Resonance – Episode 30
Verbatim Transcript
Speaker: Viktoria Levenberg
Guest Speaker: Rich Strang
Rich Strang: For someone that's a perfectionist that hates failure, it's just not possible to be
perfect. We put so much on trying to do things perfectly. The only thing you need to do is turn up
and just try. But what I also realised was the growth I felt, I think as just getting older, you just
start to realise you just don't have to be that person. You can be yourself. Life is just so much
easier when you realise who you are, and you start to find the people that are similar to you. And
I said to myself, remember this, you need to remember this, because life's problems…
Viktoria Levenberg: How much more could you achieve in your life if you were truly aligned with
your purpose, you integrated all parts of yourself, and felt great while you're at it.In today's
episode, you're going to hear from Richard Strang, founder of Weeve, about what he learned
during his journey of entrepreneurship, corporate engineering, and knocking on heaven's door,
so that you can identify where in your life you might be receiving some signals that are asking
you to change direction. Let's dive in.
Viktoria Levenberg: Welcome to Resonance, the podcast for high performers and entrepreneurs
who wanna do life, work, and success differently. I am your host, Viktoria Levenberg, and I'm
obsessed with efficiency, productivity, and planning in a way that harnesses your energy and your
natural rhythms, while keeping you in alignment and integrity. Because I have figured out that
lasting success is not about the hustle, it is about being in resonance. Let's begin.
Viktoria Levenberg: Alright, so before we kick off this week's episode, I'll just give you a short kind
of intro to Rich and what you can expect, um. Rich is a dear friend of mine. We met about two
and a half years ago now, uh, through our yoga teacher training, which we went through
together. And let me tell you something—like aside from school and university, I feel that like a
yoga teacher training brings you closer together than anything else. Like, you are literally showing
your most vulnerable self. You are being stretched so deeply outside of your comfort zone and
like diving so deep into your soul, um, that those people stay with you for life. And Rich is one of
them.
I'm really, really grateful to, uh, be so lucky to have him in my inner circle. And Rich is an
incredible man. He is a high performer, an entrepreneur, and he holds himself to really high
standards. So a lot of you will resonate with what he's got to say. The thing though that's really,
really important for you to understand is that Rich also opens up about the intimate and
vulnerable story of how all of these traits—which are incredible strengths, right, like we high
performers love to achieve things, it is great—but the thing is there's a delicate balance. And
then there's this really, really dangerous tipping point where it could cost you your life.
And he was very, very, very close to that point. And you know, he obviously, as being as strong
and incredible as he is, um, managed to come out the other side. And that led him to discovering
his true purpose, which is bringing people together through shared moments, through
connection, through community.
And by the end of this episode, you will see how the firsthand cost of running your life like, you
know, that car that's revving the gas pedal, basically running on empty with smoke blowing out
fumes—I don't know, I'm probably butchering this metaphor—but you get me, right? Like, you
will know what it's costing you if you are running on empty. So this episode will help you perhaps
catch yourself rather than like Rich ending up in a hospital bed as your only moment of peace and
quiet.
So without further ado, I'm gonna hand the mic over to Rich. Enjoy the episode. I'll see you
inside.
Viktoria Levenberg: Hello, Rich.
Rich Strang: Hello.
Viktoria Levenberg: Uh, it's always so funny transitioning from the grounding into the recording.
It's like I could just do another 20 minutes of this, but let's chat. My goodness, I mean, I'm so
grateful that you are on the podcast, that you said yes. We go way back, which I'm sure we'll dive
into, but for people who might not know you, can you just give us a bit of background—who you
are, where you've come from, and what brought you here today?
Rich Strang: Yeah, sure. So yeah, my name is Richard. What I am, who I am—uh, I—I would
describe myself as, well sort of up to now, I've been an engineer. I'm living in the world of
engineering. That's sort of always been here. And then what I've always thought is the other end
of the spectrum, uh, is also a yoga instructor. So just doing yoga for a very, very long time, and
then a yoga instructor more recently, sort of in the last two, two and a half years.
And I've always sort of put, you know, the engineering over there and the yoga on this side, and
that's always been my life. I've always sort of never really met another male engineering yoga
instructor, and I think that kind of always solidified this idea that the two worlds don't interact,
don't meet, don't connect. And that's sort of, yeah, that's kind of been my world up until now.
But I'm starting to—things are shifting, and I'm starting to make changes, and I'm starting to see
the pieces of my life as pieces and parts. And they can shift and they can move, and I'm less
locked into things now, mm hmm uh, which is opening me up to sort of opportunity and
excitement and connecting these worlds that I just didn't think could connect. And what does
that actually mean, and what does it mean for me, and what does it mean for everyone else?
So that's kind of where I'm at at the moment—figuring out how those two worlds can combine.
Sort of how am I unique in this world, ’cause I always thought they were independent, but they
don't have to be. And I think that's my place, my bit, um. Yeah, so that's sort of where I am,
where I've come from. I mean, where are we going with this?
Viktoria Levenberg: I mean, as far as you wanna go back in 19—ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
ha ha ha ha ha.
Rich Strang: Sure. Uh, yeah. I guess the engineering side of things was—it was always kind of
clear to me. Like I was a kid that—I see myself as being very creative, and I would gravitate
towards the Lego. It was always Lego, Lego, Lego as a child. Yeah. Lego birthday presents, Lego
Christmas presents, yeah. I built this massive box of just Lego that had to be dumped out on the
floor. Could never find any of the parts you wanted ’cause it was just, you know, years and years
of presents that end up in this one pile.
Viktoria Levenberg: Oh my goodness, um.
Rich Strang: And the Lego—you know, as you grow, the Lego then turn to different forms of
making things, turn to remote-controlled stuff. So building remote control cars, remote control
planes, remote control boats, helicopters, and all these things I'd try and build myself. So there
was always this sort of building element to them. And it's always been really cool, ’cause like
remote control planes, for instance, you learn about flight, you learn about wind, you learn
about—so you learn about all these elements that, um, really educational just in the building,
just in the sort of building of trying to build something. You know, the building is just one aspect,
and then you learn all about all these other bits and pieces as a child, moving on.
So it was always quite clear, it seemed to me, that engineering was my way forward. Mmm hmm.
But interestingly enough, maths and physics—they're just not my strong point.
Viktoria Levenberg: Oh gosh, tell me about it.
Rich Strang: So yeah, so it's really pushing, you know, rubbish uphill for my whole life. You know?
Viktoria Levenberg: Oh my gosh.
Rich Strang: I'm getting extra maths lessons, extra maths, calculus, physics—just always just
trying to, yeah, yeah. Through high school, and then, you know, you get to end of high school,
what are you gonna do with your life? I'll become an engineer. It's a real misalignment as far as
sort of on paper what an engineer is.
And so yeah, extra help all the way through for all of those things, um. And then once I finished
university—I got through, once I finished it—I realised, oh, well, the only one thing I don't wanna
be is an engineer. I did not like that. I hated, hated school, hated education. It was always—it
never—I never—it never clicked. It was always—it just wasn't what I—I was never good at it, um.
But then like the design stuff, like graphics or any of the technologies of building things, it was
super easy, uh.
My dad is also very hands-on. He was a builder, um, in South Africa, where I was born. And so,
you know, I had lots of woodworking tools and just—I always had tools and material. And I was
very introverted as a child, so I would spend my two weeks at home in the garage building
something.
Viktoria Levenberg: Fun!
Rich Strang: Yeah. But it also sort of isolated me from like—I was terrified of being in front of
people. I sort of shied away from crowds, um. I always felt like I needed to be more extroverted
and be like those kids that were louder and could command the space more and got people's
attention. And when it's not you, you can't even force it.
Viktoria Levenberg: No. It feels draining, and it does. It comes across a bit disgusting anyway,
doesn't it? It's like, ooh.
Rich Strang: Yeah. And for years, you know, you're trying to be—you want friends, but equally so,
you wanna build stuff in the garage, you know. So there's this conflict throughout the time until
you get to a certain age—
Viktoria Levenberg: Wow, no, no—it just clicked for me that this conflict—
It just clicked for me that this conflict began much earlier than you even shared when you started
introducing yourself. You mentioned earlier this dichotomy of like you as the engineer and you as
the yoga instructor and practitioner, and now that you're kind of diving into a bit of your
background, like wow—this actually started much earlier. Back when you were like trying to be
this extroverted kid and, um, then also building stuff at home. Like, so that was just—that was my
facial reaction to it, yeah. Oh wow.
Rich Strang: I haven't actually thought of that either myself.
Viktoria Levenberg: But you hang out with me, then we go deep. We go straight to the root, you
know?
