Father’s Day is a holiday that is sometimes overlooked, sometimes celebrated, and sometimes divisive. There are those of us who have great relationships with our fathers, there are some who have strained relationships with our fathers, and then there are many of us who are in between. I was lucky enough to have the perfect father, split between three different men. My biological father taught me how to fail. Mostly, he taught me what not to be as a father by failing hard and often. There are lessons there. My step-father was the provider and the disciplinarian, something I didn’t openly acknowledge even to myself until later in life. And my grandfather was the hero, the man I always looked up to and wanted to be. All three were vital to my upbringing and teaching me how to be a man, and some people have them in one person. Shaya Charvet grew up with a father who was first a rising star in Hollywood, who then stepped away at the height of his career to be a present father. He decided to be all three of the men I listed, and then taught lessons through fitness. David Charvet and his son have launched BUILD, a new kind of gym with a focus on all the things you would want out of staying in shape, with the background of a father and son learning together.
My dad brought me to the gym from a very young age. They always told me if you can take care of your body and be disciplined there, you can be disciplined in all other parts of life. – Shaya Charvet, Co-Founder BUILD
A new kind of fitness
Teaming with the founder of BURN, Maria Chase, the father-son duo created a performance-based wellness system that prioritizes longevity, recovery, and sustainable strength. Ten people in a class, the focus creates a group fitness and community-style workout with the benefits of a personal trainer. Performed under a red light, the workouts combine strength training with circuit training to give you everything you want out of a routine in under an hour. All of this was brought to you by two men coming at fitness from two different stages in life. One is building a life of health and wellness, and the other is sustaining.
“Most people work out and then spend separate time in a sauna, which takes almost two hours overall,” says Shaya. “At BUILD, you get a 50-minute intense workout that boosts cellular regeneration, reduces inflammation, and sweats out more toxins, giving people the ability to perform at their highest level while feeling their best mentally and physically.”
Lessons for Dad
From his days on Baywatch, David has been a guy at the forefront of fitness. Like the rest of the cast, he always had to look his best. But when he stepped away from the limelight, his focus shifted to passing this passion on to his children. Like any good father, he has been dedicated to the growth of his son since the day he was born. And one of the hardest shifts a parent can make is stepping away and letting their child be an adult and make their own mistakes.
“I think that there have been some shifts in our dynamic as a father and son. Because we’ve been so close together his whole life. For the last 18 years. And I felt that I needed to also shift as a dad who was always telling him what to do and what was best for him, to allow him to come in and make his own mistakes. Realize them himself. And then come back to the drawing board and come up with something new.”
Lessons from Dad
Of course, I wanted to ask Shaya if he noticed that shift in his dad. Did he feel the moment when he stopped trying to correct him and let him make his own mistakes? Of course, he said that he noticed it when he started making mistakes. He confessed that most of the clashing that existed between the two of them came from him starting to discover himself and his own opinions. He said one of the most valuable things for him was his father allowing him to argue his opinions and being ok with disagreeing. So, I dug a bit deeper on the biggest lesson he learned from making mistakes, and his answer was simple:
“Making mistakes,” he said with a laugh.
“My biggest lesson was that you’re gonna mess up. The only way to get better is to fail. Like, you’re gonna fail before you get better. And the main thing was just the consistency. Consistency is better than perfection. You’re not perfect. Every time, if you stay consistent, it’s going to gradually elevate. But perfection is going to stay stagnant. It’s never gonna be there. You just keep going and just keep constantly never giving up and just staying resilient in what you’re doing. That’s the biggest lesson, just to keep going. You keep learning from it.”
At the end of the day, we all want the best for our children. And watching them grow into themselves is a bittersweet moment. My biggest lesson from this successful father and son duo who grew extremely close is what I want to tell all you fathers out there, wondering how you’re doing: You’re doing great. Raising men is hard. They are going to mess up. They are going to rebel. That is the point. That is the journey. That is how you BUILD them up for the future.
Happy Father’s Day.
