Life After Football: Josh Evans on Business, Fitness & Real Estate

In this episode of Hometown Jax, we sit down with Josh Evans, former NFL safety for the Jacksonville Jaguars, to talk about life after football and his journey into business, fitness, and real estate. Josh opens up about the transition from professional sports to entrepreneurship, the challenges he faced in finding his next passion, and how he’s using the lessons from the NFL to build a successful career off the field. From maintaining discipline and mental toughness to giving back to the Jacksonville community, Josh’s story is one of resilience, reinvention, and leadership.

Hometown Jax is all about highlighting the incredible people who make Jacksonville thrive. Hosted by Aaron Bacus and Jason Kindler, this podcast dives into the journeys, challenges, and triumphs of local business owners, entrepreneurs, and community leaders. Whether you’re looking for inspiration, business insights, or just love hearing great stories, Hometown Jax brings you closer to the people shaping the future of Northeast Florida. Tune in and get inspired!

Transcript

00;00;00;00 - 00;00;14;29
Unknown
Where are your hosts, Aaron Backus and Jason Kindler? We like to sit down with our guests to hear their journey, their challenges, and how they impact the local community. So grab a seat. Tune in and let's get inspired by Jacksonville's everyday workforce. Welcome to Hometown Jacks.

00;00;14;29 - 00;00;18;15
Unknown
Welcome to hometown, Jax. I'm here today with Josh Evans.

00;00;18;17 - 00;00;42;11
Unknown
Some of you may know Josh is face. He is, he is a staple around here in Jacksonville. But thanks for coming on the show, man. I, I wanted to to dive in, on hometown. Jax. We we talked to the people that make our city go round. And I love our city. And, just wanted to get to, to kind of know a little bit more about you, man.

00;00;42;11 - 00;01;05;00
Unknown
So, tell me a little bit about what's your background from Jax? No, no, I'm originally from, new Jersey, Irvington, new Jersey, small town, about 15 minutes. 20 minutes from New York City. Sweet. So. Grew up, grew up. Because I will get into your your your background there. Okay. Did you, did you grow up a Giants fan?

00;01;05;03 - 00;01;25;07
Unknown
No, wait. To be honest, I grew up a green Bay Packer fan. That shocks everybody. I was a huge Brett Farr fan. Oh, really? Brett Farr fan? Yeah, but most of my family was either Giants, Jets or, Pittsburgh's. That was. Yeah. So, so, okay, so you grew up in, in new Jersey. And then how long you been in Jacksonville?

00;01;25;10 - 00;01;46;01
Unknown
Ooh, I've been in Jacksonville now an over over a decade. Yeah, yeah, since 2013. How did you get how do you how did you find out about Jackson? How'd you get here. Oh okay. Good. Good question, good question. Well, you know, I attended the University of Florida playing football there, was drafted 2013 to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

00;01;46;12 - 00;02;07;13
Unknown
But before I got to Jacksonville, the Florida Georgia game was always here. Yeah. So I always loved the city. It was always something cool to do, you know, used to get out, Ponte Vedra Beach. That's what we kind of stayed at. And how, ironically, I move up the street in Gainesville. Nice. So, so you, and and we'll talk about a little bit, you know, let's go to maybe some of the, the transition.

00;02;07;25 - 00;02;27;28
Unknown
I know if you want to plug your podcast, I know you you've got a new podcast that you guys have started. So tell me a little bit about that. Definitely. So, the Keep It a Book podcast with Josh and Jarvis. We started a few months ago to, is pretty much about life transitions. We asked a lot of questions in regards to this storm before the success.

00;02;28;01 - 00;02;46;12
Unknown
Gotcha. Different professions of what people go through. We don't like to necessarily highlight you already being at the top. Yeah, we want to talk about that struggle. Right. Yeah. What did you go through before you accomplished that to reach that goal? And how could that impact our followers of watch and understand that there's going to be some sort of struggle or adversity and or how do you push for it?

00;02;46;14 - 00;03;07;27
Unknown
Gotcha. So going into the I just I got this visual, one of the, one of the I don't know if you got a meme or whatever posters or whatever, you know, it's got the it's got the the iceberg. Yeah, yeah, it's had the iceberg. And you see just this part and it's, it's the and all the struggles and everything you go through, to get, you know, to, to get where you are.

00;03;07;27 - 00;03;30;24
Unknown
So, so growing up, I mean, obviously you went to Florida, right? So I'm guessing football got you to Florida. Yes, sir. So in new Jersey, football got to Florida. Tell me a little bit about, you know, let's talk about that transition. So growing up, you were, played football and then you were recruited, I'm guessing. Yes, sir.

