Building Community One Person at a Time - Troy & Macy Cole (Emotion Fitness and Studio)

🎧 Exciting news! Our latest podcast episode is now live! 🎙️ Join us as we sit down with special guests Macy Cole and Troy Cole, owners of emotion yoga Pilates bar and emotion fitness. They share their incredible journey and insights into the world of fitness and wellness. #podcast #fitness

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Transcript

0:31

welcome back everybody to the whiskey and wisdom podcast. This is your cohost Tyler y'all. And today I am sitting with Chris Kellum and our two special guests today are Macy Cole, Troy Cole, and they are the owners of Emotion Yoga Pilates Bar and Emotion Fitness. Awesome. Thank you so much for coming on today, you guys. Thank you for having us. I always like drive by and see it and I'm like, Hmm, I wonder what goes on in there. Like it's just my brain when I see logos. I'm like, what do they do over there? It is a cool logo. I have always noticed it too, every time I've driven by and stuff. So yeah, I give you major props. That's one of the reasons why I reached out too. It's just cause like I always see this. Like, let me go talk to these guys. Thank you. Yeah. That's what we do here. We see random people and we're like, Oh, Hey, you look cool. That was going to be a question that I had. Like, how did you find us? Yeah. And now I know. Yeah. I curiosity. Yeah. Always drove by. I saw that. And then I followed you guys on Instagram and stuff too. And then I noticed that there was a change in business as well. And we'll get further into that, I'm sure. And I was like, Oh, this is neat. It's probably a good time to talk to him as well. And that's kind of the rebranding or what's going on and find out kind of what's going on under the hood. Before we go into the deep dive, we're going to talk about some whiskey. This episode I found a bottle of blade and bow. Yeah. Yep. Yep. I, I am one of those people. Everyone's like, aren't you a whiskey connoisseur? Cause you have a whiskey podcast. No, not at all. I legitimately saw this in the liquor store and gave it to my, my The guy who cuts my hair, Barber, thank you. There we go. This is our third podcast for the day. So hold on tight guys. I promise I'm not that drunk. I gave it to him cause I'm like, Oh, this, I hear it sounds good. It tastes good. And so I finally got a bottle and we were talking about it earlier. They have a key hanging off of it because all of them have different numbers on them. So one through five, I'm pretty sure it's like an homage to like the five pillars of their. Like whiskey making set up and I did look, it's very interesting. They do a Solera system because they use whiskey from the original Stitzler Weller distillery. And I'm guessing it burned down. That happens to everybody. But every barrel instead of it emptying out, they'll take some from like a younger barrel and mix it in with an older barrel. So, you always have a little bit of the old stuff mixed in. It's very interesting. I mean, they start out in new age, American white oak barrels, like everything else. This one's supposed to have fresh fruits. Some of my favorite hints, apricot and ripe pear. And then you should get like your traditional, like oak and spices. It does have a fruity smell to it. Does it? Yeah. It is one of the more interesting bottles. I will not, I will say for sure. I'm excited to test it out. Yeah, it must be. We're gonna try it. Cheers. Cheers. Cheers. Cheers. That's a long range. Yeah. Mm. Fruity. Yeah. Yeah, it does have a lot of fruit to it. But spicy. Mm hmm. It definitely, it reminds me of like a like a apple cider. Yeah. Or like something I would drink in the, oh, that's fine, something I would drink in the winter time. Yeah. Just cause like the spices. Like a warmth. Yes. I'd agree with that. And strong. Strong. Yeah. I thought we were going apple cider vinegar with it. That's what I was like, nobody's going to try this now. But as a health professional, shouldn't you tell me to drink apple cider vinegar? I think that would be what the influencers might say, right? Right. It will solve your problems. But does it? No, it's really good for you. Oh really? Yeah. Oh. Put it on your salads. It tastes good. Yeah, I have put it on my salads a few times. Yeah. It's good for your hair too. I have not tried that. Yeah. I don't know about my hair, but. Well, tell us a little bit more about yourselves then. You can kick us off, Troy. Tell us about ourselves. All right. No. Macy and I met in this awesome community called Wilmington. And then we were just going over this, drawing a blank for exactly how many years ago. Really? It was 11. 11 years ago. Oh, yeah. In, in May. And you know, a lot has happened between us two meeting and us being in this seat now, speaking about a business that we own together. Right. Yeah, so I don't even know. I think Maisie you can fill in way bigger gaps than what I just left. I just gave you a start and an end. Did you guys both move to Wilmington 11 years ago or? So I went to UNCW and Troy was from Southern California. And he came to play soccer here and actually my maid of honor and one of his groomsmen who are now married set us up. And so anyways, we met and I wasn't even certified in yoga yet, but I always knew I wanted like a healing center or yoga studio and actually told him that on our first date before I was even certified and then went through the certification and he had to be my demo through all of it, but it ended up. like healing him. He was taking all this like ibuprofen every day for his muscles and joints. And he's like, there's really something to this. And so flash forward, I worked for a yoga studio for a while and then we had an opportunity to open our own. And then he retired from soccer and went and worked for a fitness facility that we were partnered with at the time. Mm-hmm. And then they ended up wanting to go big scale, which is awesome. They had been in the industry for many years. It made sense for them. We wanted to stay more boutique and right as that was happening and opportunity came about for him to open his own spot on the beach. Oh wow. And so we rebranded and. We ended up doing two outfits and then moving to our new place and having a huge expansion right in the middle of COVID. It was insane. And then the place next to us ended up moving into our old location and opened up a spot for him. So the studio did another expansion and we also built a second fitness facility. And so here we are now. That's great. Almost seven years later on the journey, 11 years together. It's beyond anything I think we could have ever imagined, but a dream come true, even though it did include many nightmares, but, but here we are, I would say happier than ever and and successful from the standpoint of an awesome community that we're really thankful to be a part of. So, so from outside looking in, do you have more of like the studio part of it? And then you have more of the fitness part. That's right. Nailed it. Awesome. All right. So I want to make sure I had that straight before I went too much further down the interviews. But my main question is, so you always had the dream of having the studio. At what point did you decide, Hey, you know what, this really makes sense to open up the fitness side. Yeah. That's such a good question because that's exactly what happened in such a believer in balance. And even in the way that we approach life is always in that, why doesn't that exist? Right. Because. I was very fit as a professional soccer player. Someone would look at me and be like, this