Ep. 169 - Learning to Thrive's 2026 Revamp

Learning to Thrive is back with new episodes! After a very cold Northeast winter, we’re here to reset, share a big life update, and map a 2026 plan that centers values-driven leadership and real community. 

It’s undeniable that AI and tutorials are helpful tools right at our fingertips, but they can’t replace shared values, peer accountability, or the energy that comes from solving hard problems together. 

We’re outlining a refreshed format - deeper episodes, practical frameworks, and guest voices with real expertise - plus new ways to gather through Learning to Thrive’s Thrive University. Whether you run a gym, coach a team, or lead a small business, you’ll find tools to handle tough parent conversations, avoid complacency in your team and organization, and align your culture around service and excellence.

Get on our email list through our landing page linked here. Tell us what you want to hear about - culture, time blocking, running a meet - so we can get it on the calendar and deliver the most value for you possible. 

We can’t wait to keep Thriving together!

Be sure to include your phone number or email so we can respond to your message!

Reach us at: contactlearningtothrive@gmail.com
Find more Learning to Thrive: thrivegym.mykajabi.com

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Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:04

Hello everyone and welcome back to Learning to Thrive. I'm Courtney. And I'm Michaela. And we have been on a hiatus. A little bit. And now we're back. And we've missed you guys. Mm-hmm. And we've missed talking and sharing and getting into the nitty-gritty of both life and business and that kind of thing. And we also have been doing some reflecting and some just recalibrating, I think, in this crazy time. This winter time. Winter in the northeast has been brutal this year. Many, many days below freezing, or sometimes in the teens.

SPEAKER_00 0:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 0:45

And that doesn't make me happy.

SPEAKER_00 0:47

Yeah, a lot of high wind too. It makes it feel like it's 10-15 degrees colder than it actually might be. Some ice out there. The level of ice we've had here in the Northeast. Crazy. The river, the like main river in our area, froze over. Yep. That happens maybe once a decade. Yeah. Crazy. Crazy.

SPEAKER_02 1:06

So, all that to say, we needed to hibernate a bit and we needed to reflect and reset. And so we're coming to you today to kind of do a check-in and let you know what's going on in our lives. And then we are also kind of going to map out for you some exciting things that we are going to be working on for 2026 and kind of share some of our 2026 goals and just kind of get caught up. And then we will get back to the work that we do and the goal setting and all the mindset and all that kind of stuff in our episodes coming up. So we'll be back on a regular basis. Yep. Yeah. So why don't you start?

SPEAKER_00 1:42

How have you been?

SPEAKER_02 1:42

What do you what have you been up to?

SPEAKER_00 1:44

I've been good. I am actually having a baby at the end of March. Yes, she is. Which is so fun and so exciting. Yeah, first one. So definitely like a big learning curve and big adjustments. Yeah. But overall, it's been good. Yeah, that's kind of my big life. It's about as big as it can get. I feel like pretty big.

SPEAKER_02 2:04

Yeah. And you feel like you're ready? You think you feel are you getting stuff like together?

SPEAKER_00 2:09

I think so. I I think it's kind of one of those things where super excited. I have full faith in like mine and my husband's ability to like, you know, keep this baby alive and happy just from like years of experience with working with kids and being around kids and moms and all that kind of stuff.

SPEAKER_02 2:31

She's the baby whisperer. She's not giving herself enough credit. She's the baby whisperer. She is the parent child, like guru because all the babies love her. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:40

So I think that part will be good. It's definitely a lot of unknowns though, just because I've never had a baby before. Yeah. And yeah, so even with like, you know, even with the pregnancy, and then you've got birth and you've got postpartum and like all that kind of stuff. Like, there's definitely a lot of unknowns that are a little if I dwell on them too much, they make me nervous. Yeah. But I think there's also such a wonderful community around us that we've got every resource we're gonna we could possibly need, which is obviously super reassuring. And then also just everyone's been asking me, like, oh, like, what's your plan? Like, what are you gonna do in this situation or that situation? Or like, are you gonna do people? Are you gonna do pacifiers or no pacifiers? Like, you know, and I'm like, I honestly, I'm gonna see what kind of baby I get. Yeah, I'm like, I'm I'm not hard set on any of I feel like those little things that some people are super like they go into this, like we are not gonna do this or we are gonna do this, and other than like loving the kid and seeing who you get, yeah. Because they're gonna come out who they are, right?

