Sevan Matossian (00:00):
Less than 24 hours apart. Bam. We’re live. Sorry guys. Sorry. I was over here. Uh, looking at, uh, how the Chicago mayor races that that lady, that fucking nightmare of a fucking mayor they had is gone. That’s crazy. Oh my God. It’s the reign of terror is over. Michael, what’s up brother? What’s
Michael Cazayoux (00:22):
Up? What’s happening?
Sevan Matossian (00:24):
Look at that beautiful last name. That’s, uh, um, you eat cra you eat crawfish.
Michael Cazayoux (00:31):
I do eat crawfish. That is a good sign. Right?
Sevan Matossian (00:33):
That’s what that last name means.
Michael Cazayoux (00:35):
That’s exactly it.
Sevan Matossian (00:37):
Uh, Michael, Caleb. Caleb, Michael. It’s, it’s Kaju.
Michael Cazayoux (00:40):
Kaju. Yep. What’s
Sevan Matossian (00:41):
Up Cash. Nice to meet you. Ka. Michael. Michael, Michael Kaju. Does anyone ever get that right? Like do dudes from California? Are they able to say that on the first try? Or,
Michael Cazayoux (00:50):
I have met maybe one or two people in my whole life that got it right the first time.
Sevan Matossian (00:55):
Right. That didn’t like, I mean, I, uh, the only reason why I got it right is cuz obviously I’ve heard your name, uh, shitload of times, but like in the third. How about, how about, but how about like, you went to school in, uh, Louisiana, so,
Michael Cazayoux (01:06):
Well, yeah. I went to like grade school and stuff, and then I went to college in Utah.
Sevan Matossian (01:10):
But, and, and when you’re in grade school, the teach do the teachers get it right? Like, they’re like, oh my god.
Michael Cazayoux (01:14):
Oh, yeah,
Sevan Matossian (01:14):
Yeah, yeah. Because
Michael Cazayoux (01:15):
They know I grew up in a town of 4,500 people. Everybody knows everybody. And my dad was a politician, so people knew my name at in the little town.
Sevan Matossian (01:24):
Okay. And, and then they know how to pronounce, you know, letters that are mushed together like that. Right. Also. That’s right. They know that Oou X is yuk as you. Yep.
Michael Cazayoux (01:32):
Yep.
Sevan Matossian (01:33):
Yeah. That’s cool. Are, are you, um, uh, do you know your family’s, uh, trip to the United States are are?
Michael Cazayoux (01:40):
Yes. So I’m a European mutt. I’ve got Irish, French, some Scottish, and then some ambiguous other European in me.
Sevan Matossian (01:53):
Um, was your dad born here?
Michael Cazayoux (01:57):
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. My, my, uh, yeah, my family’s been in Louisiana for 4, 5, 6 generations.
Sevan Matossian (02:06):
Hey, is it, um, it, those people are like, uh, predominantly French, uh, descendants there. Those are French people like Louisiana. Yeah.
Michael Cazayoux (02:15):
Yeah. So Blue
Sevan Matossian (02:16):
Frost
Michael Cazayoux (02:17):
Asian means is Uhhuh <affirmative> people went from France to Nova Scotia.
Sevan Matossian (02:22):
Uhhuh <affirmative>. That’s Canada, right? That’s the, that’s eastern Canada up in the colds Eastern
Michael Cazayoux (02:26):
Canada. That’s like where some of, I think the biggest hicks in Canada Live is
Sevan Matossian (02:30):
What I’m told. Awesome. Yeah.
Michael Cazayoux (02:31):
And they came down to Louisiana and they were, as far as I know, they were quite a subclass. And they were very much looked down upon. And, um, they had a very distinct culture, created a very distinct culture. And you know, now there are not many true Cajuns left, but in like western, especially western Louisiana, on your way to Texas, there’s some, some serious Cajuns and they’re awesome.
Sevan Matossian (02:59):
I, um, I spent some time in Houma, Houma, Louisiana. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> filming a movie, and it, it was like a different country. Good people, great people, some of the nice what’s
Michael Cazayoux (03:10):
Going on at Houma?
