Sean: 00:03 – Hi everybody and welcome to another edition of Two-Brain Radio with Sean Woodland. Today I talk with the man behind the most popular CrossFit meme page on Instagram, John Wooley. But first, are you a stressed business owner who’s working too much and still struggling to make a profit? Do you want to grow your venture and reach the next level? Two-Brain Business is here to help with a free 60-minute call. This is not a sales pitch. It’s just an opportunity for you to get real, actionable advice from an expert who’s built a successful business. For one-on-one guidance on how to take your business to the next level, book your Free Help Call today at twobrainbusiness.com. John Wooley is the man who created and runs the CrossFit meme page “Make WODs Great Again.” We talk about how he got started, what makes a good CrossFit meme and what it’s like to meet the targets of some of his good-natured humor in person. Thanks for listening everyone. John, thanks so much for joining me, man. How you doing?
John: 01:04 – I’m good. How about you?
Sean: 01:05 – I’m doing well. People know your work, I think, better than they know you. So let’s get to know John Wooley just for a second. What do you do for a living?
John: 01:13 – I’m a banker, so I’ve been in retail banking now for, oh gosh, probably 15 years or so. I’m an executive vice president though, so I manage 17 branches here on the east side of Cleveland. A hundred employees. It’s roughly like one and a quarter billion dollars under assets, give or take changes any given day, but it’s a little over a billion.
Sean: 01:35 – How did you find CrossFit?
John: 01:36 – I got dragged into it like everybody else. So I was kinda freshly divorced, wanted to get in shape. I found P90x like a lot of people and was, you know, doing the pull-ups and push-ups in my living room and, you know, lost a bunch of weight, didn’t put on much muscle. And a buddy of mine had actually started a gym here in Cleveland, CrossFit Distinction. And I just ran into him at our kids’ soccer game and he’s like, “Hey, you should come try this. It’s just like P90x but harder.” And I’m like, yeah, OK, whatever pal, I thought I was like pinnacle of fitness, you know? And, so I went in for this intro WOD and it literally destroyed me. Like, it was the most humbling, horrible moment of my life. Like literally the coach is yelling at me, I’m standing in the door like trying not to puke, she’s shouting, “don’t go home,” you know? And you know, I’m just one of those people that I don’t believe in letting things beat you. So I’m like, well, I’ll just keep going back until I master this. And you know, nine years later I figured out it’s impossible to master, but I keep going back.
Sean: 02:39 – Yeah. I tell people it doesn’t get easier. You just get to do more stuff.
John: 02:42 – Yeah, exactly.
Sean: 02:43 – How did it help you, you know, not only in the fitness realm, but also, you know, personally?
John: 02:48 – Ah, well, I mean, the community is huge. You know, I’ve built so many friendships over the years through it. I mean, that’s probably the biggest piece. And, you know, the other thing, I don’t talk about it much. I reference it some on the page, but you know, just like kind of emotionally and you know, physically it helps me work through— it’s the only hour of the day that I don’t worry about work. I don’t worry about my kids. I don’t worry about anxiety or depression or anything. Like the world goes black and all I’m focusing on is not dying during that WOD, like that’s it. And so for me it really is, it’s an outlet. Like it allows me to escape from all of that. And then, you know, there’s always the, you know, the benefit of the friendships you pick up over the years, kind of mutual suffering. You know, I compare it to the military, you know, like you go to war with somebody, you have a bond for the rest of your life and that’s kinda what it feels like.
Sean: 03:40 – How did a guy who is in professional banking start the most popular CrossFit meme page?
