Mostly Middle Tennessee Business Podcast

Unknown: Ironically, the thing
that has worked the most on

Tiktok and Instagram, and this
is not making money or anything.

This is just what has got us the
most followers, and what has

like got us the most engagement
was making fun of healthcare.

Yeah, we'd make videos of just
because, you know, healthcare

right now is so it can be very
obnoxious. It's a commodity. Oh,

it's so stupid, right now. I
mean, cold plunge, sauna,

grounding.

I do, grounding.

You do grounding I do? You just
go stand outside barefoot? No,

I have a grounding blanket.
Okay? I sleep with it

all. Okay. I thought grounding
was like, where you just go step

outside barefoot. You

can it works, dude, does it?
Yeah,

this is the mostly Middle
Tennessee business podcast, a

podcast about Middle Tennessee
business owners and

professionals. Yes, mostly.

So I gotta ask you,

what are the highest and lowest
points of your life so far?

Bring that mic up to you. We
want to be able to hear what

you're saying. Right. Get right
on that thing. Is it too close?

More more close more. Yeah,
bring it to you. Relax. Kick

back. Probably should have done
this before we started. But you

know how we do how's that? There
you go. Very impromptu. Oh, wow.

Nice and comfy, yeah? Nice and
comfy. Highest and lowest points

of your life,

like ever, okay, Hmm, wow, Whoa,
let's see highest point we'll

start positive. Highest point of
my life would be finishing. It

actually would be when I bought
my house in Nashville, really,

yeah, because I grew up pretty
poor, right? And so which, of

course, you know, I graduated
physical therapy school and tons

of debt, and I'm living in
Nashville, actually, in a like,

one of the cheapest apartments I
could find, I got hit by the

tornado in 2020 Yeah, 2020, so
after that, my parents were

like, go find, go find an
apartment, you know, and live

there. So, because it was up to
me, and I'm like, the cheapest

human on this entire planet, I
found the cheapest apartment

that I could find. Well, at that
time, that was easy. Oh yeah,

super easy. But it was infested
with roaches. I did not know

that

well, Alex, you get what you pay
for. That's how that works. So

after that, I was like, You know
what? I'm gonna be an adult. And

so when I bought my house, it
was just one of those things

that it just felt surreal as a
because I was 2627

at the time, so I would have
guessed that your low point must

have been all the debt from
physical therapy school.

Low point, yeah, that's one of
them. I was thinking

to Mike, you know, hey, I got
engaged to my fiance. Would be a

high point?

Oh, yeah, I guess I gotta say

I have never been the type of
person that would that put that

kind like. I've always been work
focused. So obviously getting

engaged was one of the highest
points of my life. But I still

to this day think like, am I
actually really engaged, or is

this still a joke? Is this a
joke? How long you been engaged?

I've been engaged since April 5.
So oh so recently, yeah. Very

recently, yeah. Oh wow. Very,
very recently, I had

shocked. Were you surprised?

We talked about it. So we just,
we met very romantically, which

was online dating. Yeah, I don't
go to bars, I don't go places.

So I already knew I was like,
I'm gonna, unless someone breaks

into my house, I'm gonna have to
meet them online. But I this the

night we met, we hit it off. I
don't think either one of us was

really expecting it to where, I
think both of us were just kind

of giving it the last shot and
then gonna delete the app again

and then re download it a few
months later. Yeah. But yeah,

no, we hit it off. And pretty
much, I mean, like he, he

started making plans a little
earlier than I would have he's

34 probably why? Yeah, yeah, but
um, but yeah. No, we. I knew it

was coming. I did not know it
was gonna come that day we went.

How long? When did you actually
meet? Just curious about these

stories.

No, we. We dated about a year,
okay? But, um, I we were going

to Hawaii, and so I thought he
was going to do it in Hawaii,

and he did it. We had just
bought land, and he did it out

on the land with our parents
there. So I was, I was shocked.

I actually thought we were in a
fight that

day. So you actually, you have
land as well around here,

Chapel Hill. Okay, so we are in
the process of doing a

construction loan right now, and
that is going to be the death of

me, but if I make it through
that, then we're gonna build

there

you go. Well, awesome. So you're
those of you tuning in. This is

Alex Phillips

with amplify health and
performance.

That's right, and you're.
Relatively new BNI er, I am, and

you came into our chapter, let's
say, a couple months ago. Yeah,

right, yeah. And you did your
presentation. And I always pay

attention to presentations,
because we as a company, it's

your show.co. Have something
called the presentation

supercharge, where we help
people with their BNI

presentations. But yours was
really spot on. I mean, you

showcased, obviously, what you
do, a little bit of a call to

action, but most notably, which
is tough to do in our little

commercials that we do your
personality. I mean, dude, you

you put it on, like charisma.
You got humor. I mean, you

should really try your hand at
stand up comedy. You had that

room laughing.

Yeah, I enjoy public speaking. I
have a, you know, whenever I was

younger, I hated it. Who does
who grows up and doing public

speaking? You know, everyone's
staring at you all. Never had a

problem with it. Really, when I
grew up, I hated it. And then as

soon as I went to, I went to UT
Knoxville for undergrad, and as

soon as I realized that people
were just gonna laugh at my

accent regardless of what I
said, I was like, Okay, I could

be funny.

So you said you have the accent,
but it's not like you have a

freaking constant rubber band in
your mouth.

No, I know, I know it's, I'm
telling you in Nashville. I

mean, sometimes I'm like, am I?
Am I the crazy? I'm from

Tennessee, right? And I feel so
crazy talking.

Well, here's the thing, you
know, we moved here 20 years

ago, just about to the month
this year. And getting here, I

worked for mix 92 nine and Jack
FM, which is what brought us

here. And we had a mixture of
people in the building that were

really southern or not. Oh,
really. And as you kind of got

to know people around Nashville,
you didn't really hear the

accent all that much, but as
soon as you went to the Murray

County and south, oh yeah, that
seemed to be the delineation of

where the accent came in, and we
never minded. I actually wanted

it more because we grew up in
Connecticut. Oh yeah, bougie,

you know, we were middle class,
but, you know, you think of

Connecticut, you think of her,
Murphy. Then we moved to Vegas.

Oh, and Vegas opened our eyes to
how uncivilized Connecticut was

and, you know, after four years
in Vegas, we kind of saw the

same, you know, people weren't
as friendly after a while. So we

were looking forward to the
southern hospitality, you know.

And again, in the building where
I worked, it was you heard a lot

of the southern accent, but
outside of the building, not too

much. How long did you live in
Vegas? Four

years. Four years. Oh 1205,

man, I can't imagine that

we were in our beginning of our
marriage. We got married in oh

one, my wife and I, you know, we
were away from everything we've

ever known. If we had a problem
with each other, we had to deal

with it, you know, just us.
There was no running to parents

or anything like that. It was,
you know, it was, in a way, it

strengthened us, I would say, I
mean, here we are, 24 years

later, yeah, yeah. And she's my
best friend, yeah, and that's

the way to kind of look at it,
in my

opinion, yeah, no, I agree. I
like that, yeah, yeah. I don't

think I could live in Vegas. But
if you want to hear an accent,

you go to West Tennessee,

I bet, yeah, but yeah, or even
southern tech getting into

Alabama, oh, stuff like that.
Yeah. I mean, if you go to even

go to Birmingham, Alabama, you
know, you'll, you'll hear it,

yeah, not too

much. No, not really. Birmingham
is, Birmingham is pretty nice,

yeah? I think you just got to
search for the, for the small

towns, yeah, yeah, yeah,

all the different ancillary
markets that are starting to

become very like Columbia. I've,
maybe I said this on the podcast

before. In Connecticut, growing
up, there was a town called New

Milford, and New Milford was
redneck, but they didn't have

any Southern accents. It was
like, you know, meth head kind

of redneck, you know. And they
called it new mildew. New

mildew, yes, all right. And that
was the undesirable area as we

grew up, and then it became very
gentrified. They filmed Mr.

Deeds with Adam Sandler in New
Milford. Oh so if you watch the

movie and you see like the
street where deeds pizza is,

that was like my wife and I
actually had an apartment right

around the corner from there
while they were filming it. And

the radio station I worked for
did a we took our morning show

on the road to a cafe on that
street where they filmed most of

those scenes, and stayed on the
air until Adam Sandler came on

the show. Oh, that's awesome.
And it happened.

Do you see him? Yep. Oh, that's
awesome.

Got pictures to prove it. Back
when I was 180 pounds and it was

one of those cool things to kind
of, you know, a little bit of a

memento after we moved to Vegas,
because right around the time we

moved to Vegas was when they
were filming a lot of that stuff

in that town. And then I want to
say, about nine months later it

came out in the theaters, and
living in Vegas. Vegas. Look at

that. Be able to see the movie
that we was right up the road

from us.

What made you want to leave
Vegas?

