Zuryna Livermore: Hey, hey.
Welcome back to Operations Unfiltered, the
podcast that takes you behind the scenes
of influencer and talent management.
I'm your host and your favorite
marketing project manager, girly
Zuryna, and today is a very special
episode of Operations Unfiltered.
It's another Mustang meetup.
And for those of you who don't know,
I am a graduate of the Stevenson
University in Owings Mills, Maryland.
We also have a Green Spring campus,
but I won't get too much into detail
about that because honestly, if you
know, you know, I'll also give you some
background on how this meeting came to be.
I've been on a weight loss
journey for a very long time.
I think I got serious about my weight
loss journey in, I wanna say 2018.
That's when I decided to
get weight loss surgery.
If you go back into previous Operations
unfiltered episodes, I have a couple of
episodes sprinkled in about GLP ones and
just the weight loss journey in general.
And I had a lot of people coming
to me asking me about my experience
or expressing that they wanted
to get the surgery, and they were
just nervous about, what to expect.
So I decided to host an online virtual
weight loss group with one of my friends
who's also the guest for Mustang meetup.
His name is Chris Shaw.
He's a fitness coach.
He was an RA with me at Stevenson,
but he's really big into his
health and wellness journey.
So I thought why not bring
together him for his expertise?
I can share my personal journey , and
just give a space for people to chit
chat about, their weight loss journey.
I'm very thankful that I was an RA
in college, and I'm used to having
events where no one comes because
that's exactly what happened.
But you know, me, I'm a project manager.
I love a good pivot, and so instead
of just wasting the time, we decided
to turn it into a Mustang meetup.
Mustang meetups are times where I
check in with Stevenson alumni . We
download about what they're doing
in their careers, and we tie it back
to influencer marketing and content
creation, because let's face it, in this
day and age, pretty much everything has
something to do with content creation.
Whether it's your side hustle,
whether it's your full-time
job, starting to use content or
content creators, it's around us.
It's never going anywhere.
So without further ado, let's
listen in to this conversation.
That should have been a virtual
meetup, but we love a good pivot.
Anyway, let's get into this week's episode
of Operations Unfiltered Mustang meetup
edition, featuring my friend Chris Shaw.
A Mustang meetup.
That's what I call it when I meet up with
people who went to Stevenson with me.
So we won't pivot.
I love
Chris Shaw: Okay.
Zuryna Livermore: You know what I'm
Chris Shaw: Yeah, let's do it.
Zuryna Livermore: tell me how you
got into the fitness coaching.
I mean, I know from our time
Chris Shaw: Yeah.
Zuryna Livermore: the halls of
Stevenson, and it's funny 'cause
when I was at Stevenson I was
real big, real heavy, real hefty.
But anyway, from then to now, what
made you become a fitness coach?
What got you into this?
Chris Shaw: So honestly what got me
into it was God first and foremost,
but really though 2018, so 2017,
going through a breakup 2018, I
was like, okay, let me get fit.
Like let me try to do something.
'cause I didn't, I had.
Zuryna Livermore: Revenge body.
It was a
Chris Shaw: Yeah, I had just
started corporate job to
corporate America February, 2018.
So I was like, okay, you know,
got, you know, finally got like
a 401k, got my salary going
Zuryna Livermore: period.
Chris Shaw: alright.
And I was planning to move
to Baltimore later that year.
So I moved to Baltimore in October
of 2018 and that's when I was okay.
I tried to get fit and work out and
in 2018 around this time, I was like,
okay, I'm gonna plan really hard.
I'm gonna lay down the seeds now for.
2019.
I already knew I was gonna do
2019, starting off January.
I was, I'm gonna join this new gym
called Brick Bodies down the street.
I'm gonna be dedicated to
running around the harbor.
I'm gonna try Keto diet
to see what it does.
I never did it before,
so I'm gonna try it.
So I ended up blocking
in, I was going two days.
I was running, I was posting and I was
riding around the harbor in January
where it was like 30 degrees outside.
I was okay if I.
Zuryna Livermore: I'm not doing that.
I always commended you because as
Stevenson you were dedicated like that.
And if anybody went to Stevenson
and didn't know that Hill,
Chris Shaw: Oh yeah,
Zuryna Livermore: his
crazy self up that hill.
Like, I'm not running unless
nobody chasing me and I'm damn
sure not running up no hill.
So Chris, you've always been disciplined.
Chris Shaw: those hills.
Zuryna Livermore: then than 2018?
What was the difference?
