Ever wondered how to transform your child's gaming obsession into something that actually builds valuable life skills? Meet Cheryl Chambers, who along with her husband Mark, is revolutionizing youth gaming culture through XP League Asheville.
From Minecraft battles to Fortnite competitions, Cheryl explains how XP League creates coach-led, in-person competitive gaming teams for kids ages 7-17. But this isn't just about playing video games—it's about using games as vehicles to develop teamwork, sportsmanship, positive communication, and growth mindset. For parents concerned about screen time isolation or toxic gaming environments, XP League offers a refreshing alternative where children engage with peers in a structured, positive community.
The entrepreneurial journey of launching this franchise reveals valuable insights for business owners everywhere. Cheryl shares how they unexpectedly took over an established location just weeks after signing their agreement, forcing them to learn payroll, staffing, and operations at lightning speed. She discusses finding the balance between following the franchise model and adapting to local needs, the power of word-of-mouth marketing, and how they manage work-life balance as a husband-wife team running a growing business while raising their own gaming children.
Whether you're a parent looking for positive gaming options for your child, an entrepreneur considering a franchise model, or simply curious about the growing world of youth esports, this conversation offers a fascinating look at how video games are being transformed into tools for positive youth development. Ready to see gaming in a whole new light? Visit xpleague.com to find a location near you and discover how competitive gaming can build the skills children need for success.
Contact Cheryl: cheryl.chambers@xpleague.gg
Thanks for Listening. You may contact me or our team at https://billgilliland.biz/
All the best!
Bill
Thanks for listening. Please hit the subscribe button, leave us a 5 star review, and share this podcast. You can reach me at williamgilliland@actioncoach.com or at https://billgilliland.biz/
All the best!
Bill
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hi there and welcome to this episode of Epic
Entrepreneurs.
I'm Bill Gilliland, your host.
I'm also the principal partnerin Action Coach, business Growth
Partners and in the WNC I'msorry, the Asheville Business
Summit.
The website is wncsummitcom.
You're going to want to go outthere now and get your tickets
(00:24):
for September 23rd for the bigAsheville Summit this year.
It is going to be bigger andbetter than ever.
We look forward to seeing youthere.
That's wncsummitcom.
Hey, today I'm super excitedI've got Cheryl Chambers from
the XP League as our businessspotlight.
Welcome to the podcast as ourbusiness spotlight.
(00:46):
Welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Tell us what the heck XP League is.
Sounds good.
We get that a lot.
Yes, so I'm Cheryl Chambers.
My husband, mark and I openedXP League Asheville in August of
2023.
(01:09):
And XP League is a youth leagueof esports for kids 7 to 17,
which esports is another wordthat we usually need to define.
It isn't necessarily justMadden or playing sports on a
computer, but it's playingcompetitively games that are
typically played on a computer.
So for us, that means we bringkids into our center to play in
(01:32):
person on coach-led competitiveteams in games like Minecraft,
which most people are like.
How do you play Minecraftcompetitively?
But there is a format calledBed Wars where you can compete
four versus four to get to theother team's island and destroy
their beds.
(01:52):
It's a little version ofcapture the flag in the game of
Minecraft, but we play thatcompetitively.
Fortnite Trios, apex Legends,rocket League, valorant and
Overwatch 2 are all titles thatwe play in XP League, and then
we also have Marvel Rivals and aRoblox club, and so the goal of
(02:18):
all of these titles and what wedo is to help kids use those
games as a vehicle to learntraits that we all want them to
learn, like teamwork,sportsmanship, having a positive
attitude, having a growthmindset which I'm sure you can
relate to that they can learnthat it's okay to make a mistake
(02:43):
, just learn from it and move on.
But also some of the issues thatMark and I did not love about
video games with our own kidsand some of the problems that we
were trying to solve.
We could see that this leaguewould help solve those problems,
like being isolated so playingon a team and coming together
(03:06):
into a community is one of ourkey values but also some of the
negativity where people yell ateach other in the game or like
give each other a hard time andsay negative things when their
teammates mess up, and teachingthem that they can use positive
language with their peers andhave a better, more positive
(03:32):
environment around them.
So trying to solve some of theproblems that parents have found
as their kids are playing videogames one kid at a time, right
here in Western North Carolina.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
Yeah, no, I love it, I love it.
