The Iconic All-Star

[00:00:00] There’s a strong chance you’re not that far off from winning in business and at the game of life. It just takes one idea, but you gotta have unwavering belief and burning desire. If you can couple that with a lockdown strategy that’s fueled by heart, hustle, and muscle, you got a shot at winning. There’s one thing that all champions have in common, they get shit done.

[00:00:23] So welcome to the Get Shit Done Experience.

[00:00:29] Well, well, well, we’re back at it again. You’re in the studio with us. This is the Get Shit Done Experience, also known as the GSDX podcast. You could check us out at www.gsdxpodcast.com. I have so much gratitude. I just gotta tell you the following is building and the feedback that I’ve received recently has filled my heart.

[00:00:51] So I just wanna say thank you to everybody who is. Uh, sending messages and notes and is hitting the subscribe button and following and commenting on all of our content. You light me up. And I want to say that there’s multiple reasons as to why we do this podcast, but for me as an individual, that is a huge motivator.

[00:01:09] And uh, I really can’t thank you enough. So keep telling people about the podcast and stay with us. We’ve got great guests like the guest that we have on today that we will get into here in a second and talk for endless amounts of time about the tremendous success that she is having. So, uh, first and foremost.

[00:01:31] I just want to read a few things here, okay? So, we are about to talk to the CEO, yes, CEO, of Iconic All Stars Cheer and Dance, and, uh, also in the name is Royal Empire, so I gotta know all about that. But let’s just go over the track record. So this is a business that is, um, Essentially competitive cheer and dance.

[00:01:56] They’re training, they’re teaching, and they’re doing competitions. And, just listen to this. 60 Grand Champions, 85 National Titles, 205 First Place Finishes, 15 Summit Qualifiers, 3 Summit Finalists, and 7 World Qualifiers. And counting. And then a tagline here that says, The strong keeps getting stronger.

[00:02:24] Carrie, welcome to the show. Thank you so much for having me. I’m so excited about today. I’m excited about this interview. I’ve been watching you for a while now, so, um, I, I’m very happy that to be on your podcast and that you’re doing so well too. Thank you very much. I did mention to you before we started recording that I’ve been admiring you from afar on social media because I always, uh, as you know, it’s the get shit done experience and we’re interviewing founders, executives, CEOs.

[00:02:53] athletes and so on and of course, you know, I want to pay tribute to the folks in our community. So you are in the community, right? We live in a similar area and I see you on social media and you’re an entrepreneur, a successful business woman, but you’re also a mentor to so many children and you’re teaching them how to, uh, how to become leaders, little leaders.

[00:03:20] That are going to grow and they’re going to hopefully fall in the footsteps of their amazing parents and their mentor. That’s you. So how does that feel that you not only are profiting as a business owner and scaling and growing, but the greater purpose is you’re having an impact on so many lives.

[00:03:36] Absolutely. I mean, when the cheerleaders come in, I, they light up the whole place that we have a little saying on our door and it it’s this is home, right? So I think it is so many people. cheerleaders, athletes, um, second home, right? So they come in, they feel very comfortable, they know that they need to work hard, there’s expectations for them, and I think those life lessons is what you take away, what you take back home.

[00:04:09] The being on time, the wearing your practice wear, the, um, you know, Doing your routine, getting, uh, feedback, constructive criticism, taking that, and, um, applying that to what we’re trying to do, which is, which is, you know, have these awesome teams and routines, but above that is, hopefully these kids are taking away all those things, right?

[00:04:33] Taking them home, taking, there, there’s only so many hours that you get with your kids during the day, and so you want to make sure that They’re at a place where they have those same values, and, and, and, yeah. Yeah, you know, it’s, it’s really interesting. Core values, um, You would think businesses would all have them listed out.

[00:04:54] They’d be all over the website. It would be on signage. Uh, but I think sometimes businesses get caught up in the bottom line. They get caught up in production. They get caught up in systems controls and procedures, and they lose sight of. Perhaps whoever originated that business, what their greater vision was and what the purpose and principles were that they had that gave them the strength and the tenacity to start the business in the first place, which was probably to create amazing outcomes for other people somewhere along the road, they lose a little bit of that.

[00:05:27] It’s kind of a shame. Somebody, uh, whether it was you or you were taught, this has instilled in you the importance of core values because on your website, you know, like working together, winning together, growing together, Together we are stronger. I up and down. Your website is just riddled. With, um, motivational and inspiring types of quotes.

[00:05:51] Where does that come from? Absolutely. I feel like you have to be your biggest motivator. So when the, when the girls, when the athletes come in and, and we do have boys too, so I want to say that girls and boys. Um, when they, and they are athletes, right? So a lot of people get the stigma of cheerleaders.

[00:06:08] Hold on a second. Do people honestly think that they’re not athletes? Have you ever watched them do like 90 backflips? They’re running. I mean, super speed and then they’re doing 15 cartwheels into roundoffs and sticking the landing and popping up with a smile on their face and I mean, making it look like it’s easy.

[00:06:26] Yeah. Yes, it’s a performance for sure. So, so many things go into it. The stunting, the tumbling, they are definitely athletes and they train like that too. So, um, I think. Having those inspirational quotes there, though, for them and everyone else is just to see what we’re about, right? So those are the things that the coaches then inspire into the athletes.

[00:06:48] So even if it’s a bad practice or a tough week leading into a competition, we always have, you know, that in the background of putting, um, You know, those inspiring notions into those kids heads so that they do feel good about it and not defeated. There’s always savings, but it’s about way more than savings alone.

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[00:07:51] com. Yeah, it becomes more than a slogan as you watch them live it out. And so you’re, you’re seeing the dedication of children’s athletics. Is now starting to match the the professional athletes where it’s become such a commitment. It’s, um, but boy, so in some ways so healthy in that, um, these young athletes are rather than being on their phone four hours at night or playing video games.

[00:08:21] Um, they’ve got a goal line that they’re shooting for. Um, they’re part of a team, so they have to. Uh, know that their teammates are counting on them, right? So it takes unbelievable dedication and they have to become little leaders. They have to remain organized. Um, they have to work within boundaries and guidelines.

[00:08:42] All these things are attributes that is going to bleed into their success as a student, their success as, um, a future workforce employee or an entrepreneur like you. Absolutely. I agree. 100%. Um, we, we can’t focus enough on our kids, right? They’re the, they’re the ones that are going to go out in the communities later, and they’re the ones that are going to be doing things, whether that’s good or it’s bad.

[00:09:09] Right. And so you want to make sure that they have Those skills that are needed to make good decisions, to evolve, to, um, you know, possibly be an entrepreneur or do great work. Uh, so, yeah, definitely, um, you know, that that is one of the things that we cannot stress enough. When, when they’re in the gym, I did have a parent, uh, tell me one time that you get to spend more time with my child than I do.

[00:09:39] And I think that’s one of the things that I’ve always taken away, uh, is yes, you, when you get to spend that amount of time with these kids, you’re, you’re teaching them so much more. So much more. The, the life experience, the, the, the values and everything that is expected of them from us, I think it, you know, that is what, why you should come teaching them how to do an amazing tumble is one thing, teaching them how to get up from a tumble that went wrong.

[00:10:10] That’s a whole nother thing. And that one is the one that lasts, right? That’s the one that stays with you. Uh, if you want to play along, we’re, uh, we’re at www. iconicallstars. com. Yeah. Iconicallstars. com. And by the way, if you’re in the Chicago area, the facilities in South Elgin, I would imagine you have athletes funneling in from what a 40, 50 mile radius.

[00:10:35] Oh, yeah. We have, um, athletes from other states. No kidding. Mm hmm. We have some that drive from Wisconsin. To come to which for us location wise is about an hour hour and 20 minutes in that range. Yep. Yep So I think by providing all of those things is why we get a good number of athletes that are not only just in the community But you know surrounding areas so I think that that definitely says something about the way we’re coaching teaching and Um, you know, giving those life lessons that are so important to our kids.

[00:11:10] Now you’ve lived out these life lessons, so we’re going to get a little bit into your story because your story has not been an easy one. Um, and, uh, this, the journey of an entrepreneur, um, nobody really starts in the same place, right? They’re all striving to get to the same place, but they all start in a different place.

[00:11:27] Uh, there’s a lot of commonalities, uh, amongst entrepreneurs, the grit, the grind, uh, the adversity overcome, the passion, uh, and you know, the attention to detail, all those different things that it takes. We’re trying to build a catalog of what the, the people who get the most shit done, what, what do they have in common?

