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Raymond Hall interviews Dr. Brittany Deane—athlete, medical doctor, and Chief Performance Officer at BioSync X Global from Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago—about the real pressures, trade-offs, and habits behind sustainable high performance. Dean explains how performance medicine connects internal biology to business outcomes, shaped by her COVID-era experiences as both doctor and patient and a personal loss that led her away from hospital work toward bodybuilding, women’s health advocacy, and executive performance care. She highlights burnout, degraded capacity, and sleep as a commonly compromised pillar, arguing leaders often overestimate their biology and underestimate its impact on focus, mood, and longevity. Dean emphasizes reframing nerves, learning through failure, disciplined recovery, and basics over quick fixes, and describes a client transformation involving quitting nightly drinking, losing 20 pounds, improving sleep, and reclaiming family time.
00:00 Meet Dr Brittany Deane
01:26 Performance Medicine Explained
02:54 COVID Wake Up Call
05:24 Health Becomes Real
07:41 Fail Fast Learn Faster
09:56 Nerves and Confidence
13:11 Health as Leadership Standard
19:45 Sleep and Degraded Capacity
21:43 Wellbeing Sets the Tone
27:24 Longevity Basics Over Hacks
30:11 Making Long Game Decisions
31:09 Deep Dive Diagnostics
32:34 Mindset And Self Talk
34:48 Consistency And 80 20
37:42 Bodybuilding Prep Mindset
38:57 Recovery For High Performers
43:00 Measuring Executive Health
46:01 Who Gets Results
47:46 Transformation Story
52:27 Leadership Beyond Titles
53:32 Letter To Younger Self
55:10 Culture Through Standards
57:40 Defining The Standard
59:16 Closing Takeaways
Creators and Guests
Host
What is The Standard?
Where leadership, wellness, and high performance come together.
What does it actually take to become the standard of excellence in leadership and life?
The Standard is a leadership and personal development program from Aurelius Global LLC, created for executives, athletes, veterans, students, and emerging leaders who want practical guidance they can apply immediately. Hosted by a decorated military veteran and global CHRO, Raymond Hall, the show blends real-world leadership experience with conversations about wellness, resilience, and high performance.
Each episode delivers actionable insight drawn from real people with operational leadership and executive experience, sharing their personal stories and lessons learned from leading high-performing teams around the world.
Whether you’re stepping into leadership, navigating career transitions, or working to grow without sacrificing your health, The Standard is designed to be the voice you return to when it matters most.
Because excellence isn’t theoretical, it’s practiced.
[00:00:18] Speaker 2: so today's conversation is one I've been looking forward to for a while. You know, I'm sitting down with Dr. Brittany Dean. She's an athlete, medical doctor, and chief performance officer at BioSync X Global. From Port of Spain, Trinidad, and Tobago.
And this isn't going to be one of those surface level conversations about performance and leadership. We're actually going to get into the real stuff, those moments that shape you, the pressure, the trade offs, and what actually take, what it actually takes to sustain high performance long term. So Brittany, welcome
[00:00:51] Brittany Deane: thank you again for having me on this podcast. It really is, you know, a great honor to be here. And just a little bit about me. Of course, I am a doctor by profession, but I like to think of myself as a combination of, of different aspects and different experiences that I've had in life. So beyond just my medical profession, like you mentioned, I'm also a bodybuilding athlete.
I'm a person. I like to practice what I preach. So I always like every single thing that I do to intertwine with all aspects of my life. So that performance that I've learned myself from being an athlete, that is something that I like to translate to my clients in BioSync X and my clients being more of the high performers, the C-suite executives, because we like to think of health as one dimensional.
It is just something that we need to sustain life. But when we think of performance and performance medicine, it really translates into all aspects of your life, including your business. So how. Uh, how are the different biological aspects of your body actually playing into your business? And that is what we do at BioSync X Global.
This is something that we found actually really do help these leaders lead better. So it's not just about looking at the external metrics, but looking internally to see how you can better yourself so you can better your company as well.
[00:02:27] Raymond: That's awesome. And later on in the show we'll talk about, we'll ask you to give an example of one of these amazing transformations that you've actually, uh, witnessed. Um, now everyone has a moment or a series of moments that really shaped how they lead today. think back, what stands out as the defining experience that changed how you show up now?
[00:02:51] Brittany Deane: So that's a lovely question, honestly. I don't think that it's just one moment that has really led me to being who I am to today. I think that it's a culmination of different events, but if I really had to choose one period of my life, I would have to say the COVID era because I mean, I've ex experienced COVID not just as a doctor, but as a patient as well.
So I got to, to hit that from two sides of, of the fence. And what I've realized is that there's so much more than what we experience in our jobs on a daily basis. And, and for me, that is, that's something that really did hit me hard because, um, personally I lost somebody that was very near and dear to my heart right after that.
And I think it just put into perspective to me that that. Life is so fragile, and if you don't go after what you want, then it's not really living, is it? So for me, I think that after COVID, I, I just decided, you know, being in the hospital may not have been the best option because I, I, I always say that, you know, I've found that I, I'm putting a bandaid on, on things in the hospital setting.
And don't get me wrong, you know, you, you save lives and you make a lot of change. But I don't think that the change that I was making was. The change that I set out to make. And so I left and, and honestly, I had no idea what I wanted to do after leaving. I just knew that I wanted to live my life on my own terms.
