Sevan Matossian (00:00):
<inaudible> tapping. Really? Yeah. Bam. We’re live. Uh, yeah.
Adam Neiffer (00:05):
Sounds
Sevan Matossian (00:05):
So good. It does work. Who set you up with that your big time?
Adam Neiffer (00:08):
No. Far from that?
Sevan Matossian (00:11):
Yeah. Look it, it’s even a road.
Adam Neiffer (00:15):
There we go.
Sevan Matossian (00:16):
It’s a good one. Who, uh, did you just get that or did you always have it? Uh,
Adam Neiffer (00:19):
No, I didn’t always have that, but, uh, I did one with Jordan, uh, Jordan Holland?
Sevan Matossian (00:24):
Yes. Yes,
Adam Neiffer (00:25):
Dude. It was, it was awesome. And he was gonna send me one, but then I was like, well, which one would you send me? And he sent me a link and I was like, okay, well I’ll just grab that one.
Sevan Matossian (00:33):
Caleb. What’s up, dude? Hey, you can’t see Caleb? He’s on the backend. I can see him.
Adam Neiffer (00:39):
Ah, what’s up Caleb?
Sevan Matossian (00:41):
Uh, Adam. Er,
Adam Neiffer (00:46):
What’s up, dudes?
Sevan Matossian (00:47):
Uh, CrossFit, uh, Fort Vancouver.
Adam Neiffer (00:50):
Heck yeah.
Sevan Matossian (00:51):
Uh, all smiles. Pumped up. Always. All the time. And Adam, Adam, when was the first CrossFit Games you went to?
Adam Neiffer (00:59):
2009.
Sevan Matossian (01:00):
You attended or you were participating?
Adam Neiffer (01:02):
Participating.
Sevan Matossian (01:04):
And have you been to everyone since then?
Adam Neiffer (01:08):
I did not attend 2019.
Sevan Matossian (01:11):
Is that the one where only five people went?
Adam Neiffer (01:13):
No, I was at the, that was 2020, but 2018 was my last year competing on a team. Uhhuh <affirmative>. And then 2019, uh, Justin just missed. Um, and I didn’t go to the games. And then 2020 we went to Aromas for like that Covid games.
Sevan Matossian (01:31):
No, you were at the weird one. Yeah. How many people could he bring? Yeah.
Adam Neiffer (01:39):
How many could he bring? I mean, I think one, but like his whole family was, uh, they like, they had like an RV outside of the fence where, because there was no spectators, but of
Sevan Matossian (01:48):
Course, oh, at the pool area where the pool was. They, they even went there at the pool
Adam Neiffer (01:52):
Area, at the field. I mean, you name it, like Mom Maderas was finding a way to get there, <laugh>.
Sevan Matossian (01:58):
No shit. Would they get up on the roof and cheer ’em on from the Yep. They cheering on the Covid games.
Adam Neiffer (02:02):
Yeah. And I remember somebody asking like, who are these people? And Justin’s like, oh, I mean, I’m not sure. <laugh>
Sevan Matossian (02:08):
<laugh>, of course,
Adam Neiffer (02:09):
Of course. We knew everybody knew who they were.
Sevan Matossian (02:10):
Hey, was he the only, so who was there? Was Sam Quant, Justin Maderis, Matt Fraser of the boys. Who else was there?
Adam Neiffer (02:17):
Jeff Adler.
Sevan Matossian (02:18):
Jeff Adler. Yeah. And Justin.
Adam Neiffer (02:21):
And Justin, yep.
Sevan Matossian (02:22):
And did anyone else have fans there besides Justin?
Adam Neiffer (02:26):
I don’t think so. Yeah, I doubt it.
Sevan Matossian (02:28):
That’s crazy. Did they also go to Aromas? To Dave’s house?
Adam Neiffer (02:34):
Oh yeah, they did actually. Yeah. They allowed, you know what they did on, they allowed for the final event. Yeah. Um, at Atlanta. Yeah. They allowed every athlete to bring one spectator. And Noah Olsson was such a stud. Noah was there too.
Sevan Matossian (02:48):
Oh, Noah, right? Yeah.
Adam Neiffer (02:49):
Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And he was like, Hey, like, I don’t have anybody here that’s gonna come watch, so you can have my ticket. So both Anthony and Shena got to come watch Justin for the final event. That’s, isn’t that awesome? That’s
Sevan Matossian (03:00):
Awesome. And, and look, someone, I don’t know who this is, but I totally remember all those spectators on top of RV watching. That’s
Adam Neiffer (03:06):
Awesome.
Sevan Matossian (03:07):
<laugh>. That must be some employee of CrossFit. Crazy.
Adam Neiffer (03:09):
Yeah. Yeah. That was sweet.
Sevan Matossian (03:11):
Wow. It, Hey, you, you, your, your Jim, um, your affiliate CrossFit Fort Vancouver. It’s not only a, um, well, how would you characterize it? It, it is, it’s, it’s a place where people train to be the fittest on earth, but it’s also a, um, a venue for a cure for the world’s most vaccine problem. Right?
