May 30, 2025 • 24 mins
Greg McCoy shares his inspiring journey building Hidden Gym into a training sanctuary focused on elite coaching, community, and holistic fitness.
🌟 Perfect For:
- Fitness entrepreneurs and gym owners
- Aspiring personal trainers and coaches
- Health and wellness enthusiasts
- Anyone seeking a results-driven fitness community
🎟 What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
- How Greg created a gym culture centered on energy, aesthetics, and top-tier coaching
- Why Hidden Gym is more than a place to work out—it's a movement
- The importance of programming, environment, and mindset in fitness
- Insights on running a successful business that scales and serves people
- How to stay motivated and evolve with your clients' goals
💬 Memorable Quotes:
"We’re not just a gym—we’re a destination for personal transformation."
"Our vibe attracts a tribe of motivated people looking for real results."
"Every detail, from lighting to layout, is designed to make you feel empowered."
"You can train anywhere—but you grow here."
đź“Ť About Hidden Gym:
High-performance fitness facility delivering expert coaching, cutting-edge training, and an energizing community vibe.
Website: hiddengym.net
Instagram: @hidden_gym
Facebook: @hiddengymtx
Yelp: yelp.com/biz/hidden-gym-allen
Phone: (469) 854-6414
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
(Upbeat Music)
(00:03):
Hello, this is Angie Burns, the owner and
publisher of Allen City Lifestyle, and
welcome to the Allen City Lifestyle
Podcast. On our podcast, we celebrate the
positive, supportive, and inclusive
contributions of local businesses,
organizations, and individuals making an
impact on our community. We like to
celebrate all of the amazing things that
are going on in Allen, Fairview, Lucas,
(00:25):
and Parker, and share them with our
listeners so that you know the best in
class businesses, the organizations
making a difference in our community, and
the individuals who are making an impact
on our residents here in our area.
We're gonna welcome Greg McCoy with the
Hidden Gem to our podcast today. So thank
(00:46):
you for joining us on City Lifestyle with
Angie Burns. We'll go ahead and introduce
yourself and tell us a little bit about
Hidden Gem. Yeah, thanks Angie. Thank you
guys for having me. Happy to be here.
Yeah, so I've been a gem
owner operator since 2009,
and my wife and I started Hidden Gem in
2019. So we've had a couple gems in the
(01:10):
area prior to that, and then we started
Hidden Gem in 2019, and been excited to
get plugged into the city of Allen and
work with folks like yourself. So we've
really enjoyed our time here. It's been a
blast getting to know you and your wife.
Y'all are a riot, by the way. If anybody
has not seen their JC Penney Christmas
photo shoots, you have to check them out,
(01:31):
because I literally showed it to my
husband. I was like, we're doing this
now. Yeah, we have so much fun. Y'all
have so much fun. Everywhere you go, and
everything that I see following y'all on
social media, and y'all are just really
fun. And I think that really does
transfer into the Hidden Gem. Of course.
Everybody has a good time. I dread going
to the Gem. That's something that is not
on my to-do list regularly, but with you
(01:52):
guys, you seem to make everything fun.
Where does that come from? To be honest,
this is our personalities, and we're best
friends as well as husband and wife. So
of course on that side, but it translates
into the business, because our business
is a reflection of us. And I think the
(02:13):
business starts with the people that work
there. They spend the most time there.
And I like to think that we provide a
great place to work and a fun working
environment. It's a great thing to work
on. It's very positive. You're helping
people better their lives. So it's a
fulfilling career choice for people. But
yeah, we like to make it fun. And if
we're having fun, the staff is having
(02:33):
fun. Hopefully the members are having
fun, because that's like you said, a lot
of people, whether that be because maybe
fitness was a punishment growing up. Like
if you don't do this. Maybe that's why I
don't like it as much. You gotta run
laps. Like flashbacks to PE trauma of
elementary school. Yeah, so we work hard
to make sure that people are up there
having fun, because you wanna go back to
places that you have fun at. So that's an
(02:56):
important part of the culture. And it's
not a written core value, but one that we
talk about often. And it's definitely a
different environment there. It's not
like just going to the gym where you walk
in and you just get on the equipment. You
have much more of a boutique feel to your
gym. So what does make Hidden Gym
different from other workout facilities
(03:16):
that anybody can just sign up a
membership to? Yeah, I mean, it's
honestly, it's the people. I mean, we
have a lot of things that differentiate
us as far as like hand selected equipment
and the way that we lay out the
facilities and the trainers that we have.
But I think at the end of the day, the
biggest difference is the people. And
that's a community that we really try to
(03:37):
foster. A lot of that is being fun, but
we listen to people and they wanna be
around people that are kind of
goal-oriented and working towards the
same thing. And so when you join Hidden
Gym, you really join a community, you're
gonna make friends, you're gonna meet new
people. And it's really neat to watch
those friend groups kind of form
(03:59):
or show up and merge with other ones. So
it's kind of fun to see. We've had plenty
of marriages that have spawned from the
gym. Oh, okay, so the stereotype of
meeting somebody at the gym is real.
100%, we've even had weddings at the gym.
Stop it, you are not. Yeah, I promise. Oh
my gosh. That sounds very much like
something you would do. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
(04:21):
yeah. It really is like, it becomes a
very important place to people and you
have to remember that because for us, we
see a lot of members day in and day out,
but it's like, it's a really special
place for them. They hold it in the
regard. I feel like every time I've come
into the Hidden Gym because we've done
some events and things there and we'll
get into events here in a minute, but I
do feel like you watch the people that
are together doing something. Like one
(04:42):
time I was in there and they were doing
some pull up thing that looked
ridiculously difficult and climbing a
rope and then pulling, I don't know, it
looked like they were training for
Survivor or something, I don't know, but
they were cheering each other on and they
were really, there was this camaraderie
there and it felt like the people that
actually work out at Hidden Gym are
serious about their fitness. They're a
(05:03):
different level of athlete. And I know we
have your editorial coming out soon and I
was looking at the photos and I was like,
these are some ripped people. I was like,
these make me feel really, really
unhealthy right now, but it does seem
like you take, most of the athletes that
train with you are going to be a more
professional level or higher level, more
serious about their fitness and training.
