Firewall Fireside Chat

If you haven't met Eric at the gym before, you're missing out big time.  He has an incredible sense of humor, while at the same time very down to earth.In this episode we talk all about Eric's life from his growing up in North Attleboro, to meeting his wife Betsy through his fitness career (who's also a member at Firewall), to present day where they now have 2 amazing children, Jack and Lilly.Sit back, relax, and enjoy this hour learning all about Eric's life!  We can't thank Eric enough for coming on the show.  It was truly a treat sitting down and chatting with you!P.S. Enjoy the audio bloopers at the beginning of the episode ;)

**This podcast was recorded on May 3rd, 2021.If you haven't been to Bar Athena yet, you've been missing out big time!  Bar Athena is located in downtown Holliston on the corner of Washington Street and Central Street (next to Fiske's General Store).Lisa is an incredible woman who we're so grateful to have had the time to sit down with and chat.  There's nothing like a good origin story!  Lisa's start is most likely very different than you think.  Starting the restaurant wasn't even her idea!  Originally she thought she wanted to go into photography or art but then pivoted towards the culinary arts.  Early on, she had exposures to world-renowned chefs who heavily influenced her views of how food should be served at restaurants.  The actual search of finding the spot they're in is fascinating.  While her family was contemplating packing their bags and heading back to New York (in their depths of dispair), their dreams finally started coming to fruition.Bar Athena definitely isn't for you if you're looking to sit down for a quick meal.  This place embodies such an ambiance that you don't want to leave.  Each table is lit with a candle.  The lighting is dim but not too much.  The restaurant gives you a chance to connect with your loved ones and friends.Bar Athena isn't just a restaurant - it's Lisa.  She's put her blood, sweat and tears into making her restaurant successful.  The environment captures so much of her life experiences including her travels overseas, her career at WholeFoods, her art background, and her love of history.Website: https://www.barathena.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bar%20Athena%20Holliston/2293663800854863Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bar_athena/

This was such a treat to sit down with all 3 owners of the Corner Market to talk about how all 3 of them got together, how the Corner Market came to be and how they've continued to thrive through the pandemic.We start by discussing how Jay and Christine met for the first time as well as they're "intimate" first date. Then we find out how Jay and Billy hooked up early in life and then reconnected in early adulthood. Billy dives in to the rise of his pizza creation abilities, and Christine describes how she always wanted to open up a taco business (a proclaimed mid-life crisis by Jay, ha!).Their humility and willingness to experiment led to early success once they took over the restaurant. From the start, they empowered all of their employees to create and collaborate new dishes. Christine says "it's not encouraged but expected". Nothing is off limits, just "do it". The worse that can happen is they scrap it if it doesn't taste good! We dive into the power of social media not only from an advertising perspective but from a food creation perspective as well. Many times they've asked their following to suggest dishes they'd like.The banter between these 3 is second to none. The more and more you listen to them talk, the more you understand why their restaurant has become so successful. They're passionate. They care. They give their customers their everything they have every single day. They show up. They make each experience special. And they make the most bomb food in town.We can't thank Christine, Jay, and Billy enough for taking time out of their busy day to sit down and record this epic episode with us. You guys are awesome and have brought so much deliciousness to Holliston that we're all incredibly grateful for. You 3 are amazing. Keep rocking it!Be sure to support them on social media (including Billy), and if you haven't checked them out yet, be sure to get a taco, pizza, burrito, WHATEVER the next time you're looking to eat out!https://cornerofdelicious.com/https://www.facebook.com/cornermarkethollistonhttps://www.instagram.com/cornermarketholliston/https://www.instagram.com/billy_the_pizza_man/P.S. Maybe one day we'll get to see Nacho Libre and Fatties and Skinnies come to fruition...

This is a very exciting episode as it was the first time we went remote! On top of that, this was also the first time we ever had a doctor on our show.Dr. Zach Moran is not your typical doctor for a couple of reasons. The first being that he's insanely fit, and the second being that he's not an MD. Dr. Zach is a Naturopathic Doctor which specializes in a more holistic approach compared to traditional medical practices.We start by diving into how Zach and I met and how our friendship grew through fitness. Zach also explains how he found this unique field he decided to pursue and why he liked this approach over the conventional system.Zach practices what he preaches. He was an unbelievable college wrestler and at one time a top tier CrossFit athlete. Here's a video of him setting a handstand walk (more of a run) world record at the CrossFit Regionals in 2015. Fast forward to 8:54:00 to see it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6lgWcKJQm8&ab_channel=CrossFit%C2%AEAfter a little bit of an introduction, we get into some pretty fascinating topics! We start discussing anti-aging beginning with the common saying "don't get old!" or using age as an excuse.Dr. Zach gives some pretty amazing tips for anyone to use during the pandemic when it comes to defeating a sedentary lifestyle or how to just practice living healthier in general. We also dive in to different eating styles such as intermittent fasting and ketogenesis. He introduces a word I had never heard of "autophagy" explaining how the body can activate this clean out process through intermittent fasting.Later we shift gears towards our shared belief in the most effective exercise which is high intensity exercise predicated on flexibility and proper mechanics. Zach also explains how EPOC (Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption) plays a major roll in its efficacy.Throughout the conversation we keep touching on Zach's 3 pillars of health:Nutrition/HydrationSleepExerciseAt the very end of the show, Zach shares with us the 3 exercises he thinks are the best and lays out exactly why he chose these three: squat, plank, pull-up.Following the top 3 pillars of health, Zach presents a second tier he believes are the next 3 things to focus on once you have a good grasp on the first 3:BreathingDaily Cold Water ExposureFasting/Supplementation Zach gives some really good insight into each of these pillars in the second tier and supplies a bunch of references which we've linked at the bottom of this description. Like Zach tells his patients, "The mouth is made for eating. The nose is made for breathing". One of his many tips he drips in throughout this nearly 90 minute episode!We can't thank Zach enough for coming on the show and educating so many in the Firewall community and beyond! Below are links to everything we mentioned throughout the recording including where you can connect with Zach.We'd love to make a new segment on the Firewall Fireside Chat where you can ask Zach any questions you might have and he can give you his best educated answers. Be on the look out for a post regarding this Firewall!James Nestor https://www.amazon.com/Breath-New-Science-Lost-Art/dp/0735213615Wim Hoff https://www.wimhofmethod.com/Zach https://www.facebook.com/zachary.moran.315Zach https://www.instagram.com/moranz4/

This was potentially the most informational recording we've ever done. JayJay is an open-book as you'll be able to tell very early on in the interview!The majority of this podcast is me (Bucky) learning all about autism. Even if you know someone who has autism, JayJay gives an incredible perspective from an autistic person's point of view being an autistic person herself and teaching autistic individuals too. JayJay also dives into the "spectrum" of autism describing how we should start thinking about it rather than how we're probably thinking about it currently.I found this whole episode absolutely fascinating, and I hope you do too! JayJay, I cannot thank you enough for coming on the show and being such an absolute bad-ass. We'll definitely have to link up for another episode as there was so much we didn't have the chance to touch on. You rock!

Don't worry. The episode isn't dark as the title makes it seem. The title reflects a specific speech Matt shared with his church group years ago that you'll hear about in his interview.This was a very powerful episode. This was the first time we interviewed a guest who discusses their personal experience with mental health as well as tools to overcome its hurdles.Matt is an incredible human who we can't thank enough for coming on the show and talking so openly about something so many suffer from. Knowing him now, you would have never guessed he could have even been in such a dark place in his life years ago. What makes this episode so great is Matt's transparency through what many have difficulty expressing.Matt paints a detailed picture on what it's like to suffer from anxiety and depression. Although it may sound like this episode is going to be sad, it's actually quite the opposite! Matt is a very upbeat and positive individual who has learned how to deal with his mental health over the years and wants to help others too. If you or anyone you know needs someone to talk to, shoot Matt a call! He loves sharing his experiences to let people know they're not alone.

