0:00 God, I hope he instantly just blows the ████ up. He becomes so popular and huge. That'd be sick, actually. That'd be honestly That'd be pretty sick. >> ████ they're holding it back, dude. That'd be sick, honestly. >> like, "Wow, I've never grown a business this fast." >> Their first post is like all the staff's like, "This is a real family." >> [laughter] >> Sick. Welcome to another episode of The Cuff Boys, where we have Will Pepper with us. Woohoo! >> [cheering] [applause] >> Do people ever call you Bill? No. Okay. Billiam? Or Dick? Oh, that'd be nice, but no. Isn't that a Richard? That's a Richard. Yeah. >> You can't just call people Dick because of Will. You can call me Dick. [laughter] Had nothing to do with it. Do people call you Matt? Matt? Yeah, sometimes. Can we Can [laughter] we call you Dick? Yeah. Dick Peppers. Okay. Um hey guys, Bart sold Barbell Brigade.
0:55 Yay! What is that yay? That doesn't sound like a yay. >> Hey, did the public know that that was going to happen or anything, or is just you out of nowhere you're like I think it was out of nowhere. The public doesn't know. Yeah. >> How was the reactions of the publics? Um very good so far. There's I think there's two schools, and I'd probably be like 80% is like, "Yay, this is awesome." And I think the people that have actually been to Barbell, they've already met Brian, the manager who's taking over. So, they know how amazing he he is. So, I think it's like knowing who it's going to, everyone's super positive and supportive. And then there's the other 20% that I completely get where their sentiment is, where they go, "Oh, man, like Bart's moving on." And And I equate that to like, you know how like when you watch Friends or Game of Thrones or whatever, you just want
1:45 that cast to do that thing over and over and over forever, right? And then when you see them go off and do other things and like have a life, you're like, "What the ████ Get back in there, ████ NSYNC. What do you What do you mean Justin Timberlake's out of solo career? I think it's like that. >> Right. Where um I could totally get the sentiment. They just want I mean they don't even want JK Party to shut down. They don't you know they just want JK forever, Barbell forever, whatever forever. Um so I get that. So I think with those guys it's a little bit more bittersweet. But I think generally it's like been a positive reception. Which is pretty cool. Is it a relief for you at all? Um yeah, it's a huge relief cuz it's like you know like we planned like what we wanted to do with our family like for the last 5 10 years. And then so the goal was to get the family here and then eventually really focus on family life. So we knew that the boxes we had to check to slowly make that dream come
2:36 true. And I think uh like moving JK here was a huge one so we don't really have like ties in LA as much and I don't have to keep like missing every other week and I'm missing like Tycho's like soccer games or whatever, right? And then uh and then also Barbell like not having that responsibility where I don't have to go back as often. That was a huge relief, too. So now I'm like double down 100% in Vegas now, you know? Like I don't have like any business obligation in LA, which is pretty cool. How's it feel like to have a gym membership at your old gym that you used to own? Um I I was joking around and uh I was like when I come in I do want to pay membership. Don't treat me any different. Yell at me if I don't put the weights back. And it's it's kind of cool, I think. Cuz they'll be like I don't know. I feel like as there's a different responsibility
3:26 as a owner cuz people could be like yo why the ████ that ████ ████ up and now I can go I don't know. It's not going [laughter] to It's not going to bother you? Like you're not going to be like off. Like that I just do it. And then you start cleaning up ████ and you're just like hey what the ████ Like you don't have that. >> Nah, it's not. Well now I'll be like I think if anything I might um hold on to some sort of consulting role with the uh manager or owner Brian. So it'll be more like high-level things and if he wants to pick my brain on stuff, um but now it's his ship. Now, he's going to drive it wherever he wants to take it. Damn, that's so cool. Yeah. God, I hope he instantly just blows it the ████ up. He becomes so popular and huge. That'd be sick, actually. That'd be honestly I'd be pretty ████ they're [laughter] holding it back, dude. That'd be sick, honestly. >> "Wow, I've never grown a business this fast >> [laughter] >> They They build one here in Vegas.
