We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Daniel Hinojosa. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Daniel below.

Daniel, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Do you manage your own social media?

At the beginning, I managed the social media. Recently, I was able to invest in people and expand the Lift ATX team.

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

Daniel Hinojosa opened Lift ATX in September 2020, an open-air warehouse style gym.

A member of the East Austin community for 20 years, Daniel was determined to find a way to give back to the community that helped him to find a home so many years ago. His vision for Lift ATX was to offer OG East Austinites a space to call their own, a space to build community, a space to celebrate the culture, and a space to promote health and wellness in the midst of rapid gentrification.​

Daniel strives to make Lift ATX a hub for the East Austin community by opening the gym to the community in multiple ways. The gym regularly hosts fundraising events, lifting meets, community networking events, and has plans for expanding these events in the near future. When planning these events, Daniel intentionally supports small businesses owned by women and people of color, and intentionally promotes in the East Austin community. Lift ATX models its community involvement by the stellar examples set by the many strong, proud pillars of the East Austin community.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

As man in my late thirties with no professional training in social media, I didn’t start out with a blue print or road map to building an audience. I did know that it was important for me to be 100% authentically myself. My thought was that if people knew who I was, got a glimpse of why I was so passionate about starting a gym in East Austin, they would better understand the space I was trying to create. Though I wasn’t crazy about the idea of being on all platforms all the time, I knew it needed to be done, so I made the sacrifice and learned all I could as quickly as I could. I put lots of thought into what I posted and when, but after a year and half I realized it was my limited skill that was holding our social media presence back. Luckily, I had the means to invest in young, raw talent by hiring a f*cking beast of a Media Director. Shout out to Carlos Gallegos (@fotosgallegos). Now, we collaborate on content, but it is Carlos that sets the vision for social media and is responsible for the cohesive nature of our social media presence.

Any fun sales or marketing stories?

MERCH!!!! I did not expect the gym merch to take off the way it did. The first shirt- I call the OG Serape Shirt- I made as an advertisement for the gym. It was inspired by an awesome flag that my aunt made for the gym- She replaced the red and white stripes on an American flag with a serape blanket. The shirt, like the flag, was a proud statement of the hispanic culture that grounds the gym. After that sold out quickly, largely to friends and family in support of my new venture, I made more shirts that advertised the gym and they sold out, too.

After that, honestly, I started making shirts that matched my sneaker collection. Like a true sneakerhead, I released this merch in limited quantity drops at random days and times. Every time the merch would sell out. I’ve always said, people love exclusivity and building hype is everything.

After a year and a half of constantly designing and releasing shirts that sold completely out, I started running out of ideas but did not want to lose the momentum we built. In walks Christina Wait (@sunbiceps). Hired as a gym associate, Christina’s talent and passion for graphic and fashion design quickly surfaced. As a test-run, I gave her an opportunity to curate and design her own merch drop. On a Saturday morning, she sold out in one hour. Realizing the potential Christina had, I capitalized on our success to offer her a position as the Design Director for Lift ATX. She is now responsible for all merch and manages our online store.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.liftatx.com
• Instagram: @lift_atx
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Lift_ATX/100063589084230/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqdtbxv1tXNr1tE5cY2Ws_Q
• Other: TikTok: @liftatx

Image Credits
@fotosgallegos