Step off the spectator stands and into the lives of Andy Santiago and Allie Green, as they swing into our latest episode with stories that link the crack of the bat and the thwack of the tennis ball to real-world wins. Cleveland's own athletic achievers peel back the layers of their college sports days, with Andy diving into the nitty-gritty of baseball and accounting, while Allie serves up insights from her journey from tennis to public health. Their candid memories from campus life and the enduring bonds formed therein give us a play-by-play of how the lessons learned in sports arenas translate into career grand slams.
Switching gears, get ready to feel the burn as I open up about my evolution from chuckling on stage to squatting in the gym. The episode pumps up the volume with tales of iron wills and iron bars — where Spartan races and Ironman challenges are just the warm-up. We're talking about seizing the day with morning workouts that can sharpen your focus sharper than any caffeine shot, navigating the hurdles of personal limitations, and customizing fitness regimes like a tailor-made suit. Whether you're in it for the endorphins or the accolades, our conversation is a high-energy sprint through the importance of staying active, adaptable, and above all, passionate, no matter where the track may lead.
Step off the spectator stands and into the lives of Andy Santiago and Allie Green, as they swing into our latest episode with stories that link the crack of the bat and the thwack of the tennis ball to real-world wins. Cleveland's own athletic achievers peel back the layers of their college sports days, with Andy diving into the nitty-gritty of baseball and accounting, while Allie serves up insights from her journey from tennis to public health. Their candid memories from campus life and the enduring bonds formed therein give us a play-by-play of how the lessons learned in sports arenas translate into career grand slams.
Switching gears, get ready to feel the burn as I open up about my evolution from chuckling on stage to squatting in the gym. The episode pumps up the volume with tales of iron wills and iron bars — where Spartan races and Ironman challenges are just the warm-up. We're talking about seizing the day with morning workouts that can sharpen your focus sharper than any caffeine shot, navigating the hurdles of personal limitations, and customizing fitness regimes like a tailor-made suit. Whether you're in it for the endorphins or the accolades, our conversation is a high-energy sprint through the importance of staying active, adaptable, and above all, passionate, no matter where the track may lead.
Welcome everybody to another episode of the Ride Home Rance podcast. This is, as always, your host, mike Bono. I have a great guest for us today, a pair of guests actually. They're coming to us from Cleveland, ohio. That would be Andy Santiago and Allie Green. Joined the show. Andy Allie, thank you for joining.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, thanks for having us.
Speaker 1:
Thanks for having us man Appreciate it. Not a problem at all. So, andy, first and foremost, you are the brother-in-law to the manager of the podcast, johnny Fiddy Falcone. First question I got to get this out of the way. How's that been going?
Speaker 3:
Yeah, yeah, it's been great man. You know it's just had the wedding in November, so it's a good time. So I know we had talked. It's definitely a little fuzzy from that night, but yeah, yeah, it's been good. You know Johnny's a great guy. It's been nice getting to know him and getting to know some of his buddies too, so it's been a good group of guys around him too, so it's been good.
Speaker 1:
Okay, yeah, I know there's probably going to be a million stories because I've known Johnny since college. So, yeah, when you deal with his energy, once you get to know that, then you're smooth sailing from there on out.
Speaker 3:
Sure, you went to Bethany too, then.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, both of us did. I was a swimmer there and he was on the football team, so we met up a lot and saw each other a lot at the sports facility and complex there. So that's how we know each other and reconnected later on after college. So it's been nice to keep in touch and working together with somebody from back in the day. I guess you could say yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, Bethany's small, but I played a couple of baseball tournaments out there. It's a nice little campus and some sports facilities too there.
Speaker 1:
So stuff is going on. It's not bad, and especially when you realize that you can walk across the entire campus in 10 minutes and be from one end to the other. It's a very small school but it's a lot of fun. But the first question I have for both of you is where did you guys both grow up and go to high school and stuff like that, and were you into any sports or anything like that in high school?
Speaker 3:
Yeah, so I from Jefferson. I was in Jefferson area of high school and I played baseball and football. I played basketball just growing up but I didn't finish it in the four years in high school. But I was always a baseball guy, though I was playing a bunch of tournaments in the summers and feeling my dad probably threw me 20,000 pitches Probably. I was always hitting and stuff, so definitely a baseball guy for sure. Okay.
