Spencer With SISU: [00:00:00] I was face down 10 feet away from when I hit the ski lift pole. I thought I had broken both my legs. I, don't know how before this, but I hear people breaking their eggs and dying because of the loss of blood. And I was like, I'm gonna die.
Riley: Well, welcome to the show today I have Spencer Crosland.
He is, well, he's a salt customer. He, he's a wholesaler of salt. He, uh, he buys from us and sells retail in his business. Now Spencer is the owner of [00:01:00] a coal plunge, sauna, A therapy. Would I call it a therapy? how do you refer
Spencer With SISU: Yeah. Therapy. We, we call it a wellness center.
Riley: Um, I got to experience it last week, and it was fantastic. So, um, yeah, SP Spencer, welcome to the show, man.
Spencer With SISU: Thank you. Ri, it's good to be here with you and, uh, with salt, electrolytes and you. So thank you.
Riley: great. Um, now listen, is it pronounced sisu, or am I saying it right? 'cause I've, I've, I've just decided that's
Spencer With SISU: it's sisu. I know we get a lot of different pronunciations, but it is sisu, sisu.
Riley: Awesome. And we're gonna talk about that more as the show progresses. But I wanted to start out with who is Spencer? Uh, where did you grow up? What did life look like as a kid?
Spencer With SISU: So I, I love talking about my childhood. I think I had the best of childhoods. I grew up in a small, it was a coal mining town in Kemmer, Wyoming. Uh, most people call it [00:02:00] kemmerer 'cause it has a double ER at the end. Uh, most people go through kemmer for fishing, uh, hiking, camping, uh, in the wilderness of Wyoming.
And I grew up of, I there. I grew up with a large family. I was the seventh of 10 kids. And I remember, I know huge, huge family. And uh, but I remember, I tell my kids, I tell my kids all the time, I was like, I had breakfast in the morning and I was gone all day until dinner. Uh, during the summertime, I mean, I, I got on my bike and we went floating the river.
We went looking for golf balls. Um, we went and played baseball. We just, we just had so much fun and we were just gone all day. And I don't went to the swimming pool. We just found food where we could went to a friend's house, but it was, it was competitive too. I like, if you played Monopoly with me, I could tell you all the, the properties from Mediterranean Avenue all the way to boardwalk the rent.
So in the winter times it was cold. So we played Monopoly [00:03:00] and it was just fun. I loved growing up in Wyoming. The winters are harsh there. Um, it's funny. So we actually moved here from Wyoming and I can tell a little what happened in between now and then, but. Uh, we moved here from Wyoming where I was a teacher in Wyoming and we moved here in 2016.
So my wife, she grew up in Melba, Idaho and so we are coming home for her. And so we moved here in 2016 and everybody's like, where'd you move from? I said, well, we moved from Wyoming. They're like, oh, you're love the winter. So we got here in like March April of 2016 and if you remember ri that winter, 2016, 17 was the snowmageddon is what they call it.
And I'm like, this is not a light winter. The guys, this is like a true winter school. Shut down for weeks. Yeah.
Riley: Yeah.
Spencer With SISU: So,
Riley: you, if you don't live around here, uh, Boise's in what's called the banana Belt of Idaho and
Spencer With SISU: yeah.[00:04:00]
Riley: have pretty mild winters. We get snow in the mountains a tiny bit down here in the valley. Usually one or two big snows, we'll get eight or 10 inches that. It melts pretty quick and, and the valley is pretty bare, but not that year.
Yeah. If you moved here in 2016, we, we got
Spencer With SISU: Yeah,
Riley: and it stayed for, what, eight weeks or 10 weeks, something like that. It was brutal. Yeah. Welcome to Boise, my friend.
Spencer With SISU: Yes. Thank you. Yeah. We love it here.
Riley: Yeah. So Kim, I love that you talk about it as Camera River. 'cause every time we drive through there, I, I pronounce it, I, I say the ER like four times, ka.
Spencer With SISU: Yes. Yep.
Riley: have a little bit of that in Calm. And that was a household name in my, in my home growing up because my father was a railroader he would
Spencer With SISU: Oh yeah.
Riley: to Green River and that was his, one of his routes. It was either to Green River or it was to Nampa. [00:05:00] And uh, so Cameron was part of that route.
You know, he'd go through there and so Yeah,
with it,
Spencer With SISU: you know, I found it odd 'cause if you look at Wyoming Maps, KE is on the map and I'm like, why is Kemmer on the map of all places? But I, it was a large railroad town because of the coal and it still is, I mean, it's a big way through there, uh, for, for trains. So, um, I remember we're, I worked on the trains, uh, growing up.
Um, we emptied train cars and uh, level train tracks and so,
Riley: Yeah. That's, that's pretty cool man. You are the first person I've ever met from camera rah.
Spencer With SISU: yep. Yep.
Riley: Um,
college experience, talk, talk about that kind of kind of life. You went high school, college, what did that look like for you?
Spencer With SISU: So growing up, again, big family. We played sports in a small town, thank goodness for sports. 'cause who knows [00:06:00] what would happen if there was no sports. But, so my goals and dreams was always play college football. And so that's what I, I went and did, I, I had a scholarship to North Dakota, just a small NAIA school, played football and track.
And then after one year, I ended up transferring to the University of Wyoming, where I played college rugby, um, college rugby. You know, people say, man, that's a rough sport. It's like, you know, football, football people are hitting without, I mean, they're just hitting just pure power. With rugby, you're actually properly hitting people because you don't have the pads to protect you, but.
Rugby was so fun. We went to the Final four tournament where I actually played quite a bit in the tournament. Um, we ended up taking fourth, but still it was a great experience. And then I actually ended up graduating from UVU, um, at Utah Valley. And that's where, in Orum, that's where I met my wife and I got my degree in, uh, physical education.
And then I ended up [00:07:00] getting a jo. My first job out of college was in Lyman, Wyoming, where I taught special education. And I tell you of all the jobs that I've ever had, that was one of the most rewarding jobs, um,
Riley: Mm-hmm.
Spencer With SISU: You know, I'd write notes to parents every day or several times a week. And I actually get a phone call probably once a month from one of my students.
And this was, this was special, I mean, severe special needs where we were teaching. We had a kitchen in our room, we had a bathroom down the hall. We were teaching how to cook, how to clean, how to write your name. I mean, this was in high school too, so it was a really rewarding job, you know? 'cause a lot of the teachers were like, man, I'm getting phone calls from parents because their kid got a C on the gl on the, on the test.
