Escape Your Limits & LIFTS

Through his construction and real estate background, whether weightlifting or in business, Miguel Aguilar is someone who has never stopped building. Now, with what could be the largest training facility in the United States at 18,000 sq ft, Self Made Training is proof of how establishing concrete foundations can lead to huge creations. Miguel starts his story with three hard-hitting words: abandoned, homeless and broke. His mother abandoned him when he was 12 years old, leaving him with an alcoholic, drug addicted father who soon became incarcerated. From there, Miguel and his brother were kicked out at 16-years-old by their step-mother. It's this hard start to life that left Miguel with the determination to overcome circumstances out of his control and accept responsibility for barriers to success that he himself has caused since. On a fitness front, wrestling was Miguel's family, keeping him away from the depths of the dark side before getting into the construction industry to put his work ethic to good use. Literally and metaphorically, Miguel wrestled to win. He soon moved on from his construction path and into real estate and it wasn't long before he was selling 98 homes in a year. Now, as founder and CEO of Self Made Training Facility in California, Miguel invests his time and efforts towards the company he's built to ensure that his personal training staff members are successful in their own business ventures as well, giving them flexibility and entrepreneurial opportunity with clients in the Self Made family. The Self Made Training business began as a creation in Miguel's garage. This is a theme that's continued through to the success we see today, in expansive fitness spaces that are very high end but stick with that garage feel. Through Instagram and Facebook, Miguel blew up engagement to create a movement that grabbed attention and cemented Self Made Training in the fitness industry. Within six to seven months of being fully functional and fully staffed, Miguel had his investment back and started to research if the model would work in another location 25 miles away. Today, over 90 personal trainers take to these non-membership gyms with a sales-free approach on high-end equipment that has motivation at the heart of everything they offer. In the company's own words… Self Made Training Facility has the tools you need to be a champion. Episode Highlights: How to overcome dark times and real challenges, plan your professional life and then have the courage to try something completely new. Use what you're good at to model your approach in everything else you do. This way, you can take inspiration and advice from a way of thinking that you may have previously discounted as being totally unrelated. Why it's important to give your PTs and self-contracters the flexibility to run businesses in the way they want to, and how this entrepreneurial approach brings big returns. How etiquette and understanding allows every division of a company to operate whether professionally speaking, or physically when sharing the same space for different goals. Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with Miguel Aguilar of Self Made Training Facility… Please like and subscribe.

Scott Perry, co-founder of MOTION Fitness Group believes that it's time for familiar interval training to move aside, as high intensity resistance training is the way forward. Here's how he and his team have forged the new fashion in fitness that's here to stay. The day that Scott got into fitness professionally, after choosing a path through firefighting school, a friend introduced himself during a bicep curls session to suggest a PT career with the main positives explained as: good money, free membership and a lot of girls. Since then, he opened his first location aged just 29, and has now reached a successful state where he wears many hats of marketing, money, back end business and more for MOTION, with a bright future ahead. In this episode, Scott discusses in detail the low points of his career, defining moments in his life that hurt at the time but helped in hindsight. He also explains how the a-ha moments at every point have helped shape his direction and bring him to where he is today. Putting the HIRT on HIIT, high intensity resistance training is taking over from high intensity interval training as MOTION focuses more on things that take time to move, rather than jumping from one exercise to the next. Here, it's all about time under tension, using high energy exercises to great music, but with everyone focusing on form to burn more fat and benefit the body in every sense. Episode Highlights: Is HIIT dead? Is HIRT here to stay? Learn how to take advantage of industry trends, and how to create your own. Hear how the language behind your business invokes feeling in clients and why it's important to nail down your verbiage strategy. Learn how to come up with a new name for your studio. Hear how this industry influencer lost a job as a trainer and went on to open their own studio, and why this was the best thing that could have happened to him. Why the traditional path to success, whether that be following tradition or solely going through the education system, may not be the way that works for you. Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with Scott Perry, co-founder of MOTION Fitness Group. Please like and subscribe.

