Navigating Change: Andrew Hannon's Path to Personal and Professional Freedom

You're listening to the PT Proffitt podcast, episode number 365, navigating Andrew Hannon's path to personal and professional freedom. Are you ready? Let's get started.

Hi, I'm Beverly Simpson, former fitness manager turned online personal training business owner. And this podcast is where smart fitness professionals, including trainers and clinicians, discover how to increase client performance in movement, package and position their products and services, and get out of their own way so that they can increase their revenue to live a life that they love without sleazy sales. Welcome to the PT Profit Podcast.

Welcome back to the PT Profit Podcast. We are back with guest episodes. This one was actually recorded probably about a month ago and we have a return guest, the one and only Andrew Hannon. Back to the show to give us an update on some of the things going on in his career because for about 10 years he was working as part of a team at another business. And recently as he's working through the balance of growing a family, being a dad, being a friend, being a good coach, he has been making some changes to his work life dynamics and as part of that, has been doing a lot of work under his own business. And so this episode is going to not only give you insight into his expertise in the industry, some of the things that make him stand out as coach and as a great human being, but it's also going to give you some perspective on what it can be like making a change logistically, personally, professionally, later on in your career. So without further ado, let's roll that episode.

What's up, Andrew? Thank you so much for joining me on the show today. How are you?

Good, Bev, Good to see you.

It's good.

Thanks for having me on again.

Yeah, I, I remember our, our last podcast, the one that we did. Oh my gosh. I feel like a couple years ago where we were talking all about golf, golf specific exercise, it was amazing.

Yeah. What's now I feel like daughter was like just born or like six months old. So. Yeah, it was a couple years ago. She's three and a half now. So it's been a while, been a.

Minute and I can't wait to catch up. I can't wait to hear about all the updates. So for those of you who are turning in for the first time, can you please share with us a little bit about who you are, who you serve and how you got there?

Yeah. So Andrew Hannon, live in Scottsdale, Arizona, originally from the Midwest, personal trainer, was working for a small studio last 10 years. I kind of transitioned to working out on my own. It took, you know, a lot of thinking, a lot of soul searching and it's. I finally made the jump this past. It's been about three months now, so it's pretty brand new. So. Still serve the golf community, especially online. I say I'd probably run more of a hybrid type business now where I still train one on one. I kind of rent space now at a. In a small PT clinic, but they have like a strength training space. So a lot of golf clients from, you know, 12 years old to 65 years old and then mostly online. I work with like dads that are golfers that have priorities and kind of make family first, but I like to serve them because that's kind of where I'm at in my life. So it made it a pretty easy transition to kind of build, you know, my business on top of that and truly try to serve that niche. So that's kind of what's been going on last. Last year or so.

Yeah. So I'd love for you to share with us a little bit more. Can you dive into, you know, what was coming up for you in regards to making that decision of leaving, leaving a company essentially that you'd been loyal to for 10 years, to starting your own. Your own thing. Now that must have been quite a journey to come to that decision. So can you kind of walk us through that? What happened?

Yeah, I could talk about this for hours, but this is it. We moved out here just because of kind of that job. And you know, Premier Fitness system was the gym I worked for again, small studio. Is this personal training? One on one. There's no membership or anything. And at that time, my wife were looking for a move and originally from Kansas, we're tired of the inconsistent weather where we're just looking for something different and kind of build our lives somewhere else. And this working for them kind of came up on a like a job search and you know, kind of went in blindly, kind of sent my resume and, you know, we kind of moved out here with no friends, no family or anything. So was one of my biggest moves of my life at the time. Again, this is. Shoot, that was. This is our 10th year here. So great relationship with the owners. It was, it was a tough conversation. It was something I was thinking about for, you know, years just because now kind of built an online brand that's, you know, through Instagram and just started out posting and over the years, especially around that Covid time, really kind of focused on it with, you know, building programs One time purchase programs, working with clients online. And no, I was really getting some momentum. And then in my head, just from a business sense, it just wasn't clicking or making sense anymore to kind of, kind of share that type of what I was trying to build. And we tried to communicate to the point where we can, you know, either, you know, I do strictly online, which I did for a little bit while training in person at the, at their gym. And I think it was just, I was just like you said, I was loyal for a long time and I just had a lot of respect for them and. But it was just get to the point where I was getting kind of burned out. I just, I wasn't, I was kind of in a gray area on both sides and I was ready to kind of make that jump. I just, I think I just procrastinated too long and I was mentally kind of getting drained out just because this was in the back of my mind. So I can't tell you a point where it, it kind of clicked for me. I think it was this, have a lot of conversation with my wife, a lot of things mentally, emotionally and I finally, even just asking for help from other people finally started having that conversation with the owners. And you know, it was, it was a smooth transition. Nothing, no burn bridges or anything. Cause that's kind of what I wanted. And I was able to transition some in person clients with me, which, which kind of helped with the transition and some certainty with revenue and. But it, it was a good move. You know, it just felt right. Usually it takes a long time for me to kind of think about those things, but it just felt right and you know, it's been, it's been a good transition so far.

