CrossFit Athletic Group

If your name is Natalie Nevarez, David Saporito, or Mr. Carey then congratulations! You lucky ducks are the Champions Club's target audience. Here's why:

• Natalie - baby session, younger siblings, athletic, at least one parent who likes CrossFit, lives close
• Sap - male, legit college-level athlete, ultra competitive and has the ability to go to "that place," doesn't take himself too seriously, values being coached, great community involvement
• Mr. Carey - parent, longterm mindset, moves really well, reads website, remembers names of the movements, "gets it"

The idea of having a target audience comes from writing and has to do with a general population the author wants to appeal to. Things that are written for "everyone" generally suck and are boring. Dictionaries are written for everyone and nobody reads dictionaries. But picking a target audience is difficult because it comes with the prerequesite of being able to say no. A lot. In fact, for every 1 target audience you say yes to there's 10 that are ignored. You, your product, and your values are not for everyone. That is perfectly okay.

When it comes to the Champions Club I also choose to have a target audience because I would be driven insane if I tried to appeal to every potential member. They are chosen based on what I value and what is realistic. Katie Shakes is not my target audience because I will never find another Katie Shakes. But there are enough Mr. Careys, Natalies, and Saporitos to fill up the foundation of our gym; we only need about 10 or so. The rest come from the fringes.

It has been well documented that the Charlie Brown comic strip was targeted at adults, not kids. Specifically, adults that had a sense of humor when it comes to real-life issues like politics and relationships. Kids might like it because of the animation, music, or Snoopy, but that's just a byproduct. The important thing to Charles Schultz was creating something that young kids would still find relevant in their adult years. There are upsides and downsides to every choice you make for a target audience, and "choice" is the key word there, both on the author's part and on ours.

We have more than 3 people at the Champions Club. We have 40x more than 3 people at the Champions Club. That means that about 120 people fit close enough into the Natalie Nevarez/David Saporito/Mr. Carey categories to make it in our group. Erica Krueger (lives an hour away), Jay (kinda soft), Aaron Sexton (show me another 2 years of 2019 attendance to undo 7th-12th grade and I'll stop calling you a part-timer), Josh Bennis (only child), Mrs. Tara (spine does unfavorable things when lifting), and Lira (two years too late) are not the perfect molds of what their ideal target counterpart might be, but they are all undeniably fits for the Champions Club. Being real enough to know 1) what the target audience is and 2) where you are different in comparison can keep this kind of relationship going for the long term. It is my choice to run this place to the audience I prefer and it is your choice to participate in it. I have to be okay when someone on the fringe is unhappy for a given amount of time and the fringe person has to be okay with being unhappy for a given amount of time; there is enough in common for both sides to balance out eventually. Natalie, Div, and Mr. Carey will also have unhappy phases but, in theory, that should be more about them than the overall way things are being ran. It should also be noted that all 3 of them have flaws too: Div has developed a dadbod at the ripe age of 23, Mr. Carey listens to a corner of country music only the most inbred of Cajuns know about, and Natalie still calls me "Coach Phil." None of those are deal-breakers.

...........

"The Bus Won't Leave Without Him" is a phrase used in our Family Basketball Organization with the highest regard. Basically everything runs late - which includes leaving for road trips. There is still a point, however, where it's 2 hours later and we'll be like, "okay for real this time, we're not waiting any longer." But every team has a player - sometimes two or three - that we would wait as long as needed. Sometimes it's the top-15 recruit and sometimes it's the glue guy. The coaches and players both know who those people are. I was not one of them as a player, and am not currently one as a coach. That doesn't mean I can't be a part of it, it just means that sometimes I have to go out of my way to keep up. And if that means waiting an hour before starting practice or sitting on the van floor so the late kid can have a seat then I'll live. On airplane trips, Coach has to remind the players that nobody is that important and the flight has absolutely no problem leaving without any of us. People who operate on Detroit Time are most likely not the target audience for major airline companies.

At 9:15 am last Tuesday we had 54 people in the gym waiting to begin the Christmas Eve workout and I was content as a cumcumber to keep then waiting. There was a certain crew that I didn't see in the crowd and no amount of peer pressure or clock-gazing would have urged me to start without them. A few minutes passed by and I cracked open the door to see JT, El, and Natalie sprinting in with Mrs. Nevarez close behind accompanied by her constant look of panic.

Yup, we can start now.

Evan Pugh is not our targeted audience. College-aged males who come in out of shape and look like powerlifters don't generally lend well to this place.

Lindsey Eason is not our targeted audience. Opinionated college-aged females who have lots of bad movements patterns to undo don't generally lend well to this place.

Dillon Sharp is not our targeted audience. Part-time fitness/year-round soccer girls who have an injury history and live 5 zip codes away don't generally lend well to this place.

Arlene is not our targeted audience. Moms who are picky about everything and mark their territory on the floor generally do not lend well to this place.

Generally.

Yet, Evan turned out to be one of our most patient athletes I've ever coached, Lindsey is a community staple, Dillon Sharp is about to be the surprise of the year in the Macomb Area Conference this spring, and could you really imagine how boring this place would be without Arlene? The fringe is where the magic happens. Fringe athletes are responsible for Theme Workouts, the turf, and Christmas lights. Fringe athletes are responsible for Beast Modes and workout records and National Championships and Athlete of the Summer awards. The core people are boring, just the way I like them. Fringe people add juuuuust enough of their own flavor to make this place what it is. And come to think of it, one of the reasons I think this environment is so good is because all you fringies have to adjust a bit of yourselves to fit in here. Not everyone walking around at school or work is willing to do that but that's what makes great teams great.

You don't have to be the intended audience to find value in something. You don't have to be the intended audience to be part of that group. You just have to know who is and who you are.