John: 03:49 – Who the hell knows? You know, it was weird. You know, I’ve always had a sense of humor. I had a blog for a while that I was writing and it was moderately funny, but, you know, there weren’t a lot of people reading it. My daughters have always said I should be viral. The think I’m hysterical for whatever that’s worth. Right after the election I had started this Twitter feed called CrossFit Trump. I thought it’d be really funny to do CrossFit tweets in the voice of Trump, for a number of reasons, number one, you can say some really horrible things and get away with it and blame it on Trump. And, you know, I just thought it’d be funny, you know, so, you know, my plan was I’d talk about, you know, building a wall and doing wall balls on them, you know, stuff like that. And, so I did that for a little while, picked up six, 700 followers. I started trolling my coaches, which I thought was funny, but you know, again, I wasn’t picking up followers. And then, around Christmas time a year ago, my daughter’s like, you know, Dad, you need an Instagram page. Like memes are funny. You could do memes. And so I handed her my phone and said, all right, have at it. And so she created this Instagram page, still called CrossFit Trump. And I didn’t do anything with it. It picked up two or 300 followers, but I barely used it. And the
n Regionals came around and Kayla Banfield, do the hashtag Update Show and we’ll post your meme. Well, it was during Regionals, it was a the Australian one, the Pacific, is that right? And so I did one of oh, who was it? Rob Forte and Jay Crouch. They had this picture where Jay had his hands behind Rob’s chest and it looked like that Janet Jackson photo from the Rolling Stone cover from years ago. And so I did a side by side and said, “Who wore it better?”
John: 05:38 – Next thing I know it’s on the Update Show and I picked up like six or 700 followers, like overnight from that one, you know, repost on the Update Show and then, you know, Jay and Rob both reposted it and I figured out very quickly, man, if you can get, you know, kind of notable people to repost you, you pick up followers. So for a few weeks there I started just tagging every athlete known to man and making memes about them, and you know, they all kept reposting them cause I guess they thought they were funny. I went from zero to 10,000 followers in like a month. And from there it was just kinda game on. I don’t know, I just kept doing it. And for me it was really always about the community. Like, you know, getting messages from people all over the world. And that was a lot of fun. And you know, the more it grew, the more I had an opportunity to do something with it. So it was kind of a crazy ride and just keeps going.
Sean: 06:32 – What do the people that you work with think about your little side gig here?
John: 06:36 – Not all of them know. I mean, they know, you know, like I had to tell my boss once I was going to Santa Cruz to interview Greg and he’s like, “All right, who’s Greg? Why are you doing a podcast?” You know, trying to explain it to him was like trying to explain to an Alaskan what a pineapple looks like, you know, it was just hard. They think it’s, you know, just kind of a fun hobby I guess. They don’t pay it much attention and I’m glad they don’t, to be honest. I try to separate, you know, my CrossFit life and my work life as much as I can.
Sean: 07:07 – Where do you think that your talent for putting together such funny memes comes from?
John: 07:15 – Well, I have an exceptionally funny father. My grandfather was really funny. I told someone the other day, it’s a weird super power, man. I can just look at a photo and just like think of a caption. You know, I’ve always been creative. I was a musician in college, studied music in Nashville for a number of years and, you know, music was kind of always my outlet, you know, playing guitar and writing songs and all of that. And so I think I’ve got a creative streak that’s kind of never-ending, for whatever that’s worth. This is a good outlet for that because you know, I just consume a lot of media anyway. And so as I see things that I think they’re funny, you know, if they’re relatable to me, I just assume they’re relatable to everyone. And you know, it tends to work out that way. I don’t know where it comes from, though. It just kinda happens, like it’s all day, every day. I tell everyone it’s ADD and coffee. That’s all it is.
Sean: 08:13 – You sort of touched on this a little bit, but what makes a good meme?
John: 08:16 – Well there’s a number of things. Typically you have to have like a funny picture, you know, and it’s really interesting to me how people will get triggered just by a photo. I was actually looking at a different meme page today, Fluffy Duck, who’s a buddy of mine and he had a picture of Trump on there and people were going all in about, you know, don’t be political; well there was literally nothing political about the post, nothing except that Trump was the subject, you know? And so I think you have to have a photo that’s either funny or edgy or creates some sort of thought. So that helps. And then I think the biggest piece, so it has to be relatable, like something that people either universally do or they see, you know, just something that they have done or experienced. I think those are the things that I typically look for. And you know, having done CrossFit now for nine years, I’ve kind of seen it all, you know, like a good example is getting a rash from doing AbMat sit-ups too fast. You know know, I’ve done so many of those, AbMat actually created an AbMat for me and put my logo on it, I swear to God.