Radio, radio, you know, I think
we ended up going to from

Connecticut. I actually almost
went to Long Island at a job

opportunity at WB, AB, but we
figured, you know, hey, Vegas

will be fun. Yeah, we've never
been west of the Mississippi at

that point, and it was a big
adventure. That's what we did.

And four years later, after
that, I knew I wanted to move

back East. Vegas afforded us a
lot of perspective, because

where we were in Connecticut, we
didn't ever think we'd be able

to own a house. So Vegas, we
were able to buy our first house

and all that fun stuff. And then
we, you know, after four years,

we wanted to move back east, but
definitely not the Northeast.

Okay, so I always felt a kinship
with the South. We went to

Charlotte when I was a kid, and
I just, I just remember really

liking Charlotte. Charlotte's
beautiful, yeah, yeah. It's a

great, great city. So I looked
at a lot of cities in North

Carolina for radio and stuff
like that. Memphis, I think came

up at a certain point, Atlanta
certainly, because that was bit

would have been a major market
job for me. And then all of a

sudden Nashville popped up in
the trades. And I was like, Oh,

I never even thought of
Nashville.

Do you visit first? Or were you
just like, let's go. We it

was the most ideal interview
process I'd ever had in in my

time in radio. So they flew both
my wife and I out, you know,

took us out to dinner. The
general manager, Dennis Guz Don,

still talked to him today. To
this day, he's a great guy. He

and his wife took my and me,
mccortney and I, out to dinner,

and then that following Monday,
went in there, interviewed,

took, met all the staff and
everything. And when it came

down to talking about salary, we
made it work, and they offered

me the job. And I said, Well,
hey, you know, I'll just submit

my plane ticket for
reimbursement. And he's like,

Well, how much did you pay for
the both the end? I said, you

know, this money, I will just,
we'll just cover both you. And

it was like, one of those
things. I'm like, Dude, where I

came from, that didn't happen.
The beg for freaking

reimbursements, you know, from
all CBS infinity broadcasting.

So it was kind of, it was ideal.
You know, that's nice. And we

moved here, and we've been here
ever since started a family and

still in the same house. How

many kids you get? Three, three.
Yeah. How old are they?

Soon to be ninth. My daughter,
oldest is 18, soon to be 19,

next month. My son is 17, my
daughter, my youngest daughter

is 13.

Oh, close in age, yeah, pretty
much nice. It's fun. Yeah,

little good, little family unit.
Yeah, that's super nice. So

you grew up, you say West
Tennessee, but that could be

Paris, that could be Jackson,
that could be Memphis.

What I usually tell people
Jackson, because they know where

that's at halfway point. Yeah,
halfway point. I grew up in a

place called Lexington,
Tennessee, which is

very, very small town.

Would not trade my childhood for
absolutely anything. I loved it.

It was amazing. I think I
mentioned this in the BNI, but

my hometown truly does have two
podcasts, and one is on

barbecue. It's the best barbecue
I've ever had. And if anyone

argues that Memphis is better,
they have not had this one,

really. Yeah, it's called
Scott's barbecue, amazing. And

then the second documentary is
on meth. So podcasts or document

the second documentary. So there
are two documentaries,

documentaries about the town,
about the town, not podcast, my

bad. No, they have two
documentaries. It's barbecue and

meth. I've never had the myth,
but I've heard great things.

Heard great things about the
mess. Yeah, I've heard really

good things. So, you know, if
things take a turn like, kind of

like Walter

White, you know, blue ice type
method, you know, I

haven't had it. I'll have to let
you know I have plenty of family

that's tried it. Five stars.
Would try again.

Yeah, I know my neighbors have
had it. So,

so I mean, you, but you're a 90s
kid, oh yeah. I'm a 90s kid,

yeah, and somewhat early
Millennium kid, oh yeah, yeah,

I'm a millennial. Yeah, I'll
take

that. But your attitude is one
of Gen X. I'll tell you that

right now, is it? Yeah, I got a
mindset of Gen X. I am. You

drink out of the garden hose.
Oh, 100

that's that's why I don't get
sick often, trying to build your

immunity. That's right, swim in
the Hudson River. Exactly,

exactly. No, I am we, I grew up.
I mean, like we, I grew up,

like, on a we worked during the
summer. We back. My grandpa, he

had a farm, and he, like, he
farmed for the whole county, or

a whole town that they lived in,
huge and everyone knew him. He

also joked a lot. I definitely
got my humor from him. He was

the most sarcastic human on this
entire planet, but I stayed with

him every summer, and we would
ride horses and we would farm

and so I grew up very, very
different from Millennial but,

but I would like I said I would
not trade that. For anything.

Yeah, that's a great, great
upbringing. So getting into, you

know, finding your purpose and
doing what you're doing now,

what kind of we I would, are we
athletic?

I Yeah, and I know I'm gonna say
this, and if any of my friends

listen to it, they're gonna be
like, No, she wasn't. But I was,

I was I just, I'm about as add
as it gets. So I wish I could

have stuck with something a
little bit longer than one

season and not I've gotten
bored, so I kind of did

everything. And therefore, you
know, when you're good at

everything, you're not really
great at anything. But I, I've

always been very active, so,
like, I've done a bodybuilding

competition, I'll never do it
again. It was absolutely awful,

and I don't ever want to be on a
diet again if I can prevent

that. I did the Body for Life
thing.

Oh, yeah, yeah. Wait, Body for
Life was that.

Body for Life was a book written
by Bill Phillips, who owned EAS

for a season, started EAS and he
owned muscle magazine. Muscle

muscle media magazine, so
probably more of a 90s thing

going into the millennium, but
it was a whole 12 week

challenge. And these people, you
know, they show the before and

afters, and they were just
astounding. I really, you know,

going from a guy who looks like
me in 12 weeks and they're

ripped, and it's like, well,
crap, if they can do it, I can

do it. You know, took me three
times. Oh yeah, I got eventually

got there where I could see my
abs, and that was good enough

there.

Yeah, that's how bodybuilding
was. Like, I I pretty much

lot of protein, lot of farting.
Oh my

gosh, it's bodybuilding.
Honestly, was one of the dumbest

things I've ever done. It really
was, it was so stupid. And, you

know, another low point, yeah,
that was my low point. Was

stupid, bodybuilding competition
six times a day, eating kind of

thing. And what's crazy. And
this, this is mostly sarcasm,

but it's also really not. I
mostly run off of spite, like

spite, spite, yeah, yeah. So
someone made me mad, and this

person bodybuilding. So I was
like, You know what? I'm gonna

do a competition. I'm gonna win.
And I did. I did dumbest thing

I've ever done in my life. I
don't even remember I was mad at

him. It doesn't even matter,
because that's how sad I was on

this where

was the competition held?
Kentucky.

I think so you

just someone said you can't do

it. No, no, no one told me I
couldn't do it. Someone just

made me mad, and they did it.
And how did they make you mad?

As I'm saying, the competition
took every brain cell I had. I

don't remember how they got me
mad. I really don't. I don't

even know if I was actually mad
at them or if I was just, I

don't know, um, but I know that
someone irritated me one time,

and I was like, You know what?
I'm I'm because i don't i don't

really argue with people. I
don't get mad, I don't like if

I'm mad at someone or if I'm
irritated with someone. It's a

long term goal of mine to make
sure I make myself better. I

make myself better than them,
which is probably not healthy.

And I'm sure that there's some
type of therapy lesson I'll get

one day, but

it's not a bad thing, but the
attitude should probably be, I

just want to make myself better
exactly, not but not be better

than them. No,

I know. I know that's what I'm
saying. And the amount of times

I've had some friend or family
member be like, Have you ever

thought of therapy? I'm like,

physical therapy. I do that. You
need it

so you wind up from going west
Tennessee to UT Knoxville, yeah.

But, I mean, where's that kind
of like? As you were growing up

in West Tennessee, going to
Memphis, maybe going to

Nashville. Was that kind of
like, akin because, I mean,

you're, what, an hour and a half
away from each Yeah,

but two hours from Nashville,

okay? And about how far from an
hour and a half from an hour and

a half, so you were about like
similar distances that we were

from New York. You know, for us
to hop the train in Brewster and

head down to the city would take
us about an hour and 15 minutes

so, and driving down there
probably take about an hour and

a half. Yeah, you know, so. But
that for us was like, Hey, we're

going to the city. Oh yeah,
yeah, but you had cities to

choose from.

Oh yeah. Oh no, no, no. I was
not allowed to go to Memphis.

No, no. It is not even that.
Memphis was just a bad place.

And honestly, we really didn't
even go to Nashville. Like I

said, we grew up. I grew up
fairly like we weren't that

wealthy. We were lower middle
class. So, so my city that I

went to growing up was Jackson,
before it got bad, Jackson's not

just the safest right now,
right? But we went to Jackson

all the time and go, actually a
typical weekend, like, if we

were gonna go out in my
hometown, we would go to the

Walmart parking lot. That's our
city. Yeah, we'd go with people.

