Episode 6 – Training Those In Need at CKO Kickboxing & Body Brain Train

Brian Davis 0:00
Nikki, so I am super excited to have Nikki with us today on the Local Business Breakthrough podcast. You’re somebody that’s been involved in the community, not only with your business, but also with your organization, and you’re somebody that I think uniquely, has been very intentional in trying to make a difference in the lives of people in our community, that it’s really easy for for people not to not to see, you know, for those that are, that are that are hidden. And so I’m excited to have you here.

Nikki Lian 0:37
Thank you for having me. I’m excited to be here.

Brian Davis 0:41
So take us back. Take us back to a younger Nikki who is making that decision to, like, get into business herself. Like, where were you coming from? What were some of the influences or motivators that you had?

Nikki Lian 0:55
I feel like just my life journey kind of led I’ve never thought about being a business owner. When I was growing up, all I wanted to do was be a basketball player. I know I went to college, d1 college, did my thing, and it kind of was too much of a business for me, and I just kind of fell

Brian Davis 1:16
out of love with it, like, What do you mean? Too much of a business. So

Nikki Lian 1:19
you know, when you’re young and you’re playing stuff, it’s play, and you have a passion for it, but then it becomes work when they’re paying you to do something, you know, and you have to be there, and you have to show up, and you have to, like, I remember watching tapes at like, five in the morning, trying to hold my eyes open, and, like, going to two a day practices, and it just wasn’t fun for me anymore. So

Brian Davis 1:44
weird, yeah. So, yeah, what do you I just want to dig a little bit more into that. What do you think was fun originally about it? Um,

Nikki Lian 1:52
I, I think, well, of course, like, I was really good at it, so obviously you’re gonna have fun just being good at it. I’m not a competitive person, so I don’t know if that’s what it was. I’m not really a team sport kind of girl. I’m kind of a loner. But I don’t know. I just it’s a great question. I never even thought of thinking about it’s just something that I was good at, and I just really love doing, and I get super pumped about, and I just love the sport.

Brian Davis 2:20
Was it, was it more, the practice? Was it more the games? Was, I think it was the

Nikki Lian 2:23
games. It definitely wasn’t the price. Nobody likes running sprints, right?

Brian Davis 2:28
I did, you did, yeah, I was one of those rare ones in high school where I just, for whatever reason, loved running, yeah, and every day in PE we had to run one lap, and I would run four.

Nikki Lian 2:39
Wow. Yeah, okay, I don’t meet people like you.

Brian Davis 2:47
Yeah, breed, that’s great. I don’t know what happened, though. I got to get back into the running. Well, they

Nikki Lian 2:53
say that like marathon runners, which I’ve I’m a marathon runner. I’ve done one and I barely, oh no. I did two, and I barely made it. But they say, like, you get that to the point where you get that high from it, I’ve never gotten there, no, no,

Brian Davis 3:09
never, ever. What, like, is there something equivalent to basketball, like the that high, I don’t think pay off, right? It’s like, it’s kind of like emotional or like psychological, kind of maybe even physiological payoff, right, that you got from being involved in the basketball games. I think

Nikki Lian 3:26
it was very because basketball is a contact sport like so I think just me being growing up, being a bigger girl, and just learning to use that, as opposed to, like, getting teased about it and being the biggest one, you know, in class or and finding like, something to do to empower me. I think I was always the tallest and the strongest until I got to college, of course, and then you get, like, a wake up call, yeah, like, Oh, this is LA. I think that had a lot to do with it too, kind of being able to use my quote, unquote, physical gifts too. I mean, I don’t know that’s I am going to journal about that, because that’s really interesting. It

Brian Davis 4:14
was kind of like a mind shift, right? Yeah, I grew up. I grew up playing ice hockey, and I was always one of the best, best, now, one of the biggest guys out there. And when I first started playing, like I wasn’t physical at all, and had coaches, it would be like, dude, use your size. Use your size, right, right, right. And like, I didn’t get it until later on, like they’re like, Okay, like my size is an asset. Like I could actually use this and leverage it.

Nikki Lian 4:38
I never had problems. Like hitting people felt good always. Maybe that’s probably why I box now, well, I don’t you know, I hit the bag, but it just felt like, like, I don’t know, you get dopamine kick. I don’t know. I don’t know. Yeah, like, like, using my body to, like.

Brian Davis 4:59
I don’t know, to affect the things around you in a very powerful way right now. Totally, totally, I get it. So then that was your that was your basketball journey. So that was

Nikki Lian 5:11
my most of my childhood, kind of towards the end, I kind of got into this passion for professional wrestling, where I wanted to get into that eventually. So like, by junior year in college, I was just checked out, and I was kind of like, all right, I’m just gonna work towards my next goal. Yeah, and treat this like a job, like, like I felt like it was and and I did, and I got my degree, and they don’t put your GPA on your diploma. Thank God, that is nice. And, you know, I would, I don’t think I had the same college experience as a lot of people. I just I didn’t like school. Yeah, not a school person. Yeah, I could have went an extra year because I had red shirted one year, and I just didn’t, I didn’t want to play again. I was done after that. It was a long time till I picked up a basketball my last game playing for 18 years, or whatever it was, and then just finding something else, it was a lot. Had

Brian Davis 6:04
you so But how had you already gotten to the point where, like you feel like your real last game had already been played, and that last game, like you really weren’t walking away from anything? Or was that still like, kind of like a hard

Nikki Lian 6:19
It wasn’t hard. I think when you replace one passion for another, it’s a lot easier. So when you have, like, goals or something else you’re focused on, it’s a lot easier. I didn’t not play. I had my best game, my last game of my quote, unquote, career. Oh, yeah. So it was, it wasn’t a matter of that, like it still felt good. I just was done with the coaches and the teammates all that, and it was just a lot that I was done with, and I just wanted to to leave and kind of not look back,

Brian Davis 6:51
and you’d already found something to kind of fill that void right that would have been left if you didn’t have something.

