404: Showing Up Is the Only Fitness Strategy That Works with Shaylee Williams @theunfilteredfitmom

Introduction 

You're listening to Biceps After Babies Radio Episode 404.

Hello and welcome to Biceps After Babies Radio. A podcast for ladies who know that fitness is about so much more than pounds lost or PR's. It's about feeling confident in your skin and empowered in your life. I'm your host Amber Brueseke, a registered nurse, personal trainer, wife and mom of four. Each week my guests and I will excite and motivate you to take action in your own personal fitness as we talk about nutrition, exercise, mindset, personal development and executing life with conscious intention. If your goal is to look, feel and be strong and experience transformation from the inside out, you my friend are in the right place. Thank you for tuning in. Now, let's jump into today's episode.

Hey, hey, hey, welcome back to another episode of Biceps After Babies Radio. I'm your host, Amber Brueseke, and today's guest is Shaylee Williams. You may know her as The Unfiltered Fit Mom on Instagram. I've been following her for several years and she always makes me laugh. She is a fellow mom of four, she's a CrossFit athlete, and she is just super relatable and super funny with her Instagram account. So if you don't follow her yet, she's definitely one of those people who makes you feel like fitness isn't as serious as sometimes we make it out to be. But beyond the laughs and the funny reels that she posts, she has a really grounded perspective on actually what it takes to make progress, and we had a really great conversation about some of the goals that she has set and hit in her life, some of the silly, funny, embarrassing things that she has done, and what it really takes to be able to call yourself an athlete. So let's get into the conversation. 

Amber B 01:48

All right, I am so excited to welcome to the podcast Shaylee Williams. Shaylee, thanks for being here.

Shaylee Williams 01:54

I'm so excited too. I can't wait. 

Amber B 01:56

Yes, me too. We were just chatting off before we hit record and Shaylee was reminding me that her name is at the unfiltered mom, unfiltered fit mom, and that she may live up to her name today. So let's do a little introduction though. Tell us a little bit about you, a little about what you do, and maybe a little bit about your account as well.

Shaylee Williams 02:15

Okay, perfect. Well, my name is Shaylee Williams and I have four kids. I think that shocks everyone when I tell them that. 

Amber B 02:25

Yeah, I didn't know that. I followed you for years and I didn't know that. 

Shaylee Williams 02:28

Yeah, I'm 33 and have four and my oldest is 15 and my youngest is four. So lots happening there. I have just a little side business that I work from home and then my account is basically just me making fun of myself, having the time of my life in my garage and people like it. 

Amber B 02:52

They like to laugh along with you.

Shaylee Williams 02:53

Yeah, yeah. I'm very relatable as people say and it's true. 

Amber B 02:58

Yeah. Wait, so how did the account get started? How did you even start your account? 

Shaylee Williams 03:03

Oh yeah. It was kind of when Instagram really was kind of starting to become big and I kept hearing all these different audios or things and I kept finding myself going, oh my gosh, I could recreate that and do this with it. And I said that to myself enough times that I was like, why not just start the account and just do it? And it still is to this day just something that I find so much joy in doing. But it really was like other people I feel like crochet or have these other artistic outlets that they do. Maybe it's puzzles. For me, it was just silly online videos and I loved taking the time every day to make something and put it online. And then after a while, the account just kind of grew and now it's become my entire personality. 

Amber B 04:00

Yeah. Wait, so I'm so curious. Would your friends in real life say that you're super funny? Is that an identity that you hold? 

Shaylee Williams 04:11

Yeah. Probably not nearly as much because I only post funny stuff online. There's a lot more to me than that. But the parts of me that I post online of me tripping over stuff or just screwing up in general, that's very much who I am. 

Amber B 04:33

That's on brand. 

Shaylee Williams 04:34

That's pretty standard for my life.

Amber B 04:37

Yeah. So how did you find CrossFit? When did that happen? What year did you start? 

Shaylee Williams 04:45

So I started in 2017. And I was a personal trainer before that just at a local gym. And I thought I was very sought after to do these bodybuilding competitions because it just kind of certified you as a good trainer in a way. And so I was like, that's my path in life. And so I prepped for a competition and I did it and I absolutely hated it. I thought it was awful. And then just because I felt like I was training so hard, just to go stand on a stage and have somebody else tell me what my work was worth. And that really bothered me. And so then I kind of sat back and was kind of just watching just the vibes at my work and just kind of the overall feeling of it. And I was like, I actually really don't like where I'm at. And so then I started looking for other avenues and CrossFit came up. And I honestly didn't really want to try it because I was that typical bodybuilder that was like, CrossFitters are so stupid. They don't know anything. I walked into the gym the first day and I was like, oh my gosh, I never want to personal train again. Find me a different profession. This is what I'm doing now. And I've been doing it ever since. I think this is like my eighth year. 

Amber B 06:15

Yeah. When you walked into that gym that day, what was the thing that made you feel like, yes, like what was the, what was the aspect that you just loved? 

