Authenticity and Ambition with Peloton’s Jess Sims

Andre and Evan welcome Jess Sims from Peloton, sharing her inspiring journey from teaching to fitness stardom, all while emphasizing the power of authenticity and seizing opportunities. Jess delves into personal challenges, her approach to mental well-being, and the transformative power of self-care on her path to success. This heartfelt conversation promises to motivate and uplift, showcasing how staying true to oneself can unlock extraordinary achievements.

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Well wasn’t it common who said that when he learned about Martin Luther King Jr’s flaws he loved him more and so I kind of operate from that mindset like there’s inspirational and there’s aspirational I don’t want anyone to Aspire to be me because I like I don’t want people to

Try to be me or want to be me like I’m flawed as hell what I 100% you might not like yourself I got a lot of PR yes yes like me but I do want to inspire people to take risks and like be themselves unapologetically inauthentically because

This like you don’t want be a boring you know person that just goes through life trying to do what you think people want you to do like people want you to be Yourself welcome to the arena where business meets Sports where strategies Clash and victories are measured in dollars and goals get ready to dive into the dynamic world where the game isn’t just on the court but in the boardroom too point forward ET NCAA generates nearly 1.3 billion in Revenue last

Year according to Associated Press NCAA has recently reported that they generated 1.3 billion in revenue for the 2223 fiscal year more than half of which was distributed back to the division one members revenues rose up from about 1.14 billion from the previous year 945 million of the revenue came from media

Marketing deals that are tied to Championship events ncaa’s deal with CBS and Warner Brothers accounts for about 900 million annually the TV deal is expected to rise to 1 billion annually in 25 NCAA expenses reached 1.17 billion 669 million of it distributed to 363 NCAA D1 members 192 million was invested

To Stage D1 Championship events and other programs and 100 million was given to D2 and D3 events is the NCAA too valuable to get rid of also what would the NCAA look like if the NBA truly converts a farming system format like they do overseas and

Should players be getting a piece of the pie a lot of interesting questions yeah for sure what do you think do you think the NCAA is too valuable to get rid of when you when you we just talked about last week that n Season tournament that’s coming up where they’re paying

Players two million and really get things jumping you know what I’m saying and when you think about the gambling and all that is that something that can really occur because basically when you’re sitting here saying like oh they’re getting paid from college all they’re doing is getting paid from the boosters

You know yeah it it’s it’s interesting and like does it really help the game like you know what I’m saying like cuz right now the game’s getting so oversaturated I remember I read a tweet that somebody said like yo a was really for like 5% of players and elite players

To really work on their game yeah now this stuff is starting to become oversaturated that it’s starting to wear out just wasting a lot of people’s time yeah yeah you understand I’m saying and when we’re starting to talk about college and we’re speaking on like what

Do we need to do more to really expand a game it’s like yo how do you not tell a you know a Darren Peterson a number one player in Ohio be like yo you need to come to this pharmacist and learn how be a pro you know what I mean or like build

Like what would be the future of sports for like the kids trying to make it to the next level since the game is so OD oversaturated we’re falling so far behind well I do think it’s hurting the game the system that’s in place but there is something to uh capitalism in amateur

Sports they’re they’re they’re making these huge um Investments because it’s bringing so much money and the TV deals themselves are just astronomical and I do think it is something it’s detrimental to a 18 19 20 21 year old to have access to all that money but they are generating that

Revenue yeah so they do deserve it and so but they’re not getting that money oh you say they do deserve it but like it it’s just it’s just how do we divide it how do we split it up when do they get it that whole system is just like

Something else that we just have to figure out you speak on to the boosters I think it’s taken away from them being kids taken away from them having discipline it’s taken away from them to take like instruction to go through hardships to go through adversities you know it’s hard to coach them they

Transfer every year like we have to be we got a kid right now he made third team he might ask like and this was like 1 borderline honorable mention he might ask for a like a half a million dollars so sometimes we look at this stuff and

Like yo this is wild but I think when you handle an nil deal it might be the first real time time where you can kind of maybe a first real time where you can kind of like weed things in as opposed to having these unbelievable numbers for

Kids playing in a different level where it’s they’re going to school trying to become millionaires which isn’t bad but it’s it’s all in the game bro yeah and you’re and you’re like you’re selling you’re selling yourself out and most of them don’t make it yeah

Like 90% of them don’t make it to the next level and so the nil deals like I keep saying like there’s a formula for it um the farming system is probably better but think of like in other sports outside of football and basketball you know the system works

Because like look what CL Caitlyn Clark is doing yeah for for for women’s college basketball will we is that possible in a farming system for the W and that’s no kn yeah but the familiarity of four years at the University like that’s what was working for men’s basketball that that’s what’s

Gone yeah you don’t even know who you yeah you really don’t know who’s in men’s basketball that’s yeah yeah I got to study the draft cuz I don’t know who’s who literally and I’m about to go shake these kids hands I’m like what school did you go to what school did you

Go to what’s cuz none of them been in the same school for more than two years or you go like taling sometimes like the number one pick that’s supposed to be this year is a French kid I forgot his name Jeremy something dropped I was just

Looking at the draft slots the other day yeah but even my friend was like man I was like bro that’s lit like sh he like man come on dog like I played with top five Talent like we just I didn’t make the league and this dude going to go

Number like this what it takes to go number one in the draft number one oh our guy in OKC’s little brother oh yeah he’s nice jayen uh what’s what’s his name something Jaylen Williams his little brother a 69ine Cody Williams Colorado yeah yeah he’s doing his thing I

Um I wonder like when you break down some of these numbers and you’re looking at the tourament and everything it always makes me think because obviously we’re we’re embarking on you know an open a tournament but like JJ reck he tweeted a couple years ago he said all

This money being made from this game and the players getting nothing right you know what I mean so I guess when you dive into that and you think about all the mass stereo like think about when the school goes to a sweet 16 bro mhm like just some T-shirts alone it’s

100,000 t-shirts being sold you know right yeah so do we go how do we fix it do we build a farming system because kids can go to college and get the money now over time they trying to see is that good for the game are the guys getting like those

