Episode 6
Episode #6 - Human-Centered Wellness: An Interview With Noah Snyder
This fantastic episode features the intersection of physical fitness and crushing goals by taking a whole new approach to the fitness industry: human connection. Noah Snyder, owner and entrepreneur of Ark Fitness, demonstrates how a homegrown gym, despite all the different careers he has, allowed his calling for helping others to become a reality and create a community that deeply cares about each other and the results they receive through a small membership base, but receiving major returns on investment not through funding, but by relationships and connections made along the way.
Guest Bio
After graduating high school, Noah attended HACC (Harrisburg Area Community College) for a few semesters, but quickly realized college was not for him. He began working in various industries such as the car business, retail, restaurant industry, banking, and even IT consulting until he discovered my true passion was being an entrepreneur and starting my own business in the health and fitness realm. Ark Fitness, open since August 2022, has over 13,000 square feet of space in downtown Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania that serves clientele looking for physical fitness and receives, in turn, a human connection that has driven results that have shaken the fitness industry at its core.
Noah's Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/arkfitclub
- https://www.arkfitclub.com/- Check out the awesome opportunities that Ark Fitness provides in the local Mechanicsburg, PA community, and learn more about their way of transforming the physical into positive, human-driven results. You can also learn more about Next Generation Personal Training which operates a robust program for clients through science-based approaches to delivering results.
Visit Our Website: https://speaking-from-the-heart.captivate.fm/
Visit Our Business Website: https://www.yourspeakingvoice.biz
Support The Mission Of The Business! Donate Here: https://speaking-from-the-heart.captivate.fm/support
Intro/Outro By: Michael Dugan, Podcast Host: Voice4Chefs
Transcript
Welcome to the podcast where relationships, confidence, and
Intro:determination, all converge into an amazing, heartfelt experience.
Intro:This is Speaking From The Heart.
Joshua:Welcome to episode number six of Speaking From the Heart.
Joshua:I'm really excited for today's interview, which is with Noah Snyder.
Joshua:Noah is one of the owners and operators of ARK Fitness, which
Joshua:is located in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, in the downtown area.
Joshua:It has a full service gym where it not only has equipment that you can utilize
Joshua:for your health and also providing, fitness instruction by many of its
Joshua:trainers with its partner Next Generation Training, but it has a robust smoothie
Joshua:bar, which I have to tell you, full disclosure, we didn't talk about it in
Joshua:the episode, but it was really one of those highlights that I enjoy the most.
Joshua:Noah specifically is a very interesting individual in which he graduated from
Joshua:high school and realized that college was not something that he wanted to be
Joshua:part of after a few semesters of going at a local community college, so as a
Joshua:result of that, he started going into various other businesses and that is
Joshua:something that we talk about in the episode quite a bit, which includes
Joshua:the car business, retail, restaurant industry, banking, even IT consulting,
Joshua:in which, finally then he landed on being an entrepreneur of ARK Fitness.
Joshua:I really think that you're going to see and hear in this episode a lot
Joshua:about not only the importance of taking care of yourself, but how that can
Joshua:create a holistic picture for anybody if you're willing to take a step
Joshua:back and look at the human centered approach just like Noah has, but
Joshua:with that, let's get to the episode.
Joshua:All right.
Joshua:I am here with Noah Snyder.
Joshua:Noah, welcome to the show.
Noah:Awesome.
Noah:Thank you, Josh.
Noah:Super pumped to be on here and be one of your first guests.
Joshua:Yeah.
Joshua:I'm really excited that you're here.
Joshua:For my audience.
Joshua:I have known Noah for several years now, off and on, and I got really
Joshua:acquainted with him within the last year.
Joshua:He can tell right now cuz since we're looking at each other that I have
Joshua:been building a lot of muscle mass.
Joshua:Even if it is imaginary, it's being built, but-
Noah:Hey man, the brain, the brain's a muscle too, right?
Joshua:Yeah.
Joshua:The brain is a muscle.
Joshua:Yeah.
Joshua:Noah, tell us a little bit about how you got started with the gym,
Joshua:because I think my audience would really be interested in how that
Joshua:sort of idea came to play for you.
Noah:Yeah, absolutely, and it's hard to even think of where to begin because
Noah:it's been such a crazy journey, but we've been open for nine months in
Noah:Mechanicsburg, so we opened August of 2022 and it really started because
Noah:I used to work at a gym years ago and I fell in love with the industry.
Noah:You just are surrounded by so much positivity and generally
Noah:people are really happy.
Noah:I've been in industries like the restaurant business and retail,
Noah:where you're lucky to have anybody that's having a good day come in.
Noah:I've also been in IT where literally people only call
Noah:you when there's a problem.
