Ever been to Codependent Coffee & Cocktails at the base of The Independent? I don’t have to tell you that I had never been there- I was not cool enough to have ever been there. Hell, I wasn’t cool enough to even have heard of it! Fortunately for me, Jimmy Price was cool enough to have been there. Jimmy Price was cool enough to have been a regular there. Upon Jimmy’s suggestion, I joined him one Wednesday morning in July for the first listed libation in the business’s name and it was a cool-ass place to exist for an hour or so. I knew it would be a pleasant conversation because I knew Jimmy was an exceedingly pleasant person in class. I didn’t know much beyond that about Jimmy, so I was genuinely and yes pleasantly surprised by how fascinating our conversation was. My guy is a thoughtful and surprising human being. You’re going to be a more thoughtful and surprising human for having read this interview- I sure as hell was!
Coach Chad: I know less about you than many athletes when I interview them, so the way that I’m going to frame this interview is to break it into two parts: the first part will probably be shorter and it will be something along the lines of “things I know about Jimmy” and the real fun part will be “things I want to know about Jimmy.
Jimmy Price: Okay, Awesome!
The first thing I know about Jimmy is that he has a great smile! What is your toothpaste of choice?
*laughing loudly and deploying that smile right away!* The toothpaste of choice is sensodyne fresh breath- I think.
Okay, do you go with a standard or electric toothbrush?
I actually have a pretty extensive oral regime. I have a standard toothbrush to do the brushing with and then I floss and then I use the electric for the gum line. That is every evening and in the morning, I just do a regular brushing.
See, when I said the first part would probably be shorter, this is what I meant; with more interesting than anticipated answers, we might be here for a minute! As I recall you started as a punch card member right?
Yes-
Oooh! My coffee is up, I’m going to go grab it. You can just speak nothings into the recording device.
*And he does proceed to talk to my phone while I go grab my coffee!* We are waiting for Chad to get back with his cold brew and when he returns the interview will resume on its scheduled pace in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1-
And we’re back! So you started with a punch card and now you’re a regular member right?
Yes, I am monthly unlimited.
Talk to me a little bit about how you got started and what changed to have you coming more often.
When I moved here in 2018, I dated a woman who used to live in Hyde Park and used to go to that location. She moved to the Domain and was no longer going, but she told me how much she liked it so I decided to try it. I started with a punch card because you never know how well it will work with your body and if you will like it. I was ready to step up my membership right before the pandemic. In 2021 when people started getting vaccinated I started my membership.
That is a very organic origin story. What is your regular schedule now- don’t be too specific, I’m not trying to get people stalking you.
I try to come 3 days a week. I like to have a day in between, so it is usually Monday, Wednesday, Friday.
You’ve recommended the Shop to at least one other person from your social world,
so what is that social world like? Who do you hang out with? Who is your crew?
I have two or three different circles. I have my home boys that I hang out with at bars and restaurants. They like to smoke cigars and drink- not a lot, but they like to hang out at drinking places, so if I want to just hang out on west 6th, I’ll go meet up with them. Then I have what I call my Supper Club Crew. There is this organization called “The Supper Club” that puts on fancy dinners once a month. What is nice about that is that people get dressed up and it is usually at a nice place; they’re a little more corporate or buttoned up than my other crew. Then I have people that I’ve known from other cities or people I know through Dane’s that are just a bit more sporadic.
Really cool! Anyone at the Shop you want to shout out that you’ve hung with?
I’ll shout out Robert Blaser and his wife Laura (both former SAS! recipients). I’ll shout out Rich (Henry) who I sometimes see in my neighborhood and I’m sure I’m skipping somebody.
I love those guys! Okay just a couple more things I know about you. You happen to have been around several times when our photographer is scheduled for a shoot so we have a decent number of really good Jimmy photos. Something that comes through other than the smile is that your concentrating hard, non smiling, lifting face is actually a good face! For instance, when I lift I get this weird overbite and I turn all red. As someone who looks composed and human while lifting, what is going inside your mind?
*laughing* First off, thank you- I’ve never thought about how I look while lifting. I also wanted to say that the photographer does a really good job of not being obstructive- I never notice her. *shouts to Anna Reynal who is now also our 2nd yoga coach- come see her at Hyde Park on Thursdays at 6:15pm for restorative yoga!* Typically I’m always really focused on technique; I tell people the first rule of fitness is “don’t get hurt” and the second rule is “don’t forget the first rule.
