The Sevan Podcast - #50 - Matt O'Keefe

Episode Date: June 21, 2021

The Sevan Podcast EP 50 with Matt O'Keefe and Brian Friend @BRIANFRIENDCROSSFIT @SEVANMATOSSIAN @Loud And Live Sports The Sevan Podcast is sponsored by http://www.barbelljobs.com Follow us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/therealsevanpodcast/ Sevan's Stuff: https://www.instagram.com/sevanmatossian/?hl=en https://app.sugarwod.com/marketplace/3-playing-brothers Support the show Partners: https://cahormones.com/ - CODE "SEVAN" FOR FREE CONSULTATION https://www.paperstcoffee.com/ - THE COFFEE I DRINK! https://asrx.com/collections/the-real... - OUR TSHIRTS ... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Make your nights unforgettable with American Express. Unmissable show coming up? Good news. We've got access to pre-sale tickets so you don't miss it. Meeting with friends before the show? We can book your reservation. And when you get to the main event, skip to the good bit using the card member entrance.

Let's go seize the night. That's the powerful backing of American Express. Visit amex.ca slash yamex. Benefits vary by car and other conditions apply. Is anyone, where are you right now? Vegas. I'm here at the hotel adjacent to the West Coast Classics Convention Center. Man, you look so much better than last night.

Not that you look bad last night, but when we were running a little couple tests on the software last night, you looked a little different. I was tired. I probably fell asleep within five minutes of hanging up. Yeah, you have eyes now. Last night when I was talking to you, you were just kind of like… I mean, I was laying in bed when you said, like, do you want to do this test? And I was like, yeah, sure. I'm excited to have every guest on, but it's pretty cool to have Matt O'Keefe on.

I think he'll be here in one minute. Yeah. I, uh, the longest conversation I've ever had with him was two weeks ago at the Granite games. And it was nice to get to know him a little better. So this should be fun.

Are you, um, what are you doing at the, uh, West coast classic? What's your gig? Um, just,

uh, just writing everything for the competition. Anything that needs to be written is my responsibility. For who? For Morning Chalk Up or for CrossFit or for who? No, for Loud and Live, for the company that's putting on the competition. I will also write for Morning Chalk Up some articles every day recapping the competition. No shit. So Matt O'Keefe is your boss this weekend?

I don't really report to him, but the immediate director for Loud and Live. Yeah. Of course you don't report to him. He's way, he's like way, way at the top of the food chain. But I didn't know that. Holy shit. Yeah. I've worked a lot of events for Loud and Live in different capacities in the past couple

of years. Who have you worked for in the, in the CrossFit ecosystem? We know CrossFit. We know Morning Chalk Up. We know Loud and Live in different capacities in the past couple of years. Who have you worked for in the CrossFit ecosystem? We know CrossFit, we know Morning Chalk Up, we know Loud and Live. Who else? We know you've worked with Tommy and Sean. Yeah, Tommy and Sean. I've been on Bill and Chase's podcast. I've done a couple other guest appearances on some podcasts, but also Dubai CrossFit Championships, Strength and Depth, Filthy 150. And then a few I've worked for remotely like French Throwdown and the Asia CrossFit Championships two years ago, Fittest in Cape Town, the one year they had it. A lot of times it's just like a consulting role. I'm just providing them

information about the athletes and the events and what I think is going to happen. I do that here too, just so like hopefully we catch the most important moments on video and photography um i often work with the mcs just to like up to you know update them on what's going on with the with the race for all the different you know spots that are on the line in this case there's like obviously someone's going to win someone's going to be on the cut line for the games there's last chance qualifier spots so there's a lot going on in every division so i just try to point them in the right direction so they can you know inform the crowd oh you cut out ryan oh you're back you're back yeah i don't know the internet was searching could you hear me no nothing oh damn damn damn damn in my head i'm the biggest thing in crossfit and i've only worked for one company

i'm i'm gonna have to recalibrate maybe you're the biggest thing in crossfit listen to all those people you've worked for i mean i i was flattered that uh travis mayor uh asked me to do uh behind the scenes with him and jason hopper was trying to court me i think to do some video or photography work but in my head i'm way too big for that. Just a, just a one, a one person follow. Well, don't, don't, don't worry too much because all those different people I've worked for, the total amount of money I've made is probably less than you made in one month. Oh, good. Oh, good. Money is the absolute metric. But I've, I mean, you know, I acknowledged to myself, uh, when I started

doing this, that, um, you know, I was doing it because I wanted to get more opportunities for the athletes. And, um, I thought that I had something to offer just because of how much I am able to retain information about the sport. I can't do that with everything, but for some reason, I just remember stuff about CrossFit really well and it becomes valuable. And so if I have a value, then that's great. But I, you know, early on I had to prove my value. Yes, me too. Hey, do you, do you, do you, do you think you like CrossFit so much? Because I have two theories that people like you and I like it or liked it, or we entered it one because we do it, but also, two, that there are so many places to contribute because it's having such enormous – I don't want to say enormous growth. Maybe that is true.

But why do you like to be not only a practitioner but participate in the games? I mean you're not a games athlete. not only a practitioner, but participate in the games. I mean, you're not a games athlete. No, but I've done the open every year since 2014. And I like try my best on those workouts. I, you know, kind of taper for that event. I think that, I think it's just cool to be able to, I mean, I obviously have a competitive background and I played sports all the way through college. And that's just like an instinct in me to want to compete and want to test myself. This is a cool realm to do that in, but it's just as important to me, the methodology and the box. That's why I work at a gym, at a CrossFit gym.

How tall are you? 5'10". And how much do you weigh? 165. And how old are you? 33. Are you getting better, you think, at CrossFit? Are you getting better, you think, at CrossFit?

Yeah. I mean, I had by far my best open performance this year. And then I made the quarterfinals. And even though I was finished near the bottom of the men in the quarterfinals who participated, I still basically PR'd in every workout in some way or another. Did you ever think that when you first started CrossFit, oh, I could train and go to the games? No, no. I knew I was too weak. In 2008, the media director was Tony Budding.

And all through 2007, he said that, hey, we're going to give you a spot in the games in the women's competition. We're going to let you compete in the women's competition. And I was so excited for a while. And then as we got closer, I don't know what happened. I just kind of like lost interest. But also then I ended up making every second counts, the first documentary on CrossFit, and I didn't do it. But in hindsight, I'm thinking, oh, shit, I should have done that. What a funny thing and great like element that would have been.

I do and have done a lot of the regional and games workouts with the women's weights because that's, you know, I can't move the men's weights. And they're obviously great tests and they're way fitter than me still. Matt just text us and said, sorry for the delay coming.

Here he is. I'm going to try saying that to my wife tonight. I'm going to try saying that to my wife tonight. I'm here. Can you guys hear me? Mr. Matt O'Keefe. Matt, I got a really important question for you. What's that? How bummed are you that the West Coast Classic and US Open are on the same weekend?

That's a tough one to swallow. Any golf fans out there know this is like one of the two biggest weekends of the year to watch golf. So I am – trust me, I got it all on record. So I'm going to try not to pay attention this weekend to the scoreboard and watch it when I get home. Okay. Well, I will tell you nothing then.

But I do want to know, do you have a pick for the U.S. Open? tell you nothing then but i do want to know do you have do you have a pick for the u.s open um yeah i think i think jordan spieth um maybe john rom it's going to be a bomber's event because yeah so i think jordan jordan spieth will be in the mix because he's a grinder but i think it's dustin johnson john rom tony finow all those guys are hit it really far gonna have you been to that course? I've played it a couple times, yeah. That's awesome. It's in California, Sevan.

Brian, before the show started, you said, can I ask the first question? And I said, yeah. And you asked the first three questions. I don't even know what the – I don't even know what – if he wouldn't have mentioned golf, I wouldn't even know what sports you're talking about. You just lost half our listeners. They just turned off. Matt, you're going to have to take your shirt off or something to get them back. Siobhan, you're in uniform.

I like this. This is perfect. You wore the right shirt this morning. Are you drinking? What are we drinking today? Just sparkling water. Oh, nice. Wait, you changed the set.

Where are you? I'm in my office because my kids have an early morning skateboarding session, and I know that they were going to wake up and be just crazy. So I took this into my office. This is where I do the important podcasts. Ah, here we go. I mean, we meet. It's been a while. How have you been? I'm great.

You know Brian, huh? I'm always surprised when people know brian i just figure a guy with six followers on instagram no one can possibly know him you guys are just already shooting shit by the way you want to hear their funny story so when you started doing the podcast with matt and josh and you always had that like empty black box down the bottom right and i was like who's gonna show up there i was always like i wonder if dave's just gonna pop in there you know and be like the fourth guest now like um i told matt i was like you guys need a guy that like you know is a plethora of useless knowledge and no no offense he meant that as a compliment brian that's a compliment that actually is a compliment i wish someone would say that about me so i was like you need brian friend like that i told matt i'm like you need to have brian

friend on there and like feeding you guys things and uh then all of a sudden you guys pop so i feel like i put this together oh really so really you're serious like you thought of brian as the fourth guest 100 i told matt told Matt that, yeah. Wow, that's amazing. You know, Brian and I met on Instagram. That's how every great relationship starts, right there, right? I guess. And I go, hey, why don't you come out and just do a podcast with us at one of the regionals? And he was there, and I was like, holy shit, this guy's great.

I can make fun of him as much as I want, and doesn't get offended and he fucking knows everything his brain is full of stuff so he can say stuff my stuff is empty so just ridiculous questions pop in so we're like we're a great we're a great duo i'm an empty cup he's a full cup you know what's amazing is brian i know those drapes behind you so we should have just done this together sitting next to each other i mean i'm in a conference room probably like two-fourths below him right now so Ryan, I know those drapes behind you. So we should have just done this together, sitting next to each other. I mean, I'm in a conference room probably like two-fourths below him right now. He asked, he said, should we be in the same room? And I got concerned just because we hadn't done that before. So I was concerned about echo or something like that.

That's a good point. I'm actually sorry. I'm going to pause one second. And then I'm going to turn. It has a feature to do echo cancellation. I just turned it on yours Matt Matt it's trippy you're one of those people that I think I know but I really don't know I mean I've seen you you know a hundred times we always say hi we would shake hands I mean I

haven't seen you in a long time but when I was working for CrossFit I would see you everywhere and so there was always this kind of you know there's a lot of people like that in our ecosystem. I'm sure with you too. You see them, you know, 20 times a year, but you never got a chance to really talk to them besides, hi, how are you? How are the kids? And so it's fun, right? That we don't know each other, but now we get to talk and I get to pick your brain on some things. And you're a relationship expert.