Overtime two guys that were supposed to be lottery in overtime their stock dropped yeah like which way is it going it’s like this is the live PGA thing live golf PGA Tour thing where is it benefits us all to have all the talent in one place yeah is that

Antitrust violation with monopolies or is it just best for the ultimate goal which is to get to the league and so or just like the petty goal to be like is a game of basketball still in America like I’m not I still think we win the title

Like we win Olympics and everything like that but there’s certain moments like this that really shift and when you think about the momentum that’s picking up over like what the Euros are doing in the Pharm you know what I mean it’s you know you kind of got to stop

Like the skid down the hill you know and that’s why I think that’s it speaks to like who wimy is yeah like wimy is who he is this first thing when he said he came over here they was like how is it coming over here he was like it’s a

Little different like they do everything for me like back home I’m used to like I’ll just go to the store grab a sandwich grab something to drink walk back home like it’s chill he was like here people are rushing to do something for me yeah like you hungry you want

Something to eat you need to ride you need to go here what you want he was like I’m not used to everybody doing stuff for me but where he came from you know he learned how to you know have Independence you know uh you know have

Discipline you got to wake up you got to be on time you got to put the work in you got to earn it where here is just like our farming system is aou where it’s just you know I’m saying like the a coach going to start a team found some

Talent and then work his way up and and pimp that all the way up you know that’s that’s the system that we’ve turned into our game into point forward ladies and gentlemen as we celebrate women’s History Month it’s an honor to introduce a true Trailblazer in the world of

Fitness and empowerment please give a warm welcome to the aspiring J Sims whose dedication and resilience continue to shape the landscape of women Women’s Wellness and Beyond point forward today we are brought to you by uh the essence of of a Renaissance woman mhm um from the Mean Streets of Massachusetts oo I

Want to welcome chess Sims to the show thanks for having me guys for pulling up wow thank you that was a nice intro who are you you just told the whole world kind of but like cuz you have this background M that there’s no excuse for anyone to have to not get to

Where they want to be damn I’m on fire today yeah you going in for sure no that’s that’s that’s what I saw yeah when I’m going through your background I’m like okay so there’s no excuses all right you don’t have to be 67 you don’t have to have a certain type of physique

You don’t you know you don’t have to have a reaction time that Isaiah Thomas talks about the hundreds of a second I mean you have that in your skill set but you know how you built your career um no one can have any excuses because it’s like it’s I’m giving you the blueprint

Just go get it and so like where did this come from like how did you become who you are damn starting with an easy question wow I love this for me um I can tell she’s never listened to our show where where did I okay I’m lover of the

Underdog I think that’s that’s where it starts um my father is an underdog uh my father just passed away in December but crazy connections you’re going to hear me talk about him so much cuz he’s you know been such a huge part of my life in

Every way shape or form but followed in his footsteps my dad is was a Workhorse you know worked two jobs to support the family came from basically nothing the youngest of six um and played basketball so that was always our thing and I just saw the way that no matter what job he

Had he was a sergeant of the police department as a black man yeah and owned his own painting business both commercial and residential employed his whole family you know brought everyone up with him and no matter what my dad was doing he was always being super kind

To people and he was always working his ass off and I think that those kind of things seeing that from such a young age and my mom is super loving two of them I was raised by both of them I have an older brother a younger sister um but by

Seeing my dad’s work ethic and by seeing how he treated people it was contagious um and like I feel like he and I have always had that Bond and I’m just like the female younger version of him so I think that that’s where it stems from and you credit him with your athletic

Background as well your dad was a quite accomplished athlete himself holds a lot of records at your high school right so uh let’s go in and talk about you know Jess Sims early as the the athlete you were four time you know conference Champion two time all conference and you

Played you let her as a captain three years in Trinity College correct so what was that like going back into those early days and did you ever think you have like uh OD hoop dreams going to the WNBA so guys it’s so crazy because now being on camera for all my jobs I’m

Literally on camera for all my jobs I laugh my best friends laugh my family laughs cuz that that’s never been me I’ve never been the in front of the camera I’m always behind the scenes and so every sport I played I got super serious about soccer basketball and

Lacrosse in high school I almost played lacrosse at Trinity too um I was never necessarily the best player but I was always the person that was diving on the floor for the loose balls wearing the knee pads the mouth guard taking the Charges going after the ball for steals

Like I was always the person that wanted to do the dirty work and also the person like if our leading scorer had a rough night I’m like what time you want to be at the gym tomorrow I’ll rebound for you so it’s always about like putting the

Team before myself and I think that that’s something that has always carried through not only just in all the sports Endeavors that I’ve had but also in all the careers that I’ve had you know like I’m 35 and I’ve had I’m in like my third career essentially right now which is

Kind of crazy well let’s dive into your first career you talked about going into Trinity College and right after that you moved to Houston for teaching for America correct and uh at one point you were doing seventh grade remedial math and then you dove into third and sixth

Grade correct third and Fifth Third and fifth grade so go into that did you think you were going to when you think about teaching you like all right I’m G meet a teacher and I’m retire at 65 or whatever it is I’ve always I’ve always been no I’m I’ve always been involved in

Lots of things I’ve never just been in just one thing I’ve always been involved in a lot and so I’ll never forget when I was at Trinity I I was a double major I majored in Psych and Hispanic studies and I was in the locker room and you

Know how they put up like the bulletin board stuff like the announcements they like come check this out I saw this flyer for Teach for America and I was like what’s this so I Googled it and it was just like one day all children will have an equal opportunity and access to

Education regardless of where they’re from and I was like oh that’s what I’m doing and like all my friends were crazy they’re like just it’s super competitive it was right after like no one was getting hired for anything and I was like no I’m doing this was crazy exactly

Exactly so even more people were you know applying for Teach for America and I was just like this is what I’m doing and they’re like What’s your backup plan I didn’t have one so I applied for it and then I’ll never forget I got the

Call that I got it in Houston and you know I’m from Boston so when they asked you what your preferred locations were I I did like all the cities that were close by so I was like New York or the furthest one was California but it was