Shaylee Williams 06:24

Yeah. I'll never forget it because I walked in and I honestly feel like CrossFit is a very, well, at least at my gym, it's a very female dominated space. And even CrossFit in general, like, I mean, the, the male elite athletes are cool, but everybody wants to watch the female athletes. Like they, I feel like it's one of the very few sports where if they based their pay on what they brought, like female athletes would pay more than male athletes. That's just my opinion, but I feel that. And so when I walked in, they, they, everyone works out together. If you're not familiar with CrossFit, it's basically, it's a group training class and you show up and everybody does the class together. And so they, they just, everybody just lines up in rows. And so I walk in and it's just rows and rows and rows of women lifting barbells and working hard. And that particular day was like a heavy clean and jerk ladder of some sort. And I remember seeing her, her name's Delmarie and she put so much weight over her head. And I was like, oh my gosh, this place is full of the most badass women I have ever seen in my entire life. And they're all different shapes and sizes and ages. Like no one looked the same and they, but they were all doing the same stuff. And I was like, this is my place. This is where I'm supposed to be. And it was so, it was so perfect. 

Amber B 08:02

Yeah. It's, I'm sure it was interesting to go from, I mean, bodybuilding is such like a subjective sport, right? I think that's what you're saying of like standing on stage and then having somebody else judge me. And it's like so subjective, like, yeah, what are they looking for? Right. And then you go into the space where it's like, it's more objective and it's more focused on performance and power and strength and output. And like, it sounds like that really drew you in to be like, that's what I want in my fitness.

Shaylee Williams 08:27

Yeah. Yes. And I loved it.

Amber B 08:29

Yeah. I love it. You started just a little bit before me. I started in 2018 and I, I actually held off on doing cross. My friends were doing it and I held off on doing, I was doing powerlifting at the time and I told them, I'm like, I'm not ready to go to a CrossFit class until I'm ready to stop powerlifting because I know when I go, I'll love it. Like I know I will love it. I love the competition. I love the barbells. Like I know I'll love it. So I can't go until I'm ready to like make the shift. And so my first class was actually an open workout. Like looking back, I was like, what, like, why did they invite me to an open workout? It was a Friday night lights. And it was one of the, it was 2018, the open. And I walked in like I power lift, like I'm a barbell and I died. I I'm so fit. I'm so fit. And then you get smacked over the face. And I was like, I am not fit at all, but I didn't ever look back. And you know, it's the same thing. I just like love the performance aspect. I love the pushing yourself. I love the fact that you can never, you're never going to be the best at everything, right? It's like, 

Shaylee Williams 09:34

Oh yeah. Forever humble. 

Amber B 09:35

Forever humble. Like there's always something to work at and you're never going to be the best at all of the different aspects. Like you just can't. And so there's always something to be working at. Always a goal to be hitting. Speaking of which you just hit a big goal this week. 

Shaylee Williams 09:50

Yes, I did.

Amber B 09:51

Tell us about your goal. 

Shaylee Williams 09:52

It was so emotional. I didn't expect to cry, but I just like melted. 

Amber B 10:00

That video was so awesome. It was fun to watch.

Shaylee Williams 10:01

So I have been lifting heavy has always been like my party trick, right? I'm only five foot two. I'm 140 pounds, but I can lift some serious, serious weight. And so one of my goals for years has been to have a 300 pound back squat. And every year and every time, I can't tell you how many times I have hit 295 just to fail 300, like at least six, you know? And, and it gets like in your brain of like, Oh, maybe, maybe I've peaked. 

Amber B 10:40

Maybe it's not possible.

Shaylee Williams 10:41

My foot's in the grave. I'll ever see it. 

Amber B 10:45

Yeah.

Shaylee Williams 10:46

But the last, uh, I did a training cycle that was 12 weeks long. And before I even saw that we had a one rep max programmed that day, the week before I remember doing the squats. And I was like, this is the most confidence I've ever had that I'm going to hit it. And I'm so excited. But I went to Miami for four days and I don't travel well by myself. I get so much anxiety. So I didn't eat hardly anything on Monday. Um, started my day that day, like 1:30 in the morning, got home around 4.00 PM, had my first meal then, and then just kind of took Tuesday off and then lifted Wednesday and saw that it was one rep max. And I almost didn't do it because I was like, Oh, I'm not, today's not the perfect day.

Amber B 11:38

I haven't peaked for it. Yeah. 

Shaylee Williams 11:39

Yeah. I haven't, I'm not ready. 

Amber B 11:42

Yeah. 

Shaylee Williams 11:42

But I actually keep a journal of all of my PRS that I've hit. I like keeping a journal of the goals that I hit and, and writing a story about it. Um, cause I feel like it's just this big book of bad-ass things that I've done in my life. And so I was looking back through some of those entries and I was like, man, like 75% of these, I didn't expect a lift that day. So I was like, I'm just going to go for it because what's the worst that can happen. I'm still at 295. Cool.

Amber B 12:13

Yeah. 

Shaylee Williams 12:13

And so then I, I went for it and it, I could have even done more, I think. 

Amber B 12:18

Oh, totally. It went up so fast. 