(05:25):
So is that who you typically cater to
because I know you come from a
bodybuilding background. So do you have a
lot of bodybuilders, professional
athlete, like what is that? Is that your
standard clients? Yes and no. I say like
instead of a demographic, we really have
what I call a psychographic.
So it spans genders and age groups and
(05:47):
professions because we have all walks of
life. But generally you'll find that
fitness is a top three life priority for
them. Going to the gym is not an optional
thing. They're gonna go whether they have
a job or don't, they're not gonna miss
because they're injured. Like if one leg
is hurt, the other three limbs work.
They're dedicated and that's what they
like. But that being said-- I am out of
(06:08):
excuses. Yeah. I go to a hidden gym. I
cannot use an excuse. And we do cater
like, I pay close attention to make sure
like elite athletes have the tools that
they need and most big box facilities
just don't, that's not who they're after.
So we have special things that cater to
that higher level athlete. That being
said, we have beginners and I like, I'm
(06:30):
proud of that because they progress far
faster. Because they're in an environment
where progress is like contagious. You
can't help but make progress when you're
around that. Yeah, absolutely. So do you
have a special sector of your clientele
that are in the bodybuilding world? Yeah.
Do you have specific training for that?
Yeah and it's actually-- Tell a little
bit more about your background. Yeah,
(06:51):
yeah, sure, sure. Yeah, I'd say it's a
smaller piece of the member base than
people think. Like they think we're like
a bodybuilding gym in a lot of ways we
are. But we may put 30 people on stage a
year out of 2,000 members. So it's not a
big junk. But like, yeah, I grew up in a
bodybuilding background as did my wife.
That's how we met. I've competed over 20
(07:13):
times. I've won the light heavyweight
division in almost every show in Texas.
I've won a few overalls. Congratulations.
Yeah. Pat on the back there. In
bodybuilding, once you win your weight
class, you go to what's called an
overall. That's all the weight classes
against each other. I usually lose to the
heavyweight or the super heavyweight. But
I've beaten them a few times. Okay, okay.
(07:35):
I kind of got stuck in a place where I
was like, I had won most of the shows in
Texas, but I would get beat pretty bad at
the national level. And so I was like
always in this, like it's not that fun to
travel and get your ass kicked, but I won
everything around town. Where's my- So
I'm gonna help other people. Yeah, yeah.
That's right. I taught theater for 25
years. Because I got to the point where I
was like, I can either keep being told
(07:56):
no, or I can help other people be told
yes. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Exactly. So
yeah, I love it. I still, I haven't
competed in a couple of years, but I
wouldn't say I'm retired. Okay. I do it
because I love it, not because it pays
the bills or anything. Right, right. My
wife was much more successful than I was.
She was top ranked, top eight in the
world at one point. Wow. She's been on
every cover of every fitness magazine
(08:17):
that's out there. So at least I coached
her. There you go. To get there when I
couldn't do it myself. Absolutely. Okay,
well we haven't had her on our cover. We
have had Monica and Greg Steiner, who are
also local body builders around here, who
love you and love your gym. We've had
them on our cover a long time ago, so we
need more body builders. For sure. We
need to call them. We have some of those
(08:38):
in the stable. Yeah, we've got a couple.
We have more fantastic information coming
your way, so stay with us because City
Lifestyle with Angie
Burns will be right back.
(Upbeat Music) At City Lifestyle, we only
partner with best in class businesses.
And a lot of times people will ask me,
well, what does that mean? We do a very
rigorous vetting process for anyone who
(08:59):
is allowed to advertise in our
publications. We only partner with people
who are four and five star businesses,
and who have great reviews with Better
Business Bureau, have all of their
licenses and certifications up to date.
We wanna make sure that our readers and
listeners are only being recommended
businesses who are going to go above and
beyond, so you know you are getting a
(09:19):
best in class business.
(Upbeat Music) And you also have a boxing
program at the gym as well, that is very
well known and very reputable with a
partnership with Tony Mac. So tell us a
little bit about that program and how do
you get involved and who trains there for
that? Yeah, it's really, it's a cool
story. So a little bit about how Hidden
(09:42):
Gym happened. I had sold a gym in 2018. I
promised myself a one year break because
I had been doing it 11 years at that
point. Took a one year break. We bought a
rugby center that was like they moved--
In Texas, there's rugby in Texas. It was
where we were. Yeah, it was called the
Den. And they moved the team to Frisco.
(10:04):
They needed to, they had a lease space.
They needed to do something with it, so
we took over. And Tony was there and I
didn't know him from anyone and I bet I
had only heard good things. And he is
just salt of the earth, one of the best
guys I've ever met. He was a professional
fighter. I hope I don't mess this up,
Tony. I believe he was 14, one and one as
(10:25):
a pro. That's pretty good. His career
ended because of an eye injury that ended
his career, so he began coaching. And he
runs an amazing program there. We have
everything from maybe someone that's
getting bullied at school, to the Dallas
Cowboys, to professional fighters. It's a
really cool environment.
(10:45):
It's like a Parsons, right? Yeah, we
got-- I know that story. I've been in the
gym with him before. He's been there.
It's intimidating to be training and he's
watching. I have some videos of me and my
workout partners getting after it and
Micah's checking it out. It kind of
started with the Mari Cooper was the
first big name NFL guy that we got. He
(11:06):
brought the buddies and we've had a lot
of the Cowboys, even Dan Quinn, when he
was our defensive coordinator, came to
see, he wanted to meet Tony. He's like,
"You're coaching half my defense. I need
to meet you." Right, that's important.
