Hello Overcomer Nation. I’m here today with my special friend and fellow Todd Durkin Mastermind member Andrew Simpson. He’s a husband, a father, a Founder of a company called Player’s Fitness and Performance in Frederick, Maryland, and the creator of the Winning Athlete Formula. Andrew is also the author of The Youth Truth: a movement helping parents and coaches build true champions in today’s crazy youth sports world.
Andrew began his journey renting a small space from a fight club in Frederick Maryland. He had not yet committed to his business and found himself at the age of 23 asking the question what’s my purpose? He really wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do with his life.
In 2014, he went to the Todd Durkin mentorship program with no purpose and left with a crystal clear vision that he was put on this earth to help young men & women not only get stronger physically, but become leaders.
Andrew started in a small brick & mortar facility with 12 clients. He and the PFP staff are able to help their clients more than a typical gym by caring about their whole life, not just their physical ability. At PFP they strongly emphasize the whole customer experience.
In just the first year, Andrew’s business went from 12 to 100 clients. He really got his drive from having his first mentor at age 20 who invested in his life, taught him good principles, and helped him transform the way he thought and acted. He realized kids aren’t just receptive to coaches like this, but craving it. They want that next level to help equip them to be good leaders.
Seeing how today’s coaching styles and the emphasis on performance in athletics has damaged kids not only mentally, but also physically, he views his business as a life development business not just an athletic performance business. The mental, emotional and physical health of young student athletes is trending in the wrong direction today, so he wanted to do something about it. To do his part, he wrote the book The Youth Truth even though he had to overcome fear and self-doubt because he was speaking out against the youth sports industry.
Andrew has a strong belief in what they are doing at their facility. In fact, PFP tripled in size during the pandemic. They saw that the pandemic was crushing families in a big way. Andrew prides himself in knowing PFP is more than just a gym. They can change not only someone’s health, but also change their family. The facility includes a game zone and a cafe where people can make connections and where parents and kids can have a shared experience.
Having a God-sized dream, Andrew shared that it requires strength that’s not his own.
He draws his strength from God and his confidence comes from a lot of prayer and seeking counsel from people who have gone before him. Andrew stated more major decisions require a little more prayer and diligence. Confidence doesn’t come before you take action, it is something you generate. Andrew said his faith isn’t just a piece of the puzzle, it’s a picture of what he wants his life to look like andhe shapes everything else around it. Some people try to fit spiritual life into their life, but it is the whole thing. The core of his mission is to Love people and God is love.
When asked what it takes to be an overcomer, Andrew said you have to have a humble view of self. He recently read the book The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness by Timothy Keller. It’s a book about how to make life not about you. Not thinking less of yourself but thinking of yourself less. That will allow you to say ‘this can be a blessing or a lesson to someone else if I persist’. It might not feel good for me, but self forgetfulness is a key to being an overcomer even when you don’t feel like overcoming whatever it is that you’re going through.
You can follow Andrew and learn more about PFP at:
https://www.facebook.com/andrewsimpson04
https://www.andrewjsimpson.com/
https://www.playersfitnessandperformance.com/
https://www.instagram.com/coachandrewsimpson/