Eyes Up Lake Norman

Transcript:

Narrator
Welcome to The Best of LKN, a podcast featuring the best small businesses and the most influential professionals around Lake Norman, North Carolina. Each week, we spotlight those businesses and individuals that are making a positive impact here in the Lake Norman area. Thanks for joining us, enjoy the show.

Jeff
Hey, everyone, welcome back to The Best of LKN podcast. It’s Episode 70 of the podcast, 70 interviews with some truly remarkable people living and working in the Lake Norman area. I want to thank those that have signed up for our email newsletter. Signing up is a great way to support the work we’re doing here at The Best of LKN, and it doesn’t cost you a cent. Just go to our homepage at www.thebestoflkn.com and scroll to the email newsletter signup form. It only takes a minute to sign up and you’ll receive our weekly email newsletter with all the latest happenings here at The Best of LKN. Plus, we include a new discount code each week from one of our favorite local restaurants. This week, we’re featuring a discount code to Masala Mastee, an Indian street food concept located in downtown Davidson. Thanks for signing up. We really appreciate it. Now, in this episode, we’re featuring an organization that was started during the pandemic and has been recognized by several of our esteemed guests here on the podcast. Chad Macy has merged his lifetime love for sports and fitness with a deep passion for helping kids work toward a life that is balanced. “Let’s get moving!” is the motto for Chad and his team, and Chad’s concept has grown exponentially over the past 12 months, reaching kids from all walks of life and fitness abilities. Chad was first recommended to me by Katy Kindred, co-owner of Kindred Restaurant and Hello Sailor, back in Episode 31 of the podcast. More recently in Episode 39, Andrea and Diana the co-founders of Mbrace Studio, recognized Chad and Eyes Up as a great partner in the local fitness community. And now, in Episode 70, it’s my honor to be joined by Chad Macy to share the story of Eyes Up Lake Norman. Thanks for joining us friends, enjoy the episode.

Jeff
Okay, in this episode, we’re featuring Eyes Up Lake Norman founder Chad Macy is joining the podcast. Chad, welcome.

Chad
Thank you, Jeff. Glad to be here.

Jeff
Great to have you. Shout out to Katy Kindred she, let’s see, I recorded an interview with Joe and Katy Kindred last year, one of the podcast’s most popular episodes and it was such an honor to have them take the time out of their schedule to share their story with the podcast. But Katy gave you a big shout out in that interview. You’re related to Katy, how?

Chad
I married Joe’s sister, Meghan.

Jeff
Okay, so they’re the in-laws.

Chad
Yeah.

Jeff
Gotcha. Well, big shout out to them. And I’ve been really looking forward to connecting with you and sharing the Eyes Up story with the listeners. Really inspiring, the work that you’re doing. But before we get into Eyes Up and the work you’re doing there, and how you’re serving the community through these fitness activities for kids, Chad, share a little bit of your background, a little bio on you and your career and the inspiration for starting Eyes Up.

Chad
So, I grew up in Kernersville, North Carolina, nobody really knows where that’s at. It’s between Winston and Greensboro, and my wife Meghan grew up in Cornelius. And we have four crazy, amazing kids. My daughter, Blake, she’s going to her second year at UNC Asheville. And my son Bo, he’s 12, Brooke’s 9, and my son, Brody is 8, and we live in Davidson. And so, I grew up playing sports all my life. And in high school, I played basketball, football, baseball, wrestled, 2-man volleyball tournaments, swimming, all kinds of stuff. I was into it. And I had the privilege of playing college baseball at Southern Wesleyan University. And rumor has it that I cheered for a season in college as well. And supposedly I had been on ESPN and Disney during the competitions on stage. But that’s all rumor. Right?

Jeff
Don’t believe everything you hear.

