In this episode of the Mobile Alabama Business Podcast, Michelle Parvinrouh, the director of Nasser Gymnastics Academy, discusses her journey in the world of gymnastics and business. Michelle talks about her father's legacy, an Olympic gymnast who founded the academy, and her own path from Mobile to Colorado and back. She highlights the challenges and joys of running the gym, focusing on the intrinsic motivation of young gymnasts, her innovative business strategies, and the importance of community and mentorship. Michelle also shares personal anecdotes and tips on balancing business with personal well-being, emphasizing the significance of seeking help and continuously learning from peers.

Transcript:

Michelle: My name is Michelle Parvinrouh and I am the director of Nasser Gymnastics Academy.

Marcus: Well, I was sitting at my desk the other day thinking like, I wanted to get started doing this again, but obviously A lot has changed. And so I was thinking who could I invite that would be patient with all of my technical difficulties and stuff while we try to figure this stuff out. So thank you for coming and talking to me on the, in the hot seat.

Michelle: I am truly delighted to be your guinea pig.

Marcus: Very good. So here we go. I know that this is the Mobile Alabama business podcast, and we are going to talk about a lot of business, but we don't just cover just that.

We cover a lot of stuff. So, you know, I hope you enjoy this. So, why don't you tell me, a little bit about who you are and, kind of some of your work experience, because I know we've touched on a little bit of that before, because you've been on, and we can talk about that a little bit too,

Michelle: I grew up here in Mobile, Alabama. My dad, Nasser, is the one who founded the gym in the seventies. And so I grew up in the gym. It was a big cornerstone of my life growing up. I tell people I started.

Marcus: Don't miss out on your daddy.

Michelle: No, I won't. He's amazing. He immigrated to The United States, right before the revolution, he was an Olympic gymnast for Iran in 1964 in Tokyo.

At some point he was actually 16th in the world. So he's pretty amazing, especially from coming. from Iran, for instance, they didn't even have the right equipment there to learn how to do some of the proper, skills. And so at, I love this example, at the Olympics was the first time he'd ever seen a springboard for vault because they were literally just running and jumping off the ground.

And doing their vault that way on the grass. Oh,

Marcus: my gosh.

Michelle: Yes.

Marcus: So he must have had tremendous power. Then when he finally saw his springboard. Yeah,

Michelle: no kidding. And so you have to adjust, actually, jumping over it. Exactly. And so, I mean, you think about that. And there actually hasn't been this past summer was the first time there has been an Iranian Olympian in gymnastics Since my dad was this past summer, are you kidding me?

There was one male and he didn't compete all events, but he competed some. And it was pretty amazing. That's

Marcus: like 50 years. 60?

Michelle: Yes. Long time, sixties. Long time. And I took my dad, so the Olympic trials were in March and I took him, so we got to see the Olympians compete for their spot basically.

And I was with him and that's the first time he's actually been around. it was amazing. And so we, I love gymnastics. I think it's crazy what we teach these kids to do with their bodies. There'll be some days while I'll be standing and I'll be spotting somebody doing some kind of flips, somebody will be doing something on beam, you know, on bars.

I'm like, it is crazy. We teach these kids how to fly, you know, with control and power and they are amazing. And I just. I am so in love with the sport and I think it is a great cornerstone. foundational sport for any other sport in general athleticism and discipline. And it's just so much about body awareness.

I had somebody describe gymnastics as like the extreme sport of yoga. And I thought about that. I was like, maybe I could get there with you, but it's because of all that body awareness and the control and the intentionality of what you're doing. One of the things I say, I always steal it from, Spider Man.

I tell my girls with great power comes. Great need for control. You know, like you have to have both, you know, and so it's easy just to go, you know, shooting out really hard, but it's like, but you also have to have your toes pointed and you have to stick this and you have to do this.

Marcus: of things to remember as such a

Michelle: particular sport and it's just so fun. I'll tell you, so my history back to your original question, you know, I've had, worked in the gym when I was in high school and college and then I moved to Colorado. Um, in 2005 or somewhere around there, I went to grad school and I stayed in Colorado for 15 years and I didn't do anything with gymnastics.

