Whitney Jones on Being a Woman in a Man's Sport — and Winning It Three Times

Meet Whitney Jones

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome back. So this is Whitney Jones, everybody. And um something really funny that happened was literally as she walked in, I was munching on a Snickers bar asking girl behind the camera for a Celsius, and she was just walking in with her little water. And I was like, oh, in front of the three-time world champ.

unknown 0:22

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 0:23

But you know that's normal and to be expected. So no judgment here. None none at all.

SPEAKER_01 0:28

Well, thank you. Um, okay, so I kind of want to start from the beginning a little bit. So you didn't start like getting really into the competitions until you were like around 30, right? So what really caused that shift? Was there something in your head that was just like, okay, I need to start working out now. I'm getting scared.

SPEAKER_00 0:51

Like, what was it? I was always an athlete growing up. So I love sports. I love anything active. And I'm kind of a daredevil too. So yeah. Wait, did you play any sports like in high school or I did? So I literally, if there was a time, so when I was in high school, you were stuck to certain seasons. You couldn't overlap because I did try to get exceptions to do two sports at a time. But I did cheer, um, which they allowed us in certain seasons because we practiced different times. So I cheered all three years of high school and then ended up joining ASU dance team when I was in college. But then also I did track, I did softball intramurally, um, I did diving, and then before that, it was volleyball, basketball, anything. Like I just loved, I grew up with two older brothers. So I loved sports. Yeah. But then after college and really kind of getting into the real world, it was like, okay, I do what everyone is supposed to do. You get married, you get a full-time job, you have kids, and I was on that path. Yeah. Not really that exciting and not living my life in a way that was like my push. Like I was just kind of doing because that was what you did. That's what everyone I grew up with was doing. That's what my parents did. I ended up going through a divorce and losing

From Athlete To Reinvention

SPEAKER_00 2:10

my mom to cancer in a very short period of time. And since it just kind of threw my life into this complete tornado, yeah, and literally kind of putting me in the depths of, oh my gosh, I just opened up my first business. I had two little boys, I'm going through a divorce, and I lost my best friend. Everything just felt heavy. And so I thought, you know what, this is an opportunity to reinvent myself, reinvent my life, and really just kind of do whatever I want and dream big. Absolutely. And so this was one of the many things that I just started saying yes to. I uh got into competing out of a dare and didn't actually know what I was signing up for. But a guy had said, you could never do it, and I don't know what he was talking about. And I was like, Are you talking to me? Yeah, I could. And so he's like, Well, there's a competition in several months, and I'm like, done.

SPEAKER_01 3:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:06

And then as soon as he walked away, I was like, wait, what am I doing? What did I just sign up for? I knew it was a split. But you've already been like working out at this point. Yeah, I always worked out, not like nothing like this, where then I'm like, I have to get on stage in a bikini and be judged, like what? So um, you know, it's in the bodybuilding world, but I actually, the division I compete in, you don't flex on stage like a bodybuilder. I do the fitness division. So you're judged on your physique, but you have to do a two-minute routine that's choreograph with gymnastics, um, plymetric push-ups, all sorts of strength skills. And my niche was breakdancing that I discovered or chose to go.

SPEAKER_01 3:48

Oh, so this was like, this was like you had a couple months and you were like, okay, this is what I'm gonna do.

SPEAKER_00 3:54

Yes. Well, the the first one I ever did, I actually did what's called the figure division, where it's kind of like a beauty pageant with muscles. So you still don't flex, but with figure, you don't have to do the routine. Yeah. But when I was at the show, I was backstage and I saw these girls in costumes and they were like dancing and having fun. And that's my vibe. So I thought, what division is that? And they're like, Oh, that's the fitness division. They do a choreograph routine. Yeah. And I was like, Well, hell, I didn't know that. So then I decided to do the fitness division. Again, I have no formal training. I was never in gymnastics, I was never a gymnast. I mean, she was like, Sure, you learn some stuff. Yeah. She was kind of going in the right direction. Totally. So that's what I based my background on, and just decided to do it, but still didn't know. Like, there's required moves you have to do. I didn't even know. I just got over there and did a dance routine, and they're like, You've never done this before, right? And I'm like, no. And they're like, come over here, we're gonna tell you. There's certain things you gotta do. But I started learning it, studying it, having fun, and then started doing well and thought, oh my gosh, well, this is kind of fun. I'll keep going. Yeah, it really worked out. It did, it did. I was lucky that I got to choose something, number one, productive, that allowed me to pour my passion into it. And it was fun. I mean, I got to travel all over the world and compete on some of the biggest stages. It was all paid for. I was it was a bunch of us who were all very, very close. So it's like girls' trip every few months to some exotic place in the world, and you get

