The Ultimate WOD: Leaving Adidas, Embracing Fatherhood & Building His Fitness Dream

Phillip Stucki: family is not a reason that you fall off, they're a reason that you level up. they should be the motivator to get in the gym, to set a good example,

Carmen: Hey everyone, this is Carmen Durver and I will be hosting today's episode of Behind the Founders. Joining me here today is Philip Stucki. Philip, welcome. Can you introduce yourself?

Phillip Stucki: Yeah, hey Carmen. Thank you so much for the invite. I'm super excited to be here. yeah, my name is Phil Pstucki. I am the face behind FitDad Phil on Instagram. been in the fitness space for over fifteen years and I've had the pleasure of building up that business over the past ten or so years and yeah, excited to to share my journey.

Carmen: Great, awesome. Thank you so much for the lovely introduction. And I'm also super excited to, of course, jump into the discussion to get a little bit of an understanding, background, and of course a story and journey of how you have gotten involved in fitness and everything like that. So before you started officially launching Proving Grounds, could you walk us through what was life like before? What made you decide to transition from the corporate world into your own business

Phillip Stucki: Yeah, it's a great question. I think the the story really begins in my in my childhood. Growing up, I was never really into fitness. in fact I got picked on quite a bit for being chubby and overweight. And that really stayed with me for a long time. And when I was eighteen I joined the the National Guard and had to go to boot camp and everything and realized like, man, I actually need to to get in shape and pass these PT tests. and that was really my first time stepping into the gym then. I was to to get ready for that. And I fell in love with it so quickly. I there here was this thing that allowed me to change the way I felt about myself, the way I looked, the way other people treated me. And it just became a deep, deep passion of mine to to share that with others. So I became certified as a personal trainer. I got into coaching CrossFit. All still while in university. And that that then remained a kind of a side hustle for many years. I as you mentioned, I went and worked at Adidas for for 10 years at their headquarters in Germany. And on nights and weekends, I would write training programs and I would coach CrossFit classes. And that's that's the period when Proving Grounds and that Instagram page was born. And at the time I really had no like clear vision for what it would become, it was just me sharing. this thing that I was passionate about. and along the way I realized like, hey, people actually like what I'm creating here. and it just kept growing and growing. And then about a year ago I had the chance to to step into this full time and

Carmen: Mm-hmm.

Phillip Stucki: took that took that leap of faith and it's been been going great.

Carmen: Yeah, awesome. And what made you decide to transition into this full time?

Phillip Stucki: Yeah, so along along the way, like I said, it it kind of grew and evolved over time. there was never really a a vision at the outset where I was like, This is exactly what I wanted to be, but rather like started very organically, like me sharing

Carmen: huh.

Phillip Stucki: just some workouts that I was doing and people were following that and I realized like, okay, maybe there's a there's a demand here. let me let me test this out. I launched a a small training program. That got a few subscribers and it kept building up. And maybe two years ago or so, I looked at I looked at my partner Kelly and I was like, you know, I I think there's something here. but I'm like really scared to to bet the farm on it. Like I don't want risk the the family's income and and just me quit

Carmen: Yes.

Phillip Stucki: and and go for it and then fall on my face. but it it was just something that was I was deeply passionate about. And the the evidence that it could become something that would grow into a good business was there. And then it was just a matter of timing. Adidas came with with an offer where we could relocate back to America, where we would get a good

Carmen: Okay.

Phillip Stucki: severance package. And it was like, okay, here's a here's a basically a runway for a year where I can

Carmen: Mm-hmm.

Phillip Stucki: take and and invest into building this business up. And if it takes a little bit longer, then that's okay because financially we're set.

Carmen: Mm-hmm.

Phillip Stucki: and it was just like a it was a God thing, really. Like I he I remember talking to Kelly very specifically, this was around January of last year, and I said, I I I need a sign as to whether I should jump off the ledge. Right. She was like, okay,

Carmen: Okay.

