Build and Inspire with Muscle & Mirth

Muscle & Mirth: More Than Just Flexing While You Laugh
Muscle & Mirth founders David and Chari Hensler are on a mission to change the world.  They plan to do this through encouraging others to discover and pursue their passions, the same way that discovering their passion for lifting weights and each other lifted them both out of depression and emotional turmoil.
First of all, thank you guys for you wanting to share your story with us. A lot of times people think that what they have to say isn’t important; but as you well know because of what you also do; every one story is inspiring to somebody.

David: That’s no problem, I appreciate that entirely, that’s what we’re all about. Same kind of mission— someone’s going to hear it, they’re going to be able to relate and they’re going to get that confidence or courage to take that step to change their lives for the better.

You’re about to move into your first home correct?

David: Yeah, first time home owners

Okay, but you already had a garage gym, so were you renting a house?

David: Yeah, we’ve been renters forever, so we, the house are currently in have been for about two years. We’ve moved quite a bit but our equipment has always come with us since we purchased it. We bought it in Utah originally and we’ve moved out of state to Arizona; it came with us and within Arizona we had several different houses— any house that we’ve rented always had to have a two car garage in order to set up our gym. Our cars have always been outside regardless.

I like it, park on the street, that’s what I’m talking about.

Chari: We didn’t care if we had one bedroom as long as the garage was big enough.

Ha, ha! So tell me how you guys got started in fitness and specifically in training at home.

David:  I was a teacher at the time working with people to get their GED and get their lives straightened out— I quit all of that when I was twenty-seven, stayed at home while my ex-wife went to school and I worked at night. I went through the divorce when I was thirty, I had a very tumultuous, emotional experience through all that and I had no self-confidence. I moved back home and I was completely emaciated, 145lbs and I’m 5’7 so that’s pretty skinny, my brother just walked me out to the garage, threw on the 45s and said, “Hey man, rep it out, let’s see what you got!” I hadn’t benched since high school, but I did it and I was like, “I’m either going to start lifting weights or be really self-destructive.” I joined a gym in town for a year and then moved to Utah in 2010.

You can’t train just your body and not train to be emotionally disciplined or self-confident and have a healthy view of your body. -David Hensler

Chari: Our stories are similar in that we both came from backgrounds that involved a lot of lack of self-confidence and little physical exercise. I didn’t exercise at all and nutrition was not important in my house at all. So at the close of my first marriage I was introduced to Zumba and I loved it. It was exercise but didn’t feel it like exercise and I felt like I was finally doing something for myself. And it really helped me to build a lot of confidence. It’s how I stayed sane and it really helped me to pretty much endure the last couple months of an unhealthy marriage and really catapulted me into a healthy place. Then when I met David he introduced me to the gym and to weights and I pretty much fell in love with that because that’s when I started seeing changes in my body and really a lot of physical changes that I appreciated. And because we had three kids from my first marriage and two from his, we needed to be able to make working out a part of our daily routine but not compromise our family. And so we just started buying equipment and having a set up in our garage allowed us to have the garage door open, kids running in and out, being able to parent and lift at the same time and that was what we thought we really needed to be.

Given that you guys already have the kids, I know that you bought a lot of things off of Craigslist but it’s not like you can just go out and buy everything that your heart desires as a garage gym rat. So, what’s like the first thing that you said, “We can really start with this?”

David: I was looking on Craigslist, the first thing I wanted was a rack, with a decline/incline bench and then an Olympic bar with 300lbs of plates.  And I ended up finding one in the town where she was living at the time. I thought the ad was incorrect cause the guy had it listed for one hundred dollars and I could tell it was a little bit older but I didn’t care! It had a rack, had a high and a low pulley with a little standard one inch size plate loaded on the back. Had a bench with the leg and preacher curl attachment.  It was a standard bar, little five footer bar, one inch with the spinning locks with 220lbs of weight. And I think he may have even had the dumbbell handles.  So I was like, “Shoot man, for $100 I’ll take it right now!”

So Chari drove it up and this was before we got married so I just had it in storage. Then I went on Sears and I think they had a 300lbs set for the Olympic bar for $200 brand new.

Chari: We started adding a little bit at a time after that because very gradual; but you’re right. When you are building something at home, you can’t just go out and start purchasing every single piece of equipment that you want because it’s so expensive.

