Work, Play, Love with Lauren Fleshman and Jesse Thomas
93 episodes - English - Latest episode: almost 2 years ago - ★★★★★ - 1.2K ratingsLauren Fleshman and Jesse Thomas are world class professional endurance athletes, authors, speakers, and co-own a nationally distributed food products business called Picky Bars. They also happen to be married, still, and are raising two small children. They use their experience, stories, writing, and humor to answer to answer listener questions about sports, family, business, and the balance between all three! It's a circus, but hey, we're all in it together!
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Episodes
40: Heat Training, Cycling Intro, Eating When Training vs. Not, Founders’ Equity In Startups
April 23, 2019 02:32 - 1 hour - 66.9 MBLauren and Jesse are back on the road, traveling back to Bend from San Francisco where Jesse has just had foot surgery. Their road trip entails listening to new podcasts, discussing Jesse’s recovery outlook, and answering a bunch of WPL listener questions. They answer a question from a listener in North Carolina about training in the hot summer months, they discuss nutrition and relationship to food when you’re training vs. when you’re in an off season, they offer some bike-buying advice to ...
39: Supporting Competitors, Skipping Workouts, Rest Days, Moving In With Your Partner
April 15, 2019 09:30 - 1 hour - 60.2 MBIt’s been a rough week for the Flomas family. Jesse’s down for the count with a navicular fracture that’s nearly identical to the one he suffered in the opposite foot after Wildflower. Despite getting to zoom around on multiple devices, the injury makes balancing work and family life tough. Negotiating logistics can be hard, and Lauren and Jesse answer questions about how to navigate uncomfortable situations like supporting your competitors, skipping workouts when you’re not feeling it (and ...
38: Identifying Injury, Relationship to Food, Athena-Clydesdale Division, Sandbagging
April 08, 2019 09:30 - 1 hour - 65.2 MBSometimes when you have an extended car ride with your spouse, you run out of things to talk (or fight) about, and you decide to fire up a podcast episode! Lauren and Jesse answer listener questions during the car ride from Bend to Eugene—road noise and all—and today’s episode is all about being in touch with your body. They discuss how to identify, deal with, and hopefully avoid injury. They share how they approach their kids’ relationship to food. Plus, they weigh in on the existence of th...
37: Mental Toughness, Sugar, Recovery Strategies, Pushing for Business Growth
April 01, 2019 19:22 - 1 hour - 68.8 MBJesse and Lauren are just starting to thaw out from the winter, and the signs of spring are accompanied by a mixed bag of emotions for the Flomas fam. Lauren’s got an exciting year shaping up with Wilder retreats, and Jesse—with a recent injury—is finding that the plans for his year are changing. Today’s show dives into hard-to-answer questions. How do you push through mental fatigue during a race? How does Picky Bars decide to follow (or buck) food trends like sugar avoidance? What’s the be...
36: Injuries, Motivation, Setting Expectations, and Jesse’s Marathon Approach
March 25, 2019 10:30 - 1 hour - 62.2 MBWhen you’re training hard and going after a big dream, not much is more disappointing than an injury. This is especially tough when the window of opportunity to achieve your goal is small or fleeting. So what do you do when that happens? Today, Lauren and Jesse answer questions about the highs and lows of play—and how re-setting expectations can have a big impact on your mental health and your race performance.
35: Maxing Out, Post-Race Letdown, Work Play Love Transitions
March 18, 2019 09:30 - 51 minutes - 47.3 MBJesse’s just back from a Natural Products show in Anaheim and Lauren’s been solo-parenting for a week at home, and the Work Play Love hosts get to hang out for the first time in a while on the show. How appropriate, then, that today’s episode is all about transition. How do you jump from work to play to relationships, especially when one of the areas of your life, like business, is really heating up? How do you transition to and from maximum effort in a long race without sacrificing your ove...
