Hungry Dog Barbell Podcast
Kevin Forik
This weeks guest is Kevin Forik co owner of CrossFit T1. From offering free CrossFit classes to those clawing their way back from addiction, to the personal tales of our own nutritional awakenings, this episode is a rollercoaster through the landscape of health and the human spirit.
Kevin and I swap stories of our educational and career escapades, the tough decision to step away from the classroom, and how the lessons learned there are infused into our current mission: to forge meaningful connections and foster a thriving community within our CrossFit tribe.
This weeks guest is Kevin Forik co owner of CrossFit T1. From offering free CrossFit classes to those clawing their way back from addiction, to the personal tales of our own nutritional awakenings, this episode is a rollercoaster through the landscape of health and the human spirit.
Kevin and I swap stories of our educational and career escapades, the tough decision to step away from the classroom, and how the lessons learned there are infused into our current mission: to forge meaningful connections and foster a thriving community within our CrossFit tribe.
What's up guys? Welcome back to the Hungry Dog Barbell Podcast. I'm your host, taylor Williams, and this week I'm joined by Kevin Forrick, owner of CrossFit T1. Along with being a CrossFit affiliate, t1 is also an affiliate of the Phoenix Program, aka Rise, recover, live. They offer free fitness classes to anyone with 48 hours of continuous sobriety. As many of you guys out there know, this is a topic that's near and dear to my heart. Along with talking about how he got introduced to that and why it's so important to him, we talk about how Kevin found CrossFit, what it's done for him and his family, and what are his goals going forward for the gym. Tune in for another great episode. It's crazy how fit you got to be just to go and get last place at the CrossFit games you know, right, yeah, exactly, and I'll still, still won't be there yet.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:And they, they drop out of those master's divisions. I might have a chance then, but otherwise you know we'll stick to coaching.
Speaker 1:Dude, I'm 32. People keep telling me oh, a few more years you'll be in the master's division. I'm like when that happens, all the really fit people are just going to be 35. They're not going to be like, they're not going to disappear, you know.
Speaker 2:Right, exactly, and they've been doing it longer, you know Right. So that's the other, that's the other advantage that they'll always have.
Speaker 1:So they know how to game it, they know how the system works, they know how to like, gear their season, they know when to be fitter and when to be healthier. You know, as those two small different, distinct things there you know. Oh, very much so, very much so from us. So, like, what brought you to CrossFit, did you work out like as a kid, like what was the? What was your high school headspace like?
Speaker 2:Man, it was a lot, it was social. You know, like Easton was a very you know it was a big school. You graduated with a lot of people and people you know, you don't even really know all the time which was, you know, sitting next to you at graduation like, oh, who are these people around me? But how?
Speaker 1:big, was it? It was a very. Do you remember that?
Speaker 2:Couple, couple hundred. I think it was just under a thousand there somewhere around that, um, so you know it was big. It was a very big school. It's gotten even bigger at this point. Um, I know when my sister went through there's four years between us, um, there were many more in her class there. So, um, you know that's a little. You know different space there as well.
Speaker 2:Where, um, you know she was, she was a, an athlete as well. Um, you know our parents had us involved in everything and, um, as much as we could, and it was like, okay, well, what season? What you know sport, are you going to pick up this season or what are you going to be? And it was like you know, basketball kind of fell to the you know, off to the side for both of us at one point. You know, height got the the better of of both of us there, um, and skill of course too. I mean you had to be at a certain level even to play um, to play and do well, um, but yeah, I mean she stuck to like field hockey then and that was like her thing.
Speaker 2:I was going through through high school and mine was baseball. So you know it was nice to kind of you had the fall sport going on for her and you had spring, you know, with us. So, um, you know that was, that was cool. And then afterwards, you know, both of us just kind of stopped. As far as that goes. And when it comes to working out like now, I mean we got into the gym and, um, we had a pretty good facility there.
Speaker 2:But you know no direction, no idea what we were doing. It's like go in and work on the pretty muscles, you know, kind of shoot the shit with everybody, but no, no, no real direction. And and that direction didn't come in until way after. So you know that was the other. The other thing there, even when starting, when we got started with CrossFit, was like I one was very out of shape, you know I was. I was nowhere near where I wanted to be, um, and you know it was definitely battling some, some weight issues at that time too. So you know, once we got started it was like, oh okay, cool, I can do this stuff then. But you know, had to fix up the diet and everything else to really dial it in.
Speaker 1:Hell, yeah, I feel like so few. Like fitness programs before CrossFit were talking about like true health. You know, like what it meant to like take charge of your health for your future, for your kids, for your family, if you plan on having those things. And like what it meant to fuel yourself properly, like as a kid that grew up mostly in the nineties. I was born in 1991. Like, most of the stuff that we were eating was like TV dinners, you know, like microwave food, like whatever you could get. That would be quick. And then like just just eat the food Like microwave food, like whatever you could get. That would be quick. And then like, just just eat the food. Like, what was it like growing up for you and your family? Did your parents cook? A lot Was like, were you eating home cooked foods and what was your diet like?
Speaker 2:You know, I think there was definitely a lot of um, a lot of home cooked meals. We would kind of avoid those things, you know you would. You'd pressure your parents into, uh, I think, going out like, oh, can we go grab this and get some fast food, or whatever it was. But you know, we had the um, uh, we had options and when we were, you know, getting older, especially in high school, you were allowed to leave for certain amounts of time during the day. Um, as long as you know, you got basically lunch breaks and you can go off campus.
Speaker 2:You know, whatever it was, we went home, we would grill sometimes or, you know it, literally you'd end up at like some kind of fast food place, like it was right around the corner. So you know, I mean never thought about it, I never was like, oh my God, I have to have this much protein a day. I'd be eating, you know, these carbs and watch this and all that. Like now, it was just as much, you know, energy drinks back then as you could, which was, like, you know, getting those like Sobey you remember the Sobey bottles oh my God, dude.
Speaker 1:Right. So like those, I used to crush those. You know what else I used to crush? The fricking, not an energy drink, but the Lipton iced tea. Yeah, but like the real, real big ones, dude, I used to crush like two of those a day. And now I'll go back like oh my God, my stomach is going to explode right now. Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 2:Exactly. Yeah, I can't handle that anymore. But yeah, no, I mean, the nutrition was definitely not a factor. So both my parents were educators. You know, my dad was a teacher of middle school English for 30 plus years. My mom was health and phys ed teacher and you know, when it came down to and they both coached as well, you know. So there was a lot of that going on.
