Cheese Curds and Coffee
Cheese Curds & Coffee is a podcast for people with small-town roots and big-life dreams. Hosted by Katie—a Wisconsin girl turned entrepreneur—and her husband Allen, each episode is an experiment in growth, courage, and consistency. Together, they take on weekly life challenges designed to uncover limiting beliefs, improve habits, and chase down their next-level life—with a little laughter (and maybe some Midwest stubbornness) along the way.
Whether it’s waking up at 5am for a week, cutting screen time in half, or facing down long-held fears, each challenge is a chance to grow forward—and bring you with them. Because here, it’s not just about cheesy metaphors and good coffee. It’s about building a big life one bold step at a time.
We challenge each other so you can challenge yourself.
Cheese Curds and Coffee
S2E18: Stop Waiting. Start Building.
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What are you waiting for?
In this episode of Cheese Curds & Coffee, Katie and Allen talk about what it means to stop waiting and start building your life — before the plan is perfect, before you feel ready, and before you know exactly how everything will work.
This week, Katie hosted a Pride workout at CrossFit Mousetrap, and nearly 40 people showed up. Members, strangers, drop-ins, and friends came together for something bigger than a workout.
There were hugs. There were thank-yous. There were people who walked in and felt like they belonged.
At the same time, Allen was working on the new YouTube channel, relaunching the podcast, preparing for a speaking opportunity, and realizing that the dream does not get clearer by waiting. It gets clearer when you move.
This episode is about community, courage, marriage, leadership, starting before you feel ready, and building a life that feels meaningful now — not someday.
The new Cheese Curds & Coffee tagline is:
Enjoy the life you have. Build the life you want.
That line became the center of this conversation.
Because enjoying your life does not mean you stop growing. And building the life you want does not mean hating the life you already have.
Katie’s Pride workout reminded us that sometimes the life you are trying to build is already showing up in small ways. The workout was not just about fitness. It was about belonging. It was about people feeling seen. It was about creating a room where people could walk in, move their bodies, be themselves, and feel like they were part of something.
Allen’s week brought a different kind of realization. He was working through the new YouTube channel, thinking about the future of the podcast, preparing for a speaking opportunity, and feeling the tension of time. At 47, almost 48, there is still time — but not unlimited time. That thought did not feel sad. It felt motivating.
The question became simple:
What are we waiting for?
Waiting until we feel ready?
Waiting until the plan is perfect?
Waiting until the first version is polished?
Waiting until we are less afraid?
Waiting until someone gives us permission?
At some point, the dream does not need more waiting. It needs one visible step.
In this episode, we talk about:
- Why people wait to start building the life they want
- What Katie’s Pride workout revealed about community and belonging
- Why building something meaningful often looks ordinary while it is happening
- How coaching, programming, cleaning up, fixing things, and showing up all become part of building something real
- How Allen is thinking about time, purpose, and showing up consistently
- Why the first version does not have to be perfect
- Why the dream gets clearer when you move
- How to stop waiting and take one visible step
- What it means to enjoy the life you have while building the life you want
We also talk about the tension between gratitude and ambition.
If you only enjoy the life you have, you can drift.
If you only build the life you want, you can miss the life you already have.
The goal is both.
Enjoy the life you have.
Build the life you want.
For Katie and Allen, that means appreciating the gym community, the marriage, the workouts, the conversations, the ordinary moments, and the life already in front of them — while also building toward the next version: a stronger show, a bigger community, and a platform that helps people build better lives with more intention.
This episode is for anyone who has been waiting to start.
Waiting to post.
Waiting to speak.
Waiting to train.
Waiting to change.
Waiting to build.
Waiting to become the kind of person who finally does the thing.
You do not need the whole plan.
You need the next honest step.
This week’s challenge:
Write down one thing you want to enjoy more fully.
Write down one thing you want to build more intentionally.
Then take one visible step before you feel ready.
Because sometimes the life you want starts showing up in the life you already have.
#StopWaiting
#StartBuilding
#BuildTheLifeYouWant
#EnjoyTheLifeYouHave
#PersonalGrowth
#SelfImprovement
#IntentionalLiving
#MarriagePodcast
#FitnessPodcast
#CrossFitCommunity
#Community
#CheeseCurdsAndCoffee
🎙️ Thanks for listening to Cheese Curds & Coffee! If you enjoyed today’s episode, don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with a friend who could use a little inspiration.
✨ Connect with us on Instagram for behind-the-scenes content, tips, and community updates: @cheesecurdsandcoffee
💬 Join the conversation, share your wins, and let us know how you’re turning life’s mess into momentum—one challenge at a time.
Go.
SPEAKER_01Have you ever had one of those moments where you look around and realize this is bigger than you thought it was? I felt that this week. We had our annual Pride workout at the gym and more than 40 people showed up. Members, strangers, drop-ins, people who just wanted to be a part of something. And what stayed with me the most was not just the workout. It was the hugs. It was the people thanking me. It was the conversations after class. It was watching people walk in and feel like they belonged. I think sometimes we forget that building something meaningful does not always look big while you're doing it. Sometimes it looks like coaching the class, meeting a new coach for coffee, creating programs, getting the gym ready, and sometimes it looks like fixing the toilet. But then there are days when you step back and realize all those little things are building something, a community, a place where people feel seen. And that is what Ellen and I want to build online too. A place where people can build a great life without missing the life they already have. So today we are talking about what it means to stop waiting and start building. Because sometimes the life you want starts showing up in the life you already have. Why am I the star of the show? Why are we not a duo?
