IAM120- Sustainable Health and Fitness Coach Shares the Happiness of Being Healthy and Fit

Former Professional basketball player (6'8″ 240″) turned Sustainable Health & Fitness coach (I'm also vegan and have been for some time now) Ended pro career in 2011 and opened my first gym in 2013 and onto my second gym in 2016. Lots of highs and lows. From a massively growing gym and community to losing my vehicle & going days without eating. My passion is sharing the happiness that being healthy and fit can bring to anyone on any journey. Currently, I've transitioned to mainly online systems allowing me to reach and support even more people.

• CEO Hack: Raving Fans, Onlinejobs.ph, ContentSumo, Canva
• CEO Nugget: Done is better than perfect
• CEO Defined: Accepting that you have a vision

Website: https://thewattsguyfitness.com/

Facebook: facebook.com/thewattsguyfitness/
Instagram: thewattsguy
Twitter: thewattsguy
Additional links: Fat Loss Master Class – www.4weekburnzone.com
Plant-based health – thevegantransition.com

Full Interview:

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Transcription:

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Intro 0:02

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

Gresham Harkless 0:26

Hello, hello, hello, this is Gresh from the I AM CEO Podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Marcus Watts of The Watts Guy Fitness. Marcus, it's awesome to have you on the show.

Marcus Watts 0:36

Thank you so much for having me, man. I'm really excited and honored to be here to share anyway.

Gresham Harkless 0:41

Well, super excited to have you on the show. And what I wanted to do was just read a little bit more about Marcus, so you can hear about all the awesome things that he's doing. And Marcus Watts is a Former Professional Basketball player. He stands at 6′ 8″ and 240 pounds, and he turned Sustainable Health & Fitness coach. He is also vegan and has been for some time he ended his pro career in 2011 and opened his first gym in 2013, and his second gym in 2016. There were lots of highs and lows including a massive growing gym and community to losing his vehicle and going days without eating. His passion is sharing the happiness that being healthy and fit can bring to anyone on any journey. Currently, he's transitioning to mainly online systems allowing him to reach and support even more people. Marcus, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

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Marcus Watts 1:28

Yes, I am. I'm so excited, man.

Gresham Harkless 1:30

Awesome. Let's do it. So the first question I had was just to hear a little bit more about your CEO story. And what led you to start your business?

Marcus Watts 1:36

Yeah, you know, I have to say that since I was younger, and just kind of trying to figure out what it is that I want to do. I remember being in high school as a senior on a senior day. And they're saying the bio and they're saying all the things you're doing. And my goal was, and still is a long-term goal of creating a community center that's focused on the youth around linking athletics and academics.

Gresham Harkless 1:59

I wanted to drill down a little bit deeper and hear exactly how you serve the clients that you work with. Tell me a little bit more about what you guys do.

Marcus Watts 2:04

Yeah. So with The Watts Guy Fitness with TWG Fitness, now, I've moved primarily online, and I'm really not involved in the day-to-day operations with the businesses, it's more back in and be honest, because we put the right people in the right places, you know when you have a business, scalability is not you being there to do everything, it's you having the right people in the right leadership and finding the right standard operating procedures can reach a lot more people online. I mean, I've got a really big following, it's growing online, and people that don't live around me, I can help them.

So now what we do is pretty much help to identify what your current problems are, what are the things that you are struggling doing? And can you be first, can you even be honest with those things, then we're going to try to fit you into a program that is best for you? And that goes from a busy mom, dad entrepreneur who only has 20 minutes or 15 minutes or even less than that sometimes, but understands that in order for them to be the best business that I've done has been when my body's been performing at its best, literally the ideas, everything.

So how can you put yourself in that position, but it's coupling training with nutrition, I do offer them separately. But I explained to people that you need both worlds, whatever level you're starting out, you need both worlds. And I have programs that range from $67 to $2,900 packages.

Gresham Harkless 3:23

Okay, awesome, awesome, awesome. Yeah, great that you have like kind of all those places, pieces in place. So that depending on whatever and wherever somebody is, as far as their fitness goals, and what their goals are as a whole and where they are and how they're performing, they're able to kind of find a package that kind of fits them. And it's customized based on what it is that they're looking for. So now I wanted to ask you for what I call your secret sauce. And this could basically be something that you feel kind of distinguishes you or sets you apart. But do you have an example of a secret sauce for us?

Marcus Watts 3:48

I would say and I tell this to all the interns and people that would come from wanting to be inside the industry that will come to my gyms and work with me and the human connection. The human connection is the most powerful resource at your disposal. And it costs absolutely nothing for you to be kind for you to be honest, for you to be genuine. And for you to put that effort into holding conversations with people, I guess that's probably the best way to put it. But I've kind of learned to really try to connect with people.

So I'm putting out dope quality, in-depth content to grab you and connect with you and give to you as much as I can. And that human connection whether people hit that buy button now or they hit that buy button in two years, sometimes it doesn't really I got people now that have been following me for I don't know, a man eight years now hitting the buy button and it's because they trust me, they need to trust you. They need to know that it's not just about a dollar $1. Hey, listen, I need to support myself. I cannot do this for people if I'm not able to do that, which is at the time that we spoke about before where you know, I didn't have money and I was not eating for days at a time and when I was sometimes eating gummy bears, I didn't understand that.