Would have trucks out there. We,
I mean, I think, but

like, good old boy country
music, that's the kind of stuff

you hear about.

Oh yeah, we'd go ride dirt
roads. I mean, like we, I was

living a Jason Aldean song,
exactly, yeah, down, yeah,

pretty big toes up on the dash.

Oh yeah, yeah. Except for I was
typically the DD, so were you?

Yeah, which was not fun. You
weren't really a partier. Well,

my parents were very strict,
which as we have, as they have

as they have found out, strict
parents create rebellious

children whenever you get older.
But at that time, I was like, my

mom worked at the at a bank, and
she knew everybody. So I was

like, she'll, she'll find out
anything. I mean, like, I could

be five minutes late for curfew
and she'd be like, Let me smell

your breath. I was like, okay,
not drinking in high school, and

then I got to undergrad, and
that changed, of course, oh

yeah. But that was that, was
that the big first exposure to

like, the world? Oh yeah,
Knoxville, 100%

yeah, oh yeah. I remember
getting to UT Knoxville. First

of all, my hometown has one,
like, just a handful of stop

signs. You can't get lost in my
hometown. To this, my senior

year of undergrad at UT
Knoxville, I still had to use my

GPS to walk around really. Yes,
I'm an idiot when it comes to

directions, and I blame that on
my hometown. Yeah, I don't know

where anything is. No, yeah, if
my phone dies,

I don't know, Danbury was like
that, growing up where we grew

up, where the roads, you know,
hey, sometimes it's going north.

Now we're going to go east and
we'll go south. There was really

no rhyme or reason or a grid,
relatively, that was set up

maybe a little bit in downtown,
but not much getting to Vegas.

On the other hand, it was, like,
easy, really, oh yeah, because

it was grid. It was set up like
a grid. So, I mean, he was

basically, you know, my wife
would get confused, and she's

like, okay, which way is north?
I said the stratosphere. That's,

that's the north end of the
strip. The Luxor is the south

end. So if you see the light
coming up and then the

stratosphere, you've got your

bearings. See this blows my
mind, because if I call my dad

and ask for directions, he acts
like I'm Dora the Explorer, like

he's like, You go south and then
East. And I'm like, where is

what is south? Like, in my head,
I'm still thinking of elementary

school where it's never eat
soggy worms. So this is West.

But I'm like, I know that's not.
It just depends on, I'm like,

and I'm like, No, is it by that
big building? And he's like,

you're a landmark visual. I'm
like, You got it? And of course,

in West Tennessee, he's like,
it's beside the church. And I'm

like, which church? There's
eight, eight churches, and

they're

already, like, one block. So you
get to Knoxville, what? What

kind of piqued your appetite,
or, you know, made you want to

do what you're doing now? Well,
start then,

no no. So my sister is a nurse,
and I decided I wanted to be a

nurse because she's a nurse. I
don't know anything else. So I

applied to the nursing program
at UT Knox when I got in, and at

orientation, they all went, you
know, it's your typical, um,

however old. I was, like, 1819,
year old. Uh, orientation

circle, a bunch of girls were
all nursing, and they went

around in a circle, and they
were like, Okay, everyone, and

this is very first able
orientation. Didn't know anyone.

I mean, like, school hadn't
started. I was just they put me

in a dorm, and they were like,
go here this day. So we're all

sitting in a circle, and the
girl in the middle, she says, I

want everyone to go around and
say, What made you want to be a

nurse? And everyone was like, I
want to help people, and I want

to make a difference, and I want
to make relationships. And I was

like, Hell, no,

do that. I was like, I cannot

be a nurse. I want to work 90
hours a week and burn out at 30

exactly it might have I mean,
like, I was like, what? So, um,

it got to me and I couldn't even
lie. I mean, typically, I'm

pretty good liar. I'm not gonna
lie. Like,

you're a pretty good liar.
You're not gonna lie, I'm not

gonna

lie, but I'm a good liar. But it
got to me, and I couldn't even

think of a lie. And so I looked
at her, and I was like, be a

nurse. I was like, I don't want
to be here. I don't know why I'm

here. Yeah. She was like, I'm
sorry. What? And I said, I don't

want to give

people a bath. Somebody,
somebody gave me a brochure,

yeah,

yeah. Like, my sister is a labor
and delivery nurse. I was like,

I don't want to, I don't want to
touch a slimy baby. What did you

always

want to do when you were a
little girl, you know, a

teenager? What were your dreams?
I

wanted to be a vet, until I
realized that vets have to also

deal with people. You know,

what the funny thing about vets?
I found this out the other day,

my fourth highest suicide rate,

because they got to deal with
people. I'm just kidding. I'm

just kidding. No, I why I
shadowed at a vet clinic

whenever I was in high school,
because I love animals, like

big, big animal person and like,
I would rescue every, every dog

if I could. And I shadowed at
this vet. Again, this story is

actually really sad, so you
might want to cut this out, but

not at all. But um, so I
shadowed at this vet clinic, and

I had a dog. Her name was Ellie
May. She was my first dog that I

bought, and I was a sad music
behind you. Yeah, there we go.

Maybe like a, this is more

like a berry. Was an all day in
takedown,

but she I was on my way, or I
was about to go to work, and I

was walking out the door and
someone hit her. So I go and I

get her. She's still alive. I
take her to the to the vet

clinic, and and of course, I'm
there. I open the vets in there,

I am not an emotional I've never
been a very emotional person. I

don't like to cry. I don't. I'm
just not, not very good at it.

So, um, I walked in and I told
the vet, I said, someone's dog

got hit. Like, can we save this
dog? And the vet was like, Nah.

I was like, Oh, she she died. So
I was like, and the vet was

like, go put her in the back.
And I was like, I'll take care

of it. I'll take care of it.
I'll take care of it. So I guess

a dumpster in the back just and
so I go and I put her in a bag,

and I go and I hide her under my
car. So from that moment on, I

was like, I will never be the
No, absolutely not. So that was

my love that story.

So then from there, it was like,
now, even though it's my

childhood dreams are dashed,
like I won't do it, right? I got

to figure something out,

yeah? So then, I mean, if we
want to back up really, really

far, when I was really young, I
wanted to be the girl at

restaurants that passed out
straws. So I told my mom, that's

attainable, yeah? But still do
that, yeah, exactly, pretty

sure. I went from that to vet to
I was like, well, maybe I can,

like, somehow, make, like, a
weird mistake and become famous

and just work from home. The
reason

why I ask is everybody has, I
think everybody has, like, you

know, I wanted to be a rock
drummer. I am a rock drummer at

some, you know, to some extent,
but, you know, professionally,

just had no idea how to go about
it out of Connecticut. Yeah, I

wanted to be a pilot one day.
Yeah, you know the stuff like

that.

I think I've, and this is going
to sound so corny, but I think

I've always just known that I
was not going to be be able to

do the average job. I have
always been able to know that

like I've I've always been a VA.
I'm an energizer bunny. I cannot

sit still. I have to keep going.
If I'm at home and it's a

weekend. I don't have something
to do. I'll make something to

do. So I think even as a kid, I
was like, I've got to have a job

that's going to keep me
interested. So went to after I

dropped out of nursing school or
nursing orientation, I was like,

Oh, I'll be a I'll be a doctor.
And then I took organic

chemistry, and I was like, Okay,
I'm not going to be a doctor.

Now, what are we gonna do?

So you're trying a bunch of
different things. Yeah, college,

I guess, was what? Oh 809,

hold on. And reason why I have a
reason why I'm asking,

let me think I graduated
undergrad in

2016 Okay,

so basically, from that point
on, it's interesting, because a

lot of the narrative about
college, I think, was at the

precipice of shifting, or was
well underway, of a shift, like

the public's perception of a
college education and whether or

not it's needed. Oh, yeah. You
know what I mean. I feel

like that was after I because
when I graduated high school,

that was only option. Like,
people were like, You need to go

to college. You need to go to
college. Once I graduated,

people were like, you don't need
this, you know, yeah, which I'm

very happy with what I do. I'm
happy I went. But also wish it

would have been a little bit
both sided versus just go, did

you take out debt to do it? Oh,
god, yeah, really? Oh man, yeah,

not so much an undergrad, but
physical therapy school. Yeah,

it was.

So it's, you know, with my kids,
my daughter's going to college

at UTC Oh, okay, and she's
loving it, you know, it's the

independence aspect of it. But I
told them from a young age,

you'll feel if CO if, if you
don't know what you want to do

when you graduate high school,
college is not the answer. Okay,

get out there and work. And if
it's something you don't enjoy

doing, you'll find what you want
to do fairly quickly, because

you're going to be like, I can't
do this. This does not feed my

soul.

Well, it blows my mind too, that
you when you graduate one, when

you graduate high school, how
are you supposed to know what

you

want to do? But that's the
thing. In high school, you feel

that pressure. You Yeah, you do,
and because you're thinking that

your peers know what they want
to do exactly. And then you get

to the college community and the
ecosystem, and you think that

everybody around you knows what
their life is supposed to be and

what they want to do. So it's
like, well, what's wrong with

me?

