Speaker 1: Welcome to today's Breakthrough Lab episode. Your next breakthrough starts
Speaker 1: here today. I have a wonderful guest, an old friend
Speaker 1: person I haven't seen in years, but his social media
Speaker 1: is keeping me aware of all the amazing things he's
Speaker 1: been doing. A gentleman who I know operates from heart,
Speaker 1: and he's sitting here next to me, and I could
Speaker 1: already sense his energy, powerful lion energy. So let me
Speaker 1: read his bio because he's just a remarkable human being
Speaker 1: with a great story to inspire you today. His name
Speaker 1: is Malcolm Wilson, founder and head coach of Level Up
Speaker 1: Jim in Stratford, Connecticut. Malcolm turned personal laws into purpose,
Speaker 1: creating one of the region's most inspiring fitness communities. His
Speaker 1: mission is very simple, but effectively powerful, to help people
Speaker 1: level up through mental, physically and emotionally through fitness, boxing
Speaker 1: and mindset coaching. From a small basement studio in his
Speaker 1: mom's house to a seven thousand square foot facility, Malcolm
Speaker 1: has built a movement centered around growth, community, and lasting transformation.
Speaker 1: This is the Breakthrough Lab with Malcolm Wilson. So Malcolm,
Speaker 1: welcome to the Breakthrough Lab. Brother. Yeah man, oh so
Speaker 1: good to see you. The man, it's been so long,
Speaker 1: too long, Malcolm, from your mom's basement to a seven
Speaker 1: thousand square foot facility, brother, Like, I love it. You're
Speaker 1: sitting in the seven thousand square foot facility where you're
Speaker 1: inspiring people, You're transforming their lives. Tell me, how do
Speaker 1: you feel? How do you feel when you wake up
Speaker 1: in the morning?
Speaker 2: So I feel amazing. I feel amazing. What really makes
Speaker 2: me feel amazing is just knowing that I'm progressing each day,
Speaker 2: and not just progressing my own life, but I'm helping
Speaker 2: other people every day. Yeah, and seeing their stories and
Speaker 2: and seeing them go from you know, this way into
Speaker 2: into a healthy weight, seeing them go from low energy
Speaker 2: to to high energy, seeing just all the changes. It
Speaker 2: could be little walking up the stairs without breathing heavily.
Speaker 2: So it's it's very fulfilling feeling seeing people win.
Speaker 1: Yeah, seeing people win, right, And there's one thing about
Speaker 1: you winning, but then there's you winning with others, right, Like,
Speaker 1: how does it feel to actually walk, you know, create
Speaker 1: a tribe, create a community? Right? Was that something that
Speaker 1: came to you naturally or was that something that that
Speaker 1: had to you know that that eventually you said no, Like,
Speaker 1: it's not about me winning by myself, it's about me
Speaker 1: winning with others, right.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so that's a great question. So naturally, as when
Speaker 2: I was younger, I was thinking back to it, I
Speaker 2: was like I was always someone who wanted others to win.
Speaker 2: So even back when, it's like when I used to
Speaker 2: party a lot, right, and I remember just going to
Speaker 2: parties and I never used to like to party by myself.
Speaker 2: So I always like to have fun with my friends, right, Okay,
Speaker 2: And my mindset was it's it's it's just not fun
Speaker 2: if my my friends are not having fun. So if
Speaker 2: like if I don't know only one having fun dancing
Speaker 2: with a girl, I got my friend, Hey, this is Geo.
Speaker 2: We get a girl over and we have on together.
Speaker 1: Right, So hey, hey I want to We're working with
Speaker 1: my party years.
Speaker 2: So yeah, so the party years along behind me now.
Speaker 2: But now it goes into just like other other aspects
Speaker 2: of like helping people to to win physically, mindset, you know,
Speaker 2: even we even talk about you know, helping people you know, finances. Right.
Speaker 2: So it's just like I want my members and my
Speaker 2: clients and my community to win in just every aspect
Speaker 2: of life, right, and if I can't help with with
Speaker 2: it personally, I'll like for like you say, even going
Speaker 2: to deeper level finances, I'll recommend to you. Right, So
Speaker 2: giving them the resources they need to win.
Speaker 1: That's fantastic. And what do you So tell me how
Speaker 1: did your mom think you were crazy? When like you're like, hey, mom,
Speaker 1: I'm building a gym and she's probably like where is
Speaker 1: it going to be? And I'm like, news wise is
Speaker 1: going to be in our basement, right, Like, yeah, tell
Speaker 1: me the story of like how your your basement became
Speaker 1: the go to place, you know?
Speaker 2: Yeah, so the good So the good thing is my
Speaker 2: mom is my mom's a little crazy as well, right, So,
Speaker 2: and I feel like anybody who is an entrepreneur, you
Speaker 2: got to be a little crazy, right because it's so
Speaker 2: literally comes from a vision, right because like this this uh,
Speaker 2: this beautiful space you have here, right, it came from
Speaker 2: it was nothing here, was just a space, right, or
Speaker 2: it was something else, right, But you have to vision
Speaker 2: the MIC's vision, the art vision, the beautiful red chairs, right,
Speaker 2: Like all that came from your mind. Right, So and
Speaker 2: then you you think about it and then you fulfill it.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So my mom understood that process and when she
Speaker 2: gave me she gave me a tour of the new
Speaker 2: house that she was in in the basement, she didn't
Speaker 2: know what to do with and I looked around. I
Speaker 2: was like, you know what, ma, like, I know what
Speaker 2: we can do here, and she was supportive of it.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 2: So yeah, So one thing I love. My mom was
Speaker 2: always in my corner. She always believed in me. We
Speaker 2: always supported each other. So she's an entrepreneur as well.
Speaker 2: So she she owns a daycare, okay, yeah, and her
Speaker 2: daycare went from home daycares right so that that day
Speaker 2: there was the daycare above the gym where he was
Speaker 2: that right, she had her home daycare and then my
Speaker 2: son was going there at that time.
Speaker 1: I love it. Yeah, you got that family discount on
Speaker 1: the daycare.
Speaker 2: So but then so she went from family daycares right,
Speaker 2: so in the house into her and my sister. They're
Speaker 2: they're in business together and now they have a big
Speaker 2: location as well that they are amazing about, like about
Speaker 2: five six thousand square footage.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, I've seen so many people succeed in the
Speaker 1: daycare business and at the state of Connecticut has supported
Speaker 1: so many families as particularly woman. So I'm happy that
Speaker 1: your mom took advantage of all them, probably some of
Speaker 1: the programs, and also just to know how to become
Speaker 1: an entrepreneur. Yeah, do you come from a line of entrepreneurs?
Speaker 1: Are you? Is your mom and you the first generation
Speaker 1: that says, okay, we're gonna own something.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So with the we're the first generation of it.
Speaker 2: So I'll say my mom it was the first one.
Speaker 2: So she she started it. So she's the one who
Speaker 2: really inspired me. So you know, shout out.
Speaker 1: To you, giv to mommy Mommy dukes.
Speaker 2: All the credit. So but so back in we used
Speaker 2: to live in the Bronx. So back in the Bronx,
Speaker 2: I remember we used to live on Jerome Avenue. It
Speaker 2: was in an apartment right above a pizza shop, and
Speaker 2: I remember it was it was two bedroom apartment. My
Speaker 2: my dad and my mom was in one room, and
Speaker 2: me and my three other siblings shared one room. Four
Speaker 2: of us in one room, right and me and my
Speaker 2: my twin brother had a bump bed. And I remember
Speaker 2: the train used to go by and at night I'll
Speaker 2: see the shadows of the train and just hearing trying
Speaker 2: to sleep. And we was there for like like about
Speaker 2: three years, and and she had the daycare there, and
Speaker 2: that was the first start, right, and then it started
Speaker 2: to build up up, and then then we moved into
Speaker 2: a house and on Monticello, and it was the first
Speaker 2: time I had my own room. And you know, so
Speaker 2: all of us had.
Speaker 1: Almost been a playground for you. My own room, tell
Speaker 1: me how it was. Actually, I'm I'm gonna go a
Speaker 1: little bit on a tangent. I would love to know
Speaker 1: that feeling that you felt, like if possible. I don't
Speaker 1: know how old you were, but like when you were like,
Speaker 1: I'm going to have my own room, Like, how was
Speaker 1: that feeling? Do you remember it at all?
Speaker 2: I absolutely remember it felt amazing because I was used
Speaker 2: to sharing, the sharing the space, sharing the beds, and
Speaker 2: it was just amazing to have my own. And I'm
Speaker 2: also a twin brother, right, so even when you have
Speaker 2: a twin you even share even more. Right, every your
Speaker 2: birthday share they try.
