Let's Think About It Podcast

Why Mindset Matters: Unlocking Business & Personal Growth

• Morice Mabry • Season 2 • Episode 39

Share episode

🎙️ Imagine questioning whether you're chasing your dreams or just meeting expectations. 🤔✨ Join me as I chat with Devan Gonzalez, a beacon of self-discovery who pivoted from kinesiology to become a standout personal trainer 💪 and successful franchise owner 🏋️‍♂️🏢. Devan takes us through his journey of balancing work with a prep school 📚 and ultimately launching a six-figure gym business 💰, all while realigning his career with personal values. His analytical approach and deep introspection reveal the power of self-realization 🧠 and commitment in achieving personal and professional growth 🚀.

💡 Persistence and self-confidence can be your greatest assets, a notion both Devan and I, Coach Mo, have lived through. From seizing unexpected opportunities—like an over-the-weight-limit fight event 🥊—to transitioning from martial arts instructor 🥋 to top personal trainer and business owner, we underscore the significance of unwavering belief in oneself 💯. This episode is rich with personal stories that illustrate how the mindset of "not if, but when" propels individuals toward success, supported by the strength drawn from loved ones ❤️ and the courage to try new approaches 🔄 until the right one clicks. ✅

🛣️ The road to triumph is laden with challenges, but overcoming them is what shapes true resilience. We delve into embracing a forward-thinking mindset 🏎️💨—akin to driving by focusing on the windshield rather than the rearview mirror 🚘—to achieve fitness and business milestones 🏆. Devan and I champion the idea that nobody will care about your goals more than you do 🔥, and that self-belief is paramount 💪.

🌟 Discover our innovative bootcamp model 🏋️, designed for the busiest of schedules ⏳, that combines flexibility, community, and personalized training 🤝. Through sharing our stories and insights, we invite you to realize that with persistence and adaptability, meaningful achievements are well within reach. 🚀🙌

Speaker 1:

Welcome to the let's Think About it podcast, where we embark on a journey of thoughtfulness and personal growth.

Speaker 1:

I'm your host, Coach Mo, and I'm here to guide you through thought-promoting discussions that will inspire you to unlock your full potential. In each episode, we'll explore a wide range of topics, from self-discovery and mindfulness to goal-setting and achieving success. Together, we'll challenge conventional thinking and dive deep into the realms of possibility. Whether you're looking to find clarity in your personal or professional life, or seeking strategies to overcome obstacles, this podcast is your go-to source for insightful conversations and practical advice. So find a comfortable spot, chill and let's embark on this journey of self-improvement together. Remember, the power of transformation lies within you, and together we'll uncover the tools and insights you need to make it happen. So let's dive in. Welcome to another episode of the let's Think About it podcast. I'm your host, Coach Mo, and I'm here with another amazing guest, my man, David Gonzalez. What's happening, bro? What's good, brother? How you doing? I'm great man, I'm great. Where are you checking in from? What part of the country are you calling in from?

Speaker 2:

I'm from one of the most known parts right now and today just, I'm from LA and with all the fires and stuff going on, I'm right over the hill from it, so luckily the winds are blowing the other way, my gym and everything are in the clear, but yeah, that's where I'm at man prayers out to you and your family that you guys continue to remain safe out there, and I have colleagues that's in the LA area, so it's definitely a devastating time, but today it's all about positivity and what energy we can bring.

Speaker 1:

You know what I'm saying? Yes, sir, so tell my audience who you are, what you do, a little bit of your background, man.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so I'm a franchise owner. I launched my business. I launched it as a franchise, so we have franchisees, but we're winding a little bit. I started off in the martial arts industry, went to college and realized that that's not really going to line up my schedule. So I got into personal training and at the time I was telling people that this is a great college job and really worked around my school schedule. I had then started to really love it, seeing people's results, not just for me giving it to them, but seeing the pride that they got in themselves.

Speaker 2:

I switched my major from business management to kinesiology, which is the study of human movement, and then I really just dug my heels in and even though my parents and stuff are trying to push me in a direction of getting a stable job and stuff and for a minute I was pursuing it, I was pursuing the firefighter route.

Speaker 2:

But then I had to have a realization within myself like, is this something I really want or am I just doing it because that's what I've been told that I should do?