I was working with, entrepreneurs mostly the whole time. I ran the entrepreneurship program at CU Denver. I ran a few nonprofits that were focused on entrepreneurs and or startup entrepreneurs. Even in my corporate days, so I was working for a corporate HR company for a while. But my specialty was going to those small businesses and figuring out how to actually help them through what we were offering so that they, you know, once you get that first employee, like your whole world changes when you get to 10, it's a whole other animal.

Marcus: plateaus.

Michelle: them with that, that was why I actually was recruited to that job because I had the relationship with entrepreneurs. And then I moved back to Mobile. About five years ago and I started working with the chamber and portal and then when my sister retired from the gym three years ago

Marcus: 2020

Michelle: 2022 2322 maybe Is when I stepped back into the gym and it had been a long time but it's kind of riding a bike It's just so much fun.

And I'll tell you this and people might not like it, but I would work with kids all day long ever working with corporate business people. Cause they're, there's no smoke and mirrors. They tell you what they're thinking, you know, it's, the conversation is so much more straightforward, you know, and you're just, you're having fun with kids, you know, and you're giving them, they, Gymnastics requires intrinsic motivation and so you're as they get better and they're more advanced and I'm working with team like they want it They have to want it because I can't teach somebody to do a back handspring on a balance beam Maybe like it'd be fine if they don't want to do it, you know what I mean?

I'm down. She's down whatever. So I mean it's really cool to be around these I don't think I have ever been as driven as some of these, these young girls that I coach. I mean, these girls, like you say, like they're, I had one that was in Paris over Mardi Gras break and her mother is sending me videos of her doing roundabout Cannes Springs in front of the Eiffel Tower at night, you know,

Marcus: so I guess, full disclosure, Michelle and I know each other, you know, outside of obviously business. Ella is taking, classes, you know, at the gym. It took some arm

Michelle: twisting, but she's there now.

Marcus: Yeah, and so, but you know, I mean like, that's what it takes in order to get to that next level because they're, you know, they're trying to feel their body in that position.

Michelle: teach fractions. I have to teach fractions. Because I have to do half turns, full turns, quarter twists, and they don't know what a quarter is. I have girls that are six years old, you know, I'll say go horizontal. You have to be vertical. I'm like, wait, do you know what that word? Okay, you have to tell miss Michelle if you don't understand something I'm saying And so I sometimes have to bring my little whiteboard out and draw the circle and say, okay, this is a full circle So it's just It's amazing how we build them.

We build them with their minds. We build, we're really focused on a lot of mental, strength because it can be very demanding. And if you are driven, that means you're also passionate, which means your frustration can be passionate as well. So we work on that a lot with them and it's, it is, it's building, it's all the body stuff, but you don't even think about, I probably spend more time with these kids.

Than their parents during the week. It's probably their school, then me, then their parents, and so, you know, I'm this, I have this great responsibility that honestly I adore with these kids. I am one of the mentors in their life. I'm somebody who they think is really cool.

They're totally duped. But just because I'm running that gym. And so they think like I'm the coolest gymnastics person and I'm not going to correct them. Okay. Yes, I am. Use it to your advantage. Absolutely. I am. That's right.

Marcus: Until they figure out otherwise.

Michelle: Well, I can still demonstrate a few things. So, you know, that makes me whole my own, my whole mind. Also because all of my staff is in there. I'm in my forties and the fact that I can still do things. I like to show it off every now and then.

Marcus: Well, so you worked in the gym when you were younger, right? Yeah. And so are there any lessons or things that you took from your experience when you first started working that you've carried

Michelle: Yeah, that's a great question and I'm sure anybody who is in our age range and who works with younger generation, like especially in their 20s, there's such a chasm between, I mean, I could go on all day about how different we are and how we think about things they're not as comfortable problem solving, right? They get very timid about it sometimes. For me, I think I grew up in the place that I ended up working first, right? I was in that family business. I was with my dad every day, I was teaching classes on my own when I was eight years old. We had this cargo van that had 70 shag, like the orange, brown, green, yellow shag carpeting in it, fully covered.

And when my dad made so much equipment, cause back in the day they didn't have equipment for kids, for babies, like preschoolers, they couldn't get their hands, the bars used to be like this wide and they've gotten smaller, but he built. He literally, he has a carpentry background. He built furniture, furniture equipments for the preschoolers because he loves preschool.

So we would pack up, we would break down all this equipment, pack up the cargo van, go to the YMCA, go to the daycare, go to the school. We would split the class up. So I would eventually, after watching him, he go, go load the truck, go load the van. I would do it all by myself. we'd get to the Y, he'd go to the office.

