Shownotes
The Power of Natural Light: "They say that now we're living in an age where 95% of our day is spent indoors under artificial light." - John Graham Harper, CEO of Lumaflex
Why Listen?
If you’re an entrepreneur feeling the grind, looking for ways to improve your performance—or simply craving an uplifting story about overcoming adversity—this episode is for you. John’s passion is contagious, and his commitment to making a global impact is something every listener can draw inspiration from.
Meet John Graham Harper
John’s journey is anything but ordinary. Born in India, carrying an Australian passport, and now a global citizen, John has built an impressive resume: founder of a cutting-edge wellness tech brand (Lumaflex), official member of the Forbes Business Council, president of White Collar Fight Night in China, and collaborator with fitness organizations around the world. His true passion? Empowering people to recover, rebuild, and—as he puts it—“exceed the prior limits they have placed on themselves.”
Highlights from the Episode
From Rugby to Red Light:
John’s own journey from competitive sports to recovery after a life-threatening brain tumor sparked his obsession with wellness innovation. After an injury ended his rugby and boxing days, John discovered the power of red light therapy—thanks to a nudge from his wife. The result? A passion that led to the creation of Lumaflex, making red light therapy portable, accessible, and life-changing for millions.
The Entrepreneur’s Edge:
John shares how red light therapy isn’t just about healing sports injuries. It’s about fighting daily inflammation, improving sleep, boosting mental clarity, and energizing your “internal battery”—perfect for busy entrepreneurs tackling stress and long hours.
Lessons on Relationships & Resilience:
From building a business while living out of a suitcase to networking his way across continents, John reveals that his superpower isn’t just positivity, but his knack for connecting people and building strong relationships. It’s a reminder for all of us: Lean into your network and stay resilient. The entrepreneurial journey is a team sport!
No End Game—Just Growth:
When asked about his endgame, John admits he’s always looking for the next challenge. His mission? Making red light therapy a standard of care in wellness—and never settling for “good enough.”
This episode is brought to you by PureTax, LLC. Tax preparation services without the pressure. When all you need is to get your tax return done, take the stress out of tax season by working with a firm that has simplified the process and the pricing. Find out more about how we started.
Moments
00:00 Entrepreneur's Secret to Success
03:55 "Parental Influence: Guru Worship & Travel"
09:35 Rugby Injuries and Boxing Transition
10:32 Boxing-Related Brain Tumor Discovery
15:05 "Light Therapy: Emerging Medical Breakthrough"
17:32 "Embracing Change and Exploration"
21:08 Golf Fitness in Vegas
25:32 Challenges of Starting a Gym
28:55 Red Light Therapy Mogul
30:24 "Alan Derkasher: Innovating Consistent Light Therapy"
33:40 Portable Back Pain Relief Device
37:34 "Trust in Business: A Lost Art?"
41:48 Island Sunlight: A Natural Wonder
43:05 "Light Therapy Powers Cellular Function"
45:48 Optimize Focus and Energy Daily
51:48 Photobiomodulation Advocacy Goals
55:21 "Free Access to Fitness Academy"
Running a business doesn’t have to run your life.
Without a business partner who holds you accountable, it’s easy to be so busy ‘doing’ business that you don’t have the right strategy to grow your business.
Stop letting your business run you. At Harper & Co CPA Plus, we know that you want to be empowered to build the lifestyle you envision. In order to do that you need a clear path to follow for success
Our clients enjoy a proactive partnership with us. Schedule a consultation with us today.
Download our free guide - Entrepreneurial Success Formula: How to Avoid Managing Your Business From Your Bank Account.
Glenn Harper, CPA, is the Owner and Managing Partner of Harper & Company CPAs Plus, a top 10 Managing Partner in the country (Accounting Today's 2022 MP Elite). His firm won the 2021 Luca Award for Firm of the Year.
An entrepreneur and speaker, Glenn transformed his firm into an advisory-focused practice, doubling revenue and profit in two years. He teaches entrepreneurs to build financial and operational excellence, speaks nationwide to CPA firm owners about running their businesses like entrepreneurs, and consults with firms across the country. Glenn enjoys golfing, fishing, hiking, cooking, and spending time with his family.
Julie Smith, MBA, is a serial entrepreneur in the public accounting space. She is the Founder of EmpowerCPA™, Founder of PureTax, LLC, COO for Harper & Company CPAs Plus, and Co-host of the Empowering Entrepreneurs podcast.
Named CPA.com's 2021 Innovative Practitioner of Year, Julie led Harper & Company's transition to an advisory-focused firm, doubling revenue and profit in two years. She now empowers other CPA firm owners nationwide through consulting and speaking, teaching them how to run their businesses like entrepreneurs. Julie lives in Columbus, OH with her family and enjoys travel, coaching basketball, sporting events, and the occasional shopping spree.
Copyright 2026 Glenn Harper
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/
Transcripts
Hello everyone. Welcome to another edition of the Empowering Entrepreneurs podcast. I'm Glenn Harper.
Julie Smith [:I'm Julie Smith.
Glenn Harper [:What's going on, Julie?
Julie Smith [:You know, it's almost the start of school.
Glenn Harper [:Is that liberating or not liberating?
Julie Smith [:I feel like it's 50, 50, 50, 50.
Glenn Harper [:It's all the activities and everything that goes along with it. Correct?
Julie Smith [:Yeah.
Glenn Harper [:I mean it's fun.
Julie Smith [:It's a good back to the routine.
Glenn Harper [:It is. Well, I'd like to introduce our guest today. It's John Graham Harper, founder and CEO of Lumiflex, a global wellness tech brand sports specializing in red light therapy, official member of the Forbes Business Council, founder and president of the WCFN White Collar Fight Night in Guangdong, China and a partner in Impact and countless other fitness organizations worldwide. His passion is to create opportunities for all who have faced some sort of physical debilitation, to show them a path towards not only healing, but exceeding the prior limits they have placed on themselves. John has faced many a challenge himself in his life and has once. And once he figured out the key to wellness and recovery, he decided to bring those secrets to the masses. With an incredible footprint in the U.S. a Europe, he's also saturated the space in China.
Glenn Harper [:If you're going to go help the masses, why not do it where there are 1.4 billion prospects? He has cracked the enigma that all entrepreneurs are trying to figure out. When one discovers the secret code, why keep it yourself? Why not bring that secret to all the people? John obviously believes in his system and his products, but he's a walking example. If you have a good team, you, you can do just about anything. His WCFN has similar traits to some of the best quotes of all of cinematic history, including it's only after we've lost everything that we are free to do anything. The things you owned up, the things you own end up owning you. And you are not your job, you are not how much money you have in the bank. And the best of all, the first rule of Fight Club is you don't talk about Fight Club. He has charisma and an energy about him that absolutely attracts and inspires the people who come in his contact with him and to challenge themselves to be the best version of themselves.
