In the most recent episode of Plant Based on Fire, we dive into the life and work of Maxime Sigouin, the founder of Fit Vegan Coaching. His unique approach to fitness, which combines plant-based nutrition and exercise, is not just revolutionizing the way we think about veganism but also challenging the norms of the fitness industry.
Maxime's journey into veganism was unconventional. Initially driven by a desire to lose weight for high fashion modeling, he discovered veganism as a means to become 'skinny.' This decision, made over nine years ago, unknowingly set the stage for what would become a significant career shift. From a bodybuilder and powerlifter accustomed to a meat-heavy diet, Maxime transitioned to a lifestyle that contradicted all he knew about fitness and nutrition.
Fit Vegan Coaching, born out of Maxime's personal experiences and the tragic illness of his late partner, is more than just a fitness program. It's a testament to the power of whole food, plant-based diets, not just in improving body composition but also in enhancing overall health. Maxime shares a poignant story about his partner's battle with breast cancer, and how a plant-based diet played a crucial role in prolonging and improving the quality of her life.
Maxime's approach to fitness is holistic. He believes that having a fit and healthy body is foundational to building an incredible life. This belief is echoed in the tailored programs at Fit Vegan Coaching, which cater to individual lifestyles and goals. His programs are not about achieving a specific athletic milestone; they are about being in a state where one's body is not a limitation.
For Maxime, the key to successful fitness coaching lies in sticking to the basics. In a world where fitness trends come and go, he emphasizes the importance of fundamental exercises like squats, bench presses, and deadlifts. His philosophy extends to diet as well, where he advocates for a balanced, whole food plant-based diet over reliance on processed vegan alternatives.
Maxime's business insights are as valuable as his fitness advice. He emphasizes the importance of focus in entrepreneurship, sharing how distractions cost him significant financial losses. His advice to budding entrepreneurs in the plant-based space is to seek mentorship and learn from those who have already paved the way.
For those interested in transforming their lives through plant-based nutrition and fitness, Maxime invites them to explore Fit Vegan Coaching. His mission goes beyond personal profit; it's about changing lives and creating a community where plant-based living is not just a diet, but a sustainable, enjoyable lifestyle.
Maxime Sigouin's episode on Plant Based on Fire is more than just a story about veganism and fitness. It's an inspirational journey that showcases the transformative power of plant-based living, not just for physical health but for mental and emotional wellbeing too.
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>Podcast Episode’s Transcript
Please understand that a transcription service provided the transcript below. It undoubtedly contains errors that invariably take place in voice transcriptions.
Bryan (00:00.61)
Hello everybody and welcome to plant based on fire where again we are talking with plant-based Businesses and their inspiring stories and how they thrive in the industry. I am your host Brian and joining us today is Maxim Seguin Highly accomplished. I was so close We practiced before we started here a highly max maxim is a highly accomplished fact fitness coach
Maxime Sigouin (00:18.477)
That was close. That was close.
Bryan (00:28.786)
entrepreneur and athlete and he is the founder of fit vegan coaching, a company that is dedicated to helping individuals adopt a healthier lifestyle through plant based nutrition and exercise. So welcome to the show, sir. Thank you so much for being here.
Maxime Sigouin (00:46.54)
Yeah, thank you very much for having me, man. Excited to be here and happy that we get to reconnect.
Bryan (00:50.702)
That's right. We've gotten to hang out on a couple other episodes of the Real Many Plants podcast and record. I hope you come back to that one when time permits with your busy schedule. But, you know, for those of the, for those of the listeners that are just getting to meet you, tell us your little backstory and how has your personal journey with veganism influenced your business?
Maxime Sigouin (01:12.968)
Yeah, for sure. So I'll do, I'll do the quick veganism story. I didn't go vegan originally for the animals or for health reasons or for the environment. I was putting my own words, a huge, a huge douche bag. I was a bodybuilder and a power lifter. And that's just, you know, eating. I was a typical guy eating, you know, chicken, steak, and broccoli, you know, for every two, three hours for six meals a day. I transitioned to veganism because I got recruited for high fashion modeling and I needed to get skinny and drop weight.