A Dare That Became Olympia

SPEAKER_00 5:35

to compete and go on a mini vacay with your girlfriend.

SPEAKER_01 5:38

So where was that like shift where it went to kind of just like just like a just for fun thing to like, I'm serious about this? This is like my thing.

SPEAKER_00 5:47

Uh, it was probably year three, because I turned pro my first year, which I didn't even know what that meant. But essentially, it means you can actually make money if you want. Whereas at the amateur level, you you do it for fun. But once you go pro, you can make money. And then Olympia, which is like the Super Bowl of our sport, that's what Arnold Schwarzenegger, he actually won the Olympia. So people put that together. They're like, oh, I got it. Not the Olympics, but Olympia. So I qualified for Olympia and I thought, oh my gosh, like this is huge. And I thought, honestly, I thought this is one and done. But they had to have made a mistake. How the heck? I have no experience. This is I'm late in the game. I'm older than most of the athletes I'm competing against.

SPEAKER_01 6:33

When did you like when did you qualify? Was it just it was three years in?

SPEAKER_00 6:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:38

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 6:38

Yeah. So, but honestly, I think my success in this sport was because I didn't focus on the outcome. Yeah. I truly didn't care. I was having fun with it. I was enjoying the journey and not so focused on the outcome. And I saw so many athletes who they were so stressed and they were putting all this pressure on themselves. And I'm like, you guys don't even look like you're having fun. Like, this is it's a lot of work to be a pro athlete and to put in hours and hours of training and choreography and your diet and like everything. So if you're not having fun, it's like, why are they doing it? The moment I wouldn't have fun, I'm like, I'd be out. But I was loving it.

SPEAKER_01 7:19

I mean, I see people online, and it's like they finish their competition, they eat a cookie and they start crying. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:26

Like, yes, that's a little extreme, in my opinion. Now I do, I have coached athletes for many years, and I'm a show promoter here in Arizona. So I promote three of the big competitions here in town. So I see the good and the bad. And my take on that is, you know, obviously, if you haven't had a treat in a while, of course it's like, oh, this is so good. But if you're restricting too much, that's a dangerous thing because you see people who compete and then a week later they blow up and they are 20, 25 pounds heavier. Oh, yeah. And it's like, oh my gosh. But if that happens, you did something wrong in your prep, and it could have been guidance by a coach. So you got to be careful who is leading you in. And then, of course, you've got to have a plan post show.

SPEAKER_01 8:15

My brother is like really, really into fitness stuff.

SPEAKER_00 8:19

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_01 8:20

And he was going on like this crazy cut where he would literally walk like 30,000 steps, and he would be walking for like five hours a day. And he did that for like a month. And then we went on like a five-day vacation. He came back 19 pounds heavier. What?

SPEAKER_00 8:35

No way.

unknown 8:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:36

Wow. Now he's back on his now.

SPEAKER_01 8:38

He's back on his 35,000 steps every day. I hear him just skittering around all hours of the night.

SPEAKER_00 8:44

Does he like have a job or do anything where he's on his feet a lot?

SPEAKER_01 8:48

No. He literally just does laps around our house. It's kind of fun. He just walks in circles.

SPEAKER_00 8:54

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 8:55

I don't know how he doesn't go crazy. He doesn't have a coach or anything, though. He just does it to himself.

