Welcome to the architect of Resilience podcast, where
we explore the secrets of overcoming life's challenges and
unlocking unstoppable strength through deep personal
conversations and expert insights. Welcome
to the architect of resilience. That's the podcast
for you. I say for you because that is
really the intent of this podcast, is to have deep, meaningful
conversations diving into different aspects around
resilience. Resilience of body, mind, soul, business.
Doesn't matter whether it's physiology or
depression. We're going to tackle it all. So, really
excited today to have our guests,
Joe and Ollie from Mackie clamps here with
us to talk about, well, resilience of barbells
and plate. Staying on barbells, actually, which is,
if anybody watches my videos from way back in the day, know this is
quite a problematic issue, and, in
fact, creates a lot of emotion when it goes wrong. It
is not an enjoyable experience. So, yeah,
welcome to the show. Thank you for having us. Yeah, so
dynamic duo here. Not sure who's
Batman and who's Robin, but we've got
Joe Mackey, who is. He's got an interesting background.
Being an IFBB pro, an entrepreneur. We've got
our Olympic lifter and our mass
monster today positioned to dwarf
his. Actually, I moved the cameras around to take that out. We did.
Original setup. That was like the whole bodybuilder all
the way in front. But, Ollie, really great engineering
background. In addition to the Olympic lifting,
I'm. Trying to use my hands to push my muscles out, you know, so when
I'm sitting next to Joe, I don't look too small, you know, perfect. You know
all the tricks, man. Yeah, I wore mostly shirts.
Yeah, the other thing. So, Ollie, if you're driving a
car, you know, that's where you roll the window down and look really big. You
got the arm on the window and just kind of push it in like that.
Yeah, yeah, that's true. Absolutely. That's how you do it. I
know. You know, Philip, any, any gearhead knows this trick, right? 100%.
100%. That's like, if someone's acting crazy on the freeway
or whatever, I've had that happen to, like, someone get next to me out there.
Accident. Cut them all four. We're going back and forth and throw the window
down, hang the arm around. Oh, okay. Yeah. So it's not
for the, for listeners, it's not that. Just like, hang the arm out. You gotta,
like, give it the good side. Smush like that, and it'll blow up and
your. Your veins will stick out like you got all the
money there. 100%.
Yeah. So let's. Let's just started talking about,
I guess, the introduction, like, what brought about
you guys. Well, first just coming together. Yeah. Well, I'll start it
off. I think it's cool. You just said that
this was a problem in regards to, like, when you were lifted, which, not trying
to say those long ago. How many years ago was it when you were in
a. Oh, my God. I. Well, I. Lifted from
competitively from 2000 till 2016 and then heavy
until 2020. That is crazy. So that's. That's cool. That's
interesting information, actually. So, I mean, we. When we brought
the. And I'll get back to the whole. How we were talking about this on
a plane up here from Dallas, how we met. And I'll let him tell you
as far as that goes. But matter of fact, I'm
gonna pause it for just a second. So make sure you're speaking
into the mic. So either when you're talking to me, move it that way,
or just, like, speak into it, because it doesn't matter that you're looking at me.
Okay, cameras are here. So cool. Just go more like. Yeah,
just make sure you're facing this and don't care whether. Okay,
so talk directly into the microphone. I'm gonna hit. Go. All
right. So, yeah, we were. I'll let Ali
actually talk to you about how we met.
And I'll just say from the beginning, Ali and I were friends. We were at
the jail. We always. Every time I came to the gym, I was always
serious. If I happened to, I could always feel someone staring at me or looking
at my direction. I would look over and sure enough, it was Ali.
He's giving you the googly eyes right now. So just so you know,
he's. Look, we got him on camera. He's still doing it. He's still doing it.
So how did. Yeah, tell us, Ali. Tell us the story. How that story. Go
ahead, Ali. Yeah, it's
a pretty funny, interesting story, and
it's very Joe Mackey like story. So
I. You know, I'm me being an olympic lifter, I spend a lot of my
time doing rehab work, you know, just from having tight muscles
and the crazy stuff that we do. And
I was doing foam rolling just on the mat at destination
Dallas, the gym that we work out at. And, you know, I'm in the zone.
I'm thinking about my sets, what I'm going to do. I'm rolling out my right
latch, and I just could have sworn that I
saw a black panther or a black cat
walking by me. And, you know, it
broke my focus. And I turned around, I was like, what is that? And when
I took a second look, I saw that it was Joe Mackey's. Calves,
not him, but it was just his calves. And it was just like he was
walking by me, you know, doing his thing, and then it was like a swoosh.
And I was like, wow, what was that? And then I think that's the first
time we met. And that's. That's how we got introduced to each other.
Yeah. Yeah. I was, uh, I was walking in a gym,
and you can. And Ali actually comes up to me and,
um, I'm being serious. Every time I go to the gym, of course,
and about to get mentally focused, to lift. I don't know what body part I
was doing, but here comes Ali. I look to my right and Ali's coming with
this look on his face. And I take my headphones out. I'm like, what's up,
Ali? And he's like, how'd you get your cats like that? I was like,
Ali? Like, I mean, training them, you know,
and. But we always just had this
natural friendship. Just, you know, talking, of course, you
know, I asked Ali what he did for a living. He told me about his
background in engineering and. And I told him what I did.
You know, at the point, I think I was just obviously talking about different businesses
I was involved in and that I was doing, of course. So we always have
mutual respect for one. For one another and
fast forward to how we kind of start really
putting things together. But I don't
recall what weight I was at at that point, but
I know, I just remember Ali, every video that I
posted of either a heavy lift or heavy squad or mostly
heavy dead lils, he. He always has something crazy to say in the comments.
And that's when, you know, the match is made in
heaven, when you got the right commentary person, you know, accentuate in
your life, like, there's something here. Yeah, big time. And it's like. And
I've. And I've heard every joke, you know, I've been places
and I've, you know, had guys, people come up to me and say,
I don't know. I mean, we've all heard it, like, oh, how much are the
tickets? And I'm just like, yeah. Ha ha. Yeah, the gun show, right? I know.
