Jul 18, 2022
Happy Fire Friday, 🔥
I’m ready to share that secret.
A few weeks ago I put out a newsletter foreshadowing that something big was coming. And that something is here.
But I wouldn’t do you all justice if I just outright told you what that “something” is without telling you the full story.
Sometimes, things just fall into place.
In this case, that’s… *sort of* what happened.
Quick recap: Two years ago, I quit what I thought was my dream job. I was coaching college basketball as a grad assistant at my alma mater… and after about 6 months of pushing through in a gym without joy, I knew it wasn’t for me.
Did I know what was next? LOL NO.
But I got my gut instinct from my mother (and it’s a damn good one), and my gut, my heart, my mind, and my health were all shouting at me. This wasn’t the place for me.
So, I took a chance. I picked up and moved across the country from the Midwest to the west coast to take my (new) dream job as a full-time trainer in Arizona. I was newly graduated with a degree in Instructional Design, and outside of the hours spent in the training trenches, I had the opportunity to design a training app for my gym.
From the user interface (UI) to the curriculum development, the video production, the sound and cover editing… it was really the whole nine-yards. And after hundreds of hours of work, dozens of athletes onboarded, and a handful of meetings with backend developers… the big guys upstairs had to make the hard choice (and I think the right choice) to shut it all down.
Not gonna lie… it was pretty devastating to put that much time and energy into something for it not to work out.
It wasn’t because the product wasn’t good as is… it was because there’s always something missing in training apps—feedback.
Training apps are cool in that they can effectively consolidate information all in the same place. But the kicker is… so does Instagram. And Instagram is free.
We just couldn’t justify the budget needed to keep the developer on board. So… that project came to an end.
Fast forward 18 months… my (new) dream job broke the news that it had to dissolve that location. And that night, I found myself sitting on my front porch. It was 111 degrees at 11 o’clock at night and I was wondering what on Earth I was supposed to do next.
My heart hurt. My world was upside-down.
And my gut told me… it was time to bet on myself.
That night, Shooters Shoot was born. I spent the next 7 months with my head down. Building. Grinding.
Pulling consecutive 16 hour days of teaching myself web design and studying shooting inside and out.
If there’s one thing I’ve ever learned in this life, it’s that half-effort has never gotten anyone where they want to go.
So I figured I could give this thing a year. It was worth a year of my time to find out if I could cut it as a business owner. As you all know… so far, that bet has turned out to be well-worth the risk.
Complete transparency… I yo-yoed between $250 and $9 and -$34 in my bank account on any given day for the last 6 months.
But when you truly want something... when you’re willing to drag yourself through the trenches to get it, all the universe conspires to help you achieve it.
I decided to do something new.
I started writing online.
I began taking my social media seriously.
I began networking with like-minded people in this space.
I got a 9-to-5 with the most wonderful boss I could have ever dreamed of, which allowed me to cover my bills while I was building something bigger.
My 4-Day Intensives began to take off.
My brand was growing.
And despite the success… I could still feel something else was mounting.
I can’t explain it as anything other than a resounding “KEEP FREAKING GOING”… and I trusted it.
And the plot began to thicken.
On a completely random and unassuming day in May of this year… someone close to me in the professional basketball space told me about a workout they did with a guy that was developing some app called “Boosta”. She said she didn’t know much about it, but that he seemed legit.
After the workout, the “app guy” mentioned that their main gig was soccer… but they were looking for help getting their basketball space up and running.
She was around for the training app I’d designed before, so she dropped my name, and said I might be a good fit for what they’re trying to do.
Wanna know what I said after taking 27 seconds to fully understand what they do?
“NO. FREAKING. WAY.” (PG version)
The only thing they advertised on their page was soccer… but to someone with an eye for instructional design and training, this shit was groundbreaking.
This app found a beautifully simple way to close the feedback gap between athlete and trainer.
It goes like this:
The trainer creates step-by-step challenges, and every athlete is required to submit video of themselves completing said challenges to the trainer. The trainer is required to submit video feedback back to the athlete.
Words cannot express how powerful this is.
There is nothing else like it that exists today, and I felt like the universe Spartan-kicked me in my chest.
So, I immediately sent a cold DM.
…little did I know, this "probably nothing" meeting would end up changing literally everything.
After a few emails back and forth with the person who responded (Shelby was her name), the meeting was set.