[00:11:43] So thanks for coming to add your insight to that. Um, But your story has not been, uh, the easiest one and, uh, it’s ending up to be, uh, a fairy tale, um, that continues to progress. So those of you that are listening, you’re thinking, okay, well, it’s cheer and dance and you know, I’m an accountant or, you know, I sell widgets or whatever.

[00:12:07] And you’re thinking, I podcast is right for me. Well, get ready. Cause you’re about to be inspired by a story of an entrepreneur who’s built a successful business and continues. We’re going to get into the multiple businesses. Um, that are on the on the horizon, uh, and they’re growing. So tell us what was the moment snap of the finger light bulb went off.

[00:12:29] You said, I’m doing it here. Here I go. Uh, and what led you to that? Yeah, that’s a great question. And sometimes, uh, hard to talk about, you know, so, uh, I was, um, You know, married and I had three kids, little kids, and we decided to get a divorce. So, um, that in and of itself is pretty difficult to deal with, but then it’s also something so many people can relate to.

[00:12:56] Absolutely. Right. We’ve, we’ve come from all different backgrounds and even if you, you know, didn’t. You’re married, you’re divorced, you’re widowed, we’ve had, I’ve had a lot of people think, you know, that’s not going to happen to me, and it, it does, right? So, um, you just, you have to take that. And roll with it, right?

[00:13:17] So, um, I, I had no background in business whatsoever. Uh, I worked at Children’s Hospital. Not even a background in cheer and dance. Correct. Okay, so, now we’re getting real crazy. Yes, because this is not something where you’re like, Oh, I know how to teach him all this stuff, correct? Yes. Yeah, that that part of it was a little bit easier because I did have a gymnastics background.

[00:13:43] So the tumbling part of it was there. I knew that part. Um, what I didn’t know though, is I had two little girls that loved the sport more than anything at that point. And I wanted to spend more time with them and dive deep down into, you know, what this is all about, what cheerleading is, you know, how, how can I be a part of that?

[00:14:08] Right? So you go from a nurse dealing with open heart surgeries, like complicated surgeries. Which we’re not going to talk about that because I have a weak stomach, um, to like, I mean, natural transition from a, uh, a surgery nurse to, uh, an entrepreneur of a competitive dance and cheer, uh, business. So, uh, go through the divorce and you want to spend more time with your children.

[00:14:36] And then where do we go from there? Yeah. So, um, that, that job was not conducive, obviously, to having three kids and being a single mom with being on call and things like that. So, um, I, I actually knew the owner of cheer Alliance, which is what we were originally called, and she was out of St. Charles and, um, it.

[00:14:58] It just came to me that this is what my kids love to do, I want to spend more time with them, as much time with them as I can, and so, um, I knew that she was going in another direction as well, so I thought to myself, I will buy this gym from her, this business, and I will dive deep into it, and give it my all, and, and, you know, hopefully things go well, and that’s That’s kind of, you know, where I was at the time.

[00:15:27] I, I, I, if life was kind of up in the air, but I wanted everything for the kids to stay the same and have that consistency. And so that’s what this brought. But you were, but you were independently wealthy already. I mean, you had a huge. You had a huge sum of money, bricks of gold in the garage that you could just, am I on?

[00:15:48] No, that’s not right at all, right? So you were a single mom in a difficult spot and you get to a point now where you’ve got to go raise money to do this. So what’s that process like? A hundred percent. So, um, You know, I, I did have a little bit of a settlement from my divorce and then I, I, I got some loans from my parents and from, you know, one other investor and I thought, okay, listen, I’m not only doing this for me and my children, but also for them too.

[00:16:19] And I want to be able to not only earn back. You know, their money and be able to pay them back for trusting and me starting this business. Um, you know, I, I, I have to, right? So there’s, and you want to be allowed to Thanksgiving. Exactly. So I don’t want to be early. Yeah. You don’t want to be ousted. Yeah. So, um, yeah, I went in and, and, and I bought the business and that year I started out with, uh, 43 athletes.

[00:16:46] To being my kids, which, you know, is not cheap in itself. So, um, yeah, I, we started with 43, we got through that year. I don’t know how, um, but we did. And the next year, we had about 83. The following year, we had about 120. So, I think, um, with knowing that I had all of these people that were counting on me, it made it all that more effective for me to do what I need to do to make this successful.

[00:17:19] So I did the grassroots stuff for sure. I, I, I did those tables at all the local schools, um, any of the fall festivals. I was there handing Out, uh, flyers and giving discounts and doing, you know, my marketing that sell baby. So yeah, that I knew I couldn’t do, um, and I knew I didn’t have the funds to do it.

[00:17:40] So, I mean, here I am, you know, I have a, a kid, a car full of kids and, and I’m. Pulling up to all these mailboxes and, and just putting, putting all the law. Yes, totally. Totally. Um, going through Thornwood, going through our name, you know, the Highland woods, any kind of neighborhoods to kind of get the word out.

[00:17:58] And, um, not only that, but also the teams that I did have. Were I knew those needed to be successful to then get more, right? So, um, yeah, you can’t have a big losing streak and expect everyone to keep signing up. So, um, you know, it. I just hit the ground running. And so I, I think about that every day that I started with that many athletes and now we’re well over 300.

[00:18:25] It’s amazing. So it’s, it’s grown. I think it has a lot to do with, like you said, a lot of the grit, a lot of, you know, I’m not, I’m not going to say there hasn’t been hard times and you know where you’re on the bathroom floor crying. Why did I do this? Why did I, you know, take this on? Um, you know, is it even worth it?

[00:18:45] I’m not even collecting a paycheck. You know, all those kind of things go through your head and, and, uh, You, you just have to keep pushing. I think So how do you do that when all those things are are pulling at you? Yeah. And then you gotta go in and put a good face on. Absolutely. Like how do you, how do you do that?

[00:19:00] How do you, how do you not wear it on your sleeve? I do. Because these kids are looking at you. Yeah. They’re looking at you, number one. And the coaches are looking at you as well. Yes. And they’re, they’re reading vibes, man. And you give off vibes. I would imagine as good as your energy could be. It could be off too.

[00:19:15] Right? Because typically when you’re high energy, you can be low energy pretty quick, too. So how do you, how do you control that state where you kind of bring it together and make certain that the people around you are getting the right part of you while you’re in the bathroom crying when they’re not looking?

[00:19:31] Yes, that that is very hard to do. Let me just tell you, um, to come in with a good attitude every day because those kids are, they, they want to have a good time while they’re there, right? So it’s not just training and learning and, and, and doing the routines. It’s also an experience for them. They want to have a good time while they’re there.

[00:19:52] Yes. All those other things are going to come into play. Like, oh, I didn’t do well today. You know, my coach said this to me or, you know, have those little things. But at the end of the day, the good experience is what they’re going to remember and take that home with them. So, um, yeah, you just have to, you have to pull it together and just know that, you know, those kids are going to look at you and like you said.

[00:20:15] They’re going to get those vibes from you. They’re going to, um, feed off your energy. And I know that coming in there, I don’t always give a hundred percent, but I pride, I try pretty damn hard. Well, that’s very honest of you. Cause you know, a lot of people say they give 120%. I’m not sure what math system they’re working on.

[00:20:34] I didn’t know that was possible to give 120%. Yeah. So I like the, the vulnerability and the honesty that there’s just some days where 90 percent is going to be the best I got for you. Yeah, I will give that, you know, I will give that and I, I just always pride myself that I wouldn’t ask someone to do something that I’m not willing to do myself.

[00:20:55] So, you know, it comes down to even cleaning the gym, right? So I go in there, I vacuum. I clean the bathrooms. I mop. I, I do all of those things to show other people that, you know, this, this is what you got to do. Nothing’s too big. Nothing’s too small. Exactly. When you’re on a team. I, I love that. You know, um, as, as an entrepreneur, um, there’s, there’s a lot of ways to manage people.

[00:21:23] Right. And I had a guest on just the other day and actually used a quote that my father used to use all the time and it like, it kind of lit me up. In fact, I said on the podcast, I’m like, my dad right now is smiling. Um, he said, you know, I want my sales people to know that I’m tough, but fair. And, um, I thought that that was such a, a great statement, not only because I had heard it growing up, um, yeah.

