Hal Johnson of BodyBreak: Where Is He Now? | Catching Up with a Fitness Icon

Join us for an exclusive interview with Hal Johnson, a true icon in the world of fitness, health, and wellness. Hal, known as one half of the dynamic duo behind "Body Break," has left an indelible mark on the Canadian fitness industry.

🏋️‍♂️ Hal Johnson's career is a testament to his unwavering commitment to promoting fitness and healthy living. From his chance meeting with Joanne McLeod at a gym, the concept of "Body Break" was born. Together, they embarked on a mission to help millions of Canadians discover new ways to incorporate fitness into their daily lives.

🌟 Beyond his role in "Body Break," Hal Johnson's accomplishments are nothing short of extraordinary. He's been a competitor on The Amazing Race Canada and has delivered inspiring speeches around the globe. In fact, his influence is so profound that he became a Halloween costume, a symbol of Canadian pop culture sold at party stores nationwide.

🎙️ In this interview, we gain insights into his views on health, wellness, and inclusivity, as well as his perspectives on overcoming adversity.

🔥 This candid conversation offers a unique glimpse into the life of a fitness legend, and it's a must-listen for anyone passionate about fitness, health, and personal growth. Hal Johnson's wisdom and experiences provide invaluable insights for individuals looking to make positive changes in their lives.

Hit that like button, subscribe, and please leave us a rating or review. #HalJohnson #bodybreak #fitnesspodcast

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Transcript

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The things you remember in life are not the things that necessarily go perfect. The things you can remember in life are the ups and downs and the things you have to pivot on. This is all things fitness and wellness posted by Krissy Vann. Together we're uniting industry thought leaders and fit flew answers on the mission to inspire innovation and encourage people to live a life fit and well brought to you by the Personal Training Institute. Learn how to train, gain and maintain clients visit BC pti.ca. I am so excited for this one. Depending on where you're joining us from today, our guests may need no introduction. We have a Canadian pop culture icon who has made a career promoting fitness, health and inclusivity. My guest has been a competitor on The Amazing Race posted over 300 broadcast television segments, traveled the world doing speaking engagements, and on this side of the border is so iconic and recognizable. He even became a Halloween costume sold out party stores across the country. Today we're catching up with none other than how Johnson a body break one half of the dynamic duo, how Johnson and Joanne MacLeod met at a gym and conceived the idea of body break to help millions of Canadians discover a new way of incorporating fitness and healthy living into their daily lives. Now in this episode, I'm going to be completely honest with you. I went in with a game plan and we may be followed about 2% of it. But I couldn't be happier because the conversation organically unfolded into tales of adventure, in depth insights into how this Canadian success story not only came to fruition but thrived. And we touched on overcoming adversity and how graciously sprinkled in some solid life advice and perspectives he's gained through his many years advocating in the fitness and wellness space. Now before we get to it, be sure to hit like and subscribe. We have new full length podcast episodes weekly featuring industry thought leaders and influencers. Plus every other Monday we drop a new exercise snacks bite size science. This is where we hear from the scientists and researchers themselves. And if you're a fan of all things fitness and wellness, it would be so appreciated if you left a star rating or review. It's the easiest way to support content creators that you engage with and enjoy. And if you want to share feedback directly with me, you can connect with me on our socials at all things fitness and wellness. I'm your host Krissy Vann so happy you're here, this is at FW. Like many in Canada, I've grown up with you and Joanna on my screen. And of course that slogan that we all know so very well. But what I appreciate that so much is even preparing for this podcast, how much you've used your platform to amplify some really important messages for not just the fitness industry, but us as humans. And I know that you've done that because of the adversity that you experienced even while early in your career. So a lot of people when they hear body break, probably thought you know, a couple that just wanted to start a fitness segment. But that wasn't really the initial direction as I understand it. And it was actually a rescinded job offer that kind of was the catalyst. So talk to me about this TSN story from the early days. Well, when I grew up, you know, in the in the 60s and 70s, there's very few people that look like me on TV. And that continues today. And in many ways I was going to try to break into doing television. And so when I went to TSN and, and I auditioned to be a broadcaster, and they initially hired me and then they fired me that same day, because the executive said that we didn't want to have two black people on on air at the same time. And back this is this is back