But the comments I would see, you know, I'll leave with post. Sometimes I would
read it. I would just say, oh, my gosh, it would
be unique. So. And I was at that
point, obviously, I was already getting to the groove with deadlifting and lifting heavy,
of course, and I was getting
frustrated. And surprisingly, I'll get to the store here pretty
soon. But it was getting to a point to where anytime I would
do some good weight. Let's
say I remember one time I did 500 pounds, because I think before
I recall seeing somebody did it for, like, 500 pounds for
maybe 15 reps. And I was always the type to see something, to think, well,
I'm going to do more. So I remember doing 495, 500
pounds for 20 reps, and I was able to do it. But
throughout the set, the weight was shifting,
and I had already seen prior to list that
I've done, catastrophe happened, because I
don't know. I don't remember what weight it was, but I was probably doing maybe,
like, 700 pounds for reps. And, of course, I have a couple videos on our
Mac innovations page to where was doing the set. And
the clamps came off. You can see the weight already loosening mid
set. And I knew it's just a matter of time, and then obviously, the clamps
failed in a. Weights come off, and then, you know, you're tipping each
side of the bar, and it's. It's just like I said, it's. Don't know anything
about it. Never. Oh, man. It was like, you just want to put the weight
back on because you're. You're so frustrated. And I remember
people being with me. I was like, man, put the weight fuck away. But
it's all right. But the way back on, and I don't know, like, you
know, and it would just ruin, obviously, the set,
you know, from these clouds failing. And I still
need to go back and find this person, honestly, because there was a comment,
and it wasn't Ali. It was a comment in the comment
section on one of my posts where the clout fell off
and an individual said, you should just create
your own clamps. Yes. I was
like, wow, that. That is. That's the mother.
It's like you're out there. You're. You're a businessman. And I do want to spend
a day of time about talking about the trials and tribulations of
being, you know, in business and trying to start a company. Everybody wants to focus
on all the highs and the stories that you want to tell,
but it ain't. It's not easy business right now.
You can sit there as an entrepreneur trying to find that, you know, seek that
thing, but sometimes things just come in. Yep. Right.
I mean, well, and that's. That. That's the.
When we talk about the success of this company, how things have grown, that's. That's
the, like, I get goosebumps talking about it, because that's the crazy thing about it.
So it literally struck in my head.
And at that time, because it was that comment that I wrote that I
read to where it was at that point, to where I was like, you know
what? I don't know how. It wasn't even about business. It was just like,
that's a solution. That. It's a problem. It's a problem.
Exactly. And that's. That's a great point. A great mentor bot always
told me, if you ever think of wanting
to do something, what is business? Or whatever the case is, find a problem.
When you find a solution, you're winning. Okay?
So that's always stuck with me. Now, at that point,
I remember I reached out to a friend of mine. He
actually is a friend that builds, that builds my cars,
my motors, did a lot of performance on my car. He initially
was the first person I went to with this idea that I had in my
head. And I went to him, I said, hey, you know, I want to build
this clamp. Here's the problem. Here's what I needed to do
the whole nine. And we talked about it, and we learned. Talked about
it for maybe a week or two, and it kind of start going a little
dead as far as that goes. And it was
on a Friday or Thursday or Friday, like, two weeks had went
by, and I received a
message on Instagram, and it was good. Oh,
Ali. I open the messes up,
and Ali sends me a message saying, hey,
Joe, I've been thinking. He said, I've been watching your
videos, and I think it
would be great if we came together and
created the world's strongest clamp.
And I was like, dude, I didn't tell him. I was like,
this is crazy. I didn't tell him, but the first thing I told her
was, let's talk about it. I said, let's meet up
ASAP, and let's do it. And he said, okay, when you want to
meet? I said, tomorrow. And we met at the gym, and I was on a
Saturday. Cause it's. You must mention me on Friday. Cause we met on Saturday
morning. So Saturday morning comes, and
I'm thinking, obviously, you know, we're just gonna sit and talk
about it or talk about, you know, the direction we can
go. No, no, no, no. I remember
sitting. I was at. We were at destination. We met at the gym.
And Ali comes in with this folder of
material, and you got an engineer. On your hand,
brother. This is.
He's ready. 100%. 100%. I was
blown away. And, you know, I
probably would try to play it off a little bit, but I looked at it,
and in my head, I'm thinking, what's the white? It was detail
after detail after detail, spec after spec after spec, design after
design after design. And it was that
day to where we talked. And at the end of the
conversation, I didn't have to think about it. I stood up.
It's meant to be talk about, oh, 100. I stood up.
I said, let's get started. And I got
so much more to say, so I'll let all the. Obviously, I'll. Yeah.
Ollie, how long were you working on this project, though, before?
So that is a. That is a good question. You
know, I, as an engineer, I work in the oil service industry,
and in the oil service industry, everything we do is kind of
round. And the barbell clamp
has been something that's been on my mind as an engineer for a while because,
like Joe said, they fail or they do pretty good,
and because they're made out of different materials, like rubber, they wear out.
And so I've had that idea in my mind to make my own
barbell clamp, but I just didn't know how to get started
and what it should be. And after
seeing Joe do his deadlifts and the way the
bar was failing and the plates were falling off, it became obvious that it
needs to be the mat clamped, you know, naturally.
Yeah. And, you know, Joe was on his, and still is on his way to
deadlift 1000 pounds. And that was going to
be fist bump right there, Joe. Oh, yeah. There you go. That's it.
And that was going to be a great match because
he couldn't get to that thousand pounds. Cause his volume would be cut short
from the plates falling off. And
the clamps did make a difference in his training, and I'm sure in other
people's training as well who've purchased a clamp.
But back to your question is, how long have I been working on
it? I've had the concept in my head for years. And,
you know, as the mad scientist yourself, you come up with
ideas and, you know, there's not enough time to write it down or
create a prototype, but you have the vision in your head and you can see
the clamp or the product that you want to develop, and you just needed that
little bit of push and a little bit of connection.
Coincidence which Joe and I had to make the next product.
Yep. That's an interesting conversation. Cause I get hit that
question quite a bit. Like, how long did it take from the first time you
had the idea to product realization? I'm like, oh, that. 110
years, six years. Like, they're like, what? Like,
these don't happen overnight. You know, it's. They're
ideas that generate. And sometimes,
yeah, it takes quite a long time to percolate into
reality. And even so, a lot of times, they're
just solutions, at least in my world, because, you know, having a manufacturing background,
being able to make a solution and be using it in my
gym for years, and then go, maybe. Maybe other people
might be interested in this. Yeah. Now, my solution for the
weights falling off the bar, which I'm well, uh, well versed
in, I think that's my most, uh, watched
video ever, is a squat that just. The weights are filing, falling
over. Although I think it saved me at the end of the day from the,
uh, the spotter malfunction.
But tons of you'll watch my videos with bands strapped
around the weights and, like, all this. And my thousand pound deadlift
bar I custom made. Like, it's a. It's a
Texas. It was a Texas deadlift bar center. And then
I extended the sleeves so that I would have more
working here. Yeah. So I have, you know, a singular
custom bar that I used in the training program for that
because of. Because of this problem. Wow. That's insane.
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And that's crazy that, like you said, we're talking about that.