4:16 That'd be That'd be sick. The first post is like all the staff's like, "This is the real family." >> [laughter] >> sick So, is is the is Brian the 100% owner 100% owner. Wow. >> years has it been like in operation now? So, it started in 2013 and now it's 2026, so 13 years. Wow. >> That's long, dude. Right? It's a long time, over a decade. >> Very long. That's really nice. Yeah, and then Brian came on board in 2023. But the minute he came on board, he already crushed it. Like I just see him operating the gym and I was like, "Dude, this guy's a better operator than I ever was or could be." Yeah. >> Like how so? Well, one big thing, I think I'm like very Asian dad. So, I know what the mission is and what we have to do. So, when people tell me like concerns or issues or whatever, if it sounds like ████ I just go,
5:07 "Shut the ████ up." in my brain. I just call them out. And I think some people call that toxic or whatever, right? >> [laughter] >> You say shut the ████ up in your brain, but what do you say out of your mouth to them? >> Oh, we'll take that into consideration. Yeah, sure. Awesome. >> [laughter] >> But then in my brain But in my brain I'm like I'm like, "Shut the ████ up. You don't know ████ what the ████ going on." But Brian actually takes it all in and then he really tries to incorporate it or like if he can't make the changes or effects like visible, he'll make it emotional. So, you're heard and seen somehow in some Even though in his own mind he's like, "You don't know ████ s███." Well, tell me how you feel. >> [laughter] >> Cuz sometimes it's like something as simple I don't know like like I don't know, putting like someone's name tag somewhere, you know? And then they're complaining about all of this, but all it really mattered was they're just they don't feel recognized
5:57 for something, so he's just like, "F███ it, I'll just do this. This is not going to kill me." And then that name tag like changed their whole vibe for the next 5 years or something like that, you know? >> [clears throat] >> Just something small, but for me, if it's ████ it's already ████ I'm like, "Get the ████ out of here." I don't know when I don't You're a ████ one step from getting fired, so you you go away. >> [laughter] >> So, I'm like, "This guy's a way way way better for morale." >> Better for morale. >> Way better. Just in general, yeah. I think he's a good public-facing leader. Okay. I think I'm more of a better back-end leader. If I was in the back at with like the like let's say, you know, like the the C-suite type people and we're like brainstorming ideas, I think I'm better there, but the minute I have to deal with public, I think that's where I ████ suck. >> Which is ironic as hell because you are the most public person there. I know. It's which sucks. As usual, [laughter] your life makes
6:47 almost no sense. No, honestly, you know what the funny thing would be like uh like a real-life example would be like we're throwing like a powerlifting competition, and people know I'm the owner, right? And then so we're doing like this joint big event, and then uh we're like working things out, and then once like all the main things have approvals on my end, when we're just being people and coexisting as collaborators and business owners, the way like Brian is talking and like treating people, whatever, I'm just usually on the sideline like, "Mhm. Whatever he says, yep. Yep. Like you feel good cuz of him, right? All right. Okay." >> [laughter] >> Cuz then for me, it's like the minute we go, "Okay, we're going to do this deal." We sign them. Okay, cool, it's good. But then all the like, you know, the in-betweens, he's just a a a better human being than I am. He is really great, man. >> at being a human. So, you you have
7:37 experience working with with him, too? Yeah, a a bit. That's that's how you know >> Yeah, he's just like he's just that guy. Like everyone just loves that dude. He's so like puts you in a good mood just talking to you. He just has that thing and you could tell it's important to him. Yeah. >> That's that's really cool that you like gave the keys of that someone that like really cares and it does the the right stuff. >> And he's going to blow it up. >> Yeah. But massive. >> so. >> [laughter] >> I sure hope so. Becomes bigger than 24 Hour Fitness. That'll be sick. 24 hours kind of not bad competition right now. They're all going down. That's true. I keep seeing them get replaced with other ████ >> Yeah, that is true. What's the biggest thing you're going to miss from that? The community for sure. Cuz a lot of the the the die-hard members, they've been in there for a long long time. So the community and um I think a place where like
8:28 it's like a hangout spot, you know? It's like the go-to bar. So it's like I think people that really are into like working out and you don't go to like a big commercial gym when you you choose mom and pop gyms because of all the regulars and it's like a place Like people would sometimes go drinking in Arts District and then or Little Tokyo and they just come in in their civilian clothes just to hang cuz that's how comfortable it makes people feel. They're not even coming in there to train. They go, "Oh, I already know who I whoever is going to be here." So they'll just come in just to hang for the next couple hours and I think that vibe is what I'll probably miss the most. >> Yeah. Yeah. It's cool that you established that vibe. I've never heard of that. Oh, like at a at a Like at a gym. Just like a hangout place. >> Yeah, yeah. >> Yeah. It's like it feels >> What if drunk people just show up? Yeah, they'll just kick it. They'll just ████ kick it like on the couch and they're just they're not even there to work out. They're just there cuz all their other friends are there from that group. >> Yeah, that was cool to see. Do you have
9:19 any regrets from the Barbell era? Regrets. Um I was actually thinking about that this morning. Not so much regrets cuz I feel like um everything always needs to happen the way it happens. But if I were to do things over, there's definitely things I would do completely different. And like one of the things was just seeing how big and you know when you're in it you don't really see the future of stuff cuz we're one of the first warehouse gyms. Now there's a whole movement, right? There's a tons of warehouse gyms all across the nation, but when you're to the at the forefront you don't really know like where things can go and how you can take it. And I think one of the things that I would have done for sure if I were to do this again would be to take my powerlifting career like a lot more seriously. Cuz I think before I banked on like