Yeah, yeah. So we got people in there.
Most of the people are there just to
improve their fitness. If you get bored
on a treadmill or lifting weights isn't
(11:26):
your thing, you can come take the
classes. And that's probably 80% of our
boxing members. And then the other 20%
fight. I was there one day when they were
having the auditions for the team. And I
have never been more scared in my life.
(Laughing) The women were, I was blown
away. And there was this one little girl
(11:47):
and I saw her walk in and she was like
just this little mousy, cute little
thing. And she was so sweet. And then all
of a sudden I turn around and she's like
kicking the shit out of somebody. And I
was like, "Oh my." (Laughing) I was like,
"What just happened?" And then she's like
done and she's like, "Hey, how's it go?"
And I'm like, "Okay, hold on." Yeah, so
it's so interesting to watch. And then
(12:07):
I'll say the first time I heard about you
was actually from Christian Sanchez.
Okay, yeah. And so Christian has a hair
salon in the hidden gym. It's another
hidden gym within the hidden gym. Change
it up hair studio. And so tell us how did
that happen? And what's the benefit of
having her in this studio? Yeah, we
basically a mutual friendship.
(12:31):
One of my long-term clients and good
friends, Giovanni, he was like, "Hey, you
should go to my barber." I went over, got
a fantastic haircut and beard trim. And I
had a supplement store that had moved
out. So I had some space and I was asking
her about the little studio she was
renting. And I was like, "You know, I
(12:51):
have 300 people come through the door
every single day and they clearly care
about what they look like. They're here
to work out." Right. You know, so between
me and Gio and getting over some of
Christian's fears, we made it happen.
(Laughing) She's been there two years
now, right? Yeah, we just had her two
year anniversary. So it's awesome. And I
know it's like selfishly for me.
(13:12):
And I think a lot of people feel this
way. Like I'm not gonna go that many
places during the day. Like work, work
out. Like there's only so many things I
can do. Generally it's like haircut. It's
like, "Oh, I gotta go somewhere else." Or
chiropractor. We have chiropractors in
the gym. So try to like all these things
that guys do on a regular basis. Get them
in one place. Yeah, it's like a one stop
shop for the things that you need to do.
(13:33):
Love that, that's fantastic. Well, I
wanna talk a little bit about your
sponsorship with us at City Lifestyle. So
you sponsor the student athlete of the
month. Every month we pick an athlete in
the area. So it can be Allen, Lovejoy. It
can be private school, homeschool,
anybody who is an athlete that lives or
plays in our territory. And then you
(13:57):
actually sponsor that so that we can give
them a $250 scholarship at their end of
the year dinner, which we're super
excited about. And so far we've done it
for a few months now. And tell us why
that was so important to you to be the
sponsor of the student athlete of the
month. Yeah, I mean, being in the fitness
industry, it's something that I feel is a
purpose, not a job. And I think that
(14:19):
fitness has the power to change people's
lives. And sadly, we're kind of trending
in the wrong direction in North America.
And that starts with youth. And so being
able to have any interaction with youth
and encourage them for the job that
they're doing, like most of
the student athletes we choose,
they're doing great in the classroom, but
(14:40):
also in athletics. Very well rounded.
Yeah, and so we wanna honor them and
they're setting a good example and we
wanna encourage that. And I love that
you're trying to make a point to actually
go out and present them and they get a
reward from you as well as from us for
being recognized as that student of the
month. So keep reading the magazine and
see who's student of the month. And if
(15:01):
you have somebody you wanna nominate for
student of the month, you can email us or
you can email Greg. Yeah, let us know.
And let us know so that we can get them
featured in the magazine because that's
one of my favorite things are whenever we
can highlight the students and the people
who are making an impact in our
community. It's amazing. So you do have a
lot of really good relationships with the
athletic directors and the coaches at the
(15:22):
school. So are you looking to enhance
that more and get more partnerships with
the school districts and the coaches and
what do you do right now with the
schools? Yeah, 100%, it takes a village
and I want those coaches and we have this
relationship with a lot of coaches, but
the ones that we don't, I want them to
know that Hidden Gym is a safe place.
(15:43):
They can feel good, they can send people
there. There's people that know what
they're doing, that are credible sources
of information that can
be positive role models.
And or, and if you just want your kid to
play better, we can make them bigger,
stronger and faster as well. Stay tuned.
We will be right back with City Lifestyle
with Angie Burns after these short
(16:03):
announcements. (Upbeat Music) Thank you
for tuning into City Lifestyle with Angie
Burns. We are committed to being involved
in our community and giving back as much
as we can. If you would like us to come
out and throw a neighborhood block party
for your community, please contact us. We
bring out bounce houses, DJs, ice cream
trucks and we would love to get your
(16:24):
feedback on our publication and introduce
you to our highly qualified and vetted
advertising sponsors. We do not sell
anything at the events. We just come out,
throw a party and get to know our
neighbors so that we know how to best
serve our community. So let us know if
you would like us to come out to your
neighborhood. We typically serve our
neighborhood for block parties during the
months of May, June, July and October for
(16:47):
truck retreats. So reach out to us at
angie, A-N-G-I dot Burns at
citylifestyle.com to book your city
lifestyle block party today.
(Upbeat Music)
Tell me more about, I know there was one
particular student that we've talked
about before who's like one of the power
(17:08):
lifting or weight lifting or something
like that. He holds like all the records.
Yeah, Corbin. So do you train them on
power lifting and weight lifting there as
well? Yeah, well, Corbin had coaching
through a lot of his high school career.
