“Hey Dad, Guess What I Got You for Your Birthday…”
Chris Cordeiro has an extraordinary laugh. Were he the most boring interview imaginable, the couple beers I shared with him at Haymaker just before the world went sideways would have been a delightful way to pass the evening based solely on the brightening effect of that laughter. As it happens, Chris is not the most boring interview imaginable- he is a true renaissance man. There was a whole captivating segment of this interview about his sailing hobby that didn’t quite fit into the transcript. Fasten your seatbelts, try to keep up, and allow that laughter to infiltrate your soul!
So, your dad and your stepmom were both gym teachers or coaches- were you pushed into athletics at an early age?
*laughing* I wouldn’t say pushed because I loved it so much. I loved sports- I grew up around it, I loved doing it, and I always wanted to be the best at it. My dad was the opposite of what you’d call a helicopter parent so he gave me all the tips and trained me, but he expected me to just do it- I rode my bike to every game and just did everything myself.
What was your favorite sport?
See I don’t like what is happening with specialization these days. Up there (In New England where he grew up), in the fall we played football, in the winter we played hockey, in the spring baseball came around, and then soccer was the summer. You’d change it up every once in a while- like wrestling in high school- but you played all the sports. It wasn’t this idea of pick what you are going to play and focus on that or you’ll fall behind. You just played. I loved it.
There is actually a fairly new book out right now (“Range” by David Epstein) that talks about generalization being important for developing athletes.
My “daycare” was hanging out after school with whatever sport my dad was coaching that season. Some of my favorite memories were being a little nine or ten year old kid and hitting the sleds with the linemen on the football team. No mercy- I was one of those kids, the assistant coaches would whip me the ball as hard as they could. They’d knock me down and would be like “Get up and wipe that blood off- you’re fine!” *big laughter*
They just threw you in the deep end.
*still laughing (brace yourself dear reader, you will be reading this particular action annotation a lot in this interview)* Oh, I had no choice. Growing up, everyone was like “oh, you’re going to be a professional football player” and I knew that I wasn’t, but people kept pushing me toward that. So one of the biggest rifts with my parents growing up was I rebelled; I grew my hair long and I had always played the guitar growing up. It pissed off my high school coach because I’d be running around during gym class with my hair all long making his players look bad- he would just be like, “*angry grumbling noise* cut your hair and get back on my team!”. *laughter again*
What kind of music were you into?
Mainly hard rock and metal- my band did a lot of Guns n’ Roses and Metallica stuff. Led Zeppelin- I’ve always been a Zep Head.
Do you still play?
When I can. It is what I relax with sometimes; I keep my guitar right there in the living room so I can just pick it up and play. It is tough around here to do more than that because everybody thinks that they are a professional and they are going to be a star some day, so you can’t just go find a fun jam band.
Do you ever play any open mic nights or anything like that?
Eh- The closest I get to that around here is karaoke. I love karaoke *another big laugh*
Sweet- do you have a go to karaoke song?
I usually warm up with Mustang Sally– the pitch and the vocals warms me up- then I go in all kinds of directions; I’ll do anything from Madonna to Metallica. The bad part about doing karaoke with me is you have to fight me for the mic! *you guessed it, more laughter!*
How have we not done karaoke together yet? There is a new member named Alli Vaughn who has quickly hopped in on some of the social events at The Shop. At one of the recent gatherings *sigh… I miss gatherings* she and I were both talking about getting a group of people at The Shop together for karaoke. That is really cool Chris. So later in the interview, we will get a little more into some of your other interests, but we were talking about you during the manager meeting today and Dane was very curious about what you do for a living and how that relates to leadership in general. Can you briefly summarize what you do? I have a vague idea.
I am a general superintendent, so I manage teams; I manage people and (construction) projects. My whole role is to help people grow and fulfill their role and manage each little piece in construction as we go along on a project. Basically I’m a coach. It is funny, I spent my whole life being a doer and over the past four years or so, that role has shifted for me; now I don’t manage the construction process or buildings themselves, I manage the teams and help them to be the best they can be at what they do.
How did you transition from “the doing” to “the coaching”?
A lot of it is trial and error- thinking about the things that bother you and trying to do things in a different way. Trying to listen. The one thing I love about my business is it is perfect for someone who has ADD or something because every two years you essentially start a new project.