I'd be like, what room are we in? I'm eight years old. I'd go set up. Our whole station situation, he'd come in, we'd start the class together. We'd split them up. He'd take half, I'd take half. And then when, you know, I was coaching these kids and then packing up the truck again. and so there was just a sense of like responsibility because it was for the family, right?

This was my life. I didn't know any different. And So there's something I think about my relationship with work because my father was an entrepreneur that I think is different. from somebody who, maybe didn't have that same experience. my family was building from scratch.

They were doing things, they were going out. We were

Marcus: more so than an entrepreneur, So what would you say

Michelle: entrepreneur, right? Like, I mean, he, my family, we worked. And it was always the four of us, my mom, dad, me, my sister. Like we were all four always together, always at the gym and we were working constantly.

And I think that set my tone of how seriously I take my work. And so, from day one, and the thing, like when I used to speak to college students a lot, one of the things that I would say is, From day one, try to add value. Don't just do what you got to do and take it like, you're going to learn, but like try to find places where you can make things better just a little bit, you know?

And so I think sometimes. my staff. They don't want to do the wrong thing. They're very risk averse, right? And I'm always trying to tell them like do something right? Let's move forward I'm not interested in standing still but that's because even if you take a risk

Marcus: The person that you're taking the risk for is going to recognize like hey, and hopefully they don't screw things up too much

Michelle: I'm giving you parameters. And so I mean but that's also from you know, I have read The Lean Startup many times, right? I have read, I have spoken about entrepreneurship and getting out of the building and don't stop. You've got to keep moving forward. I mean, you and I and Chrissy have had that conversation a lot about it's different when you are kind of on your own and you don't have somebody backing you up.

Like you have to keep moving forward. And sometimes that means you're going like this and figuring it out. But like, I read a quote recently that says, you know, we should really seriously measure success. In terms of how many problems have you solved? And if I think about it that way, I think that's my number one attribute.

And I think it's just because that's what we were doing. When my sister and I were kids, that's what we were doing. We were constantly saying like, Oh, the gym needs this or the gym needs that. We were put to work, we saw, we were part of the conversation, my dad always, I mean, we were really annoyed by it then, but Sunday mornings was the one time we would have a meal together and it was a big Sunday brunch and we'd all sit together and, you know, we couldn't stand it because we'd already spent six days at the gym all together, living together, and he won't talk about the gym, you know, and we would all be like, can we take a day off?

But it's because he wanted to include us in those conversations. He's like, this whole thing is for all of us. not that he actually wanted our opinion. It was more than he just needed to talk out loud, but you know, he always made us seem like we were part of it. And even now when we get together and I come over there, my mom will be like, you're worse than dad, you know?

Cause my dad's not in the gym with me every day. I'm like, Hey, I'm having this issue or I'm thinking about doing this, you know?

Marcus: Well, so tell people, cause I know that you've been doing this for a couple of years and there's, you know, you are quite learned.

And so, like, but I think that there's probably a very different reality when you are going in and implementing something versus just reading about it and trying to communicate those strategies effectively to an audience,

Michelle: right?

Marcus: if there was something that you were going to, I used to ask the question of people, organization, books, podcasts, things like that, that may have helped you get to where you are.

And I would add to yours, was there some bit of information that you knew that you brought into this? And it's like, oh my gosh.

Michelle: So, I mean, I think for a lot of people, when they start a business. They're starting with something that's a passion of theirs. My dad loved gymnastics.

He knew how to run a business, right? And so, I had the opposite. So I studied business. I went to grad school for business. I was working at the business school. I was running the entrepreneurship program from an academic standpoint. and then once I started actually mentoring entrepreneurs, I could not do anything or be anywhere without the people that I've met along the way. there are so many brilliant people willing to share whatever they have with you. And I just learned how to ask. I learned how to make friends. And I would say, my number one recommended book is how to win friends and influence people.

Okay.

Michelle: Right. I was at a competition, I was having difficulty with a coach and I went to another. the Alabama gymnastics community is very close.

We all love each other. It's like a big sorority. Every time we go to meet like the coaches are having just as much fun as the girls because we've all been in it for so long. there are judges that judge me that are still judging and the coaches that were coaching are still coaching. And some of the girls that competed with me are now coaches.

