Scaling your agency shouldn't come at the cost of your body, your clarity, or your leadership edge. But too often, that’s exactly what happens.
In this conversation, I sat down with Johnny Els—former Ironman triathlete and founder of TruFit Academy—whose approach to fitness for entrepreneurs isn’t about quick fixes or hype. It’s about building a system that powers your performance with the same precision you bring to your business.
Johnny shares how the discipline and mindset he developed training for a 140-mile Ironman race now fuels his work helping founders boost energy, sharpen mental focus, and build sustainable health habits that compound over time. Because when you’re the engine of your business, your health isn’t optional—it’s infrastructure.
If you’ve been stuck in reactive mode, putting your own well-being on hold “until the next launch,” this episode is your invitation to think—and lead—differently.
Books & Resources Mentioned
- Pitch Anything by Oren Klaff
- Pre-Suasion by Robert Cialdini
- Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki
Connect With Johnny Els
Want to learn more from Johnny and see how he helps high-performing founders boost energy and lose fat sustainably? Follow him on Instagram @trufit_academy for daily insights on healthy habits, metabolism, and performance-driven fitness.
Join Dr. William Attaway on the Catalytic Leadership podcast as he shares transformative insights to help high-performance entrepreneurs and agency owners achieve Clear-Minded Focus, Calm Control, and Confidence.
- Free 30-Minute Discovery Call:
Ready to elevate your business? Book a free 30-minute discovery call with Dr. William Attaway and start your journey to success.
- Special Offer:
Get your FREE copy of Catalytic Leadership: 12 Keys to Becoming an Intentional Leader Who Makes a Difference.
Connect with Dr. William Attaway:
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Dr. William Attaway (00:00):
I'm excited today to have Johnny Ells on
the podcast.
Johnny is a collegiate swimmerturned online health coach.
Founder of TruFit Academy,Johnny has extensive knowledge
in physiology and nutrition.
He is a world-class onlinepersonal trainer who helps
entrepreneurs lose fat and boostconfidence through healthy
(00:23):
habits.
Johnny, I'm so glad you're here.
Thanks for being on the show.
Johnny Els (00:27):
Hey, thanks a lot, William.
I appreciate it.
Good to be here.
Intro/Outro (00:32):
Welcome to Catalytic Leadership, the
podcast designed to help leadersintentionally grow and thrive.
Here is your host author andleadership and executive coach,
dr William Attaway.
Dr. William Attaway (00:49):
I'd love for you to share a little bit of
your story with our listeners,Johnny, particularly around your
journey and your development asa leader.
How'd you get started?
Johnny Els (01:00):
Well, it started when I was really young.
Well, it started when I wasreally young.
The first thing I remembergetting into was Taekwondo, just
self-defense, and actually thatwhole studio was part
self-defense, part fitness class, and so even when I was like 10
(01:22):
to 13 years old, I'll berunning group fitness classes.
So right, then and there thatwas kind of scary, just to
having to take over and makesure people are listening and do
that kind of stuff at a reallyyoung age.
Um, I was involved in a lot ofdifferent sports but, yeah, I
landed on swimming.
I swam in college and becominga leader didn't really start, I
guess, until, um, until after Icompleted my Ironman triathlon.
(01:44):
That's when people startedasking me more questions about
health and fitness and nutritionand different types of workouts
and things like that.
So although when I was still incollege I was coaching the A&M
triathlon team and I was helpingsome other people lose weight
and things like that, I didn'treally have an idea on business
(02:05):
yet.
So it was kind of I was kind ofjust winging it for a little
bit.
But then I graduated with mykinesiology degree and that's
when I started getting intocoaching for real right.
I got my, I got a certificationin personal training and, as a
health coach, moved up toColorado and that's when I
started training people inperson.
(02:25):
And when I first moved up hereI don't know if people know that
in Boulder there's a lot ofprofessional triathletes who
compete all around the world,and so when I first started
starting as a coach, that is whoI started helping out.
And then it was a lot of fun,man, just like coaching in
(02:45):
person and making sure that youare hitting their targets and
their goals, and not evenprofessionals right, I help out
other people as well, um, butthen when COVID hit, that's kind
of when I started my ownbusiness and that's.
I guess that's just kind ofwhat kickstarted my whole career
, because now I am 100% anonline coach and I don't think
any of that would have startedand if I didn't actually compete
(03:08):
in athletics or or run thosegroup group classes and the
Taekwondo studio either.
Dr. William Attaway (03:13):
So love that you know there's no wasted
experience, and I often talkabout this that you know
everything that happens in ourlives is there, either for our
benefit eventually at some point, or something that can help us
that we can use to benefit otherpeople around us.
And and I see that so much inyour story, johnny I think
that's that's part of what hasmade you into the entrepreneur
(03:36):
that you are now.
So so tell me about TruFitAcademy.
What differentiates us?
What makes you unique?
Johnny Els (03:44):
Well, just with my experience um, getting my
kinesiology degree, coachingdifferent people, different
level of healthy lifestylepeople um I've just I've
realized that a lot of peoplehave this misconception or like
this fear around health, likethere's all.
There's so much information outthere, I don't know what's
gonna work, I don't know what'sright for me and things like
(04:07):
that.
And people go on and off ofthese diets, not really
understanding what they need todo to reach a goal or see
long-term results.
And I feel like a lot of peoplewill see, you know, see some
sort of result when they go intoa diet.
But I tell people you know thediet eventually is going to end.
You can't be on a diet for therest of your life.
(04:28):
So when I started coachingpeople about losing weight and
maintaining the results andfeeling healthier and seeing
that transition into theirbusiness and into their family,
I came out with TruFit becauseit's so much easier to have a
lifestyle and reach a goal andmaintain a goal if you are
(04:51):
focusing on things that areactually going to serve you, not
things that might servesomebody else.
