Meet Tom Reilly

BoldJourney sits down with Tom Reilly

Tom, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?

I think I was just brought up that way. I was the middle of 3 boys, and for several reasons, I often had to make do on my own – I had to go earn it. My dad was an extremely hard worker, as a kid I thought it was almost unbelievable the hours he could work his job and then work on the house at night… and although we saw less of him then maybe we would have liked, I think it rubbed off. No handouts, everything had to be earned. And that stuck with me.

My mom was a trooper – managing the household and also having a job. I think watching them both stretch the extra mile, helped make me who I am today. Candidly I think that makes me pretty lucky as it turns out.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

Today, I co-own & operate a Sports Nutrition Supplement brand, VMI Sports®, with my business partner Frank Fenimore. The most exciting part of running a company in the health & wellness industry is the fact that we have a mission to help people improve their health & fitness.
If nothing else, I hope readers take a look at our brand and see the underlying vision, which is helping people through performance sports nutritional supplements, and gathering a community of like-minded individuals who want to improve themselves.

We’re proud to share some exciting product launches including our newest version of our top-selling Pre-Workout “KXR®”, called KXR STACKED. KXR stands for Kinetic Extended Release. KXR STACKED is an all-encompassing formula crafted for athletes and fitness enthusiasts who want better performance, clean feel good energy, and improved endurance in the gym. Visit our website www.vmisports.com for more info or follow us on social @VMISports

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

In my career, I think the three most important skillsets that helped me were 1) determination & perseverance, 2) extreme work ethic, and 3) fear of failure.

I truly believe entrepreneurs can accomplish almost anything with a mix of those traits. You have to be good at whatever you’re doing, or get good at it, and you have to have a lot of passion, because it’s ultimately necessary to keep going.

Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve tried to focus on solutions to stressful feelings and situations. Reading, and journaling have been two huge helpful tools for me personally, but the number one thing is always working out – there is nothing better, for me at least, then releasing that angst in the weight room.
Whatever works best for you, find it and be disciplined enough to make it a habit as a stress reliever. It’s necessary for the long run.