September 23, 2024 • 35 mins
This episode of "Grace in the Grind" features an insightful conversation with Calvin "Go Hard" Richard, a fitness coach, leadership mentor, and the founder of Lionheart. Calvin shares his personal journey of overcoming challenges, discovering his purpose, and how he helps men find their inner strength and compassion.
Calvin Richard
Calvin “Go Hard” Richard (re’shard) *Calvin is a Christ-follower, husband, and father of 3 amazing kids. *Community Leader, Peak Performance Coach & Mindset Mentor, Pastor *Founder and CEO of LIONHEART Peak Performance Coaching for Kingdom Businessmen and Leaders *Founder and CEO of Verus Fit Transformation Lab Team Personal Training Studio. *Over 2 decades of experience in ministry, Kingdom leadership, sports medicine, strength & conditioning, and fitness coaching. *He enjoys traveling and loves team competition including participating in Tough Mudders, other OCR races, basketball, football, and strength training. *He's a Hope Dealer, Excuse Killer, Intrumural Legend and 3rd Funniest guy at his church.
[Timestamps]
(00:00) - Introduction and Birth of Lionheart
(02:02) - The Impact of Mentorship and Tragedy
(05:31) - Discovering Calvin's calling and purpose
(06:22) - Discovering Your Natural Gifts
(13:02) - From Weakness to Strength
(17:00) - Transform Ego into Servant Leadership
(17:56) - Leading with a Crazy Style
(18:40) - The Power of Community
(20:37) - The Pit Of Despair and Climbing out Together
(21:34) - The Rabbit, Lone Wolf, and Lion Metaphor
(23:28) - The impact of mentorship
(24:39) - Addressing suicide and mental health
(30:55) - Staying sharp and accountable as a coach
(32:35) - Current Projects and How to Contact Coach Calvin
(34:39) - Final Thoughts and Farewell
[Key Takeaways]
- You discover your true calling and purpose through self-reflection and the guidance of others.
- There is transformative power in vulnerability and servant leadership when helping others overcome their struggles.
- The critical role of mentorship, community, and accountability in personal growth and development is rarely discussed.
- Strategies for addressing mental health challenges, including suicidal ideation, among men need to be the center of attention.
[Relevant Links]
- "The Obstacle Is the Way" by Ryan Holiday -https://amzn.to/3B68SPS (affiliate)
- "Man's Search for Meaning" by Viktor Frankl -https://amzn.to/3TpuRHF (affiliate)
[Call to Action]
If you found this episode inspiring and insightful, be sure to subscribe to "Grace in the Grind" to stay up to date with the latest episodes. Don't forget to rate and review the podcast to help us reach more listeners.
[Connect With Us]
Calvin Richard
@calvingohardrichard on Instagram
Jim Burgoon
- Host Website: www.leadwithjim.com
https://onlinebusiness.captivate.fm/episode/lionheart
Copyright 2025 Jim Burgoon
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to Greece in the grind, thepodcast where we dive deep into the
journeys of heart centered and purposedriven leaders and entrepreneurs.
We'll pull back the curtain to explorethe stories behind success, how people
have navigated the toughest challenges,overcome their obstacles and found
their way through the grind to buildsomething truly impactful, whether you're
(00:23):
a Christian leader looking for guidanceor an entrepreneur seeking inspiration.
We're here to equip and encourage you.
So let's get started, and findthe grace within the grind.
This is Grace in the Grind,and now your host, Jim Burgoon.
You know, I've always been curious wherethe whole lion cultivator, you know,
(00:46):
the, the brand that you're building,where did that really come from?
So, I knew for a long time thatI've, I'm called to work with men.
And so men in leadership, especially,so these guys are CEOs, they are
ministry leaders, you know, businessexecs or CEOs or whatnot, and so.
(01:06):
The Lionheart came for,let me, let me back up.
I start off with a more thanConqueror's men's challenge.
I started that off.
I was like, man, you know what?
We do these things in my studio, myfitness studio, where we do this little
black dress and things for ladies or co edstuff, but nothing specifically for men.
And so for me, it was a thing where let's,let's just do a six week challenge called
more than Conqueror's men's challenge.
(01:27):
And I had about 24, 25 guys do that.
Went back in 2018 and about four orfive of them were online, some local.
And so.
It was amazing.
It was this thing where guysneeded a place for men to
be men that they felt heard.
They felt safe and it feltlike they're like edified.
It felt like they were, youknow, in his position itself.
(01:49):
So that was in 2018.
Did that in six week oneand did another one in 2019.
And then fast forward 2020, whenall hell broke loose in the world.
And here we are, you know,with a COVID stuff going on.
And so when I started my business,my fitness studio, which was 15
years ago, I knew how to coach.
I didn't know how to.
(02:10):
Run a business.
Like most of us were practitioners.
We knew how to do the thing, turnthe, you know, turn the screw, do
the thing where practitioners, butreally don't know how to become CEOs.
And so one of my clients, he tookme in his wing, very successful
business owner in this area.
And I coached him andhis wife over the years.
And he wasn't just a,so he became my mentor.
(02:31):
It wasn't just a client.
He was a friend.
And, but he also took me onhis wing to show me business.
So And in 2017, he actuallyhad a Parkinson's diagnosis.
So, you know how a disease likethat can affect your identity.
And he was doing his absolute bestto work through it and doing all
the things and diet and exerciseand all the things through that.
(02:53):
But it still was getting to him.
And in 2020, here he is what people haveworked from him in like for decades.
And how do you pay for these individuals?
How do you support them?
How do you still keep payroll going on?
And so a man of faith, a man ofplenty of prestige man who, who, who
was instrumental in his community.
(03:16):
He took his own life.
No one saw it coming.
And, you know, and I didn't understandthe whole term until recently that whole
terms, that term of tears of a clown.
So it wasn't as much of aclown, but you never saw John
without a smile on his face.
The man was just endearing and loving andcaring and so supportive, and you just
(03:39):
would never think that he was dealing withthose dark thoughts so much on the end.
So the stress of all the thingswith COVID, on top of all the things
that were going on in his own life,you know, he took his own life.
And that one for me was the, wasthe kick in the heart, you know,
frankly, the kick in the nads todo what God is calling me to do.
(03:59):
And, you know, I, I kinda, I knewI was supposed to be doing it,
but I was kind of sitting on it.
So the whole thing, my wife and Icame together and we're just talking
about concepts and ideas and stuff.
And Lionheart came together becausemost men love to be the lion.
We love to be the king of the jungle,you know, king of the domain and,
and roar and do all these things.
But the heart side isthe compassionate side.
(04:20):
It's the vulnerable side.
It's that I'm not wellside, or I'm not doing well.
And, and most guys need permissionto be invited into an environment.
To be themselves, to be okay with notbeing okay and let's work together
to help bring guys out of it.
So that was the wholebasis of the name itself.
And if you look at like the logoitself, the lion is specifically
(04:42):
shaped like a heart for a reason.
And so it's that part of it.
Let's, we're all supposed tobe the king of our domain.
The things that God has called us to dowhatever it may be, you know, if it's on a
home front itself, if it's in a workplaceenvironment, it's in our community,
we're called the lead in a way that's,that's, That is part of our domain.
Do we all always know how to do it?
(05:03):
And in a way that's that's well rounded.
You know, it's not a force thing.
It's about more of a flow.
And that's the part where we bringthe compassionate side of the heart.
Awesome.
So there was a whole lot you said there.
And I want to unpack some of this withyou because just writing some notes
down some key trigger words there.
(05:24):
So not all of my listeners are going tobe Christians, but primarily they will be.
But we throw this word around.
The first thing you open up with isI'm called, what does that look like?
What does that mean?
Because we, it's such a buzzword thatI'm called, I'm called, I'm called,
but we, nobody really ever defines it.
Nobody ever talks aboutwhat does that mean?
(05:44):
How do you actuallyknow that you're called?
So, so unpack that a little bit.
What was that process?
Absolutely.
So.
One of the things I do, I specificallycoach men in this program itself.
And so I use biblical principles,but they're principles, whether you
believe in, in, in God or Christitself, the principles still work.
I don't care what your backgroundis what you believe about gravity.
(06:08):
It don't matter what you believe about it.
It's going to gravity going to work foryou or against you in some kind of way.
And so I believe in theprinciples behind that.
So I think we, the way I take I takemy clients through it and really
any of the individual who's tryingto find out what their purpose is.
So your calling itself is,what is your purpose for life?
And so a lot of that isdetermining what are you gifted at?
(06:30):
And so in the Bible talks aboutyour gift will make room for you.
It'll bring you before great men.
And so all of us know that there'scertain things that we just do naturally.
Sometimes we, it may be so innate andso easy for us to do, but we don't
realize how hard it is for others to do.
Like I'm a coach.
I'm a mentor.
I'm a leader.
I'm a teacher.
I cannot live life without doing this.
