"Always Evolving" with Andy Petranek

Yeah, I think there's a misnomer that technology is changing the industry. I mean, really, when it comes down to it, you've gotta pick up the fucking dumbbell. Your iPhone's not a dumbbell. I mean, as much as you'd like to maybe think it might be. I I mean, I fall into the trap of not making the time to do the very simple things that it takes to stay in in decent shape and move. And there's no substitute for that.

Hey Fitness fans, welcome back to the Future of Fitness podcast and interview series. This is your host, Eric Melzone, and this is episode number 53. I talked to Andy Patronic. So I've known Andy for a little bit. He's been in the industry for a little bit longer. And uh this was just a lot of fun. He's a really fun guy, super energetic. He's got one of the most infectious laughs that you'll ever hear, and you get uh the pleasure of hearing it several times throughout this interview. And uh yeah, like I said, I just had a great, a great time. Now, before I get into a little bit more details about who Andy is and uh what this interview covers, I want to challenge you with a call to action. So if you are a fitness professional and you're interested in being part of a conversation that is all about the advancement of the industry and moving into the future, then you should go check out the Modern Fitness Pro. It's a closed Facebook group and it is by application only. Uh, if you submit an application application and you are accepted, you'll be part of that conversation uh along with 2,000 fitness professionals from all over the world. So go check it out. I hope to see you there. Uh so let's get on to Andy. So Andy has been a fitness professional for uh, I believe, about 25 years. So he founded CrossFit Los Angeles, which is one of the first, I believe, top 50, if not less, um, of CrossFit affiliates in the world. He started the Biz Ranger Game, which was a consulting group for CrossFit affiliates, one of the very first ones. Uh he started the Whole Life Challenge, which is a very unique life and nutrition, lifestyle nutrition challenge. Uh it's wholelifechallenge.com. You should check it out. He has a podcast, which is now being changed from the whole life challenge podcast to the anymatronic podcast. And he's really investing some more time, as he says, coming out from behind the curtain and uh developing his personal brand. So he was also a mentor of mine along the way. He's one of the very first business coaches I had um within the prospect of Philip world. So I'm very thankful for that as well. So without further ado, a lot to talk about in this, a lot of great uh action items and information that will help you. So, number 53, this is Andy Patronic. Hope you enjoy. Hey fitness fans, welcome back to the Future of Fitness podcast and interview series. And today I have a very, very special guest. I always say that, but this time it's it's very much true. Uh this is Andy Patronic. And uh Andy, welcome to the show. Thanks, good to be here. Yeah, yeah, I'm I'm really uh I'm really happy to have you here. So I always really get fired up for uh interviews where I get to talk to one of my my mentors along the way, right? Which you were, you know, when you uh you and and Birch are running the biz, and then uh Traver and I hired you to be our mentor for the business. Um it's always cool to kind of come back full circle and and talk about all that because uh to see not only you know how my journey's changed, but how yours has changed in multiple. Yeah, right. You know, I think that's that's the coolest thing. So let's give people an introduction to who you are. Let's um, you know, tell them who you are, what you do, uh what you stand for within the fitness community. Okay. I'll let you go from there.

