Sean (00:05):
Hi everybody. Welcome to another edition of Two-Brain Radio with Sean Woodland. On today’s episode I talk with 10-time CrossFit Games athlete and the 2014 fittest woman on Earth, Camille Leblanc-Bazinet. Over the last months, I’ve interviewed some truly amazing guests. Stacie Tovar, Tanya Wagner, Adrian Bozman, Chris Hinshaw, Rory Mckernan, Julie Foucher and more. So if you’ve missed out on this stuff, check out our archives for the best stories from the fitness community, and to avoid FOMO, please subscribe Two-Brain Radio. I’ve got a spectacular guest coming every single week. Camille Leblanc-Bazinet is one of the most recognizable female athletes in CrossFit Games history. She appeared at the Games every year from 2010 to 2018 as an individual and she stood on the podium as a member of a team last year. She is also the founder of the online training program Féroce Fitness. We talk about her competitive career in CrossFit, what it was like winning the 2014 Games and what it was that led her to start her own training company. Thanks for listening everybody. Camille, thanks so much for joining me. How are you doing today?
Camille (01:19):
Good, thanks. How are you?
Sean (01:20):
I’m wonderful. Thank you. First off, I just read that you were going to compete as a legend at the 2020 Rogue Invitational. What’s it like to be referred to as a legend?
Camille (01:30):
I think like what the mean is a completely broken down athlete you can get to show up again.
Sean (01:38):
Oh man, I don’t know about that but that was a fun show to watch last year and it’s cool that we’re going to have you out on the competition floor this year.
Camille (01:46):
Really sad I missed it last year. I mean like all the people that are part of that legend group, it’s really like the OG when there was no fame, no money involved and we were all in just for, you know, the love of the sport. Those girls made such a huge impact for me in my life. Cause it was the really the first time that I had like camaraderie with other women, that we raise each other up and that stayed with me forever since then. And also what I tried to give all the newbie that came in this sport I was always welcoming to them. So I was sad that I missed last year so I’m super stoked to do it this year with my, what’s the word, with my fitness that’s kind of going down.
Sean (02:38):
Everyone knows you from CrossFit. I think a lot of people who got in even early, you’ve always been around, but what was your athletic background prior to getting into CrossFit?
Camille (02:47):
You know, I’m a do it all type of girl. So gymnastic was the biggest one, so this is how I realize why I loved CrossFit so much. I’m just someone that is always in and in CrossFit you got to practice a lot of different sport, which I really enjoy that. But in school I was part of every single team sport that existed. So I did literally everything except biking. And yeah, that’s about it. I did almost everything and basketball for obvious reasons.
Sean (03:28):
Yeah. Why do you think you excelled at gymnastics?
Camille (03:34):
I was fearless and I also think that was one of my biggest strengths in CrossFit. And if you look at how much weight I could lift for my size, I think it always came from being fearless towards what people would qualify as impossible. So for my size and all of that, people would just be oh, Cam’s too small, like she’ll never be strong. And for me that was just a all right, I’ll take the dare and I think like literally everything in my life is kind of built around that, including my business. The unicorn from my brand is just this like mystical creature. It’s the, what’s the word? It’s the master transformation kind of making dreams happen and all of that. So I think that’s, yeah, that’s just in me.
Sean (04:36):
Your gymnastics career came to an end when you tore your hip. How did you deal with that?
Camille (04:43):
I’m sorry, repeat your question. I didn’t hear it.
Sean (04:46):
How did you deal with the fact that you couldn’t do gymnastics anymore after tearing your hip?
Camille (04:52):
I think life just throw at you exactly what you need. And even back then, that’s how I saw it. It was just, I was done. I was just done. I was just done with gymnastics, because my—the higher level group that I needed to be in would only take me like two or three times a week cause my parents couldn’t pay for me to be part of like the, like the kind of the girls that were the national team and the organization was too stubborn about the money. So when I did gymnastics, I remember thinking I’m going to be so good that they won’t have a choice, you know, they’re going to see me work so hard that they’ll just take me. And cause my parents couldn’t pay rhey never did. And me working so hard, it’s kind of how I ended up hurting myself. And then I became very like angry at just the whole organization. So literally when I quit gymnastic, I didn’t even do a handstand for like two years. I was so over it.