(06:52):
Right.
You know, before we got started, I hada conversation with the young lady in
helping bring out and nurture that gift.
And so the calling is gonna bewrapped around what you do well
or what you've gone through.
Sometimes it takes tragedyto show what that is.
Mm-Hmm.
. And so I usually take folksthrough a, a, a simple thing first.
You know, we all know aboutwhat lights you up, what are,
(07:14):
what are you excited about?
That's, that's good.
That's a good thing to kindof get started with it.
But then after that,what are you skilled in?
What do you, what have you liketrained in with things that you
put in some time and effort doesn'tmean that you went to school for it.
But what have you put in some time toget good at a specific, a specific skill?
Number three is what do you hate?
(07:34):
What do you despise?
What would you like toeradicate from the world?
Okay.
So when you take that and say,okay, what comes easy to me
and is difficult to others.
Okay.
And so from that point, if I hada magical wine, if I can eradicate
something from the world, what isit that, what does that look like?
And then from there you can start buildingon those skills and see, okay, what
(07:56):
really makes sense, whether it's in aspecific business or work environment or
something that you create for yourself.
So quickly for me, I enjoy people.
I'm, I'm extroverted as they come.
I enjoy coaching, teaching.
Like I said, I can't not do this.
I hate weakness.
I hate excuses.
I despise victim mentalities.
(08:18):
I call myself an excuse killer, butI'm also a hope dealer, you know?
So I, I take the excuses dude,you're going to be a victim or
you could be a victim or whatare you going to do with that?
So I hate weak bodies,weak, spiritual walk.
We're weak finances.
I hate weakness.
I hate to say just people whining.
It's Oh, I just want tolike, you know, slap them.
Don't do that.
It's not helping you.
So for me, it's like eliminating weakness.
(08:40):
And so when I look at my naturalgift, if I had put my gift into
one thing, I am an encourager.
I encourage with God's word.
I encourage with life.
I encourage and strength.
I like people to take on challengesthat they believe are hard and get
them on the other side of that sothey could see how amazing they are.
Right.
So those are some simple, simplethings that are kind of, we can look
(09:02):
at what does that calling look like?
We all have something we'resupposed to do and we can easily
get distracted or dissuade bydoing something that's lesser than.
That's, that's true.
I like how you did that, a hope dealerand a weakness killer excuse killer.
And it really makes sense because when youthink about how, how your life is lined
up between the fitness and the coaching, Imean, that's really what it comes down to.
(09:24):
Was that one quote weaknessis just pain leaving the body?
Yeah, that's, that's, that'sa big quote in the space.
And so I get it, I love it.
So then, then it, so thinking aboutsomebody who is like listening
right now, who is okay, I see it.
What I love, what I hate, how I'mwired, you know, those things.
(09:45):
How could they, what is one thing thatthey could do that would help them
recognize, Oh, this is what I'm good at.
You know what I'm saying?
Like you were, you were mentioningbeing so good at something
that you, it's an eight, right?
Right.
So how can somebody who is sitting therelistening right now go, Oh, this is it.
Would they need, how can theyfind it in themselves or would
they need a coach or both?
(10:07):
So obviously hiring a good, a good coachwould accelerate that, that effort.
If they have systems in place, theywill really bring those things out.
You know, like you and I do with, withwork with our clients and whatnot.
But there's a way I even have folks do it.
Just ask people, ask your friends,family, people who really know you.
You, you, you've probably seensome posts like this, but if I
(10:28):
were to do a TEDx talk, what doyou think I'm going to talk about?
You know, just a simple social mediaposts and see what people say, you know,
Oh, they're going to talk about this.
You can talk about that.
You're going to talk about this, youknow, so I typically would get, you
know, fitness fate, overcoming obstacles.
You know, these are things thatpeople would talk to, you know,
we'll put up in my, my deal.
You can also say if you hadthree words to describe me as an
(10:49):
individual, what would they be?
So you can hear from the people who, who,you know, Who see, you know you, that
you've been out and, and they trust you.
That's one way.
But if you don't feel like you wannaput it all out there, you can just
ask people that are close to you, whatdoes that, what does that look like?
Now you take that and say,okay, what books am I drawn to?
What things am I drawn to?
What lights me up?
Here's another thing to put in.
What makes you cry?
(11:11):
You know, what is it that makes you cry?
I'm, I'm an overly passionate person.
And so watching movies andthings like that, I cry more
than everybody in my family.
They just know that whenever the momentcomes, dad is going to be crying.
It's just what it is.
I don't care.
I'm just letting it out there.
I love that.
I love that about you.
I, I can't say that I cry at anymovies, but I love that, that you do.
(11:33):
Yeah.
That's sensitive.
That's because you're talking aboutthe lion, the leader of compassion.
Then there you go.
You got that empathy that I want to, Iwant to conquer the hill, do the tough
mutter, do the, do the hard thing.
And at the same time, andI want to whine and cry.
I mean, The greatest showman i'm cryingi'm crying in the greatest show like
this is me man They don't get me.
(11:53):
They don't understand me.
I i'm saying i'm really thatdude It's no and I can't help it.
I'll tell you the first movie that Iever in facing the giants the death
crawl scene Oh, dude, that was amazing.
Oh my goodness in the movies.
I have I was balling like uglycry tears, probably snotting.
(12:14):
I don't care.
It was just like, it was me, I guessit was just the competitiveness, the
hardness of it, being a coach and seeinga coach just dig into this guy's life
and getting him to do what he didn'tthink what he thought was impossible.
That, that, that to me all day,you're going to get me underdogs.
People who have one limb, you know, Ilove anybody who overcomes the obstacles.
(12:34):
That's as part of who I am.
Cause I did it myself.
Yeah.
I love it.
So, so I want to piggyback onthat statement actually, it was
kind of where I wanted to leadthis conversation a little bit.
So you're at like the pinnacle hopedealer, excuse killer, you know, like
all this stuff, kill weakness, all that.
How did you get to that point?
Because you don't start there, likeyou didn't get born and suddenly
(12:55):
you're like the giant among giants.
So, so help us understandlike, what was your process of
getting to where you are today?
I truly follow and believe in theprocess or the, the, there's a book
by Ryan holiday that's called theobstacle is the way the obstacle
that's in the way is the way itself.
And so for instance, if we think aboutmany tests, trials, and tragedies,
(13:19):
when we may have endured, it's exactlywhat we needed to become who we are.
You know, we may not like,we may not like it in a time.
So for me, I was the four seven.
82 pound freshmen in high school,literally the smallest kid in
school from elementary all the waythrough high school towards the end.
I finally, when I graduated, I finallywas a taller than a few people, but
(13:41):
for me being the little guy, I hadto, I didn't realize it until later
on that I created a persona to protectmyself from bullying so I can talk.
Trash, you know, this ismy pre pre Jesus days.
I didn't come to Christ till I waslike 24 So I had I had a mouthpiece
on me and I talked about you your momand your teeth Yeah, yeah, your ass
your knuckles and whatever else I canbecause I made myself bigger I didn't
(14:05):
understand that life and death is inthe power of a tongue at the time But
I knew I could make myself bigger.
So I talk louder because I was smaller.
I talk louder I cuss louder, butalso I had a work ethic I wanted to
beat you at every single thing we do.
And if it's basketball, tennis,if it's football, if it's racing,
jumping ramps, jumping off of things,classroom, I want to beat you.
(14:29):
So I had this work ethic becauseespecially in sports, I had to work harder
in order to compete with the bigger guys.
And so I realized I wasn'tgoing to be a rebound leader.
I'm not going to be the shot blockleader, but I can get, nobody can
get lower to the ground than me.
And so I'm going to lead and I'veled every team I've ever played on in
steals and I'm gonna play some defense.
So I, I played on my strengths with that.
(14:50):
And so being a little guy, like Isaid, that, that was part of that
persona that I realized even with thebullying thing, I didn't get bullied
because I could fight, but I'm goingto find a way to equalize it as well.
And so they like Calvin crazy.
I, I'm not going to mess with crowdbecause you're going to come upside
my head with a hammer because he mayhave done that before, who knows.
And so for me, it was that part whereeven Being able to stand alone, being
(15:12):
able to kind of, You know, like Isaid, I went to a Catholic high school.
We wore uniforms and because I couldn'tfit into adult clothes, my pants
were darker than everybody else's.
They had two pockets.
They had a pocket oneach side of their shirt.
My little chest wasn't big enoughand I had to have kids clothes
and I have one little pocket.
And so, you know, it wasjust I had to be different.
(15:34):
But it was a part of saying that Thatwas necessary for me to be the person,
the larger than life persona andpersonality because I was making up for
the deficit and my work ethic was there.
So that was kind of the thing thatreally was spurred through there.
And I grew a foot through highschool, didn't start working
out until I got to college.
But here I get to college.
I grew two more inches, gained 50pounds and I'm moving big people
(15:57):
around like this is pretty awesome.
