drumming chops. He decided that he needed to drum more, so he just started practicing a lot, even though he didn’t have any great prospects at the time. He had this Field of Dreams mentality in which he decided that ‘if you drum it, they will come.’ Of course, Max Weinberg is now more successful than ever, and that leap of faith that he took is a source of cautious inspiration for me.”

Drew discovered that the steps to change would not happen overnight, but rather were a “gradual process,” one that took place over the course of ten years.

The Liftoff

At the time, he and his wife, Anne, had just moved to Boulder, Colorado. He seized the opportunity to practice law only part-time as a researcher and started his own business, opening a flotation tank center, working several jobs at local pools, including a hospital therapy pool.

“Our four years out there gave me time to decompress as well as to see that there are ‘adult’ careers in fitness and wellness,” recalls Drew.

When the couple returned to the Chicago area, Drew was planning on becoming a physical therapist. He says, “I ended up becoming an exercise physiologist and coach, but more important is by the time we were back in Chicago, I was convinced that there were livings to be made in a field I didn’t hate.”

Drew went back to school, earning a Master of Science degree in exercise science and certifications as a coach and personal trainer.