Determined Society with Shawn French | Adversity & Mindset - Olivia Mock Shares The Truth About Self-Love, Fitness & Discipline

Episode Date: December 12, 2025

In this episode of The Determined Society, host Shawn French sits down with Olivia Mock, founder and CEO of The Check-In Club, a rapidly growing fitness accountability app helping thousands of people build discipline, community, and confidence, without the toxicity, filters, and comparison traps of modern social media.What begins as a conversation about fitness quickly turns into a deep discussion on mental health, self-talk, consistency, childhood insecurities, and the emotional battles people face long before they ever touch a weight. Shawn and Olivia open up about their own struggles with anxiety, body image, shame, yo-yo dieting, and the internal narratives that keep people stuck.Olivia shares the story behind The Check-In Club, why she built a judgment-free platform, and how accountability communities help moms, beginners, athletes, and everyday people stay consistent. Key Takeaways-You cannot build a lasting fitness journey from shame—only from self-love.-Small wins compound. Consistency beats intensity every time.-Nutrition and movement dramatically improve mental health, anxiety, and confidence.-Walking counts. Any movement is better than none.-Community accelerates progress—accountability builds discipline.-Showing up for yourself first allows you to show up better for your family, work, and relationships.  Connect with me :https://link.me/theshawnfrench?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaY2s9TipS1cPaEZZ9h692pnV-rlsO-lzvK6LSFGtkKZ53WvtCAYTKY7lmQ_aem_OY08g381oa759QqTr7iPGAOlivia Mockhttps://www.instagram.com/oliviamockk/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

I'm doing this because I hate myself. Your mind hears that, and it's going to produce a result that ultimately doesn't last. Here I am having this show about determination and discipline where I looked like a fat, freaking mess. You cannot start a fitness journey being the best self out of shame. You will always fail. I changed my alarm from get up, bitch. No, I destroyed. I did.

I did. I changed it to I love you, Sean. My wife saw that, the long as she goes, who the hell wrote that? I go, I did. I wrote that. I think fitness and nutrition are such a big aspect of mental. health that I feel like honestly people want to ignore because it's hard. Did I have treats meals? Absolutely.

But I earned them. You for your mental. You don't work out. You never work out. You haven't had a healthy meal in 17 freaking years. I was suffering so bad from anxiety. Like I was literally treating myself like a sick patient. I'd be like, I can't get out of bed because that's so selfish.

I know. Don't cancel me. No, don't cancel her. Not yet. Not yet. What's up, guys? I'm here with Olivia Mock. the founder and CEO of the checking club,

an amazing fitness app that is helping people not just get into the gym, but gamifying the experience a little bit to a point where they can have some interaction with people, support them. It's like really cool because it's like this tamed, this tamed version of a social media platform, which I love, right?

And I want to get into that because, you can go on there and see what other people are doing and support people. So, but most everybody, you know, when they log on there, you don't have the distraction of the negativity. You don't have the distractions of the DMs. You can really just engage with people. So talk to us about the check-in club. Well, thank you for having me.

First of all, I'm very excited to be here. Absolutely. The check-in club, kind of, you know, everything you said, it's a bunch of things all put in one, but at its core, it's an accountability app that's used to encourage people to show up through their health and their fitness journey, whatever that looks like for you. So we have a huge community of moms that are, you know, freshly postpartum getting back into things, maybe haven't lifted away or spent time working on themselves in that realm in a year or so. And then you have, you know, your hardcore people.

But like I said, at its core and its accountability app, it encourages you to show up. Specifically people, you know, who may not have a real community outside of that. It's somewhere that they can kind of feel important to and like showing up daily means something. It's a good point because And guys like I'm in the app I was one of the I think maybe one of the first ones maybe I've checked in once But I do go to the gym

I do go to the gym but I don't check in And I'm going to commit to you right now I'm going to start checking in Right because I think that This platform what's so great about it Is when you go on other platforms You see everybody that is potentially How can I say this

Looks perfect it could be a filter, it could be something, right? But you go on the other platforms and you see everything that you are not. The one thing I really love about the check-in club, because I don't check in, but I do go on it and I look and I scroll a little bit. I like things here and there because I like seeing people that are doing real things, right, and not worrying about what they look like. Their mission is just to get healthier and do it with a community.

Yeah. That's a huge part of it for me. And, you know, to your point of having no distractions and it's just a place to show up, like without the filters, oh man, what am I going to put as my caption? Who's liking it? You can't see who likes your stuff when you go back, but you'll get a pop-off notification.

Like, Olivia M. Harded your check-in, and that's kind of the encouragement side of it. But you're not getting on there. Who saw me at the gym today? You know, those types of things. And that's something that I love because a lot of people, they shy away from sharing that side

of their health and fitness journey on social media. They don't want to come off as a try-hard or be cringy. And so I think it really does give people a place to show up. as they are. And we say that all the time, like, show up just as you are. But the reality is social media doesn't give us, you know, the opportunity to actually do that because of all the opinions surrounding it. Agreed. Because, and I've seen videos, right? You have a man or a woman that it's extremely overweight, working their ass off to get in shape. And you could see somebody that's lost 50 pounds and someone will pop off in the comments, still fat. Yeah. Like it's wrong.