So that's me having the deficit.
push me into going into thestrength side of things.
And I teach people this through this day.
So the obstacle of me being a littleguy was the way for me to grow through
it, to be able to help other people inthe power of other people in my life.
I got it.
So you say you grew two inches.
Does that mean you're like four, nine?
No, no, man.
(16:19):
I grew two more inches.
I grew a foot through high school.
Okay.
I grew a foot throughhigh school for nine.
I'm a towering four nine.
I mean, five, nine these days.
It got me towering nine,five, nine these days.
So I grew a foot through highschool and I grew two inches.
I was a late bloomer.
So the one of the reasons I was, I was solittle, I had a growth hormone deficiency.
So I take injections to get caught upand so on and so forth, but yeah, put
(16:41):
through high school, two more inchesin college and then 50 more pounds.
And yeah, that's awesome.
And you know, you know, so you know,the question was going to be like
when you gapped from four, seven,two, I grew two more inches, you
know, the question is going to be,am I four, are you four or nine now?
So I got it.
All right.
So now So that's awesome.
That's actually awesome.
(17:01):
So then that leads into a thoughtdo you think that, or, or where was
the point where the, the, maybe theego driven pride to be the best, do
the best moved over into the servantheart that is now lying hearts today.
Yeah.
So part of that is, I mean, that guy isstill in there and I've got to tame him.
You know, he's still in there andhe's beneficial at certain times.
(17:25):
Like I could turn it on incompetition and things of that sort.
But all of it was still a part of,I don't want to do this by myself.
I want to bring folks along with me.
So it's kind of like youand I, we do obstacle course
races and things like that.
Spartan is great.
And I've done Spartan.
I enjoy tough mutter more because itis the sense of camaraderie Spartan.
Even if you do with people, it's youagainst the course, you throw the spear,
(17:47):
you climb the rope, you do the thing,but it's so it's you against the course.
Tough butter.
I'm pulling people overthe wall along with me.
I'm bringing in folks along with this.
So I'm leading and I do it in a crazy way.
I got two weeks now.
Now I'll have a Orange Mohawk and I, Ihave crazy contacts and, and I turn into
the Gena, I turn into the lion, I turninto go hard, which is my alter ego.
(18:10):
So I get to be that guy tobring folks along the way who.
Some of them, many of themdon't believe they can do it.
And I just brainwashed him in faithto believe that they can do it because
I know who's on the other side of it.
And we've, and this will be my 12th one.
We only had one person didn'tfinish and he was actually
one of the fittest guys there.
(18:30):
He had cramps.
They couldn't finish,but everyone finishes.
We don't go fast.
We go at a pace thatwe all do it together.
And it's kind of like the pride of lions.
We could travel together.
There's strength in numbers.
And so that's a part of it whereI'm, I'm leading from the front, but
also I know how to edify and liftup somebody else who's the leader.
You know, I'm a pastor on staff, butI'm not the head pastor at our church.
(18:51):
I'm there to edify and grow everyone else.
So that's the gift of encouragement tohelp build other folks up along the way.
That's awesome.
And, you know, I love my races,but I've done tough motor one time.
And the only problem I had was thatmotor horn at the end, that giant.
A frame looking thing.
I do not like that.
(19:11):
Yeah, I I get, I'd get shocked allday long from that electrical fence.
Then I would climb in thatmotor horn just an FYI.
So when I do a motor with you,just, just know that is my worst.
Freaking obstacles.
That last one.
That's right.
Well, guess what?
If, if, if you don't get it by yourself,I'll be right there to grab your
arm and help pull you up, brother.
(19:32):
That's it.
So I probably need a parachute too,but that's just side notes, you know?
So, so then that becomes like this,this really incredible so the go hard,
you serving, bringing people along.
I love that.
That thought because, you know, weare stronger together, you know, and I
think that's, that's a beautiful thing.
And it's, so let's, let's, let's thinkabout this for a second because There's
(19:54):
so many times where men are so individual,individualistic and independent that we
don't want to be with another person.
We don't want to be vulnerable.
We don't want to be, you know, connected.
We don't, and our idea ofconnecting is, Oh, I know a guy
and then I'll serve you here.
Let me do this thing.
And we think they've doneeverything for somebody.
So how do you overcome thatwith, with some of your groups?
(20:15):
Because you want to get this prideof lions, which is obviously a very
interconnected community that's givingand vulnerable and stuff like that.
How do you move men from thisplace of hyper independence and
closed offness to that community?
Yeah, I look at it two different ways.
(20:37):
One is when guys either prevent them,but most of the time when I, when I
was still working guys, they're in whatI call the pit of despair in this pit
of despair is anxiety, overwhelmed,depression, suicidal ideology.
Sometimes you know, not enough.
This unfulfillment isin this pit of despair.
And so you can stay there byyourself in solitude or depression.
(21:00):
Yeah.
We can get out of there.
We can move out of this.
Some guys are deeper in it.
Some guys are just at the surface.
Some guys are right in the middle itself.
And so what most programs, thosesystems out there is to throw a
rope and help pull somebody out.
I personally want to get down in thatpit with you and we climb out together.
I'm going to be right there lockingarms with you because I've been there.
I know you because I am you.
(21:21):
I've been there with all these thingsmyself and I've had a, you know,
enough track record of work withother guys who've been there as well.
So that's number one, gettingyou out of the pit of despair.
And the same way I look at, I lookat there's three types of men.
There's the rabbit, there's alone wolf, and there's the lion.
The rabbit looks good on a surface.
You know, it looks good on the surface,a lot of flashiness, a lot of, you
(21:44):
know, a lot of talk, but not actuallymaking moves on certain things.
And when a battle comes, the rabbit runs.
Or you're the rabbit.
The lone wolf is what Most ofthe guys that I, that I work
with have, have dealt with.
The lone wolf is I I the hustle and grind.
You know, they, they subscribeto hustle and grind philosophy.
You know, I worked till I die.
I, I've been there.
(22:05):
I work till I die or I, I rest when I die.
I hustle 24 7.
You know, sleep is the cousin of death.
I'll sleep when I die.
Oh, this was, I've been there.
White knuckling through life.
I'm going to do it and pullmyself up by my own bootstraps.
You know, no one, no one understands me.
Of course, Satan comes in.
He's always the onethat wants to separate.
You make you think your flawsand your, your, your, your
(22:27):
shortcomings are who you are.
And so that build into thatnegative identity itself,
instead of who God says I am.
And so part of that is, isspeaking and saying you're okay,
even though you're not perfect.
because we don't want to be perfect.
It's not about perfectionism.
So that lone wolf thinks I haveto, I have to do it all by myself.
And we don't realize that there arementors and people have done it.
(22:50):
That would love to help you.
Succeed at what you do.
There's a misconnection there.
Well, I'd say, Oh, he's notgoing to give me his secrets.
Most folks have done it.
They realize they're sogood at what they do.
And they're so specializedat what they do.
You're not a threat to them.
You know, younger me in entrepreneurship.
Like I said, I've been, I have had myfitness studio for 15 years, a new,
new program will come on the market.
(23:10):
I'm like, Oh my gosh,what are you going to do?
You know?
Oh, CrossFit came in.
I'll, I'll, I'll put my programagainst everybody, real defensive.
And now I'm just like, guess what?
There's enough fluffypeople for all of us to eat.
It's okay.
It's okay.
I'm not threatened by anybodybecause nobody does it like we do it.
Nobody does it in our mapand in a way that we do it.
So that's the lone wolf.
But then the lion knows he's king of thedomain, but he knows there's strength in
(23:32):
numbers, there's strength in the pride.
You know, it's the same way.
You got to look at KingDavid had his mighty men.
You know, he, he could do ithimself in a lot of different ways.
He's a bad, he's a bad man,but he did it with community.
Jesus Christ could havedone it by himself.
But he invited disciples inthe 12 to come along with them.
There's so many scenarios where wesee that we're just greater together.
(23:54):
We're greater at doing these things.
And also, it's not just about having tohelp, but there, these men alongside you,
all these women alongside you, they'regrowing in their greatness as well.
You're helping them grow right alongsidethem in their specific calling and
purpose because they're in your presence.
So all we're doing is to get together.
So there's something about having Powerin community power in collaborative
(24:19):
coaching power in iron sharpening iron.
That's good stuff, man.
That's real good stuff.
So coming into, as we start landingsome planes here, it's been an
incredible conversation and I reallyappreciate you and hanging out with
me and having the conversation.
Love it, bro.
So.
(24:39):
You had mentioned, and this issomething near and dear to my heart,
you had mentioned earlier that oneof the things that really drove
you into a lot of this stuff wasthat your mentor friend's suicide.
How, now, being somebody, you know,we've known each other a long time,
my wife, you know, her story, and asthe listeners get more accustomed to
(25:00):
the story, and my wife and I do somepodcast episodes together, we'll unpack
a lot of that, but my wife has been inand out of the hospital for suicide.