Shaylee Williams 12:20

It went up so easy and I got done and I just like fell onto the floor into a puddle of mush and just cried and was so excited because I feel like that was such a, it was such a mental block that I've had for so many years that finally was just like lifted and it felt like a hundred pounds, you know, kind of like mentally was just gone and it was such a cool day for me. 

Amber B 12:44

That's awesome.

Shaylee Williams 12:45

Super stoked. Yeah. Yeah.

Amber B 12:47

What was, were you present to like what was running through your mind? Like when those tears came, 

Shaylee Williams 12:53

I, I like really tried to fight them for a while, but there was one other, I've had one other experience, uh, like that where I cried really hard and it was, um, at a CrossFit competition that had swimming and I never, I didn't swim at all to prepare for it. And then the time came where we crushed the workout, which we didn't think we would do. And then I had to swim and it was an open water swim in the ocean. 

Amber B 13:26

Oh gosh!

Shaylee Williams 13:27

And, and I remember like I was hyperventilating, like going into it. I was so scared and nervous. And then I just got in the water and, and did it. And when I got back out, I was like, Oh my gosh. Like, I just started crying that I couldn't even believe that I did something like that. And then that was one of those moments that taught me, like, I'm never going to doubt myself again. Like, I can't believe I ever told myself that I was less than anyway, that's, that's a whole another story, but it was kind of those same feelings coming up again. That kind of just reminded me, like you had that moment where you said you weren't going to doubt yourself and here you are, you're again, it again. Yeah. And, and, but that's how, that's how like your mental mind works. Right. It's not something that you just have. It, it's that mental toughness is things that you work on, just like training, like building muscles or anything like that. And so it was a lot of those same feelings that came up for me. That just reminded me that you are a badass.

Amber B 14:29

So that's so cool. 

Shaylee Williams 14:30

Yeah. 

Amber B 14:31

I got to interview Tia-Claire Toomey for my podcast, which was like pinch me moment. Um, I, yeah, it was awesome. But that was what like, she reiterated so much was like so much about her success and being an athlete was her mental toughness. And I mean, you can obviously see it in everything that she does, but I think you're right that it isn't something. I mean, I think some people are born with more of an aptitude towards that, but it is absolutely something that can be cultivated in everybody. And I think maybe that's, I mean, that's one of the things I love about CrossFit is probably one of the things you love about CrossFit is it puts you in those positions where you are forced to, like, to do hard things and to prove to yourself over and over and over again, what a badass you are in all these different arenas and do things that maybe you even thought that you couldn't do and then prove yourself wrong time and time again. 

Shaylee Williams 15:16

Yep.

Amber B 15:16

Um, and then this, this, this was part of the story. I want you to explain to me, then you're like, okay, so let's go for 315, like let's put three, three plates on the bar. And like, I was like the jump from 300 to 315. That's ballsy. 

Shaylee Williams 15:32

I know. 

Amber B 15:33

No spotters. No, like anything. 

Shaylee Williams 15:36

Yeah. Confidence was at 100.

Amber B 15:38

Yeah. You're like, I can literally do anything right now. 

Shaylee Williams 15:43

Yeah. Yeah. I, I have failed. I have learned how to fail back squats safely. So I really don't ever have any worry in the world when I'm doing heavy back squats, just because I, I set myself up for success in a way, like keep my chest up really high so that when I feel it, the bar's going back forwards. Um, not to say that things still can't happen. That's a lot of weight. You know, all it takes is a tiny bit of movement to just crush my tiny body, but it's fine. It's fine. But I was sitting there doing the math and like, the only thing I could see in my mind was squatting three plates. Yeah. Like once I hit 300, I was like, Ooh, like, why not just like go for it? That would be the coolest thing in the world. 

Amber B 16:35

Yeah.

Shaylee Williams 16:36

It's like, like three Oh five. Cool. Three 10. Cool. But when you can do three, three plates, yeah. Three 45s on your bar, like you're, you're doing things. And so I was like, I want to, I want to do things too. I threw 315 on and failed miserably, but I didn't even care. I was just like, I got, I got what I worked for and I'm so excited. And now 315 is the next goal. .

Amber B 17:00

Yeah. So that was my next question was going to be is like, what is your next goal? Is it back squat or do you have other things that you're working on currently? 

Shaylee Williams 17:07

Oh yeah. So I have a big list of everything. 

Amber B 17:10

Oh, I love it. 

Shaylee Williams 17:11

Yeah. But at the same time, you can't always work. You can't work on everything at the same time. Yeah. So I have a of all of my lifts and so many other things that I keep in my journal. Um, and then when I hit those things, I cross them off and then write a little journal entry about it. But yeah, I have one for literally everything you could think of. Yeah. 

Amber B 17:38

That's so awesome. That's really fun. Are you going to, are you going to keep focusing on back squat? Is that, are we, are we chasing 315? Are we going to do another cycle or 

Shaylee Williams 17:46

I don't, I don't know. It really is whatever. So I do like, just like the proven compete programming. Um, and it kind of seems like they just cycle through movements, but so I don't think whatever's next. Yeah. I don't think back squat will be on there again. Um, but that's okay. Cause I, you know, you always need to work on everything else anyway. 