Sevan Matossian (03:11):
Yeah. Some of the nicest people I ever met, but, but like a totally like, uh, different like dudes who like make a living, like getting alligators, like legit, like that’s their job. Nice. Yeah. Crazy, crazy stuff. Um, I, um, a mutual friend of ours, uh, Marsden Sawyer, uh, about, I don’t know, six months ago, uh, said, oh, hey, I have a friend, uh, he hit me up, uh, Michael Casu, and, and I recognized the name. I just didn’t know from where, and, uh, would just like to shoot the shit with you. Uh, can I give him your phone number? And you called and we met and I was like, wow, this is a really cool dude. After, you know,
Michael Cazayoux (03:47):
I felt the same way, man.
Sevan Matossian (03:49):
Yeah, you’re, you’re, you’re a cool cat. And I was like, oh. And then I started looking into you and, and on the phone, I got a to know you a little bit, and now I know why I always heard the name, uh, because of, uh, your, your entrenchment in the CrossFit space and, and then you had a, a really amazing podcast. I didn’t even know about that. A a big podcast.
Michael Cazayoux (04:08):
Thank you. Thank you. Yeah.
Sevan Matossian (04:10):
An amazing pod. It had 1,845 star reviews on Apple.
Michael Cazayoux (04:14):
Mm-hmm. <affirmative>
Sevan Matossian (04:16):
Crazy. 340 shows.
Michael Cazayoux (04:18):
Yep.
Sevan Matossian (04:20):
Um, oh yeah,
Michael Cazayoux (04:21):
This is a, this is a great episode. This was, uh, yeah, AD and I, we started doing, this is my wife ad, uh, we started doing some episodes together, talking about relationships, and those were, those were some of my most downloaded episodes up against people with millions of Instagram and YouTube subscribers.
Sevan Matossian (04:42):
Uh, um, why did you stop?
Michael Cazayoux (04:45):
I, I was, I was bored for like a year and I tried different, you know, I tried, uh, I’ll back up a little bit for the entire podcast. I allowed the, the content and the topics to evolve with my interests. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And about a year ago is when I paused, but a year before that, I started just getting really bored with it, bored with the, the interview style. And so I started doing some solo podcast. I started to only do in-person ones and, and not care at all about how big someone’s following was. And it just wasn’t interesting to me anymore. And I, in retrospect, the re the reason I was hanging onto it was maybe partly ego, partly like a sense of scarcity, which is like, I don’t wanna lose the audience. And what I realized by the lack of engagement that I had for the last year is I’ve already lost them.
(05:42):
Like, no one, everyone can feel my lack of interest in this. And it’s just not, I, I just, I don’t think it was very valuable anymore to anyone. Oh. And so I, I paused it and then one of the things that a d suggested to me was she said, why don’t you just get a co-host? You know, you always have fun bantering with one of your buddies and things like that. And I couldn’t think of anyone in the moment. And then a few months ago I had the idea to start a new show with one of our mentors. Her name is Annie Lala. She’s our relationship coach. And we’re in the process of, of launching one right now, which I’m very excited about.
Sevan Matossian (06:21):
Oh. I spent some time on her account too. After finding your account. I, I do this show, um, regularly where it’s just myself and Caleb or myself and Caleb and Suza. And I just play clips that I find just from around the internet and her, she’s gonna be a wealth of information. She has some funny shit. She had this one post on there. It says, it’s, it’s titled When Two Wounds, fuck
Michael Cazayoux (06:46):
<laugh>. Nice. Two,
Sevan Matossian (06:47):
Two Wound. And I’m like, that’s what I’m, I even went over and told my wife, I’m like, look at the title of this video. She’s like,
Michael Cazayoux (06:54):
B’S brilliant.
Sevan Matossian (06:55):
Wow. Okay. Um, and, uh, sorry, this is a little self-serving here. Um, why did you say you were only gonna do them in, in person? Why did you switch to that to make it more challenging or
Michael Cazayoux (07:08):
No, because I thought, well, from experience doing some in-person ones, it always just felt like a more fulfilling experience. You know, I got to really catch up with the person before or after, and it felt more like I was hanging out with a friend than I was doing this kind of work related thing. Yeah. And that, that worked to some extent. But, uh, yeah, I was just, I was just done. I was just done with it for a while.
