Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Woodstock, Georgia. It’s time for Cherokee Business Radio. Now, here’s your host.

Joshua Kornitsky: Welcome back to Cherokee Business Radio. I’m your host, professional EOS implementer Joshua Kornitsky. And I’ve got really an incredible story to tell. Although I’ve got a little bit of a frog in my throat today. I have Tom and Joanne Curtin back with me from The Curtin Team, and we’re going to get to them in just a minute because their big project is coming up. But first, I want to make sure that we thank the Business RadioX Community Partner Program, the Business RadioX Main Street Warriors Defending Capitalism, promoting small business, and supporting our local community. For more information, please go to Mainstreet Street Warriors. And a special note of thanks to our title sponsor for the Cherokee chapter of Main Street Warriors. Diesel, David ink. Please go check them out at diesel. David comm. So as I said, my guest today are Tom and Joanne Curtin. Tom is the CEO of The Curtin Team. Joanne is the founder of The Curtin Team, but also president and co-founder of Curtin Team Cares. It’s a charitable organization behind their Community Impact programs. Under their leadership, the Curtin Team has become one of Metro Atlanta’s most respected real estate teams, known for their focus on education, leadership and community connection. Today, they’re joining us to share more about their Roswell Home Refresh Program, an initiative that brings local educators renewed comfort and appreciation through the hands of on home transformation. Led by local partners, vendors and volunteers. Tom, Joanne, welcome. I’m so happy to have you guys here today.

Joanne Curtin: Thank you Joshua. We are thrilled.

Joshua Kornitsky: It’s it’s, um. It’s always exciting when we get to talk about how we can help others. And with what you’re doing through kirtan team cares and the Roswell home refresh program. Um, will you tell us about it? Because I get very excited and I want to make sure we we explain what it is before we start talking about it.

Joanne Curtin: Yeah. Well, the Roswell Home Refresh is, um, it it is a project you mentioned program, but really it’s a project and it’s a different project every year. Um, it was created through Curtin Team Cares, our 501 three organization that we founded. What year?

Tom Curtin: Uh, 2018.

Joanne Curtin: 2018. And, um, you know, we we were looking for real focus for our nonprofit. And, um, I’m a teacher, um, in, you know, I taught for five years, early childhood ed, before I got into real estate. And my heart really just is with teachers. I mean, that’s just kind of what I love to do is support. I mean, there’s no harder job in the world. Okay. That’s for sure. In fact, it is the, like the birthplace of sales. If you can get kids.

Joshua Kornitsky: You’re you’re.

Joanne Curtin: 100% right. If you can get kids to learn, you’re a salesperson, and it starts in the classroom. So I have a big heart for teachers. I was a teacher, and, um, we decided, you know what? Let’s, you know, our board met and we did a lot of, um, outreach in the community, but we decided, you know what? Let’s focus our efforts on the Roswell Area School District staff and teachers, and let’s, um, take nominations for a teacher or staff member that’s had a hard year. Um, we, uh. So this is this will be our second year of our project, our second.

Tom Curtin: And, um, so we learned a lot last year just starting it for the first time. But what I was going to add is these stories, you know, we take nominations and we have to decide who is going to be the winner. Um, and there’s a lot of tough stories, you know, when you read it, you just you feel for them. And, um, this year’s winner we’re really excited about. But, um, the project varies based on what they need. So, um, you know, Joanna literally go to the house and kind of, hey, what’s your wish list and find out what they want? And then we’re able to leverage our vendor network. You know, of all the folks that we lean into throughout the year through current team, through our real estate business. Right. And, you know, we’ve got great painters and.

Joanne Curtin: And everything is everything is donated. I mean, they’re they’re the labor materials, everything. Um, the project is completely donations. Yeah.

Tom Curtin: So so they donate, you know, we’re very fortunate to be able to lean into them for for donations, for labor and materials and all that. And then this year, for example, our winter is getting a lot of furniture, right? So we’re able to purchase that furniture through the donations that we raise through current team cares. And um, yeah, those kind of efforts.

Joanne Curtin: So yeah, it’s great. I mean, um, it is it is just so exciting to have, you know, the community involved. And it’s our second year. So it is it is slowly catching on. Right. Um, and it’s going to get bigger and bigger. I already feel it because when we go to the schools, you know, now the the receptionist pulls out her phone, she, you know, she sees the flowers, right? And she’s like, oh my gosh, you know, here we go.

Joshua Kornitsky: So as you’ve as you’ve grown now year two with the program and and you’re taking those nominations, which to be clear, the nominations are closed for this year but won’t, you know, won’t be too long before right around.

Joanne Curtin: And we end them August 1st. You know, we let them go all summer long. So we let the principals know in the schools that we’re going to take nominations all summer long. So it’s a real kind of relaxed summer. People just nominate anonymously or or with a name, but they can choose, um, all summer and then August 1st it’s over, and then we meet as a board and we choose the winner and then game on until Thanksgiving.

Joshua Kornitsky: And I think it speaks a lot of the curtain team that you’ve got all of your vendors and suppliers that are helping you, that that that kind of thing doesn’t come without trust and without knowing that you’re a good partner to them, right? For them to be able to volunteer and to donate their time. So throughout the years, is this now something you’re talking up with your vendors and your suppliers so that they’re aware of it?

Joanne Curtin: I mean.

Tom Curtin: Yeah, I mean, it’s it’s um, I mean, they they know we’re going to ask now, but, um.

Joanne Curtin: Yeah, but I mean, you would think, oh, you know, we can ask a lot there. They don’t want to not do it.

Joshua Kornitsky: Like, that’s.

Joanne Curtin: Awesome. I mean, so it’s like, wow, my painters like, if I can call it he calls it a blessing. If I can do the blessing this year. And I’m like, of course you can.

Joshua Kornitsky: How do you say no to that?

Joanne Curtin: I know, so they it’s like, I don’t know, we don’t have to shop vendors. Nobody is saying no. And I can’t do it this year or or really anything.

Tom Curtin: So and it you know, we don’t know until we know what the project’s going to be. Um, but for the most part.

Joanne Curtin: I mean, last year.

Tom Curtin: Paintings usually always involved.

Joshua Kornitsky: Painting and probably.

Tom Curtin: Walls.

Joanne Curtin: Yeah, right. Last year we had some, um, we had, uh, concrete work, and it was freezing. And these guys, I mean, I got a video of the dust flying. They’re all just decked out in their, you know, winter coats. And it was grueling work, and we just were. We couldn’t believe it. So.

Joshua Kornitsky: Yeah, speaking only as a homeowner, I didn’t realize that concrete was an art until I needed some. And it turns out it is quite an art.

Joanne Curtin: It was crazy. Yeah, yeah. And they did it with a smile, of all things.