Right? It's wrong. And in the world now, in the social climate that we're in, there's so many distractions like I've mentioned, but there's also so much hate and divisiveness and I'm better than you. I'm not as good as you. And so I just love the vibe of the actual app and seeing people get in there, like you said, as they are. I mean, it's super important, right? And to have that little encouragement, right? Because when you can tie, and here's the other thing that I really love about it, right? Because the app is free to download. Yes. Right. So for you guys right now, checking club on the App Store, Droid and Apple, download it for free, interact,

make your profile. But the cool thing about it is, you know, you're not worried about fitness influencers, DMing you or trying to take your money. This is a platform, and I'm sure there's monetization efforts, right?

In the back end with merchandise and, you know, users and everything like that. But it is just a pure app. It's pretty damn cool. So that was a huge part for me as well because, you know, my mom is a personal trainer. So fitness, I mean, from a very young age has always been in my mind as something that, you know, I know I need to prioritize.

I didn't always love it because, you know, with anything, like when it's shoved down your throat and you're like, I hate this. Like I truly viewed working out as a form of torture. I'm like, she hates me. Well, have you seen your father? Yeah, he's next. He's next. I mean, oh, this is, okay. Yeah.

His time's coming. Yeah, his time's coming. Both of my parents are extremely hardcore. And I kind of rebelled against something that I ended up being passionate about because I was like, well, I'm not, I don't want to follow in, you know, their footsteps and be, my mom is like, great. But like my whole life, it's like we were very conscious of what we ate and things that we did. And like I said, I had a negative view of that for a very long time. And so kind of finding that in my own way. The last few years, I did get into working out for myself. But then as like to your point, I was a part of something called Beach Body, which I really enjoyed.

Yes, I know, yes, I did some training for an organization. Yeah. And I took their products for a little while, but I know exactly what you're talking about. Yeah. So Beach Body, actually, that program, I did an 80-day obsession program right before my wedding that actually did change my life. But what I noticed is so many people around me were like, what are you doing? Like, you know, you're looking different.

You seem happier mentally. Like, I want to do it. But it comes at a cost. And it comes at the cost of one, a price, but also, you know, know, it's a little bit exclusive. Like you have to be a part of this specific program or this specific thing. And I wanted to bring people together in a way that's like, hey, if you don't have an Apple Watch, like, it's okay. If you don't have the same program that I'm on, it's okay. But it gives people a place to all come and still produce that environment without having to be exclusively a part

of one thing. Well, let's also tap into it. I mean, Beachbody is not cheap. No, not at all. And there's not a lot of people that can afford, you know, just even the shakeology of, what is it, like, $150 a month. Supplements are very expensive. They're wild. Yeah. And listen, they taste fine. I mean, Beachbody is a, it's good, right? It's great.

I know they've done some restructuring over the last year. So that's really kind of, but most of those types of companies are doing that. And, you know, taking it to the bank and leaving the people that, you know, created the income kind of left out the dark. Yeah. Which is sad. Sad. But you mentioned something that I really want to tap into because in the show we talk about determination, discipline, but at the root of it is becoming your best self. Matter if I'm talking to a celebrity, a fitness influencer, it doesn't matter.

Everybody is searching to be their best selves. And I truly believe you cannot achieve being your best self unless you're disciplined and your nutrition. And before you guys come at me, let me finish my freaking thought, okay? It's not about how you look. It's about how your mind works. right and if you want to get really mentally strong now again disclaimer i'm no psychologist if you have clinical issues yes you do need to go see a psychologist you you may need medication i'm not i'm not touching on that but what i'm talking about is people really sleep on eating really good just

whole foods nothing you know no carbs from the pantry you know it's a potato it's a jasmine rice you know it's vegetables and in great protein what does that do for your mentality what does that do your mental health. I think fitness and nutrition are such a big aspect of mental health that I feel like honestly, people want to ignore because it's hard. It's not sitting down and just talking out your feelings. It's actually putting in the work day after day after day. And in my own life, I mean, around COVID, I was suffering so bad from anxiety. Like I was literally treating myself like a sick patient. I'd be like, I can't get out of bed because I don't know. I convinced myself every day. Like I had a new symptom or a heart attack. Like I made my dad and my husband on NFL

Sunday take me to the hospital and they're like, that's so selfish. I know. They're like, good news. It's just anxiety. And I'm like, what? So like I couldn't even believe that. So then after that, you know, you have to learn how to manage that. How does one manage that when you're basically being told it's all up here? It's not actually like what you're feeling. So to your point, I didn't really find, like I did the counseling thing and you know, I leaned into my faith. And I will say like obviously those things are so beneficial, but I didn't see a true change physically and mentally until I started to put, you know, nutrition in my health and fitness first. Like, people are sleeping on what a simple walk can do for your mental.

I'm not, I will say I am not a good person unless I do not prioritize myself in that way. It's just a fact. It's interesting because you talk about the walk, right? We'll get back to the nutrition later. But the walk, people say, that's not exercise. and you have a lot of fitness influencers and big CEOs, a big supplement company saying, that's not a workout.