Chris Shaw: The difference
then was more of I locked in.
I was already locked in academically
'cause I felt I had to prove something
with being outta school for a few years
and my college were just extended.
Getting back into Stevenson, I
was, okay, I gotta hit Dean's list.
I was taking six classes, I
was playing basketball ra.
So I was like, okay, I have
to lock in and graduate.
But then once I graduate, I
kind of slacked off a little
bit, you know, party, whatever.
Zuryna Livermore: yeah.
Chris Shaw: When I got, I was outside,
I was outside a little too outside, a
little too outside to bring it back in.
Zuryna Livermore: Yeah,
Chris Shaw: So,
Zuryna Livermore: back in.
Chris Shaw: yeah, so 2019, when 2019
came around, honestly that was, that
was the turning point around like I
started seeing results in January,
Zuryna Livermore: Yeah.
Chris Shaw: March.
Now this time I wasn't nowhere
near coaching like this.
This was just more like me
getting fit for myself, trying
to figure out what worked for me
then I got fit.
I was fit all 2019.
Then I met my now wife and you
know, started going on dates.
Zuryna Livermore: girl.
That's my girl.
Chris Shaw: So we started, I
started having all the dinner days.
I was like, you know,
I said I was bulking.
I broke a little too hard.
Zuryna Livermore: walking
with the love weight.
Yeah, I know
Chris Shaw: The pandemic came around,
Zuryna Livermore: Yeah.
Chris Shaw: you know, 2020 when pandemic.
I was like, oh man, why I even
bo, I was good pandemic came
around, you know, we wasn't working
out like we was walking out.
We was just walking a lot.
Nobody was working out.
There was no gyms open.
I lost a lot, but fast forward, I
started getting it back, got prepared
for the wedding, got back down.
I did more car deal than anything,
and I started eating more carbs.
'cause I used to think
carbs were my enemy.
Zuryna Livermore: Yeah.
Chris Shaw: so through
that time I had injuries.
I tried different diets.
Zuryna Livermore: Mm-hmm.
Chris Shaw: was able to give
plans to friends and family.
At one point I was doing I'm not
gonna say the name, I was doing
like, you know, like the, the vegan
supplier that, you know, you, you buy.
Yeah.
So I was doing that at one point which was
cool, but it wasn't, I, it just wasn't me.
It wasn't what I was passionate about.
Zuryna Livermore: Yeah.
Chris Shaw: now, you know,
full-time I do software, right?
But the true passion came out
when I was really helping people
work with people one-on-one.
And my friends, it would
say, you should be a trainer.
You should be a trainer.
I'm stretching 'em out.
I'm telling 'em about different ligaments
on their body when they get injured.
Like, okay, you can solve it
with this, you can do this.
You know, inflammation
builds up here and there.
You know, all this stuff.
You should be a trainer.
But it is really because whenever
I would get injured, I would spend
hours researching everything,
Zuryna Livermore: Mm-hmm.
Chris Shaw: trying to figure out how to
get back to where I was before, and then
I would figure out different workouts,
look at my form, all this happened.
So then this year what happened
was, my current job, some
stuff happened, whatever.
Zuryna Livermore: Job T, we gonna get
Chris Shaw: Yeah.
Kalo.
Yeah.
Yeah.
No little, little conflict, but I was
just praying and I was just like, Lord,
I know you have something out there
for me, but I know you have a bigger
purpose for me to actually help people.
This is cool right now, but
I know you have a transition
plan for me at some point.
Zuryna Livermore: so you
had to lean in on that face.
We gonna have to spread some of that over
Chris Shaw: Yeah, no, here you go.
Like, so that's when I started open.
I started my business in May of this year.
Zuryna Livermore: Congratulations.
And how are things going?
What's the vibes been?
Give us the update.
Chris Shaw: So now it's really, you
know, with content and everything,
trying to figure that out.
You know, you being a mother, being a
wife, having a child, having a full-time
job, having multiple jobs, it's a lot
to sit here and try to batch content
and give, have the energy to spend
time with your family on the weekend.
And you think ideas sometimes it's like,
oh damn, I gotta drop my door for daycare.
I can't even do that.
Like, you wanna pull up the trial pop?
I was like, I gotta get the work.
Like I can't do that, so
Zuryna Livermore: time
to take the tripod out.
Put
Chris Shaw: Right, right.
Do this and that.
So there's times where it's like I'm
trying to, I think right now I was
okay, this be the foundation period.
Building out the
foundation, build content.
Kind of getting, that's
why I throw a poll.