in 1988 April of 1988. And so it was really something that I kind of that was one of the things that kick started me to, to moving and saying, you know, I can't simply just wait for change, I've got to make change. And so I went out and and created Joanne and I created body brake. And the idea came to us on June 8 1988. And so it was really one of those things. In fact, friends of mine you know, say to me that we were one of the original YouTubers in essence we created this little 92nd little clip and boom, we're gone. The only difference is is that today when when you go boom, you're gone on YouTube, it's you're gone because nothing has any residents to it it nothing stays that we would say for example, shoot a ski show and 1991 and Lake Louise, and then in 1996 Somebody would say to me, Oh, I just saw you guys you guys run Lake Louise ski I go no, we shot that five years ago. But so we had so much longevity with all of our Over 300 episodes that we were seeing about 15 to 1800 times a week on 130 stations across the country. So if you tried to get away from us, you actually couldn't because we were always there. And I think, no, it's like, I've even thought about, it's funny, like, about 10 years ago, I said to Joanne, I said this talking about YouTube, I said, you know, what if we Chris did our YouTube channel, and it was like a buddy break travels with Helen Joanne. So because we go on all kinds of active vacations, we're in Milan. And then we went to Barcelona, and then we hiked through the Swiss Alps, and crashed ah, we did that. And then about three months earlier than that, we were in Dubai, and we were cycling on 85 kilometer route that's out in the desert. That's just for cyclists. It's just magnificent. And so it's like, and, and I see that now. And, you know, YouTubers are all over the place going, Oh, here's my adventure. I think I thought about that. 10 years ago, we could do that. And we should have and but now it's like I we just finished a cycling trip. This summer. I'm doing a lot of cycling. And it was from it was on the CNO and GAP trail from Washington, DC to Pittsburgh. So we rode 600 kilometers. And, and that, that that was a nice ride, we've written across Michigan. And now next summer, we're going to we're retraining In fact, that's why I'm late for the podcast, I was just on the bike, we're going to be riding from Frankfurt to Vienna, it's about 1400 kilometers. So it really, you know, I wanted to kind of, and I may document that and I really said I want to do it in a different way because most of what I watch all these YouTubers who do a great job, it's really very, very, you know, some are better than others. Some are documentary filmmakers that are really good and others are just got their iPhone out and but they're all trying and they're doing a good job. But almost all of them, almost all of them are doing it like the budget way to travel and they're in there camping. I have, I have great respect for them. I have no interest in camping, ever, like in terms of, you know, your cycling for 100 120 kilometers a day, I need a bed and a shower. And a massage afterward wouldn't be a bad idea. So my thought is they're doing spots on almost going back to the 70s with Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous is that doing something doing the trip, but staying in the most expensive, nicest places along the route? Now you're talking? Yeah. So So you know, castles and five star and Greek cuisine afterwards. You know, because I'm watching these YouTubers, these cyclists and camping, you know, they're, they're just rivet written 100 100 kilometers, and they take build their tent, and then they take out their camping supplies. And they're mixing this camp food, like get a 10 and eating and I'm going, that is not appealing to me at all. But I like to sit down with it, nice chicken dinner with all the fixings and you know, you have some good protein. But anyway, those are my ideas. And then I say to myself, I go, why, like, and that's why I do it, because you're out of the moment. And that's one of the things when I've done these trips, I put a GoPro on the front and I film it and then occasionally Joanne, and I'll do a stand up. We don't even we don't even know why I'm doing it in a sense, but we're in the moment of doing it. And it's like, we want to enjoy it because so much of our 35 years we've been actually performing in front of the camera and doing this doing this stuff and it's like you kind of go I just want to enjoy this and it's so I wonder quite often about the about the the YouTubers that I say do a terrific job, but do they enjoy in the moment of the activity? I think you're you touched on something so true that you really have to enjoy the art of creating it. And also I think having a sense of satisfaction when it's not perfect because you'll see people I mean there's even accounts Instagramers in the wild YouTubers in the wild and they're like again again again and then exactly that you're 100% not in the moment at that point. I do think you should do it though and I definitely don't blame you because the last thing I would want after a long bike ride is anything coming out of a package that says dehydrate it well Yeah, it's funny because we were on a we were on what we try to do with our trips is make our trips not just cycling it we try to make a point like we we went