When it comes to the name of my company, folks have wondered if whether it is perhaps a nod to some sort of running event, such as the 5K or 3K. Actually, “3K” has a dual meaning to me. One is forward thinking/next millennium, and the other is mind, body, and soul, the three elements of which we are comprised.
I’m a big believer in positive energy and in showing kindness and openness toward others whenever possible. Part of this belief, no doubt, comes from growing up in the South, and from that Southern hospitality thing that runs in my blood. I’ve always enjoyed sharing that warmth with people, but they are sometimes taken aback by it, especially in the gym. When I became a trainer, I worked at a studio where I was eventually named to the management team. At first, the team members worked well together, with plenty of enthusiasm and good energy and support for each other. Everybody felt like they were pulling in the same positive direction. Then, an ownership change caused an extreme overhaul in the day-to-day operations of the studio, and not in a good way. The energy around the studio quickly became negative, from the top down. Mistrust, jealousy and bitterness among management team members became the norm, and suddenly I felt like I was alone. The positive relationships and teamwork that had been developed had vaporized and everyone was out for themselves. I felt out of sorts, not sure what to do or where to turn. So, I prayed. A lot. Then something happened that would change my life.
During a particularly busy day at the studio, I headed home for a few moments at lunchtime to catch my breath. Upon arriving at home, my phone rang. An attendant at the studio was calling to let me know that an unhappy customer was there with no trainer available to help him. I quickly headed back to the studio, looking to make things right with the customer and lead him through the workout session he desired. I didn’t know it then, but my decision to rush back to the studio to help a customer rather than relax for a moment at home would prove to be a defining moment for me. When I returned to the studio, I introduced myself to the customer; when I told him my first name, he appeared puzzled, with seemingly no comprehension of what he’d heard. That man was Joe Bitzer.
When I asked Joe about his fitness goals, he indicated he was largely there at the urging of his son, who believed Joe’s physical wellness was a crucial part of the continued success of the family company, not to mention Joe’s quality of life. As Joe and I spoke, I learned about his discipline in terms of his business regimen and about his military background, which I knew were strong positives for me to build upon in establishing a training program for him. We began by setting small, specific goals and continued to increase them. As Joe reached those goals and began to see physical improvement, he also felt better emotionally. He started to enjoy the workout process.
We began to get to know what made each other tick and talked about our backgrounds and experiences; it was the start of a very special relationship. Though the friendship Joe and I shared continued to strengthen as we trained together, the atmosphere at the studio was getting worse. The team unity that had once existed was nowhere to be found, and morale was low. There was constant grumbling from management and my fellow employees. When a trainer whom I respected decided to leave the studio and start her own business, I saw it as an awakening for me. I began to consider my own options. I had no desire to stay because I felt that there was a better way for me. I started to believe that perhaps I too could start a business.
Joe sensed my restlessness during our conversations and started to plant seeds of support for me. He told me his employees were seeking a trainer for the small fitness center at his company and suggested I might enjoy working with them. At first, I dismissed the idea, still somehow feeling loyal to my current employer and caught up in the emotions about how quickly things had gone downhill after the ownership change. I questioned whether the atmosphere at the studio might improve if I just hung in there a little longer, but as the days wore on, I could clearly see that wouldn’t happen. I decided I’d take a look at the fitness facility Joe had spoken of. During the tour, I met his employees and there was an air of strong positivity and enthusiasm among them, which was a welcome change from the turmoil of the studio. He showed me the fitness center space, and although it was small and sparse at the time, I envisioned what it could become with effort and additional equipment. There was also a baseball-batting cage on the property, which could be moved into the fitness center space, adding to my idea of what was possible at the facility.
When the studio managers informed our training staff that they were about to implement a policy to double the membership rates for our clients, including many with whom I had worked for a long time, it was the last straw for me. I voiced my concern about the rate increase to management, which only angered them and increased the divide between us. I cared deeply about our customers and the relationships and trust we had built with them over time; I believed it was unacceptable to suddenly spring a substantial rate increase on them.
I confided in my clients about the impending changes at the studio and my plan to open my own business in the center at Deerfield Construction. I showed my clients the spot at Deerfield and shared my vision with them of what was possible there. Some of them stuck with me; others thought it best to stay their course at the studio because it was already established, and I understood that. But all of them seemed to respect my vision for the new facility, and I appreciated that.
The more I shared my vision for the spot at Deerfield, the more my confidence grew. As my confidence grew, it was clear to me what I needed to do. I told Joe of my plan to open a training center at the facility and offered to train the company employees as part of the deal. At Joe’s request, I also shared my plan with his son, Steve. I didn’t know Steve well, and the idea of sharing my plan for the facility and seeking his approval caused me much anxiety. But when he came into the studio, I seized the moment and pulled him aside and got right to the matter. He was a bit surprised at my plan to leave the studio because he knew I had a strong roster of clients there, but he was open to the idea. When I told him I’d be happy to train Deerfield employees as part of the deal, he agreed. It’s strange how things work out when we commit to pursuing our destiny.