I mean like we know each other, you know, and We call each other and we talk and I was really struggling and I was like, I don't know what to do about this coach, you know? And I mean, I just went and just that vulnerability of like, I mean, I was like, can I talk to you? And you know, just talking to another gym owner, who's literally just down the street from me.

And she's like, I've got your back. But you know, she just gave me some really truth, very clear. And it was very clear, but you know, it's always this difficult thing. We make it complicated sometimes, or it gets emotional. I just think that Even when I was in business, there's always somebody smarter than you.

There's always somebody who's been at least a step ahead of you. Maybe not in the same industry, but maybe in their discovery, like you can find the place to relate. Get to know your peers, you know, get to know your peers, know who's going through the same struggle as you are, because gymnastics is so unique and I could talk for hours and try to explain details of gymnastics to somebody and you still wouldn't understand.

I mean, this is like 40 years of just. knowing gymnastics. It's so specific. And so when we go to these conferences, which we do, we have massive amounts of training that we go through every year. we're with the nation's leaders and they're just people like us, you think about these people run the Olympics and they're the ones choreographing their routines for the whole, United States. they're telling us, Oh, this is what I did for my lesson plan. And I'm like, got it. or this is how you have to worry about bullying amongst your teenage girls. Like that's a real thing. Or how do you manage parents that are toxic, which we actually don't have that problem. Our parents are great.

Thanks parents. I love our parents. We're so great. I couldn't ask for better. But, I just think there's something about learning how to reach out, get information, ask for advice, ask for help, get that input. And so it's funny. You think, experience. My dad calls me a rookie.

Marcus: He

Michelle: tells me I'm a rookie and I'm like, OK.

Marcus: you know, and it's one of the reasons why I started the podcast is because I get to listen to everybody's story and, you know, here's some of the trials that they've gone through, how they fixed, you know, I mean, like all this stuff. And it's really, it's really about me educating myself. In a very easy way, because this is, this is, you know, an easy way for me to learn.

I'm a, I'm a audio or visual, you know, person.

Michelle: Well, and I'm, I think most people like to relate, right?

And

Michelle: I've had conversations with you that I don't feel comfortable having with anybody else, right? Because you're my friend and I trust you. And sometimes it's embarrassing, you know, or, I mean, there are, I make, somebody asked me, why aren't you doing this?

And I just looked at them the other day and I said, if we could count the amount of mistakes I make a day. I'm like, I don't, y'all know I'm not perfect. Y'all know that I make mistakes. You see me make mistakes every day.

I own it and we move on. Same thing. Own it. Let's learn from it. Let's move on. We learned something here. Well, business ways that they're not used to like I took my staff through a very intense strategic planning session before we started this fall.

They've never done that. The gym has never done that. I brought that for me from the business school actually. And so, there's just little things about choose your business like a business.

Marcus: But go back to that. one of the things that I wanted to kind of talk to people about as we're, ramping this thing back up again is, Taking a hard look at your business to figure out where there are other ways to make money.

Yes,

Marcus: and so what can you talk to about how because it's not just the kids coming for class There are other mechanisms by which you're you can make money.

Michelle: look, I have a huge building

Marcus: Mm hmm.

Michelle: It costs me in utilities probably a hundred and fifty dollars a day just to open the building, right? Okay I have nothing going on in that building before 3 p.

Marcus: m.

Michelle: It's just in there. And so, we, another opposite example, something that used to be really big for us in the nineties were birthday parties. We used to have, Saturdays and Sundays booked back to back 20, 30 birthday parties a weekend. I get requests for five a year and we just don't do them anymore cause it's not worth it.

And so when we did strategic planning, I said, look, let's start thinking. We can't keep doing things the same way. We need to do something different if we're really going to grow. You know, I also wanted diversity is a big thing for me and I wanted to diversify who our clientele were at the gym. I wanted to shift the ratios a little bit.

Marcus: Pause for just one second. And the reason why is because if any One segment makes up a large percentage of your.

Michelle: risky.

Marcus: It's risky. You don't want to have all your eggs in one basket.

Michelle: And so we gymnastics is not cheap and it hasn't historically been, something that's accessible for, minorities and typically marginalized communities.

And so, like, for instance, something that we're doing is we're reaching out to special needs students. Any organization that works with special needs children to say we can be your physical education program Or we can do field trips bring your kids to us, right?

