February 12, 2025 • 36 mins
Having a place to go outside of work and home where you feel like you belong is crucial to our well-being. And for a lot of people, that place is the gym.
That’s where Coast Mountain CrossFit comes in. What’s special about this gym is the quality of coaching plus the community it’s created, which includes our very own Denzil.
In this episode, Denzil is talking to two people she knows very well — the owners of Coast Mountain CrossFit, Austin Evans and Erin Joyce to talk about their fascinating story in community building and business growth.
To check out more stories like Austin and Erin's, head to frontdesk.jane.app.
Guest bio
Austin Evans discovered CrossFit at the age of 14, blending it into his sports-centered life, which at the time included junior hockey, snowboarding, football, and soccer (just to name a few!). His passion led him to coaching, and eventually, opening Coast Mountain Crossfit, a gym located North Vancouver. He thrives on inspiring his clients to surpass their fitness goals through the space and community he's built.
Erin Joyce began her athletic journey early with gymnastics and cheerleading, eventually representing Australia on the world stage. At 14, she started coaching gymnastics, sharing her love for training and helping others succeed. This set the stage for her to become a CrossFit coach a few years later, continuing in a new space with the same passion. Within her work and the world of CrossFit, Erin values the supportive community and pursuit of staying healthy and fit. Erin has been a CrossFit coach for eight years and co-owns Coast Mountain with Austin.
This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as professional medical, legal, or financial advice. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the guests and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Jane or Front Desk magazine.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I feel like, as adults, like you don't really
get that Like.
That's such an amazing feeling.
Like you're coming into the gymand you've had some time off
and you have these other adultsthat you have no connection with
other than the gym, and they'relike we missed you, like where
have you been?
And like there's like this holeand people need community,
(00:21):
people need people and so, yeah,that's's such a I love hearing
that because it's such a coolfeeling and that's like a big
part of like what fires us up atthe gym is to have that culture
and the atmosphere of peopledoing that, which is awesome
welcome to radio front desk, ashow that surfaces what real
people and real clinics aredoing to open, run and grow
successful health and wellnessbusinesses.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
I'm your host, denzel Ford, editor-in-chief of front
desk magazine by JNAP.
Here we have powerfulconversations with health and
wellness businesses.
I'm your host, denzel Ford,editor-in-chief of Front Desk
Magazine by Jane App.
Here we have powerfulconversations with health and
wellness professionals on thebusiness side of clinic life.
We hear their stories anddiscover what works and how to
do it, and we also talk aboutwhat doesn't work.
If you want to check out morestories like this, head to
frontdeskjaneapp.
(01:02):
I'm feeling over the moon abouttoday's episode because we're
doing something a little bitdifferent.
My guests, austin and Erin,aren't just the passionate
owners of Coast MountainCrossFit.
They're also people I knowpersonally.
I want to be upfront about that, because both of them have had
such a huge impact on my lifeand my journey in fitness and
health.
When I first stepped into theirgym, I told Austin that I
(01:25):
didn't believe I could doCrossFit anymore, but he just
said trust me, and I'm reallyglad I did.
But their story goes beyondjust inspiring people like me.
Austin discovered CrossFit as ateenager in Whistler, bc, and
it lit a fire within him thateventually led to nearly a
decade of coaching.
His wife and business partner,erin, grew up immersed in
(01:47):
gymnastics and cheerleading,which eventually brought her
into the CrossFit world.
Together, they had theopportunity to start an
incredible gym, thanks to twoinvestors who believed in their
coaching and saw their potentialas business owners.
I can't wait for you to meetthem.
Stick around, you're going tolove this one.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
I guess I get an email and we're at my dad's
house in Whistler, I get anemail from Ian, from Ian Banks,
you know, ian, yeah, about anopportunity to open up a
CrossFit gym together in NorthVancouver.
He was looking to open up a gymback in the North Van area and
he reached out to a few peoplefor sure and was kind of maybe
(02:32):
doing a bit of a scouting orinterview process on who the
right people would be to open upa gym back in North Van,
because that was that wasdefinitely his sole motivation
was getting a North, was justgetting a CrossFit gym back onto
the North Shore, getting acommunity back in that area
again.
And so in the summer we met andthen so there was Ian and then
(02:54):
there was also Amanda Joner aswell who were interested in both
of them partnering up withsomebody else to open up a
CrossFit gym in North Van and Iwas one of those candidates.
And so one of the asterisks orone of the rules I said was you
(03:16):
know, I'll be a candidate toopen up this gym with you, but
on one condition is I got tobring her with me.
So I got to bring my partner andwe were actually pretty early
into our relationship at thatpoint for sure, so it was
potentially a little bit of arisk.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
But when you know, you know, yeah, I knew that I
won.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
I knew I couldn't do it alone.
I won.
I knew I couldn't do it alonefor sure because Ian and Amanda
did kind of want to be a bithands-off with the business and
they wanted people who reallyknew what they were doing or
wanted to take the reins,because the goal for them was
not to own the gym.
The goal was to eventually stepaway from that and have
(04:02):
whoever's coming in to take fullownership eventually.
Step away from that and havewhoever's coming in to take full
ownership eventually.
And so after a few interviewswith other people and meetings
and things like that, like wemet them in Whistler once, we
went to North Van as well, therewas kind of a potentially a
couple people coming in on thegym for having like multiple
(04:23):
ownership and I kind of, uh, wekind of stepped up and I was
kind of like like this, I waslike it's, I like we don't want
too many chefs in the kitchen,like if we were going to do it
like we wanted to do our way.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, because I've seen gyms, you know
, with multiple owners and thedirection might be this way for
this year and who knows whatwill happen down the track.
So I think we were both like,okay, it's the two of us Like we
can manage this, because whatelse have we got going on right
now?
Speaker 2 (04:56):
How did you have that foresight?
Was it just from having seenother gyms that have too many
cooks in the kitchen?
Yeah, and then what that turnsinto, just like seeing, yeah,
just seeing it how.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Like you, were part of a few CrossFit gyms in
Australia and you saw whatworked and what didn't, and you
know me being under Jordan andWhistler for pretty much seven
years.
I definitely got a good insighton the business side of CrossFit
and kind of what like and abusiness side of owning a
CrossFit gym and you know, maybe, what works and what doesn't
work.
And obviously there's things inWhistler that are going to be
(05:29):
super unique because it is aresort town compared to some
other things.
But I think with thecombination of our experience of
being in the CrossFit space fora long time and you being part
of definitely more gyms than mewe kind of had an idea of how we
wanted to run things off of thebat and Ian and Amanda liked
(05:49):
our vision for the gym and so weended up being the candidates
or the people that they kind ofwent with, that they were going
to invest in, to start up thegym, and it was totally so that
was like July and then September.
Speaker 3 (06:05):
We were down here, we moved down here and then we
were looking at the space thatwe're in now.
I still remember like I thinkwe met them three times to see
it and then it was all go, go,go.
From there it was like Octoberwas the month we were just like
trying to get the equipment inthe walls painted, the floor
down.
Yeah, that was a lot, becauseit was still.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
Yeah, it was still kind of like, you know, october
2020, there was definitelyquestion marks about the
pandemic and COVID and thingslike that and kind of we.
You know Ian and Amanda hadtrust in us, which was amazing.
And also to the we.
We both knew that you know thiswould be over eventually and
you don't really get anopportunity like this, ever Like
(06:47):
.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
we're like wow this is such a unique story.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
This is such an amazing opportunity and it just
kind of goes to show like but wewere fortunate that there was a
group of people from anothergym so we weren't starting from
like ground zero with absolutelyno one.
We already had like some peoplethat by October were like
craving community.
So I think we were very luckyin that sense to have that
already and I developed thisrelationship with Ian before.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
So Ian just didn't, like, I guess, randomly pick me.
Like Ian, you know, comes andworks out in Whistler every so
often on weekends and holidaysand things like that.
He comes up, he goes up therequite a bit and so I'd met Ian
through the gym in Whistler andhe'd obviously seen my passion
of coaching and helping peopleout in the gym and it just kind
(07:36):
of goes to show like you kind oflook back on it now and you
just, you know, for any, youknow for anybody listening to
this, it's just like, just likeyou never.
It's just an example of likeyou never really know who's
watching.
Like do everything to the bestof your ability and if you have
a really big passion forsomething, like really go for it
, because I guess they obviouslysaw something yeah and uh and
(08:01):
you know it's we're so thankfulbecause it's now created this
like amazing career for us andyou know we're on this right
trajectory, so to say.
