Today we’d like to introduce you to Zach Morman.
Zach, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I was a collegiate Lacrosse player and after graduating college was left bored in your typical sales job. I turned to my roommate one day and said I was going to go out and make new friends and look for something new.
I enjoyed being active and was tired of the “globo-gym” model of Fitness. So I searched and eventually found myself in a Mixed Martial Arts gym in Dallas in 2011. I was enjoying their workouts, but was not enjoying the “getting punched in the face” aspect of the training. I asked the owner if it was okay if I just workout at their gym and not spar. He told me to google CrossFit because they followed the main CrossFit website’s workouts.
From there I stepped into my first CrossFit gym and have not looked back. I was lucky enough to be approached by the gym’s owner about coaching some of their classes. In addition I was even more fortunate that the owner at the time trained me correctly and thoroughly.
After having the opportunity to step into a stranger’s life through coaching CrossFit and invest time and energy into their well-being made me realize I was going about my career path all wrong.
I switch directions and started to work at opening my own gym that was geared at not a “30 day fix” for your health but was positioned to clients as a gym and community that strived to make them healthier for years to come.
6 years later, my humble gym has been open for nearly 4 years right in the heart of Dallas.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
If anyone that owns a business answers this question with “yup smooth as butter, really easy opening up in a busy city”…. please let me talk to them and understand what kind of magic they are using.
It has been anything but a smooth road. I failed at getting a building I first looked at, as well as lost two different business partners along the way. When I finally found a building I wanted the City of Dallas was very strict on inspections and zoning, but eventually the business opened.
Of course there are financial struggles of small business ownership, but that is boring.
If I had to pick one struggle and a constant nagging bump in the road in owning the gym is when someone quits, I personally feel as if I failed them and my business. It has been a tough getting over that mental hurdle. We are in the service industry as a gym, my service and my coach’s service is our product. “You can’t please everyone” is a slogan I have had to tell myself many times when the fit for a member isn’t right for Vickery Athletics.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Vickery Athletics – what should we know?
The business I own is Vickery Athletics.
We are a gym that specializes in CrossFit group classes and have offerings for nutrition, private training, small group training and specialty seminars.
What we are known for, what I am most proud, and what sets us apart all go hand in hand at Vickery. It is our community of members. If you ask our members they would say it you don’t feel like an outsider. In other gyms, you go in, workout, maybe talk to some people if it’s a group class format and then leave.
At Vickery we have social events each month for our members and everyone knows everyone, often they are voluntarily organized by our members. Often our members will notice when someone is not in class a couple days in a row before our coaches and personally reach out to them to see what’s going on.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
I have had a small loyal group of clients who have supported me from day one, they helped set the foundation for our gym and the atmosphere it has. Overall our community of members deserve all the credit for the business’s success. It would be impossible to thrive in the competitive market of Dallas without our members being so welcoming and understanding.
Pricing:
- $189.00 Unlimited Classes Monthly Membership
- $150.00 Prep Course – Private training to introduce you to new technique and safety
Contact Info:
- Address: 4411 Belmont Ave
Dallas TX 75204 - Website: www.vickeryathletics.com
- Phone: (469) 828-1293
- Email: zach@vickeryathletics.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vickeryathletics/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VickeryAthletics/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/vickery-athletics-dallas
Image Credit:
Pictures by Caleb Powell
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