Nikki Lian 6:56
I always I feel like I have to be working towards something. So I was already, like, working towards something. They’re

Brian Davis 7:01
very, very motivated, yeah, and pick it up. So, wrestling,

Nikki Lian 7:06
yeah, wild, yeah. So

Brian Davis 7:09
what was the so

Nikki Lian 7:12
I decided after college that I would pack my little Jetta drive across the country, because I’m from New York originally, and attend a wrestling school here in California. So I wrestled for about 13 years on the independent circuit. I traveled a lot so,

Brian Davis 7:31
but like, what, what was the draw was? Did you come out to California for that wrestling? For

Nikki Lian 7:36
that reason? Yeah, I saw it in a documentary, and then I kind of contacted some of the students, some of the instructors super welcoming, like, I needed to leave if you don’t leave, like, even living in New York City, it’s like, oh, you’re from a big city. Well, you know, it’s not like a small town where you’re moving out of, but I feel like the plate, like I couldn’t grow if I didn’t move away from where I grew up that makes sense, or move away from my family and have that security blanket and all that, I just needed to

Brian Davis 8:07
go. You really needed to become your own right, like find your identity right, not rooted in where it is that you have been

Nikki Lian 8:15
right, and then you have less help when you’re out there. So that means you have to work harder. So

Brian Davis 8:19
it all comes down to you, right? So what was that like? Did you, did you have any type of support system when you moved out here? Or were you just like, Nope, I’m going,

Nikki Lian 8:27
well, I contacted, I kept in touch because I stayed the summer just to work and earn extra money in New York. And then I, I was in touch with the two instructors at the wrestling school, because I already, like, signed up for it and everything. They were a WWE territory at that point, so it was like a developmental School for the Fed. So that’s another reason why I made the trip. But the two instructors were awesome. They helped me find an apartment, and I like instant friends and introduced me to everyone. So I kind of that was like my support system when I moved out here. And

Brian Davis 9:03
so then, how was, how was that different than your experience playing basketball?

Nikki Lian 9:07
It’s weird because it’s almost like you find like, it’s a little weird what we do, we what we did, and finding like your group of weird people to be with is a lot more comfortable than just kind of like the expectations of the college student, like you have to, you know, get good grades, go to your classes, you have to hit all the cool parties, you have to hit all your practices, all that. But like transitioning into that environment where everyone’s a little crazy, like the things you do, they’re a little nuts. I think I just felt more comfortable being with, you know? So

Brian Davis 9:44
it was a bit more. It was more like your tribe, yeah, yeah, like you found a place that you belong, right? And so what, what happened with that? So it

Nikki Lian 9:56
just kind of evolved from there. I mean, I, I like to learn as much as. I can learn and then move on again. My so at the time, this was like 2022, years ago, when I started what they were looking for. And I it’s so funny, because now I look back, I just watched this documentary on Vince McMahon, and I’m like, I can’t believe I wanted to fucking do that, like work for this guy, like, he’s a horrible human being. But, like, back then it was very Hooters, models and, you know, this and that. And then I fell into that whole, well, I’m too big. My body doesn’t fit, like, all these, like, and I developed body dysmorphic disorder like that. But there’s all these other outlets, wrestling in Mexico, wrestling in Japan, like the Japanese love big white girls, you know. So there were, I didn’t know about that stuff. So anytime I went to train or work with whoever or whatever it was, I just started learning about all these other doors that that were open. And I got to see a lot of places that I don’t think I’ve I would see, yeah, like, what? Like, I’m half Lebanese, and I’ve wrestled in Lebanon, so I don’t ever go, like, even attempt to take a trip out there now, but just, you know, being in Shinjuku and Tokyo and just the fans out there, and then being in Mexico and just learning so many things that I didn’t think my body was capable of. So to,

Brian Davis 11:26
like, while you were in these moments,

Nikki Lian 11:29
like, what, what did it feel like? Which particular moments like,

Brian Davis 11:33
like, any, any one of these moments, like, where you’re a part of this thing, because you’re coming from this experience, this basketball experience, where you’re just like, completely over it, you know, now you’re in another experience, you know, and, and I’m imagining that you’re wrestling in these different, you know, in these different locations and stuff. And, you know, in a sense, like, I mean, you’re wrestling for people for their for their entertainment, whereas, like, basketball, you’re also playing basketball for people’s entertainment. So there’s this whole, you know, crowd dynamic all the you know, like, I’m just wondering if there’s, like, a moment where you’re there experiencing this in the middle of it, and thinking like, like, I’m so glad that I’m here and not on a basketball court, right?

Nikki Lian 12:23
I It wasn’t even like that, though. It was more like because once I stopped basketball, it just kind of like, I always think of my life as lifetimes. So like my childhood, and then basketball was there, and then my wrestling career, quote, unquote, and now it’s my, my entrepreneurial, you know, stage. So I never, I mean, I never felt bitter about basketball. I actually, like, four years ago, I joined an adult League, and it was so embarrassing, because I didn’t realize how conditioned I wasn’t college and then a little different.

Brian Davis 12:54
This was just four years ago, right? And I loved you comparing yourself to your to your teens and your, yeah, right.

Nikki Lian 13:00
And I loved it, and I loved every minute of it. I was dying, but I was like, I still love it, you know, but it just wasn’t, I guess, the surroundings, like I can go play in a park and I’d be fine, you know, but with wrestling, with the reason I got into it is because I love the theatrics of it, but I also love the physicality of it. So that was, like, a combination. I could never do theater in high school because it was always sports. So I feel like I had that, you know, in me to come out. And it was, I mean, it was a really cool experience, like I said, I met a lot of great people. I met a lot of terrible people. I it’s funny when you go backstage and you start doing that stuff, and you see some of the stars that you grew up watching, and you’re like, you’re just like, Okay, it’s a little it’s kind of sad. But like I said, I met a lot of great people. I’ve done things that I never would have thought I could do, but it’s another business where it was super egotistical. I mean, the girls were cutthroat, yeah, it was just like, don’t leave your bag in a locker room. Someone will shit in it, you know? Like, it was like, like, certain locker rooms, you know what I mean, like, but I was becoming a person I didn’t like. So that was a big thing too, because if you’re not being that person, it’s like, not so now I’m a fan, and I go to my friend shows in Chatsworth every week. And I just saw this girl last week who was like, so much fire, like, young, like, just in the business. I went to up to her. She had no idea who I was, but I went up to her after, and I was like, Wow, you’re so great, like, I made her know that she was fucking great, because nobody probably tells her that, you know, so like, as a fan, and I’m having so much fun being a fan now, I you know, women have to support women. I think it’s a different energy now there, and we’re just in the world in general. But man, it was I was turning into someone I didn’t want to be. So it was time to go. That’s when I moved away from that. Was