Phillip Stucki: then then pray for a sign. And I'm not like one who's super into signs in that in that literal sense.

Carmen: Mm-hmm.

Phillip Stucki: but I I prayed and I was like, God, if if this is meant to be like let me know, but let me know definitively. I don't want like a hmm, was that it? Like it's gotta

Carmen: Yeah.

Phillip Stucki: be a trumpets blaring kind of thing.

Carmen: Mm-hmm. Really obvious signs, yeah. Yeah.

Phillip Stucki: Yeah, exactly. And then a few months later, Adidas announced, hey, we have this intent to to downsize in in Hadso at their at their headquarters. If you're interested in potentially leaving the company for some kind of a a severance deal, let us know. Right.

Carmen: Mm-hmm.

Phillip Stucki: And I had those conversations and was like, hey, this is the sign. and yeah, so it it all just kind of worked out in a in a way that allowed me to take that step confidently. without feeling like I was putting the family in jeopardy.

Carmen: Yeah, yeah. No, that's definitely interesting to hear a little bit about the backstory that in a way it was a clear sign that, you know what, it's kind of like the opportunity for you to venture into something new while they also provided this severance package for you to use as an opportunity to be, of course, financially covered, considering the fact that, you know, also have, you know, like a family you need to feed and of course use all some of that as a way to invest and build your own thing, which is of course really exciting as well. And I can imagine as you mentioned, everything grows organically in terms of the content, getting all the different clients, the demand. I have quite a few questions. I don't even know where to start. I guess my first question would be when you started completely full time, what kind of challenges did you face at the beginning?

Phillip Stucki: Yeah. So a big thing, especially coming from the corporate side, is all of a sudden you are totally in control of your own schedule, right? Whereas before you would show up and you would have meetings and your day was kind of like planned out for you, right? And you had a boss who kind of gave you a structure for what to do. now as a a solo entrepreneur where you're responsible for everything from marketing to sales to delivery client complaints like everything A to Z. you have full discretion as to where to spend your time, which on the one hand is extremely exciting, right? But at the same time requires an insane amount of discipline to

Carmen: Mm-hmm.

Phillip Stucki: make sure you're focused on the areas that really will move the needle forward. so that was or continues to be something that I I really work hard at. and I've just put a few few systems in place, continuing to use my calendar as the source of truth for where I need to be spending my time.

Carmen: Mm-hmm.

Phillip Stucki: time boxing certain things, little tricks like that really help a lot. but that's a that's an ongoing challenge for sure.

Carmen: Mm-hmm. Yeah, definitely for sure. I can imagine that it is something that's ongoing where you consistently have to find efficient systems, processes to of course optimize everything like that. okay. And in terms of like when you mentioned there's a demand, so from the interactions that you've had with clients coming to you, what would you say is the most common How do I put it? for lack of a better word, the most common goal that they're that they would like to have, you know, from client to you as a personal trainer, like what would you say is like a common goal that they're trying to achieve?

Phillip Stucki: Yeah. So I focus primarily on people who are already in the gym, right? CrossFit or HyROX athletes, they tend

Carmen: Okay. Mm-hmm.

Phillip Stucki: to be very motivated. They they don't have a hard time showing up. Right. So I'm not I'm not really I'm

Carmen: Yeah. Yeah, but this applied as well, yeah.

Phillip Stucki: not really there to say like, hey, you need to go to the gym today. Right. For

Carmen: Yeah.

Phillip Stucki: me, it's more about how do we how do we optimize the effort that they're already putting in? Right. So there's

Carmen: Mm-hmm.

Phillip Stucki: typically a few things that that they struggle with. One is maybe they've Been working really hard, but they're just not seeing the results that they expected, right? So they're maybe experiencing a plateau. a lot of people, especially within the CrossFit space, have suffered injuries because they maybe weren't coached properly or their intensity was too high, or they didn't ramp up properly. So that's that's a whole nother area. And then

Carmen: Yeah.

