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Speaker 1: When no one's cheering for you, you have to be

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Speaker 1: able to know how to cheer for yourself.

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Speaker 2: What's going on Hurdler's Emily A. Baddi.

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Speaker 1: Here.

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Speaker 2: You are listening to episode two hundred and twenty six

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Speaker 2: of Hurdle, a wellness focus podcast where I connect with

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Speaker 2: everyone from your favorite athletes to top experts and industry

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Speaker 2: CEOs about their highest highs, toughest moments, and everything in between.

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Speaker 2: We all go through hurdles in life, and my goal

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Speaker 2: through these discussions is to empower you to better navigate

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Speaker 2: yours and move with intention so that you can stride

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Speaker 2: towards your own big potential and of course have some

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Speaker 2: fun along the way. I am so so amped that

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Speaker 2: for episode to twenty six, I am sitting down with

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Speaker 2: Peloton instructor radlope Bez. When I say that this was

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Speaker 2: a long requested episode, that would be an understatement. I

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Speaker 2: heard your calls, and I always hear your calls. So

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Speaker 2: if there's anyone else, if you ever want to hear

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Speaker 2: from Unhurdle, I am all ears. Feel free to shoot

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Speaker 2: us a dm over at Hurdle podcast, or of course

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Speaker 2: shoot an email over to Hello at Hurdle dot us,

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Speaker 2: Rad and I sat down Irl in the Hurdle studio

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Speaker 2: to chat all about it all, literally, from how his

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Speaker 2: upbringing has influenced him to work mega mega hard to

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Speaker 2: how he got this job at Peloton. We dial it

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Speaker 2: back and talk about growing up in the Bronx, sadly

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Speaker 2: losing both his father and his stepfather, and ultimately what

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Speaker 2: it was like for him to navigate an upbringing with

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Speaker 2: a single mother working constantly to put food on the table.

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Speaker 2: So chats about how he found himself as essentially a

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Speaker 2: janitor at a gym and how that job influenced him

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Speaker 2: to get his personal training certification. He shares how he

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Speaker 2: first came into one of his favorite activities, boxing, what

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Speaker 2: it was like to teach it to others in his

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Speaker 2: first foray into group of fitness, and ultimately the way

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Speaker 2: that he found Peloton. Again. Loved this convo, so appreciative

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Speaker 2: that Hurdle brought Rad and I together. Irl. We had

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Speaker 2: a blast. Like I said, make sure you're following Hurdle

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Speaker 2: over at Hurdle Podcast, I am over at Emily a

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Speaker 2: Body and if you're listening to this in real time

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Speaker 2: in your local to the New York area, I'd love

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Speaker 2: to have you at a really special conversation I am

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Speaker 2: hosting on November two at MoMA PS one, six thirty

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Speaker 2: pm surrounding the topic of runner safety. Details about that

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Speaker 2: are in the show notes, and if you can't make

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Speaker 2: it to that event, no sweat if your local. I've

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Speaker 2: also got a hurdler huddle happening on Saturday, November fifth.

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Speaker 2: The event bright slash. Registration is not live just yet,

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Speaker 2: but stay tuned to my social I will share it asap.

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Speaker 2: Last little bit of housekeeping here if you are not

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Speaker 2: yet subscribed to the Weekly Hurdle I would love to

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Speaker 2: land in your inbox every Friday with so much of

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Speaker 2: the same stuff you love from the show, inspiration, motivation,

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Speaker 2: I share some of my gear picks, lots of goodies

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Speaker 2: in there. So the link to subscribe to the Hurdle

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Speaker 2: newsletter is in the show notes. All right, that's it

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Speaker 2: for now. With that, let's get to it. Let's get

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Speaker 2: to hurdling today. I'm sitting down with Rad Lopez. He's

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Speaker 2: a peloton instructor. How are you doing today, Rad?

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Speaker 1: I'm good, I'm doing good. I'm just just off of

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Speaker 1: my first live Spanish strength class, which was really good.

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Speaker 1: I'm just really excited to be here.

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Speaker 2: How did that feel for you?

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Speaker 1: It was new, It was definitely a new experience stepping into,

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Speaker 1: you know, speaking Spanish in the fitness world. It was

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Speaker 1: definitely a new experience, but one that I'm super proud of.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, what what makes you proud about that?

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Speaker 1: Just, you know, being able to represent my heritage, being

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Speaker 1: able to represent the Spanish speakers on the Peloton platform

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Speaker 1: is really important to me. Yeah.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and you because you grew up in a Spanish

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Speaker 2: speaking householder I did.

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Speaker 1: I did, Spanish was out my first language. Spanish was

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Speaker 1: my first language. Now I think, you know, unfortunately Spanish

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Speaker 1: has kind of taken a back seat just because like

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Speaker 1: the people that I, uh normally interact with are all

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Speaker 1: English speakers. But I'm happy to be back in the

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Speaker 1: Spanish speaking spotlight.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, speaking spotlight. Say that five times fast. I'll

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Speaker 2: try that later, maybe in Spanish. Okay, So, fresh off

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Speaker 2: of your first strength class and honestly kind of fresh,

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Speaker 2: still on the very.

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Speaker 1: Very fresh, still on the Peloton scene. But it's been

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Speaker 1: a ride. It's been a ride for sure. For sure.

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Speaker 2: When you reflect on your time so far at Peloton,

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Speaker 2: you think about maybe one of the biggest lessons that

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Speaker 2: you've learned. If we're going to jump right in here,

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Speaker 2: what do you have to offer me.

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Speaker 1: One of the biggest lessons. I love that question because

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Speaker 1: you know, that's one of the things that has been

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Speaker 1: at the forefront of what I'm trying to accomplish right now.

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Speaker 1: And I think that that's just giving myself some grace,

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Speaker 1: giving myself space to not have done as well as

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Speaker 1: I have wanted to do, you know, whether it's a class,

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Speaker 1: whether it was a meeting, or whatever it is, I

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Speaker 1: giving myself space and the grace to you know, have

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Speaker 1: that room to improve. Because growing up, I was always

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Speaker 1: really really hard on myself to do better and be better,

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Speaker 1: and even when I did a good job, I would

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Speaker 1: always dwell on the fact that I could have done better.

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Speaker 1: And I think, you know, one of the biggest lessons

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Speaker 1: now is just allowing myself to grow, you know, giving

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Speaker 1: myself that grace.

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Speaker 2: That's interesting that that's the first thing that you take

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Speaker 2: away like the biggest thing that you've learned so far,

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Speaker 2: because it would insinuate that you feel as though maybe

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Speaker 2: there's been an extreme need for grace. Would you say

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Speaker 2: that's the case?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure. For sure, definitely, because I'm always beating

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Speaker 1: myself up, you know, always beating myself up, because I

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Speaker 1: do want to show up the best way that I

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Speaker 1: know how to, you know, So for sure, Yeah.

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Speaker 2: What does showing up in the best way you know

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Speaker 2: how to look like for you?

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Speaker 1: Being able to deliver deliver the best product? And I

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Speaker 1: possibly can, whether it's a class, whether it's you know,

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Speaker 1: my performance, my form, you know, the energy level, whatever

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Speaker 1: that that is.

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Speaker 2: You know, Yeah, I feel as though I can relate

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Speaker 2: to what you're saying, like, I obviously want to show

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Speaker 2: up the best that I can as well as often

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Speaker 2: as I can, especially when I'm in front of people.

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Speaker 2: Sometimes I interpret the best that I can to actually

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Speaker 2: be in a way that looks effortless.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I see that, I can see that.

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Speaker 2: For you, even talking to camera, I'm sure that that

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Speaker 2: took time to get used to, especially now. I mean

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Speaker 2: at least now you have people that are starting to

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Speaker 2: be in the studio in your classes. But previously, when

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Speaker 2: it was just you in a room and you had

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Speaker 2: to make it look effortless and also seem natural, were

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Speaker 2: there challenges that went with that?

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Speaker 1: There were there were I think stepping in front of

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Speaker 1: the peloton camera was a lot easier just because the

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Speaker 1: pandemic kind of prepared me for that, right, I think

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Speaker 1: we had to, you know, being in the fitness industry,

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Speaker 1: we had to there was such a pivot that we

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Speaker 1: had to make, not being in the studios, not being

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Speaker 1: in front of a live audience. We had to pivot

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Speaker 1: towards like, you know, streaming platforms, whether it was Zoom,

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Speaker 1: whether it was Instagram Live or whatever. It is stepping

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Speaker 1: into into that stage and into you know, just being

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Speaker 1: at home and setting the phone up to record us working. Now,

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Speaker 1: I think that really prepped me for what was to

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Speaker 1: come in regards to being in front of the camera

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Speaker 1: and you know, not getting live feedback at the time.

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Speaker 2: So I want to go back to your upbringing. You

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Speaker 2: mentioned growing up Spanish speaking household, growing up in the Bronx.

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Speaker 2: So you've been in New York for a while. Talk

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Speaker 2: to me about how being active played an integrole role

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Speaker 2: as well in your upbringing.

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Speaker 1: Being I would say being active would be the best

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Speaker 1: way to phrase it, because fitness, you know, and what

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Speaker 1: and what my perception of fitness is now in regards

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Speaker 1: to the physical aspects of it, It was ever really

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Speaker 1: a thing. Right growing up in the Bronx, fitness wasn't

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Speaker 1: at the forefront of our culture. It was more like

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Speaker 1: play sports, be the strongest, be the fastest. It was

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Speaker 1: always more like a competition, you know. It always like

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Speaker 1: the Hunger Games. Almost like I did my push ups

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Speaker 1: so that I could be like the strongest in my

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Speaker 1: class or the strongest, you know, when I was on

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Speaker 1: the baseball field or whatever. But fitness, you know, when

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Speaker 1: it comes to it being a form of well being

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Speaker 1: and being just a form of taking care of your body,

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Speaker 1: that wasn't the message. So to me, it was more

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Speaker 1: about being strong for the sports that I played, it

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Speaker 1: was being about it was more about being the fastest

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Speaker 1: on the field, being the fastest on the basketball court.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, when you know. I did an interview a few

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Speaker 2: years ago for Men's Health with a couple of guys

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Speaker 2: that are based in the New York area, and a

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Speaker 2: couple of them grew up in Queens and it was

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Speaker 2: like for them when they would go running, and I'm

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Speaker 2: talking like maybe like seven eight years ago, like when

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Speaker 2: they started running, it wasn't normal like in their neighborhood

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Speaker 2: to see like some guy going running down the street,

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Speaker 2: and everyone would always be like, what are you running from?

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Speaker 1: Yea, yeah, yeah, what are you doing here?

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Speaker 2: So it's interesting to hear like your sentiments about that.

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Speaker 1: That couldn't resonate it anymore because, like you know, I

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Speaker 1: remember just when I started boxing, I would run maybe

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Speaker 1: two three miles every night around the Bronzoo and there

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Speaker 1: was no one around. There was no one around running,

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Speaker 1: There was no one around, like you know, just doing

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Speaker 1: any of that stuff. And I almost felt like the

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Speaker 1: odd one out being somebody like you know, within my

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Speaker 1: community that felt like it was important to me. So

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Speaker 1: yeah I could could I can see where you know,

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Speaker 1: I can see that.

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Speaker 2: Why was it important to you?

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Speaker 1: Again, just relating it back to sports. I wanted to

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Speaker 1: be able to perform as a boxer, to be able

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Speaker 1: to perform on the base ball field, on the basketball court.

