As the great Muhammad Ali once said, “He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.”
In the case of Jack Conteh, founder of Conteh Sports, that wasn’t necessarily all true. On track to graduate with a master’s degree in International Business from the prestigious Durham University, success was always guaranteed in some form.
By that point, he had already laid the groundwork for his nutrition brand and was on track to graduate with all the knowledge and qualifications he would need to conquer the world.
However, as so many founders do, Jack reached a crossroads: stay at university and halt the progress of his fledgling business, or risk everything he had studied for to follow his dream.
With no guarantee of success, he picked the latter, and five years on Jack is well placed to come up with his own punchy quote about taking risks.
As part of our founders series, we sat down with Jack to delve deeper into the highs and lows of scaling Conteh Sports, his plans for the future, and building the perfect supplement stack.
The Birth Of Conteh Sports
On the subject of risks, it would be fair to say that launching an online supplement brand in an already saturated field wouldn’t be classed as a ‘safe’ manoeuvre.
But in any industry, quality products backed by passionate, knowledgeable owners will always rise above their competitors, and that’s exactly where Jack saw his gap in the market.
“The initial idea for Conteh Sports came to me in the summer of 2018,” he said. “At the time I was a student at Durham University studying sports, exercise and nutrition and I was just about to go into my third year there.
“I’ve always been into the gym and had taken supplements from an early age for rugby. The more I learned about supplements and dosages of certain ingredients, the more I learned that a lot of products sold by the big brands were subpar for what people who trained seriously actually needed.
“I wanted to create a brand that if the supplements said they did something on the tub, then they did exactly that, without having to break the bank.
“Like I said, I was a student at the time so I knew all about budgeting. The supplements Conteh Sports would go on to make had to deliver results but also be accessible.”
Jack’s first step in making Conteh Sports a reality was to source a supplier, get the website up and running, and find a graphic designer who, with his stewardship, could give the brand an identity.
The second? Well, that was far more complex, as Jack explains: “Fast forward to December 2019, I was in the first term of my master’s year at Durham on a fully paid scholarship.
“I had changed courses after doing my undergrad and I was now studying International Business. Three months prior I had launched Conteh Sports and was trying to do it alongside my master’s degree.
“I was enjoying running Conteh Sports day to day when I was at Uni, but I remember thinking to myself that if this has any chance of becoming a successful business it’s going to take every ounce of effort.
“So, at the end of the first term of my master’s degree, I dropped out, which at the time was a huge risk. There was no guarantee that Conteh Sports would work and I had just dropped out of one of the top three universities in the country.
“It seemed like a wild move to make at the time, but I’ve always been a believer that if you work hard and stay consistent, you’ll figure it out.”
Since making that seminal decision, Conteh Sports has gone from strength to strength, establishing itself as one of the biggest disrupters in the industry.
Jack’s determination to deliver fit-for-purpose supplements that make good on their promises has been recognised by countless top athletes, and Conteh Sports has become particularly popular with those in the bodybuilding scene.
Though Jack was quick to insist that while he rubs shoulders with plenty of bodybuilders, he certainly isn’t one himself.
“I’m not a bodybuilder… I’m more of a hobbybuilder,” he joked. “I love to train, it’s a big passion, so naturally I have a lot of common interests with bodybuilders and I also like to meet people face to face.
“So for me, the vast majority of my network has just been simply from going to different gyms and training in there, meeting them and then starting a conversation.
“There’s nothing better than face-to-face, I think a lot of that has got lost with the ease of a DM through social media.”
Jack’s personable approach seems to have been a big driver behind the brand’s meteoric rise, and it’s clear his missions spans far beyond simply turning a profit.
Asked what sets Conteh Sports aside from other brands, he said: “People. A lot of online brands or stores just push a product, we push our athletes we sponsor and we’ve built a community around the brand.
“You can have the best product in the world but without a community, there is no brand. It’s like a family at Conteh Sports.”
Being a founder doesn’t come without its downside, however. Growing a business usually means having a hand in numerous roles, from marketing and social media to distribution and logistics.
“The hardest thing about being a founder is everything lies with you,” Jack added. “From the good, the bad, biggest to smallest everything is ultimately your responsibility.
“It’s hard to switch off, I’d be lying if I said Conteh Sports wasn’t my first thought when I wake up in the morning and the last thing I think about at night, but I love what I do and it’s all worth it.”
