Latest / Clydesdale Media Podcast / Mark Shortt | The Man behind THICCBOI and a True Fan of the Sport

Transcript

Mark Shortt | The Man behind THICCBOI and a True Fan of the Sport · Clydesdale Media Podcast

0:10
I was born to kill it.
0:13
I was meant to win.
0:14
I am down and willing,
0:15
so I will find a way.
0:17
It took a minute,
0:18
now it didn't have to ride away.
0:19
When it get hot in the kitchen,
0:21
you decide to stay.
0:22
That's how a winner's made.
0:23
Stick a fork in
0:33
what's going on everybody
0:34
welcome to the Clydesdale
0:35
media podcast my name is
0:37
Scott Schweitzer I'm the
0:38
Clydesdale my man with me
0:40
today Mark Short he is
0:43
Thick Boy what's up dude
0:46
how you doing man doing
0:47
good man it's good to see
0:48
it's good to finally be on here
0:50
Yeah,
0:51
so do we need to start the show off
0:53
with a riff about Michigan traffic?
0:57
Bro, Michigan traffic isn't terrible.
1:01
It's the east side of
1:02
Michigan traffic that's horrible.
1:05
But if you live in Michigan
1:08
or if you know this,
1:09
for some reason right now,
1:11
all of Michigan is under construction,
1:13
like all of it.
1:15
Like they just decided to do
1:17
all the construction already.
1:18
all at the same time.
1:19
And they just shut down like
1:21
multiple highways with no plan.
1:23
Like I, it's like a mix of me is like,
1:25
thanks for fixing this.
1:27
And also this sucks.
1:30
Yeah.
1:31
Yeah.
1:31
We went up to hang with Jamie for quarters,
1:35
quarters or semis.
1:37
Yeah.
1:39
And my God, man, just trying to get to,
1:42
and then they don't have
1:43
tall enough ropes at her gym.
1:45
Oh, geez.
1:46
We had to go like an hour away.
1:48
Yeah.
1:48
That bad traffic again.
1:50
Yeah.
1:51
Just to watch a rope climb.
1:52
Dude.
1:54
It's not like there's, it's not like it's,
1:56
you know, it's not a metropolis.
1:59
You know,
1:59
you think of like Chicago or Minneapolis.
2:02
It's not like that here.
2:04
Now over by Detroit,
2:05
it gets a little busier,
2:06
but the East side is,
2:07
Like the suburbs of Detroit
2:09
is not terrible,
2:10
but just the layout of the roads,
2:12
it's just everything is
2:13
clogged instantly.
2:15
So I was over there this
2:17
morning picking up
2:17
something and turned around
2:19
and came back and I thought I'd be fine,
2:20
but got caught up.
2:23
It's horrible, man.
2:24
So I told you before we went live,
2:26
I'll tell the audience,
2:27
we're going live without a script.
2:28
This is just you and me chatting.
2:31
I want people to get to know who you are,
2:34
why you started Thick Boy,
2:35
but I also know you're a
2:36
big fan of the sport.
2:38
And we're going to talk
2:38
about some of the hot
2:39
topics going on in CrossFit.
2:42
So let's start with...
2:45
Thick Boy, why did you start it?
2:48
How did it come to be?
2:51
And where are you today?
2:52
Because I know I call you
2:54
the hardest working man in
2:55
the CrossFit space.
2:58
Well, thank you.
2:59
It's humbling that you would say that,
3:01
but there's lots of hard
3:02
workers out there.
3:05
I never in a million years
3:06
would have thought I would
3:08
own an apparel company.
3:11
And also we have a print company as well.
3:13
Never in a million years
3:13
would thought that would be
3:14
my life trajectory in any capacity.
3:18
By trade, I'm a chemist, a scientist,
3:22
went to Michigan State University,
3:25
dual degree in chemistry and geoscience.
3:27
Before that I was a veteran and I worked,
3:30
I was in US Coast Guard and
3:31
did search and rescue.
3:32
So I've kind of worked a few
3:33
different life careers and
3:36
each have had their own
3:39
unique sides of them.
3:42
coming out of college,
3:43
I thought this was it.
3:44
I love science, love science.
3:46
It was incredible.
3:47
Um, worked for the state of Michigan.
3:49
Uh, Hey, are we allowed to cuss on here?
3:52
Is that,
3:52
is that something that's feasible?
3:55
Probably shouldn't like PG 13.
3:57
I'm going to really try.
3:59
I'm going to really try.
4:00
Okay.
4:01
Um, if they go, I let them go,
4:03
but we try to keep it as
4:05
family friendly as possible, but okay.
4:08
I'll really try to, to rein it in.
4:10
Um,
4:12
I worked for the state of
4:13
Michigan as a lab scientist
4:14
for like six months out of college.
4:16
And I was like, this is horrible.
4:19
So I started my own
4:20
consulting firm and I did
4:22
chemical consulting for about four years,
4:26
just shy of five years and
4:29
just helped a lot of like
4:31
pharmaceutical companies or
4:33
just manufacturing
4:33
companies with their labs,
4:36
putting together the labs
4:37
or remediating any issues
4:38
with their laboratory equipment.
4:40
And the kind of person that I am,
4:42
I like to master something
4:45
when I get into it.
4:46
When I was younger,
4:47
I thought that I was wishy-washy,
4:49
but really what it was is I
4:52
like to get into something
4:53
and master that thing.
4:54
I want to know everything about it.
4:56
And once I learn something
4:58
to the absolute brim of what it is,
5:02
it becomes boring to me.
5:04
Like if I, if, and this job,
5:06
this consulting,
5:06
it was the same thing over and over.
5:08
I was really good at it,
5:09
but it became boring.
5:10
Um,
5:11
I made more money than I knew what to
5:13
do with and realized that
5:15
that's not what this is all
5:17
about anyways.
5:18
Um, um, I'm not married, no kids and, um,
5:24
was in the CrossFit scene
5:25
since like 2015 and loved that.
5:28
And that was really a fun
5:29
part of my life and me and my best friend,
5:31
Andy.
5:32
In the gym,
5:34
we would call each other thick boys.
5:37
Some of us are not just
5:38
meant to be super lean.
5:39
We're just kind of thick boys.
5:40
It's just a joke.
5:42
Like a Clydesdale.
5:43
Like a Clydesdale, right.
5:46
So we just jokingly came up
5:48
with some apparel a couple years back.
5:51
And then we had the idea.
5:53
We're like,
5:54
what if we just launch an
5:55
apparel company?
5:55
And this was still while I
5:56
was doing consulting.
5:57
And...
6:02
It kind of grew a little bit
6:03
and then I realized I really loved it.
6:05
And I was like, okay, well,
6:06
if we're going to do this,
6:07
then we need to like do it, do it.
6:10
And I knew enough about
6:13
starting my own career,
6:15
starting my own business to
6:16
know that if you go into
6:19
something not at 100%,
6:22
it's not going to turn out.
6:23
Because there's a lot of
6:24
people out there that are
6:25
putting in 100% or more.
6:28
So I decided at that point, I'm like, well,
6:29
if we're going to do this, let's do it.
6:31
and I went all in.
6:33
Andy helped with capital
6:34
investment up front,
6:36
and he still is a big part
6:37
of the company.
6:39
He is married with two kids,
6:42
full-time job.
6:43
And so he kind of sits in
6:45
the background and helps
6:47
with background stuff while
6:48
I end up being the face of the company.
6:51
And so
6:52
We launched unofficially
6:54
like January 1st of last year.
6:57
And so it's been about a year and a half.
6:59
We didn't even really make
7:00
our first dollar till like
7:02
August of last year.
7:05
So technically we haven't
7:05
even really been around for
7:07
a full year yet, but this it's been,
7:10
it's been crazy.
7:11
It's been hard to keep up.
7:12
And honestly,
7:13
this is the most fun I've had
7:15
in a career in my life.
7:18
And so just to get to like
7:19
the business stuff out of the way,
7:20
Fitboy,
7:23
or yeah,
7:23
thick boy dot fit where you can go
7:26
to get your apparel.
7:27
But when you're out on the road,
7:29
you have like exclusive
7:30
merch that you can't get on the website.
7:33
So this is, this is crazy.
7:37
I don't know what I'm doing.
7:39
I, I,
7:41
I tend to be somebody who I don't
7:43
like to follow the norm.
7:44
I don't like to take the
7:46
models that have been done
7:47
and even have worked in the past and,
7:50
To the core of who I am, I am a forger.
7:53
I like to create my own path.
7:56
Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
7:59
We've had a lot of success
8:00
in what we're doing now.
