"We have no savings left, our unemployment (ran) out at the end of December, and my husband and I are both working two part-time jobs to support our family. I feel deep in my heart, though, that this is the path we are supposed to take."
CrossFit has changed our lives, and the lives of many around us. We are forever grateful to Coach Glassman for his creation, and we strive to carry out his vision, and our own, to the very best of our abilities every time we entire the box or work with our clients.
Rob Davis’ story hit home for us in so many ways, as our situation is so similar.
My husband, Jim, and I ran a local Fitness 19 for over five years. We were the club operator and club coordinator for our location. It allowed us a lifestyle and financial freedom we had never experienced before. We were able to purchase our first home, bought a new vehicle and were even able to take our kids to Disneyland for vacation. We weren’t rich by any means, but we were in an industry we loved.
We had so much to learn about health and fitness, but we were trying to make a difference. We worked hard and took pride in the success of our club. We prided ourselves in putting our members and employees first, but still set many records for sales during our time with the company.
At the end of 2010, one of the company’s senior partners felt we spoiled our employees and asked us to make changes. Even though the club was profitable and he continued to receive a hefty lump sum of money each month from us, he asked us to change pay structures — not in the employees’ favor — three times between 2010 and 2012, each change hurting them more. He cut hours, took away commissions, changed positions so he could pay less, but asked for more work in return, etc. We fought to keep the employees happy despite the changes. We were written up in December 2011 for caring “too much about people, to a fault.”
We discovered CrossFit in June 2011 through one of our personal trainers, who is now a business partner, Eric Allen. He was a Level 1 trainer, and wanted to share his knowledge with more people. I started working out with him and another employee, Marilee Lake, who is now a partner, as well.
I fell in love (with CrossFit) instantly. I had tried a couple of main site workouts a year or two back, but didn’t understand the format or intensity at the time. Working with Eric brought to light the way CrossFit was intended. There was something about the WODs and the way they always kicked my ass that left me wanting more.
I came home every night and waited for the WOD to be posted. I would dig into the main site and the Journal to learn everything I could about CrossFit. I started reading the Training Guide. My husband and I purchased a small equipment package for our garage as an early Christmas gift, and we started doing WODs at home. We started convincing our friends and family to join us and soon they were hooked, too. They kept encouraging us to leave the gym and open our own box. We weren’t quite ready for that kind of transition because we were living a comfortable life, but we definitely dreamed of pursuing that opportunity.
I decided to take a leap of faith in November and went to a Level 1 Seminar, even though it had been a few years since I had personally trained clients. I was inspired and in awe of the trainers at the Level 1 Seminar. The passion I witnessed from coaches like Matt and Cherie Chan, Kelly Jo Smith and Eric O’Connor was unbelievable.
I had a new goal. I came home that evening and told my husband I wanted to open our own CrossFit box and I wanted to, ultimately, become a Level 1 trainer. I knew my responsibility was to share this piece of knowledge with anyone and everyone who would listen, and to live the CrossFit lifestyle.
We partnered with Marilee Lake and Eric Allen, and affiliated in January 2012. CrossFit Continuum was born, but we were still not sure where this road was taking us. We continued to WOD in our garage, as we were not quite ready to take a big jump.
As the next couple of months passed, things got progressively worse at Fitness 19. I think our new knowledge drastically changed who we were and how we viewed the fitness industry and life. We fought even harder to make a difference in the lives of our employees and members. We knew we had more to offer them, but the company’s priority was more members, more money. They didn’t care about the reasons people joined the gym or if they were getting the help they needed. They only cared about how much money each person would bring in.
On March 31, 2012, my husband and I were both terminated from our positions at the gym. We walked out of the doors feeling very heavy from the financial burden we knew we were about to face, but somehow free and uplifted at the same time. We had been given the freedom to pursue our dream. We were free to help people in the way we originally intended to when we entered the fitness industry five years earlier. We jumped in full force to begin building our business.
By this time, my husband and Marilee had both received their Level 1 certificates, and we were ready to hit the ground running. We received unemployment because of the way the termination and events leading up to it were handled, but it did not cover all of our expenses. We are living off the little remaining in savings, and continue to pray we are making the right decision.
There are moments when you look into the eyes of your 7- and 9-year-old boys and you feel so irresponsible for pursuing your dream — especially when money is tight and they don’t quite understand why they can’t do the things we used to. But, when I look into the eyes of our members and see their new inner strength and confidence, when I see them add 30 years to their life, when I see them happy with their life again, I know we are doing what was intended for us.
I know we are teaching our boys there is more to life than money, and that people are valuable and need to be treated that way. We have no savings left, our unemployment (ran) out at the end of December, and my husband and I are both working two part-time jobs to support our family. I feel deep in my heart, though, that this is the path we are supposed to take. This is where we need to be. Lives are being changed everyday for the better. We are helping to make people better. I always think about Coach’s philosophy about the business model. If you really care about your people, and you bring them quality coaching and change their lives, everything else will fall into place.
We strive to live by that idea every day. My husband and I are fighters, as are Eric and Marilee, and will continue to build our community one member at a time because they need us to. We love what we do, and while the road may become bumpy at times, stories like Rob Davis’ keep us inspired to continue to push forward. We feel like we are here for the right reasons, and today we can look in the mirror and know we are living a life of integrity.
