✈️ Thoughts.
Sydney > LA > Washington > NYC > Portugal > London > Dubai > Sydney
Keep going.
Keep going.
Keep going.
The more push and momentum you have, the more you will feel the pull back.
As you push further and harder you will have people tell you that “you’re crazy”, you will have external forces pulling you back, attempting to see you not succeed, you will have your mind telling you to stop because you are touching untouched territory that you once previously would never have imagined to be growing through.
These are the moments that define who we are.
Do we keep pushing forward or do we allow these moments to tarnish all the hard work, consistency and tribulations that we have done and been through for the privilege of reaching this point?
I am sitting on the plane on the way down into Los Angeles at the moment as I type this up reflecting on the past few weeks and with the promise I made to myself, I have chosen to share some of my thoughts.
TLDR;
I speak about the Law of Attraction and why being clear on what you want is so important.
An update at Fortem Media - team, growth, expansion.
Unofficial Run Club - my honest thoughts as it is continuing to grow into a behemoth.
The next few weeks and what we are doing.
Traveling for 4 weeks for the first time in around 5 years since starting Fortem Media
So here we go:
The Law of Attraction
The first thing that comes to mind as we slowly prepare for landing is just how true I hold the Law of Attraction to be.
For the last 1-2 years I have been operating on nothing but heart, taking knocks in all domains of my life. Some big and some smaller.
The thing that kept me moving forward? Heart. Sheer desire to improve every single day. I also knew it wasn’t just about me anymore, I had to keep moving forward to build for the team and my family around me. It hasn’t been easy but in the thick of it I lost sight of what putting your wants and dreams out into the world truly does for you when you do it with great intention.
Recently I have focused more and more on this and the opportunities that I have started to enjoy amongst those in my close circle have grown too.
Picture this; 5 years ago I message Ollie Marchon on instagram, to check in and show my appreciation for his training program that I was following. It was keeping me accountable in the gym every day. Fast forward 5 years and after Unofficial Run club was born I am on a call at 5am in Sydney with Rien (our ABC at Fortem - Activator, Builder, Conversationalist) with his Head of Marketing for his supplements business discussing how we have built community and how there will be cross collaboration to be had in the year ahead.
(A message with Ollie Marchon from over 4 years ago)
How did this come full circle?
More thoughts on the Law of Attraction… I will be celebrating my birthday on April 19th and as many of you know I have really been enjoying my running recently. Putting this out into the world, where over the last 1-2 years I would’ve almost been scared to, has led me to being gifted an entry to London Marathon on the 21st April to celebrate my birthday thanks to a good mate Nick Youngquest and the team at Sydney Marathon. This was a surprise and definitely a marathon sooner than I expected to do one after NYC last year, but its a privilege to be able to have these opportunities and I am so deeply grateful for them.
I urge you, stop resting in your laurels and think about the things you want in life. Be clear on what they are, how soon you want them and be open to different courses of action to get there.
My Team & an update on Fortem
Sitting here energised, I am reflecting on the team I have built at Fortem Media, flicking through our recent team photos. Absolute joy. A team together that works alongside one another to really elevate and provide opportunity that life might not have otherwise provided without teamwork and a passion for being greater.
An African Proverb comes to mind:
“If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together”. African Proverb - Martha Goedert
Building this team has allowed me to see growth in myself every single day. No two days are the same. Some days we get through without any challenges and other times it feels like we are being knocked around, but it is this sense of family and connection that I attempt to foster amongst our team that I hope drives us forward in the best possible light in these moments.
But how does this all come to life? What do I believe makes a good team? And what allows me to sit on a plane to travel to the US on an adventure that will hopefully lead to more business growth for us all to enjoy?
Nothing would be possible without the incredibly talented and hard working team I have. There is hardly ever a week where I am not surprised by how much growth we experience as a team and as individuals. Like any creative team, there are sometimes lulls but it is amazing to see the crew push on another to new heights consistently.
From a team perspective, I genuinely believe it is like matching puzzle pieces. Not everyone is going to have everything we need, but individually each staff member brings their best skills and attributes and together we are an unstoppable force not to be reckoned with. Further to this it’s accountability and a willingness to be honest when mistakes are made so that we can grow.
