The James Mayo Story & Interview
James Mayo is a former British mile champion and Army veteran. Prior to catching the entrepreneurial bug James lived in in various parts of the world working as a Track Coach, a sports writer, a director for an international headhunting firm. It was during an afternoon in a winery that SOS was born as a result of too much sugar in sports drinks and the thirst for formulating a better for you hydration product thats was backed by science.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
Interview
1. What inspired you to develop SOS?
It is a family adventure. My brother and I were both former pro track athletes and both suffered from dehydration because sports drinks dont work for combatting dehydration. I was also an Army officer and suffered it there too. the icing on the cake is that I also got pre diabetic from the junk i would consume running and in the military.
My wife is a physician and Transplant Hepatologist. Together we decided to create a better for you hydration drink that had the perfect balance of electrolytes, a scientific method of absorption and most importantly only a small amount of sugar.
2.what are some of the challenges you faced at the beginning of your business and how did you overcome them?
Pretty much all of it. But being out of my comfort zone didnt phase me because I knew I had a great idea. To make it easier i too the giant wall of the unknown and broke it down to small chunks and learnt how to over come, adapting and improvising along the way; i surrounded myself with people who are better than me from whom to learn from and take advice. Finally i followed my gut. It wasn’t always right but most of the time some action is better than no action!
3.What are some of your strategies that were used to market your business?
Events, physical presence on the shelf, social media marketing and PR like this so thank you :)
4.what flavor from SOS is the biggest seller and why do you think that is?
Berry is, as i think its got to do with that berry is one of the most common flavours on the market.
5.what have you enjoyed most about starting your own business?
Being in charge of my own destiny and building a team around me who are just as passionate about SOS as I am
6.What are some qualities you need to be a great Entrepreneur?
First and foremost some balls / guts. the hardest part of being an entrepreneur is stepping out on that journey. The second is the ability to take some risk and thirdly its doggedness to keep going
7.Where do you see your business in 5 years?
One thats continuing to grow and inspire people to lead an active life through healthy hydration
8.How do you build a successful customer base for your products
Consumer feedback and trial followed by the power of marketing and positive sharing that the customer loves the brand
9.How do you separate SOS from other brands?
Simply put we have less sugar, better science, more electrolytes and proven faster absorption at a price that makes it available to everyone
10. Sweati is an outstanding innovative way to analyze your sweat and levels of hydration, what was the inspiration behind this amazing product?
I actually got pre diabetic and didnt like the thought of using an interstitial monitor (they still have a needle in the arm) or taking my blood multiple times daily. I wanted a better way to do it and realsiesd that sweat is such a powerful tool as its a bi product of blood. therefore everything you can measure in blood can be found in sweat.
As such Im developing a patch that can measure hydration, glucose and lactate to help peopleoptimise their training from helping people not get pre diabetic, reduce obesity to helping someone run a marathon and enjoy it.
11.What goals are you still working towards achieving?
Continuing the growth. its a never-ending story or growth, learnings, adapting, improvising and overcoming whilst continuing to step forward positively.
12,Who has been your greatest support throughout your journey?
my better half Blanca and the other founder as well as my brother. Then its everyone who has been involved in SOS be it positively or in some respects negatively. It takes a team to build a village and lots of learning along the way.
13. What advice would you give to someone who would like to start their own business?
if you have an idea you believe in, test it out on some friends (only those who will give you honest advice) and if you believe after that its got a chance. Then to coin a Nike phrase. Just Do It
14. What was the inspiration behind the name SOS?
its the international symbol of help. SOS rescues people from dehydration
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