Jane Piana interview
Jane tells us about starting business with Rich and how hard they worked in the beginning.
Jane Bought in to 5 percent Nutrition when Rich was alive and is now I think a 50 percent owner of the company. She and Rich worked hard at all the ideas Rich had and deserves credit for all the backstage work that she've done. Here her tell her story in this interview.
"My name is Jane Piana, ex-wife to Rich Piana. I was the one that worked with him to create five percent nutrition. We've been co-workers, best friends, co-partners, husband and wife, then best friends after, up until the moment he passed. So that is kind of my legacy is to try to bring his vision and keep it keep promoting his vision and get, you know, all the things he wanted done.
Rich was as you all know, his mind was going all the time and we had started probably a million businesses I don't even know how many, but so many had failed, so many were successful, but he was always going on to the next project. He's always since I met him, I met him when he was 18.
He has always said he wanted a supplement company. That was his final vision and he finally found a way to make it happen. And when he did he took me in and said >>Hey look I know I can trust you even though we're divorced, I know you're a good business partner and we've always worked great together<<. So he asked me to help him and I did, and for the first four or five years we worked every single day, seven days a week, 12 to 15 hour days without any income. We took the money, every cent we made in the company, we reinvested in the company and he and I both took zero income we didn't have any money from the company.
Oh god that was 2010, 11, 12, 13, 14 somewhere in all of those years.
Rich had you know his personal training business and this and that and he asked me to quit my work to put 100 percent time into this company so having done that I.. actually... this is so weird because we were divorced I moved in with Rich and his girlfriend at the time. And I had the back bedroom so that we could conserve as much money as possible so we didn't have two or three homes that we were maintaining. So this way Rich and I and his girlfriend and I we all could just survive on the minimum amount of payments and invest all the money back into the company and that is exactly what we did until we get to the point where the apparel line became successful enough that we had the money to put into the supplement company. And then the supplement company took off from there. And we moved it to Florida, where there was you know it's cheaper to have all of the supplies and warehouse and everything. Taxes is cheaper, rentals rents cheaper so on and so forth.
And that's exactly what we did and then after that slowly. I remember when I got excited because I was getting ten dollars an hour working 14-hour days //she laughs // I was so grateful for ten dollars an hour and when I see people now that they don't even work want to work for ten dollars an hour. I was like I was grateful for that because I spent five years without any income.
We didn't go we didn't go crazy with products initially. We started with one product, which was a pre-workout, it was Kill It. And we started with that and we wanted to see how that would do and how that would launch. So we started with one flavor one product that did well so we branched out to multiple flavors then we branched out from there to branch chain amino acids. So we slowly added one product at a at a time and as the years progressed we were adding you know several products, you know. And they were going through testing phases and everything else and researching ingredients to make sure we have the maximum ingredients in there. The ingredients that have the most effectiveness and no fillers . Because Rich was you know having been bodybuilding having taken products he was really really passionate that >>I want the most effective stuff I want it to be the most effective and only the ingredients that are effective effective will be in my products period<<.
And so that was a passion for him and he didn't want to rip off his customers so that was his thing and we still follow that today..” - Jane Piana
When Rich passed august 2017 the 5 percent company was hit hard.
”Well what happened as soon as he passed uh our sales and everything just plummeted. We didn't think we're going to make it through because you know people assumed that when he passed the company was going to just close down. They didn't realize I was still there and there was still it was still in effect, so we had a hard time from that but then the fans and the loyal customers saw that we were still there, they were buying products. And then of course Covid hits yeah.
I am so blessed in the sense that our company and our customers are so loyal that they they they were still buying our products even through Covid so I am honored and blessed to have those kind of fans.” – Jane Piana
Finally the company started to become stable.
”We've been blessed because rich has started multiple apparel companies. We had started so many businesses before, you know, we had eight rental properties in Texas that we we did that, and he had invested in the stocks and done daily trades.
He had gone through so many different hats and so many businesses I think that when we finally got to this business we had a little bit of a successful formula that we had or you know from all our previous failures we had learned what we need to do to stop to avoid those same mistakes.
And because of that this company finally, you know, after 20-something years we finally found a way to make it work. Everything else we'd started did well and then failed and then we found mistakes, we started something else it was just something you know mistakes but we lucked out on this one the trajectory was pretty consistent, not always straight up you know sometimes we kind of you know made a little got a little bit of business and such and then slowly just wound up being kind of an even at keal and then it went up a little. We've been lucky that way this business was the one that took off and stayed kept growing but we've had so many that didn't." //Laughter//. - Jane Piana
Rich like going on cruises.
”I got very distorted because I was around Rich since he was 18 and he was growing you know and then we were we started dating it when he was 21. And because he was such a big guy and he just kept growing and growing and growing I started thinking that was a normal sized man, right.
Then i would go places and I'd meet someone, they're like >>Oh my man works out<< and you know and then I'd meet their husbands and I'm like >>Oh he looks like, you know, a male model like GQ yeah you know, he looks like a gymnast, he has a body of a gymnast or something.
It wasn't until we separated that I kind of was like >>wait a second this is... that's not a normal sized human<<, you know” //She laughs //.
//Jump //
”He was obsessed with making 300. and I remember when he finally did got to 300 pounds. It was when we were on a cruise and he was eating as much as he could and he finally reached 300 pounds right toward the end of our cruise he was so excited.” //Laughs // - Jane Piana
Rich routine on the cruise.