And in doing so, I've found things that have really set my life in motion. I found bodybuilding, I've found, um, being a woman's health advocate and I've found performance medicine. And I think that right now it has been such a fulfilling thing to, to experience myself and experience my clients when they've had that transformation, not just in their bodies, but being translated into the work that they do as well.
[00:05:10] Raymond: No, that's awesome. there a particular point where your perspective on health and performance really shifted? Like when it stopped being theoretical and became real?
[00:05:24] Brittany Deane: I would say that there, there are several different. Times that I've seen certain things fall apart because of a person's, um, health or lack thereof in terms of a healthy life. Um, but I did have a client a while back who was working so much, very successful, of course, very successful in business, very successful in, in just being an entrepreneur and everything.
Just eventually he ended up getting a heart attack. Just long story short, and after that, he decided that, you know, just, just sacrificing his health for the betterment of his company or just to make a few extra dollars, that was not worth it. Because when you do end up in situations like that, and I've seen it.
As a doctor in the hospital, and I've seen it as somebody who works in the corporate, corporate fair sphere as well. It's not something that resonates with you in the moment. It's something that stays with you lifelong because now you've gone from somebody who can live their life on a daily basis on their own terms, to somebody who is now compelled to take medication every single day just to survive, just to live.
[00:06:57] Raymond: Brittany, you know, oftentimes people, you know, when they think about, you know, how do you become this, this great leader? I often think back in, in my career, and I've had these conversations with, you know, people, younger professionals that I may mentor. Um, and often talk about the mistakes and the things that didn't necessarily go right that probably actually were more beneficial in my development and growth and my path to success than even some of these successes and, and big achievements, um, that I was able to, to obtain. when it comes to growth and things not going right, was there a mistake or failure that ended up being necessary for you? And what did that actually teach you about yourself?
[00:07:41] Brittany Deane: Honestly, I will say that I have probably failed more times than I've succeeded, and it has just taught me that this is a learning lesson, and I've also learned to essentially separate self worth from these outcomes because when you feel, once you automatically think that this is it, this is the end, but after you've failed 10 times, 20 times at something, you just get better and.
You, you end up just getting thicker skin, you know, you, you end up becoming more resilient and you learn how to do things in a quicker fashion. So I always say, when you're feeling, feel fast and feel forward, because you don't wanna take two steps forward and five steps back just because you are afraid to feel again.
You know, feeling actually is the stepping stone for you to become successful in life and for you to learn which path is the right path for you. And like I said, I've failed many times, but now it, it doesn't bother me, you know, this is just part of my journey. This is, this is one bump on the road to getting where I want to be.
And maybe, and I would say that I don't know where the end path is. I'm a person that takes many different roads at many different times in life. So when we. Eventually fail at one thing. It, it's not even to say that that is not your path at all. It just means that, okay, maybe you try a different route to get there, or maybe you try something else and then you circle back around to that thing when, when it's time to get to that point as well.
So my, my advice there would be to feel very quickly and just get back up one time and try again and feel again. Because in feeling so many times and feeling very quickly, you are going to learn what is right and what is the fastest path to success.
[00:09:44] Raymond: Yeah. I, I think that's, that's awesome advice. And, and just from the few moments we've been talking, um, today, there are a few nuggets I believe that can really help people as they go on their own leadership journeys. Now, I am curious, was there ever a moment where you had to lead, but inside you kind of felt like, Hmm, I don't know if I'm ready for this yet.
[00:10:08] Brittany Deane: I will say that. That, that particular question, I do get asked that a lot, but I get asked that in many different ways. So do you still get nervous? Do you still get anxious when you're talking to a group of people? In fact, just this morning, um, I had a client who was telling me that she had to do this big presentation for a bunch of, of board executives.
And she was so nervous because this is not something that she does on, on, um, a, a weekly basis. And she asked me, how do I not get nervous? How do I, um, stay confident, um, all the time? And let me tell you what the truth is. You don't not get nervous. You are always going to get nervous. You are always going to have ERs.
You're always going to be anxious when you do have to do something that means something to you or that is very important to you. And that is, that's not a fault. That's, that's just biology. That's how we are designed. And the thing that I would say is we wanna reframe the way that we approach that. So don't think of it as nerves.
Don't think of it as what if I feel, think of it as an opportunity to learn and to grow and think of it as excitement. Now, the thing about me is I've probably had over two decades of experience, public speaking and, and being on stage because as soon as I walked out the room, my mother put me in, in singing and dancing and acting.
So my sister and I, we were doing this since we were. Uh, probably about four or five. So I'm no stranger to this stage, and I can still tell you right before you go on to perform or right before you go on for a talk, your heart is going to race. And that is, that's just a given. So you just have to learn how to become resilient with it and learn how to reframe it.
So I no longer think, what if I mess up? And what if people laugh at me? I think, what if there's somebody in the crowd who likes what I do? Or what if there's, there's an opportunity out there waiting for me after I've, I've finished this talk. And you will be surprised how quickly your demeanor is going to change when you just reframe that one thought.
And when you step onto the stage, confidence is just going to exude from you. Mm-hmm.
[00:12:32] Raymond: You know, it's, it's interesting as you were talking through that it, it, did remind me of something. Um, and I'll go a little bit back to my childhood. My sister is an amazing vocalist,
[00:12:43] Brittany Deane: Yes,
[00:12:44] Raymond: But she would tell you, even today, she's nervous every time she's asked to do a song or a solo. And I always thought until you start talking through the why, she's nervous that she was maybe pulling my leg a little bit.