John: 09:24 – But that’s a relatable thing. Like, you know, how many times have you gotten in the shower, not even thought about it, and all of a sudden it feels like you got a bee sting, you know, that’s just relatable stuff. And so I think those are two elements. The third one though, I think you have to be willing to piss off part of your audience. I think that’s a very important piece though. You have to—the best humor to me is humor that makes you think. It might be offensive, it might not be offensive. Or you’re not really sure, but it makes you think, and that’s all I’m trying to do is just, you know, create some conversation.
Sean: 10:01 – So along those lines of being willing to upset your audience, we live in a world of social-justice warriors and people who are easily triggered. How do you deal with that and avoid that kind of controversy?
John: 10:11 – I don’t avoid it. It is hard though because people are offended by almost anything. So I look at the page as a gift, like it’s a real gift to create conversations. So I’m not trying to steer someone to believe the way I believe. Like I don’t think that’s my mission for the page, but I do think I have an obligation to throw topics out there and have people talk about it. You know, a really good example of that would be, you know, the whole uproar that happened at a Holmberg’s gym a month or two back. I created that. Unintentionally, I might add, you know, I got a message from a follower that said, hey, our gym is outlawed booty shorts for women and men have to wear shirts now. And you know, they sent me the whole post that the gym had sent in and it really kind of was slanted against women. And I have two daughters and you know, so I felt kind of an obligation to women just put this out there. And so I did a couple of memes about it. I didn’t look to see who the gym was. It didn’t look to see who the gym owner was, which in retrospect maybe was a mistake. But next thing I know I’m getting, you know, messages from Morning Chalk-Up that they want to write an article on this. And you know, you go into the comments of the memes themselves, I mean, and there were literally thousands of people talking about it. And so it wasn’t my opinion whether they should or shouldn’t. It was, you know, really sparking that dialogue in the community around whether they should or shouldn’t. And that for me, that’s the real obligation of the page. Can I create that conversation that’ll help us all come together or at least talk about some of the issues that are out there.
Sean: 11:45 – How do you decide where the line is as far as poking fun at something is concerned?
John: 11:49 – Well, so I have rules for the page, they’re self-imposed. I never sexualize athletes ever. That’s a hard rule for me. I try not to make jokes about race, religion, sexual orientation, creed, national origin. Like, you know, those don’t typically go over well. It’s hard to understand sarcasm through written texts without hearing it, you know, so like I’ll say things on the podcast that are way edgier than I would ever put on my page because they can hear the inflection in my voice and they can tell I’m joking, you know, and so I think that’s important. I don’t know. I mean, it’s, you know, my line and your line may be different, you know, like I’ve routinely—like I’ve got these patches I sell that say “make WODS gay again,” as an example. And I cleared those through OutWOD, like I reached out to Will, who’s the founder of OutWOD, and said, hey, here’s the slogan I’m thinking of. What do you think? He actually changed the slogan for me and gave it the stamp of approval. But every time I post it, I get a message from somebody telling me they’re unfollowing or what a jerk I am. You know, so there’s a li
ne everywhere for someone, you know, and so I don’t worry about that much anymore. I just, you know, I just want to stay true to my values and truthfully, I just want to make people laugh, so I’m not trying to, you know, drum up a lot of controversy, although I do that some, I’m really just trying to bring people together, have some fun, you know.
John: 13:14 – The other thing that I do is when I’m making fun directly of an athlete, I try my best in the comments to talk about how much I respect them. Cause I think that’s important. Like, you know, I make fun of Vellner a lot as an example, you know, I’ve probably made about a million ginger jokes. What people don’t know is I come from a long line of gingers, like I’m pasty as the day is long. Right? And I got nothing but respect for this guy. I mean, you know, he’s been putting himself through college and competing and he’s just an absolute beast. And by the way, one of the funniest humans on the planet, like just a genuinely good dude. Right? So there’s no world in which I would want anyone to think I think less of him. So when I do those memes, I try to put something in the commentary of, you know, what a great athlete he is or, you know, how he’s extra good at putting on sunscreen. I don’t know, it could be anything, but, you know, I just try to make it appears as if, you know, I respect them because I do.
