August 22, 2024 • 23 mins
What if your fitness journey could also nurture your spiritual and emotional well-being? On this episode of the Good Neighbor Podcast, we spotlight James Vassell, an ordained bishop with the Church of God, who has seamlessly woven together the realms of high-intensity CrossFit and spiritual ministry at his unique gym, Anistemi. You'll hear how James fosters a supportive, judgment-free environment for everyone—from young children to seniors and individuals overcoming eating disorders—mirroring the mission of a church that meets people where they are and celebrates their progress toward overall wellness.
James Vassell's vision goes beyond just physical fitness. We explore how CrossFit Anistemi has transformed into a holistic wellness center, offering services such as chiropractic care, physical therapy, massage therapy, nutrition coaching, counseling, neurofeedback, and an IV clinic. Despite facing personal challenges, including the recent loss of his father, James continues to draw on past guidance to support his community. Learn about his journey from aspiring to administrative ministry to embracing a pastoral role, blending business and spiritual guidance to create a thriving environment. This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in a comprehensive approach to health and wellness.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Scott Howell.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Hello, good neighbors , and welcome to the Good
Neighbor Podcast brought to youby the Friends and Neighbors
Group of the Greater ChattanoogaArea, including Cleveland and
Dalton, georgia.
My name is Scott Howell again,and I'm your host.
And for all you first-timelisteners out there who might be
wondering what is this GoodNeighbor podcast all about?
(00:31):
Well, it's to bring awarenessto the residents of our
communities regarding thelocally owned and or operated
businesses in the greaterChattanooga area, in Cleveland,
in Dalton, georgia and all thelittle communities around us.
Small local businesses are thebackbone of our communities and
they need our support.
(00:51):
Joining me today is JamesVassell at CrossFit.
You know, james, I forgot toask you how to pronounce that.
I apologize.
No, you're fine, anistomate,anistomate.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
All right, I guess there's a story behind that.
We're going to let you tell itin a minute, but we are sure
glad to have you on the programtoday with us, james, and you
know, before we dive intotalking about your business, I'd
like to give you a moment toshare something about yourself
and your family, if you'd liketo.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Yeah, we do this as a ministry.
Yeah, we do this as a ministry.
So I'm actually an ordainedbishop.
So a lot of the times whenpeople see a CrossFit, they
assume that it's just forgeneral fitness.
And there's so much more thatwe want to offer to people when
they come to our door.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
All right.
Well, that's a great concept.
So your local bishop, is it anyparticular church For?
Speaker 3 (01:46):
the denomination Church of God.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Okay, church of God, all right.
Well, glad to have you with us,sir, amen.
Let's just dive in and talkabout CrossFit.
I want you to pronounce thatone more time for me Anistome,
anistome.
Okay, let's talk about CrossFit, anistome, okay, what do you
want to know?
What are y'all about?
(02:09):
What are y'all for people?
What's on the exercise side, onthe ministry side.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
Just tell us all about it yeah, well, honestly,
we actually have a um.
We started with crossfit with abigger goal.
Now crossfit is just a style ofworkout.
It's called constantly varied,high intensity, functional
movements that's the definitionof it where you're getting
different kinds of workouts butthey're all functional, so it's
what's natural to the body, okay, and we make sure that you're
(02:36):
doing some sometimes highintensity, sometimes strength,
sometimes cardio, sometimesflexibility, sometimes just good
balance.
A lot of times we hear peoplecome in or they're afraid to do
CrossFit.
We always tell them listen,this is what you see on TV
oftentimes, or what you see fromsomebody saying they went to a
CrossFit gym.
It's not what you're going toexperience, because we want to
(02:59):
make sure that we make peoplewhere they are and just get them
generally overall fit andhealthy.
That's our main goal for thebranch of CrossFit is to bring
overall wellness to people,physical wellness, and that has
shown itself tried and true forthe past about 14 years that
I've been in the business.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
OK, well, james, you know that all sounds interesting
.
A lot of people are intimidatedwhen they come to the gym.
You know a lot of the stuff yousee on CrossFit.
I see a lot of it on YouTubeand I tell people I'm on my
fitness journey.
I'm not where I want to be, butI'm definitely not where I
started.
I lost 40 pounds.
I'm very proud of where I'vebeen, but I still need to get
(03:41):
further down the road.
So I follow a lot of where I'vebeen, but I still need to get
there, get a little further downthe road.
But so I've got a lot offitness stuff.
Just watching it and seeing.
And I see a lot of theseCrossFit folks.
Man, I mean some of them looklike the small version of the
Incredible Hulk.
You know, I mean it's a.
It's pretty amazing.
So the intimidation factor canbe there for people walking in
the first time.
No-transcript.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
You know, oftentimes I compare those same
misconceptions to the church.
Let's say I was on my journeyto have a better spiritual
lifestyle, but I can't.
When I step into the church andI see the pastor quote in every
scripture verse well, I can'tdo that.
But does that mean should I notgo to church?
What if I'm struggling in sinand I'm dealing with some other
(04:34):
areas of addictions?