00;03;30;26 - 00;03;49;03
Unknown
So, going through that process, I had an opportunity to go to Florida, which I was the first athlete from my high school to attend the, the number one university at the time. Nice. Go, Gators. Yeah, but it was tough, you know, I, I was fortunate to be the actually number one athlete in the state of new Jersey, coming out.

00;03;49;06 - 00;04;11;11
Unknown
And I will say that the toughest transition was you go from, I guess, being the number one guy in high school to everybody, the number everybody I got the Florida's number one guy from Connecticut, number one guy from Florida. Right. So you deal with a bunch of number ones and is is is competitive, is challenging. And, it's humbling because you gotta find your way through another city and state.

00;04;11;11 - 00;04;30;05
Unknown
You know, I'm a northern guy and now I'm in the South. It is a different dialect, different tone. The way they talk is different people. Different, way more slower compared to what I'm used to up, up north. But I feel like I needed that, you know, you talking about, 15, 16 hour drive right from new Jersey.

00;04;30;05 - 00;04;52;21
Unknown
So being able to experience a different culture, different vibes, different people was something I feel like I needed in order to grow, become independent, do more things on my own and and learn what it's like to really be become a young man. Yeah. That's awesome. So you're at Florida, who's who's coaching Urban Meyer. You're. So you got urban.

00;04;52;24 - 00;05;16;17
Unknown
Okay, okay. So I, it's and I have a buddy that actually played at Bowling Green. Okay. When urban was at Bowling Green, so I know a couple stories, but, man, I, But that's awesome. So, so you're at you're at Florida, and now you get, you got life that that hit you. Yeah. You're you're new in college, and, you know what?

00;05;16;17 - 00;05;44;01
Unknown
What are some of the things that, you know, because I've, I said, I know, you know, you you played how many years of Florida for. So you played four years and then you got drafted. So what are some of the things that you learned that at Florida? That, you know, makes you the person you are today? I would say this, definitely playing under Urban Meyer was real tough, was real competitive, as you know, his resume, what he did as a collegian coach, the biggest thing was being consistent.

00;05;44;09 - 00;06;04;19
Unknown
You know, I think as a young guy, you come in with these expectations for yourself, what you think you can accomplish, with the lack of very little work ethic. Right. College by far is probably the hardest thing because you're going from a teenager to a young man. Yeah, right. So you learn an accountability, you learning how to take control of things, learning how to control an emotion.

00;06;04;19 - 00;06;23;18
Unknown
And, also take coaching. Yeah, right. You know, some guys who happen to be a little bit more talented might not get coached the best because they got all the talent in the world. Right? Whereas in college, right. You got to go through that process and correct those things. So it took me a while to get acclimated. This might sound a little funny, but the damn heat, Lord have mercy.

00;06;23;20 - 00;06;43;13
Unknown
You know, hot as hell game, man. No water. Heat. Geez, it ain't like you could tell it was from up north. Don't. Yeah, it was like 110. 115 degrees on the third one practice. So it took me a while to get acclimated to, to the heat and adjust, and also the tempo, you know, it's it's such a fast.

00;06;43;13 - 00;07;02;26
Unknown
It's tempo, you know, from high school to to college is a huge, huge transition. But most importantly, being on a team, I gotta say what it is. What a kind of like a lot of celebrities. Tim Tebow was a celebrity. Yeah, I'm saying he was a big time deluxe. Also a Jacksonville native. Yeah. Big time deal, man.

00;07;02;26 - 00;07;24;24
Unknown
So getting to see literally at our practice, we have all 32 NFL teams that I'm sure, you know, literally scouting and report. And so you was always putting one like yeah, everybody watching, everybody paying attention to what's going on. So it brought the level of momentum at both the level of talent up a few more notches, because you weren't just there with a few people, you know, you there with all eyes on you.

00;07;24;24 - 00;07;49;05
Unknown
So it was great exposure, but it really just, I would say learning how to become consistent and what you're doing, you craft so that in in, you know obviously the, the in in in college learning that I mean gosh that is something that that it's business. It's it's every aspect of life. You know but something that I with my team are we talk about consistently all the time.

00;07;49;12 - 00;08;09;14
Unknown
It's, it's sometimes not easy to get up. Oh no, it's not it's not easy to get up. Not at all. It's. And so in college, I mean in school you're going to school. You're, you're, you're you're practicing. It's not it's probably not in our practice, I mean, you're especially under urban, you're probably you're grinding. You're you're getting it.

00;08;09;14 - 00;08;29;24
Unknown
Yeah. You're getting after it daily. Yeah, yeah. So, you finish your four years at Florida. What's it like to get drafted? Oh, man. It it's a dream come true. Yeah. You know, I started playing this game when I was nine years old. Yeah. So you play with the intentions, you know, after you get better, you work in your craft.