Amber B 18:09

Totally. Yeah.

Shaylee Williams 18:11

I kind of do want to maybe retest it just to see what happens. So I might just do that casually on a Tuesday. 

Amber B 18:19

Throw it in. I love it.

Shaylee Williams 18:20

Just to see. Cause I don't feel like I found a true max. 

Amber B 18:24

Sure. Yeah. It went too fast to be, it wasn't a grindy. It wasn't the grindy. Like that was my one RM, you know? 

Shaylee Williams 18:30

Yeah. It wasn't that it was like, it felt smooth and then 315 just buried me. So there's, 

Amber B 18:36

There's something in between there.

Shaylee Williams 18:38

Yeah, that I think I need to find. So yeah. 

Amber B 18:41

Yeah. That's awesome. Uh, talk about your kids. Do your kids come out and lift with you like what has that done for you and your kids seeing their mom be such a badass in the gym? 

Shaylee Williams 18:52

Yeah, I, I want to make this a positive experience. I, I hate when my kids come out more than anything. It's like the last thing when I'm like giving everything I have and my four year old comes out and she was like, mom, I need a snack. And I'm like, shut up, please shut up for 10 minutes until I'm all done and help you. But it does, it is cool. Um, cause my four year old daughter, she is, she's a stage 10 clinger. So she's like always out there and it's really fun to see her like do burpees with me and want to do things like here and there and talk about fitness. Because for me as a kid, that's something that I never had. I never, I didn't know anything about nutrition or fitness until I grew up and moved out and, and found a passion for that. And so it really, I'm really excited to kind of see what that does for them just growing up in a, in a different environment like that. Um, my seven year old doesn't have any interest in watching or working out with me at all. My, uh, 12 year old for the first time was like, Hey mom, I think I want to start lifting with you. And I'm trying really hard not to be like, okay, well you can start CrossFit when you're 14. So let's like prepare you for the team games. You know what I mean? Like trying not to live like vicariously through him. But it is cool that he, like he sees the stuff that I do and notices that it's, it's almost outside the norm, which is really, really cool. 

Amber B 20:42

Yeah. Yeah. It's so fun. I, I was lucky enough to have a mom who modeled weightlifting for me back in like, you know, eighties and nineties. And it's really interesting. I have three sisters and all, all four of us lift weights. Uh, and I just think that that like modeling from a young age that like it is normal for a woman to lift heavyweights and it just creates this like, well, yeah, of course that's normal. And, and that's, that's such a cool thing for kids to, to grow up with, especially, you know, young, young girls. Um, and, 

Shaylee Williams 21:14

And even then you're saying your mom in the eighties and nineties, like that wasn't common. 

Amber B 21:19

No, it wasn't. Yeah. I was like, what are you weird? 

Shaylee Williams 21:23

Yeah. Yeah.

Amber B 21:23

But it wasn't weird to me because that's just what my mom did. 

Shaylee Williams 21:28

Yeah, that is so cool. 

Amber B 21:29

It's a really cool, it's a cool, and I, and I always tell my clients as well, cause a lot of the women that I work with didn't grow up with that, like kind of like you, like they didn't grow up with that, but I always point to it that you can be that mom. Right. So it's like, you're the cycle breaker and you can be that mom for your kids that maybe you didn't have have growing up. And that that's really, really cool. Um, a lot of moms struggle to see themselves as athletes. Do you consider yourself an athlete? And if so, how did you like claim that identity? 

Shaylee Williams 21:58

Yeah, I do. 1000%.

Amber B 22:02

Yeah. Yeah. 

Shaylee Williams 22:02

Like, I feel like I worked too hard to like, if you're going to put in the work every single day for an hour, regardless of what level you're at, athlete. 

Amber B 22:15

That's an athlete. Yeah. Done. 

Shaylee Williams 22:22

You're an athlete. You worked on it every day, you’ve earned the title, you know.

Amber B 22:23

Yeah. I like that. 

Shaylee Williams 22:24

So yeah, I've, I've always, I always owned it and I, and I love that title like, and, and I really am not like anything special. You know what I mean? Like I'm, I'm, I might, I get confused all the time. I think people see how many followers I have on Instagram and they're like, oh my gosh, you must be so good. Especially like my family that doesn't know anything about CrossFit. They're like, oh my God, we had no idea you were so good at CrossFit. And I'm just like, I'm actually, yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah. And so, yeah, I, I just, for me, it's, it's more of like, like a symbol of doing rather than a symbol of being, and that might sound weird in my mind, if that makes sense. 

Amber B 23:21

Well, but it's almost like if you run, you're a runner, right? I think that's what you're saying. It's like, you don't have to like run a certain pace. It's like, yeah, run, you're a runner. 

Shaylee Williams 23:30

Just move your feet a little bit. You are a runner. Congratulations. Every day. Yeah. You don't, cause there, yeah, there is no, like to be a runner, you have to run six miles a day. 

Amber B 23:41

We're at this pace or like this marathon time or whatever. Right.

Shaylee Williams 23:46

Yeah. Athlete is the same.

