Lasso CEO Spotlight: Paul Janowitz of MANTRA Labs

At Lasso, we strive to improve human movement everyday. As a company It's not just a slogan, it's a way of life. With this mission we like to partner with other brands  that share our passion and drive to improve the human experience.

This week, we had the privilege of talking with good friend Paul Janowitz, Founder and CEO of MANTRA Labs — a Texas based better-for-you nutrition brand with a social mission to improve mental health resources. Mr. Janowitz is a serial entrepreneur and investor who focuses on mission driven businesses ranging from technology to consumer packaged goods. Like Lasso, his recent endeavor, MANTRA Labs is a brand of passionate enthusiasts that want to genuinely help people and we wanted to know what helps him Stay Moving.

Paul told us that he has always been into health and fitness. Raised a vegetarian, he ran track and was into bodybuilding and personal fitness in college, embodying the Stay Moving lifestyle. Now, in his 40’s, he remains committed to his fitness regiment and continues to stay moving for his mental and physical health benefits. He firmly believes that you can work on your fitness even with a busy schedule, but you must be committed to starting and staying active for your mind and body.

MANTRA Labs was founded by Jared Padalecki and Paul Janowitz to deliver trusted and clean, plant-based nutrition to support your body and mind for total health, all day, every day. This innovative and biorhythm matched system supports movement and focus when you’re on, and deep recovery and repair off the clock to total health.

MANTRA makes a brilliant product packed with nutritional benefits and when we asked him how the idea of MANTRA Labs came about, he told us that he and Jared were looking for a health boost for the mornings to help get focused and get moving. “I could not find anything without sugar and fillers that was backed by science and tasted great – something I would look forward to each day” Paul said.  “And, something so healthy that even if the rest of my day went to hell I knew I did something healthy.”  He told us they found the same was true for a healthy energy and recovery drink, there just was nothing readily available that was good for you.

At the same time his wife was suffering from bouts of insomnia and he knew there were clinically validated ingredients that could work synergistically, but no one had put them together.  “Bottom line – I discovered the science of chrono-nutrition and using supplementation to elevate and optimize your entire day by working with your biorhythm,” stated Paul. “No system existed to do this, so we built it for ourselves, our families, friends and everyone else that wants to stay healthy, keep moving and elevate their mind and body.”

His commitment to his work and personal fitness comes first and foremost from his family. His wife lives a very active lifestyle, running 6 days a week regardless of the circumstances. He loves challenges and believes in working hard at things worth working for. “Being able to stay healthy, move for fun, and keep your mind sharp seems to me to be the most important things in the world – along with being kind,” Paul said. “So supporting others in their health journey drives me. Active people simply feel better mentally and physically and when you feel better, you do better things in this world.”

Paul prides himself in being a leader and believes one of his key leadership attributes is being an eternal optimist. He credits his mother with instilling the idea in him that anything is possible with hard work. Paul firmly believes in outworking his competition and figuring out a way to make things work regardless of the obstacles and challenges in his way. 

MANTRA Labs is something that he refers to as a business that simultaneously came from a mid-life crisis. It is also the result of all of his cumulative experiences and the training he did throughout his life. “I worked in and founded market research and branding agencies, then a software company that I eventually sold. Along the way I invested in CPG companies (food, nutrition and beverage) and was an ongoing athlete and biohacker – tri, running, ultras,” Paul said. “So, I came to this business with research + branding + software + wellness.” Janowitz knew there were better nutrition solutions out there. Paul asked himself “if you had unlimited time, knowledge and resources what would you put in your body to optimize your life?” That statement became the company’s North Star. “We then went out and did just that – found the most knowledgeable nutrition experts, scoured the world for clinically backed ingredients and dug deep into the data and research. The result ended up being game changing nutrition for hydration, focus, energy and sleep. We did all this in the middle of the COVID crisis so the challenges were many.” 

Paul is a very active person and he uses our Lasso socks. We asked Paul how the Lasso Socks help him Stay Moving. He said that consumers tend to spend a ton of money on something like drinking at a bar, but then cheap out on something like a kitchen knife, gym shorts, or socks they wear while training. He believes in investing in technology and products that will help him move better and optimize his life. “Why would you not spend the most on these products – where the actual ROI on the quality, comfort and functionality you get far outweighs the minimal dollar expense.” Paul continued, “Lasso nails it here – quality, really works, and worth every penny.”

MANTRA Labs not only delivers clean, science-driven chrono-nutrition to support your body and mind for total health, but it also delivers on a social mission to improve mental health resources. “We developed the best way to hydrate, focus, energize and rest, by creating the first system designed to perfectly match your nutritional needs throughout every part of your day,” Paul said “We wanted to create products that really work and a brand that promotes inclusive health and helps everyone move, build community, and rest. These are what we call the 3 pillars of total health, said Paul.  “In addition to our pillars, our social mission is what drives me daily. Our social mission is to elevate the conversation on mental health and make mental health a part of everyone’s daily well-being, because talking about it saves lives. We have also committed to donating 1% of all sales to support mental health organizations – because #mentalhealthishealth.”