Noah:To be in an industry that is overwhelmingly positive and surrounded
Noah:by people that are trying to better themselves is awesome, but I just never
Noah:could find a gym or a gym owner that I worked for that really did it the right
Noah:way in my mind, so I left and I got into corporate America, like a lot of
Noah:us do, trying to climb the ladder and excel my career, and just always had this
Noah:itch that I was meant to do something entrepreneurial, something of my own,
Noah:and about a year and a half ago, an opportunity came up to purchase the gym
Noah:that I used to work at, and I talked to my wife Hannah, and I said, look,
Noah:this is our opportunity to get out of Corporate America and do our own thing,
Noah:so we, we took the jump and entered into an agreement to buy that gym, and things
Noah:were going great, smooth sound, I'm like, all this business ownership stuff is so
Noah:easy, why does everyone say it's hard?
Noah:And then, right before we closed on the deal, the gentleman selling the
Noah:club, sold it to another business.
Noah:He kind of sold it out from under me, and it was devastating at the time, so I was
Noah:left with this fork on the road of going back to work nine to five, or I kind
Noah:of had this itch like, maybe this is my opportunity to truly start something
Noah:from scratch, and, clearly we're sitting here today because I chose the latter
Noah:option and from there it was a hundred miles per hour, so we just kind of went
Noah:all in and got the right partners and people involved and kind of reconnected
Noah:with a lot of the people in the industry I used to know, and it has just been a
Noah:wild journey, so that brings us to where we are today and I would even venture
Noah:to say we're well past the point of, are we going to make it as a startup
Noah:and it's more, where do we go from here?
Joshua:What's the current membership and all the different types of
Joshua:analytics you could tell us that you've been able to generate
Joshua:because of starting up with the gym.
Joshua:Is there anything you can share with us?
Noah:Yes.
Noah:Yeah, absolutely, and I'm super transparent about that with anyone that
Noah:wants to know, because I hate the secrecy around the industry a lot of the times;
Noah:we have absolutely nothing to hide.
Noah:When I put my business plan together, my goal was to have less members than
Noah:a lot of the other commercial clubs out there, your average chain gyms have
Noah:four to 6,000 members in one location, but that's also why they're so busy,
Noah:so I set a goal in the first year in business to hit a thousand members and
Noah:kind of see where we're at and kind of go from there, so it'd be about
Noah:a sixth as busy as, as a chain gym.
Noah:We hit that in six months.
Joshua:Oh, wow.
Noah:Which, which I couldn't believe because even in a year, I thought that
Noah:was a pretty aggressive goal, but we ended up hitting it in six months and
Noah:have taken some actions to actually slow the growth down, but of our a little
Noah:over 1,200 members now, as we're as about nine months in, we have over about
Noah:25% work with a trainer in some capacity.
Noah:Training is huge at ARK Fitness.
Noah:Our training team, Next Generation Personal Training is headed up by my
Noah:business partner, Brock Waluk, and their focus is really, really personalized
Noah:in science-based training, and the other 75% of our members pretty much
Noah:have their own plan or their own program, and just pay for a general
Noah:month to month membership, so that's kind of the breakdown at this time.
Noah:We don't do all the extra classes and frills that a lot of these gyms have.
Noah:We kind of just took more of a simple and honest approach and it's worked
Noah:pretty, pretty well for us so far.
Joshua:I guess the expression in the gym businesses, you are going
Joshua:back to the basics and being able to build it from there, right?
Noah:Yeah.
Noah:Yeah.
Noah:Sometimes simple is better.
Joshua:Yeah, absolutely.
Joshua:Noah I let my audience know a little bit about some of your high level background,
Joshua:and I'm just fascinated about where you have come from to get to this point.
Joshua:I mentioned to them that you've had been involved with car business,
Joshua:you've been with retail, the restaurant industry, banking, IT
Joshua:consulting, all of those things.
Joshua:What were you looking for back then that really was trying to
Joshua:fit whatever niche that was?
Joshua:I think my audience would be really curious to know; I'm personally
Joshua:curious to know as to how you made the decision ultimately to say,
Joshua:yes, this is what I want to do.
Joshua:I want to be able to help people by getting them physically fit.
Joshua:What drove you to finally land on this?
Noah:Yeah, that, that's a great question, Josh, and if I had to
Noah:find one common thread in all the different jobs that I've had ever
Noah:since I was 14 and, and by the way, my first job was working at McDonald's.
Noah:I will proudly say that, it's typically looked down upon as just a starter fast
Noah:food job, but I learned more working at McDonald's and you will deal with more
Noah:difficult people in fast food than than many other industries, and I'd say the
Noah:one common thread was customer service and having an opportunity to make
Noah:someone happy or solve a problem for them.
Noah:I love solving problems.
Noah:I love being able to help someone, and the gym is really unique and cool because
Noah:you get to see the same customers or members, if you will, on a routine basis,
Noah:and you get to build really, really good relationships with them because you're
Noah:seeing them between three and five times a week a lot of times, and it's
Noah:awesome, and beyond that, we get to see them literally change their lives, and
Noah:our approach is very personal so they're not just customers, they become some of
Noah:our best friends and we share stories.