Let me tell you something. If you are overweight, so when my heaviest was 238 pounds, if I'm walking for 45 minutes around the block, it takes energy to move that vessel. Of course. Right? No matter how much you weigh,

no matter whatever, you're still using gas, right? It's expended energy. It burns calories. Like, it's not rock. at science, right? But to your point, it's hard. And one of the things that I think is hard is people don't stick to things long enough. Right? So it's like that quid pro quo. Like, I'm going to eat this way for a week. And I talk to people like this. Like, what did you do? Like, how did you,

how did you lose so much weight from December to June? Right? Well, I just stayed consistent. And I just stayed in my process. And I go, this is the next right move. And I forgot about what I wanted to do. Did I have treat meals? Absolutely. I had treat meals, but I earned them. And then it was the next meal right back on track. But people overlook it because they go, well, if this doesn't work for a week, then something's wrong with me. I just can't lose weight. And it's just, it drives me crazy because like what was ever created good in a week? Even two, even three. Now you can, if you do it the right way after week one, you can see massive results. But you have to be disciplined. Yeah. And to your point with the walking and how it is discredited, like even when I started checking club, I would tell people like, you should check in, you know, because of course I'm reaching out to my immediate circle and connections and people I know when I first started and they're like, I can't do it. And I'm like, why? And they're like, well, I only go for walks. I don't work out. And I'm like, there's no only. Like you go for a walk. And I think we like bully people into thinking that your efforts aren't enough. But like you said, like everybody has a day one. They start somewhere. Whether you

make it to day seven, not everybody can do that. And I saw this quote and it's like, everybody knows the pain of starting, but not everybody knows like the strength and success you feel when you finish. Come on. Because not everybody can get there because our mental is weak. Yeah. And to your point, like, you have to get past the first week and the second week and the third week. And, you know, I don't know. I do, I do think that as a society, like we tell people, like, when it's hard, that means, you know, you just got to quit. Well, our brains are wired to keep us safe and to stay away from risk, right? And that's great for some things like scaling a freaking mountain.

Okay. But when we're talking about becoming better, you know, mentally, physically, we can understand that we get one body, right? We get one body. And it can either, when you get to be 70 years old, it can either be breaking down on you or you could be strong. And it all happens, you know, early in life, you know, making sure that you're joined. are good, making sure that your muscles are strong. So that way, when you deteriorate naturally, you're not bone on bone. This is a big deal.

It's a big deal. Let me ask you a question. Because, you know, we're talking on nutrition. And, you know, I know, I'm not a dietitian, and I don't think you are either, if I am, correct me. Your dad thinks he is. He thinks he's everything. Yeah.

My dad has every certification under the sun. He's a certified badass. I do love that. He is awesome. There's something that I haven't seen in the app. And I'm not even talking about, you know, a widget or anything like that. And I could be wrong. I would love to see people sharing their food journey.

You know, this is what I had for breakfast, you know, breaking down what good eating really is because there's a lot of fear mongering around carbohydrates. And I'll admit, like, there's times where I'll just stay away from them. Yeah. I will, I'm like, I'm not eating them. but I also realize that, you know, that kind of ketosis or carnivore is great if you're really trying to shed. And I know there's people out there that are carnivore and are absolutely jacked out of their mind.

But, but for me, like, you need glycogen to build muscle, right? So, you know, education on what's a good carb? What's a bad carb, right? What's going to fuel your body? And I always look at it as God put it here. I'm going to eat it. If he didn't, I'm going to stay away from it. Now, you know, I know we didn't put pizza here.

But sorry, I'm going to eat pizza once in a while. That's my favorite. Yeah, I had some last night. What are your, what are your thoughts on that? Like, as far as, you know, having people share their food journey. And is there a way to encourage that in the app? So transparently, and I think, you know, just the culture that we live in, like the cancel culture, like you take one step wrong or say one wrong thing and it's like you're out of

the equation. I really don't like cancel culture, but that's a topic for another day. but I think it makes you hesitant to share other aspects because it's like, I know I don't want to ruffle any feathers by, you know, posting about food. But that is something that I encourage, like checking, like you said, checking in, yeah, you might be doing a workout that day, but it's the full circle of what it means to check in. So I encourage that. If somebody wants to post, you know, that they achieve their food goal for the day, it's like, it's anything that ties in to your health and wellness journey. at the beginning, I was scared to maybe encourage posting other things because I didn't want, you know, somebody getting on and be like, finish a chess game today. Like, I want to encourage people to stay, you know, motivated and on track with what we're doing here.

But, no, that is 100% a part of, you know, the journey in the process. So if you're watching this and you want to join Checking Club, I would love for you to show up in that way. And, you know. Yeah, absolutely. I just think it's important for people to check in where they're at. And what I mean by that is, as they are. Okay, I'm going to check in three days a week. You know, like, whatever, that's great, you know, and put that out there.

But the thing that, the thing that's really special about the check-in club is the community. It's really damn cool. I've already said it, but I just really find a lot of value in people showing up and being there for each other. Yeah. And just posting one small win. Yeah. You know, because like here's what I think. Like when you start your journey, you know,

or if you've fallen off and you're getting back on track, you need encouragement. And you're not going to always get that from yourself. So it's like if you can see other people that are out there working hard and you might see somebody that has more ailments than you. I mean, who knows? Like one day I can check in and say like, hey, I don't want to be here. But then maybe there's another person checking in that is in a wheelchair

that's going around the block. Like, what excuse do I have? Yeah. And I just think that we need to say, stop judging ourselves for what we're doing if we're not doing enough and just, hey, you're 100% is going to be different every day. Yeah. But you have to show up. Yeah. I've been humbled by that for sure because, I mean, even myself when I started this, I put a pressure on myself that nobody else is putting on me but myself. And like, I think for like 45 days, I didn't have a rest day.