Well, should I not go in, scott, if I'm not there yet?
Or, let's say, forget thechurch, let's go into an aspect
of just general overall health.
Well, I'm not to the point of Ican't lift 500 pounds, but I
(04:56):
can lift a little bit.
Well, great, well, we want tomake sure that you can get a
little better, and there's neverbeen an area of judgment when
it comes down to CrossFit.
Most gyms that I know, of anygym that I've ever been to,
their main goal is to meet youwhere you are.
So, scott, if you're like, hey,I've lost 40 pounds, but I want
to lose another four, we're notgoing to say, well, you're
(05:17):
going to have to do this, this,this, this, this for the last
four.
It's well, congratulations, youdid 40.
What did you do for 40, and howdo we help you get to the next
level and in my gym which we'revery grateful for our youngest
member we have kids' classes.
So our youngest member is fiveyears old.
One of our oldest members is inhis late 60s, some of our
(05:42):
skinniest people came fromeating disorders, coming in from
a mental health clinic oroutpatient area or inpatient
area, where they come in withanorexia and bulimia, we get
them a little healthier.
I've had members who are over600 pounds coming into our gym
and they all took the same class.
And it's cool because we wantto make sure that even with the
(06:06):
college athlete in the sameclass, they're all getting
individualized attention whilewe're still doing the same
community work.
So if a pastor comes and hestarts preaching the sermon, it
might hit you differently thanit hits somebody else, but we
all got to be there to hear it,right, that's our main goal when
it comes down to wellness andfor for CrossFit, that's a lot
(06:27):
of the culture.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
Okay, all right, that that makes sense.
That's you put it down intosimple terms.
If anybody is, is feelsintimidated and they listen to
what you said, that's got tomake sense.
Yeah, absolutely you know.
Uh, how did your journey comeabout where you came to be
involved in crossfit james,that's a great question.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
I had two wonderful friends.
I was doing a lot of enduranceraces.
Um, I was about 135 pounds,soaking wet.
Uh, I was scrawny as all couldbe.
Uh, in college I mean, I wasjust itty bitty.
Um, and I had some friends whowe wanted to do, like, uh, the
mud races, and so we weretraining for those and running.
(07:10):
And, uh, we just ended uprunning past an old warehouse
and heard some loud music andI'm a dancer as well.
So I was like, well, what's themusic going on?
Let's go check it out.
We checked it out and found outthat it was a CrossFit gym.
And the guy who was the ownerat the time looked at me and he
said, well, what are you workingon?
And I was like I'm an endurancerunner, I want to get better
for obstacle courses.
And he was like, well, we couldprobably get you a lot faster
(07:33):
and get you a whole lot stronger.
I get some meat on your bones,so you're a little bit more
healthy.
And I laughed because at thetime I thought I was super fit.
I was doing P90X in every videoout there.
And I'd breeze through thoseworkouts and I'd be dedicated.
And I took one class and theworkout was seven minutes long
(07:55):
and I thought I was ready to dieseven minutes and the guy the
coach and the owner said, well,hey, you are in shape, but
you're not in crossfit shape andit's a different kind of
fitness, and so that's where wereally recognize that there is a
different scale for fitness.
Matter of fact, one of thegentlemen that was in the class
(08:17):
with me, who was my age he wasabout 150 pounds bigger than I
am and we were literally neckand neck for the entire workout,
which lets me know that it wasso.
The workouts are so balancedthat even a big person will be
fitting in perfectly with askinny person because of the
variety that comes with it.
So he could lift really heavybut he couldn't run.
(08:39):
So I would run and I'd get backto the lift and I could lift
and he'd catch up and he'd liftand it was that whole pattern
for a good seven minutes and werealized that this was a good,
healthy range for generaloverall fitness.
Okay, and so when it comes,comes yeah, when it comes to
crossfit, we always make astatement at our gym that we
(09:02):
should be able to hang with agood uh endurance runner.
We may not beat an endurancerunner, but we can at least hang
out with them yeah, we might goto a powerlifting gym.
We might not win, but we candefinitely hang with them and do
well Any scales of fitness.
(09:22):
We should be able to just jumpright in and still be in the top
and have fun.
It's not our expertise, but weshould be able to be fairly
balanced.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
I tell you I'm very impressed with the people that I
see on the YouTube videos thatdo the CrossFit.
It's very impressive.
You know some of the I've beenfollowing it for several years
and some of the big names youknow.
They're well-known in thatindustry.
The things that they accomplishis mind blowing, you know.
So it's very impressive forsure.
(09:49):
And then the fact that you'reyou know you're encouraging
people on the spiritual side,that's.
That's a blessing too, becausewe all need that.
We all need that encouragement.
You know that spirit.
We're all fighting a battle ofsome sort.
If it's not your health, ifit's not your finances, it's
something.
If it's not your mental health,there's something.
(10:09):
If nothing else, you've got afamily member that's fighting
and you're fighting with themand something going on.
And we all need encouragement,that's for sure, um go ahead.
Speaker 3 (10:19):
I often tell people oftentimes that I can tell what
kind of person you are when Isee you on the gym floor.
