No Judgment, No Limits: Chequan Lewis on Transformational Leadership

Neil Morrison: Hi, and welcome to another episode of the Aspire to Inspire Podcast. I’m Neil Morrison, Chief People Officer at Staffbase. Today I’m thrilled to be joined by Chequan Lewis, president of Crunch Fitness. Known for his strategic vision and leadership, Chequan has driven growth and innovation across industries, from his time as Chief Operating Officer at Pizza Hut to leading Crunch Fitness to new heights. In this episode, we’ll explore who is Chequan, what’s his journey been, what does he stand for, as well as understand his unique approach to problem-solving, fostering culture, and navigating the competitive fitness landscape. So let’s dive in. Chequan, it’s great to have you here with us.

Chequan Lewis: Neil, good to be with you, brother. Excited to have this conversation. Let’s do it.

Neil Morrison: Great. Well I wanted to start with maybe a bit of a broad, bigger question. Your career is super impressive and I’d love to hear a little bit more about your story. We can all go and check out your resume and look you up on LinkedIn. But I’m really interested, what do you believe got you here, Chequan, and what are your values?

Chequan Lewis: Yes, absolutely. Look, I appreciate the question. And it’s one that, as I get older, I’ve had to reflect on a little bit more because you do sometimes wake up and you’re like, how did I get here? Like you were a lawyer and then you did — I’ll tell you, let me first lead with the values question and then maybe talk about how I think we ended up here. The value sort of the succinct way that I would put it is I am on a mission to do all that I can with all that I’ve been given. And for me, that’s manifested itself in a lot of different ways. I didn’t necessarily have this language as I was going through each step that maybe we’ll talk about.

But as I take a step back and look at it as a more mature man, as a husband, as a father, and an executive, I realize the mission has been honoring the legacy of my grandfather and my grandmother and my mother and my father. I’m just doing the most I can with the gifts that I’ve been given. That’s the value set. How did I end up here? As you know, when I graduated from Howard University, I went and worked at this company called McMaster-Carr Supply Company in Atlanta. It’s a big industrial supply shop. I was fortunate that they were looking for management talent that didn’t come from the business world.

And the reason why I took that job initially was my dad said, “Look, why don’t you go and do something before you go and buy more school?” Because I knew I wanted to go to law school. I really had the seeds of business sowed and sprouting my life a little bit in that role. I ended up staying at that company for four years and then I went to law school. So when I came out of Harvard, I did the path that a lot of folks would go through. I went to a big law firm. I was doing the thing that you did there. You got a lot of law school loans, you need to pay that off.

The reality was I still had this fire burning from my time at McMaster-Carr to not be a lawyer on the outside of the business, but in the heart of the action. And so I ended up getting a call from Yum! Brands to come in as Pizza Hut’s franchise lawyer. And that really took everything off from there. In that role in Pizza Hut, I got a chance to flex all these muscles, like my business skills, my legal skills, my problem-solving skills, while also working in a lot of different spaces in Dallas as a city and Dallas as a functioning government. Those things crescendoed into the path that I found myself on later.

Neil Morrison: Yeah, it’s amazing. And what would you say before you made the move to Crunch? What was the thing you took from the variety of experiences you had at Yum! Brands with Pizza Hut? What’s maybe the one or two most formative things, moments, insights that you’ve taken with you?

Chequan Lewis: You know, the first one is the importance of a belief in all people. So one of the things in my story that wouldn’t probably be possible, but for having worked at a place like Yum! was when I came in at Yum!, there was much less of a concern about had I done specifically what I was being asked to do in the role that was in front of me. And it was much more about does he have the capacity, does he have the potential, do we believe that he can do these things. Candidly, that’s the only way that a lawyer in 2016 could be a chief operating officer in 2023.

And so as I go into Crunch, I do the same thing. When I look at people, I look at the team that we’re building, I look at the way we’re growing this brand. The question isn’t, always show me exactly that you’ve done the thing I’m asking you to do now. A belief in all people actually encourages me to say, “Hey, what is the art of the possible with this person?” So that’s the first thing. The second thing that’s critically important, and I talk about it a ton in our business now is every fill-in-the-blank is a moment of truth. At Pizza Hut as the COO, there’s a moment of truth on the make table between a frontline employee and someone’s dinner that night.

