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Transcript

Why Community Is So Important To Barn Gym · Total Barnage

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_02: Welcome back to Total Barnage.
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_02: Today we have the gang back together once again.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_02: He's returned.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_02: It's the man Guy Kennedy.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: Woohoo.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: I'm back.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: Alive.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_01: I live.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: I live just about Mongolia live.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: I found myself.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: I really live at the Apollo live?
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I found myself at the top of uh the Great Wall of China about 2,000 metres up, having just hiked up a really steep section where if I fell I could have died.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: It was really intense.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: That would have been nice.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: I just saw Richard's anus in front of my face.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: Anus.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: And he just kept on farting.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: And I got to the top with my nose like singed with with the methane coming out of his bottom.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: And I thought, you know what, this is what life's about.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: This is really what it's about.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: Just just just sniffing.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: Sniffing fart, climbing mountains, being on historical landmarks.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: You know, that that was really that's what where I really found out on that trip.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_04: It it really peak masculinity right there.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_04: Okay, well, cool.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_05: We've got lovely view, haven't we?
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_02: It's a couple of weeks and Guy hasn't been on the podcast.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_02: I wonder what he's been up to.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: I've been finding myself swallowing farts in funny countries like Mongolia, where it did look mental.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_02: It's like an unbelievable trip.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um not a lot goes on in Mongolia apart from a lumbar.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: Many things go on in Lumbatar.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_02: We know that we know that you whatever the name of the really difficulty spelled.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: It's more like a lambatar, but everyone calls it a lumbar.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, sure.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, sure.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: Or the Lumber English speaking.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: Bumbaras clut.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: That's what the Mongol Mongolese called it.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: Mongoling's but they have an accent.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: Slight accent.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: Nearly as bad as like Scouse to understand.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: No, easier.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_02: Shagin?
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_02: Much easier.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I mean, that's gonna be one thing.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_02: So today what we're gonna be talking about actually is not uh guy, you know, sniffing farts.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_02: It's actually about uh the importance of community in gyms.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_02: And going on from the last episode that we talked about um COVID, lockdown, how people maybe got into fitness, what the state of um you know the fitness world online was, was kind of the building and the inception of Barn Gym coming out of COVID, um, and how you you know, how you built a community and how you built like this week, it's been amazing.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_02: Just you know, people come back in, the weather's good, um, and everyone's been loving it.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_02: Vibes are lit.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_02: Vibes have been high.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think I mentioned before like the statistics are like in the summer, people averagely come 0.64 times more per week.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: So you know, they're almost half half a session, or we could round up, we could call it an extra session a week just because the the summer, the sun coming out, blue skies, nice weather, the warmth.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: I mean really affects people.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_04: Look at our view, guys.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_04: We'll do we'll do a little POV for you.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_04: I'll record a little POV.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's it's a lovely day today.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_04: It is a lovely day.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: It's supposed to clear up as quite as much as it has.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: It's been pretty much blue skies all day.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: I looked yesterday, it was supposed to be Grail Day, but it it you know it affects people's motivation drastically.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: Like being the harsh winters we get here where it's dark and it's cold, people still turn up, don't get me wrong, but just with the environment we have here, it's that's where the hustlers show up.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, the hustler sharpen the winter and then the I don't know who turns up in the summer.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: They still turn up in the summer, they just come more in the summer.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_01: That's true, yeah.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know who these people are.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_04: They double hustle, they double hustle in the summer.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: No, we get a few people who just don't come in the winter and then they just sharp against the water.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_04: Oh hello, mate.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: Where have you been?
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: Where have you been for the past four months?
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah, yeah, fair weather trainer.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: Just in the Alps.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_01: That's actually warm weather training in uh Font Remo.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_02: So in the mountains.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_02: Uh yeah, okay, so go on.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: Hang on.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: So complete we can't completely write off um so community, right?
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: We're getting into it, yeah.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: And and and so how how do you create community?
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: Well, how do you create a really close-knit community very quickly is doing hard things together, right?
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: Doing difficult, challenging things.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: Because it's one thing going to a pub and yeah, drinking ten pikes could be quite challenging, but you're not really sharing a real memorable experience.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: But going to the gym and and and pushing your body to the limits and hitting a PB and having that endorphin release creates connection very well.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: Um, because you're all doing the same hard shit as the person next to you.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um so sport and exercise is a fantastic way of building connections and emotion-driven, so like, oh god, it's tough, or people all turning up at the same time in the morning, they have to get out of bed and they're turning up for the 7am slot, whatever it is, it creates that community.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: And for instance, in when I was doing the Great World of China, I was doing it with Richard, hence connection.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: You can really get an understanding of being out in the outdoors and doing something difficult together.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: There's a slightly different sort of connection I find you get, rather than us being in a pure gym and going for a workout.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: It's just kind of like, okay, the workout's fun, but the environment is crap, like you just don't like it.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_00: You gotta love working out, yeah.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_05: You go here just to work out, yeah.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and then and then you cut compare that to coming here and working out.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: Everyone loves the environment and they're doing hard things together, but the environment's almost a distraction of the difficulty they're doing, where I believe it can build that connection a little bit better.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, the doing hard things is really kind of an interesting point because you say that it if you have experiences in the pub, that it's not the same.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_02: However, I feel like one of the things that um is the reason why we might you know drink a lot is that you have that joint suffering the day after.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_02: I don't I genuinely don't think that if if hangovers didn't exist, I don't think there'll be as much of a kind of camaraderie and just a joint like togetherness in drinking if people didn't suffer the day after.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_02: I think there's interesting take.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_02: There's kind of like an implicit like buying that, right, we're gonna go pretty heavy tonight, and then tomorrow we're all gonna feel ropey, but we've all done it together.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and there's also that thing where it's quite nice to go for that breakfast all together the next morning because you're all suffering together.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, you're feeling rough, yeah.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_02: Me too.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: Being hung over.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_04: It's kind of funny, isn't it?
