EP07 Interview with Autumn Calabrese

“If you love what you do, you’ll never have to work a day in your life. And I love fitness, and I love helping people.” Autumn Calabrese

Links from the Show

• Brooke Burke: Modern Mom
• 21 Day Fix and 21 Day Fix Extreme
• Autumn's Website
• Carl Daikeler 21 Day Fix Results
• Autumn’s Instagram @autumncalabrese
• Facebook: autumnfitness
• Ingrid Romero
• Book: ‘Tribes: We Need you to Lead Us’ by Seth Goden
• Book: ‘Think and Grow Rich’ by Napoleon Hill
• Book: ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People’ by Dale Carnegie

You’re listening to The Business of Life podcast. Practical advice for creating the life you love to live. Here’s your host, Keith Callahan.
INTRODUCTION
KC: Alright, welcome to The Business of Life Episode 7. Keith here and today we’re going to have on Autumn Calabrese. So, I just got finished doing the interview with her. It was an awesome interview, can’t wait for you to listen to it. Just wanted to give you a little bit of a background on how we know each other because it might be a little confusing if you don’t know this. So, Autumn is the creator of the 21 Day Fix. It is the number 1 selling program for Beachbody. Beachbody, of course, is the company that does all the in-home fitness programs and it’s just been the hottest program they’ve had. The program is, it’s a 3-week long program and it is a combination of workouts about a half hour a day, 6 days a week and portion controlled meal planning. So, that’s a little bit about the program. Again, it is just, people are getting amazing results with it. It’s been the number 1 seller for Beachbody. So, it’s just been an honor to be able to talk with Autumn, to be able to interview her and this episode is really, it’s going into the back story of how it all happened because she literally went from being a personal trainer and she did have a few celebrity clients to then getting put on to this big stage with Beachbody and now being a celebrity fitness trainer. So, it was awesome talking with her and she’ll talk a little bit about Beachbody and coaches. So, Beachbody is the company that produces the programs and then they also have what’s called coaches. Coaches also known as distributors, they help people through the program. So, they help people through the programs and they help to share the program. It’s actually where the majority of our passive income comes from. So, if you want to learn a little bit more about that as you’re listening, you can always shoot over to our sister podcast and that is ‘All About Beachbody Coaching’. So, just search ‘All About Beachbody Coaching’ and you can check that out. And, yeah, without further ado, here is Autumn Calabrese.
INTERVIEW WITH AUTUMN
KC: Okay, I am super excited to introduce to you guys today’s guest, Autumn Calabrese. Autumn, welcome to the show.
[02:42]
AC: Hi. Thanks for having me on.
[02:44]
KC: I’m really excited to, really to dive in. So, before you and I are connecting in here I gave everybody an overview and sort of the big picture bio of who you are and all the amazing things that you’re doing and what I wanted to started off with is really diving into the deeper pieces of it, ‘the how did you get to where you are now’ and you know really the deeper part of what’s your story behind the bio.
[03:13]
AC: Okay, I’m going to try to give that in a somewhat shortened version just cause that story usually takes me about 40 minutes to tell.
[03:21]
KC: Okay.
[03:22]
AC: But, it goes back of just about as far as you can go back into your life like literally to the point where I was a kid. I wanted to be a performer. I was a dancer. I grew up dancing. I ended up with several injuries along the way when I majored in dance in college that led me to sort of question where I was going with my career and what I was going to do and actually my junior year I kind of had a career ending injury. I ended up with a bulging disc in my lower spine that was basically like ‘Okay, well, you can’t dance 6 to 8 hours anymore.’ So, finishing my major as a dancer was no longer an option and I started researching other things like, okay, well you know I thought about being a physical therapist and working with dancers for a while and I just, I was a little bit lost and I said, “Well, I’m not going to just be in college just to be in college.” So, I actually left school with a semester to go and moved to California and I was out here pursuing my acting career because I figured if I can’t dance, you know, that’s another way to sort of be out there entertaining people, that sort of thing, and I was doing that for a while and it was going well but it wasn’t a true passion. It wasn’t going to be what I wanted it to be.