Let me switch gears a littlebit and ask you about business
some business questions.
So you guys started thebusiness.
If you had to do it over againfrom square one, what would you
do differently?
Speaker 2 (04:03):
That's a really interesting question, um.
So we?
Um?
Xp league is a franchise thathas 40 locations around the
united states.
Um, the original foundersstarted actually in the triangle
area research triangle area in2020, and when we found it and
(04:25):
saw how many of our own familyproblems have solved, we jumped
on the train, and I think one ofour most successful things
we've been able to do is when wework with schools, because, I
mean, that's where the kids areright, and so I think one thing
(04:49):
that we would have done soonerwould be to do more partnerships
with, like, the PTO at a schoolor things like that, because
we've done more of that thispast school year and found it to
be really successful and wewish we'd have been doing it
longer.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
So yeah, I love that.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
Definitely more time in schools.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Yeah, well, I mean it's from a macro standpoint.
It's like, who are thestrategic partners that you can
work with?
In your case, it's the schools,or one of the strategic
partners you could work with.
So I think that that's, youknow, getting involved in that
earlier.
That's an awesome thing to say.
So what are what have been someof your learnings as an owner
(05:30):
and an employer?
Speaker 2 (05:33):
As an owner, we actually will learn things a lot
faster than we anticipatedRight after we signed our
agreement to open XP LeagueAsheville, and that we signed
that agreement in April 23.
In May of 23, the lady who hadalready opened the Greenville
location asked if we wanted totake over Greenville, and so we
(05:57):
went from like, oh, we're justnew owners, we're going to learn
things as we do them.
We took over her location with40 members already at it and
they were doing things severaltimes a week, and so we had to
jump in the deep end of a pooland learn right away Payroll,
(06:19):
the reminders to the families,how to enroll a new student all
those things happened like inthe first week that we were on,
instead of getting to learn allthose things gradually along our
process.
And so I mean, probably one ofthe biggest things was learning
the part about having employeesin those things.
(06:42):
We've done other side gigs andhad other things that were our
own responsibility, but neitherone of us had ever had employees
, and so learning all the thingsthat come with onboarding and
payroll and all those kinds ofthings has was one of the first
(07:04):
tricky processes that we had tofigure out real quick, um.
As far as like learnings asbusiness owners, I think at the
beginning we were trying to usethe community of other owners
because it was a franchise, thecustomer already existed to find
(07:26):
out, like, what were some ofyour best practices and what
should we do.
That you've done, but we stillthrew a whole lot of spaghetti
against the wall that didn'tstick, and I think some of our
learnings have been like, okay,what really works for us, either
(07:47):
for our own personality or forthe area where we are?
Um, maybe things that otherpeople did at other locations
was great for them, but itdidn't really work in Asheville,
um, and so finding some of thethings that have worked at
schools in particular has beengreat for us.
The other learning that we aregetting is how effective the
(08:15):
word of mouth is, and we love togive referral credit to people
who send us somebody who ends upsigning up as a member, and
some of our best customers havecome from some of our best
customers because of thatloyalty factor and and they're
(08:39):
just talking about how muchtheir kid loves it.
So then parents talk about whattheir kids love, and and that's
been some of our best growth.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Yeah, love that, I love that.
So what are some commonmisconceptions about running a
business?
Speaker 2 (08:59):
I think maybe how much time it takes is one.
I don't know if people thinkthat it takes a little.
When we talked to the lady whohad the Greenville location, I
kind of got an idea of how muchtime she was spending.
(09:21):
We're like, oh okay, and thenthat makes sense.
But then, since we took overhers and we're doing ours,
initially there was a lot morethat we thought.
Then we thought, um, that wentinto it.
I think, um also, I thinkthere's a misconception around
(09:49):
franchises in general, becausewe did have, you know, a
business model laid out for usand there were a lot of things
for us to follow.
But I think I misunderstood evenabout franchising and getting
the word franchise and chainmaybe misconstrued because
(10:12):
people think of, like, oh, achain restaurant and a big
corporation and blah, blah, blah, but the one that's in your
town is probably still owned byan individual, particularly if
it's a franchise, and thatindividual still has their own
family and their own bills andthey are running this business
locally for their community asan individual.
