worse from here, but I get funnier with time that was in my vows at the altar, and I have stayed true to that shit.
Law Smith 13:03
So I literally said the same phrase over at Eric's house watching the Seattle Seahawks temporary Buccaneers game when they're wearing the throwbacks. And I was telling my son, I was like, your dad out kicks. His coverage pretty good here. And so that's funny that that that was three weeks
Eric Readinger 13:21
ago, right over his head. He had no idea what you're talking about.
Law Smith 13:25
No, I was gonna lay in the plane, you know, little turbulent to get there, but tell us how you got into, you know, I'm walking through the grocery store the other day, and everything is now proteined out, even the, you know, the common thing of like, you should ignore what's in the aisles and just stay around the outside of the grocery store. I don't know how much truth that has anymore, because it seems like they're catching on, but I saw protein infused Lucky Charm bars, and I go, yeah, let me go look at the I'm gonna look at the nutrition facts on this thing. You know, it's packed with sugar. It's horrible for you, but it's got protein in it. And it's like the conglomerates have caught on to like, hey, maybe we should,
Eric Readinger 14:11
my biggest thing, we shouldn't kill our customers. They could have done this years ago as
Sure. Well, yeah, exactly. Well,
Tim Rexius, Omaha Protein Popcorn 14:19
the reason they're getting into it. Some of the biggest mergers and acquisitions in the entire economy in the last 10 years have been protein snack brands. I mean, because you the reason being is the global cola sales, pop sales drop 10% year over year. So got Pepsi coal and Coca Cola buying up snack brands, Hershey's chocolate buying up protein snack brands, and now they're trying to make their own and so what? Here's the problem with the protein snack market, with all these big companies, is they use the cheapest, lowest grade dog ship protein on the planet that doesn't actually do anything. Now, are they lying? No, it's protein. But when you guys are done working out, for instance, let's put it this way, when you're done working out, you have about 45 minutes to get that protein digested into amino nitrates, to get. To your muscle tissues to cause repair. If it's not there, you're going to put in lactic acid and you get sore. Well, the average protein snack in the US market, even though they're getting better, it's still really low grade protein. It's going to take three hours to digest, so it's not going to repair a damn thing. Anyways, where the protein I use, like, say, in ours popcorn, it's hydrosolated protein, highest grade in the world, starts to digest in six minutes. So I originally made this for athletes. I made this for my family. I made it for athletes that I could actually make sugar is not bad. Sugar and fat together bad. And that's half these things. We started marketing this stuff, and I got to deal with all the Karens online, which is really learning to test my freaking patience. Is this the lack of knowledge on macronutrients? Like, what's got sugar in it? I'm like, Yes, Karen, it has sugar. Who told you sugar was bad? Well, everybody, no, you mean the internet told you it's bad from other people who didn't know what the hell they were talking about in the first place. So what you want post workout, for instance, if you're looking at a snack, right? Okay, what you want post workout is no fat, like, next to no fat at all, sugar, easily, additional sugar and isolated proteins that causes insulin mimetic response, causes your body to flood with insulin and growth hormone, and you recover, you'll burn up all that sugar anyways. Pre Workout, what do you want? No sugar, complex carbs and fats. So the cheddar flavors are fats, complex carbs and protein. That's your pre workout. The candy coats, no fats, sugar and protein. That's your post workout, and that's how I designed the macronutrients, and that's why all the athletes love it, because they understand macros. It's the soccer moms I have to convince online of what is what and what's not. And so, you know, the popcorn was more or less just me goofing around trying to find a snack that my kids would actually eat without having to force them to do it that didn't come in the form of a chicken nugget or chocolate milk. Yeah,
Law Smith 16:46
no, I empathize with that. It's really I've been trying to figure out meals they will eat. But they have such a minor nine and eight and have such you got a while before you're getting, they have such a small challenge, you know, like, right? They can't every time we're if I get lazy dad in me, I go, All right, let's get DoorDash or something, or Uber Eats. And they're like, Oh, we can really my it gets narrow to about three things I can get for him. And then I ended up going, fuck it, and getting in Papa John's or something. Well,