Speaker 1: To make you dress the same sometime.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, so you know, me and my twin brother
Speaker 2: were so tight, so I didn't really mind it. But
Speaker 2: but just having my own space, it was just it
Speaker 2: was just amazing. And and I I just remember like, oh,
Speaker 2: you know, we're we're leveling up, you know, so I
Speaker 2: love that.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and it came from my mom's entrepreneurship, you know,
Speaker 2: and having a daycare.
Speaker 1: Yeah. So, so now you created this facility, you have
Speaker 1: the dream you are, You're stepping into this house. Your
Speaker 1: mom's like, this is big basement. I don't know what
Speaker 1: to do with it. You're seeing boxing equipment, You're seeing
Speaker 1: like bench press, and you're like, mom, I know what
Speaker 1: to do with this. And you already had the inspiration
Speaker 1: from your mom being an entrepreneur. So tell me about
Speaker 1: the first three months that you Was it always level
Speaker 1: up a fitness or was it did it have another name?
Speaker 1: Was it a no name? And all the friends were
Speaker 1: coming over? How did that process go?
Speaker 2: So? So it so the basement Gym started in twenty seventeen,
Speaker 2: but technically I started LLC twenty sixteen. Okay, But as
Speaker 2: soon as as soon as I was so, I was
Speaker 2: a trainer, I was at I was at the Edge,
Speaker 2: I was at UFCG, I was doing both of those locations,
Speaker 2: working many many hours. Then I stopped working at the Edge,
Speaker 2: and just then I started I became the fitness director
Speaker 2: that you have see Jim and Norvalck and and just
Speaker 2: over time, you know, I felt like I wasn't getting
Speaker 2: paid my worth. I was like, you know what, it's
Speaker 2: it's time to you know, to do this summer own.
Speaker 2: And then that's when I just started to uh just
Speaker 2: creating like my online plan. So I was training people online,
Speaker 2: I was doing in home training. I was training people
Speaker 2: at the parks. And it started from there and then
Speaker 2: I and up until I had enough money to quit
Speaker 2: my job. Yeah yeah, So then from there I quit
Speaker 2: and I just started doing online training and just in
Speaker 2: home training. And then that's when I had the business established.
Speaker 2: I really missed that gym feeling.
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, yeah, like a place to call home.
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, yeah, that that whole community feeling, right, So
Speaker 2: because that's that's what that's what I helped make successful
Speaker 2: at the gyms I was at the previous gyms I
Speaker 2: was at, I was leading people. I was bringing people
Speaker 2: to like events and you know, creating that vibe of
Speaker 2: you know, helping people to you know, not only get
Speaker 2: into shape, but you know making lifelong friends.
Speaker 1: You know. Yeah.
Speaker 2: So now when I have the opportunity to to I
Speaker 2: saw the basement. I was like, you know what this
Speaker 2: this is going to be that this might be it,
Speaker 2: you know, and then my mom supported me and I
Speaker 2: was in the basement for about maybe like six eight months.
Speaker 2: And after that there was an opportunity to uh to
Speaker 2: to lease a space. So I had had a shared
Speaker 2: location at first, so with another gym owner. He was
Speaker 2: a boxing coach, so me and him just split down
Speaker 2: the rent and then we did that for a year,
Speaker 2: and then the tenant downstairs moved out, so then I
Speaker 2: took over that space, and then the boxing coach had
Speaker 2: his own space and then did that for a few years.
Speaker 2: And then unfortunately the boxing coach that was with me
Speaker 2: before his business closed down, so I ended up just
Speaker 2: taking for both floors. That's how it became like seven
Speaker 2: thousand square yeah.
Speaker 1: Seven it's a lot of room, man. Yeah yeah. So
Speaker 1: uh in your social media content, I see that there's
Speaker 1: a whole boxing like, you know, ringing there right yeah yeah.
Speaker 1: So is boxing something that was in your past or
Speaker 1: is it something that you acquired through, you know, working
Speaker 1: with the UFC gym?
Speaker 2: So I had a I had always had a love
Speaker 2: for boxing because my father used to box, Okay, so
Speaker 2: he taught me. He taught me a little bit, smacked
Speaker 2: you around a little bit. I had, you know, a
Speaker 2: little bass, and then I really started to learn as
Speaker 2: But actually before I started working at UC GYM, I started,
Speaker 2: uh it was in my mom's living room at that time, Mom,
Speaker 2: I love you.
Speaker 1: Rocking.
Speaker 2: So we just started just like a little and before
Speaker 2: it was level up I had it was it was
Speaker 2: Hope Warrior Fitness.
Speaker 1: Okay, there we go. We got the real name.
Speaker 2: Now, that's yeah.
Speaker 1: At first that was a little boxing rim ring inside.
Speaker 2: Your livally it wasn't even a ring, it was just
Speaker 2: it was just it was a space, you know, the
Speaker 2: counters right there. And then we just did the workout
Speaker 2: with open living room floor.
Speaker 1: Wow, amazing.
Speaker 2: And I had some some some cheap gloves I found
Speaker 2: on Amazon.
Speaker 1: You could feel a knuck out right. Yeah.
Speaker 2: It was hard. I really didn't even know what I
Speaker 2: was doing like that. Yeah, And I just learned a
Speaker 2: lot from experience, right And and then from there when
Speaker 2: I got into UFC Gym, I I started learning from
Speaker 2: other coaches and and just really just dedicated myself to
Speaker 2: just continue learning. And I just I just got as
Speaker 2: much experience as possible, like throughout those first like a
Speaker 2: few years and to the point where you know, I
Speaker 2: was in a few short years I was ready to
Speaker 2: do it on my own.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, what do you what do you think has been? Uh,
Speaker 1: you know, like there's so much more to like uncover,
Speaker 1: Like this is beautiful journey you've had. But what do
Speaker 1: you think has been like the most difficult part of that?
Speaker 1: Building your your fitness at home? Right, because you were
Speaker 1: only there for about eight months right in your in
Speaker 1: your mom's basement, right, what was one of the difficult
Speaker 1: things to tell people? Like, Hey, I'm a trainer and yeah,
Speaker 1: I have a gym, it's in my basement, right. Where
Speaker 1: there any difficulty to get clients in or like were
Speaker 1: people really receptive to that idea? You know for someone
Speaker 1: out there that's that's in fitness and they're like wary
Speaker 1: of bringing it into their own home, right with that
Speaker 1: something hard for you or any challenges there?
Speaker 2: So I didn't feel like it was too much of
Speaker 2: a challenge because of I'm a good connector so I'll
Speaker 2: build like rapport, I'll connection and also to some good
Speaker 2: chunk of my clients, I was ready training them from before,
Speaker 2: from like either online or at their house or.
Speaker 1: So you already had that loyalty, that trust factor. God
Speaker 1: act you're just like, hey, just come over my house. Man,
Speaker 1: We're going in person them. Yeah yeah, man.
Speaker 2: And I had people they you know, some of the
Speaker 2: people who house trained. I'll train people in Stanford. I'll
Speaker 2: train people in like West Poor and uh west End,
Speaker 2: and they just they the someone I kept a little
Speaker 2: bit of online training, but they would just they would
Speaker 2: just come nice. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah. So they loved you, man, lovable. So now you've
Speaker 1: got to spill how many people did it end up
Speaker 1: being at your house? But you know, you're at seven
Speaker 1: months and you're like, man, like it's getting a little
Speaker 1: hectic in this basement, right like or were they getting
Speaker 1: to the point where like there's there's so many people
Speaker 1: in your basement at the same time or yeah.
Speaker 2: So I did a lot of one on one training
Speaker 2: at that time and some small group but as like
Speaker 2: the classes, I started trying to introduce classes and it's
Speaker 2: just you know, after ten people, it's just like, okay, you.
Speaker 1: Can't you people are like hit each other. Mistake. I
Speaker 1: won't even.
Speaker 2: Say ten people is actually uh maybe like maybe like
Speaker 2: the thing the most I got was like ten, but
Speaker 2: like after six it's like it's uncomfortable.
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, yeah, but like the sweat and they probably
Speaker 1: get all moist.
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, so and then that's so I was okay,
Speaker 2: you know I got.
Speaker 1: You got a real business here. Yeah. Yeah, it's so
Speaker 1: cool man. Yeah, what a what a beautiful we uh
Speaker 1: to to start your business, you know, with the support
Speaker 1: of family. Is there what kind of you into fitness?
Speaker 1: You know in your social media always in the background,
Speaker 1: there's a lot of metals. You know, what are those
Speaker 1: medals about?
Speaker 2: So so the medals? So I I used to I
Speaker 2: used to run track back in high school.
Speaker 1: So you can let me tell you this guy has
Speaker 1: a like perfect long legs. Let me borrow some of
Speaker 1: those long legs. Yeah.
Speaker 2: I used to run track back in high school and
Speaker 2: I was I was all all all Fairfield County, you know,
Speaker 2: one of the I was the top in Fairfield County.