Rich Strang: Five seconds in. I think as just getting older, you just start to realise you just don't
have to be that person. You can be yourself. Life is just so much easier when you realise who you
are and you start to find the people that are similar to you, and you start to connect on a level
with them that it's just easy, mm hmm, um. And so I've always thought getting older is like the
best thing ever, the best. Everything in life is just getting better and better, sort of my
understanding of myself primarily, mm hmm uh, and where I am and what I'm doing. And it's
just, I mean, you might look older in the mirror, you know, you might—I maybe I'm in denial—but
I don't, I think I'm still getting fitter, faster, stronger.
Viktoria Levenberg: Same.
I'm like, I feel better in my body than I have when I was in my teens.
Rich Strang: Yeah, well yeah, right, for sure.
I just drinking a whole lot less, that's probably—
Viktoria Levenberg: it’s probably a big part of that, yeah.
Rich Strang: Sleeping, not drinking, yeah.
Viktoria Levenberg: You know, like eating well and exercising. I guess who would have thought
that works.
Rich Strang: Yeah, who would have thought.
But yeah, so we—I think, oh—so yeah, with the engineering. So became an engineer, didn't
wanna be an engineer, thought, so okay.
Viktoria Levenberg: Pause there for a second. So you said you didn't like engineering, you didn't
wanna be an engineer, and you became an engineer anyway. Yeah. Can you talk me through that
thought process?
Rich Strang: Basically because I like building Lego. Like, I like building, I like building things. I like
the creative—I love, I still—I love the creative, yeah, side of building things. But also at uni
nothing was real. Like, it was like—I didn't, as an engineer, use a lot of CAD, computer-aided
design software. It just didn't click at—for me at university. Until I decided I have to build myself a
racing car, um, ten years ago. It's still going, still being built. It's not running, not going, it's not
running.
Viktoria Levenberg: Not yet.
Rich Strang: It will soon. The pieces are aligning, yes. But as soon as I needed— as soon as I
needed this computer design software to actually create something that I needed for a project
that I was passionate about—geez, all of a sudden, boom. Yeah, and off we go. And now it's one
of the tools I use most in my engineering career. Yeah, it's amazing.
But so I was an engineer that didn't like to do maths or physics, was creative. I'm wondering, you
know, what do I do now? And it sent me down a path of trying to be my own boss instead of
immediately trying to—I thought, well, I'll be my own boss, I'll start a company, OK. Yeah.
And at the time, a family friend who lived in London knew I was creative, and he brought the idea
of why don't we create the world's best wooden beach bats. It's a game you play all over the
world. No net, you just have a bat and a wooden bat, and you hit a ball back and forth, like a
squash ball back and forth. Simple, but really fun.
So great, OK. This is perfect. I can build something. It can be beautiful. It can feel good. It can—I
can bring something to life. Instead of—he'll run the business, a bit older than me, he'll run the
business side of it, and I'll learn, you know, the business aspect. Super cool. I really enjoy building
the bats. But more importantly, I really enjoyed developing the manufacturing process to build
mini bats, uh, at a—you know, you keep the design, you keep everything that you like about that
first bat that took you three days to build. Uh huh. You want that first bat that took you three
days to build, but you need to build a fifty, a hundred in a day, uh huh, or two days, whatever it is,
you know, uh huh.
So that's where— that's another skill I really like and I'm good at, is developing the
manufacturing process around this product to actually make it scalable. Otherwise, what do you
have? You don't—you know, you don't exactly—you don't have a product or a business.
Long story short, I won't say too much on the bats, but long story short, they were seen by
Chanel in Paris. The designer, Coco Chanel—they said, we love your bats, how do you make your
bats? Our bats. So I got to work and, uh, redesigned my bats to make them Chanel bats. It's
amazing. And yeah, fast forwarding, fast forwarding again, uh huh, uh huh, yeah—I made like
three hundred and fifty of these bats. They were sent to all the Chanel stores throughout Europe.
They made it into the Vogue magazine next to Jessica Alba. Like…
Viktoria Levenberg: Look at that, yeah. How did that feel, like being like, I made—I built that, I
designed that?
Rich Strang: It was exciting. I mean, it had its challenges being a one-man band, a twenty-one-
year-old one man band in a garage, trying to build designer products for the highest of high-end
fashion labels in the world. Kind of had to keep telling them that we're a factory, you know, just to
keep credibility. And there were a lot of, you know, like—they loved the wood, but—and they
wanted wood, but they wouldn't accept any of the imperfections in wood. So…
Viktoria Levenberg: Right, it was challenging.
Rich Strang: It was challenging, it was difficult, it was stressful. It was—I stopped after I'd finished
the order for a reason, um.
But ultimately, the sad reality of it was even though I made it into this magazine and I—and I—
and I made these bats for Chanel, not once did my name get associated with the bats at all. Not
once. I made them a boomerang as well, mm hmm, which you can—you know, you can go online
and see. Sort of designed it all, sold it for basically for nothing because I had no business after.
You know, I just didn't know business. And kind of that really knocked me. It really knocked me,
’cause I tried so hard and worked for so long, really didn't make much money. I kind of broke even
at the end of it, mm hmm. And it was really tough. Like—and I always just wished if only this had
helped my career, like as a designer in that space. It would have been great. It would have been
worth it. But the only thing it did was I could put it on my CV, and people were like, oh wow,
that's cool.
Viktoria Levenberg: Well, I would challenge that because yes, you know, in the external sense,
that's quote unquote the only thing it did. And at the same time, the lived experience that you
got through it, the things you learned about business, the things you learned about the value
that you bring to the world, what you enjoy and what you don't enjoy about the process, and
many other things and lessons, I'm sure, you know. I'm a firm believer that everything in our life
happens for a reason, and that was whatever needed to happen for you to be in this new
precipice of this new chapter that you're kind of, um, embracing today. So, um, that's just a little
kind of perspective that I wanted to share. ’Cause I feel like you—you are such a bright, incredible
human, and I didn't even know a lot of this story. And you know, I know you add so much value to
the world, name on the bats or no name on the bats. Like, they are your creation, which is pretty
freaking cool.
Rich Strang: Yeah, I guess, you know, as—I agree with you completely. That's very valid, and it's
what other people tell me too. I think there's a bit of me that's still just—is a little bit cynical. I've
let it go. I have let it go. It is behind me, ha ha ha ha ha.
Viktoria Levenberg: There's a little part that's still attached, I think.
Rich Strang: Yeah. Still wants to pull the finger, you know, ha ha ha ha ha.
Viktoria Levenberg: Yeah, that's okay. We can work on that.
Rich Strang: And then after that, that's what led to the next opportunity. A different company
from the States, uh, approached me and said we would like to make mouthguards that have
biometric sensors in them that can read an athlete's, um, all of the athlete's biometrics. So this
was before smart watches. So the idea was that, say, a coach, a trainer, physio, whatever, could
be on the sideline of a basketball game or American football game or whatever, and have a full
sort of readout of all the players' biometrics from a performance standpoint, but also a health
standpoint. Cool. And with that, you could start to predict certain metrics that might lead to
injury, and bringing a player off before—yes, hmm—so that the value in that company was
actually data, collecting data and understanding what the bodies were doing, you know, in time,
but also to help predict, to try and prevent injuries, but also, yeah, like I say, improve
performance.
And I was responsible for developing the product, mm hmm. And yeah—and I again, to cut a long
story short, I designed a mouthguard, 3D printed, with sensors in them that did read biometrics.
It was just, you know, a wire out of the mouth to begin with, uh huh. It's still a long way to go. But
it was about a year and a half worth of work. And that company basically sort of teased me along
the whole way with, ooh, you could be, you know, this many shares, this many shares, we could
pay you but we've got such a bright future, and we're talking to all these incredible people in this
world, you know, that are just about to invest, just about to invest. I mean, at one point I was
talking to the head doctor of the NBA, you know, at two in the morning here in New York,
Viktoria Levenberg: Casual. Yeah, yeah.
Rich Strang: You know, and you sort of think, okay, if this is happening, it's got legs. Like, this
could be it for me. Uh huh. Don't pay me.
Viktoria Levenberg: You know, didn't learn the lesson the first time around, did you? Yeah.
Rich Strang: Yeah, that's—it was clever. I was cleverly sort of just strung along, I guess. But, mm
hmm, yeah. The company basically fell apart. Didn't get anything for that year and a half. And it
was left.
Viktoria Levenberg: Painful.
Rich Strang: It was like—yeah. It was after you actually create something that is really—it’s a
success, a success from a technology standpoint. Like, you've really done your job. And then have
the rest of it just crumble and be left again with nothing.
And as a twenty-something year old now, I was just— that's happened again, you know. And so—
and at that time it was compounding. Those failures were sort of making things worse and worse
and worse. So yeah, it sort of—it took me through that. It was sort of took me through, and then
a few other bits and pieces here that—they're here and there—but it sort of got me through to
maybe twenty-eight, where I was really just—yeah, wasn't enjoying life, hmm.
