11 Jamie Eason: The World's Fittest Model on Healthy Living and Persistence

The World's Fittest Model visits The School of Greatness podcast to discuss fitness, faith and perseverance. Despite being pregnant during the interview, our guest is still a sought after model for magazine covers. Not only is she continuing to find success as a model, she is maintaining that passion for all the opportunities that the future holds in […] Get more from Lewis! Get my New York Times Bestselling book, Make Money Easy! Get The Greatness Mindset audiobook on SpotifyText Lewis AIYouTubeInstagramWebsiteTiktokFacebookX

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Lewis Howes?

  Welcome to episode number 11 with Jamie Eason on the School of Greatness.

• 0:07Lewis Howes?

  Hello everyone and welcome to the School of Greatness. My name is Lewis Howes, I'm an author, lifestyle entrepreneur, former pro athlete and world record holder in football. My goal with the School of Greatness is to share with you stories from the most inspiring business minds, world-class athletes and influential celebrities on the planet to find out what makes great people great. So please leave us a review on iTunes and join us on the web at schoolofgreatness.com to be notified of each episode when it comes out. Now let's get after it.

• 0:52Lewis Howes?

  Hey greats, thanks so much for hanging with me today. I'm super pumped about this episode. Now I know many of you have requested that I bring on some female voices and it's taken me to the 11th episode to bring on my first female guest, but I think you're going to appreciate this one. Her name's Jamie Eason, she's one of the top fitness models in the world and she's a super sweetheart. She's got an amazing story and I'm going to introduce her more in just a second, but I wanted to just say a few things really quick about this podcast in general. I'm actually in Venice right now, Venice, just outside of LA, right near the beach. So you might hear some cars and some airplanes in the background right now while I'm talking,

• 1:33Lewis Howes?

  but it's a beautiful day out and I just wanted to show my appreciation for all of you. We're about to hit 100,000 downloads on this podcast. We were featured on the homepage of Stitcher and iTunes, so it's been, it's been a huge, it's been, it's been a huge bump over the last few weeks since that's happened and it's just been a lot of fun for me. So I'm excited to keep bringing you amazing guests, ideas and inspiration for you each and every week. The goal is to continue doing this at least once a week. And you guys have been leaving me some super amazing and inspiring reviews over on iTunes. If you haven't left a review yet, please go ahead and leave me a five-star review.

• 2:13Lewis Howes?

  One, I just saw one today, says simply the best from Ken 91737 says, whether you're an athlete, an entrepreneur, a salesperson, or a parent waiting to inspire And motivate yourself, your team, or your kids, you must listen to Lewis and the School of Greatness. Every day, I listen to the podcast at the gym and on the road, and I'm inspired to reach higher and go farther. So I'm excited about that. Thanks so much for leaving that review. Another one by Chris, looks like Chris the Grump is the name. It's a pretty interesting name, says outstanding. Says the show is helping me construct a map to building success, not only career rise, but mentally and physically. Great advice,

• 2:57Lewis Howes?

  great guests, a must-listen if you're seeking enlightenment in life. So I appreciate that. There's a bunch of great reviews. I appreciate all of you who are leaving one. Again, feel free to go over to iTunes and leave a five-star review with some of your thoughts. And go ahead and shoot a message over on Twitter at Lewis Howes. Let me know what you're thinking about the show, what type of guests you'd like to have me bring on, what type of topics you would like me to cover, and I'm happy to be doing more of that in the future. So this is all about you guys. I want to make it about you and give you some of the best inspiring content and guests as possible. With that, I'm going to introduce now Jamie Eason.

• 3:42Lewis Howes?

  Hey, everyone, and thanks again for coming on the School of Greatness. I've got my good friend Jamie Eason here. And if you guys don't know who Jamie is, she is a superstar in the fitness world. She's also an amazing writer, and I want you guys to check out some of her work because her writing is really amazing. But brief bio on Jamie, she's American fitness model and writer. She's also a former NFL cheerleader and winner of the World's Fittest Model Competition. She's pretty much every time I go into a Barnes and Noble or an airport, I see her on the cover of like every other magazine in the fitness world. So she's all over the covers of magazines, and she's a full-time spokesperson for

• 4:24Lewis Howes?

  Bodybuilding.com. So Jamie, thanks so much for coming on and hanging out today.

• 4:30Speaker 01

  Oh, it's my pleasure. Thanks for asking me.

• 4:33Lewis Howes?

  And we met, actually, it was about two years ago, I think, at Summit Series back in Miami. We took a cruise, a big group of us took a cruise to the Bahamas for a day. We had a fun time jet skiing. And we saw a bunch of stingrays one day and a whole lot of good times. I remember that.

• 4:51Speaker 01

  Yeah, that was awesome. That was a really good memory.

• 4:54Lewis Howes?

  That was good times. But now Jamie is married and she's pregnant. I think you're about halfway through your pregnancy, is that right?

• 5:02Speaker 01

  I am. I'm at twenty-one weeks.

• 5:04Lewis Howes?

  So she's got a little belly now.

• 5:05Speaker 01

  Five months. That helps people, I think. We do it by weeks. Everybody else is probably months. So a little over five months.

• 5:11Lewis Howes?

  Okay. So you're, you've got a little belly now, so you can't do cover shoots anymore for a while, is that right?

• 5:18Speaker 01

  That's true, but I actually got asked to do a few little pregnancy fitness things. They haven't happened yet. I think they want me to show a little bit more so that, you know, I guess it's a little obvious when I'm doing the workout, but that should be interesting.

• 5:30Lewis Howes?

  Nice. Even when you're, even when you got a big belly, they still want you for the cover. That's great. I love it.

• 5:36Speaker 01

  I'm grateful for it, that's for sure.

• 5:39Lewis Howes?

  So tell us really quickly about how you got involved in the world of fitness and were you always a fit person?

• 5:47Speaker 01

  Um, actually, I was never a super fit person. I've always been kind of athletic, you know. I had a brother growing up, so I was trying to do what he did, an older brother. But, and I played sports a little bit in school and was a cheerleader in high school. But, um, as I got older, I really, I really neglected my health. I was, especially when I went to college. I mean, I did the freshman fifteen, like everybody. I was eating two burgers and two fries for two bucks, like every single night at Burger King. Not good. Yeah, not good, but I was never seriously overweight. I was just what you would call skinny fat. I had no muscle tone to speak of. I, um, I was in my twenties and already getting satellite.

• 6:32Speaker 01

  And I just cursed my mom for that. I just figured that was part of it, you know? But, um, I never really looked at my eating as that bad because I thought, you know, like lean pockets and all these diet foods. I thought, I'm doing the best I can. I'm eating pretty good. I only do the two burgers, two fries, you know, late at night on the weekend. But I had a really rude awakening when um when I got out of college and my first job. Um I was actually, I actually had to go to work for my grandfather. He had um a health condition and the doctor required him to kind of take off and rest for a while. And um I had to run this family roofing business. So while I was running this roofing business, a girlfriend of mine, because I grew up dancing.

• 7:17Speaker 01

  Um my grandmother had a dance school with Patrick Flavie's mom. So growing up in that, she said, well, come listen to these auditions. I didn't know what I was getting into. I showed up, there were sixteen hundred girls. And by some miracle, I made it. And I became a captain on a team. Well, before the um season ended, unfortunately, I found a lump in my breast. And I went into the doctor and um found out that it was in fact cancer. It was very early stage, so I was extremely fortunate to, it was superficial, so I could feel it. They cut it out, um I had very minimal treatment and so everything was good. And it didn't even wake me up enough to realize then that I was kind of still being unhealthy.