Speaker 2: I was one of the top in the state. To
Speaker 2: do the hurdles. The long legs you know came into yeah,
Speaker 2: yea yeah, yeah, so you know you have to When
Speaker 2: I when I first did it, I used to think
Speaker 2: people are jumping over but you actually have to like
Speaker 2: glide over it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's so true. Yeah, I never thought about it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's not a jump, it's a little if it's like
Speaker 1: a little like a like a deer rancing deer exactly.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so and so because you have to get to
Speaker 2: the ground quickly and then a quick sprint in between
Speaker 2: each one.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and you're right because if you if you jump
Speaker 1: over that, that hang time robbed you from the how
Speaker 1: fast you're going.
Speaker 2: To exactly yeah exactly. So my first like first like meat,
Speaker 2: I was like just jumping over it, but I was
Speaker 2: fast enough to still like win. Yeah, you know, like
Speaker 2: the local competition, but when the top competition, you know,
Speaker 2: that wasn't working. So you know you have just all techniques.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so like the little incremental changes, Yeah, exactly, it's
Speaker 1: definitely exactly. I don't know about lying, man, I think
Speaker 1: you were a deer in the prior life or something
Speaker 1: or antelope.
Speaker 2: But yeah, so, but so I just carried on just
Speaker 2: running after I graduated high school and college. So you know,
Speaker 2: I've done like five k's half marathon, marathon, Spartan races,
Speaker 2: tough motters, obsole course races and those are you'll see
Speaker 2: all those of those metals.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, amazing. Yeah, it's a lot. Right now, what
Speaker 1: what made you pursue like these accolades? Right? For some people,
Speaker 1: it's like they have a chip on their shoulder. For
Speaker 1: some people, like they desire validation and externally what made
Speaker 1: you keep going to all these competitions? You know, like
Speaker 1: was there a drive? And was it coming from a
Speaker 1: good place or or was it coming from a place
Speaker 1: of hurt?
Speaker 2: So it's it, uh, it kind of stemmed from a
Speaker 2: like a like a it stems from almost a fear base,
Speaker 2: but it's like more of a I wouldn't say fall,
Speaker 2: say more preventative. Right, So let me tell you a
Speaker 2: story on like how really got me into it? Right,
Speaker 2: So I can remember when I was around like nine
Speaker 2: years old and we're you know, we're going in and
Speaker 2: out the hospital, and you know, I'm looking over, I'm
Speaker 2: sitting in the hospital room, and I look over and
Speaker 2: I see my grandmother, you know, just in the hospital bed,
Speaker 2: just like fighting for her life. And I remember, you know,
Speaker 2: at the time, it's just like, you know, just crying
Speaker 2: and just asking God, like why did such an amazing
Speaker 2: person have to suffer? And and a few a few
Speaker 2: days later, you know, she passed away from cancer. And
Speaker 2: it was due to you know, the lack of exercise,
Speaker 2: lack of fitness, and she used to smoke. And you
Speaker 2: know I say that to say this. You know she was,
Speaker 2: she was an amazing person and you know her her
Speaker 2: you know, her habits, you know, caused her to shorten
Speaker 2: her life. And you know I look at that and
Speaker 2: it I learned lessons on like what not to do
Speaker 2: right and you know, through that like it. As I
Speaker 2: reflected on it, it made me stronger. And you know now today,
Speaker 2: you know, I make sure, you know, I take care
Speaker 2: of my body. You know I'm eating well, but not
Speaker 2: just myself. I'm also you know, doing that for my family, right,
Speaker 2: so my my immediate family, my kids, my wife, my
Speaker 2: family members, like the family Group Chat. Like this morning,
Speaker 2: you know, I had a family Zoom work out with them,
Speaker 2: so I hit up the family Group Chat. I'm like, hey,
Speaker 2: you know, let's we're gonna do some movement. You know,
Speaker 2: whoever's down for it, you know, get on right, It's
Speaker 2: going to be twenty minute workout. I'll do it every
Speaker 2: Sunday for you guys, you know, no charge, just like
Speaker 2: I want you guys to be healthy, and I do
Speaker 2: that for them every every Sunday.
Speaker 1: It's a beautiful love. Brother, dude, Can I be adopted?
Speaker 2: Man?
Speaker 1: Like, I want to coach you, Malcolm sending me the
Speaker 1: Zoom workout every Sunday. No, it's so cool, brother. I
Speaker 1: love that you're spreading that love. And how old were
Speaker 1: you when you had you had a breakthrough there? And
Speaker 1: how old were you?
Speaker 2: So so when my grandmother passed, I was I was
Speaker 2: nine years old. Nine years old ye, and then and
Speaker 2: just through that, through that time, I was fortunate enough
Speaker 2: to so I'll say, like when when when when bad
Speaker 2: things happen to me or the people around me, I
Speaker 2: learned from these things, right, So I teach my son this.
Speaker 2: I remind him of this all the time.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 2: So there's there's three levels of learning, right, and so
Speaker 2: there's there's wisdom. Right. So when you're wise, you're able
Speaker 2: to learn from other people. Right. So you know, if
Speaker 2: you're telling me, hey, Malcolm, you know, uh don't uh
Speaker 2: don't touch this mic. It's gonna make a big sound.
Speaker 2: And if I touch the mic anyway, you know that's
Speaker 2: not wisdom, right, because you told me you're experiencing this,
Speaker 2: and I'm this. I did whatever I want to.
Speaker 1: You're like, you have to go and do it for yourself. Right.
Speaker 2: It's like or like someone says, parents said, don't touch
Speaker 2: that stove. You know you're gonna get burned, and the
Speaker 2: k burns themselves. So now you know, sometimes we don't
Speaker 2: have the resources to get wisdom, right because we might
Speaker 2: not have that parent, you might not have that mentor
Speaker 2: you might not have being a proper environment to have
Speaker 2: the wisdom. So if you can't be wise, the next
Speaker 2: thing is to be smart. Right. That's like learning from
Speaker 2: your own mistakes. Right. So if I touched the mic
Speaker 2: it made a big sound, Oh, I know, I'm not
Speaker 2: going to do that again, right, Or if I touched
Speaker 2: the fire, oh I got burned, I'm not going to
Speaker 2: do it again.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 2: But then there's the next level, which is not technically
Speaker 2: learning because you're just making the same mistake over and
Speaker 2: over again, which is the definition of insanity. Right. So
Speaker 2: you know, so if I hit my head against the
Speaker 2: wall and it's like, okay, I didn't I didn't get
Speaker 2: through the wall, and I do it again, and I
Speaker 2: do it again, I do it again, right, it's just
Speaker 2: like when do we learn that lesson? So I'm fortunate enough.
Speaker 2: I was fortunate enough to even at a young age,
Speaker 2: I took on a lot of wisdom because I wasn't
Speaker 2: in the best environment growing up, you know, growing up
Speaker 2: in the Bronx.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Jerome A you know, yeah, yeah, yeah, I would
Speaker 1: go down there as a young young kid looking for
Speaker 1: a cool clothing. But there you were like hanging out
Speaker 1: be like, hey, who's that little Latin guy with shopping
Speaker 1: in my a you know. Yeah, yeah, it's amazing. So wisdom,
Speaker 1: be smart and then like, don't be insane exactly. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and if you're insane, guess what happens. You got your coach.
Speaker 1: That's why if you keep repeating the same habits, same things,
Speaker 1: you can't make that decision. That's when the coach comes in,
Speaker 1: you know.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so at that point, yeah, so you know, and
Speaker 2: that's when you can get wisdom to help you make
Speaker 2: these changes. Right. And then you know, if that if
Speaker 2: that person who's operating in insanity, as long as they
Speaker 2: don't give up, you know, and you know, there's hope
Speaker 2: for that change to be made.
Speaker 1: So yeah, yeah, you don't lose until you give up. Exactly,
Speaker 1: beautiful brother. Yeah, so was there anything like uh, you know,
Speaker 1: growing up in the when did you guys actually move
Speaker 1: to Connecticut? So you know, like you lose all your
Speaker 1: street kit cred going across that state line. It's rough, man.
Speaker 1: I mean I moved from like, you know, the east
Speaker 1: side of Stanford to to to Springdale and all my like, ah,
Speaker 1: you're not the same man when we got that. I
Speaker 1: just moved across you moved across state lines, you know. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so how how was that?
Speaker 2: Like? So?
Speaker 1: Uh uh? Were there any like tough stories that you
Speaker 1: remember growing up in the in the b X, you know? Yeah?
