Episode 115: Jeremy Kinnick

The 2018 TwoBrain Summit is June 2-3 in Niles, IL! Book your spot here! Jeremy Kinnick is an OG in CrossFit. He was in the 2008 Games - you'll see him in "Every Second Counts". He's a ten-year affiliate, a family man and a hell of an athlete. This episode focuses on hard lessons learned as an athlete and affiliate owner. We'll share a lot of Jeremy's stories about the Games and his gyms. And you'll hear how each has shaped the other. This is a very valuable interview because mistakes are expensive. People open gyms for all the RIGHT reasons, but close their gyms for all the WRONG reasons. We fix these problems in the Incubator. We don't take everyone; to see if you're a good fit, book a free call with me. 3:50 - What brought Jeremy to CrossFit? And why he didn't like it at first 7:15 - Learning CrossFit by watching main site videos 8:40 - first Fran: 17.00. Best Fran: under 2:20. 9:30 - Competing in the 2008 CrossFit Games 11:00 - What "training harder" meant back then 12:14 - Opening an affiliate in 2007: building equipment and clientele 15:00 - Did being a Games athlete help Jeremy grow his Affiliate? 17:54 - It's more important to have a positive legacy than a competitive one 19:51 - How the evolution of the Games has changed the face of new clients, and where new clients come from, and what they want 20:20 - It's harder to make the Games. There's no direct business benefit to competing in the Games. What drives Jeremy to keep competing? 25:23 - Why Jeremy follows the same programming as his members, and why he prefers training with them to training alone 28:28 - Why CrossFit Kinnick chose to open a second gym 30:00 - Why CF Kinnick focuses more on getting people healthy than on performance. "We were focusing on improving movement--almost to a fault" 33:46 - Why Jeremy focuses on mentoring his staff, and building a robust business (here's the podcast link he mentions) THE TOUGH QUESTIONS: 35:15 - "What's the hardest conversation you've ever had with a client?" 36:00 - "Have you ever had to fire a client?" 37:56 - "What is one client you wish you could get back?" 40:50 - "Where do perfect clients come from?" 43:50 - "How do you start a conversation with people who might be perfect clients?"