Rich Gaspari - Running a Successful Business

An interview with Rich Gaspari on running a successful business - Richard Gaspari tells about how he learnt to run a successful business.

I’m a sponge when it comes to information. I went to college as a pre-med student because I wanted to become a doctor. But I turned pro at 20 years old and was one of the youngest pros. I was only 22, 23, 24 when I competed in Mr Olympia. I left college after 3 years to pursue my career as a bodybuilder, but I did enjoy books and learning. I was on the dean’s list and was one of the top kids at school.

As a bodybuilder, I’d rather be underestimated, and in business this works in my advantage. I started my company from the ground floor. I went in New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania and set up my small company as a personal trainer and selling my products to the people I trained. From there I decided to go out and visit the gyms and stores. I would go to bodybuilding shows with a booth to sell products. I was done with my career and people looked at me saying, “Poor Rich Gaspari’s a great bodybuilder, but now he’s trying to sell his products”. People looked and wondered what was I going to do with that. I did this with nobody backing me up, and now we’re in over 85 countries around the world, one of the top brands in some countries. I grew the brand by studying books on business and bringing in the right team. It’s not always about knowing everything, it’s also about picking the right people to work for you to make you look better. Unlike bodybuilding, which I did by myself. But as a business person I had to find the right people working for me. Initially I did it all myself, but little by little, I started to hire the right people. Right now we have almost 70 employees in Gaspari Nutrition as well as distributors all over the world. Rich Gaspari (Former Arnold Classic Champion & 3x Mr Olympia runner up) & Nick Jones (World Bodybuilding Champion).