myBurbank Talks
Women of Burbank: Legacy General Manager Erika Dawn
Join myBurbank reporter, Ashley Erikson, in a conversation with Erika Dawn, the general manager at kids class professor at Legacy, the Brazilian jiu-jitsu studio in Burbank.
Erika shares her story of growing up in a rural town in Colorado and dreaming of being a dancer in Los Angeles, but how the world of jiu-jitsu turned her life upside down. She shares her journey moving up into her position at Legacy, and also her position as a black belt in jiu-jitsu, and shares stories of competing internationally.
Learn more about Legacy at www.legacybjj.com
Follow Erika on Instagram at @erikadownbjj
This episode was sponsored by Compass Realtors Mike McDonald and Mary Anne Been. https://burbankarealiving.com/
Join myBurbank reporter, Ashley Erikson, in a conversation with Erika Dawn, the general manager at kids class professor at Legacy, the Brazilian jiu-jitsu studio in Burbank.
Erika shares her story of growing up in a rural town in Colorado and dreaming of being a dancer in Los Angeles, but how the world of jiu-jitsu turned her life upside down. She shares her journey moving up into her position at Legacy, and also her position as a black belt in jiu-jitsu, and shares stories of competing internationally.
Learn more about Legacy at www.legacybjj.com
Follow Erika on Instagram at @erikadownbjj
This episode was sponsored by Compass Realtors Mike McDonald and Mary Anne Been. https://burbankarealiving.com/
From deep in the Burbank Media District. It's time for another edition of my Burbank Talks, presented by the staff of my Burbank. Now let's see what's on today's agenda as we join our program.
Speaker 2:Hi, this is Ashley Erickson from my Burbank, and welcome back to another episode of Women of Burbank. Today, my guest is Erica Dawn. She is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu kids coach and the general manager here in Legacy in Burbank. She has competed all over the world and in November of 2022, she was promoted to Black Belt. I'm so excited you're here and to learn about you today.
Speaker 3:Thank you, thank you for having me. I'm so excited. I get a little nervous. I'm like, oh, boy, okay.
Speaker 2:But I was really excited. It's going to be so easy. And I'm really excited because my son just joined Legacy in the last couple months and it's very new to us, but it already feels like a family and you go in and you see the same faces. You feel like they're all day, every day, with the number of practices there are. So I see you every day when I'm there and I never got to learn about you and talk to you. So I'm really excited.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I'm really looking forward to it, and also, your son is amazing. Oh, thank you.
Speaker 2:He just got his first stripe. It was very exciting, very, very exciting. So first tell me a little bit about yourself, where you grew up. When did you come to LA? What's your background?
Speaker 3:Well, I grew up in Colorado. So I grew up there and kind of outside of the city of Colorado Springs, like in Alpaso County, colorado, my parents lived on Six Acres kind of grew up with like the farm kid life you know, but not like a functional I don't want to say not a functional farm, but my mom, like full send like she was like we're going to have ducks and chickens and goats and we had horses for a while and we had some acreage and so we had dirt bikes. So I kind of grew up like as this farm kid, very tomboy girl and then and I had all like boy cousins, so it was very like a tomboy upbringing. And then I, out of nowhere, like my mom was always throwing sports at me like soccer, you know, soccer, softball, volleyball and nothing stuck. Like I was super active kid and athletic kid, wild child, but none of the sports or team sports stuck yeah, so then no, I couldn't find it. So then she stuck me in gymnastics and I really liked it and I excelled. It was like a good solo sport for me but it was just kind of like Teacher of the Week. The facility was really disorganized.
Speaker 3:So then I started, she pulled me out of gymnastics and she was like well, I'm going to put you in dance. And it was like this tomboy kid going into into being a dancer. Well, I loved it. I loved it and it like changed the trajectory of my life. Like it was like the thing where my mom said, if we throw enough mud on the wall, something's going to stick. And it was dance. And I was like completely and fully immersed into the life of a dancer. And so I danced all through, you know, like middle school, high school, and I traveled to Los Angeles and I was like I'm going to dance a handful of times with my company and we would dance and we would train here in the summers. And there was a school called the Edge Performing Arts Center in Los Angeles and downtown and all the alumni from my school and my academy would go and they would audition for this scholarship program. And the scholarship program was like a one year intensive and then after that they helped you get agents and then you would start working as a dancer in LA.
Speaker 3:And so I decided my freshman year of high school that's what I wanted to do and I was really struggled in school. So I always you know, I barely passed high school. Like it was like I think my guidance counselors just genuinely lacked me as a person. They liked me as a person but they like helped me pass. But like the college route, I was like I'm not doing this.
Speaker 3:So I put all my eggs in one basket and I trained and my parents said you know, if you want to go do this LA thing after you graduate, like, you got to save, you got to work for it and you got to pay for it, you know you're going to. If you want to live there and do the scholarship program, it's like on you. So I worked all through high school, saved a bunch of money, was dancing, came out to the auditions for the scholarship program and then I didn't make it. Oh no, and that was everything that I had.
Speaker 3:Like, I put my all into that thing and I remember crying and they posted the thing, they posted the results, and I didn't make it and I called my dad at like midnight and he was like what are you going to do? And I said I don't know. This is everything I thought about doing. Like was to dance. And he was like, well, he's like go like, move to LA and just, even if it's just three months, just go and do it. And so this upbringing of like being this farm girl to then a dancer, to then, just when I was 19,. I just came home packed two suitcases and I moved to LA, and that was in 2012.
Speaker 2:Wow, it's a big jump of faith. It was huge, it was huge.
Speaker 3:Now, when I look back, I'm like what, why did they let me do that?
Speaker 2:But look where it's got you now. I'm like so excited like the retrospective, like how you've come so far, and like tell me where you went from being a dancer to finding jiu-jitsu, because that's like a complete opposite thing. Yeah, I feel like yeah, and I had no karate like no martial arts, and you were not an athlete before at all other than dancing.
Speaker 3:Other than a dancer Like I was a dancer and I was active but like I didn't do sports, I had no knowledge of any martial art. And I came to LA and it was a big struggle, like it was a big struggle like to train and financially, and I, you know, I'd had. You know however much I had saved up, you know, before I came out, which wasn't a lot, and I remember barely making enough money to just survive. And so while I was trying to audition, and so I got my personal training, I got into weightlifting and I got into my personal training certification because I was like, if I can do personal training, I can set my own hours, aside from like I wasn't working in restaurants but I was doing retail, which is like you have no say, you know you make, you make essentially nothing.