Noah:I've cried with members.
Noah:I mean, we get so personal with them, it's hard not to, and you get to see
Noah:them put in the work day after day.
Noah:We help him out with accountability and nutrition and all that, but these people
Noah:are showing up and I literally had a guy the other day and I won't mention
Noah:his name, but, he's lost over 60 pounds-
Joshua:Wow.
Noah:Since starting, and it's probably been like four months, and he came up
Noah:to me and he almost had tears in his eyes and he said, "Noah, if I hadn't
Noah:joined the gym and started training, I honestly don't know if I'd be here today."
Joshua:Oh goodness.
Noah:That was pretty impactful, and that's just the way the industry is, man.
Noah:There's not a lot of other jobs I've had where you can truly have that kind
Noah:of emotional entrenchment every single day, and yeah, I've experienced nothing
Noah:else like it, so I said, "Why don't I just do this every day in my life?"
Joshua:And I think a lot of people don't get that opportunity to really
Joshua:say to themselves, this is what I want to do for the rest of my life.
Joshua:They get stuck in a nine to five job.
Joshua:I heard somebody, I had a friend of mine say, I get stuck in these W2 jobs, the
Joshua:actual tax document that you get back they are sucking the life out of me, and
Joshua:it's encouraging to hear you say that because it sounds like it's a true success
Joshua:story for you as to what you're building as maybe you right now being a local
Joshua:empire, but it's going to be a big, vast empire of all these gems that you're doing
Joshua:too, which empire is a good term, just so everybody knows; it's not a bad term.
Joshua:I'm curious, as you said something that really, struck a chord with me that it's
Joshua:about the emotional connection and trying to get to where people are really feeling,
Joshua:and I think for both the personal and professional development realm which I
Joshua:typically deal with, it's really hard sometimes to change that mindset and try
Joshua:to get people to go in a direction that makes them feel like they're empowered,
Joshua:so for you, you've probably met a lot of clients already in the first nine months
Joshua:that have said, "I don't know if I can keep doing this; I just don't know what
Joshua:I need to do", and I'm sure that there's a lot of resources specifically for,
Joshua:from the gym, but for you particularly, what has been some of the things that
Joshua:you've learned as lessons that help you to overcome some of those barriers that
Joshua:maybe have been either erected, either by others or by yourself, or just the
Joshua:natural course of doing things and take it any way you like, whether it's
Joshua:the personal or the professional side.
Joshua:I'm just curious how have you overcome that?
Noah:Yeah, another great question and I would say, people generally
Noah:hate going to the gym, right?
Noah:Most of our society, you have like the 3% that are freaks and they love it
Noah:and they get their energy from that.
Noah:The rest of us, it's a means to an end because we want to feel good,
Noah:we want to have energy and do all those things, and I can't tell you
Noah:how many people are terrified just to walk through the front door, right?
Noah:And there's this stigma about a lot of gyms, so one of the things that we've
Noah:done and I believe so far, pretty successfully to overcome that, is we build
Noah:that relationship, we make it welcoming.
Noah:One thing I learned from a previous boss of mine was to learn everybody's name.
Noah:I don't actually know everybody's name, but I know quite a few, and I don't
Noah:have a good memory, but if you take the time to learn someone's name and get to
Noah:know them, it makes them feel welcome.
Noah:It makes them feel valued, and when they're sitting at home deciding if
Noah:they're going to go to the gym or not, and all the obstacles are running through
Noah:their mind of reasons why they can't go, or they don't have time, or they don't
Noah:have the energy, if they're like, oh no, but if I don't go, Noah's not gonna
Noah:see me, or you know, at least if I go in, somebody that knows me is going to
Noah:acknowledge that I showed up that day.
Noah:I believe that does make a significant difference, and we've seen it kind
Noah:of play out where people who started out in that camp of, "I hate the gym.
Noah:It's a chore.
Noah:I don't know what I'm doing".
Noah:They end up falling in love with it, right?
Noah:We eliminate that fear that feeling like you're out of place in a
Noah:foreign land by making you feel like part of our community, and then the
Noah:second obstacle for a lot of people with fitness is accountability.
Noah:Let's be honest, most of us, and I will include myself in this camp,
Noah:are not motivated or organized enough to keep ourselves accountable
Noah:to stick with a fitness routine.
Noah:I actually, myself, work with a trainer four times a week.
Joshua:Wow.
Noah:And I'm there every single day, but, it was even hard for me, even though I
Noah:was there every day to set aside enough time to focus on myself when I was so
Noah:busy trying to serve everyone else, so the only hour a day that I truly dedicate
Noah:to myself is that with my trainer, and he keeps me on track, otherwise I'm
Noah:like, "Oh, I should go clean that floor over there, change this trash bag."
Noah:It's like, "No, no focus.
Noah:You can do that when you're done."