[04:36]
KC: Yup.
[04:37]
AC: And, along the way I was waiting tables and I kind of got burned down on waiting tables and was like, “I need to do something else that is going to make me feel good and pay the bills.” I had always taught dance along the way when I was growing up and so I was thinking about that but I was like, “I don’t really want to be a dance teacher. I want dance to sort of be for me now that that part of my career is over.” And so, I decided I was going to get certified to be a personal trainer and that’s what I did. I got my certification through the National Academy of Sports Medicine and I started there and I started doing in-home training and I worked for a company for a couple of years and learned a ton and got more certifications along the way. I actually became a pre and post-natal specialist in fitness and started working with that division of people as well. And, all along the way it was like I was sort of, I would just reach out everywhere I could and make new contacts and tell people, you know, this is what I am doing and obviously very passionate about it and slowly but surely I would start to meet more and more people and this person would introduce me to that person. And after about 5 years in the business, I was being written up by some of the local magazines and some of the local newspapers. And then, I actually found the website ModernMom.com which is Brooke Burke’s website.
[06:03]
KC: Okay.
[06:04]
AC: I reached out to them and said, “You know, I’m a fitness specialist. I specialize in pre and post-natal. I would love to write for your site.” And, they contacted me back right away and were really excited and I started writing for that site and then Brooke actually asked me to make some fitness videos with her. So, I sort of had that connection with Brooke and her website was doing that and then ended up taking on another client who was then big in the film industry. All along I was working on, I had an idea to develop a product for portion control. That’s basically what it was. All along I had been seeing my clients struggle and kind of realized that the ‘aha’ moment was that we really needed to get portion control under control, like sure.
[06:50]
KC: Yeah.
[06:51]
AC: You know, you’re eating, even when you’re eating healthy you can over eat on the healthy food. So, I had the idea at that time I was still married, my husband didn’t really want me to do anything to develop it so I sort of sat on it for a while and then, you know, life happens and our marriage kind of fell apart and after my divorce I was like, “You know what, I’m going to go for this full on.” And, I did it and I finished developing the product, which at that time was called Change My Plate, and I had a friend who worked at the Hallmark Channel and I gave it to her and she showed it to her producer and the producer ended up having me on to launch it on their show. I had also given it to my client who was very big in the film industry. She showed it to one of her friends that worked for Sony. That person happened to know somebody and said, “You know, I think I know somebody who might be interested in this. Can I pass it on?” And, they did, they passed it on to Beachbody. So, I got the call from Beachbody a few days later that they wanted to bring me in. They had seen YouTube clips of it being launched on the Hallmark channel.
[07:52]
KC: So, when you say it, it started off just as the portion control part.
[07:57]
AC: Yes.
[07:58]
KC: Okay.
[07:59]
AC: And it wasn’t quite what it is right now. It was a little, it was designed a little bit differently.
[08:03]
KC: Okay.
[08:04]
AC: So, the long and short, after a few weeks of waiting,, I went in for my meeting. Met with Carl, met with Heather, the Head of Product Development, met with the whole team, kind of talked about how I developed it and that sort of thing. Spent another 3 or 4 weeks waiting to find out if they wanted it, obviously they did, we signed the contract and then we went in to developing the product and it was amazing to get to work with my team and, you know, when you’re doing something on your own and you only have a certain amount of money backing you, you know what you want it to be but there’s what you want it to be and there’s what you’re capable of making it at that time.
[08:40]
KC: Yeah.
[08:41]
AC: Which is what it was when I launched it and then I got to obviously team up with Beachbody and really turn it into exactly what I wanted it to be.
[08:49]
KC: That is awesome.
[08:51]
AC: So, that’s the very shortened version of this story. But, along the way there were so many ups and downs and I told the story quite a few times about how many doors were slammed in my face along the way. Over the years, I auditioned to replace Jillian Michaels several times on The Biggest Loser. Whenever she was leaving they would hold new auditions and one season I literally have spent 4 months auditioning for it and it came down to me and Anna Kournikova. The casting director called me and she said, “Look, all I can tell you is I’m pushing hard for you but if you don’t get it you’ll understand why when they make the announcement.”