Sevan Matossian (07:37):
Um, I recently, um, uh, I have, uh, Dave Castro on the show periodically, and he told me that he won’t come on anymore unless we do them in person. Hmm. And, um, I think he did that cuz he just wants to see me go in person. So I set up my studio so I could do it in person, but the thought of like, having someone to my house and like having to talk to them. Yeah. And then, and then it’s a
Michael Cazayoux (07:58):
Bigger
Sevan Matossian (07:59):
Deal. And then what if they don’t leave <laugh>? Yes. Like, what if they want stay and be my friend? I’m be like, uh, no, that was all just for the podcast. You must go,
Michael Cazayoux (08:08):
Go.
Sevan Matossian (08:09):
Yep. <laugh>. Yeah. And I have a tendency to like people too, and like, I don’t, like, I don’t want to like, like what if I say something stupid like, Hey, you want to go get something to eat? Then my whole day is <laugh> fucked. Uh,
Michael Cazayoux (08:22):
Huge mistake.
Sevan Matossian (08:23):
Uh, did you do very many in person
Michael Cazayoux (08:28):
Towards the end? I probably did a dozen or two
Sevan Matossian (08:30):
Dozen. Oh, okay. Okay. So you dug in
Michael Cazayoux (08:33):
And, you know, I’m, I feel fortunate that I’m in a really cool city where there are a lot of awesome people around. You know, Austin is one of the kind of new hubs for, for thought leadership in the country. And so it worked out. I don’t, I have no interest in, or never had any interest of like, doing a bunch of traveling to do the in-person ones. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, but, you know, having people over to my house or going over to their house worked for a little while.
Sevan Matossian (09:02):
Um, uh, yeah, Austin really is, uh, turning into quite the spot. Right?
Michael Cazayoux (09:08):
Yeah. I think that it was, it’s already been growing for quite a while and then the pandemic hit and that just, that whole two year period of, of weirdness happened. And I think a lot of people were attracted to the blend of ideas here and Val or, or more, more so values. So there are a lot of driven people here mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know, like there are in New York or parts of California. But what’s distinct about this place in my, in my experience, is that they value community and even family more than, than their drive to succeed. And I think that’s been really attractive along with some of the, the, the politics during the, all the shutdowns. I think we’re also, uh, pulling people here, but yeah, people like they’re up to something, but they’re, they’re more interested in, in connecting with people and having fun. Which, uh, which vibes really well with us as well.
Sevan Matossian (10:09):
The people that, uh, um, I’m trying to think of the people there. Uh, there’s this guy, Chris Williamson’s there who has a podcast, uh, Joe Rogan’s there, right? That, do you know Chris? Chris Is buddy yours?
Michael Cazayoux (10:20):
I do, yeah. I think I was his second podcast guest ever.
Sevan Matossian (10:25):
Just, he came from England, right?
Michael Cazayoux (10:27):
He did, yeah.
Sevan Matossian (10:28):
So he’s there and then, um, Joe Rogan’s there and then that guy, Lex Friedman is there, right? Mm-hmm.
Michael Cazayoux (10:34):
<affirmative>.
Sevan Matossian (10:35):
And then recently this guest of that I’ve had on a couple times, uh, Nicki Rodriguez has opened up a jiujitsu studio there Nice. Called B-Team. Um,
Michael Cazayoux (10:44):
I think I’ve, I think I’ve heard of it. That’s a, yeah. B Team. Is that like the really incredible team, like one of the best in the world?
Sevan Matossian (10:53):
Yeah. Ba they, the, the guy who’s the best guy in the world, Gordon Ryan, and this guy Nikki Rodriguez, they had a breakup. Mm. And Nicki ro uh, and his team kind of in his portion of the team landed in Austin. And they’ve kept a really kind of, um, I mean, it’s fun from my perspective, they’ve kept a fun narrative. They’ve really kind of exploded the sport, um, through their bickering. Right. They have a feud of two. And, and it’s, it’s, um, allowed a lot of people to engage on a, on a pretty crazy narrative that that’s, uh, that’s, um, him and Gordon, uh, I think that’s him and Gordon Wrestling right there. And so they have a pretty gnarly internet fight, just constantly going where they make fun of each other.
