Kelly Tshibaka: 0:08
Welcome back to Stand. I’m your host, Kelly Tshibaka, former US Senate candidate in Alaska and the current chair of Trump’s campaign. I’m joined today by my best friend and husband, Niki Tshibaka, and you are on the show that helps make courage contagious. We are excited to have you join us. If you want, go to our website, standshow.org. Follow us on social media. Hit up our YouTube channel, where you can find all of our awesome episodes. Get your daily dose of courage and become strong and courageous. We’ve got an amazing episode with us today. We have Jay Robb and Beth Robb, who lead the health and nutrition world. We would know we have their products in our house long before we ever booked this interview. We are excited to talk with them about their journey in health and wellness and the business world. So let’s strap in and get this started. Jay and Beth, welcome to Stand. We are so excited to have you join us.
Jay Robb: 1:00
Glad to be here. Thank you so much for the opportunity to be on your show. It’s truly an honor. We feel blessed to be here. Thank you so much for the opportunity to be on your show. It’s truly an honor.
Kelly Tshibaka: 1:05
We feel blessed to be here. We’re excited. Well, when we had the opportunity to land you for an interview, my daughter said hey, I know that guy.
Kelly Tshibaka: 1:13
Isn’t he all over Dad’s shelf in the pantry. So it’s exciting to see it’s like, oh, someone who we’re familiar with and whose products we believe in actually coming in on the show. So we’re familiar with and whose products we believe in actually coming in on the show, so we’re excited to actually have this conversation and introduce to all of our followers why we follow you and why we’ve been using your products and actually have that out there. You guys who are listening, you can find their products on jayrobb.com, j-a-y-r-o-b-b.com. Find out what Niki has been excited about all this time. But let’s start this journey. So, jay, you made your first protein shake when you were 13 years old. You guys now have a major health food and wellness company industry. You have your own show called open bar.
Jay Robb: 1:56
I wanted to ask what inspired both of you to dedicate your lives to health and wellness well, since mine began probably when I was seven years old. That’s pretty much when it hit me I joined a local swim team and I was a competitive swimmer and diver. So I’m seven and I just was introduced to sunshine, water and training so that I could get in shape. And that was the first time I realized that more you, the more you take care of your body it’s kind of weird at seven years of age the more you take care of your body, you don’t get sick and you feel good and you have the energy you want and you look great. You know, sunshine, food and fresh air and swimming was just incredible for me. So that set me on a journey from that time forward. It’s incredible for me. So that set me on a journey from that time forward. But it was a year later.
Jay Robb: 2:51
After that I was getting sick right before Christmas. It was Christmas Eve and I started getting the flu or bad sore throat, chest cold or whatever. And I got mad because I thought, the time of the year I want to feel my best, and here I am, Santa’s coming, and I don’t feel good. And so I got mad and I kind to feel my best. And here I am, you know Santa’s coming and I don’t feel good. And so I got mad and I kind of like petitioned God. I said I don’t, I don’t know. Why am I sick now? Why do I get sick? I said I want to know why I get sick. I never want to get sick again.
Jay Robb: 3:17
I was at eight years of age and from then on I made it a mission as weird as that may may sound to find out what the cause of health, what, what makes one person healthy and another person get ill. What makes you have be fine one day and have a cold the next, or Horrible diseases or anything. And so I set myself on a journey. Now, it was not an instant that I found all the answers, so it took a while for me to get into it, and it was about when I turned 22,.
Jay Robb: 3:46
I really got into bodybuilding, which I liked because it was very disciplined. I loved the disciplinary part of it. So I loved bodybuilding because it was about training, it was individual and I could eat in very specific ways to get a very specific result and watch what happened. So from then on it just set me on that journey and eventually I opened up my first fitness club when I was. Actually it was a bodybuilding gym, a drug-free bodybuilding gym, when I was 26.
Jay Robb: 4:14
And I said, hey, this is what I like, I’m going against the drugs. And you know, back then everybody did steroids and so, and then they were new. So I took a stand and said no, just kept going on and realized the health aspect of it, which you know, bodybuilding isn’t always the healthiest and just kept moving it forward and raising the bar and thinking how health. And then health food store revelations kind of began. A revolution began and next thing I know I was learning the health food store industry, working at health food store in San Diego, and decided, hey, we need a good protein powder, and that was how that was in 1988.
Jay Robb: 4:53
I said, hey, I’m going to put something really good together that moms healthy moms all over the country would want, because I was dealing with bodybuilders and they weren’t quite so picky they could have like more ingredients, say, I wanted the cleanest I could get because I knew the organic food world and all that. So that pretty much got me on the road and then we were off.
Kelly Tshibaka: 5:16
Well, let me follow up on your comment on. You wanted to take a stand and create a drug-free environment, something that promoted wellness without the drugs. Something that we’ve noticed is in the area of health and wellness, there is a real push by what we would consider the health industry to actually stay in business by making people unhealthy, because you make more money if people are not healthy. And it seems that with your philosophy, like if we take people off of drugs and we actually make them healthy, like some of some of that, you might be putting yourself out of business. Healthy people don’t need products, don’t need drugs, don’t need medicine, et cetera, and so I wanted to ask in in what you’ve done, building this career over decades now this business over decades have you ever had any pushback or had to fight against what we would consider big pharma or the traditional health industry?