[09:27]
KC: Uh-huh.
[09:28]
AC: And, I had no idea what that meant and I had to wait another week and then they made the announcement that it was Anna Kournikova and I was like, “Okay, so they went with the, you know, celebrity name at that time.
[09:37]
KC: Yup.
[09:38]
AC: And, you know, it’s one of those things where every time I would get kicked down I’d be on the phone with my friend for hours, crying and just being like, “I don’t understand. What else can I do? What do I do to make this happen?” You know, maybe I’m just going to be a trainer and that’s fine, like I love my job. I have a great job. I love my clients. But then, there was always this part of me that was just like, “That’s not it. That’s not it for you. You know that’s not it for you. Get back up and try it again.”
[10:04]
KC: When you’re going through and you’re doing all of these interviews, obviously, it must have been intense interviewing for that show. I’m curious, when you then went over to Beachbody, they must have like an extremely intense interviewing process because you’re the face of Beachbody now.
[10:21]
AC: It’s actually funny, they don’t or at least they didn’t with me. I don’t know how it works with other trainers. They had seen my work. They had seen clips of my fitness and, you know, when it was for Biggest Loser, they have a very specific style obviously, Jillian Michaels has a very specific style and attitude and the way she approaches stuff. It’s not the same approach that I take if you’ve seen the two. We’re kind of night and day in terms of how we motivate people.
[10:47]
KC: Yup.
[10:48]
AC: Fine. But, that was one thing I kept running into as a problem was they really wanted me to be more like that and I was like, “That’s not me. Like, I just, I’m not going to scream on somebody’s face, like I just don’t do that.”
[10:59]
KC: No.
[11:00]
AC: I’m like I can fake it if you want me to but like I’d rather not kind of thing, like I don’t have the persona I want out there. I want to be me. And then, you know, going into Beachbody I really had no idea what to expect. Honestly, I was so nervous for that meeting, I can’t even tell you, like I was ready to vomit. And then, I walked in there thinking it was just going to be me, Heather and Carl and it was some people around a boardroom table that sat 30 but it was like the most casual thing. It was like they all introduced themselves and then Carl was like, “Tell me how you created it” and I told him and he was like, “Okay, well, I love it.” And he’s like, “So, basically here’s the bottom line,” and he kind of like rattles off the details, “This is what it is and do you have any questions?” And, I was like, “Uh, where’s the dotted line?” I didn’t say that but, you know, that was my thought. I was just like, “No questions here, let’s go. Let’s do this.”
[11:53]
KC: Yeah.
[11:54]
AC: Yeah, there wasn’t a super intense interview process. I think Beachbody is very diligent when they’re looking for new trainers. They get hundreds of submissions probably a day of people who want to work for them. I would assume it’s almost kind of like when you watch auditions for American Idol or something. You don’t get in front of Carl unless they already know that they probably want to work with you.
[12:17]
KC: Yeah, yeah.
[12:18]
AC: They go through quite a bit of screening actually and it’s really funny, we have a sort of a running joke with my team. The first person that my stuff got sent to was Heather and Heather really liked me. Heather took it to the Beachbody attorney who then kind of makes the judgment call before it goes in front of Carl and he was like, “Nah, I don’t know.” And, he didn’t really want to pass it on and Heather went in there and fought and was like, “No, no, no. He has to meet this girl.”
[12:47]
KC: Yeah.
[12:48]
AC: And so, Heather always jokes with me, she’s like, “You owe me. I fought so hard for you.” And, I always give the attorney a hard time and I’m like, “Whatever, you didn’t even want to bring me on.” So, it’s our fun little joke because it really is a family over there now but…
[13:00]
KC: Yeah, it’s interesting. It’s also interesting as you’re bringing that up because I’ve, with another program I was sort of a little bit involved and I remember that the attorney was like the gatekeeper for Carl and I was like, “That’s an interesting person to have as the last person that basically says, ‘Carl, you should check this out’.” But…
[13:21]
AC: Right.