She's on like 10th or 11th time.
And I can't even begin totell you the amount of program
she's been in and out of.
How did that change you with your,with, with him dying like that?
And how are you doing things differentlyto help those, maybe the lone wolves
(25:24):
in your groups that are trying to comeinto the lions fight against that?
Because suicide among men is pretty high.
Yes.
Yes.
It's, it's much more much more likelythat suicide is going to be done by men.
And so from the conversation, the guysthat work with, and it's funny, they're
broad range sometimes, you know, some guyslike, I just want to be a better husband.
I want to be a better father.
(25:45):
I want to make more money.
So the other end of the spectrumwhere I've been chewing on the
barrel of my gun for the last48 hours, it's, it's hard work.
It's, it's, you know, it's hard work.
And so sometimes you're like, I don't wantto make the wrong, say the wrong thing.
I'm scared if I do the wrongthing and you know, they could
be, be gone from here, you know?
So a lot of it's there.
(26:06):
And but also I.
I'm not so far away from that.
I've been the guy where driving downthe street and the headlights of the
oncoming 18 Wheeler seemed appealing.
So I'm not speaking from thisguy who's got it all down, Pat
and got it all figured out.
And you know, you and I being atthe forefront, a lot of different
(26:27):
places, you know, that we could be.
it can be easy to put on a facadeif it's not truly who you are.
I'm an entertainer, I'mfunny and this and that.
But that whole term that I didn'tunderstand of being of tears of a cloud.
You know, there's certain sometimes folksare entertainers in some form of fashion.
They put on this, you know, thisentertainment in their gift.
(26:48):
But when they're off the stage and notin the environment, they're struggling.
they're struggling with anxietyand depression and suicidal
ideologies along the way.
And so for me, it's one of thosethings where if I could, especially
I watched a special the folks thatjump off the Golden Gate Bridge and
the ones who survived every singleone of them said immediately when they
released, they felt regret immediately.
(27:11):
It's it's almost an ear.
The enemy is in their ear.
Just kind of, you know,nobody's gonna get it.
Nobody's understand you.
You know, he's isolatingisolated from the people itself.
So knowing that whole isolationformat, we found out even in
2020 how bad isolation is.
Yes.
'cause we're separated from folks.
We're separated from doingthings we normally do.
If you think about, if you go toprison and you, you do something really
(27:34):
bad, the worst thing they could dois put you in solitary confinement.
There's a psychology behind that.
You know, if you read the book, man,searching for meaning from Victor
Frankel, it talks about this hope.
It talks about having hope forsomething better and what the enemy
loves to come and do is kill hope,you know, kill hope for me, put
you in a state of hopelessness.
(27:55):
So for me, it's part of that givingguys that, that vitamin of hope and
getting them, getting them the chargeand understand that they're fearfully
wanted for me, who, who's, am I?
So first of I can go back to my identity,everything comes down to the identity.
Who's am I, first and foremost.
If I know what, who I am, if, if I'ma child of God, for those who are
believers, if I'm a child of God, Iknow what he says about me because I
(28:17):
know what his word says about me, right?
So I'm gonna fall back on it.
I'm, I'm more, more than I conquer.
I'm fearful and fearful,fearfully and wonderfully made.
I'm, you know, you know,I'm, I'm ahead not to tell.
So I can, I can start telling myselfwho he says I am, because sometimes
I may doubt who I think I am.
So, so like how often do you here'sone question for you then how often
(28:43):
do you run into these people whoare like coming out of that lone
wolf that are struggling with this?
Like, how often is that more oftenthan not, more often than not, more men
are struggling with the unfulfillmentis one of the biggest thing.
Unfulfillment if I had to put one wordto it, and that comes from either lack
(29:03):
of purpose or knowing the purpose, butnot moving towards it because maybe
they're stuck in golden handcuffs.
They're working a job or have a businessthat's doing well enough and everyone
around him is high fiving and you're doinga great job, but you're feeling empty
because you know you're not doing thenext thing that God is calling you to do.
You're not doing that thing that'sgoing to light up your life and
(29:24):
it's going to be more impactful.
But you're kind of stuck in this,you know, this is what I've done.
This is how we've always done it.
And so I'm going to stick with that.
And so it's a part of it where getting.
guys to, okay, step outof, step out of that.
You know, we hear, Oh,it's the comfort zone.
You're just being in the comfort zoneand most situation is not comfortable.
(29:45):
It's right.
It's about being in a familiar zone.
So it's not comfortable because it'snot comfortable staying where you are.
So let's get you moving out of there.
But it's hard to be able to break awayfrom so many different individuals,
especially guys who are providersand they can't take the risks that
necessary to move into that next thing.
So more more guys than not are either longrule for they just look on the surface.
(30:08):
There might be on social mediabeing a rabbit, but they're
not truly being a lion.
I like the fact that you use that.
I've never heard thatterm golden handcuffs.
I never heard that term.
I like that term a lot.
And I think that that's so, so, so likean imagery that like, wow, because you're
in handcuffs, you're in change, you'rein bondage, even if you are making the
money, even if you are doing the thingsthat everybody says you're successful.
(30:30):
You're still in bondage becauseit's let lack of fulfillment.
And it goes into trying to find whatyou, what fulfills you, which really
ties together all of our conversationfrom calling to what you're doing now
and all that is, is finding what you're,what fulfills you and things like that.
So then I guess my last.
And then an opportunity to see whatyou're up to is how do you stay sharp?
(30:55):
How do you, as you know, obviouslyfitness guy, you're working out with
your crew, you're doing those things,but like on the other end, as a coach,
like, how do you get yourself to stay.
On the cutting edge.
Yeah.
So for my studio, it'steam personal training.
It's, you know, folks are togetheras coach led is part of that.
(31:16):
And kind of that old saying isthat I'm not only the hair club
president, I'm also a client.
So I, I'm coached by mycoaches in his training.
So I'm held accountable and I'lltell them when I'm falling short on
certain things and where I, where I'meating too many biscuits or something
else, assuming sweets or things,cause that's usually me as sugar.
So being accountable is even here isone thing I've got brothers and I've
(31:37):
got people, mentors and coaches as well.
Over the last 10, 12 years,I've had at least from one to
four coaches at the same time.
So I do have, have coachingand leadership myself.
I think it's, Every coachshould have a good coach.
That's, that's part of itself.
But it, it's reading, it's stayingabreast of the things that, that I'm,
you know, for me it's, it's materialsthat's wrapped around faith is wrapped
(31:58):
around personal development self ac,ac, ac, ac, I can't even say a word.
Whew.
Self ac ization.
It's one of it, you know what I mean?
Getting better at being yourself.
That's the word.
Self-mastery.
So that's the word that's, yep.
I can't get a word out thereright now, but that's all right.
But it, it's, it's,it's staying in my lane.
And, you know, doing my best.
Cause I love shiny objects andnew things and things like that.
(32:21):
So I gotta always make sure I'm stayingfocused on the things that I'm doing.
So it's going to conferences.
It's going, it's, it's doingthe programs and whatnot.
It's, it's, you know, lockingin with, with brothers like
you that help keep me in line.
Nice.
And so then what is what are youup to that Recently, maybe you, you
mentioned you're going to a mutter.
So what's, what's going on in your world?
(32:42):
What's, what's, what'ssomething you've got going on?
People can join now before you, beforeyou answer, I will tell you in the
show notes, I'm going to add all ofyour social media links and stuff,
but you can share any, any thoughtsof people to go somewhere to find you.
Absolutely.
So a few things that's ongoing.
Yes.
I'm Calvin go hard or short on Instagram.
I have a a Facebook group that'sfor Lionheart for four guys only
(33:05):
that are inside there right now.
I've been doing, do trainings,do different conversations and
whatnot to, to, to help guys out.
That's a total free group and Facebook.
So if you look up, look for Lionheart on,on Facebook, you'll find that there too.
But but yeah, I do coaching.
I do, do, do group coaching as wellas one on one coaching for like
Christian CEOs, ministry leaders, guyslike that, who are in, in leadership
(33:29):
whether it's, you know, so we, I lookat five, five foundational things.
It's physical, mental, spiritual,emotional, and financial.
If any one of those things are off,it's going to affect the rest of them.
We're called to be great.
And I help guys either move frommediocre to mastery or good to great.
That's usually where theguys that I work with.
(33:49):
So if you're looking for a coach, you'relooking for a mentor that's there.
I also do a program called MoreThan Conquerors Men's Challenge.
It's a six week program.
I got one coming up very soon.
In that one, it's a six week program.
Fitness is more of the foundation,but we do all the life and all the
things that stack on top of it.
Nice.
And as I mentioned to the listenersall of that will be in the show notes.
(34:10):
Make sure you grab those links jump in.
I've known Calvin for a number ofyears and the man gets results.