And I'd lost the entrepreneurial spark completely. Mm hmm, completely. I just wasn't—I was,
yeah, I was having a tough time until I just went and got a job.
Viktoria Levenberg: Yeah. Which is like the entrepreneur's ultimate sign of defeat, right?
Rich Strang: Yeah, yeah.
Viktoria Levenberg: I feel you. My coach calls it a J O b—just over broke. Yeah, okay. So you got a
job?
Rich Strang: Yeah. It didn't make sense to me. Like obviously the money, ’cause when you don't—
when you don't have a job, you're not—you're trying to create all these products, you're trying to
create something in the world, you're hoping to get paid and just not. And then you start this—
you start to compare yourself with the people around you and people that have jobs. And then,
you know, they're going on holiday, and they've got purpose in the day, and they're going
somewhere and doing things. And I'm stuck at home, you know—home, family home—mm
hmm—wondering why the hell, what is going on with my life?
Like, I feel I've always felt like a powerful car that's just spinning its tires, making a whole lot of
smoke but going nowhere.
Viktoria Levenberg: Oh my God. That is such a powerful metaphor.
Rich Strang: Yeah, yeah.
Viktoria Levenberg: Mm hmm.
Rich Strang: That's the engineering metaphor for you.
Viktoria Levenberg: That is—that is really good.
Rich Strang: Yeah, yeah. And then—and, and, and—and it's—and it's—it turns on you, right? Sort
of seeing all your friends and start the—the comparison is just comparing yourself to others
progressing in life and you're not. It's just—it gets—it's hard, it's hard. I'm sure a lot of people can
relate. I'm sure everyone can relate in some form.
Yeah, and then I went and got a job. I went and got a job and it didn't make any sense to me. It
seemed like a waste of time. Like, what am I—why am I here? Like, this is—I'm not creating or
growing or I'm not—what's the purpose of this? I'm sort of just clocking in, clocking out for
someone else's silly thing. Like, it just—just didn't make sense. But I was getting paid. Yep. And
that was a really important thing—money that I needed at that time. And that was about, yeah,
twenty-eight years old.
And from twenty-eight to—well, I'm thirty—just turned thirty-six now—I've been employed. And
the career that I have wanted, hoped for, I—I’ve managed to get. It's—it's been engineering. It's
been—I had something to prove, really prove.
So when I was thirty-two—thirty-one, thirty-two—I got a job with a New Zealand space company.
Um—
Viktoria Levenberg: Haha, it's okay. We don't have to name names.
Rich Strang: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Viktoria Levenberg: And I've learned that lesson the hard way, trust me. Haha.
Rich Strang: And it was—I—I was—it was right place, right time. Like, I tried to get a job with
them previously. That was, you know, denied. Uh huh. At this time, yeah—got through. Right
place, right time as far as they start—they were starting a new program. And I came in just at the
right time, wow, in the right role. Everything just aligned.
And I had, for two—two and a half years, I had just this vehicle that I could put everything. And I
did. I put everything I had into this job. Uh huh. A real point to prove to myself. All those years,
those twenties—I—I—uh huh—this is it. This is my moment, my chance. Uh huh.
And it felt great. Like, it was great. And I look back at that time as being very positive. And it—it
completely changed my life. But there's a danger in putting absolutely everything you are and
everything you have into a job, you know. Yeah. Start working at six. Yeah. Start work at six. Get
up at four forty-five to get there. And then work through eight, nine, ten, eleven—nearly every
day.
Viktoria Levenberg: Wow. Did you take weekends?
Rich Strang: Took weekends, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Okay, always took weekends.
Viktoria Levenberg: Good, at least there's that. That's probably how you did it for as long as you
did.
Rich Strang: Yeah, yeah. Yeah, but I—I was driven by this point. I had—I had—it was sort of the
grassroots of—of something very exciting. And I was there for it. It was the small team really just
moving mountains. And it was tight-knit. And the guys and girls were really great. And we were
all just doing what had—what had to be done. And we did. And it was amazing.
But you get to a certain point where your body just goes, I can't do this anymore. Yeah, yeah.
Yeah. I know you've got a similar story.
Viktoria Levenberg: Well, not as intense as yours. So please—I think you've got—you've got a big
story to tell if—if you feel so inclined.
Rich Strang: Yeah, sure.
Yeah. So I think after sort of a year—year, year and a half—it was basically working towards one
deadline. The delivery of one big component. The day came where the—you know—the deadline
was met. I met my deadline. I met my—I had—I had—I had done it, yeah.
And the very next day, I get the flu. Uh huh. The very next day I get the flu. Yeah, okay. One week
class having the flu. And then straight away, just coming out of the flu, my tonsil puffs up. Mm
hmm.
Viktoria Levenberg: I'm like—in your throat?
Rich Strang: Yeah, in my throat, yeah. Just one tonsil. I don't think anything—oh no, it was a
scratchy—scratchy tonsil. Like five or six at night, still at work. Scratchy tonsil. I'm like, oh, this is
odd. I better—better go home. Mm hmm. After doing, you know, a big day anyway, I'm gonna go
home.
So it's funny—
Viktoria Levenberg: After being here since six in the morning, like twelve-hour day—better go
home, I guess.
Rich Strang: Well, you start to feel guilty if you do an eight-hour day. It feels like a half day. It's
such a skewed—
Viktoria Levenberg: Yes existence.
Rich Strang: Yes, yes. Yeah, yes. Yeah, it's like, oh yeah, half day. It's like, oh no, not really.
Anyway, so I—I have this scratchy tonsil. I don't think anything of it. Wake up in the morning and
it's sort of—whoop—it’s much bigger. And now I can barely swallow. Not thinking, I think, oh, I
should probably stay at home. This is probably just tonsillitis. Never had tonsillitis before.
Mm hmm. You can't just rush—you don't just rush to the doctor as soon as, you know. We'll give
it a day. We'll see what happens.
Viktoria Levenberg: Especially like, you know, you live in New Zealand, so we just take like a
concrete pill and get over it, right? And like, she'll be right. Yeah. Yeah, I'll be fine.
Rich Strang: I took a day off work. That's—that's, yeah.
Viktoria Levenberg: Exactly. That's like a holiday for you, yeah.
Oh yeah. Especially sick leave, like—that's like admitting defeat, right?
Rich Strang: I had a lot of it, yeah. I had all of it, yeah, exactly.
Viktoria Levenberg: It was like, why would you take it? It's like, whoa—that's naughty.
Rich Strang: Yeah, but the good thing was I had my—I had—I had delivered what I needed to
have delivered. So, you know, I had taken—I was able to take my foot off the gas. And I think, you
know—anyway, I'll—I’ll loop back to that.
So then, yeah. So I thought I will wait a day. Woke up the next day and all of a sudden, now my
whole face is puffed up outside. It equally goes the same distance inside. So now you can't close
your mouth. Your throat's blocked. You sound like Donald Duck.
Went to the doctor. They said, go to the hospital immediately. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. So driving to
the hospital, a bit woozy, like what—what's going on?
Viktoria Levenberg: You drove yourself to the hospital?
Rich Strang: Well, you still don't think—you still think tonsillitis. Never had it. Ha ha ha ha ha ha.
It’s just, you know, yeah. Uh huh. It’s just—you know—it’s just—it’s just tonsil, yeah.
Anyway, long story short, it turned out—I got to the hospital. They couldn’t drain the tonsil, so
they had to take it out. I think it’s called a hot potato when you have to take your tonsil out when
it’s inflamed and infected. Okay. Yeah. Uh—it’s a—it’s—they typically—it was supposed—you
normally—it’s a fifteen-minute procedure to take a tonsil out. This was like an hour and a half.
Viktoria Levenberg: I think—oh wow.
Rich Strang: So it was—it was more involved. Um, took it out. I was there for another two days
while I was sort of recovering. And then they took me off the steroids and said, you can go home.
And I sort of thought, oh—can I just stay one more night? Just because I want to make sure this is
okay.
Uh—and it was that night. It was that night everything turned for me. And I can only describe it
as—when you are just dimming a light. Let’s say, you know, in your house you just dim a light
down, and the light goes down in the room, and it goes to darkness. That night, it just felt like my
body was just—just winding down, and everything was getting—
I was in immense pain. Like, it wasn’t peaceful by any means. But just—the overall energy of my
body was just depleting. Just—just—just running out of me. Um. That was a horrible night.
Woke up in the morning. Doctors came and went—oh shit. Got a CT scan. Turned out that the
infection that was in the tonsil had jumped from my—uh—tonsil, gone into my—uh—the side of
my cheek, down my neck, into my chest, up to the base of my skull. All over.
But the major thing was it had wrapped itself all around my, um, jugular vein. So at that point,
you know, you’re essentially septic. Uh huh. Your jugular vein is surrounded by infection. Uh huh.
Things aren’t great. Uh huh.