Uh I I have a very hard time keeping this short, so I'm gonna do my best. You can just cut me off if I start rambling. Okay. Um so I am a but I've been in the fitness world for about 25 years. I was a Marine. Um I was an adventure, a professional adventure racer. Um I was a I got into the fitness business because people kept asking me, how do you get in shape? How do you get in the shape that you're in? You know, and it just kind of I just kind of fell into it. I got um certified through the Czech Institute in San Diego, and then um originally and then uh went back to for more classes and stuff in UCLA and uh built a built a pretty strong personal training business that was mostly corrected exercise based. And then I found CrossFit um and uh opened up CrossFit LA, which at the time was called Patronic Fitness and was one of the first, I don't know, first 10 or so in the world. And that was in 2004. I was a little bit of a whack job, uh early adopter. Um everyone that I knew that was a trainer looked at what I was doing and thought I was comp I completely lost my mind. And uh you know, somehow I had this vision that anyone that came into my gym would have to do CrossFit. And uh not it wasn't a vision like I knew what that would lead to. It was more like I just want everybody to have the same experience when they walk in here, and um, so I didn't let any of my friends who were personal trainers come and train their clients. Like that was really the upshot of it, which which was a big gamble at the time. Like, you know, I I definitely needed the the revenue, and I was like, yeah, sorry, not gonna happen. And um built that first couple years was really, really tough. But you know, there was really not a lot of momentum in the CrossFit world. There was I everything I got, every all the publicity I got, I got of my own accord. I knew some reporters, I got mentioned, uh I got an article written in the LA Times. Um and uh, you know, two years in, I was like, this is not working. And uh I I had to fit, I was, I was like, I'm having my my wife's having my son, and how do I not work 12-hour days, six days a week, and still make this work? You know, I felt like the highest paid slave. And uh I just so happened to meet John Birch. And John had John had identified me and the program, and basically wanted he was looking for a trainer, he was looking for someone who he could learn from in terms of my experience as training as a coach. But he also had a lot of business expertise, and and he he basically pegged me. He's like, You're the highest paid slave. You you know, here's a list of things you're probably not doing. And uh he was right on all accounts, and and it was just it was his message was compelling enough to have me go, you know what, I'm gonna I'm gonna listen to this guy, I'm gonna pay him a modest, it was a very small fee actually, for consulting because he knew I had I had no money. And um we we basically took what I was doing and we systematized it. And uh we we created a system that was had its roots in the in the taekwondo world uh with kids and we basically adapted it for adults and we adapted it for CrossFit and we created a real schedule and we hired full-time coaches and we um you know it we turned it into a real business as opposed to a a job. And um it was so successful over like three years. I went from you know, I like doubled the business in one year and then doubled again, I think. I don't know if it double doubled, but it was close to doubling again. And then we were like, well, we gotta share this with the rest of the crossover world, it's too too good of a thing. And uh we built the biz, and that's what you mentioned before me and Birch. And um we started teaching the system, and the system worked worked really, really well. Uh really up until like 2011, which was right when I changed over to doing what I do now, which is building the whole life challenge. I didn't change in 2011, I was still running the gym, and um 2011 really was kind of a shift in the world of CrossFit, I think. Um in terms of the the world started to notice in a really profound way and it started to explode. And they they noticed mostly because of the CrossFit games, and as exciting as that was, CrossFit Games athletes are not at are not my customers. CrossFit Games athletes are very rare, the the very rare few people. Most of them, you know, the well, they're just not paying clients, they're not they're not enough to support your ship, you know, or my ship. And um that's where I kind of started to diverge from wow, this this system has been great, but it's not as great anymore. And there were too many other CrossFit gyms suddenly suddenly popping up. You know, you you we were literally the only one in Southern California for quite some time. You know, at this point in 2011, you could go from Beverly Hills to West LA and you would hit you could hit like three or four different CrossFit. Now it's like, I don't know, 10 or 12. And we, you know, I always felt like it's uh it's important for me as a as a um ethical business owner to tell people when they call, hey, you know, I want to come into your gym. Well, that's great. We're really, really good and we're at what we do, and we'd love to have you. But did you know there are three other gyms between your house and us that you could go to? Because we don't want them to feel like we bait and switch them and they learn about these other crossway gyms three months into being a member. If convenience is the most important thing for them. So it became harder and harder, and we we we we slowly kind of saw that. We saw diminishing um memberships, and um, we had to kind of change things up. And you know, that was right around the same time I started to think about selling the gym, and I ended up selling it to my former head coach, Kenny Kane. And can we we had we I had worked really hard on that last year to implement a system that that I learned through Craig Patterson, it's called Mad Lab. And um not be not because you know Patty is so you know great or not great, whatever you think of Patty. I I felt like he had a really solid system. It was really about building relationships with people and and getting back to the idea that the relationship is the heart of the business rather than group classes, rather than you know, paying fifth paying a trainer on the floor 20 bucks an hour to teach a group class. Like it's really about individual relationships and trainers learn their um trainers cut their teeth in developing these deep relationships with people and learn how to really be good trainers. They have to their their their livelihood is on the hook for delivering value to people, and uh that's really what we implemented. And Kenny's now full, full bore with that system. I'm not sure where he is with it because I'm really out of that business. In 2015, I sold the gym and uh really because I wanted to focus 100% on the whole life challenge, and the whole life challenge now has ballooned from being a little thing that we started at the gym, this little health and wellness game that we we added, you know, nutrition and mobility and well-being practices and sleep on top of a fitness challenge that I was already running. And uh we went from 150 in that first challenge to now in this in this current New Year's challenge, we have 27,000, almost 28,000 people in around the world. That's insane. We're doing four this year. We we we actually have just reduced the the length of each one from eight weeks to six weeks, and uh we're doing one a quarter. So we'll have a spring challenge and then a summer challenge and then a fall challenge. And um God, it's just exciting. It's really, really, really fun. We we deliver it in a way that almost no one else does. It's limited, you can't just join the challenge anytime you want to. And um it's also very a lot, a lot of my people a lot of people that know me as a Marine or that was like a hardcore athlete, uh are surprised at how gentle the challenge is. It's not a it's not like it's not like the next great 500 mile adventure. How many, how many meters can you row in a month? You know, like it's not it's not at all that kind of a challenge. And um it could be. You know, one of the one of the things we always say about the challenge is it's it's it's universally malleable. It can it can meet it meets anyone anywhere they are, and it allows them to use it to fill in the holes that that that are that they see in their health and well-being in the in our in and around seven daily habits. Yeah. So um, you know, we have grandmothers that do it, and we have you know 17-year-old hardcore athletes that are that are using it, and they use it for very different reasons.