guy is in awesome shape, but I was broken and battered. So having that yoga and really getting into that practice, it made so much sense to me that we all know that fitness is way more than just working out or, and then yoga, while it be so awesome has such a much deeper meaning and value. And we felt so many times that we had a yoga thing. going on and I was already well into fitness and then they would be going somewhere separate for fitness and I'm like, well, you love this community. We need to bring it all together. So. Really starting small and and finding a way to do it that made sense to people's minds and not like Overcrowding their brains was like what is this place? I see it and there's multiple things going on. How does it all work together? So we kind of gives that nice little feel if you want to come through this door come through this door only if you want to come through this door come through this door only and then We really have a nice balance for the people that kind of get it all. That want a little bit of a spirituality and listen to Macy. Speak about the ethers as she does so well, but sometimes you just want to move your body, get a good workout. And we have those options too. So, it made total sense, especially with the skill sets that we have a little yin and yang in our relationship that work. So what was the exact moment? I don't know if there's exactly one. It really did just kind of. Become so prevalent that I couldn't not do it when when a building literally right next door. I'm overbooked at the beach We got an 872 square feet of fun is what I like to say Yeah, you know it gets it gets really busy hot sweaty humid in this little spot and we were awesome We were so crowded and then Macy had always she's always thinking big big big, right? Like yeah, this is like what we'll do in 10 years in her mind versus mine. Very methodical small like we're doing good Let's just keep this place packed Oliver being a huge store. I don't know if you remember that one. It was on the corner there for 10 plus years. And then I think Macy just really manifested it. But all of a sudden they wanted to switch spots with where we once were. Yeah. And then the space opened up and then all we had to do was like, build a door right there and put equipment in and spend lots of money. But fate, fate made it just ever so clear that that's what we needed to do. Yeah. That makes sense. Awesome. Yeah, absolutely. It does. And so I guess to take that story and then to. Roll it back a little bit more too. So what made you wanna get into yoga before you were even certified in doing yoga? Yeah. Well I was an athlete but I was always really spiritual. Okay. And I ended up getting Com compartment syndrome. I played soccer as well. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And I went to yoga cuz I was gonna have to get a second surgery and I thought yoga was gonna be a joke. And I went and I couldn't even do down dog or child's pose, which were like the easiest options. And I'm super competitive. And so I was like, I'm, I'm interested now. But I started doing hot yoga and I never had to get the second surgery. And it was the first time in my life where I felt like I didn't have to perform or be perfect or anything like that. And it was an exercise where I could also really tap into my faith and my spirituality. Has this ancient language that I was so drawn to. And so going on that journey, I realized through my own healing, that more people need this and especially people that are more in that performance achievement based world. And they don't, they don't have access to that type of spirituality. And and so I decided I want to, I want to offer this and I want it to be a place where there's fun and acceptance, but that the deep rooted ancient philosophies are there. And sometimes I feel like it can be so in one direction that it's almost repelling to like a normal. Quote unquote person but I really wanted to bring like the depths of ancient philosophy to modern civilization basically. And when I met Troy and I told him, he was like, all right, well, we need to have fun. And I want it to be loud. I don't want to feel like I'm walking into a library or like I'm joining a cult, you know, which are like all the things that people think about. And, and so here we are. That's neat. So I guess with that being said too, when someone walks into your studio for the first time, like what do they experience? So our biggest thing is we want everyone to feel seen, heard, and valued. I own a yoga studio and still, when we go out of town, I'm so intimidated by these places. And so for me, it was really. realizing how scary it is to make that commitment of going on your fitness journey and being vulnerable and walking into a place that you may know nothing about. People are like, I can't even touch my toes. And so when you walk in, we want to make eye contact. We want you to feel warmth. We want to learn your name, know something personal about you genuinely because we care. And build a relationship. Trini's goal was we want to know every single person's name that walks through the door. And so it went from us to a smaller team, to a bigger team, and we went from 10 people to 50, I think we're servicing like 400 members right now or something like that. But everyone on the team is committed to learning everyone's names and we have people that have been there from day one. We also ask them and champion them. If you see a new face, get to know those people, ask them their name, and it's become like a community. And so when you walk in, our number one thing and the best compliment we can ever receive is, I love your services, everyone's so professional, but I just feel so cared for, and that's what our main goal is. That's really neat. So, how does the outreach look for that too? Or is the community just so strong that it's just bringing people in naturally? Yeah, Troy and I will have different answers for this question, but for me it was very organic and very, like, we are going to attract the people that are drawn to our services. It's a small enough community that once the word got out, I really wanted people that were coming. Based on the services that we offer and the energy that we were looking to attract basically. And so for us, it started very much just organic, naturally one person telling the next person, but then we started to get into the analytics of it. Once we knew exactly what our services were, which is something Troy can speak to a little bit more. Once we knew exactly what we were and what our message was, we knew. The audience that we were going to target and I became okay with targeting people because I realized we're offering something as a community and when I say we are not just Troy and I like our team, the people that come, we're offering something that somebody may want to know about and so we need to get that message out because if our goal is to heal, connect and inspire the world through unconditional love and we're protecting that message and not speaking it loud enough, we're actually doing a disservice. That's and so he can talk to you about, like, the analytics and strategies of how we went about doing that. Well, I think it's always a mixture of everything. And it's, you always love small businesses and local communities because you don't know anything about business a lot of times. We entered this world, you know, with a, with a mission, not a strategy. Right. And we learned strategies along the way, which is really cool and awesome. Yeah. And I don't think people need to know as much as that. The