For example, cutting out carbs,cutting out sugar, cutting out
all these things yeah, they aregoing to help, but it's not
going to help you maintain anykind of result.
So the idea around tru fit isto figure out what is going to
(05:12):
be the thing that is truly goingto help you, as that individual
, reach and maintain that goal.
So that's why I work withclients when I want to figure
out what your schedule is, whatkind of work you're in, what
you're struggling with, whatkind of body type you have.
That way, when I build outsomething specific, it is going
(05:32):
to be specifically for you andnot for anyone else.
Dr. William Attaway (05:37):
So what are some of the things that you've
learned in this journey so far?
I mean you're several yearsinto this now journey so far?
I mean, you know you're, you'reseveral, several years into
this now.
You know, like most of us, Iimagine, that you've thrown some
spaghetti at the wall andfigured out what sticks, and
you've thrown some and not, no,no, no results, no fruit there
at all.
What have you learned so far?
Johnny Els (05:56):
Well, I've just learned that everybody is
different, right?
Everyone, everyone's bodiesreact differently.
Um, mindset plays a huge rolein all of this, and if you're
not, if you're not willing totake a step back and look at
your mindset, figure out who youare, who you want to be, what
habits in your life that you canprobably capitalize on or get
rid of, it's going to be reallyhard to build out a roadmap for
(06:18):
your health and fitness andactually see those results.
Right, I feel like that's onthe client side and just working
with people to figure out howwe can, how we can see, start to
see results without hinderingyour life.
Right, because the goal is forthis to work with you in your
life and not take it over.
Dr. William Attaway (06:39):
What that that's?
That's interesting because Ithink about the entrepreneurs
that I work with, and so many ofthem would say their lives are
packed to the brim, they're busy, they're you know, from from
early in the morning until lateat night.
They're trying to balancebuilding a business, family,
marriage, kids.
They're trying to balance fun,friendships, relationships,
(07:02):
right, and this often becomesthe thing that they don't focus
on.
This often becomes the thingthat's like oh, I'll deal with
that later.
Do you see that?
And how do you help them learnthe importance of prioritizing
this?
Johnny Els (07:19):
Well, you prioritize what's important to you, right?
So, yes, your business makesyou money, that's very important
.
Your family is very important.
If you have hobbies, right,that's going to be important for
your mindset, for your mentalstate of being.
But a lot of people put healthand fitness on the back burner
because it's something thatisn't affecting you right now,
(07:41):
right?
You making money and growingyour business is something you
need to work on right now, andif you don't, then you're not
going to have money, you're notgoing to be able to support your
family.
If you don't spend time withyour kids or, you know, spend
time with your spouse, that's aproblem.
That's right now, right, and Ithink it's important to make
(08:03):
time for things that areimportant to you, and if your
health and fitness are notimportant to you, you're not
going to make time for it, right?
So, just as important as yourbusiness and your family and
your relationships and yourfaith may be, if you're not
taking care of the one thingthat's keeping all of that going
, which is yourself, then itcould eventually start to affect
(08:24):
your business in a negative way, affect your relationship with
your children, with your spouse,in a very negative way and,
unfortunately a lot of people,it becomes too late right.
Now they are unable to focus ontheir business or their or their
relationships, because theirhealth is getting in the way.
Dr. William Attaway (08:44):
You know, I've heard, I've heard a number
of people say over the yearsyour health is your wealth.
You know when, when you don'thave good health, when you're
struggling with healthchallenges, that becomes the
most important thing in yourworld.
You know, we take it forgranted until one day we wake up
and something has changed.
Right.
Right, as you, as you work withentrepreneurs, do you help them
(09:09):
grow in their awareness of thattruth?
Johnny Els (09:11):
Yes, and although that is probably one of the most
challenging things that I haveto do with my clients and with
other entrepreneurs, is showingthem and making them realize
that this cannot be somethingthat you put on hold.
Right, you're not going to putyour business on hold or your
family and I know those thingsare very important but if you're
not prioritizing your health,everything else in your life can
(09:35):
go downhill.
Right, let's just say, youtweaked your back and or your
knee and now you can't go playwith your kid.
Or let's say, you develop somesort of heart disease and now
you can't work as much as you'dlike to because you're in the
hospital.
So much, yeah, right, and peopledon't think about these things
because it's maybe an issue fora later date.
But I really think, especiallyin the entrepreneurship world, a
(10:02):
lot of them do plan ahead,especially in their business,
right?
Booking podcasts, booking calls, making sure I'm doing this
launch in 30 days, or you knowwhatever it is.
So they don't have an issuewith planning ahead or planning
future goals.
It's just, I think, about it'sprioritizing what's really
important to them.
Dr. William Attaway (10:22):
Hmm, you know, prioritization can be such
a challenge.
You know, we, we, we talk aboutthis in the context of
leadership and the importance ofprioritizing what matters most,
of deciding what are thedeciding, what are the things
that are really going to movethe needle this week, this month
, this quarter, and saying I'mgoing to put my focus there.
(10:42):
But your health, your fitnessthis is critical because you
can't bring the best version ofyou into your leadership work,
whether it's leading your ownbusiness or leading a team or
leading your clients.
You can't bring the bestversion of you into that if you
haven't created the best versionof you.
And it feels like that's somuch of what you talk about.
Johnny Els (11:05):
Well, definitely A lot of the people that I've
helped in the past.
They go to speaking events,right, and they're on sales
calls a lot.
