Episodes

This is the final episode of the seventh season of #WeGotGoals and we’re excited to kick off our annual State of Fitness survey with this episode. We’ve been keeping our fingers on the pulse of what you do to stay fit, recover and how you spend your money on wellness. And this year, we’re adding some questions about mental health. On this week’s episode, you’ll hear references to data from our state of fitness survey. A key number we’ve kept our eyes on over the years is the trend of our mostl...

This week on the podcast, you’re going to hear a lot about “the universe” and listening to intuition from Robin Samples, the Founder of Bare Feet Power Yoga. Robin Samples and I both got into business around the same time - about 10 years ago. And over these 10 years it got easier and easier for me to scootch into the territory of woo-woo. I get the feeling that Robin’s journey to the spiritual was quicker than mine - she just brought her community along with her when she felt it was ready. An...

I’ve gotten to chat with Brrrn co-founders Johnny Adamic and Jimmy Martin a few times since meeting them in 2018. I’d like to remind you that 2018 was a time before the proliferation of zoom, so our first interview was conducted via freeconferencecall.com. I remember vividly chatting with the pair in 2018. They were equal parts entertaining and excited about a super-specific niche in fitness (cold temperature training). I have a memory of the thought, “it’s a shame that I’m the only one listeni...

This week on #WeGotGoals, I’m speaking with the woman behind [solidcore], Anne Mahlum. And before that, she started the not-for-profit Back on My Feet, and soon to come, she’s heading up her new venture in the fitness space: Ambition. One thing I noticed the first time I met Anne Mahlum on a lobby bench at the opening of Chicago's first [solidcore] is this: She fills up a room with her presence - and the name of that presence is the same name of her coming in 2023 concept: ambition. Ambition. ...

On this week's episode of the podcast, you'll hear a lot of references to the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I'm an alumna and our guest - Sam Karl, co-founder and president of Kamps Fitness - is an alumnus. You'll hear a lot about the campus and its hot spots. And I have never really cared that much about sports, which is sort of the thing that ties alums to their universities for years and years. I experience no pang of guilt if I don't know the Badgers' standing in the Big 10 or wherever e...

Content warning: In this episode of the podcast, we mention the concept of suicide in the context of prevention and raising awareness. If you’re listening with young ears or if you’re just not in a place to hear that today, skip this episode and come back I’ve never met Kacee Must, founder of Citizen Yoga in real life. We met during the pandemic and have zoomed through our relationship. We talked in February of 2021 when she’d been teaching yoga online for almost a year. We talked in April, whe...

Free MVMT Shop is a concept Ashley Rockwood conceived after retiring from dancing professionally - she wanted to create a space for herself in fitness that she didn’t see. She got a really good deal in a former dry cleaning location and viola, her first pop-up featuring dance, cardio, yoga, and sculpt had popped. You’ll hear her speak to it, but since 2018, Free Mvmt Shop has lived in 6 different homes across Chicago. And through all of that Ashley achieved most of her goals that she shared on ...

Free MVMT Shop is a concept Ashley Rockwood conceived after retiring from dancing professionally - she wanted to create a space for herself in fitness that she didn’t see. She got a really good deal in a former dry cleaning location and viola, her first pop-up featuring dance, cardio, yoga, and sculpt had popped. You’ll hear her speak to it, but since 2018, Free Mvmt Shop has lived in 6 different homes across Chicago. And through all of that Ashley achieved most of her goals that she shared on ...

Free MVMT Shop is a concept Ashley Rockwood conceived after retiring from dancing professionally - she wanted to create a space for herself in fitness that she didn’t see. She got a really good deal in a former dry cleaning location and viola, her first pop-up featuring dance, cardio, yoga, and sculpt had popped. You’ll hear her speak to it, but since 2018, Free Mvmt Shop has lived in 6 different homes across Chicago. And through all of that Ashley achieved most of her goals that she shared on ...

The indoor rowing machine - or erg - has been in use since the fourth century when an Athenian Admiral created a rudimentary version to train his army. And since, innovators from Concept2 helped to commercialize the indoor rowing machine and CrossFit got millions of people across the world onto the erg in their intense workouts. And this week on the podcast, I spoke with two innovators who helped take rowing from the corner of the gym floor to the center of a workout. Debra Strougo and Eric Vo...

The indoor rowing machine - or erg - has been in use since the fourth century when an Athenian Admiral created a rudimentary version to train his army. And since, innovators from Concept2 helped to commercialize the indoor rowing machine and CrossFit got millions of people across the world onto the erg in their intense workouts. And this week on the podcast, I spoke with two innovators who helped take rowing from the corner of the gym floor to the center of a workout. Debra Strougo and Eric Vo...

The indoor rowing machine - or erg - has been in use since the fourth century when an Athenian Admiral created a rudimentary version to train his army. And since, innovators from Concept2 helped to commercialize the indoor rowing machine and CrossFit got millions of people across the world onto the erg in their intense workouts. And this week on the podcast, I spoke with two innovators who helped take rowing from the corner of the gym floor to the center of a workout. Debra Strougo and Eric Vo...

