Introducing Everyday Dose

Megan Bruneau: Jack, welcome to the show.

Jack Savage: Hi. Nice to be here.

Megan Bruneau: It’s great to have you. For anyone who doesn’t know what Everyday Dose is, tell us about it.

Jack Savage: Everyday Dose launched in 2021 as a functional coffee brand. Our whole idea is that coffee should do more. One of my favorite campaigns is, “Oh, your coffee just has caffeine? That’s cute.” Everyday Dose is elevated because we enhance it with collagen and protein for hair, skin, and nails, Lion’s Mane for clarity and focus, turkey tail for gut health, and L-theanine to smooth out the caffeine and create a calmer experience.

Jack Savage: The result is what we call calm, cool, and caffeinated.

Megan Bruneau: I love that. You said you launched in 2021. What were you doing before that?

Life Before Everyday Dose

Jack Savage: I was kind of a life hustler. I had a few Airbnbs in New York—three total. I worked in advertising technology, which was pretty mundane. I also tried to launch a socially responsible fashion line in New York called Undo.

Jack Savage: The concept was controversial. We literally shot the shirts with guns to create holes and said, “Use guns for fashion, not for violence.” Ten percent of profits went toward ending gun violence in Chicago, which is where I’m from.

Megan Bruneau: So the shirts had holes in them—kind of like ripped jeans, but ripped shirts?

Jack Savage: Exactly. It was risky and provocative. You could see a bit more skin. It was fun, but incredibly challenging. I didn’t know anything about direct-to-consumer at the time. I tried to get into retail, and there’s a ton of bureaucracy. Convincing store owners to carry your product when no one knows who you are is extremely difficult.

Megan Bruneau: Were there any lessons from that experience that you carried into Everyday Dose?

Early Lessons in Entrepreneurship

Jack Savage: The biggest lesson is that you can do anything, but you can’t do everything. That’s a motto I live by. Another lesson was not to start with retail. Go direct to consumer first. That’s exactly what I did with Everyday Dose.

Megan Bruneau: What about retail specifically felt so challenging that you were able to solve by going direct-to-consumer?

Jack Savage: With Undo, I didn’t have credibility. I didn’t have a track record or a compelling story for retailers. With Everyday Dose, it’s the opposite. We have close to 400,000 subscribers who drink it every day.

Jack Savage: Now I can go to a retailer like Target and show them our retention curves, our reviews, and real performance data. There’s anonymous credit card data that lets you compare retention across brands in the category. When you put our retention curve next to competitors, the difference is obvious.

Megan Bruneau: How do you make sense of that difference?

Flavor, Formulation, and Retention

Jack Savage: Flavor is huge. I’m extremely meticulous about taste. I love food and smoothies, and I’ve always been good at dissecting flavors. I also have a very strong sense of smell, which is both a blessing and a curse.

Megan Bruneau: It sounds like you really set yourselves apart by being intentional about taste.

Jack Savage: Taste and efficacy. We care deeply about clinical dosing—how much collagen actually works, how much L-theanine is effective, how much Lion’s Mane you can include without making it taste terrible. Lion’s Mane doesn’t taste great on its own, so balancing coffee, collagen, and mushrooms was key.

Megan Bruneau: I’m excited to dive deeper into formulation and testing. But before we do, let’s go back to the beginning. You mentioned growing up in a somewhat tumultuous environment. How old were you when your parents split up?

Family Dynamics and Early Influences

Jack Savage: I was 22 when my parents split up.

Megan Bruneau: You were 22. Okay, so they were together while you were growing up. Can you say more about what that environment was like?

Jack Savage: I love both of them so much. I actually remember a moment in high school when I said, “Why don’t you guys just get a divorce?” You want to hold everything together as a kid, but there’s a point where you need to be realistic.

Megan Bruneau: Absolutely. There’s a point where constant conflict isn’t helpful. Do you have siblings?

Jack Savage: I have an older sister. She’s been a role model my whole life—just incredibly caring and sweet. She started her own company in college and still runs it today. It’s called Helper, an on-demand childcare platform.

Jack Savage: It’s like Uber for babysitting, but focused on corporate benefits. For example, Walmart partners with them so employees at Sam’s Club can get a sitter at their door within three hours.

Megan Bruneau: That’s incredible.

Jack Savage: It’s also huge for gender equity. Working parents don’t have to choose between missing work and childcare falling through. Everyday Dose actually offers this benefit to all our employees—$500 per month in free childcare.