So it's like, now we'll shift it to chapter
two. And chapter two
is the creation of the Matt clamp, which is also
another cool story. So I'll kind of
give a little bit of history, not much, but in regards to how I am
personally, even on a personal level and a business level. And Ali,
obviously, fortunately and not so unfortunately,
has seen in regards to how a, when it comes to
business and, you know, but business pertains to like,
life in general. Like, no excuses, like, don't talk about
it, you know, if you say you're gonna do it, commit, do it, you know,
the whole, all those, the, let's. Spend a little time with that.
Absolutely. You know, this is, this is,
you know, value is really in some of these aside discussions. I
mean, want to tell the story of Mackie, I don't want to interrupt you on
that, but I'm interested in your
background in becoming an IFBB
pro and the level of what do you
look at the discipline, the things as it relates to what
you've learned in the gym and how to overcome
the struggles, the challenges and how do you face a non
standard environment. So you've got a very
regimented, disciplined approach which also creates
behaviors and training, but a very non regimented
life if you're actually starting businesses on the side instead of
being, you know, somebody that's trying to get endorsements and
cover enough so that they can focus solely on training. Very different. Yep.
So I'm really interested because I had a, you know, similar
experiences in my profession. Like
I was chasing, trying to be the strongest in the world and everyone else was
a, you know, an athlete, a gym owner, maybe some
training and I was out there like with a
family, full professional career, and it was just like, there's nobody
yeah. Out there. So tell, tell me about that story.
It goes pretty deep actually, and super deep actually. And
I'll even try not to get too emotional about it, but cuz I'll have you
seen this side. But it's, it's very deep because it's
coming up on a certain month date as far as it goes.
But at one point in my life, kind of like we said, I was
bodybuilding, bodybuilding, bodybuilding and spending my
last dollar to, you know, get my meals
in, pay for a registration and thinking, you
know, cuz I started off in regards to
bodybuilding being good, you know, doing
a local show as an office, winning and
you know, thinking that I was just gonna win every show after
that. And I remember winning one show and
then went to the next show and won another show. And then I went to
nationals thinking I was gonna go pro and I was gonna get this contract and
this and this, this, this and I lost.
Yeah. All you gotta do is you just get to that pro card time. Life's
made, all works out, right. You just hit that milestone.
Not at all. And that's even a talk I even have with
individuals. Cause I mentor, you know, obviously I do a
little bit of coaching when it comes to people's health, lifestyle training, if the person
wants to compete, of course. And the only way I know how to
be is genuine and just open in regards to, you know, what
I did and what I like to preach and show and when
I discuss in regards to like, yeah, going. Pursuing
bodybuilding is a great goal and it's something that you can apply when it comes
to everyday life and, but it's like also have
other, you know, for, make sure you could afford it, you know, because
I did it the other way at one point to where I did bodybuilder,
bodybuilder bodybuilding, and I went broke and that didn't
obviously work out so well. But as far as this, the
ethic in regards to how this mentality and this drive
and this force and his willpower came, it's,
it's, it's, it comes from a very deep place. Uh, you know,
my parents have been together for over 50 years. My mom and dad are still
alive. My dad was military. He always raised us, my
brother and I, which is two years older, to lift weights,
eat protein and all of the above. It just
wasn't in me when I was young, you know, it just, um,
it really start to grow on me, honestly. Until I went to college
and then I got more involved, of course. And I remember going
from college from 180 pounds, and I
just wanted to be over 200 pounds at that point. So I just remember eating,
eating, eating, and I went from 180 to 240 pounds,
naturally. And I, I was, I liked
it, of course. And, you know, so working out at that point just kind of
grew on me. Now, coming home after college,
same thing. I was eating, I was training, you know,
started a couple things or two. I went from 240, then I got over to
the 300 pound plus at that point. I remember being like 19 years
old at that point. And people thought I was pro back then because I was
just a big 300 plus guy. Yeah, yeah, you know,
at a young age and very strong even at that point.
And so I was always known back then for being a big
guy. I would go to the competitions and, you know, I walk in, of course.
I just like being known as Big Joe. That's what people called me.
And quick question. Did you have those big caps back then,
too? I did not. I remember one of my. I called
my mentor, a good friend of mine. It's crazy. Cause I just meant one year,
my cabs just blew up.
Like, I remember training them all the time, and, like, three months went by. Nothing.
Six months went by, and literally, it just seems like I woke up one day
and it was like, oh, like. And that set yesterday really worked.
They're there. And I remember the first. I noticed it then. You know, you're
really officials. Like, when someone says, how'd you get your calves like that? That was
like, oh, they are big. So. So, honestly,
I trained cash religiously all the time. At one point,
they didn't grow on a week by week basis, and that's honest
truth. It just seems like one day I hit a growth spurt and they in
a group, so, yeah, I'll take it. So.
And overall, when it comes
to this. This place,
I was in a relationship. Of course. We had a child, a
baby boy. He was born with a heart condition. He was born with hypoplastic left
heart syndrome. The day after he was born,
I remember going to the store to pick up a car
seat, and I remember getting a call from my lady at the time, and
she was crying, and I was like, what's wrong? She told me,
he has a heart condition, and he is going to need open heart surgery.
So I'm shocked, of course. I rushed back to the hospital. We have a talk
with the surgeon, and they did heart
surgery on them the next day. Everything went smooth.
Hypoplastic left heart syndrome, you know, if you look it up, it'll show
that you need surgery when the baby is born,
because the heart, the left ventricle doesn't develop all the
way. So they had to go in and create this system, and
it's. It's not common, but it's not rare neither. So
he recovered. They had to do another.
Any person with this condition, you have to do another surgery at three months
and then another one at three years old. So. And I
might have got that wrong. It might be five months. But he had his second
surgery. He did well, made a full recovery.