Brian Davis 15:07
that a self realization? Was there something that happened, that was something that

Nikki Lian 15:11
happened that I don’t talk about a whole lot, but it was an aha moment of, I don’t know if I can get into it time wise, but yeah, I was a school teacher at the time, too,

Brian Davis 15:25
elementary, junior high, and I

Nikki Lian 15:27
had so I had one of the girls in the industry and the wrestling industry take photos and stuff off my Facebook, which was private. My it was, it was never a problem. Yeah, I never did anything my mom wouldn’t be proud of, yeah, but she sent it to the superintendent of schools saying that it was a concerned parent, and she cut all this stuff out. And I didn’t get fired. I had to go to teacher jail hear that it doesn’t exist anymore, but it’s like, oh, this teacher might have done something, so I’m going to stick you here and pay you, but I can’t fire you, but you’re not in

Brian Davis 16:11
the class I was getting paid. I’m just

Nikki Lian 16:13
sitting in a cubicle. And it was just ridiculous. So I decided then I was like, teaching was not for me anyway. How long were you in? Teacher, Joe, just a couple days. And then they sent me home, and then they didn’t renew my contract, so I didn’t get fired. I I’m not on any weird list, like, I can still teach if I wanted to, but the aha moment was, wow. Somebody hates me enough in this industry to do that to me. Wow. So how did I like and then I would reevaluate some people in my life, like, well, I know this girl that I hang out with. She doesn’t have anybody that hates her. She’s super high energy. She’s on another frequency, like, she like, why? Like, I had to really dig deep and question, like, it could be jealousy and this and that. But that was, like, an extreme thing that happened. So I was like, There’s got to be something wrong with me, you know. So I just, um, after that, I kind of, I actually had my best year. I traveled the most in in wrestling, and I had the most fun. And I just that was like when I started to dig deep and kind of separate my ego from my, you know, intentions. And so that was no moment there

Brian Davis 17:21
was something in that situation where it just kind of like held up some form of a mirror, yeah, right, or kind of gave you a different perspective, and you’re like, I don’t, I don’t want this in me, and I don’t want to have a part of this.

Nikki Lian 17:34
Or, what am I like? How? What am I portraying? What am I sending out there to make somebody target me like that? Yeah, that’s a lot of work to do, you know, and that’s a really, like, screwy thing to do to someone, but it was the best thing that ever happened to me. Did you ever, did you ever talk to this person? No, I didn’t. I like, forgive her from afar. She wouldn’t even go into the same lock. She was afraid that, and I wasn’t. I’m not. I mean, that was really my Zen moment. I’m not. I’m like, All right, I don’t, I don’t really get mad anymore, because after overcoming that, it was kind of like, and it changed my life so much for the better, yeah. And I think it had a lot to do with me taking it and, like, analyzing the situation that everything happens for you, not to you, right? Yeah. So I think that was a blessing in disguise. I kind of sat with it. I was okay with it, but I was like, wow. Like, this person really doesn’t like, like, why does this person not like me? And she had issues, whatever it was, but at the end of the day, you know, you always have to, as a business owner, you always have to be accountable. So in life, too, it’s the same thing, yeah,

Brian Davis 18:46
so then you get this revelation, and then you have the best year, right, right? In wrestling, you spoke of your life, kind of in life, lifetimes, or chapters like, how did this? How did this? How did the wrestling chapter close? And how did you transition into entrepreneurship?

Nikki Lian 19:06
So I kind of stayed, I mean, obviously I had to make a living, so I kind of stayed in teaching for a little bit. I I did, like, long term subbing here and there, but it’s you make your own schedule. So that whole summer, I was off somewhere.

Brian Davis 19:21
Was that like you’re traveling something so,

Nikki Lian 19:24
oh no, well, yeah, so you go to like, different, different, different

Brian Davis 19:27
schools, you’re all part of the same district, right?

Nikki Lian 19:31
And or they have private companies that kind of send you out to different places. And I didn’t, you know, wasn’t the kid I hated teaching so much. I hated my life. I hated teaching so much, but it wasn’t the children, it was the administration that and I’m sure you like, it takes a special person to be a teacher, and I was not that person. I mean, they go above and beyond what the system this it’s like being in a hole and trying to climb out and just people. Throwing dirt on you. Like, that’s what teaching is like, I hope, like, if someone’s listening that had a great experience with teaching, that’s great. I also taught in East LA, so that was like, hard, but it was never the kids. It was always like the admin, and I’m like, How am I supposed to help people? How am I supposed to, you know, be a better person myself, if I, if I’m just like,

Brian Davis 20:21
Was it like they were like, tying your hands behind your back type of thing you couldn’t do what it is that you wanted to do, right? Like, it’s

Nikki Lian 20:29
okay. So, like, being outside, think I was, like, covering a class one day and watching PE and these girls are walking like you’re supposed to be running your mile, and they’re walking around the track, and they have lollipops in their mouth or eating chips, and the PE teacher is the one that’s like, selling them this shit. So, like, I’m like, What? What is this? You know, or it could have been like, I had this really cute outside area outside of my classroom, but I couldn’t take the kids out there. Why can’t I take the kids outside for fresh air to teach class? And remember, this is back in the day, so you know this, times have changed, but just little stupid things like that, having to follow standards, having to teach kids like I mean, now there’s so many neuro divergent kids that aren’t aren’t set up to be in a classroom. They’re they’re different learners. It doesn’t make anything wrong with them, yeah, but they get clocked as special ed because they can’t sit still, and that’s not their fault. All of that put together. And so, like,

Brian Davis 21:31
there was this, like, certain, like, mold, right? That, right? All teachers had to fit, right? And you’re just like, This doesn’t make sense for me or my students, right?

Nikki Lian 21:38
And it didn’t make sense for me, because kind of, how I see the world, and how, you know, it was seen through the eyes of a principal as, like, completely different, yeah. And I think that’s why I had problems in school growing up, in general, I just, it just wasn’t, wasn’t for me. So, yeah, so then I kind of, I mean, then I, you know, I wrestled up until I opened the gym. So when you again, leaving, like one passion for another, yeah, but when you you know, like you’re on, you’re a business owner, it’s like you got to show up. So if I, you know, break my arm or leg in a match, or, you know, hit my head, I can’t show up. So it was either, you know, don’t open a business, or you got to leave this behind. So, and it was another kind of transition where I was done like I did what I wanted to do, and was time to move on to my next lifetime.