We have a program that USA Gymnastics follows that's specifically for Children with disabilities we are trained in this Love it. Like it would be, you know, that would be amazing because we, all of those organizations, like we lost MARC a long time ago, there've been a few times, a few attempts at starting centers for children with autism that haven't taken, like there is a great need for that in our community. how do we get, you know, this as a marketer, it's always easier to upsell your current customers than it is to get new customers. It's going to cost you more money to go out there and do that. And we do both. Let's be serious. We're doing both. but first I said, well, what can we do?

With our parents that are already here and with the siblings that are in the building that are just sitting there not doing anything or what can we do to attract more boys, right? Gymnastics is a men's sport but we have very few boys

Marcus: and I was just gonna say like when I was growing up I would watch the Olympics and be Like because the guys were just jacked They are, they're like, I mean I was like, I don't look like that

Michelle: a men's sport, you know, and so And it's, I typically watch the women, right?

Like I'm a woman, I watch them, but I was so, I don't know if it's cause my dad was there with me. And so he could explain some things for me that, I mean, I was, I used to have to do things on the pommel horse for strength and stuff. My coaches made us use that equipment for sure, but I didn't know how to do pommel horse.

I don't know how to do a flare. I couldn't do anything on the rings. It's different.

Marcus: It's not something that you see. The rings. And I

Michelle: I coach girls. And so I do have a boys coach and she's amazing, but I've always focused on the artistic women's side. And it was just amazing. And I'm like, these boys are fantastic. But to be honest, I don't know that we'll ever have a competitive program because there's not great men's gymnastics in Alabama and across the nation, they are cutting more men's gymnastics programs in college.

And so it's leading to fewer men that are going to make it too. That level of allegiance because they don't have the support basically from a college or somewhere else to be able to Do that and so that's unfortunate, but so we're i'm always saying What can we do and i'm telling you right now my staff We just had a meeting last night and I just gave them so much praise

I was just telling marcus that I turned over 11 people last year alone It's been a lot, you know, this is a high turnover industry anyway, but I have been changing things to make My coaches, more career coaches, paying them better, getting them more involved, setting strategic plans and goals, giving them some autonomy, saying, Hey, do you want to help us create this program?

Or, I mean, they just, come to me with ideas all the time. And that just started in the last like four or five months. And I am here for, I'm like, yes, let me find this information for you. Let me get you in touch with this person. If you can get this, I'll get you a team around you. You build a program and it's yours and I'll profit share it with you.

Right? So that's giving me buy in with the coaches too. Like, I'm like, we do these clinics on Saturdays, and I basically say, this is my bottom line, any student more than this that signs up, I just give the coaches that money, so that they have buy in to come in, that they have buy in to keep, because I can't, we have 300 students.

I only maybe coach 20 30 of them, right? So I'm dependent on my coaches hearing from their students, hearing from their parents. They have to engage with these parents. On what is it they're wanting to know, or what is it they're wanting to see, or what they might not be satisfied with and so that we can adjust.

Right. And they have to know that, and so this is just one more way to get them intrigued, that they're like, Hey, I have a, one of my coaches, like, I do a lot with, eating disorders. Is there anything that we could, that you think we should do a team for that? Yeah. I mean, they're just coming up with ideas and I love it and that's how you diversify.

It's like, I started to empower my staff so that it wasn't all on me. Top them sales 101. I was telling Marcos, like we're going through some old school, like the seven touches, you know, we're going to email it and we're going to call them. We're going to send them a postcard.

We're going to go canvass. We're going to go knock on doors. You know, like all those old school things just to get back in the community and get these schools aware of us so that we can Like we haven't had field trips in the gym and forever. And those are so much fun for us. And it's, you know, these kids that, you know, they're usually like in their school uniform still, and they maybe have never even thought of gymnastics ever.

And they're coming from Pritchard and, you know, way West Mobile, and they have never seen anything like this before. And it's air conditioned, which is nice too. and the teachers are all out there with them too. And so we're. teaching them some things and talking to them. And I mean, it's just, so we're always looking at ways, just how do we get back in the community?

How do we get, how do we provide programs that our existing students want? Like these clinics, like, okay, they're coming to class once or twice a week. Now they can also come to a clinic. And it's, how do we get new customers and who are Cause we could focus on, I mean, if kids are our audience, you know what I mean? And so how do you target it? Right. Cause you could go too far, too wide. And so we had to pick, what are we going to do right now? And then. We reassessed and we came back and then said, well, this is working or this didn't work.

