Podcasts about Semple

Two start-ups a couple of years apart became the inspiration for each other to get better and better and better. Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders Podcast, teaching business owners the not-so-secret techniques that took famous businesses from Mom-and-Pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector and storyteller. I’m Steven’s sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today’s episode, a word from our sponsor, which is, well, it’s us. But we’re highlighting ads we’ve written and produced for our clients, so here’s one of those. [AirVantage Heating & Cooling Ad] Dave Young: Welcome back to the … Wait, what? Gosh, you told me the title, and I have some thoughts, and I forgot the name of the podcast there for a second. Welcome back to the Empire Builders Podcast. Stephen Semple: We’re doing two together here, Dave, Firestone and Goodyear. Dave Young: Stephen Semple’s over there. I’m Dave Young. And this morning we’re talking about Goodyear and Firestone, both? Stephen Semple: Yes, together. Dave Young: Because it’s kind of one thing now, right? Stephen Semple: No, they are separate. Dave Young: Was it? Stephen Semple: They’re separate. Dave Young: No, they’re separate. Stephen Semple: The story is so intertwined between the two of them. I couldn’t figure out a way to break it. But it’s almost kind of like when we did Hertz Avis, like they’re so interlinked. Dave Young: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Stephen Semple: Yeah. So we’re doing it as a single podcast, the two of them. Dave Young: All right. Where do we start? Stephen Semple: Well, what’s interesting is they were both started within two years of each other, both in Akron, Ohio. So Goodyear was founded on August 28th, 1898 in Akron, Ohio by Frank Seiberling. And today they’re the third-largest tire maker in the world with about 18 billion in sales. And Firestone was founded in August, two years later by Harvey Firestone in Akron, Ohio. And in 1988, Firestone was purchased by Bridgestone for $2.6 billion. Dave Young: That’s the one. That’s the one I was [inaudible 00:02:51] yeah. Stephen Semple: Yeah, and Bridgestone today is number two behind Michelin with Goodyear being number three. So both really, really big, really big companies. Dave Young: And in 18 when? Stephen Semple: So 1898 was Goodyear, and 1900 was Firestone. Dave Young: And this is before, this is before mass production of automobiles. Stephen Semple: Yes. Yes. Because if you go back to Episode 35 where we talk about Ford, 1908 is the Model T. So it’s pre-model T. Dave Young: Yeah. So which came first, the tire or the car? Stephen Semple: Well, because there were tires on carriages. Dave Young: No, that’s true. All right. Stephen Semple: And today Michelin is the largest in the world. So if you want to learn about Michelin, go back to Episode 27, because it’s also really interesting how Michelin grew their business. But so we’re dealing with Goodyear and Firestone. Dave Young: All right. So Goodyear- Stephen Semple: And if you think about it, you’re right. Most of the transportation at this time when these companies started were either horse-and-carriage or bicycles. That’s what basically people were using. And Harvey Firestone, he grew up on a farm and went to a business school and was a carriage salesman in Detroit. And at this time, the use of natural rubber is expanding due to vulcanization being created. Because before vulcanization, natural rubber was not very durable. It would crack and all these other things. And carriage wheels were basically a wood wheel with a metal rim around it, no give, a hard ride. Dave Young: Right. Yeah, yeah. I mean, even a rim made of rubber would be better than a rim made of steel. Stephen Semple: Right. So basically he’s a carriage salesman. What he realizes is that what we should do is we should put rubber, instead of steel around the wheel, and that would make a smoother ride. So he leaves Detroit, moves to Akron, Ohio, because Akron, Ohio at the time is the center of the rubber industry. Dave Young: Okay. Why is that? Stephen Semple: I think it had to do with just the fact there was a couple of companies that sprung up in the area. There was the resources in terms of water and a few things along that lines. Dave Young: And the rubber barons came in [inaudible 00:04:56]. Stephen Semple: But there was a lot of that that was happening with … Look, you see it in technology. A couple of companies happen and then … Dave Young: Yeah, there’s this- Stephen Semple: It attracts the talent, it attracts the people, it attracts the investment. Dave Young: There’s this synergy that happens. It was before the word existed. Stephen Semple: Yeah, basically. So he creates and starts selling a wagon wheel that has a solid rubber tire. And so he’s doing these solid tires, and he starts seeing the market shifting to a pneumatic tire. So a tire with a tube in it. Dave Young: With the air inside it. Yeah. Stephen Semple: And he’s also starting to see car sales increasing so he decides to do that. Because even though it’s a niche, he’s seeing it as growing, and he didn’t really get great traction on the wagon tire. But the first pneumatic auto tire is this thing called a Clincher. The tire is attached to the rim by these metal hooks, but these metal hooks can kind of become a bit of a problem. They can tear the tire, things along that lines. So he decides to make, Firestone decides to make a superior car tire, and he creates this new rim and tire system that’s basically better than the Clincher tire. But the problem, at this point, is the rim is part of the car. Basically, it’s hard to change all that. So who’s willing to- Dave Young: Every car has a different one and … Yeah. Stephen Semple: Right. So what he does is, is he approaches Henry Ford because he hears the Model T is coming out, and Firestone undercuts the Clincher to get a foothold in the industry. He says, “Look, I’m just going to come in with a really cheap price. That’s how I’m going to get into there.” And he gets an order for 2,000 units, $110,000 order, and he’s basically betting everything on the ability to deliver on this order. Okay? Dave Young: Wow. Okay. Stephen Semple: Now, enter Goodyear, a little bit of Goodyear history. So I mentioned Goodyear was founded by Frank Seiberling, and Frank had tried several businesses with no success, but he saw the rubber industry as an area for growth. Younger brother joins, and they need a name, and what the inventor of vulcanized rubber was Charles Goodyear. So they decided to call the tire company Goodyear after Charles Goodyear. Dave Young: Just associate yourself with that. Yeah. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Now- Dave Young: Did Charles, was he in on it, or did they just named it after? Stephen Semple: They just named it Goodyear. Dave Young: Okay. You can do that, huh? Stephen Semple: I guess. They were able to. Dave Young: All right. Stephen Semple: So they’re buried in debt, things aren’t going so great, but what they wanted to do is the big growth around this time was bicycles. So they create a vision to create a new type of tire for the bicycle, because it’s a huge craze at the turn of the century, turn of a couple of centuries ago. So there’s like 300 manufacturers of bicycles in the United States, including the Wright Brothers. Dave Young: Right. Yeah. Stephen Semple: But again, they were solid tires. And what these guys created was a pneumatic tire, what Goodyear has created was a pneumatic tire for bicycles because it’s way more comfortable than a solid tire, right? Dave Young: Way more comfortable. Yeah. Stephen Semple: Yeah. So they’re all in and this has to work, but here’s the problem. Bicycle sales stop because, essentially, everyone who wants one has one. So bicycle sales kind of collapsed. And so they’re struggling here, and what they decide to do is they look at the auto business, and they go, “Hey, the auto business is going over there, and we could create a better tire than a Clincher.” Dave Young: Yeah. [inaudible 00:08:24] Stephen Semple: Great. And so who do they decide to approach? They decide to approach Henry Ford because they hear about this Model T coming out. But Ford has already done a deal with Firestone, right? But Goodyear says, “We got an advantage. Here’s the problem. Their tire, the Goodyear tire, Clincher tires will also work on a Goodyear rim. Clincher tires will not work on a Firestone rim.” And here’s what Goodyear says to Ford, says, “You got a problem. Because if somebody needs a new tire, not everywhere had access to Firestone tires, but everybody has access to Clincher tires. So, therefore, our solution is better.” So basically, Ford cancels the deal with Firestone and goes with Goodyear. Dave Young: Oh, no. Stephen Semple: And basically says to Firestone, “I need you to make Clincher tires, which has almost no money in it for Firestone because they got to pay a licensing deal with Clincher. Isn’t it interesting in all of this, Clincher clearly didn’t innovate because we’ve never heard of Clincher before this moment? Dave Young: Oh, right. Yeah. I mean, terrible name, but- Stephen Semple: Clearly didn’t innovate. Dave Young: Right, didn’t figure out that we don’t need these metal things. Stephen Semple: Because they’re clearly the leader at the time, and we don’t hear them any longer. Dave Young: Yeah, yeah. So they had a lead in the market, but … Stephen Semple: So 1908 comes out, the Model T comes out. It’s Goodyear tires on the Model T, Episode 35, go back and learn about the Model T, and Goodyear takes out ads that Goodyear tire is better. By 1909, all GM cars are Goodyear tires. By 1910, Goodyear is doing like four million in sales, which is like 30 million today. Firestone is not done. Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: So back to Firestone, they see these Goodyear ads, and they figure we’ve got to get a competitive advantage over Goodyear. We’re going to go back to 1908, go back a couple years. The auto industry, tire industry is exploding. The streets are getting clogged with cars, lots of dust, no rules, chaos, and tires are completely smooth. There’s no tread. Dave Young: Okay. Yeah. That’s … Stephen Semple: And they’ve been all sorts of thing people are putting rivets in, metal, all this other stuff to try to create some sort of traction on these tires, right? Especially as the speed of the cars are getting faster. And what Firestone did, they did a lot of research to make traction. And what they discover is let’s do raised sections. Let’s put treads on the tire. Dave Young: Right. Okay. Well, I mean, there you go. Stephen Semple: Works way better. And what they decide to do, they call it the Firestone Non-skid- Dave Young: Stay tuned, and we’re going to wrap up this story and tell you how to apply this lesson to your business right after this. [Using Stories To Sell Ad] Dave Young: Let’s pick up our story where we left off and, trust me, you haven’t missed a thing. Stephen Semple: And what they decide to do, they call it the Firestone Non-skid, and they put that as the pattern on the tread. So if you look down onto a muddy road, what you would read is Firestone Non-skid. Isn’t that awesome? Dave Young: That’s so smart. I love that. Stephen Semple: So basically the ad is on the ground. They sell- Dave Young: Yeah, because it’s written in the mud. It’s written in the snow. Stephen Semple: It’s written in the mud, written in the snow, written on the ground, right? So they sell like 40,000 units in the first year. And now Goodyear starts to feel the pressure from Firestone on the non-skid tire. So they’re like, okay, what are we going to do here? So what Goodyear comes out with is a diamond pattern because it actually has better grip than letters. And at the same time, it’s still unique because they’re the only ones that have a diamond pattern. And they market it as, and I thought this … You know how we always love this whole idea of attaching the familiar to the unfamiliar? They market it as the first all-weather tire. Dave Young: All weather. Yeah. Stephen Semple: Right? Goodyear then, who was ahead of Firestone with this tire, and at this time, all the tire manufacturers are targeting the manufacturers. They’re trying to get in with the manufacturers. Dave Young: Yeah, yeah. Stephen Semple: And it’s 1910. Firestone’s doing three million in sales compared to Goodyear’s four million. But what about consumers and replacement? What would make their lives better? This is the question Firestone starts to ask because it was really hard to change the tire at that time because early tires were attached to the rim, and the rims were permanently attached to the axle. So you couldn’t just remove the wheel and replace it with another wheel. What Firestone creates is a rim called a demountable rim. It’s this novel idea that you could just take the rim off. Dave Young: Wow. Okay. That’s great. Stephen Semple: And risk of tire failure was high. So guess what this created? The whole idea of a spare, and now anyone can change a tire- Dave Young: Nice, yeah. Stephen Semple: … because you’ve got an extra tire. You could just take the rim off, put the new rim on, and you’re all good to go. And this gets so popular that car companies are now creating ways to carry a spare, a rim and a pump, because now anyone can change tire by themselves. By the end of the decade, all Model Ts have a spare. And guess what? Imitators, including Goodyear, jump onto this idea. It’s 1916. Dave Young: Sure. Stephen Semple: Firestone’s selling $44 million. Goodyear is 100 million and now the largest company in the world. So Firestone is still trailing Goodyear. World War I happens. April 1917, this huge mobilization campaign happens. Goodyear and Firestone have to pivot to wartime production. Firestone’s doing rubber boots and all these other things. Goodyear has been pulled into this top secret plan. They’re going to create an aircraft called a blimp. Dave Young: The blimp? Ooh, okay. Stephen Semple: And you know what’s funny? I always wondered, why does Goodyear have a blimp? Because Goodyear was involved in the crating of the blimp. Isn’t that cool? Dave Young: Right. Yeah, that’s good to know. Stephen Semple: So they’re both making lots of money. The blimp is the Goodyear blimp. We now still see it at football games and all this other stuff, right? And Goodyear’s expanding like crazy because of the war effort, and November 11th, 1918, the war suddenly ends. The war ending in World War I hurt a lot of businesses like Indian motorcycles, Goodyear, because what a lot of people don’t realize, unless you look back into history, that the war ended really abruptly. So much so that even the Allies, if you go back and read the history about World War I, we’re unsure whether to accept the surrender of Germany. No battle in World War I happened on German soil. It all happened in France. And how World War I ended is Germany basically did this one final assault where they threw everything at it and was basically it didn’t work, and they surrendered. And everyone was like, “What do you mean the war’s over?” But the problem is Goodyear thought the war was going to continue for a while longer and had a lot of debt and had done lots of expansion and were in serious trouble. In 1921, Goodyear had 85 million in debt. And so they had to bring in somebody to help refinance the business and part of the refinancing included Frank and his brother being removed from running the business. So in May 13th, 1921, they both resigned, the businesses gone to others. Firestone, they still remain involved with the business. By the 1920s, cars are going faster, and Firestone does one more really big innovation. And that’s the balloon tire, which is a wider, bigger tire, flatter tire, lower pressure, smoother ride. Six months, they sell 25,000 tires a week, and that’s really the precursor to the modern tire. Dave Young: The radial-type tire. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Dave Young: Yeah. That’s really cool. Yeah, war does weird things. I mean, in addition to blowing things up. Stephen Semple: Yeah, it does weird things. But the thing is, when I looked at Firestone and Goodyear, to me, what was really interesting was there’s no way you could kind of talk about one without the other because it really is a story of innovation, innovation, innovation. Dave Young: It really is a case of your competition makes you better, right? Because it went back and forth with both of them. Stephen Semple: It did go back and forth with both of them. Dave Young: Right? And the one that lost out was Clinker because they thought they didn’t need to innovate. Stephen Semple: Right. Right. They were the one that’s been lost to history as these two … Because they had, they were the market leader, and then these two coming along out-innovating each other, totally, like I had never even heard of them as a tire company. Lost to history. Dave Young: Me, neither. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Clincher. Dave Young: Clincher. It sounds medical. It’s such a cool story. I have one experience with Goodyear to tell you about. Stephen Semple: Sure. Dave Young: Back 2020 or so. Gosh, has it been that long? Really has. 20 years ago or so, I was in the motor press guild, automotive journalist, and auto manufacturers and tire manufacturers would take journalists on these trips, these junkets. And I got to go on one for Goodyear. They flew us down to Dallas and then flew us out to San Angelo on Mark Cuban’s 757. San Angelo, Texas is where the Goodyear proving ground is. So they have one of these big 10-acre, five-acre lakes that’s only a quarter of an inch deep or half in it. They can control it. It’s just a giant bed of asphalt that they can control the depth of the water. So we got to drive … We probably compared Goodyear to Firestone tires. Stephen Semple: Probably. Dave Young: You drive this pickup on a slalom course on the water with the new Goodyear tire, and then drive it with the competitor’s tire. It’s like, oh boy, the difference. But it was a fun trip. I also got to drive that same day out on the Goodyear proving grounds. They had one of those mining haul trucks. Stephen Semple: Oh, wow. Yep. Dave Young: Right. The three-story tall mining haul truck, and I got to drive that thing. Stephen Semple: I was going to say, did you get to do a 180 on it? Did you get it to do a 360? Dave Young: No, they didn’t let us drive that out onto the wet track, but that was fun. I mean, there’s a big tire. I think at the time, that tire weighed 20,000 pounds and cost $20,000. That’s what I remember about it. Stephen Semple: And it’s interesting when you think about tires because tread pattern and rubber compound and things like that are all the things that really impact performance. And yet the world’s largest manufacturer of tires became famous with an ad where they put a baby in the tire along with the slogan, So Much Rides on Your Tires, right? Dave Young: Yeah, yeah. Stephen Semple: But coming back to one of the ones I love with the whole Firestone thing was putting the name in the tread pattern. I thought that was just … Dave Young: Yeah, I think it’s great. It’s really smart and innovative from an advertising point of view, but as Goodyear proved, easy to knock down. It’s like, well, obviously a proper tread pattern- Stephen Semple: Is better? Dave Young: … is better than the word Firestone for keeping your car on the road. But- Stephen Semple: But again, it was so interesting because Firestone then, or sorry, Goodyear then even recognized by the diamond pattern, they still became unique because they were the first one with the diamond pattern. So it was this very interesting back and forth between these two companies. Dave Young: They were like the cartoon, the sheepdog and the coyote. They’d clock in and fight all day, and then clock out. And I would guess that the Goodyear and the Firestone, there were probably people going back and forth between one company and the other. They probably had the top secret. We hate each other, but the investors, whole different story. Stephen Semple: Well, it was funny. There was one thing I read about where basically if you were in the Firestone offices or foundry or whatever, you were not allowed to say the word Goodyear. And when you were in the Goodyear one, you were not allowed to say the word Firestone. Like it would’ve really been a massive rivalry when you consider the two companies, like how remarkable is this that two companies found within two years of each other, like almost exactly two years of each other in the same city- Dave Young: And then live in the same city. Stephen Semple: … went on to become number two and number three in the tire business. The one that became number one- Dave Young: Kellogg’s and Post. Stephen Semple: … was across the pond in Europe, right? Completely separated from this battle. Dave Young: Yeah. Yeah. Well, thank you for this tiring story. Stephen Semple: You had to go there, didn’t you? Dave Young: Oh, gosh, I shouldn’t have done that, but I did. I did do it. I’m looking forward to the next episode of the Empire Builders Podcast, Stephen. Stephen Semple: All right. Dave Young: Thank you. Stephen Semple: Okay. Thanks, David. Dave Young: Thanks for listening to the podcast. Please share us, subscribe on your favorite podcast app and leave us a big, fat, juicy five-star rating and review at Apple Podcasts. And if you’d like to schedule your own 90-minute Empire Building session, you can do it at empirebuildingprogram.com.

