Roni Jones-Perry has been an athlete since she was three years old. Gymnastics first, then a pivot at 13 when the money ran out. Then volleyball, which took over her life by sophomore year of high school and hasn't let go since. She played at BYU, went to the Final Four her senior year, played four seasons overseas in Italy, Poland, and Brazil, and now plays professionally for a team in Salt Lake City.

On paper, that is a clean arc. In conversation, it is anything but.

In this episode, Roni talks about what gymnastics actually built in her, and why leaving it at 13 was the best thing that could have happened. She talks about arriving at BYU convinced that more physical work was always the answer, and slowly learning it wasn't. She talks about playing her best professional season alone in Poland for six months, performing at the highest level of her career, and feeling completely empty doing it. And she talks about the decision she made with her brother-in-law on a hot afternoon that changed how she thinks about why she does hard things at all.

The line she kept coming back to, the one her college coach used to say that she rolled her eyes at and now quotes constantly: winning is really rare. It sounds like a consolation. It isn't. It's the whole point.

In this episode:

How gymnastics built a foundation she didn't know she had

What it cost to leave at 13, and why she's grateful she did

Arriving at BYU convinced that more physical work was always the answer

The slow, uncomfortable process of learning to work smarter instead

Going to the Final Four her senior year, and what she wishes she'd done differently

The first season overseas: what professional volleyball actually is, and how it's nothing like college

Playing her best statistical season alone in Poland, and why it felt like the worst year of her career

What Brazil gave her that no other place had

The conversation with her brother-in-law that changed her relationship with fear as motivation

Coming home to Salt Lake City, and what it means to finally stop putting the rest of her life on hold

She finished a triathlon, shot a wedding that same evening, and once woke up in a Mexican ambulance at mile 111 with a broken collarbone, still convinced she could finish. Forty more miles into the dark and a breakdown at mile 60 of her first 100-miler: Amy Gawlik is not someone who does things halfway.

In this episode, Nathan and Matt sit down with Amy, triathlete, ultrarunner, wedding photographer, single mom, and Okape's own photographer and brand collaborator, to talk about what physical pursuit has actually cost her, what it has given her, and what she hopes it leaves behind.

Amy shares how a flyer in a bike shop led to her first sprint triathlon, how a six-year break from the sport ended with a return to Ironman racing, and how she went from her longest run ever being 38 miles to crossing the finish line of Rocky Raccoon 100 in Huntsville, Texas at the 25-hour mark. She talks about the specific moment at mile 60 when she told her mom she couldn't go on, what her mom said back, and why that exchange gave her everything she needed to finish.

The conversation goes deep on the relationship between physical discipline and entrepreneurship, how training for extreme endurance events shaped how Amy built and runs her photography business, and what it felt like to watch her daughter Ava complete her first triathlon while standing on the other side of the finish line.

This one hits different.

In this episode:

01:25 Introduction and Amy's background in triathlon 02:28 From swimming in high school to her first sprint triathlon in 2007 09:54 How a bike shop flyer changed everything 12:29 The Cozumel Ironman: mile 111, a crash, and waking up in an ambulance 21:49 The six-year break and what brought her back 23:31 What triathlon taught her about building a business 30:57 Mile 60 of Rocky Raccoon 100: the breakdown, and the moment that saved the race 37:47 Why she signed up for a hundred miles in the first place 42:57 Hallucinations, raccoons, and a man in black at mile 94 46:11 What physical pursuit has given her that nothing else could 48:42 Ava's first triathlon, and planting the seed for their first Ironman together 50:45 What remains

About Amy Gawlik

Amy Gawlik is a wedding and portrait photographer based in Austin, Texas, with 16 years in the industry. She is also a competitive triathlete and ultrarunner who has completed multiple full Ironman races, podiumed at Galveston and Cabo San Lucas, and finished her first 100-mile trail race at Rocky Raccoon in February 2025. She is Okápe's photographer and visual brand collaborator.

About Okape

Okape is an achievement-gated performance apparel brand built on the belief that physical pursuit creates the conditions for self-reckoning and personal becoming. You don't buy Okápe first. You earn it.

What Remains is hosted by Nathan Baumeister and Matt Carlson, co-founders of Okápe.

There's a version of you waiting on the other side of the hardest thing you've ever done. Most people never find out who that is. This episode is for the ones willing to try.

In the debut episode of What Remains, hosts Nathan Baumeister and Matt Carlson turn the mic on themselves, sharing the stories, setbacks, and personal reckonings that led them to build Okape. From elite youth soccer in Chicago and a volleyball club ranked 14th in the country, to competitive gymnastics, rock climbing, pole vaulting, and two decades in the startup trenches, this is a conversation about what physical pursuit teaches you about yourself, and how those lessons follow you into every hard thing that comes after.

They go deep on the fear that makes you quit something you love, the discipline of doing hard things in small areas so you can do hard things in the big ones, the difference between chasing a result and becoming someone, and why the finish line was never really the point.

This is the show's origin story. And it starts with two people asking the same question they'll ask every guest: after everything you've pushed past, what remains?

In this episode:

00:00 - Intro: The edge of what you thought you could do 01:42 - What this show is and why we built it 02:31 - Matt's story: from club soccer in Chicago to building one of the top volleyball clubs in the country 07:11 - What remains when the sport ends 09:29 - Nathan's story: gymnastics, fear, pole vaulting, and learning to climb 15:10 - How do you know it was fear? 18:16 - The genesis of Okape: building a business around transformation 23:44 - Coal shoveling and glimpses: the truth about chasing a big idea 35:00 - Doing hard things to prove something to yourself 48:17 - The man in the arena, and why the attempt is the point 52:14 - The question: after everything you've pushed past, what remains?

About the hosts:

Nathan Baumeister is an entrepreneur, avid athlete, and co-founder of Okape. Matt Carlson is a lifelong competitor, youth sports coach, and co-founder of Okape, whose programs have transformed the lives of more than 10,000 athletes. Together, they believe that physical pursuit is one of the most powerful tools for self-discovery there is.

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What Remains is a podcast by Okape, the achievement-gated performance apparel brand built for people who earn what they wear.