SPEAKER_00We are a duo, but I always thought that one person could be the star. One person's Batman, one person's Robin. Or one person's Batman, one person's Superman. Or one person's Wonder Woman.
SPEAKER_01I don't know.
SPEAKER_00Um welcome back. Uh the Cheese Curds of Coffee. If this is your first time, thank you for either listening to us on a podcast or watching us on YouTube. Uh, if you've noticed we've changed our setup again, we are testing, testing, testing, trying to figure out what the best situation is. So I've got my headphones on because I'm making sure that the audio is good to go. Uh and Katie, you don't have to be bothered with it. And we want to mess up that new haircut. So Cheese Curds and Coffee, where we talk about building health, wealth, happiness, building the life that you want. We have a new tagline that we want to introduce to you all in the course of this episode. But uh what we normally do is we start with uh a week in review, and in it, uh, there are lessons that I think uh younger Alan, younger Katie would have loved to have learned. And so maybe we can pass on some of that knowledge to you all listening. So, Katie, how was your week?
SPEAKER_01It was great. It was a busy week. Uh let's see. Started, oh my gosh, it's Saturday today. I'm trying to figure out where we started the week. I had um business things to do, scheduling, payroll, rent, payments, the essentials to make sure that the lights stay on, all that good stuff. But then I also had a coffee date with a person that we're we would like to invite to join the coaching team, um, looking at, you know, having an additional sub on our roster for when people need vacations, but also brainstorming ideas on building out some new programs. We'd love to be able to invite kids and have an actual structured program for kids, not just putting them in the regular CrossFit classes with their parents. And um, she's got some really exceptional uh training and background in things that would help us create and cultivate that. So we brainstorm a little bit of that. Um really fun day. Just, you know, spent a couple hours getting to know each other a little bit better and having some good conversation. What else did we do? Um wow, I had a laundry list and now my mind is blank. We got ready for our pride workout, which was this morning, and one of my absolute favorite days of the year. Um, get to celebrate the inclusive environment and community that we've built. And, you know, celebrate the fact that we welcome everybody, no matter where you're at in life, no matter what's going on. You can trust that it's a safe space and you've got a great family um and friends through the doors at our gym. We ah, we had an awesome dinner with a high school friend of yours. Yeah. That was really fun. We haven't seen him since gosh, was it our wedding or did they travel down here?
SPEAKER_00I think the last time we saw Rob was the yeah, he was the best man, my best man at the wedding. Yeah. It's been a while. It's been a while.
SPEAKER_01It's been a few years. So that was good. Got some workouts in, bought some new running shoes.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I love that.
SPEAKER_01I laugh because I'm not a runner. But Alan says now that I have running shoes, I'm a runner when I'm running.
SPEAKER_00You're a runner when you're buying running shoes. You're a runner when you're running. You don't have to be a runner anytime else.
SPEAKER_01That's great. I will take that hat off when I'm not wearing those shoes.
SPEAKER_00I love that.
SPEAKER_01How about you?
SPEAKER_00What's your week? So this week, uh working on this new YouTube channel. Uh so we're making some changes to what we were doing and now incorporating those changes into this new channel and this new format, which has been uh a lot of fun. Um we got invited to speak at an event uh July 7th coming up. So spent some time trying to figure out how we're gonna motivate a bunch of young adults uh in health and wealth and happiness and um how to build those things. So worked on that, thought about that. Um and just made, you know, I think I got pretty vulnerable with you about wanting just to make a commitment to all the things that we're doing. Um as far as the business, um, this podcast and YouTube channel, and just wanting to make sure that we carve out the right time and energy to get after it. And um yeah, so I uh came to you and said, Hey, I I I didn't need to be convinced, but watching you and your environment today at that workout, at that community event, convinced me that we have to we have to um expand this community, build an online community, give more people an opportunity to be around this, whatever all this that you got going on. So uh yeah, it was a good week. It was a good week. The purpose of today's episode, one of the sort of the through line, um, is this idea of starting even when you're not ready. Um just to give a little bit of background, Katie and I bought this business how long ago April 2022.
SPEAKER_01So April was four years for us.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it doesn't feel like it's been that long at all.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and um, I know we had we had kind of ventured into entrepreneurship and tried some different things, but this was the first time we put like real cash money down. Real cash money down. Um and you know, it wasn't a perfect situation, it wasn't any of those things, but we felt like, you know, let's get started, even though we're not ready, let's get started, let's get moving, let's give it a shot. And I don't know, all of that was kind of going on in my head today, watching you uh do your thing. So uh yeah, so the lesson the the takeaway from this week um as we launch this new YouTube channel, um reinvigorate the podcast and think about launching an online community or commit to launching an online community um is to get started even when you don't feel ready. So you're ready to get into it? Let's go. Okay. Um what did today's workout feel like from your side? Like what did that event feel like for you today?