SPEAKER_02 3:54

Yeah, I have two kids. So the first kid I thought I was a really good parent, and then the second kid, I'm like, oh, they just come out who they are.

unknown 4:02

Okay. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 4:04

So you know, yeah. So trying to be as like adaptive as possible and excited, and yeah, we're yeah, we're looking forward to it.

SPEAKER_02 4:13

Good, good. That's exciting. So that's a good 2026 goal. Is raise a human, raise a human, keep a human alive and happy. That's good. Yes, yeah, good. That's that's me. Yeah. What about you? Um, you know, I have been just trying to figure out what the what the next we have we accomplished a lot in 2025. A lot of goals were hit, and a lot of like, you know, we're coming up on 10 years being at our Annapolis location. And I feel like there's certain markers of time that like kind of wrap up a chapter, so to speak. And so I am I have that feeling of like we've re we've really done a lot and and completed a solid level of like 10 years of business in this area. There's an establishment and kind of, you know, kind of like the age of children, right? Like you move through the different stages as far as what is needed and what the next right thing for for them is for the businesses. And so I've been spending some time reflecting on that um and trying to figure out like what's what are we next to achieve? What are we next to set our eyes on? And then also how can we continue to keep leveling up for our customers because I never want to get to the point where I'm like, oh yeah, we've got this on lock. Like, just let it roll. Because I feel like that's the point where you start to take it for granted. And then I feel like that's where it's also starts to deteriorate. That may be like my own just neuroses, but that's that's how I've always looked at business. Like we can we never can rest on our laurels. We always need to be evolving and making sure that we are doing our very best to take care of our customers and our staff and all that. So I've spent a lot of time in the last couple or the last month or so doing that because of the snow and stuff. I've spent a lot of time with my kids. We had a whole snow week. Um, we also got to go to Florida and do a lacrosse tournament and hang out with my father-in-law down there. So that was super fun. So just kind of re-energizing. And and I I am of the mindset of like, I know that our culture is like New Year's goals, like everybody get revved up in the new year and like let's do the things and start in January and like take all the energy. But like, I feel like it's the opposite. I feel like we were wired to hibernate and kind of just lay low in January. And so now that it's hit February, I'm kind of like, okay, now like let's take some action, let's do the things. Like spring is close enough now that I can start like doing stuff.

SPEAKER_00 6:45

And yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:46

So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:47

February this year is also such a short month that I feel like January we had, it was January, we had all the snow. End of January. And so you're like coming down off of the holidays in January. You're trying to get back into a routine, both with like kids being in school and work, and then you've got all this, like you were saying, like just like noise about New Year's, new me, new resolutions, you know, like you've got that going on, and then but yeah, it's still winter, it's still Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:22

And we've been talking about this with our with our team. It's just like you're in the messy middle, right? We're in the middle, middle of the school year, like too far in to go back, too far away from the finish line to be motivated, like in a in a way of like, oh, we've got to finish strong. It's just kind of the middle. And then you add the darkness and the cold and whatever on top of it. And it's like, well, why don't we just roll with that feeling and trust, right? Trust ourselves that we are gonna come out of that kind of hibernation and do great things. Right. Right. And so we've been working with our teams and our leaders and that kind of thing to look back and say, hey, what have we like, let's take this pause and look at what we have accomplished in the last six months and make sure that we're honoring the little and big gains that we've made and then looking forward and going, okay, so then what's what's the six, you know, like it's actually about four months now, like till the till the summertime. What do we want to accomplish in the four months? How do we want to finish this off? And that has been really motivating for me. We've done that in the last two weeks and just have seeing everybody's eyes light up with what they actually have accomplished has been a good thing. Right. And it's like, okay, you're good. Yeah. You and everybody else is kind of moving slower right now. That's because it's January or it's you know, like it's winter. And let's get going. Like, let's not stay there, but let's also not get too bad at ourselves for being like that.

SPEAKER_00 8:43

So yeah, yeah. Yeah. Spring feels I feel like everyone gets that surge of energy in the spring. Yeah. Starts to warm up, you've got a couple nicer weather days. Yep. Flowers start to bloom, like you even get a lot of rain, which can sometimes feel very cleansing in a way, you know? So yeah, that that that's kind of where we are.

SPEAKER_02 9:06

Yeah. So there you go. That's where we are personally. And as far as Thrive goes or learning to thrive goes, we are we are we are looking at some making some changes. And I think we want to take our listeners on even deeper dives into the things that we feel like the industry needs and also we need as leaders. Would you agree with that?