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: It is, it is, and it's but yeah, being hungover on your own, distance from the people you went out and you're just like, what have I done to myself?
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: I'm a I'm the worst human being on the planet.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_00: But when you kind of with the group of people, it makes it more.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_04: Pull each other up a bit more as well.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_04: But yeah, 100%.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_04: I mean I hate hangovers.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_02: The connection, like you know, we talked about it with like team sports and identity in like previous episodes, and and it's just about everyone clubbing together, and especially if we talk about like like motivation day to day, if you're not really on it or you're having a tough time, and you come to to the class or you come to like a PT session here and you see other people that are up for it, you see familiar faces, you catch up with people, see how they're getting on.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_02: And it's really hard to describe.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_02: I was even a session just before this um chatting to one of my clients about you know, she saw the um the post that you put out uh in the week a couple of days ago.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_02: This is Barn.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_02: Of yeah, of Barn Gym, of the Barn like games, the summer games that we put on um last summer, and just a little montage of that and what it's like.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_02: And she said, you know, that it's she needs to send that visual to someone because the feeling of the community and the environment down here, she wouldn't even know where to start to describe it, to like do it justice.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and it is it's it's one of those things that's not you know it's about like not on not on the spreadsheet, it's not on the the stats, it's not really like describable.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_02: You kind of go, you drive through the the forest, you come through the country lanes, you drive through the forest on the way, and then it opens up, you go over like two cattle grids, and I can imagine, like especially the first time that I came down here like last summer, it just immediately switches it, and you're like the association you have with that the visual and then the smells and then the sounds, it's all of the senses out here, is then you you know exactly kind of where you are.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's it's that wow on arrival, which is very important for you know that that's what I've been trying to mind map together is like what has created this community of recent because it's very easy to kind of just say, Okay, we can replicate this, but you need to know the kind of nitty-gritty details of it, and that wow on arrival in the environment is a massive it is the feature of the gym, right?
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: And and the location is so key.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: So, uh and for a lot of people, this is like a little haven for them outside of their work life, outside of their family.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so coming here is a very special time of their week, even if they can just come once, um, it's a time for them, and and it really just feels like you are away from everything else, and you can ignore all the noise.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you don't hear cars, you don't really hear anything else other than cows and birds, etc., the wind blowing.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, so it's it's that peaceful quietness you get not many other places, you you'll find that.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_00: Um so environment is it's so so key, and that in its sense, like because of that being a bit secluded here, it enables people to relax, and then probably our our attitude and the culture we've created.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I say we, but it's probably all originated from just my attitude around the gym being a bit more laid down.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_03: Say we, it's say we, but actually, fuck you guys.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_03: It's fair enough.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_00: But it's it's you know, I've built that into the the culture rather than being super strict coach and like very diligent, it's a bit more like chatting with friends, isn't it?
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you're you're chatting with friends and like the culture is much more like oh you're talking to the clients as if they're as if they're mates, right?
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what makes people feel comfortable.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_04: So puts them at ease, exactly.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, yeah.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, if you if you if you can turn up five, ten minutes late, but something's better than nothing.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_00: There's you know, we're not gonna kick you out of the gym, it's completely fine.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_00: Just you know, warm up yourself and join in.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, having that little bit more of a laid-back vibe about it just makes people feel I don't know, good about the space.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_00: Rather than all this pressure, I need to get there on the minute on the dot, I need to do this, or I can't say that.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_00: Sterile vibes.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's just being a bit more relaxed.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_04: Oh god, yeah, there are no filters here.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_04: No filters.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_02: It's a pretty good thing that we're out in the countryside where no one can hear.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, literally.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_04: But we also I think you we also clock on if there are some clients who like you know aren't as kind of unfiltered as some of our other members, or as we can be with our members, then like we also I think we clock when to kind of push and when to like pull back and to and be a bit more like professional.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, I mean it's it's la language is a key thing, and it's it's it's having that laid back language, but never offending or being rude to someone.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um it's it's the way you say it, right?
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and some of the members might try and try and do it the way that we do it, but it's kind of difficult.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: And then you're gonna be able to do it.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_00: Can you give an example?
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: I can't give any examples though.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_00: Um but that it's always something you've got to be careful about because you don't want bullying, you don't want anyone to feel like uncomfortable in their life.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, yeah, exactly.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_04: Um we have to monitor, don't we, some of the naughty classes.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you know.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: But it's it's I mean, we're making it out as if it's awful and people, you know, it's never got to the point where we we've had a really severely tell someone.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_00: God no, not at all.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_00: But it's just it's just kind of it's just not woke.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_04: So I don't be talking about that.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_04: Let's not talk about that here.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_02: It's just not I can't imagine.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_02: Like I did my PT qualification and a lot of the gyms that I train in.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_02: I did the PT qualification at Tunbridge School.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_02: Tunbridge School Gym.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_02: Which is you know, it's a great gym, small in size, bright by the track.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you know, it's it's it's a great like facility.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_04: It's got that outside kind of as well.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_02: But yeah, a little out outside zone.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_02: They do the you know, you can you can see a bit of nature, it's a like it's a really good spot.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, the whole the whole grounds of like Tunbridge School is just ridiculous.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, but I couldn't imagine when I train there, I couldn't imagine PTing there and having the same conversations I have here.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_02: No, no, no.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_02: Or I can't imagine like my mum goes to classes there.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_02: I can't imagine her in the class, them having the same relaxed conversations, you know.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_02: There's obviously going to be gossip, there's always gonna be like connection, making friends, you know, kind of like gym partners, buddies, all of that sort of stuff.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_02: But there's just a different, it's it is just it's really hard to explain, but it is that kind of relaxed feel of of you're you are not just there to work out, you're kind of like maybe for most people the number one reason, the primary reason they're here is for the social bit.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, they're people I think is is secondary to that.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_00: I think another benefit to that is that we have these kind of three spaces.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_00: So even if when we quite often have three PT sessions, we can have someone outside, someone in one gym and someone in the other gym.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_00: So it enables the conversations to be very open, uh and and you know, no one else is eavesdropping in.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, we we're quite good at picking, you know, if if a couple clients are friends, like you can train and it can bounce off each other in conversations, which is is which is great.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um but sometimes there's a time and a place to actually like just be one-on-one with your client and in a public gym or even a private personal training studio in the city, like you know, there's still be other PT sessions going on, and there's you know, no matter what, if someone's five metres away from you, you can overhear conversations.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_00: So having that level of privacy, and and you can have really good quality conversations with your clients.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_04: Therapy sessions sometimes, yeah.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_00: But it's really it could be therapy, but it could also just be talking shit about something they got up to on the weekend, and perhaps they don't want other people hearing what they got up to on the weekend, you know.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um so it's just yeah, yeah, it's it's it's it's a nice environment, and it's for me, it's kind of like how if if if we open up another space, how do we replicate that same feel, that same culture?