And so yeah, I guess throughjust hard work and you just
never know who's watching, Iguess.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
Yeah, I love that.
Yeah, so I do both the classesand the personal training with
you, Austin, and my experienceis that there's a lot of like
really individual attention thatyou get in the gym.
Like that is unique in myexperience.
But how do you do that?
How do you bring coaches inthat aren't you that are able to
(08:41):
teach this many people, thismany classes, that are offering
that same kind of thing, BecauseI'm not just getting.
Most of the time you don'tteach my classes that I'm doing.
It's Aaron or Juan and like, ifyou do a different time of day
than I do, you get somebody else.
So how do you build that inyour all of your coaches that
you're having in your gym?
Speaker 3 (09:05):
that you're having in your gym.
Well, I think we're very luckywith the coaches that have come
into the gym.
For us, martina is the onlycoach that we kind of we got her
set up with her level one.
We've kind of taught her how wewant to coach and kind of like
the flow of a class she hasteaching experience.
So there was kind of like theflow of a class, she has
teaching experience.
(09:26):
So there was kind of like anelement that we didn't have to
teach in her, like she had that,and that was like an element
that we looked for like veryeasily approachable for everyone
bubbly, she's got good energy,like you know, when martina's in
the class, like she's gonnahave some fun, some fun music on
um.
So more for us it was like wewant to kind of like get to know
(09:48):
you as a person, like you as aperson, what your personality is
like, um, and then like thecoaching side of things is
something that we can then teach.
Like you need to make sure yourknees are out for a squat.
That's something that you canteach over time, but I feel like
you can't really teachsomeone's personality to be the
way that you want it to be Rightso we're very lucky in the
sense that kind of like thecoaches that have approached us
(10:12):
or asked to get a job with us,they've always come to the gym
and like trained with us for alittle bit.
So we've kind of like got toknow them a couple of times or
at least been in their presence,um, before we've like been like
, yep, you're the one for thejob um, yeah, it's like the
culture we set to like throughAaron and I like that individual
(10:35):
attention in the classes.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
We voice that to our coaches and, like our, our kind
of onboarding with coaches isprobably a little bit more
lengthy than probably some otherCrossFit gyms where, even if
coaches are coming in withcoaching experience, we still
have them shadow classes.
So they're going to watch Aaronor myself coach a class and then
we're going to kind of slowly,you know, integrate that in.
(11:00):
You know, whether it's twoclasses, three classes, however
long it takes for thatinternship or onboarding to kind
of come through with somebodycoming with no experience, it's
probably going to be upwards ofprobably a month for that.
But they're basically, you know, kind of just watching the
class and then slowly, eachclass they start to take over
more and more of that class andthen it's either Aaron or myself
(11:21):
and then by the end we're justwatching them run the whole
class and then it's either Aaronor myself and then by the end
we're just watching them run thewhole class.
So it's a slow integration thatwe've kind of 10 or 15 people
(11:43):
like.
We're making sure thateverybody is getting individual
attention each time.
So that's super important.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
And do you most times when you're hiring you do like
an interview?
Do you have any like?
Is it just that interactionthat happens organically, that
you're kind of using as a mockor like a stand-in for an
interview, or do you actuallyalso do an interview?
How do?
Speaker 1 (12:06):
you for their coaches .
Yeah, yeah, we still do aninterview process yep.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
Do you have like a set of questions that you ask
them like?
How do you approach theinterview?
How do you evaluate whethersomeone is the right fit,
whether they can do the job?
Speaker 1 (12:18):
yeah, we definitely like, we definitely have a set
sort of questions.
So like, okay, what?
Like what is your intention ofcoaching?
What do you want to get out ofthis?
How much do you want to coach?
Like just probably some standardquestions, like other, um,
other companies do for sure.
And then, like aaron said, likejust getting them in the gym,
like that's the first, because,um, I mean, aaron can, can
(12:39):
probably add to this.
But you can get to know aperson a lot, especially if
they're already a coach orthey're passionate about
coaching and fitness.
You get to know a person quitea bit by just watching them work
out 100 percent, by watchingthem work out, watching them how
they participate in a classthemselves as a member.
(13:01):
Are they somebody that's in theback, kind of diddling and not
listening to the coach, andthey're like, oh, I kind of
already know what I'm doing, I'mgoing to do this.
Or, you know, am I at the frontlistening to the coach, trying
to get every attention of detailof coaching that I can just
like a student, and so watchingthem train and watching them in
a class says a lot about aperson and what kind of culture
(13:25):
and what kind of person we wantto bring on to our coaching
staff for sure.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
I mean, I'm sure you can agree with that, yeah
interesting yeah yeah, when Iinterview people, I'm doing
something similar in a muchsmaller moment.
But listeners are going to getsick of me saying this because I
say it every time.
But it's the first like coupleminutes.
A lot of our interviews arevirtual.
The first couple minutes wherethey're, they're not actually
thinking that they're on and I'm.
(13:50):
I'm like what are they sayingto me during that time when I
say, how was your day?
Do they complain about theirwork day?
Do they complain about theirmanager?
Do they complain about the workthey have to do?
Or do they say, no, my, myday's good.
I'm working on this hardproject and it's difficult, but
I think I found a solution.
Are they positive and that kindof thing?
So you learn a lot aboutsomebody by watching them when
they don't think you're gradingthem.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
That's a good point, yeah yeah, yeah, like we've
we've said that before too likeabout, about fitness.
It's like okay, like howsomebody approaches their
training.
I mean, obviously I'm biasedbecause I'm in the fitness space
, but I feel like how somebodyapproaches how they work out at
the gym probably bleeds intoother aspects of their life yeah
, for sure like okay, are youthe person like when it gets
(14:33):
hard, like in the gym?
are you just gonna kind of backoff and be like, oh, this is so
hard today, like why am I doingthis?
And it's like you know everydecision you make throughout the
day is going to lead tosomething down the road or
during that day, right?
So if you, kind of, in the gym,make that decision to when
things are hard, like whetheryou're you know the weight's
(14:55):
getting heavy and you got topush a couple more reps, or you
got a couple more minutes leftin that conditioning workout or
a couple more meters left, right, it's like hey, you have these
little mini decision momentsthroughout your training.
Are you going to choose to likeback off with that, or are you
going to choose to like pushthrough?
Speaker 2 (15:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
Right, and it's just like anything in work, or in
life as well, you always runacross these little, these
little roadblocks or theselittle decisions you have to
make throughout the day.
Right, and it's like, okay, amI going take the?
Speaker 3 (15:23):
the easy road or am?
Speaker 2 (15:24):
I gonna take the hard road right and if you just like
, take that hard road decisionlike every time, then there
becomes no other decision tomake yeah, you know what I mean,
yeah, yeah, there's a questionI was gonna ask later, but I
think it's related to someoneasking now there's a sign in the
gym that says strength isearned, and I'm wondering how
(15:44):
you think that applies to thebusiness side of your life, your
lives.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
I mean, when we open the gym, like I'm a big believer
in like manifesting generally,like writing it out or like at
least like seeing your visionsomewhere, so it's like really
important for me.
Maybe me I just wanted itpersonally for myself, um, but
Amanda actually made a wholebunch of like quotes and sayings
and we had them that was someend of the foot this up.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
Yeah, we had.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
I think that was like two in the bathroom and then
there's one somewhere elsehanging up, and I think we're
only down to like that strengthis earned and that one's like
put just above the plates.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
Yeah, I just thought, it just moved there.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
Yeah, I thought, this morning and I think you know
like a lot of people come inwith this intention of like, oh
I stronger, yeah, but it's likethe only way to get stronger is
like you have to put the work in.
Yeah, like there's no wayaround it.
If you don't challenge yourself, you won't get stronger.
Yeah, right, and like our, wealways try to tell people like
(16:44):
you know, like that, four, three, four, five days a week, that's
where you're going to start tosee the changes.
If you're just like, well, I'mgoing to add one strength day in
, you're going to see results,yes, in a year.
But if you want, like those,like faster results, and you
want to see it like you got tocome into the gym more than not,
yeah, so I think strength isearned.
(17:05):
For us is like I think we justboth come from backgrounds of
you have to.
I had to work to get where I amtoday.
Like nothing has really beenhanded to me.
Um, you know I came.
We both come from separatedfamilies and I started working
at 14 so that I could go on mytrips for for gymnastics.
(17:26):
So I was helping my mom pay.