Speaker 2: Yeah, so so when when did I move? Uh So
Speaker 2: it reminds me of like my situation in a way,
Speaker 2: like the Fresh Prince right right, so we're so so
Speaker 2: will you know he he got into some trouble in
Speaker 2: Philly and then he uh then he moved out with
Speaker 2: his aunt and uncle in bel Air, right, so so
Speaker 2: said Philly, you know the Bronx, Right, So I moved
Speaker 2: from the from the Bronx. I used to live in
Speaker 2: eatable projects at that time, right, so you know we
Speaker 2: were doing well. Just kind of give you a little
Speaker 2: a little bit more of the backstory, right, so we
Speaker 2: you know, we were doing well through the daycare, right,
Speaker 2: like you know, the people used to think we were
Speaker 2: we were rich, right. We had a vending machine in
Speaker 2: that house. Remember we have like a nice we had
Speaker 2: like a white little convertible right at the times, like,
Speaker 2: oh you got a convertible.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Mom's coming up.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so she was coming up. And then you know,
Speaker 2: we were doing well. We had the house, and then
Speaker 2: you know, my my parents' relationship you know, suffered, so
Speaker 2: you know, they end up splitting. And then then when
Speaker 2: we moved to Florida, and then that's when you know,
Speaker 2: my mom stopped the daycare and then she went to
Speaker 2: take a job at I Hot So incomes drastically changed, right, yeah.
Speaker 2: So and then from there we just we just bounced
Speaker 2: around a lot. So long story short, we ended up
Speaker 2: in in eat a wall at that time. So my
Speaker 2: my aunt used to live there and and she moved
Speaker 2: to Stanford, right and then so at that time, there
Speaker 2: was like the housing credits that you'll get or like
Speaker 2: you have like a subsidy, and and I think it
Speaker 2: was like two hundred dollars a month you know to
Speaker 2: like at that time because of that that credit. So
Speaker 2: it's like, okay, you know we're not gonna lose that, right,
Speaker 2: so and so we need this spossible. We moved over
Speaker 2: there and then my my aunt and uncle. They saw
Speaker 2: that I was trying, right, I was playing basketball. I
Speaker 2: was trying to stay out the streets. You know a
Speaker 2: lot of my family members, uh or you know friends,
Speaker 2: you know, they were like gang affiliated in some ways, right,
Speaker 2: And you know, I never you know a lot of
Speaker 2: my most of them were like bloods. And that was
Speaker 2: like the the one that was more connected into my family.
Speaker 2: So but I never wanted to, you know, join any
Speaker 2: of that stuff. Right, because again the wisdom, right.
Speaker 1: So you're coded with wisdom already because.
Speaker 2: We already see you know, we have seen from the movies,
Speaker 2: we've seen from friends, from experiences, and what happens to
Speaker 2: those people, right, you know, do they have happy lives?
Speaker 2: And it's not the happy story, right yeah, end up
Speaker 2: end up dead or in jail. Right. So it's like
Speaker 2: I don't want that route. So so I was playing basketball.
Speaker 2: I was trying to think that's gonna be my way out?
Speaker 2: Is basketball?
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's always yeah.
Speaker 2: And at that time, you know, that's all I saw,
Speaker 2: you know, which was people was either either a rapper,
Speaker 2: either a basketball player, or usually a drug dealer. Right,
Speaker 2: Like that's not the way people.
Speaker 1: Don't understand, how like these archetypes are so prevalent, and
Speaker 1: so like you know, they it's almost all you can
Speaker 1: see as an option, right yeah, and and and it's
Speaker 1: why it's I was so happy that your mom you
Speaker 1: saw an inkling of an entrepreneur that earlier on, right,
Speaker 1: so that that gave you at least a different like
Speaker 1: there are options other than these three archetypes, right, yeah, beautiful.
Speaker 1: So he went to Florida and came back. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2: So after Florida and Brons Jersey, different parts of the Bronx,
Speaker 2: and then we ended up there like an eat the ball.
Speaker 2: And then then from there, my aunt and uncle saw
Speaker 2: that was trying I was doing what I was, you know,
Speaker 2: doing okay in school and just like trying to stay
Speaker 2: out the streets and you know, and so they invited
Speaker 2: me to to live with.
Speaker 1: Them some fresh friends.
Speaker 2: So so I was living in Norwalk at that time, whack.
Speaker 2: So so then I end up going to days like
Speaker 2: you know, you like it here, and I was like yeah,
Speaker 2: you know, I love it. And then so they invited
Speaker 2: me to stay to finish up school. So I was
Speaker 2: in my junior year in high school at that time.
Speaker 2: So I'm this kid from the Bronx. Uh, junior in
Speaker 2: high school, I didn't know anybody, and it was you know,
Speaker 2: I quickly made some friends and just like it was
Speaker 2: just a whole new experience at that time because in
Speaker 2: the Bronx, you know, it was on it was just
Speaker 2: like just blacks and Hispanics. Right, so a lot of Dominicans.
Speaker 1: Norwalk is so diverse, very Stanford and normal. It's just
Speaker 1: it's a it's a bubble. You're like, you know, you're
Speaker 1: you think you start to think that America is just
Speaker 1: diverse when you live in like Stanford and in Norwalk,
Speaker 1: but you step like you go to Alabama or you
Speaker 1: go to another place South Carolina, You're like, no, this
Speaker 1: is like there's like segregated groups and like you know,
Speaker 1: a lot of the racial tensions. You're like, man, you
Speaker 1: know Fairfield County kind of gives.
Speaker 2: You a bubble vibe, right, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1: So let me ask you this. This is actually a
Speaker 1: cool question. Like, so being the kid from the b X, right,
Speaker 1: like where you're like the coolest kid in school. That's
Speaker 1: what usually happened, Like kids from New York would move
Speaker 1: to Stanford and then and then there would be like
Speaker 1: all of a sudden, oh they're from New York, the
Speaker 1: coolest kid in school, right, that happened to you at all?
Speaker 2: And no, yeah, so I had some some popularity. I
Speaker 2: would say I was the coolest kid in school.
Speaker 1: I don't know about that, man, I feel cool.
Speaker 2: So back then, so I'm I'm I'm sort of like
Speaker 2: I'm naturally an introvert, Like I'm very really naturally right.
Speaker 2: So but you know, through like leadership, through training, right,
Speaker 2: I had to had to learn how to be more extroverted. Right,
Speaker 2: So it was a scale that had developed and through
Speaker 2: my communication. Right, but after like events or you know,
Speaker 2: I'm doing a podcast or anything like that, right, Like
Speaker 2: I have a high chance of being drained out afterwards.
Speaker 2: I just want to go home and I reach out.
Speaker 1: To recharge social battery like debates exactly exactly.
Speaker 2: So So yeah, so I was, I was more reserved,
Speaker 2: and so I had some mystery to me. And so
Speaker 2: but me, I kind of you know I but once
Speaker 2: you once, once the people knew me, then okay, like
Speaker 2: then I you know, I'm a little crazy. I'm having fun.
Speaker 2: I'm talking smack, you know, you know.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, so it's beautiful man. And then so so
Speaker 1: you come here, So did you have like I remember
Speaker 1: just moving across town and not being happy because, like,
Speaker 1: you know, you want to be a cool kid. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and the street credit is like almost everything you have
Speaker 1: when you're a kid. So when I moved to the
Speaker 1: to the Burbs, I was like, I was like devastated
Speaker 1: because I lost time my street credit. Number one, I've
Speaker 1: worked so hard to build it up. Number two, I
Speaker 1: just move across town now on my street credits gone.
Speaker 1: Was there anything like that for you or did you experience,
Speaker 1: you know, or or any disconnect with connecting with people
Speaker 1: here in Fairfield County? Sometimes just that move alone can
Speaker 1: be quite jarring for a young a young person, right.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so there was some change. There was some I
Speaker 2: didn't find it too difficult to connect because you know,
Speaker 2: you know, I was I was into sports. I was
Speaker 2: into sports, you know. So I connected through people like
Speaker 2: you know, playing basketball, playing track and football. So that
Speaker 2: was my main connectors and I made some great friends
Speaker 2: through that. But there were there were some differences that
Speaker 2: I didn't I didn't I wasn't aware of when I
Speaker 2: when I moved to Connecticut because it's so close to
Speaker 2: New York. So one there was like, oh, you have
Speaker 2: an accent, I was like, oh really.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah, Like what do you mean you have
Speaker 1: an accent? Right?
Speaker 2: So I didn't. I didn't pick that up until you
Speaker 2: know later, and now that you know, I've been in
Speaker 2: Connecticut for you know, for a long time. Now I
Speaker 2: can hear the New York accent. But I didn't know
Speaker 2: New York has had an accent. I just when you
Speaker 2: think an accent, I'm thinking, Okay, you know, maybe this
Speaker 2: is someone who's just learning English or there's that there's
Speaker 2: that there's that accent, or someone down south there's an accent.
Speaker 2: But I know New York has had an accent.
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, so funny. Yeah.
Speaker 2: So so that was one, right, and then you loved
Speaker 2: your New York accent, bro, I definitely did.
Speaker 1: Yeah st Connecticut that bro.