And I love relationship experts. Well, thank you. I'll take that as a compliment. But, yeah, I mean, we have a good history. I mean, we've spent a lot of time, a lot of time together at the games, regionals, open announcements, you you know sort of on the road i think you probably have spent more time with me in some of my more stressful moments in my life so it's then maybe anyone savann always has this knack for like being there right at the right moment where it's like whether it's you know in in a really cool way and i think history um tells that where you know you've got great shots of

you know i remember being with dan at that regional and it's like you know dan come off the floor and i love that that you have that shot history because you were the only one that sort of had the balls to ask the question at the hardest time um and it's funny like I work with a lot of the athletes and you always had this unique position with them where it was like you would be there at their hardest moments. And, you know, I would sort of witness it. Even with Matt, I'd be like, you OK? He'd be like, yeah, it's fun. You know, it's you know, I got a warm fuzzy. Yeah, it's cool.

It's cool. But yeah, I'm excited to talk. This is great. I appreciate you guys having me on. I'm enjoying, uh, you know, listening to you guys on a weekly basis. Thank you. I, um, the, the athletes were always incredibly welcoming to me and they would even give me feedback. I would get feedback from people like Josh or Noah or Travis Mayer. Um, and, and I got the same vibe from Katrin and from Annie and from Cara, uh, and a bunch of others. I apologize for if I leave out any names, but even in their hardest moments, for some reason, they, I think somehow I lighten the mood for them or i could say something to them

where they would come out of their head for a second so that they didn't they could they they could deal with me rather than their own shit you know what i mean and i would try to keep it real with them but they but like even josh in his hardest moments would when i was there would come out of his head a few times matt did scare me. Tia terrified me. I struggled with because when they stay in their head and you approach them, you know, you start getting really insecure that you're bugging them. Right. And so it's my job to get in there and get those real moments. But also, you know, you want to try to respect them. And I hear Brian talk about that you want to try to respect them. And I hear

Brian talk about that a lot, like about respecting them, like, Hey, if they don't make eye contact with me first, or if they don't wave me over, I want to make sure I give them space. So it's a, it's a really, um, delicate, as you know, being right there by their side, it's a delicate, it's a delicate time to, they're not only physically exhausted they're emotionally taxed and they're intellectually at fucking hyper speed i don't think anybody's accused you of being delicate so well that's the paradox that's kind of the paradox right like if you're gonna show up there you better you better show up there yeah you're gonna show up there that's the like it's funny though because i have the back side of that never once have i had a scenario where it was like you know f savan

like get him away from me like never i mean that's not pumping tight like that never and there's plenty of that that goes on where it's like god get that guy away like you know um never had and i i mean i mean that's earned because there's also like the back side of like what comes out through how you you know build the story through media and so i think people uh you've built you know that takes time to build that respect. And I believe in those guys. I believe in almost everyone. I have hope for everyone. And I bet you you do too.

I bet you that's a similar trait we have. I really, really believe in the individual. from, from the checker at the local market to just anyone, to just the guy walking down the street. Like if a homeless guy asked me for money and even if I say no, I'll say, Hey, how are you? I just, and I want to look at them and I, and I'm really interested in people and I believe in them. Like, I'm like, man, this is, this is me. Like I'm looking at a version of me. We're all just. Still though, like, you know, both of you are in this role where you guys are there close to the athletes at their most vulnerable times potentially and is that something that you feel like you've had to learn how to like massage those situations or is it something

that comes naturally yeah yeah i i mean i guess i can chime in first on that um my my perspective i have a lot of life perspective that i think has transferred really well to what I do now. It's like, it's sort of, I've been climbing a mountain my whole life. And like, I, you know, I landed here at the right time for me to write, like to, to be able to be good at that with people and have great perspective. I mean, I'm 10 years sober, for instance. Um, and I don't know if people know that, but that's given me an incredible amount of great perspective on life. Um, and, and given me a lot of hope. I mean,

if a guy like me could be where I am today, um, you know, anybody can be anywhere really. And that sounds very cliche and, you know, it sounds like BS, but it's true. Like I was in a gutter, you know, and it's, um, you know, to have any position in anything and be, you know, have people just trust you, I think, is probably the most after coming out of a scenario like that is incredible. So I have the same, like I, you know, I don't care who it is. Like I try probably too hard sometimes with people because I think everybody has value and everybody has something to give. And I really pride myself on trying to draw that out. You know, again, that's like, sounds like that shiny, happy BS,

but like I truly do. Like, I don't care. Like I don't, I mean, I, like you were just describing so I feel identical. Like there's just doesn't matter if it's somebody checking me out at a whole foods or a CVS or, you know, uh, somebody I work with, I, everybody to me is, is, is, is got, you know, some great value as a human being and I want to see that side of it. What, tell us what you do. What is your, what is your job? That's a great question um i mean i have

a technical role which is you know running a sports marketing agency uh and what that encompasses is a lot i mean we own events obviously water palooza west coast classic granite games um madrid we manage athletes you know you know which i don't look at it that way, but we'll get further into that. We help people with their professional life on the endorsement side, basically, and their professional life as an athlete. And we do marketing work for brands. So, you know, we represent brands in their marketing efforts, either digitally or physical, from an activation perspective. And when you say you manage athletes, is it strictly in the CrossFit space? It is, yeah.

I've been like, you know, I've had opportunity outside, and we've done some unique work. You know, for instance, we work with a climber, Corey Richards. You may even know Corey. Well, now I'm going to immediately when this is over, I'm going to reach out to the producer of the show and get him on the podcast. He is. He is.

He is. He is awesome. Okay. Yeah. And he's got a great story. But we've worked. Yeah. I mean, but yes, specifically right now, it's just CrossFitters.

It's funny. Like, I think in that role, a lot of people you know look at this you know as an as an evolution opportunity and other sports i don't it's it's it's taught me to want to run deeper in this um it's such a cool space i love the people and i love the opportunity that continues to rise in it and um it's you know there's two sides to, you know, being an agent. There's that contractual side and traditional sports and the marketing side. And I love the marketing side. I have no interest in negotiating an NBA or NFL or NHL contract.

That's for others. I really love the marketing side. That's what we do. So I think we would always maybe like look at, or I would look at opportunity with anyone with that. But today it's, it's all CrossFitters and I love it. What does that mean? What's marketing? What's, what's the definition of marketing?

Anything like you could say from like, you know, being, looking at appearance opportunities, you know, being, you know, giving a, you know, addressing, you know, a business or a crowd to endorsement to, you know, your own brand, you know, so anything, it's just, you know, giving a, you know, addressing, you know, a business or a crowd to endorsement to, you know, your own brand, you know, so anything, it's just, you know, how they operate their business unit, non-contractual. So non-sport related, well, sport related, but non, you know, in CrossFit, it would be, they compete on a floor for a prize. On the other side is the business and marketing. You know, we do uniquely help them all the best we can from like, you know, having a having a support system in their weekend. But that's what happened with Matt.

That was kind of you broke up for a second. You broke up for just saying what about Matt? If you're going to drop Matt's name, we got to get the whole sentence. I said that, you know, like sort of my role with Matt was extended. Right. Like I was, you know, but, you know, so we do do more than just, you know, like sort of my role with Matt was extended, right? Like I was, you know, but, you know, so we do do more than just, you know, that business side. We try to support athletes and, you know, having a support system in the games week or whatever. But yeah, it's purely a business scenario where we're trying to, you know, help them develop their brands and find the right fits for them, either with partners or on their own. So someone DMs your athlete, sorry, Brian,

someone DMs your athlete and says, Hey, we have a comb. We want you to, you know, sell or put on your Instagram and someone, and you do represent Matt, right? Just to be clear. I do. Yeah. And, and then Matt would just take a screenshot of that and send it to you and you'd reach out to them and you'd be like, Hey, why did you, and then you would start negotiating with them. Why do you think this, your comb works well with Matt? He doesn't even comb his hair. And then they explain, you guys talk it out. That's a good example too, right? Cause

well, first of all, some of them, we have access to their DMS, um, and we're linked to their email, uh, like like message click or on their social so we will we would directly receive it. But yeah, like that's a good example. Because I think one of the things that's been really cool about the CrossFit space on that side has evolved in a great way. It's like, you know, getting away from like the half to take deals with companies to make hay to like being able to be selective with brands that you believe in. So yeah.

And it's like, you know, that whole process is, is the fun part. You know, it's like, does this fit, you know, and you know, guys like Matt being able to be like very selective about who they work with and who they want to now invest in too. Right. Like there's even that going on. So it's super fun, but yeah, that's exactly how it would go. So you've seen the dick pics i've sent matt you're yeah you must be impressed no wonder you came on the show i set myself up for that i knew that was coming i was like wait here we go here comes the question about what happens in these dms so i would say that you

know it's uh it's appalling what happens in some of these DMs. God, I wish something appalling would happen in my DMs. Damn it. So how old are you? That's a really personal question. You don't have to answer it. No, no, I'm joking. I'm joking.

I'm 44. I'm 44. You don't have to answer it. No, no. I'm joking. I'm joking. I'm 44. I'm 44.

And so at 34 is the year I found CrossFit. Me too. Wow, really? Yeah. Oh, okay. That's good. No. And tell me about getting sober. Why did you get – and you have four kids?

No, no, no. Two. Two kids? Two. And how old's your oldest kid? Fifteen. Okay. And one boy and one girl?

Yeah, my boy will be 13 in a few weeks, and my girl is 15. And are you still married? I am, yep, for 20 years, yeah. Ladies and gentlemen, Matt O'Kkeefe has crossed the 51 yard line of what makes raising successful kids having a successful relationship with your wife it's kind of really that easy um it is it's i mean i mean god we could talk about that for hours it's a super i mean it's a fun challenge i mean a 15 old girl. And I hope my daughter listens to this cause she'll smile and laugh, but boy, that's a new world. Like, good Lord. I was, you're not a, like,

I feel like, you know, you have a child and you're not ready. You're never ready for anything. That's like, you know, I have clients and friends like Pat Fowler just had a baby and it's like, Cole Sager just had a baby. Annie, it's like, you figure it out. But that comes again on the tail end especially with a high school girl it's like i'm trying to figure it out i don't know if i'm gonna it's crazy the stuff i mean i feel for her too it's like what's going on in her head like i can't imagine i remember being that age being insecure and as a guy like i just i can't imagine what she goes through

it's like i want to like rap or bubble rap but i also want to kill her sometimes you're an you're an amazing example um you you i i would presume you're an amazing father because you're an amazing example and it's interesting so that means you quit drinking when your daughter was five your oldest child was five why why did you quit drinking uh i mean they're a piece of it my family um and you know i did it for me like you know what you learn you know it's hard to to to know this the day that you like think sobriety is a path for you but if you're not doing it for yourself because you know you you can't fix everything else or like support everything else and and make everything else right around you unless you really make yourself right i did learn to do it

because it was the right thing for me personally mentally and physically you know i was just like um not i mean did you probably no you probably would have saw me and been like i just like a guy that parties and it's just it can it was all consuming right it just like was you know there was no off switch it wasn't a daily thing but it was like you know when it happened it was like you know i don't even know how it ended up stopping it just stopped because i couldn't stand up anymore right so you know I had a young kid and I had two young kids and it was like, you know, I had this amazing wife that, you know, was just putting up with and now real quiet about what she was putting up with. Right. I don't know. I was lucky that the light bulb went off. I think I just had this moment where I was

like, what am I doing to these people? Like, you know, these beautiful kids, my wife, like it kind of like, I think the real moment was, you know, it dawned on me what my wife was putting up with, you know, just Jesus. Wow. I mean, the fact that I'm still allowed to stay at my house is crazy right now. This is cool. Like I need to fix this. But I think the, like the proudest piece, um, it's very emotional every year, even for my wife. She's like very, like it's like that day. Funny enough, like my sobriety date is the day after her birthday. So you can imagine what that day of her birthday was like.