Speaker 3:And so I was like I'm going to get certified as personal trainer, start doing personal training to set my own hours. So I started working at a place called results personal training in Sherman Oaks and the owner was a wrestler from Romania Wow, and he was kind of like my mentor. He helped me learn how to like start to work with people, how to do personal training, start to work on one-on-ones and it was a gym only for one-on-one training and a lot of the people that he trained, he worked with were professional wrestlers and professional jujitsu athletes. So I would see these jujitsu athletes coming in and doing their training and it was just like insane and they were always like prepping for Worlds or like these big tournaments. And you know they would always just kind of like tease at me and they would be like, hey, like you should come to jujitsu, like they're always trying to get me to come in First of all, I don't even know what you're saying.
Speaker 3:Like I don't know anything. I'm this like naive, like 19 year old from or at the time I was a little older, now I was 21. I was like, but I don't know, I don't know, I don't even know anything about the sport at all. And so one of the guys he was training was like a big time world champion. He had his own school and that kind of like intimidated me. I was like I'm up for trying it, but that school, like not knowing anything about the world, seemed a lot to me. So one of his other black belts had like a smaller school and I was like you know what? I'll go there, I'll go to like the smaller, newer school. And I went in and I tried a class I didn't have no idea, like no idea what I was getting into.
Speaker 2:It's intense too. Even though it's the first class, they're like throwing you around like a rag doll.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we did hip tosses, which is literally exactly that. But I remember walking in First of all. I like paste in the parking lot, Like for like 30 minutes, like getting myself brave enough to walk in, go in and they hand me a gi and.
Speaker 3:I'm like, oh OK, and I like put it on. It feels like these giant pajamas and like someone at the desk like tying my belt, like now it's interesting like for me to watch all the white belts and all the new people like get those feelings that they're having walking in and I like totally understand exactly how they're feeling. That's how I felt, you know, a decade ago. And but, anyways, I go in and after my first class we did like hip tosses and I was just, I was like I love this, like this is so fun, like this is what I want to do, and so, yeah, that's how I like jumped into it.
Speaker 3:It was just all by, like accident, and I think for me, a big reason why it was so important to me when I first came out here was I was really struggling, first moving to LA and I had no community and I had no friends and growing up in Colorado and, like dancing, I always had a strong community and so something that like drew me to Jiu Jitsu in the beginning, yes, was the skill and the new sport and I loved it, but it was also like I didn't have any friends, like I didn't have any very little friends, a very small group and so it felt like somewhere I could go and it was like all encompassing for me. It was like my place.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and you're so one on one with people. So it's like you have to get to know people when you're like headlocking them, right, yeah, hey, how's it going? Yeah, we're going to get real close real fast, exactly. So then you jumped into competing very quickly because it was like what a couple months you were doing classes and then you went into the competition world. So what was like that, going from practices to understanding the competition world.
Speaker 3:So so for me, I've always kind of been like a like a full send kind of person You're all in, I'm all in. Like you want to go skydiving? Yeah, sure, why not? You want to like whatever? Like I just was go and so the coach was like, oh, you know, you should, you should compete.
Speaker 3:And I was like, okay, like it was three months in, like brand new white belt, I didn't know anything. Wow, you know. And I just like I just started and I didn't know what to expect. I had like no idea. I went in and I had like crazy fight, like a crazy fight. It was like a five minute fight. The score was zero, zero. And then at that time, if it was zero, zero, you get kind of like a sudden death where the first person to score wins. So they stand you up right after this fight, shake hands and you go First person to score wins. We ended up fighting for like another five or six minutes and then she finally scored on me and I just remember like, oh my gosh, like I had no idea what I was getting myself into.
Speaker 2:And I lost. You held your ground for so long.
Speaker 3:I held my ground just because, like pure grit, like I didn't know what I was doing, All. I knew was to like at the time was stay on top. I didn't know other points, I didn't know other strategy. I just knew I was on the top and I didn't want to go on the bottom.
Speaker 2:And that's such like the competition world is so interesting. Like when I think about karate or wrestling or jujitsu, it's like I just feel like you're supposed to just take them out, make them hit the ground, sit on them or something to have them out. But there's like points and the way you do things creates different points, right, so that's, I'm sure that's like a whole science to it, like learning what to do and what creates points, and like you're probably going like when you're in the competition, are you constantly like, okay, my hands here, so I have to move it here to get to this point? Like, is it like a whole process?
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's definitely a process and, like, when I first started competing, I didn't know anything, you know, but I loved it and I wanted to keep doing it and I competed a lot all through. You know all the ranks and it was just something like you had to learn the rules and you had to learn like how to score, you know like how to advance position and how to like learn what earns you what points, and so it was really cool, because jujitsu is it's for self-defense, like I feel very like strong and confident as a woman on the street so I feel like I could protect myself. But at the same time there's the self-defense aspect. Then there's also, like the sport aspect. If you wanna learn like the strategy and the techniques and the like sport jujitsu and points and all that kind of stuff, there's like it's like all encompassing.
Speaker 2:You know how to win points, but you also know how to take someone down. So you're saying, yeah, it's nice, I love that. It's a perfect sport. So then you came to legacy because that wasn't where you started, right? So legacy is here in Burbank on victory. So what brought you to legacy and how was that beginning months, starting over there.
Speaker 3:So my first school, like I said, I just went and tried this new school and they were new and I wanted to compete. Like, after competing for a while, I wanted to compete and I wanted more structure and someone had invited me to legacy. I tried a class and I had just, I was still a white belt. Actually, when I first just tried a class and all of the people like lower white belt ranked than me, they were like beating me up Super bad. And one of the guys there. He still coaches there, joey.
Speaker 3:He's at Kettle Jetsu on Instagram and he was telling me oh yeah, we have fundamentals program, you know, and I was just like, oh, wow, like I don't have that and we have a lot of competitors and I'm like, oh, we don't really have that. And so I ended up staying at my first school for a while, I ended up getting my blue belt, because it was really hard for me to leave. You know, I had made changes like that in the dance world, where it's like you leave studios and it can be like a difficult switch, and so I was really nervous. But I eventually decided that I wanted to be at Legacy because I did my research on Alberto Crane and he's just a pioneer like in the sport and I wanted to compete.
Speaker 3:And so I went, and I remember going to like a noon class and I met Alberto and I was like so nervous, I was like, oh God, I don't even know how to talk to him. But I went up and I was like, hi, I'm Erica and I want to compete. Can I come here? Oh, and he was just kind of like, hmm, he's like okay. And so I made the switch and in the beginning it was like a little hard for me because I had gotten my blue belt at my first school and I felt like my first school really taught me how to be tough. Like they taught me how to be tough, I was like fighting these guys and I mean they was like I could just go, but my technique was really lacking because I didn't have like a strong fundamental base.
Speaker 2:Did you have a? You started from ground zero when you went over to Legacy. Does your belt transfer over?
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 3:So my belt transferred over, so I had just gotten my blue, and then I moved to Legacy as a fresh blue belt and I was in the advanced classes.
