Dear Friend,
My name is Ed Dittoe, VP of Marketing and Product Formulations, and I would like to tell you a little about myself.
I was Born in the Northeast…Westfeild, NJ to be exact… but I moved to Texas when I was very young.
Maybe a year.
This is where I grew up, right here in Dallas.
I attended JJ Peace High School, right here in Richardson. In fact, I remember being first introduced to weight lifting while playing football for JJ Peace.
Anyway… After high school I went on to attended Stephen F. Austin State University—where I first studied business.
A few years later… in the early-to-mid nineties, I took my first “real” dive into serious entrepreneurship. I started up a small business (well, small at the time) by the name of Dymatize Nutrition… you may have heard of it.
I tell you what, I put my everything into that business, and as the acting President I was competing with a very small group of competitors to be…
The first Company Introducing Creatine To The Public
A few years down the road, in 1999, I left Dymatize and joined up with IFBB Pro and former Mr. Olympia Competitor Lee Labrada. I worked with Lee as he took his little-known start-up supplement line, Labrada Nutrition, and moved into “big-time” national fulfillment capacity.
Then, in 2001 I joined up with Progressive labs and crossed over into something new… and very different:
Doctor-Grade Neutraceuticals
Soon thereafter, I teamed back up with my old friend Labrada, but this time from a different angle… this time as a representative of Progressive—playing the role of manufacturer. I continued on with Progressive and eventually formulated the “Progressive Nutrients” product line.
Soon, I would face my biggest challenge yet…
I ruptured 2 discs in my neck. I was crushed. I went from training every single day, to having a solid neck brace. I went through 2 spinal fusions before they got it correct. The funny thing is…
The doctors told me I would never lift again
I had to find my own way, and it was at that point I discovered “resistance-band training.” Through it, I developed my own proprietary recovery system—a system I could follow, even as hurt as I was. But the real question is, did it work?
I was back in the gym in 1 year.
And Through the use of my self-developed system and some serious nutritional overhaul… I got back up to ninety-eight percent!
My life was different now, and I started feeling like I needed a real change. So…
I moved on to new things. I started working with Source Naturals wellness company. And while at Source Naturals, I found myself working with everything from Met-RX to Twin Labs. We tried to plan a few big launches, but unfortunately, things never quite panned out—a team never got locked firmly into place…
So, I made a shift in plans. I joined up with Nutritox Supplements and started formulating.
After that, in 2008, distaster stuck again.
My back went out while moving products at Europa. It was bad. Turns out I ruptured my 3 lower-discs. It didn’t’ stop me though. Maybe it should have, but I was stubborn… I hung in there, desperately working, I tried to work that entire show…
Until they carried me out
Man… By the end of the night I knew real pain. I remember it vividly. When I awoke the next morning, just as I tried to get out of bed, I realized I had lost the entire use of my lower body.
Fact is, it was so bad my doctors (Dr. Deven Ramnesh of Orthopedics Associates of Dallas and Optimum Fitness’ preferred M.D., Dr. Steven Pounders) had just one look at my spine and confessed that this would be the worst operation they ever attempted. They told me straight up, man-to-man, exactly how risky it would be.
I was promised noting!
Seven long-hours later I opened my eyes to the face of my five-year old soon staring back at me, eyes peeled back… terrified.
Here I was, a grown man, learning to walk all over again. It took extreme patience—one step at a time— for about one month, until eventually I was able to use a walker. It was pure persistence. Not giving up. Will power—knowing I am an athlete and this would not be my first, or last road to travel down. So you know what I did?
I started formulating
It’s how I stayed grounded. Yes, this was my real therapy. I was formulating to help myself recover.
All in all, I was out for two years.
I’m telling you, the last two years, as I came back and rehabilitated my self—doing it, once again, with my own, self-discovered propriety system—was the hardest, most challenging experience of my entire life. The back fusion was so difficult, I thought I would cave. But I didn’t… I won!
Through the journey, I documented everything, beginning-to-end… from rehabilitation, to the my life after. I want to capture this experience, to share it with others, to let other people learn from what I have been through. I plan putting it into a book, and hopefully I’ll be releasing some time in the next few years.
And that bring us here today. I’m joining up with Prince and Optimum Fitness. You know why? More than any other reason, It’s because it brings back a level of relationship and trust to my life.
Prince and I have worked together for 17 years
It just kind of makes sense. Together we’ll have a perfect launchpad. And we’ll have trust—a base for every great formula in life—and after working with the best of the best, I am certain we will turn out the best.
It’s my hope to make every person I can reach as healthy as I can.
I hope each and every client leaves our meetings knowing anyone can get better… Everyone can improve, everyday, and that is what keeps me waiting to go on —to keep helping—after all these years.