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Speaker 1: It was always around sports, less about less about my

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Speaker 1: well being and my body feeling good and my you know,

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Speaker 1: being mentally healthy. It was more around the sports than

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Speaker 1: anything else. Look at you into boxing, love telling the story.

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Speaker 1: As a kid, me and my family would always gather

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Speaker 1: around the TV. We'd have these big family gatherings around

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Speaker 1: big boxing matches, and you know, the adults would always

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Speaker 1: be mingling and doing their thing and having their drinks

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Speaker 1: and listening to music. And then as you know, as

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Speaker 1: a child, that'd always be the only one in front

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Speaker 1: of the TV watching every one of the matches. And

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Speaker 1: what intrigued me about boxing was the beautiful just merging

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Speaker 1: the two fighters, the two boxers, just like dancing around

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Speaker 1: the ring. But it was also a very dangerous sport,

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Speaker 1: you know, and like the combination and the marriage between

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Speaker 1: those two things really really, you know, intrigued me into

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Speaker 1: the sport. You know, it really drew me into the sport.

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Speaker 1: And then when I was sixteen, I found a boxing gym.

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Speaker 1: One of my best friends took me into a boxing gym,

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Speaker 1: and the rest was history. But also, boxing just taught

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Speaker 1: me so much about life. It taught me so much

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Speaker 1: about myself beyond what boxing is, you know at first glance,

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Speaker 1: which is that you know, folks think it's violent. Boxing

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Speaker 1: teaches you so much about yourself. Like it taught me

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Speaker 1: that I need to be a little more resilient when

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Speaker 1: times got tough, right. It taught me how to win

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Speaker 1: and taught me how to lose. So yeah, boxing made

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Speaker 1: me a lot more mentally stronger, a lot.

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Speaker 2: More mentally stronger. When you were getting into boxing. You

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Speaker 2: mentioned around like sixteen or so, what was going on

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Speaker 2: in your home in your personal life.

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Speaker 1: In my personal life, I think nothing was ever really

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Speaker 1: going on in my home, you know. I think my

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Speaker 1: mom did a really good job at kind of shielding

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Speaker 1: us from the struggles that she would go through. But

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Speaker 1: you know, as a you know, personally, I just wanted

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Speaker 1: to be more. And when I was boxing, I think

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Speaker 1: that's what I took into it because I always wanted

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Speaker 1: to be more. I always wanted to get to know

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Speaker 1: more about myself, kind of like learn myself a little more.

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Speaker 1: Boxing is a lonely sport, you know, it's not like

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Speaker 1: a team sport, So I just wanted to discover who

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Speaker 1: I was and kind of like to see what characteristics

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Speaker 1: I possessed when I got uncomfortable, and that I think

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Speaker 1: that was the gist of it.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, growing up, what did you see yourself doing? Like

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Speaker 2: did you see yourself going to college? Did you see

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Speaker 2: yourself working in a certain industry? Like what were you

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Speaker 2: thinking at first?

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Speaker 1: Growing up in the Bronx. I just wanted to make

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Speaker 1: it out, you know, I'm grateful for having grown up

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Speaker 1: in the Bronx, because I had a very clear example

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Speaker 1: I didn't, you know, growing up, I didn't have a

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Speaker 1: role model, I didn't have someone to look up to.

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Speaker 1: But growing up I did have a clear example of

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Speaker 1: everything that I didn't want to be. Growing up in

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Speaker 1: the Bronx, there was a lot of violence and like

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Speaker 1: you know, just criminal activity all over the place. There

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Speaker 1: was a lot of drugs. Drugs was such a normal

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Speaker 1: thing to witness, and seeing people on drugs was so normal.

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Speaker 1: It's like part of our daily lives. Walking to the

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Speaker 1: fifth grade, I see someone stumbling over, like bent over

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Speaker 1: on the sidewalk or something because they were on some

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Speaker 1: kind of substance or whatever. And that was such a

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Speaker 1: normal part of my life. But I would see it

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Speaker 1: and I would be like just repelled from it. That

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Speaker 1: was not what I wanted to do. That was not

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Speaker 1: what I wanted to be, right. I didn't want to

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Speaker 1: stay where I grew up because it was there was

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Speaker 1: just nothing to come of it. You know, I go

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Speaker 1: back now and I still see the same people right

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Speaker 1: doing the same thing that they were doing fifteen years ago.

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Speaker 1: And you know, there was something that taught me a lot.

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Speaker 1: I knew that I wanted to be in a space

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Speaker 1: where I inspired people, where I empowered people. I wanted

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Speaker 1: to be on a stage at that times. I wanted

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Speaker 1: to be a rap like I wanted to be someone

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Speaker 1: in sports. I wanted to be so many things, you know.

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Speaker 1: I think that the the the anchor there is knowing

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Speaker 1: what I didn't want to be. I wanted to be everything,

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Speaker 1: but what I was a normal part of my life,

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Speaker 1: you know. Yeah, and now going back and let me

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Speaker 1: just preface by saying, there are so many beautiful things

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Speaker 1: in the Bronx, so many beautiful people in the Bronx,

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Speaker 1: but there are a lot of things that I go

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Speaker 1: back to now just to visit and I'm like, shit,

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Speaker 1: like that these are the things that I was numb

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Speaker 1: to in the past. You know. It's like I remember

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Speaker 1: being on the phone with one of my friends in

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Speaker 1: Toronto a long time ago. I was I was in

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Speaker 1: my teenage years and they were like gunshots out out

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Speaker 1: of my window and they were like, what was that.

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Speaker 1: I was like, oh, that's just gun shots outside of

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Speaker 1: my window and they were just like what you know,

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Speaker 1: And I was so numb to it, right, So, yeah.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's interesting to hear you say that growing up

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Speaker 2: you didn't have a role model, especially because I've heard

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Speaker 2: you already once in this conversation, and from what I

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Speaker 2: know of you outside of this conversation, speak pretty fondly

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Speaker 2: of your mother. We talk about the relationship between you

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Speaker 2: and your mom, Yes, the relationship between me and my

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Speaker 2: mom is and I say I didn't have a role

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Speaker 2: model because it was almost like my.

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Speaker 1: Mom was very busy making a life for us, right.

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Speaker 1: My mom was super busy working twelve hours a day,

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Speaker 1: you know, busting her ass so that we had everything

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Speaker 1: we needed, you know, so a lot of my day

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Speaker 1: was spent you know, in school or in my head

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Speaker 1: or you know. So the relationship with my mom didn't

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Speaker 1: really start to come into fruition until later in my

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Speaker 1: teenage years, where I started realizing, like, oh, all the

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Speaker 1: things that she's done, all the efforts that she's put forward,

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Speaker 1: like it's not it hasn't been easy, right, so, you know,

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Speaker 1: growing up and developing an understanding for all the struggles

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Speaker 1: that she's been through and all the things that she

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Speaker 1: sacrificed to get us to where we are today, and

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Speaker 1: not only that she was a provider, not just for

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Speaker 1: us but for our family back in the Dominican Republic,

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Speaker 1: for her parents, for some of her brothers and sisters,

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Speaker 1: for everyone that needed it. So it was was It

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Speaker 1: was when I started to realize how much she's done

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Speaker 1: and what she's sacrificed and all the things that she

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Speaker 1: must have been feeling, that my relationship with my mom

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Speaker 1: started to really get stronger.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: Right, it was just seeing things from her point of view.

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Speaker 2: So, yeah, that's really special that you have the opportunity

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Speaker 2: to kind of turn that relationship around a little bit

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Speaker 2: and get closer. Do you still have family in dr Oh?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, ninety percent of my family's back into Dominican Republic.

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Speaker 2: How are they doing now with everything that's going on

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Speaker 2: down there.

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Speaker 1: They're doing well. They're doing well. I'm super grateful that,

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Speaker 1: you know, the hurricane didn't really impact them much. But

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Speaker 1: they're doing well, good luckily. Yeah.

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Speaker 2: Got you happy to hear that?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, thank you.

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Speaker 2: So you revisit and kind of re examine the relationship

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Speaker 2: you had with your mom now, you said us other

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Speaker 2: family members.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, me and my sister. I grew up with, you know,

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Speaker 1: with my mom and my sister, and I'm very grateful

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Speaker 1: for you know, growing up with women has taught me,

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Speaker 1: you know, in ways to be super empathetic. It's taught

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Speaker 1: me to be soft in the areas of my life

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Speaker 1: which I need to be softer, and you know not

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Speaker 1: you know, I didn't grow up with a lot of machismo,

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Speaker 1: which is something that I'm proud of because I feel

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Speaker 1: like it makes me a more well rounded human being.

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Speaker 2: What would you say, the areas that you feel as

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Speaker 2: though you need to be.

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Speaker 1: Soft are good question. I knew that was covering just being.

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Speaker 1: It's helped me so much within my community, within my

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Speaker 1: community a poloton, within my community in the past. It's

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00:19:20,640 --> 00:19:23,720
Speaker 1: helped me so much just because I am very understanding

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Speaker 1: of human emotion. I feel I'm very understanding and accepting

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Speaker 1: of people from all walks of life. I understand that

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Speaker 1: not everyone comes not everyone comes from the same place,

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Speaker 1: not everyone is built the same, not everyone can do

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Speaker 1: the same things. So I think that's a really strong

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Speaker 1: part of it. I understand that everyone's one hundred percent

356
00:19:44,280 --> 00:19:46,639
Speaker 1: looks different. I understand that some people could be having

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Speaker 1: bad days and they're all not going to be sunny,

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Speaker 1: you know, in those senses. I think, you know, it

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00:19:52,080 --> 00:19:53,560
Speaker 1: taught me to be really empathetic.

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Speaker 2: When you talk about being empathetic and having compassion, who

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00:19:57,040 --> 00:20:00,000
Speaker 2: would you say in your life holds that same space

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Speaker 2: for you?

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00:20:03,920 --> 00:20:04,600
Speaker 1: Good question.

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00:20:05,440 --> 00:20:07,080
Speaker 2: Why do you think You're struggling with the answer to

365
00:20:07,080 --> 00:20:07,520
Speaker 2: that question?

366
00:20:07,720 --> 00:20:11,840
Speaker 1: Because I'm so in my head oftentimes about myself, about

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Speaker 1: my performance and about my career and about the things

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00:20:16,480 --> 00:20:18,200
Speaker 1: that I'm doing. Like I said before, like I'm always

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00:20:18,200 --> 00:20:21,720
Speaker 1: so hard on myself that it's hard sometimes to step

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00:20:21,760 --> 00:20:24,879
Speaker 1: outside of that and kind of see who who's holding

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Speaker 1: that space for me?

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Speaker 2: You under you know, I also feel like sometimes when

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Speaker 2: you're so in it, like when you're like you are,

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Speaker 2: you have the great support of Peloton, but you're also

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Speaker 2: an entrepreneur a bit so to be the person that

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00:20:38,000 --> 00:20:40,080
Speaker 2: is like carving your own way. You talked about like

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Speaker 2: working so hard to get to where you are, and

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Speaker 2: obviously we'll get into that as well. But when you're

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Speaker 2: so in it, sometimes it's hard to step out and

380
00:20:46,880 --> 00:20:49,520
Speaker 2: be like, he does support me, correct, Yeah.

