bootcamp

The Least Fun Evolve Fitness Anniversary (With A Bright Side)

You may be seeing a lot of these posts coming up soon and it’s a day and feelings I won’t forget anytime soon.

I was in an empty dive bar with a ping pong table out back with friends on March 15th 2020. Like many others, I went on this trip not thinking too much of what might be coming next. They news that day felt real though. Every channel showed the beginning of shut downs, people trying to get to their home country and a lot of shame for those of us who made the decision to go to a St. Patrick’s Day party the day before.

Mitch and I were texting back and forth. Cleaning supplies, smaller workouts, communication with staff and clients. What should we do?

I was overcome with emotion when I sent him that text and looked at my friends and said “we are shutting the gym down tomorrow”. That is not something I ever though I would have to do in my (at the time) 11 years in business.

What followed was a mixed bag. A lot of stress, a lot of unknown, a lot of ups and downs, some great decisions, some terrible decisions and probably the most lessons you could learn about yourself and your business.

I wish it never happened for very obvious reasons. But I am also grateful for the lessons, the relationship with clients that got stronger and the new relationships that were formed.

Here’s the timeline and some insights that I think are worth sharing…..

-March 17th I did the first virtual workout at 6am from my apartment downtown. I can’t recall if I wore green for St. Patrick’s Day. We went all in on virtual and providing a ton of classes. We gave all of our clients a coach to check in with, personal programs and as much support as possible. They all thought they would be working out in person that week and beyond so we knew we had to do everything we could do support them with their goals.

-Soon after, Mitch had the idea to make virtual available to non members by donation. We hoped to use the money to buy gift cards to local businesses with a goal of raising a few thousand bucks. Within 3 weeks we had over a thousand people join and raised $65,000. It was so amazing and unexpected. We bought A LOT of gift cards for local businesses and also donated to local charities in need. Our clients also organized an “Evolve Day” where they raised 25,000 in one day just to help us out. At the time I felt both humbled and a little embarrassed as we were giving so much that it felt weird to receive. Little did I know how much that money was needed to help us keep things going as time went on and normal didn’t come back.

**Big takeaways here were that we got to connect and build relationships with so many amazing local business owners, we got to meet so many new amazing clients and work out with them virtually and we got to see awesome people do their thing supporting others. We also got a lot of media attention getting on the front page of the Huffington Post Business page, the front page of the Chamber’s Magazine and lots of other news articles. Yes the bank account was going down, but these things were very meaningful and will be for the rest of our lives.

-After a month, we turned the virtual fundraiser into a full time virtual program that still exists today while also prepping for the day we might get to reopen the gym. You know the drill. Open, then close, then open, then close. Now you can workout outside too? Okay great, but no let’s change our mind about that and not let you workout outside. It was a lot to keep up with and it was a tough time figuring it out all with both full time and part time staff.

**A lot of takeaways here. We learned that we had no systems and processes really for anything, including staff. Evolve had grown organically over the years and most of it’s existence was just me, Mitch and Alan as brothers and friends. It was a big wake up call and things had to change. Over time, we implemented a system called Traction (based on the book by Gino Wickman and shoutout to Keith S for suggesting it). Doing that was one of the best things we ever did. We are still perfecting it 4 years later but it’s made a huge impact on the business, our team, how we hire and how we set and reach goals.

I also learned that I needed help. Covid was like dealing with 3x as many businesses between creating a virtual program, trying to keep the in person ship from sinking and trying to figure out how to navigate the subsidies and our staff (thank you Jen times a million). As a business owner you always know you should find an amazing assistant or admin who can help you focus more on the big rocks but it never seems like you can afford it. I got to my breaking point and forced myself to afford it and it was one of the best decisions I ever made hiring Christine. In 3+ years she’s turned herself from my assistant to basically running the show helping us build systems and processes to continue to grow and help more people.