And I'm like, man, all I get is thank you for being here. We just love having a good teacher here. Um, that just cared for the kids. And so it really was, uh, a really rewarding position. But when I missed a test by one point, I had [00:08:00] to look for something else. And that's kind of what brought us here to Idaho.
And. My wife asked me after I missed my, it was my praxis test by one point. Um, she's like, well, what would you, what do you wanna do? I said, you know, if I could do anything, I would flip houses. And then she was actually talking to a friend here in Idaho, a a good family friend, and he was actually investing with somebody flip houses.
And I called him up, I said, Hey, I wanna talk to the guy that's flipping houses. I'm kind of, you know, interested in that. He's like, well, well Spencer, I'll invest with you. And so we bought our first house in Lyman, Wyoming. And I, as I was flipping it, and as we got it listed, he was like, um, you should come to Idaho.
And so I came to Idaho and we started flipping houses. And so we flipped houses for three to four years from our, we bought our first house in December of 2016, and we did five to seven houses a year, [00:09:00] um, until 2019. And then. Uh, and this kind of goes along with what I've, what I'm doing prior to csu. Um, and then 2019 or 2018, we actually started a bounce house inflatable rental company.
And so we, we bought a couple of bounce houses. I know I, I've always, even in college, I was always like, man, I wanna, I wanna work for myself. I wanna be the boss and, you know, have my own schedule. And, you know, I didn't realize what all comes along with being your own boss, um, when I became my own boss, because it's, I mean, it's not always pretty, you know, as you know, it's, I mean, there's ups and downs and, you know, sometimes, you know, flipping houses, sometimes it was six months before I got paid, um, to till that house got sold.
But, uh, I became a general contractor in that time. I became a, a real estate agent. Um, I'm currently an inactive real estate agent, [00:10:00] but I just see all those, all those dollars going away with agents like, man, I need to do something to, to save some of that money. Um, but then in 2019, we stopped doing BA or in, uh, construction, um, at least flipping house.
I still do remodels and handyman stuff, but the bounce house has been kind of our go-to, uh, for the last couple years.
Riley: own the
Spencer With SISU: Um, we still own the bounce houses, so we, our, our bounce house company to throw a flag in for that is cupcake, bounce house rentals, and so we have big water slides, uh, combo units. It's, it's a party, like my kids love it when I set 'em up to clean it.
They, uh, they love dad bounce house today. I was like, no, not today. But it's, it is fun. It's like when you go to deliver it to a house, all the kids are just waiting on the side, the sidewalk just waiting for the bounce house truck to show up with the bounce houses. So it really is fun and, um, it's a fun business to have.[00:11:00]
Riley: You know, I, I, you and I haven't never talked about this, but I, for, had a stint right outta high school where I delivered flowers and it was kind of that way, man, like, everyone's happy to see you when you deliver flowers.
Spencer With SISU: Yeah, yeah.
Riley: that's, that's pretty cool. Um, what was it that, uh, are you still flipping houses still doing that?
Spencer With SISU: No, I, I, I'm not right now, my investor and I, in 2020, we were kind of like, man. Real estate is expensive and we're like, I I, we are like, we don't wanna put that much money into it, not knowing what's gonna happen. So we, that's when we kind of stopped in 2020. Um, we stopped flipping houses and so I, I do remodels a little bit.
Um, I've, I've got a couple dairymen in Melba actually that I do some work for on a kind of regular basis. Um, but yeah, I no more flipping house. I do wanna get back into it. 'cause I get emails [00:12:00] all the time about wholesaling and I'm like, man, if I didn't have money tied up into all this, I'd, I'd wanna flip a house.
Because I, I love going from a, a hou like a house and then seeing the finished product and you know, every day maybe you don't see a big difference, but every week there's just a huge improvement. It's fun to see something finished. And complete. And so it's always, it's a fun project for me. And you know, my investor, he was like, he said, Spencer, I don't see how you do it.
You, you see a house and you'd be like, I can turn that house into this. And he, my investor was a retired farmer and he's like, I can kind of do that with a farm, with a field. I can get that field and be like, I'm gonna turn this into that. Um, and so it's just, it's fun to see different minds work with experiences that they've had and they what they do have.
And so it's neat to just see people work. 'cause it's amazing what people do with their
Riley: [00:13:00] Yeah. Uh, you know, I have another company that I own that's a mobile. We have a mobile oil change company. We have trucks that go out and and change oil on site. was something. But prior to that, I was in construction. I did remodeling stuff for uh, like exterior siding and window stuff. that's been a decade and a half ago, you know, but that was something that when I changed from that construction to oil changes was a very unexpected, and kind of difficult transition for me 'cause I didn't have that finished product.
You're talking about, you know, you talk about seeing the changes over time. When I changed the oil on a vehicle, it looks exactly the same. it did before I started, you know, and I, I struggled with that. I didn't, I didn't think I would, but for a while it was like, man, I don't see a thing I built. not
Spencer With SISU: Yeah.
Yeah.
Riley: Yeah. Um, Spencer, what's, uh, you, you mentioned earlier [00:14:00] that you, you were really enticed by this idea of, I wanna be my own boss, but it came with other challenges. What, what kind of challenges? Talk about that a little bit.
Spencer With SISU: You know, the EM employees, um, and all it comes with, you know, finding a good one. If you want to get rid of 'em, how are you gonna get rid of 'em? What you're gonna pay 'em, you know, can you trust 'em with what you know? How, how far do you, how much information do you give them with your business and, and stuff?
And then, you know, insurance, the payroll and the taxes. Holy cow, the taxes are incredibly large.
Um, but. But there, and I, I, you know, sometimes, you know, with my wife and I we're like, man, I was like, I can go get a job where I can get paid every two weeks. I've got benefits, I've got time off that I can [00:15:00] take.
Um, 'cause when you're the boss, like you don't get time off. You answer the phone call when it rings. Um, you might not get paid this week. And so there's, I tell people, I said, if you wanna go into business by yourself, it's, it is so fun. And it's, it's amazing, but it's hard. Like, you can't, you can't, when you get up in the morning, you gotta go to work.
You can't sleep in till 10, till 11, you gotta get after it. And that's earn your salt. You gotta go to work. So.
