When Brian Sloan was chatting with a client and she mentioned that she was doing a triathlon, he had no idea what that was. He went home later and googled it. Brian was really into Cross Fit at the time but was starting to feel bored with that routine, so when he read about the Kiawah Island triathlon his client was doing, he thought “that sounds fun” and signed himself up. How did it go? “It destroyed me,” he remembers with a laugh. “Everything hurt.”
Determined to improve his performance, he started researching triathlon training and putting some intention into his training. He raced Kiawah again the following year and wound up on the podium. Then he was hooked. He was intrigued by long course triathlon and the idea of doing something that such a small percentage of the population has done. So he bought a bike.
Soon after, he signed up for a 70.3 and started working with Coach Alison at Axes Endurance Coaching. Over the next few years, he would go on to finish several 70.3s as well as a full Ironman – which was one of his most significant triathlon experiences. “When I got off the bike, I had no legs to run,” he says. “I took a really long time in transition, and I got out to run and just had nothing. Then I saw my wife and my kids with the signs they made for me, which was a turning point in my mind. That’s how fast our spirit can change in this sport, which is very powerful. But as I was finishing the first loop and knowing I had to do it all again, I was an emotional wreck inside. I had quit the race a thousand times in my head. It was dark. People were finishing, and I had to run that whole loop again. I had Coach Alison’s voice in my head telling me to just finish this mile and then refocus. Then I saw my kids again, standing on the corner with their signs, and I decided to finish. That’s why this experience was so memorable: knowing I was going to quit and yet then persevering through to finish despite what my mind and my body were telling me.”
Brian draws a lot of parallels between his triathlon experiences and life: “Having a plan and having a goal to achieve something is critical. Obstacles are the things you see when you take your eyes off the goal. Keep your head down, follow the plan, do the work. In business and life and relationships and recovery, there’s a goal at the end of this. When things get tough, it’s because I’ve taken my eyes off the goal and I’ve started focusing on the problems instead. For me it’s the same thing, in triathlon and in life.”
As a recovered alcoholic and addict, Brian lives this message in all aspects of his life. “I recover out loud,” he explains. “I want people to know I’m in recovery because I hope to share hope with people who are in the same place that I was in. I want them to know they can talk to someone if they are struggling. My purpose in life is to stay sober and to help other people. I feel like it’s my job to give back to people who are in the same place I was in.”
This philosophy carries over into his business as well. Brian owns High Tide Home Remodeling, a construction company focused on residential custom remodeling in Mount Pleasant, Daniel Island, and Isle of Palms, SC. After many years spent working in maintenance, starting his own company allowed him to focus on his recovery and helping other people. He surrounds himself with like-minded people, both in business and in life. And he has the opportunity to do pro bono work for the recovery center that helped him (and for others).
“Everything is circular for me,” Brian says. “If I prioritize my recovery, then I get the opportunity to do everything else. When I was driving back from my first 70.3 in Augusta, I went straight to the recovery center with my bike still on the back on my car, to show them what’s possible. That’s where I get a lot of my drive for this sport. It’s the mind, body, spirit connection, but also to show other people that it’s possible.”
Learn more about High Tide Remodeling: https://www.hightideremodeling.com
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