SPEAKER_01Well, I started crying the minute I tried to talk to everybody. So obviously it's an emotional uh day, an emotional there's there's meaning behind why we celebrate pride and why we take time specifically in our gym to make sure that that uh is part of our DNA.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, but why why is it so emotional for you? Like why, like why? I mean, literally, like you should like Katie started the you know opening speech, get the class ready to warm up. She's done it a million times, and I don't even know three words. Three words in two words. You're uh I mean you're getting emotional, and it was real, and it was just um, but why why? Why is it so emotional? Why does it matter so much to you?
SPEAKER_01I have so much, I'm getting emotional now. You can if you're watching, you can probably see that my eyes are welling up with tears. Um I have so much love and adoration for people, and I was really fortunate. I had a really kind, welcoming, and warm family, and not everybody gets that. And I have been exposed to, and I have, you know, several friends in, I mean, today we're celebrating pride, right, in the LGBTQ uh community who don't have a supportive family environment and you know, are not able to be out and proud or are apprehensive to have the conversation or to have to say the words out loud, you know, to their friends and family for fear of the reaction. And one of my best friends in college came out to me and said, I understand if you don't want to be my friend anymore, and if you need to leave because we were having this discussion at you know his apartment, and I thought, wow, how powerful that a you have been met with this um response in the past, and that you are fearful that that's the response that you're going to get from maybe anyone that you have this conversation with. So I never want someone to feel that way. And I want everybody to know that we are a safe space and that we are uh inviting to whomever wants to walk through the doors wherever you are, and that could be, you know, who you love, that could be where you are on your financial journey, that could be where you are on a fitness journey, that could be uh you just moved to town and like you know, you don't have any friends or you haven't met people yet, right? Like we never know what's going on with people, but in our gym and in our community, you can show up on your best day, you can show up on your worst day, and you're gonna be met with joy and gratitude and celebration, and I just want I want that for people.
SPEAKER_00Do you want to take a break?
SPEAKER_01Or no, I'm okay.
SPEAKER_00You sure?
SPEAKER_01Yeah. You get the good, the bad, the ugly withn't you.
SPEAKER_00Um what was the energy like today?
SPEAKER_01I was incredible. Yeah. There were so many smiles and laughs and high fives and uh dancing and um, you know, bright colors and just enthusiasm, celebrating fitness, celebrating friendship, and all the things that I want to see people get to do every day. It was it was incredible.
SPEAKER_00When so class is wrapping up and um I shot some content before the event started or while you were kicking it off and everything, and um I will put some of that up for people to see. And then I went and tried to do the workout. Humbled me. Um and then we're wrapping up and I'm out recovering and trying to figure out which way is up and this, that, and the other thing. And um people are leaving and are giving you hugs on the way out the door. And I'm just thinking, like, man. Like you're really impacting the people. So um what did you think when they when folks were giving you a hi a hug out on the way out the door? What was going through your mind?
SPEAKER_01Well, on one hand, I love that what we're doing is meaningful. I love that people get excited about the things that you know we get to help bring to life. And then on the second hand, I'm it makes me sad that like people think that they have to say thank you for that, or that we still live in 2026 in a society and in a world that this still exists, that we like the reason we have to celebrate pride, or the reason that we have to um, you know, bring attention to we are an inclusive gym is because there are non-inclusive spaces. Sure. And if you know you land in the wrong spot, you may not feel welcome or you may feel uncomfortable, and that just doesn't that doesn't work for me.
SPEAKER_00What part of the day were you most proud of? If there was one thing, one moment when one interaction and you were like, Yeah, this is this is going in a memory bank.
SPEAKER_01Uh I don't I don't think it was one interaction. I think it was just the minute we started the workout, and there were more than 40 people there this morning, and it's chaos, right? There's a bunch of equipment out and people are doing all sorts of different things, but everyone was moving together, even though they weren't necessarily at the same part of the workout at the exact same time. That sense of camaraderie and you know, shared experience, I guess, is what I want to remember. The unity of everyone working out for a beautiful reason. Yeah. On a Sunday, uh Saturday. Oh my gosh, Saturday. On a Saturday, I mean it was hot, but it was it's a beautiful day. Sun was shining, people were working out outside, people were on the inside, people were doing shuttle runs in the front of the building. I mean, it was just it was a vibe. It was a vibe.
SPEAKER_00It was a vibe. I love that. Um, so if we take a step back and take it just a broader picture, some people might be watching this and go, my gosh. It's just a gym. It's just a gym. Um sorry, can you one second? Some people might be thinking, oh my gosh, it's just a gym. It's just a gym. What's the big deal? And um I think the big deal is you've built something more than just a place to work out. Um, so how would you describe the I don't know, the community that you've created?