[00:21:48] With athletics, my dad would always say in the car, look, I’m tough on you, but you got to know I’m telling you the truth because you told me you want to be amazing at this. So I’m going to tell you what I see. And then you got to take it and run with it. Right. And he was talking about dealing with salespeople.

[00:22:04] So these are sales professionals. And the fact that, you know, you’ve got to manage their, their personalities, you got to manage their emotions. You’ve got to manage that some are hitting budget and some aren’t. The ones that aren’t are visible on a scoreboard. It’s visible that they’re not hitting budget.

[00:22:20] And the ones that are on the scoreboard, it’s visible that they are. Therefore, there’s a tendency to become a prima donna because they know they’re winning all the time. So how do you balance that? It’s a little bit different when you’re dealing with children. And you’re trying to create a fun experience, but you’re also trying to win because people aren’t signing up to send their child there, uh, just for a fun experience.

[00:22:43] They could take him to a trampoline place for that. They’re signing up because they want their child to learn how to be a winner. So what is your stance on the balance? Of how you lead these children to keep it fun, but also to instill those competitive qualities into them. Yeah, that’s a really good question.

[00:23:08] Um, I, I think it like obviously comes from me, right? The top down where I encourage and we have monthly meetings with our coaches, um, if not more, you know, uh, I have a great director that is right. Right under me that we talk on a daily basis about things not only that are going on day to day But where we want to see this going and that has been a conversation that we I I’ve had with him from the very beginning Right, where do we want to see things?

[00:23:38] We don’t want to be here. We want to be here and I think just not not Lowering that bar at all definitely helps right so I I had someone tell me before, um, you know, you won’t, you won’t be disappointed if you lower the bar a little bit. And actually, no, that I think that’s doing a huge disservice to someone who works for me, to someone who, you know, that I coach, that’s doing a disservice, lowering my bar, right?

[00:24:08] Like I am going to be here and you need to meet me here. That’s where it’s at, and that’s my expectation. And will I be disappointed? For sure. A lot of times, you know, like you said, it’s a lot of personalities to manage. So not only do I have my staff, um, it’s also the athletes themselves. Mm-Hmm. . It’s also the parents.

[00:24:27] Um, oh, I found that coaching kids. Yes. It’s not the kids, it’s it’s the parents. It’s the parents. The parents and you love the parents. I mean, it’s, they’re, they’re essential and you know, they want the best, but that, that is a. Balancing act. Yes. Cheer moms, dance moms. I mean, you can imagine the personalities and I think just, you know, taking a step back and looking at the big picture a lot of times helps, uh, with those kind of personalities, right?

[00:24:52] So at the end of the day, everyone just wants to come in and yes, they, they do want to be competitive. They do want to win. They do want their kid to progress. Um, but also if they’re, if their kid is not wanting to do it, that’s also a problem. So yeah. Finding that balance of having them come in, want to be a part of this, want to be a part of a team, um, you know, I think that’s the greatest part, at least about cheerleading for me, is that, um, let’s take other sports for instance, baseball or basketball, you have somebody else that you can sub in.

[00:25:27] You know, for that specific role, right? So if someone’s not there, not feeling well, um, you know, Hey, we’ll get this guy to do it. Hey, you can’t be quarterback today. We’ll use our, you know, you’ve got an injury backup quarterback, correct? There’s no, uh, spot in cheerleading that we have backups for. So yeah, the pyramid doesn’t work if you’re, if you’re missing somebody in the pyramid, it kind of doesn’t work that way.

[00:25:53] Absolutely. So I think they know the. Gravity of their part in their routine, right? So everyone makes the the the team work or the routine work But if we’re missing a flyer Okay, then we can’t practice that day. Then we can’t perform at that competition. So I think that weight of it also, you know, holds value to those athletes.

[00:26:17] So they know when they come in, hey, they can’t perform this without me, right? So it gives them a sense of, um, they need me, right? I’m a part of this. I’m an intricate part. And if I’m not here, this doesn’t work. So is it a repetition of? Are you constantly reminding your athletes of that principle? Yes. Yes.

[00:26:43] So, a lot of them do know that. A lot of our returning, um, athletes and things like that, parents do know that. But, um, we do get new people in that they, they don’t understand the commitment, the time commitment, the, the, you know, how expensive everything is. All of that goes into wanting to do it. Right?

[00:27:02] You’re almost having to start over. Yes. The conversation just keeps starting over. Yes. A hundred percent. That’s why I do a lot of, uh, parent meetings to reiterate all of that because like I said, you can’t just, I can’t find a flyer, you know, who is tiny and little and he has body positions that there’s no call.

[00:27:20] Yeah, yeah. So, um, I think that’s unique to cheer and also, but I think it, like I said, it, it, it just brings that value to that particular athlete and to that person. Yeah, that, that athlete. Yeah, that’s awesome. I’m genuinely curious about this. Um, is it more important as an athlete, as a business professional, as an entrepreneur, as a human, uh, to focus on maximizing your strengths?

[00:27:49] And devoting more time to accentuating your strengths or to be hyper aware of your weaknesses and shore them up. Oh, definitely weaknesses. Really? Definitely. Elaborate. Um, you know, a lot of times when we’re giving corrections to the athletes or even, you know, in business in general, um, I can give you kind of two different scenarios.

[00:28:13] So with the athletes, um, you know, their weaknesses, you’re only as best. As your weakest athlete, right? And so not telling them or having them do certain things over and over again, um, to become better then they’re not doing well for the team and then the team does not do well, right? So a great team is a group of individuals maxing out their ability.

[00:28:40] Absolutely. Yes, 100%. Same thing with, um, you know, I have a director of my whole program, and then I also have a director of my recreational program, and, um, I just had a conversation with her the other day, and I said, you know, at the end of the day, you need to take a step back, look at the big picture, what, um, What would you do in this situation?

[00:29:05] What’s the best thing to do for this particular athlete if it’s taking, you know, them off the team, if it’s removing them from the gym, if it’s getting someone else to be in their place, all of those things are things that you don’t think about, but we have to on a daily basis, right on something that someone’s always getting hurt.

[00:29:23] Someone’s sick, uh, you know. Yeah, just plan A, plan B, plan C, all the way down the alphabet. And, and if you don’t have those scenarios of like, what am I going to do when this happens? What am I going to do with this happens? A lot of that comes obviously with experience, right? So like we’ve had the same situation happen a couple of times.

[00:29:42] We know what to do, but even just knowing that we have a plan B in the back of our head and we’re not, you know, not necessarily going to execute it, but it’s there in case. So I would argue with you. About a year ago. I would have said that it was more important and I said it for an extended period of time, probably on several podcasts that it was more important for people to spend more time on their strengths.

[00:30:05] And in fact, I think I waver on it. I think I might have said it even recently. But when I really think about it, I think you’re right. I think it is important to to fully embrace and understand your strengths and to be very much aware of them. But I think the way that you can You can improve in chunks is I think it’s hard to improve in chunks with your strength I think with your strength you’re gonna it’s gonna be gradual little bits and pieces little percentages I think with your weaknesses you could improve in chunks I’ll just give you an example as a person who loves the golf one of my biggest challenges was Making enough birdie putts.

[00:30:47] So like, 20 foot, 15 foot birdie putts. Just terrible at it. Uh, missed too many. Uh, but I found myself when I would go to practice, I would always go to the drive range to hit my driver. Why? Because I’m really good at it. So I wanted the validation. Why not go do the thing you’re great at, right? Because now that moment, I’m, I’m, I’m taking advantage of that moment.

[00:31:09] I’m making myself feel validated and feel better. But they didn’t translate on the course to winning. It didn’t translate to better scores. It was just like okay I out drove you but that’s not how you measure a golfer you measure with the total score So I dedicated myself this summer to at least 150 putts from 20 to 15 feet every day and wouldn’t you know it I took about three strokes off my score They started dropping So now I am very much a believer that you need to spend a lot of time on your weaknesses You need to allocate enough times your strengths to keep them as strengths, but where you’re going to get that big chunk of success is by making those weaknesses at least average.

[00:31:55] At least get the weakness to average. Absolutely. And then you’ve got a much stronger chance of winning. On a regular basis. 100%. So, yeah, like I said, you’re only as strong as your weakest person on your team. So, um, yes, definitely. We want to strive to make those, you know, exceptional athletes really good.