Then, right? Why don't I know?
Right? Yeah, no, I agree with

that. And and I, I wouldn't
change anything. Think about

about what I did, but I will
say, when I decided to be a

physical therapist, I knew, I
knew I've like, I'm I am I like

anatomy. I'm good at anatomy.
I'm so I know I did what I was

supposed to do. I'm good at my
job. I enjoy it, but I did not

do enough research into what I
was going into, because we're

doctorates. So in my head, I was
like, I'm gonna be a doctor. I'm

gonna make tons of money. I'm
gonna do what I enjoy doing

every day, help people you know,
and be the best at it. Holy, air

ball. We don't make anything as
a physical therapist. We have a

doctorate level education. We
are doctors, but we don't. We're

not respected as doctors. And I
don't mean that in like a, like

a, I need someone. Woe is me.
Yeah, like, I don't mean it like

that, but we're not, and we
don't make we don't there's the

amount of debt compared to what
we get paid? Yeah, is absolutely

unattainable, like, like, unless
you start your own thing, unless

you, unless you get a side gig
or start your own thing. Or,

honestly, burnout rate with
physical therapist is five

years, yeah, and then they go
get another job. I mean, it's,

it's just not, it's not worth
the pay,

see, but looking at your
facility, because you're on

Facebook, you could see an
amplify, is your business. It's

not a franchise or anything
like, no.

It looks like a, like a regular
workout kind of,

yeah, so amplify. So I worked
with a, like a in network

physical therapy clinic for one
year after I graduated, and I

hated it. There's a time and
place for it, and I'm not

talking bad about it. It was
just not for me, like I said,

I'm very add. And I was like a
like a substitute. So I would

go, if there was a physical
therapy out in a clinic, I would

go take her spot for, like, a
maternity leave, or if they were

sick, I would go take her spot
that way patients, they didn't

lose any patients for the week.
Yeah. So that meant I would get

to a clinic where I didn't know
anybody, and they I'm a sub, so

of course, I'm going to get the
worst patients. Like, no one's

going to be like, Oh, I'll take
that patient so she doesn't have

it, because she's just a sub,
and I would, I would treat three

people at the same time that I'd
never met, yeah, and it was

awful. It was awful. I hated it.
I had no autonomy. I was just

basically, I mean, like, not, I
would pretty much have a tech do

everything, yeah? Because I
would have to Doc. I had to get

the documentation done to get
the units in. That's all if

you're getting in network
physical therapy. That's all

they care about. It's all they
can care about, because that's

how they get paid. So when I
quit, I was actually going to do

a medical sales rep job. I was
just going to quit. PT,

altogether. I was like, here we
go. I got this doctorate level

education. Now I'm just throwing
it out the way, because I want

more money and I want more
autonomy. And I started working

in like, a corner of a gym, just
basically just doing a dry

needle. So I was just basically
dry needling people. And before

my medical sales rep job
started, it picked up, and so

that's when I was like, There's
got to be a bridge, like,

there's got to be a some type of
way to take in, or in network

physical therapy where you're
Triple, double booked all the

time, versus and get paid,
getting paid peanuts, yeah, and

getting paid nothing. And
there's got to be a bridge to

that. And just personal

training, that's what I was
wondering, yeah, or just, you

know, a bridge between, you
know, you're the owner of the

business, you set your prices
right? Or is it a posture from

the insurance companies? They
tell you, Oh, yeah,

I I've tried to get within
network with one insurance

company, and it was an absolute
joke. They offered me $40 to the

hour. Wow. And I was like,
Absolutely not. So no wonder

they have to double book. I
mean, those clinics have to

survive too. They get they have
employees to pay.

But it's, how do you change that
model? Then is it? You know, you

got the star physical therapies
that are all around town.

They're making it work. Somehow,

the double triple book, really?
Yeah, and, like I said, there's

a time and a place for that.
I've had. I've turned people

down before who have come to me
after a replacement and they

were going to come to my clinic
because we do mobiles. So if

someone wanted me to go to them,
it's worth their money, and I

get that. But if, if someone
comes to me with something super

simple, that is a protocol that
any physical therapist or any

tech can do. I'm like, don't
waste your money paying paying

for me. Like, wait until do your
visits with this physical

therapist or with this physical
therapy company. Go through

insurance. Don't pay for it, and
when you're ready for the next

level, come

to me. It's funny. You know, I
worked for a company called

prices, collision. Here. I don't
know if you remember them, they

did auto body, and his whole
thing was, he kind of turned his

back on the insurance referrals,
and probably, you know, doubled,

tripled, quadrupled down on the
outward messaging and his

marketing that don't let your
insurance company steer you to

the collision repair center of
their choice, make sure it's got

a lifetime warranty. This is
what we offer. He had an ear

worm of a jingle that would play
every time. It was based on

Mambo number five. He actually
had a musicologist study it

enough to make it different
enough so he wouldn't get sued.

But the jingle was literally,
you know, prices, collision

sent. It was an ear worm, you
know. So if you ever got into an

accident, it was, you probably
be the top of mind. Yeah, call

prices and, yeah, he pretty
much, you know, gave the bird to

the insurance companies. He, he
still took referrals from them.

Yeah, his main channel of
business was direct. It. It

took me a while because, I mean,
of course, when you start a

business, especially, I mean, I
started mine young, and I know

that how long ago I've had it
for a little over four years.

Okay, so I worked as I was a
physical therapist for about two

years before I started my own
company, right? And I've learned

that's like, the number one
thing I would, I would caution

people of is, is not to rush
that, because I had a lot of

lessons I had to learn that I
wouldn't have had to learn if I

would have just took a

little I'll be honest with you,
at that age, knowing roughly how

old you are, perfect time,
really. Oh yeah, get it out of

the way. Yeah. Because, I mean,
that's the thing is that I think

what a lot of people understand
is their 20s is for falling on

your face and

eating dirt. It is my thing
with, with the whole, I caution

people on it in healthcare,
because my thing is, like, from

a moral standpoint, how am I?
How am I going to charge someone

a premium rate for someone with
with uh, intermediate experience

that's inside your own head?
Yeah, I know, but, but I got

that experience. I became a
continuing education junkie. I

got good at what I do, right?
And then I felt good with that.

But you got it. You have to have
that motivation to do that. You

have to, you have to set
yourself back and be like, Okay,

I'm gonna, I'm gonna do
everything I can, say yes to

anything I can right now, and
I'm gonna get good at what I

want to get good at. Yeah. And
so that's, that's, I mean,

that's what I did, which, like I
said, I I'm happy it happened

that way. I would just add, I
mean, you need, you need

experience, yeah, sure, sure. So
that's, that would be my only

caution for people. But when I
first started, I mean, you say

yes until you can't say yes
anymore. And now where that I'm

where I'm at right now, you
almost, I mean, it's hard to

sell out. You know, people hear
the word out of network and

immediately think, no, right?
But you, I mean, I really just

have to tell people, you're
that's fine. I'm not for

everyone. A lot of people aren't
going to pay for me, but you're

going to get what you pay for.
So if you do want more, because

I tell people insurance
companies, they pay for you to

do everyday activities. So if
you have knee pain, an insurance

company is going to be okay.
They can stand up from the

toilet. They're good, yeah, but
maybe you golf. They don't care

if you play golf. We care if you
play golf. So if you if you do

want something more
personalized, that's when you

search for out of

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incredible doors.com. What if

you were to take that same I
mean again, getting back to the

profitability of a business like
this and trying to reinvent the

wheel, so to speak, and be so
not dependent on an insurance

lead funnel and generation. What
is it? Are you capitalizing on

the people that come to you even
though you're in network, so to

speak? Can you upsell them into
the other areas. Hey, your

insurance company may not pay
for this, but we can accommodate

you and make sure that you can
swing that club, or you can, you

know, pick up your grandbabies
or whatever, but you're going to

need these types of services.
And a lot of that's personality,

a lot of it's charisma, which
you have, and just salesmanship

sales are doing. Exactly that's
been

you don't learn anything about
business or marketing in PT

school, no. So I am happy that I
was willing to learn, and do

have the personality for it. But
I've had, I mean, I've had so

many people ask me how to
market. And here's a pet peeve

of mine, when people tell me
that because I enjoy marketing,

I enjoy making relationships, I
enjoy meeting people. I

unfortunately, truly,
unfortunately, I do enjoy doing

it face to face, which is a lot
of it's time consuming, yeah,

and I and, but you just don't
get anywhere the phone call and

email. Sound sales pitchy. You
know, I like to meet people.