Adam Neiffer (03:33):
Yeah. I would say that first and competitive athlete, uh, training ground second.
Sevan Matossian (03:38):
Yeah. No shit.
Adam Neiffer (03:40):
Yeah. Yeah. A hundred percent. And,
Sevan Matossian (03:42):
Um, because that’s the culture you want, or because you dictated that way? Um,
Adam Neiffer (03:46):
Yeah, I mean, that’s the priority, right? Like helping people make their lives better through CrossFit. Like, that’s, that’s the magic. And that’s, that’s what we do. But then some of those people also just wanna like, test the limits and see what’s possible. And like, cool. We’ll support that too. But that’s definitely the, the exception, not the norm for sure.
Sevan Matossian (04:06):
Uh, that kid, uh, right there on the left, the blonde-haired kid where that’s my kid’s, uh, outfit right there too. A wife beater with some, uh, jiujitsu shorts. That’s total. That’s
Adam Neiffer (04:15):
How it’s done, right? Yeah. That’s, that could, that could, if he has a couple scraped up elbows or knees, like it’s that he’s, he’s doing summer, right?
Sevan Matossian (04:22):
Yeah. That shit’s gangster. I love the, I love the white tank top healthy boy. Yeah. My, my, my wife and my mom don’t like me calling those short wife beaters.
Adam Neiffer (04:31):
Oh. Oh,
Sevan Matossian (04:32):
Yeah. What else? I don’t know
Adam Neiffer (04:34):
What you call it. It’s not a tank top.
Sevan Matossian (04:35):
It’s because they’re racist. They don’t understand the cultural, they, they, they, they wanna culturally appropriate it and call it a tank top. It’s not cool.
Adam Neiffer (04:42):
Here we go. Here we go. Fucking
Sevan Matossian (04:43):
White yo. Four 30, lucky, lucky camera straps, uh, games coaches that own affiliates are my favorite. Uh, love your work, Adam.
Adam Neiffer (04:52):
Oh, that’s awesome. Thanks, man.
Sevan Matossian (04:55):
Um, what year, what year did you open your affiliate? Adam?
Adam Neiffer (04:59):
2009.
Sevan Matossian (05:02):
And, and, and then that was the first year you went to the games too? Yeah.
Adam Neiffer (05:04):
Yeah, exactly.
Sevan Matossian (05:06):
Yep. Um, I wonder, I had, uh, I had Zia on, uh, cross the Counterculture.
Adam Neiffer (05:11):
Dude, I was just listening to that this morning. Like on my way to the gym. Uh, yeah. What a stud.
Sevan Matossian (05:17):
I is your, so your gym might be in the top 1000 oldest gyms now too. Maybe top 500, maybe top a hundred. Do you know? I don’t know.
Adam Neiffer (05:26):
I don’t know. Who’s I, yeah, we were probably, we were outside the top thousand when we opened, for sure. But yeah, if you’re keeping track of how many of those are still around? We’re probably in the top thousand, I would guess.
Sevan Matossian (05:38):
So 2000 nines, 2000, uh, 23. That’s, um, 11. 14 years.
Adam Neiffer (05:45):
14 years. That’s right.
Sevan Matossian (05:46):
Yeah. Crazy. I can’t believe how many games you went to. Did you always go as a team? No, there weren’t teams in 2009 when you went. So you started as an individual. So,
Adam Neiffer (05:54):
Uh, no, I went, so 2008, I, I couldn’t go. I was still fighting fire. That was where you could just show up. Yeah. And, uh, and compete. Yeah. And I wanted to go so bad, like it was itching at me, which is part of the reason that the, a year later, I, I was, I mean, I quit my job opening a gym. And, um, I, that was the first year of like, the true affiliate cup competition like team. I
Sevan Matossian (06:18):
Don’t even remember it.
Adam Neiffer (06:19):
Yeah, you wouldn’t because it was like, there was 105 teams the first day, three workouts, and then they, that was Friday, Saturday, the teams didn’t have any events. And then Sunday, the top five teams made the finals. Oh. We were like, we, we were like 25th or so, or Yeah, some, I can’t remember. We were the 26th or something like that. And so,
Sevan Matossian (06:37):
Yeah. So a straight cut from 1 0 5 to
Adam Neiffer (06:39):
Five I a volunteer shirt.
Sevan Matossian (06:41):
Yeah,
Adam Neiffer (06:41):
Exactly. Straight cut from
Sevan Matossian (06:42):
Five
Adam Neiffer (06:42):
Saturday. I was like, <laugh>. Yeah, yeah. Now people complain about cuts, right? I, uh, I got a volunteer shirt. They cut a
Sevan Matossian (06:49):
Hundred teams
Adam Neiffer (06:51):
Help out.