He holds the Allen all time squat record
and he was a member of the gym and has
been competing at the gym. So we host two
(17:30):
power lifting meets a year. And there are
some of the biggest meets in Texas. We
have people travel from all over the
state and out of state. We've even had
some international competitors come to
compete usually in February and August.
But Corbin's done those competitions and
clearly he's very diligent with this
training. He's done some coaching with
(17:52):
some of our trainers as well. So yeah,
we're proud of Corbin. He was our first
student athlete of the month because we
really wanted to honor that record in his
last few months here as an Allen Eagle.
Yeah, because he's a senior. He's not
gonna be with us. So you do those type of
events where you bring in different
competitions, but you also do community
events as well. You partner with a lot of
(18:13):
the local businesses and you really have
great synergy within the community and
really becoming a part of the Allen
Fairview community. So tell us a little
bit more about those events that you do.
Yeah, we keep a heavy event schedule
again. Like we want this to be a place
that's fun and a place that you have
reasons to come back to and meet new
people. Or if you're a local business
owner, we do a monthly vendor night,
(18:35):
where we'll have usually five to six
vendors at each location. We do it mainly
at our two Allen and Richardson. And it
gives local businesses a reason to come
out, promote. You know, we circulate a
lot of people through the gym every day
and in a kind of an environment that's
getting less in person, we are one of the
(18:55):
only businesses that you have to be
there. So they're a captive audience.
It's a great way. The members love it
because they get to sample and meet new
people and vendors love it. Yeah, we
hosted our health and wellness expo there
this year. And it was great because
people were working out all around us. It
was like a six hour event. And my 10 year
old son worked out for six hours
straight. And I was like, I can't even
(19:16):
get you off of an iPad or out from front
of your computer. So I guess we're gonna
have to do everything at Hidden Gym from
now on. Cause he literally did, I think
like leg presses for four hours. That was
a fun one. It was a lot of fun. He wore
himself out. I mean, he didn't act like
it. He slept for like two days after
that. But you do host those and you
partner with other businesses like Armor
(19:36):
Brewing and other people in the area.
That was a very creative kind of off the
roll event. But we called it Brewskis and
Barbells. And we're trying not to make it
overly serious. Like if you're on track
with your fitness program, you can have a
beer every now and then, which keep it
fun. But yeah, we partnered with Armor.
We actually made our own beer. So I got a
(19:58):
little toasty through the Tana and Keanu
and us. We were doing all the sampling to
figure out what is the Hidden Gym beer
gonna be. Right. Is it on the menu now?
It was limited time. So we actually sold
it out, which I was impressed because
they were like, yeah, they made like 300
cases or something and had it on tap. I
(20:18):
just finished the last couple in my
fridge about a month ago. So yeah, it was
a really fun partnership. The event was
fun to be able to have the beer. And now
we participate in their Run Club on
Wednesdays and stuff like that. So yeah,
it's fun to work with all the local
businesses. So if you have a local
business and you are looking for somebody
to partner with, the Hidden Gym and Greg
(20:40):
would be a great person to reach out to,
but you're not just in Allen. You have
other locations as well. So tell us a
little bit more about where we can find
the other Hidden Gyms, how to get ahold
of you. And then we're gonna close it out
with one final question. So go ahead and
tell us about all of your multiple
locations. Yeah, so we've got a fully
commercial location in
Richardson, it's a Beltline in 75.
(21:01):
It's 14,000 square feet. It's beautiful.
It's brand new. And we have a full MMA
program there. So we have UFC 13 champion
Guy Mezger is overseas that program. And
much like Tony's program, lots of people
just there to get fit, but he trains
everything from Special Forces to UFC
fighters. It's a really cool group. And
(21:24):
then we have a private location at a
campus that's called Pegasus Park. It's
in downtown Dallas. It was the former
Exxon Mobile headquarters.
There's a bunch of cool companies there,
but part of what attracted us to that was
they have a kind of subsidized office
space for nonprofits.
So it was cool. We were involved with
(21:44):
some of the nonprofits and were able to
be on the campus there. So we've got a
gym there and then we've got a couple
expansions. I can't speak in detail too
yet, but definitely in the late 2025,
early 2026, there'll be news from Hidden
Gym, continuing to grow. I love that,
because we're expanding our team with the
lifestyle too. We're hitting a couple
(22:05):
more areas coming out soon. So we may
have to do a co-branded announcement of
all the great things that we have coming.
So thank you so much for being here with
us today. Before we sign off, tell us
your favorite thing about what you do. Oh
my gosh. I mean, it's to watch somebody's
life change, whether that be to get off
(22:25):
of a pain medication or not have to take
insulin shots or anything
like that. It never gets old.
They will thank you almost in tears. And
I don't feel like necessarily do that
much, especially if I'm not training
them. But when somebody has that big of a
life change or they're gonna be able to
pick up their kids when they haven't been
(22:46):
able to get off the ground, it's just, it
never gets old. Yeah. Well, thank you for
providing such a space for people to be
able to do that and make those
differences and for everything that you
do in the community. Thank you, Greg, and
thank you for being here with us today.
And then tell us your website and phone
number for people who wanna reach out to
you and learn more. Cool, yeah. Thanks,
Angie. Yeah, it's hiddengem.net. And over
(23:07):
phone number, I probably give you our
socials. You can find us on Instagram and
Facebook, YouTube and X. So yeah. Okay.
Send us a DM. Do you do the tickety-tock?
We don't do TikTok. Not yet, at least.
Yeah, we're- I'm still learning. My
10-year-old has to teach me how to do the
Instagram and the TikTok and all those
things. I think via all of the young
members that we have, we have a decent
(23:28):
TikTok presence, but we don't have a
brand presence there. Okay, all right.
Well, we will check you out on the
socials and we will come in to see you at
any of the locations. So thank you so
much for being here.