For those of you who know Tracy from Firewall, this episode is going to absolutely shock you. Believe it or not, at one point in Tracy's life she was over 200lb... I know I know, you think I'm talking about a different Tracy but this is her real story!Along with an incredible weight loss journey, Tracy shares with us so many other unique aspects about her life. It's no surprise to anyone that she looks the way she does now from all of the effort and works she puts in daily at the gym. She applies her obsessive personality positively to so many things other than just fitness.I think one amazing thing about this woman is how she's truly turned what many could view as a weakness into a strength. When Tracy sees something she likes she dives all in. She's done this with family, with fitness, with her career, with her hobbies, everything!I loved recording this episode with Tracy because I got to see a side of her I don't usually get to see when I'm coaching her at the gym. Thank you so much for sharing everything you did with us, Tracy. You were an absolute blast to have on the show, and I hope you had as much fun recording this as I did!P.S. Here's an awesome write-up bodybuilding.com did on Tracy 10 years ago: https://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/body-transformation-record-breaking-determination.html

Today's episode was inspired by conversations I recently had with different members about the same problem. I lay out a few potential solutions and prioritize them as such:1. RecoveryNutritionSleep2. PacingOptimal PacingHeart Rate Tracking3. TechniqueSpeaking with 0 scientific evidence to back this claim, if I were to guess, the first two topics represent 99% of most people's solutions to the "out of breath" problem. The 3rd is probably extremely rare and highly unlikely to be the problem.Hope you enjoyed it and took some value away!

This is one of the most powerful episodes we've ever recorded. Tony's honesty and self reflection creates an unforgettable message. He inspires hope into so many based off of the experiences and suffering he's gone through to get to where he is.We're going to let Tony do the majority of the story telling, so this description is going to be brief. The entire interview is filled with resiliency, turning bad choices into opportunities, and so much more. There are a few times in the show where Tony gets a bit emotional explaining some "Ah-ha" moments he's had through his life mainly involving his children.Tony's lived an incredibly unique life and now has 4 children who are all grown up (currently between the ages of 26-30). To sum up Tony's life, he knew he was gay since he was about 10 years old. He came out when he was deployed overseas in Guam with the Air Force. When he got back to the States, he met a woman who was his soul mate. He always wanted kids and they actually ended up getting married and having their 4 children together. Tony dives deep into this throughout the middle and end of the podcast.We cannot thank Tony enough for sharing all of the information he did. We think this episode is going to help a lot of people out especially if you're someone who's suffering from something that happened to you in the past. Tony is courageous. He talks about his philosophy on life and how that led him to becoming a Buddhist too. Tony, your openness and honesty are envious. There's so much to be learned in this episode, and we hope you can take away just one thing from Tony's experiences.

Don't let the title of this episode mislead you, Audrey is so much more than a weight loss machine. Not only does she know how to set a goal, hold herself accountable, and have an unfathomable drive to accomplish whatever she sets her mind to, she also learns from her journeys which is an extremely undervalued attribute these days.We know this is a long one but it's definitely worth getting to the end! Audrey provides some incredible gold nuggets as it relates to weight loss mentality and what she's learned through her experience.It was so fun to sit down and chat with Audrey! This episode can be split up into two segments. The first 45 minutes are dedicated to a lot of Audrey's childhood, family dynamic, work career (from divinity school to nanny to farmer), and wife, Audra, with the second half of the episode being committed to sharing her INSANE weight loss story.Audrey grew up in Weymouth and then went to Wellesley College. She talks about her younger brother who was challenging at a young age especially with her being 8 years older than him. She describes a really cool story about how her brother found Karate at an early age and now owns a studio! We also dive into her career path and how she seamlessly jumped from one career to the next. Towards the end of this segment, she describes her first date with her now wife, Audra.This woman went from weighing 298lb to 190lb IN LESS THAN A YEAR!!! She wasn't an overnight success. Growing up, Audrey always struggled with her weight. She had done a lot of yo-yo dieting which kept resulting in her weighing more than when she started after the diet ended. The best part about her weight loss story is towards the end as she's nearing 190lb. She came to the realization that it's not actually about the number going down on the scale that mattered. What mattered (and still matters to this day) is how she felt, how she could interact with her son, and how she could use her body to do things she never thought possible.We are so proud of you Audrey. You've come so far not only physically but mentally as well. We cannot wait to see what the future has in store for you! Thank you so much for taking the time out of your hectic schedule to sit down and chat with us, you're the best!

When you're listening through this podcast, there's only going to be one word going through your head and that is: WOW.What this woman has accomplished given everything that's happened to her is nothing short of a miraculous triumph.As many of you know, Hanh owns and operates a massage therapy studio right here in town named Tough Love Massage. The name does not only accurately describe the types of massages she and her employees give, the name is also a metaphor for Hanh's life. It's been tough with a lot of love.Hanh gives a great perspective on life when she tells about how her family moved from Vietnam to the United States (spoiler: they thought the whole process from beginning to end would only take a few weeks and it ended up taking 3 years).She developed a hard work ethic at an early age preparing meals for her massive family at just 10 years old. Once Hanh arrived in the States, she carried that work ethic with her. After settling in Kentucky temporarily, Hanh moved up to Boston.There's a dark part of this episode where Hanh breaks down the deep depression she fell into back in 2011. Believe it or not, that depression is ultimately what led to her opening up Tough Love Massage in the first place.Anyone who has ever met Hanh knows she is no stranger to hard work and will do whatever it takes to not only succeed but to thrive! Recently, Hanh just purchased a commercial building out in Worcester where she plans on opening Tough Love Massage 2!! We could not be more excited or proud of this woman for starting a second location. We'll send you all the support we can!Hanh, we can't begin to thank you enough for being so open, authentic, and straight up real through these 75 minutes of amazingness. We are beyond grateful to have you in our community and to support you however we can.

"Distance Makes the Heart Grow Fonder"Today's episode stems from Jessica Kerchner who asks: What's going to happen to our strength and muscle mass during all this down time away from weights?We give potentially an answer that you wouldn't necessarily expect us to give. The majority of this episode was dedicated to focusing not what on you can't do/what you're going to lose but what you CAN do/what you're going to GAIN.It really all comes down to a matter of mindset and goal setting. Start with the basic question of: what can you control right now? From there, determine something you somewhat like doing or would like to develop. Then, find your baseline. Set a goal. Make a plan of attack and then... ATTACK!!!If you have any questions about this episode or how to set a goal and attack it, MESSAGE US!!! We would love to help out however possible to keep you motivated and active. Text Bucky at 7742179756 or Dave at 5088176625 for some assistance!!Keep those questions comin'!

Anastasia asked us "How are WE doing during this quarantine?"Dave starts by answering and I (Bucky) follow. It's safe to say that we have had a lot more time on our hands than normal times when we're usually consumed with everything and everyone at Firewall. Although we're pretty relaxed with everything right now, we weren't originally.Towards the back half of the episode, we dive into what we miss the most about normal times many people listening to these will most likely connect with.We love hearing questions from you all! We do the best we can in each recording to provide as much perspective, positivity and value as we can to the community. Keep em' comin'!

This episode answers another couple of questions asked from one of the amazing members of Firewall. We start by answering Dave Menapace's question where he asked what are our favorite/least favorite workouts. Here is a list of what Dave and Bucky say:FavoritesDave: Karen, Kelly, NancyBucky: Fran, Murph, King KongLeast FavoritesDave: Fran, The SevensBucky: Kelly, EvaFavorite to Program for FirewallDave: JackieBucky: HelenAfter we reminisce for 25 minutes on some soul-crushing workouts, we answer Mark Fynes's question who asks how we go about programming for the members at Firewall.We hope you enjoyed this episode! Keep those questions coming. We'd love to give you some answers with a little entertainment!