Sevan Matossian (06:51):
Yeah. Say that. They cut a hundred teams.
Adam Neiffer (06:55):
They cut a hundred teams. I think they, I think they actually took six to the finals. ’cause they like made a scoring mistake or something. Somebody was tied. I can’t remember. But yeah.
Sevan Matossian (07:03):
Um, Hey, you think if you would’ve made it to the 2009, uh, eight games, you could’ve won, you could’ve beat Khalifa. No. You’ve been the champ. No. Nope.
Adam Neiffer (07:12):
No.
Sevan Matossian (07:12):
You should have just said yes. That’d been awesome.
Mattew Souza (07:14):
Yeah. <laugh>.
Adam Neiffer (07:15):
No, but I, I had a great time watching him the next year on the, the trail run. Do you remember that?
Mattew Souza (07:21):
Uh, that was what we just showed where he like passed out. Yeah. <laugh>. Yeah, we just showed that. What was that last, last
Sevan Matossian (07:27):
Night? Couple nights ago? That was crazy nights ago.
Adam Neiffer (07:29):
It was one of the best moments ever. And then he got up and just kept going,
Sevan Matossian (07:33):
Hey, did you actually see it? Yeah.
Adam Neiffer (07:36):
Yeah.
Sevan Matossian (07:36):
You were in the stands right there in those makeshift stands.
Adam Neiffer (07:39):
Dude, I was like, I, the second day, I, I just, I mean, I just, I never left. Like we had a ho, like a, we had no money. We had like a, we had eight people sharing a hotel room in, uh, is it Watsonville or Watsonville? Yeah, yeah,
Sevan Matossian (07:51):
Whatever.
Adam Neiffer (07:52):
Yeah. And, uh, and like, I was like, after the first day of the games, I was like, I’m, I’m not going home. I’m, I just brought my sleeping bag, stayed there, um, signed up to volunteer on day two, thought I was gonna get a cool job. And then I was like picking up garbage in the <laugh> in the parking lot. But then I would sneak away from that and just like watch whatever events I could. And I do remember watching Jason, like, yeah, it was like a figure eight. And he’s collapsed on <laugh>. Yeah. And then, uh, he gets up, finishes the event.
Sevan Matossian (08:20):
Will you pause this real quick? I just wanna show you guys. That’s me in the blue shirt with the, like a sling on, you can see my back with white headphones on.
Adam Neiffer (08:29):
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah,
Sevan Matossian (08:30):
Yeah. Filming Jason.
Adam Neiffer (08:32):
Yeah, you’re right there. I was like, maybe I was like 50 yards to your right. Maybe.
Sevan Matossian (08:37):
Yeah, right up there. Okay. Okay. Yeah.
Adam Neiffer (08:38):
Yeah. Yep. <laugh>.
Sevan Matossian (08:40):
Alright, let’s see it. Let’s see it. Mr. Beaver. What happens here? Good stuff.
Adam Neiffer (08:44):
<laugh>. Oh, poor dude. Jason, man.
Mattew Souza (08:47):
And down.
Adam Neiffer (08:50):
Boom. So,
Mattew Souza (08:51):
Shit,
Adam Neiffer (08:52):
This isn’t after the event though. This is like, he’s still got another like, what, mile or two to run? Yeah.
Sevan Matossian (08:57):
Yeah. At least a mile. At least a mile. Say, yeah, because it was like
Adam Neiffer (08:58):
That figure eight, like infinity loop type of thing. So he’s got a long ways to go still. Yeah.
Sevan Matossian (09:05):
Crazy.
Adam Neiffer (09:06):
And he finishes it. And then how, how much later was the deadlift? Like, ha like half an hour later he deadlifted the top. Like he ran the course on the ladder, right? It finished at 5 0 5 or something.
Sevan Matossian (09:15):
Yeah. Whoever finished the, the run last had to start the deadlift first. Right. And the events were back to back. And so Jason, what’s crazy is he didn’t even take last place in that event. <laugh>. He got up like five minutes later and started running again.
Adam Neiffer (09:31):
Oh, that’s pretty awesome. Yeah. Yep.
Sevan Matossian (09:34):
Crazy. Okay. So you’re at that and, and, and you were at a team and your team took, uh, uh, sixth and, and Okay, that’s good. I love 26th. Oh, 26th.
Adam Neiffer (09:44):
Yeah. Something like that. Oh, okay. But yeah, it doesn’t matter.
Sevan Matossian (09:47):
Okay. I, I thought, I thought that you said that then they adjusted the scoring and it ended up being sixth.
Adam Neiffer (09:51):
No, I think they actually took, they said they were taking five teams to the final. I think they took six.
Sevan Matossian (09:55):
Oh,
Adam Neiffer (09:55):
Okay. For whatever. Yeah.
Sevan Matossian (09:57):
Yeah. Yeah. That’s good. Accuracy on the story is good sometimes. Yeah.