Chad
Exactly, exactly. I did a bodybuilding show when I was 21. I loved lifting and pushing myself and my friends were like, you should just go ahead and try this and see what happens. You know, just see what happens and I’m glad I did it. And so, looking back at all that stuff is just funny to see how all of my experiences growing up, has just, I’m able to use all of that even to this day. And so, I’ve been coaching youth sports for over 15 years. I was a sports director in Cornelius at the Cornelius YMCA for a season and I love coaching, I love coaching kids. I love serving, giving back to the community this way, and I love to help kids learn the fundamentals that are found in sports. And I’m a fundamental coach. And I believe that if you teach somebody the fundamentals the right way that they will never forget about it. Like to this day, I still hold a baseball bat the same way I did, how I learned to do it, like a fundamental way on how to do it. And my philosophy is too, the word fun is in fundamentals. And so, while we’re doing drills or coaching, let’s have fun doing it. Because I can run a basketball practice, run kids for an hour in a basketball practice. If I make it fun, and exciting, and they won’t even know they’re running, there just having such a good time. So, it’s a lot of having fun with all that stuff as well. I love bringing the excitement and the energy, and I love everything that comes with that. I’m also a middle school pastor at Mecklenburg Community Church, and with over nine years’ experience in trying to figure out how to entertain students and hold their attention and bring stories to life and make everything relevant to their generation. Again, just be able to use all of that stuff in my coaching to this day. And so yeah, that’s the background of my story. And how I kind of came into to where we’re at now. And my inspiration for launching Eyes Up, my wife and I were both entrepreneurs. And we love people, we love exercise, we love kids, we love youth sports. And like I said, I love coaching and helping people be the best they can be. And so, when COVID hit, just like everybody else, we felt the shockwave of the uncertainty, of the fear associated with everything, and being stuck at home. All kids’ sports were canceled, and so we started to notice the toll that it had on everybody around us, even our own kids were like, they were growing concerned and growing weary of being at home all the time, away from the friends and with no outlet of sports, per se. So, I told my wife, Meghan, that I had an idea. And whenever I say this to her, she’s always like, alright, hold on, and she sits down and braces herself. She’s like, alright, what is it? Because I have these wild ideas at times. So, I told her, I was like, what if we launched a company that was a group movement exercise for kids that was outside, and we have the underlining of speed, agility, and core strengthening, to kind of build it all around. And she was like, so you want to launch a company in the middle of pandemic? And she was like, I’m in, let’s do it. So, like a lot of business owners, I was a little scared, a little nervous and insecure with my idea. So, I decided to first, to kind of reach out to local companies and see if they wanted to partner together. And after a couple of those meetings were kind of shut down, which was kind of interesting how that all worked out. My wife looked at me, she’s like, just go for it. Just do it, you’ve always wanted to do this, so just go for it and start this, and I cherish the encouragement of my wife. And so, we mapped it all out, reached out to folks that owned their own businesses and I pitched my idea to them so they can kind of poke holes in it and see where any issues I may have. We also got different advice that helped us dial in our website, made it look real nice. We started developing waivers and social media. And we got all that off the ground, Jay Wade Insurance in Davidson, they helped me get the right insurance in place. And Leslie, she loved the idea, and she worked with us to get fill space in Davidson, and we ordered equipment, signage, a whistle, and we were off. And so, we got connected with Burn Boot Camp in Mooresville, and we pitched it to them, and they loved it. And Ashley Morgan, she’s the director at Lowe’s YMCA in Mooresville, she liked the idea as well, so much so she gave us fill space in front of her Y to do workouts in Mooresville. So, we have locations in Davidson and Mooresville. And so, over time and through the hustle, we have grown an incredible base of memberships and private training and team trainings also. And honestly, Jeff, I’m so thankful for our members who have supported us and shared their experience with us, with their friends, and over social media, and they have really helped us partner and build our program together. So, with our members, it has been, it’s been an awesome ride.

Jeff
It’s all about the community, isn’t it?

Chad
It really is.

Jeff
You can’t do it without the community. You know, starting a project like this during the pandemic seems not to make a lot of sense. But in your case, it does. And honestly, this podcast, we’ve featured a lot of stories that began during the pandemic, and I just wrapped up interview this morning with an amazing Davidson small business that started right in the thick of it. They opened their doors in January I think of 2021. So, yeah, shout out to Meghan, can’t do this without the support of your spouse.

Chad
Exactly.

Jeff
It’s just not possible. Because it takes time, it takes energy and resources, definitely. Jay Wade has been mentioned on this podcast in the past, shout out to Jay Wade, and Burn Boot Camp, of course, amazing organization and Lowe’s YMCA. Speaking of Lowe’s YMCA, so you have, I know you have training locations, or camp locations in Davidson, I didn’t realize you’re in Mooresville too. Where in Davidson do you have the camps?

