Welcome to the sharp light show. We dive into the stories of our members, coaches, friends, and family, sharp by fitness and nutrition. All right, let’s go. Hi, guys, Today, I am honored to have Katie on offer to join the podcast. This will be a super common belief on here for sure. Katie is one of the few people who work in all three of our current SharkBite locations. She is the director of our entire nutrition program here at SharkBite. Runs our social media, coaches, group classes, and personal training sessions and is a super awesome person. Katie, thank you for joining us.
Katie
Thanks for having me.
Nick
Yeah, it’s been a lot of fun. So talk to me. Who are you? What’s your history and like Fitness, Sports health, that realm?
Katie
You covered a lot of what I am here, Eddie. I’ve also been working in the corporate world forever and would love to work in the fitness realm. Fitness-wise, I have not. I’m not your typical story, right? Like I, I didn’t play sports in high school. I was not an athletic person. I really only discovered how great fitness is. I would have to say that probably in 2010 or 2011, I started working with a personal trainer. And I just fell in love. And from there, it’s grown into what it is now.
Nick
Yeah, quite a bit. That’s something I think a lot of people don’t realize. I’m the same way. I didn’t play sports growing up at all. Yeah, I’ve almost no background in athletics in any way. Which I think’s all this stuff is so much harder for me. It’s for a lot of people. But we can relate to that. Yeah. So So, what made you interested in coaching? What made you think that’d be a realm you’d like to do?
Katie
Coaching is as satisfying for the coach as it is for the client. Right? And that might sound a little bit selfish. But um, it’s there’s nothing better than seeing someone happy. Right? I’m seeing someone making changes that they didn’t think they could do. Seeing someone doing movements that they didn’t think they could do. It is just so so satisfying.
Nick
Yeah, I agree with that. That’s everybody we’ve had on here. So far, I said some version of that same thing because it’s true, right? Yeah, it is. It is a little selfish. But like it’s selfish in a good way. That’s good. Yeah. All right. So how did you find your way to Shopify?
Katie
I’m actually through a mutual friend; um, I was working out at another gym. I was, you know, um, I like to call myself a certificate collector; I love to learn. So I’m constantly getting certified. And this and that. And the other thing, and I had recently discovered, well, I proved I knew for a while, but I had recently discovered how frickin fantastic you can feel with nutrition. And I really, I had taken a certificate course in something. And I wanted more. So I took another one. And in talking with our mutual friend, they had told me that, um, you guys, we’re looking for a nutrition coach. And it was just perfect timing. Perfect timing. So that’s how I found Charlotte.
Nick
Yeah, that’s crazy to think a mutual friend was Kelly at the crazy thing you’re saying that we were looking for a nutrition coach, right? Because like, that’s, you are so much more than just a nutrition coach. Now, it’s hard for me to remember that that was like how this started because in my brain, sometimes, that doesn’t even click anymore. That’s totally true. I remember that first meeting with you. And it’s wild to think that we were talking about having you come on as a part-time nutrition coach.
Katie
Right. Yeah. How much that’s grown.
Nick
Well, that’s like a good segway because you’re the director of nutrition for SharkBite. Right. So talk to me a little bit about, you know, the nutrition program, what we stand for, what nutrition coaching, in general, is because I think that’s something that a lot of people understandably, and I was one of them, don’t really understand.
Katie
Okay, so that’s a loaded question. Let’s start with the nutrition program. Right. Um, I think the arbitration program is different in that. It’s not one thing, right? For one person, it might be helping them build some healthy habits. For another person who might be competing at a higher level, we might be tracking macros. We might be digging into the micros for someone who has their macros down. Our nutrition program is helping anybody of any level reach a higher level. You know, teach people healthy eating, we get back to the basics. I think our society is in this spot right now where we’re eating food items. We’re not actually eating food. Right. And taking it back to those basics and helping people feel better is what our nutrition program does, you know? Yeah, yeah.
Nick
And he definitely does do that. You know, full disclosure, your mind nutrition coach as well. And I think like, what’s cool about that is, you know, you have quite a few clients and all of our gyms, and I think you coach me probably a whole lot different than you do a lot of the other people. Yeah. And that’s not because I’m somehow better or deserve special treatment. It’s, it’s kind of like you said, it’s, it’s all kinds of things for everybody. You know, sometimes you’re coaching me is like, Hey, asshole, that was a lot of food. And that works really well for me, you know? Somebody else? So like, what? What does nutrition coaching look like? Let’s say, you know, with you as a coach for someone trying to compete at a higher level.