Speaker 1:
Allie, what about you?
Speaker 2:
Yeah, I grew up in Silver Lake, which is right outside of Cogga Falls, like down towards Akron. I played sports all growing up, like literally every sport under the sun, but my main sport in high school was tennis and then I also played basketball for a couple years in high school.
Speaker 1:
Okay, don't get a lot of tennis players on. You know what got you into tennis.
Speaker 2:
My two older brothers played tennis in high school and Silver Lake had these tennis courts and basketball courts and there was like kids camp in the summer, and so my older brothers taught the tennis camp, I guess you would call it, and so my other brothers and I would ride our bikes there in the summer and play, but I didn't really play seriously until high school.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, I could never get into that. I don't know. I mean my buddies and I. There was a tennis court like a block away from where we all grew up, and I couldn't get the serve down like I would hit it and it would just fly out of the, out of the court and you know we'd lost more tennis balls than score points. It seemed like so yeah, it was, but it's a tough, tougher sport that people give it credit for.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, I miss playing and it's hard to find people who just want to play like leisurely that you can compete with at my age. But yeah, that was fun.
Speaker 1:
I get it so for the both of you. You know where did, where did both of you end up going to the college and you know what were. What did we major in for both of you?
Speaker 3:
I went to a Wall Street University in North Canaan. So I went to our yes, I went there and then I actually played baseball there too and then I majored in accounting actually. So so I was always always good with numbers and stuff and math was definitely my favorite subject growing up. So pretty easy decision for me there. I knew I wanted to do something in business, didn't know what, so I ended up just starting in accounting and see if I wanted to finish it or not, and then, yeah, I ended up working out for me Any, any sports or anything like that when you were in college.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, but baseball was so more. I was on the team, didn't play a whole lot, but I was there nice morale guy that's for sure. So it was fun. I mean I met a ton of lifelong friends doing it. So definitely glad I was part of the team and I loved it. So love all those guys and still get together with those guys all the time and went to a few weddings for some of those guys this summer too. So it's good.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, you sounded like me on the high school football team. I was on the team. I didn't get a lot of playing time, but you know, I was that morale guy. But Allie, what about you?
Speaker 2:
Yeah, I went to Kent State. I majored in public health but I kind of I switched majors a couple of times. I was always in like the health field, but every time I would go in shadow, for example like a dietician in a hospital, I was like no, I don't see myself doing this. So I kind of just was like I was a little lost, didn't know what I wanted to do as a career, and I settled on public health because I was like I've taken all these courses and I just need to finish, like I just need my degree and I need to get out of here.
Speaker 1:
And so, yeah, yeah, any sports for you in college? No, not in college. Ok, but yeah, you remind me a lot of my sister. She went to WVU and she changed her major like seven times.
Speaker 2:
I think mine was only like three.
Speaker 1:
I really wish I was making that number up Like she changed it seven times.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, but she was lucky enough she went in as a second semester freshman. She had that many credits going in, so she had a little bit of time to play with. Now, me not so much Like I changed my major once and it wasn't really my call. I actually started as an accounting major and a business major and sophomore year my advisor sat me down. He was just like OK, so you can either A keep going with the track that you're on and you're more than likely going to fail out, or you can change your major and you can start over. I was like I like that second option. I'll pay a lot of money to be here. I was in the same with that second option.
Speaker 1:
And ended with communications in journalism and broadcasting. So, yeah, it was a lot of fun. I swam in college. I was a swimmer all through from the time I was eight through college. So, yeah, it's a lot of fun. Trust me, it's a sport. Yeah, and I lived in the water. It never fails. And the best thing was in. It wasn't fitting, but it was one of his buddies on the football team that was always ragging on me and giving me crap about being a swimmer and saying it wasn't a real sport. It was. I believe he called it a sissy sport is what he called it. And I put him through a workout. I said, all right, that's fine, let's go get in the pool. Well, you can do one of my workouts and we'll see who's sports tougher. We got through the warmup of it and he's like, oh man, that was intense. I was like that was the warmup man. That's what we're about to do.