Sean: 14:05 – So along those lines, what’s it like meeting the athletes who are often the objects of your memes?
John: 14:11 – Oh, they’re great. They’ve all been great. You know, I ran into Fraser. Fraser is the funniest one. He’s my favorite story actually. So, I knew I was going to see him at the Arnold in Columbus, you know, big bodybuilding event, but he was there with Rogue and you were there, I remember that. And so I did a meme, you know, prior to going there and I tagged him in it. And the meme was a wrestling meme where one guy’s body slamming the other one. And the caption was, you know, when Fraser meets me at the Arnold or something, and he straight up DM’d me. Like I’d never talked to him before. He DM’d me and he’s like “Absolutely not, I love your page,” it’s all it said. So I run into him there and he was signing autographs and his time had wrapped up and so he was leaving, but he saw me, and to his credit, the guy’s a real gentleman. He was like walking down kind of the rope line, like taking as many pictures as he could before his time was up and he saw me, like pointed at my shirt and he came over and I’m like “Hi, I’m John with Make WODs Great Again,” he’s like, “I know who you are, F-ing love your page, man,” and then took a photo with me, you know, and that’s a pretty common reaction from the athletes. I mean they all seem to have a really good sense of humor of it. And truthfully, I think there’s a part of them, a significant portion of them that appreciate the press that I’m giving them. I mean, they’re all trying to build their own brand. They’re trying to get sponsors. I’m trying to help them with that, of getting their names out there and giving them that recognition and I think they understand that.
Sean: 15:41 – We’ll be right back with more from John Wooley, the man behind Make WODs Great Again, after this.
Chris: 15:46 – Hello my friends. It is Chris Cooper here. Since 2009 I have been writing daily blog posts, producing podcasts, videos, all kinds of stuff on social media with one mission in mind: to make gyms profitable. I came to that mission because I was an unprofitable gym owner. It almost ruined my finances and almost ruined my career, my marriage, everything. And since that day, since I made my recovery, I have wanted to help other gym owners become profitable, too. It’s part of my mission to the world because if you’re profitable, you’ll be here changing lives of thousands of your clients for the next 30 years. I think together we can have a tremendous impact. When we started mentorship, I did every single call myself. I was doing up to a thousand free calls a year and I was doing 10 calls with people who signed up for our early mentorship program, but the Incubator has been updated and improved a dozen times since then. Now the Incubator is really the sum of all of our experiences with over 800 gyms worldwide. In the Two-Brain mentorship program, we can now learn from everybody. We can collate data, we can see what’s working where and when and what the new gold standards are as they emerge. When somebody has a great idea, we can test it objectively and say, “Will this work for everyone or will it work for people on the West Coast or on the East Coast?” We can do that with little things like Facebook ads. We can also do that with operations and opening times and playbooks. All the questions that you have about the gym, we can answer them with data and with proof now. That’s the Incubator. It’s more than what I wrote about. It’s more than my experience. It is the best standard in the fitness industry, period. And I hope to see you in there.
Sean: 17:29 – What’s it like kind of being a CrossFit celebrity now?
John: 17:32 – It’s so weird. I just tell people I’m you. They’re like, are you that guy? I’m like, yeah, I’m Sean Woodland. Nice to meet you. I get my voice as deep as possible. It’s weird. So here’s the best thing ever. So I’ve been telling these stories to my daughters that I go to these events and usually like the Games, I took a couple of hundred photos at the Games, like any Sanctional I go to, I’m kind of getting harassed by people and I love it. Like that’s not a complaint. It’s super fun meeting people and hearing their stories. But we had a local competition here at my gym a week ago and I wasn’t competing, but I had a buddy that was working out there and so I wanted to go see it and I had my daughters with me. And they’re 17 and 15. And so we go rolling into Cliffside. I’m only going to be there for a minute, I walk in the back door, place is packed. It’s like shoulder to shoulder and we’re keep in mind this tiny little gym, this is not a big place. And so I come walking in and I hear this girl go, oh my God, you’re that guy. And both of my daughters’ eyes turned into like saucers and this girl comes over. She’s like, can I please get a photo with you? I love your page, you’re the best. She’s got her arm around me. She’s handing her camera to her friend. Both my daughters are like, what the hell is going on right now? I just turned to my youngest. I’m like, I told you I was cool, baby girl. She’s just shaking her head like, I can’t believe this is actually happening in real life.
