Because I’ve Lived The Opposite.
Sixteen years ago, my life looked nothing like it does today. I was homeless. I was struggling with drug addiction. And people I had grown up with were dying. Eventually, I reached the point where something had to change. I entered rehab and took the program seriously. About four months later, I was allowed to get a job. I walked into the busiest gym I could find planning to apply for the front desk. Instead, I met a man named Dominick who ran the personal-training company operating inside the gym. I wasn’t certified. I was still living in rehab. And he hired me anyway. Someone took a chance on me at a point in my life when I desperately needed one. I knew I couldn’t let him down. That decision changed the trajectory of my life.
Fitness Gave Me A Way Forward.
I became obsessed. Training. Nutrition. Coaching. Human performance. I studied more than I ever had in my life because, for the first time, I felt like I had found the industry where I belonged. Eventually I completed rehab and moved to Tampa to continue working with Custom Built Personal Training. My career began accelerating. At a new location outside Tampa, my mentor Rob and I built the training operation while I personally sold more than $500,000 in one-on-one personal training. But my career was only beginning.
From Trainer To Leader.
When the training company I worked for was eventually being replaced, I had another decision to make. So I adapted. I started building an online personal-training business through Instagram. Then, shortly before our existing operation ended, I walked into a new gym coming to town. It was called Crunch. After a conversation with one of the owners, I was offered a job. I continued coaching online and in person before eventually being asked to move into management. That decision exposed me to an entirely different side of the industry. Marketing. Presales. Operations. Leadership. Sales. Building teams. I helped lead a major club presale before becoming a General Manager and operating one of the company’s highest-producing locations. From the outside, things were going incredibly well.
Success Can Still Cost Too Much.
I was stressed constantly. I was in the worst shape of my life. I had a newborn at home. And I realized something I’ve never forgotten: Success in one area of your life doesn’t compensate for failure everywhere else. Making more money doesn’t automatically make you healthier. A better title doesn’t give you more energy. Professional success doesn’t guarantee a great marriage, meaningful relationships or control over your life. And having an impressive career means very little if you’re miserable living it. So I changed direction again. I left and started consulting for gym owners. And that decision eventually led to the biggest chapter of my business career.
From Consultant To Owner.
After helping gym owners improve their personal-training operations, I was eventually given the opportunity I’d wanted for years: Ownership. In 2019, I left a comfortable corporate position to become a partner in an Anytime Fitness operation and begin acquiring and developing clubs. We opened a brand-new location in Brevard County in early 2020. Our break-even target was approximately 350 members. We opened with approximately 600. The training department immediately became an exceptional performer. And then March 2020 happened. COVID shut down gyms throughout Florida. We had two choices: Retreat and hope everything worked out. Or continue building. We kept building.
Five Gyms. One Very Unusual Chapter.
By the end of 2020, our operation had grown to five Anytime Fitness locations. Over the following years, we began strategically selling clubs and concentrating our attention on the strongest opportunities. Eventually, our Sebastian location became the centerpiece. By August 2025, internal Anytime Fitness reporting ranked Sebastian #6 on its Top 100 Base Member Plus report. But that ranking wasn’t simply the result of a system. It reinforced another lesson I’ve carried into my coaching: People matter more than systems. But when great people execute good systems consistently, they’re extremely difficult to beat. In December 2025, we sold our final location. One chapter of my life was finished. And another became obvious.
