Shownotes

Javeno McLean, a fitness trainer from Manchester, tells his motivational career path, emphasizing the importance of encouraging others to enjoy exercise and uplifting those who face obstacles. Javeno talks about the value of authenticity, gratitude, and pushing the boundaries to redefine what is possible in this episode.

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In this episode you will learn about:

• Javeno McLean’s unique approach to fitness
• How to fall in love with exercise, regardless of your circumstances
• The importance of treating everyone as equals
• Working with the disabled population
• The importance of authenticity in the fitness industry
• Family, personal passions and staying true to oneself

Episode References/Links:

• Website: https://j7healthcentre.co.uk/
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/j7healthjaveno
• TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@javeno7

Transcript

Lesley Logan
Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I’m Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I’ve trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it’s the antidote to fear. Each week, my guests will bring Bold, Executable, Intrinsic and Targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It’s a practice, not a perfect. Let’s get started.

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Lesley Logan
All right, loves Get ready. Um, first of all, um, this is a little warning. Um, I’m a fast talker and our guest today isn’t excited and, uh, and meets my speed, um, and has a lovely accent. So, um, if you normally listen to things on 2.0, may I suggest a 1.5, 1.25, or 1.0. Um, I cannot wait for you to hear our guest today, Javeno McLean because this man is doing some incredible things in this world. Um, I have been watching him from afar as a, as a diehard follower. And, um, it made the, it meant the world to me. Like it was, I’m not, I didn’t tell him this. I went to DM him to be him on the podcast and I was like, oh my gosh.

I had this like, look like a moment of imposter syndrome, like, Well, what if he says no? And then I was like, well, what if he says no? Then I’ll just ask him again. I’ll just wait. I just thought I was like, maybe his people will block because like we’re a smaller podcast. We’re not that small, but we’re smaller in this world of podcast.

And I had the story that I told myself and I was like, dang it. I just spent an hour watching all of his videos. I just spent an hour smiling and with tears of joy in my eye, and I was showing him to Brad. I’m going to just DM him because the worst case scenario is he probably won’t even see it. I’ll just be in purgatory in his dms.

And you know what he said? Yes. And I cannot wait for you to hear in this episode why he said yes. And I also hope that this episode is a reminder to you that you are the only person who can do what you do the way that you do it, you’re it, and to be true to who you are and being it till you see it is 1000%.

You stepping into that each and every day. And it’s not gonna be easy, but ooh, it’s harder to be someone else. So, without further ado, here is Javeno McLean.

All right, Be It, babe. I have been stalking this guest for quite some time. In all the best ways, shout out to Steven Spinelli and my besties husband who sent me a reel from this man. Um, and I have been like sitting by going, I gotta just ask him. And when I did, he said yes. So you guys, McLean is our guest today.

, will you tell everyone who you are and what you

Javeno McLean: rock at? Oh, Les. Well, I hate doing things like this, but I’m . I’m just a 38 year old man from Manchester, England who likes to make people happy. I like to try and put a bit of love and joy in the world, and a little bit of exercise while I’m doing it.

That’s it. That’s it. The rest of it you can find out yourself. Google it.

Lesley Logan: I love it so much. Okay, so you’re from Manchester. Um, I guess I wanna start with like, how did you get started because you, I mean, obviously you’re a fitness trainer. You do these amazing things, but you’re more than that for people. And I think anyone listening to this, we have a lot of fitness and professionals who listen to this.

They get into this wanting to be more than just moving people and working people out. They, my story is like, Pilates change my life, so I wanna just help everyone change their lives. But at some point sometimes you get derailed, like you get distracted, there’s things, but you seem to have been like really sparking joy in making people shine through what you’re doing.

So how did you get started in

Javeno McLean: it?

To be honest, Lesley, it was, it was an accident. It was, it was something that, it wasn’t the plan. The plan was always, always from day one to just show people that exercise when it’s done with the right environment, with the right music, you get me? The right vibe. Anyone can, can enjoy it.

I can make anyone fall in love with exercise if the environment’s right and a long time ago, well, and the crazy thing, Les, is everything that’s happening for me recently, I’ve been doing the same things for 22 years. I just never, I was never a social media person, and I felt like we became a bit of a, I’m not sure what it’s like in America, but in England sometimes, is it called clout chasing, where people will film things.

Let’s say if he’s a homeless man, instead of just giving that person a sandwich or a cup of. They have to film. Look what I’m doing, I’m here with Lesley, and it kind of dilutes the message. It takes away, you should wanna do things from the goodness of your own heart. Yes. So I’ve been doing it for so many years.

I’ve been training disabled people, elderly people, cancer patients, stroke survivors for free for 22 years. I’ve never took a penny of them. And it was purely because I understand people. I feel like we money, money controls the world a bit too much and money’s not my God. And if I want to help someone, From the purest part of my soul, Lesley, there’s no atm, there’s no cashbook, there’s no, there’s no checkbook.

If someone’s got cancer, if someone’s got dementia, the least, the least I can do is make that person smile. Make that person remember me, make that person want to come back to me, and I’m not bothered about the money because if I take you money, that means I’m, I don’t really want to help you from the goodness of my heart.

I want to help you because I want to get financial gain. I’ve never, ever took a penny of anybody disabled or elderly, and I’ve just never, ever, I’ve had people try and, uh, make me turn into the other person where I’m basically taking my top off all the time. The typical pt, when I’m just trying, I’m not trying to sell sex.

