We recently connected with Todd Verdell Jr and have shared our conversation below.
Todd , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?
In 2019, I had the idea to start a fitness business, not just for myself but to become the first business owner in my family. I was in my last year working at the Haverford YMCA, a place that helped me in many ways and where I met a lot of people. I knew I wanted to start my own fitness business, but I also knew I would need to do a lot of research on the industry. As soon as I got off work, I immediately started looking up key things needed to run a successful business.
I went back to the drawing board to give myself ideas for a business name. During this time, I was also in school pursuing my personal trainer certification, just to have leverage when I got clients. I spent days and nights coming up with a business name while feeding my brain the information I needed to understand the business. About three months into the new year, I finally came up with the name for my business, and that’s when “FITGORILLA LLC” was born. In this process, I did have a bit of help from a good friend I went to school with. He studied business marketing, and having help on how to market correctly to the right audience was definitely a game changer for my business.
Not many people in my family believed in FITGORILLA. I even had a small disagreement with my aunt about starting a business because she felt I needed to go to school and get a degree to excel in the business world. Of course, the words were hurtful because everyone was saying I couldn’t do it. So, I had to prove everyone wrong.
Fast forward to 2021, and FITGORILLA was becoming a household name. I was surprised at how much my hard work was paying off. I went from podcast to podcast promoting my business, and we also earned over $1,000 from our activewear clothing line.
I would say coming up with FITGORILLA LLC was the best idea I had a in long time, never let anyone demolish your dream doesn’t matter what you want to do in life, you just keep that same hustle when you first started everything is going workout for the better.
Todd , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Everyone in my family wanted me to try college or get a job, even though I had already done both. I believed there was still a purpose for my life; I just needed to discover it. Naturally, I needed to secure a steady income to support myself, which led me to transition from one job to another. Eventually, I settled at the YMCA as a temporary home until I could determine my long-term goals. The YMCA job helped me develop customer service skills, build relationships with people, and understand the various types of paperwork involved in my position.
Fast forward to 2019, and I’m in my last year working at the YMCA. I had a strong desire to become the first business owner in my family, but I was uncertain about which industry I would feel most comfortable pursuing. Then, boom, it hit me: the fitness industry. Given the gym culture around me, I considered starting my own gym company. However, I always felt that pursuing a business degree would help me fit in with the world like everyone else. I told myself that I was going to learn everything on the go while building my business from the ground up.
The first thing I did was try to come up with a business name. Around this time, I was talking to my friend Tyair, sharing my business name options with him, but he wasn’t interested. Then one day, I finally came up with the perfect name for my business. That night, FITGORILLA truly came to life. In those early days and nights, I felt a deep sense of joy. Everyone has an animal inside of them, but most people around the world don’t know how to bring it out. That’s why I chose FITGORILLA: I want to help people reach the next level through fitness.
As I embarked on my first year as a business owner, I recognized the immense amount of knowledge I needed to acquire by my 20th birthday. One thing I did was visit YouTube to gain as much knowledge as possible, enabling me to determine my next course of action. I actively took notes and consulted with numerous individuals I met at the YMCA.
One of my best friends, Carliss Lewis, advised me to start reading business books to teach myself the ins and outs of selling my product and myself. One of the books I read was How to Talk to Anyone in 92 Ways by Leil Lowndes. I didn’t aim to read the entire book in a single day, so I took my time to comprehend each chapter and apply it to my business. One chapter helped me understand people’s body language and use it as a tactic for selling my product. I was confident that this approach would be effective, as it addresses a global issue by empowering individuals to reach new heights and enhancing their mindset. The biggest problem people encounter when working out is giving up on themselves on easy days, only to turn around and blame the world for their problems later. I am confident that FITGORILLA can transform this mindset for everyone. We will dedicate late nights and early mornings to spreading our message. The most exciting aspect of my business is the ability to positively impact people’s lives daily, never giving up on them. Soon, everyone will know about FITGORILLA LLC, and we’re going to put the fitness industry on notice with our business.
Our services include highly intense one-on-one personal training and a variety of other fitness services to meet your needs. We also sell the best high-quality activewear on the market, so you can feel like a FitGorilla, setting yourself apart from others in the fitness industry. One thing about me is that I have a solid support system—my wife and kids. They tell me every day that things will work out for me and that my business will become a household name around the world. This is only the beginning stage; I’m now taking things seriously and helping people with their fitness journeys as well. I want everyone reading this to know that FITGORILLA is a way of life to achieve your fitness goals. We don’t just care about the money; we care about the people. We want to change the fitness industry, not by selling false hope and dreams, but by offering a transformative experience and a good time while you’re working out.
Can you open up about how you funded your business?
Putting together funding for my business was a difficult task because it’s a fitness business, and you need a lot of capital just to get started. So I took a different route by using my work paycheck, even though it was draining my finances—I had no choice but to do that. I tried everything in the book to secure funding for my business, but some things just didn’t work out. I constantly stressed myself out about it, telling myself that it would all work out in the end by putting blood, sweat, and tears into the business. However, I still managed to find ways to create capital for the business. Funding for my company was all on me; I put in so much money, even when I didn’t have it, to buy products or equipment. I had good who spotted me $500 dollars just so I can starting selling activewear yo customers and also attract new clients as well. I know that it wasn’t much but I had use it to my best advantage to help my business grow to the next level. Going into 2024 FITGORILLA LLC is looking to grow capital to put together a Solid team so we can compete with other gyms around the area.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
There was a time when I thought my life was over because of my son. An incident happened to him, and I was overwhelmed with worry. I didn’t care about my business at all because my mind was consumed with the fear of losing him to the system. I remember stopping all business operations just to focus on him, as he was the next CEO in line to take over. I fell into a depressed state, and as days went by, I lost the urge to continue my business journey. But after a few months, things started to look better. I began to feel like myself again because we won the battle. That brought me joy, and my son reignited the fire inside me. It was time to start building the business again. During that time my wife help me understand that I had something going good I shouldn’t let one issue stop me from achieving my goals and dreams.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.fitgorillallc.com
- Instagram: www.instgram.com/fitgorillahq
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fitgorilla
Image Credits
Credit: LIMYT BREAKER