We recently connected with Brooks Lindquist and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Brooks, thanks for joining us today. Along with taking care of clients, taking care of our team is one of the most important things we can do as leaders. Looking back on your journey, did you have a boss that was really great? Maybe you can tell us about that boss and what made them a wonderful person to work for?
One of my first jobs way back in high school was doing masonry and construction for Rocky Mountain Hardscapes. My dad told me to get ahold of a guy by the name of Jason Lindseth. He said he started a construction business and they were looking for seasonal workers. I got in touch with him and he invited me over for an interview. I remember we had a brief introduction and before I left I was hired. I worked at Rocky Mountain for 6-7 years and over that time my boss, Jason, and I became really close. He’s 20 years older than me so we had a pretty unique relationship. He was a boss/mentor/friend/father figure all in one. Over the years I observed the way he did business and he didn’t operated like your typical general contractor. He was always very organized, had great systems in place for bidding, he was timely and communicated very well with customers. We were never allowed to go “shirtless” and instead had to wear t-shirts with our company logo everyday. He was honest and respectful of his employees, never raising his voice. The internal aspect of the business was just as impressive. Whether I realized it then or not, the lessons and takeaways from that job were the values that I would build my own business on years later. Jason was also one of the first members of my gym and we are still great friends to this day!
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?
My name is Brooks Lindquist and I am the proud owner of Volta Athletics in Great Falls, Montana. My love for fitness and sports dates back to my high school days. As a captain in soccer and basketball, I developed a passion for offering workout advice and training to friends, family and teammates. My cousin and I built a little home gym in our garage and back then, we didn’t have much for equipment; a box, some tires, a pull-up bar and a sketchy squat rack that we built out of 4×4 posts.
My first real experience of the life-changing power of fitness and nutrition was training my dad. He is an accountant and was always active but struggled with consistency during tax season. I took on the role of his trainer and wrote workouts for him and my mom and I assisted with his nutrition. The impact was significant – he lost 30 pounds and formed a lifelong habit of exercise and strength training. My dad is now 57, his joints feel better than ever and he still works out at our facility 4-5 times per week. Seeing the impact fitness can have on someone’s life fueled my desire to start a training facility.
At 20 years old, my dream of bringing accessible fitness to my hometown became a reality through the creation of Volta Athletics, established in 2011. Today, Volta Athletics is a thriving business offering a wide range of services, including group fitness classes, nutrition coaching, personal training, and an online program. We recently launched our own performance apparel line, printing everything in house and we now have our own coffee roast, a passion project!
Our business has become a true family affair, my wife is the brains of the business, my mom is our nutrition coach, my dad is my very patient advisor and tax-man, my sister writes a lot of the copy for our website, and I’m lucky enough to have brothers on both sides of the family that coach as well!
We have built a truly unique community that I’m so proud of. Through the years, the gym has consistently been a place where people of all backgrounds come together to challenge themselves, support each other, and reach their full potential. Every day, I’m inspired by the strength, determination, and passion of the community at Volta Athletics.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
Early on in my career as a trainer, I was always seeking ways of separating my self from the competition. Always looking for new and creative ways to bring in clients and build a deep trust and friendship with everyone that walks in the gym. That being said, I started Volta Athletics when I was just 20 years old and looking back I realize I still had some growing up to do. Haha! I really put a lot of stock into extremes or absolutes. Thinking everyone would see that I have a ‘secret’ or magic plan that worked for everyone or that I would appeal to more people by saying this is the only way to achieve ‘X.’
Over the years as I matured, I realized this is the very thing that’s wrong with the fitness industry. It is flooded with myths, misconceptions and absolutes. Selling products to consumers that if they take ‘X’ supplement they will look like them. I learned in order to build that trust with the people I trained, I needed to meet them exactly where they’re at. I’ve learned every one is unique and has very different lifestyles.
Now, when a new client comes in, whether for group fitness, personal training, or nutrition coaching, we always do a 1-on1 assessment. The purpose of this is to help us see what the individuals needs from our coaches, if they have any injuries or imbalances that need to be addressed. In this session we also discuss their goals, where they struggle and what the best approach is when starting. This information is then relayed to our coaches so every one is in tune with every person that walks in the door. When it come to health and fitness, their are no absolutes. I remind myself of this daily.
If you have multiple revenue streams in your business, would you mind opening up about what those streams are and how they fit together?
My wife, Emily, heads up the Volta Shop. We carry a variety of workout gear and apparel, along with coffee, protein and other supplements for those interested. This is something that we both really enjoy and get to put our creative minds together to continue to brainstorm the best way to meet the needs of our members.
We are building an e-commerce site as we speak and we are excited to be able to sell products outside of the gym. We also just launched our remote program which is killing it! Our remote program is a 60-minute training plan for individuals so they can follow our program from anywhere. This also includes a limited equipment options for those training at home. This is something I’ve been wanting to do for years and am pumped it has finally come to fruition. I am very proud of this training plan. It is the most well-rounded, balanced program I’ve ever put together. Each day includes breath work, mobility, strength, conditioning, core and recovery. 60 minutes of sweat from start to finish. This program will also be available to other gyms very soon!
Along with that, a friend of mine, Jerrin Uecker and I started Blackwall Agency in 2019. Jerrin was a freelance creator at the time and I had picked up a DSLR camera and taught myself the in-and-outs of shooting and editing to market the gym. Through conversation, we decided to start our own business because we saw a need for it in Great Falls. We started Blackwall Agency in late 2019.
Blackwall is a full-service creative agency. We offer business strategy, branding, website design, e-commerce, photography, video production, social media management, and advertising. To be honest, we thought it would be a slow start, considering the pandemic hit only a month or two after establishing, we we’re wrong! Since then we have had a very steady flow of new (and old) businesses that we have had the pleasure of working with. It’s so rewarding seeing businesses flourish and having the satisfaction of knowing you supplied the some of the necessary tools for that business to succeed! The gym is a lot of physical work and relationships and the agency is my creative outlet, but they both have great carry over. Since I’ve taught myself these creative skills, I can apply that to the gym. On the other hand, when doing work for the agency, I might find myself on the top of a snowy pass in the mountains shooting photos or videos and my fitness plays a huge role in being able to do that.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.voltaathletics.com | www.blackwallagency.com
- Instagram: @voltaathletics | @blackwallagency.com
- Facebook: @voltaathletics
- Youtube: @voltaathletics