It’s taken over 5 years to feel 80% comfortable to leave the Sydney office to travel and broaden our scope comfortably as a business. Fortem Media deserves to be known on the global scale and these trips allow me to connect with incredible people who are well connected across many industries and geographical locations, seeing Fortem Media grow its footprint. It is however the key systems and processes we have worked incredibly hard on each time I have been away to allow me to gain more and more comfort. And of course, the growth in our team and senior management members who are willing to hold the torch and keep it burning bright whilst I am out on the other side of the world finding more torches for us to light.
Feeling incredibly fuelled it would be remiss of me to talk through Unofficial Run Club.
Unofficial Run Club
Every single Friday has turned into Wednesday mornings and weekend long runs too.
Every week I am meeting new people, experiencing new energy and forming connections that feel so real, but so relevant for where I am as a person as well.
The growth of Unofficial just feels right. Every one of our founders has a different reflection on what it feels like to be in the position we are in now.
Around 4-5 months of focusing on this seriously and we have grown to almost 40,000 followers on instagram, we have had over 5,000 unique individuals come running on a Friday morning, over 65 brands have reached out to us to collaborate and we have on average over 2 million views on our socials each month that goes by.
Electric.
My perspective on how this all feels?
Well, I will start by saying that never in my wildest dreams did I think that running over the harbour bridge with my mate Josh would turn into something we ran with our group of 5 founders and then to officially begin this Unofficial Run Club.
But more importantly, for me this feels like the amalgamation of so many of the different things I have done over the years that have felt so real to me and I know the other founders feel the same way about some of the things that they have done,
Some of these things for me have been:
Creating community and raising money for Beyond Blue by pushing a sled in a gym for 24 hours straight
Running 30kms years ago when my biggest run was 7kms. Up and down a hill until I was complete to raise money for Charity too.
Pushing people to go outside of their comfort zones when I have truly felt that they are their own seat belts holding them back.
Building Fortem Media as a creative powerhouse that has activated the ability for Unofficial to scale and be seen on a global scale through socials and great content.
A deep connection with lululemon for years which saw me invited to their sneaker launch and the ability to connect deeper with the run community in Sydney.
Travel to NYC, connecting with amazing people through NYC marathon.
Running 84.4kms with Sean Bell as his Talent Manager and close friend as he is currently attempting to break the world record run around Australia (a double marathon a day for 170 days), raising money for Make-A-Wish Australia. Sean is aiming to raise $1.4m for the charity.
(A shot of us as we were finishing the 84.4kms for the day. Rory Warnock Left, Sean Bell Centre, Chad Cohen Right. )
The above are just a few and I am sure my close friends could point out some more.
But what’s next?
Well, I am on a plane now to the US to catch up with some friends and make magic happen. Following this I fly to Portugal to visit manufacturers to ensure we are bringing out quality product for Unofficial. We are receiving DMs every week about merch but I won’t allow us to release merch that is not top quality or as close to it as we can for our first runs.
To be uncomfortable when running can make even a runner who loves running hate it.
From there I loop back into London for a week, celebrate my birthday there and then I run the Marathon.
After accepting that this year I will be heavily investing in my personal brand and building all the other sub brands powered by Fortem Media, I am incredibly excited to share this whole trip with Trystin, our Group Head of Creative who will be vlogging, capturing content and helping tell this story throughout the whole journey.
This man deserves a shout out not only for his dedication to Fortem but for his incredible work ethic and deep passion for consistent improvement and personal development. T Swizzle, I am excited to go on this journey with you.
For now, that’s it.
If you haven’t seen our vlogs on YouTube yet, view them here:
If you haven’t checked me out on socials yet, see here.
& stay tuned for daily reels, and a vlog in each city we travel to over the course of the next 4 weeks.
Out on the run for Sean’s first day one of his good friends Zac said to me..
“Chad, at 100 days out we were unsure that we would be able to raise the money that we needed to get Seany to the start line, but we knew that with you on the team we would make it possible and we did. You should be proud of yourself”
It’s moments like these where I feel so fuelled to keep giving the energy I do to everything.
We are non stop this year and will continue to roll forward together.
Big love,
CC
Please note that these are constantly my rolling thoughts. I would love your thoughts, comments, feedback and support. It’s not easy sharing open honest thoughts as I build.