Like to know what they do. Pet
peeve of mine is whenever people

are not willing to market or and
not even market, not not even

willing to meet, like I have a
lot of people who refer to me

just because I've done I've done
great with their patients that

they've already sent, and I
appreciate that. But the other

day, I was talking to someone,
and I'll meet anybody, everyone

you know, everyone knows
someone, everyone can be of

benefit. And I'm, I am here to
also help other people. So I'm,

I love it. But I was talking to
someone the other day, and she

told me that she doesn't really
market just because she's gotten

her business, just from being
good. And I was like, okay,

yeah, yeah, congratulations on
that. That still takes time. It

does. It takes time. It takes
time. And I'm like, so you are,

so you're just good where you're
at, like, you you're good with

just getting the referrals that
you got, because you're good,

you don't want to meet anybody,

kind of but I mean, a lot of you
know, especially in the musician

community and stuff like that,
what you do has a lot of

potential. Because what comes to
mind, and I always look at what

people are doing on social
media, and if it catches your

attention, there's a
chiropractor. I think he's a car

he might be a physical therapist
as well, but he's a drummer as

well. He talks about proper body
mechanics sitting at the kit,

you know, which way your legs
should be and how your balance

should be situated. And the
thing about, you know, playing

the drums or any sort of
instrument, it can be subjective

in terms of how you just
interpret the instrument, you

know. And I've always been like,
Well, hey, you know, I like to

have my legs parallel my thighs
parallel to the floor. When I

sit at the on the throne.
Recently, I've gone just a tad

up. So it was a little bit like
a maybe a five to 10 degree

angle, a little bit just off
kilter from parallel. What a

difference. Oh yeah. You know
what I mean? Oh yeah. And, you

know, they talk about the
different types, you know, I'm

wondering if there's something
from a personal branding

standpoint, if you haven't been
doing something like that, cool

little things, hey, here's
something you if you got, you

know, common, common things that
people are dealing with, maybe

some offers, all those things.
What can you do at home? You

know what I mean we work with is
that, because that that builds

your personal brand, shows that
you're an expert in your field

and creates demand, believe it
or not.

Yeah, you know, we have social
media. And I really do, I really

do need to get better with
social media, because we work

with tons of golfers. We work
with tons of business owners, as

far as, like, sitting at a desk
all day, travel, that stuff. And

then we work with a lot of
equestrians. So equestrians have

been kind of the more dominant
one lately. I used to ride, so

I'll go out to arenas with
people. We'll make saddle

adjustments and that kind of
stuff. I don't golf. I just know

about the human but anytime
someone says they're a

specialist in something, don't
believe them. Everyone got

trained on the same thing,
unless they went to a crazy

institute that no one knows
about.

Yeah, but can you look at
somebody like looking at me

here? You saw me start out like
this, and then I at some point,

I lean back like this, a lot of
body language going on, and

every now and then I catch
myself. I don't want to hunch

like this, so I'll use my core
and engage my core and sit up

straight. Are you noticing stuff
like that about people?

Oh, yeah, absolutely. And that
is, that's a key part of

physical therapy, for sure. And
it's easy to tell someone that.

It's easy to be like, Hey, sit
up. Sit up, you know, sit up.

And it's easy to think on your
stuff like, I'm sitting here

slouching. I'm a physical
therapist. One thing that we,

that we are known for, is
accommodating our advice and our

tactics and tips to the person's
lifestyle, right? So a lot of

people come to us because, for
example, golfers, you can tell

them all day long, pick your
chest up, you know, push with

your hamstring. Push with your
glutes. If they don't have that

hip range of motion. I mean, you
can tell them that all day long,

it's just not going to be so. So
we are really good with working

with people, with how they want
to be worked with, if that makes

sense. So I. A standing desk,
for example, like that would be

if you don't want to hunch and
if it's something that you're

constantly having to think about
while you're sitting there, sit

down for an hour and then just
stand up for a little bit. That

way you don't have to

think about it. I'm just, I'm
always thinking about different

ways you can just make fun,
social media, tick tock, videos,

oh, yeah, we and we have a
social media and honestly, I

love the social media aspect of
it. It's fun, it's different.

But we don't get a lot of people
off social media because we

treat you're probably not
pushing it enough. I know, I

know. But we also have a weird
clientele, like, like, our

clientele is LinkedIn, we get
some people off LinkedIn, yeah,

I don't really get anything off
Tiktok. What are you doing on

Tiktok, though, we pose the same
thing, which, like, like you

said, I probably need to switch
that up. I need to figure some

stuff out, but I'm

trying to figure out, how do we
solve the problem of getting you

paid better? Yeah, you know what
I mean. And anytime you know,

you know, I just played in a
band, right? Their social media

game is completely laughingly
non existent. Okay, I mean,

pretty much same. And it's like
you got a tremendous amount of

content to put out there to
create a Demand and build up a

value in the perception of your
recipient. That's a lot of what

marketing is. Well, how am i How
are you being perceived? So you

constantly showing up with all
these fun hey, here's a real

quick tip. If you've got a
little bit of a pain in your

wrist, maybe you're a drummer
and you got some medical, you

know, carpal tunnel maybe going
on, or some tingliness, you

know, try doing this and that,
you know, do this every day. And

I, you know, let me tell me in
the comments how it works out

for you. And then in the
comments you're going to have

other ideas that come up to
foster another video, you know

what I mean, guitar players, you
know, because especially being

in a Music City, you go out and
see bands, which I would imagine

maybe you do. You got guitar
players that are metal guys that

play down to their knees. And
then you got, you know, kind of

mid range guys, and you got your
jazz guys that play like this. I

mean, even the strap on your
neck, right? We worked the

amount of of artists we worked
with with neck pain because of

that have, it's feel like I
could at this point.

But those are all things that,
hey, here's a real you keep

showing up with, like, little
tips you could, hey, here's some

at home physical therapy tip.
You know that's gonna build you

up.

Ironically, the thing that has
worked the most on Tiktok and

Instagram. And this is not
making money or anything. This

is just what has got us the most
followers, and what has like got

us the most engagement was
making fun of healthcare. Yeah,

we'd make videos of just
because, you know, healthcare

right now is so it can be very
obnoxious. It's a commodity. Oh,

it's so stupid right now. I
mean, cold plunge, sauna,

grounding.

I do grounding.

You do grounding? I do? You just
go stand outside barefoot? No,

I have a grounding blanket. Oh,
okay, I sleep with

it. Okay. I thought grounding
was like, where you just go step

outside barefoot. You can

it works, dude, does it? Yeah,

I'm big research gal. I'm big
research gal. I'm pretty

skeptical and and I had the
amount of people I'd have asked

me about cold plunges. You know,
should I get in cold plunge?

Should I should I do a cold
plunge? I've heard it makes you

live longer. And I'm like, Dude,
if you want to do a cold plunge,

go for it. But if it means
you're gonna live seven minutes

longer than me. I was warm all
to say, I'm good with it. You

let me know one day how it was
to live that much longer when

you were cold every day for

however long, everybody has a
solution to something on social

media,

everyone has a solution right
now. It's castor oil. Oh my

gosh. That's cyclical. The
amount of people that are like,

if you want better digestion,
just put castor oil up your

belly button, really, yeah, it's
in your belly button. Your belly

button. Oh my god, yeah. And
then have you seen where people

are sleeping with tape on their
mouth? No, yeah, people are

taping their mouth shut to
sleep. Why? Just because, I

guess, do you want to know I
would, I'd lose my mind. I would

lose my mind if there I couldn't
go to sleep, you'd have to give

me drugs.

Well, I mean, I do the CPAP
thing, but that's not what you

know. I keep my mouth closed and
forcing air done in my nose, and

I'm like, a like, I can't like,
I can't, like, when I go to bed,

like, I can't have anything.
Like, if my shirt touches my

neck, I have a panic attack.

See, I can't, like, you know,
I'm sure I could readapt to

sleeping without a CPAP, but it
stops my snoring. Typically, if

I ever sleep without it, I get a
sore throat because, oh

yeah. Well, it's and CPAP is
completely different. But I

don't know. I don't know why
people are taping their mouth

shut, but it's another question
we've been getting a lot, and

I'm like,

that's the thing. It's like, you
know, what kind of engaging

content could you be creating
that's funny? Yeah, making fun

of health care,

absolutely. And it's, it's easy
right now, yeah? I mean, every

day we get another question. Of,
should I do this? I do this

dumb, dumb things that our
customers ask,

yeah, yeah. We, we've done
interesting you've watched the

office, right? Yeah, okay. We,
well, we did a series one time

where we would, like, kind of
have a stupid situation that had

gone on the clinic, and we make
fun of ourselves just as much as

our clients. So we can that way.
We're not, you know, bad, but we

would do, we did a series like,
where we would reenact something

that happened with a client, and
then would kind of like, Look at

the camera, you know, like, Look
at the camera that that has been

the amount of people who have
been like, can you do that

again? And we're like, yeah,
come up with more stupid stuff.