[13:22]
KC: Yeah, yeah.
[13:23]
AC: But, he’s obviously good at his job.
[13:24]
KC: Exactly.
[13:25]

AC: More likely than not.
[13:28]
KC: So, now I remember the first time that I had seen you was out in Dana Point at the leadership event when you were out there and you were teaching your first live class to a Beach body audience and I remember working out with you and after that I was like, “Wow.” I remember thinking right then that “This is the new face of Beachbody, like Autumn’s the new face of Beachbody.” So, what has it been like for you?
[13:57]
AC: You know, here’s the thing, it happens slowly. It’s gradual, the change. It is, I’m not going to lie, it’s a massive life change in a lot of ways. But, it’s been so gradual that it’s definitely made the transition easier because, you know, at first it’s just like, “Okay, you’ve signed the contract, now you’re going to development and then we finish development and we go into test groups.” And then, we were in test groups, we ended up, we were supposed to do 9 weeks of test groups. We did 33 weeks of test groups on 21 Day Fix before it ever launched.
[14:30]
KC: Wow.
[14:31]
AC: Like, they were just like, “You know what, we’re going to ride this thing to the end.” Like, when we’re ready to announce it we’re running test groups because we want to see just how many rounds people can do and continue to lose weight. We filmed it in July. We weren’t announcing it until September. So, it was like, okay, we finished filming and then it was like this sort of down period where there wasn’t a whole lot for me to do. Nobody knew who I was. We were in post-production which didn’t involve me. So, it was like I wasn’t allowed to talk about it yet. So, I was still working as a trainer but I was just kind of like sitting back, waiting.
[15:10]
KC: Yeah.
[15:11]
AC: You know, so that was actually a very weird, uncomfortable place for me for those 6 months, like those along with those 3 months leading up to it but then we announced it and then it was still I had to wait because we still had 6 more months after the announcement until it launched. So, it was definitely that first year was this very slow gradual, I remember after we announced at leadership. It was this really bizarre thing. I mean I literally got up on stage. Carl talked about it and announced the new product. By the time I stepped off stage 15 minutes later, I had like 3,000 friend requests on Facebook. But, here’s the thing, we didn’t have a fan page set up for the site yet.
[15:57]
KC: So, it was just…
[15:59]
AC: My personal page and I looked at Heather, my boss and I was like, “What do I do?” I was like and she was like, “Just start accepting it, like you got to just accept them.” And, I was like, “Okay.” Literally, for a week straight, it was just the numbers would climb, requests would come in and so that was sort of a really fun moment to see that people were excited about it. And then, obviously, the closer we got to the launch, you could see the excitement building and then we just never, never, I mean not that we doubted the program but we just never expected to have the launch that we had where we ended up backordered for 2 months.
[16:40]
KC: It was crazy.
[16:41]
AC: And that, yeah, so we launched in February and the funny thing was is we launched, it was huge. It started to be this whirlwind of like, “Okay, you know, you’re going to be here. You’re going to be there. Summit is coming up.” The success crew is like all this stuff and right amidst all of that they’re like, “Okay, so you have like 2 months off.” Which, really wasn’t 2 months off, it just meant 2 months off from the development process.
[17:07]
KC: Yeah.
[17:08]
AC: And then, we’re starting the next program and I was just like, “Wait, what?” Like, “Oh, okay.” And, we did 21 Day Fix Extreme in about a third of the time. So, we spent almost a year doing 21 Day Fix. We spent about 4 months doing extreme.
[17:26]
KC: Yeah, if we go back to the 21 Day Fix. When you were in that period, it’s post-production, you’re waiting, was there ever the thought of ‘what if this doesn’t take’? There’ve been products in the past that don’t really stick right?