Brian Davis 22:36
So, but why? Why open a business? So how did, how did that get on your radar? So

Nikki Lian 22:42
through when I was wrestling, I had a boxing coach, and he would keep me in shape. I was in the best shape of my life. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was and then he’s like, you’re you’re too good. Like, you have to fight. You have to fight. And like, let’s just like, have you spar. I’m like, okay, so I was 34 I’m like, nobody starts their career at 34 years old, right? So he is takes me to this gym like it was, like, Burbank or something, and he puts me in the ring with this girl half my size, she’s 19 years old, and she beat the shit out of me, like she she had 21 fights under her belt, wow. And it was enough for me to say I’m tired of getting hit like I’m too old for this, but I love the workout so much so this franchise.

Brian Davis 23:30
Did he ever say why? Like he put you in the room? I

Nikki Lian 23:33
know, but I know it was just to probably break my spirit a little bit. I don’t. I wasn’t

Brian Davis 23:38
so that he could break you and then rebuild you. Sold for it.

Nikki Lian 23:42
I was over it, and I it was just weird. It was weird because I wouldn’t, I would never, you know, even we have people come through the gym. We don’t spar in our gym. It’s strictly fitness because it’s such a great workout. It’s for everyone, right? We have our 90 year old clients. We have our kids, yeah? But if they come in and ask me, oh, or do you spar in here? Or whatever? I just kind of like, Are you sure you want to do that? Like, we don’t do it here, but are you sure anyway, it’s, it’s, it was the time was, like, I don’t have the energy for this. Like, I don’t have the time and energy. If I was like, 19 again, and I came across boxing great, but I love the workout. So CKO is a franchise. There’s one in Brooklyn. So when I we used to go home to Brooklyn, my brother told me about this place. I went to take a class. There was one in San Diego. I actually drove to San Diego. He’s like, You love this gym. You should open one of these gyms, like so that’s what happened. I went to San Diego. And of course, like, money doesn’t appear out of nowhere. So it took me about two years to kind of make my business plan, find a spot, even find the money, then find a spot. I mean, I wasn’t intending on opening in Simi Valley. It wasn’t my first place, but it was, you know, I landed here, yeah,

Brian Davis 24:56
yeah. So is your brother. Uh, entrepreneur

Nikki Lian 25:01
as well. My brother owned a supplement store next to the CKO gym out there. So he would always see people come, come through. So, uh, he’s, like, this place is always packed. Like, I know the workouts great. Like, you should really look into it so that that’s what happened, yeah.

Brian Davis 25:20
So he, he kind of like, was coming from this mindset of, like, having his store and then seeing the success of C, K, O, yeah. And he’s just like, man, Nick needs to get in this.

Nikki Lian 25:32
Because at the time I was training people, and I was using somebody else’s space, it was this little warehouse gym, little boxing gym. Where’s that? Look, North Hollywood, okay, this former priest, like, opened it up and he let all the neighborhood kids like, I mean, I know it’s not like the greatest thing for liability issues, but he’d let the kids work out for free, and he let me train like people there for free for a while. My boxing coach, okay? I found, I think I found my boxing coach on Craigslist. Isn’t that wild,

Brian Davis 26:07
and I didn’t get murdered. Oh, my goodness, he was, he was

Nikki Lian 26:10
interesting. But through him, I found that guy, because that’s where we would train. Okay,

Brian Davis 26:17
Craigslist. I get, I get scared, like my wife, she loves selling stuff on Facebook marketplace, and just like, what you’re gonna have people show up, right?

Nikki Lian 26:25
I always tell people to, because we were selling some stuff, some equipment off, I always tell people to come to the gym during, like, gym hours. Yeah, that’s I would never tell someone to come to

Brian Davis 26:34
my house, no. And so then, like, I have to make sure that I’m there so that my wife and because I got all right, all females at home, right? Yeah, and it’s just like,

Nikki Lian 26:48
but that’s yeah, you got to be careful. Yeah,

Brian Davis 26:51
you really do. So I’m glad that you had a good experience on Craigslist. Yeah, that one yes, never again. I

Nikki Lian 26:57
don’t. I mean, I don’t. We didn’t have social media back then. So it wasn’t like, you know, Craigslist was a thing and it was hit or miss. I had found a few clients on there too to train, because people would put out there. They needed personal trainers. Now, I haven’t been on Craigslist in years. No, I can’t believe it’s still running.

Brian Davis 27:15
It is, I don’t know how. So then you get in, you go down to San Diego, you’re like, Yeah, this is incredible. How do you transition into like, okay, yes, I want to open one of these. And then, of all places, land in Simi Valley,

Nikki Lian 27:30
I didn’t know anything about business. I didn’t even read a book about business. I had no idea. So I think I really tried to lean on the franchise. And then the other owners of the other CKO owners that were out here, was super helpful. I it took me a long time, like it took me, like I said, about two years, to even come up with the money make my business plan, and then looking for a place in Los Angeles I wanted to open in LA and everything was either too expensive, or if, if there wasn’t, like, the parking things, weird, yeah, so I needed 10 spaces for every 1000 square feet. It was just a lot. And I learned a lot. I remember we were negotiating a lease in Glendale, and I kept tough, having to go to the city of Glendale to like, you know. And it’s funny, I remember, like, the guys that were in charge, they’re like, you know, you have to do this, you know. And I’m like, I didn’t know. Like, you have to hire an engineer. You have to hire an inspector, you know, all this stuff that wound up falling through. And then finally, I mean, I was negotiating for maybe three months, and I had to do this parking survey where I sat out there, and I would like, count how many cars were out there, because if I hired someone to do that, it was like 10 grand. It’s like, No, I’m gonna do this myself. And then the it just while the lady was getting so shady, and she kept increasing the price, and I was just done. So I think that’s when I started my my commercial real estate guy was like, why don’t you look into Simi Valley? I’m like, where is that? I don’t know where to see me. What’s that? And it’s literally, I lived in the valley. So it was like, it’s 20 minutes, 15 minutes away, but, yeah, but nobody drives up here. I hiked out here a few times, sorry, um, but that was it. And then even when we came out here, it took a good six months. It was, it was a long process, but I have the best landlord. He’s been so great. We’ve been open almost nine years. He got me through the pandemic. He he’s just really, like, pro business support, like, I want you to stay open, yeah. So we landed in the right spot.