Speaker 3:But there was like other white belts Like once you get like a certain amount of stripes on your belt, you can come up into like the advanced classes. And I remember some of the white belts just destroying me and I was like, no matter how hard I fought, I just I was not doing well. And so the transition at first was just like, oh my gosh, like I don't even want this like blue belt, like these white belts are like kicking my butt. So in the beginning it was an adjustment. But then my technique really started to improve and I started competing with them and so in the beginning it was just like this adjustment of really having to like swallow that, like okay, I know how to like I'm gritty and I'm down for a fight, but my technique was really lacking and it took me like a good amount of time to feel like I was catching up, yeah, and there's so many classes at Legacy I feel like I mean, they're open all day long.
Speaker 2:The kids classes there's like what nine a week, there's one every single day, sometimes two a day, so there's really an opportunity to grow and grow quickly in the sport too. I think right, yeah, and that's what I love.
Speaker 3:So much about Legacy because when I made the switch over there, I was still working in Sherman Oaks as the personal training gym. But I loved the schedule at Burbank because there's so many options. Like and that's something that I feel like we really try to focus on is like trying to cater to all, everyone, everyone. You know. Like we have 5 30 AM fitness class. We have a 6 30 AM, like all levels in fundamentals class. We have 10 AM. We have 11.
Speaker 2:It goes on and on it's crazy, you know.
Speaker 3:then you jump into our kids class and we know like how active all the kids are here, Like we have like piano and dance and soccer and all these things. And so we, you know, when we were really working on our schedule, we wanted to make it available to have a fundamentals option seven days a week, you know, because there's so many kids that's like, oh, we're in soccer season, do we have to cancel? No, if you have soccer on Tuesday, Thursday, come on Monday, Wednesday or come, you know, Saturday, Sunday, whatever you can. So we have a very broad schedule and then our schedule just continues all the way till like 10.
Speaker 2:PM. It's a great business plan, I mean because we have soccer and my other kids have stuff, and so there's always at least two days that we can make it there, which I think is perfect, yeah, and the times alternate and stuff.
Speaker 3:So it's like a while to like figure that schedule out. You know to figure out like what worked for the community. But I really do feel like this community I mean probably most but just being in Burbank for so long everybody's active, everybody has something, something. You know we have tons of people that work at like Nickelodeon and Warner Brothers and stuff like that. So the schedules are always. They vary like so vastly. So it's nice to have a nice packed schedule?
Speaker 2:Yeah, 100%, and it's not just Jiu-Jitsu there, there's Muay Thai right and you do Tak Fit, which is. Can you tell me a little bit about what?
Speaker 3:Tak Fit is. So we have the Muay Thai, which is like striking. We have a Kettle Jitsu class, which is like body weight and kettlebells, and then we have the Tak Fit program. And the Tak Fit program is like a complete fitness module. I guess it's like the easiest way to explain it is it touches based on like joint mobility and really making sure like you can move through like all your fashion lines and working on your joints, and then it runs through different timing protocols and it works like all like aspects of fitness, Like strength and mobility and being able to do dynamic range of motions, like in your protocol, which would be like the work part, like the strength and conditioning part of it.
Speaker 3:And then the end of class always ends with like a long cool down, like deep stretching, working on breath. So it's a very like complete program. And the nice thing about the Tak Fit is it's it can be for anybody. It can be for, you know, the new mom. It can be for someone that's like an athlete actively competing. It can be for someone who's had like a sedentary life and they wanna be fit and they wanna like be healthy for their family and they come in and it's like we all can be in one room training and you have your protocol on the board and everybody can do it at their own pace.
Speaker 3:And it's so it's really special program.
Speaker 2:I'm sure that helps a lot with like preventing injuries, right, like keeping those muscles flexible and warmed up and stuff, definitely. So, tell me, the belts confuse me beyond belief. So I know it's different than karate, like the colors are different, right, yeah, the colors are different. And then so I see like the coaches, and I did see like a poster that had like the colors and there was like names like a coach, assistant coach, professor, right, those, that's how it works.
Speaker 3:So essentially all the colors go for adults. They're different for kids, but for adults it's white, blue, purple, brown and black. So all of the colored ranks white, blue, purple and brown were referred to as coach. Got it Okay? So they're a coach. And then, once you get your black belt, then people start instead of coach Erica, it's professor Erica.
Speaker 2:Oh so so yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:It's been like a cause. I just got my black belt in November of 2022. And it's been like a still to this day. But it was like oh, coach, erica, I mean professor, and I'm like, no, trust me, like you can call me coach, I'm still getting used to it. Cause I'm still getting used to it and I've been coached for you know, like 70 years so. But that's how the belts work, and then it varies, but typically, like white to black is around a 10 year process. So, yeah, wow, yeah. So it took me like right under 10 years to get mine to get my black belt.
Speaker 2:Do you do the stripes like the kids do too?
Speaker 3:A little differently. So, again, kids are run on a different ranking system. But yeah, so. So for adults we get four stripes per belt. So you get like four white stripes on your white white to brown, and then the black belt stripes run a little differently. They're like longer, you know like after a couple years, so they're a little different. So, yeah, we get four stripes on your belt and then each belt has it's kind of like rough timeline. You know, like white belt is usually like at least a year, if not like a year and a half, and then blue belt is like the longest belt for adults.
Speaker 3:That's why they call it the. You often hear it called like the blue belt blues Never get out of it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's like this thing.
Speaker 3:Like I was a blue belt for three and a half years. Yeah, like you. Just my blue belt was just falling apart. You know, like it was like shredding and purples like about two years brown, it's like around two years. So it ends up kind of equaling out to like a 10 year process.
Speaker 2:You really have to have patience and dedication. You're in it for the long run, yeah.
Speaker 3:You're in it for the long run and I think like something that when people ask me like, oh, how do I get there? It's just like like time is going to pass regardless, 100%. And so it's just like if you just keep showing up and just focus on that, like the belt changes over time and it's an amazing process. But yeah, just consistency and keep showing up and the belt changes and the skill improves and you gain so much that helps you on and off the mat.
Speaker 2:That's amazing. And the kids belts are different, right?
Speaker 3:So we start with the white, but they have eight stripes, they have 12 actually Well, yeah, so the thing that's like different about Jujitsu than other martial arts is you're in the belts for a long time, so and that can be difficult for kids. So with karate, you know, they move through like a lot of different colors pretty quickly, but Jujitsu, like use for a child, like you sit in your belt for a year. So each academy, you know, varies on how they do their belts and how they do their stripes, like everybody kind of does it a little different, more or less like the same.
Speaker 3:I don't know. It's like it kind of depends on the academy, but we keep our kids in a belt for about a year and then the stripes that go on the belt there's four white ones, four red ones and then four black ones and then we do like a test and a graduation and then the kid will graduate. So basically we do our stripes on. I don't know if you've ever seen me with my clipboard.