Glenn Harper [:He does not take this skill for granted, which is why he wants to get the message to the masses. We are thankful that he has taken some time to join our show to share his story inspiration with all of our listeners. Thanks John for being on the show.
John Graham Harper [:Thank you.
Julie Smith [:Are you out of breath? I think that was your longest intro known to the history of this podcast.
Glenn Harper [:I forgot to put a lot of punctuation on. I guess it's okay.
John Graham Harper [:Wow, I appreciate that. That was very nice. Thank you. To have all that read is kind of. Wow, that's.
Glenn Harper [:Yeah, well, I tried to put together. I figured out after I saw some of the photos and things that you do, I feel like we got a good, good, good segment of that. Well, the one thing we like to do is we like to, you know, start off by finding out some controversial things about you in the past. I'm kidding. But just where you're from and all you do, but you are, you're like a vacuum. You have anything out there except your businesses. I don't really know where you came from. The only thing I noticed that was odd is that at some point it seemed like you were incredible physical shape.
Glenn Harper [:But today you seem to have increased your body fat to 7%. I mean, what's going on with that? I'm kidding, of course.
John Graham Harper [:Oh, that's so good. Yeah. I mean, it's a very long story. Yeah. After listening to that, I was thinking it's sort of. It's. You reminisce a little bit and lots of memories come flooding back. I mean, that's a.
John Graham Harper [:It's like a 20, 20 year introduction. I just got there. That's pretty. Thanks for that. Where do we start?
Julie Smith [:So tell us, where were you born?
John Graham Harper [:I was born in India. I was born in India. I was born in India. I'm an Australian passport. My accent is clearly American, according to the Brits. And the. They disowned me. They're like, no, mate, get out of here.
John Graham Harper [:And I've spent more time in China for manufacturing than I think any other country in the world. Probably boots on the ground. I've spent more time in China. Yeah.
Glenn Harper [:And how did you end up in India? I assume your parents were global travelers.
John Graham Harper [:Yeah, they loved a guru. They were worshiping a guru. My parents are happily divorced now, but they had their moments where they really enjoyed traveling and going to different places and they were in India for a while following some guru. I guess that's probably where I got my. My nature of always wanting to go and explore new places and try new crazy things. I've got a very big interest in, in the Middle east now, you know, with this up and coming region, Dubai, the uae, there's a lot of wellness interest. There are lots of innovation. Some of the biggest crypto companies are launching there.
John Graham Harper [:And it's a place that I Often think about that. I really want to go and explore more and potentially like grow the business there. Right. But I guess I got that from my parents. They were real travelers in their younger years.
Julie Smith [:What did they do for a living?
John Graham Harper [:My dad was a lecturer and my mom was a housewife. She was a happy housewife. Yeah. She was just taking care of the kids. She was, yeah, she's wonderful. I was a lot more closer to my mom than my dad, obviously. You know, that's how we are as, as sons. But yeah, she was.
John Graham Harper [:I learned a lot from. She's so, so such a wonderful woman. Shout out to my mom, I love you to death. What did your dad more of a. He. He was a little bit more of a, a worker. He was. I, I guess I got my, my work ethic from my dad.
John Graham Harper [:He was sort of the more pedal to the metal kind of. He was. He was a lecturer in behavioral studies. And at the time, like, you know, thinking about this now, I really didn't appreciate. I probably could have learned a lot more from my dad and I guess that's what I'm doing now, you know, with my relationship with my father. Even though I don't get to see him much. He's. He's happily retired in, in the Gold coast in Australia.
John Graham Harper [:But I could have learned a lot from him, you know, and what he does. His. My grandfather was like a historian in, in Tasmania and he's written all these books and he's like done our family tree. He's very well respected in, in Bernie Tasmania. He has all these historical records of the, the Harper. I see you're a Harper as well. Yeah, the, the Harpers were a, a family in the Buchanan clan in Scotland. And he's, he's like I, I have like.
John Graham Harper [:I was named after my great grandfather who fought in the, in the war jock John Graham Harper. And all of this I should have, I should have as a young kid. I should have learned much more about it. But you know, when you're young, you're just looking to go outside and kick a football around and then before you know it, I'm off doing my thing. And then now I'm like trying to schedule time to see, to see my folks more. My dad is now, is in Miami. My older brother lives in Miami as well. And yeah, he's enjoying the, the beaches of Miami.
John Graham Harper [:But I'm here in Hong Kong checking on some production. I gotta fly to Poland because I have production in Poland as well. So I got to fly next week to Poland and I'M just like, let's do some video calls. I love you, dad.
Glenn Harper [:Why not? Yeah, why not?
John Graham Harper [:What's going on?
Glenn Harper [:So, you know, growing up, you have a brother. How many other siblings?
John Graham Harper [:I have five brothers and two sisters. Wow. My oldest brother is. Is. Is based in Miami. Everybody else is in Gold Coast, Australia. They're all settled down, you know, the yard, the yards, you know, the. The suburbs, if you will, drive and everything.
John Graham Harper [:Living that, you know, beers on the barbecue on the weekend. And I'm in, like. I live out of a suitcase and I'm in a hotel, like, all the time.
Glenn Harper [:Isn't that funny? You know, first of all, you know, I don't know how old you are, but the fact that your parents took all 70 of you wherever they went is impressive in and of itself. Around the world, I mean, most people can't even get to the next city over, let alone.
John Graham Harper [:Yeah.
Glenn Harper [:And then they all decided they didn't want to travel and do the world thing, and here you are slaying it. What do they think about that?
John Graham Harper [:That's. Yeah, they're like, aren't you. Aren't you ready to retire already? Why don't you want to settle down? Like, are there, you know, are kids coming, you know, in the future? They're all, you know, they've all. They've had their. They've seen the world, they've done their thing, so they're all very well settled. But, yeah, I definitely should give a lot of appreciation to the. The hustle and the adventure spirit that my folks had. They certainly don't have that now, and they don't need to have it now.
John Graham Harper [:They can enjoy their retirement life. But it's definitely something that I want to really extend that time of adventure and really see what the world is. Such an amazing place. There's so many different cultures, things to learn. I've always really fed off different, you know, going to a country that I've never been to before and go, you know, and asking around, you know, with. With the translation, you know, app or something, you know, where's the best restaurant? And, you know, and I really like that. That's, like, my. My thing I really enjoy doing.
Julie Smith [:So growing up, did you play every sport or when did, you know, like, were you into fitness and athletics growing up?
John Graham Harper [:Yeah, yeah, I was the. I was the one in the family that was into the sports, into competing. My. My uncle taught me how to play cricket, and he passed away two weeks ago from cancer, which was a really big hit to the family. But I remember you know, you mentioning that. I remember, you know, as a very young kid learning to play cricket from a, from my uncle. And then I got into rugby. I did very, very well in rugby.