Michael Cazayoux (11:33):
And what do you think, are they act, do they actually have beef or are they manipulating the media?
Sevan Matossian (11:39):
Both or both? Yeah. Both. Yeah. Yeah. Both. They definitely, uh, there’s definitely some tension there, but anyway, so it’s, it’s fa and I’m sure, I’m sure. Like, and those are just the things I’m interested in. So, oh, and then, and then, um, that, that, uh, kill Tony thing is there, right?
Michael Cazayoux (11:57):
Yep. Tony Hinchcliffe Elon is here.
Sevan Matossian (11:59):
Elon is there.
Michael Cazayoux (12:03):
Yeah. A lot of, lot of big folks.
Sevan Matossian (12:05):
And and I think that Kill Tony Show I’ve heard is the largest, um, live YouTube show on the internet. I think they get like 300,000 live viewers. I mean, I think they, they claim that in the beginning. Wow. Which is like, if, if it’s not true, I just like it that they claim it <laugh>. Uh, John Wellborn is down there too. Okay. So, um,
Michael Cazayoux (12:24):
I think he lives out by, by us. We live sort of out in the country in a place called Dripping Springs, like 40 minutes outside of the city. We just moved out here.
Sevan Matossian (12:32):
Wow. That’s an
Michael Cazayoux (12:32):
Awesome, I think he’s out here.
Sevan Matossian (12:36):
Um, you, in 2012 and 2013, you were at the CrossFit Games on the winning cross on the winning winning, uh, affiliate team.
Michael Cazayoux (12:45):
Yep. Yep. I’m sure you remember Tommy Hackenberg.
Sevan Matossian (12:48):
Yeah.
Michael Cazayoux (12:49):
Yeah. I was on his team.
Sevan Matossian (12:51):
And, um, did you guys qualify? Um, and, and there was that crazy buff dude, something Ford on your team.
Michael Cazayoux (12:58):
Yeah. That was Brennan Fjord.
Sevan Matossian (13:00):
<laugh> Fjord Fjord.
Michael Cazayoux (13:01):
He, he was, um, on the team the next year after I was done. So I think 2014 maybe they went back again or 2015 and either won it. Yeah, I think they won it. I think that, yeah, the year they beat Rich, they wanted maybe
Sevan Matossian (13:17):
20 we’re Please not on this show. Don’t say that on this show. That’s Sac. You can’t say Rich. No, you can’t say anyone Beat Rich on this show. That’s Sac.
Michael Cazayoux (13:24):
Oh yeah. Cut that.
Sevan Matossian (13:25):
Cut. Yes. Um, uh, Michael, um, were you on that team that qualified through Denver? Yes. One year. Yes. And you had a girl on your team who is breastfeeding in between events? Black girl.
Michael Cazayoux (13:42):
Yes. Taylor, Richard, Lindsay.
Sevan Matossian (13:45):
What a beast. She’s a beast. I remember seeing that and filming there and just being like, this is got, this is the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen in Cross still, maybe to this day. It is winning events with you guys. You were on that team. It was you and her and Tommy.
Michael Cazayoux (13:59):
Yep. Yeah. And Adrian, who I’m sure you know, Conway and Conway. Yep.
Sevan Matossian (14:04):
Okay.
Michael Cazayoux (14:04):
And then, uh, a gal named Mary Lampis and then Aaron Binion. Yeah, Taylor. Taylor was a, just a freak athlete, just learning anything new. She picked it up more quickly than just about anyone I’ve ever met,
Sevan Matossian (14:19):
And I’m remembering that correctly. Right. You guys would win an event, she’d walk off the field and let the baby just clasp onto her tit and feed it. Yep. Grow a baby at halftime <laugh>. Yeah, that shit was, that shit was amazing. I was really, uh, and she was, uh, down to earth, like not stressed out or anything. Mm-hmm. Just mm-hmm. <affirmative>, what a cool experience. Did you have thoughts on that when that was going down?
Michael Cazayoux (14:42):
Not really. Yeah. Not, not really
Sevan Matossian (14:46):
Just normal to you.