[00:32:12] And hopefully they continue to learn and do great things. But we also want to take those ones that, you know, do have, there’s definitely with children, A different avenue, right, of, of, of coaching, teaching, right, so a lot of times maybe they are not understanding the way that you’re talking to them, right, or what you’re saying, uh, it’s not getting through, maybe you need to show, maybe you need to videotape them.

[00:32:40] Show them what they’re exactly doing. Hey, I told you to, I told you to point your toes and your legs are bent on your back walkover. Like, why are we still, why am I still asking you to do that every single time? And you do it sometimes and you don’t. Here is why. You show them a video and then sometimes it just is that one little thing that clicks in their head like oh Okay, this is what you’re talking about So having those different avenues I think is is key with with children.

[00:33:08] I what a huge Huge benefit that you have if you take advantage of it. I remember as a young athlete, high school, right? If the coach said you weren’t doing something, it was because the coach said you weren’t doing something. And you didn’t argue it. You know, it was kind of like, you didn’t ask why. You just, okay.

[00:33:27] And they could have been dead wrong. No verification. But now this is the why generation like people need to know why this is, there’s no, I said this in sales. There’s no hyperbole in sales anymore. I can go online and figure you out in two seconds. So you can’t tell me that it’s this in person because it’s, uh, it’s, it’s all over Google.

[00:33:47] It’s all over Yelp. It’s all over the, you know, I can get ahold of your current customers and ask, right? Yeah. Same thing with coaching students. You can’t just tell them something, you have to show them what is actually happening. Yeah, and a lot of times you have to physically move their legs or their hands or for them to finally click.

[00:34:05] Like, either it’s movement, it’s showing them, telling them, right? So it’s one of those three things that hopefully is going to make that click and make them do what you’re asking them to do. To do and then in turn, obviously, when they do do that, it’s better accolades for them because you’re excited that they finally, you know, were able to process and take those corrections and implement them because a lot of times we do, especially with kids, uh, you know, we do give corrections all the time, right?

[00:34:36] I mean, we definitely, um, Do a contrast of where we’re telling them good things, but there’s a lot of corrections, right? And a lot of times you can take that as I’m doing something wrong, right? But if you have those avenues that you can take where okay, if they’re not Comprehending what I’m trying to get out of them Um, you know, here’s here’s a different way to teach it.

[00:34:57] Here’s a different way to coach it. And I think you have to know your athletes as a coach of a team of let’s just say 20 to, you know, 30 kids on a team. Everyone’s different. They all bring different stuff to the team and they all learn differently. And that’s kind of hard sometimes when you, when you are trying to act as a team and you have, you know, one, two or three that.

[00:35:19] Just kind of aren’t getting it or, you know, are only giving, you know, 50 percent and you know that. So I think you have to know your athletes definitely and then you have to connect with them on so many personality types. Oh, yeah. They all learn different to 100%. Yes. Yes. What a great notion and great lesson for those listening to this that might manage a team, whether it be a salespeople or production or whatever it might be that you had made a statement that you have to, you have to show them.

[00:35:48] What was the three you said you you visibility? So you have to show them you have to physically move them and then you also have to tell them. Yeah, so tell them. Show them invisibly or or actually do it do it with them so they can they can see how it works, right? 1000 percent you do that you do that and they will definitely learn from that I mean not every everyone is the same, right?

[00:36:15] So you’ve got to take those you got to cover all three to see which one clicks Absolutely, and then it probably is a good idea to go. All right Uh, this, this, uh, this worker or this athlete learns this way, so that’s the go to first. And if it doesn’t click there, then I go to the other two, but you’re always doing all three to make sure it sinks in.

[00:36:35] I just installed a video system. We had one before, but I have like 14 cameras in the gym and this video system, which I’m super excited about, uh, it goes all over. All over. So up, down, zoom in, zoom out. You can actually, uh, uh, have it follow a certain athlete on the floor. No kidding. Yes. It’s amazing. Um, and so to watch that back to see what they’re actually, what we’re seeing as a coach for them to watch them, their selves back and see, okay, what can I do better?

[00:37:07] What am I doing in this routine that could make this better? Or, hey, she told me, you know, 20 times to fix this now I can actually visualize. Oh, yeah I don’t even realize that I’m doing that in the routine. But now that I see that I’m watching this video playback I I would imagine it helps this too. It’s not the athlete against the coach So it’s oftentimes the coach says you have to do this the athlete resists now It’s coach versus athlete this cause allows for them to see it.

[00:37:38] So it’s against the problem It’s the coach and the athlete against the problem instead of against each other Yeah, and so that film study is is is really important. I think you see it in business now so many companies are going to Um, recording, uh, sales calls, right? So, and then, and then being able to play them back.

[00:37:58] I think it’s, um, it’s a company called Gong. I think they might’ve been the originator of it. Well, they install this system so every salesperson, um, gets audio of their callback. And I think there’s some sort of automation that essentially breaks down, hey, look, if you would have said this, or you have a tendency to say this in the wrong way, it actually gives them that real time feedback.

[00:38:18] So. That’s very similar to what you’re doing. And so for them to get that down and do it, well, it is tough, right? So they don’t even realize sometimes what they’re doing or why we’re saying you can’t, you know, do this at that certain time, letting them visually see it, I think is a game changer. I would imagine you have to nip it too, because repetition is such a strong thing, but if you have a repetition of the wrong thing, it becomes very difficult to undo.

[00:38:46] Absolutely. Because the muscle memory has been changed with the wrong habit. So that’s why it’s, I love to get athletes where they come in and they hardly have any tumbling skills. Yeah. Just a piece of clay. Yes. Then you can build them because when they come in and they’ve already learned a skill a different way, it takes forever to break that habit from that bad competition of yours.

[00:39:08] teaching it wrong. Yeah, exactly. Well, I mean, I see it over and over again. And that’s one thing that I would say, don’t let your child just be out there. And if they’re trying to actually hone in on a skill, I’m not saying don’t let them go and be on the trampoline and have fun and things like that. But some are self taught, some are taught, you know, the wrong way.

[00:39:30] And so when you come in, like you said, it’s that muscle memory that You know, they, they, when you learn something and you do it over and over again, your body’s just gonna know to do that thing. And it’s so hard to break a habit than to make good ones. Uh, you have a greater purpose. And I think that you’re, I think that you’re blessed, but I think that you’ve created a lot of your blessings.

[00:39:52] And, um, I think when people create. Their, their blessings and recognize that they probably had some help, whether it was from the universe or whatever it might be. Um, I think it’s really amazing when people recognize that and say, you know what, I gotta give back. So you’ve started a 5 0 1 C3? Yes. We started it years back and, um.

[00:40:14] I mean, I can’t say enough good things about it. It’s called the Iconic All Stars Foundation. And we raise money for a bunch of different things. But the main, main two things that we raise money for is our special needs team. They’re called Perfect Ten and they have. We’ve just started about a month and a half ago because their, their gear is a little bit shortened than everyone else’s.

[00:40:41] So we don’t want to have them come in in the summer and then, you know, be hot in there and things like that. And then we also had to find a time where we don’t have kids in there where there’s not a lot of stimulation for them. And so we do it Sunday mornings. It’s great. I coach it with another coach.

[00:40:58] Um, that, that, uh, specializes with kids with special needs. And she’s actually had some of these athletes that were her students at one point. And so they have come in, they’ve learned a routine and they’re going to compete it in about two weeks. Awesome. The best, I feel like, thing about that team is, I’m taking junior coaches, um, athletes that I already have in my gym, and they are the coaches of the special.

[00:41:26] So they’re, now they’re learning to give back. Absolutely. And these are kids that, um, anywhere from behavioral Uh, learning disabilities to down syndrome and, uh, just how did the, how did the families react to this? Just the fact that it’s an amazing option that’s available, but you are also, uh, giving these children a platform to feel like they are just like everybody else that they see.

[00:41:53] The inclusivity of it is like amazing, especially, I mean, I can’t, I didn’t, I have heard so It’s Many thank yous and all of that from the families and the parents that they just have this to come to and You know be treated like everyone else. So That that was one of my goals by doing this But the other one was also like I said you You have to take those kids that we already have and like they’re volunteering to then teach these kids, right?

[00:42:24] And so that’s something that is not taught very much I feel like within the younger community of how you can give back in what it Does to not only those people but how it makes you feel in general. Mm hmm, right? How are you give more get more? Exactly, exactly. What are you doing to help the community?