It didn't go well, right? So, but she, you know, she's emotional and celebrates it in a great way. She's like very proud of it. And I am most because of my kids, like they have no concept from that me, you know, like they don't remember it and they're never going to see it. So it's like my why, you know, they're, uh, they like, it's, you know, mom, mom has a glass of wine every once in a while. And they're like, you know, they're probably like, dad doesn't do that, mom.

It's like, that's right. You know, it's cool. Is wife english is your wife english um she you know her heritage is a foreigner no no no no she doesn't have a funny accent she doesn't sound smarter than she is she's very bright way brighter than me she's a partner at a law firm you know she well then she should get an english accent she that's like a automatic like in scrabble a double she would like that what is that like when you get double the points wait so so matt you just you just decided decided that day this is it and i'm done well here so i like had made a bet funny enough on a January one bet. I was going to take the three first three months, which is by the way, this is like the snowball of like, you know, when in sobriety, it's like,

you know, I was going to take a few months off because it was like, you know, a test. It's like, yeah, right. Like, you know, the shit was hitting the fan, but I made it. I went on a ski trip with my wife and I was like, just like white knuckling. She's like, just fucking drink. Who cares? You know?

And I was, it was a bad night that that was her birthday. And I woke up the next morning and I was like, I'm done like this. This is all I, that, that was just an identification thing. It was like, I can't, I'm not good at this. You know, I need help. So you were trying to quit that day on a bed i was trying to quit that month that like i was trying to like maintain a status i had like not drank since january 1st right and i failed did you ever go to aa oh yeah every every day for five years like literally every day it was a routine thing and i think it was like to get through the struggle and like find you know people that

thought like i was and how they coped and like fixed their life or put it together and then it was just like good people that i wanted to be around. And, you know, with a lot of my, you know, travel and how busy I've got, it's a great global network. So I do occasionally find places in Europe or whatever, you know, it's like, you know, it's funny. CrossFit helped me a lot. Like it's, it's healing, you know, and it's like, you know, I found a program that I'm going to do some work with Phoenix. That's doing a lot of great people for recovery. And it's, um,

you know, I was very fortunate, you know, and there's a lot of people in recovery and CrossFit, right? So there's like, there was a nice network, but like,

I've gotten away from it, which isn't the best idea as a sober human being. But, um, you know, Matt's very public about his sobriety. So we, we've had each other to, to lean on with that too. And I used to go every, every day. The communities are so similar. You can go anywhere around the world and go to a meeting. You'll be welcome to go

anywhere around the world and go to a box. Well, except, except good, good night. I was going to say, I, um, I feel like, you feel like you know there's you know everybody kind of has a way that they look at you know the crossfit i mean there's so many angles on it and it does so many great things for me um it's an area that like i'm getting more and more excited about honestly especially i went and worked out at phoenix last friday they've served 10 000 people this year they're gonna serve to serve 250,000 people. And we're talking like 48 hours sober people like doing CrossFit.

And I'm like, this is it. Like this, this, you know, I mean, you guys have all had it. It's like, there's a lot of that. It's like, this is it in CrossFit, right? This is it for me. It was like, I'm in and I'm, you know, he just got a $50 million donation from somebody.

And I'm like, Whoa. Yeah. The Phoenix program did. Yeah. They're about to like do some real great work. They've done incredible work, but like now he's going to be able to like really spread his wings the way he wants to. And what's the guy's name?

I've met him before. Scott Strode. Yeah. I met him a few times. I went out to see him with Greg. He was fantastic. Scott Strode. Yeah. I met him a few times. I went out to see him with Greg. He was fantastic. He was fantastic. Cool kid.

I mean, he was like, you know, sticking needles in his arm. You know, he's just like, you know, he's open about it. It's, he's incredible. Boston story, you know, like the right arm F mile. he he's incredible boston story you know like they're right on meth mile um but it's like they run their 800 by people that are like killed over i mean there's a street called the meth mile yeah that's like the wow yeah it's um you gotta check it out like i uh i like that's just that's a strong name for for a nickname For a nickname for a street. Damn.

It's kind of crazy that they ended up there of all places that they could end up. It was like, it's kind of perfect. But they, I mean, dude, I hadn't been in real, like I had been told, like they used to do their program out of CrossFit. And Back Bay, Reebok Back Bay at the time. And they finally got their own building. I mean, I, I was floored, but I went last Friday at there, they have a seven 30 class and it's, um, there were like 30 people in it during CrossFit and like of all walks.

Um, what is it? You're sober for 24 hours and then you get free access to the gym, but you have to be sober for 24 hours. 48. Okay. Did it used to be 24 24 is like is like a you know that you're looking for 24 like you know but but the um they are 48 maybe it used to be 24 i think for you it's a good idea to before you want somebody working out putting a barbell overhead yes my my one my wife and i were both let go from crossfit on the exact same day and um in a previous life she was a breathing and yoga coach it was like basically her what she was going to do and she traveled all over the world training

and she got in a she got hit by a car crossing a crosswalk and then the CrossFit thing started taking off. And as she healed, she moved over into the CrossFit space. But what's interesting is the day she got let go, there's a CrossFit gym that never closed down during the pandemic. That is the so-called pandemic that is in our area. And it's like a 50 acre, I'm making that up rehab. It's a big gigantic rehab. That's about 10 or 11 miles South of us called elevate. And the owner knew her because my wife was on the affiliate team for a little while. And the owner had talked to her a bunch. And I guess she had heard that my wife got let go and immediately reached out to her and said, Hey, do you want

to teach yoga and breathing at our rehab? And so my wife's been doing that, you know, three days a week, which is great for my wife because it gets to revisit her old, her old practice. And now she's like full blast back into yoga and back into teaching breathing. And the program is exploding. And that's not a, and that's not a good thing, but, but, but it's because, you know, it's telling of the times.

But basically, I think rehab – I mean those Phoenix guys are in a tremendous space that the world really, really, really needs right now, right? But we know that the average weight gain of people during this last year and a half in the United States is like 26 pounds or something like that. They only have that one location. And that one sure 13 of that's from alcohol sorry brian go ahead do they only have one location no no they have another location i think they're in lake tahoe also uh denver denver no no sorry not phoenix uh the one my wife the one my wife said yeah are you talking to me or to him brian uh i guess both yeah oh don't lie who are you talking oh wow that was the most swiss response i've ever heard in my life is that is that your role in this massage everybody i was

thinking about phoenix um i it didn't it struck me that phoenix might have multiple locations it seemed like elevate probably wouldn't i don't know by the way i've heard of the elevate um program i would love to go like i i'm'm like, I mean, reinvigorated charged up. Like that's a purpose thing for me. Like I need to get connected on that. Like to me, like, I think by the way, what you said before us around is really important. Like, I don't think that this is, this is exasperated, exasperated people's problems, not created them. So like, it's a, it's an, it's an epidemic. Like it just a reality. It's a mental disease, you know, becomes physical through, you know, how you,

you know, engage whatever you're engaging. But I'm telling you that, um, this is just exposed a lot of it and people need help. And yeah, sitting at home for 18 months wasn't going to was going to, you know, obviously fast forward a lot of people's problems. Right. So the reality of it is there's nothing really different today than there was 10 years ago. There's a lot of people that struggle and just don't have a place to go or know there's a better way, you know, in places like elevator it, you know. know in places like elevator it you know right it's interesting so you you were drinking a lot and you knew it you knew that um drinking and your marriage and your kids didn't mix and sounds like one of them had to go and for me and probably crossfit was like this for me i was smoking cigarettes i was smoking cloves like a pack a day and i found crossfit at 34 and somewhere in there in the first six months I was

like oh these two aren't going together and I really enjoyed smoking I really really like smoking and I was like one of these has to go and then I was like well eventually smoking has to go anyway it's not like anyone who's thinking about smoking I'm going to tell you something no one ever tells you don't ever do it and the reason why is for two reasons. One, you have to quit. So why even start something, you know, you have to quit. And the second thing is, is as you get older, it'll haunt you in your brain. What damage did I do? And you never want to give up real, you never want to give real estate up in your brain ever, ever, ever, ever, ever. Do you, do you think, do you think about like, it's funny, we'll get like dark in the matrix now but

like that i think of that often like that's a that's a thought that i i spend time on which is like you know what can't what have i done to myself that i can't reverse that's going to shorten my path right i lost my mother this year 69 years old to and she smoked for 30 years you know and she had quit, but she drew, she died from a lung disease that was created through all that time smoking. Right. And it's like 69, I'm 44. Like, that's not a lot of time left. I got a lot to do. I don't want to go, you know, it's like, what have I done? I mean, I chew, I've chewed tobacco in my life, you know, it's like, okay, there is some, you know, I don't anymore. Um, but it's like, there's something I

did to myself there through that. I'm sure that's probably not going to help me live to be a hundred. You know, I think about that often. Yeah. That, that, the smoking thing really used to come in my brain a lot. Like, oh shit, how much better would my score have been here? How much permanent damage have I done to my lungs? here how much permanent damage have i done to my lungs but what's really crazy about crossfit and eating right is i feel like more and more those thoughts leave my brain like if i used to have

them every day and then i had them once a week now it's just like once a month but but of course they're still there but um i just feel like every time we do a workout we change all our fluids we change our oil we we agitate the system we shake all that you know it's like it's like i imagine like what are those things called with all the little holes in them like a cauldron uh not a cauldron a um strainer a strainer yeah i feel like just every time we do a crossfit workout we're shaking the strainer and the batch is just falling out and so i i think we're good i mean i'm not just saying that i think you're you're you're right you're right on that like well as good as you can be right like there's nothing else you like

you're you're every day that's like the whole a thing it's like the only thing you can do is like live in the day do the next right thing i've that that's you know i've applied that to my health you know like so it's you know i feel like you know it's funny like i've always thought of that as like the program they call it or the fellowship man people should read that book you know who sober or not you know it's like that thing is just life it's like okay so apply that to like eating i mean you know this you probably like, okay, so apply that to like eating. I mean, you know this, you probably spent more time on this than anyone is like, you know, alcoholism, there's isms all over the place.

