DoD Dialogues
A fitness podcast designed to add value for members of our CrossFit Doors of Daring (DoD) community but might also appeal to anyone interest in fitness! Covering topics related to CrossFit, nutrition, overall health and wellness.
DoD Dialogues
July 2026 | Gemma Fox-Calcanes on Resilience, Recovery & Finding Strength Through CrossFit
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Welcome to the July 2026 edition of the DOD Dialogues, recorded at CrossFit Doors of Daring in Waxhaw, North Carolina.
In this episode, owner Jim Powell and head coach Courtney Barbour sit down with longtime member Gemma Fox-Calcanes for an inspiring conversation about resilience, overcoming cancer, and how fitness can provide strength through life's hardest seasons.
We dive into:
• Discovering CrossFit and joining Doors of Daring during 2020
• How lifelong fitness prepared her for one of life's biggest battles
• Staying connected to the gym throughout cancer treatment and recovery
• The mental side of healing and refusing to lose her identity as an athlete
• Learning to redefine success after illness and celebrate small victories
• The importance of scaling, consistency, and listening to your body
• Why community makes difficult seasons easier to navigate
• Building long-term health instead of chasing perfection
• Protecting time for fitness even when life gets busy
• Encouraging others to keep showing up, regardless of where they are today
This conversation is a reminder that fitness is about far more than PRs or appearances. It's about building the physical and mental resilience to face whatever life brings. Whether you're recovering from an injury, facing a health challenge, or simply trying to stay consistent, Gemma's story will encourage you to keep moving forward one day at a time.
Subscribe for more conversations from Doors of Daring, and let us know what topics or members you want to hear next.
Welcome everybody to the July 2026 edition of DOD Dialogues. I'm Jim Powell, the owner of CrossFit Doors of Daring, and I'm joined by Courtney Barber, also an owner and head coach at CrossFit Doors of Daring. And again, this month, we have one of our amazing members here with us, Gemma Fox.
SPEAKER_01Yay.
SPEAKER_04Should I attempt to say the last part of your last name? Calcanes. Calcanis. But calcanes cool. Calcanis. Okay, all right. Fox Calcanis. Yes. You got it. You nailed it. All right. We're trying. Always trying new things here at CrossFed Doors of Bearing. Hey, uh, maybe before we get started, just a little appeal to our many tens of listeners out there. Uh if you listen to this podcast, if you watch this podcast, we want to hear from you. Um drop a comment uh in any platform that you watch or listen to us. Drop us a note here at the desk in the gym. Uh drop us an email at admin at crossfitdod.com. Hit us up on Instagram at CrossFit Doors of Daring, uh, on Facebook at CrossFit Doors of Daring. Hit us up any way you want. Ask us a question. Let us know what topics you're interested in. Let us know if we're any good at this, if we should keep doing it. Like we want your feedback, seriously. Uh, whether you're a member of the gym or one of the two or three people who are not a member of our gym who listen to this, uh, please just let us know what you think and what you'd like to hear about next. Okay. Awesome. We want this to serve you. Yeah. This is for you. We do this for you. It's not uh it's not because we like you know putting makeup on and getting in front of a camera. Oh, wait, I didn't put it down. How's you? I didn't borrow your makeup today. Cool. Hey, so we always start off, Gemma, with what'd you do for fitness today?
SPEAKER_02Okay. Yes. So I'm part of the 6 a.m. crew, 6 a.m. crew. Um, so I did the workout today. So we did some rowing, some deadlifts, some snatching, and um some power cleans. So cool. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Little barbell, a little rowing.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Gemma likes a little barbell.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I like a little barbell. Little little aggressive after the 500 meter all-out row, but there's definitely definitely lots of rowing this week in the was there a lot of leaning on the bike today.
SPEAKER_04People chose the bike over the rower.
SPEAKER_02I think 5 a.m. chose the bike more, but 6 a.m. chose the rower. So the most of us were rowing. It was actually a big class, so a little bit of both for sure.
SPEAKER_046 a.m. was big yesterday too. Really big class.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Summertime, some people pivoting from 5 a.m. or whatever to later time. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Well, Court, how about you?