Adam Neiffer (10:01):
Could be wrong. <laugh>.
Sevan Matossian (10:02):
And, um, and, and so at that time, um, you own CrossFit Fort Vancouver, you had it.
Adam Neiffer (10:07):
Yeah. Yeah.
Sevan Matossian (10:10):
That’s crazy. And are you in the same location you’ve always been in?
Adam Neiffer (10:13):
Uh, we moved like 200 yards in 2010.
Sevan Matossian (10:17):
Okay. Because there was that work other day. Grab a
Adam Neiffer (10:19):
Piece of equipment and like head up the street and <laugh>. Exactly. Yeah. It was not far at all. And there was like this Yeah, just rundown, uh, abandoned airplane hanger. And we moved into there and we’ve been there ever since.
Sevan Matossian (10:30):
Did you, you attended that, um, that affiliate gathering too? It was in your neck of the woods?
Adam Neiffer (10:35):
Uh, the one with Zia, is that Yeah, the one this last week? Yeah. Yep. I did. That was, uh, yeah. Awesome day, man.
Sevan Matossian (10:41):
Yeah. Really? She, uh, so she gave it glowing reviews. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> glowing reviews. She even said that the chick next to her was gonna sell her, uh, uh, affiliate. And after hearing dawn talk, she decided not to.
Adam Neiffer (10:54):
That’s amazing. I heard that one actually on like, yeah. On your guys’ show.
Sevan Matossian (10:58):
Y you had a sim you loved it. I mean, not that you were on the verge of selling it, but you left there invigorated. ’cause that’s what you wanna do, right? You wanna go to the affiliate gathering and live and leave there being like, okay, I’m ready to cure some motherfuckers.
Adam Neiffer (11:08):
Yeah, dude, I, I left there. Yeah. Just stoked. And just like, I mean, we’ve always believed in what CrossFit is and, and what it does, but like, uh, I don’t think I’ve been this excited about the leadership for a pretty long time.
Sevan Matossian (11:22):
And, and, and, and tell me why. Anything you can point to specifically, you believed in Dawn, you believed in Austin. You believed in, like what, like what did you, what did you hear?
Adam Neiffer (11:29):
Yeah. I mean, the company Don Affiliates. Yeah. Dawn Dawn’s message was super simple. I mean, one of the things he said is like, Hey, raise your hand if you would be confident, uh, of your mom walking into any affiliate anywhere. And nobody raised their hand, right? And so he’s like, okay, we can do better and you guys can do better. And I mean, that’s, that’s pretty much what we, you know, that that’s, that’s what we subscribe to every day in our gyms anyway, is like, doesn’t matter where you start, doesn’t matter where you’re at, there’s always room for improvement. And, um, like he put his money where his mouth is. I don’t know what it cost to put on that event, but here there’s like a hundred and something affiliate owners. Um, they allowed us to bring coaches too. We had two, uh, like coaches that came from our gym as well. And, you know, they brought in a bunch of speakers, a bunch of coaches from HQ flew ’em all out there, uh, fed everybody lunch. And so it was like a significant investment in both time and, and resources for CrossFit in this simple effort to help affiliates do better. And it’s like, that’s awesome. Love it.
Sevan Matossian (12:33):
Hey, hey. My mom went to CrossFit 7 0 7. Changed her life. Yeah. Switched, switched to CrossFit, uh, uh, um, uh, that, uh, Benicia, um, a few years later mm-hmm. <affirmative>, um, do you know, 300 members? 289 of ’em are Filipino. And, and my mom, uh, my mom fucking loved it. Probably probably her favorite gym experience. Loved it. Yeah. Then moved to Santa Cruz and went to, um, CrossFit Aptos. Absolutely loved it. Then worked out in the gym under HQ with, uh, Michelle Mootz and, um, west pt and Hollis and the gang there. Fucking loved it. Heck, I thought she was, she probably wants to marry West PT then. Then she went over to Hollis’s Gym, CrossFit Santa Cruz. Thought Hollis had fallen from the heavens. Loved Hollis, loved that gym. Then year later after that, ended up over at Annie’s gym, Annie Sanamas gym, and absolutely loved it. I don’t, but I never vetted those gyms for those five gyms. Why? Why do you think, why, why didn’t everyone raise their hand? Why did no one raise their hand? Is there that really, that much of a concern? I’ve never had that concern with my mom. I mean, I’ve been to a couple weird CrossFit gyms, granted mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um,
(13:54):
You think my mom just got lucky and she’s old? No, I think, do you know what I mean? She’s old. Yeah. She, like, she needs, like, she, you can’t be doing dumb shit to her.
Adam Neiffer (14:00):
No. I think, I think the vast majority of CrossFit affiliates are phenomenal and do outstanding work. And I would love my mom to go into 99% of ’em. Okay. But there, there are also gyms that, you know, we’ve dropped into or that, um, that just have room for improvement. And I mean, that’s one thing that I love for, you know, the system that Greg created, this affiliate system that’s not a franchise system is like, if he had told us like, this is how you have to run your gym. I, I never would’ve started it. Right? So I love the fact that we have the freedom. Um, but yeah, there’s, there are gyms that I have been to that I wouldn’t recommend my mom to go to for sure. Those still exist.