Months later, I get a call from my
lady at the time that, you know, just. Something
seems off. So we take him into the hospital, of course, and then, sure enough,
he caught an infection. And it should have been something
mild, but his body was really
fighting one thing, and it would beat this, and then something else would come. His
body was kind of fighting the surgery in other words. So,
basically, long story short, I won't go into too much detail, but I saw my
son in a hospital from seven months to
ten months that he passed away. So when that
happened, the things that I remember,
you know, which is why I'm so. I think I'll lead
those this. But I've never gone into detail, but this is kind of
specific in regards to, like, when people have come to me, ask me to do
a document, these. These are some of the things that, of course, I want the
audience to know because, you know, this is why
I am at that point to where sometimes I don't like
excuses, I don't like
people that talk. I don't. I don't like complainers, I don't
like, you know, whiners. And it goes to a deeper
place, which means me
personally, obviously, I saw my son
fighting, right? I saw him as a little baby
fighting, fighting every day of his life. And. And
he didn't have a choice on him
passing away, you know, obviously, you know, I'm a man of God. My faith decided,
of course, you know, God wanted him up there with him. But
I saw my son. I saw his power. I saw his strength. I
saw everything that he went through. And I
saw, like, even when they had to do a surgery on him again,
I, at that point, was just like, man, they, they are like, they're
like, they're, like, tearing him up. They're cutting him up. And I would see him
recover. And I was still coming there a week or two
later. I would see my son every day. But I was. Once he fully recovers,
and I see a smile on his face, he's still smiling because it's just like,
man, he's, he's still, he's still fighting. So
when I hear someone, you know, talk about,
and here's the thing, mental health, it's a real
deal. Depression is a real deal. Of course, I
always. I'm a great listener, right. You know, and these things that
happen, things, bad things happen in all of our lives,
right? And the way I describe these things is
like, you know, you have a choice in regards
to when these things take place. You can either go
left or you can go right. Left is chaos,
you know, dark place. It happens. I temporarily went there
right when that happened, I got in trouble. I
was looking for trouble. I would go out. I
would go to bars, I would go to clubs. I wouldn't. I wouldn't. I wouldn't
look for trouble, but I would. I would welcome it. Which means
if someone says something or did something, it's like, okay,
now I get to, you know, take it out on this
person or whatever the case is. And that got me in trouble. That got me
in jail a couple nights from being in fights, beating people
up. And I remember one time I was in jail from being someone
else. And I just remember reflecting and
thinking, like, my son wouldn't be happy with what
I'm doing. And it was at that point.
And here's the deal. I remember the lady I was with at the time.
It's so many things that took place back then after that happened.
I've always said this because it's like, I've been in situations to where
I've had someone, you know, try to rob me, pull a gun on me.
I've had situations to where I see, I
say this, I should either be dead or in prison. Okay, seriously.
And I remember her being with me at that
point. And she was around a lot of things back then, and
she would always say, you're the luckiest person I know.
Like, you're like, the stuff I've seen with you. She was like, you're just
lucky. And things would happen to him. Just like, man, I was scratching my head
and think, how. How is that, like, why didn't that
happen? Or how am I still here? And. And I
said, it's a bigger story. December 17 is when
he passed away. So obviously December, the day is coming up. I haven't told.
I'll leave this as far as it goes, but I'm saying this because it's
like, every year. And, you know, even though this happened in
2010, it doesn't necessarily get any easier. But
this is also when I turn it on more. This is when
I, I usually break prs. This is usually when
business and exceeds even more.
It's when for sure, if someone is like, I'm
tired or this, this, like, I
can't, I can't be around that. But it's also, I'm also very selective in
regards to the group and people I surround myself
with that are, you know, like this. Like, we all have things that happen in
our life. And that's why I say at the end of the day, it's. It's
based off of how we, we handle those things that take place.
And, you know, at the end of the day, it's.
I feel like, you know, it's okay to be down. You're going to get kicked
down a couple times. And I know Rocky has a saying, but it's like, what's
the saying? It's not. I mean, help me out, guys. It's not how hard you
get kicked. It's about basically stand down. I don't know the word for word,
but it's like, I 100% agree with that because it's like you're going to get
kicked, it's going to hurt. And it's honestly your choice. You decide
to stay down or use it and get your ass back up and go. So,
yeah, thank you for sharing that. That's a really powerful story.
Absolutely. My takeaways from that
are, you know, just acknowledgement of there's things outside
of our control, there's things that happen to us and. Or
those around us, and trying to hide
from those and run from those doesn't work. You know, we, you know,
accepting that. But at the same time, that doesn't mean that you
can't be positive, hey, my son is
dying, or maybe myself,
and being able to go, I'm thankful and
grateful, though, of where I'm at now and what I can have from this
opportunity, because I still have the beauty of being able to see
him smile when he's in that bed. To be able
to have that moment and understand,
even though your short time with him, you know, was ten
months, is to have that
in your life so that you are focused on
more important things and the smaller minutiae of things that were in there before.
You understand that. And I felt that depth in our first
conversations and why, you know, our relationship has
moved as fast as just how straightforward you
are. Like, no nonsense. Here's where we're at. And I reciprocate
because I've got similar. Similar
philosophy and approach and experiences. There's one thing I always say, not to cut
you off, Chris, but it's like you. I feel like you'd always look in a
person's eyes, even though we haven't met in person until now. But I thought, I'll
leave this. I said, he's got that, you know, look in his eyes and.
And I have. I have developed great relationships. I haven't been looking at your caps
that way.
But, you know, it just. It just goes regardless of where it's like,
similar instincts usually tend to bond, you
know, together as far as that goes. And. And I really respect
that as well, too. Yeah. So, yeah, that's what I took from that.
And thank you for sharing. And I got another calf story to lighten it
up. So this is. This is when I knew I had good calves.
Yep. I'm in Australia and we've got all the best of the best from
around the world there competing. And I'm warming up.
Dan Green's warming up. Eddie Cohn's warming up. Zaheer's warming
up. We're all there in the same area, and Dan looks over
at me and he's like, dang, what do you do in your training
to get calves that big? I can see
Eddie stop, Ed, cone stop. And he's listening, too.
And I'm like, shit, I'm going to remember this moment.
I got Dan Green ask me about my calves and Ed Cohn listening in. I'm
like, absolutely. That's a moment. Absolutely. That's crazy, because
it's. I remember when the first time Dan Green reached out,
and it's freaking Dan Green, you know? Yeah. And, you
know, coming into this industry as well, too, and, and seeing
Ed Cohn reach out, and I was just like, man, not in a
million years. And, you know, that's a whole another
topic as far as it goes. But it's like, man, having
conversations, you know, that's even probably another subject we're going to talk about in regards
to generation. Like, I was raised in this generation to where it's
like, I respect the ones that have been there and done it.
You know, even on the bodybuilding side, I remember being young and trying to rush
to the gym to meet Johnny Jackson and Branch Warren. And if I saw
them, and I did at one point, I would just stand back and just, you
know, watch and wait for the perfect time. And
obviously, you know, respect. Yes, sir. No, sir.
Excuse me, sir. You know, I didn't walk up with hey, bro, or, you
know, like, I'm just some, these, some Thomas'generation, really just
kind of makes me shake my head a little bit, of course. But it's like
there was just, you know, my dad always taught me
growing up as a kid to obviously, and it was a natural thing for
me to do to show respect to the people who have been there.
And I'm still like that now to this day. Even coming up on this power
side with doing these lifts that I've done, like, when
I've had contact with these people,
Ed Cohen, Dan Green, you know, Silverman with CT, reached out. It was
just like, man, like, it's, I don't care how
good I am in something or how popular I am or known,
like, and there's still a couple on my list where I'm waiting for him to
reach out to. So then it's like. But at the same time, when
I meet or talk to them as well, too. It's like, you know, I'm not.