And I went on Google and I was like, what's the fastest way to lose the weight? I said, veganism, vegans are skinny and weak. I was like, I don't care if I'm weak, I just need to be skinny. And that's what started my journey over nine years ago now at this point. Yeah, so ultimately disclaimer, you can be strong and fit and be a vegan. I just didn't know it back then.
Bryan (01:49.153)
That's so funny.
Bryan (01:54.422)
Yeah, that is awesome.
Bryan (02:00.906)
Exactly. Yeah, I think we all stumble in our first few steps into this world for sure. Well, how did that journey with that take you into the FitVegan coaching realm?
Maxime Sigouin (02:06.249)
Yes.
Maxime Sigouin (02:14.88)
Yeah, well, Fit Vegan's been around for almost four years now. So the first kind of like five years before I started the business was very much just me doing my own thing and trying to figure it out along the way. There started to become a little bit more resources available as to like being whole food plant-based and being healthy, but I never found a lot of resources in terms of like being fit and being vegan. It was always, you were more on the spectrum, and I say this respectfully, like,
Bryan (02:38.286)
Mm-hmm. Right.
Maxime Sigouin (02:43.656)
hippie dippy on the side, you didn't really care about body composition. Athleticism was not something that was an important factor. Um, and then the flip side, which is very meat heavy to be an athlete, to build muscle, to be able to perform. And I just wanted to have something in the middle. And so I kind of had to build my own path as I progressed, as I did, you know, the bodybuilding, the power lifting, the iron man, the long distance cycling, the running races and all that, and then about, man.
actually, maybe I've been vegan for longer than nine years, is three, four, yeah, maybe like six years ago, seven years ago, my late partner got diagnosed with breast cancer. And I, you know, this I stuck by her side, I was a caregiver for several years until she unfortunately passed away. But when she got diagnosed, she was kind of vegetarian at the time.
but very much living off of like the processed foods at that point, very high stress. She was an entrepreneur as well, very high stress. And when she got sick, I was like, hey, you gotta eat the way that I eat. You gotta eat whole food plan based because there's so much science behind it. So she transitioned to eating whole food plan based. Inflammatory markers went down and the doctors ultimately gave her a year to live after her diagnosis. And she ended up living like four and a half years, five years.
Bryan (03:39.242)
Yeah.
Bryan (03:48.874)
Yeah.
Bryan (04:03.374)
Wow, amazing story.
Maxime Sigouin (04:03.664)
And so, and it, to be honest with you, she had like pretty good quality of life for those last few years of her life. And so seeing what she was going through, you know, 24 seven being there for every emergency, I was like, man, no one needs to go through this when you can just focus on the basics of like, Hey, let's just get you eating healthy, whole food, pine base. Let's get your body moving. Let's get you into shape. You don't need to be, you know,
Bryan (04:08.002)
Mm-hmm.
Bryan (04:19.212)
Yes.
Bryan (04:25.986)
Mm-hmm.
Maxime Sigouin (04:28.884)
LeBron James, Usain Bolt type of shape, but you can need to be healthy where your body is not a limitation to the things that you want to do. And, but just by doing those two things, you can greatly reduce your risk of all those illnesses. And that's kind of when Fitvegan was born.
Bryan (04:37.004)
Yep.
Bryan (04:42.046)
Mm hmm. Our heart reaches out to you that you had to go through that journey and stuff, but thank you so much for sharing it. I mean, you already touched on it a little bit, but like what, how does that translate into the fit vegan strategies you use to help individuals transition to this plant based way of life?
Maxime Sigouin (04:49.132)
Thank you.
Maxime Sigouin (05:03.112)
Yeah, well, I feel like that's the part that I always struggled with. And so when I, when I went into, into building this business, I was like, I, I struggle with being fit on a plant-based diet. I figured it out. I can't be the only one. And so there was a way that people were doing it, which was by consuming a little bit more, a little bit more reliance on fake meat, which again, from time to time is fine, but you don't need to eat that stuff every single meal to be able to be healthy.
