Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in health and fitness but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Devin Wolfe, President, and co-founder of Renegade Training Company, located in Calgary, AB, Canada.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

Renegade Training Company! A Private fitness training facility here in Calgary that specializes in individualized personal training and small group strength classes. We welcome anyone that is looking to make a positive change in their life by working with professional coaches to transform their body and health by implementing the fundamentals of strength training and nutrition to reach their true potential in and outside the gym.

Tell us about yourself

My Name is Devin Wolfe, and I am the co-founder and head coach at RTC. I have been a personal trainer since 2011, but my formal education is a degree in Finance from Mount Royal University. The combination of my passion for health and fitness, my education in finance, and Renegade attitude (This is not my first entrepreneurial venture) led me to take the biggest leap of my life in 2017 to build my own training facility in hopes 10x my impact in the fitness industry by housing and mentoring other coaches that share in my passion and values.

I’m a big believer in being driven by purpose and fulfillment over just financial success (though financial stability is still an important pillar). I’m driven by being able to create a sustainable career for myself and my team to impact people’s lives positively while being surrounded by a supportive community of people that wish to better themselves through a healthy lifestyle. Being in a fun, uplifting work environment that you can look forward to is a key to keeping your enthusiasm high and looking forward to tackling the day the best you can win, lose, or draw!

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

The biggest accomplishment so far has been just surviving the roller coaster ride of the last two years of COVID! Being a brick-and-mortar fitness business that was only 2.5 years old at its arrival, we were closed for six months, restricted our services for many more, and had to pivot any way we could to continue to help our clients, all while trying to stay in business without the majority of, and sometimes no revenue. I employ over a dozen employees and contractors that all rely on our business to support themselves and their families. As the leader being able to have weathered that storm and be here on the other side, open, operating, and growing, has been a huge win.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

One of the hardest things about being a business owner is that you, the owner are responsible for all aspects of the business at the end of the day. Given the size and industry of the business will be different, but when you start out, you wear all the hats, and there really is no clock out time. You need to be prepared to make sacrifices and be mentally and physically prepared for what it takes to get the people and systems in place to make the business efficient and able to run without your hand in all the operations.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Be realistic about your expectations when starting out. Most have high hopes for instant success, but between reality and expectations is where the disappointment lies. So still have high goals and shoot for them, but also plan for and prepare for things not to go as planned and be financially able to weather out the worst-case scenarios.
  2. As mentioned before, plan and invest in creating systems, and automate/ simplify anything you can while bringing in people that can take things off your plate at operational levels. Free up time from operational tasks that can be delegated to allow for you to focus on higher-value responsibilities for the business to grow.
  3. Have a vision and enjoy the journey! There really is no finish line, so keep the vision of where you want the business to evolve as you and the business grow. Break the vision down into smaller achievable milestones and take small actions daily to hit those. This will make the journey enjoyable as you can look back and see how much you have achieved with smaller stackable wins instead of waiting for the finish line that will never actually arrive.

Is there anything else you'd like to share?

Entrepreneurship is a rocky road that has many ups and downs. If you get on the road, ensure you are diving into something that you have a passion and fire for. Put a focus on taking care of yourself physically and mentally to move along the path as your best self with the best chances of success!

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.renegadeyyc.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RTCyyc

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/renegade_yyc/
https://www.instagram.com/Wolfeman_yyc/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/renegade-training-company/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solopreneur that you'd like to share, then email community@subkit.com; we'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

Feel inspired to start, run or grow your own subscription business? Check out subkit.com and learn how you can turn "one day" into day one.