Sevan Matossian (14:44):
And so what you heard from Don is, is like, Hey, let’s elevate the brand so we feel good about all of our neighbors and that, that really stoked you. Let’s el sorry. Yeah. That’s, let’s not elevate. Yeah, let’s elevate the brand. Let’s elevate the quality of training so that the brand, we add value to the brand.
Adam Neiffer (15:00):
Yep.
Sevan Matossian (15:02):
Isn’t that awesome? Not, uh, we’re gonna give everyone a free L one. Not everyone gets a free 45 pound rogue bumper plate. He basically says like, Hey, let’s improve the training as a team together.
Adam Neiffer (15:15):
Yeah. And it’s good, it’s good for everyone, right? The, the more better gyms there are, the more people we can help everywhere.
Sevan Matossian (15:24):
Are you, are you surprised that, um, Don is able to, um, step into that, uh, leadership role? Those are, those are big shoes to fill Glassman’s shoes. Yeah.
Adam Neiffer (15:35):
Am I surprised? That’s a good question. I, I don’t know that I’m surprised. I guess I’m just more like stoked and grateful that he’s, he sees what, what CrossFit is and what we know it is. And those of us that have been around it long enough are just like, yeah, we just, we just know it’s the best way to help people, and he wants to help us give that to more people. And I don’t know, what do you think Susa? You, you’re, you’re an affiliate owner too, and you’ve, you’ve, you’ve heard from him,
Mattew Souza (16:07):
You’ve, yeah. When we, when we had him at our affiliate gathering, I thought the message was clear. It was concise, but more importantly, it was like he was speaking That
Sevan Matossian (16:14):
Was a year ago though, right? That was a year ago, right, Matt?
Mattew Souza (16:17):
In January.
Sevan Matossian (16:18):
Okay.
Mattew Souza (16:18):
Yeah. January time. He’s still a bit
Sevan Matossian (16:20):
More, he was significantly more green.
Mattew Souza (16:22):
I, and I’m sure that he’s refined that message with the feedback that he is had as he’s kind of moved along. So I, I bet you it’s even more compelling now than it was then. But no, he was just clear and concise, and it wasn’t, it wasn’t so much about new things that they were gonna do. It was mostly, so getting back to the roots of, of why CrossFit is so great, and then just restarting back at the, back at the fundamentals is really what it was. It’s like, and on top of that, he, he really pushed the fact of, like, with the training courses and stuff, we have the answer. We have the cure, and we need to continue to elevate that, which elevates the brand to bring more people into the affiliates.
Sevan Matossian (16:58):
It’s fucked up. That was cool for me. It’s fucked up if you walk into a gym and they don’t say hello.
Adam Neiffer (17:04):
Yeah.
Mattew Souza (17:05):
Yeah. Do you have a lip test ness test, Adam? Like, if you go and drop into a gym, can you tell like, within the first few minutes, like how the, how it’s gonna go based off of walking through the door?
Adam Neiffer (17:17):
Um, I don’t know that I have a litmus test, but I, I do think, like Avvo said, if you walk in and, and there’s just like this feeling of being welcome, being invited or being inviting, it’s intimidating for sure. Especially if you’ve never walked into a CrossFit gym and you see people like doing amazing things. You’re, it’s easy to see why people would be like, man, there’s no way I can do that. But yet they come in and they’re like, man, these people are just super positive and fun to be around. And I mean, even people that do CrossFit and, you know, maybe it’s not for them, still walk away with a good experience of like, yeah, that was, that was cool. There’s something special there. You know? So, yeah. I don’t know that I have a litmus test, but I think that, you know, you’ve had people that have come to your gym from other gyms and also, uh, people from your gym that have moved to other places. And, you know, we always talk about you’re never gonna replace the, the community at one CrossFit affiliate to the other. Yeah. Because it’s the people, it’s the coaches, it’s the people that you get to work out with, and they’re not gonna be the same. But it turns out, I mean, every gym I’ve ever been to, there’s still awesome people there. Mm-hmm.
Mattew Souza (18:24):
<affirmative>. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So yeah, that’s what it’s for me. Like, when I walk through the door within the first five minutes, has the coach taken the time to break the ice for you, right? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And that’s a big thing for us. It’s like right when you walk in, especially if we know you’re coming, then I’m introduce, I’m saying you by the name. Like, you walk through the door and they have that kind of look of like, oh, shit, here we go. I’m inside. I can’t turn around and I’ll see you right away. And I’m like, Adam, what’s up man? Hey, you’re Adam, right? Yeah. And like, you just bring the energy and you’re like, bring them in right away. Yeah. And I think that that for me is kind of like a huge differentiator. And even if you’re a drop-in, like, you know, by the time that drop-in leaves your class, do you know where they were from?