I'm like trying to get up. You know what I mean? Because I, I'm also a huge believer in leading by example. Sure. Like, how can I tell people, like, show up and do these different things when I'm, I'm like laying in bed. So I wanted to start, you know, by showing like, I'm not asking you to do anything. I'm not willing to do myself. But, you know, as the process is gone, I also know that showing up for yourself and checking in means like sometimes like I need to check in with where I'm at and like I need a rest day. But to your other point, seeing some of the stories, like I had a friend who, you know,

unfortunately discovered she had a little bit of an illness going on and basically had said, like, I was told that I was going to be in a weird. wheelchair for a year and I just walked my first mile. So things like that, it's like you, you can't put a price tag on those types of stories or like even like on a maybe on a lesser scale physically like somebody's like my dog passed away today, but I'm here checking in and I'm going to go do that. It's like it looks different for everybody and what checking in actually is, like carries different weight for everybody in that same aspect. It's a good point because Again, I keep going back to the check-in club and saying it over and over again,

because I want you guys to pay attention, first and foremost. Secondly, it's not a check-in on a nap. It is, but at the root of it is, are you showing up for yourself? Are you pushing through the moments where you emotionally don't want to? Right? Because that's the key. If you can just go for a walk that day and post it, you know, like, that's going to show somebody else. You know, like, yeah, you don't have to worry about the caption.

But if you write, like, hey, my dog passed away today. I'm emotionally wrecked. I just want to stay in bed depressed. I had that dog for, you know, 15 years. Right. It was, it was, their family first and foremost, right? Yeah. If I can just show up for myself, post this and say,

all these things of why I shouldn't be doing this today, but I'm still not taking a zero date. That can inspire somebody else to move in spite of what they're going through that day. You have no idea. And I actually saw this picture online the other day and it like hit me so hard. It was all these cars stuck in charge. traffic and one car is like just lost her mom. One car is struggling with the eating disorder. Another car is struggling with self-harm. Like all these people, you have no idea what everybody's

carrying. So like when I go through and I'm seeing like, I genuinely mean this from the bottom of my heart. Like I'm overflowing just like I'm just so proud. I'm proud of everybody for showing up because, you know, some people I know their struggles. Other people, I don't even know their name and I'm seeing them on there. And I'm like, it is beautiful how everybody is making it a priority to show up for themselves. And I encourage people to start small. You know how you were saying, like, back to eating goals and different things.

Like some people are like, I'm going to eat clean for a week. And for some people, that might be too big of a goal to start. Like, I think we set ourselves up for failure if I'm like, I'm not going to have a single gram of sugar for the next 75 days.

Like, realistically, that's not a goal that's super attainable for somebody who's never done something like that. So start small. There's a feature in the app you can set your weekly goal how many times you want to check in. And that resets every Sunday. And I tell people, if you're new to moving your body, oops, sorry, if you're new to moving your body. Don't be beating my shit up, man. Just so passionate. But if you're new to moving your body and moving

five days a week, like maybe that's something that's going to automatically set you up for failure. Start with two days. Yeah. Tell yourself two days, regardless of what the week presents, I am showing up for myself those two days, regardless, no matter what. That's the danger and a lot of when you start something. You know, it's like when I started my show or if I'm getting back in shape, I'm not going to say I'm going to record every day. Yeah. You know, when I started this, I was recording once every three, four weeks out of my car

after the gym. And I've thought, download in the gym, I go out there and I vent on it. It sucked. It was terrible, right? But it built up that muscle, right? And I look at all the other shows that I went through. I go back and look. I'm like, oh, my God, I'm mortified by how bad it was.

Yeah. It's like why do I have a Facebook 14 years ago? I'm still trying to figure that answer out. Yeah, but like you just do a little out of time. My whole point is for the people listening is don't base your goals on what you think society expects of you. I think that's a big thing, right? It's like, oh, if I'm going to be shredded, I got to, you know, wake up at 4 a.m. like Sean does or like PJ does or whatever.

It's like, no, I just do it because it works for me. Like, if I get sleep till 6 and work out at, seven or eight every day, I would. Yeah. But the bottom line is, too much stuff happens and then it's going to go by the wayside. So I'm going to take care of that most important thing right there. And people don't realize, like giving back to yourself the very first thing. Like when I get up, I get before, gym opens at five. I'm up at four. I'm in the parking lot by 4.30. What am I feeling today? It's 4.30. What am I, what do I need from from the word today? Okay, I'm feeling a little anxious.

Go on my Bible app, clip on anxiety, and I read. Love it. And then I get in the gym and pour into myself. So by the time my kids wake up and I'm making their breakfast, I've had my time with God. And I've poured into myself. That's when I'm allowed to be selfish in those hours. I'm very selfish in the morning until 6 a.m. Then it's all about them until I get them out the door at 7.15.

And then I can go with my workday. But long rant, and I'm probably lost the audience here because I can do that because I'm ADHD. No, that's a good message. But literally don't try to do too much. don't succumb to what you think society wants of you. You don't work out. You never work out. You haven't had a healthy meal in 17 freaking years.

Go for two walks that week. It's two more than you did. The last 17 years. Eat one good meal that week. And you've already bettered yourself from the week before or the 17 years before. I just think that we need to understand this small win, right? And it becomes cliche so much. But like small wins are the actual big wins, right?

Those are the, what do they call those, uh, uh, micro movements, right? Or the, you know, then the, the macro is when you see somebody in the, in the world series hitting a walk off home run. Yeah. That's a macro result. Yeah. All the micro things, all the work. Like, what are we doing?

Like, start small. Yeah. I love that. I also think I'm a huge morning person too. And, you know, some people, their time for themselves is at night. maybe that's your work schedule. Maybe that's what works best for your family, your kids. But I'm the same way.