So what I'm curious about is you mentioned that you were feeling burned out. Can you, you know, what specifically was burning you out? Like what was the things.

Yeah, I mean I'm a type that. It's hard to say. I mean especially moving out here. Like I tend to get, especially with this. I tend to get bored pretty easily and usually if I'm looking for, if I'm bored and mentally I'm just kind of out of it. I'm looking for something new, something different. That's probably the wrong way to approach things. But this, this is how it's always been I think for so long. You know, is this kind of the same routine every day where it's just like I get up pretty early, like, like I have clients at 5am so that doesn't necessarily bother me. I'M ready to work. I can get up. I think, though, it's just, you know, I had in the back of my mind, I want to change, and I wasn't doing anything about it. I was just making myself insane. So just burned out from a point of, like, I was, you know, kind of had the same clients for a long time, which is a good thing for most people. I had pretty good retention, but I'm the type that's just like, if something wasn't working with a client, like, I would just kind of hang on to them just because it was obviously part of the business. It was a paycheck. It's just like, I wasn't really good at, like, kind of letting people go. If it was just. I felt like the relationship kind of took its course. So just from a our standpoint, in person standpoint, in the back of my mind, again, I want. I kind of wanted to make this change. I want to start something my own. I wanted to build something. I just wasn't doing it. So I think I was just burning myself out from mentally not taking that step. And finally once I did, that's when things started to click and kind of get some more clarity on what I wanted to do.

Yeah, that's. You know, I have. I'm loyal like that too. It's hard for me to make those decisions of knowing that I need a change and, like, trying to. It's nuanced. Right? You're navigating that experience of like, is this me just needing a vacation or is this me, like, really just needing a change? And that can be hard to be discerning on.

So.

So, you know, so now you've made the change. And what I am curious too is, did they. You know, it sounds like they were super supportive. There must have been. Was there fear around, like, am I going to damage this relationship? Like, how did you navigate that?

Yeah, a little bit, I think. So dynamic between me and the. There's two owners. You know, one of them I had a kind of better relationship with, and the other one is kind of more on the type a business side where it's just like, sometimes our communications where it's a little bit off. So having a conversation first with one of the owners that had a kind of a better communication style with. We sat down for a couple hours and I just kind of. I just kind of spilled out kind of what I was thinking and no, right away. He's very supportive and in. In a way, kind of told me like I could. You know, we were kind of at least he was kind of expecting this just based on know my dynamic in the gym, you know, this kind of the energy levels of sometimes how I would kind of show up. Which again that was kind of another aspect of this I didn't know. I did not like how I was kind of showing up to work each day because I had so many things in the back of my mind. So it's just like it's sometimes some days it's hard to show up with clients and just kind of being there. So it felt a lot better speak with him first and then set up meetings to speak with the other owner. And then yeah I was. Once the conversation started going them understanding kind of where I was at, like it was pretty smooth from there. And I think all that fear kind of went away of just like yeah, just damaging the relationship or even just you know, having more business conversations of kind of leaving them in a bad place because I brought in a lot of. A lot of business and revenue and you know, I was expecting to take majority of the clients with me and then you know, the ones that I was still kind of trying to build that brand on top of which was a lot of golfers and pros and you know, they're really supportive in that range is like they understood especially with a lot of the clients I work with for a long time. So they kind of understood the business side of it. It's not like they were going to go after me legally. So that was. That was kind of reassuring to hear that from them as well.

That's good. And did you take majority of the business or did you split it?