[17:42]
AC: Right. You know what’s weird and I hope it doesn’t come off in a cocky way because it’s not meant that way, it never crossed my mind. Like, from the minute I got the call from Beachbody, there was just something inside me that was like, “Yep, this is it. This is my path. This is what’s meant to happen. I never doubted it for a second.” Like, and it’s funny because, again, my team was really good, I guess, I don’t know if you want to use the word guarding, like guarding me or what but nobody ever once said to me, “Hey, by the way, there’s a chance this might not work. There’s a chance it might not be a success.” But, I remember we were like, we finished filming in July and when we wrapped they were like, “Alright, well, it’s in the can. That actually means it’s going to launch. Congratulations.” And, I looked at them with probably like the most horrified look on my face ever and I was like, “What do you mean?” And, they’re like, “Oh, yeah, until it’s filmed and in the can there’s no guarantee it’s a go,“ and I was just like, “I’m so shocked nobody told me that.”
[18:45]
KC: Yeah.
[18:46]
AC: So, there wasn’t any doubt in my mind because I knew I had already seen how amazing it had done in the test groups.
[18:55]
KC: Yeah.
[18:56]
AC: So, obviously, with the Beachbody machine behind it and the type of promotion and the reputation that it had behind it, I really didn’t doubt that it would do well. But, I mean I say it every day still. I’m just blown away by the success of it. I’m blown away by the success that the new infomercial is having. Somebody posted yesterday about the fact that they have, they had hyperthyroidism as a kid and hypothyroidism now and they’ve struggled for years with joint pains and muscle aches and no energy and just a list of ailments from their thyroid issues and she did one round of 21 Day Fix and even though she was only down 4 pounds, she was down 13 inches.
[19:41]
KC: Wow.
[19:42]
AC: And, with all of her symptoms of her thyroid problem, they’re gone, just gone and so to hear that is like, it’s like you couldn’t ask for anything better and that’s got to, it’s like the most rewarding thing to hear that and see it and to see people post their photos and say like, you know, “This is the first time I’ve been able to stick to it and this is the first time I’ve understood what to eat.” And, I’ve had people e-mail me that ‘I’ve been bulimic and anorexic’ most of their life and say, you know, they’re not afraid to eat anymore and they understand and that is just beyond words amazing.
[20:20]
KC: It really is and, you know, I’ve been watching some of the stuff that you’ve been putting up in social media and the money’s great, being on the center of stage is all great but the real pieces that changing of lives. It’s been cool to watch you sort of share that part of you too.
[20:37]
AC: Well, thank you. And, it really, I mean like that, that is. Again, yes, it’s fun to be on stage, don’t get me wrong. I’m a performer and is it nice to be able to shop without thinking twice and things like that? Of course, but that is nothing, like that’s a blip on the radar compared what I’ve seen it do for changing people’s lives.
[20:59]
KC: Yeah. So, sort of focusing in on that and I’m going to shift it a little bit with this question but I haven’t done the 21 Day Fix Extreme, I’ve done the 21 Day Fix. I had awesome results and one of the things that I’ve noticed is it seems like there’s a lot of men that are shying away from the program, maybe not shying, it’s probably not the right way to word it but it was sort of a lot of people that I talk to think it’s a woman’s program and I actually think that it’s not at all. Have you encountered some resistance or have you heard that from men and that what would you say to people that are saying that?
[21:44]
AC: Yeah. Well, I always laugh when they say it because, yes, I’ve definitely heard it. Obviously, I think anytime a man sees a girl and sees a girl my size leading the workout, they expect it to be very bubblegum easy, you know, girly and right up until they try it because if they ask any guy that’s ever tried it, you know, they get their butt handed to them. Because here’s the thing, it doesn’t matter if you’re a man or a woman, if you understand fitness and the science and the body mechanics, it doesn’t matter who’s leading the workout. If it’s done right, it’s going to be challenging and it’s going to get you to your goals. And, I laugh because and don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love Shaun T, respect Shaun T, his programs are phenomenal and beyond impressively challenging.
[22:36]
KC: Yeah.
[22:37]
AC: But, they’re cardio-based. They don’t, I think what is it asylum uses weights but I think that’s the only one. Everything else is usually body weight, right?
[22:46]
KC: Yup.
[22:48]
AC: I’m the girl who’s over here like, “Pick up some weights, damn it.” Like, which I think is what a guy would want like to lift, you know.