Michael Cazayoux (14:47):
I, I think it, I think that probably shaped the way that I, I kind of assume strength in mothers maybe a little bit more because of that.
Sevan Matossian (14:56):
Yeah. You see that that’ll change your whole perspective.
Michael Cazayoux (14:58):
Yeah. Looking back, that’s incredibly badass.
Sevan Matossian (15:01):
Yeah. Yeah.
Michael Cazayoux (15:02):
That, as you say, the, the chill piece. I think one of the strengths of our team was just very, we were very laid back in between events, joking around, you know, taking things seriously, but also having a lot of fun with it. And in any sport, and definitely in the CrossFit community as it was like this, this brand new thing. I think people just stressed themselves out too much. And I think it really served us to have, have a lot of fun with it.
Sevan Matossian (15:32):
Uh, uh, Jeffrey Birchfield, salt Lick Barbecue. Yeah. And it, it, I, when I think of breastfeeding, uh, I would see my wife like, work out and have the baby there and then just like, literally right after a workout, throw the baby on the boob. And I always thought, oh yeah, it’s probably just tastes like, um, uh, those, those candy bars or chocolate, you know, when uh, salt is on there, it’s probably just the most amazing thing for the baby. <laugh>. Did you ever have a dog? And every time you’re done work, every time you’re done working out, he comes over and licks your face. Like he just can’t get enough of the salt. Did you ever have a dog like that?
Michael Cazayoux (16:02):
Yeah. Yeah. A little bit.
Sevan Matossian (16:04):
And you’re just like, oh yeah, they’re just getting the salt, Uhhuh, <affirmative>. They’re just totally into it. Uh, Trish, I breastfed my stepson at an event and everyone loses their shit. Oh, no one where, where do you live? On the moon? No one, no one cares anymore.
Michael Cazayoux (16:18):
Loses their shit. In which way? Like, oh my God, you’re amazing. Or Oh my God, don’t pull your titty out in public.
Sevan Matossian (16:24):
That’s the way I took it. I took it as the latter. I read into it as the latter. This really, Jeff says that’s actually a barbecue joint and dripping springs, uh, the
Michael Cazayoux (16:35):
Place. That’s what I thought you were talking about. I was
Sevan Matossian (16:38):
Like, oh. Oh, okay. I thought you okay. I’m stuck on the, the baby on the boobs. A barbecue is to breastfeeding is to dogs, to licking faces. Um, what, what? Oh, there it is. Salt Lick Barbecue. You been there?
Michael Cazayoux (16:53):
I have, yeah. Oh, it’s, I would say it’s like a little bet better than mediocre, but it has a, an amazing outdoor area
Sevan Matossian (17:02):
Ambiance,
Michael Cazayoux (17:02):
And it’s really popular Ambiance. Ambiance also, this is a really slick platform. Are we live on YouTube right now, or what? Yeah, this is great. We
Sevan Matossian (17:12):
Are,
Michael Cazayoux (17:12):
I’ve never seen this. And then you, afterwards you can chop it up and
Sevan Matossian (17:18):
You could, we don’t however you want.
Michael Cazayoux (17:20):
Okay,
Sevan Matossian (17:20):
Got it. Like, we’re like, Hey, nice having you on Michael. And then I run away and play with my kids and Yeah. And we That’s great. We used, we used to have a couple more people helping us and you’d see some stuff on Instagram. Um, yeah. But now we’re just, I don’t know. I don’t know what we’re doing now, but it’s good. The show’s fucking growing like crazy, so
Michael Cazayoux (17:38):
Hell yeah. Man.
Sevan Matossian (17:39):
I don’t wanna fuck with it. Um, uh, you so, so, so that, that’s pretty amazing. I I want to go back from there. It’s, it’s crazy that you, you’ve won the games twice. That that’s gotta be, uh, an amazing experience. Um, I wanna go back. So you’re b you’re born in Louisiana?
Michael Cazayoux (17:56):
Yep.
Sevan Matossian (17:58):
Uh, siblings,
Michael Cazayoux (17:59):
Two younger sisters.
