Stories That Move
When we create videos for our clients, there's often an incredibly rich narrative that we can't include in the final cut. Being behind the scenes, we're fortunate to hear the depth and full context behind each story.
So in this podcast, we want to pull back the curtain and allow you to experience the extraordinary stories of extraordinary people we've been honored to connect with.
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Stories That Move
Angela Garagano | From Rock Bottom to Revolution
What happens when your identity is shattered on national television? When strength fails you at the moment you need it most? For Angela Gargano, six-time American Ninja Warrior competitor, Miss Fitness America, and founder of the Pull-Up Revolution, that moment became the catalyst for her most meaningful work.
Angela's path from biochemist to fitness icon wasn't linear or predictable. After college gymnastics, she found herself in a lab coat working on prostate cancer research, yet feeling lost without the structure and purpose sports had given her. That search for identity led her to fitness competitions, where persistence through countless failures eventually earned her the Miss Fitness America title.
But it was her devastating ACL tear on American Ninja Warrior—a moment of public failure when she was at peak strength—that forced her to completely reimagine what resilience looks like. "I was flying through the course. I'm looking at the sidelines, seeing people who are OG Ninja Warriors being like 'who is this girl?'" Angela recalls. "And then I just remember completely blacking out." That rock-bottom moment became the foundation for what she now calls the RIGHT framework for navigating life's most challenging setbacks.
The framework begins with giving yourself permission to feel pain rather than masking it. "Strong leaders and strong women, we mask. We don't want people to see that we're in pain," Angela shares. "But if you keep resisting feeling those things, you're going to get stuck." This vulnerability, combined with identifying what you can control and asking "what if it all goes right?" transformed her recovery and eventually became her message.
Today, Angela's Pull-Up Revolution has helped thousands of women achieve what they once thought impossible, and her keynote speaking brings these lessons to audiences worldwide. Her story isn't just about physical comeback—it's about discovering that our deepest vulnerabilities often become our greatest platforms for impact. As she puts it, "It's so much less about actually making it to that destination... it's so much more about who you're becoming on that journey."
Ready to redefine what's possible in your life or business? Join us at the Warsaw Growth Summit on November 6th where Angela will share her full framework for turning setbacks into comebacks.
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The delusional action was me saying I'm going to come back in 11 months, which doctor said that's going to be very hard for you to do, that's going to be really hard for you to actually come back on this course 11 months later with an ACL tear. And then I found myself back on the course 11 months later, um, and obviously I had to put in a video again. You're not just automatically accepted into the show. So I put in that video and like you bet I got a call. Like I definitely got a call. No matter what, no matter what that video looks like, you know they were going to bring me back on that show to have that comeback story.
Speaker 2:Hello friends, Matt Duhl here, Welcome back to Stories that Move, brought to you by Dream On Studios. I'm excited to tee up a powerhouse of a conversation Today. I'm joined by our Chief of Staff, Alexis Grant, and we welcomed in Angela Gargano, a six-time American Ninja Warrior, Miss Fitness America and founder of the Pull-Up Revolution. But beyond the titles and trophies, Angela is a force for resilience, reinvention and rethinking what strength really looks like. In this episode, we dive into her journey from hitting rock bottom on national TV to launching a movement that's empowering thousands of women to do what they once felt was impossible. Angela's story is full of practical insights on how to push past perfectionism, embrace challenge and lead with grit and grace. Let's jump into the conversation and welcome Angela Gargano to Stories that Move.
Speaker 2:Welcome back to Stories that Move. I'm your host, Matt Duhl, and with me today is Alexis Grant. Hello, how are you doing today, Alexis? Good, Excited to be here? Yes, so excited to be here and excited to introduce our guest, who is no joke. She is a six-time America Ninja Warrior. That she is, which is a really big deal. She's also Miss Fitness America and the founder of the Pull-Up Revolution. We have with us today Angela Gargano. Angela, how are you doing?
Speaker 1:I'm great. How are you? I'm so happy to be here.
Speaker 2:So good to have you. Thank you for joining us today. In addition to our podcast here today, angela is going to be joining us live in Warsaw on November 6th for the Warsaw Growth Summit. So for our Michiana viewers and listeners, make sure to mark that on your calendar. You're not going to want to miss this. But today we are going to talk about her story, which includes hitting rock bottom on national TV, rebuilding from that moment and then sparking a movement that has been redefining strength for women. Angela, thanks again for being here. Take a moment, introduce yourself to our listeners.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, you said a good amount of it, but yeah, six-time American Ninja Warrior, I've been on three fitness covers. I have one behind me to remind me that I'm here Miss Fitness America 2016. Prior to that, I was actually a biochemist.
Speaker 1:It was so very, very different from all those different pieces, so I've got lots of different areas of life that I was in and, yeah, now I'm going all in on keynote speaking to really share my message. I'm realizing the huge impact that it's having on so many. So going all in on that to really help people really redefine what's possible for them to overcome challenges, overcome uncertainty, especially this world right now that we're in. And then obviously have created the Pull Up Revolution, which is a program which has helped now thousands of women conquer their first pull up. Now that might not seem fully related to keynote speaking, but it truly is, because what I've really realized throughout that journey of helping women get their pull up was that it is such a mindset thing. It is so, so deep personal development and mindset. So I'm just really excited to bring all of these, these pieces together to really help create impact.
Speaker 2:Very cool it's amazing oh that's so cool. Okay, I love that and we're going to unpack more of that as we go. But back up for us and let's talk about the beginning. Where are you originally from? What was childhood like for you?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I'm actually originally from New Jersey, so I'm a Jersey girl at the Italian last name and so originally from New Jersey. And uh, yeah, I mean I wind up going to Rhode Island college for college gymnastics and to be in biochemistry. So that was my first huge shift like out of New Jersey and went to Rhode Island. I absolutely fell in love with Rhode Island College. It's a super small little school in Providence, which is awesome, and was the captain of that team there. We did a bunch of things while we were there as well, which is like saving the team from getting cut.