John Graham Harper [:And rugby was, was where sort of my, I guess my, my, my healing began because I got very severely injured. Both my shoulders, I blew out both my shoulders playing tournaments and my, my left knee was a, was probably the, the worst injury that I've had in my competitive career from rugby. And then I remember stopping rugby and thinking, you know, is because in rugby you don't know where you're going to get hit. You don't know where a collision or potential injury is going to come from. It can come from any side, right? And, but I still wanted to, to, to compete and I, to this day I still have a very, it's, it's a, I think it's a healthy thing. It's something I think people are born with is they have this, this zest for, for competing. But I went into amateur boxing and I did, I would, I was after fighting for about four years, I would get very severe headaches. Really, really severe headaches.
John Graham Harper [:And I remember the day my girlfriend at the time, who's now my wife, she pushed me to go to the hospital because I had this. I was laying on the couch and I was just holding my head like it was about to explode. And they did a scan and they found that a tumor was in my head. And he said it was because of impacts to the brain you were getting hit. Because he said, like I remember the doctor telling me, did you, you know, did you have a serious car accident or did you have a serious fall, like, even, even as a child? And I was like, no, no, but, but boxing is kind of something I'm pursuing now. So, yes, sparring and then there's a competition. And he was like, yeah, don't do that. That's, that's affecting you.
John Graham Harper [:You're not conditioned for it. And it's created this tumor. And that was sort of the big wake up that I had in my life where, you know, when you get that news like you have a tumor in your head. And thankfully I remember Dr. Saying, you know, you, you have 11 months to plan the surgery. And during that time we can use this micro surgery where we can go, we can use these micro instruments and get rid of the tumor. But after 11 months it's going to be not only difficult to get the tumor out, but the tumor is growing into your brain. So and as it's growing it'll, it'll kill you.
John Graham Harper [:It'll. It'll end up killing you. And. And it would be very difficult to get it out. And I remember it was about the size of my thumb. It was about that big, the tumor when it came out. But that was sort of when I had this major reset where I needed to slow down and figure out, you know, maybe, you know, just trying to break through doors and, you know, I should, you know, take a more cautious approach, more collected. And my.
John Graham Harper [:My girlfriend, who's now my wife, she was the one to introduce me to light therapy. And I remember it was this device. It was like this. This lamp. It was this. It. It was a lamp that you would find, like a bedside lamp kind of looking thing. But it was a medical.
John Graham Harper [:Had a very real medical look, like something you'd see in a hospital. And you'd have to wheel it around and this big weighted base sort of held the thing together. And you would pull the arm and you would aim it at the, you know, the area that was affected. And I. I was like, I'm not. Whatever. Whatever this is, I don't believe in it. And I'm was.
John Graham Harper [:I was popping every kind of pill, supplement, you name it. As an athlete, you're always looking for this edge, right? And I thought, this is a lamp, and this is. This is ridiculous. Like. But she was super insistent on me doing these treatments. And it was 20 minutes every night. That's what she would do. It was every night.
John Graham Harper [:She'd, like, bring the lamp in. She was like, come on. And I was sort of like, okay. And I just sort of. To appease her. And where I got that aha moment was my left knee. Because that injury was so mentally. And it was so mentally devastating because I remember even sitting in a seated position, it would really start to hurt.
John Graham Harper [:It would get in, it would. And I would have to stretch my leg out and do these. And I had this. I had, you know, like, Walgreens, they have this deep heat cream. It's like. And it kind of creates a bit of heat, like a cold heat on your. On your, you know, where you want to put it. And I would rub and massage my knee to get.
John Graham Harper [:To get it sort of lubricating, get the circulation going, and then be able to walk again or be able to sit down again. So taking a plane or an Uber was very difficult. And I remember after a week of using this lamp on the knee, I didn't have pain after a week, and then I did for one more week, and then I stopped using the device for the knee. Like, and now I think one of the grandparents has, that has the lamp. But that's what sort of triggered what is what's going on here. Like nothing touched me. It was literally light shining on my knee. I didn't take any.
John Graham Harper [:So there was no sort of procedure protocol to this. And going down the rabbit hole of light therapy was, was even, even now it's still very exciting because new clinical research is coming out. But that really ex. And to be honest, where I was coming from was like I again, I was going to. I wanted an edge. I wanted something that was, that nobody else had. Like could this, this is, can be my little edge in competition. But after reading and reading about it so much more, it became a real passion for me because you know, when you, when you research about red light therapy, it's, it's, it's natural, it's non evasive, it's from the sun, right.
John Graham Harper [:And it's something that is, it's working on a cellular level and it can help. The outcomes are tremendous. Like I, there are devices now that are being used to help with dementia, with Alzheimer's, with Parkinson's disease, you know, with diseases that we, we think are just uncurable, like, oh, you got it, you know, it sucks for you, but it's, all of this is changing now. And in the future, light therapy is something that people will turn to as an actual option to be healed. And what we're all waiting for in photobiomodulation, which is the medical term for light therapy, we're all waiting for that step. When doctors recognize it and they sort of use all of the clinical research as enough of an encouragement to actually prescribe it. And I believe this can happen in the very near future. And once this happens, I mean, that's exciting.
John Graham Harper [:If I'm a little bit part of that big change, it'll certainly mean a lot to me.
Glenn Harper [:Well, I think if you were to sell your devices or the technology of the drug companies, they'd probably promote it. But being on the outside of it, it makes it really, really, really, really hard. And so as you're going through this athletic thing where you're a fierce competitor and rugby is just this very graceful, beautiful, but violent sport. Right. And, and when you get hurt in that, that's pretty much it. I mean you, you cannot compete at that level. And then you go to the boxing. Were your shoulders healed up enough where you could do the crosses and the jabs or what?
John Graham Harper [:Yeah, I remember from my shoulders. I remember talking to the the coach that was doing my rehab, he encouraged me to do boxing to help, you know, strengthen the tendons. So it was originally sort of a. A treatment, sort of a rehab treatment for my shoulders. And then I was like, yeah, I'm gonna be a heavyweight champion.
Glenn Harper [:There it is. That's natural progression.
Julie Smith [:So did you go to college?
John Graham Harper [:Nope. Nope. Never been to college? No.
Julie Smith [:So you graduate high school? Do you have your girl girlfriend now? Wife at that point?
John Graham Harper [:No. We were dating and I was traveling a lot, but, yeah, I skipped that whole college phase.
Julie Smith [:So traveling like, you did the school of hard knocks, right? Like, I mean, it was just ingrained in you.
John Graham Harper [:I just wanted to get out and explore the world. And I think, yeah, it's very interesting to think about that now, you know, you know, to recollect and be like, what was my reasoning back then? But I don't think much has changed. I would say I'm much more calm and more collected, and I do take a more processed, more detail. Or I don't just say, yo, let's do it. Let's try to see how it works. I do. I'm a. And you have to do that when you're, you know, you.
John Graham Harper [:You're creating a global company and you've got a team and everything. But I still have that real enthusiasm for adventure and. And. And seeing how things go. Yeah.