Amber B 23:47

Yeah. And I like that you're pointing to like the consistency. It's like, if you're showing up every day, putting in time towards this thing, I mean, what's the difference? That's an athlete like that. You're an athlete. Congratulations. Own it.

Shaylee Williams 23:59

Way to go. 

Amber B 24:00

Yeah. Way to go. You did it. Congratulations. Yeah. Yeah. That's awesome. Uh, you're, are you a 5 AMer? When do you work out? 

Shaylee Williams 24:08

Um, it really ranges. Okay. Uh, cause my schedule is I work out from home, like Sunday through Thursday, and then I'll go to the 5 AM class at CrossFit on Fridays. Um, and then work out at home the rest of the week. And so sometimes that's 5 AM and sometimes that's noon. 

Amber B 24:31

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, that's the beauty of working at a home, right? 

Shaylee Williams 24:34

Yeah. Summer, summer is coming and it's only getting more and more hot where I live. And so it's going to be 5 AM or nothing.

Amber B 24:42

Yeah. Cause it just gets too hot. Yep. Yeah. Yeah. That makes sense. So you launched a clothing company somewhat recently. Talk about that. Where did that idea come from? 

Shaylee Williams 24:53

That we're going to trace this back to the athlete thing.

Amber B 24:58

Oh, nice. Okay. Cool.

Shaylee Williams 24:59

Because I love to compete and where I'm not good at CrossFit, nobody is really going to sponsor me because they're like, Oh, cool. You're second to last. That's great. Yeah. So I was like, if I am going to get any sponsors, I'm going to have to sponsor myself. 

Amber B 25:24

I love it.

Shaylee Williams 25:25

And so then I created unfiltered clothing, which is basically just cool, fun designs in the CrossFit space that mean things to me. Some of them are inspirational. Some of them are funny. And I just created a website and put them online. And now those shirts are what helped me pay for the comps that I love. 

Amber B 25:50

Oh my gosh. I love it. Yeah. Yeah. Cause you had a Reel at one point talking about like the money spent signing up for competitions and you like totaling it all up. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's a lot.

Shaylee Williams 26:01

Competing is so inspect. It doesn't have to be, but when you do a lot of these bigger ones, yeah, I, I compete for the experience. Like after you do a few, you kind of start to realize that, or at least for me anyway, I realized that I was learning something new about myself every single time I did a competition. And I was like, man, these aren't just like little things like, you know, that I like this food or this food. This is like very character defining things that I'm learning about myself doing these competitions. And so then I wanted to travel more, but yeah, like some of those bigger ones, um, like Wodapalooza Miami is so fun, but every time we go, it's like $3,000 to that comp.

Amber B 26:50

Yeah. Yeah. It looked really fun.

Shaylee Williams 26:53

It's so much fun. Uh, but yeah, they, they add up your local comps. You're going to spend, you know, $500 for entry fees and hotels and fuel and things like that. And so my husband was like, we can't do this. 

Amber B 27:09

Yeah. You need something to support this, this hobby of yours. 

Shaylee Williams 27:13

Yeah. And I was like, okay, well, T-shirts seem easy enough. I'm going to learn how to make them. And so I did all of my shirts are made by me. They're all packaged and shipped and I do everything. And it's been great. 

Amber B 27:27

That's so cool. Yeah. Um, you, I love the, the point that you made about learning something new about yourself at the competitions. Can you think back to any of the competitions you've done and like, what was one specific thing that you learned from that experience? 

Shaylee Williams 27:41

Yeah. So the Wodapalooza Miami with that swim, that was, that one was probably the most like life defying moment for me because leading up to it, first of all, like that workout, we tested it and we didn't think we were going to finish it. And how it went was like, it was in teams of three and you did some work all together. And then one person went and swam while the other two teammates worked. And then you did more work in teams of three. And then the next person would go out and swim. And so we, after talking, you know, we were like, we're pretty sure we're going to get time capped. So like, you were not going to have to worry about you swimming. And that's when the mind games started because it's really hard. And, and I don't, I'm not talking badly about my teammates at all, but when, when they start to strategize of how to do the workout, the best, 

Amber B 28:39

And they put you at the end, 

Shaylee Williams 28:41

And then you're not it, you know what I mean? Like mentally that's really, it just kind of starts to snowball after that of like, I'm not good enough. I'm not as fit as I thought I was. I'm holding back my team, all of these things. And so when the time came, we crushed that workout and we had so much time left that I would look like the biggest idiot if I didn't get in the water. Yeah. I had to. And I, and I almost didn't even bring any of my stuff. I kept my shoes on. I wasn't ready. I'm like trying to take my time to like, let the time go down to like take my shoes off. I'm walking over to the water, like seeing how much time I can waste. But I still eventually had to get in. And I remember walking like down the barge and seeing the dark water. And all of a sudden it's like, Oh, sharks. And you can't see. And I don't swim very good anyway. I just stood there and was like, I don't know if I can get in the water. And then, uh, one of the lifeguards on a kayak came over to me and was like, I got your back. Don't you were like, don't worry, just get in and start going. And so then I just, I did, I got in the water and it was the ugliest swim anyone would ever see. I couldn't, I was hyper ventilating so bad. I couldn't put my face in the water. So I just like doggy paddled and breast stroked for what was probably 150 meters. I know. And I just remember getting out and was almost like, why on earth did I create such a monster in my brain? Like, I don't know why, why I did that to myself or why, why I talked so badly about myself. And it was like, as soon as I hit land again, I was like, I am never doubting myself again. Never, never doing that again. And that one was definitely one of the bigger ones for sure.

