Today we’d like to introduce you to Jonathan McGrael.
Hi Jonathan, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I spent 20 years in the pharmaceutical and biotech sales and marketing space. Working my way up from entry-level sales representative to Vice President of Commercial Operations, running all sales, marketing, managed markets, trade relations, medical, and product development teams. I managed large-scale projects, budgets as hefty as $10 million annually, and sales teams as large as 124 sales representatives and 14 sales managers. I was fortunate to learn how to make intelligent investments into businesses in big pharmaceutical companies (Abbott Labs) and the start-up side of things. I learned a ton from the talented people in the industry that I could tap into.
On the start-up side, I learned how to do more with less and focus on a micro-market strategy. I learned to narrow the focus to only a handful of things where the company and brand can win, and through this “micro market focus,” I learned to play big where we play, or at least look like we were playing big, and to not even try to play in most other areas. I also learned the value of acquiring a failing on-market asset and fixing it from the start-up. Across businesses, there are failing assets with simple fixes that can make them prosperous again. Over ten years, I learned how to identify what was wrong and fix yielding assets through several dozen such acquisitions. Most required a rebranding and repositioning as well as renewed energy to get them back on track to be successful, and I believe that by doing 5% more with 30% less spending, most of these assets stand a chance of success again.
The other piece I learned in a start-up was an unrelenting, ridiculous work ethic. You can’t put a price on hard work, and hard work covers a multitude of mistakes.
My perspective and much of our success at the World Famous Kissimmee Muscle Gym comes from the road warrior level of travel that came with my 20 years in the Pharma industry. I spent 4-5 days on the road, often staying in 4 or 5 hotels in different cities each week. There were many nights I awoke, not knowing where I was. Each of these trips included me looking for a gym to train in, as I was still a national-level competitive athlete then. Arrive in town, work 10-12 hours, find food, find a gym, sleep a bit, and repeat. During this time, I probably trained in 500 different gyms nationwide. About ten of those gyms inspired me due to their energy and equipment, and I traveled a great distance to make it back to those truly special gyms. I developed a deep empathy for those traveling for business and pleasure during this time. Having access to a suitable facility often meant the difference in a successful and pleasurable trip for me.
In March of 2017, I worked from my house in Celebration, where I spent about a third of my work time running a BioTech company out of Denver, where my primary residence was located. I had become disenchanted with the industry because I didn’t feel like we were advancing science, just raising prices and selling differences between products that were theoretically there but had little impact on actual patient outcomes. I knew I needed a change, but I wasn’t prepared for what came out of my mouth that day. I just quit my high-paying, prestigious career without a plan for what was to come next. After the call, I began to freak out just a bit and set in motion a plan to sell most of my possessions as there certainly wasn’t enough money in the bank to retire. Sold the Denver house fairly quickly and several cars and began looking for an on-market asset that was failing.
I stopped by the business that was the predecessor to Kissimmee Muscle Gym in late 2015, and it was a horrible place. It is too much to fix even to consider it salvageable. I had all but ruled it out as an option when I physically stopped by and looked around in June of 2017. To my surprise, a new owner had begun to revive the business and it was sort-of breakeven though at a very low revenue level. We spoke for a while, and I decided to do due diligence to determine if an acquisition made sense for the owner and me. Ultimately on July 1, 2017, I acquired the asset.
I knew this build would involve a complete rebrand and change in strategy, equipment, and environment. By year-end, I was convinced that the business would only make it if we viewed ourselves as something bigger than a neighborhood gym. You see, Kissimmee Muscle Gym is a travel and tourism company and an area destination and attraction far more than a neighborhood gym. I knew travelers were an underserved market, and I had the empathy and perspective to help them check this important piece of their travel off their list. Looking back, it all seems worthwhile because we have seen significant success. I may not have taken it on if I had known just how difficult doing this would be. Not knowing if we would see the success we have and knowing just how hard this has been would likely keep me from doing the same thing again. There are just far too many ways to fail at this.
To this point, I have said “we” quite a bit, but we were just me for the more significant part of the first year. In my first week, I worked 113 hours in the gym; in the second, I worked 127 and maintained that pace for 458 days without an afternoon off. In the second year, my sister and my mother joined me in working to build the business. One of the greatest benefits of this business is getting to know each other on a level that family members rarely get an opportunity to experience. I know my family as brilliant business people, and I did not know that before this business. My sister Mary is a year older than me, and my mother has worked with us here for 82nd year. Our local members and traveling guests love both.
