Barbell Shrugged - 62- Talking Business and Drinking Tequila With CrossFit North Atlanta Owner Travis Harkey

Episode Date: May 25, 2013

On this episode of the Barbell Shrugged podcast we talked business (while drinking tequila) with Travis Harkey down in West Palm Beach, FL with CrossFit North Atlanta owner Travis Harkey.  Also featured on this episode are former Shrugged guests Justin Metts and Matt Hoff.  Enjoy!

This week on Barbell Shrugged, we talk business with CrossFit North Atlanta owner Travis Harkey and Garage Games gym general manager Justin Metz. Yo, this is CTP and you're listening to the Barbell Shrug Podcast, the number one strength and conditioning podcast for CrossFitter. If you want to check out the video version, which you should, go to Fitter.TV and watch that because it's way cooler than just listening. And how do you spell Fitter.TV there, Mr. Bledsoe? F-I-T-R.TV.

He's a good speller. All right, while you're there, definitely go and sign up for the newsletter. As part of signing up for the newsletter, you'll get a video that Mike made where he shows you the top seven snatch mistakes that you're probably making that are keeping you from hitting that next PR and lifting some big weight. Yeah, look at the seminars, tune into the show, and get ready to become a more awesomer version of you. We give you the tools you need to succeed.

You become a more awesomer version of you. We give you the tools you need to succeed. You become a tool. All right, it's Mike Bledsoe here with Doug Larson. We're at the CrossFit Southeast Regional Competition. We're sitting here with a airplane overhead. They're coming! Go! They found us. As you can tell, we are not podcasting with athletes. We have the CrossFit North Atlanta crew here with us.

Anyone here? And we have Justin Metz from the garage and from the garage as well. So we have CrossFit North Atlanta and the garage. Is that right? Leaving anyone out? Howdy. Okay. If your children are in the room, you should send them to bed.

Most likely. We have gin and tequila on site. So this will prove to be a good podcast. Travis is sponsored by a tequila company. Is that right? We are El Hemador. I'm not drinking. Buys me diapers a tequila company. Is that right? We are El Himidor. I'm not drinking. Where can you find El Himidor?

At your local grocery store. At Travis' house. In Georgia? Grocery store? Anywhere. It's the number one tequila in Mexico. He has no idea where to buy it. It just gets delivered to his doorstep. Number one in Mexico. Number one.

Across the Northland, they sell supplements and El Himador. So if we actually post this podcast, I'd like for you to go to barbellshrug.com and sign up for the newsletter. That way we can inform you of all of your CrossFit information needs. This could turn into a shit show. It might not get posted. I'm signed up. It could happen. I feel like it's a self-fulfilling prophecy that this is a shit show now.

I feel like it's a self-fulfilling prophecy that this is a shit show now. I feel like it's a self-fulfilling prophecy that this is a shit show now. Episode, was it 13? The Hawk, maybe. A.K.A. Toby. 15. Toby. Shortest episode and shortest guest we've ever had. Oh, no.

Low blow. There has to be at least one girl who's been on the show that's equal or shorter height than I am. Laura Matter was on the show. Laura was on the show. What about Lil Yamaguchi? I mean, um. Talking to your mic, Travis. Oh Madder was on the show. Laura was on the show. What about Lil Yamaguchi? I mean. Talking to your mic, Travis.

Oh, hot mic. Hot mic. All right, so we've been talking a lot today. Well, we've been discussing CrossFit gyms in the Atlanta area and how it's so dense. What are your thoughts on that, Travis? I'm telling you, I don't even think our members know who's around the corner. I mean, there's, what, five or six in a two-mile radius? And we're just, you know, I'm not saying we're, like, having Sunday breakfast together, but we're pals.

What about the ones shopping, though? Well, I mean, when you've got the best gym, it's much easier. It makes life a lot easier, you know. What is the best gym in Atlanta? That was the smile, by the way. CrossFitNorthAtlanta.com. CrossFitGarage.com. You're not Atlanta.

You're OTP, bitch. We're Woodstock. We're offside. Y'all are so far away from each other that it doesn't even matter. I pack a bag to go to his gym. I'm like, I take the camper. Every time I talk to a CrossFit Atlantaanta area owner we end up talking about i end up hearing complaints about the density and how maybe crossfit should you know implement some type of uh geographical rules there just take out the suck

well i tell you what happens is what emerges is a is a big is a big gap between a lot of new gems that are just getting in the game. And then, there you go, very interesting. Excuse my ADD, by the way. It's my secret power, but it's also a curse and a gift. I was having lunch with a new gem owner. And I said, I looked at him, and said, beep, that was protect his name. That was the censor. I got you.

Self-censoring. We'll see if that one lasts. And I said, dude, you realize that 75% of my membership has more CrossFit experience than you do, right? I see that a lot too. I mean, now I'd like you to go and coach that. See Spencer over there? Right?

Like, we threw him in. We started him up, and I was in a pickle, and I was like, damn, these AMs. Like, we need somebody. And I threw him into a class of four-year, five-year CrossFitters, and they just – that was trial by fire. Yeah, it was. Yeah, you did. Did he do well?