Speaker 2: Yeah gone, yeah gone, so yeah, and then the next
Speaker 2: thing is just like little differences. So you know, there
Speaker 2: was like different difference in in slang. So so it
Speaker 2: was that and even in basketball, which was which was funny. Right,
Speaker 2: So if you've ever played basketball and you played twenty one, right,
Speaker 2: then that was a little different. Or or if you're
Speaker 2: shooting around in basketball, right, so say if I if
Speaker 2: I shoot the shot and I miss and you grab
Speaker 2: the rebound. In Connecticut, you passed them the ball first
Speaker 2: and then you then you lay it up and you
Speaker 2: pass it back. In New York, you shoot and and
Speaker 2: you grab the rebround. You don't pass me, you just
Speaker 2: now you shoot right.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah, a little tiny It's like little little things.
Speaker 2: I was like, oh wow, because I remember like playing
Speaker 2: ball and I'm shooting and grabb rebound. It's like passing ball.
Speaker 2: What like you you passed the ball. I'm like, okay,
Speaker 2: and then I picked that up learning so you knows
Speaker 2: a little more nice and little court, get your lay up,
Speaker 2: you know, a little more courteous.
Speaker 1: Oh my god. It's so funny how things like just
Speaker 1: shift a little nuances. I remember, like you know, like
Speaker 1: either shooting shooting the three, like money, right, yeah, money,
Speaker 1: and like you go into the court, it's a whole
Speaker 1: nother thing that they shout out right or like the
Speaker 1: no fives. Remember that no fives and people like hit
Speaker 1: you in the back of your neck like you go
Speaker 1: to other states. You're like, you guys, don't do no
Speaker 1: fives now.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so funny, man, so cool. You have such a
Speaker 1: remarkable story, and I'm intriguing and I love it. I
Speaker 1: love that you were born with wisdom and I in
Speaker 1: recognizing that, like that you were this nine year old
Speaker 1: boy watching your grandmother that you love pass away and
Speaker 1: understanding like, man, grandma could have been here longer if
Speaker 1: she had done one, two and three, Right, you recognize
Speaker 1: that as a young boy, what do you think that
Speaker 1: wisdom came from?
Speaker 2: Like, that's a that's a good question.
Speaker 1: Yeah, have you ever thought of that? Right now? Mind you,
Speaker 1: I'm very spiritual, like I believe in multiple lives and
Speaker 1: the whole nine and so like have you ever wondered
Speaker 1: where did this wisdom that that I How does a
Speaker 1: nine year old boy know? Right?
Speaker 2: Yeah? Maybe I was on my third or fourth flower,
Speaker 2: But that's a great question. Yeah, Like so there's just's
Speaker 2: some things where like you see people smoke, right, you
Speaker 2: smoke cigarettes, You smoke You see people smoke cigarettes and
Speaker 2: you know what it does to them? Right, So just
Speaker 2: throughout that I was like, I don't want to do drugs,
Speaker 2: like you know, I see what's happening right or you
Speaker 2: know the gangs, like I don't want to be part
Speaker 2: of a gang, like people are dying, right. So yeah,
Speaker 2: it's just I guess it's kind of maybe I'm logical
Speaker 2: to right.
Speaker 1: So it's like like look at all these.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so it's like you see someone jumping off the
Speaker 2: bridge and it's just like, Okay, I'm not going to
Speaker 2: do that.
Speaker 1: I remember watching movies with my friends, like you might
Speaker 1: know some New Jersey Drive, you do? You know the
Speaker 1: film New Jersey Drive. It's like, you know where these
Speaker 1: young kids from, uh, I think like Trenton, New Jersey,
Speaker 1: and they're like they're doing drive bys in cars and
Speaker 1: stealing cars, you know, and then like and then by
Speaker 1: the end, like you know, friends are dying and there's
Speaker 1: always one that like gets out and tries to get
Speaker 1: out of the hood, right, and then you know, and
Speaker 1: I would like get the lessons from it. No, I
Speaker 1: don't want to do that. And my friends were like,
Speaker 1: oh man, they're so cool, like yeah, like what if
Speaker 1: we do that when we're older, right, or like like
Speaker 1: they would get excited about the illicit activities, but I'm
Speaker 1: like capturing the lessons. I don't want to do none
Speaker 1: of that. You know, look what happened to them. You know,
Speaker 1: they're unhappy. So it's it's so funny how too, like
Speaker 1: difference people can have different experiences, and some people struggle
Speaker 1: to get the lesson, you know, they get excited with
Speaker 1: the with the I guess the actions, right that life
Speaker 1: that a lifestyle that can you know, like can be
Speaker 1: quite exciting, accelerating, but could possibly change change your life
Speaker 1: for the negative. Right.
Speaker 2: Yeah, It's like it's like what lens are you? You know,
Speaker 2: are you are you seeing things through? Right?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 2: I think Jim Rohne said it best right where he
Speaker 2: was like he said, if you know, if you if
Speaker 2: you see a homeless guy like in the street, like
Speaker 2: you know, you can get as much value from him
Speaker 2: as like as the rich guy.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 2: He's like, you know, good looking god, good looking family,
Speaker 2: tell us how you messed it all up? Right, and
Speaker 2: you take good notes, right like, and so you can
Speaker 2: you can learn from you know, the good bad ugly.
Speaker 2: But you know, everything is a lesson, right, So whether
Speaker 2: you win, whether you lose, it's all a lesson.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I know, it's it's legit man. So beautiful all right,
Speaker 1: we went off on a really beautiful tangent. I love
Speaker 1: it because you know, I love connecting at that like
Speaker 1: those teenage years of those years that you know, we're
Speaker 1: trying to figure things out, right, So now we've got
Speaker 1: this eight there's this basement that can handle ten people,
Speaker 1: probably very uncomfortably. At the same time, how much how
Speaker 1: much did you invest in that in the basement overall? Like,
Speaker 1: because you have to get some equipment, right.
Speaker 2: Fund maybe like a couple of grand Yeah, that's all
Speaker 2: it takes, so like three or four grand yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1: And the rest is all you connecting and and thankfully
Speaker 1: you had already built a community that probably loved and
Speaker 1: trusted you. Right now it comes to like, now you've
Speaker 1: got to be a big boy. Now you got to
Speaker 1: get your own place, right, Like, how was that daunting
Speaker 1: for you? Or was that natural for you? You have
Speaker 1: to put some money together, right, Was that the biggest
Speaker 1: chunk of money you had to that time to make
Speaker 1: an investment of that sort?
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was. It was definitely. When I went to
Speaker 2: the next location, it was definitely a lot more money
Speaker 2: than I ever ever spent. But the way I did
Speaker 2: it right. So I recommend any entrepreneur to do this
Speaker 2: if you don't have funding, right, is to just you know,
Speaker 2: start where you're at and then build up right, so
Speaker 2: you know, you don't have to start with you know,
Speaker 2: a huge place or even a place at all. You know,
Speaker 2: you can start it online, you know, just the main
Speaker 2: thing is to start right, start that experience, see whether
Speaker 2: you even like it or not. Right, you may go
Speaker 2: into the gym business. I don't even like people, like,
Speaker 2: why am I even here? Right?
Speaker 1: So am I training?
Speaker 2: Right? Yeah? Yeah, you might not even like it, right,
Speaker 2: So it's like, but the main thing is just to
Speaker 2: start right. And then when when I started, like I
Speaker 2: knew this is like I loved it, this is what
Speaker 2: I want to do, right, and I love people. I
Speaker 2: love seeing people grow, right, So it was it was
Speaker 2: all worth it for me. But so so I started online, right,
Speaker 2: so it was basically no overhead, right, So online in
Speaker 2: home training you get a little bit of stuff. Then
Speaker 2: I did the basement gym. Okay, now maybe three or
Speaker 2: four grand I put in, right, and from there I
Speaker 2: split a location with another entrepreneur. Right, So, like I
Speaker 2: think our rent was like at that time, like this
Speaker 2: was like maybe seven eight years ago, it was like
Speaker 2: a thousand and longer than actually yeah, about six seven
Speaker 2: years ago. It's like a thousand dollars or like the
Speaker 2: twelve hundred I think the rent was. And then we
Speaker 2: split it so yeah, yeah, yeah, for like six hundred
Speaker 2: each and then you know the utilities, you know, and
Speaker 2: so it was like low overhead, right, So and it
Speaker 2: gave me time to build to learn, right. So I'm
Speaker 2: trying to learn from wisdom as much as I can
Speaker 2: through books and things like that, right, but I have
Speaker 2: to just have to be smart about a lot of
Speaker 2: this stuff and learn from my mistakes.
Speaker 1: Yes, yeah, by taking action, right, because if you if
Speaker 1: you wait to accumulate all the wisdom through books, you
Speaker 1: don't miss your moment, right, you know exactly.
