On this episode of the podcast I am joined by Brock Bittle, who is a former student athlete of mine to about one of the tough parts of our profession: what happens when you can get a job. Brock played football at Southern Illinois and after his collegiate career came to a close and he moved into the coaching side. After a few years of interning and grad assisting he found himself burnt out and asking questions about his future in the coaching profession. Tune in to hear Brock’s story and find out how he answered these questions.
Links mentioned in the show are as follows
Newsletter Opt-In: https://artofcoaching.com/double-optin/
Brock Bittle’s Contact: brockbittleazrealtor@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brock.bittle
TRANSCRIPT
Brett Bartholomew 0:57
Hey what’s going on everybody? Welcome to another episode of Art of Coaching. I’m Brett Bartholomew, and today I’m joined by Brock Bittle. We’re gonna get into Brock’s introduction in a minute, but what’s important to know is Brock was actually a former student athlete that I was fortunate to work with. He went into the strength and conditioning field himself after playing sports, also had experience in the fitness side of things and now is in the real estate side of things. And so Brock’s got a really interesting story and as I said, when I started this podcast, we want to hear from a diverse range of case studies here. There’s a lot of you guys that are listeners that you know, have dealt with a lot of different struggles in strength and conditioning, your own journey. And a lot of these podcasts don’t really touch on that, right. there’s a tendency to always talk about well, what books that we read, what productivity hacks we use, what do we think about this side of training, and that’s great, but underpinning all that are coaches that are people that are trying to find their way in a very crowded oversaturated field that lends itself to a lot of nepotism that lends itself to a lot of localism and what I mean by that is, there are a lot of talented coaches, smart people, hard workers out there that are either stuck, feel stuck, can’t find a job, and it’s just difficult to find your way so Brock was awesome enough to come on who wants to share his story he wants to share some things that he struggled with things that he enjoyed. I hope you guys find this useful and Brock I want to welcome you on to the show.
Brock Bittle 1:20
Thanks for having me Brett. Really excited to be here. I appreciate it.
Brett Bartholomew 2:27
Yeah, no doubt. Now part of the deal with Brock to get him on here is you know, I had to agree that he could share some embarrassing stories about me when I was a graduate assistant coach working with Brock. I worked under the charge of Garrett Nestle and at the time, when I was able to support with football was a tremendous learning experience. I thought we had an awesome complimentary coaching crew there but I agreed to let Brock do that. But Brock before we get into the embarrassing stories about me and your story, can you tell us a little bit about what you’re doing now? Give us a brief background?
Brock Bittle 2:54
Yeah, absolutely. So now in the real estate field have been for a little over a year and a half now. It’s just an avenue that I think, you know, lended more towards my goals moving into the future as I approach my 30s You know, get a little bit older. So it’s kind of an evolving process and it’s kind of where things took me after, you know, some struggles in the real estate field. And that’s, I think, why Brett brought me on is to talk about some of those things and I you know, want to offer some encouragement for people and let them know some of the pitfalls that I have and hopefully you can avoid those things in the future.
Brett Bartholomew 3:33
That’s perfect. So you know, starting with that, and you know, what was your first experience in terms of, after you let’s say you’re done playing football, and I know you got your degree in exercise physiology. What was your first experience where you realize, okay, this is gonna be a tough field to crack into. I’m gonna bypass the whole. How did you know you wanted to get into the field kind of thing? Because, you know, I think you had an experienced for sport competition training, what have you and many people do that get into it? But what was the first kind of wake up call if there’s somebody listening and they’re like, I don’t know. I don’t know if it’s time for me to look at other options or to try something different, you know, and it’s not getting people the idea that they need to give up if they’re struggling. It’s like, what are the first things you notice that were hard and what were the way you tried to navigate around that early on?
Brock Bittle 4:17
Yeah, absolutely. So probably the first kind of wake up call was when I just finished up my graduate degree. And there was a possible position coming open at the school I just graduated from so I thought, hey, there’s gonna be great. I’m gonna step right in, you know, seamless transition. Well, as I graduated about a month after I got my degree that fell through just wasn’t actually funding for the position. So I thought, okay, great. What am I gonna do now actually hadn’t expanded my network, a large amount at that point in time, so I was kind of stuck with. Okay, what do I do now? So I actually had some family out here in Arizona, you know, I know there’s a lot of strong strength conditioning, backgrounds out here. So it just seemed like a good idea to go out here and just kind of, you know, figure things out, to be honest. You know, just worked in the gym setting, did whatever I could to try to learn, I guess. Did a couple of internships actually two out here. One of them being underneath you at Exos.