00;08;29;24 - 00;08;53;06
Unknown
It's always a goal to say, hey, how can I like, what would it be like to finally make it? Yeah. And I remember going into my senior year at the University of Florida and a decoded at the time, Dan Quinn, who's also the head coach now at of the commanders. Yeah. Jersey guy as well. And I remember the conversation he had with me where he was like, hey, Josh, you have plays where you look like a first round pick, like, you look amazing.

00;08;53;08 - 00;09;13;00
Unknown
And you also had plays where I'm questioning, you know what I mean? Like, who is this guy? Like, you're not consistent. You you always go back to that word consistent enough. And it was challenging for me because I had to respect his truth, his honesty, but also be real with myself watching the tape that, hey, there are some plays I look great at and some plays I don't look that great, how do I put this together?

00;09;13;00 - 00;09;35;15
Unknown
And I have a great senior year of being more consistent where my team can depend on me, you know, to make the plays that I know I can make. But definitely a dream come true. Definitely something that you put a lot of thought into in terms of what would life be from literally being broke right to now make it a little bit of money.

00;09;35;15 - 00;09;55;14
Unknown
Right. What what does that transitional piece of, and we dive into that because I think that need to be spoke about a lot more than what it is for us understanding finances. But yeah, that that was the biggest leap of, you know, going from nothing to something and starting a whole new life. That's awesome. So, go ahead and talk.

00;09;55;17 - 00;10;15;08
Unknown
Go into the finances. Absolutely, absolutely. You know, I get excited about talking about these things. But as you as you can see, they say people who play in sports, whether it is basketball, football, baseball, most athletes go broke after two years of not playing, depending on how long you play, what case may be. And that's even despite how much you even make.

00;10;15;08 - 00;10;37;04
Unknown
You got people who make 50 million who still go broke, just bad finances and not understanding that, I didn't have the blessing of understanding how to invest, what to invest in. Those were all fears. I was always pretty conservative and never just splurged. I felt like I had to keep up with the Joneses and do extra, but I also had to learn to being a conservative and not invest in your money.

00;10;37;06 - 00;10;56;23
Unknown
Not making money neither right is just sitting there. And I think a lot of college athletes need to take the time out and understand your finances, right? They got the NRL, they got collective, they got quarterbacks in college making millions of dollars now. Right. What are you doing with that money right. It's scary. And it is man.

00;10;56;23 - 00;11;11;22
Unknown
The college game has really changed. It's wow. It I mean getting paid in college. So. Yeah. So so knowing what to do with that money. No. Yeah. No I'm with the dude. Because here's the thing. At some point it's going to come to an end. Yeah. Right. And what do you do when it when it come to an end.

00;11;11;22 - 00;11;27;26
Unknown
The one thing I wish I knew now, I mean, I knew then that I know now was being able to invest was coming. Right. I didn't need 50, 60, 70 to $100,000 a week. You know, when I was playing, you know, playing the game. And that's what these guys are making even more money now compared to when I played.

00;11;28;12 - 00;11;50;26
Unknown
So when you got and you got the right people in your ear, you're set where you don't really need the game after a few years, to be honest. It's kind of optional. Right? Guys who get the years six, seven and eight, that's kind of more of an option. You know, once you've created some platform, whether it's real estate, whether it's crypto, whether it's anything you enjoy, whether it's franchises, there's so many different opportunities that you can invest your money in.

00;11;51;07 - 00;12;10;11
Unknown
The goal is to have that money making money. So when your day comes to an end. Yep. It's not empty for you. Right? You still got some cash, will come in, and you can kind of sit back, relax, enjoy family and create generational wealth. So that's I mean that's awesome. That's a great, great point. Obviously I've never been in in that situation.

00;12;10;14 - 00;12;31;26
Unknown
But who you know is there with with the NFL or college now or whatever. Is there enough guys or ladies or, you know, trusted people that are that are in, people's ears? I mean, is it something that that the NFL goes through and says, hey, we're going to teach a class on this or anything like that? They they do have it.

00;12;31;26 - 00;12;48;21
Unknown
But to answer it, no, it is not a lot of people you trust, right. And when you look at the demographic of who are the most people who's in the NFL, they come from that background of people. Now, that's not to say you get a handful of people who do right financially or meet the right people down, down the road.

00;12;49;13 - 00;13;04;05
Unknown
But typically if you don't if you don't come from a family who understands finances, right, you get the people who feel like, I have to take care of the world, right? I got to take care of mom. I got to take care, daddy. You got to take care of siblings, family, whatever the case may be. And that typically be how people go broke, right?