Yeah, thank you, Angie.
If you are looking for the best place to
market your business to our local
community, please consider City Lifestyle
Publications. I personally own the Allen
and Plano territories, but we have over a
(23:49):
dozen luxury publications in our area. We
are a nationwide brand, so we have over
200 publications across the nation. And
we really do value high editorial
integrity, beautiful photography, and
making sure that your story is told in a
respectable and beautiful way. So if you
would like to learn more about how to
become an advertising partner of City
(24:11):
Lifestyle Publications, feel free to
reach out to us because we are your
ticket in the door to get you face to
face with your next
client. (Upbeat Music)
(Upbeat Music)
(00:03):
Hello, this is Angie Burns, the owner and
publisher of Allen City Lifestyle, and
welcome to the Allen City Lifestyle
Podcast. On our podcast, we celebrate the
positive, supportive, and inclusive
contributions of local businesses,
organizations, and individuals making an
impact on our community. We like to
celebrate all of the amazing things that
are going on in Allen, Fairview, Lucas,
(00:25):
and Parker, and share them with our
listeners so that you know the best in
class businesses, the organizations
making a difference in our community, and
the individuals who are making an impact
on our residents here in our area.
We're gonna welcome Greg McCoy with the
Hidden Gem to our podcast today. So thank
(00:46):
you for joining us on City Lifestyle with
Angie Burns. We'll go ahead and introduce
yourself and tell us a little bit about
Hidden Gem. Yeah, thanks Angie. Thank you
guys for having me. Happy to be here.
Yeah, so I've been a gem
owner operator since 2009,
and my wife and I started Hidden Gem in
2019. So we've had a couple gems in the
(01:10):
area prior to that, and then we started
Hidden Gem in 2019, and been excited to
get plugged into the city of Allen and
work with folks like yourself. So we've
really enjoyed our time here. It's been a
blast getting to know you and your wife.
Y'all are a riot, by the way. If anybody
has not seen their JC Penney Christmas
photo shoots, you have to check them out,
(01:31):
because I literally showed it to my
husband. I was like, we're doing this
now. Yeah, we have so much fun. Y'all
have so much fun. Everywhere you go, and
everything that I see following y'all on
social media, and y'all are just really
fun. And I think that really does
transfer into the Hidden Gem. Of course.
Everybody has a good time. I dread going
to the Gem. That's something that is not
on my to-do list regularly, but with you
(01:52):
guys, you seem to make everything fun.
Where does that come from? To be honest,
this is our personalities, and we're best
friends as well as husband and wife. So
of course on that side, but it translates
into the business, because our business
is a reflection of us. And I think the
(02:13):
business starts with the people that work
there. They spend the most time there.
And I like to think that we provide a
great place to work and a fun working
environment. It's a great thing to work
on. It's very positive. You're helping
people better their lives. So it's a
fulfilling career choice for people. But
yeah, we like to make it fun. And if
we're having fun, the staff is having
(02:33):
fun. Hopefully the members are having
fun, because that's like you said, a lot
of people, whether that be because maybe
fitness was a punishment growing up. Like
if you don't do this. Maybe that's why I
don't like it as much. You gotta run
laps. Like flashbacks to PE trauma of
elementary school. Yeah, so we work hard
to make sure that people are up there
having fun, because you wanna go back to
places that you have fun at. So that's an
(02:56):
important part of the culture. And it's
not a written core value, but one that we
talk about often. And it's definitely a
different environment there. It's not
like just going to the gym where you walk
in and you just get on the equipment. You
have much more of a boutique feel to your
gym. So what does make Hidden Gym
different from other workout facilities
(03:16):
that anybody can just sign up a
membership to? Yeah, I mean, it's
honestly, it's the people. I mean, we
have a lot of things that differentiate
us as far as like hand selected equipment
and the way that we lay out the
facilities and the trainers that we have.
But I think at the end of the day, the
biggest difference is the people. And
that's a community that we really try to
(03:37):
foster. A lot of that is being fun, but
we listen to people and they wanna be
around people that are kind of
goal-oriented and working towards the
same thing. And so when you join Hidden
Gym, you really join a community, you're
gonna make friends, you're gonna meet new
people. And it's really neat to watch
those friend groups kind of form
(03:59):
or show up and merge with other ones. So
it's kind of fun to see. We've had plenty
of marriages that have spawned from the
gym. Oh, okay, so the stereotype of
meeting somebody at the gym is real.
100%, we've even had weddings at the gym.
Stop it, you are not. Yeah, I promise. Oh
my gosh. That sounds very much like
something you would do. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
(04:21):
yeah. It really is like, it becomes a
very important place to people and you
have to remember that because for us, we
see a lot of members day in and day out,
but it's like, it's a really special
place for them. They hold it in the
regard. I feel like every time I've come
into the Hidden Gym because we've done
some events and things there and we'll
get into events here in a minute, but I
do feel like you watch the people that
are together doing something. Like one
(04:42):
time I was in there and they were doing
some pull up thing that looked
ridiculously difficult and climbing a
rope and then pulling, I don't know, it
looked like they were training for
Survivor or something, I don't know, but
they were cheering each other on and they
were really, there was this camaraderie
there and it felt like the people that
actually work out at Hidden Gym are
serious about their fitness. They're a
(05:03):
different level of athlete. And I know we
have your editorial coming out soon and I
was looking at the photos and I was like,
these are some ripped people. I was like,
these make me feel really, really
unhealthy right now, but it does seem
like you take, most of the athletes that
train with you are going to be a more
professional level or higher level, more
serious about their fitness and training.
(05:25):
So is that who you typically cater to
because I know you come from a
bodybuilding background. So do you have a
lot of bodybuilders, professional
athlete, like what is that? Is that your
standard clients? Yes and no. I say like
instead of a demographic, we really have
what I call a psychographic.