Chad
In Davidson, well we call them movements. Because it’s like a workout per se for the kids, but we call them movements. And we have movements on River Run soccer field in Davidson.

Jeff
Yeah, right off of Concord Davidson Road, Davidson-Concord Road.

Chad
Yep, Davidson-Concord Road.

Jeff
I pass it every day, I should know the name of the road, I’m just on autopilot when I drive through there, but very cool. And group and individual movement classes or training, let’s go a little bit deeper into the kind of, what do the group classes look like? What are the individual personal training classes look like? And what are some of the core movements that you focus on?

Chad
So, our group movements, we specialize with that between the ages of six years old to middle school, which is about 14 years old. And no matter if your kids are into sports or not, Eyes Up is designed for them. If a kid loves gaming, or coding, or playing instruments instead of being really on a sports team, then they can still benefit from Eyes Up. If a kid loves any kind of sport, Eyes Up is perfect for them as well, because we get kids outside, unplugged, moving around in a creative, high-energy movement.

Jeff
Yeah.

Chad
And so, we have group movements, we have personal trainings as well. That’s where I would go one-on-one with someone to come out on the field we get one-on-one for 45 minutes. Probably workout with me, and again, it’s high-energy, keep it fun with all kinds of drills and again, underlining of speed, agility, and core strengthening for that as well. My personal training is really for anybody, for all ages. I’ve been training a guy, he’s 68 years old, he’s out there and runs around through all this because he wants to mix up his workout and find something new and that he’s not used to doing and he’s out there crushing it. We also do team trainings, and the thing about our team trainings is, we come to the field or to the facility where the team is at, or the group is at. And so, we can go there and do workouts with them on a regular schedule and crush it with them as well.

Jeff
So, Eyes Up is inclusive, but you don’t have to be a competitive athlete to participate, but you do also train competitive athletes?

Chad
Yes, exactly. Yeah, because we believe that being mentally, physically, spiritually, and emotionally healthy is key, especially what we’ve learned through the pandemic. It’s like, we’ve got to make sure we’re focusing on that aspect of our life, and that’s how we can actually get through anything that life throws at us. And with the physical aspect of this, I mean, we have kids, but the best part about what we do is seeing the kids out there running around smiling, having the time of their life. And they’re out in the community, they’re safe, and they’re sweating, have a good time, and I mean, they crush it. And it’s funny to see like a six-year-old and a 13-year-old lineup together on the cone to do a workout together. Because you would think that’d be awkward and odd, but it’s really not because the 13-year-old can get pushed by the seven-year-old to run faster and the seven-year-old gets motivated by the older kids to run faster. And the way we do it is really cool too, on our fields we have a ton of colored cones set out, and so, when the kids come there with their parents, they bring their water bottles, if they have cleats, awesome, if not just a good pair of shoes, and you know, if it’s cool outside wear pants, but if it’s cold or if it’s hot, then, you know, dress appropriately. And so, everybody gets on a different color cone, all the cones are set up, spread out six feet apart. And down the field, we have color cones as well and say, let’s say if you’re out there, Jeff, you’ll be on a blue cone. And you look down the field and you’ll see a blue cone down there as well. That’s gonna be your lane. So, when I yell color cone to color cone, the kids know that I’m gonna run from my color cone down the field to that color cone. So, it helps with kids’ safety and helps them stay organized. And everything starts and stops on the whistle, right. And so, I give instructions, or my coaches give instructions, and we warm up and make sure everybody’s good and loose and then we start cranking it up. We do feet drills with circles out by the cones. We do that, we have music, high-energy music just going crazy. And it’s a really high-energy environment. And we crush your workout for 30 minutes and then we go into like relays, and we have plenty of water breaks if kids get tired or thirsty, we have, especially with being so hot outside today, we have plenty of water breaks throughout our movements to make sure they stay hydrated, and then we bring them back out for relays. And at the very end of our movements, especially for our group movements, we have what we call a cooldown. And this is kind of fun because it’s fun to yell and it feels good to scream and to get in a group and just go crazy. Right? So, our cooldown is basically from the thunderclap of the rugby team. They’re in another country, they’re that rugby team that does the thunderclap. The whole stadium just does a whole moving together.

