Mike (00:02):
You decide to buy a gym during the two-week COVID shutdown, which turns out to be way more than two weeks. Exactly this happened to Jordan Fink. He shut his doors in March of 2020 before he had even met all his staff members. By June, he was wondering, what have I done? Last month, Jordan was given Two-Brain’s comeback of the year award. His story is next.
Chris (00:22):
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Mike (00:58):
This is Two-Brain Radio. And I’m your host, Mike Warkentin. Jordan Fink bought Clearlake CrossFit in March, but COVID didn’t even allow him to open his doors and build his new business. As the pandemic worsened, Jordan found his back against the wall, but instead of crumpling to the floor, he pushed off and took action. So Jordan, welcome to the show. Please tell me how you ended up buying an unprofitable gym during a pandemic.
Jordan (01:21):
Yeah, man. So, really our story kind of started in 2019, kind of in the fall. So we had just had our son in August and then bought a house and I think it was October, maybe September. And then I got the hot idea of, Hey, I should quit my job and buy a gym. So in December I was looking for a gym to buy.
Mike (01:44):
Huge changes. What was the job that you quit?
Jordan (01:47):
Yeah, so I was a student pastor for five years. So kind of the process was I just started Googling gyms for sale in Houston. And so I was looking and I found a gym that I wanted to buy. I had done, you know, I had dropped in on the gym a few times before they even knew that I was interested in buying it, just to kind of see what the culture was like and the place. 100% undercover went in to see if it was somewhere, you know, I wanted to be. And so in January, late January I kind of reached out and said, Hey, let’s do this. And so we started paperwork, all the good stuff, negotiations. And so anyway, you know, getting into March, we had moved pretty quickly and we were sitting down to sign papers, you know, kind of for the changing of the guard.
Jordan (02:40):
And, we already knew at that point, you know, that in two days the state was going under, you know, shutdown and, it was the two weeks to flatten the curve situation. Right. So, OK. Yeah, yeah, no problem. So I was like, OK, cool. Like let’s do it. Like I I’ll have time to get my stuff together and kind of get my ducks in a row before I really take hold of this thing. And so I honestly, I wasn’t sweating it. But it was one of those things where, you know, obviously it didn’t last two weeks. Right.
Mike (03:18):
So you know, and that was one of the tough things that we heard was there was that quote that you said two weeks to flatten the curve. We all heard that. And a lot of us shut down. Many of us were forced to shut down. And then all of a sudden two weeks stretched on. And I remember Chris, when Chris Cooper heard about this stuff happening in China and Australia with Two-Brain clients, he messaged me and he’s like, we got to figure out a way to help gym owners, because I don’t think this is going to be two weeks and no one has a plan, you know? And so we rushed to put that plan together, but so many gyms just didn’t have access to that. And so, you know, you’re not profitable at this point. The pandemic is full force. You haven’t even had a chance to meet all of your staff people. Like at what point did you get to the stage where you just said, like, what have I done?
Jordan (04:00):
Yeah. So it took me a while, honestly, and I don’t know if it was arrogance or I just didn’t have time to sit down and actually think about what was going on, but, you know, so this was all still pre Two-Brain for us. And my first team meeting was the team meeting where I was telling people, Hey, you know, we’re closing up because, you know, I don’t know how it was where you are or where everybody else is, but Texas is I do what I want. And so there was a lot of talks about businesses just staying open and completely defying the executive order. I mean, I guess so, I guess that’s how it goes around here, but that was a real thing, man. Like a lot of businesses were like, nah, we’re going to do what we want.
Jordan (04:44):
We’re just going to go ahead and say, executive orders don’t matter to us. And so my first team meeting, you know, I made the mistake of asking opinions of coaches on like, Hey, how are we going to handle this? What should we do? You know? Cause I wanted to give everybody a voice. I learned early on that sometimes everybody doesn’t need a voice. Because you know, at that time I had six part-time coaches and there was an even split of now we should stay open and absolutely not, like we’re scared for our lives. So, yeah, it was kind of a tense moment, stepping into that first first team meeting.
Mike (05:24):
Welcome to gym ownership. And you didn’t even know all these people personally, right? Like very well, correct.
