Howard Panes of Stealth Fitness & The Think Billions Experience on Overcoming Failed Startups, Cultivating a Billion-Dollar Mindset, and Prioritizing Health

Startups usually start with a small cohort of close colleagues. But what happens when you add a bunch of new people into this close cohort? How do you maintain the company culture? In addition, what is needed to successfully scale a business to increase market share or to increase offerings? How can a small startup grow successfully to a midsize and then large company?

To address these questions, we are talking to successful business leaders who can share stories and insights from their experiences about the “5 Things You Need To Know To Scale Your Business Successfully”. As a part of this series, we had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Howard Panes.

Howard Panes is a Pioneer, Innovator, Billion Dollar Brand Builder, Serial Entrepreneur, and Venture Capitalist. CEO and Founder of LOGIC e-cigarettes, Stealth Fitness, Think Billions Experience, and co-founder of Mighty Yum. Howard Panes urges the world to care about their own health and fitness by living and breathing it every single day through his brands. Think Billions is a revolutionary way of thinking that has helped Panes reach the highest pinnacles of success. It’s something he wishes for others who are out there working tirelessly to create the life of their dreams.

Thank you for joining us in this interview series. Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory?’

Thank you so much for having me. I have lived and breathed health and wellness my entire life. Health is wealth. Bottom Line. I knew I had a bigger mission to help more of the world with health and fitness, and I did this by living and breathing it every single day through the innovation of all of my brands.

Many people know me as the “King of E-cigs” because of my innovation and success in pioneering the disposable electronic cigarette and creating a revolutionary business I later sold to Japan Tobacco. I continue to innovate health and wellness through Stealth Fitness, the world’s first gamified planking board, doing workouts fast, fun, and effective.

Today, in addition to Stealth Fitness, I am also co-founder of a plant-based company called Mighty Yum. I also recently launched a new initiative: Think Billions — which is a cultural revolution that will take the world by storm. Too often, we are plagued by scarcity. Rather than living in abundance, we continuously fear what tomorrow might hold. I know this because I lived this way for years until I broke free of the cycle by taking my health, wealth, and mindset to the next level. Think Billions is a revolutionary way of thinking that has helped me reach the highest pinnacles of success. It’s something I hope to share with others to help them create the life of their dreams.

You’ve had a remarkable career journey. Can you highlight a key decision in your career that helped you get to where you are today?

It wasn’t as much of a singular decision as it was the pact I made with myself never to give up. Although I’ve ultimately achieved this level of success, it certainly didn’t come easily. The best thing I did was not give in to doubt and fear but rather continue to create, build, and learn. When I started LOGIC, I was down on my luck. My business partner and I had only $20,000 to start this company. But by cultivating the right mindset, we took that company to 10 figures within 18 months. If I had given up after my numerous failed businesses, I would never have reached the success I have today. It was the grit and determination I had to get where I am now, and I thank myself every day for that.

What’s the most impactful initiative you’ve led that you’re particularly proud of?

That would be my newest project, the Think Billions Experience. I’ve brought together the most forward-thinking, innovative, billion-dollar brand builders from all industries and put them into the same room, making it one of the highest net worth events of 2022. This three-day experience teaches the newest minds of business how to think, live, and make deals like a billionaire, essentially creating a space for the newest, most ground-breaking innovations to come to life.

What I really want to be taken away from this experience is The Think Billions Event is more than a fun weekend. It is really a lifelong mentality, a movement. I used to spend so much time worrying about things I couldn’t control and operating from the point of scarcity, never getting where I needed to be. When I decided to really just take life by the reins and started taking care of myself, mentally and physically, that’s when my business’s profits soared. Your health is wealth. If you have your health, you have everything, and I want to share this with others.

Sometimes our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a mistake you’ve made and the lesson you took away from it?

I am a firm believer that there are no mistakes, only lessons. What other people might see as a mistake, I consider a valuable opportunity to learn something new and gain momentum faster. This kind of thinking has helped me learn fast and create even faster growth. I also believe it’s critical to believe in yourself and bet on yourself. The best ROI has resulted from me going all in on my ideas and goals. You will never go wrong if you invest in and bet on yourself.

How has mentorship played a role in your career, whether receiving mentorship or offering it to others?

The most important conversations you’ll ever have are the ones that take place in your own head. If you don’t feel you are worthy of making billions, you won’t. But, when you surround yourself with the right people, you start to develop a better mindset. Mentorship aided me in crafting that billion-dollar mindset. That is really what the Think Billions Experience is about. Without mentorship and surrounding myself with the right people, it would have been a lot harder for me to develop the mindset that helped me become a billion-dollar brand builder, and I want to help others to reach that point.