Jay Robb: 6:16
Fight against big pharma. Well, big pharma does kind of work in the background. We’ve noticed they buy up supplement companies that’s what we found and then you don’t know that happens, but it’s happening all the time. That are very large corporations that don’t have your health in mind and buy up a lot of other supplement companies too. So you have kind of a double deal there.
Jay Robb: 6:42
And I think a lot of these companies especially the sugar-based companies, the junk food companies and so on, where a lot of those were spinoffs from the tobacco companies back in the day so they actually invested into food and then they invested in the fast food and then the fast food took off and it’s all engineered to make you come back to the doctor how the loop goes. And so when you see that kind of taking place, you don’t want to be a part of it. So we’ve remained a family owned business. I refuse to sell out to any large corporations although we’ve been asked many times corporations, although we’ve been asked many times and I said no because I don’t feel that they would ever, you know, take the same stand and have the same mission and the same standards that we do we do not want the artificial ingredients and that we we took a stand against sucralose, a cell.
Jay Robb: 7:40
So pain K, aspartame, all the things that make things taste good to some people. They’re excitotoxins, but they taste good to a lot of people and they can make powders taste. You know, protein powders taste really good, or even liquid liquid drinks and so on, RTDs. But we said no and we, we pushed back against that hard. I made sure we had recombinant growth hormone free cows that were making the milk and so on. I was the first that I know of to ever do that in this particular industry. I refused to do the sucralose, the salsapain case and all that. I was the first to ever innovate using stevia because it was banned in America back in the early 90s and beyond and back. So I developed this flavor system with stevia and nobody’s ever done that before. And now you know I guess some of the big soft drink companies stepped into it about 10 years ago and took that into another level. But before that you kind of had to tread lightly on that. But it worked as a clean herb that you could use in a protein powder.
Jay Robb: 8:47
So there’s been many times that we had to compromise, many times that we had to do pushback. Many times we had to take a stand, just like I did in the early days, against steroids. I don’t need to teach members how to get big using steroids. If you do that, that’s your choice. I’m just not going to help you do that because I don’t think it’s going to take you where you want to go eventually. It may take you there for a short time, but not the long term. So we’re in it for the long term. We’ve got to answer to God first, and if we don’t, we don’t sleep at night.
Beth Robb: 9:14
That’s right.
Niki Tshibaka: 9:18
Amen. That’s a really inspiring story because in our country country that’s so focused on you know the quick buck and the big buck. You know it to stay missionally focused and to turn down what could be gobs and gobs of money for the sake of no. This is more than just a business. This is about what we want, we’re trying to do to impact the health of our fellow man, and so we we wanna make sure the mission is not compromised. That’s really inspiring. We’re gonna come up on a break here in a couple minutes, but I wanted to see and either you can jump in on this and if we don’t finish, we can pick it up on the other side of the break.
Niki Tshibaka: 10:01
I know that you guys have any. Any business, any startup business, goes through challenges, rights and setbacks. What with you in particular, like you know, you’ve got a product. You’re trying to get it into stores, probably finding that just push back, no, we’re not going to sell it, no, we’re not going to put it on our shelves, or people aren’t fully educated on your product. They don’t understand the benefits that it has, that others don’t. Maybe you’re even struggling with sales. How did you get over those kinds of setbacks? How did you surmount that, get past that to the point where now you’ve got your protein powders being sold all the way out here in the last frontier, right in acres, like it’s all over the place. It’s very popular, so maybe we should just do this on the other side of the break. But I wanted to just tee up that question for you guys, and I’d love to hear from both of you sort of how you’ve done that.
Jay Robb: 11:05
Looking forward to answering that question. That’s a good one.
Kelly Tshibaka: 11:09
Well for everyone listening. We’ll pick up that answer on the other side of the break and we’re talking with Jay and Beth Robb, and you can find their products at jayrobb.com, j-a-y-r-o-b-b.com. They’ve been taking a stand for health and wellness, taking a stand for pure products and what actually makes us healthy, despite the hardships to business and the pressure from big corporations or big pharma, and so we’ll pick up the talk about their journey through business and as family business partners. On the other side of the break, you’re on Stand with Kelly and Niki Tshibaka. We’re at standshow.org. We’ll see you on the other side of the break. Stand by.
Niki Tshibaka: 11:58
You are back with Kelly and Niki Tshibaka on the Stand Show where we take a stand for truth, justice and what is right. We are joined today by the Robbs and enjoying this conversation about this amazing product that Jay Robb has out there. It’s an incredible protein. I have it in my pantry. I have had it for a long time. They have whey and egg white proteins and it’s basically the best I’ve found out there in terms of the quality of the product, the taste, so I highly recommend it to all of you out there. But in the previous segment we were talking, I just teed up a question about just challenges that you guys have faced, setbacks and how you overcame them, particularly in terms of getting your product out in the market and getting people educated about it. Tell us about how you overcame those kinds of challenges.