Riley: Oh, well said man. I think there is, you know, I've discussed that with other guests on the podcast, how people will oftentimes be a good technician at something. Maybe they're good in a certain form of construction or you know, they're good working with their hands on, on it is, but they'll come into their own business 'cause they want to be their boss.
And that is a common, thing for people to kinda just get smacked in the face with the art [00:16:00] of running and owning a business is, it's a different thing than being a good technician.
Spencer With SISU: Yes,
Riley: Have you, do you
Spencer With SISU: absolutely. And
Riley: about working at night?
Spencer With SISU: dream about working at night?
Riley: ever dream about it? You wake up in the morning and you worked all
Spencer With SISU: Oh, yes. I do that quite often. Or I'm up all night working. I mean, that happens more often than I'd like to say, and not, not so much now, um, when I was flipping houses. I, I would constantly like, I would lay in bed and be like, Hey, what am I doing tomorrow? Um, and it's, that's just, that's the beast of owning a business is, you know, sometimes like, man.
And so I like, I love owning my own business. And it would, I think it would be, I don't, I think I could go work for somebody, I think. Yeah, that'd be easy. 'cause I think I'm really easy to get along with. But sometimes like, man, I would love to just go to work for somebody, come [00:17:00] home, hang the tie up and just chill because, you know, phone calls, emails, um, they're constantly coming.
Riley: that's a fact. That is a fact. That is a hard thing for people to, to reconcile. once you do, man, I, I say a, a well run business is a blast. poorly one is like. It is like a bad marriage, you know? It's just, it's terrible.
Spencer With SISU: Yeah.
Riley: yeah, business
Spencer With SISU: Yeah. And that, you know, that's. You've said that on several of your podcasts, and I totally agree. And I, and that's why I continue, like, this is like my fourth business, you know, we've had bounce houses, we've had construction. I actually was, I'm kind of, I used to sell mattresses and I was kind of my own boss that way.
Um, but, and this is, you know, sisu, I, I, I don't think I love being a business owner. And I, and I, I can say that all of our customers with [00:18:00] the Bounce House company, five stars all around besides one, and it was because I was in a different time zone when I scheduled it. Um, they gave me a, a, a poor rating because I was in a different time zone.
But, and even Sisu, the reviews are amazing all around, not one bad customer. And I, I've, I, I take great pride in the reviews because I don't go through my reviews and pick the good ones out. When people, when somebody leaves a review, it goes straight to Google. It's, it doesn't get filtered through anything.
Um, so don't, don't try to, for those listeners, don't try to change the, the five star for CISO or Cupcake. 'cause I mean, I take great, and that's one thing that I love about business. Um, this is something that you and your listeners might love. And the how Sisu came about was, uh, my wife's cousin who's a, has a business in, in Utah, a great business.
And he says, you know, all the businesses are out there and if you wanna [00:19:00] start a business, you get one and you make it better.
Riley: Yeah
Spencer With SISU: And so that's what I did with my bounce house company and with, with Sisu, um, because we just have, my wife and I have this entrepreneurial mind and. We just want to make things better.
Um, being more efficient and for me it was all always, customer service is huge for me and making sure the customers get what they want and they get what they ask for and they get what they pay for and make 'em happy doing it.
Riley: So you mentioned the, the reviews thing and I, I think about that a lot of, you know, shoving reviews through, I, I really do believe if you're doing it right, the reviews are gonna come through authentically And what I mean by that is you may get one, one day, you know, we had one one time where somebody put one out there that was completely unreasonable and we just left it in because it was, my thought was. the real, [00:20:00] uh, the true customer will look at that and see it for exactly what it is, you know,
Spencer With SISU: You know, I, I, I [00:21:00] started that with reviews. 'cause one year we ordered something on Amazon for Christmas. It was remote control and it says, Hey, if you leave us a review, we send you another gift. And so I went in and left an, I left an honest review and I gave it like a three or four star. It wasn't a five star because the toy broke after the first use and it wasn't even hard use.
And so I, I said, and I just left an honest review and I sent in the information to get this little toy back. And because the toy that I bought was five star use all around, there was not a four star review. And so when. They, they said, well, we're not gonna send you your back that back, 'cause you didn't leave us a five star review.
I was like, oh, well that's why all these toys on Amazon have five star reviews because they pay for a five star review.
And so I've, I've never paid for a review. You know, we ask our customers, Hey, please leave us an honest review. We want an honest review. We want good feedback. If there's something that you would like to see with our businesses, let us [00:22:00] know.
We'd love to accommodate if we can.
Riley: A lot of times, uh, a less than desirable review can be very valuable feedback. You know, sometimes people are just
Spencer With SISU: Yes,
Riley: you know,
Spencer With SISU: yes. Absolutely.
Absolutely.
Riley: love doing that. When I buy something, I'll go look at the reviews and I go right to those one star ones and I'm, I'm thinking, what am I looking at here?
Am I looking at just a bunch of crazy or am I, is there a legit concern in here? And oftentimes it's just a bunch of crazy, you know.
Spencer With SISU: Yeah. Yeah.
Riley: that leads up, up to Sisu Now. Describe what Sisu is and then we'll talk about kind of what, where the, the name came from. I'd love to hear that.
Spencer With SISU: So Sisu, um, I'll just start from the very beginning of how Sisu came about for us. So first of all, it's not a franchise. My wife and I started it. Um, first one is in Meridian, Idaho, which you've been to. It is [00:23:00] a beau. We think it's just a beautiful facility. It's pleasant to walk in. The pictures of Idaho that are in there, it's just relaxing.
But, um, with one of our children, and I gotta tell you, I've got eight kids and so it's a busy place. And on our seventh child, um, my wife was, went to go see a chiropractor to just get all adjusted after the birth and the chiropractor's like, Hey, you need to go find a sauna. And. Help your muscles relax.
And so we went to a sauna place, um, here in the valley and they were infrared saunas. And we went there for her birthday and they didn't have showers because I was like, so where are we gonna go eat after? Are we gonna go somewhere nice? They're like, well, there's no showers there, so we're gonna be all sweaty.
I'm like, oh, well I know what I'm gonna do for my next business. Um, and that's just it. We got there and it was, we had the, it was a great experience, um, other than it wasn't in, it was, they [00:24:00] were infrared saunas, which I like the traditional where you, you're sweating and their 190 degrees. And so we left there, you know, again, you know, getting a business and improving it.