David: Depending on our work schedule and our fitness goals, we just kind of adapt to whatever it is that we want; and there’s a lot of things that were given to us. There’s a handful of people that have come over to see our gym and they’re like, “Oh my gosh! There’s all of these weights in my neighbor’s yard and he’s going to throw them all out!”

I got a brand new Gold’s Gym rack, it’s a bench with adjustable uprights for squatting, an adjustable bench, a 45lb bar and 285lbs plate just given to me; so I cleaned it up with vinegar, oiled it, greased it and I gave it to Chari’s principal because he’s been coming over training with us. And he’s kind of a beginner strength level so I gave him you know, a brand new rack and bench and it cost nothing.

That’s sort of what you are doing with Muscle & Mirth. Typically a business that is involved in the fitness industry is geared towards supplements, training, coaching maybe writing; then there are a ton of fitness apparel companies. You guys started Muscle & Mirth wanted to build and inspire people. So talk to me about the mission of Muscle & Mirth.

. . . having a set up in our garage allowed us to have the garage door open, kids running in and out, being able to parent and lift at the same time . . . – Chari Hensler

David: So Muscle & Mirth is a brand of fellowship building and inspiring strength. And although, we identify ourselves as a brand, what we really are is a movement to bring together athletes from all walks of life and not athletes in the physical sense, but athletes in the cultural sense. And we’re going to bring people together and they themselves, through their life and through their pursuit; whatever that is, that they’re passionate about. People are going to see that, they’re going to relate to it and they’re going to feel so inspired that they’re going to break whatever it is that’s holding them down.

Chari: Yeah, that’s the other piece of it is that we recognize that it wasn’t just the physical aspect of it. We had come from a place where mentally and emotionally we were not well; and we recognize the fact that, yeah, you can be physically healthy but that does not mean your mental game is on target. And so you have to address all aspects.

David: It’s an integrated approach to fitness and health.  You can’t train just your body and not train to be emotionally disciplined or self-confident and have a healthy view of your body. So we came up with Muscle & Mirth; so muscle is the strength that we feel so passionate about. And the Mirth we took out of our wedding vows. Mirth is just enjoying life. We make each other laugh, we enjoy each other’s company, I consider Chari my best friend; she considers me her best friend you know. We build each other up, I want to see Chari be her best, there’s no sabotage involved.

I think the community we identified with the most was Garage Gym Life. Anybody that lifted outside, in the garage, with unconventional means we felt like that’s our tribe! So we kind of grew and eventually came across Alvin Brown.

He had this book called Journey To Personal Greatness and it’s the whole thing. Talks about mind, body and soul and how to really strengthen yourself in all different aspects. His resume is so impressive! But his whole thing, is you got to visualize yourself as a champion.

Chari: You know he helps us put our mission into words essentially is, to articulate it and to not be afraid of it and, just go out there and try it!

So is he like your business coach?

David: Not just business but he considers it kind of like our life coach. It’s the business, it’s the personal, it’s training, it’s all around. So, he is a really big one for us because he’s the one the pros go to and he’s really a big endorser of us.

I think that’s why we don’t get too upset about the followers and the likes and the views; we’re more interested in substance.  I mean, we really want try to be genuine and interact as much as we can. But I really think some people— validity I guess is the word that I can think of; but they want to know that someone actually cares about what they got going on.

Your brand is designed to build and inspire. How are you monetizing it to cover your overhead?

Pretty much this picture is in here just to show David’s hair

Chari: The apparel is a product for right now. But I think it’s step one in our long term vision as far as where we want Muscle & Mirth to go. And we’re still kind of trying to figure that out exactly what our endgame is, and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. We jumped in full speed and we’re just kind of formulating it and having it evolve into what we want it to be as we go.

I think that’s fair because you never know. Next year you might find that there’s an opportunity as technology develops you didn’t even think about. And quite honestly, if you thought about it now you probably wouldn’t be ready to do it. You have to become the kind of person that can take advantage of that opportunity when it comes.

