Ep 7: The Community Conversation-Danielle Fontaine (On The Front Line)

Thank you for tuning in to The Community Conversation, brought to you by  Prototype Training Systems , home of  CrossFit Prototype. The Community Conversation highlights a different member of the Prototype Community each week and allows them to tell their story, share their life experience, and communicate their perspective on all things fitness.

We’ve all listened to podcasts and watched  YouTube videos  that highlight some of the world’s greatest leaders and visionaries. We believe we have some AMAZING people at Prototype and we want you to get to know them!

To that end, I want to introduce our 8th guest, Danielle Fontaine. Danielle has been part of the Prototype community for almost 6 years, she’s a nurse, she’s competitive, she crushes her CrossFit classes and THRIVE workouts , and is an all-around great person in the community.

With that being said, enjoy!

Mike Collette 0:01
Hey everyone. Thank you for tuning in to the community conversation brought to you by prototype Training Systems home approximate prototype. The community conversation highlights a different member of the prototype community each week and allows them to tell their story, share life experience, and communicate life on all things fitness. So we’ve all listen to podcasts and watch YouTube videos that highlight some of the world’s greatest leaders and visionaries. And we believe we have some amazing people that prototype and we want you to get to know them. So to that end, I want to introduce our eighth guest, Danielle Fontaine. Danielle isn’t a part of the product community for almost six years. She’s a nurse, she’s competitive, and she crushes her workouts, and she’s just all around an awesome person. So, Danielle, I appreciate you being on the community conversation today. Thanks for having me. So Danielle, I did mention that you’re a nurse. Obviously, there’s a lot of stuff with with with the last year and in COVID. But before we kind of get into that, why don’t you kind of give the community a little bit more information on you like your background, like where you’re from, like, how’d you get into CrossFit? How’d you find prototype, all that fun stuff?

Danielle Fontaine 1:14
Sure. So I grew up in Mansfield, I grew up playing lacrosse.And then I went to college. And as a nursing major, I needed somewhere to get out my stress. So for a long time, I went to the gym at school. And then I moved off campus and I went to the why. And I just was putting in a lot of time and felt like I was kind of going and doing the same things every day. I mean, I’d switch up the exercises I did. But it was like I ran on the treadmill, I do the elliptical, I do the Stairmaster. And one of my friends friends actually had started CrossFit. And I was like, No, I’ll just try it. I enjoy exercising. But I’ve learned over the past 12 years that I need something that quick, hard. And I can go in and someone can tell me what to do. I don’t have to think about what I’m going to do before I get there or get there and look around and say okay, I don’t know what I’m gonna do today. So that’s kind of how I got started at CrossFit. I was kind of hooked as soon as I started.

Mike Collette 2:29
You remember your first workout?

Danielle Fontaine 2:32
Oh, I don’t I was a long time ago. Probably 13 years ago, so I definitely don’t remember 13.

Mike Collette 2:39
That’s awesome. And the school you went to u ri. So this is when you were in college or when you’re

Danielle Fontaine 2:44
Yeah, I started in college. Maybe it wasn’t 13. But it was it was like 11 or 12 years ago. But we were still writing everything down in a composition book. That was there was no apps, there’s nothing fancy like there is now. And from there, I graduated. So I came home and I joined a CrossFit close to home. And then I moved into the city and I did it when I lived in the city. And actually, I lived in Connecticut for a year. I forgot that part of it. And I did it there. And then after I moved to the city and my husband and I bought our house out here, I started looking into CrossFit. And at that point, I had been to a bunch of different boxes. My aunt does it. So when I went to visit her I’d go there. And I was kind of picky about where I was gonna go. I didn’t want a hobby gym, I wanted somewhere that I could go. At that time I was working 5050 days a night. So I needed somewhere that I could go at noon, or I could go at three before I went into work. Or sometimes I was crazy. And I would come on my way home from a night shift. So I needed something that was flexible that took the exercise part of it seriously. And I kind of found prototype. I mean, you know there’s a ton around here but I think because I was picky, I was so lucky to find something that I really loved. It’s a it’s I’m glad that you were so brilliant, so picky. I mean, as my husband would say I’m picky on a lot of things with my life.

Mike Collette 4:25
So you finished up school and then you’re doing CrossFit as like your fitness stuff. But you like you graduated and then went into nursing. Is that correct? Yes. And so you’re in a remind me again, like I guess Don’t remind me but like tell everyone, where do you Where do you work? What do you do?

Danielle Fontaine 4:41
I actually just started a new job probably three weeks ago. I now work at the Jimmy Fallon clinic at Dana Farber. So I was at Children’s for seven years, and I just transitioned to there. So fortunately and unfortunately I can work out less because I work with more days during the week, but I don’t work holidays, I don’t work nights, and I don’t work weekends anymore. So I think my life work balance will be a lot better. That’s good.