John: 18:52 – So, you know, that part’s pretty funny. But for the most part. It’s great man. I love meeting people. I love hearing what they’re doing and you hear so many inspirational stories about how CrossFit has changed their life. You know, and truthfully like, it’s really humbling to have people tell you that, you know, they stand around and look at your stuff and like you’ve made a difference in their day and you know, so that part is, you know, it’s humbling and fun and exciting and, you know, I don’t know. It’s great.
Sean: 19:22 – What does a typical day of working on your page look like?
John: 19:25 – Depends on the day, but really, it’s not that hard. I get up in the morning, I spend about an hour in the morning, me and my cat Bean, we sit on the couch, I drink a coffee, he hangs out. And I just kind of scour, you know, social media or you know, photos or whatever I maybe have an idea for that day and just put together kind of the daily content. I can, you know, put out eight to 10 within that hour pretty easily. And then I’m kind of set for the day and then, you know, followers will send me stuff. And a lot of that’s funny. A lot of it’s not, but a lot of it is. They’ll send me photos. And then I dunno, as things happen I’ll create things as well, you know, so like when there’s notable news, you know, things coming out of CrossFit or whatever, I’ll create and it either posted immediately or save it for later, just, you know, kind of however the spirit moves me. I
‘m, I don’t want to say cursed, but I’m going to go with blessed to have one of one of those minds where I’m just like, when I see something, I can remember it and I’m almost always like creating in my mind, whether I’m physically doing something or not, I’m like kind of always creating. I did one the other day on like literally on my drive to Cliffside I was going to work out, and it was right after Jeff Cain had resigned. And so I had in my mind I was going to do a meme about Hunter getting a wildcard CEO spot. And so I’m working it out in my brain and I’m driving so I can’t photoshop while I drive, you know. But I had that thing completely worked out in my mind by the time I got there and you know, so I skipped the warm-up and put together a meme, which was awesome on double fronts.
Sean: 21:09 – Sounds like time well spent. What memes do people seem to enjoy the most?
John: 21:13 – You know, it depends on—it’s funny, you know, the things that I find really funny tend to bomb and the things that I think are just like totally dumb, they just blow up. You know, I think they find the relatable stuff, the things that they can tag their friends or coaches in, they really like, like that’s the thing. Like, if I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard it a thousand times from followers, they’re like, oh, we stand around after the workout and we all look at your stuff together. And I think it’s that together piece that’s most important. Like they want to be able to say, oh, you do that and you do that and oh, this is me, you know, and so it’s just the things that they see themselves. Now, there’s also a mean streak. Those work too. You know, I did a whole bunch about the Garard brothers when that went down, and people tend to really like those kind of in the moment, but they’re not funny long term. The other thing they really like, like when the Open comes, I was joking with my daughter yesterday, she was like, are you gonna get busier during the Open? I’m like, the Open’s like free candy. Like everyone’s watching, you know, it’s like you’ll see, you know, everyone’s YouTube hits go up. I’m sure your stuff lifts, like, you know, more than it normally is. I just kind of happens, you know, so you could do anything during the Open and typically get a good response.
Sean: 22:34 – What kinds of things have you been able to do thanks to the popularity of your page?