So I want to serve in order to serve, I need to be able to support myself and live comfortably so I can be creative and do all those things. And all of that starts with me giving that human connection.

Gresham Harkless 5:00

Yeah, I definitely think that's a great example of a secret sauce. Because a lot of times, it's hard to kind of manufacture or fake that authentic human connection, it's almost impossible, I think, to keep going to actually do to actually have that rapport develop that kind of relationship with somebody, whether it be you know, face to face, or if it's offline, or is online, I mean, so being able to do that is definitely something that's super special that you've been able to do. So I wanted to switch gears a little bit and ask you for what I call a CEO hack. And this could be an app, a book, or a habit that you have, but do you have an example of something that makes you more effective and efficient?

Marcus Watts 5:11

Okay, I'll give a couple. Number one is, let's go over some books, Raving Fans, you haven't read Raving Fans, you need to read Raving Fans, this is a very short read. It's one of those dumps reads. But it's about customer service and true customer service. And too many times people are doing the bare minimum, and they're not going that extra 1%. And then the other I would say is Seth Godin Tribes.

And I mean, just I continuously read, I probably bought it like 10 times, I've purchased the book or multiple books at a time of that book at least seven or 10 times, and I don't have one copy. Now, if that gives me an example. Because I read it and I give it away and I tell somebody, Hey, listen, someone, I literally every time I buy like three copies, or I give it to my team members to every time I buy like three copies, literally someone would walk up to me at my gym, and I would be standing at the desk with the book in my hand.

And I will be like, here, just take this. And they'd be like, really? And I'd be like, yeah, hey, read it, highlight all the notes in it, do not keep this book, give this book to someone else, and then go buy two more copies. Because I really think that book made that type of influence on me. Um, as far as applications and hacks, there's a ton I could go into.

And honestly, if you want, we can make a separate downloadable just about this because I was going through the list the other day, and there are so many apps that I use, and when I mean so many it's, I've tested 12 times that no joke, but for different avenues of business you're going to need, I've got different apps for you. So number one is overall outsourcing, like stop trying to do everything yourself and stop trying to fall into this field that they taught us in college where you need to do accounting and financing. No, I don't, I'm creative, I'm going to create. If I'm the math person, then I'm gonna do the math, you know, outsourcing. So the website that I use is Onlinejobs.ph.

Now I have two virtual assistants. I'm not gonna say what I paid them here, but it works very well for me, it's pennies on the dollar. And in their country, it's actually very good pay, and they work for a handful of people at a time. Onlinejobs.ph is phenomenal. I have no complaints that the people I've found have been fantastic. I actually offer a service where my system will help you find assistance.

And if there was another app, I would say Iconosquare. But it's starting to be a little bit up in the air because they just sent a message out the other day that I'm not sure about the time that this is out that may be fixed. But they're currently experiencing problems auto posting to Instagram, which is a problem for me because I do not have time for that there are a couple of other ones, but the technology is always changing. But Iconosquare is gonna let you auto-post to Facebook pages, auto post to Instagram pages.

And any app that you can find that will do that for you is massive. Because now like Friday's a creative day for me, I'll go and create a blog or I'll go and create answers. And I'll go and create and I'll schedule them to post so I can be free to interact. There was one more that I wanted to share with you, oh creation if you want to create beautiful content Canva is a really good app. Now PicMonkey is also a great one for creating graphics. But I like the way that Canva lays out where it's like the Instagram posts, ads, pins, YouTube thumbnails, all that you need to create beautiful content and you need a place to do it. That simplifies it that gives you templates and you don't have to be Einstein in order to do it. Canva is on your phone. I love to create more on the computer because it's like five times as fast but having it on my phone I just made a thumbnail for a video. Boom, I posted it. And there's one last one and this is like a super hack ContentSumo. I don't know if have you used ContentSumo before.

Gresham Harkless 6:07

I haven't. I have not.

Marcus Watts 9:17

Okay, ContentSumo lets you take a script. So take your blog's upload it into a system and then this tech is dope. It automatically recognizes keywords and brings up photos to match this inmate's slides. Then you can then I record my audio so I go over I changed some of the words if I don't like the picture, I can use another keyword and find a picture of someone doing pull-ups or push-ups or marketing or blog. It's going to bring stuff up and then I record it and it creates it and it makes beautiful layouts for social or when I say social I'm talking to Instagram, Facebook. I refer to YouTube as YouTube because YouTube videos need to be different. If you're on Facebook, you need to be in portrait If you're on YouTube, you need to be in landscape. And I mean, as far as creating content for people is out of this world, for either yourself or for your clients, you can make beautiful videos. So that's actually a new one that I just found. But I would say, I would say those two books and those apps.

Gresham Harkless 10:15

And now I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget. And this is a word of wisdom or a piece of advice. Or if you could happen to be a time machine, what would you tell your younger business self?

