Meeting New People During a Pandemic

The group at the shooting range.

I’ve been sort of a gym rat for a number of years. For me personally, it’s a great way to reduce stress and maintain a healthy lifestyle. When the gyms were closed due to the pandemic, I was searching for a new exercise routine and a place to purchase some gym equipment for my home. I remembered that one of my clients manufactured gym equipment. Enter Bert Sorin.

Bert Sorin, fitness icon and new friend.

If you don’t know who Bert Sorin is, look him up. He is an icon in the fitness industry and is a great hunter and a gun enthusiast. I reached out to him on social media, asking about some equipment, and I received a message back immediately telling me to call. We must have talked for a half hour, mostly about business and hunting. Needless to say, he hooked me up with some equipment, and he invited me up for a tour of his manufacturing facility.

The Sorin family business, Sorinex, has become a force in the fitness industry and is the leader in strength training equipment. During our first meeting, Bert invited me out to his shooting range; I thought that this would be a good time to get a group of guys together. I asked Bert, and he was in, so I called Jason Vincent with Field Ethos and asked if they wanted to come over. It was an immediate yes. Our group now consisted of Jason Vincent (President of Field Ethos), Davis Boice (Co-Founder of Field Ethos), Colin Jones (Captain on Carolina Panthers), and Luke Kuechly (Captain on Carolina Panthers).

David Boice and Luke Kuechly

We all met in Columbia at Sorinex to take a tour. After an hour or so, we took off to Bert’s shooting range at a secret location. It was an incredible evening. Bert topped off the night by serving up some barbeque. It was a much needed break in the middle of this craziness.

I am looking forward to being in the field this fall. Hopefully, we can all get back to some routine in life. The pandemic is affecting us all in different ways, some way worse than others. I just wanted to share a bright spot, even if it was just for a couple of hours.