• 8:02Speaker 01

  I I continued to eat the crap I was eating and um I thought I was exercising enough, doing the cheerleading, that kind of thing. Well, it closed the treatment, so I had to go a few times. I ended up actually having to quit the squad. And going back to a regular desk job, it really took its toll on my body. So I went from college and being really active, and then cheerleading being active, and then desk job, and it was like nothing. So um so needless to say, I didn't look, I just didn't look the same. I was getting older. And oddly enough, the cancer stuff returned again at twenty-eight. So that's a big stretch of time in the chain there. And um it wasn't bad again, it was the same, same spot. I actually had been going for my regular checkups.

• 8:46Speaker 01

  This time they were a little more aggressive with it and getting a little um more harsh treatment. And that was really my epiphany, my moment of, you know, why did this come back? I really need to figure this out and and quit treating my body, you know, the way I've been treating it. I wasn't a big drinker, I never did drugs or anything like that, but I um I just, I was always eating without any thought of what I was eating. I ate whatever I want. So, anyway, long story short, I ended up going to a nutritionist who recommended a trainer. She was a bodybuilder who scared the crap out of me and I've fought in a million years I've been training with a bodybuilder. But she was incredible and just what I needed because if there's anybody that knows how to take their body to like the highest level possible,

• 9:30Speaker 01

  those people aesthetically know what they're doing and they will push you and push you. So, and, and most people are afraid they're gonna look like some big huge monster type person, especially as a female. But, um, who you, you use the mirror as your judge, you can, you can always stop, you can always stop. And it's, um, and most of us don't have enough testosterone or enough perseverance to really be in the gym like some of these people are. They're really dedicated.

• 9:55Lewis Howes?

  Hmm.

• 9:56Speaker 01

  So, anyway, um, in just a short little while, I went from nearly thirty percent body fat. Again, I was skinny, but I was just flabby. Um, oh, and I used to wear two pairs of tights whenever I was texting children.

• 10:11Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 10:12Speaker 01

  So that people didn't know that I liked to go, a lot of the girls do. I, it was really weird. I always thought that was in shape when I saw all those girls. And then I got into the world of fitness and I found out what being really in shape was about.

• 10:24Lewis Howes?

  Hmm.

• 10:25Speaker 01

  So, no, no more double pair of tights. I need them right now while I'm pregnant. But no more, no more other than that. They try really hard to, to keep the food clean and, and stay in shape. But, um, anyway, I ended up, after seeing that nutritionist in Houston, his name's Keith Klein. He's just unbelievable. The guy has full knowledge. I mean, as long as I've been in the industry, probably almost nine years now. I learned more from him and I still continue to than anyone else. So, he's just great. But, um, he pushed me to do a little local competition. There was probably ten people in the whole show. So, it really wasn't hard to win and I was actually in the best shape of my life. And, um, I ended up walking away with, with the trophy.

• 11:08Speaker 01

  They asked me to come back the next day and I, and I competed with the, um, the higher class, the, the pros. And, um, and I won that too. So, immediately it was like, who's this, who's this tiny little petite girl with all this muscle? And I looked a little different. I had really short hair. All the girls had very long hair. And, um, and people just were kinda talking about it. They were like, where'd you come from? Who is this? Some of them, some people knew my story. And um this this lady saw me in the audience and wanted me to do a local little workout um kinda ad. And um I didn't know what I was doing, but I just said, okay, I'll do it. So I showed up the next day to do a little workout. It was to pay for the whole shoot. I was terrified and horrible.

• 11:52Speaker 01

  But I made it through and that was oh that's when the light bulb went on. Like I made money during that. And here I spent all this money to try to to get up on stage and you know have a goal to just compete. And buying suits and painting and all this stuff. And um and I made the money back. And so I thought, hey, maybe there's a job somewhere in here. So. I started researching, you know, what's your fitness model about and with the Barnes and Noble sat down with a pen and pad one day. And I I'm glad I was almost thirty when I started this because I was smart enough to know, okay, I don't have a lot of money. I I don't really know about modeling and going to a model school or if it was really even feasible.

• 12:34Speaker 01

  I mean, I'm five two and I was a hundred pounds soaking right at the time. So um.

• 12:40Lewis Howes?

  You say five two, a hundred pounds?

• 12:42Speaker 01

  I was tiny. Yeah, when I competed, I was ninety eight pounds.

• 12:45Lewis Howes?

  Oh my goodness.

• 12:47Speaker 01

  Yeah, and I walked around at at about one oh eight. And right now, halfway through my pregnancy, I'm about one twenty two. So this is a big shock for me. But even even at my heaviest in college, which was about um one fourteen, I I I was I looked completely different. Now I can have muscle at like maybe one ten. That's always my goal is to have muscle at one ten. I actually try to get a little heavier because I look fuller and better.

• 13:14Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 13:14Speaker 01

  Um and I don't get as gaunt. You know, I'm I'm a little much to sister. You know, I'm in my thirties. A per I'm late thirties actually. I'll be thirty seven when the baby's born. And um I I don't like when my face looks really withdrawn. I I want everything to look healthy, head to toe.

• 13:30Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 13:30Speaker 01

  So um. So anyway, I was a really tiny little peanut, um, when I first started. And, um, and that's, that's all part of my story too. Cause I started off really just in the competition mode and I was a little extreme. And I found out really quickly that the competition stuff, it's really hard for one. And I commend those people that can do it all the time, cause I certainly couldn't.

• 13:53Lewis Howes?

  Hmm.

• 13:54Speaker 01

  Um, but it, it really wasn't the look that was gonna work for fitness modeling. I found that out quickly, cause I went to New York thinking, um, after a few people, you know, they did. Whenever I, I'd gone to Barnes and Noble and looked up all those photographers shooting for magazines. That's what I was saying earlier. And when I, um, when I did that, I just Googled them all, found them online and just said, hey, you know, my name's Jamie Eason. Um, you know, I, I, I'm new to all this. I sent them this little pitiful picture, you know, me in a sports worn shorts from that size, you know? And I just said, if I come to you, can I test shoot with you, you know? And it was, they were pitiful and I mean, the pictures were awful. But I, I got really lucky, cause after waiting a couple of months, now it didn't happen automatically, but

• 14:38Speaker 01

  one of them answered me and said, hey, you know, if you can come to LA and shoot, um, I'll, I'll test shoot you and submit you to the magazine. And so I did that. The very first shoot I did with a professional photographer that already worked with the people I wanna work with, um, I got a seventeen page wall.

• 14:55Lewis Howes?

  Oh my gosh.

• 14:56Speaker 01

  And shortly after, I got the cover of that magazine.

• 14:59Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 14:59Speaker 01

  So it just kinda snowballed from there, because, um, I figured out really quickly that the best way to get into the industry was gonna have the right, right looks, the right hair, the right makeup, the right, you know, clothing, lighting, you name it. And it's the photographers that know that stuff, they shoot it all the time. But I'm one of the ones that were currently being published. Not just any guy with a camera or photographers that are aspiring and give you a great portfolio. Social media is huge and the internet is massive. You get lost in all that stuff. So I just went directly to the source and it seemed to work for me and it worked for me for years, but. Anyway, I I could go on and on and on, so I'll let you, I'll let you help me regroup.