So just focused on mechanics- that is a very good mindset to have. Are you a long time lifter?
The way we lift with barbells is more recent for me- I used to do a lot of dumbbells. My resistance training didn’t really start until maybe 10 years ago- before was all cardio.
Were you an athlete when you were in high school and college?
Yeah I played football. High School– I did not play in college.
What position?
Strong Safety. I played a little wide receiver. My whole family consists of athletes.
Now the last thing I know is the one I am most interested. I don’t know exactly what your job is, but I wrote down under things I know “probably has a cool job?”. Based on just little snippets of conversations I’ve heard you say during class. Can you talk about what you do professionally?
My job is weird because it is something that a lot of people do as a hobby which is that I’m a portfolio manager. I run my own hedge fund. I ran a portfolio for a large firm for a decade and in 2022, I launched my own firm. When you talk to people, they like to trade stocks; that isn’t what I do- I’m a long term investor. I raise money from high net worth individuals and family offices and I invest that money on their behalf with my internal goal being to double that money every 4-5 years without taking a lot of risks. So if you ask what I do, I run a hedge fund, but if you double click on that, what I do is a lot of research on industries and companies to understand what makes them tick and their worth then generate that knowledge to generate returns.
That is really cool. So kind of a finance nerd?
Finance nerd and now entrepreneur. The entrepreneur part is new; now I can relate to people when they say things like “Ugh I have to deal with payroll” and I need to deal with ADP which is a nightmare. For 20 years I didn’t have to deal with that stuff.
Are you enjoying being an entrepreneur?
Um, here’s what I’ll say. I have learned to embrace the nitty gritty. It isn’t fun, but someone has to do it so I’ve gone through a process of learning to embrace it.
Have you ever had any conversations with Dane about being an entrepreneur?
Of course! More along the lines of marketing and client engagement- but not from a financial aspect.
I’m always curious about people who choose to start their own business. I’ve heard Dane talk about being an entrepreneur from time to time since I have a fairly close working working relationship with him as his head goon.
Like The Hand of the King from Game of Thrones?
Exactly! I like that better than head goon. I’m very much that. I’m very fascinated by his relationship with this thing he started 13 years ago- the good and the bad.
I have a new found respect for entrepreneurs. As the Hand of the King, you’re in that camp as well. Taking something that doesn’t exist then making it exist and helping it grow is a very different thing. Versus what 95% of people do which is existing in the corporate world- which is also worthy and virtuous- but taking something from nothing and growing it is a different thing.
That’s one of the cool things that Dane has said to me recently- that he wants the Shop to exist independent of him. Sometimes he says dark things like “if anything were to happen to me, I want The Shop to be okay”. And then I’m like “that’s great dude, take care of yourself please!” Well that’s cool- I am looking forward to having other conversations with you about that.
Absolutely!
So that is what you do now which is rad, but when you were growing up, what did little Jimmy want to be? We’re getting into the “stuff I want to know about” section.
Both of my parents were in business- like middle level managers-
Where did you grow up Jimmy?
Near Los Angeles- a town called Lynwood which is largely a hispanic working class community just north of Long Beach and Compton. The name of my firm is Lynwood Price. I wanted my name on the firm but not just my name and I liked the way it speaks to the scrappy and hard working place I came from. So both of my parents were in business and so I kind of always knew I wanted to go into business but I didn’t exactly know what that meant. When I went to college I went into economics because where I went to college that is what you studied if you wanted to go into business. From there I just found my way into finance.
I want to get some personal stuff in here too-
Oh yeah! So growing up I was popular in high school and valedictorian of my class as well as a pretty good football player which is a pretty unique combination. So kind of like today, I had different social circles: I had the nerd circle, I had the athlete circle, I dated a lot of girls; unlike most people, I’d say that when I went to college, my dating life took a big step down.
Because you were hitting the books?
I was in the books and I just wasn’t the big man on campus anymore.
Yeah, I definitely had the experience of peaking way after high school. Okay, so going back over your whole life- early life to now- pick out three pieces of art (visual, a movie, a book) that have affected you in some way.
Alright, my knee jerk response is Snoop Dog’s first album, Doggystyle, was out when I was in college and any time I had a test I’d put on a couple tracks from that to get pumped up and focused- it just got me game ready.
And Snoop is from Compton right?
