10 questions with Brent Gallagher, co-owner of Avenu Fitness.
What drew you to the health and fitness industry?
Building something that could challenge the community we serve to refocus back on the basics of living fit: Sleeping more. Eating better. Training less (yes). We’ve put the cart so far in front of the horse that we’re losing a solid foundation on which we can build healthy individuals in sustainable ways.
Throughout your time at Avenu Fitness, what is one of the biggest changes or evolutions you’ve seen?
Diving deeper with our 30-minute concept. Over the last 11 years, our most unique deliverable has been giving our community back their time through convenient training experiences and challenging them with this simple vision: if you get the basics right, you don’t have to invest as much time at the gym, leaving more time throughout your week to enjoy doing the most important things in life.
What is one accomplishment you’re most proud of?
Building Avenu Fitness with my wife, Cassie, over the last 11 years. When we look back, starting with zero clients, zero money coming in and $220,000 in debt, to now leading a team of 15, a community of 465+ and being debt free for over 9 years, it’s humbling to see how blessed we truly are and how we’re helping to redefine the boutique studio business model.
What gets you most excited to come to work every day?
The ability to ask this one question each and every day: “What if?” When you can explore your curiosity daily, each day becomes a new chapter in this ever changing world.
What is one lesson you’ve learned that other health club professionals can learn from?
Self-awareness is key not only for you, but your team and your facility. When your entire team is playing to their strengths and that of your facility, a genuine experience oozes out of every touch point for your clientele. This builds a deeper sense of trust within your community that your business’s heart and purpose are truly in the right place.
What is one key thing you think Avenu Fitness does great that other clubs could learn from?
The efficiency of our 30-minute model. When business leaders visit our facility and see the flow of the sessions, the artistic approach each trainer brings to the training experience, the authentic connections, the smiles and the prompt start / finish times, they begin to see how truly unique our approach to a fit lifestyle is.
What is the biggest challenge you’ve had to overcome?
Being a strong and confident introvert leader in a very loud and energized extroverted fitness industry.
How did you overcome that challenge?
By realizing that I was more of a liability trying to be someone I was not. I worked with an executive coach to fine-tune my awareness and embrace that the quiet side of our industry needed a leader to step up and lead in a unique way that resonated with them. My hope is that through the speaking and writing I do, along with the success of Avenu, I’m able to connect with and give encouragement to the quiet ones out there that they are changing lives just as much as the ones blasting all over social media.
If you weren’t at your current job, what occupation would you have?
Truck driver…. speaks to my introverted nature.
Tell us one fun fact about yourself that others may not know.
I can do a belly roll that would impress even the best of belly rollers!
