Mark Bell's Power Project - Mark Bell's Power Project EP. 213 - Megsquats

Episode Date: May 20, 2019

Megan Gallagher (@MegSquats) is a strength and fitness coach who has competed in crossfit, bodybuilding, weightlifting, strongman, and powerlifting. She is the founder of Strong Strong Friends, an online coaching business with the intent to get a barbell in every woman’s hands. She strives to make barbell training more approachable for the masses as she believes that barbell training can transform your life. ➢SHOP NOW: https://markbellslingshot.com/ Enter Discount code, "POWERPROJECT" at checkout and receive 15% off all Sling Shots Find the Podcast on all platforms: ➢Subscribe Rate & Review on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/mark-bells-power-project/id1341346059?mt=2 ➢Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4YQE02jPOboQrltVoAD8bp ➢Listen on Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/mark-bells-power-project?refid=stpr ➢Listen on Google Play: https://play.google.com/music/m/Izf6a3gudzyn66kf364qx34cctq?t=Mark_Bells_Power_Project ➢Listen on SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/markbellspowerproject  FOLLOW Mark Bell ➢ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marksmellybell ➢ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarkBellSuperTraining ➢ Twitter: https://twitter.com/marksmellybell ➢ Snapchat: marksmellybell Follow The Power Project Podcast ➢ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/MarkBellsPowerProject Follow Nsima Inyang ➢ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nsimainyang/  Podcast Produced by Andrew Zaragoza ➢ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamandrewz

all right and sema what did you eat yesterday chick-fil-a it's been a long time since i've had chick-fil-a everybody loves chick-fil-a it's the chicken it's like crack how did you find yourself there you go uh my girl was like huh let's go out and get something but let's get something quick but not like you know crappy fast food quick and i was like chick-fil-a you know it's either chick-fil-a or in and out here in california yeah so we get the chick-fil-a i get like two of those double chicken with two patties good it's fine right spicy chicken or not spicy chicken okay spicy chicken yeah i'm on board yeah the waffle fries you know so i said waffle fries anyway yeah this morning man my first my first poop was just like real, just grimy. It looked like it was watery and just gloppy.

It's not like my Mormon ones where I have like steak. The steak ones, they slide out. Where it's more solid. Solid, nice and long, you know, clean wipe. It's gloppy. And then I had another one here. It's rough. So I still feel more and more is coming.

But, man, that chicken, the chicken's worth it. You don't end up with tapered shits when you eat fast food, you know? Nope. You end up with problems is what you end up with. Yeah. Lesson learned, man. Well. You know, it's the price you pay.

Yeah, you got to weigh the positives and negatives. Yeah. How about in the bathroom, though? There was a bit of an incident. Yeah. Lost, ran out of toilet paper, so I had to book it to the next stall. Pants halfway down. But no one was in there, so thank God.

That's when you know it's an emergency, because normally you would check first, you know? Check the toilet paper situation out first, make sure you're covered. Right. Like, all right, I'm prepared. Now I can sit down and go about my business. Hey, but thank God that you guys invested in Squty potties i know because those were like they make i don't know where our baby wipes are we haven't been on point with those baby wipes i really miss them they're somewhere but i just don't know where they are yeah well now that that i've been training

with you in the morning you need more baby wipes i had to like i finally in because i've heard or read i don't remember but like all flushable wipes are not actually flushable like they actually will eventually kind of like the cookie dough thing like people just don't want they're trying to ruin your life so that's yeah right that makes a lot of sense but in the mornings i'm like just holding you back man be your own man blaze your own trail buddy sounds good so i yeah in the mornings yeah i like to so i go to the bathroom and then i go shower and then i come in to train well when training starts at 4 30 i don't have i mean and i'm late to that as it is so it's like i don't have enough time to do all that so i'm like you know what i can't go in all nasty like

i have to get some wipes so got some wipes and man like i i don't even know if i need a shower anymore good to go yeah see the trick is just not to flush too many at once like it says it on the label two or three you're really playing a risky game there but just flush one at a time and you're golden they'll just slip right through yeah i've experienced with that man they are slippery before i travel with baby wipes they're in my they're everywhere in my backpack they're everywhere i have them at all times because i have to take dumps at coffee shops sometimes if i'm sitting there for a little bit and i have a coffee and it's just i don't know particular day stomach starts growling i'm like oh

man yeah good thing i got my baby wipes with me i'm good to go yeah the big old box i got from costco came with some travel packs yes i was pretty excited for that because i know we got some traveling coming up so i'm like i'm good to go i'm ready what you got good ones speaking of baby wipes we got meg squats on the podcast i don't know how we segue yeah yeah i'm excited. Yeah, I'm excited to get her on the show. We had her on the show a long time ago. We had her here at the gym back when Andrew was fishing around for a job. I think that was the last time she was here. Yeah.

Yeah, that was actually the first day I met Mark was when she was here. Like two years ago, two and a half years ago? About to be two years ago, yeah. Or three years. Yeah. Probably closer to three. Yeah, three years. Yeah. Probably closer to three. Yeah, three years. Sorry.

I think a lot of, like it was her, Amanda Bucci, and a lot of other strong women were here. Yeah. Right there, Jim. Yeah. Yeah. She's the definition of growth, though. She, like since then, like she's been doing a lot of like cool mainstream stuff too, you know, outside of powerlifting.

But that impact that she's continued to have is just, you know, she puts out a good message and she gets good reception yeah i wonder you know if it'll be great to talk to her i wonder if it's uh you know just like just her or if she's got like a team or like a publicist or kind of what the deal is yeah i know her i think it's still her boyfriend he like you know he coaches her but they work together a lot and she has like a camera crew and stuff like that or she live in canada or she did or i forget i can't figure it out i don't know i guess that might be a little sketchy if i type like google search where does meg squats live no not at all actually you'd probably come up with the video i know that she used to live in new york city and then i'm not sure where. She went to a couple other spots. I don't know.

Yeah. She's a good power lifter, too. Deadlifts, her best deadlift, I think, is a little over 400 pounds. It's like 409. Yeah. 409. I mean, that's not just somebody just recreational lifting here and there. That's a substantial deadlift.

And then, like you said, she's hit some which is that's unique for a power lifter you know she's sponsored by like special k and i think a few other big companies right yeah i think special k she's obviously i think she won the bodybuilding spokesman spokes model search last year right which was i mean that in itself is really really cool because like i think a lot of the winners that bodybuilding.com has been going for has been like, you know, the really shredded, you know, bikini athletes, et cetera. And Meg, I think she purposefully went into it not being super lean. You know, she went in, you know, with the just being strong, you know. And that's really good as just like a message to a lot of women that you don't have to

not to be like lean and shredded all the time it's not necessarily the healthiest either but yeah yeah kind of like charity wit story with her on um titan games i think more people got behind her because she wasn't uh this tiny little thing you know and she wasn't uh and then you know one of the girls that she um ended up kind of dominating when she was, you know, carrying that chain or whatever, that anchor or whatever they were pulling that time. That girl was super thin, you know. And so here she is, you know, a bigger girl, a little thicker, right. And here she is just towing this thing. And I think that's what it's about for a lot of people.

It's about performance, not necessarily just about the look, right. Yeah. I think she's been competing also for, I't know like four years in powerlifting so that's that's a lot of time spent under the bar and she like they work the strong strong friends they work with like a lot of men and a lot of women so it's gonna be interesting to see what thank you you find out there she is i think i hear it oh hey there she is. Hey, there. Hey, it's Meg Squats. What's up, Meg Squats? Okay, let me make sure I look cute.

I think you got that part down. You're looking great. Thanks. I got ready for this. You can see all my makeup there. That's what I used. There's like 80 drawers down there full of makeup that I just slapped on my face. You had to load up,

right? Yeah. I had to get ready. I knew it was some serious stuff about to go down. So is this just a rumor or did you specifically diet down for this particular podcast? I knew you were going to reach out. So I know we couldn't link up over the,

was that the fall? So I was like, let me actually pause on this possibility and I'm going to just cut straight into our reschedule. So it's been working out. You know, I don't want to, I don't want to like, I didn't want to wear a tank top or anything to intimidate anyone, but don't, don't show us up here, please. So I have a question. I don't know if we're live right now but i do have a mic here i'm not sure if that will sound if my sound is okay right now yeah everything sounds pretty good right now does it okay cool then i won't even use this because I don't. Oh, no, leave it there, though. It's a prop. It looks professional.

I don't have a pop filter on it, and I have an annoying voice, so it makes it sound even worse. Right. We can avoid that, and that's great. Yeah, we don't have to overcomplicate it. Just simple is fine. Okay, cool. Come on. Your voice isn't that annoying. I mean, it's bad, but it ain't that bad, right? All right. All right right i'll take that hey where are you living at now because we almost had to google it i forgot where you're living at nowadays i live in los angeles oh oh snap how come i didn't

know that i i thought you were in you were in uh canada for a little while and you moved around a little bit right you were in new york city for a little while as well or something like that right i don't remember yeah i was in new york for a while and okay cool um okay back to where i live we used to live in new york and then we moved to whistler canada which if anybody who's listening this has ever been there it's the best place in the world. I'd say maybe it's better than LA. But it's a mountain town sort of north of Vancouver. So it's like two hours away from Vancouver. So you get the awesomeness of Vancouver and that city is just so cool.

And then Whistler, there's literally just really rich people or poor ski bums living there. And we were sort of in the middle, closer to the bum side of it. But yeah, we were living there and snowboarding a lot. He taught me how to snowboard. And yeah, we were living the dream. And then we realized that we need to work more. So we moved to LA. I'm so bad with geography that's the west coast yeah it's the west coast okay people are always like oh you lived in Canada have you ever been to Toronto Edmonton or whatever I'm like I only go to the west coast of Canada because it's the best part I wouldn't honestly wouldn't waste my time anywhere else. I'm going to get a lot of people mad.