strategy as much as just we needed them to be able to conveniently get through the door and feel like they were already welcome before they got in. And that's kind of where we started to develop those strategies because we want people to feel so comfortable. Like, like you said, like you're about to go. Being a hot room with 30 other people, sometimes like for your first visit, all you're thinking of is like, I'm not going to be judged or compared, but in your head, you're like, I'm being judged and compared. I see this guy next to me and we're not in competition, but I'm smiling. Right. And if he's in that pose, I'm in that, it's like, I'm going to get low. I don't know if I'm going to get back up, but I think you always come up with that is like the worst ideas in your head. So we want to make it. They come in and they have at least some of their armors off, you know, like you can trust that we're good people that are just, that want the best for you and Yeah, I don't remember what the original question was, but well, and the easiest strategy, basically, the original question is how did we build this community? And I think the easiest one person at a time Troy was really adamant about us having a vision and a mission. Like, why are we going to add something to this world? We need to make sure that the world needs it and we need to make sure that there's a purpose behind it. And so we came up with our vision and our mission, which is to live in a world where everyone gives, gives and receives. Limitlessly and, and so that was like the main goal. So everyone that we hire, we're like, no matter what happens, as long as you're working on yourself and helping other people work on themselves, we're doing our job. And then we wanted our Instagram, our website, our email marketing to have actual faces of people that they're going to see the actual facility that they're going to see language that they're going to hear. So kind of speaking to Troy, before they even stepped foot in the door, we wanted them to already feel at ease with everything that they've already seen, and then we were just adding words to their experience. Mm hmm. I think you guys are doing a great job with that. I've never actually been in, but to that point though, is I've seen a lot of your marketing and I feel like I already know what it's like to be inside that building. And so again, that was another reason why I decided to invite you on because I mean, you guys know gyms and yoga studios and Wilmington are a dime a dozen. I didn't contact any of those other people. Like I felt more at home at yours and I never walked in. So like that was something that I thought was really neat too. And by you guys saying that your vision, your mission, like that was the point of it. It feels good knowing that right? Thank you. Yeah, it's so awesome. Thanks for saying that Tyler. That's like it always means so much People say that kind of thing and they really feel it, you know Because that is so intentional and it's cool that you can tell that it is and yeah, we just care a lot about Keeping and clarifying that message that it's really clear to the community that that's we're about and One thing that analytics wise that was stood out so much was one time at Google just like sends you stuff like there, here's your Google analytics, like how you did like the word that was most used in the reviews was community. And I'm like, Oh, that's so awesome. So you're kind of like learning back and forth. Like, I'm like, make sure that I'm showing that this is, that's exactly what it is. It's a community. And we were speaking about untangible things about solving the world through unconditional love. And then still trying to kind of, maybe that's where that balance plays out as me to be like, Well, when we're doing that in person, what does that look like? That means we're doing fitness classes for those people. We're doing group classes. We're doing a lot of early morning ones. Cause we found out that our person is a lot of the times are really busy a little bit. We can use the word stressed individual that has an hour of their day where they want to feel seen, heard, valued, loved. Be taken care of but also one of the most important thing to these people is their fitness is there They still identify as athletes. So we call our people athletes On the fitness side for that reason as well. Most of us played sports in high school Yeah, we want to get back to our prime, but we got some aches and pains We got career stuff that we're we're doing every single day And I want to speak to that person be like we have a place for you that you can like safely Move, train, balance that idea of like, if you're overstressed, this isn't going to be another fitness class that just jacks you up over here. It's going to be one that's based around movement. And then you can, the next day might love a nice little essentials class where you are just relaxing, listening to Macy talk about awesome stuff. Like, okay, the world's not bad again. I can go to work now. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Or after work and stuff like that. So. That's neat. There's a lot of, I guess similarities between what you're saying. And we just recently had on the owners of paradigm the PT over here, our neighbors, and they said a lot of the same things to everyone that walks in there or their athletes as well. They're over there to basically take these people that have known what being athletic feels like. Maybe you're not in your prime anymore, but you want to be, or you want to be as close to it as possible. And how can we do that in the form of motion and. Eliminating those aches and pains, so it was really neat kind of hearing a very similar mindset, and I started working with those guys over there, too, for that reason, so, so awesome. Yeah, we need more of that. Right. I agree. Yes. So Chris's random question. Where did you play in college? So I played two years of community college in Irvine, California. Oh, I know where that is. Oddly enough. No, I think, you know, it's a little Orange County, center of Orange County area. And then made a leap and played two years at a, it's called Mars Hill University, but it used to be called Mars Hill College when I went there, way back when. And then you played for the Sharks. So yeah, the Hammerheads. No, it's good. I'm like, this is a shark. No, you're right. The Sharks is like the baseball team that plays right behind the Hammerheads. And yeah, we would share locker rooms and stuff like that. So it's it's a lower tier professional soccer league within the United States. And you could almost attest it to like minor league baseball. You're traveling, you're in those littler cities. Maybe not as in some big cities as well. And. Yeah, Wilmington had a great team with a great community and then I was like, how come I don't know about this place I saw it on a map and I'm like, there's a beach there's all these awesome people and I've never heard about it until I started playing there. Really. How did you find out about the hammerheads? I think similar to the hammerheads is is a in any world it grows smaller as you stay in it longer. So, somebody finds you, you're finding them too. I mean, everybody wants to be a professional athlete, right? And then within soccer, you hit a level, and then within that level, there's only X amount of spots slash teams available. Wilmington meeting that level for me. So, yeah, we got connected. And they do, they have strong Southern California connections at the time. So, yeah, it's always. Surprising when people are like, well, I