Speaker 1:All sorts of things wind up happening throughout that journey. And then after college I was working at it's so funny because sometimes people put in my bio that I went to Brown University, but I was working, working at Brown University and we were working to create different compounds to help prostate cancer and see if we can find a way to target it and pinpoint it and all these different pieces, which is actually really fun and really fascinating. And, yeah, so huge, very, very different shift obviously from fitness, not fitness at that point, but I think a huge piece that's really important with that part of the story is you know you go from being a college athlete, a college gymnast, to then going into the workforce to whatever that might be. For me it was biochemistry, and no one really prepared me for what that was going to feel like to not have a sport anymore, to not have a coach, to not have somebody supporting me. You go in every single day to practice and you're like cool you're, you're working towards this goal of getting towards, of going to one of these meets and working with your team and then, all of a sudden, all that's gone, and I don't think I was fully prepared for that.
Speaker 1:So while I was doing the biochemistry was when, on the outside, I was trying to like go to the gym and work out, but I just didn't like it, like I didn't want to be there. I just felt weird. So I started to search for like that next thing. I'm like what's this next thing that I can do outside of biochemistry that's going to really help me keep my body moving and and and feel and feel good. And that's when I started getting more into the other pieces of the athletics.
Speaker 2:Awesome, awesome. So what was it that inspired the biochemist side of things, like you know, what was kind of the spark for you in that field?
Speaker 1:It's really interesting. I always kind of look back and try and figure out why I chose biochemistry. I think it was because, I mean, I really truly had asked my parents. I said I want to be, I wanted to go in the circus. Wow, and they were like that's not a real job, you can't do that.
Speaker 4:Angela, so I'm like okay.
Speaker 1:So then I'm trying to think of, like, what are other things I'm interested in? And I had a really fantastic chemistry teacher. He just made chemistry so fun and so interesting and I honestly feel like the reason I chose it was because of that. Um, I also did feel like there could be an impact that I could have on people by being in chemistry. When we were talking about, you know, working on prostate cancer and things along those lines, I'm like what can I do to help help people? Cause I feel like I've definitely always been new, that I was put on this earth to create some kind of impact. So I feel like that's why I chose biochemistry at first. I was really good at it. Like I'm really good at very hands-on cook. It's like when I was doing the one in Brown, it was kind of like cooking because it was like a lot of organic chemistry, and I love that.
Speaker 4:So it's super fun.
Speaker 1:But yeah, I mean, really the reason I shifted is because I kind of thought that I had to do it instead of doing some of the other things that I thought. I didn't think those other things that I have gotten into now were even a possibility to be a career that you can actually get paid for and do things for. But I'm so happy I did go through that phase and did go through biochemistry because I do feel like that helps me still have a better understanding of the body and all sorts of different areas.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah, awesome, yeah. It's like a holistic view of hey, how can I take care of my body? In a way, right, you've got the science side, but then you've got the physical as well.
Speaker 1:So sweet yeah, so definitely super interesting. You know lab coat and goggles we love that.
Speaker 3:Pipettes, all the things that's awesome, sweet. I'd love to know. Yeah, what was your parents reaction to that Cause? You said, okay, from circus to biochemist, to you know, ninja warrior, like, unpack that a little bit too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I feel like for my family. I mean that probably was interesting for them to be, like they never really fully asked me or were curious about those questions. To be honest with you, I think they were just excited that you know, in my head I was going to go become a biochemist and then get my PhD, go to MIT, all these like things in my head, and I think they were just excited to hear that. But I again, I don't think that and I don't think they did this on purpose. I just don't think that they asked me the questions to get a little more curious as to why I even wanted to do it in the first place, which I thought was interesting. But absolutely when I decided to quit the job, where they definitely a little panicked, they definitely were. Are you sure, do you know what you're doing? And in my head I'm like I have no idea what I'm doing. No, no idea when I decided to leave.
Speaker 1:But yeah, so basically I kept trying to get my PhD and then just could not. I'm not a good test taker. I could not do well on those GRE tests. I tried over and over again, again, really good hands-on, just could not get into the schools that I wanted to. And then I was like, okay, you know what, what's the next step? I like I guess I'll go into pharmaceuticals, because that's the next step is to work at larger scale. So I started working large scale pharmaceuticals, so 12 hour overnight shift, vibes, hazmat suit. Now we're working on again in big tanks because we're doing much larger scales of like our little science research pieces. And then, yeah, while I was there doing the overnight shifts, having my 45 minute commute each way, that's when I finally met my first mentor.
Speaker 1:Uh, her name was Kathy Savage and she was the one who introduced me to this whole entire world of fitness competitions, where I can still kind of do gymnastics, it's like flipping around on stage, but it's bodybuilding at the same time. Um, so it's interesting. It's like when you think of miss fitness america because that's what I wound up winning, right, it's like miss. It's like it's like miss usa, right, but with fitness in it, type of thing.
Speaker 1:You know the interview, like the whole well-roundedness, well-roundedness, but while she was teaching me how to do things outside of being a gymnast and she was teaching me more about myself, how it could be healthy, obviously, the people around me who were in you know the overnight shift we only eat like mcdonald's and stuff, because it's only that's open in the middle of the night, really yeah, they were like you're looking really good, we're seeing that you're taking care of yourself, can you help us too? So it started to really translate into that work area where I was like, oh, I'm doing this thing, that it's also inspiring others to eat healthier, to be better, and that's when I started to get that itch. For, you know, maybe I'm actually meant to do something like Kathy has done for me, which is, you know, do something along the line with fitness and help people in this manner. So at late at night I'd be doing the doing, trying to get my NASM certification online in the middle of the shifts and stuff like that.
