Danny Lopez-Calleja (CrossFit Soul//Wodapalooza)

You know when you're walking through the airport wearing a CrossFit shirt and you see someone else in a CrossFit shirt? Or when you're going about your business at the grocery store wearing a Morbid Angel shirt, and someone down the aisle has an Incantation shirt on? Well, maybe you don't know that feeling of t-shirt related camaraderie and acknowledgement, but rest assured that I do. As we discuss in this interview, Danny and I are often the two guys at CrossFit related events wearing punk or metal apparel. When Danny told me that he liked my podcast, I was thrilled because if one of the only other people who owns a CrossFit gym in a major urban environment who grew up playing in bands in a DIY punk and hardcore scene didn't like my podcast...well then I don't know what the hell I'm even doing. In this conversation with Danny, we discuss:Growing up in a real melting pot of a DIY punk scene in South Florida - and how that has both helped and hindered Danny in entrepreneurshipHow staying true to his own taste (and trying to make Team Soul like a 90s skateboarding company) has resulted in raving fans...and some harsh detractorsHow CrossFit Soul has seen the CrossFit bubble in South Florida pop - and why they're still standing while many others are notBecoming involved in the programming for Wodapalooza - only to learn a few weeks later that Wodapalooza would be a sanctioned event sending qualifiers to the CrossFit Games Check out more from Danny here:Instagram: @dannyxsoul//@teamsoul//@crossfitsoul//@thewodapaloozaWebsite: www.crossfitsoulmiami.com//www.teamsoultraining.com//www.wodapalooza.comBandcamp: Aversion//All Hell Breaks Loose If you're enjoying the show, https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/todd-niefs-show/id1278759120?mt=2">why not a leave a review? It makes a difference in terms of other people finding the show.You can also subscribe to receive my e-mail newsletter at http://www.toddnief.com">www.toddnief.com. Most of my writing never makes it to the blog, so get on that list. Show Notes[01:28] Growing up in the South Florida punk scene - and the melting pot of genres including punk, hardcore, death metal, and pop punk[14:27] Being in bands growing up - including a rap metal band (Danny did not rap)[18:11] What influence has growing up in the DIY culture of punk and hardcore had on small business ownership? And growing up hating jocks.[26:29] Starting a CrossFit gym and making a ton of mistakes - including bad relationships with business partners and purposefully not having a plan. Plus, surviving the consolidation of the market as more and more gyms are closing.[34:50] What did Danny do to learn how to run a business and how to coach - without a formal background in either? How did he reach out to people and apply their insight to his own business?[44:42] The genesis of the Wodapalooza Programming Collective - and Danny's role with Wodapalooza (including the changes to the CrossFit competition season)[1:03:24] The art of the rip-off shirt Links and Resources Mentioned Fat Wreck Chords Discharge Chris Carrabba Dashboard Confessional Hibernus Mortis Poison the Well The Agency Further Seems Forever Strongarm Shai Hulud Fall Out Boy Unearth Every Time I Die 25 ta Life Arma Angelus Eulogy Recordings Remembering Never 7 Angels 7 Plagues New Found Glory Gorilla Biscuits Fear Factory Pantera Sepultura Earth Crisis Slayer Powerman 5000 NOFX Endo Nonpoint Chuck Schuldiner Death Morbid Angel Cannibal Corpse Morning Again A Jealousy Issue Harm's Way Slipknot Korn Twice the Sun Roadrunner Records Glasseater These Arms Are Snakes Against All Authority Groovie Ghoulies The Mr. T Experience Chokehold Dead Kennedys The Quest for 100 Pull-ups with Chris Spealler CrossFit Journal Coach Burgener Soulseek Madball Jason Khalipa CrossFit South Brooklyn Westside Barbell Jeff Tucker Street Parking CompTrain Wheel WOD Misfit Athletics Dylan Malitsky Brenda Castro Michele Letendre Laura Horvath Matt O'Keefe How Greg Glassman is Reshaping the CrossFit Games from the Morning Chalk Up Brent Fikowski Mathew Fraser Dubai Crossfit Championship South Loop Games Tiësto DJ Lethal Limp Bizki Deftones Three 6 Mafia Fat Music for Fat People Descendents Misfits Rancid Hatebreed Bad Brains CM Punk Another Victim Alien Workshop Toy Machine Path Of Resistance Mobb Deep Wu-Tang Clan Cash Money Records No Limit Records Death Row Records EPMD A Tribe Called Quest Black Eyed Peas Vans Warped Tour Ground Zero Crew Fergie Dead Prez Common