La so I was like all right whatever I know people out there and so when they said Houston I called my mom my mom was like well at least you can tell people that you got it and I was like what do you mean she’s like you’re not going to

Houston you don’t know anyone there and I was like oh no no I’m going to Houston and two weeks after graduation flew down to Houston um I taught fifth grade math which as a 20 I just turned 22 in August of that year fresh out of college you

Know having two three days playing sports I didn’t work out for like two months I was a shell of myself I didn’t know who I was I was waking up at 4:00 in the morning to be on the road at 5 to be there an hour before the students got

There cuz as a teacher you work non-stop there’s no work life balance it’s like if you’re not working you’re thinking about work you’re lesson planning you’re grading you’re calling parents like it’s crazy you don’t have any off time so you have to care got that part no for sure but that that’s that’s

The thing too and Andre when you just ask like at the beginning like who am I like the first thing that comes to mind always is like I’m a servant leader I always want to do things for impact it’s always up something bigger than me I never want to I never played an

Individual sport I would never want to play oneon-one anything it’s always me being part of a team that’s just my thing and so I did fifth grade um math so I taught 75 kids then I was down in third grade and I just I taught everything and I just had a

Self-contained classroom um and I was actually hired to do special education but there was a hiring freeze for that so I did General Ed and I absolutely loved it um I did tutoring after school I coached two co-ed basketball teams um and then I was going to stay there a

Third year in Houston but I had this once in a lifetime opportunity to open up a school in Harlem as a kindergarten teacher so they’re these two guys uh they opened up two different um elementary schools with just kindergarten co-teacher model I loved that the curriculum that they were using

I really was excited to do kindergarten because I mean four and 5-year olds are freaking adorable and so I did that and it was such a cool thing because I got to experience all the behind the-scenes stuff so I got this look yes as a teacher but also what happens how else

Does a school you know function and I forgot to also mention I got my Master’s Degree when I was in Houston and I also worked for Teach for America over the summer so I I never had time off like it was always me being busy cuz I just I

Love learning and I love growing and I love helping and the Masters was in teacher teacher leadership leadership so I did that um one year in Harlem but I stayed within the same network but I went up to their middle school because they needed an operations director

Assistant principal so I did that in year four and I did that for two years so four and five I was there and then I got another once in lifetime opportunity to open up a school where I was born where my dad was born and raised in Lynn

Massachusetts so to be an assistant principal and the exact same model of just a brand new school so again just kindergarten but instead of a teacher I’m AP so I went there guys it was the best job ever I finally had balance I was leaving right with the kids I was

Going to the gym I was cooking like it was crazy I felt so good but I was still unhappy there was still something missing and so I was dating a guy at the time who lived in New York and he was in Fitness and I saw how fulfilled he was

Um how much it just like lit him up on a daily basis and how people received him like after class they would just be like you l Lally saved my life I was in such a dark place and like to have you as this person to come to and I always know

What I’m getting it’s the consistency um like he literally was saving lives and doing it with a smile on his face and it’s fun like you’re moving your body right so I had to do this deep dive I was like all right I know that I’m meant

To be a teacher like that is my calling that is what I’m here to do because I’m just so passionate about it but then so my ex at the time he was like okay but yeah you are meant to be a teacher but maybe you’re just in the wrong setting

And so that was this like like this mind-blowing moment of wow I wouldn’t lose all the skills and all the time and all the experience that I acquired you know through education I’d just be doing it in a setting that I loved which is a gym so I quit so I was in

Boston left there in the end of December quit uh the job halfway through came back to New York and my school in Harlem fired their principal so the CEO reached out to me and asked me if I would come and take over CU I obviously knew all

The families and everything so I came back in January of 2016 as principal yeah no so I came back as principal for those six months but I started to do the work of being in Fitness so I got my personal trainer certification I didn’t have Instagram so I I started an

Instagram and posted like Fitness stuff that’s crazy that’s that’s your business card now 100% like people don’t ask for oh do you have like it’s let me follow you on Instagram like what value do you add to my life so I started posting you know just like how-to stuff and like

Random things like I’m not I’m still I still don’t post a ton of stuff on Instagram and not Tik to either but so I started to do that um I was working out a lot I did my research I started to go to all the boutiques studios in the city

And I’m like okay this is why this one does really well this is why this one doesn’t do really well this is what makes this instructor great this is why this person has two people in their class so I started to like be a student of the sport and so I started training

At a boxing Studio was on the schedule in September and then I started training at a hit uh studio and got on the schedule in December and so I I did that for a year and Rebecca Kennedy who’s a pelaton instructor she was the master instructor for tread and pelaton had

Just decided to build the tread and all of that so she was in charge of building out the te she would take my classes um at the boxing studio so she was like hey do you want to grab coffee after and I was like sure so after class we grab coffee and

She sat and across from me just rattled off all the amazing things that Pelon offered and I just wrote them down I was like oh my gosh this is amazing amazing but not right now and people think it’s the craziest thing for me because guys it’s the biggest hustle to do Fitness

Especially in New York City because you make great money don’t get me wrong but if you get sick you don’t get work and you pay for your own uh health insurance out of pocket which is so damn expensive and if you God forbid go on vacation you

Are not making money and you’re spending money so like the roller coaster y like contracted out of at it you well in most Boutique classes you get paid per class oh really W you just gang together because it’s the same thing with dancers and everything else like in order to get

That Union somebody’s always going to do it for cheaper I didn’t say unionized or whatever it is somebody’s always going to bought for lower I’m I just you watch Zelda no on Netflix come on bro just putting them together Hispanic do things way different than we do over here it’s

Unionizing but I’m just die you but you cut their feet off like [ __ ] I bet you could get it together probably you know what I mean yeah true story yeah true story and so I’m just surprised that it’s still like that especially working for place like pelaton but keep going

Well so pelaton is so different that’s the thing so like literally when Rebecca was talking to me I was like wait a minute you get a laptop you get this like you get that like it’s it was crazy you get paid time off I’m like wait 30

Days of paid time off like that’s what it was then so it was just crazy but I I knew guys I wasn’t working out I I was teaching 30 classes a week and then I had three private clients that I did two sessions a week I was barely working out