[00:42:45] What are you doing to, to give back to somebody that could never, you know, repay you for something? So, um, I think by bringing awareness to that, by having this team, having them come in the gym, they’re going to be doing a showcase with us. They’re, they’re going to go to banquet with us. I mean, it’s, we have fully funded this team through our foundation, meaning that everything is paid for, for these families.

[00:43:09] As far as uniforms, bows, um, their backpacks, the, uh, you know, the practice space. You don’t, you don’t sometimes get that. And I’m providing practice space for them with my gym. And so that just, you know, that fills me up at the end of the day. Right? Yes, I want to go out there and create these athletes and win these championships, and I’m hoping that everyone, you know, comes back to want to win.

[00:43:38] But at the end of the day, I’m creating good people, right? Like, that’s the end goal. Yes, that’s awesome. IT Decision Makers, this might sting. Frustrated with IT issues, security threats, and the stress of your technology infrastructure? Your technology should blend seamlessly. with your business objectives.

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[00:44:15] Your technology should outpace your business operations to allow for growth. And proactive strategies should prevent issues before they arise. Get back your time and your money with GSD. Drive business forward. Lead the technology to GSD. gsdnow. com. All right. So I’m just going to be vulnerable and honest.

[00:44:35] I’m terrible at. at this. I need to do way more. Um, it is a huge thing for me going into 2025. I have to give back more. Um, so I, I’m just going to put that out in the universe because then when I listen back to this, it’s a reminder to myself that I can’t be a phony and I’m going to have to follow through on it.

[00:44:53] So there you are universe and listeners Transcribed by https: otter. ai Hold me to it. I’m going to do better with giving to charity and giving up my time to help other people. Why is giving back so important to you? Our, our CEO, Tim, um, is a, a, a philanthropist, easy for me to say, of sorts, and is very much giving back, has a few foundations.

[00:45:14] And I’ve asked him that question of why it was, why it’s so important to him and he had a really great answer. I’m really curious from your perspective, why do you feel like it is so important and kind of almost natural, it seems, the way the event, it’s almost natural for you, it did, it was just a natural transition for you to do this.

[00:45:34] Why, why is that? Where’s that coming from? Why is that so important to you? Yeah, I think with being so involved in the community, I see, uh, different families and their needs and in where they struggle a lot. And so seeing that with so many people that come through in the community. Our facility and then also even being involved in schools and the the amount of volunteer work that goes into a lot of those things You just want to be able to have those kids be able to have everything that everyone else does right?

[00:46:12] And so that that Basically is my why? For the foundation. I just I want to be able to give An opportunity to kids that wouldn’t necessarily have this opportunity, um, to come in and be, you know, learn a routine or be a part of something that’s bigger, right? Um, we do a lot, so that is one of the things that we, um, you know, raise money for.

[00:46:39] We do a lot of, uh, fundraisers. We just had one. We had a casino night. It was really a lot of fun. I had it at the gym, um, and we raised quite a bit of money for the special needs team. But then we also have a team, um, through the foundation that they give out scholarships to need based families. So for instance, if you have lost your job and you have your athlete in our program and you can no longer Uh, you know, make them in the program, make your payments and make sure that they’re, they’re keeping their stability while you’re in a bind or almost like the child shouldn’t be penalized because there was a bump in, in the road.

[00:47:26] Yes. Right. And it also probably helps the parent to keep some of their dignity. Oh, 100%. Yes. So all of that is, um, on our website. You can go in there and look at that and sign up for, you know, these scholarships and our committee takes a look at them. I have nothing to do with the actual, you know, giving of the scholarships because that would be a, you know, conflict.

[00:47:52] So, um, but I mean, the amount of, of scholarships that we were able to hand out. Amazing, right? So these kids get to do, like I said, they still get to do the things that they love the most, right? If it’s cheerleading, you know, whatever their sport is, they still get to do it, even though, let’s just say, they’re going through a hardship at that point in their life, which Obviously, I’ve been through, so I know what that’s like, you know, so, um, having that opportunity for these parents, it’s a game changer.

[00:48:26] Kerry, I don’t know if you know this, but I picked up on this, and maybe our listeners have as well. You say we a lot, you don’t say I, you say we a lot, and that makes you a really good leader and probably somebody that’s wonderful to work for. So tell us a little bit about the staff that makes up the we.

[00:48:46] What do they like? I could not have a better staff right now. They work full time jobs, a lot of them outside of coaching at the gym. And they give 110 percent all of the time. Anything that I would ask of any of them, um, jump, the, the, the, the, um, They would jump for me if I said how high so having those kind of people and then I don’t know it just it makes everything easier for me at the end of the day because then a lot of things flow better.

[00:49:22] But are they doing it for you maybe? Is it maybe maybe are they doing it for you a little bit because maybe they recognize that you’re doing it for them and it’s kind of a a team thing. Is there a strong chance that perhaps you’ve built that culture and they’re playing a part in that culture? I think so.

[00:49:40] Yeah, that, that has been something that we’ve done and, and we’ve had our bumps in the road. With, you know, having employees where I had to, you know, let them go due to, you know, certain things or this is not right fit for us. Um, yeah, definitely. I think if you are not willing to go beyond above and beyond, like I said, when you set that bar, it goes for my employees to a lot of times they’re not meeting where I want them to.

[00:50:09] It’s not a family. It’s a team. Let’s be honest on a team. There’s got to be some sort of. Hierarchy, there’s got to be an org chart. You can create a culture where everyone feels like they’re equal in that their role is as important to the greater good of the organization as anyone else. But you got to call you got to make those tough calls to it is a business so sometimes people are performing and that happens, but It seems like when I hear leaders say we that typically means that they have a culture of adoption and the team has adopted the values of the person who originated those values and The team has also had the leeway to bring their values in and the owner or the founder has said, I’ll latch onto those two because those align.

[00:51:02] And when you have that type of culture, you have a business that will scale. Yes. 100 percent almost, almost if you don’t mean to, it will. Yep. By default. Yeah. It’s a good default. Yes. Yeah. By default. I mean, I am definitely not one that has all the answers. Right. So if I have any doubt or any questions, I do have a great core group, um, my director, um, some of my coaches that I will ask questions.

[00:51:30] Hey, what do you think about this? If I did this, where would this lead to? Um, You know, because I, I think you, you have to ask those questions and then take that information, digest it, and then do what you’re going to do with it, right? So, at the end of the day, I do feel like I, I don’t have all the answers to everything.

[00:51:49] I, I will never say that. Somebody’s got to call the shot, though. Exactly, exactly. But, but you’re taking in all the information. And making a decision and then everyone’s got to once the decision is made, everyone’s got to just latch on to enroll with it. Exactly. But somebody’s got to call that shot. And I do have a lot of those ones that are very committed to that because they gave their feedback.

[00:52:08] Even if they didn’t disagree with whatever the outcome was, um, then, you know, they still had a little say in it and they can back that. Right, so 100 percent they would back whatever decision is made, but they also got to have a little bit of, uh, you know, input into, okay, she’s going to take this information, obviously do what, you know, do what’s best or do in the best interest, at least, you know, that I think of my, you know, company and, and, and where, where I see things going, but I think at the end of the day, they always know that I would have their back.

[00:52:44] They would have my back and, and, and, um, That’s key. Yeah, it’s key to the building a successful business. Absolutely. You have to have those people. You know what you do see businesses and you do see departments or you see, you see, uh, leaders of teams that do struggle, uh, because they do try and do it on their own.

[00:53:06] And I don’t know if it’s even intentional where it’s like. Like I’m not gonna listen to anyone. I’m gonna do it on my own. I don’t think that’s the case I think that sometimes they just they mean well, yeah, it’s very hard. I guess to not Micromanage. Yeah, it’s that you you almost have to be conscious of that and make certain that you do have that outlet of communication Or at least give people the opportunity to speak their piece.

[00:53:31] It doesn’t mean you’re gonna take everyone’s The advice, but I think that any employee can live with the fact that, hey, at least I got a voice in it, so I I contributed in some way. Absolutely. Um, and I think that that’s important. And if that happens, what you end up doing is you keep your employees on their toes because they, they know that, that it might come back around to them where they got a voice, their opinion again.

[00:53:54] And it might be their idea that that time, but when the communication shuts down, ’cause it’s just the owner or just the director or just the whatever, always making the call. And I just do what I’m told, then no wonder an employee doesn’t go the extra mile, because you’re just, they’re doing what they’re told to do, not what they are bought in to do.