Amber B 30:43

Yeah. That's so, that's so cool. Uh, what, what would you say to somebody who maybe is listening to this podcast and is curious about lifting or maybe curious about CrossFit, but hasn't like done it yet. And as nervous about the whole experience, like what would you say to someone who's just brand new and thinking about starting lifting? 

Shaylee Williams 31:02

Hmm. Honestly, honestly, going that first day is the hardest part. 

Amber B 31:08

Yeah.

Shaylee Williams 31:09

But, and not, and I say this pretty loosely because not all CrossFit gyms are the same. Yeah. Not you're not, you could go into the same gym and you could try every single class they offer throughout the day and have a different experience for each one.

Amber B 31:26

Yeah. That's true. 

Shaylee Williams 31:27

Because there's so many different dynamics of people all throughout. So if I was going to give any advice, like just show up and then try whatever classes that you can, get a good vibe for the people there. And you'll fall like the falling in love with it just happens after that. But you got to step out of your own way and walk in the door first.

Amber B 31:51

Yeah. That's such good advice. Um, I work out in the mornings and so like, I know all of the morning people and, you know, been there for like years and years. And one time I went to an afternoon class and I walked in and people like, Oh, hi, are you new? And I was like, Oh wow. Like, I mean, when you say they're like different, they're like night and day different, like personality, people who go there. And I was like, Oh no, I've been here for years.

Shaylee Williams 32:17

I've had at least four embarrassing moments with that same. 

Amber B 32:22

Okay. Wait, share at least share at least one good story. I want an embarrassing moment story. 

Shaylee Williams 32:27

Oh my gosh. I have so many. Okay. Do you want, do you want the Ricky Gerard story? 

Amber B 32:34

Yes, I do. 

Shaylee Williams 32:35

A BKG story.

Amber B 32:37

Oh my gosh. Yes. I want them all. 

Shaylee Williams 32:42

The blind adaptive athlete story. See, I, I have embarrassing stories just like, okay. Right. You just told me, 

Amber B 32:52

Well, let's start with Ricky. I want to hear the Ricky Gerard story. Oh, my steroids. What is it? I'm so curious. Okay. 

Shaylee Williams 32:58

It's when I, it's when I met him for the first time. Well, I didn't even beat him. I couldn't because I was so awkward anyway. It was, uh, at Wodapalooza again. And it was the first time that I had ever been to a big CrossFit event. So I had been doing CrossFit for five, six years, like never gone to the games, never met an elite athlete, nothing. And so when you meet an elite athlete for the first time, you very much like put them on a pedestal. 

Amber B 33:30

Totally. Yeah.

Shaylee Williams 33:31

They are literal like gods and goddesses with their crazy bodies anyway. Yeah. So we were staying in the same hotel as a lot of the athletes. And so you you'd cross paths with them all the time. And, uh, in the hotel, the way their fitness area was structured, it was there's a downstairs and an upstairs. And when you walk upstairs, when you hit the ground level, it's just class. And then there's a whole bunch of rowers that go along the edge of the upstairs that are right next to the stairs. So I walk up the stairs and Ricky Gerard is rowing on one of the rowers that is right next to the glass. Mm hmm. And so I start walking up the stairs and I like start to creep up and I look over and notice that it's him and he sees me seeing him. This was my exact face. And I was like, like, as he's like less than 10 feet away from me. And he just looks at me like, are you okay? And then I realized I was having like an out of body experience. Then I just was like, left. It was so awful. And I haven't met him since, which is probably for the best, you know? 

Amber B 34:55

Oh my gosh. Okay. Wait, the adaptive athlete. I would have to hear the adaptive athlete story. 

Shaylee Williams 35:02

First of all, I don't know. Like if, if, if, if you're seeing me for the first time, whatever judgments you have of me, like let those go. Okay. If you perceive that I'm a smart human being, this story isn't going to be nearly as funny. So just like let all of that go. And I've also lived a sheltered life. Very, very sheltered. Okay. So here we go. Okay. Sarah Perry is a adaptive athlete who, and I don't know how much she can see, but I think she is fully blind in one eye and has maybe anywhere from like 20 or 40% visibility in the other eye. But I don't, didn't know anything about adaptive athletes. So for me, you were either blind or fine. 

Amber B 35:57

Yeah. No in between. 

