I’ve operated this gym for 8+ years and to this day it is still hard for me to leave the gym. Just ask my wife.
This realization came to me when Luke asked me one day as I was leaving…”Dude you can’t go home huh?

I was almost filled with guilt. Shouldn’t I be excited to go home to see my wife?

Early on when you open a business it’s really difficult to turn off the lights every night. You question whether you did a good day of work. Was I productive? Are we better today than we were yesterday? Do I need to mop the floor again before I leave? I need to make sure it’s clean before classes tomorrow.

Initially, like any business owner it is hard to leave work because you feel like you have so much to do. As our community grew, this feeling became an increasingly familiar feeling. I wanted to get home to my family (whom I love dearly), but yet I felt like I could not leave.

I’m going to share an inside secret with you. If you’ve ever been at the gym and caught myself or one of our staff talking to you… it’s because we have a rule. It’s called “the 5 minute rule” To this day i think some coaches that are no longer coaches at our gym and are now members still abide by these rules.  I also have a 10 foot rule. This is one I practice everyday. If you are within 10 feet of me i have to come up to you and say hi.

You know why? Because I want to get to know you. Because I care that you are here. And I want my staff, my community and extended family to care about you too. 

I was not always this way. I was 25 when I started Reason. I was not aware of what it meant to make someone feel like family until one day i was mid-work out and a prospective member came in. I continued my workout and gave the guy a head nod. One of the older members of our community approached me and said:

“ dude what are you doing? Go say hi”.

Begrudgingly, I did. And that moment changed my life forever. That moment was a catalyst for the community you experience today.

So I know why it’s hard for me to leave the gym. Because it feels like I’m leaving one family to go to another.

Perhaps some of you may feel this way too.