You’d never think that a shy school kid who turned red every time a girl came up to him…
Would go on to become a magazine featured IFBB Pro who has helped people all over the world lose a total of 30,500+ LBS in his career.
But this is exactly the story of how Shaun Standridge (Wycked Shaun) became an IFBB Pro despite the odds…
Before becoming the owner of multiple international health and fitness brands.
I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing him on his amazing journey from being a shy, timid kid to building rock-solid confidence for himself…
And the biggest mindset shifts that had led him to success.
From Shy Kid To Being Able To Talk To ANYONE
While he might be an IFBB pro world champion today…
When Shaun was in school, he definitely wasn’t the popular social butterfly.
Far from it, in fact, since he started off being the “nice guy” shy kid.
Anytime a girl came up to him, his face would turn “bloodshot red” while he was “sweating”
And he couldn’t stand the guys that would get all the girls back then…
While he had struggled to get even a single word out to a girl.
“It’s different when you’re talking to your homies versus talking to girls and strangers”.
So he decided to build his confidence so he could talk to those girls.
But there was always the voice at the back of his mind…
Telling him that he wasn’t good enough in school.
And this made it hard for him to build that confidence since that was the only area he could compare himself to his peers, besides sports and fitness.
So he decided to play in sports games as a way for the girls to finally see him.
But it came with its challenges.
At a young age, we’re all given certain abilities that we can then turn into talents if we become very skilled at it.
And for Shaun, size was not one of his strongest traits.
From T-ball all the way to high school football, Shaun was one of the smaller kids as far as height and weight go.
Shaun was also an ectomorph, was premature, and didn’t “grow” until he was 17 years old.
Despite that, he was able to rely on his thinking to get ahead.
He outsmarted the bigger kids and was faster than them.
The more obstacles he surpassed, the more games he won, the more confident he became in himself.
It was playing in these games that Shaun had discovered that he was good at sports and fitness.
As he grew, his confidence grew to the point where speaking to people wasn’t a problem for him anymore.
And while he was able to start talking to girls without breaking a sweat…
What he really enjoyed the most was the ability to talk to ANYONE.
Many of the kids may have been better than him at school…
But when it came to physical education or even maths classes, Shaun came out on top.
“I’m just gonna do what I’m good at cause everyone is going in different directions”
“PT Doesn’t Pay Well”
For every dream that someone has, there are a series of external and internal obstacles.
And these obstacles are there to test the person.
To see if that person has what it takes to push forward and fulfill their dreams.
For Shaun, he wanted to go pro in baseball or football.
But just like for countless people who wanted to go pro, it didn’t turn out well for him.
“There’s only so many major league baseball and NFL players, getting paid to play a game we all wish we could go pro at”.
There were also the doubts that built in his head when his dad, a 6″5 smarter version of Shaun and his brother (Shaun’s uncle), a 6″8 better athlete than his dad, couldn’t go pro themselves.
On top of that, his dad had a history of major health issues, going in and out of the doctors throughout middle school and high school.
He struggled with BP, Cholesterol, Diabetes, had a stroke, got a seizure and had to have a pacemaker.
So all that was replaying inside of Shaun’s head was the thought that it was unlikely that he would ever fulfill his dream of going pro himself.
While his resolve in himself was getting lower, people had taken notice of his large physique since he loved to train in the gym.
And for years and years, “people have been asking in the gym “do you train people?” I kept saying “No I don’t”.
One day, Shaun had a realization..
People came to him for his work ethic and he kept turning them down.
And he thought to himself, “what am I doing? Why not I do something that people want me to do that makes me happy and get paid for it?”
“Sure, I can go get a construction job or sell some cell phones or go work at the bar and sell drinks for crazy hours but none of that will make me happy”.
Shaun was also gifted with looking the appearance of someone who had a great body.
People are drawn to and want to work with those who look a certain way.
Not everyone has the genetic potential for that.
So when Shaun had that realization, he felt it would’ve been a waste if he didn’t start helping these people as a trainer.
“I realized that there’s a certain look to you that naturally makes you look like a leader. I felt I had that ability”.
His father had a different idea, however.
He told him…”you don’t want to lose your construction job. You make good money. You got benefits. You got retirement funds, all that good stuff if you just sit with it”.
And Shaun replied, “yeah but that’s not what I want to do”.
