Zach Colman
Alright. Perfect. Well, I like to thank you for having you on the show today we have Audrey why don’t you tell everyone a little bit about yourself and, uh, what you’re doing right now?

Audreys Story

Audrey Winters
I am Andrea Winters. I am an MMA fighter currently in the amateurs. , I come out of Los Angeles and I’m training at a place called dynamics that we may, currently, we’re training outside. So we’re lucky enough to have a space to train outside and hold classes. I also teach children MMA. So that’s kind of a new thing that I’ve been doing. It’s been really amazing. So that’s kind of what I’ve been up to right now with my training. Uh, there are no fights in California right now. , I was signed up for a jujitsu competition that ended up getting canceled and, , so we’re just gonna see workouts, like see what I can get.

Zach Colman
Yeah, yeah, no, definitely. It’s definitely a hard time for a lot of people to get athletes. A lot of things are closed right now. Uh, yeah. Or cardboard people in the band in the stands and, and things of that nature. It’s just, it’s, it’s a weird situation right now. , do you see yourself, do you see yourself, uh, thinking about other avenues or, uh, other directions you can kind of take yourself as an athlete is you’re, uh, with the current situation going on right now?

Audrey Winters
Yeah. , I’d been diving a lot into more of the mental side of it. , I’m very interested in just developing myself mentally and, I love philosophy and I love, just learning how to view the world in a way that brings me peace and, brings out the best of myself. , so I’ve been doing I’ve meditated for a very long time, not always consistently, but since as a kid, I really loved philosophy and knowing how to be present. And, , so more recently I’ve been very consistent, , and really devoted to that side of developing myself. And, , and so I’ve been doing a lot of readings as well. , I love to read, uh, I’ve been reading a lot of, uh, uh, quarterly, , and, uh, uh, not sure if I say his name correctly, which is like so embarrassing. Cause I love him so much, but tick not hon, , loved him and uh, yeah, I’ve just, I love to, , I loved the idea of, of Buddhism and, , implementing that into my training and just my life and how I treat people.

Audrey Winters
It’s very important to me and I, and I can see it. So, I see it so strongly, in my training and how it’s shifted because of the time that I’ve spent meditating and learning about, learning more deeply about how to be present and, really understanding it and living it. , I stayed on my training so clearly, as I feel so much more, capable of, of reacting in, in real-time and not being in my head, not, you know, I get anxious when I spar oftentimes almost every time and now it feels much like it’s subsided quite a bit and I’m just enjoying it and it feels new, which is really amazing. And then, of course, it adds, it flows, but like for the most part now it feels, it feels like there’s been a shift.

Zach Colman
That’s, that’s interesting. Cause I feel like most, most fans watching MMA, they might not, they might not realize that they might not even think they’re like, Oh, you’re hitting stuff and you’re hitting people. So you meditate, you know what I mean? Like they might not realize that that that could be, that could be a good thing. And it’s crazy how, when you say that it really resonates. And that’s one of the reasons I got into this field because I saw such a, a huge, not just passion, but a huge connection between business and growing as a business and growing as an athlete because it’s kind of a lot of the same kind of dynamics of you have to learn new things. You have to, you have to grow from failures. You have to keep going because it is, it’s a struggle. It takes time, it takes money and it takes a lot of effort to get to where you want to go.

Zach Colman
, I really liked that what you said about being anxiety side. Cause that, that really makes me think, cause I, I have really bad anxiety myself and I, I tend to similar, similar to what you said. I, I tend to, I will personally work out and I run and I do all that stuff to watch my anxiety, but my wife always nagged at me that I needed to get back into meditation. , and so maybe that’s something that I’ll, I’ll, I’ll force myself to start doing and clear my mind, especially right now.

Audrey Winters
Yeah. I, I’m definitely a very yang person, so I need that yin as you know, it balances me out. So also I’ve been, I’ve been surfing more, so that’s another kind of thing. , so I think I’m like, I just have this energy in me. That’s like as a kid who is very aggressive, like just, just wanted to throw things and like once people, but now I do that often and in an enclosed environment. And so I need the other side of it. I need to balance myself out through meditation and I actually really enjoyed the beginning of meditation. I was like, Oh, this is you sit down when you first meditate, you sit down. You’re like, this is overwhelming. This is I’m thinking way too much. This is not peaceful. It’s just, it, it feels like the opposite of what it should be.