SPEAKER_00 9:30

Yeah. I think we're looking at a little bit of a revamp, like you were saying, and there's definitely things that to us feel like you were saying, there's a need out there, right? For certain topics, for certain like aspects of business or of leadership, and it we keep seeing them also pop up in our lives, you know, little like comments made by people or things that we see from other people in the industry or things like that. And it just feels like there's this need. And a lot of it, honestly, it's the business side, but it's like the human connection piece as well. And so we we've also been taking quite a bit of time in this kind of hiatus to look at like our whole purpose is to serve, right? Like, we are a very service-driven company that is the root of what we do. So, like, how can we best serve people within our industry of gymnastics, within our industry of like youth sports, within even just like small business and entrepreneurial, yeah, leadership. How how can we serve and what what is really needed from us? And how can we rise to meet those needs? Which has been fun. Did a lot of research, soul search searching, soul searching.

SPEAKER_02 10:55

Well, and I think we are in a time right now, and I can't, I can't get this off my mind. We're in a time right now where I think people need now more than ever that connection piece and the guidance piece. And like, yes, like all this stuff about AI and like like, can you learn anything through chat GTP and that kind of thing? I think you probably can. Like, I think you can get any, you can get a real nice dump this in. How do I go about this? What's the best way to do this? And chat GTP will spit you out a pretty solid answer, right? Right. But there is something about the human connection piece, the human experience piece, the ability to sit with somebody or chat with somebody and say, Hey, I'm you know, I'm struggling with this, and them to be like, Yes, I've been through that too. Right. And I think when we're looking at what learning to thrive is and where we want it to go and how we want to show up for our cut for our people this year, our community this year, we really want to connect and like be in the weeds with people. Right. And so that you know, A, you're not alone, B, if it if it all it all seems like, okay, I'm looking at it this way, and it seems like no one else sees that. No, you're not alone. It's just being able to perform at a high level and to lead at a high level and to provide the customer service at a thriving level, so to speak, is not easy. And you need people around you that are also doing the same thing because if it it's it's so hard. And if it were easy, everybody'd be doing it, but it but it's not easy, so not everybody's doing it. So then sometimes you end up in a bubble by yourself. And so our goal for 2026 is to be popping those bubbles and bringing people together, not just in the digital space, in the sense of like through blogs and podcasts and that kind of thing, but also bringing them together either in person or online and saying, hey, what is happening real time for you right now in what we're facing? And how does a thriving leader, how does a thriving business, how does a thriving person take the principles that we're applying here on the podcast and also here in our business and and elevate things and commit to making things the highest standard and not give in and do good enough, right? Not give in and just be the leader that everybody else is. No, holding ourselves to that thriving standard and creating a community of people who are doing so so that when it does get hard, you know that you're not alone.

SPEAKER_00 13:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:28

And I think that is our mission for 2026 and showing up for this community and saying, let's pop the bubbles and get together and come together. And yes, you can learn this in a, you know, Chat GTP Word document, produce Word document, but you could all but also getting into community with each other and having that proximity has added value that is, in my opinion right now, really underrated and also desperately needed.

SPEAKER_01 14:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:01

If we're going to survive what's coming in the future, in the sense of survive AI, survive economic any economic challenges, survive any political or social challenges that are coming up, right? We all see them in our industry. We all watch the people behave in our lobbies or on our sidelines in ways that we're like, wait, what? Right. And so not being alone facing those challenges and also still holding ourselves to a higher standard is where I see this community going into late 26. And so we're hoping to provide not only this podcast, obviously, on a regular basis, and also with content that really elevates your daily life, uses your 20, 30 minutes in the most effective way possible. But also providing some group coaching options, some conference options, some options for us to get out of our bubbles and get together and get messy together and say, hey, we're building community, right? We're we're in this, we're in, we're a thriving community and we're thriving together, even if we might live different places or have different sports. I'm in gymnastics, you're in softball. You know? The sports industry is insane.

SPEAKER_00 15:18

It yeah, it really is.

SPEAKER_02 15:20

Youth Sports has has nearly lost your mind, but I know I am in community with enough of the people of the same values to know that it's not all lost. It's just we gotta fight really hard for it to be centered around the things that really matter.

SPEAKER_00 15:35

Right. So and that's our big thing is is that building community. That's always been a pillar of Thrive, is like providing a place where people feel like they belong, providing to our community outside of our four walls, things like that. So that was a big thing with learning to thrive, is is like you were saying, how can we expand that into more of like an industry-wide community, so to speak. And like you were saying with AI, or I even think of like you can go on YouTube and find a video for literally anything. Yeah, and I love that. Don't discount that. I love that.

