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Bill Phillips (author)

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William Nathaniel "Bill" Phillips is an American health and fitness expert, entrepreneur, author and philanthropist. He is the #1 New York Times Bestselling author of the health and fitness book Body for Life: 12 Weeks to Mental and Physical Strength. He's also the former owner and CEO of EAS, America's leading performance nutrition brand. His latest project is an online community called Transformation.com which provides information and insight for people to, "Make healthy changes in their lives which make a difference in the lives of others."[1]

Personal life

Born in September 1964, Phillips was raised in Golden, Colorado, where he lived with his father Bill (often referred to as BP), mother Suzanne, sister Shelly and brother Shawn. His father, William James Phillips, worked for the Coors Brewing Company while taking law classes at night. After receiving his Jurus Doctorate and MBA he began a private law practice. From 1992 through his passing in 2005 he helped provide legal and business guidance for his son's companies.[2][3]

Bill started lifting weights at age 14 to improve his performance in football, wrestling and track. At age 17 he entered a local bodybuilding contest -- the Teenage Mr. Northern Colorado -- and was surprised to win first place. He continued to compete in local contests and he also traveled all the way from San Diego to Boston competing in shows, including the 1984 Teenage Mr. America. Bill won first place in his division of the Mr. Colorado contest in 1985; it was the last bodybuilding contest he competed in. Bill moved to Venice, California, which was at that time, the mecca of the sport. It was there that he was introduced to the steroid culture and like so many other bodybuilders, experimented with anabolic steroids to gain even more muscle size and strength. By age 22, Phillips could see that he had made a mistake and made a decision to try to get back on the right path. [4]

He returned to his hometown, Golden, Colorado, enrolled in University, and studied both business and science with his sights set on either medical school or entrepreneurship. To pay for his tuition, at age 23, Phillips started "Mile High Publishing" to produce and distribute his writings which chronicled his experiences in bodybuilding. He spoke openly and honestly about the amount of discipline it takes and the kinds of weight training and nutrition routines he had success with. He also spoke very honestly about the use of performance-enhancing drugs in bodybuilding and other sports. [5][6]

Having been in the sport he knew that the athletes put little trust in the often sensationalized warnings from doctors about the dangers of the substances. In his book The Anabolic Reference Guide, he spoke like one athlete talking to another and shared what the benefits and real dangers of using ergogenic aids were, based on his personal experience and what he had learned through his discussions with other athletes as well as his research. He was honest about the fact that steroid use can dramatically increase muscle mass, strength and performance. And he also educated athletes about the legal consequences which they might face if they made the decision to use steroids. [7] Phillips has been harshly criticized for his liberal writings about the topic. [8]

Today Phillips even regrets writing about the issue. He discussed this in a recent Denver Post newspaper interview: "I was a body guy, a bodybuilder, sports, performance, I was in the thick of it back in the late 1980s when the standard gear was a weight lifting belt and a bottle of steroids, and a membership to a hardcore gym. Now (age 45) is different but people are too hard on themselves when they take the wrong path. To be truly healthy we need to practice forgiveness, we need to forgive ourselves and others. I was a kid then, in my twenties, but still I think it's important to learn (from your mistakes) and remember the lessons. Most people have gotten involved in unhealthy things at various points in their lives. You've got to take responsibility and own up to that, but then let it go so you can feel good about yourself. People underestimate the importance of emotional health." [9]

It's been well over a decade since Phillips lost interest in bodybuilding but he has remained an advocate and participant in a healthy lifestyle which includes strength training and aerobic exercise. In 2009 he participated in and finished the Denver and Las Vegas half marathons.