Well, I remember a lot. Um, first of all, I I know you haven't mentioned this, but people should know that you were a CrossFit Games athlete. Uh was it 2009?

Yep.

Yeah, I was there.

That was in 2000. Did you say 2009?

Yeah, 2009, yeah. It was the last time I was in a Romus. Yep, yep. I was there for that. I remember watching you run up a uh a hill with a sandbag on your shoulder. I was like, Yeah, I I think I got in.

I got in and I think I took I I might have taken last place. I don't know how I was way down. Yeah, I remember the how old were you? Do you remember? I was old. I was the oldest guy there. Yeah. I was 43, I think, 42. And I I remember the um misery of trying to drive a post into the dirt off of a road lower. And you know, if it seemed like I have no idea, I don't know how they guaranteed that the the smoothness of the dirt was equal.

They couldn't. I don't think so. People look like they were hitting a rock. Let's just that's what I felt like I was hitting a rock.

I don't know, you know, I would I'm gonna go to the grave thinking I was hitting a fucking rock.

I think you were budging. I was like, it's I actually said I think Andy's hitting a rock.

I mean the rock might have only been that big, you know, but it was hitting something that was not allowing it to go in. Other people would take one swipe and the freaking thing would go in like six inches.

You know, it was invisible. I also remember I we I believe we were one of your first um Jim we had, Traver and I, we were one of your first betas for the whole episode. I think so, yeah. Yeah.

And it was we because we started that program with very small groups. Yeah. Started in a big, huge and it opened my mind.

I was like, oh wow, yeah, we don't have to do like our new our nutrition challenges don't have to be a strict paleo for four weeks where we're just like, you know, we had a uh we had a like an FU paleo board. I remember when we did our first couple challenges where people could go and bitch about how much they hated it. I was like, that doesn't seem right, you know, like people should be enjoying this. And uh I also remember maybe not enjoying it.