Tim Rexius, Omaha Protein Popcorn 17:22
that's, I have six kids. That's why I'm Gray, yeah, I know, yeah, when you're good at something, you know? But anyways, so they recently, these are the businesses, yeah? Well, it's you got 25 down to six. So I've got this huge customer base in my own house there. That's why I test everything on if I can get six kids to agree on a flavor of something which, if you have kids, you understand, getting them to agree on anything is insane, but if I get them to agree, I know that the product will sell globally, because if I can get these six to agree on anything, then that's then. So literally, that's how we that's how we launch flavors, in fact, right now. And this is the newest flavor. This is my test block. This is spicy dill pickle, pop protein popcorn that we're testing out because my daughter, one of my daughters, and one of my sons, the 13 and 18 year old, are obsessed with spicy dough pickle. So, all right, well, that's a good test, but they like it, then other kids do, and that's why I test stuff out. You know, we're the same way, though. I mean that six year old, he's our youngest, and we let him get away with murder. And so the only thing he ever eats is Dino now, geese and chocolate milk. So the only other protein he'll eat is the chocolate flavored Omaha protein popcorn. And, you know, it's healthy for him. And and then the the cheddars got recommended by some of the docs in the OB GYN association for nursing moms. And all sudden, now we're selling to 200 hospitals a month. So it's been kind of crazy. It's, it's, in fact, we were in 14 countries before I ever ran an ad. We just started running ads about three months ago. Just not my space, and it's just gone massive. It's, it's, I added three more countries this year yet to go to to present the popcorn. Up in Canada, we got to do a PR tour. They had to go down to the grand Caymans. And then we're doing a show in Mexico as well. So, yeah, it's, it's growing about as fast as I can keep up
Law Smith 18:59
with it. Well, if you want ads are my space. If you want me to look at what you're doing and give you any not as a client, just point go. You should do this. Don't do this. I'm happy to help you off.
Tim Rexius, Omaha Protein Popcorn 19:11
Off this guy episode hearing it's funny. It's the popcorn. I got hooked up with a guy who's doing ads through my, one of my business partners, and this guy's got a massive marketing companies out of the grand Caymans. And so I sent him the I sent him the popcorn, and we'd already made a deal to do some ads. And he goes, this is really good. I'm like, I know. He goes, No, you understand 9900 things I sell. Suck. Yeah. He goes, this is actually good. He goes, Can I invest too? Yeah. So now my marketing guy's an investor as well in the company, because it's grown just exponentially so fast it's, it's new for me, because I've never really done with grocery and convenience store. It's like a whole new bag. And now we're doing it in four languages, so it's made it really, really interesting. So
Law Smith 19:52
when did, when did this start to get to where you are now? Like, how fast? Sounds really fast.
Tim Rexius, Omaha Protein Popcorn 19:59
I know. It only took me eight years to become an overnight success. The first five years we invented in 2018 the first five years was a disaster. Gents like I lost a half a million probably between different wrong bags, wrong formulas, wrong boxes, marketing. It Wrong used to be called the optimal performance popcorn. It was a sticker on a bag, and I, I was just thinking the macros of it, right? The meathead, like, how much protein can I cram in a bag? And one of our flavors had, like, 91 grams of isolated proteins. I had a lot of pro athletes eating it, you know, and a lot of bodybuilders. But we went to the Mr. Olympia convention the first year, and it's, you know, the bodybuilding Mecca, and we went through 5000 bags in a day. And I look at my wife, I'm like, we're about to get rich. And I realized the bodybuilders are broke and they don't have any money, and I was marketing it to me and and then it just kind of floundered. And I'm stubborn as shit. I'm like, there's there's something here. Everybody buys it. Likes it, but I just can't get more people to buy it. And what happened was I got voluntold into being the President of the Chamber of Commerce here, and don't ask me, oh yeah, I was a small suburb Ralston. I'll never do it again. But anyways, a grocery chain. Oh, dude, it's a nightmare.