Sean (06:02):
Once you were back to feeling 100% and fully healed, what did you then turn to to kind of get your competitive outlet or get your competitive juices out?
Camille (06:12):
Yeah, so I think this is just how I’ve always work and also I think this is a little bit of the reason why I’m able to really find my passion. Like a lot of people are just looking left and right. They see something that they think might be fun and they really struggle to find that thing that like lights them on fire. And for me, I’ve always just found this search like as my goal. So as soon as I stopped gymnastics, I signed up for every sport that exists. I would always try anything and everything and always do it as good as I could and nothing really like sent me on fire. And then obviously one day I did CrossFit and how hard it was and how it push me mentally just that one time I tried it, it really set me on fire and I just knew I found something special. So when I stopped gymnastic and I started to heal, that became my next search. It was just like, what is that next thing that’s going to set me on fire? And like, same thing goes to school and would try like a lot of different classes. Like I did art and music and everything cause I wanted to see like, what’s going to trigger me and let’s stick to that. So yeah, that’s just what I did. And the same thing I’m doing now.
Sean (07:42):
How exactly did you find CrossFit?
Camille (07:46):
Someone just challenged me to it. And that was it.
Sean (07:49):
What was the challenge?
Camille (07:52):
So when I stopped gymnastic I was playing rugby and I started to like, I mean, I’m a psycho since ever, this is not like not like a new thing. So people who are like, Oh, she just magically became this like crazy person. Like I totally own my craziness and I love it. But yeah, one of my girlfriend played rugby, so I started playing rugby and I was—people said running marathon was hard. I was like, well, I’ll run a marathon when I’m 18. So like when I was 18, I barely put my shoes and I went outside and I just ran a marathon, which was literally awful, so awful, much more awful than I expected. But I’m so stubborn. I don’t even know how long it took me. But so yeah, so I would just try everything and one of the guy on the guy rugby team, was like, first of all, he was a dick, but he was like, Oh, you think you’re so cool? You think you’re so in shape, blah, blah blah, you know, come try CrossFit. And I was like, I love to train. So OK. Like I’ll come. And did not like the guy, but really loved the community.
Sean (09:09):
When did you figure out that you were actually pretty good at it?
Camille (09:15):
To be honest, I—I never, it’s so weird. I never thought I was good. Including my whole career of competing. I just always thought I wasn’t good enough and I always thought I could be more, which is crazy. But I think one day I realized that I just really love what competition brought in me and that’s what I really got hooked on. But literally I think every single time I thought I was kinda good at it, I mean, you experienced it firsthand watching me getting slapped in the face, you just come back down to earth. And I really fell in love in the process of trying to figure out who I am. That was what I loved the most about sports and failing and doing it in front of millions of people. I’m very grateful of who I became through those year.
Sean (10:29):
You made it to the Games for the first time in 2010. What were your expectations when you showed up in Carson to compete for the first time?
Camille (10:38):
Oh, don’t be last. That’s it. That is literally all. You know, it’s so funny because there was like 200 person in the stands, and it was so big for me. Like it was so freaking huge and I was like, I just don’t want to be last. But, so I grew up in a really small town and what it gave me is when I got there, I realized that I could get out of where I was and it gave me so much hope. And that’s also a part of, I think why I became so good. So mentally tough. So all of those things because I had a hope and a chance to like do more and become more. That was awesome.
Sean (11:30):
Yeah. You took ninth that year, so obviously much better than last. What were the lessons that you learned from that year competing at the Games?
Camille (11:39):
That I—go away. He has to make everything about himself.
Sean (11:45):
Dave Lipson just showing up there for a second. Hi Dave.
Camille (11:48):
Literally before this interview, I go, Hey Dave, why don’t you come sit next to me and try to micromanage. So what I learned that year that is that I belong. Finishing nine I was like I’m going to be one of those top girl. And that’s it.
Sean (12:10):
Then how did that affect your training as you moved forward from that point?