Joan Barnes wanted to meet new moms and that was the inspiration for a place for moms to hang out with other moms. Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders Podcast, teaching business owners the not-so-secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom and pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector, and storyteller. I’m Stephen’s sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today’s episode, a word from our sponsor, which is… Well, it’s us, but we’re highlighting ads we’ve written and produced for our clients. Here’s one of those. [Tommy Cool Plumbing, Cooling & Heating Ad] Dave Young: Welcome back to the Empire Builders Podcast, Dave Young here with Stephen Semple, and we’re talking about empires. Stephen just whispered the name of the topic into my headphones, and I recognize it, but I don’t recognize it. I don’t have any direct experience with this other than when I was a little kid watching Romper Room, but I don’t think it’s the same thing. The topic is Gymboree, but it sounds like it’s probably related, but I doubt that it is. Stephen Semple: Gymboree is not big any longer. There’s a bit of a sad story on that. Dave Young: It was a place though, wasn’t it? Stephen Semple: Right, it was, and it was huge at one point. It was part of the culture and it was mentioned in movies. It was a really, really big deal at one point. Dave Young: Yeah, here’s the issue. Here’s why I don’t remember it. I didn’t grow up in a place. It wasn’t the kind of place it would have a thing. I think I told you I drove 100 miles on our first date to go to Starbucks at a Barnes and Noble. Stephen Semple: It wasn’t even a real Starbucks. Dave Young: No, it wasn’t even a standalone Starbucks. Stephen Semple: Well, to give you an idea how big it got in 2010, Bain bought the company for $1.8 billion, 1.8 billion, and seven years later it went bankrupt. Dave Young: Oh, boy. That’s a bigger story than Gymboree if we wanted to go there. But let’s go go with building the empire. Stephen Semple: Let’s go with the building of the empire. Dave Young: How many buyout people does it take to ruin a company? Not many. Stephen Semple: But here’s the thing that’s interesting about this story. We often talk about this whole idea of unleveraged assets, and unleveraged assets becomes a very, very big part of this story. It’s very, very cool. The business was founded by Joan Barnes in 1976. She grew up outside of Chicago, studied dance and English in college, and got married. They moved to the West Coast. She’s this new mom in this new area looking for connections, and she started to host these get togethers with parents and kids at a local Jewish center. Joe Barnes, her husband, was a journalist. This journalist background becomes important a little bit later. As I mentioned, they grew up outside of Chicago and they picked up and moved and landed in San Francisco, where he got a job. And then they moved out to a suburb in 1973. She was basically lonely. 1973 was actually one of the lowest birth years in a long time, and so she was looking for people who had kids. Both of their families, both her family and his family, were back on the East Coast, and so she wanted to meet other moms. At this point, this whole idea of play groups didn’t exist. It was this new idea. And so she was in this dance company and had a friend in the company, and this friend had been offered a job to run activities for kids in a local community center. She was nervous to do it. Joan suggests, “Why don’t we share this idea?” And so it was a preschool after school programs. Joan went to a local YMCA that had this gym that they had set up called Kindergym, and she went and she checked it out. Everything there was this full-sized gym equipment and they modified how it was being used, but it was like full sized trampolines and full sized this and full sized that. As soon as she saw it, she had this vision of what it could be. Dave Young: I mean, there’s nothing funnier than a five-year-old on the uneven bars. Stephen Semple: Yeah, there you go. Dave Young: I’m just saying. But go ahead. Stephen Semple: So she had this vision: scale down the equipment, make it colorful, add music, lively teacher. This could be something really special, and maybe this is what could be done at the Jewish center. Now, some of the things were available it turns out she found out for special needs kids and the rest needed to be built, so she started to do that. But here’s the other thing. She knew how to get press to promote this. She had learned from her husband. She created a story of what the plan would be like, and she managed to get this big full page feature article in the local newspaper. In 1976, they opened this Kindergym in the JCC, and it’s immediately this huge success. It’s oversold. They hire preschool teachers to run the program. The goal was for the kids to have fun and let moms connect with other moms. That was the goal. It’s so successful they open another one in a center close by, and at this point they get approached by an entrepreneur, Max Shapiro, to put up some money. Basically the idea was, let’s do more of these. I’ll put up the money, you run them. Max Shapiro had run a basketball camp with Rick Barry, who was an ex-basketball player, that he had sold. He had some money kicking around to do this. They went down to San Montejo and they opened a Kindergym in a temple there, and they hired someone of the preschool background to run it and did the same idea. Joe went and got a story in a local paper, big story in a local paper. Basically it filled up, and she was running it almost like a franchise. They expand to five or six locations, and at this point she buys out Max and she makes the people that are running these couple of locations partners. It’s 1976, and there’s nine locations in California. They’re making a little bit of money. Joan decides she’s going to get a license to open franchise. Here’s the thing, she didn’t get any legal advice on setting any of this stuff up. She tries to trademark Kindergym, and she’s running this for a couple of years as a franchise until she discovers you can’t franchise Kindergym. It’s too generic a name- Dave Young: Oh, because kindergarten, kinder… Stephen Semple: But she’s already got these franchises isn’t been operating under the name Kindergym. They’re trying to think of different names, trying to think of different names. One day, one of the names sticks. Her husband even calls and the says, “Gymboree, Gymboree, Gymboree.” What a great name, Gymboree. They decide to set it up as Gymboree, and she decides to do it right this time. She goes out and gets some advice, a guy by the name of Bud Jacob, who has experience in franchising, likes the idea, likes her, and decides to help her out. It’s 1982 and they need to raise some money, and Bud introduces her to Stuart Muldaw, who invests. Now at this point, they’re still renting church halls. This is how they’re doing it. They’re going and renting church halls. It’s no leases, none of this other stuff. It’s handshake agreements. He invests $300,000 into the business for 30%. Here’s what they’re looking for. They’re looking for women that were just like Joan when she started this. They’re looking for women in their late 20s, early 30s who are raising families but wanted to do something, wanted to do something more, wanted to bring some extra income into the household. Their strategy is they’ll create a PR strategy in every community that they’re thinking about going to, so just replicating the idea. Again, remember Joe knows how to create this because of her husband, and also was very successful. But here’s another idea that they created. They also did advertorials in the Wall Street Journal. For those who don’t know what advertorials are, their advertisements that look like an editorial. Dave Young: Yeah, you write your own news report, news story, and then pay to have it placed in the paper. Stephen Semple: Right, and this speaks to how well she understands influencers. Because what she was looking at when she created these advertorials, they were not written to the women. They were written to the husbands. The whole idea is the father would read this article in the Wall Street Journal, this advertorial, and think to themselves, “This would be perfect for my wife,” which is really interesting because so many people would want to target the buyer instead of targeting the influencer. Dave Young: We call it indirect targeting. You write an ad that’s ostensibly an employment ad for your company. But when you talk about the kind of people you want to hire, you’re really talking to every consumer out there saying, “No, this is the kind of people that we are.” I love that, I love that. Stephen Semple: But today, so few people think that way. It’s all about target, got a target. But here she was purposely targeting the influencer, targeting the father who would read it, this be perfect for my wife. Now, here’s one of the things they were really picky on. Fit was one of the biggest things. If they didn’t think there was a good fit, they didn’t offer the person the franchise, and they focused on the East Coast. At this point, they’re focusing because they didn’t need help on the West Coast. LA was exploding. A lot of the people that they had focusing in on already understood press and media because they were actors on the side and all this other stuff. The West Coast was growing organically, so they were focusing these advertorials and whatnot on the East Coast. Here’s how much it was growing. By 1986, they have 400 centers. They’re doing 15 million in sales in 400 centers. But here’s where the problem happened. Audio: Stay tuned. We’re going to wrap up this story and tell you how to apply this lesson to your business right after this. [Using Stories To Sell Ad] Dave Young: Let’s pick up our story where we left off. Trust me, you haven’t missed a thing. Stephen Semple: Here’s how much it was growing. By 1986, they have 400 centers. They’re doing 15 million in sales in 400 centers. But here’s where the problem happened. Joan realized the franchising model was flawed. It was never going to work. The franchisees could not pay enough money to pay for the support that head office was providing because they were all like these really tiny businesses. They felt like they couldn’t charge much more because there was competitors popping up because it didn’t cost a lot to get these things started. They couldn’t reduce the service they were supporting. Here’s this business, 400 units, all looking great. It’s being mentioned in press and all this other stuff. But the business side is failing, so they needed to figure out another way to make money because the investors needed to get repaid, right? They thought, “Hey, maybe here’s what we could do. Maybe we do licensing because everybody knows the Gymboree name.” Dave Young: Merch. Merch. Stephen Semple: Yeah, so they go out and they get a whole pile of great licenses. But guess what? After about a year, almost all of them dropped them because the products didn’t sell. Hasbro then looks at doing an acquisition event, so they think, “Okay, great.” It felt like a bailout for Joan and a lifeline. Literally, they’re at the stage. Joan and her lawyer and the senior management team have flown to New York to sign the deal with Hasbro. She’s in the hotel and she gets a telephone call from one of the VPs of Hasbro who says the deal’s off. Dave Young: The deal’s off. Just like that? Stephen Semple: Just like that. Her team is there, the investors are there, her lawyer’s there, and they’re supposed to meet the next day, and the deal is off. She’s devastated because she now has to go back and tell everyone that this is off. She’s so completely spent this point she says she’s got to go for the weekend to her cabin in the Sierras. She basically looks at her team and says, “You got to think of another plan. You got to think of another plan. This franchising isn’t working. The Hasbro’s deal’s off. We need another plan.” Guess what? what’s the unleveraged asset that they have, Dave? Dave Young: Well, their name. I mean, we’ve got all these kids in there. Stephen Semple: Yeah, so she comes back because they have this great brand, but they have a business that can’t make money. She comes back and sitting on her desk is a sketch of a play center right next to a retail store. Dave Young: There you go. Stephen Semple: Actually, what they end up doing was putting the play center at the back of the store. Dave Young: Sure. Stephen Semple: What’s the asset that they have? Moms coming in to drop their kids off, parents coming in to drop their kids off. And what are they going to do when their kids are playing? Dave Young: Walk clear through the store. Stephen Semple: Clear through the store. It’s like having the gift shop at the back of the museum. When you leave the museum, you got to walk through the gift shop. Dave Young: It’s the milk and eggs back in the back of the grocery store. Stephen Semple: Exactly, unleveraged asset. And so here’s what they decide to do. They’re going to sell their own apparel, sell, play equipment, toys, all that stuff. They’re going to do as much as they can, where they’re going to brand it all themselves. Basically you got to walk through the gift shop, and the gift shop is what’s going to make the money. The play center is the draw that brings people in. They went back to the board to ask for money to invest, and they agree to do a test store. That then for a whole bunch of reasons, ends up becoming two test stores. One of the things that freaked Joan out at the time was one of the people on the board was very close to the folks at Gap. She gets a meeting with Gap, and Gap says to them, “We love the idea so much. We’re launching Gap Kids in a few months.” Dave Young: Oh, great. Thank you, we’re stealing the idea. Stephen Semple: It was one that was so far along she’d even say it wasn’t that because they were like, “Literally, we’re opening in four months Gap Kids.” Dave Young: They already were watching and saw that this paying attention to little kids can pay off. Stephen Semple: Yeah. But anyway, they launched in 1987. I want you to go back to 1987 because in 1987, malls were really big, and getting into a mall… You couldn’t just get into a mall. Malls had to approve you. They were very picky, right? Now, it’s still that way for really high-end luxury malls today. But you couldn’t just pick up the phone and say, “Hey, I wanted to open in a mall.” But what Joan was able to do is the Gymboree name was so well-known she was able to leverage the name. She was able to leverage the idea that parents will be coming in, dropping their kids off, and wandering around. She got into a couple of really great malls, and here’s what ended up happening. That Christmas, her two locations were the highest dollar per square foot sales in the entire mall. Dave Young: In the mall? Okay. Stephen Semple: So that huge success, huge success. Based upon that success, she was able to go out and raise $6 million to expand the business. 17 years later, Bain comes along and buys the business for $1.8 billion and then bankrupts eight, seven years later. Dave Young: I wonder how much of the equity she still owned. Stephen Semple: I don’t know because one of the things that happened- Dave Young: I mean, she sold that 30% chunk and that early guy… I hope she did well. Stephen Semple: One of the things is she did well, but she was completely uninvolved with the company by the time Bain bought the company, she recognized when it was growing that it was beyond her abilities. But she also had some real health issues with some eating disorders and things along that lines, and so there was a certain point after the raise of $6 million and they were doing the really rapid expansion that she actually left the company. She had a whole pile of health issues that she went, “You know what? I’ve got to deal with all of this. I actually need to step back and step away from the business.” I didn’t want to explore all of that. What I wanted to explore was the success that she had of building this business and this whole idea of… To me, it was really interesting. You and I often talk on this podcast, what are the unleveraged assets of the business? They had it there in front of them, and they were forced to look for it when all of a sudden it was, this franchise model cannot make money. They explored every possible way, and there was no way for it to make money. The sale falls through and suddenly it’s like, well, what do we do? The unleveraged asset was we have all these people coming to our locations. We have all these kids- Dave Young: All we got to do is find a location that wants this traffic. Stephen Semple: Yeah, all these kids are coming. Dave Young: They’ll want us if they want the traffic. Stephen Semple: Right? It’s like the whole movie theater. Again, when movie theaters were much bigger than they are today, you would have a mall where you put a movie theater. And then that would attract all sorts of restaurants around it because the movie theater brings people to the location. The anchor tenant back in the day. We had the anchor tenant in the mall. That brought people to the mall. They had that asset there and were not leveraging it. Dave Young: I mean, to have that designation of the highest dollars per square foot in the mall, that was before at Apple Stores, but she held that position for a bit, right? That’s pretty cool. Stephen Semple: Yeah, and it was all from, okay, we’ve got these people coming in. It’s no easy task, no easy task. People coming in, we should sell them stuff. They love Gymboree, so let’s sell them branded Gymboree apparel, branded Gymboree toys, and all that other… Dave Young: And the brand just doesn’t exist anymore? They bankrupted it and… Stephen Semple: Still a few around. I think there’s a company that now that’s trying to revive it and things along that line. I didn’t look too far after the whole Bain thing was like- Dave Young: Yeah, in my mind I’m thinking, okay, well, she did all this before social media, too. That’s pretty amazing. Stephen Semple: But what she leveraged was and what she knew was how to create PR. Dave Young: Yeah, I love videos of kids falling off playground equipment for some reason. Or there’s one where you’ve probably seen the meme of the perfect job doesn’t exist. Oh wait, it’s a guy on a skating rink throwing a big ball at kids and knocking them over. I’m like, “Okay, yeah, sign me up.” Well, that’s a cool story. There’s several reasons I didn’t really know much about it. I was born at the wrong time when she was up and running big. I was a young guy in his 20s without any kids living in a town that didn’t have a mall and blissfully unaware of all the things that were affecting us. But what a cool story, and good for her for building it up and making a nice, big, juicy exit. Stephen Semple: When I heard it just jumped out at me just because of it being such a good example of an unleveraged asset that they were forced to find because of all these other challenges. That’s often the thing that we’re doing when we’re going and visiting businesses is that whole, what are the assets? Is it a story? Is it thing? Is it- Dave Young: Oh, absolutely. It’s fun. To me, that’s the fun of the one-day sessions that we do, which is you start pulling at threads looking for those. They don’t even realize it, but that’s really what you’re looking for. What do you have that we can leverage in a good way that people just don’t understand that you do or that you have or where you are or who you are? Those kinds of things. Stephen Semple: They didn’t realize they had it until they were forced to look for it. Dave Young: Great fun. Well, is there a Gymboree for old men? I should probably go. Stephen Semple: There’s a business opportunity. Dave Young: We just go in and play around on equipment. Not serious weightlifting, but you’d get some work in. Stephen Semple: There you are. Dave Young: I can, probably. Thank you for bringing the Gymboree story. Stephen Semple: All right, thanks, David. Dave Young: Thanks for listening to the podcast. Please share us. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app, and leave us a big, fat, juicy five-star rating and review at Apple Podcasts. If you’d like to schedule your own 90-minute Empire Building session, you can do it at empirebuildingprogram.com.