I’m trying to sell inspiration. I’m not trying to set, I don’t have to take on, you’ll never see me, Lesley, ever with my nipples out. You know, guys.

Lesley Logan: You know, , I, I understand that cuz like, um, I will see people even in my own industry and they’ll be doing things and like I could do that. I could also do in, in it with a sports bra on.

And little shorts and, and put the camera a lot closer. But that’s not how I live my life in general. So that just feels fake to me and I’ve never been a fake it person. I’m like, this is, this is, I do my Pilates in these clothes today. Yeah. So this what you’re gonna get and no, I don’t have makeup on today and that’s just cuz it didn’t happen today.

I like to be as real as possible, so I appreciate that you’re like, no, I’ll, if I’m gonna do this, I’m gonna do it in my own way, … (: 150%) and I’m gonna do it in a way that feels he saw the video. And I think that totally comes through. Because when I, y’all, I, what happened was I got sent this amazing reel of you helping someone do something that like probably no one would ever think they could do.

Uh, or they would just go, well, that’s the best they can do. So this is, you know, and you were just encouraging them and showing them. And I think no matter who you are, no matter what’s going on with your body, we all wanna be a little bit better, a little bit stronger than we were yesterday. We all want that.

And so, and then, I was, you came up my feed and I showed my husband what you were doing. And then he just went through like, I was like, look at this one, look at this. The kid putting the ring another. And I was like, no way is he gonna get it to the higher one. And then he got to the higher one. I was just like, this is incredible.

So what you are doing is inspiring people cuz I left your feed inspired to go do whatever I was gonna do in that day. Um, obviously our listeners are going to wonder. How you actually like pay your bills. So are you also like training people who can pay you? Are you, are you, like, how is that happening so that you can give to these other people who need

Javeno McLean: it the most?

So, Lesley, um, I struggle and my, my wife and my, my mother, everyone, they’re trying to help me at the moment. I’m a very humble person. I hate talking about certain things, but I train. I, I’m a, I’m a, I’m a wicked trainer. I train elite athletes. I train elite champion athletes. I’ve got a community that, uh, my community gym that I, that I own, it’s for the neighborhood.

So I get people coming in every day from the neighborhood, regular people. It’s just a section of my work, which is a disabled, and the people that need the most hope are the ones that I’ve never charged. Mm-hmm. So my bills as sorted with my regular customers. Yes. If that makes sense. Yep. Uh, but I don’t really broadcast that as much as I should because I just…

I wanna showcase magic and amazing in other people. You see what I’m saying? That’s, that’s what I really, I feel uncomfortable, like even in the last two years with all the things that have been going on in my life, sometimes the best I can do, Lesley and I, sometimes I, I fear that people will feel that I’m arrogant is the best response is sometimes will say, oh, thank you.

Because I love, I love, I love finding somebody out. Let’s say somebody that you’ve seen on the videos, who’s got, uh, who’s in a wheelchair I’ve, I believe I’m gifted Les. And what I mean by that, Lesley is uh, I don’t mean it big edited, I don’t need it both fully. Your gift is what you can do better than everybody else.

Your gift is what comes easy to you. So Michael Jordan, his gift was, we all know what that was. Any day, any time. He’s rock it anyway, anywhere you doing it. Who else? Mike Tyson. Anyone? That’s their gift. On any day, they can perform better than anybody else. And I’ve always felt from a young age, Lesley, there’s not a person on this planet I can’t make fall in love with exercise. And when it comes to somebody with a disability, or, and again, Lesley, a day in my life, just to let you know, I have some of the, some of the most tricky situations on planet earth to deal with. I, I have people who have got terminal cancer, I’ve got people who have got conditions that they’re not fixable.

They, they’re not gonna get better. They’re degenerative, where as they get older it will get worse and worse and worse. And some of the conversations that I have with people will, will, will, will break any man’s soul, any person’s when there’s, when someone’s got, we’re lucky, like I’m from, I’m from Jamaica.

So when I was, I’m from an island that we, there’s, there’s not much going on there. So with me personally, I’ve always been very grateful. And every second, every second that God’s given me to do this, I’m happy. I’ve got clothes on and I can watch, I can drink and look, I’ve got, aftershave, I’ve got cologne, I’m, I’m blessed.

We’re so blessed. Mm-hmm. But when you speak to somebody who doesn’t realize how great life is because the cards that they’ve been dealt. They’ve got a, they’ve got a countdown to when they’re taking their last breath. Think about that. Yeah. I have people recently who have come to me with terminal cancers and terminal illnesses.

They know that they’ve got a countdown, but yet they wanna spend it with . anyone can me that gift, best believe that every second you spend with me, I’m gonna make you smile, girl. I’m gonna make you happy. I’m gonna make you, I’m gonna put every bit of me into that session because you’ve chosen me.

Yeah. And I believe that my gift is, anytime I’ve ever come across anybody with whatever situation I’ve already said to them, gimme 20 minutes. Give me 20 minutes. I bet you I’m gonna make you smile. I bet you I’m gonna take you out of whatever your reality is right now. If you don’t feel too good, I guarantee you that little 20 minutes with me.

I guarantee you I’m gonna put a smile on your face and make you wanna come back. And that’s all I can do. And I’ve never failed. Yeah, I’m,

Lesley Logan: well, gosh. I mean, I have chills and I believe it. And what I, what I think is so cool is like, first of all, for that person to even seek you out shows that they want to make the most of every breath that they have.