So it spans genders and age groups and
(05:47):
professions because we have all walks of
life. But generally you'll find that
fitness is a top three life priority for
them. Going to the gym is not an optional
thing. They're gonna go whether they have
a job or don't, they're not gonna miss
because they're injured. Like if one leg
is hurt, the other three limbs work.
They're dedicated and that's what they
like. But that being said-- I am out of
(06:08):
excuses. Yeah. I go to a hidden gym. I
cannot use an excuse. And we do cater
like, I pay close attention to make sure
like elite athletes have the tools that
they need and most big box facilities
just don't, that's not who they're after.
So we have special things that cater to
that higher level athlete. That being
said, we have beginners and I like, I'm
(06:30):
proud of that because they progress far
faster. Because they're in an environment
where progress is like contagious. You
can't help but make progress when you're
around that. Yeah, absolutely. So do you
have a special sector of your clientele
that are in the bodybuilding world? Yeah.
Do you have specific training for that?
Yeah and it's actually-- Tell a little
bit more about your background. Yeah,
(06:51):
yeah, sure, sure. Yeah, I'd say it's a
smaller piece of the member base than
people think. Like they think we're like
a bodybuilding gym in a lot of ways we
are. But we may put 30 people on stage a
year out of 2,000 members. So it's not a
big junk. But like, yeah, I grew up in a
bodybuilding background as did my wife.
That's how we met. I've competed over 20
(07:13):
times. I've won the light heavyweight
division in almost every show in Texas.
I've won a few overalls. Congratulations.
Yeah. Pat on the back there. In
bodybuilding, once you win your weight
class, you go to what's called an
overall. That's all the weight classes
against each other. I usually lose to the
heavyweight or the super heavyweight. But
I've beaten them a few times. Okay, okay.
(07:35):
I kind of got stuck in a place where I
was like, I had won most of the shows in
Texas, but I would get beat pretty bad at
the national level. And so I was like
always in this, like it's not that fun to
travel and get your ass kicked, but I won
everything around town. Where's my- So
I'm gonna help other people. Yeah, yeah.
That's right. I taught theater for 25
years. Because I got to the point where I
was like, I can either keep being told
(07:56):
no, or I can help other people be told
yes. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Exactly. So
yeah, I love it. I still, I haven't
competed in a couple of years, but I
wouldn't say I'm retired. Okay. I do it
because I love it, not because it pays
the bills or anything. Right, right. My
wife was much more successful than I was.
She was top ranked, top eight in the
world at one point. Wow. She's been on
every cover of every fitness magazine
(08:17):
that's out there. So at least I coached
her. There you go. To get there when I
couldn't do it myself. Absolutely. Okay,
well we haven't had her on our cover. We
have had Monica and Greg Steiner, who are
also local body builders around here, who
love you and love your gym. We've had
them on our cover a long time ago, so we
need more body builders. For sure. We
need to call them. We have some of those
(08:38):
in the stable. Yeah, we've got a couple.
We have more fantastic information coming
your way, so stay with us because City
Lifestyle with Angie
Burns will be right back.
(Upbeat Music) At City Lifestyle, we only
partner with best in class businesses.
And a lot of times people will ask me,
well, what does that mean? We do a very
rigorous vetting process for anyone who
(08:59):
is allowed to advertise in our
publications. We only partner with people
who are four and five star businesses,
and who have great reviews with Better
Business Bureau, have all of their
licenses and certifications up to date.
We wanna make sure that our readers and
listeners are only being recommended
businesses who are going to go above and
beyond, so you know you are getting a
(09:19):
best in class business.
(Upbeat Music) And you also have a boxing
program at the gym as well, that is very
well known and very reputable with a
partnership with Tony Mac. So tell us a
little bit about that program and how do
you get involved and who trains there for
that? Yeah, it's really, it's a cool
story. So a little bit about how Hidden
(09:42):
Gym happened. I had sold a gym in 2018. I
promised myself a one year break because
I had been doing it 11 years at that
point. Took a one year break. We bought a
rugby center that was like they moved--
In Texas, there's rugby in Texas. It was
where we were. Yeah, it was called the
Den. And they moved the team to Frisco.
(10:04):
They needed to, they had a lease space.
They needed to do something with it, so
we took over. And Tony was there and I
didn't know him from anyone and I bet I
had only heard good things. And he is
just salt of the earth, one of the best
guys I've ever met. He was a professional
fighter. I hope I don't mess this up,
Tony. I believe he was 14, one and one as
(10:25):
a pro. That's pretty good. His career
ended because of an eye injury that ended
his career, so he began coaching. And he
runs an amazing program there. We have
everything from maybe someone that's
getting bullied at school, to the Dallas
Cowboys, to professional fighters. It's a
really cool environment.
(10:45):
It's like a Parsons, right? Yeah, we
got-- I know that story. I've been in the
gym with him before. He's been there.
It's intimidating to be training and he's
watching. I have some videos of me and my
workout partners getting after it and
Micah's checking it out. It kind of
started with the Mari Cooper was the
first big name NFL guy that we got. He
(11:06):
brought the buddies and we've had a lot
of the Cowboys, even Dan Quinn, when he
was our defensive coordinator, came to
see, he wanted to meet Tony. He's like,
"You're coaching half my defense. I need
to meet you." Right, that's important.
Yeah, yeah. So we got people in there.
Most of the people are there just to
improve their fitness. If you get bored
on a treadmill or lifting weights isn't
(11:26):
your thing, you can come take the
classes. And that's probably 80% of our
boxing members. And then the other 20%
fight. I was there one day when they were
having the auditions for the team. And I
have never been more scared in my life.