SPEAKER_00 9:00

Well, you know, if he's enjoying it, as long as it's not too extreme, but that probably would be, yeah. That can be. It gets into dangerous territory if you're doing things that are too extreme. And I say that for everything. You know, if it's touching on, uh, this may not be smart, you really gotta think about it. Because you don't ever want to set yourself up for failure if you can't continue something. Like 35,000 steps, how the hell is he gonna continue that for longevity?

SPEAKER_01 9:28

I mean, I think he's always cut and then he's gonna like slowly increase back to maintenance or something.

SPEAKER_00 9:34

Yeah. Well, that at least that's a that's a good strategy. If you're trying to kind of find that maintenance point, you gotta, you can't do like big shift swings. Oh heck no.

SPEAKER_01 9:44

That's what happened on vacation. Okay. Um, okay, but on another note, let's kind of go further into your career. Um, I kind of want to hear about your injury and how you overcame that because that must have been devastating.

SPEAKER_00 9:58

Yeah. Well, so

Competing Without Losing Yourself

SPEAKER_00 10:00

I've had um I've had a lot of injuries. Yeah. I've had 19 surgeries now. Um, my most severe was when I broke my neck. And that actually happened before I ever even won a world championship title. So I say that because never would I have thought I could have come back. You know, that's a career-ending, that is a life-changing injury. But your mindset is literally so powerful. And I know it sounds cliche, but when you don't choose for something to dictate your life or define your life, then you can flip it and make it whatever you want. So obviously it was a tough injury, but I've had plenty. I've torn my ACL, I've had five shoulder injuries, I've broken both elbows. Um, I've had not just my ACL, my MCL, both meniscus, ankles broken, just tons. But every setback is like, all right, well, what am I gonna do during this time that I heal?

SPEAKER_01 10:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:58

So you have two options. You can sit and have a pity party, and soul can be down, or you can find something else to focus on, keep your mind positive, and just redirect your energy and your focus. And so with each massive injury, it's actually taught me something about myself. And with the neck injury, that's where I really settled in on let's see how strong my mind can be. Will I ever be able to get back to stage? Will I ever be the athlete I was before? Am I gonna be capable to do some crazy tricks that I love to do during my performances?

SPEAKER_01 11:33

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:33

And at that point, it was like, well, why not? If I believe it and if I have a strategy and if I do things safely so that I don't re-injure my deck, then let's go for it. And it allowed me to focus on what stages I'm gonna get back to who I wanted to be. And that was kind of it was interesting to have to think out of the box and go, what skills could I do now to come back? Yeah, and you have to, you have to think of unconventional solutions.

SPEAKER_01 12:03

Wait, how did you get all these injuries in the first place? Because that's a lot. That's definitely a lot.

SPEAKER_00 12:09

Yeah. Um, not all of them were focused on me as a fitness athlete. It was growing up and having two older brothers and literally being a daredevil. Because I will try everything. A lot of them were sports, you know. I've had um nine concussions, and it's just I go extreme with stuff. So I would say half of the injuries were due to my athletic career and just trying crazy flips, um, doing breakdancing. There's a lot of insane moves that you try and you don't land them all. Um, a lot of crazy, unconventional flips that I would try. And obviously with injuries, you're you don't come back 100%. So, you know, if it's say a hip injury, well, then sometimes if your hips bothering you, it ends up kind of injuring your knee. So sadly, I wasn't as smart as I was as I am now when I was early in my career, where stretching, recovery, all those things that are boring and you don't want to do, I'd never realized the value of it until literally probably 11 or 12 surgeries in. And I thought I probably better start taking this seriously and making sure I'm warm and then doing what's needed afterwards to recover properly.

SPEAKER_01 13:25

Yeah, well, you coach other people now, right?

SPEAKER_00 13:27

Yeah. So I coach only a couple pro athletes now, um, just because it's been busy with a bunch of different things. It was my full-time career for about 15 years, and so I loved that. But now I just do a handful of my girls who are still competing at Olympia and in the fitness division.

SPEAKER_01 13:47

Yeah, and you try to teach them all the wisdom you've learned from the good and the bad.

