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

Maria, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

Mental strength!! Owning a business is NOT for the weak. Nothing comes easy, everyday is a struggle, a challenge, or a new obstacle. Be mentally strong enough to battle through the hard spots because when you get those few GREAT spots it’s an incredible feeling. Be passionate in what you do, continue to always work hard and always be evolving your brand. Trust that you were put here for this reason and will NOT fail!

Maria, 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 a small business owner who got started with BIG dreams. My passion for fitness started when I was a student athlete. The feeling of getting better, faster, stronger while being surrounded by a TEAM was my favorite part of growing up.

I started this business over a decade ago on a basketball court with a handful of friends. Flash forward 11 years later and we have grown into a community of over 300 members in a 8,000 sq ft facility.

We have evolved from just a cardio Bootcamp to a full functioning gym with programs from weight loss challenges, to power lifting, to youth sports training and much more! We boast “more than a gym” because we are a community for EVERYONE. We are family.

I pride myself on how much this gym impacts the community. We do charity events all year long from food drives, to donating to schools and providing free summer workouts for teenagers, to our most recent project of creating a scholarship for student athletes in memory of my childhood friend. We have raised over 16k both years raising 32k! This has provided 8 athletes financial aid to help them move forward in life.

My proudest accomplishment has been running this business through 2 pregnancies and having my children watch what I’ve created impact so many peoples lives.

The ability to simply improve someone’s life is a gift and a blessing I thank God for. I never take this blessing for granted and I remind myself on the hardest days that this is my calling and to NEVER quit.

Have you ever had to pivot?

If it was easy everyone would do it! The quote you always hear and it’s true!!

I had to make the decision to leave a bartending job making hundreds of dollars a shift to making Pennie’s and some months NOTHING with the faith that this business plan would take off.

The business grew and grew fast! About 7 or 8 years in we got hit with Covid. My business completely shut down for over 3 months. My loyal gym family for the most part continued to pay dues while I ran live workouts from my garage in isolation.

I didn’t know if we would survive but we came out stronger!!

Approximately 2 years ago my business partner and I decided to part ways. We had grown apart with visions we had for the future and I decided to purchase the business as sole owner. Scariest decision of my life but I learned so much from it and realized I CAN do anything I dedicate myself to.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I always tell people man social media can be annoying but it is fully what made my business. I don’t know if I would be here without it. I have tried ALL forms of marketing but honestly word of mouth and social media has been the ONLY things that have worked.

Contact Info:

• Website: Bcmfcalstrong.com
• Instagram: Bcmfcalstrong
• Facebook: BCMF
• Other: Personal IG Mariac_bcmfcalstrong

Image Credits
Magical memories photography