And, yeah, unfortunately inthis world people judge, yeah,
right, and if they see you assomeone who doesn't care about
how they look or doesn't careabout their health, or maybe
isn't willing to put in time tofocus on themselves versus other
(11:28):
thing that's going to make themmoney or or whatever, then it's
hard to I wouldn't say trust,but it's then it's hard to I
wouldn't say trust, but it'sjust.
It's just hard to uh, be on alevel with that person to where
you are willing to work withthem, you're willing to listen
to them because, like, I'm notgoing to take fitness advice
from someone who's you know 500pounds.
(11:50):
You know that's an extremeexample, but you know what I'm
saying I'm not going to takebusiness advice from a homeless
person, right?
So if I'm going to, if I'm goingto look at you and and and
trust you and want to takeadvice from you, I got to see
that you're willing to put inthe work in every aspect of your
life, not just what's going tomake you money or not.
(12:12):
You know what I'm saying.
Dr. William Attaway (12:14):
Yeah, so it feels like you're describing an
individual, a leader, assomebody whose life is not
segmented, where every partactually touches every other
part.
Johnny Els (12:30):
To be a person of integrity goes across all the
different parts of your life,including this one, right, right
, all the different parts ofyour life, including this one,
Right, right, because, because,because in the past I've talked
about my values and I, you know,I, your, your pillars of values
, that kind of hold you and yourand your entire being up Right,
that's, that's, that's health,that's wealth, that's, that's
faith.
Um, I mean, I've got hobbiesthat that I like to that.
(12:54):
I like to do that kind of takemy mind off of the things that I
find stressful sometimes, youknow, yeah, sure, and if one is
suffering, it's probably becauseyou're not putting in enough
time with the others or viceversa.
That's a good word.
Dr. William Attaway (13:29):
So when I see someone, on stage and I see
that they are, you know, inshape and they have high energy
and they know what they'retalking about.
I'm definitely more willing tolisten and buy from them,
because they're presentingthemselves as a leader.
They're presenting themselvesas someone who can do everything
.
That's really good.
Thinking about your business,thinking about the overall
health of your business, if youcould say, hey, if I could fix
this one thing, this one thing,I could snap my fingers and
solve one problem in yourbusiness, what would that be?
Johnny Els (13:53):
In my business.
Dr. William Attaway (13:54):
Yeah.
Johnny Els (13:54):
That's a really good question.
Well, over the last five or sixyears, I've gotten into this
world and started connectingwith other entrepreneurs and
online leaders and things likethat, and I've gone to many well
, not many, I've gone to acouple and I have many on the
horizon events that I want to goto.
(14:15):
I have many on the horizonevents that I want to go to.
I think having the rightconnections with the right
people who, like you, trust you,value what you have to say,
that's really, really important,and I don't think it matters
what business you're in.
I think that's true foreverybody.
Yeah, 100%, yeah, you know ahundred percent.
(14:36):
Yeah, and over the last coupleof years, I have my own podcast
now, and so connecting withthese people, understanding who
they are and just kind ofbuilding that relationship is is
is huge, right, and it doesn'talways have to be like I want to
sell you or you're going tosell me, or whatever it is.
It doesn't always have to belike that, because I feel like
we're all here helping eachother, but in my business, it's
(14:57):
it's it's very clear that if youdon't want help, then I'm not
going to give you help.
I'm not going to force thisupon you.
If you know you're not in theright head space, or if you're
not, you know you're not readyfor this kind of stuff.
Dr. William Attaway (15:10):
I'm very similar, johnny.
You know the.
The one non-negotiable that Ihave in my work as an executive
coach is that the client has tohave a teachable spirit.
If they don't, we're not goingto work together.
That's not going to be a goodrelationship.
It's not going to be where Ican add maximum value.
I totally get what you'resaying there.
(15:31):
That is a non-negotiable.
So how many people come to youready and they are teachable and
they're like man, I don't knowwhat, I don't know Help me.
Johnny Els (15:42):
I say quite a bit.
I mean I post on Facebook andInstagram and all the social
media stuff and just talkingabout healthy habits, how to
boost your metabolism.
I'll talk about how to takeyour business and your life to
the next level if you focus onyourself, and that hits a chord
with a lot of people.
Not that I'm trying to hit achord or nothing.
(16:02):
I think it's a very realreality.
And some people will see thatand they come to me and say,
johnny, I don't know what it isabout you, but I like you, I
trust you, you know what you'retalking about and I'm ready.
I'm ready to go.
Intro/Outro (16:18):
Right.
Johnny Els (16:19):
So those types of people are amazing to work with,
because they're ready to go,they're going to listen to me
and usually, when they'recoachable, they see the best
results Right and then there'sother, another group of people
who will have questions.
They'll see what I have to haveto offer Then.
Maybe they're not ready for itor they didn't think eating
(16:39):
healthier was a part of beinghealthy and whatever.
So, again, they may not be inthe right place in their life or
in the right headspace tocommit to something like this,
which that's okay.
Maybe you will be in the future.
But to anyone who's not ready,I just I encourage you to look
within and look in the future tosee who you want to be, how you
(17:02):
want to, how you want to liveyour life, because I want to
start this journey now so thatby the time I'm 50, I feel
amazing, I look amazing and thatwill easily transition into my
older years.
Let's say I'm 80 years old.
I still want to be able to playa full round of golf when I'm
80 years old, and not a lot ofpeople can say that.
Dr. William Attaway (17:22):
Sad, but true.
Johnny Els (17:24):
Right.
Dr. William Attaway (17:25):
If you could go back to before you
started your business, beforeyou started coaching, if you
could go back knowing what youknow now and tell yourself one
thing what would you love to goback and tell yourself?
Johnny Els (17:39):
Start my business earlier.