Shaylee Williams 35:59

There's no in between. So I'm walking through vendor village of a competition and I see her, she has her glasses on. She has her cane or her stick, whatever you want to call it. That is clearly for visually impaired people and her mom that is kind of walking with her. And I'm just casually like walking by with a friend and she reaches out and she grabs me and she goes, Oh my gosh, I know you. And I look at her and I'm seeing all of the signs that she's visually impaired. And I'm like, Oh my God, she has supersonic hearing. Like what kind of crazy like individual is this? Yeah. See. And so I'm sitting there talking to her and it's like, not quite clicking in my brain. You know, common sense should be there and it's just not. So I'm like, Oh cool. Like what division are you? And she literally looks at me and holds out her stick and she goes this one. And I was like, Oh yeah, for sure. Like totally. I should have known like, but that still didn't answer my question. And I talked about it with my friends for hours. I was like, she picked me out of a crowd based off my voice for my videos. Like how cool is that? I went back and found her later and was like, this is going to sound really dumb, but like, how can you actually see me right now? 

Amber B 37:35

Yeah. Yeah.

Shaylee Williams 37:36

Yeah. It was like, yeah, I can. It was like, God damn it.

Amber B 37:39

Oh my gosh. That's amazing. That's so fun.

Shaylee Williams 37:43

That's a super interesting story. I, I didn't realize like, when you think of adaptive athletes, I think the first instinct when you're trying to relate to them is to instantly be like, Oh, like if, if that was me, I would be doing this too. But after kind of like watching so many competitions with adaptive athletes, I sit back and I'm just like, I can't say that. Yeah. Like I haven't, I haven't been in their shoes and like, how dare I say something like that to be like, Oh yeah, if I was, I would do it too. And she sat there and told me her story and, and I won't, I won't share too much of it, but she said like 13 brain surgeries.

Amber B 38:35

Wow. 

Shaylee Williams 38:36

And, and she is still out there just like crushing it in the fitness world and still struggling with all the repercussions of those surgeries and, and different things of life. And I'm just like, I'm so, I'm so inspired by those people and I want, I want more of that.

Amber B 38:54

That's really cool. 

Shaylee Williams 38:55

I know it was, it was a really fun moment for me to realize that I'm pretty dumb and also to realize like how awesome the adaptive community is. 

Amber B 39:03

They're amazing.

Shaylee Williams 39:04

Yeah. 

Amber B 39:05

Yeah. One of the things that I love so much about CrossFit is that it is so, it's small enough that when you go to something like the games or Wodapalooza or the semis that you do get to like interact with the athletes. Like I've, we took our kids to the games in 2022 in Madison and like, you just, you see the athletes like walking around or like you said, in vendor village and you take, you know, take pictures with Chandler Smith and, you know, Daniel Brandon and same thing. It's like, that is kind of a cool part of being a part of the community is it's, it's just smaller than like the NBA where you really get like that you get to like see the athletes and kind of rub noses with them a little bit, which is really cool. 

Shaylee Williams 39:44

And I, and I really love that because every, it seems like every athlete I talk to, I'm like, Oh my gosh, you are one of the most genuine human beings I've ever met.

Amber B 39:54

And you're so normal. 

Shaylee Williams 39:57

Like I've had a good opportunity now to spend some good time with like Fee Saghafi and Alex Kazan and Ariel Lawn. And I, and I just hear them just in conversations, like from the outside looking in and I'm just like, I don't know. I don't know what I thought of you. Like, not that I had these like perceptions of who they should be as people, but then you hear them talking. You're just like, Oh my God, you guys are like, like just really good, good people.

Amber B 40:27

Yeah. Yeah. That's so cool. So cool. Okay. Well, let's wrap this up. I want to know what your favorite lift is. If you could pick one lift, what is it? 

Shaylee Williams 40:39

Um, it's probably tied like back squat or cleans are, are my two most favorite. And those are the ones I'm good at.

Amber B 40:49

Yeah. Oh, I mean, isn't that usually how it is? 

Shaylee Williams 40:52

Yeah. I'm like, Oh, I'm pretty sure I, that will forever be my weakness and it's fine. But yeah, back squats or they're just a vibe and I love it. And they're so fun. 

Amber B 41:04

Wait, are you good at deadlifts being a little on the shorter side? I feel like that would be a good, 

Shaylee Williams 41:09

Uh, I don't know, like my max deadlifts 335. So I feel like that's like, that's good and it's not bad, but it's like not the best. Yeah. Like it's okay. Yeah. I don't know. I don't know.

Amber B 41:26

Yeah. That was what I was gonna say. So for reference, for anyone listening, my max deadlift is 303. So I'm not too far off, but my max back squat is 232. So like that, I think that gives you a little bit of perspective of like how amazing your, your back squat is. It's pretty cool.

Shaylee Williams 41:46

Yeah. I've always been naturally good at it. It's been one of those things that didn't come. It doesn't come easy to me, but it definitely came easier than a lot of the other movements that like CrossFit is very skill oriented. Yeah. There's so many, so many different skills. And I feel like a lot of people, when they first start CrossFit, they get really like bummed out or disheartened that they can't do certain stuff. And it's like, listen, there's about 20 different movements that all require different skills. And even if you would take you a whole month to, even if you just worked on one a day every day of the month to cycle through all of those, it's a lot. And so, yeah, but it's so much fun. 