Speaker 2: So so I was still learning through books, through videos
Speaker 2: and everything I could, and then just getting the getting
Speaker 2: the knowledge, so build measure adjust right, just and repeating
Speaker 2: that loop, build measure adjust that, yeah, and then then
Speaker 2: from there the next opportunity came. So it was preparation.
Speaker 2: So when when preparation meets opportunity, that's how you create success. Right.
Speaker 2: So I was how to that share looks that shared space.
Speaker 2: The overhead wasn't that high, so I was able to
Speaker 2: save some money and then and build up more assets assets,
Speaker 2: and then just and learning my own systems. Right, So
Speaker 2: when the opportunity came to to take over the downstairs
Speaker 2: location because it was a print shop at that time.
Speaker 2: You know, I jumped on it, right, and then I
Speaker 2: was able to build that space out, so that space
Speaker 2: I had experienced build out of space. I put even
Speaker 2: more money into that location, right, and it was bigger
Speaker 2: and bigger than the upstairs too. So then that happened,
Speaker 2: and then the next opportunity came, so the guy moved out.
Speaker 2: So now I'm okay, now I'm having more and building
Speaker 2: out right, and then it's gonna my next phase is okay,
Speaker 2: going into a commercial building and building up the next location. Right,
Speaker 2: so now you know we have a great system. And
Speaker 2: also to get more wisdom, also hired a mentor, right,
Speaker 2: I recommend.
Speaker 1: Got to get your mentors, Yeah, people that have been
Speaker 1: there or like no business or not a scale businesses.
Speaker 2: Yeah exactly. So through that mentorship, it helped me tremendously, right.
Speaker 2: So it was it was a it wasn't cheap, but
Speaker 2: it was an investment that I'm always willing to pay,
Speaker 2: which is, you know, betting on myself and and and
Speaker 2: getting the knowledge that I need to get right. So
Speaker 2: and it took my business to the next level.
Speaker 1: Leveling up always always what does level up mean? For you, Like,
Speaker 1: what is that like if you were to like this
Speaker 1: describe leveling up like as an emotion, like what does
Speaker 1: what does that mean for you? Yeah?
Speaker 2: So the level up is it means to to to
Speaker 2: so we we at the gym we have we call
Speaker 2: it with the level of mindset, right, so meaning to
Speaker 2: always be in progression. Right, so never stop progressing, never
Speaker 2: stop learning, never stop growing your body. Right. So like
Speaker 2: as humans them, we all have this potential, right, and
Speaker 2: then the strive for potential to get to your potential,
Speaker 2: and it never stops, right because your potentials is almost endless. Right,
Speaker 2: So like when do when does the tree stop growing?
Speaker 1: Never? Never?
Speaker 2: Yeah, it grows as much as it can. It grows
Speaker 2: as much as it can, right and that and that's
Speaker 2: that's that that's also connects us to our happiness, right
Speaker 2: is is being in progression right and continue to growing,
Speaker 2: to grow right, not to grow for you know, to
Speaker 2: have all this material things and you know, have the
Speaker 2: fanciest cars, that have the biggest house. Is to grow
Speaker 2: to the sake of just being your best, doing your best,
Speaker 2: seeing seeing how far you can get. Yeah right, Yeah,
Speaker 2: So that's that's the level of mindset. So and that
Speaker 2: can be in anything that you want, Right.
Speaker 1: Would you say that's what sets your your gym apart?
Speaker 1: You know, you could get a gym at La Fitness, right,
Speaker 1: you can get a gym at the Edge, right. Yeah,
Speaker 1: would you say that's what sets your gym apart? Or
Speaker 1: what do you think, like, what's one calling that your
Speaker 1: clients have to go to level up versus any other gym?
Speaker 2: Yeah, one hundred percent, I'll say that that is definitely
Speaker 2: one of the things that sets our gym apart.
Speaker 1: One.
Speaker 2: You know, we have a good hybrid which is between
Speaker 2: boxing and and fitness. Right. So some gyms just do
Speaker 2: fitness and did do fitness well, right, and and that's it, right.
Speaker 2: Some gyms do boxing well, but it's bad in fitness
Speaker 2: or and anything else. Right, they can only train fighters.
Speaker 2: So we have a great blend of that. Right. And
Speaker 2: then there's something that I learned in the Blue Ocean
Speaker 2: this this book called the Blue Ocean Blue Ocean Strategy. Right,
Speaker 2: where you you look to compete, or you look you
Speaker 2: look to go into a sector of an industry or
Speaker 2: into business that there's not much competition in. Right. So
Speaker 2: if I'm looking to make a grocery store, right, and
Speaker 2: then you know, there's the stopping shop. There's the shop
Speaker 2: right like that that's a that's something called in the book,
Speaker 2: is called red Ocean, right, So like it's a bunch
Speaker 2: of people in there, right, and then they price cut
Speaker 2: and all this stuff.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 2: So my gym, I'm not looking to be the Edge.
Speaker 2: I'm not looking to be the Planet Fitness or Crunch
Speaker 2: or like these big box gyms right where they sign
Speaker 2: up thousands of people and you know they they're just hoping, okay,
Speaker 2: this per and hope some people don't show up because
Speaker 2: the wouldn't be enough space, no equipment, so big time.
Speaker 1: Yeah, right, Like I think, like a it's a wild number, right,
Speaker 1: Like eighty percent of the profit comes from like people
Speaker 1: that don't even show up, right, yeah, have the membership
Speaker 1: is yeah, so it's like some wild number like that. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So it's it's the numbers are about like twenty
Speaker 2: percent of people are going to show up consistently and
Speaker 2: the rest about eighty percent is going to show up
Speaker 2: sporadically or not at all, right, and they stay for
Speaker 2: the average.
Speaker 1: Of four and a half years, And it makes it
Speaker 1: so hard to like, you know, not you know, cancel
Speaker 1: that membership. You know, you've got to call the manager,
Speaker 1: you've got to be there.
Speaker 2: Yeah. So we're not an access gym. We are results gym, right, Yeah,
Speaker 2: and that's what makes it, that's what makes us different.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 2: So we have a great hybrid of the boxing and
Speaker 2: the fitness, right. So that's another aspect. Next is we're
Speaker 2: results gym. Right. So what we do is we have
Speaker 2: a we have people start with a consultation. We're going
Speaker 2: to sit down, have a conversation. We do an embodied
Speaker 2: composition test to see like, okay, where you're at body fat, muscles,
Speaker 2: some mass, be in my et cetera. And then from
Speaker 2: there we'll ask you some questions and then through the
Speaker 2: through the consultation, through the body composition, will know exactly Okay,
Speaker 2: if I'm saying I'm talking to you, I'll know exactly
Speaker 2: what gio needs to be able to get to whatever
Speaker 2: goals you want to get to. And then I'm gonna
Speaker 2: suggest and recommend a plan for you. Right, Okay, here's
Speaker 2: some options for you according to your numbers and your goals.
Speaker 2: This is what I recommend for you.
Speaker 1: Got it? Got it? I love that, by the way,
Speaker 1: Like honestly, like if if I get a nice chunk
Speaker 1: of money in the future, Like I'd like to be
Speaker 1: an investor in level of gym. So you have a
Speaker 1: future investor here. But what about you know something that
Speaker 1: gyms don't do, like like the big box gyms, Like
Speaker 1: when someone's falling off, right, they've come in, they've done
Speaker 1: the consultation and they're you know, they were there for
Speaker 1: us three months all about that life, and all of
Speaker 1: a sudden they're not in. You know, is there anything
Speaker 1: that you do for your clients that say, hey, I
Speaker 1: haven't seen you come in. Brother? You remember what you
Speaker 1: committed to? Is it? You know, like remember that you
Speaker 1: you were inspired because your your dad went to the
Speaker 1: hospital in cardiac arrest. Like get your butt back in here, man,
Speaker 1: you know, like don't and then get the perspective. Is
Speaker 1: there anything that your gym provides that that's that level
Speaker 1: of service?
Speaker 2: Yeah? So what so what we do is through through
Speaker 2: our through our our system we do. We do a fitness,
Speaker 2: nutrition and accountability. Right, so one you're gonna have a
Speaker 2: coach through your fitness. Next, we do a nutrition plan
Speaker 2: because that's gonna be about seventy eighty percent year results.
Speaker 2: Is the way you're eating and the last part is accountability. Right,
Speaker 2: So we do weekly checkings with our members. We also
Speaker 2: have a community page, so like on our Facebook and
Speaker 2: our Instagram. We do community events every quarter. We just
Speaker 2: just this past Saturday, we have one where we're recognizing
Speaker 2: people because we have a whole We have a ranking
Speaker 2: system we call our level up system. So there's ten
Speaker 2: different levels and then so for example, if you complete
Speaker 2: your first six weeks, then your your level one. You
Speaker 2: complete your first twelve weeks, your level two, and then
Speaker 2: so on so on, right.
