#198 - Jenna Caer, Co-Host of Another Triathlon Podcast - The Journey of Triathlete & Coach

I sit down with Jenna Caer — triathlete, Ironman age-group champion, coach, mom, and co-host of Another Triathlon Podcast. We unpack her unlikely path into sport, going from a shy, book-obsessed kid to someone who now thrives in community, coaching, and even acting and modeling. Jenna talks openly about weight loss, ADHD, building confidence, learning balance, motherhood, and what she’s learned from over a decade inside endurance sports. A grounded, honest conversation about growth, identity, and why this sport keeps pulling us back in.
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Jenna’s IG: https://www.instagram.com/jennacaer/

Another Triathlon Pod: https://open.spotify.com/show/2FdC2xn8igfMIU6RwIvgJc?si=61f46576d3a94397
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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hello everyone, and welcome backto another edition of the Stupid
Questions podcast. I'm your host Seth.
If you don't know that by now, thanks for being here.
You must be new. So today on the podcast going to
be talking with Jenna Carr. She is the Co host of another
triathlon podcast. She's a mom, she's a triathlete,
she is a coach number of other things.
She is an age group champion. She's also an Ironman age group

(00:21):
champion. So make sure to check her out in
the socials in the show notes. But really appreciate her coming
on because yeah, it's another amazing conversation that I get
to learn about somebody and whatthey do and why they do what
they do. Before we jump into a dough,
just want to say thank you so much for being here.
Really appreciate it. If you are interested in
following any of Jenna's stuff, make sure to check out the show
notes. We'll have it listed there.

(00:42):
Also recently just started a little brand called Nothing
Novel. You guys maybe heard me talk
about it, but not enough. Clearly this is it Nothing
Novel. You might notice this logo right
here. That's Mark the Shark.
So I partnered with him to do the signature series on this bar
bag. Really nice Velcro, super high
quality materials. Been working on it for a while.

(01:04):
The brand is called Nothing Novel and then obviously Co
branded it with Mark for a limited run of these things.
So why am I showing you that? I've been working out for a
while. I think it's pretty cool.
Would love your feedback on it. If you are interested in
supporting the podcast, this would be a really good way to do
it. Wanted to create something that
could give value to you guys outside of what's already going

(01:24):
on here, and it'll give you guysan opportunity to give back to
the podcast if you actually needed one of those things.
So appreciate you guys for listening to that little
Sparrow. Really appreciate Jenna for
coming on the podcast. And one thing I'm realizing is I
need to work on my Annunciation of words.
So that's that. Thank you guys for being here.
Thank you so much to Jenna. Without further ado when I
introduce you to Jenna Car. I'm hoping my voice will hold up

(01:49):
here. I lost my voice a few days ago
after coming back from Arbaia so.
Oh, no way. Hold up.
But yeah, getting back. There, mine's actually just I
never I didn't really lose it, but for the past two days I've
been like laid out completely. I had like a head cold like I
have not had in years. I usually.
I'm. Sick.
But yeah, it just hit me a couple days ago, so I'm coming
back as well. I have a feeling we'll both use

(02:12):
the mute fatten once or twice inhere.
Yeah, yeah, for sure. Well, Jenna, First off, just
want to say thank you so much for taking the time to come on
my podcast. I'm excited to get to know your
story a bit, but really happy you're here and just, yeah,
thank you for the time. Yeah, looking forward to it.
It kind of had me a little bit more contemplative thinking
about, yeah, where I came from and how it's gotten to this

(02:33):
point. I don't often do that, so it's
kind of good. It's so good.
I love diving deep with people. I think it's really fun for me.
But I think that it also, yeah, like you're saying, like helps
other people to be able to sit down and think sometimes off the
cuff, but like, why we do what we do.
And it adds a lot of value, I think, to our lives.
So yeah, I appreciate you doing that.
Yeah, no. And love the podcast.
You've really had some great interviews in there and it

(02:54):
definitely asks a few different questions than the usual kind of
ones that athletes get, so it's really cool.
Yeah, thank you. Well, first one for you then,
since you may be expecting it, let's just dive in.
Who from your perspective, is Jenna?
That is not an easy question to answer and certainly not in any
kind of succinct way with a lot of the random things I do.

(03:20):
You know what, I would just say I am someone who believes in
making the most of this one wildand beautiful life we have and
hopefully have a positive impacton the people that I interact
with throughout it. I don't really think we are the
things we do. I think they can kind of shape
us. But I know I wear a lot of hats.
So who I am is you get very different answers from a number

(03:41):
of different people. So kind of a few other things I
am, I guess I'm a redhead Canadian, I'm a mom, I'm a
triathlon coach. I do digital marketing because I
like being creative and I do some acting and modeling just
for fun to mix things up and keep it interesting.
But yeah, I do a lot of things all over the place, essentially.

(04:02):
That's awesome acting and modeling.
Is the acting part a relatively new thing, or is it something
you've done for a while? Actually, it's something I got
started with, man, when I turned30 and it was basically I, I
grew up. When I grew up, I was really
shy, quiet, like if more than two people looked at me while I
was speaking, I would blush bright red and start stuttering

(04:24):
kind of deal. Like it was, it was bad.
And I always thought it was justsomething like that was my
Physiology, the redhead, That's what happens, right?
But what I found was it was something that I could start to
work on just to try to be betterin everyday life.
So I started doing things like going to networking events by
myself. So I was forced to talk to
people. And then I started putting

(04:45):
myself out there more on social media just as a way to grow my
coaching business. And I couldn't think of anything
more uncomfortable than going and trying something like
modelling and acting kind of thing.
I'd had a few offers through thesocial media stuff.
So I said, OK, I'm going to signon with this agency, say yes,
see what happens. And it's been a lot of fun.

(05:07):
It was horrible and awful and I would stress for like the week
before the job just freaking outabout it, but now it's a case of
I can go in and show up on set for either one and just kind of
roll a bit and have some fun. So yeah, yeah, it's just good to
get out of the comfort zone, I think.
Yeah. So aside from like getting out
of the comfort zone and being infront of people and being asked,

(05:28):
I guess to do whatever it is thejob is for the particular acting
role, what what's, what are the most like character challenging
things for you in terms of just getting plugged in and executing
that type of work? Yeah, I find I'm a fairly kind
of empathetic person. I can feel the people's emotions
a bit. So I find tapping into that

(05:48):
makes it a lot easier just be able to put myself in that
headspace. Now that being said, I haven't
done like in depth kind of hardcore roles or anything like
that. Mostly it's commercial acting,
which is just a lot of fun. And I will say most of the time
I get hired either because I'm aredhead or I can swim and bike
and run. So it's a lot of playing the
athlete, which is totally my comfort zone.

