Founder and CEO Wesley Harrell has been working professionally in gyms since he was in college, and has 35 years in the fitness industry. He has been running Everybody Fitness in the Dayton area for about 20 years.
“Pretty much my whole adult life has been fitness,” Harrell said. “I liked the idea of helping people. I like the idea of the positiveness, people getting in shape, feeling better, you’re changing their lives. Not only the way they look, but health wise, gratitude, the way they feel, the way they act.”
Harrell’s business model draws inspiration from the same style of gyms in the 60s and 70s, which he said valued commitment and results with a higher premium. While a monthly membership is a higher base cost than your average Planet Fitness subscription, Harrell said Everybody Fitness includes amenities that modern consumers care about.
Credit: JIM NOELKER
Credit: JIM NOELKER
This includes childcare at no additional cost.
“Childcare is huge because it allows people to fit it into their schedule. They’re just doing it. They’re not having to come up with some other way of figuring it out,” Harrell said.
The company has also worked to cultivate a family-friendly culture, so that visitors are unintimidated by the gym. One of the chain’s two Huber Heights locations is for women only. Some Everybody Fitness locations have designated “selfie rooms,” or posing rooms, for bodybuilders and others to record themselves or simply track their fitness goals, without the risk of unintentionally filming others in the gym who might not be comfortable.
“One of the reasons why we call it Everybody Fitness is just the idea that it’s for everybody. We really do believe in our philosophy as a lifestyle,” Harrell said.
Intimidation can be a major reason people fall off their New Year’s resolutions. Changing too many of your habits at once can feel daunting, and as a result, many people give up by the end of the first week in January.
Credit: JIM NOELKER
Credit: JIM NOELKER
The solution? Start small, and know what your brain can take.
“If you mentally dread something, it doesn’t matter how great it could be for you. You most likely aren’t going to keep doing it,” Harrell said. “So to make something a lifestyle change, the bottom line is you have got to create something that you can mentally handle. It’s more mental than physical.”
Everybody Fitness is $30 a month for three years, after which the cost drops to $15 and is month to month, Harrell said. Though the three-year commitment might seem steep to some people, for many EveryBody Fitness customers, it’s an investment in themselves that goes by quick, Harrell said.
“My real belief is this: Anything that’s important, anything that you feel is important to accomplish, whether it be marriage, going to school, or getting in any kind of relationship, you have got to have some type of commitment to it.”
“The simple things are typically really what work in life. The basics, fundamentals, they don’t really change. You can’t get something for nothing. Same thing with fitness,” he said.
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