Um, sometimes, people that someof the work workouts are fairly
hard, some of the workouts arefairly easy, but I can see a lot
of ethic um, etiquette orethics on the floor.
Um, I've had a lot of peoplewho will say, hey, listen me,
coming here has actuallyimproved my marriage, because I
(10:42):
realize that I can do hardthings, I realize that I can
actually persevere.
I realize that I probably needto improve in certain areas of
my own well-being before I starttelling my wife that they need
to do X, y and Z.
And it's really cool becauseyou're doing a lot more
reflection.
And our main goal for our gymwas not just to be a CrossFit
gym but to be an overallwellness center, and so that's
(11:03):
what we've actually transitionedinto.
Crossfit was the beginning part,but now at our facility we have
a chiropractor, we have aphysical therapist, we have two
massage therapists, we have anutrition coach therapists.
We have two massage therapists,we have a nutrition coach, we
have a counselor, we haveneurofeedback, we have an IV
(11:23):
clinic now and it's just general.
We have women's devotions andmen's devotions.
We're doing the whole thing andwe realize that just because
somebody is physically fitdoesn't mean that they're
holistically fit, and so that'sthe area that we really have
started pushing for is get themin the doors by letting them get
fit and making sure they lookgood in a bathing suit and
making them feel confident aboutthemselves, but also making
sure that their spiritual lifeis good, make sure that their
(11:44):
mental health, make sure theirfinances are good.
Like you mentioned beforehand,community we don't have the
accountability or the communityto help encourage people to do
better and to find a healthierplace of life.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
Yeah, but when you say you got these different
businesses, do you mean theseare members of the CrossFit gym
or they come there to help andassist people?
Speaker 3 (12:14):
No, they work here.
Yeah, they work here.
Yeah, we have.
We're running out of room,Scott.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
We're running out of room.
That's nice.
I met the gentleman that doesthe IV infusion.
I interviewed him recently.
Yeah, that's interesting.
You tell me you've got allthese people.
He's a great guy too.
But you know, everybody comesthrough a journey in life and,
like we said, we're talkingabout difficulty, something
(12:44):
happens.
I'd like to ask you, james,have you, have you endured
anything in your life, anyhardships or life challenges,
that you know?
Now that you, now that you camethrough it, you look back and
you go, you know I'm better andI'm stronger for that?
Speaker 3 (13:01):
Yeah, that's a, that's a great, that's a loaded
question.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
Bloody.
I'll tell you it's a loadedquestion.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
I would actually be transparent with you and say
that I am still going throughone of the very difficult
situations.
My mentor and my true trustednumber one fan passed away about
a year and a half ago my fatherand he has been a phenomenal.
Thank you.
It's been a phenomenal guidefor me when running this
(13:32):
business.
There have been multiple timesthat for me personally.
I don't run this as a business.
I run this as a business street.
I put ministry and businesstogether and make sure that this
gives honor to God in allthings that we do, and he was
oftentimes the person who wouldgive me great sound advice, or
(13:55):
sometimes he would just sitthere and listen.
And so, as an owner or assomebody who is running this in
ministry, to have that rolemodel, to have that leader, to
have that person your own father, flesh and blood pass away very
quickly definitely makes itdifficult, right, and so you're
having to be a business ownerand a leader for a company and
(14:18):
the person that you usually tapinto for their resources outside
of God is no longer there, soyou have to still pick up
yourself by your bootstraps,yeah, and oftentimes think about
the advice that you have beengiven in the past and see how
you can figure out how tocontinue to work through grief
and encourage people and liftthem up and love them, and it
(14:41):
gives you the perspective of howto continue um moving forward.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
Yeah, that's, that's, uh, it's.
It's a hard lick when you losesomeone that has that much
influence, that you love thatgreatly.
It's, it's a hard lick and uhyeah, I totally understand that
as someone who's also had a loss, and we, we're sure, sorry for
your loss, james, I know.
Yeah, that's a, that's tough,you know moving.
(15:07):
Coming back to the businessagain, if there was one thing
that you wish that all of ourlisteners could understand and
know about not just not justyour business tree, but also
about you and the way that it'soperated and ran what would that
(15:28):
be?
Speaker 3 (15:30):
That is a great question.
I would dare say that when Iwas young I think I was about
seven years old somebody askedme the question what do you want
to be when you grow up?
And if you know anything aboutthe Church of God.
There are different positionsand I remember saying to them I
(15:52):
want to be the youth director ofa state.
That's somebody who pretty muchruns camps and does a lot of
church ministry, does a lot ofnetworking when it comes down to
making sure that every youthgroup in this state is doing
well, the pastors are doing well, there's a good administrative
work.
And I remember saying thatbeing like I want to do that
kind of ministry.
I want to do a lot ofadministrative ministry, helping
(16:15):
leaders lead.
And I remember saying like theyasked me well, why don't you be
a pastor?
And I was like I don't want tobe a pastor.
Pastors have to deal withpeople every single day.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Um, that is exhausting and not yeah and not
you gotta get those phone calls.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
Um, you've got to deal with people, uh, on a
one-on-one basis.