Jeff
Yeah.

Chad
So, with the cooldown, we get together, and we yell, I can’t do that over the podcast because it will sound really weird and freak the listeners out, but it’s so awesome. We’re like, “Eyes Up”, and the kids are like “Eyes Up, hooah”. And then we do like a couple of weird things and the kids love it, it’s a great finisher. And the kids love it so much. One dad told me he’s like, you know, I was in the car driving, and my son all of a sudden just yells, “Eyes Up, hooah!” and he about ran right off the road, it scared him to death. He’s like, I appreciate the cooldown, but not when I’m driving. And so, small stuff like that, like we’re able to use so much creativity, so much energy to really make this special for our kids, and personal training’s our specialty, because, again, one-on-one training we’re getting after it, we’re improving, we’re out there working hard. And the team trainings are special, too, because they’re competing against each other, it builds unity with a group. And I mean, it’s cool too, because we train Red Clay Athletics, they’re a baseball team out of the area. And these guys, we’ve been training them since I believe November of last year, and they are crushing it. And I mean, they’re busting out there, we’re part of their practice every week. And to just see them compete with our teams in the hot sun at tournaments, playing, you know, five or six game tournaments on the weekend. I mean, they’re out there holding their own, lasting longer than the other people because they’ve been working at it, been working hard, they’ve been sweating out in the heat. And so, it’s really cool seeing how these boys responded to it, too. And it’s been it’s exciting.

Jeff
I’m sure seeing the progress is super rewarding and seeing the members grow during this time. You mentioned you’re a middle school pastor, and you made the comment about being able to hold kids’ attention. And that’s, you know, in that age group 11 to 14, that’s an especially unique struggle, isn’t it?

Chad
Exactly, and they, to be honest with you, the middle school students, and even high school students, college kids also, but, and our younger kids too, like, they are a special group of people. Because we forget that they survived the pandemic, you know, they lived through it, they are resilient. And to see them, for the community to kind of rally around them and just to tell them how proud we are of them and just feel like they can do anything in their life if they want to do it, because they have been through it. And that’s special. And to be able to be a part of that as a coach or as a pastor is just, I’m honored because I get to be on the field with these kids who have no idea really what they went through yet. But they’re making strides to continue to stay above the situation, you know, and continue to keep crushing life and to keep making improvements to their life and their health and well-being. And that’s exciting to be a part of as well. And the reason we call it Eyes Up is because one, it is a fundamental term in sports, you want to keep your eyes up, in basketball can’t dribble your eyes down, you got to keep your eyes up looking, see what’s coming at you. But also, we launched it too, because we want to give an environment and experience for young people to be in that will help them keep their eyes above the current situation and look for the future, for better things to come. And so, yeah, it’s just amazing to be a part of all that.

Jeff
Yeah, and you bring up a really good point that these kids like, you know, we’re roughly the same age, we sure didn’t have to go through anything like 2020 when we were kids. And so, talk about a completely unique and new experience, and some other adjectives I could use but I’m not going to. But yeah, and it’s just, it’s amazing. How many kids do you have in the program right now?

Chad
Memberships are about around 80 individual memberships. And we have a couple of sports teams, and I’ve got multiple trainings that I do as well. And so, it’s really cool to now be in the summer phase of everything because a lot of our members are on vacation. They’re taking care of themselves, they’re getting away, which is awesome to see. So, we’re just cruising, getting through summer right now. And we’re getting ready for another big launch for our fall movements too, so it’s exciting.

Jeff
When in 2020 did you actually launch?

Chad
We launched on September 26th with our first, what was our first movement, we launched. We started doing free pop ups and we partnered with Mbrace Studios. And those girls would be on the field with us on one end doing the adults, we were on the other end doing kids, and it was cool, so launched about the same time and to see those ladies grow their business has been exciting. And so, we launched together doing free pop ups and then we started growing and making connections and just, and here we are.

Jeff
I’m glad you brought up Mbrace, they were, during our conversation I recall that they were the other group that gave Eyes Up a big shout out in their interview.