(06:09):
Yeah, Yeah, that's awesome. The redhead piece about, I'm
curious, is it just because theywant the colour red or what is
that usually coming to? Yeah, so it's kind of funny.
It's it's funny to come full circle because I hated being a
redhead growing up. Like I said, I was super shy and
quiet, so I got teased a lot forit.
But in TV and film, red hair is just like over represented

(06:30):
because it's something, I guess different in there.
For a while it was all trending towards like the blonde hair,
blue eyes kind of thing. But then they wanted to
diversify a little bit and get some different looks.
And for some reason red hair just seems to be something that
film and TV goes towards. It adds a little popular, yes.
Yeah, the there's tons of shots over there, looking over my

(06:53):
shoulder, seeing a bit of my redhair with the background in
there. Yeah, it's kind of funny.
There's not a ton of us left. We're kind of a dying breed.
So yeah, it's kind of fun to have that be a part of what I
do, something that was such a negative in my life for so long,
be something that has become real positive.
Are are you said there like aren't many of you laughed?
Is that something that is trending out of?

(07:16):
Yeah, yeah. So because of the genealogy of
what has to happen to produce a redhead, we're definitely kind
of dying off in a few thousand years.
There's not going to be any redheads left just because it
has to line up. It's so recessive.
It's kind of funny. My, my parents, my dad has jet
black hair, my mom has brown hair.

(07:36):
But both grandmas on either sidewere redheads.
So me and my two sisters are alllike variations of red and isn't
at all. So this one kind of skips a
generation, but you have to havethat two, I guess two people in
there to really get it. Yeah.
So where are you in the line up with your two sisters?
So I'm the oldest, great two andthen four years younger in

(07:59):
there. OK, nice.
Did you? Where'd you guys grow up at?
So I actually grew up where I amhere in Calgary, AB, up in
Canada. Beautiful during the summers,
some very very cold winters at times.
Yeah. Do you think you're always
staying in Canada? So I actually moved away.
There was about 7 years was where I was travelling around

(08:21):
for work with my husband. We kind of went all over the
place from Texas to Scotland to Denver to northern Alberta for a
while. So once we had our son, we kind
of decided, OK, it's time to head home, stay in one place for
a little bit and just kind of settle down.
Yeah, how old is your son? He's 10 I guess, Almost 11 here
in a few weeks, which is crazy. Yeah, that is crazy.

(08:45):
No, that is crazy. So my wife, I don't know if you
know, but my wife is pregnant. She's due in February with our
first. So I've been thinking a lot
about the. Yeah, thank you so much.
Yep. She's going through the the
crazy stuff. Oh, yeah.
It's it's wild. It's so funny.
Two nights ago she was just complaining about like, oh, I
can't be comfortable. And then I was like, well, what
do you need? She's like, I think I need a
special pillow. So like I immediately ordered

(09:05):
her off Amazon like this mommy cozy wrap around pillow.
It's kind of funny, but yeah. Well, it's, it's an incredible
adventure and just, yeah, it changes your whole life for the
better for sure. Yeah.
So how I'm curious, like going back to your upbringing, because
you mentioned quite a bit about being shy and, you know, more
reserved, How has that affected your parenting style?

(09:31):
It's funny, I don't know if it has drastically because my son
is the complete opposite. He's Mr. Personality out there,
happy to chat with everyone, just wants to kind of engage
with everyone and make them laugh kind of deals.
So I thought it would be case bea case of me trying to impart
some of the things that I had tolearn to become more confident
and outgoing. But this kid, he's got all the

(09:52):
confidence and charisma in the world, so it's just kind of let
him do his thing. Yeah.
Do you find that your personality was one that was
kind of on its own, more of a nature thing rather than nurture
compared to your own parents? Yeah, my parents were definitely
more outgoing than I was. I didn't.
I didn't know it at the time. I was just recently diagnosed

(10:13):
with ADHD and I didn't realize that kind of had a big impact on
me growing up without knowing it.
But I would kind of hyper focus on books in these kind of like
imaginary worlds or stories. So I was just always my nose in
a book, kind of hyper focused onthat.
So that I kind of think sheltered me away from other
people. So it took me a little while

(10:33):
longer to get out of that and kind of learn how to interact
with other people a bit more. Yeah.
Why did you seek or figure out the diagnosis?
Like what led to that? Yeah, so it was, I always
thought I was just an adrenalinejunkie.
I was always kind of, once I gotout there and started exploring
more of the world, I was always looking for the new adventure

(10:54):
and kind of always said my greatest strength was that I'm
never satisfied. I'm always looking for the next
thing. But it was also my greatest
weakness at the same points as never satisfied or kind of
staying in one place. So it got to a point where focus
was a struggle at times, but more so I would go on the other
end. So ADHD is really the inability

(11:17):
to control focus. So sometimes that is kind of
totally scattered trying to focus on one thing.
Sometimes it goes the other way where you have a hard time
getting out of this hyper focus mode where it kind of the first
kind of thing was. My sister was diagnosed with it
a few years ago. I didn't think too much of it at
the time because I had a thriving business.

(11:37):
Things were going good, like my life was great, but then I
decided to build this strength training for triathletes app.
I'd never done any coding or appwork or anything like that
before, but it got in my head that I wanted to create this
thing. I saw I was kind of missing in
the industry so I wanted to get after it and it basically
disappeared from my life for like 4 months.

(11:58):
Just had to work on this app. Like if I wasn't working on it,
I was mad that I wasn't working on it kind of thing.
And it just, it kind of made me think for a second, I'm like,
OK, something's not right here. And I didn't know that side of
ADHD before, so I didn't really connect it.
But the more my sister started talking about it and kind of
what she experienced, I'm like, OK, this might possibly be a

(12:21):
thing, right? So read some more on it.
And then eventually went to a doctor.
Took me a year and a half to book that appointment, which
should have been a sign, but I was still kind of questioning
with it. And it wasn't until I tried the
the medication for the first time, which basically it's like
amphetamines, like it's something that should like make

(12:41):
you for the normal rain chemistry, just make you crazy,
like feel high and stuff, right.And the first time I took it, I
remember for the first time, it felt like relief because I could
slow down and my head was quiet and actually made me sleepy.
And I'm like, OK, that's the sign.
This probably right? Yeah.
So it was really just interesting to see that sense of

(13:04):
calm that I've never really had before.
It was like, oh, OK, this is what most people I guess, feel
like, which was really interesting.
How did it, how did it affect your sleep overall?
Like, you know, going to bed at night?
I guess because a lot of entrepreneurs I've known and
myself included, sometimes like you, like you said, your brain
kind of doesn't shut off. So you go to sleep and it's just

(13:25):
kind of going, going, going. Yeah, it's interesting because
again, if you don't kind of haveit, then this medication is
really bad for that. And obviously people use it to
stay up all night studying and kind of do other stuff.
I found it really reduced my anxiety and made me feel a lot
more peaceful and calm, and thatsleep aspect became a lot easier

(13:46):
just because my head would just quiet down a little bit more.
Now I only end up taking the medication for about a year
before I realized it was having effects on my performance.
So whether I felt it or not, it was raising my blood pressure,
which means I wasn't recovering as well.
Like my recovery scores were down.
I couldn't go as hard as I couldbefore because I wasn't

(14:07):
recovering. So I realized at that point my
whole life I'd been basically self medicating with caffeine
and exercise and it worked pretty well to that point.
So decided to take a step back because this, I didn't realize
it until I did the Duathlon world Champs because you can't
have it in your system during competition.