• 15:43Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, that's amazing. A couple of things I wanted to talk about. One, I hear a lot of women, especially, you know, women in their twenties and early thirties talking about, who are probably five two to five seven, a hundred and ten to a hundred and thirty five pounds, who are that skinny fat. They look okay from the out, you know, on the outside, they look okay, they look skinny, they look, you know, somewhat healthy or fit, but really they're twenty five, thirty five percent body fat, and they're not healthy because they're really not eating that well. They just seem to have, they seem to stay skinny for whatever reason, but they're not fit. They don't have muscle tone. And

• 16:24Speaker 01

  Right.

• 16:24Lewis Howes?

  A lot of those women talk about, I don't want to lift weights because I don't want to look good, good bulky and big. And you have been doing bodybuilding style workouts for a number of years. And I wouldn't say that you are bulky or big in any way. You're still a hundred and ten pounds. You look, I mean, you look fitter than you've ever looked, you said. You used to be an NFL cheerleader, which is like, you know, people would think is a top fit woman. And you look way better now than you did then. And it's it's because of the way you've been eating and training at the same time, is it correct?

• 16:58Speaker 01

  It's very true. You know, I I put out a trainer online that was free through my company, Public Fit Trainer. And before I did that, um, it it was actually the real and true way that I train and I eat. And I just convinced it into a twelve week program so that people would have kind of a beginning and an end goal. But um, but I put my family through it before I actually put anybody else through it. And one of the people was my mom. Now, my mom's almost sixty years old. I'll be thirty seven soon, so. She, um, it's funny, when I first brought her the, the whole concept of everything, it was only on a couple sheets of paper and I just said, I wrote down everything that I do, I gave you all these exercises.

• 17:39Speaker 01

  And, um, my mom, I must get it from her, she's a hard head, immediately she was like, ooh, I'm like, this kind of food and, and I don't, can I trade this for that? And I was like, mother, just eat what's on the paper. And then so also, cause that's the clean food, and that's really what I wanted her to have, and I wanted her to have, um, the right portions. And, um, and that's another thing, I'm not a stickler on, on calories and macros and all that kind of stuff. I, I get crazy when I read all that stuff online because unless you hook somebody up to machines and you know what their body fat to muscle ratio is, how their thyroid functions, what the resting metabolic rate is, I mean, it's always the best guess anyway.

• 18:18Lewis Howes?

  Hmm.

• 18:18Speaker 01

  So when somebody hands you a twelve hundred calorie diet, you know, it's, that's, that's bogus. That may, that might be a starting off point, but that's not really exactly the number that you need. How do you figure that out? Well, that's what bodybuilding is about. For years and years and years, these people train and they tweak their diet ever so slightly to get better and better results.

• 18:39Lewis Howes?

  Hmm.

• 18:39Speaker 01

  So you really just have to have a, a really good base diet with really good, simple portions and really, really great consistency. That's the key is the consistency. So, anyway, I convinced my mom to eat the food, but it was so funny because she was like, well, I don't wanna do all this weight training because I don't wanna get big and bulky like you. And I was like, mother, not even on the best day of your life for you to know about me.

• 19:06Speaker 01

  But we all worked hard for this. But, um, but anyway, she, she was a little thinker, she didn't, she did the whole program without anything except for doing her food and walking around the block, and she went from an eight ten to a size two in three months, just with the food and walking.

• 19:22Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 19:23Speaker 01

  But when she got done, she was not happy with the way she looked because even though she was a lot smaller, she was still pretty soft and platty.

• 19:32Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 19:32Speaker 01

  So she wanted to do it again and do it the right way, and that's the thing that I think a lot of people miss, is you know, from the moment we're born, gravity's pulling us down the rest of our life. So unless you do something to resist that and lift it up and put it in a better place, I mean, nobody wants a skinny flat butt, everybody wants, you know, a tight toned butt. So you have to do something, you have to lift some weight to actually build that up.

• 19:55Lewis Howes?

  Hmm.

• 19:56Speaker 01

  And that's one of the big things I'm always trying to convince women is it takes a lot of work to really, really seriously build muscle. It takes testosterone, it takes the balance of those hormones, it takes the proper food. You know, there's, there's a formula for it. So don't expect you just going in with a whole bunch of a weight and suddenly you're going to be some big bulky, you know, muscular girl. It just doesn't happen.

• 20:18Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, and I mean, I think in most guys' opinion, a, a, a woman who is physically fit and has some muscle tone is much sexier than a skinny fat girl's and just a girl who's skinny. So that's, that's just my general overview on what men think, but maybe it's different for each guy, but I definitely think.

• 20:39Speaker 01

  Hey, I think your opinion matters. I think that's what you're working.

• 20:42Lewis Howes?

  Exactly. Um, now, let me ask you a question. What did it take for you to become the world's fittest model? So you talked briefly about how you won a couple of these competitions. You started training, you started changing your diet, your, your habits, you worked really hard for, uh, your body, but what did it really take for you to become the world's fittest model? What was that contest like? And talk a little bit about that.

• 21:07Speaker 01

  Okay, well, um, that, uh, my whole competition portion of my career actually happened in the first year and a half of all of fitness that I've ever been involved in. And so I've been in this now about nine years. And, um, my first couple of years were, were probably the most modeling and the most competing. And, um, I, I shifted gears after that because I really wanted some longevity. I wanted to do it the healthy way. I wanted to let people know how to breathe, you know, there's, there's a whole lot involved. There really, you know, big backstory there, but, but initially, um, I had done a couple of competitions. And um, and I was, I was winning, you know, I was this anomaly up there, I just looked really different, really tiny.

• 21:52Speaker 01

  There weren't as many, there's not as many categories, or there's, rather, there's a bunch of new categories now. There weren't as many back then, so it was either bodybuilding or figure, and that's really all you did. And suddenly, right in the midst of everything that I was doing, these little um, kind of fitness model things were popping up. And I was in Vegas, um, where we have an Olympia here. And uh, Muscle and Fitness Magazine and Hard Body Entertainment, which was a new kind of um, TV kinda industry. They uh, they got together and decided they were gonna do a male and female fitness competition and televise it. But it was only locally televised, but um, I didn't even plan to enter, I went and got a swimsuit at the last minute.

• 22:36Speaker 01

  Um, I was totally goofy about the whole thing, not prepared, and when I say goofy, if you look, look at any of the pictures from the competition. I was giggling my head off and laughing because I was so uncomfortable and didn't know what I was doing. But I got up there just because I thought, you know, I'm, I'm still in shape from the last thing I did. This would be fun, I don't know what to expect, and somehow, I guess just the, the, the fact that I was relaxed and having a great time. Um, they chose me, and I actually beat out a whole bunch of really great looking guys and girls. Um, come to find out later, they did really look at personality a lot, and we had a questioning, a question portion, and um, and I was just real casual and, and had fun with it.