Dr Lauren Colenso-Semple is back to tackle a series of current trends, narratives, and pseudoscientific claims in fitness and wellness, including:-Is there any quality human research on “wellness peptides”-What are wellness peptides-Why are they becoming more popular-Is there any evidence to suggest that muscle building is any different for women than men-Is there any evidence that birth control affects muscle growth-Is there any difference in protein timing needs for muscle growth in women-Are there notable differences in muscle fibre type between men and women-Is there any association between testosterone levels and lean mass and strength in women-Does menopause accelerate muscle loss-Is creatine as potent as it's currently hyped-Is there any evidence to support cycle syncing-Why is messaging around unique physiological differences so appealing to women-Why are some fitness and wellness “professionals” incentivized to brand around differences in men's and women's training physiology-Are there differences in injury risks across the phases of menstrual cycles-Do vibration plates have any benefits-Is calling out female creators for spreading misinformation by other women “mean girl behaviour”-And much moreIG: @drlaurencs1CHAPTERS01:00 What Are Wellness Peptides and Why They're Trending02:00 How Peptides Work in the Body03:00 Drug Development and Approval Process04:00 Unapproved Peptides in the Wellness Market07:00 Biological Risks and Tumor Concerns08:00 Limited Human Data and Research Quality09:00 Placebo Effects and Pain Resolution10:00 Drug Approval vs Evidence Reality11:00 Placebo Surgery Example and Mind-Body Effects12:00 The “Wild West” of Peptide Research13:00 Manufacturing and Dosing Risks14:00 Why Peptides Became Popular15:00 Normalization of Injectables and “Natural” Marketing20:00 Branding Differences Between Approved Drugs and Peptides24:00 Historical Drug Regulation Context25:00 Are Muscle Gains Different Between Men and Women?26:00 Molecular and Physiological Similarities Between Sexes27:00 Muscle Fiber Type Complexity30:00 Genetics vs Training Adaptation33:00 Athlete Caliber vs Sex Differences37:00 Creatine Performance Effects38:00 Creatine and Clinical Populations39:00 High Dose Creatine Considerations42:00 Testosterone Myths and Hypertrophy43:00 Menopause and Muscle Loss45:00 Measuring Testosterone and Lab Variability46:00 PCOS and Testosterone Levels47:00 Research Gaps in PCOS and Performance48:00 Menstrual Cycle Strength Research Discussion51:00 Why Cycle Syncing Messaging Is Appealing52:00 Marketing Incentives and Female Targeting53:00 Diet Culture Parallel and Behavior Change54:00 Individualization vs Simple Prescriptions55:00 Age vs Training Factors That Actually Matter58:00 Vibration Plates — Claims vs Evidence59:00 Exercise vs Passive Modalities01:01:00 Injury Risk Across Menstrual Cycle PhasesSUPPORT THE SHOWIf this episode helped you cut through confusion in fitness and wellness claims, you can support the show by:• Subscribing and checking out more episodes• Sharing it on your social media (tag me — I'll respond)• Sending it to a friend who's overwhelmed by conflicting adviceFOLLOW ANDREW COATESInstagram: @andrewcoatesfitnesshttps://www.andrewcoatesfitness.comPARTNERS AND RESOURCESRP Strength App (use code COATESRP)https://www.rpstrength.com/coatesJust Bite Me Meals (use code ANDREWCOATESFITNESS for 10% off)https://justbitememeals.comMacrosFirst – FREE Premium TrialDownload MacrosFirst and during setup you'll be asked “How did you hear about us?”Type in: ANDREWKNKG Bags (15% off)https://www.knkg.com/Andrew59676Versa Gripps (discount link)https://www.versagripps.com/andrewcoatesTRAINHEROIC – FREE 90-Day TRIAL (2 steps)Go to https://www.trainheroic.com/liftfreeReply to the email you receive (or email trials@trainheroic.com) and let them know Andrew sent you

In 1947 Dave Pace spiced up America with Salsa and this turned into a 90 Billion Dollar category. Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders Podcast, teaching business owners the not so secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom and pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector and storyteller. I’m Stephen’s sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today’s episode, a word from our sponsor, which is, well, it’s us, but we’re highlighting ads we’ve written and produced for our clients. So here’s one of those. [ECO Office Ad] Dave Young: Welcome back to the Empire Builders Podcast. I’m Dave Young here talking to Stephen Semple. And the listeners may not know this because we only release these every week or so, right? Stephen Semple: Mh-hmm. Dave Young: But we often record them one after the other. And we just got done recording the episode about Doritos and Tostitos. And now you’re telling me that we’re going to talk about dip, Pace Salsa. Stephen Semple: Pace Salsa. Yeah. Dave Young: So the picante sauce people. Stephen Semple: Correct. Correct. Absolutely correct. Dave Young: And that’s great with Doritos. Stephen Semple: I never thought about it being with Doritos. Dave Young: Really? Stephen Semple: Tostitos, I would, but not Doritos. Dave Young: How about both? Stephen Semple: Okay. Dave Young: I say you can dip a Dorito into anything. I’m in that camp. I’m firmly in the camp that anything dippable is- Stephen Semple: You’re all-inclusive in your attitude towards Doritos and dip. Very open-minded. Here’s the thing I’m going to say. If someone has not listened to the Doritos, Tostitos story, you really should go back and listen to it before listening to this one because there’s certain things that kind of come together in terms of what’s happening in the world. Dave Young: Like chips and dip. Stephen Semple: And these stories are kind of linked even though this story starts in 1947. Well, the Doritos story starts in the late ’50s. They still have kind of a bit of a shared history. Dave Young: These stories that are on a collision course, a deathening. Stephen Semple: They are. And this story’s also not just about pace salsa, but it’s really about the origin of the salsa in the United States as a category, which is a $90 billion category. And the business was started by David Pace in 1947 in San Antonio and was sold to Campbell Soup in 1995 for $1.1 billion. Dave Young: All right. Stephen Semple: So not a bad little payday. Dave Young: Not a bad deal. Stephen Semple: Yeah. So now David Pace was from Louisiana and he moved to Texas after World War II. He had been running a small food business processing sugar substitutes, which were popular both during the war and shortly after the war with rationing because of the sugar rationing. But as rationing was coming off, what he knew is there was going to be less and less of a need for these sugar substitutes. So he was looking for a new idea. And so we have to remember, it’s 1947, food’s kind of boring in the United States. It’s not diverse. It’s bland. It’s meat and potatoes. The condiment that was used to improve food was ketchup. That was the condiment to improve food, right? And Mexican food was not really a thing. About the only thing that people knew about Mexican food, it was spicy. Here’s the part that I came across that really surprised me the most. In New York City, one of the most diverse cities in the world, and certainly the most diverse city in the United States, there was just one Mexican restaurant in the city and New York at the time. Dave Young: In the ’40s? City. Stephen Semple: In the late ’40s, ’47. Dave Young: Okay. Wow. Stephen Semple: There was only one. That was it. Now, you could get Mexican food in the South because let’s face it, 100 years previous, a lot of parts of the South were part of Mexico, right? Dave Young: That’s right. Stephen Semple: As we like to remind ourselves. So here he is in- Dave Young: Well, Tex-Mex started just spreading in. Stephen Semple: Yeah. So here he is in San Antonio. He was stationed in Texas during the war and he’d settled in San Antonio, but he had never had Mexican food because now he’s off the base living in San Antonio and he tries salsa for the first time. And he’s like, wow, this is great. And he decides he needs to bring it to the market. A couple of challenges he ran into. First is how to make it. There’s lots of recipes around. He wanted to make his own version to sell the non-Mexican, so he wanted to tone down the intense flavors. He also needed to be able to jar it so it had shelf life. Here’s one of the fun challenges he ran into. A couple of the recipes he worked with would ferment once put in a jar. Well, what happens in a jar when something ferments? Dave Young: Botulism? Stephen Semple: No, kaboom. They blow up. Dave Young: Kaboom. They blow up. Okay. Yeah. Stephen Semple: So exploding jars, exploding jars of salsas, not really the objective. Dave Young: That’s never a good look either. Stephen Semple: Not really. But he gets it figured out and he brands it as Pace Picante Sauce. So it was first of all, promote it as a sauce, not a dip. And he starts selling it locally. He advertises it in the newspapers, but again, not as a dip as a sauce, like a marinade, something you brush on meat before baking. That was how it was being positioned. Dave Young: Well, it’s still, that’s the label on the jar is Pace Picante Sauce. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Dave Young: I’ve always wondered about that. He did that so he didn’t have to… Well, go ahead. Stephen Semple: But that was just kind of how he thought about it. And so for over a decade, he works on building up a following in Texas. It was building slowly. He liked spicy food, but most people didn’t, because even though he took the spice down, it was still spicy. Now he hires his son-in-law, Kit Goldsbury, and Kit hates spicy food, like can’t stand it, but still thinks he can sell it. And Kit starts at the bottom working every job and works his way up. And there’s a point where Kit becomes more senior. And Pace is now in five states and is making some money. They’re having some success. Dave Young: Good. Stephen Semple: But Kit’s goal is he wants us to become coast to coast. He wants to turn this into a big thing. But here’s what he notices. It’s too hot for northerners, but northerners want flavor because they’re eating Doritos. They’re eating nacho Doritos and cheese Doritos. They’re eating those things. So it’s not like they don’t want flavor. They just don’t want the heat. Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: There’s a marker for something interesting, unique, and different, but to go national, he needs to mute the heat. Dave Young: Needs to call it mild. Stephen Semple: Right. And around this time, Tostitos takes off and which is being used for dipping and it’s a massive success. So he decides to lean into the dip angle because he saw what was going on with Tostitos and he said, “You know what? We need to make this as a dip, not as a sauce, but I still need to take down the heat.” So he hires tasters to try all the jalapenos out there to find out which is the one that would work the best. Here’s the problem. Taster’s results were really inconsistent. He goes, “Okay, so I’ve still got to solve this heat problem.” So he hires a food scientist to engineer a heat-free jalapeno. Dr. Rasplicka, I think is how you pronounce his name, who basically created this measurement system for capsaicin, which is about how hot it is. And from this, they were able to figure out how to remove the heat because they were able to identify each one, able to identify the source of it and create this non-heat version of salsa. Dave Young: Okay. Stephen Semple: Now, you jump the gun on it a little bit, as you often do. So remember, while Americans didn’t want heat, they wanted something interesting. So of course they didn’t call it bland. What did they call it? Dave Young: Stay tuned. We’re going to wrap up this story and tell you how to apply this lesson to your business right after this. [Using Stories To Sell Ad] Dave Young: Let’s pick up our story where we left off and trust me you haven’t missed a thing. Stephen Semple: Well, Americans didn’t want heat. They wanted something interesting. So of course they didn’t call it bland. What did they call it? Dave Young: Mild. Well, they’ve got the three. They’ve got mild, medium, and hot. Stephen Semple: Right. And that’s exactly what they did. They had the other spice levels, but they didn’t go with bland. They went with mild. Dave Young: Yeah, yeah, yeah. This the Goldilocks rule, right? Stephen Semple: Yeah. Dave Young: Wow. Stephen Semple: And so therefore, and with mild, everyone can enjoy it. And then of course they offered the other spice levels and they market it as a dip. Very quickly, sales went from $3 million to over $50 million. Dave Young: I can imagine. Stephen Semple: So successful, supermarkets started placing salsa in the chip aisle because it was not in the chip aisle previously. In 1991, salsa passes ketchup as the number one condiment in the United States. Dave Young: Not till ’91. Stephen Semple: Not till ’91. Dave Young: Okay. Stephen Semple: 1995, Campbell’s buys the business for over a billion dollars. Dave Young: All right. Stephen Semple: Now, I forget what year it was. I think it was ’92, but anyway, early ’90s, Campbell’s actually created a Heinz Salsa. Dave Young: Really? Stephen Semple: Yes. And it failed miserably. Dave Young: Sure. Stephen Semple: But if you think about it, we often bump in these situations where companies do these line extensions, right? Where it’s like, “Well, why not? It’s tomato. It’s a condiment. It’s all this other thing. We can do a Heinz Salsa.” Why wouldn’t a Heinz Salsa work? People love Heinz ketchup. They’ll love Heinz Salsa.” It bombed. It totally bombed. Like bombs so much to the degree that it only existed for about three years and they went, “You know what? Instead, we’ll spend $1.1 billion buying a competitor rather than trying to develop our own.” Dave Young: Heinz is what it is and you know what you’re getting. Stephen Semple: But how often do we see that whole line extension happen and it fails? Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: Right? Like Gerber’s wanting to make adult food. Dave Young: No. Stephen Semple: Doesn’t work. Heinz making salsa. Dave Young: Make adult food and call it something else. Stephen Semple: Coke understood this when they went into the energy drink market because it was not Coke energy drink. They knew that would fail. Coke understood that. They were like, “No, no. Coke’s a pop. It’s a soft drink. It’s not an energy drink. We’re going to have to do something completely different.” But it’s amazing how often businesses will make that mistake of, “Oh, well, we do this thing. Let’s also market ourselves this thing and do this line extension.” And it doesn’t work. It doesn’t work. Dave Young: I think there are just invisible boundaries that if you don’t know them and you try to cross them. And in this case, it’s the style of food, right? Heinz goes on certain things, but it doesn’t go on Mexican food. You don’t dump ketchup on Mexican food. You don’t dump mustard on Mexican food. And Heinz makes ketchup and mustard and relish. Stephen Semple: And pickles. Dave Young: Pickles and all of those things, but they’re definitely not things that you put on Mexican food. Stephen Semple: It’s interesting. I was having this conversation with Michael Torbet, one of our partners, because we’re dealing with a situation with a client, an existing client where we’re struggling with getting them to think about not doing a line extension. And I was sharing with him this whole story of Heinz and we were talking about Gerber and a bunch of other companies that tried to do line extension and have failed. And we got talking about ketchup. And I was saying to him, “Well, I think the reason why it didn’t work because ketchup is something that you put on hamburgers.” But I like how you put it. It’s not specifically about hamburgers, but the foods that you put ketchup on, because again, Heinz is successful in pickles and they’re successful in mustard, but there’s foods where pickles, mustard, and ketchup go together. Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: And none of those foods does salsa go on it. It’s a different food category that salsa goes on. So you could make salsa and you could probably make cheese and that would actually work. Where you think about it, ketchup and salsa from a manufacturing standpoint are closer than salsa and cheese. Dave Young: Yeah. Those are weird associations. Stephen Semple: In fact, those companies do make cheese. They make cheese with a little bit of jalapeno. Dave Young: Yeah, absolutely. They’re right there next to the picante sauce. Stephen Semple: But I loved how you expressed it, hidden barriers, but they exist. And if you cross those barriers, it doesn’t work. Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Very cool. I didn’t think about them as being hidden barriers. That’s an amazing observation. Dave Young: Like Rolex should never make a phone. Stephen Semple: Right. Dave Young: Right? Well, phones keep times like, yeah, but that’s not right. Anyway, that’s just an example. There’s just lanes. Stephen Semple: Right. But there’s a couple of luxury watch brands that tried to dip their toe into the smartwatch market and it didn’t work. Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: And Rolex was not one of them, but I can’t remember who did, but they did and it failed terribly, failed terribly. Part of the appeal to a Rolex is the handmade and craftsmanship and all this other stuff. Dave Young: Well, and I don’t know. I have an Apple Watch and I have an Apple Watch not so much so I can tell time, but so it can do some other things for me. Stephen Semple: Yes. Dave Young: It can notify me. I use the timer function all the time and I could just carry a stopwatch around my neck or some kind of timer. But I also noticed that Apple sells, you can buy really fancy, upgraded, shiny, gold, sparkly, diamond encrusted versions of Apple Watch cases. The thing still does the same thing, but I don’t know how popular that stuff is. I’m guessing it’s pretty niche. Stephen Semple: I’m going to guess it probably is. And again, it’s not a line extension. It’s an add-on to an Apple Watch. It’s not a different watch. It’s an add-on. Dave Young: I think the guy that’s buying a Patek Philippe… I don’t know. Stephen Semple: Philippe Patek? Yeah. Dave Young: Or even a Rolex. Stephen Semple: Were you? Yeah. Dave Young: You’re not buying it for the same reason you’re buying an Apple Watch of any sort. And you’re not going to be fooled by the glitz and glam of the accoutrement on an Apple Watch into thinking that you’re buying a fancy watch. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Dave Young: It’s still an Apple Watch. Stephen Semple: It’s still an Apple Watch. Yeah. It’s a different thing. Dave Young: Interesting. Yeah. Stephen Semple: Anyway. Dave Young: That’s a fascinating subject to just these invisible barriers. Stephen Semple: In a great book that covers this a little bit is the 22 by… Is it Al Ries and somebody? Dave Young: Trout and Ries, 22 Immutable Laws of Branding. Stephen Semple: Yeah. And one of the laws that they go through is basically don’t do line extension. And they’ve got some great stories in that book around it. And anybody interested in branding, it’s a great… I have it on my desk and it’s a bible I refer to because those 22 laws, yeah, they are like you break them at your peril. With all of Heinz power, it couldn’t extend that and instead gave up and spent a billion dollars buying a competitor. Dave Young: And probably didn’t rename it Heinz. Stephen Semple: They did not. They kept it as Pace. Yeah. Dave Young: And they learned their lesson. Stephen Semple: Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Dave Young: We’ve spent this time talking about Pace and just before this recording, we talked about Doritos, Tostitos. I’m getting kind of hungry. Are you getting hungry? Stephen Semple: Yeah. And of course we also talked a little bit about Taco Bell. Dave Young: Yeah. Yeah. Stephen Semple: As a sidebar. Yeah. A lot of food conversation here late in the afternoon. Dave Young: If people hear my tummy grumbling in the microphone, you know what’s going on. If we weren’t in different cities on the same continent, I’d suggest we go out and grab a bite somewhere, Stephen, but we’ll have to do that another time. Stephen Semple: We’ll have to do that another time. Exactly. Dave Young: I’ll bring the dip, you bring the chips. Stephen Semple: All right, you’re on. Dave Young: Thanks for bringing us the Pace story. Stephen Semple: All right. Thanks, David. Dave Young: Thanks for listening to the podcast. Please share us, subscribe on your favorite podcast app and leave us a big, fat, juicy five star rating and review at Apple Podcasts. And if you’d like to schedule your own 90-minute empire building session, you can do it at empirebuildingprogram.com.