This week I interviewed Todd Wadler, CEO of Box Union and Title Boxing Club, and Felicia Alexander CRO of Box Union and Title Boxing Club, and it was clear that their partnership plays on both of their strengths. This pair is bold and thoughtful, which you’ll hear throughout the episode. And if you're wondering how you missed that Box Union, which had three locations before the pandemic, acquired Title Boxing Club, you'll hear all about it in the episode. Luckily, or because Todd had the foresi...

This week I interviewed Todd Wadler, CEO of Box Union and Title Boxing Club, and Felicia Alexander CRO of Box Union and Title Boxing Club, and it was clear that their partnership plays on both of their strengths. This pair is bold and thoughtful, which you’ll hear throughout the episode. And if you're wondering how you missed that Box Union, which had three locations before the pandemic, acquired Title Boxing Club, you'll hear all about it in the episode. Luckily, or because Todd had the foresi...

This week I interviewed Todd Wadler, CEO of Box Union and Title Boxing Club, and Felicia Alexander CRO of Box Union and Title Boxing Club, and it was clear that their partnership plays on both of their strengths. This pair is bold and thoughtful, which you’ll hear throughout the episode. And if you're wondering how you missed that Box Union, which had three locations before the pandemic, acquired Title Boxing Club, you'll hear all about it in the episode. Luckily, or because Todd had the foresi...

New York City has the same thing going for fitness that it has for every other industry: if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere. I mean, granted, something that’s on the fringes of woo-woo and cult-fitness may not do great in Fargo. But for the most part, if New Yorkers will pack a class, it has a certain mile-a-minute effectiveness and cool factor that the rest of the country can get on board with. Fhitting Room stood out for a few reasons that you’ll hear come out on this week’s e...

New York City has the same thing going for fitness that it has for every other industry: if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere. I mean, granted, something that’s on the fringes of woo-woo and cult-fitness may not do great in Fargo. But for the most part, if New Yorkers will pack a class, it has a certain mile-a-minute effectiveness and cool factor that the rest of the country can get on board with. Fhitting Room stood out for a few reasons that you’ll hear come out on this week’s e...

New York City has the same thing going for fitness that it has for every other industry: if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere. I mean, granted, something that’s on the fringes of woo-woo and cult-fitness may not do great in Fargo. But for the most part, if New Yorkers will pack a class, it has a certain mile-a-minute effectiveness and cool factor that the rest of the country can get on board with. Fhitting Room stood out for a few reasons that you’ll hear come out on this week’s e...

Ask anyone who’s been on a Versa Climber what they think of the machine and the first reaction will be a look that you’ll recognize quickly as a combo of fear and respect. It’s a machine that earns the title of love/hate. You might love how much you can get done so quickly, but you might hate how much you have to do so quickly. You know what I’m saying. Today, on #WeGotGoals, we’ll be spending a lot of time talking about the Versa Climber, a machine that’s featured prominently at the center of ...

Ask anyone who’s been on a Versa Climber what they think of the machine and the first reaction will be a look that you’ll recognize quickly as a combo of fear and respect. It’s a machine that earns the title of love/hate. You might love how much you can get done so quickly, but you might hate how much you have to do so quickly. You know what I’m saying. Today, on #WeGotGoals, we’ll be spending a lot of time talking about the Versa Climber, a machine that’s featured prominently at the center of ...

Ask anyone who’s been on a Versa Climber what they think of the machine and the first reaction will be a look that you’ll recognize quickly as a combo of fear and respect. It’s a machine that earns the title of love/hate. You might love how much you can get done so quickly, but you might hate how much you have to do so quickly. You know what I’m saying. Today, on #WeGotGoals, we’ll be spending a lot of time talking about the Versa Climber, a machine that’s featured prominently at the center of ...

We could talk all day about the pressure of being discovered as a teenage model like Erin Heatherton, co-founder of Chicago-based studio Resistance Chicago, was. She was scouted on the street at 17 and would go on to walk in high fashion shows as well as Victoria's Secret Fashion shows. The pressure comes from being expected to stay that way - a teenage girl - for your foreseeable future. Erin recently wrote about it, and I’ll quote her instead. “At the peak of my career, there was constant pr...

We could talk all day about the pressure of being discovered as a teenage model like Erin Heatherton, co-founder of Chicago-based studio Resistance Chicago, was. She was scouted on the street at 17 and would go on to walk in high fashion shows as well as Victoria's Secret Fashion shows. The pressure comes from being expected to stay that way - a teenage girl - for your foreseeable future. Erin recently wrote about it, and I’ll quote her instead. “At the peak of my career, there was constant pr...

We could talk all day about the pressure of being discovered as a teenage model like Erin Heatherton, co-founder of Chicago-based studio Resistance Chicago, was. She was scouted on the street at 17 and would go on to walk in high fashion shows as well as Victoria's Secret Fashion shows. The pressure comes from being expected to stay that way - a teenage girl - for your foreseeable future. Erin recently wrote about it, and I’ll quote her instead. “At the peak of my career, there was constant pr...