Joshua Kornitsky: When? When you’re doing things like this that are that are giving of yourself to help others. So let’s talk about last year’s situation or last year’s winner. Pardon me. Um, tell us a little bit about how did that land, how did it go over. Because this is the first person.

Joanne Curtin: So yeah.

Tom Curtin: Well I think kind of backing up, I what Joanne mentioned with it growing, I do think that because it was the first year I think people were like, is this real? What is this. Right. Where’s the catch? So I we didn’t have as many, um, nominations because I think people just thought, I don’t, you know, I don’t want to give these people my name. Right.

Joshua Kornitsky: This is just another way to get my name.

Tom Curtin: Yeah. So I think we had to, you know, some people knew us because we do other things through the school, but, um, you know, in a broad sense, they didn’t. So I think we had to build some trust. Um, but last year’s was, um, a pretty big variety. I mean, there’s painting, landscaping.

Joanne Curtin: And again, every winter. So last year’s winter. Um, something that was important to her was her home office. She’d had, um, some challenges, um, in her family. And, um, and she really wanted to commemorate, um, a past child. And it was just really a deep story. And we just were delicate about it. And, um, and then when you walk into the home, you know, you ask them what, you know, wave a magic wand. What’s something that would really mean something? And to her, it was kind of to have a respite of, of that room where she could just go and, and it could just be a room for her. So we created that. We transformed a bedroom into a home office with memories, um, all around the photos, all around the room. And it was it was delicate because there’s siblings involved and, um, you know, a lot of people came out in the community that knew her and wanted to help, and it was just so touching. Really, really was.

Joshua Kornitsky: So I think people love to help and people love to help others who, whether it’s through loss or other means, and we want to respect their privacy. But in order to help fill the the hole in ourselves, we help but to also help others who have endured things. It’s healing for everybody.

Joanne Curtin: Right. And we had, you know, we had nominations that we couldn’t choose. We had a winner, right? That we all chose. Um, but then we had a couple of, um, runners up that we couldn’t choose. So, um, you know, we we do something for them as well. I’ll just leave it at that. We definitely bless them in another way. And that feels good too.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well, and I know this, and I’m not, um, shy about saying it. Pardon me again with my squeaky voice. Uh, as a the reason I got to know you both is, is that I’m a two time customer. But I say this from a from a human interest perspective. Um, you do a lot in the community, and I know that because I receive regular communication as a former customer that this is going on. I got a thing that there is some PiS coming around.

Tom Curtin: Yeah.

Joshua Kornitsky: Um, but you guys do movie nights. You do all sorts of things.

Joanne Curtin: We we did wino bingo. Joshua, where were you? Probably here.

Joshua Kornitsky: Um, but you guys have created your own community, and I think that that speaks volumes about the integrity of your business, because people that I know that I’ve recommended, that I’ve suggested the curtain team. It’s integrity. First it’s community spirit. Now it’s charitable giving. Not that it wasn’t before because Curtain Team Cares already existed. Correct. So it wasn’t that you weren’t doing other charitable things. This one’s just a little bit more public.

Joanne Curtin: It is. And it was just such a perfect project for our team because, I mean, you know, any Tuesday we can refresh a home. We do that for a living, right? And to do this, I mean, it’s such a large project for the winter. And to us, it’s it’s just something we take for granted. So we’re like, wow, you know, this is just perfect for us to get behind. And we should just, you know, um, just keep putting gas on it every year, see what we can do.

Joshua Kornitsky: And we want to make sure that we draw the attention to it. We’ll get we’ll get you on earlier before the nomination process next time, so that we can make sure to get the word out about that. Um, you know, we are all somewhat, uh, I don’t want to say numb, but we’re biased because we see renovation programs on television that let’s just go ahead and say are not realistic.

Joanne Curtin: It’s almost impossible to create what they’re what they’re.

Joshua Kornitsky: I have in my personal life, known people that have been, uh, not on shows but have been in the running to be on shows. And let’s just say there’s a lot of smoke and mirrors and leave it at that. Um, we won’t speak ill of them, but how long does it take once you have your winner and things get moving?

Joanne Curtin: That’s a great question.

Tom Curtin: Yeah. So we we do have to spread some of it out. So, you know, I guess originally we kind of thought could we do it all in one day? And the answer was no. Um, it does depend on the house. Yeah.

Joshua Kornitsky: So like the.

Tom Curtin: Pro in this case, the paint’s already been done. You know, we bring the painter in ahead of time, so we. Yeah, we.

Joanne Curtin: We reach out to the vendors that we know we need these things fixed. We get them to, you know, let us know that that’s a possibility. Absolutely. But then I think what’s so great is the vendors can say, you know what? When it’s an ice storm or when it’s rained out, we can come over there with our guys, like, can, can we do that on, you know, this weekend or on a Friday. And so it’s really just whenever it’s good for them and we clear it with the homeowner and um, it just and and they’re so thankful they’re like absolutely. They can come over here. And so we’re we’re actually working on it for a good month prior to the day. But then the day happens and we get we get full like, you know, permission to bring our team and our board in.

Tom Curtin: Um, and the volunteers.

Joanne Curtin: And volunteers, of course, um, to come in and just put stuff together and do the install is what we say, you know, with all the fun stuff that we’ve.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well, so, so let’s talk about volunteers because there is still time for volunteers.

Joanne Curtin: There is totally time. We have blinds and we.

Tom Curtin: Have a.

Joanne Curtin: Lot of nature. We have it’s from.

Tom Curtin: Ikea, which is making me.

Joshua Kornitsky: Sweat.

Tom Curtin: Look at those boxes.

Joanne Curtin: Let me tell you, some Ikea shelves are about as good as I mean, that is like gold. I love those.

Tom Curtin: Um.

Joanne Curtin: Ikea shelves.

Tom Curtin: So yeah, we have that whole day and we’ll I mean, that’s the fun. I mean, I don’t know that furniture putting together is fun.

Joanne Curtin: The install of the furniture.

Tom Curtin: You know, once you get to see the finished product, like, well.

Joshua Kornitsky: That’s the payoff that they keeps everybody tuned in to those silly shows, right? It’s because everybody wants to see the after.

Tom Curtin: Yeah. That’s right. Yeah.

Joshua Kornitsky: So yeah, I love the fact that you guys are realistic about it because it it always struck me as kind of crazy how they could paint the house and put the furniture in on the same day, right? I mean, I guess you could.

Tom Curtin: Yeah.

Joshua Kornitsky: You must not care a lot about the floors, right?

Joanne Curtin: Yeah. No. We’re humans. I mean, we’re we’re getting there. We’re getting there in the morning. We’re going to have lunch there. I mean, it’s a great obviously team building exercise.