(Laughing) The women were, I was blown
away. And there was this one little girl
(11:47):
and I saw her walk in and she was like
just this little mousy, cute little
thing. And she was so sweet. And then all
of a sudden I turn around and she's like
kicking the shit out of somebody. And I
was like, "Oh my." (Laughing) I was like,
"What just happened?" And then she's like
done and she's like, "Hey, how's it go?"
And I'm like, "Okay, hold on." Yeah, so
it's so interesting to watch. And then
(12:07):
I'll say the first time I heard about you
was actually from Christian Sanchez.
Okay, yeah. And so Christian has a hair
salon in the hidden gym. It's another
hidden gym within the hidden gym. Change
it up hair studio. And so tell us how did
that happen? And what's the benefit of
having her in this studio? Yeah, we
basically a mutual friendship.
(12:31):
One of my long-term clients and good
friends, Giovanni, he was like, "Hey, you
should go to my barber." I went over, got
a fantastic haircut and beard trim. And I
had a supplement store that had moved
out. So I had some space and I was asking
her about the little studio she was
renting. And I was like, "You know, I
(12:51):
have 300 people come through the door
every single day and they clearly care
about what they look like. They're here
to work out." Right. You know, so between
me and Gio and getting over some of
Christian's fears, we made it happen.
(Laughing) She's been there two years
now, right? Yeah, we just had her two
year anniversary. So it's awesome. And I
know it's like selfishly for me.
(13:12):
And I think a lot of people feel this
way. Like I'm not gonna go that many
places during the day. Like work, work
out. Like there's only so many things I
can do. Generally it's like haircut. It's
like, "Oh, I gotta go somewhere else." Or
chiropractor. We have chiropractors in
the gym. So try to like all these things
that guys do on a regular basis. Get them
in one place. Yeah, it's like a one stop
shop for the things that you need to do.
(13:33):
Love that, that's fantastic. Well, I
wanna talk a little bit about your
sponsorship with us at City Lifestyle. So
you sponsor the student athlete of the
month. Every month we pick an athlete in
the area. So it can be Allen, Lovejoy. It
can be private school, homeschool,
anybody who is an athlete that lives or
plays in our territory. And then you
(13:57):
actually sponsor that so that we can give
them a $250 scholarship at their end of
the year dinner, which we're super
excited about. And so far we've done it
for a few months now. And tell us why
that was so important to you to be the
sponsor of the student athlete of the
month. Yeah, I mean, being in the fitness
industry, it's something that I feel is a
purpose, not a job. And I think that
(14:19):
fitness has the power to change people's
lives. And sadly, we're kind of trending
in the wrong direction in North America.
And that starts with youth. And so being
able to have any interaction with youth
and encourage them for the job that
they're doing, like most of
the student athletes we choose,
they're doing great in the classroom, but
(14:40):
also in athletics. Very well rounded.
Yeah, and so we wanna honor them and
they're setting a good example and we
wanna encourage that. And I love that
you're trying to make a point to actually
go out and present them and they get a
reward from you as well as from us for
being recognized as that student of the
month. So keep reading the magazine and
see who's student of the month. And if
(15:01):
you have somebody you wanna nominate for
student of the month, you can email us or
you can email Greg. Yeah, let us know.
And let us know so that we can get them
featured in the magazine because that's
one of my favorite things are whenever we
can highlight the students and the people
who are making an impact in our
community. It's amazing. So you do have a
lot of really good relationships with the
athletic directors and the coaches at the
(15:22):
school. So are you looking to enhance
that more and get more partnerships with
the school districts and the coaches and
what do you do right now with the
schools? Yeah, 100%, it takes a village
and I want those coaches and we have this
relationship with a lot of coaches, but
the ones that we don't, I want them to
know that Hidden Gym is a safe place.
(15:43):
They can feel good, they can send people
there. There's people that know what
they're doing, that are credible sources
of information that can
be positive role models.
And or, and if you just want your kid to
play better, we can make them bigger,
stronger and faster as well. Stay tuned.
We will be right back with City Lifestyle
with Angie Burns after these short
(16:03):
announcements. (Upbeat Music) Thank you
for tuning into City Lifestyle with Angie
Burns. We are committed to being involved
in our community and giving back as much
as we can. If you would like us to come
out and throw a neighborhood block party
for your community, please contact us. We
bring out bounce houses, DJs, ice cream
trucks and we would love to get your
(16:24):
feedback on our publication and introduce
you to our highly qualified and vetted
advertising sponsors. We do not sell
anything at the events. We just come out,
throw a party and get to know our
neighbors so that we know how to best
serve our community. So let us know if
you would like us to come out to your
neighborhood. We typically serve our
neighborhood for block parties during the
months of May, June, July and October for
(16:47):
truck retreats. So reach out to us at
angie, A-N-G-I dot Burns at
citylifestyle.com to book your city
lifestyle block party today.
(Upbeat Music)
Tell me more about, I know there was one
particular student that we've talked
about before who's like one of the power
(17:08):
lifting or weight lifting or something
like that. He holds like all the records.
Yeah, Corbin. So do you train them on
power lifting and weight lifting there as
well? Yeah, well, Corbin had coaching
through a lot of his high school career.
He holds the Allen all time squat record
and he was a member of the gym and has
been competing at the gym. So we host two
(17:30):
power lifting meets a year. And there are
some of the biggest meets in Texas. We
have people travel from all over the
state and out of state. We've even had
some international competitors come to
compete usually in February and August.
But Corbin's done those competitions and
clearly he's very diligent with this
training. He's done some coaching with
(17:52):
some of our trainers as well. So yeah,
we're proud of Corbin. He was our first
student athlete of the month because we
really wanted to honor that record in his
last few months here as an Allen Eagle.