Or is he still teaching? He's not coaching that class anymore? You earned your gamification that week. What is gamification? That's a grown-ass man certification. I like it. Yes. Put that in the gam-

Put that in the gam-tionary, please. So, Travis, in your opinion, what's it take to have a great gym versus just a good gym? I think it's a combination of great coaching and a membership that has been there, that has stuck there. The maturity of a good, mature membership makes a difference. Community is huge. It's a big deal, but it's also driving the, you know, having members that know what you're doing, why you're doing it, and are there to help other new people. And they lead the way, especially down here at regionals right now. You know, I mean, our senior class, they've been –

this whole competition, CrossFit, evolved. And, you know, it was awesome. Who's your picks this weekend? Matt Baird, CrossFit North Atlanta. Boom. What about for the ladies? Ladies? I don't know.

I've always had a thing for Shane of pink hair. It's actually blue. Wait, wait. It's purple now. Is this thing on? Uh-oh. Hot mic. My wife's asleep right now.

You know this post on the internet, like, to be able to watch on demand. How do you watch something that's audio I would have liked brush my teeth or something this is perfect Travis is a longtime barbell he's Shrug fan. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. He's one of the most hardcore podcasts. Brother, I just wish I could look at my own damn website. You know? I mean, you know, I mean, I got four children and a gym.

I mean, it's 24-7, you know, whatever. Cry me a river. What you guys don't know is that Travis and Burke are actually professional actors now. Boom, we did a Brotox commercial. What? We got a member. She says, she sends an email. She's like, I need, and we've helped her before, like do little, it was like a local CBS affiliate.

And she's asked us to do little spots on whatever, weather, whatever. Anyway, so I was like, sure, we'll do it, Robin, whatever, you know. Anyway, so we get there, and we actually shot a freaking commercial for Bro Talks. What is Bro Talks? I don't know. You still have no idea. I mean, it's like Botox for guys. I think that's what it is.

Oh, Botox. I was thinking maybe it was like a detox for bros. That's what I thought it was. I was thinking it was a spoof. I don't know. Oh, shit. It's Bro Talks for guys. If it was a detox for men, that could have been like an intervention thing.

I'd have been like, bullshit! This is not real! Yo! I told you! Don't talk about my drinking. I'm kidding. So we shot this Brotox commercial and I don't think it went live, did it?

I don't. I mean, clearly we have faces for radio. Yeah. The Spears is Monday. But for the first time in Burke's life, here's this skinhead-looking, you know, ex-military-killing-covered-in-tattoos guy, and the producer thought I looked scarier than he did. Really?

Boom. You do look scary, that's for sure. I'll cut you. I'll spear! By the way, I love spear. What is spear? Tony Blower, dude! Well, I...

Okay. Motherfuckers in my mind! Well, I mean, I... I'm familiar, I just didn't know if we were referring to the same thing here. Do you see me wearing the shirt? Spear. Spear. I don't have one of those yet.

Well, you can get one. You can buy it on Spear.com. Is it really Spear.com? No, I think it's Blower.com. I was going to say, that would be quite the domain to secure. Dude, that was awesome. I thought his whole thing was sick. I loved it.

Every second of it. We're going to have a cert at the end of the year. Yes. I'm working on it. And now that hopefully he's listening, I'm coming, Tony. Wait, wait. What did you get out of it? I'll spear you.

What was the best thing you got out of that certification? Let me tell you. Straight up. It's like the posters. What is it? What certification is it? No, it's his. It's a self-defense system, all right?

We're not talking like, okay, you know, bad dude comes over. I'm Jackie Chan and was I you know it's like oh you know it's it's self-defense and you know yeah that's cool you know I got it and groin kicking you would be dirty I am like a little girl let's some Krav Maga shit it really is no it really plays towards and this is what I like about it because they have been sitting kind of heavy on me that, you know, we train. We've got this great women's group. And, you know, if.

With great coaching. Stop giving me cues over here. You're distracting me. I'm flaring. With great coaching. But I like your marketing, though. I like the flow. No.

No, we've got this great women's group. And these women have come so far, and they've tapped into so much training with us. But I, you know, and they've got their deadlift i mean we got women fine what good is a 300 pound deadlift if you're dead right and my wife included my wife included but we trained so many movements that could translate to defense movement right all they need to do is know about it, right? I mean, so to me, I think it's – Do they take, like, common, like, functional cross and movements and apply them for violence, or what's the deal? Well, I mean, you know, hey, what's, like, open palm fist to the face, right? I mean, that's like a wall ball or a press, a push-up.

What is that? Crushing someone's face in your knee. Toes to bar. What is knee? Toes to bar. What is it? Toes to bar. Toes to bar, right? Travis does CrossFit. He knows what he's talking about.

Clearly. Clearly. What's that thing? It's like you get it up to the rack, the boobs. You thinking about a jerk? No. I've done that today. I'm fine.

It's travel day. Good night, everybody. You got to rip one off on travel day. Yeah, no telling what Mike's up to. You can't get on a plane with a loaded gun, Mike. You know that. They got rules for that shit. Never mind.

No, but I think it's amazing. To me, as much as I love the sport of fitness, of working out, you know, the net sum is you lose. But the net sum of a fight or like MMA or something is you're dead. Right? Yeah. Hell, my dad played NFL. You lose, you tuck your tail, you grab your ball, you know, go home.

You lose a fight, you're dead. So basically what you got out of it was you take crafts and movements and turn them into physical force? I'd say that's a great way for it. No, it's utilizing some natural reaction, you know, natural human movement, and then kind of it's a self-defense system based off that.