34: Building Your Own Training Plan, Pooping While Racing, Baby Sleep, Jealousy
March 04, 2019 10:30 - 1 hour - 49.7 MBJesse’s been at home with two sick kids for almost week straight. Lauren’s just back from an epic trip to New York for the indoor championships. And the two talk about their experiences during the 2019 snowpacalypse. Now, they’re cozied up in their little studio ready to field your questions. Today Lauren and Jesse tackle your hard hitting questions about building your own training plan, dealing with the urge to poop while racing, the challenges of sleep training your baby, and jealousy in r...
33: Injury, Managing Stress, Deciding to Have Kids, Marketing A Business
February 25, 2019 10:00 - 1 hour - 56.7 MBWhen it comes to balancing work, play, and love, how do you draw the lines to balance it all? Today’s show is all about drawing those lines. When you’re dealing with an injury, where do you draw the line between seeking an answer vs. changing your sport goals? Where do you draw the line with work to prevent burnout from cumulative stress? When it comes to starting a family vs. starting your career, how do you work with your partner to find a time that works for you both? And when you’re just...
32: DNF, Training Through Hard Life Changes, Emotional Labor, Athlete Sponsorship
February 18, 2019 18:03 - 56 minutes - 52.4 MBToday’s show is all about the tough stuff. Where’s the line between pushing through a challenging race and taking a DNF? What do you do when your training is disrupted by big life changes? How do split up responsibilities at home to balance emotional labor? Lauren and Jesse answer these questions and also chat about athlete sponsorship from their perspectives as athletes and business owners.
31: Weight Loss, Training for Distance, Family Play, Going Pro in Triathlon
January 31, 2019 10:00 - 51 minutes - 47.6 MBJesse and Lauren are fresh off of a weekend full of play. Both recount their experiences of racing the Great Nordeen Nordic race. Jesse talks about his unfortunate crash during the race, and how his triathlon training came in handy. Lauren shares why her inner monologue during the race was “I hate this” on repeat. But now that they’re back in the proverbial saddle, they’re set to answer your questions about sport, family and business. Today Lauren and Jesse discuss weight loss, how to train ...
30: Exercise vs. sleep, strength training, un-learning athletic lessons, parent-sharing duties
January 25, 2019 17:04 - 55 minutes - 38.4 MBFrom proper snot-rocket etiquette to how to divvy up parenting duties, this episode has something for everyone. Athletes? Lauren and Jesse go deep on the habits they developed in sport that they needed to un-learn in other areas of their lives. Parents? The Flomases talk about how they share parenting duties and what they do when they differ on a parenting approach. Biz owners? Jesse shares how he’s had to become more comfortable with failure as a business owner, and he critiques the roll-ou...
29: Balancing work, play and love, setting athletic goals that won’t burn you out, adjusting to a new child, changing an owner’s role in business
January 17, 2019 11:00 - 50 minutes - 34.9 MBYou can experience pretty awesome wins in life. You know, like professionally competing in triathlons, breaking national running records, and growing your own business from scratch. But some days it all comes down to negotiating how many bites of food your five-year-old is willing to eat for dinner. This week’s show is all about that work-play-love balance. How do you try to excel in multiple areas of your life, and not end up feeling mediocre in all of them? How do you set athletic goals th...
28: What Training Metrics to Use (and when), Growing a Niche Sport, Asking Your Partner to Slow Down
January 11, 2019 00:48 - 58 minutes - 53.7 MBIt’s a new year and Lauren and Jesse are back in action. They catch you up on what’s been going on since the end of 2018, and talk about what they’re looking forward to in 2019. Lauren’s been writing more, and as a result she’s already seeing herself change through the process. Meanwhile, Jesse’s happy to get back to work after a really fun winter break with family, including a grand finale bouncy-castle blowout with Jude. On today’s show your questions include: what training metrics (like h...
27: Running Technique, Hunger Management, Favorite Running Shoes, and more!
December 20, 2018 10:30 - 48 minutes - 44.8 MBThe holiday break is starting and 2018 is winding down. And that means a break in childcare for Zadie and Jude! So Lauren and Jesse have been busier than usual at home. However, there’s naptime and school, and that gives Lauren a few windows throughout the day to do some writing. Meanwhile, Jesse’s fresh back from the Picky Bars retreat. A full-team meeting where team members review their 2018 goals and accomplishments, and discuss how this past year will shape 2019. Jesse and Lauren catch y...