David: Yeah, and we have a lot of really good people around us giving us some really great advice. And I think the best is just to manage the overhead. Because you know, we invested in what was necessary and the next thing was to make sure that you scale the growth. Like if you want to buy things by cases, well the risk is you’re going to come up with a design and no one’s going to like it. Now you’ve got 250 shirts collecting dust; and you’re in a hole. You know wholesale for that still is quite a bit of money. And the more you get out there and, people see that you’re genuine about what you doing and the really being like, they think about who you are, they start asking about you. I don’t have any fancy lighting in the garage, we don’t use Hi-Def cameras, I mean it’s pretty much just us and that’s the way we want people to see us; this just how it is. There’s nothing glamorous about lifting weights at four in the morning! If you’re sincere about what you do and people jump on alongside those, it’s the little things that matter. Like my brother came back and just dropped off a tripod that he found at Wal-Mart. He was like, “Hey! You can use it for your videos!” That’s what makes us keep moving forward; I mean I love when little things like that happen.

Tell me about your team. You have @liftlikemommy and some other people I think…

David: Yeah, @run_paddle_ride …

So what does being on the team mean? And how do people get on your team?

David: Okay so, Team Muscle & Mirth is something that we originally did not want to do. We call it sponsorship just for an ease of definition. It’s a familiar term and people know what it means. We get approached quite a bit as I’m sure you do too. You get a bunch of those guys that just want free stuff—

If you’re giving out free stuff, I’ve got some addresses I can give you of people who have stepped forward and said they want free stuff! Ha ha!

David: Ha ha! These three ladies were alongside even before Muscle & Mirth was seen. You know Muscle & Mirth was nothing more than our handle, it was nothing more than our user name but they were there from the beginning.

Chari: We loved their optimism and willingness to help others— it’s about what they are doing you know matching our mission. So we feel like these athletes that we have right now are a good fit.

David: They’ve kind of come through some struggles, some dark seasons and all of their stories have that triumphant, “I got through it, pushed through it”; Emilee, who’s @stronglikebox, she found powerlifting. She had postpartum depression and then she started lifting and now she’s an amazing cop. Jennifer, who’s @run_paddle_ride, she’s so inspirational, she’s a mom; she helps her husband out with their contractor business. She loves motocross and she learned to ride and then before you know, she started racing it; she picked up snowboarding and she goes out and surfs; she runs marathons, she even did an ultramarathon. She does everything fearlessly…

Chari: And with such a great attitude! She has a very good perspective on life.

David: And then Tara, @liftlikemommy, is the same thing, just so confident, found power lifting and all three of those ladies just live what it is that we envision Muscle & Mirth to represent. So a lot of times now people say, “Hey man, how can I get some merch?” or “I rep Brand XYZ or this supplement company I’m part of their team and so I’d love to be a Muscle & Mirth athlete.” It’s not about the shirts, it’s not about the hat, it’s not about the swag and the designs we come with. You know, if you’re doing it, if you want to be on Team Muscle & Mirth, we already know who you are; we shouldn’t really have to be asked because you’re already there with us. And there’s no payment so it’s just you’re part of what we’re doing.

I know you have a life coach. Do you do any life coaching for other people?

David: When we look 18 months down the road at what we think Muscle & Mirth will become, I think it is that but it has to grow naturally and organically.

Chari: Yeah I think we are kind of naturally fulfilling that role just because we put ourselves out there, like, “Hey we work out!” And people recognise that about us, they see how we eat— so they naturally ask questions and then we’re intuitive enough to hear their responses and then see what they’re doing and then we’re able to point out the mental side of it. Like I hear you couldn’t do this; you need to switch your mind-set and use these strategies. So I think we do naturally fill that role although unofficially.

Last question is do you have anybody you want to thank?

Chari: Ha ha! How much time do you have? We’re actually indebted to a whole lot of people.

Alvin Brown, Journey To Personal Greatness
Neal Gyngard, Tower Climbing Grease Monkeys
Will Taylor, CrossFit Cedar City
Mark Bell’s Powercast
Jake Huddelston and Joshua Uptmore, Too Fit USA
Susie Aranda, Garage Gym Barbell  (Glad you reminded me. I’ve been meaning to reach out to them actually. )
Xtreme Graphix
Renuka Rajan
Ray Forrester
Patrick Little @swollja_boy
Derek @dc_pwr
Tara @liftlikemommy
Emilee @stronglikebox
Jennifer @run_paddle_ride
and everyone else who believed in Muscle & Mirth from the beginning!

 Follow David and Chari as they build their dream (and don’t forget to buy apparel to support the movement):

Instagram @muscle_and_mirth
Twitter: @muscle_n_mirth

Facebook: @muscleandmirth
YouTube
 Website: muscleandmirth.com.

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