Camille (12:15):
There’s nothing more dangerous than giving someone a glimpse of hope. So I was full-time student in chemical engineering through almost all my career. And you know, people, I hear it all the time cause a lot of people definitely come to me to tell me how they’re going to be the next person at the Games. And you know, in my heart I really hope that they will. I’m like this, you know, but at the same time I’m always—did you even know what it takes? Because I used to literally, some day I would sleep at the gym cause I had school at eight, so I would like bring an air mattress at the gym, wake up at 4:00 AM, train from like four to 6:30. My school was an hour and a half away from the only gym that we had access to. I would drive to school and then go to school all day, nap at lunch at like the cafeteria table. And then I would train from like six to eight or eight to 10 at night. And I would do that every single day. I had no computer, no telephone, no TV. I would just like, it was school, training, and I loved it.
Sean (13:30):
Not many people have that drive and that self-discipline to maintain that schedule and work that hard. Where do you think that came from with you?
Camille (13:42):
I just knew I was meant for bigger thing. I think—there’s something that I hated that happened to me that happens a lot of kids I think when they grow up and I think people force us to stop dreaming. So like when you grow up, you’re a kid, you dream you’re going to be an astronaut. You dream you’re going to be, you know, all those amazing thing. You’re going to be a star. And then because those goals are so hard to reach and other people, mostly adult, they just, I think they do it with kindness, they just don’t want you to get hurt by like trying so hard to do something and then failing that they try to tell you right away how only like certain kind of people can do it. And because I’m not from a family with any money, I think in a way or either someone who shine bright when their kids, they get bullied.
Camille (14:38):
That’s what happened to me. I got really bullied hard in school cause I was different. I had no idea I was different. And after I was done in high school and I started college, again, I realized that I hated how I stopped having this dreamy feeling for hoping more for yourself. So when I got into college, I just promised myself I was going to hunker down and work, just work. And I just knew that with that work, that like hope in my heart and just keeping that dreamy feeling, I just, I don’t know why, but I knew I could do anything. And I just really hang on to that. Then I knew that I was going to start to qualify and quantify myself as a person with the work I put in and just how I treat people. And then I did that when I was 20, I started to love myself more and that was great.
Sean (15:42):
That’s great. Fantastic answer. You and Michelle Letendre had some great battles in the old Canada East Regional going back and forth. What stands out to you about competing against her for those years at Canada East?
Camille (15:57):
I think the funniest thing, cause we talked about it when she retired and that really cracked me up. I loved it as much as she hated it. I loved the pressure. She made me so much better. It was awesome. I think we really helped each other reach our full potential and that was everything.
Sean (16:25):
How exactly did you think Michelle made you better?
Camille (16:29):
She was good. I think like her only goal was to beat me, you know, and I knew that and that was awesome. So I wasn’t going to give it to her. It was awesome.
Sean (16:47):
You got better every year at the Games until 2013 and you dropped to 16th that year. What, if anything, did that do to your confidence?
Camille (16:58):
It made me win the next year.
Sean (17:01):
What effect did that have on your training then the way you prepared after you took 16th?
Camille (17:10):
Yeah. You know, I started, I had like really like just only top 10, so you start to think in your head that you deserve maybe things, and I had worked so hard on like, don’t get me wrong every year I work my ass off. But I think I just thought that for me it was an easy gift that I was going to be top 10. And it made me realize what it take to go from top 10 to top three and that when you want to be top three, you have to be perfect, and like not perfect in the way you, I don’t know how to say it. Not only just perfect all year with your food, nutrition, training, mindset and all of it, but when you compete, you have to respect the other girls you’re going with and understand that everyone’s going to kill themselves for this.