Amber B 42:33

Yeah. I think maybe there are like two different types of people. It's like either you go into CrossFit and you're like, Oh, there's so many skills and I'm never going to learn them all. Or you go into CrossFit and you're like, there's so many skills. There's so many things for me to learn. I'm so excited. And that was me. Like, it's like, like I'm going to get handstand pushups. I want to get a handstand walk. I want to get toes to bar, you know, like all these skills. I just love that. It was like always a new thing to be getting better at. And, and there's always something to be working on. 

Shaylee Williams 43:01

It's true. And one of, I feel like one of the things that I've, I feel like I have kind of known this for a while, but it wasn't until recently that it like really slapped me in the face. And maybe it was my 300 pound back squat. I don't know. But if you, if you keep showing up, universe can't deny you, it can't, it might, it might prolong it. Like, you know, it took me five years to finally get that back squat. And so the universe can say no, a handful of times, but if you keep showing up and you keep putting in the work, mind you, you have to have an honest conversation with yourself because just if, if you're not giving it a hundred percent of what you have, the universe is going to say no a lot longer, but if you keep showing up and you keep putting in the work, like you're destined to get there, it's not a matter of if, but when at that point. And like, that really has, has stuck with me of like, I don't know when I'm going to, you know start the downhill slide and not be able to do this stuff anymore, but I know it's not anytime soon. Yeah. And so you're just, just keep showing up every day and, and keep putting in the work and it'll come at some point.

Amber B 44:20

Yeah. That's so cool. Uh, I just actually put up a post just recently. Cause I got my first ring muscle up ever. Not it was, it wasn't in an open workout. I was before the open workout in the workout, but I got my first one ever. And it had been seven years. Like I started seven years ago trying to get a ring muscle up. Um, so it's the same thing. It's like you just keep showing up and it's not like I was doing ring muscle ups, but I was developing other skills and other strengths and other body awareness. And you know, every once in a while it shows up in the open. And then I finally got my first one. So I mean, I love that philosophy of just like, you just keep showing up and it's can't deny you. Like you're going to get there someday. 

Shaylee Williams 45:00

It can say no a bunch of times, but it can't say no forever. Yeah. That’s so good. First, first muscle ups are my favorite or is probably my favorite CrossFit experience. 

Amber B 45:12

It's, it's so cool because you get like above something and like can hold it. I don't know. Like I remember when I got my first bar muscle up and you're like up there above and you're like, yeah, the ring muscle up. We like, we only have one set of rings in our gym and it's in like the back part, like, you know, like a little room in the back. And so I was in the room by myself and I like screamed, like, got it. But I'm like sitting up here, like screaming, but luckily I got it on video. So it was all good. 

Shaylee Williams 45:46

Yeah. That's awesome. There's, there's, there's a good energy around, around PRs and personal bests or doing it for the first time. And honestly, like it's, it's my favorite when other people get it. Like I, I love it. Sure. When I get PRs and stuff, like it's huge, but when other people do so fun, it's like, it, it like fuels me for the rest of the week. Yeah. It, I heard a saying in a movie that says like a simple act of kindness instantly sparks another. And I think that is so true when it comes to the energy of people doing hard things. Like you see someone working so hard and doing it their all. And you're like, Oh my God, I do have more. Thank you so much for showing me because that just inspired me so much. Like, let's go. And then you immediately, you know, like kick down the door and you're like, come on life, like bring it on. Those moments are my favorite. I love, I love seeing other people succeed. It's it changes your entire week. 

Amber B 46:51

Yeah. That's so cool. Yeah. Okay. Shaylee. Well, if people want to find you or they want to follow you, where can they go? 

Shaylee Williams 46:58

Yes. Um, I'm the unfiltered fit mom on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. Um, but I really only engage a lot on Instagram to be honest. I didn't even know my reels were going on Facebook until like, Oh, wow. I have a whole another platform that I didn't even know about. Uh, so I'm not super interactive on TikTok or Facebook. I try every once in a while, but on Instagram, I do my best to get back to every message, um, and comment on there. 

Amber B 47:24

So that's awesome. That's awesome. Yeah. You guys should definitely go follow her. It always makes me giggle. You're always so spot on with like the relatability factor. It's so funny. So yes, definitely go follow her. Well, thanks for being here. 

Shaylee Williams 47:44

Yes. It was my favorite and it was an honor. So thank you so much for having me. 

Amber B 47:49

I hope you enjoyed that interview. When we hit, we stopped recording. I commented to Shaylee that it was refreshing that she was the same person that I had seen on Instagram in, you know, in the interview. And it's always refreshing just to have that continuity of like, who is showing up online is the real person that you're really getting in real life as well. And I hope that Shaylee's story really reminds you that if you haven't had that breakthrough yet, or if you have a goal that you're working on that it, you know, you can't rush it. But if you keep showing up time and time again, I loved what she said about the universe, not being able to not give you that thing eventually. And I really subscribe to that and think that there's a lot of truth in that. So if you don't follow Shaylee already, go give her a follow @unfilteredfitmom on Instagram. She's genuinely funny. And one of the most real people in the fitness space. That wraps up this episode of Biceps After Babies Radio. I'm Amber, now go out and be strong because remember my friend, you can do anything.

Outro

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