Train For A Great Life
A Great Life doesn't happen by accident.
I'll share my own experiences, thoughts on training, mindset, life and how to build a great life of your own.
Train For A Great Life
Candice Wagner: Following Passion and Purpose: From Marine Corps to CrossFit Games to Gym Owner.
Okay, hello, Welcome back to another episode of Train for a Great Life. I have Candice Wagner with me. You can't hear the wave over Spotify, but eventually maybe this will go on YouTube somewhere. But yeah, with that I'm going to let you introduce yourself. You've got a lot of background in a lot of things that I'm excited to talk about and explore. So, yeah, give yourself a little intro.
Speaker 2:Yeah, my name is Candice Wagner and I'm currently living in Fort Worth, Texas, where I own CrossFit Iron Horse, and our mission is to help our members live happier, healthier lives and try to expand our impact.
Speaker 1:So that's kind of like we run in some of the same circles, you know gym, gym owner and two brain tinker group and all that um, and how we've gotten a little bit more connected. Um, you mentioned like time in the military and growing up as an army brat and like obviously you had the the whole era of crossfit games, athlete, how, how many years did you go to the Games?
Speaker 2:Three times.
Speaker 1:Okay, and what years?
Speaker 2:10, when it was like pretty new 12, and then later, 2016 was my last one.
Speaker 1:Oh nice, so you had a little bit different experience. As we go too, I mean, I look back at those years. In my eyes maybe it's a little nostalgic, but like, that's like the golden era. Yeah for sure, right, in my eyes. Maybe it's a little nostalgic, but that's like the golden era. Yeah for sure, right. Let's start first with maybe the growing up as an army brat your words, not mine and the military life. What was that like and what sort of led you to serving as well?
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I'll start by saying this was Marine Corps brat.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:If my dad ever listens to this, he'll be like what.
Speaker 1:My.
Speaker 2:Yeah, marine Corps brat. My dad ended up retiring. He served over 20 years and we bounced around all over the United States so very much traveling all over and kind of got used to saying hi and bye to a lot of my friends and people that I really cared about and starting over again and I don't know what it was about it, but I ended up getting out of school and I had been very passionate about soccer and got like a partial scholarship offer and turned it down because I kind of had fallen out of love with soccer and I was like I'm gonna like go work and try to save up for college, like not thinking through like the actual situation of this, and kind of ended up in a situation where I was hanging out with the wrong crowd for about two years and I was working at a restaurant and I remember like looking down at my chest because they gave these like two-year pins out whenever you like had been there a while and I'm like oh, I have to get the hell out of here, you know.
Speaker 2:So I ended up like trying to do some soul searching, Like what do I need? And I just remember being up in Michigan with some family and being in a shed and just starting push-ups. I don't know why, but I started in push-ups and I was like you know what, maybe I just need to join the military. I need to do the hardest thing I could possibly do because I felt in my eyes like I was really steering off the right path in general and talked to my family about it and realized like hey, if you're going to do the hardest thing there is, you need to join the Marine Corps. So I ended up doing that, going to boot camp, doing all the hard things, and then loved it for a little while before I got out and then found CrossFit.
Speaker 2:So that's kind of in a nutshell.
Speaker 1:We'll just glance over that whole thing. That's a pretty cool story, but also you followed through on it. I imagine there's people that have these sort of whimsical thoughts of like I'm going to do this thing and like never kind of comes to fruition. Was there? Were there times when you were like doubting yourself? Or were you just like from that moment on you're like this is what I'm doing?
Speaker 2:I think it was more or less just how do I have the conversation with my family. First Because that was a big deal and I know my dad knew what that meant and was trying to protect me, and now, looking back, he was steering me in the right path so that I didn't end up in a really dangerous situation.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Which I appreciate.
Speaker 1:Like, how bad was it getting? Like, who were you hanging out with? What were you doing?
Speaker 2:Well, not that Like I mean with the marine corps, right, like oh, okay, okay, downside, and like actual, yeah, yeah, okay, gotcha really risky situations, or like gotcha aviation, which is where I ended up, and, um, gotcha, there's never really like like fear that I don't belong here, so much as it was like can I, can? I complete this because, you know, my first experience obviously was bootcamp. That's the first step and, to be honest, it was like three months of absolute hell. It was really bad. I even have dreams to this day about it.
Speaker 2:Um, no kidding out of it and it was super rewarding.
Speaker 2:And I was like super gung ho, like fired up about it, and I was very much in love with the physical aspect of it, like doing physical fitness tests and trying to stay in shape for the Marine Corps and martial arts but I was in the wrong job. I worked on C-130s, which are big cargo planes that very rarely ever go down, and I was working on survival gear, so like we didn't have a whole lot of fulfillment in that Um. So I think it was more or less like, now that I'm in this, this isn't what I expected. What's the next thing that's going to challenge me now that I've gotten through this and I proved to myself that I could do it?
Speaker 1:So what was it? What did you move to?
Speaker 2:CrossFit.
Speaker 2:Oh, like just got out after that, like that was did my five years honorably discharged, but it was like just isn't as fulfilling for me and granted a lot of, it's just. It's really hard to be a female in the Marine Corps, especially when you're staying in Japan, you're overseas. You know, it was my first experience being alone, but I mean the front end of it like I loved it. It was what I had been looking for, what I needed, but I just think that it wasn't exactly how I had envisioned it. The more I got into it, moving, up the ranks and things like that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, okay. Okay. I mean you said you had nightmares. You still do, like not to drag you through trauma, but like what tell me? Tell me like a story about some of the hardest shit you've ever done. I'm a sucker for like this type of stuff yeah.
Speaker 2:So I mean, like boot camp in general is just tough because it's like three months and you don't really have a sense of time, you don't get to choose when you get to eat or use the restroom, like it's's very the drill instructors role. The people that are like trying to train you for this during that three month period are literally preparing you for war and I was never to be in that situation. But it's like constantly loud, screaming, chaotic, you're getting counted down for everything. So even getting like food in line, like you had to do it with precision, like how you set up with your shoulders back and down, your arms at your sides, like everything was very much structured and it was just kind of preparing you for that situation, because in those situations I'd imagine you don't have the time to sit down and have a meal, like you got to be on the go.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:So it's just three months of that, you know, and it was just and um that's a long time. Yeah, so now, when I have like dreams about it, it's not like um, like Ooh, like traumatizing, it's more like if I could go back, here's how I would like take the lead and, like you know, take care of the people underneath me or delegate disabilities, and things like that. That would have been.
Speaker 1:Okay, so it's more. It was just more like the process of it was like really really challenging.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I, I have a recurring, I don't know. It's like a nightmare dream that I'm like still in school but I'm like toward the end of a course and I and I it's too late to drop it and I like haven't done the work. I don't like, I don't know it's, I don't have many of those, but, um, it doesn't sound nearly as cool, but I wake, I wake up. I'm like, oh, my God, thank God, I am done with all that, right. Um, okay, so transition to CrossFit. Um, how'd you find it Okay?
Speaker 2:so transition to CrossFit. How did you find it? So I was with someone that was very much in the fitness in the past and this was probably 2007, 2008. And I was doing a lot of physical fitness test stuff in the military but hadn't really found the thing I loved. And he introduced me to this trainer that put me through a workout that had like sled poles and burpees and called it CrossFit. But now looking back, I'm like it was just like a really bastardized version of it and probably very much too intense.
Speaker 1:Okay, my high school track coach says to this day that he invented CrossFit because he had us like running hills and dragging sleds out in the snow in the middle of winter, like I mean it was some badass training, but yeah but no, I mean I left that it was a personal training session.
Speaker 2:Now, looking back is what it was and it wasn't a very well executed one, but it like beat the snot out of me and I was like that was awesome, like when I got done yeah and so he had told me about CrossFit and that's what we had done, quote, unquote, um, and so I went online when I got home and like googled CrossFit or whatever, and I found a video the nasty girls video um. Sakamoto and them, and then uh yeah.
Speaker 2:Eva T doing the workout Nate, which for the listeners, if you guys don't know, it's like 20 minute amrap, I think it's two muscle-ups, four hands, yeah, that's eight heavy kettle swings eight heavy swings, yep and I remember seeing her do that and I was like, oh man, that's badass, like I want to try yeah yeah, end up researching around my area and found a crossfit gym five minutes down the road, which is actually where my gym now is uh, facilitated, like that's where we post up now um, but it took me like I don't know a whole year to to actually go into the affiliate and and actually try it out. Um, actually signed up for an l1 certification in our upstairs in 2008 and then had walked in around that time to sign up and actually walked out for a whole year before I got the courage to come back and actually officially join, so I didn't actually become like a.