Jordan (05:28):
No, I had, like, I was meeting them that day and as I was meeting them, we were having this conversation. And so for me, what it kinda came down to was like, you know, I was sitting there thinking, you know, these are moments that define people. And I didn’t want to be remembered for handling or responding to this moment poorly. And so I kind of just put that on my coaches and said, Hey look guys, like, you know, how do you want to be remembered in the way that you responded to this, specifically your kids? Cause they all had kids. Right. And so I was like, you know, we’re teaching our kids to respect authority and do all of these things, but we’re sitting here saying we’re going to defy authority. So it was just kind of that moment of like, Hey, we’re going to do this.
Jordan (06:12):
Like, we’re going to close down, we’re going to rent equipment to members. We’re going to jump on zoom calls, and do zoom classes. And you know, like I said, it was pre Two-Brain. So I know that wasn’t the go-to for Two-Brain gyms. But it also wasn’t the go-to for a lot of gyms in our area. They were waiting, they were waiting out the two weeks. They were like, OK, cool. We’ll shut down for two weeks. And so they did nothing. And so we were doing zoom calls from day one, jumping on, doing classes and it was kind of one of those things where, you know, membership kind of held steady. I didn’t have a bunch of people cancel in that time. So I think it stretched on through mid June. And so my, you know, what have I done moment didn’t happen until we actually went back to the gym from, you know, the shutdown, because I think people were playing this wait and see game.
Jordan (07:05):
Like what’s going to happen. What’s going to happen with COVID, what’s going to happen with the gym. What’s going to happen, you know, with all of this stuff, because you know, there was an announcement made during the shutdown that there was new ownership of the gym. And so nobody knew me. I had no rapport with anybody and we all know, yeah, exactly. Yeah. Oh, by the way, you know, previous owner’s gone and here I am, you don’t know me. This is a complete relationship business, so yeah, please don’t quit. So anyway, we get back to the gym and, you know, we open up and we do the whole, you know, mark spaces out on floors. We’re sanitizing like crazy. We’ve got, I think, eight bay doors. And so we had all of those guys open, so it was pretty much open air. But people were no longer playing the wait and see game.
Jordan (07:51):
There was a lot more people uncomfortable with coming back or used it as an excuse to quit. One of the two, I’m not sure, but they were bailing in mass numbers. And so my moment of, you know, what have I done came probably in that first or second week being back from shutdown, when it seemed like, you know, every other text that I got was another member saying, Hey, I’m out, Hey, I’m out. Hey, I’m out.Aand I don’t know if it was, you know, just fatigue from getting up at 3:30, you know, to drive to the gym, to coach the 5:15 class and then coach through the evening classes and getting home at nine., you know, I don’t know what it was, but there was a moment whenever I was standing in between classes, I was in an empty gym.
Jordan (08:39):
I was kind of looking around like, what have I done? You know? And I couldn’t, like there was not another move for me other than, you know, kind of, I mentioned that I was a student pastor in my background, so I lean heavy on my faith and I just hit my knees, started praying. I was like, man, God you gotta do something. You gotta do something big. You gotta do something big and fast. Like this gotta happen. Otherwise this is going to go south really quickly. And man, I can’t even, you know, I know not everybody subscribes to a religion, to Christianity, to, you know, whatever it might be. But man, I don’t believe in coincidence. I don’t believe in happenstance and some of the things that started just unfolding were so specific to what I was praying in that moment that, you know, I believe that God showed up in a really big way in that. And so, you know, that was kinda my, what have I done moment. OK.
Mike (09:29):
So that is like a very tough stretch of time. Like, you know, you changed jobs, you buy a business, you have a COVID shutdown. You have to introduce yourself to your staff who has no idea who you are. And then you have this, you know, hugely contentious issue. You have to sort out with them in the heart of Texas no less. And then after that, you’ve got to deal with trying to build relationships with people you’ve never met before and hold them into your business while you’re the new owner. That is just a load of stuff. So I gotta ask now, like what, you know, you pray, you do your thing, what happens? Like where do you go from there? Like why did mentorship figure into this? And what were some of those clear things that happened that made you say, OK, there is a plan here and things are moving.