Phillip Stucki: lastly, Because people in that space tend to enjoy the training a lot, but they often neglect the nutrition side of things, which is such

Carmen: Mm.

Phillip Stucki: a big, big area when it comes to achieving your your fitness goals, whether those are performance or aesthetics. and that would be the third part, right? Is people who are already training

Carmen: Okay.

Phillip Stucki: hard, but they just don't really feel like they look the part,

Carmen: Mm.

Phillip Stucki: and helping them bridge that gap.

Carmen: Okay, so basically your focus would be already experienced, crossfitters, people who are already going to the gym. do you focus on any other I don't know, like target groups or clients or everything like that?

Phillip Stucki: Yeah, I I don't I don't pigeonhole myself to CrossFit or HyROX or a specific training methodology, right? but it is it is mostly on people who are already putting in some work and

Carmen: Okay.

Phillip Stucki: really wanna break through to that next level.

Carmen: Mm-hmm. Okay. Yeah. One of the reasons why I'm asking is because obviously I've had the chance to have a look at the page, what you've been working on. And I think what I find extremely inspiring is the fact that, you know, already alone on the the IG, your Instagram account name, it's like fit dadfill. So for me, when I think about it, I'm thinking about okay, you're also helping people who are, let's say, who are becoming parents, they probably don't have time. And I've also seen a lot of, I've heard a lot of talk or I've seen a lot of people saying, Yeah, once you become parents, you don't have time to take care of yourself. You have like a dad bot, you have this bot. So I just love to know your thoughts around that because I feel like just seeing your page alone, it's really inspiring how you're able to balance your time for yourself, for your family, for your kids, and also working on your business as well.

Phillip Stucki: Yeah, yeah. It's a it's a great observation. So one one thing that I I deeply believe is that family is not a reason that you fall off, they're a reason that you level up. Right. So they should be the motivator to get in the gym, to set a good example, to put good food on the table. if you're saying, Well, I can't because I gotta get the kids up, or I can't because I'm tired at the end of the day from taking care of the kids. the first thing I would start with from a coaching perspective would be a reframe, right? That is

Carmen: Mm-hmm.

Phillip Stucki: we need to we need to change the mindset going into this because those are actually reasons you should be showing up in the gym. You should be eating well. So that when you're 70 years old, that you still have the capacity to play with your grandchildren and

Carmen: Yes.

Phillip Stucki: and aren't stuck in in the lazy boy just watching from a distance.

Carmen: Mm-hmm. Yeah, of course. That'll definitely be a shame as well, because obviously you want to be able to not pour out of an empty cup as well. And I've often seen a lot of I think I once came across, I saw this quote where they said something about like, yeah. Parents would say they would they would die for their children, they would give up so much for their children, but what about living for their children, right? What about being the best version so that you can inspire them, be like, you know what? They're not the reason that they are losing themselves or that they're neglecting their own, their needs and everything in the process.

Phillip Stucki: Hundred percent.

Carmen: Yeah, definitely for sure. Okay, so tell me a little bit more about like how many clients do you work with? What does your day look like day to day? What what what do you usually do during the day?

Phillip Stucki: Yeah. So right now I've I've focused on a schedule that allows me to like really focus on a specific task at one time, right? So for example, my week is structured as Monday, Tuesdays are almost exclusively dedicated to client check-ins, where I'll check in on how clients are progressing, making sure that they're on track and if we need

Carmen: Yeah.

Phillip Stucki: to make any adjustments coming up. Wednesdays are dedicated to content creation, Thursdays are for programming future days and then Fridays tend to be a bit of a flex day. So if anything of falls

Carmen: Mm-hmm.

Phillip Stucki: off throughout the week, then it gets addressed then. that kind of minimizes task switching and allows me to really in this case batch create content or batch create programming

Carmen: No

Phillip Stucki: without having to just put on too many different hats all at once. So that's that's kind of the the routine I've settled into over the past couple months and it's been working really well

Carmen: Okay, that's great. And where do you get your how do you get the clients?