8:03
And one of the ideas that I
8:04
had is I wanted to,
8:07
instead of pushing the online sales,
8:09
which we see a lot of
8:10
apparel companies do,
8:11
I wanted to really limit
8:15
what is available online
8:17
and encourage people to come
8:19
see us in person.
8:21
It creates a little bit of a
8:21
scarcity for the products.
8:23
And we've had a lot of
8:23
messages about people that
8:25
want to buy stuff.
8:26
But I want to see you guys.
8:28
I don't just want to be some figment.
8:30
You know,
8:31
I think of big companies that are great.
8:32
I think of like Born
8:33
Primitive is like one of my
8:34
favorite companies.
8:35
But I know nothing about the
8:38
owner or the structure of the company.
8:40
And the way that I'm setting
8:42
this up is I want people to know me.
8:45
Like,
8:45
I don't want this to just be another
8:47
company.
8:47
I want to be a part of the
8:49
culture and that's why
8:51
we've made it a huge point to, I mean,
8:55
be all over the country.
8:58
every weekend at local events,
9:00
small or big, and to meet the people,
9:03
to invest in the community.
9:06
I want to support the athletes.
9:08
That is the core of who I am.
9:12
And those that know me and
9:14
know this business know
9:15
that that's a true thing.
9:17
We just want to be a part of
9:21
the community.
9:22
And so pulling stuff off of our website,
9:28
and making it available in person only,
9:31
encourages people to come
9:32
out to those events.
9:33
I want to see people out of their houses,
9:36
off their couches,
9:37
come to these local events,
9:38
support the community,
9:40
support these events,
9:41
and it's gonna encourage
9:42
everything that I believe in.
9:45
So Sarah Cooper asks,
9:46
how did you connect with Scott?
9:48
Oh, geez.
9:49
And I think it's actually
9:50
like a... So you live in Lansing,
9:53
Michigan currently.
9:54
Yeah.
9:55
As of this minute.
9:57
As of today, correct.
9:59
Okay.
10:00
And you live near Jamie Latimer's gym.
10:04
Yeah, like a block away.
10:05
Yeah.
10:06
So...
10:08
You support Jamie.
10:09
You go to her gym and you
10:11
support Jamie as well as an athlete.
10:13
Yeah, she's incredible.
10:15
And she has modeled some of your stuff.
10:18
That is how the connection began.
10:20
Then she reached out to you
10:23
about maybe sponsoring the
10:25
show a little bit.
10:26
You and I talked.
10:27
You came into town for the Arnold event.
10:29
I had just gotten out of the hospital.
10:31
It was a weird freaking week.
10:34
But you and I met, had dinner,
10:35
and we've been friends ever since.
10:38
Yeah, we really have.
10:39
And I think the friendship
10:41
we have is probably one of
10:43
my favorites because the
10:46
type of person I am, I push back.
10:50
I am a challenger by nature.
10:53
Not just in my personal life,
10:54
but I feel like it's
10:56
important to have friends
10:57
that challenge you.
10:58
That creates growth.
11:00
You are not going to grow as
11:01
a person if people don't
11:02
challenge anything and everything.
11:05
So by nature, that's who I am,
11:07
but I also think that's who you are.
11:09
So some of our Instagram messages,
11:11
just back and forth, I'm like,
11:12
I love this because you
11:14
challenge my thought process.
11:15
And that's a friendship that I treasure.
11:17
Yeah,
11:18
and then that even moved on to
11:19
Carolyn Prevost.
11:21
You supported her during
11:23
semifinals this year.
11:24
Yeah.
11:25
Which I know she was hugely
11:27
appreciative of.
11:28
And we all love your stuff.
11:30
Thank you.
11:31
Freaking awesome.
11:32
Thank you.
11:34
So that's how that all happened.
11:38
And then the plans are that
11:39
we're actually going to do
11:40
more together in the future.
11:43
So you currently have, like you said,
11:47
every weekend you're somewhere.
11:48
Yeah.
11:50
the plan is starting this
11:51
fall to really kind of
11:53
coordinate our schedules
11:54
and for Clydesdale media to
11:56
be with Mark at events and
11:59
to bring athletes, whether small,
12:02
large events, local athletes,
12:05
or games athletes to the
12:08
booth where thick boy is
12:10
selling their apparel and
12:11
doing interviews live there in the booth.
12:15
I think it brings such a
12:16
cool element that we haven't seen before.
12:19
Um,
12:20
In the, in like the vendor area,
12:22
because it pulls the
12:23
community into the athletes.
12:25
It kind of bridges the gap that we always,
12:27
I feel like as a spectator,
12:28
there's a barrier between
12:30
you and the athletes,
12:31
even if it's a small event
12:33
and this can kind of bridge that gap.
12:35
Well,
12:36
and some of the best stories are from
12:38
the athletes you haven't heard of yet.
12:40
Yep.
12:41
right and and so we want to
12:43
bring those to you in that
12:44
way to make it more
12:46
intimate and the
12:47
interaction back and forth
12:49
between and the way I do my
12:51
interviews if you're there
12:53
in person and you have a
12:54
question like we'll bring
12:55
you into the fold and and
12:57
kind of do all that so
12:59
that's what the plan is I
13:01
think it's going to start
13:01
at the masters games it's
13:04
gonna be super fun
13:05
Uh,
13:06
if we get the approval tomorrow to do a
13:09
full behind the scenes,
13:10
we'll be doing a full
13:11
behind the scenes there.
13:12
But occasionally I'm going
13:13
to go back to the booth,
13:15
bring an athlete back and
13:16
do the interview there with
13:18
Mark at the thick boy tent.
13:20
it's going to be so much fun.
13:21
There is more than a handful
13:23
of athletes that are going
13:25
to be at the masters games
13:26
that we fully support.
13:30
And I'm just, honestly, I'm super excited.
13:32
So super excited to see Jamie and,
13:35
and Jen Dieters and a,
13:39
and a few others that are out there.
13:41
Just, I, I love what was with you.
13:44
I love Jen.
13:45
Yeah.
13:45
We're, we're still figuring it out.
13:46
Yeah.
13:46
I met her back at legends.
13:48
She's awesome.
13:48
Yeah.
13:50
And it's funny because a lot
13:52
of people ask me, like,
13:53
are you going to the games?
13:54
Are you going to set up a booth?
13:54
And we're not this year for a few reasons.
13:58
The games seems a little
14:00
volatile right now,
14:02
especially just with everything.
14:04
But on the vendor side,
14:06
you were looking at a booth
14:08
space that's north of $20,000,
14:10
and the vendor village is a
14:15
few blocks away.
14:17
And this is the first year
14:18
at a new location and
14:20
there's going to be less
14:21
athletes and arguably less
14:23
spectators and they want more money.
14:25
It just seems it's too much
14:26
for a first year.
14:27
I wanted to let a first year go by,
14:29
but Mark is off and running.
14:33
But with that,
14:35
I love the masters community
14:37
and the adaptive community.
14:39
Like they are just so special to my heart.
14:42
The masters community is like,
14:43
they've lost the,
14:46
sometimes the elite athletes,
14:47
there can be a level of like,
14:50
just like they know who they are.
14:52
And that's, I mean, great people, amazing,
14:54
amazing people.
14:55
But the Masters community is like,
14:57
we get to do this at a high level.
15:00
And it's just,
15:01
there's a different feel to
15:02
the Masters games.
15:04
And I love it.
15:05
And then the adaptive community is like,
15:07
oh my God, these people are just amazing.
15:10
the, I mean,
15:11
if you want to model your
15:12
personality and your life
15:13
after a group of people,
15:15
like the adaptive community is just,
15:17
they're, they're unlike anyone I've met.
15:20
Sarah Cooper says,
15:21
I'm a small international athlete.
15:22
You can find me at the 7 30 PM class.
15:26
That's awesome.
15:28
Oh, and you mean at redemption?
15:31
No, no, no, no.
15:32
She's, she's actually in Canada.
15:34
Oh, cool.
15:34
International.
15:37
But yeah,
15:38
That's really cool.
15:39
Well, welcome, Sarah.
15:39
Thanks for watching.
15:43
So I think it's important.
15:48
I look at a lot of these different brands.
15:50
I think the thing that sets me apart,
15:55
I will rarely jump on board
15:58
with a real large athlete.
16:00
I feel like it's been done a lot of times.
16:03
I want to create an army of...
16:06
low to mid-level athletes
16:08
people that are pushing
16:09
really hard I want to
16:10
support the the majority of
16:13
the crossfitters um and if
16:16
you are somebody that is
16:18
wanting to compete at a low
16:20
or even a mid-level um if
16:23
you reach out to me we will
16:24
support you like I'll send
16:25
you a package of thick boy
16:26
stuff and say thank you so
16:28
much for competing like
16:29
this is what the sport is all about um
16:32
And I pretty much do that
16:34
regardless of your
16:36
followers or your status.