SPEAKER_00Um, same. I did the class workout today. Um, that's like my jam. I love a workout. So I did the bike and um went a little heavier on the barbells um and like hit the targets and stuff. That was that was super fun. I did it in here by myself before I coached and just in the dark with like music down. It's like all my overstimulated moms out there. Sometimes you just hit it in the quiet, you know what I mean? Yeah, yeah. That's nice. That's nice. It was good. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Cool. Well, Thursday's my rest day. Yeah. We're filming on a Thursday, in case you didn't know. Yeah. Um, but uh I I decided when I got here, I was remembering, oh, we're gonna talk about what fitness we did today. And Jim, you can't be a little punk and say you did nothing. So I got on the C2 bike and I did I did 45 minutes of zone two and just chilled out a little bit. Yeah, tried not to get overly sweaty.
SPEAKER_00So did my coach observation.
SPEAKER_04I get something, yeah. I have some notes for you later. Here we go. Talk about it later. All right, cool. Well, Jim I thank you so much for joining us. We're super excited to have you with us and get into your journey a little bit. Um, maybe we start off with a a layup. How about that? Yeah, what brought you to Doors of Daring the first time?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so I actually didn't have an active CrossFit membership anywhere in Charlotte. I had a bunch of punch cards. My brother holds his L2s in Chapel Hill, so he was always like encouraging me to do CrossFit, and I just never pulled the trigger. And then um Bruce Williams, good friend of mine, local photographer, he suggested coming to Doors of Daring because it was opening in Waw and I lived in Waxaw, and that was it. Like I pretty much came and I joined, I I think the same day, if not the same day the next day. So yeah, I've been here since the jump. This is the only CrossFit Gym I've ever been a member of. So yeah, that's kind of my dream.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I think I think Gemma's membership started on March 20th. Yes. I think like less than two weeks after we opened our doors.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and then and then COVID happened. Yeah. And I tell you, like for the jump, like getting involved in the community and like really understanding the like some of the hype behind CrossFit, that was pretty epic because I'm the coaches came to my house, they dropped off cookies, like we did Zoom calls with workouts, they programmed for us, stuff I did in my driveway by myself. So like that really set the standard of like what CrossFit really is known for. And so, and hats off to you guys for making it through that because it had to be super tough.
SPEAKER_04Um, yeah, it was a tough, it was a tough period, but it was really fun um trying to start a community in a time when that was like no, literally. So it was like it was interesting to try different things to just try to keep keep people engaged and keep people moving, you know, throughout that period of all of our lives. We learned how important it was to keep moving. For sure. Uh many people that didn't, you know, suffered for it. Um, and so I'm really proud of us really trying hard. We gave out a lot of our equipment, yeah. Which by the way was brand new. Yeah, I had some equipment. We had just we had just gotten it from Rogue like a couple months before, and we're handing out dumbbells and jump ropes and boxes and ab mats.
SPEAKER_02I think I had a box and a kettlebell.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, we just handed stuff out because we just wanted people to keep moving and it wasn't getting used here. So oh, it was great to have you as part of that journey. We were in the smaller space over there. Yep. Um, we've grown up a little bit. Uh we've all we've all grown a little bit in that process. So you you weren't a member of a CrossFit gym before joining here, but you were pretty familiar with CrossFit, had been doing it a bunch.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I mean, I've been going to Globo Gyms pretty much like since I was I took weightlifting in high school. Like I'd always been doing stuff. I ran track and field. Um, I was a diver, springboard diver. So, you know, I always did fitness-related things. Uh, and I I really liked the Globo Gym environment, and I didn't really do a lot of organized fitness, like where with those classes. Yeah. So that was different for me, but it's just once you start it, it it makes sense, right? Like it makes sense why it appeals to people. A lot of it is the community, uh, seeing the same faces in the morning, getting to know the coaches and um kind of just all the different things, modifying, scaling, you know, what's best for you that day on your your journey of fitness. And so every now and then I'll hit up a globo gym, and you know, there's that can be nice too. You go listen to your own music, but aside from that, there's really no benefit. So yeah, I'd I'd been touching a barbell in some capacity for a long time, but more like dumbbells, you know, yeah, kind of that kind of equipment that you would see inside of a normal gym.
SPEAKER_00So yeah, yeah. And what like obviously there was um convenience, it was in waxaw, right? Yes, but what kind of took you from the punch card to the membership at DOD? Like, what was that like final, okay, this is where I want to stay? Yeah. Was it just the community from COVID or what were you doing?