Speaker 1: Kind of like the black belts.
Speaker 2: Yeah exactly exactly. Yeah, that's that's the that's the concept
Speaker 2: of it, right, Like uh like that model, right, but
Speaker 2: instead of belts, it's just like, okay, you have your
Speaker 2: ranking and then we have a we give like some
Speaker 2: cool wristbands.
Speaker 1: Yeah sweet yeah, oh man, let's go. So you got
Speaker 1: your first like if you're there three months, you know
Speaker 1: you let's say you were in the pink bracelet, right
Speaker 1: three months bro?
Speaker 2: Yeah exactly exactly. Yeah. So it gives some people to
Speaker 2: you know, something to fight for. Yeah, and then also
Speaker 2: to like these weekly check ins, like we we so
Speaker 2: one we take attendance, right, so we're looking for you
Speaker 2: to come. Right. So if if you don't show up
Speaker 2: like most people two to three times a week, right,
Speaker 2: So if if you miss more than one time throughout
Speaker 2: the week, you're gonna pop up on our missing memory report.
Speaker 1: And then and now, my god, I love it. I
Speaker 1: love this man, I love this model.
Speaker 2: Man. Yeah, so we're gonna call you, We're gonna text you,
Speaker 2: and then we invest a lot of money into our retention,
Speaker 2: right because it's so much easier to maintain a memory
Speaker 2: than is to build more members, right. So true, and
Speaker 2: also too, you know, we we don't want to cheapen
Speaker 2: our memory experience, right. We want to the people who
Speaker 2: are you know, who are who are uh patrons to us? Right?
Speaker 2: And you know they you know they're trusting us to
Speaker 2: for the results. We want to make sure they get results. Right.
Speaker 2: So we're not just trying to cram a bunch of
Speaker 2: people in and you know, just hoping they'll show up.
Speaker 2: It's like, no, you know you signed up to you know,
Speaker 2: for results. You signed up here to truck like and
Speaker 2: we're going to make sure you do that and we're
Speaker 2: going to be accountable to you want to keep you
Speaker 2: on you know, on it, right, This.
Speaker 1: Is beautiful, man. I really love your business model. I
Speaker 1: love everything you put together for for your for your population.
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, you know we're at a minute fifty here,
Speaker 1: but I want to, like in case I always I'm
Speaker 1: always afraid people are gonna pop off. Where can people
Speaker 1: find you? Will continue the interview here?
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, So you can find us on Instagram at
Speaker 2: level up, gym dot Strafford, Yeah, and on TikTok. We're
Speaker 2: on YouTube. If you look up Malcolm level Up, you know,
Speaker 2: you'll you'll you'll you'll you'll see you'll see my face
Speaker 2: on there, and then you know we do our content
Speaker 2: in there as well. So sweet.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, he's got some sweet VIDs on Insta. Man,
Speaker 1: you know, some good motivational, good mindset. Yeah. Cool beans, man,
Speaker 1: all right, let's continue. Where do you see level Up
Speaker 1: going next? So yeah, yeah, what's what's the big vision here?
Speaker 1: You know, the ten year plan?
Speaker 2: Yeah. So the vision is is multiple locations for sure.
Speaker 2: So we want to help people from all over the country. So,
Speaker 2: so we're gonna start with just multiple locations in Connecticut
Speaker 2: and then we're gonna continue to build up. So I
Speaker 2: wanted to really solidify the system first before you know,
Speaker 2: we're going into multiple locations, Like.
Speaker 1: Yeah, like McDonald's. You gotta get the uh the speed
Speaker 1: omatic you know system, make sure it works right exactly,
Speaker 1: you know, the kinks out of the machine, right the
Speaker 1: gears are turning well oiled?
Speaker 2: Yeah exactly.
Speaker 1: Yeah, what do you see where do you see that's
Speaker 1: at right now? Like for your machine, you think you
Speaker 1: have a pretty well oiled machine or still a little
Speaker 1: fine tuning.
Speaker 2: So we have it. We have a very well oiled machine.
Speaker 2: Now there's a there's a little little bit of tweaks,
Speaker 2: you know, we're working on. But for the most part,
Speaker 2: like we're you know, we're we're gonna be soon. We're
Speaker 2: gonna be very We're gonna be ready very soon to
Speaker 2: open up that next location. But I'm super excited about.
Speaker 1: Dude, I'm excited too. Man. Can it be like right
Speaker 1: next to my house? I can just walk over. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we definitely want one over here as well. Yeah, Steinford here,
Speaker 1: sweet brother. What's one person that really impacted you? Like,
Speaker 1: what is one person that that really caused you to me? Like, man,
Speaker 1: I'm so so happy I chose to do this as
Speaker 1: as my career, as my calling, as my primary form
Speaker 1: of energy exchange in the world, right, Like, is there
Speaker 1: someone that like, you know, if you're sitting back on
Speaker 1: your porch, you know, like fifty years from now, you're
Speaker 1: like rocking on your Hey, Sonny, let me tell you
Speaker 1: about when grandpa started hit level of business. Is there
Speaker 1: a client's success story that that really like stuck to
Speaker 1: your heart? Yeah, there's I mean there's probably a lot.
Speaker 1: So if there's one or two that really liked.
Speaker 2: There's so many, But I'm gonna go for one of
Speaker 2: the recent ones, right because this one, it really, it
Speaker 2: really personally impacts me. So I have a client name
Speaker 2: name Lynn, and so she is sixty eight years old, right,
Speaker 2: So she started with us, with us like about almost
Speaker 2: it's been a little over a year now, and I've
Speaker 2: seen her. I've been witnessing her build more muscle, lose
Speaker 2: body fat, you know, build consistent habits, make uh you know,
Speaker 2: make changes, you know for the better. And you know
Speaker 2: sometimes you know, you're not saying you can't teach an
Speaker 2: old dog new tricks, right, So she she's learning new
Speaker 2: tricks and she's she's her energy is is she's getting younger,
Speaker 2: you know, like she's doing more, right, So she did
Speaker 2: the she did the five k Ops of course race
Speaker 2: with us, you know, in September.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, first five k first one ever.
Speaker 2: First that was her first yeah, first one.
Speaker 1: Yeah wow at sixty eight years old.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Empower What a feeling.
Speaker 2: Huh yeah yeah. So and so it's amazing to see that,
Speaker 2: right because a lot of times, why it personally impacts me,
Speaker 2: right because one, you know, my grandmother, right, so you know,
Speaker 2: she could have lived a longer.
Speaker 1: Life, right, full you know, with a full circle.
Speaker 2: Yeah. But then I also learning what not to do,
Speaker 2: right is my grandfather, right, So my grandfather, he's uh,
Speaker 2: he's he's about Lindsay, she's like a little over, like
Speaker 2: he's like seventy two, and he you know, he's you know,
Speaker 2: he smokes, you know, he's you know, he's done drugs before,
Speaker 2: you know, you know, he drinks and like he's you know,
Speaker 2: he's very you know, he's on the couch watching the
Speaker 2: news all day, right and you know, barely moving, you know,
Speaker 2: not eating, right, you know, I used to I lived
Speaker 2: with him for like a few years, and I was
Speaker 2: helping him as like a caretaker, and you know I'm
Speaker 2: seeing his fridge, you know, all you see has these
Speaker 2: white castle frozen burgers and like all you is like,
Speaker 2: you know, just crap.
Speaker 1: It's amazing that people make it to that age. Like
Speaker 1: with habits like that. It's crazy how resilient the body is.
Speaker 2: Yeah. So you know what's interesting, right, is so you
Speaker 2: can live you know, so you can live a longer life, right,
Speaker 2: but you you can your quality of.
Speaker 1: Life could be the quality of life could.
Speaker 2: Live decline, right, Yeah, so you know sometimes sometimes people
Speaker 2: you know, with bad habits, you don't make it a
Speaker 2: fun But then there are some people in their nineties
Speaker 2: and hundreds, but you know, had these bad habits throughout
Speaker 2: their life. The qualities quality of life is horrible, right,
Speaker 2: so like are you are you living right? You're living,
Speaker 2: but are you living right?
Speaker 1: Yeah? Yeah?
Speaker 2: So so I look at you know, that lens and
Speaker 2: like okay, like I don't want to be that like
Speaker 2: and then I see you know, people on the opposite end, right,
Speaker 2: like my grandmother on my mom's side. So she's, uh,
Speaker 2: she's in her seventies right and she know she's still
Speaker 2: she's still like you know, getting movement throughout the day.
Speaker 2: You know, she eats, you know she eats well, you know,
Speaker 2: she has energies. You know, she's still working, you know,
Speaker 2: and she's you know, she she looks young, right, and
Speaker 2: so it's just a whole different seventy experience.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So it's it's it's about where which which game do
Speaker 2: you want to play?