So I was, yeah, in hospital. I actually found hospital peaceful. I actually quite enjoyed it. Mm
hmm. Just because I didn’t have to—there was no expectations on me. There was no—my mind
was at ease. Even though I was, you know, mm hmm, knocking on death’s door—I didn’t know it
at the time—but my mind was at ease.
I didn’t have to do anything. Food—yeah—brought to me. Like, I could watch—
Viktoria Levenberg: no deadlines, no emails.
Rich Strang: It was just a complete holiday. You know when you go on holiday and your brain is
still like—your body’s on holiday but your mind isn’t? Yeah. And it’s really tough to just—it takes
time to—to quieten that mind. Mm hmm.
Well, for me, when I was in the hospital, it was like just peace. Hmm. No expectations. Nothing
from yourself, from the external world. It’s just peace. People think that’s quite sad when I say it.
I guess it is. Ha ha ha.
Viktoria Levenberg: No, it’s—it’s understandable. Like, given your circumstances at the time.
Yeah. It’s—it’s just the reality of it. And to be honest, most likely the people who think that’s
sad—that’s probably their own projection onto you of their reality that they’re not willing to face.
Sorry to say it, but like, if we’re judging others, that’s usually because there’s something they’re
reflecting back at us that we don’t wanna see for ourselves.
Rich Strang: Hmm, yeah.
Viktoria Levenberg: Mm hmm.
Rich Strang: I’m gonna remember who said it was sad now.
Viktoria Levenberg: That’s it. Be like, well—well how many hours did you work?
Um—and—and so that feeling of peace—was that the first time that you’ve truly felt at peace
in—in all those years?
Rich Strang: No, I’ve had a few—surgeries before.
Viktoria Levenberg: So have you—have you—just—okay. Interesting. So—so on an unconscious
level, in some extent, it was like your—your unconscious mind was like, hey, if we get him there,
then he’ll finally slow down and we can just let go. Like—like I—and correct me if I’m wrong—but
like in my mind, the way I compare the feeling that you had when you were in hospital to—like
Shavasana.
Rich Strang: Yeah.
Viktoria Levenberg: Is that it?
Rich Strang: For eighteen days.
Viktoria Levenberg: So good.
Rich Strang: How good.
So many American movies you can watch.
Yeah, but yeah—so that—I mean, it’s—that’s—that’s the truth, actually. That the only times my
mind was truly quiet was the times I’ve been in—and I had five operations on my left knee. So—
wow. I—you can say I’ve had lots—lots—lots of peaceful moments, but they were unfortunately
all—all in the hospital. Mm hmm.
But yes—so yeah—long story short, I had something called Lemierre syndrome, which is
extremely rare. Uh—and it is this—this infection around the jugular vein that just spreads out.
Um. I had two operations—I don’t know if you can see through—through the—through my neck
itself.
Viktoria Levenberg: Mm hmm, yeah.
Rich Strang: So cut from there all the way to there.
Viktoria Levenberg: Wow. And your jugular vein—that’s like your main artery, right?
Rich Strang: Yeah—to the brain. Yeah.
So yeah. It was—it was only after the doctors sort of said—hmm—it—it was close. We were
running out of options. Mm hmm. So they—they—basically all they could do—well, I had a
biopsy taken when I first arrived, and then it took about a week, um, for them to realise what—
what antibiotic actually worked.
’Cause I remember them at first kind of going—this antibiotic, this antibiotic, this. They weren’t—
they kind of just having to guess. Mm hmm. And it probably wasn’t the right one to begin with.
And then a week later, I mean, I had the head of infectious diseases come in—this quirky guy
with this little bow tie and a fun shirt. Like, you know, it was like really quite funny. Yeah.
And yeah—a week—and they—they altered the, uh, antibiotic that I was on. Mm hmm. And after
the third surgery, and lots of flushing and cleaning and—ah—it was just like someone was turning
the light back on again. Whoo—exactly the same thing, but in reverse. Yeah.
Every day, and the doctors would walk in and be like, wow, you’re looking great. And I was sort of
like, ha, thanks. You know—
Viktoria Levenberg: Like that achiever in you is like, yeah, look at me recovering. Ha ha ha.
Like starting to get a bit antsy now. Like, I wanna build something, guys. I’ve got all this energy.
Rich Strang: I was watching my boss board and I had a—what did I have, yeah—so my flatmate at
the time brought in the Spice Girls Lego kit.
Viktoria Levenberg: So there’s a Spice Girls Lego kit.
Stop it. Spice Girls?
Rich Strang: So I built them, and they were sitting on my—they were sitting by my window. At the
time, I was like, I’ll take it. So they go—this is great.
And then my boss at the time—he came in and he, uh—he bought me something a little more
aligned with—I mean, I love—don’t get me wrong—that’s part of my—hey.
Viktoria Levenberg: I would want Victoria Beckham on my windowsill, you know. Ha ha ha.
Rich Strang: But he bought in a truck. And I was like, great. Great. This is great.
Viktoria Levenberg: So nice little masculine–feminine balance of the Shiva and the Shakti you had
going on there.
Rich Strang: Yeah. I think I had—I think I had Baby Spice, uh, with her microphone in the back of
the—in the back of the house, singing to the rest of them. Uh huh. Ha ha ha.
Hey, you’ve got time, yeah. You’ve got a lot of time in there.
Viktoria Levenberg: Mm hmm. I love it.
Rich Strang: But what was interesting through that whole—like, I look back at that experience
and that, man—it was so valuable. Incredibly valuable.
Like, I remember coming out of hospital. I thought I was strong in hospital. And you get out into
the real world, and you walk out the front doors, and you’re like, whoa. This is—the cars are
moving really fast. Like, it’s a bit overwhelming.
But at the same time, all these like—you know, the memes and that go around—hashtag grateful,
gratitude, hashtag message—you know—all these sort of things that you—we should be—
I just—I looked at this—I looked at the sky. The wind—the wind blowing through the trees. And I
just thought, wow—that’s amazing. And then I saw the rain started to fall, and I was like, wow—
that is incredible.
Like, I really, on a deep level, felt just the beauty of the world around me. And—and—and just
the gratitude of just being there was so powerful.
And I said to myself, remember this. You need to remember this because life’s problems are
gonna trickle themselves back in. And you need to remember this moment. Because I knew that
those—those feelings would, you know, reduce or subside. Mm hmm.
And I think fundamentally there has been a shift. Life’s problems have definitely trickled back in,
mm hmm, um—as they do. But one of the strongest learnings was that all those problems I—I
thought I had before getting sick, the day I got sick vanished. Yeah. Vanished.
Like, how could they have ever been problems in the first place if they vanished? And I think
that’s probably the—the single biggest lesson that I consider takeaway from the experience is
that everything that we worry about is so inconsequential. Yeah. It’s just—it doesn’t matter.
No—it does—I mean, it still does to me. Like, I still get stressed as hell now.
Viktoria Levenberg: But yes—and you know, when you zoom out a little bit, it takes perspective.
When I think, you know, what you’re starting to scratch the surface on is this difference between
being the problem versus being the perceiver of—you witnessing the problem. Yeah. Two very
different experiences.
Rich Strang: Yeah, yeah. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. And I do have—that’s the whole—I can’t tell—sort
of, as you know, you know, there’s conscious and subconscious. And I know observing your
conscious with your subconscious—well, by first, you’re observing your subconscious with your
conscious—there’s a lot of that going on in here.
And that’s really great. That was sort of my introduction, I guess, to—he was my introduction to
that way of thinking, which was—yeah—a few years ago now. Mm hmm.
Viktoria Levenberg: Yeah. And wow. Mm hmm. It’s like—I mean, Rich—that story in itself is—I
feel so lucky, obviously, to hear. I feel so lucky that you are here, um—that you are here, full stop.
Right? Because—I mean, when you said that piece around, I don’t know, I think I should stay
another night—imagine if you had gone home. Imagine if you had gone back to work.
And like, I don’t know whether you can even articulate it in words, but I wonder—what was it in
you that probably wasn’t that conscious—you know, tough guy, Rich entrepreneur dude—it was
something else, much deeper, that—like a little quiet inner knowing within you that was like, just
stay one more night. Like—what was—how did you know? I’m really curious.
Rich Strang: I think it was a conversation I probably had with my mum and dad at the time. ’Cause
they say, look—you can—we—you’re cleared to leave, you can leave. But if you—if you want, you
can stay one more night. Uh huh.
And it was—I don’t know. I don’t know. I mean, I—I decided to stay ’cause I—that there was a—
yeah—like you say, there was the belief that I should. Mm hmm.
But at the time, you—you also sort of—even though I may have been enjoying my stay—you’re
kind of like, I’m ready to go as well. Like, this isn’t a place for me. Mm hmm, mm hmm. You just
don’t hang out at the hospital on a Saturday night, you know. I don’t—yeah—exactly, exactly.