Camille (18:07):
So that’s how I started to train that year. I would literally go to the track and just, I would write champ on my hand. And especially because Sam Briggs won that previous year and she was so good at like all this endurance stuff, I would always ask myself like, how fast would she be running? Am I running faster? Am I like trying? And I like just started to really like not see myself as like as good as the other girl, but like trying to use all of their strength and try to see if I could beat them at their strength. And yeah, I like reach out to a lot of people. Extended my group of coaching. So Chris Hinshaw, CJ, Martin, Sean Lin were like my like core team. My husband got like more involved cause he saw the potential and then, you know, just like understand the value in the journey, learning, education, just all the other stuff. I dunno, but to be honest, and I talked about this to a couple other athletes, you have to sacrifice everything. Everything for one year. And it could be worth it. And thank God for me it was.
Sean (19:31):
How were you feeling when you showed up to the StubHub Center for the Games in 2014?
Camille (19:38):
I was just going to do the best I could. And you know, you can’t—you don’t show up thinking you’re gonna win cause I got slapped in the face the year before, so I’m not cocky at all, just humbly being part of this with the amazing women. But for me, the search like really became like trying to become this version of myself that I wanted to see in an athlete. So in 2014 I just wanted to be like really for myself, fully proud of my effort in every single workout. So that’s what I did. I took chance. I, you know, did stuff that the halfway in it I was like whoa boy, this could really backfire on me right now. But yeah, there’s a lot of that involved too.
Sean (20:33):
At what point did you think that, you know what? I actually have a chance to win this whole thing.
Camille (20:43):
Not before Saturday night cause I don’t look at the score when I compete ever. So I had no idea what my points are. And then Saturday night they gave me the white jersey and me and Dave went home and I was like, Holy f*&@. Cause I mean, you know at this point there’s like really not much workout left. And normally Sunday, for me as an athlete, that’s when you’re more in the, you know, the tennis stadium and those are more CrossFitty-ish type workout, which are my strengths. So I was like, I think this is gonna happen. And as soon as I thought that, I knew it was going to.
Sean (21:24):
What was it like being on the tennis stadium floor? You’ve just finished Double Grace and then Dave Castro announces you as the fittest woman on Earth?
Camille (21:33):
It’s so funny because everyone think it’s like this miraculous moment. Like, Oh my God, this just happened. But it’s like I worked all my life for this. So, you know, I soon as I sat down, all that happened in my head was yes, I am the fittest, you know, and I know it. Like I just know, I literally just proved that and by a lot, too. And then after that I remember I sat down and I started to cry and I just thought, I’m so tired.
Camille (22:13):
And then the next thing I just wanted Dave, my husband, there and to have him come and celebrate. That was my favorite moment. Me and Dave on the floor. I was very grateful that Dave Castro let my husband come on the floor so we can get that little celebration together because, you know, like we did this together. He sacrificed a lot to help me achieve this. And it’s really rough on couples and marriage because the pressure that I put on myself, I project on him and it’s a lot.
Sean (22:53):
Other than hearing your name announced and your celebration with Dave on the floor, what are the moments that stand out to you the most about the 2014 Games?
Camille (23:02):
Well, this is something that I don’t think a lot of people know, but I was taking five class in chemical engineering during that summer. So, the Sunday happen and then the next day I had to take a red eye to go do my finals at school. So that kind of would stand out the most to me because it was like literally one day you’re literally on top of the world and the next day I was doing finals at school with people that had no idea what I just did. And I really loved that. It was big for me to just stay who I am because you realize that the literally almost no one else in the world cares. I don’t know. It was definitely weird after I did it because in your head you go, well, what’s next? Because you focus on that so much and then you did it.
Camille (24:01):
So it’s really weird. I think it’s gonna still take me a couple years before I realize everything I did through my career, because I’m too work oriented, focused. The same focus I had in CrossFit and being the fittest, now I have the same focus in trying to help people, give them the best training program, the best nutrition, all of that because my focus through the year has really changed a lot through like I want to be the best me and now I really want to help people become the best them through obviously my business that I started because I would go, when I injured my shoulder in 2017, I started to go in globo gym and it really broke my heart to see just the amount of people who want to be fit and healthy that don’t have access to good credible content. Everything about nutrition is very confusing out there, they don’t even start with the basic better like calorie intake and micronutrient balance. And yeah, I think like seeing that like gave me this new fire the same way that when I found CrossFit. So now I just want to help people.