from Detroit we drove to Detroit with our bikes and And then got on a train and went to Benton Harbor, Michigan, which is the other side of Michigan. And the reason we went to Benton Harbor is there was a concert of Vincent a gala, which is a jazz guy who we love was really, really good. And a gala. And so we wanted to go to his concerts and outdoor concert. So we took a train all the way to Benton Harbor, watch the concert that night. And then we rode our bikes back about, I guess, about 350 kilometers across Michigan. And we go, but it was it was, it was funny that you say the things you remember in life are not the things that necessarily go perfect. The things you can remember in life are the ups and downs and the things you have to pivot on. And that trip, we rode our bike to, from Benton Harbor to Kalamazoo, Michigan. And then we're going to take a short train ride, because there was a section of highway that we didn't really want to do. And, and so we were gonna take a short chain, train ride to Battle Creek to miss that section, and then ride the rest of the way. Well, on that particular one, the train didn't come. And the reason the train didn't come as someone decided that they wanted to jump in front of the train. And it was like, Oh, my God, and I didn't realize how often that happens that conductors were telling us about that later. And then when we caught the next train, we get on that train, and this girl is totally inebriated. And she has to be taken off by the police. And she's just so it's such an entitled, she was an entitled, I find out later, she's, their family owns all these restaurants and whatever. And she's a 20 year old and we just smashed. And it was like, I filmed that, actually, which was gonna get interesting. We need your travel show. But it was so like, I was sitting there going, oh my god, this is like, you know, you know, a train travels gone wild. And it was like it was, but we had such an adventure. And that's what Joanna and I as we get older, we're looking for the adventure. And we're also seeing that, you know, we haven't got a lot of time left. And in respect when you're when you're 20 You think it's forever. You know, you buy a house when you're 30 and you say are 35 and you go, I'm gonna live here forever, you use that forever. What you realize is we're all just renting. We're all here for such a short time. And as you know, as our time dwindles down, you realize it's dribbling down. Now, I'm fighting it, Joanne's fighting it as much as possible. But you know, Father Time has never lost a battle. And so, you know, maybe next year or the year after the year after that, I won't be able to do 1000 Kilometer bike ride. So I better do it today. And I think that's what I would tell everyone, even if you're 3030 to 3540, do it today, do your activity today, do get out and be active, as much as you can. Because, you know, you're gonna have time to sit on the sofa. I appreciate that sentiment so much because it's honestly a life philosophy I live by. And I think it is so very important to capitalize on the moment. And it's exactly that we see so many people in the days of distraction, like how does it feel because you have been at the forefront of this campaign to encourage people to keep moving yet we still know these numbers. I believe in Canada right now. It's like 84% of people aren't getting enough activity. What do you think when you hear that, considering we have been trying to amplify this message for so long? Well, there's so many distractions in and there's a tug of war between things and you know, in terms that exercise is really, really important. But oh, I think it's 80% nutrition 20% exercise. So really, if and I tell people if you're only have $100 to spend on a nutritionist or a personal trainer, get a nutritionist. That's what I think nutrition is the cornerstone to everything and so it's what you put in your body really is going to be reflective of, of your body and so no exercise can outrun a bad diet. And so the it's what you eat, the the vitamins that you put in your body, I mean, I'm a huge proponent of vitamin D. And I get my blood blood test done every you know, six months, my vitamin D levels, making sure that's high and I take 7500 milligrams of vitamin D every, every day, you know, which is like quadruple what the norm or average is recommended. I mean 1000 is recommended I take you know 7500 And so because people don't understand that how that nutrient how that hormone because that's what vitamin D is actually a hormone as you know, and it's one of the most important things you can take along with magnesium. So you put those two together, and you can really have a foundation for our immune system for so many other things. So I thought it was like during the pandemic, which and I know I bounced all over the place, I thought that the government did a terrific job. Trudeau took the lead, and there's a Trudeau bashers but he did I thought he did a tremendous job in the pit and saying, okay, being a leader didn't tell it didn't tell us to take Leach, he was telling us to take the right thing. You know, that idiot, south of us here. You know what, what a moron. But it's, I shouldn't say names like that. But he's, he's a he's not the most intelligent person on the block. But, but I think what Trudeau did was really good, but where he didn't do a very good job. And