SPEAKER_02I think that was like that played into it a lot, was the community from COVID. But I think also it was I would consider myself an athlete prior to CrossFit. And I think that they're like the level of being able to challenge myself in a different way and do things that I was not familiar with, like at all. Yeah. And like, how could I grow and become a better athlete and you know, more conditioned, yeah. Um, you know, and fast forward to like what's happened in the last few years of my life. It's been like hypercritical. So I and yeah, the community is definitely what has kept me, kept me here. Um, but yeah, continuing to challenge myself and and um show up for myself is is probably the biggest piece and part.
SPEAKER_00So that's awesome. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04So tell tell us about about your view of you know how your fitness has been really critical in this journey that you've been going through, as you said, the last few years. Tell us a little more about that.
SPEAKER_00And maybe let's but let's kind of back up though, for any listeners who don't know about that journey, right? Just give a little context of of what the past few years have looked like.
SPEAKER_02So in August of 2022, I was diagnosed with triple positive breast cancer. So stage three. I'm not big on the stage thing. Yeah, um, but people, you know, that's something that people ask, ask a lot. Uh so you know, I was the healthiest I've ever been, I was the most conditioned I'd ever been, pound for pound, I was the strongest I've ever been. Um, I've walked through these doors the strongest I've ever been and the weakest I've ever been in my life, right? So I think that the cancer journey is kind of um never stopped my conviction to my fitness. So that's kind of where I'm at. I'm in remission, as they say. Um I'm a high-risk, you know, survivor.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02So, you know, that's always top of the mind when I'm thinking about my life and like my future and my fitness. But that's that's my story. That's where I'm at right now. Um, I get scanned every six months, you know, uh, and I just try and live my life like as as hard as I can and um enjoy it. And fitness is a tremendously giant part of like the time that I give to myself in the gym is really important to not only like be conditioned, fight the disease, but also it's like my time for myself. Like it is a release, it's a it's a dump, like it's my medicine. Yeah, you know. So, you know, some people think that's cliche and that's that's fine. Um, and you know, like kind of want to make sure that I express that like I am I'm not a doctor. I hold, you know, nothing, you know, I don't wear a white coat in the energy or whatever. Yeah, none of us do. Yeah, this is strictly my experience of of how I fought cancer and how I will continue to fight it to not come back into my body for the rest of my life.
SPEAKER_03No medical advice is given.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, dude. I think like kind of what you're touching on though is that like mental health side of battling cancer, really battling any disease. Yep. But even people who aren't battling disease, right, can use exercise fitness. Absolutely, especially of a fitness methodology that includes a great community to improve their life, right? It's that that positive mental health um aspect that we see. And let's maybe get a little bit more specific with that, right? Like, so you get this diagnosis, you go through a bunch of treatments, all that stuff, right? Like, why was it so important to you to have maybe like something consistent, something steady outside of that, right? Regardless of how it looked, because I'm sure fitness looked a lot different through that, right? Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02I mean, it looked very different. Um, one thing I didn't do throughout, you know, I went through 30 rounds of chemo, I went through 30 rounds of radiation, I never paused my membership here. Sometimes I would show up and I would sit on that bench. Sometimes I would sit on a box up front and watch people lift weights. Sometimes I'd ride the C2 bike, like, but I never restricted my access to the gym, right? My access to the people. And everyone in this gym always showed up for me the same way, right? And I know I didn't look the same. I had no hair, I had no eyebrows, like which is crazy looking at you. I know like my hair three years ago was like legit, like this long, and now it's this long. So super grateful for that. But um, yeah, I think that to go back to the mental piece of it, like, yeah, do I want to come in RX a workout? Of course. Do I want to do that still right now? Of course. But it's understanding to how to extend yourself grace, whether you're going through fighting a disease or an injury that you're coping through, or something you're struggling with at work, or you know, personally, you know, all those different battles, like fitness can can play into that and and how you cope, right? So I think that throughout the journey of the last few years, um, giving myself this time, this space in whatever capacity I could on that day was critical. And I think to your point, that plays into no, you know, people people always say to me, like, if they're talking about like their struggle or something in their life, I've heard this so many times. Oh, but it's nothing compared to what you've been through.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Bro, yes, it is. Like your battle, your journey, your struggles are just as relevant to like your life and like how that's impacted you as cancer has been to mine. So like that doesn't count. Like, no, it all matters, whether it's a divorce or you you lost your job or what you know, whatever it is, like all of that matters. Like, and everyone can cope through that by giving themselves an hour a day in a gym with people who care about you, surrounded by other people that care about you. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Like ah, that's so huge.
