We recently connected with Katie Lunde and have shared our conversation below.
Katie, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.
In the fitness industry, there are so many options to choose from, ranging from different workout programs to different diets to the always popular, quick fix. While I tell people it is never a one size fits all situation, every person’s body is different, and we are all leading different lives, many approaches are made so that people change their lives to fit the program or the diet. At Farrell’s Extreme Bodyshaping, FXB Anthem for short, we look at it as a way of life, not just something you do for the short-term, and something that you work into your pre-existing life without changing too much. Our workouts are designed to fit into your schedule, they are only 45-minutes and are led by an instructor so all you have to do is show-up. There is literally no guesswork or fumbling through machines trying to figure out how the heck to use them. Likewise, our nutrition program is individually customized to each member. We use an InBody scan to provide a more detailed look into a person’s body composition, from there we calculate out their daily calories and macros (proteins, carbs, fats), and then we provide them with the knowledge and understanding so they can choose what they want to eat instead of restricting it down to just certain foods. With this approach, we are looking at creating healthy habits, understanding that it’s okay to eat ice cream or miss a workout because your day is just too jam-packed. It’s about finding the balance in life where 80-90% of the time, you are eating nutritious foods and getting into the gym, and the other small percentage of time, you are just living life without feeling guilty. At FXB Anthem, we help people lead healthier lives by offering workouts that can be adapted to any age and fitness level while also providing a baseline knowledge of nutrition so they can make healthy choices no matter if they are out to eat or cooking at home.
One unique way that we get people to really focus on their fitness and nutrition is through a 10-Week Challenge. We offer a 10-Week Challenge four times a year, so once per quarter, and at the end of those 10-Weeks, a winner is selected and presented with a check for $1,000. The winner is selected based on their attendance, positive changes to their InBody scan (decreasing body fat and increasing lean muscle), decreasing their mile run time while increasing the number of push-ups and sit-ups they can do in a minute, and their overall engagement with the program. We do a baseline evaluation, a check-in at week 5, and then a final evaluation at week 10. During these 10-weeks, we start from the basics at week 1 and build each week, offering additional support to participants with nutrition and form seminars to get a foundation for how to be successful in our program. These 10-Week Challenges are really fun and are a great way for people to build those skills, understand the importance of getting into the gym, and pay attention to what they are eating. The challenge isn’t setup as you do this and then you’re done, but more so as a jumping off point so you get into the routine and then continue once your 10-weeks are over. When we do these challenges for new members, we likewise offer different challenges for our other members to keep them engaged and focused on a goal. One thing I have learned in doing this is that competition is a great motivator, particularly for the $1,000 prize, but also just for other members to win and have bragging rights. Although they are essentially competing against each other, they are also motivating each other, holding each other accountable, and cheering others on when maybe they aren’t having the best day. I would equate this program to more of a team sports feel, you are all in it together and love to see those around you succeed while also making strides yourself.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I started with the Farrell’s brand while living in Denver, CO as a member. I became an instructor after going to the gym for a bit and getting to know the owner. Once COVID hit, I was sent home from my regular job and realized that FXB was keeping me engaged and committed more than anything else. I used this time to realize that I wasn’t meant to sit in my apartment, behind a desk for 8-10 hours a day, it was literally crushing my soul to do so. I talked with the owner of that Farrell’s at the time and floated the idea of me opening an FXB by her and she said YES, 100%. Instead of staying in CO, I also decided that this was my time to move back to AZ to be closer to my immediate family and bring FXB to North Phoenix. As this is the only FXB in AZ, I thought this was a great opportunity to establish the brand and bring this great program to a new community.
I think what drew me into the program is also what gets people interested and keeps them coming back. Our approach to health and wellness places community as top of mind, understanding that people are more likely to want to work out if they feel accepted, are held accountable, and have a safe place to de-stress. We provide our members with a place that they are excited to come to each day, reframing how they look at working out from “I have to go work out” to “I get to go work out”. If you are having a bad day or feeling a little stressed, our motto is to take it out on the bag. Working out, particularly kickboxing, is definitely a form of therapy and guaranteed, you will feel better after throwing some punches and kicks. On a more individual level, I enjoy getting to know each of my members, asking how their day was or how their trip was, and encourage them to form relationships with their peers. While we nurture these relationships within the gym, we also like to go out into the community for different social gatherings, so these relationships build even when we aren’t working out. We always have a party at the end of a 10-Week Challenge, we go to brunch, we meet out for dinner/drinks, and next month we will go line dancing. It is really fun to be a part of a community where people just enjoy each other and provide that support because they genuinely care.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
One of the biggest hurdles in starting FXB Anthem was just finding a space, getting a lease, and making our way through construction. At each of these steps, there seemed to be roadblocks that led to our location opening over a year after our desired open date. We started looking at spaces in early 2021, finding that there weren’t really many viable spots within the North Phoenix area to rent. We finally found a spot and started to negotiate the lease, which unfortunately took over a year. By this time, we are now in 2022 and getting ready to do demolition on the space and build the new interior to be a gym. As the space had previously been a restaurant, it took some time to get it reconfigured as a gym and constant calls to my general contractor wondering why this was taking so long. We ran into permit issues, difficulty getting supplies, and other construction mistakes that led to further setbacks. To fast forward to our opening day, which took place in January of 2023, I was now over 2.5 years from when the idea first started to opening our doors. I would say that this takes a huge amount of resilience and dedication as while I was waiting for the gym to open, I had relocated to Phoenix but had to find another job to make sure I had income and spend my free time working on bringing the gym to life. I think this is where many small business owners get discouraged, decide to call it quits, and/or realize that maybe this isn’t worth it. It is not easy to start a small business and having so many setbacks one right after the other makes it even harder.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
Before opening the gym, my background was in the nonprofit sector with an educational background in Social Work. While this background has lent itself to be useful as far as knowing how to be resourceful, caring about the person, and having the ability to form relationships with people, it has also been a disadvantage from the point of knowing when to wear my people hat vs. when my business hat needs to be on. For example, if a member comes with a problem, my initial instinct is to help them solve the problem and find a way forward. However, as a business owner, helping someone solve their problem cannot be at a total disadvantage to the business. If someone has a contract but now has an unforeseen issue that impedes finishing out their contract, I have had to learn to find a balance on how to accommodate my member but also keeping my business top of mind. It has been a unique shift in balancing both as in the nonprofit sector, you are generally doing what you can to help others and running a business that is also trying to help people just in a different way, takes a very unique approach. This has been a challenge and balancing act at times, but I do think it makes members feel more supported overall and helps when having those tough conversations. If you have ever decided to embark upon a path to better yourself, whether through a fitness program or going back to school or changing careers, it is not an easy process, and your progress is not linear. There will be many ups and then downs, setbacks, and just life occurrences that would make it easier to quit. This is when my background in psychology and social work has come in handy. There have been many times when I’m offering individual coaching to members where I lean back on my previous training and use that to help them succeed, listening to their problems and working with them to find solutions, or providing support and motivation so they continue. I am in this to help people make their lives better and when I see other people happy about their progress and ecstatic that their health is tangibly better, this is a win for me as well.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.fxbanthem.com
- Instagram: @fxbanthem
- Facebook: @fxbanthem
- Linkedin: FXB Anthem
Image Credits
Lauren Ashley Photography – Personal Photo
Ashley Hathaway Photography – Additional photos 1-3