And every moment from it coming — bringing it out of the freezer, out of the retarder, onto the make table, out of the oven, each of those things is a moment of truth. And in our industry now, it’s the exact same thing. That urgency of being excellent, that urgency of getting it right moment after moment is the thing that came from that space. Then the last thing I would just say is, this idea is that no matter what your end game or your end product is, this is about people. It truly is about people. It is people serving people. And what we’re doing now is trying to create moments for folks to be the best version of themselves. And those are some principles that really jumped out at me as I stepped into what it meant to be a business leader in the Yum! environment.

Neil Morrison: Yeah, fantastic. And I appreciate the point about most businesses are people businesses regardless of the operation or the product. But at the same time, going from pan pizzas to the fitness studio is also quite a leap. And I’m curious, what was it that was, I guess, captivating, interesting for you about the move into Crunch?

Chequan Lewis: Yes. It’s fun. That is one of the most common questions I’ve gotten is like, man, you go from pizza to this. And I love them both still. I’ll tell you, there are a couple of things that drew me to Crunch. The first one is like a lot of my friends know, I just love working out, like I love this idea of fitness. And I think fitness is so critical to people being the best version of themselves. And that’s something that I’m really passionate about. When I made the jump, my first question was, is this going to allow me to do the most I can with all that I’ve been given and can I help people connect with the best version of themselves?

I truly believe that in fitness that is literally what we’re doing moment by moment. That’s a really important point. The other thing I’d say is this idea of, man, I got really fired up about being a part of a growing brand. I love Yum!. Yum! is the world’s largest restaurant company. And then Crunch, I think, the story is just being written. Obviously, we started in 1989. Definitely take up our respective piece of space in this industry. But there are so many more chapters to go and so many clubs to open in so many countries to plant the flag in, and I’m really excited to be a part of helping us take those hills together.

Neil Morrison: Yes. Amazing. Tell us a little bit more about Crunch. When you rock up in a new neighborhood, what is it that’s arriving with Crunch and what is the aspiration behind the brand that you’re now leading?

Chequan Lewis: Yeah so, you’ll often hear a couple of things pop out when you hear folks talk about Crunch. Let me be conceptual first and then specific next. So conceptually, you hear us talk about no judgments and no limits. And I think that’s really important. As the original no-judgments gym, what that really means for us is creating a space where positivity, inclusivity, and fun can thrive. There’s a ton going on in the world. There’s so many things to feel bad about. But when you step into Crunch, it’s this transformative space, it’s a transformative community where people can have fun pursuing the best version of themselves.

And we hold two things together, being a space that allows beginners to thrive in their fitness journey and being a space that allows badasses to thrive in their fitness journey. So doing that on that full spectrum is who we are. On a more specific note, I’ll just be honest, I’m a competitor, I got to say what I think. I think it’s the best fitness offering that you can find, especially in our category. So when you come into a Crunch, it could be anywhere between a 25,000 to a 50,000 square foot club. And you’ve got world-class strength equipment, Olympic lifting platforms that are on pace with the current trends.

You see high-intensity interval training zones that are proprietary that we’ve designed because we listen to the voice of our members. You see a massive group fitness studio, a cycling studio, and some of our new clubs you see a hot studio for hot yoga and hot Pilates and hot Barre and things like that. So what you’re finding is a bunch of these boutiques that you may see other people go to, to these different places to have these memberships, but we’re taking those boutiques, we put it inside of a Crunch and give you the down-the-fairway gym experience as well. I think what you get is candidly the best value proposition in all of fitness.

Neil Morrison: Yeah, sounds good. And this surprisingly simple mandate, like no judgment, no limits, that must resonate with your customers. But I’m assuming also is quite important internally from a communication and vision perspective. Can you talk about how the mission behind Crunch in that sense resonates with your franchisees, with your own employees, and with theirs as well?

Chequan Lewis: Yes, absolutely. Look, the way I see it is, our job as a brand is to be legendary. And to be legendary, we’ve got to deliver a legendary experience to three stakeholder groups. The first is our franchisees. If it doesn’t work for them, this doesn’t work for anybody. Second, and right in the heart of this is for our team members and then also it’s for our members. How does this actually translate and how is this tick and tie? So let me give you the concept there. This idea of no judgments, no limits, I told you the cultural piece around positivity, inclusivity, and fun.