(14:28):
It's OK out of competition, but it cannot be in your system
during. And it took, it takes like 6
weeks to kind of come down off of it.
And that's when I realized how much better I felt physically,
mentally as a little tough physically, I felt so much
better without it. So then I had set some really
good habits and just understood more about how my brain works

(14:48):
within that year and just kind of got into some good routines
and so kind of came off it and used what I learned to maintain
a lot of that and find a good balance now.
Yeah, that's so interesting and really articulate the way you
put that. But when I'm thinking about my
own journey, you know, you said self medicated with caffeine and
exercise. Yeah, like I, I enjoy exercise

(15:10):
to a great deal. And I think that a lot of people
are in the same boat, similar towhat you're sharing, but you do
that because it gives you a sense of fulfillment, something
to focus on. And then honestly, like there's
nothing quite like once you do build up the endurance, just
having the good feeling of like,OK, I've kind of emptied myself
with those things. Stress levels come down.
Things that would otherwise seemlike a huge deal don't seem like
a huge deal. But then on the other side, like

(15:31):
with caffeine, whenever I take caffeine even just a little bit,
like it has a astronomical effect, but I get laser focused
on something and like, I'm just ready to go.
And yeah. And I don't know if that's like
what you meant by self medication, like using it to
like help focus or then help youto like not stress as much.
Yeah, for me, caffeine makes me more calm and almost a little

(15:52):
sleepy. Like I don't take caffeine
during races. That just brings me down.
Oh, wow. So yeah, you're way different.
Yeah, that's. Crazy.
But yeah, with the exercise, I, I didn't know it at the time,
but like, long bike rides and long runs were the only time my
head was quiet and I felt kind of at peace.
And so I kept doing it. But yeah, it turns out it had a
big part of it. So what are the routines that

(16:14):
you like learned about yourself?Are the things that you
established because you're not taking like medication anymore
to kind of give you a semblance of, I guess, control or just
like that piece and calm that you need?
Yeah, so I think the biggest thing I realized was just like
understanding my brain made a big difference.
So if I say, oh, I'll remember to do that later, now I know I

(16:35):
absolutely will not remember to do that later.
It's just not a chance it's going to happen.
So doing things like either doing it now or writing notes,
I've got a very robust note section on my my phone and
calendar reminders for everything.
And it was just, I think that was the biggest thing was just
understanding how it works and what my shortcomings were so

(16:56):
that I could set up some tools to make sure that it didn't
affect what I was doing. And especially, you know, I run
my own business. So things if I don't do them or
don't coordinate them, then it'snot going to happen.
So making sure that I have thosetools in place to not drop the
balls when I get excited about something else.
Yeah, yeah. No kidding.
So we'll come back. I was going to ask about your

(17:16):
business, but I want to go back a little bit further to like
when you first introduced or were introduced to sports
because it sounds like growing up based on what you told me a
little bit is you didn't grow updoing any sports.
I'm curious what you did in those in those earlier years of
it, if anything. Yeah, so I definitely I grew up
just I was never any good. Anything with hand eye

(17:38):
coordination, I suck at. What I would later learn is that
I'm very competitive, so I wouldsuck at it.
So I wouldn't want to do it. So I didn't do any of it,
essentially. Yeah.
But so really, I was just a kid with a nose in the buck.
I was in the marching band. So I did that right on.
I was Saturdaying. I played trumpet.
Oh, no. That was the.
First instrument I really learned how to play too.
That's funny. Oh really?

(17:59):
Also. Yeah, it got sucked into that.
So yeah, those are kind of the two things I did.
And yeah, it wasn't till a number of years later until I
kind of found sports and all thegreat things that come with it.
Yeah. How'd you?
Find it sport. Yeah, so I was working, I was
working as an IT project managerat the time, kind of downtown
here in Calgary. And you know, there's all the

(18:20):
drinks with Co workers and lunches and stuff.
And it always been kind of chubby, but it got to the point
where I got like, really overweight at one point.
And I just remember so clearly this one morning I woke up and I
had stretch marks on my inner thighs.
And I'm like, OK, this has gotten completely out of hand.
Something has to change here, right?
So that day I went to, there wasa gym like down the street from

(18:42):
my office that day. I walked in there and I'm like,
OK, like, I'm looking to get a trainer and stuff.
And like, oh, well, next week we've got this weight loss
competition starting up. You should join it, right?
I'm like, there's the competitive.
Spirit may. As well.
Jump all in and go right? So signed up with a really
incredible trainer who taught meabout strength training and just

(19:02):
how to feel your body. And it was kind of fun because
this competition was across Alberta, the province I'm in,
and each of the clubs were competing too.
So they wanted their person at the club to win.
So they kind of like people got dropped off through the
competition and it got down to the point where it was like me
and Calgary. And there was one other guy in
Edmonton that were kind of the finalists in there.

(19:23):
So we kind of had that last push.
So I had the whole club like just supporting and helping me
out and stuff and losing about £50 there.
And that was just how much time was that?
By the way, it. Was four months and yeah, so it
was pretty like all in for the time, but it was just so cool to

(19:43):
see what my body was capable of because I had no idea.
So it was really to get on that journey.
What was the? What was your most favorite part
about that journey in terms of the exercise or the things that
you maybe hadn't done before that you were getting plugged
into? I loved the.
Heavy lifting like just that it's still something I enjoy.
Where? The satisfaction of feeling that

(20:04):
soreness the next day, it was like, OK, I've done something.
I have actually accomplished something here.
So be able to have that feedback.
And then just like slowly seeingthe changes that my body was
going through and just how much better I felt.
And it was, yeah, even my like my head felt, felt clear.
My body seeing that it could actually be strong and move
well. And I could, you know, have some

(20:24):
love and confidence for my body,which I haven't had before then
Yeah, I was going to. Ask like, you know, before that
there's an unhealthy version of it, I guess, where it can be an
obsession where because I have struggled by that way, you know,
you look at yourself in the mirror and you're kind of you're
just self consciously or sometimes you've been out loud
telling yourself like these justhorrible things about yourself.
But then you start to lose weight and then you gain that

(20:45):
confidence. I guess.
What did you learn about like the mental health side of like
losing that weight and then how you relate to yourself through
that? You know, I think that it took
me a while longer to learn some of those lessons.
Over the next like year or so, Iwould gain and lose 30 lbs every
like 6 months. So I'd like once I didn't have

(21:08):
that support or that driver of the competition, what I look
like just wasn't enough motivation to stick to it.
So I'd go hard at the gym for another two to three months and
then I'd follow up completely and go back to drinking beer and
playing pool in the pub every night.
So it kind of, it went oven downfor a long time, but it wasn't
until I found like trathlon and running that that piece became a

(21:31):
lot easier. I found it was this massive
mental shift when it stopped becoming about what I looked
like the driver opposed to having this goal and being
competitive and again, just seeing what I could actually do,
how I can improve. Once I found that motivation, it
went from counting calories, stressing about it, going up and
down to listen to what my body needs to eat to fuel it well, to

(21:52):
get better. And that was a massive mental
shift. And it's been relatively easy
since then. It's not something you think
about anymore. Yeah.
Well, you, so you told me you'vebeen doing the sport of
triathlon alone for like 13 years.
One thing that I'm always reallyencouraged by is the ability to
make something a lifestyle more than just the sport.