On this episode, Bucky sits down with Dave to discuss nutrition. The original question came to us from Deb Kemmerer about a Bone Broth Fast. We dove into that topic for the first half of the recording and then shifted gears into the rabbit hole of Dave's experience with nutrition!Our goal of this discussion was to have our members take away some helpful tips they can use to make clean eating a little easier during the quarantine.Here's a list of everything we touch base on during this 45 minute episode:Bone Broth CleanseIntermittent FastingKeto DietCounting MacrosDave's Nutrition JourneyDave's Nutrition Study MaterialsQuarantine Nutrition Tips!Dave also reference a thought leader who he predominantely looks at and follows when is comes to healthy eating and living. The author's name is Max Lugavere. Two books Dave highly recommends reading by him are "The Genius Life" and "Genius Foods". He also has a podcast you can find here: https://www.maxlugavere.com/podcast-1

This is a very special episode as we recorded this just a month before Jenn's due date. As we fast forward to when we're releasing this, she is just days away from having her baby! We could not be more excited to help her and Devin welcome their first child into the world!Jenn grew up in a small town in New Hampshire called Milford. Unlike many people, she got most of her partying out of her in high school. She says she simmered down quite a bit when she entered college at Roger Williams University.She went into college thinking she wanted to pursue a career in accounting. She eventually decided to switch her major over to accounting. When Jenn graduated college, she immediately entered the work force (literally 2 days after her graduation) with St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.Towards the middle of the podcast, Jenn tells us about her first couple dates with her now husband and Firewall member Devin (we actually interviewed him in episode 37). Their road to moving to Holliston is pretty interesting considering they had never heard of it before moving there! Many of your Hollistonians will love to hear about the local gem that hooked them into moving to Holliston.Jenn later gets into how she found CrossFit and how Devin was quite reluctant to try it out at first. We also discuss the topic of motherhood of which she is rapidly approaching!Thank you so much for coming on the show Jenn! You are an absolute rock star. The arrival of your little girl is going to be truly life changing, turning the next chapter of your and Devin's life! You've been so inspiring for so many by continuing to workout and take care of your body through the majority of your pregnancy. We can't wait to meet Baby Potter!!

Liz grew up in an incredibly small town in New York called Summit where literally everyone knew everyone. The town is made up of just over 1,000 people! You'd never expect her rural beginnings based off of where she is now. Although she currently lives in Framingham, she does say that one day her and her husband hope to move back to a rural area.Liz grew up thinking she wanted to go into medicine. She even contemplated going to veterinary school! When she finished up junior college and transferred to Duquesne, she left feeling a void from sports which led her to go down the path of sports medicine.Once she continued her schooling at University of Pittsburgh, she had her whole life plan in place until she stumbled into a man named Dave who she ultimately ended up marrying. After graduating college, the country was in the peak of the 2008 recession. Her and Dave found themselves moving towards the Boston area in search of jobs.Liz had an incredibly early exposure to CrossFit through her Master's program in 2008. That was the first time she heard about it. She then began CrossFit in 2011, four years later, at CrossFit Synergistics in Ashland. We spend a lot of time talking about CrossFit's stigma then and now as well as her experience with CrossFit over the years.Thank you so much for coming on the show, Liz! You were such a pleasure to talk with. I was thrilled to learn so much about your life as I'm sure many of our listeners did as well.P.S. Here's a quick little shout out for Liz's youngest sister, Shanky, out in Charlottesville, North Carolina. I know this'll be the first place I visit if I am ever down that way! http://www.bbqminthill.com/

This episode is incredibly impactful.Kyla's upbringing is most certainly not what you're going to expect. For starters, she attended 12-13 schools between kindergarten and her senior year of high school. She went through a lot as a child which built her into the strong woman she is today. She, of course, attributes much of her perseverance to her husband helping her through a pivotal transition period in her life when they first started dating. However, I think Mike (her husband) would agree that she doesn't credit herself nearly enough.If I were to summarize this episode in one word it'd be "perspective". You truly don't know who someone is until they tell you what they've been through. Our childhood shapes much of who we become as adults.Kyla, thank you so much for sitting down and chatting with us. I think you'll open up a lot of people's eyes with this one. We greatly appreciated demonstrating your truth, pep, and warmth in this one. Enjoy!

Tommy G and I run through so many different topics in cinema. We talk about the Marvel movies, the DC movies, John Wick, Westworld, Christopher Nolan and more! If you're not a movie lover, this may not be the most interesting podcast but if you are, you're definitely going to love this one.We get into Tom's grassroots of Maine early on in this one! Although he of course lives in Massachusetts now, he spent most of his life growing up north of here. He ended up in Massachusetts because he went for his undergrad degree at Holy Cross and got his masters degree at Babson College.We hit on the topic of how his incredible beard came to fruition. Tom admits it will one day be shaved off!!!A few fun facts about Tom are he absolutely loves Marvel and DC comics (which we completely geek out on with the movies in the interview), he used to have hair all the way down to his shoulders, and he's currently married to Bethany Hart (who was previously on the podcast - episode 42) and has two adorable children - Ryker (5) and Shaylar (3).Towards the end of the episode, Tom actually connects a theme with different movie series and life lessons!Tommy G, I had such an absolute blast chatting with you (as always). Thank you so much for coming on the show and educating so many of our listeners on the movie world! You're a living legend, and we may have to have a Tommy G: Part 2 (just like John Wick ;) ).

We cannot thank Julie enough for coming on the podcast! As we explain at the beginning of the recording, this is the first recording we've done since switching our gym name from CrossFit Firewall to Firewall Fitness... very exciting!!! Julie was the perfect guest to have on to kick off the switch over.Believe it or not, Julie actually was born in Pennsylvania, grew up in California, went to college in Connecticut and then eventually moved to good ole' Holliston, Massachusetts.After high school, she thought she was going to go into the exercise science world. However, she quickly discovered that was NOT what she wanted to do for the rest of her life. She took a quick pivot to accounting. She found a love for accounting, and that's what she does to this day!Towards the end of the episode, we dive into how Julie was first introduced to CrossFit after many years of the same monotonous exercise routines.She's extremely close with her parents who live right next door in Natick. Julie met her husband (and Firewall member) Brian at her first job fresh out of college. The currently have two adorable little girls: Anna and Emily!Julie, thank you so much again for coming on the show!! We're so fortunate to have you as one of our amazing members. Keep up all your amazingly hard-work!

Of course we love each and every interview we do with the members of Firewall. This one was definitely one of the most memorable. This one was special.Like the title of the episode says, Joe has literally almost died multiple times in his life. How he's reacted to those situations tells the story of who he is. He's always looking for the silver lining even in the darkest places. Most if not all people who would have been put in his circumstances would most likely ended up in a completely situation than where Joe is right now. He's down nearly 80lbs and absolutely loving life.Although you'll find the near hour and a half episode is filled with a ton of laughs, Joe and I get deep on a couple of different topics mainly centered around his struggles with weight as a kid and into adulthood.I decided not to write a very long description because I know the episode is long enough already. I really think you're going to love this episode as Joe is a real life teddy bear. He's one amazing dude that we are so beyond fortunate to have at our facility. Enjoy the episode, and Joe, thank you for your openness and transparency throughout. People are going to love hearing your 100% authentic self like everyone does who meets you.

Matt is a one of a kind guy! As you'll hear from this interview, his easy and calm demeanor has brought him to a place in life he's very happy with.Matt's original passion for fitness started in high school when he ran cross country. He also found a lot of inspiration in some older kids on the team who served excellent role models for him during his impressionable years.Unsure of what he wanted to pursue after high school, Matt ended up majoring in psychology for his undergraduate degree. Upon graduation he was still unsure of what he wanted to do but he gave serious thought into medical school. Be sure to listen for the reason as to why he decided not to pursue it. He ultimately decided to attend law school a few years after graduating.In between undergrad and law school, Matt worked a couple years for a start-up which was a great experience for him.Matt currently lives in Sherborn with his amazing family including his wife Julia (also a Firewall member) and two kids Joshua and Eliza. You'll hear towards the beginning of the podcast how him and Julia actually met!Matt has been at Firewall since it's inception and we cannot thank him enough for constantly believing us and supporting all our decisions we make on a day to day basis. We hope you got a chance to learn a little bit more about Matt in this episode as I know I did! Thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to sit down and record this awesome episode, Matt! We're looking forward to watching you continuously grow and improve your fitness capabilities and capacity in 2020!