Dr. Lauren Colenso-Semple, PhD, is an expert in the science of strength and muscle building and nutrition. She explains the most effective resistance and cardiovascular training programs for women and if and how those programs should differ from those followed by men. She explains program design options, exercise selection, sets, repetition ranges, rest periods, if you need to train to failure and much more. We discuss the relevance of menstrual cycles, (peri)menopause, birth control, body frame differences, as well as best practices for nutrition, hormone replacement and supplementation. Throughout the episode Dr. Lauren Colenso-Semple dispels common myths about women's fitness and nutrition such as the impact of fasting, cortisol, weight vests and more. This episode provides a masterclass in the best science-supported fitness and nutrition programs for women and for men. Thank you to our sponsors AG1: https://drinkag1.com/huberman Joovv: https://joovv.com/huberman Eight Sleep: https://eightsleep.com/huberman Rorra: https://rorra.com/huberman Function: https://functionhealth.com/huberman Timestamps (00:00:00) Lauren Colenso-Semple (00:02:43) Muscle in Men vs Women; Testosterone; Individual Variation (00:08:07) Sponsors: Joovv & Eight Sleep (00:10:45) Testosterone & Women; Resistance Training; Young Girls (00:17:46) Tool: Beginner Resistance Training for Women; Frequency & Goals (00:20:58) Tools: Weekly Full-Body Workouts, Work Sets, Rest Intervals; Time Efficiency (00:28:43) Forced Reps, Drop Sets; Rate of Movement; Partial Reps (00:33:19) Tool: Repetition Ranges; Technique; Vary Rep Ranges? (00:39:37) Sponsor: AG1 (00:40:28) High Reps & Injury, Technique & Warm-Ups (00:44:25) Cardiovascular Exercise, Interference Effect?; Walking, High Intensity (00:52:43) Menstrual Cycle, Hormones & Training; Overcoming Internal Resistance (00:56:54) Training & Body Composition; Tool: Slow Progression; Menstrual Cycle (01:02:45) Sponsor: Rorra (01:03:59) Hormone Contraception & Adaptations; Perimenopause, Menopause (01:09:01) Age-Related Muscle Loss, Nervous System, Tool: Machines & Group Fitness (01:14:57) Menstrual Cycle & Physical Activity; Nutrition (01:17:50) Pilates, Genes, Tool: Resistance Training to Offset Age-Related Muscle Loss (01:26:25) Ectomorph, Mesomorph or Endomorph? (01:28:55) Sponsor: Function (01:30:42) Train Fasted?, Caffeine, Preworkout & Postworkout Nutrition (01:38:29) Protein, Resistance Training & Timing (01:40:12) Creatine Supplements, Gummies, Dose, Brain Health Benefits? (01:45:44) Individual Experience; Skepticism & Science, Menopause & Body Composition (01:54:52) Cortisol & Women, Stress & Diet, Cushing Syndrome (02:00:17) Overtraining?, Sleep Disruptions, Energy & Training Time (02:04:07) Menopause Symptoms & Hormone Therapy, Testosterone (02:09:22) Women Differences in Diet & Training?; Exercise Science Studies (02:16:19) Lauren's Training Schedule, Mobility Work (02:19:35) Hormone Therapy & Long-Term Outcomes; Deliberate Cold Exposure (02:23:06) Zone 2 Cardio; Weighted Vest; Balance Training; Ab Exercises; Recovery (02:29:26) Zero-Cost Support, YouTube, Spotify & Apple Follow, Reviews & Feedback, Sponsors, Protocols Book, Social Media, Neural Network Newsletter Disclaimer & Disclosures Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Arch West had the heart of an entrepreneur and liked to take risks. Unfortunately he worked for Frito-Lay and had bosses to convince. Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders Podcast, teaching business owners the not so secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom and pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector and storyteller. I’m Stephen’s sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today’s episode, a word from our sponsor, which is, well, it’s us, but we’re highlighting ads we’ve written and produced for our clients. So here’s one of those. [AirVantage Heating & Cooling Ad] Dave Young: Welcome back to the Empire Builders Podcast. I’m Dave Young and Stephen Semple is here with another Empire Builders story. And today, whispered in my ear as the countdown started that we’re going to talk about Doritos and Tostitos. And my brain instantly had electric shot go through it because are they the same? Are Tostitos and Doritos, is it the same company? Is Frito-Lay- Stephen Semple: Same company. Yeah, yep. Frito-Lay. Dave Young: Yeah. How about Takis? Stephen Semple: Oh, I don’t know. Dave Young: They get bought up yet? Stephen Semple: I don’t know. But [inaudible 00:02:04] did, they were actually created by Frito-Lay. Dave Young: By Frito-Lay. Again, back to my childhood, we’d go to the lake in the summer and always had bags and bags of nacho cheese flavored Doritos. Stephen Semple: There you go. Dave Young: And my mom used to say, “We’re going to eat so many of these. There’s just going to be corners poking out of us.” Oh my gosh. They’ve been around a while. Stephen Semple: They have been around a while. Yeah, they were launched in 1966. Dave Young: Doritos or … Stephen Semple: Doritos was done first and it was launched by Frito-Lay in 1966. Dave Young: All right. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Today, Doritos is part of Pepsi. And the estimated sales coming from Doritos is like 2 to $3 billion a year in sales. That’s a lot of cheese nachos. Dave Young: It is. Stephen Semple: It’s one of the top snack brands in the world sold in over 100 countries. So now while it’s a product inside of a big company, there’s a reason why I feel like it’s a bit of an empire building story because it’s an interesting little story of risk taking an entrepreneurship inside of this big corporation. That’s why I felt like it still kind of fits. Dave Young: Okay. Stephen Semple: And it’s all because of the actions of a guy by the name of Arch West, who’s a Frito-Lay executive. And when you hear this story, you realize he’s got a heart of an entrepreneur and is a bit of a risk-taker. Dave Young: Arch West. Stephen Semple: Arch West. So Arch came from nothing. He was raised in a youth home. He went to the military. And after the military, he gets into food marketing and he becomes a VP at Frito-Lay. Now, our story starts in the late 1950s. And like all good stories, it starts with a visit to Disneyland at Anaheim because that’s where all great stories start. Dave Young: So Arch goes to Disneyland. Stephen Semple: So Arch goes to Disneyland. And in Disneyland, there’s a restaurant called Casa de Fritos, which of course has been created. I don’t know if it’s still there, but at the time Casa de Fritos, which was basically created for distributing Frito’s products. It’s like this made up Mexican restaurant in the international food area of Disneyland. And remember, this is the ’50s. Dave Young: So Frito’s was in existence. Stephen Semple: Yes. Fritos was in existence. Dave Young: The little curly corn chip thingies. Stephen Semple: Correct. That was in existence. Dave Young: So I keep thinking like Lay’s Corporation- Stephen Semple: Frito-Lay had already merged at this point. Dave Young: So Frito became Frito-Lay? Stephen Semple: Yep. So it was Frito-Lay, wasn’t part of Pepsi yet, but it was Frito-Lay. Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: And they had this restaurant in Disneyland called Casa De Fritos for distributing Frito products. And as I said, it’s this made up Mexican restaurant, because remember this is the 50s in Disneyland. So how authentic is it? Probably not at all. Dave Young: Probably had Speedy Gonzalez and his friends. Stephen Semple: Right- Dave Young: … Taking orders. Sure. Stephen Semple: As you can imagine. But as the story goes, what was happening was they were throwing out … At the end of the day, if tortillas were left over, they were throwing them out. And a Mexican delivery guy said, “You shouldn’t be throwing these things out. You should cut them up and deep-fry them and serve them as tortilla chips.” Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: So Arch tastes these tortilla chips and he was like, “Wow, these have a really interesting flavor.” And he thinks to himself, I think there’s an untapped opportunity here and we can make something of this. So first he’s got to sell the ideas to his bosses. So Arch West makes a presentation to the executives and they’ll look at him and say, “Yeah, leave development to R&D. They create the stuff you sell it.” Dave Young: Stay in your lane, buddy. Stephen Semple: Stay in your lane, buddy. Now remember I said at the beginning, Arch is a risk-taker and has the heart of an entrepreneur? So what does Arch do with this no? Dave Young: I mean, he’s going to take them home and fry them. I don’t know. Stephen Semple: Yeah, he ignores it. He takes some discretionary funds that he has and he applies them to developing the chip. Dave Young: Okay. Good for Arch. Stephen Semple: He does this for three years. Dave Young: Three years- Stephen Semple: … Inside of Frito-Lay, he’s developing these chips with these discretionary funds for three years because he can’t make them the way they made them in the restaurant because it’s got to be shelf stable. So there’s kind of a bit of a challenge to making them. So after three years, he creates this secret shelf staple tortilla that he now has to get approved by the bosses, the very same bosses who three years ago told him, stick in his lane that he’s used company funds to develop. Dave Young: Oh, Arch, I love you. Stephen Semple: Right. Do you see why I believe this story deserved to be here? So he has this plan to convince bosses. He arranges to have the chips secretly supplied to the bosses before the meeting and he arrives late on purpose because he figures they’ll all try them. And his hope is, well, they better like them. Dave Young: They better like them. Yeah. Stephen Semple: So it turns out the board likes them. And at this point, he already has a name for them because he wanted it to sound like something easy and he wanted to have this foreign feeling. And he also liked this idea of combining Fritos and Cheetos because Cheetos had already been out there. So Fritos, Cheetos, Doritos. Dave Young: Doritos. Stephen Semple: Yeah. And they decide to launch it. So they launch it in 1966. Doritos is launched and it’s the only tortilla chip around. And the Baby Boomers are coming of age. They want to market this chip to the Baby Boomers. So if you’re going to market to it, what do you call it? You call it the With It Chip. This is the With It Chip because that’s the with it generation. Dave Young: Because it’s with it. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So just tell people it’s with it and it’ll all work out because they’ll all think it’s hip and cool. Dave Young: Yeah. I can see that happen. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Bombed- Dave Young: … Calling it riz. Stephen Semple: Yeah, it bombed because here’s the problem. The chips were plain and chips at the time are used for dipping and dips were popular at parties, but that was with the Boomers’ parents, not the kids. So it was not so with it actually. Turns out to be not with it at all. So there was this great disconnect because the kids are like, “We don’t do dip.” The parents were the ones doing dip and the parents didn’t want to do … It was this complete failure in terms of positioning. So around this time, Wayne Calloway joins the company. Wayne doesn’t see that product as a failure because he looks at it and he says, “Look, here’s the problem. Boomers don’t want to use it as a dip, but they still want the flavor, so we need to add flavor.” And around this time- Dave Young: “We need to make the dip into a powder and apply it to the chips.” Stephen Semple: Right. And around this time, Frito-Lay had been investing tons of money into food science. And there was this new emerging technology called gas chromatography, which basically breaks down the elements so you can figure out how to make an artificial powdered form of things. Dave Young: Okay. Stephen Semple: So after months of experiments, the team presents a range of options. So they now have to choose a flavor. And here’s how they looked at things. And this is the other reason why I think there’s great lessons here, because we always talk about looking around the world for ideas. Taco Bell had come on the scene around this time and was growing really, really quickly and was super popular. When Taco Bell first came out, it exploded. So the first flavor they looked at was … Dave Young: Stay tuned. We’re going to wrap up this story and tell you how to apply this lesson to your business right after this. Dave Young: Let’s pick up our story where we left off and trust me you haven’t missed a thing. Stephen Semple: Taco Bell had come on the scene around this time and was growing really, really quickly and was super popular. When Taco Bell first came out, it exploded. So the first flavor they looked at was taco flavor. Dave Young: Okay. Yeah. Stephen Semple: Because they’re like, “Well, look, there’s this thing going on over here.” Dave Young: Sure. Stephen Semple: And it sells well, but they’re still not completely satisfied. So what they noticed was as Mexican food is growing, they noticed that nachos are starting to become a common restaurant idea. Dave Young: Yeah. And that’s just cheese. There’s no such thing as nacho cheese. It’s just cheese. Stephen Semple: It’s just cheese. So in 1972, they launch nacho flavored Doritos and in the first year, sales rise $60 million on the back of that. Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: So West gets promoted, Calloway’s now President. Dave Young: What year? Stephen Semple: That was 1972. Dave Young: ’72. Yeah. Yeah. Stephen Semple: Yeah. So West gets promoted. Calloway’s now President. And the other thing, trend that’s going on U.S. is in the 1970s, vacationing in Mexico becomes really popular. It’s happening in record numbers and Mexican restaurant chains are popping up all over the place because people experience Mexican food, want to have it at home. And what’s really popping up? Guacamole. Big trend is guacamole. So they decide they need to create a restaurant style chip for dipping. Isn’t it interesting now we’re going back to dipping? Dave Young: Now we’re going back to the dips because people love this guacamole. Stephen Semple: Yeah. So dipping is back. And so what they do is they create Tostitos, a restaurant style chip for dipping and guacamole. And in less than a year, they do $140 million in sales and it’s the most successful product in Frito-Lay history. Dave Young: Wow. Stephen Semple: The other fun thing they do is in 1986, they create a flavor for Doritos called Cool Ranch flavor. And the only reason why I love sharing this is this has a really funny circular story because they came across this ranch dressing from this little tiny company called Hidden Valley. Dave Young: Right. Stephen Semple: And they looked at that flavor and they went, “That’d be a great flavor for the Doritos.” And they just called it Cool Ranch Rather than Ranch. And it was another home run, $120 million in the first year, but it worked out so well that it actually inspired Hidden Valley to take their product national. Dave Young: Oh, wow. Okay. Stephen Semple: So it was like Doritos discovered from Hidden Valley, sold all this stuff. Cool Ranch became so popular that Hidden Valley went, “Wait a minute, we could do this salad dressing now nationwide.” And in 1990, Doritos becomes the most popular chip in the world with a billion dollars in sales. Dave Young: Wow. Okay. Stephen Semple: Yeah. So while it was already a big company well established, I still kind of felt like there was a cool little story in there because again, it was about … They’d be looking out and looking at these trends and going, “Well, let’s tap into this trend. Let’s tap into this trend. Let’s tap into this trend,” while it was in the food space, it wasn’t in the snack space. So it was still an industry beside them. I have to admire his chutzpah of being told no and then taking company discretionary funds and basically spending three years developing the product right under their noses. Dave Young: Yeah, definitely an entrepreneurial streak in there. Stephen Semple: Yeah, no [inaudible 00:13:56]. Dave Young: Well, cool. I’m glad I know all this now. Back in the day, I started eating those chips right when they first came out, Stephen, I’m pretty sure. Stephen Semple: Yeah. The other part I found interesting on it was that, again, this whole idea of, let’s call it the With It chip and thinking just by saying that, that that’s enough. And then on top of that, having a product that was also completely out of sync with the market that you were trying to go to because it had to be dipped and their target market was not dipping. It was their parents that was dipping. I just found that so interesting that there was that much of a disconnect in terms of, “Well, let’s just call it, let’s just call … Our socioeconomic studies say this, so let’s just call it that and we’ll make it so.” And we see that so often as a mistake in marketing where it’s like, no, you actually have to freaking understand your customer and not just from, “Oh, they’re 26 years old and they drop …” How do they think? How do they behave? How do they act? Where are they consuming? Oh, they consume. Oh, they consume the product while at the beach. Okay. Well, they’re not freaking taking dip. Dave Young: Right, right. Stephen Semple: Right. It was such a miss and so typical of how a lot of companies look at things when they put together their marketing plan. Dave Young: Here’s the thing. People were starting long distance cross country road trips too. Stephen Semple: Yes. Dave Young: Man, it’s hard to eat. It’s hard to eat chips and dips while you’re driving. Stephen Semple: Not happening. Dave Young: You can eat a bag of Doritos all day long behind the wheel of a car and stop and get another [inaudible 00:15:28]. Stephen Semple: So I also have to give credit to Wayne Calloway that he came along and saw that disconnect. He said, “No, this is a great product, but here’s the disconnect. The disconnect is not that the product isn’t great. The disconnect is people aren’t going to dip it. That’s the disconnect.” But then to later notice that dip is coming back, because it’ll be easy to go with dip is out, later noticing dip coming back in the form of guacamole and saying, “Hey, in fact, let’s go back to really what the original Dorito was, which was this unflavored tortilla that you could use for dipping.” It’s kind of funny that it went full circle. Dave Young: But even so, like my parents, because they were of the dipper generation, had a recipe for chili cheese dip that you would use with the nacho cheese Doritos. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Okay. Dave Young: It was really good. Stephen Semple: All right. All right. Dave Young: Not so much if you’re driving. Stephen Semple: But you were a very sophisticated family having something like that. Dave Young: Well, yeah. Absolutely. Stephen Semple: So again, I just thought it was an interesting story. And again, one of those ones, keeping your eye out, looking a little bit outside of your industry, because all of these ideas came from trends they saw in the restaurant industry, not the snack food industry. Dave Young: Yeah. Yeah. Good observations. Well, thank you. Now I know a lot more about Doritos and Tostitos and why I don’t dip anymore. Stephen Semple: And it’s funny when you think about the recent Doritos advertising, when you talk about your mom making the comment, Doritos now runs a lot of ads where they don’t even use the word Doritos in the ad. They just show the triangle. Dave Young: Sure. Stephen Semple: And as soon as you show that triangle, what do we all think? Dave Young: That’s classic brand code. Stephen Semple: Right. Yes. Dave Young: McDonald’s is doing that. They’re just either using- Stephen Semple: The arches. Dave Young: Yeah. Just the arch or- Stephen Semple: Or even a piece of the arch. Dave Young: And then just the sound, just ba-ba-ba-ba-ba. That’s it. Once you get into empire territory, you can start doing fun things like that. Stephen Semple: Yep. And really own the mind and really own the space. Hats off to the host of Frito-Lay in terms of the stuff that happened over there. And I just, again, didn’t exactly fit our stuff, but I thought it did enough just because of the craziness. So that happened inside the company. Dave Young: I’m down for a fun story about business and food. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Rebels inside the four walls. Dave Young: That’s right. Thanks, Stephen. Stephen Semple: All right. Thanks, David. Dave Young: Thanks for listening to the podcast. Please share us, subscribe on your favorite podcast app and leave us a big, fat, juicy five star rating and review at Apple Podcasts. And if you’d like to schedule your own 90-minute Empire Building session, you can do it at empirebuildingprogram.com.