00;13;04;05 - 00;13;27;28
Unknown
Playing, playing the game. The league do offer, things. And we, they got one 800 numbers or they do. I say my rookie year, they had the rookie symposium. We they talk about this, but the one thing I learned and maybe times is change was good and say that maybe is a little different. When I played, they kind of focus more on how to go broke compared to how to make money outside the game.

00;13;27;28 - 00;13;41;04
Unknown
Gotcha. Right. So that makes sense. You get it. It's easy to go to Vegas and blow $50,000, but how do I make $50,000? Right? Right is I mean, how do I invest in this? So that's kind of what I got from it. I didn't learn that too. Actually. My playing days was over on how to do certain things.

00;13;41;04 - 00;13;55;04
Unknown
And being in those rooms of people who understand it more so that that's a great point because it's always like, don't do this, don't do this. But what to do? Absolutely. Because you can you can put me on the right. You got the money. Of course. I mean, you're of course you're you're you get to prove anything good.

00;13;55;05 - 00;14;17;13
Unknown
And when you're playing ball, you're getting the proof. Yeah. Nine times out of ten, right. So just don't get it for too much, right? They might go crazy. Right? But that's, I mean, that's, that's a that's a really good point. I like that because because, you know, it's in any, in any walk of life, I mean, well, we'll kind of get into, you know, I want to kind of get into what, what what you're doing now and stuff like that.

00;14;17;13 - 00;14;43;08
Unknown
But, you know, you can't work forever. No, it doesn't matter what you're doing. I mean, you can't work forever. So I've always been somebody that likes to have some type of passive income. Correct? Whether it be investments or real estate or something like that. So, you know, tell me, tell me a little bit about, because I know, you know, just knowing your background and you and I love it, but we feed it to.

00;14;43;11 - 00;15;02;26
Unknown
So you you played with the Jags. Yeah. So you come to Jacksonville. You play with the Jags. How long you were with the Jags. Three years. Three years with the Jags. And then from there so from the Jags. And I end up going to Washington. Yeah. I was there for two years got hurt. And my second year got in Washington and then came back to Jacksonville.

00;15;03;01 - 00;15;23;07
Unknown
So you come back to Jacksonville. What does that feel like. We're we're playing days might be over. Yeah. Great question again. By the way. Another thing that need to be spoke about, you know, to bring more awareness to what was that transition from my last paycheck of the league, let's call it what it is.

00;15;23;07 - 00;15;42;13
Unknown
Right. What did I go through? A lot of depression. Yeah, a lot of AZT, a lot of stress. A lot of fear. A lot of guilt. You go through so many different phases that you're not even in control of how you feel. The craziest part is, I was totally in denial of what depression was and didn't get it.

00;15;42;13 - 00;16;01;04
Unknown
Didn't understand it. I was kind of, I guess, a little normal from where I'm from. You know, because people never really had much. So you never I never understood what mental health was. Yeah. It wasn't until I would say my girlfriend ended up mentioning, hey, Josh, like, you know, get up and do something, like, at home, you sleep and then you're doing this, this, this and that.

00;16;01;07 - 00;16;24;26
Unknown
And I kind of blew it off, not thinking none of it, but I really went from playing football all the time to nothing. Right. So now I'm sitting on some money. I'm not doing anything. I'm not investing nothing at the time. And the toughest part of it all was it took me, I would say probably seven, eight months to really get up out of it because a lot of it, like I say, it was me being in the now thinking I'm okay.

00;16;25;08 - 00;16;40;24
Unknown
The second part was, once again, I didn't understand mental health. I wasn't talking to a therapist at this time. I wasn't seeking any help, trying to do it my way, and I would try to find ways through it. Also, I was hurt, so it wasn't like my playing days came to an end and I was trying to get back in.

00;16;40;24 - 00;16;59;20
Unknown
It was like, you're not going to play this season, tour? What? Yeah, that's on my client. That's pretty much what brought my career to it. I just, I just felt that. Oh, man. Man, why? Injuries ain't no joke. They don't joke there. Yeah. It came down to an injury, man. And that that transition by far was the toughest because I.

00;16;59;23 - 00;17;14;25
Unknown
I don't know, I went through a whole identity crisis. Who am I outside of being an athlete? People didn't know me outside of anything else. And it was a lot. I had to I had to prove to myself, to be honest, at at that time. But I found a way to to get out of it. What,

00;17;14;27 - 00;17;39;22
Unknown
How did you get out of it? Good. So for me, it I ended up actually getting in therapy, you know, at as time went on, started finding other things that I was passionate about, which led me to opening up my first fitness gym level of fitness jacked, and to be honest, I always thought when I first opened up the gym that this would be my passion of being able to help, athletes.