Em bounced around the country early on in life! By the time she was 16, she had lived in Albany, Rochester, Colorado, and lastly Framingham. Her dad had a job that relocated their family frequently. Em describes early on in the episode the biggest differences between each of the locations she lived!Although she did end up moving to Framingham at possibly the worse time of her life (between sophomore and junior year of high school), it didn't take her long to become a true Framingham Flyer!After high school, Em found herself at UConn for a year and a half. We share a couple UConn moments including some basketball championship memories!She wasn't totally feeling UConn after awhile and decided to transfer to UMass Amherst. Even though Emily works in the business world now, she actually graduated with a psychology degree! She attributes pieces of that education to her current work in dealing with people.After graduation, Emily bounced around a decent amount but knew what she wanted to do! Eventually, her boyfriend (husband now) took a job in Indiana where they ended up moving together and starting a family.Once their family got started, they decided it was time to move back home and say goodbye to Indiana. Towards the end of the interview, Em runs through her favorite and least favorite locations she's traveled to for work. She's been all over the country!!!We also get into how she first started CrossFit, and it actually wasn't at Firewall. She started CrossFitting well before we even opened shortly after having her third kid. We're so fortunate that she eventually migrated to Firewall :)Thank you oh so much for coming on the show Em! We greatly appreciated you taking the time out of your day to sit down with us and give us a brief run through of your life. Keep rockin' it Em!

Before you dive into our first episode of 2020, TEXT ME!!! 7742179756 I want to hear your thoughts on the podcast in 2019, and what we can do in 2020 to make the episodes even more enjoyable for you to listen to! Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated :)Joe's story is quite unique. He was actually born in Korea. He was put up for adoption at the young age of 5 which is how he ended up in Rhode Island throughout the majority of his childhood! Amazingly enough, Joe reminisces about how although he was raised Korean until the age of 5, he lost the ability to understand and speak Korean by the time he was 6 years old. He tells an interesting story about the communication between him and his birth brother when they reunited about less than a year after Joe moving to The States.To go along in line with his interesting start to life, Joe fell in love with history, but you'd never know that now based off what he does. Joe takes us back to when one of his professors gave him some advice that he decided to take which completely pivoted his life.Towards the end of the interview, Joe describes how him and his brother ended up reuniting with their birth mother in their late twenties. They hadn't seen her in nearly 25 years!We also get to hear the story of how Joe somehow managed to get a second date out of his wife, Jill, when after his not-so-great first date appearance. They now have two daughters Hannah (12) and Gracie (9) who have incredibly bright futures!Thank you so much for being the first interviewee of 2020, Joe! We greatly appreciated you sharing your life story with us. You've been on an incredible journey your whole life and we're so fortunate to have you as a part of our community!P.S. Be sure to stick around for Joe's outtake recorded at the end of the show!P.P.S. Look up the String Cheese Incident ;)

This is a very special episode as Kevin and I finally get a chance to sit down for our most recent coaches interview. We apologize in advance for all of our antics throughout the episode. For whatever reason, the audio quality is pretty bad, but you can make out the majority of what we're talking about luckily.Despite the not-so-great audio quality, Kevin and I dive into a bunch of aspects about his life. I don't want to spoil it in the description for you, but you will learn A LOT about this awesome human including how he found CrossFit, and why he loves coaching so much.As the newest addition to the Firewall team, we were so excited to do this recording. If you haven't met Kevin yet, he's one of the nicest, most caring people in the world. We could not be more thrilled to have him as the newest Firewall team member. His coaching abilities are second to none, and he's filled with so much knowledge of the human body.We hope you enjoyed learning all about Kev! Kevin, thank you so much for being on. Again, I apologize I didn't switch the audio when we were recording! We may have to do another episode in the near future ;)

How did this Pittsburgh girl end up all the way in Holliston?!?Growing up in a suburb about 20 minutes outside of the city, Deb always loved dance (and as you'll learn towards the end of the interview, her daughter is the exact same way). During her Junior and Senior year of high school, she was apart of a kickline that traveled around the country performing at different shows and parades including Disney! Deb had an interest in theater where she describes a hysterical moment where she got a future broad way start to actually break character in rehearsals unintentionally.When she was in high school, Deb took an interest to accounting as she really enjoyed how the numbers matched up and everything balanced out. She left high school pursuing a degree in accounting at Penn State. She did find later on at Penn State though, accounting wasn't for her. She switched to marketing because that enabled her to tap in to her creativity and personable abilities much more than accounting ever could.Shortly after graduating, Deb landed a job with Macy's in management. She later switched to a marketing position with a financial firm to pursue something she was more passion about. Eventually she decided to go get her MBA full-time going down the tract of entrepreneurship. Originally, she thought she was going to open up her own retail shop with her degree, but she had enough self awareness to realize she was very risk adverse. She graduated in 2008, right in the middle of the infamous Stock Market Crash...Needless to say, getting a job was a bit difficult after graduating from her masters program. Her and her boyfriend at the time (now husband and Firewaller), Jeremy, moved out to Illinois because he was pursuing a PhD out that way. Deb quickly found a temporary job at a place called Noodles. She later went on to join an internet marketing company. In the meantime, she acquired some group fitness certifications and took up some positions as a group fitness instructor at her local gym. She also ended up working for an administrative position at a hospital where she was able to apply her marketing talents. A fun fact about her time there is that she actually made a farmer's market within the hospital!Once Jeremy completed his PhD program, his new job took him to none other than Framingham where he worked for MathWorks at the time. He currently works for Bose. Deb started working at a local hospital and in April of 2019, she joined Blue Cross Blue Shield where she works on the quality side of provider groups.In the back half of the interview, Deb opens up to us about how her and Jeremy met. Astonishingly, they were friends for 8 whole years prior to dating! I think you'll really enjoy the story of how they finally started dating after all that time.Deb and Jeremy have now been in Holliston for around two years. They have two kids - Mikayla (5 years old) and Joshua (3 years old).Thank you so much for coming on the show, Deb! We greatly appreciate the time you took to tell us all about your life and everything in it. Please continue to inspire positivity, liveliness and a can-do attitude at Firewall. You're the best!

This was an absolutely awesome interview with THE Dave Menapace!! We hit on so many different parts of his life chronologically that I think you're really going to enjoy.For those of you who don't know Dave's basic background, he actually grew up in Holliston for the majority of his life (the coolest town in the U.S.). Growing up, he was always a super active kid, never being able to sit still. He tells a story about how his parents bought him and his sister an Xbox for Christmas one year, and the kids actually asked the parents to return it because they didn't want one! Dave goes on to also tell us a couple funny stories about scavenger hunts, potato cannons, and an incident with the cops that ultimately ended up being a misunderstanding. However, this mishap brought him temporary fame in high school, as you might imagine ;)Throughout high school, Dave really took to football. He graduated from Holliston High School in 2006 where he was able to play under the legendary coach Todd Kiley. Dave reminisces about how throughout sophomore year, Coach gave him much unknowing confidence that helped him excel the following year at the running back position.Dave claims that hindsight is 20/20 when he discusses how he would have approached post high school plans differently. Taking a more proactive stance on his life after high school is one of his bigger regrets in life, BUT everything happens for a reason!He ended up attending UMass Dartmouth. He was on the football team all 4 years, but unfortunately wasn't able to play his senior year due to an injury. Dave makes a very interesting comparison of high school versus college football. He tells us how in high school, the coaching staff continuously preached how you play on the field is how you carry yourself off the field as well. In college, there was much less motivation and lessons taught by the coaching staff with a somewhat unorganized structure making it not nearly as fun to play as high school football.Upon graduation, Dave immediately started working. He felt his first true sense of independence in the real world when he moved in to Boston with some friends a year later. His high school encounter with rock climbing inspired him to try it out again later in life, and he got absolutely addicted! Him and his buddies have taken trips all around the country just to climb other mountains. Eventually, Dave found his new high... CrossFit ;)Dave gives us a play by play on his amazing first date with his wife Kim (another Firewaller who was also on the podcast, episode 25). They both agreed that in some point in their lives it'd be cool to try to live somewhere else other than Massachusetts. A year or so into dating, they decided to move on out to California where they also purchased their first Great Dane, Sunny! Eventually they decided to move back to Dave's home town and start a family.Towards the end of the podcast, Dave shares with us a crazy ghost story. Be sure to stick listen for it! We also dive in to how his life changed once his son, Logan, was born including how Dave and Kim now run their life somewhat like a business!We were running tight on time at the end of this recording, so we weren't able to spend as much time as we would have liked on the topic of Zone 2 Training. Below is a link if you're interested in learning more about this specific type of training to increase your workout capacity!https://www.trainingpeaks.com/blog/zone-2-training-for-endurance-athletes/Dave, we can't thank you enough for coming on the show! Your calmness, transparency, and positivity shine throughout this interview. Thank you for always spreading the love at Firewall, and keep inspiring everyone you workout with!