Julie Smith [:So what did you do for a living, though? Like, what it. Like, just odd jobs as you traveled or how did you.
Glenn Harper [:Washing dishes, you know, picking.
John Graham Harper [:Yeah, let's go back. Let's rewind the clock again. I was a. I. I got really big into fitness as a young kid. Really, really big into it. And I remember my older brother telling me, you know, as this. This young kid going to the gym, actually, okay, let's even go back further.
John Graham Harper [:So I was very skinny. I was quite a skinny, skinny person. You know, you can imagine. I. Curly hair, got the freckles going. You know, I was. Yeah, I'm not really getting picked for any team, right. I'm the last one that they're like, all right, John, you know, you can.
John Graham Harper [:You can play. You can be. So I was. I wanted. I wanted confidence, you know, because like every. Every human being inside them, they had this little teddy bear, right? They had this little teddy bear that they want to protect, and I had that little teddy bear. And how I got confident was going to the gym and building muscle. That was sort of like me, you know, building the.
John Graham Harper [:You know, giving the armor to that little teddy bear. And I got such an amazing Feedback from it. I remember my dad was like, yeah, you know, keep hitting the gym. He was really encouraged. He was. Encouraged me to do it. But I remember my older brother who I really look up to. Like, my.
John Graham Harper [:My older brother is someone that has mentored me from. And even to this day, he's always. He's always had my back. But he was like. I remember he said, like, John, you know, you love this whole going to the gym. You could do this and get paid, you know. And I remember as a young kid thinking, like, is that even possible? Like, why would someone pay to. You know, it.
John Graham Harper [:It sucks. It's. You just sweat it. You know, it hurts. You go to the. You know, go home sore. But that's when I learned about, like, oh, personal training. Oh, all.
John Graham Harper [:And I started learning about all of the, you know, what it takes to be this personal trainer.
Glenn Harper [:Now.
John Graham Harper [:It's now like a trainer is someone that is kind of a social media thing, right? You have the online coach, you know, who does the snazzy reels, and he'll train you remotely. But back then, before Instagram, it was kind of. It was still a very new concept for me, but I was a personal trainer. I dove right into it. I remember getting into ac, all of those. Those certificates. I went even on a. For.
John Graham Harper [:What was the name of it Isa this master. Master personal. For a personal trainer was like the master coach. And I remember getting very big into golf fitness and teaching players how to be fit playing golf. I'd never. I never did any golf training, swing mechanics and anything like that. I would do the fitness side. And I remember I had some.
John Graham Harper [:Some connections with some golf pros. And I started training tour players. And I remember, no joke, I used to travel to all over the world with tour players as their coach. Like, I was in Vegas sometimes three times a year, you know, for. For. For games or to. For them to play, like to practice on a course there's. Or to meet their physio.
John Graham Harper [:I remember Vegas was a place I would go to a lot for golf, but that I remember even. I remember even being on the Golf Channel at one point doing, like, some fitness routines, you know, teaching them how to stretch and everything. So there was. There was a phase of my life where I was. As a young personal trainer, I was very, very big into golf fitness.
Glenn Harper [:But you're not even a golfer, which is crazy, right? Better. That's even better. Have you ever come to. You ever compete in the Arnold Classic in Columbus, Ohio?
John Graham Harper [:I love that show. And I was there last year And I had Lumaflex. I had a booth in that event. I would go in for Vegas. I would always go to the Olympia. I would always do the Olympia show. That was always my. I would make the pilgrimage, you know.
John Graham Harper [:But, yeah, it's funny, with golf, I. I never. I was never good. I mean, I tried to play and everything, but I just understood. It just clicked for me. And just. And it was through a network of PGA players that were all. They would always help me out and teach me on sort of the mechanics and everything.
John Graham Harper [:And. Yeah, from. I remember having that little spell and then going into building gyms. I had a buddy of mine who's from South Africa who's a We. You. Someone who goes to the gym often, like, is. You know, worships the iron, you know, is like. Is a gym rat.
John Graham Harper [:We call ourselves gym rats. And so he was like a fellow gym rat back in the day. And we were like, why don't we just build a gym? Because we come to the gym all the time, so why don't we just. Yeah, but all those businesses. I remember opening six gyms, and all of them were like. All of them failed. Like, it was.
Glenn Harper [:We never used the word fail.
Julie Smith [:You just pivoted.
Glenn Harper [:No, we never used that word. It wasn't the right time. You changed and did something different. I feel like if you'd have had. If there was a sport called rugby, golf, you would be excelling that because you just need the contact. This one over here, she doesn't like golf because there's no contact. I'm like, it's just not how it works.
Julie Smith [:I played soccer in college for some reference, so.
John Graham Harper [:Okay. Yes, but got. Yeah. Fitness for a rugby is a big. But the golfers have money.
Glenn Harper [:Yes.
John Graham Harper [:Golfers will golf. I remember getting well over $100 for a session, and sometimes that session was like 30 minutes. So when it went back in the day, when you're selling your hour time, the best bang for buck was always go.
Glenn Harper [:They pay for results. They don't care what it costs. It's. That's probably a good business lesson.
John Graham Harper [:Right.
Glenn Harper [:People want results or how they feel about it, not necessarily the product. Right?
John Graham Harper [:That's right. And every golfer for them, all they need is to hit further. If you can add 20 yards, they're.
Glenn Harper [:Like, write the check.
John Graham Harper [:Yeah. All. And all that you have to do is make that human being stronger. Like, keep your sin. Don't. Don't. I'm not gonna. You know, you're flexibly and everything.
John Graham Harper [:You've got to do your Drills, we're going to stretch you, but just you as a whole person from head to toe just need to be stronger and then repeat the same action. You'll get 20 yards. So it's kind of for anyone who does fitness and looking for like personal training, that's, that's it. That's pretty much the, the end of it. Like you just need to give 20 yards minimum to, to your client.
Glenn Harper [:Do you feel like a lot of, a lot of your clients, they're probably like they don't work out a lot because they're scared that they get it too physically fit and it's too intimidating for everybody around them. I'm totally kidding. I mean just. Yeah, yeah.
Julie Smith [:Being sarcastic.
John Graham Harper [:That was, there's a reason for it.
Glenn Harper [:Yeah, it's a real thing.
John Graham Harper [:That was back in the day. People were like oh, I don't want to get too big. And the, all the fitness, you know, all the, all the fitness people would be like hahaha. You know, if you tried and you, you know, you said your to the gym every day you still would get big. It was a. But now everyone knows like yeah, it's it. That's kind of a myth. You would say that's kind of been debunked.
Julie Smith [:You could say so at what point do you. So you're an entrepreneur, you have gems.
Glenn Harper [:Well, he's probably working like you didn't use, he didn't really mention like when you were traveling the world you were working for somebody or you had businesses at the time.
John Graham Harper [:I don't most of the, if I was ever traveling during my PT days it was always with a client.
Glenn Harper [:Okay. So they were always. Okay.