Sean (25:20):
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Camille (26:23):
I mean, so much changed. I think a lot change were for me, my quest—I was fitter every year from then on. But I think there’s good and bad things that change where like I think after I won in 2014, the sport really blew. And I think, you know, people I don’t know, more money, more fame, everything changed. And I think there was, there’s things that happened to me, like I got injured and I had some demon I had to go through because, you know, it’s not as easy as it seems once you win, you lose a little faith in the world because everyone tried to take something out of you and there’s a lot of things that are really hard that happened to me through that that people don’t know. But either way for me, the quest has always been to become the best version of myself. And that’s what I always wanted to do. And that’s what I did in 2018. I was perfect. I was so tough. That’s all I wanted. I wanted to be the most mentally tough version of me I could have. And the result was just gonna be, you know, attached to that, whatever that was going to be. And I’ve always resented myself from that half marathon row we did in 2013. So in 18, when they announced the marathon row, everyone else was crying. I was stoked.
Camille (28:16):
I was like, who else gets like a redemption like this? And when I did that marathon row, I finished in a spot no one would have expected me to finish, beat it. I should have been last on paper, with just my size, and the whole time I was rowing, I was telling myself—so this is what mental toughness is to me, is having a clear mind and an open heart when every card is stacked against you. I think people that think that mental toughness is like, Oh, this person is so good at this grind. But if grinding is your strength, I don’t necessarily think you have to be that mentally tough to do it. But when everything is stacked against you and is the thing you hate the most and you still go in with an open mind and an open heart and just full of love and gratitude and you do your best, that to me is the person I wanted to become.
Camille (29:15):
So I did that in that marathon row and that’s what I wanted to do through my career. And there’s no fame in that. There’s no extra sponsor. Literally, no one knew this except like my husband. And like CJ, who’s been with me through all those years and as soon as I did that in 2018, I knew I was done, because I became the person I wanted to be, which is why I competed in the first place. So yeah, to me it doesn’t matter where, you know, on paper I finished because in my heart I became who I want it to be.
Sean (29:55):
You mentioned some of the things that you went through after winning the CrossFit Games. What did you learn about yourself from that adversity?
Camille (30:05):
Gosh, I just learned that I didn’t want it to be like what a lot of people showed me. I mean you can learn from yourself, but I think you can learn a lot from others and it’s really funny how once there is a little bit more money involved and some sort of power involved people really change a lot. And that’s what I learned from that. I promised myself I was never ever going to do that or treat people like that.
Sean (30:36):
You got back to the Games podium last year, but you were a member of a team. What was that experience like for you?
Camille (30:43):
That was fun. I got to, you know, train hard for eight weeks instead of 52.
Camille (30:53):
You know, got a glimpse of what it feels like to have a normal life. Got to start my business, got to really start helping people around me. Got to, you know, just have fun with three other amazing person and it was fun. Definitely not as hard, you know, we work, I mean we work our ass off obviously cause I was terrified to let the team down. But it was nice and for me it was a nice way to be done. No pressure, enjoy being there and that’s it. And literally me and Dave would watch the individual, especially last year, crying everywhere. I was like I don’t want t be part of that.
Sean (31:44):
What is Féroce Fitness?
Camille (31:49):
It’s everything that we all need right now. So, I mean pretty simple, especially after competing, I wanted to build and my body’s broken. I wanted to build something that is super accessible to people, minimal equipment. Something that is quick to do that I can do while I’m building my business, give you the most result. Efficient. And also it’s kind of a pairing of like lower barrier of entrance of like functional fitness. So we remove a lot of the super complex movement cause I don’t want to see my mom do a muscle-up or a one rep-max-max deadlift. I’ve seen her do it, her back rounds every time. OK. So I don’t want her to do that. But I wanted to build something that was more towards health than performance. Something that everyone can do at their house and also wanted to build something where you can have this coach with you.