Katie
So when it comes to competing at a higher level, we’re looking at, you know, what macros we can set them up with that will help them perform better but also recover? Right? Um, a lot of higher-level is based on recovery, right? How you perform the day of is how well you’re recovering. Right? So it’s not always just food too. It’s your stressors, right? Like, who are you surrounded with? It’s your sleep. There are so many things that go into your nutrition. I mean, what else do you do? At least three times a day, every day for the rest of your life, right? Eating is one of the most important things in your life, and many people take it for granted. So, higher-level athletes may think they’ve got some things pinned down and are doing good, but we come in from an outside look. And we’re able to look in on that and say, like, No, I think you need to button this up, or you need to change this a little bit. Or how about we try this? Having that outside? Look, is it priceless? I mean, I have my own nutrition coach, right? Things that I’m seeing for myself, I might be like, Well, that’s good. But then they’ll come in and say, Well, no, we can do this better, we can do that better. It’s important to have that person looking over your shoulder and helping you step it up a notch.
Nick
Okay, and then if I’m somebody who’s not working out regularly, and I just want to lose weight, how does that look?
Katie
Well, that could be completely different, right? And it depends on where they’re starting from, like, I think the first thing I would ask is, are they drinking water? What do they drink? Right? Do you eat vegetables? Do you eat fruit? Are you eating whole foods are eating processed foods? We can start in any number of spots for someone in a position like that. Frequently, we’ll get people who are just not eating enough. And I think that’s super surprising to some when I give them a goal of, ” Hey, try to eat this much. They get scared, right? We live in this diet culture of like, less, less, less, less little. But in reality, your body has got this. It’s adapted, right? It’s called metabolic adaptation, right? It’s adapted to the fact that you’re not eating enough food. And then when you are eating food, it’s not really food, right? It’s the food-like items, right? So frequently, people just looking to lose a little bit of weight are shocked to know they can lose weight by eating more. And I love giving people the opportunity to not be hungry, right? Like you should be enjoying food. Our program sets you up so you can continue it for the rest of your life. You shouldn’t go through life hungry. That’s crazy.
Nick
Yeah, that’s, that’s one of my favorite moments. And when we’re doing no sweat intros, and I’m talking to someone, I’m like, Look, I’m gonna let Katie tell you this, but I’m 90% Certain she’s gonna tell you to eat more food. They always look at me incredulously. And I’m like, we’ve been doing this a little bit, I’m pretty sure I know. The first thing she’s gonna tell you to do is eat more food. And that’s a super cool feeling. I was what I think is cool is, you know, you talked about how different those words are. Um, you know, I compete for the Southwest Florida sharks. So I, I guess I sent my competitive athlete outside. And one of the first things you and I worked on wasn’t macro tracking or increasing like these wild parameters. It was like, Hey, how much are you eating every day? And I think if I remember, like two and a half years ago, what we did was just track my portion sizes. And the amount of success that has brought me just that like that one action, you know. In contrast, I’ve been doing this long enough where I might stupidly put myself in the bucket of like, I need to make sure that I eat exactly 47 minutes after I work out. It has to be almonds and a peach. Otherwise, I’m not going to be great. Like something that seemed as simple as just tracking the amount of food I was eating per day. That’s a stellar result for me. Yeah. And I know that you know when we were testing the program before we decided we would take it to live. That was a big part of what made me buy into it so hard was like, okay, so we took a real thing that was not outrageously difficult for me to do, and I just implemented it with your guidance. I lost a ton of weight and have gotten way better. And you know, two and a half years later, it’s not stopped, which is awesome.
Katie
Yeah, that’s awesome. It’s so important, right? Like, humans have so much stress in their life, right? Like, eating shouldn’t be one of them. Right? We’ll make it as easy as possible, and you can still get fantastic results. That’s the way to do it. Right? You shouldn’t be worrying about, like, do your numbers match up? You know, what am I doing? Let me weigh this out. Like, it doesn’t need to be that. It absolutely does not need to be that.