Go behind the scenes of a Spartan race with Fitness On Fire In a special bonus episode of the Escape Your Limits, the power couple, obstacle race specialists and co-founders of Fitness On Fire, Josh and Haydee Graves, take host Matthew Januszek behind the scenes of their California community fitness venture. With a huge level of energy from people cheering you on or pushing through their limits to reach the same finish line as you, sometimes literally, Fitness On Fire is more than just a gym. Join us on the tour.

With a huge level of energy from people cheering you on or pushing through their limits to reach the same finish line as you, sometimes literally, Fitness On Fire is an all-encompassing community. Here's how Josh and Haydee Graves have achieved a social hub of Spartan obstacle races, sweat and support to provide the "and then what" programme for forever fitness. There's more to the couple heading up Fitness On Fire than simply a passion for fitness, each other and their clients. Josh and Haydee Graves have taken an innovative approach to training initiatives alongside creating a content engine for affiliate scheme benefits and growing themselves as authorities within the industry. It's this fresh take that proves this California community gym is somewhere that clients can get more than just a physical benefit from a membership. Both Josh and Haydee have spent over a decade in the industry, honing their skills in 24 Hour Fitness locations, with different responsibilities that have benefitted their current joint venture. Josh has a head for the sales and fitness side, knowing how to get the clients, while Haydee comes from a service and managerial background, with the skills and experience of running a business. Both complement each other's abilities from their previous experience. Between the two of them, business acumen and passion and persistence come together to give Fitness On Fire a systematic success routine of detail for every aspect of the gym. Built on foundations of community, good coaching and self development, Fitness On Fire has its members at the heart of everything it does, working together towards the same goal. The way you do one thing is often the way you do most things, so believing you're going to keep working until you reach the point you want to reach is something that's at the heart of the entire business ethos and mindset. First and foremost, members are introduced to the importance of movement – you have to move well first. So in order to take on bigger challenges, Josh, Haydee and the team approach the form, range of motion and more to ensure that everyone is as able as possible before taking on their first challenge. Spartan races regularly bond the FOF community as each member trains for the same goal together. Each race becomes an anchor point, not just for those looking to get fit in the first place but for those looking to challenge themselves further after reaching their initial goals. It's this aspect of achievement after achievement, both on a personal and team level, that ensures retention and longevity that is only bettered by enjoyment and enthusiasm. Episode Highlights: How you can gain the skill to persuade people to take action, and why the word "sales" is something you should embrace, as opposed to avoiding. Learn how to motivate your membership, not just to get fit, but to keep engaged after they've reached their first goals and beyond. Discover why strength takes care of everything, and why it's important to ensure members move well before they even learn to do anything else. What's the difference between a business and a corporation in terms of structure, success routines, communication and more. Why you should treat your business as if you're going to franchise it, even if you have no plans to do so. Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with Josh and Haydee Graves of Fitness On Fire to discover how passion provides the perfect opportunity for personal and professional pleasure with a healthy dose of profit for good measure… Please like and subscribe.