Myself like that’s the biggest myth is people like oh you’re a trainer you work out all the time no you work out other people all the time so but I knew that that was something that I wanted to do so I worked towards it I got another gig

That did a little bit of on camera stuff and I was like oh this is actually not that bad and then the last aha moment that I had before I reached back out to Pelton almost exactly a year later to the day uh to audition in July July of

2018 2018 has it been yeah 2018 because this will in September will be 6 years I had this AA moment where I’m like okay when I wasn’t sure if I was ready to leave the classroom to go into Administration I had a mentor that was like listen if your whole goal is impact

You have 27 kids that you’re impacting yes but if you’re an admin you’ll have 27 teachers who each have 27 kids so your impact is just growing same exact thing with peleton I was like oh my gosh I don’t want to leave like the classroom of like having whatever’s the whatever

The Studio had 10 to 24 to 40 people in a room but that class lives and dies in that moment with pelaton we’re broadcasting to the world we’re in Australia now like people everywhere can take these classes they can live forever and Betty Sue from Nebraska that doesn’t

Have a gym within a 2-hour driving radius can have me in her living room yeah and so again it’s like the impact thing so that’s when I I decided I was like okay so a year later I reach back out to Rebecca I audition and I’ve been

There for six years in September well you said something I read earlier that like where um one thing you do it seems like you’re well researched yeah but one of your main statements is if you can teach you can teach anything which is why you’re able to transition going into

That kind of mindset of what Dre said earlier like there’s no reasons why you can’t make it but uh the mindset what you say I don’t have to I get to it seems like you push everything towards that to become you know someone successful even to pass up on Pelon the

First time around right like what what’s those type of plays in order to be sure ensure uh success you’re you there’s no way to ensure that it’s just like life is short and you don’t know what’s going to happen so why not and there are so

People that have told me like the people that you think have it all together they’re trying to figure it out too so why would you hold yourself back from trying you know to do something because you don’t think that you’re ready being ready is a decision if you wait to feel

Ready for something you’re going to be waiting for the rest of your life and I also read to in uh Cheryl sandberg’s uh book lean in she says it’s not about because you know if you apply to a job it’s like you need 10 years experience

At this level to No it’s it’s your ability to learn quickly and your ability to contribute quickly if you can do those two things you can do anything anywhere and that’s that’s kind of what I’ve taken from teaching into pelaton into all the the broadcasting I’ve been

Doing is like I’m gonna I’m GNA fail all the time but I’m going to learn and then I’m also going to impact you know whatever I do so that was my that was the next question wow it crazy you said that you know how do you look at failure

I was uh reading something today and it was hold on let me get this cuz somebody sent this to me today uhoh uh lauron Propet that’s my guy Prophet sent this to me and he’s always sending me if you want to be successful I would encourage

You to grow a tolerance for failure and this is the uh CEO of Nvidia and they’ve been around for a long time people don’t realize how long Nvidia has been around well you also said like learn the mistakes of your Heroes right and that’s way you become

Right Le mistakes okay we got so much to talk about I’m ready I’m ready learn the mistakes of your hero I want to dive into that like right now okay because I also hear the term never meet your Heroes and and and and it’s and it’s

Held true every time I met met my hero I’m like oh this is why you you aren’t supposed to meet your Heroes I know and that phrase makes me sad it makes me sad I guess but the be beauty of humans is complexity we always sit here and be

Like oh you can’t do this and people be perfect and it’s like no probably it’s like what mate Tyson said that the the brightest Stars got the darkest Shadows but okay so Mike Tyson has a beautiful moment on vultures one Kanye’s album yeah it’s probably my favorite part of

The album but we not allowed to like Kanye anymore I know but but in terms of like like listen man it’s inspiration like I remove all that other stuff I’m removing it and and and it’s very very inspiring in terms of like I I me I I’ve

Gotten to know the true essence of this person right well wasn’t it common who said that when he learned about Luther King Jr’s flaws he loved him more and so I kind of operate from that mindset like there’s inspirational and there’s aspirational I don’t want anyone to

Aspire to be me because I like I don’t want people to try to be me or want to be me like I’m flawed as hell but I 100% you might not like yourself 100% I got a lot of PR yes yes but I do want to

Inspire people to take risks and like be themselves unapologetically inauthentically because this like you don’t want to be a boring you know person that just goes through life trying to do what you think people want you to do like people want you to be yourself yeah n no I did read something

Else too somebody got to me it was it said this you people are starting to build versions of what other people want them to be right and so we’re all just putting on a mask or like this this social media generation that’s where we’re going the wrong way so how do we

You know how do we really Inspire because we just want people to be the true essence of who they were meant to be but we’re all trying to be something else based on whatever society says what’s to be right yeah but it’s like the common thing you got to be light would you

Rather be light for who you are or hated for who you know was it like for who you aren’t or or hated for who wa hated for who you are love who you are not you are not i’ rather be hated for who I am but there

Aren’t many of us you always say that yeah but I mean it just is what it who it it’s all on the level of that’s I guess and what you’re willing to sacrifice to have that you know keep your identity know CU each level you have to sell out when you get in

Different room I think that people want instant gratification and they want stuff now and it’s if you pretend that you’re someone you’re not sometimes you get that that immediate like okay wow this is working or I’m getting this Accolade or I’m getting this deal or whatever but people don’t understand if

You do the Slow Burn of just being yourself you’re not only going to have more success longer but you’re going to have deeper success cuz the people who [ __ ] with you like really versus if you’re trying to be someone you get tired of that you can only keep

Up and act for so long and that’s exhausting like who wants to live that way yeah well you’re talking about peltin and you you felt like you had like a space to be yourself because the one thing about peltin is everybody is unique and there’s not two or two you

Have to appeal to a global market so it has to be somebody that’s uniquely themselves oneon-one every time so how has that been able to help you you know in your job and be able to get more jobs for yourself to really show up each day cuz what you’re spreading your message

Is something from the roots that started years ago right well I think in order to be a great pelaton instructor you have to know yourself you have to be very self-aware because it’s so funny people would be like how did you know to say this in class you write down your quotes