It's not, you know, this is not about being, like, starstruck, but it's just.
It's just a level of respect to where it's like, man, like, this is
cool. Like, thank you. And so that's cool that you mentioned those guys,
for sure. Cause I've always had huge amount of space for you guys, for you
guys have been there and done it, so it's pretty awesome. Yeah. It's something
I've definitely enjoyed after being in the sport for a while, is
getting to meet the people that I have and the people that really stick with
it in the long term, there's a lot of churn of newer people. The next
hot thing, the next, next, next, next, next. Oh, they're gonna be. But
so many people come in and out, and they don't have the longevity of
understanding. This is not an instant gratification. You can blow up
big, you can start lifting big. But to be in this game long term,
it's decades. It's decades. And
that's where I think that there's a lot to learn. And unfortunately, I think a
lot of people don't learn in the
gym. They learn in the gym, but they don't learn how to
apply that outside. And that's why I was interested in having our
conversation. And also, at the same time,
watching you work with Ollie, who's incredibly skilled.
I've seen his work. But in this space
of being, moving from
engineering to entrepreneur and business
and how that experience has been for you, Ollie, as well
as what you've been able to learn from
Joe over the course of this. Yeah, pretty
interesting. You know, you said learning from Joe.
There's a joke that I've made about Joe, and
it's the. You know, it's kind of a joke. And
I've seen him do his thing. You know, we've. Since we've created the clamp, we've
gone to different people, different investors, different
manufacturers. And somehow, when Joe
gets ahold of something
and he focuses on it, you know, and he talked about what his drive
is, which I didn't know, which makes a lot of sense
now. And so when Joe gets ahold of something and that drive that he puts
into it, I call that the Joe magic.
It's the Joe because it is like Matt, because, you know, I'm an
engineer, right? We are people who go to school, and then
they. We go into a cubicle, into an office, and we get really, really good
at designing and doing little things, and we are in our bubble,
and to come out you. Yeah, working outside of that zone is really
challenging for a lot of engineers. Yeah, I've seen that. Yeah. And, you
know, Joel testify to that because he is always on, because,
you know, he's a businessman. Right. And the easiest part about the Matt
clamps was the designing of it for me. Right. And
like any other business, the hardest part is getting your product out there and selling
it. And that's why we partner up with Joe Mackey. Right. And we're trying to
get some of that Joe magic on the Matt clowns. And, you know, honestly,
we've been on a rocket ship. The product has been launched for
five months now. It's only been five months. And we're making huge
strides. And that is thanks to, of course, the design itself
is robust. You know, without a doubt, it is the world's strongest
barbell clamp there. We got it up on the site right now or
on page. Yeah, this is our Christmas version. You know,
we've christmased it up for the. For the spirit. I love it.
That looks like some high quality production you've gone
on there. Mighty impressed. Yeah. We have a guy named Mustafa out of
Dallas, and he's our go to guy when it comes to creating quality
content. And. Thank you. I appreciate it. There's a lot of work. I make the
website myself. I'm the technical guy. Right. And so
the clamp itself, being exceptional is one thing, but getting it out to
the world, that's where you need the Joe magic, like I was saying. And that's,
you know, Joe. Joe brought that to the table and killed it,
honestly. Right. So this is why we're good partners, because I take
a. Take care of technical side and he takes care of everything else that needs
to be done, aka the business side. Yeah. What's
been scary in that process for you? Tell me about some
moments where you've been like, I don't know, I'm
not ready for this. Like, I'm a little. I'm a little scared.
I'll answer that. They'll let you answer and feed off of.
But it's when we had the
clamp design, the first model, which at that point had
three mechanisms. Right. And it had a
different set of contact patches. And we tested it.
We did a lot of testing on this clamp to get it where it is
right now. And we tested it one day at the
gym and it failed. And
I was not happy because it was probably less than a
week away when I had to go live with Larry wheels
and I wanted to clamp there with me and
Larry to obviously. Show Larry that'd be some good hype
material. Yes. Yeah. The hype machine of. He's got a follow. Yeah.
You want that 100%. This is a moment. Yeah. We want to own
this. Oh, 100%. And we tested it out
literally days, maybe a week before I was headed out there to LA.
And the clamp failed with a
test that we did. Was not happy. Ali knew it.
And I asked Ali, I said why? Why did it
fail? And I'll see. Like I say, it's very technical.
Engineering of course starts giving me the
breakdown and you know, specs and this and this
and the percentage ratio, the whole nine.
And you know, the, the degree of
freedom, all of this. And it's basically to where I'm asking Ali,
why is the clamp failings? What I want to know. And he's like well it's
possibility that it might be the bar or it might be this.
And I was upset and I was like I won't say exactly what I said,
but obviously I have always treated Ali with respect. But he knows if I start
cursing, you know, I'm not mad at him, just the
principal. And it was basically at a point to where it's like this
is not acceptable. We're not going to take a product
and put it into the market of it possibly
being the best or possibly holding up to what it's supposed to
do. And I said go back. Like we got to go back and fix it.
It's not going to work. And he
either that day or the next day called me and we, he
created a solution and we brought it back to the gym
and it was stupid straw. Yeah. Is that
the current clamping force? That is like. Yes. How many, how many
times over the, you know, the
top clamping force in. The industry, it is
twice as strong as the IWF
competition collars. And those are the 2.5 kg that you
seen in competition. Now ours of course is exactly one pound
and it's twice as strong. The holding
force. And by holding force I mean how much force does it
take to make the clamp slide? The one we've
tested, you know, we've, we've not just done calculations, we've actually done physical testing
to back up our claims. It's between
2500 and 2800 pounds depending
on how hard you can tighten it. And that
is like I said, twice as strong as second
best. And we've actually, we haven't published this, but we've tested all the
clamps that were on the market, and on average, these clamps
can hold between 406 hundred pounds. Some of the big
names that we're not going to mention here, that's how much they
hold. And unfortunately, those are temporary as well. Like car tires made out of
rubber. Rubber needs to be replaced. So when Joe says, nobody
talks about the repairable, and there is no, they don't give you
or even tell you how to do. Like, it's, it's a replacement item.
Like, there's wearable components. Right. And a lot of the clamps. Correct? Correct.
And that is one thing we took advantage of. Detects.
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a good point that these clamps are supposed to be a reusable
item. Right. And these companies who make these clamps take advantage of that because it
gets them reoccurring sales, and we wanted to put an end to
that. And this is why you guys can see here on the screen
the serviceable design section that's on our website as well.
