Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Stacey Willis.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Hello and welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast.
Are you in need of a personaltrainer?
Well, one might be closer thanyou think.
Today I have the pleasure ofwelcoming RJ Balog, owner of the
train station.
Rj, thank you so much forjoining us today of course.
Thanks for having me absolutelywell, we're excited to learn
(00:40):
all about you and all about yourbusiness, so why don't we jump
right in and why don't you tellus about your company?
Speaker 3 (00:45):
All righty.
So I co-own and operate theTrain Station Fitness.
We are Youngstown's onlyCrossFit gym.
We also own and operate 80-20Nutrition, so that is
habit-based holistic nutritioncoaching.
So yeah, that's the twocompanies together.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
All right.
And how did you get started inthe business?
Speaker 3 (01:13):
So I was a gym member at the train station for a year
or so.
My wife Mariah was the generalmanager, and we purchased it a
little over a year and a halfago and started the nutrition
company from the ground up.
So yeah, that's those two.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Okay, and what are some misconceptions that people
have about being an owner in thefitness industry?
Speaker 3 (01:42):
Well, I think there are some misconceptions about
the sport of CrossFit itself.
A lot of times, what you see isthe high-flying top 1% of the
world doing CrossFit on ESPN andthe CrossFit Games, and what
I'd like people to know is thatCrossFit is for everybody.
It's community-based fitnessand anything that we do is
(02:07):
scalable, meaning that we can goup or down to meet you at your
current fitness level.
With the nutrition side ofthings, I think that when people
hear the word nutrition, theythink of dieting, caloric
restriction, and while that isthe case that we do those things
, depending on the person'sgoals, we also teach people
(02:32):
healthy habits and a way to eatto support any season.
So you know, I always say mygoal with nutrition clients is
to get them to shop and cook andeat sustainably for whatever
season of life they're in, sothat they don't need a coach one
day.
We don't like to string peoplealong for money.
We want to empower them.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
So who are your target audience and how do you
attract them?
Speaker 3 (03:00):
So for fitness, it's literally anybody.
So we have members that are intheir upper 70s that come to the
gym five days a week and doCrossFit classes.
We do personal training with avariety of ages and skill levels
.
We have youth classes, startingunder 10 years old, running
through high school, and thenwith nutrition.
(03:22):
It just depends on their goals.
So our target is literallyeverybody.
We have your everyday weightloss client, we have people who
have health related goals, andthen we have performance
nutrition coaching as well forhigher end athletes.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
And outside of all of this work and nutrition and
fitness, what do you do for fun?
Speaker 3 (03:46):
Well, I am grinding pretty hard right now with the
startup business.
So you know I love what I do.
It's six or seven days a week,for sure A lot of long hours,
but outside of that I enjoyhiking.
I put a lot into my fitnessmyself.
So, yeah, I'm just building abrand and loving the journey
(04:10):
right now.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Well, let's switch gears then.
Can you describe a hardship ora life challenge that you
overcame and how it made youstronger?
What comes to mind?
Speaker 3 (04:23):
yeah, um, so I used to do a lot of concrete work in
my former career, so switchinggears from working for somebody
else to owning your own businessis certainly hard.
Um, a lot of business owners,especially in the wellness
industry, deal with impostersyndrome.
(04:44):
So sometimes it feels like, youknow, because you do what you
love to do and you help peoplechange their lives, you like it
so much that sometimes itdoesn't feel like a real job.
So I am constantly having toremind myself, my wife and my
coaches that we belong and we'reimportant.
(05:06):
And, yeah, imposter syndrome isreal.
You know, sometimes you getoverworked, sometimes you can't
separate work and other life.
So those are a few struggles.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
All right, well, tell our listeners one thing they
should remember about the trainstation, and then something that
they should remember about80-20.
Speaker 3 (05:29):
OK, so the train station is community based
fitness that you get to do withyour buddies.
Everything is scalable.
Crossfit is for everybody, it'sfor every fitness level and I
think it's the best type offitness to get results.
And then, when you pair thatwith good nutrition coaching
(05:51):
using a holistic framework andworking on healthy habits, the
combination of the two is verypowerful.
I'd like people to take awayfrom our nutrition coaching
services is that we teach peoplehow to implement healthy habits
that stay with them forever.
(06:12):
We don't like to think of it asa diet or a phase, but rather
the longevity of eating healthyand having good healthy habits.
So long term change fornutrition.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
Okay, and how can our listeners learn more about both
companies?
Speaker 3 (06:30):
Well, you can Google us for sure, we are out there.
Train Station has a website atthetrainstationfit 8020,.
We're really active on socialmedia.
So we have Instagram page 80underscore, 20 underscore,
nutrition.
That's our Instagram handle.
(06:52):
The train station also has anInstagram page.
We give a lot of good freecontent away.
We're also both on Facebook.
The train station Facebook pageis just it.
It's private for for membersonly, but uh, yeah, we're always
trying to interact with thecommunity and other small
business owners and and uh, tryto grow so we're easy to find.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
All right.
Well, rj, I really appreciateyou being on the show.
Um, we wish you and yourbusiness the very, very best of
luck.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
Thank you so much wish you and your business the
very, very best of luck.
Thank you so much.
Thanks for listening to theGood Neighbor Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go to GNPYoungstowncom.
That's GNPYoungstowncom, orcall 330-355-3122.
