The Kids Table

This week at The Kids Table, Jen and Gunnar sit down with Justin Cross, founder of Earn Your Booze and a man whose entire philosophy can be summed up in one simple idea: Earn it. What starts as a conversation about fitness, training, and the early days of bodybuilding quickly turns into a much bigger discussion about confidence, discipline, mentorship, and why so many people today feel disconnecte...

This week at The Kids Table, Gunnar, Jen, and the crew sit down with restaurateur and Olive & Thyme founder Melina Davies for a conversation that goes way deeper than food. What starts with stories about childhood Weight Watchers meetings, crash diets, and fitness culture quickly turns into a bigger discussion about discipline, identity, pressure, perfectionism, and the systems we build to sur...

Trainer and IFBB Pro Colin Schoen sits down at The Kids Table this week for a conversation about what it really takes to build a career in fitness that lasts. From his early days working in physical therapy and grinding through slow seasons as a young trainer to eventually building a loyal client base and earning his pro card, Colin opens up about the reality behind a profession that looks a lot e...

Season Johnson pulls up a chair at The Kids Table this week for a conversation that hits home for Gunnar and brings you inside a world most people never see. Working closely with children battling cancer, Season shares what her day-to-day actually looks like, from building trust with kids and families to showing up in moments that carry real weight. It’s not just about care, it’s about presence, c...

Graham Barham pulls up a chair at The Kids Table this week for a conversation that moves from small-town Louisiana to sold-out stages, with a whole lot of real life in between. Graham shares how his career has taken off in Nashville, what it actually looks like behind the scenes of songwriting and touring, and how he’s learning to balance the chaos of the lifestyle with the discipline it takes to...

Ivey Childers sits down at The Kids Table this week for a conversation that moves from building a custom cake business in Nashville to launching her own tequila brand. Ivey shares how her journey started with curiosity in the kitchen, teaching herself how to bake through trial and error, and how that same instinct led her into a completely new industry years later. From early days testing recipes...

Robbie Kroger pulls up a chair at The Kids Table this week and quickly turns a conversation about a controversial hunting photo into something much bigger. He shares how he found his way into wildlife conservation, why he’s focused on changing the narrative around hunting, and what people often miss when they react to what they see online. From crocodiles and conservation funding to the role hunte...

Comedian Hugh Howser pulls up a chair at The Kids Table this week for a conversation that moves from Nashville comedy clubs to the psychology of making people laugh. Hugh shares how he stumbled into stand-up after years in the event world with the help from Leanne Morgan, why open-mic nights can make or break a comic, and how learning to connect with an audience matters just as much as the jokes t...

Welcome to Season 2 of The Kids Table! We’ve settled into our new space over at Gunnar’s Nashville HQ, and we couldn’t be more excited to bring you our first guest, Craig Susser! Craig pulls up a chair and proves that the restaurant business isn’t about food. It’s about people. From his early days getting humbled behind the bar at his first serving job to building Craig’s into one of the most talk...

Part two with Brett Bartholomew leans into the messy middle of communication, the part that shows up in relationships, leadership, and the everyday moments where things either connect or quietly fall apart. The crew talks about why the idea of being “self-made” doesn’t really hold up, how vulnerability can be a strength for A-type personalities, and why so many conflicts aren’t about what’s being...

Welcome back to The Kids Table, where the conversation starts with fitness and quickly turns into something much bigger. In part one of this conversation, Brett Bartholomew pulls up a chair to talk about the part of coaching nobody puts on a whiteboard: communication. From locker rooms to living rooms, the crew digs into what it actually means to connect with people, build trust, and show up as a...

To kick off 2026 at The Kids Table, we’ve pulled the moments from 2025 that still make us laugh, pause, and learn along side of. This compilation episode is a highlight reel of The Kids Table at its most unfiltered, pulling together the stories, side tangents, and conversations that stuck with us long after the mics were off. You’ll hear late-night honesty, ridiculous inside jokes, deep reflection...

To send 2025 out right, we grabbed our favorite listener questions of the year and stitched them into one big Kids Table hang. You will hear trainers asking how to turn a side hustle into a real career, new moms wondering how to juggle strength and cardio, and coaches trying to play nicely with high school programs while still doing their job. In between, the three of them unpack sleep, longevity,...

