From Politics to Protein: How Lara Built a Fitness Empire & Found Her Purpose 💪🇺🇸

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Lara is the hype queen and nutrition guru at Real Fitness Naples. Originally a vegetarian marathon runner, Lara found CrossFit when she decided it was time for a new way to test her fitness. 10 years later she's a meat-eating CrossFit addict and feels stronger and faster than ever!  Lara's favorite workouts are DT & Hotshots 19, and she loves embracing her patriotism and working out to Lenny Kravitz's rendition of 'American Woman.' Lara loves helping folks find balance both in and out of the gym and offers nutrition coaching, small group classes, and personal training for those looking to target smaller muscle groups and/or get a good pre/post workout pump 💪! 


 
TIMESTAMPS
1. Intro to Lara and fitness mindset: 00:00
 2. The impact of gym love story on life: 01:37
 3. Lara’s early salon chat & braid talent: 02:40
 4. Unconditional love & personal transformation: 03:42
 5. How fitness coaching began for Lara: 04:45
 6. The $5,000 Biden bet to lose body fat: 05:16
 7. Using stakes and community for motivation: 06:20
 8. Grace for imperfection & sustainable habits: 07:24
 9. Lara’s 90/10 rule on health indulgence: 07:56
 10. Protein intake and physique transformation: 08:27
 11. Family influence: boxer dad and fitness mom: 09:29
 12. The marathon race with her dad post-keg stand: 11:04
 13. Fitness, family bonding, and competitive edge: 11:35
 14. How her parents still support her journey: 12:07
 15. From Louis Vuitton to fitness coach: 14:12
 16. Fitness in lockdown → nutrition certification: 15:17
 17. Leaving politics and refocusing on people: 17:20
 18. Meeting Congressman Byron Donalds: 20:27
 19. Leaving politics for coaching full time: 21:30
 20. Fear, faith, and launching her fitness business: 22:32
 21. Helping others step out of the “Rat Race”: 25:06
 22. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “go all in” influence: 26:08
 23. Why passion beats the college path: 26:39
 24. Food as fuel: Challenger muscle car metaphor: 39:04
 25. First 3 steps: Walk, affirm, eat protein: 41:06
PART 2
1. Why calorie counting may not be ideal: 42:42
 2. What a sample starter day looks like: 43:14
 3. Recommended breakfast & protein sources: 43:45
 4. Wraps, turkey, salmon & healthy fats: 44:18
 5. Guacamole and veggie snacks vs junk food: 44:51
 6. Carrots, hummus, and shashido peppers: 45:22
 7. How tea can curb nighttime cravings: 46:24
 8. 30 days to create lasting change: 46:57
 9. Meal cutoff time: 7:30 PM tip: 47:27
 10. Ginger tea & digestion at night: 47:58
 11. Veterans bootcamp: giving back: 48:29
 12. Take a Soldier Fishing program: 49:00
 13. Hotel experience for military members: 49:30
 14. Boot camp with sandbag workouts: 50:03
 15. Helicopter flag drop and hell week vibes: 50:33
 16. Cold plunges and recovery drinks: 51:06
 17. Veterans bootcamp planned for Veterans Day: 52:09
 18. Veterans’ service and lack of recognition: 52:40
 19. Real-life examples of helping struggling veterans: 53:10
 20. Gold Star wives honored with salon makeovers: 54:12
 21. Stories of sacrifice and gratitude: 54:43
 22. Salon event for military widows and community effort: 55:45
 23. Veteran fitness day recap & next event plans: 56:15
 24. Philly pronunciation challenge: “Schuylkill”: 57:48
 25. Heartfelt thank you and final reflections: 59:21

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Welcome back to another inspiring episode of the
Spotlight on Good People, wherewe celebrate people making a
positive impact in the world.
Today, I'm thrilled to have LaraMcKeever join us.
She's a passionate advocate forwell-being and fitness.
She's incredibly disciplined andvery fit.
She's an awesome coach, andespecially around this time of
year, there's some great tips inhere.

(00:21):
You know, it's holiday time,we're eating more, drinking
more, and then the new year'sright there, and You know, we
usually make those resolutionsabout this time, which for a lot
of us don't last past the monthof January.
But I think you're gonna getsome really good ideas out of
this that would be very helpfulfor you to get through the
holidays and to get started onwhatever regimen it is that you
need right now.
So whether you're a beginner orsomebody who's an expert in the

(00:47):
area of nutrition, health, andwellbeing, I think you're gonna
get a lot from this.
So grab your water bottle andlet's dive into this empowering
conversation.
Thanks for joining us.

(01:07):
And I wanted you here becauseyou made a big difference in my
life and you made a bigdifference for me and people in
my life.
And I'm always grateful for thepeople who make a difference in
my life and make a differencefor me.
I think it has such a rippleeffect when my life gets better.
And I know this because, so Iwas, I was married in my earlier

(01:31):
life and got divorced and, youknow, didn't think I would ever
be married again.
or have a reason to be marriedagain.
And, um, and then I met Michelleat the gym, our gym, which I'm
so grateful for.
And, uh, you know, she, she justwas somebody who, um, I was

(01:52):
enamored with and in love withfrom the moment I met her, but I
never thought I was thought itwas so far out of her league
that there's no way I'd have achance of, uh, you know, dating
her, let alone marrying her.
So I was like the craziestthing, furthest thing from my
mind could be possible that,she, um, I, I courted her in a

(02:12):
way that I didn't know I wascourting her.
I was, I was very lucky andblessed that she was, she was,
yeah, we just, we would havethese endless conversations
after a workout at the gym and,and have, uh, and you know, I'd,
I'd leave there.
My heart would be beating likecrazy and I'd be so happy that I
got to spend that much time withher.
And then, um, and then it, andthen I was blessed enough to
have come on in.

(02:33):
So that's the thing about thisis like an active conversation
in the salon.
So we have the active activitygoing on here.
You're next over here.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah, you are.
Beautiful job.
The braid master.
Oh, very, very nice.
And curl master.

SPEAKER_01 (02:45):
We were talking about how she's so good at
braiding.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (02:48):
Yeah, that's a rare talent day and age, too.
Not a lot of people do that.

SPEAKER_02 (02:53):
Took me 33 years.
I would just get so frustratedand then my shoulders would
cramp and I'm just like, forgetthis ponytail day.
But then I got it and I, it waslike the best.
Yeah.
It's so easy.

SPEAKER_00 (03:06):
Yeah.
Well, they coming out of school,a lot of them don't want to do
it or can't do it or they don'thave the ability to do it, but
it's natural for her.
So she's a, she likes it too.
So

SPEAKER_02 (03:15):
very talented.

SPEAKER_00 (03:16):
She's one of the rising stars in there.
Oh yeah.
On her wet, well on her way.
So I was, I was saying that, um,um, So Michelle came into my
life and radically altered mylife.
A lot of people said, whathappened to you?
Like what got into you?
I'm in love.
In a way that I didn't know whatlove was or unconditional love

(03:38):
was when I met her family.
And that was what I was reallyexposed to that I had never been
experienced before wasunconditional love and just how
much my life could be impactedor how I felt like I was okay
with who I am.
not who I thought everybodythought I should be or who I
should be.
I was okay.
Just being me, um, acceptedmyself because she accepted me

(04:00):
just the way I was.
She just loved me for who I wasand not who she wanted me to be.
So, um, I saw how much that, uh,I mean that really her whole
family affected my life in sucha huge way.
And I'm forever grateful forthat.
And I live it every single dayand I'm much more aware of, um,
the impact that others have onme and people who we were

(04:21):
talking about the bliss listand, you know, people who bring
me bliss or definitely add to mybliss list.
And that's kind of what, howthis sort of podcast evolved was
why don't we spotlight peoplewho do that for others, who
bring bliss to others.
And I think that just sort ofcame to, as we were having this
conversation today that, Oh,you're one of those people who
brings bliss and you, you dothat naturally for other people.