(22:13):
And then it becomes like a habitual thing to where then if
you don't do it, it's like, oh man, you, you really notice it.
The I'm missing it, yeah. Definitely, no.
Once you do it, really everything's becomes so much
easier when it's not about when you're going to do the workout
or not about if you're going to do the workout, just when you're
going to do the workout. So you've got bigger goals than
whatever discomfort or inconvenience the workout is for

(22:35):
that day. Yeah.
So something that's. Super common within triathlon or
and I would say probably any endurance sport, maybe more so
because of the Ironman brand. Like it gets out there into the
wild and people here, oh, there's an Ironman coming up and
I want to do that one day. And it becomes like a bucket
list item. And a lot of people it's like,
yeah, one and done type of a thing for you. 13 years is a
long time. What has kept you from burnout?

(22:56):
And yeah, like what's what's kept you plugged in that long?
Yeah, You know what, I think a lot of it, it's my motivation
throughout the years has definitely changed.
When I first got into it, it wasvery much like I realized I was
super competitive and I like to win and I like to push my body
and see how hard I can do. And I still have all of those

(23:16):
things, but I would say 10 yearsago, less than that, basically
my life was defined by triathlon.
If I had a bad race result, it was devastating kind of thing.
And I would forgo doing a lot ofthings just to make sure I got
my training in and just that wasthe absolute focus.
Again, that kind of hyper focus thing.
But I was, I was just obsessed with it and it was my whole life

(23:37):
for a long time. What I think has kept me in the
sport is finding a little bit more balance, realizing that I
can still perform at a relatively high level, doing all
the other things that I get to do now, spending time with my
son, having some fun things withwork.
And more than anything, it's just been this community.
I've been lucky to work with a few different teams, coaching

(23:59):
athletes and doing training camps and stuff, and now I think
it's really become such a big part of why I enjoy it.
Being able to connect with the community, travel to cool
places. That's probably one of the
biggest drivers to I use that triathlon as an excuse to travel
to new areas and it's really just become this incredible
experience. I've never gone to a triathlon

(24:20):
and thought that was a normal weekend.
There's always some adventure orchallenge or something that
comes up. You see familiar faces and it's
just, yeah, the the endorphin hit from every race probably
keeps me going more than anything.
Yeah, no. No kidding.
Yeah. And meeting new people or the
people that you can meet along the way.
And especially since you I guessstarted the the podcast that's

(24:40):
been two years with another travel podcast and you've met a
lot of people along the way. But then I guess tell me a
little bit about that, that journey and like the meeting of
people. Yeah, so I don't think I would
have stayed on triathlon near aslong if I hadn't hooked up with
the team early. Ironically, I got into triathlon
because I tried to start running.
I've got a really bad habit of jumping into things all in too

(25:03):
soon, like doing way too much too soon.
So I went from like, running my first ever mile to training 50
mile weeks for a marathon three months later.
Oh my. Turns out you.
Can fracture your pelvis that way, yeah.
Pretty easily, huh? It's crazy so.
That's when like traffic or likeswimming and Viking was
recommended as cross training kind of deal.

(25:25):
And I didn't know how to swim. I tried to swim my first 25
metres of a pool and had to stophalfway down just like freaked
out. But once I I started with a a
running club when I started running and there was 1
triathlon in this town in Texas I was living in at that time.
So they all did this one triathlon.
I end up doing a 70.3 a month earlier but kind of got involved

(25:49):
there. But after I did that for a 70.3,
I read Chris Mccormick's book I'm Here to Win.
And it was kind of funny timing that like after I finished
reading that book, he had just announced that he was starting
up a triathlon team, like a global triathlon team.
So I'm like, well that's kind of, that sounds interesting.
There's not many people around here in Midland, TX that do

(26:10):
triathlon or know anything aboutit.
There's one guy there who had done an Ironman, so it was
totally different. So I end up joining that team
and went to the first team eventwith a race in Barcelona.
And that was kind of the first time I traveled to Europe.
And it was getting the opportunity to train with other
people and talk to them about the race beforehand and just

(26:32):
that kind of energy. And when you talk to people in
your day-to-day life and you sayI'm doing a four hour bike ride,
they look at you like you're insane.
But finding your people where they're on board and in the same
path that I found made a really big difference.
And then traveling around withina fair bit over the next few
years. And I think that's what really
got me sucked in was just meeting new people at every

(26:53):
event, having the the support ofthe team virtually throughout
the year and stuff. And that made it a lot of fun
and a lot easier to stick to. Yeah, that community.
Aspect it's. Massive, yeah.
So with that, with that team though, has that continued to be
something that you work on? Because I know that you there's

(27:14):
a number of different things that you do.
Maybe we should list them all off because you, you seem very
entrepreneurial, but are you still involved with that team?
You're not right, no. So then when I ended up leaving
that team for Mana, the Mana apparel team, and now I kind of
run that community through the launches and stuff.
So end up that team started to focus on some other things, did

(27:36):
last camps and stuff and a lot of things that I love to do.
And they've transitioned to moreof a, a charity arm of the
Phoenix Foundation, which is fantastic.
So Mana had pursued me for a couple years and kind of reached
that point where I'm like, OK, they're doing all the things
that I really love and enjoy about travel on.
So I'm making the switch there. Yeah, if I may.

(27:56):
Ask is that like your main source of what you do for work
to survive, to make the money? Yeah.
So I'd say. My day job is coaching, which is
a lot of fun. Yeah.
So I work with the Mana apparel team.
They've got a coaching arm M anda coaching which is really a
blast with some of the training camps.
But just this online community, we've got a massive amateur

(28:17):
virtual team that the people just all over the world, which
is a lot of fun to engage in forsure, yeah.
And how many years has that been, you said, since you've
been on that team with them for?Like 3 years, three years,
something like that. Yeah, yeah.
It's been a lot of fun. Yeah, I do a few other things
too. I also do digital marketing for

(28:38):
a number of endurance sports events here in Canada.
So a lot of things are very enduring sports focus kind of
kind of living, breathing it allthe time.
So that's definitely another kind of big part of what I do, I
guess. Yeah.
And then the. Podcast.
Yes, I do. The podcast, yeah, it's funny,
It all kind of feeds into each other, but I decided a few years

(28:59):
ago I really wanted to start a podcast I've been chatting with
them on apparel team and you know, I end up talking about
endurance sports all the time and the pro racing and
everything anyways, so I thoughtit'd be fun to transition that.
And the way I found my own coachand kind of got some advice and
training was listening to Endurance Planet podcast with

(29:21):
Tony and this guy Lucho. And they're they're gone now,
but it was when I was getting into the sport that was such a
great source of information and training advice.
And I ended up working with Lucho, who's one of the Co hosts
on there. He was an experienced coach and
I kind of wanted to do the same,like kind of share that
information and help support other new people in the sport

(29:42):
and kind of pass some of that along.
So yeah, I kind of went out to the coaching team on Mona and
said, hey, who wants to join me for a podcast?
And one raised their hand with Fede.
And then down the line we end uphooking up with Josh, who was
interested to come chat too. And since then, we've had a lot
of fun just geeking out on drafton every week.
I think we lost her there. For a second, and we're going to
have to get reconnected. I'm not sure what happened to

(30:03):
her Internet. It looks like she bonked out.
Before that Internet snafu. You were saying a little bit
about how Josh decided to start jumping in with your podcast,
and then you were talking a little bit more about that.
So if you remember that. Yeah, no, it's a lot of fun.
He again, one of those things, you make these connections not
only in person, but social mediahas been a big driver of that

(30:26):
too. So didn't at person at all, in
person at all, never met him, but he kind of reached out
saying, hey, this could be fun to be a part of.
And we tried him out for a few episodes and he's been an
awesome addition. So we've got our crew that just
geeks out on triathlon every week.
Yeah. Yeah.
How many episodes have you done now?
Because it's been 2 years, right?