SPEAKER_01It feels like you get to spend an hour of your day with your best friends. Like having fun, laughing, smiling. There's yes, there's fitness happening and people are getting a great workout. Man, today everybody told me that it was a lot spicier than they expected. So um I'm sorry I made it a little extra hard this year. Yeah. I was unprepared. But it truly is. I mean, people, the the cliche tagline of CrossFit is it's the best hour of your day, but it feels like adult recess. Sure. And there are a lot of people that we have to say, you need to take a rest day. But they're so excited about coming to the gym and seeing their friends and getting a workout in because of how good we all feel once we've accomplished that and we've done that. You know, the folks that come in the morning leave saying, That was the hardest thing I'm gonna do for the entire day. Yep. And they're, you know, riding high. And the folks that are coming in in the evening classes are going, I just, you know, might have had a really long day at work, and now I'm gonna go let off some steam, and then I'm gonna go home and show up as my best self when I get home to my family or home to my pet or whatever it is that you want to do after you're done getting your sweat on. So it's it's a workout, but it doesn't feel like that, even though some days are really hard and there may be some communal suffering because there's, I don't know, there's gotta be some science behind. I'm sure there's research studies that we could go find about whatever chemical reaction is happening when you do this around people that you enjoy and are like-minded and you know, working towards a same or similar common goal, right?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, for sure. Um But how like if you were to explain to somebody who was like us just showing up, we have this business, and now you're saying, like, hey, you gotta build this community. Like, how do you how do you do that? How do you how do you how do you build a a a culture? Like, like how did you how'd you sit down and say like this is what I want to do? This is what I want to do, this is what I want this to be for people. How do you do that?
SPEAKER_01Like what I mean selfishly, I'm building the space that I wish I would have had years ago. Yeah, okay like this, this is this is what I would look for. And then I lead by example. I want to be there, I want to be uh spending my time working with our coaches, working with our you know, community members. I want, I want to know how are they doing, you know, on a personal level, right? Most most Globo Gyms aren't asking you about your kids or your spouse or the uh college graduation that you know your child just celebrated or that you yourself may be celebrating because you know you're going through a momentous phase of life, uh taking your medical exams, all that kind of stuff. I want I want to show up for people the way that I wished I had community showing up for me earlier in my adult years.
SPEAKER_00So the formula is uh lead by example, know the people that are walking into the community, know what their needs are, understand them. What else?
SPEAKER_01Uh I I also am pretty real and authentic. Yeah. Like I'm not given a bunch of lip service. Y'all have seen me cry more often than not, but I also laugh and dance and sing and do all the things like all while all while motivating people to I'm a very real human.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, all while motivating people to to try and get them to where they want to be. I love that. And I also, you know, so you know, you and I are so different. I mean, you're cheese curds and I'm black decaf coffee. I mean, we just we just um So uh but like one of the things um that you do that we kind of touched on earlier is before you bring any um new coach in or new uh yeah new coach in, I mean you spend a ton of time interviewing with them, meeting with them. Uh even when you uh bring people on, they'll observe for a while, you'll bring them, like you'll bring them around the community. And I'm thinking in my mind, again, the difference between you and me. I'm more practical, like, hey, you need to fill these hours. Go ahead. Like, I don't understand what you like. What are we doing? But you go through like a really, really, really thorough process before you say, uh, yes, come join us. So why do you like why do you do that? Why why go through all that?
SPEAKER_01Well, two reasons. One, good coaches are not falling off trees, they're they're hard to come by. Sure. And two, I think personality and culture is important. Yeah. So, you know, we want to embody the values of our gym. And sometimes, you know, you may say something on paper, your resume might look really good, and you might have all the credentials in the world. But by the time you get into the community and and interact with the environment, like there may be some personality clashes, there may be some uh values that don't quite align with that of the rest of us. And so I want to make sure that as we are welcoming new people, you know, our our community members are every bit about as much of a part of this family as the employees themselves. So how do we maximize and encourage the right personality?
SPEAKER_00So when you're interviewing, then you're it's just another example of you uh protecting the culture, uh basically. Like you want to protect the culture at all costs.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. That's I mean, that's great. So I'm glad you don't listen to me when it comes to like hiring.
SPEAKER_01I mean, it's it's one thing if we had desperation of like, I either have to close the gym or I can't offer this class. Yeah, but we've never or yeah I hire, you know, ABC coach that just applied that had the credential that I needed to fill the hour. But we're not in that situation, and so I can be selective.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. In desperation, I mean we haven't come close to that, but typically it just means you you work more. You feel more easy to be.
SPEAKER_01Well, there was a time when that might not have been possible when we both had you know full-time jobs.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Um how does fixing the toilet fit into this unglam the into the unglamorous side of building something? I mean, like uh, I mean, you're very detail-oriented. I mean, anybody who walks in the gym or walks into the bathrooms or walks and knows this is Katie's aesthetic, not Al's aesthetic. This is all Katie's aesthetic in there.
SPEAKER_01And hashtag also stacy or hashtag asterisk, I should have said.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um Stacy's one of our coaches that has an eye for interior design. So she's she's taking over the bathrooms and my office.
SPEAKER_00But um, I get a message from you, like, or we're I think we're talking on the phone, and you tell me give me an update on the toilet at the gym. I was like, I'll take a look at it. And um when I get when I get over there, I think this is Monday or Tuesday, whatever it was, um, and then I finally get to the gym the next day. I skipped the evening because I was exhausted or whatever. Uh, it was already fixed. So how does how does fixing the toilet fix fit into the unglamorous side of building a culture and uh protecting that culture?
