For Over Easy’s Founder, Kyle Maggard, mornings have always been “get up and go” – whether as a West Point cadet, a college athlete, an Army officer, and especially now as a husband, father, and entrepreneur. Sick of having to choose between a dense protein bar that tastes artificial or a pastry loaded with sugar, Over Easy was born with a mission to deliver a convenient, healthy and most importantly delicious, way to start your day! Below Paceline chats with Kyle on his inspiration behind Over Easy and how his military experience prepared him for entrepreneurship.

P: How did your military experience prepare you for the demands of building your own business?

K: “In the military, you’re constantly thrown in new, challenging, and often uncomfortable positions and situations – often by design, and nearly every single day. I’ve found that the key to success is not to evade these situations or to seek an easier path, but rather to face them head on and treat them as opportunities to get a little stronger, tougher, sharper, and more proficient. It’s why the phrase “embrace the suck” has become a mantra in the military – if you want to be tough, you have to go through some tough times.

I’ve applied the same mentality as an entrepreneur. This journey has been a complete roller coaster, filled with constant challenges, uncertainty, self-doubt, unbelievable highs, and devastating lows – and I’m really just getting started. However, the military taught me to expect and “embrace the suck” rather than wishing everything is going to get easier. Entrepreneurship is hard, and it’s supposed to be hard. In my opinion, thinking it’s going to get easier is the fastest way to burnout and exhaustion. The truth is that life never gets easier, we just get stronger.”

P: Did your military experience have an impact on how you approach your own health and fitness?

K: “Absolutely. Navigating my first couple years at West Point taught me a very valuable lesson about myself: if I cut corners in one area of my life, it bleeds into other areas. When I would get lazy with my diet, I would slowly get lazy with my workouts, then schoolwork, training, etc. On the other hand, if I committed to maintaining a healthy diet or pushing myself in training, I felt myself working harder in the classroom or in the gym.

The same is true for me today, which is why I place such emphasis on my health and fitness. Knowing that I am treating my body right and staying committed to my health, allows me to be a more effective entrepreneur and, more importantly, a more attentive husband and father. I know first hand how tough it can be to maintain a healthy diet while also staying fit, especially as life gets busy and often stressful with work, family, and a social life. But, that’s exactly the reason I created Over Easy. If we can give people a better and more confident start to their day, hopefully they’ll be able to take that sense of accomplishment and confidence to other areas of their life, too.”