Barbell Shrugged - Feed Me Fuel Me  — Morning Chalk Up w/ Justin Lofranco  — 105

Episode Date: September 20, 2018

Justin LoFranco has a beautiful mind when it comes to community relations. If his career on the campaign trail in a previous life is any indication, some would say he’s a master. However, as many before him discover, the world of politics is cut throat, and your job security is tied to the opinion of the masses. This means, there is no security at all. After burning the candle at both ends for the majority of his twenties, Justin’s passion for late night dinners, networking, and ultimately relying on others for his success, came to end as his delegate was not reelected.   Rather than move on and join another campaign, Justin moved home. He had been introduced to the culture and community over the years while assisting in the management of campaigns. Yet, he had not been exposed to a resource that was absolutely dialed in with world community of CrossFit. A resource that showcased, the good. The bad. The ugly. But more often than not, the amazing things going on in the global neighborhood that is CrossFit. It is an entity with its own vernacular that transcends culture, region, or dialect. CrossFit communities the world over have raised money for many different causes, from those for a member of a gym, to disaster relief in the aftermath of a hurricane. There are best practices and people out there innovating coaching and business. An entirely new industry has emerged as a result of this cultural boom. In his parent’s basement, Justin decided to take a grassroots approach to spotlighting all of these talking points in a DAILY newsletter. Thus “The Morning Chalk Up”  was born!   Where there is a will, there is a way, and Justin has tremendous will. He has paved the way, by giving up 2 years of his life to get the Morning Chalk Up off the ground and consolidating a WORLD’s-worth of content into a condensed format that further links CrossFitters across all boundaries. Need to know when/where the next big competition is? See the latest edition of The Morning Chalk Up. Want to see who is killing it in philanthropy? Open your email. Want to stay up to speed on what it takes to qualify for the Games? Look no further than your inbox.   Justin and his team, through his shear will to make sure that it grew legs and took off, have created something special and he shares it with the world literally EVERYDAY!! Subscribe to The Morning Chalk Up AFTER you listen to Justin’s journey in this week’s conversation, so you can gain perspective and truly appreciate what it took to become consistently amazing!   Enjoy!   – Jeff and Mycal ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Show notes: http://www.shruggedcollective.com/fmfm_lofranco ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ► Subscribe to Shrugged Collective's Channel Here http://bit.ly/BarbellShruggedSubscribe 📲 🎧 Listen to the audio version on the Apple Podcast App or Stitcher for Android Here- http://bit.ly/BarbellShruggedApple http://bit.ly/BarbellShruggedStitcher Shrugged Collective is a network of fitness, health and performance shows that help people achieve their physical and mental health goals.  Usually in the gym, but outside as well. In 2012 they posted their first Barbell Shrugged podcast and have been putting out weekly free videos and podcasts ever since. Along the way we've created successful online coaching programs including The Shrugged Strength Challenge, The Muscle Gain Challenge, FLIGHT, Barbell Shredded, and Barbell Bikini. We're also dedicated to helping affiliate gym owners grow their businesses and better serve their members by providing owners tools and resources like the Barbell Business Podcast. Find Shrugged Collective and their flagship show Barbell Shrugged here: SUBSCRIBE ON ITUNES ► http://bit.ly/ShruggedCollectiveiTunes WEBSITE ► https://www.ShruggedCollective.com INSTAGRAM ► https://instagram.com/shruggedcollective FACEBOOK ► https://facebook.com/barbellshruggedpodcast TWITTER ► http://twitter.com/barbellshrugged

Mike Bledsoe here, CEO of The Shrug Collective. Today, we bring to you a new show, Feed Me, Fuel Me, hosted by Jeff Thornton and Mike Landers. As we're expanding what we offer, traveling to great guests, and introducing you to the best content, we have partnered with amazing companies that we believe in. We talk and hang out with the founders and owners of these businesses. Not all products are created equal, even if it looks like it on the surface.

We've done the research and have been in the industry long enough to see what really works and what will make the biggest difference for you long term. With that being said, one of my favorite companies, Thrive Market, has a special offer for you. You get 60 bucks of free organic groceries

plus free shipping and a 30-day trial. ThriveMarket.com slash feedme. This is how it works. Users will get $20 off their first three orders of $49 or more plus free shipping. No code is necessary because the discount will be applied at checkout. Many of you will be going to the store this week anyway, so hit up Thrive Market today. Go to ThriveMarket.com slash feedme. Enjoy the show. This is episode number 105 of the Feed Me, Fuel Me podcast with our special guest, owner of the morning chalk up, Justin Lofranco.

Welcome to the Feed Me, Fuel Me podcast. My name is Jeff Thornton alongside my co-host Michael Anders. Each week we bring you an inspiring person or message related to our three pillars of success. Manifestation, business, fitness and nutrition. Our intent is to enrich, educate and empower our audience to take action control and accountability for their decisions thank you for allowing us to join you on your journey now let's get started hey what's good crew welcome to the another episode of the feed me feel me podcast there isn't Jeff coming at you from Madison Wisconsin the CrossFit

Games 2018 and we are sitting down with Justin Lofranco, the creator of the Morning Chalk Up. What's good, man? Dude, Madison is good. This town has been absolutely amazing these last four or five days. The excitement that's going on here in the town, it's crazy. You can't go more than a couple blocks without seeing something CrossFit related, somebody wearing CrossFit clothes, Reeboks, Nikes, Nobles, you name it. And that's fantastic because, you know, the big difference between Los Angeles and here is that, you know, you're in a big pond with, you know, 20,000, 30,000 people over there.

And we're 60,000 people in a 200,000-person town. Right. So the energy and excitement here is really cool. And that's been a lot of fun. Yeah. And you're based out of California and you, so, and you've been around long enough to have had both experiences, both LA and Madison. Exactly. Aside from everything that you just mentioned, the, the event in and of itself, CrossFit Games Week, which do you prefer, Madison or LA? Oh, Madison, a hundred percent%. I'm born and raised in California, and don't get me wrong,

I would love to just drive down to Carson and make it an easier trip, but the experience here is way better. This is a great feel for the CrossFit community, and I think small towns, and this is not a small town, but this is a small Midwestern city. It's only two or i think or 250 000 people here and we dominate this place right i mean last night we were having sushi down in a restaurant and i walk outside and i see at least you know five groups of crossfitters walking down the street

and everybody's here together and that vibe makes it fun because you can always run into somebody and you know what's unique about crossfit is we have a common language we can talk about things we we you know we know we see you know, there's a CrossFitter. There's a guy, you know, I see the colors. You don't even need to know what shoes it is. You can just see it from a distance. And the way they walk and the way they talk, and they're so courteous and they're fun,

and they'll talk to anybody. You never have a fear of running into somebody you don't know who's a CrossFitter. Like you just automatically just start talking about the games and what's going on. Did you see that when Matt Frazier fell or Patrick Belner fell off the ropes or whatever, talking about, you know, their favorite athletes and stuff. So this vibe is really cool. Dude, I got to give it to you, man, because, you know, we were chatting it up yesterday,

and I've been a subscriber to the Morning Chalk Up for two or three years now. Oh, man, you're early. Yeah. You saw when it was really bad. It was literally just an MVP model. You know, I got a hold of you back when it was literally an email and bullet points. You know what I mean? That's basically it.