Speaker 2:But when it came down to, you know, yes, we had a lot of home cooked meals, we had a lot of stuff that was done there and, um, you know, uh, growing season was all year round, so that never really stopped. So there was always something, um that we were getting. That was, I guess, you know better in terms of that Um, but every now and then, yeah, of course, and even now, it's like, oh well, we get lazy sometimes, you know, we got to. You know, hit the door, dash at the Uber Eats or something like that. You know, order some Chick-fil-A. Kids are going to eat that too.
Speaker 2:So we can always there's balance, you know, but it's definitely there's a, there's a focus, and when we're in this space, you know we also have to be the example, and as much as you, you want to try to be like you're also human and those things. You know, life gets in the way, so sometimes it's got to be that fast stuff. But yeah, um, it was kind of set back then and you know, we we kind of worked with it as we got even older. So yeah.
Speaker 2:I see a place now.
Speaker 1:The big thing is man.
Speaker 1:For my friends that have like kind of whatever age kids, actually it's just putting in the example and like leading from the front, so that it becomes like a habit to choose the healthier option quicker than you would like the fast option, right, like you leave the fast option there as an option so that you're not like going super hardcore one way. But building those habits early on leads to like a healthier lifestyle. You know, and and like thinking back now I can clearly see it Like, even though I wasn't focused on it back then, my friends that had that the healthy habits just ingrained in them naturally, versus a lot of us that were just like, hey, there's a McDonald's that's a mile away, I'm going to go eat that for dinner, you know, on a regular because we had no, we had no idea what was better for us. You know, like some people that just had it ingrained as habits like they were set up for, like future success that they didn't even know about back then you know yeah exactly, so it's a big deal now.
Speaker 1:So then, like you just said, your parents are educators, right, and I feel like a lot of kids that live through that they want to become educators themselves or they just feel like naturally they should gravitate towards that. Like, where was your head at, what did you want to do? As, like a 17 year old?
Speaker 2:It was the last thing I wanted to do. I had, I had nothing. I did not want to go into that space at all. And, um, you know, I was like I'm going to go. You know, I had no idea what I was going to do. Honestly, you know, got to college and probably changed my major I think it was five times um, you know, bounced around from from different things. I actually thought about education at one point and then just I, you know, I, I didn't, I wasn't dialed into education at that point. I was, I was having a good time. I was, you know, I was doing the work. But you know, I also, I, I took some extra time as well. Um, definitely didn't go to all the classes I was supposed to, even my freshman year.
Speaker 2:So I had to do a little extra time after everybody else graduated. I stuck on for another half semester and finished up there and actually graduated a little afterwards. But it's funny because I left and I was like, all right, I'm going to go into business, I'm going to go into marketing or something like that sales. And because that's where money is business, I'm going to go into marketing or something like that sales. And you know, cause that's where money is, and I went into literally business to business sales. At one point I was like you know, these went to this interview and um, and I ended up driving this guy around all day and we drove from business to business and walked from business to business, and it was, I think, january, february at that point, so it's also freezing out. And he did well, he was really good at it, he could talk to people and he made right there in maybe like five and a half hours out there, made a couple hundred bucks, and then you go back to the office, you do your thing and then you're done for the day. I was like, oh, that's not too bad. So I actually I did that for a little while.
Speaker 2:Um, I sold, like you know, we worked. It was actually kind of cool because we got to work with some pretty cool organizations. Like we went to work with the Philadelphia soul when they first came out and they were getting really big and we did the promotions for them. Um, so you know, you got we would sell these, like these cards, and on the card was like hey, you get X amount of tickets for games and then you also get to go to McFadden's across the you know, uh, where the ballpark is when that was still there and you got free drinks and appetizers and stuff like that. I got to go down, you know, work with, um, the Florida Panthers for a little bit and did some stuff with the uh, the nets for a little while. But, um, but then again you're, you're literally I don't know how many shoes I went through um, and then you're also walking around in a suit all day. So that was, that was pretty gnarly, um, and it just was. It was terrible waking up early, getting home late, driving constantly.
Speaker 2:I was in, spending more time in gas and I was making money, wow, so went into, then found like some HR or headhunting kind of gig and you know I learned a lot there. I will say that I learned a whole lot about, you know, just trying to try to talk to people, bring people in, and then it was like, ok, where are we going to place them? Do they actually fit any of the jobs that we're trying to hire for? And it's still same thing. It was like it was at a desk. It was like best way I can describe it was at the time, um, like boiler room, like that, the first like kind of version of before they could call it the wolf of wall street, right before that movie could come out.
Speaker 2:Like boiler room, that was it. You're sitting at a desk, you got a rolodex and you're calling people, you're digging through resumes online and it's like you're calling companies. And if you weren't on the phone, it was like you were doing something wrong. Right, wasted time, yeah, yeah, exactly. So I was like I was happy to finally get out of that. And next thing, you know, here I go, I'm walking in and I'm a substitute teacher and I'm bouncing around from a couple of different charter schools in Philly and finally ended up at a smaller charter school in Germantown, and that was in 2007. And I was then teaching. I taught middle school, history, seventh and eighth grade for so two years at that school and then I moved down to Southwest Philly. I taught seven years down at a school down there and then I moved up to a high school and I finished out there in 20, january 2019 is when I left education.
Speaker 1:Damn man. So before we move on to like leaving, like tell me about that transition period from being like boy in the room like you just said you're dealing with like a lot of turnover, like mostly reading the same script all day, you know, and dealing with adults, to now you're trying to go educate kids. Like what was that transition period like?
Speaker 2:um, it was interesting and I think I think it was a little. It was definitely easier to work with kids because it was I was still young at the time too. So even working with that middle school kind of thing it was was like, oh, there's a young guy coming into the school, here, there's a young teacher which you know that was. That had its own difficulties in itself and you know, I had a history background from school. I have a history degree which that you can do a lot with that. You know, you can pretty much go anywhere and do anything with you when you have a degree. So I used that and I was like, oh, I loved history, so, yeah, I'll go teach it, that'll be fine. And it just so happened that I was pretty decent at it and I could, you know, I could do the story part of history and I could tell the stories and get people interested and, you know, have fun with what I was doing. Um, and I made some, you know, really great uh connections and and things like that with. You know, those I was teaching with and I had some.
Speaker 2:I had an amazing mentor, um, when I went down to the middle school in Southwest Philly. Um, and I mean he was he kind of just like, came in and was like it's funny, it's almost very similar to like um when you go for like your L1, your L2, and you've got these, you know your red shirts, right, and and he was literally like the first red shirt I had and he was, you know, a retired principal and teacher himself and he was like why did you do that? And it was like he never answered. He never answered a question. He just kept asking more and more questions. I never answered. He never answered a question. He just kept asking more and more questions. I was like, damn, like he makes you figure it out, um, and I mean he was phenomenal and, you know, a great guy all around and uh, so I tried to take that and I tried to take the what he did, and I saw how he interacted with not only other people that he worked with, but then the students and like those relationships meant everything.
