Unpacking

270 people, all headed in one direction. That was the 2018 TwoBrain Summit for me.
 
For the first time, thanks to Mike and Joyce, I didn’t have to organize very much at all. Despite my frequent badgering (“A thousand bucks for PENS?!”) they carried off an amazing weekend that was 10x better than anything I’ve done before. That meant I got to watch, talk with and hug hundreds of people.
 
Dozens of great stories are percolating in my head right now. But these ones have stayed on top:
 
Oskar once wrote me an email titled “Thank You For 2012”. It was intensely personal, so I won’t share it verbatim, but he told me the story of moving to Zambia to adopt his daughter, Emma. He downloaded most of the Journal for his trip, and in the big stack was something I wrote about a client with MS. Oskar and his wife planned to stay in Zambia for 4 months; instead, they had to stay for 11. During that time, he decided that CrossFit would be his path to helping the world. I was intensely moved by his long email and think of it every time I see him.
 
But on Friday night, I met Emma. This beautiful kid came bouncing into the Wildwood Tavern with her mom, carrying stuff from the Disney store, and I immediately knew who she was:

I was so excited to meet her that I forgot she doesn’t speak English (her parents are amazingly fluent). She said “My name is Emma” but then politely nodded while I jabbered on. The next morning, Oskar showed me a picture of his hotel bathroom: Emma, wearing her Flash cape, had tried to do a few pull-ups on the towel rack and ripped it out of the wall. How could I like this girl any more?!?
 
And she wasn’t the only kid at the Summit. Carl and Phoebe Balentyne won the 2018 Owner Lifestyle Award AND had their baby with them all weekend! In fact, there were 3 babies circulating around this year, and we never heard a peep from any of them. Josh Price borrowed Coach Jess’ baby for a half hour to soak up some calming vibes before his presentation too.


 
I would have been the first to say, “Leave your kids at home if you want to get the most from the Summit”, but I would have been wrong. It was an excellent reminder of who we’re REALLY serving here, and I’m thrilled to know these kids will grow up in homes full of health, disposable income and an entrepreneurial mindset.
 
We also ate 250 pounds of meat. In an hour. This might seem like a big topic shift, but it’s not.
 
Garner arrived at 4 on Friday, lit the barbecues, and stayed up all night with his buddy Lowell to cook for the TwoBrain Family. The food was incredible. But even better, Garner stood up on Sunday and delivered his “Love and Logic” presentation. The presentation before his was also about finding balance between family and work. I sat in the crowd and marveled that “This is where we are now.” Even last year, most of our topics revolved around finding and keeping clients. There was plenty of that in 2018, but my feeling was that we had collectively leveled up: that our “WHY” was more clear than ever, and that we’d found our anchor: family. #tipofthetip
 
During Jay’s speech, I got to sit with a box owner who said her biggest problem was putting people in the right roles. She wanted her staff to LOVE their jobs, and was worried that some didn’t. One of her “staff” is her life partner, and who wouldn’t want their wife to be happy?
Across the room, her partner was saying the same thing to someone else, and when we connected the dots later, it felt like a miracle. Family > Fear of tough conversations.
 
Finally, this was Hayley’s first seminar as full-on CEO of Ignite. Hay has been working at Ignite for a couple of years, but when my former partner left, she stepped up and has already doubled its local reach. I put her on the Summit schedule without asking her, knowing it would be out of her zone of familiarity, and she stepped UP. It was great.
While she was away, a local 14-year-old tried to kill himself. In the hospital recovery area, he said, “I need to go to the gym.” Another Ignite coach jumped in and led him through a workout while Hay was with us in Chicago. Hayley flew home Monday, went straight to the gym and helped out a few clients, and then sent me this picture when she got home:
That’s Laney, who will have an amazing female role model for a mom. I texted her back: “Time to buy me out of Ignite.”  She’s ready.
 
…and then, as I’m writing this and avoiding all the Facebook posts about what an HQ staffer might have said, Jared and Peter from NapTown step up and show us all what care looks like in action. They welcomed 50 new CrossFit athletes to their gym this weekend because they’re open, tolerant and truly care about people. They’re an example to us all, and I’m glad they chose to share their story with the TwoBrain family, where they knew it would be welcomed and nurtured.
 
Talking to the mentoring team on Monday, I asked if anyone had noticed that more and more entrepreneurs with families are joining our own. Everyone agreed that most attendees–and most of our mentorship clients–had partners or families. And if they didn’t, we’ve got one here waiting for them. This is what “tip of the spear” really means: leadership through actions and support.
 
More to come, family.
 

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