Audrey Winters
But as you do it continuously, you start to like really deeply understand what’s actually happening. Like what is, what is meditation people? I think even myself like I’ll fall into the like all start to think, Oh, I should presence equals peace presence. Doesn’t always mean peace presence means just knowing what your attention is drawn to at that moment. So like, it could be something negative, like you had, I had a fight with my sister or something and, I’m thinking about what I said and everything, whatever. So that’s where my attention is. So, so that’s, I have to be present with the fact that I am thinking about that fight and not feeling good about that fight. And so then when you are aware of that feeling and the way that you feel in the, with things that you’re thinking of, , that awareness brings a space around the thought and the emotion. So you’re no longer, there’s no longer this resistance and this identification with like, Oh, I’m so, so sad. It’s like, okay, I’m sad. And I’m aware that I’m sad. So then there’s a space around it. , I don’t know. I forgot why I was talking about this, but that’s just something that I’ve definitely been. , there’s I feel more spacious inside of myself.

Zach Colman
No, I think that that’s, I think what you’re saying, it kind of resonates with me a little bit because I, when I go for runs, it’s meant when I go for runs, it’s meant for me to clear my head it’s meant for me, it’s, it’s supposed to be like meditation and lately, especially lately, I’ve noticed that a lot of my runs, with having anxiety, you kind of next thing, you know, it’s a lot, like when I read a book, I’ll get like 10 pages in and then I’ll realize, I don’t know anything that I just read. , it’s the same thing. When I run, I’ll get like, uh, you know, a half a mile in or a mile in and I’ll be like, I’ll just be so drowned and thinking about work and certain random things and work that it makes it harder for me to run.

Zach Colman
And I ended up stopping next thing, you know, I’m walking for like two or three minutes. , and it’s like, so I can kind of see where you’re coming from an app and maybe leveraging some of that, meditation and practicing the meditation really out being in the moment. One thing I learned a lot from being in the moment a few years back, with one of my, with one my coaches, definitely mindfulness, and the mindfulness definitely led me to not really, I’m not going to say grow my business. It was a lot sooner than that, but it really helped me get to that gets to that point, especially now when you get crazy and you have to be like, you know, it’s not in my control, I have no control over it. I have to kind of wait, you know? , yeah. So I can definitely see where you’re coming from. So what kind led you to this moment where you’re at? And I know you kind of talked about helping the kids with the MMA, and I know everything’s kind of rough right now, but what, what really led you into wanting to become an MMA fighter?

Mental Health Activities

Audrey Winters
I’ve always been drawn to things that make me feel strong and powerful. , so before I did MMA, I was very much into lifting weights and powerlifting. I did CrossFit for a little bit. , but at a certain point, I got kind of bored of it. There was like, okay, every week or every month I grow numbers. And to me it just wasn’t really satisfying cause I feel, I’m very creative. So I like to express that part of myself. And, so I moved out to California and I wanted to try to do it just because my sister had recommended this place. I was like, let’s try it. And I just loved it. Like there, just something about it. That just, it felt so right to me. , and like I said before, like always kind of an aggressive kid. So, , I remember in like fourth grade, I would like just to line boys up and just kick their shins.

Audrey Winters
, no, I wouldn’t line them up. I would do that just sporadically at recess. And then, then I would get boys to line up to arm, wrestle me at lunch. , so I just, I love power just giving I don’t. , but it just, it makes me feel, it makes me feel powerful and strong and, ma MMA there’s a creative aspect to it. So, that really is very fulfilling for me. And I love moving my body. I love moving my body in a way that makes you feel beautiful and creative and strong. , so that kind of fulfills all of those things. , and then on top of that, there’s an enormous it’s MMA or martial arts is just, uh, is, is life like air. You can dive into any part of martial arts I think, and find a reflection in real life and, , learn from it and grow from it.

Audrey Winters
And I’ve grown so much because of the sport. I can give so much credit to like my own wellness and my starting MMA. And I was lucky enough that I started at a place that was very, my coach, my head coach is very nurturing in the best way. He’s, he’s helped me so much grows up as a fighter and has protected me from its kind of, I mean, obviously, it’s a very brutal sport, but inside the ring, but outside is also kind of brutal people. Aren’t always looking out for you, but I know that my coaches and I trust them a lot. , so they just, nurtured me in a way that made me feel very capable of really pursuing this in a legitimate way. , and with the idea of being the best. And I know that they have such a high quality of training. I just, think it’s inevitable that I will get to the top. So yeah, that’s, that’s kind of how it’s blossomed into what it is now.

Zach Colman
No, that’s, that’s, that’s a great story. Uh, I mean, when you look at the fans and, and, and you look at how they probably perceive it, it’s, it’s, it’s probably so much different, but as you said, you, you, I think athletes have a thing of, they love change. I think I kind of have that too, where it’s it’s you do something, you learn it, you get bored of it. You want to move on. And that’s why it’s so hard for me to continue working out. So I got so used to my old workouts that if I’m like, Oh, I have to do this, or I have to do that. Or I have to try this and try that. Then sometimes it could be a real struggle, but I think MMAs funny enough, it misses a whole different perspective from a geek perspective. , you know, I got my bachelor’s in graphic design, so, , years and years and years ago, and one thing that graphic designers have from a visual perspective is they always want to rebrand it.