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Speaker 1: And you know, support, compassion and support for me they're

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00:20:52,680 --> 00:20:56,199
Speaker 1: a little different. But I have a great support support

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Speaker 1: system and my friends and you know, my mother. I mean,

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Speaker 1: I taught my first Spanish live class today and I

385
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Speaker 1: called my mother this morning and I'm like, Yo, Ma,

386
00:21:03,880 --> 00:21:06,840
Speaker 1: how do I say bicep curl? Or how could I

387
00:21:06,880 --> 00:21:09,680
Speaker 1: structure this thing that I'm trying to say in class?

388
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Speaker 1: And my friends are also very very supportive. I have

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Speaker 1: three really good friends. They're almost like my brothers, Sean, Keifer,

390
00:21:18,800 --> 00:21:22,080
Speaker 1: and Alfredo. I've known them for seventeen years and they

391
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Speaker 1: do a really good job at supporting me. And you know,

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Speaker 1: I'm very grateful for everyone that plays that role in

393
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Speaker 1: my life.

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Speaker 2: Interesting support and compassion, yeah, different define compassion for me.

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00:21:32,600 --> 00:21:36,120
Speaker 1: That compassion, to me, it's more of an understanding. It's

396
00:21:36,160 --> 00:21:41,520
Speaker 1: more of a holding space for me to not be

397
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Speaker 1: at my best. Support is more to me of someone

398
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Speaker 1: who has always just been I mean, I guess kind

399
00:21:49,640 --> 00:21:52,040
Speaker 1: of they're the same, but someone who's always cheering for you.

400
00:21:52,119 --> 00:21:55,040
Speaker 1: But you know, I think compassion there's a bit more

401
00:21:55,040 --> 00:21:55,800
Speaker 1: emotion there.

402
00:21:56,000 --> 00:21:58,399
Speaker 2: I think someone can support you without being compassionate.

403
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Speaker 1: Correct, Yeah? Correct?

404
00:22:00,160 --> 00:22:04,120
Speaker 2: You say as you got older, late teenage years, were

405
00:22:04,160 --> 00:22:08,639
Speaker 2: you in more situations where you didn't really feel supported?

406
00:22:09,240 --> 00:22:11,919
Speaker 1: Yeah? Yeah, you know. And this is not to discredit

407
00:22:12,400 --> 00:22:15,200
Speaker 1: my mom's work, but so much of my life I've

408
00:22:15,240 --> 00:22:19,120
Speaker 1: spent just supporting myself, just pushing myself to be better.

409
00:22:19,359 --> 00:22:21,760
Speaker 1: Just you know, it's almost like I felt like no

410
00:22:21,800 --> 00:22:24,480
Speaker 1: one would understand. Yeah, it was what it was that

411
00:22:24,520 --> 00:22:26,520
Speaker 1: I was trying to accomplish, what it was that I

412
00:22:26,560 --> 00:22:28,679
Speaker 1: was trying to do, I almost felt like no one

413
00:22:28,720 --> 00:22:33,359
Speaker 1: would understand. And you know, it's very interesting how I

414
00:22:33,720 --> 00:22:36,240
Speaker 1: You know, when I was in my room as as

415
00:22:36,400 --> 00:22:39,800
Speaker 1: a teenager, I'm doing push ups and I'm like talking

416
00:22:39,840 --> 00:22:42,159
Speaker 1: to myself, I'm like, you can do this, Like do

417
00:22:42,280 --> 00:22:45,040
Speaker 1: one more doing squats. I would like same thing, you know,

418
00:22:45,080 --> 00:22:47,919
Speaker 1: with whatever it was with being in school, it's always

419
00:22:47,960 --> 00:22:50,240
Speaker 1: like you can do this. You know. I almost always

420
00:22:50,240 --> 00:22:53,800
Speaker 1: had to like amp myself up to do things because

421
00:22:54,520 --> 00:22:56,520
Speaker 1: and again not to discredit my mom, but my mom

422
00:22:56,640 --> 00:22:59,359
Speaker 1: was just so busy trying to put food on the

423
00:22:59,359 --> 00:23:02,879
Speaker 1: table that it would have been impossible for her to

424
00:23:04,400 --> 00:23:07,679
Speaker 1: do all of the things, you know, like kind of

425
00:23:07,680 --> 00:23:10,280
Speaker 1: like understand what her children are going to And it

426
00:23:10,440 --> 00:23:13,160
Speaker 1: also didn't help that I was I was a little

427
00:23:13,160 --> 00:23:15,639
Speaker 1: closed off, you know, I was. I was always very loving.

428
00:23:16,040 --> 00:23:18,520
Speaker 1: I would always be very supportive of my mom, but

429
00:23:18,880 --> 00:23:20,960
Speaker 1: when it came to some of the things that I

430
00:23:21,000 --> 00:23:22,960
Speaker 1: were going that I was going through. I wouldn't. I would.

431
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Speaker 1: I didn't want to tack that on to everything that

432
00:23:26,320 --> 00:23:27,720
Speaker 1: she was going through already. You know.

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Speaker 2: Do you think that was learned behavior from anything being

434
00:23:30,480 --> 00:23:31,080
Speaker 2: closed off?

435
00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:35,120
Speaker 1: Yeah? Yeah, I come from that might have came from

436
00:23:35,400 --> 00:23:39,280
Speaker 1: just growing up with two women. I almost felt like

437
00:23:39,320 --> 00:23:43,440
Speaker 1: I wouldn't be understood, you know, Like I'm pretty sure

438
00:23:44,040 --> 00:23:47,919
Speaker 1: that in some cases my sister wouldn't have understood, like

439
00:23:48,080 --> 00:23:53,359
Speaker 1: if if I was like upset about something, or like

440
00:23:53,560 --> 00:23:56,159
Speaker 1: if I was upset that I didn't hit an RBI

441
00:23:56,359 --> 00:23:58,280
Speaker 1: double or whatever, like you know what I'm saying, Like

442
00:23:58,320 --> 00:24:01,280
Speaker 1: my mom or my sister wouldn't be able to like

443
00:24:01,800 --> 00:24:03,800
Speaker 1: give me advice on how to swing the bat a

444
00:24:03,800 --> 00:24:07,440
Speaker 1: little better, you know. So that's why I was always

445
00:24:07,960 --> 00:24:10,359
Speaker 1: very to myself. I showed up in the areas that

446
00:24:10,400 --> 00:24:12,120
Speaker 1: I needed to show up, and it was always more

447
00:24:12,240 --> 00:24:15,639
Speaker 1: like an outward way of me showing up. It was

448
00:24:15,680 --> 00:24:17,560
Speaker 1: never me taking anything in. You know.

449
00:24:17,760 --> 00:24:19,680
Speaker 2: Did you have any mail role models?

450
00:24:19,840 --> 00:24:24,760
Speaker 1: Yes? So what got me into baseball was my stepfather,

451
00:24:24,880 --> 00:24:29,040
Speaker 1: my sister's dad. He was he was very into baseball.

452
00:24:29,800 --> 00:24:32,239
Speaker 1: We would go to his games every so often, and

453
00:24:32,320 --> 00:24:35,560
Speaker 1: just like watching him play kind of inspired me and

454
00:24:35,960 --> 00:24:38,160
Speaker 1: I always wanted to make him proud. I always wanted

455
00:24:38,160 --> 00:24:41,359
Speaker 1: to make my parents proud, and that was that was

456
00:24:41,400 --> 00:24:44,320
Speaker 1: it for me. Just trying to make them proud kind

457
00:24:44,320 --> 00:24:48,000
Speaker 1: of pushed me into or not pushed me. It paved

458
00:24:48,040 --> 00:24:50,120
Speaker 1: the way for me to get into some of these sports.

459
00:24:50,440 --> 00:24:52,439
Speaker 2: Yeah, did you feel like you did that?

460
00:24:52,840 --> 00:24:56,000
Speaker 1: I did. I did in more ways than one, you know,

461
00:24:56,119 --> 00:25:00,720
Speaker 1: And and the human that I am today and thecomplishments

462
00:25:00,760 --> 00:25:05,240
Speaker 1: that you know I've accomplished today, I think I have.

463
00:25:05,480 --> 00:25:06,000
Speaker 1: I think I have.

464
00:25:06,400 --> 00:25:08,760
Speaker 2: Yeah, talk to me about that relationship with your stepfather.

465
00:25:08,960 --> 00:25:10,200
Speaker 1: Let's get into the fathers.

466
00:25:10,800 --> 00:25:12,080
Speaker 2: Let's get into the father Let's.

467
00:25:11,880 --> 00:25:13,920
Speaker 1: Get into the fathers, because I feel like that's something

468
00:25:13,960 --> 00:25:15,320
Speaker 1: I don't usually talk about.

469
00:25:15,560 --> 00:25:16,080
Speaker 2: There we go.

470
00:25:17,400 --> 00:25:22,640
Speaker 1: So, my father passed when I was three months of age,

471
00:25:23,080 --> 00:25:29,359
Speaker 1: and he passed of lung cancer. And I didn't really

472
00:25:29,359 --> 00:25:31,000
Speaker 1: get to know him, but I know a lot of him.

473
00:25:31,040 --> 00:25:34,200
Speaker 1: I know he was a very charismatic man. He provided

474
00:25:34,720 --> 00:25:38,120
Speaker 1: for his family. Everyone always like looked up to him

475
00:25:38,160 --> 00:25:43,159
Speaker 1: and looked forward to him being around. And then, you know,

476
00:25:43,280 --> 00:25:47,800
Speaker 1: when I was also young, my mom married my sister's

477
00:25:47,880 --> 00:25:54,720
Speaker 1: dad and they had my sister, and he passed when

478
00:25:54,760 --> 00:25:59,199
Speaker 1: I was eight, so my sister was three. But you know,

479
00:25:59,240 --> 00:26:01,800
Speaker 1: I learned a lot from I learned, you know, to

480
00:26:02,880 --> 00:26:07,720
Speaker 1: and that's the thing too, like being being being part

481
00:26:07,800 --> 00:26:13,320
Speaker 1: of an immigrant household. We could only learn it so much.

482
00:26:13,359 --> 00:26:16,440
Speaker 1: It was like, go to work, provide for your family,

483
00:26:16,760 --> 00:26:21,000
Speaker 1: do the best you can, try not to complain. And

484
00:26:21,080 --> 00:26:23,960
Speaker 1: that was pretty much, you know, the gist of it.