(30:47):
Yeah, I. Think, I think 120, we got one
with yellow jeans coming out today that was 120.
So yeah, probably one of the fewthings we've stuck to this long.
So definitely having some fun with it, yeah.
How how easy has it been for because the guests, because I
know you do. Sometimes it's just you and
Josh, sometimes it's other guests and then sometimes it's
professional athletes. But like securing the time,

(31:07):
securing the guests doing that. I'm curious how you do it like
and how it works out. Yeah.
So we kind of have our foundation every week is me,
Josh and Fed, just talking abouttriathlon, the previous week's
training, giving some training advice.
The guests are kind of more, well, Josh is definitely the one
that drives in chases after people, which I so appreciate
because that stuff I hate to do,but.

(31:30):
It's more we reach. Out to a bunch of people, and if
we can kind of conveniently get people on, then we will to hear
some of their stories. Or if we hear an interesting
story that we want to know more about, we'll reach out to them.
And we kind of do a combination of whether we include it in our
regular episode or if we do a standalone with them.
But one thing we've been gettingmore into is just out of our own

(31:50):
curiosity, now that we're given a little bit more bandwidth, is
talking to some of the CEOs of the different triathlon
companies, just to get more insight to the behind the scenes
of why things are done the way they are or what to look forward
to or what things are going on. So that's been really insightful
to learn a little bit more aboutthe other side of it, not the
athletes racing, the pros racing, but the actual operation

(32:12):
side too. So it's just been fun to learn
more about what's going on therebehind the scenes and in the
triathlon world. Yeah.
Yeah, no kidding. I love the business aspect too,
of talking to people who've either started companies, not
too many of the CE OS, I guess afew, a few here and there.
But yeah, it's interesting to hear their stories and kind of
get the back behind the scenes views and perspectives that they

(32:35):
hold. Because there's a just a
participator or age grouper in the sport.
You know, you kind of have all these ideas and and how you
think things work and then you get to talk to them and hear a
little bit more of really it's kind of like I just a big
family, like everybody's, I would even say it's like a
religion. There's a lot of these people
that are they're all connected. Everybody kind of knows
everybody. The the inside scoops, the tea,

(32:55):
like it's all just kind of inbred a little bit.
It's kind of funny. Especially in triathlon, because
it is a niche sport, there's only so many people that are
crazy enough to one do the sportor be involved in it in a
business perspective. So it definitely is a small
world. You can't go to any race without
running into familiar faces, which makes it a lot of fun.
But there definitely can be somegossip and behind the scenes

(33:16):
stuff going on too, yeah. Gotta kill the gossip.
So for you, I'm curious what, like what, you know, since you
started the podcast, you've beenin the industry a while.
What are some things that you'velearned about yourself through
just the podcasting arena of like doing a weekly thing where
you're talking to people, you'reasking questions, you're trying
to figure out a little bit deeper of why they do what they

(33:38):
do. Yeah.
I would be curious to hear what you've you've learned.
Yeah, you know what? I think I just learned how much
I enjoy that like kind of, again, just getting out and
talking to other people and hearing their stories is really
fascinating because everyone hassuch a different background,
right? And especially in a sport like
triathlon, we're starting to seethis new generation that started
out as triathletes wanting to dotriathlon, but that's definitely

(34:01):
not the norm. So we've seen it.
People come everywhere from likethey were hockey players who
decided to get into the triathlon to just doing steeple
J's and triathlon. So you just hearing where they
actually came from and what thatjourney has been like has been
really good. But personally, just geeking out
every week with Josh and Fed andjust being able to talk about
this sport that I love and I'm watching anyways is I find it

(34:24):
really entertaining just to havethat space where, again, the
most of the people in my life don't know or care anything
about triathlon, where I can like totally geek out on the
goings on in a race and what happened, Break it all down and
talk with an engaged audience and get some that feedback from
the audience that watches. It's it's a lot of fun, Yeah.

(34:44):
What is the, what is something like you're most excited about
going into like the new year? Because there's a lot of stuff
you're part of, you're doing thepodcast still.
Is there anything on the horizonthat you are excited?
Maybe something new or somethingthat you've been focusing on
that's taking a lot of mental bandwidth and preparation?
I think for the most part I'm just open to what comes up next

(35:05):
year. I had this year.
I know being really random with lots of travel and lots of fun
stuff, a lot of it was unexpected and last minute.
And I find that tends to be a lot of how my season and
schedule goes with kind of, yeah, all the stuff I do.
So I'm just excited about seeingwhat happens in 2026.
It's really, I've learned to just say yes to a lot of things

(35:27):
and roll with it, have some fun with it.
That's awesome. You're going to be continuing to
coach, I would assume, absolutely.
Yeah, yeah. How do you how?
Do you gauge yourself from year to year on, like your growth as
a coach or how you feel like you're doing as it pertains to
your athletes? Yeah, so you know what,
coaching, there's definitely 2 aspects of it you absolutely

(35:50):
want to keep on. On top of the research, we see
some big changes, especially around nutrition.
All of the information has changed drastically on the
amount of carbs athletes can actually take in.
So there are definitely some long standing ideas and ways to
coach, but you need to stay on top of the current information
because we are learning so much more with technology and I'm
sure AI will start to be a bigger part of that too.

(36:12):
But I think where I've evolved the most and where I try to
continue to evolve is just that that athlete interaction.
Because an athlete could go finda stock plan off training peaks
or use something like try dot and get a generally decent
training plan to go off of whereI find coaching.
What makes the biggest difference is that interaction

(36:32):
back and forth. Finding out what motivates them,
what drives them to do the sportevery day, what the challenges
are in their lives and helping them work around that to fit
sport better into it. And make sure that sport is
something that excites and challenges them, but doesn't
stress them out and become another life stress through the.
So I think that's where I've evolved the most is just

(36:53):
learning how to work with different types of people with
different motivations. From the person who just wants
to do triathlon for weight loss like I started out with, to the
person who's chasing World Championships and podiums.
Just finding what makes them tick.
I've gotten a lot better at overthe years.
Yeah, yeah, I would imagine that's a, that's a difficult
thing. Like for me as a coach, I've

(37:14):
I've struggled with with that a little bit because I've found
that it's really easy for my personality to coach more
specific types of people those are who really want to high
perform. But then for somebody who needs
just like a little bit of motivation to do like 5 hours
Max a week is actually harder for me to coach like figuring
that out. So do you, do you take on any
type of athlete regardless of the journey because you just

(37:37):
found out like how to kind of plug in those, like you said,
the different motivations? Yeah.
So I think it's a little bit easier for me because I've been
kind of at all places there. So like when I started, I
couldn't swim 25 meters and was terrified to clip into bike
pedals all the way to 1. My age group in a world
championship and can like podiummost times or go to Kona and

(37:58):
staff, right. So I've gone from that super new
with just needing someone to cheer me on to chasing every
ounce of high performance. So I think that helps me relate
a lot easier. So that work with athletes
basically of all ability levels,from the mom who's just trying
to get some training to the athlete who's trying to podium
at world champs. Yeah, that's a phenomenal.