Speaker 1:
And so yeah it was a little bit of sweet justice getting to see him limp around campus the next day because he was swimming. That was funny. So what do you both currently do for work right now?
Speaker 3:
Right now I'm a finance director at a holding company in Cleveland. So I started there a few months ago so it's been going real good and I know we had talked earlier. It was like I definitely want to get into this a personal training again, hopefully some part time and more full time in 2024. So I'm going to be with a couple of gyms here in the next couple of weeks. I'll be start that here in January. So I did some personal training when I lived down in Scottsdale, arizona at 21 and 22. So I haven't done much this year, just pretty much worked out with some buddies and Hallie. So it's given me a little fix, that's for sure. But definitely kind of gave me that itch again to get back into it.
Speaker 1:
So yeah, absolutely Hallie. What about you?
Speaker 2:
I have a small meal prep company and then I also manage a gym in Cleveland, so it's been good. I dabbled into personal training when I was younger and I just I liked it, but not enough to make it a career or I don't know even continue on with it. But I really like the managing side of the gym. I like the environment and yeah.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, I've managed a gym before. It's a lot of fun. It was an anytime fitness in Steubenville, ohio, so it was a lot of fun.
Speaker 1:
You get to meet a lot of interesting people when you manage a gym for sure For sure, especially in Steubenville, ohio, that was honestly, I never knew who was walking through the door, yeah, but still a lot of people that I keep in touch with to this day that were upset when I left and they still keep in touch. So that's nice to have and to keep those contacts and Keep in touch with people and see that their journey is In their fitness. I mean one guy, I mean he. I see his page all the day. He's a Army veteran and he only has one leg. The other one is a prosthetic and he works harder than anybody I've ever seen in the gym. Yeah, and it's just amazing to see what he can do with one leg.
Speaker 1:
Never I don't know if you could hear my cat crying and complaining. It's just it never fails when, anytime I go to record a show, my animals want to be a part of it. So, andy, you mentioned it a little bit about being, you know, into personal training and wanting to get back into it. How long did you do before? Was it just 21 and 22 that you were into personal training, or what really made you want to get into that?
Speaker 3:
I was really 20, 20, 20 really. I mean I've always kind of followed, you know, bodybuilding and stuff like that a lot. You know, my dad really got me into it when I was I was younger. He always had the, you know, the magazines and all that was really big in the early 2000s, so so I've always just really loved being in the gym and that was, you know, I was at Walsh. I was a really big part of you know being there, getting a lot of the guys in the gym and stuff like that, and we always did team lifts and stuff, which I really really liked and kind of just, you know, helped some friends out and stuff and just through that I never thought I would actually do it or actually Were to make money doing and never thought that was even a thing but I would be interested in.
Speaker 3:
And then I don't know really when 2020 happened and you know I was let go from my job with from COVID at the time and then it's kind of like, you know, maybe I should do something I'm more kind of passionate about and so I really just enjoyed doing. Doesn't really feel like a job. And so you know, luckily for me, I had a buddy, I lived in Arizona that knew a gym owner. I didn't close and he's like hey, just come out here, you know you can stay with me and you know, just just see what happens. So see, I just went out there and there was a personal training and I don't get any remote accounting job too at the time it's doing that as well. So, yeah, I just worked out. So I love doing and you know it's always really fulfilling to do so.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, I mean I. I say it all the time if you, if you do something you like and you're passionate about, you'll never work a day in your life. Uh, that's why I'm 11 years into doing stand-up comedy. It's a lot of fun, I love what I do. It's a lot of work that people don't see, uh, in the background and all they see is the finished product on stage. But you know it's, it's a lot of fun. I don't feel like it's work to me it's not work. It's. It's something that I'm passionate about, I love to do. But I gotta say, as somebody who's worked with a personal trainer before, is it your all's mission to like try to kill us throughout the the workout? Is that the main goal, or yeah, I?
Speaker 3:
mean, I think that's a little little part of it. It's kind of it's kind of funny. There's like that that kind of that sweet spot where it's like a really good workout, it's not too much so but then again some people want to just Just be pretty much killed during the workout. They feel like they weren't. Then it's like, why am I even paying you? So it's kind of it's kind of funny in that regard yeah, I remember because it was.