(18:59):
Do you know why they’re here? Do you know what gym they work out with? Just simple things like that, that, that create that connection, which ultimately just makes ’em feel like, oh, shit. Like I, I belong here. Like, this is cool. Now I’m leaving. I’m, I’m high fiving the people and calling ’em by a name, and people are, you know, saying my name as I leave. And to me, that is probably the most important part of the experience. I would even argue over the coaching. And the reason why is because they’re gonna experience that first. Right. Until you build that trust and they have that experience with you, they’re not open to your coaching. So it doesn’t matter if you’re the world’s best coach, if you’re cold and they walk through the gym and they’re like, Hey, what’s up, man? And you kind of turn and you’re like, oh, fuck. Am I in the right spot? Did I need to fill something? Yeah. What am I doing? Right? So just make that as easy as possible for them. And next thing you know, you could even be a shitty coach and you give one cue, like hips back and they’re like, wow, you’re awesome. Just because of the way you made ’em feel Right. When you walked
Adam Neiffer (19:48):
In. Yeah. No, if if they have a sense that like you care about them, like that’s what matters.
Mattew Souza (19:54):
Yeah. A hundred percent.
Adam Neiffer (19:55):
Like, and that’s what, that’s what all the great coaches have in common. It’s not like what level they are, 1, 2, 3, 4, whatever. It’s not their, their credentials. It’s like they just care a lot. All the best coaches, they just care so much. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know, that, that’s the common thread from my perspective.
Mattew Souza (20:11):
Yeah. And another thing too is I could tell, uh, you could tell if a gym has some sort of system that they bring their coaches to. And one of the arguments that I hate PE people say, what does that mean? What does that mean? Some system they bring their coaches to, I’m gonna bring, I’m gonna tell you right now, it’s because a lot of times the argument is, is they go, oh, you go to an L one and you have two days and you think you’re a coach. It’s like, no motherfucker, you just got the information. So you could start that journey as a coach. And so for me, we start with our, what we call like our interns or shadow coaches before they even go to the L one. And then even after, even if you have your L one and you come through my gym, you’re still gonna go through our process because I’m not really that worried about the cues and the technical part. Of course, that’s important. So please don’t take that outta context people. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. But I’m more, uh, worried about the relationship you’re able to build to the members, with the members, and then how you’re delivering those cues and how the, the experience of your class altogether. Because like I said earlier, you could have the best coach in the room, but if you, if you don’t have a connection, that coach isn’t gonna get a chance to display their toolbox. It’s not gonna happen because they’re just turned off by that experience. Right?
Adam Neiffer (21:12):
Yeah. Yeah. There’s
Sevan Matossian (21:14):
A, there’s a jazzercise class that goes on every day that my kids, um, juujitsu class goes on, and it’s, it’s in the room right next door to it, and there’s 40 women in their dancing. Right. And every time I walk by it, I’m intimidated. I don’t wanna look in there. It’s uncomfortable for me. And so just imagine walking into a fucking CrossFit class with 20 people up on ropes, slamming weights. You have to have someone, you’re, you’re so right. Zsa, if someone just says, oh my God, hi. Oh my, take a seat. Enjoy. Watch the class we’re getting through. This’ll be over in three minutes. Make yourself at home and, and look at these freaks. Work out <laugh>. Like, just make it okay for me to stare, because when I walk by, I’m like, don’t look in there. Don’t look. You know what I mean? It’s like, yeah,
Adam Neiffer (21:55):
Yeah.
Sevan Matossian (21:55):
But dude, make the person like in safe, feel safe. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And you’re at the 51 yard line.
Adam Neiffer (22:01):
A hundred percent. And I mean, the, the beauty of like, the culture of awesome gyms is like, by the time the coach makes that connection, like three people have already welcomed ’em. Oh, and they’re just members at your gym. Yeah. I I know we told ’em to do it. Right. They just remember their experience when they walked in. And three people welcome them. You know? And that’s, uh, that’s just like something that I don’t think any other gyms anywhere do as well as what we can do in CrossFit mm-hmm.
Mattew Souza (22:26):
<affirmative> a hundred percent.
Sevan Matossian (22:27):
And it shows that they want you to succeed.
Adam Neiffer (22:30):
Right?
Sevan Matossian (22:31):
Right. Like, they’re nice to clients because they wanna bring more clients to you because they want you to make more money so that your doors can stay open. ’cause when you make more money, you’re happy and the gym’s more secure. So then I have a place to come work out.
Adam Neiffer (22:43):
Yeah. Or they’re just like, I mean, I may maybe that too, but, or they’re like, Hey, this is awesome. I love it. It’s, it’s made a difference in my life. Yeah. I wanna share that with somebody else too.