(04:44):
Well, thank you.
You know, it's not a

SPEAKER_02 (04:46):
gift.
You do that for me.
You know, it's just throughoutthis process, I was actually
thinking about it on the wayhere.
Like we've been, we've beencoaching now for about a year
already, you know, it's actuallyhit.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's been a hit a year.
And you've brought that back tome and we've tried different
things that differentchallenges.
One of my favorite stories ofall time.

(05:08):
You know what?
I'll just go right into it.
How, you know, we, we hit alittle bit of a plateau right
around, you It was thesummertime.
You were like, you know, Ireally need to hit this goal.
And I'm like, OK, well, what canwe do?
Can we do some kind of bet?
And it was a wager and wagers dowork.
And you were a perfect exampleof how that worked out for us.

(05:32):
But it was two months we had.
Right.
Yeah.
And you bet you had to.
pay five thousand dollarstowards the Biden
administration.
Otherwise, you know, if youdidn't lose three point five
percent body fat and you did itand I had the check written out,

(05:53):
you had the I had the contractand the check that you wrote on
my fridge and I would look at itevery single day before I start
my day.
And I'm like, hey, how are wedoing?
Because I'm sweating over here,too.
I'm like, oh, my God, the Bidencampaign would be the worst.
I would never be able to livethat down.
And I'm like, we can't.

SPEAKER_01 (06:12):
I was like, this was way too stressful.
Yeah, I know.
I didn't realize how stressfulit was going to be for you too
on top of that.
Please,

SPEAKER_02 (06:18):
of course.
Oh my God.
I'd rather stick my arm in ameat grinder.

SPEAKER_00 (06:24):
Well, it was really good for other people too,
because other people weredefinitely motivated to keep me
away from food and to keep me ontrack with everything.
It was great.
People were like, you're notgetting any, but I have to lock
you in a room for a week.
I'm doing, cause you're notgoing to cash that check.
One

SPEAKER_02 (06:37):
way to motivate.
Right.
And sure enough, you killed itand you, you hit different
heights, you know, and itstarted off and then you lost
more body fat.
So it was just a really goodkickstart to knowing that you
could do it.

SPEAKER_00 (06:50):
Yeah.
And for me, I got to have thatnegative motivation.
I know some people say, well,oh, I got to eat a banana split.
Something positive doesn't workfor me.
I need to have that negative.
It did work.
But more than anything, it waslike you gave me a great
structure to work around to.
And the other thing that Ithought was really great about
that was you give grace forbeing human.

(07:12):
So it wasn't like, oh, youmissed this day or you missed
this time.
there was, you recognize thatyou're dealing with human beings
and there's, you know, there's,there's not this like perfect
disciplined exact way to do it.
Okay.
You get these cravings at night.
So here's what I recommend youdo, you know, structuring so
that you're eating before sevenand then try the, the, the, the

(07:32):
protein powder with, you know,some berries and to curb the
appetite.
And you always had this sort ofpositive solution for whatever I
was dealing with.
And that's kind of, that worksfor me because, um, You know, I
think it's all or nothing if Ididn't do it exactly perfect
every single week and everysingle day that I've just
failed.
But you would have good coursecorrections for that.
Thank you for that.

SPEAKER_02 (07:53):
You know, I like to live by the 90-10 rule.
You know, a lot of people willsay, oh, 80-20.
But I really think that weshould try to go for that 90-10.
But, you know, live strictly.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.

(08:27):
are killing it on a daily basis.
Every single time I see you,you're crushing it in the gym
and you're following theguidelines and it's working for
you.
But the main priority is alwaysonce we got down the protein
with you, I think everythingstarted to change.
As soon as you started to get170 grams of protein in a day

(08:49):
with your activity level, yourcomposition just started to
change.
which

SPEAKER_00 (08:53):
was really cool.
I know when I just surrender tothe coaching and just what you
have to say, and then, thenthat's what works.
So when I deviate from that,that's what, you know, that's
where I run into trouble.
You mentioned your dad and I, wedidn't even talk about talking
about this, but I saw when I methim, when you had him in the gym
that day, how you were beamingwith pride and love and you have

(09:15):
a special relationship with yourdad.
I could see, um, tell me aboutyour relationship with your dad.
Cause I'm getting like

SPEAKER_02 (09:23):
all choked up because right before this, he
just drove me absolutely nuts.
So, but I do love my dad verymuch.
I love both my parents.
They're like my best friends.
You know, they really are.
Um, so he

SPEAKER_00 (09:34):
is, I just think he did a really good job.
Your parents did a really goodjob on you.
So I want to know a little bitabout your relationship with
him.
Like it was special.
I could see that.

SPEAKER_02 (09:42):
I mean, growing up, uh, so my dad was a pro boxer
and, And my mom was also veryinto health and fitness.
She was a model at the time.
And so when I was growing up,when I was a baby, I would
always see them at the gym.
And I remember when I was aboutI had to be like four or five
years old.
They were doing like headstandcompetitions next to each other

(10:04):
and just talking trash and, youknow, and learning from that.
They're actually, they're nolonger together, but they're
best friends, which is veryfunny, but like they're actually
hanging out right now by thepool.
But you know, it's just, I don'tknow.
It's just things are on blackand white sometimes, but
they're, um, they are my bestfriends, both of them so much.
And I'm so proud of them.

(10:24):
And my dad and I, uh, I thinkthat's where I get my
competitive edge from is my dad.
He, uh, growing up, we wouldalways play, uh, like race each
other and everything like that.
So we had a bet.
I was in college and I wastraining for a marathon.
And, um, he said, you know, I'm,I may be getting up there in

(10:45):
age, but I will beat you in anyrace.
You know, it, Just name it.
And I said, name the time andthe day, old man.
We got it.
We got a deal.
I'm like, I thought I was likein peak shape.
I was so excited.
I had a graduation party thatnight and I was out until four
o'clock in the morning.
I did a keg stand that night.
And he knew he heard about it.

(11:07):
And he came at eight o'clock inthe morning and it was a ninety
five degree day.
And he was like, today's theday.
And I was dying and I was like,fine, we're going.
So it was like a six mile run.
And he beat me.
He got me on one hill.
And my brother was like, I'mgoing to put money that Lara

(11:28):
wins.
So it was like a$10 bill orsomething like that.
It's still in a frame.
in our house.
So that's a little bit about my,yeah, my family and the trash
talk.
It's like a New York thing whereyou just grew up like that in
the Bronx, New York.
And, um, you know, it was alwaysabout just kind of like fun
competitions like that.
And my mom just being like, youguys are absolutely nuts.

(11:51):
I don't, you know, I'm justgoing to do my yoga and that
kind of thing.
But my mom's always been likesuper into health and fitness
too.
And you know, I definitely gother like, uh, there's a bit of
like the, you know, there's thenurturing side of things that I
definitely, um, feel like she'sinspired me a lot in those ways.
Yeah.
Huge animal lover.
Um, you know, so that's alwayslike resonated with me too,

SPEAKER_00 (12:16):
you know?
So you had it from both sides,but different ways.
More of

SPEAKER_02 (12:19):
the outgoing side for my mom, for sure.
I'd say anyway.

SPEAKER_00 (12:23):
Yeah.
Yeah.
I could see the, uh,competitiveness coming out as
you guys were doing the WODtogether.
Oh yeah.
I could see that.