Zach Colman
They always want to rebrand every year. There are like, Oh, I hate what I have. I want to do this. And I think I got to the point where I was like, I can’t do this anymore. I’m going to grow my brand and stay consistent. I need to really stick with one thing. And so I really got into that really big into that. The online search optimization and Google search optimization, stuff like that. Cause that’s ever-changing. It’s always it’s that anxiety spot, but that’s off the subject, but now it’s very, I think it just goes to show you that everything’s kind of connected, you know, and that’s one of the reasons I really like working with athletes like yourself is because I feel like everything in sports, no matter what sport, no matter what you’re doing is there’s always a, there’s always a frame of, of connection between people and things. , so what is, what has been your biggest transition, with the sport, with, we could say with everything going on, but in general with let’s say, what was your biggest struggle with the transition from,

Audrey Winters
Well, let’s say this, like with what you’re doing now. Cause I know you’re going to school. Correct as well. How was it? How has, how has that impacted, your training and everything that you’re trying to do? Oh gosh, you can say, you can say as hard as crap if you want. It’s totally, frankly, I hate school. I, I love learning, but I don’t like the setup of a school I never had. I just I’ve always felt like there was too much pressure on the numbers and like, not enough, like excitement and passion for the actual subjects. , well actually, well in high school I went to a really great high school and there was, and there were a lot of, uh, teachers who were very passionate and very giving. , and in retrospect, that was a really great school at the time. I hated it. I’m very dyslexic.

Audrey Winters
So, there definitely is an element of anxiety with the school. , in an elementary school, it was definitely, kind of traumatizing. A lot of my teachers were very mean to me because of my learning disability. , I didn’t even really see it as a disability, but like some people say it is, but, , I just learned differently. , and so now I’m in school. I enjoy it, I try to enjoy it as much as I can because I’m grateful that I have the opportunity to have an education and I’m grateful for my dad for helping with that. But I don’t, I don’t feel super inclined to go, but I do. And, , you know, I just make time, I just make time for the schoolwork that I have to do and I make sure that I, like, I always have it on my calendar. Like, do your schoolwork.

Audrey Winters
I add this little slot of time. Most of the time I do it sometimes. , but yeah, it’s, I can manage my time pretty well. So I know if I have to do something, I will do it. So I’ll put in my, calendar that I’ll do it at this time. And I also just, I hate having free time where I feel like I’m not being productive, in some way. So it’s actually good for me to have that time in between training to be, doing the schoolwork, because otherwise, I would always find something to do, but like, it’s good for me to have some kind of goal outside of the training. Cause, my family, there, there is definitely a good amount of, I wouldn’t don’t want to say pressure, but like my family is pretty well educated, so I kind of has to a part of that. So yeah.

Zach Colman
Yeah. I, uh, I’m kind of the same way. I mean, I’m not gonna, I’m not going to complain right now, but I have a one-year-old and I’m my calendar is my life. As I’ve told you, especially, you know, have to have slots here even to do work. I have to block off two or three hours for work, but having a one-year-old is tough. It’s hard, but not just for the reasons people think it’s hard, it’s different for everyone, but I’m the same way I’ll sit down and you know, I’m at that age now where, you know, I don’t just sitting down and watching TV or, you know, even games. I don’t even really play. Like when I was a kid, I loved video games. I don’t even, I can’t even do that anymore. My mind is still everywhere, but the kid having a kid makes you want to, you’re not really doing anything, but you, but you’re doing something cause you have to take care of them.

Zach Colman
And so have that anxiety of, I need to do something, but I can’t like it. And so, yeah. Yeah. So now that we’re pretty similar in that way. I think that I think that’s one of the reasons I got into this field is because I think I have a lot of the same similarities, similarities with athletes. My dad, my dad was an NFL kicker for a while. I just wanted a different direction. I just kind of wanted to combine both, both of my passions together. Hence why? You know, as I said, I work out and stuff, but uh, it is tough. I can understand the school. I’ve always thought it was strange how people get jobs and they, they try there, they, they work not to work. Like they do their best to like find ways not to work. So I’m like, you know, you work eight hours, man. I’m like, it’s gonna see, like, it’s gonna take you 25 hours if you’re just sitting there and be on Facebook for 25 hours, like, you know, I just don’t get it. I don’t get it.

