Around 2008 I weighed more than 450 pounds. When I finally committed to changing that, I went on a strict bodybuilder diet: boiled chicken, steamed broccoli, no sauces and no sugar. I lost 88 pounds in the first three months and more than 250 pounds in total. To get there I had to learn how food, training and supplements actually work, and that knowledge pointed me to my next businesses.
Since then I have seen the wellness industry from several sides: as a customer, a retailer, a franchisor and a brand builder. It keeps changing because the customer keeps changing. Here is what I have seen.
From the Store Shelf to the Screen
In 2010 I opened Winny’s Vitamins & Supplements, an online store and eBay shop selling the major nutraceutical brands. A year later it led to KORE Fit Living, a Canadian franchise of supplement, sports nutrition and fitness stores.
Back then, the physical store was where trust lived. Customers wanted to talk to someone who trained, ask questions and hold the product before buying it. Some customers still want that. But the center of gravity has moved online. Limitless X, Inc., the wellness company I founded, sells its products online, on Amazon and in retail. Customers research before they buy, read reviews and expect fast delivery. A brand has to be useful on a phone screen before it ever reaches a shelf.
That shift changed who can compete. A small brand with a good product and honest information can reach customers without a single store. It also means a weak product has nowhere to hide, because the reviews arrive within days.
From Products to Personal Routines
People used to buy a supplement. Now they buy into a routine. They want to know what to take, when to take it, what to eat with it and how it fits a training plan. The product is one part of a daily habit.
That changes what a wellness company has to deliver. Education and guidance are now part of what the customer is paying for. A brand that only ships a bottle ends up competing on price.
The next step is personal guidance. Two people with the same goal can need different approaches. My own life shows the gap. My first plan was the standard bodybuilder diet, the same one anyone could copy. Today I eat a balanced plan set by my nutritionist, and I train six days a week like an athlete. For most people, that level of individual guidance has been out of reach. Technology is starting to change that, which is why BodyCor, Inc. was formed in July 2025 to build AI-assisted tools for nutrition guidance, product education and habit formation.
Prevention Starts Earlier
Wellness is also moving earlier in life. In 2022 I partnered with HealthCorps on youth health and wellness programs. Habits formed young are easier to keep than habits rebuilt later. I know that from experience. I rebuilt mine as an adult, starting from more than 450 pounds, and it took a level of discipline most people should never have to find in a crisis.
The more the industry shifts toward prevention, the more it has to speak to people before something has gone wrong. That is harder than selling a fix to someone who already feels the problem, and it matters more.
Scrutiny Keeps Rising, and That Is Healthy
As the industry has grown, so has the attention from regulators, platforms and customers. Claims get checked. Ingredients get questioned. Marketplaces enforce their own rules. All of that raises the cost of doing business, and it should.
A category that asks people to put something in their bodies has to earn trust with honest labels and claims a company can support. The brands that treat compliance as part of the product will outlast the ones that treat it as paperwork.
What Stays the Same
Underneath every trend, customers want what I wanted when I started: to feel better and to see progress. The tools change, from the store counter to the marketplace to the app. The work does not. It still comes down to honest products, clear information and the discipline to show up every day.
I told the story of my own turning point in Eat. Work. Win. Repeat., and the early businesses are profiled under Winny’s Vitamins & Supplements and KORE Fit Living. People never stop wanting to get better, and they keep finding new ways to try. That is why this industry keeps evolving.
Nothing in this post is medical advice. Talk to a doctor before changing your diet, training or supplements.