Like, what do you guys like to
engage for food or workouts to
figure out what people like.
Now, you know, there's people
that see it all the time.
I know they taking tips, but
definitely like it was whatever.
But there's a lot of people that do
see things and they reach out to me
on the side, let me know like, you
know, this, how this is affecting them.
So, but
Zuryna Livermore: Well, I love that.
And honestly, like I said, I've
known you for a very long time and
you've always been super disciplined
Chris Shaw: I.
Zuryna Livermore: it comes
to fitness and working out.
And honestly, I wish I would've paid
attention when we were in college.
'cause is when I.
Started my own fitness journey and I
took more like the unconventional route.
I was super unhealthy when we were RAs.
It was hard for me to do rounds.
I was always sweating all the time.
Chris, when I tell you I used
to hate going on rounds with you
because you used to walk so fast.
Now I could probably catch,
you know what I'm saying?
Like now I
Chris Shaw: I used, I do.
You reminded me.
I used to have you doing the stairs.
Let's do the stairs.
Zuryna Livermore: to hate you for that.
I'm like, why are we, why?
Chris Shaw: Hey, you guys,
Zuryna Livermore: can do it.
Chris Shaw: you gotta
motivate your friends.
That's, you gotta motivate your friends.
Zuryna Livermore: exactly.
And I, I wish I was at a different mind,
state then, because in 2018, that's
when I really flipped the switch too.
I was like, girl, I really
can't do this anymore.
Chris Shaw: Yeah.
Zuryna Livermore: I tried
all the diets I tried.
You the low carb, high
Chris Shaw: Mm-hmm.
Zuryna Livermore: I tried the keto,
I tried the shakes and all of that,
especially in college, but I was broke.
I could, I could only shop what
I could do, you know what I mean?
So it was just a challenge
Chris Shaw: A week.
Zuryna Livermore: like, but who, what?
You know?
And so I made the decision to
get weight loss surgery, but.
I for me it really changed my mindset
with food because I really didn't
realize I had a food addiction.
Like I would use food when I was sad.
I would use food when I was happy, use
food when just when bored, and I had to
really, really change that relationship.
But more than anything, weight loss
surgery gave me like a, a hard boundary.
So like, I'm not gonna be able
to eat all the slider food and
the chips, or I'm gonna throw up
like, you know what I'm saying?
Chris Shaw: Yeah.
Zuryna Livermore: So really
help change that mindset.
Now I have like.
I knew I had this go-getter mindset
before, but now it's like a shift.
And I love working out now,
even though I complain, my
trainers will say differently,
but now I use that as like fuel.
I find myself getting anxious.
I'm like, oh, I need to go to the gym.
Like I need to go work out.
You know what I'm saying?
Chris Shaw: Yeah.
Zuryna Livermore: I just wish
that when we were in college and
I was dealing with all the stress
of school that I could have used.
Working out as an outlet or
you know, found healthier ways.
'cause
Chris Shaw: Yeah.
Zuryna Livermore: set
myself up in college.
Like, you know what I'm saying?
I'm
Chris Shaw: Well,
Zuryna Livermore: I'm like, oh
Chris Shaw: I mean,
look at you now though.
Like I remember we had lunch
with you, me and Tammy.
I had lunch with you at Olive Garden.
2020, was it 2020?
2020.
Right before the pandemic started.
Right before the pandemic started.
We had lunch and was like,
we gotta hang out again.
And I know we didn't get to hang out.
And you got married?
We got married.
2020, right Later.
2022.
Zuryna Livermore: 2020.
Yes.
I had my baby.
Oh my gosh,
Chris Shaw: I already had the hotel book
flight booked, and it's like everything's,
oh, you gotta cancel the flight.
Oh my gosh.
So we was ready to come outta Houston.
Like we was ready.
I already had everything booked, but
Zuryna Livermore: Look,
messed up everything
Chris Shaw: yeah, it did.
It did.
But you still like, you still, you
know, even, you know, you hit the
weight loss surgery and you still
stuck to the goal and you're here
six years later, seven years later.
Zuryna Livermore: six years later.
And what's crazy is I had the
baby gained my weight back,
and then I lost it all again.
So it's like I really credit that
experience of really learning how
to eat again, learning how to work
out, learning what proper macros are
Chris Shaw: yeah.
Zuryna Livermore: You look.
So that's why I'm saying I
always admired your dedication.
It is just, I was not at
that mindset at that point.
So we thank God for growth
Chris Shaw: And I wasn't
even that dedicated then.
