Remember a couple of years ago when the heroic Captain Sullenberger navigated US Airways Flight 1549 into the Hudson River after a suicidal bird almost succeeded in taking down an entire aircraft? Ok. Then, do you remember that image, taken from a Ferry, of the passengers standing on the wing of said aircraft as it slowly descended into icy waters? Yeah. Janis took that picture…as a 22-year-old kid, in New York City, on his way to retrieve his car from a New Jersey airport after meeting with some higher-ups about Elementz, a business he was launching that would help current and former athletes by improving the ethics behind the health products in the sports industry.
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So, what is Janis working on when he's not changing the world? Well, changing the world, of course. Elementz Nutrition (.com - if you want to check it out) started about three years ago when Janis and former IMG coach, Jason Riley, started a discussion about the lack of 'clean' products such as proteins, multivitamins and other sports products that athletes take to enhance their physicality on and off the field. We're not talking steroids, we're talking products that help an athlete's body to be in prime shape during his/her career, but also, equally as important, is the fact that the Elementz Nutrition team is working on products that will enhance a body's longevity years after retirement. The team was sick of 'shady' products that had adverse affects on players, as well as the fact that, generally, once an athlete is past prime playing age, they usually sustain some type of permanent damage that disables them from running at peak performance. You know how it works: once an athlete stops playing sports, they often spend the rest of their life sustaining and nurturing bad knees, hurt shoulders or poor internal health from so-called performance enhancers. Or, as Janis more succinctly puts it, 'I want to give athletes more time on the field, but also give them the ability to play with their kids long after their careers are over.'
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