then on the flip side of that, is, he didn't tell people because politically, it's very, it's not very good to tell people, he didn't tell people that you know what, get out and exercise. You know, eat, don't just because you're at home, don't be, you know, eating all the bad foods. And again, that's a Troodos necessary job. But the government message should have been, here's how you boost your immune system. Because we government liquor stores were open, and they had lineups around the block. Yeah. And then they're gone, then you go get the chips and the beer, and you're watching a hockey game with no fans in it. I mean, it's, and you're just downing it, it's, and that's where you know, what the health message from both the Ontario government where I live and from the federal government should have been, you know, we understand we're all going through something very different is that, hey, this is a time to get healthy. And the healthier and the studies have shown us the healthier and stronger you are, the better you are to ward off your COVID. So why was it the elderly that you know, the end of in nursing homes, that they were not their immune system, and their system isn't as strong. So the stronger you get, the more you can fight it off? It's pretty simple, like, idea. And so and it's, it's that's where I was thinking that the government really dropped the ball and not saying, and I really believe like that the government, whether it be because no health is a provincial matter. The the for us in Canada, is that the provincial governments should say, Vitamin D is free to everyone. Because it's so cheap, like, it's, I mean, literally, for 10 bucks, you can get a year's supply of vitamin D. And so that's where I'm a big proponent and advocate of vitamin D. And it's been interesting, seeing some of the studies that come out with vitamin D, and COVID. And I take my multivitamin and vitamin B 12, and fish oils, and, you know, I take my regimen every morning on those things. Because what you put in your body is is so critically important. And we only realize this, when we get sick. And when we get sick we go and and that's where I believe that people were the medical community and our health system, I think is pretty good. It's not perfect, but it's it's pretty darn good compared to other bells. So that's off. He's awfully nice. Yeah, that's, I mean, I had a knee replacement done two and a half years ago, and from a hockey injury, and I had my knee replaced two half years ago. And my bill was $275, because I had a private room. And so I go, that is pretty darn good, you know? And so it was I was very pleased with that. But I think that what we what we have to look at, there's two, two big messages I would say is one is that you are your biggest health advocate. So your doctors respond to a reaction of something that occurs but it's up to you to take care of yourself, day in and day out. And if something goes wrong, understand that your doctors aren't going to fix everything and your doctors aren't oftentimes are not looking. They're looking at their specialty. They're not looking at the whole picture. Give an example with my knee replacement. My my knee replacement was any of those who are going to have any replacement. It is painful. The recovery must be brutal. It is absolutely paint it was most painful thing. I mean, I've broken. My coccyx, my tailbone had broken my collarbone my risk four times. I'd like a true adventure. That's what I've done. I've broken all kinds of things. Nothing brought me to tears like the knee replaced. I mean, I broke my knee and playing hockey and I still played the rest of the period. I mean, it just cars and the apparent the, the pain that a knee replacement is is it is something. And so what the doctors do what the orthopedic surgeon, they give you medication to deal with the pain right after surgery. The second day after surgery, I was home and I walked three kilometers in our house. The first day, the third day, I was rocking about 5k constantly and I was doing all the exercises. And, and it was and we push through Joanne was terrific. She helped me so much, eating lots of protein doing all the exercises, acing all the things that you need to do. But he gave me oxycodone, for the painkiller. And so I took it the first day and I was like, I didn't feel anything focus you taking this drug. And that's what his Wayne is that doctor he wants to get you because most people aren't going to, to do the exercises, because it's so painful. So they need this drug to get through it. I took the medication, and on the but the third or the fourth day was a fourth day of taking the medication. I live on a lake here and it's right behind me there and, and I'm right next to the water. And it was February. And the water was open at one spot. And it was two in the morning it was minus 25 degrees really cold. I went out on the deck with just a pair of shorts on. And I was thinking maybe I should go swimming. And I thought, You know what? I gotta get off this drug. This is not right. This is just not doing. So I called the doctor up and I said, Why did you give me this stuff? Like I'm like hallucinating and the walls are moving. And so while it's to get through the pain, so you do the exercises. I'm doing the exercises, but I want to jump in the lake. So I go this doesn't make any sense. So understanding he