WEBVTT - Kirk Meyers 0:00:01.120 --> 0:00:03.640 Welcome back to another episode of Big Money Energy where 0:00:03.680 --> 0:00:06.560 we talked to super successful and self made people to 0:00:06.559 --> 0:00:09.400 find out exactly how they did it, how they went 0:00:09.440 --> 0:00:12.920 from nothing to something. Today, I am joined by none 0:00:12.960 --> 0:00:16.200 other than Kirk Meyer's Dog Pound Jim. We talked about 0:00:16.239 --> 0:00:19.599 a lot of different things the creation of the brand, 0:00:19.800 --> 0:00:23.119 but his story is so interesting. Dog Pound is a really, 0:00:23.160 --> 0:00:27.560 really cool and real time example of how you take 0:00:27.600 --> 0:00:30.160 an industry that has existed for a long time. You're 0:00:30.200 --> 0:00:33.599 not reinventing the wheel. What you're doing is you're bringing 0:00:33.920 --> 0:00:38.520 that personal experience to the forefront and making it about 0:00:38.560 --> 0:00:41.440 the absolute best customer service. Now let's get into it. 0:00:41.800 --> 0:00:56.200 Welcome to another episode. Take me back to like personally. 0:00:56.280 --> 0:01:04.240 So you're born in Missouri, yes, good coal? Yeah, Kansas City, Missouri, Yes, 0:01:04.360 --> 0:01:09.000 so one there and I lived there until it was thirty. Actually, 0:01:10.280 --> 0:01:13.720 so I love Kansas City. Uh, other than the Chiefs, 0:01:13.760 --> 0:01:16.480 I actually don't like the Chiefs. Was kind of ironic, 0:01:16.600 --> 0:01:19.840 summeraders Van, But I do love Kansas City. Did you 0:01:19.959 --> 0:01:23.280 did you go to college? Yes? So I went to 0:01:23.560 --> 0:01:25.480 the first school I went through was very hard to 0:01:25.480 --> 0:01:30.240 get into. It's called Blue River Community College. Not a 0:01:30.240 --> 0:01:33.600 lot of applicants, No, So I mean it was just 0:01:33.680 --> 0:01:36.319 community college. So like, basically I made terrible grades in 0:01:36.360 --> 0:01:38.840 high school, barely graduated for the most part, and then 0:01:38.880 --> 0:01:42.759 I made straight a's and community college. So so then 0:01:42.800 --> 0:01:45.440 I got a scholarship to go to a four year school. 0:01:45.880 --> 0:01:53.440 Since I graduated from University of Missouri Kansas City, it's 0:01:53.440 --> 0:01:57.000 like two thousand and two or three, because I got 0:01:57.080 --> 0:02:00.160 sick during that time period. So it's kind of all 0:02:00.240 --> 0:02:02.559 vague and kind of yeah, that's kind of a blur 0:02:02.800 --> 0:02:04.760 at times. So what do you want to do when 0:02:04.760 --> 0:02:07.760 you graduated? I was originally going to be an elementary teacher, 0:02:08.440 --> 0:02:12.040 so my dad's elementary principle. My mom used to be 0:02:12.080 --> 0:02:14.679 a teacher. I just wanted to do something that was rewarding. 0:02:15.040 --> 0:02:18.560 So I had worked at like this after school program 0:02:18.760 --> 0:02:21.000 like part time, like when I was in high school, 0:02:21.440 --> 0:02:23.640 and and so I really liked it because it was fun, right, 0:02:23.720 --> 0:02:27.239 and my dad was a principal. I was terrible at 0:02:28.280 --> 0:02:31.680 um managing though, like the kids like they would walk 0:02:31.720 --> 0:02:35.040 all over me, which is somewhat similar to uh dog 0:02:35.080 --> 0:02:39.840 Pound employees sometimes, but it is like the managing part 0:02:40.080 --> 0:02:43.600 has never been like my passionate love, but anyways, so 0:02:43.600 --> 0:02:46.320 it's gonna be an elementary teacher throughout the way. Like 0:02:46.840 --> 0:02:49.680 I got sick. So I used to be really chunky. 