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

Daniel, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What do you think it takes to be successful?

It’s funny because I’ve actually asked a lot of my clients a variation of this question. I’ll first say that there are many definitions of what ‘success’ or ‘being successful’ means but I believe what I’m going to say next captures all of the definitions rather well.

I think it boils down to three things:

Challenge. To be successful. I think it’s absolutely imperative for you to challenge yourself on a consistent and regular basis. At its simplest form, and sometimes most humbling, I think you need to challenge yourself physically. There’s a connection about a physical challenge that teaches, questions and reinforces who you are, and what you’re really about. Challenging yourself physically, and to the point where you may doubt your capabilities or second-guess yourself, teaches you something profound about yourself. Whether it’s signing up for a race, or working out a certain number of days in a month or agreeing to do something active with a friend, the elements of commitment, consistency and discipline must be there. I’m a firm believer in doing difficult things and making difficult decisions. Now, difficult is relative to everybody so I don’t want to get lost in the details here. But doing something that’s hard, that makes you feel uncomfortable is good for you. Growth and progress result from this. Many of us are blessed with so many comforts, which is great, but being comfortable all the time does not lead to progress. It does not lead to success; it does not lead to more creativity, or a willingness to push yourself to do or be more. Physical challenges create a well known code of being comfortable when you’re uncomfortable which leads to a more substantial belief in yourself even when times are hard. This also in turn helps you stay ahead of your competition, even if it’s yourself, and opens your ears and eyes to possibilities.

Curiosity. To be successful you have to be curious. Being curious allows us to pay attention to the omens which are nothing more than signs of opportunity or change or growth. If you think back to your childhood, it’s likely you were very curious: asking a lot of questions, using your imagination, believing in the impossible, etc. At some point, I think we lose a little bit of this, but I believe having a healthy dose of curiosity in your life definitely leads to more success. For example, when I was doing one-on-one personal training, I had an ambition to spread my reach so I started our group classes. Then some time after that I wanted to impact more people in a bigger way, so I started our corporate wellness program. And then I wanted to work with athletes again, and inspire the younger generation, so I started our sports performance service. Throughout this time, I knew this wasn’t about me, it’s about everyone else and I can do only so much and so we formed a team to continue this reach. Being curious and allowing my mind to be open to exploring new ideas greatly helped the success of my company and the impact that we have on many, many people. I also think it’s a good idea to be curious in your personal life as well. Taking time away to explore, to go on adventures, vacation, or even just getting away to check out for a little while is also helpful.

Connections. I know for a fact that I wouldn’t be where I am today without the connections I’ve made along the way. From friends to mentors to business people, entrepreneurs, etc. Relationships are everything. The value of connecting with people and building relationships is what life is all about. On the professional side, and given what I do, there has to be a good relationship between my clients and I be it an individual or a company. There’s a higher level of trust, openness and sacrifice that ends up building a lot of value between us. I’m always ready to do whatever I can for my clients, and I feel that is reciprocated. I would also say this is very true of our team at Inward Fitness. On a personal note, whether it’s your spouse, significant other, a friend or acquaintance I feel it’s the same. Give your best and you’ll receive theirs in return.

One last comment I’d like to make about success – changes inevitable progress is not. This is true in all aspects of life. We all must be willing to put in the effort to progress around change. Not everything can be planned and sometimes there’s no strategy that is going to take you exactly where you want or need to go. Be resourceful, be adaptable and be ready for change.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Well, I’ve always been very active and athletic in my life; it’s definitely a definer for me. Growing up, I played basketball like there was nothing else to do! Then in high school and through college I ran track as a sprinter and sprinkled a tiny bit of football in there.

While at Colorado State University (go Rams!) I majored in Health and Exercise Science and received a Minor in Anatomy/Neurobiology. When I graduated, I completed an internship at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota as I thought I may want to go to medical school. My time at Mayo was such an amazing experience! After a lot of soul-searching, and talking with different positions, I decided to stay on the health and fitness side. I always knew I wanted to do something with people and I loved learning about the human body and how wonderfully amazing and complex it is.

When I came back to Colorado after my internship I couldn’t find a job related to my major. Desperate to find something I nearly sold insurance and then worked for UPS through the winter holidays. Then I finally found an in-home personal training company and began working there. After about a year and a half, I felt that I needed to move on and started Inward Motion in 2005 which is better known now as Inward Fitness. Very quickly I learned a good amount about the business of fitness and had a very strong and loyal clientele. So going out on my own made sense.