So I've never known anythingdifferent.
Like if you want something, youhave to get up and go get it.
Yeah, um, and on the gymnasticsteam, like I was always team b,
so I was always like I gottawork that little bit harder to
try and get to team a, um, so Ijust think, yeah, I just think
if you want like all these shiny, like fun things, you just have
(17:46):
to put the work in and and um.
I think for our business to besuccessful, like if we're not
there or not, we're not puttingin the work, I mean, no one else
is gonna do it.
I mean, we have some reallygreat coaches, so don't get me
wrong like we would not be wherewe're at without uh, without
our coaches, because they aresome godsense.
We had some moments, didn't we?
Speaker 1 (18:08):
I'm very glad that we've got them, yeah there was a
moment early days, early daysin the gym, where it's just
Aaron and I coaching, and thisis like anybody starting a small
business you got it.
You're kind of doing ityourself for a while.
Speaker 3 (18:21):
Yeah, and you got to like prepare yourself for that.
We're like, ok, you know itshouldn't be too long, like
we've got this, you do themorning.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
I do the morning or she does the afternoon, and we
just change passing by as we goand uh and I was cheerleading at
that time too yeah, you're alsocoaching cheerleading, yeah
Speaker 3 (18:42):
and we had this one moment.
I was like rushing out the doorand Tanner walked into the gym
and I just remember being likebecause he's like tall, he's, he
was muscular right, and I wasjust like in the car.
Austin, who's that guy?
Does he coach?
I don't know what it was.
It was his presence, the way hewalked into the gym and the way
(19:04):
he held himself and then, sureenough, yeah, and Tanner's been
coaching more now, which hasbeen good.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
He got a full-time job with the fire department.
Oh, yeah um, which is awesome,and now he's back part-time
coaching at the gym, which isawesome, so it's been good.
So we've had more help, whichis great so you touched on
something.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
Let's dig in a little deeper.
Tell me about being businessowners and partners.
What is that experience like?
How does it work?
How do you make it work it?
Speaker 1 (19:32):
It's unique for sure.
I mean, I don't know manycouples, at least from I mean
I'm still young, I guess but Idon't know many couples that own
businesses together and aretogether as well and train
together and train together andgo grocery shopping together.
No, it's good, it is reallygood.
(19:54):
Um, I think early on in thebusiness we established some,
some roles in the business,which is super important, so
we're not kind of stepping oneach other's toes in the
business.
I think that's super important.
Like, um, you know, I myselfkind of deal with a lot of the
administrative and a lot of theemailing and kind of the, the
back end type stuff.
(20:15):
And Erin's doing a lot of the,the social media, the marketing
through social media.
She's doing apparel.
She's doing, um, a lot of uh,you know communications and
developments with differentbrands and things like that
which she's crushing right now.
We just we just partnered upwith uh like anarel company,
lskd I don't know if you gotthat email.
(20:36):
Where it's an Australian fitnesscompany brand that's also now
in the United States and reallyup and coming and we're getting
some discounts for our membersand our coaches as well, which
is awesome and potentially inthe future maybe collaborate
with a uniform and things likethat.
But I think that's really beenwell for us, as we've kind of
established like certain roles,so we're not kind of like
(20:59):
crisscrossing and oh, did you dothis and I do that?
And it's like Aaron knows, likethe emails are like that's me
or the, the administrative stuffor the financial stuff, like
that's me and I I don't reallyopen up the coast mountain
instagram like that's all Aaron.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
You know what I mean.
So it's like it's it's me, andI don't really open up the coast
on Instagram like that's allthere.
You know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
So it's like it's, it's important and that's gonna
save us time as well as when wehave these established roles,
and I think early on we kind ofdeveloped that and it's worked
for us and I think communicationis the biggest thing, like I
think we do really well at justalways.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
Like I will speak my mind if I'm like okay, we're
we're like because also, like,who's going to critique us on
our coaching if we don'tcritique each other?
So you know, like we do havethese conversations of like oh,
I noticed this today.
Or like, oh, I noticed that, sowe're really good at like,
obviously getting angry at eachother, but then you talk it out
(21:57):
and you realize, like you know,we have such knowledgeable
coaches that we're alwayswanting to get a little bit
better.
So it's just like it's kind ofnice that we feel like we have
to continue to learn andcontinue to reach, because our
employers are doing that as well.
So I think it's almost like acool thing to have that pressure
of like you know, I want toimpress him, like if he's
(22:18):
watching me.
I want him to be like whoa,that was a good class today, you
know like um, so I think thatkind of helps.
I mean, the other thing too islike it's so easy to be in the
gym, um, whether we're coachingor working out or just being
there.
It's not like somewhere whereyou're like maybe some people in
(22:41):
their office spaces, likeyou're sitting in their car to
go be in traffic.
We don't have that feeling whenwe're at work, so I don't think
anything ever really.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
Yeah, I always try to communicate, like, okay, I'm
going to, we're making a commentabout the coaching.
Don't get mad at me, but Ithink we could do this better.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
It's like establishing these things like a
little bit before or like thesame thing, or I think, yeah,
it's just kind of a warningbefore going into the next thing
.
Speaker 1 (23:09):
Yeah, but yeah, I guess the two, like aaron
touched on it, they're likecommunication and then
establishing roles in thebusiness.
Yeah, I think has been the two,like Aaron touched on it there,
like communication and thenestablishing roles in the
business.
Yeah, I think has been the twomost successful things for us to
work together as partners andbusiness partners.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
Yeah, I love that.
Speaker 1 (23:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
So let's talk about marketing and growth.
How has that been for the gym?
And then, what marketing haveyou really tried?
What worked, aaron?
Speaker 1 (23:35):
Not my role.
Speaker 3 (23:36):
We have not put any money into marketing.
Everything is being donethrough instagram or facebook.
We have not paid for anything,right?
no, nothing, no paid ads nothinglike that which has been crazy,
yeah, um and for us it's likepeople driving past they'll see
(23:58):
the crossfit sign and obviouslylike, if you're going down that
way to the dump or whatever,you're gonna see our crossfit
sign a lot if you go there, um,and it's normally like, okay,
like I've seen your sign acouple times, I thought I'd pop
my head in.
And then that's when we startto have that conversation of
like, oh, what are you lookingfor?
Come see the gym.
So I think that's like thebiggest one is just to sign out
(24:20):
the front.
Then the second one is likepeople bringing their friends
Right.
Yeah, referrals has been ourbiggest marketing?
Speaker 1 (24:28):
for sure, that is for sure.
Yeah, we did one bring a friendday, which was good, so we did
that.
As far as like some marketing,you know like there's always
like everybody's got.
Like you know, if you're at thegym you always have the
everybody has like the one ortwo, one or two friends like
come on, like come work out withme, like let's do this, and the
(24:49):
Bring a Friend Day was a goodway to kind of do that, with a
little community barbecue andstuff, which is awesome.
So we could look at that as away of marketing as well.
Referrals has been a huge thing.
Like we have like a rewardsprogram where if you refer
somebody to the gym, both of youget 25% off a month, which is
awesome.
Speaker 3 (25:12):
So that's like a huge one for marketing is referrals
with that, because we want toreward like our member.
That's bringing someone intothe gym as well, so yeah, that
was a nice way of doing thatyeah, so that's been really good
um but I think it's also maybethe content that I post on
Instagram and Facebook.
I try to make sure what thecommunity sees is kind of what
goes on in the gym and like wehave older members, so I really
(25:34):
like to show like our oldermembers on there we gym and like
we have older members, so Ireally like to show like our
older members on there we haveyoung, like we have our kids
class and now we're moving intoelementary so we're having like
that high school age.
So I think maybe I hope to showpeople what I see in the gym
and kind of like the communityaspect.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
A lot of our videos and reels are just of the
community not just the young 20yearolds throwing up a bunch of
weight and then you're like oh,this place isn't for me or I
can't do that, so I'm not goingto join.
It's like no, we're going toshow like on our social media
we're going to show what the gymis, and that's everybody right.
So, yeah, erin does a reallygood job of that, of making sure
(26:13):
our social media and ourposting and our content is what
the gym is about, which is a tonof different demographics.
Speaker 2 (26:20):
Yeah, yeah, I think it's like.
I think it's really true,whatever you're doing, because
my experience there as a clientis that the people also really
care.
Like when I like step outbecause I'm traveling or
something and I have jet lag andI've been gone a bit, people
(26:42):
are like where have you been?
Like not just the coaches, butlike the people that I work out
with.