SPEAKER_02 (12:29):
It took me 33 years to get my dad to come to
CrossFit with me though.
Well, actually I guess I've doneCrossFit now for like 15.
So, but like come to the gymwith me and work out with me.
We would always work, go to thegym, but he's like, I'm not
doing that.
You know, I think he didn't wantme to beat him in a workout.
He had to stay in his lane ofrunning, beating me.

(12:51):
But, but yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (12:53):
But he's just been athletic, always been an
athlete.
Yeah, always been an athlete.
You grew up in that world withboth your parents.
Yep.

SPEAKER_02 (12:58):
So he was always, you know, training for
something.
Up until, I think it was when Iwas like around seven, he
stopped competing, you know,fighting.
He stopped fighting because hewas like, you know, I want to be
able to see my kids grow up, mybrother and I.
And, you know, he was seeing alot of people with their head
trauma, a lot of the fighters,and he didn't want to go through

(13:19):
that.
Wow.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (13:20):
Wow.

SPEAKER_02 (13:21):
Decided to turn the page with it.
I always told him you should bea coach, but he's like, no, no,
I don't want to.
Like, I think it was somethinglike if he's in the ring, he
wanted to be the fighter, but

SPEAKER_00 (13:29):
yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (13:30):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (13:31):
Well, you have that.
I was thinking about this lastnight, what it was, it was
unique about you.
And it was that you have thatcompetitive nature, extremely
competitive nature.
Cause even in my littlechallenge with myself, You took
it on as if this is the SuperBowl.

(13:51):
Oh, we were in that.
You know, like 100%.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
So you have that competitivespirit and being a fight to be a
winner always.
And you fight for your clientsas if, you know, this is the
Super Bowl.
Every one of these thingsmatters.
Of course.
When did this expression ofyourself start to brew inside

(14:13):
you, like you being this coachfor other people?
Where did that come from?
How did that evolve for

SPEAKER_02 (14:18):
you?
You know, I actually before.
So I was actually in politics ata certain point.
I'll get to that.
But I worked at Louis Vuittonfor five years in New York City.
And I started a running club for30 people, 30 of my teammates in
in the store.
And so we would do that andcompete.

(14:40):
And we were training for a fivemile run around Central Park.
And I loved being their coach.
It was so much fun.
And we would have a lot of funbanter in the store about it.
And people would come up to meand say, Larry did 20 pushups on
broken today.
I've never been able to do that.
And seeing how proud they wereof themselves, I was just filled

(15:00):
with pride.
And I don't have kids.
So I feel like in a way, this ishow I am filled with pride
because I just like, I love tosee the looks on their face when
they are able to accomplishsomething that they never did
before.
Yeah.
But I did get my certificationwhen I was, well, we were all
locked up in 2020.
And I just said, you know, mightas well.

(15:22):
I've always loved this.
Fitness has always been such ahuge passion of mine.
So that was when I decided toget certified.
And then I was like, well,nutrition is something that is
never really looked at, youknow, especially now.
Everybody's like sitting on thecouch and they're not, they're
not getting out and Then they'regetting vaccinated and that's
also weakening their immunesystem.

(15:42):
And I was like, you know,let's...
So I also decided to getcertified in the nutrition as
well.

SPEAKER_00 (15:47):
Wow.
Yeah.
And those are kind of two of thebiggest factors in the obesity
problem is one is the foodintake and the sedentary
lifestyle that people have.
So those are the two things thatare so critical for people.
So it started in this LouisVuitton circle was where it was.
That

SPEAKER_02 (16:04):
was the first time where it really ignited that
passion where I was like, wow, Icould really...
do that.
And so I did it part time for awhile while I was in fashion.
And then, you know, I went downto open a store for Tiffany and
Company.
I was a manager there.
And then that was when Trump waselected.
And it was just a crazy time inD.C.

(16:25):
And, you know,

SPEAKER_00 (16:27):
that's where you were.
You were in D.C.

SPEAKER_02 (16:29):
Yeah.
And I that was where it ignitedmy passion.
Like I always was verypassionate about, you know, our
rights as a as Americans, youknow, I'm, I'm a big, uh,
passionate second amendmentrights kind of person.
I own many guns and I feel likeit's just not like I want to use
them, but if I do have to, Iknow how, you know?

(16:50):
So it was a big passion of mine.
And, um, you know, I alwayswould tune into all of it
because it was like rightoutside of my store and people
would be coming in with impeach45 t-shirts on and all that
stuff.
And I was like, ah, this is,this is something, you know?
I mean, We can all havedifferent opinions, but it was
just very heightened at thattime.
And I was like, I think it's acalling to just get into it,

(17:15):
which is when I decided to joina Republican lobbying firm.
So

SPEAKER_00 (17:20):
that was while you were in D.C.?
Yeah.
That's where that started.
Oh, okay.
Yeah.
Okay.

SPEAKER_02 (17:23):
And that was just through networking and all that
stuff in the city.

SPEAKER_00 (17:27):
And that became a career for you?
You left D.C.?

UNKNOWN (00:00):
?

SPEAKER_00 (17:31):
Retail or you left the fashion world for that.
And then how did you meet Byronand how did that all start?
Because that was a part of ittoo.

SPEAKER_02 (17:41):
Yeah.
So when COVID, it's like, I feeleverybody went through this.
It was just your whole lifeshifted.
And mine, thank God, was for thebest.
It was definitely a differentpath.
So my mom lives down in Naplesand we were all locked up in DC
and it was just- Even more so inDC than here, right?

(18:02):
DC was like hardcore.
And you're like, I went out fora run one day and I was getting
yelled at for being doublemasked, for not being double
masked.
I wasn't wearing a mask at all.
I was like, no, why would I cutoff my oxygen?
Outside.
Yeah.
And I was like, I called my mom.
I'm like, I gotta get out ofhere for a bit.
And I was working remote at thetime.

(18:23):
for the firm.
And, um, then she's just said,why don't you come down?
You're just working remote.
You might as well just check itout.
And I remember driving down andI walked into seat to table and
I was like, I'm home.
I gotta move here.
Cause I just loved it.
I saw the, the fourth amendmentrights on the board and, you

(18:43):
know, just kind of saying, no,you don't need to be mass here.
And I loved Alfie's approachwith just saying like, we are
not doing this, you know, andjust spearheading that in this
area.
And so many other businessowners like yourself were, which
you weren't going to toleratethat.
Um, and even the gym, you know,it was minimal that it was
closed down for our realfitness.

(19:03):
Right.
How long was it?
It was like two months, I think.

SPEAKER_00 (19:06):
Yeah.
50, uh, 56 days was our closurewas our mandated closure.
And I remember on May 8th, um,when governor DeSantis announced
that we could, uh, opened backup again in three days.
It was like the greatest momentbecause it was such a scary
time.
And he said that it was like thefloodgates.
Thank you, God.
He always looks out.
Yeah.
Yeah.

(19:26):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (19:27):
He's the man.
Um, but that's why I was justthinking to myself, you know, if
I am going to live in a place,I'll never do it.
And I'll never live in anotherstate that is going to, you
know, control me.
I, you know, there's hard enoughthings going on in life that,
um, Yeah.
Yeah, I get it.

(20:09):
For a month, I just, after thatpoint, I remember just saying, I
got to figure out how to dothis.
And I saw an ad for CongressmanByron Donalds.
He was actually a candidate atthe time.
So it was a fundraiser, localmeet and greet.
He hadn't been elected yet.
No, no.
Yeah.
So I went to that that night andI just introduced myself and I

(20:31):
said, you know, I do runfundraisers.
This is what I do for thelobbying firm.
I would love to bring that here.
and interviewed.
And then four years later, yeah,I was working for him for about
four years and doing hisfundraising.
But I was always coachingnutrition and the personal

(20:52):
training was also on the side.
But then as the campaigning andeverything else got bigger and
bigger, I kind of put it on theback burner.
But it was just always a thingto me.
I just always loved Yeah.
Yeah.