Phillips also enjoys staying active with surfing, scuba diving, skiing and golf. Although he splits his time among homes in Denver, Los Angeles and Maui, he considers Colorado his home.[10]

Business achievements

Phillips has been called a business and marketing genius for his contributions to the success of the health food companies MET-Rx and EAS which somewhat revolutionized the performance nutrition category by introducing products such as Dr. Scott Connelly's meal replacement powder/nutrition shake, as well as creatine. [11] And in 1997 he received the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. At age 32 he was the youngest recipient at the time. [12][13]

Many people don't know that not all of Bill Phillips' businesses have succeeded. One that failed in 1995 was called Neo Elite Nutrition. Phillips, working with a friend at the time, who was also helping Bill write his Muscle Media magazine, Terry 'T.C.' Luoma, developed a weight loss product called 'Neo Lean.' Over a million dollars was spent in advertising but the product sat on GNC shelves collecting dust. Not long after the project failed, Phillips and Luoma went in different directions. Bill brought EAS to the market and Luoma started a successful online magazine of his own called Testosterone Muscle at tmuscle.com. Luoma remains Phillips' harshest critic. Bill apologizes and takes responsibility for his role in the falling out and regrets the circumstances. He describes Luoma as a good writer and satirist and holds no resentment or grudges towards him.[14] However, more than 13 years after the two have seen each other or spoken, Luoma's ongoing negative public appraisel of Phillips continues.[15][16] [17]

In April, 1997, Bill Phillips decided to hold a fitness contest to select a national spokesperson. The 1997 Physique- Transformation Challenge was created to inspire people to become physically and mentally stronger by focusing on fitness. More than 54,000 people from all walks of life took up his Challenge. By 1998, the contest had grown, and more than 200,000 people answered the call. Now called the Body-for-LIFE challenge, this self-improvement contest continues to this day; more than 2 million people have participated. [18][19]

When the 1997 contest was over, Phillips saw the opportunity to help reach even more people and decided to produce Body of Work, a documentary movie profiling the contest and the 10 finalists who symbolized what Phillips was looking for--real-life heroes who discovered their true potential and inner strength.[20]

An avid supporter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which helps fulfill the dreams of children with life-threatening illnesses, Phillips asked that anyone who received the video and was inspired by it donate $15.00 to the Foundation. The Body of Work project has raised over $3 million for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. And his support of the Foundation continues. All royalties that Bill Phillips received from his #1 New York Times bestselling fitness book, Body-for-LIFE, were donated to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Colorado.[21]

As a result of his work with Make-A-Wish, Phillips was honored by the late John F. Kennedy Jr. and Paul Newman who named his company, EAS, as one of the ten Most Generous Companies in America in 1999.[22]


In 1985 Mile High Publishing began with a small newsletter teaching bodybuilders how to use anabolic steroids. The newsletter was written and printed in his mother's garage.[23] Funded with $180 he and his brother had made from mowing lawns, its original name was The Anabolic Reference Update. [24][25]

Muscle Media 2000 ("MM2K")

In 1992, Phillips moved out of his mother's home and changed the publication's format and its name to Muscle Media 2000 (usually referred to as "MM2K"). The magazine used frank discussion of the underground aspects of bodybuilding such as the use of and even how-to smuggle steroids, and columns by writers such as The Steroid Guru Dan Duchaine, and Editor-in-Chief TC Luoma. [26]

MET-Rx

In MM2K Phillips highly endorsed MET-Rx (a meal replacement supplement), and this relationship with readers helped it become the highest selling bodybuilding supplement ever at that time. It was later revealed however, that Phillips and the creator of MET-Rx, Dr. A. Scott Connelly, were in fact business partners, and the endorsements clever marketing. [27] This partnership also included bodybuilders Lee Labrada and Jeff Everson. It was around this time that Phillips began working with convicted felon James Bradshaw. Bradshaw was considered at the time to be the largest steroid dealer on the West Coast, grossing over $40,000 a week. This eventually would lead to Bradshaw serving four years in a Louisiana prison, where he educated himself on marketing. It was Bradshaw who reportedly convinced Phillips to market MET-Rx heavily in the Natural Supplement Review, Phillips' supposed unbiased review of numerous bodybuilding supplements. He also had the idea for Phillips to give the Review away for free to readers of Muscle Media 2000 providing the MET-Rx with addresses of potential buyers, and a large amount of advertising. Sales of MET-Rx rose exponentially. Bradshaw and Phillips had stumbled upon a very successful method of marketing to bodybuilders, and they, and original investors Everson and Connelly, got very wealthy. Their partnership was short-lived however.[28]