Law Smith 21:11
I've been in them. I know we we've got them all
Tim Rexius, Omaha Protein Popcorn 21:14
over Tampa. Yeah, 95% of my time is listening to other people. Just want to hear themselves talk out loud with useless and pointless shit. But anyways, the good thing that came out of it was there's a local grocery chain called Hy Vee foods, which we're about to relaunch all 400 locations, but they're in my area, and one of the guys that's in the health market section was in my chamber. He's like, Hey, let me sell the popcorn. And I shit you not, this is in 2022 I told him, I go. It'll never work. Let's not do it. He's like, No, I think it'll work. I said, Well, let's do a consignment deal so that way don't have to give you money back if it doesn't sell that one grocery store outsold all of my own nutrition stores times 10. And so I sent my oldest daughter down there to kind of spy, because she doesn't, you know, look, she just, she's not a bodybuilder. And I go to just spy for me. She comes back. She goes, all the little old pink haired ladies, you know, with the hair dye, and the little kids are buying your popcorn like it's going out of style. So I go down there, sure as shit, you got grandma grabbing like, nine bags. And so I go talk to the dietitian in the grocery store. I said, What's up? She goes, your snack is the only snack I can get. My Silver Sneakers, my 70 plus crowd, to actually eat. Usually, what they do is, she goes, I'll write a diet plan with insure shakes and some of these crappy protein bars, and they'll buy it. Then they'll drive down the street to the next grocery store and return it, because they're all so cheap. And so popcorn is the number one confectionary snack item in the world every country, and they'll always eat popcorn. Then the little kids, they won't eat protein bars, they won't drink shakes, but they'll eat popcorn. They have no idea it's flavor. The protein powder is 100% flavorless, and so they'll eat it. So we went to we did it in 10 high bees, basically, and and so the Hy Vee is gracious and awesome as they were. They're like, You should go to this sweets and snacks convention. I go. They make snack conventions. You got to be shitting me, boys. Let me tell you. I walk in, there's 200,000 qualified buyers at the McCormick center in Chicago. Hershey's chocolate has a 60 foot tall chocolate fountain. I wanted to jump in and get type three diabetes and just call it a day. I was like, What am I doing here? I got new banner, new backdrop. I got 15,000 samples. I'm like, we're about to kill it. Day one, not a single person stops by my booth, not one. And I'm pissed. My wife's like, what are we gonna do? I'm like,
Law Smith 23:28
people don't know trade shows just to be there. It's so
Tim Rexius, Omaha Protein Popcorn 23:32
expensive. I'm 15 grand that's on this deal. And now, and now, I'm pissed because then said, Nobody even stopped by my booth. There's 1200 you know, conventioners that are, you know, booze, and then my wife and all of her brilliance. And I said, I'll kick my coverage. I wasn't exaggerating. She looks back. She goes, Hey, bro, it doesn't say healthy or protein anywhere on our label. I go, oh shit, because everything I sell my stores has protein, is healthy. That's what I do, is gyms and stores. And I'm like, shit. So we go down to staples in Chicago at 10 o'clock at night. Pay 200 bucks for a one hour banner that says protein popcorn on it. Take safety pins and pin it on top of my band, my brand new backdrop. We had a line of three to 400 people for two straight days. Wow. So five years of me blowing through money, not even realizing the fact that my wife brought up the fact she goes, you haven't gone grocery shopping in 10 years, and she's right, I haven't, cause I'll buy the cheapest shit and I'll buy by the palette, because I'm a dad, you know, that's what we do. And so I they don't let me go grocery shopping. My wife picks out my toothpaste in my mouthwash. Why the hell am I marketing it to me? I'm a cheap ass. I don't buy anything. And so that my daughters and my wife redesigned the bags. It's colorful. But anyways, long story. The last day, a gentleman from Hershey's walks up and says, I'm going to give you five minutes of free advice. I go, Okay, thank you. I go, why is that, sir? He goes, Well, everyone who works at my booth is eating your popcorn at my booth, and that's an effing problem for me. I said, Okay. And he goes, Are you easily offended? I go, No, I have six kids. Yeah, he always said, Yeah, we have kids at this point. You don't
Eric Readinger 25:03
get offended if you're having this conversation. I'm like, this guy. I'm gonna fight this guy. I hate him already.