And the food is in that category for, and that's probably the biggest epidemic in the world, right? Like people just not know how to eat or what to eat. But, you know, you can help yourself with that, with the same thing with that. It's just how do you do it? You put like you figure out how to make the next right choice. And by the way, it's like, you know, I'm not perfect. I got to be perfect with alcohol.

I promise you that nobody wants to see that. But, you know, food and health and wellness, like I just try to work out every day and i try not to eat like an asshole you know it's like okay if i think you're working out all right you have a fantastic uh physique you're a strong crossfitter from the numbers i've seen but do you still ever like i see a lot of pictures with your shirt off next to these like i mean like you're the world's most healthy pony but i see your shirt off next to these like i mean like you're the world's most healthy pony but i see your shirt off next to these fucking clydesdales and i'm like jesus christ i won't even take my shirt off at the local pool to help me out how do i how do i quit being so like thinking like how do i get to that level how do i get to be like yeah whatever fuck it

thinking like how do i get to that level how do i get to be like yeah whatever fuck it i don't you know it's funny i needed two beers to take my shirt off they've made me feel comfortable in general it's like what i mean honestly i'm probably you don't want to take your shirt off next to matt or tia or catch any of those guys i mean it's like because i feel like i look all right but i look really shitty next to those guys so it's yeah you probably you look great in the mirror at home naked but yeah you take your shirt off next to matt and it's like i'm thinking to myself wow this is like some this guy's really got his shit together he's got his head his head screwed on straight he'll take his shirt off next to these guys well the evolution is i keep my shirt on a lot now because it's like,

you know what? I think I've, I think I've realized what you, what you're realizing is you're probably looking at it and being like, the guy's crazy. What is he doing? Put your shirt on. No, no, no, actually, no, no, not at all. Actually. I apologize if it came across like that. You look great. Okay. You look, you look fantastic. Occasionally I'll see some stomach muscles in your photos. You're tall, you stand up straight, but still like, I mean, you're, you're the kind of guy you're, you're just like the rest of us. Crossfitters. If you walk into a Starbucks, you look around, you're like, shit, I could run a mile, three miles before anyone here even gets off their seat. gets off their seat but still it's it is it a is it a lot and you're still young you're only 44 is it is it um physically does it ever get in your head that holy shit everyone around me can run a mile carrying me faster than i can run a mile like if you wanted to set a world record

matt o'keefe's record mile time you'd be better off having matt carry you i mean you know what i mean it's uh it's like jesus i mean mean, I, I I'm, I'm, I'm thousands of miles away from Matt and Josh. And I feel that like that when I'm on the podcast with them. You know, what's funny is, um, that's been like my, my, uh, experience in fitness and particularly CrossFit has been a lot with those guys, particularly Matt. And I tell this story a lot, but basically is that I got really unfit hanging around with really fit people early on because I was more intent on comparing and racing early. You know, there's a lot of people that are first CrossFit experiences like, you

know, they get competitive and, and I would get my ass handed to me and workouts to the point where I would let off the throttle. Right. So I was like, you know, working out next to, you know, Matt or guys like Matt. And it'd be like, you know, he'd be like doubling me on a workout. And it'd be like, fuck, I'm just going to just kind of finish and coast it in. And before I knew it, it's funny. I did a workout with Ben Bergeron in Vermont. I'll never forget this.

And we were up visiting Matt. It was early on. And he was just like, I was like, dude, I I'm in a rut. Like, I don't, he's like, you move really slow. And I was like, it was like, it was an eye opener. And he was, I was like, what are you talking about? I'm like, I'm trying really hard. He's like, you're moving so slow. He's, he's like, I know what happened is you learned to move slow because you're getting throttled by these guys he's like you need to move fast and like push yourself and it was just

like a good check i remember it all the time when i work out like i literally like you're moving slow matt you're moving slow matt push yourself forget that like you know this guy's kicking your ass or like you're kicking this guy's ass like it's not about that it's about kicking your own ass but yeah i got like super i mean i was fit but like i got for me you know i was going the wrong way and i'm like fuck i'm working out every day what is going on right now you know you should have told ben i'm moving slow so i can get more muscle contraction contraction and bigger muscles you needed needed to come back. Can a CrossFitter make a million dollars a year?

A games athlete, can they make a million dollars a year? Non-games athlete, I won't even categorize them. Can a CrossFitter, a CrossFit athlete, is that a real thing? Yes. Can a CrossFit athlete make a million dollars a year? Yes. How do they do that?

Predominantly through endorsement. Yeah. Give me more things to the code. Like, do they have to be good? Do they have to not be drinkers? a big picture, like, like for people who, I'm not trying to get into the TMZ side of this. I'm trying to get into the generic prototype. Like, like, yeah.

So that's like a tough, that there is a, there's a formula, but the formula is different per person. Right. Cause it's like you know well matt and tia by the way they're like incredible brands too they're like this like accumulation of many factors that allow them to be very successful you know on business and athletics right but do you manage both of them you manage t also yep okay i didn't know that okay so there's just like this um but everybody has their formula because there's plenty of incredibly successful business units we would call them or you know brands individual athlete brands that aren't winning the crossfit game you know so uh ryan

fisher marcus philly yeah i don't work with either of them so i don't know but they're killing it i think they're doing really well for my optics because they're just you know smart people that have figured out um a path and are well but but they are the answer that's the answer right is like they're very true to themselves they have a brand and they're they're relentless you know and in their their pursuit of you know what they're interested in and and, you know, and in their, their pursuit of, you know, what they're interested in. And, and, and that's the truth on like, you know, I think that's like the foundational formula is just, you know, a lot brand alignment or, you know, true to, you gotta be true to your brand first, right? You have to be something, um, what, you know, that's true to

you. Like, I think Matt's done a better job of this than anyone right like you know i'm biased but like i will tell you like matt did not compromise a speck of anything his entire career doesn't still today it was like not putting programming out before he retired right like that wasn't like a you know you know business move anywhere along the way i was like i would just never share any of my shit with anyone. So like, I'd be a hypocrite if I did that. He could have made a ton of money doing that his whole career. And he's like, no, no, that's just like hypocritical. I would never do that. You know, and it's, and it's, um, that's a big piece of it, but it's, um, there's just like, there's a many micro factors, you know, as you know, it's um oh there's just like there's a many micro factors you know as you know it's like you know in the end selling products is you know going to get you paid right it's you know but but

staying true to who you are being like a very true brand and platform is like the answer to it right i think of uh i think of dave dave lipson and camille like they both have very separate markets that they're appealing to, and both of them are very true to who they are. But Dave, as far as I know, also redefined his own physique and then said, this is how I did it, and if you want to do it, I'll show you how. He is an awesome brand. I think Dave's brand is really cool. And it's not – but it doesn't have to be for everyone. There's more evergreen approaches you know dave's very niche approach but that's a very successful approach i guarantee you dave does really well you know what what does that mean true to who you are

yeah that's cliche as you know what right like i i get it um but but i mean it it's a sincere question because i think a lot of people think they're true to who they are. But they've but I'm like, no, you don't know who you are. You're being true to who you're not. Well, but I think that for me, for me, I think that the answer to that is that example I gave for Matt is just like, you know, you know, do people have a price tag? you know, do people have a price tag? Like, so when you're talking about endorsement, it's like, are you doing a deal to do a deal? Or are you, you know, doing a deal because you love the brand and, you know, um, you believe in the product, you know, and it fits really well with your brand. It's like, you know, Matt on his own product side, you know, it wasn't even a question. That's true

to yourself. Like you have values. So staying aligned with those, um, by the way, that's true to yourself like you have values so staying aligned with those um by the way that's hard right like that's and everybody in life has to do things for money to be able to advance in life right at some time or another getting yourself in a position where you don't have to make decisions based on that is amazing but there's a progression to that and i've been a part of that since like whatever 2013 because early on it was like okay like how do we make enough money for you guys to be able to do your job right to you know but yeah that's true to yourself it's just like how can your values align perfectly with everything you do in your life right you know it's um the dream i you know maybe somebody don't dream so maybe people don't dream that I do,

you know, um, I think that's like the easiest way to walk through life is like you get up in the morning and you're like, Oh, my job lines up with how I think and how I feel. Great. Amazing. Right. Like that, that, that should make for a very easy day. Um, I think people also, um, I just saw a great I saw a great example of this on Instagram the other day I think the guy's name is Patrick David he's an Armenian Iranian guy

anyway the thing about being true to who you are and you just said you use the word it makes life easy it makes getting up easy in the morning is people will start to also resent you and be just said you use the word it makes life easy, it makes getting up easy in the morning, is people will start to also resent you and be jealous of you and you won't even know it because you'll be completely oblivious to it. And because you're making life look so easy and you're not compromising

and they cannot figure out for the life of them how you're getting ahead. And for those people who are being true to themselves and life is easy they're not really sure how they do it either but but you also said something in the in the beginning about yourself that you have a lot of life experiences that help in your current role because because it gives you perspective if you don't have perspective it's really really i mean i would even go as far as to say it's impossible to be yourself if you have not gone through some really difficult times in your life, and I'm not talking about doing Fran, I'm talking about just for the most cliche one, someone died in your life, or you were homeless, or you didn't have a real gut check, like a real, it's really, really hard ever then to be true to yourself because uh

seeing what you are who you are you choose the word is almost impossible when it it's like going skiing it's like going skiing and on a freezing cold day and then your balls are sticking your leg it's as difficult as reaching into your pants and pulling them off your thigh you just can't because you got too many layers on so it's like that it's like that was a dark analogy beautiful analogy hey matt i wish i apologize it's a bit sexist i wish i could come up with one for women but like if you have to make an adjustment it's clothes on just sucks they'll fucking drive you crazy i don't know what i don't know what skiing is yeah that's a rough play on skiing listen that that part you know one of the funny points to to make on not funny the interesting point is make on that it's like i'm amazed at

people who are successful at younger ages because you know and, maybe my wiring system was just, you know, I'm very comfortable with where I'm at today and proud of it. But like, you know, I couldn't figure it out at 30. And again, I was like, you know, I had a bottle in my hand, like I was a hot mess. But my point is, is like I see a 30 year old like I look at a guy like Will Ahmed from Whoop. He's 28 years old and he's got a company that's valued at a billion two and it's like at 28 years old i like could barely wipe my ass on my own you know um and i'm just i'm amazed i think that's super cool because you're lacking what i think is the the makeup of me is just life right like i've been able to experience enough that like i know that

you can't make the same mistakes twice and you know you only know what you know and that's the evolution for me and like you know i feel very comfortable now but like at 28 he's walking into things you know that are crazy it's yeah i just i find that awesome amazing you know i think that's takes an extraordinary human being at that age. Or how are they going to do it? If you're so successful at that age, how are you ever going to find yourself if you haven't found yourself yet? That's also like a holy shit. You can see this with matt i hate to i hate to use matt as an example but matt is so so successful and yet he's still tempered enough

this is the most remarkable thing for me about matt he's still tempered enough to still be searching for deeper parts of himself like he doesn't walk around like he has that shit figured out. At least I don't get that impression from him. He has room still to know and to learn, to know. You know what I mean? He's open. Listen to his talk about this is reminding me of the bucket list. Have you watched that movie? Was that with Robin Williams?