Enjoying is probably the wrong word, but they should be respecting it.

Yes. Okay. Yeah, I like it. And I I remember your business partner, Michael Stanwick, too, poor guy, was like, we're constantly like, your website's not working.

Your website's not we were such such assholes. Oh my god. I think it's kind of amazing we're still in business because we didn't really realize that we were going into the software business, into the tech business. And uh, you know, I think back to a couple of those challenges that were horrendous. I mean, we I remember the first worldwide challenge. We really the the game wasn't ready to go on day one. And we didn't tell anybody, like Birch was like, the show's gotta go on, guys. We can't go back, we can't change the date. We we're not changing the date, we gotta go. Birch was our Birch Birch had brought in all these people from the biz to come do the challenge. And um like, all right. And I remember, you know, customer service, there were thousands of emails of problems because it wasn't everyone. It was so it was, you know, we had we had I think 7,500 people in that challenge, and it wasn't everyone that had a problem, but man, the ones that did, um we there were many, many, many sleepless nights. Yeah, and somehow they stuck with us. So some people said F you and took off, but I don't blame them. You know, we just didn't know.

Well, ready fire aim, that's what we say. Yeah, we gotta get started. So I'm I'm curious because I know you're also um you're you're very much into personal development. Um and I know a lot of you almost all of your coaches and imagine how to go through some kind of personal development at your gym, right? Um the the shift. So when I heard that you were selling your gym, I I was I was shocked. I was like, wow, this is this is CFLA, this is like the pedestal, right? This is the gym that everybody was like, um, you know, so when you made that announcement and you started changing, I'm just curious, what was going on in your own head? You know, you're like, okay, now I'm going into whole life challenge, like I'm going into this. You know, what doubts or fears did you have to overcome uh to make that shift at that point in your life? Um, you have a kid, um, you have a wife, you know, there's a lot of things going on in your life. Tell talk about that moment because I think there's a lot of people out there who are like, you know what? Maybe the gym life isn't it for me anymore. Maybe something else that that's that's a greater purpose or a different purpose for me to do.

Yeah. I had, well, you know, um, first of all, it wasn't a massive risk. You know, I I had already decided, we already looked, we looked at the money that we were making in in the challenge. And it's not like we're we're rolling a dough. I mean, it's funny because if you do the math and you say, oh, well, those guys are making $49 a person on 27,000 people, holy crap, they made a million dollars! Well, uh, Google and Facebook and and all the websites out there that have hired developers for top dollar, Apple, um they have made the market for developers so lucrative that you can't get a developer to join you unless they're a founder or uh without paying them top dollar. So it's like a fire hose, the money that we have to spend on on uh development of this product, and it's and it's not free. And you know, let me just put to rest that we're not just becoming overnight you know millionaires on this product. That was our first idea. We're like, oh, we'll build it, we'll sell it, we'll get people to come do it, and then we'll be done building it, and we everything else is just profit. That's what we thought in our naivety, naive, naivety.

Naivity, yeah, that's right. We got it.

Um, but uh I, you know, so I had mitigated a lot of the risk uh by by building it up for long enough that I knew it could support the the base layer of income that I was willing to live, live with or able to live with. So it wasn't a massive, it wasn't like I was going to Vegas and rolling craps and seeing what would happen. And I and I, you know, I I think pretty much every step that I've taken in my life has been that sort of a I'm not a huge risk taker. In fact, I wouldn't even describe myself as a risk taker at all. I hate poker. I don't go, I don't hate poker. Uh I don't play poker very often. Um, I don't really like to go gamble in Vegas. I'd rather go to see, you know, Circus Galet or or you know take a run on the strip or enjoy the desert, or there are a lot of other things I'd much rather do. Um so mitigating the risk was a big big thing. But it still felt ri it still felt like a risk. It didn't, you know, don't get me wrong. And the other the other big thing for me was getting past the idea that because I had built something up, I couldn't leave it. Like, like nobody could do it as well as I could. And um it was a it was a hard it that was a hard thing to let go of you know my home, my baby, my community, my my my thing, thinking that that the only the only person that could do this was me. And uh once I did, it was so freeing. Once it all happened, you know, I also made the decision at the time to not maintain even a partial ownership stake. Because I didn't want to walk into the gym, realize that I had no ability to really do anything because I only had 20% stake in the business, and then be pissed off at all the shit that was going not the way I wanted it to go. That just sounded miserable to me.