Nick
Yeah, I agree with that completely. And you also, you don’t. You might not want to say this, but I will. We live in a culture where people are tricked into believing that results happen in specific ways when they’re generally not true. You know, the fitness influencer you see on Instagram is not only doing the things they’re telling you about generally, and they’re not doing it necessarily in the timeframe that they’re implying they are, you know, yeah. And that’s why I like our program a lot and that we let you know that you’re not going to lose 30 pounds in two weeks. This is that’s not the program for you cut the leg off. You might do that. Yeah, I’m recommending you do that. But you know, you, Christy, Krystal, and Leila are extremely open and honest about that when working with clients.
Katie
Yeah, I think it’s important, right, like, expecting overnight results. Maybe you might get that with some things, but I guarantee you, it’s gonna come back; you’re gonna feel like shit. It’s just not worth it.
Nick
Yeah, right. Exactly. Now, you’re a personal trainer and have been a lot longer than you’ve been coaching group classes, you know, at SharkBite. I know; you’ve told me that one-on-one training has been super fulfilling for you, right? Yeah. Why is that? Why do you do that so much? Um,
Katie
so I think one-on-one training is great because you really get to know a person, right? You really become a part of their lives and understand their goals; you can get deep with a person, right? You understand their goals; you can set up the workouts depending on what’s going on in their life, right? As like might know, this person is having a rough week, like, let’s take it easy this week, or I know they’re going on vacation in a few weeks. Like we’re amping it up, you know, I know what weights they’ve lifted and where I can push them, and working one on one with someone is just so intimate. It’s fantastic. Yeah.
Nick
Yeah, I agree with that. I had a background, and I started, you know, just teaching like group CrossFit classes. And one on one was super scary to me. And I also I, it was scary. As a coach, it was also scary because I didn’t really understand what kind of value I was providing. But like you said, after you do it for a while, you realize like, this is awesome, it’s intimate, I get to know exactly what this person is, is looking for all the time, you get to start to learn like you said when I can push them a little more when I need to pull back a little bit more. Getting to work towards some of these individual goals, right, like you were talking about specifically, like if weight loss is something they care about. We’ll modify what we’re doing to focus on weight loss, right? Have you been able to keep quiet for a really long time? Right? Like, why is that? Why have you been so successful with it?
Katie
Um, I don’t really. I don’t really look at the clients; I guess they really become friends. Right? They have become a part of my life. I know what’s going on outside in their lives. They know what’s going on in my life, you know, when we see each other, you know, for some time in our session, we’re talking about our lives, right? And then this switch flips, and we’re working out right like so it’s a two-part session, you know, and that’s fantastic.
Nick
Yeah, whenever I talk to me about what we do, I say, you’re just like hanging out with your friends, but you’re getting your ass kicked during it. Yep, I’ve kept myself in it for so long. Alright, talk to me about the sober Sunday program you and my brother coach, Chris Morgan, created.
Katie
Um, so what sober Sunday we’re looking to give people who are sober or are thinking about getting sober or are a friend or family member with somebody sober a place to come and hang out, get a good workout in, you know, have a little bit of a sense of community. When I got sober, it was, you know, pivotal to my recovery, right? I want to be able to give that to somebody else.
Nick
So what about, why was it so pivotal? How did it help?
Katie
Um, you know, when you’re, you know, doing your drug of choice or drinking alcohol, you really mess with your serotonin and your dopamine and all of those hormones and how they’re produced and how you feel. Working out replaces that, right? It gives you the satisfaction and the rush you used to get from your drug of choice. And besides that, it’s the community, right? Like it’s around people who understand you have that connection. Those things combined. It really, really helped me. Without that, I don’t think I would be where I am today.
Nick
Yeah, I can understand that completely, like the veteran community. I’m an Army vet. And you’re looking for that feeling of camaraderie that you were getting elsewhere. You might be getting it a different way. But that feeling of camaraderie can’t really replicate. Right? Yeah. Like you’re saying, you can, at least a simile of it in this. Oh, I, I was. Josh, one of our other coaches, talked about this a bunch, finding a community to replicate some of those feelings. Again, I’m assuming it’s the same way, right?
Katie
Oh, absolutely. Right. Because when I was drinking, I had a group of friends, right. And then when I stopped drinking, I didn’t really have any friends, right? Because I wasn’t, I didn’t want to be in those situations that I was in before. So coming to the gym, and having that place, that place to go, that safe place and making friends interested in doing things other than planning on our next outing, you know, instead, I was, I was, I was meeting at a different bar. So they say it’s definitely super fulfilling to have that. I want to be able to give that to somebody else. You know, I want people to have that feeling. But I think being able to do it and give them a space to come in for free and just hang out, you know, I’m hoping it grows, you know?