Brian Davis 29:37
That’s awesome. So tell me a bit about, like, the the your internal journey, right? Because, like you said that you were getting into business. You didn’t know much about business, if anything. And so, like, where did that? Where did that confidence come from? That like, okay, yeah, this is something I could do. And then as you were going through all these challenges, you know, like you mentioned, some of your challenges, where. You’re trying to find locations and, you know, you’re struggling with people raising prices on you and things not working out. You know, it’s like, challenge after challenge, but like, you kept on pushing through like, like, kind of peel back the curtain and share with us the internal journey that you were going on. Well,

Nikki Lian 30:19
it’s very lonely being a sole business owner and not having a partner, and even going through that initial journey without knowing what you’re doing. It was a lot. I mean, even when I opened, it was like, a lot of lessons. I made a lot of mistakes. That’s why I love helping new business owners, especially gyms. I’m like, Do this, do this. Don’t do this. Do this. Or even C, K, O, is that open? I’m always sending them out, like, Hey, I just had an idea for this challenge or this whatever, and I’ll send it to them, and if they want to use it, fine. But it was so much. It was a lot of trial and error and a lot of mistakes. I think it’s just in my personality, I don’t know, because my mom even there, I was so stressed out during the build out with the permits and everything. She’s like, Are you do you sure you still want to do this? I’m like, What are you talking about? Like, of course, like, what am I just gonna stop because things are getting hard, you know? And then I didn’t have a plan B, like, I wasn’t gonna go back to teach it. Like, what am I gonna do? So kind of, you know, you jump in with two feet and hope for the best. Yeah, and learn along the way, like, make sure you’re not making the same mistakes. Surround yourself with good people and just keep plugging away, because it’s all about perseverance and persistence. That’s why, I think that’s why businesses fail, because people are just done trying. Yeah, if you stay solution based, if you you know, I remember during COVID, when we all shut down, I was laying on my couch in like a fetal position at my gym, and for 20 minutes I gave myself, and then I got up, and I’m like, All right, what are we doing? And so I started the online challenges and, like, looking into, like, all that stuff, and, yeah, where there’s a will, there’s a way, yeah,

Brian Davis 32:04
I remember driving by, and I remember seeing these white tents out there, still enough the parking lot. I’m like, That is amazing.

Nikki Lian 32:11
Everyone thought we were a COVID testing site, because

Brian Davis 32:14
I bet it looked like that, you know? But then as I was driving by, I was like, Oh, this people punching bags, right?

Nikki Lian 32:20
And it was so fun. It was like the best of times and the worst of times, because those tents, we fixed them so many times, and they melted from the sun finally, and then I was just like, I’m done. And pulling those bags in and out, I had a lot of help. I mean, our members in our community are amazing. I remember the tents like just being done, and they the next day, I had like, 10 new tents outside my gym because the members just came together and either donated their tents or or bought tents. And it was just like, I gotta keep that’s what keeps me going, you know, like they need this place, yeah,

Brian Davis 32:56
yeah, community. Oh, that was such hard times.

Nikki Lian 32:59
But if you can get through that, I feel like, if your business got through a pandemic, like, you’re fine, like, just keep going,

Brian Davis 33:06
that it’s, I mean, there’s a lot of truth to that though. Like, you don’t, you know, you don’t fail until you quit, right? Like, if you just keep on going, keep on trying to find those solutions, yeah, you’ll figure something out right at some point, and like, things will work out. We might not know how Right, right? It’s like, we don’t. We can’t connect all the dots on this side of the experience. But once we get through it and we look back, we’re like, okay, that makes a lot of sense.

Nikki Lian 33:36
And you have to act on things you can’t just kind of expect for things to happen. Yeah,

Brian Davis 33:41
so that’s the pandemic,

Nikki Lian 33:44
my pandemic.

Brian Davis 33:46
Where’s CKO right now? Like, where? Like, how’s so

Nikki Lian 33:49
I, you know what, this past year has been going into 2024, I figured, I’m, like, this is going to be a year of transition. We, you know, we have the nonprofit. We were kind of changing things around. We got rid of, you know, some of the toxic staff that we had during COVID.

Brian Davis 34:09
Tell me about, I mean, you don’t have to go into names or anything like that, but, like, what it’s really

Nikki Lian 34:15
important to I never had this problem up until then we were Gabby. So Gabby is, uh, the head trainer at CKO, but we also co founded our non profit body Brain Train. And we were, we were volunteering for another non profit before we opened, where we learned a lot from, you know, which non profit I should say, you don’t have to, yeah, it’s just because it’s not really like a non secret anymore, like they’re not registered. I don’t want to throw them under the bus because I don’t want to be that person, but they didn’t align with our morals and values. So

Brian Davis 34:51
at the end of the day was, but you were there and you learned some stuff. Well, yeah,

Nikki Lian 34:55
so the guy, so the guy there, we made him one of the trainers for C, K, O, he’s. Great trainer, but he’s just not a good person. So we had to kind of clean that out. And it was interesting, because, you know, when you’re a trainer in a gym, you kind of build a rapport with your trainer. It doesn’t matter that I’m the owner, like, maybe you go to this person’s classes all the time and you build a friendship. Or, you know, because we used to do like, like happy hour and stuff like that. So if someone’s doing this and they’re like, saying bad things about your gym, you know what I mean? Or I can do this better, or whatever it was, you kind of have to get rid of it, but you have to also know that there’s going to be some, like, I don’t know what to call it, but, like, not retaliation, that’s dramatic, but just some blowback from some of the members, or whoever. So I was always afraid to pull the trigger on that, because I was like, oh, what’s it gonna be, you know? But, and I never bad mouth anyone. So like, I won’t go in and say he did this and he did that, and you have no idea, but, like, the ones that kind of left with him, which was not a lot, it was less than a handful, but they have no idea. They have no idea, like, what he put us through and this, you know, and you got to keep that quiet, because then it becomes toxic and it doesn’t look good, and people are just want to come to the gym and work out and be happy and see their friends, and you don’t want to make it that, but it was like turning into that, so you got to clean that out. So we cleaned it out, and then this, like I said, this year was a year of transition. I’ve gotten so so many new members this year, and I feel so like I’ve never felt the energy so high in the gym, and just going through its December now, and usually, kind of like, you know, you’re here, and then you kind of die in December. I mean, there’s people showing up. I mean, classes are full, and everyone’s feeling good, and it’s just, it’s just like the vibration level of the gym is exactly where I want it to be at. So I’m looking forward, of like, my year of growth next year, to really get out there and help more people. What

