"The majority of our time spent outside of the gym involves beer and lots of laughs!"
Affiliate Name: CrossFit Whitby
Affiliate Owner: Kevin Smith, Leslie Smith, Kyle Smith, Tara Powell, John Powell
Affiliate Since: 2009
Location: Whitby, Ontario, Canada
Square Feet: 2,400
Number of Members: Approx. 85
Describe your affiliate in six or fewer words:
Hot in summer, cold in winter!
How did you get your box started?
An elderly woman approached Kyle and Kevin in the basement of a globo gym after a battle with Fight Gone Bad and asked if they were alright. The move was made to our first unit for eight months, until we were politely asked to leave. We've been at our current spot for just over two years now.
Tell us who you were/what you did before you owned a CrossFit affiliate.
Everyone did or does something different! From policing to social work, from law offices to marketing firms, we all have very unique roots. Leslie spends her time now running the show and coaching the morning and noon classes, while the rest of us take care of the evenings.
Do your members compete in the CrossFit Open/Games or in local competitions?
Yes and yes! Last year we had a great turn out for the CrossFit Games Open. We spent our Saturdays together taking on burpees, snatches, and box jumps. During the last year, we've also had great success at local competitions all over the Greater Toronto Area and Ontario!
What do you and your members do together besides train?
Birthday parties, Christmas parties, dashes, and Tough Mudders. The majority of our time spent outside of the gym involves beer and lots of laughs!
Best lesson you’ve learned so far:
Patience! Not everything happens over night and most things take time to grow.
Advice you wish you had been given:
Don't listen to how successful and “quickly” other affiliates have grown. Everything will grow at its own pace.
What question would you love to ask other affiliate owners?
Can I use your stuff?
Why do you do this?
Watching people succeed is the best feeling anyone could ask for!
Tell us something cool, unusual, or just slightly different about your affiliate.
We aren't scared to yell at our members and spend way too much time working on nicknames. Most of our members also have a "gym entrance" where we will all cheer when they walk in the back door!
Want your box to be featured on "Meet the Affiliate"? Send an e-mail with the subject line "Meet the Affiliate" to content@crossfit.com.