Speaker 2:Yes, okay, cause when I was waiting for Riley's stripe cause, I was like we have been here I feel like every single day, right, and I see the clipboard and I see like the white stripes and the red stripes, I'm like, oh my gosh, someone's getting a stripe today.
Speaker 3:So basically, the kids pull their attendance cards, cards go into the system and our system tracks their attendance. So the kids are eligible for a stripe as long as they've done eight classes a month. So they had to come eight times in a month and once they hit their eight of eight classes and it's been the appropriate amount of time, I highlight them on the sheet. So we first base it off of attendance, cause we want the kids to be consistent, consistency and for a child and for an adult it's everything 100%. So we first look at the attendance and then, after I highlight the kids, I'll like go, you maybe probably see me like going through and looking at the child. And then we take into account behavior. So like, how is their behavior? Like, are they respecting their training area? Are they respecting their coaches? Are they kind to their training partners? Are they helpful to their training partners? You know, do they have good etiquette? You know, and good manners? So you know again, other schools do it differently. We do consistency and attendance, that's like your baseline, and then after that we take like a deep dive into their behavior.
Speaker 3:And that's something that I think I've just implemented, you know, when I first started taking over the program, like years ago, was like and I just want to help build like quality human beings. You know like some schools will test off of skill, but for me the skill is kind of like last. I've always looked at skill last because I'm like if you're being consistent and you are kind and you have good behavior and you have good ethics and you're working hard and like, the skill will come. Because everybody's going to develop skill differently. It's going to click at some point. Right, it's going to click at some point as long as those other things are in line. So then after we see attendance, behavior and then skill development, then that's when we'll give them a strike. So Riley probably hit like his eight of eight classes.
Speaker 2:It was very exciting and it was funny because every time the clipboard would come out, I'm like I'm going to record, just like today is the day. And then I like gave up and I was like it's just going to happen. And then the day I did not hold my phone out.
Speaker 2:No, no, no, I got it really quickly, so I did be a tape him like getting it put on, but I didn't get his name. But you know, it was almost like better that way, because you're not expecting it, and so I just wanted like to him to get his first strike, which it really does show when you put the work in and when you are showing up, it pays off.
Speaker 3:They are rewarded for that. I rewarded for it and I think it's good because, you know, they get 12 stripes on their belt and, like they, the kids track them. They're like oh, coach Erica, professor Erica, see, I just did it, coach, I call myself coach.
Speaker 2:I introduced you as a coach too. That's okay, I'm a coach.
Speaker 3:I think coach is teacher, you know, at the end of the day, like whatever the rank is, like I'm just a teacher, you know. But the kids, like the Professor Erica, like I'm done with all four of my red stripes, like I'm going to get my black stripes now, like I'm going to be a gray white belt soon, so they're in their belt for about a year and they go white belt and then gray and white, gray and then gray and black. So there's like a white stripe in the middle, a solid color, and then the black stripe in the middle. So we'll go through the grays, yellow, orange, green. That sounds like forever.
Speaker 3:It sounds like forever, but it kind of like lines up with the kids.
Speaker 2:So by the time they're an adult, they'll be getting their blue.
Speaker 3:Yes, so by the time, the year that they turn 16, like they're in the year that they will go from 15 to 16, they're eligible for a blue belt. So, like Riley for example, he will actually probably skip some of like the gray, like the white, the one with the white stripe in the middle because he's older.
Speaker 2:Okay, so age also depends on it too.
Speaker 3:Age also depends on it too. So he'll still go through like his grays, yellow, orange green, but he might not get every single one.
Speaker 2:We're like the little ones they got. They're stuck there until they're 16, right, so they have to so we need a lot of options for them. Yeah, and I think the change it keeps them going. It makes sense. It's like, okay, I'm working hard, I'm seeing the stripes, I'm seeing the colors, so it's a great system that's worked out. Yeah, it's a good system.
Speaker 3:It took us a while to like develop into that, to figure out like, okay, what's good for, what's good for the kids, like ultimately, and like what's proficient for the coaches, you know. And so we've kind of we've got a good system and I like it, and I like that, even with the clipboard, like a lot of people are very visual. So, you know, I might have like more difficult kids that need like a lot of guidance, and so it's really nice when I can take my clipboard and they're eligible on their like attendance but their behavior might not be there.
Speaker 3:So I can like I don't know if you've ever seen me after classes like talking to parents and a kid, and I'll pull the kid upside and I say, hey, look, and I'll show them my clipboard and be like you see how your name is highlighted? And they're like oh yeah, and I'm like well, what that means is that you were due for a stripe today. And then they, like you can see it, like yeah, this is the moment. I got to work hard, like what. I didn't get it.
Speaker 3:I was like well, this is what we want to look for and I try to give them like some sort of goal for like the next time that they come into class is like okay, so next time we're gonna focus on your behavior and warm up Like can you follow along? Like, and I make it, I try to make it like bite-sized. Yeah, you know, cause some kids like struggle with like whatever it is, like their attention span, or they just have a hard time following direction. So I'll give them like a bite-sized something. And then the next time they come in like they know they're like okay, like I am gonna just keep my toes on this line and listen to Professor Erica and all the other coaches and and I think the things that they're learning here on the mat they're taking with them at school and at home.
Speaker 2:I have just in the few months I've noticed such a huge difference in Riley. Just, we've never been a sports family Group. Sports were not my thing In my oldest, as boxing it's always just one on one. And so we were a little skeptical with Jujitsu, just cause his attention span is just like he loves to try things and he's a creative person.
Speaker 2:And so the second, that first class, it was like this is my thing and I wanna come every single day, oh my God, christmas he, I mean and it puts his energy out, it exhausts him, he knows he's working hard, he feels stronger, he's like checking his muscles out, you know. So what you're doing there in the studio, it transfers to the kids in their life. So it's really amazing and that's like I'm such a sucker.
Speaker 3:But yeah, and that's like for me is like the biggest thing is like, yes, there's like the skill, you know you're teaching them skills, we're teaching them like a sport, but like it's such an amazing sport because, unlike other martial arts, you can't really you can, you can, you can spar, but not the way you spar in Jujitsu. Like Jujitsu, you can go, just go, go on and then, like, you get caught in something or you get in an uncomfortable position, you tap and you start over, so you're physically fighting and that, like you're fighting, it teaches you how to respect yourself. It teaches you how to respect your training partners, because you know we don't let the kids we're very strict with. If you don't understand tapping and you don't understand how to take care of not only yourself, like if you're not tapping for your own self or you're not tapping when a partner lets go, like there's zero, zero tolerance. Like you go back down to your fundamentals, you know Like because we want to make sure like everybody's safe, everybody's learning.
