Drugs, Women, Murder, and CrossFit: The Story of Vincent Miceli — Real Chalk #54

From Wall Street cold calling to owning a successful gym in NYC with a detour into the nightclub scene along the way, Vincent Miceli's career trajectory is all over the map and he has got some stories. I caught up with him at Solace to compare notes on gyms as businesses, how to create great programming, and what we would do differently if we could start all over. Vincent talks about his own weight-loss journey (he lost almost 100 pounds in a year) and how he got into CrossFit (spoiler: it involved flipping a coin). We get real about what we look for in coaches, wonder where the insanely energetic people coaching SoulCycle classes come from, and break down what running a gym really looks like when you get down to the expenses. It's a little bit of storytelling, a little bit of insight offering, a little bit of knowledge dropping, and a hell of a lot of fun. With Vincent's "there is no ceiling" mentality, anything is possible—and this episode is proof of that. Buckle up! - Ryan HIGHLIGHTS: 1:00 My gym is bigger than your gym 2:30 Vincent was a 24-year-old millionaire 6:30 Let's go build some nightclubs 7:15 Crazy cocaine stories 13:30 Murder makes you reevaluate 15:00 You try consuming 30 to 40 drinks every night and see what happens 18:30 90 days to turn a life around 22:30 Coin flips and CrossFit 23:30 Vincent is going to the Games 24:15 Vincent is opening a gym and he's never coached a class 26:00 Is a gym a business or an investment? Two different approaches 27:10 How to make shit happen: be the person with the most passion and the best perspective 28:30 Give the people what they want: different classes for different interests 29:30 The good and the bad about Marcus Filly's program, and why HIIBB works 31:00 Tendinosis and Active Life 34:00 Programming overlap: how TBB solves the problem—power to the people 35:30 The opex model 36:30 CrossFitters are brats, and the interest is fading 40:00 How do you find high-energy coaches? 42:15 Don't do the stupid shit—what causes injury 43:00 How hard is making money with a gym, and what makes a coach worth paying? 47:15 Incentivization and why it's slippery 52:00 Three things that could change, and three things that were great ideas 57:00 "The only major difference is I owned more things"—more money doesn't necessarily mean more happiness ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Show notes: http://www.shruggedcollective.com/rc_miceli ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ► Subscribe to Shrugged Collective's Channel Here http://bit.ly/BarbellShruggedSubscribe 📲 🎧 Listen to the audio version on the Apple Podcast App or Stitcher for Android Here- http://bit.ly/BarbellShruggedApple http://bit.ly/BarbellShruggedStitcher Shrugged Collective is a network of fitness, health and performance shows that help people achieve their physical and mental health goals. Usually in the gym, but outside as well. In 2012 they posted their first Barbell Shrugged podcast and have been putting out weekly free videos and podcasts ever since. Along the way we've created successful online coaching programs including The Shrugged Strength Challenge, The Muscle Gain Challenge, FLIGHT, Barbell Shredded, and Barbell Bikini. We're also dedicated to helping affiliate gym owners grow their businesses and better serve their members by providing owners tools and resources like the Barbell Business Podcast. Find Shrugged Collective and their flagship show Barbell Shrugged here: SUBSCRIBE ON ITUNES ► http://bit.ly/ShruggedCollectiveiTunes WEBSITE ► https://www.ShruggedCollective.com INSTAGRAM ► https://instagram.com/shruggedcollective FACEBOOK ► https://facebook.com/ barbellshruggedpodcast TWITTER ► http://twitter.com/barbellshrugged