Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Nick Melnyk. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Nick, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

Adaptability, Understanding, and Passion.

In order to build a business that has the foundation for consistent growth I believe that having an ability to adapt to change is critical. In the year that my business has been open, I have shifted my thinking many times in order to yield greater success and growth. Especially in the industry I am in, we have to work extremely hard to avoid burnout in our clients. We can achieve this by keeping them on their toes and introducing new movements, and new experiences consistently and collaboratively.

Understanding the needs of your staff is critical. I have worked incredibly hard to ensure that my team feels that they have just as much decision-making power as I do when it comes to the business and the direction it heads in. By ensuring that they feel empowered to grow, their individual performance will only improve.

Passion is critical. The moment you lose your passion for the work you are doing is the day your business fails. I believe strongly that not only for myself, but for everyone on my team and the clients in my business. We must continue to crave education, crave what we do, and look for ways to get stronger.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I have been involved in the fitness industry for 10+ years. During my freshman year of college I was introduced to group fitness classes at the campus rec center. I took a spin class from an instructor named Monica and was so drawn to her, and the passion she had for the class she was delivering. I continued to go back and began getting an itch for auditioning to teach a class. From there it spiraled. I began teaching spin, bootcamps, TRX, circut training, and many other formats. I fell in love with the world of group fitness and its ability to connect people for 45 minutes that would likely never meet in any other setting.

During my junior year of college, I was introduced to CycleBar which was opening the first location in Hyde Park. I applied to work the front desk and eventually auditioned to teach. At the same time the company was building out a corporate team to help the brand franchise across the country. I was fortunate enough to get a job upon graduation and it took off! I was traveling the country opening CycleBar locations and meeting people all of the country who also had a passion for indoor cycling and group fitness in general.

I spread my wings a bit more as the years went on and began teaching at other fitness studios that offered various class types. But I always knew that Indoor Cycling was my number one passion. I knew deep down that I would eventually open my own studio that was different from what I had experienced elsewhere. I wanted a more local feel, less corporate and stuffy.

I was working with a business partner for about a year to develop the business. We ended up parting ways mutually but I was faced with a decision… do I keep going or do I give up on the dream. I decided to keep going and pursued opening what is now NYXX solo. I knew that I wanted to be smart financially and not get myself into a situation that didnt make sense. I saw so many CycleBar locations in scary situations caused by incredibly expensive build outs, and overuse of space. I fell into an amazing siutation in Norwood, Ohio with the space that is now NYXX. My landlord believed in me and I worked with family and friends to build the space. It is not high end by any means but it is perfect for us. We invested in what matters…. Bikes, Sound, and Quality instructors.

Our sucess has been due to our ability to grow slowly and allow for things to go wrong. I am so proud of the team I have built and we are just getting started.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

In the industry we are in, we are inundated with studios and people on social media that display what appears to be “perfection”. The look and appearance, the social following, the movements, the studios, etc. Everything looks so over the top and perfect. I let go of this expectation when building NXYX as mentioned in the other prompt to ensure that I was not put in a financial situation that would be detrimental.

What I ended up learning is that people prefer what we offer. A more real, raw, and welcoming environment where we do not take ourselves too seriously but we take what we do extremely seriously.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Less than a month after I received the keys to NYXX I was laid off from my full time job. It was also the same week as my birthday. I could have taken that experience and decided to fall apart and give up or turn it into the best possible situation. Sounds cheesy but it’s true.

I decided to push even harder to get the studio open and ready for people to experience it. It was a perfect opportunity for me to just dive in and get it done. We worked tirelessly and it paid off. It was a true realization that it all works out in the end and it all happens for a reason. I ended up landing another job and had an entire month off to focus solely on opening the studio before starting a new job.

Contact Info:

• Website: nyxxcycle.com
• Instagram: @nyxx_cyclestrength