And I would say one of the threewords that you, the, for you, that I
would say is definitely encourager.
And because you are, and, and foryou guys listening, encouragement
doesn't always mean make you feel good.
Encouraging means to rip apart thethings holding you back from growing.
(34:32):
And so I definitely would say thatis definitely one of your words.
So I appreciate you.
I appreciate the conversation.
Appreciate hanging out.
Um, and as always guys for who arelistening, go check them out and
go support them, go, go share hisposts, things like that, and then
grab your show notes and take it and.
You know, follow it, followit down the rabbit hole.
And Calvin, thank you so much forhanging out and being like literally one
(34:55):
of the first interviewee intervieweesfor the launch of this podcast.
And I appreciate you, my friend.
Appreciate you too, as well, brother.
Let's keep doing amazing things.
Love you, man.
Love you too, bud.
Thanks.
This has been Grace in the Grind.
Whether you're a Christian leaderlooking for guidance or an entrepreneur
seeking inspiration, it's Jim'spassion to equip and encourage you.
(35:18):
Make sure to check out Jim'ssolo episodes, where he shares
practical leadership insightsgrounded in a biblical perspective.
We hope you've enjoyed the show.
If you did, make sure tolike, rate, and review.
And we'll be back soon.
But in the meantime, find uson social media at LeadWithJim.
And you can also hit the website at www.
(35:42):
leadwithjim.
com.
Take care of yourself and we'll seeyou next time on Grace in the Grind.
Welcome to Greece in the grind, thepodcast where we dive deep into the
journeys of heart centered and purposedriven leaders and entrepreneurs.
We'll pull back the curtain to explorethe stories behind success, how people
have navigated the toughest challenges,overcome their obstacles and found
their way through the grind to buildsomething truly impactful, whether you're
(00:23):
a Christian leader looking for guidanceor an entrepreneur seeking inspiration.
We're here to equip and encourage you.
So let's get started, and findthe grace within the grind.
This is Grace in the Grind,and now your host, Jim Burgoon.
You know, I've always been curious wherethe whole lion cultivator, you know,
(00:46):
the, the brand that you're building,where did that really come from?
So, I knew for a long time thatI've, I'm called to work with men.
And so men in leadership, especially,so these guys are CEOs, they are
ministry leaders, you know, businessexecs or CEOs or whatnot, and so.
(01:06):
The Lionheart came for,let me, let me back up.
I start off with a more thanConqueror's men's challenge.
I started that off.
I was like, man, you know what?
We do these things in my studio, myfitness studio, where we do this little
black dress and things for ladies or co edstuff, but nothing specifically for men.
And so for me, it was a thing where let's,let's just do a six week challenge called
more than Conqueror's men's challenge.
(01:27):
And I had about 24, 25 guys do that.
Went back in 2018 and about four orfive of them were online, some local.
And so.
It was amazing.
It was this thing where guysneeded a place for men to
be men that they felt heard.
They felt safe and it feltlike they're like edified.
It felt like they were, youknow, in his position itself.
(01:49):
So that was in 2018.
Did that in six week oneand did another one in 2019.
And then fast forward 2020, whenall hell broke loose in the world.
And here we are, you know,with a COVID stuff going on.
And so when I started my business,my fitness studio, which was 15
years ago, I knew how to coach.
I didn't know how to.
(02:10):
Run a business.
Like most of us were practitioners.
We knew how to do the thing, turnthe, you know, turn the screw, do
the thing where practitioners, butreally don't know how to become CEOs.
And so one of my clients, he tookme in his wing, very successful
business owner in this area.
And I coached him andhis wife over the years.
And he wasn't just a,so he became my mentor.
(02:31):
It wasn't just a client.
He was a friend.
And, but he also took me onhis wing to show me business.
So And in 2017, he actuallyhad a Parkinson's diagnosis.
So, you know how a disease likethat can affect your identity.
And he was doing his absolute bestto work through it and doing all
the things and diet and exerciseand all the things through that.
(02:53):
But it still was getting to him.
And in 2020, here he is what people haveworked from him in like for decades.
And how do you pay for these individuals?
How do you support them?
How do you still keep payroll going on?
And so a man of faith, a man ofplenty of prestige man who, who, who
was instrumental in his community.
(03:16):
He took his own life.
No one saw it coming.
And, you know, and I didn't understandthe whole term until recently that whole
terms, that term of tears of a clown.
So it wasn't as much of aclown, but you never saw John
without a smile on his face.
The man was just endearing and loving andcaring and so supportive, and you just
(03:39):
would never think that he was dealing withthose dark thoughts so much on the end.
So the stress of all the thingswith COVID, on top of all the things
that were going on in his own life,you know, he took his own life.
And that one for me was the, wasthe kick in the heart, you know,
frankly, the kick in the nads todo what God is calling me to do.
(03:59):
And, you know, I, I kinda, I knewI was supposed to be doing it,
but I was kind of sitting on it.
So the whole thing, my wife and Icame together and we're just talking
about concepts and ideas and stuff.
And Lionheart came together becausemost men love to be the lion.
We love to be the king of the jungle,you know, king of the domain and,
and roar and do all these things.
But the heart side isthe compassionate side.
(04:20):
It's the vulnerable side.
It's that I'm not wellside, or I'm not doing well.
And, and most guys need permissionto be invited into an environment.
To be themselves, to be okay with notbeing okay and let's work together
to help bring guys out of it.
So that was the wholebasis of the name itself.
And if you look at like the logoitself, the lion is specifically
(04:42):
shaped like a heart for a reason.
And so it's that part of it.
Let's, we're all supposed tobe the king of our domain.
The things that God has called us to dowhatever it may be, you know, if it's on a
home front itself, if it's in a workplaceenvironment, it's in our community,
we're called the lead in a way that's,that's, That is part of our domain.
Do we all always know how to do it?
(05:03):
And in a way that's that's well rounded.
You know, it's not a force thing.
It's about more of a flow.
And that's the part where we bringthe compassionate side of the heart.
Awesome.
So there was a whole lot you said there.
And I want to unpack some of this withyou because just writing some notes
down some key trigger words there.
(05:24):
So not all of my listeners are going tobe Christians, but primarily they will be.
But we throw this word around.
The first thing you open up with isI'm called, what does that look like?
What does that mean?
Because we, it's such a buzzword thatI'm called, I'm called, I'm called,
but we, nobody really ever defines it.
Nobody ever talks aboutwhat does that mean?
(05:44):
How do you actuallyknow that you're called?
So, so unpack that a little bit.
What was that process?
Absolutely.
So.
One of the things I do, I specificallycoach men in this program itself.
And so I use biblical principles,but they're principles, whether you
believe in, in, in God or Christitself, the principles still work.
I don't care what your backgroundis what you believe about gravity.
(06:08):
It don't matter what you believe about it.
It's going to gravity going to work foryou or against you in some kind of way.
And so I believe in theprinciples behind that.
So I think we, the way I take I takemy clients through it and really
any of the individual who's tryingto find out what their purpose is.
So your calling itself is,what is your purpose for life?
And so a lot of that isdetermining what are you gifted at?
(06:30):
And so in the Bible talks aboutyour gift will make room for you.
It'll bring you before great men.
And so all of us know that there'scertain things that we just do naturally.
Sometimes we, it may be so innate andso easy for us to do, but we don't
realize how hard it is for others to do.
Like I'm a coach.
I'm a mentor.
I'm a leader.
I'm a teacher.
I cannot live life without doing this.
(06:52):
Right.
You know, before we got started, I hada conversation with the young lady in
helping bring out and nurture that gift.
And so the calling is gonna bewrapped around what you do well
or what you've gone through.
Sometimes it takes tragedyto show what that is.
Mm-Hmm.
. And so I usually take folksthrough a, a, a simple thing first.
You know, we all know aboutwhat lights you up, what are,
(07:14):
what are you excited about?
That's, that's good.
That's a good thing to kindof get started with it.
But then after that,what are you skilled in?
What do you, what have you liketrained in with things that you
put in some time and effort doesn'tmean that you went to school for it.
But what have you put in some time toget good at a specific, a specific skill?
Number three is what do you hate?
(07:34):
What do you despise?
What would you like toeradicate from the world?
Okay.
So when you take that and say,okay, what comes easy to me
and is difficult to others.
Okay.
And so from that point, if I hada magical wine, if I can eradicate
something from the world, what isit that, what does that look like?
And then from there you can start buildingon those skills and see, okay, what
(07:56):
really makes sense, whether it's in aspecific business or work environment or
something that you create for yourself.
So quickly for me, I enjoy people.
I'm, I'm extroverted as they come.
I enjoy coaching, teaching.
Like I said, I can't not do this.
I hate weakness.
I hate excuses.
I despise victim mentalities.
(08:18):
I call myself an excuse killer, butI'm also a hope dealer, you know?
So I, I take the excuses dude,you're going to be a victim or
you could be a victim or whatare you going to do with that?