Jay Robbb: 12:50
Well, let’s see the protein powder that I created in 1988, I got into the stores I was working at Jimbo’s Naturally back in the mid-’80s. I was an organic produce manager and eventually the store manager. So I learned the health food business inside and out, kind of what it takes how to get products introduced into the market. There weren’t that many health food stores back in those days, not like now, but they were growing fast and so I got my powder out slow and I got it into a lot of stores in Southern California all the way up to LA over like a couple-year period of time. But the products weren’t flying off the shelves. So I had to kind of do something different. So the first thing I did, I wrote a book called the Fat-Burning Diet and had to teach people how to use a protein powder. Because people were back then they, oh, that’s not going to bulk me up, or that tastes gritty, or you know, I’m not a bodybuilder, that type of thing. So I had to overcome that and they said and also, the taste, I can’t stand it. So I had to create a. I had created a product that tasted extremely good without anything artificial, which was the first challenge I had. So I fixed that and took it to the world. Well, I had to write the book which got me on TV, which got me introduced to more and more thousand, thousands of people, because the product doesn’t move off the shelf unless they know how to use it, what it is and so on. So I had to first educate people on that and then how to use it to actually lose weight instead of as a bulk up, like you think, in bodybuilding. So I got through that. So I got our protein going. It was an egg white protein, because the way wasn’t, had not even been invented. There was no white protein back in those days. It was egg white protein from old school bodybuilding and so I had that and that was in the store for quite a few years until it was 1994 or 93 that we put out our whey protein and the store said we don’t want the whey protein, we’ve got a few other brands. So I had to overcome that. I thought, well, how can I get that in there? And I said, well, whatever.
Jay Robbb: 15:00
So I had to open up a nutrition store in North County, San Diego, in Encinitas actually, and then when people came in I would let them sample my whey protein. It tasted that good. I said I knew I could open up a store. As long as they could taste it, I could do that. So that was the first thing I did and it took me a year before.
Jay Robbb: 15:21
It changed so many people’s minds and I had such a following from that one store that they were calling all the health food stores in San Diego and they multiplied and grown at that time and they said you’ve got to get J-Robb on the shelf, you’ve got to get the whey protein. It’s the best thing ever. And the pressure was so bad. Then they finally called me up and the dam broke and pretty soon it just like dom dominoes, every health food store fell and it went all the way up to Los Angeles then across the country. But I had to take that stand and say no, it’s this good you have, you have to taste. I go and do taste testings with people, but I wanted to do a larger volume.
Jay Robbb: 15:58
And then the third thing that happened was I got on ko side channel 9 news as a fat burning chef and I did that as a weekly show for four straight years and again, I didn’t sell protein powder, I didn’t do any of that kind of stuff.
Jay Robbb: 16:11
I just taught people how to use a protein powder, how to be healthy. Cutting carbs are actually, for me, it was cycling carbs like bodybuilding. You lower your carbs and you increase your carbs and you use natural foods and so on. So it was a whole different approach, but it was tough overcoming. I’m not going to deny it. I mean I met some pretty harsh words or a lot of people saying, no, I don’t want anything to do with that. And once they tasted it and once they understood how to use it, then the whole thing changed and then pretty soon the rest of the country caught up with it and we had you, you know, the zone came out and some of the other things even, and so on, and that’s interesting so what I hear for people listening who are trying to figure out how do I take a stand for what I believe.
Kelly Tshibaka: 16:54
First, you started with a re-education tour with a book and most people said, well, I don’t have time to write a book. It’s amazing how you can write a book if you just take 10 or 15 minutes a day to put thoughts on paper, and we have so many tools available in this modern day that you didn’t have when you wrote, to craft and rewrite and edit your book to make it happen. And then you took some big risk, and I think that that’s you know. What I hear with you guys is sticking true to your principles, being committed in order to leverage risk by opening that store and saying I’m so committed to this, I believe in this, I know it’ll work. And then also going back to the education by going public. I know I talked to a lot of business leaders who you know are deathly afraid of public speaking, and you took that to the the the largest degree possible by being on TV. But it was an education campaign and then I think that that probably really helped promote what you were doing.
Niki Tshibaka: 17:47
Yeah, what’s really also cool about that story, too, is just your, your customers ended up becoming your, your, your, your biggest advocates right. They’re the ones that really helped really get the word out and pressure and all these other stores you got to get Jay Robb on your shelves Like I mean that’s amazing, just that organic kind of growth. But it it started like it sounds like.
Jay Robbb: 18:08
I agree with you. That’s a great point. What we found was word of mouth is gold. I’ve never paid endorsements from celebrities, but many celebrities Matt Damon and Marilyn Hemingway and all that have been super kind. I never asked them to do that, I never paid them to do that and I refused to do that because I didn’t want anything fake. I didn’t want to hear I’ll pay you and you just say this. They said it on their own and then I found out about it later or so on, or we’d read about it and we’ve been, I just feel, very blessed in that regard. Also, another interesting point there like you said, education was critical, because if they don’t know what to do with it, they don’t know protein powder, and I was teaching people basically how to burn fat with food, how to restrict not just calories but carbs and utilize macronutrients to get an effect that you want.