And Tony's probably going to email me and be like, shut the fuck up. Why should I attend this seminar or certification? Dude, because you get to, like, grope all over women and stuff. Well, no, that's another big deal, right? So your wife, right? I mean, what's the last time a woman has been in contact?

Right? Close, intimate contact with a smelly dude that can impose his will right i mean that's the smelly part's super important for my wife it was last night you know but you know i mean and what live feels like i mean you know hey look around this table you know besides hoff it's all grown men you know and i'm just maybe i'm just kidding i love you Man hug Let's talk who actually has kills Oh Boom

Respect Respect That's alright So To me of all the sports I'm surprised I know CrossFit has actually crossed over with some, like, UFC stuff, haven't they? Yeah, they've done, like, a joint competition type thing.

Have they? Yeah. I didn't even know. They did a UFC CrossFit Expo or something like that. Oh, really? Yeah. I've never heard of it. I think that's a great idea.

Talk about a test of work capacity. There's also a gym in Arizona, Combat Sports, I think, does CrossFit training. Oh, Arizona Combat Sports? Yeah. That's a good gym, by the way. And they do CrossFit? So, Mike, let's say this. Do you, as far as humans go, do you need to be a CrossFit?

You might not need to be a CrossFit competitor or competition athlete, but you need to know how to deadlift. You need to know how to lift something. Yeah, for sure. Right. And you need to know how to put a load over your head. Right? Well, you might not want to compete in the fucking octagon, but you need to know how to defend yourself.

That's a good point. Yeah. So I feel like we'd be cheating our – I mean, they come to us for fitness, and it's more than fitness. It's, you know, making them better. It's lifestyle, and it's really weighing heavy on me right now. So did you see in the news? Actually, that's my fat ass. Hey, will you get me a drink?

Travis, did you see in the news that there was a box owner in the UK who stabbed a dude? Like a guy broke into her house. Yeah, I got tagged on some Facebook thing yesterday. Yeah, started beating up her husband and then she stabbed the guy to death with a kitchen knife. Cut him like a freaking sieve. And they put it on crossfit.com.

Did they? Yeah, probably. No, I got tagged in it. Yeah. But then again, I get tagged in pictures of cookies and things for insurance and whatnot. Actually, I got cut off from Facebook posting movies.

Evidently, Bon Jovi doesn't want me posting movies about my children playing in the yard. You put it to Bon Jovi music? That was an example, but Living on the Prairie rocks. But no, they cut me off off I can't post videos anymore for pirating music I'll be it it was like 480 movies or something but still so y'all just moved into a super big space yeah we did yeah have you been there I haven't been there no but i heard it's big it is

big we want to have you guys in for a cert or for your you know mobility cert or your your simple strength thing or whatever you guys got yeah we're starting to live seminars now it'd be awesome oh yeah dude we got a classroom oh really yeah we look that's key that's nice oh hvac big screen the whole nine no when we it's it's a great it's an amazing space. We're getting kicked out of there, flattening our building, and we're getting kicked out, and we had to find it, and this was the next, this is basically year six and seven for us, so it's the next big step, right? We're pot committed.

Right. You know, I've sold all my children for, you know, birthrights. For various prices. Yeah, and leverage to the hilt. I actually, Rogue is mentioned in my in my will is that bevy boom thanks brother damn um and uh we looked all over about three spaces fell through we came it is great it's got two separate warehouses really designed to be able to do a lot of additional uh coach development uh certifications things like that but still be able to have classes

we love it it It's great. What do you guys do on a weekly basis besides just regular classes? I drink a lot. You drink a lot? Are you utilizing that space? I mean, do you guys have nutrition classes or do you guys have weightlifting specific classes or anything like that? Anything besides just a regular CrossFit class? Well, we actually run level classes.

So at any given time, we have parallel level one, level classes. So at any given time, we will have parallel level 1 and level 2. Level 1, you know, I don't believe in an on-ramp program. To me, I think it's silly. It doesn't work. But so we ramp it up. We do L1 and L2. So at any given time, we'll have, you know, for the main classes. It's empty at certain times. How do they graduate to the other level? Is that by coach's choice? That's actually coach's discretion.

Oh. A little private. No, I'm kidding. No. Okay. We hope. People are going to be weirded out. I don't know about that crossing north and south.

Yeah, I'm telling you. No, what we figured out is it's a minimum. I don't care. If you came in, I'd be like, bro, you got to do it. Minim minimum of like 10 classes you have a testing out phase well and the physical the actual movements that we test out uh you know the coach will they're ready you know they're ready they're not and the goal is to kind of make them want it right i mean the martial arts system like it's like a tier system yeah

like the same thing martial arts i mean yeah talked about we got something like that too like i said earlier you've got you've got got members that have been with you for five years to keep them engaged. That gap between, hell, let's not even talk about Rich Froning and the average human, you know what I mean? But that gap between an advanced member and somebody walking off the street is pretty big I mean we just take for granted that some some uh you know CPA little you know average human can go in there just clean some woman can clean and jerk you know 180 pounds right that's not normal so that's a big yeah we're like what right I mean we're in a CPA that doesn't yeah we're doing it which I'm looking for a CPA right now. We actually have one. We actually have a couple that might be able to help you out.

But moving away from the honor app. I'm starting a CrossFit CPA business. Moving away from the honor app onto tier classes has been the best thing we ever did, without a doubt. Without a doubt. And it allows them, I mean, hey, you've done the Ripped Hands. You've done the Paleo Challenge. You bought the fucking T-shirt. Whatevskies.