16:39
I want to create an industry
16:40
where we just support the
16:43
heck out of each other,
16:45
if that makes sense.
16:46
Kenneth Zalap, an army of workhorses.
16:49
Yeah.
16:50
I mean,
16:50
I don't want to have one big person.
16:52
I want to have 10,000 people by my side.
16:56
We're all here.
16:57
I mean, that's what this is all about.
17:01
So I want to,
17:02
I want to put a pin in your
17:03
comments about vendor of the games.
17:06
Cause I want to come back to that,
17:08
but real quick, what I like to call,
17:12
what I like to call the mid majors is,
17:16
is where you've done a lot
17:17
of work lately.
17:18
And that's like the Metcon rushes,
17:21
the monster games, um,
17:24
fittest on the coast, um, beach brawl,
17:27
all these ones that are
17:28
popping up all over the country.
17:29
And I,
17:30
and I truly believe that that's
17:33
where athletes are going to
17:33
make their most money and
17:35
get the most respect
17:36
because the games aren't
17:37
paying out anything.
17:39
Right.
17:40
And,
17:40
and I think Nick Matthew is on a show
17:42
the other day, uh,
17:44
with be friendly actually,
17:45
and talking about like,
17:47
he's going to make more
17:47
money doing reps ahead and
17:50
Metcon rush than he would
17:52
have if he would have made the games.
17:53
Yep.
17:55
so those are the events
17:56
you're going to just real quick,
17:58
the next two months,
18:00
where can people find you?
18:01
Oh, geez.
18:04
Uh, let's see.
18:05
July, um, is going to be, I have to pull,
18:07
I have to pull up my
18:08
calendar cause things get so crazy.
18:10
I'll stop my head.
18:11
I know you're at the battle at the barn.
18:14
Uh, let's go, let's go, uh, consecutively.
18:18
Okay.
18:18
Um,
18:19
So July,
18:20
we're going to be at Monster Games,
18:21
and that's the 12th through
18:22
the 14th in Joplin, Missouri.
18:24
And then the next weekend,
18:27
the 20th and the 21st,
18:28
is Metcon Rush in Hagerstown, Maryland.
18:31
And then the next week in
18:33
the 27th is going to be
18:34
Battle at the Barn in Milford, Michigan.
18:39
If there is any local event
18:41
I stand behind more than anything else,
18:43
it's Battle at the Barn.
18:46
Dustin Bosher is running it.
18:49
He is the owner of Stream
18:50
Fit along with Scott Panczyk.
18:52
And this is an event to
18:55
raise money for cancer.
18:56
If you're in the local Michigan area,
18:58
go check it out.
18:59
All the proceeds go to cancer research.
19:02
It's gonna be great.
19:04
Then August 3rd,
19:05
we're gonna be at the Big
19:07
Red Rumble in Holland, Michigan.
19:10
Then I have two beautiful weeks off,
19:13
which is weird.
19:15
August 10th,
19:15
we're going to be at the games,
19:17
but we're actually going to be there.
19:18
I'm going to be in the
19:22
CrossFit Games divisional tent booth,
19:25
helping with handout stuff
19:27
for Wheelwod and for the Masters games.
19:31
And then the 24th, we're going to be down,
19:34
August 24th,
19:34
we're going to be down in Bryan,
19:37
Texas for the BCS Classic.
19:40
And then the next weekend is
19:42
the Masters CrossFit Games in Birmingham.
19:46
There you go.
19:47
And just to sum that up,
19:48
then you're going to do Wheelwod too,
19:49
the Wheelwod Games.
19:50
At the end of September, yeah.
19:53
Yeah,
19:53
so you're doing both of those divisional,
19:55
what they're now calling
19:56
themselves divisional games.
19:59
So CrossFit didn't want them,
20:02
like Wheelwod and Masters Games,
20:05
they wanted to go to the CrossFit Games.
20:08
and promote themselves,
20:09
which they should do.
20:11
I feel like they have the
20:13
right to do that.
20:14
But the CrossFit Games
20:15
didn't want them using the
20:16
CrossFit logo on anything
20:17
they were doing.
20:19
So they were like, oh, okay, well,
20:21
we'll just create our own logo then.
20:23
So I have had the
20:24
opportunity to create
20:25
apparel for what they're
20:26
calling the divisional games.
20:27
And so we'll be there for that.
20:30
I've been honored enough to
20:32
be a presenting sponsor for
20:33
both the Masters Games and
20:35
the Wheelwod Games, which is just,
20:38
it's overwhelming the
20:39
support that they give.
20:41
And I'm just super thankful
20:43
to be a part of that.
20:45
So let's back that up.
20:48
CrossFit made the decision
20:50
to split off Masters
20:52
Adaptive and Teens into
20:54
their own CrossFit games.
20:56
Correct.
20:56
One is being held in San
20:58
Antonio at the end of September.
21:00
That's Adaptive.
21:01
Masters and Teens are both
21:03
on Labor Day weekend, which is stupid.
21:06
One in Three Rivers,
21:08
Michigan and Kalamazoo.
21:10
The other one in Birmingham, Alabama.
21:15
Yep.
21:16
They wanted to come to the
21:17
games to promote their games.
21:20
Correct.
21:20
And CrossFit said, sure,
21:22
but you can't use our logo.
21:24
And you have to pay for a booth.
21:26
And you have to pay for a booth.
21:28
Yep.
21:30
So not only are we
21:31
jettisoning you off to your own thing,
21:35
we're not even giving you a
21:36
break on what you can do to
21:37
promote it at our games.
21:39
Correct.
21:42
How do you feel about that?
21:43
I feel like there's...
21:46
don't I don't know what's
21:47
going on with crossfit
21:48
anymore um I feel like each
21:50
year goes by there's it's
21:53
like one thing happened and
21:54
everyone's like oh that's
21:55
weird and then like the
21:57
next year comes and there
21:58
was like one or two things
21:59
and I was like that's weird
22:01
because I've been a part of
22:02
crossfit since 2015 back
22:04
when regionals like the six
22:06
team regionals were happening um
22:09
And for me,
22:10
it just felt like an oiled machine,
22:11
right?
22:13
It was CrossFit.
22:14
It was what it was.
22:17
But apparently those
22:18
regionals and all that
22:19
stuff cost a lot of money,
22:20
so they were trying to
22:21
offset the cost of that stuff.
22:23
That's fine.
22:23
I understand it.
22:25
But then Greg Glassman up and leaves,
22:29
and then it was like no one
22:33
knew what was going on.
22:34
And then since then, I feel like
22:38
I just feel like there's
22:38
been such inconsistency,
22:42
but not just... I feel like
22:44
the inconsistency came from the top down,
22:46
but it's bled into every
22:47
part of the organization.
22:49
And that makes it really hard.
22:50
I mean, if you have an inconsistent leader,
22:54
that's going to bleed into
22:55
every part of the organization.
22:59
And there's just been a lot
23:01
of inconsistency.
23:02
And then
23:03
And then there's
23:04
inconsistency with
23:04
standards and with judging
23:06
and with the media a few years back.
23:10
And I think the media now
23:13
and the releasing of Sean
23:15
Woodland and I'm just like
23:17
and Nikki and I'm just like, what?
23:19
What?
23:20
Like if you're going to do things,
23:24
be humans,
23:26
like be human about what's going on.
23:30
And treat people, I mean,
23:32
I understand like
23:33
organizations have to change,
23:34
they have to grow,
23:35
they have to let people go, but how about,
23:37
you know,
23:38
let's treat people like humans
23:40
during that process.
23:41
And I feel like CrossFit as
23:43
an organization has lost
23:45
the entire heart of what
23:47
CrossFit actually is.
23:50
So when Berkshire came in and took over,
23:53
it was all done with smoke and mirrors,
23:54
right?
23:56
Eric Rosa is the owner,
23:59
but he's really hiding the
24:01
fact that this private
24:02
equity company is the one
24:03
that's taking over.
24:05
And he's making all these
24:06
outlandish statements and
24:08
how he's going to save everything.
24:10
And they're just going to
24:11
become a data company and
24:12
do what they need to do to
24:13
survive and get through
24:16
COVID and all that kind of stuff.
24:18
But when you start off...
24:20
the ball rolling with lies
24:22
and deceit hiding behind Eric Rosa,
24:30
you're,
24:30
you're on a downward spiral already.