Brett Bartholomew 5:25
With me, I don’t really ever look at it as underneat you know, I think I know what you mean, you know, but like you guys are so critical to helping us as full time coaches do what we do, you know, so I always look at that as you work with us. And yeah, no, absolutely. So when you say and not to cut you off, but would you say the first thing you did aside from the internships was you know, your focus was really on immersing yourself in any capacity and trying to find whatever situation you could to kind of get your foot in the door. Is that a correct summary?
Brock Bittle 5:54
Absolutely. I mean, look, especially when you’re starting out, you could never be think you’re too big to do anything and never think you’re too big to help out the little guys. I was helping, you know, grandmas. I was helping out, you know, 12, 13 year old kids. So the whole gamut and that just, you know, expanded where I was as a coach. You know, some people might think like, oh, I’m working with athletes only. Well, you can’t pigeonhole yourself there because there’s a large community of people out there that need our help just as much as these athletes to, if not more, so. I think, you know, throughout my strength conditioning journey actually helped more people just in the general population than I did athletes. I mean, you know, I think we all know this. You can’t. There’s only so much you can do for athletes, you know, they’re already talented as is and we just make them better for their sport. Whereas these people in the general population they’re in pain or you know, they’re suffering or can’t move and you can have some really big impact in some, lives by just helping those people as well. So I think one of the biggest things there is just don’t feel like you’re only there to help out athletes. How about every person you can’t you never know what doors that’s also going to open up in the future.
Brett Bartholomew 7:03
Yeah, no, I think that’s a critical point. And when we go through questions that I think people need to ask themselves when they’re going through these situations when they’re stuck when they’re trying to find Alright, where how can I adapt? How you know, what new strategy can I adopt anything like that there’s a couple of different questions that I think are important to ask yourself and first and foremost is alright, well, what can be leveraged meaning is there an opportunity I’m missing where I’m at right now? And I think you touched on that beautifully. You got into a setting that you know, they trained athletes. But there were also a lot of Gen pop and instead of looking at as this hierarchy, right, like, Well, my experience training athletes is going to be more advantageous for me than in training this person but the reality is, that’s not true. There’s not a better than worse than coaching is coaching. And you know, at the end of the day, it’s really not that hard if somebody has a lot of coaching experience that’s diverse, to help them now move into the athlete side of things. Whereas if somebody’s only worked with athletes, they usually don’t have that wide of a skill set, or sometimes the patients to deal with that you mentioned the grandma and grandpa that may be not as competent from a movement skill. standpoint and have very specialized needs medically now but also youth You know, and so I think that lends itself to some great advice is make sure that wherever you’re at and Brock correct me if I’m wrong, by all means, man, it’s my podcast but in a my show, if you know what I mean. And don’t just start to pigeonhole yourself. This industry is already small enough that you’re like, Well, I don’t know. And I get this question a lot on social media. The other day somebody goes, should focus on working with male and female or male or female athletes? And that caught me off guard I’m like, Dude, this isn’t a choice. You know, Coach where you can coach how you can coach when you can coach like that. That’s what you need to focus on right now. When listen when you kind of started doing that like and you know, you’re working with different populations and you’re thinking Okay, what else can I do to handle this today? You know, what else can what other resources can I draw upon what resource Do you wish was available to you at that time? Like, is there something that you felt like you would have loved to be able to go home at night and refer back to you know, in terms of things that would help guide your career guide your decision making or anything of a sort?
Brock Bittle 9:11
I mean, look, I think the biggest thing and then what she definitely helped me out with is just you got to find a mentor mentors. I mean, somebody that’s done it that’s been there that can help guide you along. You know, not only the, when you’re trying to want things are going well, but when things go not so great as well, you know, so just when you’re trying to find a job or else you don’t, no question, you’re kind of stuck in a pickle position. I know that I could reach out to you multiple times and just say, Hey, I’m feeling this or whatever, I need help. And you were there to help me, you know, every chance I asked you, so I think just having a resource to be able to go on to lean on for advice is something that is crucial, because otherwise I mean, it’s just kind of just in the dark and and send out resumes. I spent a ton of time spinning my wheels doing that. You know, just to realize, okay, well actually in that setting, they usually just hire people that they know and I was told that about a year down the line after sending out about 30 resumes. So just kind of knowing where to look and you know, having a resource having a mentor like that is crucial.
