Meet Nick Wernimont, owner of Factor 75, a meal delivery service which specializes in healthy meals for the active, athletic person. Nick was originally inspired through his own fitness journey as an MMA fighter where he fine-tuned his performance and optimized his game through his nutrition and training. Read on to learn more about his successful career endeavors. – Sarah

What attracted you to the field of health and wellness? I’ve always been interested in how to optimize my health, wellness and really overall mental and physical performance.  I started wrestling in kindergarten and by 4th grade started watching my weight for wrestling tournaments.  My dad always made sure we didn’t have a lot of sweets or soda around the house which made it easy to eat healthy.  By the time I was in high school I was very interested in understanding how the body worked and how to improve how you felt or performed by eating the right types of foods.  Then a few years after college I started training for MMA which increased this interest dramatically.  I couldn’t believe how important nutrition was in how well I performed.  I didn’t know this for a long time but once I finally understood what proper nutrition really meant, I was hooked.  It is such an incredible factor in everyone’s health and overall wellness, yet most people get incorrect information or don’t fully understand how to improve their health with just a few minor changes to their eating habits.

Our ability to improve our health and wellness through nutrition, exercise, mediation, etc… is what’s so interesting to me.  We truly do have control over how we feel day to day.  It’s a matter of knowledge about how the body works and building the right habits to ensure you stick to what works.  Its an empowering feeling when you realize that and learn how to improve yourself.

Your Job Title and Company you are with now: CEO/Founder, Factor 75

Website: https://www.factor75.com/ Social Media:  – Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Factor75
 – LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickwernimont
 – Twitter:  @Factor75
 – Instagram:  #Factor75

A typical (or not so typical) day-in-the-work-life for you: There’s not really a ‘typical day’ when starting a company as every day brings new opportunities, problems, needs, etc..  It keeps it interesting but overall I try to stick to a fairly regular schedule no matter what the day brings.  I structure my day like this: Wake up at 6:30, from 7-8 I do what’s called my morning ‘Power Hour’.  This is basically an hour I dedicate to myself to set myself up for the day, get centered and get the day started right.  It’s a mixture of stretching, meditation, praying, reading the bible, visualization and journaling.  I’ve found it to be critical in order for me to perform my best daily at work.

Then it’s a half hour of prioritizing the days most important tasks or objectives and making sure I have blocked off time for each.  I make sure I have at least 3, 1.5 hour blocks of time with no interruption to dig into a project and make significant progress.  We usually have lunch together as a team in the office and catch up with each other.  No talk of business is allowed.  Then into my afternoon which is usually less strict as far as time blocking and includes meetings/calls with team members, partners, suppliers, etc…

At 5:30 I try to spend a half hour organizing something around me.  Doesn’t always happen but when it does I feel great.  Then 6-7 is working out or learning something if it’s a non-workout day.  Try to be home around 7:45-8 for dinner with family.  Wrap up any items and email at 9 or so and then head to bed by 11.

I’ve found it’s a good schedule that takes advantage of my natural energy cycles so I can leverage that to get the most done during those times.  For figuring out your best schedule to get stuff done I recently read some articles on how best to manage your energy along with your time.  So managing those times when you naturally feel energetic, creative, focused, whatever it is, is important.

How did you get your current job in health and wellness? I started a company… :)

What skills were you born with and what skills have you learned along the way? I’m not sure which skills I was born with and which have been developed throughout my life.   I’ve read a lot about people’s ‘ways of being’ and skills  in which they can do better than anyone else, often called your genius factor.  I believe the skills that have come naturally to me revolve around developing relationships or rapport with people fairly quickly.  I am a very analytical person that loves numbers and I always ask a lot of questions as well.  They can be skills when used best or at times can be just the opposite and lead me to think too much about a decision instead of going with my gut.

The skills I’ve developed along the way mostly are around how to manage others so that everyone is aligned and believes in the cause.  Basically, different ways of leading and creating a clear path that everyone has ‘buy-in’.  Another ‘skill’ I have developed and I believe is critical to success is having a good work ethic.  I’ve learned through the years that you can often win or accomplish a goal through sheer will and hard work.  But through starting this company I also found you definitely can’t rely on just that when taking on big projects and goals.  So I’ve been trying to improve my skills at working smart, not just hard.

What advice do you have for others wanting to be just as successful and fulfilled as you? Success has a lot of definitions and is really up to the individual to determine what it means.  That said it’s hard to give advice to anyone without knowing how they determine success…  What I can say is that success, for me, does not have anything to do with starting a company or making a lot of money.  Neither does fulfillment.  Both come from having great relationships with loved ones and being a good father, husband, son, brother, friend, boss, colleague, etc…  In the end, not much else matters except the relationships you have with the people that matter most to you.  Invest in your relationships and you will often find more success and fulfillment than anywhere else.

If you could be paid for your job with something other than a paycheck, what would it be? Time.  Pay me in time and I’ll be more than happy to work like a dog.

Sarah Koszyk, MA, RDN, is a Registered Dietitian and Sports Nutritionist specializing in Weight Management and Sports Nutrition for youth and adults. She writes articles for multiple publications, provides customized nutrition coaching, and is a brand spokesperson. She is founder of Family. Food. Fiesta.Connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, or LinkedIn.