[00:54:14] And so that’s, uh, good, good on you. Let’s get into the business of the business a little bit. So, uh, we’ve got this kind of catalog of commonality, right? And, um, I keep hearing from business owners like, Get up early, go to bed early, right? You know, our CEO’s like, I do a cold plunge at 4am and I’m like, Oh my gosh, I don’t know if I can own a business if I have to do that, like, Can I cold plunge at 10 at night?

[00:54:39] Is that possible? So, um, And then, you know, I’ve got folks who, you know, will, will say, like, you need to have your, your three principal core values, and everything stems off of those three. I don’t make a decision unless it somehow correlates to those three, and I can attribute it back to that, and everything goes from there.

[00:54:59] What is your ingredients to success? Have you taken a moment to actually sit back and go, what is the carryway? Have you had that? Have you done that? And if so, what, what What, uh, what is your recipe? Hold on, let me get my pen out. I don’t want to write this down. No, but what is your recipe for success? Yeah, I mean, I think yes, I do.

[00:55:22] I get up at 4 a. m. Sometimes I do right. I’ll answer apparently only to post content as you said earlier So if I have something that hey, I forgot a post or you know I I will think of that like, you know at different times of the night. Oh, yeah I think just giving yourself whether it’s you know, 50 percent that day A hundred and ten percent that day, 90 percent that day, whatever it is, you’re going to give it that much show up, show up.

[00:55:51] You have to, you have to, um, as much as we need all of those athletes to be in their certain spots, we need the coaches right to be in their certain spots. So if I have a coach, you know, call in and I’m not feeling that well, well, I don’t have it. You know, I don’t have anybody to do what you can do with this team.

[00:56:12] I don’t have anybody that knows the routine like you do. That knows the counts that are going to get, you know, have a productive practice. So, uh, they all know that. And so I think, again, it’s back on them, right? So they know that they’re a key, intricate part of why this works. Why, you know, that they’re here to perform a certain job.

[00:56:35] And I think that’s their motivation. Yeah, I think, I think kind of what you’re saying is, let people know the importance of how important they are. Exactly, exactly. I, that is one, that is one key takeaway, is you need to, Know who you can count on, when you can count on, and tell them that, right? A lot of times, we, the expectation’s there, but you don’t really say, Okay, great job at doing X, Y, Z.

[00:57:06] Um, and you have to. You have to give them recognition for them to want to do more. to want to excel, to want to get 13 where they want to be. Right? So, um, just having that behind you and knowing that, you know, you can say, Hey, listen, I know you did, you know, this happened, and please don’t let that happen again.

[00:57:30] On the flip side, you have to say, Listen, I really like how you took initiative and dealt with this situation. And you really didn’t have to bring it to my attention. Um, you know, all All of those little things I think are definitely something that you have to bring up, even if it’s very minute, um, just because that’s the, you know, that’s what brings their worth.

[00:57:55] What I’m hearing is communication is, is number one for you. 100%. It’s huge. Like you, you, you’re, you’re key on being a master communicator. Every little fine detail, letting people know where they stand. Letting people know you have to how important they are and yes, where their strengths and weaknesses are just communication against Against all things.

[00:58:16] Well, and you have to be super transparent, right? So you got to have be able to have those hard conversations, which I do, you know You got to sit down and and and talk to somebody that maybe they don’t agree With everything that you feel that is valid or that they’re not doing or that they are doing whatever the case is, but, um, you need to have those hard conversations with them.

[00:58:38] And, you know, it can happen with athletes. It can happen with parents. I know that, you know, principals and teachers probably deal with this on a daily basis. But, um, you know, when you come in and you say, Hey, we got to have, you know, a meeting, your child did X. You know, did this in class, which is not appropriate.

[00:58:56] Same things happen at the gym, you know, and, and, and we need to deal with it. It’s uncomfortable. But at the end of the day, when you bring it out into the open, and it’s transparent, and you talk about it, and you say, hey, this is, this is not what our expectation, here’s what we need from you, and you need to do, you know, do that, and if not, Like you run the consequence of what the consequences, whether it be, you know, removal from the team, um, you know, removal from the gym, uh, doing some sort of, um, like I call it community service, but then coming in and, um, you know, I’ve, I’ve done this before where they’ve set out inappropriate stuff on Snapchat because that’s what kids do.

[00:59:39] Um, you know, and, and we see it and. You know, then there’s a consequence to that action, and you have to tell the parents and the parents can do their own consequences at home. But I feel like at the gym to listen, you went, um, kind of against what we’re about. So here’s your consequence. I had them come in and clean the gym over the summer.

[00:59:59] So very clear standards, very clear standards, standards of performance, standards of behavior, standards of actions. And I would imagine It’s, you know, the way that you had stated that was consequence related, but I would imagine those standards are also reward and recognition related. Absolutely. For sure.

[01:00:22] Exceed the standard, get recognized. We have team goals that we do. We did them last year and this year, and they’re a really great motivator because it’s the team. Right. It’s not just one person. It’s just this, this person. So it’s the team in general. So when they hit a zero deduction routine, for instance, where they had no falls or no touchdowns or anything like that, um, they get a pizza party or, you know, those, those little things that they have to work towards.

[01:00:52] We have to get a certain score of 95 or better. To get your ice cream party like those kind of things. So those are the good recognitions You’re also teaching a quality that nothing’s given because when you get into the business world like there’s nothing given He’s like you you have to earn it. And if it’s given most adults see through it Yeah.

[01:01:10] Oh yeah. And the kids see through it too. They are wise beyond their years. Yeah. We don’t give kids enough credit for what they see and what they absorb, what they retain. Um, and so a lot of times, like you think they’re, they don’t comprehend what you’re talking about, but they’re picking up where you’re throwing down.

[01:01:26] Oh yeah. Yeah. Big time. And so, yeah. I, I feel like, and even I, I take this approach with my kids too, um, you know, you have to be transparent. Right. So like, like I said, you know, when you’re, when you’re in the crying and in your bed and you’re like, Oh gosh, this happened today. This was so bad. And, you know, there’s times that they see you break down and, and, and things are not so good.

[01:01:49] And so, you know, they’re like, Oh, what happened today? And I, I kind of, yeah. You know, explain to the best of my abilities, obviously, you know, if it’s, if they’re younger, I don’t go into too much detail, but they have to understand. They have to know that, yeah, you’re, you’re going to go to work and you’re going to have great days and you’re going to have not so great days.

[01:02:07] And for them to be able to see my struggles, I think we’ll only be able to help them. 100%. The world is tough out there. It is tough and you better be ready for it. And I don’t see it getting any softer. It seems to be getting more difficult and harder, and so I always find it interesting when we You know, you could make an argument that there is, there is a, there has been a change in the toughness of the, the way the children are and so on and so forth.

[01:02:35] And you could make that argument, you could do that with any generation, I’m sure in the, the, the generation before always says that the next generation is a little bit weaker. And I’m sure that that’s been going on since cave people. Yeah. Um, but no generation has ever had to deal with this. With what’s on the phones.

[01:02:54] What’s the access to anything? Information everywhere. Um, you know, kids didn’t see what was happening politically, you know, in the in the eighties and nineties. Now it’s, you know, they scroll through tiktok to watch dance routines and to see something funny and they get a video about world politics that pops up.

[01:03:16] I mean, never before. And guess what? It’s it’s 12 seconds long. So they actually absorb it. So We really do have to prepare our our children to be tough. They have to be tough. They have to be. And then also, like I said, then you can’t compromise on anything that where your standards are. Right. So, you know, if they’re if they’re going to get an F on on a report card or, you know, I see that they have three missing assignments.

[01:03:46] Yeah. Guess what? Your phone is gone. You know, you’re going to be grounded for a week. You’re going to have to do this. There has to be those consequences because that’s how they learn. Yeah. You know, they’re little kids. So we’re talking about other people, right? And we’re talking about strengths and weaknesses and motivating and getting people to the next level.

[01:04:05] Um, so let’s, let’s dive into this, Carrie. What are you working on? Yes. Right. You never stop. You never stop is a human being. You always have to be working on something. And from my visibility into interacting with entrepreneurs and highly successful top 1 to 5%, there’s always something they’re working on.

[01:04:25] Um, and, uh, you know, oftentimes what we see. Uh, on the surface on, from the outside, we go, Oh man, somebody I admire, man, they got it all together. Everything’s good with them. Look how much money they make and boy, what would it be like to be them? And, but there’s also what we don’t see, which is what you see when you look in the mirror, what you see when you write down what your goals are, when you are being real with yourself.