[00:12:58] Brittany Deane: yes,
[00:12:59] Raymond: but it totally makes sense. And I remember my grandmother used to tell her, girl, just get on stage. It's going to be what's the worst can happen other than you'll learn how to get better next time. So thank you for sharing that, that perspective.
[00:13:10] Brittany Deane: yes, of course.
[00:13:11] Raymond: Um, I wanna shift into something that you're deeply embedded in now, um, health,
[00:13:16] Brittany Deane: Yes.
[00:13:17] Raymond: not just as a personal thing, but as a leadership standard. at what point did health stop being optional for you and start becoming part of your responsibility as a leader?
[00:13:29] Brittany Deane: So what I will say is that. Even as a doctor, even working in a medical environment, we experience burnout, we experience exhaustion. And sometimes unfortunately, the reward for hard work is more hard work. And I'm sure that many people out there can, can empathize with that. And you are bringing out yourself to the point of just getting ill, getting stressed out, having chronic inflammation, and then you are not functioning efficiently.
So for me, and, and I'm, I'm also a quote unquote victim of that myself. I would find myself being up at 3:00 AM in the morning just trying to get a project done or trying to get a strategy done for, for a particular company and. Then I found myself realizing, but I'm not even functioning as well as I should be the next day.
I'm not even doing this presentation to the best of my ability because I'm not taking my health seriously. And this was something that actually got me into bodybuilding. Now, bodybuilding and health is, is a completely different, um, conversation that we we're gonna have. But I always say, I like to take the, the positive aspects of, of bodybuilding and apply it to life as I know it now.
And for me, the positive aspects were I was prioritizing getting my workouts in, I was prioritizing eating well, and I was also prioritizing my sleep because recovery is also important. And I found that I was functioning much better on a bodybuilding prep than I was on my daily life Where. I am, I'm, I'm going to bed at 1:00 AM in the morning and getting up at, at 5:00 AM and only getting four or five hours of sleep.
When, when you're, you are pre preparing for a show, a show, you, you literally have to be on point with every single thing. So I had no choice but to get eight hours of sleep. And using my experience, I've understood how persons in that executive position, I've understood how they have been functioning on degraded capacity for years.
And the thing about capacity is that yes, some instances where people literally just dropped out from a heart attack or from stroke or from some other medical condition, but it starts very silently and it starts very easily. It, it just sneaks up on you and it comes in the little things. So you'd notice that.
Maybe I'm more irritable today. Maybe I'm more frustrated today. Maybe I can't focus as well as I need to. And have you ever heard, um, that, that phrase, don't try to book an interview after lunch because nobody's paying attention to you. Nobody has that focus anymore after lunch. And, and the, the job that I'm doing is I want you to have the capacity to function at.
Your optimum at, at your absolute best, but without that degraded capacity. So without falling off the wagon after 11:00 AM or after 12:00 PM being able to sustain what you can do way after you've, you've left the office. And by the way, you should not be taking your work home, um, as much as, as we like to do these days.
But there should be a time for work and there should be a time for play, and there should be a time for family because health is not just what are your biomarkers? Health is all encompassing. It is your social relationships. It's the relationship that you have with your recovery, with your sleep. And, and one thing I do wanna stress is something I, I always tell all of my clients, treat sleep the way that you would treat a meeting.
Treat it like an appointment with yourself. Treat your recovery like an appointment with yourself. Treat your, your workouts, like an appointment with yourself. Because when we hear things like working out or eating right, we think that that is low level. Um, thinking. We think that, oh, I just need to hire a personal trainer, or, I, I just need to, um, walk a little more.
But the fact is the people who function the best and the people who have the best advantage are the ones that literally follow a set of proper requirements when it comes to their workouts, when it comes to their diet, when it comes to their water intake, when it comes to their sleep. So it's not just about thinking of these pillars as simple, it is about going down to that micro level for each person and understanding how that affects your leadership as well.
[00:18:37] Raymond: No, that's amazing. The, the thing that I'm picking up on through this conversation is there may be a need, to, there may be a, a resetting that needs to take place, um, because exhaustion, you know, is real.
[00:18:53] Brittany Deane: Yes,
[00:18:53] Raymond: And I remember, you know, growing up, you know, watching my mother and my father, you know, we're talking about. Is not normal, was very normal.
[00:19:04] Brittany Deane: yes.
[00:19:05] Raymond: So, and, and that then tends to feed into generation after generation. And what you end up with is, as a seasoned leader, knowing what to look for and how to spot that exhaustion, how it shows up and how people engage. Sometimes to your point, it shows up in physical appearance.
There's a number of telltale signs that will let you know as a leader, people are not taking care of themselves.
[00:19:29] Brittany Deane: Yes. Mm-hmm.
[00:19:31] Raymond: so I'm going to ask you, because I know oftentimes we'll get, Hey, I'm fine, nothing's wrong. you see people quietly compromising without even realizing they are?
[00:19:45] Brittany Deane: I think, and I will, I will actually look at this from a pillar perspective. I think you see sleep. Sleep is definitely one of those pillars that people compromise, but it is actually. Uh, affecting them very negatively. So I will see a lot of my clients saying, well, I can function well on four hours of sleep, or I can function well on five hours of sleep.
We think of sleep as something we just do at night. But the reality of sleep is that we have different stages. And if you're not getting enough restorative sleep, then your body is not recharging itself as well as it needs to be. We have deep sleep and we have REM sleep, and these are responsible for, of course, recovering us in a physical way and for memory consolidation.