Mattew Souza (22:52):
Right? Yeah. And there’s small things that you could do. Like we have a PR bell, right? Yeah. So like, every time we do it, and we’ll force the people do it. Like if I see it, I’m like, Hey, have you, have you squatted that much before? And you get the shy person’s like, no. I’m like, ring the bell. They’re like, I don’t want to like ring the bell. They’re like, alright, fine. And they go and hit it and on cue everybody at the gym knows just yell, Hey,
Adam Neiffer (23:11):
Or Yeah, everybody’s cheering. Yeah. Yeah.
Mattew Souza (23:12):
That’s right. And so that’s a huge, so you’re, it’s like, I hate to use this word, but you kind of gamify it, right? Because then people get those little, like boosts as they kind of progress along their journey. Yeah. But the important piece is that the whole gym is sharing in it. Like go to F 45, go to Orange Theory. No one gives a shit. Like, oh, you were in the Orange Zone for five more minutes. Betty. Betty, like, you know, pay us $500 now and leave. No one knows anyone knows your name. Your name’s not even Betty.
Sevan Matossian (23:35):
Is that what Orangetheory stands for? There’s some sort of Orange Zone.
Mattew Souza (23:39):
Yeah. So it’s like the, uh, heart rate monitor. And when you’re in the Orange Zone, that’s when you’re like, you know, getting the real good stuff.
Sevan Matossian (23:46):
Did you know that Adam
Mattew Souza (23:47):
About Orange Theory?
Adam Neiffer (23:48):
I don’t know. I that’s about as much as I know about Orange Theory <laugh>. I’ve never, I’ve never been in one.
Sevan Matossian (23:54):
Hey, what do you think? Someone said the other day, I can’t remember, maybe it was Sean and Tommy show they were talking to Don and they were suggesting that the Orange Theory brand is more popular than CrossFit. Did that, do you think that that’s true? Or has that ever crossed your mind?
Adam Neiffer (24:07):
Dude, I mean, I spend all day, every day at a CrossFit gym, so I’m Yeah, right. I’m wrong person to ask. Right.
Sevan Matossian (24:12):
<laugh> completely biased. Okay. Yeah, me too. Maybe to me too.
Mattew Souza (24:14):
I think that that’s the perception thing. I had said this, and we had talked about in the chat a little bit, we’re like, it’s because they’re in commercial spaces as opposed to atoms in a plane hanger, right? Yeah. So like the perception might be, oh, well, every time I go to get my groceries, I see people going into Orange Theory. So it must be bigger. But really it’s, I don’t, I don’t think that to be the case.
Sevan Matossian (24:32):
Do you have one in CrossFit? Fort Fort Vancouver? Is there an Orange Theory there? Do you even know? Like,
Adam Neiffer (24:37):
In our city?
Sevan Matossian (24:38):
Yeah.
Adam Neiffer (24:39):
I have no idea. <laugh>.
Sevan Matossian (24:40):
Yeah. How about, how about F 45? Do you know if there’s one of those there?
Adam Neiffer (24:43):
I don’t know about that either. Yeah. Awesome. Yeah, I pretty much go from my house to my gym, to the grocery store and everything in between. But <laugh>, if it’s not on my path, man, it’s like, I wouldn’t know that. Actually, somebody just told me like two restaurants they went to today, and I was like, where are those? I, I’ve never even been there.
Mattew Souza (25:00):
It’s on your way home. Like, oh shit.
Sevan Matossian (25:02):
Yeah. Oh shit. There’s one across <laugh>. There’s
Adam Neiffer (25:04):
One across the highway <laugh>. I could not, it’s like, what? I don’t where that bat. I know, I know. Yeah, that’s like down by the waterfront, but I had no idea there was an orange theory there. Dude,
Sevan Matossian (25:15):
You could fly a drone over there. That’s
Adam Neiffer (25:17):
Hilarious. Yeah.
Sevan Matossian (25:19):
Uh, Zach Al, I signed a lease today on a spot to open my cr uh, CrossFit gym today after being a head coach for seven years. Anxious, but unbelievably excited. Awesome.
Adam Neiffer (25:28):
Heck yeah, dude. Congratulations man. That’s, that’s awesome.
Sevan Matossian (25:32):
Yeah, Zach, I’d like to hear more about that actually too,
Adam Neiffer (25:35):
Dude. Not to mention, I mean, shoot, I don’t, I don’t know about you Susa, but Frick, I’d been coaching for like two and a half years before I opened my affiliate. Like, this guy’s so well prepared compared to what we were doing.
Mattew Souza (25:47):
Yeah, yeah. About eight months in of like coaching. And when I had the opportunity, I originally had business partners, I, I haven’t since 2016, but I originally started with business partners.