Need help? Check out these resources: www.firstresponderwellness.co/resources or Dial 988 for immediate help.   I Built My Recovery Like an Investigation - with Craig Semple Craig Semple served 25 years as a detective in the New South Wales, Australia Police Force—homicides, drug squads, outlaw motorcycle gangs, the kind of work that runs on adrenaline and silence. But behind the scenes, PTSD and burnout were stacking up: sleepless nights, heavy drinking, and a culture that treated suffering like weakness. After being medically retired, Craig entered a dark three-year spiral that culminated in a suicide attempt—then made a decision that changed everything: he built a recovery plan the way he used to run investigations. In this episode, Craig and Conrad unpack what first responders miss most—identity loss, the “helper who won't ask for help,” the family as the canary in the coal mine, and the everyday practices that keep you well enough to finish strong.   ABOUT CRAIG SEMPLE Craig Semple was a career Detective within the NSW Police Force for 25 years. Much of Craig's career was invested in `high risk' law enforcement including drug investigation, the investigation of outlaw motorcycle gangs and homicides. The environment within which Craig led professional people for much of his career was one that exposed employees to high levels of stress, high workloads, occupational burnout, depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. As a leader he developed a clear and practical understanding of workplace mental health and its relevance to workplace health and safety, occupational health and safety legislation, productivity, personal wellbeing and resilience. Craig's retirement from the Police Force was as a result of his own personal battle with workplace Psychological Injury. From that `lived experience' he has developed a rare personal insight into the causes, symptoms, treatment, recovery strategies and the impact of mental illness in the workplace. CRAIG'S BOOKS: The Cop Who Fell to Earth Getting Back Up Again     +++++   FIRST RESPONDER WELLNESS PODCAST Order the PTSD911 Film and Educational Toolkit here: https://ptsd911movie.com/toolkit/ Web site:  https://ptsd911movie.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ptsd911movie/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ptsd911movie/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClQ8jxjxYqHgFQixBK4Bl0Q Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/first-responder-wellness-podcast/id1535675703 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2wW72dLZOKkO1QYUPzL2ih Purchase the PTSD911 film for your public safety agency or organization: https://ptsd911movie.com/toolkit/ The First Responder Wellness Podcast is a production of First Responder Wellness Solutions, LLC Copyright ©2026 First Responder Wellness Solutions, LLC - All rights Reserved.  

In this episode of the Flex Diet Podcast, I sit down with Dr. Lauren Colenso-Semple to cut through the noise and tackle some of the most persistent myths in women's fitness. We break down where misinformation shows up in popular programs, why overly complicated plans often backfire, and what the science actually says about fasted training and low energy availability. We also get into hot topics like cold water immersion and cortisol, real sex-based differences in training responses, and why women's fitness research is still so challenging to conduct well. If you're looking for practical, evidence-based guidance instead of hype, this episode will help you train smarter and with more confidence.Sponsors:LMNT: http://drinklmnt.com/mikenelson (automatically applied at checkout)Beyond Power Voltra 1: https://www.beyond-power.com/michael13Fitness Insider Newsletter: https://miketnelson.com/Episode Chapters:04:30 Interview with Dr. Lauren Colenso-Semple05:01 Complications in Women's Fitness07:39 Effective Training Strategies18:42 Fasted Training for Women23:33 Low Energy Availability28:50 Cold Water Immersion for Women34:27 The Overemphasis on Recovery36:45 Sex-Based Differences in Training37:04 The Fiber Type Debate43:41 Genetics and Athletic Performance46:23 Women's Specific Supplements53:50 Challenges in Women's Fitness Research01:00:51 Rapid Fire Questions and ConclusionEpisodes You Might Enjoy:Episode 267: Demystifying Women's Fitness and Nutrition with Alli FahrenbachYouTube: https://youtu.be/w13NXowjSVU?si=QDdKNRGZZq_SgT5hEpisode 296: Enhancing Athletic Performance with Dr. Dani LaMartinaYouTube: https://youtu.be/ts_eqvs6OI4?si=TiqFPjcsxI9a3owFConnect with Dr Lauren Colenso-Semple:Website: https://www.drlaurencs.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drlaurencs1Get In Touch:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drmiketnelson/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCn1aTbQqHglfNrENPm0GTpgEmail: https://miketnelson.com/contact-us/

Send us a textComing in at #2 on our list of top podcasts for 2025 is my conversation with Lauren Colesco-Semple.What if most of what you've been told about fitness, hormones, and nutrition as a woman… isn't actually true?In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Lauren Colenso-Semple, PhD aka @drlaurencs1—muscle physiology researcher, science communicator, and co-owner of the MASS Research Review—to set the record straight on what actually matters for women's health and fitness.Whether you're navigating perimenopause, chasing strength goals, or just tired of sorting facts from fads, this conversation will leave you informed, empowered, and ready to ditch the outdated advice.We break down the science on: 

We're back with a one-off episode to share several exciting pieces of news! First, Lorenzo Semple's Batnotes memo (also known as "Bat Poop"), sent to prospective Batman writers, outlines Semple's concept of the show. It was thought by many to be lost, but now it has resurfaced! This time we share the seven most surprising things we found in this 14-page memo. It also inspires Paul to take a long-awaited Camping Trip! Second, our book is coming along. The plan is for it to cover Batman season one, with future books to cover the other two seasons. It's not finished, and now that we've belatedly hit on a good angle on the show, some parts that were thought to be finished may need a lot more work. We'll fill you in. Finally, we got some lavish praise from podcaster Frank Santopadre on his Fun For All Ages podcast!  Aw, shucks… Plus the Smooth4Lyfe EDM version of the Batman theme! Semple's TV Academy interview Follow us on Bluesky Batgirl's arrival

Welcome to Perimenopause WTF!, brought to you by ⁠Perry⁠—the #1 perimenopause app and safe space for connection, support, and new friendships during the menopause transition. You're not crazy, and you're not alone!  Download the free Perry App on ⁠Apple⁠ or ⁠Android⁠ and join our live expert talks, receive evidence-based education, connect with other women, and simplify your perimenopause journey.Today's episode is titled “Myth vs Reality What You Should Know About Managing Perimenopause Symptoms Through Lifestyle” Ditch the "quick-fix" myths and get the facts on how lifestyle changes and exercise actually impact your perimenopause journey. Fitness experts Lauren Colenso-Semple and Amanda Thebe answer the Perry community questions and break down the science of strength training, nutrition, and stress management to help you build a sustainable toolkit and feel your best.

Mark Levy gets up close and personal with Hugh Semple, the artist behind an exciting exhibition at the Anzac Memorial in Hyde Park, and his fellow veteran and mate Danny Jeffery. The pair spoke with Levy about the exhibition at the Anzac Memorial, with Semple bringing visitors on a personal journey, showcasing the powerful stories of Australian military veterans as they step into new chapters of life after service.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Aimee Semple | Biografia - Marcas do Avivamento

In this week's episode, associate editor Dr. James Griffin interviews researchers Dr. John Semple and Dr. Othman Al-Sawaf on their groundbreaking studies on transfusion-related acute lung injury and chronic lymphocytic leukemia treatment. Dr. Semple explored how mitochondrial DNA could act as a first hit in lung injury, while Dr. Al-Sawaf revealed that patient fitness may not significantly impact the efficacy of targeted CLL treatments. Both studies challenge existing medical assumptions and suggest new approaches to understanding disease mechanisms and treatment responses.Featured ArticlesThe impact of fitness and dose intensity on clinical outcomes with venetoclax-obinutuzumab in CLLMitochondrial DNA via recipient TLR9 acts as a potent first-hit in murine transfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI)

Two weeks into his policing career, Jason Semple was left bleeding in a Sydney gutter after being stabbed during a violent street confrontation that also claimed the life of his fellow police officer, Peter Forsyth. The attack in Ultimo in 1998 shocked the nation and changed the course of Semple's life. This is the first of two episodes, where Jason recounts the night that nearly killed him and the moment that defined his future in law enforcement.We're excited to announce the release of Sherele Moody's new podcast, She Matters. Click here to listen on Apple Podcasts, or find it wherever you get your podcasts.Click here to subscribe to ATC Plus on Apple Podcasts and access all ATC episodes early and ad-free, as well as exclusive bonus episodes. Join our Facebook Group here.Do you have information regarding any of the cases discussed on this podcast? Please report it on the Crime Stoppers website or by calling 1800 333 000.For Support: Lifeline on 13 11 1413 YARN on 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support phone line for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples)1800RESPECT: 1800 737 732Blue Knot Helpline: 1300 657 380CREDITS:Host: Meshel LaurieGuest: Jason SempleExecutive Producer/Editor: Matthew TankardGET IN TOUCH:https://www.australiantruecrimethepodcast.com/Follow the show on Instagram @australiantruecrimepodcast and Facebook Send us a question to have played on the show by recording a voice message here.Email the show at AusTrueCrimePodcast@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a "Shortcut" episode. It's a shortened version of this week's more detailed full episode, which is also available on our feed.Two weeks into his policing career, Jason Semple was left bleeding in a Sydney gutter after being stabbed during a violent street confrontation that also claimed the life of his fellow police officer, Peter Forsyth.The attack in Ultimo in 1998 shocked the nation and changed the course of Semple's life. This is the first of two episodes, where Jason recounts the night that nearly killed him and the moment that defined his future in law enforcement.We're excited to announce the release of Sherele Moody's new podcast, She Matters. Click here to listen on Apple Podcasts, or find it wherever you get your podcasts.Click here to subscribe to ATC Plus on Apple Podcasts and access all ATC episodes early and ad-free, as well as exclusive bonus episodes. Join our Facebook Group here.Do you have information regarding any of the cases discussed on this podcast? Please report it on the Crime Stoppers website or by calling 1800 333 000.For Support: Lifeline on 13 11 1413 YARN on 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support phone line for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples)1800RESPECT: 1800 737 732Blue Knot Helpline: 1300 657 380CREDITS:Host: Meshel LaurieGuest: Jason SempleExecutive Producer/Editor: Matthew TankardGET IN TOUCH:https://www.australiantruecrimethepodcast.com/Follow the show on Instagram @australiantruecrimepodcast and Facebook Send us a question to have played on the show by recording a voice message here.Email the show at AusTrueCrimePodcast@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn proven strategies for turning small beginnings into massive success from a serial entrepreneur who went from dropout to building a million-user platform. Cameron Mordi-Semple shares insider insights on scaling businesses, breaking into emerging markets, and succeeding without following the traditional playbook.