Nick
Yeah, I think that’s a super noble cause. I’m really excited about what we’re gonna be able to do over the next year. Yeah. So you are from New Jersey? Right? That’s okay. I don’t know if people know this. But I think like 80% of SharkBite is from Ohio feeling. Like everybody, everybody moves to have those three places and joins the gym. What brought you down to Florida?
Katie
Um, good question. I think for a really long time, I just always wanted to move somewhere where it was warm. I hate snow. I hated commuting and snow. I hated cold weather. I hated being stuck in the house. I hated feeling like I couldn’t go outside. I don’t want to be outside. I always wanted to move down south. So that’s really the main reason why. Yeah, yeah.
Nick
And why have you not gone back? Um, for that reason?
Katie
Yeah, I hate the cold. I don’t want to be back up there. It’s a different way of life down here. Right? I grew up right outside of New York City. Everything is Go go go. Um, people are not super nice. Hey, I still love all my friends and family from out there. But it’s just it’s different. Right? Like, we’re, we’re a beach town, right? We’re going with the flow. People are here on vacation. You know, it’s completely different. And I love the heat. And you guys always make fun of me for it. I love it. When it’s 100 degrees out, sign me up. And I work out in the sun. I’m good.
Nick
And you’re wearing a hoodie to bed. People make fun of Florida all the time. Right. But it’s weird. Everybody wants to come here. Yeah. So, back in November, we held the shark bites Summit. Right? You were a really big part of that. And I was obviously ecstatic about how it went. Can you talk a bit about it and why it was important to us to get that done.
Katie
U? okay, shark bites Summit. It was like a meeting of the minds for all our employees, right? The cool thing about SharkBite is that we all care, right? It might be different from going to a Globo gym or another gym where people see it as more of a job. Like, I feel like all of us at SharkBite want to make a difference. Right and coming together at SharkBite summit cemented that fact and gave us some time to spend together, which we never get to do because we’re always cooking at different times and places. But we worked on getting better at providing a better experience for our members. You know, like we actually give a shit about that and want to make it a place that people enjoy coming, not only to get a great workout in but as a community, you know?
Nick
Yeah. And if I ever had any doubts beforehand, that Saturday, smash those doubts? Yeah, it was; it was really cool. I know, of each of you guys, each of the managers came up with a presentation to help all of our coaches, and then a bunch of the coaches came up with activities for us to work on so that we could get better as coaches. And what’s cool is that it wasn’t even just necessarily fitness-based, you know? It was like, how can we help our members in their lives outside of the gym? How can we help each other as coaches so that we can do more for our members? I remember the coolest part about that was the end of the day. We did like it was nine hours long at the end of the day. Nobody wanted to leave. Soon was like trying to shut down the Fort Myers gym, and nobody Got out because everybody wanted to hang out more together afterward. It’s so cool. Yeah, it
Katie
was really cool. It was really cool.
Nick
Yeah, I’m really looking forward to doing that again next year. I think it’s gonna be really fun. Yeah, I might think about letting some people from outside sharp Come join the next one. Because it was an awesome experience.
Katie
It was really cool. Yeah, really amazing. I mean, I’ve been going to meetings for years and years and years and years. And I think that was, you know, the first meeting I ever left, really proud of being a part of something, you know? Yeah.
Nick
Yeah, that’s, that’s the same way I felt. I had this big smile. I sat in my truck for a while. I was like, I love this. I love what we do. Alright, so the CrossFit Games, right, is the big event that’s held every year. For anyone who doesn’t know what I’m talking about, there’s this thing called the open; it’s coming up for us soon. Everybody competes in it in the world if they’re interested. And then the fittest people in the world move on to the game. So CrossFit Games, right. There used to be an intermediate and intermediary level of that competition called regionals. Right? And you got to volunteer at that, right? Yeah. Yeah. So that’s a pretty big event. If I remember correctly, you volunteered at the last one that ever happened, right? Yes. Yeah. So what was that? Like? Because you helped out a lot of events that we’ve done, right? What was it like being at that big event? How was that?