Speaker 2:CrossFit member until 2009.
Speaker 1:Okay, so makes the games a year later, but was still scared to start it. I think there's a little something in there for people.
Speaker 2:Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 1:Right. So when you started, you probably like CrossFit. I feel like CrossFit back then is so sort of like underground grassroots, like there's not you don't run into too many people that were around. I started in 2009,. Like, probably, maybe around this time of the year, maybe a little earlier around this time of the year, maybe a little earlier. Um, were there things that you were like. What were some things that you were like really good at within it, and then what were some that were just like wicked humbling.
Speaker 2:Well, I'll start with wicked humbling. So I I was heavier back then and like I had been struggling with an eating disorder coming out of bootcamp and the military in general and so like. I was a little overweight for me, even though looking back, I was still pretty healthy.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I remember like seeing people do the handstand pushups. I'm like, oh, how hard could it be. And I remember kicking up in my apartment upside down. I just like ate shit on my head. Okay, like this is hard as it looks, but as far as like running or anything grunt work, um, yeah, it up pretty naturally just because of the military right it was.
Speaker 1:That was my jam yeah, I, I mean, I remember watching you in the games and you you seem like you're pretty good on the grunts stuff try to be yeah yeah, um that, that sandbag workout in 20, that was 2010. Yeah, yeah, um what, okay, so what anything else? That was like super surprising, super humbling.
Speaker 2:I think just that I personally had the experience that. So I was for some context. I was struggling with a seating disorder for like five years and I had.
Speaker 1:Okay, so it. It I mean mean messed you up a bit time.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I had a lot of image issues.
Speaker 2:Um, I was diagnosed with bulimia, the non-purging type.
Speaker 2:So basically, like, and a lot of that was because when I was in boot camp, I was the guide, which is like the, the leader of the whole group of 60 plus women or whatever, and so, like I was the last to sit down to eat and the first that had to get up, so I didn't really get to eat a whole lot, and so I had had a lot of dreams about food and like just wasn't getting calories.
Speaker 2:So I left boot camp with that and then struggled with that throughout my entire journey in the military and got some professional counseling and all that just could not break it. And then I found CrossFit I don't remember when it happened, but it was like probably a couple months into it where I was just very aware that I was no longer thinking about when can I get my next meal. It was more so like, how do I fuel for performance? And it was like the light bulb went off, because I was like, oh man, like I finally found the thing not only that I love, but that's helping me with this eating disorder, and then it just eventually went away.
Speaker 1:That's cool.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Wow, that's powerful. Wow, yeah, Was there anything like what? So when you showed up to an affiliate and you know like you're you said you showed up to the affiliate in 2009?
Speaker 2:2008, I walked in because we did a level one upstairs. I got my certification not really knowing what but then you waited a year, right. Yeah.
Speaker 1:How did the members like how did that whole thing go? Because, like, if you're making the games a year later I know it was different back then, but like you still had to be like badass, yeah right. Like how, how did they sort of take you in and be like who is this girl? Right?
Speaker 2:um, you know, it was totally different culture back then. I think, just across the board, right, not just in that, yeah, across the board, and um, it was very much a very small community. Um, I think everybody at that time was like deeply drinking the Kool-Aid, like just chugging along with it, like this is this new thing that's come along?
Speaker 1:I have no idea what you're talking about, or wearing toe shoes. Did you have toe shoes?
Speaker 2:I thought about buying them, but I never did Same.
Speaker 1:I didn't buy them either. We held out.
Speaker 2:No, but I think I had more of my experiences not happen with the members so much as I did with the coaching staff, Because they saw me come in and naturally I've been very athletic all my life. I picked up very quickly I was already pretty fit.
Speaker 1:Like a little bit of ego there, almost.
Speaker 2:Oh, for sure yeah. I didn't do any Fran in like 45 minutes because I couldn't do kipping pull-ups or something ridiculous. Right, Trying to do strict pull-ups the whole way, you know, or whatever it was. It was ridiculous.
Speaker 1:Wait, so meaning like they were just really hard on you.
Speaker 2:No.
Speaker 1:Or what.
Speaker 2:My ego was in the way, oh yours.
Speaker 1:Oh, okay, okay. I thought, maybe, like you were okay, I got you.
Speaker 2:I thought maybe you were saying like were coming in and, like you know, kicking their asses and they had some like ego issues about it. No, they were supportive.
Speaker 1:They were like hey, like when's the last time you rested? And I was like I don't rest.
Speaker 2:What is that? Right, like I remember overhead squats. I mean, to this day, overhead squats are not one of my favorite movements, but I couldn't do one without being on my toes, getting full depth, bending the hell. Yeah, those, you know I was really tight, and so they're like noticing that I wasn't coming in on overhead squat days, and so my coach said like hey, like, if this is important to you, you've got to prioritize coming in on these days, right, and so that was kind of like the groundwork being laid with my coaching experience.
Speaker 1:Um, cause it really yeah Well, cherry picker.
Speaker 2:Yeah, oh yeah, big time yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, okay, okay, uh, man, I remember trying to learn overhead squats. So my like, I started in a. I started kind of heard, uh, you know, rumblings about it. And then, okay, crossfit. You find yourself on crossfitcom, the old blog where the workouts posted every day and I just did whatever it said and man, were there, like there, there I was a 400 meter runner and there was a bit of gap in fitness, you know, before finding cross it. But I still had, like you know, I still had what I would say was well above average fitness, like I could do. You know, I still had what I would say was well above average fitness, like I could do. You know I could do things, um, like I remember doing Murph, like really, really early on, I would have done a month in or so and I did it. You know, it was like an hour or whatever and I I didn't know what a kipping pull-up was, um, but I could kind of get through that stuff. I could do handstand, but I could probably do 20 handstand push-ups right from the get-go, just because I had I'd done.
Speaker 1:I remember watching the movie Con Air with Nicolas Cage. Remember he does those, he does those in that movie. I was like holy, I was like I wonder if I could do those. And then so my brother's like yeah, me too, so he kicks up and he was able to do one. And then I was, I did like 10 or something. I was like I guess I could do them right and like I remember getting to track practice early and just like we would see who could walk on their hands the furthest, so like there was. There's like some of these things that were in my background, um, the things that were so freaking hard to learn. So toes to bar wasn't, if you remember, like back then toes to bar wasn't a thing, not yet knees, knees to elbows, right they were.
Speaker 1:I couldn't do them, like I could do maybe five, and then I was just shot and like couldn't get my feet or my knees up. I guess it's kind of the same movement, right, and then same thing learning a, learning an overhead squat, and there weren't, there weren't a lot of gyms around where I was, so I didn't not that I, I mean my personality then, like I wasn't I combined with, just didn't have any money, like I didn't have money to go to a crossfit gym either. But I tried to learn all this stuff on my own and like watching all these videos, and it wasn't until, um, this would have been sometime in 2009, late 2009. I did maybe 2000,. Anyway, I did Fran in like 2013.
Speaker 1:And I was like, oh my God, I like broke a record or something. And then so I started looking it up. I'm like, wait a minute, why is everyone like going all the way down, like why are they? I was like, oh, hang on a second, I'm doing it wrong. And so I mean it was still. If you could do 21, 15, 9 push presses and false bottom, like strict pull-ups, in two minutes, that's still moving. Like it put me on my back. But I remember it was like once I realized like I was getting okay at this stuff. And then it was.
Speaker 1:And then I found out you compete and I found all the 2009 video series and like the Miko video, um, where Siobhan falls into Finland, I was like I'm gonna watch this like every day and and and so, um, but yeah, overhead squat, yeah, overhead squat. I didn't even know. I didn't even know what like what. How do you do that? I remember trying to do them in workouts with like 115 pounds and like not getting anywhere.
Speaker 1:It was like there was like a no man's land and if I, if I, kind of went down, the whole thing was just going to collapse and it wasn't so within, I just had to get humbled. I got to get humbled like I had to. Like I took a camera out video myself. I was like that is really poor and so empty bar, three sets of 10 in my warm-up every day because I was doing my own thing right. And then, within within a month I think I retested and I could squat 100 pounds more like full depth right. But like there, like there. There's just. There's moments where being humbled is a very, very good thing.