When the shutdowns came in 2020, we had some difficult decisions. I had just sold my Celebration home to fund an expansion completed in December of 2019, and I found myself not being a homeowner for the first time in two decades. Up to this point, all my savings, earnings, and sweat equity were invested straight into the business. I sold my home to free up the equity for operating capital and further investment. We closed for our first two days the weekend after gyms were closed. This felt far too weird to continue. On Monday, my sister Mary and I decided that if we were going to go down because of this, we were going down big, so we began to invest. I started trading equipment, and we remodeled our locker rooms. The paint was nearly dry on the day we were allowed to reopen. We didn’t know what to expect of the market once we reopened, and we were blessed beyond our wildest imagination. In 2020, 2021, and still in 2022, because of Florida’s wise approach to reopening, multiple events made their way to our state, and we were able to host the events. We have now been the home of the top professional bodybuilding competition in the world, Mr. Olympia, for two years and the top amateur competition in the world, NPC National Championships, for three years. We were home to Teen, Collegiate, and Masters Nationals in 2020, and the Klash series is now 4 years running.
Aside from the competition, our focus on three areas has set us apart. We have hand-picked, we call it to hand curated, our equipment from the best lines of equipment ever made, of which most come from the 1980s and 1990s (there is an entire another story of why this is). We’ve assembled it in an environment where the positive energy helps to push everyone who trains with us. This environment is built on a solid foundation of discipline and respect, which have gone from commercial fitness centers today. We demand more from our members and traveling guests; they require more from themselves. We have also made colossal industry-first strides in access by creating the world’s first and only online instant access portal where traveling guests can set up a membership and access the gym 24/7.
Because of the factors above and our ability to capitalize on some key breaks in the market. We have seen more than 500,000 traveling guests from more than 96 countries and all 50 US states in our first 5 years in business. These statistics squarely land us the title of “America’s Destination Gym” and the moniker “where the world comes to train.”
We have not stopped there as we continue to pull in more rare and different pieces of equipment, which we showcase through our “Weight Room Archaeology” segments, and we continue to reach a broader group of traveling guests. In 2022 we’ve taken the show on the road to physically go out and meet our traveling guests before they decide to train with us. Each encounter begins with a great conversation about where the person currently trains. Because of my broad frame of reference training in gyms across the country, we almost always find some familiar common ground. In 2022 we have been out to train in and meet with owners and members of more than 15 gyms, and we have additional tour trips planned throughout the remainder of this year and through next.
As for our local members, our tribe is the best. They not only value our changes in improving and upgrading our facility, but they genuinely value interactions with our traveling tribe, where they are welcomed selflessly. From a local standpoint, no statement rings more accurate: If people travel from all over the world to train here, isn’t it worth your drive across town? When you are visiting Orlando for all that Central Florida has to offer, make sure you train where the world comes to train: World Famous Kissimmee Muscle 24-hour gym! Do you feel Florida calling your name?
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Beyond what’s contained in the first narrative, in our second year in business, a new gym attempted to do the same things that made us successful, and they decided to set up shop 1.5 miles away from our front door. Even before their opening, they began to take potshots at us and attempt to goad us into online negativity. From the beginning, we knew we had far too much to accomplish, just trying to continue doing what we do well to send any energy their way, so we stayed in our lane and served our customers. They didn’t make it through the shutdowns and in spite of the negativity spewed by owners and members. We welcomed their members into our tribe to train after they closed. In retrospect, I’m not sure if we would have done this again knowing what we know today. The base of members that came over did not exhibit the strong core values or work ethic it takes to thrive in our environment. And at this point, all but a handful have moved on down the road. We believe the negative culture that an unchecked membership group largely drove was much of the reason for the failure of the business. We talk about culture daily at the world-famous Kissimmee Muscle gym, which is so important. We actively manage culture, and for those unable to operate within the norms of this group, we ask them to adapt or choose another option for where they train. We will not trade good members for bad or forgo a difficult cultural conversation when behaviors negatively impact the broader group. We have built a disciplined, ethical, committed, and brand-loyal tribe by maintaining this standard.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
The pendulum always swings back! For the last several years, the gym industry has adopted a low-cost, high-volume, low-impact model where businesses race each other to the bottom from a monthly dues standpoint. From a high volume and low dollar model, you get, above all else, long lines waiting for equipment and poor service. In 1988 $20 per month was cheap for a gym membership, even at the local level, and in 2019, $15-$20 was pretty standard.
We began raising prices almost immediately when we started repositioning the asset, and we continue to do so today. It does no one any good to fill the facility, so entire that training suffers. We systematically raised prices after we raised the value of the equipment, environment, and ease of access they provided. We still find ourselves nearly 50% below other comparable entities across the country, where they do something similar to what we do.
The change has been from low-cost and casual exercise to more specialized and hard-core training in a higher-priced facility. A facility can better engage the membership base by raising the price and ensuring members and guests are committed to their work. Those training with us are committed to making a permanent change and willing to pay a bit more to make that happen.
Pricing:
- $25 day pass
- $55 week pass
- $70 for the month
- The more time committed to the lower the price
Contact Info:
- Website: kissimmeemuscle.com
- Instagram: @kissimmeemusclegym
- Facebook: https://www/facebook.com/kissimmeemusclegym