Tom Curtin: And we do it the Friday before Thanksgiving on purpose so that the homeowner, the winner can have, you know, everything’s done for the holidays, right. For for Thanksgiving and, um, you know, going into the holidays. So. Yeah. Um, so that’s the day that we’ve chosen.

Joanne Curtin: Yeah. And everyone’s in a giving spirit. It just makes sense, you know, it’s the perfect time to plant flowers. We usually put some flowers up by the front door. Um, there’s holiday decorations involved. We. You know, I don’t want to. Is she going to hear this after the fact? I don’t want to give away the funny thing that we’re doing in there.

Joshua Kornitsky: Then let’s.

Joanne Curtin: Yeah.

Joshua Kornitsky: Leave it secret. You can share it next time. Yeah.

Joanne Curtin: Um, so we have a little surprise.

Joshua Kornitsky: And I know from other conversations that we’ve had that you’ve got a really strong culture inside of the curtain team itself. So are your folks excited to get involved? Oh.

Joanne Curtin: Yeah. I mean, they’re like, who’s the winner? Like, you know, who’s the winner? What can we do? And they’re just, um. Yeah, they block out the day and they they’re just. Yeah. They’re coming. Ready to be filled. Filled. Fill their cup.

Tom Curtin: Yeah, it’s it’s something that we can all kind of get behind. And the way that we part of the way that we fund curtain team cares is every home that we sell, we donate a portion into curtain team care. So just kind of throughout the year.

Joanne Curtin: There’s a kitty. I mean, there’s a kitty we’re drawing from. Yeah.

Joshua Kornitsky: Good to know though, because that’s not something that it even occurred to me how to how that comes about. Because lumber is not free no matter who’s donating.

Joanne Curtin: Right, right. Yeah. And and, you know, um, when we do sell homes, we have letters that go out and reminds them a portion of this went to our home refresh. This is what, um, you know, our nonprofit is supporting and just gives that homeowner a feel good of, like, what we donated on their behalf for that sale. They forget or maybe don’t even know.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well, 100% they forget, because if it’s not in front of us, that’s just human nature. But I think that it’s the fact that it’s a portion of every home you’re dealing with says a lot about the integrity of the organization, and it’s about the consistency of keeping that kitty full, because we all know that it all goes up and down when it comes to availability and vendors and supplies and all of that. Um, so you guys are are really forward thinking that way. Do you and I ask this cautiously, we don’t want to give anything away. Do you have other plans for curtain teams care. Curtain team cares. Pardon me with with other things that you are okay talking about.

Tom Curtin: Yeah. Well, we.

Joanne Curtin: Actually do quite a bit.

Tom Curtin: Yeah. There’s some partners in the community that we partner with and we donate to regularly. Um, Children’s Development Academy is one of them.

Joanne Curtin: Cda.

Tom Curtin: School in Roswell.

Joanne Curtin: And they serve under um, uh. What is their mission? It’s under under low income families. Okay. Yeah, it’s a low income family. Support for early childhood ed. Yeah. And again, that was in line with.

Joshua Kornitsky: Sounds like it’s your passion.

Joanne Curtin: Yeah, it was in line with what we did, and we were just like, wow, this is fabulous. So we it’s all pre-K.

Tom Curtin: We also take kind of one offs. You know, I mean, there’s been just outreach. If something happens to an individual in the community that they need kind of an immediate support, then that’s what we’re there.

Joanne Curtin: Right. And we have a liaison on the board for every, um, elementary school, um, as well as, yeah, into some middle schools, too. Yeah.

Tom Curtin: One of the fun things we’ve been able to do is, um, a couple of the middle, uh, sorry, elementary schools where we are. Um, they don’t have enough funds to do a field trip. Um, like some, you know, some schools. The parents can donate.

Joanne Curtin: The school wide field trips, the school wide can get expensive.

Tom Curtin: Some of the kids, you know, their parents don’t have the money to to give to do the field trip. And we’ve been able to fund that so that all the kids can go and.

Joanne Curtin: And it’s a sleepover at the aquarium. That’s like, I remember when my daughter did a sleepover like it. And it’s all about, you know, your friends and just such a big deal.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well, and and the reason that I.

Joanne Curtin: And that’s a fifth grade trip, by the way.

Joshua Kornitsky: Thank you for clarifying. Uh, the reason that I asked that is I want people to understand that this isn’t just in the real estate universe of giving, right? That this is just community care and community, uh, consciousness. And for that, you guys should really, really be saluted. Why? I so, uh, was so excited to have you back on to talk about this, because these are the kinds of things that people don’t ever see happen, right? And in most, giving is invisible. And it’s no one’s business who does what, where, to whom or how as far as giving goes. But this should. We need more corporate responsibility. We need more corporate giving. Um, because this is direct and directly touches the communities you serve and that we serve. So to me, I love the fact that that it’s starting and ending with education focus, but it’s also giving into the community to help elevate, uh, folks within. So I’m excited to see this year’s winner. When when will that be made public?

Joanne Curtin: Well, actually, we had um, we had oh, it’s going out in the magazine. Well, we’ve shared who the winner is.

Tom Curtin: Yeah. So we’ve we’ve announced the winner already.

Joanne Curtin: Um, her name is Tony Reeves, and she’s from Hembree Springs Elementary School. Okay. And it was so fun to share that with our team because one of our team members was like, oh my gosh, my kids went to Henry Springs. So, you know, there’s such a connection. So, um, it was a it was an anonymous nomination. And Tony is very just grateful. She’s like, I don’t need to hide anything. You just share my story. But, um, she’s a single mom, and, um, she recently purchased a house. And, you know, in our business, I mean, anyone that pulls the trigger to purchase a house in a climate that we’ve been through is just a hero already, right? Um. And we just were really proud of her for doing that. And, um, and she, after she purchased the house, she had some things that just never got done. And that’s what her kind of wish was, was. Oh, my gosh. Like, I just want to get my kids rooms painted. You know, I haven’t done that. And, um, you know, some other things with the kids. We we got to talk to them about some things that they were wanting. So it was just fabulous, but I forgot. What was your question?

Tom Curtin: Initially, the winner was.

Joshua Kornitsky: The winner about who the winner.

Joanne Curtin: Was. Yes. And so, you know, um, we surprised her with, um, a beautiful bouquet of flowers donated. Um, and she came to the front. They called her up. She thought she was in trouble. And that was the best video. Um, and, you know, it’s just it it involves the whole school, and we’re going to involve the whole school again. Um, for her, um, for her install day, they’re going to do a little something for her. So we’re excited, but, um, and then Roswell magazine, uh, Roswell Neighbor magazine does an article about it to let the community know. And Michelle Berry helps us put that put that out. And, yeah, it’s just awesome.