is an orthopedic surgeon did the lane of fixing the knee. But in in the whole body was my whole mind was just rejecting this stuff. And because I don't drink so I'm not used to alcohol or anything in my system. It just went bonkers with me. And so I went off for that. And I said no, I can't do this. And he goes, why I still want you to exercise Don't worry. Because my rehab I was doing I was here in the gym, because we've got a gym here. I was here eight hours a day doing doing a whole series from the treadmill there to the elliptical to the bike to the to the weight, weight rack over there all the different things. So don't worry, I'm gonna do this stuff. But I cannot start hallucinating. I can't be this way. So this oxy coding that I was given I was I was perplexed in two respects. One is why would doctors give this to people? And secondly, how do people get hooked on this stuff? Because it just made me feel like out of body experience. And it was absolutely it was more terrifying than the knee replacement. So and that goes to my my point of you have to be your your own health advocate, don't rely on a doctor. They'll give you the information. They're the coaches. But it's you that have to go out and play every game. And even just on that conversation of medication kind of being the first forefront. That's something we talked about all the time where there's a lot of sick care, and a lot less discussion around preventative health care, which I think can be done through nutrition and exercise. Not to say it's the be all and end all but you nail it on the head. I always say to people, it's like your car. If you're putting sawdust in your car. Why would you expect it to run? Well, it's just not on your body is exactly the same thing. And I know even on the topics of medication, we've been discussing a lot the rise of the GLP one agonists semaglutide, which are your ozempic would go vs which obviously weight loss is a side effect. But again, we're creating a big discussion around that. That's all well and good. And it may be a Kickstarter for people, especially when it comes to the obesity crisis. But if you don't have any of those foundations, I mean, we know one of the side effects is not just weight loss, it's muscle loss. So you need to be able to get active as well. There is no quick fix to your pathway to health. But I will say that's such a common term and on the flip side, I'm kind of like but it is a quick fix. It's moving and nutrition and eating well. And generally those things aren't a punishment, but for some reason we have our lens perception I think, a little bit twisted. Yeah, it's you know, ozempic and you know, it's not big ask your doctor was epic. You know, it was epic. And I go, you know, I look at ozempic as kind of like an ebike and it kind of will get you started. Good, but if you use the E bike all the time, just go get a moped, you know, like, it's just like, why bother? You know, I look at E bikes, in the sense that it's great for people who are at different levels that you can keep up with somebody, it allows them to get have an opportunity to get out there. But when I see it, like a 25 year old, out there with an E bike, that's not what it's supposed to be for, like, it's it's supposed to be for, you know, like people who have an inability. And it's funny because it's competitive as I am this, this guy I'm riding along at about, I was going about 25 or so kilometers along a trail and, and this ebike passes me and it's this kid, he's probably about 20 passes me. I did everything I could to catch that guy. I mean, I caught up to and I was like going about about 35 38k to touch on a flat surface to try to catch him. Then we started going up the hill. I was like, Okay, it's getting tougher these days motoring along in his ebike. And I, I don't know it was I they have a place just like ozempic has a niche and a place for specific people. But in conjunction with actually riding the bike or in conjunction with exercise ozempic may play a role if it gets somebody started. Definitely I that's by far the best analogy that I've heard over those medications. It's fun. Right? So thank you for sharing that one. You know, you do mention you are an adventurer super competitive. And obviously your lifestyles served you in such a big way. What have been some of the biggest shifts for you, as you've kind of gotten into these years where maybe you have I mean, you did talk about all this travel. So you're still working so much. How do you balance kind of when to stop? Because you're such celebrated personas to truly immersing yourself in all these moments and adventures? Well, no, we're all of these adventures and things we're doing is for us, God, it's not we it is no work. Like we're not really working that much. We don't do that many interviews anymore. We don't do a join doesn't do any good. She She just says, like, a lifetime of a lot of its effort and energy. But should we appreciate you? Yeah, this is you know, she goes, I've been there done that. And she never liked doing interviews. Anyway, I was kind of I did Mark most of the interviews. And so we all have a role. We all know our lane. And so when we do these things, we're doing it strictly for ourselves and, and going out there and because the funny thing was we started a body right now 36 years ago, it was strictly a reflection of our life. And our