We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Fred Dayton a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Fred, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?
Before we opened Mach983 CrossFit, I had coached CrossFit in various gyms for over 6 years. 2 of those years I coached for a local non-profit called Forging Youth Resilience (FYR) Denver – we provide CrossFit, life skills, mentoring to at-risk youth in the local Denver and Aurora communities. The idea of Mach983 CrossFit came about when I realized that these youth deserved a safe gym space to call home. This was my why and motivation for starting and continuing to operative a successful business.
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 was a few months from my oldest child being born, I was out of shape and not physically or mentally ready to be a father. I grew up playing sports, but a few years out of college and I wasn’t taking care of my health. I had tried going to a traditional gym, doing random exercises that I found on the Internet. But after a few days, I would lose interest and motivation and stop going to the gym. Till the day that I found CrossFit and gave it a try, and it changed my life forever. It was challenging, but also really fun to learn new things and be around a very supportive community. I started to see life changing things happen for me, not just feeling great inside, but physically changes to my body. All that to say – my focus was to improve my health so that I could take care of my family and many years later I am doing that for others is absolutely amazing!
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
It takes a community to run a successful business. if you have a good idea and the ability to execute said idea, surround yourself with people that believe in your idea and there is no doubt that idea will be successful.. This idea has NOTHING to do with asking your friends, family, and community for money to start your business. It has more to do with connecting, supporting, and just showing up when called upon. Built partnerships with other local small businesses – show up when they need you and support them when you can. Partnership inside and outside of your industry are so important. I find that if we put community first, there is nothing stopping us from being the best possible CrossFit gym in Denver.
How did you build your audience on social media?
Be yourself. Post when you can and what you think will connect with your audience. Don’t use prescribed or templated post, post relatable topics and pictures that define you. People usually buy into your business because they believe in you and your believes, not what social media influence believes is the best thing for your business. We may not have the largest social media following, but we damn sure have the best community. We highlight our partnerships with other local businesses, fitness advice, new clients – their successes and failures, fun events, and so much more. One thing my wife told was not even post has to be 100% perfect, sometimes we can fixated on perfection – which then prevents us from focusing on other positive things in our business. If you have a 75% solution on a social media post, go for it. Who cares that you spelled something wrong in the post text, own it and move on with your core mission.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.mach983crossfit.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mach983_crossfit/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Mach983CrossFit/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/mach983-crossfit-aurora