(10:34):
And so I think maybe somemisconceptions around
franchising and chains beinglike, oh, it's just this big
corporation, but we consider ourAsheville and Greenville just
family owned and family run,even though we had a model
behind us, because we're it Likeif you call the phone number on
(10:54):
the website, like you get mycell phone it's me.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
Right, yeah, I agree with you.
I think a lot of times,franchises are that people don't
understand that and you do have.
I mean, you have a model, youhave a concept, you have a
prototype that you're taking out, but the reason franchises work
is because the prototype works.
And so, yeah, and the idea isthat you can have local
(11:24):
ownership of a concept.
It's a good one.
So what do you attribute yourgrowth to?
Speaker 2 (11:36):
I think part of our success has been finding
something that parents need andfilling that need.
Almost everybody has at leastone of their kids that plays
video games and maybe if theyhave three kids like one's
(11:59):
really into soccer, one's reallyinto baseball, but this one
just loves Minecraft and I don'tknow what to do with that Like
I don't know how to help him,you know, get outside of his
comfort zone and make newfriends and everything, um.
And so I think, having that needthat we can fill and helping
families, um, I hope that partof our secret sauce is us, um,
(12:25):
because we really care so muchabout what we're doing and we I
mean we have our own kids.
Our boys are 14 and 11.
So when we started this, thebirthdays hadn't happened yet.
They were 9 and 11 at the timethat we started our journey and
and we felt strongly about itbecause it mattered to our
(12:47):
family and we were able to passthat passion on to other people.
So part of it has been ourpassion for what we're doing and
wanting to help other kids.
And then, like I said, anotherpart of the growth has been
people sharing what they lovewith other people and then
(13:08):
jumping on the train with us.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
Yeah, I mean all I know is most of the kids I know
play soccer, baseball and somesort of video games.
I mean it should be part of thepackage, I think I mean they're
all the ones I know.
I mean my kids did or do,probably still, even though
they're grown.
So, yeah, it's, it's.
It's crazy.
What, what do you?
How do you balance, like, thepersonal life with the demands
(13:35):
of the business life?
Speaker 2 (13:39):
For us.
I mean we're we're partners inthis business, but we're
partners in life.
I mean we've been marriedalmost 21 years now and um
congratulations we just thankyou.
We decided to start to do thistogether and at the beginning
the balance part was prettytricky, like I don't know if we
(14:01):
even did it very well.
Yeah it was pretty consuming.
but we did fall into somerhythms where, um, at our actual
location right now, we wehaven't had anything on Tuesdays
for a while.
And then we did have a seasonwhere we had things on Tuesdays
but our coaches covered it andwe just like Tuesdays, we're
(14:24):
always home and we're always off.
The kids didn't have adifferent activity, um, xp
league wasn't open, so weweren't even going to get like a
call that somebody was sick andneeded a sub.
So Tuesdays have always been um, our family night.
Sunday afternoons and eveningsare pretty relaxed at our house
(14:49):
and we try to keep those prettysacred.
And I think I heard somebodyexplain once that balance
doesn't just mean equal time inequal places.
Equal time in equal places itdoesn't mean that you spend
(15:13):
equal, but it does mean thatwhen you say it's family time,
it's 100% family time, and whenyou say you're working, you're
100% in on it and your focus isover here.
And it also might mean thatthere are seasons that feel out
of whack, but then you need tohave a recovery from that back
to the middle.
And so I don't.
(15:36):
I'm 100% on board with thatconcept that balancing family
and work doesn't necessarilymean it's always going to feel
just like this.
It might mean that it feelslike this for a minute, but then
we come back to the middle andwe work really hard.
(15:59):
An example this summer was ourbig XP League Nationals
tournament and our family waspart of the team that was
helping set up for it.
So we went down to Florida.
Instead of being there forthree days, we were there for
eight.
But the first day was a familyday I mean actually a family
that we visited and hung out.
We had a fun day.
(16:19):
Then we worked several days.
Our kids were part of the work,which was kind of nice.
They learned some new things bybeing part of the work.
They got to be behind thescenes and all those kinds of
things.
And then we finished thetournament and we went to Epic
Universe for a day.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
Nice.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
You know it was a working vacation but we all had
a good time and the work gotdone and we played really hard
at the end.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
Yeah, no, I love that , I love that.
