We were lucky to catch up with Michael Fragoulis recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Michael thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Being a business owner can be really hard sometimes. It’s rewarding, but most business owners we’ve spoken sometimes think about what it would have been like to have had a regular job instead. Have you ever wondered that yourself? Maybe you can talk to us about a time when you felt this way?

Becoming business owners of Adoniis Fiit was one of the smartest decisions Anthony & I have made. Being that we both have our own personal training businesses, we already had a slight sense of what people liked to wear when training in the gym. For this exact reason, as well as the fact that we both have a passion for apparel, we got together to create Adoniis Fiit and have not looked back since.

Yes, however, there have been times where we wondered if what were doing would all be worth it. From the late nights trying to communicate with our manufacturers in different time zones, to our early mornings triple checking everything is squared away with inventory & website functions up to the minute before releasing a new collection on launch days.

That being said, there is nothing better than doing what you have extreme passion for. As a business owner, you have the freedom and flexibility to take your business whatever route you want, with the possibilities being endless. No one can take that power away from you, as opposed to what could be working for someone else in a more regulated job.

As cliche as it sounds, “Do what you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life.”

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?

Anthony and I both got in the clothing industry specifically to design athleisure apparel for the modern fitness enthusiast. Were a local brand that launched in the Fall of 2020. Our mission is to bring a combination of luxury and comfort to the modern fitness enthusiast. Through innovation and the industry’s latest designs, we strive to drive a high-end take on athleisure for a cosmopolitan lifestyle. We sell a range of mens and womens training gear, such as leggins, sports bras, joggers, tank tops, windbreakers, etc, as well as a variety of accessories, such as water bottles & travel bags.

What makes us unique is how we launch new items. We do so by building anticipation on our seasonal collection drops that we do throughout the year, rather than just simply dropping one item at a time.

Everything that Anthony & I have done thus far has simply been just from us. No other partnerships. No investors. No funding. Period. This is one thing we are proud of, as we know that the sky is the limit for when some of these aspects do start to come in the equation.

How’d you think through whether to sell directly on your own site or through a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc.

At the moment, the majority or what we sell is direct-to-consumer through our website adoniisfiit.com. We always thought of this as being a more intimate way of selling and truly making it personal with our customers. Our Shopify store is also linked to socials such as Instagram & Facebook, and now working on Tik Tok as well. Aside from that, we have a small rack display at the gym in both locations, Columbus and Pittsburgh, where people can at least view the items in person prior to making an order on our site.

On weekends, we have also held live pop-ups where we bring a booth and rack with all of our apparel/accessories to sell in-person at various locations in the city, such as boutique shops, fitness studios, local restaurants, and more. This is just another great way for us to continue to get our brand name out, build brand exposure, and simply get more connected with the community around us!

In the future, we would like to eventually get on platforms such as Amazon when we are ready, being that they hold so much power now in the retail world.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

There are actually a hand full of books that I have read in the past 2-3 years that have helped me significantly in not only building Adoniis Fiit with Anthony, but also in self-improvement to better myself all around, which in return of course have helped with the business.

First off, this was a completely different industry for me than I have ever worked in. Retail, Apparel, Shopify were all foreign languages to me. Therefore, the first thing I read when starting Adoniis Fiit was a book simply called “Shopify” by Alex Greene, which was essentially just a beginner’s guide to building an ecommerce business. A podcast I would also listen to while driving that went hand-in-hand with this was one called “Honest Ecommerce” with host Chase Clymer.

After that, I got into more sophisticated books to help me grow. One of my favorites was “Crushing It!” by Gary Vee, which went into different methods that entrepreneurs build their businesses and influenced others. “High Performance Habits” by Brendon Burchard was another I read that truly got my mind right on how to think and plan daily tasks/goals in order to propel in being an entrepreneur starting a small business. Each book/podcast played a significant impact in my entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://adoniisfiit.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adoniisfiit/
• Other: Tik Tok: @adoniis.fiit Threads: @adoniisfiit

Image Credits
Photographer: Lindzy Lee Annis