Megan Bruneau: That’s incredibly meaningful. It sounds like entrepreneurship was modeled for you. Were your parents entrepreneurs?

Entrepreneurial Roots and Scarcity Mindset

Jack Savage: My grandfather on my dad’s side had a successful printing company back when printing was still a big industry. On my mom’s side, my grandfather ran a meatpacking business—very South Side Chicago.

Jack Savage: My dad worked for my grandfather until the printing business collapsed because of digital disruption. I watched that downfall in high school. My dad really suffered, and it created a deep scarcity mindset that I inherited—this feeling of not having enough or not being enough.

Jack Savage: I don’t struggle with that anymore. I worked through it during the pandemic.

Megan Bruneau: Growing up around that must have been intense—seeing both the opportunities of entrepreneurship and the risks and fear that can come with it.

Jack Savage: Absolutely. I was also never great at school. I’m ADHD and dyslexic. My mom was always incredibly supportive. She didn’t push me to get straight A’s—just to get by.

Jack Savage: Because of that, I didn’t have a high bar academically. I don’t know where the fire came from, but I think people didn’t take me seriously. So I overcompensated by taking myself very seriously.

Megan Bruneau: Can you say more about that?

Overcompensation, Curiosity, and Identity

Jack Savage: I remember flying to visit my sister in college in Santa Barbara when I was in high school. I wore a suit on the plane in case I met someone important.

Jack Savage: I felt bad for anyone sitting next to me because I would talk to them nonstop—not to get anything from them, but because I was genuinely curious. I wanted to know their story.

Megan Bruneau: I really relate to that. As someone with ADHD too, there’s often a lot of shame growing up—being told you talk too much, ask too many questions, can’t sit still, don’t pay attention.

Megan Bruneau: You mentioned being diagnosed at five years old. Is that right?

Jack Savage: Yeah. I was put on Ritalin.

Megan Bruneau: What were your parents noticing that led to that diagnosis?

ADHD Diagnosis and Early Medication

Jack Savage: I barely remember parts of my childhood, but I know I couldn’t sit still. I struggled to formulate sentences. I’d start one thought and jump to another. I forgot homework or didn’t even remember that I had homework.

Jack Savage: Looking back, I also think ADHD is overdiagnosed. The first things we should look at are diet, lifestyle, and sleep.

Megan Bruneau: We’re not meant to sit in chairs all day.

Jack Savage: Exactly. I didn’t have any dietary restrictions as a kid. I could eat anything, anytime. That affected sleep, which affected focus, which turned into a cycle—fast food, milkshakes, ice cream, repeat.

Megan Bruneau: What symptoms or behaviors did you develop shame around because of the diagnosis or medication?

Jack Savage: I developed physical tics from the medications. We went from Ritalin to Concerta to Focalin to Adderall. I’d have facial tics—hard blinking, strange movements.

Jack Savage: They’d switch medications to see if another one worked better.

Megan Bruneau: How did that impact you socially?

Social Impact and Early Self-Worth

Jack Savage: Even though I was athletic, I was always the last kid picked. That fueled my seriousness—I needed to prove myself.

Jack Savage: In high school, I wanted to be voted “Most Successful” in the yearbook. I didn’t get it. I still remember who did. He’s doing great now—and honestly, I’m doing better.

Jack Savage: At some point, you make peace with that stuff. If you’re doing great in business, amazing. If you’re not doing great in business, also amazing.

Megan Bruneau: It sounds like there was a recurring theme of feeling left out or not good enough.

Jack Savage: All of that. Bullying, not being good at school, feeling stupid. I also had to leave the classroom during tests for extended time accommodations.

Jack Savage: Every test, everyone watched me get up and walk to the “special room.” It was humiliating. I felt like the dumb kid.

Jack Savage: I kept thinking, why couldn’t I just stay in the room and move later if I needed more time?

Neurodiversity, Shame, and Overachievement

Megan Bruneau: It’s wild to look back at how learning differences were handled. So many people carry that trauma with them. And yet, it sounds like that overcompensating you did also played a role in getting you where you are today.

Megan Bruneau: You worked harder, you became entrepreneurial, and maybe traditional environments weren’t a fit for how your brain works.

Megan Bruneau: But at the time, it sounds like it was really painful and hard to see those traits as gifts.