Jay Robbb: 19:01
Because, again, my bodybuilding roots really came in handy in this whole journey and, on top of that, one thing that I think really made a huge difference too was in live performances, which I love to do. So I’ve done about 500 weight loss seminars in my career to date and it was interesting Always in the beginning. I would do those at the store that I would open up an account with, and that gave me a connection with the buyers, the store itself and their customers and it was kind of a loving thing. I just got to enjoy people, which I do, and I and I love sharing any information and wisdom that God’s blessed me with with them and it’s definitely in our business.
Jay Robbb: 19:45
That’s that’s the reward I think is is being able to share something that maybe can turn someone else’s life around, like I would never want to sit on, and I and I use the word wisdom because wisdom, I think, is you accrue that through experience, not through going to school or a book or something somebody told you. You do that skin in your own knees and getting up and moving forward with faith in God and then faith in life and people to make a difference. And that’s what we’re here for. I think we’re all here to serve. I mean you’re serving now with your pocket. It’s just a beautiful serving when you discover that’s what this is about.
Niki Tshibaka: 20:27
Yeah, you know we’ve got about three minutes before a break here, but I really wanted to ask your wife I mean, you’re sitting here listening right to all of this, but you’ve been an integral part of it all along the way, and I know I can’t speak for Jay, but I would imagine I know this as a husband like I wouldn’t be where I am if it weren’t for my wife, you know. And so what was it like for you? What’s this journey been like for you? And so what was it like for you, what’s this journey been like for you, If you could just talk about, maybe, what the biggest challenge is challenge has been for you and how you’ve sort of addressed it.
Beth Robbb: 21:13
Well, you know, I showed up about 22 years after he started the company, so I’ve only been around in the company for 14 years. Jay and I reconnected later on in life. We’ve known each other since I was born, so it’s kind of a neat little story with that in that aspect. But when he and I reconnected I thought, oh my gosh, like again we’ve known each other forever. But then, you know, here is this huge force in the health and wellness industry and at that point in my life I was not taking care of myself. I had three children, I was a single mom and I thought, oh crap, I better get my act together so immediately.
Beth Robbb: 21:42
we’re falling in love over these love letters that were emailing each other and I thought I had better get my act together. I went to Central Market in Dallas, Texas, bought a big bag of whey protein J-Robb whey protein and went on his fruit plush and his shakedown diet. I interchanged and lost 36 pounds in three months and started taking over. And you know, it’s interesting. Different things motivate people and I obviously was motivated by love and because I thought well, you know, when he sees me in person, I better look good anyway. So I was like we saw each other. What two months in after?
Jay Robbb: 22:29
that she was living in dallas. I’ve been in San Diego forever, so we connected and so it was a long distance relationship, but it was an email relationship for weeks and weeks and weeks. I had no idea what she’d look like she wouldn’t show me a picture or anything, so I didn’t realize she was doing my program.
Beth Robbb: 22:49
I felt great, I started taking care of myself. But you know, one of the biggest challenges is, you know, when we then started kind of stepping out. You know, together as a couple I was very much judged by the whole health and wellness industry. You know, because Jay is who he is. Literally to this day we could walk into any health food store or into any kind of like an expo or convention that’s with health and wellness and people will give me the one, the up and down, and they will size me up just right in front of me and I’m thinking and I’m obviously not a quiet I’ve been quiet this interview until now, but I am not a quiet person and I just sit there and think my facial expressions don’t lie.
Beth Robbb: 23:36
I think, what in the world? How could you do that? How could you be so judgy? So anyway, it is, it is very challenging in that regard, um, and also because j Jay is such a force I mean he really is and such a positive, loving, kind, honorable, generous force, and so, you know, he’s a lot Like he walks in and it’s all good, but it’s like all the energy goes right here and so it does come.
Jay Robbb: 24:08
You know, it is sometimes challenging to kind of, you know, be there next to you the beauty that she joined for, let me just buy it real quick.
Jay Robbb: 24:19
She joined forces like 14 years ago, and she filled a huge gap that I had. I I was when I created things and when I, when I built the company and so on, I was always thinking, gosh, gosh. I wish I had someone with me that was into it and could give me a female insight, because I have a male perspective and I admit I will do things in a more masculine style way that doesn’t appeal to my audience. A lot of my audience, or our audience, is female. Probably 60% plus are female, because they maybe 65, because, um, that’s who cares the most, the women, or the head of the household, that’s is the woman for the food and then taking care of the family that way, and so that was that was what I was dealing with. Well, she had the insights to figure out where I was short on an image or a slogan or, you know, a tagline or what would they like and how would they like it, what kind of shakes they would want, and it was just huge for us.
Niki Tshibaka: 25:20
I love that yeah she helped with that key demographic.
Kelly Tshibaka: 25:22
Let’s pick up on that. On the other side of the break, I want to talk about what it’s like to be in business together. You’re on Stand with Kelly and Niki Tshibaka. We’re on a break. Come visit us at standshow.org and you can check out all of Jay and Beth’s products at jayRobbcom. Stand by. Welcome back to Stand. You’re with Kelly and Niki Tshibaka and Jay and Beth Robbb. We want to pick up on this side of the break talking about what it’s like to be in business together. Niki and I are in business together in is it now on three business fronts, if we don’t include what we would call the small business that is, family. It’s really hard to run a business, and I think that it is. There are different challenges that come when you are running a business with family members. So, rather than we put words in your mouth, why don’t you guys share with us what have been some of the highs and what have been some of the challenges of being in business together as a family?