Early, early, early. And you've not missed a day since then. Um, and you're just, you're a hub for CrossFit content. Um, but for everybody who doesn't know who you are or what the morning chalk up is kind of give us the, the cliff notes of your journey from, uh, you know, the, your early days in California. I know you had a short stint in Washington, DC in politics. And now you're just crushing it, keeping everybody up to speed on the need to know and who to know in CrossFit. So where is that evolution?

Yeah, so the 30,000 foot level description of what Morning Chalkup is, is essentially we are Monday through Friday, except during the games in the regionals competition we publish Saturdays and Sundays. We we are Monday through Friday, except during the games and the regionals competition we publish Saturdays and Sundays, we're a Monday through Friday newsletter about CrossFit and about the CrossFit community more than we are about the CrossFit games.

You know, we certainly talk more about the games during the game season, but we are a newsletter that informs the CrossFit community about the thing that they love, which is CrossFit. And we have daily tips on, you know, how to do, perform skills better and things to eat and things to watch and things to know and things to read and we write a lot of original stories connecting the CrossFit community and what's going on all around the globe finding unique and interesting

stories about what's going on in boxes and communities and affiliates and connecting those stories so that's if you love CrossFit you're gonna love to read it. And how I got into that is a much more interesting story. I graduated from college and moved to Washington, D.C. I was working in the United States Congress, and I spent about five years working there and sort of transitioned from there into more campaigns and elections. I moved up to Boston and worked for Mitt Romney while he was running for president. My last job in politics was actually here in Wisconsin.

I worked for the governor, Governor Walker, who was running for president at the time. And I was running and managing all of his digital content and social content. So when he dropped out of the race, I kind of didn't take any other jobs. I moved to Italy and worked on a farm and checked out for a couple months, came back right around Christmas. And I just decided, you know, I'm done.

I loved what I was doing, but I want to do something different. So I moved back home to California, moved into my parents' pool house and sitting on the couch. And I just put Morning Ch chalk up together in about 24 hours literally like i put the shell of the email together found a name registered domain got an email service provider to start sending out emails and then i started uh actually i was sitting watching the 2016 crossfit games open announcement one on thursday night i sent out the first 2016 CrossFit Games Open Announcement 1 on Thursday night. I sent out the first edition on Saturday morning. So I did it all that night and the next day, put it together,

and then I just started sending out emails. I was, like, committed to doing it. Just I was going to do it daily. I did it seven days a week back then for about a month, and then I changed it to five days a week so I could give myself a break. And that's how we got there. I mean, we just, I just committed to start doing it. I thought like this CrossFit community is wide and spread out. And I want a single place where they can find out everything they need to know about

what's going on in CrossFit today, right now. And they don't have to scroll through Instagram. They don't have to check this website or that website or that website. And I was really just kind of curating and aggregating it all together. And then I knew if I could be successful with that, I could move into original content. But if I could figure out a way to meet the demand daily for readers, I could move into original content, which is where we are now, and producing that daily and multiple times a multiple times a day what made what made you pick crossfit like what's your your background in athletics and made you i was just a high school

sport athlete you know regular playing basketball um kid and uh i started and found crossfit originally when i was in college this was 2006 a buddy of mine introduced it to me but it didn't stick you know i was still into the just go to the gym, lift weights mentality. And I hadn't, you know, I did a couple workouts with him, and he kept going with it. So later on, about 2011, I was training for a marathon. And I was like, I remember seeing my buddy Matt crossfitting so much. I was like, maybe I should do that as like some additional strength training for the kind of impact that I was gonna put my body through and I was going through literally Hours of running, you know, I mean doing those long 12 15 18 mile runs as I was training for a marathon

So I started doing it and I was like man, this stuff's cool. I love it So I was actually working out in the House of Representatives gym underground, you underground after work. And I would be doing dumbbell thrusters and Helen on a treadmill. And it was ridiculous and lots of stairs. You do burpees in a global gym and people are going to look. And you do burpees nowadays, you're probably going to look less. But back then, it was like, what is this?

This guy's weird. But it was cool. And it's sort of your badge of honor. So it's 2011 I started that and then in 2013 I joined an affiliate after I got off of Mitt Romney's campaign after that that ended I like four or five days later. I joined an affiliate back down in DC and So I've been a big crossfitter ever since so cross it's you know Second in my life if you will, you know It's it's I I tried I try and balance my life around making sure I'm in the gym.

And it's taught me how to rebalance my nutrition, prioritize my sleep, prioritize my time and my day for active recovery. And it's opened a whole new community of friends for me and now a career. Yeah. Now, did you start the morning chock up with the intent of it being an income generator for you, or were you just following your passion and wanted to share it with the community on a massive level, which has afforded you all the opportunities you have now? I absolutely started as a company. I knew that I had been running digital content and been in the back of a very smart digital operation for a number of years. And so I knew what I was doing.

You have to test the water. So I didn't go out there and ask for money. I didn't go out there and try and do that. I said, look, it's going to take us at least 12 months to be in a position to even ask for any money from anybody until we have trust and notoriety and a big enough audience and size and until we know exactly what we want to do. Yeah. So I was like, it's going to be a long commitment.