Yeah, back then West Coast Rap was a little controversial, but that is what I grew up on. I grew up around a lot of those guys. I knew Ice Cube when he was O’Shea Jackson; I didn’t know him directly, but my cousins knew him, so he came to my house once. I was very much steeped in that culture. I need to throw a movie in here- I’ve always loved the James Bond movies. I spent my 20s and 30s traveling the world because I thought that is what you are supposed to do to have culture and it helped a lot. I’m trying to get a third one-
Two is great! I was hoping for one. You can either take this next one as a question about people you are meeting romantically or just about people in general: what trait are you most attracted to in other people?
I would say quirkiness/nerdiness. I’m attracted to women and people in general who are different and a little clever. In the dating world, you would say I’m a sapiosexual; it is hard for me to be into someone if I don’t find them intellectually curious.
Curious! Curiosity would actually be my answer. I stole this question from one of my favorite interviewers, so I’ve considered it a lot. I think the worst dates I’ve gone on are the ones where I sit down and right away I’m like, “Oh! I know exactly what you are.”
Exactly- I don’t date avatars. They have to be atypical in some way.
Absolutely. For this next one, you could tie it into the dating world as well- what is your pettiest pet peeve?
Oooh! I can tell you things that turn me off which my friends think make me crazy. Small talk. If someone is all about small talk and super surfacey, it turns me off. I understand there is always some small talk when you meet someone, but if you never go below level 2, I lose interest. I find that to be very hard with young people these days; they tend to not go deeper. When I say young I mean twenties. I have a weird thing with smells too; I can be attracted to someone and love their energy but if they have, not even a foul odor or anything, but if there is something about their smell I don’t like, I just can’t do it! Just like I can’t eat food I don’t like the smell of. But yeah, my friends think I’m crazy.
You see, I think that just speaks to you having a sense of self awareness! I think everyone has a thing about smells and it is just a matter of if you are aware of what is turning you off or not. I’m the same way and it isn’t about judging someone. Someone can smell nice, but if it doesn’t hit my pheromones the right way, it doesn’t work. Do you have any surprising talents?
When I travel with my buddies, people are surprised that I’m the translator in a Spanish speaking country. I’m not fluent, but I can get by. I would say most people would be surprised that I’m funny. When I’m out socializing, I crack my friends up. I don’t know, is that a talent? I don’t play any instruments-
Oh I definitely think it is a talent. I think it counts as surprising too only because you’re kind of a soft spoken person at the gym. Most people listening to this would think yeah he’s got a great smile, but don’t really get to hear you cutting up or anything. We’re like twenty minutes into this interview and I can already tell that you are a person who considers things deeply and that is what you need to make someone laugh- you have to get into where their head is at.
Right! So at The Shop, I like that people joke around but I also know there is a program to get through. And by the way Dane says I rush through my strength segments- I don’t rush through my strength segments! I’m never the first one finished! I’m always still working as people are putting their stuff away, so I want to always be working in order to get through the workout. But when I’m social I can be funny- I’m a wordsmith, so it is a humor that hits people almost after the fact. It echoes later. So that is my humor, it isn’t slapstick, it is more in the flow of a conversation.
Where does that come from? Did you get that through influences growing up?
I think that is the way my brain works- I make these third level associations that people don’t see and when I weave it together into a concept or a punchline, there is a detonation. It isn’t like I’m doing it all the time, but over the course of hanging out for a few hours, there will be 2 or 3 of them.
That is the heart of comedy and improv- listening and taking the things that are already out there and weaving them together in a weird way.
Yes! And calling back. That is why it is useful when dating to be around someone clever, so that they can connect the dots with me. They don’t need to have a PhD, but they have to have an awareness.
Yeah! Do you have any favorite comedians?
Absolutely. So Dave Chapelle is probably the GOAT. Sarah Silverman, I really like her humor. He’s been canceled, but I used to really like Louis C.K. People should get another day in court.
He is funny!
And I’m going to date myself here, but (Jerry) Seinfeld. So it is people who are a little clever and have some thought behind it.
So not Carrot Top?
Oh no!
No offense to redheads in general though right? RIGHT??
Oh… Of course not!
Good! This one has a different tone to it. You’re on death row and I invite you to get as creative with both parts of this as you like. Part one is what crime did you commit? like did you make someone laugh too hard? and what is your last meal?