SPEAKER_04And to have that perspective that you have that like other people's experiences, other people's problems matter as much as this long battle that you had with cancer. There's a lot of people that don't have that kind of deep perspective.
SPEAKER_02That's and I think that like one thing that I and I like rest assured, like I have my moments, like for sure. Yeah, but I've always looked at things since like been given the diagnosis of like what's the silver lining in that? There's silver linings in everything. Like you can have ailments, you can have a disease, and you can sit in that pity and that worry and make yourself sicker, or you can be like, This sucks, how am I gonna get through it? Or I don't want to go to the gym today, but I'm gonna feel better after I do, right? Um so it plays into like so many different parts of life of like things that are challenging can also show you things that are really beautiful and yeah.
SPEAKER_04One of the things that if you don't mind me saying, I I think one of the silver linings in your scenario, it it shows up a little bit in the the CrossFit methodology and the way people talk about sickness, wellness, and fitness, right? And the silver lining in your case is you you entered this phase of your life very fit, as you said. You were the fittest you ever were in your life, and you entered that phase where you had to go into chemo, you had to go, you know, into a pretty dark place as a very fit human. And CrossFit calls that a hedge. Call it a hedge against sickness, right? So the more you can press, you know, if you imagine this continuum of here I am, I'm well, I'm in the middle of this continuum, the more you can press towards fitness, being really more than just I'm okay, I'm really fit, it's a hedge against something that knocks you back to being sick in this direction. Absolutely. And so much of our country just lives over here all the time, they're just sick all the time, just a little off-kilter. And so if they have a diagnosis as serious as yours, you know, shh, there's just no, there's not a lot of coming back from that. But you're over here already, and so you get knocked back, it's a hedge.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Um, how did you build that? You know, you mentioned you were an athlete your whole life. Um, you you spent a couple years here, CrossFit DoD, maybe in between your diving and DOD. How did you build up this fitness reserve such that you were such a strong human going into this?
SPEAKER_02I really think that I've always been like energized by the gym. I've always liked to work out. So I'm grateful that I didn't have to like create that in me, or like, you know, I wish I could get up in the morning and get myself there, or I wish I could go to the gym that I almost like need it. Like I need it to like be healthy, like be sound-minded, be great at my job, um, be good to the people that I love and care about. So it's always been part of yeah, it's just part of been, yeah, part of who who I was. You know, I I always liked to do physical activities. I've always liked to be part of the community, yeah, like doing volunteer work. And, you know, I you know, I've done some running with the blind, which has been something that I kind of had interwoven with with doing CrossFit, but I was doing a little bit of that before. So I think that's just always kind of been who I am. And and I don't know, it's fun. It's fun to work out with your friends or hit the gym with a friend. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04And then during your during your treatment, you talked about this a little bit, you made it a point to stay connected with the gym. You know, I know a lot of people that struggle with diagnosis or injury or whatever, they really struggle with how do I keep my identity as an athlete when I'm losing my ability to participate in the same way I had before? How did you keep that sort of fight in you?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I think I mean one thing that when when I was going through the treatment, you know, one thing I always had to remind myself, and and you know, when I talk to other women that have been diagnosed, or um one thing I always had to remind myself was like an oncologist would say to me things like, Oh, you you should want radiation, you shouldn't touch a barbell, like you really shouldn't be in the gym, like you really have to watch your your blood pressure. All those things are true, but I am not a seditar sedary person that has not been doing fitness for a long time. So I would always kind of tread the line of like, am I doing too much? Am I pushing it too hard? Am I doing and I probably have, and you know what, that that's fine, right? So I think I think I forgot what I was talking about.