26: Conditions for Satisfaction, Supporting Your Partner Through Injury, Increasing Your Running Speed, Maintaining Self-Worth in a Group, a Day in the Life of Lauren and Jesse
December 14, 2018 19:01 - 48 minutes - 33.9 MBSome days you have a great race day. That was the case for both Lauren and Jesse over the past week. Lauren had a fun and successful race both as a runner and as a coach at the club cross country championships. She talks about her experience and how her conditions for satisfaction have changed over her years as a runner. Jesse, perhaps to a lesser degree (but no less glamorous), had an awesome experience at the trampoline park, and went on a spontaneous 20-mile long run that prompted a dose ...
25: Solo-parenting fun, What to do in the off-season, Pooping, Recovering from a bike crash, and the comparison game
December 06, 2018 19:49 - 45 minutes - 41.9 MBJesse’s been alone for a week solo parenting, and Zadie’s transition from infant to toddler is in full swing, but he’s kept the Flomas house in check and even found down time to sneak in some long runs. Meanwhile, Lauren had a very work-play-love week of travel. First out to Austin for The Running Event for Picky Bars, then to Columbus, Ohio for the USATF annual meeting, and then back home to search for a Christmas tree with the fam. In what’s going on? Jesse talks about the struggle to find...
24: Adventure runs in Hawaii, Coaching & Celebrating Success, Finding Balance in the Information Age, Leaving a Coaching Relationship, Interviewing to be a Coach
November 29, 2018 10:30 - 37 minutes - 34.8 MBSometimes going on a family vacation means finding…adventurous ways to strike the work-play-love balance. Whether you’re karate-chopping your way through jungle-like conditions on trail during a run date, celebrating an exciting Black Friday for your business, or navigating your infant’s new-found love of the word “no,” there’s rarely a dull moment. The Flomas family is back from Maui, and Lauren and Jesse are ready to kick off the holiday season with some of your questions. In rapid fire yo...
23: Seattle-y stuff, Going from Marathon to Triathlon, Climbing out of a Post-Race Runk, Managing Asthma on the Track, Maintaining Your Period While Training
November 15, 2018 10:30 - 45 minutes - 31.7 MBLauren and Jesse are fresh back from a work-meeting slash family-vacay slash race-day trip to Seattle where Lauren smashed out a 6k XC run. Truly work, play, and love at its finest. Tune in to hear what it was like for Lauren to pin on a number and race again (pain, cramps, and all), and hear about Jesse’s experience on the sidelines with Zadie and Jude. Then Jesse and Lauren dive in to a bunch of NEW news. Exciting new distribution opportunity for Picky Bars? Maybe so. New Picky product on ...
22: Family Planning, Triathlon Diversity, Who You are Now vs Then, Evaluating Biz Ideas
November 05, 2018 10:30 - 47 minutes - 43.6 MBThey’re back and better than ever (at least Jesse thinks so). After a two-week hiatus for Kona and photoshoots, Lauren and Jesse dive into a solid mix of listener-submitted questions. The episode kicks off with Jesse describing how much he missed racing at Kona this year (pinky nail). He also shares some of his thoughts about watching the race. Lauren describes her time at home with the kids and the latest coaching progressions. This weeks questions are: What have you seen from athletes, sp...
21: Sometimes kids suck… the energy out of you.
October 11, 2018 09:30 - 43 minutes - 30.4 MBIt’s a big week in the Flomas household with Zadie’s first birthday and Ironman Championships in Kona, and the anniversary of both of those slightly large life events occuring days apart from each other last year. This go-round will be decidedly more chill, with Lauren not in the labor wing and Jesse not laboring through 140.6 miles of brutal triathloning (the debate over who was in more pain is off the table, don’t even go there). Jesse will still be traveling to the Big Island to rep Picky...