Brett Bartholomew 9:45
And I think you found another key piece there. A lot of times people think like send the resume and I haven’t heard back and they don’t understand, you know, the people getting these resumes. They’re piled high, you know, and they’re in emails that may get sent to spam or they may never get an answer. You know, it’s overwhelming, right? Like you think your resume you do all these things to try to make it stand out. But sometimes it’s not a matter of the resume not being good enough. It’s that it may never see it, you know, and I’m a big anybody that knows me. I’m a big hip hop fan. It’s kind of like back in the day like you couldn’t upload your demo to SoundCloud Right? Like you got to be there trying to get it in the hands of somebody I always love 50 cents story like how creative he was where he knew just trying to do a basic hand to hand handing out his demo CD. was gonna get them noticed. So you know, basically what he did is he accumulated all these demos. He put together mixtape after mixtape after mixtape, and then flooded the market with it. Now I’m not suggesting people do that. But what I’m saying is you’ve got to look at Native approaches. You’ve got to look at different things. Now you mentioned you know the mentor now I know when I came out, I didn’t have a direct mentor. I had people that I learned from along the way, for sure people like Victor Hall, Jennifer Doyle’s, you know, Naslund at SIU plenty more. There were people that I learned from good bad, you know, all those kinds of things, but nobody that from the root to the fruit, had their arm around me and was like, Hey, I’m checking in how you doing? Or hey, I’m going to show you the way to do X Y and Z. Nobody was there full scale, right, which is a big reason why I created art of coaching. I want people to be able to have that and more importantly, create a community that can kind of be that for each other. So, you know, other podcasts can change the world. I want to change the people within it because that’s the only way I think coaches are going to be able to really lock in and create legacies that they’re meant to deliver. But, you know, for that person that’s listening that was probably like me that didn’t have a mentor doesn’t have a direct mentor. You know, what was advice that you maybe got from me or some other mentors that you worked with that really stuck with you and maybe still stick with you to this day? So that if they’re listening and they have nobody to go to, they can learn to add directly? Is there anything that stuck with you, I know I’m putting you on the spot like pretty buddy listening, these things aren’t rehearsed. For case studies like this, I want to get people on. It’s raw, unedited, unfiltered and so you know if it takes Brocket second, either my advice was really poor or just understand that this is all freestyle. So anything that stuck with you, Brock,
Brock Bittle 12:42
No, perfect this Yeah, it’s a great question because I had a couple of stories based off for you that I can actually bring up. So the first is actually to you know, the interpersonal skills and, then building you know, friendships and really caring about your athletes and I think that all builds into your art of coaching. And a quick story here, when I was walking on the SIU and, you know, to be completely honest, probably had no business being out there on the field that was, you know, 5’7, 170 pound safety. And I was multiple practices that was being chanted. But, you know, half the talented people that we tried out there every day on the field, so I just remember I don’t need a very specific example. Just lying down on the ground, I had, you know, upper cross syndrome, I could barely put my head on the ground lying flat on my back. I had so many things wrong with me, but it was insane. And you took the time to notice these things, you know, good or bad and if you’re making fun of me or not but you noticed these things you came over and talk to me and you, I believe pointed out to another one of the coaches they’ll look into this and he’s got some issues here. I need to work with this, whatever, and that other coaches kind of said, Okay, brush it off, get walking. The fact that you pay enough attention to me as a walk on who probably wasn’t going to be there in a couple more years. Just speaks to your character and and I think it’s something that a lot more coaches could, you know, put in the bank and know something they need to be better and improve upon. I mean, I think gone are the days of the you know, stoic meathead strength coach. That was just the bootcamp drill instructor. You got to care about your athletes and People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. There we go. That’s what I was trying to get out. So
Brett Bartholomew 14:42