lifestyle is, it's it's like, this is what we love to do. We'd love to get out, be active, and do it. So we couple a couple of different things together. Our love for athletics and sports, I play baseball and Joanne ran track and field for Canada. We both play for Canada and Canadian Canadian national teams. And so we coupled our love for sports and athletics. With a lifestyle. We always we always said after the first year we did body break, and we said, gee, if we could do this another year, wouldn't it be great? And Joanne says yeah, this would be great. Yeah. And we did year two, and then we had to reinvent ourselves and participation dropped us and we had to figure out how to get sponsors. We did it again for a year three, year four, year five, year six. And we grew and grew and grew and grew and was like it was about your 10 Joanne says, I don't think I'm going back to another job. I think this is this is it. So it was really that we never we enjoyed doing what we did. We enjoy the ride. And, and so but it was really a reflection of our regular life. So was it exactly what our life was? You know, and because No, because we have a Ohtake and so this though, take three take four. Okay. But a lot of the times, and I I credit, Claude Gharavi cloak Gareth. He was our first cameraman. And we've had basically two cameramen and all of our years. Code European Michael strange and they're, they're incredible human beings. And clothed taught us so much. And close. On our very first day of shooting and I Joanne knew nothing and I knew less than that. And so we're actually we're, we wrote this script and we hired this guy clothed from a friend who told us what clothes he did Hockey night in Canada for years. He's that car racing. He knows Cameron, his dad was a cameraman. His son is now a cameraman Pro and so he was a real pro. So we I do this shot and in our golf episode, and we If we hit the shot, and I and I, the ball goes up, and then we, we cut in a shot where the ball goes right right next to the hole, so I look like a pro. And then but in the in the wide shot, I hit the shot and then I grabbed clubs in there on a cart, and I grabbed them, and the card falls over and coaches yells out, keep going, keep going, you're gonna use it keep going. So I pick up the cart, the cart, and then I go off, and I but I wanted to look cool, because I just made a great shot, whatever. And quote, Kennedy says, that's what you're gonna use that, that the unexpected, and you're not perfect. That's an eye. So we edited that in. And then when we went into participation, when we were trying to sell it after we'd gone to 42 different companies and gotten turned down and went to participation. They said to me, when we showed them that particular pilot episode, they said, We like that, because it makes you guys look human and not perfect. And so we took that into a lot of the episodes that we will do a little stumble, our will, something will happen there are a lot of times I would wait to close. And we know that we've got one in the canopy the last shot of the day or something. And I would do some trick or something on Joanne. So like we're gardening and I go, we got we got one the enclosed would say, Yeah, we got we got two really good ones in the cabinet. Last one. Well, now I go, Okay, we're gardening. And I said, Okay, I let quote a gore to, quote, get the camera out of there because I'm going to spray Joanne, on the on this wide shot, and she's going to chase me. So make it a wide wide enough. So he he so he's all set. Joanne doesn't know I'm going to spray her in the in the end, her hair is going to go. So I knew this is the last shot of the day. So I hit her and she tears after me and runs around. And that's the shot we use in the show. So those were a lot of things. And I must say that, that you know, the people that we surrounded ourselves with. We were so lucky cloade gearing up Michael strange, Phil cow was solely Joel Robinson and Dave Clark and Dave Clark was an interesting gentleman who actually I met Dave first. And then he got me to Claude. He was a friend of clothes. Dave actually wrote the music for body break and tonic. And he's the one who says body break with Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod. It's his voice that did it. And Dave told me this is why when you when you look back and you say I was surrounded with such great advice, and some such great people. They said to me, he said, You know what you're going to goes, I think what you want to do, is you want to say your name and Joanne's name in every show. That's going to resonate with people. So he said, I said, Well, just how and Joe. He goes, No, say your whole name. Hell Johnson and Joanne McLeod, and don't say, participation, because we didn't own participation. Obviously, they were a sponsor. So it was body break, which we owned with Howard Johnson and Joanne McLeod. And so when I get on the phone, and for example, I was talking to American Express, and I, I was talking to him about and I they said, What's your account? And they said, What's your name as hell Johnson and they go, how Johnson? Is that? Is that body break? Is that that Hal Johnson body? Right? Yeah, that is, you know, this person sounded like it was like, 25 or so. And it was. And it's like, because Dave said that people know the name, body break, and then he starts goes day goes off