Camille (32:51):
Kind of have a personal coach at distance. So everything in Féroce, there’s video for everything with me explaining how to do things, what’s the goal of workout and it’s very detailed and I’m very present. Because I want people who are either intimidated to go to a gym or if people don’t have time to go to a gym to be able to have that like really personal touch and know exactly what they’re doing so they can regain their confidence, they can be fit, they can be part of a community and all that jazz together. I mean I have training experience like no one else really, and I just took like the best of every world that I’ve been a part of and just tried to create the best programming out there. So we do also a lot of strength, but it’s more towards rehabilitation, make sure your body is bulletproof.
Camille (33:49):
So we don’t really do as much of like super complex weightlifting like clean and jerk and snatch. But we do a lot more like bodybuilding rehabilitation type of thing where—here’s the truth, I spent 10 years doing CrossFit. I’m in a body that I had to be in for CrossFit, but I kind of want to be skinny and pretty too. So my program is just make it so you know, be as fit as possible but also we’re like, we definitely target muscle groups so you look as good as possible, which is just fun to do. I don’t trash myself ever. It’s like this easy get going type of workout and then you start pushing halfway through and you always have something good. So it’s really fun.
Sean (34:39):
You touched on this a little bit earlier, but what was the thing that you saw or the void that you saw out there when you said, you know what, I have to start this.
Camille (34:49):
Yeah. So, it’s a very specific example and I mean you guys can ask Dave, but I started to cry at the 24-Hour Fitness. So, when I had my shoulder surgery, I had to start to do a lot more machine going to 24-Hour Fitness cause I couldn’t like squat with the bar on me and all that jazz, which also was very eyeopening because we do have to modify a lot of thing and like going in like a club fitness and things like that. It is very, very good for like most people cause almost everyone has a shoulder issue, back issue and knee, hips and all that stuff. So we do need to take care of them and let me tell you, doing squat, clean and jerk all the time is not the best thing for them. And I was doing a leg press and there was this guy that was in this wheelchair and he came, he just saw me and Dave training so hard and he came to us and he was like, just introduced himself and we started to talk to him and then he told us that he had a stroke and like as the day were going by, he was losing more and more of his capacity to move.
Camille (36:00):
And me and David were looking at him and my heart really felt for him. But then we saw what he was doing with this personal trainer and that’s when my heart broke because we were like, you should be making him stand up and sit back down a fucking million time. Like to make sure that like, you know, he’s in a way to regain that. And everything the person was making him do was there, was just nothing. And then so that broke my heart cause I wish—me and Dave were like, we wanted to do something but we couldn’t, would have got kicked out of the gym cause we’re not the personal trainer there, we’re just members and then started to just look around after that. And there was like about 50 person on just like walking on treadmill, doing leg extension, looking at their phone and what really broke my heart is that all those people there are spending time away from their family away from other things because they’re really trying to put health first in their life, but they have no guidance. And how frustrating must that be to sacrifice those other hobby and time with your family to do something that is giving you no results? Because there is like not a real plan to it.
Camille (37:34):
And that’s when I started Féroce. That’s when I started to, I wrote this book called “Jumpstart to Health,” which is so far from what people think my brand is where I’m like this badass CrossFit chick, you know. And now the whole thing is this 30-day we teach people the foundation of nutrition, 30 day at home workout with 30 day of mindset. Cause I really believe that like mindset and nutrition and training just has to be hand in hand because our nutrition might be on, if your mindset and your training is off, it’s going to fall apart. If you have good training, good nutrition, your mindset is off, you’re going to get triggered, your behavior is going to change and they’re going to fall apart. So I just think the whole thing goes together and we did that first book and then a lot of people reach out. They were like, Oh, you know, we all need help for shoulder. Cause I realized that there is also no plan for people over their shoulder to come back from. So me and my doctor wrote down my other book. And then after that we use that money to be able to start the whole programming and the website. Then here we are. Yeah.
Sean (38:46):
What elements of CrossFit did you decide to include in your Féroce Fitness program?
Camille (38:53):
I think, you know, there’s a lot of amazing thing about CrossFit. I just think that over the years it almost feels like people made it what they wanted it to be, where like it became this very like all about performance type of deal. And I don’t know, I feel like when I started CrossFit it was more about being this group of people who just were health conscious, like coming together and trying to be better. And that’s really what I wanted as my program is this like thing that is this group of people who just want to be better as a group. So obviously we have this Facebook group, I’m on it every day cause I’m obsessed with my clients because I just, when people get better and they like, let me know, for me like that’s like literally better than winning the CrossFit Game.