And I was like I don't want todo that.
I want to do the administrativework and help leaders lead
others, because that soundsbetter, and I remember saying
that to God and be like I'm notgoing to be a pastor.
And it was hilarious because Igot my ministerial license and
continued to preach andcontinued to lead worship at
(16:56):
different churches, do a lot ofevangelical work.
I loved being an evangelist,just preaching in different
churches, it's great.
And I decided, you know what?
The girl I was dating at thetime.
We were very serious.
We were going to need to find aplace to do work out of our gym
and call that ministry and mygoal was to let her run that
place as her own and I would goand just travel and preach and
(17:21):
that was my whole goal, becauseI don't want to be a pastor.
Scott, when I tell you thesimilarities between me running
this gym and what a pastor goesthrough on a day-to-day basis,
I'm pretty sure God has a verybig laugh on his face.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
I'll tell him yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (17:41):
He is definitely tickled.
So in my opinion, that would beone of my biggest things is I?
I I tried to steer away from acalling of working with people
individually and I've had thehonor and the amazing
opportunity to walk with peopleday in and day out, like
(18:01):
sometimes a pastor will see youon Wednesday night and Sunday
mornings.
Maybe, hopefully, he may popinto or she may pop into a small
group here and there.
But for me, and the opportunitythat I have is I get to see
every one of my members everysingle day, and that could be
sometimes it's here hit or miss,but we're not just seeing them,
(18:24):
I'm not just saying, hey, scott, good to see you.
God bless you.
How's the family and gone?
I get to see you for a fullhour and we get to talk and I
get to walk alongside you.
And I've had the opportunity toget people married.
I've had the opportunity to goand do funerals.
I've had the opportunity tohold babies when they first come
out of the womb.
I've also had the opportunityto counsel people who were in
(18:45):
dire need of therapy and I'vehad the opportunity to help
people build their businesses.
I think that that is how God hascalled us to walk alongside and
build disciples, and I thinkright now, a lot of times we
have a misconstrued view of whatthe church can be and that's
(19:06):
where we just come in, hear somescripture and we're gone.
And that's not just truediscipleship.
And so looking how Jesus walkedwith the disciples and had a
relationship with them day inand day out, that's what I do
here and that's what my wholeteam does.
I trust every one of them.
My wonderful wife does a greatjob of what she does with
(19:28):
working with the women andsupporting me and supporting the
ministry and following true,and we've experienced just a
phenomenal outpouring of God aswe continue to get people
healthy.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
I'm glad you mentioned that your wife's
involved in the training as well, because that sometimes is
something that's important forother ladies to come in and know
that there's another ladythat's kind of leading them.
So that's great to know as well.
But it sounds like to me, james, that you're saying that you're
, you've been called to serveand that's called to serve.
(20:02):
And if a person is truly hasthat in their heart, that
they're called to serve, you can.
You can run as far as you wantto run, but the world's round
you just keep running back intoGod when you're called to serve.
So I totally understand it, Ido, and thank you for sharing
all this with us today.
(20:23):
I know people are probablywondering how do we find out
more about this CrossFitministry?
How do we find out more aboutJames Vassell?
So, online or offline, tell usabout the different ways people
can check you out and contactyou.
Speaker 3 (20:36):
Yeah, literally all you have to do is type in
CrossFit and then put the word Aor the letter A and it'll pull
it up on Google.
It makes it so much easier.
Nowadays, crossfit Onistime iscrossfitonistimecom, or our
Facebook or Instagram.
That makes it a lot easier foryou to kind of contact it.
That way we have our phonenumber on there and our email
(20:57):
address as well, which iscrossfitonistime at gmailcom
nothing crazy.
And we're right off ofWaterloba Highway, which is 64.
We're not too far out towardsthe Ocoee River, but we're on
that main road that you wouldactually go to.
So if you're in the Cleveland,area we always tell people we're
literally about six minutesfrom Lee University.
So we try and level on peopleand if you're in this area, come
(21:18):
on and visit us.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
Absolutely, yeah, so yeah, that's wonderful news to
hear about.
Not only can someone go workout if you don't have a home
church to go to, you know, andyou you might find your way down
to james.
There you can still have thebenefit of somebody kind of
shepherding you and and servingyou and and guiding you along
the way.
And who knows, you might justfind james, might just be able
(21:41):
to point you to a good localchurch close to where you live,
to somewhere that you can get inthat congregation and be part
of what's going on.
So, james, it's been a pleasuremeeting you today.
Sir, thank you for all you dofor the community and all the
people that live thereAppreciate it.
Brother man, absolutely.
And all the good, good neighborsof the greater Chattanooga area
(22:01):
, including Cleveland and Dalton, everywhere in between, wish we
could name every littlecommunity because everybody's
important.
But after meeting James andlearning more about his CrossFit
gym, I know he hopes you'lltake a moment to consider all
they have to offer.
Remember them when you need andwant the services they provide.
(22:21):
Go check them out, see whatthey do, see what they offer.
You might be surprised.