Katie
Um, it was kind of terrifying at first, um, I had just started CrossFit less than a year before, and I decided, um, you know, that the event was coming around, and should we go in, you know, be spectators? Oh, look, they’re looking for volunteers. Let me put my name down and see what happens, right? And they picked me, and then they picked me for scoring. Listen, you guys know that I’m not good with numbers. I was terrified. Like, are you guys sure? It was so cool. To work right off where everybody was doing their workouts, all of these high-level athletes, a lot of whom I wasn’t familiar with because I had just started CrossFit. And to be right behind the broadcast booth was incredible. It was a really long day. It was really demanding, but man, was it fulfilling? And I learned so much. And then when we hold these, these smaller events, you know, it’s like a piece of cake, right? I think that one of the best parts of that weekend was like the last few events because everybody wanted to know what the scores were right away, right? They want the scores right away. So they would have stations along with the event out on the floor. And as soon as somebody was done with the event, you would have to take the score sheet, run it to the back, total it up, and then bring it to the booth and double-check it against the video. And it was just it was three days of nonstop adrenaline. It was really cool.
Nick
Yeah, yeah, that’s cool. I’ve had many friends do water Palooza, a big event around us. And that’s what they told me. It’s 72 hours of madness, but like organized madness, which is cool. Yeah. And I, in our events, as you said, they’re much smaller. Like controlled chaos for 14 straight hours, that feeling is like a drug. It’s super fun.
Katie
Oh, for sure. You can’t beat that rush. There’s nothing that compares to it. Yeah.
Nick
Right. Speaking of competitions, all right. It’s time for you to fess up. Because a couple of years ago, during our intramural open competition, on the last week, we held a costume competition. Right? Yeah. You were on a team that decided you would all dress up as caricatures of me. Everybody had their stupid fake beards and backward hats. And their tattoo sleeves, right? Yeah, whose idea was that? I want to know who came up with that.
Katie
That’s a really good question. That was a long time ago. I don’t know. I don’t
Nick
remember. That is a cop-out if I’ve ever heard.
Katie
I’ll never tell, but it was fantastic. The look on your face. It was so much fun. That was
Nick
it. I showed up, and everybody wore stupid Hawaiian shirts and short shorts. I remember I was so mad that our team lost because there was no way we were beating 30 of you dressed up looking like an idiot like me. But I also got about 20 Free Pawan shirts out of it. So yeah, I feel Danny Johnson has something to do with that. I have a feeling that she was in the brain trust on that. I’ll find out when she’s on the show. Interesting theory. Well, cool, so good. Is there anything else you want to talk about? Is there anything else you want to bring up or any other cool stories you want to talk about? Oh,
Katie
no, I don’t think so. I’m excited to come on here and talk about more nutrition and related stuff.
Nick
But yeah, we’re gonna make that a regular occurrence. We’re gonna be doing that more often.
Katie
Heck, yeah, yeah. Um, no, man, just thanks for inviting me to be on. Yeah,
Nick
yeah, no, no problem. Glad you were so. So before we could get here. If you were talking to someone who’s brand new, right? And they were scared to start working out in whatever way, like, what would you tell them? What would be your advice? Me?
Katie
Um, we’ve all been there. You know, anything new is scary. And I think that’s okay. Right? If it’s not scary, then is it worth trying? Right? I’m working out. And staying fit can literally extend your life, right? And it can make you feel really good. So don’t look at it as something scary in a bad way. But maybe scary in a good way. Right? Um, take that adrenaline you have and just go for it. Right? Like, it’s worth being scared for the first few times. And I promise that SharkBite that would change right after you’re there for a few times, you get to know everybody, everybody becomes like family, right? And it’s not scary anymore. So you just gotta get past that, you know, fear feeling and realize that, you know, movement is a good thing, right. Becoming part of a community is just incredible.
Nick
Yeah. I got that went. I can’t beat that. Okay, cool. Okay, thank you very much. Thanks. All right. Bye. Bye. All right. Thanks for hanging out with us today on the Shark Bite show. If you’d like to get a hold of us. You find us on Facebook or Instagram at Shark by fitness nutrition or on our website at Shark by fitness.com. If you’d like to find out more about our guests, that information will be in the show notes. If you’d like to talk to us about getting more fit. Schedule a free, no-sweat intro to one of our locations in Cape Coral, Fort Myers, or Naples, Florida.
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