GR: So  it's a bit lesser known that you're a big movie nerd. From the Rocky franchise, what attributes of Rocky do you see in yourself and, and your personal story? 

CS: Oh man, great one. A word that comes to mind, brother? Grit. 

GR: Right. 

CS: Grit. And... determination and persistence and resilience. And one thing that really stood out to me about the Rocky story, and it's probably a formula that's used in many heroes’ journeys and stories, but Rocky did it better than anyone. And that's just like, the every man, so to speak. Nothing about Rocky's character stood out. Like, he wasn't super tall. He started later with boxing. He got a great opportunity and he just was able to really capitalize on that. And his mindset is second to none. And he could take a punch. Keep on going. I'm a sucker for the underdog story. I just am. And I love when someone average, so to speak, does something extraordinary. And that's what I like to showcase to the world with CLS and so forth. So all of those traits, but one specifically that, that I really gravitate towards is grit.  GR: Yes, absolutely. And someone taking their shot. 

CS: Yes, a hundred percent.   

GR: You've competed in and finished several marathons now. Can you take us back a few years and tell us how you began running and then how you built your own phenomenal brand CLS, as a result of your newfound infatuation with running? 

CS: Yeah, so I know you're on the launch team for the group and we're reading the book before it comes out and I was talking about this last week and I got pretty emotional because for me, from Wall Street, where it started to get pretty dark towards the end of that season of life, I just wasn't having any fun and a couple things happened all at once. Although I was making money and stuff like that, it's just, I knew I was here for something bigger. Wall Street and stuff like that, for anyone that's experienced it probably knows, it's a little bit of an icky industry. 

And it's a lot of fun until it's not. And so I found myself in a bad season. My dog's going nuts. I have to apologize. But it's raw. Whiskey, calm down. My bad about that. So, Whiskey, calm down! Come here. I was just, I was just thinking too. It's funny. I was like, wow, he's really, he's starting to calm down a little bit and he's getting significantly more behaved. Literally. I was thinking that. And then he’s howling like an owl, he's calmed down. Whiskey. So in regard to running, when I was really looking for a purpose, I needed a purpose, Greg, because I didn't love what I was doing for a career. And you should absolutely love what you do for a career. You're going to spend a third of your life in it. For me, I don't know if I found running or running found me. I'd never been a runner, I was a weightlifter and I started running all these marathons and I'm emotional as I think about running. It's just so beautiful. 

It's you versus you. There's no competition It's just you, God, and the pavement.  Like if you're not gonna run a marathon, that's okay, but I highly encourage you to experience one even as a spectator, right? We were talking about sports bringing everybody together,  the human spirit on fire. Running gave me purpose at a time when I was looking for a purpose. 

In between CLS and Wall Street, there was this running season, and when you sign up for a marathon, you reverse engineer it. And it's like, who do you have to become to be able to conquer 26. 2 miles? Here's some characteristics: eating healthier, going to bed a little bit earlier, waking up a little bit earlier, cutting out the booze, stuff like that. 

And so I just found myself and it was that season that really. created a new sense of Craig that was available to figure out CLS, so to speak. And ironically, not for the first time, I'll publicly say this on your show, right? I just signed up for another marathon, the New York City marathon, my favorite one, in November. 

And the reason I did that, because people ask me all the time, like, you have nothing to prove? Like you just ran a 3:31 in Chicago, you're building a career, you're engaged. It's true. But success is not dominating in just one area, right? And I know that ‘cause I was making money, but I was miserable. 

So it wasn't successful, but you should absolutely have career goals, relationship goals, fitness goals, all the things. And I had noticed recently, Greg, as I'm going a hundred miles an hour with CLS and the brand is exploding, that my fitness routine had got a bit complacent. And so just to hold myself really accountable, I signed up for the New York City Marathon in November. 

And now it's like, all right, now we know I have to go, I get to start a training camp for three months leading into that. And it's fun. It's exciting. And it's a new goal. And so there's just something so special to me about running for everyone listening. I encourage you to find whatever your outlet is.

Maybe it's sewing, maybe it's gardening, whatever it is. Right. But something aside from just the day-to-day work stuff that gives you an extra kind of arena to be a gladiator in. And for me, that was running and it came to me at a time when I was desperately searching for something.