SPEAKER_01Well, as small business owners, we don't just you know have a plumber on hand when things break. So the toilet broke. I happened to be the one that broke it. No. I was trying to because it wouldn't stop running. And so I spent probably 25 minutes. I'm not even exaggerating. I I think I was back there. KJ was on the bike in the back, so she could probably attest to how much time I was trying to fix this. And I was unsuccessful at my first 25-minute attempt. And I was frustrated because I had fixed this once before and I went out and bought new stuff hardware to fix it the first time. And I thought, man, I should be able to do this. Why is this so difficult for me today? So I put an out-of-order sign on it for the remainder that it was that was just leading into our 11 o'clock class. We close in the middle of the day. Um, so our evening got out of order signs. But by the time I came in the next morning, I thought, I need to look at this again because there's there's no reason why I shouldn't be able to fix this. And within 30 seconds, I went, oh my gosh, I put the thing on upside down. So I love that. Put it right side up, and sure enough, she was fixed again. So I turned the water back on and took the out-of-order sign away. Bathroom's fully functioning again.
SPEAKER_00I love that. I love that.
SPEAKER_01But how does that relate to culture? I don't want broken things milling around as quickly as we can get them fixed. Sometimes the urinal was broken for more than a day, but that was based on which available plumbers had time to be able to come in and fix it because I can't fix that one on my own.
SPEAKER_00No, no, that one needed a plumber. No, it's fair. Cool. Well, uh, shifting gears, let's talk about uh my week. Um so this speaking in speaking opportunity popped up. And as soon as I started hearing the details about it, I got super excited about it. It's a vibe.
SPEAKER_01Something that maybe our listeners and community on uh YouTube doesn't know about Alan is that he is a phenomenal teacher and loves doing these type of learning education workshops. Yes. And you thrive in them. Oh, thank you. You are really good. I appreciate it. So I'm really glad that you said yes to this opportunity.
SPEAKER_00Um it does make me a little nervous. I will say that. A, because I want it to, you know, be valuable for the people that are doing it, and B just introducing some concepts. Uh the more you all watch the show, the more you realize that uh Katie is subjected to hundreds of crazy ideas from me. She is like, uh, I think the only person the only person that I like I just run, and I I don't even tell you all the crazy ideas.
SPEAKER_01I was about to say Chat GPT has been a nice filter because you will start with Chat GPT and then I only get probably 30% now.
SPEAKER_00The well before ChatGPT it was just you.
SPEAKER_01I know.
SPEAKER_00Like, I just I'll give you an example. I was so obsessed with um our financial my financial journey that eventually became our financial journey that early on in our dating life, I said we have to set a budget for gift giving. Do you remember this? Yes.
SPEAKER_01A lot of our friends also know about this.
SPEAKER_00Why?
SPEAKER_01Because I have to explain why I can't get you uh expensive gifts and why I don't receive them in return.
SPEAKER_00Right. Well, I just if you want something expensive, you should just go buy it. Not wait for Sure.
SPEAKER_01Tell the tell the listeners what the plan is so that they can understand why we're having this conversation and we're laughing.
SPEAKER_00Oh, because I set the I think I set the initial budget for gifts at like five dollars or something. It was ten. It was ten.
SPEAKER_01It was we got to spend ten dollars on one another's Christmas gift, a birthday gift, a Valentine's Day gift, uh anything through that entire first year that we were dating. And that ten dollars needed to include shipping and tax.
SPEAKER_00Because you shouldn't wait for Valentine's Day, you shouldn't wait for Christmas, you shouldn't wait for birthdays. If you want something, you should go get it. Not drop a hint to me like, oh, I'd love this bag in 32 days. If we have the money to buy it, just buy it. Like, why are we why are we waiting for the for companies to market up for Valentine's? I like I this I yeah. Anyway, so Katie's subject to all these crazy ideas, uh, which means that uh she's my sounding board, she's my um I don't know, approver. Like this is way out of like don't even think of don't even talk about it.
SPEAKER_01I help filter, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Um anyway, so um the event on the seventh is an opportunity to talk about some of these crazy ideas when it comes to health and why we struggle with it uh so much, right? Like the reasons why um we know that an apple is a better choice than a piece of cake. We know that lifting weights will help us build muscle. We know that if we are more active, it's better than being less active. We know um that if you want to lose weight, you need to be in a caloric deficit. We know all of these things, but for whatever reason, we cannot do it. People choose not to. And there are reasons why we are subjected to messages that tell us over and over and over again that these things are bad and we should choose the cake over the apple or choose not working out over working out and and all of that. And so if you want to change the behaviors, picking the cake, caloric deficit, then you gotta change the messaging that's driving the behavior. So we get to roll that out on the Sabbath, and I'm excited about it, obviously. So I've never packaged it up before, I've never uh planned it out, and so now we get to we get to try it. So I'm excited about it.
SPEAKER_01It's gonna be great.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I hope so.
SPEAKER_01And I had to remind Alan that it doesn't need to be perfect, and that even if we only reach one person in the room, it that is a win.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's a win. So we'll let you all know how it goes. Um and then I this week I also came to you and said, Hey, um, eventually I just want us to be able to live off of our businesses. And you know, Katie uh quit her nine to five, gosh, how long ago was that?
SPEAKER_01December of twenty-three.
SPEAKER_00December, yeah, December of twenty-three. And no intention of ever going back.
SPEAKER_01That's my goal. But if I need to go back to a corporate style job, I will.
