Persistence by Brealon Ashworth

Below is a short article that my intern Brealon Ashworth wrote explaining his struggle to become a Mash Elite Intern. This struggle easily applies to all good things in life.

Persistence
When I first started looking for a Job after college I began emailing smaller colleges in North Carolina. I knew I would probably have to do another internship in order to get the level of experience that many of the collegiate level strength coach jobs require, which turned out to be true. So as I started looking local for job opportunities when I thought to myself, “Why not try Travis Mash?” At this time I was an avid Weightlifting Talk listener, and I knew I liked what he was doing in the private sector with his athletes.
First, I added Travis on Facebook and sent him a message expressing my interest in working with him as an Olympic Weightlifting coach. I waited for more than a week and I didn’t hear back from him. I knew Travis was busy, so I went on the website and found his email address and again expressed my interest in Mash Elite Performance. After another week of no response, I figured it would be a long shot, but I decided to take a trip to Mash and see if Travis was there. When I got there I was greeted by EZE, one of Travis’s coaches. He informed me that he didn’t think that they were hiring but gave me Travis’s card to give him a call. The next day I called Travis and talked to him for maybe 5 minutes about opportunities at Mash Elite. Before the conversation ended he offered me an interview to which I said, “What day is good for you? I know you are busy with Weightlifting Talk and everything at the Attitude Nation.”
I could tell that this shocked him, and he asked how I knew about that stuff. I told him that I listened to Weightlifting Talk and that was “all she wrote.” Travis brought me in for that interview, gave me a second interview with his wife and from there I started the best internship I could possibly have gotten.
The reason I tell this story is to show that being persistent is a great quality to have and that without it I would not be getting the opportunities that I am getting right now. If someone won’t talk to you or acts like they’re too busy, show them that you deserve their time and that you are worth it. I never would have imagined that I would get to meet and be around the people that I have, and it was all because I was persistent.

-B

Follow Brealon @JurassicBarbell to learn more about his times as one of my interns, and to find out what he is learning.

Here is a recent video starring Brealon:

Next year, Learn 2 Lift seminars are scheduled all over the US: Dunmore, PA, Jersey Shore, Miami, Charlotte, Winston-Salem, Orlando, Myrtle Beach, Albuquerque, San Antonio, Rhode Island and we are scheduling Minneapolis as we speak.

For any questions regarding Learn 2 Lift Seminars or Online Coaching, go to:

www.MashElitePerformance.com

Or if you are interested in hosting a Learn 2 Lift Seminar on the topics of Olympic Weightlifting, Powerlifting, or Athletic Performance, email me at:

Travis.Mash@MashElitePerformance.com