SPEAKER_00I think there has to be a balance though of what is going to keep you like mentally and physically well, right? And and what's gonna harm you, obviously, in that situation, right? Um, we don't want to do any harm. Obviously, you're you're getting treatment and you're seeking these things, but if you were to just go sit on your couch and like you were talking about, kind of fall into that dark place of feeling sorry that this is happening to you and all these things, um, then mentally you're not well. And also physically, you're not keeping your body as healthy as it can be. Yeah. Right. And yeah, um, and that's where I think it was so cool that you just showed up some days, right? And it's like some days maybe I can't even ride the C2 bike, but sometimes maybe I can pick up an empty barbell, right? Or a dumbbell or a wall ball or something.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I can remember days, like sorry, Jim, you had asked about like staying connected to the community in the gym. Um, I think it was really just showing up. Like, yeah, and I definitely had moments where I was like, I don't want to say embarrassed, like I was fighting cancer, like I had no hair, I was skinny, I was sick, like I was sick because I was trying to stay alive, right? So, and I remember I have like some pictures where I'm over by the the change plates and I have like a five and a and a red one at my feet. And I'm like, all right, dude, we got to pick these up. Like this is what I'm allowed to pick up, like this is where we can start. So, and I really think that that spins it back to the community. Like I never felt unwelcomed or no, I never felt like anyone looked at me differently, like I shouldn't be here, or and any of that stuff. So I just stayed true to what helped me go into fighting cancer as as healthy as I could. Um, and I just continued that that role. I would just come in here and like Courtney said, I would just do what I could. The coaches knew what was up. Uh, or you know, if something had happened, I'd be, you know, I gotta modify it this way, this way. Like, um, and I have a pretty good background of understanding like my physical capacity. So a lot of times I would already have looked at the workout if I needed to scale it and know, like, okay, I can't I can't go overhead, or um, how do I need to modify this for myself today?
SPEAKER_04And during that process, you know, you and I talked about this a little bit many, many moons ago, but you inspired so many people um who watched you fight and watched you stick with it and just persevere. Um and this was something you and I haven't talked about, but for some odd reason, I got really lucky in this process because somewhere along the way when you started. Making a more full recovery. I we found ourselves, you and me, here on Saturdays. Oh, yeah, yeah, without partners. Yep. Several times. Yes, we did. As you were making your way back, and you know, you were still tr sort of struggling to find your athleticism, your breath. Yeah. You're just making your way back. And I was super like honored to be able to be your partner and you know be a teeny tiny little part of helping you stay connected and stay with it and stay motivated. Um and I just I've always treasured that. That's cool. I appreciate that. I wanted to say that to you. Yeah, and I think it's pretty awesome.
SPEAKER_02It's awesome of you because you know, we all get caught in this loop that that doesn't exist but exists, where it's like, oh, well, if I'm partnering with Jim, I'm gonna I'm gonna hold him back, or I I gotta, you know, let him know like I'm not gonna be, you know, you might have to carry me on this or that. And you know, we don't need to get caught in that, but it's natural that we do those things. So I appreciate that, you know, I appreciate that. That's that's pretty dope that you that's a memory core memory for you about our fitness together. It's cool.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, it was just like uh some somehow worked out that like I didn't have partners for like a long time. Yeah, Jim, let's let's do this, and then it became a thing. It was awesome.
SPEAKER_00You guys, this is what I love about crossing because like how many other gyms do you walk in and you find these people matched up just for a Saturday workout, you know, and um very differing phases of life, vabilities, and all the things, you know. That's so cool.
SPEAKER_03You never held me back.
SPEAKER_00I agree. That's so cool. Um, okay. One of the things we hear you say a lot or post on your social media uh is that people should stay hard to kill, right? And those are the specific words you use. I freaking love it. Um because it's not just like uh when it comes to disease, right? It's like if you get mugged on the side of the street, like you better be hard to kill. Right. Um, so talk about what that means to you, why you've kind of maybe latched onto that, where that came from.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Let's talk about it.
SPEAKER_02I think that that just kind of goes into the whole like mentality of how I've fought this battle with cancer and um how I, you know, talk about like being deconditioned is never gonna help you, you know, fight a disease or fight an injury or pick up your children, you know, and and put them on your hip, or carry your groceries inside with, you know, on run run. So um I think it's just kind of a precedent that I want to live by and I want to keep doing everything I can to stay hard to kill. And I think that it sounds aggressive to some, and that's fine. You're like, whoa. Yeah, that that that's fine. Um but it's true. That's what I'm doing, that's what I'm I'm doing every day I come in here is um trying to stay hard to kill and be here for the people that I love and uh keep doing fitness and um keep chasing dreams and checking things off my bucket list. And I think that when you face your own mortality, you know, uh the desire to stay hard to kill is um is kind of elevated to a different level. So that's kind of what drove it, but I feel like I'm gonna carry that with me. And I like like another thing I say all the time is like get after grateful because they're wildly not the same in like a poetically romantic way. Um stay hard to kill. Yeah, get after grateful. But I think that um there's so much stuff to be grateful for, and it's really easy to feel not grateful for things, and so um I I feel like that's kind of plays into the silver lining thing. It's like, well, this sucks, but wait, I am I'm so grateful for this, and you just see things a little bit differently, um, you know, when you kind of tip dip your toe on the other side of of of what life could be. So exactly.