SPEAKER_00Um, and then I had Monday off uh work, and I got to experience that again and working on the YouTube channel and working on the business, and I just decided I told Katie, I was like, I want this for me and for us. Um at the same time not like changing our lifestyle, right? Continuing to have the things that we have, continuing to do the things that we're doing. Um and so I want to make this uh transition. I want to make this a reality. And I don't know why I was nervous to come tell you that. But I was nervous to tell you that.
SPEAKER_01And you don't feel nervous anymore.
SPEAKER_00Well, you said yeah, let's do it. And I thought maybe you might say, no, that's crazy, it's too risky, da da da da. But you didn't. Which I appreciated.
SPEAKER_01I usually say okay.
SPEAKER_00Um and so here we go, here we are, uh, you know, in the midst of it, in the making of it. Um do we feel ready? Do you feel ready?
SPEAKER_01Heck no, I don't know anything about on any of this technology. I just know how to talk in front of a camera.
SPEAKER_00Well, you know how to build a community, I know that. Um okay. All right, so that's uh quick transition to the sort of why we're here and what we're talking about. Um why do you think people wait to start building the life that they really want?
SPEAKER_01I have two answers to that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, you can have as many as you want.
SPEAKER_01My first answer is they have limiting beliefs that are holding them back. So we've talked about this a million times. We've talked about it on other episodes of our podcast, that this concept of like, I can't be a millionaire or I will never be a millionaire, that's such a moonshot. So because I have that mindset, I will never actually try. Because even trying and getting halfway there for some people would be considered not worth it. Why why even try if I'm only gonna get halfway?
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Now, on the contrary, if you could get to a half a million dollars, like that's pretty good because you're probably not there right now. So I might look at that as glass half full. Just try, and even if you miss, you're probably better off. But um, I don't I don't think that most people have that mentality. I think that follows suit in the fitness space. Why do people not actually continue on their fitness journey or stay active in a gym? We see this year after year after year, beginning of you know, the new year, new year's resolutions. I'm gonna get fit this year, I'm gonna lose the 30 pounds, I'm gonna, you know, get strong or whatever it is. And people go gung-ho in January, they start to get a little bit more relaxed in February by March. You may or may not ever see them back in the gym. And unfortunately, I believe that they have told themselves, you've done this before, you always fail. And so then we let ourselves treat those toxic messages and beliefs into moving us out of the progress that we should be making and continuing to build the lifestyle of, no, I actually am gonna do this. This time I'm not gonna give up, and I'm worthy of this, and I can change. Um, so limiting beliefs, big indicator. And the other thing I truly believe is just fear. I don't know what I'm doing. I don't want people to think I look dumb. I am afraid of not getting there. I'm afraid that people who are naysayers will say, I told you so. Right? There's so many um, it's cool when you listen to entrepreneurs that tell you like their social circle wildly changed, or like their family's uh support wasn't always there because you have to be a little crazy to take big risks. Sure. But if you don't take big risks, you're not gonna have a big reward, and not everybody is gonna grow at the same pace as you. So you can be afraid and still work towards it and still tell yourself that you can make it happen, and it might take longer. Great example for us when we bought the gym, it was not profitable, it was still losing money, it had not come back from COVID. And we said, we're gonna bet on ourselves and we're gonna turn it around. And we told ourselves we could do that in a year, and we didn't do it in a year. It took us longer than a year to be able to turn it around and actually make a profit. And it was a lot longer than we thought that I could even give myself any semblance of a paycheck. But we didn't give up. We continued to say, you know, we'll we'll figure it out. We will fail fast, learn and pivot if we need to and make adjustments. Try something if it doesn't land, stop trying that thing and do something else.
SPEAKER_00It's interesting. Um, yeah, I'm with you. Limiting beliefs and fear, uh, definitely. But like for you, I feel like did you ever suffer from limiting beliefs or fear? Like you personally, did you ever wrestle with that?
SPEAKER_01Um, definitely, I mean, yes.
SPEAKER_00Well, I just I I asked that question because I mean I can see it in my life for sure. Like we talked about this at length, right? I never thought wealth was a thing I could ever attain, right? Because uh I've been told throughout my life that people like me don't do that. And I believed it, right? I would I didn't play sports, I didn't sing and dance, I w I can't, you know, whatever. Um and then on the health side, you know, I get these messages all the time. I used to get these messages all the time through social media and the things I was watching and the family and friends and the circles I used to run in that uh you know, you gotta eat a certain way, you gotta do certain things, you gotta be out all night, you gotta do all these things that don't contribute to to health. And I was fearful of of um deviating from the norm, like operating outside the operating outside of uh what people consider normal. So I but when I looked at you, I just saw somebody who was like wanted to be on stage, like fearless. Like if you'd asked me, I should have I should use fearless now on from now on doing our intros. I always thought you were just fearless, like all the time.