Zuryna Livermore: and I couldn't tell.
'cause like
Chris Shaw: Like
Zuryna Livermore: running
up and down the hill, I'm
Chris Shaw: Yeah, like I just didn't know.
I never had, I had the fitness part always
down pack because I was always an athlete.
Zuryna Livermore: yeah.
Chris Shaw: had the fitness part, but.
What really allowed me to grow.
So the fittest part is, okay, I was in
shape, but when I would take my shirt off,
I was like looking at pictures like, okay,
I'm in shape, but I'm not, I'm not like
the physique that I would like to have.
So that's when I really started locking
in like, okay, how can I get that?
What can I do to change my body to
add more muscle to build a frame?
And that's when I really started
locking in on looking at different form.
I look at my videos now
from the past, Mike.
Man, I don't know what you was doing.
Like, I'm like, man, you're just
doing, just, just throwing the workout.
Just just throwing stuff around.
Zuryna Livermore: Yes.
Chris Shaw: it's like, everything's
like controlled and contracted.
Plus I'm odor.
So you don't wanna be getting
injured, like you wanna make sure.
Zuryna Livermore: Oh my gosh,
Chris Shaw: Right.
Zuryna Livermore: on slow and controlled.
I think I learned that lesson when
I started taking reformer Pilates.
Chris Shaw: Okay.
Zuryna Livermore: that is the thing that
I swear by reformer Pilates has taught me
so much control with my movements because
honestly, I was getting injured a lot.
I was getting like shin splits,
I was getting back injuries.
But once I got on the
reformer and fun fact, I was.
Super scared to get on the
reformer because coming from that
mentality of being 340 pounds, it's
Chris Shaw: Yeah.
Zuryna Livermore: I'm
not that person anymore.
I can do these things
Chris Shaw: Yes.
Yeah.
Zuryna Livermore: and
it is a mental block.
But reformer Pilates, I
cannot stress that enough.
I don't know if you've
seen athletes, they do it.
If
Chris Shaw: Yeah, I started
seeing them do it again.
Zuryna Livermore: I highly recommend it.
I cannot
Chris Shaw: it like, what is, I always
see like the Pilates rooms when I
go buy certain stores, but like, is
it, what is, what is Pilates itself?
Zuryna Livermore: Pilates.
It was started in jail, but it's
really, it's a rehabilitative exercise.
It focuses on slow and
controlled movements.
Sometimes you might see people do
reformer or Pilates on the mat.
I personally like doing it on
the actual reformer machine
Chris Shaw: Okay.
Zuryna Livermore: allows
you to have more control.
Even it sounds like it's intense.
It looks intense, but it's really not.
It's all about controlling your movements.
If you have a club Pilates near
you, that's a content idea.
We should go to a club
Pilates class and film that.
Yes, we should do that.
Bring Tam.
Chris Shaw: I'll, I'll,
Zuryna Livermore: Yes, we should do that.
But I'm so serious.
Highly recommend it.
Especially if slow and controlled
movements are the goal it forces
you to do it because otherwise
you gonna fall off the machine if
you not slow and controlled, you
Chris Shaw: okay.
Zuryna Livermore: It has like
stoppers and all of that.
Like you have to go slow.
That's why when Stefan digs fell off,
I was laughing 'cause I'm like, you
thought you was smarter than the machine,
Chris Shaw: oh, you try to go fast.
Zuryna Livermore: he, he tried
to go fat, he tried to sling it
Chris Shaw: Oh, oh, yeah.
Zuryna Livermore: And I'm like, Nope,
Chris Shaw: Yeah.
Zuryna Livermore: off.
Chris Shaw: Everything has to be,
Zuryna Livermore: You
can control like the,
Chris Shaw: yeah, the resistance for it.
Yeah.
Zuryna Livermore: Yes, you
should definitely try it.
Add that to your routine,
and you'll probably be turned
into a Pilates head too.
Like I used
Chris Shaw: Yeah,
Zuryna Livermore: a week.
Chris Shaw: I'm, I, you know, I'm trying
to add a few things to my routine.
The one thing I'm trying to get
under now is like one of my clients,
he just finished and he's going
again for another three months.
So right now I have 9, 9 10 clients
that I'm coaching that time.
Zuryna Livermore: So how do
you organize your content?
You mentioned, it's hard to batch film.
That's a hard part of
being an entrepreneur.
Chris Shaw: Yeah,
Zuryna Livermore: yourself organize?
What do you do?
Chris Shaw: so the main goal
was like, now I have 70 posts.
