We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sean Ranney a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Sean , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?
The mission at UpReach CrossFit is to fight the diseases of modernity. Whether that be, diabetes, obesity, depression, anxiety, high blood pressure etc. We do this through professional coaching and education. At UpReach we believe our coaches are the product, the reason our members pay top dollar for a gym membership is because they get professional coaching they won’t get anywhere else. Any coach can write a workout on the board and say go. It takes true professional coaches to not only break down movement mechanics, but to explain the why behind what we do. We have built a community that is inviting and friendships, and even marriages have happened from this community. In a day and age where depression and loneliness are at an all time high we buck that trend at UpReach CrossFit by fostering and building meaningful relationships through communal suffering, striving and success in our workouts. We focus on making an impact on our members life’s, their families life’s. When society says go right, we go left at UpReach CrossFit. In a country where over half the population has one chronic disease, it’s been normalized to be sick, to be complacent, to underachieve. We strive to be abnormal at UpReach CrossFit, and we help are members fight the diseases of modernity, one workout at a time.
Sean , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I got into the health and fitness industry at 18 years old. It was easy to attain a personal training certification online. It wasn’t until I was 20 and was introduced to the amazing world of CrossFit where my whole world changed. Here was this thing that cut against the grain, that others said was “reckless” “dangerous” etc. Yet the results spoke for themselves, everyone was incredibly fit. I dove straight in, I got me CrossFit level 1 and never looked back. Since then it’s been about 11 years and I have my degree in exercise science, my CSCS, CrossFit Level 3 and many more certifications. However, what matters is I have spent almost every single day for the past 11 years in a gym coaching humans. What I have learned in that time frame is invaluable. Other humans want connection, they want empathy, they want love, they want leadership and guidance, they want hope. That’s why I set out on the journey to eventually own my own gym and create a space for this. Yes it’s about the workouts, but it’s also about the human element. The connection, the tough love, the knowing when to push someone or when to guide with a loving touch. That’s what we do at UpReach CrossFit, we help others see a version of themselves not yet fulfilled and we help them get there. Along the way they make connections, friendships, relationships, hell even businesses. All while becoming the best versions of themselves. I could have everything stripped from me tomorrow but I would hold my head high because of what we have achieved at UpReach. The lives we have changed or improved is all that matters to me.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
Gyms are interesting, just about anyone who has a 6-pack thinks they should be a coach or gym owner. Ex pro athlete? Hell let’s open a gym. The problem? This field is full of amateurs who don’t really know much, you have influencers galore pushing every new diet, supplement, etc. My reputation and the one at UpReach has been built off of TRUST. Trust that we are true professionals, trust that we have the best interest of our members in mind. Trust that as a coach, owner, friend, spouse, I am brutally honest. I don’t sugar coat things, I will tell it like it is. Because of this our gym stands out as the one you go to when you want to truly get coached, learn new things, break bad habits other coaches or gyms taught you etc. Don’t tell people or potential clients what they want to hear, tell them what they need to hear, the ones who you want will agree and stick with you.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
I was a head coach at a gym in California, I left to move to Texas with no job lined up. I had an online coaching business at the time but only a handful of clients. When I got to Texas the gym I was at had no classes for me, but I knew this was the place I needed to be. I coached for free at first, I showed the owners at the time I was an asset. They created a class for me to coach. It was just one but it was enough. I didn’t let my ego stop me from going from a head coaching role to a small one class a day role. I trusted my patience and dedication would pay off. 3 years later I was coaching more than half the classes a week and essentially running the place with our head coach, and then they approached me to buy the gym from them. Resilience is just patience and belief in one’s own journey and capabilities. If you trust your path, you have a mission you are trying to fulfill there is no resilience because there is no such thing as a set back. The obstacle is the way.
Contact Info:
- Website: upreachcrossfit.com
- Instagram: @upreachcrossfit @sranney25
- Other: Substack: https://open.substack.com/pub/simplemansguide?r=1nk4oj&utm_medium=ios