Joshua Kornitsky: Is there a website where people can kind of see some pictures or if they want to learn more?

Joanne Curtin: Um, well, I mean.

Tom Curtin: We.

Joanne Curtin: Put.

Tom Curtin: It on our social media.

Joanne Curtin: Yeah. Best thing is just our Instagram curtain team. Um, and then it’ll link up to Curtain Team care. So really it’s Instagram and Facebook. You know, curtain team care social is really where it’s all at. I mean, that’s that’s instant.

Joshua Kornitsky: Websites are kind of static.

Joanne Curtin: Well, you can go to our website to give money or sign up to volunteer.

Joshua Kornitsky: Please tell us what what that is.

Tom Curtin: Uh, curtain team cares or curtain comm.

Joshua Kornitsky: And it’s important to point out again. And I’m I’m a stickler on this one. It’s a 500 1C3. It’s a legitimate nonprofit. And not to intimate that others are not. But there’s a lot of confusion sometimes this is a charity and you are donating to a charity.

Joanne Curtin: Absolutely.

Joshua Kornitsky: It’s a charity that helps here in our community. And in this particular case, is fulfilling an educators wish list for what they had had wanted to get finished in their home.

Joanne Curtin: Um hum.

Joshua Kornitsky: Yeah. Um, I think it’s fantastic. And, and as we roll forward into the the season of giving. I think it’s important to note that we got to keep the kitty full. So if people want to continue to donate, if people want to give, yes, those those doors are open.

Joanne Curtin: Absolutely, absolutely. They they can give with those, um, with the sites that Tom shared. And when we do these events like, y’know, bingo. And we have, um, we have breakfast with Santa and photos with Santa coming up in December, um, there’s a QR code where they can donate on the spot, because actually we weren’t doing that last year, and the families were so grateful that their kids could come, you know, and tell their, you know, tell Santa what they want. And it’s later in the month to where they they actually have an idea. Sometimes it’s so early, but they’re so grateful and they’re like, oh, how can we, you know, how can we thank you? And we’re like, oh, well, this is how you can thank us. You know, if you’re asking, that’s definitely fantastic.

Joshua Kornitsky: So you better buy a house. I mean.

Joanne Curtin: That too.

Joshua Kornitsky: That was a big.

Tom Curtin: Thing that helps. Yeah.

Joanne Curtin: Yeah, yeah.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well, I, I can’t thank you guys enough for the work that you’re doing in the community. Is there anything else that we need to let anybody know about the program? Excuse me? The project?

Joanne Curtin: Yeah. Um.

Joshua Kornitsky: Gosh, I want to.

Joanne Curtin: I mean, think about, you know, you know, just think about next year, if, you know.

Tom Curtin: We’ll open up nominations, um, probably in the early spring next year.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay. And we want to make sure that you’re following them on, on Instagram for both kirtan team and kirtan team cares. So that that way you’re able to see what’s going on and, you know, maybe stay abreast of what’s happening in your community in a couple of different directions.

Joanne Curtin: Yeah. And if if someone’s not getting our newsletter, I mean, we, we really I mean, and and follow us on Instagram. I mean, we just did a post about like what’s happening in the Roswell Alpharetta area over the holidays and over the giving times. I mean, how to give must ministries. I mean, there’s all kinds of ways people can give back, not just through kirtan team care. So we’re really rooted in the community.

Joshua Kornitsky: And I know you are. And I’ll tell you in a in an information age where we are all overloaded with entirely too much communication. I do read your emails. That’s how I knew about the pie.

Joanne Curtin: You know, I’m so glad to hear that because.

Tom Curtin: It’s.

Joanne Curtin: Hard. Listen, Joshua, I remember in the I mean, this will be our 25th year coming up. Um, next next year will be our 25th year. Wow. Everything’s going to have to have a 25 in it when we do something. But I remember asking people for their emails when we were first in the business and they were like, well, I’m not going to share my email. You know, nobody wanted to give their email.

Tom Curtin: So I don’t have one.

Joanne Curtin: I don’t have one. Or so now and then I’m wondering, do people really read it? So I’m glad to hear that we have something that you choose to read. Well, because so many people do.

Joshua Kornitsky: It comes down to is the fact that you’re you’re sharing useful information. And when you’re sharing useful information, when you’re showing the good you’re doing right. It’s it’s hard not to pay attention.

Joanne Curtin: Yeah. It’s a good email. Yeah. You want to open it?

Joshua Kornitsky: Yeah. Because we all get plenty of emails that we don’t want to read, right? Um, so that that always makes me happy to see. So I’m glad that you guys are maintaining the communication. Keep it open, keep it flowing. Um, and thank you for what you’re doing for our community, because I think that it deserves the thanks. We really appreciate it.

Joanne Curtin: Thank you.

Joshua Kornitsky: So for anyone who wants to learn more about the Roswell Home refresh or the curtain team cares, the best way to do that is to go to their Instagram or their website. Um, we will have those published when we publish the interview on Spotify and Apple and the other podcast platforms. My guest today has been Tom Curtin, CEO of Curtin Team. Joanne Curtin, the founder of the Curtin team and president and co-founder of Curtin Team Cares, the charitable organization behind the community impact programs that they do. Under their leadership, the Curtin team has become one of Metro Atlanta’s most respected real estate teams, known for their focus on education, leadership and community connection. I can’t thank you guys enough for coming in and giving us some more of your time. I know how short it must be these days.

Tom Curtin: Thank you.

Joanne Curtin: It’s awesome.

Joshua Kornitsky: It’s. It’s always.

Joanne Curtin: A.

Joshua Kornitsky: Pleasure. And I expect to see you in the spring when the nominations open.

Joanne Curtin: Oh, that’ll be great.

Joshua Kornitsky: Absolutely.

Joanne Curtin: Great.

Joshua Kornitsky: And I just want to remind everybody that today’s episode is brought to you, in part by the Community Partner program, the Business RadioX Main Street Warriors defending capitalism, promoting small business and supporting our local community. For more information, please go to Mainstreet Warriors. And a special note of thanks to our title sponsor of the Cherokee chapter of Main Street Warriors. Diesel. David. Ink. Please go check them out at diesel. David. Comm. My name is Joshua Kornitsky. I am a professional implementer of the entrepreneurial operating system and this has been Cherokee Business Radio. Thank you for listening.

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Woodstock, Georgia. It’s time for Cherokee Business Radio. Now, here’s your host.