**I am not ever going to write anything negative on the blog and I truly do not ever want to judge anyone on how they deal with stressful situations. As I would say, “ain’t nobody perfect”. I do feel though that in hard times, you find out who your friends are and I am thankful for finding out during Covid. The whole thing sucked but I am glad to have strengthened relationships with those who share the same values, I am glad to have made some amazing new friends/connections/team members, and I am glad to have had some relationships change due to values not being aligned. I do think this is a good thing for both parties when it happens and I feel overwhelmingly positive about finally clarifying what my values were and doing my best to live through them every day. They were always inside, but I never thought about them much until everything we dealt with through Covid.

-The next few years have been a blur. We saw the wage and rent subsidies come and go. They started off great and impactful and then got worse over time. We saw restrictions come and go while the government continued to tell people to avoid crowded places like gym. We saw restaurants and tourism continue to get supports while gyms (with the same restrictions) got left behind. We saw memberships go up, then go down then start to slowly trend up. We did our first Ride For Cancer in 2020 and had the largest team and largest amount raised ever at $373,000. Year 4 is this year and we are hopeful to get to a million raised over 4 years. We love this event, the people (riders and Ride Team) and the impact it makes in the community. F*ck cancer. We got to travel again, we got to go to country concerts again and life got back to feeling normal. It’s hard to believe it’s been 4 years.

**In this time we bought a gym in Elmsdale and Dartmouth and got to inherit great communities and teams in both places. It took 3 dang years and big expansion/renovation but we finally got back to pre covid membership numbers in Halifax last March and Bedford hit it’s stride in 2023 as well (shoutout to the amazing team and community there led by Scott). We also started a health clinic with a focus on preventative health that is an actual dream come true for someone who cares deeply about the full health picture beyond just workouts. None of these things would have happened if Covid didn’t happen but we found our long term vision and the opportunities came. I would absolutely go back in time and have it not happen with all of the death, mental health issues, burn out for healthcare and other workers, businesses closing etc. But we are here now and I will always push the envelope when it comes to helping others be the happiest and healthiest versions of themselves.

I want to finish with a couple of thoughts.

The first is a shoutout to all of the small businesses out there who love their product/service, who care deeply about their customers and who live every day through their values. What I loved about all of this was seeing “the people” behind the businesses. It was hard for us all to be vulnerable and admit we needed help. As business owners we are used to being mostly in control of our fate and Covid really through that for a loop. Working harder, longer and the best business strategy ever couldn’t help most of us during Covid. I will raise my hand first and admit that we have a pile of debt that is going to take 10 years to pay off because of all of this. I had to go find money in places I never thought I would have to after the banks said we aren’t giving you anymore just to keep the doors open. I will also raise my hand first and admit that I made a lot of financial missteps and would probably have done some things different had I known the impacts would last this long. But I wouldn’t change my newfound appreciation for small business owners and I hope that anyone reading this continues to go and support all of your favourite businesses. This isn’t just with money and that’s actually only a small part of it. Referrals, shares of social posts, 5 star google reviews and things like that go so far for small businesses.

Second and lastly, thank you to all of our clients and our community who stepped up for us. We quite literally would not be here without you. I didn’t have time to get down during all of this because I was so overwhelmed with positivity. If I was having a bad day, an email would magically pop into my inbox from a client telling me how that virtual workout made their whole week or a note from someone telling me we were doing a great job and to keep going. It was appreciated more than any of you will ever know, so thank you for that. Included in this blog is a surprise set of photos that our clients took and then hung on the walls in Halifax to show their support. Zoom in and see why this is probably the coolest and most special thing that’s been done for us.

That’s it for today and thanks for making it this far. I am a very long term thinker (something I learned the last few years) and believe that the future is very bright. Most blogs won’t be like this one and will hopefully have actionable items for those who read it. But if there is one action item for this it’s to get clear on your own personal core values and use them to drive your daily actions and behaviors. It will take time but you will soon find yourself surrounded by people who share these values and your life will be better for it.