0:02:50.000 --> 0:02:51.720 I think you know this right, how much did you 0:02:51.720 --> 0:02:53.799 weigh at the peak there? I kind of quit wing 0:02:53.800 --> 0:02:57.919 and at over the three hundred pound barrier. Stop checking, 0:02:58.120 --> 0:03:01.400 stop checking. Yeah, so so I would say, like, you know, 0:03:01.480 --> 0:03:04.280 a little over three d pounds, but I'm only five five, 0:03:04.960 --> 0:03:07.520 you know, uh on a good day. So I mean 0:03:07.520 --> 0:03:10.680 I'm pretty sure. So uh So, basically this is when 0:03:10.720 --> 0:03:13.919 I was sixteen or so, so I was pretty chunky, 0:03:13.960 --> 0:03:16.440 and I was pretty like chunky most of my life, 0:03:16.480 --> 0:03:20.200 but it really as started packing on the pounds, putting 0:03:20.200 --> 0:03:23.920 on the carbs, and in high school, mostly with chocolate 0:03:23.919 --> 0:03:26.959 milk for the most part, lots of chocolate milk, lots 0:03:26.960 --> 0:03:32.000 of chocole milk, like and outrageous chocolate milk. So I 0:03:32.000 --> 0:03:35.680 would drink up the two gallons a day. Actually yeah, so, 0:03:36.160 --> 0:03:38.720 but I thought it was it was skim chocolate milk. 0:03:39.040 --> 0:03:41.320 So in the Midwest, yeah, you thought that that was 0:03:41.360 --> 0:03:45.720 like just not fat supers totally. Yeah, the results didn't 0:03:45.720 --> 0:03:49.600 look like that, but but there's a ton of sugar. Yeah, 0:03:49.680 --> 0:03:53.880 so are you okay talking about your your illness. Sure, yeah, 0:03:54.880 --> 0:03:58.280 some of my the worst things that have happened to 0:03:58.360 --> 0:04:01.080 me have been the best things that could have happened 0:04:01.080 --> 0:04:05.840 to me. So, um, I graduated community college, got my 0:04:05.880 --> 0:04:09.840 associates degree, right, and I moved actually went to Southwest 0:04:09.880 --> 0:04:12.640 Missouri State which now called Missouri State. When I was there, 0:04:12.760 --> 0:04:15.280 I started, like, um, I thought I had like mono 0:04:15.440 --> 0:04:19.479 basically because I started sleeping a lot, I started coughing 0:04:19.520 --> 0:04:22.240 a lot right as and I didn't really know what 0:04:22.320 --> 0:04:25.440 was wrong. But my roommate, you know, called my parents 0:04:25.440 --> 0:04:28.400 and they kind of like kidnapped kidnapped me and saved me. 0:04:28.839 --> 0:04:30.920 So um, so I went to the hospital, right, and 0:04:30.920 --> 0:04:34.480 they said I had a cardiomeopathy, which is an enlarged 0:04:34.480 --> 0:04:39.039 heart and congestive heart failure. So that was actually a 0:04:39.080 --> 0:04:42.560 total blessing in disguise because you know, I was overweight. 0:04:42.839 --> 0:04:46.280 It wasn't really that confident, right and uh and so 0:04:46.360 --> 0:04:50.000 it's like that was a shocking moment, right, But then 0:04:50.000 --> 0:04:52.960 I was kind of forced to lose the weight. So 0:04:53.000 --> 0:04:55.160 I'm lucky because a lot of people like basically they 0:04:55.200 --> 0:04:57.279 have to just kind of set their own discipline to 0:04:57.320 --> 0:05:01.480 lose weight. But I was kind of like just ever die, yeah, basically, 0:05:01.560 --> 0:05:05.279 so that actually really pushed me to lose the weight 0:05:05.320 --> 0:05:08.920 and specific like watching my food and changing my diet 0:05:09.400 --> 0:05:12.120 and then just changing my lifestyle and so but over 0:05:12.560 --> 0:05:14.480 the course of six months or so, I started feeling 0:05:14.480 --> 0:05:17.400 a little bit better. And then I just started walking, right, 0:05:17.440 --> 0:05:19.760 and that was kind of meditative for me. And then 0:05:19.839 --> 0:05:22.080 I started doing the gym, which I did in high 0:05:22.080 --> 0:05:26.600 school just was like more powerlifting style, So this was 0:05:26.640 --> 0:05:29.040 like just a different style of training. So then I 0:05:29.120 --> 0:05:31.919 learned how to do that, and I really learned a 0:05:31.920 --> 0:05:36.160 lot about food. Right, So, just like anything in life, like, 0:05:36.200 --> 0:05:39.080 I started gaining momentum, right, and I think momentum is 0:05:39.160 --> 0:05:42.240 key with most things, right, it's just like your career, 0:05:42.320 --> 0:05:44.880 like you do one thing at least the next and next. 0:05:45.120 --> 0:05:47.920 So I lost ten pounds and it was twenty pounds, right, 0:05:48.279 --> 0:05:50.760 