Speaker 3:But that alone translates so much off of the map of like how to respect the people around them, how to like. You know, I see a lot of kids develop like in the way that they talk to their parents or the way that they talk to their teachers or how they take care of the people around them. Because when you're fighting, like you don't realize how much it translates off the map, and that to me, is like the most special thing, is like, yeah, I want to create athletes, but like these kids are the future and like it's up to them, you know, and so we have. That's why I love legacy so much, because it is like very family, like we are very family oriented and all the coaches like genuinely just like love the kids and want the kids to get better. And all of us coaches have like the coaching team, like Josiah, marco, thomas, ben, matt, kevin, like we've all grown up together, like in our own training. So then we like come together and we give that to the kids.
Speaker 2:It's just like it's a beautiful thing to me, and they see the way you guys treat each other and they see the way that the mat's supposed to be traded, Like all of the different things. It just creates such a level of discipline you know, I love it, and so you started like a C with a blue belt, but in 2018 you were promoted to purple belt, and that's when you took over the director of the kids program, right?
Speaker 3:So I first like like I was doing personal training and then the head coach for the kids program ended up like leaving and it was a very sudden like one day, like we had a day at the school, had a head coach, and then all of a sudden like nothing, and so I ended up being free, like that afternoon, and I didn't know anything. I didn't like work with kids and I was a blue belt at the time and I offered like well, I'm free, like do you need me in the afternoon? And they were like, yes, like we're kind of just like need somebody on the mat? And I got on the mat and I had a blast and it was so fun and like it was really well received. People were like, oh, who's this girl, who's the you know? And then so then they offered me like do you want to be like an assistant? And I was like, well, sure, and that actually helped me elevate my skills because I had to learn how to go through the kids fundamental curriculum.
Speaker 3:I had to learn how to teach it to like a child, which really elevated my jujitsu, I think just in who I am as a person and very like type A, very organized, I like systems, I like structure. So I just started to kind of develop that. And then the main guy that took over and was teaching, he left to open up his own school and so there was just like three of us working together. And then, when I got my purple belt in 2018, the Alberto and his wife had pulled me aside and they were like look, kids program's growing like a lot and we'd like you to like direct it. Like, can you direct the kids program? And it was amazing because they just gave me that freedom to just I didn't know what I was doing, like I had no like formal training or anything. I was all trial and error and they just trusted me with the program and we grew the.
Speaker 2:We just grew the program and grew the coaching staff and now we have like 180 kids there's some days where there is like I don't know if they can fit another soul in this place, but you make it work, I make it work and we're just continuing to try to like brainstorm, like always, like how can we like, yeah, we're packed, how can we like cater to the community?
Speaker 3:And it's like well, you're filling a need.
Speaker 2:Obviously, if there's that many people, there is a need and you guys are filling it, which is pretty incredible. Right, and you have a reputation and yeah, and so were you competing. While you were doing all these coaching, you were still doing your competition world.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so I still do my competition world. I was coaching. I had was still working some personal training, some coaching. When I started directing, I just like let go of everything and I took like a big, like financial cut. But it was like something that I really believed in, like it was so fulfilling to me. So I like took this leap of faith into like just immersing myself into jujitsu and so I started to let go of the personal training and I took like the financial cut just to work with the kids and also to have the availability to train and to compete. So I was training full time. I was training like three, four hours. I lived at the gym. Like there's actually like an apartment upstairs, like I like actually lived there.
Speaker 2:Okay, I was like, somebody must live there from here. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:So I used to live at the gym. And so when I say like, oh yeah, I lived at the gym, like it was quite accurate, so I would train all day, I would teach my whole life was jujitsu and then just scraped enough money by so we could travel and compete, and so I competed all through like white, white the brown Haven't competed yet as a black belt, I got injured last year, so I haven't. I haven't competed yet. But yeah, I competed the whole time as I was coaching, which really again like helped elevate me as a coach because I was out there experiencing it and like I was coaching or, I'm sorry, I was competing all over the US and even to some amazing countries too.
Speaker 2:like national competitions, what was the coolest place you went to?
Speaker 3:Oh man. Well, it's awesome to travel around the US and get to like network and meet a bunch of people like New Orleans, austin, florida, texas, like I don't know if there's a big list of places. I've been in the US, but some of my like most treasured experiences was competing in Manila, in the Philippines. That was amazing because it was like, oh my gosh, like we're actually going, like we're going so far to like showcase our Jiu Jitsu.
Speaker 2:You compete against other countries. Yeah, Was it like? Do they train differently? Did you notice anything in the terms of training?
Speaker 3:So not necessarily in the terms of like their training, because, like, when you go for like the tournament, it's like everybody's trying to like, showcase, like their best, like game plan, I guess, is the easiest way to explain it, but I remember when I went to Manila, like there was a couple of girls from the Philippines in my bracket.
Speaker 3:there was two girls from Korea in my bracket and I think there was like a I don't even know where she was from, but anyways, yeah, I was the only one from the US. Oh, wow, and it was awesome. I think like it was in like this giant mall, like outdoor mall, which usually they're in like colleges or like you know, stuff like that, like a, like a totally blanking, like a see, this is how bad I am at sports like a basketball gym. What is that called? Yeah, a gym, right, a gym, a gym? Yeah, there you go, thank you.
Speaker 3:Words escape me. So it was like in a big outdoor mall which was like totally new to me and I was like, oh my gosh, like okay, like there's all these people like shopping and like, oh my God, going to the food court and it was like multi-level. So they're like looking down onto the tournament and you know, like in the Philippines, everyone would come up to me and they would like look at me like really closely and then, like some people we were with that lived there, they were like, oh, they just want to get close to you because they want to look at your freckles and they want to look at your colored eyes. And I was like, oh, I'm like okay, so on top of like trying to like get in my zone for competing, I have like people coming up to me and kind of like looking at me and it was awesome, I ended up winning a double gold at that tournament.
Speaker 3:So I was like congratulations yeah that was like a memory, that like sticks you know for sure. And then another one that I just I think is like one of my favorites is I competed in Mexico city and that was like on a whim, Like I was just totally on a whim and I was just like you know what. I saw it posted, I was like I'm just going to go, I'm just we're going to do it, and went and I don't speak Spanish, but all of the announcing was in Spanish.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh, and I was so lost.