into the body break. But that happens a lot. And I credit, Dave, for that. On it's such a simple marketing tweaks that were so effective. But I think what you spoke to there kind of relates to exactly what you were saying earlier in the conversation about the YouTube world, and how you know, some people are okay, some people this some people have mass production, some people don't. But truthfully, the thing that makes any of them successful, whether they're big niche, small niche, is if they're themselves, and I know it's an overused word, I think it was actually just named the Word of 2023. Authentic. It's like, we've said it so much that it seems inauthentic. But that being said, it's exactly why I think YouTube worked so well, because you said this was our lifestyle. This was our lives. We weren't trying to put on a face and this is who we were going to be. This is just an extension of who we were. And that's why every time we saw your faces in our homes, it resonated on a deeper level because it was relatable. And those little moments to i It's like, I'm that person if I'm going to do something silly. Like I walked into a glass door just the other week. I just hope somebody sees it so they can enjoy the lunacy of the moment. because it's relatable, the human experience is so highly imperfect. And I think more and more we have this pressure under ourselves that we have to live in this era of perfection. And I'm like, the beauty is in those granular moments where it goes a little off the rails. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. And that's, like I said earlier about the rides, it's, you know, you don't remember that, you know, every kilometer, you remember, like, like, on the ride, it was like 35 degrees, we're coming into a place called Cumberland, I was about 20 kilometers outside of Cumberland. And we went into this play called paw, paw, paw paw, West Virginia. And I thought I'd gone back in time into the deliverance movie, or the banjos were playing when I got there as Whoa, because we're gas station, we're going in to get some drinks. And they're smoking cigarettes, like right there I'm going is that's not really safe, like, and there's all those things you remember, you know, that, that are like, this is a little bizarre, you know, that are just what you norm to. And I've, I've, as I've gotten older, I've learned to embrace that learn to embrace the things that are different. It's funny, I gave this example, on Friday, I was at Costco, and I was driving back home. I have a two hour ride from Toronto, and I was driving back home. So I stopped in buried at the very Costco. And it's Friday, it is packed. I mean, it is packed with people. I bet now that the sample stations are back to you, there's a lot of there's a ton of sample stations, and the place is packed. And it was like Ah, geez. And I thought you know, what, get your mindset into this is positive, and be happy and smile at people smile and just be you know, be positive. So I go through, and there's a couple of people and I go, Oh, you you play in the woman smile. Oh, thank you person was useful and just being kind of gracious to everyone, you know, and it was amazing. Immediately, I got all that positive feedback from it and a smile from but I smiled, then no, no, you go ahead. MY fault. Sorry, as you know, we Canadians didn't know sorry. It's my fault. No, sorry. And so I'm at I'm at the end of the aisle, I get a phone call. And my my Costco card, which is also my MasterCard is in my pocket with my phone, I pull my phone out, I answer the phone that I talk a little bit. And then I go to get ready and a guy comes up behind me. And he taps me on the shoulder and I turn around and I'm thinking that somebody I'm going to know and he goes, he points to the ground, my MasterCards on the ground. And I looked I said thank you, you know, and I thought, You know what, if I was a jerk and came in here was really upset, you know, the karma would have been, okay, you're gonna lose your MasterCard here at Costco, and someone's probably gonna have some fun with it. My pictures on the back of it. So I don't know how much fun we're gonna have. But, but it's it was one of those things that I thought Yeah, you know, I know, during the pandemic, what I tried to do as much as possible, when I had the mask on is smile all the time. Because I felt the energy that that you're giving off to people, they can't see your your smile, but you know, maybe you can feel my smile. And that's why when I'm on the phone, one of my professors in university, it was a great course I took sales one on one sales 102. And it's back in 19 1980. A few years ago, and and he told me, he told the class he said, when you're on the phone, always smile. So because the people will hear it in your voice. And so when I would get on a on a phone call, I'd be always smiling. No. I mean, it was so funny because I would I was on the phone so much trying to get sponsors trying to get things. And I'd be in my house cope, I'd be smiling away like crazy out there. You know, you know? And so it's a technique, you know that now, it's funny with Zoom and these types of things that yeah, that drawn, you know, people have to smile, I guess or be a little more boring. It's my default setting like nine times out of 10. That's right. So I might do so. Well. And I it is so important, I think especially