And I was committed to doing that. You know, I was committed to saying, look, if I want it to be something that people read and trust daily, it's going to take time. You can't be in a hurry to do that. It's just like the CrossFit process. If I want to clean 325, I got to start with five pounds every couple months. And in a couple of years, I might be there if I'm diligent and consistent and I set forth a plan and a goal. So it's the same kind of mentality that I approach with that. It's like working on a campaign. You're like, you don't win the election

today. You can lose it today by, you reputation, damaging relationships with other people in the industry that you think are going to be valuable. You can lose it, like in a workout. You can sure lose the workout on the row, but you're not going to win it on round one. And you can blow yourself out of the water. It's the same concept there. So I approach that with that campaign mentality, which is we need to set everything up smart. So in the 12 months, we know we've done it right. We've collected data. We've been smart about our growth and our acquisition. We haven't spent our way out of the water. And so in 12 months, we were in a much better position and we were prepared to

make investments or we were prepared to make partnerships where we can make good on that promise on our end to partner with other brands and opportunities. Have you always had that patient mentality where you're going to slow grow into something? No, no, no. It's funny because it's like a type A personality. The people that go to Washington, D.C. to go work in politics are type A hard chargers. We're like the, we're the people who are up till two and we're up at six. Like we, we, we want to win it all. Like we're not satisfied with just this. And that kind of mentality sometimes is somebody who's unwilling to wait, to pull back, to allow things to unfold in front of them and say patience first, you know?

So that was something I learned over time that my bosses, who were very good at this, very good professionals who'd been in their industry for 20-plus years, were able to, you know, mentor me in as I got better. Patience was not my default. In fact, I believed you could outwork any problem that night. You know, it was like when I was in high school and I had a bad game, I went and I shot a thousand shots. You know, I was going to outwork whatever problem I had on the court that night. Not for the next six months.

I was going to do it that night. I was in a hurry to get back to training. And that mentality covered and went into school or went into eventually professionals but now it's still the same mentality but but but i think harnessed in a smarter way yeah to say that you know if i had been preparing for six nine twelve months i wouldn't be in this losing position today sure you know i mean matt frazier i think takes that you know he's not gonna say i'm gonna i can't win the crossfit Games by training hard one day. I'm going to think about everything. This is going to become my life, my obsession.

Yeah. And I'm going to focus in on this. And you can maintain balance, mostly, being obsessed about something if you are planned out, if you're structured, if you are disciplined. There's time in the day for the extra things too. So I've learned that over time. It's been a huge lesson. And it's become even more important now that I'm responsible for making sure a company survives. You have to constantly weigh those decisions with an unknown outcome.

Right, right. Now you started as a one-man show in your parents' pool house. Yep. Where are you guys at now? So we have a small little office, downtown Santa Ana, physical real estate. We have a mailing address. It's not my parents' house. I'm sure they're thankful for that.

So there's two of us going in there, and primarily the content is actually ran by two people, me and Jessica. Jessica's a recent add-on. She's our managing editor. And so her and I go into the office about four days a week, and a lot of what we can do is remote, but it's good to have face-to-face time in order to talk about things and work through content and talk about the plan and editorial calendar, et cetera. So we have a physical office and mailing address so we can get samples from,

from, from generous companies that wants to try out new things. And, uh, um, that's a, that was a huge upgrade, but it was also a mental upgrade. Um, you know, I think that if you, you should never try and pay for things you can't afford, um, just to feel better or more, more official or whatever it is, the reasons you're doing that. But when you can sometimes moving out of your workspace and defining another workspace for me was important because I could work like 18 hours in the day. Like I could just never stop. And for me, I needed a barrier, but I also needed to treat myself like this wasn't a

hobby anymore. Right. Um, and sometimes, sometimes even though you're, you're not doing that or you don't think you're doing that, it's helpful to have your space, your defined space. And so for me, that was helpful to say, look, you've got an office now, like grow up, treat it like it's a real thing. Treat it like, you know, your job's on the line if you don't take it seriously. And so that's been, that for me, I did that about 12 months ago, actually, you know, probably a little earlier than necessary. But it was good and it really helped. Yeah, yeah.

In the long run. Cool, cool. So it's just the two of you. Yep. And I think I overheard you yesterday in terms of your growth and the generation of content, at one point you had an addition for America, an addition for Europe, and then you just brought them together. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, I mean, why two and then why'd you bring them together? Sure. I mean, you know, the great thing about digital content is you can make early investments and you can scale them back. If

something doesn't work, don't be afraid to change it. And so I noticed early on, basically at the end of year one, the growth in Europe was just crazy. And look, we have two regionals competitions in Europe now. This shouldn't come as much of a surprise. The single fastest growing area for crossfit is in europe um and so at the time and so i was like you know we should create content that's specifically for that community um but it was really challenging it's challenging because of a language issue but

it's also challenging to find local stories and we were we were you know centered around that and you know even though making connections in other countries and having somebody who was point for that, it was so challenging to do. And then the other issue was, how do we make this financially viable? And so, most of the sponsors in CrossFit are US-based companies. In fact, most CrossFitters are US-based. And so, sponsors were unlikely to transition into wanting to sponsor European content. And so here you have this newsletter over here

that isn't able to generate a lot of revenue. It's a great idea. It's a great concept. But it's not able to generate a lot of revenue. So in order to make it big, you're going to have to advertise it. You're going to have to grow it. And that costs money.

So yeah, it's a great idea if you have enough money to play a long game, like a five, six, seven year game. And you can say, well, maybe there'll be more companies. And there are today. There absolutely are. But it wasn't one that in our early stage, we could invest $25,000 or $50,000 into growing it where I thought it needed to go. And so I said, look, we're one big family. We're going to put it all together. And so we did. And now they're all reading it. And we have great readership in other countries, too.

A lot of them in the English-speaking countries like Ireland, England. Well, Iceland's not English-speaking, but everybody speaks English. Nordic countries, Australia, and then some of the other big big crossfit hubs like spain and um germany as you yeah that's crazy man as you're growing your business when did you finally get that first like light at the time light at the end of the tunnel where you knew like this is something that's gonna be a real business that's scalable yeah so we again early started to try and get sponsors we wanted we wanted we wanted to streamline, um, advertising content into one single location and make it uniformed and make the user experience really

good. So I was like, all right, let's next year we're selling sponsorships. I don't know if we're ready yet, but we're going to go for it. We got to start trying to sell. We got to try to build those relationships and treat this like a business that generates income, et cetera. So I went out and I started trying to sell it and it was tough. It's tough to convince people to trust your product yet. You know, I mean, um, if you've got Google money, you're big quick. We were big. I don't know if we're big yet, you know, like, you know, I've still struggled with whether or not we're, we or not we're big or not. But it was like, okay, you got to start, you know, pitching. Right. And you got to go through a dozen pitches.