Lorenzo Semple's 14-page “Batnotes” memo to prospective Bat-writers lays out the basic things he wanted a writer to understand before attempting a Batman script. In our second episode digging into this memo, we discuss how the villian's real goal often isn't revealed until the end, some surprising revelations on how Semple imagined the GCPD and possible casualties among the henchmen, how murder isn't an MO for Bat-Villains (except for their attempts to murder the Dynamic Duo), and more. Plus: how YOU can help Tim and Paul assemble a TO THE BATPOLES! episode on this topic! Listen to Bat Bits and see the memo we're discussing by subscribing to our Patreon for at least $2 a month! For $4 a month, you ALSO get our monthly discussion of silver age Batman comics as Paul or another in our stable of co-hosts joins Tim to examine individual Batman stories from the 1950s and 60s! Slide down your Batpole to join our Patreon today!

Join us for an enlightening conversation with Dr. Lauren Colenso-Semple, a renowned muscle physiology researcher and science communicator. In this episode, we delve into the complexities of women's health and fitness, debunking myths around cycle syncing, hormone-based training, and the impact of cortisol. Dr. Lauren shares her expertise on how to navigate the overwhelming information landscape, emphasizing the importance of evidence-based practices and the basics of strength training for long-term health. Whether you're a fitness enthusiast or a professional, this episode equips you with the knowledge to make informed decisions and take control of your health journey. Please follow us on Instagram Level Up: https://www.instagram.com/levelup_podcast_/ Lauren: https://www.instagram.com/drlaurencs1/ Sharelle: https://www.instagram.com/sharellegrant/ Dani: https://www.instagram.com/daniantonellos/

In this episode, Laurel and Sarah sit down with  muscle physiology researcher and science communicator Lauren Colenso-Semple to take a hard look at some of the most popular and problematic claims circulating in women's health and fitness. Together, they unpack the slogan “women are not small men,” and the idea that women need completely different training and nutrition approaches than men. Lauren explains where the evidence actually stands on topics like muscle loss at 30, lifting to failure, cardio recommendations for women, bone density changes at menopause, training fasted versus fed, cycle syncing, cortisol “hacks,” and more.This conversation is a deep dive into separating women's physiology from marketing ploys. Learn why overcomplicating women's training does more harm than good. You'll gain clear, evidence-based guidance for women in perimenopause, post-menopause, and beyond.Sign up for the Bone Density Course Interest listFollow us @MovementLogicTutorials on Instagram04:30 Why Naming Sources Matters08:15 “Women Are Not Small Men”: What's True and What's Branding16:00 How Much Research on Women Actually Exists29:30 Training to Failure, Heavy vs. Light Loads, and Age-Specific Claims31:00 The Case for Keeping Moderate-Intensity Cardio36:15 Bone Loss Myths and What Exercise Really Helps46:30 What “Challenging Sets” Mean in Research49:00 Cortisol, Fasted Training, and Breakfast Timing52:30 Low Energy Availability vs. Simply Skipping Breakfast01:08:00 Cycle Syncing and Monthly Program Overhauls01:15:00 Rapid-Fire Q&A: Creatine, Weighted Vests, Collagen, Protein Targets, Electrolytes01:23:30 How Overcomplicated Rules Keep Women Out of Exercise01:24:00 Has Stacy Sims Done More Good or More Harm?01:26:30 Why Simple, Progressive Training Works for EveryoneDr Lauren Colenso-Semple on InstagramFront Page Fitness PodcastStudy Menstrual cycle phase does not influence muscle protein synthesis or whole-body myofibrillar proteolysis in response to resistanceMel Robbins Podcast interview with Dr. Stacey SimsHuberman Lab Podcast interview with Dr. Stacey Sims

Dr Lauren Colenso-Semple joins us to talk about the trends and traps around health and weight loss when so many “professionals” in the wellness space are out to “balance your hormones”!Dr Lauren: https://www.instagram.com/drlaurencs1?igsh=MWxqM2t2NjN2dWpvZA==Book a Call with Marcus Here! https://form.jotform.com/240493269367062 Free Strong Not Starving tips and insights ⬇️⬇️⬇️ https://www.strongnotstarving.com/snsweeklytipsStrong Not Starving Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/strongnotstarving?igsh=MTBpbnVna2Nyd3hnMA==Strong Not Starving Youtube: https://youtube.com/@strongnotstarving?si=zzmTveIdGUD0omuMWebsite: www.strongnotstarving.com

In this episode of Iron Culture, Eric Trexler is joined by Dr. Lauren Colenso-Semple to discuss various topics in fitness, particularly focusing on creatine supplementation, female-oriented creatine marketing, the rising popularity of creatine gummies, and several creatine myths. They discuss the importance of understanding the science behind creatine and debunk common misconceptions before moving on to discuss the role of exercise in bone health and fracture prevention. Need some lifting gear? Use our discount code (MRR10) over at www.elitefts.com Chapters 0:00 Introduction 3:45 Today's Show 5:38 Creatine for Women: Marketing vs. Science 9:09 Debunking Myths: Creatine Levels in Women 17:59 Issues With Creatine Gummies 24:48 Creatine Washout and Cycling 30:00 Creatine and Subcutaneous Water Retention 36:32 Training for Bone Health 46:22 Loading Recommendations for Bone Remodeling 50:05 Nuances in Bone Research 1:01:11 Dietary Considerations for Bone Health

In today's episode, we're joined by Dr. Lauren Colenso-Semple, a muscle physiology researcher, science communicator, and co-owner of MASS Research Review. She's one of the experts actually doing the research, and she's here to break down the fitness noise and help you make sense of it.We get into cycle syncing myths, creatine hype for brain health, collagen for skin, hair, and nails, inflammation, and the weighted vest walking trend that seems to be everywhere. Lauren helps us understand what the science really says, and how much of what's sold to women online is just marketing dressed up with big words.This conversation will clear the air and remind you that the basics still win. We talk about the frustration and confusion women face in the fitness space, how marketing distorts research, and why consistency (not complexity) is the foundation of results.“If it sounds too good to be true, it is… so we need to think critically about the messages that we come across online.”- Dr. Lauren Colenso-Semple“There are a whole lot of red flags when you see a program that is constantly encouraging you to change how you're exercising.”- Dr. Lauren Colenso-SempleThis week on Here's the Deal: Fitness, Nutrition and Mindset for People Who Don't Want Life to Suck:Why researchers historically avoided studying women, and how that's changingThe truth about hormones, strength training, and menstrual cyclesThe cycle syncing myth and why it's not backed by meaningful scienceCollagen for joints, skin, and hair, and what the data actually showsCreatine: useful tool or overhyped brain-booster?What inflammation really is, and what it isn'tWeighted vest walking: scientifically interesting, or practically irrelevant?How supplement use can become a false sense of accomplishment (and why it matters)Connect with Dr. Lauren Colenso-Semple:Dr. Lauren Colenso-Semple on InstagramDr. Lauren Colenso-Semple WebsiteFront Page Fitness Podcast on SpotifyFront Page Fitness Podcast on Apple PodcastsFront Page Fitness Podcast on YouTubeMASS Research ReviewThanks for tuning in to this week's episode of Here's the Deal: Fitness, Nutrition, and Mindset for People Who Don't Want Life to Suck, where we challenge the common understanding of what it means and what it takes to be fit and healthy! If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe and leave a review wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.Apple Podcasts | SpotifyBe sure to share your favorite episodes on social media and tag us!Join Iris Deadlifts on Instagram, Meri on Instagram, and Amy Rudolph on Instagram.

Lorenzo Semple, Jr., is the writer entrusted by producer William Dozier with getting the writing side of Batman off the ground. This time, we take a look at a letter from Semple to Dozier, in which he discusses his plans for the script of “Zelda the Great”,  a template for Bat-scripts, concerns about Adam West's acting style, and more. Listen to Bat Bits and see the letter we're discussing by subscribing to our Patreon for at least $2 a month! For $4 a month, you ALSO get our monthly discussion of silver age Batman comics as Paul or another in our stable of co-hosts joins me to examine individual Batman stories from the 1950s and 60s! Join today!

We covered:Fasted trainingProtein timingand many more fitness topics!Hear Dr. Lauren Colenso-Semple and Dr. Stacy Sims discuss outcomes versus mechanisms and much moreTap Here for Dr Stacy Sims ReferencesTap Here for Dr. Colenso-Semples ReferencesDr. LCS InstagramDr. SS Instagram 

On this week's episode of the CHASING CLARITY: HEALTH & FITNESS PODCAST, I sat down with Dr. Lauren Colenso-Semple one of the top researchers in the field of female physiology to dismantle some of the most pervasive and misleading fragility narratives being pushed onto women in today's fitness space.From the hype around cycle syncing…To the claim that women can't build muscle without lifting heavy…To the myth that menopause kills your metabolism or that calorie deficits “don't work” for women…We cover what the actual human evidence says and why many of these popular beliefs are built on fear, fragility narratives, and misapplied rodent research.Whether you're a woman who wants to train hard, get strong, and feel empowered or a coach working with women, this conversation gives you the clarity, confidence, and context to move forward with a truly evidence-based approach.WHAT WE COVER IN THIS EPISODE:• THE ORIGIN & LIMITATIONS OF CYCLE SYNCING• HOW MOST WOMEN DON'T HAVE A 28-DAY TEXTBOOK CYCLE• HOW HORMONAL FLUCTUATIONS ACTUALLY AFFECT STRENGTH & PERFORMANCE• DO WOMEN NEED TO LIFT HEAVY TO GROW MUSCLE?• THE RESEARCH ON LOW LOAD VS. HIGH LOAD TRAINING FOR WOMEN • WHY SHORTER REST INTERVALS AREN'T BETTER FOR STRENGTH• DO WOMEN STRUGGLE MORE IN A DEFICIT THAN MEN OR IS IT DUE TO A TDEE DIFFERENCE?• KISSPEPTIN, ENERGY BALANCE & THE “CICO DOESN'T WORK FOR WOMEN” MYTH• DOES MENOPAUSE REALLY LOWER METABOLIC RATE?• THE REAL REASONS FAT LOSS FEELS HARDER DURING PERIMENOPAUSE & POSTMENOPAUSE• WHY COACHING WOMEN SHOULD START WITH EVIDENCE, NOT FEARWHERE TO CONNECT WITH ME:Follow Brandon on IG: https://www.instagram.com/brandondacruz_/For Info on Brandon's Coaching Services: https://form.jotform.com/bdacruzfitness/coachinginquiryEmail: Bdacruzfitness@gmail.comBrandon's Website: https://www.brandondacruzfit.com

Are women being misled by flashy fitness trends that ignore the science?Michelle MacDonald welcomes Dr. Lauren Colenso-Semple, one of the world's leading researchers in female exercise physiology. Together, they dismantle popular but unproven trends like cycle syncing, oversimplified menopause nutrition hacks, and hormone-based fear messaging. Lauren explains what the evidence truly says about training, fat loss, and muscle growth for women in all life stages, including the menopause transition. Listeners will walk away with science-backed strategies for building strength, protecting metabolic health, and avoiding common fitness traps. Favorite Moments (timestamped bullet points):2:30 From Fitness Professional to Female Physiology Researcher6:44 Why Cycle Syncing Misses the Mark for Strength Training19:46 The Truth About Fat Loss During Menopause28:22 The Trade-Off Between Extreme Leanness and Quality of Life34:42 Why Muscle Growth Matters More Than Constant Fat Loss“The basics work. Don't let fear-based or overcomplicated messaging distract you from the fundamentals that build strength and health.”GUEST: LAUREN COLENSO-SEMPLEMASS Research Review | LinkedIn | Instagram Full Guest Bio: I am a muscle physiology researcher and science communicator with a Ph.D. in Integrative Physiology from McMaster University and a M.S. in Exercise Science from the University of South Florida. My work focuses on the influence of ovarian hormones on exercise-induced adaptations. I am also an expert fitness professional with years of practical experience in strength & conditioning and sports nutrition, and I am a co-owner of the MASS Research Review.CONNECT WITH MICHELLEWebsite | Instagram | YouTube | Facebook | XFull Michelle Bio: Michelle MacDonald is the creator of the FITNESS MODEL BLUEPRINT™ and host of the Stronger By Design™ podcast. Known globally for her transformation programs, Michelle empowers women to redefine aging through evidence-based strength training, nutrition, and mindset practices. Since 2012, she has coached thousands of women online, leveraging her expertise as a Physique Champion and ISSA Strength and Conditioning Specialist. She co-founded Tulum Strength Club and established The Wonder Women (TWW), inspiring countless transformations including her mother, Joan MacDonald (Train With Joan™). Michelle continues to lead the charge in women's fitness, launching the Stronger by Design™ fitness app in fall 2024.Where to Watch/Listen:WebsiteApple PodcastsSpotifyYouTubeLeave a rating for this podcast with one click https://ratethispodcast.com/michellemacdonald  

“Whether it's a pet cat, a feral cat, or a wildcat—they all deserve care and respect. TNVR isn't just about controlling populations; it's about preserving a legacy.” This episode is sponsored-in-part by Maddie's Fund and the Rescue Cleaners and Disinfectants. In this compelling episode of the Community Cats Podcast, host Stacy LeBaron speaks with Lara Semple, field team member of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland's “Saving Wildcats” project. Based at the Highland Wildlife Park, this initiative is leading the charge in restoring the critically endangered European wildcat to the Scottish Highlands. Lara shares her lifelong passion for feline welfare, tracing her journey from growing up in a boarding cattery to spearheading cutting-edge conservation work. She dives into the complexities of hybridization between wild and domestic cats, the challenges of reintroducing a species on the brink of extinction, and how their team uses GPS collars, soft-release techniques, and intensive field monitoring to give wildcats a fighting chance. Listeners will also learn how TNVR (Trap, Neuter, Vaccinate, Return) practices are strategically used to prevent genetic dilution from domestic cats, a major threat to wildcat survival. Lara explains the licensing hurdles, community outreach, and behavioral assessments involved in identifying and managing feral cat populations. This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in conservation, community cat management, and the delicate dance of coexistence between humans and wildlife. It's an inspiring look at science, compassion, and collaboration at work in one of the UK's most rugged and breathtaking landscapes. Press Play Now For: How European wildcats differ from domestic cats—and why it matters The story of Craig, a legendary feral cat with a 10 km² territory What it takes to breed and reintroduce wildcats into the Highlands How TNVR fits into saving a species from genetic extinction Strategies to mitigate conflict between wildcats and rural communities The unexpected challenges of identifying "owned" outdoor cats Resources & Links: Saving Wildcats Project Website (https://www.savingwildcats.org.uk/) Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (https://www.rzss.org.uk/) Cats Protection (UK) (https://www.cats.org.uk/) Highland Wildlife Park (https://www.highlandwildlifepark.org.uk/) Sponsor Links: Maddie's Fund (https://www.communitycatspodcast.com/maddies623) Rescue Cleaners and Disinfectants (https://www.communitycatspodcast.com/virox) Follow & Review We'd love for you to follow us if you haven't yet. Click that purple '+' in the top right corner of your Apple Podcasts app. We'd love it even more if you could drop a review or 5-star rating over on Apple Podcasts(https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-community-cats-podcast/id1125752101?mt=2). Select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review” then share a quick line with your favorite part of the episode. It only takes a second and it helps spread the word about the podcast.