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah, powerful tool. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. Um what? What led you to competing Like, how did that kind of come about?
Speaker 2:Yeah Well, to kind of go back like so 2008, when I got my cert, like I started learning more about like people do this competitively, and so I hadn't signed up yet because, remember, I was really intimidated. But I ended up going to like the 24-hour gym or whatever like I can't remember Fit for Life or something it was called, and I would do my own CrossFit workouts following CrossFitcom. So you have your five sets of five front squat and call today. But I was like that's not enough, so I'll do my own thing on top of it, like in the Globo gym, you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, what would you do? Because I literally remember doing that Then I'd go do leg press and calf raises.
Speaker 2:Exactly Because. I didn't buy into the methodology Like I didn't believe you could do a two minute workout and and get results, yet I had to get into it, to experience that. I learned about the CrossFit Games. I don't know if you remember, but I found that Every Second Counts. Dvd.
Speaker 1:Yeah, oh yeah, I have it. I have it somewhere tucked away.
Speaker 2:Yep, I bought myself a rower and put it in my apartment. I would put that DVD on and watch it while I rode and I was just like visualizing making the CrossFit Games one day. Yes, While doing this Globo Gym stuff and like dot-com workouts on my own.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Where I actually like was like, okay, I'm going to do this, and I think a lot of that was influenced by the facility where we're now.
Speaker 2:That's where they hosted the regional events for the South Central Regionals, way back in the day, so it was like literally on the street and these people are competing, and so I saw on, like the website, what was going on, didn't have the courage to actually go watch it live. I wish I would have, but it was like I was slowly like just planting that seed, that like I need to go try this, I need to find that courage and then so finally I had. And as soon as I entered and, like, became a member of the affiliate it was like, okay, it's go time for this yeah, yeah, okay, so did you compete in 2009 or was the first year to 2010?
Speaker 2:Okay, so that was the first.
Speaker 1:That was the last year of sectionals. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, okay, that was. I mean, I did the same thing. I did the ontario sectional here. Um, there was it was. It was crazy.
Speaker 1:I was so damn nervous going to that thing I did not know what to expect. Like I thought I was gonna be walking in and just like a bunch of monsters, like a bunch of like special forces, like just nightmare human beings. And, uh, the first event so that was back when, like they were all programmed differently and the first event was a 3k row. But I remember coming, I came in there's like a hundred hundred guys, 115 guys or something like that they took the top 15. That was the the all Canada regional. So I'm way up there, right, and I came in 17th and I just missed it. But then they backfilled because some people weren't going to go.
Speaker 1:And then I remember having this sort of like moment, like this existential, like do I, like do I go? Like I gotta travel across the country, like I'm gonna, I have, I can't afford that, I don't have any money like I have to fundraise. And I was like well'm going to, I can't afford that, I don't have any money, like I have to fundraise and I was like, well, I guess I better do this. Like you know, if the door opens, walk through it. Like this is what you tried to qualify for. Now you're getting to go there, yeah, right.
Speaker 1:And then going there, I think it came in 22nd, yeah, but but only two guys from the the Ontario beat me. So I was like, okay, I'm making ground now and, like you know, met all the guys that went there. Well, kind of like I, I watched them from afar, like, uh, dan Rogers and Garth um, what was his last and like OP to Michael Fitzgerald, um, lucas Parker was I, was he was doing it. Back then I met OPT. I met James Fitzgerald and, like he, there was one event, it was like skipping and double unders and burpees and I was like fairly quick on that, but he was like stood beside me the whole time. I was like what is going on?
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I was like this is the guy that I watched in that DVD like the whole time. It was super cool. Did you have any moments like that early on where it was just kind of like fan-growing?
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh. Yeah, I mean because I had been watching all the people that had qualified for the games, especially the ones that were on that DVD.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And I remember when I finally made it out to the CrossFit Games. And I remember when I finally made it out to the CrossFit Games, I was completely starstruck and I didn't you know. I had coaches that were there with me, but they were brand new to this, too right, so I wasn't eating.
Speaker 1:Everybody was.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we were changing our outfits every event, like to look good, because it wasn't about the performance so much, as it was like oh my gosh, we're at the CrossFit Games. These, what did?
Speaker 1:the winner, the winners. That year they got like five thousand bucks from under armor or something like it. There was nothing there yet yeah yeah, I think we got um.
Speaker 2:This is when you didn't have uniforms, so like we were all yeah, whatever you wanted. So you know I had like lululemon top on and yeah, like a tool for the crossfit games and that was pretty much it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, sam Briggs had some men's shorts on right, just dominated that run um, I was intimidated by too.
Speaker 2:So it's her and, like Chris, clever, rebecca, all them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they're there yeah, that was the the following year. So Chris Clever was still the reigning champ. There was a. They came up here, so her, dave Lipson and Dave Castro came up here to the UFC Expo. So there's a big UFC Expo in Toronto and they did a. They did a CrossFit competition in there and it was super cool. I mean, we got to, we got to meet her and like it was when Dave was doing that 455 squat every day, I got there.
Speaker 1:There was something that happened and I can't remember if I had to go first or last, but I think it was first and so I wasn't in like a heat with people properly. And the first event it was like think it was first and so I wasn't in like a heat with people properly, and and the first event it was like some kettlebell swings and then it was like it was like weird events back then, like yeah, they were just way more creative and you had to pick up like a. It was almost like a, like a punching bag type thing, like a dummy, and like run it over here, throw it over the wall wall, jump over the wall back and get all the way back and um, I just remember like I wasn't going. There was no one beside me, and so I was like I'm gonna go, like hell, I'm, I end up winning the first event.
Speaker 1:I was like, oh my god, I'm in the lead over like these guys and and uh, I didn't end up winning the thing, but I got to. I got to max deadlift beside dave lipson. That was pretty cool. I think he pulled like 650.
Speaker 2:I was going to say. I bet he pulled a ton.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and everyone was like breaking their backs trying to like even sniff where he was at. Let's talk just regionals for a second. What was the hardest regional event that you ever did and cause that? That? Might that there's context here, so it might just be like you know, you look at it and you're like Holy shit, that's really hard. Or like there was just how it all played out, where, like where you were in the competition pressure, how you're feeling.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:What comes to mind.
Speaker 2:You know, honestly, like I'm just trying to reflect, like I feel like there's so many events that I've done in the years so I'm probably missing a ton of them that were really probably the right answer well, I mean, there's no right or wrong answer you can say a couple of them but I think some of them that come to mind were the 2016 regional.
Speaker 2:I know that there was and I had set the world record before, I think, the next regional weekend happened. I think Sarah Sigmund's daughter might have beat me or any Thor's daughter, but it was my first time on a true form runner, so it was like three rounds of like a four meter true from run or something. And to I want to say was it ghgs and deadlift? Yeah, ghgs, sit ups that one oh heavy, heavy, heavy super heavy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that was my first time on the true form runner and I remember, like before regionals going around the gyms in the area to try to find one and no one had one. They had like the, the cheaper version, where it didn't really have a whole lot of resistance, and so I didn't know how to pace that one and actually, if you probably looked at my splits, they probably got worse every round, but I still won that event and I think it was because it hurt so bad, because I felt like I was running uphill in sand while trying to do all this stuff.
Speaker 2:And I wasn't anticipating that experience.
Speaker 2:I really wanted to win because I just knew that was a good workout for me, naturally, even toe to bar, like I have this really short, awkward torso, so like my legs are super long, so I just got to kind of bring them up a little bit. So that actually is a good. Strength of mine is as deadlifts and running, and so I was like kind of hearing from people that were like Alexis Johnson was there in that regional and she's like you're gonna go back to the CrossFit Games and this was like day two or something. We said a whole day of competition to go, and like it inspired belief in me and so like it just fired me up and like I just knew that like I had to like win that event and so it was yeah, painful, yeah, yeahcover from that one.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I can imagine that looked that. I was sort of I think my the last year I competed was we did team at regional in 2014. That I I didn't compete again after that kind of got soured on it for a number of different reasons, but but I did go to that region Like we. We took an athlete to that one and I remember, like trying to, she's like you know, because I had a running backer and she's like how do you run on these things?