Speaker 2:And you know, when I got to the point where it was like you know what? I think I've had enough of middle school Because you know you only get to see them go so far, you only get to see those students succeed so much. And then it's like, well, you never, either you never hear from them again, or every now and then they might come back and tell you about, like, oh, what they're doing in high school, but then you don't get to see it afterwards. Um, so I, I wanted that experience and I went to um. I went to a high school then and I taught everything from nine through 12 and you know different aspects of history at that point. But, um, you know, that was cool. And then I actually got to see kids graduate and that was like you know, that was the peak. It was like, okay, cool, you like you're going on to something.
Speaker 2:And you know, again, I've had some students reach out and um, recently even, and to see what they're doing. It's like, okay, cool, you did make an impact. So it doesn't. It's not always instant. It's not always that instant gratification that we want. Sometimes it, you know, in one case it took literally 17 years.
Speaker 2:So, um, to see that, you know, one kid he's, he's absolutely crushing it and I mean he's doing so well. And I've heard from another one recently who's the same thing. He's like, yeah, I'm doing this Now I got into he's working for an accounting firm. It's like that's really fucking cool. And I've other kids are lawyers.
Speaker 2:I got two that ended up being, you know, going into med school and becoming doctors. So yeah, it's just it's very cool to see that. To leave it it was definitely good because it's you know, you're you're working in North Philly at the time and you, you get to come home to a little bit better situation. Actually, you know, in many cases is a much better situation. You hear horror stories of the kids that you know what they go home to or what they don't go home to and, um, you can only carry that so far, and especially when then you have two young kids too, you know that becomes um, you know, it's like that weighs on you a little bit and, uh, you know I was. I was happy to get out of it too, though.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you can love it. It can be a big part of your life for a huge phase, but then sometimes it's best to walk away to to give back in another way.
Speaker 2:Um, you know, last week, uh, a student that I said I had 2007, my very first year that I started teaching he literally walked, he knocked on the door in the gym here and walked in next thing. You know, we're talking for an hour. We kind of kept in touch a little bit but you know, I was like that was the one. He was that one that was like he made it and he did. He is doing amazing things. So it's like I kind of took that from my parents. I took that from the relationship that they had, that they kept along the way.
Speaker 2:And you see that now and you know, you see that in this role and you see that in here, when people walk in and it's like the first thing, it's like hey, you know how you doing, like what's going on. And I start a conversation with we. We do work with like the best hour team, so you know Fernandez and Ackerman, and it's like you know all those other guys like the one thing that they preach, and it's like it's true, like you have to care. And you know when, when Jen and I kind of got into this, it was like that's, that's why, that's why we did it. It was for the people that were here, because we do care about, like just you know, not only this place being successful, but about these individuals, our members that are coming in. We care. So that was implanted very early on and you get to see that that's awesome to see it like reverberate throughout the rest of your life.
Speaker 1:You know like just be a continuous flow of like having building these relationships. That's amazing. So how was your health at the time that you're teaching? Terrible.
Speaker 2:I mean, I'm not, I'm not even kidding. So, um, I didn't. We didn't start this whole CrossFit thing until 2000, 2012, right after we got married. Um, that she actually drug me to a CrossFit class. So, again, this is all actually because of Jen. Um, that she actually drug me to a CrossFit class. So, again, this is all actually because of Jen um, that we're even in this space.
Speaker 2:But my, my health was terrible. Um, I was drinking a lot, uh, I mean almost every night, and at the time when we first bought our house, um, I was living it was a construction zone for six months or so, so it was like I would come home, we'd work on the house for a little while, and then it was like, you know, my father-in-law would leave and you know, my mother-in-law and then Jen would, she'd go back and you know, to to their house, to, um, to stay there, and I'd stay in the house, and it was like, oh, you know what was out of control. It was eating like absolute trash during the day and night and I, you know, at my peak, I was probably about like 235, I think, was the highest that I hit, and I mean that was like right now right now like 192, 195.
Speaker 2:And you know that was. It was bad. I mean mean I had pants still like every now and then I just there are a couple up in the the closet there. It's like I pull them out. I'm like, god damn, like this is what I was wearing at one point. Yeah, it's like you know you find something. You're like holy shit, like what was I doing.
Speaker 2:And my saving grace at the time was that I worked for a sports camp in the summer and so you know, do that whole kind of cycle thing go drinking through the year, go out afterwards, go out. You know just a lot of you know unhealthy habits. You know that were really that got actually pretty bad at one point after. You know, you know because Jen's in healthcare, so she's like you need to go get some blood work done and all this other, and I was like all right, so I did, and it was like levels are through the roof. You know she's like you gotta do something about this.
Speaker 2:Um, but my saving grace, like I said, was this summer this uh sports camp that I worked at and it was, it was fun, and you know the other counselors there we would play basketball every, every day during lunch. So I was like, all right, I'm going to sweat it out. So, come, you know, end of summer looking, okay, you know still, I mean there's pictures If you go back, even to like the very beginning of when we started, and it's like you can see, it's like you can see, it's like, oh, holy shit, like I'm carrying a lot of weight still, and it's all sitting right in that midsection right there, yeah, buddy, and then you know my face and whatnot too. So, um, yeah, everything was really bad, and it was. It was getting to a point where it was like, all right, well, we need to do something about this.
Speaker 1:And that's when, uh, that's when we jumped in so was it like jim's, like, hey, go get blood work done, you get the results and then cross it shortly after that, or how did? How do you first start trying to reverse?
Speaker 2:that it was like it was like LA fitness, there's one like right down the road here. So it was like I'll do the global gym thing. We both went out, we joined. She would go religiously. She would go to, like you know, cycling classes that were either going on there or she would go, and you know she would go before work and then she'd go into the hospital and then if I felt like it at the end of the day I would go out there and, you know again, work those pretty muscles.
Speaker 2:Or like you know, there was a one, uh, one summer I came back, me and my buddy, um, there was a gym at home that we would go to and it was like we would go every day and I would do like his, um, he was rowing a crew for, um, uh, he was up at Boston and, um, so I do his like workouts that were like that and I was like, oh, okay, this is cool, but again it wasn't really like it was all stationary stuff, isolated um, isolated movements, and you know that was all right, but again it still wasn't enough. Um, so, yeah, it was actually. Her friend was like she joined a gym in Maniunk at one point and she drank the Kool-Aid pretty hard. And what happens? What's the first rule of CrossFit?
Speaker 2:You don't talk about it to other people. You don't talk about CrossFit, second rule of CrossFit you talk about CrossFit, so that's all she was doing for a while and I was like there's no way I'm joining that cult, there's no way I'm going to be doing those things, like that's ridiculous. Um, next thing, you know, jen bought this Groupon and we went up to Lifeforce, which was at the time in Feasterville. I don't know that, I don't believe they're there anymore. Um, they might have branched off to another gym with some of the coaches there, but we went up there and we started.