moved here from Southern California and I'm like, there's so many. Wilmington is the amalgamation of Northerners and SoCal. Like I get so many people I meet that are from either one of those two places and it's very interesting. Yeah, there's a lot of us infiltrating the area for lower real estate costs and better high quality living with less traffic. Yeah. Oh shoot. I'm selling it too much right now. Luckily, luckily our listeners are mostly from Southeast North Carolina. Yeah. I love it. But when you, like you said, you were being healthy and she learned yoga teaching you. What were some of those like benefits you got, because you said, you know, you had a bunch of aches and pains, but like, probably the ones that I didn't even realize were there until you started actually practicing yoga. But if Macy was able to proof of concept, something, it would be my body because everything was bound up. You talk about like the highest levels of stress and That accumulation of load in certain directions within my orthopedic self that I knew needed to be taken care of. Having Macy there and doing that was awesome. So some of the benefits that I did was just really opening up my hips. I didn't realize. That hips could even open up. I'm just like, I have tight hips, you know, I'd like to identify him with that because that means it was out of my control. I was genetically not flexible and none of that stuff seemed to be true. Once I was just dedicated, you know, like it was committed. She was committed, which really helped. So everyone just needs to get, you know, a yoga instructor as a life partner and your hips will stay open, but I think the unintentional benefits that I, I really love was the, the part of being present and working on mindfulness and that ability to connect with your body on a, on a different level. And obviously the, the using of your body, mind and spirit can be a simpler form of what yoga is. So, I started just noticing that and just how I was, I was less anxious. Less sweaty before games and it's just more relaxed because if you open up your physical self, like it makes sense that energy can travel and move through you more efficiently, you're aligned better in your body. Of course, that's going to have some awesome other benefits where you feel like your mind is better. You feel like you're more energized and it's all those little things that I think added up to having a huge impact because I've maxed out all the other things that you could do physically. You know, I could run for hours, I could do all the skills, but... Adding something as simple as yoga and a meditation practice practice. I think would do everybody good, right? I agree. So it may see where are you from then? I'm from Boone. Oh, okay, Carolina Yeah, so I brought you down to the beaches from the mountains it was like the closest thing from my home, but on the coast and so I just felt very Similar from where I was from a lot of people from Boone move here. And then once you get here, it's impossible to leave. Yeah Yeah, my wife My wife's from Lenore. Huh. And she's like, oh yeah. And when people ask, I'm like, there's two cities I can give you that you might know. Yeah. And they're still 45 minutes away either way. So, it's either Hickory or Boone. Yup. And I was like, that's so, you said it. Everyone's like, it's a similar vibe but if I'm in, if I grew up in the mountains, yeah, I wanna go to the beach. And a lot of beach people are like, well, if I'm not staying at the beach, I'm going to the mountains. That's right. I like it. It's interesting too that the people that are from like the Boone area feel at home at Wilmington and then Wilmingtonians feel at home in Boone and it's two like completely different areas like geographically. But the communities are so similar. That's interesting to the college town and people want to create and build community in those areas. And I really think because they're so connected to nature, there is something about that heightened state of awareness where you want to be outside. You're wanting to be around people. Towns are wanting to create environments like this cargo district or outdoor music markets, all of these things that allow us. which is I think ultimately what we're looking for beneath all of it is connection. True. The last few episodes that we've had have talked a lot about like AI and like how scary AI is and whatnot. I mean, I guess to a certain extent, right. But the one thing that humans are all looking for is connection, right? Specifically with other humans and not, not computers. So I think that's something special that you guys are doing as well. It was just having that human connection. Like during COVID, I just went online. I found something I can kind of like, Oh, I have, I have a couple of dumbbells. Like, let me, what can I do? I have a couple of kettlebells. What kind of workout can I do? You don't get the same workout. Doing it at your home as you do with other people around you that are championing for you and coaching you through it Yeah, and that that's one of the biggest differences, too So like there's no way I that's gonna take and take your job from you by any means In some ways that felt like strengthened after I don't know because obviously that means you're into fitness and exercising and there was a moment They were like, is this the way it's gonna go forward if you've left you're getting into this habit or routine what's gonna happen? When you come back and if anything, I've found like there's been like a little resurgence, if anything, of human connection. Like I can't wait to just get, get there and be around all my friends mm-hmm. And push each other, Exactly. In whatever way fa fashion form. So yeah, it was, it was awesome to see that happen. Like humans still have a purpose, which is great. right? Yes. When I was at U N C W, one of the things that we talked about a lot, I got my undergrad in operations, so like logistics and everything, but specifically, Human logistics of like, how do you walk into a kind of like I was saying, how do you perceive a place? How do you walk into a, what do you, what do you expect? And the one thing that we talked about a lot, and this was way before I graduated my undergrad years ago. And they said that there's going to be a point where the straw breaks the camel's back where, okay, you're walking into McDonald's and everything's automated. At some point, you're going to need human interaction. And where are we going to hit that point at? And I think COVID was that point where it broke the camel's back, and everyone's just yearning for human connection now. And thank goodness. I think the other really neat thing about it, too, is through COVID, it forced us to look at ourselves. And a lot of us may have not spent solitude thinking about who we are, who we're not, why am I living here? Why am I doing this job? And it was so confronting and uncomfortable at first. But I think we've emerged on the other side, knowing who we are a little bit more, but most importantly, who we're not, and our one studio can hold 50 people. Our other studio can hold about, I think we've managed 30 at this point, and then Troy's face can hold 18. And so we'll have people on the wait list and things like that. But. It's important that we're getting exactly who wants to be there because we only have a certain amount of space. Right? And so I think the other part about this connection is knowing who I am, knowing who I'm not, and then being able to proclaim that through the choices that we make and the people that we surround ourselves with, because