Our philosophy from the outset was to build something that could deliver unbelievable results to all kinds of people, while also promoting a fun and healthy lifestyle.
Affiliate Name: CrossFit Memorial Hill
Affiliate Owner: CrossFit Midwest, LLC
Affiliate Since: August 2012
Location: Kansas City, Mo.
Square Footage: 12,146
Number of Members: Opened with 50.
Describe your affiliate in six or fewer words:
Community. Commitment. Results
How did you get your box started?
Having all met via CrossFit, we began as a group of friends committed to the sport and to each other. Our philosophy from the outset was to build something that could deliver unbelievable results to all kinds of people, while also promoting a fun and healthy lifestyle.
Tell us who you were/what you did before you owned a CrossFit affiliate.
Each of our owners has a different back story. We range from working for fortune 250 white collar companies to Internet consulting and retail. Our common link was and still is CrossFit. Simply stated, it has changed each of our lives for the better, and our goal is to do the same with and for others.
Do your members compete in the CrossFit Open/Games or in local competitions?
Yes, we complete locally in all sorts of events. As a new box, and with a little bit of luck and some really hard work, we would love to reach the point in which we are home to elite, Games-level athletes.
What do you and your members do together besides train?
Eat, cook, enjoy each other and our community. Our members have all kinds of interests and talents.
Best lesson you’ve learned so far:
The CrossFit community is so unbelievably supportive. Our friends, member and even some of our peers have been instrumental in everything that we have done. Without asking once, we have had help with everything from raising the wall-mounted rigs to dragging mats and sweeping the floor. Our box and 100 percent of its success can be directly attributed to those people who have been so generous to us. As owners, we always knew the community was behind us, but we have been blown away by the each and every one of these people.
Advice you wish you had been given:
Take your ideal timeline, and double it … It turns out that most people don't work "for time," like CrossFitters.
What question you would love to ask other affiliate owners?
What are your keys to on-ramp success? This is arguably the most important aspect of coaching.
What do you do in your community to promote CrossFit?
What motivates your athletes to move from very high-level to "elite"?
Why do you do this?
We do this for our members, for our community and because we love it. People routinely joke about "drinking the CrossFit Kool-Aid," and each of us drank it a long time ago. We love what we are doing and it has been worth every bit of work we have put in to open the doors!
Tell us something cool, unusual, or just slightly different about your affiliate.
We are located about 500 meters from the Liberty Memorial, the world's only World War I Memorial and museum. We have had the distinct pleasure of hosting daily WODs at the park located directly at the base of the monument for the duration of the time that our space was being converted from a garage/warehouse to a usable and functional CrossFit facility. Working out at the park was not only fun and scenic, it was also inspirational and, we thought, very fitting.
Is there a story in your affiliate that needs to be told?
Like every box, we have a number of awesome stories that should all be shared. Most recently, one of our members astonished and inspired everyone as she committed to working out throughout her pregnancy. She was among the fittest athletes in the gym to begin with, so this was no surprise to anyone, but as she progressed with her son-to-be, she was there, working out almost every day. As the the big date came closer, she was not shy to scale as needed, but again, there she was working out alongside the rest of the group. Finally, merely hours after a fun Saturday morning workout, it was time. She and her husband headed to the hospital to welcome Ryder, the world's newest CrossFit baby, into the world. We love this story as it really illustrates how much being fit and the people with whom we choose to train with mean to CrossFitters.
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