 Guys, we have a ton of people that have been coming to us that have been asking about what's going on with our bundles programs. Which one's best for me? That's the beauty of what we just did. Sal spent all this time the other day getting on the green screen, going in detail, preaching to you about these programs. What is maps green? What is maps black? What is maps red? Is it right for you? Get on there, go to the website, mindpumpmedia.com. You guys can watch the video so you can explain in detail each program. We got huge promotions going on right now, mindpumpmedia.com. If you want to pump your body and expand your mind, there's only one place to go, mindpump, mindpump. With your hosts, Sal DiStefano, Adam Schaefer, and Justin Andrews. We just had a great, great interview. It was our second time having Erika on the show. Erika is so... Been over a year. We love Erika. Let's be honest. She's such a great message. We put her shirts on. That's the first time we've done that. We didn't do that for anybody else. I will rock that shirt. I will get it, girl. Exactly. Just so you know. We love her because she's got such a great story, a great message. She's very transparent with her own evolution and fitness. She decided to start a break-in mortar business so she could be in closer in contact with the people that she's working with. A lot has happened since the last time we've seen her. Remember, she was just really coming up. Yeah, coming up. That's how we found her. She was voted for one of these girls on the cover of Women's Health. Since then, she was on the cover of Yahoo. Oh, she's had all kinds of stuff that's happened since then. She's started a reality show. I think she's had a makeup line going on, a sub thing reached out to her. All kinds of shit's happening. It's been neat to watch her evolution and now to see her in break-in mortar, which we've talked a lot about. We talk a lot about that and the ups and downs of that business, which she gets into that. Those of you that are entrepreneurs building a business, even if it's not related to fitness, if it's in social media, if it's a break-in mortar, we get into that with her. I mean, that was a great discussion. She's just so relatable. You know what I mean? She's just such a down-to-earth person there. Very transparent. Yeah, you just like, you like to hear from that perspective in fitness. You don't get that a whole lot. She's extremely likable and especially if you're someone battling body image issues or you have a poor relationship to exercise and nutrition or you've never worked out and you're just trying to figure out how you're going to get into it, she's a very inspirational individual and she delivers the kind of the right message in our opinion. She's lost over 150 fucking pounds. That is no joke. Anybody that's been through that much of a transformation, I love to listen to their story. You're just not the same person. Yeah, exactly. You literally are. You've lost a fucking human off your body. I mean, that transforms people physically, mentally. She dies into that in this episode. Excellent, excellent episode. It was such a pleasure to have her back. I highly recommend you give her a follow on Instagram. She's got a great Instagram page. It's at ericafitlove. So her name is E-R-I-C-A and then fitlove, F-I-T-L-O-V-E. One word. And she's got a website ericafitlove.com. That's pretty much it. So here we are interviewing Erica Lugo, aka Erica Fitlove. You know, your bumble game out here is strong. Bumble game? Bumble? Is that like another one of those hookup apps? It's a classier version of Tinder. People are educated and have jobs. Wait, wait, wait. Is there such a thing as a classier version of Tinder? Yeah, they're educated. Explain this, please. Let's rumble with the bumble. They're educated. There, I like that. Adam, it's like Grindr. Sorry. They're educated and have jobs, you know. Oh, now you're offending all the Tinder people right now that are like, fuck you, bitch. I have a fucking job and I'm on Tinder. You okay? Really? What's the difference? It can't just be just job. So bumble, the woman has to approve it. Whoa, you seem to know a little bit more about this. Uh, what? So, no, no, I've heard, who talks about this? My friend told me. Girlfriend. My friend told me. I'm asking for a friend. No, actually, my girlfriend explained this to me. She said that she was telling me how brilliant it was because it gives women more power to who they can talk to. Okay, so you gotta, let's step me through this. I'm genuinely interested in how this... Are we literally recording this conversation? Oh yeah, fuck yeah. We're going. Let's roll. What's, tell us, tell us how bumble works. Um, so here it's funny because literally you do a, a mile radius. In Ohio, I have to go like a radius of a hundred people to get like a, a mile radius of a hundred miles to get like decent people. Oh, wow. Here I step off the plane, I do less than a mile radius and it like goes all night long. Like I'm in bed like... You're like, this is great. I don't even have to leave the airport and I can hook up with somebody in the bathroom. This is fucking... California's awesome. It just keeps going. So then you find someone and then you're like, then it's like, then it's like a high when they're like, you matched and I'm like, yes, this hot dude said I was hot back. Let's start talking. So then I have to reach out to them and then you just start a conversation. So the girl does have the first opportunity, the guy can't reach out first. So on Tinder, it's like, you go on there and a guy's like, Hey baby, what are you doing at eight o'clock tonight? You so fine and you're like, done. You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah. Here we get to start the conversation. So it's like... It's like real life. I like that. Yes. But like last night I'm laying in bed. I couldn't fall asleep. And I'm like, let's just do less than a mile radius. And I swear, I kept going and going and going. You know what they call San Jose, right? No. Man Jose. Yeah, man Jose. Really? If you're... Like when I was on Santana Road yesterday, I was like... City. Yes, yes, yes. Like swipe right, swipe right. If you're a single woman, San Jose is the best place ever. If you're a single man, it's the worst place ever. Yeah. People out here have height too. Like in Ohio, everyone's like five, nine and under. Are they really? Yeah. It's really depressing. We should go to Ohio. You know what, what do they call San Jose? You're a much taller in person than you are. Oh yeah. I thought you were just like little tiny little petite thing on your... What? Yeah, I really did. I know you pointed out on that. No, I'm not. I know you tell people all the time like, I'm a bigger girl, this and that. Yeah, I am. No, you've got them athletes. You look like you are definitely like a collegiate level like basketball or volleyball player. You guys make me feel so good. Did you play those things? Hell no. Really? No, I've been overweight my whole life. Like sports, and I've never been athletic. Ever. I bet you would have been a bad athlete. I actually remember, no, I actually remember trying out for basketball in high school and the coach looked at me and was like, like when I was dribbling and everything, like I was that uncoordinated. Oh really? Well that's probably because you never played them. Right, but I mean, I was just bad in general. Yeah, but now you like to work out, right? You love it. Oh my God, I love it. Yeah. I bet you would have been a bad ass. I wouldn't do volleyball. I think I would totally take over that court right now. So what? Yeah, volleyball or basketball, I can't imagine you not being good at. I mean... I'm like an Amazon. I mean, have you seen me? Wonder Woman. How tall are you? Are you six foot? Um, I'm 5'11". Yeah, I would... You could round up to six foot. You look six foot, yeah. That's like barefoot. I'm just gonna... Okay, so that's what I need to put on my bumble profile. No longer 5'11", six foot. How many do you do on a real here? Okay, I'm really interested in this bumble thing because I just... I didn't... Okay, so I didn't get this, right? So Katrina and I have been together for like six plus years. We're pretty much married. We have two dogs live together for a long time. So I'm a post-tender post. Yeah, that dating. I would have just mopped up, I feel like. I had these resources and tools. Y'all are like a meat market right now. Okay, you'd been snatched up in a heartbeat. Don't you worry. So what's it like? So what is it like, you know, and we're close in age. So, you know, and so you've been... I'm younger. You were... How much younger? Are you... She's a little... No, she is. I'm 27, how old are you? You're 27? No. How would it happen? Oh, shit. No, how old are you? I'm 35. Okay, I just turned 30 on Christmas. Okay, so we're a little bit younger, but not that much younger. A lot of it younger. We were almost in high school together. So, you've been around the dating game before and after. What has the evolution of that been like? Well, remember, I was married, too, for a while. I mean, I got engaged at 19. Yeah, that'll fuck your game up big time. Yeah, all right. It's real hard to get laid when you're married. Right, exactly. No, yeah. Can we get that part out of the vlog that you just brought us? Because I'm sure my ex-husband will probably listen. But, yeah, dating is completely different because I've been divorced for three and a half, four years now. So, it is so different. Now, too, I'm fit, I'm confident. I love who I am, so it's even more fun because I don't have to settle. Does that make sense? Before, I was like, oh, well, you know, no one wants to talk to me. My confidence wasn't that high. Now, I mean, I've always had a huge personality. Don't get me wrong. I've always been very open and bubbly, but now it's game on and I'm not nervous. I don't have any problem going up to someone in the bar and getting their number myself. That's just how it is now for me. That's great. Yeah, but dating apps are funny now. It's funny, but it's... Do you find, I feel like they wouldn't be very successful. They're not. They're not. They're just more fun. Is it more fun? Yeah, it's like entertainment, I guess. You know, who doesn't like to spend... It's a great confidence booster. Not even that, but who doesn't even want to just get to know someone again? Do you know what I mean? That's what's fun about the dating apps. Literally, it's a crazy world out there. When I say crazy world, I've talked to some nutty people who've got crazy weird fetishes and like it's just a hot mess out there. I can't look at anyone like that. Yeah, who's the asshole with the phone? Don't worry about it. Come on, man. My bad. But no, I think I'll meet someone through someone. I'm never going to meet someone through a dating app. Like that just won't happen. You don't think so? Don't say never. I don't think I will. Can you share... Where is it getting happening? It is really hard out there right now. Like first off, I'm Amazon. I'm like six foot, round up six foot, right? Stop saying that. Stop saying that. You're not Amazon. You're a tall woman. Okay, I'm a small woman, Mishiro. Yes, you're a tall woman. You know Wonder Woman was in Amazon. Yeah. Do you guys know that about the comic? Yeah, but she had like a really killer big job. So that's my next step then. But no, like it's really hard dating, being in fitness the way I'm in now because my life is so public. So you can literally Google my name and everything will pop up. Yeah, I could see that. So it's really intimidating for people to be like, whoa, this girl is everywhere and I vlog everything and... But don't get me wrong. I'm not going on a date being like, hold on, let me give him the best camera angle. You know, like I won't ever, ever do that. But my life is so out there. People are very intimidating. Have you used that line yet? I used that one time. I felt like such an asshole. What'd you say? Just Google me. Just Google me, Mish. Yeah, just Google me. That was an amulet. Someone kept asking me a bunch of stupid questions. You actually used that? Yeah, I said, just Google me, dude. Yeah. And then I felt like such an ass, pretentious asshole afterwards. Wow, I can't believe I just said that. But it was just, I was like doing, I was multitasking and somebody kept asking me, they asked me questions like, dude, just Google me. And then I thought, oh my God, that sounds fucking horrible. It does. It does, right? It does. So when, now give me, can we have a story? Can we, can we talk about one of these bumblebee tender dates gone wrong? I know, bumblebee tuna, bumblebee dates. I know you've got to have at least one of them that's kind of blown up in your face. Honestly, I feel like I screen people very well because I'm very, very cautious because my life is very public. What does that look like? So you ask certain questions that you, well, we got to back up a little bit. Like how does one of them get your attention first? Um, first off, if your height starts with five, you're out. I'm sorry. Just what do you call people who are, you know, their height starts with five, a friend. Selvett definitely. Oh, wow. Wow. Hey, that sounds terrible. Automatic friend zone right there. I mean, that sounds really terrible and I probably sound really, really shallow. What if they have a crush fetish, though? They want you to stop on them. That's even worse. We're just enough. I'm not even, I don't even know where that came from. That's going to be, no. We're not going, I'm not down there. You know, those guys need love. Hi, can you, can you smash me? Five, 11 and down, you're in the friend zone. Yeah, that sounds terrible, but hey, you know what? I might fall in love with someone who's five and 11. So that's typically what happens when you say she'll have that. Okay. So they got to be six foot or more. Yeah. Just cause my height is like something that's like, I want to feel girly. Do you know what I mean? So like, I want to feel like a guy's taller. I don't know what you mean. Yeah. Well, I'm feeling girly. Totally fair. I need you to have basically like have your life together. Like I can't be babysitting you. I don't want you to be needy because nowadays guys are needy. I will tell you what, like I was dating someone and that person needed me to text them at all times of the day. Let them know where I was. Let them know how I felt about them at least three or four times a week. And I'm like, uh, like that's another full time job. I felt like it's a perfect time to say just Google me, bro. So six foot or taller and older. Yeah, older. Older. Like I'm generally attracted to older guys for sure. Like I've never ever dated younger, even around two, two years above me. It's that's kind of like, well, it's a well known fact that men don't really get handsome until after the age of 35. That's so true. I mean, look at all of you guys. I mean, just, wow, that's true. Look at that. We're in our prime right now. So stunning right now. So what, anything, what else do they have to be fit? Wow. No, actually they don't. I mean, honestly, I find that being with someone who isn't into fitness as much as I am is good balance. Because I'm in it so much all day coming home to someone who's like, man, let's talk about them gains. And let's go to, you know, GNC and load up. Cheers on the protein change. Right. You know what I mean? And it's just like, and they want to talk about deadlifts and squats and PRs. I do that all day. And it's so overwhelming. You just want to come home to someone and be like, hey baby, let's talk about like the movies or what's going on in the world, not fitness all the time. Now don't get me wrong. I love to be able to work out with whoever I'm with. But it's just, it can't be constant. Like I need my space too. Yeah. Fitness fanatics can be hard to be around when you need yourself for one. They are. And it's almost like, I mean, you guys work in fitness. You guys talk to big fitness people. It's almost like it's so competitive no matter what. You can be in a relationship with someone. And even like my ex-boyfriend, he was in a fitness. And he was always eating more protein than me and had to mention it. Or he was always lifting heavier than me and had to mention it. And I'm like, what the heck? That's an insecure dude right now. You know what I mean? So I just, you don't have to be a fitness. Bitch, what's your PR over there? 