Chat soon

Matt

PS. Also a special shoutout to Alan and Jen who are the rocks who always keep us together and who are able to give Mitch and I a different perspective of things. You both are amazing and are huge assets as pretty much family and colleagues. Notably Jen took care of everything related to the finances of Covid, all the subsidies, hours on end talking the to CRA making sure we were doing everything right etc etc. I could not have done that myself.

PPS. If you go on our FB page or IG page back to 2020 you can see some of the things our community did to try to stay positive through Covid. We held virtual concerts, Friday evening happy hours, special theme workouts and so much more. Check out out @evolvefitnesshalifax and www.facebook.com/evolvehalifax

Introduction to Evolve Fitness & Matt Benvie

Hey Ya’ll

This is 15 years in the making but I am finally starting a blog. In the blog I will be sharing the biggest lessons I have learned over the last 15 years that relate to living a happier and healthier life.

Some if it will be directly related to the things we think about for our fitness goals like working out and nutrition but a lot of it will be lessons that have become a lot more relevant than I ever thought as a small town guy who just thought all you needed to do is “work hard”.

Feel free to comment, ask questions and take as much as you want or need from the content. It’s here to be helpful and to spark more conversations and action toward being the happiest and healthiest versions of ourselves.

Now I do have a very long intro that I send out via email, but I am going to keep this one a little more short and to the point.

My name is Matt :). I also have a twin brother Mitch who is a co-owner of Evolve along with an older brother who has 4 kids including identical twin boys. So don’t marry either of us unless you want the chance of twins.

As of this writing, I am soon to be 37 so I grew up in the heart of the 90s in Hilden, Nova Scotia. For what we were interested in, it was the perfect place to grow up. We had flat streets for road hockey right out of our front door, we hand ponds that froze in the winter and were within walking or biking distance of the soccer and baseball fields. We loved sports and that’s all we wanted to do with some breaks to watch CMT and record all the country music videos on VCR (I wish I still had those).

Note: I am the biggest country music fan you are ever going to meet. 90s is my first love followed by Texas country and a mix of old and new.

Now let’s back it up a bit…..

For as long as I can remember, I knew for sure that I wanted to be a gym teacher and I wanted to coach sports. I wanted to be like my parents and I wanted to be like all of the amazing teachers and coaches I had over the years. They did so much for us and while I didn’t know it then, I know now that the only way to repay someone who gives so much is to just pay it forward to the next generation.

So off I went to take Human Kinetics at St. FX where I learned pretty fast that I would rather be playing basketball during the day than going to class. To make a very long story short, I spent 5 years in a 4 year degree, I met all of my best friends, I coached and volunteered more than I ever thought possible, I created a basketball league that is still going (the XBL) and I made some amazing connections that helped my start my career in the fitness industry. A big student loan and probably some of the worst grades you’ll ever see, but it was so worth it for the experience I gained in other ways.

The good news was that personal training was two difference academic courses at X so I took them both and realized that I could teach and coach in a different way. My 2nd to last summer in 2008 while working Sunday night to Friday morning night shifts at Home Hardware in Debert I spent every weekend in Halifax training some teen athletes I had met on Kijiji. Their family ended up becoming great friends and in 2009 they helped me get Evolve Fitness going.

But here is the thing. Evolve Fitness was a 1-1 personal training studio in downtown Halifax that I happened to walk by in the summer that year. I walked in looking for a job and with 0 dollars to my name and no business degree I was able to take over the business for the owner who was moving with his family to Australia. Special thanks to the LeGay family for helping me make that happen, I truly owe you forever.

Now if you want to hear my whole story, I don’t mind telling you. It’s a typical ups and downs story with many many lessons learned along the way. My first year in business I had revenue of $35,000 and my rent alone was $3000/month. You can imagine how it felt to have every rent check bounce for both where you lived and for your business with nowhere to turn for help. Some of you reading this are still clients from 15 years ago and didn’t know how much I was cringing inside when you forgot your check for your next set of sessions and I said it was okay when it really wasn’t.