They only way you'll be judged by the folks at WORK is if you don't walk through the door. Dane Miklaus, WORK founder, is a hard worker, married to a hard worker, from a long line of hard workers, who created a boutique fitness studio to help people connect their effort with their outcome, and it's working. A California native, Dane received his Bachelor of Science in Applied Exercise Science at Azusa Pacific University. Here, late in his college career he decided he wanted to be a trainer. He landed his real first job at Equinox, and it was there, in the trenches seven days a week, that he learned the professionalism he carries with him today. After three years at Equinox, he went onto lead group training at The 12, falling in love with the group training model. Eventually, his deep desire to do more kept burning strong, so he left The 12. With the help of his wife and a business partner, he founded WORK in 2015. As quick to give others credit as he is to pepper his conversation with motivational soundbites and throw out a golden advice nugget or two, Dane has created a concept in WORK that members love. WORK is a boutique fitness studio, not a gym. Its classes take place in groups led by passionate instructors who have dedicated their lives to health and fitness. Members range from weekend warriors, 9-to-5ers, stay-at-home parents and business owners to artists, professional athletes, celebrities, mailmen and everything inbetween. At its heart, WORK aims to instill that each member is his or her own foundation. And WORK, provides the environment, instructors and group instruction for their minds and bodies to undergo construction to forge stronger internal and external compositions. All to get results through a blend of traditional strength and conditioning with athletic functional training. Because, as they like to say, this is how your body was designed to WORK. Episode Highlights: Treat everyone as if they are the most important person. It's the right thing to do and it will help you build relationships you may one day need. Starting a company? Anticipate that it will take longer to build out, be more expensive than you thought, and be slower to catch on with clients than you planned. Even in the most challenging times, take the high road, if for no other reason than that you are a good person and that's what being one dictates you do. The meaning behind "Performance matters less in this place than effort." The best business motivation book list ever. Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with Dane Miklaus of WORK for a solid dose of inspiration and the most excellent booklist we've ever featured in a single episode of EYL. Please like and subscribe.

Rob Moore brings the wisdom of entrepreneurs worldwide to his guests each week on The Disruptive Entrepreneur Podcast. Listen to the inspiring, interesting and at times counter-intuitive results when the disruptive entrepreneur interviews the Escape Your Limits host and Escape Fitness co-founder, Matthew Januszek. Sometimes falling is the best thing in the world that can happen to you. Just ask Escape Fitness co-founder Matthew Januszek who developed his interest in fitness at 15 and then clenched it that summer while housebound from a roller skating tumble left him watching 'Pumping Iron" on repeat. As a child of the 80s, Matthew was inspired by the ability to remake the human body through bodybuilding and he had natural knack for metal and woodwork. Matthew's father, Richard Januszek, was an engineer with a passion for design and invention and the goal to simply make things better. Their passions and talents led the father and son duo to start a company literally from their garage that they've grown into a $40 million global functional fitness equipment-manufacturing leader. In fact, Escape fitness has been invited to help provide innovative, exciting and successful fitness solutions to over 1000 clubs in 80 countries. This functional fitness force is redefining human performance. Looking back over its two decades in business, while Escape has experienced massive changes that come with growing a global fitness solutions company, the hallmarks that have defined and shaped it are ever-present. Matthew believes their longevity in a tough industry proves that founding a business on deeply abiding passion, sharing that passion with like-minded people and making sure it's contagious to customers is one of their secrets to success. What makes Escape Fitness different in an industry that today boasts the praises of functional fitness is that Escape was "functional" before functional was cool. Today, the company offers hundreds of innovative and colorful products, from the Octagon frame range, to functional, athletic and strength equipment, to studio, boxing and flexibility equipment and more. Further, Escape offers a popular programming suite–MOVE IT, BATTLE FIT and HIIT THE DECK–which is a personalized approach to training that brings its functional equipment to life. Plus, Escape offers facility design and flooring. The goal: to continually make functional fitness safe, effective, exciting and accessible to people who want to be healthy, regardless of their fitness level. Matthew shares the most important things to him about keeping oneself fit mentally and physically to successfully run a company. Episode Highlights: Create a routine that travels with you that addresses exercise, nutrition and sleep to stay mentally and physically fit and avoid the burnout that can come from being an entrepreneur, leader or CEO. When you have a passion, find people who compliment your skills so you can build a team around yourself; and embrace the skills you don't have through ongoing personal development; in these ways you can turn your passion into business success. To ride the wave of growing a company for the long haul, when launching new ideas or products: keep it simple, focus on your business, persevere and don't stop until you achieve your goals. Have the discipline to know when to pull the plug on a product or idea that's not working the way you intended. Embrace hybridization for inspiration. Join Matthew Januszek in an interview with Rob Moore, The Disruptive Entrepreneur to see what quite literally fuels, drives and motivates him to success over the long haul. Please like and subscribe.

