We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kati Terray. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kati below.
Kati, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.
Being a business owner means getting comfortable with risk. When is the right time to take those risks? Sometimes it takes a push from forces beyond your control.
A couple of weeks ago we had a Grand Re-Opening for our fitness studio, Breakthrough Strength & Fitness after a flood from our upstairs neighbors caused us to have to vacate our studio for 3 months. Just when we were starting to feel like we could breathe again after the effects of the pandemic, now we were hit with another unexpected challenge. So, I’ve been thinking a lot recently about the initial risk my husband Caleb and I took over 8 years ago to open Breakthrough.
Earlier in my life, I would never have foreseen that I would become a fitness coach, and eventually a gym owner. I studied music at the California Institute of the Arts, and was pursuing a career as a singer. I always enjoy learning new things, however, so when my husband heard about a kettlebell class happening at a martial arts school he was affiliated with, we showed up ready to embrace the experience.
I absolutely loved the class, and everything we learned that day! We decided to hire a coach to train us in kettlebell skills and technique. After about a year, we wanted to learn even more so we took a course to become Certified Kettlebell Instructors in 2009. Initially our plan was just to use this knowledge for our own training at home, but it didn’t take long before that changed.
I remember coming over to my parents’ house to share with great excitement some of what I learned after passing the course. I noticed a twinkle in my Mom’s eye that she was intrigued and wanted to try it too. At that point, my Mom was in constant pain from fibromyalgia, and was starting to exclude herself more and more from family activities like hiking. My grandmother had also recently moved in with my parents, and seeing her lack of mobility and strength was a reminder to take action.
My mom became my first client, and her results caused other friends and family to take interest. Both Caleb and I started taking on a few clients here and there, and over time our group just kept growing. We were too excited not to keep sharing how fun and empowering it is to be strong, so we converted our garage into a training studio. We kept hearing from people that they had never really considered themselves “gym people”, or that the traditional gym environment didn’t meet their needs in some way.
While we didn’t set out to become gym owners or even full-time coaches when we started this journey, Caleb and I knew there must be lots of people who felt the way we felt, and the way our clients felt. Our conversations would frequently turn to musings about opening our own gym. In fact, transitioning from our garage to a bigger space where we could help more people and create more of a community was something we talked about for a couple of years before we actually took the leap. So, how did we know when it was the right time to take that risk?
In 2014, Caleb and I were brought face to face with the reality that your life can change overnight. I had begun to notice a few minor things health-wise, like occasional blurry vision and extreme fatigue, so I scheduled a check up with my doctor. After many tests over the next several months, it was confirmed that my immune-system had attacked my pancreas and I was now a Type 1 Diabetic.
I feel lucky that Type 1 Diabetes is very manageable as far a chronic medical conditions go. Still, it was a major adjustment to go through, as well as a wake up call that you never know what life will throw your way. The trouble is, we think we have time, but we never really know how much. So, once we had a few months of living with this new diagnosis under our belts, Caleb and I started making our plans to open a retail studio before the next year had passed us by.
In March of 2015, we opened Breakthrough with just a handful of loyal clients. Over the past 8 years, despite pandemics and floods, we have continued to grow and see our members accomplish amazing things. Seeing our community support each other, get stronger together, and be able to do things they didn’t know were possible is what lights us up. Most of all, having people be able to say “yes” to all of life’s adventures outside the gym is what makes any risk worthwhile.
I’ve learned to get better at listening to those small whispers urging me to take action on something I believe in. When we allow ourselves time to get still and tune in to our intuition, we don’t have to wait for our bodies to scream at us with a health crisis to recognize that life will never wait for us to “be ready”. If you feel you are being called to create something that is uniquely you, take the risk and make it happen!
Kati, 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 am Kati Terray, Co-Owner of Breakthrough Strength & Strength & Fitness in Woodland Hills, CA. I am a gym owner, fitness coach, yoga and meditation teacher, singer and sound healer. My favorite part of what I do is that I get to share it with my husband and Co-Owner, Caleb, as well as the rest of my family.