So I, we left there thinking, okay, we're gonna do traditional saunas and we're gonna have showers. And we left at that. We started talking about it. And so this was in 2022 that we started thinking about this. And so. We were just brewing and brewing and we were gonna add a, a steam room, a salt room, a salt tub, you know, all these health and wellness things, you know, 'cause as a PE major and as a, uh, you know, a former athlete, um, I, being fitness and healthy is important.
You know, I take pride. I've never been overweight. I mean, I'm kind of hefty, but I'm, I've never been overweight. And that's important for us and our families just to be healthy because how [00:25:00] can we serve and help people if we're unhealthy? And so that's the way we look at our health is we need to be able to help others when, when we need to.
Um, so we got to doing all this health and wellness stuff, and then somebody mentioned cold tub to us with a sauna. And like, even now I'm feeling it's like lightning bolts just went off in our head. And our mind just stars. And we're like, oh my gosh, cold tub and sauna. That's what we're gonna do. So growing up in Wyoming and my wife here, if, if you go camping in the springtime and in the fall, the water, the lakes and rivers, especially if you go higher up in the mountains, the lakes are 50 or even colder.
And that's what one of our cold tubs is, is 50 degrees. And when I was an adult, we started chipping holes in the ice and jumping in. Like we'd go up to the reservoir and just chip a hole. And it's funny, RI, when we were doing this, people are like, [00:26:00] you guys are gonna die. That will kill you. You guys are crazy.
This is the stupidest thing you crosland have ever done because we've done some foolish things. But it's funny. So when I started Sisu Sauna Coal Plunge, I had a friend that lives in Boise and he's like. I sent him a picture of him and me in the coal pl in if the Kemmer coal plunging, we call it hot tubbing in Wyoming, where you chip a hole in the ice and jump in.
But he was like, he's like, you were coal plunging before coal plunging was cool because it was like, people were like, you are crazy, but what the lightning bolts in the stars. Like what? When, when somebody mentioned coal plunge, when we jumped in that ice water and when we, and we just jumped in, we were in there for 30 seconds, a minute maybe, and we got out.
But how we felt afterwards was unforgettable. Like as, as far as rejuvenation goes, you just felt like a million bucks. It's [00:27:00] funny 'cause the day we, so we plan this, you know, hot tubing in Wyoming event and the day comes and nobody wants to talk about it because like, we don't wanna go jump in that ice water.
Nobody says anything, but then somebody says. So are we gonna do this? And there was like, oh yeah, let's go do it. Um, 'cause we almost wanted to forget about it because it was, it's 'cause it's hard. Like it is, it is hard work. I mean, the breath work that goes into it and the mental strength to to do it is, it's so hard.
But that's, and so that's how Sisu Saana and Coal Plunge started. 'cause you know, we had all these other ideas, but then we're like, oh my gosh, we're just gonna do a saana and coal. But then we started doing research, we're like, holy cow, this, the market for Saana and Coal Plunge is, it's growing so fast. I mean, since we opened, there's been two other businesses that have opened and there's a third one that's opening, I know that has signed a contract and it, I think is under construction.[00:28:00]
And so it's one of those glowing, growing industries that is, it's, it's trending and it's, it's one of those things that's not gonna weigh going away because America is going healthy.
Riley: Yeah
Spencer With SISU: That's, we're, we're going that way, which is, so, it's incredible and it's fun to see that, you know, our food is changing for the better.
You know, people are more aware of what's going into our bodies, so it's incredible.
Riley: Mm-hmm No, and that's good news for our country. I'm really excited to
Spencer With SISU: Yes,
Riley: happen. I'm excited to see it in the next generation, right? Because there's this whole generation of young people coming up that are very aware of what's going on with their health,
Spencer With SISU: yes,
Riley: just like, holy crap, this is, this has actually happened.
This is great, man.
Spencer With SISU: yes.
Riley: so you. You talk about cold plunge, and it's funny be that you mentioned the lakes and rivers and the, you know, in the high mountain deserts, you know, areas like camera where you grew up and, you know, I grew up over in Pocatello, [00:29:00] Idaho, and, and it's almost 5,000 feet there.
Spencer With SISU: Yeah.
Riley: man, you just, that if you wanted to swim, it was gonna be cold. know, you had a July and August, you might be okay getting in there, but other than that, you're gonna dive in there. It's gonna take your breath away. And you had to, you mentioned that breath control. Um, so I told, I, I said earlier that I got to come experience sisu here. it's been, I think two weeks ago now. that was the hardest part when I went from sauna, which by the way, that's the hottest sauna I've ever experienced. It was fantastic. I hit the end of the little sand timer that drips down, tells me it's time to get out. I go. Do you have a shower to clean the sweat off just before you jump into the cold pool? That cold pool, man, I, uh, was really happy. There was a lady there who, who gave me some advice to dip my head first, just to get that over with and it makes the rest of it easier. And I [00:30:00] took her advice on that. Just went, just head first in porous, like a dolphin down in that pool. And man, it was the hardest part was the breath.
Spencer With SISU: Yes. Yeah. The first, what happens is when you get in and you mentioned it, when you jump in the rivers and lake, the first thing
Riley: Yeah.
Spencer With SISU: it takes your breath away. And so I I, we instruct people when you go in is just exhale, just, and that keeps it. And then from there it makes it much easier and there's a lot of different breath work things that you can do.
But that's the one thing that we instruct and I, me specifically instruct is when you get in there, just exhale.
Riley: Well, no one told me that one.
Spencer With SISU: Sorry, So, and like I said, there's a lot of different breath works that you can do. There's the box breathing. Um, most people that come in for the cold plunge or search cold plunge, there's a guy called Wim H Dr. Wim Hof, and he had, I mean, we have the book there at Sisu. People can take it if they want and, and read it, just bring it back.
But [00:31:00] he has done remarkable things. With breath work and there's things that he does, and everybody has kind of their own little thing. We have actually a group that comes in every Saturday and they focus on their breathing and it, it makes the cold plunge so much easier if, and I, I tell people, just breathe.
I mean, don't hold your breath. I mean there, that's one of the breathing techniques as well as holding your breath and doing different things, but just breathe. Um, and don't look at the clock. 'cause that, that helps. If, if you're looking at the clock every five seconds, you're like, oh my gosh, this is forever.
