Am I A College Dropout ?

Starting off today's vlog in a place that isn't my kitchen. This is something I recommend everyone do to improve their quality of life, okay? Get up in the morning, absolutely beautiful morning, you know, I do this anytime I have the chance, you know, whenever it isn't pissing rain in Ireland. Get up in the morning and go for a walk. Have your coffee, drink it black, and then listen to some good podcasts and think. Plan out your day. Think of how your day is gonna go and think of how you want your day to go. And so this morning's podcast that I'm listening to, I just listened to Jamie Alderton talk with Phil Graham on marketing yourself in the fitness industry. Didn't exactly learn anything new, but sometimes it's good to just remind yourself of certain things, keep them fresh in the head, reiterate them. One thing that Jamie said that is very good is that, you know, it's great to be busy, but being busy doesn't always mean you're successful. You know, he was talking about a personal trainer. Personal trainer was like, oh, you know, I've got so many clients, I'm so busy and stuff like that, I don't have any time to myself. And you know, Jamie made a good point. He's like, why don't you half the time you work and double the price you charge? And the person was like, 'Oh, I can't do that.' I was like, 'Why? Why can't you do that?' So like, I think that is such a good point, you know. Some people, they just think, 'Yo, I can't do this, I can't do that,' and sometimes you just gotta ask yourself, 'Why? Why can't I do that?' Look at this guy. Don't waste your time with mindless television. Watch or listen to something that you'll benefit from. Alright guys, so that is just kind of like my little message, piece of advice to start off this vlog, start the day. Drink your coffee, go for morning walks, always be trying to learn something, and, uh, you know, use it as your kind of time to meditate. The plan for today— this is pretty ironic, okay? I have got an interview in DIT, Dublin Institute of Technology, for like the Journalism Society or something. But if anyone's wondering what is my situation with college, I went to college for 3 years, I studied business management, and I have yet to do my final year.

It is—

I only have to sit 2 exams and then I, you know, get my course. So last year I deferred, right? I was like, hey, I'm taking a year out, I'll come back. And I'm 23 years old, by the way. Okay, I'm gonna defer for the year, I'll come back and I'll sit those exams. One year on, it doesn't look like I'm gonna bother going back. I have a bit of kind of like an opinion on college. Obviously college is great, go to college, you know. Do you have to go to college? If you want to like become a doctor, you're going to have to study medicine. If you want to become an accountant, you're obviously going to have to study accountancy. If you want to become like a specific trade, obviously to get a job in that sector, you're going to need a third level degree. But I studied business, okay, and to start your own business, you don't need no fucking degree. I learned more in the last couple of months than I did in 3 years of college. A lot of people ask me, they're like, you know, do you have any regrets in life? And I'm— I don't mean to like put— and it's kind of tough to say, but I regret going to college. I wish 3 years ago I just had the mentality that I had now and that I just started business myself. So yeah, that's kind of like my situation with college. I'm not exactly a college dropout. I do always have the choice to go back and like literally like, you know, I don't even have to do the full year. I just have to sit some exams. Will I go back? Probably not, because when it comes to business, there is no— nothing better than just doing business yourself, just getting out into the world and doing it. So yeah, studying business didn't do much for me, but if you want to like become a doctor or something like that, or pharmacist, you know what I mean, then yeah, of course you're gonna have to go to college. So I'm gonna walk home now and just get the day cracking. Also, something that I have to add is this year I think it's like 4 different groups in college in Trinity, UCD, DIT, have done projects on my business. They've like, you know, asked me to like, you know, the ins and outs of it, and they've literally done projects. One group came top of their class, one group got first, you know, they got the highest grade. I think it was a marketing class. But isn't that just irony at its finest? Doing your college project on a college dropout, and then today my college is asking me to go back and you know, obviously do an interview and stuff like that. And I'm not saying, you know, "Oh, I'm so great." I'm just telling you what happened.

I remember when I was younger, I used to climb up that hill. It was good times.

Also, before I go, let me know some topics that you might like me to talk about in these morning walks. It could be like a thing. I go for a morning walk and I talk about stuff.

So, uh, comment down below. All right, just got home. Good start today. I got a package from one of my sponsors, and that is Kerrigan's Foods for Fitness. It is kind of like Ireland's version of Musclefood. But, uh, so let's do the YouTube thing and do an unboxing. All right, turkey and cranberry burgers, diced beef, venison burgers, something we're currently experimenting with, and that is the Lipset Fitness Burgers. They are kind of like hot sauce flavored with jalapeños in them. So, you know, more venison turkey sausages and then 3 different seasonings. As you know, on this channel I'm big on seasonings—

can completely change how a meal tastes.