Tim Rexius, Omaha Protein Popcorn 25:12
Oh, they call me. They call me fatty daddy, Chubby Hubby. Whatever you go down your list, right? Know this shit, I go good. You know? Like, well, you're getting pretty old. You're not gonna be with us that much longer. I'm like, I'm 40 assholes at the time. So anyways, he goes, your bag is ugly. Your name is ugly. You need a mascot. You need colors. The only good thing about your products how it tastes. I go, thanks. So the rest of 22 my daughters redesigned the bags. My wife, we got popcorn man mascot, the names. We changed name to Omaha protein popcorn relaunched in 23 and we were up 16,000%
Law Smith 25:47
no bullshit. And the looks very Americana, it kind of tells a story in the packaging, that you are the small brand. No,
Tim Rexius, Omaha Protein Popcorn 25:54
it is, it's, it's it. And I paid extra to make sure they were clear, and I had to get a special bag. And they go, why? Because the average person thinks when they buy a healthy snack, it's going healthy snack, it's going to smell like socks and it's going to look green. So I wanted them to see what they're going to eat. And went through the process, and we launched into about 20,000 gas stations this year, and they sell through everywhere. We just launched into Walmart in Canada with our French bags. They all sold out in like five days. And it's, it's because of the snack. I went to Dubai last year, got to represent the Made in America Initiative. And just to give you an idea, you're talking about protein snacks. I'm one of the only protein snacks allowed to sell in the UAE, because I meet their health standards. Most of our protein snacks here are so low grade that they don't meet other countries health standards. So that's why we've exported so much internationally. It's because I check all the boxes, non GMO, gluten free, hydrolytic proteins, lactose free, all the all the bells and whistles and so, yeah, it's been fun. And learning a lot more about grocery and C store business and, you know, other countries, customs and all that kind of shit. So been fun.
Eric Readinger 26:58
So when, when we see these protein products, yeah, I'm sure. I mean, like your popcorn, how are you actually adding the protein in? Are you using a powder that's flavor, right? So it's not flavored, but you I'm making a cheese. How are you doing?
Tim Rexius, Omaha Protein Popcorn 27:15
So so for us, like with the the candy coated flavors we have, we have five of those right now, caramel corn, peanut butter, chocolate. Peanut butter, chocolate and rainbow candy. And so that one took us about 600 batches to figure out the chemistry of it. My background is biomechanical engineering, so I'm a chemical nerd. Is using hydrosolated The highest grade protein, super thin and it's flavorless and at the right time, when we coat the popcorn with the coat allows it to still hold its integrity, but also make it flavorless. If you do it at the wrong time, it'll disintegrate the protein molecule. And so nobody else has ever figured it out. Really, the cheddar flavors, obviously, we need an adhesion point, so, and most people use cheap, you know, canola oil. We use organic coconut oil because it's good for brain and eye development. It's good for hair and skin. It's good for losing bad fat, because it's full of median trans and we mix it in with the cheese powder. But again, since it's so thin and flavorless, you can't taste it. And then we go through copious amounts of testing. We get every every batch is tested, is certified tested, because we export so much. And then we have the longest shelf life tested popcorn on the planet, because we use higher grade ingredients, so we're shelf life tested at 18 months. So what people don't realize is that because they use higher quality ingredients, yes, I make less money, but I get a better product. It has longer shelf life. But, you know, the bigger companies aren't worried about that. There's worry about moving units. I'm worried about, you know, making new customers, because it's a whole new concept. Nobody's ever heard of it, and I've had some big companies try to copy me this year, and it hasn't worked out, because you use cheaper ingredients, it's going to taste cheap,