So I hate weak bodies,weak, spiritual walk.
We're weak finances.
I hate weakness.
I hate to say just people whining.
It's Oh, I just want tolike, you know, slap them.
Don't do that.
It's not helping you.
So for me, it's like eliminating weakness.
(08:40):
And so when I look at my naturalgift, if I had put my gift into
one thing, I am an encourager.
I encourage with God's word.
I encourage with life.
I encourage and strength.
I like people to take on challengesthat they believe are hard and get
them on the other side of that sothey could see how amazing they are.
Right.
So those are some simple, simplethings that are kind of, we can look
(09:02):
at what does that calling look like?
We all have something we'resupposed to do and we can easily
get distracted or dissuade bydoing something that's lesser than.
That's, that's true.
I like how you did that, a hope dealerand a weakness killer excuse killer.
And it really makes sense because when youthink about how, how your life is lined
up between the fitness and the coaching, Imean, that's really what it comes down to.
(09:24):
Was that one quote weaknessis just pain leaving the body?
Yeah, that's, that's, that'sa big quote in the space.
And so I get it, I love it.
So then, then it, so thinking aboutsomebody who is like listening
right now, who is okay, I see it.
What I love, what I hate, how I'mwired, you know, those things.
(09:45):
How could they, what is one thing thatthey could do that would help them
recognize, Oh, this is what I'm good at.
You know what I'm saying?
Like you were, you were mentioningbeing so good at something
that you, it's an eight, right?
Right.
So how can somebody who is sitting therelistening right now go, Oh, this is it.
Would they need, how can theyfind it in themselves or would
they need a coach or both?
(10:07):
So obviously hiring a good, a good coachwould accelerate that, that effort.
If they have systems in place, theywill really bring those things out.
You know, like you and I do with, withwork with our clients and whatnot.
But there's a way I even have folks do it.
Just ask people, ask your friends,family, people who really know you.
You, you, you've probably seensome posts like this, but if I
(10:28):
were to do a TEDx talk, what doyou think I'm going to talk about?
You know, just a simple social mediaposts and see what people say, you know,
Oh, they're going to talk about this.
You can talk about that.
You're going to talk about this, youknow, so I typically would get, you
know, fitness fate, overcoming obstacles.
You know, these are things thatpeople would talk to, you know,
we'll put up in my, my deal.
You can also say if you hadthree words to describe me as an
(10:49):
individual, what would they be?
So you can hear from the people who, who,you know, Who see, you know you, that
you've been out and, and they trust you.
That's one way.
But if you don't feel like you wannaput it all out there, you can just
ask people that are close to you, whatdoes that, what does that look like?
Now you take that and say,okay, what books am I drawn to?
What things am I drawn to?
What lights me up?
Here's another thing to put in.
What makes you cry?
(11:11):
You know, what is it that makes you cry?
I'm, I'm an overly passionate person.
And so watching movies andthings like that, I cry more
than everybody in my family.
They just know that whenever the momentcomes, dad is going to be crying.
It's just what it is.
I don't care.
I'm just letting it out there.
I love that.
I love that about you.
I, I can't say that I cry at anymovies, but I love that, that you do.
(11:33):
Yeah.
That's sensitive.
That's because you're talking aboutthe lion, the leader of compassion.
Then there you go.
You got that empathy that I want to, Iwant to conquer the hill, do the tough
mutter, do the, do the hard thing.
And at the same time, andI want to whine and cry.
I mean, The greatest showman i'm cryingi'm crying in the greatest show like
this is me man They don't get me.
(11:53):
They don't understand me.
I i'm saying i'm really thatdude It's no and I can't help it.
I'll tell you the first movie that Iever in facing the giants the death
crawl scene Oh, dude, that was amazing.
Oh my goodness in the movies.
I have I was balling like uglycry tears, probably snotting.
(12:14):
I don't care.
It was just like, it was me, I guessit was just the competitiveness, the
hardness of it, being a coach and seeinga coach just dig into this guy's life
and getting him to do what he didn'tthink what he thought was impossible.
That, that, that to me all day,you're going to get me underdogs.
People who have one limb, you know, Ilove anybody who overcomes the obstacles.
(12:34):
That's as part of who I am.
Cause I did it myself.
Yeah.
I love it.
So, so I want to piggyback onthat statement actually, it was
kind of where I wanted to leadthis conversation a little bit.
So you're at like the pinnacle hopedealer, excuse killer, you know, like
all this stuff, kill weakness, all that.
How did you get to that point?
Because you don't start there, likeyou didn't get born and suddenly
(12:55):
you're like the giant among giants.
So, so help us understandlike, what was your process of
getting to where you are today?
I truly follow and believe in theprocess or the, the, there's a book
by Ryan holiday that's called theobstacle is the way the obstacle
that's in the way is the way itself.
And so for instance, if we think aboutmany tests, trials, and tragedies,
(13:19):
when we may have endured, it's exactlywhat we needed to become who we are.
You know, we may not like,we may not like it in a time.
So for me, I was the four seven.
82 pound freshmen in high school,literally the smallest kid in
school from elementary all the waythrough high school towards the end.
I finally, when I graduated, I finallywas a taller than a few people, but
(13:41):
for me being the little guy, I hadto, I didn't realize it until later
on that I created a persona to protectmyself from bullying so I can talk.
Trash, you know, this ismy pre pre Jesus days.
I didn't come to Christ till I waslike 24 So I had I had a mouthpiece
on me and I talked about you your momand your teeth Yeah, yeah, your ass
your knuckles and whatever else I canbecause I made myself bigger I didn't
(14:05):
understand that life and death is inthe power of a tongue at the time But
I knew I could make myself bigger.
So I talk louder because I was smaller.
I talk louder I cuss louder, butalso I had a work ethic I wanted to
beat you at every single thing we do.
And if it's basketball, tennis,if it's football, if it's racing,
jumping ramps, jumping off of things,classroom, I want to beat you.
(14:29):
So I had this work ethic becauseespecially in sports, I had to work harder
in order to compete with the bigger guys.
And so I realized I wasn'tgoing to be a rebound leader.
I'm not going to be the shot blockleader, but I can get, nobody can
get lower to the ground than me.
And so I'm going to lead and I'veled every team I've ever played on in
steals and I'm gonna play some defense.
So I, I played on my strengths with that.
(14:50):
And so being a little guy, like Isaid, that, that was part of that
persona that I realized even with thebullying thing, I didn't get bullied
because I could fight, but I'm goingto find a way to equalize it as well.
And so they like Calvin crazy.
I, I'm not going to mess with crowdbecause you're going to come upside
my head with a hammer because he mayhave done that before, who knows.
And so for me, it was that part whereeven Being able to stand alone, being
(15:12):
able to kind of, You know, like Isaid, I went to a Catholic high school.
We wore uniforms and because I couldn'tfit into adult clothes, my pants
were darker than everybody else's.
They had two pockets.
They had a pocket oneach side of their shirt.
My little chest wasn't big enoughand I had to have kids clothes
and I have one little pocket.
And so, you know, it wasjust I had to be different.
(15:34):
But it was a part of saying that Thatwas necessary for me to be the person,
the larger than life persona andpersonality because I was making up for
the deficit and my work ethic was there.
So that was kind of the thing thatreally was spurred through there.
And I grew a foot through highschool, didn't start working
out until I got to college.
But here I get to college.
I grew two more inches, gained 50pounds and I'm moving big people
(15:57):
around like this is pretty awesome.
So that's me having the deficit.
push me into going into thestrength side of things.
And I teach people this through this day.
So the obstacle of me being a littleguy was the way for me to grow through
it, to be able to help other people inthe power of other people in my life.
I got it.
So you say you grew two inches.
Does that mean you're like four, nine?
No, no, man.
(16:19):
I grew two more inches.
I grew a foot through high school.
Okay.
I grew a foot throughhigh school for nine.
I'm a towering four nine.
I mean, five, nine these days.
It got me towering nine,five, nine these days.
So I grew a foot through highschool and I grew two inches.
I was a late bloomer.
So the one of the reasons I was, I was solittle, I had a growth hormone deficiency.
So I take injections to get caught upand so on and so forth, but yeah, put
(16:41):
through high school, two more inchesin college and then 50 more pounds.
And yeah, that's awesome.
And you know, you know, so you know,the question was going to be like
when you gapped from four, seven,two, I grew two more inches, you
know, the question is going to be,am I four, are you four or nine now?
So I got it.
All right.
So now So that's awesome.
That's actually awesome.
(17:01):
So then that leads into a thoughtdo you think that, or, or where was
the point where the, the, maybe theego driven pride to be the best, do
the best moved over into the servantheart that is now lying hearts today.
Yeah.
So part of that is, I mean, that guy isstill in there and I've got to tame him.
You know, he's still in there andhe's beneficial at certain times.
(17:25):
Like I could turn it on incompetition and things of that sort.
