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

Alright, Ronald thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

Growing up in Lycoming County Pennsylvania I often found myself having to leave the area to truly do the things I enjoyed to do. As a teenager and throughout my twenties I was an avid BMX rider and although there were a few places close by to ride we would find ourselves traveling 1-4 hours on days off to go ride places that were superior and with people who could teach us things.

In 2008 I began training mixed martial arts and got introduced to Brazillian Jiu Jitsu and CrossFit within a short time of each other. Again there was an okay place to get instruction from near by the best place to go was an hour and a half away and I had begun regularly commuting.

I had gotten tired of traveling so far to do things I enjoyed so I worked my ass off and got help from a lot of people to bring CrossFit to the area. I was a part of the first two CrossFit Affiliates in this area and currently own the only one in the county CrossFit Tried and True.

In 2019 I got back into Jiu Jitsu and began traveling again. Then throughout the pandemic a lot of changes occurred which limited my ability to and decreased my desire to travel to a school that was 30+ minutes away. So I installed a mat room at Tried and True and began teaching beginner classes.

The goal for the future is to purchase land and build a building that houses the CrossFit gym, a dedicated Jiu Jitsu gym, and an outdoor bike park so people who want to do those things don’t have to go so far to do them.

The mission itself is to give people more to do that is good for them in this area.

Ronald, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

As I mentioned before I got into mixed martial arts in the beginning of 2008 because I was watching the UFC and admired the physiques of the fighters and at the time I was borderline obese weighing in at 257lbs on a just under 5’8″ frame.

I worked my tail off for 6 months and lost 80lbs and fought my first amateur fight. I continued to train and fought 5 more times over the course of 2 years.

During that time I had been helping other fighters learn techniques and developed a love for teaching. Seeing someone’s eyes light up when a technique clicked was absolutely incredible.

Then once I had gotten into CrossFit and began to learn at how beneficial it was for people. I saw the opportunity to help a lot of people and teach at the same time. I went to my first CrossFit educational seminar in October of 2010 and fell in love with the people and the magic that is performing movements correctly and teaching people how to perform movements correctly.

I am the most proud of the fact that up until I started this I had bounced around from job to job and hated every single one of them. And since becoming a CrossFit Level 1 Coach I have stuck with it for 11 years.

The biggest problem that we solve is that we give people who are terrified of the conventional gym a place to go where they are welcomed, celebrated for being beginners, and provided with an environment in which they can grow in their psychical and more importantly their mental health.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

Honestly it’s been the fact that I am courageous enough to constantly promoting on social media and word of mouth. When we first opened I blasted Facebook 3-4 times a day that we would be offering the first two weeks of classes for free and we also had a raffle contest for people who shared our posts to help us promote. We had over 70 people in our doors on day one.

To this day I will talk with people in restaurants, the grocery store, or while pumping gas and tell them about what we do or ask them what they’re doing to take care of themselves. Then I’ll invite them in for a free trial either during our First Friday event or one on one with me.

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

We communicate directly with them via text or Facebook Messenger. We also are very active on our member’s social media posts and within our private facebook group.

We do what’s called Bright Spot Friday where we collect wins from our members throughout the week and then share them in our group with our member base to celebrate them.

They are what makes Tried and True what it is.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://triedandtrue.fit
• Instagram: tried.and.true_
• Facebook: triedandtrue.fit

Image Credits
Jenna Evelhair Bob Lesko