30 grams of protein? I said this is 60. Right. So you don't have to be in fitness. We don't, you don't have to be in fitness. But it is a plus. It is a plus because you guys also understand that fitness is a life. And it takes over a lot of your life. So yeah, you have to have an understanding. How is your, how is your fitness business doing? You just started. Yeah, I did. Like, so talk about that. What did you start? What did you open? Because now you're doing, you're operating like a brick and mortar business, right? Yeah, I am. Yeah, I took the leap of doing a brick and mortar. So what happened was I've been an online trainer for what? Two and a half years now. And so many people kept going, can you train in person? Can you train in person? And I was like, jeez, that's just one more thing on my plate. But I went ahead and I leased out a space in a local gym just to try it out, just see what I thought. And I fell in love with it. I love the interaction with people all day. You know, the face to face, the different stories. But I just outgrew it really, really quickly. And I was like, yeah. And I just, I took the leap. I was thinking about it for so long and I kept putting it off. And I literally woke up one day and I said, oh, I'm just going to do it. And I made an appointment with a real estate agent. And I was like, I need you to show me at least eight spaces within this range this week. And she was like, okay. We found one. It was like a little hole in the wall. Like it's literally, it's in a building that shares spaces with people who manufacture cars and repair cars. So it's like an old school garage. I walked in, there was holes in the wall. The floors were disgusting. I'm sure there was like pee in the corner. Like that's how gross it was, right? And I just said, I signed the lease that day. I was like, I'm going to do it. Cause I just had the look in my head and I said, if I'm not going to do it now, I'm never going to do it. And I signed the lease and I pumped all that money into it. And it's, it's amazing. Like I just, it's home. You guys know what that's like. It's home. Oh, totally. Much respect for doing that. It takes a lot of courage to do something like that. It's scary every single day. Of course. It's not easy. It's not easy. So what are you finding because before you did that, your social media success was growing. You obviously online clients growing. Yeah. Opening brick and mortar, which is where we started. So we all started that way. We went the opposite. Right. We did brick and mortar and then moved to the social media kind of internet stuff. What are some challenges that you've encountered doing brick and mortar? Was it, was it different or harder than you thought it was? Was it? It's definitely harder than what I thought it was. You don't think about all the little things that go into running your business in person online. It's so easy because everything's online. I can have a file for this. I can have a file for that. But when you run your own brick and mortar spot, it's you've got maintenance repairs. You've got equipment repairs. You've got the emotional dealings of people face to face. That's what I would say is probably the hardest. Don't get me wrong. I love it. But I take on people's emotion 24 hours a day. You start to feel that energy transfer. You do. You do. And it's sometimes, and it's funny that they all, when there's a full moon outside, you feel it. Because everyone's in the same funk that the person previous to them was in. But it's keeping that high energy all day long. That's what's the most exhausting thing. But just all the little details, and man, I'm not as organized as what I thought I was. So the money, the trackings, the things like that, it's hard. People don't realize how hard it really is. Are you really trying to handle most all that on your own? Do you have a manager helping you out with all this? Everything I do with my online clients, with my studio, with my boot camps, it is all me. So yeah, it's a lot to handle. Are you looking into maybe changing that? Because if you're going to grow, that's going to be impossible. Yeah. No, it's at the point where I'm doing interviews for other people to come into my studio at this point. Because when you run your own studio, you want it to make money when you're not there, right? That's just a smart thing to do. So with my boot camps and traveling, I obviously want that revenue to still come in. It's just a smart thing. But not only that, it's growing too much. And I'm one person and I'm a single mom. So I need the help. I am at that point this quickly where I need the help. Well, that's a very exciting place to be though. Exciting and scary at the same time. Do you find yourself, I mean, we just had this conversation off air the other day about trying to remind myself that a lot of this too is to not get so, because we, I mean, motivated people like yourself, right, that are ambitious, go-getters. Sometimes too, we forget to be mindful of where we're at right now and actually enjoying the process and the journey. That's really, really hard for me to stop and breathe. It is. I mean, I find that common with most all of our type A type or ambitious personalities, we get so focused on these goals and we're so driven because that's what's made us successful in the past that we forget that, holy shit, man, two years have gone by and those were the good years of learning and learning all these people and watching it grow. Do you find yourself having to pull yourself out and do that so you don't get so caught up? Or do you have someone you lean on that you feel like gives you good feedback? Honestly, my clients are those people. They remind me constantly, for me, before I started this fitness business, before I was on Instagram and lost this weight, I was living literally penny to penny. I remember when my son was a year and a half and I was still married, we literally had $5 in our bank account to stretch us after the baby was fed and had diapers and we would have to go across the street and buy a little Caesar's pizza that would last us four days. Or we knew how to play the gas station game where you put in your debit card and it would only pen for $1 for two days before the full amount came out. Like I have been there to where I was buying beans and I was scared of where the electricity bill was going to come from. I actually had to sell my wedding ring to pay bills. And I remember going to the parking lot, finding this guy on Craigslist and he was going to pay the amount that I wanted for it and going to the parking lot and him giving me cash. Like that was the lowest of the low I've ever felt selling my wedding ring to make ends meet. And here I am now traveling to California and Arizona and Texas and have my own studio. And I can do these things and I can give my son those things. And I have to stop a lot because since you have been humble before, you want to work and work and work because you never ever want to get there again. So a lot of my clients are like, Erica, breathe. You know, they can tell when I'm having those days where I'm so busy and back to back. So they help coach you. Yeah. It's kind of like, I mean, in-person training is such a personal thing. Oh my God, for sure. People don't understand the relationships that you grow. Some people, you know, that's why I get really, really offended by comments online that are like, oh, of course she opened up a studio. It's another way for her to get money from people. And I'm like, y'all don't know how personal and how hard it is to do that. Fuckin' internet. And yeah, that Yahoo article I even did, man, those comments I'm telling you. I gotta read it now. And when it comes to getting money in fitness, opening a brick-and-mortar facility is probably not the best way to just make money. No, because I mean, you're trading dollars for hours at that point. Because there's only one of you. Yeah, and it's a, it's a very, I've learned it's a very selfless act, you know, because I am just trading dollars for hours. And all of my clients can contest to you that it's not just when you walk into my studio, are you working with me? They have my cell phone number where they text me if they're having bad days. They'll call me if they're at a restaurant and they're like, I don't know what to eat. Or if they're traveling, they'll text me like, hey, this hotel has this, what can I have? Being a trainer is a 24-hour job, 24-hour, you know, seven days a week job, and people don't realize that how exhausting it can be. Well, I'll tell you a couple, a couple pieces, because I've been exactly where you're at. Yeah. What'll happen is you'll feel like you're constantly running away from where you were. Yes. Because you want to get further and further and further away from it. Absolutely. And what you got to be careful for is that, okay, so you have a lot of energy, you're very motivated, obviously having an entrepreneur mindset, somebody who you were bound for success at some point or another, whether you did it this way or another way, what you want to be careful for is that you don't burn yourself out. Because your body is, it is limited in the amount of energy that it can expel, and you want to be careful with doing that, because you're going to put yourself in so many different places that when you hit that wall, it'll definitely be a learning lesson. It's the same advice that we give people. Really, just like the same advice we give people when they're extreme dieting, is that, you know, you've got this great goal, you're dieting super hard, you're training super hard, and you're seeing results, it's awesome, it's fun. And then just one day, you're just like, what is this all for? And you just, and then you go the other way, so extreme. And so that's why I say being mindful of the journey is so important. And I've, this year, I've had to. I don't know if you guys remember from this summer, with women's health when I was on their cover, I got really, really sick this summer. I found out I have two autoimmune disorders. And I've really had to step back and learn to listen to my body, because I was, the reason it happened so aggressively, and I got hit so hard was because I was going nonstop. I wasn't taking care of myself. I was flying across the country, you know, three times a week, and then training online and getting ready for photo shoots, and all the extreme, and my immune system just like tanked. So. Have you talked about this with your fans? Do they know? Some of them know. I haven't been as open with it, because I've just, I've been going through the motions myself, you know, just officially getting diagnosed this summer, and basically having to learn to listen to my body, and treat my body through foods that are going to benefit me. So a lot of them don't know, but. Are you open to talking about it? Yeah, absolutely. This is a really good time to talk, to share with you. I want to share it because it's so many people out there deal with what I deal with, and they don't know how to live with it, especially when it comes to fitness. Do you know that you're sitting in a room, each and every one of us have autoimmune issues. Okay, yeah. So it's. It's definitely, it's everyone deals with it at some level. It's part of what makes us so passionate about a lot of the shit that's out there, too. Yeah. That's, and there's a lot of things that, you know, that don't get talked about because we're still learning about it. Well, absolutely. So autoimmune issues in general are on the rise. Yeah. And it's an epidemic. It's a silent epidemic. Nobody's really talking about, but it's huge. In fitness, I just from observing anecdotally, it seems to be even worse in people in fitness because, number one, lots of people who get into fitness hardcore do so initially. Not, not, they don't all stay there, but initially because of some kind of deep, you know, deep seated insecurity, which drives us to over do the workout, over do the diet, over do all of it. And then number two, the amount of supplements and things that we do to our body nutritionally, which benefit us aesthetically, or we think they're going to benefit us aesthetically, which actually have a detrimental effect on our health. And so a lot of my friends, obviously I know a lot of people who are in fitness, I've worked with lots of people in gyms. I can't, I tell you what, I think almost every single one of them, once they hit their