24:34
If you lead with deceit,
24:37
how can you ever come to a
24:39
point of trust?
24:41
Right.
24:43
And that's where we are today.
24:44
Like this spiral has been
24:46
going on now for four years and,
24:49
and even your best efforts
24:51
are going to fall short
24:53
because nobody trusts what you say.
24:55
No one.
24:56
And the weird thing is,
24:57
is it's bleeding into parts
24:58
of the organization.
24:59
I don't think anyone was anticipating,
25:02
you know,
25:02
cause I think everything is connected.
25:04
I think the inconsistencies
25:05
with judging this year,
25:07
which across the board,
25:09
everyone has their own opinion.
25:11
The bottom line is there was
25:12
inconsistencies.
25:13
The fact that anyone is even
25:15
talking about it is inconsistent.
25:17
Like judging is,
25:19
And standards for movements
25:20
shouldn't be inconsistent, but they were.
25:23
And no one knows what will
25:27
be the movement that they
25:28
hammer next year.
25:29
That's not consistent.
25:31
And the fact that they're
25:33
letting people go with no
25:34
warning or no explanation,
25:39
the lack of communication
25:40
across the board, right?
25:42
I mean,
25:42
if you're going to hammer people
25:44
with a judging standard, okay,
25:45
that's fine.
25:46
But how about you just
25:47
explain what they were looking at?
25:50
The lack of communication,
25:51
the lack of honesty,
25:53
the smoke and mirrors seems
25:54
to be bleeding down into
25:56
the parts of the
25:57
organization I don't think
25:58
anybody was expecting.
26:00
Yeah,
26:01
you make these decisions and Paige
26:04
Powers doesn't make it on to semifinals,
26:06
but you're not really
26:07
saying why until three
26:10
weeks after the fact.
26:12
Or sometimes not at all.
26:14
Right, if you say it at all.
26:16
Yeah,
26:16
I think Kelly Stone falls into that
26:19
category where she never even heard back.
26:23
She made an appeal, they said no,
26:25
but the explanation was never even there.
26:29
And that's just poor.
26:30
That's a poor way to run the organization.
26:32
I mean,
26:34
regardless of what my opinion is on
26:36
how that went down,
26:38
How about let's just communicate?
26:40
That's, I mean, that's a pretty low level.
26:44
That's setting the bar pretty low.
26:47
As a multi-million dollar organization,
26:50
multi-hundred million dollar organization,
26:52
let's just communicate.
26:55
It's a wild idea.
26:57
We've been screaming from the mountaintop,
26:59
communication sucks, for four years.
27:03
Probably longer than that.
27:04
Because even before the sale,
27:06
CrossFit was not great at communication.
27:11
No.
27:11
But the inconsistencies
27:13
weren't there to highlight
27:15
all that to the levels
27:17
we're talking about today.
27:18
Yeah, it's just weird.
27:22
You know,
27:22
I think that's why I'm digging my
27:25
heels into this,
27:27
into so many of these local, I mean,
27:29
like,
27:30
It was just a couple of months ago,
27:31
I did a fundraiser up here in Chessoning,
27:34
Michigan,
27:34
and I think there was 40 people total.
27:36
And I loved it.
27:37
And I met Stacey Rolfe,
27:45
who is a former games athlete,
27:47
and her daughter is Haley,
27:48
who was a 17-year-old games athlete.
27:52
And I got to meet them.
27:54
And they run a tiny gym in
27:56
the middle of nowhere, Michigan.
27:58
And I'm like,
27:59
this is the CrossFit that I love.
28:04
This is what I want to do.
28:06
These are the people.
28:08
And you get a lot of
28:11
corporations and companies
28:12
want to go in and they want
28:13
the big scene.
28:14
They want the waterpalooza.
28:15
They want the games.
28:16
They want the 20-foot booth
28:17
and the big banners and all this stuff.
28:19
And I'm just so not interested in that.
28:24
And it all kind of boils
28:25
down to that same basic thing is like,
28:29
I'm not interested in the spectator,
28:31
the glam,
28:32
and especially because of how
28:35
many people that have a bad
28:37
taste in their mouth with
28:39
everything that's happening.
28:40
I'm just like,
28:41
let's get back to the grassroots,
28:44
like what this is all about.
28:47
It's funny.
28:48
I met Haley Rall for the
28:49
first time this year.
28:52
One of my favorite people.
28:53
She's so sweet.
28:55
Well, and she's brutally honest.
28:57
She's willing to talk in a
28:58
camera and say what's on her mind,
29:01
which as a media person, you just love.
29:05
Like, I don't want the, the,
29:07
the contrived answer that
29:09
you came up with three
29:10
weeks ago that you're going
29:12
to say in this situation, she's,
29:14
she's going to tell me how
29:15
she feels in that moment.
29:17
And it's gold.
29:19
Oh yeah.
29:20
Well,
29:20
I think it's different being an athlete.
29:22
You know, I'm on the outside,
29:23
you're on the outside.
29:24
Um,
29:25
I stand there, but I see it every weekend.
29:28
I'm interacting with these
29:29
people every single week.
29:32
And I'm still on the outside, though.
29:34
So it is interesting being
29:36
able to talk to the
29:37
individuals that are
29:38
experiencing this in real time.
29:41
I was able to connect with Nick Matthew.
29:43
He's awesome.
29:43
Up in Minnesota a few weeks
29:45
back at game day, he was just spectating.
29:49
And to be able to just ask
29:51
him a few questions and
29:52
hear what he had to say,
29:52
it's just different.
29:54
It's different because they
29:56
experienced it versus me observing it.
30:00
Yeah.
30:00
And it's funny,
30:01
like when I turn off the record button,
30:05
what an athlete will tell
30:06
you at that point versus
30:09
what they'll tell you live on the air.
30:12
And you really get how they
30:14
feel about what's going on.
30:16
Yeah.
30:17
Well, you know,
30:18
people don't want to
30:19
criminalize themselves or
30:20
get canceled these days.
30:21
Well, and I,
30:23
and that was my next question to you.
30:24
Like we get these responses
30:27
from people because we've
30:28
built trust with them,
30:30
but there's a fear.
30:33
There is a fear currently
30:34
that if you say something
30:35
against CrossFit,
30:36
there's going to be retaliation.
30:38
Oh yeah.
30:40
And it's real.
30:42
And there's people out there
30:43
that say it isn't real,
30:44
but it is a real thing.
30:46
I have heard it time after
30:48
time after time.
30:49
Well,
30:50
you got to think if these individuals
30:53
are creating a life,
30:56
that this is their career
30:58
that they have chosen.
31:00
And it kind of all revolves
31:02
around a single event that
31:04
happens once a year.
31:05
Now, I mean,
31:05
there are other events that happen, but
31:09
a single event that the
31:10
whole year kind of builds up towards,
31:14
you are putting all of your
31:17
eggs in the basket of CrossFit,
31:19
please don't screw me.
31:22
And at any time,
31:23
if you do say something and
31:25
it gets back to them,
31:27
they could disqualify you
31:29
for a reason like, oh,
31:30
your hips weren't open on a
31:31
box jump or a box step up.
31:34
And there's no way that you
31:35
would actually know if that's the thing.
31:38
So I understand the fear
31:39
that the athlete might come
31:41
into by not saying the
31:42
wrong thing about CrossFit
31:45
because they hold the hands.
31:48
CrossFit holds the
31:51
well-being of these
31:53
athletes in their hands.
31:54
And that's a scary point,
31:56
knowing that CrossFit never
31:58
communicates and makes
32:00
egregious decisions at a whim.
32:05
Do you think – so I'm going
32:07
to – you mentioned Sean
32:08
Woodland and Nikki Brazier.
32:10
Both of them have podcasts
32:13
that are separate and apart
32:14
from CrossFit.
32:16
Yeah.
32:18
Chase Ingram and Adrian Conway,
32:20
who I have – from a very reliable source,
32:23
I have as the color guy for
32:24
this year's games, is Adrian Conway.
32:28
So they both have a podcast
32:31
that is a part of CrossFit.
32:33
Hmm.
32:34
Chase has his own get with
32:35
the programming as well,
32:36
but he's also... Do you
32:40
think that they want people
32:42
that they have under
32:44
contract with the CrossFit
32:48
podcast and have more
32:50
control over announcing the
32:52
games as opposed to
32:54
bringing in an outside
32:55
source to do it again?
32:57
It's so strange.
33:00
Like...
33:03
Things are never as they appear,
33:04
first and foremost.
33:07
We get a very small glimpse
33:09
of probably conversations
33:11
that have happened for
33:11
weeks behind doors.