00;17;39;22 - 00;17;53;07
Unknown
Yeah, right. I thought, you know, my partner, Brandon Floyd, I thought he was going to handle the fitness side, and I was going to handle, like, the athletic fitness side. And, no, that's not how business went, right? That's not how business went for us at all. We got to stay at home moms. You get it? Say we got the doctors.

00;17;53;07 - 00;18;08;17
Unknown
The lawyers? Yeah. And and people outside of what I thought would be, you know, the people I would, I would be in. So I had to learn how to adjust. And also going back to that word, be consistent in the fitness field of, hey, Joshua, not training athletes. Well, not at this moment, you know, early on. Right.

00;18;09;05 - 00;18;27;06
Unknown
But that passion wasn't this freakish athlete who can bench 400, some pound squat 500 pounds. It was a lady name is Pat who was 75 years old. Okay. Who got up every morning at 6 a.m., miss Pat, miss pat? Yeah. Okay. She had a little beach house, here in part of her. But she lived in Connecticut.

00;18;27;06 - 00;18;44;07
Unknown
She'd come down in the summer. And I remember asking miss Pat, who came every day at 6 a.m. and that this time I'm really working in the company from like 6 a.m., right? You know, so I'm putting hours in. I'm there all day. And I asked and one that said, miss Pat, wait, what makes you get up every morning at 6:00 and want to work out?

00;18;44;07 - 00;19;00;11
Unknown
Like in my mind, I'm like 75. You can forget about me. My feet is in the sand is picked up and you can forget about. I'm not training at 75. Yeah. And she was like, she's like, Josh, I lost my husband a few years ago. And she was like, I know if I don't get up to be active, like, I'll be next.

00;19;00;12 - 00;19;15;27
Unknown
Like, I wouldn't be able to move forward. This is what keep me active. This is what pushed me. This is what makes me feel like I'm living again. Yeah. Woke me completely up. Like, wow. And she's like, I thank you for being here every morning to help me get through this. And seeing her go from literally no weight.

00;19;15;27 - 00;19;37;13
Unknown
So the lady now to 10 pounds meant the world to me. That was greater than me. Seeing any athlete running a fast 40 bench weight, squat weight like to me that stood out and I was like forever connected with hey man, the fact that I got an impact now to help others, inspire other people, play a major role in their life, to help them grow and be consistent with them meant the world to me.

00;19;37;13 - 00;19;55;22
Unknown
And I started to feel like I was living again through her, you know? So it was it was amazing. That's a cool story. That is that is really cool. So, with with the gym, I mean, Miss Pat's started started the. Yeah. The pat got me going. Got you got you got me going. So, shout out miss Pat.

00;19;55;22 - 00;20;17;09
Unknown
Yes. But so I know that that's that's been several years now. Right. So, tell me a little bit about the gym. What, you know, are you are you still doing, people like miss Pat athletes. What what what? Yeah. Who you training now? So, as we, as we grew, it did grow enough to where we are.

00;20;17;09 - 00;20;34;24
Unknown
We were, able to grow an athletic program. So over time, you know, this was going back 2018. We opened up the gym. Over time, I was able to create the athletic program, get some of the high school college guys and, middle schoolers and, things of that nature. But we got we got the program going, and allocated a time for that.

00;20;34;29 - 00;20;59;27
Unknown
But like I said, miss Pat kind of set it off to where I actually enjoyed that. So I was able to get my hands on were both what is the transformational side of fitness? And also the athletic side fitness. Yeah. So the athletic side, you do it, you train high school, athletes. Yeah. So I know, you know, when I was, when I was growing up, I mean, the, the whole weight room that it was, it was, it was rickety.

00;20;59;27 - 00;21;19;28
Unknown
Yeah, it was rickety. And I'm a lot older than you are, but I'm like, the the way that the, the high school athlete now is able to train and all the, the different, you know, recruiting sites and things like that. So, have you, have you taken guys that, that are in high school to, you know, go. Yes.

00;21;19;28 - 00;21;41;25
Unknown
For college football and then. Absolutely. We have several guys, you know, who we've been greatly fortunate to coach from a freshman in high school who's now in college, you know, a few guys that, NC state, a few guys that South Carolina, North Carolina, actually, one of the guys, we train with just, transferred to Unlv, who's now with, Dan Mullen, who was at the Florida Gators.

00;21;41;25 - 00;21;58;05
Unknown
We recruited him. So getting to see these guys go to the next level and, play there, but also get to experience a little bit somewhat of a cheat code. I like to say, because I knew what it was like to be a college athlete. So the goal was to show them, hey, here's the tempo, here's what you guys are going to experience.