Well—actually—anyway—story for another day—but you—you also just—I mean—you’re not
right. Your body’s not right. You’re not right. You know—you still—you still—I mean, you looking
like a potato—it’s like—it was—it was a surprise to hear that they were—they would say, you can
go. Uh huh.
But often, you know, someone says that—you got great, I’m off. But yeah—
Viktoria Levenberg: They’re doctors. They’ve got white lab coats. They know better than me.
Rich Strang: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. But no—full—thank goodness. Yeah. Thank goodness I didn’t,
’cause that was—that was the night it all—all—all changed. So yeah. Yeah.
Viktoria Levenberg: And—and that’s what I—I actually spoke about this on a—on an episode
recently as well. It’s just like—I’m such a big proponent of us staying in our agency and staying in
our power. Because no doctor, no professional, no policeman, no president—no one knows you
better than you. No one has that inner knowing, that inner sense of what’s right for you in that
moment.
And so—I mean, yeah—just thank goodness you listened to that. And—and that’s what sort of—I
guess—shifted the trajectory for you. And tell me—like—what’s changed since then? Like—
’cause, you know, as you mentioned, that’s been a few years ago now. And I’m sure that came
with its own set of learnings and journeys and—and experiences. Yeah.
Rich Strang: For sure, yeah. After that, someone said at work—said, I guess you’re gonna leave
the company now. And I said, no, no. I’m just gonna leave on time. And that was—ooh. That
was—yes—that was my new thing, you know. Uh huh.
And I did my best. I did my best. But again—those full eight-hour-half days—it starts—there was
a shift. Like, I just don’t do that anymore. And that’s just a rule of mine. I just don’t give—I don’t
give everything to one thing anymore at all. Um.
I also—and then a year later did another year—then a year later I changed jobs. Um—much
closer to home. So, you know, instead of an hour drive, it’s a five-minute drive—which is just—
yeah—it’s good. Just really taking back—taking back time. Time for me. Um.
And I quite—a strong—yeah—like I said—a strong rule that I—I’m basing my—the time it—I’ll do
eight hours. I’ll do my—I’ll obviously do what I’m contractually supposed to do. But I am basing
myself—my performance—on performance.
You know—like, yeah—I’m only there—and I—and my—and my bar is high for my—my
performance. It’s not like I’m—uh huh—slacking at all. But yeah—you know—you can—you can
be highly successful without having to just try and achieve this—an open-ended ceiling. Like, it’s
just—there’s nothing—it’s—they’ll take—it’ll—they’ll take forever.
Viktoria Levenberg: I get asked by high-performing women and entrepreneurs how to get more
done in less time all the time. And that is because I have been able to master productivity,
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Viktoria Levenberg: And there’s no—there—there—there’s—it did—it—there—it’s not there.
Like, it does—it’s not gonna take forever. It’s gonna take like—it—limitless infinite times. Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Rich Strang: So I’ve—I’ve drawn this line where I’m—you know—still performing well. Like, I’m
meeting the requirements of the company. Uh huh.
Viktoria Levenberg: And I probably—I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re, like, exceeding them, to be
honest, knowing you. You are highly capable. You’re intelligent. You’re a high performer. So your
performance is probably still in the top tier of, you know, the average workforce. I—I guarantee it.
Rich Strang: Yeah. I—yeah. I mean, the role I have now—it’s a management role. And it’s more
demanding on different levels. More people-focused, which is really cool. Which is really great
because I’m—I would say I’m much—I am definitely a lot better with people than I am with
maths and physics. So—hallelujah—faked it and made it to a place where I can—I have people
that are good at that and enjoy it. That’s the main thing. Like—give that stuff to someone that
enjoys it. Uh huh.
And—and you focus on the things that you enjoy because they—or whoever, you know—we’re
all—it’s—it’s—we—we need to come together to create amazing things.
Viktoria Levenberg: Yes—and be in our zone of genius.
Rich Strang: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So that’s sort of my engineering—
That’s the engineering world.
Viktoria Levenberg: Yes. And now tell me the other world.
Rich Strang: The yoga.
Yeah—well, the yoga—the yoga side of things has been an incredible journey. Um. As you know,
we did our yoga teacher training together. That’s how we met—
Viktoria Levenberg: That’s how we met.
Hmm. Best day of my life.
Rich Strang: Ha ha ha ha—yeah. Yeah.
And it was funny because I had done yoga for maybe ten to fifteen years prior. Okay. So I was
confident in my ability physically. But I want to just go a little bit further with my understanding
around—what is yoga? And I want to—I want to go further with yoga.
So I booked myself in this yoga teacher training. But my brain completely blocked out the teacher
side of teacher training. Really—it didn’t want to know. ’Cause that’s a total fear of mine.
And then day one—you know—it’s an aggressive—it’s an aggressive training because two
hundred hours—but day one, you’re—you’re doing it.
Viktoria Levenberg: Yeah. And—and like—you know—our teacher—she’s—she’s out there.
Rich Strang: Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
And I found her incredible.
Viktoria Levenberg: But same—it was exactly what I needed. But it’s stretching you, right? It’s—
it’s a growth edge.
Rich Strang: Well, day one—that—you know—even just that sharing circle—I’m like, oh. I know—
you know—I have to talk. There’s people—like, as a kid, I was—I cried my way out of school
speeches because—
Viktoria Levenberg: And you were the only guy as well, by the way—which we can touch on—
What that was like for you too, right? You were the only male holding the—the—the—like sacred
masculine in the room.
Rich Strang: Yeah, that was interesting. Hmm. I felt like I didn’t belong in the space. Like I was an
intruder in—in the feminine sort of space that was—that I was, you know, sitting within.
And I felt that for about two days until I shared it. Yep. And one of the girls said in her sharing
circle how nice it was to have a guy there. Mm hmm.
And then I kind of—everything was like, oh okay. Yeah, I’m not an intruder. I’m not—people
aren’t upset that I’m here. This is—mm hmm—this is okay.
Viktoria Levenberg: I belong.
Rich Strang: Yeah.
Yeah, well—not really. ’Cause I still had to speak in front of people. And we had to—we had to get
up and try and, you know, speak in Sanskrit. Hahaha.
We’ve so many different elements together. And for someone that’s a perfectionist, that hates
failure, it’s just not possible to be perfect in a task like that. So I found it incredibly challenging.
But what I also realised was the growth I felt after each day was more immense than anything
I’ve ever had—ever done before. And I was like, ah—it was frustrating ’cause it’s like, I know I
have to keep doing this, but I’m really terrified.
Properly terrified. Like—you know—all the symptoms. Physical symptoms that you could have.
Yeah.
Viktoria Levenberg: Really? Well, yeah. I didn’t know that at the time, so thank you for sharing
that. ’Cause he clearly masked it quite a bit during our time there. Yeah.
Rich Strang: It was—it was terrifying. It was terrifying. And I’ve always said—look, the day I stop
teaching—the day I can stop teaching yoga—is the day that doesn’t scare me anymore. Uh huh.
And that’s always been a rule.
But I’ve sort of—so I guess fast forward—I’ve taught in quite a few studios. Nice studios around
Auckland, which has been really great. Um.
Studios are—they’re a really lovely place to be. Yoga studios are a special place with a special
energy. Mm hmm. You know, I like to think—special people—mm hmm—just come if you know—
visit them. And you—you’re surrounded by lovely, lovely people that are there. Like, it’s—it’s a
really great place to be. Yeah.
As a—as a teacher—they’re a terrifying place to be.
Viktoria Levenberg: Ha ha ha ha. Ha ha. Ha ha. Yeah.
Rich Strang: All in the same—all in the—we’ve been together, but yeah.
Yeah, so—and just this idea—just the mental growth. The—just the growth that I went through
forcing myself sort of day in, day out through the course, and then weekly from that point
forward, to be in front of people and share something that you’ve created.
’Cause I didn’t realise how—how—how creative yoga actually needs to be. Hmm.
Viktoria Levenberg: And I wanna say—oh yes.
You go first.
Rich Strang: No, no—go on.
Viktoria Levenberg: I just wanted to kind of enter time in there. As someone who witnessed your
teaching from day one—well, day zero basically, right?
Um, I’ve got to say—like—’cause you just said you’re creating something, and it’s so creative—
and immediately my mind went to, like, you—what you love about engineering and creating
something from scratch.
And you know, there was—what—like maybe twenty of us or something in the teacher training.
And your practices were some of the ones that I resonated with the most because of the
creativity that you put into it.
Like the care that you take into your sequencing, into the storytelling, into the jokes, your
humour, the way that you show up as your authentic self. I just kind of wanted to sprinkle that in
there.
Because when you say creativity—like, yes—yoga demands you to be creative. And I also want to
say that I’ve been to many yoga classes that are, like, boring—as yours are not at all. Like—yours
are a full-spectrum kaleidoscope of experiences.
Rich Strang: Oh, cool. That’s nice to hear. I just wanted it to be fun.