As odd as the title of this episode may sound, Jason attributes much of his success in life to the camp he went to as a kid including his amazing sense of humor. If you haven't met him Jason before, you're going to be asking yourself why he sells insoles for a living rather than standing up on stage performing comedy.I personally have never laughed more in one of these interviews. It won't take you too long to see how witty and hysterical Jason is.On a more serious note, Jason grew up near by in Needham. A quick fun fact is that Jason's prom date was none other than Firewall's very own Jen Culver! Both were voted funniest at Needham High School Class of 1992. He started his adult life thinking he'd go down the path of politics. After a few interesting experiences within that world, he decided that politics ultimately wasn't for him.He decided to go back to school for his MBA at Northeastern where he worked for M&M Mars Company as part of his Co-op. He graduated in 2002 - right when the dot com bust took place. Jason ended up going into marketing for a shoe company called Stride Rite.After a few steps in between, Jason made his way over to the shoe company, Clarks, as the head of retail operations. After 12 years, he decided it was time to move on after the CEO, who he worked closely with and greatly respected, chose to leave the company. Jason went on to join Rockport, and then they went bankrupt where he learned a lot about seeing people's true colors in their darkest times. He then got contacted by his college roommate who convinced Jason to work for him and his brothers' orthodics company where he currently works as the VP of business development. Check out his company here:https://www.aetrex.com/orthotics/Jason then goes into the "romantic" story about how him and his wife met (and how she thought he was someone else when the reconnected after college). He also tells us a little bit more about Marni and his 3 kids - Max, Sophie, and Sam.Jason, thank you so much for taking the time to record this amazing episode. You are, one of if not, the funniest member at Firewall. Your presence is felt in every class you attend, and we can't thank you enough for making the classes even more fun!

Give this woman an opportunity to do something, and she is going to jump right in! Christine is a self-acclaimed "joiner" which has brought her many memorable experiences. Christine is one of those people you always want to be around. She's kind, caring, warm-hearted, and one of the most personable human beings you'll ever meet! We were so fortunate to get the chance to find our more about her in this interview.We start off by talking about some cool personal sports moments. She enlightens us in on a hockey game where a Bruins legend flipped her a puck that she still has to this day!When Christine graduated from high school, she wasn't quite sure what she wanted to do with her life. She ended up going to a college that was close to home where she was able to commute back and forth. Because she is very outgoing though, she knew she had to keep her weekends fun and enjoyable, so she visited friends at different colleges all over the northeast!We then briefly grazed over her work life which is where her OTCFit bestie Siobhan comes into the picture!Her work also led her to meet her husband. Be sure to listen to the romantic/hilarious story of how Christine and her husband starting dating! It's a good one. Once her and her husband got married, one month later her husband had a pretty significant health scare. Fortunately, he fully recovered from this, and then they decided they wanted to try and start having babies! This is another great story you're definitely going to want to follow along for.Ultimately, Christine had twins!!! Her two daughters, Lily and Kenley, are pretty remarkable where they actually have different birthdays although they are twins. Lily is 5 hours older then Kenley, and born on the day prior! I found it fascinating when Christine told us how her and Marc (her husband) could already tell the personalities of each twin when they were in the womb and how their personalities still hold true to this day.We then segued into how Christine found Firewall and what she loves so much about the community and OTCFit program (soon to be FWFit). She is definitely a die-hard Firewaller and we can't thank her enough for that!Christine, thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy day to sit down and record this amazing episode. It was so much fun getting to know you more, and I know all our listeners will greatly enjoy your story as well. You're a rock star!

Galen was 8 years old when he moved to Marlboro, MA. Prior to that, he lived in Taipei, Taiwan then Bangkok, Thailand, and then Hong Kong. His first few years of his life were spent overseas because his parents had gotten stationed out there due to jobs related to the Vietnam war.Once he moved to the States, Galen fell in love with sports. Basically, any sport that involved a ball, he played it! When he got to high school, he found his passion lied the most with basketball and football. He replays for us a memorable freshman high school basketball tournament that involved traveling all throughout the northeast.After high school, Galen found himself at Johnson State up in Vermont. He studied "snowboarding and partying" (his actual studies involved business, art and music). When in college, he joined a cover Grateful Dead band where he actually ended up performing all the way out in Denver, Colorado! Be sure to keep an ear out for how the advice of the owner of a mechanic shop guided him to his next steps in life.Currently, Galen lives in Hopkinton on the Holliston boarder with his amazing wife - Lina (who is also a Firewaller) and his daughter - Elissa (who takes part in our Firewall Kids program). Galen and Lina met through one of the original social media platforms - MySpace! The rest is history.At the end of the episode, Galen and I jam on some Boston sports. We also touch on how he found Firewall and what the gym has done for him. G$, thank you so much for coming on the podcast. It was a blast chatting with you for the hour. We'll all be praying for you to get your Patriots-Saints Super Bowl this year ;)

Steve is one fascinating guy. From where Steve in life started to where he is now is quite the story. To sum up the episode, he goes from ski bum to a career in cryptocurrency.After some unique schooling growing up, Steve found a passion for Vale, Colorado during spring break of his senior year of college. He fell in love with it some much that he decided to start his post college life there... for 3 years! Embracing the full ski bum lifestyle, Steve's biggest aspiration at the time was to make it on to the cover of a ski magazine.Steve realized he didn't want to live his life out as a ski bum based off the lives of others around him. He then moved back East. We'll leave the explanation of his fascinating career path to him in the episode. Steve currently resides in Sherborn with his wife and 3 kids!Steve is a wonderful example of how compiling skills for decades can lead to great opportunity in the future. He's truly taken everything he's learned through his professional journey to get to where he is now.At the end of the episode, Steve gets into his relationship with fitness and why it's so important to him!Thank you so much for coming on the show, Steve. You were so much fun to interview, and you are an absolute wealth of knowledge!! I think everyone who listens to this will learn something!

Cat is so much fun to be around. If you haven't met her before, it takes her literally two seconds to become your best friend which you can tell through the podcast.Growing up in Natick her whole life, Cat sheds some light on her thoughts on how the town of Natick has evolved from when she grew up to now. Her response definitely surprised me, and I think it'll surprise you too.After high school, Cat started working her butt off. She found her way into the restaurant industry in which she stayed in for years and years! She developed a ton of skills throughout her career in the industry that translated to her job she's currently at which is Delaware Life.If you can't tell from the picture, Cat is all Italian all the time! Towards the middle of the recording, Cat dives into a bit of her experiences when she's gone to visit Italy.My favorite part of this episode is at the end when Cat is describing how her husband, Rich, proposed to her. If you know Rich (another Firewaller), this story will be exactly what you expect from this class act!At the end, Cat runs us through her fitness journey throughout her life and how she ultimately found CrossFit Firewall (actually not her first CrossFit experience).Thank you Cat so much for coming on! I know you were reluctant to do the interview, it was an absolutely awesome one :)

I get a little bit personal on this one, team. In this episode, I go over how badly I ate over the weekend, what my thoughts were as I entered the weekend, and why I was so wrong to have thought the way I did and acted the way I did.I hope you get something out of this one and don't just see it as 15 minutes of rambling non-sense. Enjoy!

