Before You Dive In
Welcome to Willpower HQ, our refreshed hub for wellness, performance, and the brands shaping culture.
Edition 02 breaks down protein’s ever evolving movement, strategic plays from Graza and Good Culture, performance stacking from Arnold Schwarzenegger and Momentous, WHOOP’s push into F1 and fashion, and the early moves in AI-driven health.
Wellness House 2026 is officially in motion. Returning on March 13, 2026, we’re building an expanded experience for brands, founders, and the community. Join the waitlist below for early access and updates.
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— The Willpower Team
In This Issue:
From the Floor at NRF
Last week, Bill was in NYC for NRF: Retail’s Big Show, the largest annual gathering for brands, retailers, and tech shaping the future of commerce.
The timing was especially relevant as we head into building mode for Wellness House, many of the conversations centered on how brands are rethinking discovery, value, and customer connection in a more fragmented, AI-driven retail landscape.
According to Grocery Dive, a few takeaways stood out:
AI is no longer experimental: Retailers are moving quickly from pilots to real applications, especially in search, personalization, and operational efficiency.
Value messaging matters more than ever: As consumers stay price-sensitive, brands are being pushed to clearly justify why they’re worth choosing.
Tech + human experience is the unlock: From gamified training to AI-powered scheduling and inventory tools, retailers are investing in tech that empowers store teams, because the in-store human experience still matters.
Retail media and data fluency are table stakes: Brands that understand how to navigate retail ecosystems (thinking beyond shelves) are pulling ahead.
For us, it reinforced something we’ve been seeing across Wellness House conversations: the next wave of brand growth sits at the intersection of infrastructure, storytelling, and real-world experience.
Arnold’s Stack, Simplified with Momentous
He’s been the Terminator, a seven-time Mr. Olympia, the Governor of California, and now, a symbol of lifelong strength. Arnold Schwarzenegger has partnered with Momentous to launch The Arnold Stack, a stripped-back routine built on three fundamentals: protein, creatine, and vitamin D.
In a category obsessed with endless supplement layering, Arnold’s take is almost radical in its simplicity: master the basics, repeat them daily, and ignore the extras. For Momentous, it’s a sharp positioning move, shifting from modern influencer cycles to a timeless icon who embodies discipline and longevity.
AO Ventures Backs U.S. Padel Leader Padel Haus
AO Ventures, the investment arm of the Australian Open and Tennis Australia, is backing Padel Haus as padel’s U.S. moment accelerates. The $40M fund is focused on platforms that blend sport, community, and culture, and padel is checking all three boxes.
Founded in NYC and now expanding across markets, Padel Haus has evolved from a padel club into a true third place for movement and connection, something we’ve experienced firsthand through hosting Willpower events at the New York facility. The deal signals growing institutional confidence in padel’s U.S. trajectory, and reinforces that padel isn’t just a niche sport, it’s a social layer that’s scaling fast.
In the Grocery Aisle
Graza Expands Into Condiments With Mayo
Olive oil disruptor Graza, already known for turning premium extra-virgin olive oil into a standout culinary ingredient, is quietly expanding into the condiment aisle with a new line of mayonnaise and aioli made from its signature olive oils. This marks one of Graza’s first true category expansions beyond olive oil under its own brand, moving from formats and flavors to an entirely new condiment platform, rather than a limited collab or novelty extension.
The extension includes an Original mayo, a tangier Fancy version, and a herbaceous Garlic Aioli, all leaning into the brand’s quality first ethos while moving beyond its core oil formats. This isn’t a random splash into sauces, it’s a natural evolution: if your olive oil is already prized for flavor and versatility, building condiments around that same foundation lets Graza own more of the consumer’s tasting occasions.
Curds and Culture: Protein Gets Real
Cottage cheese didn’t just come back, it came back fast. As quickly as Good Culture surged in popularity, it also became one of the hardest items to find in the dairy aisle. The appeal is simple: it’s a high-protein whole food that fits everywhere, from savory bowls to sweet snacks. Especially, at a time when consumers are growing fatigued by overly processed bars and powders. Viral TikTok recipes and high-protein eating spiked demand, pushing Good Culture to the front of the cottage cheese revival and, in many stores, straight into out-of-stock territory.
With L Catterton taking a majority stake, now valuing Good Culture at over $500 million, the brand gains the capital and operational scale to keep up with demand while staying true to what made it resonate in the first place. It’s a reminder that the biggest category wins don’t always come from new formats, sometimes they’re just simple foods, perfectly timed.
Open AI Debuts ChatGPT Health
OpenAI has launched ChatGPT Health, a new dedicated health and wellness experience inside ChatGPT that lets users connect medical records and fitness/wellness apps to ground AI conversations in personal data. Early partners named in the rollout include Peloton and Weight Watchers, alongside broader integrations with platforms like Apple Health, MyFitnessPal, and others.
Rather than replacing medical care, ChatGPT Health aims to give users more tailored insights, from understanding trends in activity, sleep, and nutrition to suggesting workouts or personalized guidance based on linked data. Conversations and health data live in a separate, encrypted space to protect sensitive information, and are not used to train OpenAI’s core AI models.
This move formalizes what’s already one of the most common uses of AI, health and wellness question, while opening a new frontier where digital health data and AI insights intersect, with major fitness and wellness brands participating from the launch.
What’s New in WHOOP
WHOOP is continuing to push beyond wearables and deeper into culture and elite performance. The company recently announced a multiyear global creative partnership with Samuel Ross MBE, the designer behind A-COLD-WALL, signaling a new chapter where performance apparel meets fashion and cultural relevance. The collaboration positions WHOOP not just as a performance tool, but as a lifestyle brand that lives at the intersection of data, design, and identity.
At the same time, WHOOP has secured a multiyear partnership with Ferrari’s Formula 1 team ahead of the 2026 season. As Ferrari’s Official Health and Fitness Wearable Partner, WHOOP will be embedded across the organization, from drivers to pit crews, providing continuous biometric insights around strain, recovery, and readiness.
Together, these moves position WHOOP at the intersection of culture-driven brand expression and elite performance credibility.
Meat and Not Meat: Protein’s Identity Crisis
Protein continues to be a proving ground for bold experimentation, and recent moves signal that brands are trying to stretch the category in very different directions. Beyond Meat, long synonymous with plant-based meat alternatives, has expanded into beverages with Beyond Immerse, a line of plant-based protein drinks aimed at capturing occasions beyond the grill and into everyday hydration and functional wellness.
On the flip side, BUFFS, a startup rethinking how meat snacks behave in the snack aisle, has launched what it calls the first grass-fed beef puff, marrying the airy, crunchy texture of a classic salty snack with real animal protein sourced from simple, clean ingredients like grass-fed beef, egg whites, and avocado oil.
These innovations highlight how the race to own protein occasions is pushing brands to redefine what “protein” can look like. Whether that means a protein drink from a plant-based company or a meat-derived puff, and how shifting expectations around texture, format, and nutrition are reshaping the snack and wellness landscape.
Signing Off
Coming Up
Our third annual SXSW Wellness House is on the horizon, and this year we’re expanding the experience: more programming, more partners, and more ways for the community to tap in. Details are dropping soon.
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About Willpower
Willpower is a performance and wellness brand ecosystem building community through events, storytelling, and the experiences that bring people together.
From movement-centered mornings to Catalyst Series gatherings to our growing work in performance, everything we do ladders back to connection and momentum.
