Feel Rich Founders To Hip Hop Community: Health Is The New Wealth
(By Devin Thorpe | Published on April 26, 2017 for Forbes.com)
Feel Rich, started with the question, "What if we create a brand that makes health sexy?"
Feel Rich, a "culturally relevant" health and wellness brand for the multicultural, urban community, is a led by Shawn Ullman and Quincy D. Jones, III, son of the multi-Grammy-award-winning artist. Ullman has worked for Jones for years, helping to produce documentary films. Jones has left his father's shadow but not his legacy and has produced several gold, platinum and multi-platinum albums.
(Left to right: Feel Rich CEO, Shawn Ullman, Rapper Fat Joe, and Feel Rich Co-Founder, Quincy D. Jones, III)
Their latest collaboration, Feel Rich, was Ullman's idea and he is the CEO. The name was partially inspired by Ullman's parents, Phyllis and Richard Ullman.
Ullman says, "We leverage our relationships with hip-hop artists, celebrities, and athletes to promote health as the new wealth. From our branded content, live events, products, and social media community; we are re-defining what it means to be rich."
Both entrepreneurs had observed the importance of health and wellness in their own lives and in the lives of many of the big name hip hop artists, including Fat Joe, Paul Wall and Styles P.
Jones says Eminem realized he was making more money after getting into better health.
The mission is important to Jones for several reasons. Of his father, he says, "He raised me to always have an underlying mission with all my work. So in my doc and music, I always insert a message that empowers the viewer, even if it's subliminal there is always a message. With my Tupac doc, I covered how well read he was and put his reading list in the DVD cover and tons of kids went out to buy those books as they wanted to be like Tupac. So you put the medicine inside the dessert and they don't realize it's medicine."
"I have a social mission behind everything I do, it's lifestyle," he adds.
Ullman highlights the problem he sees with health information in general. "There is a ton of health and wellness information available but it is not authentic or relatable to the multicultural community."
Jones echoes that. "We want to bring information to them in a cool way via social and traditional media that is compelling and connective. It does not currently exist."
That drives the Feel Rich strategy, Ullman says, to make the information feel more relevant to their urban audience. "We remix health information into engaging, empowering, and authentic content and events that connect with the community and help individuals live richer lives."
Feel Rich also partners with brands that want to connect with their audience to deliver a health-positive message. "We also work with brands and agencies to help them craft campaigns that will resonate with the community and help them take positive actions," Ullman says.
The message is resonating with their audience. Jessica Rios-Almanza, the Designer and Brand Strategist for Crystal Wall Fitness, is a big fan of the Feel Rich brand and wears it proudly. She says, "I represent the brand because it represents me."
She explains, "From the well-designed logo to the rhythmic heart beat of the tribe, my wellness is my richness, one choice at a time. My loyalty is to the message."
(Maliek Trimmer pictured above)
Maliek Trimmer, another fan, describes himself as "just a normal guy trying to live a healthy life one day at a time." He says he first heard about Feel Rich at an event with Slim Thug. After doing some online research, he decided he could really get behind it.
He said, "I felt it was a brand that I could relate to. I also see how they are getting music artists and TV actors on board with incorporating health into their everyday lives. The logo stood out and caught my eye so much to the point that I got it tattooed on my arm."
Trimmer says the brand and the tattoo help remind him to live healthier.
Rios agrees. She says, "I feel like I am on a huge 'stay well squad'...and well, I am. I feel committed to a sense of social responsibility because I know that I inspire people just as much as my lifestyle is inspiring. I think that's how the movement works. You feel it and thereby become it and pass it on--sort of like music."
Feel Rich seems to be living up to its goal to make health sexy.