Though I had made the decision to start my own business and laid the groundwork for the deal with Joe and Steve, I had not yet told studio management of my planned exit. As it turned out, that day was right around the corner. After an employee meeting at the studio one morning, the studio owner and manager met with me privately, and the atmosphere in the room was heavy. They asked whether I had informed my clients of the membership rate increase. I confirmed that I had. Then they asked about the feedback from clients, and I couldn’t hold back. I told them the word from clients was not good, that they had expressed to me shock and frustration at what they saw as an arbitrary money grab. They felt disrespected and unimportant, which was the complete opposite of everything that was essential to building strong client relationships. I had always believed that integrity and trust were at the core of those relationships. The studio owner asked what I felt about the policy, and I said I agreed with the clients. I saw the new policy as unnecessary and toxic to the client relationships we’d worked so hard to establish.
The owner didn’t mince words. He told me that if I believed that, I was fired. Even with all of the bad energy that had permeated the studio since the ownership change, I was stunned. After all, I had been training clients at the studio since long before the ownership change and had generated more client revenue for the studio than any of my fellow trainers. The owner refused to hear any of it, refusing to see reason. He told me it didn’t matter and that as a trainer, I was easily replaceable. Then he told me to get the hell out of his office. I was crushed. I couldn’t comprehend how none of the pieces vital to doing business the right way, including understanding and honoring the value of employee and customer relationships, mattered to him.
I walked out of the studio, got into my car and started to cry. The emotion that had been brewing inside poured out as I digested what had just happened. The meeting was the ugly culmination of attitude and events at the studio that had been leading to a point of departure for me. I had wanted to leave the studio on my terms and on good terms with the ownership, but the owner had forced my hand in a hostile way and left me with no choice. While I didn’t know what the future held for me, I knew I was better off being freed from the studio’s dark and depressing workplace environment. I called Steve Bitzer and told him what had happened in the meeting and that I was ready for a new and exciting beginning with the training facility at Deerfield Construction.
Steve welcomed the news and gave me the green light to head for my new space at Deerfield. When I arrived at the facility, I nearly collapsed in my office from emotional exhaustion. The internal turmoil that had been building for so long from the friction at the studio and my anxiety about the future enveloped me. I was sad, relieved, anxious, excited: the gamut of emotions. The realization of this new beginning for me and where it might lead weighed heavily on my heart and mind. Then Joe Bitzer walked into my office.
He sensed my unease and didn’t hesitate to tell me that if I were feeling sorry for myself, it would be useless. It was classic, matter-of-fact Joe. As always, he spoke it like he saw it. His words shook me to instant reality and the emotional cobwebs cleared. His candor was exactly what I needed, and I was grateful for it. Given my respect for Joe and his sons and the integrity they exhibited at Deerfield, I was committed to following their lead in terms of doing business in the same strong fashion. Though their company and mine were in differing industries, the rock-solid foundation of sincerity, passion, and professionalism they had long displayed at Deerfield would also be at the core of Fitness3K. Starting a business is a tall task with numerous challenges, and no one does it purely on their own.
Fortunately, I was able to call upon the expertise of Pamela Ebel, whom I had gotten to know from the studio. Pamela produced videos for corporations and I’d appeared in some of her projects. She had a strong background in leadership training and business management and had worked with companies of all sizes, from Fortune 500 corporations to mom-and-pop operations. Pamela understood the importance of a well-structured organization and that ethics was essential to the long-term success of a company. Our skill sets complemented one another, and Pamela and I developed a strong business synergy. Right out of the gate, she worked to set up the structure of Fitness3K, we decided upon the Fitness3K logo and collaborated on the company mission statement:
Our mission is to help clients attain their fitness goals through knowledge, accountability, quality service, and making lifestyle changes.
The mission statement set the tone for what I wanted Fitness3K to represent then and still does now. My ultimate intention is to provide my clients with a strong sense of empowerment by delivering on the tenets of the mission statement. In considering the aesthetic, the “vibe” of the gym, it was important to me to provide an unmistakable feeling of motivation and positive energy for my clients while they trained. I decided to include an assortment of powerful inspirational quotes from champions of all genres, including sports and business titans, such as Muhammad Ali and Vince Lombardi. As I mentioned earlier, my dear friend and mentor, Fred Davis, who influenced my life in so many ways, hung those framed quotes on the walls of the gym for me. Fred, who struggled to pronounce my first name, always referred to me in comical fashion as simply “the picture guy.” Fred’s selflessness remains part of the fabric of each of those framed quotes and of the gym itself.