So what's been going on? Like we haven't seen you in a long time. It's been almost three years since you've been here at super training gym and kind of a lot has gone down. You were powerlifting and I guess maybe just like a lot of us trying to be a like fitness icon or fitness model or whatever you want to call it. And now you're doing all kinds of crazy things. So what's been going down? Yeah. Fitness influencer.

That's the word that there we go. I think that's what I was trying to do. I don't know which is more pretentious icon or influencer. But yeah, I'm trying. I'm trying my best, I guess. But yeah, last time I was down there, Ryan and I were talking about it and I had just competed in a meet in, I think it was 2016. So I look back at those videos. I'm like, oh, I was so young looking and so stupid, I guess. But yeah, that was like, I don't want to say that was the beginning, but I feel like a completely different person now. Just, I mean, that's,

that's how it should go. That's how it should be, I guess. But yeah, at that point, I think I was still living in New York and Ryan at the time was working a crazy finance job. So he was working maybe like 70, 80 hours a week at the shop. I never saw him despite us living together. And now he's working full time for me. So we're, we have a coaching business that was exist, existed back then, but now he's working full time for that business. And then we have a coaching business that existed back then, but now he's working full-time for that business. And then we have another business, Strong Strong Supply, where we sell mostly like weightlifting gear for Olympic weightlifters. So, yeah, we sell t- ever called me and told me, you said, hey, you know what? I'm moving on.

I'm going to do something because that's kind of my own. And I wanted to let you know because I appreciate your support. You're the only person that ever did that. Other people just screw you over. They just all of a sudden started wearing something else or doing something else. And you're like, I don't remember how, you know, not that I, not that anybody owes me anything, but I really appreciated that. Thank you so much. I'm glad at least you remember that because I know, you know, when you start, you start out, usually you have a lot of people who are excited about your progress and brands who want to get involved. And I think always from your end, it's always been from you and the team asking like, oh, how can we support you? Or at least usually it's like, do cool shit. How can we do cool shit with this person? you or at least usually it's like do cool shit how can we do cool shit with this person and you know you guys took me out to California and I got to see the gym and meet a lot of those guys from

bodybuilding.com and that was big for me because I then went on to work with Keith and Candice on other projects so that was big for me and And, you know, I was, whenever the idea of Strong, Strong Supply came along, I knew that we were starting with knee support. And so who do I know that makes knee support? My friend, Mark Bell. And so it's never a thing where I want to, it's not like I was afraid to do it because I knew other people in the same kind of business, but it was something that it's like, I don't want to just one day become a competitive brand to someone who I respect and still want a relationship with. Like I figured you would appreciate that more and it was something that, you know, I don't want to be like sneaky because I want to let my friends know also what's

going on with me. I feel like it's a sneaky thing to one day be wearing your knee sleeves. And then the next day, Hey, I got my own that I'm trying on. I don't think that's a genuine thing to do. So, so yeah. Yeah. Very cool. I, I, like I said, I appreciate that. And a lot of people just, uh, you know, they're, they're scared to kind of have that conversation. What's it like just, you know, they're, they're scared to kind of have that conversation. What's it like now, you know, having your own business and you know, that style of communication is really effective for business. So, you know, now I'm sure you guys have some employees, you have your boyfriend working, working directly for you and communication is a huge part of it, right? You got to just go and tell someone what you like and what you don't like. How's that working out for you? I'm lucky because I have

two partners in that business. So Ryan is one of them. So that equipment business, we all own together, which is cool because I couldn't, and I don't want to do a lot of the hard stuff on my own because I'm sure you've run into a lot of problems where you're the face of the company, but also you're the boss man. So being the boss man comes with a whole bag of problems. So it's difficult because I've had trouble. My brand is definitely maybe a bit more friendly than Mark Bell, right? So I'm known as this happy-go-lucky person who is just trying to help you feel better about yourself and help you do some awesome stuff. And then it's a hard thing when you got to put on the boss lady pants and

I don't know, fire someone or tell someone when they're doing a shitty job. So I'm lucky that I have people around me who are equal partners in that business who can help do some of those less enticing parts of the business. But it's just a matter of having people around you who are your equal in one way or another. What for you since like, cause I know when I saw you back in 2015, you were here 16, you were still like really well known at that point. Um, and now like you've been doing a lot of mainstream cool stuff. Uh, what's been the big things that's allowed you to like progress consistently? Have you ever had a lull period where you didn't make content as much, or have you just always been going at it?

I always have the perspective that I don't know anything and I don't know what I'm doing. So I'm always trying to try something new. Um, small example, I was talking to Steffi Cohen and I was noticing, I'm like, fuck, this girl's posting on Instagram like 80 times a day. And so I messaged her about it. I'm like, does that work out for you? Do you think that works out? She was telling me, she's like, oh yeah, so much better. She's showing me analytics of all this stuff. And I'm like, all right, me, idiot, I don't know what I'm doing. Let me try it. And it just has been a small thing that's helped so much and kind of pushing pushing me to create more and so I'm always open to new ideas and switching things up um yeah so I always try to keep that perspective like I don't have it figured out and I I think with the way on some of these platforms

like YouTube and Instagram which are the ones that I'm mostly on, they're always changing anyway. So the moment you do have something figured out on how to be popular or get your face in front of people, it's going to change, you know, the moment you, you think you figure that out. So I've always just been open to experimenting and trying new shit and talking about new stuff, always in the realm of fitness and getting people strong. But there are many ways to be strong and that at least makes my job a little bit easier. So going back to that, uh, that seminar in 2016, um, that was actually the first day that I had met Mark. So it's having you.

Yeah, I remember. That's crazy. So it's really special to have you on because out of all the guests that we had there that day, you're the first one that I've actually been able to like, you know, have on something that I'm now a part of. Because back then I was just a like a fan taking pictures and actually almost got kicked out because nobody knew who I was. True story. But back then, did you have this... Was this the goal to start this whole company or did something change? And did you see an opportunity arise to where it made you think, okay, maybe this isn't just about Instagram. I need to think bigger. maybe this isn't just about Instagram. Like I need to think bigger.

Yeah. I've always been a sort of long-term thinker and it is, I'm very aware of the fact that fitness, I think the longevity of it is increasing for many reasons, but I'm aware of the fact that I'm currently, I just turned, well, I turned 30 last year and, you know, do I want to be doing some of the things I'm doing when I'm 40? Maybe not. So it's always been on my mind to try and find the long game and try and find my place that can be a, create for myself a career rather than just having a job so that's always been on my mind I you know I'm always afraid that this is going to end any day now so I'm just trying to maximize you know what I can do day by day and also figure out a life for myself and my family and you know now Ryan and I are you know talking about having a family one day so I want to hopefully create a life for myself now that can extend into my future so yeah that was always on on my mind

ever since I was a kid I knew like not that I wanted to be, I knew that I was going to be famous in some way, one way or the other. It's like people nowadays always talk about zodiac signs and I'm a Leo and I don't believe in any of this, but Leos are known for like loving attention and loving to be the center of attention. So I'm definitely that type of person in certain ways. So I knew that I was going to be famous and I didn't realize that I was going to be this like sort of weird, fake pseudo fame in a awkward niche of society. But, uh, Hey,

I'll take it. I just knew that that was going to be who I was. Look, you signed autographs and taking pictures with people. You're famous, right? That's what I'm saying. You go to Expo, there's like a thousand people there who know who I am. You've sacrificed a lot and traveled a lot. You know, what do you kind of, you know, what do you share with people that are trying to get ahead, people that are trying to figure it out?

Maybe someone that's in the spot that you were in maybe five years ago. It's not easy, right? You got to go, you got to put it out. Maybe someone that's in the spot that you were in maybe five years ago. It's not easy, right? You got, you got to go, you got to put yourself out there. You got to get to these seminars. You got to rub elbows with different people. And it seems like you've been obsessed with that for a long time now, where you try to go around to different gyms and different facilities and see different businesses and meet different people. All that is a huge aspect of all this, isn't it? Oh, definitely. And I think at the beginning, especially you have to take advantage of that, however you best can. And that was momentum that definitely helped me get to where I am now. I travel a lot less now because I'm busier with work because now I have two businesses to

take care of. But when I first got started, I mean, it was like every month I was in a new city trying to collaborate with someone new and, you know, trying to go to different places and learn as much as I could, but also meet a lot of people in the industry, which is, is cool. Cause when you have that momentum, other people want to meet you too. So yeah, but it definitely gets exhausting. And I mean, I know you guys know every time I see you at the expo, like when we're setting up, I'll come say hi to the crew and say what's up to Nesima and say hey to Smokey and everyone. And then I never see them again until we're breaking down.

So it's not like you're just busy that entire time. So those are exhausting, but definitely worth it. And yeah, you know, I'm always anxious getting to those expos because I'm like, okay, the next three or four days I'm going to be dead tired and I'm going to like, you know, lose my voice by the end of it. And I'm going to probably get all these germs from all these weird people but definitely worth it I mean if that's the worst part of my job then it's like I have a pretty cool job then you know but yeah I think having if anyone's watching this and they want to emulate that sort of success um and get that momentum that's key to like just finding

that momentum and keep building on that week after week. You know, I remember back like, like, yeah, it was, there was like 14 or 15. I was seeing you like on all of these different YouTube channels, like max tuning and then another channel and then another channel. Like, how was this girl getting and finding all these different people? And then also like, I think my question here would be, how did you go about just like reaching out to everybody? Did you just like send out a bunch of messages and see what came back? Or like, how was your process for that? Because a lot of people maybe don't aren't confident enough in themselves to be able to just reach out and potentially not get anything back. So how did you go about doing that? What was your strategy? How did you go about doing that? What was your strategy? I lucked out. I had a week where Chrissy may Cagney was in town for some sort of donuts and deadlifts event.