Speaker 2:

And so I ended up diving in deeper to the personal training, built an in-person six-figure personal training business and helped launch a prep school for basketball athletes in middle school and after the first year I had to step away because I was like my goal and my dream was to open a gym and I can't give all my attention to the prep school and still think I'm going to be able to open my gym.

Speaker 2:

So me and my business partner, who was a former client, I brought him on board, I told him my vision, I pitched him on the idea and he was on board. We both basically dropped everything and went all in on the gym and, honestly, it's been a blessing because we have been growing since we've opened. Honestly, it's been a blessing because we have been growing since we've opened and after two years we launched the franchise, or at least after two years, we started the franchise process and hired a franchise advisor and that whole nine, and then by year three we essentially launched the franchise and now we're actually in Tampa, florida, and we should be opening up in Dallas, texas, and Vancouver, washington, soon as well.

Speaker 1:

That's a great man, congratulations, amazing. One thing I heard you say is realization of self. Take me back there. How did you, how, where was the click that made you take a deeper dive into yourself?

Speaker 2:

It was honestly. It started that I've always been a deeper thinker. I'm very analytical in terms of when people say things, what was the real meaning behind it. For example, when you go to do one of those timeshare things, I could already catch that from a mile away because I'm analyzing every question that you're asking. How you're asking it that's just how my brain works. But when you, it's almost like the Solomon paradox you can give the best advice, you can deep think on outside things, but when it comes to yourself sometimes we're the worst advice takers with our own advice.

Speaker 2:

So it was started off as like a surface level thing. And then it made me stop and think it all started with okay, I got my EMT certification right, I did the crash course. It wasn't that hard for me, considering a lot of the information I already learned in school. There was obviously some additional stuff that I learned, but majority of it made sense already. And then it was like, okay, to be an LA firefighter, you have to essentially build your resume and because it's so competitive and watching one of my best friends go through that same process and him going through the process for six years, it was like, do I really want to do that, and it wasn't the six-year thing that that bugged me. Believe me, my goals are. I have goals that would supersede what people could even imagine. But it's the fact that I had to take a pay cut just to work as an EMT, just to build my resume. And for me I'm not huge on titles or I'm not huge on resume building Even when we hire our trainers, I can care less what you have on your resume. It's all about questions, it's all about conversation for me. So having to work for a little above minimum wage which I already think is robbery in that field, I think they should be getting paid way more than that and having to work for a little above minimum wage just to build our resume, it was like do I really want to do this? And so that's where I started.

Speaker 2:

That led me into a snowball effect of man like I've always been unhappy working for someone else. Right, it starts off good. I feel like I'm moving the right direction. And then why it didn't work when I worked for corporate gyms was because I used to get in trouble, because I would not use their script and I would say it my own way. I would still get the best results.

Speaker 2:

I was the top seller, I was the top trainer always, but I got in trouble because I didn't want to follow their script. I'm saying all the same stuff, just not in the order that you want me to say it. Why am I getting in trouble? I'm bringing you the most amount of money in here. So it was that. It was like you have the vision of starting your own dream. Like, why are you going to sell yourself short when you know this is what you want to do? And for me I've always been a person it's not a matter of if, it's just a matter of what. For me, if I want something, there's no stopping me. I might not be the most skilled, I might not be the most knowledgeable, but I guarantee you I will outwork anyone.

Speaker 1:

Man that sounds like myself. I have this curiosity about myself from within. Something, as I was on the up and come up and something didn't feel right applying for jobs, whatever I would always ask myself why am I feeling this way right now? What am I really so pissed off about? Or why am I feeling so challenged right now to just really start to create that awareness and then adding the values into that, like what's important to me in that moment might be, let's just say, my integrity or trust or my vision or strategy, whatever that value is.

Speaker 1:

In that moment, when I reflect on that value and I do it subconsciously, I don't show up and say what value is right now and let me apply it. It's just subconsciously Right, because that's how I just taught myself. But I have the self-awareness to know that when the value is off alignment, I just feel different, I feel a little bit bad, and so then I start to question myself like why do I feel the way that I feel in this moment? And when I can answer that question for myself, I gain the courage and confidence to move whatever direction or path that I need to go. And my question to you is when you hit that point of making that decision that I'm going to go the entrepreneurial route. I know everybody wants me to be a firefighter or do the job thing. What was your tick to give you the courage to go against the grain and from what other people wanted you to do?