Phillips and Connelly had an agreement that distribution of MET-Rx would be controlled, and that they would not sell it to retail outlets in order to keep supply low during the period of high demand created by the advertisements in Muscle Media 2000. Connelly however, had other ideas and began selling it to mainstream distributors and department stores. Phillips believed this move lessened its appeal to bodybuilders, and destroyed the "mystique" of the product.[28] The two parted ways, and as part of the settlement, Phillips was legally bound not to mention the name of MET-Rx in his magazines (thereafter he would refer to it as "the leading brand"). But by then Phillips had his eye on another venture that would eclipse MET-Rx altogether - EAS.[28]

EAS

Phillips acquired Experimental and Applied Sciences (EAS) from founders Anthony Almada and Ed Byrd in 1996. He promoted the company's products through heavy editorial-style advertisements in MM2K, and led by flagship products like Myoplex (a MET-Rx copy), Phosphagen and HMB this would eventually put him at the forefront of the nutritional supplement industry for more than five years.

By 1995 Phillips was a multi-millionaire, and was well known in celebrity and sports circles. Athletes like José Canseco would contact Phillips for advice on steroids,[29] and he also consulted with celebrities such as Jerry Seinfeld, John Elway, Sylvester Stallone and Demi Moore.[30][31] However it was that year that he had a medical scare when a tumor in his jaw and neck was discovered. Phillips promptly proposed to then-girlfriend Ami Cusack. The tumor turned out to be benign, and was removed from around his salivary gland. Some employees at the time of MM2K later noted in Testosterone Magazine that by that time Phillips had become rather eccentric. Reportedly, after the tumor was removed, he returned to "hanging up survey sheets from MM2K that showed Bill was our most popular writer. Each one had the words, 'Bill knows his audience!' written on them." Soon Phillips and Cusack's wedding was postponed and Phillips was regularly seen at strip clubs and in his magazine with fitness models and Playboy bunnies.[32]

Muscle Media

In 1997 Phillips was eager to expand his empire beyond the bodybuilding industry. MM2K changed from targeting the hardcore bodybuilder to the more mainstream exercise participant, and the July 1997 issue saw the magazine redubbed simply as Muscle Media. [33] While Muscle Media 2000 at its peak had a distribution of 500,000 copies per issue[34], the change in direction alienated many traditional readers, and sales numbers reportedly declined sharply afterwards. Publication finally ceased in 2004 after the EAS company was sold a second time.


High Point Media

In 1999, Phillips sold his majority interest in EAS (though he remained on the Board of Directors for a number of years afterward) to North Castle Partners for 160 million dollars and concentrated on his writing and on promotion of his books through his publishing company, High Point Media, as well as Value Creation, a branch of EAS.[35][36] In 2004, he completely sold his remaining interest and is no longer involved with EAS.

Phillips' more recent work, Eating for Life: Your Guide to Great Health, Fat Loss and Increased Energy!, offers his plan "to help inspire and guide even more people to improve their health and lift their quality of life to new heights." His forthcoming book "Transformation: Now and for LIFE" is scheduled for release in Spring 2008.

In February 2006 Phillips announced his "Great American Transformation Experience" (GATE) with a goal to transform America's fitness from world's worst to first within 10 years.[2]

Awards

Phillips has also received many honors for his work, including the Make-A-Wish Foundation's highest award after he donated all the proceeds of the documentary Body of Work. He was also honored by Paul Newman and by John F. Kennedy Jr. as one of America's most generous business leaders.[30] The United States Junior Chamber of Commerce honored Phillips in January 2000 as one of the Ten Outstanding Young Americans. Phillips was also chosen to help carry the Olympic torch on its relay across the United States for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