[22:56]
KC: Yeah.
[22:57]
AC: But, I don’t think that’s the first thought that they have like that’s why I kind of drive it home so much in Fix Extreme that it’s every workout has weights because I’m like, hello, other than Sagi and Body Beast, I’m the girl over here who’s like “Get your weights. Don’t pick up the pink ones and be a sissy. Pick up some weight and let’s do this.” So, I guess I just, you know, I leave it up to the masses to basically get out there and tell the guys that it’s not a girls program. I leave it up to the guys who have already done it to let other guys know it’s not a girl program. I think the result speak for themselves when you look at any of the guys photos and what they have achieved with it, you know.
[23:39]
KC: I know, I just saw Carl Daikeler’s photos.
[23:42]
AC: I was just going to say, ‘Damn, give me some credit. I just worked with you into shape in 3 weeks.
[23:48]
KC: I know. That was impressive. He definitely hit it 100%.
[23:51]
AC: Yes. So, you know, for anybody, I guess I feel like everybody should screenshot that photo and put it in their back pocket for anytime a guy says it’s not a guy’s program.
[24:01]
KC: Absolutely. Now, with everything that’s happening, what do you do, so like in your own life to keep yourself really grounded and centered and sticking with who you are?
[24:16]
AC: Well, I think there’s a couple of things that just automatically makes sure that happens. One, it’s just the way I was raised, I was raised around a huge family that’s what’s important to me. I have my son, I’m a single mom so I’m responsible for him 100% like, you now, I don’t I’m not off gallivanting and shopping and lounging on yachts. He’s my priority always, always, always. I’m busting my butt but I’m busting it for him. Not to mention my team at Beachbody, again, we have kind of a running joke there. I have a team of all women. It’s pretty awesome, actually, but our running joke is they’re like, “If you ever turn into a diva we’ll, you know, we’ll bitch slap you back to reality.” And I was like, “Please do. If I ever turn into that person, like please don’t let me be.” I was like, “I don’t ever think I will but don’t let me be that person. That person’s horrible.”
[25:10]
KC: Yeah.
[25:11]
AC: Like, I don’t want to be that person. But, you know, it’s not a ton has changed yet in my life. I still live in the apartment I’ve lived in for the last 4 years. I actually am in the middle of buying a house right now so fingers crossed that we close escrow in a few weeks.
[25:26]
KC: Alright.
[25:27]
AC: But, that’ll be like the first massive change for me. Everything else is, you know, I still get up, I make breakfast, I take my son to school. I’m the one who packs his lunch. You know, I do have help. I have a nanny for him but that’s because there’s just certain times of the day where work pulls me away. But, you know, I make him dinner. I put him to bed. I make sure he has his bath like just him alone is what keeps me grounded, so.
[25:53]
KC: The other day I did a post of Facebook and let people know that I was going to be interviewing you and asked them what they want to ask you.
[26:03]
AC: Okay.
[26:04]
KC: So, I have a couple here and this first one I loved it. She wasn’t serious about this but I want to ask it as a serious question.
[26:13]
AC: Okay.
[26:14]
KC: This was Alicia Mers and she wrote, “Do you really eat that much cod?”
[26:25]
AC: When I’m doing countdown to competition and I’m following it to a T, like it’s written in the book, yes I do and yes I hate it.
[26:36]
KC: When I read that one I was cracking up because I was thinking, I was like, “I wonder how many people at the end of it, they’re like, “Alright, I’m never eating cod again.”
[26:45]
AC: Uhm, me, I’ll be the first to raise my hand. I mean it. I mean, you guys have to remember, I’ve done it multiple times now, like some people do it once just to see into that but I’ve used it for 4 different competitions, not to mention like photo shoot preps and things like that. I’m over it.
[26:59]
KC: Yeah.