Speaker 1:
It was funny because my, my wife and I we met at work and she always knew when I had seen the personal trainer in the morning because I would just come in. I just had that look on my face like I was just done for the day. Already it was 10 am and she's just like, oh you, you worked with jay today, didn't you? It's like, yeah, it was Lower body day. I can't feel my legs. I'm going to be sitting in the store for the rest of the day. So, yeah, I'm moving a lot today, but yeah, um, I was also training for a Spartan race. Have you seen a lot of people still wanting to do those now? I don't know if that's still even a Thing.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, I think it is still a thing. I know a couple. It was a football player I went to watch, I did some Spartan races and one of my buddies actually does iron man's a selfish actually training for his first full iron man. So so, yeah, that's like the the swim you swim, I don't know how many miles it is. You swim and then you bike and then you also run a marathon at then. So it's pretty, pretty intense.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, Swimming I can do after that. I mean that's I'd have to build that lead in the water and then it's just downhill from there.
Speaker 3:
There's no, yeah, I think it's like a two, two or three miles swim and it's like over a hundred mile bike ride and then a full marathon after that.
Speaker 1:
It's pretty pretty intense, a full marathon. That's just a full marathon by itself sounds.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, he puts a lot of hours in the training, that's for sure. It's like twice a day, so it's, it's a lot.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, that's yeah, not anything I'm doing at my age anymore. Let's say, we'll put it that way.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, that's something I would ever even consider doing, so it's impressive. So hopefully he gets it done this year or next year or so.
Speaker 1:
Absolutely Do have to pause real quick here in the show. I do have to get a sponsorship read, and it is for our newest sponsor to the show and that is Buddy's beard care. Beard oils, beard washes and beard bombs everything you need to keep your beard in check. I have used these products now for a little over a month now and I gotta say, as someone who's never used the beard oils or anything like that, this is phenomenal stuff. My beard has never felt healthier, it has never been fuller and, according to my wife, it has never been softer. So Go and check them out, buddy's beard care at buddiesbeardcarecom. Tell them Mike Bono sends you. You won't be disappointed. Go to Buddy's beard care, where size does matter. All right, and, andy, that's a perfect sponsorship read. I could see the beard for you now.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, yeah, she'll be child. Check it out for sure, yeah.
Speaker 1:
Local company here in Newark Ohio oil's and stuff. So I think you cut out a little bit there on me, Andy.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, yeah, like I said, I definitely check it out. I'm definitely always looking for, you know, beard oils, so Definitely minds it gets a little crazy sometimes, so definitely Sounds like something I'll look into. Yeah, um, I.
Speaker 1:
Yes, a little. That's another comic buddy of mine is what he does on the side. It's a local company here in Newark, ohio, where I'm close to based out of and it's yeah, it's phenomenal stuff and I'm super happy with it. And Never thought I'd be a beard oil guy. I never really thought that that would be me, but after no shave November, that would. Yeah, I needed something. Yeah for sure. So, alia, this was for you. Now you own your own meal prep company. You know how did you get into that? What made you want to get into the meal prep?
Speaker 2:
Yeah, so around COVID, that's kind of when it all started. Um, it does kind of go back a little further, though. I'd always been interested in like. Even in college I dealt with nutrition, our science, I had done personal training. So when I think back to like how I got here, I'm like it's kind of all my interests In one, it's like everything that I want. So Through COVID, I was also unemployed because I was just working as a server at a restaurant.
Speaker 2:
It was post college and I was trying to find my first like big girl job, I guess you say. And so, yeah, the restaurants closed and I was bored out of my mind. So I started posting recipes and stuff on Instagram. Um, that was like the highlight of my day is like making a new recipe every day. And People started to reach out to me and they were like I'll literally pay you to cook me meals. And one person in particular was like I don't know they must have been super busy and they just wanted these like simple, like Taco bowls. They're like I will literally pay you to make this for me every week. And so I started with just that person and I was like you know what? I should just like create a little menu every week posted on my Instagram story and just start seeing if people Like will order. And at the time I was just doing it out of my house and it was like through Venmo and it was nothing crazy. But that's kind of how it all started. It was pretty organic and yeah.