Brian Davis 37:05
do you what do you think is contributing to that? Do you think it’s getting rid of that toxic? Oh,

Nikki Lian 37:10
that had a lot to do with it. I, you know, I worked with some marketing people too this year, so we had an influx of a lot of new members. It was my job to keep them so, you know, and a lot of people, I mean, you meet people like that from all walks of life. If you’re gonna just throw up like a challenge online and say, Hey, try us out. You know, you’re gonna get 100 people. But like, you get a lot of cool people. You get some like, you know, you see them. They come and go. But I feel like that contributed to a lot of the energy in the gym, you know. And there’s some people that never thought they would be kickboxing, you know, but they saw this ad and it was, you know, they had to do it. So I don’t know. It’s just like, like I said, the vibration level of everyone’s classes are fire, you know. It doesn’t matter if it’s like a morning class with 10 people or an evening class with 30 people. It just feels like everyone’s making progress when they come in. And that’s what I want.

Brian Davis 38:06
That’s amazing. Let’s say how many, how many classes are you guys doing a week over there now, for CKO, we

Nikki Lian 38:11
do we’re open every day. We do Saturday, Sunday mornings, and then we do mornings and evenings. So it’s kind of opposite of somebody’s regular work schedule. Not that people have normal work schedules anymore, but I would say about 20 classes, 20 to 25 classes. Yeah. And

Brian Davis 38:26
how many teachers do you have? Um,

Nikki Lian 38:28
right now, I have about five instructors. They’re very part time. They’re they’re all over the age of 40. And I say that because a lot of the younger kids don’t stick around, which is fine, because they’re always but these are people that love what they do. They have a passion for it, and they don’t need to do it. They just come in and do it. Nothing against the younger generation of trainers, but this is just like so I’ve had these trainers for such a long time because they just love doing it. So yeah, but very part time, that’s awesome. So,

Brian Davis 39:04
like, what’s, what’s kind of like the typical like experience that somebody gets when they sign up for CK go, you know, like somebody that doesn’t know anything about kickboxing, like, what’s, what’s that like, kind of walk us through the customer journey.

Nikki Lian 39:22
So I really like to build a rapport with people. I’ll if I see somebody that’s inquiring about the gym, I’ll shoot them a text. I know a lot of people are not comfortable talking on the phone. There’s this weird thing with gyms where, I mean, I tried to go to an intro class and, like, one of the bigs box gyms, and they were calling and calling me and calling me. We’re not pushy at all. Yeah, we just want to make sure people are comfortable, because they’re usually very nervous, because boxing, you’re learning a new skill, and it’s maybe 90% of the people that come in have never done it. So I always if they we have an intro pack, it’s two for 40, and you get gloves. So if they sign up for that, I’ll. Always text them, hey, this is Nikki, the owner of CKO. I, you know, so they have my number if you have any questions, if you need help scheduling, just so they know. So I have, I mean, I have boundaries for myself, like, I leave my work phone in the car when I go home at night. But like, I like to keep a rapport with them, yeah, so, so they’re just more comfortable, because it could be intimidating. And then, you know, I really try to get into what their goals are like, What Why are you here? And that’s, that’s probably the biggest question. So when I’m teaching them, and I see them do what they’re doing, you know, maybe they have some injuries, maybe they have never worked out before, maybe they they’re just incorporating this into their workout, you know. So I try to get to know as much about them as I can, so I can kind of help them as best I can. Yeah. So

Brian Davis 40:47
what kind of goals like? What are kind of like the most common goals that people will say that I

Nikki Lian 40:53
get a lot of you know, like the weight loss, because martial arts and kickboxing is a great workout in general, for anyone, anyone can do it, it burns the most calories. And we get a lot of say, like, middle aged women that come in and not thinking they can do what they do, and then they just feel empowered. So they it always starts out with like, oh, I want to lose weight. Or, you know, my hormones this, or my horrible hat, and it’s like, and then it turns into, like, this empowering thing and cheap therapy, and, oh, I needed to come in tonight. I needed to hit something. So there’s all different reasons. Instead of their husband, right? I always tell if a couple comes in, I’m like, You can’t hit each other. You have to hit the bag. But yeah, so there’s all different reasons. So how

Brian Davis 41:42
is that for you to see that, that that transformation, for your customers to come in and kind of go through that, not knowing what they’re doing, not knowing if they can do it, to all of a sudden being like, oh my goodness, it’s it helps

Nikki Lian 41:55
like, to not get me frustrated at the beginning, and to remember that they’re they’re learning this new skill. But I have people that come in that don’t know they’re left from the right, and then through two, three months later, they’re just killing it. So I love seeing that. I love it because, like I said, it’s empowering for them. They’re getting good at something. Everyone likes to get good at something. And they’re like, working out, but they’re getting to hit stuff. And you know, it’s a completely different workout than just going into a gym that can be really intimidating and uncomfortable. Yeah,

Brian Davis 42:29
going into one of the big box gyms, right? Everybody’s just kind of staring at each other on these crazy machines. You don’t know what to do, worried if you’re doing it wrong or right. You know what you look like. What does a typical class look like? Like? How long is it like? Is there? So

Nikki Lian 42:45
we have three different types of classes. We have a regular CKO Kickboxing class. So everyone gets their own heavy bag. We have 36 heavy bags. 80% of the workout is on the bag, so we’re hitting and then the rest is like, push ups, sit ups, that kind of stuff. Then we have a Tabata hit class. So Tabata is like doing something 90% for 20 seconds and then having a 10 second rest. And for some reason, people love it. So it’s like intervals, yeah, yeah. And it, I learned it. I took a class at a fitness conference, and I incorporated it into the heavy bag, and people love it, so I call it Tabata Tuesday, and we have it every Tuesday, and they love it. And then we do a box and build so we have weights, we have taro cores, kettlebells, so we’ll do half boxing and half weight training, because weight training is very important too. Yeah. So

Brian Davis 43:38
then somebody that signs up with you guys. Do they get access to all of this? Or do you have different membership plans or, right?