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and those are kind of things that are really, really important to me.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's one, find the perfect space, make it a place where there's an emotion and an attachment and a feeling to it, uh, and then and then embed the culture we have here.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then that that's if you can do that, fantastic.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_00: Otherwise it wouldn't feel like a barn gym, you know.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_02: Can you can you go into that idea?
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_02: You got the idea of place and space, place versus space.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_02: Like we we went into it on you know, we we kind of talked about the the start of your you know the gym, barn gym journey back in literally early episode, episode three.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_02: If you want to give it, give it a listen to to understand kind of where like guy you c you came from through COVID.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_02: Um, talked about it briefly on there, but could yeah, could you go into the difference between a place and a space?
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_00: So so space is if I was to kind of just pick you up and plonk you in a field over there, that would be a space, right?
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_00: There's no meaning or emotional attachment to that location.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_00: And many people, when they come to Bonn for the first time, it is a space, right?
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_00: It's a gym, but it's in a cool location, and perhaps we can create some emotional attachment.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_00: And when you get that emotional attachment to the space, it becomes a place.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_00: It's something you're familiar with, you have an understanding.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so for me, you know, this this this farm here has been in the family for 60 years, it's a massive place for me.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_00: There's so much sentimental value, um, so much purpose on this land for me.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, so this is very much uh a place now.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but how can you get someone to have that association of a space to a place as quickly as possible?
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_00: And and that comes from community, a sense of belonging, people understanding you, um, emotional attachment, you know, seeing some results, get learning new things, building your knowledge, building a friendship group, uh, then that becomes a place, and and it's and it's something you're familiar with, you're comfortable with, and the faster we can kind of make that transition for it just being a space to a place for our clientele, it might be a week, it could be a couple months, it can vary from person to person, the more likely that they're gonna stay on board with Barn long term.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, many of the members here say that Barn's not a gym.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's more of a you know, it's a bit of a safe haven for them or a place they come for a laugh and uh to unwind.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um so for me that's that's very important.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_00: Uh uh getting that transition from space to place as quickly as possible for for the members coming here and feeling comfortable and understood and and and feel that we can actually take care of their health and and and help them improve their fitness and their strength, etc.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um so yeah, that's that's place and space.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, it's it's it's amazing because it's not something that I just don't think it's something that you get an experience in something like a commercial gym.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_02: The the word commercial gym will always be thrown around here when someone comes for you know a consultation or the first time seeing the gym.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_02: Is that especially if you have you know the demographic here, you have a lot of people in their kind of 40s to 60s, and the majority either have been put off sport and exercise literally from school.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_02: Like they'll say, Oh, you know, I didn't like doing this because in in PE I was out smoking behind the you know, behind the sheds, got told was forced to do hockey, was forced to do football, was forced to do cross country, you know, everything seemed like a punishment, and it's amazing how that carries on all the way through into adulthood.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and it's only until you know maybe a certain age or a certain thing happens in someone's life that they kind of revisit and come back to it, but then it's also like they've had an experience of maybe personal training or training in a in a gym where you it is a space rather than a place a lot of the times.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_02: It's all about the machines, it's all about the technique, and there's obviously a time and time and place for for doing things right and you know have a balance between that, but if that's the sole focus, there's not much emotional attachment to sets and reps and progressive overload, right?
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_02: Unless you unless you're really like in it, like proper gym identity.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_02: Well, most people aren't, right?
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you know that most people aren't, and and really they're just after the result.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_00: And then there's I guess with those gyms, if they're their the sole focus is purely just the result, there's just a high churn rate.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you get someone into that space, they get a result, there's a bit of emotion, oh okay, look, I lost my two kilos, or I've lost my two stone, whatever it might be, or I got stronger, I did my marathon.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but then it's like, okay, well, I don't feel any belonging, I don't feel any emotional attachment to this space anymore.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_00: It's just you know, soulless.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gone, you know, I've I've reached that goal, and and that's the opposite of what we tried to do here.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_00: Those are just milestone stones along their journey.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_00: They hit they they get their goal, but then they stay because they're like they feel involved with the community here.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_00: Um so yeah, it's it's trying to seek more than just that milestone.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_00: You're gonna kind of get keep setting them up, but it becomes the lifestyle.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_02: What was it like, Charlotte?
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_02: What was it like for you when you first joined?