thirties, had their body rebel against them. And mine was when I hit close to 30. So, so what would you, can you go into what, what happened? Yeah. So it was women's health this summer. I was really working out hard because I had was, oh my God, I'm going to be on the cover of a national fitness magazine. Like how many people get that opportunity? So I was just really, I wouldn't say I was extreme, but I was doing more than what I would normally do when it came to my fitness regimen. My food was, you know, high protein. I was still doing carbs. I would carb cycle, things like that. You know, I was still, from what nutrition standpoint, I thought I was still taking care of my body. You know, I would, you know, my greens and things like that. But regardless, I was traveling a lot. I was working out harder. I was really stressed because it's a lot of stress, you know, going through all those major photo shoots and interviews. And I'm still a single mom. So, you know, making sure that my son's taking care of and being his, you know, classroom mom and taking care of the parties. Like I still do all of that. I was doing boot camp too. And I remember it was my last Ohio boot camp June, July. And I started to just feel like really blah and under the weather. And I was like, well, maybe it's just all this stuff catching up to me and I just need to slow down. And it wouldn't go away. And it just got worse. And what I mean by that, like my fatigue was so bad. Like I could barely lift my arms up someday. Crushing, crushing fatigue. Crushing, like debilitating fatigue. I've never experienced anything in my life like that. My headaches were really bad. I just felt shaky a lot. I didn't feel normal. My brain fog was immense, like immense. And I was like, this just isn't right. So I would go to the doctor, you know, in my normal family physician, she's like, oh, she tests me for everything, you know, the flu, strep, things like that. Maybe it's something lingering that your body is trying to fight. She tested me for mono, came back negative, but we all know like with mono, if you've had it for a little bit, it's going to come back negative because it's only at its peak like what it's in its first week or two or something like that. So she's like, come back later. And I was like, I don't think you understand. Like I can't function. My life is fitness and I'm a single mom. Like I don't think you get what I need to do and I can't do it. And I just remember being in tears all the time. And again, no one on social media knew about all this. I was posting like normal. I was doing what I needed to do like normal. And it just went on. I kept going back to the doctor time and time again for a couple months. And finally I put my foot down. I was like, listen, nothing is being done. You need to do something. So I went to blood specialists. I even went to infectious disease. Like that was scary. Like what could this be? And obviously they did all the blood paneling and things like that. And I even went to a holistic doctor as well. And I've really found with my autoimmune disease, like that's the way to go. Food really plays a major part on how you heal your body. And people just don't realize the power of food and what it can do for you. But I found out that I have Addison's disease, which is chronic adrenal failure. So as a fitness person, like that's where your energy comes from, right? Like that's how you function from day to day. So that explained why I was so debilitatingly tired all the time. I also have chronic Epstein-Barr virus. So that means I had mono back in college, just like chickenpox stays in your blood forever and you can get flare ups like shingles, mono stays in your blood forever and it turns into Epstein-Barr. And Epstein-Barr is like having mono-like symptoms all the time. You're never contagious, but it's like having those symptoms. So my body is very, very, very healthy. My body, I've learned, goes through flare ups if I start getting overworked. So that's why I've had to learn to listen to my body extreme when it comes to my job and holding back. So this summer, I put weight back on, obviously, because I wasn't working out like I was. I was barely getting out of bed. I was barely functioning. So I put weight back on. It was a lot of an emotional and physical transformation to this autoimmune disorder, learning about who I am how I handle myself when it comes to fitness. So now I've learned what I have and how I handle it. I see a chiropractor once every two weeks, sometimes once a week, because just keeping my spine healthy if a lot of people don't realize like what that can do for your immune system, that's been a game changer for me. I do a lot more clean organic foods, things like that. My vitamin game, like my CQ10 and my fish oils are top the line. Like I just have to be really, really careful with what I put in my body when it comes to my autoimmune disorder. Now, are you needing to take anything to support your granules? So I take Ashwanda and not, is it Echinacea? I don't remember. I see a holistic doctor. And it's pure... Just adrenal support. Yeah, it's so important. Like I notice night and day difference if I don't take it. Now, looking back before this hit you hard, because I know what happened to me. Okay, what happened to me, and I've talked about this before on the show, but it seemed like all of a sudden, like all of a sudden, I couldn't fucking eat anything. I had severe IBS symptoms. I lost weight, couldn't hold onto it, severely weak, super, just couldn't figure it out. After I came out of it, after I started really pain... Because it forces you. It forces you to look at everything. It's scary. Nothing will put a mirror in front of your face like a health emergency. Absolutely. And after I got out of it, I looked back at all the time before it hit me, and I could identify all the signs and symptoms that I had ignored, all the things I had done that I... Did you have any of those? Leading up to that, when you felt like you were good and you were doing... Were there signs and symptoms, little things that you just didn't pay attention to and wouldn't even realize that they were signs and symptoms? Yeah, you know, what they say about your body is, your body... If you have a symptom of something, that means whatever is being affected is not even working up to 60% for the signs to be showing already, something like that. That's statistic. 60% of whatever is not working is not working because you're feeling those symptoms. So, yeah, I ignored it. Like, light headaches more than normal. And I was like, oh, I'm just really busy and maybe I forgot to eat and I'm just running around like crazy, but the headaches were happening like once or twice a week. And I thought that was normal because I was so busy. That's not normal. Being tired every day around 2.33 o'clock, like to the point when I was like, I give up, like I just can't function anymore. Now, what would you do? 2.30 came around. Yeah. What would you do to get your energy back up? Oh, I would go to Starbucks, get a venti, you know, coffee. Like, we all just... We were automatically programmed to think that everyone has that 2.33 p.m. slump in the day, just from media in general. You know, everyone says, got that afternoon slump? Let me pick you up, you know? And what about the pancakes? And what about the headaches? Were you treating the headaches at that point? Oh, yeah, pop into Advil. Ibuprofen. And that's just so unhealthy for your body. It's not even funny. So I was doing that for a long time, you know? And I was doing what you think is... What the media makes you think is healthy. And it's not. So it got to the point where like you said, where you had to look yourself in the mirror and have to go through every single thing. Like you literally weed out everything when you see yourself going through that health and emergency. Do you believe in like... Everybody has a purpose. Like you're put here. Yes. There's something you're supposed to do. Yes. Okay, because I believe that. Absolutely. And I'll tell you what, you have... People connect to you very strongly for many, many reasons. But one of them is because you're very connected. You're very down to earth. You're very grounded and you're very honest with your message. And I have to believe that you've gone through this process to be able to help people through this process themselves. Because you went through... What you went through with your fitness journey in a very short period of time now is the classic... We see this all the time. This is the journey that clients go through. Some of them don't make it to where you're at right now. Well, some of them. It takes years and years and years. Because you literally did that. You went from completely... I was overweight, unhealthy, eating whatever to... Oh my God, I can lose this weight. And I can work my ass off and I can diet hard and I can power through it because I have... I look great in all this momentum and I want to go 100%. And nothing will stop me. I have the mentality of a champion and I'm just going to push through it to the point where you ignored symptom after symptom after symptom until... And again, this is how the body works. It will speak to you. And if you ignore it, it will yell at you. And if you ignore it, it will knock you down. You will never win. You will never win. At some point, it'll get its message across. And it's watching your journey. I can't say I didn't think that that might happen because I could see how much energy you had, how much energy you were putting out. And I remember thinking, like looking at your Instagram and your videos and your boot camps and thinking, I don't know how she's going to maintain this because this is... I hope she doesn't crash and burn like all of us have experienced. I always tell people, your greatest strength is your greatest weakness. Yep. And that's just who I am as a person. I am like a go-getter. Like when I get something in my mind, it needs to be done. And I'm just a very... Yeah, I'm a very grind now, shine later, climb to the top kind of personality. So it's hard for me to step back. But yeah, you're right. Like I won't be able to keep this lifestyle and keep this career that I love so much if I don't listen to my body because we're all made so very different. And we all struggle with things so differently. That fitness and this life is not a one-size-fits-all. So... And think about your message. Think about the message now that you can communicate. Yeah. Like it's going to be so much... It can help people even more. Yeah. And I think with social media especially, and I find myself doing this a lot too. And I wrote that post earlier on Monday. I don't know if you guys saw that, to the single mom who's really tired or to the person who feels like they can't keep up. Social media especially with fitness is so glamorized and it's everyone's highlight reel. And I even find myself like even with some of my teammates, I'm like, damn, she looks so good. And oh my gosh, I'm never going to get there. But I've had to learn like this is my body. This is what I was given. I may not be able to do what they're doing, but I can do what I can do in my circumstances. And I can rock the hell out of it. But I'm not going to ever be... I'm never going to be a competitor. I'm never going to walk the stage like my... I probably could, but my body just is like, you know, the extreme and it's just not going to happen. Their bodies do that too. Right. That's true. There's true. You have no idea how many messages we get. People. The competitive world is... I mean, that's part of what I speak out so much passionately about is how fucked up that world is. They're a terrible example for people. That's not fitness. And I know that's an over generalization. I know there's a small percentage that are in there that are sending the right message. Right. And there are. Yeah, there are. So if you're one of them and you listen... Probably if you listen to mine, but you're probably one of them. But the rest of them, motherfuckers, are sending terrible, terrible messages. We're confident. Yeah, no, terrible messages. And a lot of them have the worst eating disorders. I've dealt with more competitors with disorders than I have with normal people in my 15 years plus of training. Fact. 100% fact. They have more psychological, more fucking eating disorders. Poor connection to exercise. Poor connection to diet. Autoimmune issues. Metabolic damage like I've never... I've trained clients who were deconditioned their entire life, obese, ate horribly, come in, and I work with their metabolism, get it fast and get them in shape. I've had people who are working with me now, or who have talked to me now, who have been on stages, look super ripped, who have metabolic damage so bad, worse than I've ever seen. Yeah. Like these are... I'm talking about women who are ripped, 111 pounds, who work out like crazy. I'm talking like two hours, three hours a day, eating 1,000 calories a day. That just makes me tired thinking about it. But I have some really good friends who are competitors and who are going to compete, and I think that's a willpower like crazy. Like I couldn't even imagine. But for me, my message and what I want to get across is you don't have to... Everyone feels like if you're going to get in fitness, you have to do it for that reason. And I'm like, why can't you just... My message is I just want to live this way because I like it. You know what I mean? I just want to work out because I like it, not because I want to do something else for it. Like I always feel like, especially on social media, you have to be doing the next best thing. And I'm like, half of us, more than half the world is not looking for that next best thing. They're just looking to be healthier, feel better, learn how to work out the right way, not go to the extreme measure. I watched my following and the interaction of likes and comments literally cut in half when I stopped with the whole competing thing. Yeah, it's crazy. It's very glamorized. And people want to see that best body in physique, but it's very glamorized. And that's a shame because there's so many people out there that do have issues from competing. And I will say this, even from an aesthetic standpoint, when someone's healthy, when you're on pictures on Instagram, yeah, you get shredded, you look good. But in person, when you see someone who's healthy versus someone