Let's kill it. It's killed. Let's go on, you know? And so it's just, I'm teaching these coaches how to think about things from a business growth standpoint. I relate things back to, I tell them, I say, I'm not trying to make any more, more money for me. I'm trying to make y'all more money, right? Cause I want you here and I want you to stay and I want you to look at this as a career path.

And they know that, they know that that's how I'm driven. They see it. They get raises every year, you know, so there's something about that. And I'm fortunate that we've been able to financially be able to afford that. But I mean, I don't think nobody in my gym is at the gym because of the money.

Yeah. We're all, we're all there because we just love it, you know, humongous paid cuts for going from, working with businesses and in the community with entrepreneurs to running a small gymnastics facility, one of the oldest in Alabama, but also one of the smallest in Alabama.

Marcus: So we've talked about, how to win friends and influence people. And we've talked about some things that you're working on, but we know that as business owners, that it's extremely important that we take some time and that we have some balance. So, you know, what are things that you like to do that are not work related that allow you to have that peace of mind and go in fresh?

Michelle: Full disclosure, I would not call myself a balanced person in most regards.

Marcus: you're not a balanced person. yeah, right.

Michelle: you know, it's, well, that's why

Marcus: this question is so good.

Michelle: I'm single. I don't have kids. Right. So it's very easy.

For me to just keep working and to just stay at the gym and get things done because you know I mean the list never stops, but to me, I'm so driven by we can always be better What else can we be doing or like today? I'm gonna go vacuum the rugs You know the carpets because like somebody needs to vacuum them And so, I really try I hold my Sunday sacred. I never work on Sunday. I set that in place years ago when I was working, in economic development, and it was hard, you know? I mean, like, you have these deadlines, you have these big things, and I find it very easy to work an 18 hour day, honestly.

Marcus: We're not as young as we used to be.

Michelle: we're not as young as we used to be. Oh my gosh, tell me about it. It's like I definitely don't drink anymore. I don't drink because I don't have the time to recover, right? I don't have the time to just sit around and be like, whatever, you know, like I've got to be up. I've got to be spry.

Like, I work with children. You can't bring your bad mood into the gym, you know what I mean? And so, I have a therapist and I'm very diligent about my therapy appointments. I have really been talking to people a lot about therapy lately.

Marcus: I

Michelle: just think there's something really valuable about having somebody in your corner who eventually gets to really know you is not in your life, is not your family, is not your friend that you can offend and who creates, I think one of the most beneficial things about therapy is you're creating a space for it. I have an appointment. It's an hour long. I'm going to be there. And this is what we're focused on. Right. Versus just, Oh, I should, you know, do better. Now I'm talking about it. I'm getting a plan with her. She's giving me homework, you know, and it's sometimes I feel like it's not even therapy.

Sometimes I'm like talking to a friend and then sometimes I'm like, I'm having this issue. And sometimes, you know, it's like, Oh, my dad hurt my feelings again, you know, or something, I don't know how to deal with this. And she just coaches me through it and it's great because I've now been with this therapist.

Also, if you are seeking therapy, just know, find a therapist that's right for you. You might not find it the first time. It took me five therapists before I found the one that worked for me. And I've been with her now for at least a year and a half and we meet. if not every two weeks, every week, depending on what's going on.

And so, and I do her, we're all telehealth. So like I do video calls. And so, and for a moment there, I had two therapists just to throw that out there. but then my OCD calmed down and so I didn't need to do that anymore. But I, I also really love being home. I'm a homebody. And I think it's because all day I spend as a cartoon character version of myself, you know?

And so, I go hard at home.

Marcus: Sister, I feel you.

Michelle: much as I can because I'm probably not Like, I say I don't have balance because When the week is on, I am working and I'm in it and I'm there. And then when the weekend comes, it's like car crash, you know?

And I'm not saying that's a good thing by any means. I was just telling like, I was like, y'all, you know, Mondays are always rough for me because I go. Hard, hard crash and now I got a revamp and it's like I'm putting myself through these extremes, you know My life is bipolar.

