We recently connected with David Fairbanks and have shared our conversation below.
David, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.
My mother is an extremely hard worker. When I was young, I remember her getting up day after day and doing what needed to be done to provide for us. She would work long hours and multiple jobs to make sure that we lived a comfortable life and I had everything I needed. As I got older I realized that I was no stranger to hard work. As I took the leap to start my own business, this work ethic was put to the test and I could always think back to those days that my mom kept getting up and working to make sure that she provided. Those thoughts gave me the strength I needed at times to continue and I’m grateful for the example that my mother set for me. Thanks mom!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My name is David Fairbanks and I am the Head Coach and Owner of Lion’s Pride Weightlifting and Wellness. LPW is an Olympic Weightlifting Team that I started in 2017 when I was coaching part-time at a Crossfit gym and working in Corporate America. As my weightlifting team grew, I started taking steps to educate myself more on training, coaching, and business. In 2018, I decided that I wanted to move towards starting my own business and at the beginning of 2019 I resigned from my job and went full time into creating my own business which turned into Lion’s Pride Weightlifting and Wellness. To date, LPW is a 14,500 square foot facility in the West End of Downtown Cincinnati. Lion’s Pride Weightlifting is where it all started and it is still the foundation of my business. The size of the facility has allowed me to create what I like to call a “wellness collaborative!” My business (Lion’s Pride Weightlifting) is housed in 3,200 square feet of the facility and the rest is used by other health and wellness professionals and fellow business owners. We all do something a little different with our clients but we all have a common goal of building community and helping our clients move well and stay healthy.
If I wanted someone to know more about my training I would refer them to my training approach. When I am working with clients I use something I like to call the 3 M’s. The 3 M’s stand for Mobility, Movement, and Mental training. This training style allows me to take a holistic approach unique to each client but universal in the overall foundational processes. When it comes to training, it’s already hard enough! I want to give people that I am working with real time feedback and useable information on how they can better their movement! If we move better we feel better!
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
I built my reputation in my current market by being helpful and always trying to have useful information for the people that I get the opportunity to work with. Word of mouth is one of the best ways to build a reputation. I am thankful that over the years as I’ve offered help and information, my clients have found it useful, they have always shared that info with others which has helped spread the word about what type of work we do at our facility.
What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?
One of the things that has continued to help me grow my client base has been to continue to have a “growth mindset” about improvement to the facility and adding to my knowledge base as a trainer. As I have improved my knowledge base and continued to improve the facility, I have always gained access to the next opportunities that I am looking for to help support and grow my business.
Contact Info:
- Website: teamlpw.com
- Instagram: @dfair42/@lionsPrideWeightlifting
- Youtube: Lion’s Pride Weightlifting