Audrey Winters
Okay. But everyone has their path. And like some people like that’s how they want to live and that’s fine. But I know for myself, like I really, I want to enjoy everything that I do. I don’t want to have any part of my life that’s why I’ve struggled with school because I don’t really enjoy it. I do my best to enjoy it, but it’s just, sometimes it’s just not there. , but like, I don’t care if I’m dirt poor, but I’m doing what I if I’m doing what I love, that’s fine. I really don’t care. I love nice things, but like I’d much rather be happy and fulfilled through what I’m doing than be doing things for other people that I just don’t really care about.

Zach Colman
Yeah. No, I think having the business flying says that set’s very similar. If you don’t have the estimate like with you working with kids in MMA, I would assume if you didn’t like it and enjoy doing it, you wouldn’t be doing it, you know? And, uh, it’s, it’s basically a business what you’re doing and, and it’s very similar in that aspect is if you’re not enjoying what you’re doing, then you’re gonna, you’re gonna get sick of it pretty fast. And school was the same thing for me. The only cool thing about school was you knew that, Hey, I have a class and I have two hours of homework. It was there very similar to the corporate world where you’re going for eight hours and you were done. You nearly set your time up for something else. , I think being an athlete, you probably would agree with me. It’s a little bit different than that. And that’s probably why you meditate and why you work with the kids. Cause it’s like you get to combine multiple passions together. You still get to kind of train a little bit, but you get to learn the kids and you get to do something you love. No, I mean, what, what, what are you going to school? What are you going to school for? Again,

Communications

Audrey Winters
I am going for communications. And my idea with that is like, I want to be able to communicate my story well. And, you know, at a certain point I know that I’ll have press conferences and, have to do PR. So, I find that hopefully, I can get something out of this education that I can use for real. , so far I’ve learned some things, but I think most of it is I have to do it. ,

Zach Colman
You have to do it. I, one thing I noticed when I got out into the business world is I learned more in the first year of my business than I learned, in the corporate world over 10 years of the corporate world. Uh, and it’s, it’s, it’s very similar. I mean, I do, I do really preach a lot in, in, in telling my pro the prospects that I talk to my clients, et cetera, that, you know, as you grow, make sure that you’re leveraging your time efficiency, efficiently, learn stuff in PR learned stuff in that, but at the end of the day, just hire someone else to do it. If you really, when you get to that point, you know, cause there’s no need, there’s no need to stress yourself, know enough that, you know, someone’s not screwing you over. Or, uh, you just don’t understand what they’re doing in here.

Zach Colman
They’re all over the place. But, uh, but yeah, you always have to learn as you go. I was really bad at school too. I was going to go back for my MBA and I struck studying for it for two, three, and four weeks. I was grinding it. And then I realized that I’m like, I could probably just open a business and not have this much debt and grind out for a couple of years instead of paying 40, $50,000. And those tests are hard. Like you said like I’m not a test taker. So I’m always an over-thinker. And I look at this for a, B or C or D it’s like, why do we test that to be that way? And that’s why I like athletic stuff. It’s even though it’s a brined and there’s certain, it’s, it’s all different with whatever you’re doing here. You’re always, you always can set yourself up with a goal without having these weird barriers of, uh, Oh, well now you have to take this test and pay us $800. My wife’s a family therapist and she has to, you know, take tests and, you know, pass licenses every year and do all that stuff. And I’m like, I don’t know how you do that.

Audrey Winters
I think that I like to set my own goals, and school kind of like sets their own standard for what progress is. And so I think progress is very fluid and very, very personal and subjective. So what I find myself progressing in, or seeing progress in myself stolen, maybe like, that’s, what is, that’s nothing like you didn’t do anything, but so it’s different for everyone. , but yeah, I think school kind of like, they’re putting a lot of people who are very, very different, into a box and making them, like setting these goals. If you don’t reach them, it’s it makes you make, made me feel like, Oh, I’m just not good enough, but it’s like, the realities are not smart. but the reality is like intelligence is very fluid and, it’s a scale and there are people who are very intelligent in one way and then maybe not so much in the other, you know, so it’s just, I don’t know. The system just doesn’t really make too much sense to me. And I don’t know, I don’t have an alternative. So it’s hard because

Zach Colman
I think that there’s only so much that, you know, the schools can do to really try to fix the situation at the end of the day, you see a lot of people preaching, Hey, you know, if you want to open a business, do you want to become successful? You don’t need to go to school, but in turn, I know that they put you in this box. But I think at the end of the day, I think school, no matter what, what practice you’re in, yes, they put late. They basically just put a label on something and say, learn this. Even though when you get out, you learn a hundred times more within the first year you get in school that it’s really just to grind yourself, to teach yourself as you like going out there and, and helping the kids and going out there and still practicing, setting stuff up on your calendar. Like, I’ve worked with people in the past that, I mean, owning a business, you have multiple employees throughout the years, and I’ve had employees that, you know, the smallest things. And I do like really, like, how do you not understand that? You know, like, so, nothing against him, of course, but it is, it’s one of those things where I feel like school is really there to kind of teach you to teach yourself. And so, as long as you’re able to realize that, even though it’s a grind.