Speaker 1:it's like I don't know like yeah, like you, you try to use the curve of it a little bit. You know, get up on it too, so you're, you're actually like creating some momentum with it. Yeah, um, what else maybe from like earlier days, like like some of the some of the earlier ones?
Speaker 2:um trying to think to regionals I know what mine is.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but I'll. I'll wait and I'll see if you say it I think that I can't remember what's called.
Speaker 2:I think it was 2013 and it was like I want to say hundreds chest of bars and a hundred wall ball.
Speaker 1:Yeah, chest of bar pistol, yep snatch that one was terrible yeah okay another really really bad experience okay
Speaker 1:the pain cave for that one too see, this is where, like it's so contextual because, like I went, so I went into that regional um, here's my sob story. Uh, so a little bit of background. So, like 2010, I was like kind of moving up the ranks. 2011, I feel like 2011, probably, like I never took a long enough view on making the CrossFit Games. I always just tried to make it that year, um, but 2011 we decided to go team because we had a good shot and then Lacey and I actually ended up going together on a team. So, like would I change any of that? No, but when I looked at how those events lined up, I was like, oh, I kind of like those 2012,. What happened in 2012? Oh, so Diane was that was the first event right that year. Um, that was one of like I had a two minute Diane, I think, back then, and but the I had the.
Speaker 1:I mean, I tried to get away from it now, but I used to do handstand pushups a weird way where like I would I now, knowing it's not, it's not fully like, it's not completely the standard where you're not like opening your shoulder I would anchor my head on the wall and like and drag it, yeah, drag it up and down, but I could just like I could do so fast, tons of them. And then I got to regionals and and they had the wall that was cut out on the bottom two feet. And so I was like, oh god, that's weird. And then this is like right around when kipping handstand push-ups started. So I was like, okay, well, I guess I'll try those, but I wasn't super comfortable with them.
Speaker 1:Um, so I ended up like going out and I think I still came third or fourth on the workout, but like it was like 345 or something. It was just like in my head. I was like I fucked up, like I just I'm like not doing it as I like I'm that went so poorly and I again you gotta have that short-term memory but it just kind of like it set me off on this wrong, on this wrong path. But so, following with the 2012 regional, the hardest one was, uh, the the long chipper in that one for me.
Speaker 2:So was that so?
Speaker 1:you had. You had the yeah, diane, then you had the, the row 2k, row 50 50 pistol, 30 heavy hand cleans.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Right, that was, and then and then I think it was oh and then. Third event, that was the heavy dumbbell snatch, the 100 pounder for the guys, 70 pounder for women. Yeah, and then and then event four. Event four was like 50 back squats, 40 pull-ups, 30 shoulder overhead. 50 front squats, 40 pull-ups, 30 shoulder overhead. 50 front squats, 40 pull-ups, 30 shoulder overhead. And then, or no, uh, yeah, and then 50 overhead squats, 40 pull-ups, 30 shoulder overhead.
Speaker 1:It's even long to say right and yeah, and I remember, like I mean it always goes this way finished it in training, kind of enjoyed it, and by the time I got there with like I'm not a huge guy, I'm like 175 pounds and had like a 29 inch waist, so like all this pulling from the floor, like I'm, I just don't, I don't handle the ball, I'm not durable the same way as some of the bigger, like thicker guys. And so we got to that one and I was still like in, I think I was in third place and they lined you up in the order and everything, but I remember in my I just was not in a good headspace, like I felt broken basically, and that is exactly what happened. Uh, it was a 22 minute cap and and like you know when your back locks up and you're just like you. If you were just training, you would stop. Like this is this is stupid.
Speaker 1:That happened about six minutes in and it was like I don't even remember the event. I wish there was video because it would just be funny to watch. But like I think it was a 65-pound overhead squat and I collapsed, like literally the bar landed on me, collapsed under it twice, there was medical swarming around me, but I was like I'm not quitting, I'm making the fucking games and like everything that was out there, like my belt, my water ball, like I lost them. I left them out there. I don't remember anything about it. Um, that was definitely mine because of all.
Speaker 2:I mean, it's just really hard, heavy volume, um when it's harder to, if you lose your head, right.
Speaker 1:That's, that's a hundred percent it. So when? So when you said the hundreds there the following year, um, what happened that year? So I was it was like everything was better. I'd kind of like wrap my head around what happened that year. So I was it was going like everything was better. I'd kind of like wrap my head around what happened the the year before, like you know, as people were telling me like, oh, you're gonna make it this year, and all that crap, like I'd beaten guys that went and it just didn't happen. And it was like it was hard, it sucked. It's not fun, especially when it comes down to a weekend, right, um, so the next year I was ranked second going in, so even a little bit better.
Speaker 2:Nice.
Speaker 1:And the first event, jackie, I didn't have the right. So, looking back, like some of my faster times, especially on like a workout like that, have come in like the last five years where I just don't even respect the workout is just go Right, whereas like when you have 10 guys they're all so fast, all besides you. You're like trying to play games a little bit Right. And so I was like, okay, I'm not a strong rower, but I can crush the rest, so I'm just going to like chill on the row and then I'll just watch me go Right. And so I got off the row and then I think I got called on a on my elbow lockout like eight of the first 20 reps. Like cause. I was just like, okay, come off it. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. And I ended up doing like 60, 60 something unbroken thrusters, like 60, 60 something unbroken thrusters. Did the slowest jack yet ever done by about 40 seconds, ripped my shirt off, realized like I came 37th on the first workout and it's like not a hard workout, it's just like you, you screwed up, bad. But then what the kicker was like that night. So then, like there was what was next, the overhead squat and the muscle ups. They didn't go as well as they did just because get bad head spice.
Speaker 1:That night, um, lace had taken there's people or shoot she and people from my gym had taken video of it and I was like, fine, like I'll watch it. And then I was watching. Fine, like I'll watch it. And then I was watching. I was like, wait a second, look at that guy in front of me. I'm like he's way worse than me. He ain't locking out at all. And then I was like I felt sick to my stomach. I'm like, hang on, I got to start this video over. I counted this reps 50 on the dot. I'm like, and, and it was literally like that was the moment where I was like I don't think I can pour myself into this, you know, like I I screwed up, but like, oh, I was like man, I don't know. I don't know what to do with this, you know.
Speaker 2:Well, you say that and I think I remember there being a lot of controversy with that one.
Speaker 1:Oh, there was always controversy with with like standards.
Speaker 2:Yeah, right.
Speaker 1:There's always been one. There was actually something else that happened that year. What was her name? She was a Reebok athlete, Really really popular. They said if you didn't make, if you know so, you could start at different weights in the overhead squat, but if you didn't make your opening weight, you DNF'd and you were out. I think that was 13. That was 13. Yeah, it was the three rep overhead squat and she I can't remember her name, she wasn't around for too long, she didn't make a weight and they let her through.
Speaker 1:I was like, oh, okay.
Speaker 2:I feel like that's kind of like the early age, too, is like there was a lot of throwing things at the wall to see what sticks and a lot of pivoting, a lot, and maybe you guys had a similar experience, but the first maybe it's 2011 regionals. We went to, I think, houston. It was outside.
Speaker 1:Do you remember that one people like melting their hands and oh my god, leaving skip, yeah, where they didn't put, they didn't put. They didn't cover the bars, didn't cover the kettlebells.
Speaker 2:So we had like three degrees. Some people had third degree burns or just. I had really bad blistering and tearing and I know that was a learning experience for them because I don't think they had any more outside after that year.
Speaker 1:That's just a bad idea. Just a bad idea. Um, yeah, so I remember after that happened, I tried to like make an appeal and everything. And they just told me they're like what do you want us to do about it? In so many words. And I was like, okay. So anyway, the following day I basically I kind of made it right in my head I was like, well, I'm not going to compete like for a spot in the games anymore, so I'm just free to like do my thing. And I dropped out of the first heat. But I ended up winning, winning my heat in the hundreds. And then that that laugh I think, was the last workout. The, the cleans and rope climbs was best work, best, best event I ever had. Second place on the event. Like I never had a higher finish than that. And and there's the lesson there is like I was way too attached to like the result and not just going. You know, going for it and letting, letting your, letting yourself go yeah you know.