But the no-limits piece is that thing that allows people to get up in the morning and cause them to connect their own personal sense of urgency with a place to go and be transformed or to go and help others transform. And so the reason why I think this resonates for our folks is there are a lot of different places people can go work out. The reason why Crunch is growing at such a rapid rate is that we’re bringing these things together, both culturally, but also literally operationally inside of this 25,000 to 50,000-square-foot box.

And it’s why people go and choose us. And so when you take this, and when you recognize this idea and the importance of delivering every moment and every check-in as a moment of truth, that resonates for franchisees and it makes it an investible proposition for them. It makes it a place where our team members want to work, and it makes it a place where our members choose us over the many different places they could go to invest their workout dollars.

Neil Morrison: You’re very much a hands-on leader. You’re out and about, you’re in different clubs, you’re with franchisees, you’re with your customers. When you’re communicating with employees of Crunch, whether it’s your own or franchisees, what’s important for you about leaders engaging frontline teams that are quite literally delivering the legendary experience for your customers?

Chequan Lewis: Yes, absolutely. Look, I’ll tell you, we just had our global convention in Phoenix this summer. I’ll tell you what I said to all of our franchisees there. Everybody in this room matters to me, but I’ll tell you who I’m here for and who my heart beats for. It’s for the frontline. And the reality is, the register, if you will, rings in the clubs, just like the restaurants, there aren’t profit centers inside corporate offices. It is closest to where the experience is being delivered, right?

And so, if we’re going to be the brand that we’re called to be, we had better make sure that our clubs are rocket ships or pathways to possibility for the general manager, for the member service representatives, for the people who clean our clubs, for the personal trainers, for the group fitness instructors, right? And so the urgency that I feel and what I think helps us really differentiate ourselves as a brand is that our franchisees are bought into that. Some of them came from that very world themselves, like in our old lives at Yum!, the team members are bought into that.

So when you have those things come together, you recognize that a frontline-led business is able to deliver what’s actually required to be successful. And the reality is, all the answers are in the clubs. If you want to know how to be better, go to the club and spend some time. If you want to understand what does a member really need, go work out in Crunch every morning and be a member. And I’m fortunate to live that experience. I do think it gives me a sharp insight into how we continue to iterate and improve on our brand.

Neil Morrison: Yeah. And you know, we know that a good Crunch versus a Crunch which is still on the rise in terms of performance is probably going to be down to the leader of that Crunch, the role of the general manager, just like it would be in a restaurant or a store or a distribution center. That number one leader is so important. Have you worked with the Crunch team on like what are the behaviors? What are the beliefs or focuses of your number one leader of a Crunch that matter most to create those experiences for their teams?

Chequan Lewis: Yes, absolutely. And I’ll tell you, there are a couple of things that popped out. One there is, I owe it to my brand to lead with a point of view and to bring my own experiences. So I bring a perspective on that and I share those. But three things I try to lead with, honesty, intentionality, humility. And actually, let’s put in authenticity in the place of honesty. So in doing that, it leaves space for me to make sure that it is not me talking down from an ivory tower, but also listening. And so my franchisees bring a really deep perspective on that as well. And a few things pop out and they aren’t so different.

They’ll sound familiar to you. If you really want to understand how do you make a club excellent, the question is, can you be the friendliest club in your community, can you be the cleanest club in your community, and can you be repeatedly excellent at the blocking and tackling and running your comp? Does that sound familiar from the world that we come from?

And so if you look at the very best Crunch in the system, that frontline leader, that general manager, that fitness manager, that operations manager, oftentimes our leadership teams in the clubs function in twos or threes like that, those are the folks that recognize that they’ve got to be repeatedly excellent on the blocking and tackling the simple things, in particular cleanliness and friendliness.

Neil Morrison: And how do you help this distributed model of leadership still drive the same energy and passion behind the brand’s vision? I think it’s so neat to come up with the vision but to actually turn that into a consistent playbook that resonates and drives progress for frontline employees, that’s a tricky bit of communication. What do you see that works or what’s important to you there?