Jordan (10:10):
Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, once you sign papers to be a gym owner, people’s marketing on Facebook is so solid that they know when you write your name on that piece of paper. And so they start shooting you all kinds of ads for gym guru stuff.
Mike (10:27):
Who does that? We don’t do that.
Jordan (10:29):
Well, honestly, I didn’t get any Two-Brain stuff. I do now obviously, but I was getting all of these, like, you know, gym gurus, the guy with the mustache, like all the stuff. Right. And so I kept seeing how, , you know, oh, we took this gym from this to this and this to this, and here’s our pandemic plan. And if you want access, just sign up with the email here, it’s free, whatever. And so I kept seeing it, but I’m a skeptic at heart.
Jordan (11:01):
And so, you know, I knew there was a better way, to do what I was doing. I knew somebody out there had a plan and I believe in shortcuts. And so I wanted to find that shortcut. But I was super skeptical of these guys and primarily because they were revolved around one personality. Right. So, you know, again, going back to my background, you know, I’m always skeptical of something of an organization that revolves around one person, because if that person ever stepped out or stepped away, you know, would this thing actually keep going? Or was it just simply because they were this charismatic personality that kept people around and people enjoyed being around that person, right. Is that their systems and processes or is it that one specific person? And so I would just putting it off, putting it off, putting it off, but the more I saw it, the more I was like, OK, there’s obviously a market for this.
Jordan (11:55):
And so I jumped on Google and with some solid SEO marketing that’s whenever Two-Brain popped up.
Mike (12:00):
That’s good.
Jordan (12:00):
Yeah. So I did a quick Google search and found Two-Brain, and it was the one that wasn’t revolving around one singular person. Right. So like Chris is obviously, you know, on there and up front and as he should be, but it was more so this, you know, overarching like, Hey, here’s the business. I don’t do all of this mentoring. I don’t do all of this coaching. Like, it’s not about me. It’s about, you know, the extremities of the business, the mentors that step in and help you. And I was still skeptical, man. Like I jumped on. And I looked at the reviews and I started Facebook messaging to people that had left reviews to find out like one, are you a real person?
Jordan (12:48):
And two, did this actually work for you? You know, like talk to me about where your gym is right now, because I don’t, you know, I don’t want to spend this kind of money if you know, it was a, you know, a quick shot of adrenaline and then it kind of fell back off and it wasn’t long-term sustainable. So everybody I messaged that messaged me back was super high on onTwo-Brain obviously, cause they left a review and it was a good one. So that was kinda why I booked my first call. And then, I was kind of sitting in a mindset of this can’t get any worse, you know, like, whenever you’re sitting there thinking like, this is kind of my last week to live, you know, do something to try and extend your time. Even if it’s going to cut down, you know, if you have seven days to live and you only get four left if you do this one thing, you know, but if it works, you can extend it for however many years you want, hat was kind of the mindset I went into it with. So I was like, well, OK, let’s, let’s throw some cash at this and see if we can make it happen.
Mike (13:52):
I love that you decided to take action because after like a series of we’ll call them beat downs and like, you know, obviously it wasn’t a beat down necessarily, but just after this series of tough things, when you’re looking at disaster, quote, unquote, some people would just pack it in and kind of, you know, walk away or whatever. It takes a bit of courage more than a bit probably to just make a move, especially to spend more money at that point. Right? You’re you’re looking at what am I going to do here? OK. I’ll sign up for an expensive mentorship program and try and fix this thing. I mean, that’s not a move everyone would make, so congratulations for doing that. What happens now?
Chris (14:30):
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Mike (15:58):
So take me through the turnaround because this is the comeback of the year award for Two-Brain. Talk to me about the major things that you turned around. Like I know early on, I think you said your revenue streams were all group. Tell me about some of the things that happened to make this comeback happen.
Jordan (16:13):
Yeah. So whenever I’d jumped on with Matt and started jumping really into that, that mentoring—
Mike (16:17):
This is Matt VanShoyck, correct?
