Doughnuts and Dumbbells Former marine and entrepreneur Brian Eayrs has struck a chord, encouraging active vets to be who they are — and eat what they love Above: Feed Me Fight Me is a food-inspired active wear and coffee company founded by Marine veteran Brian Eayrs. The company gives back 10 percent of every purchase to help combat veteran homelessness, addiction and PTSD. 10
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lamath Falls native Brian Eayrs has always been the sort of person who does what he wants, whether that is joining the Marines on a whim or starting his own food-themed athletic wear company, Feed Me Fight Me. Eayrs said, “The Marines gave me the tools to no matter what, get the job done, even if you don’t have what you might necessarily need.” Eayrs attended Henley High School and was studying car mechanics in San Diego when a friend encouraged him to enlist. 17 days later, he was at boot camp. Over his five years in the Marine Corps, Eayrs was deployed three times in Okinawa, Japan, an experience he said developed his leadership skills. Still, spending more time in Japan than in the United States put his life on hold. “You’re off, and your friends and family, they don’t wait for you back home,” he said. “Their lives keep going, and they’re all in a different place, and you feel like you’re in the exact same place when you come back to visit.” In 2010, he started school again, studying business at the Oregon Institute of Technology.
He soon decided to change his career path and pursued a degree in physical therapy from the Concorde Career College.
Starting small He had always been interested in screenprinting, and after graduating in 2015, he bought a machine from Craigslist to print T-shirts. He turned his dining room into his workshop, curing the dye in the oven, which created a smell he said was “miserable.” After initial encouragement from peers, he decided to expand his line, trying three rounds of athletic wear designs before nailing the right manufacturer. As his business was expanding, he brought on partner John Watkins, a fellow Marines veteran from New York who had worked for a supplement business. “Even as clichéd as this may sound, on the battlefield to now, I believe it’s seamless,” Watkins said. “You don’t leave anyone behind, so our mission to help those in need is probably the most imperative thing that drives me to do Feed Me Fight Me.”