Mike Collette 5:11
So, so first off before we even get into this, thank you, right? Because you’re, you’re on the front line during all this COVID stuff. I remember, like in the beginning of the pandemic, it was like, crazy. I remember you like saying, I think we had like email exchange going back and forth. And you’re just saying, like, how crazy it is. And all that stuff. Can you? Like? I don’t know, right? There’s a lot of people out there, they probably don’t know. Can you talk a little about like, what that whole experience was like, during and still is? I would say, right, like, what’s that? Like being on the front line?

Danielle Fontaine 5:47
Um, so initially, I think Boston was a little behind what everyone else what when I say everyone else, I mean, places like Los Angeles and New York were doing. There was actually a doctor from the Brigham, that published an article in The New Yorker saying all health care workers needed to be masked. In both before that, none of us wore masks. So that kind of kick started everything in Boston, because the Brigham was like, Well, if this well known doctor that works for us is saying we need to be masked. Then childrens is like, well, we need to be mass and Mass General. So that kind of started the masking thing. And there was like a mass exodus in the hospital. They totally emptied out anyone that didn’t have to be there. So the only kids that were there were the sickest of the sick. I will say I was very lucky working in a children’s hospital that we didn’t have a ton of cases. But I do have friends that work at other big health institutions. And they were like, We don’t even know what to call this. This is like mass chaos at first. And then I think they were able to, you know, identify resources that were needed. And then that was able to help calm things down a little bit. But it’s still very weird. I have to like, fill out a questionnaire before I go into work every day. I’m not allowed to wear masks that aren’t hospital. Given. So there’s a lot of rules. We can’t eat with our friends anymore. We’re like six feet apart from everyone. It’s very bizarre, but it is what it is. I’m hoping that everyone can be vaccinated by the end of the summer. And we can go back to somewhat of a normal life. Did you have you gotten your vaccine or your your two too? Or you’re you’re qualified to get? Yeah, we’re lucky everyone. Pretty much all health care workers in Boston have gotten it so

Mike Collette 7:51
Then did you get sick. I know, there’s some psych signs and symptoms and stuff like that, or some like, you

Danielle Fontaine 7:58
No, there are a lot of people that did get really sick. Um, but no, I did not. That’s good. That’s good. What are you? So basically over the next few months, you think we’re on kind of the other side of this whole thing? Now, I hope so. I think there’s great research going into the vaccine. There’s a lot of mass production a lot. What’s the word… the quantities are going up, so that’s good. Hopefully, Massachusetts can get their clinics up and running a little smoother than the app so far, because I think that’s going to be the best way for people to get vaccinated. And hopefully, this will just be something that will be like the flu for us going forward. It’ll just be like, you know, you have to get your flu shot. And that’s kind of it.

Mike Collette 8:53
What are you looking forward to most mostly getting back to some sort of normalcy at least like 80%

Danielle Fontaine 8:59
I need to go on vacation.

Mike Collette 9:03
Where are you? Are you plannin? Have you planned a trip?

Danielle Fontaine 9:04
I don’t even care where I go. I just want to get on an airplane and go somewhere.

Mike Collette 9:10
Do you like to travel? I do.

Danielle Fontaine 9:12
I was very fortunate. My parents love to travel. So we went a lot of places growing up.

Mike Collette 9:20
Favorite place, go,

Danielle Fontaine 9:22
Oh, I Taylor and I went to Hawaii on our honeymoon. And it was amazing. It was just I mean I love the beach. I’ve been to a lot of tropical places and there’s just nothing as beautiful as why. so far that I’ve been to I’m hoping one day I go somewhere and I can say oh this is more beautiful than Hawaii.

Mike Collette 9:41
So did with all your traveling right especially when you were working out doing CrossFit did you drop in any CrossFit gyms, Like outside of the states?

Danielle Fontaine 9:52
I’m never outside of the states. They’ve all been in the United States.

Mike Collette 9:59
Nothing outside.

Danielle Fontaine 10:00
I, I went to Costa Rica. And honestly, it was more therapeutic for me to run along the beach, to going to a box with four walls that kind of didn’t have a view that I could do when I was here. So I tend to work out in the environment that I’m in when I travel.

Mike Collette 10:22
Erin and I had our honeymoon in Costa Rica. That was spectacular, because we get the best of both worlds, like, on the ocean, and we also were inland so you kind of got the best of both worlds there. It was either between that and Hawaii, so I gotta I gotta pick your brain off offline here to talk more about that and plan A, because I’m in the same boat as you I can’t wait to travel a little bit. Yes. What’s all this stuff is? is over. But uh, back onto the onto the fitness side of things. Yeah. So you’re doing you’ve been in CrossFit and then you started doing thrive workouts? Like, what’s your like? And again, you’ve had a lot of experience of going to different gyms you try you said, You tried out a bunch of gyms, you’re very picky, like, what’s different about prototype? What made you kind of stick with it here versus like some of the other places that you looked at?

