In a world where we could have just about everything we want at a moment’s notice, we have to pick and choose where we allocate our energy and always remember that while good things are fleeting,

So what exactly happens in the green room before I walk into class? Of course, there is PT, snacking, laughter, and last-minute prep, but there are also conversations that are all over the place. You never know what’s going to be talked about or the vibes you’re going to be met with, but that’s the beauty of the human experience.

But first, a quick look at Episode 9 of Great Things visits Birria-Landia and Chef Jose, a behind the scenes look at the 1,500 pounds of daily meat for this food truck business.

Woo boy, there’s about 1,500 pounds of stuff in this newsletter!

If you were forwarded this email, you can subscribe and join the Great Things Take Time Community to get content from me (and Frankie) every Wednesday.

Birria so good, security guards manning the line are getting offered bribes.

This week, Great Things took me to the prep kitchen for Birria-Landia. Run by Chef José Moreno from Coatzingo in Puebla, Mexico, Birria-Landia is a collection of food trucks (and a newly opened brick and mortar location!) across 4 of the 5 boroughs serving Tijuana-style birria de res.

The food truck business is no joke and requires so much planning and hands-on involvement. This doesn’t strike me as any kind of set it and forget it environment. For example, they are preparing 1,500 pounds of meat DAILY(about the amount of meat I eat in a day 😉) to get sent out among five food trucks. Throughout the episode below, you can hear all the various responsibilities that weigh on Chef José and what he’s constantly thinking about. Opening your own business may seem glamorous, but you’re the one responsible for everything, business hours might not exist when it’s 2 am and there is an emergency. Ultimately, it’s on you.

If you aren’t familiar with what Birria is, are curious about how a food truck operates, thinking about starting your own business, or just want to get hungry, check out this episode and let me know your thoughts in the comments.

Check out the locations of Birria-Landia food trucks or follow them on Instagram.

Have a certain topic you want me to dive into in these newsletters? Send it here or reply back to this email.

Does it sound silly to say I was nervous about coming back to work? In the back of my mind, there was a worry that maybe, somehow, I’d lost my skill set. What if I can’t do what I did before? What if I’ve lost my magic and people don’t enjoy my classes anymore? It’s a healthy pressure that takes over because I want to do my job well, so those taking my class benefit from it.

Returning to work brings a surprising air of unpredictability I’ve missed. Sure, I know when the call times and meetings are, but I can’t plan for when something is going to be emotionally charged in a way that throws me off my plan.  

After almost six years on the platform, I’ve learned that having a strict, unyielding plan is a mistake; you have to be okay with the emotional surprises that get thrown your way. You can’t compartmentalize the vibes and emotions, and you’re stronger for it when you lean into things.

The actual structure of my class is heavily planned, varied, but planned. If you’ve taken my classes, you know that there is a mixed bag in terms of what you’re going to get. 

Classes like Thunder45 are rough around the edges, and the way I teach is designed to get you to tap into your personal athleticism by breaking you down so that you can break through. We are each so diverse and athletic, and if you feel like things are starting to fall apart, you can find the cracks in your foundation and build on them, walking away feeling more empowered. There isn’t a lot of time for self-reflection when your rest period is over, and you’re back with the weights in your hands to keep pushing. I truly believe the biggest breakthroughs happen when you’re stretched to the max (in all areas of life), and I love hearing people surprise themselves with what they can accomplish.

On the other hand, some of the shorter classes are there to meet you where you’re at and give you what you need in a more intentional way. They are the ones where you’re more likely to hear me giving cues based on what you’re feeling, and the music might cause more of an emotional reaction. An example of this is my Justin Bieber run. It was pretty much all the mushiest Bieber music I could find to make you feel like you were driving down a coastal highway in a convertible, vibing or sobbing. Granted, I’ll never be as cathartic as Biebs was at Coachella singing with his childhood self, but I can sure try!

To create these classes, there is a lot of behind-the-scenes computer work for my coworkers and me. It might actually surprise you a bit as to how much goes into it. All that to say, when you’re in Thunder45 and can’t understand why I would program what I’ve done, just know it was no accident, it was all intentional 😈

While the moves and music are set way before class, the vibes are not; that’s up to me to make sure I walk in prepared to make the vision happen, which is where I lean on my coworkers in the green room to get there. 

Since we aren’t all on the same schedule, someone’s Monday could be someone else’s Friday. You’ve got one person walking in hyped to start their week, while another instructor is counting the hours for their weekend to start, where they can put their feet up.

The green room is a small space with two private rooms with doors you can close for hair and makeup. The men always joke that we never go into those rooms and save them for the ladies. The one who makes that joke the most is Cody, who is one of the simplest in terms of pre-class prep, walking in with his pizza or taco before he’s ready to go.

In those close quarters, some of us are working, some of us are getting ready for class, some of us are in deep conversations. Okay, pretty much all of us have been in a deep conversation at some point. It helps that we’re all emotionally charged people.