They're like where have youbeen?
We've missed you, and I'm justlike what is happening here?
Speaker 1 (26:51):
like how do you?
Even notice I'm here that'slike such a that's such a cool
part about the gym and CrossFitgyms.
I mean there's other, I meanit's not just CrossFit gyms,
it's, you know, communityfitness based gyms where I feel
like, as adults, like you don'treally get that.
Yeah, that's such an amazingfeeling, like you're coming into
(27:12):
the gym and you've had sometime off and you have these
other adults that you have noconnection with other than the
gym.
Yeah, and they're like we missedyou like where have you been
and like you just don't get thatas it like as an adult, but
especially like I noticed it bigtime when I left university, I
was like wow, I was like cravingcommunity.
(27:34):
You crave it because in school,whether you're like in study
groups or sports teams andthings like that, you're kind of
just like organically throwninto these things and you're
kind of always in it in school,like you know kids in sports
programs and things like that,and then when you leave that
stuff you're like there's likethis hole and people need
community, People need peopleand so, yeah, that's such a I
(27:55):
love hearing that because it'ssuch a cool feeling and that's
like a big part of like whatfires us up at the gym is to
have that culture and theatmosphere of people doing that,
which is awesome.
I love to hear that.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
Yeah, I love to experience it.
It's great.
So what are what are the, likethe top three things you think
have really led to your growth?
And then do you have anythingthat didn't work, because we on
the podcast we like to talkabout what didn't work and like
give people the juicy story.
So is there anything that youtried that didn't work and what
(28:25):
are the top three things thatyou really think grew your
business?
Speaker 1 (28:30):
do you want to start, or me, I mean?
Speaker 3 (28:31):
I think I think having good coaches whether it's
like they're really great withpersonality or like they're
knowledgeable at what they'redoing I think for crossford gyms
, you know like we're sellingcoaching.
They are the forefront of yourbusiness and so if we don't have
good coaches at the front, itkind of like you know, if you're
having a bad day and you'relike, oh, and now we've got this
(28:54):
like 150 wobbles like this isgreat, this will make me feel
even better.
But then you have your coach atthe front, that's like all right
, they're giving you a good vibe.
You know, especially for theafternoon you guys have all been
at work all day.
You know like the coach canthen just like turn your mood
around and then you're like,okay, let's get these 150
wobbles out the way, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
So I personally think coaching is one of them yeah,
yeah, growth coaching, um,making sure that you're creating
relationships with the clients,so that keeping them and making
sure you're constantly checkingin with them is would be number
two.
And then number three is soyeah, I guess would say coaching
like run really really goodclasses to develop relationships
(29:34):
.
Three keep a top-notch facility.
I think.
I think that's up there, likewe're, you know, I'm sure you
notice, we're pretty ocd.
Yeah, we're organized,everything's clean in there and
it's going to set that toneright away like um, you know, if
we show care in the facilityand how we treat the equipment
and how clean treat theequipment and how clean it is
(29:55):
like people are also going tocare about that.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
It's so well done that there's something like if
somebody comes in and they'remessy it's noticeable as a
client.
I'm like what is going, likewhat like, because it's just
like you just don't see it.
You don't see mud on the flooror you don't see like a spilled
water bottle.
So when you see it, you're likewhat's happening?
Is there an earthquake?
Speaker 3 (30:16):
yeah, but then it's like easy to like get the
equipment.
And then it also makes it safeto get the equipment too,
because we have like that dumborack and you know we have hasn't
had an instance where someonehasn't put it back properly and
then someone else has gone tolike fix it and it's like
bruised their finger.
Yeah.
So it's like it's importantthat you're like respecting your
(30:39):
equipment enough that, likethings don't get broken either.
You know, a big thing for us islike don't let the dumbbell
drop from the top, you know,because one, if it hits on the
floor and rolls off and bouncesto the person next to you, it's
going to damage it.
But also, too, like the bettercare you look after your
equipment, the longer we get tohave it and you know, at the end
of the day, the more fun stuffwe can buy, you know, for the
(31:01):
gym, you know so tell me aboutthe fun stuff, because you
actually I get the benefit ofusing all of your fun innovative
equipment.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
so how do you, how do you think about that?
Where do you even find thesethings?
Like some of the things you'vehad me using to work out are
just so interesting to me Inever even would have thought,
like how do you keep on thecutting edge of the equipment
that helps your clients, like,really get a good workout and do
what you're saying wherethey're?
You're really building afoundation for other things you
(31:33):
want to do in your life.
Speaker 1 (31:39):
Yeah, yeah, like the equipment.
I mean you need your basic gymstuff, right, you need your bars
and your kettlebells and yourdumbbells and all that good
stuff.
And then, once you kind of havethat baseline of basic
equipment, you can start, Iguess, adding some fun tools and
things like sleds and sandbags.
And you know, when you addthese fun tools to training as
well, it keeps a few things, itkeeps the coaching engaged
(32:00):
because you get to coach somedifferent movements as well.
So it's enjoyable for thecoaches.
It's obviously enjoyable forthe clients as well.
You know they get to usedifferent pieces of equipment.
You know, maybe instead of abarbell every single day or a
dumbbell, it's like, okay, I getto use a sandbag like this is
fun, it keeps like the trainingfresh and exciting and it also
(32:20):
will help increase your fitnesslevel because you're going to be
using different objects anddifferent pieces of equipment.
That's going to maybe usedifferent, different muscles and
different ranges of motion.
That kind of goes along withusing like different types of
bars, like we've used like thetrap bar, the safety squat bar
and things like that.
Um, and I learned a lot of thatstuff from Jordan at CrossFit
(32:42):
Whistler, where he has like allthe toys in the gym and kind of
explained to me why havingdifferent pieces of equipment is
important not only forincreasing strength and and
fitness, but also like justkeeping the client and the coach
a little more engaged with thatstuff as well.
So, um, that's where we.
That's kind of a big motivatorfor getting some of the fun
(33:03):
quote.
Unquote fun stuff, yeah.
Speaker 2 (33:06):
I love it.
Yeah, I have a lot of fun withthat stuff, um for sure, um.
So what is next for coastmountain CrossFit?
What's your, what's your visionfor the next phase of your
business?
Speaker 1 (33:18):
do you want to go?
Speaker 3 (33:20):
well, we want that whole block, we want all of
those buildings.
That's number one.
Oh, I love that yeah, obviouslybecause we we really value like
everything that crossfit has tooffer and then like how do you
get better at CrossFit?
Or like functional movements isyour recovery?
So can we add some sort ofrecovery hot, cold, plunge
(33:43):
physio, RMT, PT studio, Like howcan we elevate what we already
offer?
It's kind of like in the fourthfor future.
Speaker 1 (33:53):
Yeah, yeah, like that's kind of like in the
fourth for future.
Yeah, yeah, like, um, that'skind of the next steps would be
adding more value to the gym ofyou know if it's, if it's
expanding into the, into thebuilding, to maybe get some
physio in there or some massage.
Um, yeah, hot, cold, plungesauna and things like that,
(34:15):
where we could make it like aone kind of one-stop shop.
Everything you need, coast,mountain has it to offer.
Um, that's kind of the, thenext step, the dream and the
vision.
That's the big um I would loveto have maybe a podcast studio,
maybe we launch a coast mountainpodcast potentially maybe we
(34:35):
talk training, we talk we talknutrition, whatever it is.
I would love that.
So I know I definitely look upto some some gyms um around the
world that have all of the.
They have like a one-stop shopyou go in.
It's like it's not just a gym,it's facility, and I would love
to have that one day, and sothat's kind of what's keeping us
(34:56):
motivated and that vision andkind of what those next steps
are going to be.
And it can also be an addedjust from the business side.
Right, you can have thosethings as potentially membership
add-ons as well.
It's like, okay, you have yourrecovery lounge, let's say with
maybe your compression and yourhot cold plunge and your sauna,
and it's like, okay, in order tohave access to this, it's X
(35:18):
amount of dollars more per monthon your membership, right,
because it's an added bonus.
So those are just some businessopportunities as well, kind of
from that side as well.
Speaker 3 (35:30):
And you would really like to go for like hockey.
Speaker 1 (35:35):
Well on the uh and you would really like to go for
like hockey yeah, like hockeytraining, like, yeah, that would
be the next.
That would be like the nextstep as well, as far as like
training would be getting moreinto some sports teams and and,
uh, whether, yeah, hockey isobviously my huge passion for
that, so I would love to getsome teams in there and that
would be great, and I've kind ofalready potentially started get
them getting the ball rollingwith some of that.
