We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Greg Bander a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Greg, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Crazy stuff happening is almost as certain as death and taxes – it’s technically “unexpected” but something unexpected happening is to be expected and so can you share a crazy story with our readers
This story is a mix of positive and negative for sure. It starts out pretty negative, but it has a happy ending, so stick with it! One evening after classes ended at the gym, around 9pm, a 14 year old student informed me that her bike had been stolen out in front of the business. She said she had saved up for months to buy the bike so she wouldn’t have to take the bus to get around. She was very distraught and understandably upset as she had just purchased the bike recently.
That evening, I drafted an email to all gym members informing them of the situation and asking for any amount to pitch in as help toward getting her a replacement bike. Well, within 24 hours we had raised enough money for her to replace the bike and get an upgraded lock! She was so happy and grateful when we told her and her mom about it.
This is just one of so many amazing examples of the wonderful and supportive community that has developed at Ringcraft.
Greg, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I’m a Muay Thai Coach and Business Owner – so I technically got into the industry when I started training in 2009. Prior to that I had dabbled in several different Martial Arts, but it wasn’t until I found Muay Thai, that I became enchanted and truly dedicated to the never-ending process of practice.
I started coaching a few years into training and found it extremely rewarding and felt that I had a knack for it. The way I explained techniques to students seemed to really resonate with them. The gym where I was training at the time was relatively new and the owners had spoken about the business in such a way that I realized opening a gym was something I could simply decide to do if I consistently worked hard for many years. I decided that competing was something I needed to do in order to better understand the art and the sport of Muay Thai so that I could become a better coach and student of the game. So I competed for many years and eventually felt it was time to open a gym of my own in order to foster the environment which I felt would be best suited for learning and training.
And that’s how Ringcraft Muay Thai began.
The feedback I am most proud of, which I receive often, is how welcoming the space and the people are at RCMT. I am so proud of the community that has developed and am grateful to be able to enter that space each day.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
The official opening day of the business was January 1, 2020 – right before Covid shut everything down. We had to close our doors to the public in March 2020, about 2 and a half months after opening.
I offered Zoom classes to members, several days per week and offered private lessons upon reopening in exchange for students to keep their memberships active. This led to a lot of hours of training, but it was all worth it because the business stayed alive and now we are thriving.
Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?
This is something I am still learning and trying to improve upon, but I do feel our team is strong and happy at RCMT. My best advice for this is to foster open communication and honesty between everyone on the team. This starts from the top down. I often ask for feedback and open myself up to constructive criticism from the team which I think allows them to feel comfortable to do the same.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ringcraftmuaythai.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ringcraftmuaythai
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ringcraftmuaythai6248
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/bandermuaythai
Image Credits
Chris Sweet