Megan Bruneau: Let’s move toward the inception of Everyday Dose. You had Undo, which you decided wasn’t a long-term fit. What happened after that?

Soul Searching and Early Experiments

Jack Savage: I had a few Airbnbs and realized I wasn’t as excited about that path as I thought I would be. I wasn’t ready to go back to corporate, but I knew I wanted to do something meaningful—something involving people.

Jack Savage: Even before Airbnb, I was couchsurfing. I’d host people from all over the world for free because I wanted to live vicariously through them, learn about their cultures, and show them New York City.

Jack Savage: Airbnb became a natural transition. I got paid, met incredible people, and made friends. I was a great host.

Megan Bruneau: This was before the pandemic, right?

Jack Savage: Yeah—2014, 2015. Over time, I probably hosted over 300 people in my home.

Jack Savage: I loved it so much that I wanted to start an Airbnb retreat center in Joshua Tree. I had made some money in crypto and planned to cash out and buy property, but then the market crashed and that money disappeared.

Jack Savage: So I kept running my three Airbnb listings and experimenting.

Functional Drinks and the Seed of an Idea

Jack Savage: If you came over, I’d make you a functional drink—coffee with Lion’s Mane, collagen, and L-theanine.

Megan Bruneau: How did you discover all these adaptogens and blends?

Jack Savage: I was a huge Joe Rogan listener back in 2012 and 2013. That’s where I learned about Lion’s Mane and the synergy between caffeine and L-theanine.

Megan Bruneau: Some people are way more sensitive to caffeine than others. I’m definitely one of them. Why is that?

Caffeine Sensitivity and Genetic Differences

Jack Savage: A lot of people don’t realize they have a gene variant called CYP1A2. If you have it, you metabolize caffeine very slowly.

Jack Savage: That means you should probably consume less caffeine and earlier in the day.

Jack Savage: That’s why we launched with our Mild Roast. It has about half the caffeine of a normal coffee. When you combine that with collagen, which coats the stomach, and L-theanine, which smooths the stimulant effect, you don’t get the crash.

Jack Savage: Lion’s Mane adds focus. Together, it allows even caffeine-sensitive people to enjoy coffee.

Megan Bruneau: That makes so much sense. Even if I have coffee early, I won’t sleep well at night.

Megan Bruneau: I feel incredible at first—focused, confident—but then I don’t sleep, and it becomes a vicious cycle.

Megan Bruneau: How common is caffeine sensitivity?

Jack Savage: About 50% of people.

Megan Bruneau: So one in two people listening right now is probably caffeine sensitive.

Jack Savage: Exactly. You can cut back or use Everyday Dose—or both.

Rethinking Coffee and Supplement Overload

Jack Savage: If you don’t drink coffee at all, don’t start. But if you already drink it, there’s no reason not to enhance it.

Jack Savage: With two cups of Everyday Dose per day, you’re getting a clinically effective dose of collagen. You don’t need separate supplements cluttering your cabinet.

Jack Savage: Instead of buying collagen, Lion’s Mane powder, L-theanine, and mixing everything yourself, it’s just one scoop—or two—and you’re done.

Jack Savage: When I was formulating, I thought deeply about effects and flavor profiles. If you came over, we’d make a foamy elixir instead of drinking alcohol.

Life Without Alcohol

Megan Bruneau: Was there something that led you to step away from alcohol?

Jack Savage: I didn’t hit rock bottom or go to AA. I just noticed that after a night of drinking, I’d have brain fog for days. My emotions felt off.

Jack Savage: I read a study suggesting that people with ADHD have more inflammation at a cellular level.

Jack Savage: If that’s true, then inflammatory substances—like alcohol—are probably worse for me.

Jack Savage: I cut back significantly and noticed way more clarity, focus, and less brain fog.

Megan Bruneau: So instead of alcohol, you started creating and sharing these elixirs.

Jack Savage: Exactly. A friend tried one and said, “This belongs in Whole Foods.”

Jack Savage: At first, I dismissed it. I thought the wellness bubble already had MudWtr, Four Sigmatic, Rise.

Jack Savage: But then I realized most of the country didn’t even know about these products.

The Birth of Everyday Dose

Jack Savage: This was at the end of 2019. In early 2020, right before the pandemic, my partner and I separated.

Jack Savage: I remember thinking, there’s no better time than now. I left my New York City apartment—I still own it, I rent it out—and moved up to Woodstock.