Yeah. And I don’t know who’s luckier, those of us who don’t know when our last breath is, or those who do, um, And I, maybe that’s the wrong word to use, but there is something about someone choosing this is, this is where I’m going and I’m gonna make sure that I spend it with . I’m gonna, cuz he’s gonna show me what I’m still capable of.

…(: Yeah, definitely). And like it to me, what, what I love is that you make them feel so seen, which is like huge for me. But also you show them what’s so much more possible and I think the, the rest of the world. Make like go, oh, poor them. Or, I’m so sorry for them. That’s so sad. What they’re going through and, and what I get from what you’re doing is like, and this is what you have and here’s what we can do and we can still smile and we can still step over this.

This poll, so it’s just really amazing. I wonder like, when did you start working with this population of people? Was it from the beginning of your training? Or was it like happenstance? Can you take me back to what that was? Yeah,

Javeno McLean: so it was many years ago, Les, I’ll tell you the quick story. Uh, many years ago was one thing with me Les is always about normality and redefining boundaries. I’ve always been that person. And I think normality is the most powerful thing on this planet. And I realized a long time ago when I tell you the story in a second. No matter who you are, whether you are, no matter what your condition, elderly, disabled, whatever it is, all anybody wants is to be treated normal. And me, now I’m a father of two young boys, and God forbid if anything was happen to my little boys. All I want is the world to treat my babies normal. Don’t feel sorry for them and don’t pissy them. Treat ’em normal. And years ago, that was, long story short, I was, I used to manage sessions. We call it the council in the usa you call it the government baby.

So, so I used to work for the government and I used to do sessions all around the city in Manchester. And I had a, I had people that worked for me and I was watching a session with the young guy, one of my, one of my members of staff, and he was teaching this young boy in a wheelchair. This young boy was, he was so bored. He was so, so bored.

He was 19 and I watched the session and he stayed in his wheelchair Les, and then when the trainer went to go to the bathroom, this boy got a part of his chair and he walked over to, uh, where the water and the drinks was, and he pour himself for drinks. So I came in the room and I went crazy at him. I said to him, don’t you ever let another man or another person dilute your power.

Don’t ever let nobody tell you that you are meant to be in that chair. Like that chair defines you. I said, I’ll just watched you for 20 minutes. Lift the two pound weights, big strapping rugby player, boy. And he was lifting weights that he knows he can do more. He, and then he could get a part of his chair. He could walk like a lot of disabled people or a lot of people in wheelchairs.

They’re not always, uh, in the wheelchairs forever. A lot of them can actually get up and move. And I said to him, don’t ever let nobody dilute your power and tell you that you have to stay in that wheelchair. So when the trainer came back in, I said, you know what, you go home. I said, I’m gonna take the rest of this session and for the rest of this session, I made him stand up.

Cause I knew that he could. And even if he couldn’t, I said, I’ve got your, I said, you’re going to push yourself. You’re 19 years old. And I said, you’ve got all this life to live. You can’t live an attack life. By just being locked in your little box and letting the world and people tell you, you stay in your wheelchair.

You do. I said, no. So I made him stand up for 20 minutes and he did it. I made him lift the, the bigger dumbbells. Nothing crazy, but a little bit heavier than what I know he could do. And at the end of the session, and this is what changed for me Les, this is where it was a little bit awkward, where it, this, this little boy’s parents was in the room and his dad was massive. That’s, his dad was huge. His dad was so, his dad was so big and he walked over and I thought, I dunno what’s gonna happen. I dunno when we had it. Cause I didn’t know. And he came over and he just started crying and me and him hugged for about 20 minutes and in him and his wife, and we cried.

And he was explaining to me everything that day, everything that I was saying to him, people are scared to say to him cause of his, wheelchair. And he said, they tell him every day that you’re lazy, you can do more, but because his mommy and daddy doesn’t wanna listen. And he said, I was the first person to ever talk to him and treat him normal.

Because the world when it comes to people that are disabled or elderly or vulnerable, they’ve got a thing where they don’t wanna offend and they don’t wanna tell him anything. So they said to me, I was the first person to treat him normal. And they, they couldn’t. They loved it. They loved it. And I said to myself on that, Look, cause you’re in a wheelchair or disabled, you ain’t no different from me or you or anybody else.

So, uh, that was my approach from there. And it just, from there, people just started talking about me. It, it went a little bit crazy. And then in the last six years when I opened my own facility, it’s just gone absolute craziness. It’s just, yeah, I’ve never publicized it. I’ve just, only six years ago was my first time that I posted a video.

I’ve been doing it for 22 years and I’ve never posted a video. Cause I didn’t want to anybody to think that I was exploiting people or I was trying to showcase me or what, do you know what I mean?

Lesley Logan: I was so, I do, I think so many people can be so quick to judge these things. Yeah. Like, and it’s like I, what I, I think we forget that there’s intention behind things and I think that like, You’re a perfect example of like, when the intention is good, then, um, that it, it, it, it, then it sh it should shine through and there can be people, there’ll always be people who see it differently.

But what I, what, what I think that is really amazing is that you’re showing people what is possible . And also like that whole thing you, I’m sure you’ve told your kids is, at least my parents did in the States, is like, never judge a book by its cover. Never judge a book by its cover. And what you’re showing is, you’re not judging a person in a wheelchair by the wheelchair.