Speaker 1:But yeah, like that, that hundreds workout, it was brutal, but like just different headspace, you know, and you have a totally different experience, right. What was like maybe let's flip the script instead of like hard, hard workout. What was one that, like you know, sometimes, where it sometimes it on a shorter workout, where you just you almost stay ahead of it. What was one where, like you did it and you're like, wow, like I, just I messed that thing up, like I, you know, and you just leave people behind or you're just like you know, it's almost like best case scenario, you know it's almost like best case scenario, probably anything that I've done that had a box jump and a deadlift after 2013, maybe Because I remember I won the deadlift box jump one in 2013.
Speaker 2:And then we had a 2014 one that had like wall balls, deadlifts, ring dips or something with rowing. I won that one. I don't think any of them were ever like a walk in the park.
Speaker 1:And.
Speaker 2:I think the other thing with that, too, is like, because I knew it was a strength one for me.
Speaker 2:it was like I know I have to go, like I know I have to experience the pain cave or I'm not doing what I know I need to do to like really stomp this thing and like win it um okay, point right, um, and sometimes those are the the most painful ones that I've experienced, whereas, like, you get some of them where you make mistakes, like there's that legless rope climb one um, from 2014 maybe, and yeah, mistake, went up too early on one of my final ones or something and like it cost me time, you know, and just gotta wait and wait and watch and so of course, your heart rate comes down. It's not painful anymore, it's just like a waiting game, you know right right but yeah yeah unless mental errors happen, they're usually always very much a discomforting experience.
Speaker 1:Is there anything from like the games era, because I want to move on from that eventually, but like? Is there anything else that's just like nostalgic fun to bring up? Like where does your mind go when, when you think of that time?
Speaker 2:you know, just being at the crossfit games is an incredible experience and for me I took I was trying so badly to get back to the crossfit games from when I started to 2014 and I got burned out and so I took all the 2015 off. I didn't, I dropped out of the open after maybe the first workout or something, because I was just my, my head's oh, wow okay and uh.
Speaker 2:so I just focused on training and and following. I think I was following comp train or something back then and, um, I was working out with a guy named Larry at the gym just try to truly enjoy having fun working on again. And so I felt recovered and refreshed. So when I went back in 2016, I qualified and I was shocked, like I had no expectation of making it. It wasn't even my goal. My goal was just to, like, enjoy the experience of being back to regionals. And so I qualified. And so, like, when I went back to the games, like I really had thought to myself, like I'm never going to get back there, like my time's done.
Speaker 2:And so, when I was I was like dude, like take it in. So like walking out, you know, to the stadium, going out to the field, like being around all these competitors, even trying on uniforms and all that.
Speaker 1:Like I was like dude those are some of the coolest moments, Like I only went the one time in in 2011, but it was the first Reebok year and you walk in, you're like, oh, I got closed for like five years.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:That's a 2016. That was, that was the whole like go back to Aromas. Like up early in the morning and you got to, like you guys did Murph again. Yep that was a that's a good one to make. Again, yep, uh, that was a that's a good one to make. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. What was that? So what was that experience like? Because I remember, like you know, if you followed the stuff back, then everyone remembers dave castor building it up like he was literally gonna murder everybody yeah, um what was it like as like athlete experience?
Speaker 2:it was a a lesson for me, because I think, from my military background, I'm a very literal person, and so they gave us a dave cashwell came out, announced the event, told us we need to be ready for our flights at like 3 am or something, and gave us a list of things to pack and it said like id and like shoes or whatever it was, but it didn't say anything about like bring some money, like bring bring a debit card or something. So I didn't bring it, and so we get to the airport and we're delayed. I couldn't purchase food, like I had to like ask other athletes for help so that I could, like you know, pay them back, which was, but it was.
Speaker 2:I think I learned like dude, like prepare for everything and anything, like you know don't put yourself in those situations anymore.
Speaker 2:But it was very, I don't know. It was pretty cool because, like you know, we're going back to Aromas. That's where Every Second Counts was filmed. So for me it was like, wow, everything's really falling into place. For me this is the 10 year anniversary of it. What a special time to make it back to the games, you know. So, yeah, and it was my last one, so you know, I'm happy that that happened the way it did.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and also any Thor starter. Can I borrow five bucks?
Speaker 2:I think it was uh so funny who actually teamed up on in grid before, but so it wasn't that big a deal.
Speaker 1:But so it wasn't that big a deal, but I was who'd you borrow from uh sandy, so, alessandra pichelli oh yeah, yeah, okay, okay, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was really embarrassed to ask, but I had to eat.
Speaker 1:I think I got like a yeah, yeah, I mean I, I think we've all been there. Like I don't know, you're just young, whatever, you forget your wallet or you're not, you don't plan for something, right? Um, I, I remember I I traveled and did a couple of like the outlaw camps. I think it was that year. We we went anyway traveling around and uh, I had a similar experience that like I just got there and like I ran out of money. Like I ran out of money and I'm like, can you, can you spot me for a bit? Like I'll, I'll send you, I'll figure it out. It was just like, uh, you know, I'm not an adult yet, right? Um, I think this kind of leads nicely into like how about transitioning, like out of um? You know, when I sent you a couple initial notes, you mentioned like that was a tough transition, kind of going from this like ultra competitive I mean CrossFit Games competing at the highest level multiple times right to not how do you just enjoy it, you know?
Speaker 2:yeah, well, I mean for me. I think the transition for everybody is a little bit different, but most people I talk to it's like you're in the best possible shape of your life, like, like, literally, because we all know that CrossFit is going to prepare you for everything, right, and so you're so focused on making it and being good at all the things. And then, when you transition to focusing on, like, how do I do something sustainable that is also healthier long term? Right, because working out multiple hours per day isn't sustainable? Um, you know, it was really difficult for me because I think I had to come to terms with the fact that I'm not going to back squat the weights I used to like even today, like they're there's 100 pounds plus off, like my PRs. Yeah, you know, strength was my strength, um, and just trying to be okay with that, especially like I hate to say it like I'm still competitive, right, so, like, even in the gym.
Speaker 1:Oh, you never lose that bone in your body yeah.
Speaker 2:So, like you know, the gym at crossfit iron horse, we do our, you know, annual open and we'll do friday night lights at the gym and so we'll do a coach's heat at the end and I'm still like competitive against my coaches, right, not in a shitty way, but but we're giving each other crap because we love each other. We want to push each other. It's hard for me to maybe not win an event or miss it by a point or two, because I know that I could back then and I would smoke the event.
Speaker 1:Sure.
Speaker 2:But I'm not doing. You know working on my weaknesses all the time and making that my thing, and so that was just a challenge to wrap my brain around and just accept that, like you know you live that, you know you did that. But it's also part of aging Right, and I don't think it's unique to me. Um, I think it's something we all naturally will experience, if we haven't yet.
Speaker 2:Um and just kind of like getting a little bit more clarity on what really is important right now, and right now for me, it's leading by example in the gym. It's showing up three times or more per week to do the class workouts and support my community and show my coaches how we lead the way.
Speaker 1:Train I mean adapt things and modify around an injury or something right.
Speaker 2:Yep.
Speaker 1:The healthy competition thing, like I I there's a story that I'll go to sometimes when I'm sitting down with somebody new and it's it's like the best type of thing, where, like, there's like if we're, if we're like finishing a workout together and we're like running a lap of the building, like have like a 500 meter loop and we come around the last corner, like I will die to get in the door first and I hope you try to as well. Yeah, right, but I'm the first, I'm going to be the first person. Like once we get ourselves up off the floor, I'll pick you up off the floor and just say, like that was awesome, like, and I hope that you get me sometimes too, and it's just like we're trying to make each other better. Yeah, there's nothing, we're not winning anything, there's no awards being given out. There's no, like there's no ego involved, right, it's just, it's just fun to do that.
Speaker 1:Like I was coaching a class the other night and it was like it was a long, it was a 40 minute imam. It was like 20 wall balls, five barbell lifts. So like 20 wall balls, five barbell lifts. So like one minute next minute, five barbell lifts, next minute. Like 20 slash, 16 cows in a row and then five barbell lifts, a lot of modification going on and everything just to make it right for people. In the last round there was two people, both very strong rowers, that just like they did that glance over to each other and like, let's fucking race. It was a guy, a guy and a girl, right and, and it was awesome and they were hurting so bad and but it's just like they just finish and high five and like it's a cool story.