Speaker 2:So, come home from work, come home from teaching in Southwest Philly, get home about like five o'clock, race up there to get into a class, you know seven o'clock, sometimes get back at eight. And it was like, oh, my God, like I first workout, absolutely. Uh, you're literally sitting on the floor wondering what the hell just happened. Do you remember that first workout? What it was? It was uh, tabata, uh squats, and then a mile run. Oh, buddy, so legs are absolute jelly, you know. And it's like, oh, I'm gonna push the run here. I was like I could run pretty decent, but came back in it was like room spinning, like I'm gonna pass out like this is bad, I'm gonna puke. I you know, jen had to drive home from that first one and and then she's like all right, we're going back tomorrow. Damn All right, like okay. And then we went back, and then we went back again and just kept going.
Speaker 1:That's what it is. Keep walking through the door.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and then, fortunately, you know, she's like hey, by the way, this guy that, uh, her and her brother grew up with, um, he, he owns a gym right around the corner'm like why the hell are we going up to feasterville there's a gym literally around the corner from us. So, um, yeah, we came to t1. Then, um, in uh, end of december 2012, beginning of january 2013, and we've been, we were members, you know, since then, damn dude.
Speaker 1:So at that time period, actually first, let me say I remember my first workout and it was a tabata too, but it was like wall walls, deadlifts and toes to bar. Looking back I'm like who put this nonsense together? Because I was my, my midsection was lit up after that workout, I remember just, I'm sure, days afterwards for sure I didn't. I I brought, I bought one of those like uh punch cards. I think in the very beginning so I didn't go back.
Speaker 1:It was probably like a wednesday or th. I didn't go back to the following Monday, but the second class was like. After the first one I was like, all right, that was like a little ridiculous, like I kind of low key died. But after that second class I wish I could remember that workout is the one that got me in you know, yeah, definitely Taking the Tabatas out.
Speaker 1:So at that time, barry, like you just said, you were a pretty good runner there. What was your diet Like? Were you still drinking? Had you cut back on it? How was that? Um?
Speaker 2:no, it was still like one of those, you know, always had the. Uh, the fridge always had to be full. You know there was, uh, it was ridiculous. It was like, all right, well, we're going to get, I'm going to have a case of this and my case of this and'll always be prepared in case. You know, cause we were young too, you know it was like a lot of people, we were hanging out with friends, you know, we'd go to each other's houses. We, you know everyone come over our house and our neighbors. You know it was like, you know we'd get after it, and it was like they became like all night kind of things, all day, you know, sunday fun days, um, you know, whatever it was, there was always a reason to drink. Oh it's. You know, there's a game on, we're going to be drinking, um, you know, eventually it was like you, you get to that point.
Speaker 2:And again, this diet was, you know, we would do certain things like Jen was way more strict than I was and she would make sure, like, all right, well, I'm going to do this, or I'm going to make these, uh, you know, dinners from here on out, and which was good, and then we'd stick to those things for a little while, but it, you know, it wasn't until, man, probably, we did our first. It was the first challenge that we did here, a nutrition challenge, and one of the coaches was like what the fuck are you doing? Like, how are you eating this? I was like, well, what do I eat? And you, uh, you know, I was like I'll, I'll eat this and I'll eat this much of this, and these things are like no, like that's like you're, you're done, you're basically done. And I started getting all this and it was like, you know, I probably lost I think it was, uh like close to 20 pounds. So that first challenge, I was like, oh, okay, so this is what it's actually supposed to be like.
Speaker 2:But I mean, I tell people when they new people, when they come in, or even people that have been here for a while, it's like you cannot work a bad diet, you know, no matter what you do, like that is going to have an impact, no matter how many hours you're in the gym, like that is going to be the factor there You're gonna overeat something or you're not going to feel good the next day. There's going to be inflammation, there's going to be all of those things that you know again, we should be preaching. That I was not doing at the time. So it took a while to actually really get into that.
Speaker 2:And it was like you know, we we even had a group in here on the weekends where it was like you know, we, we do a group workouts, partner workouts, and whoever lost, you know, had to buy the beer for the next week. And then it was like you know, we're sitting out here in the parking lot and we're we're drinking, and afterwards, after you know the doors have been shut, you know the owner had left. He's like you guys are on your own, like I'm closing the doors, but you as long didn't start to turn over until I was like, oh, I want to get serious about this, I want to dial this stuff in, like I can't be. You know, this fit fat kind of thing. You know, so it. But it took time. It took a lot of time to realize that.
Speaker 1:Was there like a catalyst to you changing your mindset to that, or you just finally arrived at it?
Speaker 2:it was. You know performance. So it's like, well, why are these guys doing this? Or you know you watch these games athletes, you, you see what they're doing. It's like, well, what are they eating? You know those were. You know I don't want to say they're, they're the people that you know there are idols or things like that, but like, those are the people that you do at the time, even when you're starting, it's like you look up to it's like oh shit, look up to it. It's like oh shit. Like Rich Froning, like my God, like look at him and you'll look at these other guys. That like that's, that's what a CrossFit athlete looks like.
Speaker 2:And you know that that was not, that was not me, that was not us. You know that was. That was really different. So it was like one of those things that was like okay, so what do I have to do? And you know, the previous owner at the time was like like what? Like he literally got in my face, was like what the fuck are you eating and what are you doing that? You're still killing yourself, basically.
Speaker 2:And you know you go back, you know you do side by side comparisons of pictures. It's like holy, like I was fat. It was bad, like there was no neck, you know what I mean. So we had to. We turned it around and when, once we did, it was like it. It's a process You're going to start small and you're going to make those adjustments as you go and you find out what works. And then, since I mean for the past several years, I've literally had the same breakfast almost every single morning, and I watch what I do, I track every now and then as well, if I know I'm getting off base, I go back to tracking again. So, and it's all about that performance you want to get, you want to be better. And then you also, like you want to be an example. You can't, you can't, you know, talk it and not walk it. For sure.
Speaker 1:So like if I'm sure you have this conversation with people all the time as a coach and affiliate owner, if somebody is out there and they were like in the same path as you. Right, they want to have their day one be today or tomorrow, like what's something simple they could do right away either take away or change or add in to start having that healthier lifestyle.
Speaker 2:I mean it all. It all starts with somebody like walking in the door and having the courage to do that, cause that's sometimes very intimidating for individuals. You know, just walking, like people can reach out all the time and say, hey, I'm really interested, I want to come in. I was like, okay, walk, just walk in the door, and it's like you can't, you can't, force them in. But once they get here, then it's like, okay, hey, awesome, like you have, we have goals, conversations with, with, with individual individuals. When they walk in here. Um, and we're doing that right now, we're asking all our members for short-term and long-term goals. It's like, how can we help you achieve those? How can we help you get there? Um, cause, not everybody knows, and even you know.