Yeah, so I, I took majority of the clients that I've been work with and again at this point in my career it's like it wasn't kind of going through my client list. It wasn't like crazy compared to like I'd say even a couple years ago where it's just like I was full on even before our daughter was born. Like there was. It was long days. So it's like going through the client list okay, I'm not that crazy busy anymore. Is this still people that I was still in the transition of doing a lot more online stuff. So it's just like I wasn't taking too much new business on anyway from an in person standpoint because I was employed by them. It's not like I was a contractor or and for the past, you know, probably five years it's like I didn't get much clients like or business through the gym. It was a lot of stuff I generated through my brand and kind of word of mouth referrals and a lot of new business I was getting in. I was kind of passing off the new trainers anyway. So it was, it was just a good situation because I wasn't taking like a lot of new business that came on like the last three months or anything. It was a lot of people that I've worked with for no five plus years.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, it is interesting because I'm curious how you are navigating this because you know there are pros and cons to everything, right? And some of the pros when you're around, when you're in a gym is that you're around trainers and coaches and you're learning from each other, you're connecting and it's not the same. It's similar online, but it's not the same. So I'm curious if that was, you know, how you have managed. Do you miss that? How you cultivated it inside of your own online and in person space?

Yeah, I'm glad you brought that up because I know myself, especially at this age, being in this business a long time, like I know I need some of that interaction just from a, even a social standpoint. But you know, I love, I enjoy coaching. I be, I love being around, being around people in that setting. So that's was in the back of my mind as well. But that's why I knew I didn't want to transition fully online. And I had to like just for myself, to keep myself again sane, I had to still kind of train in person a little bit. So that's why kind of keeping some of the clients I transitioned with, knowing that I was still getting that element on top of what I was trying to do online. So that's definitely in the back of my mind. And now even down the road when I'm thinking especially you know, obviously I'm not, I'm not as busy in person, which is kind of what I want now. But even from a training aspect for myself, me and my wife, we go to like more of a, like a group setting gym together to train for ourselves. So that's helped too. We're starting to do like some business with that gym as well. Cause it's got, it's like a boot camp style like franchise. So I'm, I've been teaching like some mobility classes there like one time a month. I do like their kids camp. My wife is doing like marketing and like BD social media stuff for them. So it's just like even thinking down the road because I wanted that flexibility to kind of do that type of stuff. Right. So now we're meeting new people and families that, you know, our daughter's starting to make friends and we're starting to meet parents. So it's just like down the line. In my head, I'm thinking like, you know what, something more of like transitioning, you know, three, five years down the line, where I'm training more like kids so I can kind of get back to more group setting when our daughter's in school and I have more of that time. So once that time comes, it's like, okay, I know all these people, I know all these families. Like, it'd be kind of easy transition to kind of go full circle, to start doing more like kids training and even learning new aspects of that as well. So that's kind of in the back of my mind of what's kind of next.

Yeah, that's cool. And that's. I, you know, it's interesting because, you know, people give. People will sometimes villainize, you know, being in a gym. And I get why. Right. You know, you have close downs and, and sometimes you feel like you have to live in the gym in order to get clients, blah, blah, blah. But sometimes new trainers will come to me and they'll be like, I just got. I. What should I do and how do I start online? And I'm like, yo, get a job at a gym.

Like, just go work your lifetime.

Yeah. Like just some reps and being around, like being in the industry, you don't have to live there, but like, go get some reps first.

Yeah, yeah, 100%. But yeah, I mean, that's, that's where I started was it's probably the biggest value I think, is anyone starting out is to start at a big, big box gym to kind of get, like I said, get those reps or just grind it out. I mean, this is the easiest way to do that, especially with learning, selling, scheduling, just working with everyday people because. And then members are kind of. They're everywhere. They're kind of fed to you. You don't have to go search and go market all the time. You can just go work out on the floor and someone might talk to you or you just start talking to people. I think that's the biggest misconception is this. With trainers starting out, they just want to go fully online because they think it's easy or that's. That's harder in my aspect, especially if you don't have a brand to build off of. And then you can, if you start somewhere with members in front of you, you get to work with people. And what that's like, like then the transition online's a little bit more, you know, accessible and easier.

Yeah, I remember when I went fully online and, and it's interesting because now, now I actually have some people that come over in the morning and I actually am training in the morning and I'm. And it just makes me feel so much better because I'm so connected into people. And now don't get me wrong, I have huge communities online. It's not that it doesn't exist or that it's not possible, it's just that it's different. And for me, and knowing me, I need to have both. It needs to be a combination of both. Otherwise. Otherwise you will be like, sure, you know, people will idolize sitting on the beach with a computer on your lap. But like you're still have a computer on your lap. Like what if you just. We're at the beach.