SPEAKER_02 16:10

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 16:11

And I think there was, I don't even know how long ago, but like I think in with like YouTube becoming really popular and just like the information age in general, and like social media, and everything is just you can have any question you want answered. It's at your fingertips. It's so great. However, it is isolating, like you said. And I think for a long time there was this like hustle culture, and especially in like business and entrepreneurial ship, of like, well, I'm gonna like figure it out myself, and I'm gonna, you know, like nothing can hold me back because I have all these resources at my fingertips, which is great, and there's always a time and a place for that, but then I think somewhere in there the community piece got lost and the human connection piece, and the we're in this together, or I'm struggling with this issue, and I feel alone with it, you know, or you know, I look at someone else who figured it out, but that was them and this is me, and like, no, there's a there's a togetherness.

SPEAKER_02 17:20

Yeah, or you're in community with other people that are doing it in a way that you're that doesn't feel good to you, right? Like, okay, so there you you know, we got we all have a a common problem of there's always one or two parents that are unhappy with the program, right? And so you can be in community with a bunch of people in the sports industry, and some of them are gonna be like, Well, I don't talk to parents. Who who cares? Don't give them the time of day. And that's our solution. So we've got the same problem, but the solution, we're not on the same values line there, right? And so the thriving community, the learning to thrive community, I think, is for those people that really are trying to operate off of those values that really are holding themselves to a higher standard in a level that and and that can be hard to find. Sifting through your local community and finding that might be you might be the only one that's trying to hold that standard, right? Or you might be the only one of the two, you know. Um, and it's hard to connect sometimes. So we're hoping to provide that place. Yeah. That community.

SPEAKER_00 18:25

Yeah. Bring people together. Yes. Not just tell you our experiences and the lessons we've learned. That is a piece of it, right? But it's it's in the effort to then bring people together and be like, also tell us your story. Also, like you know, let's let's share in this process. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 18:43

So we will be bringing. So, what does this mean for you guys? What does this mean for our podcast group? We will be bringing you different people on our show to talk about different parts of what they're doing, different aspects of the business. Sometimes we'll have episodes with just the two of us, and sometimes we'll loop in somebody that we think will add value to your life. And we're also gonna go deeper into our conversations. We're gonna pull back the curtain even further, so to speak, instead of just giving a broad idea, kind of diving into some of the things that we have gotten feedback on that that you all are interested in and seeing if we can go deeper with that. And then we're also gonna be providing some options for you to connect with us outside of the podcast on our our Thrive University platform and also through different events as 2026 goes on. Yeah. So, and we also want to keep the motivation going. So usually we do a business podcast on a Tuesday, I think it is, and then we do a personal development on a Thursday. That comes from our belief that if if you as a leader are not working on yourself, then there is probably not a huge chance you're gonna make rapid growth in your business. Right. So we will keep that personal development side, but it may be a little bit different as far as providing more motivation and inspiration and maybe less introducing of topics, if that makes sense. So stay tuned for that. That's what you'll also see. And we're gonna be marrying those personal development things with our leadership, and we're gonna be pushing ourselves to be the thriving leaders in the thriving community that we know that we can be in 2026 and making a place for people who want to do business in the sports industry on a values-based level that really shoots for excellence, that shoots for making people feel like they matter, and also shoots for elevating leadership in a way that lifts everybody up around you and not just not just the leader, but also, you know, it's a win-win-win, so to speak. So yeah. That's the plan. That's the plan. And it's February, so now we're out of hibernation. We can make it happen. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:55

Yes. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 20:56

All right. So you're gonna be looking for, we are gonna be launching a newsletter. So if you want to get on our email list, you can connect with us through our landing page here. And we'll link that in the show notes, and then we will be off to the races. And then you will have a baby. So there's gonna be different people also probably uh filling that seat, and we'll get to know some friends in our community and and help some of our community with different aspects that they've been struggling with. Right. And we'll give a perspective and then we'll have discussions. So yeah. All right, everybody. We hope you're as excited as we are about all of that. And we would love to hear your thoughts. So send us a message. Tell us what you want to hear about. If there's topics that you're like, I loved it when you guys talked about culture, or you talked about time blocking, or you talked about, you know, how to run a meet. Let us know what those things are so we can get them on the calendar and make sure that we provide the most value for you possible. And as always, keep on thriving.

unknown 22:00

Thank you.