Nikki Lian 43:44
So those are the three classes that we offer to everyone. We have, you know, typical, unlimited month to month, year contract. We do specials every now and then. You know, kids classes we, you know, we have. It’s kind of like fitness for everyone. Like, I work with everyone, but that’s why I like to know their goals. Like, do you need these classes? You need these classes? Do you need nutrition? Do you need you know? So we kind of try to put it all together. That’s awesome.

Brian Davis 44:09
So I mean fitness for everyone that kind of, like, brings us into body brain training, right, right? Yeah, explain. For anybody out there that doesn’t know what body brain trend is, kind of explain so

Nikki Lian 44:21
body Brain Train was myself and Gabby co founded, I think it was like 2022 after working with another nonprofit that geared in towards people living with Parkinson’s. And you’ve heard, I mean, there’s so many programs out there, rock steady boxing. And, you know, like boxing in general, forced intense exercise for people with Parkinson’s is the thing, because, you know, it helps with their symptoms and all that. So we started running Parkinson’s classes. But then, you know, older. People would see them and be like, I can do that, you know. And everything we do with our Parkinson’s people, the seniors need we all need it box and balance anything that has to do with stretching, flexibility, meditation, that kind of stuff. So we’re like, Well, why don’t we? Why don’t we be inclusive to the senior community, and then we can kind of like, specialize with our Parkinson’s people and people with neuro disorders we’ve worked with traumatic brain injury, post stroke, MS, so it kind of just fell into place like that. But most of our people right now do fight Parkinson’s. I think maybe 80% of our regulars that come in fight Parkinson’s. So like I said, most of our workouts are geared towards that, but it kind of, it’s inclusive for anyone can take the class, but it’s, it’s the seniors need it, and, you know, the older folks need it, especially the ones that haven’t moved their whole life. Yeah, with boxing, it’s like this full circle thing. It’s like we had, we had a guy, Alex Ramos, who was a professional boxer for a while, and he was brought to us with traumatic brain injury and memory loss. So you have him training his whole life, you know, but now he’s getting back into it for other reasons. So it’s just like, it’s an amazing form of exercise. I don’t want to say sport, because it’s a great sport, but we don’t always use it as a sport. So, yeah, it’s for everyone, and it’s for, you know, I mean, gosh, like seniors will be like, I can’t box, you know? And then we have, you know, Harvey, who’s in a wheelchair and he’s sitting there and he’s hitting the bag, or John, who’s cracking jokes and like, he his left side doesn’t work, but, you know, he we get it to work, you know, that kind of stuff. And it’s, again, same for, you know, what I said about women, it’s, it’s empowering to the seniors. It’s like, just knowing that, wow, I can do this. If I can do this, I can do this, or doing exercises, you know, getting up and down. Like we don’t think about these things, right? We because we’re not there yet, being able to roll over in bed. How many times you get up at night, you know, if you have to go to the restroom or whatever it is, let the dogs out, and it’s like, just nothing. You just get up and you do it. So we try to make all that functional training, you know, incorporated into into our workouts as well. Yeah,

Brian Davis 47:30
that’s amazing. So what, what is it like for you to see those transformations,

Nikki Lian 47:33
um, you know what? Um, it’s so it’s supposed to slow down the symptoms. So it’s hard to say. And we, we do assess, and we hear from their doctors, you know, I went to the neurologist, and he said that I didn’t decline. And like, that’s what we want to hear. And then we have people that are, you know, seniors, that are improving or never thought they can do the things they do. We had a someone with a second knee replacement who never worked out in her life, in her 80s, and recovered so much quicker because she was in our program, you know, for that second surgery. So things like that keep us going, because it can get dark sometimes, like, I’m not going to sugar coat it. It can get really dark, but we do everything we can at this point, and it’s not not helping, so we’re just gonna keep doing it.

Brian Davis 48:28
Yeah, and what would you say to somebody that is, you know, learning about that for the first time and still struggling with thinking that it’s not for them, or that they can’t do it for

Nikki Lian 48:41
Parkinson’s or for seniors or in general. Yeah, that’s a huge thing. Somebody actually asked me that question yesterday, like, why do you want to do this? But it’s really important to understand, and I don’t understand. I’m just I try to understand, when you get diagnosed with a disease like that, you feel very alone. You feel like there’s no hope, or this is just how it’s going to be the rest of your life. And I think a really important part of our program, too is for them to come in, first of all, see what they can do, because anyone can hit a bag, and then see that there’s other people around them, just like them. Our clients are great. It’s a community. They check on each other. If someone doesn’t show up, they’re going to ask about it. You know, we have our spokes piece, but people, we try to run support groups. We try to everyone’s very supportive at our gym. So for them to come in, first of all, it’s hard to get them in. Their caregivers drag them in. We really have to work on keeping them. Hey, just look, if you just want to watch class, just watch class for today. And they kind of get an itch because they see everybody going, you know, it’s a process. But just remembering from our point of view, because we’re not. Sick or we’re not dealing with what they’re dealing with, to really just have that patience and empathy, because it’s it’s scary. It’s scary, not just for Parkinson’s, but for anything, to get diagnosed with anything, and have to come in and just kind of do these things that you’re you’re not familiar with. So I don’t remember what the question was, but that’s my No.

Brian Davis 50:24
That’s great. It’s kind of like, you know this, they weren’t expecting to be here in life right now, but here they are,

Nikki Lian 50:32
and neither are we their caregivers. So we try to support them as well. So it’s kind of like a team effort. That’s awesome.