and forty, and then people are starting to compliment you, 0:05:50.839 --> 0:05:52.920 and then you feel better, and so it just kept 0:05:52.960 --> 0:05:56.080 kind of growing a confidence a little bit, a little bit, 0:05:56.080 --> 0:05:57.600 a little bit a little bit, and then so I 0:05:57.680 --> 0:06:01.080 just started steamrolling then to the point where I lost 0:06:01.120 --> 0:06:03.920 over a hundred pounds, right, crazy, you get this all 0:06:04.000 --> 0:06:06.640 from walking and going to the gym and watching what 0:06:06.720 --> 0:06:11.280 you eat. Yes, yeah, so and it it took itn't 0:06:11.360 --> 0:06:13.960 It took a while. It took a little over two years, 0:06:14.200 --> 0:06:17.000 and I was pretty young, so that probably helped me, right, 0:06:17.400 --> 0:06:21.840 like from one to and so what had happened is 0:06:22.040 --> 0:06:24.000 I was going to school to be an elementary teacher. 0:06:24.520 --> 0:06:28.200 So I decided to, um switch it. Yeah, I decided 0:06:28.240 --> 0:06:30.360 to when my friends were asking me how I lost weight, 0:06:30.400 --> 0:06:33.520 So I started helping them, right, and then I just 0:06:33.560 --> 0:06:36.320 realized it was super rewarding. They're almost proud of you 0:06:36.360 --> 0:06:39.720 for helping them, right, so U So yeah, and then 0:06:39.760 --> 0:06:43.520 I decided to become a trainer. So um, and that 0:06:43.600 --> 0:06:45.800 was pretty much right out of college. And how did 0:06:45.839 --> 0:06:48.280 you figure out like how to charge people, especially because 0:06:48.279 --> 0:06:50.520 a lot of your first clients were we're friends. I've 0:06:50.520 --> 0:06:53.599 always been bad about that, including now, right, I really 0:06:53.600 --> 0:06:58.120 have been, because but the money always flows if you're 0:06:58.120 --> 0:07:01.719 doing something you love and you're doing at high quality. 0:07:01.760 --> 0:07:06.080 And that's that's always been my mentality and it's always worked, right, 0:07:06.120 --> 0:07:11.360 So because what happens is you get referrals, right, so 0:07:11.520 --> 0:07:13.239 and other people want to be a part of it. Yes, 0:07:13.440 --> 0:07:17.200 So it almost doesn't even matter of who you're company, 0:07:17.280 --> 0:07:20.640 whether they're known or they're work at the Delhi down 0:07:20.760 --> 0:07:24.280 the street. Right, It's like when someone makes results, people 0:07:24.320 --> 0:07:28.280 start talking about it, people ask about it, and yeah, 0:07:28.440 --> 0:07:32.040 then you get friends and and other people tend to 0:07:32.200 --> 0:07:35.080 start then asking you how much it is, and then 0:07:35.320 --> 0:07:36.680 and then you don't really know them, so then you 0:07:36.680 --> 0:07:41.080 can charge them like a fair rate, you know. So yeah, 0:07:41.080 --> 0:07:50.600 so that's kind of how it all worked. And so 0:07:51.200 --> 0:07:52.800 how did you get to New York. It seems like 0:07:52.800 --> 0:07:54.840 your life was pretty great. You're set, you lost all 0:07:54.840 --> 0:07:57.640 that weight, You're in Missouri, You're you're helping everyone in 0:07:57.680 --> 0:08:02.160 Missouri lose weight. It was until I would say late 0:08:02.160 --> 0:08:06.240 twenties I got kind of like, uh uh cocky, right, 0:08:06.480 --> 0:08:08.840 Like I don't have no idea why because I'm I 0:08:08.880 --> 0:08:11.320 don't know how trainers get cocky, but but I did myself. 