Yeah.

So uh letting go with it, and you know what's funny is I've been able to maintain a really great relationship with Kenny. I've I've actually um been continuing coaching classes. I'm probably ending that very, very, very soon, maybe like next week. Um and uh uh I still train there, you know. Pretty unique in the world, from what I understand. I mean, I don't really you probably talk to way more owners than I do. Um, but from what I understand, it's pretty unique that a former owner continues to have a good relationship with the new owners of a of a especially an established program like we have.

Yeah, well, you know, I can I can say only I do talk to a lot of owners, uh, but I can say also from from personal experiences, you know, I I sold my gym back in June um after eight plus years, and I sold it to Danny Russell, who's all as well uh head coach, extremely competent. And you know, um I had all those same things. I'm like, well, you know, it's not it's your ego, right? You're like, oh my no one can run it the way I did. Sure, he's running it amazingly well, and everybody's super happy, you know, and I'm not there anymore, and I'm not even sure people remember that. You know, that's just that's just the real, that's the reality of it all.

Yeah, I come I come into my new class because I still take class probably two or three days a week, and I just don't have the same people. Don't look at me the same way anymore. Like I I we have a new pair of shoes on and they're not looking at me like, hey, what are those shoes? I want to get a pair of those. Like it's not that they're not, but I don't have the same uh throat and actually don't mind it. Like I love. Going in and just being me, you know, and not not not giving a shit about really having to worry about how things run or how things look or how what the programming is or any of the stuff I used to worry about. It was such a big relief. But I it was also time. I mean, that was to go back to your original question. You know, like I was just fed up with having to deal with a city and permits and and signs and and parking and scheduling and getting coaches to take different classes and then figuring out how to do a price increase and how to, you know, like all those things that were that just the price increase still is something that any business has to deal with. But um the the physicalness of of that business was it just worn on me. I was just tired of it.

Yeah, it's it's a tough thing. I mean, I as as tough as uh I tried to be and as much bravado as I would try to show. It's like every time someone canceled on you, it was like a little bit of your soul. Yeah, you know, it did uh it did wear on me eventually, and you know, it's and eventually I I think with a lot of people what happens is something personally happens in their life where they can't handle those little stresses anymore. You know, that was that was a big thing for me. It was like 2016 was just a shit year. And all of a sudden I'm like, you know what? I can't I can't be the same guy. I can't walk in with a huge smile every day and uh and and do the song and dance, and that was a big part of it for me. But um, you know, I also saw like you did, I saw um you know potential in a different area that that I was drawn to and passionate about. Um so I'm curious, Andy. We you know, the the title of this show is The Future of Fitness. You're now leveraging a lot, you're in the tech world, right? Whether you like it or not.

Yep, I am.

Um how are you seeing how are you seeing technology changing the industry now?