Yeah, being. Being present and just enjoying that time. Like I still make this transition. I've had those days where, you know, I've done all the content stuff, I've messaged all the leads. So this, it's like I'm sitting there and it's, you know, 9 o' clock in the morning. I don't have much else to do. You know, I might not have in person clients. It's just like I've had days where that, that could be tough where it's just like, well, why don't you just go work out or go just do nothing. Where it's like, sometimes that's hard for me versus like I feel like I have to be doing something throughout the day and I'm. I'm still figuring that out where I'm so used to like having either sessions all day or at least having the book schedule. So like, that's probably been the toughest transition of knowing how to kind of fill that time and manage the schedule and knowing kind of what to do, what to work on. Cause it could be. At times it can be overwhelming. There's. There's so much I want to work on, but then I end up doing like nothing. And I have to kind of learn that process of what, what that's supposed.

To be like, oh my gosh, me too. I have. That's. That's how my overwhelm shows up where it feels like there's so much to do and I don't know where to start. So Let me just play Candy Crush.

To scroll a little more. Just. Yeah, all expectants. And then it's 5 o' clock in the afternoon. Like, okay, what the hell did I just do today? What just happened?

Oh my gosh, it's so true. Okay, so now that you're on your own, like, what is. You know, and you kind of started to walk us through your day. This is also too. One of those is that once you get this sorted and you build this machine, this is when you're going to start to have more time at the beginning, at the build. It's just like building a house. You're going to. It's going to take some time at first, but then it starts to chill and then it's like, well, how do I optimize this? How do I make it better, more efficient, so on and so forth. So now that you've been on your own for a while, like, what are some of the things that you're loving about it that you're so glad that you're doing that you did?

Oh, man. I think still the flexibility time is nice. It's just, you know, just not having the, I guess just the priority of having to get up to go see, like, go see clients. There's some days where, oh, I'm not big, I don't sleep in much and I still like to get up pretty early. But then if there are days that I do sleep an extra hour, like, I'm not guilty myself. Right. There's no shame. But, you know, I love having that morning time to kind of get some stuff around, done around the house, not rushing around knowing that I don't have six sessions to do straight off the bat. There might be days that I might take our daughter to school. I pick her up, she goes to school two times a week. I still pick her up on those days, which is nice. And then we might go to the coffee shop or something and just like hang out without any sort of rush of trying to like get somewhere. You know, there are some days where we have to do that, where I take her quite a bit to some sessions or a client's house where she's able to kind of just chill and just, you know, be on the floor with me, which has been a blessing. But I'd say just, just the freedom and flexibility to kind of do, you know, without in the back of my mind thinking, I have to ask a boss to do this or I have to make sure I get these hours in before I go do this or make this content somewhere. I think that's probably been the best change. And, and also again having that, that time with family and, and with my wife to kind of us to train together, going to this other gym that they know we haven't done that in a long time. It's been nice to do that together. Cause that's a lot of. She's just as busy. So having that time to do that together, that 45 minutes because they have like a childcare, like a child watch at that gym. So that's been nice to do that and just without having to rush around. And again it's kind of manage the schedule where that works. Right. That's what we. I've really enjoyed.

That's cool. So you know, now that you're in the toddler years, this is the fun years of.

Oh yeah.

Oh my gosh. You know, I will say this and this is so cliche and cheesy but my kids are now 8 and 6 or 9 and 7.

Okay.

And it's, it's. I remember for me at least I'll just speak from my perspective. For me, the baby and toddler years were really challenging. Really challenging. They were some of like my hardest years. And then when I went into. As soon as they like started to go to school, now I feel like I'm blinking and time is like being stolen from me. I feel like going so fast and I'm like no, no, no, no, no, stay, stay. Like I remember I would watch people who would, who felt sad on the first day of school and I'd be like, yo, get the kid out. But now I feel more like, oh wait, wait, wait. So it is interesting, but I'm curious now, you know, as a parent. Right. And you're kind of in those, what I would perceive as those hard years. How have you been navigating? Building a business and parenting and fulfilling on clients. Like what are some of the things that have been coming up and how are you navigating it?