Law Smith 28:46
yeah, and you might be able to plant your flag in certain areas and raise the price anyway, since grocery prices overall just going up. And then it's in a league of its own. So, and then you also have the perceived value of it being higher priced. You could, you know, you pick that up eventually,
Tim Rexius, Omaha Protein Popcorn 29:06
well. And the thing is, with us, because the protein digests so fast, like you'll even a guy my size, I'm 270 if I eat half a bag of caramel corn, that stuff hits me and I'm done, I won't eat the whole thing. No anything else I would kill because that thing is, it's the digestion speed. If it hits your stomach in six minutes, guys like, you're gonna get that safety, that fullness, feeling really
Law Smith 29:26
fast. It's the opposite, like when I eat a bag of Cool Ranch family sized Doritos and just walk through it,
Tim Rexius, Omaha Protein Popcorn 29:32
yeah, that shit is just gonna sit in your stomach like a ball of acid and gonna take 16 hours to begin to digest even, you know, and, and and that's why sometimes you see people get hungry and they get low, you know, they get low blood sugar, and also they just can't eat enough fast enough. It's because that stuff takes forever to digest, or this stuff hits you right away, and it's made for athletes, anyways. And I was talking about the candy coats, and I have to explain this to people online. They're like, what's got sugar? I'm like, Okay, you want to, let's put this way. So. Arnold Schwarzenegger, 1980 Hugh Schwarzenegger. Fan, right? He won his last Mr. Olympia, six foot, three, 235, pounds
Law Smith 30:06
of puny. I'm doing my hands are huge. I'm doing the documentary. We're just making fun of way for regna
Tim Rexius, Omaha Protein Popcorn 30:11
and so, and then pumping iron. I have that. Yeah, and puny. It's so funny. You and so and so. Here you are, 45 years later, if Arnold won that good true. If Arnold wanted to win the Mr. Olympia today, he'd have to be 100 pounds bigger. Yeah, that's how much bigger they are. Now. People ask, Oh, steroids? I go, No, they hadn't invented a new steroid since 1971 and steroids were legal in the United States till 1984 so it's not steroids. What is it? It's insulin. We've learned how to mimic insulin response to nutrition and insulin boys is 700 times more anabolic than testosterone. So if you know how to do it and when to do it, you can gain as much muscle, as fast as you want, as easy as you want.
Law Smith 30:52
How
Eric Readinger 30:54
does see? To me, that's like, I've known that for 20 years. It's just crazy that it's like, not, not everybody knows the post workout idea, you know?
Tim Rexius, Omaha Protein Popcorn 31:02
Well, it's almost like social media. Social media has its advantages, right, where it can give out good information, like that, but it's also there's no filter for all the people with shitty information. And so now it's this thing where it's like, no carbs, and then, and I did no carbs. I did keto for five years. I gained muscle very easily. So I don't, I don't really need carbs, but it's just fighting that information. Remember the 90s, it was low fat, and then it was okay, fats good, and it's no carbs, and then no carbs are great. And it's, it's going to revolve, just depends on who has the biggest microphone and what BS they're spitting that
Law Smith 31:32
day. Yeah, fat doesn't get you fat. And that's all kind of thing. It's like,
Tim Rexius, Omaha Protein Popcorn 31:36
you have to, you have to have good fat coming in to get rid of bad fat. It's like an oil change on a car. Would you go to the oil change place, take the oil out and drive off? No, your car would blow up. Well, it's the same difference with fat. Fat's the oil the engine. You need good fat to come in to get rid of bad, visceral fat, and you will just don't get it. Just
Eric Readinger 31:51
plus it's time as a glycemic response, you know, that stops the show, you know. So, like, it has its benefits, where it's like, nobody wants to hear that? Yeah, quick video, quick reel.
Tim Rexius, Omaha Protein Popcorn 32:03
Yep, it's gonna be in less than 20 seconds. And you gotta get it through. And it's look flashy.