20: Eating Disorders, Fat-phobia, and Family Planning
September 27, 2018 09:30With birthdays, anniversaries, and Jude finally realizing the joy of riding a bike (after many false starts) there’s a lot to celebrate in the Flomas house, and that’s just the family side of the work, play, love trifecta! Picky Bars is back to running full steam and the first Wilder outside of Central Oregon is this weekend, but the busyness of business didn’t keep them from their weekly date at the mics to answer some of your questions. [Submit yours: pickybars.com/podcastQs] Topics ...
20: Eating Disorders, Fat-phobia, and Family Planning
September 27, 2018 09:30 - 44 minutes - 30.9 MBWith birthdays, anniversaries, and Jude finally realizing the joy of riding a bike (after many false starts) there’s a lot to celebrate in the Flomas house, and that’s just the family side of the work, play, love trifecta! Picky Bars is back to running full steam and the first Wilder outside of Central Oregon is this weekend, but the busyness of business didn’t keep them from their weekly date at the mics to answer some of your questions. [Submit yours: https://pickybars.com/blogs/the-scoop/...
20: Eating Disorders, Fat-phobia, and Family Planning
September 27, 2018 09:30With birthdays, anniversaries, and Jude finally realizing the joy of riding a bike (after many false starts) there’s a lot to celebrate in the Flomas house, and that’s just the family side of the work, play, love trifecta! Picky Bars is back to running full steam and the first Wilder outside of Central Oregon is this weekend, but the busyness of business didn’t keep them from their weekly date at the mics to answer some of your questions. [Submit yours: pickybars.com/podcastQs] Topics ...
19: Going to School & Getting Schooled (on Strava)
September 20, 2018 09:30 - 45 minutes - 32 MBLauren and Jesse mic up for another discussion on sports, business, and relationships, with a mix of their own going-ons and listener submitted questions. With the first week of kindergarten under their belts, the topic of community and making friends as adults comes up, as well as Lauren’s upcoming Wilder retreat and Jesse’s race plans for the rest of the year. That’s come with a welcomed shift onto the trails, and while it took coaching, instigating, and pacing from three of his pro buddie...
18: “Take your ‘treasure it!’ and shove it.”
September 13, 2018 09:00 - 46 minutes - 32.5 MBIt all goes so fast and before you know it, the kids are grown, the training’s done, and you’re staring down the moment you thought you’d been waiting for, wishing you could have back the bumps and bruises you cursed along the way. Whether that’s hiding in the janitor’s closet during the first day of kindergarten drop-off (ahem, Lauren) or showing up on race day feeling sub-par, this episode is all about embracing and making the most of any situation. Listener-submitted question topics incl...
17: Resiliency, Running Safety, and Celebrity Shots
September 06, 2018 10:00 - 40 minutes - 28 MBAh, the classic end-of-summer tale where a search crew gets sent out to fetch a boy playing outside past dark with his friends… No, Jude’s not grounded, but Jesse’s surf-wave privileges might be revoked for a bit. After a week of solo parenting while Lauren was on the east coast, perhaps we’ll call it work/play/love balance lesson, reminding everyone that when one well overflows another dries up, and eventually you’ve gotta even ‘em out with some river water... A new batch of listener ...
16: Super Advanced: Science! [w Special Guest: Jude, 5yo]
August 31, 2018 10:00 - 8 minutes - 7.92 MBEnough about spreadsheets and triathlon and marriage and stuff - today’s podcast guest wants to get real on SCIENCE. This special edition episode covers technical topics like how the human body works, explained in a way even a five year old could understand… Because it’s Lauren and Jesse’s five year old son, Jude, explaining them! Jesse sits down with his eldest child (Zadie makes her presence known near act III) while Lauren was out of town to record this adorable bonus content about Jude’s...
15: Man on Fire and the Social Implications of Sport
August 23, 2018 09:30 - 40 minutes - 28.6 MBThis episode is worth listening to if only to hear what Jesse thought the term “wet blanket” meant. After that enlightening moment he and Lauren dive into a new twist on the What’s Going On section, talking about the highs of a buzzing creative process, battling portion control with screen time and social media, and riding the sweet, sweet, chaka-all-day wave of the recent Picky Bars relaunch. Listener-submitted questions then spark the following topics: Saying “no” during training se...