Speaker 3:You didn't have anyone to translate for you Well so I'm going around like not knowing what to do, I don't understand anything and I'm like trying my best. And this girl she saw me and this is another reason why I find Jiu Jitsu so beautiful is this girl? She saw me struggling like struggle, struggle. And she comes up to me. She goes you don't speak Spanish. And I was like yeah, no, no, I don't speak Spanish, that obvious. And she came up to me and she was like well, right now, they're announcing that they want all the blue bell females. She's like what bell are you? And I was like, oh, I'm a blue bell. And she goes oh, cool, me too, let's go check in. So then we're standing there and we're checking in. We're going to like this area that they call like the bullpen, where they check your gi, they check your weight, they check your ID, and she's like okay, they're looking for female blue bell lightweight. And I was like, oh, that's me. And she goes oh, that's me too. And I'm like oh, I'm like, okay, okay.
Speaker 2:Now you're my competition.
Speaker 3:No, you're like now we're going to fight, probably, maybe. And so we go and they walk us to the mat that we're going to be fighting at and I like look at the table and we're on opposite sides of the bracket, so essentially like both of us would have to win all of our matches to meet in the finals. Wow, which ended up happening. No, yes, yeah. So we end up like she fought wins, I fought win, she had a second fight, I had a second fight, she had a third fight.
Speaker 2:And then we're like oh, I have goosebumps.
Speaker 3:So we end up meeting in the finals, wow, and I ended up beating her in the finals. But the reason why I say Jujitsu is so beautiful because that was back when I was a blue bell and to this day we're still in contact. Oh, I love that. Like I have friends all over the US I'm not even the US like all over the world, like this, the girl that I fought in Manila, like I'm still in contact with her. The girl that I fought in Mexico city I'm still in contact with her.
Speaker 3:I have, like one of my dear, dear, dear friends. I've gone and stayed with her twice in London and trained with her in London. Like Jujitsu is such a cool sport. Like I'll go back just a little bit. Like when I was dancing, I was trying to get on a cruise ship. I wanted to work for a cruise ship, I wanted to work for Disney so I could travel the world, and I would have never imagined like, fast forward, here I am doing Jujitsu and it's taking me around the world and now I have friends all over.
Speaker 2:I have friends, you can stay anywhere you want, at this point right.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Coming to Manila guys.
Speaker 3:I have friends all over the US and all over like some international and they always just like the Jujitsu community is just like so cool in that way where it's just like, oh you do, jujitsu like you're my favorite, like automatically a brother and a sister.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so, but those are probably my two like favorite ones was the Manila and the Mexico city. Just they were so impactful and like they just really pushed me outside of my comfort zone and then I mean the win is great, but it's just like just to know that, the relationships and the memories and like the challenge of it all, that's really cool.
Speaker 2:Well, we're going to take a quick commercial break and then we have so much more to talk about. Okay.
Speaker 4:Discover your dream home in the captivating city of Burbank, introducing you to Mike McDonald and Marianne Bean, burbank area specialists. With over three decades of combined experience, mike and Marianne have the privilege in assisting numerous clients in finding their perfect homes in and around Burbank. They understand each of their clients' unique needs and provide personalized guidance. As Compass Realtors, they leverage cutting edge technology and stay informed about market trends to maintain an edge in the dynamic real estate landscape. Discover why they've earned the reputation as the go-to agents for all your Burbank real estate needs. Reach out to them today at 818-266-9766 and start a conversation. Disclaimer Mike McDonald and Marianne Bean are licensed real estate agents licensed numbers 01004729 and 02044937 with Compass and independently owned and operated real estate brokerage firm. The California Department of Real Estate oversees real estate licensing and the activities of real estate agents in California.
Speaker 2:All right, we're back. Thank you for that message from our sponsor today, so let's get back. You are then promoted as general manager of the entire Burbank.
Speaker 3:Yes, so that happened a little over a year and a half ago. I was just directing the kids program. I was just kind of like the department head for the kids and the kids program was just like really going well and it was very structured. You know, because, again going back to just like, I think my personality is just like I had built, helped build this team. We had like a group of amazing coaches. We all worked together and like the result was there.
Speaker 3:And so then Alberto, my boss, and like the owner, he like came to me one day and he was just like like I want you to help me with the school, you know, and what did he call it in the beginning? There's a book called like traction tools and I started working with a business mentor in Colorado who runs like multi locations in Colorado and it was called I remember what it was called but basically he wanted me to come in and help him integrator, that's what it was. He wanted me to come in and integrate and like help with like the whole school. So I came in and I'm just like he's like you're very organized, you're very structured, and he was just like I want to do this for Burbank. And so I started working like with him in the business mentor in Colorado, just via Zoom, and it was just like a whole new world for me to just be like, you know, no formal training again, and to just kind of take that leap of faith and be like, okay, like I'm gonna figure out how to do this.
Speaker 3:And it was a really hard transition in the beginning, just like working with so many different personalities and I had worked with a lot of these people for a long time and I think it was like just an interesting adjustment into like running things. But over the last like year and a half like we've just like really got our ship so like sailing all together. You know, like it was almost like all the arrows were kind of pointing in different directions, like with different programs. You know, cause we have so many programs in classes. That's a lot to keep track of, yeah. So it was really nice to just like get everybody moving in the same direction and to just see like the result of all the programs you know to watch, like the Muay Thai grow the Tak Fit, grow the more like jujitsu, like adult jujitsu, kids jujitsu, and it all just kind of like expanded and it was going really so well.
Speaker 3:You know, we ended up opening up a Pasadena location as well. So I'm not like physically at Pasadena, but I also help with the teams there. I help, like implement classes and work with the team over in Pasadena like via Zoom, so like I'll work with the GM from Pasadena and help them, and then he goes and will translate everything into Pasadena. We also have our Glendale location and the amazing professor took over that and so I work with him and then he works with his team and he's like awesome, you know, working with his team. And so now we have like this like network of schools and we just opened another one in Crescent of Valley like two weeks ago.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh, congratulations, thank you, I had no idea.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 3:So it's just been like this roller coaster of like a last year and a half because you know I go from just directing the kids and working so closely with the kids to now I'm working with like the whole Burbank location.
Speaker 3:You know we almost we have like 700 member gym and it's just like so many personalities, so many programs, so many coaches, and then to work with the Pasadena and the Glendale, and then I'm sure we'll be working with the or I'll be working with the Crescent of Valley and just like it's awesome to just watch the community grow. And it came at like a good time in my life, I think, because I was like heavily competing last year at Brownbow when I also took over my position, and then I ended up getting hurt. Yeah, so I was competing really heavily and I like every month I was like traveling somewhere like Texas, arizona, florida, colorado, like I was going all these places and competing. And then I was competing in May in San Diego and ended up blowing my knee and did you know the moment, like you were in that position?
Speaker 2:Yeah, you just like that, was it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I blew my knee. It was like a really, really emotional. I knew, like I tried to, I'm like I get like embarrassed like making like scenes, you know. So I like tried to stand up and when I tried to stand up, like I had no, I couldn't like the knee, just so no muscle holding your knee together.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and so it was actually Mother's Day and it was the first time since I was a white belt that my mom came to watch me. Oh my gosh, and like thank God she was there because I had my mom there.