0:08:11.360 --> 0:08:14.400 So now I kind of realized that, right, my ego 0:08:14.480 --> 0:08:16.720 got to me a little bit because when you were 0:08:16.720 --> 0:08:21.080 in Missouri, yes, which is I know it's cancer to Missouri, buty. 0:08:21.120 --> 0:08:25.800 But what happens is for the first time, I was like, um, 0:08:26.120 --> 0:08:29.480 dating girls, right, and then then like I was going out, Sure, 0:08:29.840 --> 0:08:32.959 I started starting the party, right, and I had like, uh, 0:08:33.120 --> 0:08:35.440 fancy car, a nice car, and I had like this 0:08:35.960 --> 0:08:39.080 nice loft right, And so basically like I was trying 0:08:39.120 --> 0:08:42.000 to be someone I wasn't. Right. I was trying to 0:08:42.000 --> 0:08:45.560 be cool, sure, I mean I like not thinking that 0:08:46.240 --> 0:08:49.120 who I was was cool, if that makes sense. Was 0:08:49.160 --> 0:08:52.120 trying to we're a totally different person than the person 0:08:52.200 --> 0:08:55.320 you grew up as, Yes, and then people treat you differently, 0:08:56.000 --> 0:08:58.560 which is amazing, But that doesn't mean you should change 0:08:59.320 --> 0:09:01.240 who you are, right, I mean, of course we should 0:09:01.280 --> 0:09:04.000 all grow and change and learn. But I think I 0:09:04.080 --> 0:09:09.200 was trying to be um, like a party guy or something. Right, 0:09:09.400 --> 0:09:12.960 So I started going out a lot so, which is 0:09:13.000 --> 0:09:15.560 not good for me because I have like a very 0:09:16.480 --> 0:09:20.400 passionate I used to call it addictive personality, but but 0:09:20.440 --> 0:09:22.920 it is. It is just passionate, right. It's like I 0:09:22.960 --> 0:09:27.520 get really into things without even realizing it. Chocolate milk 0:09:27.760 --> 0:09:32.480 as an example, right, um, losing weight as an example. Working, 0:09:32.600 --> 0:09:36.760 you know, I work the tause I'm just totally into it. 0:09:37.080 --> 0:09:41.880 Tattoos is an example. I get really into things, which 0:09:41.920 --> 0:09:46.080 is great if it's something good, but uh, if it's 0:09:46.160 --> 0:09:49.480 drugs and partying it's not so good, especially if you've 0:09:49.480 --> 0:09:53.640 had past heart problems issues and you're trying to build 0:09:53.640 --> 0:09:56.280 a career. Right, Both those things tend to crumble if 0:09:56.280 --> 0:09:59.400 you do a lot of drugs. So, um yeah, So 0:09:59.440 --> 0:10:03.120 basically I I I started, Um, I got sick again, 0:10:03.320 --> 0:10:07.600 basically the same heart. Yeah, but this time it was 0:10:07.679 --> 0:10:10.560 worse right in theory, right, Um, So this when I 0:10:10.600 --> 0:10:14.600 was thirty, because I have congestive heart failure. So they 0:10:14.640 --> 0:10:17.280 said I was in the fourth stage of it, which 0:10:17.320 --> 0:10:20.680 is like the last stage, right, So they would say 0:10:20.880 --> 0:10:23.920 I needed a heart transplant, and my it's called an 0:10:23.960 --> 0:10:26.880 injection for action was super low. It's like how your 0:10:26.920 --> 0:10:29.520 heart pumps. Yeah, yeah, and I couldn't work, right, I 0:10:29.520 --> 0:10:33.000 didn't have health insurance. Um. I was in the r 0:10:33.200 --> 0:10:37.800 for like thirteen or fourteen days, right, And so I 0:10:37.880 --> 0:10:41.600 came out thinking I would just bounce back, but it 0:10:41.720 --> 0:10:45.360 just never really happened. So, um, you know, I basically 0:10:45.360 --> 0:10:48.360 lost everything I had. I mean, it saved up a 0:10:48.400 --> 0:10:51.800 decent amount of money for me. It wasn't that I mean, 0:10:51.800 --> 0:10:53.920 it's all perspective, right, but for me, it was a 0:10:53.960 --> 0:10:56.600 lot of money. I kind of blew through that just 0:10:56.640 --> 0:11:01.800 with like the hospital bills that and also like really honestly, 0:11:01.840 --> 0:11:04.920 not to be dramatic, I just didn't know how much 0:11:05.080 --> 0:11:07.880 time I had left, and I didn't really care at 0:11:07.880 --> 0:11:10.360 that time, you know, so uncause I lost my car, 0:11:10.559 --> 0:11:13.680 that's my place, right, you know, I was really sick. 0:11:13.840 --> 0:11:18.040 So I moved in with my sister, uh, and I 0:11:18.080 --> 0:11:21.760 moved to Memphis, Tennessee. So anyways, so I was there. 