00;21;58;16 - 00;22;13;01
Unknown
I'm not going to train you guys just at a high school level. And sometimes in high school, you're going through a high school program where you might get 1 or 2 guys who's big guys and the rest of the team is weak as hell, let's call it what it is. Right. So I had to explain to them, hey, here's how the body transform is how the body grow.

00;22;13;16 - 00;22;26;13
Unknown
Here's what we're going to be doing on a day to day basis. And they understood that they went through the athletic program and they all got the results they need. That's awesome. So I would I mean, if I'm a high school athlete, I go, okay, well, I can go I can go train with Josh, who's been through it.

00;22;27;01 - 00;23;03;13
Unknown
Who at a very high level and, you know, made the league, was in the league. And I mean, yeah, that's huge. So, I also I've heard rumors your your your workouts are no joke. Yeah. Where did you hear that from? So, with that being said, I mean, you know, I know and, and, as far as the, the, the actual workouts and things like that, you guys do, you know, I know, like a, it's more of a transformation type thing.

00;23;03;15 - 00;23;24;06
Unknown
So, yeah, let's say I'm, I want to come in. I want to, you know, I want to work out what's the difference between going to a Bally's or a Planet Fitness or something like that and coming and saying, hey, I want to, I want to, I want to transform my body. Right? And I was the same question as me and my partner, Brandon Floyd, had to ask ourselves, what is going to be on?

00;23;24;06 - 00;23;46;16
Unknown
It's coming to Jack's Beach, right? You got, you got the hive, which is like CrossFit. You got the F45, which is like group fitness, titan of fitness. That's like bodybuilding, right? So when we looking at this demographic of people, what can we offer that we haven't seen here in Jacksonville? Coach Floyd, who's been in the transformation industry for years, way longer than I have and also was actually my trainer at one point.

00;23;46;16 - 00;24;11;20
Unknown
What kind of actually got me going, in the fitness industry was like, hey, man, I think if we can offer a transformation program and an athletic transformation program, that would be that would be pretty unique here, because that is an experience here at all or in this, this region of Florida, for what I've seen. And pretty much kind of breaking down what is the transformation program is basically a bunch of unique movements that's catered and specialized for each individual body type.

00;24;11;27 - 00;24;31;17
Unknown
So the process that level of fitness checks for people who sign up with us, there for their first day would be an assessment. So we get their body scan, we get a full posture analysis on lean muscle mass. Fatty tissue. But basically through the skin, we use the scientific data to basically customize their workout for for their body type.

00;24;31;17 - 00;24;54;22
Unknown
It's awesome. And the reason why that's important is because people go work out at jams, but don't do the proper exercises for their body type. They might have seen something on YouTube social media and try to mimic that and probably doing the exercise wrong. So we're real big on the details on how to properly train, how to properly train for your body, understanding what your goals are, what it is to put on muscle, whether it's to lose weight, everything is fit to what that person needs.

00;24;54;22 - 00;25;12;17
Unknown
Are. And then from there, we go through processes of, your first 90 days and in six months and kind of go throughout the year. But I've found a lot of success with definitely at the beach as people who are able to commit to what we offer. As far as the free meal plans, right. We don't even charge an extra fee for that.

00;25;12;19 - 00;25;31;12
Unknown
Why is the meals important? You are what you eat, right? And I tell people you don't diet for the taste, right? You diet for the look. If you get in your mind that you're going to be completely over. Right. And yes, at times we get people who struggle with diets because it's tough, you know, and eventually the goal is to make it a lifestyle change, right?

00;25;31;12 - 00;25;49;09
Unknown
To have great nutrition. But there's no way I don't think you can outwork your diet. Don't think that. Hey, I can go burn 800 calories in a gym. And that's what I think. That's right. We've all been there before, right? You try to outwork the diet, and it don't work. Both of them have to go together in order to get the results you need.

00;25;49;14 - 00;26;12;00
Unknown
Yeah. So, Let's switch to just Jacksonville in general. Tell me, tell me, tell me, what are some of the favorite things you like to do? Oh, place to eat basic. What mean? I will say right now, one of my favorite places would be probably chop House 13. Oh, yeah? Yeah, I got some good steaks. There it is.

00;26;12;00 - 00;26;29;23
Unknown
Right across the street. So. Yeah. That's good. That's one of my my favorite places. But really, I like to get into the new restaurants, you know, always trying different food. We go out, in an iron, which is up the street from where I'm at is another great place. Yeah. So that's that's it. I would say I'm a I'm kind of foodie.

00;26;29;23 - 00;26;51;18
Unknown
Yeah, absolutely. I like to try different things. What what's, what's family look like in terms of the food? No. So it just it. Who's your family? You got, your kids? Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, no, you got to not. You get. Yeah. What's your family order for? You know. Hey. Yes, I have a daughter. Name a more who's four years old.

