Most people have no idea about the differences in quality, purity, and potency in the nutritional supplement space. Not all supplements are created equal.

As an Olympic athlete, I always considered myself fairly knowledgeable when it came to supplements, but it wasn’t until I joined Thorne that I realized how little I knew and how in the dark I had been my entire athletic career about supplement quality.

My name is Wes Barnett. I am the Vice President of Athletic & Corporate Business Development at Thorne. My journey to Thorne has been a long crusade to support athletes at all levels.

I was a member of the 1992 and 1996 U.S. Olympic Teams in the sport of weightlifting. After my competitive career, I worked in the Olympic and Paralympic movement for 17 years before leaving to join Thorne.

One of the top concerns I had while working at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) was the fact that athletes were failing drug tests due to contaminated supplements. What most people don’t know is that when this happened, athletes were not trying to cheat. They were just trying to support the fueling and recovery process necessary to optimize their success at the highest level. By doing this, they unknowingly consumed supplements that were intentionally tainted or cross-contaminated with banned substances.

How? The FDA does regulate nutritional supplements, but the responsibility to confirm their safety, efficacy, and usage falls squarely on the manufacturer. And though many supplement companies throw around the word “transparency” when it comes to their ingredients, supplements are widely known to be loaded with unnecessary ingredients and fillers, and this becomes a problem for athletes.

If they tested positive, the athletes had their lives turned upside down, often were unfairly labeled as cheaters, and their careers were ruined. Even when they could prove a positive drug test was the result of tainting or contamination, litigation was costly. In fact, there were many instances in which the athlete was bankrupted and the case dismissed.

After seeing the experiences mentioned above, and the general challenge so many athletes (including myself) had with navigating the supplement space, I wanted to help athletes compete at their best without fearing the supplements they were using.

Because I always felt we could and should do better on behalf of athletes when it came to this issue, I made it my mission to find a solution.

When I asked those within leadership positions at athletic organizations why we couldn’t do more to protect the athletes, the answer came down to liability. If someone at the USOPC were to recommend to an athlete what to take or where to get a supplement, then it could expose the USOPC to a huge amount of liability.

What I concluded from this was that the solution lay in the hands of the supplement manufacturers, not the organizations who were enforcing their policies.

Finally, I was told that if I felt so strongly about it, I should find a solution. I accepted that challenge. After all, how difficult could it be to find a company that wanted to ensure the best quality supplement and protect athletes as much as I did?

A 10-year odyssey, a chance meeting

For the next 10 years I searched high and low for a supplement company that could meet the standards I felt needed to be in place to keep athletes safe. I visited multiple supplement companies, had samples sent to me for analysis, and took supplements myself to see if I felt any difference. I had a bookcase in my office filled from floor to ceiling with supplements.

After being disappointed again and again, I was certain that the company I was looking for and that the athletes needed simply didn’t exist. At one point, I even considered starting my own company. I was just at the point where I was about to throw my hands up in the air – when I came across Thorne.

I had a chance meeting with someone who was interested in sports psychology and was inquiring about an internship. Sports psychology was one of the disciplines that was part of my performance staff. After our meeting, my guest said, “If you don’t mind me asking, what is with all the supplements behind you?” I shared my story about trying to find a solution for athletes and she said, “I work for Thorne, a nutritional supplement company. You have to meet my boss.”

By now I was pretty jaded about supplement companies, but I agreed.

Paul Jacobson, Thorne’s CEO, flew to Colorado Springs, Colorado, that same week and took me to lunch – which, if you know me, was a very good start! He proceeded to tell me all about Thorne: Founded in 1984, Thorne collaborates on research and education with Mayo Clinic. Thorne works with tens of thousands of health-care practitioners. What really excited me was what Paul told me about the exceptional quality, safety, and efficacy of Thorne supplements.

I commented that this all sounded great, but I was still skeptical.

“If Thorne is so exceptional, why is it I’ve never heard of you?” I asked. After all, I had been looking for a company like this for 10 years and hadn’t found it.

Paul simply told me that in the beginning, Thorne only made supplements for doctors to provide to their patients. Thorne supplements were not available in any stores nor any website. If you didn’t have a doctor who knew about Thorne, you simply couldn’t get Thorne supplements.

By now, my interest was piqued. Was this the holy grail I had been searching for? I proceeded to go through my long list of non-negotiables about safety, cleanliness, efficacy, third-party testing, and quality. I asked if Thorne was willing to accommodate my list. Paul told me that Thorne already did all of those things as part of its everyday business. The only thing Thorne needed to add was third-party certification through NSF International, which Thorne set out to accomplish not long after our meeting.

I was blown away. Now, it was my turn to say, “You’ve got to meet my boss!”

For the next three years, the USOPC performed due diligence on Thorne. They investigated their partners, their client base, their leadership, and their reputation. Were they really doing everything I had been told? The answer was a resounding yes.

From that point, Thorne worked with our sport dietitians to create a line of NSF Certified for Sport supplements in time for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. At this point, I felt my job was done and I could ride off into the sunset, having accomplished something on behalf of athletes I never thought was possible.

After the 2016 Games were over, Paul called and asked me if I would like to work for Thorne. Thorne already knew the medical space, but the sports space was relatively new to them. I was asked to help lead the charge into sports for Thorne, and I agreed.

When I told friends and co-workers that I was making this career change, they questioned if I was really leaving the Olympic movement to work for a supplement company. When I started to explain my reasoning for why I was leaving everyone I spoke to who knew me well would simply say, “The fact that you are leaving the Olympic movement to work for a supplement company tells me all I need to know about the quality of the company.” Their belief in me and this new career move was reassuring, and a testament to what I have stood for, for years.

Premium formulas, pro performance

Fast forward to today: Thorne is the choice of more than 100 professional sports teams and multiple U.S. National Teams. Our line of NSF Certified for Sport supplements has grown to include more than 25 supplements and supplement bundles to support all aspects of an athlete’s training and recovery regimen, as well as their general health and wellbeing. Thorne still works with tens of thousands of health-care practitioners and continues to be uncompromising when it comes to quality, safety, and efficacy.

How did we accomplish this? Thorne took the quality and efficacy that health-care practitioners demanded and combined that with the safety that athletes required, and we created a line of supplements to use that check all the important boxes to provide peace of mind for athletes of all levels.

Thorne has taken the responsibility of educating the consumer and having total transparency to a level that other supplement companies cannot meet. This shows through in Thorne’s rigorous commitment to quality by partnering with trusted suppliers, continuing to educate consumers with understandable language on its supplements, creating a stronger wellness ecosystem overall, and leading to better health outcomes.

I couldn’t be prouder to work at Thorne. I’m proud of my colleagues who work with me, and the way we manufacture our supplements. The most gratifying part of what I do at Thorne is working with the individuals I interact with daily. Seeing their faces and hearing their stories of how Thorne has impacted their lives makes me incredibly gratified to work here.

This article is part of an ongoing series from Thorne HealthTech’s Medium blog, where we showcase the individuals behind Thorne’s approach to developing and delivering health and wellness solutions.