And in the top, you can see the contact patches, which are those
three black squares. That's what makes contact with the barbell. And
you can replace and remove those when they wear out.
You just take that ring out, that silver ring. You don't need a special tool
for it, just a screwdriver. And that is something that
we created to enhance the lifting community in terms
of a product that we've developed. Yeah. And so
that style of that hardened bite material like that is the same
one used in machining applications where you're putting, I mean,
incredible forces of these machine tools to machine
titanium and aluminum, where you're clamping that into
giant multimillion dollar machines that are grabbing pieces of material, can
flow it. It looks like a little piece of material, but I know the design
on what's here, and I've seen your designs with the hardness specs,
and the bite is like this mighty bite style that is
being used in those industrial applications. That is freaking
insane. Strong people don't know just what that is. And
so I feel I need to point that out. Yeah, yeah. Thanks for pointing it
out. And, you know, that's exactly what the mat clamps are. The Mac clamps are
taking advantage of some of the standards in the industry that already
exist and bringing them into the lifting community so
we can have higher quality training. And essentially, that's been the goal. Yeah, the interface,
I mean, that is literally like 75 years ahead of what other people
are using. Yeah. You know, the first
time we made the mat clamps, we felt like we've done something
here, and it was great. And I kind of want to bring up the thing
we tried in the mad scientist lab, that. Yeah.
Because that is also 75 years ahead
of its time. Tell us about that, if you can.
Yeah, so I had to put
Joe and Ollie through the paces. Well, actually, we're just touring the science lab, you
know, because why not? And they're like, what is that thing with some wood on
it? I'm like, well, that's the newest version of the transformer bar that's taken it
to another level. So
Ollie had goosebumps. He's like, I can't load my back.
Squat heavy because of back, you know, pump pain
problems. Can't train it that often. I'm like, here, here, try this out. Let me
set it on this setting. And so anybody that has a current
transformer bar, we're going to have some components that.
That you can upgrade back to this version. It's going to be so you can
get some of the same effects. So it's backwards compatible. Some of
the features like what you experienced. But there's also the
bar design itself has some innovative changes. So, yeah, it's for our audience.
If you're not familiar with the transformer bar, we're able to manipulate spinal
mechanics and change how we load the muscles and tissues and
joints and allow you to be able to train a lot
more frequently with more volume and
the squatting on the new version, you have absolutely everybody
I've had. I mean, just beautiful squats. We'll have to. I know
you'll be sharing on social media, like, the pictures and videos we took, because
you're asked to fucking grasp with perfect position
and, yeah, go ahead and tell about, like, what you guys were feeling, because
that's interesting. Yeah. And, you know, obviously
I'm an Olympic weightlifter, right? I do snatches and clean and jerks. And
to supplement those. Thanks, Joe. Yeah, to supplement those, we
do squats as to grass squats. And that is the best way to
get specific strength in those positions. And I have
extremely long femurs, which is uncommon for Olympic lifter.
My femurs are longer than my torso. So you could imagine that most of the
squats I do are good morning squats by nature. And I have
tried. That is. Yeah, that's how the, that's how that
works. Based on your femur and torso length. I mean, you can see it in
the chair you're at right now, right? Yeah, it's. It makes me a really fast
runner, but a terrible squatter. Yes. And I've tried
these bars before that, you know, shift the center of gravity,
but after trying that one that you showed me, and, you know, it
didn't work for me. It just was too uncomfortable. It didn't make any sense. Now,
after the bar that we've tried up there, and are they coming out
soon? They should be out in January. Yeah. Okay. See, just, yeah, January,
new year, new me. You're right. I'm going to post about it
because I'm going to be one of the first people buying that bar. And from
Olympics point of view, and, you know, the back pain, I'm a lifter. I'm
limited by the amount of volume I can do and the more,
you know, that's hindering me from getting to the next level.
And with that bar, that setup that you gave me,
I can do probably 150%
of my current volume, and that is plenty if
I had to. I mean, I don't even know if there are any drugs out
there that can get your performance that high. And this is just a bar. I'm
glad you get this. So many people, they like, oh, I'm not in, you know,
whatever pain, I don't need that I'm young, or that just doesn't
connect with them. And the fact you understand, like, and you said that right away,
you're like, I'm buying this. Can I be first on this list? Like, I'm gonna
be able to squat a lot more. And that's what I need to do. And
that's what my coach, like, I'm glad you understand, like, that concept and
how that rolls into place. Cause a lot of people aren't grasped, like,
our, our bars are performance enhancers. Like, that's the
point. Like, what was your experience with it? Yeah, well, I'll
just say this. It's a kind of, you, you kind of hit it the
nail on the head in regards to. Because I've
tried other things before, you know, similar bars as far as that goes,
and it's the concept when I did this bar, for
one, not having any forward
momentum going down and be able to really activate
the quads at the bottom end and go into a deep squat. And also without
having any knee pain, because literally, like,
my right knee. And, you know, I don't care about
making this known or whatever the case is, but, you know, at
most times, I stay away from these guys as far as it goes, but, and
usually when it comes to leg day, I have to warm my knee,
like doing. I think you saw the first set of squats. I did. I was
very. The first one you did, you did a quarter. Cause you were very tentative,
and I knew, I'm like, there's something going on. That was that, and then
Ollie jumped on there, like, let me try that again. And,
yeah, you could tell the surprise 100%. And that's
not, that's it. I'm man. So, long story short,
when we have the bargain, you know what that's gonna. Do for your leg.
So this is gonna be innovation and body like that, they.
The volume. Oh, yeah, the volume and the muscle engagement too,
right? 100. But you both notice that. Yeah, that.
So the muscle engagement that you
mentioned. So as Ollie lifter,
we understand that the movement of your body starts with the
hips. It starts from the hips and goes out to the extremities.
So every movement that starts starts with the core. So it's your hips and your
spine and the glutes are the biggest muscles. So any movement that you do in
Olympic lifting, like a snatch or clean and jerk squat, the
contraction has to start with the hip, aka the glutes, and move
throughout the rest of the body propagate. And
I've had such a hard time trying to get glute activation, proper
glute activation, mind you, I can burn out my glute medias minimus
piriformis. Every muscle except for the glute maximus, which is
the performance of the human body, is the glute
maximus and within. And this
is why I had goosebumps. Two squats, guys. It took two.
I had one plate on each side, like, it was 135, right? And I
was like, wow. I activated my glutes on the outside of my leg, which
I have not been able. It would take me 45 minutes of warming up to
even get to that point. And I had that within two squats. And that's, that's
just amazing how, how personalized you can make it. And back to
bodybuilding if you want to, for the, for the ladies that
do bikini wellness, right? And you know, their lower body is very
important in those groups.