Noah:For a lot of people, for most people actually, they need that level of
Noah:accountability and someone actually checking in with them and helping
Noah:them through the exercises and things they don't know to truly see those
Noah:results, and I've managed to have, I mean, I can honestly say I'm in the
Noah:best shape of my life as a result of that in a pretty quick amount of time.
Joshua:Yeah.
Joshua:Is it both the physical and the mental that you feel better about?
Joshua:Is it a combination of both?
Joshua:What specifically has changed that makes you say that?
Joshua:That you feel like you are at the best?
Noah:Everything.
Noah:Because everything's connected.
Noah:If anything in our life is out of balance, we feel it.
Noah:If we're not staying active, if we're not working on ourselves, our energy levels
Noah:are down, our confidence, for me, I'll be very honest, I'm self-conscious and a lot
Noah:of us are, and it's something we don't like to talk about, but, the way that
Noah:we feel impacts every part of our life.
Noah:No, I'm not a bodybuilder, I'm not trying to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Noah:I definitely don't have his genetics, but if I at least feel good in my own skin,
Noah:I'm going to perform better at work, I'm going to be different around my wife,
Noah:I'm going to be different around anybody that I'm talking to in a positive way,
Noah:and then I'd also feel like I'm more equipped to help other people because if
Noah:I'm not taking care of myself, who am I to expect anybody else to do the same?
Noah:It all plays together and you sleep better, you have more energy,
Noah:for me, food is my weakness.
Noah:I love to eat, but-
Joshua:I think we all do.
Noah:When I'm- Yeah.
Noah:Right.
Noah:Let's, yeah, and you don't have to, I'm gonna tell you, we, even
Noah:when we work with trainers, you don't have to cut out everything you love
Noah:to eat, but I think when you're on a regular workout routine, like you
Noah:tend to make better food decisions.
Noah:I just worked out, I probably shouldn't go eat a whole pizza pie.
Noah:I followed up by a ice cream sundae.
Noah:You know, maybe a slice and some frozen yogurt, mix it up a little bit, but I
Noah:think it's just all about the mindset and when the workout is the hardest
Noah:thing in my day, everything else is a little bit easier too, so, it's-
Joshua:I love that.
Joshua:I love that thought because it's so interesting for some people to be able
Joshua:to latch onto something that you've just said, which is just being self-conscious
Joshua:and trying to take that to a level where we are all feeling positive and all
Joshua:feeling interactive of each other, and a gym certainly supports that when it
Joshua:comes to the environment that you create, and I know that you really value that
Joshua:so much, and I've seen that personally one-on-one with not only you, but even
Joshua:some of the people that I've visited when I have gone to the gym myself, which yes,
Joshua:full disclosure folks, I am a paid client of ARK Fitness and Noah is so happy and
Joshua:proud of me for doing that, but I think I-
Noah:I do appreciate your support, brother.
Joshua:I know you do brother, but I want to pivot on this thought, when you see
Joshua:other people or even other individuals that are saying, "Well, you need to pay to
Joshua:find out what's going on here", or, "You need to invest in this product so that you
Joshua:know what it's true intended consequences are", but yet there's no trust, there's
Joshua:no accountability with maybe that, what they're claiming as those statements.
Joshua:What do you say to somebody, especially that is thinking about, "Well, I
Joshua:don't know if I really should join this gym or not", or, " Whether I
Joshua:should really do this thing or not."
Joshua:Has there been a rule of thumb that you've told people to think
Joshua:about when it comes to their own wellbeing or their own health?
Joshua:What kind of tools have you given people to empower them, because I think that's
Joshua:lacking a lot, especially when you hear advertisements about, go to the gym, it's
Joshua:only $9.99 a month; no commitment fee, and then you find out there's a lot locked
Joshua:down into it and you get into the weeds.
Joshua:I often wonder, what do you think are some of those things that you often
Joshua:hear or what you tell from others about that sort of practice or that process?
Joshua:How do they dispel that?
Noah:Well first of all, I've been in jobs where I was supposed
Noah:to sell something, I was in car sales, so do anything you got
Noah:to do to sell a car, right?
Noah:It becomes very difficult to trust when you say all the right things
Noah:and it's like, "Okay, what are you saying that's actually true?"
Noah:From the beginning, I've been really intentional about not trying to sell
Noah:anything, and we don't sugar coat it.
Noah:It's hard work.
Noah:It's not for everybody, and I'll tell people, you know, if you're not
Noah:sure that you're ready to take this on, it may not be the time to do it.
Noah:You're going to have to commit, you are going to have to do the work.
Noah:We're going to be here to help you.
Noah:I often even turn around and joke with people, because sometimes people
Noah:come in, "Why should I join your gym?"
Noah:I'll say, yeah, maybe you shouldn't, or, they say, " What's great about
Noah:your gym?", and I'll tell 'em, look, gyms are the worst, right, but we're
Noah:maybe the least terrible, and, and they usually chuckle a little bit, and then
Noah:I say, look, we are a gym, we have equipment, we have treadmills, we try to
Noah:keep it clean, but, what's different, I think about ARK Fitness is we're going
Noah:to take the time to get to know you.