• 23:20Speaker 01

  But um, I ended up winning a seventy-two thousand dollar chopper, custom chopper. And I won um, a couple thousand dollars, which I needed to get that bike out of there and back to Texas. I also won a cruise, and I won two cover opportunities. So it was a pretty big prize, to, to give you perspective, the Olympia winner for the females wins sixty thousand dollars. Some more prizes were even more valuable than that. So that was a pretty big, big prize, and that was one of the last competitions I did. I'm kinda like a boxer, I'm like, I'm gonna go out on a high.

• 23:56Lewis Howes?

  So wait, this was in the first year and a half. You did all this in a year and a half, basically?

• 24:00Speaker 01

  I did, I did. Well, you know, the first year of doing this, I really didn't know what I was doing. I mean, modeling was not something I ever dreamed of doing in a million years. I never even thought I'd be doing the true anything. So, um, when I started and I really got involved and everybody kept calling me and calling me, um, I really didn't have that many role models to look at back then. There was a couple of girls who were, who I, I thought were pretty successful. Monica Brand and Tameya Mayarova, she's from another country. They were gorgeous and phenomenal shape. I, I could never even be as good a shape as either one of them. So I looked up to them. They were shooting these kind of sexier Maxim style kind of fitness things.

• 24:41Speaker 01

  And so I started shooting that kind of stuff. And I was extremely awkward doing it, but somehow the photographers worked their magic and made me look better and better. And, um, I found out really quickly in that very first year that it really wasn't adding up to any money or much sponsorship. I was, I was getting, um, a lot of attention, a lot, lots of covers. Um, I think in the first two years, I had amassed like forty covers alone in just two years.

• 25:10Lewis Howes?

  Oh my gosh.

• 25:11Speaker 01

  So it was pretty crazy. I mean, I was working constantly. I was shooting three and four times a month, um, flying all over the place. And it was tough, but it was exciting too. And then, um, and then suddenly like, you know, all the social networking stuff was kind of growing. And I, um, how it turned into like a real viable career for me was that I really and truly underneath all the, you know, all the sparkle and the glamour going on and all the fun stuff, my, my heart was in the fact that I loved telling people how I accomplished, you know, the body that I got because I came from a scary situation that potentially having cancer forever changed my life to taking control of that and really changing my life. And so

• 25:56Speaker 01

  there's so many women that, I mean, I had body image issues. I had all kinds of stuff, you know, growing up. But, um, but I never really thought that there was a way to take control of that. I did every diet, sad ad, you could eat anything you can eat. My mom did it too. And so, um, so anyway, I just realized that I really had a lot of really great things to share. And so I got on my space at the time was blowing up. And I got about eighty thousand people like really quickly, you know, friendly me. And then, um, then that grew to, you know, over a hundred thousand and I was, you know, virtually a nobody except for this picture on a page.

• 26:35Speaker 01

  And people started talking to me. I, I typed into my Facebook. I had no relationships to speak of, none. But there's this right to be strangers constantly. It endeared a lot of people to me. I really appreciated that I took the time. And, um, and I started just creating this really big following. And from that following, a lot of sponsors started looking at me and thinking, okay, wait a minute, if she's got all these people following her, if she tells people to take this certain thing, I bet you they'll all take it. So that's when a lot of integrity stuff started creeping in too. So I thought, okay, these people really want me, but they're all wanting all the people I'm talking to. How do I navigate through this?

• 27:17Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 27:18Speaker 01

  So, um, that first year was really, really challenging. I was doing sexy pictures, attracting some really speedy people, for lack of a better description. I was attracting sponsors who really just wanted to use me and not really paying much.

• 27:32Lewis Howes?

  Hmm.

• 27:32Speaker 01

  And, um, and it was just a really, really rough road. Well, this little girl, she was probably about sixteen years old, convicted me on, on my page. That was my turning point with my career. She wrote me a letter, a little message on there and said, um, patently, "I wanna be sexy like you." And, and I thought, oh my gosh, you know, she's sixteen, you know, I thought, this is all I'm putting out there is this image. And she has no idea that I'm really miserable, sitting at home alone, typing to all these strangers, not getting paid much money, being voided all over the place, and nobody's gonna pay me for sexy photos. And, um, you don't get paid for covers. A lot of people think that you do. I've got tons of covers and I think I've been paid for one and that's because

• 28:16Speaker 01

  they were a star at magazine and really got friends.

• 28:18Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 28:19Speaker 01

  But, but we don't get paid for covers and the reason is celebrities don't even get paid for covers. Cause they make sure to do a cover when it coincides with some publicity that they need, whether it's the media or whatever else. So they're not gonna pay me if they're not gonna pay, you know, Brooke Burke or, you know, The Rock or something like that, so. So anyway, so it's all this like false, um, I guess like people look at you and think one thing and they just really don't know the reality. So I told this little girl, I thought, you know, just, just wait, you know, you don't wanna be sexy at fifteen. And, you know, God really worked on me right at that moment, cause I really felt, I really felt ashamed of where I ended up.

• 28:59Speaker 01

  You know, I felt like the devil had me right where he wanted me because everybody was telling me how awesome I was and that I looked, you know, great all the time and how cool it was to be on a magazine and all this stuff, but nobody ever really knew that I was pretty miserable. And I had left a really great job, um, between that stand and steering the roofing company. I had started looking for, um, a home builder and I was their technical trainer. I trained people in how to use software. I had a really great job, great paying job, great job security. And I left that and told my parents, you know, I'm gonna go do this fitness thing. That's me in a thong, I'm sure you're so proud.

• 29:37Speaker 01

  So, that not, not one of the greatest, most proud, you know, moments of my life, but, you know, God's things changed. I took that moment with that little girl and decided then and there that I wasn't even taking one of those jobs. So I was gonna make sure that people knew that I had a brain, I was college educated, um, that this really, all the glitz and glamour that they, that they see was really not very, in attractive. I had doctors in my life, I had very serious stuff. So, so anyway, I, I started, um, trying to write and only write, I started submitting queries to magazines. Um, a query is basically when you start a story, you kind of summarize how you're, or you start it how it's supposed to sound

• 30:20Speaker 01

  and then you kind of summarize the rest and shop them around.

• 30:23Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 30:23Speaker 01

  And I just, I just looked up online, how do I write a query? So I wanted to learn what to do. And, um, and I, I just started doing it and because of the notoriety I, I had achieved, so that, I do know that that's a big part of it. The fact that I had an audience, that was a passive audience and kept coming back.

• 30:40Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 30:41Speaker 01

  Um, that these people were more apt to look at me when I was writing because of course they were getting, you know, a two for one deal. Somebody who has attention and somebody who can write, so. Fortunately, people started looking at that, Bodybuilding.com, found me, phoned me and said, you know, we'd really like to work with you. There's a whole nother backstory to that because when they told me, um, what I was worth, that really didn't sit well with me, so I had to work, work with them on that. And I'm in, it's now I get paid more than any other girl that has ever in the industry of what we do.

• 31:16Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 31:16Speaker 01

  So with that, it was really hard. I was sitting down with like a room full of, you know, all men. It's a girl voice company, but my values align with the CEO. He's a really great guy. I love the company. I love what they stand for and, um, and it just worked. Things were just starting to click. You don't get things unless you ask for them and

• 31:35Lewis Howes?

  Yup.

• 31:35Speaker 01

  I was, I was nice but bold and

• 31:38Lewis Howes?

  That's great.

• 31:38Speaker 01

  And direct, so.

• 31:40Lewis Howes?