Law Smith 32:09
I would be remiss if we didn't ask, how can people like us in Tampa, Florida get it if you're not in Publix, which, by the way, if you're now in Florida and you want to hit the old people market, you know, we're
Tim Rexius, Omaha Protein Popcorn 32:20
working on it. So, so we are. We are moving into grocery last because grocery be perfectly honest with you, when it comes to like, different markets, grocery in the United States is probably the biggest colossal pain in the ass of any industry to get into a lot of gatekeepers, a lot of different, I was gonna say political probably it is very, very, very where the gas station business is different. And so we'll be launching, we've launched into 20,000 My goal is by the end of 2026 to be in 120,000 gas stations inside the United States, which would put us in the vast majority. We are launching into 10 of the biggest C store distributors in the United States in the next three weeks. So we'll be launching into a lot of circle k7, elevens, you name the gas station chain, we'll be there relatively shortly. So we're obviously on Amazon. We're on the Omaha protein popcorn.com we're in sports nutrition retailers all across the country, gyms, Publix, Walmart, K he they're my big ones. Then Kroger, that I'm shooting for in 2026
Law Smith 33:21
sprouts. We could just sprouts or something
Tim Rexius, Omaha Protein Popcorn 33:23
like that. Yeah, sprouts. I mean, yeah, if he's got a connection shit, holler at me. No. Overseas has expanded so easy, because overseas businesses, just to be perfectly honest with you, significantly easier than here in the US. So I actually waited to do the US last. I did all the international stuff first, and no tariff issues going out, I guess, yes and no. I mean, we negotiated depends on what it is. We're an ag item, technically being popcorn. And so we get some clearances from clearance where we can get around that. And being a lot of the countries that want us, the US wants to do trade business, so we'll get exceptions, and it's just us doing our homework. We have some really good folks here in the US at food export USA that help us negotiate all that stuff and get it where it needs to go. And you think the UAE government, for instance, they put in $50 billion into whole family health the last two years to get their their people healthier. So they're looking for protein snacks. And if I'm one of two brands even allowed one makes it pretty easy.
Law Smith 34:18
Well, we'll have to close this out. Next time, we'll have back on. I feel like we just cracked a little bit. Eric and I will get some of that over to us. And next time, we'll have to have the misses on. I want to I want to hear her. If she's just listening on headphones behind the camera. We've had that happen.
Eric Readinger 34:39
She's listening to us, buddy, she's got her own music or audio.
Tim Rexius, Omaha Protein Popcorn 34:44
She'll be on. She'll do it. She'll make fun of me most of the time, but she'll be on. She likes it
Law Smith 34:50
well, we just want to hear the work like balance of six kids and all that.
Tim Rexius, Omaha Protein Popcorn 34:54
And the biggest question we get when we go to public speaking, how do you guys manage this? And we got to go through our calendars. How. Make the thing work. And, you know, I think it's some people seem to think, for some reason, if you have a family, you can't be successful in business. And it's, I think it's the exact opposite. So I think if families involved in every aspect of every company, they are, they're my rd my daughter's always one of my assistants. My son Tyler's in the warehouse. My oldest daughter and my son in law, they're doing a lot of our marketing and label design. My younger two kids are technically my sponsored athletes or mascots, at least according to the IRS. And you know, I mean, everyone's involved. My wife's a CFO, and we work together every single day, and it's awesome.
Law Smith 35:36
Well, last thing we got to get you in the science floaters Comedy Club here in Tampa, one of the best clubs in the country. Y'all have the funny bone, one of the best ones ever as well. We've got to get you in those clubs, because they like popcorn as a food. They don't want to have real food given out at clubs, but they need something to snack on that salty, so they drink more. So we got to get Oh, hell yeah. I love to help that out. I think liquid death started out of the Omaha funny bone, if I'm correct, Yep, yeah. And then we got to get you over to Warren Buffett's house and get that over there,
Tim Rexius, Omaha Protein Popcorn 36:12
working on that one. So, yeah, working on that one. So that'll be our
Law Smith 36:17
I appreciate you coming on. We'll have to have you on again. And, you know, let us know how we can help Absolutely.
Tim Rexius, Omaha Protein Popcorn 36:22
Guys, appreciate it. Thanks for having me on. See ya. Thanks, man, you.