Bryan (05:13.207)
Mm-hmm.
Bryan (05:16.555)
Right.
Bryan (05:24.406)
Great.
Bryan (05:29.358)
That's right. Yep.
Maxime Sigouin (05:31.048)
And so I was like, how can I help people greatly reduce their risk of getting cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and Alzheimer and all these diseases? Well, let's eat whole food, plant based, because that's science back. And I'm like, okay, well, most people want to get fitter or lose weight. And ultimately, one of my beliefs since I've been younger is I wholeheartedly believe that if you can have a fit and healthy body, it is the foundation to build an incredible life. So I'm like, how can I help people have an incredible life?
Bryan (05:41.059)
Mm-hmm.
Bryan (05:56.29)
That's right.
Bryan (05:59.746)
Mm-hmm.
Maxime Sigouin (06:00.268)
doing it in a way that will reduce the risk of all those diseases. And basically I decided to put those two together and build a program out of it. And now we're, you know, 700 plus people that we've helped with it.
Bryan (06:11.022)
That is awesome. Yeah, I am going to have to check that out more because I think of myself in decent shape, but I need to figure out the stretching pieces as a runner and a triathlete person myself. Like, I still can't touch my toes and I got to figure that one out for sure and learn some of those things. But I'm curious, like exactly all that stuff. So I'm going to have to get a little one on one with you offline here.
Maxime Sigouin (06:25.064)
Yeah, yeah.
Maxime Sigouin (06:28.556)
Tight hamstring, hip flexors.
Bryan (06:35.214)
But I mean, you've done it all, right? The bodybuilding, martial arts, powerlifting, you're a triathlete yourself on that front. How has all of those things sort of influenced your coaching and your approach to some of this?
Maxime Sigouin (06:39.04)
Yeah.
Maxime Sigouin (06:48.424)
Yeah, just making sure people pick something that's fun and that's not trying to feel a void from something that they're trying to run away. A lot of endurance athletes are running away from something and that's kind of their means to kind of de-stress and that was for me at the time when I was being a caregiver and so just coaching people in a way that's going to be sustainable, that are going to enjoy it and that won't put them in a deeper negative hole than what they currently are, right? And so if you want to do an Ironman or Half Ironman,
Bryan (06:52.236)
Yeah.
Bryan (06:56.206)
Mm-hmm.
Bryan (07:00.174)
That's right.
Bryan (07:14.263)
Yeah.
Maxime Sigouin (07:17.216)
That's great, but like, what's the real reason why you wanna do Half Iron Man? Is it to get in shape? Because there's other ways to get in shape, but you don't have to train 15, 20 hours a week, you know?
Bryan (07:20.958)
Yeah. There's easier ways. That's right. Yeah, for sure. And it's funny because like I've got the virtual reality headset and I work out in supernatural. I love the virtual reality workouts. I don't know if it's the best workout, but I have a blast doing them. That transports me all around the globe. So whatever you can do to get in the right frame of mind and enjoy, I guess.
Maxime Sigouin (07:43.882)
Nice.
Bryan (07:47.306)
I almost equate that back to like the vegan lifestyle in general, right? Like, we have chosen this lifestyle, not because it's like a diet, and it's restricting me, I just find it like, it's just natural, it's the right, right way for the science and my body and everything else. So like, I just naturally had that way. I don't even think of it as a diet, I think if it's just a way of life, and I feel like exercise, like you had just helped the light bulb go off for me, like the exercise should be the same way you should want to get to do it.
Maxime Sigouin (08:10.026)
Yeah.
Bryan (08:16.27)
three to four times a week or more, whatever your body's craving on that front. So thank you. Well, let's dig into the business side of it a little bit more. Like you're in the fitness business, you own it, and like comprehensive health, wellness. Tell us more about your programs and the way your business runs.
Maxime Sigouin (08:21.3)
Yeah. You're welcome.