That's good, why and I tell, Ihave a couple, I have a buddy
who's thinking about starting anonline business and he's just
kind of freaked out and doesn'tknow what to do.
And I'm like, dude, it doesn'tmatter, just start, because
you'll figure it out.
You know, um, I mean, althoughI was coaching in high school
(18:02):
and college, it was just acoaching gig, right.
It was like maybe a summer jobor just something I did on the
side, but then I'd go to my realjob.
You know, that wasn't coaching,and I just never really thought
a coaching business would takeoff as well as it as it has.
And I kind of beat myself upsometimes saying I could have
(18:25):
started this 10, 15 years ago,right, um, but you don't, you
only know what you know and andthat's okay.
So I'm, I'm, I'm really gladthat I did start and I'm glad of
how much I've grown over thelast couple of years and I'm I'm
really excited about the next50 years of me growing this
online business.
Dr. William Attaway (18:45):
Yeah, and I think that that perpetual
growth mindset is what will getyou to a level of success that
you're aiming for Right.
You know you've you've got toconstantly be growing, you've
got to constantly be learning.
So let me ask you how do you dothat?
How do you stay on top of yourgame?
(19:05):
How do you level up with thenew leadership skills that your
business and your clients aregoing to need you to have in
three, four, five years from now?
Johnny Els (19:09):
Well, like you said, you always got to be growing
and you always got to belearning right.
And, although it may seemuncomfortable, a lot of people
don't really want to keepgrowing, keep learning or
changing, because what workedfor me three or four years ago
is not really working anymore,right, yeah, yeah.
So figuring out what's going towork.
I love reading.
I have a lot of different youknow, marketing and and human
(19:31):
body type books, so I'mconstantly educating myself on
making sure that I know what I'mtalking about, but also
figuring out.
You know a lot of.
Sometimes it's trial and errorright, I've been doing this
podcast, and this is somethingthat's somewhat newer and I love
doing it.
I can see it growing.
I can see that that beingsomething that's going to work,
(19:52):
but then there's other otherthings that I've been trying out
that maybe didn't work.
So, definitely, definitely.
Just you know, I feel like ifyou, if you have a goal and you
don't really know what to do,get help, right, yeah, like, get
a coach, get a mentor, getsomeone who knows what they're
talking about to help you.
(20:13):
And I'm going to be honest,there's a lot of coaches out
there that are pricey.
They're expensive, but you needto put it into perspective.
It's not like I'm paying for athree months or six months of
right now.
It's more, I'm paying for theeducation that I need.
That's going to keep me goingfor the next couple of years,
right.
One of my favorite stories totell about investing in myself
(20:37):
is when I was, when I wastraining for the Ironman
triathlon.
For those of you don't knowwhat it is, it's 140 mile race
that took me about 12 hours, andI was 20 years old when I did
that and I didn't have any moneywhen I was in college.
I mean, I was working, but Iwas also paying for things, so
it's not like I was saving up abunch of money.
(20:59):
And that race was a thousanddollars to sign up for.
I told my dad.
I'm like can you please pay forthis?
Because I don't have money.
And he was like if you want todo this, you gotta, you gotta
pay for it.
So I put it on my credit card,not knowing how I was going to
pay it off.
And I'm so thankful that hemade me do that, because if I,
(21:23):
if he paid for it, or if I onlypaid like, let's say, a hundred
bucks, I would not have trainedas hard for it.
I probably would not havecompleted the Ironman, and just
completing that alone gave me somuch confidence that I was able
to start a business.
I can tell people what to doand it's going to work right.
Like I have this experience andit just kind of transitioned
(21:46):
into starting a business,starting to coach people and it
just kind of blew up my entirelife.
So that was a huge turningpoint in my mindset and just
what I wanted to do movingforward in my life.
Dr. William Attaway (21:58):
You know I love hearing stories about those
catalytic moments that changethe course and trajectory of
your life, and I think you'respot on.
I think you know, findingsomebody who can help you to go
faster than you can go alone andwho can help you go farther, is
Then you might go alone.
I think it's so critical and Ilove that you keyed in on that.
Johnny Els (22:21):
Thank you.
Dr. William Attaway (22:23):
You're constantly reading.
You were there's.
Johnny Els (22:25):
These are a lot of my wife tells me I need to stop
reading so many business booksbecause that's all.
(22:46):
That's all I'm about.
She, she reads a lot of fictionbooks and I have a fiction book
that I should probably getstarted with, but, um, but no,
it's, it's all.
The educational books, although, are very, very helpful, um,
it's, it's hard.
They're harder to read for me,at least for me.
(23:06):
I don't know how anyone elsereads, but um it, it just takes
me a little bit longer, becausesometimes I have to reread
passages because I'm like Ididn't fully understand that.
So I got to reread it and andmake sure that I understand what
I'm reading so that I can applyit to other situations or
whatever.
Especially, the persuasion bookis a really good book.
Just listening to people,understanding what they're
(23:28):
saying which I feel like somebusinessmen or salesmen don't
really do is listening andunderstanding who you're talking
to.
That way, when you askquestions, they're deep and
they're meaningful questions,not just whatever questions
about you.
Dr. William Attaway (23:46):
That's good .
Johnny Els (23:47):
Yeah.
Dr. William Attaway (23:48):
Johnny, this has been fascinating to
hear more about your story andwhat you do, and I know our
listeners are going to want tostay connected to you and
continue to learn more from youand about what you're doing at
TruFit.
What's the best way for them todo that?
Johnny Els (24:03):
You can follow me on Instagram, trufit Academy, and
that's spelled T-R-U-F-I-T.
I post a lot of stuff on thereSome stuff you know my workouts,
nutrition, healthy habit typestuff.