Joshua Kornitsky: Welcome back to Cherokee Business Radio. This is Joshua Kornitsky professional EOS implementer and your host today. Uh, before we get started, I’ve got a great guest here in the studio, but I want to make sure everybody knows that today’s episode is brought to you in part by our community partner program, the Business RadioX Main Street Warriors defending capitalism, promoting small business, and supporting our local community. For more information, go to Mainstreet Warriors and a special note of thanks to our title sponsor for the Cherokee chapter of Mainstreet Warriors. Diesel. David. Ink. Inc. please go check them out at David Comm. Well, as I said, I’ve got a great guest here in the studio. I’d like to introduce Joanie Chamberland, uh, owner and head instructor at the Rise Up Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy. Welcome, Joanie.

Joanie Chamberland: Hey, thank you for having me here today.

Joshua Kornitsky: Uh, it’s wonderful to have you. So tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got involved in and then ultimately created the academy.

Joanie Chamberland: Yeah, absolutely. So I actually grew up doing martial arts for my whole life. I started when I was four years old, and, um, that was up in Canada before I moved here.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay.

Joanie Chamberland: And then, um, when I got down here, actually, my parents had me start gymnastics, and I absolutely hated it.

Joshua Kornitsky: At what age did you.

Joanie Chamberland: When I moved here? When I was eight.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay, so. So you were already four years in when you got here?

Joanie Chamberland: Yes. Correct.

Joshua Kornitsky: That’s crazy.

Joanie Chamberland: Um, and I was doing kenpo karate up there, and then I came down here, they made me do gymnastics, Monastics, and I was a tomboy. It was not my thing. I’m wearing the leotard, I hated it. Um, so then we found a taekwondo school here, and I trained there for a good bit of time, till my dad lost his job when I was in middle school, and. And then we were just working out at Gold’s Gym. And I remember I would have friends come over in high school, and my best friend and I would wrestle in the living room, like, we moved the tables and everything off to the side. And she was, uh, a very athletic soccer player. And I was a beanpole my entire life.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay.

Joanie Chamberland: And, um, she would beat me up, to say the least. And one of my brother’s friends at the time, um, was doing, like, garage jiu jitsu, and he was like, hey, let me show you some stuff. And I was like, what is this? This is awesome. And he was like, it’s called jiu jitsu. And so it clicked to me because there was a school near where I was working out with my dad. And so I went and asked, you know, what jiu jitsu was about? And all of that. And they wanted a six day commitment. And I was like, um, I yeah, I can’t do that. So then I decided, well, let me go try Krav Maga, where I used to do taekwondo. And the guy looked at me and he was like, um, you’re too young. And I was like, it’s 16 and up. And he was like, yeah, but you’re also too small. And I was like, okay, well, I guess I’ll go train at this other gym.

Joshua Kornitsky: Isn’t that the point, though, that that size shouldn’t really enter into it? Well, it’s not the point, but a point with regards to it.

Joanie Chamberland: For jiu jitsu, yes, but not krav.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay.

Joanie Chamberland: And and I mean, he’s not technically wrong because if you’re a certain size and your partners are a lot bigger than you and they’re kicking you, it doesn’t matter. You’re gonna get kicked across the room with the bag.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay.

Joanie Chamberland: So, you know, I was like, okay, well, I’ll go here to do some jiu jitsu. And they’re like, well, we have a grappling program. And so I was like, okay. And so I started there in the grappling program and like within a month we had a really incredible instructor come in who was a Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt. And our grappling program became an actual jiu jitsu program. And it was just I fell in love with it. I loved jiu jitsu, so I just continued to train with him until eventually he moved out of state and they offered me the job to start teaching it.

Joshua Kornitsky: Wow.

Joanie Chamberland: Yeah. So it was it wasn’t really something. I was just like, well, I’m gonna do this for a living, right? Um, even when I had that job, I still never really planned on opening a gym. Um, I was going to school for criminal justice and plan to work for, like, human trafficking or crimes against children. And, um, I went to law school. Not I didn’t finish. I did a semester, and it was just. I did not like it.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay.

Joanie Chamberland: And then it was just like, maybe I should open a school because then I could help people before things happen to them. And so it was like, you know, once they’re in the system and you’re helping them through the system, like, unfortunately something has happened for them to be in your care, right? So I was hoping that maybe if we start educating people younger and, you know, showing them those skills, that they would be able to defend themselves before anything happens to them.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well, and you bring up an interesting point. So. Growing up, I had a friend who was very involved in a different martial art, but he had always shared with me that that by and large it is a defensive art versus yes, it can be used offensively, but it’s meant to keep you from from being harm. And if if it is from being harmed, if it is necessary for you to harm. Most martial arts are designed to make that a very short process. Is that an accurate statement?

Joanie Chamberland: Yeah. Well, and it’s like, um, you’re right. With jiu jitsu, it is technically made for the small person to defeat a bigger person. Right? Um, which is not the case with a lot of other martial arts where you’re striking because you can only strike so hard. Right? You got to be very, very precise. If you’re not as strong as they are, like hitting the same spot. And I still have other martial arts that I’ve taken, right? I did end up doing Krav at some point. I have my level three in Krav. Wow, Um, I do Mikio Shirai and, um, did Kenpo karate. Taekwondo. So I’ve done a lot of different martial arts. Um, but I personally don’t like striking, um, in the whole Krav mentality, like you’re saying is more offensive, right? It’s. They hit you and you hit him back many times harder, faster, and try to get them off of you. Right? Whereas jiu jitsu, we don’t do any striking. I mean, there’s some striking defense depending on the gym you’re at. Um, I did choose a sports, um based approach to jiu jitsu just because I enjoy it more.

Joshua Kornitsky: Can you explain what the difference is for someone like me that doesn’t know what the difference is?

Joanie Chamberland: Yeah, absolutely. So you’re not going to come in and per se learn how to like block a punch or, you know, learn how to block a strike. Really, you’re going to be learning how to start standing and take somebody down if necessary, which most fights go to the ground. And jiu jitsu is is a ground based martial arts, right? So most everything is on the ground. You learn different techniques from judo, wrestling to do takedowns to take somebody down. But the majority of it is all based on how you control things from the ground, and how to knock over a bigger opponent and get on top, or get behind them to control their limbs. And so over that. Being able to have confidence in yourself and have confidence in being able to control an opponent that’s bigger than you are to move around their limbs, it’s going to still teach you, in a sense, how to defend. Now, is it going to be the number one thing? No, you might, but you’re still going to hit get hit in a fight no matter what. Even if you knew all that stuff, right? Um, but for me, it was just the most practical approach. I want to be training every day. So I didn’t go with an MMA route of jiu jitsu. Okay, um, my goal isn’t to create MMA fighters, it’s to create jiu jitsu practitioners that they can use everything that they’ve learned mentally and physically.

