We recently connected with Sam Leicht and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Sam thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

Pridefit started out of necessity during Covid. I had been working as an actor on Broadway and training clients in person leading up to March of 2020, and then all of my clients shifted online when gyms closed. My husband and I moved to Wisconsin for 6 months to be with family, and during that time I started writing fitness programming that could be done at home efficiently and effectively with only one set of dumbbells.

I thought that the programming that I was writing was going to be the most important part of the business, but in all reality, it ended up being just a fraction of what Pridefit would become. As I built consistency with releasing workouts and doing live sessions, our community grew larger and larger. People were coming to every workout and lifting each other up because this was their outlet to connect with other humans in a safe and nurturing way.

I never intended Pridefit to be a queer fitness community, but that’s what it organically became toward the end of 2020. Many members of the LGBTQIA+ community feel alienated by the fitness industry as a whole, and Pridefit felt safe and encouraging. The amount of members (gay AND straight) who said this was the first time in their entire life that they were sticking to a fitness program was staggering.

I often get asked why we need a “gay fitness program” as if I’m trying to say that the programming is going to be any different than a “straight fitness program.” Of course it’s not. Our programming is, dare I say, very good, but Pridefit members stay for more than that. They stay because they’re motivated to keep working in an encouraging and like-minded community. They stay because they see their peers get their workouts in and know that they can too.

Pridefit is about taking up space in an industry that is historically unwelcome to queer people. We help people get results by lifting them up and giving support in fitness, nutrition, and recovery.

But I knew that we needed to up our game to stay competitive in the fitness space. That’s when we launched Pridefit app.

In October of 2023, we launched our app after two years of development and the reception has been incredible.

We added new gym programs, recipes, shopping lists, protein guides, habit trackers, mini-courses, on-demand workouts, community messaging and more right at your fingertips.

We’re diving into the world of tech with new features and coaches to make 2024 the best year of fitness our members have ever had. It’s been a wild ride and we’ve only just begun!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I grew up in Wisconsin and got bullied in sports for being gay all growing up. I think that pushed me into the theater wing, and I eventually decided to go to school for musical theater after thinking my whole life that I wanted to be a doctor.

Once in Cleveland, my fitness journey got off to a rocky start. I thought I needed to gain 50lbs to look a certain way to be on Broadway, which led to me resenting exercise and food. I tried and tried and tried, and just couldn’t get the results I was looking for.

Once I moved to the city, I found a community who helped me look at fitness a little differently. They exercised to prove what their bodies could do, not to look a certain way. Of course, the aesthetics were a cherry on top, but looks were never the main goal. This is when I started my mentorship and training as a personal trainer and coach.

I was auditioning and training at the same time until I went on tour with a show called The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical. After tour, the show went to Broadway until the beginning of 2020.

That’s when Pridefit started!

How did you build your audience on social media?

My biggest suggestion for social media is to niche down way more than you possibly think you should. It was super scary to do this because you think you’re getting rid of part of your audience. Instead, I think it’s helpful to think of ADDING people to your audience who you’re actually speaking to.

Of course, posting regularly and batching content is super helpful, but figuring out WHO you’re speaking to is the first step.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

We use social and digital ads to get new clients.

Contact Info:

• Website: pridefit.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/pridefit
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/samleicht