SPEAKER_00 13:52

Yes. Don't make the same mistakes I've made.

SPEAKER_01 13:56

Absolutely. Um, what are some of the things you're doing now, actually? Because I know you're getting into some, like you're leading fitness competitions, you have your own businesses, all of that.

SPEAKER_00 14:06

So I do still own um a handful of businesses. So I own WJ Productions. So I have three competitions here: MPC, amateur level bodybuilding competitions. It's the AZ State, um, the Whitney Jones Natural Classic, and then the Whitney Jones Classic. So three shows throughout the year. And I also lead a youth entrepreneurship group called Genius Youth. So it's 50 kids from around um the United States and Canada who all come together who have an entrepreneurial spirit and they're just looking for mentorship, how to start a business, build a business, scale a business, and connect them with others in the industry. So that's um another one I'm a director of that helped kind of pull together. It's only two years in, so it's growing by leaps and bounds. A little too fast, if I'm being honest. Yeah. Um, and then I do a lot of, I have another company called Empowering Legends. So it's concierge business coaching. So it's helping me uh help adult entrepreneurs, not only with like mindset and showing up and speaking, but also on the health and fitness side. So helping them with, you know, if it's they're trying to put on muscle, if they're trying to lose weight, also getting them prepared for events and doing consults on attire. So that's a different business. And then currently now working on launching retreats for women of all ages. So different business retreats for um top CEOs who just need that refresh, that recharge, as well as uh retreats for women who are looking at the health and wellness side. So I've always got my hands in a few different things, but that's what keeps it exciting.

SPEAKER_01 15:43

Kind of going back on all the stuff with like the youth and stuff, when you were young, there were kind of very severe beauty standards surrounding like being thin and they're kind of coming back now. How do you feel about kind of that as opposed to like in a society where people are so focused on being thin, how does it feel to be as strong as you are?

SPEAKER_00 16:04

Well, so I feel sorry for you guys where social media is so prominent. Like we didn't have that, and the pressure back then was insane. So I cannot imagine literally what you guys go through and what you feel, and and I can obviously only relate on the female side. I do have two boys, 18 and 20. But I feel like the the guys experience it on a different level. I know what what what I went through, and I actually mine turned into an eating disorder that I had to recover from, which you know, you see it a lot, and it is so drastically prevalent in today's society. And I think social media plays a lot into that. The one thing that I try to to really kind of be a role model for is there is that pressure to be perfect, which clearly we know that's not a real thing. And yeah, people only put on social media their hairlight real. They don't post the photos when they are looking disheveled or when they wake up. It's only when they are just feeling amazing, when they got makeup hair done, the outfits are amazing. So that's hard to just filter through because you can all you never give yourself credit. You give everyone else the credit. And what I want to do is not focus so much on the thin. But one of the things that helped me in this sport, because there are some people who develop eating disorders or just body dysmorphia from our sport. But as a female, I like the aspect of feeling strong. Like when I walk into a room, I know I have a presence where people are like, okay, I don't know what she does or what she's about, but she's confident, she's strong, she looks like she could maybe beat me up. People say that, even though I'm like, I swear I'm not a fighter. But I love that more than me, which I wanted in the past, that thin, pretty, almost frail look.

SPEAKER_01 17:54

And it's like, why did I ever want that? Because it's so, so unhealthy.

SPEAKER_00 17:58

Yes, it's very unhealthy. And so I've experienced both sides. Yeah. It's easy now being on this side of it, where I've I've never, once I went through my recovery phase, I've never gone back. Thank goodness. But now it's like, why did I ever think that way? Why did why did I ever allow what everyone else and this pressure and this perfect world, this perfect physique, how did I fall victim to that? And I just I feel like now you do see people who are that strong female. Not only are they just oh pretty, they have a brain, they're brilliant, they're successful in their careers, they're strong, they're athletes, they're setting goals all the time, they're incredible moms. Like those are way better things than someone just seeing an image of you going, wow, she's pretty. Yeah. You know, so where's the depth of the human? And that's what I think social media does not portray any of that. That's not interesting. That's not clickbait.