(21:27):
about six months, but it was acrazy decision because I'm sure
you felt this way when you firststarted your business.
It's like you jumping off abuilding and you feel like you,
you just realized you can't fly.
You know what I mean?
You're like, Oh my God, this islike a terrifying feeling.
Like I'm really doing this, youknow?
But it was like the best feelingever, you know?

(21:47):
And thank God for the communitytoo, because it was just, I
really felt like God was forminga path for me.
You know, it was just likeputting the right people in
place like you and people thatreally supported me, like Ann
and Alex and Amy and Chandlerand Selena.
I mean, I can go on with thelist of our community.
Yeah.

(22:07):
Awesome.
Gosh, they're all so amazing.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And they really have been sohelpful with this business.
And now, you know, I have about40 clients.
So it's been really busy.

SPEAKER_00 (22:18):
Yeah.
Well, it's such a natural thingfor you.
It's such a natural expressionfor you.
It's like you got to be more ofyou.
It wasn't like, oh, I'm justgoing to go do this thing that's
going to pay the bills for me.
No, you just get to be you fullyand not have to go do something.
It's a full expression of youall the way.

SPEAKER_02 (22:35):
It's so true.
That is actually it.
And I feel so beyond lucky.

SPEAKER_00 (22:39):
Yeah.
I remember when you were sharingwith me, you had made this
decision to make the leap andthe jump from...
which is a lot for anybody inany world, when you're the sole
one responsible for all of it,there's a lot of anxiety and
fear and worry and a lot thatgoes on behind that.
So it takes a lot to take thatleap of faith and to make that

(23:03):
jump.
And I remember when you didthat.
But you had already built upsuch a network or such a bond
with that community of people.
It was very...
Easy.
I, I remember you going throughit because it was very easy for,
I, I, I had no doubts.
I had no doubts.
Cause it was, it was somethingthat I didn't even know how you

(23:23):
balanced it, whatever you did.
Cause it always seemed like youwere doing this fully anyway,
cause you were so engaged in it.
So, um, I, I, it, it was a givenfor me that, you know, it would
go the way it goes.
And especially when it's so, um,uh, it's just a natural passion
for you.
I guess that's what I get.
And that's what I understandabout it.

(23:43):
Cause it's not like, you know, Iwas talking to Stefan on the
last podcast and what he does islike, I didn't even know what he
did.
We had met so many times, but Iknew he just was out for other
people.
He was always out for, um, thegood of other people, just
always where his heart was.
And, and, and that's the wholenature of this whole converse

(24:03):
conversation.
I want to keep going.
It's like, all right, there'sthese people in this community
that, um, help others be more ofwho they are and, uh, and grow
in ways that creates that rippleeffect that you affect me.
I think, you know, I startedtalking about how Michelle
affects me and, and has alteredmy life and made me a better

(24:24):
human.
You know, I've been allowed tobe who I am and be a better
person, better version of myselfthat, um, you day in and day
out.
And that's, that's, everyconversation you're having is,
is, is giving somebody that,giving somebody what it is that
they, uh, is going to have theirlife go better and be better.
So I loved seeing your, you growand seeing this all come out of

(24:45):
you and happen that way.
Thank you so much.
I'm

SPEAKER_02 (24:47):
beyond thankful for it, you know?
And I just, I, now, I mean,towards the end of politics, it
was very draining from, from myenergy.
And I feel like a lot of peopleget stuck in that because
they're like, okay, this is thenine to five.
This is The, you know, mybenefits are here, everything
else.
And then they get depressed andthey feel like they're on this

(25:08):
rat race where that's all theycan do.
And then they just live for theweekend.
And then Sunday scaries hit andyou just get super depressed.
And I mean, I'm just talkingabout myself.
Like that would be how I wasstarting to feel.
And now I like jump out of bedin the morning and I'm just
like, I love what I'm doing.
And I love, I'm hanging out withmy friends all day.
I'm like, oh, I just get to hangout with Robert.

(25:29):
I get to talk to him for an hourabout his nutrition and how he's
doing and how Michelle's doing.
And it's, I mean, yeah, it'sjust beyond what I thought it
was going to be.
You know, and it was very scaryat first.
You know, I had 13 clients whenI decided to move, make my move.
And I was like, okay, I gotenough saved.
I'm going to do it.
And I'm all in.

(25:50):
You know, you have to, I waswatching a thing on actually
Arnold Schwarzenegger because heis amazing.
obviously a machine and heinspires me.
And he's like, you just have togo all in whatever your decision
is.
You can't just have like a shoein, you know, you have to like
really jump, make you jump.
And, uh, that, that was, it wasan inspiration for me.

(26:12):
I

SPEAKER_01 (26:12):
was like,

SPEAKER_02 (26:13):
you're right.
Cause if you're halfway in, inanything, in a relationship, in
your nutrition program, in aworkout routine or regimen, you
know, you gotta just say, I'mcommitting to this.
This is going to be part of myidentity now.

SPEAKER_00 (26:24):
Yeah.
You know, I see what, I see thata lot in the industry that I'm
in, in the world of beauty andfashion and hair with a lot of
the stylists because society hasbeen programmed that youth needs
to be on this one pathway andit's to go to college.
And there's so many talentedpeople who love to do hair, but

(26:48):
in society, The day, and it'sevolving now, it's changing, but
it used to always be, you know,parents would save money for
their kids to go to college andget a degree because that was
where people just were, whatpeople were supposed to do, no
matter what their passion was.
And, you know, they'd say, oh, ahairstylist is if you can't, if
you're just like fail out ofschool and you can't make it in
anything else, go be ahairstylist.

(27:08):
And, and really one of thethings I love about it and I see
is that people get to, you youknow, the people who had to go
on that pathway to get thefinance degree or the accounting
degree and because their parentswanted them to do that.
And then they end up in thosejobs that have a certain level
of security.
They got a 401k, they got ahealth plan, they got nine to
five, they got the 40 hours, butSundays become treacherous for

(27:30):
them.
They're terrified.
They're horrified because at 12noon on Sunday, they know that
Monday morning, I had to go backto this place that I got to do
time.
And they ended up doing time formost of their life that they
don't love.
And they're not passionate aboutit.
And to be, I get to see it inthis industry because a lot of
them had to fight their parentsto go to hair school and they
had to like go against the grainto become a stylist.

(27:52):
And, and when they get toexpress themselves and be a
stylist fully and see what agreat career it is that they
can't wait to get out of.
I mean, I love seeing that aboutthis industry and seeing the
people in our family and, andthe other people in this
industry who get to, um, Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (28:27):
You know, when I got my hair done by, uh, Kenzie, it

SPEAKER_00 (28:30):
was, I

SPEAKER_02 (28:31):
mean, I just felt like a million bucks and that
was like, I was going through areally rough breakup and I was
really sad.
And, um, I came in and I just, Iwent out and I was beaming after
and it literally made my month,you know, I was, I just woke up
every day and I was like, Oh myGod, my hair looks amazing.
You know, it's, it just makes adifference.
And it's the same thing.
Like it's with health.

(28:52):
health and wellness you knowwhen you have more energy you
feel more strong you feelstronger you know more um you
know fit and everything elseit's just it's same thing with
with beauty it all goes hand inhand yeah no absolutely i'm like
a That song from Grease, I feellike that just totally ruined it
with the beauty school dropout.
I'm like, why did we have tomake that stupid song?

(29:13):
Because it's so not true.
You should just be like, no, I'man artist, actually.
It's not just a hairstylist.