00;26;51;19 - 00;27;15;02
Unknown
Four years old. Yep, yep. So, as far as the, as far as the, as Jacksonville goes as a whole, we've had a lot of growth, right? We've had a lot of growth over the last ten years, especially, do you and I know you, you dabble in real estate a little bit, too, do you?

00;27;15;04 - 00;27;42;05
Unknown
What do you think about, the projection of Jacksonville do you think will continue to grow? You know, do you think we're, you know, how are we set up in Jacksonville? Absolutely. Jacksonville is going to probably become, if not the number one market for real estate. Definitely. In terms of what they're doing downtown in Saint John's, the things that they're building, a great area, you know, and I think there's so much still to come, you know, here.

00;27;42;05 - 00;28;04;04
Unknown
And if you notice, a lot of people, from up north has actually been moving. I've met so many people from New York, Boston, you know, coming down here to kind of get into this market. I also tell you, getting a a lot of more bang for your buck here, let's call it what it is to, you know, I've seen some of my friends who moved to LA and, even in, Massachusetts, like, they pay an arm or a leg, you know, at these places to, to live.

00;28;04;04 - 00;28;24;25
Unknown
So, there's so many different new restaurants, parks. And with it being so much land, I want to say, is Jacksonville the biggest city? It is. And what, what what's crazy to me is there's still so much just undeveloped. Yeah. I mean, this is laying off for a number of years and it's like inland. It's like there's no land in Atlanta.

00;28;24;25 - 00;28;43;04
Unknown
It's like everything is built on it. I look around here, I'm like, man, there's there's so much, there's so much. So I think so much to build here. I think we're I think we're in, I think we're on a good run, you know, real estate and and it's it's just, it's grown, you know, it's grown tremendously. So the new stadiums come in a couple of years.

00;28;43;04 - 00;29;02;22
Unknown
Yeah. Yeah, I'm excited for that. So Jags are always playing in Gainesville from what they confirm I don't know if it's from a source. Tell me the Gainesville or Orlando Orlando okay. Yeah yeah. So what does that do for just just for the city. What is it. What is a new stadium to the city? It brings in so much more revenue.

00;29;02;25 - 00;29;20;01
Unknown
Yeah. You know, in terms. Great business idea too, by the way, because now you're able to get those A-list celebrities right, that come during off season. You might get the Beyonce's and Taylor Swift of the world who come here, which is going to thrive, right? The, the community. And on top of that, I think is also going to make people want to come out and support more.

00;29;20;07 - 00;29;38;08
Unknown
You know, I want to be there because there's so much different amenities and things that they have going on. Plus the, hotel, I think that they're building the hotel. Yeah. I mean, I've always said and just like I said, coming from Atlanta years ago, I, I always love downtown. I love downtown living and stuff. And we don't have that quite, quite yet.

00;29;38;08 - 00;30;05;03
Unknown
So, I mean, I'm I'm looking forward to, you know, obviously the, the stadium but also what's around the state where the hotels you can get. So you know, maybe, maybe we'll have condos, restaurants, you know, nightlife and stuff like that. So do you think they're going to relocate the person that's down there who does this like slapped in the middle of everything, like if if they find a way to move that probably to the north side, which I'm hoping they do.

00;30;05;03 - 00;30;26;29
Unknown
Yeah, I hope so. That's going to make downtown that much better than what it is. Yeah I, I yeah I would think I hope so. That's the one thing because it's, it's going to be crazy. They, they lighten downtown up a little bit. Build some more condos and bars and restaurants. Yeah. So many you know because at the Jags games now you go to the game and it's kind of go you go home.

00;30;26;29 - 00;30;42;29
Unknown
Yeah I mean imagine if there's like you know you kind of go and even if you're local spend a weekend down there, you know go rent something for a weekend or have condo down there. Well you also look at the people who fly in for the opposite opponent. Yeah. What do you do when you find a Jackson? That's true.

00;30;42;29 - 00;30;57;19
Unknown
And you're staying downtown. I don't know where to stay. Right. Most people are going to probably stay close to the stadium somewhere where you can go. Yeah. All right, so now that they're building this, I think this is going to create more opportunities for people to want to get out, spend a little bit more money, but also have a Jacksonville experience.

00;30;57;20 - 00;31;12;27
Unknown
So you got so I mean, think about it now, the one thing I do love about Jacksonville is I could be at the beach and I can have that beach feel. I could be, you know in a, in suburban you know, type area. I could be in the shopping area, I could be the one piece, give me downtown.

00;31;12;27 - 00;31;37;03
Unknown
And now we got, we got it all. Oh yeah. Yeah. So any other businesses or anything else that you want to touch on? I would say, like I said, real estate has been awesome for me. You know, as you know, you've helped me a lot. Yeah. In terms of that, I wish, like I said, I wish I knew more at that time.