And then you got to go through two dozen pitches. You got to refine your pitches. And you got to start practicing. And you got to start doing that. But you got to start taking it seriously and saying, look, I've got a goal. I've got 52 weeks in the year. I've got 52 pieces of inventory. I got to sell 52 things to 52 companies or 48 companies and they buy multiples

or 25 companies and they all buy four, whatever it is, you know? Um, and so I started going through and it was selling was tough. You know, I, I tried to get more creative about how do we do this or package it or a value add for our sponsors, et cetera. And so, um, we didn't sell much of the first half of the year. This was in 2017. So this was last year. Yeah. And, you know, we sold a little in regionals. We gave a couple away to get people to try it.

Figured why not. And by the games, after the – we sold a bunch around the CrossFit games because everyone's like, yeah, that's, you know, that's high-impact time. And we want to, you know, that sounds like a great opportunity to reach CrossFitters in a high-impact zone. So we sold a lot of those. And then after that, I was able to somehow turn a corner and I sold the rest of the year. So I sold maybe like 10% of the first half of the year.

And then I sold all of the last half of the year. And I was like, okay, we actually had no money at one point. We were red in the bank account. And then I sold all of the last half of the year. And I was like, okay. We actually had no money at one point. We were red in the bank account. And I wrote a check to fund it with enough to keep things going. We stopped all advertising. The great thing about our company is the costs are so low to operate. The hard costs of actually operating, the ESP and the web hosting and the other technology that we have to pay for isn't too expensive. So I was able to write a check to float all of that.

And then I was able to sell a couple. And then thankfully, we've never been in the red ever since. But we sold the whole rest of the year. And I was like, OK, maybe this can be a thing. And then I set goals for 2018. And we're actually sold out. Congrats, man. Thank you.

Yeah, we sold out the first week of July for the whole year of 2018. That's awesome. And when you talk about about selling you're talking about ad space. Ad space. The Morning Shot Cup is always brought to you by, sponsored by, powered by, built by, fueled by some company in whatever category they kind of fit into. So you know that we have 52 weeks of inventory. Yeah. And we have 52 ad space spots um so they uh they were gone we're 2019 so we're gonna reset people have asked us to buy 2019 and i'm like no we we gotta make sure every year is an opportunity to reset and rethink the strategy here right you know and if you buy if you sell too far out then you can't make new relationships with people with other people

and it's not it's not i, I'm in the business of selling. I want to sell, but I also want to bring in new partners and give them an opportunity to, to dip a toe in the water and see if this is something that really helps their business. Right. So we've said no by about Q4 this year, we'll open the door again, but we're going to spend the time post games. So like not today, starting tomorrow, thinking about making sure that the structure that we're doing adds value and benefit to the sponsors that we're working with. And because we have a nimble platform, we can be nimble. We can try new things. We can adjust it.

And we can even adjust a new year if the partner, you know, agrees to try something new with us. And I think we're going to try some new things in 2019 that are already in the works. And so, um, you know, it was about, it was about that moment that I thought we had, we had shifted. And then I re you know, it reconfirmed that with me once we got into July and, um, we'd held back inventory for the end of the year and like two weeks it was gone. Yeah. That's awesome. You know, and these are really some really solid companies that are really reputable companies that are deciding to work with us. And that's, um, you know, something that makes me feel great that, that they're choosing to, you know, have a relationship with us, you know, financially, like every, people give you product every day long, but when they start writing checks, you know,

like that's a risk, you have a responsibility to treat that very seriously. Like that's, that's not a small thing. And, um, you know, it's been really humbling, but also just, you know, I go to sleep at night. I'm like, man, that know, it's been really humbling, but also just, you know, I go to sleep at night. I'm like, man, that's, I just got off the phone with like general mills. Like that's stinking cool. Wow. You know, like Kellogg, like that's, that's like, that's like real, um, you know, tier one companies that have, um, obviously a lot of financial resources, but you know, they've been in business for decades, right? Right. You know, I've been in business for two and a half years. Right. And that's a cool thing. Sure. That's

really cool. And, uh, how does it feel within the context of CrossFit? Cause I talk about this all the time, um, with people that are starting their entrepreneurial journey, whether it's on the product side or the physical space side, supplements, whatever, you know, don't do business with the product, do the business, do business with the people. Yeah. You know what I mean? And you're in a very coveted position where you have, you have access to the top of the ladder yeah you know and you can have those those high-level conversations and really ask for what you want and bypass all the gatekeepers along the way yeah how how advantageous is that to you because of your platform and how do you gain access to them above

and beyond just being the morning choco? Sure. Honestly, I think one of the great lessons that I learned in politics was, number one, I'm not starstruck. And number two, truth to power. So if you can walk up to a senior member of Congress, have a basic normal conversation, and you can tell them why they're wrong, then you're in a good position to be able to go and walk up to the CEO of any major company that's around here and have that same conversation. It's not about being right. It's whether or not you know that you can sit down with them and have a conversation at their level, and you're confident enough to do that.

Right. And those were lessons that had I not had my former career, I would not be as good at. Because you're around all these bigwigs. You're around the CNNs, the ABCs, the tom brokaw's you know like uh chuck todd's you know the guys are hosting these you know sunday morning shows and these people know what they're talking about these are they're professionals and um some of our very powerful people and if you're down corralling with the with the matthew frazier's and the rich fronings can you fire off a question? Like, do you have the moxie to do that? And so I think bringing that to the table has made it a lot easier.

And what I do is I just, honestly, I just email, call. Like, a lot of people don't do that. You know, if I have a question for CrossFit, I go to CrossFit. Like, I just go right to the source and I ask. Like, I'll pick up the phone or most likely send an email, you know, that, that has a question that I want answers to and I treat it seriously. And a lot of, and some people don't, or some people just aren't really sure how to dive into that.

And so, um, that's been an area of success for me because I don't feel like I, there's a barrier to having that conversation with somebody or to picking up the phone and I just go right to them. Um, and yeah, that's, that's it. I think it's, it's being willingness to do that and put yourself in position to, to have that conversation with, with, with decision makers. Right. You know, the, uh, as you continue to grow, um, is there, uh, a mission or a project above and beyond the Morning Chalk Cup that's on your radar at this point? Yeah. So one of the early mantras that I adopted is that a giving community is a growing community.