But you really, if you can stand for 10 seconds, that's great, but you wanna build up to, you know, several minutes because that's where the benefits are huge. If you can get up to the two to three minutes.
Riley: So I, I love talking to you about this after the fact. 'cause my, my first time in, I stayed in three minutes. And when I got out, man, I was, I [00:32:00] was, uh, I, that rejuvenation you talk about, I felt fantastic. It was just like, fired up. I kind of had, almost had the, I just feel, God, I just wanted to do it again, you know?
But, but you can't, you
Spencer With SISU: Yeah,
Riley: the three minutes,
Spencer With SISU: yeah,
Riley: And the third time, so I did, I did three minutes the first time back in the sauna for it's 15 minutes. Is that where your timer is?
Spencer With SISU: Yes,
yes.
Riley: back in the sa. again back into the cold plunge. I did two and a half the second time, and then the third time I did about three and a half I did three trips back and forth.
And I'm not sure, you know, what you suggest there. I'd love to hear your side of that. But uh, that third time when I got out, I had the deepest shivers for about an hour afterwards. I think I kind of overdid the cold, but I felt great man. I loved it. It was a hundred degrees outside that day and so I got, got out and driving down the road, still shivering [00:33:00] this,
this
Spencer With SISU: you know, you know, it's funny 'cause well, interesting, the ending on a cold and there's different, I mean people are like, should I start or start cold or start hot? And they're like, and you know, it really doesn't matter where you start, but it's where you end. And so, and I love ending on cold. It's not very often I end in sauna unless I'm just ready to go to bed.
But for me, I end on cold because for me. I can, I physically can feel myself shivering for the next hour. And so that just tells me my body's working just fine. That's normal for our bodies to shiver. That means we're trying to warm up. It's just like when we're sweating in the sauna, it's, we're trying to cool off.
Um, with that shivering, we're burning more calories. Um, so it's, it's great. So yeah, so the, the recommended contrast therapy, um, routine is 15 in the sauna. Well, [00:34:00] up to 15 in the sauna, and then up to five in the cold punch. And then there's the, the other part that is warming up naturally. So warming up naturally has huge benefits.
Um, you burn or you activate brown fats in your body. And so that those brown fats in our body are huge to get activated. Uh, they attack cancer cells. And so that's, that's one thing that we recommend and tell people even though it's, it's so hard because you're like, I'm so cold, I wanna race in the sauna.
It's like, just sit out for just a little bit to warm up naturally. It's just our body. And that's one thing in this whole process of sisu, it's like our bodies are incredible. And you know, Wim Hof has proven that he's actually, there's been studies that he's done and things that he's done that doctors have had to rewrite their literature because he's broken laws of humankind.
And so, and it's a lot of it with breath work.
Riley: Yeah I've, I've, uh, at a very surface [00:35:00] level seen some of the stuff he's done it's shocking 'cause yeah, that dude's he'll sit in tho those, those, uh, lakes cut holes in the ice and sit in those for long periods of time. it's
Spencer With SISU: Yes.
Riley: you'd think he would die, but just like, you know, people were telling
Spencer With SISU: Yeah,
Riley: die if you go on that lake.
Spencer With SISU: that's right. Yeah.
Riley: It, it's, you pronounce the word, I've always pronounced it sauna. But you say sauna. And I recalled years ago, it's probably been 20 years ago, I had a friend that sold for a living and he, he told me it was pronounced sauna. And I, It, it just reminded me of that. Is that, uh, is that accurate?
Am I hearing you right or You is you pronouncing it Sona?
Spencer With SISU: Yes. So that the correct in, in Finland. So sauna is a Finnish word, and that's one thing that people don't realize. That is, it is a Finnish word and so is sisu. It's, they're both Finnish. Um, [00:36:00] and I, I, you know, I go back and forth. You probably listen to this and be like, man, is this guy saying sauna or sauna?
And I'm, I've probably said both, but I'm, I'm trying to get to the point to where I'm saying sauna, uh, 'cause it really is. Uh, the culture in Finland, like every, and I, that's one of my, uh, one of the things I would love to do someday is go to Finland, but every house, from what I'm told, every house has a sauna.
Every apartment complex has a sauna, and you have to schedule your sauna time. That's where families have group, uh, fam family discussions, you know, uh, babies are birthed in saunas. Um, so it's just, it's, it's part of their culture. And so just outta respect for those that, um, have the, that started the sa and that, not that they started the sauna, but the, the word sauna is a finished word
Riley: And you
Spencer With SISU: because there's, I mean, I mean, yeah, so sisu, so the word sisu, we were on a date with some friends.
[00:37:00] And, and he had spent some time in Finland on a an LDS service missionary mission as a missionary. And we were talking about Finn and Saunas. And, and so we, as soon as we left the date and we were headed home, my wife started searching. 'cause this is like, Hey, we're we're doing this. We're gonna do a sauna and coal plunge.
And so she started researching saunas and Finland and Coal plunges and Sisu was there. And she's like, oh, sisu. And then, then she looked at the definition, oh, ri the, the, the definition. And it's, again, it's their culture. Um, there's, there's several books that we again have at sisu that people can check out.
So Sisu means, um, there's not a real direct translation, but it's grit and strength and perseverance. Um, it's doing hard things for the benefit the end. And I'm like, oh, but, and my wife is like, oh my gosh, this is exactly, this is like, our business is sisu like. It is because [00:38:00] it's hard. And you know, I've been in sessions with people, which is one of my favorite things about sisu, but where the, the saunas are hard for people
Riley: Yeah
Spencer With SISU: and I, it, it is 'cause the breathing, I mean, I used to get my nose would burn.
Um, and I'm, I'm way adapted to the sauna. The cold is still, it's still hard. It's hard every time. Um, but it, it's, it's easier with some aspect, but it's, it's gotten a lot easier as you are consistent with it. Just like with anything that is good for you. Co consistency is, is important.
Riley: Yeah. You know, I learned a valuable lesson in that, in that sauna metal water bottles, do it. took it in there and reached down to get a drink and that thing's now 190 degrees. Right. And it. like, I
Spencer With SISU: Yeah.
Riley: bottle up. Fortunately
Spencer With SISU: Yeah.
Riley: So I was able to pick it up with my towel and, you know, drink me some [00:39:00] salt.
