"It's got to mean something to you." - JoJo Polk, Owner and Instructor of Core Fitness Studio in Raleigh. Join JoJo and Jessie, Listing Partner, on our newest episode of Making Moves to learn more about JoJo and Core Fitness.
This one of a kind fitness studio welcomes you with open arms. They offer full conditioning, Tabata, strength training, and many other types of upbeat classes to get your heart pumping.
Get to know Core Fitness:
Reach out to The Rachel Kendall Team:
"It's got to mean something to you." - JoJo Polk, Owner and Instructor of Core Fitness Studio in Raleigh. Join JoJo and Jessie, Listing Partner, on our newest episode of Making Moves to learn more about JoJo and Core Fitness.
This one of a kind fitness studio welcomes you with open arms. They offer full conditioning, Tabata, strength training, and many other types of upbeat classes to get your heart pumping.
Get to know Core Fitness:
Reach out to The Rachel Kendall Team:
Hey Triangle lovers. Welcome to Making Moves hosted by The Rachel Kendall Team, where we will explore together the top restaurants, community hotspots and events in our area. Let's make some moves. Hello there, everyone and welcome back to Making Moves by The Rachael Kendall Team. I'm Jessie Hrivnak and I cannot tell you how excited I am for today's guest. For those of you who know anything about the health and wellness community in Raleigh, this guy will be no stranger to you, Joseph Polk, otherwise known as JoJo. Thanks for being here today. Thank you for having me. I'm so jazzed. So I was thinking obviously, as we had you scheduled when we first met you remember? You don't? I mean, I kind of do. It's okay. I won't I won't test you. But it was at Seaboard. Yes. When Seaboard Fitness was literally the only gym in downtown Raleigh, right. And for those of you who don't know JoJo, one of the coolest things that is always memorable about him is like, you've got the energy, I would walk into that gym after a long day and your smiling face would be there. And like, you know, you made me want to work out. So we're really excited to have you here today. So tell us a little bit about you. What's your what's your story? How did you end up in Raleigh? And how do you end up in the fitness world? Oh, wow. Well, I used to be a professional football player played arena football. And I actually broke my neck and was paralyzed from the waist down. And that's the crazy story. And it's so so we'll shorten it up to say, I made a great recovery, something that can only be looked at as a miracle. But when I came back, I was training my teammates and things like that, as I was still playing. So when I got done playing football, it just seemed like a natural move. So but the reason why I'm in Raleigh, though, is because of my wife. We met during that time, but I wasn't I didn't have a set home. So I asked her Hey, mind if I move to North Carolina? She had a home? I was hoping, right? right. And luckily she did. And here I am in Raleigh. I love that. Well, I don't want to focus too much on the story of your injury. But, you know, one of the things I mentioned was you do just have such a great energy and tell me about your mindset after the injury occurred. Like I would say maybe in the you know, the couple of days after when you knew I was paralyzed, probably one of the most scarier times. Talk to me about where your mind was then. Um, well, my mind went to a little bit of a dark place then because I was told I'd never walk again. So all the hopes and dreams that I had before had to change. And so I cried, of course. But like he said, I've always just kind of had a different attitude when it came to things like that. So I just started to think positively and I was thinking, maybe I can go to the Olympics now. You know, anything like that, but just I just knew all in all, that I could lose myself physically, but I couldn't lose myself mentally. So I just tried to stay mentally strong, mentally positive, and have fun with it. I know that sounds crazy. But just the choice did you have, right? I mean, there you are, you could either succumb to it or make something out of it. Exactly. And then basically, it came down to, you know, your body. You know, I know that sounds crazy, but just even you, you know your body more than doctors do. So I knew. And this is a great thing about sports, too. I knew that what pain was and what injury was. And so even when I started to get feeling back in my legs, I would go in and out of paralysis, and they didn't know which way I was gonna go, but I knew you did. Hurt and at least I was feeling something when I was going through that rehab process, and I'd rather feel the pain than nothing at all. Your body was talking to you. Right? Yeah. So it was like, I just needed to find out what was on the other side of that pain. So that's, that's so cool. So talking about the health and wellness community in the triangle. And you started core fitness, right? How many years ago? Oh, wow. I've been there seven years now. Okay. Yeah. So talk to me about what your vision was is, you know what, what makes it a special place and what did you set out to achieve by by putting out your own gym? Oh my goodness. I'm I've You know, coming from where I came from being a trainer, and seeing kind of how that that plays out and how much respect we don't get as a trainer eight. That's kind of what made me want to become an owner, I actually got lucky. And Katherine Williams was the owner of core and I partnered with her at the beginning, okay. And when she brought me on, I was nervous, because, of course, I've never ran anything before. But it kind of came naturally. Because my goal was to treat people, right cheap, rigorous back kindness, build a community, build a family, because people say, Oh, we're all family. But when you come to our gym, you just feel it. You don't have to say it, you just come in, and you're like, wow, these people like each other. And that's the difference between a gym and a community, right? I mean, about a place