  And before we get into, before we get into the Bodybuilding.com stuff, I wanted to talk briefly because you mentioned a little bit about your faith and I know you're very open about it because you talk about it on Twitter and Facebook and, uh, you know, you've talked about it to me in person before. Now, can you talk a little bit about if you get criticized at all for putting this out there online? Because you talk about your faith, but you're also in a very physical industry. It's very, you know, somewhat, it can be surface level for a lot of people depending on how they look at it or how it's portrayed, uh, portrayed and things like that. So do you get criticized a lot? And if so, how do you overcome those critics or that negative attention?

• 32:21Speaker 01

  Well, oh, and, and I do, you know, unfortunately in that first year and a half, um, when I was taking all those sexier photos, they spread like wildfire.

• 32:30Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 32:30Speaker 01

  So I now, I now get an opportunity to speak to a lot of kids at church and, um, we're all on the internet. So I really warned them about, you know, the fact that that's going to be there forever. And I'm fortunate that, you know, I had enough, um, common sense to never do any nudity or anything. But, you know, some of my sons do some of mine as well. I was a really embarrassing, but, um, But and oddly enough, I'm married to a worship pastor who comes from, you know, a family of, um, his father is a pastor of pastors. So it's like, you know, talking about a scary situation to walk into with that one. But, um, but anyway, you know, people are very, very forgiving when you're, when you're really honest about what,

• 33:12Speaker 01

  what you've been through in your life. I have not met a single person yet that has an unblemished past and, um, and really I want to share exactly what happened in my life with my fitness career. Cause there's so many girls that wanna do it. It looks really glamorous guys here. I get, I get to talk to tons of fitness model guys. And, um, and I really want them to have a true, um, true, real look at it. Now, faith aside, there's a lot of, um, integrity issues, a lot of things that are, that are gonna challenge your values. There's a lot of creepy shady people. You know, and it's really hard. You have to find some strength somewhere, somehow to say, this is who I am. This is what I'm gonna be and this is how I'm gonna stay.

• 33:54Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 33:54Speaker 01

  And for me, that was God. And when that little girl that was sixteen said to me that she wanted to be sexy too, and, and I, I realized then in there how shallow I had approached everything. I knew that I needed, if I wanted to stay where I was and if God wanted me there, that I needed to work really hard to make this something that he could use me for and make a way that, you know, it, it was gonna be, it was gonna be a good, good thing that I jumped from this awesome job into the fitness world.

• 34:24Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 34:24Speaker 01

  So, um, cause I wasn't happy. I was really, really miserable and I know so many people. I've worked with lots of celebrities. I've worked with people that are extremely successful. They have all the money in the world. They're beautiful and handsome. But there, there's a lot of people that are still really empty and, and I've been there. And for me, you know, working on my faith and really diving into that and, and finding, and you know, it, it was a little piss in me for me one day and, and I didn't learn this until I was older. It's, it's crazy to me that it took me forever to figure this out, but you know, when we pray, we're speaking to God, but God speaks to us through the Bible, through his words. And I've never read the Bible. And so I, I, I've gone to church a million times. I went to a top of high school.

• 35:09Speaker 01

  I took four years of theology.

• 35:11Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 35:12Speaker 01

  Never read the Bible. So I started reading, I started really pouring into all that stuff and you know it's it's amazing what it will do to your self-esteem and to direction in your life. It's extremely confusing, the Bible is.

• 35:28Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 35:28Speaker 01

  But uh, when you find a lot of religious devotionals, there's so many great um, theologians and and historians and all sorts of people of faith out there, they're awesome. And that's one reason you go to tons of different churches until you find a church that really is comfortable for you, because different people will deliver it and speak it a different way.

• 35:48Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 35:48Speaker 01

  And so I found those things and I just felt really empowered before I was, even though I was all by myself, I suddenly didn't feel by my by myself, I felt like I had purpose.

• 35:58Lewis Howes?

  Hmm.

• 35:59Speaker 01

  And um, and so anyway, I I don't mind that people ridicule me for it, because I feel like it's my cross to bear. I welcome when somebody goes online and says, hey, well, how can you be a Christian if you've got all these sexy photos?

• 36:13Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 36:13Speaker 01

  And I'm like, well, let me tell ya, because it's my opportunity to share my testimony and I think, I think it's awesome now. You know, my husband, he um, he was leaving at the church I walked into and I went there to go meet a friend, but it wasn't the church I went to. He saw me walk in because it was kind of a grand can sort of thing, he was dreaming, so he was very, he was very distracted, but he didn't know who I was at all. And um, and through talking and just getting to know each other, one day he decided to go home and Google me.

• 36:44Lewis Howes?

  Hmm.

• 36:45Speaker 01

  That was not a good move.

• 36:46Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 36:47Speaker 01

  So all these some sisters pop up and he's like, you know, grew grew up in Baptist home, you know, worship worship pastor, pastor's kid. He was like, what in the world? Because this girl he's been talking to, my heart didn't really match what he was seeing on his pages.

• 37:04Lewis Howes?

  Hmm.

• 37:05Speaker 01

  So I'm really blessed and grateful that he, he didn't judge me at all by that. He was actually really intrigued because he figured there's gotta be a story here.

• 37:14Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 37:14Speaker 01

  And um, and I tell you too, um, you know, my husband and I dated for almost church.

• 37:22Speaker 01

  For um for about a year before we got married and he never once spent the night at my house and so it was a very different courtship for me, something different than I'd ever experienced in my life. He didn't look at me at all in a um in a sexual way. I've never felt more love either than I did by by him, you know, than than by anyone than I did by him because he had his own ways other than physical to make me feel special and let me know that he loved me. So God did all sorts of amazing things in my life when I really started pursuing him first.

• 38:00Lewis Howes?

  Mm hmm.

• 38:00Speaker 01

  And all the fitness doors opened, my my personal life got amazing. I wasn't supposed to be able to have a baby and three months after we got married and I had I'm pregnant. So so I think.

• 38:12Lewis Howes?

  That's awesome.

• 38:12Speaker 01

  You know, I think when you just persevere through the hard stuff and all the ritual and things like that, the Bible says to expect it when you're gonna follow him.

• 38:20Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 38:20Speaker 01

  Um if you, you know, you're still lucky.

• 38:24Lewis Howes?

  Right. Now, this is interesting because I just did a recent episode on this podcast where I called it the power of belief and a lot of the great athletes in the world, the way I see it, the best in the world are believe in one of two things. They either have a really strong belief in their faith or God or their religion, or they have a strong belief in themselves. They're extremely egotistical and very um selfish and just believing that they are the ones who have the talents and the athletic ability and things like that. And you you notice this when you hear interviews after a big game. The superstar comes on ESPN, does an interview.

• 39:07Speaker 01

  Right.

• 39:08Lewis Howes?

  And they either are the Tim Tebo's of the world who are like, you know, first want to thank God and my Savior and or they're talking about their faith right away and throughout the entire interview, or the other person who isn't as strong in their faith is talking about themselves. You can just tell their ego is very in the way. And I feel like. Obviously, you're the one who you're you're you're the type who is beliefs in their faith. And that's really pushed you to become the best in the world at what you do, being the face of Bodybuilding.com, being on more covers than any other fitness model in the world. And really, being the leader in your industry, you're looked at as the go to person. So I think it's I think it's something interesting to think about for people.

• 39:50Lewis Howes?