Speaker 2:So I see that in your, your, your bio talks about secret workouts at midnight. So talk, talk about that, like what was happening there, like obviously it feels like you're kind of balancing the two worlds, trying to figure that out.
Speaker 1:I absolutely was in two different worlds and let me tell you it was exhausting. Exhausting mentally, physically. Think about I mean some of you listeners might be on here who do work the overnight shift. It's not an easy thing to do, like 12 hours and then you have like an hour to sleep at the big, like an hour commute, and then you're trying to sleep in between. So I was trying to figure out when am I going to fit these workouts in, Because I have this coach who's helped, like telling me and helped me get prepared for these competitions. When am I going to do that? So I really had to mess around with that schedule and figure out how I'm going to integrate it into the life that I have now, Because a lot of people think, oh, it has to be you're all or nothing on this or all or nothing on that. But I'm like, wait, I have to find a way to really mend this together, Because my reality is I'm working 12-hour overnight shift.
Speaker 1:There is I guess it would be our lunch at midnight. We'd always kind of have that. So we were in a campus there, because I worked at this place called Genzyme. It was a nice little campus and I would go do my workouts or run outside at night. Obviously, if it's so many people will be like Angel. That's so scary. You're a woman doing that.
Speaker 1:I'm like don't worry, I wound up having like a lot of the guys who were on the shift would like like one or two of them would like come with me, and they, they would want to start running too. So it was nice. So, yeah, I would just really find. I just found a way to make it, to make it work, and I was like that has to be at midnight and I have to do something then. Then I'm just going to do that.
Speaker 2:Awesome. So then tell us about that decision to enter the fitness competition, which then led up to your big win.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 1:So I got into the fitness competitions. I had no idea what I was doing. Like this, this woman was had so much belief in me. You've ever had someone like that, where they're just like they have so much belief in you. Have no idea what you're getting into, and I was. I just trusted her. She was like you're, I'm going to sponsor you for everything. I'm going to tell you exactly what to do, I'm going to show you the ropes, all these different pieces, and I was just blown away by the kindness of her and I even sometimes would ask her. You know, you didn't even know me. Like I sat in your office, like I could have totally taken advantage of this opportunity that you gave to me. She's like I just knew. She's like I saw you and I just knew that you were going to do the thing.
Speaker 1:So, so lots of training for that, working on the performances, and I competed so much. I always had to do like a bunch of local competitions and then we would go to the national ones, and I'd gone to the national one multiple times and my eyes were set on like I'm going to win Miss Fitness America. I want to do this, but you know, there were so many times throughout that journey where things would just go completely wrong. Right, there was a time where I hurt my foot on stage. There was a time where my costume malfunctioned and my so embarrassing slid down. My butt crack was out. Mind you, this was when it was streamed nationally.
Speaker 1:So people get a nice view of my butt crack yeah full butt crack moment, which was very interesting and all these things kept happening, but I kept showing up. And then, after a couple of years, in 2016, it's almost like I honestly kind of knew that I was going to win, like I was back on stage and I, first of all, I knew that I was ready to move on to whatever the next thing was going to be from this, and then also, I just knew that I'd put so much work in, I'd showed up. I just felt really good at that moment.
Speaker 1:So that was the moment where I finally won Miss Fitness America, but it was after all, I mean I look at the list sometimes of the amount of competitions I did in order to do that yeah and it's actually kind of wild that I just kept persisting. I was like no, I'm gonna make this happen, wow.
Speaker 2:I mean ballpark for us. How many competitions you think it was leading up to it?
Speaker 1:oh man, I don't know if I can look in there maybe like 30, 30 something. I went to my LinkedIn the other day because I used to track all the titles in there and then I looked down and I was like, oh wow, there was a lot in there Because you'd win different titles at different competitions, like the local ones. You'd win this. So lots of different competitions. But it was a lot of failure. It was a lot of trying to figure it out and definitely I mean which happens with everybody, right?
Speaker 1:Sure A lot of moments where I was looking up to these people who were just. I felt like they were just winning, Like they just had it, and I was just like what? Like, why don't I?
Speaker 2:have it. Why is this?
Speaker 1:taking me so long. It's so annoying.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes.
Speaker 3:Well, persistence is amazing, though. Yeah, and even like that confidence he said backstage of like, okay, I've got this, I know I'm gonna win it. Like kudos to you for having that. That's awesome.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was I don't even know if it was necessarily like I knew I was gonna win it. I think maybe I just necessarily knew, like I put in everything that I could possibly do, like I did all the things this time. So at that point it's almost like you already won, no matter what yes like it didn't matter, like cool got, got the trophy and the title.
Speaker 1:But internally I was like I, I did this, I did the thing this. This is the one that I won and I made sure that I did all the things the right way, from all the things that I've learned from the past.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, excellent. Okay, so you have the title, you have the trophy. Walk us through from, from there to American Ninja Warrior. What was the journey to get there?
Speaker 1:So also very interesting and also very mended together, which, again, I've been thinking actually a lot about these different areas of life where my, where I feel like the different phases of life happen. It seems like it's all very similar.
Speaker 4:They kind of like they kind of are together in a way. Yeah.
Speaker 1:So one of the women who was helping me and mentoring me through how to do routines and stuff like that she had won the title multiple times. She was going to try out for that popular TV show, american Ninja Warrior.
Speaker 4:Now.
