With professional photographic evidence of these two working out next to one another in class, I was fairly certain they’d be game for a two on one interview and would bounce off another nicely. I wasn’t wrong! We met on a Wednesday evening in May, just down the street from the Manor Road Shop at Batch for a refreshing beer and a wide ranging conversation. Some things to look forward to? Vanessa’s origin story as a legit-ass published author and Koes’s inspired road trip snack selections!
Coach Chad: So that was a photo of our (3 week old) daughter. My wife is normally very helpful with these interviews when I text her and ask for some questions to throw out, but this time she just sent this photo and said “ask them if they agree that this is the cutest baby in the world”.
Vanessa King: Right Now? Absolutely!
But, with you both being parents, I suspect there might not be universal agreement if we were talking cutest baby ever.
VK: But that wasn’t the question!
Alright then, Hero wins it! Lovely. Well, I sent you both a prompt to start off with and throw some chaos into this by having a question I don’t even know what is to come. Vanessa, did you come up with a question for Koes?
VK: Yeah! Mine is pretty basic- what brings you into the gym? Not just at Dane’s, but your fitness journey.
Koes Bong: My fitness journey? Ah… I was never really into gyms. Mostly because it felt too expensive. I know I talk about hating running, but I used to run a lot.
VK: That’s why you hate it!
KB: Uh huh! At one point I thought I would train for a half marathon. One day I hit 6.5 miles and I thought to myself “I’m done! This was a long time to run”- so I stopped running. This was in Portland and one of my kid’s friends’ parents runs a Crossfit gym and they offered two free sessions. So I went and loved it and that is how I started doing Crossfit for a while. Then the pandemic happened, we moved to Austin and- how I found Dane’s was kind of funny. I needed an oil change, so I looked up oil change and-
Yes! We got one!
VK: *Laughing knowingly
KB: And somehow Dane’s Body Shop showed up. I figured this is great, I’ll just drive down the street and get it changed. I showed up and it was a gym! So I ended up taking a tour and didn’t sign up right away. I remember exactly when I decided to join though. I was at the Blue Hole in Wimberly and went to do one of the rope swings and wasn’t strong enough-
VK: Oh no!
KB: So that is when I decided to go to the gym.
No better motivator than not being able to properly enjoy water time in the Texas Summer. That is a really cool story! And did you have a question to fire back at Vanessa?
KB: I would love to hear more about your journey of becoming an author.
VK: Oh gosh! Which part?
KB: Like, did you just get up one day and say “I’m going to start writing”?
VK: Here we go! I’ve always loved reading and I have a lit degree, so I’ve always loved writing about what I read. I was working as a glorified receptionist (which is a line in my book!) at a department of defense contractor in Colorado Springs so I had top secret clearance as well. I would just write about jobs I had in the past that were more fun-
Such as?
VK: I spent a lot of time as a life guard. I was a life guard at an air force base which was really fun as a 17 year old putting full grown men in time out. Years later after we moved to New York I got a course for the Gotham Writers Project from my mother in-law for Christmas. I signed up for the novel writing course and just started going. About eight of us continued meeting after the eight week course for the three years I spent living in New York. The next move was Arkansas and there isn’t a lot to do in Arkansas when you have a two month old, so I just wrote to fill time and find my happy place. In Seattle I put together another writer’s group and that is when I got a manuscript together and started querying agents. I got some requests and some revisions and some passes. Then we were in Colorado and years had passed. While I was waiting to hear back for one project a friend told me they were working on a retelling of The Wizard of Oz set at a music festival. I was immediately like “I love you, but shut up- I have an idea. A retelling- boom!” Burlesque stuff, I loved doing that in New York and I love “Pride & Prejudice”- that’s what is happening. It took about 18 months for me to write it out and start submitting; I got 69 rejections- nice!- but I got two offers of representation! We had a couple months of revising and then the same evening I got the email from (her daughter) True’s school that Covid was closing it down, I emailed the final draft to my agent. She submitted it Monday and by Wednesday we had an offer!
KB: Wow!
And the name of the book Vanessa? Where can we find it? Plug it!
VK: “A Certain Appeal” and you can find it where books are sold!
“A Certain Appeal” Alright! Great questions. There is actually photographic evidence of you two working out together in class. How often do you end up in the same class?
VK: Not super often. but I see you in passing because you take the 9am Strength and I will take the 10am.
KB: Yeah, I do the 9am because Lindsey (his wife) has her workout at 10, so I can walk home and the kids are only alone for like 15 minutes.
And by kids, you mean your 2 month old twins right?
KB: Yes, exactly. No, they are almost 13 years old and 11.
VK: Shoot, I was babysitting at that age!
Before we get too far into specifics, Koes can you give me your life in a bite size nugget since we got a bit of Vanessa’s back story? Give me your story in a pecan shell.