SPEAKER_00 (29:19):
I am a real beauty school dropout, though.
I actually did drop out ofbeauty school.
It's the truth.
That song is me, totally.
Beauty school dropout.
It's 100% real to me.
Three months and out.
Oh

SPEAKER_01 (29:32):
my God, that's hysterical.
Really?
No

SPEAKER_00 (29:34):
kidding.

SPEAKER_01 (29:36):
Where was So I

SPEAKER_00 (29:38):
went to school for computers many years ago and I
was working for ITT by the SpaceCenter in Cape Canaveral.
And when the space shuttle blewup, Challenger blew up in 86, I
was laid off.
That whole area got realdepressed and I got laid off.
My father forever had beeninviting me to come be in the
business.
He had the business and wantedme to be in this business.

(29:58):
And I had never wanted anythingto do with it because, A, I
didn't have that.
natural talent for it.
It wasn't something I wasinterested in at all, but I, I
didn't have a job at the time.
And, um, you know, just to getthem off my back to say, dad,
look, I'll show you how it's notfor me.
I'll come back and I'll do thisfor you.
Um, and I came back and workedfor him for a little while.
And at the time he had a programthat, uh, it was a, it was a,

(30:23):
um, associate or assistantprogram where he developed the
stylist from hair school into aIt was like an apprenticeship
program is what it was.
And he did not pay theapprentices.
This was before the laws thatyou have to pay people that work
there.
But he didn't pay.
They worked only for tips.
And he tried to woo me back.
And I thought he would pay me atleast, but he didn't pay me
anything.
I had to work only for tipsdoing shampoo.

(30:45):
I love that.
And started school, beautyschool at Lorenzo there.
You had to get a shampoo licensefirst, which took two weeks to
be able to shampoo.
And then strictly working fortips to...
learn the business at the time.
And I was in hair school for acouple of months.
And it was funny because he hada great reputation.
He was a phenomenal haircutter,phenomenal hair designer.

(31:06):
He loved haircutting, waspassionate about it, was so, so
good at it.
He could look at a woman andknow exactly what she needed.
If she asked for something else,he'd give them what he thought
they needed, not what theywanted.
Like he would say, this is,that's not for you.
This is what's in, this iswhat's for you.
You need this.
And you know, sometimes it'sThey didn't, they were mad at
him, but, but it was ultimatelythe right thing.
Um, but going to school, I wentin and they thought, um, that I

(31:29):
would be this prodigy.
I would be this great secondgeneration.
I was him, you know, when I wentthere and it was a joke because,
you know, I couldn't hold ascissors.
I was so uncoordinated.
I was so bad.
It was really so bad.
And they had this expectationlike that, you know, what's, you
should be great.
You know, you're his son.
You're what's wrong with you.
And I remember it was perm rodswe were doing at the time and,
and, um, pink perm rods were thereal small ones and you had to

(31:52):
wrap up this entire head.
Most people had it done withinan hour.
I was on the third rod on anhour, like took me that long.
And I knew like at that point itwas like, this is, I'm never
going to be able to do this.
This is not for me.
And so, um, so I, I dropped outof beauty school, you know,
literally dropped out and, andcontinued to shampoo and learn
the business and, you know,worked for him in other ways.

(32:13):
Um, to get to know the business.
And I shampooed and, and didhead, neck and shoulder massages
for a long time.
Is that until he, I could provemy worth until he could pay me
something because he couldafford to pay me.
And then, uh, started to, um,give him, um, more time to do
what he loved which was haircutting and he could spend less
time in the business so Istarted to pick up some of the

(32:34):
things in the back of the houseto support him and then he was
able to do that and wecomplemented each other well in
that regard because he couldfocus on what he loved and then
I could pick up some of thethings in the back of the house
and I remember thinking that thebusiness needed to be
computerized and it was like1987 and they were like my
mother had this appointment bookthat was like paper and it was
you know 20 columns long itwould sit across the whole desk

(32:55):
and she was absolutely againstit computerizing anything
because it was they knew the waythey knew it was just all you
know like paper and they went onvacation uh for a week and while
they were away on vacation ibought a computer and installed
a computer and computerized thebusiness my mom hated me she was
so mad at me when she got backthat because uh you know that
she just couldn't figure it outlike how the computers worked at

(33:16):
the time and later they ended upthanking me but um converting
you know things like that tokind of bring it um put some
systems in place and help themyou know, grow the business in
different ways.
And those were some of thethings that happened.
And so what year was that

SPEAKER_02 (33:30):
like around?
Uh,

SPEAKER_00 (33:32):
when I put the computer in there, it was, uh,
1987.

SPEAKER_02 (33:35):
Oh yeah.
That was, they

SPEAKER_00 (33:37):
were like, what the hell is this?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Everybody was, it was like,yeah, it was very unusual to
have anything like that.

SPEAKER_02 (33:43):
45 minutes to turn it on.
Yes.

SPEAKER_00 (33:46):
Yes.
And, uh, and then the, look atyou, natural businessman right
there.
That's so cool.
Yeah.
Well, it was, you know, Iprobably, uh, had a lot of, I
would, Dave Ramsey calls it astupid tax.
I know I made a lot of bigmistakes that I learned from
anyway, throughout the processof it.
We all do, you know, that's

SPEAKER_02 (34:03):
what also makes you such an incredibly humble man.
You know, that's one of thethings that I always admire
about you as a businessman.
You just, you're, you alwaysstay humble, but you're, um,
you're human and you have such abig heart and you're kind first
before anything else.
And that's why everybody outthere loves you.
And they have such a passion.

(34:24):
They come in the door andthey're like, I want to be the
best for Robert too.
You know, not only just forthemselves.

SPEAKER_00 (34:29):
Very, very kind.
I'm blessed.
I'm blessed.
I'm surrounded by some of themost amazing people.
I'm very, very honored andappreciative that I get to be
with a group of people that Iget to be with.
I mean, it's just, you know.
they're, they're a part of mybliss list, you know, that vibe.
I can

SPEAKER_02 (34:47):
tell you walk in, you feel that energy.
And I love that picture of yourdad right at the front door.
That is just so cool to honorhim

SPEAKER_00 (34:53):
like that.
Yeah.
He, uh, that's one of myfavorites too.
And it's so cool.
What happened was he, he, um,passed in 2015.
So he's in heaven looking downon us, but what would happen,
um, he was sick in his last fewyears, uh, and he was at home
and he had been retired for awhile, but what he would do is
we'd still have these greatconversations about business and

(35:15):
about life.
And he would send me a text andit was a text emoji of a coffee
cup.
And it was, it was his messageto me to come have espresso with
him on his back deck.
And we would, he would just sendme that little emoji and then I
would go over there and we'dhave our espresso on the back
deck.
So it was, we'd always do thingsover espresso.

(35:36):
And after he died, the yearafter he died, they had these
machines, these great espressomachines that we were able to
put in all the salons in honorof him so that we could have
espresso, cappuccino and all therest of those.
So every time I'm here, I havemy espresso and always do my
toast.
Oh, that's the

SPEAKER_02 (35:55):
best.
That is so awesome.
What a great way to honor him.
And also espresso is just betterthan coffee.

SPEAKER_00 (36:00):
Yeah.
It's my love.
It's my love.
I love it.
It's

SPEAKER_02 (36:03):
also just, you know, it's important to be able to
unplug for a second and, havethat for your staff, you know,
not just be like, you know, yougo out and get it yourself, keep
grinding, you know, like mostowners, business owners probably
do.
Um, and then for you, you'relike, no, I'm going to have
everybody treat themselves tothat in

SPEAKER_00 (36:23):
here.
That's awesome.
Even though they still like togo down and spend the$8 on the
Starbucks.
It's got the Starbucks cup andit's got the little bit more.
Right.
Right.
800 calories.
I know.
I watch people do that.
Yeah.
Hard pass.
I know.
I'd

SPEAKER_02 (36:37):
much rather that.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (36:38):
I gotta work on that.
Um, anytime.
So I, uh, you know, it's, it'sperfect.
You told me how you got to bewho you are.
Cause I didn't know that wherethe, where you, like how this
all came out of you, like whereit came from.
And I, I could now see it aftermeeting your dad just one time,
seeing him that way.