Adam Neiffer (25:55):
Yeah. Man, guys like that though. I mean, they’re so, they’re so well equipped to like, to start an affiliate. Like he’s got so much great experience. And now, like the the things that Dawn was talking about that CrossFit is doing for affiliates and coaches, like, just in terms of tools that they’re providing to help help affiliates be successful is, it’s awesome, man. It’s just like, there’s, there’s a, there’s an incredible amount of resources available to affiliate owners that are starting today. You know,
Sevan Matossian (26:24):
Gimme an example. ’cause Craig Howard said that to me too. He said, um, there’s so many resources available now that if you fail, it’s kind of your fault.
Adam Neiffer (26:34):
Uh, yeah. I mean, I, I would say that to be true. Anytime you start something like fair, it, it’s, it’s still gonna be on you. I mean, like when we started there, you know, <laugh>, it, it was awesome. We rented a warehouse. We had some like dumbbells from Craig Craigslist. We didn’t, we just didn’t have much to go off. We didn’t know what the heck we were doing, but we, we knew we were going to give it everything we had. And either way, it’s on you to, to put in the work, to learn to, uh, yeah. To either be successful and make it happen or to, to not, and the same thing is true today, but now, like this guy that just commented, he’s been head coaching at a gym for seven years. So dude, the experience that he has just with like, uh, a member management platform, how to onboard people, um, all those types of things. And then CrossFit HQ has provided like, uh, this affiliate toolkit that basically has a playbook that gives you a step-by-step process on how to do things. And if you, um, are struggling, there are, there’s mentorships out there that you can, um, get plugged into, whether it’s through CrossFit or through, um, other like, companies that specialize in like Two
Sevan Matossian (27:42):
Brain. We’ve had Cooper on a bunch of times, like
Adam Neiffer (27:44):
Two Brain. Yep. Two brain, yep. Mm-hmm. Bunch of those things, right? Like, there’s just, there’s a, there’s a lot of opportunity, but at the end of the day, not none of that is gonna replace your desire to work hard and, you know, care. Like,
Mattew Souza (27:56):
Yeah.
Adam Neiffer (27:56):
It doesn’t matter. You, uh, you, you still gotta put in the work.
Sevan Matossian (28:01):
Uh, oh, this is a great story. I once was coaching a class <laugh>. I heard another story similar to this to the other day. I once was coaching a class and had an out of town drop-in. I witnessed a member tell the drop-in, Hey, you’re using my rack. I always used this rack. I immediately pulled the member outside to talk <laugh>. I had a friend who, who signed up at a CrossFit gym, and they started walking over to a Pullup bar and someone from behind them threw their backpack at it and is like, and look. And, and my friend turned around and looked at ’em. They’re like, it’s like, fuck. That’s, that’s hardcore. We get
Adam Neiffer (28:32):
Cola
Mattew Souza (28:33):
Quick.
Adam Neiffer (28:34):
Yeah. I feel like it’s probably done in all good fun. And it’s just like, I don’t know. I Yeah,
Mattew Souza (28:40):
Listen,
Sevan Matossian (28:40):
Listen to what a good dude Adam is. Someone gets cock blocked and I’m like, ah, it’s all in good fun, <laugh>.
Mattew Souza (28:46):
I mean, like, it’s just,
Sevan Matossian (28:48):
Oh, find another girl. I was just joking when I told that girl at the bar You were serial killer. She, there’s
Mattew Souza (28:53):
Another
Adam Neiffer (28:53):
Pool bar right next to it. Who cares? Yeah.
Sevan Matossian (28:55):
Yeah. Look at you. God, you’re a fucking good dude.
Adam Neiffer (28:58):
Yeah. I mean, there’s a lot of, I mean, that’s part of the fun with what we do. There’s a lot of friendly trash talk involved all the time, you know?
Mattew Souza (29:05):
Yeah. That’s part of the course.
Adam Neiffer (29:07):
Yeah, for sure.
Mattew Souza (29:09):
Hey, one thing I wanna know is how have you been, oh, sorry, we gonna No, no, no,
Sevan Matossian (29:11):
No, no. Go ahead. Go ahead. Uh,
Mattew Souza (29:13):
How, how were you able to balance the high level athletes in the gym, um, with the normal population? What I mean by that is, like, I, I know for a fact you’ve had to have this happen where somebody walks in the door and they’re like, Hey, this is Justin’s gym. I’m going to the games next year. Can you put me on your competitive programming? And you’re like, five minute that, you know, they learned how to squat five minutes ago, and you’re just like, oh, shit. Like, how do you, how do you manage that? I’ve always wondered how the,
Adam Neiffer (29:36):
That happened today,
Mattew Souza (29:37):
<laugh>. It did. No.
Sevan Matossian (29:38):
Shit. That’s a real scenario,
Adam Neiffer (29:40):
Dude. Yeah, but I didn’t have any competitors. <laugh>. I mean, it’s, it like, it’s really simple for us. Like our, our bread and butter is, is classes, right? Like we run 14 CrossFit classes a day in our gym from 5:00 AM until seven 30 at night. And so, like anybody that comes in, that’s just where they start. And if they’re excelling in classes and they want to.
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