Noah:You're not just a number.
Noah:Our model is very personal, so yeah, we charge more than
Noah:the the chain gyms out there.
Noah:The "Globo" gyms of the world.
Noah:I said Globo gym cause it's a Dodgeball reference.
Noah:I'm not going to actually-
Joshua:Yeah.
Joshua:Yes.
Noah:-Help anybody cause yes, I got any gym is at least there.
Joshua:Yes.
Joshua:No, no, no copyright strikes on that, and by the way-
Noah:Yep.
Joshua:Anybody that's listening.
Noah:Thank you.
Noah:Yep.
Noah:Unless there's actually a gym out there called Globo Gym in
Noah:that, in which case, I'm sorry.
Noah:It's just about being more personal.
Noah:Our model, we're going to charge a little bit more, but we get to serve
Noah:fewer people better than trying to overcrowd the place and making it a
Noah:bad experience for a lot of people.
Noah:That was a difficult thing to do because, yes, I could have kept selling
Noah:memberships, keep the cost at 10 bucks a month or something like that, but it
Noah:doesn't serve our vision, and a lot of these chain gyms, they're hoping that
Noah:you don't show up and that you can just pay your gym tax and never step foot
Noah:through the door, which by the way, people do sometimes pay and not come.
Noah:It's not for nothing, at least I believe in our case because
Noah:I look at it like insurance.
Noah:You pay for car insurance every month.
Noah:Just because you didn't use it, doesn't mean it's not valuable,
Noah:because when you need it, it's there and it's accessible for you.
Noah:I kind of look at the gym the same way, and when your car crashes and
Noah:your insurance pays out that claim, they're able to do that because
Noah:of all the other people that are paying their monthly premium.
Noah:A gym is the same way; your monthly dues, whether you're there or not, are
Noah:allowing us to have six figures worth of gym equipment accessible for about a
Noah:dollar a day to hundreds of local folks and people don't always think about it
Noah:that way, but when you do, it's like, wow, okay, I'm not just throwing money away.
Noah:I'm actually helping to support this community and literally making it possible
Noah:for us to keep serving the people we do, and then whenever people are able to
Noah:come in, whenever they're ready to go, we're there for them, and that's kind of
Noah:been our approach, and I'm also proud to say our usage ratio is incredibly high.
Joshua:Oh wow.
Noah:So, we'll see on any given day, 25% of our member base through the door.
Noah:It's still not too crowded because we've kept the numbers down, but, we have a
Noah:very active user base, so the people that are paying are actually using it.
Noah:For me, I'm proud to say that.
Noah:Some gym owners would actually be proud to say that they're collecting a lot of
Noah:money that people aren't using the gym.
Noah:That's not us.
Joshua:I love your human-centered approach to this because I think that in
Joshua:this world, especially, we get so easily disconnected from having the dollars in
Joshua:our bank account or having the top of the line equipment, which my goodness sakes.
Joshua:I hope that my equipment is safe that I'm using at the gym, but you take it as
Joshua:this equipment is for everybody and we are giving this back as something that
Joshua:will help everyone, and I find that so invigorating to hear because normally you
Joshua:do hear in the world of gyms, "Well, I'm giving you value", and you giving back to
Joshua:this person, well that's all I need to give, but you're taking it a step further.
Joshua:Noah, what, what makes ARK Fitness different from some of
Joshua:your competitors, you would say?
Noah:Yeah, I mean, one, I hate contracts, a lot of gyms still
Noah:are clinging onto contracts.
Noah:Many have gone away from them because they've seen how damaging they are to
Noah:relationships, but we don't do contracts.
Noah:We don't trap people in memberships; like, go to most gyms and try to cancel
Noah:and, send 'em a message online, they're going to say, "Well, you have to show
Noah:up in person on a Tuesday afternoon.
Noah:It has to be below 60% humidity, and we also need your grandmother
Noah:there to", you know, it's like-
Joshua:Wow.
Noah:Obviously I'm exaggerating, but they make it so difficult
Noah:because they're trying to keep people paying and hopefully you'll forget
Noah:about it and it'll just keep going.
Noah:We don't do that.
Noah:We make it super easy on people to come and go as as they wish.
Noah:We don't charge extra fees throughout the year like a lot of gyms do.
Noah:It's just super transparent and I think our members really appreciate that,
and you know what we found:when you're experience leaving is as good as it is
and you know what we found:coming, you're either going to come back someday if it serves you, or at least have
and you know what we found:positive things to say when you leave, and as of this recording, I will say we
and you know what we found:currently have a five star Google review.
Joshua:That's incredible.
Noah:We're going to get a bad review someday; probably someone doesn't like
Noah:what I was wearing someday or something.
Noah:I don't know.
Noah:You know, my, my, my hair offended them.
Noah:You can't make everybody happy.