When I joined Instagram
back in May, I had 23 posts.
Zuryna Livermore: Yeah.
Chris Shaw: like, of course every
post isn't, you know, there's some
posts that are good, some posts
that are bad, they talk about the
algorithm, all those different stuff.
But my main goal was to, to reach.
Professional men, career driven men
that are, you know, work nine to five
like I do, that are dads that may have
lost it, that don't understand how to
lose weight or nutrition aspect of it
is because if you're not looking into
it, if you're not studying it, you'll
just find something on the internet.
And I always tell people, they'll
just be, oh, you use HGBT?
I'm like, yeah, you can use it until you,
until it gives you something wrong and
you don't know what you're looking at.
So it was really to separate all of the
BS really between what's online versus
what an actual coach would teach you.
Who does this in real life?
Who has a child works nine to five
and sits in traffic for an hour and a
half, so when I think about content, I
always have to think about before was
like you bought a post about yourself.
Yes.
But it's also posts about
what people want to hear.
And that's something I learned as
well as it's not always about, oh,
post, oh, I think this looks nice.
It's like, no, but kind of step back.
That's why I have people critique it.
Cause you know, you, you
think everything looks good.
Oh, this, this fire right here.
Zuryna Livermore: Yeah, but when
Chris Shaw: at it, they're like,
Zuryna Livermore: like, nah.
Chris Shaw: like, nah, like, you're
like, why don't you try this?
Why don't you talk about.
Zuryna Livermore: you know what?
You are really a, a good friend,
because I remember I posted something
and you were like, Z, if you post
more sports content, it will go viral.
And you were so right.
Like I posted all my sports stuff
on TikTok always goes viral.
And you were like Z
captions on your video.
I'm like, Chris, thank
you for looking out.
You always, because again, you
get in your head and you're like,
lemme just post the content.
I just gotta post it.
But you don't have the extra set
of, have to call it quality control.
What else do you do to stay organized?
I know you can't just be like,
Chris Shaw: So I held all
my clients in a fitness app.
Zuryna Livermore: mm-hmm.
Chris Shaw: The one I
use called Trainer Rise.
There's multiples you can use, like True
Coach and something else, but they all
stay in Trainer Rise, where they all
have like their, the fitness, the workout
plans, they have all the messages, like
motivation messages that send every
morning whatever they're struggling with.
We always decide this on a
call, you know, always give up.
Onboarding form.
They have weekly check-in forms, and
then I'll, I'm always reaching out.
I'm my, i my access.
You have access to me 24 7,
around 3:00 AM 4:00 AM I usually open up.
Zuryna Livermore: you do that though?
You said don't look.
Access is crazy.
Especially 'cause you are a dad.
You
Chris Shaw: Yeah.
Zuryna Livermore: Date nights.
How do you balance
Chris Shaw: So I'll tell 'em to text me,
but you know, I, I, in my contract, I'll
say, I have 24 hours to respond to you.
Zuryna Livermore: Okay, good.
Chris Shaw: Time to text me.
So like if you text me right now
at 6 24, I don't have to respond
until tomorrow, even at 6 24.
But I try to get to you by, if I don't
see it, if I'm hanging with my family,
most likely won't get to you at 8:00
PM I'll get to you at 6:00 AM when I'm
on, when I'm on the road or at a light
or something, or I just drop ivy off.
So I'll, I'll get to people then.
But that's how I, I try to balance it out.
Some days it is a little.
Struggle and you, you kind of fine
tune because now Saturday mornings
or Friday evenings when I can do
work after work, it's okay, I have
work and I'm also running a 30 day
challenge with a group of guys.
That's a free challenge.
Of, I have training tracks for them
and office hours for them as well.
That's separate from the pay
clients because they get the
most attention, they pay money.
And so on the weekends I'll usually spend
about three hours on Saturday morning.
Going through everyone's list.
Updating their meal plans.
Updating their workout plans and
some workouts don't change that
much because if we're working on
progressive overload, it's usually
the same workout, but I'll tweak it
based on their weekly check-in form.
So he'll be like, yeah,
no, I wasn't feeling that.
Or My knee hurts.
Okay.
I, I get on a call, I've
called my clients last week.
He was texting me.
I was like, yeah, we need
to talk on the phone.
Zuryna Livermore: To voice note
Chris Shaw: yeah, we need to talk
on the phone because I need to
figure out exactly what's going on.
What was going on and then
immediately was like, oh yeah,
I know exactly what you have.