Audrey Winters
Yeah, no, I agree. I definitely, I, I can give a lot of credit to how I am now in good ways, to the, uh, my high school education. , I think like what you’re saying is so true, I think that it’s helped me build skills and like how to, how to have a work ethic. I, everyone at my school had an amazing work ethic, so that’s just like the standard for me. , so yeah, I think that it definitely helped me build skills also like manners and etiquette, which came along with that. , but yeah, it’s like, I couldn’t tell you like what I learned in my ninth-grade history class, but like there’s some like basic concepts from that school that I, or were instilled in me. , yeah, if I were, if I heard myself saying this in high school, I was just like, what is she talking about? I hated it.

Zach Colman
I, I, I think that it, I think that people that hate high school tend to have different at the end of the day, my wife would probably come in and say, Oh, it’s just true. You’re just having. And it’s from the past and you’re doing it now, but I feel like it’s helped motivate me where I am today, but I wasn’t straight, you know, besides my major classes within the college, all my stuff was project-based classes because it was all, it was all a strategy and learning research. And that’s why I was at ASU, I thought was really good at its design program. So it was all like, it wasn’t just tailoring the programs. It was all like, you have to do this, this, and this. You have to, like my first semester we had a cutout bristle board by one, one centimeter by one-centimeter squares.

Zach Colman
And everyone’s like, dude, you’re crazy. What’s that going to help you with anything and everyone, but it was like, we’ll meet miss messed up. It was like a whole semester. This, it was like with the, with an Exacto knife. And it was like, if you get one millimeter off, then you have to redo it. And it, now, now if you look back if I have to create a mock-up for something for a client, or I’m printing something out, man, it’s damned is fun. Not just like, you know, do you know what I mean? And so it’s, I did really good in those classes because it was, it was like you said, creative, and it was, it was research. And in project-based, it wasn’t like it kind of is in the real world. So to say where all my test classes, I remember I would take a test and I would study for hours. And I was one of those people that studied in the school buffet instead of studying in the library. Cause I needed sound around me to concentrate. , and that’s just, that’s just, I think that it’s an anxiety thing, but, uh, it, I, if I study too much, I’d overthink it and fail. If I didn’t study enough, I’d fail because I didn’t study enough. So it was always this middle ground where if I just got a C I was happy in the test class.

Zach Colman
So, with that said, tell me a little bit more about what you’re doing with the kids. How did you get into helping kids? Uh, and yeah, tell me a little bit more about that.

Audrey Winters
, so I love kids. I’ve been babysitting kids my whole life pretty much. , and so it really only made sense that I would get into teaching kids MMA. , that started a little bit before the great lockdown. , and then I was teaching, uh, while were in quarantine. I was teaching through zoom and, , so I’ve been training for about four years, and still very new to the sport and I’m still learning a lot, a lot, a lot. , so going through it as a little bit nervous as like, Oh, I don’t really feel like I know enough, but I do. And, it’s been amazing. Uh, I want to give what I’ve gotten from MMA and just training to other people. And if I can give, martial arts can really change the trajectory of somebody’s life. , I know that it has for me.

Audrey Winters
So, , if I can give that to a child, it’s like, it’s like the most fulfilling thing that I could, that I can really think of, for me to do, just directly helping children and, and, , you know, really creating relationships with them. , you know, there’s obviously the more, , surface level, growth that you can see with them physically and, , like technique-wise. So that’s very fulfilling to see them grow and learn new techniques and I teach them something and then they use it in the class are inspiring. That’s very fulfilling, but also just learning about them and being curious and, , seeing, understanding, seeing things in the class that can teach them something about life. , like if they, if maybe one of the students has makes it common and then one of them is being reactive, like just like learning, pointing it out and learning something from the interaction or like a big thing is not quitting and we’ll do footwork drills and there’s a ladder.

