Why Gary Kehoe left corporate formulating to bottle botanicals plainly

Scottsdale, 2009, and a formulator walks away.

Gary Kehoe had spent more than 30 years making nutritional products, including work formulating for a Fortune 500 company. In 2009 he left that salaried post in Scottsdale, Arizona and founded parent company DreamBrands to build Mdrive, a line for men over 30 centered on stamina, strength and drive. His defining choice was plain labeling paired with old plants. No proprietary blends, full amounts shown, farmed botanicals beside patented extracts that ship with test papers.

The herbal path matters here. More than twenty years ago Kehoe was served tea at a foreign embassy with a mushroom floating in the cup. He sipped with care and noticed calm and lasting energy instead of a spike. That fungus was cordyceps, long steeped in soup and tea in parts of Asia and now usually produced by fermentation, then dried and milled or extracted. That cup started ten years of reading on adaptogens such as ginseng and ashwagandha, followed by ten years of research and two years of testing before Mdrive Classic arrived.

What Root to Bottle follows is the route from harvest to capsule. Ashwagandha root grown on farms in India, lifted, dried and made into a standardised root extract. Gum resin from boswellia trees, handled by a water based process. Marigold flowers raised for lutein and zeaxanthin, then extracted and purified. Plant sterols from pine sources. Kehoe does not publish grower names, so the field end stays partly closed. The paper end stays open through supplier specifications, certificates of analysis and batch records held in Scottsdale, where the line is formulated in house by nutrition scientists, chemists and formulators and where blending, encapsulation and bottling take place with globally sourced inputs.

In his forties Kehoe felt his own strength, endurance and drive slipping, and he writes that he could not hike or run or bike with the verve that he once had. You describe that same loss of verve on trails and roads in your forties, and you built Mdrive for yourself first. What did that period teach you that still shapes the formulas today?

I began making Mdrive for my own use. Yes, in my 40s I started to sense my strength, endurance and drive slipping away. Hiking or running or biking no longer carried the verve it once had. I did not accept those drops as fixed.

That embassy cup came earlier than that product work. Over twenty years ago I was handed tea with a mushroom floating in it at a foreign embassy. I sipped with care. What I noticed was deep natural energy instead of a jolt. That mushroom was cordyceps, where my path into adaptogens began. It set off a ten year close study of natural ways to sustain energy and push back on aging, including ginseng and ashwagandha.

For me the goal was a custom compound built from ingredients that sit well together to support performance, stamina and focus. Not extremes. Not short bursts. A daily practice a man can maintain. Some people say vitality, others say longevity or anti aging. I say Men being Men.

Prime at 34.99 dollars stays the daily root formula for testosterone support, energy and lean muscle. How should a careful buyer read that Supplement Facts panel from top to bottom?

Start at the top and move down. The Supplement Facts panel names the adaptogens first, including KSM-66 ashwagandha, then additional botanicals with key vitamins and minerals. Every line carries a weight. The label shows no proprietary blend line at all. Then look at the other ingredients line. That names the capsule shell plus the minor aids used during encapsulation, for example flow aids.

Use it each day for steady support inside a regular routine. That is the use we describe. Long term users point to Prime for strength and performance, and we present it for general support. The label describes support for healthy testosterone levels, energy, performance and lean muscle. As on all our labels, it also notes that these statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and that the product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

If you keep a small shelf for years, save the lot number on the bottle until the bottle is empty. That number links your bottle to our batch record and to the supplier certificates behind it.

A thermogenic and adaptogen blend draws on more origins, and Boost and Burn at 49.99 dollars is now the home page lead and a bestseller pairing testosterone support with thermogenics and adaptogens. What changes in sourcing and testing when heat and drive share one capsule?

Sourcing widens and testing tightens. A blend with thermogenic and adaptogen parts draws on more origins. Roots, leaves and resins come in as powders or extracts with varied moisture and varied bulk density. That shifts blending time, fill weight checks and the way powder flows into the capsule.

What remains steady is the guiding rule. Each input needs a specification and a certificate of analysis. Every lot is checked. The finished batch is checked. Take it daily for steady support within a regular routine. We describe support for healthy testosterone levels and fat management with diet and activity, plus help with patterns around stress related eating through adaptogen support. We do not claim the capsule alone alters body composition.

In 2018 we brought customer care online with auto ship, a quiz and Amazon access. What we found is that men want reliable supply without pressure. So we refuse to rely on extremes or short bursts, and we refuse to make cancelling hard.

KSM-66 ashwagandha, Phytopin beta sitosterols, AquaLOX boswellia serrata and Lutemax 2020 went into Mdrive Classic at launch in 2009. Why did you open with that set, and where did each botanical part begin?

After 10 years of research and 2 years of testing I built M Drive as a custom compound. I wanted adaptogens together with patented clinically tested ingredients plus key vitamins and minerals in a single daily formula.

KSM-66 ashwagandha starts as root cultivated on farms in India, lifted, dried, then made into a standardised root extract. Phytopin beta sitosterols begin as plant sterols drawn from pine sources. AquaLOX boswellia serrata starts as gum resin from boswellia trees, handled through a water based method. Lutemax 2020 starts as marigold flowers cultivated for lutein and zeaxanthin, then extracted and purified.