and that’s no, it’s an awesome point. But here’s the thing, right? That also doesn’t help you necessarily get a job right? There are coaches out there doing that and they’re commended for it. It’s part of mastering the art of coaching. The art of coaching is grounded in the science of connecting but the truth is, there are people out there doing that and far more than I did probably that you know still aren’t getting the job you know, and I wasn’t always looked at favorably for taking the extra time to do that. You know, I don’t think I ever really met the standard strength coach you know, kind of persona at the time which was shaved head arms cross former power lifter, you know, what have you and I believe me, I got plenty of flack for that, you know, and so you’re absolutely right, like people got to know you care, but you also have to be able to put a foot in somebody’s asked to I think there’s a way that you can do that, that really hit home and what’s funny is I think it again, correct me if I’m wrong based on your own experience. Coaches have no trouble doing that with athletes, but I don’t know that they do that themselves. I don’t know that kind of coaches sit here and think like, Alright, I’m having trouble. I’m in a situation where I feel stuck. I feel I’m not quite sure what to do. They don’t want to admit they’re unhappy or having issues because if they do and they feel like that’s gonna, well, somebody’s going to question my dedication. As a coach, if I take a new job or if I bring up salary, somebody’s going to feel like I’m not in it for the right reasons, right. There’s this blanket martyrdom that exists that we’re going to address a lot on this podcast where people think that they can’t complain. Right and that it’s so this first in last out Shut up, do the jobs sit in the corner, but that just doesn’t fit right like how is that relatable to athletes, we’re telling them to go out there with passion every day, think of the future make good investments on their health, their family, finances and their schoolwork, if that’s where they’re at at that point in time. But then you have coaches that are absolutist, that all they do is coach all day, maybe train and then like work on their programming and that’s that right so beyond just carrying beyond that, like what are some intangibles that even if you’re being reflective now and you’re going back and be like, I probably could have tried that or I actually wish I wouldn’t have done that you gave a perfect example with the fact that resumes aren’t enough. Is there anything else you would have done to stand out? for the right reasons then other than good experience like you like you should have you got your master’s degree. You’ve got your resume for all intensive purposes, right? If you watch a 99% of the YouTube videos out there where people are talking to veterans, trained coaches or you listen to a lot of podcasts, that’s the advice people are getting. Hey, get your degree, intern, make sure you know you got a good resume and it’ll all work out where is the BS and all that? Where is it?
Brock Bittle 17:13
Yeah, I mean, I think to build off that, probably something would be see how you can make yourself valuable I mean, go no, I don’t want to harp in the on the you know, putting more hours above and beyond type stuff, but you know, just see what you can do to help as much as you can. I remember another example when I was interning with you at Exos where we had to be ready early in the morning for an NFL group and we had all the stuff ready before even arrived and that kind of took me off guard and feel good same time to know that I was doing something right. So kind of thinking ahead and thinking outside the box as you would say, to see what you can do to contribute in as many ways as you can other than your typical my programming so good or, you know, whatever it may be, those things are really hard to differentiate. So do other small things. Maybe outside the box that can make you stand out and that will it’ll really pay dividends in your contemporaries eyes. I guess you could say that
Brett Bartholomew 18:20
Let’s say we have somebody that’s in a situation now that they’ve tried those things, they still feel like it’s not really going anywhere. They’re having trouble. You know what, was that point for you? And then what was some of the self talk what you know, and feel free to only share what you’re comfortable with, but like when you really knew like he was kind of getting down to the wire and you’re like, I don’t know if I can keep doing this, you know, and, a lot of the folks listening probably don’t know you. Brock is not a quitter, and he had never has been and I think that’s part of the issue when people think like, hey, if I transition or if I do something different and that doesn’t even mean getting into different fields entirely like you did. That may mean going from Team setting to private sector, private sector to team setting high school to college Pro to high school, what have you. I know a number of professional training coaches that would rather be coaching high school kids, but you know the paychecks too good in the pro and they have a family to support. So first of all, transitioning does not mean quitting whatsoever. But what are some thoughts that you really struggled with and be as specific as possible like what were you saying to yourself, time what were the biggest fears? And what were the unknowns that you felt you really had to encounter? when push came to shove?