So that's something that they can take advantage of in the bodybuilding as well,
especially the ladies. Right. Joe and Chris, you said
something very specific. A problem that I always
have 100% of the time is that pain in
my lower back, that inflammation that, oh, I
squatted heavy and my back is flamed up, my legs not
so much, but my back, you know, and it's like,
you know, can you explain that to me as far as. Yeah, so,
and I think in your realm, too, it's not necessarily like the pain
sometimes so much as the pump is what I see with those
bodybuilders. Right. So, because bodybuilders have a lot of,
a lot of ways of enhancing their blood flow, they've built it into their
physiology. And so you, you see them start training, their muscles
just blow up well because
of the breakdown in patterns due to the position changes,
that thoracolumbar musculature in the back, right
below the TL junction, like all that, you'll see hypertonicity,
and it's ready. And as soon as that starts pumping, that pump
creates so much pressure and problems. And so it's not like, oh, my
back hurts, but it's like throbbing and sweat, like it's
this pump. And so people, yep, you know, it's like,
oh, I can't. And some people like, change their supplementation on the day of
just because it's like, oh, I don't want to take a, you know, a vasodilator
before, before a leg day because I won't be able to, I'll be too pumped
to do my workout 100%. And that
is, that's going to be entirely inhibitive to your training because now you
can't train these big mass generating, you know,
muscles or power generating muscles like gluten if you're an athlete, right.
So, yeah, if we can get the body in the good positions
where those aren't on and get overused early and fatigue out with
that big pump. Yep. You can just keep going.
That's incredible. Incredible. But the one thing
is the weights were sliding off the
barbecue. I think the best
barbells need the best clamp. So, really excited to see what we can come
up with. 100%. It sounds like we're all into
the same business with innovative techniques in
regards to what we're going to be doing going forward. So sounds like we need
to. So tell me a little bit more about your
current journey as it relates to bodybuilding and this thousand
pound deadlift and where you see the future ahead of you
and what challenges you anticipate. You know, I actually wrote about that
on my feed yesterday because
we've been talking briefly, you know, today and I've seen how
your, your mind is. It's a machine.
And I noticed that with myself just in a different
way. And, and that's how it is with power,
bodybuilding business, marketing. I
don't see it as, I don't, I take market out because these things that
happen naturally and it's not for attention
or cloud or whatever. It's because I enjoy it. I love it, of course, and
it just creates, I feel like obviously the audience, you know,
sees the passion behind it, of course, and obviously the,
you know, the excitement, of course. And, and I talked about this on
my, my feed the other day in regards to, it's,
it's literally like the best of all worlds because of,
I never, this wanted to just be, I never just wanted just to be a
bodybuilder with a good physique. I never wanted to be
just powerful or strong. Coming up as a
bodybuilder, I remember hearing it and, you know, thinking,
you know, well, I can achieve that because, you know,
back when they talked about bodybuilding, when I was coming up was,
oh, bodybuilders aren't strong. And I was,
and back then I was thinking, well, you know, I think I'm pretty fairly strong,
but it's like I always want to be known as, you know, I'm a
bodybuilder, but I still want to be a powerhouse. Like I
used to love going to the gym and, you know, being known as one of
the strongest in the gym with having a
bodybuilder like type physique. So, and that's still
what's, what lives in me now to this point. You know,
I have this goal of now, you know, we've done 910
pounds on a kabuki bar at CT Fletcher's event last
year. And now this year we're going
for bigger goals as far as that goes, but also want
to do it in regards to complementing the
physique that I have as a professional bodybuilder.
You know, and I'll be honest with you, I've, I have,
I have tested waters in regards to, you know what? I have
this 880 pound deadlift coming up. Let me, let me
go eat. And, you know, I gained weight and I remember I did a deadlift
and I was about 290 something pounds. I had gained like 1213 pounds in
like a month or whatever. And I was like, okay, let me see how this
feels. And, and I don't like it. I
noticed because with myself, I have
noticed that where my max, uh, period is
in regards to what my max, uh, strength is,
and it's usually around and it has a lot to do with the way I
look and a gauge of where my
weight is at, which is honestly, between 275 and
282 and, and in good shape.
So. And it's like, and I think as well, too, because it's like if I,
if I look at myself now and I look at myself last year or the
year before that or whatever the case is, and I say this all the time,
it's like you can't help but to get bigger or
put on muscle mass or muscle tissue when you're eating protein, eating your
meals, lifting heavy. And, you know, and I heard as well, too,
I heard my buddy say at the gym the other day that, you know, it's
a real straight shooter. He's like, dude, what are you doing? I'm like, what do
you mean? He's like, you're looking bigger than ever. And I was like, I'm not
doing nothing. Like, I'm eating and I'm training. He's like,
you know, get your butt on stage. Cause, like, you're even bigger than where you
were last year. And in my head, I've known this for years to where it's
like, yeah, your body, we. I don't see it myself, but
may I guess maybe other people do, of course, you know, and it just happens
year after year until I back off of food and regards, where I'm not
eating x amount of meals a day. And I was eating no supplementation and then
training as well, too. You know, the body's just gonna keep
evolving, you know? And so now it's like, where are we going
forward? It's like, you know, and I wrote about this to
where I'm going to go for this stupid,
crazy amount deadlift. Why? Because I feel
mentally driven, that I know I could do it. I feel the power is
there. Obviously. We both know, and we all know you gotta be a little crazy
as well, too. And it's like, that's a whole nother topic in regards to, like,
the mental side of it, which ali will tell you
how I am every little when
it's coming down to a big lil, it's, it's, you
know, I'll let him tell you that because it's obviously, that's a whole nother story,
which I'm sure you can actually I've seen your video. So it's like,
I already know. And,
and that's, that's, that's, that's, that's why it's so cool, man. Cuz it's just like,
I. Go ahead, man, I'll keep talking. I think that
that's just a really great point to pull
everything home here today. And that
story, to me, articulates some great
things. So, Joe, all that conversation, what I'm hearing
is everything that you do in your life
via being a bodybuilding, crafting within
that space, bodybuilding strength, crafting
as it relates to business, all this is, it's a big creative
outlet, right? Hey, the architect, right?
You are the architect of many things in your life, and that gives you a
vast level of outputs to create that in ways that didn't exist
for others, and to create your own fashion of that.
But what Joe is doing
is also running that through his lens,
his lens of his values. And this is the really
important lesson there for me. And listen to this is how powerful that is.