You’re looking at their heart and you’re looking at what’s possible. You’re figuring out what they want, and you’re showing them they could be even a little bit more than what they are. And then they, and then guess what? Tomorrow’s a new day. So you can be a little bit more than yesterday. Who that we, there are people who don’t have disabilities, who don’t have terminal life illnesses who need to hear that.

There are people who are air quotes normal. Because of the world’s judging them or because what they’ve been told, they live in like, well, this is as good as it’s, as it gets. And, and you, it, it sounds to me like your, your mission is really just to show people that there’s always something more that they can do with themselves no matter who they are.

Javeno McLean: Hundred percent. There’s a lot of my clients who are trained to this day. Guess what? I don’t know their disability. I don’t have the conversation Les, apart from certain people where I need to know medically. Certain professional things. A lot of people who I trained, the first thing that I say is, I don’t care.

I don’t care about your wheelchair. I care about you. I don’t care what you can’t do. I care about what we are gonna do right now. Mm-hmm. And I, I, I’ve never, I’ve never been afraid because, I know what I’m doing. I know that I’m not a bully. You, you know what? You’ve seen the training who just shout and scream and just use the ego and I’ve never been that person.

I know I’m so professional in my preparation that I’m never afraid to hurt people. I’m more concerned about how, how many barriers we’re gonna we’re gonna break. How many and, and more. What I’ve noticed with a lot of people I train is, the boundaries, their capabilities, they, they set the bar so low because of the way, cause of the life that they’ve been given, the cards that they’ve been dealt. Natural human instinct is to set the bar here. Mm-hmm. So the first thing I do in the very first session is I get a gist of what that person thinks that they can’t do. And I say, I’m gonna prove you wrong today. I’m not gonna do it next week. Last week.

Last week, one of my girls come in. Beautiful little girl. Beautiful little girl. She’s 18, she’s got cerebral palsy. She knows who she’s, I’m not gonna say her name. And me and her was talking about press up and she said, I can’t do a press up. I said, I said, I’ll get, she said, I’ve never done a press up in my life.

I said to you in half an hour, I’m gonna, I’m gonna show you that you can do a press up. And then she was, Nope, nope, nope, nope. Les, we did 34 press ups that day. And then she left. She left that session. Couldn’t believe it. And I said, baby, we’re only just getting started. I said, wait till next week. Wait until next week and the week after.

And I think it’s about just redefining boundaries and well, when you do that with a human at any age, it is the most beautiful thing to watch

Lesley Logan: you. Yeah. You know? Um, and my first Pilates training, They taught me this is what a beginner does for the hundred. This is what a beginner’s rollup is. This is a beginner.

This is a beginner. Right. And then, and then I pass that test and you teach it intermediate. So now you take that person and you change the exercise and make it a little harder. You change it again. Right. And the advanced I went to, I was like, this doesn’t make any sense. Like I went to a class and they just had me do the excercise.

They didn’t have me do the beginner. They just had me do the exercise. And then they offered options if you couldn’t do the exercise. Yep. And so I was like, okay. So I went to another training and they taught me this is the exercise. And if you need to change the exercise, cuz someone can’t meet it yet, then you think of it as borrowing money from the bank.

You want the lowest interest loan so you can go get, I don’t know if you have this in the uk, but here we have these terrible loan places that are called like paycheck loans where the interest is so high. Once you get it, just you basically, you’re constantly borrowing from them because now you owe so much.

Yeah, you have to just go there. That bank is never gonna get me to being able to afford a loan over here. It’s never gonna get there. So like I always think of like taking that bar or let me just use the word modification and go, what’s the least amount? And that’s why I’ll end up working with athletes is not because I was actually looking for them, it’s because they came in and I was like, okay, let me see what you can do here.

Yeah. Okay. Let’s see if you can do this. Until I could figure out where’s the barrier, where, where are we limited? Yeah. And then we can go to work. Right. And um, yeah. And so I wonder like. Who trained you? Who taught you this? Like, have you always been this way or like what made, like what, what, what’s, what turned that light switch on

Javeno McLean: for you?

I, I’ve been, I’ll be honest, Les, I’ve been crazy. I’ve been crazy since I was small. I’ve been, yeah, I’ve been very determined since I was young. I was even, I remember I was 12, 11 years old doing a hundred plus ups a day, 200 sit ups a day. I was, I was it, I was, I played cricket. I’m not sure if you know what cricket is.

I was a top level cricket player. I played professional cricket for many years, so I bought, I was an athlete myself, and right now I’m a, I’m a, I’m a, I’m a power lifter. I’m a team gb power lifter, and these are things that I rarely tell people because again, my, my history of just being an athlete, I’ve seen what the human body can do, but I’ve seen the power not of having muscles or being super fit.

I’ve seen the power. Uh, involving people. Mm-hmm. I’ve seen the power Les of noticing people I know. I see. I’ve seen it like a lot of people don’t get seen. I think about it Les. It’s so horrible. You can have somebody who is the fittest, strongest person, but they still feel depressed or sad because they don’t really get noticed.

People that I. My, my main priority is to let them know, look him in the face and let ’em know, I see you. I ain’t seeing you, I ain’t looking around you or seeing your, your medication or your wheelchair or your walking stick or whatever. I see you and I think when people notice that you, when they got, uh, somebody in front of them, you actually gives a crap about ’em because I’m looking at

them.

Javeno McLean: I’m not looking through them all around them. You gotta think a lot of disabled people, people are so awkward. People look around them and they don’t wanna notice them. I’m looking right at you cause I wanna know you. I wanna know your story, your history. I wanna know about your cat, your dog, your neighbor.

