I’ve never spent time on Mars, but the first year on a very Italian cycling team - Liquigas - was like moving to another planet. Over time, I picked up the language, learned the ropes, got knocked around a little bit, and came out happy as a clam. You quickly learn that bike racing is bike racing, regardless your nationality or the continent on which you’re racing, it’s pretty straightforward. Bike races aren’t scripted, but you can guess how a race will go north of 90% of the time.

Similarly in business, each member of the UnTapped team has found our roles. It’s less delineated as compared to a cycling team, we at UnTapped all wear many hats, and each day is different with a new set of challenges, but with an ongoing conversation — conveniently, entirely in English — an ever flowing stream of texts, emails, and phone calls, our shared vision of the company pushes us forward every day.

Please excuse me sounding too hokey, UnTapped is an organic company that’s grown entirely organically. We have a checks and balances system since our founding members come from relatively different backgrounds but all stand by the same central ethos of making the best products that anyone would want to eat. We’re in 700 bike, ski, run, outdoor shops, cafes, and grocery stores and the goal is to continue growing that tenfold. So whether it’s going to events, camps, races, these are all places to demo product and get people to try UnTapped for the first time. That’s honestly the trick to success with this product: people try it and they’re hooked. It’s almost a lightbulb moment. UnTapped really is a different type of sports nutrition that spurs people to think about food as fuel differently. They’re immediately taken by it and want to use it, rather than somehow being convinced that the frankenfood traditionally stocked on sports store shelves is going to magically make them faster. It’s part of the modern movement recognizing that real foods are the obvious answer to the sports focused pseudofoods.

Finding My Balance

Grinduro by Lindsay Dwyer

Data in Triathlon by Thorsten Radde