Nearly Half of Two Decades

November 4rd has been a special day for me since 2014.

It wasn’t the day I started my business. I hadn’t gotten a paycheck since September 30th, and registered the name and such with the state that month as well.

But November 4th was the day it all felt real, it’s the day I celebrate the fact that I went for it.

I remember 25 year old me climbing into my truck, and taking this photo of my new keys with an iPhone 5 after writing a big number on a check. I felt sick to my stomach, excited, and eager to get started. I was, to sound a little cliche, fulfilling my dreams of opening a gym.

I sat there, thinking about how I would be driving here a lot. I sent the photo to a couple friends before posting it on Twitter.

Looking back it seems like a crazy, reckless decision, one I would try to talk people out of. But I was confident, or at least, I had the illusion of confidence. I was naive and inexperienced, but committed to show up every day and give it my all.

When you open a business, people like to tell you statistics they know, like 90 percent small businesses fail within the first year. Then 90 percent of those businesses fail within 2 years, and most of those fail with 5 years, and most of those don’t make it to 10 years. So it goes.

Well here were are, heading into year 10.

What really makes GAIN special is the people. In closing today, I want to thank anyone who’s been a client over the years. When I look at the member board, I’m so proud of how many of you there are committed to the process and stacking up years and years of training of with us.

There’s other people too, Hannah, of course, for supporting me through the 16 hours days, the stress and uncertainty. Alex and Taylor, I am so thankful that two people who are as passionate about training, getting better and living this unconventional coach-life as me, found their way in and believed in my ideas and what I wanted to build.

Here’s to many more years to come.

Justin Miner

@justinminergain