Chad
Awesome.

Jeff
Andrea and Diana have been amazing supporters of this podcast and I’ve definitely tried to give back by supporting their business, what they’re doing is really, really cool. In fact, I just saw Diana last Sunday for a mobility and ab workout at Lost Worlds Brewery.

Chad
Are you still sore?

Jeff
I’m still sore.

Chad
I love it.

Jeff
Yeah, but I guess that’s how you know you put the work yet. Right? So, I tell ya after 2020 I need it. So, I’ve finally gotten back into sort of a fitness regime after being out of it for a while and it feels good. You mentioned a few businesses. One of the questions I love to ask guests are shoutouts to local small businesses and partners. Mbrace Studio, obviously, a great partner in the beginning, launched right around the same time. Lowe’s YMCA, Burn Boot Camp Mooresville, Jay Wade, of course, I have to mention Kindred.

Chad
Yeah, Kindred. Hello, Sailor.

Jeff
And Hello, Sailor. Who else? Anyone else?

Chad
Yeah. Red Clay Athletics, I mentioned them a while ago. But again, they’re growing, they’ve got, they partner with DYBA, Davidson Youth Baseball Association. They’ve got 11, 12, 13, and 14U teams right now, we’ve been with them, we’ve trained those guys since last year. And it’s a great baseball program. So, if anyone in the area is looking for a really competitive but authentic baseball program, the Red Clay is the way to go. The philosophy is more than baseball. And they actually honor that, they have the kids serving the community. And the coach Mike and Bill, they’re crushing it and I’m really proud of what we’re doing with those guys. And it’s growing, it’s a growing program.

Jeff
It sounds like an amazing club. I’ll definitely have links for Red Clay Athletics as well, in the show notes. Another topic that I love to cover that I find that leaders are readers. And generally speaking, although I read through audio now, I love my Audible subscription and consume most of my books through audio now, and of course podcasts, but what recommendations would you have for listeners in the area of business or self-improvement or personal development?

Chad
So then, one thing my wife and I had been really focused on, that kind of came out of the pandemic, or doing in the pandemic was really looking at our own selves and trying to really understand ourselves individually so we can try to understand each other better and our kids as well. And also, people in our life that we get to influence and lead and be a part of. And so, we use the Enneagram to do that. And the Enneagram is an ancient personality typing system that identifies nine types of people, and how they relate to one another and the world. It’s a powerful tool for understanding why we believe what we believe, and our personalities are powerfully influenced and why our personalities are powerfully influenced by our motivations. So, we’ve been listening to the podcast called Typology, by Ian Morgan Cron. And it’s fascinating. And so, anybody who’s, I believe, to be a good leader, you got to start with yourself and really understand what motivates you and your makeup of who you are. It’s a great relational tool for marriages and for understanding your kids and what they are about, and what makes them and kind of understanding who they are and why they are what they are. And he’s got a good book too, The Road Back to You. It’s a really powerful book. So, I believe that’s something that I would always recommend, is look into the Enneagram and Typology and that book.

Jeff
That is, that’s really interesting. That’s one of the most interesting recommendations I’ve had in a while. That’s something I think I would find really powerful and useful. I’ve, in my previous careers in the corporate world, I can’t tell you how many clinics and camps I went through about working with different personality types and knowing and being able to identify different personality types, but not many helped me know my own personality type, you know, so I think that’d be really cool. Typology podcast, I’ll check that out, too, for sure.

Chad
Yeah, it’s really neat because I don’t really like talking about myself a lot, you know, and so, and I definitely sit my emotions or feelings. But that’s okay. Because we’re all we’re all made differently. And it’s good to see. Because a lot of people say, why don’t you act like I do, or why don’t you do what I do, that’s not what it was about. You got to learn the person, their personality and that’s how you build the relationship, and learn about yourself, and especially your spouse, and to even lead people well in your organization, like how cool it would be to really know what makes them tick and what making them thrive. And then learn to speak that language to them and really bring that out of them. So, it’s, it’s fascinating. Yeah, this is fascinating.

Jeff
It sounds fascinating and reminds me of one concept called the Platinum Rule. And I forget who wrote that or coined that back in probably the 80s or 90s. But and, you know, we all know the golden rule, treat others as you would be treated. But Platinum Rule kind of took that to a different kind of philosophical level where it’s like, treat people the way they want to be treated.