Yeah, yeah, that's good. I think, I think we have, I think we have a little bit of different situation just from knowing beginning. Like hardest time for me when she was born was probably that, you know, infant to like 8 month stage where it's just like, yeah, it's fun. We kind of go, we tag teamed back and forth. She was one of those that she was not a big napper so that kind of made things difficult. And when she did nap like she was, she had the nap like on top of us anytime. Like she was like, okay, I gotta put her down like, she'd wake up right away and she. The funny thing is she's still like that where it's like she hasn't napped in like two years. Only time she goes to sleep is like in the car or in our bed. So she's one of those. So that made it difficult to kind of. Oh, everyone says, like, oh, when the baby sleeps, you sleep. Or you know, get some stuff done when she's napping. Where my wife thought she would be able to work from home, like in peace or it's just like we had to make. We had to pivot quite a bit just from, you know, that's just not the case. Cause when my wife gets to work zone, works work mode, like she needs to focus, so there's a lot of communication. And like, those, you know, first months were pretty tough. We were lucky that we had a. I had a client that really helped us out to the point of like, she was pretty much, you know, I don't want to call her our nanny, but she was. She helped us with childcare and we just traded services because she. She was retired, she had older kids, so she just helped us out with. You know, she would come to the house four times a week and I would just train her for. You know, that was kind of the trade off because like, she's been a client a long time. So we had that trust and she was, you know, without her, I don't think how we would have managed the first maybe year and a half. But after, you know, when she turned one, she started walking. Like I was able to kind of take her to the gym more where she'd spend a lot of the days with me. And she's pretty much grown up in a gym setting where it's like she kind of knows her way around from, you know, swinging on TRX bands to, you know, pushing sleds. You know, just from point, like, that's kind of how she's kind of grown up and being around other adults, being. Acting like it's pretty. I've really enjoyed her being in that environment. That's kind of helped with. From a standpoint. She hasn't really been in childcare. It's helped us with like child care stuff. Childcare costs. It's just because I've been flexible be able to take her with me even now. It's. That was kind of part of the transition too, where it's. I didn't want to trade in person like all day anymore because it's like some days that was really hard Where I had like four in a row, she kind of get tired, a little bit of cranky, got hungry. But, you know, we just kind of learned, you know, kind of manage that. So now when I only have like two or three people a day, there's a few clients, houses I take her to. She's older now, she kind of entertain herself a little bit more. And school twice a week. It has helped, definitely getting other stuff done. So. Yeah. And in the beginning it was tough. Now it's. It's still tough as we tag team our time, but it's just like, I wouldn't trade that time in the world. You know, if she was in daycare, I'd probably, you know, lose my mind just because I'd feel so guilty and not being around her, you know.

And we brought, what this is pre, pre pandemic. But we would also bring. I would bring the kids to the gym too, because they also have place where you could have the kids.

Yeah, we.

We did that. And that also helped a lot. But I. I'm also in that vein with you where it's like, you have. I've never missed a dance recital. I've never. I'm always the one that has the. Then on the bus and I take them off the bus. I go to the PTA stuff. Like, it might not necessarily be stuff that I want, want to do, but I'm just so grateful that I can do it. And then I have the choice to decide whether I want to do it or don't do it.

Yeah.

And I think that, you know, that that is for my perspective, I felt like it's just super under. Undervalued and I, I so grateful that I can do it. Even though I don't want to sit on PTA meetings. Let me tell you, I'm not a pta.

Yeah. Yeah. I think the best way you put it is just we want. I want to do it just because especially in the age that we're in with, you just don't know where the influence is going to come from. I think kids need parents more than ever. So her being around us all the time, where we, you know, coming to parents where it's just like, I don't know how you guys do it. Like, you know, some parents have their kids need daycare, like all day, five times a week. Just like, then I'm like, I don't know how you do it. Like, you know, me being around her, being the teacher and, you know, see how we interact and, you know, just having her see us like work, trains. It's like we want our kids to do that if we have any more, just because that's, we want us to be the influence in her life. You know, it could, could because it could come from anywhere else, especially online and other people that could go a different direction. So it's just like as long as we can hang on to that, as long as we can, we have that influence, like that's what we're going to do.

Yeah. So what's the long term vision now that, now that you're not tied to Scottsdale, are you going to stay?