Speaker 2:You know, it's not like yeah, I mean, I mean most people like I mean even in the competitive space, right, like all those athletes practice those workouts before they go compete and do them Right, but they, they smash their times in practice because there's just a different level of intensity when someone's beside you or no one's beside you like your case and you're like anticipating what you need to do to win the event Right. I you know what. No one's beside you like your case and you're like anticipating what you need to do to win the event right.
Speaker 1:You know what I hated doing the events beforehand. I didn't do them a lot. I found, if I like, did them too much. I think this is maybe coming from like I wasn't the grind type athlete. I was a sprinter, like I was a 200, 400 sprinter, and it was my whole day consisted of maybe 90 seconds of running and it was like, very just, you get one shot at it. Like I ran hurdles too and it was like you get one shot at it. It could go real bad, like you can make yourself look pretty stupid falling over a hurdle, which I did one time, um, more than one time actually, but uh, uh. But that the whole like practice, practice, practice, practice. Like even the open workouts, I didn't redo them like ever, I was always just like, unless I absolutely had to like something. Like back, when they asked for videos, like like camera malfunction, I was like fuck, gotta do it again.
Speaker 2:Um but I find like fuck got to do it again.
Speaker 1:Um but I find like. So I guess what I'm saying is like, mentally, I would get myself in the right position to like try to do it and attack it, you know, and get my best out of it. And then when you do that, if it's say it's like a 15 minute workout and you're like okay, that's competitive, I did it to, then like that's competitive, I did it to, then like it's hard for I don't know, I don't, maybe I'm, I don't think I'm unique with this, but I, I just I never know how people do so much better on a second time. Like I, like you know you have, you have to get to that like 12, 13 minute zone before you even know if you have a chance almost to like get better than it and like it, chance almost to like get better than it and like it's almost like once I've done it, I expect that I can do it again. So then I go in with the mindset it's like it's going to be easy and it is absolutely not right.
Speaker 2:So like I don't know, like I guess you hearing that like as an athlete and as a coach, like I don't know what's messed up with me, tell me, I mean that was the opposite and I don't know if this was I mean, most of it was by choice, but especially when I like worked with a professional coach later on, like they're like you have to repeat the workout.
Speaker 2:You're doing it on Friday and you're doing it again on Monday and the goal is to meet what you did and you're still going to give it your all for both efforts. And man, I hated that. Yeah, pr every Monday, um, and I think it was just like knowing that, like if I'm going to do this again and experience this pain again, I better freaking make it worth it. And so trying to get my head wrapped around that and like go into that wave and find that tunnel vision and just hang out.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah, what? Maybe even transitioning from you know, because it sounds like you found a way to enjoy CrossFit, and maybe, like, leave that expectation of, like, what you've been able to do behind a little bit, even though, like there's, you know, there's still that competitive spirit. Um, like, what else are you? Are you pouring yourself into these days?
Speaker 2:Yeah, um, I mean, now it's the gym Um, and a lot of that, if I'm being really honest, started with motivation to avoid failing Um, and maybe you can resonate with this. I'm sure that gym owners listening can resonate with this. But you know, I was an athlete first. For a long time I was a partner in this gym and I didn't give the TLC that I needed to, partially because I was young and just you know, like a lot of newer gym owners, like you know, if I'm a good CrossFitter, like you know, I can own a gym, but not knowing like there's so much that goes into I had no idea what yeah, yeah yeah, we were a hobby gym for probably three years yeah and on the brink of like, not knowing where I was going yeah, and we were the same.
Speaker 2:We um I mean, I honestly like I came on as a partner, so I was a coach in 2010 when it first opened up, and then came on as a co-owner in 2012 and was hired on as an owner who kind of worked for a year to buy out the partner. So it wasn't like.
Speaker 1:Okay, sweat equity.
Speaker 2:Yep put in the sweat equity so.
Speaker 2:I was more or less assigned the role of head coach, and I didn't really know what was going on with the finances even though I probably could have just looked into that stuff but I was just very much like, okay, this is my role, this is what I'm doing. Much like the military. I just did what I was supposed to do and so, fast forward. We relocated and merged with an existing gym it was called GSX Athletics at the time, but that's where our gym currently resides athletics at the time, but that's where our gym currently resides and it was kind of a transitional period where the cultures were colliding.
Speaker 2:We had this really strong sense of community from Iron Horse and we had a very kind of a clicky experience with the GSX group, and so trying to, like you know, mesh together with that was hard. And then, by the time I was starting to wrap up my competitive career, I remember coaching one of our heaviest classes today, but I was coaching it back then and this was about 2017-2018 and like one or two people would show up for a while and I was like what in the hell is going on? And so I finally found the courage to kind of address what I was in denial about it was like something's wrong you know, but I didn't want to look at it and pull back the curtains.
Speaker 1:I did.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I was like oh shit what was it? The finances Like I mean it was we were not doing well Um, we were losing people that night. I mean we had no systems in place.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:Um, but I think, like as I was exiting my competitor career, my sights shifted on, like I need to turn this around and so I tried, like buying out my partners. There was a lot of butting heads because we didn't align on the vision and went through a really extensive legal battle to try to get sonarship, and so finally, I get it in 2019. And this was like in 2019, right before COVID. So did a rebrand in February 2020, shut the doors not even a couple weeks later, in March 2020 brutal yeah, and then, but you were in Texas, so you were close for like what?
Speaker 1:four days or something maybe two months.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we got lucky, but it was really tough and but since then just been really trying to learn like what makes a great experience for the members, how do we serve them, what are some additional value adds that we can provide for them, grow the team and then really just like become a professional business right, because there's so much that goes into nurturing an actual business and it's not just being a technician and it took me a long time to like figure that out, but that's been my sole focus for a while now and now that we got a lot of things plugged into place, it's trying to help expand the impact and I think a lot of that, too, stemmed from a couple years ago I went to go drop into a bunch of like gyms in the local area and down in.
Speaker 2:Austin and was hoping to like learn a bunch to bring it back to iron horse and instead of kind of more or less learn like, oh, like a lot of these gym owners really need help, like they're struggling or they're not doing things that could really be low hanging fruit opportunities for them or whatever. And so sites are shifted on like continue to lean into what we're doing at iron horse.
Speaker 1:But how do I help other gym owners and their success so we can truly expand impact? Right, I've dropped into a bunch of gyms too. I mean it's been a while. Um, just because I mean covet, and then I obviously wasn't dropping into any gyms. It's just like focusing on like getting this thing going again and then, um, just less travel and like young kids the last couple years, but like, yeah, 20, 18, 19, I think we did a lot of dropping in and sometimes there's you have a little takeaway. You're like, oh, like, that's wicked. I'm gonna bring this back.
Speaker 1:Like, if you've ever, if you've, dropped into cross at reykjavik in in iceland I haven't heard of it, right, and it's just like, it's like clockwork. I will say they. So when we dropped in, they didn't know that lacy and I didn't speak, uh, their language until about 40 minutes into the class. Like we just kind of blended in. Um, you know it's what we did in iceland, but, uh, maybe a little bit more attention to like, but when there's that many people and like they get, I think CrossFit Reykjavik back then I think it's 2018 was like the number two attraction in the whole, uh, in the whole country of like, where people go to.
Speaker 1:I mean, annie's been around for a long time, like she's. They built some some stuff there, right, but uh, but yeah, to your point too, there was definitely gyms where the takeaway was like, oh my god, like here's not what to do, like here's a terrible experience, like I, we dropped into a gym in florida um, I can't remember where it was. We try to not drop into the same gym twice, um and we were just like left on our own, basically to to warm up and for like technical stuff too, um, and like pretty common I can.
Speaker 1:I is it like that's, that's really poor standards. But like there were people, lacy, and I basically like started running people through this okay, we, we do this stuff, like you know quite quite a bit and like let me help you, right, and like what, like you guys going to pay me for for running this thing, right, and just like just not paying attention to anything, right, so, but then there's, we've definitely had both sides of things, right.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I think, like I mean, if you think back to some of those early days of your gym, like before really professionalizing things, like people walk all over you, you know, like it's not, it's, you know, it's kind of like mom and pop crossfit gym, like it's not known as necessarily the most professional thing and most of them just I mean there's, that's for a reason, like you know. So, um, what, what are some of the sorry go ahead?