Chad
Yeah.

Jeff
But that takes a little bit of education to be able to figure that out, you know, so that’s really cool. I’m sure they go into that quite a bit.

Chad
Oh, yeah. And you have to take a test to find out what number you are in the Enneagram. But when you learn your number, it don’t stop there. Because the more you dig deep into it, and especially listen to how Ian Cron talks about it with other people he interviews, it’s, I mean, it really, it’s a journey, but it’s really powerful. It’s been powerful for my wife, and for myself, and for us as a couple too, it’s been a good ride.

Jeff
I will definitely check it out, that sounds amazing. I’ll definitely check that out. So, you’re not even, you’re coming up to your first anniversary for Eyes Up. Not quite there, about almost two months away, or right around two months away. What are some future plans? Sounds like it’s growing, sounds like it’s been successful as far as engagement and participation. What are some future plans and share any upcoming events that listeners might want to participate in.

Chad
Yeah, well, our future plans are gonna keep coming up with creative, fun, awesome movements and whether it’s a slip and slide out on the field, or having kids run round the field, catching tennis balls with a fishing net. I mean, it’s all kind of, always looking at it from a new lens, trying to mix it up to keep it fresh for our kids, but also do a lot of the same things different to ensure that we’re building the fundamentals we need to in our kids. So, you can find us on the fields, at River Run soccer field, Mondays and Wednesdays at four o’clock, Tuesdays and Thursdays at Lowe’s YMCA at 4:30 to 5:15. And so, yes, we’re gonna keep on doing it and get ready for the fall, cuz it’s gonna be huge.

Jeff
Yep, keep moving forward, do you know the Ratnofskys at CrossFit Cornelius?

Chad
I do.

Jeff
Mike has this phrase, onward and upward. Always closes his emails, always closes his posts with onward and upward and that sounds like what you’re doing.

Chad
I love it.

Jeff
Just onward, just keep pushing, keep grinding. Very cool. Chad, share with listeners how they can learn more about Eyes Up.

Chad
You can find us on our website eyes-up.org, again eyes-up.org, and Instagram and Facebook at Eyes_Up_LKN. So, that’s how to get a hold of us.

Jeff
I’ll definitely have all the links in the show notes and links to the podcast, the books you recommended, of course the small businesses that you gave shoutouts to and Chad, this is awesome. Thank you for joining the podcast, it’s been a lot of fun. I look forward to seeing what the future holds for Eyes Up.

Chad
Awesome, I appreciate it. Thanks so much.

Jeff
Big thanks to Chad for joining the podcast and sharing the story of Eyes Up Lake Norman. Listeners, you can learn more about Eyes Up at www.eyes-up.org and follow them on social media. I’ll have that link and the links to the other local businesses and organizations Chad recognized in the show notes for this episode. As always, you can find the complete show notes for all of our episodes at the home for Lake Norman’s number one small business podcast, www.thebestoflkn.com. While you’re there, please consider signing up for our email newsletter. It’s free and easy to sign up. And don’t worry, we’ll never share your email address with anyone else and we’ll never spam your inbox. Also, we continue to add more and more written articles about our favorite local small businesses to The Best of LKN blog. So be sure to have a look and see if we featured a few of your favorite businesses. All of our articles are at thebestoflkn.com Well, that will do it for Episode 70. I hope you enjoyed getting to know Chad and learning about Eyes Up Lake Norman. If you have kids in the six to 14 age group that could benefit from a little more outdoor movement, I hope you’ll have a look at Eyes Up Lake Norman. I doubt you could find a more enthusiastic and experienced coach than Chad. Thanks for following along on our journey and thanks so much for supporting the beautiful small businesses and organizations we feature and everything we do here at The Best of LKN. We’re back next week with another episode. So, until then, cheers Lake Norman. Bye for now.

Narrator
We hope you’ve enjoyed this episode of The Best of LKN. For more information about this podcast, show notes, video episodes, and links to our featured businesses, please visit www.thebestoflkn.com. We publish episodes weekly, so be sure to subscribe and stay up to date. Until next time, cheers Lake Norman.