Speaker 1:I had no idea what this show was, because I don't even watch TV Like I barely watch TV now too. I had no idea what this was, and I guess, in order to do that, you have to put together a submission video. So the submission video has to be about your life and it also has to show your skills. But at the end of the day, american Ninja Warrior is basically a reality TV show, so you do need to have some kind of story. So I was really great. I'm very I don't know I'm really good with, like creativity and video and stuff like that.
Speaker 1:So I helped get a videographer making these videos and as I was doing this, the videographer, ian I'll never forget it he looked at me and he was like Angela, you should really try out for this show too. And I just thought I can't, like I can't try out for this show. Like this is my other mentor trying out for this. I'm going to like now say, oh, me too, like it felt like I was, you know, overstepping my bounds or something like that. But he just kept saying it to me over and over. He's like why not? He's like why not try out for it? Who cares? Like maybe like what? Why like? Why not just go for it? And finally, at the end this is I think I believe this is when she left he was like, let's just throw something together real quick. So we threw. We threw something together and I forgot about it. I didn't think anything was going to come of it.
Speaker 1:I was still still pretty deep in the fitness world at that point and then I was literally actually at a fitness competition. It's funny, when I do my keynotes, I you know how you can't say all the details. This is a very interesting detail. I was at a fitness competition and I remember looking down at my phone and I saw an eight one name, eight one number. Oh, call me. I just thought it was spam, because there's so many spam calls and this is when you had to like call back in to get your voicemail and like now where you can like see it right yeah, so I'm like whatever, like another spam thing, and then I don't know, for some reason I called in and I hear this voice of this guy, this producer.
Speaker 1:He's like you've been accepted to american ninja warrior and you're competing in two weeks in pittsburgh and I remember just getting there looking at my phone and I'm looking at my friend. I know I'm like like calling my friend over, my friend Jess. I'm just like come here. She's like what? I'm like you're not going to believe this. And now I'm like I have no idea how to ninja, I have two weeks. I'm like what do you mean? Is ninja Like, what do I do?
Speaker 3:So now I'm a little bit panic.
Speaker 1:I'm doing the fitness competition Like that was a.
Speaker 4:that was a super fun one that I did and then, yeah, after I'm, I'm posting everywhere you know wanted someone to help me.
Speaker 1:ninja on Facebook everywhere, like somebody, some yeah, literally wanted, like somebody helped me. I don't know what I'm doing, and I also felt really bad, though, cause my friend and my mother mentor, who tried out for it she kept saying, oh, I'm probably gonna get my call soon too, and she would keep saying that, and then she never got a call. I know, I know. So like what a weird feeling I was in, because I was like, oh man, I feel like I stepped on her toes, but I was also a little bit disappointed, because I'm like, if it was the other way around I'm a very I'm so supportive I would have been like, let's go, like what do we?
Speaker 1:have to do Like I'm going to this together and I didn't feel like I really got that. But I know, obviously that could be just like a tough place to be, maybe that maybe some of the person that you're mentoring is doing some of the things that you maybe wanted to do, but anyway, so put out that. And then there was literally so many people in Rhode Island, believe it or not, who were messaging me like, oh, we have courses set up in our backyard, like in the middle of the woods, we'll come teach you how to knit, like so nice, wow. And I'm over here just like, okay, I guess I'm gonna go in the middle. I remember driving deep in the middle of the woods like, and should I be doing this? Like, is this? Like I'm gonna get killed back here? What's gonna happen?
Speaker 1:Drive all the way back to these handmade courses, literally made from plywood and the nails and all that stuff. And they were teaching me back there how to ninja. And the first day that I did that and I always put this in my keynote just to show people how it went but I actually broke my nose because I was trying to do the salmon ladder thing and it just popped out and hit me in the face. But I love that I have it on video because it's kind of it's kind of interesting, because you're like, oh, she, you know wasn't able to do all this stuff, but yeah. So then I flew out to Pittsburgh and I learned so much when I was there. I there was so much. I didn't know about Ninja Warrior until I got there. It was very much discovering it as I, as I was going.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. So how did the show you know then then work for you? I mean, was it a you? You get in and you know you get a few few runs and you know, just you, you win or you lose, Like how, how does it? How does it work for you to like build? Yeah, I had no idea when I got there either.
Speaker 1:Um, and this is also stuff that I've wound up putting in my keynotes. Like I assumed, everyone kind of knew some of the stuff I was going to like about Ninja war, but I didn't know it, so why would anyone else know it? So enough, it's filmed from 7 pm to 7 am. It's filmed that night overnight.
Speaker 4:Oh, wow, wow, guess guess my skill overnight has been yeah, surprise, yeah, yeah the film's overnight.
Speaker 1:So outside, um two, you have no idea what obstacles you're getting, no idea, you only know until you get there and then they'll go through them. But what's really fascinating is that throughout the week they're building the course outside. So people who are really obsessed with the show will go out there with binoculars and they'll spy on them building it and then they'll make replicas, sketchy replicas, in gyms. So now we're all in a group message and they're like come to this gym, we have this sketchy replica put together if you want to try some of the things. So it was.
Speaker 1:This world was so fascinating to me, um, and then I also learned that it was two nights, right? So the first night was everyone competes and then the top 30 move on. Um, this is whoever goes the furthest and the fastest. So you don't necessarily need to finish the course, you just need to go the furthest and the fastest, and typically the top five female. They'll pick five females to move on as well, in that, no matter what, because we're this is male, female, all ages type of situation yeah, then the next night you do it again the same first couple obstacles, but then it's a little longer.