Maxime Sigouin (08:37.968)
Yeah, for sure. So when I started the business, I was obviously a personal trainer. So I had that background. I had a lot of knowledge when it came to nutrition. But I didn't have a certification when it came to nutrition. It was all self-studied from being in a cancer world and trying to help my partner at the time. And so I wanted to do it right. Not in the way of like, let me go to school for four years and get my holistic nutrition certificate. And so I can do all this stuff. I was like, I could just hire.
Bryan (08:45.09)
Mm-hmm.
Bryan (09:01.111)
Right.
Maxime Sigouin (09:02.344)
a nutritionist, I can just hire a holistic nutritionist. And so what I did throughout the years is I built an amazing team. So we have Dr. Lori Marbus, who's on the team, does the blood work in a consultation with our members. We have Coach Sarah, who's our in-house holistic nutritionist that does nutrition for all of our members. She's also a personal trainer. And then to me, I am a coach as a part of the program, but ultimately I'm running the company and growing it and scaling it and all that. But I decided to build a
comprehensive team that would address every area that would be necessary for people to get incredible transformation. So they come in and it's like custom training plan build for them. That's change every month to make sure they don't plateau and they don't get stuck because you know, a workout plan is great, but I don't know if you have that experience, you do it for like six months straight. Eventually you stop making progression, right? And you get bored too.
Bryan (09:46.626)
Bored. Yeah.
Maxime Sigouin (09:50.132)
And then same thing for the nutrition. You know, when we're building a custom plan for someone, we take into account like who they are in their lifestyle. Like if you run a business and you have two kids and you work 60 hours a week, that's very different than if you're in your early 20s, you're going to school and you're not really doing any side hustle. You have a lot more free time. If you're a mom that has four kids and you're a single mom or a single parent. So we tailor the nutrition to people, but we keep everything whole food plan based the whole way through. Just because I believe it's the best way to kind of fuel yourself.
Bryan (10:10.026)
Yep.
Bryan (10:16.078)
I love it.
Maxime Sigouin (10:20.136)
And then we do a lot of accountability, a lot of education. We bring in special speakers. We had Dr. B come into a gut health masterclass for a member. We had Adam Sud come and speak. We have a lot of awesome people coming to educate our members. Because at the end of the day, it's not like a short-term solution, right? I want them to be able to do this for the rest of their lives.
Bryan (10:33.806)
That's so cool.
Bryan (10:37.89)
Mm-hmm.
That's right. Yeah, that is really the key. And so gosh, you've had over 700 people go through your program and stuff like you have to have some amazing success stories. Like what have you seen as you bring people towards the plant based life or just take the people that are and have been doing it maybe poorly, like talk to me about some of those wins.
Maxime Sigouin (11:00.596)
Yeah, well, I'll talk about the most popular one, which I think a lot of members will recognize my mom. My mom is 57 at the time when she started working with me. She struggled with her weight her whole life. I brought her in she lost 54 pounds got a six pack at 57 years young. And she's kept it off for a few years. So she saw as a six pack now she's in great shape. And so working on my dad now to convert him to veganism and get him to lose the weight. We have a lot of women that were
Bryan (11:21.166)
Mm-hmm.
Maxime Sigouin (11:30.312)
unable to have babies because their body weren't in a healthy position. So we were able to help them lose the weight, get in a healthier position, which ultimately for them, I'm not going to put a disclaimer that I can make everyone have babies, but they got healthier and they were able to have kids. So I think we have like two or three fit vegan babies out there in the world now. People that had diagnosed with some tumors that had some health scare and then just came in and they were able to kind of shrink that tumor and not make it active.
Bryan (11:42.994)
Yeah.
Bryan (11:48.311)
Yeah.
Maxime Sigouin (12:00.424)
regular people that don't have any health issues, but I just want to be in a healthier position and just want to live a better life ultimately.
Bryan (12:07.854)
That is so true. I was at the unfortunate situation over the weekend hanging out at a Red Robin and I'm like, what's vegan at Red Robin? So I got the Beyond Burger, the Quinoa Burger, whatever they had there. But still the salt content, I felt my fingers swelling up by the time I was leaving the restaurant. So you just nailed it. Imagine being in that state eating it all the time and then you help them transform that. So that is some...