Yeah, it's a good question. I mean we've had not deep conversations, but we always talk about like, do we really. We love it here. We love Arizona, especially when the weather's better. Not when it's, you know, 110 for three straight months. But at this point, yeah, it is, it gets tough, especially with, you know, as she's getting older and sometimes my parents will come down and stay with us or other family members, so then we see how she is with them. We don't have any family out here. It's just friends. So it's just like that gets hard. Having a situation where we can be around family more would be hopefully ideal. Whether it's kind of splitting some time, I think we put ourselves in a situation where we, we, we have that choice or that flexibility. We could do kind of whatever. We're not stuck or tied to Scottsdale like you said. So for me and having these talks to my wife, like having some sort of split time where it's just like I can train anywhere. And especially with the online how it's going, like we spend certain months in, back in the Midwest or you know, some, sometimes some places cooler during the summer where we can have, you know, some market or business somewhere and we kind of split that time. That would be ideal. Obviously that takes some planning, but I think, you know, that's kind of in the back of my mind, especially as our parents are getting older. No, we just want, want them to have that time as well with, with the kids.

Yeah. So your parents, are they still in the Midwest?

Yeah, they both, they're still in Kansas and my, I have two brothers and a sister. They're all kind of in the same, you know, probably 30 to 40 mile radius, like Kansas City area then. I grew up in a small town. That's where my parents live. So. So like they're all kind of around each other and it's, it's tough because my, my brother he has three kids, so my mom helps out with them. Qu. And then my sister is expecting. And then my brother, he's the youngest. He's in his early 30s, so it's like he's getting close. He has a girlfriend. I think they're going to tie the knot pretty soon. So it's like a lot of things coming, so it's tough to miss it sometimes. But at the same time, like a lot of the family drama we kind of stay away from, which is kind of nice. But at the same time, like we were missing that time during these years as we kind of think about, like, what we're going to do.

And her family is in Missouri or in Midwest.

Yeah, they're in Kansas. She, her dad and stepmom. They're in like in that Kansas City area. And like I said, they. They're again, a little bit older, so they don't come out and visit as much. So anytime we go back, we make. Trying to make sure we have some time with them. And then her mom lives in Iowa and. And she's. She's actually come out a few times just because they travel, they. They have flexibility to travel a bit more. So it's been nice to spend time with it as well.

But listen, the Midwest is hot in the summer too.

Oh, I. Believe me, I know. It's more humid. It's buggy. I'd rather be hot than cold. So. So those, that one winter when we moved out here, like, you know, I talked about 1 tang 3 straight months. Like, I swear there. There was times in the morning like it was zero degrees in my car for like months. And that's where I kind of had it, where it's just like, I'm just tired of this. Like.

Yeah.

Starting the car and warming it up. Snow, ice, like it's. It's no like Canada or like up north, but it still gets cold and bitter.

So my husband's from Missouri.

Okay.

So they. We have family. Well, he has family. Well, we have family in Missouri and Kansas City, so. I know that. Okay, I know that.

Like we talked about that before. Isn't he like small town Missouri too? Or is he.

No, he's St. Louis, but in.

Okay.

Not city St. Louis, but like outskirts of St. Louis.

Yeah.

So it. But. But that no family and the business thing like that is. I think that people underestimate. Doesn't matter if you have kids or no kids, building a business or not. Right. Is that we underestimate the importance of help and asking for help and being like nobody Builds a business on their own. Nobody without support, education, like, the business is going to need support. You're going to need support, and then, you know, throw family on top of it. I mean, it is. My parents are in Florida, and his and my family. My whole family is in Florida and is in Missouri. And we've had lots of times where we were like, what are we doing? Why are we.

Right? It is the hard way. Yeah. Yeah. That's where we kind of get envious. And especially, you know, my brother and history, I'm glad he gets help is like, we miss that because anytime my parents come in, it's just like, man, it's nice to, like, you know, go out, run some errands without having to, like, worry knowing that, you know, she's with grandma or grandpa or. Or just seeing them interact when they leave, like, she just gets so upset or, like, crutch. So it's just like, it. It just kills us. But, yeah, I think that's, you know, building relationships. We're starting to, you know, have trust and with other friends now that kind of have kids that are similar ages. So we're asking them for, like, or we don't ask. Sometimes they. They bring it up to us. It's like, look, I want us to watch Avery just like, let us know. We're always just kind of hesitant just because we don't want to put that on people. Not that she's like, you know, the devil or anything, but it's like, we know at times, like, it just could be a lot, especially if you have those kids. But it's like, we have to trust them that they're offering this. It's like kind of take advantage of it and. Or even from the point of, you know, birthday parties, is kind of seeing, scoping out, just meeting people and, you know, you just never know who you're going to meet that, you know, they interact and they're become good friends. So it's just like, okay, now we have to come do our part and get to know their parents just in case, you know, the friendship kind of builds on.

