Energy drink CEO says he sleeps with the blinds open to wake up with the sun.

• Ghost Energy CEO Dan Lourenco took an unusual career path that began with going to flight school.
• Lourenco's love of wellness inspired him to cofound Ghost, an energy-drink and supplement company.

You might start your day every morning by whipping the blinds open, but Ghost Energy CEO Dan Lourenco never closes his. That way, he can wake up with the sun naturally.

However, your favorite candy-flavored energy drink might not have existed if Lourenco wasn't into fitness.

The 37-year-old CEO's path to starting Ghost was untraditional. He went to flight school with ambitions of becoming a pilot. After completing flight school, Lourenco became a flight instructor and flew private charter planes and turboprops between 2006 and 2010.

"When you're on call as a pilot, you can't really have a lot of hobbies. The agreement is two hours from a call; you must get to the airport ready to fly. And so I got into fitness and working out, ultimately supplements," Lourenco said.

In the early 2010s, he began toying with a job outside the cockpit.

"I had a bad breakup. And like all 24-year-olds, I thought my world was ending, and I wanted to do something different for a while." Lourenco told Business Insider. He switched career paths and began working for a supplement company, climbing up the ranks quickly. Working for the company inspired him to branch out on his own, Lourenco said.

He and Ghost CMO Ryan Hughes started the company in 2016. They began by selling supplements, launching a pre-workout powder and an amino acid powder — which helps with hydration. The energy drinks the company is well-known for didn't enter the picture until a few years later.

Flash forward to 2023 — Ghost products are sold in convenience stores and supermarkets across the US. Ghost has collaborated with major music festivals like When We Were Young and national sports teams like the Phoenix Suns. Its product line is also well known for its collaborations with household-name candies like Swedish Fish, Sour Patch Kids, Warheads, and Bubbalicious.

How did Lourenco accomplish all of this in a few short years? Perhaps his daily routine, consisting of a solid fitness regimen and long working hours, could take some credit.

Since Lourenco is in Vegas, he is "behind" everyone else in terms of time zone but still likes to be an early bird.

He sleeps with the blinds open to wake up with the sun. He sets an "emergency alarm," which rarely gets used.

He tries to head to the gym right after rolling out of bed to beat the morning onslaught of emails, though he admits to answering an occasional email or phone call in the parking lot of The Dragon's Lair, the Vegas gym that he frequents.

"I always make time to train even when traveling, even if it's just a quick 30 in the hotel gym," Lourenco said. "Some semblance of a routine is critical to focus and business preparedness."

Lourenco spends about an hour at the gym every day. And home workouts aren't an option for him.

"I believe in energies a lot, and I need to leave home or the office to get into a workout mindset," Lourenco said.

Luckily for Lourenco, he has a shorter commute — about 10 minutes maximum, thanks to Vegas being "easy to get around." It's especially good because Lourenco is always in the office.

"I love being in the office with the team. I pride myself on being visible and accessible. I travel a lot for Ghost, but I believe there's no substitute for showing up in person to see partners, customers, and global markets where we are selling or prepping to launch."

He's even in the office on Friday when most of the office works remotely. He uses the time as a "quiet day to get a lot done."

He loves the Ghost office so much that he spends 11 hours a day there, heading in at 7:30 a.m. and leaving at 6 p.m.

A self-described morning person, Lourenco always front-loads his days, usually finishing meetings by 2 p.m. This leaves his afternoon free for working on projects, product development, and strategy. Before heading home, he finishes his workday meeting with anyone from Australia and New Zealand. In an early December post on X, formerly Twitter, Lourenco said the company was preparing to launch products in the two countries.

Once the workday ends, his evening diet and wellness routine depend on where he's going. When he is alone, his night is "insanely healthy." But he enjoys himself with friends or at a business dinner.

"Those extremes are kind of the balance that I need in my life," Lourenco said.