Max tuning had just moved to DC and he was looking for gyms and I was on his comments like, come to my gym, come to my gym. And people on his comments were also saying the same thing. You should check out where Meg trains. And, and then there, I went to, do you remember the grid league? I went, those were awesome to watch, but I went to one of those and I just got Dimitri in like, like I talked to him and put, he was my clickbait for a certain video. Right. And those were like happened one right after the other. And I, you know, was working on,

I hate to say working on Max, but I saw him touring my gym when I was training and I went up to him and talked to him and just kind of, I gave him a tour and told him like, Oh, well, I filmed in this area. And like, this makes it, this is a good strategy. Like you should probably come at this time. It's when it's quiet. So, you know, I was just trying to be chummy with him and he's a really cool guy laid back and easy to get along with. So that was easy. Um, and then Chrissy, I was so awkward and she probably thought like, wow, this girl is such a fucking creep. Like she had to have thought that. like, wow, this girl is such a fucking creep. Like she had to have thought that. Um, but I, I really just forced her to be in a video of mine, like actually forced her to be in a video of mine.

And those three just kind of came one after the other. Um, it took, I was really nervous to talk to Chrissy, really nervous. Um, Max, it was no big deal because i knew that there was potential of him coming to train with me and then dimitri klokov i was like i'm never gonna fucking see this guy again so might as well just ask him a stupid question so it's a lot of courage and kind of putting aside your feelings i think anyone who's i'm sure a lot of people who have to do presentations at work, even have that, know that kind of pressure and stress, you just kind of got to say, fuck it. I'm just going to do what I need to do. So it was that. And also I had already created a body of work. So it wasn't like I was completely random. There were only so many people who had a YouTube channel about lifting anyway. So that made it really easy.

I usually suggest if people want to collaborate with others, then create that body of work. You have to have something to show like, I am serious about this. I have been doing this for a while. Definitely Max would not have done a proper video with me. And it's one of his highest viewed videos, his collaboration with me on his channel. And he wouldn't have done that had I not already been a YouTuber and had he not already seen that I created stuff on my own. So yeah, sometimes people think like, oh, if I just do a collaboration, then I'll make it. And that was huge for me, but it wouldn't have happened without all the other, like I had made 50 videos before that opportunity.

So now you're, you know, you have more eyeballs on you than ever. And you've gotten with some pretty big brands and things like that. That's amazing. And we'll get to that a little bit later on. But how do you deal with, you know, body image issues? And, uh, we talked a little bit before you came on the show about you winning the, uh, bodybuilding.com challenge. And, um, you maybe attack that maybe a little differently than some of the other girls did. Um, how do you kind of deal with, uh, you know, body image issues or how do you help other women

deal with body image issues when they come to you and things like that? I think it's always been about lifting and taking the focus off of how I look and putting it more on something that seems a little more badass, getting strong. You only look good for so long in your life, but you can actually be strong for your entire life or the rest of your life. Right. So it's always been about performance. And, you know, I'm still a girly girl. I like makeup and I like things like that. And I was obviously we all like to look good, but I usually look for, you know, in conversations, I look for interesting people. And I think being just beautiful is kind of boring anyway. So, you

know, you might as well find something that you can call yourself a badass. And that's always been the focus for me. And I've always tried to have fun with what I'm doing and beauty only goes so far in the fun category. So it's always been about lifting and getting strong and having a good time. So that's always been the focus for me. That's what I look for in the people who are around me. Um, yeah, I think that answers it. How do you, how do you manage that, you know, with the, uh, butt photos on Instagram versus, uh, you know, having a particular message about being a strong and powerful woman? Like, you know, you might have one post where you're like, you know, I'm not ashamed of my body. Maybe my legs are a little thicker because I've been powerlifting for years.

And then the next post, you know, I'm not saying you in particular. I'm just saying, you know, from what I see in general on Instagram, if I was to zoom in on girls butts on Instagram, which I don't because I'm married, but I'm saying hypothetically speaking, if I was to do that, that's a lot of what may be seen on Instagram. Yeah. You know, I'll have some people who kind of paint me as a saint sometimes and I'll post an informational video and I'll get some comments that I always respond to because I don't want people to get it twisted. I had one girl, me as a saint sometimes and I'll post an informational video and I'll get some comments that I always respond to because I don't want people to get it twisted. I had one girl, she was like, I'm so glad you're so different from those other girls who post soft, poor corn.

Soft, poor corn. Hey, it sounds great. I'll eat that corn all day long. Sounds great. She's saying, I'm so glad you're not like the other girls who post all these butt shots. And I'm like, Hey, I'll dabble in the soft core every once in a while. Like don't get it twisted, you know? So I'm definitely not, I'm not a person who's only obsessed with strength, right? Like I'm still a woman. And I think being a woman comes with a lot of contradiction. And luckily in 2019, we get to choose which contradictions we want to subscribe to. So, you know, I like to keep a balance. I like the focus of my page to be about teaching people and inspiring them in fitness. You can inspire people by having an amazing body

and by having a strong body. So that's always been a cool part of it. And I think, you know, choosing to be a power lifter or choosing to be in the strength world or even as a bodybuilder rather than like a bikini or like fitness competitor, you know, you do kind of have this line of like, oh, you're really hot, but also you're really jacked so it's like a different kind of hot where you don't really look like a porn star I don't know that's that's just how I see it I don't know if that like anyone

thinks that but it lends itself to having a little bit more masculine of a look, not masculine in a bad way, but you're just bigger and more jacked. So maybe people associate you as not being a porn star or having that kind of look. I think, you know, a lot of people identify with what you're saying. I think when you see somebody that maybe just has athleticism, you know, it ups it ups their, ups their value to you. You know, you might, a girl might be a six, but if she's deadlift and she might be an eight, you know, that, that sort of thing. Hey, and guys too, it goes the same way, right? A guy might be deadlift in one 35 and he's a six,

but if he has 500 pounds on the bar, he might be a seven or an eight. I'm curious. What about the bench press? No, I'm just kidding. Nobody cares. I got some work to do then. What about the, uh, the opposite comments, you know, the, the typical troll who's going to see you stronger than him and automatically, you know, make the, uh, the typical, you know, like, Oh, I can't wait to see how big her dick is.

you know like oh i can't wait to see how big her dick is you know i think it's gotten to the point where those comments are just kind of boring so it's not really even that interesting to engage now when someone gets a little creative that's when i will engage so and usually i try to just uh send jab back. Right. But I don't get as many of those anymore, I think, because I think it is just kind of played out and boring. So. So, yeah, I mean, after a while, once you get those repeat comments, you really don't pay attention to them because it's just. repeat comments, you really don't pay attention to them because it's just, it's boring, right? So you don't even, it's not even a thought in your mind. So yeah, it doesn't really bother me. And was it like that early on as well? Because I know there's like, there's some females that are listening that they want to be strong. They want to get strong. They might have a dad or an uncle or a brother or even a significant other that's, you know, questioning them. Why do you want to get strong?

Why do you want to look like a dude? Like how did you have the confidence to kind of like not even like, even like subscribe to that bullshit? I'd always been, I'd always been interested in being a jacked chick and I was lucky because I had other jack chicks around me. So, um, I think on the last podcast we mentioned China and I think China was probably the wrestler was probably one of the first.

She was jacked. She was very jacked. Yeah. She's jacked. You know, when I look back though, at pictures of China, I'm like, you know, she's probably, she's reallyed you know when i look back though at pictures of china i'm like you know she's probably she's really tall right she was like six foot um but but she doesn't look that crazy big you know i think just back then we didn't we didn't see jack chicks just didn't really exist that much but i remember you know seeing her and always being maybe not like, oh, I want my body to look like that, but interested, like, oh, that's kind of cool and weird. I like that she's doing that. When I was a little kid, obviously, like, you know, when she was wrestling, I was really young. And then whenever I started getting into fitness, I started with CrossFit.

And my coach, her name's Danielle Dion. And I talk about her all the time, but she was shredded and jacked and she was a CrossFit athlete. And so she was kind of there and I knew that I would never be as big as her. You know, I just knew. So I was like, ah, she trains really hard and harder than I probably ever will. So let me just try to train a little bit and see what happens. Cause I'd like to get in the middle of where she is now. It might be a little bit bigger than her now that I think about it, but she might come and slap me in my face for saying that. But back then, were you a skinny fat trying to be a cardio bunny? Like a lot of girls fall into? Um, yeah, when I first, before I've gotten into a gym, I was running. I did a half marathon with

my mom actually. And you know, in college I ran cross country and in high school I ran cross country. I was under the assumption that that's how you got skinny or lost weight was just with running. So it wasn't until I stepped into a gym and tried CrossFit that I was like, oh, that's how you actually can control how your body looks. Did you, uh, like run and not eat that kind of stuff? Yeah, it never got to be too bad. It was probably more like I ate less than what I should have, but I didn't know anything about nutrition. I didn't know anything about macros. I remember when I was running, telling someone else that there was fat in a banana. I was just an idiot, right? I didn't know. I was like, no bananas have fat in them, you know? So I was just an idiot. Hey, some fruit has fat in it, like olives and avocados. So,

you know, I wasn't too far from the truth. You know, how does your diet actually look like now? Because I saw a recent video where you were mentioning how like you got lean without really feeling like you were dieting. So what did that transition look like for you? Because obviously I'm guessing when you're doing like the bikini shows and stuff, that was pretty rough. But now you've been able to achieve a great physique and you don't feel like you're dying. Right. I, I did do bikini and I died really hard for that. And counting macros was big for me and understanding how to balance those. Um, but the, that wasn't sustainable. So after that, you know, I had the traditional,

