I'll start at the beginning...
Once upon a time there were 2 girls, Kay and Beth. They taught fitness classes at LA Fitness and the local college.
Kay and I are those two girls. I can't keep writing in the 3rd person.
We decided we wanted to go out on our own and teach our own way - with passion, compassion, experience, and music that contained swear words. Frankly, that was the big selling point for me. I didn't want to (keep) getting in trouble for my language and my eclectic taste in workout music.
We created KBfit. Get it? Kay. Beth. KB... Anyhoo, we obtained insurance, certifications, permits, and licensing and created an outdoor fitness group in our fairly large neighborhood. It was a slow pick-up, but eventually we really got momentum and our little baby started to grow! We watched on like proud parents when KBabyFit moved from crawling to walking. We took lots of pics and obnoxiously posted them all over FB, too.
(This baby-metaphor crap will be key, in a moment)
Unbeknownst to us, fitness was about to explode in our little town. CrossFit Boxes, boot camps with a brick & mortar presence, personal trainers a-plenty, and 24-hour gyms were all gearing up to spring up.
We didn't have a lot of money (or... ANY money), a building with cool equipment, or even the permission to advertise to the greater public. But we had heart. Unfortunately, heart wasn't enough to compete with the big guns. Yet, foolishly, we thought we could (and even more foolishly - needed to) compete.
Eventually, our corporate gym-type schedule of classes burned us out and we had to scale back. We started losing members to other places that offered the schedule, workout type, and co-workout population that suited their interests and needs best... All legitimate reasons for moving on or bypassing us completely.
But remember how I referred to KBfit as our baby? As first-time parents to a small business, we may have become a little nut-rolly about protecting our baby. Why would people want to go play with someone else's kid? We lost our minds and, admittedly, common sense. We were trying to raise our baby to become a lawyer or doctor and eventually support us (I'm back to being metaphorical. Stay with me). But good parents don't do that, do they.
Whoopsie!
This weekend, we had to have a little "come to Jesus" with each other. Maybe we needed to fold our cards and leave the game to the high rollers. We aren't even in the same league. What on Earth made us think we could hold our own at this table? Did we need to just go out of business and concede to the bigger guys?
After much soul searching, whining, and running new ideas up the flag pole; we decided it wasn't too late to be good parents to our little baby. We didn't need to compete in any game or with any player.
Alright. Enough with the parent/child and poker similes. You see the point I'm trying to make.
We don't need to be everything to everybody. We don't need to go nutty when folks have needs that we can't meet. We do, however, need to focus on the needs that we CAN meet.
So... Here we are, back at the beginning (of this story as well as our original intention of nearly 2 years ago). Why are we KBfit? Because we know the struggle. We've been defeated then strong, then guilty and then re-empowered. Because we also live in the cycle of fitness - that maddening drive that ebbs and flows in spite of a physical need that remains consistent. Because as long as somebody needs us to be KBfit, we will be.
-B(Sting)