  If you want to really excel in something and be at the top of your game of what you do, you've got to have a belief in something. And I'm not saying one way or the other way is the right way. I'm saying you want to believe in something. If you have faith and you want to really strongly believe in that, and that's your support system, then you should believe in that if you want it to help you get to the next level. Or believe in yourself, you know, and it might be a combination of both. Maybe you believe in yourself a lot as well. And that's really what helps you take it to the next level. But the people that I see who aren't reaching the type of success or getting where they want to be, they usually have a lack of belief in everything. So that's just something that I'm noticing from from what you're talking about.

• 40:34Lewis Howes?

  And I think it's really interesting that you that you have such a strong belief and you put it out there like that. So I'm excited for what's the futures that'll hold there. I want to go on to something about supplements really quickly. And I want to ask you about goal setting and a few other things as well. But I want to talk about supplements. I just had a another a vegan expert on the on the most recent episode. His name is Rich Roll. He's a ultra marathoner, ultra Ironman runner and competitor. And, you know, runs 50 miles at a time and bikes and swims 10 miles and all the crazy stuff as an extreme endurance athlete.

• 41:14Lewis Howes?

  And he used to be 50 pounds overweight, changed his life, changed his diets. He used to eat only fast food, just like you and myself. And then he went to completely vegan, plant based diet. And I want to talk about your views on healthy eating and supplements. So should we be eating, what should we be eating in general? And what supplements are good for us to achieve greatness mentally and physically?

• 41:43Speaker 01

  Alright, well, my views on things is first and foremost, livability and is it realistic?

• 41:50Lewis Howes?

  Hmm.

• 41:50Speaker 01

  You know, you're, the guy you were just speaking to sounds like an uber amazing athlete.

• 41:55Lewis Howes?

  Yep.

• 41:55Speaker 01

  That's not me. I get winded going to the mailbox. I'm not a cardio nut. I, I like lifting weights, um, I like dancing, you know, I have different hobbies and stuff that I like to do. And, and I eat to support those hobbies. He likely eats to support his

• 42:11Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 42:11Speaker 01

  running and all the activity that he does too, we all do. Um, so the first thing I, I always tell people when they ask me about eating is I, I like to figure out what they're doing, you know? I wanna know what they're doing so I can recommend the right kinda thing to help them support, support those goals. You know, if somebody's trying to be stronger, I'm gonna have them eat differently than somebody who's just trying to lean out

• 42:30Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 42:30Speaker 01

  or somebody who's running. So, um, so anyway, for me, because my life's about balance, I wanna be, there's a difference, I always try to tell people there's a difference between eating to be healthy and eating to be lean. And when you bridge that gap, that's when you've found the good place to be.

• 42:47Lewis Howes?

  Hmm.

• 42:47Speaker 01

  Because I wanna be lean, but I also wanna be healthy. And you go over to the too lean side, you're suddenly unhealthy. There's anemia to worry about. There's, um, a lot of people overtraining, over exercise, and you actually, you know, you hurt your body doing that sort of stuff.

• 43:03Lewis Howes?

  Sure.

• 43:04Speaker 01

  So, so anyway, so for me, I do, you know, there's all sorts of diets out there, and here's the first thing I tell people. Is, um, if you wanna be vegan, that's awesome. If you wanna be gluten free, that's awesome. If you wanna be paleo, that's awesome. But I always have people at least start with the lean proteins, complex carbs, and the healthy fats. And the first thing I want them to do is just get rid of the chemicals. That's all I care about. If you just get rid of the chemicals, you know, that, that in itself will make you start dropping weight.

• 43:32Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 43:32Speaker 01

  Because most of the things that have chemicals in it are terrible for us.

• 43:35Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 43:35Speaker 01

  So, I'm not a, an awesome cook. I'm Ethan, I like to publish some, some of my little quirky recipes, but, um... But I do, I enjoy cooking at least a little bit. And so if I have people that say, hey, I just don't like cooking, well, you're probably looking at an uphill battle. You've got to learn to actually prepare some of your food because it's the, it's the stuff made with love at home that's gonna be better for our bodies.

• 43:59Lewis Howes?

  Sure.

• 44:00Speaker 01

  And so all these whole foods is really what you need. And then once you start eating like that, the next thing I want people to do is say, okay, well, you know, I've been exercising, I've been eating this clean and healthy diet, um, and my gut's still distended, or I still feel like I'm not making the progress I need to make. Well, then you switch to a gluten-free or a paleo or something like that. And until you have a, a, a starting point, you really are just jumping into sort of a fad and trying it. Now, if you're vegan, vegan's different. There's a lot of those that's for ethical reasons because they don't, you know, of course, they love the animals, which I do too. I tried to be vegan. I was terrible at it because I just was always hungry and I could never feel satisfied and I was tired. So.

• 44:43Lewis Howes?

  Sure.

• 44:43Speaker 01

  Um, so I've tried several of these diets, but nothing seems to support, again, the activity that I do. Um, so better than what I currently do, which is just lean protein, complex carbs and healthy fats. So for me, I just tell people, hey, let's start there. And then if you're, um, if you're running, you're gonna need a lot more carbohydrates. If you're, um, trying to build strength, you're gonna need, again, a lot more carbohydrates. And then if you're somebody who's just trying to lean out, there's several different approaches you can take for that.

• 45:13Lewis Howes?

  Sure.

• 45:14Speaker 01

  So there's no one right answer. That's why a lot of times being a professional involved really helps kind of demystify the whole thing.

• 45:21Lewis Howes?

  Yep.

• 45:21Speaker 01

  But, um, but doing it on your own, the very first step to do is just get out all the chemicals and eat proper portions and eat some lean protein, complex carbs and healthy fats.

• 45:32Lewis Howes?

  Nice. Okay, cool. Yeah, I'm al- I'm always talking about how people should be hiring coaches for every aspect of their life, whether it be fitness or business or relationships. I think having a coach and a support system is the best, um, thing you can do to really excel in anything. And you mentioned somewhere that setting small goals and staying connected to peers is a source of motivation for you. Can you tell me more about how you use those sources of motivation to help you, especially through maybe a rough patch, uh, that you may be having in your life?

• 46:04Speaker 01

  Sure, um, yeah, you know what, accountability is huge when you're trying to reach a goal. So, and then, and then once you put it out there and you say, hey, this is the goal I wanna reach, you're really not being held accountable for anything. Like when, when I mentioned earlier that my mom was gonna do the, my, my diet that I gave her and workout, um, I walked away that day really frustrated because she had so many questions and she wanted to change a ton of things. Well, guess what, she didn't tell me she started because she didn't want the accountability. She had fear of failure and she didn't do the whole program the right way. She lost some weight, which I'm really proud of her because she was able to do that. But she didn't do it right, so she had to go back and wanted to do it again.

• 46:45Speaker 01

  And so, I really find when you put something out there, you're holding yourself accountable. You have people that'll, you know, share it with you, they'll, they'll cheer you on. Um, I often get asked by people, well, well, there's also these people that are all trying to derail you too. Well, I get clever and I just try to enlist them. I, I challenge them and I say, okay, if you need grab for this thing or whatever, you get on to me, you know? Instead of recruit them, instead of let them try to, to derail me by tempting me and stuff like that. But, um, but also another thing of accountability is, uh, when you do the coach or trainer, um, life is just crazy. I mean, we all live in like fast forward constantly and there's always, you know, many things piled up on your plate.