“PT doesn’t pay well”
“Yeah it might not and it’s going to be a struggle at first. But I rather do that because I enjoy it. I’m never not going to enjoy it”.
After that exchange, he pulled the trigger and the rest was history.
From “I can’t do it” to…“I’ll train until my doctor says “sorry you can’t lift anymore”.
Anyone who starts off training will find it hard at first to keep consistent.
But as you continue to train and rack those weights, you get better at training.
Eventually, you get to the point where you say to yourself, “my day is just not right until I hit the gym. I need the endorphins”.
When you train, you get those endorphins and it makes you feel good.
And this mentality of being consistent…
This mentality of challenging the voice in your head that says “I can’t do it” and then turning it into “I can do it”…
Has proven to be the key needle mover to all of his successes.
He applied it to his workouts. And then he applied to his career and even his relationships.
“I wanted to give that to others. People come to me because they are tired of doing it by themselves and keep failing at it or just straight up give up”.
When Shaun was a kid, he was inspired to turn pro as an athlete by guys like Greg Plit (American fitness model) when he was turning up in every magazine.
When he first started in fitness, he was just doing it for the looks.
But then it turned into his training and inspiring people all over the world to be in the best shape of their life.
Whenever a client comes in with the “I can’t do it” mentality…
Shaun would show them examples of client successes of people who look just like them.
“That’s you. You’re him. You’re her. If they can do it, so can you”.
And for Shaun, there’s no greater feeling than to see people believe in themselves and to love how they look in the mirror.
Even people from around the world message him talking about how they were inspired by his content even though he had never met them before.
“In the end, I love what I do. I get to transform people”.
Building Next-Level Rock-Solid Confidence
For years, people asked Shaun to train them.
And he could’ve just taken on clients and trained them…
While maintaining his own physique.
But there was a moment where he decided he wasn’t going to stop there.
He was in a supplement store and the clerk said to him, “you should get into bodybuilding”.
And even though Shaun knew he couldn’t reach the size of a bodybuilder…
He knew that he could do Physique competitions.
This became his new goal to take his fitness to the next level.
And over time, he stepped into a whole new level as a trainer.
He isn’t just considered a trainer who looks good but a trainer who is good at what he does in terms of taking one’s physique to the next level.
That allowed him to build confidence in himself.
As his belief in himself grew more and more, so did his client base.
As he went into bodybuilding, his fitness career took off.
Instagram gave him a platform to put himself out there and reach more people.
Today, this once shy kid is not only an IFBB Pro, but he is the owner of multiple businesses…a supplement business, a coaching business, and an apparel line.
A lot of this was never planned. Shaun just decided time and time again to follow his heart, do what he loved, and stay true to who he is as a person.
And now, not only does he have rock-solid confidence but he also has a clear path on what he wants to build.
When he was in his teens and early twenties (before he was bodybuilding), he didn’t have a clear path other than getting a few clients here and there.
Today, if someone else wants to be an IFBB pro or own multiple businesses or even developing rock-solid confidence within themselves…
Shaun can pass on the torch to others.
Besides staying true to yourself…
Having a mentor who has been through trials and errors was absolutely crucial to his success.
Especially in a world where society teaches you to go to school (which doesn’t teach you how to grow an empire of your own or level up your fitness) and then get a “well-paying job”.
The 4 Biggest Mindset Shifts To A Fitness Entrepreneurial Empire
#1: Consistency
To the people who are looking for a “secret sauce” to success…
You may be disappointed to hear that Shaun’s success was not due to any secret sauces.
The only secret sauce was the fact that Shaun has been consistent for the past 17 years since high school.
This consistency started when he was told that he “couldn’t do it”.
And while he may not have gone pro in football or baseball…
Through years of consistency, he got to the level of IFBB Pro and today he gets to send the elevator back down for the people who have similar dreams that he did.
When Shaun wanted to go pro football, he was one of the smaller kids on the field.
The coaches praised him for having the best instincts in the field but since he was small, he had to outsmart them and outmaneuver them.
He also grew his body so he could be the best athlete.
It was consistency that created the fitness empire he enjoys today.
It was the consistency that got him the physique to the point where people said to him, “I want that”.
It was 8 years of consistency that gave him a clear path on what he wanted to be doing…
Since he took on about 10 different jobs and didn’t go into PT right away.
If he didn’t stay consistent in his fitness, he wouldn’t be where he is today since…
“There wasn’t supposed to be a career in this”.