Joshua Kornitsky: And that’s actually the. So in in my other professional life, I teach leadership teams discipline and accountability. And I had the opportunity to to, as I will only say, a little glimpse not into your world, but just into martial arts in a broader sense, through a friend growing up and through another adult, one of my closest adult friends who practices another form of martial art. Uh, and I’m being vague because I don’t remember the exact name. Um, but both of them had told me. And I’d love your your perspective on this, that so much of what the physical training is, is really mental training. And it’s about building confidence and it’s about building self-discipline. And is that something that resonates with you as being correct?

Joanie Chamberland: Oh, absolutely. I tell people, you know, jiu jitsu is kind of like a parallel to life, right? Because you’re going to be constantly in situations that you are uncomfortable in you don’t you feel like you don’t know what to do? Right? In jiu jitsu and I’m huge about learning your fundamentals because it takes and it’s it’s monotonous. Right. Like I’m having a shrimp every day. I’m having to redo the same move over and over, get your drills in. Right. But that’s the discipline you’re talking about, right? In life. Like you can’t just write a sentence without knowing how to make a letter. Right? And if you guys remember tracing those letters over and over again, right. It’s like after a while you’re like, okay, I don’t need this, right? But they still keep making you do it till you’ve got it down pat. It’s the same thing. You’re learning your fundamentals. You’re drilling them over and over again so that the next time you get into a position that you’re super uncomfortable in, your body just knows how to do that thing. So it makes you use and realize too, that if you practice and you practice, once you’re in one of those positions, you realize like, oh, I can get out of this. And so that’s where that confidence comes from, right? Like you have to do the thing to gain confidence. You just don’t oh I’m confident I’m gonna go do that. Like that’s not really how it works.

Joshua Kornitsky: It’s not like The Matrix where they just plug in the drive and you know it all. Boy, wouldn’t that be nice?

Joanie Chamberland: That’d be great. But it’s definitely not so. Yeah, it causes you to have a lot of discipline. And especially when you’re talking about self-control with jiu jitsu, you have to be able to control your limbs and someone else’s limbs that are, you know, moving at you. So if you can’t control your own limbs and tell them where to go and, and a lot of it. And I don’t mean like you’re just going to be punching without telling yourself to punch, right? No, I mean, you’re going to be told to move your hand and you’re going to move your foot. And then your instructor is like, no, no, no, your hand. And then you’re going to move your other foot like, no, the foot that’s connected to your arm, that’s what you move, you know, because it’s so much body like understanding. You have to understand every part of your body and which part to move at what time, because you’re having to use your whole body all at once.

Joshua Kornitsky: And that must take a lot of fundamental drilling to, to get into regular, non-conscious thought about it, where it happens at an automatic level. Uh, and I imagine you have to continue to reinforce that otherwise things fade over time.

Joanie Chamberland: Right? And and it does come back quickly, though. I mean, that is something people fear when they’ve done jiu jitsu in the past. Or they’ll take a break like somebody who’s pregnant, let’s say, right when they have their kid, they’re like, I’m gonna forget everything, right? It doesn’t work that way. Like when you first come back, you’ll feel like you’ve forgotten it all, but it will click back in because it’s muscle memory, like it’s ingrained into your brain. How to move. Just like. Well, when we were kids and you guys were kids, right? You learn how to ride a bike, right? Like I haven’t ridden a bike in years just because it’s just not on my priority thing.

Joshua Kornitsky: So it might be wobbly when you get on it, but.

Joanie Chamberland: Yeah, but then you’re gonna be like, oh, cool, this is easy. Now. Nowadays, I know a lot of kids who don’t even know how to ride a bike, but, you know, it’s one of those things you don’t really forget. It’s like brushing your teeth, right? You could stop brushing your teeth for a month and still know the movement of brushing your teeth. You know.

Joshua Kornitsky: I hope not, but. But I follow it. Yeah. Um, so how long ago did you create the the the academy? What? What drove you to create the academy?

Joanie Chamberland: Um, honestly, I was teaching jiu jitsu in a taekwondo school for years and the overhead like, not my boss as a franchise, right? So the franchise just didn’t really push the jiu jitsu, and so there wasn’t really ever going to be an opportunity for growth of that program. Even though we kept trying to get them to push jiu jitsu, they just never did. They stuck with the martial art that they were doing. And so I had a friend who was like, hey, you know, I’m thinking about opening a school, do you want to join me? And that didn’t end up happening. I ended up opening it on my own, but it was something I was like I was interested in doing. I was already teaching jiu jitsu and I loved doing it. I love teaching and helping people. So, um, I ended up opening the gym in July of 2019.

Joshua Kornitsky: Oh wow. So you’ve been around for a while now, right? That’s fantastic. And and where is the gym located?

Joanie Chamberland: So it’s in Kennesaw right off of exit four by the Publix, um, where the harbor freight is. Everybody knows about the Harbor freight ferry.

Joshua Kornitsky: Yep. Okay.

Joanie Chamberland: Yep. Exit for Bell’s Ferry. It’s like right off the exit. So super close to Woodstock.

Joshua Kornitsky: That’s fantastic. Well, so tell us about some of the programs and things that are going on in the gym so that if people are interested, they can learn more.

Joanie Chamberland: Absolutely. So we are an academy that focuses on GHI and Nogi, which is the the guy is the uniform. So we have classes where you’re in the uniform and then we have Nogi, which is more like kind of like streetwear clothing where you can’t grab the material in order to help you with different techniques. So we have both options available. It’s pretty evenly filtered on that. And we have youth programs as well as adult programs. How young we start them at seven now. We used to have a 4 to 6 year old class. It’s just very difficult and it’s a class that you have to have the right instructor.

Joshua Kornitsky: That intention spans awful small from 4 to 7.

Joanie Chamberland: Yes, yes. And so maybe one day we’ll open it back up. But the person who was teaching it had a child and moved away. Um, and that’s just not a class I’m willing to take on.

Joshua Kornitsky: Sure. Well, and you know what? Knowing limitations is smart too. So exactly.

Joanie Chamberland: So we take them at seven and, um, all the way to whatever age, right. Anybody can take it. And, um, what we did just open up a new offer for people that are homeschooling their kids because it’s such a thing that’s happening now. There’s a.

Joshua Kornitsky: Lot of it’s everywhere.

Joanie Chamberland: Right? There’s a lot of homeschoolers. So, um, for like, a PE credit, let’s say they could take jiu jitsu. So it’s a it’s a great way to get physical activity. But also your kids will be learning a life skill, right? They’ll be learning self-control, discipline, respect.

Joshua Kornitsky: And those with no disrespect to to the styles that you’re teaching. To me, those are things that that last forever. Uh, hopefully their knowledge of jiu jitsu will as well. But understanding, discipline, understanding, um, inner strength and confidence. You teach amazing things, right?