Speaker 3:My mom when I blew my knee, you know, went in, got the MRI and I had like a grade three tear of my LCL and I completely tore my hamstring tendon, where it inserts in the back of the knee, which like felt very devastating. But when I look back at it now, like over the last year and a half or a year or so, I couldn't compete and I couldn't like be the athlete that I once was. I think that's like still evolving and changing and I haven't returned back to competition yet, so I'm not quite sure what that looks like. But what it did give me was the ability to focus on my job and like developing my skills as like a manager and like helping the owners, you know, like take over more responsibility for them.
Speaker 2:And you're taking kids to competitions. Yeah, you just came back from Vegas right With some kids. I did Tell me what that was like.
Speaker 3:So we've always taken our kids. We have like a pretty broad, pretty pretty broad group of kids that like to compete at like the local stuff. Like we have a couple of different federations that we go and we compete with. Well, there's this tournament. It's called the Jujutsu-Kan. It's put on by a federation called the IBJJF and it's very prestigious and it's a huge competition and usually, like I've had some people in the past ask me like oh, you know, we want to compete with the IBJJF and I'm like, ooh, I'm like you know, let's not yet. You know, like not yet, let's stick with our dream tournaments, let's stick with our Jujutsu-Gorilla tournaments.
Speaker 3:It's been a while since I used to have two girls they're the inner sisters and they moved to Arizona, but those were like my two girls that I used to take to IBJJF, and that was like years ago and then they moved away and so I haven't had any students ready to like compete at the IBJJF level in years and it was really nervous for me. I was really nervous because I was like oh man, like I've been out of the IBJJF scene since May of 2022 when I hurt my leg, you know, and I've just kind of been out and removed from that world and just focusing on a lot of stuff like in my own personal life. And so when I had these couple of moms approach me, there's some girls I work with one-on-one, I work very close with them one-on-one and like private lessons, and they train every day. They do fundamentals, they do intermediate, they do advanced classes. And then they came up to me and were like what do you think about this tournament? And I was like, oh man, and I got this like rush of nerves.
Speaker 3:Like oh, I've been out of that scene for a long time and I was like, but you know what? Like, let's do it, like, let's do it. They want to put the work in right. Yeah, they want to put the work. The kids were the ones like leading the decision, like they wanted to do it, and I was like, let's go, let's do it, let's train. And so I was just in Vegas I just got back on Sunday, a couple of days ago and we went out there and they did amazing. I had three kids go, my two girls and one boy, and they all like won matches, which just to win matches is extremely difficult, especially going up against some of the schools and some of the competitors that they had to fight and to like win. And so my little one, she got bronze. So she did. She's so tiny, oh my gosh, she's so tiny, she's so adorable. We call her like tiny but mighty. She's the smallest one we have and she's just like whole force, like let's go.
Speaker 2:I want to train. I don't want to go against her.
Speaker 3:So her and then my boy, like he did really, really well and they both ended up getting on the podium for bronze. And then my other girl that I worked very closely with and she's just like, oh my gosh, she makes me like emotional.
Speaker 2:I saw that video when she won and she came to you and hugged you and she was in tears and I was in tears watching it and, oh, what an incredible moment as a professor to see your student achieve something. They worked so hard, yeah.
Speaker 3:And you know, like with her like and that's just like the like, she's like a prime example of like why Jiu Jitsu is so special.
Speaker 3:Because, she came in and she just watching her as a human and as an athlete develop over the last year is it's incredible. It's amazing. I remember like she started getting really good. She wanted to start doing some more classes, you know. So we, we got her in some more classes. They wanted to do privates, so we started working one on one together and like it was a lot Like she, she you know her first couple of tournaments, like we, I would always tell her, okay, I would tell all my kids, whenever we go to a tournament, the tournament is going to give you a gift and it's up to you to decide on what that gift is and to come home and to like open it and work on it.
Speaker 3:So that way, no matter like the outcome, they always have, like a something that they got to bring me back, like bring me back something, you know. And so we went and like we had all this film and she like kind of brought back her gift but she didn't want to watch her film. She's like I don't want to watch it. And I was like we got to watch it and she's like no, and like she wouldn't watch herself fight, she wouldn't watch herself lose. And so I kept telling her that's really hard, it's really hard.
Speaker 2:She has an adult right.
Speaker 3:It's the freedom for a child that's, oh my gosh, yeah. And she. But she would say, like I want to be, like I want to be good, yeah, and I'm like the best in the world study their film, they study their losses, they study. And so it took a while and I told her I'm like I'm not going to force you to do this, like you got to come to me and do this. And so it took some time but she started coming to me about her film. We went to another tournament, local one, and she ended up like losing, like I think in the first round. She didn't want to continue and it was like she was crying and her dad came in and like her family's amazing. And but just to watch her go from like I don't want to study film, I don't want to. I'm like this girl has grown like leaps and bounds to where now, after every tournament, she's like when are we going to watch my film? That's my alarm clock.
Speaker 2:Oh, sorry, sorry, it's okay.
Speaker 3:It's okay, I'm good. Like she would say, like when are we going to watch film? How can we watch film? What can I do? And she just starts asking questions and she's growing and she's developing and she's so humble and she just works so hard and she just comes because she wants to learn, she wants to grow, and it's just amazing to watch her confidence just develop leaps and bounds. And so it was a really emotional like. That video was just such an emotional moment because, for her, as like a person, like she won gold at like this incredibly prestigious competition, she won gold and it was like this moment where, like I think she, she finally like believed in herself.
Speaker 3:And then like all the things you've been telling her to do and study, and then for her to come to me and just I was emotional because that's my first, you know that's like one, something like that, and it was just like this amazing, like beautiful moment. So so Vegas was a lot of fun and I just it makes me so motivated and excited for our kids program.
Speaker 2:And even like you, just in general. I mean, you started as a dancer in Colorado, you moved here on a whim. It didn't work out you, you found Jiu Jitsu and now you're a black belt and you're a professor and you're general manager of a Jiu Jitsu studio. It's like would you have ever imagined in your life, looking back, that you would be in this position?
Speaker 3:No, definitely not. Especially because, like, growing up, like I struggled in school, I got D's and F's and you know I had a really hard time learning and you know, as a kid, kids don't know but they're like, oh, you're stupid because you're not, you don't get A's and D's. I remember crying and not going to college and, like you know, you get different heat for that from different family, like my, my grandpa's, like pretty traditional and he did not like the fact that I wasn't going to go to college and how are you going to be successful? And my parents, I had their support and they were just like you're going to work hard, like you got to just work hard. And so, looking back, like if you would have told me like, oh, all these things that you're going to accomplish, I would have been like you're crazy, Like what? But it's just like. It's so true, it's just like you, it's up to each one of us. You know, like what we found your calling you, worked hard on it.
