I received an email today from a franchise owner. I won't mention who or from what city that,

I guess it wasn't surprising, but it was, it was frustrating enough to want to share it with you.

So let me, let me read the email to you.

Hello, I was scheduled for my first session tomorrow and have been looking forward to it all week,

but I no longer think starting strength is the right fit for me. I followed y'all on Instagram and saw

this quote on the wall on a recent post. Strong people are harder to kill than weak people and more

useful in general. I've been chronically ill for many years. During that time, I've had many swings

between being couchbound and feeling strong. When I first that time, I've had many swings between being couch-bound and

feeling strong. When I first became ill, I spent almost four years figuring out how to manage my

illness and was unable to exercise during that time. When I experienced lows in my health, I feel like

I'm useless. It has taken me many years to realize that my worth is not dependent upon my physical

strength, and even now I find myself going back to that place.

Listen closely to a few keywords in this next paragraph.

I understand the intention behind that quote is not to hurt people like me, but words matter.

During the pandemic, my health began to decline significantly, but I discovered lifting

weights was something I could do without triggering my other symptoms. I plan to join

starting strength so I could find community and get stronger, but that quote has made it clear

that it is not a safe place, it is not a safe place for me to lift. I feel discouraged enough by the situation that I don't really

feel comfortable coming in for the sessions that I booked. So if you could cancel and refund me,

I'd really appreciate it. We are not for everyone. No business is, no business can be. If you attempt to be everything to everyone, you will be very little to very few.

So we know exactly who our audience is and our audience are people that get fired up and

motivated by the quote, strong people are harder to kill.

...