It might be just the perfectfit for you.
And before ending this episode,I'd like to thank you all, the
listeners, for taking the timeout of your busy day to visit
with us at the Good NeighborPodcast.
Always remember to support thelocally owned and or operated
(22:42):
businesses in the greaterChattanooga area, everywhere,
from Cleveland to Dalton,anything in between.
This is Scott Howell with theFriends and Neighbors Group.
Everyone go out and make this aremarkable day.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go to GNPClevelandcom.
That's GNPClevelandcom, or call423-380-1984.
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Scott Howell.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Hello, good neighbors , and welcome to the Good
Neighbor Podcast brought to youby the Friends and Neighbors
Group of the Greater ChattanoogaArea, including Cleveland and
Dalton, georgia.
My name is Scott Howell again,and I'm your host.
And for all you first-timelisteners out there who might be
wondering what is this GoodNeighbor podcast all about?
(00:31):
Well, it's to bring awarenessto the residents of our
communities regarding thelocally owned and or operated
businesses in the greaterChattanooga area, in Cleveland,
in Dalton, georgia and all thelittle communities around us.
Small local businesses are thebackbone of our communities and
they need our support.
(00:51):
Joining me today is JamesVassell at CrossFit.
You know, james, I forgot toask you how to pronounce that.
I apologize.
No, you're fine, anistomate,anistomate.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
All right, I guess there's a story behind that.
We're going to let you tell itin a minute, but we are sure
glad to have you on the programtoday with us, james, and you
know, before we dive intotalking about your business, I'd
like to give you a moment toshare something about yourself
and your family, if you'd liketo.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Yeah, we do this as a ministry.
Yeah, we do this as a ministry.
So I'm actually an ordainedbishop.
So a lot of the times whenpeople see a CrossFit, they
assume that it's just forgeneral fitness.
And there's so much more thatwe want to offer to people when
they come to our door.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
All right.
Well, that's a great concept.
So your local bishop, is it anyparticular church For?
Speaker 3 (01:46):
the denomination Church of God.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Okay, church of God, all right.
Well, glad to have you with us,sir, amen.
Let's just dive in and talkabout CrossFit.
I want you to pronounce thatone more time for me Anistome,
anistome.
Okay, let's talk about CrossFit, anistome, okay, what do you
want to know?
What are y'all about?
(02:09):
What are y'all for people?
What's on the exercise side, onthe ministry side.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
Just tell us all about it yeah, well, honestly,
we actually have a um.
We started with crossfit with abigger goal.
Now crossfit is just a style ofworkout.
It's called constantly varied,high intensity, functional
movements that's the definitionof it where you're getting
different kinds of workouts butthey're all functional, so it's
what's natural to the body, okay, and we make sure that you're
(02:36):
doing some sometimes highintensity, sometimes strength,
sometimes cardio, sometimesflexibility, sometimes just good
balance.
A lot of times we hear peoplecome in or they're afraid to do
CrossFit.
We always tell them listen,this is what you see on TV
oftentimes, or what you see fromsomebody saying they went to a
CrossFit gym.
It's not what you're going toexperience, because we want to
(02:59):
make sure that we make peoplewhere they are and just get them
generally overall fit andhealthy.
That's our main goal for thebranch of CrossFit is to bring
overall wellness to people,physical wellness, and that has
shown itself tried and true forthe past about 14 years that
I've been in the business.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
OK, well, james, you know that all sounds interesting
.
A lot of people are intimidatedwhen they come to the gym.
You know a lot of the stuff yousee on CrossFit.
I see a lot of it on YouTubeand I tell people I'm on my
fitness journey.
I'm not where I want to be, butI'm definitely not where I
started.
I lost 40 pounds.
I'm very proud of where I'vebeen, but I still need to get
(03:41):
further down the road.
So I follow a lot of where I'vebeen, but I still need to get
there, get a little further downthe road.
But so I've got a lot offitness stuff.
Just watching it and seeing.
And I see a lot of theseCrossFit folks.
Man, I mean some of them looklike the small version of the
Incredible Hulk.
You know, I mean it's a.
It's pretty amazing.
So the intimidation factor canbe there for people walking in
the first time.
No-transcript.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
You know, oftentimes I compare those same
misconceptions to the church.
Let's say I was on my journeyto have a better spiritual
lifestyle, but I can't.
When I step into the church andI see the pastor quote in every
scripture verse well, I can'tdo that.
But does that mean should I notgo to church?
What if I'm struggling in sinand I'm dealing with some other
(04:34):
areas of addictions?
Well, should I not go in, scott, if I'm not there yet?
Or, let's say, forget thechurch, let's go into an aspect
of just general overall health.
Well, I'm not to the point of Ican't lift 500 pounds, but I
(04:56):
can lift a little bit.
Well, great, well, we want tomake sure that you can get a
little better, and there's neverbeen an area of judgment when
it comes down to CrossFit.
Most gyms that I know, of anygym that I've ever been to,
their main goal is to meet youwhere you are.