SPEAKER_01But then I'm a great actress and I should get paid for my acting skills because I am afraid of a ton of things. I was terrified to walk into the CrossFit gym for the first time. And I t and I told you that. And then after the first time, it took me, it took two months for you to convince me to even go back and take a second class. You're right. Because for me, I have been a perfectionist my entire life. Now, some of that I believe was growing up in the dance studio, and you have to get the routine right. You have to, I mean, ballet is like, wow, talk about perfectionism and you know, perfect turnout and body placement and body image and all of that. But that carried over into my schooling, and I put a ton of pressure on myself that an A- was as bad as an F in my book. Right. So there was a very large period of my life where there was not this like you shouldn't wait until you're ready. You should just start and try and learn from your mistakes. And I was absolutely in the camp of I'm not going to do this thing because I will not succeed. And I would just wouldn't do it. But as I got older, as I got wiser, some of that goes away. The perception of will people laugh at me, or what what is a an actual failure? I have a different view than some people. Like, sure, people I am not a perfect business owner. And you can even ask, you know, my coaches and they of our staff. I make decisions in the business that I know not every person on the staff agrees with. Sure. But I'm making a decision for what I believe or we believe is in the best interest of the coaching team and the best interest of the community, in the best interest of moving the business forward to the next chapter, and you know, all of those things. Whereas maybe some of the individuals don't have the holistic view. So as I've advanced in my career, I've applied the principles of I have to make decisions, I have to do things that people might think aren't exactly right or they might think I'm failing at. And I'll look at it from a totally different lens because I'm gathering data from other sources to make said decision.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I hear you. It's been a good ten years.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Do you think you would would you agree with the statement that you are less fearful, less limiting beliefs now than when we first met?
SPEAKER_01A thousand percent, yes. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Me too, for sure.
SPEAKER_01I th I I believe a lot of that comes from you. You have so you have so much belief in me and you are constantly giving me reassurance that again, like the messages you hear become your beliefs. Yeah. That I believe we Can make whatever happen that we try to make happen.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01It's funny, my mom literally says not all the time, but when we talk about, you know, life things or goals that we have or things that we're working on and new business projects, whatever. Well, you guys always seem to land on your feet. Everything always seems to work out for you two. Marge, I love it. And it's not wrong. But it's not wrong. I and I know that she doesn't think that it's just by chance. Like she knows how hard we work, she knows how much effort we put into things. Um, but the way that she says it is almost as if to say, like, you know, the universe just really always falls in your favor.
SPEAKER_00Like, no, it's not. I'm with you. And um starting when you're not ready, I think has been um a staple of our relationship together. And that we have just decided to give it a go. And if um if you if you aren't clear, you're the you're the same for me. Like you do the same things for me, despite all the uh I don't know, personal development books I can read and all the motivational stuff I can watch. Um whenever you say like you did this week, let's do it. Like that's what I need. So and it's weird. Um I think there's this belief or this notion that limiting beliefs, fear, or the other reasons that come up, like go away. They don't go away, you just learn how to manage it, you learn how to deal with it. You lean on your circle, you lean on your community, um you know, you dot your I's cross your T's and then you just go. And and have in and have the things in place uh, you know, if it doesn't work out, you don't, you know It's not the end of times, the end of days or whatever. So Yeah, I think that's um I think that's really good. Um so all that being said, we have a new tagline. This is interesting because I don't know if I've told this to you, so you might be hearing this for the first time. So a new tagline for the YouTube slash podcast. Are you ready to hear it?
SPEAKER_01Build the life you want. Does it start with that?
SPEAKER_00Um it does. Well, it doesn't. I changed it. I changed it.
SPEAKER_01Oh, okay. Well, why don't you tell me uh along with our listeners what our new tagline is.
SPEAKER_00Okay. Our new tagline is enjoy the life you have, build the life you want.
SPEAKER_01Oh, I was I had it reverse.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Uh and I reversed it on purpose, right? So, quick uh snapshot into Katie in our uh relationship. Um so a couple years before we met, I hit my proverbial rock bottom. I'm broke, I'm going through a divorce, I'm doing all the things. I don't, I mean, I'm a health mess, yada yada, the whole thing. And I just get committed to changing my life. Like I'm just all in it. I'm listening to books, I'm um uh applying, I'm simplifying and applying the things I'm reading, like it's all good. And then we meet, which was which is great. Uh but for me at that time, and as I think about and and go back and um review some of my journals from back then, because I love writing in my journal, um I was all about building the life that I wanted in the future. And then I meet this uh tornado. It's me on the tornado from from small de pier, uh, you know, um little town of Green Bay, but this tornado of like enjoy the life you have right now. I mean, because you were all about it, enjoying the life that you were living. And this idea, I don't know, of delaying like, hey, this future life or whatever. Um I don't even know if it was foreign to you, it was just different for you.
SPEAKER_01I remember having a conversation relatively early on when we were talking about our finances, yeah. And we were combining our finances and bank accounts and everything else, and we were setting our savings goals. And you were like, team, we're gonna save as much as we can. We're, you know, damn near gonna eat rice and beans, beans and rice if you follow Dave Ramsey. Uh and like be as I don't know, frugal as possible so that we could prepare ourselves for what retirement looked like. And I was adamant that I was on board with setting ourselves up for the type of retirement that we wanted, but I was a hundred percent against we are gonna save every gosh darn penny that we had because I was not gonna remove travel and like the joys of I don't know, taking a dance class here and there, or getting to go to a Broadway show, or like taking out all of the fun experiential moments of enjoying what we have and the opportunity to take advantage of them now because I don't know, 20, 30 years down the road, I don't know if I'm still gonna be here and if I've not done any of those. And those were some, I don't know, slightly challenging conversations for us as a new couple, really trying to set similar goals of this is the life that we want to live and this is how we want to go through it. And I I think that discussion happened before we did like our whole big cheesecake factory sit-down budget, really breakdown plan. And I I had to be really convincing that like we're gonna take at least a trip a year. And for Ellen, a trip a year was like totally okay being a staycation where we like, you know, get a room at one of the Disney hotels for one night and then maybe go to a Disney park for one day. And like that was enough travel for him. And I'm thinking, this is not enough travel for me. I want to go somewhere I've never been, or I want to be able to get on an airplane and fly. And um, so yeah, there's there's value in expressing like this is what I'd like, and then collaborating and meeting in the middle because I I believe you really enjoy the things that we do now. And we've done a great job financially of setting ourselves up for our future success.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And I think for me, it's funny we remember this a little bit differently. Uh but I think for me it was a reframe of what we talk like when we describe and enjoy the life you have, it was a reframe of what that actually meant.
