(Spotted at Kribi Coffee on Madison Street)
How long have you lived in Forest Park?
Going on five years.
What brought you to Forest Park?
The community – it’s welcoming. It’s a small-town feeling in a big city.
What was the strangest job you’ve ever had?
The strangest job? High school, I was actually working at a fruit market that a friend of mine’s father owned. This was 1979 and I wasn’t relegated to restocking; I was relegated to picking out the rotten fruit. So that smell will always stay with me the rest of my life.
Has that job helped you in other areas of your life?
Oh! How to pick good fruit and vegetables!
Besides the smell, any tricks to picking out bad fruit?
Too old and mushy, any discoloration or runny liquids – stay away from.
How about a most satisfying job?
Oh, actually I’m a fitness coach. I’m a CrossFit coach. I own my own business. I coach outside of the Roos Fitness Center. We’re out there three days a week, during the weekday mornings, all year round regardless of the weather. We come here [to Kribi] afterward. This is our little break afterward. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, we’re outside doing our work. I have had the pleasure of working with people from all walks of life and not only meet their health goals, but their “bucket lists.” So – big European vacations, backpacking the Upper and Lower Rim [of the Grand Canyon] at the age of 65.
They’ve had quite an awakening of themselves. They have an aspect of spirituality to it – there is a lot of emotional attachment to whatever they bring in – you could see them work its way out. People come in with all sorts of maladies and that. How we work through that, everyone’s different, but what I’ve seen – as a coach you become a counsellor. So you’re a psychologist, a physiologist, a trainer. You’re also an ear to things that no one else hears about.
If you were going to give somebody advice, what would that be?
You’re never too old. And if you have a goal, write it down. If you just say it, it disappears into the wind.
Write it down.
To find Gio, you can check out his website at Ruckandfieldfitness.com. Or show up outside of the Roos Center, 7329 Harrison at 6am on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.
Amy Binns-Calvey is an author and occasional contributor to the Forest Park Review.