Noah:Um, but you, I would venture to say you're never going to see anything on
Noah:there about, unfair business practices or lack of transparency because I
Noah:take all that really personally and it's all reflection on us and, and
Noah:the way that we do business, so I'd say that's a big differentiator.
Noah:We have that trust with our members.
Noah:If people have a medical issue or something happens, we'll put them on hold.
Noah:They can stop paying while they're not there until they can get
Noah:better and get back to using the club; just little things like that,
Noah:and I value our staff tremendously.
Noah:We pay our staff really well, and I think they make the gym better.
Noah:You go in, they know they greet everybody by name, they go around, they check
Noah:on everybody, see how they're doing.
Noah:They're cleaning, and by paying them more than, you know, the typical 10, 12 bucks
Noah:an hour that you're going to make it a desk job at a gym, they actually take a
Noah:lot of value in what they're doing, and that allows Hannah and I to actually go
Noah:home at at 6:00 PM a lot of evenings, and not have to worry about what's going
Noah:on in there, because I know our staff is awesome and they're taking care of it,
Noah:so that's been a huge relief as well, and I think like the last differentiator
Noah:that would set us apart from other gyms is our community involvement.
Noah:It's just something I've always been passionate about.
Noah:We're always finding a different nonprofit locally that we can support with
Noah:member dollars, so we actually reinvest member dollars back into the community.
Noah:I'm a sucker for the sports teams donations and all that.
Noah:I hate saying no because I just love seeing the youth in what they're doing
Noah:in our community, and I will say I try to limit it to people that are already
Noah:members and their kids and their families, because you can't do 'em all, but we
Noah:support the local, you know, Northern softball team and some of the booster
Noah:clubs at Cumberland Valley, and the Mechanicsburg Wrestling Club, and I
Noah:don't know if anybody's going to see a banner and come in and join because of
Noah:that, and I really don't care because these are our members that have already
Noah:been supporting us and so we can reinvest dollars to help support the
Noah:things that they're passionate about.
Noah:It's a win in my book.
Noah:We've also been really involved with the business community, so a huge part
Noah:of how we're even able to raise funds to start the gym was through business
Noah:sponsorships, so we have, dozens of sponsors that stepped up and helped
Noah:us and supported us, and we gave them some marketing and return, but it's
Noah:created this referral network too.
Noah:Anytime somebody comes in, they're like I need a deck done, who do you recommend?
Noah:I'm like, Chad Hopple with West Shire Decks.
Noah:He's awesome; he did our handicap ramps.
Noah:I'll give him a shameless plug, or you know, who should I use for
Noah:print and marketing materials?
Noah:Hot Frog was one of our diamond sponsors, so they've done a lot of our t-shirts
Noah:and apparel and things like that, so we've utilized these businesses in return
Noah:and they've supported us, and then I know anybody that's sponsored us is
Noah:already somebody that's more community minded to even do something like that.
Noah:It's just cool you got so many business owners and
Noah:professionals that come to the gym.
Noah:It's, and the greatest thing, Josh: everybody there, regardless of their
Noah:status, their income, you know how wealthy they are or poor, we're all
Noah:just there wearing gym clothes, right?
Noah:Everybody's equal.
Noah:It's super cool.
Joshua:That's the collection of all those people with various backgrounds
Joshua:being able to work on a common goal, which is something that I've even
Joshua:been trying to generate in my own business with people finding their
Joshua:own voice to be able to tell that sort of story regardless of what it is.
Joshua:Noah, before we wrap up here, I have one last question and I want you to
Joshua:think long and hard about this one.
Joshua:I'll stall for a moment or two so you can think about it.
Noah:Sure.
Joshua:I know you've been open for more than nine months, and that was
Joshua:because of the pandemic, and there was still a lot of restrictions for some
Joshua:businesses when COVID was around and you were helping people even virtually
Joshua:for that matter, either through the Next Generation Training with Brock as you
Joshua:mentioned earlier, your business partner and even with what you were providing.
Joshua:Who is that one person that you can think of right now that has envisioned
Joshua:and just taken everything that you have given them and has tremendously
Joshua:transformed themselves in this period since you first started thinking
Joshua:about the concept of ARK Fitness?
Joshua:Is there anyone that comes to mind, and please don't mention their name,
Joshua:but mention just some characteristics of what you've seen about this
Joshua:person, if you could, because I'm really curious as to how you've been
Joshua:able to make this transformation for so many people come alive and I'm
Joshua:sure you have one person in mind.
Noah:That is an excellent question because there's been so many people
Noah:that we've connected with and been able to help in so many ways.
Noah:I would say, and even thinking about it gets me kind of emotional, but, the
Noah:people that we've helped, it's funny how- yes, they've gotten more fit and
Noah:have made progress in that way, but the emotional portion of things has been so
Noah:huge and there's someone I've spoken to and I know these people pretty well
Noah:so I can tell when something's off and there was someone at one point and they
Noah:were just not themselves, and I could tell something was weird and we were
Noah:busy and I thought, man, this person is not in a good emotional state, and
Noah:so I said, "Hey, do you need to talk for a minute?", and I expected them to
Noah:say no or no, I'm fine like we usually do, and they looked at me and they're
Noah:like, "Yeah, that'd actually be cool."
