We were lucky to catch up with Theresa Fackler recently and have shared our conversation below.

Theresa, appreciate you joining us today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

Oh wow…so many things I could share. I feel like my parents really instilled a hard work ethic. They were always ‘busy’ but also knew how to take down time. Both of them were really good at getting ‘stuff’ done. In a world of so many distractions now, being brought up around doers made an impact. And it wasn’t just about the doing…it was about doing it right and redoing it if need be. My mom used to have a saying, ‘Don’t do it half assed’. This was usually said when I was vacuuming or folding clothes. I hated it then, but now looking back I realize that it taught me how to take pride in what I do and to do it right. Having to redo things may have also been the start to teaching me how it’s ok to fail at something and try again. Because boy, did I have to try again (and again) when it came to vacuuming and folding clothes. (Sorry Mom, love you)
Lists….they both created lists. This is something I do and I’m pretty sure I cannot live without them at this point. They keep me on track in what all needs to get done at the gym, in our other business and at home.

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?

Wow, where do I begin? I got into fitness like a lot of other people…..I wanted to lose weight. At least that’s what I thought at the time. I was really searching for an outlet, a therapy of sorts for what I was going through at the time. I had already started running when a friend of mine invited to a boxing class. I was just coming out of a mentally abusive relationship. She thought boxing would be a great outlet. She was right. I fell in love with it within the first couple of classes. It gave me that stress relief and another relief I couldn’t describe at the moment. I left feeling empowered…something I had not felt in a long time. I never imagined myself boxing, I wasn’t that girl. But the girl I was, needed boxing and the community more than she ever knew. Over the next two years I ‘unpacked my internal baggage’ on the heavy bag, focus mitts, and everything else in the workout. My coaches had no idea how they were impacting me, and I am super grateful for everything they instilled in me.
My confidence slowly returned, and I felt like I was getting back to me and was able to be a better mother to my young teenage daughter again. In many ways,
Fast forward becoming an instructor at local gyms for 10 years. God started nudging me to return to boxing and give others an outlet like I had been given. You know, the whole, if it worked for me, someone else out there needs it too kind of thing. So, I started with just working out with friends, and it started growing. At this time, my own trainer pointedly said to me, ‘Stop devaluing yourself and your gifts, get your personal training cert and start doing what you’re supposed to do.’ This was a huge turning point and I still thank him to this day.
Starting up boxing fitness classes led into personal training sessions, and it all grew from there. Between utilizing social media and word of mouth from clients, our community grew and continues to grow.

Enter another big turning point when the owner of the one gym I rented space at asked me if I’d like to lease some space and put my name on the door, opening my studio I dreamed about. I immediately said yes, and then figured it out. I am so grateful for the start that he gave us. He said someone helped him get started, so he was passing it on. Something I have since done with another trainer who now owns his own gym.

What we do: We have created a boxing fitness gym in Lancaster, PA. One that provides many things. Of course, there is the varied workouts, I like to say that our One More Round classes check off all the workout boxes you’ve been searching for. They are literally strength training, cardio endurance, core work, agility, mobility, hand-eye coordination and more, all rolled into either a 60- or 90-minute class. But we also provide stress relief. Boxing is great for this. Fun, I like to say we put the fun in functional training. This shows up in our classes. They are never the same, and NEVER boring. We put effort into creating classes that are functional for everyone and fun so that you leave feeling like you cannot wait for the next class.
One thing I saw over my 10 years working in gyms was there is a population of members who are not getting the attention they deserve. They are the ones with physical challenges, the ones who feel intimidated to walk into classes, and those who pay for their memberships but yet don’t use them. So, at EnVision Train our clients have the opportunity to pay class by class. This way they aren’t just paying for something they are not utilizing. I know some say you should take advantage of that group of people and make money off them. I do not agree with that. My purpose is to help people and impact their lives and fitness in a positive way. This has proven to be a great system for us.
We have created variations for exercises when someone cannot do a particular exercise. For instance, not being able to do a pushup, we start you doing pushups on the wall, build your strength and then work you down from there. It may sound so basic, but it works and so many gyms/trainers do not give that option and people feel defeated. Also, for those who cannot get to the floor or one reason or another, we have created ways for them to do things on a bench. ie: ab wheels, cool down/mobility and so much more. This has enabled us to cater to more of the population we feel really needs our help. It also gives those clients a sense of accomplishment and that they are not left out.
The last one…those who are intimidated. This is another reason we put effort into making our classes fun. If people are having fun, the intimidation level goes down.
Plus, we share so much on social media so that people can see what it’s all about. They get to see that you don’t have to be a certain size, age or fitness level to participate! One of our clients is 73 years old, has had multiple replacements. She is in classes 3x a week, works hard, utilizes all the variations and even teaches the new people who need them. She is also one of our biggest supporters and is constantly inviting people. We call her momma!