So I just did a lecture, um, on, on sleep, uh, just, just recently, and many people were thinking that it is okay for me to function on three hours of sleep. And of course when you're in med school pulling an all nighter. That's, that's the thing, right? That that is what, what we have to do because we think for some reason we can learn everything in one night.
But the reality is you are not going to perform well the next day. And as much as you can say, well, I got through this, this presentation, or I got through, um, this, this meeting, do you just wanna get through life? That's, that's not what we want. We want to be performing at our optimal level. We want to be able to have an advantage over competitors.
And I mean, I'm, I'm talking in a business sense here, but I will always say the person that has the best advantage is the person who takes care of themselves. Not for themselves, but for their team and for their company.
[00:21:43] Raymond: So from your perspective, what message does it send when a leader neglects their own wellbeing?
[00:21:52] Brittany Deane: So I, I think that's a very good question. And I mean, of course there are, there are mixed opinions on, on what makes a good leader a, a good leader. But I would say that the message it sends to your team is, I, it's not that you are not capable of being a leader, but I would say that it's, it's, I don't respect myself enough to take care of me, for me.
And honestly, when I, I, I completely understand that there are things that get in the way there, there's life that gets in the way of certain things, but at a specific point, you have to be able to decipher what your priorities are. Versus how much money you want to make. And, and here's the funny thing, when you put yourself first and when you put your health first, you are in that position to run this marathon of business much longer and you will outrun an outpace everybody else in that race.
Now, to, to your point about what it says to your team, I mean, really and truly, you can be a great leader and be outta shape and you can be a terrible leader and be in great shape and be taking care of your health, um, as well. So I don't think that, um, in terms of your leadership quality, I will judge that based on how well you take care of your health.
But I will say that a better a, a, a person who takes care of their health. In the best way, we'll always garner more respect and we'll always be seen superior. And, and that's just a fact because I mean, we as humans, we are visual creatures as well. So we will, we will judge a priest first by how they look, and then by, of course, they're accolades.
And, and this is just psychology, um, one-on-one. But I will say that it's not just about aesthetics. It's about how you feel, how you perform your tasks on a daily basis, and how you want others to perceive you as well, and the way that you want others to respect you as well. Mm-hmm.
[00:24:21] Raymond: Yeah, I think I, and I had some very good, um, counsel years ago, and what a gentleman told me was the number one spectator in, in business, the number one spectator sport in business is boss watching. And so they're, they're watching everything you do to include in some of the things we're talking about now.
I mean, to your point. What does good health look like? It's not going to look the same for everybody. Everybody's bodies are different. Um, and people have different ways of, of managing health and taking care of themselves. Um, but I also think that people don't really care about what you're trying to do or what you say until they know you do care.
And so when you start messaging even role modeling yourself, how important this is for the longer term health of not just the business, but for their loved ones being around for any special events where you don't wanna heart attack or a stroke, and all of those things that can happen that kinda wipe some of that, that stuff away when you start encouraging your teams, um, to, to take more time off.
For example, they call it paid time off for a reason, right? And more people work doing paid, paid time off than they actually take the time off to rest and recuperate. So really setting some, some standards around when you're off, you're off,
[00:25:52] Brittany Deane: Exactly. Mm-hmm.
[00:25:53] Raymond: things actually show people you care.
And then you start to develop those habits over time then become the standard of, of health that you're looking for to drive through your team. So, so thanks for that.
[00:26:04] Brittany Deane: Yes. And I, I, I always say, you are what you do, not what you say you will do. So your actions will speak louder than your words. And it is very evident, um, by a priest's actions, the way that they look. And, um, I, I will say, like you said, health comes in all shapes and sizes. It, it does not look one way, but I think that.
You, you are really, you are at your core, what you do when nobody is watching. So it is important that your thoughts to yourself are first of all kind and you are kind to your body and all the biological processes that help you to function on a daily basis. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
[00:26:50] Speaker 2: This episode of The Standard is brought to you by Aurelius Global LLC through its business and HR Consulting Division Aurelius Global helps organizations strengthen leadership capability improve workforce performance and build cultures where excellence become sustainable not accidental If your organization is developing emerging leaders or navigating complex growth challenges Aurelius Global delivers practical solutions grounded in real world operating experience Learn more@aureliusglobal.tech The
[00:27:24] Raymond: So one thing I think people struggle with is this idea of longevity.
[00:27:30] Brittany Deane: Yes.
[00:27:30] Raymond: Uh, what are people doing right now that feels productive, maybe even rewarded, but is actually costing them long term?
[00:27:40] Brittany Deane: So I think that we have a skewed perception of longevity based on everything that is emerging now in the market now. We don't just want to live longer, we want to have a better quality of life, and that that is essentially what longevity is. And I think if we strip away all of the, the different things that are being marketed now, so all of these new gadgets and, and all of these, these new compounds that, that people are taking that think, that they think will help them in the long run.
If we strip away that and we don't have the basics, then you really have nothing. Because longevity starts with the most basic skills and the most basic pillars. So I, I actually have a client who is about 67 years old, and every single day for the past 17 years, he has been running. And there's not a day that goes by that he will not get up at 4:00 AM and run.
And he has no medical conditions. He has, um, he's just, just functioning at, at his best. He's still, um, the CEO of his company, still still doing all of these amazing things. And then I do have clients that are way younger and they are bringing themselves out. They're not able to function as well as they should, and people don't like to hear.