Brock Bittle 19:33
Absolutely. And, you know, speaking to all those things, we did have that conversation. I do remember I told you, I was getting a little burnt out, you know, and that can get to a lot of people and then I was warned of the pitfalls of the industry before I got in and I just thought yeah, we’ll figure it out. Well, I didn’t really figure it out. It turns out, you know, the long hours below pay the you know, lack of appreciation sometimes. And we just all kind of, you know, wearing on me and you know, I was getting close to my 30s and you know, not taking much money I was struggling to take out my girlfriend at the time for dinner and then it was kind of the realization like wow, I’m just not happy and I think that was the point Brett where things kind of flip the switch was like, I’m not happy doing this anymore and I don’t see a drastically changing within, you know, the next year, the next five years in the next 10 years. And so, it kind of got to that point, like, you know, I gotta do something else Or else I’m gonna be unhappy and broke and it’s not a good combination to have. So you just got to be honest with yourself and think is it still filling me could I? You know, at first when I first started in the field, I thought, sports, I can’t live without sports. I gotta be involved somehow. And as I kind of grow up and started getting interested in other things and just you know, becoming a more well rounded adult. That wasn’t as important to me anymore. You know, so at that point, in brok and not happy, just got to look at other avenues and real estate was just kind of happened by chance. I went home for Christmas break and talk to a buddy of mine who had gotten in and tell me how well he was doing and I thought you know, it’s sounds like a pretty good deal. And, you know, went back home and kind of the rest is history. So it kind of came a point you have to have that conversation with yourself. Are you happy and can you be happy doing something else?
Brett Bartholomew 21:32
I mean, no, that’s perfect. And I think to me, you know, touch on one other thing, and it goes into what you mentioned there. And this is hard. I don’t know that many of our listeners would admit this and that’s fine, nor should they have to. But some of them may be intimidated by telling, you know, their current superior or somebody that they care about or somebody that’s maybe help them out when they were doing unpaid internships like yeah, this isn’t what I want to do anymore. Right? Or I want to do it in another sector. I want to listen, I remember having a distinct conversation with somebody. When I told them I had applied for two collegiate jobs, and I wasn’t, you know, one, I think I heard back that day from HR for that university. And they’re like, hey, it’s already been filled. And that’s when I really learned that the majority of the strengthing conditioning jobs posted on certain message boards that they’re almost always already filled by the time they go live. They just have to post them for HR and legal purposes. And then another one I gotten deep into the process, and I believe that coach of transition and so then they were starting interviews all I knew, and there was a private sector opportunity that was really unique, allowing me to be able to work with military pros. Gen pop high school, you know, so I’m looking at that and I’m like, wow, like if I want to make myself a weapon, like I can go do that. And I know I can get you know, financially I can get paid for the first time really in my life. And I remember talking to, you know, a friend and he said, Listen, if you leave the team setting, you’ll never get back in. You’ll never get back to and I’m like, I don’t know if I believe that man. And at the time the majority of my friends were in the team setting and there’s still quite a few that are and they all told me the same thing. Do you do it? It’s a Deathwish it’ll basically be blackballed. And that was because a lot of people thought that private sector meant like personal training, and in some instances it might right like not all private sector situations are the same. You might be in a small private sector place in Indianapolis, a rural part of Indianapolis, and you may be waiting for people that come through the door. I was fortunate enough to have the the position I was in we had an abundance of large and medium sized. I mean, you were there. Did you ever see us do small groups at the API or Exos at the time or was it did that run much like as you did and even bigger schools?
Brock Bittle 23:44
I mean, it was small groups, but it was a ton different. I mean, the I think you’ve touched on sport, does people want to be there and so it was, it was kind of a more happy atmosphere and I think you your personality plays really well into those type of people like you thrive in that environment. And like you said earlier, you caught a lot of flack for those type of things that makes you you, but in this private environment it sets you above and beyond your contemporaries. So I think you’ve just got to figure out what your strengths are. And some people might be better in the private sector. I think you’ve spoken
Brett Bartholomew 24:23
What I mean, in particular, is it when you were at API, right or any of the private sector, like you saw some small groups and let’s call it five to 10. Right. But when you helped with the NFL group, right there were what 20, 30 guys there that came throughout that Sitecore rotation seasonally correct?
Brock Bittle 24:40
Yeah.