14: ‘Stupid Human Tricks’ and the Bars Are Back in Town!
August 16, 2018 09:30 - 44 minutes - 31 MBBars are back! Picky Bars has bars again, and all is right (or at least getting back to right) on the business side of the work, play, love triad. Like Rocky hiding out in the woods before his big fight, Lauren, Jesse, and the kids retreated to the lake for their annual family vacation. With Jesse not being in peak triathlon training mode for the first time for the trip (no Sly Stalone training montage, sorry) there was a definite reconnect with the playful side of sport, including a display...
13: "The Bigger the Ship, The Harder to Turn"
August 02, 2018 09:00 - 49 minutes - 69 MBLauren and Jesse roadtrip over the Cascades to visit Picky Bars new co-packer, their first manufacturing change since 2012 and the official turnaround to the recent out-of-stock battles. With the updates and changes have naturally come some challenges, and they discuss the delicate balance of small business life and ownership, which as a married couple in the car alone for multiple hours… was exactly as lively a conversation as you’d imagine. “Big ships are harder to turn” as Jesse puts it,...
12: Burnout, Gender Stereotypes, and Goals You Can’t Afford to Catch
July 26, 2018 09:30 - 46 minutes - 32.2 MBJesse’s feeling the burn of re-entry after Challenge Roth, having stacked his off-season plate a bit too full with all the non-triathlon things he said he’d give his full attention to after the race. It’s a classic “whoops” move, but like a good work/play/love advocate he and Lauren are making sure there’s still plenty of balance amongst the chaos. This includes some new, very literal balancing activities, and we’re sure the folks at the yoga studio and surf wave are now referring to JT as “...
11: Out Of Stock: On Pushing Through Pain in Business + Sport
July 19, 2018 09:00 - 48 minutes - 33.5 MBThis week’s episode dives immediately into the almost-TMI honest, rough water deep end about Picky Bars’ current inventory struggles. Lauren and Jesse talk candidly about the background of Picky’s production and growth cycle, and how a perfect storm of supplier, manufacturer, and brand change decisions conspired into a massive out-of-stock issue. As the company owners and without outside investment, making the call to either “ship and duck” or address the quality issues came with big implica...
10: Challenge Roth [Special Episode]
July 10, 2018 20:53 - 52 minutes - 36.3 MBAnd they’re back! (Stateside AND in the studio…) Lauren and Jesse battle jet lag from their trip to Germany with a special episode about the “Hallmark” of the “Cool Races in Cool Places” tour - Challenge Roth! After spending a significant amount of time apart from Lauren, the kids, and Picky Bars to tune-up (Heilbronn 70.3) and dial it in for an A-race effort at Roth, the fam reunited just in time for things to get crazy. Hear about how they managed another family race-vacation - Lauren trav...
09: Nerves, Body Image, “Happiness Differentials”, and Radiohead
June 06, 2018 09:00 - 54 minutes - 38.1 MBThis week the work, sport, family balance in the Flomas house was less of a flashy juggling act and more of a clumsy dropping things and throwing them at the wall. From birthday parties to high school reunions, peak triathlon training and sleep training, Lauren and Jesse keep it real on managing it all (or not), diffusing fights with snacks (works for kids and adults alike!), and this week’s listener questions: Dealing with pre-race anxiety Managing the athlete/coach relationship Maintain...
08: The Energy Well, Aging in Sport, #SuperAdvanced, and the NBA Playoffs
May 31, 2018 17:31 - 48 minutes - 33.5 MBListen, even if you aren’t interested in the topics in this episode, do yourself a favor and listen to the final few minutes where Jesse explains the origination of #superadvanced, including a memorable dinner table moment with Jude and an avocado. (But if you are interested, here are this week’s listener questions): When to push through fatigue in training/work, and when you need a break Redefining athletic goals with age (Shoutout masters athletes!) Living unfairly in someone else’s...