I scrolled through the personal client-training list I had built over the years and began calling those clients with whom I had worked the longest, including Mary Bishop. Mary became my first client at the studio a dozen years ago and is still with me. Mary had come to the studio seeking training help to minimize the effects of ailments, including arthritis, and we connected instantly when we met. Mary hoped to gain physical flexibility and additional range of motion so she could continue to play golf and tennis. When I called to share the news with her about my new facility, she didn’t hesitate and told me she was committed to continuing what we had started. Just as she had been my first client at the studio, Mary became the first to join me as a client at Fitness3K. Mary has shown tremendous training progress through the years, and though now in her seventies, her ironclad work ethic remains an inspiration to me. Her commitment during that phone call to continue our training relationship became a springboard for the phone calls that followed to the others on my client list.
When I opened Fitness3K for business, a core group of eight clients joined me. Soon, that number grew to more than a dozen, and within a year, I was working with more than fifty clients. I had plenty of work ahead of me, but I was on my way and filled with gratitude. I spent much of my time early in that first year of business designing a plan to schedule training classes and serve my clients in the most efficient way possible. At the studio, I had been the first trainer to introduce the idea of group classes at a time when they were not common. I believed in the valuable support system of group classes. The members could lean on each other for additional motivation, push each other to keep getting better, and hold each other accountable to allow the whole group to prosper, all at an affordable price point. I became the first trainer in the Cincinnati area to offer boxing classes, including a Saturday-morning cardio-boxing class open to all fitness levels. After the cardio-boxing class, I offered an “Abs and Glutes” group class. The response to these group classes was strong. It seemed I had hit on an area of need that many clients sought. The group training classes and personal training became a focus of Fitness3K marketing. As part of my agreement with Steve Bitzer to train Deerfield Construction employees, I established a group class for the employees. That led to many of the employees seeking to train with me individually. Fitness3K had come out of the starting gate and was quickly gaining momentum.
Deerfield Construction Company, Inc. Employees 2008
Then, I received a phone call from a fellow trainer from the studio. The trainer told me the working atmosphere at the studio had continued to go downhill after I left and she was unhappy and seeking another opportunity. I knew the pain and sadness she was feeling and I wanted to help. I offered her a job at Fitness3K and she became the first trainer to join forces with me. She was grateful for the opportunity and excited about what was possible. She also had established a strong client list at the studio, which provided additional value to Fitness3K. I was thankful for her belief and trust in me and felt blessed to be in a position to offer her a job. I was confident she’d connect in a strong way with the female employees at Deerfield Construction.
Her contribution to the cost of equipment for the gym was a great help to me. Though I was not yet in a financial position to choose all the equipment I desired, there were certain pieces that were necessary for the basic functionality of the gym. My fellow trainer and I decided that cardio equipment was first on the list. We purchased a new multipurpose, dual-cable machine for $8,000. While we considered the option of buying an older machine at a lesser cost, we knew that the endurance of the new machine would pay for itself and then some, especially where the satisfaction of our clients was concerned. We also purchased a handful of other machines, including treadmills and leg-muscle equipment. We had acquired the essential core pieces to serve our customers in the best way possible as a young company finding its operational footing.
While the addition of the equipment to the gym was vital, of course, the free space in the gym shrank when the equipment was installed. I studied the layout of the gym and the facility itself, including a wall on the backside of the facility where the batting cage was located. I wondered whether the cinder block wall might be removed, which would create a doorway connecting the main fitness center to that valuable additional space. I discussed the wall-removal idea with Steve and he was on board with it.
The floor in that space was concrete, which is not ideal for clients dealing with knee concerns, so it would need to be altered for comfort. We looked into the purchase of AstroTurf and were lucky to find some for sale that had been used at the RCA Dome, then home of the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts. As a big sports fan, I believed that having that turf as part of our gym was a blessing. One weekend morning, some of my clients were kind enough to join me in rolling out the turf, which, given its extreme weight, became quite a workout for us. The addition of the AstroTurf created a significant positive difference in the appearance of the gym. The turf just seemed to pull all the elements together in an inspirational way and provided a unique feel to the gym.
The trainer I had hired was settling into her job nicely and approached me about the possibility of hiring an additional trainer from the previous studio. Word of our new gym had apparently traveled quickly among those we knew in the industry, friends and competitors alike. I knew the trainer about whom she was speaking; in fact, I had been involved in hiring him at the studio. While we had just gotten the Fitness3K gym off the proverbial ground and the budget was extremely tight, I felt compelled to help as I had done in hiring her; it was part of my nature. I hired the additional trainer, but it was a move I would soon regret.
3K Movement Action Item 
When people start a business, it’s easy to get focused on the business name, taglines, titles, logos, artwork, and other such things. While those things are uber-cool to plan and lay out, what’s more important is the quality of service you guarantee to provide, and that includes surrounding yourself with the right people. The people you work with can make or break the positive energy you want running through your place. What guidelines do you have in place to ensure your company’s team is aligned with your vision? Have you ever taken a risk in your career or would you take a risk if the chances of a positive outcome were good?
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