Beth Robbb: 26:26
Well, I’ve quit. How many times.
Kelly Tshibaka: 26:30
Yeah, but is your resignation ever accepted?
Beth Robbb: 26:34
Actually has not been accepted ever, but I keep trying. No, I haven’t. We have an agreement. Back the last time I quit, we finally had an agreement that I remember. Jay looked at me and he says you know what? I’ll tell you what I will be the CEO of the company and you can be the CEO of the home. Because I needed something like I’m like, you know, I’m very, I am strong and I feel like you know. And he’s obviously strong, and so we had to have some sort of an agreement, because, at the end of the day, someone has to be the decision maker if you’re not in agreement, and so that was our way of handling. That was that he says you know, I’ll be the final in business and you can be the final at home. It’s, it’s. I mean, it’s worked.
Jay Robbb: 27:23
We don’t always stick with that no, but we’re pretty close with that. The key, the key here to understand, though, is that when we say we’re the final word, she’s the final word in the home, or whatever is that we consult with each other in depth, and so I don’t make any. Well, I’ve made a couple, and they were always my mistake. It was a big mistake, but without consulting. But I always consult her on all big anything I do. That’s big everything. When we we design everything, anything new for Amazon or website package or anything else, it’s run by you, because I You’re way better at certain visuals that women would like than I am, so I know better, and so I really consult with on everything I can think of. I don’t it’s a problem. It’s a problem not because you know she’s mad at me. It’s a problem because it won’t work, because I won’t make the right decision without consulting with the patrona.
Beth Robbb: 28:19
You know we value each other. You know opinions and it’s a respect thing and we are a partnership in life and so it’s important to do that, and we both have. And we pray.
Jay Robbb: 28:34
We both have an agreement that god first all decisions and we, right before we, came on today saying may we just share the words that uh would want us or she would want us so it’s always an honor, no matter. No matter what we do, we complement each other, and it’s been truly a blessing. Yeah, I feel truly blessed to have come into the into our world.
Niki Tshibaka: 28:56
That’s so cool, I mean it’s just. It’s just one of those important reminders that, like we are our own, like best allies, right like we’re, we’re in this together by hook or by crook. Like we are we’re, we’re tied to each other in a dissoluble bond. And so we’ve got to figure this business thing, this family thing, out. And when we do, man, what a powerful combination it can be when you have a couple who’s united in the mission and a vision and in it for the right reasons, and who love each other and want to see each other thrive, and you know, in everything that you’re doing.
Jay Robbb: 29:35
So it’s actually a word that works for both for you, it’s a synergy, it’s something greater when you put that together.
Niki Tshibaka: 29:44
So great, yeah, that’s that’s really. Yeah, synergy. And then turning to God, right, like, cause he helps also bring everything together. Right, Like, even if you’re disagreeing, if God says something else, like, okay, we can agree that God’s right and we’re wrong, let’s go. Let’s go with that, right.
Beth Robbb: 29:57
So we have a thing that whenever one of us let’s just say we’re having a discussion about something and then later on somebody comes in, one of us comes into the room and says, hey, I had this idea about what we were talking about and most this idea about what we were talking about, and most of the time when that person says, whatever that idea is, if the other person has already thought it, we know that’s god’s path. It’s like god shows up, it shows those signs to both of us around the same time, almost like within several minutes of the other person saying it, it’ll pop in the other one’s head. We’re like, oh my gosh, that just came in my head. That’s exactly what we need to do. And if that doesn’t happen, it’s kind of like I don’t know you know we both have to see the vision.
Beth Robbb: 30:41
We do, but we just know it. Inside, paying attention intuitively, cause I feel like the Holy spirit talks right to your gut.
Jay Robbb: 30:50
And the other important thing that I think has helped us work together and it was difficult in the beginning was that I said you can just be as adamant as you want about an opinion, because, let’s look at it, this is business. I need to know what you really really feel, not what you want me to hear. I don’t need a yes woman or a yes man. I don’t want that. I need to hear how you really feel about it. If it’s an idea and you don’t have to mention your words, you’re not going to hurt my feelings.
Jay Robbb: 31:15
It may I may. I may get wild, I may get crazy, I may come back at you, I said. But we need to be that way, to come to the conclusion of what we’re trying to decide from from true feelings and from from true understanding, and not be afraid to speak up, because that that could happen so easily. Someone might be timid, or well, I didn’t think he wanted to hear that, or I didn’t think she’d like that. So we’ve given each other permission and and it gets heated. I’m not going to deny that it gets heated, but it always comes out of the beautiful thing in the end because we’re being honest, are you talking about yesterday and the day before the week before Exactly.
Niki Tshibaka: 31:54
This just happened yesterday.
Beth Robbb: 31:56
As a matter of fact, it got so heated he had to yell out into the house to our girls Girls, we still love each other. We’re just getting something out and we’re just like it’s okay, we know.