Jordan (16:17):
Correct. Yeah. That’s my mentor. He’s a stud. Does his thing, helps me do mine. And, so anyway, whenever I jumped on with him, you know, he started guiding me kind of through this process and the big one was, you know, kind of getting that staff playbook put together that, you know, Hey, here’s our standard operating procedures. Here’s what we need to do. Here’s how we bring new clients in. This is the step-by-step process of, you know, this is like bare minimum, bare bones. This is what it should look like. And obviously, , you know, we weren’t anywhere close to those things. We were still pulling the whole, Hey, come in for a free class. Did you like it? Great. You know, let’s sign up.
Jordan (16:59):
At that point I wasn’t offering discounts, but, you know, I still had a bunch of members on discounts. Anyway, so like, I guess I took, you know, action and just started trying to fly through the SLPs and just get that foundation that ramp up, built as fast as I possibly could, because like I said, you know, like I’m working with a really short timeframe of if we don’t make money, this gym closes. And more importantly for me, it was, I had a new baby at home. I had a house that I just mortgaged that I couldn’t pay for in the moment. And so there was just this kind of, you know, I don’t want to say chaos, I guess it was chaos, but it didn’t feel like chaos in the moment because you don’t have time to sit and think about the chaos.
Jordan (17:45):
You just have time to simply do what you know you have do in order to make it work. So, those were the big ones was starting the NSI. I bumped my rates on incoming clients, you know, started that on ramp. And so my revenue started to go up because of those things, but then it kind of tapered off in like through December, you know, we were kind of up and down. We ran a nutrition kickstart at one point and boosted revenue there. You know, boosted revenue in January with an open prep course. So there was like little things that we did to boost revenue, but, you know, it was kind of getting frustrating because I knew I was doing the things correctly, but it just took time for my gym to like start actually running like a Two-Brain gym in the sense that, you know, my expenses don’t outweigh my revenue coming in. So December, you know, was a pretty tough month, going into that. But,that was my biggest action steps was just get the foundation for a solid business set up.
Mike (18:56):
In doing that, you kind of, you mentioned a lot of like challenging things, like you had to change rates on the incoming members you had to, did you have to eliminate discounts? I think you said you had some that were, that were old school there?
Jordan (19:07):
Yeah. So, you know, it’s funny, it turns out Two-Brain’s right on this, that the first people that are willing to bail on you are the people that are paying the least.
Mike (19:17):
Isn’t that weird?
Jordan (19:17):
Yeah. It’s kind of like one of those things where, you know, where your money is there, your heart is also type situations where I don’t have much money in this. I’m not have a whole lot of investment in it. It doesn’t mean a whole lot to me, so I’m going to bail out on that. And so I didn’t actually have to eliminate discounts.
Mike (19:40):
They eliminated themselves?
Jordan (19:40):
Yes. Those were all the people that were bailing out on me and like, and the people that still had discounts, they were within like $5 or so. Yeah. And so, honestly, it wasn’t worth the risk of losing three to five of those guys. Especially at this time, whenever everything mattered. So I never bumped the discounts off of those guys just because it wasn’t worth $200, you know, coming in extra a month to me. So, but at this point, you know, there is no discount. There is no, you know, friendship rate or whatever. Like there’s none of that.
Mike (20:22):
So you’ve got the structures, you’ve got like some gunshot wounds eliminated that could have caused problems down the line. You’ve got your rates in place at a sustainable, cause I’m sure you calculated those, knowing what you needed to make to keep this thing open and make it work and provide for your family. Are you diversifying revenue streams or at this point, because I knew he said it was all group. Now what happens?
Jordan (20:43):
Yeah, absolutely. So we’ve got personal training going, got nutrition coaching. We’ve got hybrid packages going. So that was huge. Was getting those things going. And we actually really struggled to get, you know, those things didn’t start to happen until this year. Probably more like in April or so. That was kind of whenever people were really starting to buy into those packages and honestly, that was on me because I wasn’t selling them very well. What I would do is I’d open my pricing binder and say, Hey, here’s this really expensive thing. And if you said, Hey, let’s go for it. I’d be like, yes, if you know, you told me no on that first note, I would just drop. So you, cause I knew I could sell my on-ramp package to anybody. I knew I could sell group fitness to anybody. So I would just drop, sell you real fast because I was just trying to get members in as fast as I possibly could.