Like if I don't win the morning, I don't win the day. Like that's just for me personally, I know around 9 o'clock, I'm going to have to start work. And I've seen firsthand when I don't spend that time on myself in the morning, it's not good. It's not good for anybody. So I think it's important. Like whatever time of day that is, you don't miss out on that.

It's not good for your relationship either, right? You're married. It's like I'm married three. It's horrible for my relationship. When I'm not on track, because I'm human, it happens. Yeah. Right. I went through a time we went to Ecuador in July.

So for the, you know, for three months or so, I wasn't as consistent. And I started noticing the change in my speech pattern. I was slower. I'm like, what the hell? Like, okay, I'm slower. I'm feeling more anxiety. I'm feeling more. I'm pressing more.

Right? Instead of pushing, there's a difference between pressing and pushing. I was pressing. I'm like, okay, what's the difference? What changed? I'm like, you dumbass. Like you are not, you are not following through. You are not doing the one thing that makes you great. Because I believe everybody has the one thing. Right. And I want to share this with the audience. I've shared it with them a thousand different times. But we get new listeners all the time. And you probably not have, you probably haven't heard this story. So I'm going to tell you. Let's see. the one thing that I always struggled with in my life was feeling good enough and having genuine confidence. And that all came from being overweight as a child and being overweight as an adolescence and into my adulthood. And so I would always yo-yo, right? I would always yo-yo.

And I couldn't figure out why I wasn't having the growth that I needed in the show. Here I am having the show about determination and discipline where I looked like a fat, freaking mess. I looked the other day. And again, like, I'm not judging anybody. This is me. This is how I felt about me.

Yeah. You know, I love all types of people. No, that's more. This is, you can only speak to your. Yeah. So, like, you know, like, I think, you know, people misconstrue things. Like, oh, he doesn't like fat. No, no.

No. I didn't like me fat. Yeah. Okay? Because it, it, I had no confidence. And I, like, going to vacation and taking my shirt off. Like, like, literally, like, it was one of those things where it was a prison for me. And so here I am having this show about the terms of, discrimination discipline, but I didn't look. I didn't look. I wasn't the, it wasn't the guy. I wasn't

the part. You know, so I dove into that. And it was just more about me wanting to be healthy for my family. I didn't ever, I don't ever want my son that's back there as two sisters or my wife to wake up one day and I'm not awake because I didn't take care of myself. I had a heart attack or I was sick. Yeah. Like I want to, I want to combat that. So it started off as self-love because all my other fitness journey. Is this something I want the audience really pay attention to right now? You cannot start a fitness journey being the best self out of shame. You will always fail. You will always fail all day and twice on Sunday. Like there's no like you you cannot be the best version of yourself leading out of shame. It has to be out of self-love. I love myself so much.

So I'm going to do this. I change my alarm from get up bitch to I love you. No, I destroy, I. I did. I did. And then I changed it to I love you, Sean. It's still named I love you, Sean. My wife saw that, long as she goes, who the hell wrote that? I go, I did. I wrote that. She goes, why did you write that? I said, because if I'm going to change, I need to love me. I need to love me right now so I can continue nurturing myself. And as soon as that was taken care of, everything exploded. Everything got big. Everything got clear. All these different opportunities started to come to me. the show got better, I got better, I guess got better, I had more support, I had investors, I had PR, amazing team.

All to say, everybody listening right now and watching, when you sit there and you say, I don't know why I'm struggling, I don't know why I don't have the things I want, I don't know why I don't have the money I want, I don't know why I don't have the body I want, yes, you do. Because it's the one thought you have in your mind, that you do not like yourself for. Yeah. I had a very similar story, honestly.

Like I mentioned, you know, my father. I fired up now. No, that was great. Damn. You got me fired up. Like a cross between Fergie and Jesus. It's a stepbrothers reference for any of you people that... I love it.

No, I love it. But I had a similar story. Like I said, my mom was in the fitness industry, and I felt like people would always like... Like, this sounds dramatic, but they would look at me and be like, there's no way, like, that's her daughter because I was a little bowling ball. And but it affected me so much. because all my friends were, you know, they were tall and thin.

And as a young girl going through school, like that takes a toll on you. Like I felt like none of the boys liked me and different things like that. And I don't know. It truly does weigh on you and your confidence over time. But I feel the same way now that I take care of myself. And I feel like when I stopped working out to produce a result that was based on the outside, I felt like that's when I truly got going. And that's how Checking Club came about.

and all these different things that I'm passionate about because like you said, when you start from a place of like, I'm doing this because I hate myself, your mind hears that and feels that and it's going to produce a result that ultimately doesn't last. Yeah. And so I don't know. I think I tell people all the time,

like if my friends are like, I'm feeling sad. I'm like, you've been working out lately and not in a way that's like you're out of shape, like get up. But it's like I truly believe that that aspect of our lives pours into everything else. Yeah. And I don't know. I always tell people I'm like, whether it's 45 minutes in the morning or whatever, like 45 minutes for a better eight, 12 hours, like that's a, that is a really good trade. I mean, think about that. You stack that up, you know, over, you know, the week, the month, the year. Yeah. Like, it's important, right? Yes. You know, it's, it's funny because I think everybody starts from a place of shame in something, right? No matter if they grew up poor, right? They become big business moguls because they have that insecurity of like, I don't want to, I don't want to, I don't want to, I don't want my family going through what I went through. It's out of the place of shame. But when they finally get over the shame part, that's when they really take off. So it's just, it's super important

to talk about because, you know, and I love the fact that it's your origin story too, because I can relate to that. I think it's powerful for the audience, right? Powerful people listening because, you know, it, even if you just did a stretch, like, I don't, like, I don't know, like a lot of people I just sit there and like, okay, I feel tight. I'm going to go stretch. Right. No, they sit down. They sit down.