Have have you um are you have you made any um well I think yeah, I think there's a misnomer that technology is changing the industry. I mean, really, when it comes down to it, you've got to pick up the fucking dumbbell. I mean, it there's no you can't your iPhone's not a dumbbell. I mean, as much as you'd like to maybe think it might be. I I mean I fall into the trap of not making the time to do the very simple things that it takes to stay in in good in decent shape and to move. And there's no substitute for that. There, they're reminders and they're high-tech tools that you can, you know, you get download the seven-minute workout app, and you can they're all great. It's another version of curves, you know, it's another version of and I'm not downgrading curves. If if curves is your thing and it gets you to work out, great. Whatever gets you to do it. We bought, we bought, I bought a Peloton for my wife for Christmas. And um, you know, I'm not a huge spinner. I I don't use it as much as I don't use it. I used it quite a bit the first few weeks because it was kind of fun and new. Um but if that's something that boys you dress up and get you to get you to do it, fantastic. Um I think tech can be very, very helpful if if it's used well, you know, but it it doesn't replace getting up and getting off the couch and taking a walk and shutting off the tech. Yeah. Yeah. So it's uh it's a weird thing, you know. I mean, and look, the funny thing is I'm tech out. I mean, I wear a I usually I don't have it on right now, but I use it over an aura ring and I have a Garmin um Phoenix 5, and I I fucking love that shit. You know, I love it. Um But it's a distraction if if you spend more time looking at the pretty pictures and looking at this this the daily stats than you if you do actually spend living your life. And I think it's one of the big messages that we try to bring out in the Hall of Challenge is is this is about having the courage to take daily action, you know, and it doesn't have to be long action. In fact, it can be really, really short action, but it it counts. And um yeah, tech is um too much automation. We we talked once to a developer about about uh integrating you know Fitbit or some of the trackers into the whole life challenge. And you know, my big fear with anything like that is if you if you if you automate too many of those things and you automate too many of the tasks, suddenly you lose kind of like you know how in writing they say that the more times you write something, the more it kind of burns into your brain brain. Well, the more times you actually look at how you're doing, so it's not automatic, the more you start seeing, oh shit, I only I only walked. I mean, steps can be step cap can be good. I only walked 2,000 steps today. Wow, but if it's automatic, you go into your watch and you try to scroll through, and you know, like I don't know, it's something's missing from that. It's looking at it versus being with it for me.

Yeah. So have you read the book Deep Work? Have you read that one?

No, okay.

So I'm reading it right now, and it's made me incredibly aware of the last two days of how like when I sit down, I have alerts going from my hip chat, I have emails, I have Facebook, I have Instagram, and it's just made me aware that I'm incredibly distracted. The only time I'm probably not distracted during the week is when I'm actually interviewing people because everything off. Yeah, I'm here.

I'm sitting here with you, I got my notifications turned off, I got everything turned off. So you know, yes, totally.

And it's just the the awareness is starting to build, and it's only been three days since I started reading the book. It's an audiobook, I'll be honest, I don't actually read. But you know. Do you listen to it while you're skiing? Uh sometimes. Yeah, sometimes it can. Yeah. Um I hate when people try to talk to me on the chairlift when I'm listening to my. I'm that guy.

Wait a second. You're that guy. Tech is getting in your way, Eric.

Yeah, it is. I know. I need to let go. Uh anyway, so there was any, I'm getting into your point, is like there's there's this awareness factor. It's almost like you have to be consciously aware of the distraction. You know, I don't know if that's if that's the same point you're making, but it's it's what I'm getting.

Well, it's interesting. I was I was watching myself because I I do a a weekly um workout video series called the Living Room Workout Series. And um uh I was filming one and I trip pretty much do them in one take. Like I don't want to repeat a workout. And the only things I retake are usually the introductions. And I'm in the middle of this introduction, and I'm probably two-thirds of the way through. And I remember I had I had set my my Phoenix to do an actual to time my workout for me, so I get the heart rate and all this stuff. And I forgot about that. And when you put it in that mode, it starts to I think to save power, it will take itself out of the mode, but it gives you these warnings. Like going out of going into power save mode, you know, and yeah, and um and I heard that thing buzz and ding. And I could I can go back and look, watch the video, I can see it immediately take me out of the flow of what I was in. Yeah, it didn't, it wasn't enough to make me start over, but I was able to recover. But if that happens every time that you get a buzz or a ding or a distraction on your phone, if that's really what's happening, I can see where you never get deep work done. You know, you're always distracted, and um, it's not good.