Most people have a slowermetabolism, especially when they
get older, so one of the bigthings that I try to focus on is
(24:24):
how to naturally boost yourmetabolism so that you don't
have to worry about doing abunch of cardio workouts or
anything like that.
Your body will actually juststart to lose body fat and have
more energy at the same time,which I feel like a lot of
people are struggling with.
So that's kind of like knockingout two birds with one stone
kind of thing.
There's a lot of stuff thatgoes into it, but a lot of stuff
(24:48):
is highlighted on my Instagrampage.
Dr. William Attaway (24:50):
Nice.
We'll have those links in theshow notes.
Johnny Els (24:53):
Perfect, Thank you.
Dr. William Attaway (24:54):
Johnny, thanks for your time today and
your generosity and sharing fromwhat you've learned so far, and
I can
I'm excited today to have Johnny Ells on
the podcast.
Johnny is a collegiate swimmerturned online health coach.
Founder of TruFit Academy,Johnny has extensive knowledge
in physiology and nutrition.
He is a world-class onlinepersonal trainer who helps
entrepreneurs lose fat and boostconfidence through healthy
(00:23):
habits.
Johnny, I'm so glad you're here.
Thanks for being on the show.
Johnny Els (00:27):
Hey, thanks a lot, William.
I appreciate it.
Good to be here.
Intro/Outro (00:32):
Welcome to Catalytic Leadership, the
podcast designed to help leadersintentionally grow and thrive.
Here is your host author andleadership and executive coach,
dr William Attaway.
Dr. William Attaway (00:49):
I'd love for you to share a little bit of
your story with our listeners,Johnny, particularly around your
journey and your development asa leader.
How'd you get started?
Johnny Els (01:00):
Well, it started when I was really young.
Well, it started when I wasreally young.
The first thing I remembergetting into was Taekwondo, just
self-defense, and actually thatwhole studio was part
self-defense, part fitness class, and so even when I was like 10
(01:22):
to 13 years old, I'll berunning group fitness classes.
So right, then and there thatwas kind of scary, just to
having to take over and makesure people are listening and do
that kind of stuff at a reallyyoung age.
Um, I was involved in a lot ofdifferent sports but, yeah, I
landed on swimming.
I swam in college and becominga leader didn't really start, I
guess, until, um, until after Icompleted my Ironman triathlon.
(01:44):
That's when people startedasking me more questions about
health and fitness and nutritionand different types of workouts
and things like that.
So although when I was still incollege I was coaching the A&M
triathlon team and I was helpingsome other people lose weight
and things like that, I didn'treally have an idea on business
(02:05):
yet.
So it was kind of I was kind ofjust winging it for a little
bit.
But then I graduated with mykinesiology degree and that's
when I started getting intocoaching for real right.
I got my, I got a certificationin personal training and, as a
health coach, moved up toColorado and that's when I
started training people inperson.
(02:25):
And when I first moved up hereI don't know if people know that
in Boulder there's a lot ofprofessional triathletes who
compete all around the world,and so when I first started
starting as a coach, that is whoI started helping out.
And then it was a lot of fun,man, just like coaching in
(02:45):
person and making sure that youare hitting their targets and
their goals, and not evenprofessionals right, I help out
other people as well, um, butthen when COVID hit, that's kind
of when I started my ownbusiness and that's.
I guess that's just kind ofwhat kickstarted my whole career
, because now I am 100% anonline coach and I don't think
any of that would have startedand if I didn't actually compete
(03:08):
in athletics or or run thosegroup group classes and the
Taekwondo studio either.
Dr. William Attaway (03:13):
So love that you know there's no wasted
experience, and I often talkabout this that you know
everything that happens in ourlives is there, either for our
benefit eventually at some point, or something that can help us
that we can use to benefit otherpeople around us.
And and I see that so much inyour story, johnny I think
that's that's part of what hasmade you into the entrepreneur
(03:36):
that you are now.
So so tell me about TruFitAcademy.
What differentiates us?
What makes you unique?
Johnny Els (03:44):
Well, just with my experience um, getting my
kinesiology degree, coachingdifferent people, different
level of healthy lifestylepeople um I've just I've
realized that a lot of peoplehave this misconception or like
this fear around health, likethere's all.
There's so much information outthere, I don't know what's
gonna work, I don't know what'sright for me and things like
(04:07):
that.
And people go on and off ofthese diets, not really
understanding what they need todo to reach a goal or see
long-term results.
And I feel like a lot of peoplewill see, you know, see some
sort of result when they go intoa diet.
But I tell people you know thediet eventually is going to end.
You can't be on a diet for therest of your life.
(04:28):
So when I started coachingpeople about losing weight and
maintaining the results andfeeling healthier and seeing
that transition into theirbusiness and into their family,
I came out with TruFit becauseit's so much easier to have a
lifestyle and reach a goal andmaintain a goal if you are
(04:51):
focusing on things that areactually going to serve you, not
things that might servesomebody else.
For example, cutting out carbs,cutting out sugar, cutting out
all these things yeah, they aregoing to help, but it's not
going to help you maintain anykind of result.
So the idea around tru fit isto figure out what is going to
(05:12):
be the thing that is truly goingto help you, as that individual
, reach and maintain that goal.
So that's why I work withclients when I want to figure
out what your schedule is, whatkind of work you're in, what
you're struggling with, whatkind of body type you have.
That way, when I build outsomething specific, it is going
(05:32):
to be specifically for you andnot for anyone else.
Dr. William Attaway (05:37):
So what are some of the things that you've
learned in this journey so far?
I mean you're several yearsinto this now journey so far?