I selected them because they sit well together in daily use. One side traces to roots and resins and flowers. The other side traces to patents and clinical testing and certificates of analysis. The farm counts. The lab counts. We brought out one product in 2009, entered GNC in 2010, then moved into Vitamin Shoppe and Sprouts by 2015. The formula held because the paperwork was in order.

You state the products are made in the USA with globally sourced ingredients and every amount appears on the label. For a label reader, what does that paper chain prove, and where does it stop?

It shows identity, amount and consistency. Identity means the extract named in the specification matches the extract in the drum. Amount means the Supplement Facts panel names each ingredient instead of folding a group into one total weight. Consistency means each lot is tested to that specification before encapsulation, then fill weight is verified so each capsule contains what the batch record calls for.

Our team at DreamBrands includes nutrition scientists, chemists and formulators along with quality staff. We formulate in house. We make the products in the USA. The botanicals and other inputs are globally sourced, since ashwagandha root or boswellia resin or marigold for lutein do not all grow in Arizona.

Where it ends is the field name. I cannot give you each grower name for each harvest on this page. The chain I can present is the document chain from extract supplier to certificate of analysis to finished batch. That is what the label allows in and leaves out. The label states what is in the capsule and how much. It does not name the farm gate. We credit what can be traced and we name what is not yet traced.

Not extremes. Not short bursts. It is a daily routine a man can keep.

Gary Kehoe

A 9 in 1 shake called Start launched on August 9 2021 at 79.99 dollars with multivitamin, collagen, protein and testosterone support. You said it was formulated to remove morning guess work. Why did you move from capsules into nutrition?

Mdrive Start was made to eliminate your morning guess work. It is now easier than ever to remember this each morning. Everyone asked me when I was going to make this move with Mdrive into nutrition and here we are.

The shake contains seven clinically tested ingredients and six protein sources. Stir one scoop in the morning for daily nutrition. From a sourcing view, protein and collagen bring dairy and animal origin chains next to the botanical chains, each with its own allergen and identity tests. From a label view, the habit stays the same. List each amount. List the other ingredients. List the daily use.

Guys needed a tool to help meet aging clearly and slow it down. Do not let age get the better of you. Remain stronger today than you were yesterday. Refind your prime. Those lines repeat because the routine repeats. Trusted by over one million men speaks to scale, not to a promise about any single man.

Elite at 59.99 dollars is presented as sport legal for performance and steady healthy testosterone levels. What does sport legal cover in your paperwork, and what does it leave out?

Sport legal means we build without ingredients banned by major sport lists and we produce with controls that reduce cross contact, then we describe the intended use plainly. Take it daily for ongoing training support. We describe support for endurance, muscle mass and measures such as VO2 max in training settings, inside the structure function wording allowed for supplements.

What it leaves out is certification by a league or assurance for any tested athlete. Athletes subject to testing still must consult their own federation list and, where required, select batches covered by an independent sport certification. Our papers show formula, lot and test results. They do not add a product to a prohibited list or remove it. Mdrive products are American owned and operated and ship out of Scottsdale, Arizona. That address is on the record, and it is where questions about a lot may be sent.

You left a well paying job formulating for a Fortune 500 company to found DreamBrands and make supplements for men with only the best ingredients. What did you decline to bring with you from that corporate work?

So, I left my well paying post formulating for one of many Fortune 500 companies, and started DreamBrands to make uncompromising, top of the line supplements for men, using only the best ingredients. With over 30 years of formulating nutritional products, I have picked up a thing or two, or seven hundred, about nutrient science, the why and how they work.

What I declined to bring was opacity. Neither myself nor any of our devoted staff is a marketer or PR exec. We are simply keen on what we do and hold that we make the best supplement for men over 30 who seek gains in strength, stamina, energy and sex drive.

That is why we decline to print proprietary blends on packaging. If ashwagandha or a vitamin or a mineral sits in the capsule, the label carries the name and the amount. It is also why we decline to use shady subscription traps or phone trees. Guys wanted a daily tool to help meet the aging process and slow it down. The tool ought to be clear about contents.

Closing note from the desk

What remains after this talk is the spareness of the practice. Kehoe first blended for his own shelf, then held the same standard for more than a million customers. List each plant and extract. Print each dose. Keep the batch file behind the bottle.

Mdrive aims to support healthy testosterone levels, steady energy and metabolism through daily use so the training and sleep men already keep still adds up. The plots where roots and resins are gathered stay partly unnamed, by the brand’s own word. The label file is the part the brand offers for review, and across lots that file stays steady.

Product spotlight

Prime is priced at 34.99 dollars for a 30 day supply and 104.97 dollars for a 90 day supply. A daily capsule that supports healthy testosterone levels, energy, performance and lean muscle. Take daily with food and water inside a regular training and sleep routine. Suited to the buyer who wants the core formula at the start.

Boost and Burn is priced at 49.99 dollars for a 30 day supply and 149.97 dollars for a 90 day supply. A daily capsule that joins testosterone support with thermogenics and adaptogens. Take daily as directed for steady support with meals and activity. Suited to the buyer who wants one bottle for drive and weight management support.