24: The Tour Begins!

We are off! The first leg of the Podcast tour began this past week. We are now traveling around the entire United States so if you see our van with the podcast name, “Everything Else” in Bodybuilding, and my giant mug on it, be sure to honk and wave! 

On this episode I am going to share about our experiences so far as we traveled through Pennsylvania and Chicago, IL while out on tour — and our life living in a van! 

Be sure to join the Facebook group called “The ‘Everything Else’ in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders!” where I share pictures and videos of the tour and you can connect with like-minded people.

Additional Resources:
-Support my podcast tour of The United States with a donation via Venmo! https://account.venmo.com/u/Michele-Welcome
-Doing a show? Not sure if you are posing correctly? Come to a Learn To Pose™ LIVE Virtual Clinic! www.posingpractice.com 
-Need accountability for your ongoing posing practice? Jump on my weekly accountability classes at http://www.weeklyposing.com
-Want to WIN your next competition? I can help! Learn more at: www.posingwinsshows.com
-FREE posing tutorials for Figure, Bikini, and Men's Physique competitors at www.learntopose.com 
-FREE ebook “5 Things Every Bodybuilding and Fitness Competitor Needs To Know Before Preparing For A Show” at www.eeinbb.com
-Grab your “My Own Motivation” tank top at shop.killitwithdrive.com 

Key Takeaways:
*The three 9s on my grocery bill (2:03)
*Gym review and 1 on 1 posing lesson with Lisa Faser at Quads Gym in Chicago (3:30)
*Exploring Hershey Pennsylvania (8:25)
*Exploring Chicago, IL (9:38)
*Life so far living in a van (11:43)
*New announcement! My new program, www.weeklyposing.com will provide ongoing accountability for your posing practice. (13:35)

---Transcription---

We are off! The first leg of the Podcast tour began this past week. We are now traveling around the entire United States so if you see our van with the podcast name, Everything Else in Bodybuilding, and my giant mug on it, be sure to honk and wave. I posted pictures and videos on social media and you can check them out on either TikTok, Facebook, or instagram.  Stuff on YouTube will be coming shortly.

The day before we left, I was at the cash register at the grocery store and the cashier comments to me about the three 9s on my bill.  She says to me that it is an angelic sign.  Whether you believe in it or not, it was a nice message. She didn’t have to say that to me. It made me feel good to think of a presence with us while we embark on this adventure.

Not long after this, I get a message from a movie producer’s assistant about a potential role in a movie.  We were prepared to reroute our entire trip and to drive to the movie set.  For a second there I thought about the three 9s and wondered if something bigger was in the works. The stars didn’t align this time because they needed me across the country THAT DAY but our van was in the shop so the timing was bad. It did feel good to be considered for a part in a Hollywood movie, no matter how small, and that got my wheels turning in my head about other things I can do while on the road to make extra cash so our life on the road will be more comfortable.  And who knows what’ll come up in the future.  I’m always open to new opportunities that make sense. 

Speaking of opportunities I’m very grateful to those of you listening who have reached out for potential posing clinics at your local gyms while I’m out on tour. As you know by now, or at least I think you do, that with my 20 year background in all federations and divisions, I have the unique ability to TEACH all federations and divisions from actual experience.  So my clinics are not going to be the same woo woo “look at me” posing clinics you might have already gone to. In fact, I’m going to go as far as to say that you will walk away from my clinics never thinking about posing and presentation the same. 

Special shout out to Lisa Faser from Chicago for her efforts and going out of her way - and her comfort zone - to post flyers in her gym to try and round up interest for a clinic.

Lisa didn’t manage to round up a group of people for a clinic this time, so I offered her a rare opportunity for a 1-on-1 posing lesson. I don’t do individual 1-on-1 posing lessons as much anymore because I have my Posing Wins Shows signature group program; however, since we are traveling the country, I thought it would be fun to pop in on people like you that are listening to the show who would normally NEVER have the opportunity to work with me in person. So I will continue to be doing these 1 on 1 lessons for listeners that want a posing and stage presence overhaul while Im on the road. We posted the tour dates and locations at eeinbb.com so check out our tour and see if I’ll be in a city near you. If so, just text our dedicated line 702-637-0091 to set something up at your local gym. 