(38:19):
Skill. I wish I had that skill or like
that that ability. Yeah, no, that's that's super
admirable because there's not, Idon't know if I would dare say
that that's more of a a unique experience.
I mean, everybody starts somewhere.
I'm not saying that someone justwakes up in their professional
level type of athletes, so that's all they can do.
But to keep that perspective is like a pretty amazing thing, I

(38:41):
feel like. Yeah, and that's where I get a
lot of joy out of. We run a number of training
camps and even now I do some in person kind of group coaching
and stuff. And I think that helps me stay
grounded in it a lot more, just remembering where people are
starting from, like working withnew athletes regularly in
person. Yeah.
It's just been, it's been such awild and unexpected and fun

(39:02):
journey that it's cool to be able to share that with some
people. Yeah.
As you operate in the coaching realm and beyond, do you think
that you more operate from a position of using your head or
your heart? I'd say definitely more my heart
and creativity. Like I I'm of two minds where I
love diving into the analytics and the data.

(39:24):
Like said, I used to be an IT project manager kind of thing.
So that analytical side has always been a big part of who I
am, but I think my strength in the coaching side is really more
on the heart, just helping people find their passions for
doing it, find what motivates them and makes them tick.
And it's definitely driven. A lot of the choices of things
that I do is it has to be something that excites me, that

(39:47):
inspires me, that makes me firedup to go do it.
And sometimes that's, it excitesme because I'm terrified and
it's something new that I've never tried before or traveling
to a new location. But a lot of my decisions are
more driven off the heart side. Just yeah.
Looking to enjoy everything thislife has to offer.
Do you? Feel like that's always been the
case for you? I think for a long time it was

(40:10):
more more driven by the head, just because for a long time I
was very scared of stepping outside of my comfort zone.
So I would analyze everything, make sure I had the right answer
before making any moves forward,and that it served me well for a
long time. But I think I missed out on a
lot of things just over analyzing it and being scared to
do anything that I couldn't fully understand or put numbers

(40:31):
to. But now it's a lot more fun,
just kind of, yeah, jump in, seewhat happens, and it's led to
some of the best adventures and experiences.
So I definitely prefer that way,yeah.
Yeah, I feel like for, yeah, forme as well-being able to connect
with somebody on a personal level, like using the heart from
a coaching perspective even often offers up more longevity

(40:55):
to just in that relationship, but in their experience in the
sport and then obviously even from an experience of a coach
for sure. So let me ask you this question.
What is some something like difficult that you're going
through right now that maybe most people don't see?
It's a good question. I would say I struggle with

(41:18):
wanting to say yes to everythingand not having the time to give
to it because obviously I have afamily.
I've got my son and I want to make sure that I spend the time
with him and his developmental years and stuff and really enjoy
that time with him. So sometimes I do have to turn
things down, and that sounds like a really privileged place
to come from that. My struggle is that I don't get

(41:39):
to work more, do the stuff that I enjoy doing.
But I think the biggest struggleis just finding that balance
between being able to be presentand give what I need to, to both
my family, to the work that I enjoy doing, to the things that
I enjoy doing and finding, yeah,some semblance of balance.
I don't know if that really exists, but trying to get close

(42:00):
to it. Yeah, I was going to ask.
What would you grade yourself onyour on your balance right now?
Like how do you think you're doing?
I'd say a solid B, It's gotten alot better.
Like I said before, I used to swing a lot more wildly, kind of
going all in on things entirely.But I think we've got a fairly
good routine. There's always room for

(42:20):
improvement in everything, and it's always evolving constantly.
But yeah, solid B, yeah. BS good.
I, I mean, I, I got through all of college with seeds, so I'm
happy with BS, but what, what, what are your, Yeah, what are
your like, what are some of the flags or the, the, the signs
that you see that let you know, like, OK, I'm probably at AD

(42:43):
right now. Mm hmm.
I can. I'm pretty hard on myself.
So it's really, if I start kind of beating myself up more,
realizing that I'm not giving what I need to, my son will
definitely let me know if he feels like he's not getting
enough attention. So that is a very good built in
warning sign. He's he's definitely a mama's

(43:04):
boy. So he still enjoys spending time
with me. I want to make sure I'd make the
most of that at that time. But one of my biggest signs is
just if my sleep starts to fall off because I'm so trying to do
too much, and if my sleep falls off, my brain gets even more
chaotic and then that makes everything harder in the end.

(43:25):
So that's probably the biggest kind of indicator.
If I'm trying to do all the things and not getting enough
sleep then something has to change or else the stack carts
is all going to fall. Yeah, yeah, it's super
interesting to me whenever sleepstarts to fall off.
How big, how much bigger small issues can seem or any issue,

(43:46):
you know, when you have the right amount of sleep over here
and the perspective of it, then when it's over here, when you
don't have enough sleep or vice versa.
Like it just, it's crazy how those the size of things can be
inflated with lack of sleep. Yeah.
And that's the. Thing watch out for when you got
the new little one at home. That is definitely, yeah, the
toughest part to balance for thefirst while.
Yeah, I've. I've, I've actually struggled a

(44:07):
ton with this because I have a lot of my friends.
So I'm 33, a lot of my friends have one or two kids already, my
sister included. She's got a 1 1/2 year old and
a, and a six year old or excuse me, 6 month old.
And you know, they talk about this lack of sleep, like, oh,
you're not even ready. And I'm like, I know I'm not
ready. And I, if I get 6 hours of sleep
right now, like I for a couple of days, then I turn into like
just this very cynical individual.

(44:29):
So I'm like, what in the world am I going to do?
But then I've also been told, and I'm curious your perspective
on this, that within parenting, like your body adapts to how to
survive off of less sleep. Do you think that that's true?
And how do I get enough sleep being a dad?
I know my mom's, my mom, my wife's gonna have have such a
harder time in the beginning more than I will.
But I'm curious what kind of advice you might have.

