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

Alright, Steve thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?

Honestly, opening my own facility was never the plan…

After college, I trained briefly at a small training studio that was located over 90 minutes from where I was living at the time. 3 am wake ups, work at 5, home by 3. A few weeks later I was hired at a Boston Sports Club where I worked the night shift 2-10. So for 6 months that was my life. Monday to Friday, 3am to 11pm, come home, eat, sleep for a couple hours, repeat. Every other Saturday at the studio, every OTHER Saturday at Boston Sports Club, sleep all day Sunday, repeat. Once I started aquiring clients at BSC, I left the studio and was at BSC full time. I trained there for a little over four years. I was fortunate to build a large clientele fast and was offered a job to train and run the personal training program as the Director of Personal Training at a new privately owned gym that was opening in the area called Synrgy.

It was a risk but I saw an opportunity and went for it. It didn’t take long before realizing that regardless of how busy my training staff and I were, the gym itself wasn’t doing well. Poorly managed, lack of presence, and lots of false promises made to the staff and members: all of which served as limitlessly valuable lessons of exactly what NOT to do when running a business.

It was actually a client and co-worker of mine who originally suggested that I go on my own and that if I did, they would go with me. So I made the move.

When I communicated the idea to my clientele and training partners, most of which had followed me from my previous job, they were all 100% supportive. This made the transition a bit more pleasant where I already had a loyal clientele and following so I really just needed to come up with some capitol and get the doors open.

I was offered some no-interest loans from three clients and had good credit so was able to open a business credit card with a 60 thousand dollar spending limit. I found a location and went to work.

I grew up doing trades so was able to handle the majority of the build-out, acquire the equipment I needed to get started, and refurbish it all myself. It was long days and weeks without sleep where I was still training full time at Synrgy but within three months or so I was able to get the doors open and start training clients out of the space.

It’s interesting because for the three years I was practicing out of that location I didn’t feel like I lacked anything. It was small; no more than 3,500 square feet, but had everything I needed to get the vision off the ground and growing.

I was relentless. I’d max out the card on equipment. apparel, upgrades for the space every month without hesitation. I just kept feeding the business. Invest, invest, and invest. Being underneath that debt kept me on and focused. I didn’t have a choice; I like it that way.

It didn’t take long to outgrow the space. Within two years I started looking at larger spaces and within three, we opened in our current ten thousand square foot location. This was a massive step forward where now I was running a full-service membership gym; not just a personal training studio, with zero background in business and minimal to no experience in management.

Similar to the last time, all of my clients followed and local strength enthusiasts couldn’t wait to sign up.

Also similar to the last location, if there was ANYTHING I wanted or saw that I thought would improve the facility, I bought it; without hesitation. Invest, invest, and invest some more.

There’s tremendous tax incentives in running your own business if you’re any good at what you do. I keep expenses high, show as much income as i need to, and just keep pushing forward, relentlessly.

Like I said before, it keeps me honest and on point because I have to be. It also makes me excited to come to work because I get to use all of the equipment and amenities too. I have been able to create something that I love that I’m able to share with other like-minded people. It’s a community. A culture. A collaborative.

I was already running smaller shows and competitions out of my last facility but now that I had more space, I leaned on some of the relationships I’d made from competing in different federations in both Strongman and Powerlifting. I was offered the Rhode Island State Chair Position for the USS (strongman) and also started holding Powerlifting Meets at my facility three times a year with the USPA and another 2-3 w the USAPL. Between Strongman, Powerlifting, and in-house challenges we hold between 8 and 10 competitions a year. I take a lot of pride in being one of if not the BEST facility to compete at in the area.

One of the questions I get the most is if I was ever scared, nervous, or anxious to go on my own. My honest answer is no. I never doubted myself for a second simply because I knew that I would do whatever it took to make it work; whatever it took to be successful. I always will. I’ll never stop. I’ll never quit. I’m just not that way.

I love a challenge. I love being backed up. against a wall. I believe that’s where capable people shine, so I do what I can to keep myself busy and occupied. Owning a business like a gym has to be one of the best places to do it. There are so many different dynamics that need to be prioritized and managed for it to work and for it to be special. It’s an extremely saturated market, especially in this area so it’s essential to set yourself apart. And when the work is done, I can always train, hard. And I always will until the day I die.

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 started lifting weights when I was 13. When I started going through puberty, I remember how much I hated how I looked and how uncomfortable I was in my own skin. Long story short, the straw the broke the camels back was when a crush of mine called me “titty boy” at a pool party in front of everyone.

I wasn’t as upset or insulted as I was informed. It validated how I was already feeling. So, rather than be offended, I agreed w her, and did something about it.

Once I started training, It didn’t take long to realize how much I loved the way I felt when I was lifting weights, and hated how I felt when I wasn’t. That alone was enough to keep me in the gym everyday. Through injuries, sickness, hangovers, heartbreak, car accidents, dirt bike crashes, broken bones, surgeries, even a couple months in jail, I never missed a workout, ever.

Interestingly enough, it wasn’t until I graduated college that I really ever considered actually being a personal trainer. In 2010, the market had crashed. I was working for a framing company throughout college and had every intention of staying but everything in that industry was slow at that time. So I decided to try personal training.

Originally, I was extremely intimidated by the whole business model. I remember thinking to myself: “Who is going to pay me 75-105 dollars an hour to teach them how to lift weights.” So with minimal experience in personal training aside from helping friends and training partners out over the years and even less experience in sales, I just started showing up; every day, without exception.