33:13
And for us to draw a
33:15
conclusion is probably
33:16
unfair to a lot of people.
33:20
But because there's no indication,
33:24
we're left to come up with
33:25
our own theories.
33:27
This is the best we got.
33:29
So with that said...
33:32
You have to put the pieces together,
33:35
and those pieces look like
33:38
CrossFit is slowly cutting
33:42
ties with anyone that
33:43
doesn't have probably
33:45
strong either contracts or
33:47
strong affiliations with,
33:48
which is concerning.
33:52
I don't know what they're doing.
33:55
No one knows what is going on.
33:59
This is you want to build a
34:01
community that trusts you.
34:04
And I feel like every
34:04
decision they are making is
34:06
breaking any ounce of trust
34:08
that they have ever had.
34:11
I've gotten no less than 20
34:14
DMs since I posted the Sean
34:16
Woodland news yesterday and
34:17
the Nikki news yesterday.
34:19
And all of them are saying, well,
34:21
it's cost cutting.
34:22
It's cost cutting.
34:23
but I think that's the
34:24
narrative that Dawn fall
34:26
has been promoting is it's all about cut,
34:29
trimming the fat, cutting the cost.
34:32
But I think it's more than that.
34:33
I think it has to be,
34:35
it's gotta be more than that.
34:37
I mean,
34:37
at this point they are not fronting
34:39
the cost for any of the masters,
34:42
any of the adaptive, any of the teens, um,
34:44
those divisional games are
34:45
fronting the cost for the
34:47
CrossFit games out of their pocket.
34:49
Um,
34:50
CrossFit is providing a little support,
34:52
and those that are involved
34:55
really have scripted
34:56
responses on how supportive
34:59
CrossFit is on the back end.
35:01
You can just tell it's scripted.
35:02
This is what you're supposed
35:03
to say when people ask you things.
35:07
But they've trimmed the fat.
35:09
They got rid of the whole
35:10
media department.
35:11
Now they're getting rid of
35:12
all the divisional games.
35:13
They're getting rid of, like,
35:14
what are they doing?
35:16
The amount of affiliates
35:17
that pay $3,300 a year all goes to them.
35:21
I mean, that's just for the name CrossFit,
35:25
let alone all of the other
35:27
income that comes into that organization.
35:29
I can't... What cost...
35:35
Is it to have Sean Woodland
35:37
and Nikki Brazier?
35:38
I mean,
35:40
what are they actually paying them
35:42
for a week of their time?
35:44
It's not millions.
35:45
Trimming the fat by releasing two people,
35:48
that's not even a drop in the bucket.
35:52
Let's do a 30,000-foot view
35:54
here and see the cost of
35:58
having two incredible
36:00
announcers on their team
36:03
And letting them go because of money,
36:06
it does not add up.
36:10
So Kenneth the Lap asks,
36:11
is TEF considered third-party media?
36:14
Yes, it is.
36:15
Talking Elite Fitness is its own company.
36:18
It was actually bought by Hamilton Roads,
36:22
who is the company that
36:24
CrossFit hires to broadcast the games.
36:29
So it may seem like
36:34
a little bit,
36:35
but it's really its own
36:37
company and they are an
36:38
outside contract brought in
36:40
to do that broadcast.
36:43
Does HQ seem to have a
36:45
vendetta against third-party media?
36:46
Yes.
36:48
I don't even think they
36:51
listen to third-party media
36:53
because it's third-party.
36:55
It's so weird.
36:57
And...
36:58
I have preached it would be
37:01
so cheap for them to take
37:03
media that already exists
37:04
in the space that is
37:06
promoting what they're
37:07
doing and sharing it on
37:09
their YouTube channel,
37:11
sharing it on their social media.
37:13
It's free.
37:14
You just need one person to find it,
37:16
mine it, and put it out there.
37:19
You don't need...
37:21
fifty thousand dollars of
37:22
production cost to make a
37:23
video it's been done it's
37:26
probably been done really
37:27
well and if you just find
37:28
it share it to your page
37:30
yep I i don't understand
37:34
I'm sure if we were to sit
37:37
in these meetings the
37:39
conversations would
37:40
probably go in directions
37:42
that none of us can
37:43
anticipate but of us on the
37:45
outside that are actually
37:46
experiencing it it doesn't make any sense
37:48
Like,
37:49
I can't come up with any logical
37:51
reason why they would let
37:53
Sean and Nikki go, what,
37:58
five weeks out from the games?
38:02
Like, that's silly.
38:04
Like,
38:05
Sean has been around since I came on
38:07
board or since I started CrossFit.
38:10
Like, he has been the announcer.
38:13
He's been announcing the
38:13
games since I've known this.
38:15
And I don't even think about it.
38:20
But hearing they let him go
38:22
and then really the thing
38:24
that just gets me is just like, hey,
38:26
we're going to let you go
38:27
and then not follow it up
38:29
with any sort of logical explanation.
38:33
Especially after the amount
38:35
of time he has given.
38:38
Like a simple explanation is
38:40
just a courtesy of the
38:42
amount of work that you've done.
38:45
I mean, 12 years, geez.
38:47
Yeah.
38:49
Let's let's treat people like people.
38:53
Well,
38:53
and name one time where Sean Woodland
38:57
said something.
38:58
Oh, waves in the space.
39:01
He's the best.
39:02
He's the best of the best.
39:04
Right.
39:05
And it never seems scripted.
39:08
He always seems prepared.
39:10
And Carolyn and Prevo and I
39:12
had this conversation,
39:13
which I'm sure we'll get
39:14
into much deeper on Sunday night,
39:16
is the athletes love Sean
39:18
because he actually talks about them.
39:21
It's one of their backstories, right?
39:24
And so that's why they love him.
39:27
So now you're taking away
39:30
the athlete's favorite broadcaster,
39:35
For what?
39:38
For what?
39:38
No one knows.
39:39
And he's never ruffled a feather.
39:41
He's never... I mean,
39:43
even when he says something
39:44
somewhat controversial,
39:45
he's very polite and
39:49
respectful about that.
39:50
You wouldn't want me in that position.
39:52
I would lose my temper at
39:55
some point and say
39:56
something that would get me in trouble,
39:58
and then, okay.
39:59
Even if I were to somehow
40:01
manage to not cuss...
40:03
that entire time,
40:04
which would probably be impossible.
40:06
I tend to say exactly what I'm thinking.
40:09
And Sean is the highest
40:13
level of professionalism.
40:15
He knows how to deliver
40:16
information and it's not biased.
40:18
He knows how to call the
40:20
games and bring a level of
40:21
excitement too.
40:21
That's hard to do,
40:23
to bring that level of
40:23
excitement during a call,
40:26
like to call it a live event is a talent.
40:30
And he is the best of the best.
40:32
I mean, where do you go from here?
40:35
To be let go without notice,
40:38
without explanation, where do you go?
40:42
I mean, he could go to ESPN, honestly,
40:46
and do really well.
40:48
Corey Leonard says, agreed.
40:49
And he's talking,
40:50
trimming the fat would be
40:51
asking Sean to negotiate a new contract.
40:54
Sure.
40:55
They didn't even give him that option.
40:58
Yeah.
41:01
Fun fact, I lived in Tallahassee,
41:04
Florida from 96 to 2000.
41:06
Sean Woodland was the local
41:10
sports anchor in
41:12
Tallahassee when I was there.
41:14
That's wild.
41:15
So I've known Sean Woodland
41:17
as a sports guy since the late 1990s.
41:21
Wow.
41:24
So this is wild for me.
41:27
But also, I mean, how many people in this,
41:31
in this scene right now are
41:33
really surprised?
41:34
You know,
41:35
I think that that kind of speaks
41:37
to as like a litmus test
41:42
for where we all stand with
41:45
CrossFit as an organization,
41:47
like this happens.
41:49
And the first thing I think is like,
41:52
that sucks.
41:54
Not surprised at all.
41:55
I wonder what else is going to happen.
41:58
I was asked this question
41:59
yesterday in a DM and I was surprised.
42:02
Like, I think I'm just naive, right?
42:07
When I saw the Nikki news,
42:08
that didn't surprise me.
42:10
Because I think they've been
42:12
moving in that direction a little bit.
42:13
There were signs.
42:14
Mike Arsenault has really
42:15
become the main guy.
42:17
Jamie Hygie has been given opportunities.
42:20
Bailey Martin is popping up more and more.
42:24
You see succession planning
42:28
being done in that vein.
42:30
With Sean,
42:32
name another just specific
42:35
play-by-play guy.
42:38
Chase does both.
42:40
One minute he's color,
42:41
one minute he's play-by-play.
42:43
There was no play-by-play succession plan.
