#114 - From D1 Football to Training Hollywood: John Damon on Elite Coaching For High Performers

What does it actually take to coach the people who can't afford to fail — Hollywood talent, elite athletes, executives whose bodies and schedules are under constant pressure?In this episode of the Choose Hard Podcast, Cody McBroom sits down with John Damon — former Division I football player at Boston College, celebrity trainer, performance coach, and founder of The Cave — to break down the journey from athlete, to coach, to gym owner, to builder of one of the most talked-about private training spaces in the industry.John has spent his career inside rooms most coaches never get access to — The Sports Club/LA, Equinox, and now his own premium gym-design business — and this conversation goes deep into what actually separates good coaching from elite coaching.What's covered in this episode:✅ The athlete-to-coach transition — What John's D1 football career at Boston College taught him that still shapes how he coaches today, and how that competitive background changed his relationship with discomfort and standards.✅ From trainer to owner — What pushed John to stop just training people and start building gyms, brands, and businesses around performance.✅ Coaching high performers and celebrities — How John broke into coaching talent and executives, and what high performers actually need from a coach that most trainers get completely wrong.✅ Training under pressure — What changes when your client's body, schedule, and public reputation are all on the line at once.✅ Why the environment matters as much as the training — John's philosophy on why the room, the equipment, and the culture around a client can matter just as much as the program itself — and how that thinking led him to build The Cave.✅ What it takes to build a long career in this industry — John's advice for young trainers and entrepreneurs on what to obsess over, what to ignore, and what separates a good coach from a great one.If you're a coach trying to level up your standards, a gym owner thinking about environment and experience, or just someone who wants to hear how elite performance actually gets built — this episode is for you.GET 20% OFF ALL CHOOSE-HARD MERCH, USING CODE PODCAST20 AT CHECKOUT: https://choose-hard.shop/ 📌 Follow Choose Hard on instagram @choosehardpodcast and grab Choose Hard Merch at www.choose-hard.com❓ASK YOUR QUESTION FOR THE NEXT Q&A EPISODE:⇨ question.choosehardpodcast.comℹ️ LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR ONLINE COACHING PROGRAMS:⇨ www.fatlosstransformation.com {1-On-1 Coaching}⇨ https://www.tailored-coaching.com/mentorship-coaching {Mentorship w/ Cody}📲 DOWNLOAD MY APP & START A TRAINING PLAN, FOR FREE:⇨ www.thetailoredtrainer.com🛒 PURCHASE YOUR CHOOSE HARD HAT & JOURNAL:⇨https://www.tailoredcoachingmethod.shop/collections/all 💊 JOCKOFUEL SUPPLEMENTS (Code CHOOSEHARD for 20% Off):https://jockofuel.com/discount/CHOOSEHARD🎙️CLIENT CASE STUDIES & TRANSFORMATION STORIES:- SPOTIFY: ⁠https://bit.ly/tlrd-transformations-spotify⁠ - APPLE PODCASTS:⁠https://apple.co/3GPlDxG⁠ GET MORE FREE CONTENT AT THE LINKS BELOW:📖 FREE ARTICLES: ⁠https://tailoredcoachingmethod.com/blog⁠ 💾 FREE GUIDES: ⁠https://tailoredcoachingmethod.com/guides⁠IG -⁠https://www.instagram.com/codymcbroom⁠YOUTUBE -⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/codymcbroom1⁠INQUIRIES – ⁠[email protected]