You know, you just want to come in, train. You want to get better. You want to go next level. You know, we got great advanced coaches like a Matt Baird. When you're coming in, you need somebody that you want. You want the experience. You don't want to shortcut them like the good hand rippings and the Angie's and the, you know the you know paleo

challenges and it's all it's kind of like yeah it's like it's like a freshman class and a senior class so just two levels well we're actually about to don't tell me you're dropping a third level oh well it actually kind of spawns off into a well we have we have our car our competition our games prep crew okay um and You're really It's like you ever you know when you're pissed you play golf you know when you tee off no and The tee box is pointing to the left no like this whole angle thing here my back's hurting. Do you feel me tilting? Just move closer, dude. Have you seen my belly? Give me my belly! But, no, yeah, it's been great.

We love it. It's working famously. So, you know, eventually we'll probably split this and we're about there. And, by the way, we only really have three days of core classes. We go Monday, Tuesday, Thursday. And we do specially work on Fridays and Wednesdays. And if you do three days of our programming, Matt Baird and Burke here, you're going to get results for sizzle.

Best thing we ever did was cut that off. Force rest day. I've never seen happier faces in my life Then all of a sudden it's like Oh so you're saying I don't need to come five days a week No Go home do something Have sex with your wife Walk your dog

Whatever It's pretty tough when you're training five days a week Yeah Too tired Tired when I get home Do y'all do tiered classes Yes. Too tired. Tired when I get home. Do y'all do tiered classes? We have a competition team. You will now.

Yeah, we'll do it now. We have regular CrossFit classes, and then we have a weightlifting team, and we have like a 101 class. So to join the weightlifting team, you have to do eight weeks of this weightlifting course. So a lot of our CrossFitters do that, whether they're going to join the team or not for weightlifting, just to improve their CrossFitness. And then we have a competition team, and they get programmed for separately. What do you do for beginners?

For beginners, we have a 12-session fundamentals course. So it runs every single month. We go Monday, Wednesday, Thursday. And after 12 sessions, they all graduate together and go into the classes. So we had like a two-week kind of like on-ramp thing. We're better because ours is like 12 sessions in four weeks. Well, we were getting done in two weeks. So it was taking you 12.

And it didn't work well. No, clearly I can see you're not. So I ordered a class one time. Then we go back and forth for a while. Huh? About what? I ordered a class one time. Hey, Bart.

You do your own workouts? Hey, Bart. Bart, what is the sound of one hand clapping? I didn't even hear what he said. Sorry. I just thought he hit himself in the head when he was doing it. I lost my headphones, Jerry. I lost my headphones. He was knocking his headphones off with his one hand clapping.

Can I have some of that? Did you get that on your TV cam? Whatever Travis has. Whatever Travis has. Whatever Travis has. Hey, I'm on vacation, baby. Come on. I've been dealing with team drama all week. I mean, I got to like.

So, CrossFit North Atlanta is not competing? No, we had an injury. We had an injury this week that was tough. And along with baby. And I tell you, man, it just hit us all at one time. You know? What can you do? But we got three athletes.

We got Matt Baird, who's going in. I guess he was number one at Southeast, right? He was, yeah. We got Steve Mullen, Steve Scrappy. I love Steve. Mullen and Taylor. Great guy. Soon to be Baird.

Soon to be I'm so sorry. I'm Baird. Love, love, nothing but love. soon to be Baird soon to be I'm so sorry I'm Baird love love nothing but love all the new podcasts yes yeah all previous

oh without a doubt without a doubt yeah they've all been on the podcast did you think anybody could talk more than that covered I don't know

Isaiah we need to get John North and Matt Baird on the same podcast those two guys probably could go forever we just put them

both in front of mics, facing each other, come back three days later, and somebody's fucking going. Hey, we had a meeting, and I said, Matt, you're going to need to start, if you're going to pontificate on the clean and jerk for 20 minutes, you need to run a second warm-up. Yes, yes. Everybody was sitting around cold.

Look at Autumn. She's like, yeah, that's exactly right. And especially if his shirt's off, you know, and we don't have any mirrors, but maybe he can catch a glimpse. He's catching with his shirt off? Now, we have a rule. Wait, reel that back in. Matt does curls with a muscle shirt on.

I'm not kidding. I was like, I believe that. Dude, it's a CrossFit gym. I mean, you know, your damn secretary has her shirt off. Wait, did I say that? That's how you all get members. Yeah. That's why you all are doing so well.

Clearly. Is Matt the secretary when he's not coaching class? No. Matt is working on Matt when he's not coaching class. I believe that. For a sizzle. But, dude, he – yeah, no I believe that. For a sizzle. But dude, he coaches our level

twos. And it's funny because if you want a good laugh, watch him try to coach a level one group. Because you've got to have the right mentality to take yourself back to, I just got off the couch. Like, I just

pulled my back out, picking up a bag of dog food. I have problems, right? And, you know, since I'm kind of always live in that state a little bit, like, you know, we connect with that, and Burke's a great coach, and that's what you've got to remember how hard it is, you know. I mean, just to jump to support, more or less, a ring dip or muscle up or whatever. But as far as our advanced members, he's able to really talk nuances of the Oli lifts and the power lifts

and his shaving chest and whatnot. Let's take a break real quick. When we come back, we're going to get more thoughts from Travis Harkey. Wait. And Justin Metz. He's still here. Hey, guys. This is Rich Vroning, and you're listening to Barbell Shrugged.