I wanna know what you’re gonna watch on TV tomorrow. I wanna know what you’re gonna eat for your breakfast. I wanna know all of that. And when they know that I wanna know all of that, then they can ask me. And then we become friends when we become friends. It’s game over. We can do amazing things together.

And I think being noticed is the most important thing and uh, it’s the most empowering thing. And this is not what I realized a long time ago, and this is where many years ago, Les, I had many people trying to, we did photo shoots with a couple magazines I could have had. I’m so happy that the following that I’ve got now Les, is uh, is so organic and I’ve done it in my way.

Yeah, I think 10 years ago. Why so many people? Just trying to get me to take my top after to show off my body and things like that, like, like everybody else was doing. And I said to him and people thought I was crazy. I said, you, I don’t care how much money you, you, you, you’re gonna offer me. I don’t care how many followers you’re gonna, you think I’m gonna get on these platforms.

I said, you’ll never see me with my t-shirt off or trying to flex my six pack, cause I’m not trying to sell that. And I’m so happy that I stood by what I believed and now the world, cause I already said to people, Les, when people see the power of care, like real genuine care, it will be the most powerful thing that you will ever see because how can you not like it?

Because it’s the most organic thing. And I’m happy that I stood by everything that I said all them years ago.

Lesley Logan: Yeah. I, I think, um, I mean that’s ultimate being it till you see it. It’s like knowing who you are. Yeah. And, and then just trusting that being who you are is already enough. Um, and, and that it’s be, it’s better to get to where you want to go as yourself than as being someone else because you can’t, you don’t get to flip the switch.

You don’t get to put that shirt back on. I mean, you can, but the people who followed you cuz of the six pack are gonna be. You know, for, this is a terrible analogy, but many, many people who listen may not know this. Um, I am on YouTube and I have a lot of followers who followed me because I was barefoot.

So that’s that. We’ll, just, oh yeah. It’s a weird world. So, uh, applies exercises. I have that. So then my friends own a sock company for pilates socks. I started wearing them and they got very upset. Because I was now wearing socks on my feet. So the the, so it actually made my viewership go down. Yes, you all, it was enough to notice it was enough to hit the bank.

But I was like, well, who am I doing this for? Am I doing it for the people who wanna see my bare feet or am I doing it for the people who wanna learn the exercise? So socks are on most of the time. And, um, but like you, you don’t, if you’ve, you have to do things in your he saw the video way, otherwise, at some point, That person’s gonna come out and it’s either gonna piss people off and deter them.

It could lose everything you built or you lose yourself in the process, which I think is much worse. So, um, I think that, but watching you do it in the way that makes sense to you is just proof that to everyone listening here, however, how, whatever it is that you want to do, whoever it is that you are, you don’t have to do these shiny object things that, that get instant gratification to get to where you wanna go.

You can be, you can get there just be being yourself.

Javeno McLean: I’ll tell you something, Les. What’s the name of this podcast? …(Lesley: Be It Till You See It). One second, one second. So this is the, this is a little bit my, my manager went crazy at me, right? So, listen, I get last la you know that the week that you asked me for the to do the podcast, I got asked by 12 of the podcast, and I’m at the stage where if I don’t like your face or your vibe, I’ll say NO, So all of these books, right?

And just to let you know, look, I’ve got best, I’ve got no fuck thought as well. Look, you guys,

Lesley Logan: if you’re watching on YouTube, you’ll see this all,

Javeno McLean: all of these books here that I’ve got here, right? These are all quotes, things that I write down that make over the years, over 22 years, things that quotes from people, quotes by myself, that makes sense that I need to learn.

And revise, yeah?, all these things in one of my first books. Guess what it says, …(Lesley: Be It Till You See It).

Lesley Logan: Yes.

Javeno McLean: So soon as I seen that, I said, hundred percent I need to come on this show and meet this lady. Because that there is, and this is the thing, that’s when you see, when you’re talking about being organic, anytime I film a video, anytime I’m working with someone. It’s never scripted. It’s not 3, 2, 1. Do this, do that.

And I’ve had loads of cameras over the last two years. Big TV companies come in and I’ve had to explain to ’em, this is not a gimmick. This is my life. These are real people. So anytime people have filmed, I’ve had to let them know. This is the most important thing is not you guys getting good footage.

It’s me making sure that I’m doing my job with the people that I’m training. If you want to film, you film from the outside and capture what you want. But at the end of the day, whoever I’m training, my job is to give that person as most, the most magic, the most amount of amazing in 30 minutes as I can. You just be hard from over there.

And I think just being organic and being yourself, I’m so glad that people notice that it’s just me being myself. Mm-hmm. And that’s why you see me in a lot of my videos with sliders, uh, or, or barefoot, I wear in the summertime. I don’t wear socks cause I feel more free when I’ve got bare feet and people always say things.

And even now that my following’s getting bigger, you always get the one stupid person. Why has he got no health and safety? Why has he not got … shut up. Let me, let me just be happy. Let me be happy. I don’t wanna wear socks. And I think exactly what you said, just being organic and real. And I think the, the person I’m trading, they see that and feel it.

And it makes them want to give me a bit more because I know that I’m being as real as I can, and then it lets them open up to me.

Lesley Logan: Yeah, I think, um, one of the best compliments I ever got, um, I was in Australia. I was in a car with some people who hired me to come down and teach, and I wanted to go to this one store.