Speaker 1:
So so what goes into meal prepping? I've never been a big meal prepper. It's kind of fly by the seat of my parents as a comedian. Yeah, I'm eating from day to day and being on the road a good bit. So what? What goes into the meal prep?
Speaker 2:
well. So people Like it because it saves them time through the week or they're more prepared through the week in terms of what they're gonna eat. So basically, cooking for Days at a time in one sitting, so you have those meals the following days, um, so in terms of what goes into it, do you mean like Into the business to itself, like.
Speaker 1:
That and you know just the meal prep itself. I know I have a lot of listeners that don't know a good bit about you know prepping for meals for the week.
Speaker 2:
I guess, I ask questions like common sense to me that I just don't know how to explain it to me. Someone that doesn't know what it is. Yeah, it's a lot of planning on my end planning for recipes I'm gonna make for the menu and, obviously, ingredients and everything I need for the meals, and then, yeah, cooking the recipes.
Speaker 1:
So are you actually cooking the recipes for your customers? Are you sending them the ingredients?
Speaker 2:
So I cook the full meals. So I'll do like the protein, the carbs and the veggies in one meal Everything is cooked and then basically, when they get the meals, they'll just heat it up in the microwave and it's ready to eat.
Speaker 1:
Okay, that sounds like more work than I put into making one meal. So I Love to cook, I'm I'm a big cooker. I came from a very big Italian family. So you know, food is, food is our life and you know, yeah, just Wow, that's. That's a lot. That goes into more than I expected. We'll say that, more than. I expected going into.
Speaker 3:
Yes, it's definitely a lot. She's definitely puts a lot of hours into it. So it's a. It's a lot for sure. So I mean it's great for me. I'm glad I'm not meal prepping for myself anymore.
Speaker 1:
So it's been a, it's been a great bonus have your own personal meal prepper there.
Speaker 3:
Because I kind of did a lot of the meal prepping on my own before we have met and then. So so it's been, it's been, it's been a great time saver for me off to worry about it, so at all so.
Speaker 1:
I Think great, absolutely. Now, do you tailor the meals to each individual customer or do you just kind of have like a Set menu that this is what we're doing this week and everybody gets that?
Speaker 2:
Yeah, it's since it's. It would be too much for me to tailor to each specific person, so I'll come up with a new menu, like every four or five weeks, and then if people want to make like simple modifications, I'm like say they don't like like broccoli, or substitute a different vegetable or something simple. But other than that it's a pretty set menu. Yeah.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, I just never knew how that would work. If it was like alright, I got to make these meals for this person, now I got to turn around and make these for this.
Speaker 2:
Crazy, because everything I'm making is in bulk. So everything? Yeah, it would be impossible, it would take some time.
Speaker 1:
I was a kudos to you for being able to do that, if that's how you did it, and thank you for taking time out of your busy Schedule to come and talk to me for a little bit. Do as well, but yeah, so that's why I guess I have for both of you. Here is so, with both of you being into fitness, how do you incorporate a workout into your daily lives, with work and everything?
Speaker 2:
Sorry, you kind of cut out a little bit what was the question.
Speaker 1:
Okay, yeah, no worries. With both of you being into fitness, how do you incorporate Working out into your daily lives with work and everything like that?
Speaker 3:
I'd say for me, you know it's, it's easier for me to go in the morning before I go to work, because it's just I Just know no one from work is gonna reach out to me at you know five, six in the morning. So it's just. I kind of like it that way. It just seems more stress-free. You get it out of the way and that's kind of my time in the morning, kind of a blossom steam, and then I get to work and I just, if I need to stay late I can, or it's not a big deal, because the workouts already it's done. I don't need to worry about getting out of there to go to the gym or anything like that. So for me but I've also kind of always been a morning person, so it's pretty easy for me to get up. So I don't have some buddies I try to get to go with me in the morning. There's there's no way You're gonna come.