Speaker 2:

It was believing in myself and realizing that the people that were giving me the advice or that wanted me to go the route of a steady job and stuff, realizing that it was from a place of love right, my parents and my family there wasn't really entrepreneurs. Like I do have two second cousins that are famous rock stars and stuff, and I do have a professional athlete cousin, but again, like that was the extent of it, and so they were the outliers that weren't necessarily entrepreneurs, and so what I was doing I was going to be the black sheep in terms of careers. But having that explanation and realizing that, look, it's not bad that they're giving me this advice and they're doing it out of love, but then I had to explain it to them so they would be behind me, because at the same time, like you do want people in your corner because it's not easy, and so I explained it to them and they understood. But for me it was more of an understanding. Like I said earlier, it's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when, and that doesn't just become something you believe that's built through repetition of things working out. Have you accomplishing your goals?

Speaker 2:

For example, when I was a martial arts instructor. We were sparring, we were training. One day A couple of the instructors and a couple of the high level people we were just training and a fighter, a fight promoter, walked in and he was like I need a fighter for this upcoming event. And it was at 170. And at that time I was bulking up and I was around 200. And so the two 170 people were they're like yeah, I don't want to do it, that's too close. And like when's the fight? And he's a month or two months. And I was like I got you. And then he was just like he said what are you and what? What are your, what's your weight? I was like 200. I was like don't worry, I got it and then left. So then my coach was like okay, if you want it, we'll get it. So we literally got after it and it was one of those things where it sucked. Don't get me wrong. It was not easy, but it was one of those things where I knew I was going to achieve it. So I just kept doing everything that I could to achieve in a line with that. So that was one brick that I've laid down in my self-confidence within myself launching the personal training or building a personal training business at a corporate gym and then leaving the corporate gym to go to a private gym and work for a private gym, and so basically starting over and building back up to again the top trainer with the most amount of clients, highest paid trainer, most sales, doing it a second time and then becoming the training manager and then again being the highest training manager and so forth, and then leaving.

Speaker 2:

It was like, okay, I've been here before. So it was like my girlfriend at the time, who's now my wife, was like when I told her it was like what? Like this that my my girlfriend at the time, who's now my wife was like when I told her I was like I can't do this anymore, I quit. And she's like what? And I was like I quit my job, I'm going to do this for myself. I can't do this anymore. And she's like how are you going to get clients? And I was like I will stand in front of LaVon's grocery store and sell personal training before I go back to work for someone else. I can't do this anymore.

Speaker 2:

And then she was like okay, like she didn't question it. She didn't believe me, she wasn't. She was like okay, let me know if I need to help in any way, what can I do? But also, she knows the kind of personality type that I have and it's once I put my mind to it. There isn't, there is no stopping right. I will let it keep going until it works and worked the first time, and I know that. But it's, that's the lesson I've learned. It doesn't, didn't work that way, perfect. So now I know there's other ways. Let's try another way. Okay, maybe that one did or didn't, but again, you keep trying. It's not a matter of if. It's just a matter of when.

Speaker 1:

So it's a matter of the mindset, right.

Speaker 2:

It is so, like you said right there, like that I can do, right. And so it's exactly that mindset and I always put the yet because it's it hasn't happened. And then it's a period and it's okay, it hasn't happened. So what's next? Hasn't happened yet, because I'm going to. Now I'm going to try another way. I haven't opened it. It took me, I would say that, five years before I found my business partner and before we opened the gym. So during that five years I was having my personal training business. I was telling clients I was going to open a gym. I was. I had failed investors, failed business partners falling out, so ones that I pulled the deal on and so forth. And again it wasn't like it didn't discourage me, it was just like that one. It wasn't meant to be cool. What's next? Am I going to do this on my own? How do I get a business loan? Let's figure out a different way. And it's like there's always another door, long as you're willing to look.

Speaker 1:

You're 1000% man, and one thing that I do to help my clients I teach them about all there is now. Right now, you can't do nothing about the past, because the past has already happened. You can't go back. The future isn't here, yet the actions that you take at this moment, right now, influences the results of tomorrow. So what are you going to do like right now, and what's the opportunity in certain results that you didn't really desire to receive? There's always an opportunity within those results.

