By Tiffany Merlo Phelps
mail@floridanewsline.com
Patrick O’Donnell and his family love adventure travel, healthy living, and making an impact. It all began when Patrick met his wife, Hunter O’Donnell, while the two were both on a college study abroad trip through Georgia Institute of Technology, meeting for the first time while studying in England. They both loved to travel, something they have since shared with their children, James, 17 and Davidson, 14, by spending a year traveling the world in 2017. Hunter homeschooled the boys while Patrick was able to run his marketing agency job remotely. While on that trip, the family realized how much they loved living on the coast and began to search for their next home. Also, while in New Zealand, Patrick journaled about his goals and envisioned his next job. “I wanted to make a massive impact,” he said. He researched and found a company in St. Johns County, DLP Capital, whose owner held the exact same vision and values. Patrick accepted a job there as the chief experience officer, running the internal well-being program for the company’s employees and sharing the “Fit Life Challenge” program. The family also chose to move to Ponte Vedra Beach because Hunter grew up in Mandarin and has family nearby. When COVID hit, the O’Donnells discovered a new mission while participating in a fitness and nutrition challenge that included avoiding processed, sugar-loaded, and gluten-filled food. “Our boys, 13 and 10 at the time, were great at eating healthy meals, but could not find any snacks that were challenge compliant that had a taste they loved,” said Patrick. So, the O’Donnells created their own healthy snack, a granola (minus gluten, refined sugar, and artificial sweeteners), and Inrive Performance Nutrition was born. It has been fully vetted and endorsed by James and Davidson (who both play on their respective school baseball teams) along with friends and parents. The family plans to introduce a granola bar and a hydration stick this year, and they recently launched with Amazon.
Q: What was the most rewarding part of creating Inrive?
A: Being able to create the change we wanted to see by bringing truly delicious, nutritious products to the world that student athletes (and their parents) love is fulfilling a dream, but to be able to do this with our family, our boys leading the taste tests with their friends, and especially my teenage son so instrumental in driving this forward, has been truly incredible.
Q: What is the meaning of the name Inrive?
A: It comes from the words “inspire” and “thrive.” It means to make whole, mend or complete, derived from the words “in,” meaning not and “rive” meaning to split apart, so to not split apart is to make whole or mend. Yes, we made up this word and its definition, but we love it, and we hope that others are ready to inspire, rise and thrive in life.
Q: During your year-long travel adventure, where was the family’s favorite location?
A: Of all the places we’ve been in the world, all four of us would say our favorite location is New Zealand. Specifically, where we lived for nearly three months — in a small beach town on the North Shore, a couple hours east of Auckland, called Mount Maunganui, where we climbed an old extinct volcano, went fishing in the aptly named Bay of Plenty, hiked to waterfalls, and the boys joined baseball teams.
Q: What core values do you hold as a family?
A: Celebrate life, be the change, lead by example, take consistent action, and make a difference.
[Author’s note: To listen to Patrick’s podcast, go to “Live Fit, Ignite Change.”]
Photo courtesy Patrick O’Donnell
Patrick O’Donnell