SPEAKER_04Well now that you're back, you know, and you got the long hair, the flowing hair, and you're you're feeling good. Beautiful. How do you how do you reframe your goals in the gym? You know, a lot of people get kind of fixated on the number, the you know, the time, the weight on the barbell. Yep, Rx or not. Rx or not. Yeah, how how do you reframe that now in this this new phase of your life?
SPEAKER_02That's a good question. I mean, like I mentioned before, I I still want to Rx workouts and I still want to push the envelope. I mean, this morning I was like, mmm, 65 pound snatch. It's not heavy for the for lots of women. Um I've been through, you know, four surgeries now, procedures. Yeah. I always didn't have great shoulder mobility. Um, and so that's obviously been impacted more. So, you know, my goal today specifically was like, I'm gonna try and see if I can I can do this from the hang and see how it feels and if it and it hurts. And then in my mind, it's like, okay, Gemma, if you can do it and it doesn't hurt and it's comfortable, then give yourself the grace to do it slow, but do it, right? So it's always changing. There's certain things I know I might not ever be able to come in here and do like I could do before, and that's okay, you know. So it's a constant like conversation with myself. I look at the workout, like, am I gonna be able to hit that? You know, you know, how am I gonna have to do that? Am I am I gonna have to scale it? Um, and those were questions that I asked myself all the time before I had cancer, like what was gonna be best for me on that day. But I think the the mental shift is really like it's okay. Like you're going in there and you're putting in the work that you can, the best you can on that day. And that's really what matters to me more than than the way it did before. I and I I like I said, like I still want to get stronger and I still want you know, uh Courtney coaching last week. Um, you know, she noticed a difference in my overhead mobility. She noticed it. And that's like she commented on that. And that was like I texted her later afternoon, like that's really important for me that she noticed that, right? Because she's watched me through this journey, like really struggle. So um I think giving yourself grace is like hypercritical in a lot of things in life, but yeah, in fitness, it's you know, I'm not going to the games, right? And I I'm not going to the Olympics either. So I'm just trying to come in here and and do what I can.
SPEAKER_04And um, I think that's just an important message for so many people, like you know, that are perfectly healthy, right? And that are young and fit, like the same thing is true. Like, just come in and do the work, and some days are gonna be better than others, yeah. And you don't always have to put so much pressure on yourself because that's what burns you out faster.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and I think that another piece of that is if you can't do something, you can still come in here. Yeah, and the coaches will help you figure out something you can do. And I think people get super discouraged by that. They're like, you know, whatever's going on, they're like, oh, I just won't go. Like, no, that's not that's not what we you don't need to do that. Like, we can adjust and modify that's best for us on that day.
SPEAKER_00And that's kind of what I was thinking about too, because there's been parts of your journey where there's like if it might seem or feel like I can't do anything, you know? And we get creative and we make something into a workout where we can still get you moving, get your blood flow, maybe get your lower half stronger, whatever. And then there's been days where it's like, no, Demma, like you've been doing this a long time, I'm gonna put you in charge. Right. Um, so that you can feel really good about like this is my workout, right?
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I think that's where it's so cool to have like that coach-athlete relationship. Cool for me, um, on the side of like, I can trust you, right? And to come show up, do your best, know your body, right? And also to communicate with me, like, hey, I need help today, right? And then I step in and like, let's talk about this, let's make a good plan. Yeah, I watch you, make sure you're healthy, you know, moving well, all that stuff. Um, because that's another thing, like you don't get everywhere, right? No. Number one. And number two, that's a lot of that's another thing people shy away from, right? Is inviting someone else to help them through things that like feel really uncomfortable. Yeah. Like I don't want to be open about this. I hate that my body can't do this right now. I would much rather just close that door and hide it instead of like, hey coach, can you help me with this? Yeah, you know. Um, and so I really appreciate that you've included our coaches in that part of your journey. Um, but I think that's that can be good a good example for other people too. Yeah. You know, I absolutely agree. In that.