Speaker 1:

So I would think that some of the failed partnerships, investments and things like that, the mindset was what's the opportunity here? And then what do I need to do to continue to move forward? With that being said, I'm sure you work with a lot of clients in the fitness world. I'm going to just go fitness right. Who's trying to lose weight, trying to bulk up this and this and that, and they have that mindset I can't lose weight. I struggle. What's your methodology in helping them shift their paradigm and get that I can do type of mindset so that they can start to lose weight or hit their fitness goals?

Speaker 2:

Definitely. And before I answer that, I want to go into what you were just saying too, because I think that's so awesome that you're telling your clients that and it goes into the saying yesterday is gone forever, tomorrow's yet to be right. And from that I take the analogy of if you're, if your life is. You're driving in the car, right, the windshield is huge, but the rearview mirror is small, so you shouldn't be looking back in that small little section of your life. That's all gone, that's all behind you. Look at the windshield and keep going forward. But to answer your question for the clients and I say it like this because it throws people off and it gets them to listen to me and it sounds kind of like a jerk thing to say, but it's almost like that attention-catching statement so they're like I can't lose weight or I can't do that. I'm like you're not special. And then they're like what? I'm like you're not special. And then they're like, okay, I'm like, listen to this. I was like you're human, right, other people that are human have also lost 20 pounds, right. But yeah, you're not special, you can still do it too. Nothing about you is holding you back. Your body isn't a special design that is restricted from losing weight. You're not special in that design.

Speaker 2:

Your life and everything you accomplish is special, but you're not especially designed to not do the things you don't want to do. It all begins and ends with your mindset. If you tell yourself you can't, then you can't. If you tell yourself that you can, you can't. So once you start believing that you can achieve something, you will start to look for. So once you start believing that you can achieve something, you will start to look for the opportunities and you will start to align everything, your actions, with achieving that goal. But the moment that you stop believing in it, then again you will stop progressing towards that goal. So you haven't lost 20 pounds yet, but that doesn't mean it can't happen.

Speaker 2:

Yes, you tried 10 times already, but during those 10 times, I guarantee, if we broke it down, I could find the reasons why it didn't work, and I guarantee maybe even some of those are the same as they were previously. Right, if you try the same thing over and over again and it's not working, like that's the definition of insanity, right? But at the same time, is it? Was it an outside source or was it your mindset? Was it your consistency or your commitment to it, because majority of the time, that's what it is. It's your commitment to your goal.

Speaker 2:

It's not fun to work towards the goal in really any fashion. Opening a business, it's not always sunshine and rainbows. It's most of the time you're in the mud and then you get out and you get to see the sunshine, and that's what makes it valuable. And that's why people look at people that have a six pack, or look at people that have a business. Or, like us, we have a gym, we have a franchise in multiple States, and they're like dude, that's so cool, that's such a huge accomplishment. Or they're like you're lucky, I'm like this is. This was not luck.

Speaker 1:

Like they also don't see the day to day grind that you put in. So people want that end result almost instantaneously and can lose sight of the day to day grind that it takes to get to that goal, because we become impatient with ourselves. And that can be tough. And especially I'm going to go back to what you were saying in regards to the person that says they can't do it because they tried these different programs in the past and they just can't lose the weight right. And it goes back to what I was saying.

Speaker 1:

That experience that you went through and not losing the weight, it created a level, maybe a level of frustration, a level of doubt, a level of fear that if I try again, there's a possibility that I'm going to fail. And if I fail it doesn't feel good. And then would it not feel good? I must be a failure trying to lose weight.

Speaker 1:

And that's the psyche, the internal psyche that people can naturally carry, aka limiting belief, inner critic assumptions. All of this is percolating in the mindset that I can't do it. And so in those moments you're just stuck, you're not even willing to try to take that next step. But then, when they reach out and they work with a gentleman like yourself who can help them take a step back. Let's break down your process of what you've done in the past and then they can start to see the loopholes of where they made mistakes. The optimism comes back because in that moment there was growth opportunity and then that's how you help them connect that and with that confidence they can move forward in the program. What are your thoughts to that?

Speaker 2:

No, exactly, and it does suck to fail. Right, and you can look at failure as failure or you can look at it as a lesson. What also sucks? Staying exactly where you are Exactly. You got to choose which suck you want the one that has that's temporary and has the light at the end of the tunnel, or the one that you're just sitting in the dark and so you're staying there and you're just settling, because you don't want the temporary dissatisfaction of maybe not working one time. Or you thinking that you're aligned to success is always a linear, straight up path, and it's not. It's. There's waves, right, and so you have to realize that every person's journey has those waves.