Danielle Fontaine 11:10
Um, I think obviously, I didn’t know this when I initially started. But the camaraderie and the coaches, they’re always making sure that you’re, you know, technique is good, but you’re also having fun. And I think fitness, being made fun, is really what keeps people motivated and involved. You can’t just do the same thing every day can be boring. No, definitely. No fun in that. Right? What What keeps you motivated now? Like, what are your main goals? And what are the things that you’re working on? I know, like, it probably has to do with like, just consistency and, and, you know, obviously, like stress management and all that sort of stuff, but like what, like what keeps you coming back. Um, I love that I never really have to work out on my own. I like the class aspect of it. I like that there are days that I don’t really want to push myself, but there’s someone there that is pushing me they know that I can do better than what I’m setting myself up for. So I do love that. And I think it’s hard now it’s so different. I said the other day, I was like, we used to all be in front of the pole in this class. And now you see the back of the class, like we all used to be so close. So I think it’s different now. But people are still really like pushing each other. And I think that’s really important.

Mike Collette 12:40
I love that. I know, it’s different, but you know, it’s still the same, right? Yeah, at the same time. All right. So we got a lot of information in background and kind of your journey getting into working out got some information on you know, what keeps you coming back, that sort of thing. Like what do you do outside of the gym? Like what are your favorite? What are your favorite things to do when you’re not, you know, working at your, you know, it sounds like it was a crazy schedule for for what you were doing and then come to the gym like what’s your favorite things to do outside the gym?

Danielle Fontaine 13:14
Um, I like to shop.

Mike Collette 13:18
Alright, right, let’s go what’s let’s talk shopping.

Danielle Fontaine 13:23
No, no, we don’t have to talk shopping.

Mike Collette 13:26
While I’m selfishly I could probably learn a few if you think myself because I I feel like I’ve told you before you think your tastes and Aaron’s tastes are very, very similar. I think you’ve given me some advice too on gift giving, I think at one point, but yeah. All right.

Danielle Fontaine 13:41
I do. I love to shop and I don’t necessarily buy a lot, but I like to luck.

Mike Collette 13:47
window shopping.

Danielle Fontaine 13:48
Yes. But really my favorite thing to do when I’m not working and not working out is to go to the beach. I could sit on the beach for an endless amount of hours. You could work on the beach. You can read on the beach, you can work out at the beach. I’m lucky my parents have a house in Rhode Island. So a lot of times we’ll paddleboard from their house to the beach. So I get some exercise and then I sit for a few hours and relax.

Mike Collette 14:20
So you can’t go to the beach like when it’s like two feet of snow out. So what are you doing? Like what are you doing when it’s cold outside?

Danielle Fontaine 14:30
No, I ski also I haven’t done a I actually haven’t gone once this year, but I’m hoping to go. I’m thinking in March I can get out there and go it’s hard because we used to just be like, oh, let’s go skiing for the day. And you can’t do that anymore. You have to buy lift tickets in advance. So but I love to ski my favorite places probably Breckenridge. Again, Lucky my family likes to travel. So we’ve gone out west to ski a few times. Oh, that’s awesome.

Mike Collette 14:59
Vail and all that stuff.

Danielle Fontaine 15:01
Yes. I’ve done Vail once in Breckenridge twice.

Mike Collette 15:04
Very cool. Yeah, that’s awesome. All right, so now we got a little bit more info on you. Uh, let’s let’s go the Spitfire round here. All right, so I think I already asked one of these questions. So first one is favorite movie, and or TV show of all time. And then I’m going to add to this because I think I asked you question number three. What do you binge watching right now? Um, so my favorite movie of all time.

Danielle Fontaine 15:39
I love sports movies. Love. So the blind side is one of my absolute favorite movies. I mean, I love like, you know, Rudy, and I love all the other football movies too. But the blind side is definitely my favorite. And I love that it’s based off of a true story.

Mike Collette 15:59
And Michael Orre,

Danielle Fontaine 16:01
yep. Right. And then this is kind of embarrassing to admit, but I am watching The Real Housewives of New York from the beginning.

Mike Collette 16:13
I never got it. I never like watched those or got into those shows. Like what?

Danielle Fontaine 16:17
Oh, you might one day as Erin starts.

Mike Collette 16:19
What makes it so appealing? What’s appealing to that?

Danielle Fontaine 16:22
It’s just like trash. And these people live a life that most of us will never live. So it’s like a fake life kind of, but I did just want to finish Bridgette 10 and I love to that too.

Mike Collette 16:35
Okay, Richardson. I’m not familiar with that. Now, what’s your is that your favorite of all time? The Real Housewives? What’s your favorite show of all time?