SPEAKER_01 19:00

And one of the things we're trying to do here is just show young women that you can be all of that without just caring about looks. You can be the leader you want to be.

SPEAKER_00 19:09

Exactly. I love I love that you're doing, especially at your age. This is something that, you know, you could be out just at the mall hanging with friends, sitting around, doing nothing. But the fact that you're here, you have a podcast of your own. Like clearly you're going somewhere, girl. And that's that's going to literally have a ripple effect, whether you realize it or not, on your friends or people who may just look at you and admire you from afar. The impact that you're having in the standard that you're setting of, hey, I'm going places. Get up, come up with me, guys. Like, let's all do this together. There needs to be more women like that. And I love at your age that you're setting

Injuries, Surgeries, Mindset Comebacks

SPEAKER_00 19:50

this example.

SPEAKER_01 19:51

Yeah, one of the things I was talking about with um my last guest who was here just a while ago, um, it was one thing that she really emphasized was just always saying yes to anything that comes your way, always going out and taking any opportunity you can.

SPEAKER_00 20:06

Yeah, you never know.

SPEAKER_01 20:08

And I feel like you definitely embody that.

SPEAKER_00 20:11

For sure. For sure. But I will say, if I wouldn't have had that phase in my life where things were hard, I would never be where I am now. I would have lived a mediocre life. And that is the God's honest truth. Because I was just doing kind of what you're supposed to do. That's not a fun life. I would have looked back at my life had I continued on that path. And I know at this point, at my age now, I would have been so highly disappointed with things that I could have achieved or shoulda, coulda, woulda while I was looking at what so many other people around me had achieved. And I just kind of lived this mediocre life. Why? Like, why shouldn't we be the ones to have where people are going, I want that, I want to achieve that, I want to have that happiness and that vibrancy. Well, we are the only ones who can create it.

SPEAKER_01 21:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:00

So it's like dream big and then find a way to make it happen.

SPEAKER_01 21:04

How do you feel about all of the expectations kind of just placed on women to kind of just fit yourself into this box instead of like fit yourself into the box of like family and just like be the mom, be whatever instead of like going out and trying to like achieve your dreams?

SPEAKER_00 21:22

I I think what it really comes down to is somebody who can fall victim to that. Because I look at where I failed and fell into what society was kind of planning for me. I didn't know who I was. I didn't sit and take the time to figure out what I wanted.

SPEAKER_01 21:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:40

You know, where are my core beliefs? And like at your age, from high school to college age, that's a huge opportunity for you to really figure out what kind of person am I? Where are my morals? How where is my loyalty? Where do I draw the line? Where do I stand my ground and say that's Not okay. This is okay. I'm gonna stand up for this person because they're doing something wrong. I think once you have a solid, solid moral compass, none of that matters. So you won't fall victim to any of this pressure. The pressure's not there unless you don't really know who you are and you're waffling in life. Yeah. And the thing is, I feel like you never really will know. Oh, I've got it. This is who I am. But until you have had those situations where you had to stand up for either yourself or something you believed in or for somebody else that was not a it was an unpopular opinion and you faced resistance, that's where you really learn about yourself. And then it's it's a lot easier for you to just stay solid to your goals and your dreams because you know you're a good person, you know what you want, and you're not being guided by what anyone else motivates you to do or tries to encourage you to do. You know what you want. And if you're surrounded by the right people, family and friends, they're gonna support you.

SPEAKER_01 23:05

Yeah. Do you think there have been any situations where you've kind of uh faced something where you had to challenge those ideas and had to do something like that? Because you seem very passionate about that.

SPEAKER_00 23:15

Yes. Um, so my first business, I exited it last year. So January of last year, I exited that business. So it was a gym here in Arizona, and that was my heart and soul. But there were some things that I just wasn't agreeing with. And I stayed two years too long. And it's because in my heart I thought, no, no, I it's gotta get better. I didn't want, I wanted to fix it. And sometimes there's just things that you gotta cut your ties and walk away. And you gotta know what's good for you, what's in your best interest. Uh, where are you being honored? Where is your energy better used? But being that it was my first business, it was hard. I did not want to say no, but there was strong flag, red flags going, you gotta get out, you gotta get out now.