you know, dumb journey of someone who's like, yeah, I'm going to bodybuild, doesn't know what she's doing and rebounding from that. So after that rebound, it did take me a while to kind of get a hold on what I was doing. And I think just, I mean, that was like four or five years ago now. So I probably have, I mean, I wish I would have done a body fat analyzation at that time, but I probably have a good 10 pounds of lean body mass added to my body, you know, along with just more awareness of how to control it. So now I do, you know, I'm on a diet and it's called reeling it in. do, you know, I'm on a diet and it's called reeling it in. So I just reel things in after coming off of a couple of weeks of traveling and eating like shit, you just reel it in and try to

clean things up where you can and make, you just grab the lowest hanging fruit whenever you sort of have that awareness. Now, unfortunately it takes some time to get there. And, you know, I think what I've learned is that people can definitely do that without, you know, spending five years in the gym. You know, you can kind of grab those lowest hanging fruit and try to figure things out and make it work for your lifestyle. But I wouldn't be able to do that without the muscle mass that I have and that took six years to build so yeah I think it just gets so much easier whenever you finally get jagged and now usually I'm bulking around this time because I'm I usually compete every year and one power lifting meet a year but I'm not doing that anymore so but I'm not doing that anymore. So, or I'm not doing that this year. Let me clarify, uh, this year I'm taking off. So I'm not currently bulking in the summer,

which is kind of nice. So I'm going to lean into my sort of homeostasis that I'm feeling right now. Yeah. What, what do you see as like, cause you were competing every single year and you did mention like in the longterm by 40, you don't, you don't necessarily see yourself doing as much work as you are now, like a job. So with the impact that you've managed to have within the, I guess the powerlifting community, I saw in a Washington post article, they mentioned like back in 15, it was four or 14. It was like four to one in terms of men and women in powerlifting. And now it's two to one. And honestly, I think you have a big role in that. So what do you see your impact being or what do you want your impact to be five and 10 years from now? So I sort of redefined my mission. It was always along

these lines. But I think when I first started, I was really obsessed with powerlifting personally. And the goal was always to get more people in the sport. And I think now that's been redefined to be like, I want to get more barbells in the hands of women. Because although I love the sport of powerlifting and it'll always be in my life, even after I'm done with YouTube and Instagram and like posting my butt selfies, I'll probably still power lift and I'll probably compete in one way or the other. But I think there are plenty of people who just have no interest in competing in a meet

or, you know, just don't feel like it. I think those people should still get strong and I want to get them interested in the squat bench and deadlift, which, you know, some people just refer to powerlifting as training in those three. I personally refer to powerlifting in competing in those three. Um, so now it's just about trying to get the general population interested in just lifting, getting strong. Yeah. I think that, um, you know, when I started powerlifting, when I was young, um, it was, it was a newer thing to

have a bench only. And, um, it was like, it was like sacrilegious people were like, what's going on? You can't have people come in and just bench. And so before that time you had to squat, you had to deadlift. And a lot of guys, uh, would kind of just take like to squat you had to deadlift and a lot of guys uh would kind of just take like a minimal squat minimal deadlift and they would just do the meet and they'd have a total but then they they brought in bench only and bench only was a uh an invitation to bring in more lifters because there were a lot of a lot of guys and a lot of girls that were just strong in their upper body and you know maybe they hurt their knee or that we've heard all the excuses on why people don't squat and deadlift and stuff like that but i think that that's a good message

that we need to be as inviting as possible so i like what you're saying and it's like let's figure out how to help somebody whether we help them with diet or whether we tell them to go for a walk or whether we tell them to uh you know go to a gym try find a trainer go to a cross a walk or whether we tell them to, you know, go to a gym, find a trainer, go to a CrossFit gym or, you know, go to a gym and just try a bunch of different machines. They're sort of idiot proof, you know, wherever you kind of tell someone to start, but you just invite them into the gym. And I always think that training and fitness should be like a religion where, you know, like you invite somebody into church and you're like, no, no, man, I'm telling you, it's cool. Like, we're not going to like,

hold you down and like, make you come the next time. But you know, full well that that's exactly what's going to happen. And, and hopefully you bring someone in, you're super inviting, dude, it's not going to be that hard. And we all know eventually it has to get hard. Eventually there has to be some resistance for you to get the results you're really looking for, you know, but I think that we should all be more inviting. We should all try to get more barbells in people's hands, as you said. Yeah. And that's always been the goal. That's why I'm trying to, you know, right now I'm making a lot of videos that I think for intermediate or advanced power lifters, they might seem obvious, but for a lot of people that I think for intermediate or advanced powerlifters, they might seem obvious, but for a lot of people who run my programs, that's exactly what they need to hear. And they

need to see in a very simple video, uh, with an X on it, what they're doing wrong and like a really just basic communication of what they can do to make it right. So yeah, I've been doing more videos like that and trying to just fuck around and explore what professional athletes or movie stars are doing to get strong and researching what their trainers are having them do, um, to get people who want to watch the next Marvel movie and want to, you know, they like someone's body on it. I want to show them like, this is, they're lifting, you know, they like someone's body on it. I want to show them like this is, they're lifting, you know, it's not just because Brie Larson might be, you know, sort of a more thin, lean actress. She's out there lifting heavy stuff. She's pushing her Range Rover up the hill, you know, she's doing all kinds of crazy stuff. So it's cool to, to try to explore things like

that, to try to get the general population interested in understanding what those people are doing to get look better. Yeah. There's a lot of people flipping tires and, uh, you know, using sledgehammers and doing some strong man training and all different kinds of stuff like that. What does your training look like right now? Right now I am focused on the squat bench and deadlift and just trying to get stronger in those. I took a little bit of time after powerlifting nationals in October. I just had some like owies, like my shoulder wasn't feeling great and my knees weren't feeling great. And I don't think it was anything serious going on. I just needed a little bit of a

break. So I took a vacation and like trained biceps forever and, you know, just had some fun in the gym. And then I came back and just started, you know, doing my same old training. So I just focus everything around getting stronger in squat, bench and and deadlift. Some adjustments because I'm not training for powerlifting competition. Some conventional deadlifting, which makes the internet happier. And I'm doing more high bar squats and just having more fun with training. Right now, I'm focused on a little bit of a pull-up challenge. I'd like to get my pull-ups together and get a bigger set there. I saw some massive failure going on with that pull-up challenge. I'd like to get my pull-ups together and get a bigger set there. I saw some massive failure

going on with that pull-up challenge. Yeah. Well, my max set... You fell apart in one of the videos I watched. Yeah. Reset 12? Yeah, my max set is 12. It's

almost 13. I'm like almost at the 13th rep, but I wouldn't dare count that like 80% of a rep. So yeah, I'm trying to get to a 15 rep set. I think that's a great goal for me. So yeah, I mean, that's also stuff where it's like in powerlifting season, I'm never focused on really trying to push my pull-ups hard. So this is

giving me an opportunity to, to do that and try to, you know, look better and feel healthier. I've been doing yoga too, like recently. I'm glad that you didn't say, cause like a lot of times when I run into people that are like building a business or in your case, building businesses, a lot of times I hear people say, Oh, you know, I took time off to focus on my business and they're, they're getting out of shape and they're, they're kind of, they're not in the gym. And so I commend you on that. That's awesome. I think that's the way to do it is there's no reason for you to get too far

away from, uh, kind of who you really are. You love, you said you love power lifting. You said that you'll probably do it, after YouTube and after you're done doing stuff on Instagram and stuff like that. And so I think that's really important. I think people get away from it. And I've heard actually some of the best fitness coaches in the world and some of the best nutritionists in the world kind of say those things.

And I always thought that's not right. That's not the right way to handle it. And you as a professional should be ashamed of that, in my opinion, because you should be leaning into the resistance harder than ever. Yeah. I mean, it's an easy thing to do and say, I think we are so obsessed. I have to catch myself from saying it too much. Like, Oh, I'm so busy. Like I'm so stressed and busy. No, you ain't the rock, right? You ain't the president, right? Exactly. Exactly. And you know, I think I'm truly blessed to be able to have the job that I have, but there's no denying that if I'm not make squats, then that job is probably going to be over. So I do need to keep that up. If you think about it on the business side, but also I feel like shit and I'm not

productive if I'm not training. I just do. And I've definitely had my moments. And after, after nationals, you know, I took a solid vacation. I didn't see the inside of a gym for two weeks. And then whenever, you know, I got more settled down, I could focus and just have some fun. But also, like, I've been forcing myself to go to yoga because I don't wake up early enough. So I'm like, okay, let me set the alarm. And these yoga fuckers are going to be real sad if I don't show up at this yoga class. So it's like a way to keep myself more accountable. Being in LA, you have a garage gym, right? Yeah, I do. So why? You have a lot of great gyms by you. Why'd you choose to do the garage thing?

I think it was something that we always wanted to do. And yeah, there are a lot of great gyms, but it's, see, you guys are lucky you get to have your gym and having cameras around is no big deal and you own the place. trying to record a video and someone's in the background and you know I've got I'm bothering people trying to get their workout in and you know I don't want to do that I do this because I want people to enjoy being in the gym and I don't want to be a burden for anyone else um and it's great to just like open my garage and it's like time to get to work. And I just trained with, so the partners of Strong Strong Supply, we are the three members of my garage gym. So I get to train with, you know, my business partners and my best friends and have people over and we'll like eat after. So it's great. Yeah, I could train. Like I've gone to Barbell Brigade. There's a gym that's really close to me. That's amazing. Different breed. And of course, Gold's is right here. But, you know, Gold's is so crazy and busy. And it's hard to do the kind of videos that I do now

in places like that because it is more, well, the production quality is a little bit higher, so it sounds a little bit better. So, you know places like that you just can't control everything so this is a place where i can control what i'm doing and you know get sort of like just go to work and not have you know any outsourced outside forces sort of getting in the way of what i need to do how are you able to land uh some of these big sponsorships like getting with Special K? I don't remember seeing any other power lifter with a big company like that. So how did that work out? Yeah, Special K was like definitely a moment for me and in my career. for me and in my career. Um, that brand deal was a result of a program that I was invited to do with YouTube. So YouTube was looking to create a cohort of, uh, female creators on the platform.

