In the four years I’ve written blogs for Gym Insight, I’ve spoken with dozens of gym owners. So, when asked to produce a story on staying focused, I naturally thought of these amazing people. Here’s what I’ve learned.
1. Highly focused gym owners stay busy. Very busy.
Michelle Hastings, one of four owners of The Club Total Balance Fitness in Newport, Wash., is a full-time teacher. Her co-owners also keep full-time jobs. In Hasting’s case, they “worked really, really hard,” for the first few years. As a team they painted The Club, installed new flooring and cardio equipment as well as renovated the locker rooms and common areas. Now they are mapping new plans for their small-town, 1,400-member gym.
Other owners pursue intense hobbies as well as run busy gyms. Donnie Whetstone, owner of Whetstone Fitness in Olympia, Wash., trains as many as 100 clients weekly. While, at the same time, continuing to compete as an IFBB Pro Master’s bodybuilding champion.
Our gym owners are always on the move, extra pursuits include:
- Holding down full time jobs
- Teaching classes and hosting international fitness events
- Training for fitness and body building competitions
- Running and owning other businesses outside of fitness.
2. Focused gym owners reinvest into their business.
In our blog, “Inflation Proof Your Gym Today!” Mike Tyree, owner of Scotts Valley Gym in Scotts Valley Calf., describes the many, and sometimes drastic, measures he took to save a hemorrhaging gym. From cutting staff to installing 16 cameras, he is constantly “evolving and changing,” while reinvesting in the gym.
The Club Total Balance Fitness member
3. They focus on the big picture.
Owning a gym is not the end game for most of our gym owners. Instead, they harbor dreams of transformation — for themselves and their communities.
Kelly Morgan started Morgainz Fitness in Richland, Penn., as a retirement portfolio – eventually buying three of her four gym properties outright. However now she’s transitioned into a mentor, an investor in the next generation of business owners. As she explores licensing her company name and subleasing space to complimentary businesses, she looks to give the next guy a hand up. A chance for that person to become an entrepreneur, like herself.
Abbe Hockaday, owner of Abb’s Muscle & Fitness Gym and personal trainer, is a compassionate and value-driven decision maker. In her gyms’, she has incorporated one-on-one “coffee office” spaces where life coaches discuss the non-physical obstacles to fitness with new members. Within her community, she’s established a foundation to help those with special needs live and work independently; aided individuals with previous incarcerations; and participates in prayer communities.
Other gym owners simply desire more time with family. The owner of 24/7 Fitness in Coolidge, Arizona started his own shop for the freedom of self-employment. Gage Bowra is a single dad and a skilled craftsman — owning a gym flexes his talents while allowing him to pick up his daughter from school.
In many, many cases, our gym owners care deeply about their larger community. Whether that reveals itself through sponsoring a small-town parade or by reopening a beloved closed YMCA, their selflessness is reflected in many acts of everyday kindness that impact the lives of strangers and friends alike.
4. They love the fitness industry.
Powered to improve their lives and those of their members, our very focused gym owners adore the industry. Many herald from a fitness background. They were college athletes, personal trainers, or dancers who muscled their way into gym ownership. Truthfully though, many others are on their second career — living the dream of opening their own gym after a lifetime of fitness on the sidelines.
People such as Claude Mumpower III with Iron Mayhem, a retired police officer. Or Hockaday who retired from a C-Suite human resources’ career.
Even individuals such as Tera Havard, owner of DeWitt Wellness Center, in DeWitt Michigan, is a fitness convert. She had never lifted weights before buying a former YMCA location. Now, she’s taking classes with members and listening to their stories of increased flexibility and stability. “I do feel better, and it’s made a difference in my life,” she explains.
“Do what you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life,” is an adage chased by our most passionate gym owners. They don’t claim running a gym is easy, or risk free. But they know the payoff is one they are willing to fight for and claim as their own. For these gym owners, the focus is found in the process, in the grind, in the love for fitness.
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