Joanie Chamberland: And it’s honestly, it’s it’s more fulfilling for me because I get to see the the difference and the change in the kids. Um. And the adults. Right. It’s it’s so cool to see somebody do something that they never thought they’d be able to do.

Joshua Kornitsky: I, I have two daughters, and I occasionally have those moments, and it’s it makes you incredibly proud. Um, so, yeah, I have to think you get to see that over and over again as, as time goes by. Um, and with. So you’ve been in business six years, so you must have had some students that that joined you quite young, that are now adults or young adults.

Joanie Chamberland: Oh yes. I’ve got some now that are so I was teaching before opening my gym for years as well. Right. Um, I think it was eight years I was teaching before opening my gym. And so I’ve got kids that were like 6 or 7 when they started with me, you know, that are old enough to drink now.

Joshua Kornitsky: That’s crazy.

Joanie Chamberland: Yeah. And it’s like, you know, people look at me like, oh, you’re so young. It’s not like you’ve been doing this that long. I’m like, guys, I’ve been teaching jiu jitsu for since I was 16. I’m 33, so I can’t math for life. Yeah, exactly.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well, so what do you say to people that are like, well, I’m interested, but I’m afraid or it’s going to be too much money or how do you how do you help people walk through that door? Because I imagine there’s there’s a psychological barrier, right. To to just crossing that threshold. What how can you help them?

Joanie Chamberland: So one of the biggest things is most people find out about jiu jitsu through like the UFC.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay.

Joanie Chamberland: Right. And the MMA circuit. And so they’re like really worried that it’s going to be this, like, macho sport. Sure. Um, especially if they know anything about the Gracie brothers and what they were doing back in the day. Um, fighting on the UFC and just destroying people. Um, so the main thing is that I’ve been training for a very long time, and I am a small female, and my training partners were not mainly male. You know, and they were big dudes. I, I got my black belt at a gym where my small training partners were 180 pounds, and I’m 130. So and that was the small range. And I had a few women and some of them were like 155, 160 like Crossfitters. So I was.

Joshua Kornitsky: Always fighting a lot. You were always fighting up.

Joanie Chamberland: Exactly. And so, you know, I made it to where? At my academy. Well, one of my biggest goals is to one day have a small person Jiu-Jitsu class. Um, that would be amazing for us, but we aren’t there yet. Um, but I’ve made it to where whenever people come in, right? I have trained my higher ranks that have been training longer to be the partners for the the newcomers, and so that they can help them make sure that they’re training in a safe environment and getting basically like one on one help throughout the class. So I’m teaching the moves, and when they go off to do the moves, they have, like a personal helper with them. And it’s the same thing in the kids class. I try to always partner the higher ranks with the lower ranks so that they can help each other, because two people who don’t know what they’re doing, getting together to do something that they don’t know how to do, usually doesn’t turn out well.

Joshua Kornitsky: You know, you would be amazed how often I have a version of that occur in my professional life that you would, when you come to me with a problem, come to me with an answer. Well, if I had an answer, I wouldn’t have come to you. Similar concept, right? If you put two people that don’t know what they’re doing together, you’re going to have two very confused people making a lot of assumptions, all of which are wrong and some of which may hurt them.

Joanie Chamberland: Yeah. Exactly. So and and honestly, as an instructor and I’ve gone to a lot of different schools, so I’ve tried to create a, you know, an environment of like where would I want to go. Right. And a big thing I’m trying to teach people is that, for lack of better words, you can be a bad a without hurting yourself and hurting your training partners. Right? You can have safe training and still come out hard and and beat people up when you’re going out there to compete. And so I want to make sure that that’s the same thing in all my classes. And when I go to other places I’ve been you know, I watch they have like a fundamentals class which is all white belts only like a white belt class. And and honestly, it’s terrifying as an instructor to watch that, especially when it goes to like the what we call rolling, which is the sparring version of jiu jitsu where you get to learn everything. We call it rolling because you look like you’re rolling around on the ground. Um, that’s the scariest part, is watching two white belts, especially males, because of the ego thing. And it’s always friends. Like, it’s not one of those, like, I’m gonna beat this person up. This guy’s. No, it’s it’s always.

Joshua Kornitsky: Funny, Jim.

Joanie Chamberland: Yeah. Exactly right. And so they’re just out there going at it and you’re like, oh, guys, please don’t use 100% like, right. So that was my goal is to make a class environment where we wouldn’t have that happen because I’ve had that in the past. I’ve been teaching for a long time, you know, and I’ve had that in the past where two friends come in and they hurt themselves training together, and then they’re out and they can’t come back and train for a while because, well, I got my shoulder hurt or this and I’m a working dad. And it’s like I kept telling you guys to slow down. So instead what I do is I go ahead and partner them and don’t allow them to choose their friends until they’ve got more training in. And I can see that they’re not gonna hurt themselves. That’s kind of the goal.

Joshua Kornitsky: You have to learn enough to know how not to hurt yourself, which probably takes more time than most people give it credit for.

Joanie Chamberland: Yeah, I actually have a new white belt who’s a college student, and he said to me, you know, how come you don’t train with some of the people in here? And I was like, well, I don’t like training with the white belts because they’re terrifying. And he was like, no, you’re scary. And I was like, I know how to do jiu jitsu, so I know how to not hurt you and not hurt myself. But when I go and roll with a new person, especially if they’re bigger than me, which is likely if they’re a man, um, and they’re going to use all their strength because they don’t know how to hold back. And so I have to protect me and protect them while we’re training, like it’s a lot. And honestly, it’s just not fun for me to be doing that. It’s a lot of mental thought, physical movement. So, you know, to me, the scariest people are people or the white belts, and that’s why we got to keep them the safest, right? So that’s the environment that we have going on, trying to make sure everybody understands. And in our fundamentals classes we actually don’t do any rolling okay. We do technique drills. And then there is an open mat at the end that if you want to stick around and watch people train. So you can start to see like how to play.

Joshua Kornitsky: How it develops from the fundamentals that you’re learning.

Joanie Chamberland: Exactly.

Joshua Kornitsky: That’s really cool because a lot of times it’s not until much later in any type of scenario where when you’re learning the fundamentals, you don’t understand that, you know, these may be the movements that lead to all the cool things that you think you came here to, to learn that you will learn in time. But you have to master these, and you can kind of show where they all represent in the more advanced material and maneuvers. Right? I just think that’s awesome because to me, I love understanding the context of things. So if you tell me to, you know, No. Make this movement seven times. Every time I’m there practicing. But I don’t understand what that movement will lead to. For me, the light goes on when you show me. Well, here, if you look at these more advanced students, here’s where that lead, that move leads to. And for me, that always turns a light on. So I love that idea. Um, are the classes um. When when you have your classes and obviously you must have different classes throughout the week. Um, how does it work from an engagement perspective? If you want to just try it out, is there a way you can come in and just try it out?