Speaker 2:

I'm a gym owner and I don't want to work out every single day, and I know every single personal trainer on this earth does not want to work out every single day.

Speaker 2:

And and I know every single personal trainer on this earth does not want to work out every single day and if they are, if they tell you that they do, they're lying to your face, right. There is a day, at least once in the year, that they're like I don't feel like it, but I'm going to go anyways, because I know I need to. And so exactly that's the main thing is look it, it wouldn't be valuable and you wouldn't be looking at it as a goal if it was, if we could just snap your fingers and then you get there. It's something of value and it's something of a desire, because there's work and there's effort that gets put into it. There's a cost to everything in life, right, and the cost is either time, it's either financial or it's either effort, and so you have to be willing to spend and give that cost to earn the goal. If not, then you can totaliddle your thumbs and wish and pray, but that's not how life works, sorry to tell you.

Speaker 1:

And what's the alternative? If you don't want to lose weight, you do want to lose weight, but you haven't been successful. Does that not become a goal anymore? Are you okay with staying where you are? And I think sometimes we get into this autopilot kind of mindset and it's just easy to quit and say you know what, I'm not even going to try again and move on to something else.

Speaker 1:

And I like what you said when you mentioned you're not special that little phrase, because I do something like that with my clients too. I tell them nobody gives a shit about you because everybody when you're talking about leadership, right, everybody has their own baggage that they're bringing to the table. And we create these fears and barriers that if I say this, what are they going to think about me? They're not thinking about you because they got their own shit that they're carrying. They're not thinking about you because they got their own shit that they're carrying. And so that kind of starts to open the eyes around the self-awareness and how people can start to navigate. And just talking to you, it sounds like you take a similar approach to help people create that awareness about their fitness and their goals and how they want to navigate.

Speaker 2:

Exactly. My whole thing is like you said no one gives a shit. It's. No one's going to save you unless you're willing to try to save yourself first. You have to believe in yourself. If you can't believe in yourself, then how can you expect me to believe in you? It all starts with you, and if you're believing in yourself, then again everyone else is going to be gets in your corner. And if they're not, who cares? People told us that we couldn't open a gym still did it. People said that we shouldn't launch a franchise still did it. But you're going to have those haters, right. You're going to have those critics that are telling you shouldn't do something. Who cares?

Speaker 2:

If it aligns with what you want, then go for it. There is no right path in life. Just go for what you want and make sure that your life is where you're on your. If you're at your deathbed, you're not looking back at your life and you have any regrets, right? If your goal was to be thinner, then do it, right. If you are scared of doing it, then it's a dream. It's not a goal anymore. A goal is something that you've taken from in your mind, put it down on paper and broken it down so that you're taking steps on it and taking daily action to it. So if it went from a goal and it became a dream again, it'll always be a dream unless you start taking action on it, absolutely.

Speaker 1:

So when you have this like a vision of yourself I'm just talking about anybody when you have this vision of yourself, I always ask my clients too what is that vision of yourself? Is it what's coming from that vision? Is it something very positive or is it something very negative? Right, and if it's negative, or you can't really think about it, how do we create optimism so that you can shift to start thinking about it and start formulating that vision? Because when you have that vision of your future self, whatever that is, that's worth going after. That's why you set the goals, that's why you create milestones so that you can get to that version of your future self. But if you're not doing that, what's next then? What's the alternative? You're going to continue to cry bitch, complain about your life, or what actionable steps are you going to take today, right now? That's very little, though Very little steps, exactly.

Speaker 2:

My whole thing is like your goal. It's almost like how do you eat an elephant, right? One bite at a time. It's like your goal is no different. Right, you have this huge goal, this audacious goal, and at looking at it from the bird's eye view, you're like, oh man, like I don't know if I'm going to do that.

Speaker 2:

But when you break it down into, let's say, it's this year's goal for 2025, you break it down into quarters, right, so every three months, what do I need to hit every three months to align with this goal? And then, from those three months, okay, so if I broke that three months into monthly, what do I need to achieve each month? So, let's say, your goal is you're going to lose 40 pounds, right, 40 pounds, it's a lot of weight. But it's if you're like, okay, I just need to lose 10 pounds a month, or 10 pounds a quarter, okay, that's, you know, 10 pounds every three months, that's not as bad. But then you're like, if, every month, if I can really lose two and a half to three and a half pounds, that's not that bad.