Like, I did yoga with the old ducks down in Devonport for years. Mm hmm. And didn’t—and then
it was only, you know, ten years in that I realised you could do—there was so much more to it.
Like, you could do—yeah—you go on your hands, and you could do balances and inversions, and
it could become—you could make it a very, very powerful practice. Mm hmm. And a very fun
practice.
And it didn’t need to be serious. You could play and joke and fall and—yeah—look at your
neighbour. And, you know, it’s not like this—like—
It can be so much. And I think it’s so much—I miss what it can—what the potentials of what it is.
And I think, yeah—I’ve—I—I mean that you just—you just teach—you teach the class you wanna
do, right? That’s kind of where you gravitate.
And I’ve always just taught the class that I wanna teach. And it’s become a class that flows from
beginning to end. There’s so little static holds or movements in it. It just flows.
And it’s completely—like, the flow is guided with—by your breath. Constant. It’s just breath,
movement, breath, movement, breath, movement.
And I get a lot of people saying, wow—I’ve never done a class like that. That was an amazing
class. That’s—that was really great. Mm hmm.
And when they say—and they say—I just really love the movement and the flow and the—and I
think just—I—I throw a few static things in there only to make the flows feel more flowy. To give
you that contrast. Yeah.
There’s very few. And so that’s where my teaching’s at at the moment. I’m really enjoying it. I’m
getting really great feedback from it now. So it’s cool.
It’s a complicated—it’s a relatively, I think, complicated class to teach because there’s a lot going
on. Probably fifty poses in a class, more. But it doesn’t—that doesn’t necessarily need—doesn’t
need to be complicated for the person attending the class by any means.
Viktoria Levenberg: Yeah, exactly.
Rich Strang: Because if you can link—I think people get lost when you don’t link one pose to
another pose.
Like, I want zero reshuffle of your body between pose to pose. So from one pose to the next
pose, your feet, your hand—whatever it may be—they’re in the right position. And you’re only
changing something slight.
And then the next one is—you’re only changing something slight again. So this—it’s actually not
that hard to follow because your body is in the right place for every transition.
It’s not like there’s no wasted—okay, make your way up yourself or—you know—nothing is—
yeah—unguided or, you know—just take a seat. It’s not—you—
If I say take a seat, your bum’s hovering off the mat. Really, you know—doing something
different. Yeah. All you gotta do is go bonk and you’re there. Yeah.
Like—
Viktoria Levenberg: And that is so precious because it is such a testament to the thoughtfulness
and the architecture that you put into the blueprint of your sequencing, you know.
It is—it is a creative process. And, you know, you said at the beginning of our episode that you’ve
been kind of keeping these two worlds apart quite a lot.
I wanna challenge you that maybe, without you consciously knowing it, you were already
weaving in some of your engineering skills and creativity into that.
Maybe—you know—again, our brain loves to compartmentalise, and there was probably a lot of
reasons for that. But there’s definitely—like—you are you.
And what really came up for me when you started introducing yourself and you were talking
about how, like—you know—you’ve always felt like you had this, like, engineering side of you and
this yoga side of you on these two different spectrums, and you had to keep them as far apart as
possible.
Was something that I also felt for a really long time. You know, as you know, I also juggle many
balls. And it’s like—all these things—like throw—throw them up in the air and take care of this
one, and throw that one up.
And yeah—I felt the same way. I felt like I was walking through the office building—okay, it’s like
now I gotta be corporate Vik. I was doing this—now I gotta be coach Vik. Now I’m gonna be yoga
teacher Vik.
You know—it’s like—and what I realised throughout that time, and I’m curious if this is the
journey where you’re on now—I realised I was like, actually, can I just be Vik?
Can I not associate myself with any of these labels and any of these boxes that I’m trying to put
myself into? And can I just bring it all together to be me?
And so I’d love for you to share, like, what that is like for you now. ’Cause that’s kind of the sense
I’m getting of this new chapter that you’re building. Um—that I’d love to hear more about.
Rich Strang: Yeah, absolutely. And that—that is it. That’s like—who am I in all my parts? And how
can I be one rather than split down the middle?
Because I’ve—I’ve—the engineering has been this career that I’ve chased and developed and
grown for so long. But the yoga’s always been this sort of—the—the passion side of it.
Like—what am I really passionate about? Uh huh. I’m passionate about—I’m passionate about
elements of engineering for sure. The building side of things. The creative side of things.
Which I had—it’s very interesting that you say you’ve made the—that connection because that is
the connection that I have recently—only recently.
Like—how long does it take to figure these things out? They seem so simple once you get there.
Viktoria Levenberg: It takes as long as it takes, Rich. Albert Einstein said, you cannot solve a
problem from the same level of consciousness that created it. So it takes as long as it takes.
Rich Strang: But you can also be told it, and it just doesn’t go in until…
Viktoria Levenberg: It doesn’t click there yourself. Yeah. Because of the—your consciousness is
just like—meow. It’s like the same thing—like how your brain filtered out the whole teacher piece
of the yoga teacher training.
Rich Strang: Yeah, yeah. I’m glad it did, ’cause it’s—you know—it was—haha—wouldn’t be here
now. Yeah.
So yeah—so now my—my journey now is like—there’s two parts to this.
There’s still a sort of heavily sort of yoga side of things ’cause I found real purpose in creating a
space for others to connect within.
And yoga is a beautiful tool for people to turn up and participate in. Yeah.
So when you—so when you combine—say—so—so where I’m at now, I have a company—just
launched a company called Weeve— Yeah—so you can—
Viktoria Levenberg: Congratulations.
Rich Strang: Yeah. Weeve.people—our Instagram—
Viktoria Levenberg: Weeve.people love it.
Rich Strang: Weeve.people—yeah.
Viktoria Levenberg: So we—do you have a website? Hey—do you have a website?
Rich Strang: No, no website. This—these last couple weeks have just been boom—trying to
emerge, yeah. Push this—yeah, yeah. And build this and create this and sort of moving the big
blocks and then realizing they’re all—the little ones are important in between.
So putting little block to—to try and piece it together and make it fit and flow and work.
Viktoria Levenberg:
And I feel you. If you want to chat entrepreneurship anytime, I’m—I’m there for you.
Rich Strang: I promise you—love—love to hear your view and advice. Ha ha.
And the idea behind Weeve is to weeve—it’s W-E-E-V-E—but to weeve. And the logo is this—
yeah—this W that interlaces in the middle.
And it’s to weeve everything. It’s to weeve my engineering and my—and my yoga together. It’s to
weeve elements of sort of hot and cold and—and yoga and cold water immersion and saunas.
And the biggest one being connection between people to create this beautiful community.
So now I hold this outdoor space—a yoga space—every Saturday morning. Um—well, three
Saturdays, and I have one Saturday off.
Viktoria Levenberg: And look at you learning from your past lessons.
Rich Strang: Oh yeah. One Saturday—one Saturday off.
And it’s funny ’cause I still, like—yeah—I put so much effort into these things. And still the days
leading up to holding the space, two years later, it’s—it’s still daunting. So much better, but—but
still—still. Yeah.
Viktoria Levenberg: I know what you mean. It’s like—you look at someone’s facial expression and
you’re like—are they just, like, you know, having a hard time because of the pose, or do they hate
me right now? Is it me?
Rich Strang: Yeah. And then you go—
Viktoria Levenberg: Silly ego brain.
Rich Strang: They have this very—very simple reason that has nothing to do with you.
Rich Strang: Yeah. And you’re like—oh, my—my damn brain.
Viktoria Levenberg: Oh. Who would have thought the world doesn’t revolve around me?
Rich Strang: Exactly. Exactly.
What a surprise.
So—so—so yeah, that’s right. So I’ve got this—this morning of—it’s basically—the—it’s cold.
It’s—it’s yoga—fifty minutes to an hour yoga—and then it’s—it’s cold immersion or just going for
a swim at the beach together.
And it’s amazing because yoga is—we sort of drop into the space and into ourselves, and we
connect with our breath. And there’s people around you, and I make it fun. And there’s—there
are interactions with your neighbours in the yoga.
But it’s amazing, but people don’t properly interact in that moment.
But when groups of people go into, say, cold water together—mm hmm—it’s amazing how
quickly they become friends.
Like, all the barriers of—of, you know—whatever it is to—to meet new people—yeah—just
poof—drop.
And so, capitalising on that, we then have coffee afterwards.
Viktoria Levenberg: Yeah, yeah.
Rich Strang: And people can continue this connection that they create with each other and just
the greater community that—that turn up.
Viktoria Levenberg: So I love that so much. And where—whereabouts is it? And, like, what times
do you normally meet? You said three times—Saturdays.
Um—yeah—for my Auckland local listeners—I know it won’t be everyone—but there is a few
people who—who might be cool Weeve community members. Who knows? I hope—like, hello.