Chequan Lewis: I love this question because now we’re really getting at the heart of like — This is the side of business that a lot of people don’t get. A lot of people will pick up the Wall Street Journal and see what your top line is or try to figure out what your EBI is per club, but this is what the actual business is. I found two things in particular, Neil. The first one is really measuring what matters. So just like in the restaurant space, in our space, there are 20, 25 things you could measure at any given time. There’s no shortage of metrics to chase.

The question is, what are the true few, what are the three or four that most correlate with top-line growth and how do you focus people on those so they know how to understand if they’re being successful, they know that if they move the needle on these things and they’ll be able to move the needle on their business. The first piece is, “Hey, let me put in front of you the things that matter most.” And actually keep scoring those things. And it connects to the second piece, a recognition culture, recognizing people when they really, really get it right, lifting them up, and letting them tell their stories to the rest of the system, as opposed to me or my team preaching about it.

Turning them towards other folks and saying, “Man, what we’re seeing here in Carmel, California, Carmel Valley, is being led by this frontline leader. Let’s let this person tell the story.” So by connecting a measurement of what really matters and then recognizing people for really getting it right, it’s that piece. Then the third one is, if some folks are really struggling, how do you come along in a bespoke way, not in a peanut butter, one-size-fits-all way to help them be the best version of themselves in their club for their members and for their franchise business? And we walk on that path as well and that goes into how we set up our business to support as a franchisor. Those are some of the things.

Neil Morrison: Yes. Amazing. All great. The one that resonates the most is the second. It’s always this idea of bringing the humanity to the employee experience. We’re all people, we’re all good at some things and not so good at other things, but when we are good, let’s feel seen, and let’s build the stage for others to create that environment. I love that thought. It’s not actually such a natural thought for so many managers and leaders. And we hear that because of toxic work environments or maybe less informed organizations.

But how do you feel that your experience, your connection with authenticity, you just said is like a real value of yours now, maybe even vulnerability, how has that helped you build that sense of culture of humanity through your leadership?

Chequan Lewis: Yeah. I think it’s this sense of when you lead with authenticity, you don’t have to try to keep track of what you said or what you did because you’re being you, right? And two things come from that. One is I think you create space as a leader for others to be the most authentic version of themselves when you model that. And what I have found personally is when I really tapped in with being the most authentic me at work, I became the best me at work. And so when you model that, then naturally that should trickle down and create space for other people to show up who they are and how they are in the most authentic way in a way that I think is really powerful.

So that’s one piece. And I’d say the other piece of this is like, the reality is the difference between who you are and who you’re called to be is oftentimes how do I fill the space that helps me connect that gap? And so in doing that, you let people really turn their lights on and that’s when your brand really gets to shine. I have a very clear vision that the world ought to be different because Crunch opens up in a community. That community ought to be better because we opened our doors and turned our lights on that day. That vision can’t be real if the people who inhabit the space don’t have their own lights on internally, right?

And so that’s where this piece of authenticity and intentionality and humility connect and allow us to turn on our superpowers which is delivering legendary experiences to all of our stakeholders.

Neil Morrison: I’m guessing the answer to this question is no. Is there a typical day in the life of the president of Crunch Fitness? But if there is, give us a sense of like, what is it you’re doing, how are you investing your time to create the most value in the work that you’re doing?

Chequan Lewis: Yes. You were right. The answer is no, there’s no typical day but I will give you some color around it. But actually, I would say the most consistent part of my day is as long as it’s not Thursday or Sunday, every morning begins for me in Crunch. Oftentimes it’s in one of our Crunches in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. I travel a ton for work. So when I’m traveling, I may be in a Crunch on the East Coast or on the West Coast, or in middle America. The day begins with connecting with who we are and what we do and the people that work in our clubs and the people that invest and trust us with their membership.

That is the way that I keep my feet on the ground, that I stay deeply connected to who we are, what our challenges are, and then what our talent and strengths are. After that, it’s a combination of coaching coaches, making sure that we’re connected and tracking the right way on the high-level strategy, and then making sure that the tactical execution is being coached appropriately. Some of the big things I think about in particular are, man, we are a fast-growing brand right now and growth for us is not just an opportunity but it’s a responsibility.