It might sound like an odd transition to move from the creative world to the fitness world. but it’s what allows us to offer something truly unique. Our “elevator pitch” is that we help people get strong and healthy to say YES to all of life’s adventures! Here are some additional details about what we do at Breakthrough:
All our members have a custom program written just for them. We take into consideration their goals, injury history, training background, and their interests. We use a combination of exercise and programming science with creativity to build training plans that strike a balance between being challenging enough to get results, and so fun that you actually look forward to your training sessions.
Our members all receive semi-private sessions with an expert coach to guide them through their program to make sure they are working at the right level of challenge, staying safe, using proper technique, and having a good time. In addition, our members all have unlimited access to our Endurance, Boxing and Yoga classes. As a Precision Nutrition Coach, I also offer nutrition support to our members when they need it. Our coaches are StrongFirst Certified Strength Coaches, and Functional Movement Specialists.
What sets us apart is something that can’t really be described, but needs to be felt. It’s that feeling of being surrounded by people who truly care about seeing you succeed, and people willing to share their expertise and support to help you get there. Breakthrough is full of people who would have never before considered themselves “gym people”. Sometimes this is because they never felt comfortable or welcome at other gyms before, or they need special consideration due to injuries, or they understand the importance of professional programming and coaching.
On a personal level, I feel truly blessed to get to share health strategies that go beyond just the physical. As a yoga teacher I began my training in Hatha and Power yoga, but most often my classes are a style called Yoga Tune Up. This style of yoga incorporates the use of therapy balls for self-massage, as well as deep breath work, and learning to look for your own “body blind spots”. I use my training in Yoga Nidra meditation to guide my students into a deeply restful state where they can truly down-regulate. And I just love being able to share my musical/singing background by offering Sound Baths and sound healing at the gym and in private sessions. Breathing, mindset, and meditation practices have helped me relieve stress and anxiety, recover better from my training, stay grounded, find inspiration, and connect to my own intuition – and seeing our members benefit in the same way is inspirational.
We are a family business, not just in the sense that I get to work with my husband, brother in law, and mother, but that our members become part of the Breakthrough family! We love to see our members succeed and to celebrate their adventures. Our whole team is committed to helping our members recognize and celebrate their strength, not just in body, but in mind and sprit as well.
Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?
My husband Caleb and I met as young college kids at the California Institute of the Arts. I was studying music, and he was studying theatre, and we became inseparable after working on a joint music/theatre project together. We always wanted to carve our own path and have our own business, but we both assumed it would be arts related. As life lead us down a path to improving our own fitness, we both felt a calling to help others improve how they feel and how they can fully experience life by getting stronger physically, mentally and emotionally. We know beyond a doubt that our arts background is what helps us come up with endless creative ideas to keep our members inspired and having fun in their training!
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
Weathering the pandemic storm wasn’t easy for anyone, but being a fitness business was especially tough. Dealing with closures and restrictions was hard enough, but constantly being called “non-essential” when you know how important exercise is to overall health was almost too much. We kept doing anything we could to serve our members throughout that time – lending equipment to use at home, zoom sessions, building programs on an app they could use on their own, outdoor training, constant disinfecting of equipment etc…
Just when we were starting to bounce back from the effects of the pandemic, we were met with another unexpected challenge. On June 17th 2023, there was a massive flood to our gym caused by a burst water heater pump in the business upstairs from ours. We arrived after a call from our landlord to find several inches of water on the ground, ceiling tiles crashed down from the ground, paint peeling off the walls, rusted equipment. A total disaster.
We had to act fast once again to find a temporary space to keep serving our members. Fortunately we were able to be back up and running within two days in a small dance studio that was vacant in our same shopping center!
Days turned into months, and we had to deal with complicated and frustrating negotiations with insurance companies and landlords. We had very little growth of membership because we couldn’t honestly tell new prospects when or if we would be moving back to our regular studio. We had moments where we questioned if we were still on the path we were meant to be on.
But in those moments we would turn to our “why”. We know that helping people feel stronger in mind, body and spirit has the power to change, and even save lives. When your “why” is powerful enough, it will see you through the toughest challenges.
So we pushed on, and had our Grand Re-Opening of our beautifully renovated studio a few weeks ago. We are excited for all the possibilities and opportunities in this next chapter!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.breakthroughgym.com
- Instagram: @breakthroughgym
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61550889140272