485
00:26:24,320 --> 00:26:26,879
Speaker 1: That was pretty much the gist of it. And so

486
00:26:27,280 --> 00:26:30,120
Speaker 1: my really, you know, my relationship with my father's were

487
00:26:30,400 --> 00:26:34,880
Speaker 1: short lived. And to think about just like to think

488
00:26:34,920 --> 00:26:37,680
Speaker 1: about what my mom had to go through, not once

489
00:26:37,720 --> 00:26:41,520
Speaker 1: but twice, it's like it puts a lot of things

490
00:26:41,560 --> 00:26:44,760
Speaker 1: into perspective to you know, have lost my father quickly

491
00:26:44,800 --> 00:26:48,399
Speaker 1: after me being born, to have lost my stepfather quickly

492
00:26:48,480 --> 00:26:52,399
Speaker 1: after my sister being born, Like I can't even imagine

493
00:26:52,960 --> 00:26:57,760
Speaker 1: that kind of pain. And you know, a vulnerable moment

494
00:26:57,800 --> 00:27:01,520
Speaker 1: here is I was recently in Cuba. Recently in Cuba

495
00:27:01,640 --> 00:27:03,840
Speaker 1: with two of my guy friends. We were out there

496
00:27:03,840 --> 00:27:08,159
Speaker 1: for work and we had been out one day and

497
00:27:08,240 --> 00:27:10,240
Speaker 1: you know, we got back to the house and you know,

498
00:27:10,280 --> 00:27:13,119
Speaker 1: I love listening to the music that my mom listened

499
00:27:13,119 --> 00:27:15,280
Speaker 1: to back in the day, like the music that she

500
00:27:15,480 --> 00:27:18,720
Speaker 1: raised us on. She'd be cleaning and you know, she'd

501
00:27:18,720 --> 00:27:20,840
Speaker 1: have this music on and at the time, I'm like,

502
00:27:21,000 --> 00:27:23,840
Speaker 1: I'm like, ma, like what could you put on some

503
00:27:23,960 --> 00:27:26,520
Speaker 1: like hip hop or something, And you know that wasn't

504
00:27:26,520 --> 00:27:28,720
Speaker 1: gonna happen. My mom's minigan. She has no idea what

505
00:27:28,800 --> 00:27:31,720
Speaker 1: hip hop, what hip hop is, so she would listen

506
00:27:31,840 --> 00:27:34,719
Speaker 1: to like her her ballads and like her love songs

507
00:27:34,720 --> 00:27:37,760
Speaker 1: and all that. And I was in Cuba and one

508
00:27:37,800 --> 00:27:41,119
Speaker 1: of those songs randomly just came onto my shuffle, and

509
00:27:41,160 --> 00:27:42,880
Speaker 1: you know, we were all just chilling, just hanging out,

510
00:27:44,119 --> 00:27:46,480
Speaker 1: and I was giving this more thought and I was

511
00:27:46,560 --> 00:27:53,119
Speaker 1: listening to the words of these songs, and it's like

512
00:27:53,920 --> 00:27:59,360
Speaker 1: to think of how she took those songs. Like we

513
00:27:59,400 --> 00:28:02,520
Speaker 1: think about love songs and we're dedicating them, or like

514
00:28:02,720 --> 00:28:05,959
Speaker 1: we're thinking about someone right oftentimes, or if you're not

515
00:28:06,000 --> 00:28:13,159
Speaker 1: thinking about anyone, you're probably just being hopeful. But like

516
00:28:13,280 --> 00:28:16,159
Speaker 1: to think about my mom singing these songs, and I'm like,

517
00:28:16,359 --> 00:28:19,119
Speaker 1: who were you thinking of? Yeah, whether it was my

518
00:28:19,240 --> 00:28:22,719
Speaker 1: dad or my sister's dad, they're not here right, Like

519
00:28:22,760 --> 00:28:28,040
Speaker 1: you went through loss and getting back to this vulnerable moment,

520
00:28:28,760 --> 00:28:33,240
Speaker 1: I went into the bathroom and the way that I

521
00:28:33,320 --> 00:28:40,240
Speaker 1: held these tears in to just think of the pain

522
00:28:40,320 --> 00:28:41,520
Speaker 1: that she must have been going through.

523
00:28:41,640 --> 00:28:47,360
Speaker 2: Was tough, right, Yeah, it's really special, and I hope

524
00:28:47,360 --> 00:28:49,040
Speaker 2: that maybe you shared that with her.

525
00:28:50,520 --> 00:28:52,960
Speaker 1: Yeah I did. I did, Yeah, I did. But my

526
00:28:53,040 --> 00:28:55,680
Speaker 1: mom is so much like me, and I'm so much

527
00:28:55,720 --> 00:28:58,000
Speaker 1: more so much like my mom that she's like what

528
00:28:58,360 --> 00:29:01,600
Speaker 1: She's like, don't think about that. She's like, what are you.

529
00:29:01,760 --> 00:29:07,320
Speaker 1: I'm like, Mom, I'm having a moment, and she's like, yo,

530
00:29:07,400 --> 00:29:10,320
Speaker 1: I can't even believe that. I'll recount that to her

531
00:29:10,360 --> 00:29:13,560
Speaker 1: and tell her that from my perspective, and she's like,

532
00:29:14,040 --> 00:29:17,200
Speaker 1: I am in disbelief that I actually went through that. Yeah,

533
00:29:17,400 --> 00:29:19,400
Speaker 1: Like she can't believe that she got through that, you

534
00:29:19,440 --> 00:29:21,120
Speaker 1: know what I mean. Yeah, she's like, what do you

535
00:29:21,280 --> 00:29:22,600
Speaker 1: She's like, don't think about that.

536
00:29:22,720 --> 00:29:27,280
Speaker 2: She's like, she's like, we're moving forward, eyes ahead, is ahead.

537
00:29:27,400 --> 00:29:30,160
Speaker 2: But she's better for going through it, right, And you're

538
00:29:30,200 --> 00:29:33,320
Speaker 2: better now for getting to a place where you take

539
00:29:33,360 --> 00:29:36,760
Speaker 2: the time to think about what she must have been feeling. Correct,

540
00:29:36,800 --> 00:29:40,280
Speaker 2: And that in turn brings you two closer together and

541
00:29:40,600 --> 00:29:44,480
Speaker 2: really makes for a really impactful and dynamic relationship.

542
00:29:44,640 --> 00:29:48,040
Speaker 1: One percent, like I couldn't have I think me and

543
00:29:48,040 --> 00:29:50,320
Speaker 1: my mom are like best friends, and it's like, you

544
00:29:50,360 --> 00:29:53,520
Speaker 1: know sometimes and I understand everyone's situation is different, but

545
00:29:53,560 --> 00:29:56,000
Speaker 1: it almost pains me a little when someone's like, I'm

546
00:29:56,040 --> 00:29:59,080
Speaker 1: not close to you know, my parents or whatever. But again,

547
00:29:59,120 --> 00:30:02,720
Speaker 1: I understand everyone's everyone's situation is a little different. But

548
00:30:02,760 --> 00:30:06,080
Speaker 1: I think, you know, I'm really happy that me and

549
00:30:06,160 --> 00:30:09,440
Speaker 1: my mother's relationship is where it's at now. It's evolved

550
00:30:09,440 --> 00:30:12,360
Speaker 1: over time, yeah, one thousand percent. And sometimes I tried

551
00:30:12,360 --> 00:30:14,800
Speaker 1: to explain that to my sister too, because we were

552
00:30:15,280 --> 00:30:19,560
Speaker 1: we were raised. We're like five years apart, so what

553
00:30:19,640 --> 00:30:22,880
Speaker 1: I'm realizing now might take her two or three years

554
00:30:22,920 --> 00:30:24,240
Speaker 1: to realize, you know what I mean?

555
00:30:24,400 --> 00:30:30,000
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, you getting into your twenties, talk to us

556
00:30:30,040 --> 00:30:32,000
Speaker 2: about what was going on in your life college.

557
00:30:32,040 --> 00:30:34,520
Speaker 1: I also dropped out of college before I got back

558
00:30:34,520 --> 00:30:37,360
Speaker 1: into it because I needed to help my mom around

559
00:30:37,840 --> 00:30:40,800
Speaker 1: the house. Right. It was like in my early twenties,

560
00:30:40,800 --> 00:30:44,920
Speaker 1: it was the struggle between not really knowing what I

561
00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:47,520
Speaker 1: wanted to do. I remember, you know, I was working

562
00:30:47,720 --> 00:30:52,360
Speaker 1: as as a bus boy at some restaurant here in

563
00:30:52,400 --> 00:30:55,560
Speaker 1: the city, and I didn't have a clear direction yet.

564
00:30:55,920 --> 00:30:58,880
Speaker 1: I moved up to being a waiter started doing a

565
00:30:58,920 --> 00:31:02,440
Speaker 1: little better. After that, there came about a union job

566
00:31:02,720 --> 00:31:07,120
Speaker 1: that culturally we learned to cherish and because it was safe,

567
00:31:07,440 --> 00:31:11,160
Speaker 1: it was a safe bet, right, we have benefits, we're

568
00:31:11,200 --> 00:31:14,920
Speaker 1: well paying. So I dropped out for that because I

569
00:31:15,080 --> 00:31:17,479
Speaker 1: felt like, Okay, I need to step up. I need

570
00:31:17,520 --> 00:31:20,480
Speaker 1: to help out around the house. My mom's single doing

571
00:31:20,520 --> 00:31:23,440
Speaker 1: it by herself, doing you know, busting her ass, and

572
00:31:23,480 --> 00:31:25,720
Speaker 1: I didn't want, you know, I didn't want her to

573
00:31:25,720 --> 00:31:28,000
Speaker 1: be going through that alone. So I dropped out of college.

574
00:31:28,120 --> 00:31:29,000
Speaker 1: I started working.

575
00:31:29,400 --> 00:31:32,840
Speaker 2: Did you ask her how she felt about that? Or

576
00:31:32,840 --> 00:31:34,480
Speaker 2: did you make the decision without asking?

577
00:31:35,000 --> 00:31:36,760
Speaker 1: So she sold it to me. She's the one who

578
00:31:36,920 --> 00:31:39,160
Speaker 1: she sold it to me. She didn't exactly tell me

579
00:31:39,160 --> 00:31:41,840
Speaker 1: to drop out. She didn't tell me to stop my studies,

580
00:31:41,880 --> 00:31:45,560
Speaker 1: but I was like, I saw how important this job

581
00:31:45,720 --> 00:31:49,840
Speaker 1: was to her. Yeah, And in order to have this job,

582
00:31:50,320 --> 00:31:53,360
Speaker 1: it needed to be a full time thing. So at

583
00:31:53,360 --> 00:31:55,400
Speaker 1: the time I didn't have the mental capacity or the

584
00:31:55,440 --> 00:32:02,280
Speaker 1: mental drive to stick with school and hold a full

585
00:32:02,320 --> 00:32:05,000
Speaker 1: time job that was very taxing on my body, like

586
00:32:05,040 --> 00:32:08,800
Speaker 1: moving tables around, and you know, I was a porter

587
00:32:09,000 --> 00:32:12,479
Speaker 1: for like this big country club and it was very taxing.

588
00:32:12,520 --> 00:32:14,960
Speaker 1: So I'm like picking up chairs, picking up tables, putting this,

589
00:32:15,080 --> 00:32:18,120
Speaker 1: putting that over there, setting up for parties. And I

590
00:32:18,160 --> 00:32:21,680
Speaker 1: was like, I can't, I can't. I you know, I

591
00:32:21,880 --> 00:32:23,720
Speaker 1: not that I couldn't, but I just didn't almost didn't

592
00:32:23,760 --> 00:32:26,320
Speaker 1: want to. So I was doing that, you know, helping

593
00:32:26,360 --> 00:32:29,720
Speaker 1: out around the house. This country club had a gym,

594
00:32:29,960 --> 00:32:34,160
Speaker 1: so I moved into the gym department doing maintenance. I

595
00:32:34,240 --> 00:32:36,960
Speaker 1: was like cleaning up bathrooms. I was cleaning up and

596
00:32:36,960 --> 00:32:39,840
Speaker 1: picking up sweaty towels and you know, cleaning up sweaty

597
00:32:39,880 --> 00:32:43,239
Speaker 1: floors and you know, just doing that work. And I

598
00:32:43,320 --> 00:32:45,800
Speaker 1: was inspired by some of my friends there who some

599
00:32:45,840 --> 00:32:48,760
Speaker 1: of my friends there who were the trainers, and there

600
00:32:48,800 --> 00:32:51,240
Speaker 1: were people looking out and training you know, everyone that

601
00:32:51,360 --> 00:32:53,280
Speaker 1: was there. And I was inspired by that, and I'm like,

602
00:32:53,480 --> 00:32:55,320
Speaker 1: I have a background in sports. I think that could

603
00:32:55,680 --> 00:32:57,720
Speaker 1: very well do this, you know. I was like, this

604
00:32:57,800 --> 00:32:59,520
Speaker 1: is this is what I want. I want to be

605
00:32:59,560 --> 00:33:02,440
Speaker 1: in the well this industry. And I got my fitness certification.