John Graham Harper [:Always paying. And then the gym businesses, those were very, those were hard businesses because it's an investment up front. And I, I remember one time we, the one gym we opened, we wanted to promise like oh, at 6am if you want to do that run, we'll open at 6am and there now it's pretty obvious. 24 hour gyms, early rise gyms, like that, that's pretty normal. But I remember that was a big thing for us because it was. We would look at each other and be like, who's going to open the gym at 6am?
Glenn Harper [:Rock paper scissors. Yeah, well you know it's funny and I think that's probably what you might have been. It was like at some point you were, you've been always been self employed effectively. You've never not worked for somebody which is, you know, where did that come from? Is that your, you know, Family members, a mentor that did that, or is that just something that. Just what you gravitated toward because out of need to travel, you had to get a gig.
Julie Smith [:I think he just wanted to travel and he found something that fit that, right?
Glenn Harper [:Maybe.
John Graham Harper [:Yeah.
Glenn Harper [:Yeah, I get.
John Graham Harper [:I just. Yeah, it was. It was either that or live in a shoebox. I never really just. I like the way you said you just. I just gravitated towards it. I think it was just natural for me. I.
John Graham Harper [:I felt awkward be working for someone. Not that I. I would say, like, you know, I don't wear this with pride. Like, oh, I never worked with anyone. It just didn't feel natural for me. Like, I liked to figure it out myself. And, like, if it didn't work out, then you, you know. Yeah, maybe you sleep in a shoebox one day.
John Graham Harper [:Like, maybe that's it. Or you have to call a favor and be like, hey, buddy, I need some help. You know, I'm trying to, you know, do my thing, but that sort of just seemed like the only world I was in.
Glenn Harper [:I think that's probably the Harper trait. You know, you got to be right and you got to do it your own way. I mean, I'm pretty sure that's. I. I'm just guessing, guys. I have some of those traits.
John Graham Harper [:Yes. As. As Scottish would say, it's in our blood.
Glenn Harper [:That's right. What are you going to do?
Julie Smith [:I have no comment, but moving on. So at what point do you decide to start the company that you're starting now? Like, how did your journey get you to where you are today?
John Graham Harper [:So. So Lumaflex started with that. I remember that knee that. It was sort of the. You know, the. The moment that ever kind of a light bulb went off in my head. But I wanted to have this lamp, right? This lamp, it works. It's.
John Graham Harper [:You know, this thing works. The clinical research supports it, but the device I didn't want to use, that. That device was cumbersome. Right. It wasn't portable. And I'm always on the go. I wanted to create a portable version of that lamp that was. Same power, same same results, but something portable.
John Graham Harper [:And I have. In manufacturing, I mean, whether it be. I mean, any. I mean, whatever it is that you guys are using for a table, a chair, I could probably find a friend that makes those things. Manufacturing, the network is small. Like people that do things, that build, that innovate, that do product development and create great products. And I knew a gentleman by the name of Alan Derkasher. He's a Dutch guy and he had been.
John Graham Harper [:This guy's story is phenomenal. Like to this day I think he's one of the craziest, most smartest people in my life. He was doing product development and manufacturing. I get 13 years old in China. Back in the day. The Dutch are just, they, the Dutch have this thing where they're like, they understand this value. Like I have something, you have something. Let's exchange.
John Graham Harper [:Win, win. And they all are really good at trading, they're all very good at manufacturing and sort of doing relationships with the world. And this guy, this gentleman, Alan Dersher is, is kind of the G of light therapy products. I think, I think someone said in some conference like he's, I remember he did a TED talk. TED talk. Some, somewhere like I'd have to find it. But I think there's, there's some rating like 80 to 90% of the world's red light therapy products come from one of his factories. And if you go to like duty three in, in an airport, any given airport in the world, pretty much you can guarantee one of his.
John Graham Harper [:If it's light therapy, one of those devices are, are going to be made.
Glenn Harper [:Should be looking for that because you.
John Graham Harper [:Know there's those LED masks, right? Masks are now like beauty as a space in photobiomodulation probably takes the most amount of cake. Like that's, that's the very, a very large amount of manufacturing. It's just LED mask.
Julie Smith [:We're very into the red, like, very into like the red light therapy and all of that. So we have the mask, we have the lights, we, yeah, we do all of that. So it's very interesting, you know, to take us down that path.
Glenn Harper [:Is it going to make me more beautiful? That's what I'm waiting for. I haven't seen any results yet.
Julie Smith [:No results for Henry.
Glenn Harper [:Nothing yet waiting. But I do feel better. But I'm waiting for results.
John Graham Harper [:Hang in there. It's coming.
Glenn Harper [:It's only a matter of time.
John Graham Harper [:But this, but this guy, Alan Derkasher, he, in terms of product development, you know, taking a design concept to him, look, what do you think of this? Can we make this? Can we make that? This process of going from concept to prototype, right? This whole development stage, he's very good, very, very good at this. And the idea was to create a port, the portable product of the world because light therapy, basically where it becomes a game changer is consistency of use, right? And I, this is something I brought from my fitness background because you know, when you have a client, they're like, oh, I'm, you know, I'm unhealthy, you know, can you help me? We, as trainers or anyone in fitness, we're teaching them consistency. Like every day do this, every day do this, show up to the gym, eat healthy. We're always teaching them consistency. It's sort of a way to be successful in anything is B2B consistency to be consistent. And now with light therapy, think about it like this. So the red and infrared light, it's nothing magical. It's not made in a laboratory with a bunch of modern Einsteins that are all tinking around with LEDs.
John Graham Harper [:It's from the sun. It's, and it's available to us, you know, throughout the day. But there's certain nanometers, the red and infrared light nanometers. These are very beneficial to our, our body's mitochondria. So we take those nanometers and we program them into an led. And that LED puts out that exact wavelength, that exact nanometer to support your mitochondria, to give your mitochondria energy. So if you think about that back in, you know, ancient times, Bible times, or, you know, or whatever, your, your exposure to sunlight was a lot higher, a lot higher. I mean, they say that now we're living in an age where 95% of our day is spent indoors under artificial light.
John Graham Harper [:And artificial light is known to create inflammation. So we're kind of in the phase that we're in right now in our, in our development as humans. We, we're under, we're not getting as much sun exposure and we can't go, we can't reverse this are the way our cells are in our skin. We can't just say, okay, we're going to go spend more time out in the sun, we're going to get burnt. We, in our evolution, it's something we can't really go back to. But if you, if you think about how we were before, we had a lot more sun exposure. So really where we are right now, we need tools to get that, that, the healing nanometers of light to our bodies. And that's where masks and panels or, or, or something that touches skin, which is, which is what I push.
John Graham Harper [:That's where we can get that, that, the healing from that light. Now with Alan, I wanted to create a product that was created this consistency organically, not something where, you know, we would say, you know, you have to be consistent using it. That's where you get the benefits. But then the product, you have to adapt to the product the product needs to adapt to. You need to fit into your lifestyle. So that went down to here. I even have one right here that even went down to the exact size of the product. This exact size was something we went back and forth on for it was almost three months before we decided this size.