07: To Our Younger, On-again, Off-again, Pre-and-postpartum, Creative Selves
May 22, 2018 16:14 - 44 minutes - 31.1 MBIf this week’s What’s Going On?! segment were a Friends episode, it’d be titled, “The One Where Jesse’s More Nervous for PPP than Kona.” He and Lauren recap their perspective Pole, Pedal, Paddle races - spoiler: they both rocked it - and the super secret Picky Bars conference call they just took from the living room - spoiler: it’s a secret - before diving into these listener-instigated topics: Lessons for your younger self Training during and after pregnancy On-again, off-again relations...
06: "The Sky is Made of PB&J" (a.k.a. Get your head right for race day, parenting issues, nutrition, and bucket lists)
May 16, 2018 17:08 - 46 minutes - 32.1 MBIt’s a big week in the Flomas household, as both Lauren and Jesse prepare for the “Bend Olympics” - Pole, Pedal, Paddle! This multi, multi-sport event is the ultimate PNW challenge and a town treasure. Lauren’s holding down the run leg for her mom friend team, “Play Date,” and Jesse’s tackling the ski, ski, bike, run, kayak, sprint course solo looking for his first non-asterisk win. After some LOLs over their differing race preps, they jump into listener questions. Topics include: Getting i...
05: Wild Wildflower, the Intersection of Work-Play-Love at its Finest (& Ugliest)
May 10, 2018 21:46 - 44 minutes - 41.4 MBFresh off their wild Wildflower weekend, Jesse and Lauren give a glimpse at what a weekend racing as a pro athlete looks like when the whole damn family is in tow. From how the change in environment may’ve affected his performance to how well compression socks perform as emergency first aid to a four year old’s head, it’s not your typical race recap. (Actual race recap here.) From there they jump right into a batch of listener questions, tackling topics like: Helping someone struggling...
04: Training Together, Taking it to the Next Level, and Having Employees
May 01, 2018 13:35 - 32 minutes - 23.1 MBWith race season around the corner - Can Jesse bring home a seventh consecutive W at Wildflower this weekend?? - this episode has them ramping up and dialing in the feeling of peak training. (The intro tinkering seems to have started paying some dividends...) Listener questions this week include: Training together - yay or nay? How to tell when it’s time to move from amateur to elite What makes a good coach, and are all pro athletes qualified to coach by virtue of their training? Develop...
03: Buzzing From Desi
April 24, 2018 09:00 - 34 minutes - 24.2 MBIt’s Boston Marathon morning! Lauren and Jesse are buzzing after Des Linden’s big win, which brings up her new coffee company (Linden & True), which conveniently segues into a fresh batch of listener questions about biz, sport, and life at home: Project management at home Getting back to training after a break Dealing with parent guilt of time away from training and running a business Picky Bars thoughts on bringing on investors Jesse kicks things off by talking about how he talks too m...
02: Quality Time, Getting Sponsors, Hiring People, Workplace Healthcare
April 03, 2018 16:36 - 29 minutes - 27.9 MBLauren and Jesse don't realize the podcast is already named, oh well. Then they answer these questions - - What’s the most effective way to spend quality time together when you’re tired from training and work? - How do you go about securing sponsorships as an athlete? - How did you get past the point of having to do everything for your business to being able to hire people to help? - When you were first starting out as entrepreneurs - how did you decide whether to of...
01: Making Time, Encouraging Kids, Modifying Training, Your Biz's "Done" Line
April 02, 2018 18:08 - 38 minutes - 35.5 MBAfter an obviously unrehearsed but awesomesauce intro, Lauren and Jesse answer these questions: How do you make time for each other that isn't focused around business and/or training? How do you encourage your kids in sports without pushing them too hard? Do you modify your training to account for stress at work or at home? When you started Picky Bars, did you set a "Done" line, where you would stop the business? The episode touches on setting work/life boundaries, particularly when ...
Intro: Who we are and why you should listen to us, maybe
April 02, 2018 17:53 - 7 minutes - 5.72 MBLauren and Jesse get off to a rip rocking start by introducing each other, and explain why the world needs yet another podcast! They describe how they intend to learn from each other and their listeners as they answer questions on sports, family, business, and the balance between all three.