606
00:33:02,520 --> 00:33:06,520
Speaker 1: I started working for this private company making house calls

607
00:33:06,560 --> 00:33:08,960
Speaker 1: and I'd be getting up at like three am to

608
00:33:09,000 --> 00:33:13,240
Speaker 1: make it to this client's house at five. And it

609
00:33:13,280 --> 00:33:17,920
Speaker 1: was it was it was fun because I loved making

610
00:33:18,160 --> 00:33:21,520
Speaker 1: a positive impact on someone's day, on someone's life. I

611
00:33:21,560 --> 00:33:25,240
Speaker 1: loved not only training someone to be better physically, but

612
00:33:25,320 --> 00:33:28,160
Speaker 1: also better mentally. And you know, I think working out

613
00:33:28,200 --> 00:33:30,120
Speaker 1: in the morning just sets you up for a day

614
00:33:30,120 --> 00:33:31,400
Speaker 1: of success. You know.

615
00:33:31,720 --> 00:33:33,440
Speaker 2: I love the way that you said I got these

616
00:33:33,440 --> 00:33:36,080
Speaker 2: fitness certifications like it was like walking to Walmart and

617
00:33:36,120 --> 00:33:39,400
Speaker 2: picking up like a bag of Like it doesn't. It

618
00:33:39,440 --> 00:33:42,080
Speaker 2: doesn't not like that, like you as someone who just

619
00:33:42,240 --> 00:33:45,680
Speaker 2: also stated I didn't really have the capacity for school. Yeah,

620
00:33:45,760 --> 00:33:49,240
Speaker 2: getting your fitness certifications isn't you know it was tough.

621
00:33:49,440 --> 00:33:50,360
Speaker 2: Wasn't that hard for you?

622
00:33:50,800 --> 00:33:54,240
Speaker 1: It wasn't hard because I knew what I wanted. Bringing

623
00:33:54,240 --> 00:33:57,440
Speaker 1: this back to boxing, Boxing is a sport of taking

624
00:33:57,440 --> 00:33:59,240
Speaker 1: the wins with the losses, taking the good days with

625
00:33:59,280 --> 00:34:03,080
Speaker 1: the bad, taking the struggles. You know, when you're when

626
00:34:03,080 --> 00:34:04,680
Speaker 1: you're in the heart of it, when you're in the

627
00:34:04,720 --> 00:34:06,360
Speaker 1: think of it, it's going to be tough. And think

628
00:34:06,400 --> 00:34:11,319
Speaker 1: of boxing workout. And I knew that holding together a job,

629
00:34:11,400 --> 00:34:14,160
Speaker 1: full time job, getting my fitness certification, it wasn't going

630
00:34:14,239 --> 00:34:16,360
Speaker 1: to be easy. But I knew what I wanted, so

631
00:34:16,400 --> 00:34:19,000
Speaker 1: I went for it. I darted towards it. I spent

632
00:34:19,320 --> 00:34:21,680
Speaker 1: however many hours I did trying to get that certification,

633
00:34:21,760 --> 00:34:23,920
Speaker 1: and I did you know, it led me to where

634
00:34:23,960 --> 00:34:28,160
Speaker 1: I am today. And I knew that with growth comes

635
00:34:28,560 --> 00:34:30,640
Speaker 1: the ability to get out of your comfort zone, something

636
00:34:30,640 --> 00:34:33,600
Speaker 1: that I also learned through boxing. If I wanted to

637
00:34:33,640 --> 00:34:37,160
Speaker 1: get better, I needed to get through the tough times.

638
00:34:37,200 --> 00:34:39,919
Speaker 1: I needed to get through the tough the times where

639
00:34:39,960 --> 00:34:40,720
Speaker 1: I felt like quitting.

640
00:34:41,040 --> 00:34:44,200
Speaker 2: The stress here is on the concept that having a

641
00:34:44,239 --> 00:34:48,440
Speaker 2: goal helped you do hard things. A lot of people

642
00:34:48,719 --> 00:34:52,360
Speaker 2: when they feel lost or uncertain, are frustrated. If you

643
00:34:52,480 --> 00:34:54,920
Speaker 2: ask them what it is they're working toward or why

644
00:34:54,960 --> 00:34:58,439
Speaker 2: that specific thing is important to them, often you may

645
00:34:58,520 --> 00:35:01,080
Speaker 2: find a theme which is that they can't articulate why

646
00:35:01,120 --> 00:35:04,080
Speaker 2: it's important. So knowing your why helped you go to

647
00:35:04,120 --> 00:35:04,799
Speaker 2: where you want to be?

648
00:35:05,040 --> 00:35:07,319
Speaker 1: Correct? Yeah, correct? And I just you know, I just

649
00:35:07,440 --> 00:35:11,360
Speaker 1: really had a desire to get ahead, you know, I

650
00:35:11,400 --> 00:35:15,080
Speaker 1: wanted to I had a desire to not be you know,

651
00:35:15,200 --> 00:35:19,640
Speaker 1: a statistic of you know, where I grew up, which

652
00:35:19,680 --> 00:35:21,960
Speaker 1: was super important to me. That's something that I think

653
00:35:22,040 --> 00:35:24,680
Speaker 1: was embedded in me from the time that I from

654
00:35:24,760 --> 00:35:27,239
Speaker 1: as long as I can remember. So I knew that

655
00:35:27,680 --> 00:35:30,600
Speaker 1: in having direction, I had somewhere to get. I don't

656
00:35:30,600 --> 00:35:32,759
Speaker 1: know where it was. I didn't know where that was

657
00:35:32,800 --> 00:35:34,719
Speaker 1: going to land me, but I knew that I wanted

658
00:35:34,719 --> 00:35:37,840
Speaker 1: to get as far away from where I was, you know.

659
00:35:37,920 --> 00:35:40,000
Speaker 1: And not only that, I wanted to bring everyone with me.

660
00:35:40,360 --> 00:35:42,440
Speaker 1: I wanted to bring my mom, my sister, and my friends.

661
00:35:42,640 --> 00:35:43,920
Speaker 1: I wanted to bring everyone with me.

662
00:35:49,719 --> 00:35:52,359
Speaker 2: Taking a break from today's episode to talk to you

663
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664
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666
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706
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707
00:38:48,600 --> 00:38:52,040
Speaker 2: house calls and it's starting to feel very purposeful. What

708
00:38:52,280 --> 00:38:54,239
Speaker 2: happens as that continues on.

709
00:38:54,600 --> 00:38:57,560
Speaker 1: I was still a very timid person. I failed to

710
00:38:57,600 --> 00:39:00,000
Speaker 1: mention that throughout this whole time, I was super timid.

711
00:39:00,200 --> 00:39:01,680
Speaker 2: I still get timid vibes from you.

712
00:39:02,000 --> 00:39:05,400
Speaker 1: Yeah, this whole time, I'm super timid. So like the

713
00:39:05,440 --> 00:39:09,600
Speaker 1: one on one space and only training one person, I

714
00:39:09,640 --> 00:39:11,360
Speaker 1: was like, I can do this, I can do this.

715
00:39:11,920 --> 00:39:14,360
Speaker 1: And then I stepped into a place called shadow Box,

716
00:39:14,920 --> 00:39:19,399
Speaker 1: which merged so many of the things that I liked,

717
00:39:19,440 --> 00:39:26,080
Speaker 1: which was boxing, empowerment a show, getting to like instruct

718
00:39:26,120 --> 00:39:31,360
Speaker 1: and command a room. Music halfway to being a DJ,

719
00:39:31,480 --> 00:39:33,799
Speaker 1: because like you're picking your playlist and all that. It's

720
00:39:33,840 --> 00:39:37,560
Speaker 1: like I loved it, right, So I went there to

721
00:39:38,120 --> 00:39:41,240
Speaker 1: kind of gather some information to see what I could learn,

722
00:39:41,640 --> 00:39:44,200
Speaker 1: and I just never wanted to leave. I was like,

723
00:39:44,239 --> 00:39:46,120
Speaker 1: I love this. How do I become a part of it?

724
00:39:46,239 --> 00:39:48,120
Speaker 2: Was that your first foray into group fitness?

725
00:39:48,239 --> 00:39:53,120
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah yeah. And you know, being I

726
00:39:53,160 --> 00:39:56,359
Speaker 1: think being a boxer was what saved me and what

727
00:39:56,480 --> 00:40:01,200
Speaker 1: got me that position there because I speaking in front

728
00:40:01,239 --> 00:40:08,440
Speaker 1: of forty people was so scary. It was so scary.

729
00:40:09,040 --> 00:40:11,680
Speaker 1: But I knew that in order to get that position,

730
00:40:11,800 --> 00:40:13,440
Speaker 1: in order to get to where I wanted to be,

731
00:40:13,880 --> 00:40:17,600
Speaker 1: I needed to get over this hurdle, right, I needed

732
00:40:17,600 --> 00:40:22,960
Speaker 1: to get over this feeling of being uncomfortable. So I

733
00:40:23,040 --> 00:40:24,560
Speaker 1: did it. You know, I would talk to myself in

734
00:40:24,560 --> 00:40:26,960
Speaker 1: the mirror. I would like coach myself in the mirror

735
00:40:27,040 --> 00:40:29,239
Speaker 1: and like, look at what I was doing and just

736
00:40:29,280 --> 00:40:31,719
Speaker 1: training myself to be a public speaker. And it was

737
00:40:31,800 --> 00:40:34,359
Speaker 1: tough growing up. I was, you know, and even today,

738
00:40:34,400 --> 00:40:38,040
Speaker 1: I'm like oftentimes very soft spoken, and I would speak

739
00:40:38,080 --> 00:40:40,359
Speaker 1: like under my breath, and you know, I would speak

740
00:40:40,480 --> 00:40:43,520
Speaker 1: very under my breath, and it was hard for folks

741
00:40:43,560 --> 00:40:45,400
Speaker 1: to even know what I was saying. So like, getting

742
00:40:45,440 --> 00:40:48,040
Speaker 1: into that space really allowed me to evolve.

743
00:40:48,800 --> 00:40:52,319
Speaker 2: I love the visual of you talking to yourself in

744
00:40:52,360 --> 00:40:55,920
Speaker 2: the mirror. I think that a lot of us, in

745
00:40:56,000 --> 00:40:59,680
Speaker 2: different scenarios need to have that talk in the mirror moment.

746
00:41:00,080 --> 00:41:02,759
Speaker 2: Maybe it's not always because we're trying to talk in

747
00:41:02,800 --> 00:41:05,520
Speaker 2: front of a group of forty people, but sometimes you

748
00:41:05,520 --> 00:41:07,719
Speaker 2: need to look at yourself and hype yourself up and

749
00:41:07,760 --> 00:41:09,560
Speaker 2: be your own biggest hype man so that you can

750
00:41:09,600 --> 00:41:11,480
Speaker 2: go after whatever it is that you're after.

751
00:41:12,320 --> 00:41:15,480
Speaker 1: I do that often. Still. I will walk past the

752
00:41:15,520 --> 00:41:18,319
Speaker 1: Maria in my apartment and I'm like, you got this,

753
00:41:18,560 --> 00:41:21,160
Speaker 1: like like, damn boy, you got a new haircut.