Sevan Matossian (18:02):
And
Michael Cazayoux (18:02):
I’ve got a, a massive extended family ad comes from an immigrant family. They, her parents moved from Israel and so, and, and they moved to Toronto and she grew up with very, very small like holiday gatherings. And she, she always jokes when she comes to Christmas at my place. It’s like 50, 60 people and that’s only half like one side of the family.
Sevan Matossian (18:27):
Right. Crazy. Oh, where did you meet her?
Michael Cazayoux (18:30):
In San Diego at, uh, at Barbell Shrugged mastermind.
Sevan Matossian (18:36):
That, that’s a business
Michael Cazayoux (18:38):
Business event.
Sevan Matossian (18:39):
No. Wow.
Michael Cazayoux (18:40):
Yep.
Sevan Matossian (18:41):
She’s, she’s a fitness girl. She was into exercising
Michael Cazayoux (18:44):
<laugh> very much. Yeah. She was a, she was a bronze medalist at Canadian Nationals in weightlifting, and she started working against Gravity.
Sevan Matossian (18:57):
Oh God. It’s a small world.
Michael Cazayoux (19:00):
Very into fitness.
Sevan Matossian (19:01):
Well, holy shit. And, uh, and, and you And she doesn’t, you guys don’t own that anymore? You guys are married?
Michael Cazayoux (19:08):
We are married.
Sevan Matossian (19:09):
And, and so she doesn’t own that anymore.
Michael Cazayoux (19:11):
Correct. We sold that, um, almost two years ago.
Sevan Matossian (19:15):
Oh, is that congratulations in order or,
Michael Cazayoux (19:17):
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, absolutely.
Sevan Matossian (19:20):
Yeah. That’s awesome. So you, now I’m getting, I want to go back to your youth, but fuck this. Uh, so you started Brute Strength?
Michael Cazayoux (19:28):
I did, yeah. Me and, uh, a partner, Matt Bruce and also Tommy Hackenberg
Sevan Matossian (19:33):
And br and tell me what is, what was, what is or what, what was and what is Brute strength?
Michael Cazayoux (19:39):
Brute strength, yeah. We started out just programming, doing online programming for people that wanted to go to the games, like people that saw themselves and, and, and, and a lot that were very high level athletes. And then we realized that the market for that was quite small. And so we branched out and started making programs for people that just wanted to compete better in their gym and in the open and then, um, into weightlifting. And then we started a program called Brute Body, which was more geared towards people that wanted to look better naked. And so very, yeah, very thoughtful, intentional online programming. And one of the things that set us apart for, for some amount of time was we created a team of experts that were collaborating on these programs rather than one person trying to be the expert in all of the different modalities. And so we would come together and create programs for, for our highest level athletes and then for the, the big groups that we would run.
Sevan Matossian (20:44):
And and what year did you guys start that?
Michael Cazayoux (20:47):
2014. Yeah. End of 2014.
Sevan Matossian (20:52):
Who, who else was in the programming space when you guys, uh, started that?
Michael Cazayoux (20:57):
Yeah, so, uh, so CJ for sure, Ben for sure. And I would say those were the biggest without a doubt. And
Sevan Matossian (21:05):
Was Ben called Comp Train at that time?
Michael Cazayoux (21:08):
I can’t, I can’t remember even. I think it might have been C F N E still. Okay. And then there was a guy, man, this is funny because yesterday I, I saw an old video and this guy’s picture popped up. Uh, is it like the Outlaw Way? Was that a thing?
Sevan Matossian (21:25):
Oh, yeah. Um, he was Elizabeth Akin Wally’s boyfriend or husband or something. Yeah. Oh yeah. I forgot about that guy.
Michael Cazayoux (21:32):
Or something like that. Yeah, so he was, he was I think sort of big and I forgot, I can’t remember who else. I think there were definitely some more people, but it was, it was sort of, Ben and CJ were the biggest as far as I remember.
Sevan Matossian (21:44):
And, uh, what, what’s that guy’s name? Let me see if you can, uh, go to about, I want to see if I can remember that guy’s name. He was very distinct, right? He was short. Yeah. He had big hair.
Michael Cazayoux (21:55):
Yeah, he had a huge beard and tattoos and Yeah, he created, he created a sort of cult following.