[01:04:53] So what are you working on? Yeah, great question. I am so excited that you asked that. Because. I have been working on starting my own, uh, cheer and dance competition company. Wow. Let’s go. So I think one thing kind of led to the next kind of led to the next, but obviously I attended a lot. Are you following the breadcrumbs?

[01:05:16] Yes. Right. It’s, it just signs are coming to you and you’re like, well, I guess I’m doing that now. Yeah, I even told my office manager. I was like, listen, if I come up with any other ideas, stop me. Yes. Shoot them down right away. One at a time. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. So now that I feel like, um, iconic all stars is really under control.

[01:05:36] I mean, we’re having great teams. I have a great staff. Um, you know, we’re producing these, these, these winning, um, great team. Um, like, yes. Okay. So then what, what else? I have those great people working for me. What else can we do? So, um, A few years ago, I started doing recreational cheer. Okay, so we have the all star side of it, which is, you know, what I took over and, and kind of grew from.

[01:06:05] And then we have a, another side, there’s definitely different sides of cheerleading, right? You have the sideline cheerleading that’s like at the NFL, like those kind of things. You have recreational cheerleading where they just do sideline cheer for local football teams. Then you got, you got what you’re doing, which is like.

[01:06:23] Team gymnastics, like it’s, it’s like a, it’s like, um, gymnastics and dance and, um, like this choreographed art all kind of as one, it’s just kind of happening at one, but this is, this is athletic, man. I mean, these, these athletes are strong. Yup. I mean. With our all star athletes, the commitment and the time and everything is there.

[01:06:54] That’s why I wanted to create this recreational program. Where it’s a certain, you know, half a year’s time, you are paying a little bit less than, you know, the astronomical prices of travel, sports in general, right? Good lord. So, it’s a little bit more budget friendly. Um, there, I think there’s definitely good sides to it because then when you’re done with your season, recreational season of cheer, you can go into other sports.

[01:07:23] So if you have, if you have an athlete that is, you know, really good and wants to try this and this and this, that gives you the opportunity to then, okay, I’ll have this, you know, six. And then I can go and do my swim team or softball or whatever. Yes. So I wanted to have that Avenue and I created the recreational side of it.

[01:07:42] Um, and then with going to all of these recreational competitions along with my all star competitions, um, the recreational side was really kind of, um, outdated. In. in terms of where the cheer sport in general is going. Alright, so like you said, everything’s evolving, right? I mean, football, baseball, all of those sports, they’ve never been tougher or doing harder things.

[01:08:10] I mean, let’s just take the Olympics, for example. You know, Simone Biles having things, Uh, named after you because they’ve never been performed before. They’ve never been done because no human could ever do that before. So, um, think, seem, think, think of that as in the competition world, right? So you’re not only providing, um, a place for them to go do their routine, but you want to provide an experience for them.

[01:08:35] Yeah. And any of these recreational competitions that we were going to, um, to me seemed very, uh, kind of juvenile. You know, they didn’t have the pizzazz. They didn’t have, um, the scoring. They didn’t have the feedback. They didn’t have, um, cause there’s, there’s definitely different avenues that you would take of why you personally would go to a competition.

[01:08:58] You’re a coach, you want to bring your team, you want to do well. But. There’s other things that go into it, right? So you wanna go to a competition where you’re getting judges’ feedback, where you’re taking that score sheet, you’re taking that critiques, and then you’re going back the next week and coaching and implementing.

[01:09:13] Yeah. The things that they find, you know, are, oh, you didn’t get, you got a nine outta 10. You didn’t get a 10 outta 10 mm-Hmm. , right? There’s always room for improvement. So as a coach, yeah, you are tough. Yeah. So, um, just having that, that feedback wasn’t there on the recreational side that I saw. Got it. Um, and so not only that is, um, when you go there as a coach, you want to, you know, be kind of validated, right?

[01:09:40] So you, you want to. Be provided like lunch or maybe you know a drink or something like that. You’re there sometimes all day long I’ve been at competitions from like 7 in the morning to 11 at night. Oh, it’s like i’m a dad of a wrestler Yeah. I mean, my gosh, you go there, they wrestle three times. It’s a total of 48 seconds.

[01:09:59] Yeah, but you’re there for 12 hours. Yeah, same thing. So, you know, they, these coaches give so much more than just, you know, me paying them for their time, right? They could be there for a whole weekend. Sometimes, you know, I’ve even had stuff on a Friday night. So they’re there Friday night, all day Saturday, all day Sunday, then they have to go back to work.

[01:10:19] They’re on their job during the week. Come back to coach. It’s a lot. And so, um, just to give those little pieces of recognition to the coaches that put so much time and energy and effort into what they’re doing. Um, I think is it, I mean, that’s just something that I would think would be standard as a competition company.

[01:10:37] And you just kind of don’t see that, um, at all. You don’t see that to an owner of, You know, a organization, um, at least I didn’t at the competitions that we went to. And so I thought in my mind, I, I can definitely do a competition and get more out of it for everyone involved that between the athlete, the parent, the coach, the owner, all of those things encompassed into one.

[01:11:03] And I can, I can definitely do it better than what it’s getting done right now. So I had a guest on yesterday. And I said, so they’re doing like they have this software. It’s like a completely new thing, but it’s like an offspring of an industry that had existed that had a problem and there seemed to never be a solution for it.

[01:11:25] So, um. I said, well, how’s it going? Like, is it, is it starting to launch? He goes, well, we’ve gotten the ultimate indication that the market is ready for this. I said, what was that? He said, we went to a company and actually, no, he said a company called us after seeing one of our marketing things and said, thank God we, we need you.

[01:11:47] And said that they have been looking for a solution like this for so long and couldn’t find it that they were about to try and figure out how to solve it. But now that they see that it exists in the marketplace, not only do they want it, but they can’t wait to tell everyone else that potentially needs it.

[01:12:03] How cool it’s going to be. It sounds like that’s kind of the way that you’re looking at this is like you’re analyzing what’s missing from your experiences and you’re going, okay, well, there’s the next business. I’m just going to do that now because the market has already said. It’s something that’s important.

[01:12:20] Definitely. I think that, so by going there, right in, everyone is talking and you’re getting feedback and you’re getting all these ideas from, you got all the downtime. Yeah, you do. You really do. Sometimes, um, when you’re waiting for a team and you only have two hours, okay, I’ll go get something to eat, but then what do we talk about, you know?

[01:12:39] And, um, I, I want. I think the recreational side does not get as much as the all star side. And I don’t think that’s, that needs to be the equivalent, right? It can be, it definitely can be. I, I think their recreational cheer has kind of gone to the wayside and I want to bring that, that. Back to what it needs to be.

[01:13:05] You’re building a minor leagues too, because out of the recreational, maybe there’s a, an athlete that’s doing three other sports is doing it recreationally comes to find out, Hey, this is my Avenue. Yeah. My gosh. And now can transition into the full time. Yes. So you’re building an arsenal of not only new athletes that can add to it, but customers that you can kind of incubate into the bigger process.

[01:13:31] Basically, almost like my own program. Yeah, you’re giving them the sample of the brand. Absolutely. Absolutely. And I think that I think that they deserve that the recreational side definitely deserves a revamp of of competitions that they go to. And they deserve to be quality judged. Right. So I, I know that I take a lot of the feedback that I get at, at all star competitions as everyone does.

[01:13:58] Right. You take that, that judge’s score and then you’re like, okay, where, where can we take this? Can we make it more difficult? Is that where we need to go? Is that the avenue? Do we need to make it more technical? Like our technique is lacking. Um, you know, there’s, there’s different multiple angles that you can go at it.

[01:14:13] And I feel like the recreational side, I would get a, I would get a judge’s feedback and it would be like great smiles. Mm. You know, it wasn’t telling me you had real surface level stuff Yeah, you know that you needed seven out of eight tumblers and they were tumbling with bad technique. They needed straight legs They needed pointed toes.

[01:14:34] They need you know, so those kind of Things that you can, and you should be getting, whether you’re an all star or you’re in recreational, like you should be getting those key tools to bring back to your team. Because at the end of the day, they’re looking for you. They’re looking to you. They’re looking to the coach.

[01:14:51] They’re looking to the program to make them better. How do you do that? You implement the feedback that, you know, these, these judges are giving you. So I think we, we, we’ve done a great job. So our, uh, the company is called, uh, Lux Events. We do recreational competitions. Our first one is October 19th. It’s coming up next weekend.