For the video version, go to fitter.tv. All right. What's up? J-Bill. I want a sweet movie intro from Justin Metz over there. Welcome back. Yeah. I want a sweet movie intro from Justin Metz over there. West Palm Beach. Welcome back. Yeah, while we were taking a break, we actually got off on some very serious conversation

about running a CrossFit gym business, tracking membership, finding out when people were showing up. No, we were talking about tequila. A very serious conversation? I don't know about that. I wouldn't say it was serious. No, but it was a very heated conversation? I don't know about that. I wouldn't say it was serious. No, but it was a very heated discussion about basically membership structure,

scheduling CrossFit classes, all that type of stuff. Travis has been doing this CrossFit thing for how many years? Seven? 2007? Yeah. Or 2006?

I've had three babies and a lot of work. So he's had a lot of experience. So we were discussing what membership structure? Yeah, we were just getting into kind of how we have it set up versus the unlimited workout thing. Or even starting back in the days of HQ, three on, one off. Well, I'll be honest. For us, we do unlimited only.

Say more unlimited. one off. Well, I'll be honest. For us, we do unlimited only. Unlimited means that when you sign up, you have access to every single CrossFit class we offer. You got stats? You can come six days a week. How often do they come? That's something people should look at. I asked you a question, Luke.

All of our members, how often do all the owners come? You know what the frequency of their training is well that's what we were talking about so what what's the program how do you track it well it kind of hit me i was at i was at mbo mbu excuse me mind body university yeah okay yes when you have to take a got to go to university for software you know it means it's too hard you know it's bloated. It means your customer service sucks is what I mean. Oh, shit.

Edit that shit out. Not even in there. Are you guys sponsored by MindBody? I'm a customer. I don't care. I wrote the fucking CrossFit MindBody page four years ago. I was at the games and walked into the MindBody little

tent, and they had three posters of my quote. And let me tell you what that epic quote was. I'm ready. We don't like moving paperwork at our... We like moving barbells, not paperwork at our gym, right? And I mean, I hadn't slept in three days, you know.

I was like, okay, fine woman, I'll give you a quote. Anyway, dude, it was on three posters. I was like, okay, fine, woman, I'll give you a quote. Anyway, dude, it was on three posters. I was like, ha, that's me. Look. You know. I'm like, you fools. So, do you use MindBody?

Hell yeah. Okay. And about ten other pieces of software. You know, overlapping. So, yeah, it sounds like you had a lot of redundancy going on. Well, we do. We do. We're using Wattify right now, and we're loving what they're doing.

I mean, you know, it was hard for me to the thought of putting, you know, a work out of the day on a big screen. Let me tell you, we're at almost, Spencer, what, probably 95% engagement right now. Beyond the whiteboard, we were maybe at 10. What's that mean? That means we went from 10% of our membership tracking, digitally tracking their data and their workouts to 95%. So you're using Beyond the Whiteboard and about 10% were tracking. I am no longer using Beyond the Whiteboard. But now you're using Wodify. Correct.

And you got 95% of your members tracking. It is part of the ritual. It's part of it. I agree. It is the new whiteboard. How hard was it to get? I mean, you've been around for a while. How hard was it for that transition?

Because one of the things we've talked about that being a tough thing is like implementing new things with members that have been with you for five years. It's a five-minute conversation. The Wattify thing is cool, though. I think people would pick that up. You got TV on the wall with the keyboard right there? I'm telling you. Just walk over and input right away? Yeah, people are going would pick that up. You got TV on the wall with the keyboard right there? I'm telling you. Just walk over and input right away? Yeah, people are going to eat that up.

People are so LinkedIn, they just see, okay, well, this makes sense because I've got a phone and I can get on it anytime I want to anyways. We had a little bit better integration on our site just because we had the My Previous link on it. So people were already tracking it through our site. So we probably had about 50% of our membership actually on our site and commenting and stuff like that so that was great right but with what if I now everybody I mean there's no one that doesn't post because it's a part of it's part of the class I'll echo my kid like set up ask questions put your name in crossfit or

them put your nose right up to the pop filter. If people can go to their phone and log in their WOD or whatever it is they did for the day, it's easy as they walk out of the gym. So we actually have them line up in front of a TV. Two TVs. Matt and I make sure that they – Make you have two TVs. Exactly.

Matt and I make sure that they log in their stuff before they leave the gym, but in the event they have to leave early, they know that they have the option because Spencer's put it on the blog that, hey, you can go to themobilewaterfly.com and put it in your phone. Thanks, Justin. That big black thing on your face is confusing me.

What? Hello? Is that a flashback? Mind you, a prison. They can go and put it in phone, and their workout's done. So the next time they come in and do back squat or whatever, they have that information available, and then we don't have to play guessing games anymore. It tracks all your girl workouts, tracks all your maxes,

tracks all your hero workouts. Spotify.com. So right now, we're overlapping. So we use MindBody as our membership management, as our scheduling, and as our credit card processor. And they do point of sale? And retail. For retail? Wattify does it as well, though.

Yeah. MindBody or Wattify? Their method of tracking your actual inventory is a bit, it's not that great yet. For which one? They're working on it. Wattify? For Wattify? Their method of tracking your actual inventory is a bit, it's not that great yet. For which one? They're working on it. Wattify? For Wattify? Right.