Noah:We kind of went over and sat down and they told me what was going on and I
Noah:don't usually do this because I try to keep my business pretty separate from
Noah:my my personal life, but I asked if I could pray for him, because I just felt
Noah:like they needed something, and I just asked their permission and they said,
Noah:"yeah, that'd be awesome.", and we sat there and we both just about ended in
Noah:tears and they messaged me later and they said I can't tell you how much
Noah:I needed that, and I don't know what the full impact of that was, but it's
Noah:those type of interactions and those things that go so much deeper than the
Noah:physical component of things that I really think what we're there for and
Noah:the lives that we can touch in that way.
Noah:So it was a cool reminder of why we're doing what we're doing.
Noah:It's more than the money, it's more than just the health and fitness, it's
Noah:like these are real people's lives and we truly had this opportunity to look
Noah:deeper past the surface level that we so often stay at when we interact with
Noah:people through our work and through our daily lives, and that's the coolest
Noah:thing for me, and it gets hard sometimes.
Noah:It's a challenging industry.
Noah:It's competitive.
Noah:It's always changing.
Noah:There's days where I question, "What have I gotten myself into?", and moments like
Noah:that are the reminder, "yeah, keep going.
Noah:It's worth it."
Joshua:I'm getting teary eyed over here just thinking about what that interaction
Joshua:might have felt like and just knowing that you could at least instill some
Joshua:words of wisdom or even just be there as a present being for that other individual
Joshua:that you were just discussing about.
Joshua:That's incredible-
Noah:Yeah.
Joshua:And I think it just shows Noah, the testament of yourself, and as I
Joshua:mentioned to the listeners earlier, I've gotten to know you a long time, and
Joshua:I think that you are one of the more genuine people that want to help people
Joshua:wherever they're at it and it just shows from some of the actions that you've
Joshua:just even talked about in this episode about helping people with the community,
Joshua:helping people just see that they can physically transform themselves, and
Joshua:you do everything in between that, and I feel like there's never a day that
Joshua:you ask for," I need to thank you", or, you're so selfless, and I think
Joshua:that really has shown a lot, so, as we wrap up here, I want to give you a
Joshua:few moments to just pitch ARK Fitness.
Joshua:Tell us where you're at; let the members know; well, let the
Joshua:members, let the audience know.
Joshua:I hope they become members, by the way, but let our audience know.
Joshua:How can we reach out to you if we're interested in
Joshua:hearing more about your gym?
Noah:Yeah.
Noah:Absolutely.
Noah:Thank you, Josh, and appreciate all your kind words, man.
Noah:It's been an amazing building relationship with you over the years and just seeing
Noah:both of our lives kind of develop, but, ARK Fitness is in downtown Mechanicsburg.
Noah:We're on York Street next to Hops & Barley and Sal's Pizza, and in a
Noah:long brick building, and we have 13,000 square feet of open gym space.
Noah:It's clean, it's spacious.
Noah:We do monthly memberships, and I would say for anybody that's interested,
Noah:you can go to our website, which I know you're going to, you know,
Noah:put in the links, but it's www-
Joshua:Yeah, no, no, go ahead.
Joshua:Go ahead.
Joshua:I was going to say, I'll put in the show notes, but go ahead Noah.
Joshua:You want to give it to them?
Noah:Yep, sure.
Noah:It's just arkfitclub.com; all the infos on there.
Noah:We're on Facebook, we're on Instagram, so you can DM us through those platforms,
Noah:but what I would just say is just stop by, you don't need an appointment.
Noah:We've always got some staff there that be willing to help you.
Noah:I pretty much live there, so chances are you run into me, uh, if you come by, or
Noah:my wife Hannah, who's there full-time as well, but we would love to take
Noah:some time to show you around, show you that not every gym is scary and dark.
Noah:Our culture's really important to us.
Noah:Respect; so ARK actually stands for accountability, respect, and
Noah:knowledge, so we don't profile anyone based on the way they look.
Noah:We judge you based on your actions, again, I won't mention any chain gyms,
Noah:but we are not a judgment free zone because I don't think that exists, but
Noah:rather we judge our members by the way they treat people, so as long as you
Noah:come in with an attitude of respect and you take care of our environment, which
Noah:our members do because it's like their home, it'll be a great gym for you, and
Noah:we have a ton of equipment, but most importantly, we're going to get to know
Noah:you, we're going to help support you in your goals, and Brock and his training
Noah:team are some of the most knowledgeable and passionate trainers that I've ever
Noah:experienced, and they don't do contracts.
Noah:They don't ask you to sign something; it's not a sales pitch that they're
Noah:going to sit you down and try to get you to sign the dotted line.