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Stacey Willis.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Hello and welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast.
Are you in need of a personaltrainer?
Well, one might be closer thanyou think.
Today I have the pleasure ofwelcoming RJ Balog, owner of the
train station.
Rj, thank you so much forjoining us today of course.
Thanks for having me absolutelywell, we're excited to learn
(00:40):
all about you and all about yourbusiness, so why don't we jump
right in and why don't you tellus about your company?
Speaker 3 (00:45):
All righty.
So I co-own and operate theTrain Station Fitness.
We are Youngstown's onlyCrossFit gym.
We also own and operate 80-20Nutrition, so that is
habit-based holistic nutritioncoaching.
So yeah, that's the twocompanies together.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
All right.
And how did you get started inthe business?
Speaker 3 (01:13):
So I was a gym member at the train station for a year
or so.
My wife Mariah was the generalmanager, and we purchased it a
little over a year and a halfago and started the nutrition
company from the ground up.
So yeah, that's those two.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Okay, and what are some misconceptions that people
have about being an owner in thefitness industry?
Speaker 3 (01:42):
Well, I think there are some misconceptions about
the sport of CrossFit itself.
A lot of times, what you see isthe high-flying top 1% of the
world doing CrossFit on ESPN andthe CrossFit Games, and what
I'd like people to know is thatCrossFit is for everybody.
It's community-based fitnessand anything that we do is
(02:07):
scalable, meaning that we can goup or down to meet you at your
current fitness level.
With the nutrition side ofthings, I think that when people
hear the word nutrition, theythink of dieting, caloric
restriction, and while that isthe case that we do those things
, depending on the person'sgoals, we also teach people
(02:32):
healthy habits and a way to eatto support any season.
So you know, I always say mygoal with nutrition clients is
to get them to shop and cook andeat sustainably for whatever
season of life they're in, sothat they don't need a coach one
day.
We don't like to string peoplealong for money.
We want to empower them.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
So who are your target audience and how do you
attract them?
Speaker 3 (03:00):
So for fitness, it's literally anybody.
So we have members that are intheir upper 70s that come to the
gym five days a week and doCrossFit classes.
We do personal training with avariety of ages and skill levels
.
We have youth classes, startingunder 10 years old, running
through high school, and thenwith nutrition.
(03:22):
It just depends on their goals.
So our target is literallyeverybody.
We have your everyday weightloss client, we have people who
have health related goals, andthen we have performance
nutrition coaching as well forhigher end athletes.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
And outside of all of this work and nutrition and
fitness, what do you do for fun?
Speaker 3 (03:46):
Well, I am grinding pretty hard right now with the
startup business.
So you know I love what I do.
It's six or seven days a week,for sure A lot of long hours,
but outside of that I enjoyhiking.
I put a lot into my fitnessmyself.
So, yeah, I'm just building abrand and loving the journey
(04:10):
right now.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Well, let's switch gears then.
Can you describe a hardship ora life challenge that you
overcame and how it made youstronger?
What comes to mind?
Speaker 3 (04:23):
yeah, um, so I used to do a lot of concrete work in
my former career, so switchinggears from working for somebody
else to owning your own businessis certainly hard.
Um, a lot of business owners,especially in the wellness
industry, deal with impostersyndrome.
(04:44):
So sometimes it feels like, youknow, because you do what you
love to do and you help peoplechange their lives, you like it
so much that sometimes itdoesn't feel like a real job.
So I am constantly having toremind myself, my wife and my
coaches that we belong and we'reimportant.
(05:06):
And, yeah, imposter syndrome isreal.
You know, sometimes you getoverworked, sometimes you can't
separate work and other life.
So those are a few struggles.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
All right, well, tell our listeners one thing they
should remember about the trainstation, and then something that
they should remember about80-20.
Speaker 3 (05:29):
OK, so the train station is community based
fitness that you get to do withyour buddies.
Everything is scalable.
Crossfit is for everybody, it'sfor every fitness level and I
think it's the best type offitness to get results.
And then, when you pair thatwith good nutrition coaching
(05:51):
using a holistic framework andworking on healthy habits, the
combination of the two is verypowerful.
I'd like people to take awayfrom our nutrition coaching
services is that we teach peoplehow to implement healthy habits
that stay with them forever.
(06:12):
We don't like to think of it asa diet or a phase, but rather
the longevity of eating healthyand having good healthy habits.
So long term change fornutrition.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
Okay, and how can our listeners learn more about both
companies?
Speaker 3 (06:30):
Well, you can Google us for sure, we are out there.
Train Station has a website atthetrainstationfit 8020,.
We're really active on socialmedia.
So we have Instagram page 80underscore, 20 underscore,
nutrition.
That's our Instagram handle.
(06:52):
The train station also has anInstagram page.
We give a lot of good freecontent away.
We're also both on Facebook.
The train station Facebook pageis just it.
It's private for for membersonly, but uh, yeah, we're always
trying to interact with thecommunity and other small
business owners and and uh, tryto grow so we're easy to find.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
All right.
Well, rj, I really appreciateyou being on the show.
Um, we wish you and yourbusiness the very, very best of
luck.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
Thank you so much wish you and your business the
very, very best of luck.
Thank you so much.
Thanks for listening to theGood Neighbor Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go to GNPYoungstowncom.
That's GNPYoungstowncom, orcall 330-355-3122.
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