So we have, we frequently donated to causes that we felt really close to. People that needed help or people that were, we were in a position to help them. So sometimes it's been actually writing a check to them. And sometimes it's been elevating their story to the front of our page and helping to do that. We did something for the military in CrossFit Undisclosed. We just published a story about them, seemed like our US Armed Services are over there with lackluster,

literally tape-on boxes, keeping them together, and other equipment that's falling apart. They're trying to get in a great workout over there. Al Udeid Air Force Base in Qatar. Al Udeid. Al Udeid Air Force Base in Qatar. And I was like, man, this is exactly why we're here. This is one of the underlying missions that we have is to say everybody here loves the CrossFit community.

Everybody here wants to be involved in making sure that everybody has access to good, solid fitness training. And these guys really don't have a business over there where they can just buy equipment. They're all, these are a separate branches of the military that are there serving on that base, um, in various, in various roles. And it's not like they have like dues, you know, they're, it's free to go work out there. And I was like, this is why we're here. Right. And we were able to, through this story, raise them a couple thousand dollars overnight just by publishing that. And I was like, man, that's exactly why we're here.

I've made a lot of great relationships with athletes, top athletes and up-and-coming athletes and folks in the industry. And I hope that one day we'll be able to run our own fundraiser, something that's really meaningful and significant. And I think a lot of the athletes have appetite for that, the ones that I've talked to. I would love to be able to be more involved in that. Last year, we bought out half a movie theater for the fittest on earth when the documentary was coming out, the Redeem the Dominant, and in Hollywood.

And we brought this 14- 14 year old who's actually competing here at the games maddie espinoza she's like eighth or ninth in her division right now she by the way she just hit a 220 pound split jerk pr good god 14 strong and she's coached by matt james townsend who's uh partnered with um lindsey valenzuela young tony exactly and um and she'd been really going through a tough time at school she was bullied really hard for how she looks physically I mean she's like looks like a like an athlete yeah you know and people like we're saying really mean things about her being like looking like a man and you know other really unfortunate things for a young girl it really shouldn't

have to hear that and so we did post about that on facebook and asked app like pro athletes to to make comments about it and like we got lauren fisher valvobrol um margo alvarez and just to just to love on this girl a little bit so we brought her to a movie theater um to watch redeem the dominant and we had like tenille reed like just walk down the street show up and this girl this girl's like, what's going on here? Like Val Bobrol's like walking through the lobby. You know, Maddie Curley was there, Heather Hippensteel, Jamie Hagia. And, you know, here's these like stunning, like fit, inspiring ladies and stuff. And I was like, this is why we have this community, right?

Because we can help put this stuff together to inspire a young lady um to hang out with some of the fittest on earth we want to do like more like that you know i would love to have you know bought out a theater for screening and do it as like a fundraiser for for young girls and like you know go with a bunch of crossfit games athletes get the lauren fishers get jen dancer you know get these other other people to come up and we'll sell all the ticket proceeds that get sold you know to a screening other, other people to come up and we'll sell all the ticket proceeds that get sold, you know, to a screening with these fit ladies. We can donate to a cause that's important and significant. I think we're almost there where we can pull it off successfully. And we can really help make a difference. And like I said, a giving community is a growing

community. And that's, that's super important to have wise behind what you're doing. Cause it's not just about writing your own paycheck. Like if that's the only motivation you have that's okay but that's not mine right and um i think there's a deeper meaning uh behind all of this and at the end of the day it would just be an email program it would just be a newsletter right um and uh and if i didn't believe in what the community does for other people right i don't know if i would love it as much where's that mindset of giving come from for you is it something that you learned from your parents growing up or just through all the ventures that you've gone through well i think i think as you know a citizen of the world like as somebody who has opened has had their eyes open through my own work and and

life experiences of having traveled so much overseas and been you know on the front lines in dc on looking at real problems in america um but also just seeing the generosity of crossfit community literally i'm inspired by the generosity of the crossfit community because we look at this and we cover this we see so much of what people are doing and how they're trying to make a difference. And that is inspired me. Um, and I, I knew about that before I even got into morning chocolate because you've seen

everywhere, you know, through CrossFit sponsored, uh, fundraisers that they've done. Um, and, and then on through sponsorships at our own gym or fundraiser at my gym,

uh, throughout the years, I'm just like, you know, it, it's contagious. I think, I think just like, you know, it's contagious, I think. I think it goes to show that people can do good things, can do great things.

And that just constantly is reinforced. The hurricanes and the tragedies that were going down there, and you have athletes like Dan Bailey going down there, and working against gravity sent a team down there brute strength set a team down there people to go just physically help you know people that had nothing or had lost lost everything and yeah that that mindset just comes from the the the folks working out around me that are that are passing that on and inspiring me and believing that you know look like there's so much more than just the nine to five. And, um, I think if, if you believe that there's, you have no choice,

but to try and find ways to help other people in the ways that you can. And, um, and I love that. Well, I find that extremely interesting because of your previous career, you know, in politics, most selfish environment possible. You know, that's, uh, you know, that, that's where I'm from right outside DC. I spent a little bit of time in Quantico. Um, and, uh, you know, the, the mentality inside the beltway is just very toxic, you know, selfish, fend for yourself, sink or swim, you know, who, who do you know and who knows you? toxic, you know, selfish, fend for yourself, sink or swim, you know, who, who do you know and who knows you? And, you know, I can remember being, being out on a Friday night and, you know, meeting strangers or whatever. And, you know, it's not about who you are,

where you come from or any of that other stuff. It's like, where can you get me? Yeah. Who do you represent? Who's in your camp? You know? And,? And it's very, you know, how many people do I have to climb over to get to where I want to go? You know? So I think it's extremely interesting based on that, you know, potentially toxic environment that you walk away from that and have the abundance mentality that you have now. Well, I was definitely like that in D.C. I mean, you do get involved. We call it Potomac fever. You know?

And for those who are unaware, the Potomac River runs right through Washington, D.C. It's part of the reason why it's so dang hot in that city. But it's like you cross over the river and you get Potomac fever, and all of a sudden you become so narcissistic and neurotic. And, you know, you get into the race, right? You get into the rat race and stuff. And, you know, it is a young kid, young professional who's wanting to be successful, rise the rank, rise in the ranks and, and, and, and ultimately grow and,

and become, you know, the big dog. Um, you know, that was absolutely something. It was that, that hustle mentality is great. That hustle mentality has helped make me a better, uh, uh, CEO and business person. But, you know, at a young age, you kind of like let it get the best of me. And I was definitely, you know, the guy at happy hour networking and making friends, shaking hands and going to, you know, dinners and lunches, whatever it took to make the right connections to be successful. And that I can take that mentality here, but with more balance. I'm more mature now. I'm not that mature.

