This week, Gunnar and Jen sit down with Brent Yates, founder of Aion Vest and author of The Gravity of Up, to trace a story that goes way beyond weighted vests. Brent opens up about the years he calls his transformation: a divorce, a bout with MRSA, the 2007-2008 financial crisis, a point where he admits he'd checked out on life entirely, and how a chance encounter with a trainer in Phoenix while he was rebuilding both his body and his business became the foundation for everything that followed.

From there, the conversation traces his path from running a pipeline construction business in the oil and gas world to tearing his shoulder in a long-drive golf contest at 60, which sent him looking for a better way to train — and eventually building Iron Vest from scratch. Brent's longtime business partner Kelly even makes a surprise virtual appearance to talk about the leap of faith that brought her from the hotel industry into health and wellness. They dig into why Brent chose to align his brand with people like Gunnar, the difference between teaching and selling, and his philosophy on failure: you don't need to hit a home run every time, you just need to keep getting on base.

Whether you're rebuilding after a setback of your own or just curious how a guy in his sixties built a category-defining fitness brand from a personal need, this one's full of hard-won perspective on reinvention, trust, and betting on yourself long after most people would've stopped.

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About Brent:

A serial entrepreneur and bestselling author, built Aion out of his own transformation. We view mind, body, and spirit as one system, and everything we make is meant to give you the tools to work on all three at once.

As recounted in his #1 best-selling narrative "The Gravity Of UP," Yates confronted a low point in life, grappling with crumbling health, a deteriorating body, and a feeling of total hopelessness. Determined to change his life, he sought tools to elevate it to unparalleled heights. Surrounded by exceptional mentors, he found answers in faith and discovered his calling: inspiring and guiding others.

As part of his healing journey, Brent turned to movement—walking, strength training, and daily activity—as a foundational tool for change. But he found himself searching for something more: a way to add intensity, focus, and impact to everyday movement. That’s when the idea for a new kind of weighted vest was born.

Frustrated by bulky, uncomfortable options on the market, Brent envisioned a vest that was sleek, functional, and built to challenge the body while supporting the mind. Aion became that solution—a patented, premium weighted vest designed to elevate every step, strengthen posture, and promote total wellness. What began as a personal need became a movement for all those committed to transformation.

If you're standing where Brent once was, ready for something to change, this is where that starts for you too.

Produced and Edited by: The Cast Collective (Nashville, TN)

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This week, Gunnar and Jen sit down with Shane Wallen, who spent a decade as a strength and performance coach in Major League Baseball before walking away this past off-season to open a Nashville location of the iconic social performance club, The Kollective. Shane gets candid about the real math behind pro sports coaching pay across the NFL, NBA, and MLB, the lack of a pension for strength staff after years in the league, and how losing his father last November made him rethink what he was actually trading his time for.

From there the conversation moves into what it actually looked like to leave: the phone calls he made, the players he didn't want to let down, and why he now describes it the same way Gunnar once did leaving the Lakers, missing the clowns, not the circus. They dig into building a client-first coaching philosophy, why so many good coaches undercharge for what they're worth, and what it means to build an "environment, not a gym" as he gets ready to open the doors in Nashville.

Whether you're weighing a similar leap out of a team setting or just want to hear how a decade in pro sports shapes the way you coach everyday people, this one's full of real talk on money, family, and building something of your own.

Thank you to our sponsors for supporting the show!

TRAINHEROIC: Trusted by top coaches since 2012. Plans start at just $10/month– And you get your first 14 days free. Head to https://www.trainheroic.com/thekidstable to start your free trial now.

About Shane:

Shane Wallen has spent his career in the trenches of elite performance — first as an athlete, then as one of the most trusted strength and conditioning voices in professional sports. A former walk-on running back at Oregon State University, Shane worked his way from an internship on the strength staff to a scholarship spot on the football team, a path that set the tone for everything that followed: outwork the doubt, and don't take no for an answer.

That relentlessness carried him into a decade-long career at the highest level of professional sports, holding performance and strength coaching roles with the San Francisco 49ers, the Cleveland Browns, the Chicago Cubs, and most recently as Head of Performance for the Detroit Tigers. Along the way, he built a reputation for a coaching philosophy rooted in relationships — treating every athlete interaction with the same care whether it was year one or year ten, and never losing sight of the person behind the performance metrics.

After nearly ten years in professional baseball, Shane made the decision to step away from the team setting to build something of his own — trading the travel and the front-office politics for time with his wife and family, and a shot at creating the kind of community-driven training environment he'd always envisioned. That vision became The Kollective Nashville, a private performance and recovery space built for high performers — founders, entrepreneurs, athletes, and everyday people alike — who are looking for more than just a gym. As Shane puts it, "we create environments, not gyms."

Alongside running The Kollective, Shane advises several performance and wellness brands, including Aion, Pathwater, and Speede Fit. He's a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) and holds a degree in Exercise and Sport Science from Oregon State University.

Produced and Edited by: The Cast Collective (Nashville, TN)

YouTube – (https://www.youtube.com/@TheCastCollective)

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