And, and this may be a little bit controversial, but you don't like to hear that things are very simple. You don't like to hear that these simplest things can make a big difference in your life. Many people just want the quick fix. Many people just want the, the shot that, that makes me lose weight. Many people just want, um, the surgery that makes me look better.
But at the end of the day, it's the, the very simple, the very boring things that are going to make a difference. And I think we need to stop thinking that we need to spend. An exorbitant amount of money on these things, when in reality, once you have the proper guidance, these things can come to you naturally and very easily because we as humans, we were meant to be active and moving, and of course be able to, to just sustain a long and healthy life.
And I think longevity is just getting us back to our roots before all of these things started to, to take over our lives. Mm-hmm.
[00:30:11] Raymond: Brittany, if I came to your clinic and you know, 'cause there's a lot of literature out there on longevity and.
[00:30:17] Brittany Deane: Yes.
[00:30:18] Raymond: And if you go to chat GPT, it'll kind of give you a whole plan on, on what you need
[00:30:24] Brittany Deane: Yes. Exactly. Mm-hmm.
[00:30:26] Raymond: by the way, but I'm saying it probably would give you a plan. Um, so when you think about playing the long game,
[00:30:33] Brittany Deane: Mm-hmm.
[00:30:33] Raymond: how will you help me make real decisions?
Not, not theory, but make real decisions to get there?
[00:30:41] Brittany Deane: So I am a person. I believe that people listen to people, and I think that. Some people just need a little bit more of a push than others. Now, first of all, I like to start with the person as a whole, and we don't just talk about the basic things that you will do. And a lot of the, the labs and a lot of the, the executive medicals out there, they're very much reactive.
So by the time you get your medical done, you've already had your hba one c within that pre-diabetic range. What we try to do at my clinic is make sure that we are catching things very early. So some of the labs that you won't even see on a basic panel, we like to get that. What is your fasting insulin like?
Are you in the early signs of, of insulin? Um, resistance. We look, we go all the way into your cellular roots as well. We look at your nutrition, we look at your, your DNA, how, how does all of this paint a picture of you and how is that going to be personalized to what is going to work best for your body?
And we even track you longitudinally, um, through, through wearables to see how you are actually performing on a daily basis. And, uh, we do have physicians on board. So even if you do have medical conditions, we are equipped here and ready to, to handle, um, what you are going through. But of course, at the end of the day, we do not want to make this medicine forward.
We want to make this performance forward. We want to see how you can optimize your capacity to perform on a daily basis and how we can help you of course just become the best version of who you are.
[00:32:34] Raymond: So I'm a technical conversation now in a, in a slightly different direction. I mean, you're obviously very successful in the world of bodybuilding and medicine. Um, so you've seen, you've seen a lot both on the competitive side and you see clients who, know what to do, but they don't execute consistently. What have you learned about that gap between those that know and they actually execute?
[00:33:04] Brittany Deane: So that's a very good question. And what I would see is we, we talk about this weird discipline a lot, and many people will say that they have discipline and many people will say, well, it's very difficult for me to do X, Y, and Z. And I would say that in that gap, what you actually see, or, or what the difference really is, um, from the person that execute versus the person that doesn't.
I would say I'm, this is actually what I've actually seen. Um, it's, it's the way that you talk to yourself. And the way that you frame things to yourself. So the person that executes, they don't see this as something that is impossible for them versus the person that finds it difficult to execute. Their automatic thing is, well, I've tried all of these things before and nothing has worked for me, or my body's resistant to this.
Or, um, I'm just not cut out for something like this. And I think that that self-talk is really something that can I either motivate you or break you as a person. So the way that you see yourself and the way that you talk to yourself is going to become very important in not just your journey for health, but your journey in business, in whatever skill you are trying to, of course, um, gather for yourself and, uh, whatever task you're really trying to do.
So that's self-talk is definitely something that I see as. A big difference between the person who is ready to execute versus the person who says that they're ready but does not actually follow through. Mm-hmm.
[00:34:48] Raymond: So, so where have you personally struggled with consistency? I mean, even at your level.
[00:34:54] Brittany Deane: So, I mean, nobody's perfect, right? So if, if somebody tells you that they are, they are consistent all the time, I would take that with a grain of salt because at the end of the day, we are human beings and no human being is perfect. And I always say that we need to follow our lives based on an 80 20 rule.
So 80% of what we do should be very much consistent and 20%, well, we're human. So do whatever you want for that, that 20% once it's not harming yourself or anybody else. Right? Um, and I mean, I apply that to. Exercise, I apply that to your diet. I apply that to just, just life in, in general. So if we're looking at a diet specifically, 80% of your diet should be from Whole Foods and then the next 20%, or in my case, I try to make it, only 10% should be from whatever you like to eat because we are supposed to enjoy life still.
And I would not say that it's about balance. Um, as much as yes, we will, we would like balance in life. 80 and 20 is not balance. I mean, one is obviously the majority than the other, so. Balance does not mean that you go out every single night and have three or four drinks and then you can show up the next day at work.
That's not balance, you know, that is, that is literally just digging yourself in a deeper hole balance is making sure that yes, you enjoy the cake or the cookie, but you know that you can get back on track after. And I'm just using an analogy, um, with, with diet here. But this is something that is applicable to all aspects of, of life.