there is only a finite space. And that's why when people say like, you know, who's your competition or. What are you doing different than everywhere else? I don't think in those terms in this world, I think that's why I loved yoga so much in the first place, is I am so competitive and I've spent my whole life in that mindset, that with business, it's not about that anymore. It's actually about Troy and I choosing to be so authentic, even though that can be really exposing at times, when you're in charge, I think. Of like 27 people at this point right now, 400 members were human. We're going to have mistakes and things like that, but our willingness to do what felt authentic, I was always a proponent for yoga. I believed in that. And then I understood Pilates and we brought that on. I understood bar and we brought that on. We've added some new classes since then. And people are like, what's going to happen when Pilates isn't cool anymore? The bar is not the fad. I'm like, we don't even think in those terms, like we're offering what is authentic to us. If that ends up being underwater basket weaving, that's what we're going to do because we think that it can support and help people, right? So you bring it up. I have this question mentally all the time. I never actually speak it out. What is Pilates? And how do they connect to yoga? Because I see it like they just put up a bar studio behind my day job. And I'm like, what is this? Before I answer that, I'd be really curious. What do you think it is? Oh, I have zero idea so I want to say I get them confused. Pilates and bar. I know what yoga is. Yeah. In my prior life, I hung out with somebody who wanted to be a yoga instructor, so I learned how to do a cat cow, and that was about it. Wow. Nice. I love that. Probably not the proper form but I've seen the videos of the people, like on the like sliding, gliding things. Okay. And I'm like, I. That looks like I'm going to hurt myself. Yeah, that's reformer. So there's all, and it is Pilates. I would say yoga is the origin of all movement that we know today. And then Pilates basically extracted the really powerful aspects of proper movement from yoga and focused it primarily on the core and activating movement from our core. And So that's, that's Matt Pilates is more of like specifically core. There's a certain amount of poses that they usually follow for classical Pilates. And then bar is more focused on the glutes and strengthening that part of the body. But basically from the lens of ballet. And so they took ballet and the moves that are done at the bar and saw how functional they were and helpful in building certain parts of the body that need a little more functionality. And then same with Pilates. And so now we have this iteration of exercises that we call Pilates and bar that are very far removed from their origins. But. Through their modern application are so powerful because we're sitting all the time. We're not horseback riding, hunting, climbing, right? All of those things. So that helped you. Yes, you do. Yes. The Pilates is just somebody's last name. If that helps too. Well, Joseph Pilates is who created it. Yeah. I think that helps like that does try to like origin of stuff. Yeah. Whereas bar you're holding a bar that helps me. As far as I know, I was like, I Pilates came from. So that makes sense. Okay. But it's also interesting because like we said human connection. Yes, I can google something But if you explain it to me I'm gonna remember it more so than if I googled it and it or search engine do whatever Same with every time I sit at the bar. Yes, I can look up and see you like That still throws me off that a ballerina bar is spelled double re yeah But yeah, if I'm sitting at a bar drinking and I look and see a bottle, I'm gonna ask the bartender because typically they'll explain it better similar to like how I open up and I'm like, oh hey, this will have this note or this note. Yeah, they'll explain it and be like, oh, this is why it's like this or like that that's right I love that I was like such a good perspective because it's so true except when we're sitting at the the table and Macy's about to order I'm like, I know she's gonna ask him some questions But it's I think it's same as you it's it's her reasoning for asking question is like I want this Exact person's take on this item on the menu, even though I'm reading about the item and I see a picture of it Yep, the experience of it So watch out if she's coming to your restaurant, but see that's my point. I'm an old school Person like when working in a restaurant I know that a good restaurant is training their waitstaff and bartenders of What the good what the deal meal of the day is what is in it? Why is it this? Why is it that? What's in the specific? And yes, people are getting really lazy and they're like, oh, well, I expect to make this much money I'm like, well, I expect you to bring service that requires that much money. It's like, if I'm going to tip you decently, which I always do, like you should bring something to the table. It's like, why is this new, whatchamacallit, put on the menu? Why is your meal of the day this? Yeah. Bring it alive. Yes. Bring what the experience is alive, because otherwise I can just do takeout. Yes. And I like that idea of just individualizing a response based on meeting somebody where you're at. Like, you might go into bigger detail about what exactly Pilates is, but for you today, we just said, hey, you're sitting on a mat and we're doing some core stuff. For bars, some ballet stuff and we're holding a bar. Right. It's perfect. Yeah. Next time we'll explain some more. Yeah. But it makes sense too, because if I go on your website, I want to book a class. Yeah. I mean like, well, the only thing I actually know is yoga. Right. I feel like Chris mostly brought this up so he could segue into our sponsorship read. What? We have a sponsor on this episode? I knew, I knew he was going to do it. So talking about local and trying stuff out and everything to our sponsor for. This upcoming month and hopefully for months to come is 30 off local through Wilmington and you can go onto their website, make yourself a profile and when you go on those, there's going to be gift certificates on there and you can buy a gift certificate for 30% off anywhere that you want to try out. So it's pretty cool over there. The one that Chris and I keep talking about is the view at a loft because just like any good. Rooftop bar. It costs a lot of money. So if you can get 30% off of it, it's even better. Yeah. It's super nice. Like their big motto shop, local save, local support, local and just something different to save a little bit of money because we're all trying to make more and I definitely spend more but also supporting local businesses. So we definitely check them out, build an account, save some money. They've been around for awhile and my friends use them all the time. And then I look and I'm like, man, how did you afford that? And then I realized they were just smarter than I was. So to kind of stay way back in to the other question I had, cause we kind of talked about it a little bit about kind of getting back to. The human interaction and community and everything too. So during COVID, kind of, how did you guys pivot through that when you were like, Oh my gosh, is this how the world's going to be? Well, we had gotten a tip from somebody that did a lot of international business and he was basically like things are about to hit the fan and you need to have a plan for this. And so we pivoted literally in a half of a day. And just sent out an