Speaker 2:Sometimes you know, like the other day a coach came up and and you know we were talking and, um, you know just about like, wow, I've, I've started to notice like the changes that you know the things I was doing before. I'm going back on those and I'm going back to those old habits and I'm just eating kind of whatever, and performance is suffering. It's like, cool, well, what are we doing? Let's dial it in. And you know, that's, I think the most important part there is like just listening to people and what they need and then starting to guide from there. People and what they need and then starting to guide from there. You know what start drinking. You know half your body weight in ounces and water a day. See what happens. You know those little things you know. Start not necessarily like measuring all your foods and all your macros and all that, but just kind of watch what you're eating, maybe journal what you're eating, and then we'll look at it together and we'll go from there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, for sure Something. I just said this on the last podcast with amy broccoli also, like I'm going through a phase where I've definitely let myself slip and get out of shape and, the biggest thing to me, I listen to a lot of the crossfit podcast stuff. Andrew hiller just said on the podcast one time hey, if you're not watching what you're eating, you're not a real crossfitter. And it sucked to hear you know, but it's like that's so. You know, because that's how I originally got into CrossFit was like these people were talking about what you should eat and what's going to help you fuel your body the best. So if you're not doing that, like you're not really a CrossFitter. Because everyone works out.
Speaker 1:You know, like there's so many different things that like look like CrossFit from the outside but that's what kind of separates us you know, and not even kind of that's what kind of separates us, you know, and not even kind of that is what separates us from from like just a regular person going to the gym, just going to LA fitness.
Speaker 2:besides the community aspect, you know, I mean the base of the pyramid nutrition sure.
Speaker 1:One hundred percent. So tell me, like, how do you keep going? Like what's the first thing you notice? It's like all right, this is working and I want to stay on this train. Like what's the first thing you notice? It's like all right, this is working and I want to stay on this train.
Speaker 2:You know, when it comes down to that, it's it's really about, you know, and you know we've we've done the nutrition coaching ourselves. We've done, we've done challenges. Recently, you know, we, a bunch of our coaches, went and we get the precision nutrition cert. So we've worked with, you know, a lot of our members and, like, we've worked with people that you know, know what they're doing, um, you know, black iron nutrition is another one that, uh, you know Jen works with, uh, consistently and, um, you know it's like that, it's the, it's the commitment piece. That's the biggest factor when it comes down to it is how committed are you to it and are you going to stick with it? Are you going to allow yourself that? You know 80, 20, which you know. 80, 20 is good, 80, 20 is great. When you come down to it, you know if you can even dial that in there. It's like you know one of those things where, if you get back to it, like you, you know what you can go back to. You know what it's like to slip, but you know what it is to then get back on track and start feeling good and it's like, oh shit, you know what. I just, you know, ran my fastest, you know, 800. I just ran my fastest, 400, rode my fastest, 2k. Like well, what led to that? Well, I started changing some things over the past few days, even, you know, just hit some monster lifts like fantastic. Like those things correlate to each other. You can't have one without the other.
Speaker 2:And, you know, I think there's just an accountability piece that we all hold each other to. Um, you know it's, I mean, we're all very honest with each other here in general. Um, but, like you know, we'll say like, oh, what are you doing lately? Like, are we partying a little too much right now? Or, you know, are we? What's the nutrition look like? Just that little simple question. And it's like, oh well, it's this, this and this. It's like, okay, well, maybe we just need more sleep then, maybe we need a little more rest, maybe we actually need to take a legit rest day. And I've had that conversation with a lot of people where it's like, you know, what you can come in, that's your job is sit down on that rower and do nothing else and just a nice mild row for maybe 30 minutes, go from there and then just see how you feel afterwards, cause you know that's all part of it too. Rest days are built in. Look atcom. Rest days are built in all the time.
Speaker 1:There they're super important, I mean. So how?
Speaker 2:do you guys go from just being members to now owners of a team one? It's thinking about this, like I think every, no matter what, every member has that conversation with other members, whether you are just hanging out or you know you're in the gym or you're out of the gym. It's like, damn, how cool would it be to own one. You know, and I mean I think that's everybody, you know you get into that and it's I don't think, uh, it all. It always comes to fruition by any means, because it's a, it's a big, freaking leap, um. But then I was like I really want to do this. I think this would be really freaking cool, like I I think I could run a business. You know, I've seen how, um, I mean we granted we only saw this one, we only saw T1 and to see kind of how things were going there. It was like, yeah, I mean even the previous owner, like his whole thing, it was care, it absolutely care was at the front of what he did, um, and he just wanted, he just wanted healthier people. That's what he was all about and he wanted to help people. And it was like, damn, I help people. And it was like, damn, I appreciate that and I was like that's all it takes and he's, you know, at the time, because again he's been around or T1, he started T1 in 2010. So you know, december was our 13th anniversary and it was like he had it going this long because he cared. So you know, that was something that really transferred over to us and we saw that and it was like you know what, after I stopped teaching and because I was also coaching at the time of it you know I coached baseball as well for the middle school and, um, you know, I just missed that connection and you know, I I moved on and I was doing, you know I I still do um, uh, pharmaceutical supplies. So you know, I sit at a computer now and I make sure people are getting all their supplies, that they need to run studies and trials and whatnot. So that was um, that gets you so far and it makes you feel pretty pretty good that you are helping people in that aspect. Um, but it was like I missed the coaching piece. So I actually drug um another member with me to my L one. Um, he's coaching with us, you know, for us now as well, but we went in 20, 2020, I believe it was and uh, got the L one and it was like started coaching almost as soon as I got the approval. You know you get that email back like congrats you, you've passed.
Speaker 2:It was like I, I that Monday. I was like Sunday night I found out Monday I started coaching and um, you know that was it was amazing Went out afterwards and, um, I just kept going with it. It was like the cause, all this stuff, it is just, it's fascinating. It blows my mind. I love learning more about it and like the little intricacies of it, went and got. It's like, oh, I would love to bring a kids class in here. There was another coach at one point who was doing kids and working with sports groups and whatnot sports teams, and so I went and got the kids cert and after the kids cert it was like, oh, I got to go for my L2, like, right now I have to get. I can't stop here, I have to be a better coach and that's all it was at the time. It was just like I got to be a better coach. And then things started actually kind of, you know, progressing.