But uh,
so, and, and I'll just tell you guys, if you get a chance to go down and, and visit Spencer has a water cooler out outside the sauna some paper cuts, use those.
Spencer With SISU: Yeah. You know, and Ry, I gotta talk about the water too, because it, we said, you know, here we are, we're coming to Sisu, or people are coming to Sisu and you know, what are they gonna put back in their bodies? And so we said, we want to get the very best water. And so we have a reverse osmosis water filtration system.
Um, we have teas, um, we have there, we have salt there. Um, but we want, and that's the thing is people are there to detox, to get junk out of our bodies that we put into our bodies intentionally. 'cause, you know, some of the water that we drink from the tap, you know, the drinks that we drink, uh, the food that we eat, you know, even the, some of things that we put under our armpits and the, [00:40:00] anyway, there's a whole bunch of stuff that we, we do to ourselves, but then we go to the sauna and detox and so we have that water, um, that's there's, and there's nothing in it, like it's filtered.
So there's nothing in it. So we do, we recommend, you know, get some electrolytes, uh, 'cause you need 'em after the sauna.
[00:41:00]
Riley: and I'll tell you one, one other thing I noticed is you, you've, your machine, there is touchless, right? You can, you can. the water in your cup without having to touch anything, which I thought was cool. 'cause you know, everybody's sweating like crazy or they just came out there soaking wet, you know, coming outta the cold plunge
Spencer With SISU: Yeah.
Riley: know, that's, uh, that was kind of a nice thing to see is that it's sanitary at the same time. You, um,
Um, so tell me this, is there, you mentioned kind of the, somewhat the protocol, but is there a maximum or a minimum, because I was surprised you mentioned the sauna. Some people think it's the hard part. was surprised when I kind of got toward about 13 minutes in there. I started feeling it and I'm like, man, this, uh, this is a lot and can I even make it 15 [00:42:00] minutes?
And I did, but it was more challenging than I thought. So is there, is there a maximum there or is it, do you base it on how you feel?
Spencer With SISU: Yes, absolutely. And then we always say up to 15 minutes and up to five minutes. Um, because again, some people have to adjust, but that you have to also understand that when you're doing something hard, there's hurdles that you have to go over. Um, I know, especially in the cold plunge, you know, the first hurdle is right when you get in, you're like, 'cause I hear it.
It's funny. We don't have ceilings in sisu. Except for over the bathrooms. And so if you're working there, you hear everything that's mentioned or said or, and you hear, and we, and that's on purpose. So we can hear if there's people going and making sure people are moving, make, you know, make sure people are safe and not passing out.
So, you know, we listen for those things, but we can hear when people get in and get out, you know, that first hurdle is within the first 10 seconds. And so again, there's another [00:43:00] hurdle at about minute and a half, two minutes. But really it's, it's your body and no one knows how you feel. And this is for everybody except for you.
And so if it's 10 minutes in the sauna that you're like, oh, I'm, I'm ready. And then go out, you know, go do the, the, the bucket shower to rinse off all the sweating oils and then go, you know, sit in the cold. Um, again reading your body. And I'm to the point to where, you know, I love spending more time in the sauna.
But I just, I don't, I look at the clock, but I'm just like, oh, it's time for me. You know, when I'm sweating real good, um, or when I'm in the cold, it's like, um, it's time for me. So it's just reading your body. But we always tell people up to 15 minutes, you know, if you feel uncomfortable at any time, it's time to get out.
Riley: Well, what's next, Matt? Are there more CC locations coming?
Spencer With SISU: You know, we, we want, we want to, you know, and, you know, and we have [00:44:00] a membership style or a Punch pass style and people are like, oh, memberships, you're gonna have people that come and they're not gonna pay for, they're gonna pay for it and they're not gonna come. I'm like, well, there might be, but I don't want that.
I want people to come. I want people to use it. 'cause I want, I want CSU to be 15 to 20 minutes for everybody in the valley. And so, yeah, we, I mean, we would love to expand. I mean, we have people coming from Middleton, from Star, so we're located, um, just on the way to Topgolf. It's a brand new building. We are actually the first tenant in that building.
And it's, you know, ri I, I do have to say that, you know, this whole sisu and coming up with sisu and everything that we've done, it's been a spiritual journey. I mean, we, for years we tried opening up a indoor bounce house facility here, here in the valley. 'cause there's not one that's our, that's just bounce houses, you know, they have a bunch of trampoline parks and there was hurdles.
I mean, just so many [00:45:00] obstacles. And when it came time to sisu, there's so many things that happened, um, that, that we feel that we are inspired by God to do and to move forward on and to move towards that. We just felt so good about this. Um. So, yeah, I mean, we, and we still feel, you know, God's presence in, in this journey and it is so fun and we have met the most remarkable people, um, in this journey, and we hope it doesn't end with just one.
Um, I would love to go north. You know, I had somebody approach me there a day about going east and, you know, doing an East Boise one, but, um, I'd, I'd like to go west. You know, there's not a lot of hardly anything in Canyon County.
Um, but it's, you know, we're, when we, when it comes time to ready for a new one, we're gonna ask our clients, Hey, where do you want us to come?
You know, where, where does this make it easier for you to get to?
Riley: [00:46:00] sure.
of room for, for more, especially in this valley, right. There's, there's a lot of,
Spencer With SISU: yes,
Riley: so. Well, this is
Spencer With SISU: yes.
Riley: switch to some lighter stuff?
Spencer With SISU: Yeah, you bet.
Riley: for fun. um, this being the goer in your SALT podcast, when you hear that term going, your salt, what, what do you think of?
Spencer With SISU: Getting firewood with my dad, you know, that was one of my favorite things growing up, doing, you know, growing up with 10 kids. We were, we were siting houses, Riley, we were getting firewood and selling it. Um, my dad had a full-time job and, you know, we were doing everything on the side, but getting firewood was hard work.
And man, I wish I would've knew what electrolytes were back then, because I'm sure there's times like, man, I need that. But, you know, now I do that with my kids. Uh, we love, you know, firewood and, but working hard. Uh, I, [00:47:00] there's not a replacement for people that can work hard and I love. People that know how to, 'cause sometimes it's hard to find people that know how to work, but when you work hard, it's fun to know, especially now that electrolytes is such a big, big industry and it's so glad that we, they're so available.
But to earn your salt is so important.