SPEAKER_01 24:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:10

And so that was something where I had to dig deep and go, okay, why am I staying? Why when I know certain things are not okay, certain things in my gut are not sitting right, and I have other opportunities I could pour into. What is it that's keeping me here? And so that honestly was one of the hardest things I had to do, because there was a lot that went into it and walking away and doing it the right way, but still, it's like something that was your blood, sweat, and tears, you know, and your for it was like your baby to walk away was like, gosh, I don't want to do this, but I knew I had to.

SPEAKER_01 24:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:48

And that was where looking back, you know, the first few months, it was just like kind of still like a stunned period, I guess. But then afterwards, I realized, wow, this is making me stronger because I did the hard stuff. When you do something that's really hard, but you know you gotta do it, and you actually pull the trigger, you're like, okay, now there's lessons in it. That's your opportunity for growth. And now where am I gonna go? Now that I've freed myself of the burdens, the stress, the, you know, the crazy bad energy, I'm like, okay, now I'm free. What am I gonna do now? But it was a hard, there's always gonna be hard times in your life, no matter what, but it's how do you deal with it? How do you learn from it? And where what's your next move?

SPEAKER_01 25:37

Absolutely. How did you go about being just like a strong female leader in all of the businesses you've kind of taken part in?

SPEAKER_00 25:46

Being fair, honestly. Uh, I think a good leader wants to always build up those below them. You know, I hated no one could ever call me boss. I think that's awful. I like everyone feeling like we're all in the same level playing field, a high level of respect, but you cannot gain that respect if you don't deserve it and if you don't earn it. So uh high communication. Every business I've owned, I'm it's an open door. If you have something to say, if you see an area of improvement, if you see a problem, I'm never too busy to talk to you. And I think as a leader, that's important. It builds that trust. And you want to treat everyone within a company as if they truly matter. And I feel like a lot of times you see companies, big and small, where the top man or woman sits up there and they just kind of, you guys are my workers. And that resistance and that difference differentiate

Building Businesses With Real Leadership

SPEAKER_00 26:45

differentiation, wow, such a hard word, that makes the team separate. And you're not gonna grow together, you're gonna face tons of resistance, you're gonna have little pockets of your company that cause issues. So when you're a good leader, you're a strong leader, you're doing things with the right, again, moral compass, yeah, things work out well. When I've been in businesses, not everything has ever worked out, too. Like you're going to have failures. But if you realize there's certain things that if it's a partnership and there's multiple parties and things just aren't working and you can't change it personally, then that's the time for you to walk away. But I've always looked at leadership when I've had people above me that have been mentors and I've admired certain business CEOs, business owners, I look at their character of the person and who they are. Are they approachable? Is it what you see is what you get? And if not, there's something wrong. There's something hidden that will come out. So with everything, it's if you're around someone that's above you, below you, or equal to you, and you see Jekyll and Hyde personalities, run. Run. Because if it's not this authentic vibe and atmosphere, yeah, then it's not the most, it's not the most open field for you to flourish as a human.

SPEAKER_01 28:08

How do you grow grow it? How do you go about growing those businesses in the first place? In in each business, you have to be strategic.

SPEAKER_00 28:17

Um, I have made some mistakes where when times were good, it's like, let's scale, scale, scale. And during those times, you're focused on the money. And that's just being honest, going, okay, this is it's coming in. And in all instances where that's happened and it hasn't worked out for me, that's pulled me away from connecting with people. And for me, I felt like when you're chasing the dollar, something has to give. When times are crazy and you're trying to scale, if you lose focus of your customer, of your team, and you're pulling away because you're so busy, you're focused on the dollar. So it's one or the other. And once I started to reshift in my businesses and focus on helping my team grow, helping my managers grow. And that helps the company grow. So it's the most for me strategic way to do it. And you've got to do it in a, you've got to have a plan of action that's realistic. You know, it's nice to say, oh, I'd love to have a multi-million dollar company next year. But if that's not tracking and you don't have the metrics to back that up and go, okay, this is gonna happen because of XYZ, then all it is is a dream and you're gonna kill yourself in the process. So especially being young, and especially with young entrepreneurs, we preach heavily on growing strategically, learning from mistakes that are minor before getting in over your head where you make some crazy decisions that crumble the whole business.