[27:00]
AC: Actually, I’m doing a little video, I’ll do a little video blog post later on today, I’ve been running around. But, the whole reason Carl ended up doing, you know, Carl was talking about doing the Extreme program. He’s like, “I’m going to do it.” And, I kind of called him out on it on Facebook and I was like, “Well, look, if you’re going to do it, like do it and do the countdown to competition plan.” And, because I called him out on Facebook, he was like, “Alright, fine, you called me out on it so I have to do it.” And then, he was at the coach advisory board meeting talking to Jeremy Red and Jeff Hill and they’re like, “Alright, we’ll do it too.” And then, they started talking to the coaches and then we ended up with a group of 2,000 people doing it. But, it’s funny because like he didn’t want to do, like he really does eat like a 5-year old and so fish and vegetables for him like 9 times a day was probably the meanest thing I could have ever done. And, I was like, “But, I’m going to do it with you. Like, I’ll be the support system, like in the group, I’m going to jump in and do it too.” And, I did my first week doing the countdown planning exactly as written with all that cod and vegetables and actually I was leaning out to quickly.
[28:06]
KC: Yeah.
[28:07]
AC: For certain things that I’m working on right now and so I switched over. I stayed on countdown to competition but instead of using fish, I used like turkey, chicken, red meat, like a little bit. So, I still did countdown to competition but instead of just using fish I used the other stuff which just gives me just a tiny little bit more size which is what I needed. But, you’re the first person to know that. I haven’t announced that yet. Eat fish within the whole time and I was like, “Ha, sucker. I’ve done this, I got nothing to prove.” So, but yes, like I said when I’m like super adamant about it, I do eat that much cod in a day.
[28:46]
KC: So, one other question here from Marjorie Sliker and she actually had a couple of questions but I’m going to pull one out here and she wrote, “Do you ever have a bad day where you don’t feel motivated and what do you do, how do you pull yourself out of that funk, stay balanced and keep going?”
[29:06]
AC: I have a lot of bad days. The interesting thing though is for me is that I actually use fitness and I’ve said this before as my therapy. You now, people joke and be like, “I got to go see my therapist” and I’m like, “Really, I’m just going to go lift some weights and work this out really quick.” So, even on my bad days and days where I don’t want to do it, I know I’ll feel better if I just get in there and do it. There’s never a day that I don’t really want to get up and work out. In fact, I’m usually more irritated if I can’t, like if I have a travel day or something, I’m usually super frustrated if I don’t get my workout in. It’s just where my mindset is. To me working out is as normal a routine as getting up and brushing my teeth in the morning. You just, you do it, you would never not get up and not brush your teeth, you know, like it doesn’t require maybe the same kind of motivation than it does for some other people who really just hate working out because like I really enjoy it. I definitely have days where I’m less motivated to stay on point with my nutrition and that’s a little bit harder. But, I know is, well, what I know what my goals are to my job requires me to be on point most of the time and I know how crappy I usually feel after, you know, like if I’m like, “Oh, screw it” and I’m just going to eat this. And then, one, I don’t feel good and, two, I’m kind of mad at myself for doing it because I’m like, “Well, why did you do that? Like, it wasn’t worth it.” I mean I have my cheat meals that I like and that I planned for but if it’s something outside of that, I usually try to avoid it because I know it’s not the end of the world, like I can have chocolate again, you know, like it’s not like I can’t ever have it again but if I’m working towards a goal, I’m working towards a goal, so.
[30:54]
KC: So, really just staying focused in on the goal?
[30:58]
AC: Yeah, I think when you know at the end of the day what your goal is and when you want it that bad like there’s nothing that really should stop you because that’s your goal like you can’t say, “I want to lose 10 pounds” but not be willing to work out or eat healthy. Then, that’s not really your goal, you know, and you can’t say, “I want to be a motivator and an inspiration to others” and not want to get up and actually do it.
[31:25]
KC: Yes, right?
[31:26]
AC: So, yeah. So, for me, I mean I like getting up there. I like sharing my post. It makes me happy when people see it and they’re like, “Hey, I needed that today. Like, I’m going to go press play.” Those are the things that motivate me. My son is always watching. He’ll say, “Mom, you know, what’d you do today?” or, “Mom, I ran a lot at school today. I got my exercise in.” So, like, all of those things keep me on track.