now. I mean, I think every generation always says the world's changed so much. But I think it's fair to say the world has changed so much in a substantial way. We've never been so connected but disconnected at the same time. And it really just takes one person to spread that energy to revert back in a positive way because you are kind of combating a lot of negative energy that's bouncing around in the world. And so I think taking the stance that you do or as I tried to do when I lived my life coming in and spreading that positivity but I know in fact Chest is a little bit of a terrifying word these days. But that's the kind of infectious we need infectious positivity, you can't help it when even if you're in the worst mood and you encounter someone like that, it can then swing their day in the right direction. Yeah, absolutely. And whether you open a door for somebody, you say thank you to somebody, you know, tried to be gracious to everyone and humble, I mean to everyone, and I really feel that, that I am better than no one and no one is better than me. And so whether you're, whatever you're dealing with, at that time, I always think they're the most important person to me that in the world, I like when, when I'm dealing with my mechanic with my truck, he's the most important person, I don't really need to see my dentist now, because that I'm not dealing my dentist, he's not important to me, this mechanic is really important to me. And so if you try to treat people that they're the most important person to you right now. You know, I think of value. Every, every everybody has value. And I think that's the thing with with body breaking, we've, we have been so so so fortunate meeting so many people across the country, you know, and and people that we would never have met in all different places, from you know, Yellowknife to Whitehorse to, you know, to Newfoundland, all across the country and, and what you realize is that people are basically all the same, we all want the best for our kids, we all want, essentially the same, we may not agree on how to get there. But maybe if we talk about how we can get there, maybe I'll see a little bit of your point, you have understanding and empathy for their lens. It doesn't need to be your lens, but you can understand where their perspective is coming from, which allows you ultimately to maintain a human connection. But you know, when you look at that, as you said, 36 years of body break, I know that anyone getting rejected over 40 times, it would have been very easy after the 10th time to say, forget it, I'm gonna quit. It was not your style, you persevered, the two of you created something so unbelievably iconic to the fact that no matter where you go, I'm sure people are still stopping you left and right, you became a Halloween costume sold in stores. You've ended up traversing the country and the amazing race as hearty adventures and The Adventures Continue. So when you kind of reflect on this big experience, you know, what are your sentiments? And what would be your overarching message for people? Well be you mentioned the Amazing Race and amazing race was absolutely fantastic. And what that race taught me is that we are, we are our own producers of our life. We have to all create our own amazing race, we've got to go out there and do it on our own. There isn't going to be a TV station that puts on a thing that you jump into. And you do that you have to do that each and every day. So I look now to what my adventures are. And so I have to create those adventures. And that's where we, you know, I literally look at the turn on the computer and I go to Air Canada with all of our Aeroplan points, they go, Okay, where do we want to go? What do we want to do? What adventure are we going to do? So last April, I got Aeroplan, I found this kind of sneaky way to use Aeroplan, that we could fly to Abu Dhabi for very few points in business class, and I was able to get it, get it, I get that. And I surprise you and say, she's always wanting to go to Dubai. So we flew to Abu Dhabi drove to up to Dubai. And it was a great adventure. And I think that's where if we look at our lives and say, you know, everything is an adventure, and I you don't want to have a regret, saying that, you know, I should have done this. No, there's a couple of things that I want to do. I hate the bucket list thing. It's just like, oh, you know what, this is what I want to do. And, and you know, and as you get older, you know, things change what you want, what what is important to you. And so I'm kind of I don't want to be a wave like away from home too much. I really enjoy my home. So it's, but I still like to get out there and travel so well. You both are an inspiration and how I really appreciate I know you keep a busy schedule. So I just am so thankful to have had this conversation and I look forward to seeing this luxury travel that I feel needs to happen. You've got something there. So take us along for the ride. Well yeah. And until next time, do you fit and have fun? You've just listened to the All Things fitness and wellness podcast hosted by Krissy Vann This episode was brought to you by fitness world your fitness your way. Be sure to hit like and subscribe. We have new podcast episodes weekly featuring industry insiders and influencers. Together we're on a mission for everyone to live a life fit and well