(37:00):
Um, but you, um, I, when you're,when you're not being, Because I
always see you, when I see youat the gym, it's like, I just
like, I watch you work out.
I see you perform basically whenyou're doing your own workouts.
You know, there's just a levelof perfection there, which
there's a huge gap to try tocatch when you're not.

(37:21):
So what is your like comfortfood indulgence?
You mentioned ice cream withyour dad.
What's your go-to when you'regoing to like go off the wagon
and indulge?

SPEAKER_02 (37:32):
Honestly, ice cream.
Like I do love ice cream.
I love, um, you know, it's funnynow.
I don't like when I do have acraving, it's usually for meat
and it's just like a big steakand a glass of wine, maybe a
scotch.
Like that's kind of my, my jam,you know, but it's kind of fewer
and further in between.

(37:53):
You know, I think we werementioning it a little bit
earlier.
It's like, I want to say 70% ofmy friends now don't drink ice
And from that, I'm like, Iactually am not really going,
you know, I'm not really in themood for it.
It's less and less, unless it'slike with a nice steak

SPEAKER_00 (38:09):
or something like that.
Yeah.
Well, I guess that really helpstoo, is supporting what you're
committed to too, when you'renot in a group of people who
are, you know, just all aboutthat.
Or even if they're not all aboutit, they're indulging in it, you
know, once a week or whatever itis.
I mean, I

SPEAKER_02 (38:24):
do get the day off here and there.
I mean, I don't feel like it's,it's work anymore.
I really don't with, with whatI'm doing now.
So I am coaching sometimes sevendays a week.
And the last thing I want to dois be, you know, breathing on
somebody while they're workingout, smelling like,

SPEAKER_00 (38:40):
I could see how that could be an issue.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (38:44):
Like stale tequila.
Like that's just not, it's notthe lifestyle.
It just doesn't fit in now.
But I mean, I do love darkchocolate to it.
It's, One of my favorite treats.
That's the best chocolate tohave anyway, right?
Yeah, it is.
I mean, riboflavonoids and theantioxidants that are in them,
it's really good, releasesserotonin in your brain.
And so I always just like tothink of your body as like a,

(39:06):
it's literally a machine and yougot to put something in it.
And that's why actually my brandis called Challenger Fit because
I love muscle cars.
American muscle cars are myfavorite.
And it's like, if you put crappyfuel in them, they're not going
to, You have an American musclecar, by the way.

(39:41):
improperly, you know, whetherit's like any of your goals,
your energy levels, you're notgoing to be as strong.
You're going to be reallyfatigued in the gym.
You know, even when it comes tofertility, you know, a lot of my
clients right now are focused onthat at this stage in their life
and they're looking into that.
And it's just like, you have toput the right nutrients in and

(40:02):
it's not just, it's more thanjust eating healthy.
It's like really going intohaving more beets and you know,
having more deep leafy greens,making sure your iron levels are
good.
You're not stressed, you know?
So it's, it's a whole 360approach.

SPEAKER_00 (40:17):
Yeah.
What could somebody who, youknow, is ready, they're thinking
about it, but they just haven'ttaken that jump.
They haven't done anything, butthey know it's what they need to
do.
It's the right thing to do.
They know they need to take careof themselves, but they just
don't know where to begin.
What would you say to somebodywho, you know, is watching this

(40:39):
right now, but like what couldthey do tonight and tomorrow to
begin this journey?

SPEAKER_02 (40:44):
You know, I actually had a conversation just before
this with my, uh, my new clientbecause, uh, he was, he's having
trouble with just gettingstarted, you know?
And the first thing I told him,I'm like, let's get a step goal
in place.
You know, I, I want you to do10,000 steps a day.
I want you to go out and go fora walk.

(41:05):
A, that's going to clear yourbrain, you know, completely.
And I also told him, startingevery morning with affirmations,
writing them down.
Because when you write, I don'treally want him to type it.
There's something about writingit on a pen and paper.
Also, I have whiteboards allover my house.
I think it's like A BeautifulMind, the movie.

(41:25):
You just write everything outbecause it's just having those
affirmations in your mind of,even if it hasn't happened yet,
getting...
it down of like what your goalis and just writing I am first.
I think that's literally thefirst step to any program that I
always like to get my clientsin.
Um, and also, uh, going withprotein.

(41:48):
Protein is another huge thing.
Like, you know, before we evengo into the, the workouts, um,
necessarily, like I, I mean,yes, you can do so much with
dumbbells and kettlebells.
There's like hundreds ofdifferent movements, but you
know, really prioritizing yourprotein, um, getting your steps
in every single day, thennaturally you're going to go for

(42:08):
less of the junky food that youwould usually be craving because
you're already satiated.
And I mean, for the most part,calorie deficit is important.
So I don't really like to focusso much on counting calories.
You know, I don't want people tohave a bad relationship with
food.

(42:29):
And I think sometimes that's asetup for some of my clients
that I've noticed.
But if you are in a caloriedeficit, you know, typically you
will start to lose weight.
It just depends on what the goalis.

SPEAKER_00 (42:39):
So it's not necessarily about, I mean, it
could be about starvingyourself, but if you're altering
the food that you're eating.
Exactly.
First step.
So if you're eating...
so you're satiated and feelokay, but if you're eating the
right stuff.
So if tomorrow, what would asample day for the average Joe

(42:59):
look like tomorrow on day onewithout getting, you know,
without sending them into sometype of shock to their system
that they're not used to?

SPEAKER_02 (43:07):
Definitely.
I mean, I am a big fan of eggs.
I think, you know, having thatin the morning, either that or
starting with a protein shake, Ilove bone broth or collagen
protein is my favorite rightnow.
But I also love, there's agrass-fed whey protein I've told
you about, Naked.
If you have that.
Tastes great.
Yeah.
And like I make cold brew athome.

(43:29):
I'll do that with half of afrozen organic banana.
Going organic, that's always mything because I noticed a huge
difference for myself as long asit's certified organic.
So that would be one, you know,or gluten-free oats with
berries.
or eggs with some sort of greenin there, whether you want a

(43:50):
spinach, peppers, avocado, thatwould be like the perfect
breakfast options to choosefrom.
I also love the egg life wrapsthat I've told you about.
Oh, they're awesome.
Turkey, mustard on there, or asalad, a nice salad with some
sort of protein like a salmon.
Salmon would be great or grilledchicken.

(44:11):
I do think that animal proteinis the way to go.
I know some people really dolove the vegan diet, and I
understand for animal purposes,I'm a huge animal lover myself,
but there's ways of sourcinghealthy, resourceful ways of
protein.

(44:32):
You know where the meat iscoming from and it's not
stressed.
So I would recommend that.
And dinner would just be somesort of green and...
You know, if you worked out thatday, you had your walk, you can
have a little bit of rice andfish or chicken and you can
have, I still say red meat iscompletely fine, but it depends

(44:56):
on the goal.
If they're looking to lose a lotof weight, maybe cutting it back
to like two days a week.
Guacamole is another greatthing.
Like top that on there if you'restill feeling hungry.
It's a great filler and it'sgood fats.

SPEAKER_00 (45:08):
Good fat.
Okay.
Versus ice cream.