Mike (21:37):
To be fair, you kind of needed it at that point. So I understand why you would operate like that.
Jordan (21:40):
I absolutely needed it, but I also think that it slowed down my rate of growth pretty substantially. I think I would’ve had a much faster, you know, acceleration coming through January because December, I mean, I’m telling you December, there was this second mass exodus, the first one happened in June and then there’s a second mass Exodus in December. And you know, that was the one where we went in the hole big time. And I told my wife, I was like, Hey look like if this happens, you know, through the next couple of months, you know, I’m updating the resume and I’m getting a freaking job because—
Mike (22:19):
December, 2020?
Jordan (22:21):
Yes, December, 2020. And then we had this mass influx of people, you know, new year, new me type situation, people were pretending COVID didn’t exist anymore. It was awesome. Like we added like 23 or something like that in January. And then the trend just kind of continued through March, kept adding people like crazy. We were doing nutrition kickstart, we were doing open prep.So those things were revenue boosters that they can sell t-shirts at one point. And none of those things were like the thing, but it was helpful. Most of it was, you know, recurring revenue in gym memberships and stuff like that. So, yeah, that was kind of that turnaround, I guess, from December to March.
Mike (23:10):
So what you did was you laid the foundation for this explosion essentially by getting everything in place properly, you know, in the middle and toward the end of 2020, and then capitalizing in 2021. And what I mean by that is you got your rates adjusted. So you’re bringing in every new person at a rate that’s sustainable. And then you’ve also got, you know, your quote unquote discount package, which is group training and so forth, but you’ve also got these high value hybrid, much more involved programs. So then now how many of the new people were you selling on those we’ll call them, you know, gold packages, whatever the upper level stuff?
Jordan (23:46):
Yeah. Honestly, not very many man, like maybe maybe one a month.
Mike (23:52):
Like it’s a larger number than the group thing,
Jordan (23:56):
Yeah, no 100%. It was, you know, and so selling one of those was like selling two or three group packages. But it, you know, like I said, I just, wasn’t doing a great job of selling it. I was, you know, offering it and, you know, on the first, you know, pushback or, you know, objection, I was just like, OK, cool. Like, let’s go to onramp. Like, this is where we’ll start. And then we can come back to this later. And little, you know, did I know that it was much harder to sell somebody personal training coming out of on-ramp, you know, because the rate’s going back up. Right. So, I guess that, I mean, we did sell a few, but like we were selling them very little at this point, you know, starting last month I changed my pricing binder to you don’t have an option here.
Jordan (24:42):
You know, very few circstances will allow you to get into the gym without nutrition, group, on ramp or personal training. And on-ramp like, or excuse me, personal training and nutrition. So like at this point, 100% of my members that are coming in are now at those higher rates. And it’s, you know, we kinda, we hit 14 thousand dollars month in March coming from $6,000 in December. So that was, yeah, that was phenomenal. But then it kind of dropped back down, tapered off to about that 10k mark. And then June, I was talking with Matt and we kind of had this big, long conversation of, you know, like what do people really need? Because I was still struggling with this idea that, you know, man, I’m asking people to pay, you know, four to $700 for their fitness.
Jordan (25:41):
And that seems a little bit crazy, but the reality is if you’re actually, your heart’s in it to help people, you know, that’s what they need and this is what it’s worth, so freaking sell it. So that’s what I did. I just changed it to where, Hey, our front end offer is, like I said, nutrition, group, on-ramp or personal training and nutrition. You know, once we’re through the first 90 days where you’re going to see a ton of results, we’ll sit down, we’ll have a goal review and we’ll talk about, you know, if you’re happy with what’s going on and we’ll keep doing that thing, if you want to change it up and switch to personal training or switch to group or whatever that looks like, we’ll sit down and we’ll talk about that. But, at this point, you know, so we were posted up at that 10-k mark and then in June, I switched rates and then bam, you know, back up to, you know, 13 on reoccurring revenue. And now it’s gone up again for July and now I’m really excited about what’s getting ready to happen. Cause you know, I can sell half the number of memberships and double my money.