Now, we run a very complex business. I mean, we offer five different types of programming. And, you know, so how to do that, you know, we also do, I'm watching over here in my eyesight. Yeah. I'm watching over here in my eyesight. Actually, I had to go out. So it was hard for me to go out and buy two big, and actually 3D, what's up, big screen TVs and put them up. That's hard to swallow.

I was like, one of which just is like text, right? Right. The other one is the app, which is super sick. That's like, one of which just is like text, right? Right. The other one is the app, which is super sick. That's like a three grand setup, something like that? No, I mean, I'm a Mac. I think you get through Spotify, I think that is. You get TVs cheap. Oh, I bought, these TVs were 500 bucks at Costco. Dropped a Mac Mini they had on there.

Yeah. Hooked the stereo up to the main thing. They were boop, boop, boop. Couple TVs, a stereo, a Mac Mini. Oh, hang on. It links into the stereo? And then we run Pandora, Spotify, and, you know,

all into the sound system from that. And then you can hear the buzzer and stuff through your speakers? You can hear the buzzer? You mean like, you can't hear the clock?

No. No, you can't hear the clock. They've got a separate clock. We run the same thing. We've got a separate clock. You could pull the clock up on, like, the clock? No. No, you can't hear the clock. They've got a separate clock. We run the same thing. We've got a separate clock. You could pull the clock up on just a clock timer. I was in a gym earlier today, and they had a clock on their TV. I was wondering if it was the same system.

I don't know. They just pulled it up. We're just trying to get a remote. That was just like stopwatch.com. We're trying to get a remote that works. Fuck, I don't know. I've now bought 700 Fight Combat remotes. All right, so we were talking about tracking earlier.

As a business owner, it's good to track everything that's happening so that you can make informed decisions. Without a doubt. And you were saying that 95% of your clients are using it now. So how do you know that? Are you tracking every person that's coming in? Are you using MindBody to track people coming in? Are you using Modify? How are you tracking them?

Great. Now that's where we are in that overlap. Great question. Right now, our coaches get paid by attendance. So they're incentivized to put everybody in. So the coaches are responsible for inputting

the client data. Mike, I'll tell you. Going from unlimited classes... How do they do that? Is that paper or through Wattify? No, they're on MindBody doing that. Okay. Like I said, we're waiting for... We're using MindBody and Wattify. Bro, that's what I'm trying to tell you.

We are too. We are too. Coaches use MindBody. The people use Wattify. Coaches use MindBody. Well, everybody uses... People use Wattify. People use Wattify.

Okay, gotcha. But we also use Infusionsoft. We also use Basecamp and Google Docs. And, I mean, you name it. I mean, we... If there's a better. But we also use Infusionsoft. We also use Basecamp and Google Docs. And, I mean, you name it. I mean, if there's a better way. What do you use Infusionsoft for? Marketing automation stuff.

It's a great way to kind of. Like your email system and all that kind of stuff? It is. Well, we used Constant Contact. And, you know, email marketing is great, but it's not smart. It's not. We can't plan it. Constant Contact is not good for auto responders and whatnot no and you know we'll and actually we're really working on it right now to manage our uh spencer has set it all up to manage our prospect system uh-huh right so that's getting

them into our intro and then on to you know enrollment whatnot and then we'll use it to kind of engage and retain members as we set up what we're doing there. And then as kind of like a nurture campaign for folks. We actually picked up a lot of this from Tribe, Iron Tribe. They've got some... Oh, yeah, they've got a crazy system. They figured this shit out, dude. No doubt. You were talking about intros.

You guys do individual intros as well still? Yeah. So we were talking about that earlier. We still do it too. They actually don't do it. Dude, we went from a 10% conversion rate on like bringing your friends free wad kick their ass not let them walk for like four days sweet to an actual sales to actually like one-on-one you know listen to them you know introduce them to the movements and it's at like a you know 70 we actually have

what we do is we have fundamentals and we we max out the fundamentals class. It's completely full. But we do like a consultation. You know, once you've done your first fundamentals class, then we schedule a consultation sometime between that and their free memberships up. Back end intro. Right. It's a back end intro.

Same thing. All the models, whether it's CrossFit or Globo Gym or whatever, are moving towards the, I mean, you know, the prospect wants to feel like you care and that you're listening. It needs to be individualized. Without a doubt. That's why people come there anyways. It's cheap personal training, right?

So you're tracking people coming in. You see that 95% of the people are keeping data. How do you feel about that? Do you think that's going to be huge on retention? Yeah, I mean, it sounds like to me like if you're maintaining data on the client and they're updating that, they want to see the results, the progress. I feel like that's a huge retention tool. Without a doubt. With how fast CrossFit has grown, and we're down here at a competition that they never had before.

I mean, me and Mike G, we ran sectionals. They don't do that anymore. That's when the Open came in after that. But, I mean, Garage Games, I mean, the Affiliate League, there's activity every weekend. That did not exist six years ago. At all. And what existed was

the whiteboard. You just call out a little baller, like yo, cockney session noon. Boom! Who's going big? Right? I'm gonna kick your ass pussy and you know and you rally and dude that's how we built up like you know our seniors are this this membership that has driven everything well they're this members you know so those advanced members you know are now trying to compete for the games. And they're training towards this.