who's not healthy, but maybe leaner or whatever, the healthy person just looks more, it just, they have an aura about them that's more attractive. Yeah. Totally radiant over here then. I'm totally radiant then. You look much energy. Yeah, you look fantastic. That has nothing to do with that amazing tan in your hair today. Let me ask you this, how did you, how was your approach to exercise before all that happened? How was it changed after? I mean, I'll be honest, if you look at my Instagram, you'll see me even last year, even before the summer. I was a lot leaner. I mean, I was just bottom line. I was smaller. My weight was lower. And I was doing a lot more cardio for sure because you just, as a woman, you think that's what you need to do to get those pounds down. How much cardio were you doing? I was probably doing about 40 minutes a day, six days a week. Okay, so six days a week doing cardio. Yeah, yeah, and that's not bad, but there would be times where I would have dedicated cardio days and I would do like 90 minutes in one day and that's like, that's crushing. And that's on top of your normal resistance training? Yeah, absolutely. And how did you do resistance training? Was it like straight sets or was it circuits? I would do like super sets. I mean, I like to, regardless of my mindset, has always been keep your body guessing. So I mean, every four to six weeks, I would do something different. So my strength training has always been super sets, intervals, you know. So high intensity kind of thick and basic. I love that kind of stuff anyways. But yeah, I mean, I was more aggressive with my fitness before I got sick, for sure. And that's why I've had to really, really learn and have a new mentality with fitness. Like, you know, it's not an all or nothing. It's, it's, you're doing it because you love it and you're doing it because it's good for your body. It's not, it shouldn't be a chore. Like it, you know what I mean? Like it shouldn't be something that you have to do and then you have to go to extreme. Like I see all these posts that are like, oh my gosh, gotta get ready for 90 minutes of dedicated cardio. And I'm like, shit, I remember those days and how much I hated it. Now I'm on this dear master for 20 minutes because I love it, but that's all my body needs. Do you know what I mean? Like my body for what I want doesn't need 90 minutes. You know, so I've just really learned to listen and not be so extreme because your body doesn't need that. Not only that, but it backfires. Yes, and you get sick and like literally, I still struggle like, you know, again, I told you, if I feel like my body is getting too stressed or if I'm doing too much, like you said, your body will talk to you, then it'll yell at you, then it'll scream at you, and then it'll knock you the F out. So now I learned to listen when my body is talking to me before it yells at me. So I'll notice, you know, like with Addison's disease, like your lymph nodes and things like that will... They'll get swollen, right? Yeah, they'll get swollen. So for me, I'll notice a little bit of my right lymph node starts getting a little swollen. And I'm like, back it up, Erica, you're doing too much. I rest for a day or I take my workout down a little bit and I'm golden. You know what I mean? Like my body's like, thank you, that's what I needed. So it's so important to make sure you listen to your body. And the thing to consider, when was this that you were diagnosed with these? This summer. This summer. Yeah. Oh, okay. So it wasn't even that long ago. No. I'm still learning every day about how my body works. What you'll find is the more connected you get, because you're still, believe it or not, you're still in the early stages because you really just were... You know, this information that just came to you was shocking. Yeah. You're still... And it's never ending. You'll never end. It's never ending. You always learn more and more about yourself. This leads me to ask you, because you mentioned that you rely... We're not rely, but you get a lot of good feedback from clients, right? They give you your feedback with your business mind and your good work ethic. Who do you have to kind of lean on, on the professional level, like business and health and nutrition? Like, do you have another voice that you can, hey, you know, I've been doing this a lot. What do you think? Or anyone that you trust like that? Yeah. I mean, I've laughed that I kind of turned into a hippie this past summer, because when it comes like... Everybody does when something happens with their health. Yeah. I mean, that's like, almost like you go like, this is your last resort. I think we all grown up to think that the medical world is like your first answer. Like, go to your doctor and get pumped full of drugs and this is going to help you and that's going to help you. But no, it really doesn't. And sometimes it makes it a lot worse. So I have a really cool, like hippie community, I guess you can say. You know, like all natural, holistic, things like that. And, you know, I have a great group of friends back at home that really, really are supportive. And like, even my chiropractor, like she's like, well, have you maybe thought about doing this? Or, you know, it's just... I do have a really good team of people, I feel like, at home, that if anything was to ever happen, they would be the first ones to help me and help me get through it. One of the biggest things that I learned was, for the most part, obviously there's diseases and genetic disorders that exist, but for the most part, your body by itself with good nutrition and good movement will handle everything. You should not... We are made to heal ourselves. It's so powerful. Like your body is so effective at doing it. And if you have to take something to feel better, whether it be a drug or even a plant or an herb or whatever, you got to ask yourself, what is this bandage covering? And what am I not listening to? Because I know for myself, what I even get sometimes now, what I'll do is I will push myself a little too far and then I'll supplement with something or I'll drink more coffee or I'll push myself a little more using these things that kind of get me past the early symptoms and it just... And then I'll notice it starts to get worse. And so it's just one of those realizations like, man, you know what? Like, I got to really... Like, I got to be okay with doing nothing but are you starting to connect the dots with certain foods? Like are there certain things that you know have been a... Like I'll give you an example with me, man. I was... When I first started in the fitness industry, I believe that all the things that we sold in our gym would be healthy because we're a gym and we sell healthy stuff. So all the supplements, all the speed stack, energy drinks. Like, you know, I was like a two, three, like rockstar type of drinker a day. Plus I was having two protein, protein bars. And then I was having my shake, like my BCA... Literally that was every day of my life for like 10 plus years. And I also attribute a lot of that shit to my psoriasis and now what I'm dealing with my autoimmune. Do you see certain foods that are certain things that you take that have been hard to wing yourself off or that like you fight yourself with back and forth? Yeah. I mean, I think with just where I was before, I mean, when I was... I mean, I was 322 pounds. So I have an addiction to food no matter what. Like that's always going to be in my head. So weeding things out, it's always hard for me. Like, and it's always work for me. It just doesn't come naturally. So yeah, I mean, when it comes to like protein bars, like quest bars and things like that, like you think are healthier pure one protein bars. And you know, I'm even going into like the airport now and thankfully they have healthier options, but you look at the ingredients and don't get me wrong. I'm not like a holistic, all natural, one of those yogi kind of people that are like, let me look at everything. Like I still am a human being at the end of the day. I'm still going to pound the doughnut. Like that's just like, it's going to happen. But I'm more aware of what I put in my body 99% of the time. So there's a lot of fillers and stuff like that, like the protein bars. You look at it and you're like, what? It's like, I might as well be eating a Snickers bar. So, you know, it's funny the health and fitness community. You put fit on any kind of bar and people think it's good for you. And you look at it and you're like, what the hell is this? You know, like that fit crunch bar. Oh my God, it's like a cookie and a Snickers. Hey, we just got sponsored by them. Oops, take that out. But yeah, like I've noticed, I do have to, like I've, you guys might laugh at this, but like even gluten for me, it really, really has an impact on me. And I've noticed, and I used to be one of those people that would like kind of like roll your eyes and like, this is gluten free, you know what I mean? But until your face was something where your body just cannot function and you start weeding things out, like it's a huge awareness. So when I eat gluten and more, I'm not saying it's cut out completely, but when I eat a little bit more than what I normally would now that I've been sick, I notice like my headaches come on really strong. The next day my fingers don't even like want to bend. Like it's like, yeah, absolutely. So you're like, holy moly, like this really does play a part. All of this starts in the gut. Yeah, gut health is so important. That's what it's all pointing to. So you probably, or you might have had like a leaky gut syndrome going on. Yeah, I did. You did, yeah. And gluten and people will, there's some science saying it doesn't exist, gluten intolerance, but the anecdote is so fucking massive, especially among people who have autoimmune-like symptoms that when you have leaky gut syndrome, which is when the gut gets so inflamed over time that it actually becomes more permeable to things. So things start to travel through the gut, wall or lining and get into your bloodstream. Gluten happens to be one of those things that is a strong trigger for people. So when I meet people who have symptoms of autoimmune, even if they're mild and they don't have, they haven't been diagnosed, when I eliminate gluten from them, among other things, almost always they notice- They feel better. Yeah, almost always they notice that they benefit. And it's funny, you know, I'm from the Midwest, so we're not as open to that stuff as you guys are here. Welcome to California. Yeah, so every time I say that, you know, in Ohio, or even just like friends and family, they kind of roll their eyes, but I'm like, you guys just don't realize. Isn't that funny? I remember experiencing the same thing when I live in Chicago. It's like, you know, it takes somebody that has some kind of a real, you know, life-threatening sickness or like an injury or something. For them to open their eyes. Yeah, they just won't listen or receive the information. Well, even now, you know, that I've gotten, you know, diagnosed, and it is out there, even now people will still kind of roll their eyes, like, oh, it can't really be that big of a deal. Or like, what else do you have to do to remain healthy? And I'm like, once you put your body through so much, like, I dropped a lot of weight. I was working out a lot. I was eating a lot differently. Like your body just kind of like, what? So you do have to be really, really careful. And when you're at that point, when you just don't know how to function as a human being, like, you're scared, you're tired. I don't even know if I was gonna be able to continue my fitness career. You're willing to do anything and look at all options to make you feel better. And I've just really, really learned that food plays such a huge part in it. I just find it so funny that the people that fight that though so much, like. They do. It just, why do you want, I mean, and I know, like, and we can- It's not mainstream. Because people identify with their food. And I know we get, we get thrown in that hippie area, crunchy guys every once in a while. You're crunchy moms. We definitely turn into it, yeah. I mean, I know we do, but it's like, I mean, to me it's- I got armpit hair. It's like, it's so obvious to me when you talk about how we've evolved as humans and to compare something that you open up in a wrapper to something that's a whole food thing. And I think just in us being in fitness in general, it's kind of like scoffed at because in fitness, again, I deal with it all the time. Like, what do you mean you're not eating all that protein? And what do you mean that you're eating all these greens and you're not doing carb cycling like this and you're not doing that? And it's just like, that's not what my body needs. Do you know what I mean? And I think fitness is just everyone, when you think fitness, you think high protein, no carbs, tons of cardio, lift weights, and show your abs, and all this crazy stuff. Well, it goes back to the idiots that people are all looking up to. It's those people in the- That's why I said the competitive- Well, it's the culture. The competitive world is the most fucked up because they're the ones that have got a million, two million followers. And that's why I want to change the fitness world. Like, that's what I want to do. That's why you're here. That's why you're on the show. We like you. But it's so true. There's such a niche group of people out there that are being fed a lot of the wrong stuff when it comes to fitness. And that niche market is busy moms and busy dads who are raising kids and who have jobs and they just want to be healthier. But they're being fed the mainstream thing of you have to go to this extreme to get there. You have to never, ever enjoy life to get there. And you have to eat the same turkey and Brussels sprouts to get there. And that's what they go towards. And then that's why they fail. Yeah. And that's why they fail. And they're pumped full of all this crazy stuff. And even those people that succeed with the weight loss, then they end up with some other situation later on where either they rebound or something happens with their health. Let me ask you this, do you meditate regularly or do you take yoga? Like slow, like you in yoga type? Yeah. So funny, I am not a patient person at all. So let me tell you why I ask you this. I could have 100% predicted that you would be the kind