I mean, you know you're, you'reseveral, several years into
this now.
You know, like most of us, Iimagine, that you've thrown some
spaghetti at the wall andfigured out what sticks, and
you've thrown some and not, no,no, no results, no fruit there
at all.
What have you learned so far?
Johnny Els (05:56):
Well, I've just learned that everybody is
different, right?
Everyone, everyone's bodiesreact differently.
Um, mindset plays a huge rolein all of this, and if you're
not, if you're not willing totake a step back and look at
your mindset, figure out who youare, who you want to be, what
habits in your life that you canprobably capitalize on or get
rid of, it's going to be reallyhard to build out a roadmap for
(06:18):
your health and fitness andactually see those results.
Right, I feel like that's onthe client side and just working
with people to figure out howwe can, how we can see, start to
see results without hinderingyour life.
Right, because the goal is forthis to work with you in your
life and not take it over.
Dr. William Attaway (06:39):
What that that's?
That's interesting because Ithink about the entrepreneurs
that I work with, and so many ofthem would say their lives are
packed to the brim, they're busy, they're you know, from from
early in the morning until lateat night.
They're trying to balancebuilding a business, family,
marriage, kids.
They're trying to balance fun,friendships, relationships,
(07:02):
right, and this often becomesthe thing that they don't focus
on.
This often becomes the thingthat's like oh, I'll deal with
that later.
Do you see that?
And how do you help them learnthe importance of prioritizing
this?
Johnny Els (07:19):
Well, you prioritize what's important to you, right?
So, yes, your business makesyou money, that's very important
.
Your family is very important.
If you have hobbies, right,that's going to be important for
your mindset, for your mentalstate of being.
But a lot of people put healthand fitness on the back burner
because it's something thatisn't affecting you right now,
(07:41):
right?
You making money and growingyour business is something you
need to work on right now, andif you don't, then you're not
going to have money, you're notgoing to be able to support your
family.
If you don't spend time withyour kids or, you know, spend
time with your spouse, that's aproblem.
That's right now, right, and Ithink it's important to make
(08:03):
time for things that areimportant to you, and if your
health and fitness are notimportant to you, you're not
going to make time for it, right?
So, just as important as yourbusiness and your family and
your relationships and yourfaith may be, if you're not
taking care of the one thingthat's keeping all of that going
, which is yourself, then itcould eventually start to affect
(08:24):
your business in a negative way, affect your relationship with
your children, with your spouse,in a very negative way and,
unfortunately a lot of people,it becomes too late right.
Now they are unable to focus ontheir business or their or their
relationships, because theirhealth is getting in the way.
Dr. William Attaway (08:44):
You know, I've heard, I've heard a number
of people say over the yearsyour health is your wealth.
You know when, when you don'thave good health, when you're
struggling with healthchallenges, that becomes the
most important thing in yourworld.
You know, we take it forgranted until one day we wake up
and something has changed.
Right.
Right, as you, as you work withentrepreneurs, do you help them
(09:09):
grow in their awareness of thattruth?
Johnny Els (09:11):
Yes, and although that is probably one of the most
challenging things that I haveto do with my clients and with
other entrepreneurs, is showingthem and making them realize
that this cannot be somethingthat you put on hold.
Right, you're not going to putyour business on hold or your
family and I know those thingsare very important but if you're
not prioritizing your health,everything else in your life can
(09:35):
go downhill.
Right, let's just say, youtweaked your back and or your
knee and now you can't go playwith your kid.
Or let's say, you develop somesort of heart disease and now
you can't work as much as you'dlike to because you're in the
hospital.
So much, yeah, right, and peopledon't think about these things
because it's maybe an issue fora later date.
But I really think, especiallyin the entrepreneurship world, a
(10:02):
lot of them do plan ahead,especially in their business,
right?
Booking podcasts, booking calls, making sure I'm doing this
launch in 30 days, or you knowwhatever it is.
So they don't have an issuewith planning ahead or planning
future goals.
It's just, I think, about it'sprioritizing what's really
important to them.
Dr. William Attaway (10:22):
Hmm, you know, prioritization can be such
a challenge.
You know, we, we, we talk aboutthis in the context of
leadership and the importance ofprioritizing what matters most,
of deciding what are thedeciding, what are the things
that are really going to movethe needle this week, this month
, this quarter, and saying I'mgoing to put my focus there.
(10:42):
But your health, your fitnessthis is critical because you
can't bring the best version ofyou into your leadership work,
whether it's leading your ownbusiness or leading a team or
leading your clients.
You can't bring the bestversion of you into that if you
haven't created the best versionof you.
And it feels like that's somuch of what you talk about.
Johnny Els (11:05):
Well, definitely A lot of the people that I've
helped in the past.
They go to speaking events,right, and they're on sales
calls a lot.
And, yeah, unfortunately inthis world people judge, yeah,
right, and if they see you assomeone who doesn't care about
how they look or doesn't careabout their health, or maybe
isn't willing to put in time tofocus on themselves versus other
(11:28):
thing that's going to make themmoney or or whatever, then it's
hard to I wouldn't say trust,but it's then it's hard to I
wouldn't say trust, but it'sjust.
It's just hard to uh, be on alevel with that person to where
you are willing to work withthem, you're willing to listen
to them because, like, I'm notgoing to take fitness advice
from someone who's you know 500pounds.
(11:50):
You know that's an extremeexample, but you know what I'm
saying I'm not going to takebusiness advice from a homeless
person, right?
So if I'm going to, if I'm goingto look at you and and and
trust you and want to takeadvice from you, I got to see
that you're willing to put inthe work in every aspect of your
life, not just what's going tomake you money or not.
(12:12):
You know what I'm saying.