Brett Bartholomew 24:41
Yeah, man. So I think a lot of times people think like, oh, like it’s a career dead end and or they think you’re making decision long term and I’ve said it multiple times. You know, this podcast is new, so probably not on this topic. But I love both sides and I don’t really think I get really tired of this private versus team environment. If the right opportunity came today, my wife and I, we always say hey, threat opportunity came with the right people, we would absolutely be happy to consider the team setting you know, and, we’ve talked about that. Again, there’s some great things about the private sector, you know, my position let me as such that there’s a lot of opportunities that were out there that basically said, Hey, if you do this, you got to kill the book. There’s no external stuff. There’s no speaking probably no podcast, no, anything like that. And I just wasn’t willing to sacrifice that because I had been in situations where I wasn’t able to I mean, for over six years of my career, I wasn’t able I wasn’t able to do those things. And for me, leaving a legacy is important. But the point being and the original question is, some people feel like if they go to their boss today that they’re going to be blacklisted. If they go to the boss today, they’re going to be typecasted if they go boss to their boss today, they’re going to be judged. What would you tell that individual who is scared to let either somebody they love know, somebody they respect to know or somebody they answered to know, hey, I’m transitioning in some way, shape or form?
Brock Bittle 25:55
I mean, I think, well, first of all, just comparing the two. They’re both good experience. I mean, there’s no the crossovers, we I think it’s only looked at a good thing in each of them. But you know, in the same vein, they’re like, doing any type of crossover. Yeah, you’re gonna get doubted at first. But you just have to, you know, kind of have the faith that you can can make it happen and you know, speaking back to, building those personal skills that translate over into real estate, you know, real estate is a people business. So, you know, the things that I actually wasn’t very good at at first, which was, you know, building those relationships with athletes. You kind of harped on looking at some of these guys, you know, just treat them like their people, you know, not just these NFL guys or whatever happened to be at the time. building those skills and thinking about things differently at that point. Translate over really well to you know, what I’m doing now to real estate and that you got to talk to people get to know people, you know, life’s all by people. So if you have good people, still it’s going to translate over to whatever field it may be, and is only looked on, I would say as a positive.
Brett Bartholomew 27:07
Yeah, I think you know, and so would you say it’s fair that if somebody had to go have that conversation today, right? It’s just about being honest straightforward about your long term goals, the things that you’re trying to commit to as a professional and from a personal standpoint, whether you have a family to support or anything like that, and then just realizing that no matter where you’re at in life, no matter what decision, somebody’s gonna think something of you and it’s not always going to be good, right? So like you could give your boss you superior, your colleagues the most honest answer ever and there’s still sometimes there’s gonna be people out there that are going to look down on you, you know, but you have to, in these situations, the most important thing is you follow in your own values, like, yes, perception, unfortunately, does matter in this world, and people will make judgments and people will harbor grudges a big thing in this podcast is we’re not going to do the wishy washy BS like it’ll all be okay thing not like you’re gonna get people are going to talk behind your back. People aren’t gonna, those kinds of things, but better them than the people that you love and you’re not able to support right so I think that you really got to stand strong and I think that making sure that people understand you’re following your values, you’re not following recognition, you’re not following your paycheck, but you’re following your values, and your values, like have a clear idea of what those are. So for those of you listening, if you can’t rattle off at least five values right now or within the next minute, then that’s a clarity exercise, get on a whiteboard and start thinking and trying to you know, don’t just make friends family health, God, you know, things like that whatever your religious beliefs are, you know, think about specifically what are your values and to give you an example one of mine is I want some source or sense of autonomy. I like freedom. When I have freedom in what I do, or what I can create, or how I can operate to a degree, obviously, within the standards and operating standards of if I’m working with an organization, right freedom’s a relative term, and but I need to know that I can do my job and I can be trusted to do my job. And if that’s not the case, I can’t do it. You know, I also know that legacy is important to me. And that’s why I turned down some opportunities that said, Hey, you gotta kill anything you’re doing, you know, and I got told them once we want to hire a coach and not a brand, and that was a really interesting to me, you know, because a brand is just the personification of your values brought to life. I know that we exist or we live in this world, right? Now. We’re like, we think in branding and people think, oh, that’s Instagram or it’s that this and that. It’s making my life look better than it really is. That’s not Branding. Branding is an extension of your values, values, not vanity and don’t start to misinterpret a word and its meaning with a poor misinterpretation of people that just throw it around aimlessly. Right. So, you know, Brock, would you say that that’s all fair advice. And, again, do not agree with me. This is my podcast, but it’s not my show. Do you think that that’s an accurate depiction of how you handled that situation as discussing your values? And making sure those were very clear to you and then following through and maintaining those relationships, despite moving on
Brock Bittle 30:05
