We recently connected with Michael Ahn and have shared our conversation below.

Michael, appreciate you joining us today. Your ability to build a team is often a key determinant of your success as a business owner and so we’d love to get a conversation going with successful entrepreneurs like yourself around what your recruiting process was like -especially early on. How did you build your team?

Technically it’s just myself, but I have a great team of people who advise me and help me run the classes. The gym wouldn’t be half of what it is without them. They are students but have experience in various fields and often give me business advice on the daily. For example it was one of these team members that first encuraged me to invest in gogle ads and a good CRM and that alone has paid dividends.

These relationships occured organically, first being clients and then friends. They are as excited to see the gym succeed as I am and it feels great having people around me that are invested in my success. A business mentor advised that I try to make a connection with everyone whos steps onto the mats, not in a superficial way but to genuinely be interested in their lives and well being and that has led to many friendships off the mats as well. You never know who you’re going to meet!

If I could do one thing different it would be to be less afraid to talk to people. Most people are willing to engage with you and have great advice to give. The worst they can say is no, and miss 100% of the shots you don’t take so trying and failing makes more sense than not trying at all.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I’ve been involved in martial arts since I was a child, first with karate and then kickboxing and Brazilian jiujitsu in college. I had a brief professional career and during that time I started teaching at a gym and found I really enjoyed the teaching aspect of martial arts along with the training aspect.

At Fighters United MMA we understand that everyone is on their own journey. Some have decades of experience when they find us and others are starting from day 1. Both are equally welcome! We take the time to make sure everyone is growing together and having fun.

I feel what separates us from most gym is the team atmosphere we are careful to cultivate on our mats. I wanted the vibe of the gym to reflect our values: train hard and respect everyone. When it’s time to work everyone is grining, but we also take the time to take care of each other. It makes me so happy as a coach when I see my clients helping each other improve both on the mats and in life. Everyone is welcome, and we make sure we have them feel that way from day 1!

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

I was always involved in teaching martial arts but never really planned on opening my own gym. By chance I ended up managing a gym on top of teaching, and thought that it would be fun to open my own studio that I could control and have execute my vision. While I was teaching a client who became a friend and is a very successful entrepreneur said I had what it took on the teaching/personality side. That gave me a lot of confidence. I was lucky that when I started my gym another client who happened to be a successful businessperson was there to guide me. Any suggestion or informtion he has I’m all ears.

Another milestone was after I decided to take over the location but before we were officially open word began to get around and people started inquiring. I knew I was in a good position when I had a few dozen people already commited to make the transition with me a few months before opening.

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

My business mentor is a client I met when I was working at a previous gym. I didn’t know much about him other than he owned his own business. When it became apparent I was going to take over the location he was on board immedaitely and reached out and made himself available. Not only did he give me great business advice and ideas he took it upon himself to help me find a lawyer, accountant, CRM, and a bunch of other things that I didn’t know I would need. Another aspect he helped me with was the mental aspect of running a business. “No days off” is truly a mentality you have to have when you’re starting out. I was used to grinding in preparation for fights, making sure all the work was done and leaving no stone unturned, but I didn’t realize I would have to have the same mentality to run a business. He is always in my ear telling me I could do more and I am appreciative of those reminders.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.fightersunitednj.com
• Instagram: Fighters United MMA
• Facebook: Fighters United MMA
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCe4ykPmxvRYxYifg5g0G9ZQ

Image Credits
Dave Stedman (instagram Dave.gotacamera)