Mike (26:49):
So you really sharpened your pencil there, like so to speak, and you like dialed in your market, figured out who you wanted to sell to, and then figured out like the product that was legitimately going to help these people accomplish their goals. So you narrowed your focus and dialed in your service offering. And now you’re bringing in people that are paying, you know, they see, obviously see value in your product. And it allows you to bring in people at these great rates, but also to give them the success that they want. Like that must feel like an amazing thing coming from like the dark days of, you know, June, of the pandemic and even December of this year.
Jordan (27:21):
Yeah, no, that’s 100% correct. And, you know, obviously none of this happens without somebody kind of in your ear telling you like, Hey, this is a good idea. This is a bad idea, you know, go for it and like bring in some, you know, reality to the situation because when you’re in, you know, when you’re covered up with just all the daily stuff and on top of that, you’re not profitable, you don’t think clearly. And so it was kind of, I say we had a conversation, it was more of a, you know, I’m not gonna say argument, but like, Hey man, like here’s what I’m worried about with Matt. And he’s like, well, then sell it. You know, like he just like, kind of does, you know, just pushing you to capitalize on what you’re good at. And for me, that’s sales, like that is the one thing that I love to do.
Jordan (28:11):
I didn’t expect that going in, to love to sit down and sell people. Like most people, I kind of felt like it was going to be slimy and grimy and whatever. But at this point, you know, that’s what gets my heart rate up. That’s what I get excited about is I get to go meet a new person and tell them exactly what they need for fitness, and then they’re going to do it. And they’re going to see massive change in the first 12 weeks because they’re going to adhere to our program because we’re going to hold them accountable to their own goals. Right. Like, so I just like, I get excited about that at this point, rather than jumping in and coach in a group class or, you know, all the other daily tasks that I’m doing.
Mike (28:49):
Chris Cooper, I think was the original comeback of the year gym, where he founded the company obviously, but before he did, he had a gym that was not sustaining his life. And he sat on a park bench and had this deep dark moment where he had to figure out what to do and what he did was he paid for mentorship and he turned his business around, started a bunch more businesses, and now has this great big mentorship, worldwide company, including hundreds of gyms. And for all those gyms, Chris and the staff selected you as the comeback of the year. And you told me a funny story about how your idea of this award changed from when you heard about it to now. Tell me a little about that.
Jordan (29:25):
One. Yeah. So yeah, I’m not going to get into the story that I told you, but yeah, so like, I guess I just didn’t realize, you know, that it was a big deal. You know, I’d only been with Two-Brain for about a year and for me, I’m the type of guy that’s looking forward. I don’t use my rear view mirror whenever I drive very well. And I also don’t do that in my life very well. And so some of these, you know, some of it, even some of these questions is hard for me to answer because I don’t look back very often. Right. So, you know, it also makes me terrible at celebrating wins. I’m just constantly looking forward at the next thing and thinking like, I’m not where I want to be right now.
Jordan (30:05):
That’s where I want to be and the second that I get there that changes again and, I’m, you know, shooting for the next thing. And I forget about what’s happened in the past. And so, you know, whenever I got it, I would just kind of ho-hum about it. You know, I was like, OK, that’s cool. You know. I kind of felt, you know, a little bit weird about it in general, just because I was like, man, you know, I wish I wouldn’t have qualified for the comeback of the year. I wish I wouldn’t have had anything to come back from. And you know, and I don’t know why I thought this, but just kind of in my brain, I was thinking, you know, everybody’s going to get some kind of award. I had no idea how many clients that Two-Brain had.
Jordan (30:48):
Like, I was just kind of operating in my own little bubble with Matt and doing our thing. And so I, you know, the outside world was kind of closed off to me. And so I guess whenever I got it, it was just kinda like, oh, OK, cool. Like that’s neat. And then it didn’t really dawn on me that this was a bigger deal than what I realized until Chris had, you know, recorded that video of announcing the Two-Brain award winners. And there was like eight. And I was like, oh, OK. This isn’t like a, you know, everybody gets a prize, here’s your blue ribbon type situation. This was a selected group of people. And so at that point I was super grateful. And it kind of forced me to look back a little bit and go, oh yeah, like we were going to close the gym in March, if something big didn’t happen.