SPEAKER_01 29:49

Oh, absolutely. What do you think of some advice you have for some of the young viewers who are trying to like get into starting something of their own?

SPEAKER_00 29:57

Gosh, the best advice I have that I didn't understand the power of when I was young is the power of your network and your connection.

SPEAKER_01 30:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:06

That was something that back then we were never taught. You know, there's networking all the time, and just taking the opportunity to introduce yourself because you never know where that connection down the road will lead you. So you just being curious, you being um basically bold enough to go up and introduce yourself in front of a room full of people that you don't know. If you're ever in a position where you have an opportunity to be in front of or amongst a bunch of successful people, be extremely like excessively curious to know more about them. Ask questions. I mean, clearly you're great at asking questions. So when you're in those up in those rooms, take the opportunity to just get to know them. They will remember you as this young woman or man that actually cared enough to inquire about what they're passionate about, how they grew their business, what kind of industry are they in. So you being curious will open up the doors to get to know people, always try to find a way to connect. And then the most simple thing that you can ever do that a lot of young people never

Networking That Actually Works

SPEAKER_00 31:15

do is the power of a simple thank you note. If you ever want to be memorable to an adult, a business person or successful CEO or whatever it is that you hope to connect with down the road, send them a handwritten thank you card. I can't tell you how many times that has helped, even I still do it now, but as an adult, how memorable I have become because of that simple thing. And ingenious youth, we we preach that tremendously. And the amount of stories that have come out because they took the time to just write a thank you letter to this person because they shared a conversation with them over coffee, or they let them come in and do a mentorship for a day, or do an interview. The power of a simple handwritten thank you note is one of the things that has just lost its way. It used to be a big deal back in the day, but it's like shoot them a text, send them an email. And the fact that you have to actually address the envelope, put a stamp on it, go to the mailbox. It's not like it really takes that much time, but that simple, simple attempt at showing gratitude is one thing that will come back tenfold. I guarantee it.

SPEAKER_01 32:32

That's some good advice. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:34

I promise you, girl, yeah, you want to stay memorable, get get your stationary with your name. And if you have business cards, always include that. But it's there's a lot of power in it. I save any thank you note I get from people, I save my, you have it in my drawer.

SPEAKER_01 32:50

That's so cute. I love that. So, something I am really curious about is how have you been able to find this confidence in yourself in a world that is kind of so intent on kind of pushing strong women down.

SPEAKER_00 33:06

It's a great question. And confidence doesn't just happen. You know, some people like, oh, you're just born with it. Not a chance. That does not happen. And in life, there's going to be phases where your confidence is sky high. And then other times, maybe when you're going through stuff, you're down.

SPEAKER_01 33:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 33:24

The singular way to build confidence is you have to do something hard, something that you're avoiding, and accomplish it. You gain confidence by taking action. So, you know, again, people set goals. Okay, I'm going to go to the gym for three days this week, whatever it is. You don't have to kill it in the gym, but you just have to go to the gym for the three days. And then guess what? That gives you a little bit of confidence. Or you are in a bad place because you and your friend have been kind of just button heads, or there's just this tension, but you don't want to address it because you don't want to have an awkward conversation. You so you avoid a hard talk, but then you decide I'm doing it. So you have that hard conversation that's gonna build your confidence. Every little thing you do, when you actually do it, even if you don't completely succeed, you know, you're gonna apply for this job. You may not get the job, but the more you apply, the more confident you're gonna be. It's doing taking an action. Action creates the confidence. The more ways that you try to do things that are stepping out of your comfort zone, that's how you gain confidence. I've always said, get on get comfortable being uncomfortable. It's the best way to gain confidence. And it then it just happens naturally. Because you could sit here and say, I'm gonna be so confident today. It's fake confidence. So, and you know what? Sometimes that does work, but it's temporary. So, how do you build that resilience and then have just that calm confidence that just is with you, it's your persona. Yeah, the only way to do it is by doing

Confidence Comes From Hard Actions

SPEAKER_00 35:05

hard things, doing things that are uncomfortable, and in a variety of ways. So anyone who's in that kind of spot where they just go, I wish I was more confident. Don't just wish, take action. Take action. Action is what creates the confidence.