of person that would say, I hate meditation or I hate yoga. Yeah. But you're a lot like us as well. Yeah. No, absolutely. But I've actually learned to do it. So I'm getting better. One of my really, really dear friends, high Andrew, if you listen to this, he is taking yoga teacher classes. And he was like, can I come to your studio and do yoga classes once a week? And before, if you would ask me that a year ago and been like, hell no, who are you? Yoga, whatever. Yeah, weirdo. Yeah, exactly. But now I'm like, yes. Like it's so important. Like I have, it's called, it's like mind space or something like that. It's an app. Yeah, head space. Head space, yeah. So it makes me take the time out of my day to sit there and like meditate for a hot second. And I do truly need it in my day. Like it does make a difference. So someone like you will benefit tremendously from a regular meditation practice and a regular yin type yoga class. Because I say that because I've worked with lots of people like you and I tell them, go do yoga. And then they come back to me. They're like, I've been doing yoga for six weeks and I don't notice any benefit. And I'm like, what kind of yoga you're taking? And they show me, I'm like, oh, power yoga. Yeah. Yoga with weights. Like that's not what I'm talking about. You need to do the super relaxing. Yes. And so here's what helped me because I completely relate to what you're talking about. It was exactly the same way. And when I realized that meditating actually made me more productive and actually made me better at my job, I started applying that same fervor that I have towards everything, towards meditation, which meant I had to buy into it. And then boom, the results were just like incredible. I mean, I've noticed when I do take a class, how much more relaxed and how much more focused I am throughout my day. Again, I think like you said, we're all given something for a purpose. And I think I got to that point of crash and burn. Like I think my journey of, hey guys, you can lose the weight, the health way, the healthy way, you can be a mom and work and do it. Because remember, I lost all this weight working still. Oh yeah. You can do all this the right way. Was my way to capture people. And then once I got their attention that I could do this, then like me going through all this crazy stuff and learning about my body is now to show them the next step of, does that make sense? Am I getting there? Oh my God, absolutely. Like I feel like I was given this, this sickness or this, what I'm struggling with for a reason. And I feel like all this, the yoga and the holistic way of living and you don't have to go to extremes, but it helps you just even small baby steps really, really help make your day difference. You know what I mean? Do you feel that it was a little bit of a gift for that to happen? Absolutely. Like I remember crying a lot. I remember crying a lot. And there's some days that I even, we'll still get emotional about it because again, even though I'm preaching this, it's something that I have to learn to still accept every single day that you cannot go to extremes. You cannot look like that. I still go through Instagram and I look at all these girls and I'm like, can you look at Page Hathaway or you look at, you know, some of even my teammates look so amazing. You know what I mean? But they don't struggle with what I struggle with. So I've had to learn, like this is my gift to show people that you can still take care of yourself. You can still conquer. You can still do what you want to do just in a different way. You're actually sending the right message that needs to be sent. You know, it's very different when you look like those people and the message you're sending is the one that caused you to burn yourself out. Yeah. The message you're sending now or the message that you're developing because I can hear it in the way you're talking. The last time we talked to you when we got off the phone, you know, off the interview with you, we all said like, oh, she's going to go far. She's got the right attitude. Yeah. But your message was a little different in terms of fitness and it wasn't bad. It was, we could all tell you were in that go, go, go, stage the fitness. Yeah, get a girl mood. Right. And now, now... You knew right where she was at. Yeah. We all identified with it. And now, exactly. And the message you're sending now is developing into the one that's really going to make... It's going to strike a big chord. And it's going to make huge changes. I'm so glad you're open to sharing. Yeah. And I'm actually filming a reality show back at home when I land. We're filming a reality show that our city and the production, the city is behind us in this production. It's really, really exciting. So we're picking five people. We're going through the videos when I get home. But the whole reason is transformation in regards to the way people think about fitness. So it's going to be, you know, obviously they want to lose weight and get healthier, but we're not just teaching them like fitness and wellness is about the weight loss and extreme way of living. We're going to actually take them, you know, to a chiropractor. We're going to take them to yoga. We're going to take them to do all these things that mentally and emotionally get them right too. So they don't have to burn themselves out. So they learn it right the first way. Oh, yeah. Versus having to go through the struggle that I've gone through where you're nervous and you're scared and you're like, God, why am I going through this right now? You know, so I'm really, that's... I'm really, really excited about it because that's what you just said is the reason why we're doing this show is to prove to them that what you see on Instagram and on Facebook, and don't get me wrong, I post selfies all day long. Like, you know what I mean? Like, I'm like, hey, girl, that's a good lighting, but you don't have to live that way to get healthy. No, and yeah, I'm excited. I'm so excited for someone like you. And I really wish people realized just how beautiful they really were if they just let themselves be healthy. Yeah. Everybody has this incredible capacity to be beautiful if they would just stop judging themselves so harshly and stop... I have to do that every day myself. It's such a difficult thing to do, but it's the way we need to go because the fitness industry has grown... Let me live it this way. Since the 1970s, okay? The fitness industry has grown exponentially. It's fucking massive now. It wasn't nearly... It wasn't even a fraction of the size it is now back in 1970. It has grown exponentially, and what has grown right along with it health problems, obesity, diabetes has gone up with it. If anything, that's grown even faster. If fitness... If the current state of the fitness industry was the answer, it's not doing... It's not doing shit. Right. We're getting worse. It's not making things worse. Things are being worse. And that's one of the reasons why we started the show was because we were all... All of us here were mad that the fitness industry wasn't the answer. It should be... I remember sitting in meetings and I remember actually our company used to look at the percentage, like, oh, we're penetrating 4% of the population. And we'd be like, wow, that's nothing. And that was the pitch to all of us was like, listen to how... There's so many more lives we can change. And I got to watch it go from 4% to 6% to 8% to 12% to... Now they're penetrating 20, like 20% of the population now with some working out or doing something health and fitness-related. And then to piggyback off of what Sal said, but then ironically, obesity is on the rise. Autoimmune issues are on the rise. Eating disorders, yep. All these things that you would think the health and fitness is supposed to be the answer is actually getting fucking worse. And that's where we got so passionate about doing this. So we said, somebody has got to get out there and voice this and make these people aware because if we keep heading this direction the way we're going, it's going to get worse before it gets better. And I know I keep using the word social media, but because it has blessed my life and I wouldn't... I think I would be here without social media. It just probably would have taken me a little bit longer, but I really feel like health and fitness and wellness is where I was meant to be. So social media has definitely helped skyrocket my career. I will never ever take that back. But I feel like it's a double-edged sword because we all... Like I'll have clients even come in and they're like, I only lost two pounds this week. And I'm like, oh my gosh, that's great. Like you're doing it the healthy way. Who are you comparing yourself to? And they'll go ahead and be like, this girl. And I'm like, that's not the right way to do it. And you know what? Again, guys, if you're listening, I can relate to you. There's mornings I wake up and look at my phone and like, oh, that girl. You know what I mean? But it's a double-edged sword. And that's why I want to change it so bad. So, so bad. Social media, like anything that's new, can be a very powerful tool. That's what it is. Absolutely. You want to think of social media as fire. Like when humans discovered fire, it had the ability to greatly advance humanity, but it also had the ability to kill. And almost every great invention, look, nuclear energy, like discovering nuclear energy, had the potential to power, give us a limitless power. We're getting in deep over here. Well, it's true. But obviously we got nuclear weapons as a result. Social media has that as well. And it amplifies both ends. It can amplify the cosmetic aesthetic. That's funny as my selfies are the bomb. You want fire. It can amplify the shitty side of fitness, but it can also amplify a message like yours, which may not have been possible without social media. That's why I'm very blessed. It's a double-edged sword though. Well, I don't know if you listen to the Tom Billu episode that we just did. We interviewed Tom Billu. If you haven't had a chance to listen to his episode, listen to that episode. An incredible story also. Is he over six foot? I'm just kidding. He's married. He's married. Oh, okay, never mind. But he's a gazillionaire. Yeah, he's a gazillionaire. And he's unbelievably humble. He comes from a morbidly obese family. He tells his whole story of quest and how that was built. But anyways, you know, the point I was telling you is that, you know, he was talking about, you know, right now we are now seeing Generation Z coming up. And, you know, we're part of X, right? And then Y was after us. And now you see Z. And the truth about all this, though, is Z doesn't know any different without that. It will become a necessity and all businesses will have. Social media. Yeah. Oh, yeah. So it's like, you know, it is a double-edged sword, but it's also a tool that you will have to learn how to use. If you're going to be successful in business. It's kind of like saying a computer's a double-edged sword, you know, for back in the day. Yeah, of course. Absolutely. Every generation had a double-edged sword, right? Absolutely. The social media thing, yeah, it'll get figured out. Yeah. Yeah, you just have to, you know, put a cautionary tail out there. Well, I think people like yourself are, I love, like, you know, even like when you do your pictures where you show your stomach and you're like, this is me. Yeah, this is who I am. Yeah, I have stretch marks. I still have this and you just put it out there for people. I really think that that is the future of how people are starting to figure it out. Yeah, you're actually from a part of- They're starting to embrace that and realize, yeah. Because they're real, they're slowly realizing it. Everybody was kind of bamboozled the first couple of years, you know what I'm saying? Like, oh my gosh, you put stretch marks on mine. Right, yeah, right. And so now they're starting to- Did you shop this? Yeah. What? I feel transparency will be the, will take over. Yeah. And I believe that people that are starting- And I love that. Yeah, I love that too. And I have, see, because I believe in humanity. I believe that they're- I believe in us. I believe that there's smart people. I just think that, hey, the social media thing, when it first came out, there was quite a few people that were pretty fucking clever with Photoshop and then treated it like a way to market themselves and they were strategic about it and they bamboozled a lot of people. But I think now people are becoming savvy, they're starting to pick up on it, they're starting to figure it out and- So you're telling me I need to get rid of that Photoshop app on my phone. But what is it, the beautify one that girls do? Yeah. Is that what it's called? Yeah, there's like a beautify app. Downloading it. Downloading it. It's like a beautify app. My girl showed me this. She's like, look at all the girls are downloading right here. She shows me, right? And then she puts her, like a picture of herself and then it goes to this app and then just like automatically, it's like glamour shots by Deb or whatever like that. Instantly, she's like sparkles behind her head. I woke up like this, right? Yeah, right, exactly. No, it was great. Birds chirping, my idiot. You said you feel like you were meant for the wellness and fitness industry. Yeah, I do. Do you feel like that it might be a stepping stone to something bigger? Like world domination. No, no. No. That's what I'm going to say. Presidency, you know something? No, yeah, no, not that. You know, I do, I'm at that point in my career right now where I'm asking myself, what's next for me? You know what I mean? And I just want to navigate myself through that. But yeah, I absolutely feel like this is a stepping stone for me. What's funny is like, I'm even kind of tossing in my head, like do I want to step back a little bit from social media and be more involved? Honestly, community is so big on my heart lately. I feel like, check you guys out. Like you guys have this group of friends, you guys help all these people. We really hate each other. Yeah, I can tell. No, but I really, really love the personal interaction of helping people. So I don't know where I'm going to go with that. I have a lot of ideas in my head. I have a product that I'm coming out with an exercise product that is in prototype right now. Oh. Really, really exciting. So I don't