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

Tanner, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s jump to the end – what do you want to be remembered for?

After being in the fitness world for 10+ years, I can honestly say that it can be exhausting emotionally and physically. Over the years I’ve woken up at 2:45am to train clients, and stayed at the gym till 11pm. This was in my earlier years of training, but the grind the get going was tough. I said yes to anyone and everyone. I got walked on quite a bit, but I poured my heart and soul into my work.

Now that I’m more established, more confident in myself and how I’m able to help clients, healthy boundaries have been set, which leads to better service and a more consistent coach for my clients to expect.

As I reflect on the years doing this, and the years to come, I want my legacy to be a much greater impact than just physical transformations. Sure, I love a good physical transformation of fat loss, or an athlete that gets a scholarship, or drafted as a result of tremendous work and progress at Journey. But that’s not the extent of what we do at Journey.

I want my gym to be a safe haven for people who are struggling. To feel welcomed and accepted as they are, no matter what. To meet clients where they’re at, and help them along in their fitness Journey, challenging them, but not overwhelming them or shaming them.

I want clients to look back on their time at Journey and be proud of their physical, emotional, and spiritual growth. To be connected in a community of like minded individuals who push each other to be healthier, but also better people.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Journey Training has been in business for 10 years. We are a small private gym in Tempe Arizona that offers group training, personal training, and athletic performance training. We are primarily a strength gym that focuses on foundational strength movements (squats, deadlifts, pressing, pulling) and combined traditional strength training with a bit of high intensity cardio, calisthenics, weightlifting, and other methods that challenge our clientele.

We have an awesome community that feels welcome wherever you’re at in your fitness Journey. We have some very fit clients who have competed at high levels of sport, and those that are getting into fitness for the first time.

I started Journey after graduating college. My plan was to become a physical therapist, and I was doing personal training to get by in college. But after some time Training, I fell in love with it and felt called to continue it. I went off on my own to rent space and start my own business, and rented space for about 5 years under the mentorship of the only gym owner I rented from. After 5 years I bought him out and have owned Journey Training since 2017.

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

I think almost all business owners had to pivot in some capacity due to covid. My story was a bit unique in that I had some substantial changes prior and during the covid pandemic.

Prior to covid, my gym was a renting business model as well. I rented out my gym space to other trainers for just over two years. This was the best financial decision, but it was NOT my long term goal for Journey. I always desired having my own employees and a unified staff.

When covid happened, we shut down for two months. I rented ALL my gym equipment to clients in order to keep their membership fees. I drove all around dropping off barbells, dumbbells, bumper plates, jump ropes, bands, concept 2 rowers, assault bikes. My gym was gutted completely to stay alive during those few months.

My staff and I posted daily workouts on IG for our members as well as anyone else who wanted them. We tried some zoom workouts for a bit as well.

During this time, my wife was 6 months pregnant, and we decided to move in with my in-laws as we were searching for our first home to buy.

This was honestly one of the wildest seasons I can recall. With my gym shut down and fearful of what would happen next, our second baby on the way, and closing on our first home in the coming weeks, my wife and I were at the mercy of Gods Grace and an amazing clientele that were generous and wanted us to succeed.

It was extremely humbling to feel so helpless. But through it all, we became more resilient, and learned to adapt quickly. My coaches were amazing and flexible during this time, and we made it work.

As tough as it was, I am so thankful for it. It made me stronger and more confident in who I am, and what I have to offer.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

In regards to group training, Hands down word of mouth. Our clients stick with us for quite some time. The relationships that we build have a depth that reflects caring for the entire person and their well-being.

We’ve always thrived from clients bringing family and friends in.

We do well on Google searches for our personal training and rank high in the Tempe area for personal training.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.ourjourneytraining.com
• Instagram: @journeytraining

Image Credits
Dylan Harris