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_02: So it was what almost four years ago that you joined.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_02: I've got a couple of numbers written down here just about kind of like size of society and environment and kind of like social circles.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_02: So I don't know if you're familiar with uh it's a number called Dunbar's number.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely not.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_02: And basically it's it's in you know a kind of social psychology that you back when, you know, maybe like hunter-gatherer societies or more close-knit societies, um, you would only really have a connection and a society of about 150 people.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_00: Madame Um it's a bit of a a scale though, right?
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_00: So like 150 is the optimal, but like it's like a hundred to two twenty, two fifty?
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so it's like a hundred to two fifty is kind of like your meaningful contacts, let's say.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_02: So it's like you got your close circle, let's say five, five people is loved ones, um, fifteen is good friends, fifty is kind of just more like outer circle friends, a hundred and fifty is like meaningful contacts, which maybe is where that number like really kind of comes from.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_02: Five hundred acquaintances, and then maybe like apparently it's like 1500 people that you just recognize.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_02: Um we've currently got you know 120 to 150 class members with an extra 50 or so, you know, 50 to 75 PT members.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so it's it's around I added it up in total, it's around 170 people currently come in consistently.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_00: So about 120 people coming to classes and about um sorry, 110 people consistently coming to classes and about 60 PT clients coming consistently.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, so yeah, so it's around so it's in and around that number, but I guess Charlotte, when you joined, we didn't have as many members as we do now.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_02: Um what was the I guess the environment back then, was it any different to to it is now with like a you know smaller smaller member kind of scope?
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_04: Was still a very similar vibe in that the members that were consistently coming to classes were all quite pally with each other, and we still kind of had that community.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_04: I think it's just grown from then literally just from more people coming and then building up with more and more coaches as well, right?
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_04: And then the pe uh the members getting familiar with more coaches as well.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_04: Um honestly, when you're talking about those numbers, all I was thinking about was like, how the hell do we remember all these names?
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_04: And then I started thinking about all the other names of people that I know in my life, and I'm like, oh my god.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_04: And I just went into that spiral of uh a dark hole of my god, my brain can remember quite a lot of names, can't it?
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_04: It really freaked me out.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_02: That's why my storage is getting full.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_04: Literally, literally.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_04: But yeah, no, it was it was um it was uh similar, definitely similar.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_04: I think I remember when I first started coaching, because I was gonna actually touch upon this as well.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_04: I think it's also with the way we've built the community.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_04: I think a really important aspect of that is how the coaches are with members as well.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_04: I think we're all we're all very different people, but we're all quite similar as well in the way that we converse with people and the just like our kind of social skills, we're none of us are like awkward with people, I don't think.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_04: And I think that's a really important factor when drawing in new members of the community, like like you were saying earlier, just like not having that sterile environment.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_04: Um so I think as we built that up and kind of we had more coaches that were like like-minded coming in um with that, like well, me coming in and then we had Harris.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_04: It was Harrison after me, right?
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, obviously Casper as well.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_00: There was even Sam there at a point.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, Sam was and then well, Alice as well before me.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_00: And then Alice was there.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um so yeah, we had a few part-timers, but now I mean it's what we were full-time, yeah.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we got kind of like five of us full-time and then a couple part-timers involved.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think I think I think something I noticed on that, Charlotte, is kind of like I guess what at the start it was the community was almost forced because the members were fewer.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_00: So people almost had to get along because you had to see each other week in, week out.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_00: But now you notice with classes, people are a bit more selective and they'll turn up to classes where they know their friends are at.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_00: So it's it's perhaps not as forced where Hello.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_04: Well, that's my that's my alarm, guys.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_04: So sorry.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_00: Is that is that you're you're due out now?
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_04: I'll I'll leave in three minutes.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_04: I can I can give it three.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, no, it's just it's just being able to have enough people to feel deeper connections with those groups and people selecting to go to different classes, etc.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_04: Um I was gonna say a really nice thing that I've witnessed quite a lot as well is with like people who were originally just clients, like one of my PT clients.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_04: Um she is uh mum in Burwash, and she I think I just say her name, can't I, Tanya?
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_04: So she used to just be my sole PT client, and then she started coming to classes, and what was really nice for her was that her, well, it's her, so she's got two kids, and her oldest was just starting up at the Burrwash School, um, and there's quite a lot of mums, and it was really nice for her to have like kind of meet these mums through the class as well.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_04: Because I kind of I encourage her to come to the classes, and there's a class on a Friday that a lot of the Bearwash mums come to, and it's really nice seeing how they've all kind of geled together and just for them to kind of all know each other, like to have again it's like that kind of friendship thing, and then also they all hold each other accountable because like they'll see each other in the school car park, and literally as they were leaving this morning, it's like, oh, see you up, pick up stay then, and it's just quite sweet, and just watching those friendships kind of forge just naturally, not even being super forced.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_04: Like, you know, if they weren't conversing with each other, they wouldn't, you know, they might have seen that they'd seen each other in the car park, but like, yeah, it's just it's nice to it's nice to see that and seeing them outside that like the forced environment.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's you know, we've all had it like you've got you know, it's either work work friends or uni friends or like sports team friends, where at the start, like you're just there, you know.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_02: You get if you go, you know, university chucked into halls, you don't get to choose who it's who it's with.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_02: Small talk city.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_02: It's literally just like okay, am I gonna get along with those people?
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, like you know, you're figuring each other out and you get to a point where you might like surpass that just like base level, just like break the barrier.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_02: Break the ice, break the barrier.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_02: That's it.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_02: Get break the break the barrier down.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_02: Hey hi! Kick the barrier down.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_02: And and you know, you might go and you and you'll see people in a different light as well.
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_02: You know, you don't have you don't then maybe label them as just looks like uni mates, or oh yeah, I play with them in a team.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_02: It's then my mate, you know, it's my it's just it's just my mate outside of outside of like outside of work, outside of school.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and I think that's probably quite a um I mean I can't I can't speak for any of the the parents that comes to the gym, but I can't imagine that you know you don't have a lot of chosen time with people that you're your kids are mates with, right?
