Well I can't believe that Starke has been open for three years now and was in the works for almost a year before we even opened our doors. Building a business plan, finding a building, securing a lease, sourcing equipment, and putting it all together took a lot of time and effort not to mention all the renos. to the building that we took on.
When we started out we weren't a CrossFit affiliate. We were CF-L1 instructors and the type of training I did was always "functional" for 10 years before opening my own place. I didn't want to open a CrossFit affiliate until I had some experience running my own place and building a platform that worked well. I didn't want to open up a box and not be confident in what I was doing. I had a great training background with all ages, shapes, sizes, and abilities but that wasn't enough. We spent a year as Creative Conditioning and as I learned more and did more courses from a variety of trainers, coaches, and governing bodies. I knew that CrossFit was what I wanted to be doing.
I love the fact that no matter what you do in CrossFit and no matter how good you get at something, you can always do better, become more efficient, and get stronger. There are so many aspects that will challenge you and help you to realize that you are always capable of more than you think. It's a challenge working with all different levels and challenging them with the appropriate progressions no matter where they are.
After three years of training more specifically in CrossFit I have never been stronger, fitter, and more well rounded. I can go back to any competitive sport that I participated in and hold my own with limited training in those specific sports. It's an amazing thing to be ready for any task or challenge at any time and I love it.
Back to the three year anniversary. It's been a wild ride. Its been a hell of a lot of hours of work, Thousands of e mails, texts, hours programming, classes taught (last I checked I was around 30,000 hrs of group classes, personal training, and team training in the past 15 years which is pretty awesome). I am learning more now than ever and love that no matter how much I learn there is always more I'm taking in and applying to training.
I was nervous when I hired my first employee. Until then I was teaching all the classes for the first year of being open at the gym and it was insane. My "Shit just got real" moment was when I hired Cat my first full time employee which was more recently. I guess I thought of it differently when coaches have full time jobs and were working part time. Now we have nine coaches, a full time business manager, an office manager, a full time Physiotherapist, a part time Massage Therapist and our membership keeps growing. Sometimes I stop and think how I need to be successful because I have so many people relying on me for income and that doesn't even take into account our members. It's funny because I still don't consider myself a boss and when a coach (usually Kraus) calls me that I still don't consider myself one.
I honestly believe we have the most amazing members and community out of any gym in the city and if it wasn't for all of you I don't think Starke would be what it is and what it means to me. There are some days things can get overwhelming and I wonder if I made the right choice pursuing a dream then I get an amazing e mail, text, or talk with one of you or your family members and you share something amazing about Starke that affected your life in such a great way that it couldn't have come from anywhere else and for that I thank you.
I look forward to seeing what the future holds for Starke. Things have only been getting better. Our bodies and our community are only getting stronger, and our coaches are getting better and learning more all the time.
Thanks to everyone who came to Saturday's anniversary workout and to all of you who have chosen us to train with us whether it's a couple times a week or every day of the week.
I have spent my Saturday afternoon and evening responding to texts, e mails, and FB messages from current members and members who have moved away who have all become good friends. I can't tell you how amazed I am hearing the things you are sending me and all I can say is thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Thank you everyone.
Paul
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