When a former national athlete meets a seasoned marketing strategist, you don’t just get a conversation about business — you get a real conversation about discipline and disruption. In this episode of *Clean Your Toilet*, Yao Xiang and Will go head-to-head (and heart-to-heart) on what it really takes to build a business without losing yourself in the noise.

Most people think the hardest part of running a business is the hustle: the hours, the planning, the endless doing. But what if the real battle isn’t out there in the market — it’s in your own head?

Yao Xiang — national athlete turned gym studio owner — sits down with Will to wrestle with one of the most under-acknowledged struggles of entrepreneurship: holding onto your values when the noise around you gets so loud, you can’t hear yourself anymore.

Yao Xiang’s story isn’t your typical “athlete turned entrepreneur” highlight reel. This is a man who’s been in the pool and at the top of his game for a large part of his life. Decades of discipline, consistency, and high performance have shaped his approach to fitness — and life. But stepping out of the sporting arena into the business world brought a shock: in the age of Instagram-perfect abs and TikTok workout trends, deep knowledge and skill don’t always win the algorithm.

And that’s the tension at the heart of this conversation.

On one side: Yao Xiang’s no-nonsense philosophy on training, forged through years of sweat, competition, and technical mastery. On the other: a fitness industry obsessed with aesthetics, trends, and the next viral challenge. Between them lies a messy middle filled with questions every purpose-driven business owner eventually faces:

- How do you stand out when louder, flashier, and shallower gets more clicks?

- How do you share your truth without sounding like you’re tearing others down?

- Is it possible to play the “content game” without losing your integrity?

Will doesn’t sugarcoat his side either. Drawing from over a decade in marketing, he breaks down the realities of discoverability, platform algorithms, and the unromantic truth: you either learn to “play the game” or you get drowned out by it. But he also challenges the idea that “playing the game” means selling out. With smart positioning, relentless consistency, and a willingness to experiment, Yao Xiang could turn his authenticity into a brand advantage — not a liability.

The conversation doesn’t shy away from the emotional mess, either. Yao Xiang admits the moments of envy and frustration that creep in when he sees trend-hoppers gaining fame and opportunities that took him decades to earn. Will reframes jealousy not as a flaw, but as proof that you care deeply — and a signal to channel that energy into telling your story with even more clarity and conviction.

If you’ve ever:

- Felt invisible next to competitors who are all style and no substance

- Wondered if authenticity still matters in a clickbait economy

- Struggled to separate healthy ambition from comparison-fueled bitterness

…this episode is your reminder that the mess you’re in isn’t a distraction from the work. It *is* the work.

🧼 Your expertise is the clean water.

🚽 The internet is the drain.

💩 The noise is the sludge that keeps it from flowing.

Flush often. Stay clear. And never mistake the mess for the mirror.