0:11:21.880 --> 0:11:23.920 I was there for about a year, and I started 0:11:23.960 --> 0:11:27.840 feeling better. So it's a keep. Um. I had lived 0:11:27.840 --> 0:11:30.120 in New York for like ten years or eleven years, 0:11:30.120 --> 0:11:32.079 and we got in a fight when I got really 0:11:32.280 --> 0:11:36.600 sick because he's my older brother and he's like yeah, 0:11:36.760 --> 0:11:39.120 and like, so we had gotten in a fight. So 0:11:39.280 --> 0:11:42.199 we had been in better. Terms were not great, and 0:11:42.280 --> 0:11:43.640 I was still at this time period in my life. 0:11:43.679 --> 0:11:49.280 I'm just trying to uh, you know together totally and 0:11:49.320 --> 0:11:53.360 do things like, you know, like relationships that I that 0:11:53.440 --> 0:11:56.280 were important. I was trying to bring them back, right. 0:11:56.360 --> 0:11:59.520 So I moved here for I was only going to 0:11:59.559 --> 0:12:03.040 be here for two or three months. I just didn't 0:12:03.040 --> 0:12:05.360 want to move back to Kansas City quite yet, right, 0:12:05.440 --> 0:12:08.160 So I came here to like switched up a little bit. 0:12:08.320 --> 0:12:11.480 See your brother stay here, and no one wanted me 0:12:11.600 --> 0:12:15.120 to move here. F y. I mean especially with your history, 0:12:15.559 --> 0:12:21.600 you probably say. And this for sure. I also had 0:12:22.080 --> 0:12:25.760 zero dollars, right, that's also not very helpful when you 0:12:25.800 --> 0:12:28.640 moved to New York. But my sister had got given me, 0:12:29.559 --> 0:12:33.040 you know, three d dollars or so, and like she 0:12:33.160 --> 0:12:37.600 got me this membership to this meditation place that you 0:12:37.600 --> 0:12:39.200 could do all the time, So I would do that 0:12:39.240 --> 0:12:42.360 all the time. Um, just crashed with your brother. And 0:12:42.400 --> 0:12:46.959 then my mom actually had a uh someone that because 0:12:47.000 --> 0:12:51.000 she has like an orphanage and Africa other stay, she 0:12:51.080 --> 0:12:52.720 had a place that was kind of given to her 0:12:52.840 --> 0:12:57.679 part time. So I actually stayed there initially and then 0:12:57.920 --> 0:13:00.120 then I would after that, I kind of stay with 0:13:00.160 --> 0:13:03.080 my brother for a little bit. Um. But basically after 0:13:03.120 --> 0:13:07.040 the three months, I started feeling better. So then I 0:13:07.080 --> 0:13:11.040 decided to train. And so what did you go to first? 0:13:11.600 --> 0:13:15.079 So at first, um, the irony is I got a 0:13:15.160 --> 0:13:18.160 job at David Barton Gym. But they wanted me to 0:13:18.200 --> 0:13:20.960 work any other ironies, They wanted me to work uh 0:13:21.160 --> 0:13:25.280 full time, right, which like uh if if if you 0:13:25.320 --> 0:13:28.560 know me, I usually like full times, no problem, right, 0:13:28.800 --> 0:13:30.839 But I was like that was too too much, right 0:13:30.960 --> 0:13:32.800 because I because I couldn't commit to it. I didn't 0:13:32.840 --> 0:13:35.280 know how long it was gonna be, how you know. 0:13:35.320 --> 0:13:37.000 I was just kind of getting my health back. So 0:13:37.400 --> 0:13:39.360 I ended up getting a job at a small gym. 0:13:39.600 --> 0:13:42.280 It was more of like, uh, you know boutique gym. 0:13:42.720 --> 0:13:45.400 Was that the superstar gym? No, that was prior to that? 0:13:45.800 --> 0:13:49.600 Is it different? Was a different gym, Um and so 0:13:50.240 --> 0:13:53.240 and I just started working part time a couple of 0:13:53.320 --> 0:13:55.440 days a week, and of course they became five days 0:13:55.440 --> 0:13:57.640 a week, and I became every day a week, and 0:13:57.679 --> 0:14:01.920 then uh you know, soon I was like, um, like 0:14:02.080 --> 0:14:04.960 one of the head trainers. Right, this is like within 0:14:05.040 --> 0:14:09.120 a pretty quick um, within a year, I would say, 0:14:09.160 --> 0:14:10.480 But you still didn't have it in your mind to 0:14:10.480 --> 0:14:12.959 start a business or do anything. Now. I was here 0:14:13.040 --> 0:14:16.480 like buying time doing personal training because that's what you mean. Yeah. 0:14:16.760 --> 0:14:19.320 My goal was just I love training and it made 0:14:19.360 --> 0:14:21.760 me feel good. I just wanted to do it. Right. 