I don’t write anything down on my notes it’s all just like push-ups like whatever the the program is that I don’t put any other notes in there so anything that comes to mind is something that I need in the moment because I know if I need it in the moment someone else is

Going to need it in the moment and when I got hired um again the fitness industry is super small um Dennis Morton who’s a Pelon cycling and yoga instructor I knew him Dennis what happened Morton he’s one of the best guys he’s so deep like sometimes we’ll sit in the

Green Room like have a conversation after class and like we look at the clock we’ve been sitting there on the couch for like three hours talking about life he’s the best um but he when I ran into him I was like do you like it here

Is this a great place to work and he’s like Jess I’ve never worked at a place that wants me to be more myself he’s like how much more can I Dennis Morton I’m already Dennis moring so much but like peleton asks you to do that because then you’re

Able to connect to people there’s 50-some instructors right now they don’t want they cast us you know so someone had the exact same background as me they’re not even if they’re a great instructor they’re not going to be hired because there’s already someone that has this kind of story you know so that

Helps you know I think one thing that occurs where people relate to you so much is the meditation part and you say you’re able to dive deeper in and uh I forgot what book you said you read but it was all about dealing with the

Gremlin yes and then day in and day out what you’re showing up to be can you dive into that and how serious that is is cuz when you talk to people about getting your mental right and people ask me I’m like bro this [ __ ] sound dumb but

Like just get your mind together and you can do anything and they’re like no I want something else there has there has to be a pill or something you take to be successful and say nah bro like Legends are made out of vulnerable men whatever

You do you going to have to start the ugly Trend and in six months maybe I’ll see you and be beautiful but talk about that kind of path and what you had to go to to really be this amazing person and positive because even during a time

Where you didn’t work out for you know a couple years on your hunt it was a up and down thing but I think that’s relatable well so when I didn’t work out um my sister-in-law actually sent me the book called wherever you go there you

Are and it just reminded me cuz I can get so caught up and a lot of us do like you know you worry about the past and you also worry about the future that’s where anxiety lives how do you beat that Gremlin is you stay where your feet are

You’re super present but that’s so much easier said than done so meditation for me is something I do daily like several times I do it in the morning I always do it to fall asleep and I’m out like I I’ve never seen the end of of as sleep

Meditation ever figed that out yet that’s the thing people think that meditation is this like you do it right you do it wrong no like if you mess up it’s like follow your breath when the whole thing is accept in Failure so when you sit there it’s like all right bro I

Got a D I don’t kick into to my meditation till 12 minutes in and then I catch my breath but like at one point it’s like when you wake up you meditating and you catch my worrisome is in my way no yeah and it’s just kicking

My ass and a second you be like man I’m just breathing and I’m rocking there’s nothing wrong that’s it then you go out to the real where I’m like [ __ ] and I’m just breathing and I’m rocking and there’s nothing wrong a meditation could literally be closing your eyes in the

Middle of the day and taking three deep breaths a meditation doesn’t have a time like you don’t have to meditate for two hours in order to say that you meditated today you know no no understood I just have meditations work for me except one time trying to go to sleep that’s SM

Really yeah because like uh whenever I do a meditation like I can feel it it’ll last for like two work days three work days I’m like that Allstar Weekend was crazy but I did a um I did my therapy Thursday morning and I was like riled up

Cuz some people was doing some dumb stuff and you know fell on me and so I did a breathing exercise at the end of it got me through all the allar weekend and allar weekend is crazy I mean I’m on from 9:00 a.m. to 2: a.m. and I knew it

Came from that so I know it works but going to sleep we’ll get there though that yeah that well that’s actually kind of cool though CU I mean sometimes I wish that when I meditated I was more instead of like putting myself to sleep I would rather be more focused and alert

So I don’t think that that’s necessarily A Bad Thing copy do you have an easy time falling asleep no not not but last year okay cuz I did like a sleep study I did the Sleep school I did the whole thing I tracked my sleep I you know pajamas uh certain te certain

Temperature a shower certain time eat before I go to bed like there’s a whole sleep study on me and then how my stats correlated my performance was correlated to how many hours of sleep I got so I’m a master of like knowing that’s amazing

I got to sleep like I’m on it but just I guess now that I basketball is not the priority it’s like right I’m like am I not going to sleep because I don’t have to perform but I do because my brain needs to work and so I’m I’m trying to

Figure that part out okay you also don’t nap yeah I don’t nap I’m not a napper either but we should naps are good so there’s either people that need a nap or they need eight hours of sleep I need eight hours of sleep oh really I I can’t

Meet I don’t when people sleep eight hours I think it’s crazy right I I can only sleep 15 minutes I get like an 8 hour sleep like once a once a month maybe I got 8 hours Saturday night if I get 8 hours yeah I think I I don’t know where

I’m at I like I forgot something oh I wouldn’t survive really but I don’t nap yeah no that’s real that’s for real I I can see that well you can’t nap because not only do you lead people’s lives in lce and everything like that now you’re doing uh you’re gracing the sidelines

For college game day can you tell us how that came about and just you know you’re originally supposed to be a superintendent or a teacher and now you’re yeah yeah now you’re on like TV I remember sitting Courtside I was at the Duke firsts was it Baylor that was my

That was a rehearsal I I was sitting there I’m like is that Jeff films and I was like there’s no way and then I was like looking I’m like oh that’s my palentine teacher like what are you doing here that’s yeah so how did that come about and oh God

Shoot like does that fees up for like the hoop dreams you had like what what’s yeah well so let’s see okay so I started at pelaton in 2018 end of 2018 um and then I had all of 2019 but I was on the tread we had like 40 people on the

Leaderboard which you know for a peleton like that was that was a long time ago we don’t we have way more than 40 people especially on the tread leader boards are intimidating too I cut them off good for oh the competitive side no no like for

Like I want to be in the top 25 oh yeah or whatever like top I try to get top 10% of all no that’s what I mean oh I’m not doing this is when I was in this is when I was playing now now you don’t

Care no now I still care I just make sure I hold myself like to us like accountability like all right come on let’s get this work okay yeah no um so I had that year of just like a few people on the leaderboard but then the pandemic