”What i had posted online too was his or our eating schedule when we were on a cruise is to get up in the morning do some cardio on fasted stomach then, have the breakfast buffet at six a.m then have the sit down formal breakfast at nine a.m then have the lunch buffet at 11 a.m. Then have a formal dinner lunch at 1pm. Then have the afternoon snack buffet bar at 3 p.m then have the 6 p.m buffet. Then have the 8 p.m formal sit down dinner then go to a restaurant around 10 or 11 o'clock at night and then go back to the state room and order room service.”
”Yeah and, you know, he trained twice a day in between that and it was just hysterical because the cruise was his favorite place because there was tons of food. Whatever he wanted they custom made everything for him because once he got on there and the cooks and the chef saw him every day and what he wanted they just started preparing things that he wanted ahead of time. And that was his favorite thing to do. And I remember the first cruise I went on with him I was trying to keep up with him eating wise, I can't. I mean, I had just met him so we we were kind of new so i hadn't quite figured out how to do this. So every meal that he sat down and I have a bite or two of this and that well i gained 17 pounds in a week. Yeah it was it was all a lot of water because when I got back within three days I lost 14 of it but you know, it was just that was how much water retention and and bloat I had. And after that i learned you just have to sit with him you just keep him company and let him feed his face.” – Jane Piana
We all remember the incident where Mac Trucc shows up and sort of wants a fight with Rich at an Expo.
”There was two different incidences but the one um was Mac Trucc he used to be sponsored by our company and then when he had a kind of a..He was using Rich for things and Rich said >>Hey you know I'm no longer going to you know have you as part of my team<<.
He got very upset. He came to an expo and he wanted to attack Rich and cause chaos. And we didn't expect it but he shows up and he had a camera and tried to take a punch, you know, sucker punch, and of course our whole team went out there after him. And it was just it was stupid but you know” [...]” There was all these big guys that were really ready to take on Mac's group of guys but Rich sat there and was yelling at everyone and said >>calm down it's an Expo<<
>>We are not getting into this<<, so he kept every he kept it from going, escalating and um and I'm glad because the thing is he kept in mind that it's a business. We're at an expo we are not here to start a gang fight. And even though the guy tried to take a sucker punch and get drama for his Youtube video to get youtube clicks, you know just clickbait, Rich didn't let it get to that point I mean it did start to escalate but Rich was too busy screaming at everyone to calm down. So i mean if he hadn't we probably would have been kicked out of the fit expo. And probably never been able to come back but because Rich did not instigate it nor did he let it accelerate um they came by and they questioned everybody and pretty much let it go.” – Jane Piana
Jane continues:
”It started out with ”One day you may” and that that the end of that basic sense is one day you may if you go 100 percent try to do whatever you can get whatever you want. One day you may, you will succeed. Just you need to do it and then he went with ”Love It Kill It”. Which is basically if you love something basically kill it, go for it 100 percent, balls to the wall, don't stop.
And then 5 percent would be 5 percent of the people that becomes successful because they do whatever it takes to get to where they're going. And Rich always had that, and I think because when he was younger he struggled himself,, he was always physically and athletically superior. But one thing he didn't have is he had a memory disorder and a speech impediment when he was younger so he was with the slow class in school. So the way for him to excel and not be picked on was to use his athletic superiority to become an incredible athlete in the school. But because of him feeling like he wasn't quite brain brainy smart enough and this and that he always wanted to bring people together and let them know that you can do it. >>If I can do it you can do it. Anyone can do it. Just don't let anyone tell you you can't<<. So that was his motivation.” – Rich Piana
”I do affirmations every day in gratitude because the point is if we're not it's so easy to become complacent in our lives. Where we have a nice home, we have a car that works we have a job so then what happens is you start looking for things that are missing in your life and you focus on the missing. And you don't appreciate what you do have. So I think part of life is is learning gratitude for the things you do have. Because if you have good family, you have good friends, you have a place to live you have a car that works you have a job that produces start with that.
If you wake up and you can do some gratitude about the things you do have, it changes your whole perception. And if you're grateful for the things you can and if you look forward to the future and you have gratitude for the fact that you have this opportunity, to become better. You know, you're working on becoming better whatever whether it's business relationships whatever fitness. If you focus on that, focus on the positive you bring that to you. I don't believe in focusing on negative things.
Rich taught me that, and if you focus on negative all you do is wallow in your misery. If you focus on positive you wind up.. you don't even realize that your brain will set you up to incrementally start moving towards your goal if you're focused on it.” – Jane Piana
”Rich lived his life whatever he wanted he became so focused on that it became his obsession and he always produced it. Because he was focused on it so I am trying to implement that in my life also, to have something you know to to to be positive to focus on the positive the things I want, not on the things that yeah maybe they're not so great in my life. Focusing on that doesn't do anything, it doesn't serve a purpose.” – Jane Piana
Reference:
The Corey Miceli Show [YouTube channel], (march. 2022). Jane Piana | Strong Business Woman and Rich Piana's Ex Wife | Ep19 Part 1. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2i-U5pzh4Q
The Corey Miceli Show [YouTube channel], (march. 2022). Jane Piana | Strong Business Woman and Rich Piana's Ex Wife | Ep19 Part 2. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJNtSbwUTe0
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