Getting Into the ErgZone with Thais Camilo
Like millions of CrossFit athletes, Thais Camilo thought of the indoor rower as just one stop in a workout: hammer through a fast 500 meters, then move on to the next movement.
Everything changed when her husband, Gabriel, became interested in structured indoor rowing training. Together, the two software engineers built what would become ErgZone – a feature-rich app that replaces tedious monitor programming with Bluetooth syncing, delivers real-time performance data, automatically verifies Concept2 Logbook workouts, and connects athletes through a thriving online community.
On this episode, Thais shares the organic growth story behind ErgZone, reflects on the challenges and opportunities of being a female entrepreneur at the intersection of sport and technology, and explains why she's taking a thoughtful, cautious approach to AI as the next generation of fitness tools takes shape.
GUEST:
Thais Camilo | CEO & Co-Founder, ErgZone
IG: @ergzone
This episode was made possible in part by RowSource and our Supporters.
QUICK LOOK
00:00 - Introduction
01:06 - Welcome
01:55 - The Huddle
04:15 - Hot Seat Q&A
11:50- Thais's introduction to indoor rowing in the mid-00s and how coming to understand the data on the monitor gave her a purpose
13:39 - The organic development and growth of the ErgZone app
22:39 - Thoughts on the growth of indoor rowing since 2020
25:28 - Inclusion, accessibility
29:59 - Partnerships, being a woman in the tech space, and being female entrepreneurs
35:53 - Taking a cautious approach to AI
39:50 - Steady State Network news and notes
Episode Mentions
🎧 = Listen to a Steady State Podcast episode
ORGANIZATIONS
Para Rowing Foundation
Rowing Industry Trade Association 🎧
RACES & REGATTAS
Race Around the Rock 🎧
Vasaloppet
World Rowing Indoor Championship
World Rowing Virtual Series
TRAINING & TRAINING PLANS
CrossFit
Garage Athlete
Live2Row Studios 🎧
Steady State Podcast is hosted and edited by Rachel Freedman and Tara Morgan. Tara provides additional audio engineering, books show guests, and is our sponsor and donor coordinator. Rachel writes our scripts and e-newsletter, and manages the website and social media. Our theme music is Open Mind by Soundroll.
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