I'm 32 years old. But I am a little bit more balanced in that approach there. But it was a good skill to learn. Sure. But I definitely got caught up in the Potomac fever. I wasn't all about abundance and that kind of life. Did you look at Mitt Romney, so in the most literal terms, when the candidate that you're working with drops out of the race,

did you lose your job? Yes. Okay. Yeah, you're not fired, but like you've laid off. Okay. Right. There's nothing for you to do anymore. Yeah.

It was a, it wasn't with Mitt Romney. It was with governor Walker. He was here. I lived here for about 10 months or so. I worked on his campaign for about nine months. Um, I started working when I was in DC transitioning out here to move. Yeah. And I moved here about March of 2015 at the end of March, 2015.

And, um, I was here until October of 2015, the end of March, 2015. And, um, I was here until October of 2015, the end of October of 2015. And, uh, yeah, so, you know, the higher up you are, the more, you know, if the waters are getting rough. Uh, so I had a bit of an indication that things were going southward. yeah and um you know then the call came if you will sure uh governor's going to be making an announcement in a few minutes that he's dropping out of the race and we know what that is but you know for us who are a little bit older we have been doing this a little longer and we're prepared for that financially as well as you know mentally and emotionally that's a part of the gig that's part of what you sign up for yeah um the younger guys though it's a little a lot harder um you know because this is something that's their first or second job

you know you don't get paid a lot in politics either you know um not till you're like way up there on the top but if you're you know one of the hard workers uh um down at the bottom uh you know it's it's uh's, they work hard, they don't get paid, they don't get compensated equally for the amount of hours they put in. So some of them, it's a little bit more challenging,

but you lose your job, that's what happens. And, so did you see that as your, your opportunity, Yes. to do something new, or was it like,

fuck, now I have to find something else? No, I wasn't worried at all. In fact, I had been planning. When you get into a race like that, you plan, you know that the likelihood of winning is really small. 17 candidates, one with an electorate that's going to go any number of directions of things that are unknown. It's like picking the Super Bowl winner in two years.

It's not like next season. I mean like in two years. It's not like next season. I mean like in two seasons. That's like the probability of you actually, you know, guessing who it's going to be for the nominee. Right. And so you prepare for the long haul, but you also know I'm prepared that it might end. So I'd already left the city. I'd moved all my stuff out of the city.

And I was prepared for a lengthy vacation when it when it ended okay um and knowing that it was probably going to be the case sometime later than i thought i thought we were going to go through the primary season um which came a couple months later it didn't plan out that way so i took a vacation anyways but i was prepared mentally for that to happen that that was a likelihood so i was feeling like i was going to take a break i needed a break i hadn't had a vacation in seven years yeah you know i'd gone from one campaign to another to back to congress to back to the rnc whatever it was i was taking leave from to go you know help out on the ground and um you know i'd taken a couple weekend longs i'd gone home for christmas but but I had never really checked out at all. And so I said, I'm going to get out of here for a little while. And I had opportunities

with other campaigns. I mean, it's very common for them to pick up top talent from another campaign and just immediately throw them on the next one, because that's what happens. That guy drops out, those donor opportunities go over to this candidate, their operation builds a little bit bigger. And when another one drops out, it kind of goes over and there's plenty of opportunities for me to go but i said no i think i think if i'm going to make a real serious change in the trajectory of my professional career and my life then now is the perfect opportunity to do that those jobs those campaigns will be there when i get back. Because I was going to get back in late December. I took two months off. I was going to get back in late December. The first

primary wasn't for another month. So I came back. Sure enough, there was those job opportunities still there. I chose not to pursue them. I chose to take a different path and say, this has been great. I've learned so much in this environment, but I'm going to go try to do something else. Cause I believed that I was smart enough and capable enough and driven enough and hardworking enough to do it. So if you're going to do it, do it now. Don't wait, don't wait for the opportunity to present itself. This is the perfect, for me, that was the perfect opportunity. I had my exit. Yeah. I didn't even live in DC anymore. So, you know, if I had lived in DC and worked for a

campaign that was centered in that neighborhood, it had been a lot more tough, you know, to do that. But now you're outside of the city and you're halfway home. Yeah. You've cured yourself of the fever. I moved over the Potomac river. I'd lost the Potomac fever. And yeah, no regrets, though. Yeah. How was your support system during that time? Because I imagine your parents, like, coming from a politic background and going, hey, I'm going to use your basement and start the morning chock up. Yeah. How was your support system at that time? It was good. My family was really happy to have me back home. You know, they had, I had missed a lot of birthdays and celebrations and fun times

pursuing a career um sometimes selfishly sure um and going back home and and they really just they were just happy to have me and so they were committed to doing anything they could to make that transition a success um so i lived rent free thank Thank you, mom and dad. I actually just moved out like three weeks ago. Congrats, brother. To my own condo in Anaheim. And I could not have done that or start the company if I hadn't been living in my parents' pool house for the last two and a half years. So it worked out really well. But it's, yeah, they just supported me so much in, in the efforts that I had and, and a lot of late nights and, you know, I gotta go, you know, we're sitting down at the dinner table. I gotta go, you know, we gotta, we gotta finish up the morning track up, you know,

it's, uh, it's, uh, it's been a long labor of love, but, um, you know, that's honestly, I don't know if I could have started that anywhere else other than having that support system. And that's extremely empowering, you know, to know that you have that, I don't call it a safety net, but you know, that, that love and that, that compassion for somebody that's in your corner. And there's just so much energy that goes into that and making you feel the success even more, because like you said, it's, it's beyond you now it's for not not only yourself but your family and everything that you've, you know, to get you to that point. So that's awesome, man. It is.

It is. I've read a lot of entrepreneur stories. People have done it in various different ways. I'm always inspired. I don't know. I'm like, I think about what I went through. I'm like, man, this is easy compared to what he did or what she did. Like, how does that, how do they do that?