Speaker 2:

Break that down it's if I could lose a pound and a half a pound to a pound and a half a week that I'm going to be on and you're like, oh wow, that's actually not that bad. If you break it down, it doesn't seem as big, but with some people look at it from the bird's eye view and then stop there it's. Believe me, no one knows the whole journey. You're not going to ever have the whole plan. All you can do is set the outline for the plan and then you adjust accordingly. So it's like things happen, obstacles happen, things didn't go your way. You adjust and you keep moving forward.

Speaker 1:

Dude, you making me think, because most people don't know this but I had hip replacement surgery in July 18th and I had this chronic pain that the doctors just recommend that would be the best course, because I can even walk a block and a half without just chronic pain. So it was a surgery that I needed to have, right. So I did it and everything that you were saying I applied that to my recovery Right. I remember for verbatim the surgery was on Thursday. On Friday I had therapists coming over, physical therapists talking to me, and my goal was by Monday I want to be able to walk up the stairs. I want to be able to get upstairs, because upstairs is my exercise room. So guess what, on Monday the therapist taught me how to get upstairs. Ok, so let's switch the goal.

Speaker 1:

The next goal is to get off the walker and be able to walk with a cane. Within a week I was being able to get around with a cane. When I'm able to get around on the cane, I want to be able to get on the Peloton bike so I can start exercising that way and not putting weight on that. Within two weeks I'm on a Peloton bike, riding a bike, right, and just those little milestones that I was just creating. I was back in the gym within a month and a half doing the little step climbers and things like that. But that wouldn't have happened if I wasn't being very intentional and setting little milestone goals. That was very realistic, you know, in that moment, but it sped up my recovery process so much faster.

Speaker 2:

It's one of those things where, too, like we set goals for ourselves and sometimes the adaptability of your goal is you achieve it faster than you think, right, for example, like you're saying with the hip surgery, it's than you think, for example, like you're saying with the hip surgery. I'm a part of this business networking group and when I was just joining the group, I had gone to one of their meetups and I told them I told the owners in an Instagram DM, so I had a virtual proof of it. But I messaged them on my drive home and I was like give me five years and I'll be on one of your stages speaking. And then I didn't. It sounded cocky, I had no resume to prove why I would do it, but I knew that I was about to launch the franchise. I knew that all these things were happening and I believed myself for all those things, but then a year later or sorry, two years later I was on their stage. So I gave myself five years and I hit it in two, right, and then it was one of those things where, okay, what's next?

Speaker 2:

So sometimes I think even I just launched a book that I gave myself all year. So I'm a perfect example of what you shouldn't do. Right, it took me all year to write this book and it wasn't like I was actually writing a book all year. My goal was to launch a book for in the year. I waited until November and December and then it was like, oh crap. And then it was like I was literally on crunch time, getting everything done, getting everything reported and then transcribed, and then rewriting it and everything, and then boom, I launched it.

Speaker 2:

So a lot of the times we'll give ourselves too much time in achieving our goal and then we wait and procrastinate until the last minute and then put it into hyperdrive. So what if we just rewinded that and then did those things in the beginning, knocked the ball out? It's okay, that was my year goal. So now I have to add something else. So, just like you're saying for the hip surgeon, sometimes you're, you gave yourself a week when you knocked it out sooner, and then it's okay, what's next Then? What's next? You can always adapt. Just because you hit your goal, it doesn't mean that's it. There's a net, there's a next peak to the that's great man.