We jump on a Zoom call and first plot-twist: Shelby was a guy.
In fact, he ended up being the basketball guy. Shelby grew up as a hooper, NOT a soccer player, and was motivated AF to get the basketball space up and moving.
And it felt like a storyline straight out of a feel-good movie.
Like the kind of movie where the protagonist finally catches the break, gets the girl, wins the game, or simply gets the chance they’ve been working so hard for.
As it turns out… Boosta isn’t just some training app.
The people who created Boosta have the same ethos as what I’ve built with Shooters Shoot.
Yes, it is an app that is founded in training… but the literal mission statement speaks to an intention based in human connection.
It is mentorship and transformational coaching through the medium of sport.
It is 24/7 access to high-quality training content developed by expert coaches.
And it is providing athletes all around the world with access to mentors who care.
Who understand how far something as simple as a video of their trainer and mentor telling them “Great work!” can go for a developing athlete.
It's about providing an affordable space for athletes all over the world to not only hone their skills with expert feedback, but to have someone care enough to say “I see you. And you’re killing it. And you still have more to give.”
Any coach or trainer will tell you the reason they keep doing what they’re doing despite the hardships is the impact.
We sacrifice time with our families and our friends.
We show up at 5:30am to open up the doors for the kid who wants the extra work. And then we stay at the gym until 11pm to sit with athletes whose parents just couldn’t get away from work.
A weekend? What’s that?
Doesn’t matter. At some point we realize it’s not a choice, it’s a calling. We own the responsibility that our role in this life is to touch as many lives as we can… to teach people how to do life through the medium of sport. And even then, we’re limited to the athletes whose distance and whose time align with where we are.
Boosta has found the way to finally tip the scale of impact in our favor. With Boosta, we are no longer limited by geography or by time. The level of impact has suddenly multiplied itself by the thousands.
Last week, I flew to LA and met with the three men that are operating the biggest fans of this flame.
Their names are Shelby, Tim, and Robbie.
We met at an apartment basketball court where I put Shelby (who is the most confident shot-misser I’ve ever met) through a mini-shooting workout.
And then we sat at a picnic table where the California sun kissed my nose a little too-hard, and where the soul of serendipity met the wild idea of fate.
We dove deep into where they are in development and what they need moving forward. They made me feel like I was their unicorn. And by the end of the meeting, one thing was clear: somehow, some, serendipitously beautiful way… we found each other exactly when we needed to.
On this, the night of my 30th birthday, I’m so excited to announce my partnership with and commitment to Boosta Training. They are bringing me on board as one of Boosta’s inaugural basketball trainers on the app, as well as their Head of Instructional Design.
SHOUT IT FROM THE FREAKING ROOFTOPS!!!! THIS IS THE WHY BEHIND THE WHAT!!!! THIS IS THE THING I’VE BEEN FEELING AND HOLY WOW IT IS SO MUCH BIGGER AND BETTER THAN I COULD HAVE EVER IMAGINED!!!
I am with a team full of people who believe the same thing as me, and who believe in me. We share the same truth-- that sport is the single-most powerful vessel for teaching young people how to achieve their true human potential.
Hear me when I say this----TRUST. YOUR. GUT.
If you are being called one way and it doesn’t make sense… GOOD!! What an adventure it is!!
So. WE’RE DOING IT. Today is the day!
I’m here to give first access to all of you who have come along for this wild ride. This is not accessible to the public (yet).
Right now. Today. I’m offering you a chance to train with me for real. Even if we can’t be in the same space, we can still develop you effectively. And I am giving the first 30 days away at absolutely no charge so you can see it all for yourself.
If it is suiting you or your athlete well, after the first 30 days, anyone who signs up within one week of receiving this newsletter will never pay more than $15 per MONTH. Ever. As demand rises, cost will rise with it. But I believe in bringing up the people who have stood with me. Let’s get better together.
(If you’re interested in getting access for your whole team or program, shoot me an email and we can work out a different pricing plan that will serve.)
Right now. I feel powerful. I feel loved. I feel the mounting opportunity to impact players all over the world and the butterflies in my stomach feel more like birds.
Thank you so much.
For being here.
For listening.
For coming along for this incredible rollercoaster of a journey with me.
And I welcome you warmly to the new beginning. :)
Shooters Shoot,
BriAnna