Speaker 2:Covid obviously did some damage to a number of gyms and you know ours being one of them, and you know the members, they stuck with it. The previous, you know owner GM. They both got on board and like, hey, we'll do online workouts. You know, we emptied this place out. We took as much equipment. I my, my garage was loaded up with as much stuff. Then it was like, you know, you still got to do something, um, and you know it got to that point of you know, there's that that whole thing. He had an opportunity to move on to another venture and he stuck with that and and then it got really serious about um, I guess it was August of 22, august of 2022, that he was like I'm going to start thinking about I'm actually selling now. And, um, you know, I was like, oh, that would be really freaking cool if it actually happened.
Speaker 2:And it wasn't until a little while later that someone else kind of came up and was like, hey, why haven't you said anything Like, why haven't you guys gone up and done it? It's like that's a one, it's a I don't know money-wise, like price, what it's gonna come out to, but what's the commitment going to be? We both have, you know, jen and I both have full-time jobs. Um, you know, I at the time wasn't having to go into the office. So that was. That was nice, um, and I was able to, um, you know, I worked from home and then I can come over to the gym when I needed to, and you know, I would coach at night and I would do my kids classes on the weekends. Um, um, and that was all good. But then it was like, wow, if we're really going to do this, like we gotta, we gotta be fully invested and um, you know, I think there was, there were some other things that had transpired. That was like, all right, well, maybe we'll actually start to think about it.
Speaker 2:And then the conversation started, december of 22. And we started going back and forth and talking about, you know, kind of why we wouldn't want to do it. And it was that piece that we talked about before because we cared. You know, we had, you know, a decent number of members at the time and they were all they're the second family. You know.
Speaker 2:You come in here, you see them every day. You see what they're the second family, you know. You come in here, you see them every day. You see what they're going through, you see when they're not doing well or when they are and and it's like you, just you care about these people and we couldn't let that really go to um, to anyone else. And because this place is important to us too and we've been coaching here for a while, you know, jen went and got her l1 now um, her l2 um of January, but we decided, yeah, we're going to, we're going to make that leap, let's do it. We pulled together everything we could and we sat down with the you know, the owner at the time. It was like there we go. So February 7th 2023 is when everything was officially signed over.
Speaker 1:Damn dude. So you're a little over one year in as a as affiliate owners and first, like full-time business owners, like in his first year, tell me first what's been like the biggest oh shit moment, like oh, are we really doing this?
Speaker 2:Um yeah, I think it was when we we really broke down, um what it would take to one. We really broke down um what it would take to one keep it going. You know we, um, so February, we started and was like, all right, well, let's see where membership's at. And you know we, we started getting all those numbers and everybody that it was actually like, you know, we had this monster list, um, and then we started going through and weeding out through all of the stuff that was in Wattify and you know we had some just kind of personal quirks with Wattify and the way that that was working. And then, um, chris, uh, spalina with Phoenix, actually, um, he was like, hey, you should check out stream fit next. You know we check out stream fit and then we bring all of our members into stream fit and it was like, oh, okay, so here's our numbers. It was like, oh shit, we really got to start building. Like we have to get to a certain point, like right now it's it's pretty much break even, if anything.
Speaker 2:Um, in the beginning and that was kind of scary, um, but it was like, well, we have to work at this. Then we really have to put in the effort we have to put in the time. And you know, I mean the cool thing was it was like the kids, uh, we put a broom in their hand and it was like all right, guys get to work in here. So you know, they started sweeping and doing all those things and, you know, started to help and we started to just kind of chip away at all the little things. You know space, the space itself in the gym. Here we, we started, um, moving some things around like those little things, and it's like it's funny just to see what members notice, like how how many times you move like the you know the PVC pipes or the bands and things like that, and it's like they were over there one day you move.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly, you know it's like, oh, it's like, oh, okay, flow, it makes sense. You walk in, you grab your PVC, you grab your band, you're good to go. Um, you upgrades. But then it's also just been about the fact that, like, hey, we, we want to grow this, we, we want to help these people that are here, but there's more people to help and there's more people to take care of. And you know, that, I think, became a major thing and we just we kind of dove in headfirst and it's you know, just not.
Speaker 2:I don't want to say keeping our heads above water, but I mean we're treading pretty hard and it's it's. It's been fun, that's the best part. It's been fun to do it.
Speaker 1:That's awesome to hear. So I know that it's all about the community and everything, and just taking care of your people was a big part of like keeping team one going and staying afloat. But what's been something that's happened over the past year for you guys that you're like all right, like I, like I'm fully committed to this, like that was awesome. Right there, I want to keep getting this feeling.
Speaker 2:Um, our holiday party was a big thing, you know, um, we had, if we so we had about over 70, about 75 people show up for a holiday party, um that, so February then of 2023, that would have almost been the entire membership at the time. So there were, and there were a lot of people missing from the holiday party, which you know was was a great time, and we gave away awards and it was like when we honored our members and we honored, you know, people that have been here for a long time, you know we did I got connected with this this guy randomly, um, who does woodworking and among many other things at this point too, but I I asked him to make awards for us and it was like we gave these awards out, I took plates that were busted up, I cut, cut them in half and we we bolted them to. You know, these like makeshift kind of um platforms, basically, and it was like, hey, you know, you're our most improved for the year, and it's like recognizing these people that have without them, without these members that have been here and stuck with us and then you know we're stuck with T1 for so long, but then to also stick with us like we wouldn't be here without them. So it was like recognizing all of their efforts and everything that they've done and their support was efforts and everything that they've done and their support was, I mean, that was all we needed. It was like this is this is why we do this.
Speaker 2:You know, and I mean you, you take things like, of course you can take those little wins and those little victories, like the open, and it's like damn, so many people got there first, this open and this you know, this past year, you know a couple of months ago, people got there more first and you just celebrate those things and you, you honor those people and you recognize, like what you know, the work that they've put in and I mean that's, that's what, that's what keeps you going, that's what your, your drive is day in and day out. That's amazing.
Speaker 1:That's so awesome to hear. So like this is within your first year, we get announcements from CrossFit home office that they're going to be raising the affiliation price and then also requiring people to have a minimum of level two. What's going through your head when you're getting these like updates and alerts?
Speaker 2:Okay, it's like all right, we got to do it, that's what we have to do. That's what we have to do. Um, fortunately, I had my L2 at that point. Um, so then it was just getting Jen to get hers. So, like I said, she was just out of KOP in January, so she got hers. We had another coach go with her as well. Now, that's.
Speaker 2:The other thing is like we're trying to actually level up all our coaches at this point because, why not? You want that member experience to be the very best and you want them to get the most out of it. Yeah, it's their hour of the day, it's their time to come in, cut loose. Um, you know, do their thing. And if they just want to work out, then great, they want to work out. But you know what, if there's people that are in here that want to push and want to do that extra and want that critiquing and that queuing, like we're going to give it to you, like we're leveling up our coaches so that we can be better for our members.