Maxime Sigouin (12:18.333)
Yeah, yeah.
Maxime Sigouin (12:28.437)
Yeah.
Bryan (12:36.602)
awesome, awesome success stories. Like, well done on that. Like, it's funny, because I was just having this conversation with my cousin, like, I'm always rallying against all my family to join me in this vegan crusade that I'm on. And he, you know, he pushed back, he goes, you know, I'd love to try it. But you know, I'm just worried about that protein. And I just like, gosh, what the misconception, I'm sure you get that a million times a day, as it's thrown at you, like, what
Maxime Sigouin (12:50.519)
Yeah.
Maxime Sigouin (12:57.068)
Yeah.
Bryan (13:05.042)
How do you address that giant misconception for the lack of protein and essential sort of nutrients in our diet?
Maxime Sigouin (13:12.676)
Yeah, well, first of all, educate them that they don't need as much protein as they think that they do, right? Cause there's the typical numbers for bodybuilders out there that it's kind of the rules that I had to follow when I was bodybuilding and I wasn't vegan. It's about like one to two grams per pound of body weight. So you can imagine there's a time in my life, I was consuming like 350, 400 grams of protein per day. My gut was completely destroyed.
Bryan (13:17.251)
Mm-hmm.
Bryan (13:23.502)
Mm-hmm.
Bryan (13:33.154)
Oof. Mm-hmm.
Maxime Sigouin (13:34.9)
So I tell them like, hey, if your goal is to be healthy, right, and you just disregard body composition, you just wanna be healthy and live a long life, 0.8 gram per kg of body weight, great number to hit. You honestly don't really need to worry about consuming enough protein at that point. You will be healthy, you will live a long life. If the goal is to shift body composition, you wanna be like around that 1.5 to 1.6 gram per kg of body weight. So it's enough that you have to put some awareness towards
Bryan (13:42.562)
Mm-hmm.
Bryan (13:49.366)
Right. That's right.
Maxime Sigouin (14:02.984)
you know, tracking it or consuming it, but not too much that you're like, oh my god, all of my food has to be protein. And ultimately, just educating them that it's that it's everywhere. Right? It's in it's in your vegetables, it's in your grains brought to me if you eat like a block of tofu, a day, some edamame, some lentils, some beans somewhere like half of it has already been used, right? It's pretty easy.
Bryan (14:04.27)
Mm-hmm.
Bryan (14:12.94)
Yep.
Bryan (14:23.562)
Yeah, you're covered. You're covered. And the human body is great at keeping what you need and saving it for a few more days to round it out too. So, uh, you're, you're deep in the fitness industry as well here. What do you see as some of the trends in both the fitness world in general and in the plant-based fitness realm?
Maxime Sigouin (14:33.333)
Yeah.
Maxime Sigouin (14:45.044)
Yeah, so I'll be honest with you. I will just look at what are the things that are the trend and a lot of the time, can I surround this podcast? Am I allowed to? No, yeah, okay. They're bullshit to be honest with you. Okay, so they're bullshit for the most part. Like anything new that someone comes out to, they're just trying to create a brand for themselves and create something that's exciting, right? But let's look at fitness, how long it's been around. A squat still works, a bench press still works, a deadlift still works, a bicep curl still works.
Bryan (14:53.462)
Yeah, go ahead. The kids don't watch it. Yeah.
Bryan (15:04.202)
Yeah.
Bryan (15:10.894)
That's right.
Maxime Sigouin (15:13.224)
And so to me, I just stick to the basics with my own fitness, with our members transformation, because then if we start jumping on the bandwagon of all these new trends, then it never ends. And that's why people are like, oh, keto, paleo, Atkins, you know, whatever, whatever new thing comes out. And then they never end up having a sustainable way of living. So, yeah, the basics work, right? If you resistance training, the basic movements, eat healthy. You'll get great results from that.
Bryan (15:16.043)
Yeah.