Brian Davis 50:38
Yeah. So what does what does like a typical class? Does it look similar to A, C, K, O, class, or is it, are there differences to

Nikki Lian 50:46
come see? No, they’re just a bunch of characters. You know? Yeah, they do their thing. It’s funny because Gabby runs a circuit training on Thursdays, which means you have different equipment at different stations. So she started making them. Set up stations like, be creative, set up your own station. And they come in, they’re like little kids, like, they love it, you know, you know, we have some people in wheelchairs. We have people doing laps where they have to swing their arms. But then we have some people in walkers, and they’re just cruising around. And it’s so many different sites to see, but everyone’s just doing it, yeah? And that’s a great

Brian Davis 51:24
part about it, yeah. So they’re moving the way that they can move, right? And

Nikki Lian 51:27
we treat them like, I treat it like a regular class when I make them box, because we put it up here, and then if they need to come down here, that’s okay. But let’s go up here. Let’s start up here. You know, that’s amazing.

Brian Davis 51:39
So like, I wanted to touch on just like the community aspect, you know, because you’re somebody that not only are you helping in the community, you know, with the people that are coming to see Ko and body Brain Train, but you’re also, you know, involved with the Chamber of Commerce and different organizations within the community. So like, kind of shed some light on, you know, what your involvement looks like, and kind of like what what you’ve been giving to it, and then also what you’ve been getting out of it. The

Nikki Lian 52:13
Chamber of Commerce. I didn’t even know what a chamber of commerce was until I joined, but it was interesting, because going in there 10 years ago and and just being there, it’s it’s one of those things where if you don’t work it, it’s not going to work for you. So sticking around was important. I’ve met so many great people. And I’m not just talking about like clients for myself, but I’ve learned so much from so many people. Everyone’s got their own journey, you know. So I’ve met, like I said, I met great people. I don’t know how I got on the board. I don’t know how I got on the board. They asked me, and I was like, okay, like, I’ve never been on a board before, but okay, but it’s been super cool, like working with people and kind of making it stronger and and I always take myself back to how much help I needed when I opened my business, so much help that, you know, you just kind of want to help people. And that’s, that’s the, that’s the community I was always looking for. Never like the, you know, compete, competitive. I mean, I speak to other gyms all the time, fitness people, you know, I’m always I try to promote any business I use, I try to promote as much as I can, because we all need that help. But that’s what it’s brought me. I mean, the breakfast and the networking, that’s one thing, but just having those relationships like I wouldn’t know you if, if I wasn’t in the chamber. So perfect example. So, yeah, I mean, just kind of goes with the territory of owning a business,

Brian Davis 53:45
yeah? And then, how’s it? How’s it been? Because, I mean, I heard you say that you’re a bit of an introvert, and I’m, I’m a total introvert. How’s it? How’s it been for you, considering that, I mean, having it going, because I know that, like the, you know, the anxiety that that I feel having to walk into things sometimes. So

Nikki Lian 54:05
I’m like, an extroverted introvert. I guess that’s what they call it. Like I have, I have to talk to people, yeah? But let me tell you, once those numbers leave in the door shots, I’m like, you gotta, you gotta make sure you know, when your social tank is empty, you can’t go to everything. So you being part of the board next year, which I’m super excited about. It’s, you know, they ask a lot of you, but that doesn’t mean you have to do everything you do, but you can. You know, you welcome people you attend. You know, last month, I didn’t go to the breakfast because I didn’t have it in me. I am, yeah, good, yeah, yeah. But, but it, you know, it, sometimes it’s kind of like I just need this day, like I can’t do this today, and that’s okay. But what you put in is what you get out. And, you know. It’s like, I said, You got to take care of your you first, so you can’t that’s a big mistake I made, especially when I first started volunteering and doing this, and that it’s like, my business myself comes first, and my businesses and then the rest of it. So you have to know when to say, no, yeah. You have to build your boundaries, for sure,

Brian Davis 55:21
yeah, set the boundaries. Understand your priorities, yeah, understand your limits, and also be aware of, like, where you’re at, right,

Nikki Lian 55:28
right? Because there have been days where I just, I’m just gonna sleep in today, like, I don’t feel like going to a networking whatever, you know, but you know, then I sometimes I feel like going, so, yeah, you just gotta listen to your to where you’re at at that time. Yeah, yeah,

Brian Davis 55:48
to, like, any business or any person that’s out there that is thinking about getting involved with the chamber, like, what would you say? I would

Nikki Lian 55:54
say, like, I just said, like, what you put into it is what you’re gonna get out don’t just sign up if you’re not going to attend anything, if you’re not going to, you know, use their resources, because there’s so much more than just a breakfast. They’re, you know, they have lunch and learns, they have mixers, they have, you know, you need something, call the office, and if you need a resource or a referral, just, I mean, they’re there to help you. So it’s, it was one of the best things I’ve done for my business. But it’s, I, it also took me a little bit to get comfortable with the, you know, like, totally the first year or so, and kind of find my spot and then. But it’s, it’s really, I mean, it’s a great place. It’s been evolving, you know, it’s been moving forward, and I it’s not going to do anything but help you. So, good investment, yeah,

Brian Davis 56:43
and Amy is fantastic, right, right? The whole staff, yeah, yeah, everybody there, yeah, it’s amazing. So like, if somebody wants to learn more about CKO, then tell us what’s the best way to find out more? If

Nikki Lian 56:57
you call, I’m not going to answer. If you leave a message, I will get back to literally within the hour. Or you could text the phone number. The phone number is on our website, but I will get back to, I promise. But texting is probably the fastest way, yeah, but use the gym number. That’s me, Nikki, and what’s the what’s the website? Uh, it’s CK O, see me, valley.com

Brian Davis 57:23
Yeah. And then what about body Brain Train? Body

Nikki Lian 57:26
braintrain.org so same thing. Leave us a message. We will get back to you, or you can fill in one of those. I feel like seniors like emails. Yeah, they do. And they like paper stuff, and they like phone calls, so I will call you back. Just let me know,

Brian Davis 57:41
yeah, if they send you a letter, yeah? Yeah. I mean,

Nikki Lian 57:45
when we do events like we have an events page, okay, but let’s not look at that. Let’s make flyers and them out to the seniors, because they like paper, and I get it, yeah, it’s in front of them, you know. Well,

Brian Davis 57:58
I’m excited. I’m excited to see what 2025 has for you same Thank you. Excited to be on the board with you. Yeah, I’m excited so that’s gonna be that’s gonna be really good. Yeah? Thank you so much, Nikki, thank you for having me.