Or no, Jack Nicholson? And Morgan Freeman. And they meet late in life, but Morgan Freeman has had a hard life and he's, he knows who he is. And Jack Nicholson, very successful throughout his life and he waits till the end of his life basically to start asking those questions and then finds it out. And I don't think there's a, you know, everyone's paths can be different,

but that's just what it is. Who are you comparing me to Morgan Freeman or Jack Nicholson? You're Morgan Freeman. I like that. I think what he was asking a guy about Will, who's had so much success so early, has he had the opportunity to ask those hard questions? And I don't think that you have to do one before the other necessarily, but that just came to mind. I would agree too. Like, you know, what problems arise, you know, out of scenarios like that, because you're, you know, you've raced to where you are professionally on the personal side. Right.

Like there's like, Oh, everybody's got their shit. Right. It's like, I look at Matt, Matt and you bring it like, you know, I think a lot of people look at me and like, Oh, everything comes back to Matt. And it's like, you know, I've spent most of my time with him and you've just pointed something like that's extraordinary. Like he, he's sober longer than me. It's 10, you know, 12 years younger than me, you know, um, incredibly successful in sport and business, right? Like he, you know, I, he's another one I look at and I mean, I learned from him, you know, we learn with each other, we have

a great relationship, but like, he's a extraordinary human being and very thoughtful and by the way like one of the things that i think is most interesting about him because i get i'm like there with him and sammy because on the emotional and relationship side you know life's developing like he's been like a cyborg for years because he's been trying to accomplish this like one goal um and it's been super cool to watch him just you know you know be able to step back and be like wow i don't know how to do this you're right like i suck at this and you know how he's like building that stuff he built through you know pursuing this other goal now into the life like he's a i wish people got to like peel his onion back a little more and see more of him.

Man, he's just got such great perspective. He's such a smart guy. I can't call him a kid anymore, but he's incredible. I learned from him at my age. It's really cool. I'm excited for them to have kids and watch that. I mean, super babies well i just love i just love um it's fun watching one of the reasons why we love matt so much is because we got to watch him compete in the what i think you know outside of maybe the

ufc the hardest sport in the world um and win it five times and just i'd agree with that by the way that's but then but then i love seeing, having a kid is like that too. All of a sudden you're like, okay, it's like, now we're going to get to watch some other shit. I got to ask you, Matt. Do you think it's harder to win the CrossFit Games than it is to win the U.S. Open? The U.S. Open in golf? Yeah, man. There's so many golfers.

Yeah. It is a good question i um they're very uniquely incredibly insanely unrelatable hard both of them because it's um i can relate to both uniquely because i have competed in golf tried to qualify for all that stuff like and what they do is just insane and precision it's more there's a physical component but there's a lot more skill to it on that side you know um hitting a golf ball is maniacal especially on a five inch rough but i think what crossfitters do is the hardest thing in the world i personally that's my personal opinion i don't think there's anybody in this world that chooses harder on a daily basis than a crossfitter for,

for a profession. That's, and I'm, I think UFC is pretty damn hard too. And I think they choose like very hard in training. Um, I still don't think like, I've just watched what Matt and T and catching and these guys have done on a

daily basis. It sucks. And be able to get out of bed and do that, like, good on them. Like, that's a rough existence to live on that edge to be the best. It's a horrendous road to tow. It's a horrendous. It is. You know what would be funny to do is to take all the weights,

try to someone calculate all the weight that Matt has moved in the five years that it took him to win the games and then draw a picture of that, like a pile of rocks that's that big and be like, okay, you have five years to move that. And you know, we're not even going to make him compete in the game. It must be just like a fucking pile of rocks that's like a mile high. I mean, something that would break someone's soul. They would rather die. Do you know what know what i mean seriously it makes me dizzy thinking about that honestly let's make let's make that poster that'll oh that's a great poster for matt brian brian's like wheels are turning right now he's like i i think i have a number for you no i can't he has everything he's ever he's had everything he's ever done written down

he could probably he'd probably love calculating that would be amazing who is your first client matt matt is your first client yeah yeah that's how i got in i wasn't i wasn't in the business like i got into it because of him what tell me about that how did you meet matt and tell me about that give me some details on how that reader digest condensed version is i own i owned a clothing company redline gear which was like a brand a crossfit brand at the time like i was a member at a gym sorry to interrupt is that brand still around i get so many dms from people saying where can i get the red old redline shorts will? Will you ask Matt? So that's gone. No, it's gone. It's gone. Will you ever bring it back? Bring it back to red line, HWPO line. People would buy that. I don't know.

I, you know, you never know. I'll never say never. It was cool. It was just time. I, my cup runneth over. So I had to, something I had to give, you know, but it, um, that was a lot of fun. Gaming might start, but that's how I met him. You know, I, I was, um, I worked out, uh, up North Shore CrossFit, one of the original affiliates in the world, um, in Danvers, Mass and, uh, Allie Henry, a good friend of Matt's from the Olympic lifting program was lifting at our gym training for world championships. And she was like, Hey, I i'm gonna go see this kid i know compete at the ecc the old ecc even prior to the one that everybody saw on broadcast and whatever and um what's the ec what is that ecc is the east coast championship it was ben's competition

ben bergeron's competition and uh i was like shit i'll go see uh i'll go with you i like crossfit i'd like to compete you know yeah when is it so i went in and she pointed to like i never like thought to ask who she was going to see and i had seen matt at regionals that year uh northeast at rebar because he was the you know i saw him that day through the overhead squat and sit in the bottom of the squat and look at chuck coswell and go am i low enough with 300 and something pounds overhead and i'm like who the hell is that kid he's so cocky and amazing that precocious so i went um and it was him and she would introduce me and i was like um you know a couple weeks later i was like i'm starting a clothing brand he doesn't look like he has any sponsors because he looks like an unmade bed.

Like he's wearing a V-neck T-shirt and like ripped shorts and Air Max 90s. Like, can I can you give me his number? And so that's how it started. I just was like, hey, I'd love to sponsor you. And he's like, free clothes like shit. Let's do it. At the time, it was just like we had no idea what we were doing. But he was getting offers otherwise.

And I will say at that time i was very direct with him i'm like you're going to win the crossfit games like you're that good like i believe that and i think i know what i'm talking about and he was like you're crazy i just want to win these local comps and i was like you're gonna win the games like this you know what's so cool when he tells a story it's the exact same story is it oh yeah that's cool yeah because he probably says yeah this fucking crazy guy was telling me i was gonna win the games and it was like i but i i that's how it happened and like my wife's a lawyer and like he was getting stuff to send to adam so we're like hey can we just literally i'm what i am today on this side,

because I was like, Hey, I just want to protect you. Like, I don't care what the business relationship is like, just don't sign anything stupid, you know? And I got really passionate about like, you know, formalizing that and nobody was doing it at the time. And then the rest of this was history. Like I, you know, Matt matt was my biggest fan like people would just ask him who helps you you got some great things going on and he would refer people most of my clients came from him like pad velner brent fukowski like his competitors he'd be like yeah you should talk to o'keefe and that's the stuff that people don't hear about him you know um because he's like this incredible competitor that would probably eat each of those guys esophagus to win the games

right like it's great but those guys are he you know would say hey how do you get help with business and he'd say yep you should talk to o'keefe and and he was okay with that which is a interesting setup you you know, when you go to the CrossFit Games and I'm with him in the back and it's like all my clients are there and it worked, you know. Yeah, he doesn't want to share his programming. He doesn't want to share all the details of his success, anything, and yet he's willing to share his friend and management.

And there is a little bit of a disconnect there that is and i wonder if that is a because he saw you as a friend and so he was trying to get you know he saw you more than just as his secret you know what i mean he he he with you he transcended that he's like well i wonder if it was more for you than for them. Do you know what I mean by that? He's like, this is a really good dude and I shouldn't be selfish and I should share him. He deserves, he deserves the same growth that I'm having. I think it brought its challenges, but you know, one of the things that, you know, uh, worked really well with him and I was,

we, we always communicated perfectly. And, um, if he was feeling tense around that he would communicate it with me and we just always were like hey before this gets to a point like i'm so proud of the the career that we've had together in the relationship because of that it's like we went through a lot of shit like a lot he had a lot of stress right like stressful to do what he did every year winning one more and like what would meet that mean and And then like, who was chasing him? And then me working with client, we just communicated perfectly. I just have the playbook now for like, you know, for it's life. It's just like, Hey, by the way, if you communicate, you're just up front and you know,

you're, you know, you're true. Like things work out. It's pretty, pretty easy. But when he decided to go back to school, were you involved in that decision? Did he ask you if he thought he could do both? Yeah. I mean, I honestly, like, I think, you know, I was involved in every one of his decisions in that, like he made his decisions most of the time, but like he would, you know, I would be a piece of, you know, a question, you know, Hey,

what do you think? I mean, my perspective was like, you need to finish school, of course, you know, and I didn't, cause the problem with school is like, if you look at today, him retiring, there's no chance he would have gone back because he's, you know, done really well. And, you know, he's, um, the motivation might not have been there and it might've been harder. So I thought it was the perfect choice at the time. I thought, you know, I think doing it the way he did, it was the right way to go. Like he, you know, sort of took, you didn't do the full-time thing at times. Like you would, you know, periodically take like two classes instead of five.