Ahhh… I’m on death row because I was defending someone close to me- like a woman or a child and someone got hurt.
I like that.
And my last meal is probably catered in from my favorite TexMex or Mexican restaurant.
Ooooh and which spot in particular would that be?
I like Grizzelda’s on the east side. I like ATX Cocina and one of their sister restaurants I went to last night is called Bulevar. I like places with nice views and good service.
Do you have a fairly diverse palate?
I do. I don’t love sushi which I know is very popular with most people, but pretty much everything else I eat. I will say though that I’m pushing my diet toward being plant based and so I try to limit my animal meals to 2-3 per week
Is that from a health or ethics perspective?
All of the above. It starts with the environment and the ecosystem; we burn down so many forests and animal livestock emits so much methane into the atmosphere that it makes no sense. And then the health aspect which is harder to prove, but there are a lot of correlations.
What’s crazy is I remember being in my 7th grade science class and learning what a problem cow farts were for the environment. As a 7th grade boy, I thought that was endlessly hilarious- like why don’t we just put a plug in there. But it is just crazy that it has that many decades and it is something that we’ve not gotten any better at dealing with.
Everyone talks about greenhouse gas emissions, but we have to have trees to clear that stuff out. So we deforest everything for livestock and as an economist, the inefficiency of that is crazy. We grow all of this corn and soy to feed the animals so we can eat them- why wouldn’t we just eat plants? It is such an inefficient system. We could go on and on. Anyway, it is tough for me to be vegetarian or vegan, but what I can do is look at the “portfolio” and can shift it hard to plant and get to like 80% of my diet is plant based.
When people try to eat plant-based, I think the thing they struggle with the most is the protein element. Do you have any tips or hacks there?
I don’t know the science behind this, but my friend does and I believe him; he has a PhD in marine biology and runs a non profit that is trying to save the ecosystem. I was in Croatia with him two weeks ago and he broke all of this down for me for the 5th- the protein thing is a ruse. Animals are made from plants- they eat plants. There isn’t a lot that you can get from an animal that you can’t get from plants with the exception of B-12 which you can supplement. The other unfortunate truth is that swapping to seafood isn’t much better- there is something called bio accumulation where we eat large fish and everything they eat in the ocean is in fish; the mercury, toxins, the waste. I said to him, “gun to your head, you have to eat meat, what would it be?” and chicken was his answer. I try to eat mostly chicken and turkey. There is a lot that you can really go down the rabbit hole on.
That dovetails nicely with one of my last questions which I think is going to be a pretty broad one. You said you spent your 20s and 30s traveling- what are your top three favorite trips?
Oooh! Okay, number one is when I finished business school, a friend and I went to Buenos Aires- we were 26 or 27. We rented an apartment and took Spanish classes by day and partied at night. I was there for 2 weeks and he was there for a month.
Wow. I’ve been working on my Spanish over the past couple years and, it probably won’t happen now that I have a baby, but I know that I just need to spend a month somewhere and be immersed in the language.
Yes! It changes the game. Being in a country, taking three hours of lessons a day, but just speaking it all the time was when I became conversational. The 2nd one was when a friend and I went to Prague and Berlin. That was cool because we did things I never would have thought of like a bike tour of Berlin. You get to know the city in a different way and you get by even just speaking English. The third one is probably a tie, but I’ll throw out that I did a yoga retreat in Maui. It was a good group of people and our excursions pushed me out of my comfort zone. We got up at 3am and went to the top of a mountain to watch the sunrise and then we rode bikes down the mountain- which I would never do today because it sounds so dangerous. We also went on a boat and went snorkeling and I’m not a very good swimmer. They gave me a floatie and two girls on the trip were like Jimmy, we got you. It was just a lot of cool stuff in addition to the yoga and the people.
Of course James Bond has two girls taking care of him right?
*Big laugh*
That’s awesome. Another thing I wanted to fold back in from earlier in our conversation- you said you study businesses and analyze them. What stands out to you about Dane’s Body Shop? If you were researching us, what would you notice?
Good one! When we look at a business, we look at customer loyalty. I don’t know your stats, but I’m going to guess that your attrition is lower than the typical gym. Maybe it is higher on the front end because people don’t know that they like it, but once people have been on for 3-6 months, they’re probably on for 4 years. In the gym industry, turnover is like 50%. That is what I would call out- that once someone gets through that higher attrition rate, people are with the gym for a long time because there is community and it works for them. The other thing I would point out is that I would frame the value proposition as personal trainer experience at regular gym costs. When I tell people in New York (what he pays), they are like- that would be $500 in New York. To be able to go to classes and get a scaled workout and coaching for that price essentially doesn’t exist.