So, like, here's something important, too, because there's a lot of people listening and a lot of moms out there that are so busy, you know. And I think about my wife, who is gorgeous and, you know, blessed in genetics. But moms don't always have time to pour into themselves because mom psychology is so much different, right? They go, go to work, come home. like help the kids with the homework. I'm doing the dinner.

You know, she has work to do, some grading to do. And then all of a sudden, what's left for me? You know, I'm not saying, her,

she's saying that. I don't say that. But for those lit, even just getting down on the ground, right? And opening up your phone, checking in. I can't get to the gym

because I don't have way too many commitments, but I just did 50 push-ups. Yeah. We had to happen. We have a community called Moms in Motion, and I love it. You like how I teed that up? Yeah, I love that. No, but it's like, I.

You give me people laughing. That shit was intentional. He's a mastermind. He's a mastermind. Well, you know. But, you know, really, it is crazy because I find myself, I'm like, I'm too tall. I have a dog. I have a dog.

These people are chasing, these moms are chasing around real human beings and they're making time for themselves, regardless of what that looks like. Let's do away with the ex. I'm not saying, like, you have to go to CrossFit. Otherwise, it doesn't count as a check-in. Like you're saying, sometimes I've actually had moms be like, I did 25 push-ups in 10 minutes of core on YouTube. That's incredible.

Like, the fact that you're finding time. And I will say, like, my mom, one thing, like, I remember specifically through every age of my life, I watched her show up for herself. And I never understood why that was a priority. But I can confidently say, like, now that. that it's my own journey, I'm like, I want to be like that. She always made time to take care of herself. My mom looks amazing. And, you know, she has spent years and years and years of putting in, you know, that time and work for herself. So it's important. And I'm glad you went, we went there with mom's

emotion, right? Because, and again, it truly was intentional because I saw that. It's a thing where, you know, even if, because people judge themselves too quickly, there's moms right now listening. let's say, well, I only have time for five pushups. What is that going to do? It's five more than you've been doing. Five more than you did yesterday. And it's commendable, right? Yeah.

Do your five push-ups. But guess what? You do that for three days in a row. And then funny, that fourth day, you manage to do eight. And then you get into this mode where like, okay, I'm going to do eight for three days. Yeah. And then I'm going to get to 10. And that adds up.

But that's back to that starting with goals that are attainable. Yeah. Like if you're, to your, to your, wife. Like when she has these days that are crazy busy and she's working and being a mom and being a wife, it's like maybe she starts with five. But that's a doable goal for what she's working through right now. So I don't know. I, I, my friend is giving us a home gym. I know I'm so blessed, right? So soon we're going to get any of my friends want to give me a home gym. Yeah. Please let me know because I'm very interested in that type of friendship. Yeah, exactly, right?

Exactly. So I'm going to put it in the garage and then I'm going to be able to go in the garage with her when the kids go down and work with her a little bit. I love that. Yeah. So much. She's someone to pick it up because I'm not putting a hitch on my truck. I'll probably crash it over the freaking. What is it like a pre-built home gym? Yeah.

They got to break it down. When you see a house like on the highway, I'm like. Yeah. But you know, like those things with the Smith machine, you know, all that stuff. So it's got to be taken apart. Then it's got to be, you know, transported. But that's how I'm going to support her. And then, too, if there's days where, you know, I'm.

maybe I didn't have time to finish my workout because, you know, I'm a hard stop at 555 because I want to get home and be there for my kids and help them get out the door and make their breakfast. You are very regimented. I remember when we were trying to set up a phone call and I had just missed you. And I was like, I can call you back and you're like, I'm in dad mode. And I respected that so much because I am, I'm not a girl dad. I'm the opposite. What's the opposite?

My brain isn't firing. I don't know. I'm a daddy's girl. Your daddy's girl. There you. Yes. And when I see another dad, like, acting in a way that, like, your kids will honor that and remember that.

So I wanted to say that about you. Thank you. Because sometimes when you watch somebody on a podcast or something and they're saying these things that sound good, you're like, yeah, that guy, he might not. No, he actually, he actually does that. So it's funny. And I thank you for that. You know, it's one of the things that when I meet people, because it's starting to be like,

I'll go to Wawa and I'll run in and someone will come in. And they're like, hey, I know you. And that's pretty cool. And I'm like, yeah, man, I was like, I recognize you. I followed you back. They're like, dude, you're the same person. I'm like, what do you mean? Like, I get confused.

I'm like, is there, is there a clone? Straight up. And I'm like, what do you mean? He goes, no, most people have this on-camera presence or social media presence and they're not the same person in real life. I'm like, I'm a shitty actor, right? So like, there's no way I could pull this off and then go do something else. I think I go crazy.

I don't have multiple personality. Yeah. But it's that idea of like people say never meet your heroes because of that reason of like disappointment. And I've I've had conversations with people that I'm like, I really like this dude. He's freaking amazing. And I have a podcast with him. I'm like, this is wild back. This is wild back.

You're not talking about me, right? No, not you. Well, you're not a guy. True. I'm just kidding. I'm kidding. Just it's 2025. I was going to say that.

It's 2025. We can be open here. Yeah. We love them. all, we're neutral here. Don't cancel me. No, don't cancel her. Not yet.