0:14:21.840 --> 0:14:23.720 Why do you think some of those early clients in 0:14:23.800 --> 0:14:29.600 that Shim and Soho took to you as a guy 0:14:29.760 --> 0:14:32.480 from Kansas City, Missouri who was just sort of here 0:14:33.160 --> 0:14:35.760 figuring things out. I think one is because I was 0:14:36.080 --> 0:14:40.400 genuine too, is because I was passionate and I really 0:14:40.440 --> 0:14:46.120 actually I wanted to help help people, right, So like 0:14:46.160 --> 0:14:49.200 if you came to me about training, I would be 0:14:49.280 --> 0:14:52.400 totally into it, right. So it's at goals and we like, 0:14:52.440 --> 0:14:56.920 I'm make sure you're accountable and like people like you. Yes, 0:14:57.120 --> 0:15:01.400 So I think I think that's mostly mostly people can 0:15:01.440 --> 0:15:04.400 tell if you're really into something, and so I think 0:15:04.480 --> 0:15:08.200 that's and training that's all the all the differences being 0:15:08.240 --> 0:15:12.000 really nice. It's a service industry, right, making sure you're 0:15:12.320 --> 0:15:15.320 accommodating what they want. I was renting space out of 0:15:15.320 --> 0:15:17.560 a bunch of gems, right. So you kind of started 0:15:17.560 --> 0:15:20.480 your kirk Meyer's Fitness. Yes, it was like the relaunch 0:15:20.520 --> 0:15:23.800 of kirk Myer's Fitness until you started a website. I 0:15:23.880 --> 0:15:26.120 started a website and you just kind of put yourself 0:15:26.160 --> 0:15:28.040 out there is this personal trainer, and you would work 0:15:28.040 --> 0:15:30.200 out with anybody anywhere where. You going to people's houses 0:15:30.280 --> 0:15:33.680 and the apartments and stuff. And I postcards that like 0:15:33.720 --> 0:15:36.440 Captain Kirk that were quite ridiculous. I really just wanted 0:15:36.480 --> 0:15:39.840 tend clients. Right when I started home clients, that was it. 0:15:40.600 --> 0:15:42.880 Totally happy tend clients, and I want to start a 0:15:42.960 --> 0:15:46.760 kids program. That was the two things. And so I 0:15:46.760 --> 0:15:50.280 wrote down the list and then I wrote down some 0:15:50.400 --> 0:15:53.560 dream list. And I knew that if I got a 0:15:53.560 --> 0:15:56.760 big name, that would help, right, because it gives you credibility. 0:15:56.880 --> 0:16:01.240 So I started like looking at other trainers that had 0:16:01.280 --> 0:16:04.360 gotten big names before, and like we kind of looked 0:16:04.360 --> 0:16:06.320 them up and how they did it right and so 0:16:06.400 --> 0:16:08.000 but I really just wanted to take clients and you 0:16:08.000 --> 0:16:10.760 would meet them anywhere any gym. Yes, you just wanted 0:16:10.760 --> 0:16:13.680 them under the kirk Myer's Fitness brand. Yeah, so what 0:16:13.720 --> 0:16:17.440 But what happened was like two clients came four, became eight, 0:16:17.480 --> 0:16:21.240 became sixty really quickly, I had thirty forty clients right 0:16:21.520 --> 0:16:24.880 by yourself. Yes, because a part of it is like 0:16:25.560 --> 0:16:27.880 stars aligning and putting it out there. I made these 0:16:28.240 --> 0:16:32.320 ridiculous postcards right, put them everywhere. Guaranteed no one signed 0:16:32.360 --> 0:16:35.600 up from these postcards. But the fact that I was 0:16:35.640 --> 0:16:37.880 going out doing this, it was like it was taking 0:16:37.920 --> 0:16:41.680 action and I want yes, And like it's also like 0:16:41.720 --> 0:16:45.000 a universe thing, right, like a run into you know, 0:16:45.120 --> 0:16:48.680 I ran into. I picked so the ironies like Adam 0:16:48.720 --> 0:16:51.640 Guy or you know Adam He started training with me 0:16:51.640 --> 0:16:55.200 because he saw me walk around the neighborhood. But the 0:16:55.240 --> 0:17:00.760 irony of Adam right, Adam's partner Jeff knew you. Jackman's 0:17:00.800 --> 0:17:05.560 bodyguard Brian, and so that's eventually how I started training 0:17:05.720 --> 0:17:10.400 Hugh Jackman. Right, And Hugh Jackman was your first celebrity clients, 0:17:10.640 --> 0:17:13.880 and that was the name that puts you out there 0:17:14.480 --> 0:17:16.920 in the industry and in your client base. And yeah, 0:17:17.000 --> 0:17:20.359 yeah that that that was but for the biggest person. 