SPEAKER_04Um even something as simple as like, I'm not sleeping well. Yeah. I mean, like show up four out of five days and you're not sleeping well, and you're just not able to do what you can do if you're getting great sleep. You know, just communicating that to someone else, like I'm not myself today. Yeah. Um, I think I think more people need to take advantage of that. That hey, you know, just be open and transparent about where you are on in that moment, yeah, and we'll make the work the workout work for you. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And I think the coaches, I mean, obviously being a member for six and a half years, like just really watching a lot of times I'm observing that happening around me. I mean, of how how you can help how the coaches can help or change a movement so it's accommodating for that athlete. Um and I think that's super critical in in what the the community is here. Um, I know, you know, there's been a few occasions recently where, you know, not everybody knows like the granular bits and pieces of what I'm I'm going through what I've gone through even recently. You know, I just came out of a surgery uh seven weeks ago. So um and and that's and here we are. Here we are killing. Still here we are. Um and you know, I've I've shared with a coach uh before class, like, hey, I'm gonna, I'm gonna modify this like this, and hey, do you need help? Or uh how can I can I support you through this? Like that stuff is just really important and particularly um critical in CrossFit. And I think um in any sport really, and and I think in life too, like how can I support you through this? Like it seems like such an easy concept, but sometimes people are just they want to water hose and dump with what they think you should do versus saying, like, hey, course how can I support you through this workout? Like, what can I do to help you so that you get the best out of your time here?
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_00That's huge. Good reminder to all coaches out there too. Yeah, that's good.
SPEAKER_04No, one of the one of the things that um I learned about you today that I didn't know um was that you were kind of a free agent before you came to DOD. Yeah. I didn't really know I didn't I didn't know that. I thought we stole you from somewhere. But no. Um that's that's interesting to know. So the I have been to many CrossFit events uh around Charlotte with you. I've been there with you, I've been observing you as a competitor. Uh we've been spectators together, lots of different events around around Charlotte. One of them, by the way, is Beers and Burpees. Oh, yeah, beers and burpees.
SPEAKER_00I know we gotta start hyping that because it's coming up.
SPEAKER_04Let's do it. Shout out Beers and Burpees. I love that. Um, that's one of the premier events that we always find ourselves at together, um, along with several other people from DOD. But just, you know, you also mentioned that you spent a lot of time at Globo Gyms, you spent a lot of time sort of with punch carts, sort of being around the CrossFit community as a free agent, as I'm saying. What would you say is the advantage of putting down roots and making yourself a more permanent part of a specific community, a specific gym?
SPEAKER_02Yeah. That's I mean, that's a that's a good question. Um I'm I I'm I think from from the beginning, right, from when I joined, and then you know, like we kind of talked about before with COVID, like I think having a community of people that you see, that you care about, that you develop friendships with, that you connect with, that you hang out with outside of the gym, uh, is really is a big, big, big piece of it. Um, I also think that one of the reasons that Doors of Daring just like became part of my routine. I mean, it's quite literally the nicest CrossFit gym I've ever been in. One. It's incredibly clean, it's well maintained. You know, I always say, um, there's a member here that I took to a CrossFit gym in Florida, and when she left the gym with me, she was like, mm-mm, can't do that. Nope, never again. We're not going back to the floor. You know, and it was your your typical like garage door roll-ups, like probably great people, but just super great people, but like, you know, you lay on the floor, you stand up, your body is black, like floor. Yeah. Um, you know, my my brother, like I mentioned, he's a CrossFit coach in and Chapel Hill and super wonderful people. Uh, but like they keep some of their weights, like their plates outdoors, and you know, the metal ring is like spinning inside of it. And so um it's a high quality facility with high quality coaches. It's very close to my house, so it's very convenient for me to come here. Um, and I've just never really wavered. Like I locked in and and I've been a member ever since. So um it's my investment in myself. Uh, so that to me, tenfold is worth worth, worth the membership.