So, uh, so be.
Epic is a acronym, so I'm goingto give you, uh, uh, the, the,
the, what the letters stand for.
You just give me a sentence ortwo, sort of a quick fire round
on what you believe and how itapplies.
So the B stands for bring theenergy.
So what are your thoughtsaround that?
Speaker 2 (17:06):
I think the best way you bring your energy is when
you do what you're passionateabout.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
I love it.
How about the E for education?
Speaker 2 (17:16):
Oh, school is never out for the pro.
We always need to be learningsomething new.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
School is never out for the pro.
Love that, I love that.
How about P planning Planning?
Speaker 2 (17:27):
Yeah, I think planning hard and planning in
advance for the work and the funis what makes that balance come
out.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
Love it, love it.
Yeah, you really do have toplan vacations and book them and
book days off and book datenights and book those sort of
things.
It just never happens.
Yeah, it just doesn't happen.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
Yeah, plan the fun too.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
Yeah, yeah, a hundred percent.
Yeah, if you don't plan it,you'll just work.
Uh, at least some of us will.
Uh, yeah, I have to.
Uh, you know, give myselfthings.
So I is inspiration.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
Inspiration.
I think it goes along with thepassion.
When you're inspired, it's easyfor other people to catch the
inspiration from you.
We're passionate about what wedo and we've actually helped a
lot of other people becomepassionate about what we do, and
I think that's kind of the rootof inspiration is passing it
(18:31):
along.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
Yeah, I think it is.
I think you can catchinspiration.
You know like, yeah, it's good.
C stands for commitment.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Yeah, wow, it does all fall in together.
But commitment is, I think,more than just passion.
I think passion, sometimes youfeel it, but commitment is the
locked think more than justpassion.
I think passion, sometimes youfeel it, but commitment is the
locked-in piece of that.
You don't get to a workiversary, you don't get to a wedding
(19:04):
anniversary, you don't get toany of those things without
commitment.
And commitment comes.
I mean, commitment is what,what keeps you there, even if
you don't necessarily feel likeit today, and that's super
important.
Um, that we don't just alwaysfollow our feelings or whatever,
(19:25):
but the commitment keeps yougoing.
um, love it when our fadingsfeel yeah, I love it you gotta
you can have.
Speaker 1 (19:33):
you can be passionate about something, but if you
don't put in the work, you'renot going to be successful.
So you've got to be committedto the whole thing.
I love that, yeah.
So what words of advice wouldyou give to other business
owners who are looking to grow?
Speaker 2 (19:52):
If it's not coming to you at the moment, if the
growth or whatever stick withthe commitment and the feelings
do follow.
I think when you, like you,started your business, obviously
I mean hopefully, because youwere passionate about it and
(20:14):
because you were inspired by ityourself, I mean you stay
committed to it.
Those feelings of passion andinspiration that you were, that
you started with, can help keepyou going, and we'll we'll keep
in line with your commitment.
It's not all sunshines, roses,unicorns, all that in business
(20:36):
ever, and in two years, we'vebeen through some seasons where
it feels trickier, it feelsdifficult, and then we get, you
know, another Google reviewwhere somebody just raves about
how their birthday party wastheir kid's favorite whenever.
(20:57):
Or we get a message, a textmessage like about these two
kids who are playing togetherand they met in XP League and
the parents are just so happythat XP League helped their kid
find this friend that they're,you know, really connected to,
people help their kid find thisfriend that they're, you know,
(21:17):
really connected to.
And you still know, like, okay,we're still in the right place,
we're still doing what we'recalled to do, and it does help
us renew our commitment to getthose encouragements along the
way.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
Yeah, no, I love that , hey.
And lastly, what's the best wayfor someone to get in touch
with you?
Speaker 2 (21:34):
Oh, yes, to get in touch with us.
We are XP League Asheville onInstagram and Facebook and
you're always welcome to callthe business number.
It's 828-761-0516.
And when you go to xpleaguecomand you can search for the
(22:00):
Asheville location, so it'sxpleaguecom, yep, and then
search up your zip code and youknow for somebody who might hear
this, and they don't live inthis area.