KB: I was born in Indonesia- my home town is in west Borneo. When I was 13 I left home and went to a boarding school, an international school. I had teachers from Tulsa Oklahoma there and then when they moved back they offered for me to come to Tulsa if I wanted to go to college there. So my first place in the U.S. was Tulsa; I can still vividly remember what I first saw in August in Tulsa- completely brown and flat. I was there for eight years- it is where I met my wife Lindsey. Two weeks after I met her, I moved to Portland Oregon, 6 months later she moved to Portland, and then two months after that I lost my job and so I had 30 days to get my job or I’d have to move back to Indonesia. Lindsey, brilliant as she is, suggested we just get married. So we got married 28 days later and she gave me a green card-
VK: And her heart!
KB: Yes! With the promise that I’d be her sugar daddy. To this day she’ll say that I’m not holding up my end of the bargain. We were in Portland for 12 years and then we moved to Austin in August of 2020 for more sun.
VK: Yes! That is why we left Seattle! That and the food.
Riffing off that, can you both rattle off a few of your favorite foods in Austin?
VK: I do tell people that at Bird Bird Biscuit, The Firebird alone is enough of a reason to come to Austin.
KB: Yes! Agreed!
VK: Uchiko happy hour- the only happy hour that matters. It is severely discounted! I’ve had Air BnB guests come just for that happy hour.
Wow. And you Koes?
KB: Tacos are my favorite: Vera Cruz, Cuantos tacos, and the one I’ve been wanting to try is Nixta. Also Uchi- I love them. Birdies is at 12th and MLKish- very unassuming tiny sign, but it is really great. And the most fun one we’ve recently experienced is Tiki Tatsuya. I’ve got to say, I miss Portland food even more than Austin.
VK: Yes!
Really? Well, more hipsters so I guess that tracks.
VK: Yeah and there is less to do outside so you have to have good food.
Chicago is that way too- my Chicago food bucket list before we moved was enormous. Something I also wanted to ask you was the differences you perceive in Strength versus Fusion classes.
VK: It is more of a grab bag with Fusion because you’re going to get the weightlifting, but you’re also going to get the EMOM or AMRAP conditioning thing. For Strength, I do like the more concentrated approach.
KB: I feel the same. I used to strictly do Strength and I’ve switched to doing Fusion also because I needed the cardio and that has been great. Strength feels more “zen” since you’re taking your time and moving at your own pace.
VK: Yeah, I like how much you have to focus in Strength. Fusion is a caper!
KB: Yeah and I feel like you see people struggling more in Fusion.
Any observations on the differences between the different coaches? Like music choices or quieter versus louder?
VK: I can’t say that anyone is particularly quiet. In terms of music, you’ll get more eighties stuff with Beth (Reyburn). Lauren’s music is a total grab bag. And your music is a grab bag too, but like a distinctly Chad grab bag- like only in your class will we get The Darkness.
Well I’m happy to have the market cornered on early 2000’s falsetto glam rockl!
KB: And I’ll say that a theme I see in all of the coaches is pushing us to get stronger, but telling us to listen to our body. If you can’t do something it is okay- you’re no less a human for not being able to do a certain thing on a day. You’re all so kind and encouraging.
Awwww….
KB: Always looking out for form- form first!
VK: Yep!
You guys obviously both have families and a rich life outside of fitness- you’re both very well-rounded individuals. How does what you do inside the gym translate to your life outside of it?
KB: I can swing properly now at Blue Hole!
VK: You model functional fitness!
That’s great, we’ve helped you achieve what you wanted to be able to do. You’ve graduated now!
KB: Yeah, now I can cancel my membership! Overall though, just feeling healthier and stronger. It is a great stress relief.
VK: I love being a physically strong figure for my daughter. We have very different body types- she has her dad’s lengthy spider monkey body and I have shorter levers, so I can do things like push-ups, but she’ll be able to reach things for me! I like being visibly strong- I get hollered at when I’m at Schlitterbahn *adopts thick rural Texas accent* “Hey! You got strong lookin arms!”.
New Braunfels thirst trap over here! You’re both people who interact with other folks when working out- do you have a particular approach or type of person you find yourself interacting with?
VK: I like jumping into conversations if I overhear something I am familiar with. I’m a human, it is fun to talk to other humans. Apparently I initially had a reputation as a “serious person” with the 5am crew- I mean I do workout seriously, but I can chat!
KB: Going to the same class day and time, what I like is seeing similar people showing up every time. Eventually you just end up saying hi! With Covid, I think we lost sense of how to make friends stressing out with whether people will say hi back. Recently I have really enjoyed working out with Eric Lepine-
Badass dude from New England!
KB: He pushes me because he works so hard. I just try to follow him- it is an inspiration.
VK: It is having a rabbit.
KB: And he’s a big soccer fan- even though I don’t like the team he supports; *darkly* he supports Liverpool and I support Manchester United.
Ohhhhh… And when you say he pushes you, does he say anything?
KB: He doesn’t need to! Just trying to follow him.
That’s good! I like to tell people that we don’t encourage explicit competition at The Shop, but noticing that someone else is putting the work in and being inspired to do the same at your own level is really great. I love that. A couple random questions. If there were a movie of your life, who would play you? what genre would it be? and who might direct it? Any or all of those questions.
KB: Pedro Pascal! Just kidding-
Why not?!?