Bryan (15:23.246)
That's right.
Bryan (15:27.191)
Yep.
Bryan (15:32.535)
Yeah.
Bryan (15:39.818)
That is awesome. So true. Like I'm not, I, I even hate running on a treadmill. I'm like, I just, I want to do it outside. I want to do it with just my body weights kind of thing. And you can accomplish so, so much. So I will please. Yeah.
Maxime Sigouin (15:51.08)
Yeah, can I just, I'll just use an analogy real quick. Let's compare it to business. The basics work, right? You get leads, you convert to lead, you make the sale, you deliver, you do a good job, you get a referral, and then you renew the lead and you get, right? The basics for business work, but you see all these kids on YouTube and TikTok are like, oh dude, this strategy, this AI tool, it's new shit that's not gonna work in the long term, right? Like the basics for business work.
Bryan (15:57.954)
That's right.
Bryan (16:04.642)
That's right.
Bryan (16:12.138)
Yeah. That's right. It's right. That's right. I mean, I think that's a great segue because I wanted to help unpack this for the entrepreneurs that are watching this. You know, you have an awesome microphone and the neon sign that I'm jealous of. Uh, on the front, you've got your own podcast and you're putting out content and, you know, crushing it online from everything I can see. How has your content and everything you're doing contributed to your, your mission and your business growth?
Maxime Sigouin (16:42.728)
Yeah, it's been everything. Ultimately, the podcast has been the biggest shift and I didn't really expect that. Because a lot of the time, we're stuck on short form content, right? Like people's attention span is lowering, so you need to make five, 10 second reels and you need to like trick them into writing a bunch of text so they have to pause, so it looks at the algorithm, they're consuming it for longer. I'll be honest with you, I would say about 80% of my revenue came from like short form content before like Instagram and Facebook for the first three years.
Bryan (16:48.759)
Mm-hmm.
Bryan (17:00.906)
Yeah. Right.
Bryan (17:09.363)
Mm hmm. Yeah.
Maxime Sigouin (17:12.284)
And in the past year, everything transitioned. 70% of our revenue came from podcasts in the past year. So it's a complete shift. And so it's also demonstrating that when the content is good, people will consume a longer version of it. So our show will range from 30 to 60 minutes with some of the guests, which is longer than a 30 second reel. And so yeah, podcasts has been everything for us because it allows people to get to know, like, and trust you.
Bryan (17:25.026)
for sure.
Bryan (17:29.067)
Mm-hmm.
Yep.
Bryan (17:38.028)
Yeah.
Maxime Sigouin (17:38.708)
You can hide who you are on a five second reel. But if we talk for an hour, I'm gonna swear at one point, I'm gonna say something that someone's gonna be like, I don't know if I wanna work with them, or that's the reason why I want to work with them. Yeah.
Bryan (17:42.69)
For sure.
Bryan (17:46.978)
That's right. That's right. That's right. Even this one is just supposed to be like a sampling of it, you know, 15 to 20 minute podcasts, you know, to make them want to go and check out your website and more and all that kind of stuff. So yeah, kudos, kudos on your successes there. Now, now here's the tough question. You've had to hit some speed bumps and some challenges. So
Maxime Sigouin (18:02.23)
Yeah.
Maxime Sigouin (18:05.632)
Thank you.
Bryan (18:11.651)
What challenges are you faced running this plant-based business? How have you overcome them? What advice would you give to the people watching this starting their own?
Maxime Sigouin (18:19.408)
Yeah, I think some of the biggest speed bump, every single one of them has been due to distractions. Me, like red shiny object syndrome, you're like, oh, I'm doing this in my business. But if you use this strategy, they're gonna tell you get 10 times more leads and then you go and do it and then you bomb it because you didn't really master it and it takes time to build. And so I think all of my mistakes have been distraction. Being distracted was like, hey, you should do this.
Bryan (18:36.342)
Yeah.