where you build relationships with people, which is, I know, it's a huge focus for our company, too, is that it's all about the relationships that you build that get people coming back, right? So and that's the thing. It's like, you just when I came in, I just wanted to build that atmosphere, because it's all about not only the people, but your employee. So I needed to find a team that felt the same way I did. It was about the people first. And if you do that, then everything else will come, you know. And I have a phenomenal team now. And they, I mean, I couldn't ask for a better team. And so we kind of work on the same wavelength, we have the same energy. I mean, of course, we all have different levels, but it's just all fits together. And I couldn't ask for like, a better like situation. Now from where I started. I'm just like, This is what I wanted. But wow, it actually happened I got was actually I mean, JoJo, not to point out the obvious parallel, but the story we just talked about with your injury. And now with your jet, you have a way of figuring out how to just get there, right? So okay, for someone like myself, working out with a personal trainer is intimidating. I mean, because let's be honest, if I'm going to go work out with a personal trainer, it's because I've got goals to achieve. And I'm looking at that personal trainer, and I'm saying you've achieved them tell me how to get there. So for someone who is maybe thinking about working with somebody one on one, or working in a, you know, kind of a group training atmosphere, what's what's one thing that you would share from a trainers perspective to keep in mind, I'm gonna, I'm gonna, like probably change the narrative here, because I'm just gonna speak from our side. And basically, we we want to know more than just your goals, we want to know more than just why you want to get in shape. We want to know what's going on at home, we want to know like, what makes you happy? What makes you sad? Like, because it's all about your mental more so than your physical. And if I can't tap into your mental If I can't, like get to a point of where's the problem sustaining from you know, right, then we'll never get to our goals. So we always start with short land. Yeah, right. short lived. Yeah, right. And so we always start with, like, finding out who the person is, and why they came to us in the first place, things like that. And then we get into the, alright, if these are your goals, separate them and let's go one at a time. And let's start knocking them out one at a time. And it's been a process that's worked for us. And I feel like it works because we like I said, first of all care about the person first. And once you start to change yourself as a whole, not just, Oh, I gotta get a six pack abs, which I do. But you start to realize that, oh, it all works together. And it just trickles over into your everyday life. Because for us it like you said being with a trainer can be intimidating. Well, that's our goal is to try and make it as the least amount of intimidating as we can make it and so basically what we're trying to do is make sure that when you come to the gym, you want to be there not Oh, I have to work. That's a horrible thing. Yeah, well, it's I mean, I'd be lying if there weren't some times where I'm like, Riley today, but then it's it's so funny. So I I'm big into yoga. Yeah. And I can't tell you how many times I've said to myself, I do not want to get up and go to yoga. And those are the days that you need it the most. So you're absolutely right. And that there's it is its mind heart body soul connection, right? Like you got to get everything healthy for it to be sustainable. I mean, it should become your sanctuary, not your torment, if you will. And so basically, what I want you to do is when you have those days, like oh my god that's my goal. Like okay, but he'll be there he'll push me through it. You remember that little angel on their shoulder right saying, No, you're gonna show up today. I wasn't gonna say it, but I'm glad you did. So let's talk about just the health and wellness community as a whole and the triangle because I think it is something really it's, it's, it's really cool, it's evolved, again, going back to that first memory of like seaboard fitness being the only one downtown and now it's not just about, you see a lot of businesses working together. And whether it's a gym or a studio or an independent, like, there's really this community around health and wellness. And you've really played a big part in that. What, what's kind of been your mission in terms of the impact on the community as a whole, maybe not just outside, or just not just from a business perspective? Well, for me, I feel like core is not four walls. Basically. If you are going to be part of rally you gotta you got to expand those those walls. And so for us that my main focus was just meeting the people around me. And so I remember when bar three moved in, I went and I was like, hey, Tori. Is this to go to a bar class? I did? Do. Y'all be kicking my butt? Things are for me those Club was like, I should go to ballet. Right? No, I so it's so funny. And it's so amazing. Like, there's so many great workouts that you can get in Raleigh now. And it's just what's your preference? And what do you need? And, and the thing about me is, I wanted to involve myself with everybody around. So if someone came to Corps, and they were like, Ah, this doesn't work, I'll be like, well, you should try this just to try it out. You should, um, I've never been a person and be like, Oh, we're against each other. I'm not sharing my people. Because first of all, I don't have people. We all none of these people, right? So the cool thing is, I can be like, well, you know, have you ever thought about barcodes you and I, as I'm training somebody, I also figure out what they seem to need. And if it's not us, I can direct them in the right direction, whether it be a metabolic or whether it be a heat, or you know, your combination, or combination. You