Jack Savage: That’s where I started building the supply chain, establishing co-manufacturing relationships, creating a website, and putting together a pitch deck to raise money.

Megan Bruneau: When you realized this could be a product you wanted to scale, how did you know what to do next? I think a lot of people love the idea of turning something they make at home into a real product, but have no idea where to start with manufacturing or supply chain.

Sourcing Ingredients and Building the Formula

Jack Savage: I was lucky. A friend of mine worked for a collagen company in London that specialized in the highest-quality collagen. When he left, he gave me the supplier’s information.

Jack Savage: From day one, I had access to premium collagen sourced from Brazil—grass-fed and grass-finished.

Jack Savage: Collagen can’t technically be labeled organic because of the processing method. That’s why you won’t see “organic” on brands like Vital Proteins either. We also use so much collagen that it makes up too high a percentage of the formula to qualify.

Jack Savage: Next was coffee. I literally started Googling coffee suppliers and making calls. You just have to keep calling.

Jack Savage: I was already deep into Lion’s Mane, so I reached out to my favorite mushroom company, Real Mushrooms.

Jack Savage: I ended up building a relationship with the owner. Their parent company, Nammex, supplied our mushrooms.

Jack Savage: I’m very transparent about this. Real Mushrooms uses double-extracted fruiting body mushrooms and provides third-party testing showing high beta-glucan content.

Jack Savage: A lot of brands use myceliated grain, which is cheaper and leaves residue at the bottom of your cup.

Megan Bruneau: Thank you for that transparency. It can feel overwhelming to even know where to begin.

Megan Bruneau: Did you already know what the formula would be, or did it evolve as you sourced ingredients?

From Personal Habit to Product

Jack Savage: I already had the idea. These were things I was doing before starting the company.

Jack Savage: A lot of founders see a trend and jump in. I wasn’t chasing a trend—I was already living this.

Jack Savage: The real work was perfecting the flavor so you actually want to drink it every day.

Megan Bruneau: Were you creating this in your apartment at first?

Jack Savage: Absolutely. In the beginning, everything happened in my apartment.

Megan Bruneau: Were you doing this alone?

Jack Savage: I had friends helping. A group of us lived in Woodstock together, and everyone tasted it and gave feedback.

Jack Savage: I’d ship samples to friends and ask two questions: Do you feel it? And do you crave it?

Jack Savage: Retention is everything. It’s not just about getting someone to buy—it’s about getting them to keep coming back.

Brand, Product, and Retention

Jack Savage: I think about digital marketing as a triangle.

Jack Savage: First, you need a good product. Without that, nothing else matters.

Jack Savage: But before that, you need a good brand—because if no one trusts your brand, they won’t even try the product.

Jack Savage: Then comes creative and offers—how you attract attention, get clicks, and convert interest.

Megan Bruneau: You can have an amazing product at a great price, but if nobody knows it exists, no one will buy it.

Megan Bruneau: And somehow you went from testing in your apartment to nearly 400,000 subscribers.

Jack Savage: There was a lot in between. I moved into my dad’s garage.

Megan Bruneau: How old were you then?

Jack Savage: I was 32 going into the pandemic. I’m 37 now.

Megan Bruneau: What was that like—moving into your dad’s garage at 33?

Living in the Garage and Early Momentum

Jack Savage: I wasn’t very social at that time, and honestly, no one really was. Everyone was staying in their pods.

Jack Savage: There wasn’t much shame around it. I just wanted to save money. I didn’t have extra cash to burn on my own apartment.

Jack Savage: I made the garage comfortable. My bed was there, my desk was there, and everywhere else was filled with samples, packaging ideas, and early versions of what became our starter kits.

Jack Savage: If I wanted to go on a date, I’d take them hiking. That was basically the only option anyway.

Megan Bruneau: What was your relationship like with your dad during that time?

Family Tension and Choosing Distance

Jack Savage: Still tumultuous. There’s a lot to unpack there.

Jack Savage: He has a strong scarcity mindset and a pretty hot temper. I kept thinking, you’re almost 80—just enjoy your life. You’re okay.

Megan Bruneau: That sounds incredibly frustrating.

Jack Savage: Eventually, I just started traveling. From 2020 through the end of 2022, I lived nomadically.

Megan Bruneau: Where were you traveling?

Jack Savage: I was visiting friends in Mexico City, going back to New York, and spending time in Europe. It was actually amazing.