When you start on a project, how do you know where to start? I imagine it is something of a blank canvas- is there a first question you ask yourself or a first problem you attempt to address?
With construction it is all about documents and plans. I don’t know what I’m going to do unless I understand what is being built. You hone in for a week or two just on the details- what the project is– before you can start formulating a plan. That is what I love about what I do; sometimes I am dealing with designs and helping engineers get to where they need to be, sometimes I am dealing with logistics, sometimes it is H/R, sometimes it is just dealing with clients at happy hours and helping client relationships. I have to wear so many different hats-
And if I may, you’re wearing a lovely Dane’s Body Shop hat right now.
The best baby! I don’t go anywhere without it- branding! *laughing (of course)* Gotta represent. But yeah, that is why I love it- because every day is different. Some days it is just leading by example- if you can’t lead by example, nobody is going to follow you. There are times where, if people aren’t getting things done, instead of jumping up and down and yelling at them, I just get up and show them how to do it. If it means me just carrying heavy loads around or if I have to get dirty, that is what it takes to get the job done.
Do you have a particularly problematic type of person that you deal with?
Yep- whiners. I can’t stand people who try to find excuses. I keep a poster on my wall- it isn’t really a poster, it is just like 8×11, I’ve carried it for years– it is called “Winners and Losers”. It is all about the people who figure out a reason why they can do something and the people who figure out reasons why they can’t. It is the people who come up with reasons why they can’t that drive me nuts.
Do you have a strategy for dealing with that kind of person- do you just point to the poster or do you have words of wisdom?
*l-a-u-g-h-i-n-g* it is funny that you say that- when I start a project, one of the first things I do is print out copies of that poster, hand it out to everybody, and say “Hey, put this in front of your computer.” *l_a_u_g_h_i_n_g* It is a clear expectation. The way these projects cycle through and start fresh, I get to learn from my mistakes. It isn’t just a new challenge, it is a new team- new people. So I get to think about what I could have done better with the last team and project and then apply what I think I did well at and then try other things when it comes to stuff that I didn’t do as well. Nobody is perfect, it is all about growth. If you cannot self analyze, you won’t go anywhere- you’ll just be that grumpy old superintendent that nobody wants to work around
As I get into my mid thirties and have had some more leadership experience, I think that my number one skill is looking at myself and saying “this is where you messed up Chad”. It isn’t pretty, it sucks, and it keeps me up at night sometimes, but at the end of the day, that is the biggest tool someone can have.
If you can’t self evaluate, what are you gonna do?
Exactly. Well, this is probably a good place to start talking about The Shop a little bit. There is a lot of leadership at The Shop and it happens at multiple levels; obviously it starts with Dane because his name is on the joint, but then there is the management team, every coach is a leader, and then members themselves are leaders. You are a leader- part of the reason someone gets selected to be the Athlete of the Season is that they’ve shown themselves to be a leader in some way. Do you have any ideas about how leaders in The Shop environment can be better or things that they do well?
I always go in (to The Shop) with a good mood- I say hi to everybody and try to have a wonderful day because if you have a bad day in front of people, they take that in. Leaders can’t have bad days- or you can have a bad day, but you can’t project that onto other people. You need to learn how to deal with it without passing it on. So if a coach is having a bad day and not focusing, it reflects on the class.
That was something that came up about you while I was preparing for this interview- that we know you have a huge workload, but you can be counted on to come in at 5am and say hi to everyone. and how lovely that is. To me, I think that is an expression of your own leadership at The Shop.
There are plenty of times I go in and I’m tired and worn out, but by starting off that way I have set my tone. I might be battling something internally, but by maintaining (that positive tone) it helps me have a better workout, it helps me interact with people better, and hopefully it helps other people to have a better day.
That is one of the areas where I have analyzed myself and tried to improve recently. I think I’m mostly pretty good at keeping control of myself in classes, but there have been classes where something bad has happened outside of class and I know I let it seep in. It makes a difference. There have been instances where I have fucked up as a coach because I wasn’t 100% positive and the coach that I wanted to be.
It isn’t about being fake, it is about a mindset. I project a good mood because I want to be in a good mood and I want a good workout. When I put myself in that mindset, even if I’m in a bad mood, by the end of the workout I am feeling alright.