Bill Phillips books

  • Phillips, Bill. Anabolic Reference Guide. Mile High Publishing, 1991.
  • Phillips, Bill. Sports Supplement Review. Mile High Publishing, 1997.
  • Phillips, Bill. Body-for-LIFE: 12 Weeks to Mental and Physical Strength. HarperCollins, 1999. (ISBN 0-06-019339-5)
  • Phillips, Bill. * Phillips, Bill. Body for Life Success Journal. HarperCollins, 2002. (ISBN 0-06-051559-7)
  • Phillips, Bill. Eating for Life: Your Guide to Great Health, Fat Loss and Increased Energy! High Point Media, 2003 (ISBN 0-9720184-1-7)
  • Phillips, Bill. Transformation: A Path from Physical to Spiritual Well-Being Coming 2008

References

  1. ^ Transformation.com
  2. ^ [1] Bill Phillips - Body For Life
  3. ^ transformation.com
  4. ^ http://www.transformation.com/forum/transformation-central/18857-denver-post-article-bill-10-19-09-a-2.html
  5. ^ Anabolic Reference Guide, 6th Issue
  6. ^ http://www.transformation.com/forum/transformation-central/18857-denver-post-article-bill-10-19-09-a-2.html
  7. ^ Anabolic Reference Guide, 6th Issue
  8. ^ http://www.transformation.com/forum/transformation-central/18857-denver-post-article-bill-10-19-09-a-2.html
  9. ^ http://www.denverpost.com/fitness/ci_13590251
  10. ^ http://www.denverpost.com/fitness/ci_13590251
  11. ^ Mile High Sports Magazine, Volume: 2, Number 8, July 26, 2004
  12. ^ http://www.bookbrowse.com/biographies/index.cfm?author_number=147
  13. ^ http://www.transformation.com/forum/transformation-central/18857-denver-post-article-bill-10-19-09-a-2.html
  14. ^ transformation.com
  15. ^ Meet The Press Our TC Luoma: The man behind the Dog by Chris Shugart
  16. ^ Mr. Big By Nick Heil, Outside Magazine September 2003
  17. ^ http://www.transformation.com/forum/transformation-central/18857-denver-post-article-bill-10-19-09-a-2.html
  18. ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_for_Life
  19. ^ http://www.bookbrowse.com/biographies/index.cfm?author_number=147
  20. ^ http://www.bookbrowse.com/biographies/index.cfm?author_number=147
  21. ^ http://www.bookbrowse.com/biographies/index.cfm?author_number=147
  22. ^ http://www.bookbrowse.com/biographies/index.cfm?author_number=147
  23. ^ Meet The Press Our TC Luoma: The man behind the Dog by Chris Shugart
  24. ^ Mr. Big By Nick Heil, Outside Magazine September 2003
  25. ^ Bestabs.com Bill Phillips' Foreword to ABSolution by Shawn Phillips
  26. ^ Mr. Big By Nick Heil, Outside Magazine September 2003
  27. ^ Bodybuilding Success Blueprint: Top 10 Supplements By: Jerry Brainium
  28. ^ a b c The History of the Supplement Industry Part II
  29. ^ Atomic Dog 'Roid Ball by TC
  30. ^ a b Body For Life Author Bill Phillips Partners with Denver Marathon as Official Sponsor
  31. ^ Abbott Labs to buy EAS Kristi Arellano, The Denver Post, October 12, 2004
  32. ^ ATOMIC DOG Smelling Your Piss—A Sappy Thanksgiving Sermon by TC Luoma
  33. ^ MM2K and EAS: An Insider's View: An interview with TC Luoma
  34. ^ Mr. Big By Nick Heil, Outside Magazine September 2003
  35. ^ http://www.ergogenics.org/231.html Abbott Labs to buy EAS Kristi Arellano, The Denver Post, October 12, 2004
  36. ^ EAS CHIEF TO DIRECT NEW BRANCH.(Business)
  • Bestabs.com Foreword to ABSolution by Shawn Phillips
  • News and Tidbits (Phillips Acquires EAS). Muscle Media 2000. 1996 (August) 52:20-7.
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