That is incredibly perceptive. I run the majority of our new member tours and to your first point, I follow up with those tours at scheduled times if they don’t sign up right away because circumstances can change and then also follow up with new members a month or so after they sign up to make sure they’re getting to class and starting to feel comfortable. I do this specifically because if they are consistent to that point, they really do stay on for a long time. And on those tours, one of the things I point out is that membership isn’t cheap on its own, but if you compare it to paying for a personal trainer regularly, it is a fraction of the cost. The two observations you pulled out are both spot on, so yeah you’ve proven your worth to me- I’ll hire you to manage my portfolio!
Personal trainer experience at 1/5 of the cost- that is what I’d say. I would also highlight that it isn’t Crossfit- people rarely get hurt. One thing that I might experiment in that first higher attrition timeframe is link people up with a long term member as a buddy. It is intimidating at first but having a buddy as a sounding board and to show them where the water cooler is; like “you’re paired up with Jimmy, you can call or text him if you have questions or if you’re in class, he can help you out”.
That is really cool. I try to do that when coaching- like encouraging people to pair up that way, but finding a way to systemize that would be really fun. That is great. Okay, for my last specific question you can answer this in context of the gym or the world at large- do you have a goal for this coming year and do you have a goal for the next 5 years? It can be anything.
Ooh! This coming year I want my company to get into a steady state- that is a professional goal. A personal goal is to identify a second city that is my home away from home. Maybe it is Denver in the summer and maybe it is Playa Del Carmen for quarterly visits. Just somewhere that feels like a second home. Mountains in the summer and beaches in the winter.
Happy little Austin in the middle! I bet you have direct flights to both.
For sure! And in general, I need to figure out if I am going to do the family. The clock isn’t really running, but if I am doing it, it reframes how I think about people I’m hanging out with and who I meet. I don’t have a process, I just need to get off the fence.
Yeah, I think anyone who approaches that question lightly is out of their damn mind. Particularly someone who has the rich life that you have. It is a game changer.
Did you always know that you wanted to start a family?
My wife did. We met when we were in our late twenties and we were both sure we wanted to. Then she went to grad school shortly after, and we moved across the country a couple times. She stayed resolute the entire time, but as we got into our mid thirties I started to really question it. So I doubted it myself but am thankful that she never did. As soon as Hero got here, I was like “duh!” I felt like a dumbass for even having that wavering of conviction. Well, that is about it for my questions. I like to leave an open ended conclusion to the interview- are there any closing comments or questions you’d like to leave off with? As a Shop Athlete Spotlight, your words are now sacred and holy.
*big laughter* Oh wow!
OR lets frame it this way, we have a new member walk into class and I pair them up with you as their buddy. What do you say to them?
Oh, okay! I would say that something I like about Dane’s is you can choose your own adventure- you can come once a week, three times a week, or every day. You can scale up or down as much as you want. For me, and I’m sure I’m not alone, but over the past two years I have definitely transformed my body. I’m not bulky and I didn’t want that, but in terms of overall fitness, mobility, muscle mass; I’ve tried a lot of different fitness things over the years and the impact of Dane’s is up here and everything else is down there. So I hope you, Dane, and the staff celebrate that among yourselves- that for some percentage of the members, it is transformational. I’m now in a place where I am in maintenance mode- its not like I’m trying to compete for something. I think that is super cool and I hope that other members are able to engage at whatever level works for them.
Something I’ve observed about you is that you have a really healthy level of confidence at the gym. You’re neither lacking in confidence when you lift nor acting over confident. No ego.
As a former athlete, it is hard not to get competitive, but I’ve just had to learn to play my own match and not scale up when I shouldn’t. I would leave you with that- I think you provide a personalized service to members: it can be transformational, it can be maintenance, or it can be social. The community aspect is very cool. I think it was Beth, not short haired Beth, the other one-
(Coach) Beth Felker?
Yeah, I think she said “I look at it as recess”. It sounds like a humble brag when people ask me what I do for fun and I tell them I lift weights, but going to Dane’s is fun for me- I don’t have to force myself to go.