know. Like there's so many. I don't think the one-on-one thing will, you'll ever leave that completely. I think even all of us, we still have one. It's fun for me. We still have one. Well, it keeps my fun. It keeps your finger on the pulse. Yeah, the fitness and how it's changing and things like that. Definitely. And when you work with people, what happens, and what I saw happening to myself even, is when I stopped training people, is you start to distance yourself from the realities of actually working with people. And all you deal with is social media and our podcast. And so I started online coaching again, more so because it keeps, and we have a private forum that does a good job of that too. It keeps me in the game. It's almost like being like a general, but then you got to go down to the field and be in the middle of the shit so you know what's going on. You got to be able to crawl through it. Yeah, but the reason why I asked you if you felt like it was a stepping stone, not because I wasn't trying to make you sound arrogant. Like, oh yeah, I'm going to do it. It's because your message transcends fitness. It's very much like a better your life coach, believe in yourself, grow beyond. And those are messages that are true for everything. Fitness is just a great way to initially communicate. Well, that's why I think with the show that we're going to be filming, I'm really, really excited about. So I don't know if something like that, but yeah, I do feel like I'm not going to be training in my studio forever. I even will tell my clients, I don't want to do this forever. But it's my stepping stone to figure out what my next step is for sure. I think it was one of the most draining things for me because you mentioned something earlier. I remember when I was pushing out 12 plus clients a day in classes and camps and doing all that. And you notice when you're in person doing that, and sometimes the moon, whatever you want to call it, everybody is kind of in that. And they just, no matter how positive, because I'm full of energy too with my clients and totally positive dude, but it starts to kind of suck, suck it out of you. And then you start to realize like, man, I'm constantly giving myself to all these people. When am I going to love myself? Yes, that is huge for me. Like my boot camps, this is going to be the last year I'm actually doing my boot camps. I got that joke Kyle over my head. Justin loves on himself all the time. Got it. He's loving on himself over there. I know. No wonder you're quiet. Like you've just been kind of like. Who's the heavy breather? It's not me today. Like I'm looking at Sal and Adam over there the whole time. You're wrong to me. Yeah. No, but like this is going to be the last year I'm even doing my traveling boot camps because like you said, I am high energy all day long from 7am until the boot camps over at like 6. And I am constantly giving, giving, giving that we're at the end of the day. I get to my hotel room. I'm not physically exhausted. I'm emotionally exhausted. And that is more draining than being physically exhausted. And I do that all the time. Completely. Yeah. So, and it's almost like a humbling experience I guess because when I get back to my hotel room after being like on a high all day and emotionally draining then you come back to your hotel room and it's just you. And you're like, who's there for me? You know what I mean? Like who's there to lift me up and be positive for me? Do you know what I mean? Totally. Absolutely. That's why this is, you know, people go, well, why are you doing this? Why is it your last year? It's so much fun. And I'm like y'all to understand like how exhausting it truly is to do this. So one of the best pieces of advice I had in regards to this was years ago. So I had the, the pleasure of training. Some very, very high level surgeons and doctors who worked nearby because my facility was, I had a wellness facility and it was next to a hospital. And one of the people that I trained was, she was a female surgeon, one of the best in the country. And she was just a badass. I respected her so much. Number one, knowing that she's in a boys club and that when I trained other male surgeons and surgeons don't typically say good things about each other. I don't know if you've ever worked with doctors but it's very much like- They call the God complex. Yeah. But every time I brought her name up, all the other surgeons were like, oh my God, she's amazing. So she was just very well respected and she would come in and sometimes she would be a little down and I'd ask her if she didn't mind telling me what was going on and she'd tell me about a patient that she just worked on and like there was one lady that she worked on and she went in because they saw some stuff on a scan and then she opened her up and saw that her, there was she just full of cancer and she had to close her up and tell her basically that she was gonna die. Yeah. And she would be sad for about 10 minutes and then she snapped out of it and this would happen sometimes. That's part of the job. And I remember I asked her one day, I said, you know, I said, how do you, like I can't imagine dealing with that because I'm pretty sure you've lost people on the operating table. I'm pretty sure you've lost lots of people that you've had to tell them that they're gonna die because she worked on cancer patients. I said, how do you deal with that? And she said, well, in the beginning of my career, it drained me and destroyed me so much because I owned, I would start to own what they felt. And I learned, I had to learn how to be empathetic without owning what they were experiencing because I realized that if I did that, as much as I loved them and I wanted to feel what they were feeling, I couldn't do my job and I couldn't really help them. And I'm here to help people. I need to be able to not own people's emotions and feelings. And that really made sense to me so much. And from that day forward, I found myself not being as exhausted because when you work with clients, anybody who's listening who's been a trainer, they'll tell you they're gonna come in, especially if you've been training for years, you're gonna hear about their family. You're gonna feel awesome. Oh yeah, you know everything. It's the most intimate thing ever. And if you own that, it'll destroy you. You work with 10 people, you got 10 different issues going on. You go home, you have no time for your family, no time for your friends. Worse than that, you have no time for yourself because you're so spent and I learned to not own those things and it made such a huge difference. Yeah, I'm learning. I mean, this is my first, you know, couple months into owning my own studio. You know, so I'm learning slowly how to separate myself from those emotions. Like I have a lot of clients who are going through some pretty heavy shit, you know. And their workouts with me are the way they let it out. And that's what they look forward to because they know they have a non-judgment space. They can let it go. So, but yeah, I understand what you're saying. It's hard for me because I'm a very attached person. Like I take people very personally when I'm working with them. You seem like you're very empathetic. Yeah, like I just, I love on people, you know. And so it's hard for me to detach myself, but I have to for my own well-being a lot of the time. Back to that greatest strength, greatest weakness. These are your great strengths about you. You always got to know that. You got to be able to do that. It's so hard for us to do that. Should I just be cold? Can I just be a bitch? Ah, why not? Like Justin over there all quiet. I'm not talking to anyone. I love that, you know, you are like this and you do show that. And since you are, let's do this because I feel like you're a type of person that will do this. And most people and most guests don't because they're so insecure with themselves is, you know, I feel like, you know, I can look at my life and I, and people that are very ambitious. I think I, I'm not alone here. Save me if I'm, if I am. So please sell is you have these different silos in my life. And I, and I'm like, yeah, I'm kicking ass at that. Yeah. Kicking ass at that. Fuck, I'm not kicking ass at that. Oh God. When you, when you look at your life like that and you evaluate it like everything, you know, everything from being a mom to social, to friendships, to your business, to your diet, to wow, how you loving yourself. What, what, what do you feel like you're kicking ass in? And what do you feel like is your fucking Achilles heel or just keeps getting? Honestly, I feel like everything's my Achilles heel. I mean, I'm fucking up at everything right now. Just keeping it real. My personality is a very go-getter personality. And I have to learn like we talked about earlier to slow down. And for me, it's like I should always be better than where I am. And that's just who I am as a person. I've, I don't know where I even, like I just remember being even a teenager and like working at Old Navy. I had to fold more t-shirts and they had to fold. Like that's just my mentality. So I will say what I'm kicking ass at is being a mom. Like I know he's well taken care of. I love on that little boy, you know, I may not be a Pinterest cookie mom, but I make sure that at least gets the store and get cookies for his class party. Do you know what I mean? The kid is well mannered. He's very sweet. He knows no stranger. And he knows what it takes to be successful. You know, he is growing up with a single mom. And don't get me wrong, his, his dad is amazing. I have great support. My ex-husband is such an amazing father. But you know, when he, when my son's with me, you know, 99% of the time, he sees what it's like to run a business. I take him to my studio. He's got his own room in my studio. So he's with me with my clients. What a great example. Yeah. So he, he has his own room and he doesn't like to even stay in his room. He likes to come out and watch. And it's funny, you know, even every time he sees, you know, a person running, he says, get a girl, you know, because he just hears mom say it all the time. So we'll be in the car and we're driving and he sees someone working out. He's like, get a boy or get a girl. And it's just, you know, he, he's saying that being healthy is a good thing. It's a normal way of life. You know, that it's not something that you should feel guilty about taking an hour out of your day to work out. So what I'm proud of is being a mom. Like I feel like that little boy is going to make such an impact on the world because it's just in him. Oh, smoking like a true mother. So, you know, I'm very, very proud of the little boy he's grown into be. What my Achilles heel is, is myself. Like I'm still learning about my health, my health journey. Like, like you said earlier when it comes to autoimmune disorders, every day you're learning something. So when I get a headache, I'm like, shit, I thought I was doing okay. Like what do I need to analyze? So my own health journey I feel like, I mean, granted, obviously I still want to lose more weight and I still want to be able to lose about 25 more pounds. So that's still a goal for mine in business. Like I feel like that's my Achilles heel because owning your own brick and mortar is a whole new beast. It's not just online anymore. And then I constantly have ideas in my head and I need to learn to, what is the word, filter myself better. Do you know what I mean? Like I can't keep going three, four, five different directions at all times. I need to pick something and go for it. So those, but I think those are always going to be everyone's Achilles heel. I would love to dive into the business thing because this happens, this is our wheelhouse. So are you okay sharing that out? Because we have a lot of entrepreneurs. And I feel like this is an area also that on social media people don't share. They don't talk about how fucking hard it is, how expensive it is, how much money you're not making. That's what kills me. So like, I'm like, damn, I'm an online trainer. I actually still work full time. Like I am an HR and marketing director for a franchise company. So I still do that. I'm a trainer. So okay, now is that the main source of your income? No, absolutely not. Okay, so training is taking over that. No, oh yeah, absolutely. But again, single mom mentality. Right now, shine later. Do you know what I mean? So I do that. I have my studio. I have product lines coming out, filming the reality show. So I do all this and then I see someone on Instagram, buying a brand new $1,500 suit or taking these elaborate vacations and brand new designer bags. And I'm like, what the hell am I doing wrong? You know what I mean? Like why do I not have a huge gluey on my arm? That kind of thing. But I have to realize you have to spend money to make money. And it does your first couple years in business are always the hardest. But I'm actually, you know what? Like, I told you guys a story of where I was just even three years ago, like five years ago, buying a pizza to last me. I'm nowhere near that. You know, not at all. I'm just very, very smart with my money now. Look at where you're at now. Yeah, I've become almost like a money hoarder. Do you know what I mean? So like, I'm going to go squirrel and like keep it all in the bank and like want to invest and things like that. So yeah, like when entrepreneur is such a different, like you have to love it. Do you know what I mean? Like there's no gray area. You either love it or you don't. You know, and it's a grind and it's a lot of hard work. But I'm open to any entrepreneurial idea. Well, this is why I want you to ask us like when you look at your business right now and you look at it as a whole and you're obviously trying to grow it, you know, there's no doubt your passion and your heart, everything is in the right place. I got no advice for you there. I mean, I believe that that's that's what's going to continue to make you grow and be successful. I'm actually interested in helping or if we can talk about openly on the show, when you look at yourself on the business side, what would you ask us? Like, you know, hey, I'm thinking about maybe doing this. What are your guys's thoughts on it? More than likely, if you're thinking about doing something with your business about your location, one of us have probably done that multiple times at one point in our career and probably have