So, scott, if you're like, hey,I've lost 40 pounds, but I want
to lose another four, we're notgoing to say, well, you're
(05:17):
going to have to do this, this,this, this, this for the last
four.
It's well, congratulations, youdid 40.
What did you do for 40, and howdo we help you get to the next
level and in my gym which we'revery grateful for our youngest
member we have kids' classes.
So our youngest member is fiveyears old.
One of our oldest members is inhis late 60s, some of our
(05:42):
skinniest people came fromeating disorders, coming in from
a mental health clinic oroutpatient area or inpatient
area, where they come in withanorexia and bulimia, we get
them a little healthier.
I've had members who are over600 pounds coming into our gym
and they all took the same class.
And it's cool because we wantto make sure that even with the
(06:06):
college athlete in the sameclass, they're all getting
individualized attention whilewe're still doing the same
community work.
So if a pastor comes and hestarts preaching the sermon, it
might hit you differently thanit hits somebody else, but we
all got to be there to hear it,right, that's our main goal when
it comes down to wellness andfor for CrossFit, that's a lot
(06:27):
of the culture.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
Okay, all right, that that makes sense.
That's you put it down intosimple terms.
If anybody is, is feelsintimidated and they listen to
what you said, that's got tomake sense.
Yeah, absolutely you know.
Uh, how did your journey comeabout where you came to be
involved in crossfit james,that's a great question.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
I had two wonderful friends.
I was doing a lot of enduranceraces.
Um, I was about 135 pounds,soaking wet.
Uh, I was scrawny as all couldbe.
Uh, in college I mean, I wasjust itty bitty.
Um, and I had some friends whowe wanted to do, like, uh, the
mud races, and so we weretraining for those and running.
(07:10):
And, uh, we just ended uprunning past an old warehouse
and heard some loud music andI'm a dancer as well.
So I was like, well, what's themusic going on?
Let's go check it out.
We checked it out and found outthat it was a CrossFit gym.
And the guy who was the ownerat the time looked at me and he
said, well, what are you workingon?
And I was like I'm an endurancerunner, I want to get better
for obstacle courses.
And he was like, well, we couldprobably get you a lot faster
(07:33):
and get you a whole lot stronger.
I get some meat on your bones,so you're a little bit more
healthy.
And I laughed because at thetime I thought I was super fit.
I was doing P90X in every videoout there.
And I'd breeze through thoseworkouts and I'd be dedicated.
And I took one class and theworkout was seven minutes long
(07:55):
and I thought I was ready to dieseven minutes and the guy the
coach and the owner said, well,hey, you are in shape, but
you're not in crossfit shape andit's a different kind of
fitness, and so that's where wereally recognize that there is a
different scale for fitness.
Matter of fact, one of thegentlemen that was in the class
(08:17):
with me, who was my age he wasabout 150 pounds bigger than I
am and we were literally neckand neck for the entire workout,
which lets me know that it wasso.
The workouts are so balancedthat even a big person will be
fitting in perfectly with askinny person because of the
variety that comes with it.
So he could lift really heavybut he couldn't run.
(08:39):
So I would run and I'd get backto the lift and I could lift
and he'd catch up and he'd liftand it was that whole pattern
for a good seven minutes and werealized that this was a good,
healthy range for generaloverall fitness.
Okay, and so when it comes,comes yeah, when it comes to
crossfit, we always make astatement at our gym that we
(09:02):
should be able to hang with agood uh endurance runner.
We may not beat an endurancerunner, but we can at least hang
out with them yeah, we might goto a powerlifting gym.
We might not win, but we candefinitely hang with them and do
well Any scales of fitness.
(09:22):
We should be able to just jumpright in and still be in the top
and have fun.
It's not our expertise, but weshould be able to be fairly
balanced.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
I tell you I'm very impressed with the people that I
see on the YouTube videos thatdo the CrossFit.
It's very impressive.
You know some of the I've beenfollowing it for several years
and some of the big names youknow.
They're well-known in thatindustry.
The things that they accomplishis mind blowing, you know.
So it's very impressive forsure.
(09:49):
And then the fact that you'reyou know you're encouraging
people on the spiritual side,that's.
That's a blessing too, becausewe all need that.
We all need that encouragement.
You know that spirit.
We're all fighting a battle ofsome sort.
If it's not your health, ifit's not your finances, it's
something.
If it's not your mental health,there's something.
(10:09):
If nothing else, you've got afamily member that's fighting
and you're fighting with themand something going on.
And we all need encouragement,that's for sure, um go ahead.
Speaker 3 (10:19):
I often tell people oftentimes that I can tell what
kind of person you are when Isee you on the gym floor.
Um, sometimes, people that someof the work workouts are fairly
hard, some of the workouts arefairly easy, but I can see a lot
of ethic um, etiquette orethics on the floor.
Um, I've had a lot of peoplewho will say, hey, listen me,
coming here has actuallyimproved my marriage, because I
(10:42):
realize that I can do hardthings, I realize that I can
actually persevere.
I realize that I probably needto improve in certain areas of
my own well-being before I starttelling my wife that they need
to do X, y and Z.