Now here we are today almost 15 years later and while a lot has changed, everything is still the same. I still love coaching and teaching, it just happens in a different way than it did back then.

Here is a little timeline of the journey:

-September 1 2009 take over Evolve Fitness

-January 2012 Mitch moves home from Korea and starts working with me (funny side note that Victoria had been working part time with me before Mitch moved home)

-May 2013 we move and expand into a garage on Creighton Street and now start offering boot camps. Frank (from Bedford Evolve) becomes a client/friend and eventually starts teaching for us part time

-September 2014 Alan moves home from Newfoundland and starts working with us

-February 2018 Evolve Fitness Forever begins

-July 2018 we take a HUGE risk and move from 2400 square feet to 21,000 on Strawberry Hill. Mitch becomes a partner in the business as well.

-October 2018 we first say no, but then yes to opening a gym in Bedford in an amenity building with the commercial campus off Innovation Drive

-March 2020 we all know what happened. Maybe one day I will open up about this but I am not there yet. Unless you were in it as a small business owner or you know people who own small businesses you may never know the true impacts this had on our business and so many others.

-July 2022 we buy The Barn in Elmsdale and turn it into Evolve Elmsdale

-December 2022 we buy Revolution Fitness in Dartmouth and turn it into Evolve Dartmouth

-October 2023 we open Evolve Integrated Health in Halifax

-Writing this today we have a lot more in the works and have no plans to slow down.

I think it’s relevant to say that I started this journey with no real vision and I wasn’t really clear on my values. I just knew that I wanted to help people but I didn’t really know what that meant back then. It is now as clear as it gets. I want to help as many people as possible be the happiest and healthiest versions of themselves and I want to change the way Nova Scotians age and get healthy. Along the way we also want to ensure we are pillars in the community and that we give back and serve others to the best of our ability.

Now this is a blog about me but it’s really a blog about Mitch, our team, our clients and everyone reading this. When I was a 1-1 trainer I had a very clear max number of people I could help. Then Mitch came along and together we were able to double that. Now here we are many years later with the absolute BEST team and the best community around us who lift us up and inspire us to keep doing more. Without a great team you will always get stuck. And you need a team who shares you values and wants to help people just as much as you do.

And then the magic really is all of you. I hate sounding cliche but it’s simple math. When a new person walks into Evolve, they will see a handful of trainers (or less) and they will see a lot of clients. Their experience is going to be shaped more by their experience with you than it is with us. And you all have done such an amazing job making Evolve a safe, non intimidating and fun place to get healthy. I wake up feeling grateful for that every single day. So thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Now within that timeline I didn’t talk about the hard times, the times I was in over my head and the times that I felt so lost I didn’t know what to do. It’s too much to type for today. But these blog posts will talk about it in a different way because I will talk a lot about lessons learned in hopes that I can help others overcome the same obstacles I faced but much faster and easier.

I will say this right now though. Please ask for help. My only regrets from asking others for help is that I didn’t do it sooner because every time it was like the weight of the world off my shoulders. And I have gotten more help than you could ever imagine that helped me overcome some really big obstacles.

I used to not feel proud. I always thought I should be doing better or I could be doing more. I thought my obstacles and struggles shouldn’t have happened. Now I realize that this is all part of the journey and my personal story. I am proud. I have come a long way and I am going to continue to keep getting better. I know what my values are and the things that are most important to me and while I am not perfect, those values are at the forefront every day.

As it says on the walls in our Halifax location, “the best is yet to come”.

Thank you for making it this far. If you are a new friend, please say hi and reach out any time and if you are a current friend, thank you for being you. You are the best.

See you soon.

Matt

2009 Matt Benvie

2009 Matt & Mitch (visit from Korea)

Matt & Mitch