And I was like, I was like, can we go? I know that we all wanna go to dinner, but like, can we go to the store before it closes because I really wanna buy this dress, this place. And they were in this car, we’re like laughing and talking, whatever, and they’re like, you’re the same person online as you are, like in person.

Mm-hmm. And I was like, mm-hmm. Yeah. Are people not around you? Like,

Javeno McLean: no, and that’s the crazy thing in our industry, there’s so much fakery and people pretending because let’s be real. If you pretend to be something that you are not, you’re more likely to make some money doing something. And now this is, we’re at, we’re at the point now where I think the real people need to stand up a little bit more and be heard because that’s what the fitness and health is about, fitness, health, and wellbeing, It’s about this, it’s not about the BS that we see on Instagram every day and it, and it mm-hmm.

And it’s, it, it’s not healthy. And I’m, I’m so glad that people are noticing real, real influences. Yeah. Not, not, yeah. It’s, I’m so happy. I’m so glad about

Lesley Logan: that. So I wanna know like where, because you’re being it till you see it all the time. So where are you trying to grow next? Like, what is your ultimate dream next?

Like where, what, like we could snap our fingers, we can make it happen, but you’re already acting as if it is ,so, where do you wanna go, , with all

Javeno McLean: this? Can I, I’m gonna be honest. I’m gonna be so, I’m gonna be honest and real. Lemme tell you this, Les,

all that. So every single day I, I get, uh, hundreds of messages from people all, all over the world, from countries that I didn’t even know existed. You, Uganda, Botswana, Yemen. Did you know there’s a country called Yemen?. I didn’t, I didn’t, I didn’t Yemen, all these people sending me beautiful messages, but I’ll never post them because that’s a personal, private, beautiful, thing between that person. I get hundreds of videos from people who watch the videos, watch my videos, who are disabled, and they, uh, they copy what I’ve put in the videos and they send me to say, look babe, look what you’ve made me do. So an example, one of, I had to talk about this, this young boy copied the video of me and, uh, Josh, one of my

youngsters.

Javeno McLean: And he was in his, uh, bedroom holding onto the dressing table that the, the, the closet thing. And he copied and he held himself up out of his wheelchair for 20 seconds. And he’s screaming, saying, Jav, look what I did. And he was just crying his eyes out saying, because he watched my video, it made him realize that that wheelchair doesn’t define him and he can do what Josh did in the video.

And I’ve received hundreds of them. So now, how many more thousands of people around the world can I get to do that? How many more people with dementia? How many more people with cancer, stroke, cerebral palsy, how many more people around the world? If I’ve, if I, let’s say now 10,000 people have sent me videos, disabled people from all over the globe say, look, oh my God, you’ve made me do this.

How many more millions can we reach? So the plan is to keep on doing what I’m doing and keep on spreading this as far and wide as I can. Because when people see real organic care, real beautiful interactions, wholesome interactions, whether you are able-bodied or disabled, it’s the most inspiring thing that you’ll see.

Yeah, and I think that’s my goal. My goal isn’t to, to, I’m not bothered about cars and this and that. My goal is to do exactly what I’m doing now and touch every corner of the globe.

Lesley Logan: Yeah. You wanna make the, you want your impact to just spread far and wide. Yeah. Um, uh, in your defense, I learned from Yemen from the show Friends, so

Javeno McLean: Oh, yeah.

Yes. Yeah.

Lesley Logan: Yemen. So, um, you know, I I I love that. I love that so much and I, like, I wanna ask you, and, and, and if you don’t have the full answer yet, then please just let my team know so we can add it in. When you do. Obviously y’all are gonna listen to this, are gonna share every one of his reels to people, because even if you only have 70 followers, you have the following and those 70 people need to see this.

But aside from sharing what you’re doing, is there anything that we can do to support spreading the word and helping you make this impact that you wanna make?

Javeno McLean: Keep on sharing the videos that, that, that’s all. Listen. There’s always somebody watching. That’s what I realized when some of these videos have gone so viral.

There’s always somebody watching. There’s always so everybody knows somebody elderly. Everybody knows somebody disabled. Everybody knows somebody going through a hard time. Yes. These videos are so powerful and I’m so, I’m, I’m so blessed that I, I’m in a position where my videos are impacting people so powerfully.

I get grown men every day crying and, and women all over the world crying and I. I’m, I’m just happy that, I’m just happy, Les, I’m happy with everything that’s going. And the what, the one thing that I really would love to do is, do you know about the world records Les? … (Lesley: The what?) The world records? The

Lesley Logan: World records?

Yeah. Like Guinness.

Javeno McLean: Yeah. So I’ve got, last year, I’ve, well, I’ve got two world records. I’ve got the world record for the biggest wheelchair exercise class, and I’ve got the world record for the biggest disabled exercise class. I’ve got an idea for this year. I’m gonna break the, I’m gonna break the world record again, but I’m gonna set it up as a big, I’m gonna do it in a big room, a big like room or arena in Manchester, but I’m also gonna give people around the world an opportunity to join in via Zoom.

Yeah, I’m gonna get a big screen. Yes.

Lesley Logan: You can have everyone’s faces on there, you see? Yes, Leslie. Exactly. Yes. So I’m in, can you get like, isn’t there like a big soccer like football stadium in Manchester?

Javeno McLean: Isn’t there like a big… () I’m gonna try, I’m gonna try and we’re trying to get into a stadium. Uh, but ideally, whenever, whenever I do make the announcement, anyone who follows me, I think if everyone could share that and we can, that a world record that’s involving disabled people, From around the world, Les, that that’ll be absolutely outstanding.