Dr. William Attaway (12:14):
Yeah, so it feels like you're describing an
individual, a leader, assomebody whose life is not
segmented, where every partactually touches every other
part.
Johnny Els (12:30):
To be a person of integrity goes across all the
different parts of your life,including this one, right, right
, all the different parts ofyour life, including this one,
Right, right, because, because,because in the past I've talked
about my values and I, you know,I, your, your pillars of values
, that kind of hold you and yourand your entire being up Right,
that's, that's, that's health,that's wealth, that's, that's
faith.
Um, I mean, I've got hobbiesthat that I like to that.
(12:54):
I like to do that kind of takemy mind off of the things that I
find stressful sometimes, youknow, yeah, sure, and if one is
suffering, it's probably becauseyou're not putting in enough
time with the others or viceversa.
That's a good word.
Dr. William Attaway (13:29):
So when I see someone, on stage and I see
that they are, you know, inshape and they have high energy
and they know what they'retalking about.
I'm definitely more willing tolisten and buy from them,
because they're presentingthemselves as a leader.
They're presenting themselvesas someone who can do everything
.
That's really good.
Thinking about your business,thinking about the overall
health of your business, if youcould say, hey, if I could fix
this one thing, this one thing,I could snap my fingers and
solve one problem in yourbusiness, what would that be?
Johnny Els (13:53):
In my business.
Dr. William Attaway (13:54):
Yeah.
Johnny Els (13:54):
That's a really good question.
Well, over the last five or sixyears, I've gotten into this
world and started connectingwith other entrepreneurs and
online leaders and things likethat, and I've gone to many well
, not many, I've gone to acouple and I have many on the
horizon events that I want to goto.
(14:15):
I have many on the horizonevents that I want to go to.
I think having the rightconnections with the right
people who, like you, trust you,value what you have to say,
that's really, really important,and I don't think it matters
what business you're in.
I think that's true foreverybody.
Yeah, 100%, yeah, you know ahundred percent.
(14:36):
Yeah, and over the last coupleof years, I have my own podcast
now, and so connecting withthese people, understanding who
they are and just kind ofbuilding that relationship is is
is huge, right, and it doesn'talways have to be like I want to
sell you or you're going tosell me, or whatever it is.
It doesn't always have to belike that, because I feel like
we're all here helping eachother, but in my business, it's
(14:57):
it's it's very clear that if youdon't want help, then I'm not
going to give you help.
I'm not going to force thisupon you.
If you know you're not in theright head space, or if you're
not, you know you're not readyfor this kind of stuff.
Dr. William Attaway (15:10):
I'm very similar, johnny.
You know the.
The one non-negotiable that Ihave in my work as an executive
coach is that the client has tohave a teachable spirit.
If they don't, we're not goingto work together.
That's not going to be a goodrelationship.
It's not going to be where Ican add maximum value.
I totally get what you'resaying there.
(15:31):
That is a non-negotiable.
So how many people come to youready and they are teachable and
they're like man, I don't knowwhat, I don't know Help me.
Johnny Els (15:42):
I say quite a bit.
I mean I post on Facebook andInstagram and all the social
media stuff and just talkingabout healthy habits, how to
boost your metabolism.
I'll talk about how to takeyour business and your life to
the next level if you focus onyourself, and that hits a chord
with a lot of people.
Not that I'm trying to hit achord or nothing.
(16:02):
I think it's a very realreality.
And some people will see thatand they come to me and say,
johnny, I don't know what it isabout you, but I like you, I
trust you, you know what you'retalking about and I'm ready.
I'm ready to go.
Intro/Outro (16:18):
Right.
Johnny Els (16:19):
So those types of people are amazing to work with,
because they're ready to go,they're going to listen to me
and usually, when they'recoachable, they see the best
results Right and then there'sother, another group of people
who will have questions.
They'll see what I have to haveto offer Then.
Maybe they're not ready for itor they didn't think eating
(16:39):
healthier was a part of beinghealthy and whatever.
So, again, they may not be inthe right place in their life or
in the right headspace tocommit to something like this,
which that's okay.
Maybe you will be in the future.
But to anyone who's not ready,I just I encourage you to look
within and look in the future tosee who you want to be, how you
(17:02):
want to, how you want to liveyour life, because I want to
start this journey now so thatby the time I'm 50, I feel
amazing, I look amazing and thatwill easily transition into my
older years.
Let's say I'm 80 years old.
I still want to be able to playa full round of golf when I'm
80 years old, and not a lot ofpeople can say that.
Dr. William Attaway (17:22):
Sad, but true.
Johnny Els (17:24):
Right.
Dr. William Attaway (17:25):
If you could go back to before you
started your business, beforeyou started coaching, if you
could go back knowing what youknow now and tell yourself one
thing what would you love to goback and tell yourself?
Johnny Els (17:39):
Start my business earlier.
That's good, why and I tell, Ihave a couple, I have a buddy
who's thinking about starting anonline business and he's just
kind of freaked out and doesn'tknow what to do.
And I'm like, dude, it doesn'tmatter, just start, because
you'll figure it out.
You know, um, I mean, althoughI was coaching in high school
(18:02):
and college, it was just acoaching gig, right.
It was like maybe a summer jobor just something I did on the
side, but then I'd go to my realjob.
You know, that wasn't coaching,and I just never really thought
a coaching business would takeoff as well as it as it has.
And I kind of beat myself upsometimes saying I could have
(18:25):
started this 10, 15 years ago,right, um, but you don't, you
only know what you know and andthat's okay.
So I'm, I'm, I'm really gladthat I did start and I'm glad of
how much I've grown over thelast couple of years and I'm I'm
really excited about the next50 years of me growing this
online business.
