I didn't plan on making a Star Wars-themed fitness community.

It all kind of happened by accident.

I grew up an athlete, playing baseball at Washington State University where I struggled with performance anxiety.

It got so bad that I figured quitting was better than having to always fear going to practice.

So after my Sophomore year, I hung up the cleats.

Fast forward to 2017 and I was the least confident I had ever been.

When I wasn't at work, I was playing video games or drinking with my buddies.

I was out of shape and didn't like who I saw in the mirror.

This was the start of my fitness journey.

By 2018, I had become certified as a Personal Trainer and Yoga Instructor and ended up leaving a 5 year advertising career at Amazon to start helping people live healthier lives as a fitness professional.

Over the next 5 years I personal trained, nutrition coached, taught at studios like CorePower Yoga, Barry's Bootcamp and became a lululemon ambassador for 4 years.

I studied under mentors who ran fitness companies and got my hands on as many certifications as I could.

I ran marathons, got shredded for photo shoots, and held minute-long handstands.

But I always felt like I was doing things for the approval of others.

I wasn't being myself.

In 2022, I hit a really dark patch mentally and nearly went on anti-depressants.

I would have, had I not read the book "The Alter-Ego Effect" by Todd Herman.

It talked about using secret identities to shift your mindset into a person who didn't struggle with self-doubt.

The version of you capable of overcoming any obstacle.

Bruce Wayne had Batman.

Peter Parker had Spider-Man.

Clark Kent had Superman.

But it wasn't just fictional superheroes.

The book talked about how athletes, musicians, and every day people created these different identities to shift how they approached the world.

So I gave it a try.

I put on my clone trooper helmet and I asked myself "What would Captain Rex do?"

That became the question I'd ask myself whenever I didn't feel like doing something.

And it snapped me out of my mental rut almost instantly.

A year later, I found myself at a crossroads.

I could keep being the trainer that tried to show off how fit I was and make my content about impressing others.

Or I could nerd out and just be me.

I chose to unleash the inner nerd.

For a month straight in April 2023 I filmed 30 workouts in my garage gym in my 501st clone trooper helmet in an attempt to answer a single question.

How would a clone trooper train?

Nobody knew I was doing it.

There was no search volume on YouTube suggesting this would be a hit.

I didn't even tell my wife what I was doing until it was all filmed and edited.

I just wanted to do what I found fun.

Turns out... tens of thousands of people found it fun, motivating, and most importantly helpful.

My Instagram and YouTube blew up as people started getting fit "For The Republic."

So I leaned into it and made more workout series as different characters.

It was here I realized the power of tapping into ones alter-ego.

Not just for motivation, but to make fitness fun.

Fit Nerd Academy and the community of clients my team and I work with are all a group of nerds who buy into the idea that fitness is more fun when it's designed for you.

Your body, your goals, and your interests.

It connected with individuals in a way that nothing else on the internet did because they were no longer being shamed for not being perfect.

They were being rewarded for following a gamified system built for them as they followed a tailored training and nutrition plan designed for them to hit their goals.