My journey to gym ownership started in 2017. Truthfully I was lost in life, I had no idea what I wanted to do. By the time I even had an inkling of doing something in the sports, health, or the fitness industry, I had spent the last 4 years of college studying the “wrong” things. I certainly wasn’t going to restart and do another 2-4 years of school. Simultaneously, one of my best friends, Andrew (you might recognize the name!), was studying kinesiology and my other best friend, Casey, was pushing me to get back into fitness. Throughout college, especially the earlier years, I stopped playing sports, stopped working out, and started eating/drinking alcohol a lot more. This led to me gaining about 90lbs in my first year and a half of college. Before college, sports was one of my main identities. I thought that I would surely be playing soccer in college, but too many concussions throughout my high school career ended that dream.

Back to my 2 best friends, Andrew and Casey. I lived with Casey at this time. He could tell that I was becoming unhealthy, depressed, and not myself. He constantly nudged me to start working out again. I resisted for a while, but eventually I caved and started going to the gym. It didn’t take long for me to become addicted and I started going to the gym daily. I saw some great results early on, and that led me to cut back on drinking and start making better choices with my diet. But as every new gym goer eventually finds out, the newbie gains start to slow and the realization that you need some expert guidance starts to set in. Every time I went to the gym, I did the same 4 or 5 exercises and finished with some running or sprinting. I had no idea how to build a proper program. This is where Andrew comes into the story to play a pivotal role. Like many kids in college, we would go back home for the summer. It was at this time that we started working out everyday after work together. He started showing me the ropes of different programming splits, new exercises or techniques, and what it is like to truly push myself in the gym. If I wasn’t addicted before, I certainly became addicted then. I went from about 293lbs and 30%+ bodyfat to 220lbs and 10% bodyfat. Fast forward to fall of 2017, when I started to envision doing something in the health and fitness industry. So, I decided to get certified as a personal trainer. This is when I decided there were 2 paths for me to go down. I either wanted to train athletes at the high school or college level, or I wanted to have my own gym one day.

The beginning of my personal training career was eye-opening. This wasn’t just some job where I get to be in the gym all day and workout. If you truly want to make it in this industry, you have to grind. After working at Anytime Fitness for a couple of months, I got the opportunity that would change my career and life forever. I was hired at Body by Design. This is when a lot of you reading this first met me. And it was when I started working alongside Andrew. I knew right away that this gym was different and that I was truly going to have to work my ass off to have a successful career. I had a slow start. I was so nervous to lead my first bootcamp class that I kept delaying my shadowing period so I wouldn’t have to teach alone. The imposter syndrome set in hard and I felt like I didn’t belong.

Thankfully I was surrounded by amazing trainers, who have been in the industry for years. I was constantly watching them to see how they trained and interacted with members. I knew I had to dive in if I was going to make it so I started saying yes to everything early on and became a sponge for any knowledge someone was willing to share. That mindset led me to teaching 25 classes per week. It was there that I really found my creative side and I let it run wild. I would spend hours each day thinking of new ways to do things. I would find different ways to jerryrig equipment together in order to explore new movements and patterns. My clients would often call them my torture devices. This sparked my curiosity and passion. I started to do 1 on 1 sessions with other trainers to better understand their style/philosophy and learn new things. I was only 24 at the time, so I had a lot to learn and improve on. This led me to training for the American Ninja Warrior competition with Justin and Kat. This was one of the other big career altering moments. It was then that I realized I could put together a good workout class or session, but I lacked the knowledge of proper body mechanics and movement. That caused me to tear my shoulder labrum and bicep tendon. After I recovered from surgery, I decided to go down the rabbit hole of learning how to properly move and control my body (a never ending journey).

One day, shortly after my shoulder recovery, I was scrolling through instagram and came across Dr. John Rusin and his company PPSC (Pain-Free Performance Specialist Certification). I realized that he was from Madison, WI and I knew that I had to take that certification. A couple of months later and there I was sitting in front of him at Madtown West gym. I completed the 2 day course and felt inspired. At the time I didn’t realize how much of an impact it would have on my life and my career. I started exploring the principles of everything I learned and applying them to myself and my clients. This is when the results truly started happening and my confidence in my training ability skyrocketed. It took my curiosity flame and threw gas on it. I was addicted to learning. Those are 5 words I thought would never come out of my mouth. It was at that moment I realized I had found my passion. I am going to make this a career. After that I took the PPSC level 1 and 2 courses, their kettlebell certification, programming course, and business class. I also got my nutrition coach certification, golf strength/mobility certification, and did small group business mentoring. I started reading books on fitness, nutrition, and business. Before sessions, in between sessions, and any free time throughout the day I was  reading or listening to audiobooks/podcasts. Also something I never thought I would do.

Most of that took place from Spring of 2018 to Fall of 2022. That is when I really started to have the itch to own my own gym. I was still learning as much as I could, and it was starting to pay off more than just helping my clients. I was promoted to head trainer and started to get the taste of what running a gym looked like. I  sat in on meetings discussing the business and operation side of things. I absorbed as much as I could but there was a lot to learn. By Spring of 2023 I started making a rough draft of a business plan. By the end of 2023, I was extremely close to making the leap and starting my own gym. Then I got the surprise of a lifetime. The owners of Body by Design were looking to sell and wanted to know if I was interested. I was not expecting that at all. It took me some time to wrap my head around it, and many long emotional conversations with Katelynn. I was prepared to have my own 1,500-3,000 square foot space, just my clients and I, and no employees. Then I was offered a gym that is almost 16,000 square feet, has 10 trainers, and a couple hundred members. It was a lot to take in and I told them I needed some time to think. Again, after some long hard conversations with Katelynn, it became a clear that I should buy the gym. This was a gym that has been in business for over a decade and it helped me jump start my career. I felt a connection and passion for this space, the trainers and the clients. After all, this is where it all started for me.

Overwhelming is an understatement. April 29th, 2024 will be a day I remember forever. I turned 29 just a month before, and then I owned my own gym. Just like that. Six years of passion, learning, adapting, pivoting and hard work, all wrapped up into one place that I get to call my own.To this day, almost 2 ½ years later, it still hasn’t fully hit me. I will be taking a walk outside or driving to work and I will see Ryzing Fitness and think to myself “wow, it’s really mine. I did it”. I feel so stupidly lucky to be able to call Ryzing Fitness mine. Thank you to all of our trainers, members, friends and family who have supported and believed in me.This is just the start to Ryzing Fitness and I cannot wait to share all the exciting things we will achieve together!