And it's really cool becauseyou're doing a lot more
reflection.
And our main goal for our gymwas not just to be a CrossFit
gym but to be an overallwellness center, and so that's
(11:03):
what we've actually transitionedinto.
Crossfit was the beginning part,but now at our facility we have
a chiropractor, we have aphysical therapist, we have two
massage therapists, we have anutrition coach therapists.
We have two massage therapists,we have a nutrition coach, we
have a counselor, we haveneurofeedback, we have an IV
(11:23):
clinic now and it's just general.
We have women's devotions andmen's devotions.
We're doing the whole thing andwe realize that just because
somebody is physically fitdoesn't mean that they're
holistically fit, and so that'sthe area that we really have
started pushing for is get themin the doors by letting them get
fit and making sure they lookgood in a bathing suit and
making them feel confident aboutthemselves, but also making
sure that their spiritual lifeis good, make sure that their
(11:44):
mental health, make sure theirfinances are good.
Like you mentioned beforehand,community we don't have the
accountability or the communityto help encourage people to do
better and to find a healthierplace of life.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
Yeah, but when you say you got these different
businesses, do you mean theseare members of the CrossFit gym
or they come there to help andassist people?
Speaker 3 (12:14):
No, they work here.
Yeah, they work here.
Yeah, we have.
We're running out of room,Scott.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
We're running out of room.
That's nice.
I met the gentleman that doesthe IV infusion.
I interviewed him recently.
Yeah, that's interesting.
You tell me you've got allthese people.
He's a great guy too.
But you know, everybody comesthrough a journey in life and,
like we said, we're talkingabout difficulty, something
(12:44):
happens.
I'd like to ask you, james,have you, have you endured
anything in your life, anyhardships or life challenges,
that you know?
Now that you, now that you camethrough it, you look back and
you go, you know I'm better andI'm stronger for that?
Speaker 3 (13:01):
Yeah, that's a, that's a great, that's a loaded
question.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
Bloody.
I'll tell you it's a loadedquestion.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
I would actually be transparent with you and say
that I am still going throughone of the very difficult
situations.
My mentor and my true trustednumber one fan passed away about
a year and a half ago my fatherand he has been a phenomenal.
Thank you.
It's been a phenomenal guidefor me when running this
(13:32):
business.
There have been multiple timesthat for me personally.
I don't run this as a business.
I run this as a business street.
I put ministry and businesstogether and make sure that this
gives honor to God in allthings that we do, and he was
oftentimes the person who wouldgive me great sound advice, or
(13:55):
sometimes he would just sitthere and listen.
And so, as an owner or assomebody who is running this in
ministry, to have that rolemodel, to have that leader, to
have that person your own father, flesh and blood pass away very
quickly definitely makes itdifficult, right, and so you're
having to be a business ownerand a leader for a company and
(14:18):
the person that you usually tapinto for their resources outside
of God is no longer there, soyou have to still pick up
yourself by your bootstraps,yeah, and oftentimes think about
the advice that you have beengiven in the past and see how
you can figure out how tocontinue to work through grief
and encourage people and liftthem up and love them, and it
(14:41):
gives you the perspective of howto continue um moving forward.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
Yeah, that's, that's, uh, it's.
It's a hard lick when you losesomeone that has that much
influence, that you love thatgreatly.
It's, it's a hard lick and uhyeah, I totally understand that
as someone who's also had a loss, and we, we're sure, sorry for
your loss, james, I know.
Yeah, that's a, that's tough,you know moving.
(15:07):
Coming back to the businessagain, if there was one thing
that you wish that all of ourlisteners could understand and
know about not just not justyour business tree, but also
about you and the way that it'soperated and ran what would that
(15:28):
be?
Speaker 3 (15:30):
That is a great question.
I would dare say that when Iwas young I think I was about
seven years old somebody askedme the question what do you want
to be when you grow up?
And if you know anything aboutthe Church of God.
There are different positionsand I remember saying to them I
(15:52):
want to be the youth director ofa state.
That's somebody who pretty muchruns camps and does a lot of
church ministry, does a lot ofnetworking when it comes down to
making sure that every youthgroup in this state is doing
well, the pastors are doing well, there's a good administrative
work.
And I remember saying thatbeing like I want to do that
kind of ministry.
I want to do a lot ofadministrative ministry, helping
(16:15):
leaders lead.
And I remember saying like theyasked me well, why don't you be
a pastor?
And I was like I don't want tobe a pastor.
Pastors have to deal withpeople every single day.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Um, that is exhausting and not yeah and not
you gotta get those phone calls.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
Um, you've got to deal with people, uh, on a
one-on-one basis.
And I was like I don't want todo that.
I want to do the administrativework and help leaders lead
others, because that soundsbetter, and I remember saying
that to God and be like I'm notgoing to be a pastor.
And it was hilarious because Igot my ministerial license and
continued to preach andcontinued to lead worship at
(16:56):
different churches, do a lot ofevangelical work.
I loved being an evangelist,just preaching in different
churches, it's great.
And I decided, you know what?
The girl I was dating at thetime.
We were very serious.