Speaker 1:Same thing for the fastest top 15 move on to go to national finals to compete on mount midori ami. So all this stuff, I had no idea about it. And then the other thing I didn't know is you have no idea if you're going to be aired, even if you do well. So I'm, I got everyone together after my first time competing and I'm like waiting, and I got my popcorn on my friends together and I wasn't even aired on the first one. So I was like cool, uh, this is awkward.
Speaker 4:Hey, I got everyone together and I'm not even there.
Speaker 1:I promise I was in there, it's just a very fascinating piece and a lot of the rules have changed now, but when I competed that was really the OG version of it.
Speaker 2:Okay, okay.
Speaker 3:Wow, yeah, so you signing up, matt? What's that? Are you signing up? Oh, yeah, for sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:I've been spying to find out what the next obstacles are.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I loved it. I mean, what a, what a world that was. I mean, how fun was that.
Speaker 3:That's amazing, so wild yeah.
Speaker 2:So then, talk to us, the you know the point where you did, you became, you know champion for the first time.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So after that I was hooked. I was like, okay, I know what to do now I get it. It's very much like the fitness competitions you've got those little pieces, you got to figure out how to train properly for it and I knew that I wanted to no longer do fitness competitions anymore. It was just, it was just the time. It was the time to finish that era. Sure, and I. What I love so much about ninja was that I was focusing more on strength, because when this finished america, you still have to focus on, like, what you looked like, whereas ninja it's like, nah, it doesn't really matter what you look like, can you get through the course? Like, how strong are you? So I love that. The shift was also to strength and empowerment and all those pieces. So I was training and I wind up quitting the biochemistry job and deciding that I was going to go all in to try and open my own gym, which I wound up doing, which is wild. I had no idea what I was doing, but decided to do that, and so all these different pieces were changing in my life.
Speaker 1:But for two years I did not get on the show again. I kept putting in my video. I was a little like you know, super confident, a little cocky. At that point I'm like I'm going to get on again. Like I got on and I didn't even try last time. You know, if it's like you kind of like get in your head about it and then you don't get on, you're like what is happening? And then finally I was learning more about it's definitely storytelling, it's not just how fit you are right. And I was like okay, cool, I had this great video put together about the fact that I quit my biochemistry job and opened my gym. So I got to show that. I got on the cover of Women's Health Magazine, which was another accidental thing that someone kept turning my name into, which is really cool. And then I made a joke at the end of it, being like and I had, and I finally have a boyfriend, because before I would always post stuff about like me being like a cat, like I was a cat lady or whatever. I should have never put that in my video. Like, because it didn't work. It didn't work out. I'm like why did I put this guy in my video? So I've got these three things and then I finally get on. But now I've trained for now. What is that? Like three years, right? So now I'm ready, like I'm so confident I get on that course.
Speaker 1:I remember looking at my coach being like I just felt like I had it, like it just felt like that Miss Venice America moment where I put all the work in and I looked at the obstacles that we had. I'm like this is going to be great. So I'm flying, I'm flying through these course. I'm flying, I'm flying through this course. I'm looking at the sidelines, I'm seeing people who are OG Ninja Warriors being like who is this girl? Like she's just coming out of nowhere, like just flying through, so yeah, so then I get to this final obstacle called the wing nuts, which is a side to side obstacle, and I'm swinging side to side and I'm looking at my coach and I knew that once I got through this obstacle that I was going to be a top female, which was so incredible.
Speaker 1:And as I dismount, as I'm going through, I just remember completely blacking out. So I black out and I'm hearing the crowd on the side of me you know they're, they're making all these noises and then you hear Matt Eisman saying she's in a lot of pain, and then there's the other guy in the sideline who's saying, hey, you got to go. Like, if you want to keep doing this, like you have to keep going. And I'm like I could not get up. I just was looking at him going like this and he literally carried me off the course and in that moment I realized that I literally had turned my ACL in front of everyone.
Speaker 1:So, being the strongest, confident, did all the things right, and I just felt like such a failure. It, confident, did all the things right and I just felt like such a failure. It felt embarrassing. I honestly was in denial for a little bit. I'm like, oh, it's fine, right, it's fine, I'm going to come back and compete tomorrow. And they're like like, you're not going to compete tomorrow. So just a really like again. When you talk about rock bottom moment, what a visual rock bottom moment right there, from all the stuff that I worked on in order to get to that moment again.
Speaker 2:Wow, wow, and I'm assuming because of just the drama of the whole thing, they, they aired that, that whole situation.
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah, oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Wow, definitely aired that.
Speaker 2:So not only do you live through it live and in person and all the processing, but then you have to then go through it again.
Speaker 1:As it airs on TV and just see it and just see and again, just see how strong I like you could just tell when I was flying through the course how strong I looked. So it was such a frustrating moment for that to just happen, just like that. And I definitely sat in that mindset of I had failed. And if I'm going to do everything and try everything and this is how, like life is going to turn out, like what's the point? Like there were so many dark moments, but also, on the other end, I was owning. I owned a gym, right, so I still have to go into work every single day. So I'm going into work trying to act strong.
Speaker 1:Cause that's what a lot of strong women do. That's what strong leaders do. Right, we mask. We don't want people to see that we were in pain. We just show up strong. But then when I was going home, I was crumbling, I was falling apart Because if you think about it just like how gymnastics was over after I went to my next career your identity is gone. So now I didn't even know who I was anymore. If I'm not this strong person, if I'm not showing up and doing ninja, who even am I? So I had no idea really who I was and I I really. I sat in that for a long time. It's interesting. I always love to say this because I think it's interesting. When you hear about like athletes or leaders or motivational speakers, rock bottom moments, it sounds like you get out of it quickly, but this is like months of being down there like months of just being in the dark and just being alone and feeling like I was, honestly, completely worthless at that point, which was super wild.
Speaker 2:Yeah, wow.