(35:56):
So we'll see, uh, we'll see howthat goes.
But, yeah, that's the, that'slike the next steps as well, as
is getting into some teamtraining, whether that's
partnering up with North VanMiner or the Winter Club and
things like that.
That would be really awesomeyeah, I love that awesome.
Speaker 2 (36:13):
Well, thank you both for being here and sharing your
story and helping everyone outthere who listens kind of figure
out how to do it for themselvestoo.
So, thank you, thank you forhaving us thank you so much for
having us.
Speaker 1 (36:24):
If anybody's interested in starting a gym,
get help.
Can't do it alone love itawesome.
I feel like, as adults, like you don't really
get that Like.
That's such an amazing feeling.
Like you're coming into the gymand you've had some time off
and you have these other adultsthat you have no connection with
other than the gym, and they'relike we missed you, like where
have you been?
And like there's like this holeand people need community,
(00:21):
people need people and so, yeah,that's's such a I love hearing
that because it's such a coolfeeling and that's like a big
part of like what fires us up atthe gym is to have that culture
and the atmosphere of peopledoing that, which is awesome
welcome to radio front desk, ashow that surfaces what real
people and real clinics aredoing to open, run and grow
successful health and wellnessbusinesses.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
I'm your host, denzel Ford, editor-in-chief of front
desk magazine by JNAP.
Here we have powerfulconversations with health and
wellness businesses.
I'm your host, denzel Ford,editor-in-chief of Front Desk
Magazine by Jane App.
Here we have powerfulconversations with health and
wellness professionals on thebusiness side of clinic life.
We hear their stories anddiscover what works and how to
do it, and we also talk aboutwhat doesn't work.
If you want to check out morestories like this, head to
frontdeskjaneapp.
(01:02):
I'm feeling over the moon abouttoday's episode because we're
doing something a little bitdifferent.
My guests, austin and Erin,aren't just the passionate
owners of Coast MountainCrossFit.
They're also people I knowpersonally.
I want to be upfront about that, because both of them have had
such a huge impact on my lifeand my journey in fitness and
health.
When I first stepped into theirgym, I told Austin that I
(01:25):
didn't believe I could doCrossFit anymore, but he just
said trust me, and I'm reallyglad I did.
But their story goes beyondjust inspiring people like me.
Austin discovered CrossFit as ateenager in Whistler, bc, and
it lit a fire within him thateventually led to nearly a
decade of coaching.
His wife and business partner,erin, grew up immersed in
(01:47):
gymnastics and cheerleading,which eventually brought her
into the CrossFit world.
Together, they had theopportunity to start an
incredible gym, thanks to twoinvestors who believed in their
coaching and saw their potentialas business owners.
I can't wait for you to meetthem.
Stick around, you're going tolove this one.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
I guess I get an email and we're at my dad's
house in Whistler, I get anemail from Ian, from Ian Banks,
you know, ian, yeah, about anopportunity to open up a
CrossFit gym together in NorthVancouver.
He was looking to open up a gymback in the North Van area and
he reached out to a few peoplefor sure and was kind of maybe
(02:32):
doing a bit of a scouting orinterview process on who the
right people would be to open upa gym back in North Van,
because that was that wasdefinitely his sole motivation
was getting a North, was justgetting a CrossFit gym back onto
the North Shore, getting acommunity back in that area
again.
And so in the summer we met andthen so there was Ian and then
(02:54):
there was also Amanda Joner aswell who were interested in both
of them partnering up withsomebody else to open up a
CrossFit gym in North Van and Iwas one of those candidates.
And so one of the asterisks orone of the rules I said was you
(03:16):
know, I'll be a candidate toopen up this gym with you, but
on one condition is I got tobring her with me.
So I got to bring my partner andwe were actually pretty early
into our relationship at thatpoint for sure, so it was
potentially a little bit of arisk.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
But when you know, you know, yeah, I knew that I
won.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
I knew I couldn't do it alone.
I won.
I knew I couldn't do it alonefor sure because Ian and Amanda
did kind of want to be a bithands-off with the business and
they wanted people who reallyknew what they were doing or
wanted to take the reins,because the goal for them was
not to own the gym.
The goal was to eventually stepaway from that and have
(04:02):
whoever's coming in to take fullownership eventually.
Step away from that and havewhoever's coming in to take full
ownership eventually.
And so after a few interviewswith other people and meetings
and things like that, like wemet them in Whistler once, we
went to North Van as well, therewas kind of a potentially a
couple people coming in on thegym for having like multiple
(04:23):
ownership and I kind of, uh, wekind of stepped up and I was
kind of like like this, I waslike it's, I like we don't want
too many chefs in the kitchen,like if we were going to do it
like we wanted to do our way.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, because I've seen gyms, you know
, with multiple owners and thedirection might be this way for
this year and who knows whatwill happen down the track.
So I think we were both like,okay, it's the two of us Like we
can manage this, because whatelse have we got going on right
now?
Speaker 2 (04:56):
How did you have that foresight?
Was it just from having seenother gyms that have too many
cooks in the kitchen?
Yeah, and then what that turnsinto, just like seeing, yeah,
just seeing it how.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Like you, were part of a few CrossFit gyms in
Australia and you saw whatworked and what didn't, and you
know me being under Jordan andWhistler for pretty much seven
years.
I definitely got a good insighton the business side of CrossFit
and kind of what like and abusiness side of owning a
CrossFit gym and you know, maybe, what works and what doesn't
work.
And obviously there's things inWhistler that are going to be
(05:29):
super unique because it is aresort town compared to some
other things.
But I think with thecombination of our experience of
being in the CrossFit space fora long time and you being part
of definitely more gyms than mewe kind of had an idea of how we
wanted to run things off of thebat and Ian and Amanda liked
(05:49):
our vision for the gym and so weended up being the candidates
or the people that they kind ofwent with, that they were going
to invest in, to start up thegym, and it was totally so that
was like July and then September.
Speaker 3 (06:05):
We were down here, we moved down here and then we
were looking at the space thatwe're in now.
I still remember like I thinkwe met them three times to see
it and then it was all go, go,go.
From there it was like Octoberwas the month we were just like
trying to get the equipment inthe walls painted, the floor
down.
Yeah, that was a lot, becauseit was still.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
Yeah, it was still kind of like, you know, october
2020, there was definitelyquestion marks about the
pandemic and COVID and thingslike that and kind of we.
You know Ian and Amanda hadtrust in us, which was amazing.
And also to the we.
We both knew that you know thiswould be over eventually and
you don't really get anopportunity like this, ever Like
(06:47):
.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
we're like wow this is such a unique story.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
This is such an amazing opportunity and it just
kind of goes to show like but wewere fortunate that there was a
group of people from anothergym so we weren't starting from
like ground zero with absolutelyno one.
We already had like some peoplethat by October were like
craving community.
So I think we were very luckyin that sense to have that
already and I developed thisrelationship with Ian before.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
So Ian just didn't, like, I guess, randomly pick me.
Like Ian, you know, comes andworks out in Whistler every so
often on weekends and holidaysand things like that.
He comes up, he goes up therequite a bit and so I'd met Ian
through the gym in Whistler andhe'd obviously seen my passion
of coaching and helping peopleout in the gym and it just kind
(07:36):
of goes to show like you kind oflook back on it now and you
just, you know, for any, youknow for anybody listening to
this, it's just like, just likeyou never.
It's just an example of likeyou never really know who's
watching.
Like do everything to the bestof your ability and if you have
a really big passion forsomething, like really go for it
, because I guess they obviouslysaw something yeah and uh and
(08:01):
you know it's we're so thankfulbecause it's now created this
like amazing career for us andyou know we're on this right
trajectory, so to say.
And so yeah, I guess throughjust hard work and you just
never know who's watching, Iguess.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
Yeah, I love that.
Yeah, so I do both the classesand the personal training with
you, Austin, and my experienceis that there's a lot of like
really individual attention thatyou get in the gym.
Like that is unique in myexperience.
But how do you do that?
How do you bring coaches inthat aren't you that are able to
(08:41):
teach this many people, thismany classes, that are offering
that same kind of thing, BecauseI'm not just getting.
Most of the time you don'tteach my classes that I'm doing.
It's Aaron or Juan and like, ifyou do a different time of day
than I do, you get somebody else.
So how do you build that inyour all of your coaches that
you're having in your gym?