Yeah, it's tough. It's tough. I mean, it's just um it's so pervasive in life, and and you know, the point of not to talk too much about the book, but the thing that the relevations I got from it is that the the importance as we move into the future and more automation starts coming in, or you know, AI starts taking over things um that humans used to do, which is it's happening now, right? It's already happening. Um the need for people who do deep style work, you know, um people who are artists in some way, you know, whether they be writers or podcasters or people who are doing something that that is you know pushing the the human race forward uh is gonna become more and more rare and it's gonna become more and more important.

Well, like deep thinking. Like how about just that? Like you don't even have to be an artist, you can just need to sit and think. And how we've lost people don't even do I mean, I'm not pointing at anybody else besides me. I mean, I I don't necessarily shut things up. I I have, but it's a practice I have to be very diligent to to do. I've one of the ways I find a really good way to do that is to go into my car and I turn my car into a little studio and I shut everything off and I just I go to town in my car. It's a very weird thing because I can do it in my office, but I don't. That's interesting.

I would freeze if I did that. I would I would freeze. It's negative nine. I would you would freeze.

Yeah, I'm in Southern California. That's not a big deal here. Yeah. So let's face four.

Okay. That's smart. Burn gas. That's genius. I'd just be sitting. God, I wish Andy was.

I'll just light a fire in the in the back seat.

You lost it, man. You lost it. I did. Uh so let's face forward a little bit. Tell me what what does the next two years look like for Andy Patronic and the whole life challenge and what you're up to now?

I think if you're uh uh any, if you're if you're an entrepreneur, um you're always thinking about how do I replace myself. Like, like in the current job, what are the most what are the most boring and mundane things I'm doing today? And how do I get how do I reinvent, find somebody else to do those jobs, and what what what might be lurking around the next corner? And sometimes you have to get rid of the things you're doing in order for you to free up space for you to create something new. There might not be something new. And that's a scary thing. You know, if you're a if you're a founder or even a what whatever, it doesn't matter what your position is, if you're used to being busy at work and suddenly you hire someone else to do the busyness stuff, what do you do? And what do you fill that with? And I think that's really the it's really what I've been kind of working on now without knowing I was working on it. I I started working with a personal brand coach um about eight months ago. He was actually on my podcast, his name is Richard James. And um he I remember him telling me, he's like, Andy, you're gonna at some point you're gonna have to make a decision between what you know what what is the brand of Antimatronic? Is it whole life challenge or is it antimatronic? And he didn't tell me the answer, but uh it took it took about three or four weeks for it to seep in. And I was like, God, the brand is animatronic. I mean, how can I separate from myself? I can't, I mean, you know, and and um so I started taking action as I as I tend to do. I tend to move from idea to action as opposed to you know letting those ideas just slip away. And I built a website and now I have anymatronic.com and I'm put I'm rebranding the podcast. Actually, it's it was called the Whole Life Challenge Podcast, and now it's gonna be called the Antipatronic Podcast.

Awesome.

And started a newsletter where I just share real tidbit, you know, um succinct things that I'm learning and growing from and you know, uh once a month with people that want to be on the list. And they can subscribe to that on anybottronic.com. And I'm just I'm just kind of stepping out from behind the brand whole challenge. I've I've kind of created all these brands that I've been behind since I renamed the gym from Patronic Fitness where I was out in front to CrossFit LA. I've basically been behind all these brands and very kind of unknown. You know, like in the big world, in the big scheme of things. There was a the baseline workout. If any of your listeners have ever done the baseline workout, the CrossFit baseline workout, that's the anti-patronic baseline workout. That now, like thousands, God knows how many freaking people. If I just thought at the time to call it the patronic baseline, boy, that would have been smart. Um, but I didn't do that. So uh I think it's time to start just stepping out from behind that and stepping. And it that takes for me, that takes a lot of courage. I mean, I'm not that's not a natural and do not gravitate toward wanting limelight and wanting to be up front. I feel like um there's a Marianne Williamson quote uh that always gets me, you know, uh where she talks about, you know, who are we not to let our our greatness shine? And for me, greatness shining has always felt like you know, chest thumping, like look how great I am, like bravado and ego. And it doesn't have to be. It doesn't have to be. And that's kind of the that's the um the area in which I'm pushing myself into. That's the risk, that's the uncomfortable area that I'm moving into now.

