Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Lis Saunders. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Lis, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

Team Lis Smash’s mission is to create an alternative to traditional gyms – a feminist, anti-diet and gender-affirming training environment for folks who feel uncomfortable in and othered by traditional gym spaces.

When I became a trainer in 2009, I worked at a CrossFit gym and eventually got the opportunity to open a gym with some business partners/friends from the gym. After running a mainstream gym in Midtown Atlanta for three years, I was very depressed by traditional fitness and diet culture. My personal history of disordered eating made discussing aesthetic goals and diets with our members really triggering.

In 2012 I began competing at powerlifting. I loved training to hit new lifting goals rather than focusing on how my body looked or how much I weighed. In 2015 I became a certified powerlifting coach and in 2016 became an NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist.

I sold my shares of the Midtown gym and then had a brief debacle with another gym/business partner. Finally I decided to do my own thing and began training clients out of a friend’s garage. Not long after that, my friends David Holland and Reed Gilbert asked me if I would coach a new LGBTQ+ powerlifting club they were forming. So I became coach of the Atlanta Beasts, which at the time was the country’s first LGBTQ+ powerlifting club. We focused on creating a space for queer folks and allies to learn lifting technique and train together with other folks in the community.

Throughout my time coaching with and spending more time in the LGBTQ community, I came to terms with my own sexuality and identity and came out of the closet as bisexual and gender queer. Coming to terms with that later in life, at 38, was really relieving and liberating.

Gradually my mission evolved from working with anyone who would hire me, to holding space for folks with gym anxiety or who felt unwelcome in the gym. I stepped away from the typical goal of accepting as many clients as possible, to being more selective and intentional about who I was working with. I intentionally left behind traditional aggro gym culture and banned diet culture bullsh*t like before and after pictures, weight loss and nutrition challenges.

Now most of my clients are LGBTQ+, women and/or people in bigger bodies. I also train allies who respect the mission.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Team Lis Smash is a strength training gym in East Atlanta Village. Founded in 2016 to challenge the status quo of strength training, we started in a garage gym with one trainer and six athletes. Today we have six trainers and over 100 members.

We offer open gym, personal and small group training, powerlifting lessons, self-defense classes and online coaching. Cardio boxing, kettlebell and stretching offerings are coming later this summer. And we’ve got a scholarship program as well as sliding-scale and work-trade opportunities.

We have an unbelievable team of trainers with a variety of different specialties. We also have a gym cat! Part emotional support animal and part security guard, his is name is Cheez and he adopted us at our former gym location in Gresham Park. Now he’s our unofficial mascot. He lives in the office and patrols the gym all day.

Beyond the gym I’m also a powerlifting meet director and I produce local strength events. Our annual Rainbow Deadlift Showdown benefiting Sol Underground and Georgia Equality is coming up on June 14th. It’s our sixth year hosting a deadlift party to benefit local LGBTQ+ organizations. Buy tickets or make a donation here: https://givebutter.com/knu6Y9.

I’m also the Georgia state chair of Powerlifting United (PLU), a new organization with local, regional, national and pro-level competitions. Late last year, our gym members and the greater queer strength community advocated for and sent emails to PLU leadership in support of a new third gender division. I’m very proud that this year PLU began offering a Gender Neutral division in competition. In April I hosted a meet here at the gym and five of the lifters competed in the new division. I’ll host two more PLU meets this year, in September and December.

Mostly, dear readers, I want you to know that strength training is for everyone. It’s important to harness your strength and maintain it as you age. And it’s a lovely gift to discover what your body can do.
xo

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

I’ve owned three gyms. With the first two, I was at the mercy of business partners who invested capital that I didn’t have. I’m not independently wealthy and I didn’t have savings. So I was the operating partner and earned “sweat equity” for my work.
In both cases, I was too naive and broke to understand the value of hiring someone to advocate for me in creating a business partnership. Neither of those first partnerships went well. With both break-ups I accepted a not-great buyout but walked away with some gym equipment.

Then I decided to start small and rebuild on my own. Although I didn’t have official business partners, I got by with A LOT of help from my people. I trained clients out of my friends Chris and Anna’s garage for three years before moving to train from my own home garage.
I survived the pandemic by training clients in masks, outside and in the garage. Eventually I saved up to lease a commercial space and purchase a little more equipment. This time I hired an attorney to negotiate my lease, which came in handy 15 months later when the landlord opted to sell the building and terminate my lease early. He paid back the investment I’d made in the space so far, and also for the early termination.
After a frustrating search for a new space, eventually a friend and client found The One. Thanks (no thanks) to my last landlord, the business was in a better financial position now. I decorated the new space and got some new equipment including these adorable pink combo racks and aqua power racks.

Ultimately nothing prepared me for the emotional capital I’d need to invest, or the love and kindness I received along the way.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

It’s okay to promote yourself. For a long time I just kept my head down and focused on the work. I’m not the best at social media, I barely send a regular newsletter, and I’ve rarely done interviews. This request from CanvasRebel has been in my inbox for over a year.
We recently redid our website because one of our members basically said, “hey, this place is great. you should promote it better.”
So here I am, finally doing the interview. I’m working to get more comfortable with self-promotion and sharing my story and the gym’s story. Thanks for your patience.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.teamlissmash.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teamlissmash
• Other: lnk.bio/smashhttps://givebutter.com/knu6Y9

  www.powerliftingunited.com

  instagram.com/plunited_ga
  instagram.com/lislovelift

Image Credits

Alanna Frierson, Beth Faulkner