Phillip Stucki: Yeah, the the marketing system is is pretty simple, right? So it's all via Instagram. That's the the main

Carmen: Okay.

Phillip Stucki: marketing engine. basically I create content that focuses around value-proof connection, right? So delivering value through the content that I create so that people could ideally even get results without ever paying me.

Carmen: Mm-hmm.

Phillip Stucki: showing proof testimonials where people can see like, this guy actually knows what he's doing. He's helping people.

Carmen: Yeah, as a result. Yeah. Mm-hmm.

Phillip Stucki: get get in better shape. and then connection content, which is just me sharing bits about my life, about being a dad, balancing fitness and family and yeah, exactly helping

Carmen: Course. The personal end. Yeah, okay.

Phillip Stucki: people realize like, this is this is achievable.

Carmen: Okay, yeah, and it can be done, of course. So I'd be curious to know, so let's just say if I'm your client and I come to you, what would be the process like? Would it be like a discovery call to understand, okay, personalize a plan, and then you offer different types of programs, how does it actually work?

Phillip Stucki: Yeah, exactly. So when someone reaches out and they say, Hey, I'm interested in in taking the next step on my fitness journey, we would have a discovery call where I try to understand where are you at right now, where are you trying to go, and am I even the right guy to help get you there? at the end of that call, I would give some value in terms of like this is what I see as as your next steps. and then map out a game plan for them saying okay, if we

Carmen: Okay.

Phillip Stucki: were to work together, this is what it would look like. and then put together a couple different options in terms of of packages. if that's a that's a good call and they want to keep going, then we would basically start working together. I'd put together some a small onboarding package for them. and roughly a week later we would already get started. All right. And then we talk about okay, what is our our training program look like? What is could nutrition look like within the context of your life specifically, right? Which matters dramatically, right? It's very different to

Carmen: Yeah.

Phillip Stucki: talk about nutrition for somebody someone who's got three kids that they also need to feed, or someone who's who's single and has complete control of of their time and their

Carmen: Mm-hmm.

Phillip Stucki: schedule. And so all of that is completely personalized to to the client. And then we would also have weekly check-ins where I go over, hey, how was the past week? How can we improve this next week? What is the focus area for you? and

Carmen: Mm-hmm.

Phillip Stucki: and how can I help you along?

Carmen: Okay, very nice. So it's really down to individual goals. And then of course you're gonna personalize a plan that's aligned in terms of like a workout program as well as the nutrition aspect as well. So how many clients do you currently have ongoing at the moment?

Phillip Stucki: Yeah. So on my one on one coaching, which is the main focus for me right now, I have about thirty clients that I work with on a daily basis.

Carmen: Okay. Okay. Great. Nice. And obviously, just wanted to go back to a little bit about your, you know, your day-to-day schedule. You know, you mentioned that you create content batch, and of course, you do some discovery calls, client check-ins. do you have a second set of hands or somebody supporting you to make all of this possible to in terms of efficiency and everything like that.

Phillip Stucki: Yeah. So I do have a appointment setter who's helping out

Carmen: Okay.

Phillip Stucki: handle DM conversations. So when people reach out,

Carmen: Really?

Phillip Stucki: she's helping out with some of the the early parts of the conversation. and then at a certain point I'll I'll jump in and kind of take that over. but besides that, the the rest, everything you see in terms of content creation,

Carmen: Yeah.

Phillip Stucki: in terms of program delivery, everything is is just me.

Carmen: Okay, okay. And tell me a little bit about your collaboration with the appointment setter. How did you find her? How did you hire her? Is she working remotely? yeah, tell the listeners a little bit about that process.

Phillip Stucki: Yeah. Yeah. So she was a a recommendation from a mentor that I'm working with.

Carmen: Okay.

Phillip Stucki: she's based in Mexico. So from a time zone perspective, it's it's a really smooth, smooth alignment.

