Built from the bottom.
Refined at the top.
Still in the work.
Before KVFL, before really anything, my life was about avoiding how I felt. Skating, binge-eating, doing drugs. Chasing dopamine to drown out the self-pity. Becoming homeless multiple times in the process. Then an ACL tear at the skatepark took my biggest escape. Borderline disabled, I tried drowning myself in more video games, weed, and binge-eating. But I couldn't take it anymore. I couldn't just stagnate while the world passed me by.
...So I stopped dwelling and started moving. Quit drugs, got surgery, went back to college, and got into fitness. Not for aesthetics. Because it made me feel like I was building something worth respecting. But I had no idea what I was doing. No programming, no rest days, cutting so aggressively I was nearly passing out. That instagram bodybuilder mindset of giving everything 110%. My numbers plateaued and I couldn't figure out why. Seems obvious now. Driven by my love for training, I left uni and got qualified as a personal trainer. Threw myself at books, vlogs, podcasts, and the coaches around me. My drive paid off as my physique, strength, and understanding skyrocketed. But getting training right was only one piece. The rest of my life was running at a pace I couldn't sustain...
...Now I coach full-time and build a business. I've lived the burnout. The energy crashes, the brain fog, giving everything 110% because anything less doesn't feel acceptable. I've had to learn what to protect and what to let go of. How to subtract without losing ground.
I don't coach from theory. I coach from every version of this I've personally built my way out of.