SPEAKER_04Right?
SPEAKER_00Like we can celebrate something, celebrate an accomplishment, celebrate uh um hitting a savings goal or celebrate something happening in the gym. But we don't have to, like, we don't have to do just because society says we should have a birthday month, doesn't mean we actually have to have a birthday month.
SPEAKER_01When you turn 40, it's totally okay to have a birthday month. I'm just gonna put that caveat out there.
SPEAKER_00Right, right. So I thought it was, I thought we did a good job of like at least talking through, working through, and living uh for a long time about um gifts, gifts don't have to be expensive to be meaningful.
SPEAKER_01For sure.
SPEAKER_00Like I look forward to my gummy bears on my birthday from you. I I look forward to the gifts that you made me as opposed to the gifts that you would have bought me. Um and so I thought it was really cool that on our journey um where we were, you know, improving our health and uh having a savings rate of like some 50 percent. Over 50 percent.
SPEAKER_01I think we were 56 or 58 percent at one point.
SPEAKER_00At one point, right? And making all of these quote unquote sacrifices, it was just a reframing of how we can enjoy um the life that you have. But I am under no illusions that you and I would be up in a one-bedroom apartment, uh squirreled away somewhere, um not enjoying the this life if you hadn't uh had an impact on me. So I heard you, like I heard you, and um so I think enjoy the life that you have, but build the life that you want is the right order of things. So I had to I had to reframe on building the life that you want, and I think you had to reframe enjoy the life that you have. Like you don't need 70 pairs of shoes.
SPEAKER_01My sneaker count is getting up there. I don't know if you've noticed. However, some of them have been free. Yes, no, they're doing a good job. Um very thrifty with where I get my footwear.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Um so what does enjoying the life? I mean, we obviously we spent a few minutes talking about uh the new tagline, but what does enjoying the life that you have mean right now for you?
SPEAKER_01Taking advantage of the opportunities that are right in front of us and being present in the moments.
SPEAKER_00Like you were today.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, not thinking always about what's happening in the future that you're missing the random acts of kindness and little, you know, heartfelt goodness things that are are happening in front of your face. Just sit in the moment, take it in, breathe deeply, literally stop and smell the roses, like do that.
SPEAKER_00Do that, I love that. Um when I saw you this morning, just in your element doing your thing. Um I love seeing you do that. And so that's why I'm excited about you j um just taking this idea we're gonna build this community together um to give people a space and a place to come to that says it's okay to be yourself, it's okay to dream, it's okay to chase your dreams, it's okay to um be in a relationship and be 100% transparent with your partner and not even consider 50-50 or whatever that is. We'll have to do an episode on that because it's crazy. But um Yeah. Yeah. Sometimes we're so focused on building the next thing we forget we are standing inside something pretty special. And I suffered from that for a long time. And it took uh it took a tornado to uh change my mind on that. So good job, honey.
SPEAKER_01Happy to be here. Glad I can contribute.
SPEAKER_00So what we are building next, so what did what kind of community do we want to build?
SPEAKER_01Fun. Vibrant.
SPEAKER_00Uh I don't I don't know what do you what what do you want what do you want the community to look like Well, I mean I think we had a great conversation in the pool today about like the limitations that we have um doing an online community versus in-person.
SPEAKER_02But we're at an hour. Uh yeah.
SPEAKER_01Like obviously, we we start with each other on a lot of things, but we also have friends and family members and our peer group that gets to hear about all the things that we've got cooking.
SPEAKER_00All the things we got cooking. I love that. So if you're listening to this, if you've made it this far, thank you, number one. But number two, if you want to start building a life that you want, of the simplest way to start is just to tell a friend, a co-worker, uh, send us a message if you want, post it, comment on the YouTube channel, and just say, hey, look, this is what I'm trying to do. This is what I'm wanna, this is what I want to be, this is what I'm I'm building. And the more times we say it, the more times we write it, the more times we talk about it, the more likely it is to become a reality.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Dream big, don't be afraid.
SPEAKER_00All right. How would you like to close the show? What do you think?
SPEAKER_01This was great. Thank you so much for joining us uh and being here with us. Don't forget to subscribe to the channel, follow us on Instagram, make sure that you're dropping comments and contributing if there are topics that we haven't covered that you would like for us to talk through, or if there's anything that we touched on, you know, as a highlight that you would like for us to go deeper on. Um, you know, we want to make this valuable for what the community is looking for. And we're excited to be on this journey. Thanks for joining us, and we'll see you next time.
