Interview with Affiliate Owner and CrossFit Seminar Staff, Andrew, about the future of the community.
CrossFit has grown beyond a fitness methodology into a vibrant community that supports and inspires both athletes and gym owners. In this interview, we speak with an experienced CrossFit affiliate representative about the challenges and opportunities facing today's gym owners in the Midwest. We explore how affiliates can grow and succeed through technology, community engagement, and creative business strategies—from addressing competition to developing diverse revenue streams.
What do you see as the biggest challenges in the Midwest Affiliates today?
A: The biggest challenges at the moment is fighting the imitators if that makes sense. There’s people who are predatory on CF methodology when it comes to taking parts of it and marketing against it.
Next would be finding a suitable location to rent/lease or buy. A CrossFit space requires a lot of square footage.
How does technology and platforms like Hustle Up can help Affiliate owners in solving some of their issues?
A: First what separates you from the rest is that the platform is essentially free for affiliate owners and you offer more of the personal training aspect with it as well. Offering the ability for the users to have personal training in there, empowering the coaches to sell their own programming too. So not only are they marketing their gyms as gyms owners and using the platform for the affiliate, but they’re also able to make other streams of income as well! That’s where I feel like you guys are helping the most: reducing costs and increasing revenue streams. The coaches of that gym could also increase their revenue by selling their own programming too, so you’re kind of making it a hub for businesses.
My experience being mostly in Europe where a L1 or L2 is really just the first step towards coaching and developing skills by creating personalized programming or having personal clients. This usually also increases revenue for the gym indirectly. Is that something that works here too?
A: I do see it, usually people get a little bit one track minded if that makes sense. They’re solely focused on increasing membership, membership, membership! In fact, at the midwest summit, I have a panel of affiliate owners to directly discuss that topic. You have to be a little it creative in ways to bring in revenue in 2025, whether it’s through personal training, programming, nutrition coaching, running classes. Actually HU could be a great platform to run an event like a row-athon! I had an affiliate owner organizing a small Row-athon at her gym. It took her 4-5 hours to un it on a Saturday and made 5.000$ out of it and that’s after paying the coaches who were there to help!
Is there an incentive, or resources given from CF for affiliates to use as a guide in that way?
A: I guess the guidance a lot of people use is me or their own regional/country manager. In the CF owners, some of them need help, some of them are willing to help and share their knowledge, that’s why we have the summits and the facebook groups. There you will find a ton of stories like the Row-athon one. The second thing is my Tuesday business call where I’ve brought a guest to talk about a specific topic. The goal is to drive the needle of revenue up.
What inspires you the most about your community and the CF community in general?
A: The CF community is never complacent. It is always growing, always adapting because the CF methodology should encompass everything. If there’s a new study on Exercise physiology or aerobic capacity, we’re going to borrow that knowledge and add it, which is inspiring to me. It doesn’t mean we have to change the L1 all the time, but we can update it incrementally to make it better.
Now in my region specifically, I’m really inspired by the people who are very engaged, for whom this is not just a side hustle on top of their job: it’s their sole job, this is it, this is what feeds their family!
You’re very active on Facebook groups where you really encourage connection with other gym owners. How can you help these relationships grow inside and outside the gym?
A: I think the number one thing to do is to focus on your existing members. Whether you have 20/50/200, they’re your best marketing machines. One of the takeaway of one of my calls was this owner giving away free passes to all his members. They marketed that pass as valued from 20$ to 100$, giving access to the gym for a month or making a little pack with a one on one nutrition consultation for this much, a couple of personal training sessions for this much etc. In the end, the ticket would say 600$ total value and the members could gift it to one person. That’s an easy way to get quality members, you are harnessing the power of the community you already have, this is the real power of CrossFit. The second thing would be tapping into your local businesses and go sit down at the coffee shops, breakfast places, auto repair shops. Go with a sign that says “free 2 weeks of training” and hand out a coffee or a donut. That’s the hard part, but really it’s better than mentors or even paid ads for leads!
It really works, I remember going to Ralph’s Donuts in Cookeville and everyone knew CF Mayhem! Now, have you ever partnered up with local businesses?
A: Yes I have. A lot of times you can make mutually beneficial deals with them. I had a real estate company paying me a certain fee each month which allowed their workers to become a member for only 50$. That way I was giving them a great deal in exchange for a stable revenue each month. There’s infinite possibilities with stuff like that.
Final question: What is your vision of the future for CF Affiliates and how do you see them evolving?
A: That’s a big one.. I think Affiliates are going to diversify and offer multiple services like 24/h access, offer bigger spaces where half the gym is more like a globo gym and the other one gives classes. A lot of people want to do CF for a while and they love their gym and community, but sometimes they want to try something new whether it’s a new programming, a hybrid training, Hyrox race but they still want to be part of that community. The gym that’s able to offer kind of that global health club, I think that’s genius !
The CrossFit affiliate landscape is evolving rapidly, requiring gym owners to be more innovative and adaptable than ever. Whether through creative revenue streams, strong community engagement, or leveraging technology like Hustle Up, affiliates have an opportunity to not only survive but thrive in this changing fitness environment. The key takeaway? Embrace the CrossFit spirit of constant improvement and innovation, and the possibilities for success are endless.