Speaker 1:

I want to know a little bit more about your franchise and your gyms. Tell us about that.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so my gym is, it's Strive Love Fitness. It's a bootcamp style model and the concept really came around when I was doing my personal training business because I had clients that would see me one to three times a week and it was rare when people come in three times a week because it is expensive. And people come in three times a week because it is expensive and so I would send them. I would either give them homework or send them to boot camps or other things to do in between. Majority of people didn't follow the homework. I was like, okay, do something right, so go to these boot camps, and then they would come back. Over the years they'd come back with similar complaints from different boot camps and it was like, man, I don't understand why no one's solving these core problems and everyone's doing the same thing. It's almost like copy and paste each everywhere I send people. So then I was like I wonder if it's a business model flaw or it's just not able. You're not capable to do it. The business just can't do it. So then I started testing stuff out with my clients and seeing if I could make it work. And then COVID hit and my business partner who had jumped on the vision. We started running it in the park for a year while everything was locked down and stuff and testing it out, fine tuning and stuff, and so now the model is a lot more refined and it's basically a bootcamp that has no class times. So that's like the one liner right there. The main selling point that people love is that fact that we do not have class times, unlike traditional bootcamps where you get the pre-register for a 5 am class, a 6.15 or so forth.

Speaker 2:

For ours you can come at any time, just have a big box gym during our operating hours and hop into the workout. So the workout is basically set in three sections. There's the warmup, which is usually two exercises. It's not timed or anything. You can take your time. If you're in a rush, you can skip it Completely, up to you. The main part of the workout is the 11 stations, which is they're all set on one timer for the room and everyone rotates together, so you're not waiting on anyone and no one's waiting on you. And then you can do one round, which is 30 minutes, or two rounds, which is an hour, and then you finish off with the ab section or the cool down set section, and again, that part's not time like the warmup, so you can do the abs, you can stretch out, you can take your time there. So in full the workout could be 75 minutes.

Speaker 2:

But the thing is we understand the whole thing was built around people with busy schedules and not having to be confined to a specific time link, let alone a class time. So let's say you're in a rush today, right, you come in. You're like I can't do the warmup. I got to be out in 30 minutes or 47 minutes, it doesn't matter. And then, all right, cool, let's have you hop in on the next station, the next round. They hop in, they do a round, they do however many stations that they can in their timeframe. They do the abs if they have time. If they don't, no worries, see you tomorrow.

Speaker 2:

And so it's like for our model style gym, only because we have a timer, but we'd still do like single arm bench press, dumb up bench press, the alternate arms every five reps or eight reps, depending on the day. And even though that's not traditional, hit it by textbook definition just because it's an interval, it technically is. And you start getting out of breath, your muscles start burning in the same fashion. But we do have things from functional movements to bodybuilding style lifts to plyometrics and the whole nine, but there's no big machines in our gym. Everything is movable, because what's at station two today might be at station seven or it might not be at any station tomorrow. So everything needs to be movable because each day is brand new, with the workouts, with the muscle groups and so forth. Every day isn't different, so that you don't hit a plateau as well as you don't get bored.

Speaker 1:

A couple of questions. One is there an instructor there to just guide everyone around? So if people, if there's no set time, that means you have to have instructors available throughout the time that it's available for people to come in. Is that correct?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so we always have two trainers on the floor. So, with our business model, a lot of the traditional bootcamps have one coach on the floor and they're trying to manage 20 to 50 people and I've even seen some bootcamp 80 people instead of one instructor. There ain't no way you can watch 80 people's form on exercises and that's one of my biggest thing is form. For us, we have two trainers on the floor, but our trainers are also our sales staff. They're also our front desk staff.

Speaker 2:

So we eliminate the overhead as a business by not just having someone sit at the front desk waiting for someone to walk in and say hi, that our trainers see that. You see, if the person checked in to make sure their account is in good standing, then they greet the member by name, which is huge for creating a community. They show them the warmup and get the whole ball rolling. And then they're unlike the traditional model where there's a sales team that earns the commission. We teach our trainers how to sell because, coming from the trainer side, I used to hate building the report and having to hand it off to someone else to get the money. It's. That's not fair. Like I'm the one I sold that before you even got that. All you had to do is check it out. Why do you get paid for it? So for us, we eliminate the overhead as a business, but also providing the opportunity for the trainers.

Speaker 1:

That's great man. As a potential customer, it doesn't matter what level you're on. I can be a beginner. I can be very experienced. The bootcamp works for anyone.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. So that's the thing is, and that's what people get confused on that. Oh it's, you know, it's for people that have never worked out or it's for people that are just advanced. Our model, especially, is not tailored to one one size fits all. I know a lot of boot camps will do. It's like this the workout of the day. Everyone's just trying to do those exercises. No, our whole model is almost like you're getting a personal trainer for a fraction of the cost. So even though there's a station for, or an exercise for, station one, that station can be modified easier or harder depending on your fitness level. So let's say you and I are working out together in station one. We might be doing different variations of the same exercise, but both of us are going to be huffing and puffing Like. We've had bodybuilders, we've had D1 athletes, I've had a professional boxer in here and it kicks everyone's butt just as much as it kicks someone's butt. That's their first day in the gym. Our whole thing is it should be difficult for you at your level man, that's great.