You need to do this work or you need
to do this, this, this, and that.
And I was like,
Zuryna Livermore: love that person to
person touch because to your point,
you cannot get that from chat GPT, so.
Chris Shaw: no.
Zuryna Livermore: That is something
that people have to realize.
You cannot get the
personalization from Chad, GBT.
So that's why we need to
invest in people who are making
themselves subject matter experts.
Chris Shaw: Yeah,
Zuryna Livermore: I love that.
But to your point, you
know, I'm a manager.
I'm
Chris Shaw: yeah.
Zuryna Livermore: for content creators.
I'm a manager for small business owners.
And my specialty lies in being able
to see the scalability of businesses.
And you know, I've already
chatted you up, I've
Chris Shaw: Yeah.
Zuryna Livermore: about this, but
where are your extra revenue streams?
Like where are you planning to expand?
If not, if you are planning to
expand And what does that look like?
Because you know, I already told you
you need to do meal plans, but go off.
Go ahead.
Go
Chris Shaw: Yeah.
I know you said meal plans.
That's something that.
Honestly, Zuryna, I used
to really enjoy meal prep.
I was telling my wife other day, I was
like, man, I think with everything going
on right now, meal Prepp is becoming
a task, and it's really because my
daughter be running around all the time.
So
Zuryna Livermore: Yeah.
Chris Shaw: Switching for me is big,
so like I can multitask, but when I
contact Switch and I have lunch, dinner,
your meal, my meal, Ivy meal, and she's
running back and forth and she's crying.
It's like in my ear
Zuryna Livermore: Yeah,
Chris Shaw: of hard.
So I was like, before.
Zuryna Livermore: ADHD that
you get overstimulated.
I
Chris Shaw: Yeah, so it was like, it
was easier when, you know, when you,
I was like, it was easier when me and
you before Ivy, I put my headphones
in, you watching tv, I'm in the zone.
I might have a little wine, I'm cooking,
like I'm . Mill prep, done two hours.
We wanted to get, go get some ice
cream, like we got time today, Sunday.
So just trying to
balance that out as well.
But, so how do you scale is.
Something that I'm still,
like, I have the vision for it
Zuryna Livermore: Mm-hmm.
Chris Shaw: get the
vision for how to scale.
Now it's just putting the pieces together.
So like I said, I have nine to 10 clients.
At some point things are
gonna become automated.
At one point looking into like,
you know, virtual assistants,
Zuryna Livermore: Mm-hmm.
Chris Shaw: ManyChat as well for keywords,
creating lead, lead generation options.
I invested in the business
coach myself, so I invested in.
Zuryna Livermore: I love that
Chris Shaw: So I invested a
coach like three months ago.
That's how I got all my legal contract
stuff, all set ideas from them.
But of course, like the
ideas, they, they were good.
And then they, you know,
you have to be drawn,
Zuryna Livermore: Yep.
Chris Shaw: prove them.
So it's like, okay, help you talk on
my 15 minute call, on my sales call,
how to talk, how to handle objections.
All this stuff is, is helpful.
And then of course you continue to pray.
Like there's times, you know, I had.
People where I learned from them
like, okay, let me change up
my, how I, my niche, let me go
towards business professionals.
Zuryna Livermore: Yeah, because
that's where the money at.
You don't
Chris Shaw: I don't wanna play games.
I'll, you know, try and help you out, but
I need someone that's gonna do the work.
And then I was, okay, let me get
someone that, maybe they bring someone
else on accountability partner.
So if you can bring your friend
with you, you guys hold each other
accountable through this program.
You can grow from there and then referral.
Zuryna Livermore: niche because
you know, my brain, my marketing
Chris Shaw: Yeah.
Zuryna Livermore: What about athletes?
Have you ever thought about, and
I work a lot with the NIL athletes
Chris Shaw: Okay.
Zuryna Livermore: branding perspective,
but I mean, of course they could
always use a fitness coach or
someone you know to help with that.
So have you ever thought about
going into that lane as one
of your audiences or are you
Chris Shaw: I,
Zuryna Livermore: like leaving
the athlete laying behind?
Chris Shaw: no, I like
to have athletes as well.
I try to niche down into most of
my, the dads and the professional.
People that I do train,
they were once athletes.
Zuryna Livermore: Okay.
Okay.
So you got like a subgroup
Chris Shaw: Yeah.
So I have, I have some athletes,
I have some software engineers.
Zuryna Livermore: Yeah,
Chris Shaw: I have a couple that's,
that's losing a lot of weight.