42:48
I don't know if there's
42:49
really a plan here.
42:56
Again, I'm probably just being naive.
42:59
I don't know if it's even being naive.
43:04
There's not even enough
43:05
pieces to try to put this
43:07
puzzle together.
43:08
Like I can't jump on board
43:11
the whole trimming,
43:12
even trimming the fat thing,
43:13
because like what
43:14
percentage of their
43:16
contract was the overall
43:18
budget for the games?
43:20
Like it probably wasn't even
43:21
a single percent.
43:23
So it was probably a
43:25
fraction of a percent was
43:26
their contracts.
43:28
So you can't say it's
43:29
trimming the fat because it
43:31
probably didn't make a difference.
43:33
So I don't know.
43:34
I don't know.
43:37
probably what this speaks to
43:38
is the politics that have
43:43
bled into the
43:44
infrastructure of CrossFit
43:46
is probably taking over on
43:48
levels that they are trying to hide.
43:53
And now it's bleeding into
43:54
all the parts that we are seeing.
44:00
Do you ever feel that
44:05
it's all intentional explain
44:10
explain a little more like
44:11
they're like they're trying
44:15
trying to to make it fail
44:18
oh hmm well that makes me
44:23
ask the question I wonder
44:24
if this is intentional as
44:25
like a smoke and mirrors
44:26
for something else that's
44:27
happening are they doing
44:29
this to divert our
44:30
attention because they're
44:31
about to do something else
44:37
Do you have ideas of something else?
44:39
Oh, geez, no.
44:41
All of this is so out of
44:43
left field for me.
44:44
Every time something happens,
44:45
I'm surprised, but not.
44:47
I'm like,
44:48
who would have ever thought Sean
44:51
Woodland would get let go?
44:53
What?
44:54
Well, we all know private equity,
44:56
there's two end results
44:58
when you buy something.
45:00
It's either you turn it
45:01
around to make it a very profitable or
45:04
very profitable business
45:05
that you can sell off as a chunk, right?
45:08
Or the company fails
45:11
miserably and you can write it off.
45:15
Balance the books per se.
45:18
What happens if CrossFit
45:19
fails as an organization?
45:21
What if this is the last
45:22
year of the games as we know it?
45:27
Where does it go from here?
45:28
Like, is it going to turn into
45:31
in a sense,
45:32
individual competitions that
45:34
are going to end up running
45:35
the CrossFit scene versus a
45:36
single kind of like the
45:39
title event that it always has been.
45:41
So,
45:46
I don't think it'll be
45:47
the... Even if CrossFit fails,
45:49
I don't think it's the last
45:50
time we see the games.
45:54
There'll be a fitness games
45:56
of some sort moving forward.
46:00
Who owns it?
46:00
Who runs it?
46:02
Who the hell knows?
46:04
But there's enough there.
46:07
There's enough meat on this
46:08
bone that I think people
46:10
feel they could make it a success.
46:13
You know what I would like
46:14
to see CrossFit do?
46:14
What?
46:17
I know that people sell competitions.
46:20
Like I think Wadapalooza was
46:22
sold to Loud and Live a while back.
46:27
I would love to see CrossFit
46:29
sell the rights to the games to a group,
46:35
a business or a group, you know,
46:37
like the people who run Monster Games,
46:40
Jason Ansley, Joe Linton,
46:42
like people that know how
46:43
to run a competition business.
46:45
and they know how to do it
46:47
at the highest level,
46:49
to take something like the CrossFit Games,
46:51
sell it, get rid of it,
46:54
and give it to an
46:55
organization that knows how
46:56
to run an event,
46:57
like that's their whole life.
46:58
Because CrossFit wasn't about the games.
47:03
The games was a natural
47:05
manifestation of what CrossFit was.
47:10
And especially early on, it was fun.
47:13
And it was just raw and
47:14
organic and real people
47:16
coming together and just
47:17
working out to see how fit you are.
47:19
That's cool.
47:22
And now it's political and controversial.
47:26
Let's sell it.
47:27
Let's sell CrossFit Games to a company,
47:33
an organization that knows
47:35
how to run events really well.
47:36
And let them turn it back
47:38
into the thing that it was.
47:39
Or maybe forward into
47:41
something new that's even better.
47:45
I think the perfect person
47:46
to take that over is Wilson Park.
47:50
When I went to Syndicate Crown in 2022,
47:54
it was a good thing.
47:57
When I went back in 2024,
47:59
they made it a great thing.
48:02
The difference was night and day.
48:05
community event in the
48:06
middle of vendor village
48:08
was popping that they had, uh,
48:13
the signage and drapes over the, the,
48:16
the ugly parts of the arena.
48:18
Like it just,
48:20
it looked like a professional thing,
48:22
roping off the upper sections of seats.
48:24
So the lower sections filled
48:26
up like just brilliant
48:29
thinking about the detail.
48:32
That's what it takes.
48:33
You know,
48:35
and I really think that they
48:37
could do something amazing
48:38
with the games.
48:40
Hmm.
48:41
Interesting.
48:43
Um,
48:43
and they've been at it a long time
48:45
cause they have run the max
48:47
since like 2010, 2011.
48:49
Yeah.
48:51
Um, as a community event,
48:54
they've done a semifinals since 2021.
48:59
That's crazy.
49:00
See,
49:00
and I think this is the direction it
49:02
should go.
49:03
Maybe they're just – maybe
49:06
they are ruining it.
49:07
I don't know.
49:07
I never thought about that,
49:09
like intentionally sabotage
49:11
to create a – I mean – Well,
49:13
you know in business,
49:14
sometimes a loss is a gain
49:16
tax-wise or whatever, right?
49:19
To all the other successes you're having.
49:22
I don't think the games was ever a –
49:25
a point of profit for them.
49:27
I think it was always like
49:29
they spent more than they made.
49:30
I think that was always Greg
49:32
Glassman's big issue with
49:33
the games was they spent so much money.
49:35
But why does,
49:39
why does Don Falk come out in
49:40
a press conference and say,
49:42
we make money in the open
49:44
and we make money at the games.
49:46
It's the middle stuff we
49:47
don't make money in.
49:52
And I see where that would happen.
49:54
When you split off into
49:55
semifinals or a regional type thing,
49:58
that's a lot of events to have,
50:00
and that's where a lot of money went.
50:02
But this year,
50:03
they contracted all that out.
50:05
Loud and Live did the West Coast.
50:07
French Throwdown did Europe.
50:10
12 Labors did the Syndicate Crown.
50:13
So CrossFit didn't do those.
50:14
They got rid of the middle piece.
50:16
now they're getting rid of
50:17
the adaptive piece and now
50:19
they're getting I mean they
50:20
got rid of the media piece
50:21
and then they're getting
50:22
rid of the teams they're
50:24
just getting rid of every
50:25
piece like what's left like
50:29
they're charging more money
50:32
for the vendors to take up
50:33
the same space with less
50:35
appeal like how much money
50:39
do you need to make from
50:40
this like you're not
50:42
breaking even you're
50:42
probably making a little money but
50:45
if this is all about money for you guys,
50:49
pass it off,
50:50
sell it to somebody who does
50:51
this because they love it.
50:54
So I'm going to ask you one
50:55
final question about the games.
50:56
Yeah.
50:56
And then we're running up on the hour.
50:58
So, yeah.
50:59
But you say it's more
51:02
expensive to be a vendor at
51:03
the games this year.
51:04
Yeah.
51:04
It's a less ideal location.
51:06
Yeah.
51:07
I want to be a devil's advocate here.
51:09
Cause I don't want this all
51:10
to be negative.
51:12
You have a new Vendor
51:12
Village style than we've
51:14
ever had in the past.
51:16
In Madison,
51:17
Vendor Village was separate and
51:19
apart from everything else.
51:21
It was in its own building,
51:23
away from both venues where
51:26
the action went on,
51:28
different from the community events,
51:30
all of that.
51:32
Now you have the beer garden.
51:35
Right across the street is
51:36
the community workout area.
51:39
And then you have Vendor
51:40
Village in the beer garden.
51:44
So I hear your argument.
51:47
I think the...
51:48
I mean, the vendor village of medicine,
51:50
I thought was it, it was in between.
51:52
So you had to walk through, I mean,
51:53
you didn't have to,
51:54
but a lot of people walked
51:55
through vendor village to
51:56
get from the Coliseum into the field.
52:00
Um, you are right.
52:01
And through,
52:01
I was trying to get from one
52:03
place to another as a spectator.
52:06
I loved it because I could
52:07
go through and grab a fit aid, um,
52:09
or the year that the monsters were there.