Today we're cutting through the noise with Dr. Lauren Colenso-Semple - exercise physiologist, researcher, and straight-up myth-buster when it comes to training, fueling, and empowering women.We're talking about:Why most training advice for women is outdated (and flat-out wrong)The truth about protein needs, creatine, and menstrual cycle trainingHow to avoid losing muscle while on GLP-1s (yes, we went there again)Whether weighted vests are a gimmick or a game-changerAnd so much more!This is a no-BS, science-backed conversation for any woman who's tired of being told to eat less, lift light, or shrink to feel worthy.Lauren holds a PhD in Kinesiology and Exercise Physiology. Her research explores sex-based differences in strength and hypertrophy, protein metabolism, and how women actually adapt to training. She's on a mission to help women train smarter, fuel better, and push harder - with real science, not recycled fear tactics.Follow her on Instagram: @drlaurencs1Thank you Cured Nutrition for sponsoring our podcast!We LOVE Cured products and know you will, too! Whether it's popping a Serenity gummy to help you take the edge off after a long day, or taking a Flow gummy to help you crush your workout - Cured has something for you. ⁠⁠⁠Enter our code 'CTC' to receive 20% off your purchase from Cured Nutrition!⁠⁠Follow the pod: @cutthecrapwithbethandmattFollow your hosts:Beth: @bethferacofitnessMatt: @mattlaarfitJoin our Patreon for monthly workouts, challenges, recipes, and to become part of the Cut The Crap Community! This month we are doing a step challenge and are crushing our workouts. Become a member today for exclusive content! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/cutthecrappodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Visit our website to learn more about us, contact us, inquire about collaborating with us and more: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.cutthecrappod.com/⁠⁠Like this episode? Why not share it with a friend!Send us a DM on Instagram to let us know what you think of this one, and with episode ideas! If we use your comment or suggestion, we'll give you a shoutout on the podcast!

Send us a textWhat if most of what you've been told about fitness, hormones, and nutrition as a woman… isn't actually true?In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Lauren Colenso-Semple, PhD aka @drlaurencs1—muscle physiology researcher, science communicator, and co-owner of the MASS Research Review—to set the record straight on what actually matters for women's health and fitness.Whether you're navigating perimenopause, chasing strength goals, or just tired of sorting facts from fads, this conversation will leave you informed, empowered, and ready to ditch the outdated advice.We break down the science on: 

We're busting myths and breaking down the science behind some of the most misunderstood topics in wellness, starting with cycle syncing. Is it really the key to better workouts, or just another trend? We dive into what the research actually says and why women may not need totally different fitness advice after all.We also explore how muscle, fat loss, and bone health shift as we age—and what you can actually do about it. If you've ever felt confused by conflicting hormone advice, this episode is your no-BS guide to what's real, what's hype, and what your body actually needs.In this episode you'll learn: * How cycle syncing advice misses the mark* What we're getting wrong about fasted training* The truth about cortisol face* What women need to know about Ozempic and GLP-1s* Muscle-building basics for beginners* And more…Dr. Lauren Colenso-Semple is a muscle physiology researcher and science communicator with a Ph.D. in Integrative Physiology from McMaster University and an M.S. in Exercise Science from the University of South Florida. Her research focuses on how ovarian hormones influence exercise-induced adaptations, helping bridge the gap between female physiology and evidence-based training.In addition to her academic work, Dr. Colenso-Semple is an experienced strength and conditioning coach and sports nutrition expert. She brings years of hands-on experience to her science communication, making complex topics accessible and actionable. She is also a co-owner of the MASS Research Review, where she helps distill cutting-edge research for athletes, coaches, and health professionals.This episode is brought to you by beeya: * Learn more about beeya's seed cycling bundle at https://beeyawellness.com/free to find out how to tackle hormonal imbalances. * Get $10 off your order by using promo code BEHINDHEREMPIRE10Follow Yasmin: * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yasminknouri/* Stay updated & subscribe to our newsletter: https://www.behindherempire.com/Follow Dr. Lauren: * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drlaurencs1/* Website: https://www.drlaurencs.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Troy and Brian chat with journalist and author Claire Hoffman about her book Sister Sinner, which explores the life and mysterious disappearance of Aimee Semple McPherson, a pioneering figure in American evangelicalism and Pentecostalism. The discussion covers Claire's own upbringing in a transcendental meditation community and then explores the complexities of McPherson's life, her scandalous disappearance, and the impact of fame on religious figures. The conversation also reflects on the nature of celebrity, the challenges of historical narratives in religion, and the importance of embracing the complexities of human experience.Links:Claire Hoffman – Author & JournalistSister, SinnerGreetings from Utopia ParkTakeawaysClaire Hoffman grew up in a transcendental meditation community.Amy Semple McPherson was a pioneer of modern evangelicalism.The scandal surrounding McPherson's disappearance was unprecedented.McPherson's life reflects the complexities of fame and faith.The podcast discusses the importance of historical narratives in religion.Outrage against public figures often overshadows their contributions.Celebrity culture in religion has deep historical roots.Hoffman's book aims to present a balanced view of McPherson's life.The conversation highlights the role of community in shaping religious leaders.Hoffman is working on a novel about a yoga sex cult. ---We're now on video on YouTube here.Want more? Check out our exclusive Patreon episodes here.Our blog is here.Join the conversation and connect with others here.The transcript of this episode is here.All our other links are here. Doubting your beliefs? Have questions about changing or leaving your faith? You are not alone, and Recovering from Religion is here to help.

We're clearing the confusion (and calling out the clickbait) in this can't-miss conversation with Dr. Lauren Colenso-Semple—exercise physiologist, women's health researcher, and strength science powerhouse. Dr. Lauren joins CEO Amanda Tress to set the record straight on some of the most viral (and misleading) fitness advice floating around social media right now—like whether fasted workouts are “dangerous” for midlife women, if cycle syncing your training actually works, viral cortisol claims, and whether lifting super heavy is the only way to build muscle after 40. If you've ever felt confused by conflicting fitness advice on social media, this episode is your permission slip to stop overthinking and start lifting. Dr. Lauren delivers research-backed clarity (with a side of real talk) that'll leave you feeling confident, capable, and ready to crush your goals. Join FASTer Way's next 6 Week Program: https://www.fasterwaytofatloss.com/ Don't forget to check out our merch, supplements and other great deals: https://fasterwayshop.com/ Subscribe: youtube.com/FASTerWaytoFatLoss Follow us on Instagram: Amanda Tress: https://www.instagram.com/amandatress Dr. Lauren Colenso-Semple: https://www.instagram.com/drlaurencs1/ FASTer Way to Fat Loss: https://www.instagram.com/fasterwaytofatloss

Dr Lauren Colenso-Semple is garnering a lot of attention for her excellent myth busting media. Lauren joins to share:-Why “balancing hormones” is nonsense-If there's any evidence to support general training prescriptions around women's cycles-Do weighted vests help with bone mineral density -Can we “build” bone health as we age-Why we are seeing a lot of questionable or outright bad information on popular wellness podcasts-Why there's been an explosion in bad information about menopause-Do women lose muscle when training fasted-Clearing up misconceptions about cortisol -And much, much, more00:53 Debunking Hormone Balancing Myths02:08 Impact of Lifestyle on Hormones07:28 Menstrual Cycle and Training Myths22:05 Fasted Training and Muscle Loss27:50 Complexity in Fitness Narratives28:39 Navigating Menopause: The Perfect Storm31:06 Menopause Misinformation: A Growing Concern32:35 Debunking the Weighted Vest Myth41:15 Effective Strategies for Bone Health44:49 The Importance of Consistency in Physical ActivityI've been putting a lot of time and effort into making these new episodes valuable for you. You can help me get these great guests and their knowledge in front of more people by:-Subscribing and checking out more episodes-Sharing on your social media (please tag me - I promise I'll respond)-Sharing with the friend you think of who needs this episodeFollow Andrew Coates:Instagram:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@andrewcoatesfitness⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Join My Email List:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.andrewcoatesfitness.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Get the RP App at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.rpstrength.com/coates⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - use the code COATESRPUse Code ANDREWCOATESFITNESS to save 10% off at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://justbitememeals.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Use MacrosFirst for tracking nutrition ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.macrosfirst.com/⁠⁠Go to www.knkg.com/Andrew59676 for 15% off your KNKG bag.

Send us a textMetabolism “broken”? Cortisol through the roof? Syncing your workouts with your menstrual cycle like it's a lunar ritual? Let's unpack the madness.Welcome to the 2025 Fitness Complex—where the marketing is louder than the science and your confusion is the business model.Lauren Colenso-Semple, certified slayer of fear-based wellness B.S., is here to cut through the collagen powders and influencer jargon and serve up some actual facts.Keep calm and remember the six C's: Credentials, Consensus, Conflict of Interest, Common Sense, Confirmation Bias, and Communication Style.Still clinging to creatine? It's not a magic potion, so stop prioritizing it over your other healthy routines. Worried menopause is stealing your muscle? Blame aging, not your hormones. Resistance training is the only thing that fights back.Cycle syncing? Honestly, it's just a socially acceptable way to ghost your workout routine. And inconsistency is the real hormonal chaos.Supplements and biohacks won't save you. Showing up and doing the work will.No one wants to hear they have to work harder… but sorry, that's still the truth.Whatever physical activity you actually like? Do that. And then do it again.The myths, the shady sales pitches, the body-obsessed bait—tune it out.And as Lauren wisely says… stay safe out there. What's Inside:Actually build muscle during menopause (before AND after).The real deal on cycle syncing.How to spot sciency bullshit.Keep calm and remember the 6 Cs.Feeling personally victimized by the pseudo-health industry? It's time to seek personally individualized real health and fitness plans…NOT the one-size-fits-all magical fixes. Did we bust some myths you've fallen for? Let me know on Insta!Mentioned in this Episode:  Lauren Colenso-Semple, PhD (@drlaurencs1) on InstagramMASS Research Review Front Page Fitness - Podcast Transform Your Body & Habits In One Year.  Guaranteed. Oonagh Duncan (@oonaghduncan) on Instagram Fit Feels Good Goals, Grit and some Woo Woo Shit with Oonagh Duncan 

n this episode of the Other Side Lifestyle Podcast, hosts Jimmy and Aram engage with Lauren Colenso-Semple, a fitness professional and PhD, discussing various topics related to evidence-based fitness, the importance of critical analysis in scientific literature, and the nuances of training for women, particularly during menopause. They explore the pitfalls of misleading fitness claims, the debate surrounding weighted vests, and the significance of maintaining consistency in training. Lauren emphasizes the need for a comprehensive understanding of individual differences in fitness and nutrition, while also addressing the complexities of hormonal changes in women. In this conversation, the speakers delve into the complexities of nutrition, weight loss, and body image, particularly focusing on women's experiences. They discuss the challenges of societal expectations, the importance of personal responsibility in health, and the psychological aspects of body image. The conversation emphasizes the need for patience in fat loss, the role of strength training, and the misconceptions surrounding caloric burn and tracking. Ultimately, they advocate for a balanced approach to health that prioritizes well-being over strict adherence to numbers. Follow Lauren on IG: @drlaurencs1 You can find us on Instagram: Aram: @4weeks2thebeach Jim: @jimmynutrition   Grab some Serenity Gummies: CuredNutrition.com Code: OSL for 20% OFF Get some t-shirts/tanks/hoodies at:   https://www.othersidelifestyle.com/shop If you'd like to reach out to Aram, you can find him at:  https://www.4weeks2thebeach.com/work-with-me If you'd like to reach out to Jim, you can find him at:  https://www.othersidelifestyle.com/schedule Go get some supplements: www.legionathletics.com, use code: ARAM

Where to find Dr. Lauren CS ⬇️Research review: https://massresearchreview.com/IG: https://www.instagram.com/drlaurencs1/Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/front-page-fitness/id1809853430⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯Where to find me ⬇️IG: @JordanLipsFitnessPodcast: Where Optimal Meets Practical⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯My group program ⬇️WOMP Training [Gym + Home]⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯Helping you find the balance between OPTIMAL and PRACTICAL

Why does it feel like women are constantly bombarded with more rules restrictions and confusing advice when it comes to fitness In this episode I sit down with Dr. Lauren Colenso-Semple to break down some of the most common myths that keep women stuck and frustrated. We talk about fasted training cortisol fear tactics hormone confusion and why so much of the advice out there is overcomplicated and fear based We also dive into what the research really says about fat loss training through different phases of life including menopause and why most women don't need a separate rulebook to get strong feel better and see results If you've ever felt like your body is broken or that nothing works for you this episode will help you cut through the noise and finally understand what matters most Tune in and hear what the science really says Download my FREE Nutrition for Fat Loss eBook:  https://fit4lifeacademy.health/blueprint Apply to work with us at Fit4Life Academy: https://fit4lifeacademy.health/vsl-page I can't wait to hear your thoughts on this episode. Stay healthy and inspired.

On this episode of the Discover Strength Podcast, CEO Luke Carlson is joined by Dr. Lauren Colenso-Semple, a leading researcher at McMaster University, to bust the top myths about strength training for women, especially during menopause. They unpack the truth about lifting heavy, the role of estrogen, cortisol misconceptions, and the science behind “cycle syncing.” Dr. Colenso-Semple also shares practical, research-backed guidelines for effective resistance training at any age—and why it doesn't need to be complicated.Follow Dr. Colenso-Semple on Instagram: @dr.lauren.cs1Discover Strength offers free Introductory Workouts at any location across the united states. You can schedule your free Introductory Workout HERE !