Speaker 1:
So yeah, when I was in the gym a good bit and many, many moons ago I know I was I'd like the the morning workouts a little bit better than I did the evening workouts, because after you know, a long day of work and I work in sales at the time so it was just like I Really want to go to the gym and see more people that I just saw all day and had to deal with, deal with that. So, but I'm not a morning person either, though I'm definitely a night owl, for sure. You know, being a comedian, I think you kind of have to late shows and everything like that always on the road.
Speaker 1:
But yeah, mornings are just not. Not for me and Ali. What about you? I mean, it seems like you probably cooking all day, so how do you fit into?
Speaker 2:
The meal prep is pretty much just on the weekends right now, um, but Monday through Friday I'm at the gym. I do have the luxury of working out at at Working out at work if I want to, but I usually go in the mornings as well. My, my schedule at the gym is like pretty non-traditional. I work kind of random hours, so I kind of have the luxury to have a little time to go whenever.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, I would say when I managed the any time fitness it was, you know, it was easier for me to get a workout in if I wanted to take some time out of my day and yeah, I could go and do it like not stuck at a desk for 10 hours a day, so I Unfortunately, am with my day job now too. So yeah, it's, it's a lot of fun. So, for both of you, what does a typical workout look like?
Speaker 3:
I Mean I mean we pretty much do the same thing really. I mean kind of more like a traditional Split. I guess would be just doing different body parts for those days. So depending however we want to break out, I change one up sometimes. So so that is more kind of like I said, more of a nutritional, like bodybuilding split. I guess you would say, not that we're bodybuilders, but kind of just what what I follow, so kind of doing like a upper body day, like a chest day, and then you're like an arm day and then a leg day too.
Speaker 1:
So Now you kind of that same routine with him or you kind of doing your own thing.
Speaker 2:
It's pretty similar. We're not on the same routine, but just primarily weightlifting and yeah Okay.
Speaker 1:
Yeah.
Speaker 3:
We need to bump up that cardio for sure, but it seems like not every day.
Speaker 1:
I get it done, that's for sure, I know cardio is definitely the root of all evil when it comes to working, especially for me, and I know I need to get back into it because I walked up my steps I have 13 steps in my house and I was like, wow, I am out of shape. I just it kind of hits you all at once too. You think there'd be enough of a push?
Speaker 3:
I don't know if the stairs ever get easier, though that's for sure.
Speaker 1:
No, no, definitely isn't getting older. It's like, yeah, my next house is going to have any stairs in it, ever anywhere. I don't care if it's the little two step to get into the house, nope, right into that. Now it's not going to do it for me. Yes, stairs are getting increasingly more difficult, especially. I played football and a lot of contact sports growing up, so I still have a lot of aching nagging sports injuries that flare up this wonderful time of the year in the wintertime, with especially my knees and being a receiver most of the time, I don't have the best knees left in me, and at 34. Yeah, that's not a good look for the future.
Speaker 1:
All right, so we are running down near the end of the episode here and I do give every guest this opportunity at the end of the show. So if there's anything you guys want to get out there, I'll give. I normally give about a minute, but I'll give you guys about two minutes, since there's two of you. If there's anything you want to promote, anything you want to get out there, or even if it's just a good message, the floor is yours.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, I mean you definitely give me a follow. I just have Instagram, that's it. Andes Santiago five, this is my handle. So yeah, you're interested in personal training or just follow me, you know.
Speaker 2:
And yeah, if you're interested in meals to go along with your training, my business is made by green and I do have a website you can order through, and yeah okay.
Speaker 1:
Well, I gotta tell you guys, this was a lot of fun. A lot of interesting things that I didn't know, especially when it comes to the meal prep I will say use the word ignorant for that to that but a lot of good information out there. I've had a lot of fitness people on. I do love talking to people that are into that and seeing how each routine varies from person to person. And great to talk to you and somebody who is definitely now part of the Falcone family do as well, and getting to meet y'all was a lot of fun. Thank you, guys for coming on. I really do appreciate you sitting down. Take a time out of your business schedules to talk to me. But that is going to do it for this week's episode of the right home brands podcast. As always, if you enjoyed the show, be a friend, tell a friend. If you didn't tell him anyways, they might like it just because you didn't. That's going to do it for me and I will see y'all next week.