Happened and it blew up we went from I don’t quote me on this but like 2 million members worldwide to S eight whatever um and I talk about basketball all the time I talk about being a former athlete I talk about the mentality and that’s the thing too is like looking

Back of course it’s like one of those things where if I knew then what I knew now I’d be a very different basketball player I had no confidence in sports and that’s why I relied so heavily on defense you you got to have delusional confidence to play this and I didn’t and

I didn’t like I wish I had delusion I had none I was way too focused like I I was way too in my head about everything and so that’s why like doing this whole thing of like being in front of the camera is so like do or die for me

Because it was so different from what I was doing and it’s it was freeing to be able to do it CU I’m like wow I can [ __ ] up and like I I survived like I still have another day I can still do like people are going to show up the next day

Still and so it was just like a really freeing experience and so I talked about all of that my love of sports and also I’m literally like the host of my own show so for instance like I teach a 60-minute boot camp there’s a f minute intro a five minute pre-show uh

Including the intro a 60-minute class two-minute stretch I am talking to myself for 67 straight minutes while sprinting while doing snatches while do giving shout outs while looking at 10 different cameras with lighting it’s I don’t know if I’m impressed or like horrified because of the skill set that

I’ve acquired by doing this no I be impressed I’m like she better not take a break you bet you better not take this she when you take a break I take a break might say L Alex stop stop taking breaks G that’s my guy stop it stop it that’s

My guy no he he’s a killer but it’ be like ton it’ be like he come on it’s been three and a half minutes 3 seconds sit down sit down it’s been stra no for tread we don’t have the luxury of being able to stop running at

All and then for strength like if I stop it’s just to do a little couple shout outs but I do very few on the floor I usually do the shout outs from the from the TR he he don’t take many breaks but it’s like the hardest part of I’m like

No fam sit down cuz yeah the mountain clb let me see what you doing like bro you looking dead at a camera bro get back on your goddamn bike and ped oh my yeah I mean but it’s technically our defense it’s not our workout it’s y’all’s workout so we’re here to motivate you

And so if he and people love when he like stops pedaling and and dances and just does his whole thing so um but that’s really really funny you guys just made me lose my whole train of how you get the ESPN we still there oh okay okay

Okay we’re still in that so but wait how did I oh so I’m doing my own show so then the first gig that I got but um one of the women actually a few of them that work for the New York Liberty take my classes so they reached out to my agency

And they were like would she want to do in Arena hosting so I started in Arena hosting I just finished my third year last year um so I did that at Barclays and that was amazing and that was my first time really doing anything like

That and then my agent was like um one of the uh execs from ESPN is coming to the city was like and this is crazy I ran the Boston Marathon oh okay April TW April 17th or whatever of 2022 I ran it for um crazy story Side

Story is uh a woman from Boston takes my classes she was uh at the Finish Line in 2013 at the bombing and almost had to lose uh almost amputated both of her legs but she rehabbed she’s great she’s awesome she takes my classes as part of

Her rehab so she asked me she said that um she gets a bib every year for either to run herself or to have someone run in her honor and she asked me to run in her honor I had never run a half marathon yeah that’s a that’s like asking

Somebody to move for it’s like no you want to go you be sensitive to it but I don’t I don’t understand you want to go to church she but that’s she was just like let me throw it out there she didn’t think I was going to say yes but she

Asked me like almost four months to the day and that’s like how that’s how much time you need minimum you can’t and my mind was like oh you’re not doing this Jess like sit your ass down but my heart was like oh yeah you’re running a marathon in four months like let your

Mom know like that was literally what I I see somebody get off a plane and run a half marathon like on like a day notice no marathon’s not bad yeah but that’s the only way I can do it though full marathon is different no train and half marathon different but that’s the only

Way you can do it I’m not rerunning 13 miles repeatedly I’m doing it one good time and that’s it bro I can’t you can’t just get you can’t just go run 13 round I you guys should train for a half I can do a half I can do it too but why I

Manan a half is better than running for three and a half hours with a full Marathon if you run 13 you might as well run 26 man you run 13 you might as well my wife my wife my wife ran a half marathon off a plane from China I could

Not believe it and like not unexpected she was like I was like Nike doing this event you want to run a half marathon she was like all right she ran track though okay but no no training in years yeah I was impressed and then she was in

Uh she was in the bed for three days couldn’t move yeah bro that sound about right that’s what I’m saying yeah well but that’s why you train so that you don’t you’re not debilitated the days after what are we doing it for how how how how long did it take you an hour

Hour 15 for what the half marathon the half marathon no I never ran a half marathon guys I literally went from running the most miles I ever ran in my whole life was 8 miles before Michelle asked me to run this [ __ ] half or full Marathon oh wow I ran a full

Marathon oh you ran a whole you want a full a full for free man that’s a hell of a Jess no it was the most moving experience of my whole life and it was like how crazy is this she met me at the finish line that

Was the first time she had been at the Finish Line since the bomb almost took her life in her legs so I was like if she can get there I can get there and that was like and on my hand I wrote I don’t have to I get to cuz I don’t I

Don’t have to run the marathon it’s a privilege my leg I’m healthy I’m young I can do this I train for it and it was the best day so you should give a speech to all the NBA allst stars I don’t have to play an All-Star Game get to play an

Allar game that’s real that’s real but that is real there’s loaded statements on that but I I [ __ ] with that that’s crazy yeah so I say all this to say so I ran the um the marathon it was a sun uh Monday Sunday whatever it was two days

Later I came back to the city and my my agent reached out to me was like there’s an ESP on exact you want to get coffee with him I was like sure I was in still such a runner’s high like the runner’s high is real after you run a marathon I

Was like I was Untouchable you couldn’t tell me [ __ ] I was like I just ran a marathon like 26.2 miles anyways so I meet him meet up with him he’s like do you want to get uh breakfast instead so I was like sure I felt as you guys can

See I’m a very animated person I felt very subdued in the conversation with him I was just like oh like my energy was fine but and I spoke very clearly but I didn’t feel like I was myself right so I leave and I texted my agent I