Yeah, because he's a senior. He's not
gonna be with us. So you do those type of
events where you bring in different
competitions, but you also do community
events as well. You partner with a lot of
(18:13):
the local businesses and you really have
great synergy within the community and
really becoming a part of the Allen
Fairview community. So tell us a little
bit more about those events that you do.
Yeah, we keep a heavy event schedule
again. Like we want this to be a place
that's fun and a place that you have
reasons to come back to and meet new
people. Or if you're a local business
owner, we do a monthly vendor night,
(18:35):
where we'll have usually five to six
vendors at each location. We do it mainly
at our two Allen and Richardson. And it
gives local businesses a reason to come
out, promote. You know, we circulate a
lot of people through the gym every day
and in a kind of an environment that's
getting less in person, we are one of the
(18:55):
only businesses that you have to be
there. So they're a captive audience.
It's a great way. The members love it
because they get to sample and meet new
people and vendors love it. Yeah, we
hosted our health and wellness expo there
this year. And it was great because
people were working out all around us. It
was like a six hour event. And my 10 year
old son worked out for six hours
straight. And I was like, I can't even
(19:16):
get you off of an iPad or out from front
of your computer. So I guess we're gonna
have to do everything at Hidden Gym from
now on. Cause he literally did, I think
like leg presses for four hours. That was
a fun one. It was a lot of fun. He wore
himself out. I mean, he didn't act like
it. He slept for like two days after
that. But you do host those and you
partner with other businesses like Armor
(19:36):
Brewing and other people in the area.
That was a very creative kind of off the
roll event. But we called it Brewskis and
Barbells. And we're trying not to make it
overly serious. Like if you're on track
with your fitness program, you can have a
beer every now and then, which keep it
fun. But yeah, we partnered with Armor.
We actually made our own beer. So I got a
(19:58):
little toasty through the Tana and Keanu
and us. We were doing all the sampling to
figure out what is the Hidden Gym beer
gonna be. Right. Is it on the menu now?
It was limited time. So we actually sold
it out, which I was impressed because
they were like, yeah, they made like 300
cases or something and had it on tap. I
(20:18):
just finished the last couple in my
fridge about a month ago. So yeah, it was
a really fun partnership. The event was
fun to be able to have the beer. And now
we participate in their Run Club on
Wednesdays and stuff like that. So yeah,
it's fun to work with all the local
businesses. So if you have a local
business and you are looking for somebody
to partner with, the Hidden Gym and Greg
(20:40):
would be a great person to reach out to,
but you're not just in Allen. You have
other locations as well. So tell us a
little bit more about where we can find
the other Hidden Gyms, how to get ahold
of you. And then we're gonna close it out
with one final question. So go ahead and
tell us about all of your multiple
locations. Yeah, so we've got a fully
commercial location in
Richardson, it's a Beltline in 75.
(21:01):
It's 14,000 square feet. It's beautiful.
It's brand new. And we have a full MMA
program there. So we have UFC 13 champion
Guy Mezger is overseas that program. And
much like Tony's program, lots of people
just there to get fit, but he trains
everything from Special Forces to UFC
fighters. It's a really cool group. And
(21:24):
then we have a private location at a
campus that's called Pegasus Park. It's
in downtown Dallas. It was the former
Exxon Mobile headquarters.
There's a bunch of cool companies there,
but part of what attracted us to that was
they have a kind of subsidized office
space for nonprofits.
So it was cool. We were involved with
(21:44):
some of the nonprofits and were able to
be on the campus there. So we've got a
gym there and then we've got a couple
expansions. I can't speak in detail too
yet, but definitely in the late 2025,
early 2026, there'll be news from Hidden
Gym, continuing to grow. I love that,
because we're expanding our team with the
lifestyle too. We're hitting a couple
(22:05):
more areas coming out soon. So we may
have to do a co-branded announcement of
all the great things that we have coming.
So thank you so much for being here with
us today. Before we sign off, tell us
your favorite thing about what you do. Oh
my gosh. I mean, it's to watch somebody's
life change, whether that be to get off
(22:25):
of a pain medication or not have to take
insulin shots or anything
like that. It never gets old.
They will thank you almost in tears. And
I don't feel like necessarily do that
much, especially if I'm not training
them. But when somebody has that big of a
life change or they're gonna be able to
pick up their kids when they haven't been
(22:46):
able to get off the ground, it's just, it
never gets old. Yeah. Well, thank you for
providing such a space for people to be
able to do that and make those
differences and for everything that you
do in the community. Thank you, Greg, and
thank you for being here with us today.
And then tell us your website and phone
number for people who wanna reach out to
you and learn more. Cool, yeah. Thanks,
Angie. Yeah, it's hiddengem.net. And over
(23:07):
phone number, I probably give you our
socials. You can find us on Instagram and
Facebook, YouTube and X. So yeah. Okay.
Send us a DM. Do you do the tickety-tock?
We don't do TikTok. Not yet, at least.
Yeah, we're- I'm still learning. My
10-year-old has to teach me how to do the
Instagram and the TikTok and all those
things. I think via all of the young
members that we have, we have a decent
(23:28):
TikTok presence, but we don't have a
brand presence there. Okay, all right.
Well, we will check you out on the
socials and we will come in to see you at
any of the locations. So thank you so
much for being here.
Yeah, thank you, Angie.
If you are looking for the best place to
market your business to our local
community, please consider City Lifestyle
Publications. I personally own the Allen
and Plano territories, but we have over a
(23:49):
dozen luxury publications in our area. We
are a nationwide brand, so we have over
200 publications across the nation. And
we really do value high editorial
integrity, beautiful photography, and
making sure that your story is told in a
respectable and beautiful way. So if you
would like to learn more about how to
become an advertising partner of City
(24:11):
Lifestyle Publications, feel free to
reach out to us because we are your
ticket in the door to get you face to
face with your next
client. (Upbeat Music)
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Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
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If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.