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_02: You have the pickup, you might have a little bit of chat, but unless someone's you know forthcoming of like, right, let's go to the pub or let's all meet up together, you're not really gonna have that environment outside of it where you can get to know someone.
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_02: It's like seeing the teacher outside of school.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_02: Like you go, oh, what they're a person?
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_04: Well, and especially when they're like families that have like, like, for example, with 10-year Alex, like they moved down from London, so they didn't really know that many people when they came down here.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_04: So it's nice for people who have kind of come to certain areas and not known people and then just built that up from there.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_00: I always find it funny when I see members in public.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'm not sure.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_00: You're not in shorts and a t-shirt, what are you doing out?
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_00: Just get back to the farm, you bastard.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_05: I'm like, no, I have life.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_00: I don't understand, I swear I have life.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_01: It's not a big one, but I do.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_02: To be fair, seeing you like when you go out to London dressed in like more, it's not even smart clothes, but it's maybe just even just like smart clothes, you're always like a hobo car, yeah.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_04: You get your shirt on.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_04: It looks great.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, even everyone it does.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, uh my my life is spent in workout gear.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_00: I don't even work out.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_00: I don't even I I'm a massive fraud.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_02: Never worked out.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_02: That's actually it's actually a suit.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's blown up.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, you should measure his uh his thigh if he has.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_00: I think I think they're 24 or 25 inches.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_00: I I measured them frequently, you know.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_04: Nice.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_04: That's great.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for showing.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_00: That was that was the last measurement.
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_04: You should on the circumference of your head.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_00: No, no, no, it's like a TARDIC in the brain is massive and the head's really small.
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_04: Wob, wob, mega mind.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_04: Right, guys, on that note, Mega Mind.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_00: I've got a mega dash when we get going.
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_03: Scroot screw.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_00: Enjoy your enjoy your cinema day.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, don't kill anyone on the lanes.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_00: That that was athletic.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_00: Goodness me, that was amazing.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna take her position.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_02: Alright, now she's gone.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_00: Good riddance.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, quality of the conversation.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_00: No.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you got sidetracked by Timbuktu there, but you know, sense of community in the the Western Sahara, um, in a mud hut city.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_00: Well, it's not it's quite like a palace made of clay.
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_00: It's quite impressive.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_00: Have you ever seen Timbuktu?
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_00: I haven't no.
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_00: No, it's it's it's quite quite an impressive thing.
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_00: But anyway, I've never been, Dad's been.
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_00: He went because he said he just wanted to say he'd been to Timbuktu, but he said it's quite a long way to go just to say you've been there.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and you've got to go through the Sahara Desert and all this stuff.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_02: Just go on Geogesser now, he's just like kind of off on there.
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_02: Um what's interesting actually, I would like to get you pick your brains on this about about community.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I guess is yeah, yeah, one one thing like we you know, we we have talked about it, it is about you know creating an an environment that's a little bit more relaxed.
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and then people you know will come here naturally through you know the kind of marketing system, like there's a lot of like word of mouth, yeah there's then your kind of meta ads now that people might um come through, uh or or maybe just like through the through the website, um barn hyphengym.com and uh you know is is there anything like in particular?
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_02: Like you said that you know if you're to open up another another space, another gym, um what are the things from from scratch would you focus on to create a community?
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_02: What's the kind of thoughts going through your head at the moment?
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_00: I think I think the most important thing is is is location because it's that feeling that you want to replicate of being like that wow, oh my goodness, this is cool.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_00: I really like this, like I want to be here.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and then secondly, it's like people and culture, so getting the right coaches in.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um I started the business not knowing anything about business, and then hired people I liked.
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_00: Um and the reason I liked them is because they were similar to me in personality and how they were with people, and then that quickly taught me how important social skills were with clients, and then so that that's kind of like really important, um, just having great people within the business, uh, and and and those that can just chat and be a bit more casual and not so uptight and nervous, like just a bit more laid back and being like, okay, cool, like they know their stuff about training, that's really important because we are a gym and we want people to get fantastic results, but also have an attitude where it's a bit more empathetic kind, can have a joke, can have a laugh, can it be adaptable to different clients, like changing their language, um being able to I guess being knowledgeable of multiple things rather than just you know, for me, I have a nerdy side, I've played sport, I'm into the training, I'm into going outdoors, into traveling.
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_00: There's multiple things I enjoy talking about, so I can talk about those things with different people, much like you, much like Charlotte.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_00: It's uh you know, it's important to be that sort of adaptable communicator.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I think once you have the correct environment and you have the correct people in there, the community will take care of itself because that culture will start to embed like, okay, we're a cool gym, a bit more laid back, we're gonna get you the results that you want.
• 32:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but we are community-driven and environment-driven as well.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of community-driven gyms, like uh, you know, most PT studios and class studios that say, Yeah, we're a community gym, but they don't have the environment.
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_00: And and for me, the environment is a key factor of the community.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_02: It's it's yeah, I don't think you can un underplay the the importance that an environment plays in in just in absolutely kind of every single detail.
• 33:17
  SPEAKER_02: I even notice on on this pod, like we're now sitting in these chairs with a back, like you know, we can rest back up against the chairs.
• 33:26
  SPEAKER_02: I even found, you know, for myself, I found a noticeable difference in my demeanour, the type of questions that were coming into my head, kind of just like maybe if it was casual or a little bit more like serious conversations in the episodes from when we shifted from sitting on the sofa to sitting on like the benches and the box, like even just how we sit, like I notice a massive difference in um in just the the vibe that you know comes to me naturally and then in in the episodes, and so it's like and that's a tiny detail of of like a conversation, how it directs a conversation, let alone like when you then talking to a whole environment, a whole place, and obviously like weather playing a part, like we said, like in the summer.