Unpopular opinion: We do NOT focus on weight loss. Instead, we focus on movement, quality of movement and how can we help you move more, be more mobile, have more mobility, achieve a better level of fitness because of it. Our goal is not to help you move MORE, because once that happens, quality of life changes.

One of the things I am most proud of is that we keep ‘the client’ the center of what we do. We want to impact each and every one of them in a positive way that impacts their life outside the gym too. This had led to us having personal relationships with our clients beyond just being a client in the gym. Our community is strong and close. When a new person walks in the door, they leave feeling like they’ve already made so many new friends.
Another thing I am proud of is that God has a presence and it’s felt by those who need it. I believe God brought me through the hard times he did to bring me to this moment and be able to serve others through EnVision Train.

I want others to know that they have a place here at EnVision Train.

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

So we opened the studio October 1st, 2019. And of course, 5 months later we had to shut down because of the covid lockdown in our state. I remember sitting at my desk thinking, what am I going to do, I just opened. My daughter who is a stylist was sitting next to me and thinking the same thing….she is also a class trainer at our gym. It took about five minutes to sink in, and then I turned to her and said, ‘We are going to go virtual’. We started doing at home workouts with what we dubbed, The Toilet Paper Workout. Seriously, we had a huge case of it, so we created a workout to (hopefully) lighten the mood with our clients. We also created workouts with things we thought a lot of our clients would have at home…like a basketball.
I ended up doing 5-7 online workouts a week, for free to keep our clients engaged. I knew that keeping them engaged was key in several areas…1. We wanted to keep them moving. 2. I learned in network marketing to stay in front of your audience. So, I knew we had to do just that so that when we opened, we would be welcoming them back in studio. 3. I had formed relationships with all of these people, they became friends too. I wanted to stay in touch.
The result: we actually grew our audience during this time and opened with full classes.
There was a second pivot during this timeframe. My back went out, something that had never happened before. I learned very quickly how important mobility is and went to work on this. This became a pivot because it’s changed our classes. We added a mobility section to all classes and even to client sessions, something we didn’t have much of at all. It has been incredible to watch our clients mobility change because of this.
Side note, I never wanted to be a virtual trainer. I had a business coach tell me a year before all of this that I should be doing that and I emphatically said, ‘NO, that’s not for me’. Now we actually have an app. So, you never know where a pivot can lead you if you’re open to taking it.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Have I mentioned yet how much I love social media? For a business, it’s free marketing! And it’s the quickest way to reach more people and widen your sphere of influence. For me, it started out on my personal page. I would share inspiration and motivation as I was doing personal development. And then I shared my own weight loss and fitness journey.
Once we started up EnVision Train, we added the business pages. And I became very consistent, stayed true to my core values, shared and shared lots of content, showed videos of our classes, shouted out clients, encouraged clients to tag us in their posts, and share value. It is an ever-evolving piece of our business. Just like a business, you have to grow with it.
I also learned how to show personality. Being funny, even in business, is not a bad thing. Humor it up.

For those just starting to build their social media presence, my advice is to stay consistent, engage, to stay true to YOU and don’t compare yourself or your social media to other accounts. Trust me, when I have fallen into this, it has never been a good thing. People want to see you, your business, your personality, what you believe in and the biggest one…what you can do for them.
Show them what you do, how you serve your clients and why you do it. There is so much do this/don’t do that/now do this and not that kind of thing out there. My advice is to take what feels good in your heart and go. But be consistent! People get used to accounts and actually look for the ones that are providing value, engage with their audience and are consistently ‘there for them’.

One more thing……social media is part of your business. The sooner you accept that and roll with it, the easier it will get. I see so many businesses fighting it thinking it’s just a time-suck. Treat it as an arm of your business, set boundaries around it and have some intention with it. It’ll serve you back.

Contact Info:

• Website: envisiontrain.com
• Instagram: @envisiontrainfitness
• Facebook: envisiontrainfitness
• Other: Check out our app at onemoreroundboxing.com

Image Credits
Heike Martin Photography Melissa Binder