Sevan Matossian (22:03):
Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Um, okay. So, and, and, and you guys did that thinking, you guys created that, it seemed, oh, that’s not him though. No. If that’s him, he looks totally different. Let me see. No, I don’t recognize if that’s him, man, you, you’ve really changed. Good job.
Michael Cazayoux (22:25):
Yeah, maybe it is. I don’t know. <laugh>,
Sevan Matossian (22:28):
I remember him being pudgy a little bit. Pud more round, more roun,
Michael Cazayoux (22:33):
<laugh>. I don’t know, man.
Sevan Matossian (22:40):
God, he really handsome.
Michael Cazayoux (22:41):
I don’t think that’s the guy.
Sevan Matossian (22:41):
I don’t think that’s, he got really, he got really handsome.
Michael Cazayoux (22:44):
Yeah.
Sevan Matossian (22:46):
Alright. And you guys started that, that was like, um, you, you were thinking, well, shit, what was the, what was the thought behind that? We’re already doing it for ourselves. We might as well turn this, uh, like, like, we might as well turn this into a business, make money doing something we love.
Michael Cazayoux (23:01):
So I was a, right when I stopped competing, I became a strength and conditioning coach, and I worked at Southern Utah University in what
Sevan Matossian (23:09):
Year is this? 2015.
Michael Cazayoux (23:11):
13. I started 13.
Sevan Matossian (23:12):
Okay.
Michael Cazayoux (23:13):
And because I had a, I had a back injury, and so I knew I was gonna have to stop competing. And so I, I worked at S U U and then lsu and LSU in the strength and con in the college strength and conditioning world is sort of the pinnacle. And I realized that, so Matt, Bruce, on the far right, I realized that I wasn’t happy there. And if I wasn’t happy there, I probably wasn’t gonna be happy anywhere in that industry. And while I was there, well, just to back up a little bit, this guy Matt, he got me the position at lsu and I was really grateful for him. And I said, Matt, how can I repay you? And he said, I know that you’re programming on the side for some individuals. I was just doing that, you know, to make a little extra cash.
(24:02):
And he said, why don’t we team up? You write the whole program and just tell me where to put the weightlifting stuff in it. And I said, okay, let’s do it. And at the time I thought, okay, I’ll make a little, I’ll continue making a little extra money on the side, and I’m gonna, I’m gonna pay Matt back. And I wanted, I wanted only to do programming, nothing to do with business whatsoever. And so then we did that, and then I decided that I was gonna be done. You know, at some point in the next year, I decided I wasn’t gonna continue following the, the strength and conditioning path. And I, I was chatting with Tommy Hackenberg and he said he was looking to get rid of one of his gems in Salt Lake City. I think he had three at the time. And he off, he gave me a, an offer to come out, run one for six months.
(24:56):
And that then at the end of it, if I wanted to buy it from him, I could buy it from him. Hmm. And so I decided I was gonna do that with, uh, uh, a guy named Jake Hutton, who’s a, a good friend of mine. And we went out there, and when we went out there, he s oh, another part of the kind of package is he said, I know you and Matt are doing this programming thing. Why don’t we leverage the Ute CrossFit name and try to make this thing a little bit bigger? And so I thought, okay, maybe we can make a little more money doing this on the side, but no intention whatsoever of turning it into, uh, an actual business. I still only wanted to do the programming and let other people do the rest. And so I get out there and I started playing around with Instagram for the first time and just having a lot of fun on there. And pretty quickly I saw, like, we started just bringing a bunch of people in to this new company that we called Brute. And I saw pretty quickly that the, the, the scale at which we could impact people and the, the, the flexibility and freedom that we would have doing an online company was exponentially greater than an in-person gym. Within that six months, I, I realized I absolutely don’t wanna run a gym right now. And we decided to just go full on into Brute.
Sevan Matossian (26:25):
But, but you kept that, that place ended up becoming like brute headquarters. Right? I remember seeing pictures and stuff of like athletes working out and their stuff. Wasn’t there a guy named, I’m gonna confuse him with a games athlete that’s currently, there was a guy there with the last name Fowler. Was it a Nick Fowler?
Michael Cazayoux (26:40):
Nick Fowler, yep.
Sevan Matossian (26:41):
Yeah. And he was there too, right?