something decent or opinion to say about it. Yeah. Well, I mean, obviously, when you have your own brick and mortar, you know, just growing that in general, you know, what can you do? Are you going to start opening more? Are you going to become a chain? Are you going to add more trainers? Like, you know, that's, this is all so new for me. Like, literally, I'm starting from the bottom when it comes to opening your own business and a lot of trainers are where I am. You know what I mean? Like, where do I go next? Like, every day is like, what do I do? Well, the first thing I could say with that is you have to decide very now, if you haven't already, what the ultimate goal is with the brick and mortar. Is it to, do you, is your goal with the brick and mortar to make that the primary source of your business and to explode and grow that? Or is that more because you like to learn from working with people one-on-one, you enjoy the time, and you just want it to take care of itself? Yeah, that's, that's where I am with it. Okay. Um, you know. It's because it's a different approach. Absolutely. It's a way different approach. Now, don't get me wrong. There's a lot of trainers who are like, girl, are you crazy? Like, I'd love to be in your spot. Like, you've got a great list of clients. You know, your overhead is low. Like, you can do this and whatever, but I do it because I honestly love the interaction with my, the people and the clients. It gets me out of my own head for a little bit. Do you know what I mean? So I love that. What I want, I am like a behind the scenes, like I want to be like a Martha Stewart. Does that make sense? Like that woman is behind the scenes and so many things that you wouldn't think she's behind the scenes of. And bars at one point. Okay. I don't want to be that part of Martha Stewart, obviously. But, um, yeah, like I just, I want to be involved. Yeah, maybe I can start designing those. Um, no, but I like want to, I want to build a company. I just don't know where I want to go. Does that make sense? Like I have a product line I'm coming out with. Yes. Well, that, yeah. So that's one thing. Like we talked about personal training, you're trading dollars for hours. So I don't want to be 50 years old, still training 13 hours a day. Do you know what I mean? Oh, I do know what you mean. So that's like. Exit strategy. Yeah. I want to, exactly. I do this because I love it. I don't want to do it forever. So like product lines with fitness. You know, I don't know, like there's just so many, ideas going on my head. I just need to mind map them out. Well, I'll tell you what Erica, I, it, I've been an entrepreneur or self-employed now for 15, I think 15 years. And it took me 15 years to truly, because I always had some kind of a vision and ideas, but it took me 15 years to really clearly see what's happening. That started with mine pumps. So it took me that long to get to this point. And so. Great. So I've got 10 more years. You might not necessarily, you have mine pump on your side. No. You've got, you've actually got 10 more years. I feel like I could have shaved at least seven years off if I had the future us talking to you. Yeah. Well, it's not just, but it's not just, not that I'm telling you it's going to take you that long because it might, it might take, you might do it next week. Yeah. My point is to be, be okay with it. Like be, what's it, don't judge yourself so harshly. And here's what I mean by that. I think a lot of times we look at where we're at and we judge it because we should be doing better. Yes. And if we, if we say to ourselves, if we say to ourselves, I'm happy with what I'm doing. I'm happy with my body. I'm happy with where I'm at in business. We think those of us who are super entrepreneur-minded or hardcore-minded, we think that means we're going to settle for it. You're going to be complacent. That's not the same thing. Yeah. Complacency is not the same thing as loving where you're at and loving yourself. Right. For example, there's a big difference between working out because you hate your body and working out because you love your body. It's a very big difference. So you can sit there and say to yourself, holy shit, I am really happy with where my business at. I'm really happy with the way I look. And that doesn't mean you're going to be complacent because I think we're afraid of that. We're afraid of saying I'm happy with right now. Oh, shit, because I'm going to stop now. Right. It's not the same thing. Well, that's why everyone thinks that you have to chase the next big thing. Like you can never be okay with where you are. Do you know what I mean? We're in a generation where we constantly have to get better and chase getting better. But there's nothing wrong with like being like, yes, I own my shit. But yeah, I get it for sure. There's going to be a point in the future that you will look back in, you know, let's say 10, 15 years from now, successful, making tons of money, business is great, everything's awesome. And you're going to look back on these days. I promise you remember, I said this, you're going to look back on these days and you're going to remember them fondly. Yeah. And you're going to go, man, I remember those days. I missed those days when it was so, it was smaller. It was more pure and all the things that right now we tend to take for granted. Oh yeah. There's, I mean, you guys, I'm a mine pump in California doing a podcast. Do you know what I mean? Like five years ago, I was splitting a pizza. You know what I mean? Do you know what I mean? So yeah, I totally get it. There's times where I have to sit down. Like we, we tend, I tend to go through the motions so much because I'm like, okay, this is what I got to do next. I got to do next that I don't stop and breathe. Like even yesterday on the plane, I was like, holy crap. I was able to buy a plane ticket, be able to go shopping off the airplane and do all this stuff. And I did. I seriously sat on the plane. I was like, I'm doing this. Like this is me. So awesome. Yeah. We've talked a lot about like the psychological side, the emotional side of the business and everything like that. You know, if I could give you just some pure business advice, kind of where you're at and what's happening, I would tell you to love your ideas, but don't marry them. Yeah. You know, people like us that are super ambitious, opportunities are hitting you left and right right now. And this sounds awesome. That's a great piece of advice. Everything sounds absolutely fucking awesome. And you're the type of person that could technically kill almost any one of those ideas if you want to. If you put your mind to it, and you know that. I love you boys. Can you just come home and sit with me and tell me this all the day. You know this about yourself, right? I mean, you have that attitude. Yeah. People like you, like us, you have to have that attitude to get where you're at. So you have that. Now that also again, could can become your Achilles heel because you want to entertain every business idea and every idea does sound great. But then like you mentioned earlier that, you know, time is money, man. And your time is very valuable to you. So being able to step outside, okay, yourself, and I'm excited. Oh my God, this sounds great. I got a product line is to do this. Oh my God, I'm going to make shirts for this. Oh my God, I'm going to run boot camps all over the country. Oh my God, I'm going to do a reality. And the next thing you know, it's like, you're really trying to do like 10 different like there's, there's a that's each one of those things could be a million dollar business by itself. Yeah. You know, and so we sometimes we get this shotgun approach of like, I'm going to just fucking do all of it. And then the one that's going to make it is going to present itself to me. And that's the one I'm going to do. And then I'll just fuck all the rest of them where it doesn't necessarily work that way because they're all requiring energy from you. So if I could give you business advice, I would say to evaluate that where you're currently at and love your ideas, but don't marry them. Yeah, I read an article a while ago that resonated so strongly on this particular thing. And it the question was, are you an entrepreneur or are you an artist? And I read that one. Did you? So the difference I guess between entrepreneur and artists is an entrepreneur will have a business and no one to leave. An artist will fucking grind it out and stay with that because they're so passionately attached to it. Now, the caveat is that the most successful people in the world are both, the most successful people in the world are entrepreneurs who are also artists but who've learned through trial and error or through mentorship that you need to, like Adam said, it's okay to not be married to some of these things are so passionate about like, oh my God, I love, you know how hard it was for me to sell my wellness facility? It was one of the most difficult decisions I've ever made in my life and it wasn't because it was making me a shit ton of money. It wasn't. You were attached to it. I was so attached to the people there and, you know, I said, I think it kept me up at night. I think to myself like, what are these clients going to do without me? Yeah. Like they've been training them for 10 years and I've been a staple in the community for so long and my people come in and they feel safe there like, what's going to happen all these people I've got these trainers that work there that run their businesses out of there and, you know, I was so like, and it became, it became my Achilles heel and it was a very difficult thing to do but it was the best decision I could have ever made for both myself and for a lot of those clients because a lot of those clients got to learn how to work with other people. They got to learn to do some of the stuff on their own and that's of course all hindsight. So I mean, great piece of advice. Yeah, to add on to that too, like can you sell your business? Like that's something I'm always constantly asking myself if I'm doing anything, you know, anymore, I'm like, is this something that, you know, I can step out of or am I fostering people underneath me to then come through and take over this business? So that's another thing that we're still, if we have an Achilles heel right now, it's, it's we've, we've recognized that we need to bring people in and we need to bring them in and to run certain legs of our business in order to run at an even higher rate to, to meet up with the growth because you're growing astronomically. Oh, that's my thing for sure. I need help and I'm a control freak when it comes to my you know what I mean? Like, I think with any new business you're a control freak because I'm like, oh, it's my personalization and that's why they work with me. It's because they're not talking to someone who's not the actual person. Like I can't tell you how many emails I get that go how often will Erica help me? And I'm like, hey girl, hey, it's actually me. Do you know what I mean? So, yeah, that's, that's for sure one of my biggest problems is I need someone to help me. Now, have you had situations now that you've gone through what you did with your health and the whole process of losing the way out of immune and now you're, now you're training people. Have you had encounters with clients that you've had to tell them, hey, I think you need to back off on the exercise or I think you need to, how was that? Yeah, I do all the time. I'm just very honest with them. Like there's some, when you're a trainer, that's a tough conversation. Yeah, when you're a trainer you have to be a chameleon. I think like even just a business person you have to be a chameleon. Like I need to be able to go walk into a room full of CEOs and talk on their level and then no offense guys, talk to you guys. I'm just kidding. What the hell and shit and all these f-bombs and stuff like that. Right. But you just have to learn how to feed that person the information in a way that they're going to be able to absorb it the correct way and not be offended by it. There's some girls that I can be like, listen, you're freaking crazy. Stop it. Do you know what I mean? Like you're not going to do the right thing. And then there's some people that I need to be very educated with them. I need to give them the facts. I need to show them statistics. Like you have to defeat it to them differently. But I'm just so used to it now. It's easy for me. You know? But yeah, I mean, I have to have that conversation a lot of the times. Now, has that changed from before you got sick to now? Yes. Oh, really. Yeah. What was it before? What would you have said before to somebody? I think I was more like coddling people before. Like I was very mama bear. Like, oh, well, you know, let him, let him work it out themselves. But now that I've gone through it and how scary, like I can't keep using that word enough. It was scary. Like I was waking up every day going, am I going to live today? Like that's how scary you feel. I don't want anyone to go through that if I can help them avoid it. Why not? Do you know what I mean? But I also think that a lot of my clients had went through that with me because I was renting out that space and in a local gym when I was sick. So there was times where I would come into the gym and I would look like I look tore up from the floor up. You know, and my clients were like, oh snap. You know, so they, a lot of them went through it with me. So I think it's just, I don't know, just putting it out there and being more open and about it. Like my post, I don't talk much about it, but I do talk about it. You know, when I go live or I've had a couple posts where I talk about, just think being honest. Like if I can help you avoid feeling the way I felt, that's why I'm going to be aggressive with you because it's awful and I never want anyone to feel that way. You connect very strongly, especially to women. Yeah. Very, very strongly. How is the experience in fitness different or how you've seen different for women than it is for men? Because I see a lot of differences between the two of them. It seems like, I hate to say this. Okay, go ahead. For women, it's so emotional. You know, we have a more personal attachment to it. Our weight and our bodies. Now granted, you guys, it's really close to you guys too. You know, your aesthetics and the way you look and your PRs and all that