But for me personally. I would say that there are some days where I just wanna sit down at home and, and watch a Netflix show and, and just enjoy life. But I also know that I'm the type of person that when I'm on, I'm on. And I think that being able to understand who you are as a person and what you require in that moment is going to be very, very important.
Because I will have my day when I wanna sit down and watch my shoes and just nobody distribute me at all. But the next day when I'm on, I'm on because I know that that is, that is definitely the time to be consistent. That is definitely the time to be disciplined. And that is without motivation as well.
You can't rely on motivation. That's, that's, that's going to fail you in the long run. You have to be disciplined enough to know that this is time to be on versus, okay, well now I have a little bit of leeway so I can relax myself and I can enjoy.
[00:37:42] Raymond: So I have an admission. Um,
[00:37:45] Brittany Deane: Yes,
[00:37:46] Raymond: in our previous conversations, I'm not sure if I mentioned this to you or not, but we have a, a common passion and a surround bodybuilding. Um,
[00:37:54] Brittany Deane: yes.
[00:37:55] Raymond: in a couple of competitions. The last one I think was in December of 24. I didn't do any
[00:38:00] Brittany Deane: Wow.
[00:38:00] Raymond: trying to get back into it.
[00:38:02] Brittany Deane: Yes.
[00:38:02] Raymond: Yes, this year. But now you're making me feel a little guilty because I'm thinking that bag of chips between my is not a good idea.
[00:38:11] Brittany Deane: No, no, no. And that's, that's the thing, like it's, it's not about feeling guilt about any, anything that you do. It is about understanding that there's a time and place for everything. So. The bag of chips, that's fine. I, I have my bag of chips, um, when I feel to have a bag of chips. But when I'm on for a prep, you know that, that is not required to help you get to your goal.
So you and I, I think that, um, when you do a prep, and you will understand this as well, your body switches, your, your brain, sorry, switches modes. You understand that you are going for a specific goal and for some reason it just automatically switches to, there's nothing else but this goal for me right now.
Mm-hmm.
[00:38:56] Raymond: Mm-hmm. So you touched on something, um, earlier about the importance of sleep, um, from a recovery, um, perspective. So I wanna talk about stress recovery, sustainability, because high performers, they know how to go hard in the paint, like they push, but a lot of 'em don't last. So what do you think separates the ones who actually sustain it long term?
[00:39:22] Brittany Deane: I think people who are able to sustain that long term are the ones who are able to discern when it's time for recovery versus when it's time to push. And, and this is, this is one of the, the things that I actually do, especially when we're looking at utilizing wearables. Um, for, for precincts in those positions, it's looking at what, what is your data seeing today?
Should you push a little more or should you pull back? Is your recovery, um, being streamed at, at this point? And should you do something that is less stressful for your body? Or are you in the green? Are you ready to go? Can you, can you get some weight lifting done? And I think sustainability, especially when it comes to your performance, is really being able to decipher.
When you need rest versus when you need to push. It really is having, um, that, that is uh, uh, what a balance is in terms of that sort of opportunity. Um, but I think that there are many people out there who think that if they tune off for a little bit, they automatically will lose what progress they've made.
And that's not the truth. You know, you need to be able to have some, some sort of recovery so that you are able to, to push even more the next day. Sometimes pulling back a little bit gives you a lot more energy to, to dive, um, head freeze into, into different things that you want to do. Mm-hmm.
[00:40:54] Raymond: So when you think about long-term performance and what that actually requires, um, and what people tend to ignore or underestimate, you think that is the rest or you think it's something more than that?
[00:41:09] Brittany Deane: I think when we think of that, that long-term performance and, and underestimating certain aspects of that long-term performance. When we look at business in particular, many people underestimate their, or or rather, I should say, they overestimate their biology. They think that what they are performing, the level they're performing at is fine for them at that point.
But when we actually get into, into the depth of what is going on in your body, you, we realize how much you've been running your body to the ground and. Then we have to actually take a step back and see, well, what is the best course of action for you? Because at the end of the day, it's about making this sustainable.
How can we implement this into your daily life? And so many people are surprised when the little actions or the little changes that they make on a daily basis actually get them to that point, that healthy point, um, where they can, they can perform at their absolute best. So it's really a lot of people just overestimating how well their biology is performing for them, and honestly, underestimating how important health and biology is for their performance in business.
[00:42:32] Raymond: So I think, I think most people when they wake up in the morning, they don't intend to practice bad habits or not be in the best health. They just don't know how, or it just seems lofty or a goal, or it just seems like this massive thing that's not achievable you make it seem so simple, so easy, in a very planful way, um, that that's something that anybody can achieve regardless of, of where they are.
So I want to transition a little bit, um, to the work that you're doing at BioSync X Global. Um, because we've talked about stress, we've talked about recovery, we've touched on sustainability. Now I wanna bring this into the work you're leading there. Um, at its core, what problem are you really trying to solve through your work?
[00:43:21] Brittany Deane: So I think that at the core of every single thing, what we're really trying to solve is essentially making leaders into better leaders based on their biological performance and making leaders into better leaders based on just optimizing, you know, their health on a daily basis because. We, we look at the leader of a company or the executives as the asset.
We look at you as if you are what is most valuable at that point. And we, we, we measure everything else. You know, we measure your cybersecurity, we measure your finances. We have dashboards for all of these different things. But when we look at the one asset that is actually running the company that goes unmeasured and that asset is the actual executive running the company.