That was one of the best choices he made in his career. You know, it made him really happy, really happy too. Do you remember the, it was, I think it was a documentary when it was they were comparing him and Ben Smith, best choices he made in his career you know it made him really happy really happy too do you remember the it was i think it was a documentary when it was they were comparing him and ben smith maybe before the 2016 games and he talks about chasing the feeling that it is the like the product of suffering do you remember that line i remember exact line but i know what you're talking about um that was one of the most like profound things that i've ever ever you know i haven't spent a lot of time with him that i've ever heard him

saying it like really really resonated with me was i don't like i don't love suffering i love what the product of suffering produces was that an original thought of his because i was like maybe i should ask him but no you know a lot of a lot of it is i think you know but no you know a lot of a lot of it is i think you know well first of all i don't think any of us have an original thought so i mean honestly so i i agree i agree i agree we're all plagiarizers we're all plagiarizing i agree but he you know i'm sure that was an accumulation of a lot of things that he'd kind of experienced and learned so yeah it was his thought and like you know it was how he felt really like i don't you know i don't think anybody taught him it really was what you know made most sense to him was you know i think he said he says something a lot where it's like you know the pain uh in the gym on a daily basis is

far better to endure than it would be you know the years of uh mental anguish for me not knowing i did the work right like he talks about that a lot too which is i think a lot of people relate to um but he uses quotes of others and he's very clear about that like the jerry rice quote like i'm willing to do today what my competitors want so tomorrow i can do what they can't you know like that's a big thing for him jerry rice stole that from me yeah i mean jerry rice didn't even figure that out he just said and put it on a sign and sold it made a million bucks but they they um you know the funny part is is like those are just ways for him to organize thoughts of precisely how he lives his life right um which is cool because i

and i don't think jerry rice taught him how to live that way. It's like, Oh, that's how I live. This is a better way for me to say it. You know? Yeah. He's got some cool shit like that. Who is your second, who is your second client? Brooke Entz. And, and what is the, did she come to you or did you go to her? She did. We're at the Granite Games, funny enough, in 2014. And I didn't even know that I wanted to be like a manager agent. I was doing it with Matt, for Matt. How long had you been doing it with Matt?

It was through the games that year. So like, it was like probably, you know, a year at the games that year so like it was like probably you know a year at that point that i was like i wouldn't even put myself as like the agent yet i was like the friend that was helping him out and she was there we'd met her there and she was kind of like asking him hey like who takes care of your business she was like new she was like coming up in the sport at the time and after that weekend she was like hey i want you to do for me what you do for matt like super cool i watch your relationship like he said you're great like um how can i get you to do that and i was like shit i've never even thought of like how i would get it you know how

i would formalize that with anyone you know he and I just like fist bumped on this thing, you know? So that was my second client. And who is your third client? Cole Sager. Really? Wow. And I believe, I believe, yeah, I believe Cole. I believe it was Cole.

So yeah, Cole Sager, I think. I ran into Cole yesterday, man. What a great guy. I love Cole. I've not known him a long time. Yeah, he's a special guy in my life. I love Cole. What are the different challenges between managing women and men?

And I'm open to there are none. Yeah. men and and and i'm open to there are none yeah i mean honestly for me um it the only the only thing like the camera didn't freeze people that was matt o'keefe thinking deeply oh did i i'm sorry you can you know yeah it um there isn't much difference other than maybe how I might feel from a protective perspective. Like I think it's I get a little defensive about how people treat my female clients at times. And so they're objectified. You know, by the way, like, let's be clear. Like sometimes there are people that like they don't bring it on themselves, but like how they choose to market themselves sometimes, you know, unfortunately welcome some of that because

I can be more defensive than I think they would be in that scenario. Um, but I mean, honestly, they're no different. Like, it's not like, um, I think people on the outside would be like, oh, they must be more emotional. Like, uh, I have some female clients that are as tough as any guy, you know, it's like, so no, it's not a whole lot different other than that. It's just like, you know, I feel a very, like I have like a very, um, you know, large, you know, sense of, uh, protectiveness to them on, you know, they're all dating now. And like some of them are married, but like that,

that that's where it's like, and they're, you know, they've done very well. They have like, they have some fame and it's like, what's true and not like, it's good. You got to think about that. It's going to be like hard for Brooke Wells to date someone because it's like, okay, like, do you like like her instagram and she probably goes well and i know she goes through this it's like how do you meet someone the right way on that side you know so and then you know my layer is like you know i'm protective on that so there's like do you think you're protective is that because you have a daughter you think you think that that plays a huge role it yeah it does and it's just

not honestly no it doesn't it doesn't i'll tell you why because i genuinely love everybody that i work with and and i'm i know i mean the i mean the protectiveness i mean do you think that you have a more protective nature over the female athletes because you have a daughter and and that i i honestly i don't i'm very protective of guys too like in in in a unique way i think that the unique uh uh struggle and or like challenge comes because they're females right right but yeah no i my my perspective my point was my perspective on that is like i genuinely you, love gets tossed around a lot, but like, I genuinely love the people I work with. And, and, um, you know, like I, you know, finish a lot of phone calls

with, I love you, you know, it's like, cause I do. And, and, um, so that's it for me. Like, it's just, you know, um, it's what I was saying earlier. You're right. I have some perspective because my daughter was like, I struggle with what might be going through her head and not being able to help her with it i do the same with them they're like my kids i guess that's it like you know i i do feel like they're my children chris rock did a stand-up uh one time i i'm gonna botch it but basically brian's brian's back brian's back were you okay buddy everything all right yeah that usually happens did you go pee did you go pee hey that's the first time i think you've ever gone pee during a show and i i was drinking like two to ten cups of coffee a day matt and i used to have to pee in every show

and now i haven't peed like in 25 shows this is the earliest that i've ever done one of these in the time zone i've been in because usually i have a couple more hours to get it all out of the system that's my excuse you chris chris rock did a stand-up piece one time he said something about like hey as soon as a girl turns 12 basically everything a guy is saying to her is hey you want some dick have you ever heard that stand-up routine I have it yeah and um unfortunately and when um when I uh show my kids even though I have no relationship other than a friend one with Sogo Snacks, it's just something I found on Amazon. I ended up buying it forever. It's a beef jerky stick that has no sugar in it.

And after eating them for a year, I just wanted to talk to the owner of the company. And I called him, and he's just some farmer dude in Iowa with four kids who wants healthy snacks for his kids. And I get to know him, and when I start making posts, he tells me, hey, we're selling more Sogo snacks. Do you want me to give you a discount code? And I go, yeah, but I don't want any money. I want it to just go to the savings of the people who buy it. Because I just want to be like what you did with Matt. I just want to support my ecosystem of what I like.

And I want to draw a parallel there that you have. We don't have to dwell on this, but we have men are singularly focused, whether they know it or don't know it that we're born and then we want we want to procreate it's like maybe singularly focused is not the right word but it's 51 to 112 focused on it and so when you if i show a beef stick and it gets someone to buy my beef stick or this guy's beef stick just imagine what it does to men out there when you post a picture of yourself doing pull-ups and what is tantamount to your bra and panties so and it and it does frustrate me that there is a i'm not saying that people need to be pigs to the to these women but don't think for a second like this is i i i detest the fact that people want to beat this character out of men of, of what they, because it's, um, you can't beat it out of men.

It's who we are. And if you do try to beat it out of men, you'll get some sort of even worse perversion of that. By that. I mean, if you have one of those balloons that you blow up and they make clowns with, if you squeeze one end,

you get some sort of fucking perversion on the other end. And it's like, you have to draw. I'm not saying that we're getting dark in the tunnel right now. I like this. I'm not – I'm not saying that – We're getting dark in the tunnel right now. I like this. I'm not saying that – people love jumping to conclusions of what I'm saying. I'm not saying that women shouldn't post that. I'm not saying that men should be vile.

What I'm saying is just that there needs to be a healthy perspective on what's going on here. You post pictures. You're a 23-year-old woman. You spend 24 hours a day working on your body and you post all these pictures of your body and this is going to have a visceral intellectual emotional i'm sure these i to go back to brooke wells i'm sure brooke wells gets dms where people sincerely tell her they love her i will change my whole life for you i want to marry you like you're the perfect girl i love the fact that you're religious and that you work hard and you care and we could have a beautiful family so and i don't think that these

these are unrealistic dms but i also understand the mechanism so i just wanted to just throw that out there as a as a commentary and to smash these men for having that i think is, to smash all of mankind. Like, no, no people were wired. That part is okay though. Like, I don't, I think that, and let's be clear, like what I probably referenced earlier is, is like, it doesn't, and you just said it like, it doesn't allow, it's not okay for you to be an asshole or a pig, you know, it's like, right. Because, you know, and that's my point, right. It's like, I get that because that, you know, but like, think about what you just

described, like, that's really cool. Like, and I guarantee you that contributes to confidence and like, um, you know, that's very warm for a Brookwells or a catcher and whoever is like, Hey, you're beautiful. I would love to take you on a date like that's okay you know great because that's cool like and then i get that i just you know what's funny is like you just and it's okay to like people for superficial reasons it's it's totally okay not to marry them and have kids for superficial reasons now you're gonna fuck your whole life up right right but it's okay to like people you did you just you just like somehow tangled an analogy in there with like a blow-up clown and distortion like i'm uh i mean you mike you've you've gone there i don't even know how we went there but

that's amazing go ahead i want to hear what you have to say do you got something to add to that no no no no i'm just like, I'm absorbing that. The analogies today are on a different level for me. This is good. This is good. I feel like there's going to be some interesting clips that come out of this. How many clients do you have, Matt? Today, there's like, I believe it's like 17 individuals.

We also have brands that we work with too. So there's more, but individual athlete clients, like 17. And is Loud and Live the same company that does the events and the sports marketing, also does the management? It all falls under that umbrella. Yeah, Loud and Live Sports. Matt, earlier you said that it was you know something uh important for your clients to be selective in their brands and not just sign things you know left and right

do you guys have the same approach when selecting athletes a thousand percent i don't uh i think that we have an opportunity and in a in one i believe we, I believe we've earned, and I'm proud of to work with a lot of people. I think, you know, we choose to work with people we're aligned with. Um, you know, we, you know, and that, that there's an evolution there too, like even current clients, like, you know, we, um, us, them, them, us, like, you know, we hold each other accountable and there's a lot of values involved in that, you know? So it's, you know, if we don't line up, we don't work together anymore. I don't, you know, need to, or want to work with people that we're not aligned with. So, and that's okay too. It's not like a edgy thing. It's like, we're not for everybody. It's probably

the first thing I think we say, or I would say to somebody that's a potential client is I'm not the right fit for everybody. You can ask any of them. That's like literally one of the first things I would say is like, you know, and that's like that discovery phase. Are there any like hard line? Let's find out if we're a fit. Are there any like hard line, hard line no's where you're like, man,

if you're involved in this, I just can't do it? I mean, of course, I'm sure you could probably outline some of them. But yeah, like, you know, if somebody, I mean, I course, I'm sure you could probably outline some of them. But yeah, if somebody... I mean, I don't know what the example would be. I wouldn't work with Ricky Gerard if that's what you're asking.