Send us a textI had a great conversation with Dr Lauren Colenso-Semple today as we discussed what the science says, versus what the trends are saying! Listen in! Dr. Lauren Colenso-Semple discusses evidence-based fitness, emphasizing the importance of basics like strength training, balanced nutrition, and understanding hormone impacts without falling for misleading trends.00:00 Lauren's mission to simplify fitness and nutrition 07:07 Basic principles of health and fitness 14:15 Strength Training -heavy or light?21:24 Physical activity 28:27 Current protein recomendations35:38 Supplements42:44 Cortisol49:51 HormonesFollow Dr Lauren Colenso-Semple: https://www.instagram.com/drlaurencs1/Lauren's MASS Research Review: https://massresearchreview.com/Move Daily Membership: https://movedailyca.mykajabi.com/offers/rzB5Fqiw/checkoutFOLLOW ALONG!Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/movedailyfitness/Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/movedailyfitness/Follow on Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.ca/tracysteen/Indemnity** All information provided by Move Daily Fitness and Tracy Steen is of a general nature and is furnished for educational/entertainment purposes only. No information is to be taken as medical or other health advice pertaining to any individual's specific health conditions. Move Daily is not engaged in rendering any medical services. Move Daily makes no guarantee regarding the accuracy, timeliness or relevance of any text, video or audio content. Any content provided is not a diagnosis, treatment plan or recommendation for a particular course of action regarding your health and it is not intended to provide specific medical advice. Do not delay in seeking the advice and diagnosis of a medical professional because of anything you may have read or interpreted from Move Daily Fitness content.  Consult your health care professional before participating in or acting on any recommendations found on Move Daily Fitness.  You agree, at your exposure, to indemnify and hold Move Daily Fitness and Tracy Steen harmless from any and all losses, liabilities and injuries, or damages resulting from and all claims, cause of action, suits, proceedings and demands against Move Daily Fitness and Tracy Steen, arising from or related to decisions or recommendations you make using Move Daily Fitness content. You agree that use of this information is at your own riskShop Legion Supplements and use discount code: MoveDailyThis is an affiliate link. The Move Daily Membership is a paid monthly subscription for women, which gives you access to a huge amount of resources to help support you in reaching your health goals. Whether you're looking to lose fat, gain lean muscle, focus on your nutrition, give time to wellness or simply wish to dial in your overall health, we can support you in achieving your objectives. Join today!Support the showThanks for moving daily with us in your fitness, wellness and nutrition! Be sure to follow us here:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TracySteenMoveDailyInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/movedailyfitness/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tracy.steen1TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tracysteenSubscribe to my podcast! https://www.buzzsprout.com/2375873/support

In today's episode, I had the chance to speak to muscle physiology researcher and science communicator Dr. Lauren Colenso-Semple. Together, we unpack the common claims around hormones and training—from whether you should change your workouts based on your cycle, to the real effects of fasted cardio and birth control on performance and muscle growth. We also explore how menopause affects body composition, what the science actually supports when it comes to training differences between men and women, and why some of the most persistent myths about women's physiology are based more on assumption than evidence.What You'll Learn:Why women's physiology is not a limitation for building muscleWhether training around your menstrual cycle or avoiding fasted workouts is necessaryThe truth about oral contraceptives and their impact on performance, hypertrophy, and strengthHow menopause affects body composition—and what you can do about itWhy consistency and progressive overload matter more than hormone fluctuationsHow much protein and resistance training women actually need—and when to eat itThis conversation is for every woman who's been told her physiology is too complicated to train effectively. It's not. The science is finally catching up—and Lauren is helping lead the charge.This episode is brought to you by: Puori – Get 20% off with code DRLYON - https://puori.com/DRLYONCozy Earth – Use code DRLYON for up to 40% off - https://cozyearth.comBONCHARGE – Get 15% off with code DRLYON - https://boncharge.com/DRLYONOneSkin – Get 15% off with code DRLYON - https://oneskin.comFind Dr. Colenso-Semple at: Instagram - @drlaurencs1LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurencolensosemple/ X/Twitter - @drlaurencs1Find me at: Instagram:@drgabriellelyon TikTok: @drgabriellelyonFacebook: facebook.com/doctorgabriellelyonYouTube: youtube.com/@DrGabrielleLyonX (Twitter): x.com/drgabriellelyonApply to become a patient – https://drgabriellelyon.com/new-patient-inquiry/Join my weekly newsletter – https://institute-for-muscle-centric-medicine.ck.pageGet my book – https://drgabriellelyon.com/forever-strong/Timestamps: 00:00 – Introduction to the episode and what it covers: hormones, menstrual cycles, birth control, and muscle growth.01:00:29 – Training volume and progressive overload: what actually matters for hypertrophy.01:02:51 – Fasted training and cortisol: where the

Timeline: Get 10% off Mitopure, clinically proven to boost mitophagy.  Go to timeline.com/vanessa. In this myth-busting episode of The Optimal Protein Podcast, host Vanessa Spina is joined once again by Dr. Lauren Colenso-Semple — one of the most trusted voices in evidence-based women's health and strength training. Social media is overflowing with advice on what women should and shouldn't do when it comes to building muscle, managing hormones, and training across the menstrual cycle. But how much of it is actually backed by science? Dr. Lauren joins us to expose the truth behind the most persistent myths: from fasted workouts and estrogen “catabolism” to whether you need to sync your training with your cycle. Whether you're navigating menopause, using hormonal contraceptives, or just trying to get stronger and leaner — this conversation is packed with clarity and empowerment.  

Follow Dr Lauren Colenso-Semple HERE on Instagram. Also check out MASS Research Review.Topics discussed:(00:07) - Introducing Dr. Lauren (01:33) - Why did you want to do studies on women? (04:09) - What were your findings about cycle syncing? (09:20) - What's the danger in basing information on rodent research? (15:23) - When should we blanket all women as being the same? (28:34) - How do oral contraceptives affect muscle growth? (32:24) - Should women train fasted? (38:28) - What's the anabolic window? (43:44) - Preying on women's desire for information and support (49:30) - Learning from people's experiences with menopause (54:38) - What about HRT for women? (01:00:22) - What are things to look for when trying to find safe information on social media?

In this episode of the Active Bariatric Nutrition Podcast, I interviewed muscle physiology researcher, Dr. Lauren Colenso-Semple, also known as @drlaurencs1 on IG. We discussed:An overview of the menstrual cycle hormonal changes as well as what happens with our hormones as we enter perimenopause and menopauseMisconceptions around women and muscle building and the menstrual cycle Should women be "cycle-syncing" their workouts?Dr. Colenso-Semple's published research on muscle protein synthesis and whether hormonal changes during the menstrual cycle impact itAre there specific types of workouts or dietary guidelines women should be incorporating as they enter perimenopause or menopause?How To Follow Dr. Lauren Colenso-Semple and her research:Instagram: @drlaurencs1@massresearchreviewMass Research ReviewLet me know what you thought of the episode!To learn more about my new program, Bariatric STRONG launching in Spring 2025, click HERE to join the waitlist as space is limited and will fill up fast! To learn more about my 1:1 Bariatric Nutrition Coaching Programs, go to: www.activebariatricnutrition.comFollow Active Bariatric Nutrition at:Instagram - @activebariatricFacebook - Active Bariatric NutritionYouTube - Active Bariatric NutritionTikTok - ActiveBariatricNutrition

Amy Hudson and Dr. James Fisher talk with Lauren Colenso-Semple about the science of female muscle physiology and how hormonal fluctuations impact strength training. They explore the misconceptions around women's hormones, the underrepresentation of women in research, and whether training recommendations should differ between men and women. Lauren breaks down the truth about menstrual cycles, menopause, and testosterone, explaining why cycle-based training plans are misleading and how women can train effectively at any stage of life. Lauren Colenso-Semple is a scientist and science communicator who specializes in female muscle physiology. Her extensive research is primarily focused on how hormonal fluctuations—whether from the menstrual cycle or hormonal contraceptives—affect performance and exercise adaptations. Lauren explains the key hormonal factors at play, how they change throughout a woman's life, and why these differences matter in strength training. The truth about menopause and muscle health—Menopause is just a moment in time, marking the last menstrual cycle after 12 months of no period. Lauren breaks down the historical misconceptions around hormones and strength training, revealing how outdated beliefs have shaped fitness advice for women—and why it's time to rethink them. How much does testosterone matter for muscle growth? While it's essential for initial muscle development during puberty, Lauren reveals it's not the sole determinant of how much muscle a woman can gain through strength training. Why are women underrepresented in strength training research? According to Lauren, researchers have historically avoided studying female athletes due to the complexity of tracking hormonal cycles, leading to a lack of high-quality data. Lauren and Dr. Fisher uncover why men are naturally better at gaining muscle than women. Should training recommendations for women be different from men's? Lauren argues that to truly understand sex-based differences in training, we need better research methods that account for women's physiology without overcomplicating programming. Lauren reveals that the menstrual cycle isn't always 28 days—and that's normal. Despite the common textbook diagram, cycle lengths can vary between 21 and 37 days, and hormone patterns are rarely identical from month to month. Amy and Lauren explore whether women should avoid strength training during certain cycle phases. Research shows no significant differences in muscle-building potential across the cycle, meaning women don't need to skip or modify workouts based on hormone fluctuations alone. Some personal trainers still tell women to avoid strength training at certain times, but Lauren warns that this kind of advice disrupts consistency, misleads clients, and isn't backed by science. Lauren explains how trying to match workouts to hormonal phases adds unnecessary complexity and ignores fundamental principles of progression and consistency. Strength training should be done consistently throughout the cycle, with no need for major adjustments unless personal symptoms—such as fatigue or cramps—warrant modifications. Lauren and Dr. Fisher caution against overcomplicating strength training, pointing out that fitness trainers often do this to sell programs rather than to help women train effectively. Why strength training is critical as you age—After your 30s, muscle mass and strength naturally decline, but lifting weights can slow or even reverse this process, keeping you strong and independent. One of the most powerful benefits of strength training is its ability to reshape not just your body but also your confidence, longevity, and overall health. Lauren shares stories of women who struggled with fitness for years, jumping from cardio to group classes to online programs—until they found strength training and finally saw lasting results. The empowering effect of getting stronger. Amy and Lauren discuss strength training during pregnancy. They share how, with proper guidance, lifting weights can be safe and beneficial for both mom and baby, helping with strength, mobility, and postpartum recovery. Why male coaches need to engage in this conversation—Dr. Fisher stresses that understanding female physiology isn't optional for trainers, and even a basic knowledge of hormone cycles can help them coach women more effectively. Dr. Fisher's message to personal trainers and coaches: cycles are a big part of a woman's life and a big part of a woman's training. The least you can do is understand how to train them during these phases.     Mentioned in This Episode: The Exercise Coach - Get 2 Free Sessions! StrengthChangesEverything.com     This podcast and blog are provided to you for entertainment and informational purposes only. By accessing either, you agree that neither constitute medical advice nor should they be substituted for professional medical advice or care. Use of this podcast or blog to treat any medical condition is strictly prohibited. Consult your physician for any medical condition you may be having. In no event will any podcast or blog hosts, guests, or contributors, Exercise Coach USA, LLC, Gymbot LLC, any subsidiaries or affiliates of same, or any of their respective directors, officers, employees, or agents, be responsible for any injury, loss, or damage to you or others due to any podcast or blog content.

Artist and MAGA OG Shay Semple joins once more to discuss the radical first month of the Trump presidencyOSTKraftwerk "Computer Love"ESG "Shinin and Grindin" M8 "Sword Shards" Kim Fowley "Bubblegum" Peste Noire "La dernier putsch"The Bomber Jackets "Legends Never Die"

ETP Red River Valley Today with guest Lamar County Tourism Director Becky Semple - Eric talks to Becky about her upcoming retirement and all of the amazing things that have happened over her storied career. They also talk about leaving it all in good hands and the great things for Paris moving forward. 

Lauren Colenso-Semple is a muscle physiology researcher, science communicator, and co-owner of the MASS Research Review. Her research primarily focuses on female physiology and endocrinology and the response to resistance exercise. Lauren has a PhD in Integrative Physiology, MS in Exercise Science, and BA in Psychology. She is also an expert fitness professional with years of practical experience and certifications in strength and conditioning, sports nutrition, group fitness, and personal training.About the ShowWe cover all things related to sports science, nutrition, and performance. The Sports Science Dudes represent the opinions of the hosts and guests and are not the official opinions of the International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN), the Society for Sports Neuroscience, or Nova Southeastern University. The advice provided on this show should not be construed as medical advice and is purely an educational forum. Hosted by Jose Antonio, PhDDr. Antonio is the co-founder and CEO of the International Society of Sports Nutrition and the co-founder of the Society for Sports Neuroscience, www.issn.net. Dr. Antonio has over 150 peer-reviewed publications and 16 books. He is a Professor at Nova Southeastern University, Davie, Florida in the Department of Health and Human Performance.Twitter: @JoseAntonioPhDInstagram: the_issn and supphd 

Cameron Mordi-Semple Spearheading Legion Networks explosive growth to achieving 1 million real users within 15 days of launching his app and taking his project to a $320 million market cap is one of the topics we discussed ================ All Episodes can be found at www.thecryptopodcast.org   Podcast Coaching + All Social Media + Donations link https://bio.link/podcaster   Our Facebook Group can be found at https://www.facebook.com/thecryptopodcast   ======= Help Support the show through my Business Partners :    Get a Virtual Assistant at https://va.world/ ------- Upgrade Your Brain    Unleash & Use Your Uniqueness   https://braingym.fitness/⁠    --------------------------   Speaking Podcast Social Media / Coaching My Other Podcasts    ⁠⁠⁠https://roycoughlan.com/⁠⁠   Health & Wellness Products   https://partnerco.world/   My Website https://partner.co/?custid=N6543249    ============ About my Guest Cameron Mordi-Semple: Cameron Mordi-Semple is a creative tech leader, entrepreneur and aspiring author known for defying convention and turning bold ideas into reality. Spearheading Legion Networks explosive growth to achieving 1 million real users within 15 days of launching his app and taking his project to a $320 million market cap serves as one example. His tech development firm, Blockmob Labs has been responsible for some of the most robust projects in the space, having completed close to 100 project developments in the last 24 months. He sits as Managing Partner at Mizan, an emerging systems venture collective, utilising specialised technology and innovative algorithmic systems to achieve high-yielding results. Through his ventures and insights, he aims to help underdogs and dreamers unlock their potential, proving that even the smallest players can thrive in a competitive landscape for the few. What we Discussed:   - His young Entrepreneurial Journey (2 mins) - The Awards he won (4:15 mins) - What is the Legion Network (8 mins) - How did they get Explosive growth (13 mins) - Having NFT's on the Platform (17:30 mins) - What is Renting NFTs (18:30 mins) - The NFT Security (21 mins) - What does Blockmob Labs do (23:30 mins) - What are Telegram Mini Apps (24:45 mins) - Pump & Dump Scammers (30:45 mins) - Can we stop scammers (33 mins) - The wallet they create (35:45 mins) - The seed phase protection (37:45 mins) - The Mizan Company ( 39 mins) - How does he manage his day involved with so many companies (41:45 mins) How to Contact Cameron Mordi-Semple:   https://www.linkedin.com/in/cameronmordisemple/ https://x.com/cmsnov4 ============== Speaking Podcast Social Media / Coaching My Other Podcasts    ⁠⁠⁠https://roycoughlan.com/⁠⁠ https://www.instagram.com/cmsnova/   Health & Wellness Products   https://partnerco.world/   My Website https://partner.co/?custid=N6543249   

Get 20% off the Tone LUX Crystal Red Light Therapy Face Mask with the code VANESSA In this episode of The Optimal Protein Podcast, we're joined by Dr. Lauren Colenso-Semple to uncover the truth behind cycle syncing. Does tailoring your workouts and nutrition to your menstrual cycle really enhance performance and results? Or is it just another fitness trend? Dr. Colenso-Semple breaks it all down, sharing insights from her latest research on female physiology, sex-based differences, and the mechanisms behind muscle growth. Tune in as we discuss: • What cycle syncing really is—and whether it's supported by science. • The impact of hormonal fluctuations on strength, recovery, and muscle protein synthesis (MPS). • The role of satellite cells and myonuclei in female muscle adaptation. • How to optimize strength training across all phases of the menstrual cycle. • The pros and cons of machines vs. free weights for women. • Evidence-based strategies for women to achieve better strength, health, and body composition. Dr. Colenso-Semple's expert knowledge and years of practical experience make this a must-listen episode for anyone looking to cut through the noise and approach training with science-backed confidence. Guest Bio: Dr. Lauren Colenso-Semple holds a Ph.D. in Integrative Physiology from McMaster University, an M.S. in Exercise Science from the University of South Florida, and a B.A. in Psychology and Nutrition from the University of Buffalo. She regularly publishes peer-reviewed articles in leading exercise science journals, with a focus on female physiology and endocrinology, sex-based differences, and mechanisms of muscle growth. Beyond her research, Dr. Colenso-Semple is an expert fitness professional with years of practical experience and certifications in strength and conditioning, sports nutrition, group fitness, and personal training. Resources Mentioned: • Link to Dr. Colenso-Semple's new study on cycle syncing  Enjoyed the episode? Make sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with someone passionate about women's fitness and evidence-based training approaches! Join the Community! Follow Vanessa on instagram to see her meals, recipes, informative posts and much more! Click here @ketogenicgirl Follow @optimalproteinpodcast on Instagram to see visuals and posts mentioned on this podcast. Link to join the facebook group for the podcast: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2017506024952802/   Thank you to our sponsor:   Bioptimizers Magnesium Breakthrough is one of the only supplements I take with me when I travel as it is so important to me! Save 10% OFF with the code VANESSA at bioptimizers.com/vanessa If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to subscribe and leave a review. Share your thoughts and questions with us on social media! Join the Community! Follow Vanessa on instagram to see her meals, recipes, informative posts and much more! Click here @ketogenicgirl Follow @optimalproteinpodcast on Instagram to see visuals and posts mentioned on this podcast. Link to join the facebook group for the podcast: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2017506024952802/   Thank you to our sponsor:   Bioptimizers Magnesium Breakthrough is one of the only supplements I take with me when I travel as it is so important to me! Save 10% OFF with the code VANESSA at bioptimizers.com/vanessa