Speaker 2:Um, so it was like that only makes sense. Like, why would you not want to get better at this? And all of our coaches are part-time they're. You know we don't have one full-time coach or GM at this point, like they're coming in, you know, on their off hours or when they can during the day to coach and then they go back to doing what they're doing. It's like they appreciate them so much and all the effort and time that they put in. And then it was like, okay, that $4,500 price tag of being an affiliate. I was like all right, well, they hadn't raised that fee in how long? What was it Like?
Speaker 1:a decade, 17 years. Yeah, something yeah.
Speaker 2:I mean, I think we got lucky in that the time that we did take over, it was already kind of covered by the previous owner, which was good, so we only had to put out. Then I think we were still under the grandfathered rate, which was nice. But this year when it comes up, yeah, we'll be ready for it. We've budgeted for it, we've planned it all out there. That if that's what it takes to, you know, be a CrossFit affiliate, then yeah, we're going to do it. You know, we owe everything to what they've done to this point to get us even here.
Speaker 1:For sure I love that. It's like, uh, all those raises are kind of just going to be like, require people to be better business minded, right, like outside of just being a super successful business like, hey, whatever you have going on, you have the opportunity over these 12 months to budget to get this. You know like this is an opportunity for you to look into your numbers and figure out what you have to do, what you have to move around to be successful enough to do that. Right, yeah, right. So on the other side of that, in your past year, how much communication positive and negative have you gotten from home office on being a better affiliate? Cause they are trying to do things? What's your take on all that?
Speaker 2:Um, so I mean actual HQ home office. We haven't there. There hasn't been much. You know it's like hey, you know, okay, your affiliate fees coming due. That was about it. Um, and you know, like you're going to put out the information that there's all these resources on the website now and all that stuff's there. That was great, okay, good, I don't necessarily. If you're your own business owner, you're your own entity within them. Shouldn't you be doing that, though, on your own as well? That's, I feel, the responsibility of the affiliate owner to make sure that you're running your business the way that you want to do it.
Speaker 2:Crossfit provides all of that stuff. I mean there's marketing materials on there. There are, you know, there's videos to actually walk you through. I mean there's a playbook. I was actually looking at this, you know, even more recently. You know the playbook is how you set up your affiliate, how you are going to set up your space, how you. You know all of those little things, the conversations to have with people. There's, there's a whole section in there. You know, breaking down the intimidation for new people walking in.
Speaker 2:All of these resources are there, like I, I don't know why you wouldn't use them, or at least you know, take it and make it your own. I think that's the whole thing is like we should be doing that anyway. You know we're not the gym up the street, we're not the gym down there. It's like we're on our own, like you do. You right, right, exactly, you know, that's that's the whole thing. And these resources are there. Use them Absolutely. And there are so many other resources out there. I will say, you know, like working with um, the one communication that is consistent all the time is um, the Northeast affiliate group and the coming up. You see the events that are going on, uh, whether it's, you know, I think competitions are even posted on there or whatnot. But you know there's all these other resources, the uh when affiliate meetups are happening, when you know um, I mean I have I don't know if you've looked at it Um, the partnerships that are oncom.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like the people that you can work with, they enhance the experience that your affiliate.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like the people that you can work with, enhance the experience at your affiliate. Yeah, yeah, I mean all of those things. And then the perks you get are like the discounts that you get through some of these companies too. It's like it's all there, just got to use it, you actually you have to be the one to use it, though, and put it in play for your affiliate.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's not supposed to be a handholding time where, like, you're going to get the person that's in charge of the franchise to come and show you how to do everything that takes away the magical crossfit. You know, like exactly one of glassman's earliest quotes is the cream will rise to the top. That's just what it's supposed to be like. Hey, I'll show you how to do these things, I'll give you the keys for it and now you go do what you think you should with it. You know, right, exactly. So on that note of the affiliate, the northeast Northeast affiliate meetups and stuff, you guys are hosting the affiliate Northeast meetup in collaboration with the Phoenix. How did you get involved with that program? Was that already going on at T1 while you were a member there?
Speaker 2:Like, tell me about that a post actually, so over two years ago now, because we've been hosting for over two years Gavin Young, who works with the Phoenix, posted something about it and I randomly just started you know I was at a competition and standing in line waiting for our first event and just started, you know, talking to a couple guys that we were in line with. One of them happened to be Gavin, and you know we just kind of knew a lot of the same people and then kept in touch after the competition and he posted this thing about bringing the Phoenix, or what the Phoenix is doing and how it's bringing that stigma of addiction out of the basements and into places where they can benefit. And I was like, oh well, this is the most natural thing that could happen. Like you like we are all about health and fitness here Like why wouldn't we, you know, bring this into, or why would you bring this into any affiliate and just start helping people? And I was like, so he came in one day and he sat down at the time with myself and the general manager and we just kind of talked about what the Phoenix is going to you know what they're about but then also how we can help in our experiences with addiction. And you know, gavin told his story and it was like I was like, oh, like cool, and you then started this and it was like you found something else.
Speaker 2:Um, and actually I mean, like it's kind of funny and ironic I guess you know a few a coach that was here previously. He had started his own organization because he lost, you know, friends and family members to addiction and so we were doing the um it was called the redemption wad and we did that here for several years and, um, you know, that was something I was like, oh, okay, they're kind of playing with the seed for it. Like you know, this is another avenue um. But then when I saw what phoenix was doing, I was like, oh, this makes the most sense. And I knew that there were, we had current members that were in recovery and I was like, oh well, maybe we can just offer this even for them. This could be something that would really just, you know, they could even bring people in if they wanted to Um. So you know, we talked about it, we talked about everything that. You know what that first class looks like and thank God Gavin was here for our first class um, that we hosted, because, I mean, you know, I mean him, or even Chris Spallina, you know they, they really put kind of not their own spin, but just like they can lend their personal experience to why this is so important.
Speaker 2:And, um, you know, we had 30 plus people here our first night that we hosted. We had members, we had non-members and we had, like those uh, uh, just our allies and supporters of those. You know, if you're, if they weren't in recovery, um, and it was, it was incredible. Um, and that first one, I was like holy shit, this is, this is really cool.
Speaker 2:And the next thing, you know, it was like every single week afterwards there were new people coming in, and there were, you know, whether they'd come for one time, whatever it was. Maybe it wasn't their thing, that's's fine, but people still come in, people still drop into our Phoenix classes and, like I said, we host them every single week. We're Wednesday nights at 6.15. And we just basically took a class that was kind of like an underperformer and we integrated it. So it's for everybody and I think the support from our members is what's the you know, the biggest factor there, um, and we've gained members from it. So that's another thing is, you know, there are people that come in and it's like oh, this is, this is really amazing. Uh, and not only do they come every single Wednesday night, but then they become full-time members too.