SPEAKER_02 (45:12):
Yeah, exactly.
I know.
Oh, and also, I mean, carrots,grabbing carrots, like something
that's really still rich innutrients.
Like carrots are one of myfavorites.
Carrots and hummus or celery orI love shishito peppers.
Those are one of my new favoritethings.
What is a shisha?

SPEAKER_00 (45:29):
I think I bought those before.
So it's like they're spicy.

SPEAKER_02 (45:31):
Okay.
They're little peppers and, youknow, you can get a bag.
Hot as a jalapeno?
No, no.
Oh, no.
Like mildly spicy.
And I'll just throw it on a panwith ghee or, you know, coconut
oil or a little olive oil andthen just put tamale and salt.
It takes, you put it on like 350for about 15 minutes and you

(45:52):
have like a nice, Trey.
I like will literally eat thewhole entire thing.
And it's so rich with vitamin C.
Great for this time of year wheneverybody's starting to get
sick.
And it's just a good filler.
Like I'll have that instead ofreaching for chips.
But yeah, so that's a good,easy, cheap meal that you could
have with like some protein onthe side.

(46:12):
Okay.
And that was, it's$3 for a bag.

SPEAKER_00 (46:16):
Oh, wow.
Okay.
Kurt, you were talking to meabout this too, because there's
nighttime cravings.
Oh, yeah.
curbing that you're talking tome about tea

SPEAKER_02 (46:26):
oh yeah definitely because heat expands your
stomach so it kind of tricksyour your brain to saying that
you're full um so that wasalways a big go-to of mine
actually it started in college iwas like you know when everybody
was starting to have the hungryhorrors i was like i'm just
gonna go for a nice seasonal teaor a sleepy time tea and it
knocks you out and you feel ifeel satiated after i have a

(46:49):
nice cup of tea as long as I hadenough of my micro and macro
nutrients for the day.
You know, I just have that atnight instead.
And it's just, it's a mindsetthing.
You know, as soon as you starthaving that, you get used to it
after a while and you do startto change.
I mean, it takes 30 days to cutit.
Some people say 21 days.

(47:11):
I'd say it's more on 30 days toreally start seeing your whole
body, your body and your mindalter with a habit.

SPEAKER_00 (47:20):
Yeah.
Okay.
That's great.
So somebody could start tonight.
Oh yeah.
This minute.
That's a great step.

SPEAKER_02 (47:27):
That's the best.
And you know, another tip iswhat we talked about too.
It's just cutting meals off by,you know, seven 30.
Yeah.
Ideally.
because you want three hoursbefore bedtime because then your
body, your metabolism tends toslow down while you're sleeping.
So it, it really helps.
So you're resting.
Yeah, definitely.

(47:48):
Have some nice ginger tea thathelps with digestion.
And, uh, you bought the sleepytime tea and I love that stuff.

SPEAKER_00 (47:55):
It's amazing.
Yeah.
I don't know if it'spsychologically or what it is
with that one.
I feel like I'm getting, Oh,it's amazing.
I love that stuff.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Um, So you—one of the otherthings that you're involved with
or that has a place in yourheart is veterans or military,
those in the military.

(48:15):
I know that you did an eventrecently that was like a boot
camp on the beach is what itwas, right?
Yes, yeah, for

SPEAKER_02 (48:23):
Take a Soldier Fishing.
Yeah.
Yeah, that was— Oh, my gosh.
That was amazing.
I'm planning to do it everysingle year with Collier County
Sheriff's Office.
Chief Hampton and Moe Delly,they were absolutely incredible.
Oh, and Joe Fernandez.
Rich.
Yeah, yeah.
I love Rich.
Oh, he's the man.

(48:44):
That was one of the most movingthings I've ever witnessed.
I think I cried like every daybecause it was just, you know,
you see all these veterans.
They're coming in from all...
Well, actually...
They were active military andveterans came, but it was
actually for active military,that event.
Now they come in from all overwhere they're stationed.

(49:04):
And, you know, a lot of themhave PTSD and this is their way,
this nonprofit, it's their wayof just giving back to these
active military, all of ourtroops, you know, to just be
treated at the Naples Grand,this beautiful five-star resort,
which I love their whole teamthere.
And it's so beautiful.
So you see them, and this wasthe first time I got choked up.

(49:26):
the first day when everybody wassigning up, you see these
veterans and the, excuse me, themilitary troops, they come,
they're coming in and they'rejust like, like they haven't,
they've been stationed, youknow, sleeping in a sleeping
bag, hearing shots being fired,you know, like, and really in
the trenches there.
And then they're in thisbeautiful resort for, you know,

(49:48):
four days long.
And, uh, they have, All theirfood, all their drinks,
everything is treated.
The rooms, everything's paidfor.
There's a beautiful banquet, youknow, that they have had there
in honor.
And it was just I mean, therewere awards that were being
given out to these soldiers thatwere just absolute studs.

(50:09):
And so I had the honor of.
running their boot camp in themorning.
And some of them decided theywere going to go golfing,
whatever.
But so they had golf as anoption and fishing was the
following day, which was socool.
And to start, we ran from theNaples Grand, you know, holding
American flags along theboardwalk up to the beach.

(50:31):
And then we had a huge Americanflag flyover with the Collier
County Sheriff's Office.
Wow.
that did that.
It was so cute too.
It was like a kettlebell wasattaching the flag to the
helicopter.
It was awesome.
And, um, you know, then we hadthem break out into stations and
we did a lot of sandbag.
Um, you know, I, I tried toreplicate hell week for the

(50:53):
military as much as possible.
Um, so really I gave them a goodrun for their money.
I think, you know, I thinkeverybody had fun.
And then we did a couple ofcompetition workouts and
followed by a ice, um, icebarrels.
Ice barrels?
Yeah, we had ice barrel plungesafter because it was so hot that
day.
So, you know, we had power, youknow, power drinks and just like

(51:18):
electrolyte recovery drinksthere.
Actually, Mo had some mimosasout too.
And, you know, and Kevin waswonderful too.
He is with Hidden Summit and hehelped me so much with that
event as well.
You know, so we partnered up.
to run the whole event.
And we did like a fight gone badstyle.

(51:38):
And it was, it was really cool.
I mean, honestly, that is what,uh, this Eagle is on my shirt.
It's like an Eagle holding abarbell.
I am, uh, I love this country.
There's pretty much nothing morethat I love, like my family and
my country.
That is, you know, my, those aremy passions in life.
And, um, that's why I justalways want to symbolize that in

(52:01):
my, uh, my business.
I get it.
And I think we're going to bedoing one.
I just haven't picked the dateyet, but it's going to be for
our veterans.
Hopefully around Veterans Day isgoing to be a boot camp on the
beach too.
It's going to be open to thepublic.
So it was really fun.
And everybody can come.
It's the waits.
You can do no waits.
You can sit out.
You can have a mimosa.

(52:21):
It's just going to be open tothe public and it's going to be
a blast.

SPEAKER_00 (52:23):
Yeah, great.
I love that you do that.
Oh, thank you.
Well, you're such a patriot, butalso I just, I love our country
the same way.
And I really, I have such a,respect and love and honor for
our military and those that, youknow, that we just kind of take
that for granted, like that theyput their lives on the line for
us always.

(52:44):
And, you know, I wake up andcomplain that my mouse is slow
and, you know, they're indodging bullets and at any
moment could be their life is atrisk.

SPEAKER_02 (52:56):
In fight or flight, like constantly.
Yeah.
I mean, yeah.
And you just...
you don't realize it untilyou're like in this and you just
see all of them and they're sograteful for this weekend and,
and they're giving their liveson the line every single day.
And they honestly don't getenough credit.
They never do, you know?
And, you know, I saw itfirsthand.