• 47:30Speaker 01

  It's really, really easy to get distracted by things, whether you're working on business goals, fitness goals, anything.

• 47:36Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 47:37Speaker 01

  So, um, a coach is their job. I mean, they're supposed to bring you back to, okay, what's the next step? Next step and keep you on track. They watch, they push you through, you know, each stage so that you continue to make progress. That first year of competing, I would have never been able to do it without the help of my trainer and my nutritionist because I, I was totally, I was like flying blind. I didn't know what I was doing, first of all. And second of all, I was trying to be a fitness model. I was all over the place, you know? So having that sort of thing allowed me to do the, all the fun stuff because I had them doing all the hard work for me.

• 48:11Lewis Howes?

  Right, right.

• 48:11Speaker 01

  I just had those good emotions. So, um, and then another thing, Bodybuilding.com is one of the largest websites, you know, online. Their, their forum is larger than Oprah Winfrey's forum. I mean, that's how huge it is. But, um, they created a site on there called BodySpace and it's got, you know, well over a million. I think there's a couple million on there now. Um, they just started it like a couple of years ago and it's basically just a site for people to share their fitness goals, to say, this is my before, you know, this is what I'm trying to do. Um, maybe they're competing, maybe they're just starting their journey, maybe they're more physically obese and need help. I mean, all walks of life on there and it's really for accountability because even a company of that size realizes that we can

• 48:54Speaker 01

  give you all the information in the world. That's what Bodybuilding.com is, is it's just tons of information. You actually sell supplements, but that's not what their first goal is. If we give you supplements, if you don't know how to use them or what you're supposed to do with anything, they're really kind of moot. You're never gonna buy another one.

• 49:09Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 49:10Speaker 01

  So, um, so the CEO's smart and he gives you all the information and then they also built that, that accountability aspect with BodySpace because it's willpower that a lot of people lack with stuff.

• 49:22Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 49:22Speaker 01

  And I'm not immune to that. I mean, life will get me, like, I'll be doing good and then suddenly I've got like, you know, two weeks I have to take off and it's just sad how fast you lose stuff.

• 49:32Lewis Howes?

  Hmm.

• 49:32Speaker 01

  And then I have no drive to get back to it, but I'm not immune to that and I don't know a fitness person that is. So having people encourage you, push you along and say, hey, you've got this next thing coming up, get back to it, that's what keeps me going.

• 49:45Lewis Howes?

  Right. Interesting. Now, you've had the opportunity to meet and train and hang out with some incredible people, some incredible business minds, celebrities, athletes, um, people who've accomplished some amazing goals. What are the few, I guess, common themes you see behind the success of all these people?

• 50:10Speaker 01

  You know, probably consistency and determination are two big things because I think, you know, all of us are gonna experience setbacks and we're all going to fail, you know, at some point and it's how you handle that and if you're gonna keep going or keep trying. Um, you know, a lot of the celebrities and stuff that I know, most of them didn't become that famous actor or that athlete overnight, you know, there was a lot of rejection involved.

• 50:37Lewis Howes?

  Sure.

• 50:38Speaker 01

  Um, even myself with Bongoon.com when I, that first year when I was experiencing all that popularity, I emailed them and I just wanted to be their amateur athlete of the week and they said, "Okay, you know, we'll make you amateur athlete of the week." I filled out my little bio, I was so excited and now every year at the Christmas party I give this guy grief, but guess what, I never ended up on the site and athlete of the week. So, and it was a blow to my ego because, you know, there was quite a few, you know, areas of rejection. I went to New York, um, to find out if I could be, you know, like an Adidas type fitness model, which I'm not. Um, I found out really fast that, um, this little Asian guy thought that I was a little too androgynous looking, that's manly if you will, and I would be anything but at the

• 51:23Speaker 01

  time, I was teeny tiny. Um, he thought my face was too square, my hair was too short, all this stuff and I said, "Well, your teeth are too rotten" and I just left. No, I was, I didn't really, he was, he was pretty harsh, but I walked out of there thinking, you know, "Well, I tried it and, you know, that's not really what I'm gonna focus on. I'm gonna focus on using my mind and, you know, what's in my heart and we'll just see what happens."

• 51:49Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 51:50Speaker 01

  Well, nothing he said really stuck because I got to do all that and more, but had I given up at that point when he told me all of that and just said, "I'm not gonna take any more pictures or do anything like that" because he, you know, made me feel like the ugly duckling, um, I wouldn't have had the awesome career that I had.

• 52:06Lewis Howes?

  Sure.

• 52:07Speaker 01

  So, I think it's really perseverance and just keep in, you know, just keep going even when they're in the face of rejection.

• 52:12Lewis Howes?

  Right. What do you think are the biggest obstacles that make people quit on their goals or their dreams in, in business, in life, in sports? What do you think of those big, big obstacles?

• 52:23Speaker 01

  Um, some of the obstacles are probably, um, family, time. Uh, you know, your, your priorities change as life changes. You know, even with me right now, having baby, there's a lot of question of, will she keep doing fitness? You know, what's gonna happen? Well, you know, for me, I just get excited about the prospect of now I can do anti-aging. I can do baby fitness, mommy fitness.

• 52:46Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 52:46Speaker 01

  You know, you're not stopping me, I'm just going. But, um, but I think a lot of times, you know, your, your priorities change in life and time really kind of gets in the way. And you decide, okay, I like, I like doing this business thing or this fitness thing, but I also would like to, you know, have the, the awesome family and the great marriage and the love of my life and all these other things. And so the priorities suddenly are tugging at each other. And, um, I've seen that happen quite a few times. Cause you get somebody in your life that changes the dynamic and maybe they don't agree with what your goals are. And so you really, really have to stay focused on what matters to you most. And that's again where my faith came in.

• 53:27Lewis Howes?

  Hmm.

• 53:28Speaker 01

  I was prepared to lose this in a heartbeat just to have Michael. You know, I, I wanted a husband, I wanted, I would walk away from fitness in an instant. I told him that early on and, and I meant it with all my heart. And, um, he is an amazing person, cause he, you know, he wanted me to do what was, what made me happy. And he saw that I could have a positive impact where I was. And that I was vocal about my faith and, and our values lined up. And so, you know, it worked. I was, I had good support in my life, but not everybody had that.

• 53:59Lewis Howes?

  That's great.

• 54:00Speaker 01

  So I think a lot of times that, that's kind of what will, will make people falter. They have to really know what they want.

• 54:05Lewis Howes?

  Right, okay, cool. I got a couple of questions left for you. Now, a lot of people are on the hunt for quick fixes, especially in fitness with all the different diets and the different, uh, work, type of workouts. Everyone wants a quick fix to get fit or healthy within, you know, a month or less or a couple of months. The same thing happens in business. People want to learn how to make money really fast. They want to just have a quick fix so they can increase their business without putting in the real work. So what should people really be doing if they want to have something that they create, uh, gains long-term as opposed to quick fixes? What are the things they should be focusing on as opposed to the quick fix?