This was such an incredible interview with Luke Foley.Before we get into it, be sure to check out the links at the end of this description to see where you can find Luke's outstanding restaurant.If you don't already know who Luke is, hopefully you've eaten at his amazing restaurant because if you haven't, you're missing out big time!Luke's passion for restauranteering began in a way different than you may think. Growing up, he had a giant interest in music - more specifically DJing. He started DJing at parties when he was just 14 years old. He later went on to create parties where he would also promote and DJ.Once he got to college, he continued his music side hustle. He ended up making a lot of connections through the club scene.Interestingly enough, there were a couple times in Luke's college career when he dabbled with the idea of becoming a finance guy on Wall Street. In both situations Luke discusses, he immediately realized that life was not for him.As Luke graduated college, his mentor and good friend Rez hired him to manage a night club he owned. This started getting the wheels spinning for Luke's idea to open up Bourbon's. In the interview, he describes how he went from being a manager at Rez's place to becoming the sole owner of Bourbon's Ktichen & Cocktail.My favorite part about the interview was when Luke explained his relationship with his staff. You can hear in his voice throughout the episode the passion he has about his restaurant and life in general. When he started talking about his team though, the intensity of his passion got kicked up a few levels.If you haven't already been to Luke's place, you HAVE to check it out. It's extremely popular, but totally worth the wait. Whether you're going out for a few drinks or looking to have a 5 star meal, Boubon's is the place to go. Thank you so much for coming on the show my friend! It was an absolute joy listening to the origins of your successful restaurant.https://www.bourbonsframingham.com/https://www.facebook.com/BourbonsFramingham/https://www.instagram.com/bourbonsframingham/?hl=en

What an absolutely incredible woman. Today, we sat down and talked with Beth Hart Gerry who was just an absolute pleasure to talk with. We hit on 3 main topics throughout this episode - her experiences with the Olympics, the CrossFit Games, and postpartum depression.Growing up in Grafton, Beth was the youngest of 5 sisters. She has a twin, Sabine, who is 2 minutes older than her (apparently significantly older enough to think that she could take care of Beth at a young age). We didn't get a chance to dive into this on the podcast but Beth and her 4 sisters were recently selected to be on Family Feud! Unfortunately, there was a last minute emergency with the game show host, so they won't be going on until hopefully next year.Beth ultimately went to the Olympics on the American Bob Sled team. She explains to us how she even got there. If you think about it, who's training for bob sled at a young age? That's right, no one! Her story of how she went from being 3rd in the state for shot put to being an All-American in the hammer throw at UConn to becoming an Olympian in Bob Sled is fascinating and a must-listen!Once Beth finished her Olympic career, she found CrossFit shortly after (which was quite taboo in her workplace at the time). She started off just working out to get fit again and then realized she was really good at it! One year, she came 2 spots shy of qualifying for the games as an individual! She would later go on to WIN the CrossFit Games on team CrossFit New England.Beth was also kind enough to open up to us about her experience with postpartum depression and the effects it took on her life and her body. We can't thank her enough for her transparency and honesty throughout this portion of the episode. She speaks with great passion and paints a vivid picture as to what she experienced. She offers some advice on how to gradually overcome it as well as all the trial and error she had to go through.Beth, we cannot begin to thank you enough for coming on!! You were so so so much fun to sit down and speak with (so fun that this is our longest episode to date and we could have easily kept talking for another hour!) You're an incredible woman, and we're so fortunate to have you as part of our community.

Hey team!In this one, we break down why approaching many, if not all, aspects of life in an incremental manner is so important. We discuss why we should be looking to get .1% everyday rather than 10% better every week.The concept of this episode is laid out in a book called the "Compound Effect" by Darren Hardy. His thesis is quite simple, but incredibly powerful!We hope you enjoy this week's episode!

This is the most powerful episode we've recorded to date.Bowman's story is incredibly inspiring. He's a local boy that bleeds Framingham Flyer blue. If you didn't know that already, then you are definitely in for a treat.Bowman grew up with the same 24 kids from kindergarten through 8th grade in a Framingham Christian private school. When he finally got to high school, he was 1 of 2 that switched over to a public school instead of continuing with private school. Bowman fully recognized that high school is where some of his troubles began.I honestly don't even know how to write up the rest of this episode in a summary format. You 100% have to listen to this episode in full as we get deep in the middle of this one.Like a lot of these interviews, you will gain an enormous amount of perspective compared to what you may have experienced listening to our show in the past.One thing that really resonated with me while talking with Bowman was when he was talking about his friend who said to him in AA, "Never stare in the rear view mirror. If you do, you're gonna crash."This is one of our most impactful episodes to date, if not THE most! It's remarkable to hear how Bowman grinded his way out of addiction and set himself up with a life of sobriety and giving back. Although you may not be in the same rut as him, his story proves to be the sliver of hope that you can pick yourself up no matter how low you may feel.Bow, we can't thank you enough for your transparency, honesty, and integrity. You've owned up to everything you've done in your life which isn't easy for anyone to do. You share some very personal parts of your life showing your vulnerability and self forgiveness. Firewall fam, I hope you enjoyed listening to this one as much as we did recording it! Thanks again Bowman!

This is a very special episode (just like all of the others ;) ) in a sense that this is the first interview we've done with somebody who is a non-Firewall member.Andrew Fiola is a sports massage therapist who grinds day in and day out to remedy any injuries athletes may experience. His story is amazing. His pursuit and passion to simply help people feel better is second to none.Growing up in western Massachusetts, he attended Wesleyan University on the Pre-Med track as, at the time, he thought he might want to be a doctor or surgeon.His passion for chiropractics stemmed from a couple of shoulder injuries back in high school. Eventually him and his wife (and sugar mama) moved to Texas to pursue chiropractor school at one of the best in the country at the time. Through his perseverance and determination, he found an incredible mentor who he immediately attached to. Andrew was so passionate about the pursuit of his craft that he would follow around his mentor everywhere, to every appointment, at anytime of day.Throughout his experience with his internship (which later turned into a full-time job after school), he got to work with a plethora of professional athletes, some of who he mentions in the episode, as well as a former U.S. President!Andrew took away a unique style of sports massage therapy and brought it back to his home state of Massachusetts. His practice is very unique as he truly tries (and almost always succeeds) to heal the root issue of whatever might be bothering them. His methodology involves soft tissue work as well as unorthodox "homework" that he gives his clients after every session. The main thing I personally love about Andrew's practice and what I think separates him from a lot of other chiropractors/massage therapists is he does NOT want you to keep coming back to him with the same issue. On average, he'll meet with someone about 4-6 times, and they'll have learned what they needed to from him about how to further fix their injury with consistent effort without his assistance. Andrew not only heals his clients, but he also educates them in each session about how to perform maintenance on the body once the issue has been resolved.You can find Andrew at a number of places online:Email: info@fiolasportschiropractic.comWebsite: https://www.fiolasportschiro.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Fiola-Sports-Chiropractic-1398159453817331/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fiolasportschiro/He's currently located in the Bosse Sports Complex at 141 Boston Post Road in Sudbury, MA. He will be opening up a second location in the next couple weeks in Framingham (about 20 minutes away from Firewall!). The location will be on Route 9 East, right after the Route 126 bridge.Thank you so much for coming on the show Andrew!! We were honored to have you as the first non-Firewall member guest on the show, and you certainly didn't disappoint! We'll definitely have to have you on again to discuss the three topics we brought up through the episode ;)

This hour absolutely flew by! We bounced to so many different topics through this episode. It was amazing being able to sit down and talk with Mark to get to know him on a deeper level and just learn more about his background in general.Growing up in Ireland, Mark knew from a pretty early age farming wasn't for him (how his family made a living). He was, however, always fascinated with technology - a field he's still involved in today.Mark's experience in Ireland was a treat to chat about. It gives a lot of perspective as to how the school system is very different in Ireland than in the U.S.Once he moved over to the States, Mark found he really enjoyed the American life style although not specifically in New York. Later on, he found himself in Boston - a city he enjoyed much more (good choice Mark ;) ). Mark also enlightens us on his nerve racking struggle to get his green card to permanently stay in America.Mark also goes into the first time he met Katrine (his now wife) and the amount of effort (or stalking, depends on your point of view) he put in to get in contact with her after that first talk. They maintained a lost distance relationship for nearly 2 years before moving in together!Towards the end of the episode, Mark tells us how he got involved with running in his late twenties. To date, he's run 8 marathons including 3 in a 8 month span! After taking a bit of a hiatus from fitness, he started with us at Firewall at the end of March of this year (2019).Mark, we can't thank you enough for hopping on the show with us. We greatly appreciate your humor, openness, and passions that you shared with us. Keep up the amazing work my friend!