Speaker 1: Which game? Yeah, whether you want to play or not?
Speaker 2: Right? Yeah?
Speaker 1: Yeah, or you want to just watch the game? Yeah? Yeah,
Speaker 1: which game do you want to play? I definitely want
Speaker 1: to be on that, like, you know, quality of life,
Speaker 1: you know, looking back and saying, hey, I did the
Speaker 1: best that I could to take take care of the vessel.
Speaker 2: Yeah exactly, yeah, the vessel.
Speaker 1: The boat boats, little boats on the other Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So it's about choosing your heart, right, because it's
Speaker 2: you know, it's not it's not easy, you know, you know,
Speaker 2: eating well, working out, you know, being consistent. Right, But
Speaker 2: it's also it's not easy, you know, being sick, barely
Speaker 2: able to move, you know when I'm getting you know,
Speaker 2: I know, sound like me, you know, being in pain constantly. Right.
Speaker 2: So it's like, choose your heart, you know, which which
Speaker 2: one do you which.
Speaker 1: You're hard and oh I love that, yeah, yeah, choose
Speaker 1: your heart. But a great quote. Yeah, yeah, and I
Speaker 1: am I'm of the that life is simple. Actually, it's
Speaker 1: quite easy because you we're just always throwing meaning the things.
Speaker 1: You know, like, you know, just apply different meanings to something.
Speaker 1: Oh this happened for me, right versus to me right, yeah,
Speaker 1: this happened and oh like uh, you know, like someone
Speaker 1: stole my car, Like oh wow, okay, yeah, well look
Speaker 1: what an adventurous life you're having. You know, now you
Speaker 1: got you got this cool thing. Just resolve is how
Speaker 1: to get your car back? Right, And so, like life is,
Speaker 1: at least in my modality, life can be pretty simple
Speaker 1: if you you know, just flip so many meanings around.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and one hundred percent agree with that, right, because
Speaker 2: what happens, right is when when you're starting anything anything new,
Speaker 2: is it's it's hard at first, right, but like when
Speaker 2: you build a habit of doing making making uh the
Speaker 2: good choices for yourself, Like for example, like I take
Speaker 2: a cold shower every single day, right, and it was
Speaker 2: it used to be hard, right, but now it's like
Speaker 2: it's it's it's it's normal for me, right, Like it's
Speaker 2: not a hard thing to do. It's not a hard
Speaker 2: thing to wake up and okay, I'm gonna do my
Speaker 2: cardio on a Sunday morning, I'm gonna do you know,
Speaker 2: I'm gonna, you know, not choose the fast food. I'm
Speaker 2: gonna make my food at home, right like because because
Speaker 2: these things be habits. Right, So now I'm not using
Speaker 2: all this willpower and it's not hard anymore, right, It's normal.
Speaker 1: Now, yeah, true, right, But what's hard becomes normal. And
Speaker 1: the sad thing is that that goes on the opposite
Speaker 1: side of the spectrum. For example, like it's hard to
Speaker 1: live in a in a tough neighborhood until it becomes easy, right, yeah,
Speaker 1: it's hard to live in uh with violence in your
Speaker 1: home until it becomes a normal right.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: So it's like it's it's it's all about like the
Speaker 1: stomach of how how much pain can we stomach? And
Speaker 1: unfortunately for us human beings, we can stomach a lot
Speaker 1: of pain for things that are both negative and hopefully
Speaker 1: we can flip that into for something that it's more positive.
Speaker 1: Right yeah, Yeah, that's the that's the switch, you know,
Speaker 1: just make the switch. Yeeah, Malcolm man, this this interview
Speaker 1: just went by so quick, and I want to ask you,
Speaker 1: like everything under the sun. We didn't even talk about fitness.
Speaker 1: I'd love to have you back one more time, if if,
Speaker 1: if you would love it would allow me to. But
Speaker 1: is there anything what you would like to leave for
Speaker 1: the audience, like a tidbit something recently you learned, And
Speaker 1: if yes I could, I'll put you on this beautiful
Speaker 1: camera right here? Is that cool with you?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 1: Yeah, Mick, give me one second here, wait it up?
Speaker 1: Oop all you weres brother?
Speaker 2: Yeah. So the last tidbit I would say is to
Speaker 2: like with business, right, you want to build a build
Speaker 2: a system. Right, So if you think about you know
Speaker 2: why McDonald's is so successful, right, it's because they built
Speaker 2: the system. You know, shitty product, but great system. Right.
Speaker 2: So now now it is that that doesn't just work
Speaker 2: just in business, but it also works in your life. Right.
Speaker 2: What systems are you building for your life? Right? So
Speaker 2: with systems, it's so important to first, you know, build
Speaker 2: habit cues, right, So understanding what habit cues are. Right.
Speaker 2: So if I if I'm working out, I'm give you
Speaker 2: an example for working out. What days am I going
Speaker 2: to work out? Monday, Wednesday, Friday? Okay, I know my days. Next,
Speaker 2: what time am I going to work out? Okay, I'm
Speaker 2: gonna work out six am? Right? So now have my days,
Speaker 2: have my time. So now when a Monday comes, I
Speaker 2: know tomorrow I'm posted to work out, right, I already
Speaker 2: made that agreement ahead of time of that decision in advance, right,
Speaker 2: because decision decision fatigue is a real thing. Right, So
Speaker 2: you want to make as much decisions as you can
Speaker 2: in advance, so this way you're you don't have to
Speaker 2: try to do it later and then it's like you're
Speaker 2: burnt out, right, So that's one. So making sure you
Speaker 2: know you know what days, what times you're doing stuff,
Speaker 2: and what agreements you're gonna make in advance, and then
Speaker 2: from there create backup plans. Right, because life happens it
Speaker 2: like just like it happens to you, happens to me,
Speaker 2: It happens to everybody. Right. You move, you get sick,
Speaker 2: you get you get married, get divorced, you have kids,
Speaker 2: you they get out, they gotta get out the house,
Speaker 2: like all the life stuff that happens to all of us. Right,
Speaker 2: But what make contingency plans? Like you're Batman, right, have
Speaker 2: all those plans ready, right, So like if I can
Speaker 2: make it to Monday, I know I'm going to do
Speaker 2: it on Tuesday. So you have your plan A. You're planing, B,
Speaker 2: you're playing C. And what we do is we build
Speaker 2: that with our clients and we even have it to
Speaker 2: where we have like a two minute work out we
Speaker 2: call a habit keep it workout. So if you can't
Speaker 2: do your full plan, even on your busiest day, you
Speaker 2: can do two minutes, right, We can all do two
Speaker 2: minutes of a workout. Right. That's better than nothing. It's
Speaker 2: called not breaking the habit chain. Right. And then from there,
Speaker 2: the last thing I love and our model is one
Speaker 2: percent better every day, right, so and then so just
Speaker 2: take it day by day, right, and then that one
Speaker 2: percent better. By the end of the year, you're three
Speaker 2: hundred and sixty five percent better, right. So it's about
Speaker 2: just sticking to it, right. And then if you can't
Speaker 2: do you all do you a little bit, right. But
Speaker 2: the key is don't stop, and then you're gonna get
Speaker 2: stronger and stronger after a while.
Speaker 1: Beautifully said Malcolm. Thank you, brother, Thank you for a
Speaker 1: level me up with this beautiful conversation, and thank you
Speaker 1: for choosing the life path that you are. The gazelle,
Speaker 1: the lion gazelle, I call you from here now now.
Speaker 1: Thank you for what you're doing for the world, for
Speaker 1: your community. I know that you're operating from heart, not
Speaker 1: like you're a light worker, brother, like you're an amazing
Speaker 1: soul and you're in sole purpose. Man, I see it.
Speaker 1: I feel it. And level up, Jim, I quite honestly,
Speaker 1: I look at the brand right here on your shoulder,
Speaker 1: right there above your heart, and I see big things,
Speaker 1: you know, leveling up, leveling up, leveling up the gym,
Speaker 1: while leveling up others. Thank you for coming to the
Speaker 1: Breakthrough Lab. Brother, you having yeah, man, oh so good
Speaker 1: to see you. Awesome. So, guys, thank you for watching
Speaker 1: this week's Breakthrough episode break Through Lab episode. Your next
Speaker 1: breakthrough starts here. Remember that this SOS Radio dot Live
Speaker 1: community is a community built on you, built on advancing
Speaker 1: the human experience. We have other hosts in this network
Speaker 1: speaking about hope, change, transformation, entrepreneurship, masterminds, you name it.
Speaker 1: We are here to serve you, just like Malcolm is
Speaker 1: here serving the beautiful community of Stanford and hopefully nationwide
Speaker 1: at the same time. It's pretty soon, right, So thank
Speaker 1: you again, and your next breakthrough starts here. Take care,
Speaker 1: bye bye
Speaker 2: Bye everything at Everything El