Speaker 1:

Um, you also have a podcast. It's called uh what? The mindset cafe podcast. What's what's that about? What's the focal point on that podcast?

Speaker 2:

so the mindset cafe podcast was formed, because actually originally it was formed as the Strive Tribe podcast, so it was like an extension of the business. Now the issue was a lot of people didn't want to come on as guests and stuff when it was so tied to the brand, especially being in the same industry, because now it's a fitness podcast and every other person has their own fitness thing going on. They don't want to promote our brand. So that was the struggle Number one. And then number two was my business partner Wasn't wasn't really super excited to be reporting and he's a little more shy he's gotten better now over time but there was a brief moment where he didn't want anything to do with it. So I was like, okay, let me rebrand. And I was like I'll take it. So I was like, okay, let me rebrand. And I was like I'll take it, I'll handle it. So I was like I love mindset, that's the core of everything. And so now we can tie it to fitness, we can tie it to entrepreneurship, we can tie it to all these things. And so now it's the whole goal of the podcast is to help everyone on their journey, whether it's entrepreneurship, whether it's fitness nutrition, whether it's the relationships, whether it's just their mindset in general, their perspective on life.

Speaker 2:

Right, there's episodes that cover all those things and so, with that, it's just our or it's just my way of giving back, essentially Like I don't charge, I don't put advertisers on it, I don't charge people. To be honest, this is our way to get back, cause I know for me, I learned a lot of my lessons and a lot of the things I know now from listening to other people, from reading other people's biographies, that I don't like reading fictional book or fictional is fake, right? Yes, fictional books. I like to read autobiographies, I like to read biographies, I like to read textbooks, essentially, but it's like I like the knowledge, because that's what it just helps me learn and so it interests me. So it's. This is my way of giving back and sharing other people's stories as well as my own stories and allowing people to take those lessons and extract a lesson from them to apply it to their life.

Speaker 1:

It sounds like you got a lot of positivity and great momentum in your favor going forward, and I truly wish you the best in your journey and your continued success. But as we get ready to close out, how can people find your franchise and more about you as an individual?

Speaker 2:

So the easiest place to go is you can go to devongonzalezcom. So D-E-V-A-N-G-O-N-Z-A-L-E-Zcom on there. It's pretty much. I just made it an easier spot for everyone to find everything. There's the podcast on there, there's the book on there, there's the Strive 11 Fitness franchise and the information all on there, so just like a hub of everything. So you go to the website, you can find everything. You can find my social media accounts and all that kind of stuff from that one link.

Speaker 1:

That's awesome. Any lasting thoughts that you want to leave for the audience?

Speaker 2:

If you have a goal, if you have a dream, write it down, break it down into steps and take action, because at the end of the day, the world doesn't care what you hope happens, it only cares the work that you put in to achieve it. And if you think that things happen because of luck is only opportunity, and opportunity comes from those actions by you putting yourself in the right place at the right time, day after day, and looking for it and being open to the opportunity.

Speaker 1:

Appreciate you, man, and thank you audience for checking in on this episode. Devin my man. I appreciate you, brother. Thank you for coming on.

Speaker 2:

Thank you so much for having me on. It was an honor.

Speaker 1:

Thank you for joining me in this episode of let's Think About it. Your time and attention are greatly appreciated. Of let's Think About it. Your time and attention are greatly appreciated. If you found value in today's discussion, I encourage you to subscribe on your favorite podcast platform. Remember, the journey of self-improvement is ongoing and I'm here to support you every step of the way. Connect with me on social media for updates and insights. You can find me on Instagram and Facebook at Coach Mo Coaching, or LinkedIn at Maurice Mabry, or visit my website at mauricemabrycom for exclusive content. Until next time, keep reflecting, keep growing and, most importantly, keep believing in yourself. Remember, the most effective way to do it is to do it Together. We're making incredible strides toward a better and more empowered you, so thank you, and I'll see you in our next episode.