Devin was so much fun to have on the show and jam out for about an hour! Although a die-hard Boston sports fan, Devin actually grew up in Suffield, Connecticut. He claims there's nothing there besides "tobacco fields and cul-de-sacs". A fun story he shares from growing up was how he actually took a class his senior year taught be his mother!After high school, Devin ended up at Mass Maritime, but it didn't take long for him to realize the school and career path was not the right fit for him. He left after his first semester taking away some valuable life long lessons.He ended up transferring to Bentley where he switched his focus to business.Right out of college, he got hired at one of the big four accounting firms - KPMG. At the time, Devin was nervous about his job stability as this was at the time of the 2009 recession. Luckily for him, the country was just coming out of it when he got the job.After a few years there, he switched over to another big four accounting firm - Ernst and Young.Devin felt like his career at EY had run its course in which he switched jobs to State Street where he got his first experience in the banking world. With the shift in career came a lot more traveling to his schedule - his first experience traveling internationally to countries like London, Australia and Hong Kong. His favorite place he traveled to was London due to its history, but Hong Kong was the ultimate test for him and his girlfriend (who is now his wife).Devin ends up breaking down his perspective on life after his intense travel campaign and encountering a unique health experience related to significant stress.You'll have to listen all the way through to find out how Devin met Jenn, and how Hong Kong brought them closer together!Jenn and Devin bounced around area living from Medford (where they got their adorable Morkie, Sophie), to Salem (where Devin proposed to Jenn), to Holliston (where they're starting their married life).At the end of the podcast, Devin fills us in on what gym chain he was going to before Firewall and why he was initially reluctant to give CrossFit a try!Since Devin's been with us, he's lost 30lbs and has never felt better. Dev, congratulations on all of your health success. You are so much fun to have in the gym, and so welcoming to anyone new who comes through our doors. Keep up the amazing work, my friend!

Today, we decided to dive in to a little more mindset practice rather than interviewing a member. It's also much shorter than our regular 40 minute plus recordings; we like to switch it up every now and again.We dig into the power of positive thinking and different ways it can apply to you not only during your workouts, but also in your everyday life.If this episode did impact you, if it inspired you to take action and start training your mind to think positively rather than negatively, please please please let us know about it in one way or another!We hope you enjoy the episode, and thank you as always for tuning in!

As we jokingly touch on early in this episode, Wolf has won the superlative of Perfect Form the past two years at Firewall. This doesn't just apply to the work he puts in at the gym but also translates to all areas of his life. He's one of the most kind-hearted, humble and caring individuals you'll ever meet.If you haven't met Wolf before, it's probably because you're not one of those "crazy" people (totally kidding to all of you who do go) who go to the 5:30AM classes at Firewall! He is an absolute class act guy who I was so happy agreed to hop on the podcast to let us know him a little bit deeper.In the interview, he said he's a part of an amazing "modern family". He has an older brother 2 years older than him, a half brother who's 11 and a half sister who's 8. It makes for a unique family dynamic having siblings who are more than 20 years apart in age, but Wolf says they all get along incredibly well! Currently, Alex lives smack dab in Holliston with his lovely wife Jamie and his two adorable daughters, Natalie and Gabriella.After growing up in Framingham, Wolf decided to pursue his education at UMass Amherst where he started as a marketing major but then switched to an accounting major.Shortly after college, he started working for PWC. During his time there, he also acquired his Master's in Accounting degree.After about a 5 year stint with them, he moved on to Acushnet Company where he was trying to find something a bit different than the tax side of accounting like he did at PWC.He then decided to go to Babson as a full time student in pursuit of his MBA.Currently, Wolf is so extremely happy with where he works as it is, in fact, his father's company. This was my favorite part of the interview which is towards the end. Be sure to listen to this full bit as it's pretty mind blowing what the company, Quilling Card, is doing for people across the globe in Vietnam as well as providing a superior product here in the States! Here's a link to check out their website and a chance to make a connection with a loved one :)https://quillingcard.com/Wolf met his wife, Jamie, while he was working at PWC. He goes into explaining why he loves her so much, his proposal, and how he used a "bait and switch" technique to get her to go out with him for their first date.At the end of the episode, we dive into how Wolf found CrossFit and why he decided to start. He's classified as one of the originals as he started way back in 2012 which has a large reason to do with why his form is so refined! Be sure to stick around to the very end of the episode as he gives some incredibly useful advice to anyone who may just be starting their CrossFit journey!Thanks for coming on the show Wolf! You're one heck of a guy and we love that we get to help start your day off on the right foot everyday!

Sara, you were so much fun to have on the show! We had so much fun going back and forth and finding out more about your life!*Quick Tip: Sara has developed an ingenious habit of listening to our podcasts while at the grocery store. What a great way to get in some Firewall time!Growing up not too far away, Sara grew up as a soccer super star in Rutland, a town just outside of Worcester. Having attended Wachusett Regional High School, her soccer career took her to a small college in upstate New York called Elmira College, but then decided to transfer to Bridgewater State between her sophomore and junior year. It was really interesting to listen to Sara's path through college and why she decided to transfer schools like many many students do.After college, Sara pursued a career in retail which brought her out to California for a couple years. She worked on Robertson Boulevard where she got the opportunity to meet a ton of different celebrities. Be sure to listen to who Sara's favorite and least favorite celebrity encounters were!In this podcast, you'll learn about Sara's current pet situation in her house with her family, her sister's ex-husband who is a well-known name in the fitness world, and all of her thoughts on CrossFit including what she believed before joining!Thank you so much for taking the time to sit down with us to record this awesome interview, Sara! You are a one of a kind gal who has seen so many incredible results since becoming a part of the gym. We're so happy to have you at Firewall!

This was one of the most eye opening interviews we've ever done on the show!Anastasia is an absolutely incredible human who tells us all about her life growing up in the Uzbekistan and Russia including all the struggles she had to go through to get to the U.S. We touch on many topics during this transition including family life, work, and more!I, personally, took a lot of what Anastasia said into perspective and couldn't believe how much I take for granted living where I do. I know I personally want to travel more after our conversation to get a better understanding of what life is like outside of this bubble that I've lived in!Anastasia also gets into how she got into Human Resources and Harvard Pilgrim. She touches on her current family life including how she met her husband (a Holliston grad) through Craigslist!At the end of the recording, we reminisce about Anastasia's first experience with us which involved much intimidation, skepticism, and soreness. Shortly after though, she fell in love with the program and the community.Thank you so much Anastasia for dedicating an hour of your time to this episode! We're so fortunate to have you at the gym!