Speaking of what makes it all worth it, Jack said he has enjoyed a few ‘pinch me’ moments since launching Conteh Sports six years ago. But it didn’t take him long to land on the most memorable one.
“For me personally, it was definitely the Axis Tower in Manchester. Last year we used the Axis Tower which is the second largest billboard in Europe for two separate marketing campaigns, the first campaign was for an updated version of our flagship product Conviction (pre-workout) which is now Conviction Elite.
“The second campaign was for our Black Friday sale. Both times were unbelievable, to see my brand that started from literally nothing, a small idea which was formed in my university room, to then be on the second biggest billboard in Europe in Manchester, my home town.. Madness.”
Thinking Bigger
With scaling up a hot topic on Jack’s brain, Conteh Sports recently relocated to a brand new HQ.
Asked how he juggled the move while still keeping up with orders, Jack said: “We actually built our warehouse from scratch which took us 18 months to do.
“When the warehouse was ready to be moved into we started shifting stock over and then one weekend we took everything that we needed to operate. This was a bit of a struggle with getting orders out the door on time, but like always we got it done.”
Growth is something that every founder wants for their business, yet Jack is adamant that any evolution won’t come at the cost of the principles that have taken Conteh Sports this far.
“In three years we will be doing the same thing we’re doing now, just on a larger scale,” he continued. “Growing the community and making the best supplements for your training and health needs.
“We’ve got loads more to come this year, we’re dropping at least one new product every month. I can’t say too much about them now but keep your eyes peeled. The expansion is real.”
Now we’ve set the scene, I think it’s time you heard a little more from the man with big plans.
Questions With Jack Conteh, The Founder Of Conteh Sports
What’s your go-to product in the Conteh Sports range?
For me, this is an easy one… Hydra Flow for sure. Hydration is such a massive part of both physical and mental performance, so being hydrated all day is one major key to having a successful day.
I also believe the flavours of Hydra Flow are the best tasting, they beat any other hydration product out there hands down.
Your most slept-on product is…?
Circulatory Complete, but saying that it’s only just come out so it will take time to get in front of people and it’s also a bit of an education piece.
But this is a vital supplement not just for bodybuilders but for everyone, even your Nan will benefit from it. Circulatory Complete was designed for cardiovascular and circulatory health management, it will help to improve blood pressure, help manage cholesterol and has anti-inflammatory benefits.
It was something I designed to keep my heart healthy and in top shape after having a bit of a health scare in 2023. It has also been made in collaboration with one of the best blood testing clinics in the country (Atlas Laboratories). Like all our supplements it’s backed by data and does exactly what it says it does on the tub.
We’ve seen you benching three plates on Instagram. What does your current workout split look like?
Three? That’s an insult ahah, I’ve benched five (220kg) in the past when I was at my strongest. My current split at the minute is:
- Monday – Chest and Triceps, with a little bit of delts
- Tuesday – Posterior (Back and Hamstrings with a little bit of biceps)
- Wednesday – Rest
- Thursday – Delts, triceps with a little bit of chest
- Friday – Back and Biceps.
- Saturday- Legs
- Sunday – Rest
What was the harshest lesson you learnt whilst scaling Conteh Sports?
Everything takes time, don’t rush the process. Everything will happen at exactly the right time. Sometimes if you go too quick you can get a bit stuck.
Describe your perfect customer in 5 words.
- Hard-Working
- Loyal
- Communicative
- Interactive
- Inspiring
Build us an essential Conteh Sports supplement stack using just 4 products!
- Repair – Quick and convenient way to help hit your daily protein intake and tastes like a milkshake
- Hydra Flow – Hydration is key to a successful day
- Organ Defence – To cover all organ health
- Supreme Sleep – To make sure sleep quality is on point
Pro tip: You can buy this supplement stack here.
We’ve talked a lot about the supplements, but it’s only right we give some time to the merch. The reaction to your designs has clearly been insane. When’s everything landing back in stock?
Yeah, the clothing we do is class. When we do a drop, it always gets a good response. Funnily enough, we had a meeting about this last week. The plan moving forward is to create a “lifetime” design which is constantly in stock and then do three to four limited drops a year.
What we’ve done in the past is just limited drops and then letting them sell out and then moving on to the next design. We always get asked when we are doing more clothing, so it makes sense to have a lifetime design that is signature to us and then be consistent with doing those three to four limited drops a year.
Next, check out our 15% Conteh Sports Essential Gains EAA Discount Code