And then, so now it's just, you
know, just continuing to grow.
But honestly, Zuryna, the, the
biggest thing is being able to
automate while you're at work.
So like, while you working full-time.
Taking the time to set the MiniChat,
I paid a subscription for it, so
like taking the time to set it up,
allowing people to go through the
flow, and then booking the call and
then answering the call from there.
Once it grows, I mean, you can't
only, you can't handle 30 clients
at once with a full-time job.
So it's like now you need
someone to handle the calls.
Zuryna Livermore: Mm-hmm.
Chris Shaw: So like our
sales, so our customer service
handle the 15 minute call.
I'll handle the closing call.
I'll have an application call.
The more you grow, it's like, okay, now
someone's gonna hand an application call.
You get an onboarding specialist,
and then from there it's like,
okay, now from there, I'm full-time.
I'm leaving my full-time job.
Zuryna Livermore: You leaving your
Chris Shaw: Yeah.
Zuryna Livermore: I know
that's why we outta here.
Chris Shaw: Yeah.
You bring it.
Zuryna Livermore: it back,
because this is a Mustang meetup,
Chris Shaw: Yeah.
Zuryna Livermore: valuable lessons
do you think you've learned either
being an RA from Stevenson, being an
Chris Shaw: Network,
Zuryna Livermore: Stevenson,
Everybody always says that 'cause
Chris Shaw: networking.
Zuryna Livermore: Mustang meetup.
Okay.
So if you were talking to a
incoming freshman, put your RA hat
on, what would you say to them?
What would you say to them to prepare
them for their four years at Stevenson?
Chris Shaw: I would say find something
that you really enjoy, something
that you're really passionate about.
There's gonna be parties, there's
gonna be friends that are not gonna
be your friends after four years.
Zuryna Livermore: Clock it.
What?
Chris Shaw: Yeah, just make friends
that you're not your friends.
After four years, you need to have the
friends, but you also need to lock in
If you can graduate in three years.
Graduate in three years, but
really take your studies seriously.
Don't get a BS major, like get something
that's that you're dedicated about.
Look up what you're passionate about, but
also find a major that is gonna support
you when you graduate so you can find
a job and support your passion as well.
Always be willing to communicate.
People that don't talk don't get anywhere,
so you have to be willing to step out,
have to be willing to speak to someone.
I was always the one that was introverted,
didn't wanna speak, didn't wanna step out.
That doesn't get you anywhere.
So when you start talking
to people, you, the more you
talk, the better you get at it.
And, and one more other
thing was just Yeah.
Watch.
Yeah.
Get a job at admissions.
Yeah, exactly.
Networking.
Get a job at admissions.
You give my job at student accounts
and or from student account
Zuryna Livermore: It was in
admissions you don't even
Chris Shaw: admission.
Zuryna Livermore: at.
We was at that front desk slave
and how you'all know who we was
Chris Shaw: Because I was
everywhere trying to stay in school.
I was sitting at the financial aid office.
I was getting grants and everything.
But, yeah.
So, but yeah, just, just really
talking to incoming freshmen
was like, you have four years.
Enjoy your time in college.
College is is fun.
Zuryna Livermore: Yeah.
Chris Shaw: it's, it's exciting.
You're gonna have, you know.
Ups and downs gonna have
long, stressful nights.
But at the end of the day, you
have to remember why you're there.
Like you're there to build a, to,
to grow yourself and then grow
into the man or woman that you're
going to be and the career that
you're setting yourself up for.
You need to set yourself up for a career.
Now, when you graduate college
doesn't mean you have to be in
this career 45, 6 years, right?
You, I've changed careers twice already.
I didn't, I I don't, my career
is nowhere near what I majored
in and I've changed twice, so
Zuryna Livermore: Yeah, because we
was in virtual communication design
Chris Shaw: Yeah.
Yep.
Zuryna Livermore: not doing that at all.
Chris Shaw: Not doing it at all.
I went straight into marketing.
I was in email marketing for five
years, and then now I'm in software,
so, but your, your passions,
you'll start to see your passions.
For me personally, I start to
see my passions when I stop.
Doing everything else.
So I stopped acting crazy
when I stopped going partying.
When I started aligning with
the word of God, I, I stopped
doing all the stupid stuff.
'cause you're distracted.
When you're distracted, you're
always being pulled away.
Like you're never, you gonna find
yourself when you're, when you're
distracted, you might come home from
work, you might tell yourself, you
might write, might done the whole plan.