Developing your leadership style takes time and practice. Who do you model your leadership style after? What are some key character traits you try to emulate?

The best leader I learned from was also my first leader, my mom. She is an incredible entrepreneur and I learned so much watching her build businesses. Her work ethic, resilience, persistence, and drive have inspired me and helped me grow in leadership and in business. She is the best example of entrepreneurial leadership and it definitely shaped a lot of who I am today.

Thank you for sharing that with us. Let’s talk about scaling a business from a small startup to a midsize and then a large company. Based on your experience, can you share with our readers the “5 Things You Need To Know To Scale Your Business” Successfully?

You need to have guts. If you don’t go out there and try, you won’t get the results you want. The first thing you need to do when scaling your business is simply get out there and start.

1. Don’t give up — Entrepreneurship is hard. You WILL fail. It’s not a matter of IF, it’s a matter of when. If I didn’t try, fail, and try again, I would not have the success I do today. I had 29 businesses fail before I got my first business off the ground from $20K to $100M. If you want your win, try and try again.
2. Make health a priority — Your health, mind, and body, are everything. Without your health, you have nothing. Make this a priority in your life, and the money will come.
3. Stay focused — I see so many entrepreneurs trying to do a million things themselves. You don’t need to do that. One idea can make you a billion dollars. Find that billion-dollar idea and remain focused and…
4. Surround yourself with good people — nothing great can be done alone. Build a great team around you that all have the same vision you do.

Can you share a few of the mistakes that companies make when they try to scale a business? What would you suggest to address those errors?

Many companies make a huge mistake in scaling their businesses by hiring too many people too fast. Having new team members is great — only if the profits allow it. When you hire a bunch of new employees with the idea that your company is growing exponentially, this can actually end up hurting you. The market can turn on a dime, and it is much easier to hire another employee than let one go. So hire sparingly, and make sure when you do hire, you are hiring the right people.

Another mistake I see being made is getting sloppy with your current clients in pursuit of new ones. It is easy to get excited about your company’s growth, but loyal clients are the heart of a brand. One of the things we walk through at the Think Billions Experience is how to balance that line — how to continue seeking growth and opportunity while maintaining loyalty and consistency. It really is a balancing act, but creating and/or enacting systems to help you monitor that balance is key.

Scaling includes bringing new people into the organization. How can a company preserve its company culture and ethos when new people are brought in?

It really comes down to knowing who you are as a brand. If you don’t know who you are, and your company just sways wherever the market takes it, you will never be able to hit #1. The brands I have built into billion-dollar empires get there because they know who they are and their value. When you know what your company offers and the value it brings, everything you do is going to then speak for itself. I think the best way to do this is to be upfront. Be transparent about who you are as a brand and what your clients and future employees can expect by interacting with you. If you do that, both employees and prospective clients will be attracted to it. Authenticity is power, always.

Many times, a key aspect of scaling your business is scaling your team’s knowledge and internal procedures. What tools or techniques have helped your teams be successful at scaling internally?

To scale a team, you have to get them on board with your vision, your mission, and your brand. You have to get them to think alike and work alike. To inspire others is to grow a brand at a rapid speed and have a team that is fully invested. The Think Billions brand is shifting the way entrepreneurs think and do business. After all, we are just one mind shift, one connection, and one idea away from billions. If you are ready to join one of the highest net worth events and immerse yourself with business tycoons and billion dollars brand builders to think billions, live billions, and deal billions, you can check us out at events.thinkbillions.com.

What software or tools do you recommend to help onboard new hires?

We leverage a lot of different tools in our business, but the two that we use often are Slack, for communications, and Monday, for project management. Both tools help with onboarding employees but also help with keeping your team organized.

Because of your role, you are a person of significant influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most people, what would that be? You never know what your ideas can trigger.

I inspire a movement of Health, Wealth, and Mindset. My mission is to urge the world to focus on health and wellness by living and breathing it every day. To build a cultural revolution by taking the world’s health, wealth, and mindset to the next level. A movement of a new evolutionary way of thinking to help others reach their highest pinnacles of success. It’s something he hopes to embark on for others who are out there working tirelessly to create the life of their dreams.

The greatest gift I can inspire in others is to encourage them to value their Health, Wealth, and Aspirational Mindset and to show them how to reach their greatest potential. I’ve experienced a scarcity mindset, and I’ve allowed myself to be held back by a poor mindset, but I’ve built a revolutionary way of thinking that can literally cause a cultural revolution of health and wealth. There are so many smart, talented people who are working tirelessly and not seeing results. My mission is to help others achieve as much success as they can by associating with the right people and building their mental strength.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

www.events.thinkbillions.com

@howardpanes

This was truly meaningful! Thank you so much for your time and for sharing your expertise!