Maxime Sigouin (18:44.572)
type of lead magnet that will lead into like this sequence of like of emails and everything. Or if you post this type of Instagram post and interact and collab with these other people, you'll get more leads that way. Or if you start this new business that's adjacent to your business, it will help increase your revenue. That's a huge distractor. I've made that mistake before for sure. So it's funny to see that my goal for this year is focus, just fit vegan, nothing else around it, just fit vegan. So being distracted.
Bryan (19:00.587)
Yeah.
Yep.
Bryan (19:10.094)
I love it.
I need to follow that myself probably.
Maxime Sigouin (19:16.213)
Just making one thing super successful. I'm blessed to have a lot of people that have made multi-millions of dollars in my surrounding at this point. It wasn't like that when I started. Every single one of them was like, hey dude, I didn't build 10 businesses to get here. I built one solid one and then I made it there and I sold it or then I built a Jason business at that point, but like I built one thing super well.
Bryan (19:24.194)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Bryan (19:31.638)
Yep.
Maxime Sigouin (19:39.54)
So biggest mistakes I've done in all of these years was just getting distracted on multiple different things, which costed me for sure over a million dollars in mistakes, easy.
Bryan (19:49.218)
Yeah, yeah. Awesome, awesome advice. So you're focused on Fitvegan in 2024 here. What are some of the new initiatives or projects you're working on to drive Fitvegan to that next level for you?
Maxime Sigouin (20:03.692)
to make the community more real versus just digital. So for the first like almost four years of business, we've been purely on our app, on Facebook, YouTube, podcasts, and we did one little workshop when I was back in Canada, but this year is to have events in person, to do races in person, like 5Ks, 10Ks, triathlons, and things like that. So members have the opportunity to connect because a lot of the time, if you're transitioning to eating plant-based, or you're someone that is plant-based,
you're probably the only person in your surrounding that is unless you're, you know, you're blessed like me, you built your whole life around it and all your friends are vegan. For most people, they're like the odd one in their family, in their community. So I want people to be able to connect together and be like, oh, I remember when I went to district with Patrick and now we stay in touch and now he's doing a race, I'm gonna go do the race with him so we can run together and go to a nice vegan restaurant. So I'm making the community more real and just provide a better customer experience with we're making some cool.
Bryan (20:43.902)
Yep.
Maxime Sigouin (21:01.369)
Some cool gear, some Fitvegan athlete gear for our members to race in and train in. So that's the focus.
Bryan (21:06.222)
That's awesome. I hope we can fast forward 10 years and there is a fit vegan studio right next to every orange theory on the planet, right? It would just be the, I love it.
Maxime Sigouin (21:15.796)
Man, that's a Fit Vegan meal prep, clothing, a gym, like a restaurant, like Fit Vegan is such a good name, and it's mine, so yeah.
Bryan (21:23.854)
Well, I love it. I mean, and I think and I like, I know I do it. I do a lot of five K's and 10 K's and stuff in my area and stuff. Like I can't say it for those of you that are watching that are out there doing some of these events like we're talking about here, like where your vegan shirt, like I wear my real money plant shirt. I want everybody to know it so that somebody else in the community can come up and say, hi, five, I am too, or whatever. And we can try and build those friends. So
Maxime Sigouin (21:50.197)
Yeah.
Bryan (21:52.446)
I love you putting out some gear, helping to spread the word and help build that community. That is what this is all about here. So what, what tip or advice would you give some of those individuals looking to start a plant-based coaching or wellness business?
Maxime Sigouin (22:08.3)
hire someone that's done it before. I used to think that I could figure it out all on my own. I'm gonna go on YouTube and Google and figure out how to do all of this stuff. And once I hired my first mentor and he basically condensed like years of mistakes. And my first month I was profitable and super successful and we've been since we started. I was like, man, I can just buy.
Bryan (22:26.83)
Hehehe
Bryan (22:32.012)
Yeah.
Maxime Sigouin (22:34.624)
like speed, not the drug, but like I can buy speed. So like, if I need to build a business that you're an expert in, I was like, hey, Brian, I will give you X amount of money if you show me how to do this. You've spent a lot of money on stupid mistakes, on simplifying the process, and then you just tell it to me, and then I don't have to make those mistakes and waste all that time. Like, that's all I do now. If I wanna accomplish something in a specific area, I'm like, who's a pro at this? Let me just pay them.