754
00:41:22,440 --> 00:41:26,000
Speaker 2: Now the question is is this is this vocalized or

755
00:41:26,040 --> 00:41:26,680
Speaker 2: is this just like.

756
00:41:26,680 --> 00:41:31,319
Speaker 1: No, this is vocal. This is vocal Okay.

757
00:41:31,120 --> 00:41:34,440
Speaker 2: Okay, So your neighbors definitely have heard you whiping yourself up.

758
00:41:34,760 --> 00:41:38,439
Speaker 1: Yes, on the peloton bike, I would for sure for sure.

759
00:41:39,160 --> 00:41:42,160
Speaker 2: So you get into a place where you feel as

760
00:41:42,200 --> 00:41:45,799
Speaker 2: though and you do start to command a room a

761
00:41:45,840 --> 00:41:49,520
Speaker 2: bit better. What else did you learn during your first

762
00:41:49,560 --> 00:41:50,880
Speaker 2: foray into group fitness?

763
00:41:51,280 --> 00:41:53,799
Speaker 1: How different everyone is? Like I had an idea that

764
00:41:53,880 --> 00:42:00,200
Speaker 1: everyone was different, but that experience really showed me. I

765
00:42:00,239 --> 00:42:04,280
Speaker 1: put it in my face, how different everyone is, how different,

766
00:42:04,360 --> 00:42:07,680
Speaker 1: how how everyone's not capable of the same things, and

767
00:42:07,760 --> 00:42:12,200
Speaker 1: that's that's a thousand percent okay. But it showed me,

768
00:42:12,440 --> 00:42:14,480
Speaker 1: you know, it kind of gave me a visual for

769
00:42:14,560 --> 00:42:20,240
Speaker 1: what that looked like and the different personalities that I would,

770
00:42:20,440 --> 00:42:24,040
Speaker 1: you know, encounter. Being a waiter also did that for me.

771
00:42:24,160 --> 00:42:27,319
Speaker 1: But that kind of really put things into perspective how

772
00:42:27,320 --> 00:42:30,520
Speaker 1: people are when they get a little uncomfortable, whether they

773
00:42:30,560 --> 00:42:33,239
Speaker 1: choose to keep going, whether they choose to stop, you know.

774
00:42:33,280 --> 00:42:36,320
Speaker 1: And I became very accepting of all of those things.

775
00:42:36,400 --> 00:42:40,200
Speaker 1: And it taught me how to motivate different people, how

776
00:42:40,200 --> 00:42:46,120
Speaker 1: to motivate different from how to motivate someone that comes

777
00:42:46,239 --> 00:42:49,600
Speaker 1: from one background in comparison to another. You know.

778
00:42:50,040 --> 00:42:53,800
Speaker 2: Yeah, you mentioned at the top of this how important

779
00:42:53,920 --> 00:42:57,320
Speaker 2: it felt to you to get out of the Bronx.

780
00:42:58,200 --> 00:42:59,120
Speaker 2: When did you get out?

781
00:42:59,840 --> 00:43:04,040
Speaker 1: I got out when I got the shadow box, I was,

782
00:43:04,719 --> 00:43:08,400
Speaker 1: you know, I was a little more financially free so

783
00:43:08,440 --> 00:43:10,759
Speaker 1: we're like, I could move out of the Bronx and

784
00:43:10,880 --> 00:43:13,440
Speaker 1: I just kept hustling to be able to maintain that.

785
00:43:13,680 --> 00:43:14,719
Speaker 2: How did that feel for you?

786
00:43:15,160 --> 00:43:18,319
Speaker 1: It felt it felt good, It felt really good.

787
00:43:18,680 --> 00:43:21,360
Speaker 2: Did you take the time at the time to really

788
00:43:21,440 --> 00:43:22,560
Speaker 2: appreciate that win?

789
00:43:22,960 --> 00:43:26,759
Speaker 1: Yes, I did, I did. It was a quick it

790
00:43:26,840 --> 00:43:28,000
Speaker 1: was very quickly.

791
00:43:28,760 --> 00:43:29,799
Speaker 2: I quick win.

792
00:43:30,000 --> 00:43:31,799
Speaker 1: It was a quick one. It was a quick pat

793
00:43:31,880 --> 00:43:34,040
Speaker 1: on the back, and it was more like, let's keep going.

794
00:43:34,280 --> 00:43:37,880
Speaker 1: Kobe has this phrase that he said in an interview.

795
00:43:37,960 --> 00:43:41,319
Speaker 1: It's like they were asking him, all right, so you're

796
00:43:41,440 --> 00:43:43,960
Speaker 1: up three to one in the playoffs or I think

797
00:43:43,960 --> 00:43:47,200
Speaker 1: that's how it went, and he's like, they asked him,

798
00:43:47,200 --> 00:43:49,520
Speaker 1: were you happy about it? And he's like, why should

799
00:43:49,520 --> 00:43:52,319
Speaker 1: I be happy? The job's not finished. We haven't gotten

800
00:43:52,320 --> 00:43:56,080
Speaker 1: to the championship yet. And that's something that I often

801
00:43:57,160 --> 00:43:58,280
Speaker 1: iterate to myself.

802
00:43:58,719 --> 00:44:04,280
Speaker 2: You also stress to the importance of always growing, always thinking,

803
00:44:04,400 --> 00:44:08,920
Speaker 2: always along these same sentiments, thinking about what's next. So

804
00:44:09,560 --> 00:44:12,600
Speaker 2: when you're at Shadowbox, do you have a concept or

805
00:44:12,600 --> 00:44:15,440
Speaker 2: an idea of where it is that you want to

806
00:44:15,520 --> 00:44:19,799
Speaker 2: go with this new found appreciation for that environment and

807
00:44:20,480 --> 00:44:23,600
Speaker 2: new found appreciation for the skill set that you're developing.

808
00:44:24,080 --> 00:44:28,719
Speaker 1: It's an interesting it's an interesting point. I do have

809
00:44:28,760 --> 00:44:31,719
Speaker 1: an I did have a very high level of appreciation

810
00:44:31,840 --> 00:44:34,120
Speaker 1: for that because it was making me a better person,

811
00:44:34,200 --> 00:44:36,360
Speaker 1: not just for myself, but also for my family, for

812
00:44:36,400 --> 00:44:39,600
Speaker 1: my community. So the skill set that I was developing there,

813
00:44:39,680 --> 00:44:43,359
Speaker 1: I knew that I would take with me wherever I went.

814
00:44:43,480 --> 00:44:45,880
Speaker 1: It's a very important one just to be able to

815
00:44:45,880 --> 00:44:50,400
Speaker 1: build community, to be able to genuinely and I stress

816
00:44:50,480 --> 00:44:54,360
Speaker 1: the word genuinely make people feel seen, because I you know,

817
00:44:54,480 --> 00:44:58,239
Speaker 1: I'm passionate about that. You know, it was that so

818
00:44:58,320 --> 00:45:00,279
Speaker 1: many of the things that I put forth now, well

819
00:45:00,480 --> 00:45:03,440
Speaker 1: it's something that I didn't grow up with, you know,

820
00:45:03,800 --> 00:45:09,280
Speaker 1: like encouraging to the ability to be encouraging, the ability

821
00:45:09,320 --> 00:45:12,440
Speaker 1: to empower people even when they don't feel at their best.

822
00:45:12,600 --> 00:45:14,920
Speaker 1: And again it's not an app that I'm putting forward.

823
00:45:14,960 --> 00:45:18,399
Speaker 1: It's something that I do very genuinely because I think

824
00:45:18,400 --> 00:45:21,040
Speaker 1: about who I was as a kid, who I was

825
00:45:21,080 --> 00:45:25,200
Speaker 1: growing up, and oftentimes I wish that I had what

826
00:45:25,360 --> 00:45:29,080
Speaker 1: I am today for that kid, you know. So I

827
00:45:29,160 --> 00:45:32,480
Speaker 1: do all of these things very in a very genuinely

828
00:45:32,719 --> 00:45:37,640
Speaker 1: and wholehearted way. You know, this space, this fitness space

829
00:45:38,320 --> 00:45:41,600
Speaker 1: has always been more than just fitness for me, right,

830
00:45:41,719 --> 00:45:45,160
Speaker 1: it's you know, going back to this word, it's empowerment.

831
00:45:45,239 --> 00:45:49,680
Speaker 1: It's just allowing people to be themselves and be comfortable

832
00:45:49,680 --> 00:45:55,080
Speaker 1: where they're at right, really showing up. And it's more

833
00:45:55,120 --> 00:45:59,040
Speaker 1: than just like let's get muscles, let's you know, it's

834
00:45:59,320 --> 00:46:01,600
Speaker 1: so much more that. It's like, you know, every time

835
00:46:01,640 --> 00:46:06,879
Speaker 1: someone would be like, oh, you're that fitness instructor, I'd

836
00:46:06,920 --> 00:46:09,239
Speaker 1: be like, I am, but I'm so much more than that,

837
00:46:09,360 --> 00:46:11,120
Speaker 1: Like I want to be able to show up for

838
00:46:11,160 --> 00:46:13,040
Speaker 1: people in ways that they need it, you know, in

839
00:46:13,040 --> 00:46:15,799
Speaker 1: whatever way they need to be shown up for. You know,

840
00:46:15,880 --> 00:46:23,040
Speaker 1: it's because I'm almost actually I am oftentimes speaking to myself.

841
00:46:24,640 --> 00:46:25,080
Speaker 2: I hear that.

842
00:46:25,600 --> 00:46:27,719
Speaker 1: So it's like when I'm in class and there's a

843
00:46:27,800 --> 00:46:31,960
Speaker 1: moment where I feel like, shit, I can't do another rep.

844
00:46:32,640 --> 00:46:34,680
Speaker 1: I'm talking to my I'm talking not only to you,

845
00:46:35,000 --> 00:46:38,800
Speaker 1: but also to myself, right, And this is I'm being

846
00:46:38,800 --> 00:46:42,680
Speaker 1: the person that I wish that I had growing up,

847
00:46:43,040 --> 00:46:46,640
Speaker 1: and I want everyone to be able to develop that skill.

848
00:46:46,920 --> 00:46:49,480
Speaker 1: Something that I see in class often is when no

849
00:46:49,480 --> 00:46:51,920
Speaker 1: one's cheering for you, you have to be able to

850
00:46:52,480 --> 00:46:53,880
Speaker 1: know how to cheer for yourself.

851
00:46:54,280 --> 00:46:56,799
Speaker 2: I remember when when Calli was on the show, she

852
00:46:57,560 --> 00:47:02,080
Speaker 2: said that if you're constantly lifting, only thinking based on aesthetics,

853
00:47:02,320 --> 00:47:05,279
Speaker 2: then that is not a sustainable way to keep that

854
00:47:05,400 --> 00:47:08,120
Speaker 2: as an integral part of your life. Like your why

855
00:47:08,280 --> 00:47:10,960
Speaker 2: needs to be so much bigger than how you look.

856
00:47:11,080 --> 00:47:13,319
Speaker 2: It's got to be about how you feel. When you

857
00:47:13,360 --> 00:47:17,280
Speaker 2: focus on feeling, that's when you'll really see the benefits

858
00:47:17,280 --> 00:47:20,560
Speaker 2: of the work. And so this sentiment really makes me

859
00:47:20,600 --> 00:47:24,800
Speaker 2: think about that. So talk to me about when Peloton

860
00:47:24,840 --> 00:47:25,560
Speaker 2: came into the mix.