Michael Cazayoux (26:43):
Yep.
Sevan Matossian (26:45):
Okay. Uh, it, it, God, it’s so, it’s so weird. Th that time CrossFit was growing so much mm-hmm. <affirmative> that there were these, oh, someone said the guy’s name was Rudy. That’s right. Rudy.
Michael Cazayoux (26:55):
Rudy. Rudy. Rudy. That’s right. Rudy Nielsen.
Sevan Matossian (26:59):
Yeah. That sounds right. Yeah, that sounds right. Oh, we’ll put this together with the big group of people. Okay. And it’s interesting because those, those types of things would pop up on my radar and I would know, and I think I remember, um, Brooke Ens went there.
Michael Cazayoux (27:14):
Brooke Ens. Yep. Yep. I coached her for a while and, um, she was a good friend at the time. And
Sevan Matossian (27:19):
What other athletes went there that I would know
Michael Cazayoux (27:22):
That you would know? Um, we coached Cara Webb for a while.
Sevan Matossian (27:28):
Okay. Oh, okay. Um,
Michael Cazayoux (27:30):
Uh, Falkowski for a while, there are a bunch, and I’m forgetting, I’ve been out of it for Okay. Four or five years. Uh, but those are a couple of the, the biggest, I would say.
Sevan Matossian (27:42):
Okay.
Michael Cazayoux (27:42):
Ro Roman as of, you know, most, most recently.
Sevan Matossian (27:46):
Oh, that’s right. That’s right. That’s right. And, and that, that’s always a little weird. Right. When a, when a big athlete like him, uh, he, he was with Nick, right?
Michael Cazayoux (27:54):
Yes.
Sevan Matossian (27:55):
Okay. Yeah, I heard that, that he was with Nick. Oh my God, that’s Brooke. Look how young she looks. Is that you on the right? That’s
Michael Cazayoux (28:01):
Me.
Sevan Matossian (28:01):
Holy cow. I, God, I remember, I know exactly where that is. Those are the ice baths over there underneath those tents back there. Holy cow. Stacey Tovar. God crazy. Did you have fun in those days? I had a blast. I
Michael Cazayoux (28:19):
Had so much fun. Manam competing coaching. It was, it was so good.
Sevan Matossian (28:25):
Yeah. It was a blast. Right. Were you there in southern California when Brooke won?
Michael Cazayoux (28:29):
Mm-hmm. <affirmative>.
Sevan Matossian (28:29):
Were you her coach then?
Michael Cazayoux (28:31):
Yep.
Sevan Matossian (28:32):
Dude, that was fucking nuts.
Michael Cazayoux (28:34):
Yep.
Sevan Matossian (28:35):
That was kind of outta nowhere. Yeah. Well, congratulations.
Michael Cazayoux (28:41):
Yeah. We, you know, obviously we’re so pumped for her.
Sevan Matossian (28:44):
Yeah. I mean, outta nowhere for, I mean, maybe not for you cuz you guys put in the hard work, but for those of us who were kind of just like the, the, the, the pundits and the filmmakers like mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I mean, we knew she would do well and I, and you know, I would see her around, but I had no idea she was gonna come to Delmar, California in, in rec shop. That was crazy.
Michael Cazayoux (29:01):
Yeah. I mean, she, she went to regionals and the games and I would say just performed at her best and she really, yeah, she just really stepped up to the plate, um, for those two events.
Sevan Matossian (29:13):
Um, is is what, what happened, uh, to her is it was, um, why didn’t she continue on that trajectory do you think, as an athlete? Do you think that, uh, so she, is it hard staying?
Michael Cazayoux (29:23):
She went, she, yeah, she went back the next year. I don’t, I don’t think she qualified, but yeah, she, she continued to compete for two or three or more years and I think just wasn’t having as much success anymore on the competition side, but was having a ton of success professionally. Right. And I think it just made sense for her life to, to make the switch kind of as simple as that.
Sevan Matossian (29:49):
Do, do you think that she, it was because of her, her performance? Or do you think the field got just better or both?
Michael Cazayoux (29:58):
I think, I think a little bit of.
The above transcript is generated using AI technology and therefore may contain errors.
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