And if I was there, I showed up and I was like, I can't believe I'm among these other 11 women. They were Iskra Lawrence, who's a famous supermodel was in the group. Another woman, Akilah Hughes, who's a comedian and she's been in a ton of like amazing productions. She's been in a ton of like amazing productions. Joanna Houseman, she's hilarious. And she's also a comedian. She's in Bill Nye series on Netflix. You know, I was like with real famous people for a little while there.

And I did the cohort with them the entire time. I'll be honest with you. I felt like in way over my head, these people actually have been on movie sets. They know how to do this. They know what they're doing. I'm like way behind everyone. And the point of that program was to get us together weekly.

And we would be creating something to pitch to a brand. So the idea was YouTube mentored us to get us ready to pitch to big brands like that. And I didn't even pitch to Kellogg's, but Kellogg's was looking for athletes to sponsor for a campaign that they had. And I ended up sending them my presentation. And they liked the presentation, but didn't buy the project that I was selling. So they took me on for this campaign that they had with Sean Johnson, who's an Olympic gym or a gymnast. And I think she's an Olympic gold medalist several times over. Um, and another

creator and we did a commercial, I did a commercial, a special K, which was crazy. And, uh, yeah, I mean, it was such a cool thing to be a part of. And I got to deadlift in a video that like was on the front page of YouTube. Like when you open youtube.com, it was me, my face, and I was deadlifting in it, which was awesome. Don't tell anybody that they were fake plates, but I was deadlifting them, you know, and that was so cool. I know I was sumo deadlifting. So cheater people out there, you got your, your moment in the spotlight. Quite literally think that that was the first time that I've seen powerlifting and something that was like on the mainstream, which is kind of crazy. Like you're the first person I think to do that. Right. In that sense.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Maybe in a cereal commercial kind of way. Yeah. But don't forget, I've been in a fucking movie. That's true.

Okay. I'm sorry. Don't fire me for that. Yeah. It was, you know, just on a big screen across the nation. Not a big deal,

but it was before Instagram and for YouTube and all that stuff. Well, not, maybe not before YouTube, but before Instagram. Before Instagram. Anyway. No, that's points on the scoreboard for all of us, though. And I think people make the mistake of they get jealous, you know, and they see that and like, how do I do that?

And here they are trying to call Kellogg's or trying to message them or whatever. Right. And so but it's it's a mistake to kind of think that way. It's points up on the scoreboard for all of powerlifting. It will help all of us. It will raise all the ships. Yeah. I mean, I, I definitely benefited from it. I mean, I got paid a lot of money to do that, which is amazing. And of course that, you know, that money doesn't just go straight to my pocket that goes to help me create more stuff and make better products that I can make cheaper or whatever so I definitely benefited more than anyone did um but yeah I think the goal for me and I was really proud to see the final

commercial and you know you've got me a USAPL powerlifter next to an Olympic gymnast who has won tons of gold medal like has won so many awards and was at in her prime was really famous so you know that was really cool um I remember there was a there was a couple girls who were powerlifters and they were like making fun of me and someone had sent me a screenshot of it or something. And I was like, who are these girls? You know, let me go check them out. And, you know, I was like, oh, okay. They're kind of strong. They like, they probably know what they're talking about, but they were just saying like, oh, you know, this cereal sucks or whatever stupid stuff. And, uh, and then like, they were

making fun of me cause I was getting paid for it. Right. So I was making money for doing this commercial, which I think is a lot of, I think that's the big qualm for people who, you know, they don't like to see sponsored stuff, but then like three weeks later, the same girl, she created a GoFundMe to go to her powerlifting meet. Oh my God. So I was like, oh man, you just proved and showed me so many things. Like it's not fair for me to earn this money, but it's okay for you to ask for it from other people. So yeah, that was like, I thought about donating for the rest of her trip that she needed, but I was like, nah, I don't want to do that. I don't want to take it

away from her completely. Yeah. People are so weird with stuff like that. Like, um, you know, Kellogg's they, you know, commission you to do this thing. And, um, like, what are you supposed to do? Turn down the money? Like, hey, we're going to do this really cool commercial and we're going to put you on the front page of YouTube. And guess what? You also get paid a lot of money for like being part of this whole thing. You're going to be like, no, no, I'm cool

because I don't want to be like a sellout. I want Instagram to find out. No one would turn it down. You break. Yeah. I mean, anybody who had the opportunity would and were in my position, they would see all the good things about it. And I mean, I think over the time, because I do, I don't want to say

a lot, but I definitely do sponsored videos to try and offset a lot of the things that I invest in creating them. So I figured out ways to make it more appropriate. I don't want to say appropriate, found ways to make it less annoying for people. Cause I think I've definitely done videos where people were like, ah, this is an ad, you know, and they get upset, but I figured out ways to make it more clear that I'm getting paid to do something and, you know, figured out ways to make it less annoying. I think, uh, I think nowadays, you know, there's, there is more commercial activity now. So if it's, if it's a direct commercial, I've recognized that, uh, people are kind of, uh, less like insulted by it or less annoyed with it versus like, you know, this is this

cereal is how I got my body. Then they're like, come on, like you just you know, you're just kind of advertising that because you're obligated to. Right. So I think there's there's some definitely some ways to play with it. And then obviously you add humor into the mix and you can kind of get away with anything. So if you have fun with it and you can kind of get away with it. Right. Yeah. I agree. Do you think you're going to be, or like ever do

anything else athletically other than powerlifting? Do you think you might ever step back and try out some CrossFit? Cause you're already doing a bunch of different types of stuff in terms of fitness on your channel, but do you think you'll compete in anything in the future or anything else I'll say? Um, yeah, I'm not, I'm not opposed to the idea. I think this, uh, this year for me, I am investing more time to my education as a trainer and a coach. So I don't think anything in the close future, but I'm definitely open to doing things. Uh, when I first got started, I did CrossFit, I did a strongman show, you know, I did strongman kind of like side shows and events at other meets. Um, and I've done weightlifting as well.

Weightlifting, I feel like is so hard on your body. Uh, and it's completely infuriating. So I don't know if that'd be the first thing I'd turn to, but I'm definitely open to, you know, I'll never say never. Um, yeah. And I mean, I feel like new stuff is coming up all the time and people are creating weird, fun, crazy ways to get involved in competition. So who knows by the time I'm in the master's division, which honestly isn't that far away. Um, who knows what will be here? So yeah, I never say never. What are you doing in terms of like your, your education that you said you're, you're focusing on? What are you, uh, what are you going towards right now? So I'm currently studying for the precision nutrition certification. Oh, cool. So, um um that's john berardi right

john exactly yeah cool and i met dr john berardi and i had no fucking clue who he was and i was you know i was at some some sort of like fitness conference that my friend was speaking at and this is like maybe three years ago now and i'm just talking to this really nice canadian guy and he's asking me about my business i'm like so what do you do and then you know he well he tells me and he's he's such a nice guy i doubt he would remember me um he tells me everything he's like yeah i own a business you know we're up in canada doing all this um, and then like two days later, he's, he's the headliner speaking at the conference. I'm like, Oh, okay, cool. And you know, I'd never been too interested in doing nutrition coaching, but I think it's been, even if I don't, I don't think I'll, I'll coach one-on-one

that much, but for my channel and you know, if I'm going to ever talk about what I'm eating, even for pre-workout and post-workout nutrition, I think it is the more responsible thing for me to do. Um, and I, I like learning and, um, yeah, so I'm studying for that right now, about halfway through. So I think out of like 70, 70 questions, like assessment questions, I've gotten two wrong so far. So I'm on my way to passing. Um, so yeah, I'm working on that currently. And then I am interested in eventually getting my CSCS, which is a huge undertaking, um, that I'm a little bit nervous for. So I'm going to get the precision first and I'll be attending the NSCA conference this year. It's in Washington, DC. And I think that'll be a good,

a good way to open myself up to a lot of expert trainers. I feel like there's a little bit of a disconnect between your expert trainer and your Instagram social media trainer. And not that I think I'm going to ever close that gap, but I've been personally trying to figure out, you know, like who's, you know, who should I be following that really knows their stuff? Not just who's, who should I be following that has an awesome body and inspires me to, you know, do new stuff. I've always been like a huge fan of Paul Carter. I love that guy. I think he's so amazing. And, you know, I've always been interested in people like him. So, so yeah, I'm just stoked to learn more and kind of dive into the education side of it.

As I move forward with coaching and, you know, continuing to talk about the more technical side of what we're doing. Oh man, this is going to taint everything, you know, about everybody. Once you start, like you mentioned the gaps between like a kind of somebody that's supporting people and helping people on Instagram, uh, versus like a, you know, someone who's training people inside of a gym. Once you see what strength conditioning coaches can do, like especially real ones, it's unbelievable. There's some really, really awesome, like the amount of stuff that they know and then the different categories that each one kind of specializes in. It just, it's just

off the charts. It's really remarkable. There's some really great people. I can direct you towards a few that I have a lot of respect for. Coach House is one of them, our guy out and he coaches the Carolina Panthers and he's been with them for like the last, I don't know, like 10, 15 years or something like that. So, you know, if you can keep a job in the NFL for a decade, you know, you're doing something right. You know, there's some really, really awesome people out there. Yeah. And I think, you know, I might not be training professional athletes on that. I definitely won't be doing that. Let's be clear. But when I make these videos, like train like a pro, or I'm trying the NFL combine with Jen Thompson and she's doing the 225 bench press to have that perspective or at least the network of people

to make that video better and more interesting and always coming back to strength and conditioning I think you know investing my education now will just further all of the things that I've already been doing uh not that I need to do that I'm, I could just fuck around and train in the gym and people would watch it. But I think, you know, I do have, this is just really where my personal interest has been taking me. So yeah, I'm excited to, I mean, obviously I have a personal training certification and I'm certified by the USAPL as a club coach now. But I think, you know, investing more will just make things better and more interesting. I think it'll make the products that I create better too. And just to be able to relate with a wider, you know, variety of athletes.