Audrey Winters
And sometimes they’ll just like skip the last one, but just like making sure that they finished, they do the last one. They, even though it’s like one little square, it’s like, you’re going to do that last one. Cause it’s, you’re not gonna stop until you’re done. So like small things like that that are really just like instilling certain concepts and principles into their minds. , and hopefully, it helps them in the long run. , I think sports can do that. , luckily these kids enjoy it too. Like it’s fun and I have fun. Like I am a child as well, so like we laugh and we play around and, maybe I’m sometimes a little bit too lenient. As they’ll, I love them. So like they just, sometimes they get away with stuff, but it’s fine. Like we have a lot of fun. , but yeah, it’s just, I really, really enjoy it. The relationship side of it is really very fulfilling for me.

Zach Colman
Yeah. No, that sounds, that sounds great. That, that square thing you were saying, I mean, cause at the end of the day, I would think that it’s the kid. It really just affects the kid. It doesn’t affect anyone else besides them. Cause they skip that square. It teaches them in them, in their selves, in their own head that they can take that, not going to say the short road, but they can, it’s okay to skip this or skip that. And then they get older and they do stuff that, Oh, it’s okay if I do this. So pay if I do that the next, you know, we’re skipping everything and not doing nothing, you know?

Audrey Winters
Yeah. And I think that’s a lot of people in life. I think that people, nothing against them, but like it’s a skill. So like, just not cheating yourself and not taking the easy route because it’s easy, but it’s, it’s not gonna reap the kind of rewards that just taking that little extra step and you, and you’d be surprised by like these, these things that can really separate, good from the great are a lot of times really small things, just very consistently. And it’s just that mentality of like, I’m like, I’m not done yet, so I’m going to finish this and I’m not going to take it easy on myself. You don’t have to be like, like kill yourself all the time. I think that that also has there’s another side to that. That’s that’s it. But like, yeah, just being true to yourself, you’re like, can I ask more of myself? Yes.

Zach Colman
Do it. And vice versa too. Cause I think that, as you’ve said, I think that like, like me, for instance, I have, I have the situation where, you know, I’m, I’m trying to run a business and if I’m, you know, right now it is all me, me on my employees are at home virtually. And part of that is I’m also watching a one-year-old. So it’s one of those situations where like, can I, can I be doing more? Can I be doing that? Can I be doing this? And sometimes you just have to tell yourself, no, I can’t. You know, are you

Audrey Winters
Yeah. For people like you and I’m the same way. Like we need more of that. Then I need someone to tell me to do more because I already have that voice in my head. That’s saying like, you need to be something right now. There’s something else that you need to be doing. It’s like, I sit down. I’m like, well, what else do I need to be doing? It’s just like this natural cycle that just feels like I need to be productive in some way.

Business of Sports

Zach Colman
Other than that dealer. That’s why I said businesses a lot like sports. Uh, and my wife will, of course come in and she’ll say, not everyone wants to grow a business like you, but uh, it never ends. Like it never ends. You’re like, Oh, I need to do this. I need to do that. But then you maybe have that next step. You may not hit that next stride. You may, you may figure out that move, that you didn’t figure out before you make it that next mile, but then you want that next mile and then you want your next mile and then you went and the next one and next one. So you can’t look at that. It’s hard to look at the very, very big picture because one, it gets overwhelming, but two it’s, it really never ends. So you have to, I really try to promote, uh, I I’m, I’m not like those gurus online.

Zach Colman
I hate, I hate, you know, the get quick, get rich in, in 10 days or make a million dollars tomorrow or, you know, the S because it’s, it’s, you’re basically promoting then it’s easy. When in reality, it’s, it’s really hard to, it’s really, really hard, you know? And you have, that’s why you have to find something that you love either. It’d be a sport either via business or. It’d be combining somehow providing that sport into a business, and doing something like you working with the kids or, you know, business in general. , and you, you just are, you’re going to stop. You’re going to stop and you can’t look at the big picture. So you do, but you

Audrey Winters
That’s where my practice of presence has really helped me a lot. Just like feeling whole, because I already have everything, you know, like I, this moment is all that I need and it makes me feel like that’s so stressed out about like how I need to be doing something else or where I need to be in thinking so much about the future. Like each moment is a gift and this moment is literally the only one that we have. So, , that’s helped me a lot with that, that, side of myself that I’ve struggled with a lot, just like, I remember just absolutely dreading anytime. Like I was saying before, like time in between where there’s like, not nothing for me to do. Like, I would hate that, like hate it. So now I feel more like, it’s okay if I don’t do anything for like an hour, like, that’s fine. , it still is, is difficult sometimes, but like, , definitely just enjoying and being grateful for the moment that I have and feeling okay with my just doing okay with myself has helped a lot with us.

Zach Colman
Yeah. And the fighting in general probably goes hand in hand with that. As you said earlier, it probably really helps you, uh, feel satisfied and you release some energy you’re, you’re growing and you’re able to, you know, feel accomplished as well as the mindfulness side.