0:17:20.400 --> 0:17:24.199 But I always knew, and I would always say, like, 0:17:24.320 --> 0:17:26.400 these ridiculous things they're looking back. I was like, well, 0:17:26.400 --> 0:17:30.960 what if I'm training Beyonce right and the Rock and 0:17:30.960 --> 0:17:33.439 they both come at the same time, right, You know, 0:17:33.600 --> 0:17:35.479 you have to have people to help you, because at 0:17:35.480 --> 0:17:38.960 that time I started hiring trainers help and like I 0:17:39.000 --> 0:17:41.960 had zero celebrity. I'm like naming like the biggest names, right, 0:17:42.040 --> 0:17:44.560 But it is kind of crazy because then we've had 0:17:44.800 --> 0:17:47.879 a situations like this happened where two big people, right 0:17:48.000 --> 0:17:51.040 or super at the same time. Totally we're like booking 0:17:51.080 --> 0:17:54.720 the same things. So but but but Hugh was definitely 0:17:54.760 --> 0:18:00.239 the the first big one and and such a big 0:18:00.280 --> 0:18:05.000 impact because he's so nice and then he had friends yes, 0:18:05.200 --> 0:18:07.480 and he brought them all. But you got known around 0:18:07.520 --> 0:18:11.359 town is um as you know, Hugh Jackman's trainer, and 0:18:11.400 --> 0:18:13.680 you guys had this group and then other people would 0:18:13.680 --> 0:18:18.080 follow along who came up with dog Bound. So it 0:18:18.200 --> 0:18:20.680 was really kind of huge thing because he would bring 0:18:20.720 --> 0:18:24.280 the dog. He brings his dog to the workouts, right, 0:18:24.800 --> 0:18:27.080 and so it's kind of like a joke kind of 0:18:27.119 --> 0:18:31.320 like yes, like so that group got known as the 0:18:31.400 --> 0:18:34.280 dog Bound. It was the early morning David Barton in yes, 0:18:34.480 --> 0:18:38.359 in the village group, and so he would come like 0:18:38.600 --> 0:18:41.840 Nigel and sometimes bring his dog right before he moved 0:18:41.880 --> 0:18:45.560 the entry. Yeah. Nigel Parker, Yeah, yeah, Nigel is great. 0:18:46.680 --> 0:18:48.840 He was so nice. And Nigel would just come around 0:18:48.840 --> 0:18:52.600 and criticize everyone's you know, like I'm so much stronger 0:18:52.640 --> 0:18:54.800 than me. I think part of it was that was 0:18:54.880 --> 0:18:58.679 like it felt like a football team or right, or 0:18:59.000 --> 0:19:02.240 any type of sports right, and Nigel was the perfect 0:19:02.320 --> 0:19:05.840 person because he's picking on everyone. It didn't it didn't 0:19:05.840 --> 0:19:09.240 go who was right. So I remember like meeting you 0:19:09.400 --> 0:19:13.960 the first time, you're this guy, uh, you're covered in tattoos, 0:19:13.960 --> 0:19:16.720 like that's cool, and then there's Hugh Jackman over there. 0:19:16.720 --> 0:19:19.120 I'm like all right, so wolverines here, and then you've 0:19:19.160 --> 0:19:23.040 got Nigel Parker, um uh, you know, like one of 0:19:23.080 --> 0:19:26.280 the biggest fashion photographers in the world. And then it's 0:19:26.320 --> 0:19:29.640 like Tom Farley, the CEO of the New York Stock Exchange, 0:19:29.760 --> 0:19:32.280 you know. And then you've got big traders over year 0:19:32.320 --> 0:19:34.119 and then there's like a model over there, and like 0:19:34.200 --> 0:19:40.840 what what is happening? Like this is not you know, yeah, no, 0:19:40.960 --> 0:19:45.159 I think we've been so fortunate with That's our biggest strength, 0:19:45.280 --> 0:19:50.520 by far is our our clients, right uh. And that's 0:19:50.520 --> 0:19:53.440 why I talked about talk upon a lot right building community, 0:19:53.720 --> 0:19:56.960 building community and community, and like that's what makes the 0:19:56.960 --> 0:19:59.719 world go around. That's why cities exist. Right. People like 0:19:59.800 --> 0:20:01.639 to and around that group of people and before you 0:20:01.640 --> 0:20:11.400 know it, they put a building up. That's a big 0:20:11.400 --> 0:20:13.560 thing for anyone that's that's watching and listening that doesn't 0:20:13.560 --> 0:20:16.359 know I mean dog no one, I think maybe other 0:20:16.440 --> 0:20:19.200 than me. Dog Pound was not a gym where you 0:20:19.359 --> 0:20:21.640 just go and work out. You go there to personal train. 