How did the idea come about to start your own brand? You know, and Seema kind of mentioned, like, did you see a kind of a earlier, did you see kind of a hole in the marketplace? Or was it something specific that you, you know, kind of came across just in your own training? Maybe you had a certain type of pain or something like that and you wanted to solve maybe your own owies, so to speak? maybe your own alleys, so to speak? Um, so Strong Shrunk Supply started with one product and I guess that's kind of similar to the origin story of Slingshot. So, I mean, not quite, cause I don't think we've sold as many, at least not now, but, um, there was a, we'll get there. We'll try to, we'll try to catch up one day. But, um, we started with a knee rack that, uh, was mostly worn by weightlifters and they, it was a brand before called kilos, not pounds. So if there's any weightlifters watching this,

they've probably heard of that company and it was owned by a friend of ours, a friend that we work with too now. And he was ready to kind of move on. And so we acquired that one product from him and started to sell it and rebrand. And, you know, the weightlifters went crazy because we were able to fix a lot of the production holdups that the company was experiencing. They couldn't sell them or create them quick enough. We were able to invest a little bit more and fix some of those problems. A good problem to have, obviously. From my perspective, I'm like, why do these weightlifters love this so much?

These elite athletes who are at the very, very top of their level, there must be a reason. So I started training in them in my off season when I had higher volume training. And I was like, yeah, this is pretty sick. I can control the pressure of what, you know, how much I want to wrap on certain parts of my knee. It's not just one sleeve, you know, I mean, it's not quite a powerlifting wrap. Um, it's definitely a lighter duty than, you know, an equipped powerlifting wrap, but, um, yeah, so I was training in them and powerlifting off season. And then I was like, dude, these are so easy. They don't stink. You can wash them in your,

you know, in the washer, like regular laundry, which you can't really do with sleeves. I'm like, this is the easiest thing for an average person to just keep in their gym bag. It doesn't take up any space. So we started marketing them more for the average gym goer, which I think helped a lot. And it's always about how can I create, we create products that the average gym goer can use, but also an elite athlete, um, who's trying to win, you know, medals at weightlifting nationals. How can they, you know, still get the most out of what they need? Uh, obviously there's a big overlap there. You know, people can use the same equipment. Um, so yeah, we started with just that one product and then have expanded and continue to develop more. Um, and that's just where it started and then have expanded and continue to develop more.

Um, and that's just where it started. I have two partners, um, Ryan and Eric, who, I mean, those guys make everything happen. Ryan does most of the product development and, um, I get to, I don't even know what I do for the company anymore, to be honest with you. That was going to be my next question is like how businessy is Meg Squats? Now you have a graphic design background though, right? Yeah. Yeah. So, um, and then how, how businessy were you in the beginning rather than like now? Cause now it sounds like you are, um, you're the brand and you're kind of indulging on things that you feel that will still help expand the brand, but maybe some of it's more indirect because like YouTube and things like that, they're not like, it's not a direct sales pitch. It's, and even your Instagram, all these things are kind of indirect. Then you got everybody else taking care of like the direct stuff. How businessy were you in the beginning?

Oh, I would have liked to tell you that I was like very, oh I would have liked to tell you that I was like very I guess you could say I'm business-minded am I good at business probably not to be honest and like I know other people who own businesses will tell you like they've got stuff figured out but I don't have shit figured out and if I didn't have those other two guys helping me every step of the way and kind of moving things along for that business, I wouldn't have even started. I wouldn't have even thought about starting. On the accounting side and taxes and all that boring stuff, I'm terrible at it. I don't particularly enjoy the production side of things and the manufacturing side of things that's that stuff is terrible that's such a pain in the ass that's why

Ryan does it so on my end I obviously bring the consumer to our products and yeah it is a lot of indirect marketing I definitely do a lot on the design side and I do push forward creative projects. But those guys run most of the business, like a huge part of the business. And I'm thankful for that because I don't want to do a lot of that shit. You know, I mean, I love to tell people that I'm this amazing, you know, business lady, but I don't know if I want to be, you know, I mean, I, I definitely am always interested in growth and figuring out what I can do to make things better for my consumer. And on the coaching end, I'm always concerned with how happy our clients are and if they're getting what they need. Um, but as far as like the, the backend of running a business, I'm not great. I'm not great. That's why I love, that's why I have partners. Um, and you know, I know it's, that's the hardest part is finding partners that you can trust. It's not easy. Um,

but I'm lucky. I know two, two of the smartest people that I've ever met in my life. Those are the guys running my business. You know, great way to do it. Yeah. Right now, like you mentioned that you really love the coaching aspect of things. And obviously it's such a big brand at this point. Do you, who is it yourself and, um, Ryan, or do you guys have more coaches that work with the athletes that you guys coach? It's myself and Ryan. Ryan's currently writing the current blocks of Stronger By The Day. We have like a team membership program and that's how we coach most of our athletes. And Ryan's writing that program right now. And he's like, you know, managing, uh, my fatigue. And so

if I'm too fatigued, then we know to bring things down for the next block of training. Um, so he's currently in charge of that. And then of course, like I'm, you know, helping write. And a lot of the times my, um, my position in the, on the coaching side is there for additional support and like emotional support um because we are dealing with lifters who are just getting started and so when you're just getting started you have a lot of uncertainty around the barbell and uncertainty about who you are just in general so it is a little bit of like life coaching i feel like we're doing sometimes which is great because i love stuff like i love to be the person that's there for someone else. So, um, we do have an assistant coach, Lizzie, who's, um, she's a power, amazing power

lifter and a bodybuilder as well. Um, Fresa Fuerte on Instagram, if you guys want to follow her. So she's their assistant coach and we're, you know, bring her on to do more as we continue to grow. You mentioned earlier in the podcast, your, your brand kind of representing like, you know, being friendly and being kind, you know, strong, strong. It's like a, you know, little play on words and, but you weren't always that way. Is that right? Like we had a, words and, but you weren't always that way. Is that right? Like, uh, we had a, when we did the last podcast, uh, you kind of pointed out that you maybe had a lot of anger when you were younger and you got into some scuffles and stuff like that. Can you talk about that a little bit? Yeah. Um, yeah, I mean, I was just an idiot, right? I was just a dumb kid for most of my life.

And now I kind of, I don't want to say I had a rough childhood because my mom was always there for me and really supportive, but you know, we had some domestic violence issues when I was growing up. I was always around violence and drugs as well. So I don't think I ever really understood the right way to deal with your problems or the right way to deal with conflict. And, you know, I struggle with it even to this day, you know, I have, I have a terrible memory. I can't remember anything. And I, I, that's not diagnosed. This is my excuse for having a bad memory, but I do blame that on, you know, some traumatic is drastic, but I guess we could call them traumatic moments when I was younger and when I was a kid. And, um, yeah, I mean, that followed me through college and in

college I got kicked out of my dorms in college. Thank God I didn't get kicked out of school because I was in a domestic violence dispute with my partner at the time. And yeah, I mean, that, that sucked because I continued to pay for like my fee for the dorms. And then I had to pay on rent on top of that. And I grew up really poor. Like I didn't have much money at that time. So, you know, I was just a huge bitch and I didn't know how to deal with my anger and had a lot of it. And I didn't have much of an outlet and I didn't understand how to express myself. So, you know, I don't know. I can't say really that was like solved by lifting or anything. I can't say really that was like solved by lifting or anything.

But lifting and understanding community in the gym definitely helped. I think when I was in the podcast, I talked about I got jumped one time. And I got my ass kicked bad because I was talking shit to these three big bitches. I wasn't listening at the time, but I wish I would have been because I would have. But yeah, I got my ass kicked. And that was a moment for me where I was like, dude, I can't keep doing this. Like, I just can't keep being whoever I am right now. And it's not like that was a complete turning point for me. Cause I remember like a year or so after that,

I was like threatening people and just always doing crazy shit. Like I was always just doing crazy shit and you know, it's terrible, but I think I matured just as a person and also understood that you can't get away with that shit when you're, you know, under the age or over the age of 18. So, yeah, I, you know, it took a while for me to finally control things. And I'll be honest with you, I had like a Hulk freak out moment like three months ago, like a real episode. And yeah, that was, it's not like I'm hitting anyone, but I was like yelling at my business partners that I told you they're the smartest people. So they're probably like, this girl's lost her mind, you know? And I was just, you know, I just don't know how to control that sometimes. And so that I've, I've gotten back on

meditating and it's a constant battle for me in my life, but, but yeah, I try my best though. I'm not a perfect person. Um, but I do try my best and I do think that when I found lifting really at a time when I needed to, and I'm sure there's so many people who are in that same kind of place where they don't really understand what they're doing they might have a lot of emotion or aggression and the gym is a great place to let that out and to find a community of people who are maybe in the same spot um so however welcoming I can be to let those people know that this place is still here for you even though it might not seem that way sometimes.

That's always been the mission to try and get people. You know, you mentioned that you got back onto meditating. And I think when a lot of people look at people like yourself, Mark, high performers with multiple businesses, they really want to understand, like, what are the habits that you have that maybe help you out with your moods or with, with productivity, et cetera. So are there things that you continuously do or like skills that you've developed that's allowed you to produce that at the level that you do now? Um, yeah, there's, you know, right now I'm looking at my desktop and I've got like eight

sticky notes of shit I need to do today. So I'm always trying to meet and evaluate and meet with my team to figure out what the biggest priority is. I think I've gotten in places where that style of, you know, having all these sticky notes definitely comes to a point where it's not productive anymore. So reprioritization of tasks is definitely important for me because obviously I can't, I can't do all of those things in one day or even in a week sometimes. So always figuring out, okay, what's the one thing that I need to do and trying to really find out what's going to move me forward is one of the best things I can do for myself.

