I started the month in Nashville and then sweltered out in the Austin summer heat for a while before capping off the month in New York (where I’m sending this to you from now). Read on below for more!

Nashville

On June 2nd The Meat Mafia hosted our very first event!

The idea for the event was incepted in mid-April when one of our founders chatted with a fitness coach about doing a live podcast in his hometown of Nashville to promote his newly launched book. Fast forward six weeks and the concept had suddenly evolved into a day-long Alternative Health Summit with speakers and panelists slated from 9am-6pm, sponsors, swag bags, a catered lunch, and ticketed guests.

I was a bit nervous about us throwing this event together on such short notice, but with it happening, all I could do was lean in and do my part to make sure it went as well as possible.

Our team flew in the day before and immediately headed over to the venue — a beautiful space close to the Vanderbilt campus that used to house Florida Georgia Line’s recording studio.

We spent the afternoon assembling banners, filling swag bags, and getting the room ready for the event. Once everything was in good shape, we dropped our stuff at our Airbnb and had a team dinner at a local steakhouse before turning in for the night.

On the morning of the 2nd, we woke up and it was go time! We made a quick trip to the local FedEx to print schedules and flyers and then we booked it over to the venue to make last-minute preparations before attendees arrived.

Soon enough people began to trickle in, and while working the check-in table, I found it fascinating how many people traveled quite a distance to attend. Some people drove 4-to-6 hours, and others flew in specifically for the Summit. It was awesome to see The Meat Mafia brand have that type of stickiness and appeal that people were excited to make these long treks — especially since promotion of the event only started a month prior.

Overall, the event couldn’t have gone a whole lot smoother. We had about 60 people in the room, with a high concentration of high-caliber folks in the alternative health space. The schedule of speakers flowed well, our sponsors were well-represented, the catered meal was great, and we captured quality content for future repurposing.

But what I was most pleasantly surprised by was how much value I personally got from our speakers and panelists. I didn’t join The Meat Mafia for the mission — I more so joined because I really like the founders and was excited about the operational role and impact I could have on the team. But after listening to the knowledge that experts in the room shared about all things diet, nutrition, health, and the food system, I both learned a lot and came away inspired by the message that our brand espouses. I’m proud that The Meat Mafia provides a mouthpiece for experts to share information that people should know about their health, and that we promote brands with products that help people live healthier lives.

I came home energized to grow The Meat Mafia further. And with this event going well despite only six weeks of lead time, I’m excited to see what our team is able to do for future events with more time for planning and promotion 😊

Austin

After the Nashville trip, I spent the next several weeks back home in Austin. And despite the immense heat (it hit over 100 degrees almost every day in June), I still had a fun (albeit sweaty) time in the city.

Highlights included playing pickleball after work on Fridays and attending a grill out with The Meat Mafia guys on Steak Saturday. I went to a brewery called Jester King that has 80 goats on its property and saw the comic Neal Brennan perform a standup set at the Paramount Theater. And this past weekend, I had a great night with friends at bars on the east side of town as we sent my friend Luke off with a bang prior to his move back to Chicago 😊

New York

My friends Wes and Sloane are getting married tomorrow! The wedding is in the Catskills, so I decided to use the occasion as an excuse to visit friends in New York City for a couple of days before and after.

I flew in on Wednesday and crashed with my friend Brendon for the first two nights. And now, I’m crammed into a car with four other guys and our suitcases as we drive three hours upstate from Manhattan.

I’ll be in NYC til July 9th and am looking forward to spending quality time with friends out here. Full updates on the trip to come next month!

Monthly Favorites

🎵 Song: Party & Bullshit (In the USA) by Notorious B.I.G. and Miley Cyrus – I re-stumbled upon one of those mashup songs that I used to listen to in high school and I’m embarrassed to admit it’s been my most listened-to song of the month. But I gotta say: just immaculate summer vibes here from Biggie and Miley 🌞

📝 Article: Isolation And Triumph In MLB’s Plague Season by Richard Staff — A great article on the 29 baseball players whose only taste of the MLB was in the fan-devoid, pandemic-shortened 2020 season. These were players who worked their whole lives to make it to the majors, but when they finally achieved their dreams, the reality of their experience could not have been less fulfilling. They played in empty stadiums. And not only could they not have their family experience their debuts, but they also had to quarantine away from them for months. I found this anecdote about Johan Quezada to be particularly saddening:

📫 Product: Stable — This one is for the business homies out there! My friends Collin and Sarah founded Stable to provide companies with a permanent address and virtual mailbox. In the world of remote work, flexible work settings, and coworking spaces, knowing where to send your mail in a way that’s reliable and not ever-changing is a huge pain. But Stable makes it easy! I got The Meat Mafia rolling with the service and we were set up with a permanent Austin address where our mail gets sent before getting scanned for us to view online. If we want physical copies of the mail, they’ll forward it to us wherever we happen to be. And they have a 1-click check deposit process baked in as well. If interested, use my referral link (here) to get 20% off for your first year!

Thanks for reading! As always, if anything I shared resonated with you, I’d love for you to shoot me a reply 😊

Til Next Month,

Ben