Lifted by the right People : the Power of Presence , Not Just Volume

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In this episode of Strength in Numbers, Katie Halfpenny Dunford shares the truth about what it means to be in the right room with the right people — and how mentorship rooted in care, not hype, can change everything.

From her journey training with Tonal to the impact of Coach Joe’s steady, purpose-driven guidance, Katie opens up about why the loudest voices in the fitness world aren’t always the most helpful. She dives into how surrounding yourself with people who truly want to see you grow can silence the chaos, clear the confusion, and elevate you in ways that go beyond physical strength.

If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by the noise of social media or unsure who to trust on your fitness journey, this episode is your breath of fresh air.

🧭 What you’ll hear:

• Why the right people help you rise
• The difference between volume and value
• How mentorship helps quiet the noise
• Why real care always speaks louder than hype

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hey friends.
Welcome back to another episodeof Strength in Numbers, where we
talk about building more thanjust muscle.
We build strength and mindsetand community and in purpose.
Today's episode, I'm superexcited to talk about, we're
gonna talk about community,we're gonna talk about the power
of being lifted up by people,and we're also at the end, we're
gonna get into some of my tonalwishlist items that I would love

(00:22):
to see on tonal.
So today, first, we're gonnatalk about what it means to put
yourself in rooms with peoplewho lift you, how the right
mentors and coaches can changeeverything, not just for your
workouts, but for your life.
There's a lot of noise outthere, a lot of yelling,
flexing, and do this or elseenergy in the fitness space.

(00:44):
But today, I wanna remind you,the loud doesn't mean wise.
Volume doesn't equal value.
And the people who truly changeus, they do not need to shout.
They just show up and they care.
So let's start here.
Have you ever walked into aspace, maybe a gym or just a
small group?
Group chat and instantly feltlifted.

(01:08):
I hope you said yes, because Iknow I said yes to myself just
now.
Like these people see me.
These people are about somethingdeeper than trends and numbers.
These people want more forthemselves and for you and so
many others.
That's why that's what it meansto put yourself in a room with

(01:29):
inspiring people.
You don't have to be thestrongest, the smartest, or even
the most confident one in thatmoment.
You just have to be in that roombecause when you are and when
that room is full of people whoare aligned with growth, heart,
and purpose, you rise too.

(01:51):
Whether it's one-on-one, on aplatform like tonal, you're in,
you're, you're in yourday-to-day life, maybe.
The room shape, the room thatyou are in, shapes how high
you're going to go.
So for me, I found that roomthrough Tonal, and more

(02:11):
specifically, I found it withJoe, coach Joe.
This isn't about idolizing acoach, you know, it's about
finding someone who walks withyou.
Joe has never been the one toshoot accolades or throw things
at a wall and see what sticks.
He's never sold hype.

(02:33):
He's always spoken withintention.
He always coaches from a caringheart and he doesn't do things
for cliques.
And you know, when I've beenthrough things like real, things
like my skin cancer and setbacksand doubts, that has shaken me
to my core.
I didn't need noise.
I needed someone who was steadyand someone who was gonna be

(02:55):
consistent and always be thereif I ever had a question.
Having a coach like Joe remindedme that being seen doesn't
always mean being so loud.
Sometimes it's the quietestfeedback, the smallest
encouragement or a moment, youknow, someone just holds space

(03:16):
for your doubt.
That changes everything.
So let's talk about that noisefor a second.
Social media, you know, we gotfitness influencers, even the
wellness world.
It's so full of volume.
People talking to hustle, shred,transform in 30 days, look, you

(03:36):
know, look like them.
Do this to get the bangingbooty.
Do what they do, you know?
And it's exhausting andconfusing, especially if you're
just getting started.
'cause I know that's how I felt.
That's where mentorship happens.
It matters.

(03:57):
Having someone who actuallycares about your journey, it's
not their ego.
It's about you.
You are their business card.
That's how you learn to silencethe noise.
Not all advice is wisdom.
Not all loud voices are leaders.
You have to ask, who are thepeople that make me feel calm

(04:21):
and not chaotic?
Who speaks truth not just ontrend?
At the end of the day, care iswhat cuts through.
Amen to that.
When someone truly cares aboutyour goals, your growth, and
your wellbeing, I, trust me,they show up differently for

(04:42):
you.
They don't overload.
They don't overlook you.
They guide you.
They give you grace when youneed it, but they challenge you
when they know that you'reready.
And that's what a great coach,mentor, or community does.
They help you get that strong,not just shredded.