Riley: man. I I hear you on that. I wish I would've known about it when I was a kid too. 'cause I, I remember those work days, man, being young man out there and the middle end of the workday. You're just those headaches. I remember the headaches, like, is
Spencer With SISU: Yes.
Riley: was I had no
Spencer With SISU: Yeah,
Riley: just dehydrated.
Spencer With SISU: yeah,
Riley: Yeah.
Spencer With SISU: yeah.
Riley: Um, favorite pastime outside of cold plunging
Spencer With SISU: Oh, you know, sitting by the fire roasting hot dogs, it's, we have a fire pit in our [00:48:00] backyard and. I mean, that's, that's still not as fun as being up in the mountains, being away from technology where you can't even receive a text message and roasting a hot dog because I, I, I almost don't like hot dogs except for on a fire.
But it's so fun and my kids love doing it. And you know what, you have to look up a woo 'em. 'cause those are a great thing to add to a roasting a hot dog over a fire. Oh. So it's a, oh, you get a, a roasting stick and there's a little dow at the end and you get a, a biscuit and cook the biscuit over that dow and then you fill it with apple pie filling a little bit of whipped cream.
And you have yourself a, like a two minute bite of apple pie. It is amazing. I'll, I'll get a video over it to you next time we do it. Ri
Riley: a wolf Em, what it's called.
Spencer With SISU: woo 'em because 'cause you just woo 'em down.
Riley: man. Spencer,
hot dogs. What's the best brand of hot [00:49:00] dog?
Spencer With SISU: Man, I like, I like the bratwurst. Actually, there's, uh, at Costco there is a bacon and pineapple brand. Uh, I don't remember the brand, but that's, that's what it is.
Riley: That, that just sounds like it could be good.
Spencer With SISU: Yeah.
Riley: that's fantastic. Um, something quirky about you that people don't know.
Spencer With SISU: Um, oh, quirky. I've had nine surgeries on my left leg.
Riley: On your left leg?
Spencer With SISU: Left leg. So it, it started with a broken femur and, you know, I, I live and died. Sports growing up, I mean, again, I, I mentioned before, like if it weren't for sports, who knows where I would've been, but I was actually serving, I was serving an LDS mission in sve. And I [00:50:00] was, and I, I hit a ski lift pole and I broke my left leg and I thought I had broken both legs.
And here I am thinking I'm gonna die. Like my leg had doubled in size because of all the fluid that had leaked. And here I am in this hospital. I wouldn't say it's third world, third world, um, hospital. Um, it was very good. But I was sharing a room with 10 other people and the guy next to me was in there for an infection.
And three months later I ended up having an infection and I, I was about two weeks away from losing my leg before they caught the infection. And I, so I had the rod installed, if that's what you wanna call it. I had it removed. I had several surgeries for the infection. I had a ACL repair and I end up at age 35, I had a full knee reconstruction.
And so that left leg has just seen everything. And I, like, I. Wish I could run and play. I wish my kids can [00:51:00] show. I wish I could show my kids that I used to be able to run and play really good and really fast. And now I, I mean, I still run and play, but it's just not the same like I was
Riley: these nine surgeries,
Spencer With SISU: nine surgery and an ankle repair. But yeah.
Riley: man. Okay. I mean, I just, I kind of got the first taste this year. I got, I got. Pneumonia twice this spring. Um, starting in January and I just literally a month ago started feeling normal again and Hmm, having kind of lost my health there for a time, really opened my eyes to that kind of started to feel like it was never gonna go away.
So you're talking about all these surgeries. Did you ever deal with kinda the discouragement that comes with that, not being able to do what you wanna do?
Spencer With SISU: Oh, absolutely. It, it, it's, it's so hard and, you know, [00:52:00] we don't ever realize what we have until it's gone. Like when you have pneumonia, it's like, oh my gosh, I miss going and get the mail. Which the, getting the mail is never fun. I mean, not that it's fun or supposed to be fun, but we take it for granted when we have our health.
It is amazing what happens when you lose it. 'cause when you're bedridden and you can't go anywhere, it's like, oh my God. It's, it's horrible. And there there's times it's like, oh, and you know, when I had my femur break the first time, you know, there was this TV show called 24 Jack Bauer for President. All that, all the fun stuff.
Loved it. Um, and that, luckily, that kept my mind off the things that I couldn't do because there I, I couldn't put weight on it for two months. And I finally, they said, Hey, you can go get in the swim pool. Actually I did go to the swim pool quite often 'cause you don't put weight in the pool on your leg.
And so I did that every day. But it is so hard and that's why now my wife, like, [00:53:00] health is so important. Um, and when we have good health, we need to make sure we can keep good health. And that's why Sisu is so great, because it's, you know, CISO's not gonna cure anything, but it helps with almost everything.
And so that's why it's, it's just kind of a maintaining and improving health.
Riley: Yeah, man, I, I just hear you and I, I, I have really gained some sympathy for people who are going through it with their health. I, I
Spencer With SISU: Ugh.
Riley: have
Spencer With SISU: Yeah,
Riley: was seven months of not being able to do what I wanted to do, I, oh man, it was super discouraging.
Um,
Spencer With SISU: yeah, it is.
Riley: answer me this man, Crocs, the footwear. Okay. Not okay. What's your opinion there?
Spencer With SISU: I, you know, we call 'em Matt shoes in our house. My, my nephew, um, he wore Crocs when he was little and [00:54:00] he gave us his crocs when we had a kid old enough to wear 'em. And so we call 'em mat shoes, but I love Crocs. Um, only really when I'm going in the water. Um, other than that. I like active wear. I like being able to move fast.
You can't, I know they have sport mode in Crocs now. Did you know that? So you put the thing, yeah. Yeah. So that little flap that goes back and forth,
Riley: it
Spencer With SISU: it's like a little strap that goes behind your heel.
Riley: mode.
Spencer With SISU: That that, yeah. If you put it back in sport mode. 'cause you can move faster.
Riley: You know, I
Spencer With SISU: know. I heard that and I was like,
Riley: it cause yeah. What a funny, funny thing that those took off at all. But to actually
Spencer With SISU: yeah,
Riley: okay.
Spencer With SISU: yeah, yeah,
Riley: that's some respect points. I'll give them some respect points for that. Um, Spencer's scariest moment of your life.[00:55:00]
Spencer With SISU: I think when I broke my femur, I was face down 10 feet away from when I hit the ski lift pole. I thought I had broken both my legs. I, don't know how before this, but I hear people breaking their eggs and dying because of the loss of blood. And I was like, I'm gonna die. But at the same time, I felt peace because I mean, I was doing God's work and, and, uh, so I felt peace, but it was still so scary being so far from home.
