Trendsetter to Know: Michael Kehoe of Mdrive

Name: Michael Kehoe

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Age: 36

Title: President of Mdrive

Married/Single: Married

Kids: 3

City you live in: Paradise Valley

A typical day in my life includes…   

getting up at least two hours before the kids. Work out. Get my 1 year old out of bed. Have breakfast with the family. Drive my six-year-old to school and head into the office (when we’re not in a shelter in place). I spend a lot of time working one on one with different people in the company. I enjoy the interaction and love to learn, especially about product development. Then I scramble home to make it in time for dinner with the family. My wife and I spend at least a solid hour getting three kids ready for bed. Then we either spend an hour on Netflix or just read. Then it’s off to bed before the chaos starts all over again. It’s a lot of fun. You need a lot of energy to keep up.

I was born….

in the Northeast, but couldn’t imagine ever living in the cold again. 

My favorite thing about Arizona….

Spring training. Some of my favorite family moments are from the ballpark.  A small sports venue, sun, hot dogs and quality time. It doesn’t get much better.  Although we did have one incident when my oldest son was 1.  Before I could realize what he was about to do, he grabbed a piece of pretzel and threw it into one of the bullpens. And yes, there was a pitcher warming up. It was horrifying.  Luckily, no one was injured. No one actually even noticed. But it’s safe to say, we don’t take the kids near the bullpens anymore. 

I’m listening to….

The Tipping Point by Malcom Gladwell. I find human behavior to be fascinating. 

My family….

is energetic, and sometimes rebellious. My house can sometimes feel like a racetrack with kids flying by at full speed. My parents are also really interesting. My Dad invented Zicam and my Mom is also a scientist, product developer. So there are always new product ideas flying around all the time.  My wife is also Laura Kehoe of Laura Kehoe Design. I’m surrounded by entrepreneurs. 

If I could have dinner with anyone, it would be….

John Legere, CEO of T-Mobile. What he’s done with T-Mobile is simply amazing. He’s a one-man branding machine that built an incredible following. All while competing against much bigger companies.

One thing I cannot live without….

my Ember Mug. Cold coffee is a thing of the past.

When I was younger, I wanted to be….

a rockstar. As a kid, I would mimic live concerts in the living room. Unfortunately, I have a terrible singing voice. Apparently, that’s important for a singing career.

I’m inspired by….

people who take control of their own destiny. There will always be things out of our control. However, when we focus on what we can control, we can do some really powerful things. That’s also why I love what we do at DreamBrands. Our mission is to make supplementing easy so that when people decide they want to take control of their health, we can be a resource. We can really help.

The one person who motivates me is…

my dad. He lives by the phrase “whatever it takes” or “WIT”. By engraining that into my brain at a young age, I don’t live life with many excuses. He’s incredibly driven. He grew up poor. Was doubted so many times in his life and he’s succeeded time and time again—and he’s still going. To this day, in his 60s, he still leads all our DreamBrands’ hikes. You will not pass him. He never quits.

If I could change anything in the world, it would be….

education. I wish we could identify what kids will be passionate about for a career much earlier on and then allow them to pursue more classes about that field. We have sports academies for kids, but not specialized learning for a certain career. I did not enjoy school at all, until my senior year when I stumbled into my first marketing class. We did an entire class on Super Bowl commercials. I was hooked. High school would have been so much more valuable if I would have found that class freshman year.

The perfect day would be….

80 degrees, on the beach with my family. With children, you learn a lot about building sandcastles. We have so much fun. 

My first job was….

Foot Locker. It was fun, but I’m glad I transitioned into supplements. This career is more rewarding than anything else I could’ve imagined.

My favorite escape…

biographical audiobooks. Learning about influential people fascinate me. Especially when you learn why or how they became who they are. The George Washington biography by Ron Chernow is an amazing book. It completely changed my understanding of our first president.

My life…

is fun, chaotic, sometimes stressful, but also rewarding. Taking over the day-to-day operations of DreamBrands at 35 introduced a lot of responsibility. And pressure. Dad built a good company. So you’re always worried about evolving but keeping the core of the business intact. 

I’m currently working on…

a 100-day workout program. Fitness is incredibly important to me. I haven’t always made enough time for it, but I’m always glad when I do. I find life is much better when I’m in shape.  

Always…

question the status quo. People will always say, “You can’t change that. It’s always been done that way.” I think we find great new solutions when we question things.

Never….

take a gamble on something you can’t recover from. For example, people sometimes think they need to spend every dollar on an investment gamble or go “all in” to be successful. That’s ridiculous to me. Real success comes from a series of small investments or small gambles that lead up to larger success. Test every idea. Always test ideas.

Favorite Quote…

“Whatever it takes” or “WIT” – as we say it in the Kehoe household.

Biggest Dream….

reimagine the supplement industry. I have a dream for a customer-centered experience that I hope can change the industry for the better. Every day at DreamBrands I feel like we’re getting closer to that reality. 

My Pet Peeve(s)….

when I see what some of our competition has done to the supplement industry.  When I see a competitor making a crazy claim on something they can’t quantify, it makes me crazy. It hurts trust. It hurts the entire industry. I want to get on a podium and scream when I see others violating that trust.

More about Michael…

Michael Kehoe’s unique professional journey began as an entrepreneur with the company his family started, DreamBrands. He successfully transitioned to the corporate world at Leslie’s Poolmart—the world’s largest retailer of swimming pool supplies. After more than half a decade, Michael returned to pursue his dream to run DreamBrands as President.

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