Yeah. And Scottsdale's a beautiful area.

Yeah, it is. We. We're. We. We're lucky. We kind of live on the kind of outskirts of Scottsdale a little bit. We're kind of in the Phoenix. We're kind of small, kind of family neighborhood, kind of older. It's nice. Kind of more of the Phoenix, outside of Phoenix a little bit. So North Scottsdale, where my gym used to be, is probably, you know, 10 minutes down the highway. So it's easy access to everything. And the airport's 15 minutes and all the nice Scottsdale areas again like 14 minutes down the road. So we're kind of in the central of like everything where we live.

So nice. So nice. So you know what? I am curious now that you're on your own and you're doing this, this, you know, building this massive empire, are you, you know, what are some of the ways that you are going that you're protecting yourself from burning out for yourself? Like I know you were burning out in the gym, but are you concerned at all about, you know, building your own job?

Yeah, I think again going back for asking for help. So I've done a few. Even looking at your material, I've done some coaching programs that kind of help with that. I've actually. And I mean, you know, you know James, right? James survey. So I'm in his. He's kind of transitioned too from a aspect of strictly just strength of performance to more of like helping business owners dads since it's like I've been in part of his group in his community probably last oh, almost a year now, almost six months. So. Well, got a lot of help on him just again trying to manage. Manage time and just kind of knowing how to build because he's. He kind of helped me with the model of kind of what I'm looking to do and then kind of build off of those certain offers. So that's definitely helped. He just manages on the different bandwidth than I do. He just, he knows how to like, oh, I'm just going to create this. I'm just going to knock it out in like two hours. Just like, dude, like how do you like do that on top of what we're doing now with calls and you build like this is crazy. His bandwidth for knowledge and building business and you know, it's. It's pretty impressive to see. So knowing that, no, I'm not trying to be at that level just because I know kind of my, my mental again I call it bandwidth. But knowing how much I can focus on so having this model of, you know, I kind of have more of like a group coaching method of, you know, I have a golf. I have like golf dads that I work with that is that they all do kind of the same strength and like performance program. We have calls. So it's just like I'm sure you, I mean you've seen it all. So that's kind of where I'm at where it's kind of building that and then having some one on one clients as well. Kind of more of like a higher tier service. So it's like I know kind of what I can handle. So as I transition to, you know, kind of less one on one, still this, still working in person, knowing I could kind of build off of the online program that I have with, with different offers, even different coaching, different, you know, teaching clinics like and then have be able to save those that kind of tear them off and they had different things. Like I think I'm just, I think I'm in a good spot now. Now where do I want to take that? That's where I was just I want to have that flexibility. It's like it's having that unknown of, you know, I'm just, I'm not sure, you know, because I get in my head of like do I want to stay in the golf space? Because that's the point. Like I don't play as much. So it's like that passion for. It's kind of kind of dwindling. So I'm always kind of thinking, okay, where am I, where am I at my priorities of life? You know, who do I want to work with? Who's kind of in that same area? And right now, I mean I'll be 40 next year. So it's just like kind of hitting that age and range of work with those people because I kind of know what their problems are, their stresses and their limitations and what they want to kind of achieve. So kind of building that and then working with, down the road, like with kids because it's like we start to know a lot of them and then kind of building those connections and you know, we know it's kind of building a service off of that where kind of I have both of whether it's working with online with kids, in person with kids, or just more youth performance, you know, as our daughter gets older, that's kind of the random plan again. It's not really set in stone, but it's just like I kind of have. That's kind of how I operate mentally.

I love that. So out of curiosity for her, if she shown. Has your daughter shown any interest in any sport.

Right now? She's yeah, she's a gym rat for one. But we got her in like gymnastics one time a week, I'm sure up and coming. There's going to be, you know, some soccer involved or you kind of see it just with how she kind of moves just with like sometimes we'll just, you know, throw the ball around and she likes to kick or just like hit the balloon around. So there hasn't been too much organized yet besides the gymnastics, where that's like an hour class and they just kind of do some tumbling and use like, obstacles and stuff. Then with the kids camp I teach at the other gym. Like, that's been fun. This again, the scener jump on boxes. She's just very elusive with how she can kind of control her little body. So it's just like, I'm just in the camp of like, I don't want to put her in anything organized like, yet, because my. My wife has mentioned like, T ball and all that stuff. It's like, I'm just not ready for that. I don't want her to like, lose that creativity of kind of finding what she. She enjoys to do. And then I think by next year, I think, you know, more gymnastics or even I think soccer is a good one just for my developing different motor skills and, you know, this stuff like that. So it's like, we'll see. She might not want to do sports at all. So it's like I have to compare. Prepare for that as well.