So I spent a ton of time, sometimes even in the details on permitting and small things about, “Man, let’s get this club open in Indiana, let’s get this club open in Louisiana, let’s get this club open in Pennsylvania.” Not just because I want to hit targets, but because I believe we need a world with more Crunch. I believe that. That feels like a mandate. So I’ll spend some time on those things. But then you’ve got to take a step back like, “Okay. We’re also a big operating company.” So how are clubs actually performing, the ones that are open? How do we make sure that the learnings from our very best clubs are being flowed down appropriately to our clubs that need a little more time and attention? So working with our COO and our ops team, making sure that piece comes to life, making sure that we resonate from a messaging perspective, so partnering with our CMO and understanding that the way that we talk about ourselves is connecting with the young, strong social member who’s down the fairway target for us. It ebbs and flows from day to day, but it always ladders back up to the responsibility to create a world with more Crunch and then to personally stay connected with what Crunch is.

Neil Morrison: Yeah, a world with more Crunch. That’s awesome. Just maybe make that real for us, like fast forward a few years. What is a world with more Crunch? Give us a sense of this fast-growing brand. How many more Crunches are going to be out there in a few years?

Chequan Lewis: Yeah so, to me, a world with more Crunch means two things. The first one is, I believe that Crunch can meet people in more moments in their everyday life. That may be in the physical clubs, and I’m going to get to that question here in a second. It could be using our Crunch+ platform. So we have streaming content for people that can’t make it into the gym, or maybe we’re traveling or in a market that we’re not in yet. It also means connecting being a member with other moments that matter in your life. We have a ton of perks partners. So if you are a Crunch member, you may get a benefit at the local oil change.

You may get a benefit at the local smoothie shop. So the vision is to be more connected and show up in more moments that matter for our folks. From a unit count perspective though, we are approaching 500 clubs today, and we’ve got a vision to double that and go even beyond it. Truthfully, to go maybe four times as big as that, and that is inclusive of our domestic growth. And then also planting more flags outside the US. We’ve got some outside the US now, but we’ve got a couple that we’re also very excited about that should come to bear here pretty quickly. We hit 3 million members either yesterday or today.

Neil Morrison: Oh, congrats.

Chequan Lewis: Thank you. We’re going to have a big party here in a little bit later on today with Dak Prescott, who’s the quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys, and we’ll go over to the East Plano Club where we’re launching our first 3.0 concept, so the newest iteration of Crunch. And so for us, I guess the way to say it neatly is, we can double, triple, quadruple our unit count, and as a result, double and triple our member count, and then also make sure that the model that we offer, that our offering stays fresh. And so today, the grand opening of this 3.0 is just one artifact, but there’s a lot of more growth to go with that.

I didn’t mean to talk to you to death on that point, but that’s what I’m so fired up about, because when we’re growing, there are more moments that we’re creating that matter with more people, we’re creating more jobs, and we’re doing more in the world of what our calling is, which is giving people a platform to be the best version of themselves.

Neil Morrison: Yeah. There’s a lot going on, and it’s this high-paced growth. It’s a competitive market. I guess there’s still this growing understanding of the post-pandemic customer expectations. What are some of the challenges that you and your franchisees then are navigating to keep the turbo engine behind the growth?

Chequan Lewis: Yeah, man, for us, one of the challenges is available inventory. When we get it right, there’s just no substitute for coming and being at Crunch. Because that continues to proliferate, you got to find a box. A 10,000-square-foot box is not going to solve it for us. This idea of finding a 25,000 to 45,000, 50,000-square-foot box in the right place at the right intersection, main and main, for that community, that can be a real challenge in getting it turned really quickly. Fortunately, we’ve been able to make that make some sense. In this last year, we opened more than a club a week.

We expect to double that in 2025, but man, we need the boxes. So anybody listening, if you are someone who is in control of real estate assets, you have large second-generation boxes, holler at your boy, because that’s probably one of the biggest challenges that we’ve got right now, to snap those things up and get them flipped so we can get more clubs open.

Neil Morrison: Yeah, this is great. You’re the first guest that’s used the platform to ask for real estate, so congrats.

Chequan Lewis: Somebody had to do it, right?