And, uh, that was, that was pretty scary.
Riley: Yeah, man, I just, the thought of it, you know, you're just laying there and you, you actually physically can't get up. You know, we
Spencer With SISU: Yeah.
Riley: crawl outta anything but. No, there's, there's times you get
Spencer With SISU: Yeah.
Riley: Uh,
Yeah.
scary. Spencer, have you ever been up, did you ever get kicked outta school?
[00:56:00]
Spencer With SISU: Yes, I did. So it was, it was my freshman year and, you know, not it, my freshman year it was English class. I, the first day of school I was assigned to sit up front because of one of my older brothers and they said, oh, Mr. Croson, you're right up front right here. So, fast forward couple months, I was sitting in the back before class and I had [00:57:00] my arm, or I was sitting in somebody else's desk and he comes in and says, and threw his books on the table and, um, says, get on my desk.
He's like, well, I'm almost done. Anyway, went back and forth and finally I stood up to him and he was much smaller than me and he pushed me and I fell down 'cause I was not expecting him to push me. And um, so he got a little brawl and it was a first year principal, second year principal. And he wanted to make, uh, an example out of me.
So he called, he called the cops. I got kicked outta school for three days and that made me never wanna work at fast food ever because my mom was working at taco time and I was working at Taco time for three days.
Riley: cute. Fondest memory in life.
Spencer With SISU: Hmm,
man, I'm [00:58:00] gonna just have to say,
man, there's so many something with outdoors. 'cause I love, I love the mountains.
I would say seeing and being in, I get fondest memory. I'd have to say being at Hams Fort Campground with my family camping, we'd go, we'd go camping every year, um, up in Hams Fort Campground. So that's some of my favorite memories is Hams Fort Campground. Camping with the family.
Riley: near camera
Spencer With SISU: Yeah, it's just north of Kemmer, about an hour and a half.
Riley: Man? know, Wyoming's got some beautiful places and I, I spent some time up near Lander. exploring
sinks canyon and stuff up there, man. And that was, it's unbelievable that, that area is so beautiful. So it's, and
Spencer With SISU: yeah,
Riley: and a half [00:59:00] north of Cammer, isn't it?
Spencer With SISU: yeah, yeah. It's a little bit further east as as well.
Riley: Okay.
Spencer With SISU: Yeah.
Riley: understand why, why you'd wanna be up there for sure. Uh, what's
Spencer With SISU: Yeah.
Riley: you wanna, you wanna do in life?
Spencer With SISU: I want to go to Finland
Riley: Get over there and
Spencer With SISU: with, with, with those so sisu and see the real sas. I actually want to sit on a sauna boat and then jump in the lake.
Riley: So, crap. They have sauna boats. And is it like,
you see the ice fishing shacks, is it something like that where you just jump straight down through? Or do you have to get out and,
Spencer With SISU: No, you the ones that I've seen and I actually had a, a brother-in-law send me a picture of one that's in Seattle, so I can go there and do it too. But it's, you go out the door and then you just jump in.
Riley: That actually sounds kind of cool, man. I, uh,
Spencer With SISU: Yeah, yeah,[01:00:00]
yeah,
Riley: uh cold plunges, the, the one I did was the, the chicken liver one that was a little warmer. The, you got a colder one in the other room. But
Spencer With SISU: yeah.
Riley: lakes I imagine are, 'cause you, what are they?
You've got a 45 degree and a 50 degree. Is that
Spencer With SISU: A a a 40 and a 50.
Riley: Yeah, I did the 50 and it was, but those lakes are gonna be 40 or less. Right.
Spencer With SISU: Yeah. Yeah.
Riley: That's gotta be for real. Um, what's it, what's your favorite book? What's something you think everyone should read?
Spencer With SISU: You know, we listened a book, uh, to a book as a family, and I'm re-listening to it. It's called Endurance. Um, and it talks about this guy that wanted to get to the, the South Pole and go through Antarctica. And so it's, man, what an incredible journey that they went through. And it was, it was hard. Um, but [01:01:00] they made it through and, uh, anyway, it's great.
It's called Endurance.
Riley: I'm gonna have to check that one. Now. the best book recommendations on here. It's the greatest thing.
Spencer With SISU: Yeah. I don't,
Riley: next, man? Where are you going from here?
Spencer With SISU: you know, we're just trying to get, uh, CSU busy. Um, we're winding down with Bounce House season School started, um, but really want to just grow sisu. 'cause we, we would sure love to have a, a second location by the end of the year.
Riley: Yeah, that staying focused and, and just grinding, man. That's, that's where we're at. We're on the Go in your SALT podcast. And that's, that's what you're
Spencer With SISU: Yes,
Riley: Um,
Spencer With SISU: yes.
Riley: where can you be found? What's, uh, social media handles that, that sort of thing.
Spencer With SISU: Sisu Idaho. That's our website. That's our Instagram, Facebook sisu at sisu Idaho. Um,
Riley: spell
that out
Spencer With SISU: trying to do some things. Oh, it's SISU Idaho. [01:02:00] Sisu Idaho. Um, and we do have first time specials for everybody. Um, it's a great place to go on dates. It's relaxing. Um, I think it's fun. It's, there's moments that are not so fun, but when you're all done, you're like, oh, that was so nice.
Riley: Yeah, my wife and I, we like taking, uh, dates where we do physical things. Usually for our anniversary, we go do, something difficult? Um, and it's, it's always that it is relaxing when
Spencer With SISU: Yeah.
Riley: something that's difficult. on the other side you get to sit back and just kind of revel in it a little bit.
And, uh,
Spencer With SISU: Yes,
Riley: all right man. Well, Spencer, thanks for coming on today. I, uh, I appreciate the conversation. I appreciate your willingness to come on here and just chit chat with me. Uh, I, I know you took some time outta your work day to, to be here and it's, I'm honored by it, man.
Spencer With SISU: RI, thank you. This was great. Great to know. Good. It's fun getting to know you [01:03:00] and I'm sure we'll see you around.
Riley: Absolutely. We will talk a whole bunch more. So, Spencer,
my friend.
Spencer With SISU: thank you.