How many people we got working
for you? So I've got a clinic

director, and he's full time,
um, he's my he's this, I tell

people he's the smart one. He's
a genius, one of the best

physical therapists I've ever
seen in my life. And I don't

like to give compliments, so
that's a big one, um, and then

we take students. Sometimes it's
me and him full time, yeah, um,

what we're trying to do right
now is, I'm pretty much just

doing mobiles now, and he's
running the clinic, so hopefully

we're gonna have to make another
part time hire soon for the

clinic. Yeah, but not, not right
now. Still work. I mean, we just

expanded into Brentwood. We used
to be in Franklin, so how's that

working out? It was hard. Yeah,
it was really hard. We just, we

grew out of Franklin, and I
didn't have any more room. I

didn't have enough space. And
then we had a lot of people who

wanted privacy, and we didn't
have that in Franklin, because

we sublease from a gym. And then
we go to Brentwood, and it's a

beautiful facility. It's like
2600 square foot. There's

private rooms. I'm subleasing,
I'm out right now to massage

therapist and all this stuff.
And Brent was just a different

crowd. It's just a little
difficult to market. And

everyone that I've marketed to
wants me to do mobile. That's

why we're like, okay,

come to my house. I'll pay the
bill. Yeah, so, I mean, there's

got to be some margin there.

Oh, yeah, no, I prefer mobile,
to be honest. I love my mobile

clients. I love the I'm able to
get stuff done.

You take the, I guess you take
the things inside the house, and

I guess you're not gonna do it.
You're not gonna it's not

something you can do in the back
of

a van. I have a mo, no, I have a
mobile cart that I bring her.

Actually, it just got stolen.
Oh, someone broke into my car.

Nice. I know I was like, I
wonder what they're gonna do

with that biohazard box.

Heavy, nice.

But, you know, whenever I hear
somebody talk about, like, what

you addressed earlier, how the
juice isn't sometimes worth the

squeeze. Yeah, it's all, how do
we fix that? You know? How do

we, you know, it's a commodity.
And one of the things that I've

kind of been fairly good at is
de commoditizing commodities.

And it always comes down to
personality, who's, who's the

one, who's the person
administrating it, because that

is the separator. Realtors have
the same problem, insurance,

sales people, mortgage sales
people. They all, they're all

commodities. It depends on who's
actually doing, who you dealing

with.

You know what's hard, because
I'm willing to, I'm willing. I

mean, like, I will, I'll attempt
anything. I'll try as far as,

like, meeting people getting
program, like, right now we're

trying to do, not trying. We are
doing, like, a tailored

corporate wellness plans. So
we're going into companies where

we're creating a program for
them and then providing, you

know, this many visits, this
many executive consults and all

this stuff, it's working out
really good. The hard part is,

is you got to know someone to
meet the people you got to talk

to, right? And that's, that's
the difficult part with social

media and marketing and stuff,
is it's hard to like, it's a

decision maker. Well, no, it's
where do I spend my time? Like,

do I spend my time making face
to face connections with people

that can, that can get to know
me and vouch for me and let

people you know? Or do I go
online where I'm spending less

time, but is it going to be
worth? The time I do spend,

well, I think anytime that you
have where it's quote, easy,

your response rates going to be
less, yeah, you know, because

you could sit in front of a
computer and just completely

reach out to be I did it the
other day to the owner, CEO,

President of Cool Springs Wine
and Spirits, on behalf of one of

the podcasts I produce, I was in
there the other day, and I'm

like, my gosh, you know, they
had their beer guy come up to

me, and I was looking, they have
a particular beer there that

was, it's just amazing. So I got
a growler, and he's he was

telling me some new tidbit of
information about the brewery,

which is based out of Knoxville
called Zool. Are familiar with

them, but he's like, Oh yeah,
they became the official brewery

for the local baseball team. I
said, Oh, really? I said, Dude,

you know, I've met you a couple
of times. I'd love to get you on

as a regular on the podcast. Is
that something that you're

interested in doing? He's like,
Well, it depends on the person

you know, the people here, if
they'll let me and stuff. I

said, Okay, who do I got to talk
to you? And you know, he didn't,

he the guy wasn't there. But I'm
unabashed about saying,

introduce me. Oh

yeah, no, me too. I love meeting
people. I'll meet anyone. And

I'm not shy. And it's, it's
truly, though, a lesson I've had

to learn is, unless you ask or
unless you you put the word out

there, the answer is no, right?
I tell my kids that all the

time, much to our detriment,
yeah? Like, you've got, you have

to put yourself out there. No
one's gonna hand it to you, no

matter who you know. And I've
got some, I mean, like, I have

clients who have helped me
tremendously with my business,

but even them, unless I ask, the
answer is no, right? Like that.

Like, they got to know. I need a
connection. Yeah, yeah.

You do that actively. Like, hey,
oh yeah, I'm really looking for

a connection with this person.
Every client, especially in

Brentwood, oh yeah, they might
know them.

Everyone knows someone
especially that's that's one

reason that, especially if they
like you Exactly, and that's

where the face to face
connections come from.

Face to face can happen on it,
on Instagram and Tiktok too,

because they're seeing your
face, they're gonna, I mean,

there's a lot of there's a lot
of likable people, creative,

likable people that, yeah, man,
I'll help you out. I like you,

you know, I I'll go up, stick my
neck out, and make a referral

for you, and I feel like you'll
do right by them and make me

look good. Oh, yeah. I mean,
that's, that's the key to it.

Yeah, it is. And, you know,
it's, and I know it is in my

mind, because it works both
ways. You know, you see some

people on social media, and
you're like, you know, click

follow like, you know, watch
their content every time it pops

up, learn something new, and
then you see someone that you're

almost like. I want to follow
them to make sure I never act

like that, right? Yeah, what not
to do, yeah, what not to act

like?

That's my problem. See, is that
I know I come off as the over,

you know, somewhat overweight,
older guy. I mean, my beard. I

was just looking at pictures
from like, five years ago, and

my beard was a lot darker, you
know. And it's, like, you dyed

it like that, yeah, you know,
it's, I want to look aged, yeah,

I got the salt and pepper and it
works, you know, whatever. And

it's, it's, I know a lot of it,
you know, there are guys in the

podcast space that are better
looking, and they might get a

little bit and get more of
engagement, but what they're

saying is utter bullshit. Oh,
yeah, you know. And I'm like, I

know I'm the expert when it
comes to this, but you gotta, oh

my gosh, you gotta freaking buy
into the fact that I am the

expert. I understand I'm not
exactly Tom Cruise,

yeah, okay, well, and there's
certain, I mean, there are

certain podcasts that I watch,
and not even, like, logo, like

I'm just talking any, any, like
I said, health and wellness

right now is just insanely
uncomfortable for everybody. You

get on one and it's why do they
all look the same? All health

and wellness or medical podcast
producers look the

same? Are they wearing scrubs,
or are they wearing the black T

shirt suits? Suits?

For some reason, I just know it
from the bottom of my heart. I

know they've only got a suit on
from here, right, and then down

low, they've got shorts on
right, and I'm like, You, and

they've got like, acting like
they're talking to a crowd. It's

like, there's no one in there.
Is there? No, you're just doing

that. There's like, mirrors.
There's a

guy that comes to mind that's a
social media podcast quote

expert constantly talking about,
he's stealing and repackaging

other people's ideas that I
know, I've heard them say, and

he does the same thing. He'll
have a camera that with a couple

of people in the audience. Oh,
yeah. And, like, I'm speaking

publicly. Let me tell you about
how to do this. And I'm gonna,

you know, let me see the right
and turn that camera and never

see the crowd?

No, I just know, like, and
that's another thing with with

influencers, and which respect
to them, because they they work

hard for what they got. But I
just cannot imagine. Like, have

you ever seen the Day in the
Life videos like a day, here's a

day in my life, and it's like,
yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. I can't

imagine. Because when I when I'm
hungry, I'm eating, I eat first

phone does not eat. First phone
does not I don't, I don't take a

picture first I can't imagine,
going to set my camera up,

making sure the angle is good,
showing my food, setting it

down, going and stopping it,
eating like I you know what I

mean? There's just so much, it's
so

it's an element of vanity. Yeah,
you know, it's like the fitness

influencers that I've haven't
been in a gym. Obviously, you

probably can tell this in many,
many years, but I don't think

I'd be able to go back, because
it's like, I'll just get annoyed

with the amount of freaking
tripods. Oh, 100% and it's like,

these people, these people are
just unashamed. Well, I'm

checking my form. No, you're
not. You're putting it on social

media. There's a guy that I
follow. He's a nice guy, but,

you know, he's constantly, you
know, you see, you lost a lot of

weight, and everything is like,
you know, and the camera is

like, a good 10 feet away. Oh,
dude, you're in the way of other

people at that point.