Coming from outside of an industry can give you certain advantages. There's cross-pollination of ideas and best practices for sure. And, it can unleash a creativity the competition may not anticipate to allow you improve their wheel without reinventing it. Cory Brightwell of Chuze Fitness did just that, bringing his experience in hospitality into creating a unique, high-value, low-price gym chain that looks and acts like a high-end boutique. A California native, Cory Brightwell was born into hospitality. His father and godfather created and ran Super Salad, a successful salad bar buffet chain concept. It was in the trenches of these restaurants working with his father where he learned firsthand the standard of execution necessary to provide an exceptional customer experience. A Pepperdine University graduate, where he played baseball, Cory took his love of the basics of culture and customer experience and married it with his passion for fitness to found Chuze Fitness. Today, the father of a one-year-old, this successful young entrepreneur and his partners have taken what was their first location in Carlsbad of 16,000 sq. ft. with basic amenities to 22 locations across California, Colorado and Arizona that average 40,000 sq. ft. with all the amenities you'd never expect for the low monthly membership fee of $9.99. In the high-value, low-cost club space, Chuze Fitness is unique. Boutique-like in spirit, they offer everything you might expect to find in a more expensive club, from the equipment, to the pool, to the kids club, to the sauna and steam room, to the team training and more. Chuze believes for too long exercisers have been overcharged and underserved. So, in 2008, they flipped that idea on its head to create an awesome gym where members pay just $9.99/month. Chuze Fitness passionately believes its members deserve a gym that's beyond friendly, beyond spotless, and beyond well-equipped, with every fun class you want, that feels like a country club, but costs like a couple of lattes. Because everybody deserves an awesome gym. Cory Brightwell walks this talk and that is evident from the moment a member walks through their doors. Episode Highlights: Stick to the time-honored, tried and true, industry agnostic business basics and execute them really, really well. Don't reinvent the wheel, make a better wheel. Hire people who are a right cultural fit, versus people who look good on paper who you hope you can make into a fit. It's the only way to scale your unique brand feel. Hiring for culture and training for customer experience, plus ensuring the leaders live the values daily. Learn how to cram more value into what people already pay. They'll love you and tell others. Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with Cory Brightwell of Chuze Fitness to see how you can continue to add value for your customers without drastically increasing price if you really get the cultural and team basics right. Please like and subscribe.

How does one person successfully and concurrently run businesses as diverse as a mortgage lending company, dance studio, juice bar and training facility? By applying the lesson in everything to everything else. For Brian, his ability to learn, implement quickly and adjust as necessary adds to his success as well as that of his contracted trainers at Reign Training Facility. Brian Sardarizadeh is a man of many business talents. You could call him a professional entrepreneur. Currently, he's CEO of Direct Home Lending, CEO of Inspire Dance Inc. and CEO of Reign Training Facility. And, there have been a few other businesses along the way. He has a special gift for cross-pollination of both lessons and ideas from one industry to the next. And, his gift means everyone who works with him wins. With a love of fitness, he began working as a trainer, getting into management at 21 with 24 Hour Fitness. When it sold, he decided it was time for his exit. Armed with his entrepreneurial spirit, business studies and love of finance, he decided to give mortgage lending a try, which lead him to open Direct Home Lending. The success he experienced in the mortgage industry provided funding for the rest of his business ventures, including the one that brings him back to his roots in personal training, Reign Training Facility. Reign offers a private facility with the belief that rapid, sustainable, healthy and natural change can only be achieved with the combination of strategic training protocols and integrated nutrition. The brainchild of Brian Sardarizadeh, it was his combining the best of a traditional training facility with the best of a boutique studio. His trainers are contractors who rent their space. But, Brian provides more than just a place to train their clients; he provides mentorship, guidance and support. And, therein lies the secret sauce to his success. Episode Highlights: Find what motivates each individual and use that to drive them. There's no one size fits all. You have to meet people where they are. Make money in different places. Don't put all of your eggs in one basket. Provide guidance and support. Whether it's trainers or franchisees, even though it requires a bigger investment, the happier they are, the happier you'll be. Put the right people in the right spots. It's everything. See what works and what doesn't. And move on without the negative baggage associated with a perceived failure because it's not a failure, it's a lesson. Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with Brian Sardarizadeh of Reign Training Facility to see how his business model meets trainers where they are to help them grow their businesses and become their best, all to enhance member experience. Please like and subscribe.