Kelly Tshibaka: 32:08
That’s awesome. We had a friend over once and he he’s like, do I need to step out of the house? And I said no, why you guys are having a really bad fight.
Niki Tshibaka: 32:17
We’re so confused really well no, we’re not just having a discussion, we’re attorneys. So we’re used to going back and forth.
Kelly Tshibaka: 32:25
Right, this is just the first time we’ve gotten to connect with each other. This is actually really refreshing for us. I’m curious about a time when you guys have maybe had an opportunity to compromise on what you believed, or cut corners or, you know, give in, and then you decided not to and you had to stand and persevere, even if it came at a great cost. Do you have a story like that that you could share with us?
Jay Robbb: 32:56
Well, in my journey I’ve had a few of those, but uh, the first one was in my first, and I’ll go back to my bodybuilding gym cause. That’s where I got my roots. I was always tempted to let steroids in, let people do steroids push the drug, and so I said I’m not compromising. I never did so. I started my own. We did our own drug-free steroid, tested shows and competed in them and so on. That was the first one. Then gosh in the current company with the protein powder.
Jay Robbb: 33:24
It was always you know, you could, and I’ve talked about that before it was always compromising with artificial flavors. That was a huge thing back then. Oh, you can, but it would taste so much better because we can take this petroleum product and make it so much better. I said oh no, it has to be from a botanical. So that was always a tempted thing there. Then it became the sweetener issue.
Jay Robbb: 33:48
I said I refuse to compromise there. Then it was the. You could sell it to a large corporation. I said, but I don’t think they’d carry on the Jay Robb flag and torch. I don’t. I don’t think. I just feel like they would just turn it around as soon as I was out of the picture. So I refused to compromise there. And then I never compromised, for sure. With celebrity endorsements I let the celebrities endorse, you know, the Jim Carrey’s, all that. We’ve had a lot, you know, hopefully, and so on. With celebrity endorsements I let the celebrities endorse, you know, the Jim Carrey’s and all that. We’ve had a lot, you know. But we don’t, we don’t ever do anything, we just let them be nice. So I never compromised by trying to hire someone as the face for the company. That would, you know, sway people, and they really just do it for money, and so that was for sure one of the big. I will not compromise and I never had.
Niki Tshibaka: 34:35
Those are good.
Beth Robbb: 34:36
And we’ve had celebrities that have reached out, their agents not them, but their agents have reached out and said, hey, you know, and I’ll never forget Holly Madison, who is Hugh Hefner’s girlfriend, girlfriend next door, and she loved when, back when we had the J bars, she’d love those. And so her agent reached out and said listen, Holly’s going to be in I don’t know one of those okay weekly or one of those magazines, what I eat in a day. And you know we would like for an endorsement. And I said I’m sorry, but you know we just don’t do that Like. You know, we appreciate so much that she loves our bars and we’re just so, you know, just thank you so much for reaching out, but we just don’t do that Like either you do it out of the goodness of your heart or not.
Beth Robbb: 35:20
And he says you know, look, but you know this is how she makes her money. And I go no, I understand, but this is just something that to him. He called me, we talked on the phone, get off the phone, that next issue comes out. It was in there and I thought you know what Class act, that’s integrity, right there. It was her to say he could and he said I’m going to leave it up to Holly, and I just remember thinking that you know that’s class. I really, really appreciated that, Hugh Jackman.
Beth Robbb: 35:49
He was in people magazine. We never even got a phone call about him. He just mentioned the protein that you know. Yeah, I have it shipped out. We didn’t ship it. People shipped it out to Australia, like what? That’s class.
Jay Robbb: 36:01
I love that inspired me to think. You know, I always I’ll endorse or other people’s products for it. So it’s kind of a balancing actor, but we’ve been very blessed that way with a lot, of, a lot of famous people who were kind enough very much so to just give us, give us a plug, and and I again I said I I don’t want to pay anyone to do that, and so I always feel good about it that they endorse something for that yeah, it’s like your integrity is paid forward.
Jay Robbb: 36:34
Yeah, so we’re happy to all. Yeah, we’re happy to share that and do the same thing. So it’s. It’s been a beautiful experience. Yeah, I agree.
Beth Robbb: 36:40
Yeah.
Niki Tshibaka: 36:43
So we’re going to wrap up, but I want just 20 seconds, jay, if you can give us a 20 second what makes your product distinctive from all other similar products.
Jay Robbb: 36:56
You got 20 seconds, got uh, Jay Robb on the name, so you know I’ll never compromise. There was, I put my picture on there so that people would say he, he exists, he owns a company and he is going to stand behind what he produced, and that’s why I put my image on there, not so I go. Hey, look at me for sure. I stand behind this product and I will not compromise. I approve this message.
Kelly Tshibaka: 37:19
I approve this message jayRobbcom, J-A-Y-R-O-B-Bcom, and we can add to that list of celebrity endorsements Niki Tshibaka.
Beth Robbb: 37:30
And all 500 people in the world to know him.
Jay Robbb: 37:36
Coolest last name ever, ever.
Niki Tshibaka: 37:37
I like it. I go by Chewy, so you know it goes with the territory we’re coming up on a break.