52:12
Um, and that was cool.
52:13
Um, I, I,
52:16
I loved going through vendor village, um,
52:19
The concept that it's a few
52:21
blocks away in the Texas heat, in my mind,
52:26
if I was at the games,
52:29
this is a hard one for me.
52:32
I'm putting myself in a
52:33
spectator role for a few reasons.
52:35
One,
52:36
if I'm going to the CrossFit Games in
52:38
Madison, where they have the masters,
52:41
they have the teens,
52:42
they have the adaptive,
52:43
and I'm there on a Thursday,
52:46
Um, or a Friday when all of them are going,
52:50
uh, consecutively,
52:51
or maybe it's the last day
52:52
of the masters or the last
52:54
day of the adaptive.
52:55
I can be there at 10 in the
52:56
morning and watch the first elite event.
52:59
And then I go over and I
53:01
watch a teen event and then
53:02
a master's event.
53:03
I can literally watch events
53:04
all day from basically
53:05
start to finish pop into
53:07
vendor village a couple of times,
53:08
go get a community workout.
53:09
My day is packed now.
53:12
It's like,
53:12
I'm going to go into the event
53:16
center and I'm going to
53:16
watch the first event for
53:18
the individuals.
53:19
And then I just have to wait
53:22
for the next event,
53:23
which is probably hours between,
53:26
realistically,
53:26
a lot of hours because
53:27
there's nothing else going on.
53:29
There's no other events.
53:31
And so I'm in a sense forced
53:33
to go to leave the event center.
53:35
Okay, well,
53:36
I'm going to go over to Vendor Village,
53:38
which is a walk through the Texas heat,
53:40
which isn't
53:42
and is horrible.
53:43
I'm from Michigan,
53:44
so I'm going to complain.
53:45
I was just down in Joplin, Missouri,
53:47
and that was like Satan's butthole.
53:49
So I can't imagine how hot
53:51
Texas is going to be.
53:53
But that's a couple blocks of a walk.
53:57
You are right.
53:57
It is open to the public.
53:59
And it's going to be free to the public,
54:01
which makes me wonder if the beer garden,
54:04
they are broadcasting the
54:05
entire thing for free to the public.
54:09
Why would I buy a ticket in
54:11
the first place?
54:12
If I can go to the beer garden,
54:13
have a beer, see all the vendors,
54:15
sit down, watch the whole thing for free.
54:17
As soon as an event is up,
54:18
I just stand up and go check out the,
54:21
why would I buy a ticket?
54:22
That's dumb.
54:24
Somebody sold out the arena,
54:25
so they don't need to sell
54:26
any more tickets.
54:27
I don't think they sold out.
54:28
That brings people on site.
54:30
Hold on.
54:30
I don't think they sold it to me.
54:31
I was just looking at
54:32
tickets and I had the
54:34
option of buying one like three days ago.
54:37
Is it sold out?
54:38
It is sold out.
54:40
Really?
54:40
Yeah.
54:41
I think they're just saying that.
54:42
I don't think it's sold out.
54:45
Or unless some third-party
54:47
company went and purchased
54:48
all the tickets to resell.
54:50
I think that did happen probably.
54:52
I think that's exactly what it is.
54:54
Like Ticketmaster went in or
54:55
like one of those –
54:56
ticket companies went in and
54:58
bought all the tickets
54:58
thinking they were going to
54:59
sell them all.
55:00
I just, I mean, that stadium is huge.
55:04
There's no way that there's, I mean,
55:05
how many thousands of
55:06
people would it take to fill that arena?
55:09
I mean,
55:10
they weren't even filling the
55:10
Allegiant Energy Center.
55:12
So there's no way it's like
55:13
a sold out arena.
55:14
That's silly.
55:16
They're probably capping the
55:17
tickets is probably what it is.
55:18
So,
55:22
I'm not saying it's going to
55:23
be bad or it's going to be good.
55:24
I'm saying it's too risky as
55:26
a business for me to come in there with a,
55:29
I mean,
55:29
you got to think a $20,000 ticket
55:32
to get in the door just north of it.
55:34
And then I have to get there
55:36
with a team and I have to have stock.
55:40
I don't know how many people are there.
55:41
You got to anticipate
55:42
there's going to be a lot,
55:42
but it could be a little,
55:44
but you have to anticipate a lot.
55:46
You're looking at an
55:46
investment for a company
55:48
like mine is going to be in
55:50
the $70,000 range.
55:53
And with a company that's a
55:56
year and a half old like mine,
55:58
that can bury you in a half
56:00
of a second like that.
56:02
If it does not go perfectly,
56:04
I'm I've just lost my I
56:08
just lost my company.
56:09
Like it's imagine if I'm if I'm driving.
56:13
because I have a trailer.
56:15
I've invested $70,000 and
56:17
I'm on my way and I get a
56:19
flat tire on the trailer
56:21
and it flips and I total my
56:23
van and all my stuff and I
56:24
can't get it there.
56:25
I just lost $70,000.
56:28
I'm done.
56:29
I can't take that type of risk.
56:31
Now,
56:31
obviously insurance and everything
56:33
comes back, but at the end of the day,
56:36
an investment, I mean,
56:37
I'm not going to get my booth fee back.
56:39
It's not like CrossFit's going to be like,
56:41
oh, well, we feel bad, you know?
56:45
So is your plan just to like,
56:48
you're going to be there,
56:49
you're going to see,
56:51
and then if you see that
56:53
there is some ROI by being there,
56:56
next year you may make a
56:58
different decision?
56:59
Or do you think that the...
57:03
The plan is just not good.
57:08
I'm open to all things.
57:09
Life has taught me to be
57:12
open to whatever comes next.
57:15
My metric for success is not monetary,
57:19
mostly.
57:20
That's why I go to small events.
57:21
That's why I take losses.
57:25
You know,
57:25
I was just in Colorado Springs at
57:27
the Purple Mountain Throwdown.
57:28
It was so much fun.
57:33
But my investment cost was huge.
57:35
And did I make money on that event?
57:37
No, I didn't.
57:38
It was business decision.
57:40
It was poor.
57:41
But brand decision,
57:42
it was very successful.
57:44
And for me,
57:47
ROI is not like money falls so
57:50
low on that list of importance for me.
57:53
For me,
57:54
what's important is the connections
57:56
I make, how the staff treats me,
57:59
how the executive staff,
58:01
do I feel important as a vendor?
58:03
That's a huge question.
58:04
Do I want to come back?
58:05
That's a huge question.
58:08
These are the metrics on which I use.
58:11
And Crust does nothing to
58:13
make you feel welcome back.
58:14
no they don't care like they
58:17
give two shits if you go in
58:19
if you spend your twenty
58:20
thousand dollars you set up
58:21
if you make zero dollars
58:22
they don't care if they
58:24
never talk to you they
58:25
don't care and I see an
58:27
event like that is just
58:28
like do I do it because
58:29
everyone does it I have a
58:30
hard time with it but like
58:33
then I deal with people
58:34
like kevin ogar and shannon
58:36
and joe linton and uh brock and autumn um
58:41
up at prodigies for the pit team.
58:44
And, and I'm like, these are the people,
58:47
these are the people that
58:48
like text you and call you
58:51
and they want to know how you are.
58:52
Like I am an apparel vendor,
58:56
but these are all my friends.
58:58
These are people that I call,
58:59
like I can call any of them right now.
59:02
And I'll know that they will answer.
59:03
And I'm like, that's what this is about.
59:06
I don't even know who I
59:08
would talk to in the CrossFit scene.
59:11
They're just a figment.
59:15
It's so funny you say that
59:16
because I'm the same way, right?
59:20
Jamie and I were having this
59:21
discussion last night, watching the spin.
59:24
Apparently,
59:25
CrossFit has given
59:26
behind-the-scenes access at
59:28
the games to even more
59:29
people this year than they did last year.
59:33
And Jamie's like, well, that sucks.
59:34
I'm like, I don't want it.
59:37
I don't want to do it just
59:38
because everybody else is doing it.
59:41
And if you have seven
59:44
entities down there all
59:45
trying to ask the athletes
59:46
the same questions,
59:48
what is that going to do to
59:49
your relationship with that athlete?
59:51
Yeah.
59:53
They don't want to answer
59:54
those questions anymore.
59:57
Right?
59:57
Yeah.
59:59
I would rather like,
1:00:00
hang out,
1:00:01
maybe run into them at vendor village,
1:00:04
have a conversation with them,
1:00:05
do things like that rather
1:00:07
than like do a formal behind the scenes.
1:00:10
And one people do that and
1:00:12
have been doing it for
1:00:13
years and I'm not going to
1:00:14
be able to do it any better
1:00:16
than that anyway.
