We dive into part 2 from our members' question in this episode!  This time, we have Dave and me answer the remaining questions.

We're sorry about the length.  We originally intended this one to only be 20-25 minutes but we got a little carried away.  We hope you enjoy!

The questions that we answered are written below:

"Is this your dream come true?  What do you see for the future of Firewall and/or expanding to open other gyms?"
~Liz Swenson

"What is your favorite Firewall memory?  What is your funniest Firewall memory?"
~Coach Kerry Peterson

"If you weren't at Firewall, what would you guys be doing?  Would it be fitness-related or would you be in a completely different field?  In other words, is this the dream you've had all along?  Is there a competing dream you'd also like to challenge?"
~Dan Nettell

"What has been your biggest lifetime challenge so far?  How about your happiest memory?"
~Michelle Sawan

Thank again as always for listening!

We switched up the format from our usual interview format.  In this one, I (Bucky) tackle some questions that were asked from the Firewall community!  There are an additional handful of questions that both Dave and I will be answering in a later podcast.

Below are all of the awesome questions asked by our members!

"Where do you think you succeeded and where did you think you fell and had to pivot when starting your own gym?
~Dave Menapce

"When are you starting a barbell/Oly lifting class?"
~Dave Howell
"Thoughts on adding tires, slam balls, battling ropes?"
~Liz Swenson

"How do you decide which workouts to have us do everyday?
~Amanda Bigelow

"What are your favorite CrossFit exercises? Which are your least favorite?"
~Christine Silva

"How many classes a week is probably too many and why does it get harder to take rest days?"
~Ryan Looney

Thanks again for all the questions everyone.  I hope you gain some value from the answers!

Damon was our very first coach (besides the owners) at Firewall.  He is the first Firewall coach we've interviewed as well!

As many of you know, me and Damon could talk forever.  We only touched the tip of the iceberg to what could have been a much much longer conversation.

Some of the main topics we hit go over are his childhood house (where his mom still lives), childhood sports which led him to hockey, high school hockey, how he became a firefighter, family dynamics, and how CrossFit changed his life.

After figuring out he didn't want to continue down the path of public relations in college, it's safe to say he was a bit lost in life.  From there, Damon found his way to Fidelity working on the phones.  He knew that wasn't for him either. His brother introduced him to becoming either a police officer or firefighter.

Currently, Damon is a full time firefighter in Waltham on Moody Street.  He explains why he wanted to become a firefighter instead of a police officer.

Damon is extremely transparent and real in our interview which we hope a lot of you will gain some perspective from and might be able to relate to.  This part happens around 28 minutes into the podcast which we think is the most valuable content in the 45 minute interview.

Nearly everyone's past is much different than you may assume.

D-Ball thank you so much for your time and openness!  You are the bomb BALL!

Thank you Joanna so much for sitting down with us to get a glimpse of your past, present and future!

Before Joanna ended up in Holliston, she actually lived in Hawaii and California as a child!  Some of her fondest memories from high school were the radio show at Holliston High School (if anyone has any of these recordings please let us know ;) ).

After high school, Joanna headed to UMass Amherst with an original interest in the sciences.  Once she did an internship over the summer, she decided her pre-vet tract wasn't the right fit for her and switched her focus.

She ended up transferring to Regis in pursuit of a nursing degree while working as an EMT on the side.  While at Regis, she ended up getting accepted into a full-time position on the Mass Port Fire Department where she still is!  At that time, she was living up around the Salisbury area trying to switch off kids on rotating shifts with her husband who also works at Mass Port Fire Department.

Because of the challenging exchange with her kids most mornings, her and her family decided to move back to Holliston, so her parents could help take care of the kids.  Now, she says she's never going to leave Holliston!

Thanks again so much for stopping by Joanna, you're a superstar!

It was such a pleasure to get the chance to sit down and talk with the one and only Dave Howell (A.K.A. the plank master)!  As we do with all of our guests, we dive into some tidbits of his early childhood including being born in Atlanta, living in Texas for the earlier part of his childhood, moving to Stamford, CT for the majority of his youth and teenage years, as well as how he ended up at Boston University for his undergrad degree.

When he started at BU, Dave was pursuing a career in journalism from his early childhood love of professional wrestling.  Early in the interview, we discuss why journalism left a bad taste in his mouth and how he switched his focus to advertising instead.

Right after college, he quickly met his wife through his job!  Everything happens for a reason right? ;)

We also dig into Dave's family - his wife and 3 kids, 2 of which are adopted.  Dave gives us insight into the whole adoption process and how him and his wife actually never thought they would conceive a child (they have a 9 year old boy named Jax!).  The names of their other two children are Faye (7 years old) and Brodie (3 years old).

At the end, we talk about Dave's fitness path and how he ended up here at Firewall!

Thanks for coming on the show Dave!

This was such a treat getting the chance to talk with Sandra all about her upbringing to her current path to reform the traditional educational system.  Sandra's passion shines through the speakers in the back half of the interview.  You're definitely going to want to listen to this long sit down in full!  Sandra has done some amazing things in her life and doesn't plan on stopping anytime soon.

Side Note: Again, I apologize for the sniffling and throat clearing throughout the interview, hope it doesn't ruin Sandra's amazing interview for you!

To start, Sandra won "Tiny Queen of the Earth" when she was just 4 years old.  We are in the presence of royalty at Firewall!!