00;31;37;03 - 00;31;59;15
Unknown
I probably had 20 properties, 30 properties and things of that nature. But it has been a blessing. You know, it's been a blessing to have that to use as collateral to borrow against, get to experience different ways of leveraging my cash and my cash flow, and other things that I can get into. You know, I've dabbled in a few different things for the trucking company, a little bit of crypto, which is crazy, by the way.

00;31;59;15 - 00;32;21;24
Unknown
Not crazy. But, you know, crypto is crypto. Yes. I'm I'm aware. Yeah. And it it's a different it's a different feel. Yeah. But I will say if, if I'm going to lose anything or gamble, it's going to be with an investment. You're never going to see me gamble and lose money on luxury items or liabilities. You know, it's going to be something I feel interested in.

00;32;22;01 - 00;32;43;08
Unknown
What the educated guess was study that, hey, there's going to be some storm, some form of income coming back from it. And I just try to be smart with it, you know? What's next for me, which we're going to talk about to, is I want to get into commercial real estate as well, whether that's owning 50 units to 100 units, whatever that looks like, finding the way to leave my mark.

00;32;43;08 - 00;33;03;01
Unknown
So when that day comes for me, if I'm no longer here, you know, my children has access to Excel. Isn't it interesting? Because I do go with the same thing. It's interesting. As we get older, it's like that legacy starts to. It starts to play because ten years ago it wasn't, you know, now I'm starting up. Yeah. Maybe I got to leave this.

00;33;03;04 - 00;33;21;09
Unknown
Yeah. It's it's it's important, you know, and definitely important for me because, like I said, I know my dad wasn't taught this right, and I know, you know, Lord willing, he's with us for 20 more years. You know, my dad is 74 years old. And, you know, he didn't it's not going to be much that's left behind.

00;33;21;10 - 00;33;36;20
Unknown
You know, it's we're not getting the land and a mule and sheeps in his farm. Right? You know, we're going to get probably a little bit of life insurance money in that said, so you, you, you live in you learn from that, right? How can I leave a stamp to where at least I'm able to get my family up off the ground with daddy?

00;33;36;20 - 00;34;18;11
Unknown
Left this, guy out of the starting ground of it. Now it's up to y'all to keep it. And maybe this last more generations down the line. Awesome. Anything else you want to kind of wrap them? Anything you want to act? So, really, the, the, you know, kind of the just summarize a little bit here, you know, I've, I've known Josh for, for several years and, you know, one thing that that I have taken away from some of the stuff that that you, you know, on the, the, the body transformations and stuff like that, one thing that, is certain is that you are consistent, just like you said.

00;34;18;11 - 00;34;38;28
Unknown
You are you you learn that and you are a consistent person. And, you know, just a plug for, for the gym is like, you know, I've been through this before, many years ago with you. If you want results like it's not, just go try to do it by yourself. Oh, yeah. I've been a little bit of money.

00;34;39;00 - 00;35;01;23
Unknown
Get you, you know, you and your team is as trainers, and it makes all the difference in the world. So, again, hometown Jax, we want to just highlight some people, some awesome people in the community. And you're one of those people. And we we appreciate you. Appreciate you being drafted by the Jags and sticking around.

00;35;01;26 - 00;35;23;09
Unknown
So, it's been a pleasure, man. I appreciate you coming in. And, let's do it again. Definitely. Before we wrap up. Yeah, I want to thank you know, I want to thank you and your team in regards of being consistent. As you know, I went through a crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy refi, you know, one of my rental properties.

00;35;24;02 - 00;35;39;29
Unknown
And it was you guys who actually made that happen. Took us a few months to get it done. That was kind of out of everybody. Control. But I want to thank you guys because that was life changing for me, my family and it it regulated so many things in my life, which gave me a fresh start for 2025 and without.

00;35;39;29 - 00;35;58;23
Unknown
You guys are still probably been banging doors to get it going. But no, man, you, your team, everybody communicated effectively. Everybody was consistent with just the communication on what I needed to get done. And I thank you for that. You know, because we got so much work to do down the line. And once again, man, I'm in a good spot.

00;35;58;23 - 00;36;06;07
Unknown
Oh you forward I'm feeling real good now. Good. Yeah. Where I brother. Well I appreciate coming. Thank you man. Thanks brother. Thank.

00;36;06;07 - 00;36;20;13
Unknown
The Hometown Jack's podcast is recorded and produced by First Coast Mortgage Funding. Located in the heart of Jacksonville. Do you want to be our next guest? Visit our website at Hometown Jack's podcast.com. We can't wait to hear your story.