John: 22:38 – Oh, I’m really excited about the future. So you know, I’ve been, number one, kind of the initial stuff I’ve been able to do is give back to charities. And so that part I’m really excited about. You know, I’ve got several patches and some things that I’m selling that I’m donating the money to. I’ve got a Wounded Warriors group that I donate money to, OutWOD, I donate money to them. I’ve got a new one that we’re going to launch here shortly, all the money’s going to go to Barbells for Boobs, so breast cancer research. And so being able to do some of that is really cool for me. And then, you know, like, I’ll give you an example. Like a follower reached out to me. I think you guys might’ve done something too. There was a woman who had, if I remember right, like cervical cancer and they were putting together a video for her and they were like, hey, could you help us? Would you mind doing a video? I’m like, not only would I not mind doing a video, I’ll start reaching out to my followers and get videos for you. And I bet I got a dozen Games athletes to send in, you know, like a 30-second to a minute clip. And, you know, I don’t want credit for that. I think the beautiful part of that is the community coming together. And so being able to like kind of wrangle the community together to help this woman who’s got cervical cancer have a brighter spot in her day. It’s like, you know, it’s just, it’s really, it’s humbling. It’s hard to put into words. Like it’s just, it’s also a responsibility, you know? And so it’s just given me a lot more avenues to have a bigger voice. And then now, you know, I’m starting to, you know, launch into the—I’ve got my own podcast I’m doing, you know, some YouTube stuff that’s coming up, you know, down the road. So, just continue to grow and hopefully, you know, keep the community informed.
Sean: 24:21 – Why did you venture into the podcast realm?
John: 24:24 – People were asking me to, that was the kind of the first thing. People were like, you know, they were almost harassing me. Like they wanted to hear my voice to some degree, which it was a little scary for me, but it’s been a lot of fun. Again, I love listening to people’s stories and I wanted to do something different that on all these fronts that isn’t being addressed. Like, you know, I’ve said forever, you’ve got, you know, you and Tommy that have the news cornered, like nobody’s beating that. My opinion. You know, you’ve got the YouTube channel, you’ve got the Buttery Bros, like nobody’s going to beat what those guys do or what Team Richey does. I don’t want to do any of that. Like I wanted to talk to the people on the podcast that weren’t getting covered, like the affiliate owners, and you know, people that are helping solve Type 2 diabetes and you know, I want to talk to athletes but I want to hear their normal stories. Not hey, you know, I can do a triple back flip while doing a 200-pound thruster. Like, I don’t care about that. I know you’re strong. Like how did you overcome injury? Like how do you balance work and raising kids. Like that’s the stuff that’s interesting to me and having those conversations. That’s really why I wanted to do it. It’s just to, you know, get that voice out there and you know, have some normal conversation with people.
Sean: 25:42 – You mentioned earlier that as part of your podcast you got to interview Greg Glassman. What was that whole experience like for you?
John: 25:48 – I could talk about that for an hour. Well, you know, it’s funny looking back on it, I don’t know how you guys feel about your own, but for me, like I look back on mine and go, man, the episodes now are so much better than that first one. I think I asked the guy like four questions and he talked for an hour and a half, but also I’ve come to understand that’s pretty common for Greg. So I don’t feel bad about my poor interviewing skills. It was, you know, he’s very dynamic. He has a almost like a cult of personality about him. Like, and I love the guy, so none of this is a complaint. You know, I think he was super nice to me and you know, outgoing and just gave us nothing but time. And you know, I can’t complain at all. But he just has a way about him, like almost like an aura that you know, you just get drawn into. And so it was really interesting to see that. It was interesting to see kind of the inner workings of headquarters and how other people respond to him. And you know, I’m also one of those people though, like, you’ve got to prove to me what you’re doing. So he’s, you know, talking to me about keto, and, you know, carb restriction and all the things he’s talking about and my brain just going a million miles an hour of like, yeah, well I’m going to go see if I can prove you wrong, buddy, or at least see if you’re right. Like, you know, I don’t just buy into everything you tell me. But it was great. I mean, you know, he was great, super nice to us. You know, I’m not sure I’d change a thing.
Sean: 27:11 – You’ve mentioned to me before that people ask you all the time about, oh, how much money you make off the off the page and that this is sort of a labor of love for you. First off, do you have plans to change that? And if so, what are they?