I authentically love lifting. I love challenging myself. I love being strong. And I have a deep respect for the art of training.

So that’s exactly what I did. I continued training, hard.

I was given an opportunity at a gym that was significantly nicer than any other place I’ve ever trained in, in a city I’d never been to, around people that I had never met. I realized right away that I was on stage literally 100% of the time I was there, so I was on my best behavior, for the most part.

Every moment I was in that gym was an opportunity to display my craft and skillset. I made a point to greet and engage with everyone. Not try and sell them anything as much as try to develop authentic relationships with those that I shared the space with.

I definitely stuck out, which worked in my favor. No one at that gym really trained like I did, and people noticed.

In April of 2010, the gym ran a sale on intro training packs. 29 dollars for 3 half-hour sessions. I must have sold 100 of them to all of the members I had been connecting with up until that point. So, for the next few months, I was on the floor, around the clock, training sessions.

Fortunately, many of them became clients. Additionally I was able to get the attention of others who saw me working with such a diverse group of individuals which brought more leads, and more clients. Within three months, I had the largest business at the gym, but not without the support of all of the other trainers there and our manager. They were fantastic and taught me very early on the importance of an abundance mindset and that a rising tide raises all ships. We all worked together, supported each other, and we all were more successful as a result.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Growing up for whatever reason I was extremely susceptible to strep throat. I would get it all the time. During my junior year of high school football I came down with mono which sidelined me for a few weeks. At the end of the year I got it again and this time my tonsils got so big that they overlapped. I had to get an emergency tonsillectomy and also had my adenoids removed. It wasn’t a serious surgery and I was back on my feet right away but was still dealing with mono.

I had just gotten my license and was doing commercial framing and running captains practice for football at night. I was also doing tree work on the weekends. I was exhausted and foolish. I should have taken some time to rest and recover from mono but I wanted to work and train. I distinctly remember dozing off at the wheel everyday going to and coming home from work. Long story short I made it two weeks, and the Friday of the second week I fell asleep at the wheel, drifted into the other lane, and hit someone head on coming the other way.

Luckily, he was fine. He was driving a newer model sedan with an airbag and walked away with no injuries. I had to be cut out with the jaws of life. I was conscious but don’t remember anything until I woke up in the hospital a few days later with a shattered jaw, hyper extended right elbow, dislocated right shoulder, broken right femur, broken right ankle, four broken metatarsals in my left foot, broken left knee, and 4 small breaks in my left forearm.

I remember getting my casts off 6 weeks later, and eventually getting my jaw unwired 12 weeks later. I was 6′ 5″, 155 pounds. I had lost close to 80 pounds. My face was deformed, nerve damage in my face effected my ability to speak and use my lower lip, I was emaciated, my spine was completely out of line causing a close to four inch difference in my shoulder height, everything hurt, I was extremely depressed and lost. I was verbally offered some scholarship opportunities to play college football at a high level which was clearly out of the question. I really didn’t know what the next move was.

I did know that I hated how I felt, and couldn’t stand to look at myself, again.

So, as soon as I could I got back in the gym and back in shape. It took about 18 months.

I could write and write about the other injuries, setbacks, and failures I’ve been through including an injury from 2017 Strongman Nationals where I fractured my left forearm again and even today, over six years later I have extremely limited use of my left arm. But I’ll never quit. Regardless of how frustrating challenges like this are, I am in some way responsible for all of them and I choose to go back, figure it out, understand, learn, adapt, and keep pressing forward.

I see these situations as the most valuable ones of my life. It’s a choice. You can either CHOOSE to be a victim of your circumstances, or a student of them.

I’ll choose a student. I’ll choose a student every single time.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Owning a gym was never the plan for me. Neither was being a personal trainer.

I had every intention of staying in trades. I love working with my hands and always enjoyed the rewarding feeling after an honest hard days work. I took pride in what I was doing and really enjoyed who I was working with.

When I graduated college things were extremely slow in that world, so I decided to try personal training.

It was extremely intimidating at first, but I just kept at it. Kept showing up, kept training hard, kept learning, and found value in whatever the days tasks happened to be.

It’s a constant mental battle. The bigger part of me feels restless, all the time. Always looking for the next challenge, the next goal. I have a hard time feeling accomplished in any realm or aspect of my life; as a trainer, an athlete, business owner, partner, friend, son, brother. I struggle a lot with that while simultaneously feeling very fortunate for where I am today and taking a tremendous amount of pride in what I’ve accomplished.

Perspective is an interesting thing. Coming up in my 20s I had adopted this mindset or understanding that in my 30s I’d have everything figured out. Be settled in my career, married, settled down, etc. I was wrong, again.

I turn 36 next. month and I sincerely feel more motivated than I ever have to continue to learn, work, train, compete, build, and serve others as effectively as I possibly can.

I think that’s the key; the secret. I don’t believe theres a such thing as ‘cruise control’ for us as individuals. I don’t believe there’s a such thing as coasting or maintaining. You’re either growing, or you’re going backwards. Period.

So if there’s one thing I’d like to encourage all of you to do, regardless of what it is you’re doing: keep your head down, keep pushing, keep working. And never stop.

Never stop.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thetopstrengthproject.com
• Instagram: strippcam
• Facebook: Steve Tripp
• Youtube: Strippcam The TOP Strength Project