Meet Jason Leenaarts | Gym Owner & Nutritionist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jason Leenaarts and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jason, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
When I made the decision to go into business for myself, my personal and professional life were both in a chaotic place. That was coupled with the fact that I opened my business in 2009 shortly after the economic downturn in 2008. Depending on your perspective, that was either a fantastic time to open my doors or a terrible one. What I did know was that I had spent the previous 16 years working for corporations and the desire to strike out on my own was strong. I knew I wanted to help people turn their lives around as I had been steadily doing for myself and, in the spring of 2009, I opened the doors to my personal training studio, Revolution Fitness & Therapy (RevFit).

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
The one thing I am the most proud of with my business is the community. It’s a roster of clients (who have become friends as well) that support each other not just within these four walls but outside of here as well. To be able to connect so many people with such a variety of backgrounds and interests and see them show up week after week for each other is beyond my ability to express appropriately. It’s not often you can hear someone say that they’re inspired every day they go to work, but I have the honor of being able to say that. It was a slow burn and nothing that happened here was an overnight success. It took a lot of time, effort, patience and tremendous support from everyone who crossed through our doors. The one thing that helped me the most was learning how and when to filter the success of a comparable business out of my mind. I had to focus on what and who was in front of me and let the business build off of those efforts. If anyone reading this is trying to break into this field, I can’t say it enough: network, network, network. Build your pipeline and let them do the advertising for you.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
For places to eat, we’d have to check out Bangkok Thai and Alejandro’s Amigos Taquiera. The hiking trails (weather permitting) are great around here. And I have to shamelessly plug the place to work out: Revolution Fitness & Therapy.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
It’s impossible for me to talk about my business without mentioning the impact of the woman who inspired it’s beginning. I have to show love to my grandmother, LaRue Wright. Without her, this business would likely have never been possible. In 2008, I lost my grandfather (her husband) and my uncle (her youngest son) within two months of each other. When they passed, my grandmother was left with several pieces of rental property in my hometown of Union City, Tennessee. She asked the members of the family if anyone had an interest in taking them over and I told her that I would do so. It wasn’t long after that I realized I would be pouring as much into the upkeep of those properties as I was making on them. So, I did a fire sale and sold the properties for a fraction of what they were worth on paper. I took that money, paid off the majority of my debt at the time and used the remainder of the money to buy all of the equipment for my training studio.

Website: www.revfittherapy.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/jasonleenaarts

Facebook: www.facebook.com/jason.leenaarts