Speaker 1:That's amazing. It's amazing to see, like the continue on right, like that is the goal. That's amazing. It's amazing to see, like the continue on right, like that is the goal. Like, hey, I want to help you fill this, this hole. You know, like, whatever you're suffering from, like I want to give you something that's going to be a better habit to develop. You know, right, exactly, that's amazing, dude. So at this point now, like, what are you hungry for? What do you want for yourself? What do you want for the gym? Like, what are your goals going forward? What are you hungry?
Speaker 2:for what do you want for yourself? What do you want for the gym? Like, what are your goals going forward? Yeah, I mean I just want to. We want to keep growing T1. We want to keep this thing. You know we want to provide the best experience for for anybody that walks in the door, regardless of you know they've done CrossFit before, they haven't like I want you to come in, I want you to feel like this is going to be, you know, just a memorable experience that's going to want to keep you coming back every single day. We have drop-ins that come in, that when they come into town for work or whatever it is, they drop in here because we've provided that for them and I just want to keep that going.
Speaker 2:I want to provide more for our members that are here, but also keep it going for Phoenix, because I think that that's been one of the biggest things that we've done has been to, you know, give people an outlet and that relationship that we've built. I mean that's been incredible because you know we honor those people too. Every you know if members are coming up on our Phoenix members specifically, or even our you know, our daily members if they come up on milestones, like we celebrate them. We basically create a hero workout for them and it's their milestone. So you know we've hosted several and you know we it's all about them, we so we take their date and we like ask them their favorite movements and we design a workout around it. And that's like one of those things where it's like, oh, you get to see this. Like, oh damn, like sometimes we, sometimes people get buried based on the movements they pick and and that's the cool thing too is like wow, that that was a workout you just made up on the fly, kind of thing. But you know, we'll keep coming back for more and you'll see how this whole thing works. And you know that's been the beauty of it.
Speaker 2:But it's like you know we want to. We want to keep this going. We want happier, healthier people in general, you know, and we want people that you know you look at it like, okay, we've got a lot of parents in here. We've got, you know, their kids are coming in for the classes. They're seeing that like there's, there's so much that that goes down the line then to say, well, you want to do this when you're older too. You want to be able to play with their kids you want to be able to do, and you know right now a lot of people are getting their yard work done, right. You know our members are taking pictures or photos of them throwing you know mulch bags over their shoulder and carrying it around. Or you know they're doing those things and it's like you know my workout of the day're contributing to that. You're giving back to them and it's like you know there's they're showing off their fitness, they're showing off what they they are now capable of doing here.
Speaker 2:You know we had a guy come in. He's only been here three months. His cousin started here back in. Uh, I want to say maybe like September, october, he's been here now for I think it's just three months. He's down 29 pounds. He comes in. He fist bumps everybody when he comes in here. It's like he says you know he greets everyone regardless, like he's he's mayor of the 5pm class, um, and we have a couple of those, because that, that 5pm class, it's, it's. I mean they're amazing. Um. So our other classes too, I mean I'll put that out there, like our other classes are as well.
Speaker 2:But, um, you know, he comes in and it's like fist bumps all around and he's like I'm down 29 pounds. At this point he's like what else can I do? How else can I get in here? His cousin's down, you know almost the same thing, probably 30 pounds in the time that he's been here. So you just, you look we're, we're the solution for it.
Speaker 2:You know, even you know Jen being in healthcare. You know she's in palliative and hospice, like she. She has another. You know she's on the back end of everything there, like that's where things are really in trouble. And you know she's combining now her experience with that and with CrossFit and trying to put them together, because I mean, of course, like if we can prevent what's happening to those people down the line and so they don't need that kind of care towards the end because they didn't take care of themselves, then we did our job. You know, like we I mean Glassman says you know we are the, we hedge chronic disease and we take care of that. We're on the front lines of it. So we, we just have to help more people. We got to be out there for them.
Speaker 1:My favorite Glassman quote ever. Man, go see the swim instructor before you have to see the lifeguard. Your CrossFit coach is the swim instructor to give you all the tools so that you are able to go wade out in the water. And, of course, the lifeguard is the person that saves you after you have already descended too far down and you can no longer save yourself. Kevin, it's been a great episode. It's been great to talk with you. Learn about yourself.
Speaker 2:You as well, Tyler. Thank you.
Speaker 1:Doing all these different things and I will say that you are doing exactly what I try to gear my life towards right being a resource for other people, you know, helping them to lead a full life man, and I'd love to see all the different people in the process based in that.
Speaker 2:Oh, thank you, Taylor. Man Really appreciate it and very, very cool experience, Thank you.
Speaker 1:Heck yeah, man. Well, I'm sure we'll be crossing paths soon Like are you going to the Phoenix classic this year? We will be there. Heck yeah, I'll be there too. I'll be there too. I'll be judging for year two. You're through, I think, actually.
Speaker 2:Awesome man. Yeah, we'll be there. We got two teams going out, so it should be a good time this year. Two teams so far. We're trying to build some more.
Speaker 1:Awesome, wait, did you do it last year on it at the very end where there was that three-way tie and you had that bike, that bike, yeah, I don't I, I still uh, I, I don't think I've felt anything like that ever since and I'm really but I don't know if you know this too.
Speaker 2:So, chris, he he then was like we finished that last workout. He's like great job, guys. The ice cream truck rolls up. He takes us over to the ice cream truck and it's like all right, I'm buying everybody ice cream right now. And then, as we're sitting there eating the ice cream, he comes back over. He's like guys, I have some really bad news. So the three of us are sitting down and we look at him like what are you like? No, there's, there's no possible way. He's like there's a tie.
Speaker 2:And there's two it was, and there was like two ties, I guess it was. And he's like you got to go head to head. And here's the event. And I looked at him. I was like you better bring that trash can right next to this bike, right here. And yeah, we actually we pulled it out somehow.
Speaker 1:But that was absolutely.
Speaker 2:I think he actually did it on purpose. I think he got to see ice cream first to and then told us, but you know, that's hilarious, dude, I love that.
Speaker 1:So I knew the first part of the story. I was there. I was standing right next to sarah when she came over and told gavin that, like you guys wouldn't have to do the bike because there was that tie, like I remember. So here that part is just makes the story so much better. Yeah, but shout out to Phoenix Classic for an ice cream truck pulling around at that time. At the end of the day, it was perfect it was timely.
Speaker 2:Yeah, salute to that. That's awesome. Dude chip, which is where we're not the best choice this has been a that's hilarious.
Speaker 1:It's been a great episode with Kevin. If you guys are the Willow Grove area, go check out T1.