We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Nic Edon a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Nic, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear from you about what you think Corporate America gets wrong in your industry and why it matters.
I have a lot I would like to say about the corporate aspect of the fitness industry, but I think most importantly I would like to speak about two specific points. Don’t get me wrong, the fitness industry is currently valued at over $250 billion, and there are a lot of corporate places out there doing things right, but there are a ton more doing things very wrong. I have spent nearly 20 years in the fitness industry. I have been every profession you can be in this industry, from a janitor to owner, I have literally done it all. In that time, I tried my best to keep my mouth shut and learn as much as I could, taking best practices from places that did things right, and discarding worst practices from places that did things wrong. Those best practices have been molded into my own formula and business model that I practice today.
First, trying to constantly re-invent the wheel. This drives me nuts, and happens constantly in this industry. Whether it be manufacturing new gym equipment that is worse and more poorly made than its predecessors, to re-packaging “diets” that have been around since the 60s and 70s. For example, “The Keto Diet” you may have heard of that has been extremely popular in recent years, well that used to be called the Atkins diet. Every 5 – 10 years they re-package a concept that we all know, call it something different, just so they can sell some books and programs online. Its the same high protein low carb concept that has been around for decades. At the end of the day, these marketing strategies are wildly successful, and people make a lot of money duping average people that don’t know any better. The truth is, there is no magic pill, you have to exert yourself physically, and you have to eat a clean well balanced diet to achieve any kind of real results.
Second, the “cheap” gym business model. I won’t mention any names, but there are several brands out there that offer memberships for practically nothing per month. I have bad news for you. This is not for you. They do not care about you or your fitness goals. This business model was invented and is being implemented to serve the very wealthy individual franchise location owners for one singular reason… tax havens. Have you ever heard a term “losses carried forward”? I didn’t either until I did a deep dive investigation into one of these very places. I learned that the corporate entity specifically gives franchise locations to a very select few types of people. They specifically look for wealthy and successful retirees, surgeons, lawyers, etc., to give franchises to. They offer a business model that intentionally operates at a loss year after year, and this gives the wealthy franchise owners an opportunity to avoid paying taxes, by utilizing losses carried forward. You don’t have to pay any taxes if the IRS thinks you don’t make any money. This is also the same place that will punish their employees should they be caught educating their members about nutrition. They actually could not care less about you or your fitness, as they would rather give you free pizza when you walk in the door and keep you in the dark about proper nutrition.
Those are my two biggest problems with the corporate fitness industry, and what I believe to be wrong.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
For those who don’t know me, I have been in the fitness industry, in one way or another, for 20 years. I started literally as a janitor for a major corporate brand of fitness facilities. Since then I have worked my way through nearly every job you can think of in gyms, PT, Membership Manager, Owner, you name it.
For the last 7.5 years I have been the owner/ operator of Edon Fitness and Training, which is a little “hardcore” gym in Brighton Colorado.
I originally got into the fitness industry when I fell in love with bodybuilding and weightlifting when I was about 15. I was introduced to weight lifting by a childhood friend of mine. We started training together in a tiny little weight room at his tennis club in Oklahoma City. When I felt I needed something a little more serious, I found the first real gym. I remember the first time I walked in to look around, I saw 10-15 absolutely jacked bodybuilders training, and I instantly knew that was the place to be if you were interested in that type of thing, an old converted bowling alley to gym called Tanique in north OKC.
After a few weeks of training there, I was approached by the coach that ran his business out of that gym. I remember it like it was yesterday, he walked up to me and simply said “we need to get you on stage.” Instantly I was training side by side with top level IFBB professional bodybuilders, two of which were competing on the highest stage in the sport, the Mr. Olympia. Just like my professional career, I did my best to just shut my mouth and absorb everything they could teach me like a sponge.
I went on to have a decent run in competitive bodybuilding, but that ended when I decided to go to college to try and make it to the next level as a baseball player, but I never lost my love for the sport of bodybuilding.
When it comes to my business, my goal from day 1 was to create the same type of gym that I stepped into when I was 16 and fell in love with bodybuilding. An old school, serious, hardcore weight room. That is all you need, along with eating right, to achieve whatever fitness goals you have. You don’t need a 100,000 sq ft facility with brand new shiny equipment, you dont need row after row of 60 treadmills. What you do need is an environment that caters to and surrounds yourself with serious people, otherwise you can continue to wait for 20 minutes for the teenagers on their phones to finish their tiktok scrolling on that machine you want to use at your current gym.
That is what we have created here. A clean, serious environment, hardcore gym, that actually enforces proper gym etiquette. Leave your ego and phone at the door, and come get to work.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
Oh absolutely. If you are out there reading this and want to start your own business, or be an entrepreneur, You are going to be told “No” a lot. I cannot tell you in my experience of trying to start my own business, or even having a successful business and trying to expand, how many times I have been told “No”. Too many to count. The fact is, no one is going to care about what you are trying to do more than yourself. You cannot have thin skin and be a business owner. You get told “No”, fold it up and put it in your piggy bank. Use that as fuel. You cannot give up, no matter how many times you hear it, you have to keep trying and you have to be willing to take risks to accomplish anything in this world.
If you have a true entrepreneurial spirit, hearing “No” will only make you more hungry. You have to be resilient in that respect.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
Treating everyone the same. If you knew me, or have been a member of my gym, you would know, respect is what I value the most. Whether that be something as simple as gym etiquette, leave things how you found them. Did you find this machine all sweaty with a ton of weight racked on it? No, you didn’t. Rack your weight, wipe it down, respect the other people around you that want to use that machine also. Or, memberships and cancellations. I treat everyone the exact same. I do not care for, nor do I require a member to tell me some long, drawn out, elaborate reason/ excuse as to why they need to cancel their membership. I don’t play the same games the corporate places do. I will not fight you if you wish to cancel your membership. You just need to do it properly, which at my gym is as simple as providing a 30 day notice, signing a form, and paying your final monthly dues payment. Closing your bank account, filing a chargeback, shutting off your debit card, all without ever even contacting me, are all very good examples of how NOT to try to “cancel” a gym membership.
I have learned that the customer is NOT always right. I will treat you with nothing but respect until you disrespect me, our rules, my staff, other members, or the gym itself. It does not matter to me what your race, religion, occupation, etc. is, I treat everyone the same. Some people love that about me and the way I run my business, and others not so much, specifically those that want preferential treatment or think they are better than everyone else that comes here. Those people don’t last here and aren’t welcome back.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.edonfitness.com
- Instagram: @edonfitness
Image Credits
I own all photos.