Bryan (22:38.701)
Yes.
Maxime Sigouin (23:02.076)
even if it's a lot of money, I'm gonna get far more out of it. Because let's just say pay someone. I'll give some numbers just for fun. I joined Tony Robbins platinum partnership this past year, right? It was $85,000 for the year. That was an absurd amount to me 15 years ago. When I first heard about it, I was like, how can people spend this much money on one person? Like you still have to live and pay your rent. This year, we're fortunate enough to be able to do it. Man, for sure. It's made me
Bryan (23:05.847)
Yes.
Bryan (23:10.762)
Yeah.
Bryan (23:23.434)
Yep. Yeah.
Maxime Sigouin (23:31.976)
well over that and it has saved me well over that in mistakes that I would have made if I didn't have access to the information. So just how much it saves you on mistakes you're not gonna make and how much it condenses the timeline of you reaching your goal. Like, man, I'm just buying information left and right now.
Bryan (23:33.592)
Yes.
Bryan (23:37.93)
Yeah, so powerful.
Bryan (23:49.61)
Yeah, I can't. What's the, it's, there's the one story out there. It's like Thomas Edison turned in the bill to the company and they go, this is $10,000. All you do is come and tap a hammer on the ax. I know, but it's a dollar for the hammer and 9,999 to know which ax to hit on that Fred. So that's exactly right. I tell people that all the time, go and hire that expertise and they'll help you accelerate your business in a big way. That is a great piece of advice. So.
Maxime Sigouin (23:59.831)
Yeah.
Maxime Sigouin (24:05.947)
Exactly.
Maxime Sigouin (24:14.352)
Yeah. And I'll just add something just to that, because some people may not have the money to hire the big coaches. I started going to the library and renting books for free. And then once I implemented the knowledge from the book, I had enough money to buy the book. And once I bought the book, I took the information implemented, I bought the online course, and then I implemented the information and I had money to hire the person that made the course, right. And then you can kind of see the progression from there.
Bryan (24:21.186)
Mm-hmm.
Bryan (24:35.97)
That's right. That's right. Absolutely. But that, you know, the experts want to help you in some way, shape or form anyway. And, you know, so I totally think it's worth asking. Well, this has been an amazing, amazing journey with you the past few minutes that we've been talking. I want to know what can the plant-based-on-fire community do to help the fit vegan community? So what is it that we want to do to collaborate here a little bit? And what are the best ways to get in touch?
Maxime Sigouin (24:45.194)
Yeah.
Maxime Sigouin (25:05.884)
Yeah, for sure. If yourself or someone that you love wants to transform on a whole food plant based diet, they want to shift their body composition and ultimately learn tools and skills that will last them a lifetime to stay fit and healthy. You or you can send them to just fitv All the information is on there. If you want to check out our podcast, it's Fit Vegan Podcasts on any platform. But ultimately, yeah, the big mission, I didn't mention it earlier, but I'm trying to help 10,000 people get lean,
Maxime Sigouin (25:35.66)
which is the age at which my previous partner passed away, and then a million by 2050. So to me, I'm just after changing lives. That's what I'm after. So I'm upfront about it.
Bryan (25:44.366)
That's awesome, awesome. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And hit us with the website one more time.
Maxime Sigouin (25:50.332)
at fitv
Bryan (25:52.866)
fitvegancoaching.com everybody go check that out. Say at least subscribe to the podcast, but at jump into that if you wanna change your life and get started on your journey here. So thank you so much Maxim for jumping in here with us today.
Maxime Sigouin (26:08.828)
All right, thank you for having me, man.
Bryan (26:10.742)
That is all the time we have for this episode of Plant Based on Fire and our podcast today. We really appreciate you sharing all those tips and tricks with us and sharing your insights. Until next time everybody, keep that fire burning. Thank you.