Why We're A Coaching Business

Do cheaper gym memberships make people more fit?
Data shows they don’t.
In fact, possession of a gym membership has almost zero correlation to your fitness.
Access to fitness equipment clearly doesn’t improve fitness (just ask your towel-rack treadmill in the basement.)
My life mission is to improve the quality and longevity of lives in Sault Ste. Marie. We have SO much for which to be thankful: born in a free country, with natural opportunity and beauty surrounding us. Born into a city of opportunity for careers or entrepreneurship; of four amazing seasons and mostly happy people.
I just want you to stick around to enjoy it.
I want to remove the burden of care from hospitals, and put it right into our own laps. I want you to take care of yourself, be happy and live a long life.
If selling cheap gym memberships was the best way to do that, I would. It’s certainly the easiest route: set-it-and-forget-it, just focus on selling contracts.
Instead, on the eve of our 13th anniversary, we’re still teaching people how to squat properly. We’re still using barbells and push-ups because those things work best.
I don’t sell access to equipment; I sell coaching.
I spend all day mentoring business owners. And the ironic truth is that owning a 24-hour, all-access, machine-based gym without coaching is a LOT easier than owning a gym like Catalyst. If I were starting from scratch and looking at the problem as “How can I make the most money in fitness?” that’s what I’d do: fill a space with a lot of equipment and sell access. I wouldn’t have to worry about training my coaches, or making sure clients get results. It makes a lot of logical sense.
But my business mentorship practice (and two of my books) is “Two-Brain Business”, because I believe in balancing the logical “best” choice with the empathetic “best” choice.
In other words, what can I do to help MOST?
It’s coaching.
It’s calling you when you don’t show up.
It’s partnering you with a person who will challenge and support you in the gym, and a community that will support you in life.
It’s teaching you how to do things for optimal effect, and then holding you to that standard when things get tough.
It’s teaching, high-fiving and caring way too much.
On the business side, I’m not going to compete against a $20 access pass. No thanks.
Instead, I’m going to focus on what actually CHANGES lives: coaching.
I’m going to provide an opportunity for caring coaches to make meaningful careers. And a place for clients to grow in their fitness, live long and prosper.
Some local gyms are struggling. Catalyst has never been stronger than it is now. I believe it’s because we understand our true value to our clients, and they, in turn, understand the value of coaching.
Thanks for reading these emails!