Injuries are part and parcel of playing any sport, especially at an elite level. All the nutrition, preparation, and good luck in the world can’t prevent the inevitability of at least a few spells on the treatment table.
Why? Because athletes push themselves to the breaking point to achieve those fine margins that separate the good from the great; the history-makers from those who merely took part.
The sheer demand and ferocity of training and competing year-round mean every sport requires a huge sacrifice to make it to the top, regardless of whether it looks easy from your couch.
Some, however, are particularly taxing on the body. Take rugby, for example.
I mean, carrying around over 100kg of body mass for 80 minutes will take its toll, let alone the blood and thunder of tackles, scrums, and the occasional flailing arm to the face.
Ex-pros Dom Day and George Kruis have plenty of battle scars to show for their combined 26 years of service to the game.
During their illustrious careers, which saw them both compete for their countries, the pair became well acquainted with the treatment table.
Fed up with being ushered in the direction of prescription drugs littered with side effects, Dom and George sought to find a natural, effective remedy for their aches, pains, and sleepless nights.
Both found CBD to have a transformative effect on their injuries, but, as some of you may know, professional athletes can’t just take any old off-the-shelf supplements.
Drug testing means there are a finite number of products trusted for use in professional sports.
Buoyed by their initial experience with CBD, and approaching the end of their playing days, Dom and George set about creating fourfive – the UK’s first BSCG and Informed Sport-tested CBD and Vitamin nutrition supplements brand.
In a Gymfluencers founders series first, we sat down with both creators to talk retirement, going under the knife, life after rugby, and Hotpod yoga.
The Birth Of FourFive CBD
Despite clearly suffering from the physical demands of professional rugby, both managed to eak out long and incredibly fruitful careers in the game.
George’s CV is as impressive as they come. The Englishman racked up over 45 caps for his country across two World Cups and a British and Irish Lions tour.
The 33-year-old was also a fine servant to English Premiership side Saracens, playing a key role in three European titles and four league trophies.
Dom, now 38, amassed more than 250 top-flight appearances and played in the 2015 World Cup for Wales.
His tenure took him around the globe to places including Australia and Japan, before also finishing at Saracens, where he apparently ‘fell in love’ with George and CBD.
Unwrapping how that love affair turned into a business partnership, George said: “Both Dom and I were sitting next to each other on our physio beds after our sixth operation each and looking for ways to recover.
“Dom suggested trying CBD and it all went from there.”
Once they had the initial concept nailed down it didn’t take too long for the pair to come up with a name. Curious as it may seem, there’s a very simple explanation behind the brand’s tagline, as Dom explains.
“As you can imagine being ex-rugby players we aren’t the most creative, so we landed pretty quickly on fourfive as a nod to our rugby careers and our jersey numbers when we played.
“We get asked that question quite a lot and it’s always nice to chat people through our past careers and how the brand came to fruition.”
While choosing a name was straightforward, navigating around the minefield that is CBD regulation hasn’t proven as simple.
Issues such as THC content limits, quality and safety standards, advertising restrictions and ever-changing rules have meant brand owners have had to stay on their toes to remain compliant.
And both Dom and George were quick to identify the bureaucratic red tape as their biggest hurdle to date.
George said: “The regulation in the CBD market can be a challenge to work through.
“However, we definitely see it as a great thing and with our highly tested products we can stand above others from a quality and trust perspective.”
“Regulation is the constant thorn in the side of the industry,” Dom added. “But it has made us diversify our product offering and the new products have been really successful.
“Aside from that regulation is starting to clear and there is light at the end of the tunnel, but it has definitely scuppered growth in the whole market.”
Though Dom and George are huge advocates for CBD, there are plenty more strings to the fourfive bow.
The brand has created a variety of premium supplements such as daily biotics and health-boosting multivitamins for both men and women.
Plus, a brand-new functional mushroom line has just been added to the roster.
Asked to pick his favourite, George said: “Our hydration tablets are perfect for anyone training hard.
“Nutrition and sleep are very well-covered topics. Yet the importance of hydration in training and for productivity in the day is hugely underestimated.”
It’s fair to say Dom and George’s daily routines as business owners are the polar opposite of what they were used to as professional rugby players.
Dom now lives in Dublin and wakes up at 4.30 am on Tuesdays and Wednesdays to catch a flight and commute to London.
The former lock is now in charge of new product development and spends his days on calls with retailers and manufacturers working on the brand’s exciting new lines.
Reflecting on whether there are any similarities between life as a businessman and a sportsman, he said: “Business I have learned is full of hurdles (ours is anyway) and that is much like sport, whether its injuries, selection, poor performance.
“A key mentality is that you have to stay focused and keep working hard, there is always a way through if you put the work in.
“Also being part of a team and being able to rely on and trust your team members is critical. Although as a start-up you have to spin many plates, you can’t do everything and that’s the same as rugby.”
Rugby players are notoriously close-knit, if not sometimes a little too much so, and it’s obvious the team aspect is still crucial to Dom and George’s working relationship.
George identified ‘teamwork and hard work’ as his strengths as a founder.
He added: “A lot of the time Dom and I look at things from a different perspective which is great because we often land in the middle which tends to be the right thing to do.”