You're obviously always welcomeat x XP League Asheville or
Greenville, but there arelocations all across the US and
we'd love for people to getconnected to the XP League where
(22:20):
they live, because part of thesecret sauce really is getting
to meet in person and make thosereal life connections.
Speaker 1 (22:30):
Yeah, I love how I mean one of the things I've've I
mean I've known you guys thewhole time, I think pretty much,
and I've I've.
One of the things I loved isyou're taking an online
experience and bringing itoffline so that and and making
it um, wholesome in a way yeah,that's and healthy and and
(22:51):
taking all the stuff that's youknow, all the knocks on gaming
out of it, and I just love that.
So, thanks for what you'redoing and really appreciate you
being a part of our communityand for all you're doing, and I
know that this thing is going tocontinue to blow up and be a
success.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
Thanks, bill, I appreciate you having us on.
Speaker 1 (23:14):
Yeah, hey, and until next time, all the best.
Hi there and welcome to this episode of Epic
Entrepreneurs.
I'm Bill Gilliland, your host.
I'm also the principal partnerin Action Coach, business Growth
Partners and in the WNC I'msorry, the Asheville Business
Summit.
The website is wncsummitcom.
You're going to want to go outthere now and get your tickets
(00:24):
for September 23rd for the bigAsheville Summit this year.
It is going to be bigger andbetter than ever.
We look forward to seeing youthere.
That's wncsummitcom.
Hey, today I'm super excitedI've got Cheryl Chambers from
the XP League as our businessspotlight.
Welcome to the podcast as ourbusiness spotlight.
(00:46):
Welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Tell us what the heck XP League is.
Sounds good.
We get that a lot.
Yes, so I'm Cheryl Chambers.
My husband, mark and I openedXP League Asheville in August of
2023.
(01:09):
And XP League is a youth leagueof esports for kids 7 to 17,
which esports is another wordthat we usually need to define.
It isn't necessarily justMadden or playing sports on a
computer, but it's playingcompetitively games that are
typically played on a computer.
So for us, that means we bringkids into our center to play in
(01:32):
person on coach-led competitiveteams in games like Minecraft,
which most people are like.
How do you play Minecraftcompetitively?
But there is a format calledBed Wars where you can compete
four versus four to get to theother team's island and destroy
their beds.
(01:52):
It's a little version ofcapture the flag in the game of
Minecraft, but we play thatcompetitively.
Fortnite Trios, apex Legends,rocket League, valorant and
Overwatch 2 are all titles thatwe play in XP League, and then
we also have Marvel Rivals and aRoblox club, and so the goal of
(02:18):
all of these titles and what wedo is to help kids use those
games as a vehicle to learntraits that we all want them to
learn, like teamwork,sportsmanship, having a positive
attitude, having a growthmindset which I'm sure you can
relate to that they can learnthat it's okay to make a mistake
(02:43):
, just learn from it and move on.
But also some of the issues thatMark and I did not love about
video games with our own kidsand some of the problems that we
were trying to solve.
We could see that this leaguewould help solve those problems,
like being isolated so playingon a team and coming together
(03:06):
into a community is one of ourkey values but also some of the
negativity where people yell ateach other in the game or like
give each other a hard time andsay negative things when their
teammates mess up, and teachingthem that they can use positive
language with their peers andhave a better, more positive
(03:32):
environment around them.
So trying to solve some of theproblems that parents have found
as their kids are playing videogames one kid at a time, right
here in Western North Carolina.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
Yeah, no, I love it, I love it.
Let me switch gears a littlebit and ask you about business
some business questions.
So you guys started thebusiness.
If you had to do it over againfrom square one, what would you
do differently?
Speaker 2 (04:03):
That's a really interesting question, um.
So we?
Um?
Xp league is a franchise thathas 40 locations around the
united states.
Um, the original foundersstarted actually in the triangle
area research triangle area in2020, and when we found it and
(04:25):
saw how many of our own familyproblems have solved, we jumped
on the train, and I think one ofour most successful things
we've been able to do is when wework with schools, because, I
mean, that's where the kids areright, and so I think one thing
(04:49):
that we would have done soonerwould be to do more partnerships
with, like, the PTO at a schoolor things like that, because
we've done more of that thispast school year and found it to
be really successful and wewish we'd have been doing it
longer.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
So yeah, I love that.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
Definitely more time in schools.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Yeah, well, I mean it's from a macro standpoint.