(44:51):
Well, my body didn't adapt. That was actually something that
So I'd always planned to have two kids and unfortunately my
son was not a sleeper. For the first nine months, he
never slept longer than 45 minutes, day or night.
Never. Are you serious?
I was never. Sleeping or sorry an hour he'd
get up to sometimes, but so I wasn't sleeping right and I

(45:13):
remember going to like like his baby appointments and stuff with
the doctor and I'm like like I am.
He's not sleeping well, I'm not getting asleep.
And the doctor just like, oh, he's thriving.
Everything looks good. Like you're good to go, right?
I'm like, I'm not thriving. So it got to the point where
like I, I didn't train, but I exercised all through my
pregnancy. Like I did an hour run the day

(45:35):
before I went into labor kind ofthing.
It got to the point where I couldn't run for two minutes in
a row because my hormones got sodrastically trashed from never
sleeping for more than that 45 minutes.
So it got to the point where I like, I stopped driving like it
was bad for me. So my son definitely wasn't a

(45:59):
sleeper. Then he it took him to like 3.
He started napping really well. But there was a long period in
there. It was probably, I think it was
around a year it evened out to the point I was getting some
decent sleep again. But that first nine months was
just absolutely brutal it. Got my hormones.
And everything back in shape. So that's not everyone's

(46:20):
experience though. Not too scary there, but yeah,
that's. Horrifying.
We'll see what happens. That's why I've got 1.
Kid, Yeah. Sheesh, no now.
He's just the happiest, healthiest boy.
So, you know, it's one of those things where all the struggles
can he go through if if they're OK, it makes it all kind of

(46:41):
worth it. Yeah.
No, for sure. And I, I, I can't understand
that yet because I'm not there, but I, I am looking forward to
it and try to figure out how to survive.
I'm hoping that we just have this little Angel.
It's going to be, it's a little girl.
Hopefully she'll just sleep thatshows me this perfect little
thing and then we can deal with like the give me the teenage
drama and that kind of stuff. Maybe I can sleep around that
hopefully, but we'll see. There we go.

(47:03):
Yeah, no, I had the tough early years.
But no, it's just the sweetest, kind of happiest kid.
So yeah, I'm on easy. I've been on easy street since
like the age of 3. So yeah, I will take it.
Seven years. Got some?
Years back onto your life, yes. So how has your definition of
like success changed since you started even your career?

(47:25):
Because we didn't touch on it much, but you went to go be a
project manager, like you said, an IT company.
You've done a number of different things, and you strike
me as an entrepreneurial individual.
So you're like you're wanting togo out, start things or be
involved and be more of a front leader in these different areas.
What does success looked like toyou now and how has it changed
since you were, I guess, youngerin your professional career?

(47:46):
Yeah. So it's funny, kind of before it
was always about kind of climbing that corporate ladder.
I was good at what I did and sawa success kind of early within
the corporate world, which was alot of fun.
I kind of, I thrive on, yeah, basically being good at things.
That was competitive when it came to work too, where it was
like, OK, if I'm improving things and doing well and
hitting my targets, I'm happy, right?

(48:09):
And it was funny because both mygrandma's were entrepreneurs.
One opened a health food store and 1 was an interior designer.
And I always thought that was crazy like that.
Just the uncertainty of all of that stressed me out.
Like, there's no way, right? But yeah, with that big, it
really was a big personality shift when I did get into sports
and just learn what I was capable of.
And that's when I started to do more of those entrepreneurial

(48:32):
things because it was, it was this challenge.
It excited me. My brain clicked in.
It was like, OK, I want to find out everything I can about this,
learn how it works and make it work kind of thing.
And before, I think success has definitely meant different
things over the years. Before it was just kind of being
able to fund the things that I wanted to do with coaching and,

(48:53):
you know, live financially comfortably enough that I could
go travel and do races and do all of that fun stuff.
It shifted to quite a bit the last year and a half.
I've been the sole breadwinner for a while.
So then it had to focus to, OK, make sure I'm making more money
so that I can comfortably support my family for the time
being. And that added a little bit more
stress to it. But no, I think the success is

(49:17):
just to find about doing the things I enjoy, trying to find
some balance in it and just being financially comfortable
enough that that's not a stress in my day-to-day life.
And think of right now, I'm going to get spot with that,
which is nice. When things are kind of flowing
and moving and I have the opportunity to jump into new
opportunities or do things that excite me while still having a
solid foundation, I think that success to me right now.

(49:42):
Yeah, I know. That's very well put.
I'm curious, are you still the sole breadwinner in your family?
Yeah, I am. Right now.
Do you mind if I ask some questions around that?
Yeah, go for it. Because the.
Reason I want to ask is so when I first got married, I've been
married for 8 1/2 years. The first several years I was
full time entrepreneur, had thisgreen grandiose vision that the

(50:04):
startup company I was working onwas going to be, you know, to
the moon, whatever. And my wife, she allowed me that
opportunity and she was a sole breadwinner.
And the dynamic in our marriage that it started our marriage
with was like very high stress. She was struggling with some
mental health stuff too. But on top of that super
stressful job, working nights ina hospital, I was kind of just
traveling the world trying to raise money slash, you know, get

(50:28):
this product company started. But then like, you know, years
later and I'm talking, you know,we got married in 2017, like
2021-2022. I start making money and like
more money to where she doesn't have to stress as much.
And it like was this dynamic shift in our marriage that I had
never even contemplated really what that would mean to me as a
person that how it would like play into our marriage or it's

(50:50):
just things that like younger kids, I feel like we never even
think about. So I'm curious for you like
because you've been on both sides of the equation.
And I don't want to say that there's one right way or wrong
way. Although I primarily now like, I
don't ever want to go back to a place where she's the primary
breadwinner just because as a man, I think it makes me feel
really good. But like, how has that played?
It's it stresses on like the marriage and like how you guys

(51:12):
have worked through that and related to each other and things
of that nature. Yeah, so it definitely shifted
and that was when we got marriedearly on.
I ended up quitting my job at the time because his work was
had him traveling around the world.
So my career kind of got put on the back burners so that I could

(51:32):
work in different locations withhim.
So I did a few different things in there within the oil and gas
field and it kind of reached a point where I knew we're only
going to be in Scotland for a year.
So I'm like, I don't want to getstarted with another company
just to be there for like 6 months and move on kind of
thing. So that's where it kind of
started, the entrepreneurial journey.
I got my personal training license at the time and decided

(51:53):
to do some freelance personal training and kind of built from
there. And it was definitely different
Dina because his job was the theone that paid all the bills and
paid the mortgage and stuff. So that gave me the freedom to
play around and branch out and do something new like this and
completely change my career. And that was really nice to have
that foundation. Essentially it was like, OK,

(52:15):
everything that I was taken careof, I can bring in some extra
money, but I can play around andsee what I'm actually excited in
the past. And that eventually led to the
trathlon coaching a couple yearslater.
It's definitely been a shift because his career was always
the priority. I was kind of working from home,
but less so. So I would take care.
I played a more traditional rolefor the first couple years after

(52:38):
having my son. I was a stay at home mom.
And then I started to build up the triathlon coaching.
But it was always that was kind of my side gig and I took care
of the home and our kid and all of that in a very, yeah, very
traditional role at the time. And through the years, that has
always been kind of the way things went, unfortunately, with
a big company merger and stuff. He was laid off, yeah, about a

(53:00):
year and a half ago here. And yeah, no, it's totally fine
there. It was nice for him to kind of
have that downtime to, one, spend a lot of time with our
son, which was really good for them to kind of get more of a
relationship there and just kindof figure out what he wants to
do because he's always been, again, the person who's been in
charge of that. It did mean a shift in me trying

(53:21):
to build up my business to make sure that I could kind of cover
the difference. He was an executive within big
company, so I had to make a shift to make sure that I could
cover those gaps right? Which luckily I love what I do
and it's a lot of fun to do whatI do.
So it was just a matter trying to find that time.
The biggest struggle was just the shift in roles a little bit

(53:42):
more. Now that I'm working more than
more of the house stuff kind of has to become his responsibility
and more of the take care of ourson has become more of his
responsibility. And that was definitely a
challenge to navigate. We've gotten to a better place
now, but it's still always a struggle when you change
something in a relationship likethat.
Like I met him when I was 19 andwe got married very young.

