Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Wade Lewis. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Wade thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear the backstory of how you established your own practice.

When I decided to work for myself, I didn’t have a plan. I had a burning desire for success and an insatiable hunger to become a better version of myself. The turning point for me was at a point of rock bottom emotionally.

I had a looming feeling that I had no direction, no purpose, and no clue what I wanted to be “when I grew up”. I worked many different jobs, changed my major 6 times in college, and just could not figure it out.

The day I decided to start the business, I’ll never forget. I was sitting in a penthouse downtown with an old successful mentor of mine and talking about how I wanted to try to start my own business but had no idea, no money, and no clue where to start. I just had this burning desire to choose my own path.

I’ll never forget the words he told me. “You just have to jump into the fire, Not when you’re ready, but right now” After looking back, I now understand what he meant. Entrepreneurship is not a job. It’s 100% a lifestyle and a mindset. You don’t need money, you don’t need ideas at the start. You need healthy habits and self-drive. The type of drive that you won’t ever turn off.

Start with your mindset first, then your vision, then start figuring out the details. I found that the more I talked about my vision to other entrepreneurs, they began to plant seeds in my mind on how to move it to the next step. You have to be cautious of who you talk to because it could easily throw you off your game. However, you still have to be open enough to take criticism and share your ideas. Find mentors and join organizations that have people who understand what it’s like to run a start-up.

Looking back now, there were some things I wish I would have known to help make the start-up journey less volatile. Bookkeeping and accounting were big weak spots for me. Finding a good CFO consultant will help make life easier as you begin to scale.

Every aspect of a start-up changes. From ideas, employees, resources, etc. Having a good grasp on your financials will help you to make calculated risks and plan for roadblocks effectively.

My biggest piece of advice for young entrepreneurs starting their own practice would be to find a hobby or activity that brings you consistency and allows you to rest your mind. I’ve found that It’s extremely difficult to turn off your mind and it can get pretty overwhelming at times.

Imposter syndrome is a real and common issue for entrepreneurs at all levels. You can’t center your entire life on the success or failure of your business. Doing that distracts you from your vision and will consume all of your mental space. You have to do things that bring you happiness outside of your business. Don’t let it consume you.

For me, going to church, exercising, and off-roading are some of my hobbies that allow me to shut my mind off. I find that consistently doing these things allows me to be more effective and avoid feelings of burnout and enjoy the journey.

Wade, 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?

I was a personal trainer at a big luxury fitness chain in Dallas for a couple of years before launching my own business. I decided to leave work for that gym because of the pay structure for trainers and the high rates we were charging our clients.

I decided to start DUEL with a vision to provide top-tier personal training at a lower rate for clients and a higher earning percentage for our trainers.

What differentiates DUEL from the majority of fitness businesses is our ability to add convenience and flexibility for our clients.

We do this by training our clients at home which eliminates the need for our clients to spend time driving, finding childcare services, and getting their affairs in order just to complete a 1 hour workout.

Through our flexibility of scheduling, we allow even our busiest clients to have time to get a workout in. We find by focusing on these two aspects, our clients stay committed to exercise longer and we are able to retain our clients more effectively.

I am most proud of my team and their ability to persist and commit to building their business. It’s definitely been no easy journey trying to navigate operations and all of the small details to keep pressing forward. Without our guys, this whole business wouldn’t be possible.

If there’s one thing we want our readers to know about us, it’s that we are here to promote fitness as a lifestyle. A healthier and fulfilled life through practical habits and consistency is the name of the game. We’re here to share with you what works for us and to keep you accountable.

Can you open up about how you managed the initial funding?

If you’re new to entrepreneurship/owning a business I strongly believe it’s important to not fixate on initial capital and loans.

When I first began, I was hyper-fixated on building a business plan to scale rapidly. However, by doing this it took me away from my values and mission. I believe that focusing entirely on this in the early stages prevented me from focusing on the delivery of value to our customers.

Is it more challenging to bootstrap a business? Absolutely. However, for new entrepreneurs, there is so much value in learning how to make every dollar count. By learning the fundamentals of operations and how to allocate resources properly, you will be able to generate your own capital to scale your business.

When the time comes to take things up to the next level that requires funding from investors, you’ll be more prepared and detail oriented to be able to allocate capital correctly.

It’s a process of trial and error. Learn how to work with what you have first. Make mistakes, takes some risks with your own funds, and understand how money works before you begin to think about the big capital raises.

Over the course of the last few years, I had to pivot my mindset from “world business domination” to high-quality relationships and organic growth. Yes, it takes more time to grow, but mastering local impact first will allow us to understand how to scale up on a regional if not a national level.

I could have the best business plan in the world and a model that could have a lasting impact on the fitness industry. However, that isn’t as important as what I can do with the relationships I already have and the presence we’ve built inside our local community.

I challenge you new entrepreneurs to ride the journey out with organic growth and bootstrapping. There’s so much to learn and gain from slowing down and taking it one step at a time. Patience and persistence are truly virtues for us new entrepreneurs. It’s something we should practice daily in order to understand the true meaning of initial capital and why it doesn’t have to define the success of your business.

Any advice for managing a team?

This is a tough one. I’m still learning how to maintain high morale for our team. I rely heavily on books and mentorships for guidance on this topic. I think it starts with a look internally and asking you where your morale is at. If you are feeling down, more than likely your team is feeling down.

Sometimes pushing through by getting into the weeds of work with your team isn’t the answer. You have to build a brotherhood. Go have fun together. When the work becomes secondary to the relationships you have with your team, the work gets done more effectively and morale is raised.

This can be hard to balance though and it takes humbling yourself to take a step back to recognize when you, your team, and the energy is struggling. Rather than have a meeting about numbers and performance, hitting some golf balls at top golf, or going to dinner with your team as friends might be the best answer.

There’s a book in particular that has helped me to be able to check my ego and understand the status of my team’s morale more effectively. “Extreme Ownership” by Jocko Willink was a game changer for me and I constantly remind myself of Jocko’s teachings in the book.

Contact Info:

• Website: duelperformance.com
• Instagram: @duelfitdallas