Finding sanctuary in something you love is important. For Zach, working out was his. Seeing the results of his effort enthused him for further physical gains before he turned the progress model from body to business. Texas-born Zach was bred on an activity diet of American football, baseball and other sports. Not only a highly ranked athlete, he was also academically impressive – with both scholarships and physical ability coming second nature to him. An injury led him away from dreams of being a doctor to a love of helping others in another way, getting them back to their former prowess, and his newfound business mind led him on a journey to where he is today. The founder and CEO of Sanctuary Fitness LA hasn't had a straightforward career path, though. Through analyst roles, corporate project management and more, he's always given a nod to nutrition and health, but has committed to creating a fitness space and community that's gained hundreds of members and class bookings after just a short amount of time. The difference with Sanctuary is that, by its own admission, the gym is not about fitness; it's about testing yourself to realise just how strong you actually are. They know that we can all fail, but it's how you stretch yourself to your limit that's the main detail. Not only does the approach to working out offer a fresh way of thinking about your gym visit, but the community behind the self-improvement is strong as well. Whether it's encouragement during a workout or how to continue your fitness journey when away from the gym, this is how health and harmony can work together through the service Sanctuary offers – there's even a brewery next door! Episode Highlights: How to deal with challenges that come out of nowhere to still succeed in the long run. The importance of a business partner – or more than one – and how this will help you to work on the business rather than solely employing people to work in the business. Measurements of success. What are you looking to provide for and get from your team, your customers, your business, your community, your industry, your family, your personal life and more, and how it all ties together. How do you sell a vision to an investor to convey a business model, the USP, the revenue and expense plan, expansion options and, importantly, the passion. Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with Zach Golden of Sanctuary Fitness to see how spirituality and sweat can come together for solid success long term. Please like and subscribe.

Not many people can complete a national record-breaking cycle ride for 23 hours and 22 minutes, climbing 12,000m, up and down a Norweigian mountain. Royal Personal Training CEO, Shahin, has surpassed every challenge he's set himself. Hear how he does it… Leaving Norway and coming to the US with nothing, Shahin Safae has chased his own version of the American dream through his constant motivation to better himself and others. Now, as the CEO of Royal Personal Training in Beverly Hills, Shahin not only trains celebrities, but he lives the celebrity lifestyle himself as well. His continual success in his finances and fitness prove that any future goals are simply a formality. Shahin works best under pressure. He wants everything, and he's prepared to put the work in to get it. He fuels himself by living to his means with increasing levels of luxury and then pushing himself even further. Royal Personal Training is the fulfillment of a promise to his parents that he can be incredibly successful even though he didn't pay attention at school. It's certainly that, and so much more. Shahin loves bikes and cars – anything that goes forward, fast. He has fused his passion for fitness by surrounding it with his love of speed and excitement. This is the first gym we've seen with a Ducati, front and centre. Royal Personal Training no longer needs Shahin on-site for it to succeed. However, his own need to grow and learn means he's there every day to stay hands on and be a part of every dollar's worth of growth. Episode Highlights: How to reach success from any start. With a childhood background of people minding their own business in a world of long winters, Shahin went from being a troublemaker in school and "working his ass off" at a gas station to traversing a road to professional sports before his hunger for further achievement took him west. How to reach your goals at an early age, or any time – Shahin was just 18 when he started using his money in the right way to buy his first condo. Learn how to do whatever it takes to get your foot in the door of the next step towards business success, and how to overcome any obstacle. Learn ways of overcoming not knowing where to start with a business opportunity, and recover from your lowest points to ultimately find new room for growth. Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with Shahin Safae of Royal Personal Training to hear how you can embrace your hunger for success and nourish it with everything you need to win. Please like and subscribe.