We were going to need to find aplace to do work out of our gym
and call that ministry and mygoal was to let her run that
place as her own and I would goand just travel and preach and
(17:21):
that was my whole goal, becauseI don't want to be a pastor.
Scott, when I tell you thesimilarities between me running
this gym and what a pastor goesthrough on a day-to-day basis,
I'm pretty sure God has a verybig laugh on his face.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
I'll tell him yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (17:41):
He is definitely tickled.
So in my opinion, that would beone of my biggest things is I?
I I tried to steer away from acalling of working with people
individually and I've had thehonor and the amazing
opportunity to walk with peopleday in and day out, like
(18:01):
sometimes a pastor will see youon Wednesday night and Sunday
mornings.
Maybe, hopefully, he may popinto or she may pop into a small
group here and there.
But for me, and the opportunitythat I have is I get to see
every one of my members everysingle day, and that could be
sometimes it's here hit or miss,but we're not just seeing them,
(18:24):
I'm not just saying, hey, scott, good to see you.
God bless you.
How's the family and gone?
I get to see you for a fullhour and we get to talk and I
get to walk alongside you.
And I've had the opportunity toget people married.
I've had the opportunity to goand do funerals.
I've had the opportunity tohold babies when they first come
out of the womb.
I've also had the opportunityto counsel people who were in
(18:45):
dire need of therapy and I'vehad the opportunity to help
people build their businesses.
I think that that is how God hascalled us to walk alongside and
build disciples, and I thinkright now, a lot of times we
have a misconstrued view of whatthe church can be and that's
(19:06):
where we just come in, hear somescripture and we're gone.
And that's not just truediscipleship.
And so looking how Jesus walkedwith the disciples and had a
relationship with them day inand day out, that's what I do
here and that's what my wholeteam does.
I trust every one of them.
My wonderful wife does a greatjob of what she does with
(19:28):
working with the women andsupporting me and supporting the
ministry and following true,and we've experienced just a
phenomenal outpouring of God aswe continue to get people
healthy.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
I'm glad you mentioned that your wife's
involved in the training as well, because that sometimes is
something that's important forother ladies to come in and know
that there's another ladythat's kind of leading them.
So that's great to know as well.
But it sounds like to me, james, that you're saying that you're
, you've been called to serveand that's called to serve.
(20:02):
And if a person is truly hasthat in their heart, that
they're called to serve, you can.
You can run as far as you wantto run, but the world's round
you just keep running back intoGod when you're called to serve.
So I totally understand it, Ido, and thank you for sharing
all this with us today.
(20:23):
I know people are probablywondering how do we find out
more about this CrossFitministry?
How do we find out more aboutJames Vassell?
So, online or offline, tell usabout the different ways people
can check you out and contactyou.
Speaker 3 (20:36):
Yeah, literally all you have to do is type in
CrossFit and then put the word Aor the letter A and it'll pull
it up on Google.
It makes it so much easier.
Nowadays, crossfit Onistime iscrossfitonistimecom, or our
Facebook or Instagram.
That makes it a lot easier foryou to kind of contact it.
That way we have our phonenumber on there and our email
(20:57):
address as well, which iscrossfitonistime at gmailcom
nothing crazy.
And we're right off ofWaterloba Highway, which is 64.
We're not too far out towardsthe Ocoee River, but we're on
that main road that you wouldactually go to.
So if you're in the Cleveland,area we always tell people we're
literally about six minutesfrom Lee University.
So we try and level on peopleand if you're in this area, come
(21:18):
on and visit us.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
Absolutely, yeah, so yeah, that's wonderful news to
hear about.
Not only can someone go workout if you don't have a home
church to go to, you know, andyou you might find your way down
to james.
There you can still have thebenefit of somebody kind of
shepherding you and and servingyou and and guiding you along
the way.
And who knows, you might justfind james, might just be able
(21:41):
to point you to a good localchurch close to where you live,
to somewhere that you can get inthat congregation and be part
of what's going on.
So, james, it's been a pleasuremeeting you today.
Sir, thank you for all you dofor the community and all the
people that live thereAppreciate it.
Brother man, absolutely.
And all the good, good neighborsof the greater Chattanooga area
(22:01):
, including Cleveland and Dalton, everywhere in between, wish we
could name every littlecommunity because everybody's
important.
But after meeting James andlearning more about his CrossFit
gym, I know he hopes you'lltake a moment to consider all
they have to offer.
Remember them when you need andwant the services they provide.
(22:21):
Go check them out, see whatthey do, see what they offer.
You might be surprised.
It might be just the perfectfit for you.
And before ending this episode,I'd like to thank you all, the
listeners, for taking the timeout of your busy day to visit
with us at the Good NeighborPodcast.
Always remember to support thelocally owned and or operated
(22:42):
businesses in the greaterChattanooga area, everywhere,
from Cleveland to Dalton,anything in between.
This is Scott Howell with theFriends and Neighbors Group.
Everyone go out and make this aremarkable day.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go to GNPClevelandcom.
That's GNPClevelandcom, or call423-380-1984.
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