Yeah. did what he did or what she did like how does that how do they do that yeah and uh you know i think they're they're you know not to be cliche but where there's a will there's a way and um if you have great supporters in your life stick close to them yep rely upon them friends allies family members gyms whatever it is you're doing, that has made a huge difference in your ability to maybe just survive. Yeah. Maybe it's just surviving through a tough day, maybe surviving financially, you know, which was the case for me. Cause I, I wasn't generating a lot of income, you know, um, I actually still don't pay myself from the morning chalk up, but, but that's okay. Cause I have another job that I'm able to be able

to support myself financially through. Um, but you know, whatever the support system is, it's allowing you to do it. You sit close to them. You know, I, if I was by myself, literally by myself, like, you know, living somewhere else away from my family, I don't know if I could, I don't know if I could have done it. Yeah. Well, it says a lot about you in terms of, uh, your commitment to your mission. Yeah. Because I think that has to come first before, um, the lasting support comes through for you. Sure. You can crash on the couch for a night, for a night or two, are you still doing the deal yeah or are you just waking up at 10 a.m and fucking off the rest of the day yeah you know what i'm saying and uh you know uh that allows that facilitates that support to to stay with you and continue to believe in you and just just watching you do the deal stick with the grind and

while you're you're figuring it out. And then at that point, nobody ever has to ask you the question like, well, how long do you think you're going to stick with this? You know what I'm saying? As you know, as we entertain these conversations with a lot of entrepreneurs, at some point they were asked that question and nine times out of 10, for those of us that have, you know, eclipsed the hurdle of proof of concept. Yeah, proof of concept. That question comes way too early because you don't really have an answer for it.

You know what I mean? How long are you gonna stay with it? Do you think it's gonna work? Fuck, I don't know. I don't know. I just believe. I believe. You know what I mean?

Yeah, and I definitely had that question asked me more than one time. How long are you going to do it? I, I had some, I mean, look, I put my own end dates on things. Okay. You know, I said, look, like, if I can't, if I can't make X, you know, if we can generate X amount of revenue in, in, in, in this period of time, it's time to look for an exit strategy. I think you have to be smart that way. I, I don't think, you know, I have, I, I would never criticize somebody for holding on indefinitely to their dreams.

But I am committed to figuring out a way to accomplish the goal. And sometimes, not for everybody, but for me, if I don't have an objective, if I have to make, if we have to generate 100K in revenue by this period of time, otherwise it's time for an extra strategy, because the writing is on the wall, maybe I'm not good enough. But if I know what I've got to hit, then I'm going to hit it. If you don't know what you're going to hit, you might not hit it. You might hit it.

You might surpass it 2X over. But if you don't know, you don't know. So I put real, like, okay, what is it going to take for me to quit my day job and do this? What's it going to take for me to hire another person? What's going to take for me to do this? And if you're specific about those, then you can, you can work backwards with the math. If it's a hundred K at the end of the year, you know how much you need to generate from each sponsorship. If you know what your inventory is, right? If you need more money, you need to create more inventory. Or you charge more.

Will they pay for it? These are the questions that you have to struggle with. But you can't struggle with those questions of, hey, how about $1,000? How about $1,500? You look like you could afford it. How about $2,500? That's fine if you're shooting from the hip at the beginning a little bit. But when you get to the projecting, writing a budget for 2018, 2019, 2020, and saying, this budget supports me working full time.

How do we get to that budget with what we have today? Okay. We can't get there with what we have today. So how do we make more? How do we take something else and something new? Or how do we find a new opportunity for revenue? You know, oh, well, we could sell more merch, man, that could generate how much can that we know what our profit margin is, okay, we could get there, we could we could get part of the way there, you know, and then you do that. So, you know, I put a I put my own timeframes on me and say, look, like if I'm not working for myself, like if I'm not actually full-time staff on my own company in three years, I need to find an extra strategy. Because I'm working for free. Yeah, right. You know, and yes, I love it.

And I can continue to do that. But I have to be real about the decisions that I make. That's time away from family. That's time away from family. That's time away from a future family. And my ability to be, you know, hopefully a good father and be able to be there. And if I'm doing this, that's great. But if it's not helping my family, then I have to reevaluate the decision and the priority of the time that I'm putting into something. Right.

You know? And so I'm very real about that. And if I know the objective and the goal, then I think I can find steps to accomplish it. So I know what 2019 needs to look like. So I'm figuring out today how to get there. Yeah. So that on January one, we're already getting there. We're not behind, or maybe we're behind, but we know how far we are behind and we can move objectively there constantly. And the relationships on a professional level that we, the partnerships that we establish with other companies

help us get there. And we know we're doing it for a reason. And I think that's important for entrepreneurs who like to go willy nilly. Again, at the beginning, you're shooting everything from the hip, flying the plane, duct tape and glue. You're assembling it right there. It's like, wow, we finally have seats in the cockpit. It's amazing. That's real life as an entrepreneur. And that may be real life for a long time. But the things that you can answer are how much I need to make and how much that needs to be generated a month to get there at the end of the year. You can't pay yourself $60,000 at the end of the year.

You've got to pay rent once 1 through 11. So that means you can't only make money by the end of the year. You've got to make it consistently and constantly. Also, it's better to hit a lot of good singles than it is one home run at the end of the year. From a business perspective, you're more likely to fail that way than you are if you're hitting, you know, small singles. So I've been very deliberate about knowing what numbers we need to hit.

Yeah. Otherwise, we may never make it there. Sure. How would you define your life purpose where you are today? Life purpose? That's a good question. That's a deep question.

Wow. No one's ever asked. That's a deep question. Wow. No one's ever asked me that. Really? Yeah. I don't do a lot of interviews. But like over coffee, you know, neither is that. They're more like, what is the morning chalk ups purpose or what are you guys doing towards? And I think that I've taken a huge step back in my life since leaving politics and said, it's not all about me.

You know, uh, I'm, I'm Christian and I, I believe, you know, that we are here for a purpose and to serve others. And so I take that,

that role in it very seriously. And what I do, that's why I believe a giving community is a growing community that, that, that funnels and fundamentally is a part of my life. It's not separated. You know, it doesn't mean, you know, you read the morning chalk up, you know, we're not preaching the gospel there.

But if I was pouring a part of myself into it, and I think there is a little bit of me into it, it's that. It's that generosity. It's that we are not here just to serve ourselves. And so my life purpose is to continue to take that belief that I have without throwing Christianity

in front of people's face, but saying we are here for you, and we want to help. That's a part of who we are. We're a company, and we're going to continue to make money and hopefully support really creative, great people working at that company give them an opportunity to do some awesome stuff and be a part of something that they believe in and i think that is a great mission to have is to say i want to be a great workplace that allows people creatively to

do things but behind that as a corporation or as a company, that generosity and being able to be there for people. And we get a lot of emails about like, how can we help? And how can we help? One day we'll be able to help a lot more and we're doing as much as we can a little bit at a time. So my life purpose is, is intertwined with what I'm doing. And I think that's why I'm able to pour so much of who I am into it. Um, who's our new managing editor, is doing a phenomenal job. She asked me, like, how do you come up with these things? I'm like, I think about this all day, every day. Imagine if you thought for 365 days about something, what you would come up with.