But all of it was still a part of,I don't want to do this by myself.
I want to bring folks along with me.
So it's kind of like youand I, we do obstacle course
races and things like that.
Spartan is great.
And I've done Spartan.
I enjoy tough mutter more because itis the sense of camaraderie Spartan.
Even if you do with people, it's youagainst the course, you throw the spear,
(17:47):
you climb the rope, you do the thing,but it's so it's you against the course.
Tough butter.
I'm pulling people overthe wall along with me.
I'm bringing in folks along with this.
So I'm leading and I do it in a crazy way.
I got two weeks now.
Now I'll have a Orange Mohawk and I, Ihave crazy contacts and, and I turn into
the Gena, I turn into the lion, I turninto go hard, which is my alter ego.
(18:10):
So I get to be that guy tobring folks along the way who.
Some of them, many of themdon't believe they can do it.
And I just brainwashed him in faithto believe that they can do it because
I know who's on the other side of it.
And we've, and this will be my 12th one.
We only had one person didn'tfinish and he was actually
one of the fittest guys there.
(18:30):
He had cramps.
They couldn't finish,but everyone finishes.
We don't go fast.
We go at a pace thatwe all do it together.
And it's kind of like the pride of lions.
We could travel together.
There's strength in numbers.
And so that's a part of it whereI'm, I'm leading from the front, but
also I know how to edify and liftup somebody else who's the leader.
You know, I'm a pastor on staff, butI'm not the head pastor at our church.
(18:51):
I'm there to edify and grow everyone else.
So that's the gift of encouragement tohelp build other folks up along the way.
That's awesome.
And, you know, I love my races,but I've done tough motor one time.
And the only problem I had was thatmotor horn at the end, that giant.
A frame looking thing.
I do not like that.
(19:11):
Yeah, I I get, I'd get shocked allday long from that electrical fence.
Then I would climb in thatmotor horn just an FYI.
So when I do a motor with you,just, just know that is my worst.
Freaking obstacles.
That last one.
That's right.
Well, guess what?
If, if, if you don't get it by yourself,I'll be right there to grab your
arm and help pull you up, brother.
(19:32):
That's it.
So I probably need a parachute too,but that's just side notes, you know?
So, so then that becomes like this,this really incredible so the go hard,
you serving, bringing people along.
I love that.
That thought because, you know, weare stronger together, you know, and I
think that's, that's a beautiful thing.
And it's, so let's, let's, let's thinkabout this for a second because There's
(19:54):
so many times where men are so individual,individualistic and independent that we
don't want to be with another person.
We don't want to be vulnerable.
We don't want to be, you know, connected.
We don't, and our idea ofconnecting is, Oh, I know a guy
and then I'll serve you here.
Let me do this thing.
And we think they've doneeverything for somebody.
So how do you overcome thatwith, with some of your groups?
(20:15):
Because you want to get this prideof lions, which is obviously a very
interconnected community that's givingand vulnerable and stuff like that.
How do you move men from thisplace of hyper independence and
closed offness to that community?
Yeah, I look at it two different ways.
(20:37):
One is when guys either prevent them,but most of the time when I, when I
was still working guys, they're in whatI call the pit of despair in this pit
of despair is anxiety, overwhelmed,depression, suicidal ideology.
Sometimes you know, not enough.
This unfulfillment isin this pit of despair.
And so you can stay there byyourself in solitude or depression.
(21:00):
Yeah.
We can get out of there.
We can move out of this.
Some guys are deeper in it.
Some guys are just at the surface.
Some guys are right in the middle itself.
And so what most programs, thosesystems out there is to throw a
rope and help pull somebody out.
I personally want to get down in thatpit with you and we climb out together.
I'm going to be right there lockingarms with you because I've been there.
I know you because I am you.
(21:21):
I've been there with all these thingsmyself and I've had a, you know,
enough track record of work withother guys who've been there as well.
So that's number one, gettingyou out of the pit of despair.
And the same way I look at, I lookat there's three types of men.
There's the rabbit, there's alone wolf, and there's the lion.
The rabbit looks good on a surface.
You know, it looks good on the surface,a lot of flashiness, a lot of, you
(21:44):
know, a lot of talk, but not actuallymaking moves on certain things.
And when a battle comes, the rabbit runs.
Or you're the rabbit.
The lone wolf is what Most ofthe guys that I, that I work
with have, have dealt with.
The lone wolf is I I the hustle and grind.
You know, they, they subscribeto hustle and grind philosophy.
You know, I worked till I die.
I, I've been there.
(22:05):
I work till I die or I, I rest when I die.
I hustle 24 7.
You know, sleep is the cousin of death.
I'll sleep when I die.
Oh, this was, I've been there.
White knuckling through life.
I'm going to do it and pullmyself up by my own bootstraps.
You know, no one, no one understands me.
Of course, Satan comes in.
He's always the onethat wants to separate.
You make you think your flawsand your, your, your, your
(22:27):
shortcomings are who you are.
And so that build into thatnegative identity itself,
instead of who God says I am.
And so part of that is, isspeaking and saying you're okay,
even though you're not perfect.
because we don't want to be perfect.
It's not about perfectionism.
So that lone wolf thinks I haveto, I have to do it all by myself.
And we don't realize that there arementors and people have done it.
(22:50):
That would love to help you.
Succeed at what you do.
There's a misconnection there.
Well, I'd say, Oh, he's notgoing to give me his secrets.
Most folks have done it.
They realize they're sogood at what they do.
And they're so specializedat what they do.
You're not a threat to them.
You know, younger me in entrepreneurship.
Like I said, I've been, I have had myfitness studio for 15 years, a new,
new program will come on the market.
(23:10):
I'm like, Oh my gosh,what are you going to do?
You know?
Oh, CrossFit came in.
I'll, I'll, I'll put my programagainst everybody, real defensive.
And now I'm just like, guess what?
There's enough fluffypeople for all of us to eat.
It's okay.
It's okay.
I'm not threatened by anybodybecause nobody does it like we do it.
Nobody does it in our mapand in a way that we do it.
So that's the lone wolf.
But then the lion knows he's king of thedomain, but he knows there's strength in
(23:32):
numbers, there's strength in the pride.
You know, it's the same way.
You got to look at KingDavid had his mighty men.
You know, he, he could do ithimself in a lot of different ways.
He's a bad, he's a bad man,but he did it with community.
Jesus Christ could havedone it by himself.
But he invited disciples inthe 12 to come along with them.
There's so many scenarios where wesee that we're just greater together.
(23:54):
We're greater at doing these things.
And also, it's not just about having tohelp, but there, these men alongside you,
all these women alongside you, they'regrowing in their greatness as well.
You're helping them grow right alongsidethem in their specific calling and
purpose because they're in your presence.
So all we're doing is to get together.
So there's something about having Powerin community power in collaborative
(24:19):
coaching power in iron sharpening iron.
That's good stuff, man.
That's real good stuff.
So coming into, as we start landingsome planes here, it's been an
incredible conversation and I reallyappreciate you and hanging out with
me and having the conversation.
Love it, bro.
So.
(24:39):
You had mentioned, and this issomething near and dear to my heart,
you had mentioned earlier that oneof the things that really drove
you into a lot of this stuff wasthat your mentor friend's suicide.
How, now, being somebody, you know,we've known each other a long time,
my wife, you know, her story, and asthe listeners get more accustomed to
(25:00):
the story, and my wife and I do somepodcast episodes together, we'll unpack
a lot of that, but my wife has been inand out of the hospital for suicide.
She's on like 10th or 11th time.
And I can't even begin totell you the amount of program
she's been in and out of.
How did that change you with your,with, with him dying like that?
And how are you doing things differentlyto help those, maybe the lone wolves
(25:24):
in your groups that are trying to comeinto the lions fight against that?
Because suicide among men is pretty high.
Yes.
Yes.
It's, it's much more much more likelythat suicide is going to be done by men.
And so from the conversation, the guysthat work with, and it's funny, they're
broad range sometimes, you know, some guyslike, I just want to be a better husband.
I want to be a better father.
(25:45):
I want to make more money.
So the other end of the spectrumwhere I've been chewing on the
barrel of my gun for the last48 hours, it's, it's hard work.
It's, it's, you know, it's hard work.
And so sometimes you're like, I don't wantto make the wrong, say the wrong thing.
I'm scared if I do the wrongthing and you know, they could
be, be gone from here, you know?
So a lot of it's there.
(26:06):
And but also I.
I'm not so far away from that.
I've been the guy where driving downthe street and the headlights of the
oncoming 18 Wheeler seemed appealing.
So I'm not speaking from thisguy who's got it all down, Pat
and got it all figured out.
And you know, you and I being atthe forefront, a lot of different
(26:27):
places, you know, that we could be.
it can be easy to put on a facadeif it's not truly who you are.
I'm an entertainer, I'mfunny and this and that.