With a mixed bag of situations, this means the green room is a bubbling cauldron of emotions in all the best ways. Not only do you have people at a variety of stages in their weeks, but also in their lives. In terms of athletics and physicality alone, there is plenty to draw inspiration from:

For starters, Alex Karwoski is an Olympian. Becs ran seven marathons in seven days. For a period of time, I was sharing space with five different women who were pregnant and doing the same job as me, while also building their personal brands, while also creating content… an absolutely incredible feat.

Each instructor brings a unique vibe to the space, and you can’t help but have it rub off on you. Time spent with Alex Touissant before gets me amped. Robin is an absolute powerhouse who refuses to be small, which, when in her presence, makes me feel like I’m on top of a mountain.

I’ve watched people go out and try things and have major realizations about themselves, which have helped lead me in the direction of realizing how much I like talking with people, instead of to them.

Sometimes, the conversations had directly rub off on how I show up in class and the things I share, things I can’t have planned ahead of time. One of the conversations that sticks with me the most is one I had with Denis (shocking, I know) about acceptance. 

We talked about the acceptance of friendships, how they are, and how they stand, but also about accepting where you are in your work and your life. It was helpful to view things this way, because it can be so easy to get caught up in the feeling of “Why is this happening to me?” or “Why is this person reacting like this?” But when we can accept that this is happening, there is no escaping it, we can move through things quicker without getting hung up on trying to prevent something that is inevitable…

Like emotions that come up in class.

Being around my coworkers as they open up is a last-minute reminder before I walk into class that there will be people all over the map. Someone is going to be having the best day of their life, and someone else will have the worst day; everyone else will be in between. How can I find where I land in all of that, without compromising someone’s experience? For me, it’s authentically showing up without a mask or filter.

What happens in my classes is far from scripted. Despite prep-work and playlists being selected far in advance, there are surprise moments that come up. It ranges across the board, from realizing I’ve made a grave mistake picking up weights that are too heavy, or gone too hard in an early sprint, to having the emotions hit me just right, causing me to start crying during a class.

I believe it was my first Father’s Day class, and for the first time, I mentioned who my dad was and what he’d gone through. I was talking about it in an honest way, and it struck a chord. I couldn’t not practice what I believe (that you shouldn’t push emotions down when they come up), so there I was crying on the tread while I shared his experience. I had never cried during a workout, either because I hadn’t allowed myself or the playlist and the dialogue hadn’t hit just right, but it ended up being a super cathartic experience for me. 

This is the value of choosing the human experience, of not compartmentalizing things. You can find a time to try to deal with emotions, or you can just let them surface as they come to you. It’s what keeps us apart from computers and machines. A humanoid robot recently ran a half-marathon in record-breaking time. Do you think that it stopped to take in the crowds? Do you think it dedicated each mile to someone it cared about? Do you think it choked back emotions when thinking about someone it loves who has passed away and can’t be there? Do you think it met a physical or emotional wall that it pushed through?

Maybe, and if so, then we are totally f-cked. But chances are, it completed that task with one objective: get from point A to point B. It can cosplay as a human or that it’s on the same level, but there are certain things that AI can’t do that only humans can. Imagine if my coworkers were AI? They’d be agreeing with me the entire time and coaching me with shallow one-liners that belong on a tea-towel. No one would be challenging each other and no one would be able to relate.

My return to work was a reminder of how I need to continue to embrace the messiness of humanity. In the unpredictable is a beauty that can’t be recreated. I’ll never live through those impactful moments again. I can have ones that come close, or brand new ones, but I’ll never be in the exact same situation.

You can’t compartmentalize vibes. You can’t schedule your feelings. If you try to, you’re not much different from a computer, and it’s doubtful someone will connect with you in the way you want. Just like Thunder45, when the breakdown happens, it’s when you get the breakthrough.

If you only pause to reflect on your life for one moment today, do it now.

No matter what we’re going through, finding people to lean on is so important. Whether it’s someone you interact with daily, or someone you see from afar, inspiration is helpful to bridge gaps when you need just a little bit more of something.

Your turn! Journal your answer, or if you find yourself sharing the progress of your Great Things on social, tag me at @greatthingswith_adrian so I can join in on cheering you along!

Because no matter what, there is always something to smile about.

This shoot was a blast to film, especially because of how kind and authentic Hudson Williams is. Take after take, everyone brought their A-game and the vibes were steammmmy

Don’t think my statement earlier about eating 1,500 lbs of meat in a day was rooted in a little bit of truth? Watch me. Silverware not included.

Time spent with the BMW E46 M3 and a stout boy with a long straw filled with iced Blue Bottle NOLA at home. Can you imagine what Thunder45 would be like if it was sponsored by Blue Bottle? Unsure the tread speeds go high enough!