Meet Our Intern, Wilson Tenney

We had a ton of fun this summer with our intern, Wilson Tenney. He has the coolest story of how he got his start with AFE! For part of his internship, we had him take an XPO Trainer to different CrossFit gyms around the Dallas area and let them try it out for the day. We called it "Where's Wilson?" and we hope you followed us on Instagram to see Wilson travel around the Metroplex. We loved hearing what CrossFit athletes and box owners had to say about our sled. We sat down with Wilson so he could share a little about his internship with you!

The way I got involved with AFE was just before the summer, I was on YouTube and stumbled upon a video by Matthew Vincent. I was on my own weight loss journey and used different channels on YouTube to get ideas about workouts and diets. The particular video I watched featured the XPO and I thought it was a great idea because I have pushed the conventional sleds and knew of all of their flaws. I did a little digging, found out AFE was based in Richardson, Texas, where I am currently a student at the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD). I sent an email talking about how I thought the product was an awesome idea and attached a resume. I got an email back, asking to meet and that’s where my time started with AFE!

I am studying mechanical engineering at UTD and plan to graduate May 2018. I have always been fascinated by machines and was one of those kids that always took stuff apart to figure out how it worked. Unfortunately, I wasn’t always able to put it back together! I am currently in the middle of my senior design project and hope to make a career out of design and manufacturing when I finish my degree.

My internship at AFE helped me see all of the steps to take when bringing a new product to market. There are lots of things you don’t think about that can happen in the supply chain between an idea and a product that a customer can actually put their hands on and buy.  Another huge thing I learned was just how much social media is used for marketing.

I’m not sure exactly how many gyms I visited, but it was at least 50 (I think every CrossFit gym in the immediate area). I think my favorite gym I visited was CrossFit White Rock. CrossFit White Rock is an awesome gym with friendly coaches and an awesome vibe. I met one of the coaches, Jesse Haines, and he really loved the XPO Trainer and immediately threw it into the afternoon WODs. The best visits were always the ones where I was able to bring a couple of XPOs to an afternoon WOD, have a coach try it out, and immediately use it in their workout class. This happened a few times, but it always came down to good timing. 

My favorite “Where’s Wilson?” moment was probably the first time somebody said “so what makes this better than a sled?” and I just had them push it.  The look on their face was priceless. 

Push the XPO ~50 yards, turn around and sprint back as fast as I can back to the starting line. I wear a heart rate monitor during this and wait for my pulse to drop below 130 as I walk back to the XPO and get ready to go in the opposite direction.  I will usually cap the time around 30 minutes, or until I throw up, whichever happens first! 

Wilson- we're so glad you stumbled upon Matt's review of the XPO Trainer and that you sent us that email. We can't wait to watch you succeed as an engineer after your UTD graduation!