1:00:17
Yeah.
1:00:18
And I got to think like,
1:00:20
like it's probably similar to you too.
1:00:22
Like,
1:00:23
how many other events can I
1:00:25
go to with that $20,000?
1:00:27
Just the booth fee alone.
1:00:29
I mean, like, cause most events,
1:00:31
like if it's a larger event, I mean,
1:00:32
$1,500 is, you know, a lot.
1:00:37
Like there are a couple
1:00:38
events that we're willing
1:00:39
to spend a little more than
1:00:40
that depending on, but $20,000,
1:00:42
like I could go to 20
1:00:43
events and not like,
1:00:50
Isolate them all to a single
1:00:52
area over a span of four days.
1:00:54
Like I can make probably 10
1:00:56
times the amount of
1:00:57
impressions impressions than I can.
1:01:00
And for me, it's, it's about connection.
1:01:02
Like I want to make connections.
1:01:03
I want to shake hands.
1:01:05
I want to support athletes.
1:01:06
I want to come in and like,
1:01:10
I don't just want to set up
1:01:11
a booth because that's what you do.
1:01:14
I don't want to,
1:01:14
I don't want to be
1:01:15
comparing how much money I
1:01:17
made with the other vendors.
1:01:18
That's silly.
1:01:21
Well,
1:01:21
and I can choose to go to the Masters
1:01:23
CrossFit Games,
1:01:24
do a behind the scenes
1:01:25
there with a group of
1:01:27
people I know already and
1:01:30
people that I know their
1:01:31
backstories and do a kick-ass job there.
1:01:34
Yep.
1:01:36
Rather than try to fight
1:01:38
seven other entities at the
1:01:39
games for a little bit of footage.
1:01:42
Yep.
1:01:43
And you, the same way,
1:01:45
you can go to the Masters
1:01:46
CrossFit Games with people
1:01:48
that are your friends,
1:01:50
know that they care about
1:01:51
you and your setup.
1:01:52
You become a presenting sponsor.
1:01:54
That becomes way cooler.
1:01:57
Yeah.
1:01:58
It really is.
1:02:01
Yeah.
1:02:02
So screw CrossFit, man.
1:02:08
yeah uh jonathan ortega I
1:02:09
met thick boy this past
1:02:11
week yo jonathan what up
1:02:13
dude yeah he actually so
1:02:15
that guy is with uh I
1:02:16
believe stutters media um
1:02:18
uh or if I got that wrong
1:02:20
I'm so sorry dude but uh he
1:02:22
uh jonathan I think is his
1:02:24
own entity he just he's his
1:02:25
own or he works for anybody
1:02:27
and everybody okay so he he
1:02:29
was there doing the media
1:02:31
at purple mountain
1:02:32
throwdown sorry dude if I
1:02:33
if I spoke wrong
1:02:35
He actually reached out to
1:02:36
me the days following,
1:02:39
like Monday or Tuesday after the event,
1:02:41
and turned me on to the
1:02:42
Ghostly Games down in Fayetteville,
1:02:44
Georgia,
1:02:45
which is only going to be a
1:02:46
little bit of a drive.
1:02:46
I am moving to Knoxville,
1:02:48
Tennessee this weekend with the business,
1:02:50
moving the whole business down there.
1:02:52
And Fayetteville is just a
1:02:54
three-hour drive from me.
1:02:56
Reached out to Kirsten.
1:02:57
I believe it's in October.
1:02:59
It's like a Halloween event,
1:03:01
the Ghostly Games.
1:03:03
Go check it out.
1:03:04
It's a shameless plug.
1:03:05
I don't get any money from that,
1:03:07
but go check it out.
1:03:09
But he hooked me up with
1:03:10
Kirsten who now I'm going
1:03:12
down there and we might be
1:03:14
the title sponsor for that event.
1:03:16
So like,
1:03:17
that's why that was a great event
1:03:20
because I met John who
1:03:22
connected me with Kirsten
1:03:24
in down in Georgia.
1:03:26
And now we're going to
1:03:27
another event to where we
1:03:28
can support the people down there.
1:03:30
And I'm like that, that's why, that's why.
1:03:35
Uh, he said, yeah, the media,
1:03:37
he was the media coordinator.
1:03:38
Got it.
1:03:40
Sorry, dude.
1:03:40
Yeah, no, like Jonathan was awesome.
1:03:42
Um, and it was such a cool crew.
1:03:45
It was such a cool crew that was there.
1:03:47
Like,
1:03:47
I felt like everyone was just on the
1:03:48
same page.
1:03:49
It was, it was so much fun.
1:03:50
I had a blast.
1:03:52
I know, and just to pump Jonathan L'Amour,
1:03:56
he did kind of the behind
1:03:58
the scenes with James
1:03:58
Sprague and Ariel Lohan at
1:04:01
West Coast Classic.
1:04:03
Both of those, I think, are completed now,
1:04:05
three episodes each.
1:04:07
So go check those out.
1:04:09
They're really good.
1:04:10
That's super cool, yeah.
1:04:11
And I'm actually super
1:04:12
excited to come back to
1:04:14
Purple Mountain next year.
1:04:14
I'm sure that he'll be involved.
1:04:16
It was the first year.
1:04:17
They did a great job.
1:04:18
Preston Shepard is the guy that runs that.
1:04:21
Such a great dude.
1:04:22
And honestly,
1:04:23
I've never seen someone
1:04:24
handle all the complexities
1:04:28
on the fly like he has.
1:04:29
I mean, year one, he did a great job.
1:04:31
So shout out to Preston and the team.
1:04:33
They're awesome.
1:04:34
Yeah,
1:04:34
bucket list for me is to get to
1:04:36
Colorado before another year passes.
1:04:39
Let's go.
1:04:39
I'm down.
1:04:41
That's something you will
1:04:43
learn about me is my,
1:04:44
my no muscle is really strong these days.
1:04:47
A lot of people ask me to do
1:04:47
a lot of things.
1:04:48
I'm like, I can't, I'm sorry.
1:04:49
No, but you asked me to go travel,
1:04:52
especially to the mountains.
1:04:54
I will change my schedule to do that.
1:04:56
So let's go, Scott.
1:04:58
I have so many friends there too.
1:04:59
Like it just makes no sense.
1:05:02
Yeah.
1:05:03
We followed Logan Ewing last year.
1:05:05
He's from there.
1:05:07
His dad owns a gym.
1:05:10
He's tight with Kelly Stone.
1:05:13
I've interviewed Kelly Stone
1:05:14
like four times.
1:05:15
She's at Omnia.
1:05:17
Watchtower.
1:05:18
The Ogars are there.
1:05:20
Let's go.
1:05:20
I could make it a business
1:05:24
trip and get some content.
1:05:27
Have some fun.
1:05:29
That's awesome.
1:05:30
Well, Mark,
1:05:31
we're going to have to make
1:05:31
this like a periodic thing.
1:05:34
We'll figure out like a good pace for it.
1:05:36
Yeah.
1:05:37
Just have you on to talk
1:05:38
about kind of what it's
1:05:39
like to be a vendor in the
1:05:40
space and how you're
1:05:41
impacted by all this
1:05:43
nonsense that's going on at
1:05:44
CrossFit HQ and maybe hit
1:05:48
some more debates.
1:05:50
And just so the listeners know,
1:05:51
our first debate was about
1:05:53
the box step-ups.
1:05:56
Mark and I were on opposite
1:05:57
ends of that debate.
1:05:59
Not totally.
1:06:02
I want things cleaned up so
1:06:05
the right people move forward.
1:06:07
But it impacted people that
1:06:09
he knows very well.
1:06:11
And I know very well.
1:06:12
I didn't want to see Page
1:06:13
Powers not make it on.
1:06:15
That's silly.
1:06:16
Kelly Stone is one of my favorite people.
1:06:18
I didn't want to see her get booted.
1:06:20
But I do want to see it cleaned up.
1:06:22
So I'm in this...
1:06:24
freaking mess of a thing but
1:06:27
anyway well as soon as the
1:06:29
next controversial thing
1:06:30
comes out let's uh let's
1:06:32
hash it out in real time
1:06:33
all right uh that'll be
1:06:35
probably three o'clock this
1:06:36
afternoon with the way
1:06:39
things are going this week
1:06:40
gosh it's so stupid
1:06:43
right everybody uh thank you
1:06:45
so much for being here
1:06:46
thanks for being in the
1:06:47
chat uh we'll do this again
1:06:49
very soon with that we'll
1:06:51
see everybody next time on
1:06:53
gladstone media podcast later guys