• 54:49Speaker 01

  Well, there's a reason that the saying easy come, easy go is popular. Cause it's true. And um, you know, e- especially in the sense of fitness, um, it's it's not easy if they fit you around. It's it's, you've gotta make a conscious decision every single day about what you're eating, about how you're exercising. Now, when it becomes a lifestyle, that decision becomes commonplace and you enjoy what you're eating. Um, I, you know, even being pregnant, I started eating a bunch of junk and and boy, could I feel it. And so I had to get back to eating normal like I was eating before, just to me now that's the new normal.

• 55:25Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 55:25Speaker 01

  So, um, but uh, I think, um, I lost my train of thought. What was your question again?

• 55:32Lewis Howes?

  What uh, what uh, what do you, what should people really be doing to develop?

• 55:36Speaker 01

  Oh.

• 55:36Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, go ahead.

• 55:37Speaker 01

  I get off on a tangent.

• 55:39Lewis Howes?

  It's all good.

• 55:41Speaker 01

  Anyway, um, you know, to to really take, uh, to to be able to stick to something, you know, like fitness, long-term or make it, you know, a lifelong change or anything like that, or your, um, whether it's business and all that kinda stuff. To me, it's it's making it realistically fit into your life, like in what you're, you're, to me, it all goes back to heart, I guess, too. Because it's like, if it's something you you really, really want, you've gotta make time for it every day. You've gotta fit it into, um, your life every single day to where it realistically makes sense. Because if you go all in on that business thing really quick, you can crash and burn really quick. If you go all in on that fitness thing really quick, you're gonna get burnt out and crash and burn really quick.

• 56:26Speaker 01

  So, to me, the realistic, you know, balance of life is gonna help you have more longevity because ultimately you'll be happy. So take those baby steps to really get started or to really get, get acclimated, rather, you know, from and and learn about, um, whether it's fitness, business, whatever it is you're doing, um, master those things. And then you progress as you go and you become an expert in whatever it is you're doing, expert in fitness, expert in, and and those things will translate into longevity in all sorts of ways. Maybe it's not, maybe it's not even the the original vision that you had, the business plan that you had, morphed into something new, and the fitness goal that you had to be the fitness model, now suddenly you're a mommy writer.

• 57:10Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 57:11Speaker 01

  You know, you never know.

• 57:12Lewis Howes?

  Right, interesting, very cool. Okay, last question, this is important. What is your definition of greatness? And how does someone achieve that?

• 57:22Speaker 01

  Definition, oh, that's a hard one.

• 57:26Speaker 01

  Okay, you should have told me this early.

• 57:30Speaker 01

  Alright, definition of greatness, well, I think, I'd like to say, you know, my mom thinks I'm pretty great, so I think whatever your mom thinks. No, um, you know, I think anybody who's great, somebody who's great is someone who just doesn't, um, they, they don't give up in the face of adversity, they don't give up. They begin the perseverance, it's, um, it also comes to character for me, somebody who's great is, has a lot of humility, they're, um, they're, they wanna be successful, I mean, who doesn't wanna be successful? But at the same time, um, success has a greater meaning, it's not just financial, it's,

• 58:12Speaker 01

  you know, in relationships, in life, and so it's this well-balanced, well-rounded life to me. And I think if you jump into one whole area of your life, even fitness, and, and it all, it's all-consuming, and that's all you do, that's a really poor, poor approach. I think you'll end up a very unhappy person. So, that's why the spiritual thing matters to me, and my family matters to me, and I like the business stuff too, and I like the fitness stuff, and, and so I haven't mastered it at all. But, but even working toward having a balance makes me a calmer, better person, so hopefully, you know, eventually I can be great too.

• 58:49Lewis Howes?

  Interesting, very interesting. Uh, so where is the best place to people to find you online or connect with you online?

• 58:57Speaker 01

  Well, I've been pedophile lately, I've been hibernating with this pregnancy, but,

• 59:01Lewis Howes?

  You gotta make a baby, you gotta make a baby.

• 59:03Speaker 01

  I'm on Facebook, what's that?

• 59:05Lewis Howes?

  You gotta make a baby, that's a lot of energy.

• 59:08Speaker 01

  Oh, no, it really is. I've, I've never done this before, so I'm amazed at how much interview it takes. But, um, you can find me on Facebook. It's, uh, it's just Facebook dot com slash Official Jamie Ethan. Um, and my last name, by the way, is Middleton now. I did take his last name. It's just these goofy social networks. Don't let you change things once you have a certain number of people. So I feel bad because I, I've waited my whole life to have a man's, you know, my husband's last name and, and now I can't even have it online. But, so, um, if you can find me at Official Jamie Ethan, uh, on Facebook. And my husband and I are gonna be launching a blog soon called Like Peanut Butter and Jelly dot com.

• 59:48Speaker 01

  And the tagline's a Matt's in heaven because we both, we both have very parallel lives, even though a worship pastor and a fitness model seem extremely different. It's amazing how much we get to do together and he supports my career and I support his. So we like sharing kind of that, that duality with each other online. So, so that'll be up soon too. So I hope you guys will check it out.

• 1:00:10Lewis Howes?

  Nice. Very cool. And are you gonna be writing a book sometime in the future as well?

• 1:00:15Speaker 01

  No, I've had a few opportunities. Um, I, I've been working on a cookbook thing for a while. And, uh, I, I've recently been asked to write the spiritual side of stuff, which I was really surprised about. But, um, there's a lot of really crazy things about my life, uh, including, you know, like my real father and, and a bunch of things that a lot of people don't know. So I might, I might, I might have to do that. I don't know. I'm, I've been thinking about, thinking about doing it more and more. I've written a lot of little notes and stuff on it, so that might come out. But I think right now my biggest thing is gonna be focusing on the pregnancy side of stuff. I have some fun things that I'm trying to do with, with video. I'm realizing there's not enough out there for, for women when they get pregnant about staying fit.

• 1:00:59Speaker 01

  Because there's so many questions with it. So, um, and then of course, post-pregnancy, getting in shape. I'm gonna be able to put something together for that. And there's a lot of women that still haven't lost the baby weight. And now I've never done this before, so I'm being very bold and saying that I can, I think I can do it. But, um, but I've done fitness for so many years now that I'm just gonna have the confidence that I can, I can put together the right program to help the son get that weight off. So that's gonna be my ethical.

• 1:01:25Lewis Howes?

  Very cool. When you come out with some of that stuff, we're gonna have to come, have you come back on and, and talk more about that if that's cool.

• 1:01:32Speaker 01

  Cool, yeah, of course, I appreciate it.

• 1:01:34Lewis Howes?

  Awesome. Well, Jamie, thanks so much for coming on and we'll talk to you guys next time.

• 1:01:39Speaker 01

  Sounds good, thanks, Bruce.

• 1:01:53Lewis Howes?

  And there you have it. I really appreciate Jamie coming on. What an inspiring message and story. For all of you out there, I hope you enjoyed this as well. Feel free to hit up Jamie over on Facebook. I know she'll love your support and your comments. And make sure to follow all the stuff she's working on right now. She's a gem. And I hope you guys really enjoy connecting with her. Again, make sure to check out schoolofgreatness.com. And to learn about all the other podcasts and episodes we have on here. We've got a lot of great episodes in the past and more to come in the future. If you enjoyed this episode, let me know by leaving a five star review over on iTunes and share this with your friends on Facebook or Twitter.

• 1:02:37Lewis Howes?

  It's at Lewis Howes, pretty much anywhere online. I love you guys. Hope you have a great one and I'll see you next week.