It's like, who are thestrategic partners that you can
work with?
In your case, it's the schools,or one of the strategic
partners you could work with.
So I think that that's, youknow, getting involved in that
earlier.
That's an awesome thing to say.
So what are what have been someof your learnings as an owner
(05:30):
and an employer?
Speaker 2 (05:33):
As an owner, we actually will learn things a lot
faster than we anticipatedRight after we signed our
agreement to open XP LeagueAsheville, and that we signed
that agreement in April 23.
In May of 23, the lady who hadalready opened the Greenville
location asked if we wanted totake over Greenville, and so we
(05:57):
went from like, oh, we're justnew owners, we're going to learn
things as we do them.
We took over her location with40 members already at it and
they were doing things severaltimes a week, and so we had to
jump in the deep end of a pooland learn right away Payroll,
(06:19):
the reminders to the families,how to enroll a new student all
those things happened like inthe first week that we were on,
instead of getting to learn allthose things gradually along our
process.
And so I mean, probably one ofthe biggest things was learning
the part about having employeesin those things.
(06:42):
We've done other side gigs andhad other things that were our
own responsibility, but neitherone of us had ever had employees
, and so learning all the thingsthat come with onboarding and
payroll and all those kinds ofthings has was one of the first
(07:04):
tricky processes that we had tofigure out real quick, um.
As far as like learnings asbusiness owners, I think at the
beginning we were trying to usethe community of other owners
because it was a franchise, thecustomer already existed to find
(07:26):
out, like, what were some ofyour best practices and what
should we do.
That you've done, but we stillthrew a whole lot of spaghetti
against the wall that didn'tstick, and I think some of our
learnings have been like, okay,what really works for us, either
(07:47):
for our own personality or forthe area where we are?
Um, maybe things that otherpeople did at other locations
was great for them, but itdidn't really work in Asheville,
um, and so finding some of thethings that have worked at
schools in particular has beengreat for us.
The other learning that we aregetting is how effective the
(08:15):
word of mouth is, and we love togive referral credit to people
who send us somebody who ends upsigning up as a member, and
some of our best customers havecome from some of our best
customers because of thatloyalty factor and and they're
(08:39):
just talking about how muchtheir kid loves it.
So then parents talk about whattheir kids love, and and that's
been some of our best growth.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Yeah, love that, I love that.
So what are some commonmisconceptions about running a
business?
Speaker 2 (08:59):
I think maybe how much time it takes is one.
I don't know if people thinkthat it takes a little.
When we talked to the lady whohad the Greenville location, I
kind of got an idea of how muchtime she was spending.
(09:21):
We're like, oh okay, and thenthat makes sense.
But then, since we took overhers and we're doing ours,
initially there was a lot morethat we thought.
Then we thought, um, that wentinto it.
I think, um also, I thinkthere's a misconception around
(09:49):
franchises in general, becausewe did have, you know, a
business model laid out for usand there were a lot of things
for us to follow.
But I think I misunderstood evenabout franchising and getting
the word franchise and chainmaybe misconstrued because
(10:12):
people think of, like, oh, achain restaurant and a big
corporation and blah, blah, blah, but the one that's in your
town is probably still owned byan individual, particularly if
it's a franchise, and thatindividual still has their own
family and their own bills andthey are running this business
locally for their community asan individual.
(10:34):
And so I think maybe somemisconceptions around
franchising and chains beinglike, oh, it's just this big
corporation, but we consider ourAsheville and Greenville just
family owned and family run,even though we had a model
behind us, because we're it Likeif you call the phone number on
(10:54):
the website, like you get mycell phone it's me.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
Right, yeah, I agree with you.
I think a lot of times,franchises are that people don't
understand that and you do have.
I mean, you have a model, youhave a concept, you have a
prototype that you're taking out, but the reason franchises work
is because the prototype works.
And so, yeah, and the idea isthat you can have local
(11:24):
ownership of a concept.
It's a good one.
So what do you attribute yourgrowth to?
Speaker 2 (11:36):
I think part of our success has been finding
something that parents need andfilling that need.