to absolutely I mean, I think, you know, when I did have that discussion with my employees, and I was leaving, the field, yes, they’re obviously shocked by the fact that I was getting out of it completely, but after having talked to them and let them know that it wasn’t happy B, you know, my advice was I wanted to, you know, kind of help as many people as I could, and I felt like that was somewhat being, you know, hamstrung there and it was kind of, along the same lines of my brain was theirs, you know what I mean? So, but after I was just brutally honest with him about what was going on in my life and what I was looking to do. There actually, supportive of it you know, they, wish me luck, everything went well, they, asked if they can do anything to help me out. So, I think, you know, sometimes you’d be surprised having those type of honest conversations and just speaking from your heart, people will respect that. And, instead of blowing the lid off, and you know, making a scene in the exit, just be honest, and thank them for their time and move on to your next adventure. And you don’t want to burn any bridges. I mean, obviously, you never know what’s going to happen in the future. So I think that just being straightforward with people, let them know your values. They’re gonna respect you more for that and you know, you never know what that can lead to in their futures. You know, I’ve stayed in touch with you, even though I’ve left the industry. I’ve seen your praises. So and it’s led to me coming here and helped me out with this podcast. So yeah, just treat people well, which again, part of your values and never know what’s going to happen and it’s probably only gonna lead to good things.
Brett Bartholomew 31:50
So guys to kind of recap some of this and we’re and we’re not quite finished yet. But just to recap, to make sure everybody stays up. You know, it’s a lot of information being shared. What we’re talking about here is a variety of case studies throughout the course of this podcast, right? There’s going to be some where people share struggles, and they’re still in the field and that’s tough. To do I mean respect that like there are a lot of people that reach out to me and other people under the radar and and want to share these things but they don’t want to get in trouble with their current employer because that’s the state that we’re in now is we have people that you know, are unhappy but feel like if they and not necessarily unhappy just having a hard time with some things but they feel like if they make that known in any way, shape or form, they’re gonna get fired. And sometimes that’s the case, right? Sometimes that’s the case somebody’s gonna get reprimanded because somebody may think that if somebody is on there complaining and they’re under their charge that that’s a direct reflection of them, which isn’t always the case, right? People, change fields change professions, for a lot of different reasons, a lot of different reasons. But like, you know, appreciate the fact that, you know, Brock is one such individual that can played competitive sports strength conditioning was something that’s really important to him. He did a phenomenal job, you know, as an intern, like he mentioned the point where he was there before us and you know, there are definitely some strength coaches listening to this. They’re like, Oh, that’s ridiculous. I never let my intern show up before me. No, no, no, you’re missing the point. They showed up, This was one of those situations where, you know, you hear about somebody that needed to be somewhere at 6:30. And they were there at 3:30. You know, and we’re just it wasn’t that they were just there because there’s a big difference if you hear nothing else listen to this. There’s a big difference between being somewhere and actually showing up. So it wasn’t that they were there. I don’t pull up and I’m like, Wow, these guys got here super early. It was that they were there. They laid everything out. They were smiling. They were ready to go. And they were ready going multiple facets. And that’s pretty quotidian. But even that wasn’t enough to get some folks jobs like showing up being the first in last out having a great resume isn’t always enough. So what you have to do is you have to be able to look and say, do I have the you know, the perspicacity or the shrewdness to say, right, is this something I want to continue to do if it does cool, stick it out. I mean, I’m self employed. My wife and I moved 15 times in the name of this field, and that’s through graduate school internships, promotions going out on my own contract agreements, things like that. There are many of you that are listening that have done a ton more. Some of you have never been fired. Some of you have been fired four times. And you’ve got to answer that question. One thing I will assure you and Brock well to and I’ll make sure that you guys can get in touch with them is that even if you haven’t experienced a life change in this field so far, you will. So even if you’re somebody right now that lives breathes and dies by it, you set your alarm at 4:30 You are embracing the quote unquote grind, you know, you set your crock pot, you know, the minute you leave the door and you come back at 8:30 at night after doing eight by eight squats for some Russian program you shouldn’t be doing because the research was misinterpreted and there were a lot of drugs. You just think I’ll never get burnout. This is all I do. Trust me. At one point time you’re gonna have a husband or a wife. At one point in time you’re gonna have bills to pay that one point in time you’re going to be asked to do something that conflicts with your values as a professional and as a person. And you need to always have a backup plan. You need to have a backup plan because persistence and insanity aren’t that far away from one another. They’re not, persistence is seeing something through and making sure that you have you know the kind of the mental tenacity, fortitude and focus to go through the fire. But insanity is doing the same thing over and over again without learning your lesson. And that’s not for me or Brock or anybody else to decide but just know that if you are struggling with things, you’re absolutely not alone. I think that your coach, your favorite coaches favorite coach, if you were to reach out to that person, everybody’s got their struggles. Brock in the event that somebody listening wants to get in touch with you. And you know, they maybe have gone through this stuff or they’re going through it now and they kind of just under the radar want to connect with somebody who doesn’t relate and all those things. What is the best way for them to get in touch with you?