Speaker 3:Well, let's say it's a mental battle too that you have to go through. Right, it's not just the physical healing of your ACL, it is that journey that you have to go through day by day and just, yeah, how do you not mask that emotion? Right, but like, choose to be vulnerable, choose to heal with the people that you're surrounded by.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, If anything, it was absolutely thousand percent more mental than anything. The physical stuff it's like you can figure out, but it's like the mental stuff, like that's the stuff like you're not prepared for.
Speaker 3:Right.
Speaker 1:But that, honestly, was the mental part was exactly what I needed. I didn't know that, obviously, at the time, because I, that's all I knew. All I knew was these big things, these big goals and stuff like that. And then again, when all of that was gone, like who am I without all those things? And having to really relearn that you're so much more than just that, and that's just again. That goes for anybody on here. You know, if you're a mom, sometimes you only identify as I'm a mom, like no, you're, you're not just a mom. Yes, you are a mom, but you're more than that. Right, worry without these things with your career. I saw this happen with my dad when you know he had like the retirement situation. You know your whole life is that job and it's incredible and that's his life. And then it's gone and you're like who am I after after all of this? So you really have to start to dive deep and I think that you know people had told me during that moment like this is going to be a blessing in disguise.
Speaker 1:I'm like get out of here. This is not a blessing, but obviously now, as I've gone through and now this is literally the story that I am able to bring to so many stages I do see why it was such a powerful thing that I really did need to go through, because I had to really go inward so that.
Speaker 1:I could tackle these other things in life that you know, cause. These things are going to just keep happening over and over again, and now you're much more equipped to handle them when you've gone through them once.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so for for our listeners. I mean talk through that again. You know I don't think many of our listeners, um, you know, had a moment where they fell apart in American Ninja Warrior. But people that have gone through, you know, job loss or the end of a relationship or you know, just a life transition like you're you're talking about from one thing to the other, and maybe they're feeling that kind of lonely, rock bottom moment. What would your encouragement be to them?
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely, and this is literally this is exactly what I talk about in my keynote, because I think this is such an important piece of. It is like, and you're at that rock bottom moment Now, what? Now? What do you do, like when you have no idea? And I love that you just said all those different factors, because everyone in here has had an ACL moment. It's not. Maybe it's not an ACL tear, like you said. Maybe it is that job loss, maybe it's the business plan you put together and you had it all squared away and then it's still something happened and it failed. So we've all had these moments. But yeah, how do you get out of that?
Speaker 1:And that was the toughest piece. That's where I felt like I was stuck for a really long time and not really knowing. And luckily I had another great friend come up to me and you know, when you have those friends or the people in your lives who you know, you're showing up strong and doing all the things. But they see right through that. They're like you, not okay, and I can tell thank goodness for this person. She came up to me. She said Angela, you've been here for a while, I've seen it, I'm seeing right through you and I just want to give you permission right now that it's totally okay that you're here right now, that you're feeling these things she's like, but the one thing I don't want you to do is get stuck there. And that was so powerful to me because it gave me the permission to feel crummy about it.
Speaker 2:And.
Speaker 1:I didn't think I had that permission. Yeah Right, I didn't think I had that permission to do that because I thought I had to continue to be strong. I thought I had to suffer in silence and suffer alone. It was interesting. I just listened to a podcast the other day. They were talking about the statistics for people who go through bankruptcy and asking them if they ever told their spouse or people around them that they were suffering, that they were in this really bad financial place, and the stats were no. They literally told nobody because they didn't want to either be a burden. They didn't want to feel like they weren't strong anymore. So I think the really first step and this is what we go through in my framework I've now created a framework from it, but again, it wasn't named or it wasn't it wasn't that when I was going through it.
Speaker 1:But we call it the right framework. But the R, the first one letter, is recognize and feel, giving your permission to feel that you are still a strong person. You are still a strong leader. If you feel things, you are literally human. So you have to feel those things. And if you keep resisting feeling those things, you're going to get stuck. You're going to get stuck, you're going to get stuck. You have to actually move through it. You actually have to feel through it. So I think that's the first step.
Speaker 1:No matter what is allowing yourself to say you know what? Like naming it. This sucks. Like this sucks, this is annoying. I put my time into this. Say it out loud, write it on a piece of paper. Tell a friend I know for me. I decided to call it a pity party. I gave myself a timeframe. I was like I'm going to give myself a deadline for it. I'm like I'm going to allow myself to just be annoyed about it. Write all the crazy thoughts that I had on my piece of paper. Like, just let it out. And when you do that, it loses its power now over you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because before it had all this power over you, so now it loses it. So for first steps, I always tell people don't be scared to actually feel and name what it is that you're feeling right now, Because that's literally it's okay.
Speaker 3:It's okay. You were talking through the framework, so I think you said R stands for this. Now take us through the rest of that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, curious, yeah, for sure, so, yeah.
Speaker 1:So the next piece is the eye, so it's identifying what you can control, because, I think what we're we really get stuck with and this is just our mind, trying to protect ourselves but we think of all the worst case scenario things.
Speaker 1:We think of all the things that we can't control anymore. I kept replaying the be, tearing my acl over and over again. It's if I was able to be able to go back and and change that. It happened, yeah, it happened right. So now you have to let it go and now identify what you can control.
Speaker 1:I'm sitting there mad about my leg, but I had so many other things and so many opportunities that I wasn't realizing when I was stuck in this dark place. Right, I still had my upper body I could work on. I had my core, a foundation I could work on. I also had my mindset, clearly, that I could work on as well. So really identifying what you can control. So I always encourage people to sit down and really ask themselves like, what can I do versus what can I do? What, what, what small thing can I do right now? And write it again. Start to write down those things. So you have an idea, and this is where my whole you know it's my podcast is going to be. This is my keynote.