861
00:47:25,920 --> 00:47:28,839
Speaker 1: Peloton came into the mix. You know, I was given

862
00:47:28,840 --> 00:47:33,239
Speaker 1: the opportunity to audition for them in twenty eighteen, and

863
00:47:34,560 --> 00:47:39,120
Speaker 1: I was so devoted to my community, with the community

864
00:47:39,160 --> 00:47:42,160
Speaker 1: that I had built that it almost felt it was

865
00:47:42,200 --> 00:47:46,000
Speaker 1: almost heartbroken to have parted ways with them when at

866
00:47:46,000 --> 00:47:49,520
Speaker 1: that time and everything, I feel like everything happens in

867
00:47:49,600 --> 00:47:52,200
Speaker 1: due time, you know. And then in twenty twenty, I

868
00:47:52,200 --> 00:47:56,200
Speaker 1: got another opportunity to you know, step into the role

869
00:47:56,239 --> 00:47:59,600
Speaker 1: that I am now, and I was like, this is

870
00:47:59,640 --> 00:48:01,640
Speaker 1: the next step, Like I love this. You know, where

871
00:48:01,680 --> 00:48:04,560
Speaker 1: I was at the community before I was shadow Box,

872
00:48:04,800 --> 00:48:06,320
Speaker 1: I was like, you know, I'm here till the wheels

873
00:48:06,360 --> 00:48:08,879
Speaker 1: fall off. Eventually, you know, sadly the wheels fell off,

874
00:48:09,239 --> 00:48:11,640
Speaker 1: and I felt like I was ready to step into

875
00:48:11,640 --> 00:48:13,960
Speaker 1: a new role. I felt like this was my moment

876
00:48:14,040 --> 00:48:17,320
Speaker 1: to grow. I felt like I, you know, I developed

877
00:48:17,320 --> 00:48:18,920
Speaker 1: a lot of skill where I was at and then

878
00:48:19,000 --> 00:48:20,960
Speaker 1: you know, this is my moment to step into a

879
00:48:20,960 --> 00:48:24,200
Speaker 1: bigger spotlight. Poloton came to me and I auditioned for them.

880
00:48:24,200 --> 00:48:28,440
Speaker 1: I gave it my best, and you know, every every

881
00:48:28,480 --> 00:48:32,799
Speaker 1: through the audition process and all that, I had this

882
00:48:32,920 --> 00:48:36,640
Speaker 1: Peloton towel that I would like rub. A couple of times,

883
00:48:36,719 --> 00:48:38,720
Speaker 1: I'd just be like I'd set it on my couch

884
00:48:38,760 --> 00:48:40,640
Speaker 1: and it was very neat, and it was just a

885
00:48:40,680 --> 00:48:43,520
Speaker 1: way of me manifesting like this is where I'm going

886
00:48:43,560 --> 00:48:47,080
Speaker 1: to next, this is what I'm going to accomplish next.

887
00:48:47,760 --> 00:48:50,680
Speaker 1: And you know, I was I was given that opportunity

888
00:48:50,680 --> 00:48:53,920
Speaker 1: and I'm very very happy to be where I'm at now.

889
00:48:53,960 --> 00:48:57,560
Speaker 1: And it's almost like all my worlds came It was

890
00:48:57,600 --> 00:48:59,560
Speaker 1: just a melting pot of all of my world It

891
00:48:59,640 --> 00:49:03,719
Speaker 1: was being on a worldwide stage, being able to empower

892
00:49:04,120 --> 00:49:09,440
Speaker 1: on a global scale. All my worlds came together just

893
00:49:09,600 --> 00:49:13,960
Speaker 1: being in you know, the fitness space and it's almost

894
00:49:14,000 --> 00:49:17,319
Speaker 1: like a sport. You know, it is a sport. All

895
00:49:17,360 --> 00:49:20,120
Speaker 1: of my worlds came crashing together, and I can be more.

896
00:49:20,120 --> 00:49:22,000
Speaker 1: I can be more grateful for where I am today.

897
00:49:22,520 --> 00:49:24,560
Speaker 2: Talk to me about how it felt to be the

898
00:49:24,600 --> 00:49:27,640
Speaker 2: timid guy that was suddenly on a world stage.

899
00:49:30,040 --> 00:49:32,560
Speaker 1: I was told, I was told not long ago by

900
00:49:32,600 --> 00:49:35,399
Speaker 1: one of my colleagues that I'm like, I'm very mysterious,

901
00:49:38,160 --> 00:49:41,200
Speaker 1: and that was something that came to me. It wasn't

902
00:49:41,200 --> 00:49:46,440
Speaker 1: a surprise. Being on the Piloton stage kind of allows

903
00:49:46,520 --> 00:49:49,200
Speaker 1: me to shine and be a little bit more vibrant.

904
00:49:49,239 --> 00:49:53,239
Speaker 1: But I I'm also very true to being a little reserved,

905
00:49:53,280 --> 00:49:56,000
Speaker 1: and you know, I just like to not that I

906
00:49:56,120 --> 00:49:59,320
Speaker 1: like to be to myself. I just very selective with

907
00:49:59,600 --> 00:50:00,440
Speaker 1: what I share.

908
00:50:01,480 --> 00:50:03,640
Speaker 2: Go back and answer the question, though, how did it

909
00:50:03,680 --> 00:50:08,800
Speaker 2: feel as a timid guy to step onto the world stage?

910
00:50:08,920 --> 00:50:11,440
Speaker 2: Takes a large swig of water. You need to think

911
00:50:11,480 --> 00:50:12,960
Speaker 2: about the answer to this question.

912
00:50:14,719 --> 00:50:18,759
Speaker 1: You know, aside from being very timid, I'm also I've

913
00:50:18,840 --> 00:50:23,200
Speaker 1: learned and I've acquired the skill of being very confident.

914
00:50:23,920 --> 00:50:28,160
Speaker 1: So when you know, stepping onto the stage, it always

915
00:50:28,200 --> 00:50:29,719
Speaker 1: takes a little bit of time for me though, to

916
00:50:30,600 --> 00:50:32,440
Speaker 1: understand that I know what I'm doing that. I know

917
00:50:32,480 --> 00:50:34,759
Speaker 1: what I'm saying in order for things to click. So

918
00:50:34,840 --> 00:50:38,799
Speaker 1: when that confidence kicks in, I'm like, oh, I I

919
00:50:39,239 --> 00:50:42,440
Speaker 1: you know, and I say this humbly but still very confident.

920
00:50:42,640 --> 00:50:46,759
Speaker 1: I'm also like, I deserve this, I you know, like,

921
00:50:46,920 --> 00:50:50,560
Speaker 1: this is what I've been working for, this is what

922
00:50:50,640 --> 00:50:54,040
Speaker 1: I deserve. Like I've put in the sweat, I've put

923
00:50:54,080 --> 00:50:58,359
Speaker 1: in the hard work, the tears to be here. Right.

924
00:50:58,480 --> 00:51:02,160
Speaker 1: So I'm very confident in what I deserve and I'm

925
00:51:02,239 --> 00:51:06,680
Speaker 1: very confident in stepping onto that spotlight. So going onto

926
00:51:06,920 --> 00:51:09,480
Speaker 1: you know, being on peloton as the shy guy, when

927
00:51:09,520 --> 00:51:13,640
Speaker 1: it comes to knowing that I deserve to be here,

928
00:51:13,960 --> 00:51:17,319
Speaker 1: I fully step into that power. I fully step into

929
00:51:17,360 --> 00:51:20,440
Speaker 1: that role, you know. Aside for outside of it, I'm like,

930
00:51:20,480 --> 00:51:23,240
Speaker 1: you know, still a little reserved, but I'm very aware

931
00:51:23,280 --> 00:51:25,240
Speaker 1: that I belong where I'm at today.

932
00:51:26,200 --> 00:51:30,440
Speaker 2: There's a lot of power in that, in taking that agency,

933
00:51:30,680 --> 00:51:33,320
Speaker 2: and it can be difficult, even if you're the most

934
00:51:33,360 --> 00:51:37,040
Speaker 2: confident person in the world, to every day show up

935
00:51:37,120 --> 00:51:40,399
Speaker 2: and say I deserve this. I'm here with purpose. I've

936
00:51:40,800 --> 00:51:44,640
Speaker 2: caught myself sometimes talking about the show. We're in season

937
00:51:44,680 --> 00:51:47,200
Speaker 2: eleven right now, and I'm like, I don't I can't

938
00:51:47,200 --> 00:51:49,719
Speaker 2: believe that we're here. And then I have a moment

939
00:51:49,719 --> 00:51:52,520
Speaker 2: where I'm like, stop downplaying all of this hard work,

940
00:51:52,560 --> 00:51:56,680
Speaker 2: like stop downplaying how much has happened to get to

941
00:51:56,840 --> 00:52:00,640
Speaker 2: this point and own it and owning its still for

942
00:52:00,719 --> 00:52:03,880
Speaker 2: me is like a regular challenge no matter how competent

943
00:52:04,000 --> 00:52:04,400
Speaker 2: I am.

944
00:52:04,600 --> 00:52:07,120
Speaker 1: Same, Yeah, I couldn't agree more. It's like, you know,

945
00:52:07,320 --> 00:52:09,919
Speaker 1: I almost I almost feel like I'm contradicting myself because

946
00:52:09,920 --> 00:52:12,719
Speaker 1: sometimes I'm like, no, that wasn't enough, right, right, But

947
00:52:13,880 --> 00:52:19,319
Speaker 1: I know the level that I can. I know that

948
00:52:19,360 --> 00:52:21,759
Speaker 1: I can show up at a very high level, you know.

949
00:52:22,000 --> 00:52:24,520
Speaker 1: And again that just goes back to me putting in

950
00:52:24,560 --> 00:52:26,719
Speaker 1: the work. That just goes back to me, you know,

951
00:52:26,840 --> 00:52:29,480
Speaker 1: as a fourteen fifteen year old in my room doing

952
00:52:29,480 --> 00:52:32,480
Speaker 1: push ups and talking to myself to do another one. Yeah. Right,

953
00:52:32,560 --> 00:52:35,600
Speaker 1: So I think all of all of that is a

954
00:52:35,640 --> 00:52:41,000
Speaker 1: sum of who I am today. It's you know, pushing

955
00:52:41,000 --> 00:52:43,680
Speaker 1: myself forward as hard as that, that's as hard as

956
00:52:43,680 --> 00:52:46,799
Speaker 1: that's been because I also I've also you know, in

957
00:52:46,800 --> 00:52:51,439
Speaker 1: the past, I had a habit of being like, dude,

958
00:52:51,719 --> 00:52:54,440
Speaker 1: work harder, you know. So it's like a sum of

959
00:52:54,480 --> 00:52:57,600
Speaker 1: all of that that has given me the confidence to

960
00:52:57,640 --> 00:53:00,840
Speaker 1: be able to instill cofidence in others.

