We were lucky to catch up with Brendan McNeirney recently and have shared our conversation below.

Brendan, appreciate you joining us today. Alright, so we’d love to hear about how you got your first client or customer. What’s the story?

I was given the opportunity to introduce CrossFit to The Harris YMCA community in Charlotte, NC. The offered me $5 per person that I could get to train with me. I spotted a gentleman, Pastor Andrew, who was fairly fit, performing a really terrible push-up. I told him as much much and proceeded to cue him to perfect this simple movement. He became a client/friend/training partner for many years before moving California.

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 worked as a Lumber Sales rep in Charlotte, NC for almost 8. I had fallen in love with CrossFit during my time as a sales rep. I trained before work and felt as though I had already made a sale before starting my day. Despite the economy going sour in 2007-7, I continued to set records in my territory. We were bought out by a company that was situated outside of Charlotte. During my interview process, I expressed my desires of only traveling 2 days a week. I have 2 daughters that were 1&3 at the time. They offered me significantly more money than I asked and more spending allowance as well. However, they told me that I would need to be on the road 5 days a week. I stood up and walked out.
I’ve always loved sports and began refereeing at The Harris YMCA for many years. After not taking the sales position, I started picking up more hours and started the boys gymnastics program there as well. I approached the Head of Trainers about starting a CrossFit Program. Her necessities were a current YMCA employee and CrossFit Certification, both of which were covered.
I gained a great deal of members due to my ability to empathize with many on the pursuit of health. I had gone through a pretty dramatic weight loss and complete attitude shift with having turned down a large potential salary for the unknown of training and where it would take me.
I had almost 80 trainees in 3 months through word of mouth of success that the athletes were having training with me.
“Consistency + Persistency nets Resultency “ was our mantra.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

In 2020 we were shutdown, as many gyms were, due to the Pandemic. We loaned all of our equipment to our members and some non member friends. We continued to write Workouts and do zoom meetups to maintain our community feels. We maintained almost 90% of our membership through that time and came out the other side buying out another gym.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

The best source of new clients for CrossFit Mecklenburg has been referrals from members that have seen major results. The only marketing campaign we utilized was a $5 for 5 visits Groupon when we 1st opened. We had a member that came in 3 months after purchasing the pass. He is not a slight man, standing at 6’2 and 300lbs. After asking him what took him so long to come in, his response was “I was intimidated!” He has been with us for 10 years.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.CrossFitMecklenburg.com
• Instagram: @Crossfitmeck
• Facebook: CrossFit Mecklenburg
• Other: @brealmackfit

Image Credits
BAW Photos