Was like oh just finished like I felt subdued whatever and he sent me a screen screenshot of what the guy said and it was like just met just met Jess big personality and so I was like oh well [ __ ] like if he thinks that was big like

Okay so the way that we left it though it was not about a specific role it was just hey like if there’s something that comes up that seems like a good fit for you we’ll reach out it could happen in a month it could happen in a year it could

Happen never and I’m like great I have a full-time job like I’m not pressed like for anything so I’m like great so I left and then um like a week and a half later my agent reached out and was like uh I don’t want to make you nervous but like

They want you to go to Bristol to meet and I was like oh my God the ESPN Campus I get to get a tour like this is I’m so naive guys I’m like like this is so fun so like I’m G take photos right and he

Was like um yeah know he was like I don’t want to make you nervous but it’s for a college game day and guys I wasn’t familiar with the show I went to a small school in Connecticut like I’m not from the south I football was great but it

Was never anything that it wasn’t like under the Texas lights you know like so so I went there I met with four of the guys from the team great conversations had great conversations different conversations with all four of them and then I let I was walking out and um the

Guy was on his phone he was like oh wow this is moving faster than I expected and I was like what do you mean he’s like we want you to meet with the next like the higher up person um when she’s in New York in two weeks I met with her

And then I got offered the job so I I did football game day it was two years um and then at the end this is this is it gives me chills every time I think about it so that the second season just ended um January but but on December

13th which was right after Army Navy so we had like 2 weeks off before the playoffs um my this woman who I apparently met like one time in passing but I didn’t know her I never had her number nothing Meg she reaches out and she’s like hey do you have time to hop

On the phone I have an opportunity for you that I think you’d be interested and so I was like great it was like at 8:45 um on the 13th and so I hop on the phone with her 45 minutes later like around 9:30 and she tells me we want you to be

Sideline reporter for basketball we know how much you love basketball it’s your sport um we love what you been doing on game day we want to see you not only more on ESPN but we want to we want to help grow you and you know give you different experiences and so I’m like

This is the coolest thing ever like oh my gosh this and that hang up with her call my agents hang up with them I’m about to call my dad and at 9:52 my little cousin called me and my dad had just passed oh wow so when I told my

Friend tunday who’s another instructor she lost both of her parents years ago and so like she was one of the first people I spoke to um about it she was like oh my God your dad didn’t even put his jacket down before he was like I need y’all to make sure that my

Daughter’s good before I get settled up here like I need you to make sure like that was the first thing he did when he left collateral be like how crazy is that right that’s a crazy way to put I’ve never heard that before that’s beautiful like you can’t make that up

Like the timing of it and and and again it was like yes the job is amazing but the way that she spoke to me of like we want to take care of you we we care about your future we care about your growth I’m going to put you with one of

The best teams like so that you you know get great feedback this and that and I was just like I’m being taken care of that’s only my dad and did that take you back to the book too like I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be 100% I listen I

Have a life coach I I’ve been in therapy like on and off for years but I I met a life coach in 2020 and she’s been lifechanging like completely has evolved my way of thinking and I used to be a control freak I used to be like when I

Was a teacher I’m like all right I’m going to get my masters I’m going to do this I’m going to be superintendent I’m going to go back to and get my PhD Harvard super women like literally I was going to do all these things like education reform policy law all that

Stuff and then ever since I got into fitness I’ve been on the no plan plan and look what’s happened to me no plan plan that’s what I like you you just have to do what feels good and and be in that flow State and like not try to

Force things yeah flow the flow yes the flow I know a lot about the flow I was told to go find the flow a lot at my whole job but you can’t that’s the thing though that’s bad advice cuz you can’t find your flow you have to SLE into it I

Was told to go make sure they play like teammates that’s what final float means got it make sure they pass the ball to each other gotcha yeah but it’s so important like you whenever you someone says like oh I need to try I’m like try

Not to try like oh yeah yeah yes for sure for sure for sure you put the work in you don’t have to try yes yeah or sometimes go just change the room you know I mean or change the environment and switch up and keep being who you are

But it you know I struggle with one thing you said because I don’t see it you said I fake it till I make it because I know I’m qualified to be here but it seems like you’re always prepared I am but I’m so damn hard on myself like you know that interview

Question back when you were like in high school college or whatever and they’re like tell us about a time that you failed and people will be like I’m a perfectionist or whatever I didn’t have an answer to that question because I never put myself in situations to fail I

Always played it safe I I want to ask one thing that was pretty lit because you keep uh if I’m right or not but you keep getting it you know popping in different levels and doors keep opening you signed a Jordan deal right I did d That’s don’t don’t you think that’s lit

Do you ever get ha on by your peers and they like oh good job J I tried and they like no [ __ ] I try I knew a son I’m ask my dad what always these are these are Jordan BR too that’s hard like that’s crazy how did that come

About were you searching for it were you just like hey M or do you sit back and like what the [ __ ] yes and after I met MJ you met MJ guys we hugged That’s crazy cuz he he knows who I am like that’s the thing with Nike

I don’t want to misspeak but there’s like there’s thousands of athletes but with Jordan brand there’s less than 100 worldwide so everyone is like handpicked and signed off by MJ himself and um and my girl that I work with at Jordan brand is his daughter is Jasmine and she’s

Like the she the best she’s unb she she does a really good job too yeah jazz is a’t real yeah she she’s actually and her shoes that she created the one the Jordan 11 as she’s actually knows what she’s doing she’s not like right his daughter she’s got the sauce she’s

Actually got it that’s one thing I told her I mean we we at spad tournament allar break and we spoke maybe for like five minutes and I was like listen it is amazing who you are considering who you are she’s like what you mean I’m like no

You’re like a real human being and you have like a centeredness to yourself and you have an awareness and you like seat the world like in from a real perspective and like you’re like you’re very comfortable with who you are you don’t have to be something that most

People would say you do have to be well she she got um she told me a story about how before she even applied to UNCC she got an acceptance letter and she was like oh that’s UNC okay yeah no to UNC she was like I didn’t even apply there