Because I think as a business owner, you're never going to get on top of things. It's just impossible. You'll never have everything figured out and done. So always reprioritizing and finding the most important thing is key. Um, meditation is something that I do so that I don't get too stressed out about that to-do list. And, and also to control like my thoughts, um, which yeah, right now I've, I'm like, I think I'm like 60 days almost in of meditating every day. I go through waves of it, but I had a really rough time in October after nationals, like really rough.

But that's when I started, I knew, I was like, I've got to change something about my life. So I started meditating again and I was on a good kick. So, yeah, those two habits are probably most important, just meditating and trying to be the, I guess, like pilot of my own thoughts is, is key to, to making sure that you also understand what is the most important thing for you to do. Why did you have a rough time after nationals? do. Why did you have a rough time after nationals? I think it was a culmination of a few things. I was struggling with some personal issues. Like I had a few conflicts with people that I was working with. I don't work with them anymore, thankfully, but I was working with kind of working with a few people. And yeah, just two

relationships sort of not sort of ended abruptly for me. And it was really confusing. And I was like, what the hell is going on? And those are people that I had considered to be close friends too. So yeah, I mean, they just ended. I think that happens. But for me, I wasn't really ready. And I didn't know how to deal with those happening. And that's like one of the ugly sides of doing business and doing business in the fitness industry is you get to work with people that you really admire. And you get to work with people that you really admire and you get to work with people who you uh are your same age and they're cool and they're doing cool shit and so whenever you have a conflict if you can't resolve it it becomes really hard because you kind of look at these people as your friends um it wasn't like famous social media people. So the speculation doesn't

have to start if anybody's trying to do that. But yeah, so two relationships had ended, you know, after nationals, I was like, you know, dealing with some, some, you know, my shoulder was hurting, my knee was hurting. And I just was like, tired. So yeah, I know I was struggling. I was feeling like some, I wasn't feeling like I was really being myself online. So I took a little bit of break from social media too. And yeah, I just shut everything off. I mean, I didn't open Instagram for like two or three weeks, which might not sound too crazy. But for me, I was like, Oh, this is like,

this is a big thing that I'm doing right here, which is so funny when I look back on it, all of those problems are so small now in the grand scheme of things. But at the time I didn't like see that, that light at the end of the tunnel at all. You think that's important to do that? Sometimes they step away from social media for most people, especially people with a large following. Oh yeah. I'm addicted to scrolling Instagram for no reason at all. I'm not even looking at Oh yeah. I'm addicted to scrolling Instagram for no reason at all. I'm not even looking at anything interesting. I'm just scrolling for no reason. So now I have, I have on my iPhone, I will lock Instagram after a while. So it will just be locked and I don't

have the passcode to, and Ryan has a passcode. And so if I want like another 15 minutes to post something, I have to go to him and ask like, can you please unlock my phone for me? You know, it's kind of embarrassing, but it's good because that stops me from just being in an unending cycle of consuming other people's thoughts and ideas. And I think a bad habit to have is to do that first thing in the morning because then you're only hearing other people's thoughts and ideas. And I think a bad habit to have is to do that first thing

in the morning, because then you're only hearing other people's thoughts and ideas. And, you know, first thing, the first thing you're hearing is like, what's going on with someone else's life and not kind of realizing that you have your own shit going on too. So, so yeah, I've got a lock on there. So I can't, I can't exceed one hour there. Uh, so I can't, I can't exceed one hour a day, which is still a lot, you know, but that hour goes by quick, man. Um, how has your relationship with Ryan, you know, growing up in that abusive household and then, you know, now you have a boyfriend, you guys have been serious for a long time. Does that childhood, does that ever rear its ugly head just in your relationship? Yeah, not so much. I am, I lucked out having him as a partner. I think in every other relationship

I've been in, it definitely negatively affected it, but also I've never really been with someone as calm and understanding. And I don't think he has, uh, too much of a negative past to contribute to, you know, my own fire. So he, he will never poke the bear. If I'm having like, I'm being, if I'm being a bitch, he'll, it's like, well, he's a saint, you know, like, even if I'm a little crabby, he'll, you know, he doesn't, he doesn't, yeah, he doesn't antagonize me, which I've, I've done that to other people. And I've been in other situations where, you know, people will poke the bear. Um, and I understand, I understand that, but unfortunately it's not very effective to kind of get your point across or to get to

common ground so I'm really lucky that he chooses to deal with my shit which is great but yeah we've always had I've never been in a relationship where I didn't fight with someone constantly you know and I don't

know what, it must be because he's Canadian or something. I don't know how, uh, we just don't really have that many conflicts and we definitely have our moments, but we just have never really gotten like a huge blowout fight or anything, you know really been too too pissed at each other which is amazing i think we just get along really well and like i said he's really smart which i think helps because i'm kind of dumb to be honest um but yeah i mean he's great and it's been he's been with me since you know since I first made the change to be Meg Squats, right?

When I first changed my Instagram, he was like the first person to be like, you're Meg Squats, aren't you? I've seen your page, your Instagram page on the, on the gym's geotag. I have like a thousand followers or something, you know, like I didn't have anything. And he is great for always taking a step back whenever I want to talk shit to someone on the internet he'll always like talk me down and he just he is so smart and amazing because he works really hard too so it's just a good match does he uh like ask you what's wrong or does he just completely let you kind of be because that's kind of confusing for us guys we're not sure what we're supposed to do

oh yeah good question i think um i think he is one of the only people that can like really soothe me so and it's not like i'm having in the middle of a freak out and i'm freaking out on him or anything all the time um but i think he can kind of like, okay, what's going on? Like, how can we reprioritize if ever I'm stressed? He's kind of the first person to say like, okay, what's the most important thing that we can do? And a lot of times any conflict that we have will be overworked. So yeah, I think it depends. I wish I had an answer for how to deal with your, I wish I had an answer for how to deal with the wifey at home for everyone, but I think it's just trying to not antagonize someone.

If you're ever dealing with someone who maybe has a little bit of an anger problem, I don't want to say problem, but is not in the best mood, I think it's maybe best to, you know, try and diffuse as much as possible and not add any fuel to that fire. You know, I'm curious, cause you mentioned that, like, you know, it's timer on your, uh, on your IG, it's not use it as much. And you can, you have obviously a big following on YouTube and a big following on IG. But I think, uh, recently there's been a lot of like articles and research coming out and how like, you know, that constant consumption of things on social has been causing people to have like depression, anxiety, all these different things. And obviously you're in the public eye so much. When did you make that transition to be like, I'm going to I need to back off a little bit, but you continue to make content literally every single day and every single week.

How do you balance that? Yeah, I mean, like I had a full on identity crisis after, you know, I was kind of losing out on some of my friends. And I think part of that was because they didn't see me as who I was. I think they saw me as Meg Squats. Like this is Meg. I work with Meg Squats. Not I work with Megan Gallagher. It's like human being over here. They were just like,

I work with this Instagram girl. Right. Um, so I was like, who the fuck am I? You know? And I think when you're always, um, focused on what you're posting and the image that you're constructing online, cause we all do it. I mean, even as real as we try to be, we all are still constructing an image. I think when you're solely concerned with that, that becomes really hard to understand exactly who you are. And I think more and more influencers are dealing with that kind of influencer identity crisis. And I see it all the time. I don't think anyone's like legitimately titling it that, but I think it really is a big problem. I sort of forget

your original question. I'm sorry. I talk in circles. When did you start making the transition to back off? And when, like, when did you really notice it was actually a problem? the transition to back off and when like when did you really notice it was actually a problem yeah um yeah so around that time whenever i was sort of like had this big conundrum about who i really am versus who i not pretend to be but who i project i am on the internet um i needed to take a little bit of a break and it was around that time in October. So, um, and also on a less serious, like existential note, when you're spending like an hour a day or two hours scrolling on Instagram, just lost in the mix. I mean, I've got other shit to do and that, that does become a daily problem when I'm wasting time that I don't have and also wasting time that I could be spending with my partner, with my friends.

That's like, that's not great. So I think it's, you know, a thing that I deal with daily. But I did have that big kind of blowout in October that sort of showed me I should start to define who I am outside of this and get back to that person before I like hop back on outside of like lifting and stuff. Is there anything else that you like to do that? Like nobody really knows about, like, do you go on random hikes? Do you, what, like, what else do you do? What the fuck else do I do? What the fuck else do I do? I don't know if there's too much time.

Hey, I'm watching The Walking Dead for the first time ever. Hell yeah. Holy shit. I had this thought today, and I don't want anyone to get mad at me, but I really think that show is better than Game of Thrones. People are getting upset. People are getting upset for sure. It's, it's such a great show. And I just, um, like the people who inspire me most are Michonne and Carol, you know, those are my heroes, man. They're just,

they're just so bad-ass. So, you know, I watch a little bit of TV when I can a little bit. Okay. I watch an episode of walking dead every day. Um um I'm trying to get through it and catch up but um yeah I definitely love watching like great shows like that and who doesn't but I like to read a little bit I like to read some fiction um but other than that I'm a pretty I'm a pretty boring person uh overall Yeah. You know, it's, it's interesting cause it's called an influencer, Instagram influencer, but ultimately we all get influenced by the people that we're trying to influence because they end up kind of dictating and they end up kind of writing your script for you. Part of the stuff that I've created here at Slingshot originally,

and I don't do this anymore because it drives the entire team crazy, but I used to not involve anybody in a lot of the stuff that I was doing, whether it was creating a product or maybe even bringing someone on the podcast, I would leave it until kind of the end. And then I would say, Hey, this is what we're doing. And the reason was, I didn't want any outside influence. I didn't, I didn't give a fuck. I didn't want your opinion. I didn't want your opinion to like mess with where I was heading. You know, I wanted to just stay in my own lane. And it's hard to do that with Instagram. It's hard to just make a post and have it just go flat. It's hard to make a post and just not end up

looking at it, not end up looking at the comments and see, oh my God, it has 10 times less likes or, or has 10 times more likes, you know, when you post a certain picture a certain way. So then it kind of dictates, okay, you're this person and you're in this category. And therefore the fans that are following that, that's what they're looking for. That's what they want. So every time you give them that, they respond, they hit the little heart and you get, you get a like, or they might make a comment as well. But when you don't give them what they want, you don't get that. So it ends up kind of pushing you into this person that you, you start to get confused. Yeah. Who am I? What the hell's going on here? Yeah. And I think you've got to bring yourself always back to your mission.