Right. And somebody was sitting down and asked, like, how does Dave Castro come up with all these workouts? I'm like, that guy is obsessed about what he is doing. He is so intertwined and ingrained in every workout that that guy is, there's no separation mentally for him, passionately for him. It is the same thing for him. He is obsessed. And I'm like, obsessed and i'm like this is who i this is a part of who i am this is an extension of who i am and my creativity and what i want to give to the world and i hope to help other people in the world too through it and so uh and i'm just like my my mind is like you know racetrack of ideas for for all years so um life purpose is intertwined in that, I think, very deeply. Yeah.

Before we let you get out of here today, I want to ask you, you know, piggybacking on your life's purpose, breaking that down into the daily. I'm going to ask you two questions. You can answer them on any level, mental, physical, spiritual, whatever strikes you right now. And I'll ask them in succession before you answer. The first of which is, what do you do each and every day to feed yourself and kickstart the momentum for the projects that you have going? And the follow-on to that is, what do you do each and every day to fuel yourself

and create that sustainable momentum over the long term? Ooh, those are great questions. Really great questions. So as a sponge, like the sponge mentality, I read, soak up ideas all the time. I start my day by filling my head with ideas. So I read everything. I read Vanity Fair. I read Refinery29.

I read the New York Times. I read Washington Post, I read Vox, I read them all, Politico, DC-based publications, New York-based publications, fashion magazines, GQ, Culture. I immerse myself in information because I'm not the greatest creator on the planet. But collectively, they have generated some amazing ideas with large editorial board rooms, and they have come up and created content that inspires me to figure out new ways to present ideas and try new things for our readers. So I immerse myself in information. I completely just soak it up. And I do a lot of that at night, too, but that's the first thing I do in the morning, man. I read through everything. I'm subscribed to every newsletter on the planet. And because I want to see, you know, I want to learn. As an entrepreneur, you

are a learner. If you're not a learner, you won't be an entrepreneur much longer because you're constantly learning. And so I'm learning from other people. Fuel myself. I am a, I'm a man of routine. So I can eat the same thing every day. I can work out at the same time every day. And, uh, it makes me happy. It keeps me on. I'm a, I'm totally ADD. So when I'm out of routine, it makes me less successful. So I fuel myself with family, with fitness, uh, and food. I didn't even mean to be alliterative, but it worked out that way. Um, I, I have to be around people. I have to get people time to separate myself and wall myself off from work. I have to work out. I have to work out seven days a week. Um, I have to do physical activity. Like it doesn't always have to be in the gym, but it has to be physical. It has to be hard.

And I've got to eat. And I love food, and I actually love eating good food. It really makes me happy, and it really keeps me going and moving in the right direction. This week, tough. Not a lot of workouts. A lot of good food, though. A lot of good food, but, you know, not in the portions and in the time structures

that I'm used to. You know, like, I barely had, I had a breakfast from Flapjack this morning. If you haven't tried their Mighty Muffins, you might want to think about it. All right, all right. 20 grams of protein, microwavable for 45 seconds, organic, brilliant.

You can stop by their booth. They're one of our sponsors. They're our official breakfast sponsor, by the way. There you go their booth. They're one of our sponsors, our official breakfast sponsor, by the way. There you go. Okay. A little plug there for you. Yeah. So I had one of those and then I had some coffee and then I ran over here and you know, it's jumbled. So I feel the effects of that though. Sure. Yeah. And so that's, that's how I feel my body. Those, those three things are super important. It keeps me balanced, you know, and being an entrepreneur, you can go way out of balance real fast, you know, you know, cause your store manager, your chief complaint officer, your CEO, your, you know, chief content creator, sometimes, you know, your social media

guy, your photographer, your videographer, your, whatever your company needs you and you can go out of balance real fast. So, um, if I'm not, uh, if I'm not learning and educating myself and I'm not getting, you know, fitness, family and, uh, fuel like food wise, that's, that's not a good recipe over a long period of time. That's, that's a train wreck. And, and I get worn down and I can't create, like I can't do my job. Sure. And where can this community go follow and support you both personally and professionally everywhere you're located, brother?alkup.com there's a fancy little box up there uh you can put your email address in it uh we will gladly accept that and uh the next day you'll start getting the morning chalk up in your inbox um if you're not about email you can always just

check us out on facebook facebook.com slash morning chalk up uh we post lots of good content up there um a lot of the creme de la creme from the day. Something really great to watch. Articles you want to read and stuff. Just the good stuff. Otherwise, shoot, you can stop by our office and just come hang out if you want to. We've got plenty of fun little goodies that sponsors have

graced us with. Grab a FitAid. Grab an RX bar or something like that. Otherwise, Red Wolf CrossFit. Huntington Beach, California. That's where I'm throwing barbells around. There you go. Having some fun.

Getting some fitness on. Oh, baby. Well, hey, man. We really appreciate you stopping in. Thank you, dude. Thank you. For everybody out there in the Feed Me, Fuel Me community, make sure you hop on board the Morning Chalk Up.

Above and beyond the CrossFit platform that Justin's built upon. It's the community effort that is really celebrated there. So make sure you get in there and support that effort. So really appreciate you taking the time. Thanks for having me on, guys. It was a lot of fun. We know you're super busy. And, you know, we appreciate you making us a priority so we can spread your message.

So until next time, guys, Feed Me, Fuel Me. And that'll do it for this episode with our special guest, Justin Lofranco. If you want to check out everything Justin has going and the morning chalk up, go to the full show notes on shrugcollective.com. Also, be sure to connect with us on social media, including Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at FeedMeFuelMe. We would love to hear from each and every one of you. If you found this episode inspiring in any way, please leave a rating and a comment on iTunes so we can continue on this journey together.

Also, be sure to share it with your friends and family on social media, including Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, or any other social platforms that you use. We really appreciate you spending your time with us today and allowing us to join you on your journey. We would love to hear your feedback on this episode, as well as guests and topics for future episodes. To end this episode, we would love to leave you with a quote from Brandon Lilly. Be thankful, be better than yesterday, and help someone else. Thank you again for joining us, and we will catch you on the next episode. Way to make it to the end of the show. As always, go to Shrug Collect over at iTunes, give us a five-star review, positive comment, and hit thrivemarket.com slash feedme to get that great deal on awesome groceries.

See you next time.