Rich Strang: Yeah—well—it’s a—I mean, the driver for me is not to—to grow it huge. It’s to
have—when people come afterwards and they say, that was really wonderful. Thank you so
much.
I loved—you know—maybe the flow. I loved getting in the water. I just—I just love these
mornings. They just fill my day with—I just—they make me feel so good. And I’m just smiling, and
I’m happy for the rest of the day.
I mean, that is like—how do you compare that to anything? That’s such a fulfilling thing to be a
part of.
I’m just trying to create the space for everyone else to be themselves within.
Viktoria Levenberg: Mm hmm.
Rich Strang: And that’s real—that for me—that’s a real purpose.
Viktoria Levenberg: Yeah. That’s a real purpose. I can really see that. Yeah.
So if someone, like, wants to come and join you—where—where, like, whereabouts in Auckland
would—would they need to—would they need to come to? Like—I’m assuming they can—they
can join.
Rich Strang: Ah—absolutely. So it’s—yeah—it’s just—anyone’s welcome.
Viktoria Levenberg: By the way, like beginners also friendly? Because, you know, there’s a lot of
stigma with yoga and, like—I don’t do handstand stuff. I’m not flexible.
So tell me—is it for everyone?
Rich Strang: It is for everybody. It’s not—being in a studio allows this sort of lightweight, easy
energy to the morning.
You’re surrounded by birds and dogs and the wind and the waves. And you’re really connected
with the environment that we’re within and the people around you.
So I mean—as—as the class itself—I try and make it—there’s—there’s a range for each pose.
There is sort of easy to advanced.
And so you—everyone will be challenged to the level that they want to be challenged.
So beginners—just being there—just moving—just trying—just trying and moving their body
and—and—and realising that there are different ways to move.
You know, your day to day—you probably don’t—you wouldn’t do any of that stuff. Yeah. So it’s
just—just waking the body up. I mean, that is a huge win. Uh huh.
And then I have—there’s also really capable people that come down too who are looking for—
and have gravitated towards my classes because they’re looking for that—that sort of the
advanced poses as well.
So I offer them. But for every advanced pose, there’s such that you can—you can—you can really
bring them back. Like, yoga is so versatile. It is in that sense.
Viktoria Levenberg: And it’s honestly—I feel like more actually a mind game than a body game.
Because as you know—someone who practices regularly—um—I’m gonna be the first to put my
hands up that, like—inversions and stuff—I like—I still have a really long way to go.
And so it actually triggers your ego when you see other people who are further along in their
practice go in, and you gotta be like—well, you know what—I’m just gonna meet myself where I
am.
So it’s actually not—no one cares how you look or what pose you’re doing. Everyone’s thinking
the exact same thing going on in their little monkey mind.
And I would love for you just to touch on this other thing. ’Cause—um—one of my listeners
who—is a dear friend—is always telling me—oh yeah—like yoga sounds great, but I just—I can’t
do it ’cause I can’t get the breathing right.
And they’re, like, hyper fixating on the breathing. So can you just talk to that as well? ’Cause I
think it’s obviously the poses—the difficulty—is something that beginners tend to steer away
from.
But then people also tend to overthink that it’s gotta be like this perfect dance and arrangement.
And yeah—what—what’s your take on that?
Rich Strang: No, that’s cool. That’s nice—yeah.
Well, the classes always begin with breath. Mm hmm. And it’s breath without movement.
So it’s a real—so you just focus on your breathing. Um—there’s nothing else going on.
And so it’s an opportunity to just calm your nervous system, slow yourself down, and just
welcome your body and your energy into this space.
And I guide it—it’s guided. And even that is challenging. Even for someone that does it all the
time.
You know—your mind wanders. You forget—you this, you that—and that’s all okay.
I think at the start with that guided breath, I can see it—I—people’s eyes open and they flick
around, and they try and come back down. And they open up again—they’re flicking around.
But it’s just—it’s just an awareness to what you’re trying to do. It doesn’t need to be perfect.
There is no perfection. There’s no perfect.
There’s okay—that actually felt—that was difficult.
But then you come back next week, and you go—ah. Or the week after, the week after—you go—
ah—actually maybe I—there is something to this.
Like maybe I—you know—I—I was able to focus on four, five rounds of breath there, and it felt
quite good. And my shoulders started to drop.
And we put so much—and I do personally listen on—on—on—on trying to do things perfectly.
The only thing you need to do is turn up and just—yes—and just try. Just—just be there and be
present in the space.
And we start with focusing just on breath. And then as we move through, I—I link all the
movements with your breath.
So anytime your body opens up, you’re taking a big inhale. And anytime you close down, your
exhale—like a pump. Mm hmm.
Mm hmm—you lift the pump up. And it goes—
Viktoria Levenberg: such an engineering metaphor. Hahaha.
Rich Strang: And then you push it down.
Hahaha—that’s it, yeah.
And so I really like to emphasise—like as you—as you’re coming up, take a breath in. You know—
really—and I say it a few times—really fill up, fill up, fill up, fill up.
And—and—it’s not something that you have to do through your whole practice by—by any
means.
Then I—I check in halfway through when things are getting a bit more spicy. And I go—check in
with your breath. See what’s happening. Has it changed since the beginning?
Whatever it is—it’s cool.
Like, take the air you need. Don’t try and follow this perceived, you know, correct breathing when
your body actually just needs more air. Take it. You need it. Do it. Exactly.
It’s a journey. The whole thing is a journey. Yeah. Just keep—just—just if you like it, keep coming
back. Yes. Keep coming back.
My thing with this community is to be consistent and to give the people that—everyone that
turns up—the opportunity to progress their yoga, to progress their breathing, to create these
relationships with lovely people.
Like, it’s changed my whole world. Like, I have just the most beautiful friends. Um. We all meet
on this—on a lovely level. Like, it’s—it’s great. And yeah.
So I’m there for the same reason that everyone else turns up. Yeah. Which I think is a beautiful
thing.
We—we—we’ve sort of—it’s the same value. It’s the same reason. Um. I guess I’m just trying
to—I just—I just create the space that we can.
Viktoria Levenberg: That’s it.
You’re holding that divine masculine container. You know, that healthy structure for—for the
dynamics to unfold. And, um—I so—so it’s in Takapuna, is that right?
Rich Strang: I never answer your question. Yeah.
Viktoria Levenberg: It’s okay.
Rich Strang: So I—yeah—I circle back. Don’t you worry.
Yeah. Yeah. Hahaha. For the fifth time. Uh—yeah.
So the first—the first three weekends of each month, uh huh, down on Takapuna Reserve, which
is just in front of Regatta, next to the Surf Yacht Club—Yacht Club—um, in front of the Takapuna
Surf Club, just on that grass there.
So typically get there about 7:50, and yoga kicks off around eight. So fine, yeah.
So you just bring a yoga mat if you have. I have spares. Um. I’ve got blocks. But I mean, if you
have a block, bring a block and water bottle. Um.
Your dog, your child, your parents—like, yeah. It is so accessible for everyone, and that—that is
the thing.
So I’m trying to make it more accessible. So as I try and refine my—so I’m trying to create—I’m
trying to capture what makes a studio class special, and we touched on this at the beginning, and
bring it to the outdoor environment.
And it’s quite challenging. But what it’s meant now is people have said, I have a hard time
hearing you. Mm hmm.
Because, you know, when you’ve got, like, fifty people on yoga mats, it’s a big space and you’ve
got wind blowing—
Viktoria Levenberg: Outside. in your poor freaking throat.
Rich Strang: I never realised how much energy it was taking out of me holding that space, having
to shout—uh huh—softly.
Viktoria Levenberg: Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. Like, my style is quite soft. And so
whenever I, like, cover a dynamic class, my throat hurts afterwards. ’Cause, I mean, that’s just not
me. So I—I feel you. Yeah, yeah.
Rich Strang: So now I’ve got little—people call it a Britney mic. I never said I would. And this is so
hard for someone that doesn’t like being in front of people, let me tell you.
I’ve got a lovely sound system—four speakers that sort of surround this space. Amazing. But the
volume is on low. Very low.
So it’s creating this full sound at a very low volume. So you’re still hearing nature. It’s not blocking
out nature. It’s not a dance party.
Um. But it’s—it’s energetic. It—it flows. It starts—the soundtrack I use starts slow, and you build
yourself up. It’s energetic, and then it drops down again.
But just trying to create this sort of low but—but not even powerful—but it’s just—just full of—
full of sound.
Sound that—
Viktoria Levenberg: Everything is vibration, right? Yeah.
Rich Strang: Sometimes I play just bird sounds, and people don’t even notice. They just think it’s
just a lot of birds out today. Hahaha.
Viktoria Levenberg: I love that. Um. And I mean, like, I’m sold. Honestly. I know I’ve been telling
you this for a long time.