10:10 doing funny stuff, too. And I think in a world where it's like sport and athletic based it it matters how far you can take that. And then how that trickles down to the other stuff we're working on. So I think the the the gym being a cool vibey place will only go so far. Then the next I think threshold you got to just try to be the best. You're talking about like if you were a star athlete and then you you had a gym that would help so much more. Way way more. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Versus just oh like he makes funny fitness content. And cuz there was a point in time I think I probably could have been like top 10 in the nation or whatever, but because I didn't care for myself I
11:00 didn't do it for like the brand. But I think now looking back I'm like oh ████ I should have totally done it for for the brand and not let I guess not let my own sensibilities dictate where the brand goes and do what the brand needs. That's really mature. Yeah. Cuz a lot of it was like oh what do I like? Yeah. And then the then the brand kind of has to take like a hard left turn or a hard right turn >> to catch up to what you >> up with I like versus going what is the best for the brand? And if it's not me then I probably need to make find the Michael Jordan for the brand and then make that person the fourth and really make a conscious effort to be invisible. Versus I'm like like P. Diddy, you know, I still like I'm still dancing in the music video. I'm still here. I'm still here. It's like, well, are you going to sing? Are you going to rap on this track or not,
11:51 you know? It's kind of like that. >> [laughter] >> Good reference. Yeah. Or it sounds like a verse is coming up. Versus I'm P. Diddy. Could have gone in a totally different direction. Oh, oh, no. If you and Gio had a disagreement about barbell stuff direction-wise, what would you guys do? ████ ████ it out. >> Honestly, listen to Gio because she is way better in like vision organization than I am. Okay, so you just knew that already. So she's [clears throat] like, if there's a Bible, she knows how to follow it. But for me, I'm like like I [clears throat and snorts] I lose track and I go based off of feelings and impulses way more. For her, she'll be like, "No, this is like it's like we're opening like we have a pizza shop. Like why do you want to serve poutine just cuz you came back from Canada and you're so inspired? Right. Right. Right.
12:42 >> And I'm like, "But I really want to make poutine though." You know, it's like that. But she's like, "We have a ████ pizza shop, you idiot." And even if she hates pizza, she'll be like, "We'll operate this pizza shop the way it needs to be because this is a pizza shop. People are coming here to buy pizza." So she's really good at like like sifting through the ████ like like we're putting her own ████ aside and going, "This is what the mission calls for." So usually I like we'll argue and then I'm like, "F███, she's right. I ████ up." When did it turn into like a business for you from like you just wanted a gym because you were trying to fill a void in the in the area? Yeah. And then when did it become like, "Oh ████ like this is a money maker and I need to treat it like a business more than like my play thing?" I think the first oh ████ moment was uh 6 months in. So there's many of oh ████ moments, of course it's been 13 years, but the first oh ████ moment was we had
13:32 that spot, remember it was right next to JK, like literally walking distance. And at that time my brain my brain was so simple-minded. I was like, "Oh dude, if we have like 100 members, they all pay this price, we have a free gym to train at, and it covers the cost." Then uh 6-months in, they're like, "You guys are making way too much noise. We're going to evict you guys. We have to kick you guys out." And then I think when you first get served with ████ like adult language, you're like, "Oh ████ I can't treat this like a treehouse, you know, that all my friends play at." So, now we're looking at all the other warehouse spaces, and all the other warehouse spaces are going to cost 10 G's a month. And you're like, "F███, how do I afford ████ 10 G's a month, and they want me to sign for at least 5 years at a time? Holy ████ s███." Then you really got to go, "Okay, this got to be like a real business." And so, that was like first oh ████ moment number one, where
14:22 we're like, "Okay, if it's a real business, how do we get that there, and how do we really like leverage social media, whatever other strengths that we had?" Good thing you were vlogging a ton back then. Yeah. That honestly making a ████ ton back then. That honestly helped out a lot cuz we did like a we did like building like the Barbell series, like series one, and then building Barbell series two. And what's really funny is a lot of our competitors are like, "Dude, we built our stuff based on what those videos." And I was like, "Oh cool." So, it's cool they're able to like make way more money, you know, doing the same thing. >> [laughter] >> It was such a fun community though to like just hang all the time, and like It was. And then like it was vlog friendly, so everyone was recording all the time, and it didn't feel like like you can't do that 24. Yeah. You know, and everyone knew each other. That was really cool. >> Yeah, it was like almost the antithesis
15:12 to like a 24. So, it was like people that hated being there, but but loved training. It was like like home for everyone. That's dope, man. Congrats, dude. Congrats, man. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. It's massive. >> I don't own Barbell, so stop telling me that. They think you still own it. That'd be funny. I do own Barbell, so congratulate me. You own it? Yeah. Don't you own Barbell Time? >> [laughter] >> ████ you, man.
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