So she’s like I don’t want handouts I don’t want so she applied to Syracuse and went to that’s wow that’s crazy yeah and then she became your rid Jordan so to answer your question yeah how did that come about that’s what that’s what I want to

Know like you got popping enough to be on that platform I was on I had another brand um deal before that with another Adida NOP no hok Nike no there I [ __ ] know under no who I would have thought new bar no what in the the hell we named

Them all no you didn’t what do you mean who no Converse not convers reok thank you no rebok was always in the athletic I told you did that little triangle [ __ ] they had that on your feet sweetheart yes they made a great training shoe they really did they

Really did but no um so yeah so I was with them for a little bit and then my agent um was like what would be your dream shoe and I was like Jordan not Nike specific like Jordan brand okay that’s where your black side came out

Yes exactly I like Jordan brand 100% so yeah so then we started talking and and it’s really cool because like they don’t have anyone like me on their roster like they have professional athletes um but again it’s about impact it’s about changing the game and super open Yeah a

Different different kind of yeah but you work out more than us like athletes only work out like an hour and a half a day you know it’s true and we don’t have an offseason I got a fun story for you let’s hear it Olympics

2012 um we were using uh we had the lift so we had to go to like the training facility where the athletes lift right and we in there lifting and I don’t know what sport they did these some big dudes like tall they might have been rowers

They look they look like the winall the winko vi oh okay I like that wrinkle I just learned that I Le a good point when when they plur them I was like man keep going so they came over to us and was like oh you guys definitely aren’t

Cheating like you you definitely don’t take steroids cuz of the weights we had it was like them baby ass weights I’m like no we play basketball fam we definitely don’t like lifting weights you ain’t lying to like yeah in the offseason when y’all post like the

Videos you work out just like my belly and stuff and no just just the weights that y’all use like you can definitely use heavier well but we don’t need to be yeah we don’t need to be doing if you want me to be a tight end I’ll go I’ll

Take Travis Kelsey job but other than that I’m story we be tight end if we why are you’re you’re equating heavier weights with like bigger muscles that doesn’t always mean that what does it mean just you get stronger I am strong I used to live heavy weights I had Huns in each

Hand that’s and I was like I’ll never do that again I got too strong I was like N I go back to the 80s okay wiy okay wry strong Wy strong W strong okay yes yeah I’m into that for you guys love that for you but but you were a huge basketball

Fan yeah and so um before before you answer what answer how we can saw for the All-Star Game who are some of your favorite teams and players growing up oh so I’m from Boston but Lakers this girl I Kobe Bryant was the number one for me that makes sense number one Paul Pierce

Was really unbeliev PA was really Ray Allen like 100% Paul Pierce was the truth yeah Paul Pierce was I 100% agree so Celtics were my very close second that’s I don’t know how that got to that point but I I hear you like like Paul Pierce was one

Of those the insane confidence yeah yeah yes and he’s also when you bring breaking down when I tell people you see a 6 foot one player in the NBA you’re watching one of the best players in the world cuz of skill set he has no crazy

Like like a Fred Van Fleet they have no crazy like Advantage you look at Paul Pierce he was just slow fat out of shape and and had straight game he wasn’t dunking on nobody wasn’t blowing past nobody legit just he was dunking a little bit early a little bit but

Strictly the truth bro Kobe and was jump jumping through the roof bro Paul was doing finger tip dunks do do you know how hard that is in the NBA point forward you know what do you look to bring because you said the role you’re in with pelaton everyone’s different

Right and so how are you creating your own lane as a a sideline reporter or analyst in college basketball or what are you looking for I love when people love their own work and their lives and I like helping people discover that whether it’s a side passion whether it’s

Your job whether it’s taking care of yourself like I think that’s where the educator part of me will never because I always want to help people and teach them because I know so much like I’ve with all the different jobs I’ve done and all the different experiences the

States I’ve lived in and like my my upbringing and all of that so yeah I feel like it’s just okay what’s the worst question you’ve asked so far the worst question that I’ve been asked that you’ve had to act that you’ve asked someone that you looked back and was

Like why did I ask that like you haven’t had any Nick sa moments I know I know thank god um no I haven’t had any catastrophic moments yet knock on Woods that’s why you don’t jump out of your comfort zone with no listen yeah no there like listen there are some when I

Was told who I love cuz I’ve seen Coach Cal probably like three times now already because we’ve seen Kentucky on the road a bunch but everyone everyone whether it’s someone I just met or someone that I know everyone’s like whenever you interview Cal the question is what’s on your mind because no matter

What he’s gonna tell you what’s on his mind like I could say what’s going on in the offense in the first half and he’ll be like well the defense like he will he’ll just go off so the question is always what’s going on in your mind what

Did you think of the first half so you always have to keep it super broad so that’s like something that I had to learn would you ever go to Pros NBA for sure what are you asking pop oh God get ready you can help me

With that pop does not answer my he does not respond to my happy birthday tweet on January 28th oh because it’s my birthday yall have the same birthday I stopped texting him I text him for like four or five years in a row like happy birthday happy birthday happy birthday

Happy birthday and you don’t talk in between n i mean a text chain of just happy birthday year that’s sad right sounds like America but he not from here though he good peoples well hopefully he’ll watch this and he’ll be like all right I’m going to respond next year he

Drinking why he oh yeah well we thank you for coming on the show thanks for having me guys um once I figure out this hip I will take some of your classes strength training I got you strength training yes see with the pair of dumbbells I thought you you got strength

Training is there I thought you said yoga or is that my man I mean she does yoga too no I don’t do any yoga I do it on the side like I don’t teach yoga I teach pretty much everything but yoga and meditation I taught a yoga class

Really real true story I love that for you yeah I T the yoga class one I don’t want to hear this story it’s on film somewhere somebody got it I’m dead serious we just want to thank you for coming on the show um and as a gift to

You we will be sending you our Jordan brain gear request thank you that’s my gift yay I love that thanks for having me guys I appreciate it appreciate you point forward thanks again for joining us for another week of point forward we don’t take your presence and support for

Granted make sure you follow us across all social platforms And subscribe wherever you listen to your podcast at point For