Exactly! It isn’t just for the members that I hold myself to being positive, it is because when I force myself to be positive, I almost always end up coming out of class feeling like I just had a therapy session. Like I have used the members to help me feel better by feeding off of the shared positivity.
The gym for me is a therapy. I grew up in the gym- it is where I want to be. I feel miserable if I go through a stretch of not making it in.
That is something I wanted to get back to- you came to The Shop through your son, Chris Cordeiro Jr. How did that connection come about?
I’ve always had gym memberships just to do my own stuff, but doing the same thing had gotten stale. I had been building some projects downtown and I remembered seeing (The DBS) sign on Guadalupe and started wondering if I should stop in some time. I knew what CrossFit was and knew I didn’t want to do that. Well, believe it or not, I can be a shy person sometimes *big sheepish laughter*. So my son ended up moving into The Triangle just down the street and I told him I had really been thinking about going. He suggested that we go and try it together. One day he called me and said, “Hey Dad, I went down there and I think you’re really gonna love it.” A month or two later he was still prodding me to go and then one day he was like “Hey Dad, guess what I got you for your birthday present- I just bought you three months of membership at Dane’s!”.
He just pinned you right up against the wall on that one-
Yes he did! And I loved it from the moment I got there.
So we had three months of borrowed time with you to sell you on it? It wasn’t just working out with your son that sold you was it?
We actually never really worked out together. See he is a techie and a millennial- the worst combination! He wakes up at 11 o’clock in the morning and goes to bed at 10 o’clock at night- I have to be at work at 6 in the morning.
Those damn millennials!
Don’t get me going *huge laughter*. But yeah, I just loved the place and the people right away. Of course there was Beth and she is the most amazing and wonderful coach you could have. I love the accountability with her- she always pushes you to do your best.
What else got you hooked that made you keep going past the three month mark?
The people- it is about the comradeship. You have each other’s backs and you also push each other. If you don’t show up, everyone is happy when you’re back and that makes you feel good. I have a lot of tight spots in my body from bad workout habits growing up- I tear things easily. One time I was injured for about two months. My wife asked me what was wrong with me and I was like, “Honey… I think I am depressed because I miss my 5am people. I really need to get back there!”
Poor little puppy dog!
You know it’s funny- I’ve always gone to the gym to workout, but when you are just doing it by yourself, it’s not as fun. You don’t push yourself as much- you’re just there doing the motions, whereas when you’re with a group of people, it is like family. It feels wonderful.
You feel safe and encouraged. That is really well put. Do you have anyone in particular that you feel that bond with?
Tom (Sennett) and Michele (Grieshaber). They are the best. I always tell them that they are my heroes. When I found out I was Athlete of the Season, my reaction was that they are the Athlete of the Season. Me, I’m just there- they are making me better. They set a very high bar in those (5am) classes. I sometimes go to other classes, and I never have a bad experience- there are always great people to workout with, but it just isn’t the same. You don’t get the same kind of chippiness and talking going on.
Were you in class last week when Oliver from Manor came to the 5:30am class? Oliver is the nicest guy and he has only been a member for a couple months. He came to his first Hyde Park Class during my 7:30pm on Wednesday night and asked if I thought he should venture into the 5am Hyde Park class the next morning. I told him he absolutely should- that he would love it and everyone is great. Well, apparently he parked his car in front of the bay doors and Rachel just absolutely roasted him- he had no idea that people don’t park in those spots for when the door is open- it was cold and the bay doors were closed!
*Booming laughter* Yeah, that sounds like Rachel!
But to his credit, he seemed to be totally down with whatever they did to him. I think he liked it.
Yeah, Rachel and Melissa are fantastic- what inspirations they are. But all of them- Mike, Robert… it is just a really good group.
My body doesn’t like to function at that hour, but I try to nab subbing opportunities when I can just because I like being around that group.
My problem is, for the last 25 years or so, I’ve basically worked from 6am to 6pm every day, so if I don’t go early I don’t make it.
That is bananas by the way. Aside from getting to the gym, what other strategies do you have for dealing with the stress and demand on your mind, soul, and body from working that much?
I love to read-
Anything in particular?
I bounce around. I just finished rereading Hamilton. I like to switch between historical books and junk books. I’m a Lord of the Rings nut, so I love good fantasy books. So I’m reading a series about elves, dwarves, and giants called The Echoes of Fate.
What else do you like to do to unwind?