Speaker 3 (09:05):
that you're having in your gym.
Well, I think we're very luckywith the coaches that have come
into the gym.
For us, martina is the onlycoach that we kind of we got her
set up with her level one.
We've kind of taught her how wewant to coach and kind of like
the flow of a class she hasteaching experience.
So there was kind of like theflow of a class, she has
teaching experience.
(09:26):
So there was kind of like anelement that we didn't have to
teach in her, like she had that,and that was like an element
that we looked for like veryeasily approachable for everyone
bubbly, she's got good energy,like you know, when martina's in
the class, like she's gonnahave some fun, some fun music on
um.
So more for us it was like wewant to kind of like get to know
(09:48):
you as a person, like you as aperson, what your personality is
like, um, and then like thecoaching side of things is
something that we can then teach.
Like you need to make sure yourknees are out for a squat.
That's something that you canteach over time, but I feel like
you can't really teachsomeone's personality to be the
way that you want it to be Rightso we're very lucky in the
sense that kind of like thecoaches that have approached us
(10:12):
or asked to get a job with us,they've always come to the gym
and like trained with us for alittle bit.
So we've kind of like got toknow them a couple of times or
at least been in their presence,um, before we've like been like
, yep, you're the one for thejob um, yeah, it's like the
culture we set to like throughAaron and I like that individual
(10:35):
attention in the classes.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
We voice that to our coaches and, like our, our kind
of onboarding with coaches isprobably a little bit more
lengthy than probably some otherCrossFit gyms where, even if
coaches are coming in withcoaching experience, we still
have them shadow classes.
So they're going to watch Aaronor myself coach a class and then
we're going to kind of slowly,you know, integrate that in.
(11:00):
You know, whether it's twoclasses, three classes, however
long it takes for thatinternship or onboarding to kind
of come through with somebodycoming with no experience, it's
probably going to be upwards ofprobably a month for that.
But they're basically, you know, kind of just watching the
class and then slowly, eachclass they start to take over
more and more of that class andthen it's either Aaron or myself
(11:21):
and then by the end we're justwatching them run the whole
class and then it's either Aaronor myself and then by the end
we're just watching them run thewhole class.
So it's a slow integration thatwe've kind of 10 or 15 people
(11:43):
like.
We're making sure thateverybody is getting individual
attention each time.
So that's super important.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
And do you most times when you're hiring you do like
an interview?
Do you have any like?
Is it just that interactionthat happens organically, that
you're kind of using as a mockor like a stand-in for an
interview, or do you actuallyalso do an interview?
How do?
Speaker 1 (12:06):
you for their coaches .
Yeah, yeah, we still do aninterview process yep.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
Do you have like a set of questions that you ask
them like?
How do you approach theinterview?
How do you evaluate whethersomeone is the right fit,
whether they can do the job?
Speaker 1 (12:18):
yeah, we definitely like, we definitely have a set
sort of questions.
So like, okay, what?
Like what is your intention ofcoaching?
What do you want to get out ofthis?
How much do you want to coach?
Like just probably some standardquestions, like other, um,
other companies do for sure.
And then, like aaron said, likejust getting them in the gym,
like that's the first, because,um, I mean, aaron can, can
(12:39):
probably add to this.
But you can get to know aperson a lot, especially if
they're already a coach orthey're passionate about
coaching and fitness.
You get to know a person quitea bit by just watching them work
out 100 percent, by watchingthem work out, watching them how
they participate in a classthemselves as a member.
(13:01):
Are they somebody that's in theback, kind of diddling and not
listening to the coach, andthey're like, oh, I kind of
already know what I'm doing, I'mgoing to do this.
Or, you know, am I at the frontlistening to the coach, trying
to get every attention of detailof coaching that I can just
like a student, and so watchingthem train and watching them in
a class says a lot about aperson and what kind of culture
(13:25):
and what kind of person we wantto bring on to our coaching
staff for sure.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
I mean, I'm sure you can agree with that, yeah
interesting yeah yeah, when Iinterview people, I'm doing
something similar in a muchsmaller moment.
But listeners are going to getsick of me saying this because I
say it every time.
But it's the first like coupleminutes.
A lot of our interviews arevirtual.
The first couple minutes wherethey're, they're not actually
thinking that they're on and I'm.
(13:50):
I'm like what are they sayingto me during that time when I
say, how was your day?
Do they complain about theirwork day?
Do they complain about theirmanager?
Do they complain about the workthey have to do?
Or do they say, no, my, myday's good.
I'm working on this hardproject and it's difficult, but
I think I found a solution.
Are they positive and that kindof thing?
So you learn a lot aboutsomebody by watching them when
they don't think you're gradingthem.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
That's a good point, yeah yeah, yeah, like we've
we've said that before too likeabout, about fitness.
It's like okay, like howsomebody approaches their
training.
I mean, obviously I'm biasedbecause I'm in the fitness space
, but I feel like how somebodyapproaches how they work out at
the gym probably bleeds intoother aspects of their life yeah
, for sure like okay, are youthe person like when it gets
(14:33):
hard, like in the gym?
are you just gonna kind of backoff and be like, oh, this is so
hard today, like why am I doingthis?
And it's like you know everydecision you make throughout the
day is going to lead tosomething down the road or
during that day, right?
So if you, kind of, in the gym,make that decision to when
things are hard, like whetheryou're you know the weight's
(14:55):
getting heavy and you got topush a couple more reps, or you
got a couple more minutes leftin that conditioning workout or
a couple more meters left, right, it's like hey, you have these
little mini decision momentsthroughout your training.
Are you going to choose to likeback off with that, or are you
going to choose to like pushthrough?
Speaker 2 (15:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
Right, and it's just like anything in work, or in
life as well, you always runacross these little, these
little roadblocks or theselittle decisions you have to
make throughout the day.
Right, and it's like, okay, amI going take the?
Speaker 3 (15:23):
the easy road or am?
Speaker 2 (15:24):
I gonna take the hard road right and if you just like
, take that hard road decisionlike every time, then there
becomes no other decision tomake yeah, you know what I mean,
yeah, yeah, there's a questionI was gonna ask later, but I
think it's related to someoneasking now there's a sign in the
gym that says strength isearned, and I'm wondering how
(15:44):
you think that applies to thebusiness side of your life, your
lives.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
I mean, when we open the gym, like I'm a big believer
in like manifesting generally,like writing it out or like at
least like seeing your visionsomewhere, so it's like really
important for me.
Maybe me I just wanted itpersonally for myself, um, but
Amanda actually made a wholebunch of like quotes and sayings
and we had them that was someend of the foot this up.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
Yeah, we had.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
I think that was like two in the bathroom and then
there's one somewhere elsehanging up, and I think we're
only down to like that strengthis earned and that one's like
put just above the plates.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
Yeah, I just thought, it just moved there.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
Yeah, I thought, this morning and I think you know
like a lot of people come inwith this intention of like, oh
I stronger, yeah, but it's likethe only way to get stronger is
like you have to put the work in.
Yeah, like there's no wayaround it.
If you don't challenge yourself, you won't get stronger.
Yeah, right, and like our, wealways try to tell people like
(16:44):
you know, like that, four, three, four, five days a week, that's
where you're going to start tosee the changes.
If you're just like, well, I'mgoing to add one strength day in
, you're going to see results,yes, in a year.
But if you want, like those,like faster results, and you
want to see it like you got tocome into the gym more than not,
yeah, so I think strength isearned.
(17:05):
For us is like I think we justboth come from backgrounds of
you have to.
I had to work to get where I amtoday.
Like nothing has really beenhanded to me.
Um, you know I came.
We both come from separatedfamilies and I started working
at 14 so that I could go on mytrips for for gymnastics.
(17:26):
So I was helping my mom pay.
So I've never known anythingdifferent.
Like if you want something, youhave to get up and go get it.
Yeah, um, and on the gymnasticsteam, like I was always team b,
so I was always like I gottawork that little bit harder to
try and get to team a, um, so Ijust think, yeah, I just think
if you want like all these shiny, like fun things, you just have
(17:46):
to put the work in and and um.
I think for our business to besuccessful, like if we're not
there or not, we're not puttingin the work, I mean, no one else
is gonna do it.
I mean, we have some reallygreat coaches, so don't get me
wrong like we would not be wherewe're at without uh, without
our coaches, because they aresome godsense.
We had some moments, didn't we?
Speaker 1 (18:08):
I'm very glad that we've got them, yeah there was a
moment early days, early daysin the gym, where it's just
Aaron and I coaching, and thisis like anybody starting a small
business you got it.