Rapid Growth While Nomadic

Jack Savage: Within three months of launching, Everyday Dose was already doing six figures.

Megan Bruneau: Wow.

Jack Savage: That was right after launch.

Megan Bruneau: How were you able to scale so quickly while traveling?

Building Systems and Infrastructure

Jack Savage: I set up infrastructure early. We worked with vendors instead of doing everything in-house.

Jack Savage: Costs were higher, but the business didn’t rely on me doing everything personally.

Jack Savage: I had the supply chain built out, fulfillment partners set up, and manufacturing figured out.

Jack Savage: I stayed in constant communication with everyone and orchestrated the operation remotely.

Jack Savage: Over time, we brought more in-house. Now we have our own team handling everything.

Megan Bruneau: Do you have your own factory now?

From Vendors to Ownership

Jack Savage: We partnered with a manufacturer about an hour outside Austin.

Jack Savage: We essentially own the production line—it runs Everyday Dose 24/7.

Jack Savage: Our warehouse is also owned by us, and we handle all shipping.

Jack Savage: We’re opening additional warehouses across the country to compete with Amazon-level delivery times.

Megan Bruneau: That’s incredible growth.

Megan Bruneau: You mentioned that within three months you were already doing six figures.

Jack Savage: Yes—over six figures in the first three months.

Early Challenges and Seeking Validation

Megan Bruneau: This podcast focuses on challenge and failure. Were there moments that were particularly difficult along the way?

Jack Savage: Early on, no one believed in me.

Jack Savage: Raising venture capital felt impossible.

Megan Bruneau: What made you decide to pursue venture capital?

Jack Savage: I thought I needed it to scale faster.

Jack Savage: I was also consuming a lot of founder podcasts. Every brand seemed VC-backed.

Jack Savage: I wanted to feel validated. I wanted to feel like I was doing things “the right way.”

Jack Savage: I wanted access to people who could guide me.

Megan Bruneau: Especially in New York, VC backing feels like a stamp of legitimacy.

Megan Bruneau: It’s not just practical—it’s emotional.

Jack Savage: Exactly.

The Deal That Fell Apart

Jack Savage: I remember being on the verge of closing a $500,000 investment.

Jack Savage: I told other investors that we had momentum.

Jack Savage: At the last second, the lead investor backed out.

Jack Savage: I was devastated.

Jack Savage: I truly believed they had committed.

Jack Savage: My dad felt bad and loaned me $100,000—but at 1% interest per month.

Jack Savage: If he’d taken equity instead, he would’ve made a lot more.

Megan Bruneau: That moment sounds heartbreaking.

Megan Bruneau: What were you feeling at the time?

The Emotional Toll of Rejection

Jack Savage: I felt like I wasn’t good enough.

Jack Savage: I felt sad because I thought I wouldn’t be able to take the company to the next level as fast as I wanted.

Jack Savage: There’s a kind of schizophrenia that comes with being an entrepreneur.

Jack Savage: One moment you’re thinking, “Yes, I’m the best. We’re growing. Everything is working.”

Jack Savage: And then suddenly it’s, “Oh my God, everything is terrible. This is falling apart.”

Jack Savage: You’re constantly competing with those two voices.

Jack Savage: Hopefully, the positive energy outweighs the negative.

Dharma as a Stabilizing Force

Jack Savage: What helps me survive that roller coaster is being in my dharma.

Jack Savage: For me, dharma has four components.

Jack Savage: One: Are you good at it?

Jack Savage: Two: Are you passionate about it?

Jack Savage: Three: Are you making an impact?

Jack Savage: Four: Does it make money?

Jack Savage: That overlap—where all four meet—that’s your dharma.

Jack Savage: I’m fully in mine, which is why I can weather the lows.

Megan Bruneau: Can you repeat those four components for listeners?

Jack Savage: You’re passionate about it, you’re good at it, it helps people, and it makes money.

Megan Bruneau: Threading that needle isn’t easy, but when you do, it doesn’t feel like work.

Navigating the Lows

Megan Bruneau: Entrepreneurship comes with extreme swings. How do you navigate the lows?

Jack Savage: Collaboration and being with myself.

Megan Bruneau: What does being with yourself look like in practice?

Jack Savage: Right now, I’m in New York and constantly around people—meetings, events, socializing.

Jack Savage: I’m actually in a low period at the moment.