Jordan (31:42):
And it did. So, you know, it was, I don’t know, it’s kind of one of those things where I think for a lot of us gym owners and really probably just business owners in general, you feel like at some level, I don’t deserve this. Like I don’t deserve this group of people that comes and pays to work out in my gym. I don’t deserve the money. Like, I don’t know. There’s just this weird, like, but do I really deserve it? And so, yeah, that was kind of my thought process around it. And it humbled, I guess is a word that you could use. But also also grateful, you know, even for Two-Brain at that point, because like I said, we were going to close the gym in March and had there not been somebody to speak into the decisions I was making, the, you know, the moves that needed to happen. These things wouldn’t have happened. This isn’t something that I would have probably figured out on my own.
Mike (32:37):
I’m here to tell you that it is, you know, exactly like you said, it actually, it is a huge award because we have awards for like metrics and community and coach opportunity, education, all these other things. But this one really showcases someone who fought through something crazy. I guess like if your not a rear view mirror kind of guy, I totally get it. Well, when I heard this story and when our mentors heard the story of what you went throug, it was like, whoa, that is like, it’s hard enough to run a gym in certain circstances, but you went through some above and beyond stuff that really highlighted, like again, the mentors and everyone was talking, this is a crazy story. And what an inspirational thing. So, you know, allow me to look in the rear view mirror for you and say that like overcoming that stuff is an amazing thing.
Mike (33:21):
And it’s definitely gonna inspire some people because there are people out there listening right now who are struggling and maybe they haven’t come through, you know, the COVID pandemic in certain areas, or maybe they’re experiencing what you did, where they’ve reopened and things are dropping off. The cool part about your story is that you went through the toughest circumstances that we heard about and you kept fighting through, you had your peaks and valleys, but overall you laid the groundwork and now you have success. So it is possible for others. And I’ll ask you this, if someone’s out there, will you do for them what someone did for you and can they message you and let you, you know, tell your story and your opinion?
Jordan (33:54):
Yeah, absolutely. And I would, I guess I would just say too, like, you know, it’s really easy to get advice and get an opinion, whether it’s through message or whether it’s through your mentor. But my big thing would be, what are you going to do with it? Like, you’ve got to do it. It’s worked for other people. You have to do it. You can’t just gather information, at some point, that, you know, you just become an encyclopedia and you’re sat on the shelf. Like you’re not doing anything with the information you have, right. So even if it’s, you know, OK, I’m going to implement this, I’m really not sure that the ins and outs of this and like how it’s going to work. And you’re probably not going to be good at it, you know, from day one, but implement it.
Jordan (34:40):
And over time, you’re going to see what works, what doesn’t and how you can adjust this specifically for your gym. And I think that’s the beauty of the advice that’s given kind of in our circle of business owners and mentors is, Hey, this is the framework. This isn’t exactly how it has to be done. There’s no mandatory, Hey, you have to do your NSIs this way. You have to do your goal reviews this way. You have to use this language. It’s this broad like, Hey, here’s what works now, make it fit your gym. And it just takes time.
Mike (35:15):
I’m going to just summarize that with action is everything. That is, you would not find a single person in Two-Brain on the mentorship side, and that includes Chris, who would not believe that that is true, because like you said, we can give you all the resources in the world, but if you don’t find that thing inside you, that makes you act and change, nothing’s going to happen. So, Jordan, thanks so much for highlighting that and telling me, you know, what is really an incredible story and congratulations again on the comeback of the year award.
Jordan (35:40):
I appreciate it, man.
Mike (35:43):
I’m Mike Warkentin and that was Two-Brain award winner Jordan Fink. Two-Brain can help you turn your business around too. Visit Two-Brain business.com to book a free call to find out more. And if you aren’t ready for that, be sure to join the Gym Owners United group on Facebook. Two-Brain founder Chris Cooper is in there all the time and he’ll give you enough free resources that you’ll be able to make the money you need to pay for mentorship. That’s Gym Owners United on Facebook. Join it today.