Carmen: Yeah. Mm-hmm.

Phillip Stucki: and you know one of the one of the big learnings for me was I kind of I took had this initial mindset of, okay, I've delegated the task. Now I'm totally hands off, right? And just like come to me when they're when there are issues.

Carmen: Yep. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. You're free from it, yeah. Mm-hmm.

Phillip Stucki: And I realize that that is maybe not the most effective approach.

Carmen: Yeah.

Phillip Stucki: Right. So over the past few months I've I've really stepped in honestly to be more of a a line manager or a leader or mentor in

Carmen: Mm-hmm.

Phillip Stucki: terms of also taking a look at what's being delivered there and saying, like,

Carmen: Mm-hmm.

Phillip Stucki: okay, here's some opportunities for improvement.

Carmen: Mm-hmm.

Phillip Stucki: so For example, we now have have a weekly connect where we talk about okay, how are things going? where could we improve? and then I'll also send regular feedback when I'm in the DMs myself and I notice

Carmen: Mm-hmm.

Phillip Stucki: okay, this was really good, let's do more of this, or that might not have been the best way to handle that. Let's try try it differently next time.

Carmen: Mm-hmm. Yeah, I think it's definitely quite an interesting learning curve as well because I'm assuming that was also like the first time you worked with somebody virtual offshore, right?

Phillip Stucki: I've had plenty of experience with that at Adidas. I would say most of the

Carmen: Okay.

Phillip Stucki: colleagues were remote in that case. and it was it was a very similar situation at Adidas, right? You would

Carmen: Okay.

Phillip Stucki: have you would have external contractors who were delivering a service, right?

Carmen: that's true. Yeah.

Phillip Stucki: and it wasn't totally hands-off in that case either, right? You would still have to have. Check-ins with them, you'd have to give them feedback on what's going well and what needs improvement. so to be honest, it was a bit naive of me to think like, okay, task delegated, I can kind of like turn that off in my brain.

Carmen: Yeah.

Phillip Stucki: but yeah, it since having gotten more active in it, I've also seen the the benefits of of being more.

Carmen: Yeah, yeah. I can imagine as well. And I think also because the difference between working with remote colleagues in Adidas versus now is that of course this is your own business up and running. And of course there is a little bit more responsibility in sh in terms of ensuring that they are aligned with exactly like the needs and the requirements and everything like that. So obviously I have had different conversations with different business founders, especially when they are looking to scale, grow the operational aspect. And perhaps they might be considering to hire VAs or remote offshore support. could you share with the listeners out there a little bit about your experience in terms of I would say the benefits of working with a VA?

Phillip Stucki: Yeah. so for me at every every milestone you kind of need to reassess how you're how you're operating in the business, right? for me, having 10 clients was very different from having 20, different from having 30 and and a few more clients, it'll be different again.

Carmen: Yeah, hundred percent.

Phillip Stucki: which will determine where I need to to focus my time and my efforts. The the first thing I look at is what are things that I can I can reasonably delegate, right? and what are things that are absolutely essential for me to do, right? So for example,

Carmen: Mm-hmm.

Phillip Stucki: operating a a personal brand, I can't delegate the the content creation piece, right? That is

Carmen: Okay.

Phillip Stucki: if I'm not behind the camera, or in front of the camera, Then we have we have a problem, right? So that that's something that will need to stay with me for a very long time. there are other pieces like the DM conversations where I can hand that off a little bit more easily, right? So that would be the first question is just

Carmen: Good morning.

Phillip Stucki: assessing realistically what pieces can be can be handed off and delegated effectively.

Carmen: Mm-hmm.

Phillip Stucki: The the next question to me is do I do I need a VA? Or is this just maybe

Carmen: Mm-hmm.

Phillip Stucki: something where A different operating model could be more effective. Right. So exactly.

Carmen: Yeah, you can automate it.