Speaker 1:What if it all goes right Comes from because what I started to do when I was thinking about what I could versus what I couldn't control is I started to write my down on a piece of paper what if it goes right? And what does that even look like? And I was so stuck in this blurry mindset of all the things that had gone wrong that I didn't even honestly know what going right even looked like. I wasn't even aware of that. So I had to sit there, like the first day I had no idea. I'm like what if it all goes right?
Speaker 1:And then I'm sitting there and I'm just like I don't know. I'm like maybe I come back. It's very like small right. Then the next time it's like oh, this potentially could be a really great opportunity at this point. And that's why I'm so obsessed with this message and why I'm saying it all the time, because I literally sit there and live it. I still do it every single day. I sit down. What if it all goes right for my day? What if it all goes right for my week? What does that look like? Do I have an idea?
Speaker 2:Because sometimes you have no idea and you're sitting there frustrated just about all the things that are again going wrong. So, yeah, yeah, no, it's such a powerful perspective and I think you know the natural thing is to is to think of, you know, the the opposite of like what if I do this, and what goes wrong and what does failure look like?
Speaker 2:And and kind of looking at things from that cynical mindset and, I think, just switching the lens and the perspective into that positive, optimistic, like talk to us about then what that meant for you, like how that then propelled you into your comeback Yep.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I realized that when I figured out what I was in control of, I sat down and this is when everything started popping up a little bit more on social media. This is before social media was like really cool. Uh, I started doing workouts with my brace on and then it was showing me doing like bicep curls or some sorts of crazy things. Because, again, showing what I can control, which is like the rest of my body. I had this opportunity to really focus on this foundation. I'd gone to a physical therapist and he said to me hey, angela, I know you have a six pack right now. She's like, he's like, but your foundation is weak. He's like your foundation is weak and if your foundation is weak, you're going to crumble. He's like we have an opportunity right now to work on this, to work on your core. I remember just being like so blown away with, like I'm like wait, you want me to work on stuff? That's not looked like for me. And then I felt like, because I shared that on social media, people started messaging me saying, oh, because I see you showing up and working around your injury, I'm able to now show up for X, y and Z, whatever it is they were going again, not necessarily an ACL tear but,
Speaker 1:they. Just it started to give them that, that motivation, and that started to drive me even more, because I was like, wow, maybe there's also a bigger piece to this, maybe I'm supposed to be somebody who's showing how I can get out of this and to share. Like we said, vulnerable. I started sharing vulnerably on my page, like this is what's happening, this is this is how I'm feeling, and I think that was a really powerful thing to do, because it allowed other people the permission they needed to to work through whatever challenging or uncertainty that we're in right now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. So then I'm guessing through some of that vulnerability and some of that sharing that then creates this great story that brings you back to American Ninja Warrior.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, I mean, I still had to go through other pieces. So again, we identified we can control. I had to create my game plan. You got to game plan it out after that, right, just like anything, any competition, right? I'm like what is this going to look like? I'm like my goal is now to come back in 11 months. What's my step one? So I had my date. Okay, cool, this is when I would be coming back. And then I was like what is my first step? So I'd follow my game plan and break it up into those little pieces to make it much more manageable. Then I had to, for the H, hold on to the adaptable mindset. Because, let's be real, even when you have a game plan and you're coming back from something, even when you have the courage right To start working towards something after something is challenging, stuff is still going to happen. It's still going to go quote, unquote wrong. So how well can you adapt?
Speaker 1:to whatever's going to happen. For there was one point where I had this really bad pain in my calf. It was just debilitating and I kept telling the doctors I think there's something wrong in my calf. I'm kind of, for some reason, thinking it's a blood clot and they're like you're so healthy, you don't drink, you don't do this, like you're no way you have a blood clot. I'm now adapting to that, like stuffing tissues in my nose that are bleeding. So, oh, my goodness, literally holding on and knowing, just being already knowing, like hey, okay, I need to be adaptable because other stuff's gonna be it's not gonna necessarily go as well, like with the game plan, it's not necessarily gonna go as planned and just being like that's cool, like what can I do and how can I adjust?
Speaker 1:and then my tea, which was taking that delusional action. And the delusional action was me saying I'm going to come back in 11 months. Which doctor said that's going to be very hard for you to do, that's going to be really hard for you to actually come back on this course 11 months later with an ACL tear. So, uh, went through all those different pieces and went through that entire journey and yeah, and then I found myself back on the course 11 months later. Um, and obviously I had to put in a video again. You're not just automatically accepted into the show. So I put in that video and, like you bet I got a call. Like I definitely got a call, no matter what, no matter what that video looks like, you know they were going to bring me back on that show to have that comeback story.
Speaker 2:Yes, absolutely, absolutely so. So then, how did it go? I mean I think we, we know, we absolutely so. So then, how did it go? I mean I think we, we know, we know the end is an amazing success, but walk us through how you got there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean very interesting enough. Just like I said with Miss Fitness America, I was standing there before I even went on the course and I actually used I had my brace on, so you ever see the videos of it. I wore my brace just up to the starting line and I just remember saying to myself I got this and I also, like we said before, I didn, I didn't matter, I didn't care, I didn't care if I won, I didn't care if I made it through it, because I had pushed through so much personal development, I learned so much about myself that it honestly did not matter. It didn't matter what happened, and I went up there I you can see me clipping off the brace bit by bit and then I chuck it into the audience. I told myself I'm going to do this without a brace. I don't want to crutch Like. I want to show that I'm confident, I'm sure my PT was like like what are you doing?