Kelly Tshibaka: 37:41
This is standshow.org, Beth and Jay. Thanks so much for being on the show with us. This has been amazing.
Jay Robbb: 37:46
We love having you it’s been an honor, truly an honor. God bless you thanks so much.
Kelly Tshibaka: 37:51
It’s been an honor, truly an honor. God bless you. Yeah, god bless you. Thanks so much.
Niki Tshibaka: 38:04
That was an amazing conversation with what an incredible couple and an incredible story and journey that he, Jay Robb, took to from starting his own gym to creating this amazing product that has gotten all these celebrity endorsements that, as he talked about, he didn’t even have to pay for. I mean, the product spoke for itself and I loved hearing the stories of just people saying you know what? This is a great product without being asked to or without being paid to do it. I mean, that’s an amazing thing when a product stands for itself and speaks for itself. But one of the things I loved about that conversation, Kelly, was just the story of not only how they reconnected but also they’re working together as a couple in, you know, a major business enterprise and that’s not easy, right?
Niki Tshibaka: 38:58
We know the challenges and the stresses that come with business, with starting a business, with taking a business to the next level, and I think you made a good point.
Niki Tshibaka: 39:09
You’ve made a good point often that, like, even you know, managing a family is its own small business and so you’ve got a mom.
Niki Tshibaka: 39:20
You know managing that and then managing with her husband this big company, and how do they work together as a team and even if they have different perspectives or views, be on each other’s side because they know ultimately they share the same heart for the mission and vision. So it was just really encouraging to hear from them how they’ve navigated some of that. And of course, we’ve got our own small businesses ourselves and you know that’s been a journey of its own and what I’ve loved about it is incorporating our older kids in it and even you know some of our younger kids and sort of teaching them and you do a really great job modeling and mentoring our kids on different aspects of running a business and engaging with clients and talk about that a little bit with our audience because I think it’s just really cool. What’s it been like working with our daughter on political consulting and working with our daughter on political consulting and working with our son on the podcast and putting you know social media videos and things together?
Kelly Tshibaka: 40:30
One of the great opportunities, I think, for being in a family business is an opportunity to help our family members, especially our children, to get to have experiences that they wouldn’t have otherwise had, get to have experiences that they wouldn’t have otherwise had. And so I think you and I share the same value that one of our roles or purposes in life is to be able to use any strength or skill or opportunity we have to advantage others. And so in setting up the businesses, we have these experiences and opportunities that we can use to give to other people. And it’s really good training ground for the kids, to put them outside their comfort zone and give them opportunities to meet people and have experiences, job experiences that they wouldn’t otherwise have, and I really love that. It really challenges them because they have to step up to really kind of grow beyond their current skill set or ability. But they wouldn’t have that in a normal job right. Normally when you get out of school you start sort of at the bottom of the ladder and you have to work your way up in service industry jobs and then someone takes a chance on you and because it’s a family business, we can just throw them right in way above their, their swim level, if you will, and help teach them to swim quickly, and I think that’s a wonderful part of the family business.
Kelly Tshibaka: 41:46
One of the things I think we’ve encountered, and probably the Robbs have encountered, is how do we draw the lines between business and family, because it can be all consuming. I think running a business and starting businesses can really be. It’s just when do our work relationships end and family begin? And you always are taking work with you, because you know an entrepreneurial startup it doesn’t end. Anyone who’s in a small business knows that too. I don’t know that the entrepreneurial period ever ends when you’re in startup because, or in a small business because, there’s always challenges that you’re facing that you have to solution, and so I wanted to kick to you, Niki. We’ve been doing this a while. What have you found that’s actually worked best for our family and for our marriage as the solutions? For this is where work or shop talk ends, and then this is where relationship begins.
Niki Tshibaka: 42:39
Well, I think the solution has been very simply and succinctly summarized in two words Obey Kelly.
Kelly Tshibaka: 42:46
I was going to say mom’s right. Yeah, mom’s right, Obey.
Niki Tshibaka: 42:49
Kelly.
Kelly Tshibaka: 42:50
That’s actually a really good rule.
Niki Tshibaka: 42:53
I think the way that at least I’ve observed and I think we’ve kind of done it intuitively because as pastors when we were running our own church back in DC, it was the same kind of done it intuitively because as pastors when we were running our own church back in DC, it was the same kind of thing where you have?
Niki Tshibaka: 43:06
where do you put aside organizational things, ministry things, and not let it overflow into family things and whatnot? So I think what I’ve seen and I think has been very healthy, has just been a kind of a natural flow where we’ve just kind of integrated life and business and family, not in a kind of compartmentalized way but in a way that it’s like we have rhythms right as a family, and so it’s a good way of putting it.
Niki Tshibaka: 43:40
We have a rhythm about like when we’re doing the business stuff and then when we’re sort of pivoting and just going more into personal family time and when we’re mixing the two and it just feels natural and not forced, if that makes sense.
Kelly Tshibaka: 43:53
And.
Niki Tshibaka: 43:53
I think you can do that when you’re your own boss, right, like you have, so you can adjust things so that it fits with the rhythms of your life and the rhythms of your family and the rhythms of your relationships and whatnot.