Phillip Stucki: So for example, I'm now at a point where my client check-ins take a tremendous amount of time to read through all the training programs, all the nutrition logs, all the the questions that are submitted. Right. and I was considering at first, okay, maybe I'll bring in an assistant coach who will help kind of do

Carmen: Okay.

Phillip Stucki: some of the processing at first. and then I'll review that and then I'll get the the clients the ultimate feedback. but what I'm actually experimenting with now is is using Chat GPT to basically go

Carmen: Mm-hmm.

Phillip Stucki: into the systems where all that data sits, right? The training logs, nutrition logs, et cetera, do some of that processing for me and then give me kind of a synthesized overview of like, okay, this is how this client is doing, these are the attention points they need. so rather than me looking at a bunch of unstructured information, it's already been kind of neatly organized for me. And I

Carmen: Mm.

Phillip Stucki: found that that's been really effective. So I I don't necessarily need to bring somebody else in in that case, right? but again, that's a that's a decision you'll need to do based on the specifics of the activities you're trying to to optimize or or outsource.

Carmen: Mm-hmm. Yeah, that definitely makes sense as well. It's always the question about what what could be automated, what could be handed off as well. So looking at right now, especially when you have, you know, growing number of clients, is there any aspects of your business where you're like, okay, I'm still doing all of this manually. If I could hand it over to this person, what would that look like?

Phillip Stucki: Yeah, so I think the most likely the next step for me will be to to hand off some of the video editing and post processing. again, that's something that I'm I'm doing completely myself right now. So if you see a video, I script it, I film it, I edit it, yeah, it's all me.

Carmen: All done by you. Yeah.

Phillip Stucki: and I think the once it's been scripted and filmed, that's something that I could potentially hand off to a video

Carmen: Mm-hmm.

Phillip Stucki: editor. who then handles that work and and sends me back the video twenty-four hours later.

Carmen: Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Phillip Stucki: That's gonna r require me to also level up a little bit in terms of how I how I prepare that information. Cause right now I'll I'll just make ad hoc adjustments as I as I create because I do kind of enjoy the creative process there. But

Carmen: Course, of course.

Phillip Stucki: as again, as we bring in new people, the systems need to change. And

Carmen: Course I can't. Yeah.

Phillip Stucki: Yeah, would need to be a little bit more structured of in terms of how I plan the content so that they have the vision for what the the piece should look like before it's fully fleshed out.

Carmen: Mm-hmm. Yeah. No, that makes that makes sense as well. as your business grows, a lot of different systems processes obviously need to be adjusted and adapted and everything like that. Okay. so just one final question that I do like to ask to every single one of my podcast guests coming in. if there was one advice or maybe you have several that you would like to pass on to the listeners out there considering to start their own entrepreneurship journey or business, what would it be?

Phillip Stucki: it would be you really gotta care. You really gotta care and you really gotta want it. I'm working more now than I ever did at Adidas. Basically I'm waking up at

Carmen: Okay.

Phillip Stucki: four thirty, I'm going to bed at nine, and every moment that I am not with my family, I'm working on the business in some capacity. and don't get me wrong, I I love it and it's it doesn't necessarily feel like work, right? But that's because I deeply care about helping people achieve their goals. And if I didn't, that would be a real grind. Right. So

Carmen: Mm-hmm.

Phillip Stucki: just make sure before you take the leap that you're really passionate about what you're taking the leap for.

Carmen: Great. Thank you so much for the lovely message as well. And I think this is a very powerful reminder for those considering to start something of their own is to really find something that they really hold closer to the heart, that they really care. And that would, of course, get them through all the different hurdles or the challenges, the late nights, the long hours to be able to continuously build and reach the goal of what they want to achieve as well. Well, Philip, thank you so much again for coming on to speak with me and share with the listeners out there what you've been building. we will definitely take a lot of insights from it, both from the business as well as the fitness industry as well. So this is Behind the Founders with Carmen and Philip Stucki. Be sure to stay tuned for the next episode.

Phillip Stucki: Thanks for having me.