FINALLY!!! We got to sit down with the legendary coach Kayleigh for this anxiously anticipated recording. We dive into Kayleigh's relationship with CrossFit - how it all started and how she wanted to pursue coaching.Growing up, Kayleigh was very active and played a lot of sports growing up. After high school, she was thinking about pursuing a career in media. Kayleigh had an internship out in Los Angeles, California that ended up not quite as she expected.Fast forwarding into the real world, she ended up with Reebok! That's when CrossFit really started to become a huge part of her life, After a few years in the work force, she is now in sales which people have told her she's always had the personality for.Kayleigh relives with us her most memorable CrossFit moments and takes us through her CrossFit journey - from the beginning to now.if you're interested, we were able to find some YouTube footage of Kayleigh from her media days!!Patriots Coverage - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gufA5frVmSQAshland Cable Access - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfPehIz-xjY&t=1sThank you so much for coming on Kayleigh! It was so fun getting to know you more!

We're doing something we've never done before on this episode. We are releasing the entire week of programming at the beginning of the week!!Below you can see all the workouts we'll be doing over the next 7 days. This week is filled with heavy weights, long workouts, challenging tests, and much much more! We also give you a couple tips for each day including additional equipment you may want to bring each day like grips, knee sleeves, shin guards, etc. There's a little something for everyone this week as there is every week. We hope you enjoyed this week's podcast format!Monday 8/5AMRAP 16:48 Double Unders24 Single Arm KB Swing (53,35)12 Chest-to-Bar Pull-upsTuesday 8/6Every 5:00 x 5 Sets:250m/200m Row15 Burpees10 Front Rack Lunges (185,125)Wednesday 8/7AMRAP 32:800m Run100 Shoulder Taps800m Run80 Ring Rows800m Run60 Burpees800m Run40 Power Cleans (185,125)Thursday 8/8Build up in 14 minutes of:1 Strict Press +2 Push Press +3 Push Jerks2 Rounds for Time:20 Clean and Presses (115,80)5 Legless Rope ClimbsFriday 8/9AMRAP 21:20/15 Calorie Bike200m Farmer Carry (70,53)20 Hang Power Snatches (75,55)Saturday 8/10AMRAP 25:“I Go, You Go” with a partner.15 Goblet Squats (70,53)10 Box Jump’s (24,20)5 Toes-to-BarSunday 8/11Floor Press:6x10 Increasing in weight each set4 Rounds for Time:25 Push-ups25 Ground-to-Overhead (45,35)

We get deep into this one very early on! James and I connect at the very beginning of this recording as we went through a very similar situation with our parents divorcing when we were in our 20s.James continues on the family route by describing his relationship with his older brother, Jon. They're two years apart. Towards the end of the podcast, we actually circle back to his brother and discuss the business they started together a few years back.Since middle school, James has struggled with his body weight. He was always very active with athletics, but eventually, that wasn't enough to keep the weight off. He knew something had to change. From an early age, he learned to battle his weight with proper exercise and nutrition that led to healthy living in the present. We also briefly touch on how his self confidence was a direct correlation with his weight.Later on, we touch on how he found his passion for sustainability and how that led him to his current business that him and his brother co-found and own.If you're interested in learning more about James's business or want to have a conversation with him about more efficient energy at your house, you can get in touch with him through his website here: http://www.teamsolar.us/ He loves talking about sustainable energy, so don't be shy to reach out!Thanks again, James, so much for taking the time to record this on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. You are an absolute rock star with the world at your finger tips!

Hello there Firewall listener! We just wanted to take the extra minute to express our appreciation for listening to this episode! We're trying to keep these as entertaining and fact filled as possible. We're always up for new ideas, so if you have one, please send us a message!This is the second time we decided to ask the community to ask us questions. The majority of these are from the one and only Anthony Natoli, but there are a few at the end asked from other members too. Here are the questions Bucky answers in this week's episode (Dave will be answering the same questions in a future episode):1. What is your favorite type of CrossFit shoe and why? (Anthony Natoli)2. What is your favorite food to prepare and why? (Anthony Natoli)3. What advice would you have for someone trying to get into competitions? (Anthony Natoli)4. How has owning a gym shifted your mindset toward CrossFit and the CrossFit community in general? (Anthony Natoli)5. Do you have a favorite type of exercise outside of CrossFit methodology? (Anthony Natoli)6. What are your thoughts on the recent shift in CrossFit HQ? (Anthony Natoli)7. If you could be a dinosaur, what would you be and why? (Anthony Natoli)8. Do you have any hidden talents? (Anthony Natoli)9. Do you cry at movies? (Anthony Natoli)10. How did you get into modeling and how does it feel to be like Zoolander? (Anthony Natoli)11. What does your tattoo mean and did your parents care that you got one? (Anthony Natoli)12. What's it like to have Anthony Ronald Natoli at CrossFit Firewall? (Anthony Natoli)13. What are the best things to see and do when out of towners come visit? (Mark Miranda)14. How did you pick the name "Firewall"? (Kim Menapace)15. Are thinks like retention and recruitment big topics in staff discussions? (Joe Connors)Thanks for listening and be sure to share this with someone else in the community who hasn't heard the show before! Thank you!!

Hang in there team, this is definitely a lengthy one! Although it's one of if not the longest conversation we have recorded, it's chock filled of entertainment and a history of our very own, Dan Nettell.Starting life in California, he found himself moving to the east coast due to his college pursuit at Northeastern. His longest memory stems from the famous earthquake of 1989 in San Francisco. Dan is a great story teller who vividly describes what he remembers from that day when he was just 4 years old!Once he got to Boston, he started pursuing a career in criminal justice, but quickly switched to a communications focus after a talk with his father. From there, Dan immersed himself in the radio world, specifically baseball.Although always aspiring to be the broadcaster of the San Francisco Giants, Dan worked at Starbucks as a barista starting back in high school. One thing led to another and he's currently the head manager of the Starbucks in Sherwood Plaza located in Natick next to Dick's Sporting Goods. Be sure to pop in and say hi to Dan next time you're in the area!We reminisce about some of our first experiences as an attending fan to a couple different sports.Dan gives us a hilarious inside scoop to Manny Ramirez back in the day when he helped out with the Red Sox broadcasting.About half way through the interview, we switch over to a variety of favorite categories like movies, TV shows, and much more!Towards the end, Dan goes into the story of how he heard of CrossFit, found Firewall, and how his view of CrossFit has shifted since starting. Be sure to stick around to the end of the podcast as Dan brings us back to his funniest moment at Firewall involving Vani and Coach Damon.Thanks again so much for being on the show, Dan! We had a blast sitting down and recording with you. Your vivid story telling makes this one of the most fun interviews to date!

Mr. Mark Miranda has been relentless on getting the chance to interview me. I finally submitted to his request and sat down with him to chat a little bit about my past.Enjoy listening to the legendary Mark Miranda and myself reminisce through my short lived life thus far!We also agreed that we will be doing the same thing with Dave in the near future so be on the lookout for that!Thanks for turning the table on me, Mark! I had a fun time ;)

My goodness... Henry's story is AMAZING!!! I've known Henry well for about 2.5 years now and didn't know about the majority of what we talked about. Towards the beginning of the interview, we actually figure out why his father decided to name him "Henry".Growing up as the youngest of 7 (a traditional size for an Irish family he claims), Henry excelled early in his career. Many of you know that Henry currently works for Microsoft, but what you may not know is that lengthy path he traveled to get there! We dive into the complete history of his working career including careers in catering, real estate, and fabrication. (I know what you're thinking, "how the heck did he end up in one of the biggest tech companies in the world?!" You're going to enjoy his story big time!)Him and his family (Kyra, Robyn, Charlie, and Giorgia) moved to Natick from Ireland in December of 2015 because of Henry's work. They saw it as a great opportunity to start a new life where they already had some close friends established around the Boston area.Henry was introduced to CrossFit from his neighbor (and current Firewall member), Dave Howell (whose interview you can find here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dave-howell-episode-12-path-to-his-wife-3-children/id1448103429?i=1000433248208). Be sure to stick around to the end of the interview as you'll discover why Henry despises burpees more than anything else in the world. It's actually a much more rational reason than I thought.Thank you so much, Henry, for taking the time to sit down and let us in on the history of your life! You've had a fascinating past, present, and I'm sure your future will be just as interesting and fun! We appreciate the spirit and energy you bring to class everyday. We're so happy you moved to the States ;)