I developed gestational diabetes when I was pregnant with my 3rd baby (who is almost 11 now) and the advice I was given by the nutritionist blew my mind. Like, in a really bad way – your body can’t process carbs/gluten, but you should still be sure to eat 2 servings per meal? It’s OK if your blood sugar gets high and endangers your baby, we’ll just put you on some insulin!
I am not a medical professional, but that advice seemed wrong to me. So, I researched diabetes and healthy eating myself and listened to my body and inadvertently started primal eating. After my daughter was born (at 10-½ pounds) I had a lot of extra weight to lose and decided that way of eating was the way to do that. I ended up losing 35 pounds simply by eating clean and walking.
Once the weight started coming off I felt better and wanted to be more active. I started attending a kickboxing class at my son’s karate studio. I met some fun people there and eventually a bunch of us did our first Tough Mudder together. The leader of our Tough Mudder team, who was also a co-worker, (and in case you hadn’t guessed by now, eventually became my husband) started getting into this whole CrossFit thing, and I guess I somehow went along for the ride. We tried out a few of the boxes in our area and settled on one.
I was getting stronger, feeling better, losing weight, gaining muscle, and just felt all around better. I had found a community of people that supported me and I looked forward to working out each week. I felt like I belonged. My CrossFit gym was my third place (you know, the place you spend the most time at besides home and work.)
When you suffer through CrossFit workouts, it’s hard not to bond. Dirk and I had both developed a passion for CrossFit and everything it stood for and started talking about how we could help people the way that CrossFit had helped us. So we started talking about opening our own affiliate someday.
We had to make some serious life changes if we were going to make this happen so we set about doing that. I won’t bore you with all the gory details but we struggled for a bit to get it all together. Life is struggle and this was no different.
A few years later we decided to revisit the business plan. We made great strides in our personal lives, our finances were bouncing back, Dirk and I and my three kids were becoming a family, we moved out of our tiny 2 bedroom apartment and bought a spacious 5 bedroom house. We wanted to be able to provide a better future for ourselves and our kids and help as many people as we could, like we always intended.
I contacted a woman I deeply admired and have worked with over the years. I asked if her and her husband, as owners of a successful local printing company, would be our business mentors. (And just this year they sold their business to retire and spend time with their kids and grandkids!) Their employees clearly adored them, they definitely did a lot of things right, and I wanted to know how to do that too. We were still thinking that the affiliate opening would be a few years out. But, she urged us to start right away and to find a spot downtown. And so we did.
We then signed up for a Fuel Your Passion Seminar that 321Go Project was hosting in Utah at Chris Spealler’s gym. We took 2 days off of work and drove 1300 miles non-stop in the snow to get there. It was worth every penny and every mile driven.
That weekend was truly life-changing for us. We met very influential, intelligent, and helpful people. (One of which is still our business mentor!) We knew we needed to move forward right away. We came home and hit the ground running. The people we had met at the seminar helped us over the next few months, and a few short months later the culmination of all that hard work came together.
CrossFit Recursive was first affiliated on February 1st, 2014. It took a long time to find a the space and location we were looking for, but we signed that lease on March 1st and April 1st we started holding our first classes. We had our official Grand Opening on April 19th, 2014 – one day before our 1 year wedding anniversary.
We are eternally grateful for all the people in our lives the past few years. Whether they were put there to test us, teach us, or help us, there has been value to them being in our lives at some point.
It hasn’t been easy. It hasn’t always been profitable. There have been so many sleepless nights. So many worries. New gyms opening. Coaches and members leaving. Wondering what we could have done better. Wondering what we can do better going forward. Wondering what the future holds.
But, I have no regrets. Life is too short to not make the most of it when you can. The past eight years have been a roller coaster of ups and downs, highs and lows, and innumerable teaching moments and life lessons for all involved.
It has not been easy. I made a lot of mistakes. I have spent a lot of time in therapy. My kids have spent time in therapy. Dirk and I spend time in therapy. Ending marriages, starting new relationships, combining families, and starting business all at the same time is not something I recommend trying to take on. It took it’s toll.
But, we opened a gym! And then a few years later we expanded. And, we are still here, striving to be better every single day!