Almost everybody has at leastone of their kids that plays
video games and maybe if theyhave three kids like one's
(11:59):
really into soccer, one's reallyinto baseball, but this one
just loves Minecraft and I don'tknow what to do with that Like
I don't know how to help him,you know, get outside of his
comfort zone and make newfriends and everything, um.
And so I think, having that needthat we can fill and helping
families, um, I hope that partof our secret sauce is us, um,
(12:25):
because we really care so muchabout what we're doing and we I
mean we have our own kids.
Our boys are 14 and 11.
So when we started this, thebirthdays hadn't happened yet.
They were 9 and 11 at the timethat we started our journey and
and we felt strongly about itbecause it mattered to our
(12:47):
family and we were able to passthat passion on to other people.
So part of it has been ourpassion for what we're doing and
wanting to help other kids.
And then, like I said, anotherpart of the growth has been
people sharing what they lovewith other people and then
(13:08):
jumping on the train with us.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
Yeah, I mean all I know is most of the kids I know
play soccer, baseball and somesort of video games.
I mean it should be part of thepackage, I think I mean they're
all the ones I know.
I mean my kids did or do,probably still, even though
they're grown.
So, yeah, it's, it's.
It's crazy.
What, what do you?
How do you balance, like, thepersonal life with the demands
(13:35):
of the business life?
Speaker 2 (13:39):
For us.
I mean we're we're partners inthis business, but we're
partners in life.
I mean we've been marriedalmost 21 years now and um
congratulations we just thankyou.
We decided to start to do thistogether and at the beginning
the balance part was prettytricky, like I don't know if we
(14:01):
even did it very well.
Yeah it was pretty consuming.
but we did fall into somerhythms where, um, at our actual
location right now, we wehaven't had anything on Tuesdays
for a while.
And then we did have a seasonwhere we had things on Tuesdays
but our coaches covered it andwe just like Tuesdays, we're
(14:24):
always home and we're always off.
The kids didn't have adifferent activity, um, xp
league wasn't open, so weweren't even going to get like a
call that somebody was sick andneeded a sub.
So Tuesdays have always been um, our family night.
Sunday afternoons and eveningsare pretty relaxed at our house
(14:49):
and we try to keep those prettysacred.
And I think I heard somebodyexplain once that balance
doesn't just mean equal time inequal places.
Equal time in equal places itdoesn't mean that you spend
(15:13):
equal, but it does mean thatwhen you say it's family time,
it's 100% family time, and whenyou say you're working, you're
100% in on it and your focus isover here.
And it also might mean thatthere are seasons that feel out
of whack, but then you need tohave a recovery from that back
to the middle.
And so I don't.
(15:36):
I'm 100% on board with thatconcept that balancing family
and work doesn't necessarilymean it's always going to feel
just like this.
It might mean that it feelslike this for a minute, but then
we come back to the middle andwe work really hard.
(15:59):
An example this summer was ourbig XP League Nationals
tournament and our family waspart of the team that was
helping set up for it.
So we went down to Florida.
Instead of being there forthree days, we were there for
eight.
But the first day was a familyday I mean actually a family
that we visited and hung out.
We had a fun day.
(16:19):
Then we worked several days.
Our kids were part of the work,which was kind of nice.
They learned some new things bybeing part of the work.
They got to be behind thescenes and all those kinds of
things.
And then we finished thetournament and we went to Epic
Universe for a day.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
Nice.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
You know it was a working vacation but we all had
a good time and the work gotdone and we played really hard
at the end.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
Yeah, no, I love that , I love that.
So, uh, so be.
Epic is a acronym, so I'm goingto give you, uh, uh, the, the,
the, what the letters stand for.
You just give me a sentence ortwo, sort of a quick fire round
on what you believe and how itapplies.
So the B stands for bring theenergy.
So what are your thoughtsaround that?
Speaker 2 (17:06):
I think the best way you bring your energy is when
you do what you're passionateabout.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
I love it.
How about the E for education?
Speaker 2 (17:16):
Oh, school is never out for the pro.
We always need to be learningsomething new.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
School is never out for the pro.
Love that, I love that.
How about P planning Planning?
Speaker 2 (17:27):
Yeah, I think planning hard and planning in
advance for the work and the funis what makes that balance come
out.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
Love it, love it.