Uh, all right, so that is everything I got. And, uh, I actually don't eat too much meat. That will last me well over a month, like 5 weeks, even 6 weeks. But when you track your macros you'll start to notice that a lot of things, um, contribute to your protein intake that you wouldn't expect. Like, I had like a big pasta dish yesterday and there was like 10 grams of protein just from the pasta, and I would count that towards my total daily intake. So you may be consuming more protein than you know, and there is just one of the many lit tips that I offer on this channel. See how we're looking. Shaping up for Thailand. For breakfast, I'm gonna have some of the turkey sausages. There's the macros on them here. Alright guys, that's the first meal of the day. Baked beans, turkey sausages, and some white potatoes. Probably gonna put some of the magic stuff on it too. Alright, so this is the look we're going for today. And got these super skinny jeans from Topman. Thank God for stretch fit, that's all I'm gonna say.

But anyways, right, it's time to hit the road.

I also got this kind of like jacket thing made up, but I only got the one. It's just like kind of an idea, if anything. But yeah, that's what we're going for today. Alright, so just about to walk into DIT now. This is very nostalgic. And a little bit weird.

With over 24,000 subscribers on his channel, multiple endorsement deals, who can whip up a storm in the kitchen, and who joins us now live in studio. Hi Rob, thanks for coming in to us.

How's it going? Thanks for having me.

Hello.

So Rob, let's start from the very beginning. What made you start vlogging?

Um, well, I always kind of followed a lot of vloggers myself. I've always been watching YouTube fitness, and I kind of liked the general lifestyle they get to live, you know. They get to avoid the whole 9-to-5 thing, they get to do what they like to do, and they get to do something creative as well. And I noticed that no one in Ireland was really doing that at the time, so I said, oh well, there's a gap in the market, so I want myself a slice of the pie. So, uh, that's, that's why I started, just, um, kind of wanted to get in there before other people did.

And how did you get your YouTube channel to grow?

Well, initially I kind of started off my career, I guess you could say, in the fitness industry on Facebook. And I started a Facebook page, and instead of like writing statuses, I write articles. I put them in my status box. So I grew a following on Facebook and then Instagram, and then when I started YouTube, you know, I had a few followers to bring straight over. And then after that, it's just been kind of collabing with other YouTubers, um, in the UK and America. So for example, a UK YouTuber, and you would upload a video to each other's channel, then you you would get their demographic and they get yours. So you kind of do it like that. Collaborations are really good. I'm actually going to LA in January for like a big fitness expo, so I'll be collabing with a lot of YouTubers then too.

So obviously after you got your YouTube channel to grow, you set up a clothing line.

Yeah. How did that come about? Um, well, there was never a plan to do that. I literally got my logo put on one t-shirt and I just started wearing that one t-shirt. And then so a lot of people on my channel, they said, "Hey, I like that design. Can we buy it?" So I said, "Okay, I'm gonna get some merchandise made up for my subscribers." And the reason why it's just my LF logo, it doesn't have any writing on it, is 'cause I want people to look at it and be like, "Hey, that's a cool design. Even if I don't know who Rob Lipsett is or I have no idea what Lipsett Fitness is, I'd like to wear that. It looks good." So it started to grow from there, and now it's kind of developed into a little community. I actually, this is kind of relevant to college. Someone a few months ago, they said, hey, it was my first day in college, I went to the college gym and I was really intimidated, and I was wearing my LF vest and I saw someone else in the gym wearing an LF vest too. And so, you know, we were both on— exactly, there was something, there's something in common there. So, you know, they both, you know, made friends and got a workout in together. So, you know, hearing that was just awesome. So that's kind of how it started.

What pieces are in the clothing line? It's t-shirts, vests?

Yeah, t-shirts, vests, and hoodies are currently being made for the winter.

Are you sold out?

Yeah, absolutely. They're currently out of stock. There's not one item left, so that's great.

That's pretty good.

How did your friends and family react to you being on YouTube, kind of, I guess, as a profession, because that's kind of what it's become?

Yeah, well, my friends, you know, I went to a boarding school, so we've been living with each other since we were 12 years old, so me and my friends, we, we're very tight, you know. No matter what any of us do, we will all support that person. Like, a few of my friends have their own businesses and stuff like that, and we all, we all help out. So my friends were very supportive. They were saying, you know, good on you. And even when it was tiny, when it was still growing, they would support me. And we've actually got, you know, our Christmas dinner, annual lads Christmas dinner coming up this weekend. And my family, my sisters are kind of youngish, you know. They're like, yeah, in their early 30s, late 20s. So they were kind of like, okay, that's cool, you know, um, good on you doing something you like to do. But my parents, they like, you know, being from a different generation, they still don't understand it. They're like, Rob, they're like, Rob, what do you do? Like, yeah, but like, I, you know, I'm independent, I pay my own bills, I buy, you know, my own stuff. So as long as I'm doing that, as long as money's coming in, they don't care. As long as I'm not asking, here, will you throw a bit of cash into my account there? As long as I'm not asking them that, they don't care.