I also, personally, I have one
good angle one. So if I'm

videotaping myself, just just,
let's say what angle is that

it's not down here. I can
promise you that which is where

the tripod is, right? We're
gonna go up, maybe darken it,

and turn it all the way around,
right? I'm not photogenic. I

hate pictures or whatever. I'm
looking at you right now, you

look great. No, no, no. I hate
pictures, like, I take a picture

of you right now. Oh, no, no.
See, this is where I'm like with

wedding planning and stuff. If I
could just be like, Can we just

not have a photographer around,
because I know she's everyone's

gonna be like, dancing and
having fun, and if I see her,

I'm just gonna have to, like,

do you feel like you have a fake
force? Smile? Oh, 100% okay, do

it. Let's see it. I can't. Let's
do it. I can't anymore. Smile

for the camera. Say cheese. I
can't anymore.

I don't know how I would. I

understand reason why I ask is
because I understand it.

Whenever somebody would ask me
to take a picture, I'd always

go,

oh yeah.

And it's like, Why did her and I
always look fake same. So what

I've been doing is going, okay,
big picture. And I try and

freeze the face, but then I
notice my eyes are squinting

now,

oh, it's too much, yeah. And now
everyone's like, Oh, what did,

yeah,

exactly where I look, like, my
mother, oh, god

no. And it's all, I mean, I
don't, I'm just, I don't even

know how, oh, the the camera
thing. I'm just thinking, like,

like, I wonder how many, how
many reps did they go through on

this exercise to make sure they
have the right angle? Oh,

because, like, I go through, I'm
like, four sets of 10, and I'm

like, there ain't no way in hell
I'm going back to I'm done.

I don't know. I just, I would
imagine that people that go to

the gym and run into these
insufferable, insufferable

people that have tripods that
have to be set up, you know, 10

to 15 feet away. Oh, yeah. Think
at the entire shot and all. It's

like, Dude, you're in the way,
right? It's inconsiderate. And

then you get the people that
freaking shame the other people,

like fitness in these women, oh
yeah, you know, check out the

creeper behind the dudes. Just
freaking dude, have

you ever okay? Joyce, fall this
cracks me, because I stare at

everybody. I stare at everyone.
In the gym, there are mirrors

not to look at myself, but to
look at other people, right? So

look at me. I don't care. It's
fine. I've never once thought

like, Oh, he's creepy. He's
staring at me. But I love the

videos where people call out
women or call in other people

out. I'm like, good job. Yep,
good job. Joey swole, yeah, that

one. I like him a lot.

Yeah, he's,

you know, you can do better,
right? Do better. Do better. I'm

like, I mean, no one's looking
at you. And also, by the way,

your shorts are halfway up your
ass, right? You want people to

look exactly. Yeah, you have
yellow pants that are you

probably bought it justice,
yeah, as, I mean, as, like a 12

year old girl like you, like
you're, you're in your 30s. My,

my gym attire includes a two XL
t shirt, right? I will become, I

will not be sucking in at the
gym. I will not be focusing on

the roles.

For me at my age, I want to find
something like Ben. We all know

Ben, Mr. Benjamin Rydberg. He
helps us here with He's an

associate Sally say team member
here at it's your show.co, he

also coaches boxing. Oh, that
Title Boxing in nolansville, and

he is, he's really good at it.
And my brother and I went to go

one to one of his classes about
two weeks ago. I really enjoyed

it, but it's like, I'd really
need a place down here.

I'm not a big group class
person. I can do group classes

for like, a month, and then I'm
like, I think it's because I

work with people all day long.
So the one time I get to work

out, I'm like, no one around me.

I My point is, I guess finding
that thing that you it's not a

workout when you're really
enjoying it like right now, I've

been doing bike rides every
morning trying to get about

eight miles in just some
cardiovascular stuff. I have a

bench at home with some
adjustable weights and just not

feeling it. It's not, it's not
fun.

I enjoy. I do enjoy lifting. I
enjoy the the lifting aspect of

I hate cardio with every bone in
my body. No, I hate cardio. But,

um,

a lot of it for me is diet.
Yeah,

it's always diet. It's the
people think gym is the hard

part. Gym is not the hard part.
Yeah, go into the gym is eat. I

mean, damn IPAs, yeah, it's
wine. Yeah, wine for me too. I

love a good I love a good glass
of wine. I've been getting in

the whiskey

lately, too. It's like, holy
crap. I

Okay. Here's my I, I like
bourbon, right? But I like, I

don't know it's Brigham. Them,
but I can't afford the bourbon,

though, right? Yeah, I've been
spoiled by some clients. So that

tequila, tequila. I love
tequila. I cannot afford the

tequila, like

Christopher McClintock, I had
him on the podcast about, I

don't know, three four months
ago. Yeah, dude brought in a

bottle of whiskey because he
knew that, you know, I was kind

of, I guess, you know, tasting
it and enjoying it. I was never

a big hard liquor guy growing
up, but it's like, I could see

the appeal. It's not like I'm
going overboard with it. Yeah,

it's a nice just to enjoy the
drink. He brought in a bottle,

and one of my other clients came
in. His name is Nick Woodard,

the 615, podcast, check his out.
He saw, he eyeballed the bottle

that was up on my shelf over
here. And he goes, what is that

sort of gift one of my guests,
and, you know, comrades and B

and I brought when he was on the
podcast, as a thank you, and it

had a wax seal on the top of the
bottle. And he's like, You have

any idea what that is? I said,
None. No, no idea. It's a bottle

of whiskey. Yeah, he looked it
up and he showed me the price.

I'm like, holy crap. Wow.
Thanks,

Chris. Shout out to Chris. Yeah,
where's my whiskey? I love

tequila. Have you seen that
really pretty bottle of tequila?

It's long and slender, and it's
white, blue, and I'm pretty sure

there might be a bill on the top
maybe. Okay, I like that one.

I've actually never had it. I
just it's like the bottle, but I

can't afford it.

For those of you listening, I
want to make sure that, if

anybody knows the president and
CEO of Cool Springs Wine and

Spirits, we'd really like to
talk to him, because we think

we'd be able to partner with
him. I think there's a

tremendous opportunity. You
know, yeah, stuff in there, not,

not only because of that, you
know, I just, I walk into a

place, I'm like, Oh, we could do
this. We could do this. We

could, you know, actually do
some live episodes here. And,

well, can you say his name?
It's,

God, gosh, it's not,

oh, man, now I'm blanking. No,
that's a different liquor store.

No, it's, what's his name?

Brett Moore. Brett Moore, no,
there's a lit there's a liquor

store in Cool Springs, I think,
where they have like a, like a

men's,

like, a cigar lounge kind of
thing, yeah, kind of Cool

Springs, wine and spirits is you
walk into that place, and here I

am talking about it. Maybe I
need to clip this out and to

send it to them. You walk into
that place, it is a smorgasbord.

Really. Everybody's helpful.
They've got a little area that

you can have some charcuterie,
cheeses, local dairy type stuff.

They've done a really good job
making inroads with local

places. A big old beer section
that's got a ton of selection.

There's a guy there that just
knows his stuff when it comes to

beers, yeah, just a really
impressive approach to

everything. And I'm sure they,
you know, they don't need a

podcast partnership. It'd be
cool, though. It would be cool,

yeah, really cool. Well, first
of its kind kind of thing, yeah,

where it's like, hey, you know,
give us the beers to review.

We'll review them, and

then episode right, yeah, right.
We've done

breweries and stuff like that,
you know. But it's with

breweries you're kind of biased,
you know, how how honest can you

be?

Yeah, especially if one in
particular is like, review

these, yeah, an hour, yeah.

Well, maybe we should have you
on the podcast at some point as

a guest taster.

Absolutely. I'll get an Uber.
You'll get

an Uber, and we can only do
three shows in batches.

Have you ever been wine tasting?
Yes, that do you what a hell of

a sales process. Yeah, and lube
them up. I know it's like, and I

never get the pores like this.
It's always like, here's this.

Oh, yeah. And I'm like, Okay,
I'll chug it. Where did you do

it? So I've done it in North
Georgia, and then the best time

I did it was in Greece. Oh,
really, yeah. And that was,

actually, that was, that was
very informative. Like, that was

pretty interesting. I'll never
drink wine, like, what you're

supposed to drink like, but

it was, it was interesting. Why
wouldn't you drink wine. So

when you drink wine

in Greece, you naturally aerate
it, so you spin it like you

have, you know, you always see
the fancy people spin the wine.

So you spin the wine, that's
part of the aerating process.