Lesley Logan: Well, please like sign us up for however we can help you and we want to, um, I wish I knew someone who owned a stadium to donate it to you, but maybe I do. Maybe one of my people listening to this can let me know if I’m like, how many degrees away we are. But I love this because, you know, I think people get bogged down by how much shit is like happening in the world.

Like they’re so, like any, you, you open up any app and there’s obviously people doing stuff, but there’s also like, Just these big catastrophes happening to people all over the world. And I think people get overwhelmed. Like, what? I can’t do anything about that. Yeah. And I feel that as someone who like has a big heart, I feel that.

And I think it’s like it’s not about us help. Like you don’t have to be the person who’s trying to solve all the world’s problems. You just have to find one problem that you’re so passionate about. Yeah. And you go all in on that. And what you’re doing is like bringing so much light to a population of people.

That have either been written off or underestimated or not noticed because people don’t know what to do when, when they’re with them. And so I love that because that changes the world if more people feel seen. And this is why I teach, because it helped me connect more to myself. And when you connect to yourself, you can connect more to others.

Like that’s really what it’s right. Definitely. I do this because I know that the way, if more people are connected to themselves, they connect more to others, there’s like world peace. Like we’re all of a sudden just better people. You, the more people feel seen in this world. The, the more they feel empowered to do whatever it is on this planet that they could do.

And so I just love, I just love what it is. I just love that so much. And I hope that if, if you’re listening, whatever that is for you, it can be anything. It could be any kind of population of people or plants or something, but go all in with this passion and don’t let there be a barrier to it. Like, don’t set yourself up.

Like there’s a, there’s a, a barrier. So you just, I feel like you’ve inspired me and I hope you’re inspiring everyone listening that you don’t have to stop just because this is what the RX for something or someone is.

Javeno McLean: Yeah, and I, I couldn’t agree any more or less. And one thing that I really noticed is, look at this now, did you say, let me tell, tell me about your family.

Tell me about your immediate family that you’ve got now. Oh,

Lesley Logan: I have uh, my parents, my dad is 70. He deadlifts you guys almost 300 pounds, just so you know.

Go on

Javeno McLean: daddy!

Lesley Logan: Does. I know, I know, I know. Um, and then I have, uh, my mom, she’s a school teacher for first graders. And then, um, I have a brother and sister. Mm-hmm.

Javeno McLean: Brilliant. So now listen to this. If Lesley is sad or upset, mommy and daddy feel that pain. Your brother, your sisters. If you go through something and you are not good, your mom, your dad, your family, they, they, they’re riding with you. Every cry, every tear, every bit of sadness that you have, your mom and dad and your family feel that just as much as you coz’ they love you.

Mm-hmm. And one thing that I’m so grateful of is their family involvement with what I’m doing. So somebody that I’m training, whether they’re in a wheelchair or not, cancer, dementia, stroke. The happiness that their families are now getting is unbelievable. There’s every single person who I train their families will message me and ring me and come and see me to tell me that the impact that it’s making, on not just the person who I’m training, but that person’s family, that person’s mom and dad, that person’s grandmother, grandfather, that person’s husband, wife.

So every single person that I’m training, it’s never just about me making that person happy. If I make that person happy, that filters through the entire family. And before you know it, Les, I’ve been welcomed into hundreds of new families and it’s the most beautiful thing when I go somewhere, when I walk around my local community.

Not even well, to be honest. Now, when I go anywhere in the world and people realize, and people, people can sometimes say things to me, well, let, let’s say Manchester and in England when somebody says, I know the person that you trained, because may I, I’m related to that person, you’ve made my whole family happy.

Because now whoever the person is, is now happier. They’re more joyful. They’re laughing again. They’re smiling again. People have forgotten how to smile. Yeah, because the, cause the world’s not in a good place and it’s so much sadness. A lot of people don’t smile anymore. They don’t laugh anymore. So when somebody says, I’ve made their grandmother laugh again and smile again, and wanna start being showing more of who they are, because a lot of people have lost themselves with covid, with the war in Ukraine, with the cost of living, with everything that’s going on, it’s making families happy and I’m so glad that I’m the person that’s opening that, that floodgate of love, if that makes sense. Yeah, yeah. You know what I mean? It’s powerful.

Lesley Logan: Yeah. I mean it’s, well, to go back to it, it’s like we forget that the actions we take to help others are, it’s a chain reaction. Yeah. And so your one, your one thing that feels small is actually much bigger than you’ll ever know.

And someday, hopefully you’ll be in a place like you are, where you get to hear about those that, that daisy chain effect that’s going on. Um, , I, you have kids and, and a and a and a spouse and everything. Um, it must be so fun for them to be around you cuz you have so much energy. Are they involved in what you do or are they like your, like, not a respite, but like your time away is with them.

Javeno McLean: Yeah, it’s bit my, my, I got two. I’ve got two beautiful boys and my wife. And my wife’s obviously she knows I’m a bit crazy. The energy…(Lesley: she loves it). She does, she does mean wife. My little boys are crazy. They, they’ve got my energy les, my little, my, my youngest Leo, he’s only one. He, he doesn’t, he, he’s not got a clue what’s going on.

He just wakes up every day, Les. He just goes, ah, all day. That’s all he does. All he does. Ah, that’s all he does.