(05:02):
They build you up withoutbreaking you down.
So if you're listening today andyou're stuck, overwhelmed by all
the voices online trying tofind, you know that quote
unquote right path, let me tellyou this, go where care is.
Stay in the rooms where peoplespeak with purpose and trust

(05:26):
those who walk alongside you,not ahead of you yelling back at
you.
So here's your challenge forthis week.
I know this week is almost over,but let's, we'll do it for next
week.
Okay?
Take inventory of your room.
Take inventory of the room youare sitting in right now.

(05:50):
Who is in your ear?
Who is in your corner?
Are you surrounding yourselfwith people who lift or people
who drain?
And if you are in thatin-between space, still looking
for, you know, a coach or acommunity, that's okay.
That is okay.

(06:11):
Just promise yourself this.
You won't settle for volume whenyou deserve value.
Let me repeat that take, let merepeat that again.
Do not settle for volume whenyou know you deserve value, you
won't mistake loudness forleadership, and you'll keep

(06:32):
seeking out those who want tosee you win for the right
reasons.
Man, that was a good, I enjoyedthat.
So now we're going to kind ofturn the page and talk about
some tonal wishlist items thatI've been wanting to talk about.
And you guys have always askedme, Katie, what are some stuff

(06:53):
that you would like to see ontonal?
Because you know, I'm not toomuch into the AI world.
You guys know, I find it creepy.
Which is totally fine.
Some people love it.
Some people are so excited aboutit and I'm happy for them.
That's one thing we have tolike, you know, turn the page on
with some things is everythingis not going to be for you, but
there's, it's gonna be forsomebody.

(07:14):
And if it's somebody thatsomebody is excited in the um,
official tunnel community, man,I'm so happy for them.
So a couple things I would liketo see.
In, on or off tonal is, I wouldlike to see maybe the page,
maybe halfway point, you know,50 50 conversa conversation
about muscle building for womenin our forties.

(07:38):
I would love, love, love, lovetonal.
Okay, A bro split.
Let's call it muscle Mommy.
Let's call it Muscle Mommyprogram.
That's a split, a bro split.
Same workouts each week, but amuscle Mommy four week program.

(08:01):
I would love it to be live, butthat is definitely on my
wishlist.
Um, also on my wishlist is a tagteam.
Uh, class with Akeem and TanishaRenee.
I've been asking for that for,gosh, I don't know, I think two
years now.
That has been on my wishlist,along with Power Build three.

(08:22):
Definitely those two have beenat the top of my wishlist
because I feel like that thattag team needs to happen.
It needs to happen for my soul.
It needs to happen for my heart.
So hopefully that might happen.
But Power Build three woulddefinitely be at the top of my
wishlist.
Maybe a Christmas gift, maybe.

(08:43):
I don't know.
I do ask for it a lot in emailson the tonal screen, in
Messenger, on Facebook,Instagram, they're gonna get
tired of me, so hopefully maybeone day.
I don't care if it's just twoweeks, I don't care.
I'll repeat the two weeks, butget Joe to write it.
Get Joe to write it.

(09:03):
I'm telling you because Ah, didyou guys see, speaking of Joe,
did you see on his Instagram,he, it looked like he was doing
Arrow to push up.
I wonder how that feels.
I bet you it feels gnarly.
I was kind of excited aboutthat.
I was like, oh, is Joeprogramming arrow to pushup?

(09:23):
I wonder how that would go.
Probably crazy.
Um, another wishlist would be,you know, more muscle, like I
said, with muscle building.
I would love more talk with thatwith women and less about lean
dumb and, you know, leanness andlean that like, I get it, you
know, maybe I'm the smallpercentage of tonal members that

(09:45):
are wanting to put on muscle andsize for a woman.
I don't know.
I don't see this, you know, Idon't know the numbers that
tonal sees, but that's justsomething I would like to see.
'cause sometimes as somebodythat has come from my
background, from over exercisingand trying to be my smallest
self, not that I get triggeredby the lean word, um,'cause I

(10:09):
don't, you know, I don't getbothered by anything.
But at the same time I'm like,how would that affect me?
Now, if I was still the same asI was then like I would, I think
I, I don't think I would've beenable to make the, the mind shift
change if it weren't for Joe andCoach Ash when I first started,

(10:34):
when they were talking abouttaking up space.
And I wish more of thatconversation would be coming up
again.
Um, especially withperimenopause and needing more
muscle and size.
You know, to protect our bonesand so on.
So that is one thing.
Um, Akeem, I would love more,more Akeem, just more akeem,