Jack Savage: I just want to go back to Austin, have my own space, and slow down.

Megan Bruneau: That makes sense—being “on” all the time is exhausting.

Megan Bruneau: You mentioned you’re going through a low right now. Are you open to sharing what’s going on?

Fraud, Scams, and Brand Protection

Jack Savage: We’re dealing with massive fraud.

Jack Savage: People are creating fake Everyday Dose products—fake bags, fake coffee.

Jack Savage: Not only are we losing sales, but it damages our brand.

Jack Savage: Customers try the fake product and think it’s us.

Jack Savage: Or worse, they order something and never receive it and think Everyday Dose is a scam.

Megan Bruneau: How did you find out this was happening?

Jack Savage: Our community told us.

The Power of Community

Jack Savage: We have a private Facebook group called the Dose Fam with around 180,000 members.

Jack Savage: People share incredibly vulnerable stories—skin issues, focus, mood, things I can’t legally claim.

Jack Savage: They started flagging fake listings.

Jack Savage: We discovered dozens of counterfeit listings on Walmart.com alone.

Megan Bruneau: That’s shocking. I would’ve assumed there was stricter vetting.

Jack Savage: Unfortunately, it’s very easy to launch on Walmart’s marketplace.

Jack Savage: It’s also happening on Facebook and Instagram.

Jack Savage: Scammers copy our ads and run them themselves.

Jack Savage: Even small ad spends can drive up our cost of acquisition.

Jack Savage: We have to identify and report everything ourselves.

Jack Savage: It’s violating.

Megan Bruneau: That powerlessness sounds brutal.

Jack Savage: It really is.

Jack Savage: We’ve hired teams, lawyers, and services to take things down.

Jack Savage: It’s been a six-week battle, and I think we’re finally nearing the end.

Megan Bruneau: How are you taking care of yourself through all of this?

Regulating the Nervous System

Jack Savage: Today I’m actually going to Othership.

Megan Bruneau: Oh, nice.

Jack Savage: I know you interviewed Robbie. I’m doing sauna and cold plunge.

Jack Savage: I’m also getting a massage this week.

Jack Savage: Touch is my love language. Massage activates my parasympathetic nervous system in a huge way.

Megan Bruneau: That makes so much sense.

Entrepreneurial Advice: Failing Fast

Megan Bruneau: As we near the end of the interview, you’ve shared so much vulnerability and insight.

Megan Bruneau: What advice would you give aspiring entrepreneurs who are just getting started?

Jack Savage: Fail fast.

Jack Savage: Don’t drag something out if it’s not working, if you’re not passionate about it, or if it no longer fits.

Jack Savage: If you’re not in your dharma, you’re wasting time.

Megan Bruneau: How do you distinguish between something that’s hard but worth persevering through and something that’s just not right?

Jack Savage: Get more data points.

Jack Savage: Talk to mentors. Ask people you trust.

Jack Savage: You can even use tools like ChatGPT to plug in information and get objective feedback.

Jack Savage: Don’t blindly follow it, but use it to clarify your situation.

Jack Savage: Ask yourself: What cards have I been dealt? Does this still make sense?

Megan Bruneau: And does it still fit within those four dharma criteria.

Jack Savage: Exactly. That framework matters most.

Mentorship and Leadership

Megan Bruneau: Did you have a mentor through this process?

Jack Savage: Not one consistent mentor early on.

Jack Savage: Today, my mentor is our president.

Megan Bruneau: Tell us more.

Jack Savage: He grew up in Iran and moved to the U.S. as a teenager.

Jack Savage: He went to UCSB like me, bought a company, and later sold it.

Jack Savage: Around the time of that exit, he was also ending a nine-year marriage.

Jack Savage: He moved into a 20-person community house in Bushwick filled with entrepreneurs and artists.

Jack Savage: He fell in love with co-creation and community.

Jack Savage: He later brought that concept to Austin and built a micro-version of it.

Jack Savage: I moved into that house when I relocated to Austin.

Jack Savage: This year, he became our president.

Jack Savage: He’s incredibly empathetic, wise, and balanced between left and right brain.

Jack Savage: That combination is rare.

Megan Bruneau: When you said “our president,” I briefly thought you meant the President of the United States.

Jack Savage: That would be wild.

Megan Bruneau: I was very curious where that story was going.