John Graham Harper [:And the reason for this size was we wanted to maintain portability, but we also wanted to service the number one pain in America right now, which is the lower back. So more people get onto pain medication, they get into surgeries. Just went because of a bad back. It's that thing everyone complains about, like, oh, my back. You know, that's the, it's, it's a very big pain area, not just in America, but the whole world. But if we went any bigger to, because we want to address that large surface area, but any bigger, we kind of lose portability. So these sort of little things in development and the, the liquid silicone, how we glazed the material to make it soft to the touch, they're all elements that basically create the, you know, the, the user to have the device put it in their bag, into their, into their handbag, their backpack, and they use it with them all the time. Because studies show that consistency of using red light therapy, you, your, your recovery is much faster.
John Graham Harper [:So if you have like person A gets into a car accident, person B gets into the same car accident. If person A was using red light therapy a lot before, he'll recover faster than person B who just starts. Does that make sense?
Glenn Harper [:Totally.
John Graham Harper [:That's sort of, that's what, that, that's what the science is showing us. And that again goes back to our, you know, the early days of we, us as humans, we had a lot more exposure to sunlight. It's something that we are used to having on a daily basis. So our, our bodies respond to consistent use of red light therapy.
Glenn Harper [:So here's a bizarre question, but I think it's apropos for our, our, our listeners, is when you're running this company, you know, you now are. You have to go seek out a Dutch person to build something in China. How does the average person even go through trying to develop it, get a patent on it, trust whoever's manufacturing not to rip them off and sell it discounted at Costco or something. How does one navigate that? How did you, what was your skill set? Or how did you figure out a way that like, you're protected, like you're good? Like the average person trying to do this, they have no way to know how to do that.
John Graham Harper [:I think my Skill has always been in relationships in knowing someone. Like, just recently, I had a friend who's going to Vietnam, and they're like, oh, I think that they're going to go do a competition. And this was literally just earlier today. And I said, oh, you're going to Vietnam. Let me set you up with someone. And I. I just have this ability to. To get.
John Graham Harper [:You have this need you here. You know, you guys have a little.
Julie Smith [:Dutch in you, Is that what you're saying?
Glenn Harper [:Yeah, a little bit. A little bit.
John Graham Harper [:A little Dutch, yes. And. And I think with Alan, because Alan was so experienced in this whole manufacturing process, it was so easy to learn from him, to be honest. Like, if I look back at that time in the development stage, and. And yes, having to get these certifications, having him to support me, this was fantastic. And at the time, I remember thinking, like, oh, my God, that's such a mountain to climb. How are we going to do this? But then I've gone through this so much that looking back, I was like, oh, that's easy. Like, that's.
John Graham Harper [:That was easy times. And I think it's just, you know, it's never. I mean, if it's easy, everyone else would do it, right? So it kind of condition yourself to. To, you know, fight obstacles, to get through challenges. And. And then that prepares you for much bigger ones that come into the future. And then when you. Wherever you're sitting right now, you can always sort of know, like, in the future, I'm going to laugh at this problem.
John Graham Harper [:Like, I will. I will literally be like, why was I worried? Why did I lose any sleep over this? And it sort of just happens, like, over time. You're in it at that time and you're grinding through it, and it's tough, but you. I'm leveraging a lot of relationships and I'm supporting and everything. And then you just keep going. And then for some reason, you're like, hey, we got somewhere.
Glenn Harper [:And I think that's the hard part is it seemed like at some point, you know, your word, a handshake, like, things would get done, and you can take that to the bank your whole life. And then at some point in business, it changed, right? And it seems like we have to. There's so many things happening. We have to kind of go back a little bit. We got to trust the people. But it's so hard to. Because everybody's ready to rip you off, right? And that's just the mentality. So when you do find somebody that you can shake hands and you're locked in.
Glenn Harper [:I mean, that is a lifelong thing in business. Right? Because you just know they're never gonna stab you in the back. But that's hard to find, right. And it's hard to be vulnerable, to let that go. So you just were like, hey, why not? Let's just do the nesty plunge and figure it out. Right?
John Graham Harper [:Um, that's right. Yeah. And I think if the approach that I've always had to everything is I'm very passion driven. So I don't get into it for, oh, I want to make money and I want to go and do this thing. I want to, I want to buy this thing or go and, you know, achieve some sort of social rating. I, I never have this in my head. It's never something that's worked in my brain. I've always been, that would be amazing if I do, if I did that, I would have a lot of positive impact.
John Graham Harper [:I'm very impactful, driven. And when people that are very. If you meet someone who has that same sort of feeling, but they're very good at business, it's a great marriage. Because I'm like, dude, I'm not, I'm not here to swindle anybody. Like, I've. If, if this doesn't work out, I'll just start again. Like, I'm down, I'm down. I love the challenge.
John Graham Harper [:So these, that sort of relationship can work very well together because they say, oh, you know, the, the nitty gritty things I can, I can support with. And you just, I'll just point you in the right direction and, and you go get the, the job done. Right? It's, that's sort of. I would always encourage people that passion is a big, a big part in it. You can, you can achieve a lot just by being passion driven. You know, you can really. Passion can really keep you going. Like it can fund you or fuel you.
Glenn Harper [:Well, that's why, you know, when I was doing some research on you, that's why, you know that one quote, you're not your job. You're not how much money you have in the bank. Like, you just didn't seem like a guy that, like, that wasn't your motivating factor. It was about helping others. The money will come, it always does if you do the right thing. Right? And sometimes maybe the money doesn't come and you're still doing the right thing and it's all going to work out in the end anyway. But I think that's very apropos to what we're talking about here I'm going.
Julie Smith [:To shift gears just a little bit. So our listeners are entrepreneurs. How do you see red light therapy helping them? Right. So it is a very big. I think it's very popular right now. Right. But I don't think a lot of people understand to the depths that you do that maybe you could shed some light onto that and how it can help stress your might. You kind of talked about some of those things, but if you could just dive a little deeper.
John Graham Harper [:Yeah. Where I got a lot of my education in light therapy in those early years and even to this day I'm always learning. The research is, is so fast now. Things are always coming up. But I've met a couple of very, very like these scientists that are very inspiring. Like they've devoted their life to light therapy. They are, they've researched it and they, these are guys that have like, you know, they live in a back. They live with a backpack.
John Graham Harper [:Like they're backpackers, but they're geniuses. They're. And they, they. All they care about is research and, and sharing the research. And there 1. I remember getting explained, like having a good explanation of what light therapy was from. From. Because I was like, you know, is there a way to package it? Because you package the science.