Yeah, my life is bipolar. I'm probably bipolar You know, like you just have these highs and lows all the time as a business owner, you know It's just how it is. And so like I'm really excited about where we're going, but at the same time I'm always scared financially, you know, and I'm like Do I need to call my lawyer?

Like, please have a lawyer if you're in business and an accountant.

Marcus: Lawyer. Banker.

Michelle: Banker. Yes.

Marcus: banker,

Michelle: they are worth it.

Marcus: Yeah. Hands down. There's no replacement for a good lawyer, accountant, or banker

Michelle: You don't

Marcus: wanna be looking for percent either one of those need when you need them.

Michelle: exactly. And so. my biggest thing is connection. the best way for me to feel more like my own self and not just.

Coach

Michelle: Michelle is when I'm with my friends, right? And so, I come and harass you and come hang out with y'all. or, like this weekend, I find things that really just are for me. Like Bellingrath, if you have not been, Bellingrath does an annual Beers and Blooms. It's on their big yard. They have live music. all these different kinds of beers from around the area. You can taste as many as you want. It's including in the ticket.

And you're basically bringing a lawn chair. Just chilling out, drinking some beers, listening to some live music. And it is one of the coolest things. I love Bellingrath. It is one of the coolest things that I think happens in Mobile. And I don't know if anybody knows about it. And I try to tell people they've only done it a few years. And so I find things like that, right? Like I find the things that are like Callahan's tree parties coming up, you know, it's going to be Saturday.

Marcus: many cool experiences.

Michelle: experiences.

Marcus: yourself out there and go and do it.

Michelle: to Facebook every now and then and I just look at the events. Like if I want to go out and do something, then let me find out what's going. And sometimes I just put stuff on my calendar just so it's there.

You know, because you gotta get out, you gotta get out of that space and it's For me, it's very hard to, unless I have something like planned to go do, right? And so I try to do that for myself. I travel, I go see my friends, you know, I think that, I was taking advantage of that for a while, and that was amazing going up to like, the beachy area. closed Oh, use these things so that we can keep them.

Marcus: I know.

Michelle: I tried really hard. I think I took three flights.

Marcus: I was really disappointed to see there's no flights flying out of the downtown airport.

ready?

Marcus: Well, there's a terminal that was being used by, some of the discount airlines.

Michelle: right.

Marcus: But there's nobody, flying out of Mobile right now.

Michelle: I thought they were still renovating it.

Marcus: I don't know, cause they did the

Michelle: frontier flight and then they closed it down because that was,

Marcus: one, right?

Michelle: Yeah. And then the plan is to eventually shut down regional as they're updating downtown, which I know we're

Marcus: close to moving down there.

Michelle: my plea to the people of Mobile, Alabama, who, especially the ones who like to complain that there's nothing to do here is there's so much to do here and there's so many opportunities that come here, like these direct flights to DC, you know, like use them and take advantage of them because the only way we get to keep things is if we use them, right, because as a business owner, I'm not going to offer something that doesn't make me money if nobody's taking us up on it.

Marcus: Yeah, that goes for businesses as well as services. So even things like, Topgolf and Dave and Buster's.

Michelle: is so much more fun than I ever imagined it to be. And I actually do an end of session, like coach outing. And we went to Topgolf and like, now we're going to go to Dave and Buster's.

Right. I'm like, Oh, they're new. Let's make sure we get there. And I'm like, and they're going to love it. And so. I mean, there's just so much to do here in little ways. You know, you have your, the art walks and you have, I mean, when my family comes in town, my little nephews love going to the, the battleship.

I love going. I'm like this. I mean, I just think it's so cool. I know it was just like little girl me. That's like, this is, look at those big guns, you know, like

Marcus: people just in the area that they live, they just have difficulty seeing.

Michelle: And so even, or that these things aren't toury and they might actually be better than you think they are, go give 'em a shot. You know? Yeah. Like, go give it a shot.

Marcus: Well, even when I lived in DC like I kind of regret not spending more time in, the museums and stuff. 'cause there are amazing tons of museums that I didn't go to when I had a chance. and they were right there and they're free.

Michelle: I probably went to more museums. In my lifetime than yours,

Marcus: Right.

Michelle: I made a point to go.

Marcus: mean, we went to the aerospace museum a couple of times, but outside of that, it wasn't like, I've been to the National History Museum a couple of times, but not what you would think.

