Today we’d like to introduce you to Dave Greene.
Hi Dave, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My love for design goes way back…my dad was an architect and I thought I would follow in his footsteps but math just is not my strong suit. Thankfully I found a way to combine my passion for fitness and design but it took a lot of work. I’ve been in the fitness industry since I was 16 years old. I started out at the bottom, cleaning and folding towels at my first job at a local gym. In college, I became a certified personal trainer and began training at a local gym and became a manager. After college, I moved to Dallas and worked at the Larry North Fitness Factory on Mockingbird & Greenville for several years as a personal trainer and fitness manager. I was recruited to stay on as Fitness Manager when Fitness Factory was sold to 24HR Fitness a couple years later. I learned a lot in those years as Fitness Manager and really enjoyed the challenge of management but I realized I had bigger aspirations. In 2001, at the young age of 27, my friend and I became business partners and opened our own gym in Plano. This is where I really discovered my passion for the design and setup of fitness facilities. For the next 20 years, I owned and operated successful gyms in the Dallas area. My favorite thing about owning my own gyms is having a vision and implementing it through unique design and configuration. My designs take the client into consideration the most, creating an atmosphere that provides function, spacious multipurpose workout areas, and safety. Looking back, it may have been luck or divine intervention for how Fitspace Design was created. Two ladies walked into my gym one day and asked for help locating an office inside the building. I offered to lead them there myself and that led me to meeting with architecture-design firm, Entos. I began working with Entos and CBRE to design and equip my first gym. This by-chance meeting created the path that has led me to have my own design & consulting company today, Fitspace Design. In 2020, Fitspace Design had grown so much that I sold my upscale fitness facility to focus on the design business. The experience I have in the fitness industry for over 30 years has provided a unique approach to gym design. With Fitspace Design, I was able to combine my passion for fitness and my passion for design.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
It has not been a smooth road at all! About 6 months after opening my first gym, Fitness Evolution, in 2001 I lost my dad to cancer and ended my business partnership. I left and took over ownership of another fitness club already operating but was not in the best of shape. I spent the next 2 years revamping it and making it profitable. Then several years later I had the opportunity to buy back Fitness Evolution from my old business partner with the help of a new one, Jeff Kaye. It took months of negotiations but we bought the gym back and renamed it Next Level Fitness. Being back at my original gym was exciting and fun but it did not go without its challenges to get it back on track…but we did it! Then, the financial disaster of 2008 happened and put a huge dent into all our future plans. We spent the next year finding a way to keep the club going, knowing we had over 30 trainers and numerous employees that could be affected, we stuck it out and found a way. This was until we found an opportunity to take what we had and start over with a new club at half the overhead. Needless to say, we jumped on the opportunity and started the new Willow Bend Fitness Club. This gym thrived for years and had an amazing energy! All was good…and then those dreaded words…”you have cancer”. My life changed forever. While owning Willow Bend Fitness my whole world changed forever! I was diagnosed with cancer, an aggressive sarcoma tumor in 2012. My treatment was intense and I wasn’t able to work. Besides nearly dying from all this, I lost over 75lbs in just a couple of months. In October of 2012, the tumor was removed successfully but two days later I was re-hospitalized with a staph infection that led to the loss of my left pectoral and lat muscles. I lost movement in my right arm after the surgeries and spent the next 3 years undergoing more procedures to reattach nerves and gain mobility. I am blessed to be here today – Cancer Free!- and as healthy as I have ever been (knock on wood). My two daughters, who are now 15 and 18, were my motivation and reason to battle and recover. When I was finally able to return to work, the once thriving gym was no longer profitable and struggling. I found ways to keep it afloat by cutting my salary and cutting back on other expenses until the gym was sold in 2020. I felt like I started over in every aspect of life after cancer, physically and financially I was destroyed and had to rebuild. The good part to this was that I had my gym design company going which really helped me get back on my feet. Cancer taught me not to sweat the small stuff and the really important things in life are family and health. I feel privileged that I get to create spaces that help people work on their health and fitness.
As you know, we’re big fans of Fitspace Design. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Fitspace Design is a gym design company that creates functional spaces and optimal experiences for your gym user. We believe there is an ideal balance of health and safety, form, function, and operation within a fitness facility and we design spaces to benefit both the gym user and gym owner.
I design gym/fitness centers for high-end corporate office buildings, multifamily complexes, hotels, and normal everyday entrepreneurs building their own gyms.
My nearly 30 years in the fitness business as a trainer, and gym owner along with my daily life of working out 6-7 days a week is my competitive advantage and what sets me apart. Understanding how the client thinks, a trainer thinks, and how the owners think helps me with every design.
I am most proud of what Fitspace delivers to each gym design. Every client is different and has different expectations or wants in their fitness facility. Working with each client with their needs is very gratifying, being able to deliver state-of-the-art wow factor fitness facilities is why I do what I do.
Fitspace works not only with gyms, but architects, real estate developers, corporate clients, and entrepreneurs who are looking to build a fitness extension of their business. From stand-alone structures to integration within a larger complex, Fitspace will help you build a gym that meets the needs of your unique needs.
I am an elite dealer for numerous fitness equipment manufacturers, which allows me to give my clients numerous choices of equipment to choose from for the fitness center. Besides the designs, my focus is daily communication with each client and giving them the best customer service available. I continue my relationships with the clients even after the completion of the fitness center to ensure that they have everything they need if they have any issues. Fitspace Design is a one-stop shop for gym design, consulting, and fitness equipment purchases. We want to make the entire design process as easy as possible and hands of for the client.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
Dallas has some of the best restaurants! I am a foodie at heart. Why do you think I spend so much time in the gym?! The growth that Dallas has seen recently is incredible. I love the vision that Dallas has and it’s a great place to raise a family. Although, it’s bringing more traffic and that’s about the only thing I don’t love about Dallas.
Contact Info:
- Email: dave@fitspacedesign.com
- Website: fitspacedesign.com
- Instagram: fitspacedesign
- Facebook: @fitspacedesign
- Twitter: @davegreenefit
