We were lucky to catch up with Nikki Lian recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Nikki , thanks for joining 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?

I used to be a school teacher. I had to be in my classroom at 8am and be there until 2:40. I couldn’t take my students outside, even though we had a big, beautiful campus. I had to teach them from a set of “standards” they were required to learn. I got my regular paycheck on the 5th of every month (even though it was garbage I still knew it was coming). But I felt like I was in a deep hole trying to climb out while people were throwing dirt on my head. I hated my life so much. I didn’t hate teaching and coaching. I hated the staying inside the lines.

Although there are so many struggles as a business owner, especially in California, I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I often work long hours, and need to be disciplined to get my work done. As a gym-owner I teach classes, I do follow-ups, I network, I do social media, I clean toilets, I mop floors–but it’s all mine. I built it with every fiber of my being and with a lot of love, and I get to help people the way I feel they need to be helped.

Some days it’s crazy to think how much overhead and responsibility one has when owning a gym in Ventura County (let alone a non-profit as well). But when push comes to shove, you stay solution-based and are able to get creative. The way my brain works I would never be able to go back to a regular schedule and have a happy and fulfilling life. Some people like the structure, I like the chaos.

I get to be in my happy place every day, doing what I love. Of course sometimes it’s a struggle. But we help so many people here. Far more than I was ever able to do teaching under so many restrictions.

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 own a Kickboxing Gym in Simi Valley, as well as a Non-Profit called Body Brain Train.

My kickboxing gym is a franchise. I was a professional wrestler for 13 years and having a boxing trainer is what kept me in shape. I hated getting hit in the face, but it is hands down the best workout. It provides physical and social well-being as well as emotional. So I wanted to open a place where you get the workout, without having to do the sparring.

Boxing is for everyone. Anyone can do it. So I had this great idea of taking our Kickboxing program to the local senior center. They loved it. Then covid hit and they shut us down.

Over covid myself and another trainer came up with our non-profit, Body Brain Train. We bring fitness and wellness to the senior and Parkinson’s community. This work isn’t for everyone. We put our heart and soul into each one of our classes, because we know our class is most likely the best part of their day.

Boxing is such a beautiful sport. It has come full circle for one of our members, who was a professional fighter and trained for a lot of his life, and now battles dementia from traumatic brain injury from getting hit. So his boxing workouts take on a whole new meaning.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

In March 2020, we as well as the rest of the world were shut down for business. I curled up into the fetal position and panicked for about 20 minutes. Then I got up and started planning.

With the help of my gym community I was able to run online challenges until we got the ok to open again…and then close again. We built a gym in the parking lot of the Target Center using grant money and a lot of stand-up heavy bags. For the 6am classes I would be there at 5am rolling out the bags from our storage container. When it was too hot we put up tents and misters. I didn’t stop. WE didn’t stop. Such an amazing and supportive community I had, which took years to build, came through for us. We survived a pandemic. So now when I hit a bump in the road and I’m down, people remind me YOUR GYM SURVIVED A PANDEMIC. And I move forward.

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

I genuinely care for each and every person that comes through the door. I make sure if I haven’t seen them in a while that they are doing ok. Our problems are so big to us personally, we forget that other people are fighting battles as well. I want to keep my gym a place where people can go to forget about the outside world and work on themselves.

When a new member comes in to take a class, I text them the next day to see how they are feeling. I also send them a hand-written note in the mail. It only takes a few minutes and it means the world to some people.

I think sometimes people have a misconception of gym owners, or business owners in general. I always keep the communication line open, and people get weirded out by that sometimes, until they get used to it. If you have any issues you’re talking directly to the owner not to some answering service.

Contact Info:

• Website: ckosimivalley.com/bodybraintrain.org
• Instagram: @fiercefitandoverforty @ckosimivalley @bodybraintrain
• Facebook: CKO Simi Valley/Body Brain Train/Nikki Lian
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikkilianfit
• Yelp: CKO Simi Valley