• 34:13
  SPEAKER_02: Um yeah, it's just it's just amazing how you know to to have that the importance of of the location and just nature.
• 34:22
  SPEAKER_02: I mean it's it's probably something like a lot of members will be working up in London quite a lot.
• 34:27
  SPEAKER_02: Officers, and it's I just can't I I am so grateful for even my drive down here, it's like 40-45 minutes down down the A21, but then you get to some country lanes, and I have an association with some of the you know the media, the podcasts or the music that I listen to on the way there, is I'll then have a certain association like with those spaces.
• 34:50
  SPEAKER_02: If I were to do you know a commute up to London, I just don't get that dynamic feel, like it's way too static for me.
• 34:58
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so it's amazing like the you know how much environment like plays a plays a part.
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I've been doing some reading recently, Upton set me on it, and um I forget the name of the person, but it's basically an people who do research into environment psychology and and how space can and place can create tension or the emotion you might get subconsciously from being in certain spaces.
• 35:25
  SPEAKER_00: So, for instance, what what they often do is they put eye trackers on babies.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_00: So babies are kind of like completely innocent, uninfluenced, have no, you know, you put them in an environment they're either going to be feeling threatened by certain energies or intimidated, etc.
• 35:41
  SPEAKER_00: So they basically take these babies and they'll put them in an office and they'll pick up what sort of emotion a baby gets from an office.
• 35:48
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, okay, put them in the house, they track, okay, okay, so when it's looking at these certain things, it it feels comfort and relaxed.
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um so we we kind of subconsciously feel and and and carry a lot of different emotions from going into space.
• 36:06
  SPEAKER_00: And what where did they find the babies had you know them that they were the most relaxed and calm?
• 36:14
  SPEAKER_00: And home was the big one, right?
• 36:17
  SPEAKER_00: Being in the home near near their parents, etc.
• 36:20
  SPEAKER_00: But secondly, it was outdoors and and and being outside in nature, it was where they noticed that these kind of babies were the most chilled out and and relaxed.
• 36:28
  SPEAKER_00: There's still, though, with with the outdoors, there's that kind of primal instinct from the babies, which is kind of slightly like, you know, am I gonna be prey here?
• 36:38
  SPEAKER_00: You know, so there's there's that kind of to kind of pick up on, but and indoors always most of the time gave them some form of sense of security.
• 36:48
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but it was interesting taking them into office environments, extreme stress already as a child, like being behind closed doors and not colourful environments.
• 36:56
  SPEAKER_00: So that's why kind of like um now you see with offices, um uh you know, modern lot modern offices are great, right?
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_00: They're no longer these little pods because you can imagine what that does to you psychologically.
• 37:08
  SPEAKER_02: You're like oh, imagine in the bullpen, kind of like Wall for Wall Street type, or just like tiny little segments that you'd have.
• 37:17
  SPEAKER_00: Oh man, you just just suffer, suffocating, and you know, the only thing that would be taking you through that day is just the thought of the money, and that's just like I think for me, it's just such an awful way to live.
• 37:28
  SPEAKER_00: Is like okay, I'm just gonna suffer for eight to ten hours today, but the one positive is I will get be getting paid for it, and I'm gonna do that for 30 to 40 years, and you're like, How are you gonna how are you gonna like just wow?
• 37:44
  SPEAKER_00: But people do it, you know, and a lot of people do it, and you know, I'm grateful I can stand outside and uh have high quality conversations and help people, and that's rewarding.
• 37:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um you know, it's it's it's a great, great like work-life balance um I've got going here, and same with you, Charles.
• 38:04
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think the um what kind of comes to my mind is kind of the word like escape and escapism.
• 38:10
  SPEAKER_02: And I heard it a lot.
• 38:12
  SPEAKER_02: So my dad he owns he owns a coffee van in Tunbridge.
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_02: I've worked as a barista there, you know, on and off for the last like decade in Tunbridge Park and had a you know a chat with so many different people, you know.
• 38:25
  SPEAKER_02: Some some chats might just be like 30 seconds, some might be a few minutes, and might know, you know, might know them outside, might see them at the pub, just like anyone that I've served like coffee to.
• 38:36
  SPEAKER_02: And a lot of the see that's in that's in nature, that's in the park, that's normally their kind of rest time.
• 38:42
  SPEAKER_02: Is a lot of the times the the word that would constantly come up is like this is my kind of like escapism, which I always see as a really, really interesting framing for things, like say, Oh, this place is my escape, or like running is my escape.
• 38:56
  SPEAKER_02: And I do question them like first of all, like escape from from what?
• 39:00
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you know, you there's there's it understandably running or being out in nature or something that is just in an open environment and feels like you know, and naturally just like regulates your nervous system.
• 39:15
  SPEAKER_02: It is gonna be a place that makes you feel free, which feels like an escape, but then there's the flip side, and it's like if you need to escape from something, then what else are you doing in your life that you've created or fallen into and not questioned that you want to get out of?
• 39:29
  SPEAKER_02: Like it may it's it's there's gotta be another part of your life that you feel trapped if you want to go and escape to something else.
• 39:37
  SPEAKER_02: I always find it fascinating.
• 39:39
  SPEAKER_00: I I I think there's there's some truth to everyone sometimes needs escapism from the reality they build for themselves, though.
• 39:47
  SPEAKER_00: Like, although you might enjoy it.
• 39:49
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I love my life, I love my work, I love my clients, my family, my friends.
• 39:54
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I it serves me so well, but occasionally I do just want to sit in a room and play Xbox, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 40:02
  SPEAKER_00: Or or or watch a watch a movie and get fully engrossed with it and not think about anything.
• 40:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um because that can be some escapism.