Because it's easy when you're multitalented
and you're a creative person, to get lost in too many things. And
sometimes, like, how do I, how do I know what to focus on,
when to focus it on? So this is where having your value
set your intentions in the world. So, values, another word for
intentions, but it's what you use as your filtering
device. And so it's really important to understand that for
anybody that is wanting to mark change, to
create themselves, and to fashion the world around
them, is to do exactly as Joe is doing. Experiment in those
different realms. Don't be held by any boundaries. Respect the
past, but then use your own. What is your
unique set of values as your lens for all
of that. And so, I really appreciate you,
Sarah, and your stories, as I relate to that. Hopefully I'm not off point in
my assessment of what I'm hearing here. I'm just like, man,
it's like, honestly, with all of us here, I feel like we could
talk for seven days straight. Cause there's so much. And
it's like I'm leaving some stuff out, just so I don't talk too much. But
it's absolutely, I mean, you're right on the point as far as goals. And I
know once I get started, I talk. So that's where I'm thinking. It's
a good point. Ollie, did you have any last words that you wanna put in
here? Yeah, you know, I've known your work has been
pretty inspiring and I went and bought your book
to read it and actually get into it.
Right. I don't want to be an outsider looking in. I want to get into
the mind, and I know the things that you do online. So would you mind
signing a book for me real quick? I have it right here. Holy hell. Yeah.
Yeah. Also.
All right, here we go. I really appreciate that, and I thought
it would be appropriate since we're here at architect. What
better place? It's going to be great. Yeah, yeah.
Could you make it out to Mackie innovations, please? Okay. Because we
want to, as a company, use those principles that you speak about.
Really appreciate that. You know, this makes it really unique for
us because now we have Chris's book, you know,
signed on the podcast. Maybe we should put this book up for auction on
eBay.
And, you know, Joe and I, we have a company archive
where we keep all the stories and the funny things and the cool things
that happen on our journey with Mack innovations. And this, I think I spelled
calf wrong, but that's even better.
Thank you. So this book is definitely going into
Mackie innovations. Let's live
better through strength, calf, friends forever.
Thank you. So this is going to go in our company archive for sure, after
I get done reading it on my flight back home. All right, so we appreciate
it. Awesome. Thank you. Well, I want to. Anybody
that wants to check out and join on our discord
community, you know, follow the links on the Architect for Resilience podcast
on that. Hoping to have
Joe and Ollie provide an assignment related to some of the topics
that we had this week around creative expression in the
entrepreneurial way. So check out that
this week is extra special for our endless
assignment assessment assignment. We've got two
guests on really great individuals in their own rights and
are creating a tremendous business as well
that I love to hear more about. And I'm really excited to hear about
what. What they've got in store and would like you to task yourself with
this week. I think a lot of it, what I've personally
done and. And I've been fortunate enough to
be around some really great mentors coming up,
and it really came down to self evaluated, and it
even starts with the smallest things, and even. This is another funny
conversation club. Had these talks with Ali, but you can take something
small, like, you know, saying, uh, I remember having a conversation with a
lifter at the gym, and I asked him, I said, um, he
was getting ready for a power lift, the meet. And I said, what are you
going to hit at the meet this weekend? And he says, oh, I'm
going to try to do this, I'm going to try to do this. And I'm
a, you know, if this happens, then I'm trying to do that. And I said,
stop. I said, you just failed. And I was like, he's like,
what do you mean? I said, first of all, tell yourself
what you're going to do. I'm trying not to curse, but I just get
real passionate about this. But it's like, take all of the
little, I'm trying to do this, maybe I'll do this. You know, if this
happens, whatever the case is, I have never achieved anything in life
by saying I'm gonna go try to do this. Or maybe if this
happens, then hopefully this will take, hopefully, maybe try
those little keywords like that. I don't even use, I don't even like them. I'll
literally tell you straight up, you know, he's checking his head right now
because not in regards to business or what we doing, but just in regards
to other things that we've talked about as far as it goes to where
those little key words like that make a huge difference
to just self evaluation and your four momentum with doing things in life.
So I'm big on law of attraction. I'm big
on seeing division. Every big lip I've always
done, I've always posted it, I've always told my audience, not from being arrogant
or cocky, but it's a certain mental
aggression with anything in life to where I've said
I'm going to have that, I'm going to do that any big
lil, I would announce it and it got to a point to where it's
trending, to where I would say I'm going to lift 850
pounds for three rubs this week. And then you will see the comments. Well, if
Joe said it, that means he's going to do it. Not because I'm strong
or power, whatever the case is, because it's, it's got to the point now to
where I don't speak in regards to I'm going to try or maybe
if I say something it's going to happen. And that's in
regard, and obviously, you know, take that with a grain of salt. I'm not over
here saying I'm going to, I'm going to lift 1500 pounds. I
mean, realistically, of course, you know, but it's, it's in regards
to, I see the image and I see the visual
and I'm talking about when it comes to success, when it comes to lifting, when
it comes to business. When it comes to something that I'm
particularly someone in control of, based off the work and effort that
I put in, I will see the vision and I'll create it. But I always
tell myself that it's going to happen as well, too. So basically what you take
from that is always see it, tell yourself what's going
to happen and then do it and proceed and obviously take the necessary stuff to
get it done as well, too.
So your assignment from Joe this week, pick something
gnarly that you've got as a goal and make a
statement about it in advance. Put that out there.
So for my thing, and I think
a lot of people can relate, me
being in the position that I am coming so far,
maybe even into the public light, has been a decision that I
made. And the first decision was to quit my full time
job. And it was to pursue a dream of
starting a business and creating a company
that can not only make money, but also
provide a solution and help to the hobbies and the passions that
I have, which is the fitness and strength community.
And the challenge that I want to present you guys
to think about, at least for the next while, is to
ask yourself, what are some fears that
you have about your grandiose goals that are holding you back
and to share. My fear was to quit my full time
job. And, you know, as an engineer, you
spend four years going to college, and these are four hard
years. And I did two years of graduate school and I got my
certificates and degrees. And you've put so much into
just engineering, and you get to a
point where to be better, you have to become more than
your career. And with the mentorship of Joe
Mackey, I decided to take that leap
and jump out of my career into the
entrepreneurship world. And that was a scary thing to
do. If I had to describe the feeling, it was fear.
That is. That is tremendous. I
absolutely love that piece, Ollie, and I can
feel it as you tell the story. It's giving me goosebumps for
today because I actually
just got yesterday a book from Doctor
Michael Gervais, high performance psychologist. And it literally
says that fear of, you know, is the number
one thing that holds back innovation in the world today and holds you
back. So, thank you. Yep. So your task
this week is to journal that
big. So, again, we've got a gnarly, accomplishable goal
that you're going to make a statement about and go do. And then we've
got that bigger, life altering dream that you
have. You're going to journal your three
fears around. What would happen if you did that?
All right. Thank you, gentlemen. That's fantastic.