Dr. William Attaway (18:45):
Yeah, and I think that that perpetual
growth mindset is what will getyou to a level of success that
you're aiming for Right.
You know you've you've got toconstantly be growing, you've
got to constantly be learning.
So let me ask you how do you dothat?
How do you stay on top of yourgame?
(19:05):
How do you level up with thenew leadership skills that your
business and your clients aregoing to need you to have in
three, four, five years from now?
Johnny Els (19:09):
Well, like you said, you always got to be growing
and you always got to belearning right.
And, although it may seemuncomfortable, a lot of people
don't really want to keepgrowing, keep learning or
changing, because what workedfor me three or four years ago
is not really working anymore,right, yeah, yeah.
So figuring out what's going towork.
I love reading.
I have a lot of different youknow, marketing and and human
(19:31):
body type books, so I'mconstantly educating myself on
making sure that I know what I'mtalking about, but also
figuring out.
You know a lot of.
Sometimes it's trial and errorright, I've been doing this
podcast, and this is somethingthat's somewhat newer and I love
doing it.
I can see it growing.
I can see that that beingsomething that's going to work,
(19:52):
but then there's other otherthings that I've been trying out
that maybe didn't work.
So, definitely, definitely.
Just you know, I feel like ifyou, if you have a goal and you
don't really know what to do,get help, right, yeah, like, get
a coach, get a mentor, getsomeone who knows what they're
talking about to help you.
(20:13):
And I'm going to be honest,there's a lot of coaches out
there that are pricey.
They're expensive, but you needto put it into perspective.
It's not like I'm paying for athree months or six months of
right now.
It's more, I'm paying for theeducation that I need.
That's going to keep me goingfor the next couple of years,
right.
One of my favorite stories totell about investing in myself
(20:37):
is when I was, when I wastraining for the Ironman
triathlon.
For those of you don't knowwhat it is, it's 140 mile race
that took me about 12 hours, andI was 20 years old when I did
that and I didn't have any moneywhen I was in college.
I mean, I was working, but Iwas also paying for things, so
it's not like I was saving up abunch of money.
(20:59):
And that race was a thousanddollars to sign up for.
I told my dad.
I'm like can you please pay forthis?
Because I don't have money.
And he was like if you want todo this, you gotta, you gotta
pay for it.
So I put it on my credit card,not knowing how I was going to
pay it off.
And I'm so thankful that hemade me do that, because if I,
(21:23):
if he paid for it, or if I onlypaid like, let's say, a hundred
bucks, I would not have trainedas hard for it.
I probably would not havecompleted the Ironman, and just
completing that alone gave me somuch confidence that I was able
to start a business.
I can tell people what to doand it's going to work right.
Like I have this experience andit just kind of transitioned
(21:46):
into starting a business,starting to coach people and it
just kind of blew up my entirelife.
So that was a huge turningpoint in my mindset and just
what I wanted to do movingforward in my life.
Dr. William Attaway (21:58):
You know I love hearing stories about those
catalytic moments that changethe course and trajectory of
your life, and I think you'respot on.
I think you know, findingsomebody who can help you to go
faster than you can go alone andwho can help you go farther, is
Then you might go alone.
I think it's so critical and Ilove that you keyed in on that.
Johnny Els (22:21):
Thank you.
Dr. William Attaway (22:23):
You're constantly reading.
You were there's.
Johnny Els (22:25):
These are a lot of my wife tells me I need to stop
reading so many business booksbecause that's all.
(22:46):
That's all I'm about.
She, she reads a lot of fictionbooks and I have a fiction book
that I should probably getstarted with, but, um, but no,
it's, it's all.
The educational books, although, are very, very helpful, um,
it's, it's hard.
They're harder to read for me,at least for me.
(23:06):
I don't know how anyone elsereads, but um it, it just takes
me a little bit longer, becausesometimes I have to reread
passages because I'm like Ididn't fully understand that.
So I got to reread it and andmake sure that I understand what
I'm reading so that I can applyit to other situations or
whatever.
Especially, the persuasion bookis a really good book.
Just listening to people,understanding what they're
(23:28):
saying which I feel like somebusinessmen or salesmen don't
really do is listening andunderstanding who you're talking
to.
That way, when you askquestions, they're deep and
they're meaningful questions,not just whatever questions
about you.
Dr. William Attaway (23:46):
That's good .
Johnny Els (23:47):
Yeah.
Dr. William Attaway (23:48):
Johnny, this has been fascinating to
hear more about your story andwhat you do, and I know our
listeners are going to want tostay connected to you and
continue to learn more from youand about what you're doing at
TruFit.
What's the best way for them todo that?
Johnny Els (24:03):
You can follow me on Instagram, trufit Academy, and
that's spelled T-R-U-F-I-T.
I post a lot of stuff on thereSome stuff you know my workouts,
nutrition, healthy habit typestuff.
Most people have a slowermetabolism, especially when they
get older, so one of the bigthings that I try to focus on is
(24:24):
how to naturally boost yourmetabolism so that you don't
have to worry about doing abunch of cardio workouts or
anything like that.
Your body will actually juststart to lose body fat and have
more energy at the same time,which I feel like a lot of
people are struggling with.
So that's kind of like knockingout two birds with one stone
kind of thing.
There's a lot of stuff thatgoes into it, but a lot of stuff
(24:48):
is highlighted on my Instagrampage.
Dr. William Attaway (24:50):
Nice.
We'll have those links in theshow notes.
Johnny Els (24:53):
Perfect, Thank you.
Dr. William Attaway (24:54):
Johnny, thanks for your time today and
your generosity and sharing fromwhat you've learned so far, and
I can
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