Today we’d like to introduce you to Mark Roberts.
Hi Mark, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I grew up in England and always had a passion for sports and training. I went to University to study Sports and Exercise Physiology before moving to Florida and working at IMG Academy. Throughout my time working with students and athletes there, I began wondering how I could one day provide that style of coaching and environment to everyday people and athletes. Not just those with money to burn.
I continued my journey to be the best coach I could and moved to live in Canada, Winter Garden and Australia before settling back in Winter Garden, where my family now lives. I have always had a passion for strength and conditioning and preparing people to compete in various sports.
When I moved back to Florida, I continued to expand my education and decided to start my own coaching business out of another gym in Winter Garden. It was here I started the first USA Weightlifting club in West Orlando. For three years, we continued to grow and I coached as many people as I could in the small area I had. We had everyone from rehab clients to National level Weightlifters all under one roof.
January 2021, we took over our own space and now run a full gym in Winter Garden that caters to everyone. We continue to build our gym and our coaching staff to deliver the best coaching and gym experience in the Orlando area!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Not at all but growth never comes from the easy path! There have been lots of struggles throughout the years but all have them have led me here. Moving to different countries was difficult setting up shop somewhere new and getting my name out there as a coach is difficult and every time you move, you have to start again. Thankfully I have always seemed to land on my feet.
Most recently, the hardest part was seeing friends around me that turned their back on me when I decided to open my own gym. I was actively involved in building their businesses as well as building my own before but unfortunately, I learned that when I stopped doing that for them, they stopped supporting me. That was an extremely hard period but we have grown so much because of it that I am grateful for what it taught me.
As you know, we’re big fans of Rise Athletics. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Rise Athletics is a fitness facility thats mission is to teach everyone what they are truly capable of. We use the medium of fitness to teach people how to overcome hardships and empower them to take control of their health and their lives to live a fulfilled life to its utmost potential. We teach everything from rehabilitation, movement, energy systems, strength training, sports performance, weightlifting, powerlifting! You name it and we probably coach it here. We also teach nutrition as a big part of what we do.
What sets us apart is that we really want to be a business that makes an impact on the health and fitness of our community. We have parts of our business that are only designed to give back; our tenets are training, nutrition, education and outreach. We believe that all of those are important to build our brand to be successful at its mission. We plan on starting a non-profit arm that can help high school kids get into a hym and have good role models as well
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
I have always had great mentors on the coaching world. My biggest piece of advice is just to reach out to people. Those who are worth listening to will probably respond. Never be afraid to ask for advice as the worst someone can say is no.
Contact Info:
- Email: admin@rise-athletics.fit
- Website: rise-athletics.fit
- Instagram: instagram.com/riseathletics_wg
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RiseAthleticsWG/