Right. Having spent most of my life in, right. Well, a good portion of my life in DC

Michelle: one of the things last year, the theme will present itself. So last year, I went to four amazing concerts. I saw Sarah McLachlan at Red Rocks. I saw Luke Bryan at the Wharf. I saw Post Malone at the Wharf. And I saw Taylor Swift in New Orleans. every single concert was amazing. I had a great concert outfit for every single concert. And it was fun.

I get that it's probably made not by good people, but you buy a really cute little concert outfit on Shein for really cheap, you know, and just like go out.

Marcus: an experience.

Michelle: make it an experience. Get the shoes, put the jewel. That's actually, I got a nose ring because I put a fake one, like a little jewel here for the Taylor Swift concert.

And I like it so much. I was like, I think I should get that. You know, like, I mean, I do, I like tattoos and so I'm constantly planning what next one I'm going to get, you know, and so even just getting out and doing something creative like that, right, trying to do.

I paint, Marcus and I were just talking like I'm painting. Almost every wall at the gym, I'm painting at my house, but it's, it makes me have to think about something different. I'm talking about color palettes and I'm talking about vibes and like, how do I feel here? Does it look, does it feel the way I want it to feel when you walk in the gym?

Right. And is it, this is the experience that I think is the best experience for a parent to walk into. Yeah. I mean, I'm looking at leasing plants for the gym, right?

Marcus: She, was starting to do some cross stitch a couple of years ago and I think she's, she was into it quite a bit, but I think she's,

Michelle: thing about those things, if you cross stitch, like you can take all those things on a plane with you. I didn't know, cause like, I took one and I was like, I don't know if I can take these scissors and this needle, and so I was like, I'll just take my little things and And then there was a girl sitting next to me.

we both had on yoga pants. We both had on a white and black striped shirt. She had her, she was, crocheting and I brought out my, and we were like the same age. And I was like, Oh my gosh, when did we become like, we just have this whole.

And then we stopped talking because we were both like really into it. But yeah, no, I love it because it's something that I have to watch. Like, I have to have all my senses into it, right? I can listen to something, I can have music on, but like, I have to watch what I'm doing and it takes, it's very meditative in my opinion.

And I don't have to think because it gives me the guide, which I also really like. I'm just like counting and I'm like, okay.

Marcus: Always thinking

Michelle: about the gym

Marcus: for those of you that don't own businesses It's a you know one of the things that business owners struggle with is There's a recording that just keeps playing in your mind about all the things that need to be done about the business And really the only way to get off of that treadmill is to actually think about something else You can't Think about nothing because that's impossible.

Michelle: to distract yourself.

Marcus: So, I'll try

Michelle: to be succinct.

I'll do my best.

Marcus: Favorite city.

Michelle: how to pout for my children.

Marcus: Favorite city to visit?

Michelle: London.

Marcus: City that you want to go to.

Michelle: Anywhere in South America.

Marcus: we need to take Chrissy anyway.

Michelle: that.

Marcus: Favorite song to put on to get pumped up?

Michelle: Right now, Apatow by Bruno Mars and Rosé.

Marcus: Okay.

Michelle: The girls love that we dance. I make them dance when they're on the beams

Marcus: favorite restaurant to eat at in Mobile?

Michelle: I really love Squid Ink. It's probably the one, the very first things that pops up when I think about eating.

Marcus: Go, Chef Pete. so good. Never disappoint.

Michelle: Best po boy in town, man.

Marcus: Yeah, they do a good job. Well, you

Michelle: know, I'm not short on words and I love to share. but really I just, I think you're going to do what you're going to do.

Don't do it alone. Get that help. don't feel embarrassed. I mean, I asked these amazing people all around the state all the time. Like, how do you do this?

Right.

Michelle: Or what, how do you run this? Who coaches? I mean, the, and they, people want to share. They're not, and if they're secure in what they're doing, they're delighted to, right?

And so. I just, don't do it alone. You can't. There's your lawyer, banker, you know, accountant. There's your staff. There's your family. Don't neglect them. I don't have a lot, you know, I have my parents and I live across the street from them. So I go over there a few nights a week and make sure like when I come in, I go and see them.

But yeah, you got to take care of yourself. I very highly recommend. Things that distract your mind and a therapist. So maybe we should add therapist. It's like banker, lawyer, accountant, therapist.

Marcus: Well, Michelle, thank you for sitting with me and sharing your journey as a business owner.