Garth Bouldin is proof you do not need a massive platform to be a massive presence. He is Gunnar’s next door neighbor, the owner of Gateway Tire, and the kind of guy who makes you believe customer service and character still matter. What starts as a funny story about Gunnar outbidding him for the property next door turns into a real conversation about trust, relationships, and why people come back...

Your questions, our hot seat. In this Q& A episode, we break down HIIT fatigue, why most people are under-recovering instead of overtraining, and how to cycle heavy lifts, isometrics, and bodyweight work when life gets busy. We debate the Smith machine, talk through real paths to “success” in the industry, and show how body composition can change at 40 and beyond with basic habits done well. E...

This week’s episode starts with fake sick days and somehow ends up in breakups, burnout, and why trainers should stop pretending they have perfect balance. Gunnar, Luke, and Jen talk through the messy, funny, very human moments that actually shape a healthy life. If you have ever faked an illness, questioned a relationship, or wondered why your kid can outsmart you, this feels like the right table...

This week, The Kids Table takes a step back into the early days of lockdown: the makeshift gyms, the six-foot sticks, the CPR tests, and the cul-de-sac friendships that kept everyone afloat when the world shut down. Gunnar, Luke, and Jen break down how they trained, coped, and kept people moving with zero equipment, no certainty, and a whole lot of chaos swirling around them. They revisit the stra...

This one is for anyone who wants the truth behind transformation. Jen brings on Sarah Gilbert to revisit their season of The Biggest Loser, recap the recent documentary, and talk through what it got right, what was missed, and what the cameras never showed. They unpack how the show worked, where it went wrong, and how a real relationship can protect people inside a machine built for ratings. Sarah...

The crew kicks back to answer your questions. Everything from imposter syndrome to cold plunges and creatine. It’s part fitness, part therapy, and part group chat you didn’t know you needed. They get real about motivation dips, burnout, and why sometimes stepping away from your goals is the best way to find them again. With plenty of laughs, stories, and strong opinions along the way, this one fee...

If you’ve been told surgery is your only option, Dr. Ethan Kellum is here to challenge that narrative. The Nashville orthopedic surgeon joins Gunnar, Luke, and Jen to break down how regenerative medicine is shifting what’s possible for injured joints, aging athletes, and anyone trying to stay active without constant setbacks. They talk Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) vs stem cells, when to get a second...

The crew takes questions straight from the comments in this listener Q&A episode of The Kids Table. From sleep hacks and heavy lifting to finding your way out of a training rut, Gunnar Peterson, Luke Milton, and Jen Widerstrom get candid about what’s actually working for them right now. They break down why “heavy” isn’t a number, how to train smart over 40, and why sleep is the real flex. You’...

Ed Streit drops by (literally out of the pantry) for a birthday surprise and a masterclass on culture. In this episode of The Kids Table, former Lakers strength coach Ed Streit reunites with mentor Gunnar Peterson to relive a whirlwind championship season: the China trip chaos, the shock of Kobe’s passing, the COVID shutdown, and the Zoom-era weight room. Ed shares with Jen and Luke how his “inter...

Pirates, eyepatches, and oxygen masks—just another day at The Kids Table. In this solo-meets-call-in episode, Gunnar Peterson, Luke Milton, and Jen Widerstrom riff on camaraderie (old rugby reunions and Biggest Loser catch-ups), the myth of “balance,” and why starting now beats waiting for Monday. There’s a rapid-fire “Don’t Not Do It” segment reacting to gym TikToks, a spirited debate on discipli...

No guest, plenty of honesty. In this solo recap of the Cal Dietz two-parter, Gunnar Peterson, Luke Milton, and Jen Widerstrom unpack the firestorm in their comments and turn it into a real conversation about coaching, curiosity, and manners on the internet. They talk trolls, “post and ghost,” and why disagreement is healthy when it comes with respect. You’ll hear how a missing word in a caption sp...

Part two with Cal Dietz takes on a new dynamic as Nashville’s Justin Todd, Houston’s Dose Khan, and MLB strength & conditioning coach Stephanie Mock Grubbs call in with their biggest coaching questions. In this episode of The Kids Table, Gunnar Peterson, Luke Milton, and Jen Widerstrom hand the floor to three fellow coaches dialing in from afar, turning the conversation into a candid Q&A w...