Speaker 2:yeah, because it's tough. Because, like you know, if someone's found the courage to actually find a crossFit gym in the area to try, and then their experience is a poor one. I mean, we know they're going to attach that and you know that's how all of them are going to be to them, right, and so they're probably never going to try another CrossFit gym, which is another reason why this is so important to me. Right Is like we all need to rise together so that we can help more.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:They're not going to be turned away as soon as they have a bad experience, you know.
Speaker 1:So it's kind of there's one, the closest one to it. It had been open for a long time, I believe it just closed, I don't know. I just kind of like keep my distance a little bit, but it's either closed or just kind of moved into a garage or something. I have no idea. I'm I'm assuming maybe that as an option because, like I would have expected more people to like, hey, I need a gym, like you know, um, but some of the things that I heard going on it's we're not the same thing by any stretch of the imagination, right. And then you wonder why.
Speaker 1:It's like, you know, someone comes in and you're more than a hundred dollars a month and they don't have the, they don't have the right frame of reference. It's like you go try it. Go go try it and see. You know, see the difference. I mean, you can just try us. There's a process to go through. But that in and of itself should tell you at least one thing about us that there's a process. I don't know if you've got a busted elbow or something where I start doing push-ups and throwing barbells overhead.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:I don't know.
Speaker 2:Right, Well, that too, if you hire an attorney or a doctor or like you're doing that because you're trying to get them to other services and so well, it's the same thing, right, Like you're, you're trying to find experts that have done what you're trying to do, and that's literally the fastest way to accomplish those things Like, and it's a I'm sure you experienced this too but a little frustrating sometimes, because the biggest obstacle for most people is themselves and their own way of thinking about things. Right.
Speaker 1:Sure, I mean, I know mine has been at times too right. When I say this, it might resonate Like everyone's an expert with nutrition because they eat three meals a day. Right, and I think that there's maybe, like you can't just do legal things yourself, you know you need a lawyer, you need like I'm not even saying that right, you know. Like you can't just do law, practice law. Or like you know, if you need a medical procedure done, what are your options? Right? Like well, I mean, there's probably some more, but like you go to someone trusted, right. But there's maybe this idea that, like you know, like I, I eat all the time, so I know what I'm doing.
Speaker 1:Or like you know, if you take a hundred people at random and you, you just put a bunch of like food on the table and you say, tell, tell me what's good, tell me what's not so good, and that's not even the best frame, it's like, because there's it's so much more nuanced than that most of them are going to have a decent idea. And that's like okay, are you doing it? What? What is, what are the things that are like leading you to do? And it's so nuanced. And then, with fitness, like, well, I can just go for a run yeah like, that's fitness, why would I pay?
Speaker 1:why I pay someone 250 dollars?
Speaker 2:right a lot of misinformation that exists, especially in our western culture. Right, I mean even for me, like as a coach and and maybe some of the listeners feel this way too but like I remember like fish oil was like a big big thing and then I I saw some article in the past couple years. It was like so bad for you and I'm like how is someone that does not know the difference going to decipher what's accurate or not, even if there's like valid sources, like it's constantly changing?
Speaker 2:there's new research that's being done, or new like influencers on instagram that are, you know, have a solid platform that are preaching things that maybe people shouldn't be listening to too, you know, but like there's just so much information coming at them at all times and I'm sure that's very overwhelming, um, but it's just so.
Speaker 2:For me as a coach, it gets a little discouraging when you, you know the solution for someone and it's right there, um, and they just they can't. They can't wrap their mind around. Like I need a coach to lean on for this. I've been trying to do it myself for so long. It's just not happening. But like saying that you want to shake them sometimes, so at least how do you overcome that?
Speaker 2:I mean, we'll sales objections right, but, but I think for us, like it's getting them the progress they come in for if they do make that decision right, like if they are bought into, at least making the commitment to join our community as an example. They're going to feel warm and welcome. And you know we do those frequent check-ins or goal reviews, just like most two brain gyms. But, um, you know, they start to to experience. Oh, this is literally something that I can do. All I gotta do is show up three times per week and like implement some simple nutrition strategies with the long term in mind.
Speaker 2:Right, and I think, trying to like help them understand that this is a long play. This is not something we're going to do over the course of six weeks in preparation for summer.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 1:Just getting them those results, just practicing those simple steps goes a long way, at least for us yeah, I just had a conversation with, like I had a met with a lady that's just signed up, starting tomorrow before this podcast, and there was conversation was a lot exactly along those. I think that what was I just thinking, um, about the professionalization of things. I think that most people that get into the fitness space and coaching people and especially like going as far as like opening a gym like you, I don't know any, I mean, yeah, I don't know anybody that opens a gym to get rich it's not like that's not the way to go about things. You get into it because you care and then you realize that you have, like there's a certain level of scale and like helping people, that for you to even continue to exist two, three, five years down the line, that's kind of where we were before we reached out for help. It's like I don't know where this is going, but I don't fault anyone for any of that, but it's it's. It's it's not knowing where your holes are. It's like not be, not looking in the mirror. It's.
Speaker 1:You talk about systems um, nobody's brain is perfect. Like we're not robots. You're gonna forget people. You know you're gonna forget to to do things and check in on people and like notes on somebody and like, and, and then also like you just need to build a team as well. So there's all sorts of these other skills that you have to you have to build for this thing to even like, first be sustainable and then grow and then grow and be sustainable at that level. But yeah, I mean, like, how do you? Like I asked you, how do you overcome that? And like I mean you just want to be a place and a group of people that people want to be around, because, like we know that fitness works, it's hard, it's hard work, but like, if you can do it with enjoyable people, that's awesome. Yeah, but if you're forgetting the little things, that's the whole. Like people forget what you said or what you taught them, but they'll never forget how you made them feel.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:You know, I think that plays for sure into that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely. I mean even for us, like dropping in to different places, the ones that did stand out as like okay, they're in the right, you know space, or like headed in the right direction, was like the ones that greeted you by name when you entered the facility or made you feel warm and welcome and like you mattered, and like you were seen and you were heard. You know like, and I can't imagine someone coming in that doesn't have experience like you and I you know, that's brand new Like if they're not getting that, yeah, they're not coming back.
Speaker 2:But if you get that, they're much more likely to take that next step Right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, um, so the name, the name of the, the, this, this podcast train for a great life? Like the whole idea of like it doesn't happen by accident. You can. You can train for things and put yourself in position to, to, to do things and get reps to like build a great life for yourself. You know, we talked, we've talked about a bunch of stuff Like what, what else would you maybe like, what else would you add? Like earlier, when we were talking, you said like, do what you love and the money will come right. It's kind of like a follow the passions, like can you talk about that a little bit?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, um, so my, my grandfather was a business owner and he preached that to my dad, who then preached that to me and my brother and um, I think over the years it just stuck with me because when I was younger, you know, there's the question always comes up for all of us, like, what do you want to do when you grow up?
Speaker 2:Right and um, they would all be like you know, do what you love and the money will come. Like, don't worry about your career is just find something that you're passionate about and everything will place. And I know that's not true for everybody, but for me it has been a guiding light and just following that has put me in the right situations and created new opportunities in my experience. And so, whether that's joining the military or competing, or doing this new business endeavor or whatever, there's no sense to me in living a life that you don't enjoy what you're doing, or competing, or, you know, doing this new business endeavor or whatever. There's no sense to me in living a life that you don't enjoy what you're doing, what doesn't bring you fulfillment or feel like it gives you a sense of purpose, and even still like I followed my passion with the gym, but it really took me a while for that to click Like. This is my purpose and I think a lot of that to click like that.
Speaker 2:This is my purpose, like um and I think a lot of that was just like most entrepreneurs trying to to calm my visionary mind of what's next and like realizing like it's okay to hang out here a while and like make this even better, to I don't know what you're talking about right, um, and I think a lot of that was.
Speaker 2:I kind of went through a period of time where, like a big goal of mine was to get the gym to run without me constantly being there.
Speaker 2:So I moved three hours away to Austin Texas, forced myself to take a little bit of a time out and slow things down.