That's awesome.

And and I don't know what that's gonna, I don't know what that's gonna bring. I don't know what's gonna look like. I don't know if two years from now I'm I'm speaking or I'm you know uh you know, I don't I don't see separating from the whole life challenge. I freaking love what we do and I want to keep building it and growing it. I'd love it to be a global phenomenon at some point. I mean it is global phenomenon now, but it's relatively small in the in the world of fitness. Um you know, I'd love to have a hundred thousand people in a challenge. That would be really cool.

Yeah, that would be really cool. Well, you know, I think uh what you generally come across as is somebody who uh wants to help people, and you really do. You know, and I think that that's not ego, that's not bravado, that's just something that the world needs. And uh I'm excited to see more antipatronic out there. So uh cool. If you there's a lot of ways obviously people can get you, uh you know, the whole life challenge, um, your your antipatronic website, um your podcast, uh the whole life challenge podcast. But what's what's your if people are interested in in just talking to you, they're like, wow, this that guy resonates with me, or I've done the baseline workout. I want to talk to that guy. Yeah, I mean choice things to say about that workout. You know, what's the best way for people to get a hold of you?

The easiest ways are uh, you know, Instagram. Um, I'm my handles are very basic, Andy Patronic. I mean, no surprise there. Um, same with Twitter, same with Facebook. Um they can always shoot me an email at Andy atandypatronic.com. Uh I don't necessarily, I'm not I'm I don't necessarily I I get all my email, I don't have an assistant that like screens my emails, so I'm not necessarily punctual on replies with people that I don't know. So um I apologize in advance if you send me an email and I don't get back to you, you can ping me again. You know, like I have no problem with you pinging me two or three times. Because there's just a lot of it's very difficult in the world of I've learned this skill of ruthless prioritization. I haven't learned it, I'm learning it. And um, that means things don't get done, and that means some people don't get replied to. And I have to let go of that. You know, that's a challenge, also, let go of those things.

Awesome. Well, thank you. Thank you for everything uh that you've helped me out with along the way. Thank you for the help that you've you've given the fitness industry, and I'm sure everybody who's done the whole life challenge who's you've touched their life, I'm sure they'd like to say thank you as well. So I'll say it for them. So uh yeah, man. Andy, it's it's uh it's a pleasure having you on, and I'm excited to see what you're up to next.

Looking forward, looking forward to being on again, maybe sometime in the future. When I got when I got something new to share.

All right, brother. We'll talk to you soon. Hey fitness fans, don't leave yet. This is your host, Eric Malzone, and I want to personally thank you for your support and listening to the Future of Fitness Podcast and Interview Series. If you have a few minutes, I would greatly appreciate it if you went to iTunes and gave us a favorable rating. Uh, as well as go to our YouTube channel and subscribe there. That'd be fantastic. If you know of anybody who'd be a great fit for the show as a guest, please hit me up at Eric at fitnessmarketingalliance.com. That's Eric with the C. Also, I have three questions for you. Number one, are you a fitness professional who's been in the industry for over seven years? Question number two, do you have an online revenue stream or multiple online revenue streams? Question number three, are you ready to break loose from your local market and take advantage of all of the opportunity out there in the online world? If you are, I want you to go to fitnessmarketingalliance.com forward slash mastermind. This will lead you to our level up mastermind group and all the information that you need to know. This is a group for high level thinkers within the industry who are ready to break free. So go check it out. It's fitnessmarketingalliance.com forward slash mastermind. Let us know if you have any questions. Thank you again for listening. I greatly appreciate the support. We'll keep it up from our end as well.