[31:53]
KC: I love it. I love it. So, as far as for the people that are not following you yet or that are not in Autumn’s world and haven’t done the 21 Day Fix yet, where can they find you? Where is the best place to follow you, to connect with you and to keep up with your journey?
[32:10]
AC: I am on Instagram. My handle is just my name, Autumn Calabrese. Here’s my Facebook fan page, it’s Autumn Fitness, and then there’s also my website which is just AutumnCalabrese.com. So, any and all of them are great sources. The website’s getting a complete makeover. It’s going to have some fun new things on there.
[32:29]
KC: Alright.
[32:30]
AC: There’s going to be an Ask Autumn page so that as the questions keep rolling in, instead of responding to one people, or one people, one person, that everybody can see it because I’ll answer it on the website under that Ask Autumn page. So, yeah, that’s how you follow and keep up with me.
[32:46]
KC: That’s great and a couple other quick questions before we end here. As far as people that inspire you, do you have anyone that you follow on social media that has been inspiring to you or maybe not even on social media.
[33:04]
AC: Oh, I mean I have a lot of people along the way and some of them might not even be people whose name I know, I just, you know, my coach, my competition coach, Ingrid Romero with Team Edge, huge motivator to me, mother of twin boys, just works her tail off, genuine heart, cares about that team, cares about the girls on her team, you know, her and her husband are right there every day checking in on everybody and making that happen. So, that’s huge motivation to me. Like I said, my son, my son motivates me every day, him and his energy and his enthusiasm for life. My team at Beachbody, I love them. They keep me going even on the hard days. Obviously, our CEO is a huge motivation and just how much he does and how much he cares about the company and about the coaches, watching the other coaches. There’re so many coaches and I honestly like, it’s terrible, but so many people that I’ve seen who have posted their stories, that they inspire me and make me want to just work that much harder, put out the next best program for them, like give them something else that they can move on to, be there to support them, be there to cheer them on. So, it’s never one person and it’s never one situation. It’s just life in general.
[34:21]
KC: I love it. I love it.
[34:23]
AC: That inspires me.
[34:24]
KC: How about books, any books that you’re reading or that you’ve read in the past that you’d recommend?
[34:30]
AC: I’m reading tribe right now, The Tribe, and that’s all about basically being a leader and motivating people.
[34:38]
KC: That’s the Seth Godin one right?
[34:40]
AC: Yes.
[24:41]
KC: Okay.
[34:42]
AC: Yes, I started that a few nights ago. I loved thinking real rich. I thought that was very important, that message is all about what you’re putting out there and, you know, what you put out is what you get back. ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People.’
[34:57]
KC: Dale Carnegie, right?
[34:58]
AC: Yeah, Dale, Dale Carnegie. So, there’s you know, there’s a lot of those books that I really enjoy and I’ll go back and, you know, as I read I highlight, I like, I actually like solid books instead of online because I like to page mark and I like to highlight so that I can kind of flip through and be like, “Oh yeah, I need to remember that. Oh yeah, that was a good point.” Things like that.
[35:20]
KC: Awesome. Well, Autumn, I want to thank you so much for your time and sharing your story with us and, you know, I’d actually be honored if you’d be willing to just close everything out and share one piece of parting advice.
[35:34]
AC: Oh my gosh. I would be more than honored to close it for us. Here’s my best piece of advice and I think this will probably be like the coaches of Beachbody will maybe take this to heart a little bit more than somebody who’s not involved in our community but maybe it’ll inspire people to join our community. And, that’s just to get up every day with the thought in your head of making the day better, making the people around you better, you know, never to approach what you do, like never to approach it about the dollar. It’s not about the money that we’re making. The money will come there. If you approach what you’re doing, be it fitness or anything else in life to truly just improve yourself and improve the people around you, you’ll always be successful.
[36:18]
KC: I love it. Alright, well, thank you so much again, Autumn, and we’ll catch you next time.
[36:23]
AC: Great. Thank you so much for having me on, Keith. Take care.

Thank you for listening to The Business of Life podcast. Apply what you learned today and you’ll be one step closer to creating the life you love to live.

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