tried to get me to do one workout on a long period of time I am having margaritas. I mean, go to yoga, you know, go to Indigo, you know, all these places, core power, you know, there's all these places around. So as far as the fitness and how it's grown, it's just it's expanded to where it's for everybody. And like you said, you can do a combination, or you can maybe sometimes find it all in one place. Well, and and you know, going back to your you talking about core and its community, when you do that for other businesses, it's a trickle down effect, right? Because they start doing it for you. Yeah, right. That's the whole and that. And that's what forums this this place of it's not we're we're really working together to create this healthy community versus it just driving revenue in business. Right, exactly. Well, I mean, once you create that, isn't it automatically going to create revenue? Like, yeah, if you start to build that platform, and, and people just start coming, then that's what builds the revenue? So it's all about I mean, it's, I feel like you should never be scared of who you are, I guess is how I would say it. Because if you believe in what you do, what you present to everybody and what you represent as the community back there, why would you be nervous about anything? Yeah. Why would you want to be anybody else? How in the world do you stay so motivated? I mean, you aren't like you you're out there and you're happy and like I said, you know, that energy and that push, you know, and and you've had some trials and tribulations in your life, how do you how do you stay just so positive focused, I mean, I meet people like you that I know that and that's that's still remember me years and years, I mean, that I mean, seriously, that is motivation in itself, because I don't know how much the consumer or the member or knows that we feed off of them to and that energy that they have, whether it be negative or positive, can help or hurt us as well. So it's just feeding off the people around me and surrounding myself with good people. Yeah. And so I have a good peer base. I you know, like I said, I introduce myself to the community and like really reach out to businesses that I care about and things that I care about and like you know, whether it be third place the coffee shop, oh, you know, or that place Yeah, I know. Right. I used to go there in high school and get the Italian so to see this is what I was talking about going down squirrels. Okay. Well, and it's funny you say that because really, I feel like in any no matter what you're doing, whether you are selling real estate, whether you are operating a you know, a gym, when your focus is to have an impact on somebody, it's really easy to be motivated. Right? Because we all make a difference. Yeah, I posted the other day. It was just fun. quote, and then just said, I think life excites me. And honestly, when I saw it, I was like, it's kind of corny. I wake up in the morning, and I'm like, you know, what are we gonna do? That so and it's just, I mean, it's fun, you know, because you you never really know what the day will bring no matter what kind of schedule you have, or, you know, what kind of houses you guys are showing here. You know, you never know what day is actually going to hold. And I think that in itself is kind of exciting. And that's what kind of keeps me going, I guess. Love it here. The Oh, no. Tell me about is it light my candle or light your candle? Oh, I like my light my candle. So for those of you who are wondering, What the heck is she talking about? On Joe Joe's social media, I started seeing some posts at the end that said, light my candle? How did that start? What does it mean? It just goes back a little ways. But as I say, lighting my candle because it started with the George Floyd case, believe it or not. And it was very close to my heart because I was abused by a policeman at 15 years old. And it was a very, very similar story. Luckily, I didn't end up on the wrong side of that. And I'm still here, but it brought me to a place I hadn't been to in almost 30 years, you know, and it just, I've always done stuff in the community have always made sure that you know, fight for social justice, all that but I just felt like, you know what, this time I got to do more like I got to be out there more I got to be heard. And so we did nine days lighting our candle at nine o'clock for George Floyd for the nine minutes. And I just once it was over, I was like, No, I'm never gonna handle Yeah, I'm never gonna stop lighting my candles. So I'm gonna I'm gonna shine a light. Because I think what happens is we hear terrible things. The first thing we do is look for the bad, right? Yeah, look for what's wrong. And everybody's angry. Somebody's got is not being someone's got to open their eyes and see it from a different perspective, someone's got to shine a light on it. So that we change the narrative if we don't just go out and do the same things over and over and in back in the same place. And so that's where I came with it. And next thing I know, it just kind of took off. So I've been liking my candle. Yeah, ever since last what April had other people like? I mean, that's the thing too, just watching people join in and be like, Oh, I did my candle today Jojo. Like, I mean, they were looking for a leader, right? They were looking for someone to show them how to make a change. And and I love that you you mentioned the, you know, you can look for the good you can look for the bad eye when you have a choice, right? And that's that's the that's the mental piece of I can hang out in the bad or man I can I can I can find some sort of good, what choice do I have? Right? That's the thing. It's like, at the end of the day? Well, it's like I always tell my clients like, please do not have a bad day. Like, you're gonna have that choice. Like, and it might be terrible moments like you might break your neck and be paralyzed from the waist down. Like it might happen. But you dictate whether you