Gabe Carimi: Why Former NFL Pros Need To Acknowledge Their Limitations To Succeed In Business

As a part of our series about how successful “athlete turned entrepreneurs” thrive both professionally and personally, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Gabe Carimi.

Gabe Carimi is a former American football guard and tackle in the NFL having played for the Chicago Bears, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Atlanta Falcons. After retiring from the NFL, Gabe co-founded a healthy meat snack company, Stryve, to help America snack better. This Texas-based startup produces biltong, a popular South African snack that’s a better alternative to beef jerky because it’s air dried, all natural, and has more protein in every bite.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! It is a great honor. What or who inspired you to pursue your career as a high-level professional athlete?

Playing sports was an outlet for me — I always loved being active and playing games. After I found football, I fell in love with it, but that happened a little later for me than most kids. I was about 12 years old when I started playing, so it wasn’t until later in high school when I saw football as something I could really invest my time and energy in. That’s when I decided to pursue playing in college with the dream that I would work my way up to the National Football League.

Can you share the funniest or most interesting mistake that occurred to you in the course of your sports career? What lesson or take away did you learn from that?

I should start by giving some context: my family wasn’t always sports oriented. We had musicians, doctors, and artists in our family, but no athletes. On my very first day of football practice, I put on my pads, shoes, and uniform. No one in my family had played football before, so we were just winging it… when I got out to the field, the team pointed out that my thigh pads were on my knees and my knee pads were on my thighs.

I learned that everyone needs help along their journey and that we can’t succeed solely on our own.

OK, thank you for all of that. Let’s now shift to the core focus of our interview. Can you tell us the story of your transition from a professional athlete to a successful businessperson?

The path to becoming a successful businessperson is one I’m still on, but I’ve been able to make this transition thanks to an incredible team of people. As an athlete, your team is everything — it takes finding the right people with the right skills who balance one another and can work together to ultimately find success. It’s the same in business. I’ve worked hard to put together a team of people who build up each other’s strengths in support of our common goal to help Americans snack healthier with Stryve.

What are some of the most interesting or exciting new projects you are working on now?

A few years ago — with the help of some amazing partners — we founded Stryve, a healthy snacking company. At Stryve, we believe in giving people healthy snacking options. That started with introducing biltong (an air-dried beef snack that originated in South Africa) to the U.S. Over the past three years, we’ve established Stryve as the largest producer of biltong in the country and in 2020, we’re launching an entirely new brand campaign. We’ve created a new look to go along with the great-tasting, zero sugar meat snacks offered by Stryve. We hope this new look will stand out on shelf and let all snackers know they can really have it all: snacks that are delicious and healthy.

Do you think your experience as a professional athlete gave you skills that make you a better entrepreneur? Can you give a story or example about that?

Absolutely. My time as an athlete taught me the importance of teamwork. Although not everyone likes to admit it, there are limits to an individual’s knowledge and skills. That’s why it’s important to partner with others who have different strengths.

As one of Stryve’s co-founders, I’ve used that mindset to help build our company’s team. I had to reflect on my own limitations and expertise, then look to others to lead the way in the areas they knew best. That’s how Stryve was created and how it became the largest producer of biltong in the country.

In my work, I focus on how one can thrive in three areas, body, mind, and heart. I’d like to flesh this out with you. You are a very busy leader with a demanding schedule. Can you share with our readers two self-care routines, practices or treatments that you do to help your body to thrive? Kindly share a story or an example for each.

Right now, I’m working to improve my functional bodyweight strength. Even though I’m no stranger to a weight room, I’ve always found functional strength particularly difficult and thought it was something I wasn’t good at. I’ve spent the last four months pushing myself out of my comfort zone, looking a bit ridiculous in the weight room in the process. I still have a way to go, but this is the only body I’ve been given, so I’m going to continue to push myself to take the best care of it.

The other thing I’m doing is laying off the snooze button. When my alarm rings, I get out of bed immediately. It tells my body that it’s time to wake up and go. I’ve seen such in a difference in how I feel physically and I’m mentally prepared to take on the day.

You are a person of enormous influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

I think that’s honestly the journey I’m on today. I want to give people the healthy foods they’re looking for because I know healthy eating can improve all aspects of one’s life. People are more considerate of what they put in their bodies, but they still have trouble finding options that are easy, accessible and enjoyable. Being healthy and treating your body well shouldn’t be a privilege, it should be for everyone. I challenge anyone who creates products for consumers to create better, healthier options!

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!

About the Author:

Ming Zhao is an entrepreneur, business strategist, investor and podcast host. She is co-founder and CEO of PROVEN Skincare, a technology-powered personalized skincare company that won MIT’s AI Technology of the Year award and is backed by Y-Combinator and Stanford StartX. She is an immigrant, a third-generation entrepreneur, and a mother whose daughter is the same age as her startup. Prior to founding PROVEN, Ming was a private equity investor where she frequently worked 80-hour weeks, wreaking havoc on her skin and soul, leading her to pursue personalized skincare. She has an MBA from Harvard University and lives with her family in San Francisco, CA. Check out PROVEN’s Skin Genome Quiz at www.ProvenSkincare.com.