You know, we, we do a lot of guesswork. We think that we are fine because, well, today I didn't wake up with a headache, so that must mean I'm good. You know, today I, I, I only had three hours of sleep, but a cup of coffee and, and I'm functioning well. And we think that that is okay. And that's not the truth, you know, because when we get to the core of.
What is actually going on in your body? We actually realize that you are silently degrading over time, and at the end of the day, you've done all of this work for your company. You've done all of this work for other people. And when it's time for you to enjoy the fruits of your label, now you've, you've, you have two stents in your heart.
You have, you know, um, you have to take medications, uh, because you are, you are on this lifelong, um, medication after a heart attack. So it's about being able to not just, yes, optimize your performance for, for your business, but also being able to enjoy your life as well, because. We are meant to be here to, to enjoy our experience as humans.
We are meant to, to want to find the, the wonders that this, this life is, is affording to us. So it really is about, at the end of the day, thinking about what, how, how can I play with my grandkids when I'm, I'm 80 years old, how can I, you know, uh, go to, to my, my children's wedding and, and be able to, to just be active and be there for them as well.
Mm-hmm.
[00:45:59] Raymond: Awesome. So. When you're working with clients, do you see patterns, um, consistencies in those that, you know, you develop this plan, they follow the plan, and they elevate, and those that you see no progress and they stay stuck?
[00:46:16] Brittany Deane: I think that that goes back to that question between the persons who execute and they don't and don't execute. And a lot of it is self-talk. Um, but uh, just going into patterns themselves, the, the persons that do see the, the change and the persons that, that actually embed themselves in the, in the entire process.
And, and, and this goes not just for, for this particular aspect, but I think that this is a life lesson. The people who listen actually get results. The people who listen and execute will get results. The people who will say that, well. I have this excuse and this excuse, and I had this, this dinner to go to, and I, I only had like five of these.
And then it's, it's all of these circles just to get to, to that point. I, I wouldn't say that they don't get results because at the end of the day, just doing anything is going to put you in a better position than you were yesterday. But I think it's also trusting the process and trusting yourself to be able to fulfill this journey, um, that you've put yourself on as well.
And I think a lot of it has to do with just identity and the way that, that people see themselves and the way that people respect themselves. Because at the end of the day, taking up a challenge like this is really about how much do I respect myself, my time, and the people around me as well.
[00:47:46] Raymond: So when we started the conversation, you were doing your introduction. I saw your eyes light up when you start talking about a transformation that you witnessed, I promise that we come back to it. So now is that moment of truth, right? So can you tell us about a transformation that has really stayed with you?
You know, where the shift went beyond just physical health.
[00:48:10] Brittany Deane: Honestly, I, I do have several transformations that, that stay with me, but I think, um, the one that I'm most proud of recently, I've actually had a client, um, this was probably a year or two ago, and he came to me. And he was drinking every single night. And I've noticed that a lot of persons in these positions, they drink to, to help themselves fall asleep.
So they will have two glasses. It's not that they are alcoholics, but it, it's that it helps them sleep. It quiets their mind. And after about a while, he was not really, of course, you know, trusting the process. He was not trusting the, the entire, um, the entire just environment of, of it all. And then something happened in his life and he realized that if he does not get a grip on reality, it really is going to hit him very quickly.
And since that point, he has trusted every single thing that I have said. He has quit drinking. He has not drunk anything since, since the, the, the last time he had this, this, um, issue. And. He's down 20 pounds. He's living life, he's skiing, he's golfing, he's finding time for his family. So he used to work nonstop every single day, but now he coughs out time for his priorities.
I always, um, tell them your priorities are not necessarily the things, the things that, um, take up the most time on your calendar, but it's the thing that you will never budge, the things that you will never move. So he started to plan some time with his family, and these are the things that, that do not budge for him anymore.
And he's been getting, you know, his full eight hours of sleep. He's been consistent with his sleep wake times. There's so many things that I could say, but I think that that is definitely something that I am proud of and I would not even just attribute that to, to me as a person, but I would see just the transformation in his identity and, and how he sees himself.
That really made a big difference in my mind. And, and it really, for after a long time, it showed me that this matters, this type of work matters because yes, we see persons in these executive positions as well. They have everything covered. They're making X amount of money. You know, they should not have a lot of worries in their life.
But the, these are people, you know, the, they are also people, they are also people with feelings. They're also people who go through their own stresses, um, in life. And when you treat them as people, when you see that shift in their identity, because you would be surprised how many people in, in these positions suffer from imposter syndrome.
You know, when, when you start to shift that identity for that, it's a beautiful change. And, and it comes with not just your, your mental shift, but your physical shift and your emotional shift as well.
[00:51:25] Raymond: Y you know, I, I could talk to you all day about this. Um. You reminded me of something, uh, one of the, I probably the best leader I've ever worked with in my career once told me. 'cause I, I would get very frustrated when I'm, I'm talking to people, Hey, here's the plan. And you know that that's the plan because you've lived through, you've seen others go through it, they're just not either getting it or they're just not making the commitment to Yeah.
[00:51:53] Brittany Deane: Yes.
[00:51:54] Raymond: told me once, she said, the student is ready, the teacher will appear. And so as you were talking about transformation of this individual, it reminded me of that because you gave him the plan, coached them up, were supportive. It was until he made the personal commitment though,
[00:52:14] Brittany Deane: Yes.
[00:52:14] Raymond: the plan.
And then you supplemented that with recognition
[00:52:17] Brittany Deane: Mm-hmm.
