Life & Work with Chase Cameron

Today we’d like to introduce you to Chase Cameron.

Hi Chase, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
During grad school at CSUF, I obtained an internship and a private sector facility in Costa Mesa called Velocity Sports performance where I got my first exposure to working with athletes of all ages. Flash forward a few years, I worked my way up from an intern, to coach, to the performance director.

I stayed in this role for a little over four years before deciding to leave to pursue my own goals of owning and operating my own training business. Since then, I have been working independently with my athletes, subleasing gym space from facilities around the Costa Mesa area. Currently, I am operating Chase Cameron Performance out of a gym called Elev8 in Costa Mesa, which has been an amazing home for me and my athletes as I continue to build out my business’s infrastructure and elevate my knowledge on the business end of operations with my business coach, Kat Garcia (co-owner of Elev8).

My goal is to open up a small location of our own that my athletes and I can call home. I have unique visions for how I want to ultimately develop my gym. Some of these visions include a study hall for my HS athletes and a game/tape room for all CCP athletes to study film/enjoy our company and increase our culture through team bonding activities. The gym size that I envision to begin with is around 2,000 square feet. Enough space for us to train the way I envision and potentially increase to more space as we adapt to our new surroundings.

What has allowed me to get this far, with more to come, is the amazing athletes and people who really believe and support what it is that I do. We build athletes through skill and coaching, of course, but more importantly good relationships which lead to longevity, which leads to higher-level results. I’ve had multiple athletes train with my for 6-7 years, and still going. We only get there through really developing a quality coach/athlete relationship and truly understanding each other.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
It has most definitely not been a smooth road. It’s been full of peaks and valleys, but the valleys have taught me many lessons that have made me and my business better.

One of my biggest struggles came from being promoted to the performance director. This is a good thing, right? So then why was this one of my biggest struggles that almost led me to leave the industry?

The reason it became so stressful and almost cause me to leave is that I was simply not experienced enough as a coach, or leader, to be in that role. I was a young coach still trying to learn how to be a top level coach. But all of the sudden, there became an opening after my first mentor, and at the time the performance director abruptly left, and I was the best man for the job at that time. I didn’t want to pass up an opportunity like this, so I took it.

I was very ignorant in that role early on, thinking I had to know all the answers and have all of the solutions for my staff and the facility. This was the wrong approach and I should have included my staff more while reaching out and connecting with more experienced personnel outside of our facility, so I could have had more guidance and learn about leadership and management. I needed mentors and people that have been there before. But I didn’t. So I felt like I was on an island by myself.

Don’t get me wrong, I had done a lot of good in that role, and I know this because I still have great relationships with some of my original staff who I have openly discussed this with later on, but at the time I didn’t realize some of the strengths I had.

A couple of years into this a mentor, and superior in our company, came into my life who ended up becoming a good friend. I remember vividly the day things changed for me. I went into his office and said I want to step down as the performance director and just be a coach. He was the right type of leader for me at this point in my career and life. He didn’t always say things I wanted to hear or agree with but seemed to press the right buttons that pushed me to be better. In this case, he showed empathy and support, which I needed in that moment. He asked me to take the night to think about it and that we would meet again the next day. He also said that he needed me in that role and believed I was the right person for it.

The next day we met and I had a whole different perspective. I told him I would stay in the performance director role. After that conversation, I just felt a giant weight lifted on my back, and I knew I had support and true leadership to help guide me. I don’t know what it was, but just that one conversation from PJ Nestler helped in a way that I am very thankful for because it completely changed the trajectory of my career. I went from possibly being out of the industry to now operating my own business and truly enjoying coaching and building a business.

There are many struggles along the way, but going through them help callus your mental capacity to handle more. The road isn’t’ any less bumpy, there are always challenges that occur, but how you navigate the road changes.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I work with athletes of many levels from high school (some middle school) up to professional. I haven’t niched off into a specific sport because I love so many sports and have been able to help so many people across multiple disciplines, from combat sports to basketball, to adults who were former athletes or even trainers and coaches themselves.