And they have sponsors. We got trade magazines. WTF, to quote my 8-year-old. Or whatever she would say, WTAG, kosher. Would be nice. That's non-cussing. What's AG? I think it's WTH for an 8-year-old.

8, yeah. Oh, yeah. That's what I A-G? I think it's W-T-H for an eight-year-old. Eight, yeah. Oh, yeah. W, yeah. That's what I was looking for. I totally skipped like four consonants. So as a guy that's been in the game for six or seven years now, you've made more mistakes than probably anyone and everyone. And what are the biggest mistakes you've made that could help out someone

who's brand new? He's like, the list goes on. I'm like, where do you want to start with like let's start let's start off with like the first two years you were in business the i tell you you know i'm a diy guy like i got tools like yes i want to do yourself it yeah i'm gonna do yourself a guy hey nike thought about that one but they went with the whole just do it i'm gonna do-it-yourself-it guy. Hey, Nike thought about that one, but they went with the whole just do it. I'm a do-it-yourself-it guy. I'm a do-it-yourself-it guy.

Do you. Me too. Hey, dude. You're a damn, bro. You got dates. We all are. We all are. When you're out of town.

Yeah. Yeah. Or when your wife's been pregnant like seven of the last eight years. But that doesn't slow anything down because you're guaranteed you can't get her pregnant because she already is. Winning. Winning. Hey, dude, that's my line. So, like, I had ball cancer last summer.

And then so my joke. Good night, everybody. I'm serious. So my joke is. I heard you were down to one. Yeah, I'm down to one. Roger served me well. Yep, yep.

A.K.A. the wrecking ball. So my life, but I had that surgery two weeks before my fourth child, my boy. So I'm one of four boys, and my whole family had like eight girls, right? Just nothing but little girls running everywhere. And then we got the boy coming. So anyway, my joke is, my household was at two balls, went down to one, up to three, winning. Boom. That's more than two.

That's three, winning. I know. Yeah. What were the mistakes you made? We got off track. We got off track. We started talking about balls for some reason. Wait, this might be easier.

What was the one business decision you made that made things better? Build capacity. Build capacity. I think he was saying losing a ball. Build capacity. Okay, that's kind of an ambiguous term. What does that mean? Meaning this. I could tell you right now, I pay

we are without a doubt I could be wrong, but I seriously doubt that there's another gym with three full-time staff on salary. Us. You know. Well, fine, you.

But, I mean, you know. Well, we've got five. You've also got four gyms. And you've also, how many partners? Out of the two gyms. Out of the two gyms. That's okay. There's only two garage gyms.

The other ones are, like, kind of satellite. How many guys are in that group? That's Eric. Eric, Wes, Shane, and Andy. I'm just talking about me and my wife who's been making babies for nine years. Does that mean build a team and don't try to do everything yourself? Is that what you're saying?

Without a doubt. Very few people are blessed to have four or five equals working together. That's what he's trying to say. Yeah, you know. Without working together. That's what he was trying to say. No capacity. Yeah, I mean, you know. Without a doubt. And it's expensive, and it's time-consuming, and it's hard.

Hire awesome people. Only hire stars. Spread the work, spread the wealth. We could probably close with that. Without a doubt, without a doubt. Doug's trying to finish his podcast. And I'm like, we're probably good. He's like, fuck. We're 40 minutes in. Actually, I felt like we've been here for a lot longer than that. Without a doubt. Without a doubt. Doug's trying to finish this podcast. And I'm like, we're probably good. Fuck. We're 40 minutes in.

Actually, I felt like we've been here for a lot longer than that. We keep going. Matt Hoff hasn't said shit all second half. Those are some hot topics.

I really haven't. I talked about killing people the first half, so I really don't know where to go from here. And shooting million dollar missiles. I'm sure you got some

stories. Million dollar missiles. Boom. What kind of tank was that again, Matt? It was a T-72. T-72. Should that again, Matt? It was a T-72. T-72. So should I just start with the whole story?

T-72. When you're talking to ladies, you start with your million dollar missile. Yeah. You got to start with that. I'm 5'4". They're not going to believe that I have a million dollar missile. Just tell them. Just say, like, you don't see an elephant trunk on a mouse.

I'm just going to. There's some expectation management going on here. See, one of my lines with my wife is like, I'm 6'3", 270, and I'd be like, baby, do you realize how big my penis would look on him? I mean, I'd look like Long Dong Jong Kong. Advantage of having small legs. It's all relative.

So don't squat. Don't squat. You look better for the ladies. Once your't squat. Don't squat. You look better for the ladies. Once your pants are off. All right. Let's wrap this up real quick. Start with Doug. Let you do your plugs.

That way Travis and Justin can prepare. Yeah. Because they don't know what the hell is going on. Earlier we mentioned that we're doing some live seminars. Maybe we will come down into CrossFit North Atlanta in the future and do some live seminars. But we do have some coming up also in the Atlanta area. One at Brandon Phillips' gym, and then we're coming back to Florida here in August

and doing one in Miramar at CrossFit Siege. Brandon Phillips' gym is CrossFit Bound in Atlanta. So we're doing some live seminars in Kennesaw. Also, if we're talking about your seminars, the Garage Games 1 will have the DVD. That's right. We did some live seminars. What competition was that?

I totally forgot about that. Garage Games 1. What's the word on that? The same seminar will be down there. Currently, we're waiting on James Chaney. Calling out James. Calling out James. He's got it all done.