Lisa’s gym is called Quads gym and is located on North Broadway in Chicago. The parking situation there is a challenge because there are a ton of businesses and residential housing in the area…and ALL the parking is ON street. We arrived about 30 minutes early and spent the entire 30 minutes looking for parking. At the last minute my husband was just going to drop me off, so I wouldn’t be late, and by luck a spot in front of the gym opened up so we grabbed it quick. 

At the front door there is a sign that says that Muscle and Fitness magazine has designated this gym as one of the top gyms in America so immediately I was intrigued.  When you walk in there is an immediate good vibe to the place. I could tell that this is a place you come to to get work done.   Apparently we just missed Mr Olympia Phil Health who was in the area a week ago and trained out of this gym while he was here. The day pass is $17 so for my husband and I it was a $34 visit. 

But let me tell you, there is a LOT to offer here for equipment. You would never know when approaching from the street the sheer size of this place. There are two floors plus an additional room on the third floor with the boxing room, which is where I taught my posing lesson with Sarah. The amount of equipment packed into this place is, I don’t even know, how many thousands. The most impressive part is the amount of leg equipment. And I don’t mean a bunch of the same equipment you see at every gym, I’m taking about very unique equipment. Many old school nautilus machines too. My favorite body part to train is legs, so I was like a kid in a candy store with the amount of different leg devices there are to play with.  When you walk the gym there are photos of competitors throughout the gym on every wall.  It made me think of the gym I owned where I had photos posted throughout the gym of members doing great things. I called it the walls of inspiration. So it was nice to see all the photos here celebrating the gym members and visitors.      

As mentioned Lisa and I used the boxing room on the third floor for our session. She was warm and enthusiastic and that only made my time with her more fun and rewarding. Even though she booked an hour session, I ended up spending like three hours with her. Sarah spent weeks trying to create a clinic at her gym. Weeks. She made and posted flyers.  That’s a lot of effort.  Her efforts did not go unnoticed, so even though she paid for a 1 on 1 session, I decided to bring the whole clinic to HER.  Lisa is 51 years young getting ready for her first show. How inspiring is that? 

She has gone to competitions to watch and has watched online posing tutorials to learn how to pose. And just like everyone that has come to my virtual clinics can attest, When you try and recreate what you see in posing tutorials, 9 times out of 10, you don’t look anything like what you see….and you have no idea what to do about it. That’s where I come in. Sarah learned not just the mechanics of the poses she needs to do, she learned specific foundational exercises, drills, and skills that will help her to not be good as posing, but be incredible at it. You can’t build the house without building the foundation first, right? 

We also worked on her stage walk since the bikini division requires you to focus on your stage presence just as much as you do your posing. Lisa learned some of my signature techniques and drills that have taken people from walking with two left feet to walking like they own a runway.  I truly love what I do and I can honestly say that the time flew by. Vassilios knows me and how I lock into a zone when I’m teaching, so he spent the entire time working out and testing out all the fun equipment throughout the gym. I took a few videos while I was teaching so I could provide Lisa some before and after footage, and in the background of one of the videos, you can hear Vassilios grunting. I love always having him nearby.

So this gym and my session with Lisa were both a highlight of this trip, but not the only highlight.

As mentioned, I’ve been setting up for my classes in random locations on the road. So far we have traveled through Pennsylvania, stopping in Hershey PA for a day. If you haven’t been you should stop in sometime.  The town is so clean and very pretty.  Last time we were in the area we stopped at the Hershey Chocolate Factory and I made my husband Vassilios ride with me around the factory in the cart in the shape of a gumdrop with me.  Isn’t he a great sport?  He really is my ride or die. 

This time I didn’t make him ride in a gumdrop with me. Instead we stopped for a piece of chocolate at the museum where they just so happen to also have chocolate tastings. Naturally the tasting lasted like 10 minutes. We aren’t those people that need to sit there and swirl our glasses around and ooh and ahhh over the flavor of each and every sample.  We did notice the different flavors in each of the samples and both agreed that Mr. Hershey’s chocolate was superior to the 5 other chocolates we sampled. So we were in and out in less than a half hour. If you ever travel with a husband, you will know, that a stop at a museum that ends in less than 30 minutes will make for a very happy husband. Afterwards we got a workout in and then headed for Pittsburg for the night before we drove to Chicago, where we are now.  