Marcus Watts 10:20

If I could hop into a time machine and tell my younger self something, I would say that done is better than perfect. You don't need to have a logo, you don't need to have a slogan, all those people that told us that stuff, you need to have a mission statement. And they're none of them are millionaires. For real, like, none of them are millionaires. So why am I listening to what you say? Like, what you need to have is an idea and a willingness to put in the work to get less than the sort of distance between two points in a straight line. I don't need to be doing all this.

So who can you hire and how can you raise the money to hire them that doesn't matter what you have to do, like, there are some programs that I want, they cost about $3,000. So I'm trying to get somebody to actually pay for it. And then I'm telling them that I'm going to create content for them until their money is made back. And if it's not made back in a year, I'll just pay them their money back. But be resourceful man, don't let copywriting you know this, don't let that stuff get in the way you don't like writing blogs, don't go on forward and find somebody, I guess right now that'll write 25 blogs for $256. outsource it. Don't let that procrastination hold you back from being excellent. Because done is better than perfect. People will be like, Oh, Bill, I comment on my emails, oh, that was misspelled, or, hey, I saw this. I'm like, Hey, I'm glad that you have the time. Back number one, legit, don't thank you for that, I will go back and make those changes. But I am proud that I did the work.

And now I have something to build off of and improve people. Do you know what people love more than something that's perfect? I found this out in the gym businesses. When I started my gym, you don't have a ton of equipment. And it's not the most beautiful gym, people like seeing progress. They like feeling a part of your progress. 2.0 you know, when you relaunch a program, give it for free to the people that did the first version and get their feedback and win them on your side and let people see the life. Like when people follow me. That's one of the things that they say people have been farming for a while, man, I see the change I see the growth is so people like to see that.

So yeah, man done is better than perfect. I wasted so many years, I think because I didn't feel adequate enough in what I was putting out. I didn't want to be judged. I didn't want people to say I was a fraud, man, I don't care. I really just don't care. I'm going to work to create something. And I'm just going to keep on making it better.

Gresham Harkless 13:00

Now I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. And we're hoping to have different, quote-unquote, CEOs on the show. So what does being a CEO means?

Marcus Watts 13:09

It doesn't mean having an LLC, and it doesn't mean having a website outside. It means being able to accept the fact that you have a vision, and then scale yourself back and be able to say, I don't really know how to do this stuff. You have your lesson. I know basketball, I know. But being able to say that I don't really who can I surround myself with? And in what ways can I grow? I think that's what a real CEO is because you have to be able to adapt to a mold. Facebook is changing, YouTube is changing. Instagram is changing. I mean, platforms are changing, tech is changing, the market is you can't just be this person that says, Well, I'm a CEO, and I do know, you're gonna have to be someone that's malleable. And that can be formed to inform others because I think that's something that maybe there's something else to touch on later, or people to keep in mind is that you're only as strong as your team that you have around you. I mean, my assistants are everything to me. So yeah, I would say that man.

Gresham Harkless 14:12

Yeah, I love that. And that's a great reminder, I heard something a long time ago that said that the true sign of strength, it used to be like the rock because it was like hard. But then I heard that it changed recently to water because it's malleable, just like you said, where it can kind of go throughout any divots, or it can surround stuff if needed if need be, but it's very kind of malleable like you mentioned. So I think that's a phenomenal definition. And Marcus, I truly appreciate you taking some time out. What I want to do is pass you the mic just to see if there's anything additional you want to let our readers and our listeners know, and then how best people can get a hold of you.

Marcus Watts 14:44

Yeah, I actually just wrote those down. So thanks. So a couple of things first, if you guys want to check me out on Instagram, I'm @thewattsguy. On Facebook, you can search the same thing thewattsguy or thewattsguyfitness. I have a private fitness page on Facebook that's Destination Fit. But if you hit me up or just ask me, I'll send you the link. And I'm vegan that's my thing, animal rights social club. So I have like a vegan private plant-based support group for people that want to learn about not vegans, it's for people who want to learn about how plants can do more for them in their lives and their health and wellness. That's called thevegantransition.

So you can look that up on Facebook, there's a private group as well. Now, for your audience, we've created a program, a 14-day free, this is a free program, it's 14 days, and over the 14 days, what it is, is we're going to teach you how to number interact with your audience, right? How to get meaningful engagement, and if you haven't engaged, how to increase it or learn to continue to duplicate that. And then we're going to also talk about how to with that focus of interacting with your audience better how turn those into leads, and then turn those leads into people that are going to click the Buy button. So we'll have that as an opt-in, you guys get that that'll be daily emails for 14 days, there will be blogs with each one of those, and there will be actionable steps for you to take with that as well. And yeah, well, we'll do that and we'll try to help as many people as we can.

Gresham Harkless 16:09

Awesome, now I truly appreciate that and I appreciate the time that you took him we'll have those links in the show notes just so that anybody can follow up and take action which is as we talked about the most important thing. So Marcus, I truly appreciate you I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

Marcus Watts 16:22

Thanks, man. Likewise, you as well.

Outro 16:24

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co

I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

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