Although she claims that's where she peaked in life, she kept climbing from there.  She went to Boston College for undergrad and then decided to join Teach for America which led her to Texas for a couple of years.  She met her husband through the program, and they eventually moved to New York for graduate school.

When she was in Houston, she discovered her passion for teaching kids how to read.  This continues to be her passion and foundation for her current career.

Currently she has a family with her husband of three incredible daughters: Zoey (15), Ana (13), and Evie (8).  Interestingly enough, her husband's job took them to England for a few years before coming back to the States and eventually Sherborn.

I hope you enjoyed this interview as much as I did.  Thank you so much for being on the show Sandra!

This was a heavily anticipated interview from the members of Firewall.  Anthony is a big personality at the gym who is pretty hard to miss!

(I apologize in advance for all of the gross sniffles and throat clearings throughout the podcast)

Warning:  If you are listening to this with your child, we just want to make you aware that there is some explicit language used throughout the interview.

Being born and raised in Ashland, Anthony's main sport growing up was hockey.  He also continues to play golf where he says his parents kick his butt every time he goes out with them.  At the age of 17, he decided to hang up the skates and stick with his music passion!

He's played a number of different instruments including clarinet and bass clarinet through high school.  He frequently whipped out the clarinet as one of his many party tricks at college.  At UMass Dartmouth, Anthony was very active in student government and greek life (although he may or may not have gotten fired as an orientation leader his senior year...)

We also hit on the subject of Anthony's homosexuality including how he first knew he was gay, when he came out to his family and friends, and more.

Once Anthony graduated college, he had a job lined up at Wagner Motor Group as a digital and social media marketing coordinator.  Currently he's an insurance agent at Liberty Mutual (here's a link to his page if you're looking for any coverage: https://www.libertymutual.com/anthony-natoli).

We also briefly get into how and why Anthony started to workout, how he found CrossFit, and how he ended up with us over at Firewall.

We hope you enjoyed this hour conversation as much as we did!  Anthony is one class act who brings a laugh and smile to everyone he meets.  Thank you so much for being on the show!

We start this interview by discovering how to exactly pronounce Sarah's last name, and it's much easier than you may think!

All kidding aside, although we may have slightly unintentionally ambushed Sarah with this interview, she was kind enough to shine some light on her large family of 9 growing up (6 siblings), her passion for skiing, and how she met her husband.

Sarah currently resides in the infamous Holliston, MA with her husband, Andy, and two daughters, Bridget and Charlotte.  She started all the way out in Idaho, then moved to New Canaan, CT, followed by Weston, MA all by the time she was 10 years old.

Sarah started her post college career at Fidelity Investments where she met her husband!  After a few years, Sarah knew Fidelity wasn't for her and pursued a career in teaching.  She currently teaches nearby at Hopkinton Middle School.

Another fun fact about Sarah is she's been skiing since the ripe age of 5!  She is an avid skier who continues to go up every weekend in the winter with her family to tear up the slopes.

Before finding CrossFit, Sarah constantly stayed in shape in a number of different ways.  She's completed a number of half marathons and iron mans prior to her CrossFit routine!

She's also one of our first members we ever had at Firewall, and we cannot thank her enough for her continued support she's given us over the past two years.  Thank you so much for your time, Sarah.  We loved getting the chance to sit down and talk with you!

Just wow.  Cato's journey is definitely one that needs to be listened to.

In this (lengthy but information filled) interview, we dive into so many aspects of Cato's past, present, and future.  He is a one of a kind guy who has accomplished a feat that not many have (hiked the FULL Appalachian Trail alone) or ever will even attempt to complete in their life.

Born and raised in our very own Holliston, Cato grew up as an absolute stud baseball and football player.  Once he graduated high school, he played for one of the most prestigious baseball colleges in the nation (Franklin Pierce University).  Cato explains how during his Franklin Pierce days, he had a bit of a life changing experience that pulled him into another direction.  This led him to finding his passion in farming.  In the summer of 2018 (last year), he decided to fully hike the AT by himself.  The majority of our conversation is centered around this topic as he relives a lot of different experiences from his journey including bear encounters.  Today, you can find Cato training for his first full Iron Man.

Next time you see Cato, be sure to ask him about his journey on The Trail.  He has many more stories that unfortunately we weren't able to get into due to time constraints.

There's no telling what is in store for this adventurer!  Thank you Cato for taking the time to do this amazing sit down interview with us.  Enjoy!

Aman joined us at Firewall after her husband, Sanj, had been with us for a couple of months.  Currently, both of them are staples to the Firewall community befriending everyone in sight!

It's crazy how some people know exactly what they want to do when they're a little kid.  Aman dives into her origins (right outside of Sacramento).  Her and her husband have been together since her sophomore year of high school, and she has wanted to teach since kids since a very early age.

Aman takes us on her and Sanj's really fascinating journey where they start in California, move to Mississippi for a gas station purchase, and finally make their way to good ole' Holliston, MA.

Currently, they own an incredible Montessori School in Wayland called Wayland Montessori.  Along with their school, they also have 3 kids: Nolan (7), Saajan (5), and Kalan (1.5).  You can frequently find them both at the early AM classes before they have to jet off the Wayland!

We hope you enjoy Aman's story as much as we did!  We cannot thank Aman enough for taking the time to sit down and run through her life story with us.