[00:52:18] Raymond: more support. And that's what led to the long term, um, sustainability of, of the, the plan.
[00:52:24] Brittany Deane: Yes.
[00:52:25] Raymond: thanks for, thanks for sharing that.
[00:52:27] Brittany Deane: And I, I would say that when we, we look at leaders as well, and, and I know that, that we talk a lot about, um, leaders in business. I, I want to reiterate that a title does not make a personal leader and a good friend of mine, he told me the simplest definition of being a leader is you have people that are willing to follow you.
And you have to ask yourself as a leader, do does my team, like, are they excited to come to work every day? Do they want to see me? Do they want to be taught by me? Can I learn something from them? And I think that is, that is also one of the, the great marks of being a leader, is being teachable as well. So being able to understand that you don't know everything and there are people that can come in that can teach you things.
And just because you have a title does not mean that. You are superior to anybody in any sort of way because your juniors have so much to teach you that you don't, you don't even know, um, about yet. Mm-hmm.
[00:53:32] Raymond: So when you think about your journey, you were to write a letter to your younger self, the earlier version of you, what would it say? Is there anything that you, you believe you'd be able to correct sooner? Um, any failures that maybe wouldn't have happened if you knew what you knew now, then?
[00:53:56] Brittany Deane: So I think that the, the only thing that I would say to my younger self is just be brave or like, just, just go for it, you know? Because don't be afraid to fail. That's, that's number one. Because I was, I was honestly very afraid of what people would think of me, um, how people would perceive me if I did this and I failed at it.
And. Now it's just, I understand that growth comes with all of these different failures, and in terms of my failures, I don't think that I would change anything because it is, because of those failures. I've learned so much and I'm able to be in the position that I am today, so I, I think that everything happens for a reason, and I think that going through those failures, it, it definitely was needed for me to gain the knowledge that, that I've gained in short, such a short span of time.
I feel like I've condensed over a decade of knowledge because I have put myself out there to feel so many times, and now it's led me to this point where I can now use that knowledge to help others or me journey as well.
[00:55:08] Raymond: Okay.
[00:55:09] Brittany Deane: Mm-hmm.
[00:55:10] Raymond: when you, when you think about the influence on culture though, how do you think leader leaders can influence culture? Not through words, but through their personal standards.
[00:55:21] Brittany Deane: So I think that's, that's a great question because if you want to be a leader, you have to be willing to know that people are going to follow you and the lessons that you teach and the way that you embody certain things, that is what they are going to want to follow. And if you want to essentially foster a culture of respect and love and appreciation and kindness, and, and of course, yes, hard work is, is always very important.
But a, a culture of people that actually want to show up, then you have to be the leader that is willing to do the work as well. A good leader is not somebody who stands at the back and just, of course, tries to delegate all. All of his work to everybody else. A good leader is somebody who sits at the desk with, with, with this person to try to figure out what can we do next?
How can I help you be better? That is what a good leader in my opinion does. And, and in terms of looking at this from a health perspective, I definitely think a good leader is somebody who really rallies for having proper healthy habits as well. And they do that by showcasing it themselves. And, and in doing so, people underestimate how much this trickles down into, um, the other levels of, of their work as well.
So it's not just about you, it's not just about people at your level, it's about the minus ones. It is about persons under you. Um, and it's, it's really about how. You represent your company. 'cause the way you are, you are now the representative of the company. If you are the CEO or you're the COO, you are a representative of that company.
So what are the standards that this company holds? What are the non-negotiables? What, what are the things that they hold there and, and how much respect do we want to give them because of one, what the CEO does or what, what, what that executive team does and how are they leading their people? What, what is that culture like at that point?
[00:57:39] Raymond: So that's a good
[00:57:40] Brittany Deane: I.
[00:57:40] Raymond: in to, to the next question, which is around when you hear the phrase the standard, what does that mean to you personally? Mm-hmm. Okay.
[00:58:15] Brittany Deane: there are certain things that I do live by on a daily basis, but that changes when you go into a bodybuilding prep. Now your standard is even higher because your non-negotiables, they, they reached a point where that can't be sustained by, by the average person who has about three or four different jobs to do.
Right. But I think when I hear that term standard, it really means. How much respect do you have for yourself, and how much respect do you have for the people that are looking up to you and the people that are surrounding you? And, and I, I ask myself that question when I'm looking at how, how do I want people to receive me, first of all, and how am I going to maintain this level that I'm operating at so that other people can learn from that, and so that other people can, can understand that this is something that I want for my life as well.
[00:59:14] Raymond: I love it.
[00:59:15] Brittany Deane: Mm-hmm.
[00:59:16] Raymond: you can count me in as one of your clients. I'll be coming to see you soon. Um, I appreciate this conversation. Uh, now I think everyone can see why I was so much, very much looking forward to it. There's a lot here that I think people can sit with and actually apply.
[00:59:35] Brittany Deane: Yes.
[00:59:36] Raymond: for everyone listening out
[00:59:37] Brittany Deane: Okay.
[00:59:37] Raymond: is one of those episodes that you probably need to come back to more than once. Um, this is the standard. I'm Raymond Hall and we'll catch you in the next one. Make it a good one.
[00:59:47] Speaker 3: Thanks for listening to the Standard. If today's episode gave you something you can apply immediately share it with someone who's stepping into leadership or working to grow without burning out.
And remember, excellence isn't something you wait for. It's something you practice every day.