0:20:22.200 --> 0:20:24.119 That's it. You go there, you book of time, everyone 0:20:24.119 --> 0:20:25.960 clocks in and you go personal train. So it's a 0:20:26.000 --> 0:20:30.920 personal training gym. When we didn't want memberships, right because 0:20:30.960 --> 0:20:33.960 then people are just kind of floating around, especially with 0:20:34.160 --> 0:20:38.000 um uh with privacy and right, yeah, and I think 0:20:38.080 --> 0:20:40.840 even that's a big business decision. I mean, you think 0:20:40.880 --> 0:20:43.399 with the gym, if you think about the classic gym 0:20:43.440 --> 0:20:47.240 business model, you want a thousand gym memberships, right, because 0:20:47.240 --> 0:20:49.240 you're collecting that revenue every month. But then you know 0:20:49.840 --> 0:20:52.640 they're not all gonna come, it's gonna rain, they're gonna 0:20:52.680 --> 0:20:55.640 sleep in, and so then you're just looking at kind 0:20:55.640 --> 0:20:58.879 of like you know, cost per space and figuring out 0:20:58.920 --> 0:21:03.120 all of those KPIs, the metrics, and you probably took 0:21:03.160 --> 0:21:06.160 the riskier route of saying, now we're not gonna take 0:21:06.160 --> 0:21:09.400 recurring revenue that way, We're just gonna be totally personal training. 0:21:09.440 --> 0:21:11.480 But we're also not going to give everyone the personal 0:21:11.480 --> 0:21:14.440 trainer they want every single time. That was the other 0:21:14.520 --> 0:21:16.600 thing that was a big thing there. It's like, well, 0:21:16.600 --> 0:21:18.000 I'm gonna work out of ten. It's like, okay, well 0:21:18.040 --> 0:21:20.240 you can't have him. We're gonna give you, uh, you know, 0:21:20.280 --> 0:21:22.600 we're gonna give you Christian, right, so we're gonna give 0:21:22.640 --> 0:21:25.439 you someone else. And everyone sort of said, okay, if 0:21:25.440 --> 0:21:28.040 I worked out here, that's how it's done here, and 0:21:28.080 --> 0:21:31.879 it's totally fine. No, And I think, like, and you 0:21:31.960 --> 0:21:35.400 paid the trainers salaries, yes, didn't pay them. They weren't 0:21:35.440 --> 0:21:37.840 like then incentivized by this or that they come in 0:21:37.920 --> 0:21:41.480 And some of the what I've noticed, I was trying 0:21:41.480 --> 0:21:45.080 to be very innovative and some of these things worked. 0:21:45.160 --> 0:21:48.360 Some of them not as much as I would like, uh, 0:21:48.400 --> 0:21:50.120 but some of them I think that can be tweaks. 0:21:50.200 --> 0:21:54.399 But I think the goal of the right when we 0:21:54.440 --> 0:21:57.119 opened the gym, I think my confidence start, you know, 0:21:57.160 --> 0:22:01.040 I started raising the bar. The gym was never were uh, 0:22:01.160 --> 0:22:04.080 it was always meant to be bigger than just the 0:22:04.119 --> 0:22:07.919 four walls of the gym, right, So, like, because you 0:22:07.960 --> 0:22:11.840 can only make so much money from that anyways, even 0:22:11.840 --> 0:22:15.639 if you're making money off of every corner. Right. So 0:22:15.680 --> 0:22:17.720 I think a part of it is what I knew 0:22:17.720 --> 0:22:19.680 what we were good at, and I wanted to stick 0:22:19.720 --> 0:22:21.640 with that. And if you like, you know, we did 0:22:21.680 --> 0:22:24.760 boxing classes at the beginning initially, but but it would 0:22:24.800 --> 0:22:27.800 overcrowd the space, right and the one on ones weren't 0:22:27.840 --> 0:22:33.119 as effective and people would complain, right, so we we 0:22:33.280 --> 0:22:36.920 took those away. Right, So I think, um, uh, the 0:22:37.160 --> 0:22:40.520 the one on one model, right, we've always kind of 0:22:40.640 --> 0:22:44.000