SPEAKER_01 35:20

Oh, absolutely. I love that. Actually, I'm gonna start doing that more.

SPEAKER_00 35:25

Yeah. Simple things. You know, like if think about when you're in an elevator, everyone gets an elevator and they just they don't make eye contact, nobody talks. How weird would it be to, hey, how's your day-to-day? Right? That's that's a simple thing. It doesn't really, it's not hard to do. And the guy may, girl or whatever may look at you like, great, how are you? Pretty soon, if that becomes something that you do all the time, it's gonna be second nature. And now all of a sudden, you've gained confidence to have these weird conversations with people that you don't know. You're confident talking with strangers. So that's a simple thing you can do. And if it doesn't work out, the best thing is they're off the elevator in two seconds, right? So it's taking the time to do little simple things to build that confidence in areas of your life.

SPEAKER_01 36:14

Yeah, I think absolutely one thing too I've noticed is like you try to do these things and you fall off and then you stop entirely. Yep. And I think something that's really important is even if you do happen to fall off, you can always start again. Totally. Like you can always keep trying. Yep. And I think that's sorry, this isn't this isn't about me giving advice, but um, I think that's something is something I've noticed in my life is like if I like say I try to go to the gym for like every day or something, and then I stop going for two days, and I'm just like, okay, never mind. It's done. Yeah, we lost our streak. But like I can start back up again.

SPEAKER_00 36:48

Absolutely. Yeah, it's not about just constantly succeeding. It's about, okay, well, I didn't get that. I didn't get the job interview, I didn't go to the gym this whole week. All right, well, you do something about it. Start anew. It's a brand new day every morning. So yeah, it's and that's that's the way it is with life. So once you can realize this is just normal, it's always gonna be this way. Create the pattern for yourself that you don't give up, that you don't give up when it gets hard. That you just, it's like, oh, this isn't a complete roadblock. It's a small hurdle stepping over, going into the next venture.

SPEAKER_01 37:23

That is absolutely

Where To Find Whitney And Final Advice

SPEAKER_01 37:25

something I think everyone needs to hear.

SPEAKER_00 37:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 37:27

Okay. Well, everyone, thank Whitney. She's been such a wonderful guest. And I was just wondering if you wanted to, you could just plug any of your socials, any of your businesses, just if you want the audience to learn more about them.

SPEAKER_00 37:41

Sure. Um, so I'm on Instagram. That's probably my most popular platform I'm on right now, and it's Whitney Jones underscore IFBB Pro. I can also be reached. My website is fitwitjones.com. And I recently launched a book, When Broken, which actually uh the demographic is for young women. So it's helping them kind of through some of the stories that I've gone through with my experiences, how to understand that we're all experiencing difficulties in life, but what's your comeback story? And allowing you kind of it's a blueprint on how to deal with certain aspects of life that all of us deal with and make light of it and create something great from it. And it's a guided journal as well. So after each chapter, it has an opportunity for you to reflect on certain things that are going on in your life. So it's another um way for young women to really kind of help understand their path and create their own windbroken story. So it's windbroken, it can be found on Amazon as well.

SPEAKER_01 38:43

Amazing. Okay, any last bit of advice for any of our viewers?

SPEAKER_00 38:47

I always say just you've got to just dare to be different. Do not settle for mediocre. Figure out what you want to be, what you want to create, what you want your life to be, and build your own legacy. Dare to be different.

SPEAKER_01 39:01

Absolutely. Okay, thank you, Whitney Jones.

SPEAKER_00 39:04

Yes, thank you.