(10:58):
more muscle building liveprograms.
He, please don't give himclassic, please don't give Akeem
classic.
Like he, he needs, he needs, weneed him in live programs.
So that is one thing.
And then the live schedule, Iwould love those nighttime
classes, popups to come up againbecause I do enjoy being able to

(11:19):
see all my friends on theleaderboard.
'cause um, I don't know if youguys got on Coach Casey's run
class, but that was so epic.
That was so epic.
I was just like, giddy.
Ear to ear.
And Casey looked like she wantedto run through the screen and
hug every single one of us.
And I was here for it.
I was there for it.

(11:40):
It was so good.
So definitely more of those, um,for more options, especially if
people can't make the regulartime of the live classes.
I mean, when it comes down tothe lives, I would love them to
bring back the live programsagain.
Like how they did, what was itthree years ago?
Would love that.
But I don't see that happening,so that's okay.

(12:00):
Another thing.
A dream.
It is a dream.
We're allowed to dream, right?
We can, because maybe if we putit on the atmosphere, stuff
happens.
Right?
That's how I've, it's worked forme lately.
I would love if Tonal gavemembers, you know, maybe an
early access to programs to givefeedback on.

(12:23):
Like for me personally, I wouldlove to be Joe's personal
programmer trial person.
Like I would love to be, uh,that person that runs through
the programs and then give himfeedback and like how I felt and
kind of like a week to weekupdate and like, oh my gosh,
that would be so awesome.
I would so go for that.

(12:44):
But that's a dream tonal.
I'll do it for free, I'll do itfor, I work for cheap, but it
would be so awesome, uh, to kindof like, especially, you know,
with Joe's programming and youknow, I'm always interested to
see how their brains work and Ithink it's incredible.
Seeing people who like toprogram and like my friend Leah,

(13:06):
who loves to program, I lovehearing the thought process
behind the programming and whythey do something and so on and
so forth.
So I find that incrediblyinteresting.
So I love to pick people'sbrains about certain things.
Another thing, I need kamikaze,uh, sequence to come back up in
a program.
It has been a hot minute.
Tonal.

(13:26):
Kamikaze hasn't come up sincePyramid pumped two.
She needs to make an appearanceagain, Joe.
Let's make it happen.
So I think that's about it forall my wishlists.
I think so.
I mean, it, it truly is, youknow, tonal brings so many
things to, um, us that are new.

(13:47):
Um, whether it be for me or forsomebody else, I'm truly excited
for, you know, for people.
Um, you know, oh, that's it.
Breath work with Casey andPilates with Coach T more.
Shelby.
What else?
I know there's more.
I should have taken notes.
But I, I truly believe thattonal does listen.

(14:11):
Um.
And I think that sometimespeople get upset when certain
things, you know, they docertain things and they're like,
why would you do that?
Doesn't make sense.
Well, there has to be a reasonTonal sees stuff that we don't,
and that's kind of like when Imake my wish list and stuff
doesn't happen, I'm like, okay,they must see something I don't
like.
There must be more people whowant lean programs than women

(14:33):
wanting muscle building.
Which is I, I'm totally cool.
Like I will take the sameprograms over and over again.
I love boredom.
I will live in boredom.
I'll take the same programs overand over again, but I, I would
just like to see theconversation happening more.
Um, so that's kind of like mytonal wishlist and it's, uh.

(14:55):
I think it's, I, I don't thinkit's too crazy out there.
Maybe being Joe's trial, likeprogramming person's kind of
crazy, but you never know.
Throw stuff at the wall and seewhat happens.
Um, so I truly appreciate youguys taking the time to listen
to my podcast.
And, you know, give me feedbackon, you know, my pod, my
podcast, and I just wanna saythank you from the bottom of my

(15:18):
heart for showing up forepisodes.
And whether you're justlistening now or been here since
day one.
And you've just found my show,your support and your messages.
They mean the world to me.
This podcast was just built froma passion of wanting to share my
thoughts and my love for thetonal community and the tonal

(15:39):
coaches, and.
I'm hoping that somethingresonates with you along this
journey.
You guys are not just listeners.
You're part of my journey and apart of this whole journey, and
this community, and thismovement.
I am beyond grateful to grow andget stronger alongside you guys
and learn from everyone.
So thank you for listeningtoday's podcast and I'll see you

(16:04):
guys next week on Strength inNumbers.