email to everybody and said, we are going to be moving to Skype and sent it to our team and got, my mom had this tablet she was never using. And we just like used the tablet and recorded all of the videos. And we were like that from March 17th until August. And then we were able to pivot a little bit outdoors once summer hit, but literally from March till like mid May. We were just doing online videos, but everything was shut down. So everyone was just so thankful that they could do something. And we ended up, because we were recording all of those videos, ended up building our virtual library from that. It was really, really difficult. Two weeks before COVID hit, we had just signed on a new 10 year lease, which is where we're at right now to start an expansion. And so there was like some touch and go moments, like are we even going to be able to do this, but our community rallied around us, our team was so supportive, we would, you know, hand write cards, we came up with all these new systems to make sure that community engagement was still very much there, even though we couldn't be around each other in person, and it was so challenging without going into all the details of it, but I will say that forged our ability To be who we are now and it set the tone for a deep seated trust and in our community within each of us to make hard decisions and navigate it in a way that we could all stay in alignment, even if people had differing views about the circumstance and I think it for Troy and I, our marriage and our, our leadership abilities to navigate that together really expanded as well. So, That's neat. I think that was something that a lot of people notice too, is coming through and out of COVID is you got to see who the true entrepreneurs were, right? Like who can actually innovate, who is the most innovative, who can just take this whole bag of lemons and make the most lemonade with it. And it sounds like you guys did that. So kind of, how does that the, the fitness library that you have right now, does that still play a role in your business today? Absolutely. So if you're a member, you have access to that. And a lot of our members are in business. They're traveling all the time. And so they'll bring that screen up. And it's so Awesome, too, because Troy's my demo for like literally all the classes or like the teachers are all the demos and you're just seeing them get their butts handed to them. That's awesome. It's kind of nice to see that. But we'll get messages like, Oh my goodness, I remember, I remember this exact class and where I was. And and it's something that we want to expand into. And actually Troy is doing a huge component on the fitness side, moving into the more virtual territories. We have a lot of clients that have moved and still want to utilize our services. Or. People that hear about us from afar that want us to franchise. And we're not looking to do more brick and mortar, but but pivoting more into the online, which Troy can speak to, but I think COVID kind of gave us the confidence to be like, okay, if we do that, like we can do this. Right. Let's see. Yeah. Tell us a bit more of the, what you're trying to expand into that. Yeah, I don't think without, without COVID, we didn't know that we had the software and the capability to really connect and people were still able to connect in a, in a way that. If you can solve a certain person's problem really well and they do live a little bit more remote and we think about other people that have to commute so much, some people have, like, I've found that a lot of people love the luxury of either going to their own gym where they're at or working out at home, but the idea of having a coach to really look at their movement in a way that you can do on zoom, right? Connect with and keep them accountable. Through just simply saying good job sometimes like completing workouts. And then I know that you you work out and stuff like that We move from like paper to everything as a video and you're on your online software To where the coaching is is done like in real time Somebody can send you a video so quick of their form and you're like, oh Push your knees out, drop a little bit lower and now your squat form is good. And you have a coach that's not in the physical location. So it really does. It really has helped me like entrepreneur wise, put like a little light bulb goes off, like, why aren't we creating community outside these walls? And that's what we're starting to do and starting to do with fitness in general. Cause everyone has, if you're, you can solve a problem really well, well. So we were doing that good job in just a three mile radius of where we're at. If you expand those walls and find ways to systemize it you can do some big things. So we're getting into that. Yeah, that's huge too, because during, like I said, during COVID, I was trying to work out by myself and stuff, and then probably putting on too much weight more than I probably should have been. And so now over at Paradigm, they're, basically trying to work through all of the bad habits that I created by not having a coach and they're like, you're going to need to have someone watch you. Yeah, that probably makes sense. Do you guys have an app or is it like through the website? Oh, it's good. Yeah, we have a couple apps We we have our own branded app, which is also helpful, too I think the technology has made it easy. So scheduling for your appointments has never been easier Checking out where the virtual library is. That's where the virtual library you literally have an emotion branded app and and you live on there And then we have separate programming software for people that want to like customize every set rep weights they're using and that one's called bridge tracker and that's like Through us, we set up programs for people on the fitness side. They're super specific. And it's a great way to individualize even in a group, if that makes sense, because we can all be doing the same movement pattern, be doing four different movements at four different weights for four different reps. And we really feel like, to take it to the next level, it's, it's tracking progress. It's watching how you move. It's having real time feedback of... Whether or not you're in person or not is like talking about each and every set. So well, I like it. It's very adept Where did the technology background come from for it was just like trial and error trying to figure it out or yeah, definitely It was out of necessity at first right like for the zoom and stuff like that and then I think you can just acquire so much knowledge so quick when you have a problem that needs to be solved quick The pressure was on yeah, and then you know I'm a typical fitness nerd, so I'm always looking into like, I don't, I drive, I don't care about what car I drive, but I care about the programming software that I use, a Rolls Royce, right? Like it has every capability. And when it comes to that, I think, you know, boys and their toys, they're going to find a way. Yeah. That's neat. I like it. So I was looking at your website. You have a 15 day promo. Is that through July? Yes. Is that all of it? We run it all the time. Yeah, that's like our intro offer, right? So, like, if you're new, you're going to need some time to really connect, and especially with all the services that we have. So, by signing up, or actually downloading our app, which you can do through our website, from there, signing up for the intro offer is as easy as looking at the first class that you want to take, booking that class through the app. And then from that