Oh, just because of that? Really? Zero chance. Because it... I was thinking something much harsher, like if you'd been charged with pedophilia or something oh yeah yeah those but but i think i hope everybody has that on their list right but so is is the reason why and i hate to use him as an example and i apologize ricky because i really all the interactions i've had with you and your brother are amazing but is the reason why

not so much of you but because you also have a responsibility to your other clients not because then if you have one person who's like willing to blur that line of using peds that then people it would might fall on your other clients or what's what's the reason why no no actually that's a personal thing for me with ricky i just don't like how he handled the whole situation. Because I think you could, you know, make mistakes in life because I've made plenty. Like, I should be very understanding of that, right? But, you know, when, you know, you're popped and you're singing that you get it and, you know, you know, I've learned my lesson and you're sending legal letters to guys like me that I should be making, you know, you, you know, uh, allowing you to compete at water

Palooza because I'm not a CrossFit competition. You haven't got it. So there was, there was never, there was never any, there was never any perspective gained there. And he's still to this day, doesn't get it, you know? So like that, that to me is, um, you know, one situation that's a very good example. It's just like you didn't learn your lesson. It's just like it's never stopped. If you make a stupid choice and you say, I made a stupid choice and then you walk the talk, right?

That's a different story. Does it bother you if I say I'm looking forward to him coming back to the competitive landscape? I get that everybody's looking forward to it i think you're gonna well this is a reason why see what he was see what he was before at this point you know like i don't think he's a contender or ever will be so um which is like i think what will be like the most eye-opening piece is you know hey like i think he's probably worked hard to get back and hopefully get back there. I don't even know that I'll qualify. It's hard. A lot of good guys out there in Australia.

Yeah. I mean, it's, it's also, he's four years older, you know, and like, yeah, that's what I was thinking, Matt, exactly. Taking time off the sport. Yeah. I would, I would, um, don't tell Matt, I said this, but I would really, and I think it's a good business perspective too, um, where you see you at the beginning of the show, you were saying how he didn't want to sell his programming. He was staying true to who he is until he was done. Cause he would never share it, blah, blah, blah.

But this is a genius marketing plan you have on your, the two of you put together where he's actually going to come back next year and win it and sell even more programming. And he deserves all the programming in the world because as we all know who've talked with him, the guy is thoughtful to a fault around his programming. He really is. Yeah. But I can't wait.

I can't wait. I'm going to keep digging under his skin a little bit, plant a little. And it doesn't take much to dig under Matt's skin about competition. It's one thing he'll, the few shows where people thought it was over between us was when I was like saying stuff like, yeah, I don't think you can come back.

And I was like, wow, this is, this is working. I don't, his response is me. I've, you know,

it's like, it's like I've killed people for less, you know? And, uh, true, true. I just don't think, you know, I don't think you'll ever see him compete again.

I don't either, but, but you never can say never in certain scenarios that, you know, who knows, but it would be huge for this work. Ricky Gerard's not going to trigger him to come back because Ricky Gerard was doped up and couldn't beat him. So it's like, all right, well, you're clean now apparently. No, it's going to be something small. It's going to be something small. You say to him at the pool, like, Matt, you got fat. And then no, no, no, no, no chance. He's going to be like, thank you.

Even though, even though he, he, he, I think he's a, he looks really good. He looks lean and mean right now. I shouldn't say lean and mean. He doesn't, he doesn't look, it's not like he looks skinny or anything, but he just looks like maybe it's, maybe it's not even, it's nothing more than he's just giving his body a break. I mean, he just looks healthier. I hate to break it to everybody but you know he's still really fit and doesn't really do a whole lot with that stuff anymore

um like you know i was there a couple weeks ago and he wanted to test the rowing workout that he was going to put into hwpo and and he um he got off and I was like, how was that? And he's like, I hit all my numbers, you know? And it was like, and in some of that too, I'm sure like he's really got to refresh, you know, and he's, you know, he's worked really hard. He has a huge base, you know, he looks great. And part of it, you know, he's really happy right now. Like that, I don't know how to put a price tag or like quantify that physically, right? Like, you know, what that means.

But, you know, my experience with him is it means a lot. You know, he's like, he's just, you know, you know how like you probably have friends like this in general, but like I'm really proud of it with him. But like, how are you doing? And they're like, I'm fucking great. with him but like how are you doing and they're like i'm fucking great and you're like oh god relax you know that's that's him right now i was like yesterday i'm like how are you doing he's like my life is amazing dude i actually like now because it's him i take a like that makes me really happy because it's like ah i've been a part of that you know um i'm gonna keep doing working really hard with and for you because i like that that's really good that's my reward

that's my currency like you're seeing fruit on your tree you're like an armenian you're like an armenian um farmer like we can't even pick the fruit on our tree because we're so proud of it we just wait till the birds come and eat it we're so proud so proud. Yeah. That's your fruit. It is. Honestly, it's like, you're just gazing at your fruit. I do think this thing you said about how critical content, being content or happier, having a little stress in your life. I talk to people, members at the gym about this all the time. And I think that for just the lay person who's exercising, that they need to recognize that there's a lot of stress coming in from relationships, work, whatever, and that can affect what you do in the gym.

But at the competitive level, and especially thinking when you're talking about people that aren't necessarily married but are trying to date or are out there and wondering if they should while also competing, those things can affect each other big time. I mean, I don't know the athletes the way you do. I know of a couple instances in the past few years where an athlete's done great and then all of a sudden hasn't done that great. And the rumors I've been hearing is, well had you know a personal falling out in their life whether it was with a family member or a significant other something like that and it affects their competitive

performance is that why wouldn't it why wouldn't it though like right like it like think about um what we do in life like it's like you know our our analogy would be like oh you were off today like you didn't deliver on your pitch if you're a sales guy or whatever. It's the same for them. Now it has a bigger effect. I've seen a ton of it. You know, I could go back to like results that you guys have all seen. And like even the pundits probably analyzed at some point you being a pundit, Brian.

No, I'm kidding. But no, but seriously, like you would be like you know you know look at a result and be like wow like they're slipping it would be like well you didn't know x y and z right and it's like you know it but i mean it's life but like that's 100 because it's such it's the peak physical sport this is what we're going back to like hardest right like the precision on the physical side in this sport think about what factor stress It's the peak physical sport. This is what we're going back to like hardest, right? Like the precision on the physical side in this sport. Think about what factor stress or any factor would play. Like I, you know, anxiety, stress, whatever it is.

Like it's a monumental factor in this business. A ton on the competitive side. Mostly a lot of boyfriend, girlfriend. When you say X, Y, Z, boyfriend, girlfriend. Yeah, I mean, that stuff's – Dog dies. Huge effect. Relationships.

Like, you know, I could see it in, you know, Matt and Sammy have a bad day with his – you know, and how that would, you know, relate to, you know, what his training was like. Like she left an eggshell in his omelet or something. It just fucking snaps on her. Yeah. I'm looking at it. Hey, what a remarkable thing, too. You got him and Tia training together that last year, the last two years, but then both of them paving the way also to have these really, I mean, what appears to be authentic,

super crazy tight relationships with Sammy and Shane, you know, Tia with Shane and Sammy with Matt. And it, that always fascinated me because I, that, that either works or it doesn't work. There's no, like, there's no like middle ground, right? It's a four, it's part of the formula though. Like if you, you know, hmm, not greatest ever to your greatest ever incredible support system, you know, um, partners that get it, you know, it's an all in approach, right? It's just any sport, any, you know, not any job. Like, I guess people work to just work

but like the people i think you had it any job you wouldn't be where you're at if it wasn't for your wife supporting you right uh i'd agree i mean i couldn't disagree yeah that's that a hundred percent but it's it's um to be the greatest um you know there's all these like i mean i'm like i overanalyze this shit i'm just such a geek on sport too in general so it's just like every accomplishment's harder right like winning one and two then three then four then five right and it's like the micro becomes the micro factors just become greater and greater and greater and it's just like what's the what's the limit where is the person's limit you know because there's always going to be that sort of chink in the armor at some point, right. That doesn't allow you to be six or seven or eight time champion. Right. Um, you know, it was like, you know,

Matt's moment in 2019, it was like, okay, like nobody thought he would, you know, had ever been tested while you saw he's the most money player in the history of the sport too, because he was backwards against the wall for two, three days and he delivered. Right. So it was just, um saw he's the most money player in the history of the sport, too, because he was backwards against the wall for three days and he delivered. Right. So it was just it's like, you know, but that factor is like insurmountable in other people's game, you know, because they don't have that, you know. So everybody has that. It's like, you know, why? Wow. This person looks like the most perfect physical makeup you know they're gymnasts and they can lift heavy weight and it's like yeah but like if your wife isn't in line your partner doesn't work like all that other shit it's not gonna happen i promise you like there's no you know nobody's doing this with one arm tied behind their back i gotta go check now and see who's got

a better record on sundays at the games rich or matt i bet it's matt i know maybe i'm blind maybe i'm maybe i'm being blind on that but like i'll tell you what like nobody that that like i don't know i guess rich had his back against the wall but like that year 2019 you've never seen a performance like that in this sport because he first of all was as dominant as he's ever been we had this like crazy scoring system and shit was all over the place and i just have i've never i've never witnessed focus like that because it was like you know some shit that was coming at him was just uncontrollable and it wasn't some of it wasn't even fair you know and it was like okay cool she's gonna go win every fucking event the rest of this weekend okay cool and he did except the

swim like you know that every other event he was just like i'm gonna put the hammer down and take care of business it was awesome in 2009 uh there was an event where they sprinted up the hill at the ranch yeah and they got to the top and rob orlando's at the top and i said to him is this event fair do you think this is a fair event and he said nothing is fair in crossfit and i was like what a fucking beast what a great answer i love rob he's become a good friend rob's a man i've worked i worked him with him a couple years at water palooza on the wza strong which is by the way such a cool event i hope that we're able to bring that one back we're got some cool stuff coming with water

palooza this year you you know what's that go ahead sorry matt no no you go ahead go ahead yeah we're gonna be adding some some disciplines you know we want to i want to have 2 000 people weightlift power i want to have 2 000 people power lift i want to have you know world's strongest man there or we're talking to them about that hopefully that works out like it's how about a boxing match i thought about it honestly um i i because you know we talked to we talked to img about it a little bit and it's not i i maybe maybe the year after i actually want to bring like a mma i'm a huge mma fan oh me too i just think it's like i went with matt to the fight in houston

i i mean i obviously got to do it a little differently than most would what going which was like i'm so grateful for we sat like literally in the ring but it's um to me it's not worth going if you're not it's not it's really not worth going if you're not i mean i love watching it on tv too right because it's such an art form like it's like you know people you know from a lot of people will be like god it's like i mean my wife has been like that's disgusting and it's like you don't even get it like you it is disgusting it is disgusting it's like oh it's it's a guilty pleasure of mine it is disgusting i don't know what it takes what it takes to be the best at that i can start to relate it to like well you know what you know matt and Tia and those guys and Katrin,

those guys that have won in the past. Like to me that, that piece is like, man, it's such a cool sport. There's so many factors in that. I, so the fight we went to was a title fight with Chandler and a Brazilian guy. I don't remember who it was. Yeah. Oliveira. And Oliveira got his face kicked in in the first round. Like, it was over. The belt, he was literally saved by the belt. And we're, like, on the edge of our seat.