A lot has transpired since then and we have grown tremendously. I saw that especially say that because I didn’t have any capital or investors at any point. For better or worse, the growth of this company has been grass roots, hard and smart work and taking risks.

Our service list has grown quite a bit over the years from one on one and semi private personal training, group fitness classes, corporate wellness, sports performance, and even gym memberships. Our clientele is not only a list of ‘who’s who’ in Denver but authors, CEO’s, developers, mom’s, post surgical/PT, grandparents, etc. Even under our corporate wellness model we have five different categories of services and several amenities under each category. We’ve provided amazing performance benefits to many teams and individual athletes from middle school to post collegiate.
All this is to say, we listen and meet every client where they are with the intent to elevate them to where they want to go. And we have fun doing it!

One of the things I’m most proud of and would want people to know is about the community we’ve created. We’re not just another gym or health conscious or fitness minded company. The value that has been created over the last 18 years has been life-changing for everyone we’ve worked with. Going above and beyond for all of our clients, we’ve equally received it back and even more. We truly have an extended ‘family’ and have become a place of acceptance and belonging. Together We’ve celebrated, cried, accomplished, etc. We’ve won and we’ve lost together but we always come out on top. Inward Fitness is a place where you can come for life!

The last part I would say regarding me personally is that I am married and family man. I’m a true, to the core girl-dad to my amazing 6 1/2 and 12-year-old daughters and they are the light of my life.
I love snowboarding, mountain biking, touring (NRNS), music, lifting, traveling, hiking and public speaking. The last is something I am doing more and more of and have a huge passion to teach, share my story and change lives…spreading my reach again!

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

For many, what shapes us is our childhood. My childhood was good but it wasn’t without its struggles. My parents split up when I was four and I don’t have any memory of them being together. Nothing was ever abusive but their relationship wasn’t always civil. As I grew up, I bounced back and forth between them and felt in limbo for most of my young years. Many times I would take a bag of extra clothes or toys with me to school because my mom would drop me off and my dad would pick me up, or vice versa. I never saw any other kids do that.

As an only child (my half brothers are much older than me), I had to figure out how to navigate my own way, make sense of the world I was in and push forward. Sometimes I had to create my own stories of understanding of why I’m growing up the way I am or decipher different messages from each parent. In the 1980’s a ‘mixed’ family wasn’t the norm and I received insulting questions from classmates or glances that weren’t friendly even from adults. Needless to say, I think this part of my childhood experience developed an innate ambition to prove and achieve something but it wasn’t enough to break me.

Despite the fact that I didn’t ‘learn’ what a household is like with both a father and mother, I was still provided for. Did I get everything I wanted? No. Did my mother teach me the value of a dollar? Yes. Did my faith have a part to play? Yes. Did the stories of my father as a child going to school and picking cotton impact my perception of life? Yes.

So, all of these things in my childhood, and more, created a mental toughness and resilience in me which I’m thankful for. I wouldn’t be the man I am today without having gone through what I have.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I’ll start by saying with respect to the previous question, I’m able to read people very well because of how I grew up and I’m able to hold a conversation with anyone about anything. This still has been instilled over a lifetime but began as a child. This, combined with my desire to prove and achieve is a great combination when working with people.

I’d like to think I make people feel that they can talk to me about anything because I genuinely care. I care about their well-being, their goals and ambitions and what they really want. My personal motives to achieve is translated easily to others as well in the form of providing them the training, tools, mindset and dedication to get what they want. I enjoy helping people be successful.

Early on from a trainer perspective, I became the epicenter of a group of clients who all knew each other very well and who were all getting great results from our work together. Initially that led to me being a ‘trainer to the stars.’ At first I thought maybe I didn’t deserve that type of recognition but after growing into it, I’ve been trusted to uphold that standard and it’s an honor to do so.

The fitness industry is very competitive and has many great practitioners. I always want to be one of the best, do right by my clients and uphold the quality of work and value I provide.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.inward-fitness.com
• Instagram: @danielsterlingward @inwardfitness
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/InwardFitness/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-ward-1b86939/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/inward-fitness-denver-3