Exploring Life & Business with Josh Barnes of CleanFuel Nutrition

Today we’d like to introduce you to Josh Barnes.

Hi Josh, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
The story of CleanFuel Nutrition’s beginnings probably are pretty different from most entrepreneur’s. Why? Well, I didn’t start the company to make money, or be in the supplement “biz”, or become an Instagram personality. I did it for my kids… and I mean that literally. My children are very devoted athletes, and as they began growing and developing more and more, I wanted to support them with some additional protein to help nurture and support their growth. Being somewhat of a health nut, I had a good understanding of what to look out for and avoid, and to be honest, most of the proteins I found were completely sub-standard in that area. Cleaner and more transparent proteins were either not tasty (this matters) or nearly unaffordable to consume consistently (this matters too)!

This is where the idea was born. Why can I not create exactly what I’m looking for? Surely there were others out there searching for a best-in-class product at an affordable price, too, right? It turns out I was right, and CleanFuel Nutrition was humbly founded with a single product in only one flavor – The Right Whey. We now offer a variety of clean and all-natural health products from pre-workouts to proteins to meal replacements and are growing with local retail outlets and online sales at our website www.cleanfuelnutrition.com.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Starting a business (in my experience) is not an easy task. You can listen to gurus, experts, analysts, etc. It seems that nearly all have nuggets of advice here and there – but you don’t really know what it’s like until you dig in and really commit. If I had to do it all over again, there are things I would have done a little differently in terms of behind-the-scenes business work and execution. However, I don’t think I could have learned all that I have without making that leap of faith and “going for it”. It turns out the value of experiencing it for yourself is in itself invaluable.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Did you know that most pre-workouts these days contain ingredients that are banned in other countries for health reasons? Many contain herbal equivalents to ingredients that have already been banned in the U.S. Because of the lack of FDA oversight, it’s tough to people to differentiate good from bad. There are gray areas of manufacturing, labeling, and ingredient inclusion in supplements – we want no part of that.

What sets us apart from other supplement companies is our completely all-natural product lineup. Everything we create and offer is free from unhealthy artificial sweeteners, artificial flavors, synthetic colors and dyes, fillers, and mystery blends. To put it simply – we believe that Health products should actually be Healthy. We take the guesswork out of it with a brand that you can trust. This is the basis of who we are, our identity lies in our ultra-clean and natural supplements. You won’t find a brand that takes the ethical responsibility of what they offer more seriously.

The key to a successful company lies within the trust of our customer base and within the products themselves. We simply will not compromise in this area. We are not a conglomerate corporation run by a board of directors who serve to increase profits. We are family-owned, and our definition of success is not defined by a quarterly return to stockholders. We don’t cut corners in terms of quality, even if it impacts our pricing or our profitability.

We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
I grew up in a typical middle-class family in a small town – but my childhood was rich with memories. I have my family to thank for that. It’s hard to imagine having two more supportive parents than I had. I owe alot of what I’ve done and who I am to them. I’ve taken that example and am passing it forward to my own two sons and strive to continue the tradition of love and support that I was given. I take my role as a father very seriously and I work each day to educating and reinforcing ideals that will carry on for a lifetime. Things like integrity, honesty, accountability, empathy, courage, mental toughness. These are just a handful of the traits that I work to instill as a parent, as I believe that parents are the first examples for children and the most important teachers.

“It’s not what you do for your children, but what you have taught them to do for themselves, that will make them successful human beings.”

Contact Info:

• Email: josh@cleanfuelnutrition.com
• Website: www.cleanfuelnutrition.com
• Instagram: @cleanfuelnutrition
• Facebook: @cleanfuelnutrition