And I think I’ve just been—I’m gonna call my BS out here—I’ve just been, like, saying all these
excuses of like, oh, I take Piper out in the morning for a really long walk, it means I have to wake
up early, blah blah blah, whatever.
It’s like—I will make this happen. I really wanna be part of this experience. You’re creating
something so magical.
And I think anyone who is lucky enough to be in Auckland and have the courage to show up if it’s
their first time, then, um—they’re in for an incredible, incredible journey.
And, um—you know—I—by the way—thank you for your extra time, ’cause I don’t even know
where the time went. We just kind of—we’re in this flow.
And, um—as we prepare to wrap things up, I have this one signature question that I’ve been
asking every guest on the show since I started Resonance.
And I’m really curious to your take on it, which is—what’s one thing that you hope a listener will
take away from today’s episode long after it ends?
Rich Strang: Hmm. It’s a great question. I’ve been thinking about it.
And for me—purpose. A career has always been what’s required, but purpose has always been
what I’ve really desired.
And it’s always been really overwhelming. Like—how do you find your purpose? Where do you
begin? Like—I feel like I have—I’m finding my purpose now.
But the biggest job has been just figuring out what your purpose is. Mm hmm.
I think once—once you figure out what your purpose is, you can actually put an actual,
actionable steps in place and start building something that meets it.
And it’s amazing the energy you find when you find your purpose. It’s incredible.
Viktoria Levenberg: I Right? It’s like you plug into this infinite source.
I know exactly what you mean, Rich. Yeah. And, like, thank you for sharing that because it is so
potent.
And, like, what’s coming up for me as well is, like, a lot of our thinkers—you know—people who
are in their head now might be like, oh, I’m just gonna get stuck on thinking about my purpose.
But something that was really potent for me is that actually a lot of the action comes from clarity.
Like, sometimes you’ve gotta turn the wrong corners to get back on the right track.
And obviously you can hear that in your story. You can hear it in my story.
I’m going through that same thing right now where, you know, I just, like, had this major
epiphany of how everything I’ve been doing was just a couple of degrees off.
But, you know, this metaphor of, like—if you fly—as an engineer who did, like, remote flight
control, you probably know this, right?
If your plane departs LA and it’s going to New York, and it’s only a couple of degrees off, by the
time it lands it’s gonna be, like, in Canada, right?
Rich Strang: Sure. Yeah.
Viktoria Levenberg: So it’s—but it’s like—once the game, I really do believe, is of our life is, like—
you—you chip away. You chip away at the wood until you find that alignment.
And then once you find it, you just know because, as you say, it’s like—whoa—that’s it. I’m on
superpower.
Rich Strang: And I’d like to say that shouldn’t stop you taking off.
Viktoria Levenberg: Yes. Yes. Exactly.
Hence, the clarity comes from action.
Yes. Yeah, yeah.
Rich Strang: You need to take off and then adjust—adjust the course. Adjust, adjust, adjust.
Viktoria Levenberg: That’s it. And that’s exactly what flight captains do. That’s exactly what ship
captains do.
What do you do the whole time? You’re just adjusting course, right?
Rich Strang: Yeah. Oh—there’s a storm. We’re gonna have to adjust.
Viktoria Levenberg: That’s it. ’Cause we don’t know what life’s gonna throw our way, right?
Like, all we know is that we’re hopefully gonna become better humans through that.
Viktoria Levenberg: And I mean, obviously you are. You’re incredible. I’m so grateful to have you
in my life.
And, um—for this conversation—like, thank you. I don’t hold this lightly.
I know how much it takes to put yourself out there, um—especially now that I also have the
additional background context. Uh—like—that times a hundred.
So, um—yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for being here.
And if people want to find you, if they want to connect with you, how can they do that?
Rich Strang: So the yoga—uh huh—the yoga mornings—and that’s gonna be a vehicle that I’ll
explore all of my sort of community offerings and yoga through.
So that’ll be a cool space to follow. That’s weeve—W-E-E-V-E—dot people (weeve.people). Mm
hmm.
Uh—and I’ll be responsive there. Otherwise, my personal one is rich underscore strang
(rich_strang)—S-T-R-A-N-G.
Viktoria Levenberg: Perfect. And I’ll link both of those in the show notes for people too.
Rich Strang: Yeah. Cool.
Viktoria Levenberg: Great. Amazing. Yeah. Thank you so much.
Rich Strang: No—thank you.
Viktoria Levenberg: Wow. Wow. Wow. Oh my gosh. This conversation lit me up. Phew.
I mean, I know this went a little bit longer than our normal episodes, but I think, like—just like
me—you’ll be like, where did the time go? This is incredible.
Um. There is so much gold and wisdom in a lot of what Rich shared with you today.
And some of the big things that resonated with me were the guilt of the eight-hour day feeling
like a half day.
Like, I can so remember back when that was the same for me. Like, I would begrudgingly look at
people leaving at five o’clock—let alone early—and I’m like, oh my god, what is wrong with
them?
Um. And I found that really powerful.
To hear Rich’s transformation of, you know, after he came out of the hospital being like, no, this is
just not what I do anymore. Um. I’m not leaving the business, but I will leave on time.
And that is an identity-level shift, you see. Like, so many of us are so focused on what we’re doing
and the results that we wanna get, but the problem is most of us are missing the key ingredient,
which is who we are being.
And once we shift at an identity level, everything else follows.
And, um—you know—I found that Rich’s final words of wisdom around career is what is required,
purpose is what is desired—hmm—I just love that so much.
And yes, like, you gotta take the plane off. So get started. Do something, right? You gotta be in
action. Clarity comes from action. And then course correct, right?
Just because you are going in one direction doesn’t mean you can’t pivot or shift or adjust.
I mean, like—let me be your living, breathing example of me doing exactly that in real time.
Um—often it comes with a little ego death. You know, often we’ve gotta let something go to let
in. But that’s just part of the journey. That’s part of life.
And often once you let go, what you let in is like twenty million times better than you probably
could have even ever imagined.
Um—so look—I really hope that you enjoyed this real-life story of the real struggle of balancing
high performance and wellbeing.
And if anything, I think you can now see that it really is a journey for each and every single one of
us, right? Like, we are all unique and different, and it comes with its challenges.
And it’s also so freaking rewarding, um—because if it’s possible for people like me and people
like Rich, then it’s possible for you too.
And so, you know, I’m curious—do you have a story that you would love to share? If you do, let
me know. Let’s bring each other closer together through our shared experiences.
And if there’s one takeaway—one action step—that you take away from this episode is I just
really encourage you to have a look at your life and look at how you’re showing up, where you’re
showing up.
Is there a particular area where you’re maybe giving too much of yourself? Um. Is there maybe,
like, a particular box you’re just limiting yourself to? Or, like, an identity that you’re attached to, to
the level where it’s almost codependent and unhealthy?
And just begin to ponder on that. Um. You’ve heard me say it before. You’ll hear me say it
another million times—awareness is always the first step towards change.
And for my Auckland locals, if you are keen to join me, I will definitely be joining Rich and the
Weeve community for their Saturday morning yoga and cold plunge and coffee—even though I
don’t drink coffee—but anyway, semantics.
So, um—I’ll put all the notes and details in the show notes below. I would love to see you there.
Otherwise, until next week, have a fabulous week ahead. Bye for now.
Viktoria Levenberg: How valuable would it be to get more done in less time while having more
energy? Imagine the things that you could achieve if you finally stopped running on empty and
learned to cultivate peak performance in your work, life, and business for the first time ever.
I am going to be teaching a small, intimate group of students the exact systems, tools, and
processes that I use to run my life.
And if you don’t know it yet, I am known as the productivity queen—so you are in for a goodie.
So look—this is for you if you’ve got big goals and a full schedule, but you are trying to achieve
them through this forced productivity model.
Maybe you’re physically exhausted, but your mind won’t stop—constant racing thoughts, right?
Or perhaps you have that low-grade anxiety throughout your day, even when you’re trying to
rest.
And maybe—maybe—you spend the day reacting to pings, emails, and demands, and by the
time you get to the end of the week, you’re basically just moving the same to-do list items all the
way back over to Monday.
If any of this applies to you and you would like to be part of this special training, make sure to join
the priority waitlist today. The link is in the show notes below and at
viktorialevenberg.com/success. I’ll see you inside.
Viktoria Levenberg: The views and opinions expressed by guests on Resonance are their own and
do not necessarily reflect the views of me, Viktoria Levenberg, LVNHealth, or anyone working
within the LVNHealth brand.
This space welcomes a diversity of ideas, experiences, and stories. And part of Resonance is
learning to take what aligns and gently leaving the rest.
Also, while I am a National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach and deeply passionate
about wellbeing, this podcast is intended for educational and inspirational purposes only.
Resonance does not substitute personalised medical, psychological, or therapeutic advice. Always
seek guidance from qualified professionals for any physical, emotional, or mental health
concerns.
