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

Dylan, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?

Growing up in the suburbs of Illinois, I wasn’t around many entrepreneurs. No one in my town really took risks, many people I knew played it small.

Go to school, get a degree, work corporate, get married, have kids…the list goes on. But for me, I knew I wanted something more.

One thing to note before I get into how I started DylanJFit Coaching – is that I am a HUGE risk taker.

I knew for several years I didn’t want to live in Illinois, but I hadn’t traveled that much in my life so I really had no idea where I wanted to go.

The two options that popped into my head were Arizona and Texas.

Not even a month later I was on a flight to Arizona, and within 20 minutes of being in the state (yes, for the first time – EVER) I signed a year lease. I had NO idea what Arizona was like, but I figured if I needed to move back or leave in a year, I would.

Flash forward to finding a job in my. new home as we move closer to becoming an entrepreneur…

I had been a trainer for years back home, and also was a manager at a retail clothing store. Some days (even with being in college full time) I would work from 5:00AM at the gym until 1PM then head over to the store to close that down by 10PM.

I started to look for a job and the hours at the local gyms in Arizona were awful (and so was the pay). So, I did what any 23 year old would do… find a job with better hours and pay so I can support the huge move I just made across country so I didn’t have to move back home!

Anways, I found a job in logistics (freight and supply chain), I loved the people and the company…but realized very fast that corporate life was not for me.

As mentioned before, I was a dreamer, I knew I was destined for more.

After almost 7 months of working for this company I was offered a new position that would allow me to make 100-200K+ a year (I was making only 40K at the time…)

Of course, being so young and seeing those numbers I said YES.

But, as weeks went by they couldn’t fill my position and without filling my position, they were not able to move me to my new spot.

This gave me time to really think…

I soon came to realize I couldn’t see that money.

I had a vision, a purpose to help others. I wanted to change lives. I didn’t want to sit at a desk and call trucking companies to make a sale.

At the time, I was helping some clients on the side with nutrition and workouts…and I simply said “fuck it” i’m going all in.

I walked into the office the next day..palms sweating as I walked up to my boss…”I quit.”

I put in my two weeks, left early that day, and immediately went to Starbucks to start a business plan.

I had zero back up plan, a very small amount of time to live off my savings…but what I did have was a big dream.

I haven’t looked back since that day.

Now, DylanJFit Coaching is 8 employees strong (including myself), we have over 100 clients, and we are hitting 4 years in business next month.

I knew NOTHING about business, but I had a hell of a lot of passion.

I am beyond grateful for my team, the community we have built, and our genuine love for helping women become the best version of themselves both physically and mentally.

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

We work with women who have a history of fad dieting and/or under eating. Women who have tried plans, but nothing seems to work. Women who want to not only learn how to get their metabolism to work with them and no longer against them, but who also want to get to the core of their health (both physically, but mentally too).

I started my company and stand behind these things so heavily because I have done over 15 fad diets in my life. I struggled with binge eating, food obsession, and after gaining the weight back several times I got to the point in my life where I was convinced I was just never going to reach my goals or ever feel good in my skin.

I know the feeling of continuous frustration, failure, and defeat. The emotions of never feeling good enough, and feeling as though nothing will ever work to keep the weight off.

What makes us different is we aren’t going to hand out a cookie cutter plan. We get to know you, and your body. We dive into metabolism health, gut health, ingredients, inflammatory foods, and much more. We also allow women to eat MORE food while reaching their dream bodies because we do not believe in restrictions.

We are a science based company that specializes in reverse dieting and pride ourselves in educating you on nutrition and training so that even when you are done working with us, you can continue this for life.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

My company has 5 core values that we use everyday in the business that helps keep a high morale and also supports managing a team.

It helps us not only stay in alignment as a company, but also make decisions as a team.

Raw Honesty is our first core value – we are always open with each other and our clients. We communicate even when its hard and challenging. We take ownership, practice what we preach, and we take responsibility and initiative.

Next, is Passion Behind Purpose – we don’t just go through the motions. Passion is about emotion, purpose is about why. We bring energy, and always stay focused on the why.

Constant Collaboration – communicating openly and honestly within our own team and to clients. Working as a team, we make sure we’re staying dedicated to our primary goal of transforming lives and accelerating growth. If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.

Genuine Accountability – we hold each other to a higher standard, and take ownership over our work. Remaining true to
ourselves, as well as your peers and clients.

and last but certainly not least – Evolving Mindset -working with speed and innovation, to create results for ourselves and our clients. Being proud of how far we have come, but excited for the climb to become better. We lean into growth, regardless of how it feels initially.

Standing behind these core values in every situation has built a foundation for our team and community.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

“Why would you quit?”

“You now don’t have any benefits.”

“What if this doesn’t go as planned?”

I get it, at 24 years quitting my job with no back up plan did not sound the best to my close family and friends. And to be fair, I didn’t have much in my savings…bills and rent do not stop when you quit your job.

In the beginning stages of my entrepreneurial journey – it was terrifying.

Every morning I woke up and reminded myself that my vision is bigger than the doubt others were putting in my head.

If i’m being honest, I had no idea how I was going to make this work in the beginning, but now my resilience shows with entering my 4th year in business.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://bit.ly/metabolicfoundation
• Instagram: @dylanjfit
• Facebook: Dylan Hornof
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@dylanjaimie4692/videos
• Other: Tik Tok: @dylanjfit