• 40:12
  SPEAKER_00: For me, escapism isn't actually going out drinking because that kind of involves more social time, right?
• 40:17
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, okay, yeah.
• 40:18
  SPEAKER_00: So I can't I can't like it's you know, going out and seeing friends and going drinking is not really escapism for me, it's just part of my life.
• 40:27
  SPEAKER_00: So for me, like to truly escape is being on my own and disappearing off into a movie or a TV show or a you know an Xbox game, because then I can fully not think about anything else but that, and that serves me really well.
• 40:42
  SPEAKER_00: Is it is is it it is escapism, but I'm not I think it's just just switching my brain off and having a break from life is important.
• 40:51
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think the the this like kind of um what you're saying is it's almost distinguishing between escape from and escape to.
• 41:01
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 41:02
  SPEAKER_02: So there's like freedom from and freedom to, meaning like you know, for you because other other aspects of your life you won't necessarily want to escape from them, yeah, but you want to have that drive to escape to a place where you kind of just everything else dissolves and you can just be fully in the moment, like there.
• 41:19
  SPEAKER_02: And I think that that sort of uh kind of separation between the two kind of ideas is it's not that you've got a job that you hate and you feel like you need to escape from your job to go and do something else.
• 41:32
  SPEAKER_02: It's you're pretty happy and content with what's going on, but you just need a little bit of a switch up and a little bit of change in time.
• 41:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's an interesting way of framing it.
• 41:39
  SPEAKER_00: It's really interesting.
• 41:40
  SPEAKER_00: I I quite like that.
• 41:41
  SPEAKER_00: Escaping from, escaping to.
• 41:43
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, you know what?
• 41:44
  SPEAKER_00: When I when I go on holiday, I hit that.
• 41:47
  SPEAKER_00: I always sometimes 10 days for me, 10 or 11 days is perfect.
• 41:52
  SPEAKER_00: When I get above that 11 day mark, I'm already I'm all I'm excited to come back to work.
• 41:59
  SPEAKER_05: Uh-huh.
• 41:59
  SPEAKER_00: And then almost the last couple days of the holiday, I'm all I'm so excited to come back and start getting into the nitty-gritty of the business and work and again and routine, it almost spoils it.
• 42:11
  SPEAKER_00: And that's a really weird thing, but it for me I found that there's there's this like 11 days is the perfect amount of time for me to go away, explore, switch off.
• 42:20
  SPEAKER_00: But after that, I start to kind of crave my routine and coming back and because I have a real sense of meaning here, right?
• 42:27
  SPEAKER_00: No, I have a purpose and pursuing that, seeing seeing progress in my life and and helping other people.
• 42:33
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so escaping too, I can only I can only do it for so long until I I want to go back to where I came from.
• 42:40
  SPEAKER_02: Um I'm I'm similar.
• 42:42
  SPEAKER_02: I think that's that's the kind of the idea of like the off-season type thing, like for me, is that you know, at the end of the season, I'll probably have a period of it's it's at maximum like two weeks, yeah.
• 42:52
  SPEAKER_02: Until I'm like, right, I've I've had enough rest.
• 42:55
  SPEAKER_02: And and even if you can like microdose the the rest, you know, a rest day a week, or you know, something you take you know the whole of Sunday off, let's say, right?
• 43:04
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah and and you have that and then you come back on Monday and you like you slow down to then speed up again.
• 43:09
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 43:09
  SPEAKER_02: And to have that big reset, yeah, I get it.
• 43:12
  SPEAKER_02: It's it's like you know, it's tough.
• 43:15
  SPEAKER_02: I think, yeah, especially like creatures of habit and routine, and also because you got such a like you say, such a great purpose here that although you can have like let's say that I'll I'll slot in Charlotte will slot in Rob will, um Sam will help out, obviously your mum Caroline would like you know, the coaching whilst you're away, you're also an integral part to you know to this whole place and this business.
• 43:42
  SPEAKER_02: Like you mentioned, like it's you know, you you've been the one to build it up like from scratch, and so it's like, yeah, 10 days, like plenty.
• 43:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.
• 43:53
  SPEAKER_00: You're kind of like, oh hopefully, hopefully their barn hasn't set on fire since I've been here.
• 43:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um but no, I don't really think about that as Much anymore when I'm away because it's in safe hands.
• 44:02
  SPEAKER_00: Previously, where it was a skeleton staff running when I was away, then then there would be like text coming and things are going wrong.
• 44:08
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but now, like the past year and a half, I'd say there's no anxiety about travelling.
• 44:13
  SPEAKER_00: I just kind of know that everything's gonna be okay when I'm gone, which is good.
• 44:17
  SPEAKER_00: You know, that's what that's what you want.
• 44:18
  SPEAKER_02: Well, and also you're in a more dangerous place, the places that you go, going to Rio back end of last year, and then going kind of scaling the great wall of China, going to deeper Mongolia.
• 44:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, there's there's genuine like, okay, am I gonna be safe here?
• 44:33
  SPEAKER_00: But no, it's it's fun, yeah.
• 44:35
  SPEAKER_00: No, it's it's I like exploring, seeing other cultures, and experiencing other communities.
• 44:41
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I think you always have to kind of takeaways from holidays, and yeah, sometimes I'll go.
• 44:46
  SPEAKER_00: I remember when I went to Rio, um and we went out to Paratou, and there was this really cool coffee place we went to, and just the design of their garden, um, they had like half an old they had like the back end of a Boeing in there, right?
• 45:04
  SPEAKER_00: And you could go in and sit and have your coffee.