SPEAKER_00And one thing I'm gonna brag on you a little bit right now, Jamis. So like you have poured into this community in a million different ways, right? Like anytime someone has a baby or whatever, you're like the first on the meal train, the first like supporting that person, whatever. Um, and I think obviously I know you love volunteering, and that's a way that you love pouring out just for you. Um, but I think for other people to know that that's a part of really putting down roots too, right? Is like if you're always just bouncing around and stuff like that, you don't have relationships enough where those things start to happen, right? But when you really put down roots, it's like, oh, I know Trey Castle so well that he and his wife are expecting another baby. Like, I want to pour into them. Or, you know, so and so got sick and they need support. Like, how can we come around them and support them? A million other things, right? But um, I think that's part of how I've seen you with your roots here pour into this community, right? Like you don't just say, Oh, I I go here and I have for six years. Like you've you've really poured into the people here for six years.
SPEAKER_02Well, and I think on the flip of that, it's you know, I I've had a meal train out, you know, basically every surgery I've had that's been hosted by someone at this gym. So and it's not you know, the food has been delicious. Yeah, like so we've all been kind of so I think that's that goes goes both ways because I've been on the receiving end of that. I mean, and let's not forget about the the event that Doors of Daring hosted when I I got diagnosed. I mean, there was legitimately 250 people in here. Um, it was one of the coolest nights of my life when I was going into one of the hardest seasons of my life. Like I will never forget that.
SPEAKER_00So we gotta do that workout again.
SPEAKER_02That's a good workout. It is a good workout. We should do that workout. We should let up. That actually is a really good workout. We should do that on like a Saturday or something.
SPEAKER_00It's super fun. It's a good one.
SPEAKER_04I'd be in for that.
SPEAKER_00Let's do it. I know someone who programs though. We're good. Yeah, take care of it. We're good. Awesome.
SPEAKER_04You want to close this out, Corey?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, um, this this last question I'm really passionate about. So, you know, we talked about stay hard to kill, all these things, community, everything. But one thing I hear all the time from busy moms, busy professionals, it's like, man, I just don't have the time. Like, how do I fit that in? Why should I prioritize that when I have a million other things going on? Right. So let's kind of leave our listeners with like, all right, now we know that this is important. We know community is amazing, whatever. Like, why should we prioritize it? Absolutely make it part of your day, don't sacrifice it, whatever. What would your kind of message to them be? Right.
SPEAKER_02I think um my main message is is that being deconditioned just will will never support you in the longevity of your life, and that you owe yourself at minimum an hour a day to focus on yourself, whether that's all out fitness and giving it all you got or scaling it back to what's best for you on that day, I think that that's pretty much the message that I would say it is always worth it. Um, and you know what? Sometimes you have a hard workout and you leave and you get in your car and you feel like crap and it breaks you. And that's okay too. Like you grow in those seasons as well, right? Like, okay, how can I change the narrative of my day? I'm pissed off about that. Yeah, you missed a lift, you didn't do something as well as you thought that you could. Um, how can you shift that into like, but I showed up for myself. I sweat, I got to see some of my friends, I got to be with the community, and now I'm gonna go press forward into my day. Or, you know, if you work out at night, press forward into your evening with your family and have a good night's rest. I mean, all of that stuff contributes to your overall health. So I think I don't think that you owe it, yeah, they owe it to themselves. I don't think that you're ever too busy to not figure out a way to give yourself an hour of fitness.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, says the woman who works till like eight o'clock at night sometimes to be working a lot sometimes. It happens, yeah.
SPEAKER_04You just carve that time out for yourself and protect it. Yep. Because it's important, you make it a priority, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and I think once it's happy, you almost never regret it, right? Nope. Like I've never, you know, done work. I've been like, man, I wish I didn't do that. Yeah, you know, so yeah, it's awesome.
SPEAKER_03Awesome. Well, thank you so much. Thanks for having me guys.
SPEAKER_00Thank you for being a yeah. I can talk to Gemma all day. We can just go round two.
SPEAKER_04Well, let's go again. Thank you all for listening, for watching. Uh, leave us a comment, give us an idea about who you want to see on our show next. You want to see more of Gemma, you want to hear less from me. That sounds that's fine, you know. Whatever. All of your feedback is welcome. Uh, you can also like click the like button or the follow button or you know, scratch button or whatever. One of those things. Yeah, do those things, and uh, we'll see you next month. Thank you. See you guys.
SPEAKER_01Bye.