Camille (39:53):
It just like, I cry all the time. You can ask Dave, I’m such, I’m like the toughest girl ever, but I’m so fragile. It’s ridiculous. Like I’m like keeping myself from crying, just talking about my clients. This is how bad I am, it’s terrible. But yeah, I think like bringing the group aspect of it, helping people learn and get better, that’s what I got from CrossFit and that’s what I really want to bring to people. Always keeping an open mind, keep learning, keep growing, which is what my program’s all about. I reach out to a lot of people to help me cause I don’t think I’m the best at everything, but I want the best people at what they do to be part of this, to give people in general just the best information, the best program, just the best care.
Sean (40:44):
What’s it been like for you from going to training to be this high-level athlete to now just training for life?
Camille (40:54):
It feels so good. Me and my husband needed me to stop. Yeah. I mean we get to go on dates. Dates. Like what is this? Yesterday we were Wednesday, I ate for lunch a brownie sundae. Like what is that? It’s great, you get to just, I’m taking ice skating lesson now. I’m able to do like just all the things I couldn’t do because I couldn’t ski much in case you get hurt, you can’t do like all those things cause you might get hurt. So now I like I’m going to shred on a mountain bike this summer. Like Dave is going to flip out because he gets so scared because I like things too much. But it’s really nice. I would say the only one thing I miss, and this is gonna sound so ridiculous, I miss just the pure suffering pain sometimes. But then, you know, I start working out, then I go there. I’m like, eh. I’m good.
Sean (42:10):
You mentioned your clients. What is one story or one reaction that you’ve gotten from somebody that really has had a profound impact on you?
Camille (42:20):
Well, I mean so far I’ve had like thousands and thousands of clients, but the one that keeps coming back, so this one just happened last weekend, this week with one of my one-on-one nutrition client. I think it’s really hard for people to make a lot of change when they’re part of those groups that are unhealthy. Not the unhealthy like negative people, but just like that eat bad, don’t train, they just don’t know that their life really needs a lot of tweaks and geeks and it’s really hard for, you know, to be part of a group like that and be the one person that is going to make change because everyone else project on you. And I just had the client like send me this email of how proud she was of herself because they all went out for pizza and she brought with her her protein shake and didn’t eat pizza.
Camille (43:16):
And not only to me, it shows me that she was, I bet it was one of the first time that she put herself first, no matter what people were going to say or judge her and all of that. And it made me so happy for her and not only does it make me happy for her, her children, her husband, they see her taking care of herself. And the next thing you know is her kids are going to start taking care of themselves too. And it’s like this one person and this group of people that, you know, when you’re the first one to pave the road with the people around you, you’re going to get all the resistance. Just everyone’s going to try to pull you back because change are harder than change are scary. So every time I have someone that do something like that, it makes my heart melt because I don’t think they themselves understand the impact they have for the people around them.
Camille (44:16):
And I think that’s how you really start to change the world health-wise or other things is like, I mean, I’ve got some email that were really rough sometimes, but the meant a lot, but I’ve had people like writing to me because they started this program and they got stronger and they got out of abusive relationship and things like that. And you don’t know it, but you might have like saved a life in a way. And yeah, that stuff is awesome. It’s great. One of my other clients stop drinking.
Sean (44:57):
That’s awesome. Wow.
Camille (45:00):
Like, because his body changed and he started to gain confidence in himself. He stopped drinking wasn’t like Hey Cam, I’m gonna—it was like hey, by the way, I’ve been doing this. Like that’s insane. It’s so rewarding. It’s unbelievable.
Sean (45:20):
Just a couple more questions here. You said earlier that you kind of wanted to find out who you are now. Obviously you’re not done growing and you’re not done accomplishing what you want to accomplish. But right now, who is Camille Leblanc-Bazinet?