Speaker 2:I only came back because we found out we're going to have to relocate the gym. Fortunately we don't have to, but being back in the community and like interacting with everybody again, it was like kind of like a slap in the face, like what in the hell were you doing? Like this is where you belong, like and it brings me joy even still to like every now and then when I want to like lead a great class or hear about someone that accomplished something that was important to them and I think a lot of that was just hearing from other people about how we've changed their lives in a positive way, because I used to think about it beforehand as like it's just fitness, we're just putting these classes on, putting them through training, but like really, at the end of the day, you know you're giving these people these tools to truly live happier, healthier lives and like that's like okay, a no brainer, like you're, you're, you're in the right spot for at least the time being right. Maybe new things come from that.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:When a new passion arises, I'll dive into it again. But I think right now I've kind of found that sweet spot where I want to kind of hold tight for a while sweet spot where I want to kind of hold tight for a while.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's really cool that like we can literally guide we do. We guide people to healthier, happier lives, more fulfillment, things that they can then dive into. And, like you know, the conversation this morning like she's got kids that are three and 18 months three years old and 18 months. I'm like their eyes are on you all the time and like what they're going to notice, like no matter what you say, like if you have a thing that you kind of like get stronger, follow your passion, take time for yourself, like that, that that is noticeable in a person, right? So the I love that. That advice, that like I mean there's more to it. There's more layers that, like you know, do what you love and the money will come. Um, there's more layers to that. It's like you're probably gonna have to sort of like be in the shit for a while and like you're probably not gonna make money for a while. You have to build your skills in your toolbox for free for a long time, and like you're gonna have to make hard decisions lots of them, um, there's all of that too, but like you never even get to that point of like having to cross that, any of those bridges. If you don't take a chance on it and and I think there's way too much advice of like don't we were given that advice.
Speaker 1:Lacey and I both have teaching degrees. Being a teacher in Ontario is a great job. Well, I don't know how much I feel that way now. Right now, just, the landscape of teaching and everything has changed a bit, you know, since I grew up. But like it just wasn't for me, like I did it for a bit, it just wasn't for me. I, I did it for a bit, it just wasn't for me. I need to pivot on a dime when things don't make sense. I need to be able to have some autonomy over things. You know, um, I don't like being told to do it this way, cause that's the way it is, even though, like, I'm like I think there's a way that's like it's not even that different, it's just a little tweak and it's better. It's like no, no, no, we can't do that. It's like okay, he kind of lost me, right? But yeah, I love that because, like I said, I think too many people just get advice to like kill their passions.
Speaker 1:You're never going to make it, you know you don't have to make it. What is making it? Like passions? You're never gonna make it. You know you don't have to make it. What is making it like what it's? It's someone's idea of it. It's like I think of, like a I don't know a kid pouring all this uh time into like learning a, an instrument or learning how to code or something like that. It's like making it isn't like you made the top selling game and you're rich or you're you put on this like you know you're a world traveler musician. It's like maybe you just really enjoy doing the thing and like it's you can get into a flow state doing it and like maybe even don't even do it for work, but you just have it as a thing that you've put all this time into.
Speaker 1:I don't know there's value to that yeah, for sure um, how about, like I mean, we've taught, we've touched on the, the expanding impact, professionalizing the gym, or just like continued growth? So, like you've, obviously, like you've had all these experiences that have grown you as a person, you've grown this gym. Like how has Candice grown as well?
Speaker 2:alongside of all this, you know, it's funny because I was joking with my girlfriend about this because I feel like it's kind of like a pattern and maybe this is with entrepreneurship in general. But like I think back six years ago I was commuting back and forth to the gym for like 30 minutes because my spouse at the time got a job that's really far away. So I was trying to split the difference. I'm like commuting every day, the gym was failing. We're trying to turn around and it forced me to like make this commitment, to like how do we figure this out and and make it what we know it can become or whatever. And then this whole relocation thing happened.
Speaker 2:I see these like cycles and bonnie the she's a psychotherapist that's in the tinker group or whatnot for the youtube our resident savior yeah, she kind of said something that really like resonated with me is like we're going to go through these loops up and around, kind of this big old roller coaster where, like you're in this down shit phase but you haven't acquired the skills yet to find the solutions to turn things around, and then what you do, there's a new level of growth and you get a challenge.
Speaker 2:And there's a new level of growth once you acquire those skills. You implement those skills and I think for me, like I'm trying to be better about, like when times are difficult or we have a new challenge that we're experiencing, like seeing it not as like oh, this is going to be the thing that like burns me out or like destroys the gym or like hurts our team or whatever you know tarnishes it's like okay, like see it for what it is, let it pass, like a wave. Okay, let's get to work and figure out, like how do we fix this thing? And think of it more like a game or a challenge that needs to be solved right yeah, maybe there's like a skill that I haven't acquired yet or I haven't leaned into enough yeah, I think for me that's been a new level of maturity as a business owner that I definitely didn't have.
Speaker 2:In the very beginning it was like, oh my god, it's dark outside, the sun's sun's never gonna rise again, and then the sun would come up the next day. Oh, it's all good again.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah yeah, I think I mean, I think, everyone's probably got those stories and I don't, I can't imagine anybody just like starts off and nails it. You know right? I mean even just to like have you, have you owned any other businesses?
Speaker 2:no, I mean I've tried to start like a workshop called drivenven. It was basically trying to help people. It was a lot of Tony Robbins type of feels.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but I realized it was something that helped people figure out how to find a rewarding career for them. But I only did it a couple of times and I never really like launched anything. It was, more so, something that we offered to our members and I had envisioned it as something to do.
Speaker 1:So it was almost like a thing within the business that you already have, like it wouldn't have just existed on its own.
Speaker 2:I think it could have, but it was like a shiny object syndrome, like what's the next thing?
Speaker 1:I can do and I was distracting myself from what really mattered.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, where I was going with that was, like I said, we've all got these stories of like growth and challenges and like the, the loops and whatnot. But I haven't owned any other businesses either and, like you've had your gym for a long time, we're coming up on 13 years. That's not normal either. So like, obviously we're, we're in something like we've managed to to do it. You know, like the stats on businesses failing after, like you know what, one year, five years, ten I mean not many make it to ten and beyond. Right, so there's, I think maybe you have to have those stories.
Speaker 2:You have to, for sure you have to right well, if you don't, you're probably not figuring out things.
Speaker 1:If you're not figuring out things, you're not pivoting, you're probably probably not gonna make it very long right yeah, yeah, um, in terms of like personal growth alongside with everything, is there any any like you know one or two things that you can point to, of where, like your skill set has just been or like you've changed, you've changed or improved in some way, like where you're different than 10 years ago?
Speaker 2:I think my leadership style and probably how I handle difficult situations from a mindset standpoint, going from the military, where you're put into a position of leadership based on rank and experience. You tell people what to do and they do it Well. That isn't applicable to the corporate world especially, but to a business either, and there are definitely some times when, especially becoming the sole owner taking the reins like you know, I was probably a little hard on some of my staff and learned that you have to kind of find that balance, and that was a challenge for me. I think I finally found that sweet spot.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And not recognizing, as a business owner, that it's a lot like the stock market, right, like you're going to have good and bad months. You're going to have, you know, some things that drop and you're like what the hell is going on and figure out, try to like troubleshoot, like where the problem area is with this retention or sales or whatever that.
Speaker 1:I didn't have that way of thinking before, so it was like, literally, if we had a bad month, it was like god, like we're failing, like we're not gonna turn around, like what's going on right, you know, extend your timeline like zoom out on that stock or like index fund or whatever it is, the stock market in general and like, okay, 10 years it's, it's pretty much up and to the right. There's just there's a lot of stuff that happens. Yeah, like there's a lot of things that happens. There's a lot of things that cause that to go up and down, but also our gyms and businesses and people's lives. That's cool. Extending your timeline I like that Cool. We're coming up on 90 minutes and I know you had to hard stop at 90 minutes. I appreciate your time. This was super fun. I know we've gotten to spend some time together, but I don't think anywhere near this much one on one, which was awesome.
Speaker 2:Really enjoyed it yeah, for sure, I really appreciate you having me absolutely.
Speaker 1:You're going to be in Chicago yes, for the two brains yeah, cool, I'll see you there. I've never done that. I've never asked people like where can we find you on Instagram and all that, but like what you know, where can someone find you?
Speaker 2:yeah, instagram, uh, my handle is Candice L Wagner, 21, so Candice is C-A-N-D-I-C. Like Candice. And then, uh, if you want to follow the gym, cross Iron Horse, my handle is actually in my bio there.
Speaker 1:Cool, follow Candice, she's badass.
Speaker 2:Thank you.