Audrey Winters
Yeah. Yeah. I never truly, like, I’m pretty insatiable. Like it’s like that. Like I just, I still want, there’s never feel, I never leave a training session. A rare, very rare occasion. I will feel like I did something there. Like, I feel good about that, but there’s always more, you know, there’s always, there’s always better. Yeah.

Zach Colman
Yeah. It’s, it’s, it’s funny when people are always, you know, I, I’m not going to say on a podcast, but in general, you hear them and, and I agree with you. No, one’s perfect. So even though we’re sitting here and talking about, Hey, you know, being mindfulness and doing this damn this, like I was just saying, I’ll go on runs every day and I’ll be like, it’s not good enough. Or I’ll, I’ll work out in the backyard. And I only work out. And at this point it’s hard. Cause it’s, it’s like a music one, wait, it’s hot. I have a one-year-old in the kitchen screaming and it’s not ideal. And I, I say, you know what, right now I can only handle doing this for half an hour a day. And I can’t even really try to get back to my fitness that you know, that I was a year ago. Uh, I’m not even gonna, you know, put that in my mind because, so there, so it basically, yeah. So no, one’s perfect, but

Audrey Winters
Okay. But it’s okay to feel like that there’s no need to feel pressure to like, on me to go hard all the time. Like it’s, it’s fine. There are seasons in her life and winter is no better than a smear. It just, it is what it is.

Zach Colman
It is what it is. Yeah. And so there’s no problem with settling. I mean, I think a lot of people settle, and if that’s what you enjoy if that’s what you feel comfortable with and doing, and then that’s, it’s all power to you, you know? , it’s funny. Cause we’re very similar. I knew my wife was very similar to what you said with money, but I’m, I’m different in the fact that we don’t, you don’t really have anything besides me having to get stuff for the business and stuff like that I did. And we’re really comfortable you off, but that’s just because we don’t find anything. Like we don’t need that $1 million home. You don’t need that. You know, we have two cars that are paid off, you know, I mean I have over a hundred thousand miles on them and I’m like, it’s funny. I have a Dodge challenger. It was my own big, but it was my only purchase. Right. When I got to college, I was like, I’m going to get a Dodge challenger with my only crazy purchase. Now paid off, has over a hundred thousand miles on it. And I’m going to tell my wife, I’m going to trade him

Audrey Winters
Just because I don’t really know. Yeah. As you have, you have clear, clear priorities. And I think that’s, that’s definitely an important thing to figure out, like, what are your priorities? You want to be living a luxurious life and stressed. Once you make more money, people tend to spend more money. So I’m like, you know what, let’s not do that unless you pay everything off and know that if something bad happens or word like situations like now that we don’t have to worry, you know? Yeah. I think that’s very smart. Yeah. Yeah. , so what are some, I know right now we’re kind of helping you, uh, with one of our, our marketing, our marketing accountability packages. So with, with, I know we’ve talked in the past about this, but what, what can you, what is some advice with maybe what you’ve learned or what you, as you’re growing as an athlete that you can, , that what’s some advice you could give to other athletes is they’re trying to grow themselves and know brands.

Audrey Winters
, so I think two things, so one of the things is to take it slow. I think we’ve talked about this before. It’s like, it’s, it doesn’t have to be like things aren’t going to happen right away. So, there’s a book. One of my old coaches gave me called the compound effect. And it talks about how little things every day or little things consistently add up the, in the long run. , I think GSP said, don’t do a lot in a little amount of time, do a little in a, in a, like a long period of time, but it’s not what he said verbatim, but that’s the gist of it. , and I very much believe in that, like I believe in just being consistent over a long period of time and just looking for those, those ways too, improve and, not settling, but not like going obsessive.

Audrey Winters
Like I need to be doing more. I need to be doing this and this and this in a way that’s not sustainable. I know that social media is, it is a challenge for me. So, I know that I know myself, and this kind of goes into my second thing. Like I think knowing yourself is super important before you really are. I mean, I guess you can learn as you’re going, but, understanding yourself and really, staying true to yourself. , and being just unabashed with that and being honest and, authentic, with what you want to put out in the world and, uh, your legacy, I guess. , and so just like kind of finding points that, for me, I just, I want to help people. So like how can I help people? What is something that I can offer to others?

Audrey Winters
, so that’s what I see my business as it’s like helping people in the ways that I grew. And I think that I can, , things that I’ve learned that can help other people. , so yeah, just being authentic and being yourself as kind of like a generic thing, but like, I think it’s very individual. You have to figure out what that means to you. What is authenticity? , and yeah, so I think those are the two main things that I, that I feel, , that I’ve been focusing on with my business and growing up.