I come home from work, I'm line, I'm
logged in, taking my certification.
I mean, my Scrum master certification
project manager, I'm, I'm
gonna get this and Oh, hey, hey
Zuryna, you coming out tonight?
You gonna do this?
Zuryna Livermore: Or,
Chris Shaw: hour?
Zuryna Livermore: thing is
you start doom scrolling.
Like, girl, what you
Chris Shaw: Right.
Zuryna Livermore: Yeah.
Chris Shaw: you know, you
know, I get to it tomorrow.
I get to tomorrow.
Tomorrow come around, you know, we
going to the game, we going shopping.
Zuryna Livermore: Then
Chris Shaw: don't,
Zuryna Livermore: week come and
Chris Shaw: the next week come and
then like three years go by and you are
like, dang, you know, three years ago
I could've really worked on this if I'd
have just taken the time to sit down.
May time for my friends,
but made more time for me.
So that's what I would tell incoming
freshmen get to get to it, like.
Zuryna Livermore: I know.
That's right.
Lock in.
Chris Shaw: Yeah, lock in.
Don't, don't play games
like you finish your work.
Always.
And people, my roommates know in
my senior year, they were always
thinking that, oh, Chris gonna
see some girl who, whatever else.
No.
I was going over to, to the north
campus Saturday morning at like 6:00
AM working on my websites, working
on everything I needed to do up until
like 2:00 PM and I was like, yeah,
I finished all my work for the week.
Now I can go out for you guys.
Y'all wanna pregame this and that.
Now we can do that.
Zuryna Livermore: Yeah.
intentional about locking in.
Chris Shaw: Yeah, you gotta lock, get
your work done first so you don't be
going out on Saturday night, waking
up Sunday, like, dang, I got to run,
do Monday morning at 8:00 AM and I
didn't get blackboard, I got sign.
I gotta submit it.
Zuryna Livermore: Yes,
Chris Shaw: Like,
Zuryna Livermore: I used to hear so
many of my residents complain and I'd be
like, mm, I don't have those problems.
I did my work.
Chris Shaw: yeah, do
do your work in events.
Didn't have fun, do all your
work and didn't have fun.
Zuryna Livermore: The other
piece of advice you need to give
people because you are a fitness
coach now, hindsight is 2020.
What would you recommend that
people eat while they're in
college to try to stay healthier?
Because, you know, Rockland did us dirty a
Chris Shaw: Oh yeah.
Don't, if you want to, if, if you want
to eat something, especially if you're
upperclassmen and you have an apartment.
If you have an apartment, you probably
most likely have a job on campus or
an internship and, and now, I mean.
We have TikTok Instagram, you don't even
need a job on campus if you don't want to.
You can just post right from
your phone and make money.
There's a lot of people that's
basketball players, NIL deals.
There's a lot of things that are
happening now, but if you are going to
eat something, stick to Whole Foods.
So stick to foods that have
one to two ingredients and
have one cheat meal per week.
So if you stick to Healthy Foods,
if you work out on shrimp train
three to four times a week.
And at least get like seven
to 10,000 steps in per day.
You know where in college
Zuryna Livermore: 10,000 is crazy.
But go off Chris.
'cause
Chris Shaw: no's.
That's not that much.
Think about is you probably
got a lot of stuff too.
You were coming from, you
were walking everywhere.
Now we sit at, we sit a lot our desk.
Zuryna Livermore: you talking about the,
I'm about to say, we not talking about me.
'cause I wasn't walking.
Chris Shaw: But yeah, so if you, if
you, if you, especially on a big campus
like Stevenson's big, but if you go
to UMD and you are walking, everywhere
Zuryna Livermore: you're
Chris Shaw: you are walking, you gonna
burn some calories and drinking water,
Zuryna Livermore: Mm-hmm.
Chris Shaw: like having tea milk,
it's really, it is really that simple.
But the strength training part and the
eating healthy and everything, that,
that seems to stop people because you
wanna be involved with your friends and
Zuryna Livermore: Yeah.
Chris Shaw: they're looking at
you like, why are you eating that?
Are, are you good?
You just eating an apple and a banana?
You, you sure?
You don't want no mac and cheese?
Zuryna Livermore: They think
you fasting and stuff, but
Chris Shaw: Yeah.
Zuryna Livermore: You're saving yourself.
You're preparing yourself for later.
It's okay.
It's
Chris Shaw: Right, right.
So.
Zuryna Livermore: Chris,
I appreciate this advice.
This has been a great Mustang meetup.
I appreciate you.