end today that way, like even with my broken neck and I cried and I'm tearing up at the end of the day before I went to sleep. I was making the nurses laugh in my room and I'm like, I'm like, do I look sexy? Jojo but it's just I mean, but even in my darkest moment, like well, I don't you know, I don't look at that as my darkest moment anymore. When my wife when my wife was in hospital, that was my darkest moment now but, um, but it's just, you find a way like you just and and it sounds funny and it sounds like I say corny is the word I use because I feel like I am corny and I'm fine with that. I'll totally go. But it is hard sometimes because sometimes there really isn't much light there's not much it's a decision why I changed the name of it that's why you light the candle there's not always going to be light right but you have to bring your own light sometimes to the to the party, so I fell on that I love that. There we go. Let's have some fun with some wrap up questions. I mean, this whole thing has been fun but what's your favorite treat yourself meal? Wow. I'm a trainer some schools say something. Yeah, yeah. Anyway. No, honestly the family loves Outback and so we do I love their their wings. Okay, so good. And then she's, oh my gosh, their cheese fries. What is in their ranch that makes it I mean it is just I didn't mean that doesn't feel like just Yes. Amen to so good. So yeah, that's our treatment. So after we've talked about ranch and cheese fries and chicken wings, what is one thing that you feel everybody should incorporate into their health and wellness world that has nothing to do with fitness or nutrition? So, time? I know that sounds funny, but let me explain what I mean by that. You need to have at least three minutes, five minutes, 10 minutes of YUTAN. Like, what no matter Yeah, no matter what, whether it's just taking time to breathe, whether it's just sitting in your car for a second, whether it's reading a book, or we have our sat in our driveway to hear the end of that song before we walk into our homes and meet the chaos, right? Yes, I mean, that's, I would say that time is, it's so rare, it's so just special right now, especially in these times, you know, so you just got to find some time for yourself. Like I said, it doesn't even have to be long, I'm telling you, you just take five minutes, it feels like five hours because you're like, alright, because you do it very right. And get reset, you just kind of reset. I don't remember the author of this book. But there's a book out there called 168 hours. And it talks about how there's 168 hours in a week, right? And how we all run around saying how busy we are, how busy we are. But when you really break down those hours, how much time we waste on things that are not important to us. Right? Guilty. Could be something like this awesome pocket, automatic squirrel and getting lost. I mean, we're not gonna go down that rabbit hole because I'm one of those people. Okay, so if you are talking to the people that live in Raleigh, what is one thing that you would say? I want you to remember how special this is about our city? I wouldn't be our community. It's just it. Raleigh is a different city. Is it? It's like a quiet storm, if you will. Right. There's, it's like, there's always nothing going on. But everything going on? Yeah, I mean, so and that's what I love about it's just like, you can always find something to do, you can always find something that's out there, whether it be at camp or at Raleigh, you know, art studio or whatever. Like, there's always just something special going on in Raleigh. And don't forget your specialty, right and explore your setting. I like to call it like asleep or city, right? Like, we've kind of I feel like we've flown under the radar for in terms of like a large metropolitan city. But let me tell you, I went to high school and I went to college here and I left and I was like, get me back. That place is amazing. And I'm never leaving again. Okay, and what about the people who are researching this area? Thinking about moving here? Can't be the same answer can't be anything to do with like infrastructure or economic growth or real estate. Like, what is one thing that you would say you've got to know this about Raleigh? What you got to know about rally is that you can never dictate the weather. So different if you don't want it to be too cold? It probably won't be. It probably won't be in the same 24 hours. Yes, yes. It could go from 70 to 30, in a matter of hours. So I think that's, it's crazy, but it is kind of a fun, but hey, you can drive to the beach, or you can drive to the mountains. Just roll with it. Yes. If there was one word, one adjective to describe the impact that you want to leave on Raleigh as a whole, what would it be? one word or one phrase? I mean, I said, we're feeling like you want to tell me a phrase, a phrase, I'll give you a phrase, okay? For me, it's, it's got to mean something to you. That's, it's my phrase, I patented it and trademarked it. But no matter what you're doing, no matter where you are, what you're going to embark in over your lifetime. If it doesn't mean anything to you, does it really matter? Or are you going to sustain it, you know, so, that's our saying in our gym, you know, it's gotta mean something to you. Love it. It has been so fun to see you. And such a pleasure to talk to you. And we're just really thankful that you were here to share your story and just share your light and share everything that you're doing for really Raleigh as a community and all of us to stay healthy and well, both mentally, mentally and physically and JoJo. Thanks for being here. Thanks for having me. Take care. Thanks. Thank you for joining us on this episode of Making Moves. We want to deliver the highlights of the Triangle that you want to hear. Let us know your feedback, comment on our social media like and of course subscribe to continue and discover why we love where we live until next time with making moves hosted by The Rachel Kendall Team.