Most people know me for developing athletes, and I have some beasts on my roster. But whether you’re an active athlete, or adult looking to continue to train, everything I do is centered around sports and competition. On my pre-consultation questionnaire I send to a potential athlete looking to train with me, the final question asks them to detail their favorite sports memory. It can be from their own experience playing or from watching a sporting event. Where they were, who they were with, the feelings that they felt in that moment. I love remembering my athletic experiences of all kinds. The friends that were made and what we shared in those moments. I want my athletes and clients to feel that excitement and nostalgia as well. It’s fun to reminisce those memories while we are actively creating new ones and chasing our goals en route to new events and competitions. I want this type of environment and culture, and feel it helps us get to know each other better, which in part helps the training results long term by developing a common ground relationship.

In terms of training methodologies, it depends on the individual and other variables, but I tend to gravitate towards incorporating, in some way, a blend of strength work, speed/power work, and accessory work (whether that be hypertrophy, mobility/flexibility, etc.). I will always adapt this outline to meet the individual where their fitness levels are currently at, along with where their goals are leading us, but I believe in this blend for performance, health/longevity, and quality of life long term.

I’m most proud of 2 things…The first is that I never quit during this long road, although there are countless times I felt those negative feelings privately. But I never did, and I’m very proud of where I am today with my commitment to my athletes, my business, my discipline, and the fact that I really enjoy what I do and am able to build a life centered around this.

The second thing I am extremely proud of is the successes of my athletes. That doesn’t always mean winning every event we compete in. We win a lot, but it’s beyond the wins. I’ve had athletes I’ve worked with for many years, watched them grow from adolescence to college athletes to working adults. I’ve seen what they’ve overcome difficulties professionally, personally, emotionally, etc…I’m very proud of the success they have had as people and how they represent themselves in pursuit of their goals beyond sports. It’s the same attitude and drives we had in the shop, just in a new direction. And I know I had a small part in their development and that I positively impacted them. I can confidently say this by the simple fact that former athletes still reach out to me as we have become friends beyond training, current athletes stay with me for years and express support for me and my endeavours. I can give anyone a detailed explanation of my viewpoints of why they value me and what I bring to the table, but I won’t because I’ll always refer you to them to answer that question. I know how they feel about me, but that’s for them to say.

Last thing, I used to focus on what separates me from other coaches and trainers. I don’t worry about that anymore. I have common traits with other successful coaches, professionalism, genuine excitement for my athlete’s success, etc…but for me, it’s about continuing to learn from other coaches who I value, learn from and listen to my athletes, and doing everything I can to continue to become a better coach tomorrow than I was yesterday. Hopefully, if I can continue to do that, I’ll be pretty good at this coaching thing one day.

Can you share something surprising about yourself?
I’m a pretty transparent person with people who know me or my work. Most people know me for training/coaching and being able to throw down dunk tricks (in my day), but most people don’t know that I have interests in music & performance arts. I have a guitar coach working with me, and although I’m not pursuing anything at the moment because I have my hands in many other things, I enjoy the idea of stage acting and have a desire to learn swing and the boogie woogie dance.

I believe I’m drawn to sports, training, and what I just shared because I feel the most life comes out of me and most like myself when doing activities like these.

Also, fun fact, I get celebrity look at like questions from strangers all the time since I was high school. Popular examples would be Stiffler from the American Pie movies, Shane West from a Walk to Remember back in the day, and Neil Patrick Harris, among others. I have sharp features that remind people of celebrities they’ve seen. They can be fun interactions.

Pricing:

• 85/hour private training (monthly membership)
• 250/month online 1 v 1 coaching
• 150/month team combat training

Contact Info:

• Email: coachchasen@gmail.com
• Instagram: chasecameronperformance
• Facebook: Chasen Cameron