Changing Diets to Change Lives with Joe Halbmaier

Joe Halbmaier (1)

Growing Up

I wanted to be a professional golfer [laughs]. I did actually go and attempt to get on tour, so that was cool. I also wanted to be free. I noticed when I grew up, my parents and my neighbors were always struggling. They just weren't happy with it. They were always worried about getting laid off [and] I knew I just wanted to be free. Even when I was [in] middle school, I started saying to myself, "I'm going to be able to be retired by the time I'm forty." I've always had the entrepreneurial mindset.

The people that had the things I wanted in life were typically business owners. They could create their own schedule to some degree. They weren't being told they had to be at the office [because] they got to create the office hours. Those were the things that I always wanted to have. Even now, I don't like being told I have to be somewhere at a certain place or time [so] I believe I was destined to be an entrepreneur.

Thrive Wellness Club (2)

Here and Now

Basic things that I do is I help people nutrition-wise, understanding nutrition, help weight management. I also help people mentally [and] help people build a business, so earning extra money around what they currently do. When I help people with their businesses, they're creating a business to some degree that is very much like mine. We're helping them understand the fundamentals of the products that we use and the impact that it has on people.

His Calling

I think the biggest sealing moment for me when I knew that I was supposed to do this was when I was at my kids' school. One of my daughter's friends was ten years old [and] diagnosed with type-two diabetes. I knew at that moment that this is just wrong. I have five kids and I don't want them growing up in that world of "Okay, well here we are." We're so malnourished or over-nutrient, getting in that bad stuff that now all of a sudden people are getting put on medication at ten, that used to be a fifty or sixty-year-old's medication. It used to be called adult on-set [diabetes]. I knew at that point I [need to] educate enough people, at least around my circle of influence so my kids have a chance to know a different way.

One of the things that helped me right away in the beginning was bonding with my own mom. She struggled with type-two diabetes, so did my aunt and a lot of people. I never had an answer or solution to that. She was taking medications, changed her nutritional habits and got taken off of her medication. She was a different human being. I was always close to my mom, but it was good for me to do something back. That was the one that stuck with me for fifteen years or so.

There's such a huge struggle with it right now and [I've been] given so much information over the last sixteen years. I did it to be at home with family and to be able to create that freedom I was looking for and we created that. Once I created that freedom, I was able to retire, [and] not really have to work because I needed to work. We were continually helping others and that was a cool thing to see. There was a lot of people being helped. I didn't need to go out and work for the money 'cause it was [already] being made.

There was one day I was with my kids and wife on a walk. It was an awesome summer day, lots of sunshine, it was beautiful. Kids are riding their bikes, rollerblading, walking with us, and the dog was with us. All the kids had gone up ahead of my wife and I, and I remember bursting out in tears but couldn't figure out why, I had this emptiness. That was an opening moment for me 'cause I noticed it kept happening, I felt empty inside. I didn't have a place like this [gestures towards his store]. An office space to come in and get introduced to a different quality of life. That was a powerful moment for me. I'm a believer, I believe in Jesus, so I believe that he was saying, "Hey, you're not doing enough of what you should be doing." I started looking at the stats and it's so true. What I do have is the solution to an issue, a couple issues that keep increasing in a negative way. That was my eye-opening moment and that was when I opened up a couple of nutrition clubs.

Impacts

The first [change] people see is physically. When they start getting good nutrition in and they start changing, all of a sudden they feel better, that's how I felt when I first started. Being a high school, college, multi-sport athlete, I thought I felt good, but I didn't know what good felt like until I started changing my dietary habits. Most people notice they feel different and unfortunately [with] the obesity and people being overweight, there's a lot of that going on so they start noticing they look different. I think the coolest thing is when people just become different, all of a sudden they're a different person. I like seeing people. Seeing people improve what they want to improve. I'm a bridge to that, in many different ways. I want to keep being the best I can be and hopefully that rubs off on others. I focus on the best version of me I can be and hopefully that'll impact my kids and I see that change.

Joe's Team (3)

I've been doing this for sixteen years. I have teammates that I now call family. There's people in Chicago that I would do whatever for; people outside of my team that are our friends now that if they needed something, I'd be there for them. It's been a great thing.

I'd love to see the numbers start to come in [the] opposite direction, especially the childhood obesity. I'd love to see communities have places where there's more wellness and nutrition resources, but I don't know if it'll happen before I leave. My one thing to keep with everyone is to not let fear hold you back. I love the quote from Gandhi, "Be the change you wish to see in the world." Then continue to work on yourself 'cause that's the only thing you can change. 

Legacy
I'd like to be remembered as an optimistic person that gave everybody a chance to be the best they can be. Also, a great dad that was there for his kids, and a wonderful husband that supported his wife and what she wanted to do in life. I see so many people these days [where] that isn't the case. When I said, "I do" to my wife, I said, "I will do whatever you want to do. I'll support you as long as I'm not doing anything immortal, unethical, or illegal" [laughs]. That's how I want to be remembered.

Story facilitators: Noah Greensweig, Mariah Colucci, and Kathy Vang