Financing fourfive
Given the boom of CBD, and their respective platforms, Dom and George were never going to be short of keen investors for the brand.
And it’s a good job, too. Dom revealed the first product launch alone required a £50,000 commitment in stock, with a further £10,000 pledged to website development and various other costs.
Lifting the lid on how fourfive has been financed so far, George said: “We have had a few rounds to date with a wide range of different angle investors including world-class sports coaches, FTSE 100 co-founds and over 20+ international professional athletes.
“We are a company owned by the active.”
Currently, fourfive’s range can be purchased directly from the brand’s website, on Amazon or in-store at Holland & Barrett, but don’t be surprised if you see it on the shelves of plenty more retailers soon.
Dom and George’s ambition for the brand is hardly surprising considering their competitive backgrounds.
When asked what he would like he business to achieve in three years, Dom said: “International expansion, 100 professional sports teams utilising our products and hundreds of thousands of people happy, healthy and active.”
Now we’ve set the scene, I think it’s time you heard a little more from the men with big quads and even bigger plans.
Questions With Dom Day And George Kruis
Take us back to the day the idea of fourfive was imagined… what was the first step you took to turn it into a reality?
George: Dom suggested we should start a company so we registered a company on companies house the next day – then we felt obliged to continue!
Please tell us a little about what you were doing before launching this brand.
Dom: I played professional rugby for 15 years. From the age of 19 to 34 that was my life and all I knew. I was lucky enough to travel the world and live in some amazing countries like Japan and Australia, but the bulk of my career was in England and Wales where I played over 250 professional games and was fortunate enough to play for Wales at a rugby world cup.
Aside from that I am a country boy from West Wales who grew up by the beach and spent most of my youth surfing and skateboarding. A far cry from what my life has turned into with FourFive.
Describe your perfect customer in 5 words.
George: Progressive, active and health conscious.
What does a typical day look like running fourfive?
Dom: I live in Dublin and commute to London for our office days on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. So I need to be up at 4:30 am to catch a 7 am flight into London, I get into the office at 9:30 and I am currently working on the NPD side of the business.
Recently we have been working on some really exciting projects so my mornings tend to be spent on calls to manufacturers to ensure everything is on track for NPD launches.
In the afternoons I catch up with different departments and I usually head out to any stores we are stocked in to check everything is looking good and that the staff are educated on fourfive products.
It’s all exciting stuff that is still new to me after my previous career, I am enjoying learning constantly.
Weaknesses?
George: Experience. You need time to learn and grow.
What’s the one job you do that you hate the most?
Dom: Last year I was running the retail side of the business, we have since hired someone with the necessary skillset as we were expanding so quickly and it was becoming overwhelming for me.
But the amount of form filling required was outrageous and something I was more than happy to offload.
What’s it like being a co-founder?
George: Tough! Anyone who has set up their own business or works for themself will know the challenges that come with it!
What’s the one job you love the most?
Dom: I love visiting stores and chatting with buyers. The staff at stores always seem genuinely delighted that the founders of a brand have taken the time to come and visit them and I just love that.
fourfive Hydro Plus is Informed-Sport Approved… what did it mean to you personally to get this tick?
George: For us it is huge, to be a product that not only has no artificial flavours (unlike the top 6 brands currently on the market) but also has informed sports testing we are very happy.
We currently have over 25+ professional and international sports teams using our Hydro Plus hydration tablet as a result.
Describe your co-founder George Kruis in 5 words.
Dom: Handsome, Personable, Driven, Fair, Ambitious.
What other health brand that exists would you like to own and why?
George: Huel… it’s a great product that essentially carved its own category.
What has been the worst bit of business advice you have ever received?
Dom: That you have to work nonstop. Don’t get me wrong, you have to work hard, but I fell into a horrible trap of working 24/7, I was always on and it was affecting my family, my time with my daughter and my health.
I work hard now, but I have a great balance. I am happier than I have been for years and I think it’s because I have been able to take a step away from business when I need to.
Chest day or leg day?
George: Hotpod Yoga – no gym for another year whilst I allow my body to recover from a long professional rugby career.
Was there a moment you felt like fourfive wouldn’t make it? If so, what did you do to turn that around?
Dom: I think you need to have absolute belief that you will succeed no matter what. Saying that, having learned what I know now and with the benefit of hindsight I would say that 3 years ago we were probably not trending the right way.
We hired too many too quickly and unfortunately had to cut back, but with fewer employees and more focus, we are growing quicker than ever.
What is the best piece of advice you ever achieved in both your sporting life and founders life?
George: Keep learning.
What’s your favourite fourfive product and why?
Dom: I love our CBD oils, I use them every day, but I am infatuated with our new mushroom range. They are best in class and accessible from a price perspective. Of the 3 products, the Lions Mane is my favourite.
What has been the biggest challenge so far in starting and scaling fourfive?
George: The ability to learn quicker than we grow so we are always improving and making as little amount of mistakes as possible.
The floor is yours… please tell our readers anything they need to know.
Dom: Your health is wealth! Find balance, be with your loved ones, stay healthy and dance when no one is looking!