(54:05):
So it's been a long time of things always being done one way
and trying to make that shift took a bit of time.
But yeah, just communication andkind of working that out.
And it's never perfect, but yeah.
Do you guys? Think that you'll eventually
SWIP swap back again. Yeah, I don't think it will SWIP
like go back the same, but I envisioned the ideal would be

(54:29):
that we kind of do it 5050 again, just kind of even it out
a little bit more. Yeah.
And especially as our son is getting older, he requires less
time too. So ideally it would be a
situation we're both kind of yeah, working, yeah, yeah for.
Sure. Thanks for letting me ask
questions about that. I think it's a really
fascinating conversation, especially in like the popular

(54:50):
realm or I don't know what am I trying to say like the
mainstream conversation. I think it's as I've gotten
older, I like, I've become more of, no, I really support like
stay at home moms. But at the same time, like I'm
not against anybody working, butI see that there's like
sometimes like these intricaciesthat it causes within like at

(55:11):
home dynamics. And it's super fascinating to me
because it's not something I ever used to think about before.
But now that as I've gotten older, I was like, well, what
what is best or is there a best like for each individual family?
I think to each his own, but I was just curious what your
perspective was on it. So thanks for sharing that.
Yeah, and. Honestly, like I, I was
privileged enough to be able to be a stay at home mom and it was
really great to be able to have that time.
But personally, that's somethingthat I couldn't do long term.

(55:34):
And whether it was the ADHD or my personality and stuff, I just
always need something to strive for, a challenge or a new thing.
And being a mom is incredibly rewarding in a number of ways,
but also didn't feed that side of me where I needed something
new or another challenge or something else to do.
So I'm happiest when I have thatvariety.

(55:54):
So that means that I'm a better mom for my son too?
If I'm in a good headspace, yeah.
So where do you, where do you want to be, let's say five years
from now? Do you have like a picture or a
goal of something you're shooting towards?
You seem like a very spontaneousperson, like in the moment
saying as to what comes to you. So I don't know, this may be a
hard question, but I'm curious if you do have like a longer

(56:15):
term vision on it that. Definitely is a challenging,
like I said, like things change so drastically.
You know, two years ago I was working with like tap by Tour de
France and challenging Tour de France winners to bike races.
So like to now doing this. So I don't really I like what
I'm doing right now. Like I really enjoy the variety

(56:35):
of things I have, but I'm not opposed to new opportunities
coming in And I don't I don't really think about that long
term five year plan to be perfectly honest.
It's more about kind of making sure that I'm enjoying the
moment I'm in, trying to get better at that because too often
I'm just kind of looking towardsthe next thing and making sure

(56:57):
that I at least have some stability in my life for my son
so that I know that he's always taken care of.
But other than that, I'd just like to continue growing and
doing what I am right now. On the coaching side, I really
enjoy it. On the digital marketing side,
potentially increasing that business with kind of hiring on
people would be a route to go because that has grown as well.

(57:20):
But really it's just kind of focusing on the here and now,
and that's mainly where my head is at, yeah.
So for those out there in the world who probably would relate
closer to earlier Jenna, whenever you know you're
reserved, shy, unsure about yourself, unsure to go out and

(57:41):
and try something to do that risky thing or whatever it might
be. What advice would you give to
them if they are like wanting tolearn how to be a little bit
more like that? Yeah, so one of the most
beneficial things I did, like I said early on, was literally
going to networking events by myself where I was forced to
either stand in a corner awkwardly losing my mind or go

(58:02):
talk to people, right. It was the most horrific,
uncomfortable thing to start by far.
But that really taught me a lot.Just it's like anything.
It's like training. The more you do it, the more you
adapt, the better you get at it,the more it becomes like second
nature. So I found that was a really
good way to just force me to getout of my shell and talk to

(58:24):
people. And then that continued with
like, joining the triathlon teamand going training with people
traveling to these camps and just going to new places and
knowing that it was going to be uncomfortable, it was going to
be scary, but good things will come of it.
And that's been kind of reinforced through all of those
travels. So yeah, really all you can do

(58:44):
is just like the training, keep putting yourself out there,
doing it over and over again. And if you do something over and
over again, it gets easier as you go, and eventually it can be
something that's second nature. And now that's my favorite part
about a lot of the stuff I do. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.
Well, Jenna, thank you so much for taking the time and letting
me ask some questions about yourlife for anybody who's

(59:05):
interested in listening to your podcast.
And we'll make sure to list it in the show notes.
And if they're looking for a coach or any of that other
stuff, we'll make sure to list other things.
But thank you so much for takingthe time to answer my questions
and wish you all the best going into the end of this year.
Yeah, with the podcast, with coaching, with being a mom,
being a wife, all those things. Thank you.
Absolutely. My pleasure, it's so good to

(59:26):
chat with you today. Thank you so much to Jenna for
coming on the pod. Great conversation.
Yeah, I felt brain foggy today. That is what it is.
But Jenna did such an amazing job of sharing her story and the
things that she has gone throughfrom, you know, just the weight
loss journey to the coaching journey to what she does in the

(59:47):
podcast, being a part of a number of different things.
Really admire the fact that she's able to go through that
journey and have perspective of the entire journey and how it
relates to her coaching. Because when that's probably the
biggest, one of the bigger things that I took away from
this was just the ability to keep in perspective the

(01:00:07):
different levels of people that would come into the sport.
Not to say 1 is better than the other.
You know, obviously when you're comparing times and things like
that, when it comes to speed, you know, there's quote UN quote
better in that way. But in terms of the mindset or
the reason that people do this sport, it changes drastically
and and varies. And I think that that's a
beautiful thing. And I want to, in my own

(01:00:29):
coaching practice, learn how to appreciate the different steps
that people are in that journey and not kind of leave people
behind. I think if I'm being a little
introspective, one of the thingsthat I have struggled with in
the past is that as I graduate in a level of knowledge or
understanding in a particular thing, I lose a little bit of
that perspective to remember where I was.
And I can sometimes come across as I think egotistical, proud.

(01:00:55):
Maybe those are the words for it.
Just the word kind of could seemlike, oh, I'm better than you
type of a thing. I won't necessarily say that out
loud, but I think in my actions,sometimes it showed.
So this was a really good podcast for me because it called
into question or convicted me, humbled me a little bit to to be
a little bit more open minded and and not to forget about
where we came from or where I came from.
So great conversation. Thanks for listening.

(01:01:16):
Sorry for my sniffles and coughsand stuff, especially in the
podcast, but really appreciate you and again, and appreciate
you guys being here. All right, we'll talk to you the
next one. Peace.