date, that 15 days is 25 and that gets you 15 days of unlimited studio classes. So you can try yoga, Pilates, bar, as well as our group training fitness classes. And then during that time you should be able to find out like, Oh, I love how this schedule is working and I'm glad I got to try everything out. So, we offer that for all new. And local people, it's a great way to get in the door. Yeah. It's very interesting. Because like you said, sometimes you see something, you're like, yeah, I'm not going to fit in there. Or you always have that question mark of like, well, when is this happening or what's happening here? And I feel like this is a great setup. And that's why I was curious. I'm like, is it always happening? Is it just for July? And it, it definitely makes. I pulled it up and I'm like, Ooh, do I need this right now? Yes. But I'm excited to like dive a little bit more and check it out. Cause you guys are right across from work. Yeah. Perfect. Well, and one thing we haven't spoken about, we also opened a smoothie bar, so ultimately I saw that. Oh, that's right. Yeah. Yeah. Ultimately, Emotion has always been a lifestyle brand and we started with movement and Emotion literally means energy in motion. And so first and foremost, we want to get people moving out of their head into their body. But then once we're in our body, how are we taking care of that vessel? Are we properly hydrating? Are we getting the right nutrition? We're actually about to launch a nutrition program which will have its own app. And then lastly, and kind of the final component is, what are we filling our minds with? What are we reading? What are we watching? Kind of that holistic approach. Troy and I have had the honor of getting to dedicate our lives to health and... Kind of experiencing mental health, physical health, emotional health community health. And so we kind of want to be a one stop shop for people that are looking for what, what should I be reading? What should I be putting in my body? How do I appropriately move? It's less about do this workout and look at your before and after pictures or how many calories I've burned. It's can you lean down and pick up your groceries and stand back up without throwing your back out? Can you pick up your child? Or go on a hike with them without feeling like you need to sleep the entire next day. It is literally using the process of becoming an elite human, whether you are in your 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and can you feel the most optimal. Possibly with your mind, your heart, your body and a byproduct of that is you will look good, you will feel good, but it's not about the surface things because looking good is only going to get you to show up for so long, but if you're feeling good, if you feel a part of something, if you feel that you yourself are contributing to something that you believe in, that's where the real lifestyle begins to happen. Thank you. That's really neat. I like that. So with this with this movie part of it. So is it for people that are like working out that day or like can I show up in my suit like walking across the street and come pick up a smoothie? We're working on that. So that's like the next iteration, right? We're always at the tip of the iceberg for for now. It's a members only or people that are participating in class, right? We found. The problem was so many times they were having to get to class and then rush over somewhere to get a smoothie. Yeah. And then like, we're talking about like, what's in that smoothie and stuff like that. We couldn't control that environment. Like, why don't we just do this? And there's a lot of reasons why not to. But we came up with a system where before class, you can punch in your, your smoothie bar order. And then after class, whether it's an elixir that you're getting like hydration or even caffeinated, if you need to get caffeinated. Yeah. Or, protein smoothie where we can control the organic ingredients and we can control different things like your collagen if you want to go collagen or your greens if you want to go greens and we do it at such a good affordable rate that that works both ways that it's such a win that we like we have to get into this and then eventually you're talking about our next one is like we want to scale that and get good enough at those systems where we're not You Putting our first and foremost, our members at any risk about bringing in the out outsiders and then feel good about those systems. So, yeah, we're just really like, so quality, especially Macy is like, it's got to be dialed in before it even takes the next step where sometimes I'm like, well, let's just do it. And then, you know, we'll, we'll move it along the way. So that's where the balance goes. That's us in general, because. I've been joking about opening up like a bottle shop for, well, multiple years now. And Tyler's like, Oh, just do it. And I'm like, no, no, no. I need to figure out. You know where it could go quality of products figure out how to afford it. It's like not just do it Yeah, bring it out on the way. Let's go. Yeah, you need that balance, right? And I'm like a big risk kind of gal So I'm like, all right go bigger go home and in that way choice like well, have we thought about it? What about the finances? I'm like the money will flow like we're good But when it comes to like the actual product of it choice like hey, let's just throw it out there See what happens like no, we don't have a system. It needs to be perfect. It needs to look this certain way That's funny, that's awesome I love it. I think oddly enough, you're like your counterbalance. We interviewed the owners of drinks last fall and there, I feel like they're the same way. Like they're always about like doing great new stuff, but then they have that balance of like, wait, can we afford this? How to balance this? Let's make something new. BS. I keep, I'm frustrated. Cause I, I love a good smoothie because I, my wife is getting. She's not getting better. She's always been great at making good meals. And lunch. I'm getting better at not going to rounds and getting chicken tenders every day for lunch. And like a smoothie is always like, ooh, I want a good smoothie. But I really, like, not to hate on it, but like, the clean eats. Not clean eats. What is it? Clean juice. I'm like, every time I go in there, I'm like, It takes 15 minutes for me to get a smoothie. And then that's my whole lunch break. And I'm like, man, I need another spot. Well, now you're going to come do the intro offer. We're going to highlight on this schedule, exactly the classes that are perfect for you. And then you can order your smoothie and get back to work. I'm down for that. Easy enough. That's right. Across the street from us. Yeah. Yoga is one of the few things where I look back. I'm like, you know, I would definitely like if you're an athlete, you definitely should be doing yoga because so many people don't do it and then they get hurt and I'm like, why weren't you doing something to help your mobility? But even if you're not an athlete, you're a normal person. Yoga similar to CrossFit are things that you should be doing in your normal life and it'll help you, which like me will help me not get hurt trying to play like Switch golf or anything. A hundred percent. I feel like there's adult leagues, you know, as a part of that, it's like, that's where you're like scared. Orthopedic orthopedic surgeons are staying in good business. Yeah, I was, I did flag football for the first time this last fall or spring. And just absolutely destroyed my groin. Like pulled it extremely