Yeah, you really do have toplan vacations and book them and
book days off and book datenights and book those sort of
things.
It just never happens.
Yeah, it just doesn't happen.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
Yeah, plan the fun too.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
Yeah, yeah, a hundred percent.
Yeah, if you don't plan it,you'll just work.
Uh, at least some of us will.
Uh, yeah, I have to.
Uh, you know, give myselfthings.
So I is inspiration.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
Inspiration.
I think it goes along with thepassion.
When you're inspired, it's easyfor other people to catch the
inspiration from you.
We're passionate about what wedo and we've actually helped a
lot of other people becomepassionate about what we do, and
I think that's kind of the rootof inspiration is passing it
(18:31):
along.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
Yeah, I think it is.
I think you can catchinspiration.
You know like, yeah, it's good.
C stands for commitment.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Yeah, wow, it does all fall in together.
But commitment is, I think,more than just passion.
I think passion, sometimes youfeel it, but commitment is the
locked think more than justpassion.
I think passion, sometimes youfeel it, but commitment is the
locked-in piece of that.
You don't get to a workiversary, you don't get to a wedding
(19:04):
anniversary, you don't get toany of those things without
commitment.
And commitment comes.
I mean, commitment is what,what keeps you there, even if
you don't necessarily feel likeit today, and that's super
important.
Um, that we don't just alwaysfollow our feelings or whatever,
(19:25):
but the commitment keeps yougoing.
um, love it when our fadingsfeel yeah, I love it you gotta
you can have.
Speaker 1 (19:33):
you can be passionate about something, but if you
don't put in the work, you'renot going to be successful.
So you've got to be committedto the whole thing.
I love that, yeah.
So what words of advice wouldyou give to other business
owners who are looking to grow?
Speaker 2 (19:52):
If it's not coming to you at the moment, if the
growth or whatever stick withthe commitment and the feelings
do follow.
I think when you, like you,started your business, obviously
I mean hopefully, because youwere passionate about it and
(20:14):
because you were inspired by ityourself, I mean you stay
committed to it.
Those feelings of passion andinspiration that you were, that
you started with, can help keepyou going, and we'll we'll keep
in line with your commitment.
It's not all sunshines, roses,unicorns, all that in business
(20:36):
ever, and in two years, we'vebeen through some seasons where
it feels trickier, it feelsdifficult, and then we get, you
know, another Google reviewwhere somebody just raves about
how their birthday party wastheir kid's favorite whenever.
(20:57):
Or we get a message, a textmessage like about these two
kids who are playing togetherand they met in XP League and
the parents are just so happythat XP League helped their kid
find this friend that they're,you know, really connected to,
people help their kid find thisfriend that they're, you know,
(21:17):
really connected to.
And you still know, like, okay,we're still in the right place,
we're still doing what we'recalled to do, and it does help
us renew our commitment to getthose encouragements along the
way.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
Yeah, no, I love that , hey.
And lastly, what's the best wayfor someone to get in touch
with you?
Speaker 2 (21:34):
Oh, yes, to get in touch with us.
We are XP League Asheville onInstagram and Facebook and
you're always welcome to callthe business number.
It's 828-761-0516.
And when you go to xpleaguecomand you can search for the
(22:00):
Asheville location, so it'sxpleaguecom, yep, and then
search up your zip code and youknow for somebody who might hear
this, and they don't live inthis area.
You're obviously always welcomeat x XP League Asheville or
Greenville, but there arelocations all across the US and
we'd love for people to getconnected to the XP League where
(22:20):
they live, because part of thesecret sauce really is getting
to meet in person and make thosereal life connections.
Speaker 1 (22:30):
Yeah, I love how I mean one of the things I've've I
mean I've known you guys thewhole time, I think pretty much,
and I've I've.
One of the things I loved isyou're taking an online
experience and bringing itoffline so that and and making
it um, wholesome in a way yeah,that's and healthy and and
(22:51):
taking all the stuff that's youknow, all the knocks on gaming
out of it, and I just love that.
So, thanks for what you'redoing and really appreciate you
being a part of our communityand for all you're doing, and I
know that this thing is going tocontinue to blow up and be a
success.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
Thanks, bill, I appreciate you having us on.
Speaker 1 (23:14):
Yeah, hey, and until next time, all the best.
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