My husband grew up in Chicago and this is the first time we have gone here together. We have been together for 8 years so this is actually quite special for me. He is showing me around where he grew up and taking me to some of his favorite places to eat. We have had a great balance of getting our macros in while also enjoying some of his favorite places to eat in Chicago. He took me to Gene and Jude’s for a hot dog. And then to Johnnies to split a combo steak and sausage sandwich on a hogie. We also met up with some of his family he hasn’t seen in years and they treated us to some Chicago deep dish pizza.  I’m from a small town in Winsted CT that has a lot of really good homemade food. There are a couple of pizza restaurants that are absolute standouts because of their distinctly different styles and flavors of pizza.  Shout out to Kent Pizza in Winsted and Marzano’s pizza in Torrington CT. Both these places serve thinner crust so this deep dish Chicago style pizza was a treat for me.  The only thing is, the pizza is so thick that I was full after one piece.  

I do have to say Chicago is a lovely city. The amount of boutique restaurants and shops, the green trees and forest, and the river and bridges, are all stand outs. As you might know I’ve been a real estate agent and broker for 17 years in CT and I have an app on my phone where I can look up properties anywhere around the country. So as we drive around and I see for sale signs I pull out my handy app and see what the prices and stats are on the houses. I can even see what properties recently sold and how much they sold for. This is how I learn about areas as I travel through them.  

One of the suburbs we drove through the houses are going for $400/square foot. And you are on .11 acres. I asked a couple workers in the Whole Foods store we stopped in at what the biggest draw is of the area.  They both looked at me like I was talking riddles. One person said she lived 15 minutes from here and didn’t know the area.  The other person said that he used to live somewhat near this area and now lives downtown.  Neither could tell me why anyone would live here except to be in the suburbs near Lake Michigan and raise a family. Well there you go.  $400/sqft for a house in the suburbs.  And here we are strolling on through living in our van.  

Speaking of the van, you are probably wondering how van life is going.  I’d say the most challenging part is the heat at night. The weather has been hot and humid and if you think about it, there is very little air flow in a van unless you have the engine on and running the ac.  So we did sweat for a few night before Vassilios got us a battery operated fan.  We have been pretty fortunate to find places to sleep every night.  

We did splurge for two nights after getting a killer deal on a hotel from Hotwire. Sometimes you can really luck out with this app with the flash deals. The trick is you don’t know what the hotel is, you only know how many stars it has and you get a list of possible hotels it could be.  This time we ended up with a Hampton Inn and Suites hotel.  The look on Vassilios’ face when we pulled up made me so happy.  He was so excited to have a hotel room with air conditioning.  That first night we stayed up and watched movies together.  It was a real treat.  Now we are back in the van but we have our fan now.  I’m hoping we have some good luck on the road and we can treat Vassilios to a hotel again.  Nothing makes me happier than seeing him so happy.

We are now off to Wisconsin for a few days before we head to Minnesota. 

I am hosting my virtual group posing clinics Monday through Wednesday every week.  It’s been fun finding and setting up my classes at various locations while on the road. Finding places with wifi has been relatively easy so traveling and teaching online is very doable.  By the way, if you are planning to compete in the fall or next spring, you really need to jump on a posing clinic to learn the fundamentals so you know what to practice and WHY. The time is going to fly by and you work too hard to leave any stone unturned. You will leave the clinic with an entirely new perspective. Go to posingpractice.com and grab a spot for only $47. Everyone that has come to one so far has left with their eyes wide open and no longer looks at posing and presentation the same.

Another thing going on, I guess this is as good of a time as any to announce it before I sign off, is a new program I have been beta testing.  It’s a new group program that you might be interested in if you struggle with accountability for your posing practice. Let’s face it, practicing the same poses over and over gets old.  Posing in front of a mirror isn’t super effective because you are staring at yourself and when you are up on stage you do not have a mirror. So if you know the poses you need to execute and want the weekly accountability for a formal posing practice, then go to weeklyposing.com for more info and to join my classes.  They are fun, informative, and will take the boring out of posing practice. 

I’ll be posting another recap next week.  But before then, stay tuned because we have a special podcast episode launching where we interviewed Bodybuilding Legend Rich Gaspari and talked about the evolution of the supplement industry.  You are going to want to hear this one. It jammed packed.  

Alright guys, I’ll see you on social media, or come join my podcast insiders group on Facebook to interact with me. And if you are loving the show, please share in fitness groups on social Media, text it to friends, and, as always, rate and leave a review to help podcast platforms know this show is cool.  Talk to you again next week!