• 45:06
  SPEAKER_00: And they had these really obscure pieces scattered around and really random, like some old dolls kind of like sat on a bench and like a massive magnifying glass where if you turned it, but it was like really kind of cool rusted metal, and if you turned it right, you could burn the floor, um and all these really unique things, and everyone in the town, like it wasn't a big town, but it was just out, it's about a five-minute drive out of town in the countryside, it's rural, beautiful countryside setting, and everyone went for breakfast there, and that was like uh people aren't coming here because it's convenient, people are becoming here because it's a unique place which is cool, and there's there's a community, and I could see the way the baristas were talking with the people coming in and their friends, and it's that that community element they had created, and what they'd done they didn't necessarily maybe they had the best coffee.
• 46:03
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 46:04
  SPEAKER_00: They probably did.
• 46:05
  SPEAKER_00: It was a nice place.
• 46:06
  SPEAKER_00: I don't I don't drink coffee personally, but they had any hot drinks, they had great food, but it's the location was the key element of that business, and then the good staff came because it was a cool place, and the people came because the location was so key, and they're you know, people are happy to sit there rather than having one coffee and going, they'd have coffee, breakfast, another coffee, you know, have smoke a pack of cigarettes, then have a few beers, and then they'd go over.
• 46:31
  SPEAKER_00: But they would spend spend some quality time there because of that that place creation.
• 46:35
  SPEAKER_00: So I always find it interesting seeing how different cultures create place, uh create community, and and and what what can you learn from there and implement into this?
• 46:46
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, I just come back from China and I noticed food is everything.
• 46:52
  SPEAKER_00: You know, in China, the the main principle that people follow there is if food is on the table, the people are happy.
• 46:59
  SPEAKER_00: That's their values, right?
• 47:01
  SPEAKER_00: Because so you know, we've got an event coming up in on the 9th of May, and um it's like a fitness fitness competition.
• 47:13
  SPEAKER_00: And I thought, okay, right, what else can we layer in to enable more people to feel involved in the community who can't compete?
• 47:22
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 47:23
  SPEAKER_00: And that's kind of where I thought, do you know what?
• 47:25
  SPEAKER_00: Why don't we have a because we always put on a barbecue, but why doesn't everyone bring pieces of barbecue and then we rank it who has brought the best, you know, veg or the best uh the best steaks or the best seasoned chicken?
• 47:36
  SPEAKER_02: The best Richmond sausages.
• 47:38
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, never, never again, Charlie.
• 47:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um so we'll have a barbecue competition and we'll have a taste, and so then we're getting other people in the community who are perhaps a bit intimidated to do some of the fun fitness games we're gonna do.
• 47:50
  SPEAKER_00: And I mean it's it's fun stuff, it's like tire flips and like hanging off the tractor for as long as you can, and like a treasure hunt across the farm, and like a far farmer's camera carry.
• 48:01
  SPEAKER_00: It's kind of fitness, but it's is a bit of fun focused.
• 48:04
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but then yeah, getting other people involved in the community, bringing along food which they can share with others, and it's that talking point, it's how we can kind of get a bit more close-knit.
• 48:13
  SPEAKER_00: So that you can go on holiday and you can get pissed up and you can explore and you can have fun, but then there's always value to be taken from that and and and bring it back, and hopefully it goes well.
• 48:24
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, who whoever the judge is gonna be, hopefully you're gonna be eating a lot of food and it'll be quite fun.
• 48:30
  SPEAKER_02: That's it's such a fantastic idea.
• 48:31
  SPEAKER_02: I think it's again it just highlights you know it's so much more than just like the exercises and the competition.
• 48:38
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, it's it's just an experience, and that was my first experience here.
• 48:42
  SPEAKER_02: Like the first week that I joined last June on the Saturday, we had the barn like barn games, yeah, the summer games.
• 48:49
  SPEAKER_02: And that was just like straight away, I was like, this place is yeah, the the you can just see the community, and you got teams of four.
• 48:57
  SPEAKER_02: Some people had already selected their teams, you know that they've known each other for a while, or you think that they might have, but turns out they only know each other for like six months, but they just click and they spend time together and like I say, suffer but also achieve together and overcome things.
• 49:12
  SPEAKER_02: Um, yeah, I think it'd be great.
• 49:14
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, ninth 9th of May.
• 49:15
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, is there is this open to people that aren't gym members for sure as well.
• 49:20
  SPEAKER_00: If you want to come out and see what Barnes are all about, more more than welcome to in um in East Sussex.
• 49:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, uh we're gonna push members to bring some friends along if they want to compete or if they just want to get involved with some drinks and barbecues after, yeah.
• 49:34
  SPEAKER_00: You know, no judgment.
• 49:35
  SPEAKER_01: I mean I'm here for the barbecue.
• 49:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but no, but Charlie, look, I've I've really enjoyed talking about community, but I'm about 15 minutes late for a call I need to make.
• 49:46
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, right, busy man, yeah.
• 49:47
  SPEAKER_01: But I forget that you run a business over here.
• 49:49
  SPEAKER_01: I thought we would just kind of sit and have a chat.
• 49:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but look, we I think we can elaborate on community more and more, and it's a fascinating topic and how to create place.
• 50:00
  SPEAKER_02: Um Yeah, I think getting Richard in, we're gonna get Richard Richard in on a future.
• 50:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think we can get him in soon to talk about it because it's it's fascinating.
• 50:08
  SPEAKER_00: And I I mean that that's you know two hours talking to him about community, uh, because he knows how to create places, that's what he's done.
• 50:15
  SPEAKER_00: He's built tens of thousands of houses and uh and locations.
• 50:18
  SPEAKER_00: So that'll be an interesting episode.
• 50:20
  SPEAKER_05: Mm-hmm for us.
• 50:21
  SPEAKER_00: But anyway, guys, uh thanks for listening in today.
• 50:24
  SPEAKER_00: And uh I hope you've learned a thing or two about community and place and space creation.
• 50:30
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks, bye.