Flow State, Curiosity, and Self-Doubt

Megan Bruneau: Something I’ve noticed about you, Jack, is your insatiable curiosity.

Megan Bruneau: You’ll Google how to source coffee, talk to strangers on planes, ask endless questions.

Megan Bruneau: But earlier you mentioned not always believing in yourself or struggling with self-worth.

Megan Bruneau: Can you talk about that juxtaposition?

Jack Savage: I move through big waves.

Jack Savage: When I’m in a flow state, I’m confident. I’m the guy on the plane talking to strangers.

Jack Savage: When I’m not in flow, I have self-doubt. I jumble my words. I feel brain fog.

Jack Savage: So for me, it’s about getting back into flow as much as possible.

Megan Bruneau: It sounds like both versions of you are true.

Megan Bruneau: There are moments of confidence and moments of doubt.

Megan Bruneau: That’s human—and influenced by sleep, nutrition, stress, hormones, relationships.

Healing Self-Worth

Megan Bruneau: You mentioned earlier that you’ve healed a lot of that self-doubt.

Megan Bruneau: What did that healing process look like?

Jack Savage: A big part of it was being okay with not being invited to things.

Jack Savage: That’s partially my responsibility.

Jack Savage: Friendships are earned.

Jack Savage: If I’ve been focused on Everyday Dose for a year and haven’t checked in, I shouldn’t expect an invite to the snowboarding trip.

Jack Savage: That perspective helped me a lot.

Jack Savage: It reinforced that I am enough—and that the people around me are enough.

Redefining Friendship and Connection

Jack Savage: You don’t need hundreds of thousands of followers if you don’t have real friends.

Jack Savage: Two or three people who truly have your back—that’s everything.

Jack Savage: That’s what I strive for.

Megan Bruneau: That’s real intimacy.

Megan Bruneau: It’s being imperfect together, vulnerable, human.

Megan Bruneau: Not performative vulnerability, not parasocial relationships.

Megan Bruneau: There’s actually a limit to how many deep connections humans can maintain.

Megan Bruneau: Evolutionarily, our communities were smaller.

Jack Savage: That sounds right.

Megan Bruneau: It also sounds like there’s humility there.

Megan Bruneau: You might be crushing it professionally, but that doesn’t entitle you to closeness without effort.

Jack Savage: Exactly.

Jack Savage: Friends aren’t automatic.

Connection as a Practice

Megan Bruneau: In some ways, that perspective gives more security.

Megan Bruneau: It’s not about being perfect.

Megan Bruneau: It’s about caring, showing up, and maintaining relationships.

Megan Bruneau: Before we wrap, is there anything else that feels important to share?

Leadership, Hiring, and Closing Reflections

Jack Savage: One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned from running a company is how important hiring is—for your business and for your mental health.

Jack Savage: If you hire the wrong person, it can set you back three, six, even nine months.

Jack Savage: One bad hire can do a lot of damage.

Megan Bruneau: What have you learned about hiring the right people?

Jack Savage: I look for humility.

Jack Savage: I look for people who are self-aware and emotionally intelligent.

Jack Savage: Skills can be taught. Character is much harder to change.

Jack Savage: I also care a lot about energy.

Jack Savage: Someone can be incredibly talented, but if they bring negative energy or ego into the room, it affects everyone.

Jack Savage: The right people make the business lighter.

Jack Savage: The wrong people make everything feel heavy.

Megan Bruneau: That resonates so deeply. Leadership isn’t just about strategy—it’s about creating an environment where people can actually do their best work.

Jack Savage: Exactly.

Jack Savage: And when you have the right people around you, it creates more space.

Jack Savage: Space to think, to rest, to be creative, and to actually lead instead of constantly putting out fires.

Final Words of Wisdom

Megan Bruneau: If there’s one thing you’d want listeners to take away from your story, what would it be?

Jack Savage: Trust yourself.

Jack Savage: Even if other people don’t believe in you yet.

Jack Savage: If you’re aligned with your dharma—if you’re good at what you do, passionate about it, helping people, and building something sustainable—you’ll find a way through.

Jack Savage: The path won’t be clean or linear.

Jack Savage: But if you stay honest with yourself, fail fast when needed, and keep coming back to what matters, it’s worth it.

Megan Bruneau: Jack, thank you so much for your honesty, vulnerability, and insight.

Megan Bruneau: This conversation will resonate with so many people.

Jack Savage: Thank you for having me.