Not yet. Too early in my career. But no, I mean, I really pride myself on that, you know, and the thing with the kids, like, my son and my two daughters, I don't know if they'll ever understand how much. Like, God damn it, you're going to make me cry on my show? They'll never know how much I love them. Like, they'll, I think the only way that they will ever understand is when they are a parent themselves.

Yeah. And when they have to send their kids out in the world, you know, and go to school. Every day, I scared shitless to send them to school. And they go to a very safe school. But, you know, I just think that those times are important, right? Because, you know, the dad mode, like, it'll happen all the time. Like, my partner's, they'll call me at four. Dad mode.

Yeah. I can talk at eight. You know, like, I'm down to do that. But I don't, I spent too much time when I was building this, right, away from them. I was recording downstairs and they were upstairs. So now it's like when I leave here, unless I have to hop on a quick call, like, I'm yours. Yeah. You know, I'm yours because it's important.

And I think that the other thing that that helped me draw that boundary you're talking about was me being disciplined in the gym. Yeah. Because there's certain times for certain things. Yeah. And from 4 to 7.30, 8 o'clock, it's them. Yeah. I will confidently say to like, a lot. large part in how we view ourselves and how we understand love is, you know, the love that we

receive from our parents, but also specifically dads. Dads have a really big calling on their lives to lead their family. And my dad, as you know, he just had his seventh anniversary of sobriety. And, you know, we've always had this close relationship. But over the last seven years, the ways that I've seen him, like, in this sober-minded reality, show up for me. And, you know, and, you know, things that I used to know it, because that's a kid, like, you notice everything. Like, I would be like, all right, I told him my friend's name, like, 10 times, and he still doesn't remember. And now he's like, you have a dentist appointment on Thursday at 815, right? And I'm like, wow.

So it goes so far. Like, in the way that I view love because of, you know, the relationship that I have with my dad, like, is so important. And I know a lot of people who have issues viewing love because, you know, of broken relationships in the home with dad. So dads are such a, moms are obviously incredible. the heart of the home, but dads are like, you know, I think having both parents, you know, there's a lot of narrative. I did a show with Steve Gruber and he said that, you know, we need more dads out there. You know, we need more dads and people come at me like, well, you know, half of dads abused their children. I'm like, half of them, like that's the actual percentage. I don't know.

I'm asking. That's a really big percentage. But there's also moms out there that abuse children. And I think what's important for everybody to understand is having a mom and a dad, you know, in a household, working together, pouring into their children. It's not to say single moms and single dads can't win. Oh, of course. I don't believe in that. You know, when someone says, oh, I hate to see someone come from a broken home.

There's only one parent. Like, that might be a ton better than having... Oh, I have broken home. Our home is... Yeah. It's broken, but it's functional. But to your point, I feel the same exact way. Yeah.

I know so many strong single moms out there and single dads who crush it. Yeah. But the love that they, they, show also is so detrimental to, you know, how somebody views themselves. So just parenting in general is the whole point. So freaking hard. Parents are like, the good, the bad. It like, it shapes you so, so much.

And when you, you know, you start to develop in the whole frontal lobe, whatever, like, I see things from a different perspective. And I'm like, as much as you want to be like, oh, my parents don't affect me. Like, of course they do. The good, the bad, all of it. So I think the big thing is, is when you grow is that when you pour into yourself by doing the hard things. You start to see certain things

that you are holding against your mom or your dad a little bit differently. I'm like, they're just trying to help me, right? Yeah. But the big thing is what also, and I alluded to this, and I really want to go back to it, but I want to say it again, so the audience takes it

in, and I'm not challenging or questioning their aptitude, but I talk fast sometimes. And I move on quickly, then I come back. Is, you know, when you go to the gym and check in, right, and you do all those things, you become a better everything.

You know, there's not one time, this past week I've been sick, and I'm trying to battle through stuff, but I've been staying consistent in every workout, every meal. So I know that no matter what, I'm going to feel like shit when I go home from here,

but we're going to eat, and then I'm going to make dinner later, I'm going to do all these things. But that pours into the cup that says, no matter what's going on in your life, you're going to take care of what's important. And that's, that spills over into my parenting style.

Like, this is a hard moment with my daughters. Daughters are hard. God bless you, sir. They're hard. Right? They're hard. I have two. They're like two and a half years apart

and they're besties and they are like worse enemies at times. And so those moments, if I'm not taking care of myself and doing the things that I need to do, I'll snap. Yeah. Right? So as we're talking about parents, We talked about moms in motion and, you know, postpartum, you know,

different types of communities. What other communities are in the checking app? Checking Club fair. We have a ton. So we started the app with seven core communities and they kind of touched on a few things that would give people the guidelines of like to what this is. But you can also create communities. So like we have pickleball people.

We have Pilates powerhouses. We have Iron Tribe. We have average Joe's, which is just like not so hardcore. Like kind of gives people a place to show up. It's like, yeah, I'm not. I'm not bench pressing 200 pounds, but I'm still, you know, getting a good dumbbell workout in. And different things like that, we've had a great group of women start something called end zone miles. And this is football coaches wives who are doing like walking competitions.

A huge part of checking club that a lot of people may not know about is within the communities. You can create announcements. So say you have, you know, Naples Run Club. The administrator of that community could post, hey, we're meeting up at Vanderbilt Beach. this weekend, comment below if you'll be there, like to run with us. So there's different ways to engage in the communities. And, you know, as I mentioned, you can create your own. So that's kind of one of the things that's playing around with earlier today is I can

create my own determined society, community within the app. How would one promote that? Like, you know, would you, how would you draw people in? So we have pretty much everything within the app that is postable is shareable. So when you go in the app and you do the create community feature and you create the determined society community, which you could label it. You know, anybody who listens to the podcast is dedicated to bettering themselves, whatever, give a little descriptions of people know what it is. And then you could share that community to Facebook, to Instagram. And from there, people can click on your link.