You're kind of doing ityourself for a while.
Speaker 3 (18:21):
Yeah, and you got to like prepare yourself for that.
We're like, ok, you know itshouldn't be too long, like
we've got this, you do themorning.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
I do the morning or she does the afternoon, and we
just change passing by as we goand uh and I was cheerleading at
that time too yeah, you're alsocoaching cheerleading, yeah
Speaker 3 (18:42):
and we had this one moment.
I was like rushing out the doorand Tanner walked into the gym
and I just remember being likebecause he's like tall, he's, he
was muscular right, and I wasjust like in the car.
Austin, who's that guy?
Does he coach?
I don't know what it was.
It was his presence, the way hewalked into the gym and the way
(19:04):
he held himself and then, sureenough, yeah, and Tanner's been
coaching more now, which hasbeen good.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
He got a full-time job with the fire department.
Oh, yeah um, which is awesome,and now he's back part-time
coaching at the gym, which isawesome, so it's been good.
So we've had more help, whichis great so you touched on
something.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
Let's dig in a little deeper.
Tell me about being businessowners and partners.
What is that experience like?
How does it work?
How do you make it work it?
Speaker 1 (19:32):
It's unique for sure.
I mean, I don't know manycouples, at least from I mean
I'm still young, I guess but Idon't know many couples that own
businesses together and aretogether as well and train
together and train together andgo grocery shopping together.
No, it's good, it is reallygood.
(19:54):
Um, I think early on in thebusiness we established some,
some roles in the business,which is super important, so
we're not kind of stepping oneach other's toes in the
business.
I think that's super important.
Like, um, you know, I myselfkind of deal with a lot of the
administrative and a lot of theemailing and kind of the, the
back end type stuff.
(20:15):
And Erin's doing a lot of the,the social media, the marketing
through social media.
She's doing apparel.
She's doing, um, a lot of uh,you know communications and
developments with differentbrands and things like that
which she's crushing right now.
We just we just partnered upwith uh like anarel company,
lskd I don't know if you gotthat email.
(20:36):
Where it's an Australian fitnesscompany brand that's also now
in the United States and reallyup and coming and we're getting
some discounts for our membersand our coaches as well, which
is awesome and potentially inthe future maybe collaborate
with a uniform and things likethat.
But I think that's really beenwell for us, as we've kind of
established like certain roles,so we're not kind of like
(20:59):
crisscrossing and oh, did you dothis and I do that?
And it's like Aaron knows, likethe emails are like that's me
or the, the administrative stuffor the financial stuff, like
that's me and I I don't reallyopen up the coast mountain
instagram like that's all Aaron.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
You know what I mean.
So it's like it's it's me, andI don't really open up the coast
on Instagram like that's allthere.
You know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
So it's like it's, it's important and that's gonna
save us time as well as when wehave these established roles,
and I think early on we kind ofdeveloped that and it's worked
for us and I think communicationis the biggest thing, like I
think we do really well at justalways.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
Like I will speak my mind if I'm like okay, we're
we're like because also, like,who's going to critique us on
our coaching if we don'tcritique each other?
So you know, like we do havethese conversations of like oh,
I noticed this today.
Or like, oh, I noticed that, sowe're really good at like,
obviously getting angry at eachother, but then you talk it out
(21:57):
and you realize, like you know,we have such knowledgeable
coaches that we're alwayswanting to get a little bit
better.
So it's just like it's kind ofnice that we feel like we have
to continue to learn andcontinue to reach, because our
employers are doing that as well.
So I think it's almost like acool thing to have that pressure
of like you know, I want toimpress him, like if he's
(22:18):
watching me.
I want him to be like whoa,that was a good class today, you
know like um, so I think thatkind of helps.
I mean, the other thing too islike it's so easy to be in the
gym, um, whether we're coachingor working out or just being
there.
It's not like somewhere whereyou're like maybe some people in
(22:41):
their office spaces, likeyou're sitting in their car to
go be in traffic.
We don't have that feeling whenwe're at work, so I don't think
anything ever really.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
Yeah, I always try to communicate, like, okay, I'm
going to, we're making a commentabout the coaching.
Don't get mad at me, but Ithink we could do this better.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
It's like establishing these things like a
little bit before or like thesame thing, or I think, yeah,
it's just kind of a warningbefore going into the next thing
.
Speaker 1 (23:09):
Yeah, but yeah, I guess the two, like aaron
touched on it, they're likecommunication and then
establishing roles in thebusiness.
Yeah, I think has been the two,like Aaron touched on it there,
like communication and thenestablishing roles in the
business.
Yeah, I think has been the twomost successful things for us to
work together as partners andbusiness partners.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
Yeah, I love that.
Speaker 1 (23:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
So let's talk about marketing and growth.
How has that been for the gym?
And then, what marketing haveyou really tried?
What worked, aaron?
Speaker 1 (23:35):
Not my role.
Speaker 3 (23:36):
We have not put any money into marketing.
Everything is being donethrough instagram or facebook.
We have not paid for anything,right?
no, nothing, no paid ads nothinglike that which has been crazy,
yeah, um and for us it's likepeople driving past they'll see
(23:58):
the crossfit sign and obviouslylike, if you're going down that
way to the dump or whatever,you're gonna see our crossfit
sign a lot if you go there, um,and it's normally like, okay,
like I've seen your sign acouple times, I thought I'd pop
my head in.
And then that's when we startto have that conversation of
like, oh, what are you lookingfor?
Come see the gym.
So I think that's like thebiggest one is just to sign out
(24:20):
the front.
Then the second one is likepeople bringing their friends
Right.
Yeah, referrals has been ourbiggest marketing?
Speaker 1 (24:28):
for sure, that is for sure.
Yeah, we did one bring a friendday, which was good, so we did
that.
As far as like some marketing,you know like there's always
like everybody's got.
Like you know, if you're at thegym you always have the
everybody has like the one ortwo, one or two friends like
come on, like come work out withme, like let's do this, and the
(24:49):
Bring a Friend Day was a goodway to kind of do that, with a
little community barbecue andstuff, which is awesome.
So we could look at that as away of marketing as well.
Referrals has been a huge thing.
Like we have like a rewardsprogram where if you refer
somebody to the gym, both of youget 25% off a month, which is
awesome.
Speaker 3 (25:12):
So that's like a huge one for marketing is referrals
with that, because we want toreward like our member.
That's bringing someone intothe gym as well, so yeah, that
was a nice way of doing thatyeah, so that's been really good
um but I think it's also maybethe content that I post on
Instagram and Facebook.
I try to make sure what thecommunity sees is kind of what
goes on in the gym and like wehave older members, so I really
(25:34):
like to show like our oldermembers on there we gym and like
we have older members, so Ireally like to show like our
older members on there we haveyoung, like we have our kids
class and now we're moving intoelementary so we're having like
that high school age.
So I think maybe I hope to showpeople what I see in the gym
and kind of like the communityaspect.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
A lot of our videos and reels are just of the
community not just the young 20yearolds throwing up a bunch of
weight and then you're like oh,this place isn't for me or I
can't do that, so I'm not goingto join.
It's like no, we're going toshow like on our social media
we're going to show what the gymis, and that's everybody right.
So, yeah, erin does a reallygood job of that, of making sure
(26:13):
our social media and ourposting and our content is what
the gym is about, which is a tonof different demographics.
Speaker 2 (26:20):
Yeah, yeah, I think it's like.
I think it's really true,whatever you're doing, because
my experience there as a clientis that the people also really
care.
Like when I like step outbecause I'm traveling or
something and I have jet lag andI've been gone a bit, people
(26:42):
are like where have you been?
Like not just the coaches, butlike the people that I work out
with.
They're like where have youbeen?
We've missed you, and I'm justlike what is happening here?
Speaker 1 (26:51):
like how do you?
Even notice I'm here that'slike such a that's such a cool
part about the gym and CrossFitgyms.
I mean there's other, I meanit's not just CrossFit gyms,
it's, you know, communityfitness based gyms where I feel
like, as adults, like you don'treally get that.
Yeah, that's such an amazingfeeling, like you're coming into
(27:12):
the gym and you've had sometime off and you have these
other adults that you have noconnection with other than the
gym.
Yeah, and they're like we missedyou like where have you been
and like you just don't get thatas it like as an adult, but
especially like I noticed it bigtime when I left university, I
was like wow, I was like cravingcommunity.