Neil Morrison: Yeah, that’s great. Shifting gear a little bit, Chequan, you’ve mentioned actually helping people be the best versions of themselves, including your employees. When a Crunch arrives, it should make the community better. You’re also someone with a deep belief and significant contribution from a civic experience perspective. I’d love to know more about your personal role in that sense, as well as how can a brand like Crunch play a contributing role to their local communities.

Chequan Lewis: The beauty of this is it’s not just the Crunch corporate headquarters, it’s franchise partners expressing the concept and driving the brand in tandem. So here’s what I think it looks like. As you know, the beauty of franchising is you’ve got this large brand that is relevant at the top-line level, and you’ve got operators that are bringing it to life in their local communities. So what my franchisees are already doing are some things I’m incredibly proud of. They are doing toy, clothes, food drives for local communities. They are sponsoring local sports teams.

They are in Dallas, about to go through some difficult weather. I’m thinking about my franchisees in Canada with a winter storm recently. I’m thinking about my franchisees in South Florida with the hurricane recently. They’re opening Crunches up to give people a place for shelter and to shower and to eat and to charge their phones and laptops. So there’s this real sense of not just being a market actor, not just being a place for transactions, but being a neighbor, and we’re getting that right. And then I think the collective power of Crunch, particularly in Dallas, is to continue to show up and connect with folks that are doing really good work.

Our job is to deliver these legendary experiences that I described, and then plugging in and partnering with folks who have the main job of delivering these outputs and these improvements in the community, so through selective, strategic partnerships with folks on the ground to get these things done. I’ll give you one quick example. At Howard University, where I’m a proud alum, we recently offered a hip-hop mindfulness class to business school students.

You’re like, “Oh, small violin, why do they need that?” But if you take a step back, think about those young people and what it means to activate connectedness with their self, and going and offering that to them and what it means for those folks who have the charge to be leaders for America in the global community. It’s just one iteration of the way that we can go and move and be in that way. So we can’t be all things to all people, but we can be a phenomenal partner to folks who are getting it right, both at the corporate level and at the franchise level. I think that we’re doing that. I’m excited to see more of it in 2025.

Neil Morrison: It sounds like an obvious follow-up question. We’ve heard about your values at the start, you do as much as you can with what you were given or what you have. But tell me, so many brands would operate maybe without such thoughtfulness, or it might be like a “Corporate social responsibility: check.” But it feels, just hearing you, it’s permeating in many authentic ways through the brand, as well as some strategic partnerships. But why? Why is that important to you and your leadership tenure at Crunch to make that part of the brand proposition?

Chequan Lewis: Yeah. Let me give you two points. One is, this is in the brand DNA. So this really predates me. It is part of why I felt comfortable leaving a platform like Yum! and coming to a place like Crunch because I didn’t want to leave if I couldn’t lead with heart, smart, and courage. And so that was in the Crunch DNA. Now my job is, we’re at this inflection point to continue to do it and help it grow. And so when we opened up in 1989 in the village in New York, we were a place that was predicated on being a safe space for people, folks who maybe felt like an outsider, or folks who didn’t have a place to go and be an authentic version of themselves while chasing their fitness journey.

So from 89, that’s been in the DNA. That’s the no-judgments piece. That’s the inclusivity piece. And so f or me, then I’m like, “Man, how do I make sure that because that’s important to me that I step into a role like this and honor that legacy and extend that legacy?” And that’s how we do it through the things that I was just talking about. Look, businesses are either making the world better, making the world worse, or having no impact at all. And if you’re going to be a legendary brand, your calling is to make the world better. And I think our thesis is to do that through our franchise partners with a focus on helping people resonate and be the best version of themselves in their communities.

Neil Morrison: Yeah. That’s inspiring to hear and kudos. You started by talking about almost this moral obligation, this sense of responsibility that you feel you have to those who have come before and your father, your mother, your grandfather, grandmother, et cetera. Do you have others that have inspired, other key people, whether they’re known to all of us or not, that you would look and say, “This has been an inspiring person. I’ve learned something from them?”