(53:17):
So many stories working inCongress of veterans calling us,
you know, and thank, thank Godfor some of my team there.
Steph Newrock, she is a veteranherself.
So she gets it and she would,she would literally go to their
homes and, you know, help themif they needed to be Baker acted
or something like that.
You know, like they're, they'vereally gone through a lot and

(53:39):
you know, it's, they, theydeserve everything.
So that's why anytime I can do afundraiser for our veterans and
our military, I'm all in onthat.

SPEAKER_00 (53:47):
Yeah.
It's a beautiful thing.
I love that.
Yeah.
And you know, we don't, if it's,If there's not some presence of
it in our lives, it kind of justgets pushed aside.
I don't think about it actively.
It's like something that keepsthat alive and keeps it to
continually honor them and whothey are.
We did an event here a few yearsback where Karen Vaughn, who's

(54:09):
the mother of Aaron Vaughn, whowas killed in...
Afghanistan in a, in ahelicopter.
Um, and he was from Florida andKaren lives in the other coast
and she was doing an event forgold star wives, um, honoring
the wives of those who've lost aloved one in the, um, military
honoring the families of, and wehad, um, I maybe 10, or 15 of

(54:33):
the gold star wives come in.
They came to this ghost for theday and, um, or actually several
days and they were honored andloved and appreciated.
And they came in for a makeoverin the salon.

SPEAKER_02 (54:42):
Oh my gosh.
That's so

SPEAKER_00 (54:44):
cool.
And it was the most moving, uh,

SPEAKER_02 (54:46):
uh,

SPEAKER_00 (54:47):
experience of my life to these women who have
sacrificed their loved one.
They've given their loved one.
Some of them had little babiesthat never met their dad and
never will, but

SPEAKER_02 (54:59):
they

SPEAKER_00 (55:00):
were the most grateful, appreciative, loving,
kind souls who had literally forour country given up their
partner.
And their partner's in heaven,good, looking down on us, and
they're here today.
and have to go through life nowthat way without that person,
because that's the ultimatesacrifice.
It is the ultimate

SPEAKER_02 (55:20):
sacrifice.
And it's so true.
It's like everybody involvedall, you know, for families as
well.
Yeah.
That is so cool that you didthat.

SPEAKER_00 (55:27):
Yeah.
When was this?
It was a few years back.
We had, um, Karen put ittogether and she's very, very
involved with, uh, um, withtaking care of, you know, those
in the military.
She's very active losing herson.
And, uh, she put the whole thingtogether and a lot of people in
the community, Lois bowl, a lotof people in our community, uh,
commissioner, yeah, she'sinvolved in that.

(55:49):
And a lot of people that, uh,uh, did great things for, for
that.
And we were just honored to havethe, to be able to, have them
here and to just appreciate themjust the same way I am about
veterans and, and firstresponders and, and, you know,
all the people who do so muchfor us in the background.
So I love that you do that.
And we're here to support youwhenever that happens again, be

(56:10):
there and, you know, be a partof it.
As

SPEAKER_02 (56:12):
soon as I lock in a date with, uh, you know, the
sheriff's office, I'll

SPEAKER_00 (56:15):
definitely let you know.
And Zach, you have some video ofthat too, right?
Oh yeah.
So if you could put it in thevideo, you know, Oh, for sure.
In here, too, so people can takea look and see what that is.
I want to see that helicopterflying over right now.
It

SPEAKER_02 (56:28):
was so much fun.

SPEAKER_00 (56:29):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (56:29):
Yeah, doing Thunderstruck to Burpees.
Everybody's like, how many timesdoes it say Thunderstruck in the
Burpees?
Oh, yeah.
On the beach.
In the song, yeah.
It was great.
Got really sandy and sweaty.

SPEAKER_00 (56:40):
Yeah, I was trying to miss that.
Can't wait to do more of them.
I remember seeing a little clipof the video.
Well, it was

SPEAKER_02 (56:45):
hard because we did it on a Friday because that was
when the schedule worked for thetroops.
Yeah.
Yeah.
next time when it's on aSaturday, I think we'll get a
way bigger turnout.
Yeah.
Well, actually there were still73 people that showed.
That's awesome.
That was insane.
I'm like, we're going to need abigger boat.
Yeah.
Like for the next one.
I'm excited.
Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 (57:05):
Zach, do you have the Philly words?
So I'll tell you what this is.
This is a segment that we do.
So this is,

SPEAKER_01 (57:16):
Oh, I love this already.

SPEAKER_00 (57:18):
For people who are from the Philadelphia area,
There's these communities in thePhiladelphia and surrounding
area suburbs that are namedthese very awkward, odd words.
And anybody who sees them fromanother area, they just don't
sound like they look, how toword them.

(57:39):
So for fun, for those that arefrom Philly...
We are going to show you thewords and have you read them out
loud.
Oh Lord.
Okay.
Bring it.
Not to embarrass you.
Everybody's the same with this.
Okay.
So here's your first one.
This

SPEAKER_01 (57:53):
is so hilarious.

SPEAKER_02 (57:58):
Conchahokan.

SPEAKER_00 (58:00):
Pretty, pretty good.
Pretty good.
Pretty good.
Oh man.
Conchahokan.
Conchahokan.
Okay.
Conchahokan.
Yeah, you got the closest Ithink of anyone.
Are you serious?
Yeah, you did good.

SPEAKER_02 (58:09):
Conchahokan.

UNKNOWN (58:10):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (58:11):
These are real places in the Philly area.

SPEAKER_02 (58:15):
Man of Yonk.

SPEAKER_00 (58:16):
Wow, he nailed that one right off.
Really?
Nice.
My grandfather was from there.
I think it's

SPEAKER_02 (58:20):
also maybe my New York accent.
I'm

SPEAKER_00 (58:22):
not sure.
Yeah, that flowed real big.

SPEAKER_02 (58:28):
Bala Sinwood.

SPEAKER_00 (58:30):
Kinwood.
Kinwood, okay.
But Sinwood, that's usually whatpeople go with.
Yeah.
All right, now here's the bigone.

SPEAKER_01 (58:36):
Oh, God.
She'll kill.
Schuylkill.

SPEAKER_02 (58:46):
Oh my God.
I was so off.

SPEAKER_00 (58:48):
I was like, you know, I know it looks like
that's right.
That's how you should say it,but it's not always Schuylkill.
Schuylkill.
Yeah.
Love it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's a river.
So these

SPEAKER_02 (58:58):
are all, Oh, the river.

SPEAKER_00 (58:59):
That's a river.
The other ones are areas.
So the river and the, yeah.
That is awesome.
I love it.
Philly people will get a kickout of it.
Yeah.
Amateur hour

SPEAKER_01 (59:07):
over here.
That's so fun.

SPEAKER_00 (59:10):
I, um, We did so much and covered so much.
It went way more beautiful thanI ever imagined.
So thank you for sharing yoursoul with everybody here.
Thank you so much.
I'm so honored.
I

SPEAKER_02 (59:20):
just love hanging with you any day.
So I really appreciate you.
Yeah, it's like I just got lostin our world over here.
I know, right?
I just felt like we were back inthe gym just chatting as usual
with our heart-to-hearts.
Yeah, yeah.
So thank you so much.
Thank you for everything,seriously.
Of course.
My pleasure.
You're one of the people thatreally have...
awakened my soul with coachingand how much I love it.

(59:42):
You know, you, and I'm justreally lucky that you've been
put into my life.
So

SPEAKER_00 (59:47):
thank you for everything.
Just, you know, just more, Iwant to, I want to keep doing
whatever I can to support youbecause you're making the lives
better, the people around youand around me.
So it makes my life better whenthose people are better too.
So thank you.
Thanks for being here.
And your hair looks amazing.
Oh my

SPEAKER_02 (01:00:01):
God.
She did amazing.