He's just got to export it it's like what five hours is that what he told you yeah if you're at the garage games one me Mike and Chris Moore all spoke and you guys are selling that DVD or streaming video

it's not actually selling it it's just going to be part of the box complete program something that Jared and Simon and some of the guys from Garage is putting together. Okay. Well, that will be available. Got a time frame on that, a rough time frame? Depending on James.

Yeah. I'll text James. Hopefully by the end of the year. Yeah, James is getting a phone call tonight. Hopefully by the end of the year. Why do you think I'm filming this fucking show? So, yeah, so we got our live seminars that are available. If you want to come out to your box

and do some live seminars i'm going to do mobility and nutrition mike's going to do weightlifting chris moore is going to do power lifting for crossfitters you know squat deadlifts and whatnot and some training philosophy stuff and then we're open if you have some some experts in your area or some coaches at your gym that want to maybe do a lecture or two um also we're open to discussion on that as well so if you want to book us you can go and if you want to book us you can go to barbastruck.com click on the shop click on seminars and uh click on live seminars and email mike basically mike at barbastruck.com especially if you live in a city that's super awesome yeah if you live in a shitty city don't fucking email me if you live in a shitty city, don't fucking email me. If you live in Minnesota, don't call me. If you live in West Palm Beach, we're totally down. Coming hot from Fargo.

It's Parbo Shrug, bitch! All right, Travis. Green beans go. Travis, what do you got? That's it. While Travis fixes his bike, also. I got you. I got you. We are working with Progenix right now.

If you want to get 10% off all of Progenix's supplements, you can enter the promo code SHRUG when you check out, when you buy all of your supplements on their website online, which is ProgenixUSA.com, and you can save 10%. Yeah, their website's online. Don't forget that. Just by supporting the show. All right, Travis, what do you got?

I'll just say this. Hey, we got a great weekend of great athletes, great competition. I'll be watching my boys, Matt Baird and Steve Mullen and Taylor Flynn. Oops, sorry. That's your girl. Yeah, that's my girl. Boom. Yeah, if you're in the ATL, come on by.

We don't charge for drop-ins or anything. We love our community. What's your website? Holla. CrossFitNorthAtlanta.com. Actually, we've got a new website that's about to release. Sites is our ex. Let's kick it up a notch.

They're doing great stuff. But we're really excited. We finally really tap into everything that we need the site to do. So they've been great to work with. I'm looking forward to seeing that. You should. A lot of skin. We are too. great to work with. I'm looking forward to seeing that. You should. A lot of skin. We're looking forward to seeing it too. Because we started about four months ago.

You guys are the most tequila-friendly gym in Atlanta. Is that correct? We are sponsored by El Himador. Anytime you start working with a website company, that shit takes way longer than anyone ever anticipates. You're like, you can't build a website in two weeks? What the hell? I know, right? We all think it's easy. You're like, you can't build a website in two weeks? What the hell? I know, right?

But we all think it's easy. No, don't you? Hey, you don't have an easy button? Like, can't you just build me a muscle-up rig? We'll have the wireframes done in a month. But thanks for having us. Good fun. Yeah, thanks for that.

Join us, Justin. Yeah, at CrossFitGarage.com. Also, I want to promote the Garage Games. We are currently in talks with some investors about creating a very, very big event, hopefully at the end of the year, in Nashville that we want to start talking about. Don't have a name for it yet, but there's going to be about $250,000. Don't put it on my competition date. Yeah.

I'll murder you. Wait, wait. Delete that. Edit that out. But there's going to be $250,000 in prizes. He'll bleep out murder and you can just guess what he said. You've got to believe what I just said. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Don't forget the best of the Garage Games competition, Rumble by the River. August 18th in Columbus, Georgia. Any Garage Games competition. Rumble by the River, August 18th in Columbus, Georgia. There you go. Yeah. Any Garage Games competition. Go out and support. No, just Rumble.

Just Rumble. Support. Hoff, you're double dipping. Yeah, I was going to say, who are you with? 5.15 a.m. class, crossing North Atlanta. There you go. Yeah. Thank you.

He needs more than two members. No. Only if they're hot girls. I like what I've got going right now. Remember, million-dollar missile. Million-dollar missile. All right, guys. You got a new nickname.

Speaking of hot girls, I'll give my plug. Julie Foucher, thanks for listening. I miss you, and I'll see you at St. Louise. That's called stalking, isn't it? Pretty much. It was like a friendly, like, hey, Wayne, come on the show the first five times. And we're like way past the creepy stage with Julie. It's all CTP's fault.

It's not stalking if it's out in the open. We've gotten letters. It ain't gay if it's in a three-way, right? All right, last thing I want to promote. Make sure to go to barbellstroke.com. Sign up for the newsletter so we can inform you of all the things we forget to tell you about on the podcast. Also, go to iTunes if you enjoyed this and uh give us a five-star rating and uh leave a comment if you can uh go to facebook like us only five-star ratings on hey yeah if you give us some

five stars i have no idea why you're still listening at this point in the show you need to add on and get your pet spaded people neutered. People have already stopped listening to us, and they're looking at cats. If you're still listening to this, you love this. You have to give us five stars. All right, guys. Thanks. Thanks for coming out, Travis and Justin.

Thanks, guys. Boom. Boom. Do you want to have a post-ceremony? Sweet. That will never make it on the air.