Niki Tshibaka: 44:08
And you know, one of the tensions I see in a family business obviously is it’s a professional endeavor and it’s with personal relationships, right, and so there is some trickiness that can come in there. But I think the strong bonds as family are such a key and valuable piece of running a good business, right, because there’s that trust there that you don’t have to take a lot of time to build, that you might have to if you’re hiring a new person and you’re working with a new partner and whatnot, and you already have a really good idea of what people’s skill sets are and what their giftings are, and so, anyway, I think it’s been a lot of fun in a lot of ways I mean challenging, obviously and I get a lot of hope looking at stories like Jay Robb’s and Beth’s, where it has its challenges, but they stick true to the mission and the vision and they don’t give up and great things happen.
Niki Tshibaka: 45:13
So they’re farther ahead than we are, obviously, in our little entrepreneurial endeavors, but it’s a great thing to look at ahead and say, if we keep up in this direction and we just stay focused on the mission and don’t compromise our values that’s one of the other thing that came out. And I do not compromise your values, your mission and your integrity, because that’s that’s ultimately what makes their business thrive. And I would, I would say, just based on what I’m, what I we heard from them, I think the reason why they ended up getting all these you know, celebrity endorsements without even having to ask for them or pursue them, was because they never compromised on their integrity and the value of the product, because if they’d pass it on to somebody else, it probably would have gone a different direction.
Kelly Tshibaka: 45:55
Just another protein product. One of the things I think works really well for us too, I really appreciate about you is you’re always looking out for me. So I think business can be really hard and whether you’re running one, two or three businesses or the family unit that is a small business, it can just be really hard and really draining. And it can really become easy for business partners, otherwise known as spouses, to just slip into the business partner role and just become business partners and forget that they’re also marriage partners. And I think we heard that in what they were saying as well that there’s a relationship there that really supersedes and will go past whatever you’re doing in the time for business. And one of the things I was thinking is anytime we hit these stress points or we hit major problems, we don’t turn the problem on each other. We solution the problem together, even though in our stress behaviors we can turn against each other, or the way that someone is stressing out especially if I’m stressing out, it could be taken as personal because it’s not such a great reaction, but you’re really good at saying, hey, how can I help? What can I do? Is there anything I can do to help you? Can I go do this. You’ll even offer solutions. If I can’t think of things, how could I help you?
Kelly Tshibaka: 47:15
And I think taking care of the person that is your partner is really key to making sure that the business part succeeds and that you as a family operate really well together in communication and in solutioning. Because you’re bringing different personality sets and I’ve just remember like so many times we’ve been told it’s really unusual how you guys work. I think we work better together on projects than we do when we have our own separate things. So many times we’ve had our own separate things happening, but we actually work better when we’re on projects together, whereas most couples it is a strain on them and pulls them apart, and I think part of it is because of this caring for one another.
Kelly Tshibaka: 47:53
Well, I wanted to ask you about something he said that I thought was really interesting, where he essentially described the role of submitting one to another, and so it’s so important, especially with our biblical worldview, that a wife not women submit to a husband. And yet when you have business roles or you have roles in group missions, there are times, for example, when I have been, if you will, your boss, and yet we’re still married. And so can you just real quick describe for people how has that worked, where our marriage has stayed strong and yet we kind of do this do-si-do of? I have to make a decision, but then you make a decision and then I make a decision. How does that work practically from your perspective?
Niki Tshibaka: 48:38
That’s a really good question. I just think it’s really just remembering that we’re there to serve and love each other, in whichever role we’re functioning, whether as business partners, as marriage partners, as parents.
Kelly Tshibaka: 48:53
Right.
Niki Tshibaka: 48:54
And so, um, and that’s really you know, scripture is telling us like, um, the husband is to lay down his life for his wife and his children and the wife is to serve and support her husband and their children, and really that basically means, in my view, that in that marriage relationship, if anyone is going to sacrifice or anyone has to for lack of a better word suffer in a particular situation, it’s the husband. That’s my commitment as a partner is to lay down my life for my spouse, whether it’s in business or in marriage or in family, and I think that’s what’s made things work. And every man wants to be a hero and I don’t think there’s any more anything more heroic than laying your life down for your wife and your kids, whatever that might look like and on a particular day.
Kelly Tshibaka: 49:50
Well and you’re definitely my hero and I’d say from the wife’s perspective it’s about respecting and honoring you behind your back. So there are plenty of times that I would disagree with you and think, well, I wouldn’t have made that choice, especially when little people appeal to me and think that dad made the wrong choice about TV time or dessert, and instead I just honor the decision and say, if that’s what dad said, then that’s what dad said. I’m not going against dad and just having each other’s back that way, I think is really part of operating in tandem and as a duo and just respecting and honoring the choices that you make as my husband, who is my hero. So I think that’s a really good way of summarizing for people who are trying to figure out that dynamic. This has been another awesome episode of Stand. This is where we make courage contagious and take a stand for freedom, truth and government by the people. Thank you for being with us, Kelly, Niki Tshibaka you can find all of our awesome episodes on standshow.org. We’ll see you next time.