John: 27:22 – Oh, I’m raking in the millions. Yeah. So, you know, I’m really fortunate, I’m fortunate to have a really good job that allows me to build this the right way. I would love to go full time and make this an actual career maybe 24 to 36 months from now. But what I don’t want to do is do it at the expense of, you know, hawking products that my, you know, followers and the people that trust me don’t have any interest in. You know, I want to build content, I want to build a community, you know
, that takes followers to do that. And so I’m really, right now I’m just investing time to find the content that’s important to people and get that out and just continue to bring on more followers. So I, you know, I sell some merch here and there, I’ve got a few T-shirts and some patches and stuff that I do. I honestly don’t take it very seriously. It’s, you know, the only thing I’m trying to get it to do is fund the money I’ve spent to trademark the logo, pay the lawyer, build the website, like all that takes money and it takes a lot of money, come to find out. And then, you know, I want to go to the Games and Sanctionals and whatever. So, you know, if I can break even and get all that done for a couple of years, I’m totally fine with that. I don’t, you know, money doesn’t mean anything to me right now. I just want to build a community. But, you know, at some point I’ll flip that switch and find ways to monetize and take it full time. But, you know, I’m a banker, like, I know how to do the math. It’s gonna take a few years, you know?
Sean: 28:47 – Final question. What keeps you going on this every day, day in and day out and being able to keep it fresh?
John: 28:53 – Honestly, it’s the followers. I mean, you know, I get anywhere from 200 to 400 DMs a day easily. You know, it’s kind of a ridiculous number. I try to answer all of them if I can. You can’t get to all of them, but you try to. I love talking to people and hearing about what they’re doing and their struggles and what makes them tick, and you know, I want to give back to them and truthfully, like CrossFit has done so much for me. I tell everyone, CrossFit saved my life. Like I truly believe that. Like it took me out of a divorce. It made me healthier. It helps me fight anxiety and depression. It’s helped me be a better dad. It’s helped me with any number of things. And so I feel an obligation to give back to that. Like, you know, I know Greg doesn’t care about that at all. He doesn’t want that, that recognition. But truth is like, I feel like I need to give back to this community that has given me everything. And it’s fun. I mean, that’s the biggest piece, is it’s a hoot man. Like, and I get to talk to you and seriously, like, you know, I’ve seen all these people for years. All you guys, you, Tommy, whoever, for years, listened to shows and now I’m getting to hang out and talk to people and make friendships and you know, it’s really a blast. So it just keeps me going.
Sean: 30:12 – Well, I will tell you this, and I think I’ve told you this before, but so everyone knows it, when we kind of all found out that we were getting fired from HQ, your memes and this was back in the CrossFit Trump days, kinda got us through a lot of that. So we certainly appreciated that. And it was always nice to have someone that we felt that was, you know, kinda on our side a little bit. So thank you for that.
John: 30:32 – Yeah, absolutely. It’s funny, you know, I’ve heard that a couple of times from other people and I hear that on other memes that I do and I think that may be part of what keeps me going is that, you know, you start to find out that your impact on people is far bigger than just being a smart ass, you know, it actually means something to someone and you know, that’s really touching.
Sean: 30:51 – Yeah. Well John, thanks a lot, man. I appreciate you taking the time to do this. Best of luck with the page and can’t wait to see what you’re putting out today, tomorrow and the weeks to come.
John: 30:58 – All right. Thanks so much.
Sean: 31:02 – Big thanks to John Wooley for joining me today. And just in case you’re wondering, yes, we do kind of look alike. His page on Instagram can be found at @makewodsgreatagain. He also has a podcast, he talked about that. It’s called Make Pods Great Again, you can find that on Apple podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, and wherever else you listen to your favorite podcasts. Whether you’re an aspiring entrepreneur or a seasoned business owner, “Founder, Farmer, Tinker, Thief” by Chris Cooper will show you what to do and how to avoid mistakes that can sink a business. Reader and gym owner Brendan Collins says, quote, “If you’re a business owner in the service industry, you must read this book.” Get your copy of the bestseller “Founder, Farmer, Tinker, Thief” on Amazon today. See you next time, everybody.