KB: Maybe Steven Yeun.
He’s pretty great. I think he’d have to get a little more jacked to play you though.
VK: I think he’d be up for it- he’d enjoy the challenge.
KB: For genre, I don’t know.
VK: Maybe it could be about the unspoken rivalry between you and Eric That’s what it could be called, “Unspoken Rivalry”!
KB: There you go! Pedro Pascal can play Eric.
I can see that- they both have great salt and pepper stubble beards. Vanessa, you could answer this for yourself or for your book.
VK: I’d love that. The movie version of my book would obviously be a rom com as is Pride & Prejudice. I had some Bookstagrammers come up with fantasy casting and I was like, “Oh you’re all so young, I don’t know any of these people!”.
Alright! What is your favorite swear word?
KB: Motherfucker.
VK: That’s good! We say dickhead a lot- that was my grandmother’s go to.
KB: I say fuck a lot at the gym- like FUCK that was hard.
VK: Like fuuuuuck!
Alright, so motherfucker and dickhead-
VK: They fight crime!
Yes they do! Okay, so I’m reimagining the idea of a “guilty pleasure” because it presupposes that reasonable people should always want to eat something healthy. So instead I want guilty pleasure to be something you are truly embarrassed by. For instance, and I only do this on road trips, but I fucking love Combos.
VK: Yes!
KB: *Shaking his head confused*
It’s like a cracker wrapped around a pizza or cheese filling-
VK: But it’s like a gritty cheese! It totally looks like a dog treat.
Exactly! What is yours Vanessa?
VK: Oh, it is sweet tart ropes! There should be some shame to that- it is a rainbow and there is the chewy crap outside and this white paste in the middle. You’ve got to get the rainbow flavored one.
KB: Inspired by your answer Chad, mine is also during a road trip. I always have beef jerky, the spicy Cheetos, and root beer. I don’t drink soda, but on a road trip I always have root beer.
VK: What an unholy trifecta. The trinity of the dads.
Follow up question there- the taste of Cheetos is great, but I can’t stand having the cheese powder on my fingers-
KB: Oh that is the best, just licking my fingers.
VK: I taught at a high school for a year and the kids would cut open the bag of flaming hot Cheetos, pour in nacho cheese, and eat it with a fork.
On to the opposite of pleasure, what is your pettiest pet peeve?
KB: There is a right way and a wrong way of loading a dishwasher.
*nodding vigorously* my mother in-law was in town this week and I know what you speak of my brother! Loading that shit from the front? How are you going to load the back?
KB: Plates go in one direction, bowls on top- space efficiency and it makes it so much easier when you unload them! Lindsey will troll me once in a while and will intentionally load it wrong, I’ll have to redo the dishes and she’ll just sit there laughing.
That is the most fascinating S&M relationship I’ve heard of. Incredible!
VK: I’m very petty just as a person- I don’t know where I’d even start. Name a subject and I’ll have an opinion of something that bugs me. Kiddos not behaving in a restaurant! I get not having a lot of exposure during Covid, but you don’t get to just run around tables- have some awareness of the people around you. Parents, tell your child where the boundaries are!
What is an unexpected talent that you have? Something people who see you regularly wouldn’t guess?
VK: I have a stupid human trick. I can wiggle my nose up and down- not like Bewitched, because that was side to side, but up and down *proceeds to bring all kinds of bunny rabbit realness!*
KB: I speak 5 languages-
Yes! I figured that coming from Indonesia, you spoke at least two, but I would have put the over/under at 3.
KB: Indonesian, English, and then three different Chinese dialects.
Awesome- so all you fuckers on duo lingo, step off! I’ve got you both beat, I have the smallest nipples of any man alive.
KB: For everyone reading, Chad just slowly unbuttoned his shirt and showed us!
Well lets wrap up with some final thoughts here. We have a chat and put your name up on the board, but people are legitimately excited to hear what you say. I think you’ve both spoken words of wisdom already, but if you have any final thoughts to share with the community, you are now members of the “pantheon” of Shop athletes. Any parting words?
VK: A phrase that was tossed around at a gym I went to in the past was “it is a privilege to be able to choose your form of suffering”. While “suffering” is a little extreme, I like the idea. Speaking for myself, my life is pretty comfortable and so a little bit of discomfort is necessary to make progress in the world. If you’re fortunate enough to have to seek that out for yourself, then do it!
That is actually something I will tell people- if something feels painful then stop doing it, but discomfort is kind of why we workout. Pain is bad, but discomfort is what we’re looking for.
VK: There was a coach that was known for not paying attention to the clock and we would always cry out “when are we done?!?!?” and he would say “You’re done when you’re proud!”.
I like that! And you Koes?
KB: How do I even follow that? I think that comparison is the thief of joy. So don’t compare yourself to others or maybe even your past self. We all have good days and bad gym days. I saw a social post the other day about how if one day, giving it your 40% is the most you can do for that day, then 40% is your 100%. So listen to your body. Find support and connection from all the wonderful athletes and coaches at The Shop!
Well that is just spectacular. Thank you both for coming out- this was a lovely conversation!