And then you take a drink, and
you look down, and you have to

slurp it for like, 30 seconds,
and then you take a drink, and

it changes the taste of food
according to what wine you're

drinking. You

have to slurp it in your mouth
and then spit it back out,

like, like, that's how you
aerate it. Like, you're, you're

doing this, and you're like,
like, you're sipping a cup of

coffee, yeah. And then you drink
it really, and it honestly. Late

changes the taste of food. It
was, it was actually, like,

almost unreal. And I wasn't

drunk Courtney and I had our
first proper wine tasting back

in October in Paso Robles. Oh,
and it was a family winery. You

went to the place, you know, we
made an appointment. It was part

of this event that we were doing
for a podcast I produce. And

they, you know, were red wine
people. So they, they explained

really well what the years mean.
And, you know, hey, this year

was a drier year, and this is
why it tastes like this. And

2017 was a good year, and 2018
so they went through all of

that, and it's like, oh, okay,
that's why that's important,

especially to the region and the
weather that they had so and

that's why all that was a good
year, you know. And it's like

those who are learning about
wine, I guess, really keep up on

that stuff. But they would have
these wines laid out, and I say,

I want to say, by the fourth or
fifth sampling. Now, take this

wine. Now go back to the first
wine, the 2017 and see how the

taste. And after a while, after
two hours, oh, wow, you're

sitting there going, lady,
they're all starting to run

together. Like, this is, I can't
discern those almonds, right?

And it's like, you know? And I
started, I started, you know,

naturally inquisitive that I am.
I started asking questions,

yeah? Something like, so this is
your sales process. She goes,

yeah, oh, yeah. I said, So
what's the average sale you get?

She's like, well, one time I
actually had a $35,000 sale, I

said, Whoa, good for you. I
said, What's, what's the average

she's like, people spend about,
you know, couple 100 bucks.

Well, that's not bad, not

bad. They got, they got us for
about that. He said, 35 $35,000

sale. It's a lot of wine. It's a
lot of wine. That was

like, $100 bottles of wine. Holy

moly. They were good, were they?
Oh, yeah. Well, and that's nice

about like in Greece, like you
never woke up feeling bad the

next day, because it's just so
unprocessed. And what's the

thing is that Europe is so
different with their diets, food

supply,

it's unreal. Like, I ate so much
on this trip, you probably lost

weight, yeah? Yeah, did. And
then I came back to America, had

a protein bar, and I thought I
was gonna die, yeah, yeah,

because

our food supply is crap, yeah.
What do you think about, like,

the whole RFK thing? And you
know, what's going on? Do you

think there's going to be any
major changes to, I would love

to see, like, a European model
of food in our country, yeah,

right, not exactly how they do
things, yeah? Because to open a

business there and do your thing
is next to impossible, yeah.

I, I would love it. I mean,
like, I'm kind of like, you,

like, I would love to see that.
I think that there were,

personally, think that there was
because I have two nieces, so

there's, you know, my, my world,
yeah, and so the whole red dye

ban thing that happened like
that was that was a big step. I

also think that, I don't know, I
think that too many businesses

run on, I mean, America's just
different, you know, I don't

think any big changes are gonna
actually happen with that. What

I would like to see happen is
pharmaceutical companies not be

able to advertise

well. I mean, that is the circle
of life in that world. Yeah, you

know, poison them, put a band
aid on it. I would love right

around we go.

I mean, like it's, it's insane
to be watching TV, and then all

these people are like, dancing
around a fire. And it's like

here, if you have you know this,
this disease, take this

medicine, the side effects are
seizure, death. You could lose a

member of your family. You your
dog might run away, your second

cousin twice removed, like you
might have, you know, you might

lose your home, but you know,
we're not liable,

right? So, yeah, our disclaimer,
yeah, I've read many of those in

my voice over career.

It's nuts. I'm like, Okay, you
were a

loved one. Have suffered from
me. So the Leona, you may be

entitled to converse,
conversation

compensation. You know what? I'm
so and this is, I have zero

opinion. The amount of times get
asked is I have zero opinion on

ozempic, tricep, I don't I don't
care. I don't care. Tell you if

you want it, don't take it. If
you don't want it, I don't care.

Only reason why I kind of want
to take it is for the future

claims. Because I'm like, I
could get some money off that in

a few years. I'm blind in one
eye. Yeah. When they're like, if

you or someone you love have
been impacted by ozempic, I'm

like, me

those things, they're class
action lawsuits, and the only

people who get rich on them are

the lawyers. Wow, yeah, that's
worth a shot.

It's worth a shot. But at the
same time, double down on you,

triple down on you. I think you
have tremendous potential to

break the mold, so to speak.
Yeah, and that's what I love

having these conversations
around. Is okay, don't sell

yourself on the limiting belief
that this is just, you know. PT,

only pays so much, yeah, let's
figure out enough for you know.

Let's figure out another way. I
mean, there's so many people

you. You know, electricians, the
trades, are making roaring

comebacks, and they're showing
how there's females out there

that are electricians. And, you
know, they set up tripods behind

them. They do full panel
rebuilds and stuff like that.

And they make these beautiful
art, like artistic works of art,

out of a panel, an electrical
panel, and it's really fun and

it's satisfying to watch. And
they're, they're creating these

personal brands in the trades.
You know what I mean? So in that

sense, it's a game changer. I
wish I

was more comfortable with
talking in front and, like,

with, like, taking my phone and
talking from a camera. I'm not I

just take some reps, that's all.
I don't know what it is. I just,

I can't be you there's, I got a
lot of personalities. You do. I

gotta figure out which, what do
you want to put on,

little funny thought or, you
know, tidbit comes here, quick

video, and don't have to worry
about, you know, the angle of

the lighting and all that crap,
right?

And it'd be so easy, but, but
I'll, like, I'll, I'll have a

moment where I'm like, Oh, I
could, I could, you know, film

this, make some content, and
I'll film it, and then I'm

like, Okay, so, but with that
being said, I'm going to open up

the Instagram. What is your
handle? I don't think I follow

you.

It's amplify, underscore HP. I'm
going to make sure I said that,

right? Amplify, yeah, amplify,
underscore, HP, okay.

We post a lot,

so you're doing a lot of these
things as it is,

I am. It's just we don't really
have following. Okay, well, I

mean, we've got, nah, we don't
have following.

I maybe we need to fix that.
Yeah,

I have a

I don't have a huge following,
but I personally have more of a

following, so I'll always repost

it. Well, what's yours then?

Alex, l, Phil, with two, l5's

a, l, e, X, l, p, h, i, l, l5,

okay. I see, yeah, let's try to
figure out. Well, I have a

follow request put into you.
Perfect. You got your phone

number on there. Oh my gosh,

hey, business is business?

Well, I like it, yeah, following
you now. Bell and bottle that

popped up too. Holy Moly, you
got a lot of followers. I

Well, yeah, sheesh, I try.

That's cool, but, and that
happened organically. No, no,

no, I freely admit it. Unlike
some of the people out there

that say, look how many
followers I have, and if you do

what I do and buy my course, now
it's like, you know full well

that they bought their damn
followers. I made that mistake?

Oh, really, yeah. Now the I've
had one video that went viral,

just one, and truly, the only
reason it went viral is because

I made a typo. I was like, All
right, fair. The you know, the

grammar police came out was
working overtime that day.

Well, I think ultimately, you
know, fun, funner videos, more

fun, or videos and stuff like
that, I'll take a look at your

stuff and even offline, maybe
even talk about the social media

supercharge thing. If that's an
option for you, maybe we can

help you out, yeah, and come
alongside and, you know,

it'd be a lot easier than always
face to face. Like I said, I

love face to face. It's just
time consuming.

Well, how do people find and
follow you? Other than the what

we just talked about is there a
central

we are so word of mouth. So I
know tons of out of network

healthcare providers in the
area, Nashville, Brentwood,

college, Grove, Franklin,
anywhere like that. If they are

out of network, I've pretty much
met them. So we get a lot of

referrals from people like that,
personal trainers. I mean, any

anyone in the health and
wellness field. And then word of

mouth. I got a lot of my
clients. I'm always asking for

you know, if you know of anyone?
And then we, our clients, are

very we do a lot of long term
clients. So like most of my

clients, I've been with for
years and years and years, it's

just maintenance recovery. So
they throw my name out, like,

like candy, which is very
helpful,

good. Well, how to new people
find

you? That's, that's, that's what
I'm I don't know that's what I'm

working on,

website, you know, and all that
stuff I got. I got a website,

yeah, what is it? Okay?

Anyways, everyone guess my
website? Of

course, we'll put it in the
description, yeah, you know,

it's www, dot amplify hp.com,
it's simple enough, simple

enough amplify HP, obviously
health and performance.

And as usual, if you guys are
listening and you found a lot of

value in this podcast and this
episode, share it with your

friends. Rate review and
depending on the platform you're

on, just kind of hit, you know,
five stars if there's if you

can't, give us five stars, hit
me up. Let me know we can make.

Kids. So you can give us five
stars, or just review us anyway.

You know, five star for a shady
review that lets us, you know,

if you want to complain and
throw some shade at us, it costs

a five star review. You could
say whatever you want in the

comment. We'll allow it. You can
always find and follow

us@mmtbp.com that's mostly
Middle Tennessee business

podcast.com, as well. Truncated,
mmtbp.com, link is there? If you

want to be a part of the
podcast, you can fill out the

form. It shoots right to my
email, and we review all of them

and we'll figure out if it's a
match. But in this case, Alex,

delightful conversation. Thanks
for

coming. Thank you for having us.