961
00:53:01,080 --> 00:53:06,520
Speaker 2: Yeah, how do you counteract that work harder voice? Because

962
00:53:06,600 --> 00:53:09,080
Speaker 2: I'm sure that a lot of individuals listening to this

963
00:53:09,200 --> 00:53:13,839
Speaker 2: can really relate to that sentiment the what you're doing

964
00:53:13,880 --> 00:53:15,840
Speaker 2: isn't good enough, what you're doing isn't good enough. You

965
00:53:15,840 --> 00:53:18,440
Speaker 2: can do more, you can do more. And that person

966
00:53:18,480 --> 00:53:21,439
Speaker 2: can still be despite having that voice in their head

967
00:53:21,480 --> 00:53:24,080
Speaker 2: like already working really damn hard. So how do you

968
00:53:24,160 --> 00:53:26,880
Speaker 2: counteract that? How do you have more grace with yourself?

969
00:53:26,920 --> 00:53:29,000
Speaker 2: Something that I know you're working on?

970
00:53:29,320 --> 00:53:31,880
Speaker 1: Well, yeah, that's that. It's definitely something that I'm working on,

971
00:53:31,920 --> 00:53:33,680
Speaker 1: and I'm still working on that, you know, Like, I'm

972
00:53:33,719 --> 00:53:38,040
Speaker 1: not trying to paint this picture of I'm an extraordinary

973
00:53:38,160 --> 00:53:40,680
Speaker 1: human being totally right ever, because I feel like we

974
00:53:40,760 --> 00:53:43,760
Speaker 1: all go through things, you know, we all have our issues.

975
00:53:46,200 --> 00:53:50,600
Speaker 1: I still, I don't want to say, struggle with that.

976
00:53:50,640 --> 00:53:53,799
Speaker 1: I still dance with that. I still dance with being

977
00:53:53,840 --> 00:53:56,480
Speaker 1: confident and still knowing that I could do more. I

978
00:53:56,480 --> 00:53:59,520
Speaker 1: think that's just my growth mindset, the fact that I

979
00:53:59,560 --> 00:54:03,360
Speaker 1: want to be better. Yeah, but consciously I have to

980
00:54:03,400 --> 00:54:06,640
Speaker 1: make sure that I give myself that grace. You know,

981
00:54:06,719 --> 00:54:08,799
Speaker 1: I have to take a step back and say, hey,

982
00:54:08,880 --> 00:54:11,760
Speaker 1: you did the best that you can do. How about

983
00:54:11,800 --> 00:54:14,720
Speaker 1: next time we just find a way to better prepare

984
00:54:14,760 --> 00:54:19,359
Speaker 1: ourselves and add what a hint of this that'll make

985
00:54:19,400 --> 00:54:23,520
Speaker 1: that class better? Add this quote or add this movement

986
00:54:23,680 --> 00:54:27,120
Speaker 1: or you know, I think just allowing myself that grace

987
00:54:27,480 --> 00:54:33,120
Speaker 1: to not downplay how much of a success it could

988
00:54:33,120 --> 00:54:36,840
Speaker 1: have been, just like add a little bit of more

989
00:54:37,520 --> 00:54:41,239
Speaker 1: whatever it was. And you know, it doesn't mean that

990
00:54:41,280 --> 00:54:43,759
Speaker 1: I'm bad, doesn't mean that it was terrible. It just

991
00:54:43,800 --> 00:54:45,880
Speaker 1: means that maybe it could be a little better.

992
00:54:45,920 --> 00:54:49,359
Speaker 2: You know, what I'm hearing you say is that it's

993
00:54:49,440 --> 00:54:54,560
Speaker 2: important to celebrate small wins, and it's also important to

994
00:54:54,760 --> 00:54:58,360
Speaker 2: take a step back and like appreciate and observe before

995
00:54:58,440 --> 00:54:59,920
Speaker 2: jumping to any sort of conclusion.

996
00:55:00,320 --> 00:55:01,920
Speaker 1: Correct. Yeah, Correct.

997
00:55:02,200 --> 00:55:04,920
Speaker 2: When someone goes to your Instagram page, they see a

998
00:55:04,960 --> 00:55:08,800
Speaker 2: Peloton instructor with something like upward of one hundred and

999
00:55:08,800 --> 00:55:13,000
Speaker 2: fifty thousand followers. He's into boxing, he's active, he's got

1000
00:55:13,000 --> 00:55:17,640
Speaker 2: a great smile. You're welcome. When you look in the mirror,

1001
00:55:18,120 --> 00:55:20,360
Speaker 2: what is it that you see looking back at you?

1002
00:55:22,680 --> 00:55:32,359
Speaker 1: Dark circles, growth, like, you know, I'm thirty one now,

1003
00:55:32,400 --> 00:55:35,120
Speaker 1: and I feel like I still have so much such

1004
00:55:35,120 --> 00:55:37,279
Speaker 1: a long road ahead of me, you know, And I'm

1005
00:55:37,320 --> 00:55:41,680
Speaker 1: proud of what I've become. I'm proud of where i

1006
00:55:42,360 --> 00:55:44,759
Speaker 1: am now. I'm proud of the ground that I you know,

1007
00:55:44,800 --> 00:55:48,800
Speaker 1: the ground that I'm on now. And but I always

1008
00:55:48,840 --> 00:55:51,759
Speaker 1: see growth, and not in a negative way, Like it's

1009
00:55:51,800 --> 00:55:55,200
Speaker 1: not like it's not like I look at myself and

1010
00:55:56,080 --> 00:55:59,080
Speaker 1: I'm downplaying who I am or I'm not happy of

1011
00:55:59,160 --> 00:56:01,120
Speaker 1: what I like and what I see in the mirror.

1012
00:56:01,440 --> 00:56:06,080
Speaker 1: I just love being able to keep striving forward, you know.

1013
00:56:06,120 --> 00:56:08,680
Speaker 1: And I'm excited for the future, and I'm excited for

1014
00:56:09,320 --> 00:56:13,120
Speaker 1: what I have yet to accomplish, right, and I know

1015
00:56:13,200 --> 00:56:15,040
Speaker 1: that this is just the beginning. Yeah, I have to

1016
00:56:15,080 --> 00:56:17,920
Speaker 1: remember that it is okay to be a beginner. It

1017
00:56:17,960 --> 00:56:21,040
Speaker 1: is okay to step on the first square and look

1018
00:56:21,080 --> 00:56:24,479
Speaker 1: at the road ahead with appreciation and with gratitude. And

1019
00:56:25,239 --> 00:56:27,680
Speaker 1: it's important to stop and smell the flowers. And that

1020
00:56:27,920 --> 00:56:30,920
Speaker 1: is what I see in the mirror, the excitement that

1021
00:56:31,000 --> 00:56:35,320
Speaker 1: I have for what is to come and the things

1022
00:56:35,320 --> 00:56:38,800
Speaker 1: that I haven't experienced. And it's crazy to think about

1023
00:56:39,320 --> 00:56:42,719
Speaker 1: your best day, you haven't experienced your best day yet.

1024
00:56:42,480 --> 00:56:47,320
Speaker 2: You know, yeah, you see opportunity, opportunity, Yes, right now

1025
00:56:47,719 --> 00:56:52,160
Speaker 2: you have an opportunity to offer yourself a piece of advice.

1026
00:56:52,840 --> 00:56:56,240
Speaker 2: Let's call it. When you decided to take a step

1027
00:56:56,280 --> 00:57:00,600
Speaker 2: back from school, work, full time support, your mom, really

1028
00:57:00,640 --> 00:57:03,359
Speaker 2: starting to come into your own, you have an opportunity

1029
00:57:03,440 --> 00:57:06,399
Speaker 2: right now to give yourself a piece of advice. Knowing

1030
00:57:06,400 --> 00:57:11,360
Speaker 2: what you know now in that hurdle moment, what do

1031
00:57:11,400 --> 00:57:12,280
Speaker 2: you tell yourself?

1032
00:57:14,600 --> 00:57:17,520
Speaker 1: You know, I don't really have a word of advice,

1033
00:57:18,360 --> 00:57:24,000
Speaker 1: you know, for my younger self, because I'm so appreciative.

1034
00:57:24,080 --> 00:57:28,160
Speaker 1: I'm so grateful for every step, every thought that I've

1035
00:57:28,200 --> 00:57:31,720
Speaker 1: had up till this point, because without it, I wouldn't

1036
00:57:31,760 --> 00:57:35,120
Speaker 1: be you know who I am today. It could have

1037
00:57:35,200 --> 00:57:38,440
Speaker 1: changed the course of my trajectory. So I'm just so

1038
00:57:38,520 --> 00:57:42,320
Speaker 1: appreciative of every step and every thought and every action

1039
00:57:42,480 --> 00:57:46,440
Speaker 1: that I've taken till this day because it's made me

1040
00:57:46,840 --> 00:57:48,320
Speaker 1: who I am and it's gotten me to where I

1041
00:57:48,320 --> 00:57:53,400
Speaker 1: am today. So my advice to myself would just be

1042
00:57:53,600 --> 00:57:54,280
Speaker 1: have fun.

1043
00:57:54,280 --> 00:57:55,680
Speaker 2: Keep going, have fun.

1044
00:57:55,720 --> 00:57:57,560
Speaker 1: You're doing, You're doing just fine.

1045
00:57:57,440 --> 00:57:59,560
Speaker 2: Keep going. Anything you want to say to all of

1046
00:57:59,600 --> 00:58:03,640
Speaker 2: your loving peloton fans that are listening to this right now.

1047
00:58:04,000 --> 00:58:08,400
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for giving me your time, so

1048
00:58:08,440 --> 00:58:11,320
Speaker 1: appreciative of it. It's like it goes such a long way,

1049
00:58:11,400 --> 00:58:16,280
Speaker 1: and I'm so appreciative of for everyone that has tuned in,

1050
00:58:16,360 --> 00:58:19,600
Speaker 1: for everything that I've ever done, for everyone that has

1051
00:58:19,600 --> 00:58:22,080
Speaker 1: showed up to my classes. It means the world to

1052
00:58:22,120 --> 00:58:25,600
Speaker 1: me from you know, a kid in the Bronx, very

1053
00:58:25,640 --> 00:58:30,400
Speaker 1: shy kid from the Bronx that has always wanted to

1054
00:58:30,640 --> 00:58:33,280
Speaker 1: do better and be more like Here we are, Thank

1055
00:58:33,320 --> 00:58:33,880
Speaker 1: you so much.

1056
00:58:34,240 --> 00:58:36,520
Speaker 2: Here we are all right? Rad? How do the hurdlers

1057
00:58:36,720 --> 00:58:38,680
Speaker 2: follow along with you? How do they keep up with you?

1058
00:58:38,760 --> 00:58:41,439
Speaker 2: If they don't yet already? Give us the details so.

1059
00:58:41,360 --> 00:58:45,240
Speaker 1: You can follow me on Instagram at rad Lopes are

1060
00:58:45,400 --> 00:58:49,920
Speaker 1: a d loopz and you can also catch my classes

1061
00:58:49,960 --> 00:58:53,120
Speaker 1: on Peloton. On the Peloton platform, you can download the app.

1062
00:58:53,160 --> 00:58:56,080
Speaker 1: If you have the bike, you can also just the

1063
00:58:56,120 --> 00:58:58,439
Speaker 1: bike or the tread. You can also just flip over

1064
00:58:58,520 --> 00:59:01,120
Speaker 1: to the strength category l and you can find me there.

1065
00:59:01,160 --> 00:59:01,880
Speaker 1: Let's have a good time.

1066
00:59:01,960 --> 00:59:04,000
Speaker 2: Let's have a good time. I'm over at Emily a

1067
00:59:04,040 --> 00:59:08,120
Speaker 2: Body and at Hurdle Podcast Another Hurdle Conquered. Catch you

1068
00:59:08,120 --> 00:59:08,760
Speaker 2: guys next time