Speaker 3:You just work hard and you just stay consistent and you just pursue like helping the people around you and like Doing a good job at what you do and then, like the rest of it just will take care of you.
Speaker 2:Yeah and now I, before we end, I want to talk a little bit about your, your Instagram, because you worked really hard and now you've like, blown up on Instagram. You've got what like 40,000 followers. How did, how did that start? What? No, you go viral.
Speaker 3:Yeah, such a trip. I'm like totally not like a Instagram person either, which is like kind of funny too, it's like ironic, but I always, like, through my like colored ranks, started like building up a following just from like networking and competing and stuff. So I think I sat at around like 6,000 followers for years. And then, actually, this tournament that I was just at in Vegas it's called the Jujutsu Khan. I did it two years ago and I was training super hard brown belt for this tournament and like in my heart and in my soul I was like I'm gonna win, like I am winning this tournament, double gold, gee and no Gee. And and I lost first round. I didn't even make it through the first round and it's like it's single elimination. So one and done. And I went to the side and I was crying and I was crying and Someone took a picture of me crying and like with my hands like on my mouth and I was crying. And then I sat there and I I always just try to like brainstorm, like what I'm feeling, call it brain dumping and I wrote like a bunch of stuff in my notes. And I wrote that in my notes and I was like you know what like this is how I feel, and I've always tried to be authentic on my On my social media and I posted it with that picture. Wow.
Speaker 3:And it was the same time that that whole five-day tournament was going on and it just blew up. It blew up because people were like thank you. Like this is how we feel when we lose, like so often you see these high-level athletes like, oh, sorry guys, I lost, like better, not glad, better luck next time. Or like all sorry team didn't mean to let you down. I'll thanks to my team, like I'll be back, and it's just like you were so hard. Of course it hurts for me. I'm like no, I don't think that I'm thinking way more than that, you know. And so I ended up making this post and like writing what I wrote, and it blew up and I had like Hundreds and hundreds of direct messages off of this and I think I, in like a matter of like two or three days, I went from like that six thousand to like 10k. Wow.
Speaker 2:I just like shot up and with a really authentic message like that's a really important way for I mean, you see influencers explode for all sorts of things. Yeah, this was honesty and rawness that got you there.
Speaker 3:That's really incredible so thank you, but that's like kind of how it started. And then my dad, he always like teases me and like when we talk about like various things, and he's like why not you, why not you? And he was just like. It was like my dad was just like you have so much to share, you know, and like you already write like your captions and you speak your heart and stuff like that. And he was like he's like just keep doing that, you know.
Speaker 3:And I was like okay, and then I ended up following this woman and she she started making reels, like with humor Mm-hmm. And so she was like, yeah, I make these funny reels and that helps me with my like bring eyes to my page, and then she sells coaching packages for like fitness. And so that's what gave me the idea. Is I was like I'm gonna use humor, mm-hmm to draw people in and then my hope is that they'll stick around to like read my yeah, options. And you know, my whole thing is like trying to help people on and off the mat, and so it's like I go through like the struggles I go through like you know, just stay authentic. And and so that's when I really like exploded is I was just starting making reels.
Speaker 2:Hey, kevin videos are kind of new, but okay, I have to talk about that for a minute. I when I found your Instagram and I saw these hey Kevin episodes. They are so hilarious they are. It's you and one other coach. Yeah.
Speaker 3:Kevin and he's a coach and he also works our on our front desk.
Speaker 2:Okay, and so you, you recreate these trends. It's these acrobatic trends yes, now that I know that you are a dancer makes More than much more percent. Because I was like, how does she move like that? Yeah, and you recreate them with him and he is, doesn't want to be there. It seems like his face just says get me out of this. So it's a lie.
Speaker 3:I thought so. So we're always there like there's always like the calm before the storm of kids class. So we finished the noon class and then it's usually just like me and Andre the office manager, like me and Kevin at the gym. And so one day we were like on a lunch break and I was like, hey, kevin, like look at this trick. And I was like you want to try it. And he's like, oh, he's like, no, not really. And I was just like, ah, it'll be fun, he's. So he was a good sport. Yeah, he like did the trick with me. It was like kind of cool.
Speaker 3:And then, like I hadn't been posting content. So the next Friday I was like, hey, let's make another video. And he was like, oh, he's like, okay, he's like, yeah, he's like that was kind of fun, he's like, but we should put like a different spin on it. So that's when we started doing the stitches, like we took the original one and then like his, my face, his face, and then we like attempt the trick. Yeah, and then that one ended up like blowing up and got like 14 million or something crazy, like it was like total accident, like we're just being like silly, but anyways, and then it was funny because Everybody thinks I bung Kevin. Yeah, it's like totally the other way.
Speaker 1:Let's do another episode. He's like what?
Speaker 3:are we doing this week? We gotta find it. He's always like sending me them or like now everybody sends them to us, but Kevin's a riot like Kevin's a great RBF face. Yes.
Speaker 2:I am miserable, but it is so he is hilarious.
Speaker 3:Like if you actually stick around, like people stick around, they watch my stories and he's like dancing on my stories or like Whatever?
Speaker 3:Like so. So the hey Kevin's have just been like they're just really fun, you know, just like bringing like another fun side to, to like the community aspect of it, and we have a good time and I think we laugh a lot because, like we don't know what we're doing, like we don't know, like we like we'll be sitting there on lunch break and we're like what should we do? And we're like following these like professional acrobats and we're like, oh, do you think we could do that? I'm like no, absolutely not. Like I cannot do that. And he's like, oh, he's like I got full confidence, like we got this, come on, man, yeah, and then we practice like 10, 15 times, we like get it and then we film it and it's just. It's just that this whole silly, silly thing.
Speaker 2:I love it. Well, I'm gonna I'm gonna link your Instagram in the bio legacies. What websites? So people can sign up for a free class. Come by free class and thank you so much. I'm happy to learn all these things about you and now, when I see you, it'll feel a lot different.
Speaker 3:Yes, I know, because I Like seeing you, like I gotta like.
Speaker 2:Corner message you like. Hey, do you want to be on my podcast?
Speaker 3:Yeah, no, it's so fun, Like thank you for having me. It's just so special, you know awesome.
Speaker 2:Well, thank you, guys for listening to another episode of women of Burbank.
Speaker 1:My Burbank talks would like to thank all of my Burbank's advertisers for their continued support Burbank water and power, kusamano real estate group, you me credit union, the Burbank Chamber of Commerce, gain credit union, providence, st Joseph Medical Center community. Chevrolet, media City Credit Union, ucla Health, tequila's cantina and grill, ups store on 3rd Street and Hill Street cafe.