[01:15:15] So I’ve been getting ready for that. We’ve had, uh, judges conferences. We’ve had coaches conferences, um, and getting great feedback. You’re going to become like the commission commissioner. Yeah. Roger Goodell. You’re going to walk out and people are going to boo you. I mean, that might happen. Not everyone.

[01:15:32] Um, you know, you can’t please everyone, right? So, um, there’s going to be some definite, uh, yeah. Variations that we bring that the recreational side of the other people that are doing, um, you know, these competitions. It’s going to be kind of a contrast, right? Of like what you get from us versus what you get from them.

[01:15:52] And it’s kind of what, what you want to get out of it. So if, if you’re fine with going there and just kind of competing and not, and not really taking anything and excelling from that, you’re just, um, a, first of all, you’re not getting time Very many, um, prizes and things like that. So, like, a medal or a banner or something like that.

[01:16:15] Whereas, I feel like, I’m, what I’m doing is, I’m giving out. Cheer backpacks. Mm hmm. I’m giving out jackets national champion jackets Just like things like that that makes it a better experience overall, right? Judges are gonna or that coach doesn’t sit on a mantle right in your house, right? You put you give them that jacket they wear it out people go.

[01:16:37] Oh you oh you compete right? Yes becomes a conversation starter So it’s a walking trophy Absolutely. No, it definitely is. And those things, I feel like on the recreational side, all the things have gone up in price, just like everything, right? Um, all those things have gone up in price, but the quality of the experience is not there.

[01:16:58] And that’s where Yeah, nobody has a problem with the price going up if the value of the product went up. Right? And then you can, you can go, okay, well, that balances, right? It’s when it gets out of, out of balance that you have people freaking out in society or parents of cheer or whatever, whatever it is, or when it’s, you know, 40 for six bananas, that’s a problem.

[01:17:22] For sure. I love bananas, not 40 worth. Yes. They’re not that good. And we’re going to be doing things for half the price, which already is going to be a better experience for those programs. They’re going to be able to offer more to their people that are coming in. If something’s cheaper than, you know, the, the next person, um, the quality of our stuff that we’re giving out, as far as.

[01:17:44] Uh, awards and prizes are substantial, um, versus our competition. So, um, and then also, like I said, the feedback, the feedback is imperative. Those coaches want to know, what can I do better? Yeah. What can I give to my athletes when they say, why did we get second place and not first place? Okay, here’s what I can take back.

[01:18:06] Here’s what I can give to them. Here’s what I know about this rubric. And here, and maybe it’s, maybe it’s something like routine composition. Okay, well, I as a coach know that maybe I can put some more pizzazz in here. Maybe I can make these motions better. Little things are just as important as the big things, right?

[01:18:23] Oh, it’s like a business, right? Listen to your customers. Absolutely. Absolutely. And then adjust to that. If your customers keep telling you the same thing. Good or bad. Yes, that’s that’s a beautiful opportunity to adjust. Yes. And so you got the same philosophy. This goes back to your communication thing, right?

[01:18:41] You just you you want constant communication is Is what I keep getting from you. Yes, because that’s, it’s the fuel that you need to adjust. Yes, definitely. So, um, another thing is our, the recreational side of these competitions. Um, they, they do not, it’s not very transparent where I’m super transparent in, in events, right?

[01:19:02] So you go on to our website and you look in there and you can see your rubric and it says you need to do X, Y, and Z. That’s like the parent portal thing. Yeah, it’s for anybody. So, you as a parent can look at it, coaches can look at it, organizations can look at it, anybody. Um, where our competition, they give out a little booklet, and you have to attend their, their, uh, meetings and things like that, where we don’t have that, right?

[01:19:26] It’s all there. It’s in black and white. If you have, if you need eight tumblers and you have eight tumblers on your team, you’re gonna get the points for it. If you have this, and all the requirements are there, it’s in black and white. Which I love. Um, it’s easily accessible, so I don’t need a book. It’s all online.

[01:19:43] If I need to bring it up, I have my phone with me. I bring it up, hey, da da da da da, and we also give examples of what’s, um, legal and not legal. Okay, so, you know, I say legal and not legal, right? So we have a governing body of CHEER, um, that you could submit videos to and they say, yes, you can do that at that level, and no, you can’t.

[01:20:03] Right. I just say their own thing. You don’t have a team that comes in. It just blows out another team because they’re like at a different level and it’s not even a competition. And then you also don’t have, um, those kids doing the skills that they’re not capable. Yes, they’re not able to perform. So a lot of times Um, you know, at the kindergarten, first grade, second grade level, you’re not getting the kids with, you know, a ton of experience doing recreational cheer.

[01:20:31] Um, so when, when you have that team that you’re, anybody can sign up for, you’re having someone who has never done cheer a day in their life. And then you’re having someone who has eight years of experience. So, to kind of mold that into something, that’s pretty difficult, you know? Um, so I think just taking all of that, all of the things that I didn’t like or didn’t agree with, and making something A lot better, at least in my eyes.

[01:20:59] I hope in everyone else’s eyes when they finally get to come to one of our competition. Well, they’ll let you know. Yeah, for sure. I will definitely get the feedback from the parents. You’ll get that feedback for sure. Yeah, but if I can take something and make it better, that’s That’s, that’s my goal. All right.

[01:21:15] So I got a final question for you. We’re going to wrap this mamma jamma up. Yeah. So, uh, every, every business owner that, uh, or entrepreneur executive that I’ve had on the show, um, has had some sort of words of wisdom and talked about something inspirational. Some positive thought. Um, I think that it’s important here, um, that you speak to entrepreneurs or future entrepreneurs.

[01:21:42] And I think specifically as well, um, somebody that has come from a tough spot, single mom, three kids, and, um, cream rises to the top, right? So what would be your words of inspiration or what would be your, uh, your philosophy? Or, or give us a sample of what type of process you would recommend to somebody who’s considering getting into business for themselves, but perhaps has that fear that they can’t overcome.

[01:22:14] What do you want to say to them? That’s a very good question. Oh boy, you put me on the spot. Um, I just, I just think you have to have that core belief in yourself that this is something that you can do and you can do it well. We’re not all experienced, um, you know, have, have 50 years under our belt of all these things, but you can take in all of the experiences that you have and turn that into something that is even better.

[01:22:46] Right? So, um, I, I believe that you’re constantly learning, no matter what it is. So, uh, you know, I’m 47 years old, I don’t have all the answers. I had even less answers when I was 20, right? So, um, I think just taking those experiences, do, digesting them, because you have to then, you can’t just have all these ideas in your head and not come up with a plan, right?

[01:23:11] Not, not how to execute it. And I think that’s, Sometimes hard for entrepreneurs to do because they’re so caught up in the day to day operations and what I need to do next, this, that, the other, where they don’t see, they don’t take a step back and see the big picture and what you’re trying to do and what you’re trying to accomplish.

[01:23:30] So a lot of that is your vision, is your, is your mission that you’re trying to do. And you just, if you keep on that path, if you keep on that goal, knowing that you’re going to have speed bumps along the way, it’s gonna happen. Um, Knowing that in the back of your head, when it actually happens, and those speed bumps come, and you’re feeling very overwhelmed, very, uh, You know, have a ton of anxiety for, like I have this week, you know, just kind of getting ready for next week, but, um, those, those things will subside.

[01:24:02] And honestly, anybody that you have a connection with, you know that they’ll want the same thing for you. So whatever I, um, whatever I can put out there and make someone know that you don’t have all the answers, but you’re, you’re trying, you’re trying your best. So, um, I mean, that’s, that’s what I tried to do every day.

[01:24:25] Ladies and gentlemen, Carrie Shacoin. Yes. Shacoin. And, uh, again, the name of the company is Iconic All Stars Royal Empire. You, she’s got a five Oh one C three. We are, so are starting locks. We’ve got a competition coming up, so there’s so much great. Going on and I hope that you’ve thoroughly enjoyed the show remember to follow and subscribe remember to Like and comment on all the content.

[01:24:51] We can’t wait to send this out in the universe. I think that it’s been fantastic Interacting with you today Carrie, and I just want to remind you you got shit done Cheers Outro Music Can Does your business handle 15 percent growth? If yes, you have to engage with 2020 Design. They fuse data and creativity to stop the scroll, break through the noise, and grab the attention of your future customers.

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