I love this kid, Chandler. He's also a CrossFitter, so, like, I want to, you know, see him succeed. But he, like, one wrong move and it was over. And it was, like, we were just literally with our head in our hands, like, what just happened? Like, that's crazy. were just literally with our head in our hands like what just happened like that's crazy and that's what i love about that sport is like there's no accumulation generally it's like you got to be perfect to win perfect just to touch on that fight real quick i i wanted chandler to win but olivera's celebration made him so made me so happy for him, his appreciation and that celebration. What was that like being there?

Was that just emotional? I mean, it was emotional. I'm getting chills right now. Cause I'm like remembering it. Um, and that whole thrill of victory thing. Like I, I don't know. I feel like I'm more attracted to that than most because you know, and I've been able to really experience some cool shit like that. You also know, like you can relate to the work that went into that that's what you're seeing there um you know another like um rose doug i don't know do you want to watch yeah she's my favorite she's amazing she's my oh when she was that in the same card when she was that was the ufc before that. That fight was amazing.

I was in tears watching that. I was like, dude, that is so cool because you know what's gone into that. It's like, man, she's worked her whole life to get to that point, and now she's having the belt put around her, and she can't even be controlled. It was the first Mexican to win last week moreno that reaction was just like i was like man that is so freaking cool like he you know go go on your world tour buddy and just like tell everybody you're the champ like he just like was just overwhelmed with

joy when he won it's just like and every one of them were like, man, I worked so damn hard. I heard somebody say this the other day that I thought was like one of the coolest sports quotes I've ever heard. So golf, Siobhan, sorry, you're going to have to get through this. I'm going to go take a pee while you guys talk about golf. But he, it was this kid, he lost his mom when he was young um you know on and off the tour and um this british golfer he just recently won a tour event but he's been like all over the place i don't even know what this kid's name is but like man he had like a tile company as a sponsor on his shirt like this kid hasn't made it and he was like they they interviewed him after he won

the european tour event and they're like who is this for you know your mom he goes no this is for me and they're like hmm and he's like you know a ton of people have helped me get here that i want to recognize all of them but this is for me i hit all those balls i did all that work and when i heard that i was like you know matt had been like that a bit in his career and like i always was like yeah it, it is. Of course it is. You did all that work. Yeah. You don't like, and some people will hear stuff like that in interviews and they'll be like, ah, that's selfish.

You shitting me? Like, go watch the work. Yeah. But people be critical of anything. When Jordan Spieth talks about, we did it, we did it, we did it. There's the same people are going to say, no, man, they weren't there hitting the balls with you. You were hitting the balls.

I hear that from Jordan Spieth. And I'm like, no, you did that. That's always my reaction to that. I like it. I'm on the team side, and Matt does plenty of we stuff, but I've always said it to him too. Don't mince words. You've done the work. You'd be very proud of that, and you're not hurting my feelings at all by saying that is there a specific strategy

but behind four letters in a brand hwpo prvn espn no not that i know i mean isn't it HWPO? GFY. GFY. Oh, no, that's only three. That's three. That's three. HWPO is, you know what's fascinating to me is that nobody had ever grabbed that. Like, I don't know. I mean, it's evolved with Matt, but it's a pretty cool brand. Sounds like something Mayweathers would say. Yeah. You don't even have the hat on today. Who, know i'm so proud of my haircut everywhere i go people are like dude you look 30 years younger matt you i know you're gonna run away let me ask you this real quick

before you go what's up ready yep two questions about your your management one of those 17 do you manage all of them and how would you possibly do like like when i was at crossfit if anytime i have three kids and a wife that's four direct reports that is a lot and when i was at crossfit i had a huge staff and i had four four to four to six direct reports and i was get overwhelmed it was a hold from the second i woke up to the minute i went to bed i was dealing with direct reports how do you do 17 and then the second question is is who are you courting now because we've had jason hopper on the show twice and the first show is like dude you got to talk to a keith and the second show he's like yo i'm going west coast classic to see keith i'm like damn keith ain't messing around oh there you are yeah i am on the front on the front side um no i have really an amazing team

it would be impossible to do all that work and i have a lot of other things going on i have probably like 20 people on my team anyway um on this loud and loud sports side so it's it's um aaron you can come over and get those keys um and so the um no i don't it's it's a it's a village approach with that and you know there's a there's a lot that goes into that so now i have more involvement like i know everything that's going on and like i certainly like make sure that I'm very involved in how decisions are made, which I get updated on in terms of when deals are being signed and how we approach those things with the brands or whatnot. But no, I have really good people. But all 17 athletes can text you at a moment's notice. Anytime.

They're going to get off the phone with us right now, and you're going to have 20 texts. They all have access to you. 100%. Anybody that we work with. And that doesn't matter. Like that's either people that work on my team. Like I, we have 200 volunteers here. Like I, that's one of the first things I would address the volunteer core with. Like, I want to know how I can make the weekend better. Like, and that's genuine. So I want people to have access to me on that. So yeah, clients. Yeah. Easy. They all, and I hear from a lot of them a lot, you know, and I love it. You know, it's kind of always been that kind

of, it has always been my why, like that's been my, you know, start and foundation, you know, and, and, um, so, you know, I want to hear from them, but yeah. And then, yeah, I've talked to, you know, Jason quite a bit and I'm excited. We're going to work with him. He's a really cool kid. I hate doing that kid, but he is. He's a young guy. He's – I love his drive and determination. Obviously, his physical attributes are hard to ignore. I'm interested to get to know him more.

I'll meet him for the first time here. I didn't even meet him at the Mac. Um, you know, I was there in a very unique, strange role for myself. You know, I wasn't really, and it was the first time I was like kind of at a competition at that level where I just like, I took a really big backseat there and just kind of watched and, you know, Tia and Brooke were competing, but like, I don't have like a day-to-day role in competition with them, you know, so kind of my first season now without having a coaching role. Like I wasn't Matt's coach. I was, I always say I was his caddy, but he, uh, it's been interesting. So anyway,

when I was at the Mac and didn't get to, uh, meet him because I wasn't going to bother him, um, but excited to meet him, Him and his wife are coming out. Uh, there's a lot of people coming out, uh, coming out here. There's going to be really, we sold a ton of tickets. It's going to be a really fun weekend. Congratulations. I'm glad to hear that. Yeah. I'm, I'm most, I'm most happy for the, for the athletes, honestly, like Granite Games was great by the way. And I, my, our team did an unbelievable job with that event. It couldn't have looked better on TV.

It's hot as hell. So like, you know, there were still some people there, but like, you know, the atmosphere, you know, from an athlete perspective, it wasn't like the total comeback. This, I think, is going to be that moment. I think a lot of people will get to see through the broadcast and then physically hear and be like, we're back. Like, we are back um because there's a lot of people coming and there's a lot of people from industry coming um i'm psyched it's a good it's great field um the workouts are badass i mean

we're just copying everything dave ever wrote oh please tell dylan i said hi too he's really yeah oh i will actually amazing amazing guy always loved running into him always always loved running into him and i can't believe all i can't believe all the success he's having now what a great dude i used to work the games with him and he's great he is um he's he's intentionally unknown from his perspective. He's one of the most talented people that is in this space. I'm a recipient of a lot of credit that is due to his hard work and how bright he is. And, you know, I'm really fortunate. And I'm very grateful that he's chosen to be a part of anything I've done.

I've known him a long time. I knew him before he was on this side. But, man, I'm proud. He's an awesome guy. He's really good at what he does. Give us one more person before you go besides Jason Hopper who you're courting. Anyone else we could get excited about? I want to hear it because that means I think you think that they're going to be good in the future.

And then I'll just quickly wrap up. Oh, I see where this is because that means I think you think that they're going to be good in the future. And then I'll just quickly. Oh, I see where this is going. Did Brian ask you to ask this question? No, Brian already knows who's going to win the game for the next 10 years. I could just ask Brian, but I want to hear, get another professional opinion.

Who, is there anyone else that you're, that you'd be willing to share that you're looking at that you're courting? No, no, nobody. Honestly, like I, I, I would say this, like, you'd be willing to share that you're looking at that you're courting no i no nobody okay honestly like i i i would say this like and i try to say this like we don't like really court people you know i feel like i feel like people know um you know who we are and what we do and you know um

yeah we'll reach out to people and just you you know, say, hey, like, you know, you're going to obviously hire someone. We would love the opportunity to discuss it with you. But Jason's the same. It's like, hey, we might not be a fit for you. Like, you have to make that decision, but I'll tell you about us and what we've done, which I think is, you know, impressive and who we worked with. You know, so I but I don't I don't court people, you know. I mean, if people want to work with us, great. If they don't, that's cool too. Like I will help anybody in this space on the athlete side that needs help, whether we work with them or not to be successful. It's important. I want those, those kids to get every ounce that they deserve and have success and something to show for this. Did you court your wife of course not she courted me no yeah yes all right yeah

how long did that take a long time yeah she was that was fat matt i just didn't want you to think courting has any negative connotations i courted my wife for five years no no no i do i do i you know i don't want that to come across arrogantly by the way i got because i i'll you know if we need if that was a part of the process great i just um you know i think we just tell like my point i'm trying to make is like we try to tell people what we do and how we do it and you know we think we're really good at what we do and we want to be a fit, but people don't want to work with us. It's fine. I get it.

And not everybody does. There's people who are going to make mistakes in life. What can I say? That's how I feel, but I'm also happy. I want to give you an endorsement, but I think it would hurt you more than help you. So I won't want to give you an endorsement, but I think it would hurt you more than help you. So I won't.

Brian, is there anything you want to say to Mr. O'Keefe? Thank you very much, dude. Appreciate that. Yeah, I'm proud of that. Most proud. It's kind of like what everything else has been out it's allowed for my life to be the way it is not a whole lot of people would have been trusting the drunk matt o'keefe so matt thank you so much i know this was uh pretty

last minute i know today is a crazy day for you good luck uh this weekend at the west coast classic um i will be glued to my tv set brian will be there on the field thank you hey thank you for thanks for having me i appreciate it it's always great to talk to you guys this was fun this is a good way to start my day well i started my day with a little run outside so we tested the heat and uh we're gonna be okay everybody's gonna be okay with the heat and uh we're to go really early. But no, I appreciate you guys having me on. It's always a pleasure to talk to you guys.

And Brian and I are going to hit a workout later today. So we'll be thinking of you, so Ron. I'm going to go as soon as I get off the phone. I'm running straight to the skate park to watch my kids skate. Oh, God. Well, have a blast. That's more important than this.