And I think that's one of the things that you definitely inspired me to do is to have a clear mission on like a one-liner of what we're doing and why we're doing it um because if I if I followed that what people wanted to see which was my most liked pictures which are like honestly they're like cosplay so me dressing up like captain marvel or something silly like that or bikini pics so imagine the person that i'd be if i only followed that you know so i think it is key to have your sort of mission even if it's even if it's silly or even if you don't tell people exactly what it is um If you're starting to build something, then have that always at the forefront of what you're posting and why. That's really well said. That's kind of

reminds me of like Jujimufu. Like he doesn't, that guy doesn't share like personal information. He's not trying to inspire. He's not showing you how to deadlift or anything. He has a character, you know, he's flipping around and he's going crazy and he's wearing different outfits. And there's other people that do that kind of stuff on Instagram, but that's literally his job is to kind of be that way. And so I think more for yourself and more for me, it gets to be a little bit confusing because maybe we're not dressed up in a costume or maybe we're not playing, we're not trying to really play anything. Uh, we're just trying to be maybe a little more revved up version of our own selves just to give people a little bit more energy. Yeah. Yeah. I love Juju Mufru. I'm a big fan. He's awesome.

He's crazy. He did a split on this podcast table right here. Oh, okay. I got it. I got to go back and watch that one. He's out of his mind. Yeah. Where did that, cause I saw this on Facebook. he's out of his mind. Yeah. Where did that, uh, cause I, I saw this on Facebook. Uh, this is like old lady lifter. I don't know when that happened, but I was like, I was watching it and I, I think it was like two minutes and I realized, Oh shit, that's me. How did that happen? Um, so that was a project that we did with bodybuilding.com and I think that was still, yeah, that was while I was the spokesmodel of the year. So when I won the spokesmodel of the year, I got to go out to Boise and do a couple of fun projects with them. And I love their production team so much. They're just like the best team

ever. And that you got to see the highlights, but I was in that gym for like three hours trying to interact with people. And let me tell you, it was the most awkward thing of my life. Thankfully, my face was mostly covered, but it was so weird. Cause I couldn't tell if people like knew what I was doing or like really thought I was an old lady, but there was a couple of great reactions that made the cut. Um, and those are the people that like, I remember like we made eye contact and they totally like, they bought it and they were amazed that I was lifting so much and that was really satisfying. But yeah, I got to work with their team on that project.

And that's amazing. There's like, I think that's their second most viewed video on the bodybuilding.com channel. It's second to an Arnold Schwarzenegger video, which I'm fine with that being the case so so yeah that was an awesome project and that video just blew up yeah if anyone hasn't seen that you got to look that up because that shit had me cracking up it was great what's coming up next for you what do you got going on um what do I have going on? Um, sorry. I told you I was kind of stupid.

Traveling anywhere or anything like that or any events or anything like that? Yeah, I'm going, I'm planning to go to the, um, NSCA national conference. So that's in July in Washington, DC. And I know that'll be with a bunch of personal trainers and strength and conditioning professionals. So I'm really excited to just learn and kind of, it'll be my opportunity to fangirl like a true nerd on some like nerdy strength and conditioning coaches, hopefully. And yeah, I know we usually, other than that, I don't have much travel plans because I am so focused on trying to study and getting some stuff done. But yeah, that's it. And you just released Stronger By The Day.

How can people find out more about that? Yeah, Stronger By The Day, you can find it on strongstrongfriends.com. It's my weekly programming. So every Sunday we upload a fresh week of programming. And it's great for lifters of all kinds of levels. So I just say, if you're comfortable with the barbell, then you can run it, feel confident. Um, but yeah, it's been great. It's the same exact programming that I run. So if you ever see me on the gram lifting crazy shit, that's what I'm

doing. It's like eight bucks a month. So we tried to make it as cheap as possible. So as many people could run it as possible. And yeah, it's awesome. It's so much fun. All right. We need a pep talk here. So there's somebody listening to this right now. That's a Meg squats fan that maybe doesn't normally listen to this podcast. It's a girl, right? And they're down the dumps. They're not lifting. They're not, you know, maybe they have lifted before. Maybe they've gotten into it before, but they're, they're, they're just down the dumps and we need to get them back in the gym or it's somebody maybe even that hasn't even yet tried. They, they just don't have the courage to step foot in the gym. They keep kind of telling themselves they need to get in shape before they get in the gym. How do we get these people

motivated? How do we get them in the gym? How do we get a barbell in every woman's hands? All right. So every day you get to decide exactly who you want to be for this day and forget about all the shit, all the sessions that you missed or what you should have done when you're in high school or whatever, or where you are right now today, you can decide exactly who you want to be. So just get your shit together and put your shoes on and meet us in the gym and you can just train. And like, it's just one rep at a time. If you can only do one set, then that's enough for me. Just get in there and get started and do something. You're a new person. It's a new day. You got this.

I like the double barrels at the end yeah anything else to your head so you go yeah exactly anything else andrew no that's it just thank you again meg this was really cool yeah thank you guys so much for having me on and i know we're hoping to get up to norCal soon. Hell yeah. That'll be awesome. I can't wait for you to see this facility that we're in. It's pretty sweet. It looks huge.

We're building something special over here. Awesome. Good. Have a great day. Thank you so much. Thank you guys. Catch you later. See you. Bye. Cool. Yeah, that didn't suck.

Of course it wouldn't suck. It's Meg Swatts. She's awesome. The funny thing is though, when you talk to Meg, it's like, Meg knows a lot of shit. Meg is actually super smart. But it's so cool how I don't want to use the word humble.

What's like, just, she's just super real, you know, like she doesn't, uh, she doesn't try to act like somebody she's not. Right. Cause she's intelligent as hell, but you know, she, she just doesn't, she has that, that white belt mentality where she mentioned like, she's always trying to learn, you know, she always comes from this level of, I don't know, you know, show me something, let me learn something new. I think it's a highly intelligent thing to practice and to say, you know what, I'm not actually sure of that.

And I think what a lot of people do is they'll say, first of all, a lot of people, they claim they know the answer and they give you some bullshit answer and they don't really actually know what they're talking about. And then secondly, they are like, Oh, well I'll, I'll figure out how to like learn about that. And it's like, well, why don't you just ask somebody who did it already? You know, why not be humble enough, like, and be strong enough. And that's what she's done. She's kind of passed the buck onto some other people that are able to execute stuff that maybe it's just not her. It's not dumb to it. Uh, maybe she's never learned it or it's not her area of expertise, you know? And so I think that that's a great quality and a great

strength to say, you know what? I don't really know that much about that. I don't really know much about building a website. I got somebody else to do it for me. Yeah. Yeah. Cause in a, like, I remember not that long ago, there was a lot of people saying, Oh, just fake it till you make it. And I, that, that kind of poured out into like all over the place, you know? And so it's like real unhealthy to do that. So for her to be like that, it's awesome. And it just, I think the word you're looking for is just likeability. Like you can't, you can't like, how do you not love her? Like that was awesome. And even like you mentioned, you know, at the beginning, like when I was seeing, uh, when I started hearing about her, I started hearing about her on all of these other channels like it doesn't just take you know just going out and reaching out to

people it like it takes a lot of like you said courage to just go out and meet new people and work with new people and let them be the spotlight and not yourself you know what i mean which was it worked well for her in the long run but now it's just it's crazy how she was able to build from doing that and i like i like when people talk about their past you know it's not like everyone needs to talk about it all day every day but i think it's always important to really uh there she is lifting as an old lady i think it's important to bring it up all the to bring it up often so that other people can relate with it yeah the old lady banging out some big squats it didn't even look like her this this is crazy i think i there was something she

said in the video i was like that's that's me that's funny yeah because i was just going through the like the uh the instagram feed and i'm like what is this and but because you know we had her so i couldn't use the computer audio i was afraid if I hit play, it would be just blasting everywhere. Yeah. It's tight. Yeah, she was deadlifting four plates in front of some of these dudes, and people were super confused. People were just like, what?

Yeah. That's sick. Lifting all strong, dressed up like an old lady. But I think we need more people to kind of uncover their past a little bit to help people out there. Because people, they want to hold on to that. They want to hold on to it. And maybe they're just not sure of how to let go of it.

Or maybe it's something that happened to them so horrific that they can't. Which is, I think in some cases it's understandable. Because some horrific things have happened to people. But how do you manage it and become part of society and, uh, and be able to move forward? You know, how, how do you, how are you able to do that? And she, um, you know, mentioned some strategies that she has, you know, meditating, she found the right person. Sometimes shit,

sometimes finding the right person, you know, not everybody needs like therapy necessarily. Yeah. Um, sometimes just find the right person to make your whole life turn around can change everything for you definitely most definitely all right kids all right that was meg squats and catch you guys later strength is never weakness weakness never strength we out