I got involved in Fitness in 1994 when I was in torpedo maintenance school in Orlando, FL. One of my instructors was an amatuer body builder, and I started working out with him. I was a whopping 125 pounds when I graduated high school and I put on 20 pounds of lean mass really fast. The first time I went back home after gaining that size, I got a lot of looks from people who had seen me grow up in the small town of Wisner, NE. The feeling I got from people noticing me, was an awesome feeling.

I oversaw the physical fitness program at the three bases I was stationed at. After my medical discharge from the Navy ROTC program, I decided to pursue my love for fitness and started my health club career as a fitness consultant for a chain of World Gyms. I worked my way up to manager in a short time.

What I have found is that in order to be successful in the health club industry, you have to distinguish yourself from your competitor, who in this day and age, might just a few doors down! My first mentor in the industry taught me: Sales, Service, and Sanitation. I quickly learned that list is correct, but the order of importance is not. I switched it to: Service, Sales, and Sanititation. I tell my staff if you can't service the member, how can you sell them a membership. This has remained my philosophy to this day,