Last Sunday, CrossFit Lacey had the privilege of hosting the Spring CrossFit Affiliate Gym Owners meeting. Typically these meetings happen annually sometime in September however, this year we gave a spring meeting a go and had a pretty good turnout. This was the first time Training Day had the opportunity to participate in one of these meetings since opening in August 2014, and it was an awesome experience!  These meetings are coordinated and mediated by CrossFit Affiliate pioneer, Laurie Bowler who owns Rainier CrossFit in Sumner with her husband Curtis.  Laurie and Curtis opened their gym in 2004 and were the the 2nd CrossFit affiliate in Washington State and the 8th in the world.  As you can imagine, they bring a wealth of knowledge to the community not only about CrossFit and how it has evolved over the years, but also in gym ownership.  Gym owners came from as far as Spokane to take part in this meeting. We also had local gyms from right in our neighborhood, CrossFit Olympia, and Northwest Iron. 

When organizing these meetings, Laurie puts out a feeler to the community about what topics are of current importance to determine what should be on the agenda.  In the past she has arranged for different experts to come in and speak on specific subjects that effect gym ownership and functionality.  This meeting was all about how we can better serve our gym members needs at every stage of their fitness journey. We started the meeting with social time, about 30 minutes of meet and greet, catching up, and getting to know each other.  Laurie then busted out a hilarious ice breaker game and we all had a chance to introduce ourselves.  After the introductions, she gave a quick briefing on the CrossFit Open, the upcoming CrossFit Regionals, and a quick check in. It was really awesome to hear the perspectives of other gym owners and to have everyone share in their knowledge and experience.

In this community, we don’t have turf wars, or see our businesses as being in competition with one another. You don’t get into CrossFit gym ownership to get rich, or for notoriety and fame.  We all do this because we are passionate about helping people in our local community get healthier and more physically fit and in turn enjoy an overall better quality of life.  It was very clear to see that the gym owners who took the time out of their busy lives to drive to Lacey Washington, just to discuss how we can do what we do better, genuinely care about their gym and every member in it. Thank you Laurie for keeping this community tight, and to everyone who came out for the meeting.  We look forward to the next one!
Melissa Knighton

In early February, we received a surprising phone call from a representive of the Thurston County Economic Development Council.  They were calling to inform us that we had been nominated,  and chosen as a top 3 finalist for the award of Best New Business in Thurston County.  The Thurston County EDC works hard to provide services to help improve local businesses as well as help new business owners get started.  We had actually consulted with the TCEDC prior to forming Training Day, to seek guidance in getting our business started.  This was a free service, and  provided us with so many helpful tools and information to get our business off to the right start. To be recognized by them less than two years later was very exciting!

Last week we attended the awards ceremony and luncheon at the Red Lion Hotel in Olympia.  It was a great event, many local businesses attended.  They put together a great presentation of all of the award nominees by category.  We were one of 3 finalists for this award, along with the Lenai Café and Single Handed consulting.  There were other categories for non-profit organization of the year, small business of the year, and corporate employer of the year.  The winner in our category was Single Handed Consulting, a well deserved win!  They are a business that works closely with the Department of Labor and Industries and injured employees to help them navigate injured worker claims as well as help them get employment after being dislocated.  They have a great business model and it is easy to see how much they enjoy helping their clients.  We enjoyed seeing the presentations of all the businesses nominated.  There was definitely a theme within all of the companies nominated in that the business owners genuinely care for their employees and patrons and are deeply involved in our local community donating time and resources to many different great causes!

Although we did not win in our category, we are extremely grateful to be nominated alongside some truly amazing local businesses and to have our gym highlighted.  We attribute the quick success of our young business to our incredible staff that share in our vision of providing exemplary physical training that is accessible to everyone and providing a family friendly, positive environment that give our members a place to call home.  We also feel that our gym community has been paramount to our growth, as we have incredible members who welcome new people with open arms and support one another unconditionally.  Thank you to whoever nominated Training Day and to the amazing people at the Thurston County Economic Development Council who chose as a finalist and highlighted our business.  We look forward to many more years serving the people of Thurston County!!  Be sure to check out the link below to see our video and others!

On behalf of Training Day owners;
Ronnie & Melissa Knighton and Rachel Janny