Camille (45:34):
She’s a little stinker. I think, you know, I think I’m just a very, very hardworking woman, and I obviously know what my values are, which is what my whole life is based around, and I think once you know your value, it’s a lot easier to know who you are. I believe obviously in work, in kindness and I just want to help people, like I think we’re on this planet for one thing, is being part of this big group of people and I just want to make sure that I’m on the side, that I leave a mark out there, that I help people. And yeah, and I’m full on psycho, like full on crazy person. I work all day, all night. That’s literally pretty much how I qualify and quantify myself. I just work, I try to do a lot which I think it’s weird for people sometimes.
Camille (46:46):
Like two nights I’m going to train with this girl. And she was trying to make sure my training was OK. I was like, no, I just want to help you with your training. I don’t care what we’re doing, like I just want to be there for you. And I don’t think people are quite used to that in others, but yeah. But I think, I mean, you know, my husband, and I think we both really feed off of each other in that those are our biggest value. And I want Féroce to obviously be the biggest training platform out there because I want as many people involved in it as possible and to help as many people too, because this isn’t the type of brand where we’re trying like make money. All I want to do is help people and I can’t wait to make enough money so we can start a bunch of charities, which is itching me because we’re not there yet. And it drives me crazy that I feel like I’m not helping enough, that’s what keeps me up at night. It’s not big enough and built enough that we can like give back as much as I would want to. I don’t know if I answered your question.
Sean (47:56):
No, you absolutely did. And this’ll be the final one. But you talked about, you know, being younger and getting bullied and having people tell you that, you know, maybe you shouldn’t have that dream. If you could go back right now and you could talk to those people and show them what you’ve accomplished, what would you say to them?
Camille (48:14):
I would just try to help them because, you know, as you grew older, it makes me sad to think about how willing they were to be mean. You know, I was never mean back to them. Growing up, like I would always just keep moving, just keep moving, trying to get out. That’s all I would think about it, which is why I think I’m such a hardworking person, because as long as I did sports and work, you know, you don’t think about the other stuff. So at home, if you have any problem with anything, just work. Because when you work, you’re busy; your brain is busy. You don’t make up all those stories and things like that. Looking back, I just really hope that they got through their own insecurity, and it took me 30 years to come back from that. And I still don’t think I’m pretty, you know, sometimes I look at myself, I think I’m pretty and sometimes I don’t. Then sometimes I don’t even know what I look like cause my focus is so much on the work and the other stuff, which I don’t know if it’s weird or if everyone’s like that.
Sean (49:37):
Everyone is like that, yes.
Camille (49:37):
It’s like completely confusing for me, but I don’t know if that’s how you’re supposed to feel inside your own self. Like I don’t know. But I just, you know, I hope that they found a way to become better. I think the biggest thing is I hope that they’re able to own themselves, the good and the bad because I’ve made mistake too. But I own it, the good and the bad and that’s a big thing for me. It’s very important to be accountable. When I make mistake, I say it right away. Like I’ve called like a lot of people crying like, Oh my God, I’m so sorry. Like I had no idea, it came out wrong or you know, I had my period and I didn’t mean any of it. But I just hope people are able to be a little bit more accountable and own a little bit more their action.
Sean (50:31):
Thank you so much for taking the time to do this. Best of luck with Féroce Fitness and definitely looking forward to seeing you out there on the competition floor at the Rogue Invitational.
Camille (50:43):
I’m terrified about it. I’ll just give high-fives to take breaks because that way no one’s going to know I’m just truly dying inside.
Sean (50:52):
I think that’s a great strategy. Camille, hank you so much. Appreciate it.
Camille (50:55):
Thank you Sean.
Sean (50:57):
Huge thanks to Camille Leblanc-Bazinet for taking the time to speak with me. You can follow her on Instagram. She is @camillelbaz. You can also check out Féroce Fitness. That is at Férocefitness.com. Thank you for listening to Two-Brain Radio. For all the best of the business world, please subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and please leave us a review. And if you have feedback or a guest suggestion, send it to podcast@twobrainbusiness.com. I’m Sean Woodland and we’ll see you next time.