John Graham Harper [:You say it, right? That person goes and talks about it and we can evangelize this. We can really create some big impact and basically think of it, think. Obviously the light is, it's from the sun, right? So sunrise and sunset, this is our optimal red and infrared light time. Right. So there was a period of time in my life where I lived in Thailand and Koh Samui Island. Most beautiful place you will ever. I will ever be. And I would always watch this beautiful sunrise.
John Graham Harper [:Now throughout the, throughout the. We'd go to one side of the island had sunrise and the other side of the island had sunset. And sometimes you'd look at this, this sunset and you'd. I remember a couple days just thinking like, is this even real? This looks amazing, right? So much of that red and orange color, right? That's red and infrared light. Now throughout the day, other uv, UV light comes into play, which isn't good for our cells now because again, we're not conditioned for it like we were back in ancient times. But red, infrared light does boost your body's SPF levels. So yes, before you know, these native people that live close to the equator could handle the sun. They could handle it.
John Graham Harper [:Their bodies would have. Have a strong SPF to be able to, to be able to push Back the, the UV and UVB lights now. So we're taking those, we're taking those specific nanometers. So the, the nanometers that I have in the Body Pro and the Essential, the two products that I have now, the Essential Pro is coming out at the end of this month. But what I've got right now is, is a 630 and an 850 nanometer. So 630 goes about an inch into your body. So that nanometer of light goes an inch into your body. The 850 is in the infrared spectrum that goes about 4 inches into the body.
John Graham Harper [:Now what happens is that wavelength of light that goes into your, through your skin and in activates your mitochondria. So it gives, it gives energy to your mitochondria. If you imagine your cell is like an F1 car, the engine is the mitochondria. So it's not only is that like giving your body ATP energy, it's increasing blood circulation and it's increasing, it's causing a reduction in inflammation. Now with those three mechanisms, that is basically empowering the cell to do what it's supposed to do. So it's not necessarily the light that's healing you or causing the reaction, like beautiful skin or hair growth or boosting your body's SPF or even, you know, supporting testosterone production. It's actually the cells that are, are now have energy to do that, to do their job. So think of your body like a phone and think of light therapy like plugging the phone in.
John Graham Harper [:So most of us in life right now, as we go through our day with, with inflammation, with a bad back, with a headache or stress, we're, we're, we're like a, we're like a phone that's almost dying, right? You know, when it starts to go red and you're like, oh, your phone.
Glenn Harper [:All the time, you always have it on it.
John Graham Harper [:And we need to get charged. We need to put the, put the charge in. So people ask, like, can light therapy help with, you know, chronic pain? Can it help with arthritis? Can it help with cancer? Can it help with stress? Can it help with sleep? These are, think of all these things, like apps in your phone. It can it. If you're giving energy to your cells, your, your phone works. You can use whatever apps you want. You just need to charge your phone. So on a cellular level, that's what, what light therapy is working on.
John Graham Harper [:It's giving your body cellular energy, cellular health. And that goes into, you know, people that are, if someone's an Entrepreneur, like back in back. If, if you don't have much exposure to sunlight and you maybe aren't so healthy, right, You've got, maybe you drink. I'm not saying you drink a lot. Maybe you have, you know, maybe a few too many. Maybe you smoke, maybe you stay up late at night watching Tick Tock or whatever. These. You're creating inflammation in your body.
John Graham Harper [:And we, we cannot fight inflammation. We're just. And again, in our evolution, we can't fight microplastics in food or like high levels of mercury in fish or like processed food. And we can't. Like, you're literally. You would have to disappear off into the wilderness, get away from WI fi, get away from like any sort of EMS or anything. And then you could sort of get the understanding of where, okay, now I'm healthy. We have to live in work and do, you know, podcasts on, on, on.
Glenn Harper [:We're in the trenches. We're in the trenches.
John Graham Harper [:We have, we have to. So, so as an entrepreneur, you, you need to be focused, you need to work, you need to be inspired, right? You need to wake up and get the day done. You need to tackle challenges and it would make sense that you address your ability to do those things on a cellular level, right? So you, for sleep, you need good sleep, you need optimal sleep, right? If when you wake up in the day, you need a charge, you need to think of yourself as an ancient caveman who would leave his cave to watch the sunrise. Yeah, he's ready for, you know, some saber tooth tiger who's going to come and try to attack. He's, he's optimized. That's how we were. So, yes, you need your light therapy in the mornings. You need it throughout the day.
John Graham Harper [:You have, you have pain in a certain area, you can aim at the pain, you can aim the know in the back of your, your, your neck for stress on your forehead, right? These, this is, it's the ultimate hack, you could say light therapy because it's, it's natural, it's non invasive. There's nothing. No, there's zero negative side effects. Zero. Like there's literally not a documented negative side effect of light therapy.
Glenn Harper [:Yeah, it sounds like paprikash. I don't know if I'm buying this.
Julie Smith [:I feel like I need to be wrapped in it all day. Like, why, why are my clothes, clothes not emitting that. That would be intense.
John Graham Harper [:Oh, in the future, in the future, products will come out with clothing and you'll be. But the thing is, is remember, just like the phone, your. Your body has a. You have a battery. And that battery, when it reaches 100, you're at 100, you can take the. The plug out, right? You can't shove more energy into the batteries.
Julie Smith [:I don't know. I think 110 would be good for me.
Glenn Harper [:120, 130.
John Graham Harper [:Come on.
Julie Smith [:Imagine what we could do.
Glenn Harper [:So I think what you're saying is that this is just another tool that as an entrepreneur that's under high stress, uncertainty, pressure, all those things. You gotta take care of your health. And this is something that. It's not invasive, no side effects. It's just the education of learning. Like, hey, this is. Try it. Be positive about it.
Glenn Harper [:Be consistent. And if in 30 days, the results aren't there, okay, maybe you're a cyborg. I don't know. But if. If you try it and it works, you'd be like, oh, you're gonna be better at what you do for a living. Right?
Julie Smith [:I've never heard it explained about, like, the phone and plugging it in and apps. Like, I think that's genius. And that's.
John Graham Harper [:Right.
Julie Smith [:Everybody can relate to that, right? Like, you need to go patent, trademark, whatever, copyright, whatever people do with that.
Glenn Harper [:We're here to help you. Remember patent that. You got it? Yes.
Julie Smith [:So I have. Oh, go ahead.
John Graham Harper [:That's how you can create change, is you create these analogies. Like, that's how we are as humans. We. We work off stories, right? Like the, you know, most ancient books or everything are all storytelling because we resonate with that. We learn from that, right? We. There's like jingles and stuff that kids, you know, to help them learn their ABCs. We're in that format. So if you, if you think of an analogy like that, you.
John Graham Harper [:It can kind of address everything, you know, because people will ask, oh, well, I have this problem. What about that? Or I have this problem. What about that? You just, Just think like cells. It's on a cellular level. It's not. It's not like massage therapy. That's surface level, right? It's not like it's. Even though cold immersion, like ice bath, that's a big thing.
John Graham Harper [:Now that it does affect your mitochondria, it is still a mitochondrial health practice, but not to the level of light there, nowhere near the level.
