Grindstone Mentality

Join Jeremiah and his guest, Wil Loushin as they discuss MMA and the entrepreneurial mindset.

Listen in to this energetic conversation at TalkRadio.nyc or watch the Facebook Livestream by clicking here.

Show Notes

Segment 1

Jeremiah has guest Will Loushin on today. The message of the week mentions how you need to position yourself so that you don't get knocked down, and this applies to MMA and business. Will is a gym owner, and he is an MMA trainer; he specifies that Grindstone Athletics in Virginia Beach gets you ready to fight. After the short intro, the guys got chatting about their past experiences in some classes. Will was once a Marine and has plenty of combat experience.

Segment 2

Will is also a jiu-jitsu instructor, kids only. Will is originally from Colorado but ended up in Virginia. When he joined the military, he was 18, and after returning from combat, he met an MMA fighter. In 2013 Will's wife suggested that he get more involved in Jiu-Jitsu given that she noticed how much he loved it. He began by training kids and seeing how the jiu-jitsu provided income, opened his eyes to take the craft more seriously. 

Will opened grindstone four years ago but then covid hit and made things rough. Now things are getting back to normal, and their numbers are rising. Will was holding online classes for a while, via Zoom and he noticed that couples whose spouses didn't show interest at first are now training. As Will was setting up Grindstone, he luckily used the GI Bill funds to help fund the business. He made it clear that he isn't the sole proprietor; it's a group of them that own Grindstone.

Segment 3

Jeremiah wants to start an academy; he said that during the pandemic, he had a studio. Unfortunately, many schools closed during the pandemic. In Jeremiah's view, some that definitely should not have gone. He wants to open something that will mix fitness and martial arts. Everyone at the Grindstone gym is very passionate about the style they perform; Will says that the gym isn't a cookie-cutter gym. If there are people who don't fit Grindstone, the gym has the power to refuse admission. There is an old-school vibe to Grindstone; it's dirty and grungy. He emphasizes that he is passionate about MMA, not there to sell something. They are there to provide quality. Will says that when the uncertainty of the pandemic hit, that is when his Marine Corps training came in handy; instead of feeling sorry for himself, he was trying to find a solution.

Segment 4

Grindstone is the mentality of the gym, work hard. Focus and discipline are the two main things for Will that can be applied to many facets of life. Grindstone plans on moving to a bigger facility so that they can run multiple classes at the same time.

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-entrepreneurial-web/donations