I spend time with my grandson- take him rock climbing. He is my pride and joy- I love him to death. I play guitar, I read, my wife and I bought mountain bikes- you know, my best friend is my wife so she and I do everything together.
What is her name?
Kelly.
Has she come by The Shop?
She’s come to parties, but she is afraid to come work out. *laughing* I’ll keep working on her!
Guitars, books, mountain bikes- I also hear rumors of beekeeping?
Ha! I’m a beekeeper by osmosis. My wife is the one who got into it- she is big in sustainable agriculture. She came back from a seminar and was like, “honey, the bees are being devastated, we need to do something about this. We should get some bees.” So we got a couple hives and four or five years later we have like ten hives and we just keep them going. After going to all those seminars and having to do some of the heavy work for the hives, I just looked up and was like, “Hmm… I guess I’m a beekeeper now!”. It is fun to do though.
The other rumor I heard about you is Salsa dancing?
I love to dance- all kinds. I dance wherever I can- even if it is our house in the middle of the night, we dance together. We actually met at a dance studio. It was one of those things where I always loved to dance and my ex wife hated dancing. After the divorce I just really wanted to learn real dancing. My dad, as a gym teacher, had to teach a unit on dancing, so I sort of grew up with it, but I wanted to get really good at it. My favorites are like the Lindy Hop and the Charleston and swing stuff. But I’ve done Salsa and Tango. I learned Western, but I’m not a Western music guy, so I did that out of necessity living in Texas.
Yeah, you have to be able to two-step. As a person with a theatre background, I’ve learned a number of dances in my day- I used to be decent at tap- but the two-step evades me. I know it is simple, but I can’t get it down. My Dad was a legendary two-stepper, I just can’t get it.
I just love dancing. Growing up, my sister and I would sing show tunes and dance and just have fun!
I love that. We’re going to hit a few more random questions before we wrap up. I normally save those for the end, but we have actually hit a lot of them organically already. I don’t know if you’ve read the other interviews I’ve done-
Oh, I have! Believe me, I’m intimidated by you right now!
Well then, I’m going to make you cry Christopher!!! Okay this is one of my favorites- you walk into a random room and what song plays? What is your entrance music?
Good Times Bad Times- Led Zeppelin.
Very nice selection! Who plays Chris Cordeiro in the biopic?
Shrek. *you guys… such big laughter*
It is a little alarming how quickly you came up with that answer. That is really good. Do you have any pet peeves?
Yes. People not putting things away- neatness.
Does that ever get you at The Shop- seeing people put stuff back in the wrong spot?
That and my wife. *roars with laughter* I follow her around putting stuff away.
Me too. With us, it is La Croix cans- I’m constantly gathering La Croix cans she has left around the house- the bedroom, the bathroom… There will be like three cans in the bathtub, like she is getting La Croix drunk in there. I applaud her for living her best life, but my goodness! So as someone who reads biographies, if you could have dinner with anyone in history, who would it be?
That’s not fair! I mean I would love to have a chat with Einstein… Julius Caesar- there are so many people that I would love to meet and pick their brains.
What if we narrowed the question a bit. We talked a lot about leadership- is there someone you would particularly like to talk with about leadership?
I mean Caesar was fascinating, but he was a tyrant in his own right. Actually- John F. Kennedy.
That is incredible you say that *pointing to my ankles* because I am wearing Kennedy socks.
Oh wow! That’s pretty impressive.
*terrible Kennedy impersonation* Ask not what yoah socks can do for you, but what you can do for yoah socks!
Great job! JFK- he just had this vision and ability to inspire people. I wish I had been around when he was alive to see him work.
And then there are the war stories and overcoming illness- and let’s be real, all that game he was spinning! Rawr!
I mean when you’ve got that kind of power and you are that good looking. *laughing mischeviously* See with Shrek, you don’t have to worry about that part.
We will put a little Kennedy flair in Shrek when he plays you. I guess this is a good place to put a bow on things. I think we’ve covered some meaty issues, but are there any other thoughts you’ve had about Athlete of the Season or just general proclamations you would like to make?
Just that I’m humbled and that there are so many people that I feel like deserve it more than me. I feel truly honored that I was ever thought of in this way- it makes me feel really good.
Aside from the positivity in class, any words of advice for our coaches?
Yeah. No more burpees! *one more booming round of laughter for the road*