Yeah, it's interesting. You know, for me, I knew I was not a sports kid. I was a dancer kid.

Yeah, nice.

Musical theater singer kid. But it is interesting. I have two, and so it's been interesting to see their different interests develop. And as a parent, I'll share that. I have, you know, navigated the nuances of wanting to encourage a discipline but also have flexible discipline, where it's like, hey, is this like, you just don't feel like doing it today or is this like, no, I have like, I don't want to do cheer, I don't want to do whatever, you know, that's been challenging. I'll just share from my perspective.

Yeah.

Gen pop. When I'm working with clients, it's hard to navigate that. Do you like it today or you just like, really hate playing with kettlebells? Like, what's it.

Yeah, you have to treat them like little adults sometime. Like, uh, or like little clients.

Yeah. So it. But it's been interesting. Like, my little. My youngest one has wanted to, like, she's been asking about lacrosse, and she's been asking about soccer, and she's been asking. And we've got her in softball. It was like, that's what she loves to do. My like, no, I want dance and I want gymnastics, and I want to put on tool and be a princess.

And I'm like, okay, that's best. Best. Both Worlds right there. Yeah.

So it's been, you know, it's been fun. It's been definitely fun to watch. So now I'm curious. You know, with all your years of experience in the industry. Right. I'm not a huge. I'm not a huge fan of regrets. I don't really believe in them. I feel like, so grateful to have every lesson despite not wanting it. But I am curious if you could go back to, you know, the younger version of yourself. If there are things that you wish you knew when you were first starting out, what are some of the things that you would tell yourself?

Yeah, that's a good question. I think younger me. And I think this funny because I'm still working on this. This attribute just from, you know, just putting yourself out there more to the point of not losing yourself. But like, just in a. I'm talking like a business sense now. You know, I think when I was working at a corporate gym, I think I was just. I was so new and not. Not that a little bit of ego is involved, but again, we all think we kind of know it all in the beginning versus I didn't know shit. So being more open to, you know, things I was uncomfortable with from the point of, you know, sales. Different tactics of, you know, in person const. Not just to always, like, sell somebody, but just like to build upon that professional relationship with the client and then asking for referrals. So I was just always kind of asking questions. You know, I was always hesitant with, like you said, it's still a problem now with asking for help or being open to like learning something new because, like, once I get comfortable with something and it's. I kind of want to build on top of that and really master that. But then at the. What was kind of put to the stand was a lot of important things too. Some. Some change being open, learning. Because even when I was at that corporate gym, like, it took me a long time to, like, I was kind of burned out from there too. So kind of I overthought some things and it took me a while to transition out of there too. And then once I did was like, man, this made me feel a lot more happier and like, I feel better. And then the next company kind of the same thing. Like, it's like I kind of took a long time to kind of want to make that transition. So I think I made those jumps, but just, you know, always kind of doubted myself in that sense, like I couldn't do it. So I think, you know, I'd say advice would be just like, just always kind of go with your gut, your instinct, you know, Like I said, ask for advice, ask for help if you have a certain inkling of you're. You're looking for change. And sometimes the grass isn't always greener, but it's just like if you want to make that, that jump, like you have to kind of to try to see what it is. You know, we all make mistakes, but as long as you kind of take that action, like, you can't, like you said, you can't regret that. At least you took it instead of just kind of hanging around.

Yeah. So good. So good. Okay, so I definitely want to be mindful of your time. So for those of you who want to go deeper with you, want to learn from you, want to connect with you, where are some of the best places that I can send them?

Yeah, so I think right now it's still Instagram. So Ando underscore vsp. That's where I again, I kind of reach out to people or that's where you could DM me since I try to answer every message, every comment. So that's where I put out most of the, most of my content. Still working on other areas of, you know, communication with social. It's just like I'm not a big tiktoker. Twitter I'm not big on. So it's just like that's what I again, stayed comfortable with and kind of build upon. So that's probably the best place to reach out for anything from content, programming, services, everything like that.

So good. So good. Okay, well, I'll make sure we link all of that up on in the show notes. And Andrew, it was amazing. Thank you so much for pouring into me, into the community and we'll catch you next time.

All right, thank you, Bev. Appreciate it.

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