When you are consistent in something…
It shows that you probably love it enough that you want to do more with it.
And what you create can “transcend into something more than you imagined”.
Your dream becomes your business or main source of income.
So if you can’t be consistent with something, then that’s probably not something you’d want to turn into a business.
#2: Not giving up
Shaun had 10 years in the gym and by the 10.5-11 year mark, he started to compete.
He thought that because he looked a certain way, that he would turn pro the first year.
It took him 6-7 regional shows just to get the confidence to do nationals.
Then it took him 7 national shows before he was able to turn pro.
And during his journey, there were moments where he was on the verge of giving up.
For instance, during his middle school years, he wasn’t doing well in his classes.
His coach went up to him and said, “Hey I heard you were struggling to do well in your school”.
He said, “yeah I am”.
The coach said, “I’m gonna make a deal with you. During the week, you don’t need to show up to practice”.
“What do you mean?”
“You’re good enough to play on the weekends. And you’re going to start. But you don’t need to not come to practice, because during practice, you need to be doing your homework. Now, I’m gonna let the team know. But you’re gonna show up on the game day and that’s all you gotta do”.
So Shaun got his grades up.
And because he was so good at the sport, they allowed him to do that.
“No one gets this special treatment like that, not that I know of”.
It was at this time that he wanted to quit.
Instead, Shaun went up to his coach and said, “no coach, I’m going to practice. I’m gonna still get my homework done. And I’m gonna play on the weekends”.
Later on, in his 6th national show, he took 2nd place for the 2nd time in a row.
And that was also a moment where he wanted to give up.
But his coach told him, “no, you’re gonna do the next one in five weeks”.
Two weeks into that five weeks, Shaun had a hamstring injury.
Once again, he was ready to quit…
“Obviously I’m not meant to go pro. I’m coming so close every single time”.
During his injury, he could only do the bike.
He couldn’t do the stairsteps or most of the cardio.
Luckily he was already conditioned from the previous national show.
If Shaun had given up and not done any national shows anymore, then he would’ve never gotten his pro card.
His coach made him hunker down, “you’re still going to do cardio in the morning. We’re just going to improvise”.
He started with the bike. Then he did swimming (which was a lot less impact on his hamstring).
Three weeks later, he did the national show and he got his pro card.
So whatever it is that you really want, you’ll get there as long as you don’t give up.
“Where there’s a will, there’s a way”
Many people may think he got to this point because of his “genetics” …
But “everyone can have genetics. You still gotta show up and do the work. If you’re not practicing your pose, every Joe Schmoe that wants it more is going to beat you”.
#3: Self Belief
If you’re not consistent, you’re not going to do anything great.
Always think that you’re going to come at #2.
The key is to believe in yourself (even when you’re hitting plateaus and you’re on the verge of overwhelming odds).
When you continue to believe in yourself and you refuse to give up, that’s when you become consistent.
And as you’ve read in this article before, consistency is the secret sauce to success.
When you put these three elements together – Consistency, Not giving up, Self Belief – you’re unstoppable.
#4: Block Out The Negativity
The last element to success is what Shaun would refer to as his number #1 piece of advice that he would tell his younger self 12 years ago.
There are a lot of naysayers out there who either get jealous if you surpass them or they don’t believe in you.
And whatever it is that you want in life, only YOU know what your potential is.
If Shaun had gone into construction because his father told him that being a PT is hard and you make less money…
He would’ve never gone down this path.
Who knows where he would be today.
And he was on the edge of doing so 12 years ago.
So if Shaun were to go back in time, he would’ve told his younger self to block out the negativity.
Not only from his family, but from his friends as well.
He loved training but he had a hard time transitioning it into a full-time career because people around him were against it.
So if you truly want to be happy, don’t chase the thing which brings the most amount of money.
When you do what fires you up, your work doesn’t feel like work which makes it much easier to be consistent.
When you’re not happy like too many people are in their careers…
You can’t get that consistency, that momentum rolling.
You’ll just become a “jack of all trades” with nothing special that makes you stand out.
But that fire that comes with what you love will also radiate into the products and services that you create.
And in the end, a great product/service sells itself.
You can’t expect to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger or have Richard Branson money after two months.
You need the 4 elements: Consistency, Not Giving Up, Self Belief, and to Block Out The Negativity.
You can learn more about Wycked Shaun Standridge by clicking here