Chequan Lewis: Yeah, absolutely. Man, there’s so many people. Let me try to focus on a couple. Instead of using a name, I’ll give you the concept. One is, there are a number of people at Pizza Hut who had been working in the restaurants there for 40 or 50 years. And I take their names, their stories, their faces, they show up on my phone and like my scrolling photo images. The reason why that’s one source of inspiration for me is when you think about what that brand meant in the American imagination, I know that it was powered by those folks that were washing dishes and serving those tables and bringing that pizza out to a Book It kid, right?

The way that connects with me in this moment is, man, we are at a part in our story where I think we’re going to take up the same space in the American imagination. And so they represent this connection point for me to never lose focus of what’s going to help us go from where we are to where we’re called to be. That’s one critical piece for me. Another person that I would probably point out is Fannie Lou Hamer, who is a black woman, a civil rights activist from Mississippi like all my family is from actually, even though I grew up in Texas. And part of the reason why she resonates with me is you hear a lot about the concept of the fierce urgency of now. But what you see with her is not only living and breathing in the fierce urgency of now but doing that in the spirit of service and moving to the tension and doing the hard things and calling people up to a standard that makes the world better for all people. I love the challenge and the conviction that comes from that. And it’s a stark reminder that it doesn’t matter what you do. You could sell hammers, screwdrivers, pizza, memberships, hot dogs, cars, whatever the tool is in your hand, you can make the world better with it if you set that as an intention and you recognize that’s the moment that you’re called to be in. So that’s a really critical one for me as well.

Neil Morrison: Yeah. It never surprises me, but always impresses me just how real you are and also how eloquently you speak. And I felt the conviction. Maybe we wrap up this. Chequan, loads of people look at you and might think, “I’d love to emulate this career.” I wondered what advice would you have for aspiring leaders that might be looking and thinking, “Yes, I want to go on a journey like this?”

Chequan Lewis: Man, that’s always a hard one. Let me see if I can fumble through it. Maybe let me say it this way because what I have reflected on lately is if I could go back and talk to myself when I was younger, what would I say? I might say this first: Leave space in your imagination for your theory of change to look like a couple of different things. So when I was growing up, I was convinced and convicted that my path of impact was elected politics. I don’t have that conviction anymore. Who knows what the future holds, but I don’t think that’s the only theory of change. I found, in fact, that by working at a pizza company, you could impact people in their everyday lives, moment to moment.

I found that in working at a fitness company, you can do the same thing. So leave some space in your imagination to know that you can have a theory of change in the world that can take different shapes than you expect. And why that’s important, is because the next thing I would offer is when you start to go down your journey and you find things that may scare the absolute heck out of you, lean into that, move to that tension. And for me, there was a really critical moment when I decided to leave this straightforward path at Big Law and go and take a job in a practice area that I’d never done at a pizza company.

If I didn’t have the support of my wife and a belief around what could come from that, I don’t know that I’d have the opportunity to go the path that I’ve gone. And then the last one is: Give grace freely and receive grace freely. You know one of the biggest things I struggle with is, in my pursuit of excellence, sometimes I don’t leave enough space to be kind to myself when I fall short or enough space to be thoughtful with myself when I don’t get something exactly right. And the reason why it’s important to give and receive grace freely is I think it’s one of those things that can radically change the world when we make more space for it.

And what I found is by first showing that with myself, people are able to receive it from me more authentically. If you just quickly indulge me, I’ll never forget, there was a story when I was at Pizza Hut, I had made a mistake on a big transaction that I was doing and my team watched me be really hard on myself about it. And later, when one of them made a very small mistake on something that really didn’t matter that much, they had a hard time believing that I meant it when I said, “No, no, we’re good, we’re good, we’re good” because they didn’t see me model that with myself.

And so my theory of change, or one of them is that radical grace, freely extended, freely received can make the world different, I had better make some space for it here, and in my household first, and then I can go and proselytize with it from there. So maybe those are the three things I’d say.

Neil Morrison: Wow, what a great place to wrap up and thank you for the wisdom. Thanks also for sharing so much about the exciting journey Crunch is continuing to embark on, and also for offering us so much of your own personal insights. This has been a great conversation. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it. I’ve been looking forward to connecting with you Chequan. So thanks for joining us. I hope everyone who’s tuned in and listened has enjoyed this one and be sure to tune in again for more episodes of the Aspire to Inspire Podcast.