Speaker 1:Threw it off in there, yeah, and I proceeded to. You know I ran that course. But what was so different about running the course this time is you could tell on every single landing just how appreciative I was of my body. I I was of my body. I mean. There was a smile at every single landing. I you could just like, I. Uh, the feeling that I can even feel it right now was, it was just unbelievable Just being able to do these big landings that I never thought I'd be able to maybe do again.
Speaker 1:And then I finally had one more obstacle to get through. And where was I? Exactly where I'd started, exactly where I'd started that obstacle. I needed to get through that obstacle to be a top female.
Speaker 1:And everyone was falling on this obstacle and it was called the bacon. It's like these boards you have to jump up. I call it bacon, I don't know what they call it. So I'm going through and you can see in the video me just like grabbing on for dear life for this and my hands were almost slipping. I remember thinking, oh man, everyone's falling right here here, pop my hips up.
Speaker 1:And then I went up landing and I just remember I laid there after I dismounted and I just had my hands in my face and I was just like sitting there like this, like just in all, like there was two other obstacles that like I could have gone through.
Speaker 1:I didn't have to go through them because I knew I already made it, but I just was just sitting there almost in like disbelief. I can't believe that I'm here again. And then I did this. Like I did this, like it was absolutely mind blowing to me and again, yes, awesome that I was able to make it back and go back to finals I was able to go to finals the next night but, just more importantly, the person that I became through it just so much more powerful. And again, I want to share that with everyone else too. Like these moments, because you're going to go through all these different pieces and like, yes, okay, maybe you have something that you want to get back to. Maybe it's like finally getting that job again after you got fired, or whatever it might be, but it's so much less about actually making it to that destination and I knew you hear it all the time until you live it, but it's so much more about who you're becoming on that journey, the lessons you're learning, how you're showing up.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 3:That's amazing. That's really encouraging. As I start, my fitness journey tomorrow.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, got you. What do you want to get? A pull up, yeah.
Speaker 3:I told Matt right before this. I was like I don't know if I could do one pull up. But I can run, I can do that.
Speaker 1:Most women can't. That's why I did that. But again, the same feeling of them sitting there looking underneath the bar, shaking their head, being like I can't do this. It's the same feeling of the ACL comeback. It's the same feeling of you know, helping, you know leaders through these powerful times of change. It's literally the same thing. So, if you think about it, whatever it be for fitness or whatever it might be, if you can do that there, you can do it anywhere, because you can repeat what you know and you can translate that into other areas of your life. Right yeah that's awesome.
Speaker 3:I'm curious, Angela, if you have just even one final message for audience, or maybe you want to tell them hey, what's another story that you're wanting to share? What would that be?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I feel, if I have one final, I think sometimes this is a quote that's just been really on my mind lately. I think sometimes we're so we're not so scared of what the next thing is typically, but we're holding on to like our past, we're holding on to what's comforting and our past self and I feel like that's just a huge message because, whether it be for like overcoming challenging times or maybe you're like scared to start whatever that new thing is, I think it's so powerful to just know, like a lot of times, that our body is trying to keep ourselves within our comfort zone, trying to keep the stuff that we know. But the only way you're going to grow is by getting outside that comfort zone and not saying it has to be a traumatic thing that happens for that. But I just want to encourage everybody to realize that are you holding on to just what's known?
Speaker 2:because you just know it, yeah, or?
Speaker 1:are you ready to now say to myself you know what? I'm ready to get outside my comfort zone, because that's where the growth happens and that's where the next piece of the story happens?
Speaker 2:Uh, it's so good, so good. Well, angela, thank you so much, uh, for your time today and sharing your story so inspiring and so cool and cool to know about yeah, Just the people that you are impacting through your message. And, again, so excited that you're coming to Warsaw in November. I can't wait to meet you and just excited for the audience to hear that. So viewers, listeners, go to warsawgrowthsummitcom Check out the event that our friend Keith Sampson is putting together. This is year number two and Angela is going to be there and speaking on the stage. So so we can't wait for that. So excited for that.
Speaker 1:Yes, I'm so excited to be there to meet everybody. And, yeah, I think I loved ending this with the growth right, because that's the growth summit and sometimes growth hurts. You know it hurts a little.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, well, in the meantime, before we get to the growth summit, um, what ways would you like to encourage our listeners to connect with you, or just just kind of any shout out anything you've got going on right now?
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely. You can connect with me on Instagram at Angela underscore Gargano at any time. You can just message me on there and then I'm going all in on my speaking this year. This is the first year that I'm going like fully all in. I've always done, like you know, 10 or so events a year, but I decided that this is the year that I'm going to create like even more impact. So you can go to wwwangela-garganocom speaking and it has, you know, just details, testimonials and we can chat about maybe coming in to speak at your next event.
Speaker 2:Awesome, awesome, love it. Well, great, well, angela. Thank you so much again for your time and to our viewers and listeners, thank you for joining us on another episode of Stories that Move. We're excited to see you next time, thanks. Thank you for joining us for this episode of Stories that Move brought to you by Dream On Studios.
Speaker 4:Make sure to subscribe so that you don't miss the next episode. And remember, if you or your organization have a story you're eager to share with the world, Dream On Studios is here to bring that story to life.
Speaker 2:Don't hesitate to reach out. You can find us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook or visit our website at dreamonstudiosio. We understand how overwhelming it can be trying to bring your vision and story to life, but that's why we exist, and we've walked alongside hundreds of clients doing that very thing.
Speaker 4:Yeah, we believe every story has the potential to inspire, to move and to make a difference. Let's make yours heard.
Speaker 2:Until next time, keep moving forward and keep telling those stories that matter.
Speaker 4:Take care, everyone. We'll see you next time on Stories that Move you. Thank you.