Brock Bittle 35:38
Yeah, I’m all over social media. You can find me on Facebook, Brock Bittle b-r-o-c-k b-i-t-t-l-e you can also email me. Brock Bittle. Spelled the same way. azrealtor@gmail.com Always happy
Brett Bartholomew 35:51
Can you repeat that again, since it’s the longest damn email address in the world. Yeah,
Brock Brittle 35:54
I’m a shameless promoter. As I was telling Brett earlier, it’s my first name and last name brockbittleazrealtor@gmail.com
Brett Bartholomew 36:03
Guys all make links in the show notes and everything like that. Also, I’m going to link a sign up for the newsletter if any of you are interested in more about career development, you know, managing these kinds of things, whether it’s, you know, your career in the team setting or you’re looking to open up your own facility or you’re kind of just unsure about what to do and, you want to kind of learn lesson you need to bank now so that you don’t learn the hard way later. Even things like investing in what you should be doing financially are just things to be aware of. We’re going to be releasing something really unique and hopefully really helpful in the near future on that that can guide coaches I know it’s something that I said through numerous conferences, I think it was after like my third presentation I’d watched that day, you know on a squat and why we shouldn’t be squatting and I’m sitting here thinking like I love this. I love training. But why are we not talking about other career development things and, and that’s gonna be provided. So if you want to stay up to date on something like that, click and join the newsletter, and you’ll be updated. I don’t do the whole spam thing. I try not to bother anybody. I know what that’s like. But get in touch with Brock. There’s gonna be a lot of you out here that are deleting things or maybe you’re not but you still kind of want to get in touch with them for various reasons, our job to create this network. Brock, I really want to thank you for coming on Any last words? Brock because you’re dead after this. That’s part of the new other podcasts any kind of last pieces of advice or just thoughts that you want to share before people sign off?
Brock Bittle 37:27
Yeah, I think you know the biggest takeaway from my story, Brett is that if you find something is not fulfilling you anymore, you’re not happy doing it. You just have to have the courage and the confidence in yourself to know that whatever avenue you choose to go into, you’re gonna make it work and make it happen. So don’t get stuck in something you don’t enjoy doing. Do what makes you happy or find something else that might make you happy.
Brett Bartholomew 37:52
That’s perfect. Guys, if you want to learn more, go to artofcoaching.com. Again, that’s artofcoaching.com Glad to have you all as listeners contributors want to get more of you on the show. Brock I want to thank you for your honesty. This is something that’s not easy to talk about to date. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a podcast where one person has gone on that just shared Hey, I found out that this wasn’t for me and I moved on and I did this so I think it takes a tremendous amount of you know, just I don’t want to use the term bravery. I think that’s overused, but I just it takes a tremendous amount of balls just to get on and do that. So thanks for sharing your time with us man. I hope people get touched with you, and utilize every source, again if you want to get in contact with them check the show notes and please leave a review if you guys are finding value in this. Thanks again Brock.
Brock Bittle 38:34
I really appreciate you having me on. Yeah guys. Feel free to reach out to me and always happy to answer any questions you might have.