If you’re grinding 80 hours a week and still wondering why it’s not working, it might be time for a reset. Not on your dream—but on your approach. Because let’s be real: Hustle without health, strategy, and purpose? That’s a one-way ticket to burnout.
In this powerful episode of The Happy Hustle Podcast, I sit down with Forrest Smith, co-founder and CEO of Kineon, to talk real talk on entrepreneurship, building businesses for exit, and staying healthy while doing it. This convo is packed with golden nuggets for every entrepreneur out there—whether you’re scaling your startup or dreaming of your first product launch.
We’re diving into strategic partnerships, red light therapy, building impact-driven businesses, and the hard truth about what it takes to grow and feel good doing it.
Forrest isn’t just a startup guy—he’s an exit guy. After successfully building and exiting multiple businesses, he took a big step back and asked: What really matters?
That led him to co-found Kineon, a company using red light therapy to give people safer, smarter solutions for managing pain. No pills. No surgeries. Just science-backed, preventative wellness tech that works. But what’s wild is how Forrest connects the dots between entrepreneurial strategy and personal health.
We also get into how Forrest evaluates whether a company is built to scale or just spinning its wheels.
Some of the gems:
Are you in the right part of the supply chain?
Are you investing in IP that drives value?
Are your systems supporting scale or just surviving chaos?
And the biggie: Are you building a business that serves your life or one that drains it?
Because at the end of the day, if your business isn’t aligned with your mission and wellbeing, it’s just another job.
This episode isn’t just about business. It’s about building something meaningful, without losing yourself in the process.
If you’re ready to:
Work smarter, not just harder
Build a business that can scale
Learn about red light therapy and game-changing wellness
Hear how exits happen behind the scenes
Then this episode is a must-listen. Tune in to this powerful convo on The Happy Hustle Podcast now and start optimizing your hustle for impact and health. Because you don’t have to sacrifice your well-being for your dreams. You just have to Happy Hustle it right.
In this episode, we cover:
03:05 The Entrepreneurial Journey and Key Lessons
05:55 Exits and Mistakes in Entrepreneurship
08:58 Navigating Corporate Structures and Strategic Partnerships
11:52 Balancing Ambition and Well-being
15:04 The Genesis of Kinion and Its Mission
17:57 Understanding Pain Management and Alternatives
21:11 The Impact of Kinion on Health and Wellness
26:20 The Shift Towards Comprehensive Medical Approaches
28:07 Understanding Photobiomodulation and Its Benefits
30:01 Integrating Health Practices for Optimal Living
31:55 The Importance of Environment in Health
34:01 Addressing Modern Environmental Challenges
36:51 Exploring Red Light Therapy and Its Applications
39:05 Rapid Fire Round: Insights and Personal Reflections
44:00 Final Thoughts on Health and Happiness
What does happy Hustlin mean to you?
Forrest says Happy Hustlin means helping people. We’re here to help people move a needle on quality of life. And so that’s what we do every day. And we try to measure ourselves as critically as we can in every aspect of that. And we want to deliver on our promise to help people change their quality of life, whether it’s improving sleep, reducing pain, getting out of osteoarthritis, or healing from surgery.
Connect with Forrest
Find Forrest on this website: https://kineon.io/
Connect with Cary!
Get a copy of his new book, The Happy Hustle, 10 Alignments to Avoid Burnout & Achieve Blissful Balance
Sign up for The Journey: 10 Days To Become a Happy Hustler Online Course
Apply to the Montana Mastermind Epic Camping Adventure
“It’s time to Happy Hustle, a blissfully balanced life you love, full of passion, purpose, and positive impact!”
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