(27:34):
You crave it because in school,whether you're like in study
groups or sports teams andthings like that, you're kind of
just like organically throwninto these things and you're
kind of always in it in school,like you know kids in sports
programs and things like that,and then when you leave that
stuff you're like there's likethis hole and people need
community, People need peopleand so, yeah, that's such a I
(27:55):
love hearing that because it'ssuch a cool feeling and that's
like a big part of like whatfires us up at the gym is to
have that culture and theatmosphere of people doing that,
which is awesome.
I love to hear that.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
Yeah, I love to experience it.
It's great.
So what are what are the, likethe top three things you think
have really led to your growth?
And then do you have anythingthat didn't work, because we on
the podcast we like to talkabout what didn't work and like
give people the juicy story.
So is there anything that youtried that didn't work and what
(28:25):
are the top three things thatyou really think grew your
business?
Speaker 1 (28:30):
do you want to start, or me, I mean?
Speaker 3 (28:31):
I think I think having good coaches whether it's
like they're really great withpersonality or like they're
knowledgeable at what they'redoing I think for crossford gyms
, you know like we're sellingcoaching.
They are the forefront of yourbusiness and so if we don't have
good coaches at the front, itkind of like you know, if you're
having a bad day and you'relike, oh, and now we've got this
(28:54):
like 150 wobbles like this isgreat, this will make me feel
even better.
But then you have your coach atthe front, that's like all right
, they're giving you a good vibe.
You know, especially for theafternoon you guys have all been
at work all day.
You know like the coach canthen just like turn your mood
around and then you're like,okay, let's get these 150
wobbles out the way, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
So I personally think coaching is one of them yeah,
yeah, growth coaching, um,making sure that you're creating
relationships with the clients,so that keeping them and making
sure you're constantly checkingin with them is would be number
two.
And then number three is soyeah, I guess would say coaching
like run really really goodclasses to develop relationships
(29:34):
.
Three keep a top-notch facility.
I think.
I think that's up there, likewe're, you know, I'm sure you
notice, we're pretty ocd.
Yeah, we're organized,everything's clean in there and
it's going to set that toneright away like um, you know, if
we show care in the facilityand how we treat the equipment
and how clean treat theequipment and how clean it is
(29:55):
like people are also going tocare about that.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
It's so well done that there's something like if
somebody comes in and they'remessy it's noticeable as a
client.
I'm like what is going, likewhat like, because it's just
like you just don't see it.
You don't see mud on the flooror you don't see like a spilled
water bottle.
So when you see it, you're likewhat's happening?
Is there an earthquake?
Speaker 3 (30:16):
yeah, but then it's like easy to like get the
equipment.
And then it also makes it safeto get the equipment too,
because we have like that dumborack and you know we have hasn't
had an instance where someonehasn't put it back properly and
then someone else has gone tolike fix it and it's like
bruised their finger.
Yeah.
So it's like it's importantthat you're like respecting your
(30:39):
equipment enough that, likethings don't get broken either.
You know, a big thing for us islike don't let the dumbbell
drop from the top, you know,because one, if it hits on the
floor and rolls off and bouncesto the person next to you, it's
going to damage it.
But also, too, like the bettercare you look after your
equipment, the longer we get tohave it and you know, at the end
of the day, the more fun stuffwe can buy, you know, for the
(31:01):
gym, you know so tell me aboutthe fun stuff, because you
actually I get the benefit ofusing all of your fun innovative
equipment.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
so how do you, how do you think about that?
Where do you even find thesethings?
Like some of the things you'vehad me using to work out are
just so interesting to me Inever even would have thought,
like how do you keep on thecutting edge of the equipment
that helps your clients, like,really get a good workout and do
what you're saying wherethey're?
You're really building afoundation for other things you
(31:33):
want to do in your life.
Speaker 1 (31:39):
Yeah, yeah, like the equipment.
I mean you need your basic gymstuff, right, you need your bars
and your kettlebells and yourdumbbells and all that good
stuff.
And then, once you kind of havethat baseline of basic
equipment, you can start, Iguess, adding some fun tools and
things like sleds and sandbags.
And you know, when you addthese fun tools to training as
well, it keeps a few things, itkeeps the coaching engaged
(32:00):
because you get to coach somedifferent movements as well.
So it's enjoyable for thecoaches.
It's obviously enjoyable forthe clients as well.
You know they get to usedifferent pieces of equipment.
You know, maybe instead of abarbell every single day or a
dumbbell, it's like, okay, I getto use a sandbag like this is
fun, it keeps like the trainingfresh and exciting and it also
(32:20):
will help increase your fitnesslevel because you're going to be
using different objects anddifferent pieces of equipment.
That's going to maybe usedifferent, different muscles and
different ranges of motion.
That kind of goes along withusing like different types of
bars, like we've used like thetrap bar, the safety squat bar
and things like that.
Um, and I learned a lot of thatstuff from Jordan at CrossFit
(32:42):
Whistler, where he has like allthe toys in the gym and kind of
explained to me why havingdifferent pieces of equipment is
important not only forincreasing strength and and
fitness, but also like justkeeping the client and the coach
a little more engaged with thatstuff as well.
So, um, that's where we.
That's kind of a big motivatorfor getting some of the fun
(33:03):
quote.
Unquote fun stuff, yeah.
Speaker 2 (33:06):
I love it.
Yeah, I have a lot of fun withthat stuff, um for sure, um.
So what is next for coastmountain CrossFit?
What's your, what's your visionfor the next phase of your
business?
Speaker 1 (33:18):
do you want to go?
Speaker 3 (33:20):
well, we want that whole block, we want all of
those buildings.
That's number one.
Oh, I love that yeah, obviouslybecause we we really value like
everything that crossfit has tooffer and then like how do you
get better at CrossFit?
Or like functional movements isyour recovery?
So can we add some sort ofrecovery hot, cold, plunge
(33:43):
physio, RMT, PT studio, Like howcan we elevate what we already
offer?
It's kind of like in the fourthfor future.
Speaker 1 (33:53):
Yeah, yeah, like that's kind of like in the
fourth for future.
Yeah, yeah, like, um, that'skind of the next steps would be
adding more value to the gym ofyou know if it's, if it's
expanding into the, into thebuilding, to maybe get some
physio in there or some massage.
Um, yeah, hot, cold, plungesauna and things like that,
(34:15):
where we could make it like aone kind of one-stop shop.
Everything you need, coast,mountain has it to offer.
Um, that's kind of the, thenext step, the dream and the
vision.
That's the big um I would loveto have maybe a podcast studio,
maybe we launch a coast mountainpodcast potentially maybe we
(34:35):
talk training, we talk we talknutrition, whatever it is.
I would love that.
So I know I definitely look upto some some gyms um around the
world that have all of the.
They have like a one-stop shopyou go in.
It's like it's not just a gym,it's facility, and I would love
to have that one day, and sothat's kind of what's keeping us
(34:56):
motivated and that vision andkind of what those next steps
are going to be.
And it can also be an addedjust from the business side.
Right, you can have thosethings as potentially membership
add-ons as well.
It's like, okay, you have yourrecovery lounge, let's say with
maybe your compression and yourhot cold plunge and your sauna,
and it's like, okay, in order tohave access to this, it's X
(35:18):
amount of dollars more per monthon your membership, right,
because it's an added bonus.
So those are just some businessopportunities as well, kind of
from that side as well.
Speaker 3 (35:30):
And you would really like to go for like hockey.
Speaker 1 (35:35):
Well on the uh and you would really like to go for
like hockey yeah, like hockeytraining, like, yeah, that would
be the next.
That would be like the nextstep as well, as far as like
training would be getting moreinto some sports teams and and,
uh, whether, yeah, hockey isobviously my huge passion for
that, so I would love to getsome teams in there and that
would be great, and I've kind ofalready potentially started get
them getting the ball rollingwith some of that.
(35:56):
So we'll see, uh, we'll see howthat goes.
But, yeah, that's the, that'slike the next steps as well, as
is getting into some teamtraining, whether that's
partnering up with North VanMiner or the Winter Club and
things like that.
That would be really awesomeyeah, I love that awesome.
Speaker 2 (36:13):
Well, thank you both for being here and sharing your
story and helping everyone outthere who listens kind of figure
out how to do it for themselvestoo.
So, thank you, thank you forhaving us thank you so much for
having us.
Speaker 1 (36:24):
If anybody's interested in starting a gym,
get help.
Can't do it alone love itawesome.
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