Michael Garrick relies on exercise as an outlet for stress

Oakland native and Fitnesse founder Michael Garrick is no stranger to stress — and as a former Division 1 collegiate athlete, he often uses exercise as an outlet. In this episode, Michael talks with Izzy about his experience building Fitnesse and how important it is for founders to have a consistent workout regimen, especially while raising capital.

Must-listen moments:

1:34 — Describe a time when the business took you to your wits’ end

“Raising the first time. I was like, I need to make sure that I still take care of myself even in the midst of all this raising and pushing the company forward. Because if I can't keep going, then nothing else is going to keep going. I've found that when I started getting consumed by Fitnesse, at times I would stop working out and then I would be more stressed, and I didn't have that outlet.”

2:59 — Would you say that your current workload is healthy?

“No! It's too much context switching for me. But I would say that there are going to be periods in time that things aren't going to be healthy. But if you can, like the law of averages, figure out like, all right, this week is going to be real crazy, but next week I can figure out a way to make sure it's coming down a little bit to where it's not as stressful on me, on my mind, on my body, etc.”