Joanie Chamberland: Yeah. So actually the way that it works is we do have fundamentals classes. It’s just I have high ranks in there as well. Um, honestly, they’re one of our more attended classes. Just because people understand the value of building up somebody new so that they get a higher, you know, a better person to train with. And so what we have right now is we have a two week offer where you can train for free for two weeks. Unlimited.

Joshua Kornitsky: That’s great. And that’s as many times as you want to show.

Joanie Chamberland: Up, as many times as you want to show up. You just can’t come to the advanced class if you’re not advanced, and all the other classes are open to you.

Joshua Kornitsky: That seems like something that’s a pretty good decision for on behalf of that student.

Joanie Chamberland: Right? But if you were somebody that’s maybe taking a break off like we were talking about earlier, right? That’s you know, I don’t want to come back in. I’m gonna feel silly. Like, what if I forget? Like, it’s a perfect class to come into, to come back and come into that fundamentals class because you’re going to have some high ranks with you and you’re going to have some lower ranks, and it’s just an environment where you can just come in and like get those, you know, those movements moving back through right into your brain, into your mind, and then your body will just pick it back up. Right. So it’s not just for newcomers, it’s for anybody. Right? Anybody who just wants to come in and get some training with with people who have been teaching for a long time, have also been competing. Myself and Andrew have competed a lot, have taught for many years. So anybody who wants to come out can do that. Free two weeks and it is unlimited. So like I said, any classes for those two weeks you want to come to that is an advanced unless you’re an advanced rank.

Joshua Kornitsky: That’s really an incredible offer to make out there for people. And once you get through those two weeks and you decide you’re going to stick with it, are there, um, prescribed days, so many days a week, or is it kind of up to you? How do you how does a student determine how frequently they’re there?

Joanie Chamberland: So that’s going to be up to the student. But we do have options. So like you could take two classes for three classes or unlimited classes a week. And then we have like a monthly breakdown on that. So and you can always upgrade or downgrade based on if you’re traveling or something.

Joshua Kornitsky: It’ll fit the needs of the student. That’s great because a lot of times, you know, you think about a gym membership, you sign up and you’re just stuck for whatever amount it is every month, whether you’re there or not. So to be able to customize it, I think is fantastic. So we talked about your background. We talked about your gym. We gym. We talked about really your philosophy and in helping the inexperienced not harm themselves, which I think is is notable in a lot of respects. But I want to ask one the one question when when I learned you were coming on, that I wanted to know the answer to is what are some of the assumptions people make about jiu jitsu? Pardon me? Jiu jitsu. Hard word when you’ve been talking all day. Uh, hard phrase. Um, what are some of the assumptions that that people walk in the door believing that are just not the case? Because I feel like that’s you had talked earlier about sort of that macho mindset, and I feel like that must lead to more damage than positivity. Right. So what are some of the other assumptions that people have about walking in the door about learning this style of fighting?

Joanie Chamberland: So I think there’s a lot of people who think that they’re gonna have to fight somebody that day, which is not the case. Um, if you would like to. And there’s somebody there that’s willing to work with you on it, of course. But, um, we’ve had a lot of people that think it’s going to be like a big click, right? Um, so they’re not going to fit in, um, which does happen often when you go to gyms where you don’t even get greeted when you come in and you’re kind of like waiting around. Yep.

Joshua Kornitsky: Scan the barcode.

Joanie Chamberland: Exactly. So there’s that. There’s a lot of just especially with having a female instructor, like, people don’t want to get beat up by a woman. And it’s just like, first of all, I don’t want to train with you on your first day either. Right. And I’ve got plenty of men here, if that’s what you’re looking for. Um, and I’ve had some people just think it’s not technical in which kind of is crazy to me.

Joshua Kornitsky: It’s. I would from from a complete outsider’s perspective, it’s it’s somewhere between operating heavy machinery and ballet because it seems like it’s an incredibly graceful but incredibly complex scenario. Right. It’s it’s not anybody that could look at that. Unless. Unless you simply have no other context in the world and watch popular action films and think that happens naturally. I can’t imagine how people would, but obviously they do because they walk in the door with the wrong assumption.

Joanie Chamberland: Yeah, and I think another big one is, um, I’m too old or I don’t want to get hurt is a huge one, right? I have another job. Um, and I’m gonna feel stupid. Yes you will. So did everyone who first started, including myself. It feels really silly. It’s movements that you’re completely unsure of. Um, and then you got that guy on the other side who’s like, well, I could take all of them. Jiu jitsu doesn’t work. I’ll just pull out my gun. It’s like, guys, that’s not what this is about. It’s a martial art.

Joshua Kornitsky: Right, right, right. And if you just dropped a bomb on the entire city. Problem solved.

Joanie Chamberland: Yeah, exactly. I can’t teach you self-defense for that. You’re right.

Joshua Kornitsky: Yeah. You know, an umbrella. Good luck. Best of luck to you, buddy. Um, I learned a lot today. I appreciate it. Now, is there anything else that we talked about? As I said, the the homeschool class time? Uh. And is that how do how do we learn more if we if we’re interested in, uh, the two week free trial or if I’m a homeschooler and I want to learn how to get my kids involved, what’s the best way to reach you?

Joanie Chamberland: So you can go to rise up BJ B as in boy, G as in Joy. J as in Joy stands for Brazilian jiu jitsu for short, right? Com.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay. Yep. Um, and when we publish the interview, we’ll also publish the link to that and make sure that people know how to get in touch with you. Um, Joanie, thank you so much. I learned a lot today, and to me, that always marks a great day. Um, my guest today has been Joanie Chamberlain, the the owner and the head instructor of Rise of Brazilian Jiu jitsu. Uh, I want to remind you that she’s added homeschool class time and that the gym offers a two week free trial, which these days unlimited, which is pretty rare these days. You don’t run into that. Thank you so much for coming in.

Joanie Chamberland: Thank you for having me here.

Joshua Kornitsky: It’s my pleasure. So I want to remind everybody that today’s episode is brought to you in part by our community partner program, the Business RadioX Main Street Warriors Defending Capitalism, promoting small business, and supporting our local community. For more information, please go to Mainstreet Warriors. And a special note of thanks to our title sponsor for the Cherokee chapter of Main Street Warriors. Diesel. David. Ink. Please go check them out at diesel. David. Com. My name is Joshua Kornitsky. I’m a professional EOS implementer and your host here on Cherokee Business Radio. We look forward to seeing you next time. Thanks so much.