bad. Like I could barely walk and I was like, yeah, this is. I'm not as young as I used to be. Yeah. It's weird when the mind is still the same, but then the body goes to do something and the body can't, but the mind's like, wait, I was still activating how I always do. Right. It's always interesting. So you're talking about coming up with new ideas for your business and everything. So my question for the both of you, what would be like the definition of a success either personally or in the business? Well, I like the idea of making sure that it's a success at this point in our lives personally And then how does that make sure that it it works alongside of our our business because the more and more You can always put more stuff on your plate So thinking about starting another brick and mortar would not be success for us Although that would make sense for somebody like oh, yeah, just double what you're doing. That's more successful So what I think Macy and I are both so connected on when it comes to success has never been about anything financially. It's always been about that correct amount of synergy between peace and harmony within like our own lives and a very well balanced lifestyle that we can also still provide such a good service for the community and feel like we're doing something passionate and purposeful. And then hopefully create some abundance around that and continue to to grow in that manner of, of really aligning our days to our values and doing that same thing for other people. Now, now that we have people that are like invested in us, like it's not just me and her anymore doing that same thing for them. So for me, success is living out more perfect days than not while slowly ticking forward, consistently improving over time. But I don't know, I'd love to hear Macy's answer of success. Yeah, I would say success for me would be anyone successful has spent Days, weeks, months, and even years of their life having to grind away at things that they're not necessarily the best at or enjoy to set up that strong foundation to be able to teach the next iteration of themselves how to do it and so for me to reach the pinnacle of success would be that Troy and I are waking up every day and are is literally the things that we are best at, and that those things are contributing to making this world a place that, if we had children, I would want to raise them in. And then, taking it a step back, is we could financially set people up to work in an amazing environment where their entire Purpose for that whole day is to help people feel seen, heard, and valued. And that they would not have to look for another job or another place to work because they're literally living out their dream job. So creating a dream life for the people that get to work with us. And then creating a lifestyle, whether it just be here in Wilmington or global reach. Where people are staying on the cutting edge of how to live the most optimal that they could possibly live. Whether that be their movement strategy, what they're putting in their body, what they're putting in their mind and in their heart. And it wouldn't feel like effort. It would feel as tasty as a dessert. Because they know that the byproduct and benefit of their choices is not through having a white knuckle there. themselves through life, but actually being excited to show up and move, being excited to listen to this podcast or read that book because of the benefits that they're getting so that we're creating a world where people are craving what's good for them and not thinking that they have to have this willpower and discipline to do it. So basically creating a life where we find harmony, we share that harmony and then that harmony begins to spread. I love that. That's very neat. It's much more in depth than most of the answers we get from that, so I appreciate that. Thank you for elaborating. I greatly appreciate it. That helps for our podcast. So we do have one last question for you before we let you go. And that is, if you could tell your younger self one thing, what would it be? Keep believing in yourself. Yeah. Nice. Love that. Your perceived failures and imperfections are just the other side of the same coin of what makes you great. Absolutely true. It's fantastic. I've never heard that one. I hadn't either, so I love that. We're always here to learn new things. Yeah, there you go. That's the main purpose of the podcast. Yeah. I like hearing new things all the time. Something we'd love for you guys to shout out is where can people find you guys on social media, on the internet? Help you guys out. You can find us on social media at underscore emotion fitness and a separate account. Just like we said, separate doors at underscore emotion studio. And then the easiest way to, to get in and try us is our intro offer. We hope to have done a good job on our website. So make it super easy. Step one, download our branded app. Step two. Find a class that you might find interesting. Once you do do that, whether on the fitness side or the studio side, if you're new to the app, you can click intro offers 25 for 15 days of unlimited. Awesomeness and experience and then that's the best way to find us, correct? Yeah, and that 15 days doesn't start until your first class. So if you're listening and you're like, well, I'm going on all these trips. I don't want to do it yet Go ahead and do it that way it will be on your account And then the 15 days starts literally once you take your first class and it's 15 Consecutive days to help build a habit around what you're enjoying. That's great Yeah, one of you 21 days. Come on. Yeah. Well, yeah, no, I'm just speaking. No, it's great. No, it's perfect I think 15 days is the perfect amount of Time for people where they don't feel like they're locked in too long or right one thing we do have an option for though is the 15 days we're fine if they want to do 15 on the studio and just like really dive in there and then 15 days on the fitness because sometimes it can be Overwhelming to just cram it all into 15 days. Basically what we're saying is we're just two people trying to help some people out So whatever those people come in the door with that is not limited to sitting down for 45 minutes like we are here and just You letting me know what what's going on and we go through a movement assessment and stuff like that. So those are all things that We have access to which is so cool as a small business that we can still provide that really Personalized feel all right. That's neat. I love it I just want to say thank you once again for showing up coming on here. Thank you. It's been a blast. I've learned a lot Tyler hates on me all the time because I ask the silliest questions, but I get some really good answers. Yeah Thank you for explaining the difference between Pilates and bar. You're welcome. It was very good. I had that question too. So I'm just glad you asked What'd you think about the whiskey I loved it fruity pretty strong Yeah, I think maybe stronger than I usually like for how fruity it was, right? But I I think if that's your vibe then this is a really good one It definitely gives off a winter. Yeah. You get a little fruity. I would pour this in my apple cider. Yes. So good by the fire. Yes. See another reason for a fire pit, but thank you guys for listening to the podcast like follow, share, subscribe, check us out on all the social medias, Instagram, tech talk, and threads currently. Yeah. Just keep an eye out. I will be saying some very interesting stuff on there. Once I get the login Well, yeah, thanks for showing up cheers cheers, thanks