Danielle Fontaine 16:43
Oh, no. Um, so there’s one from my childhood that I don’t even know if people would know what it is. But it’s called American Dreams. And it was on I think NBC and basically it took place in the 60s and 70s. And it was a family. I wanted to show. A little blond haired girl woman. Yeah, yep. It was like American Bandstand, polio. And World War Two. That was anger the Vietnam like a short period of time, wasn’t it? Yeah, it was probably on for like three or four seasons. So that’s probably my favorite from growing up. AndI like this is also

I like the sappy shows

Mike Collette 17:35
You sti there with like a box of Kleenex

Danielle Fontaine 17:39
Yeah sometimes

Mike Collette 17:41
Though you so you’re into the NBC shows. Do you remember the show? And since you have the ties to Rhode Island, you remember a show called Providence?

Danielle Fontaine 17:53
Kind of but I don’t remember what it was about.

Mike Collette 17:55
It’s like about this family in Rhode Island. But anyway put it on your list. I’m sure you could find it somewhere. Maybe one of those. It was one of those shows. I was on for like a few seasons, and they ended up taking it off. Yeah. What was that guy’s name? It was like a corrupt guy. What was the mayor of Providence at? 1.0? Do not

Danielle Fontaine 18:12
No, no, that was New York. I know you’re talking about. It looks like

Mike Collette 18:16
he’s in he’s in it and stuff like that. So anyway, you gotta check that out. Okay. All right. So next next question, favorite musician, artists band of all time.

Danielle Fontaine 18:26
Um, I would probably say Darius Rucker. I loved him when he was in Hootie. And I’ve seen him three or four times in concert since he’s been on his own. And he’s just awesome.

Mike Collette 18:40
He is awesome.

Danielle Fontaine 18:41
And one of my friends, dad’s golf with him once and said he was an awesome guy. He said, You know, my daughter’s love you. And he took off his cowboy boots, signed them and gave it to him and said, Bring it home to your daughters. Oh, that’s awesome. So all that says I’m a sucker for someone. That’s really nice.

Mike Collette 19:02
I asked you this last I asked you this question already with the third questions. Usually, what’s your favorite thing to do when you’re not at the gym? Why don’t we ask you this question instead? What’s your favorite memory? at the gym? To date?

Danielle Fontaine 19:22
I don’t know on the spot right there. I know. It asked you this question ahead of time, right? You have time to do your Do you think I know I should have and I could have rattled my brain. I don’t know if I can think of one in particular. But I will say one of it’s not that it’s a bad memory. But I once walked into class and I was the only one taking the class. And john was teaching and it was awful because he was like, nope, you’re gonna put more weight on you’re gonna put more weight on it was an awful word. I don’t remember it was I remember there’s a lot of cleans. He’s like you You can do more weight, you can do more weight. And I was like, I just and he’s like, No, just because you don’t feel like it doesn’t mean that excuse.

Mike Collette 20:08
So the question is, what’s your favorite memory? But what comes to your mind? And what was the like the most traumatic memory that you have?

Danielle Fontaine 20:14
Well, that was just one thing that I always remember. And I still to this day, if I walk in, I’m the only one in Jon’s teaching. I’m like, please, someone else show up. So he doesn’t torture me. So funny. It’s so funny. I’m writing that down. That’s good.

Mike Collette 20:30
I think that that might be everyone’s worst nightmare. I shouldn’t say everyone’s worst nightmare. But I think a lot of people if they’re used to going into the group, and you mentioned how you love working out with other people, if you’re the only one in class, and you got the coach, just you one on one, there’s no there’s no hiding. There’s no avoiding.

Danielle Fontaine 20:47
Yeah, and it wasn’t bad. I mean, I was so glad when it was done. But during I was like, come on, Jon, you’re killing me!

Mike Collette 20:56
I hope Jon’s listening to this right now. So he can relive that, relive that moment. It’s so funny.

Well, Danielle, we I appreciate you coming on here and talking to us and sharing some insight and giving your your background, your experience and everything. So thank you for being part of the community conversation. And everyone who’s out there listening. Thank you for tuning in. And watching. Remember, every week we’ll be releasing a new community conversation with a new guests to get your week started. And also to be the first to know about the new community conversation. It’s going to be posted on our YouTube page. So make sure you subscribe. Also, we send it out in our daily newsletter. And also if you’re in our prototype community, we put it out on our project community on Facebook. And if you’re a member of the gym, and you’re not on our private members, Facebook group, please let us know we’ll get you in. And lastly, if you’re interested in being a community conversation, just shoot us a message. We will love to have you. So Danielle, thank you again. Appreciate you being on.

Danielle Fontaine 21:54
Thank you

The post Ep 7: The Community Conversation-Danielle Fontaine (On The Front Line) appeared first on Prototype Training Systems.