If they don't already have the app, it'll direct them to the app store to download. And then it's a really quick and easy sign up process and you'll just join that community. So I could actually, when I create whatever I want to call the community, right? Yeah. Termin society, the termination blueprint. I can share that link to Facebook. Yep. Or a link on a story.

Uh-huh. And they'll click on it. And if they don't have the app, it'll take them to their appropriate app store, whether it's, you know, droid or Apple, they can download the app. So there's a way that I can actually help you and people can help you grow. Yes. users within your, within your app. Yeah.

You know, with anything these days, like social media is a really good, you know, pillar to growth in any capacity. So we found so many people on social media. And one of the coolest parts of starting the app was when I, like I mentioned earlier, when I'm starting to scroll and it's like, okay, I don't know this person, which is really cool, which means it's reaching different groups. And, you know, I credit that to Instagram and TikTok and the power of social media, but 100% shareable.

I had a really good idea. You know, obviously, you know, fitness coaches. Yeah. Right. I have one that is really good. He's one of my best friends. Okay. And he works with, you know, moms.

Like, are you books with women 40 and over? Yeah. It'd be really good to introduce him to this app, right? So he could, you know, coaches, coaches, he could create a community within the app and have accountability. Yeah. And then all these women can have, you know, community. with other women that are going through the same thing as them. Yep.

It's a really low friction. That's amazing to me to say. I didn't realize that. Yeah. There are a lot of features with like even on the homepage, there's a tab that I love. And I feel like you're kind of the same way. Like I love a good motivational quote. Yeah.

A good one-liner. So there's a feature in there called Get Motivated. The songs too. Yeah, they put a song with the quotes. And by they, I mean me. They. But yeah, that's a cool feature. I love a good one-liner and get motivated in there.

And then I do want to mention because, you know, some people are on this journey and they might not feel comfortable just being looked at by any, you know, average person. You can make private communities. And then whoever creates that community will be the admin to approve and reject. So as a nod to my original checking club members, we started on a group me. There was like 200 people within the span of like two months, which was amazing. And I started by separating men and women just for comfortability purposes. Like I said, a lot of those moms, I wanted to create a comfortable environment. And so my original checking club members, we have a private group called the OGs.

And so I kind of create that space for them to, you know, show up in the way they were able to at first. So that's a way that we use a private community or if it's an all women's run club or something. Is there a way to promote different communities within? And is there a list of them? Yeah. So you can view every community that exists. There are some, you know, that I don't even have access to because they've been made private. Like there's a walking accountability group and different things that are more specific to the communities created.

But when you go in the app, you can view all communities A to Z. And so if it's public, you can share that to anybody. So any community you can share the link except if it's private, if you're not a part of that group, you wouldn't be able to share it. But if you're going through and you're like, like, I'm a part of a ton of them because I do different forms of movement. Like we have Denver rock climbing. Oh, wow. Like different things like that, which I'm not a rock climber. But I think it's cool that people find these unique ways to, you know, move their body and then create a community out of it.

Pretty cool. You got my mind working because, you know, I think there's a way to drive people within the community is just to do more, right? to continue to show up for themselves. And it be, like I said earlier, low friction. Yeah. Right? Because what I'm thinking is when people are checking in, they're doing a story and the, you know, community or whatever,

you know, check this out, then it's just a nice way to include people. Yeah. And for more interaction, right? It doesn't, in a world, here's what I'm getting at. We live in a world where everybody wants something from somebody. if you're going to join my community, it's $97 a month, or you got to pay $1,000 up front, right?

And you get a 15 cent discount for the year. I like this because you're really driving connection. Yeah. And a lot of times in this journey of health and wellness, like you need community. You need it badly. Yeah. There's so many days where I get a notification.

And there's notification panel. So if you're not somebody who wants to get blown up all day, totally get that. I, as the owner, I'm very, you know, passionate about the people that show up day in and day out. And so there will be times where I'm not feeling it. And I see Danny S posted in Pilates powerhouses. And I'm like, I better get going. Yeah, that's pretty cool.

Yeah. I like that. As we start to close out and is there anything, are you thinking about any new widgets coming, like some additional things? Features. New features? I'm always, you know, my gears are always, you know, going. and oftentimes on social media, I'll do like, does anybody have any feedback or things that they'd like to see change or different things like that? So I'm always thinking.

We've had some people say, like, can you collab with a friend? Like, if you and I go and do a workout, could it say like Olivia M and Sean F checked in together? So I've thought about that or the ability to post multiple photos if I did a lift and then I went for a walk or, you know, different things like that. That's pretty cool. So. That's pretty cool. Yeah. I like that.

Well, good stuff. Well, thank you for coming on. and sharing the origin story and everything that you got going on with the check-in club. Don't forget, you committed to start checking it. I know, I will. And I will.

I will, I promise. I'm going to text you. I know. I know you will. Well, you can. You can. Everybody watching and listening, go check it out,

check in club in the app store, download it. Right? Just download it. It's literally free. Like, there's no, you know, a lot of times they say free apps and then like it's free for seven days.

Guys, it's freaking free. Join the community. and just show up for yourselves. And until next time, guys, stay determined.