But that whole term that I didn'tunderstand of being of tears of a cloud.
You know, there's certain sometimes folksare entertainers in some form of fashion.
They put on this, you know, thisentertainment in their gift.
(26:48):
But when they're off the stage and notin the environment, they're struggling.
they're struggling with anxietyand depression and suicidal
ideologies along the way.
And so for me, it's one of thosethings where if I could, especially
I watched a special the folks thatjump off the Golden Gate Bridge and
the ones who survived every singleone of them said immediately when they
released, they felt regret immediately.
(27:11):
It's it's almost an ear.
The enemy is in their ear.
Just kind of, you know,nobody's gonna get it.
Nobody's understand you.
You know, he's isolatingisolated from the people itself.
So knowing that whole isolationformat, we found out even in
2020 how bad isolation is.
Yes.
'cause we're separated from folks.
We're separated from doingthings we normally do.
If you think about, if you go toprison and you, you do something really
(27:34):
bad, the worst thing they could dois put you in solitary confinement.
There's a psychology behind that.
You know, if you read the book, man,searching for meaning from Victor
Frankel, it talks about this hope.
It talks about having hope forsomething better and what the enemy
loves to come and do is kill hope,you know, kill hope for me, put
you in a state of hopelessness.
(27:55):
So for me, it's part of that givingguys that, that vitamin of hope and
getting them, getting them the chargeand understand that they're fearfully
wanted for me, who, who's, am I?
So first of I can go back to my identity,everything comes down to the identity.
Who's am I, first and foremost.
If I know what, who I am, if, if I'ma child of God, for those who are
believers, if I'm a child of God, Iknow what he says about me because I
(28:17):
know what his word says about me, right?
So I'm gonna fall back on it.
I'm, I'm more, more than I conquer.
I'm fearful and fearful,fearfully and wonderfully made.
I'm, you know, you know,I'm, I'm ahead not to tell.
So I can, I can start telling myselfwho he says I am, because sometimes
I may doubt who I think I am.
So, so like how often do you here'sone question for you then how often
(28:43):
do you run into these people whoare like coming out of that lone
wolf that are struggling with this?
Like, how often is that more oftenthan not, more often than not, more men
are struggling with the unfulfillmentis one of the biggest thing.
Unfulfillment if I had to put one wordto it, and that comes from either lack
(29:03):
of purpose or knowing the purpose, butnot moving towards it because maybe
they're stuck in golden handcuffs.
They're working a job or have a businessthat's doing well enough and everyone
around him is high fiving and you're doinga great job, but you're feeling empty
because you know you're not doing thenext thing that God is calling you to do.
You're not doing that thing that'sgoing to light up your life and
(29:24):
it's going to be more impactful.
But you're kind of stuck in this,you know, this is what I've done.
This is how we've always done it.
And so I'm going to stick with that.
And so it's a part of it where getting.
guys to, okay, step outof, step out of that.
You know, we hear, Oh,it's the comfort zone.
You're just being in the comfort zoneand most situation is not comfortable.
(29:45):
It's right.
It's about being in a familiar zone.
So it's not comfortable because it'snot comfortable staying where you are.
So let's get you moving out of there.
But it's hard to be able to break awayfrom so many different individuals,
especially guys who are providersand they can't take the risks that
necessary to move into that next thing.
So more more guys than not are either longrule for they just look on the surface.
(30:08):
There might be on social mediabeing a rabbit, but they're
not truly being a lion.
I like the fact that you use that.
I've never heard thatterm golden handcuffs.
I never heard that term.
I like that term a lot.
And I think that that's so, so, so likean imagery that like, wow, because you're
in handcuffs, you're in change, you'rein bondage, even if you are making the
money, even if you are doing the thingsthat everybody says you're successful.
(30:30):
You're still in bondage becauseit's let lack of fulfillment.
And it goes into trying to find whatyou, what fulfills you, which really
ties together all of our conversationfrom calling to what you're doing now
and all that is, is finding what you're,what fulfills you and things like that.
So then I guess my last.
And then an opportunity to see whatyou're up to is how do you stay sharp?
(30:55):
How do you, as you know, obviouslyfitness guy, you're working out with
your crew, you're doing those things,but like on the other end, as a coach,
like, how do you get yourself to stay.
On the cutting edge.
Yeah.
So for my studio, it'steam personal training.
It's, you know, folks are togetheras coach led is part of that.
(31:16):
And kind of that old saying isthat I'm not only the hair club
president, I'm also a client.
So I, I'm coached by mycoaches in his training.
So I'm held accountable and I'lltell them when I'm falling short on
certain things and where I, where I'meating too many biscuits or something
else, assuming sweets or things,cause that's usually me as sugar.
So being accountable is even here isone thing I've got brothers and I've
(31:37):
got people, mentors and coaches as well.
Over the last 10, 12 years,I've had at least from one to
four coaches at the same time.
So I do have, have coachingand leadership myself.
I think it's, Every coachshould have a good coach.
That's, that's part of itself.
But it, it's reading, it's stayingabreast of the things that, that I'm,
you know, for me it's, it's materialsthat's wrapped around faith is wrapped
(31:58):
around personal development self ac,ac, ac, ac, I can't even say a word.
Whew.
Self ac ization.
It's one of it, you know what I mean?
Getting better at being yourself.
That's the word.
Self-mastery.
So that's the word that's, yep.
I can't get a word out thereright now, but that's all right.
But it, it's, it's,it's staying in my lane.
And, you know, doing my best.
Cause I love shiny objects andnew things and things like that.
(32:21):
So I gotta always make sure I'm stayingfocused on the things that I'm doing.
So it's going to conferences.
It's going, it's, it's doingthe programs and whatnot.
It's, it's, you know, lockingin with, with brothers like
you that help keep me in line.
Nice.
And so then what is what are youup to that Recently, maybe you, you
mentioned you're going to a mutter.
So what's, what's going on in your world?
(32:42):
What's, what's, what'ssomething you've got going on?
People can join now before you, beforeyou answer, I will tell you in the
show notes, I'm going to add all ofyour social media links and stuff,
but you can share any, any thoughtsof people to go somewhere to find you.
Absolutely.
So a few things that's ongoing.
Yes.
I'm Calvin go hard or short on Instagram.
I have a a Facebook group that'sfor Lionheart for four guys only
(33:05):
that are inside there right now.
I've been doing, do trainings,do different conversations and
whatnot to, to, to help guys out.
That's a total free group and Facebook.
So if you look up, look for Lionheart on,on Facebook, you'll find that there too.
But but yeah, I do coaching.
I do, do, do group coaching as wellas one on one coaching for like
Christian CEOs, ministry leaders, guyslike that, who are in, in leadership
(33:29):
whether it's, you know, so we, I lookat five, five foundational things.
It's physical, mental, spiritual,emotional, and financial.
If any one of those things are off,it's going to affect the rest of them.
We're called to be great.
And I help guys either move frommediocre to mastery or good to great.
That's usually where theguys that I work with.
(33:49):
So if you're looking for a coach, you'relooking for a mentor that's there.
I also do a program called MoreThan Conquerors Men's Challenge.
It's a six week program.
I got one coming up very soon.
In that one, it's a six week program.
Fitness is more of the foundation,but we do all the life and all the
things that stack on top of it.
Nice.
And as I mentioned to the listenersall of that will be in the show notes.
(34:10):
Make sure you grab those links jump in.
I've known Calvin for a number ofyears and the man gets results.
And I would say one of the threewords that you, the, for you, that I
would say is definitely encourager.
And because you are, and, and foryou guys listening, encouragement
doesn't always mean make you feel good.
Encouraging means to rip apart thethings holding you back from growing.
(34:32):
And so I definitely would say thatis definitely one of your words.
So I appreciate you.
I appreciate the conversation.
Appreciate hanging out.
Um, and as always guys for who arelistening, go check them out and
go support them, go, go share hisposts, things like that, and then
grab your show notes and take it and.
You know, follow it, followit down the rabbit hole.
And Calvin, thank you so much forhanging out and being like literally one
(34:55):
of the first interviewee intervieweesfor the launch of this podcast.
And I appreciate you, my friend.
Appreciate you too, as well, brother.
Let's keep doing amazing things.
Love you, man.
Love you too, bud.
Thanks.
This has been Grace in the Grind.
Whether you're a Christian leaderlooking for guidance or an entrepreneur
seeking inspiration, it's Jim'spassion to equip and encourage you.
(35:18):
Make sure to check out Jim'ssolo episodes, where he shares
practical leadership insightsgrounded in a biblical perspective.
We hope you've enjoyed the show.
If you did, make sure tolike, rate, and review.
And we'll be back soon.
But in the meantime, find uson social media at LeadWithJim.
And you can also hit the website at www.
(35:42):
leadwithjim.
com.
Take care of yourself and we'll seeyou next time on Grace in the Grind.
Host
Jim Burgoon
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