Zach Colman
No, I think that’s good. I think that’s good that you, that you brought up the, uh, take your time scenario. , cause I’ve noticed the same thing in business. I mean, I think it’s very similar. I mean, if you were to look at corporate grants that, you know, get large, large investments, what are the rules? What are the things that always say when they fail? Oh, they grew, grew too fast, too much money here. This didn’t work or this didn’t work or they spent too much money here and they, they failed. I think it goes very similar. If you start from the other end, you don’t get an investment, you start small. Like yes, everyone would love to be, you know, an influencer with a not, but not everything’s got, everything’s taken glory. It’s it and that’s one thing that I really try to promote.

Zach Colman
I, get prospects in the door that will come to me and they’ll say, I need a brand identity by tomorrow, or I need a website in three days, or we need to get leads tomorrow. Like we need to get 10 leads tomorrow. And I say, hold up, like back up a little bit, let’s go through the research. Let’s figure out what works. Let’s figure out some customer profiles. Let’s build you a brand that works for your audience. Like all those kinds of things taped. We promote not doing it fast because when you do stuff fast, it doesn’t turn out as you want. , and the next, you know, you’re just redoing it anyway. I mean, it’s very similar to social media is all part of that. , and that’s why I have struggled with social media myself. So it’s funny that I have, I provide so for media, but that’s why I have content writers and boys on staff because I’m not a, you know, I damned this.

Zach Colman
If it’s hard enough for me to do these podcasts because I don’t like taking selfies. It’s not my thing. And so it’s like, how do you promote a personal brand and get value? , and you do have to learn a little bit, you have to get past that anxious, that anxious side, but it is going slow and not looking at every like every follow look at those. But look at it from a different perspective. Look at them from the perspective that, I give out something of value. Is this helping somebody? And if it’s not, then maybe I steer away from that in the future or, you know, stuff like that. And then it will come. It just happens. You know, everyone says it just kind of, you hear the millionaires, you know, and even if money is not your thing, you know, the happiness side too. , depending on what makes you happy. , and the goals you’re trying to, you’re trying to achieve, uh, it happens. You just have to, as you said, you’re suffering, you know, stay persistent, just enjoy the journey. If I got my dream car has always been a Dodge Viper and, you know, I don’t think I’ll ever get one, but, cause I don’t really, I know I don’t really, I don’t like I said earlier, I was thinking about going to Korea. So was like, I don’t know if I walk one anymore. ,

Audrey Winters
Is Is that goal? You know,

Zach Colman
All of us, well, if I got, if I got my Dodge Viper tomorrow, then what am I going to want next? You know,

Audrey Winters
That’s true. Yeah.

Zach Colman
It’s the same. What you said earlier, you always want more like, so it’s that dopamine, you always want more, you always want more and I’m branching down, but

Audrey Winters
We want, , the ego likes to want more than it likes to have. So I find that to be very true. Like the chase is it, there’s something exciting about it. So then when you get it, whatever you want, it’s like,

Interview Outro

Zach Colman
Well, this is it. And that right there, how you said that I think is the, is the prominent factor in being an athlete or even owning a business is, is what you just said is the chase you’re enjoying every step and you get these little gratifications along the way that help you go get satisfied. A little bit of satisfaction was the vacation from it. , but yeah, I mean, if I were to make millions tomorrow and sell my business, I’d be like, well, what now? You know, I don’t want to just, you know, maybe when I’m 50 or 60, I want to go out and get an RV. It’s funny as you get older too, you start looking at stuff that your parents would do. And you’re like, Oh man, be kind of nice to travel around the country in an RV and just chill

Audrey Winters
There yet. But maybe one day.

Zach Colman
So I know now you’re helping kids and everything. I want to thank you for coming out. We could probably chat all day. So I’m gonna try to cut it off. Uh, but why don’t you tell, why don’t you tell why I love for after the call, you kind of give me those books. I love to, shut off those books that you’re reading, might want to take a gander at them. And, uh, Hugh, why don’t you tell where they can find you and uh, if possible, get ahold of you if they want any sort of training or any sort of advice.

Audrey Winters
Yeah. , so you can use my Instagram to contact me. It’s Aubrey dot winters. , that’s what I use primarily. I also have, an athlete page on Facebook, so we just took up AKI, winters, and MMA. , and yeah, I do personal training, for adults, and children. , so if you were interested in that you can contact me. I’d love to help you. , yeah. That’s, that’s where that’s what I use. , yeah.

Zach Colman
All right. Well, thank you for being on. I really appreciate it. And I think that’s it for today’s brand power analysis and I hope everyone is, uh, everyone has a good rest of their day. Yes. Thank you.

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