“I learnt to put a value on health. My passion is for promoting a healthy lifestyle which combines exercise and nutrition but also sleep, stress relief and emotional well-being.”
At the age of 18, Johnny was diagnosed with hydrocephalus, caused by excess fluid on the brain. It took five operations and several years before he fully recovered.
Five years later, he abandoned plans to go to university in favour of a career in the fitness industry. Training as a gym instructor, personal trainer and sports therapist has spanned an eighteen-year career.
In 2012, whilst travelling in the United States, Johnny discovered loose leaf green tea.
Having never drunk ‘traditional’ tea or coffee, he was immediately interested in the fitness and nutritional properties of different tea blends. Struggling to purchase it once back home, he decided to set up his own loose-leaf tea company. As his interest in tea evolved, so did his product. Discovering Matcha in 2016, he was intrigued by its scientifically proven, health-promoting properties, and quickly realised there was an opportunity to promote its consumption specifically within the fitness industry.
“Matcha is a natural energy drink. I saw a clear gap in the market for exercise-specific matcha blends; and with Adeptio I have created blends which deliver this.”
Johnny worked with his master blender in order to create the optimal pre- and post-exercise teas. Each ingredient is included for a specific purpose and both blends are comprised of 100% natural ingredients.
Johnny has developed the product through extensive trialling and testing on his friends and colleagues within the fitness industry, both the range and the way in which it is served.
“For example, we started off selling the tea in tins, but I soon realised that single serve ‘stick’ portions of tea were far easier for my busy clients to use.” He has added a specially designed shaker to make preparing Matcha on-the-go as easy as possible.
In January 2017, Johnny was featured on CNBC’s reality show Pop Up Start Up. Pitched against each other, two candidates were given seed funding to travel to China in order to mass-produce and sell their products via a pop-up shop. The winner was given £20,000 to start their business and Johnny was the winner of his episode.
Johnny has competed in several endurance events including the UK Ironman, canoeing the non-tidal Thames and cycling from Milan to Monaco.
Johnny lives in Hertfordshire with his wife and two young sons.