stuff, don't get me wrong. But women, we chase a feeling versus a look. I don't know if that makes sense. Explain that. We take it so personal to the point where it will really affect the way you feel about yourself when you wake up in the morning. I think guys feel that a little bit, but not as much. Like girls can wake up and the first thing that they do will look at themselves in the mirror and tear themselves apart. You know, I know so many of my clients who will wake up or you know, I start training at 6.45 in the morning and the first thing I hear come out of their mouth is, oh, I'm so bloated today. And oh my gosh, why do I feel like this when two days ago I felt amazing and why, and they just, I hate this about myself. Can we work this? What's on my plan today? Because my, this looks so bad and I can't stand this about myself and they just, like it is. It's funny you say that because I actually feel this is something that is equal. Really? Men just express it differently. Yeah. I think we're just more the way our insecurities come out by puffing our chest out and doing things that are, I mean, to me, I go through that same. That same thing. So you guys identify who you are based off the way you look. Yeah. So just, just like women do and there's Jeff, there's the total emotional side. It's just how the two sexes react. Yeah. Well, I think male and express. Reaction is huge. Reaction in the way they express is huge. Like, I can't tell you how many times I've had people literally drop and cry in the middle of their workout sessions with me. That means you're an effective trainer. You know what I mean? It happens at least. Or a really shitty one. Yeah, that's true. That's true. That's true. Screw you. Screw you. Screw you. Could be one or the other. I'm just, just saying. You had to go there. I appreciate it. Brother I never had, never wanted. But. It's at all. Yeah. He was my favorite. Whatever. But no, like it's, you know, I've had a lot of women just drop and cry in the middle of their workout sessions because it's really tapping into their emotions and things like that. And what you can do in fitness really brings out who you are as a person too. I've just, I've grown such a connection to it on that level. Everyone has I think so. But when it comes to the way Adam said, like the expression and the way they react to things is so different in fitness. Here's the difference that I see. Because I do, I think it's the same in many ways, but here's the difference where I see there's a big difference between men and women in fitness is that men don't seem to judge each other. Oh, that's a good one. Nearly as harshly. There's less pressure. There's less pressure, I think. Like, yeah. Yes. That's right. That's how I feel. If I'm with a group of men and, you know, we're going to go to the pool and, you know, some of us are overweight. Yeah. Like, we're not like looking at each other going, like sizing each other up. Oh, we might do that. We might do that with money or with our cars and stuff like that. But when it comes to our bodies, nobody's like, you know, like if we're hanging out and there's a funny guy but he's got a big belly, no one's going to be like that fat guy over there. Yeah. You're even thinking about it. We tend to not be so harsh. Yeah. The ego is equally powerful in both. It's just how we express it. Yeah. Each sex has their, you just hit it on the head when you said that. Men have this, we, you know, our way of showing our insecurities is by what we drive and those type of things. Women's are the opposite. You know what I'm saying? About how we look. Yeah, exactly. But at the end of the day, it's both driven from our ego and our insecurities. I'm here to let you guys know you're all 100% aesthetically pleasing. Oh, thank you. I appreciate it. All right. I spent like, all right, all right. I spent like 15 minutes this morning on my beard in here. Don't get, don't get excited, Justin, she can't see that far she doesn't have a lot of this. All right. Oh, shit. Well, she's just fine. That's why she, you don't pick that seat right across. Exactly. Don't get jealous. You know, before we, I mean, I guess before we sign off or anything, what are, how would you like to end with your, like what, what are the message you'd like to share with people who are tuning in to listen to you either for the, for the first time, because there's gonna be people who've never, you know, followed you or heard from you before. Like what, what would you like to share to them? Honestly, that just do you, you know what I mean? I just think that's so important when it comes to fitness. Well, and just in general, like that phrase goes so far beyond what fitness is. Do you and learn who you really are? That's what I've learned through this whole journey is like, you know, Adam touched point on is, you know, stop identifying, stop, stop judging your words on how you look. That's not what fitness is about. And I think that's what fitness has grown to be about is you are, you know, only so high based on how you look. You're only so low based on how you look. And that's just not how it is at all. And I've really learned that the hard way living this out on social media, do you know what I mean? Well, it's hard when people like us are, are trying to build a business around it too. And I'll tell you, I struggled big time. So when I first got on, right? And I, I met this kid in my late 20s and he was in his early 20s and he had built a business around his social media. And I was so fascinated by this that I was like, holy shit, I need to do this. You know, I need to figure out how to do this. And I, before that time, I really didn't get on Facebook and Instagram didn't even exist at the time. And then Instagram comes and I get on it and I start posting and I'm just, you know, I'm watching what everybody else is doing, trying to figure, okay, what this, this guy who has a million followers and this one has this many followers. What is he doing? What is she doing? And I found myself at the beginning trying to mirror a lot of that because they, because regardless of it was truly me or not, I felt like I'm trying to build this business. And that's what you have to do. That's what I have to do to be successful. And so, and I remember about when we, when we really started diving into Mind Pump and it was such a, such a relief for me when Mind, Mind Pump became bigger than I had ever built my social media. And then I really truly felt like my social media became me. For once I felt like I didn't have to post these things or do these things that people would, I didn't give a fuck anymore because at that point, I cared to all I cared about was Mind Pump. And so then truly I was like, well, I got to keep my- Work your way to zero fucks. Yeah, literally, no. It's my advice. It really is. And I think the, I think the message I'm trying to give is that the sooner that you can get there, the better it is because now I've actually feel good about it. I love talking to people on my social media. I enjoy posting when I can post because I do. I don't give a fuck anymore. I'm posting what's either on my mind when I'm currently reading and thinking or whatever, like it's me now where before it was more like, what is everybody else doing? What do people expect you to do? Yes. And I, and I feel like a lot of people struggle with this. Oh yeah. I mean, again, I've said it a million times, I struggle with it every single day. Do you know what I mean? So that's why every day it's learning for me to do me and appreciate what I have to offer and what I have to offer. We all have different strengths, right? So in the fitness world, there's so many people out there, you know, we're not there. I mean, it's that Instagram account is not going to get everyone in the field to everyone. Think about it though. I always like to go back to like the business because they're part of me. I'm not going to lie. When I was doing it, I still said, I don't give a fuck if this doesn't totally, this isn't totally me because I'm trying to convert this into dollars. It was this social media to me has never been like it is probably for generation Z kids where it's like, this is a part of their life. For me, it was something that I it was something that I added to my life to enhance my business life. And so I've always had that mentality on it. But what I realized and it took me to go full circle. So if you look deep into my Instagram, my likes and views and things like that were way higher than they are now. And mine pumps 10 times bigger than what my Instagram ever was. So for those listening that don't realize this, you know, what really fucking matters on that stuff? If you're doing this for business, right? If you're whatever, I'm not trying to talk to you. Your likes and clicks. Yeah. That shit does not. What really converts to dollars is and what will. Connection. Yes. It's the connection. Yes. Connection that you make with people and what you have. And so, yeah, for. And so if you're a high school kid coming out or like that and all you care about a popularity contest, well, then keep doing what you're doing. Keep posting half naked pictures. It doesn't get you anywhere. Yeah. But if you literally are doing this for a business, don't be afraid to be more of yourself and to get less likes or less views because. It's so important. Those people that would ever even consider buying something from you anyways, those ones are the ones that are paying attention and that are interacting with you. The other fuck sticks that are just doing double hit like because you're half naked. Those people aren't buying shit. It's funny you say that. Like I really kind of since I got sick, especially, I think my messages have kind of changed without me thinking about it. I think the way I put myself out there has changed and my likes have gone down my following the way rapid growth has slowed down. But it's funny because you're so right when it comes to connection like so many business people constantly think, I got to get new. I got to get new. I got to get new. No, if you feed in and truly connect to what you have, that's what grows you. And that's what I really noticed this past year was especially since getting sick is how different my pages become. And it's not as vanity driven anymore. I mean, that's still there. I mean, what girl doesn't like to do that, right? But that's still there, but it's different. And like, the content I put out there is a lot different. And I don't even know if you like I put more of like my clients on there and like put this spotlight on them. And yeah, but that's so true. You have a great balance. I really I enjoy you're actually one of the few people like it's been a guest or been on a show that I still have the time to kind of go back and look at your stuff and read through. So I try to make sure I stay in touch. And I think you give that's what we always liked about you. Like, you know, when we first brought you on the show, you know, it's it's not like you're some, you know, a sort of position in fitness, like Elaine Norton or, you know, or, you know, Dom Di Agostino or a name like that. But what we liked was, you know what, how you how you connected to people, the story that you were sharing, you have a great story. And you are, you're you're so open and honest with yourself and you're real with the people that are paying attention. To me, that's so much more powerful. Sure, maybe these doctors that we bring on here that are super educated and this is their field is going to be able to talk circles around you in fitness. Well, yeah, for sure. But who gives a fuck because a lot of those those guys don't connect with a lot of the people that are listening. And so that's why, you know, we've always enjoyed watching you and watching what you're doing and excited. You've got a good message and more people need to have. We like that message in fitness and we try to foster it and we try to help it grow and it doesn't have to be a mind pump. Because like we have no affiliation with you. Right. But we like to promote it because that's the kind of message that we like to see, you know, grow. And you know, I'll say this when it comes to social media followers for those people who are doing it for business 100 followers who follow you for your message are far more effective. Yeah. Business-wise than a thousand followers who just follow you convert them to look at your pictures. Oh, yeah. No, I can't. My page is a perfect example of that. You know, I have a page that's as powerful as, you know, pages that are, you know, five times as big. But it's because I just, I connect a little differently with my followers. So, you know, for those of you who are doing social media for business and for fitness, no message will come across as effectively as one that you truly feel and are truly passionate about and that truly reflects who you are. Be, you know, be honest with what your flavor is and put that out there. And you might not get as many followers, but the ones you get, you'll be able to connect with and then that can turn into a business and because it's passion-driven because you believe in it, you're probably gonna do make things better for a lot of people. Hashtag preach. That's it. Can I get a name? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Good one right there. Check this out. If you like Mind Pump, go to YouTube, check out Mind Pump TV. We post a brand new video every single day. You can also find this on Instagram at Mind Pump Radio. You can find me at Mind Pump Sal, Adam at Mind Pump Adam, and Justin at Mind Pump Justin. Thank you for listening to Mind Pump. If your goal is to build and shape your body, dramatically improve your health and energy, and maximize your overall performance, check out our discounted RGB Superbundle at MindPumpmedia.com. The RGB Superbundle includes Maths Anabolic, Maths Performance, and Maths Aesthetic. Nine months of phased expert exercise programming designed by Sal Adam and Justin to systematically transform the way your body looks, feels, and performs. With detailed workout blueprints and over 200 videos, the RGB Superbundle is like having Sal Adam and Justin as your own personal trainers, but at a fraction of the price. The RGB Superbundle has a full 30-day money-back guarantee, and you can get it now plus other valuable free resources at MindPumpmedia.com. 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