Lesley Logan: He’s learning his voice and he hears you yelling. So he thinks he’s talking. That’s,

Javeno McLean: he does. My, my eldest son Mason, his energy, and, and to be honest, he’s, he’s, he understands what Daddy’s doing now and he sees how far it’s going and how many people I’m helping. And he’s very proud, and my wife’s very proud as well. And, and that’s what it’s all about for me. Just making the family proud and making me mom and dad and my wife and everyone proud, and I can only make him proud if every single time I, I’m on a platform to speak.

I’m just as real and as honest and as organic as I can be. Mm-hmm. And that’s all that matters and I’m, I’m just, I’m glad, fingers crossed, it continues and I’m glad that. I’m glad we’ve always going, man.

Lesley Logan: Yeah. Oh, well, , I, I wanna talk to you for hours. Um, but you also have a family and it is, uh, getting to be at least dinnertime, if not past it where you are.

So we’re gonna take a brief break. Yeah. And then we’re gonna find out where people can find you, follow you, stalk you like I did. And your Be It action items. Alright, , where do you like to hang out? Where can people help you, support you, follow you, all those things? Well guys,

Javeno McLean: I’m on socials. I’m on. I’m, I’m 38 years old, so I’m new to all the social media things, so I’m on Instagram, J seven Health, I think.

What, what’s my name? What’s my name? J seven Health . I think I’m called on Instagram, on I’m TikTok. I’ve been on TikTok for about 10 months and it’s gone crazy. My TikTok name is what?

Lesley Logan: Your TikTok name, I don’t know, but your, uh, your Instagram is J seven Health . That’s it. Yeah. Yeah. We’ll get your TikTok definitely linked below for sure.

Javeno McLean: I can see here. TikTok is Seven guys. Go on there. Follow and listen. I’m not trying to sell nothing. All I want people to is if you like the video comment, say something nice and if you know somebody that maybe would benefit from seeing the video. Pass that joy and pass on that love, and then it’ll keep on spreading.

That’s all I wish. That’s all I want.

Lesley Logan: All right. You’ve given us so many things to think about, but bold, executable, intrinsic, targeted steps people can take to Be It Till They See It. What do you have for us? Uh,

Javeno McLean: Family, I generally believe. If your family about the front of your thoughts all the time, you’ll always, always have a reason to be yourself and a reason to not let people down, especially the ones that mean the most.

And when it comes to being until you see it, I think you need to understand the journey. Understand that people won’t understand where you want to go. People are not gonna understand your dream because it’s yours. The dream and the vision that you created for yourself and your family or your mission, other people are not going to see it the way you want to.

Only you can see it, and you have to understand that not everyone’s gonna be supportive. Not everyone’s gonna want you to win, and you need to understand that it doesn’t really matter what everybody else wants. All that matters is what you want, and just be passionate about it and don’t let do everything that you need to do to keep your passion alive.

And that’s one thing that I, I make sure that I do every single day, like an every single day. Les, I listen to Justin Bieber. Do you know why? Because I like Justin Bieber. People look at a big black guy and want me to listen to Snoop Dogg. I don’t wanna listen to Snoop Dogg. I want Justin Bieber. I like Bonjovi.

You know Bonjovi, probably walks alone in the dark. That’s my job, Les. But I make sure that I do things every day to make happy. Because it’s all about just being as honest as you can for yourself. And I think when you’re talking about investing in something and trying to achieve something, just be yourself.

Whether, whether there’s a tsunami or a tornado , there’s gonna be so many things that are gonna wanna shape your personality and your character. Make sure you stay solid. Mm-hmm. Make sure you stay solid and do what you wanna do and uh, and that’s how you really achieve it, I think.. And I think when you like, like the podcast is called Be It Until You See It.

I think there’s nothing more powerful than that. That that’s that saying. As soon as I seen the name of the podcast, it, I, I can’t, it blew me away cuz it’s something that I’ve literally done my whole life and this is why it made sense for me to speak to you as. Mm-hmm. Thank you for the opportunity girl.

Really

Lesley Logan: do appreciate it. , thank you so much. Uh, truly this was a dream. And, um, blew, blew my dreams out of the water. It was everything more than I ever anticipated. You were amazing y’all. How are you going to use these tips in your life? I want you to tag . I want you to tag the Be It pod.

I want you to share this episode no matter how, you know how to share it. I don’t care if it, you just show it to someone or if you actually know the tech to share it. I want, don’t let that stop you from, from taking something that inspired you and giving it to someone else, because that could be the best thing you do for them that day.

I will. I’m so grateful for Steven for sharing your reel with me because that’s how we got here. And you always bring a smile to my face and I can tell you’re changing the lives of those You’re with Soo. Thank you so much everyone. Until next time. Be It Till You See It..

Javeno McLean: Thank you, Les.

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Lesley Logan
That’s all I’ve got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate this show and leave a review. And, follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to podcasts. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over on IG at the @be_it_pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us help others to BE IT TILL YOU SEE IT. Have an awesome day!

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Lesley Logan
‘Be It Till You See It’ is a production of the ‘Bloom Podcast Network’.

Brad Crowell
It’s written, filmed and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan and me, Brad Crowell.

Lesley Logan
It is produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.

Brad Crowell
Our theme music is by Ali at APEX Production Music. And our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.

Lesley Logan
Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals and Ximena Velasquez for our transcriptions.

Brad Crowell
Also to Angelina Herico for adding all the content to our website. And finally to Meridith Crowell for keeping us all on point and on time.