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

Sophia , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

When my husband, Sal, and I first stepped into Mental Giants CrossFit as potential clients, we were just looking to try something new with our workout routine. We quickly realized that we had stumbled upon something special. We were stepping into the unknown, and while it was a bit intimidating, we were up for the challenge. Being surrounded by a community that shows up to get uncomfortable, work hard, and support one another will change you for the better. For us, MGCF was a space to come together and share the struggle.

My journey started as a new member with the goal to get as fit as I could. I was immediately sold on everything CF. I jumped right in and tried to learn as much as I could. Within my first 6 months, the owner/head coach picked up on my excitement and asked if I was interested in coaching part time. Without hesitation I accepted and began my journey as a coach.

It was a tough transition for me because I am typically really reserved and introverted so standing in front of a class of members, most of who had been doing this longer than I had, teaching them things that I myself was also learning brought on a wave of insecurities. I remember calling Sal almost in tears after classes unloading all my emotions and thoughts about how I was a terrible coach. It was tough but I cared too much to quit. I can now reflect and acknowledge it was just the healthy dose of fear I needed to realize how much coaching really mattered to me.

Over the next 5 years, I gradually took over more responsibilities at the gym to the point that I knew this was what I wanted to pursue as a career. Sal and I had begun discussions about opening our own gym. We shared this with the current owner and in less than a day he came back to us with the opportunity to take over the gym. On January 1st of 2019, we were officially the new owners of Mental Giants CrossFit.

MGCF and CrossFit have changed my life in ways I could never have anticipated. When I started at MGCF I just thought I was finding a place to workout but over the years it became the place I celebrated and achieved some of my biggest accomplishments, where I worked through feelings of failure, and where I built the second family I never realized I needed.

Because of this, our mission has always been to preserve all of the wonderful things we have experienced over the years and build on them year after year. We care deeply about building connections, pursuing growth, mastering the basics, and overcoming insecurities. We believe the challenges you face in our four walls prepare you for everything outside them. The consistency you build showing up when you don’t feel like it, the resilience you develop when a workout gets tough, and the confidence you gain from doing something you never thought possible transform how you approach your career, your relationships, and your entire life.

What drives us isn’t creating the strongest athletes in town. It’s watching members of all fitness levels and backgrounds realize just how resilient and strong they can be. It’s seeing someone who was intimidated by fitness show up for themselves day after day. It’s witnessing our community rally around each other during tough times.

Every day, we get to be a part of our members’ personal stories. We get to share our individual experiences for a collective goal. This isn’t just a business for us. It’s our way of changing lives, one workout, one conversation, one breakthrough at a time. And honestly, we couldn’t be more grateful to be part of your journey.

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?

My fitness journey began before CrossFit. In my mid 20s, I found myself becoming less and less active. It took me reaching my heaviest weight at 25 years old to decide to get moving again. I started with walking and running on my own, then moved into training at a conventional gym. As I trained more and more, I built consistency and started seeing results. Over roughly a year’s time, training became something I looked forward to. I couldn’t wait to get my next session in. I eventually became one of the regulars at my local Gold’s Gym. I built friendships with several trainers who took me under their wing and convinced me to train to potentially compete in a local bodybuilding competition. I spent a year really deep-diving into training and nutrition. I trained for 2-3 hours daily and put myself through a very strict diet. By the end of 2013, I had dropped 40+ lbs and was in what I thought was peak shape.

What I didn’t realize at that time was that I was overtraining and undereating. I have always been a bit of a stubborn person, so when I set my mind on something I fixate on trying to achieve it. So I took it to the extreme. I knew it had gone too far when just a month before a competition I was training for and I had fallen slightly off my diet. Cue meltdown. I was obsessing about the way I looked and only trained to reach that number on a scale. What had once started as a empowering journey of what I was capable of achieving was now just about how I looked. My quality of life was not ideal-I was always hungry, tired, and never satisfied with how far I had come. I no-showed to the competition I had spent so much time training for because the fear of failing was overwhelming.

Being burnt out on extreme dieting, I decided to register to take classes at my local community college to take some nutrition courses to gain a better understanding of food as fuel. I soon realized that my obsession with training and eating had reached an unhealthy point. During a work trip to Colorado in February of 2014, I needed a place to train but my only two options were a small local gym or the town CrossFit gym. Since I was getting pretty burnt out with my current routine, I decided to reach out to try CrossFit. I stepped into CrossFit Pagosa and instantly fell in love. I felt like I was terrible at everything, but that’s what I think drew me in. I had to learn a completely new way of training but it didn’t matter because my success was based on my effort. I was only in competition with myself. I called Sal, who I was dating at the time, and mentioned that I had already looked up a CrossFit gym in Dallas and that we were going to try it out when I got back. That is when we stepped into MGCF and our path from member to owners began.

The obstacles I have faced over the past 10+ years of navigating training have helped me better understand the needs of our clients. I understand what it feels like to not know where to start, to feel stuck, and to find a happy balance. All thing I continue to work through 11 years later. We are tackling real life obstacles and insecurities and those things can be tough to adress alone. That is why our goal is to educate our members on being in this for the long game, gradually working through pain points that over time can be managed. Life is always going to be there to throw curveballs, and we want to build members who are resilient and can remain consistent at all stages of life.

Too often do I see the scenario where people fall into the mindset of all or nothing. CrossFit can be seen as an extreme training program for anyone new to it, but at its core the methodology is about gradual progression and meeting individuals where they are. We want to share the tools we have built with anyone trying to navigate their health and fitness goals because we beleive in the solution CrossFit offers.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

As mentioned before, my husband and I are not the original founders of Mental Giants CF. The transition from member to coach to then new owner has brought about many areas where we had to shift our mindset. To be honest, we were extremely naive in jumping into entrepreneurship. We not only underestimated all that went into the systems needed to run an effective business but also struggled to shift where we dedicated our time in the business. We tried to manage it ourselves for several years on our own but after facing some big obstacles (a tornado that almost reached the gym, Covid, and price increases under new property owners) we decided to take action. Just as our members come to us for help, we recognized we had to reach out for help with our business. As a whole, last year our staff took on a year-long CrossFit specific business mentorship. This experience helped us recognize the systems and leadership that needed to be built in order to continue to support our community. We currently continue to build on all we have learned to grow and offer everyone who steps into our classes the best hour of their day.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

We never stop trying to learn. There are so many great resources available to learn from and I know our coaches and staff prioritize continued education . We not only learn from those whom we feel are crushing it in our space, but we also have a community of members that we can learn from daily. What better way to grow than by listening to the needs of your members?It is a passion to learn, grow, and serve that has helped us become the community we are today.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.mentalgiantscrossfit.com
• Instagram: mentalgiants_crossfit
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MentalGiantsCF/