Glenn Harper [:The reality is our bodies are designed to work perfectly. And if we don't do the things and eat the things and do the things, it can't operate. I mean, it's just. I mean, it's science, baby.
Julie Smith [:I wish I could do a whole nother podcast on SPF and the Sun.
Glenn Harper [:Yeah. Yeah.
Julie Smith [:Culture in today's. We might have you back and all of those things. Not that. Not that I'm into that, but I have two final questions for you. They're the hardest questions of the whole podcast.
Glenn Harper [:Did you study? I hope so.
John Graham Harper [:Okay, ready? Let's do it.
Julie Smith [:You've already. You've already said this one, but I just want to wrap it up with a bow for our listeners. What is your superpower?
John Graham Harper [:I think, based on what people have told me. Based on. They say that I'm very positive. They say I have a thing where I can somehow. What's that?
Julie Smith [:I think you're probably that, but I think, again, I don't know you, and I know you through a screen, so take that for what it's worth. I think your thing is connecting people and relationships.
John Graham Harper [:Yes. Yeah. Yeah. I'm a face to face handshake kind of guy. Yeah.
Julie Smith [:I think that's your superpower. And I'm guessing you read people really well. I'm guessing you follow your gut and intuition really well and you hold true on those handshakes and you're able to put people together like you said the Dutch do. I think. I think all of those things are kind of your superpower wrapped up in a bow. I'm sure positivity is a factor of that.
Glenn Harper [:I think it's. Passionate is probably the term.
Julie Smith [:I think. I think that's it.
John Graham Harper [:That's nice. Thanks for that. That's good. I'm glad. I'm glad. Yeah.
Julie Smith [:I asked you the question. I answered it. I don't think that's how that's supposed to work on a podcast.
Glenn Harper [:It's not your accent. It's. It's not your accents or your physical fitness has nothing to do with that. It's something totally different. No.
Julie Smith [:Go ahead.
John Graham Harper [:There's a. There's a lot of, like, it's interesting how when you. You build relationships with people, they have the powers that you don't have, you know, because it's never a one man show. Like, this idea of, like, I'm doing it solo is not. I like to build a team. And every. Everyone in my team is better at that thing than I am. I'm like, you're the boss of that.
John Graham Harper [:You have to tell me what to do. Social media, how does it work? Like, you tell me. I think that's. You kind of know your strengths and. But then identify other strengths with people and then build. Build an alliance like an allegiance of the sort of a. That you build that. That team where you can conquer the world.
Julie Smith [:So last question and I won't answer it for you, or I might.
Glenn Harper [:We will.
Julie Smith [:What is your end game?
John Graham Harper [:I think for sure if I could somehow be involved in photobiomodulation gaining the recognition that it deserves the. To where it becomes the standard of care in America, that would be my big. That would really mean a lot to me like that that's something that's sort of like my North Star. And I think it's a shared vision and a shared goal by everyone in photobiomodulation. But starting the company, I, I had. I had a very strong goal of integrating light therapy into the military. That was a big. Because I have a close friend, Levi Webb, he was a sniper and he was cleaning a gun and the gun fell on his back and he got very severe sciatica and he was.
John Graham Harper [:He would be in pain and he would take like morphine pills and everything. And that it was erected absolutely wrecked him. And he was someone that. Throughout this whole journey I was inspired also with. With the durability with creating a device that's waterproof and to be able to integrate it into the military. And actually about two weeks ago we got an official GSA approval to where so having. That's something that I guess would be a short term end game. Like if I can achieve that.
John Graham Harper [:That's a. That's nice. Then it's just running the company, making sure everybody's happy that the business is growing and then eventually being able to have a much longer sort of in any way be able to contribute to changing the world and having light therapy. Imagine going to a hospital and the standard of care is basically where the doctor by law has to inform you about light therapy and, and give you the option. He has to. He has to inform the patient. He should say, okay, you have that problem. Do you know about light therapy? I recommend light therapy.
John Graham Harper [:He has to say that legally or you can sue him or you can be like, hey, you didn't tell me about this. I didn't know. Like that would be nice. That would be super.
Julie Smith [:Your answer is incredibly. And you fell right into our trap.
Glenn Harper [:Gotcha.
Julie Smith [:You have no end game. You have. And then, and then, and then, and then you're never going to stop. And you have too much knowledge and too much to. You have too much passion in this to. To ever stop. So there is no end game. I'll just wait for your next.
Julie Smith [:And then.
Glenn Harper [:Yeah. After you get done with global domination, when we finally settle Mars, you'll probably do some red light therapy there. So it's never gon. Which is the blessing and the curse of the entrepreneur. Once you get really, really good at something, why would you stop? And you have passion and that's what you've been doing your whole career is bringing it out to the masses and trying to help. Why would you just stop doing that? Sell the company and stop. You can't do that. You know too much, you can help too many people.
Glenn Harper [:So that's, that was the trick question. You did well.
Julie Smith [:Yeah. You answered it perfectly.
Glenn Harper [:Is there, as we wrap this up, is there a, you know, can you throw a little plug in for your, for, for Lumaflex of how somebody could get a hold of you to maybe check out your products?
John Graham Harper [:Yeah, if, if anyone. So I, I have a scientist on my team by the name of Peter Forehand and this guy is, is brilliant. He's brilliant. I've learned so much about light therapy and the human condition from him. And we've built an education course on our website and we sell, we sell. We call the Lumaflex Academy. And, and in the academy we have all these courses. We have the foundations course, we have a course for pet health, for horse health, we have one for like rehab and chiropractors.
John Graham Harper [:We have different courses. And once you're in the academy you have access to all the courses and anybody listening. If you want to learn about light therapy, it's easy. You can go and go to YouTube and you can type in light therapy and you can learn a lot or DM me on Instagram. John Grave Fitness. Give me your email and I'll, I'll give you free access to the academy. And the main video you want to watch is, it's about an hour and a half long. It's a seminar we did in Miami Lakes at a strength conditioning gym with all the, we had about like 22 coaches and chiropractors and you know, trainers and everything.
John Graham Harper [:And I videoed Peter giving his talk and it's, it's really good. It's really good like you, once you finish it. He, I told him, I said like we need to package the information so a five year old can understand it and we, that person needs to be able to talk about it and be inspired about it and that if anyone listening wants to learn about light therapy, just send me your email and I'll give you free access. That's it.
Glenn Harper [:Awesome. Well I'm just going to tell you right now when we do the next show and talk about things that Julie was just talking about. You won't even recognize me. I'm going to be so red light dotted. It looks so different. All my cells will be pumping along like they're supposed to. Well, really appreciate you being on the show, John. It's a pleasure talking with you, Neil.
Glenn Harper [:You're on the other side of the world, so thanks for covering up the time. And this is the Empowering Entrepreneurs Podcast. I'm Glenn Harper.
Julie Smith [:Julie Smith.