But was there like any tough decisions along the way? Like, did anything happen?

Yeah, absolutely. You know, that's business. Probably the one that I can think of off the top of my head would be having to quit my, you know, 9-to-6 job. You know, I was working 5 days a week, 9 to 6. Like, I think for 6 weeks I was trying to work up the courage to walk into my boss's office and tell him that I want to go full— Yeah, that I want to go full-time. With my own business. And, you know, it's— I like the saying, you only live once, but you're only young once as well. So, uh, sometimes you just got to make those tough decisions.

What are your future goals and aspirations, whether it be on YouTube or off, I guess, social media?

Yeah, um, they're always the same since day one, and that is grow my brand. Myself is my brand. Grow my brand as much as possible. You know, I want to reach as many people in the world. I want to connect with as much people as I can in the world. And then take whatever comes with it, you know. Like, I'd love to go into many different kind of, you know, get outside of fitness, go into kind of like travel vlogging, you know, business, food, anything, you know. I don't want to be a one-trick pony. So, um, it all comes down to growing my brand and whatever comes with it.

Since you are a fitness person, what advice would you give our listeners for the Christmas period?

Yeah, a great question, of course. Well, seeing as, you know, people when they get out of shape, it's really about energy balance. It's about, you know, they don't go to the gym as much and they eat more. They put themselves in situations like parties with alcohol, snack food, finger food and everything. So you're gonna have these events. So what I would do is on the days off where you have no events, just try to be, put in a little bit of extra discipline. Like I said, I've got my lads' dinner this weekend. So this week I'll add in some extra cardio, maybe I'll lower my carb intake a little bit. So I'll just imply a bit of damage control. No big deal. So when this weekend does come, I can relax and ease up a bit. And making that kind of balance in life is extremely important to have a sustainable approach.

Is it— you said that, you know, you would lower your carb intake. Is it hard to, I guess, manage your, you know, your food routine on a weekly basis?

Yeah, you know, it's actually the start is the hardest. You know, when you like, for a while to get an idea of what food looks like on the plate, you're probably gonna have to keep a food diary, weigh out your food and stuff like that, just to get an initial idea. But after a while, it actually gets easier and easier, believe it or not. Like, um, you know, a fist-sized portion of carbs like potatoes or rice, it's like 30 grams of carbs. You know, a chicken breast is like 30 grams of protein. You end up just kind of knowing this stuff by looking at it after a while, so it gets easier and easier.

And what advice would you give to people who are apprehensive about joining a gym or starting their workout regime?

Yeah, I would really, really urge people to get rid of the whole stereotype of the mean, angry gym. You know, you actually go into most gyms nowadays and there's a family atmosphere. You know, everyone wants to help each other out, everyone wants to offer each other tips. You know, you've probably heard the whole thing, fit fam. You know, it's a friendly atmosphere. So I would Tell people to get that kind of mentality instead of like a scared mentality.

And is there anything you would have changed over the past year?

There are so many things that I would have done differently, but you see, you can't think like that. You gotta turn negatives into positives. If I didn't make all these mistakes I did, I would never learn from them, and you'd never progress. So embrace the mistakes, embrace the errors.

What does 2016 have in store for Rob Lipsett?

Rob Lipsett? Oh, 2016, you know, you've probably heard the saying, 2015 was the warm-up, here comes 2016. But you know, I have big plans for 2016, but I'm keeping my cards close to my chest for the moment.

Alright, we'll have to keep an eye on your social media to find out, is that it?

Keep an eye on the YouTube, make sure you're subscribed.

Ingrid has been creeping anyway, that's for sure.

Ah!

Look at her face.

I have not.

Her face is going all red. Alright, great, we will have to leave it there then, I'm afraid.

Brilliant.

If you're interested in following or finding out more about Rob, check out his YouTube channel at Rob Lipsett and his website at www.lipsettfitness.com. Thanks again for coming in with us, Rob.

Thanks for having me on.

Not at all.

Thank you.

Thanks.

Alright, today's cardio pastime. YouTube podcast video person is none other than Casey Neistat, one of the few non-fitness YouTubers that I follow.

So anyone else a fan of Casey, let me know. He is just like vlogger goals. Dude has set the standard in like the quality of vlogs. All right, so back home, um Before I finish up this vlog, I thought I'd show you just what I'm cooking right now. I'm having a lot of wraps recently. So I am putting in the George Foreman 2 Lipsett Fitness turkey burgers. There is kind of like all the mixed veg, peppers, tomatoes, onions, stuff like that, that I'm gonna fill the burrito with. And that's it, guys, just put it all together. Finished product, guys. The question is, will it close? I'm gonna finish this up here. I'm gonna eat this, I'm starving. Hope you enjoyed this vlog, it's another one knocked out the park. Catch you next time, keep it real.