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
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