Noah:They're super informative and helpful, and I have pretty high standards, so, I won't
Noah:let anybody like that into our area, or partner with them in any way because at
Noah:the end of the day, it's our name on it.
Noah:Come by and check us out.
Noah:If you have a goal in mind or you're just trying to get more active if you
Noah:already go to the gym, or if you just want to feel better and have more energy
Noah:and improve every other area of life, spend an hour a couple times a week with
Noah:us and I'm pretty sure you'll find that you'll get all those things and more.
Joshua:You're building something in the Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania community that
Joshua:I hope that my listeners, whether they are in Pennsylvania or worldwide, listen to
Joshua:the importance of your wellbeing and your healthy alternatives that you can instill
Joshua:and I think you shared that so much.
Joshua:Thank you to your wife, Hannah, and to you and to Brock and his wife,
Joshua:all you guys building this awesome opportunity downtown and just
Joshua:revitalizing so many people's lives.
Joshua:Noah, it's been a pleasure talking to you today and I look forward to keep on this
Joshua:conversation some point because I think you have so many awesome things to share
Joshua:with my audience and I look forward to continuing to hear from your heart because
Joshua:this was really an awesome opportunity to explore some of that with you.
Noah:Yeah, thank you Josh, and, and the one last person that I have to take
Noah:a moment to mention because they're so crucial to our existence, is one of my
Noah:other business partners, John Neifert.
Noah:He owns Babineau Opticians in Mechanicsburg.
Noah:The gym wouldn't exist without him, I would say for anybody that's thinking
Noah:about doing something like I've done, if you believe in it enough and surround
Noah:yourself with the right people, they will find you and make it possible,
Noah:and that is exactly what John was.
Noah:He's one of the most selfless people I've ever met, and he actually believed
Noah:in me before I believed in myself.
Noah:Surround yourself with people like that and you can truly do almost anything.
Joshua:Awesome.
Joshua:Thanks a lot too for John and his help with getting you started,
Joshua:but Noah, thanks so much.
Joshua:I appreciate our time.
Noah:Hey, thank you Josh.
Noah:It was awesome.
Joshua:Listening to Noah really invigorated me that there are definitely
Joshua:genuine people in this world that want to help each other not only see the
Joshua:bigger pitcher, but also want to take an approach of not just the physicality
Joshua:of an individual, but wants to give everyone an equal opportunity as well to
Joshua:help achieve their dreams, especially in the fitness realm, so I wanted to give
Joshua:a special shout out again to Noah and being able to just create this vision
Joshua:on a piece of paper and turning into a reality based on all the things that he
Joshua:has been able to do throughout his career, especially being that he has overcome so
Joshua:much with deciding what is most important.
Joshua:There are a lot of things that I could talk about, and we definitely talked
Joshua:so much about the importance of not only accountability in this episode,
Joshua:but understanding that we want to be able to help each other by seeing the
Joshua:acknowledgement and understanding of someone else and what they're going
Joshua:through, and what really touched me was the story that he had at the end
Joshua:when I asked him the question about the person that he has seen change so much,
Joshua:and I think that for many of us, we often think, especially in the business
Joshua:realm, that as long as I exchange the dollars and I provide the services that
Joshua:I guaranteed to the customer, then I'd done everything that I needed to do, and
Joshua:I think Noah is turning that tide of the business franchise that is about gyms.
Joshua:It is so easy to get into the mechanics of figuring out why somebody wants
Joshua:to join, and we could have a lively discussion back and forth about how you
Joshua:can do this by helping each other create some of that value through not only
Joshua:the exercise programs that they offer and even the smoothie bar, which again,
Joshua:we didn't talk about in this episode, but I think that biggest thing that
Joshua:really resonated with me was that you can have self-consciousness be a tool
Joshua:in your toolbox, which will help you to see what is immediately surrounding
Joshua:you and taking action where needed.
Joshua:Someone reminded me recently outside of this episode about the importance of
Joshua:self-care, and it's something that is becoming more of a topic, especially in
Joshua:our society when we are discussing the needs of somebody that might be going
Joshua:through a traumatic or heartfelt situation that requires them to take care of some
Joshua:of the things that take them away from work, and I think Noah's story about how
Joshua:he has transversed all these different things to be able to become this best
Joshua:version of a gym that takes care of each other, but also when it gets really
Joshua:busy and you see someone struggling, you drop everything and you help them.
Joshua:It really resonates with the core of what we all are human,
Joshua:and we are all humans in this.
Joshua:If we're willing to understand and eliminate the fear and the insecurity that
Joshua:might be about approaching somebody and having just that conversation, especially
Joshua:when it comes to physical fitness, we can start to make strides about ourselves
Joshua:and our overall being that helps us to not only wake up in the morning feeling
Joshua:refreshed, but we're able to have energy throughout the day to dispense and
Joshua:be able to utilize for the activities that we are gaining influence over.
Joshua:That means if we are able to take the time to pray for someone, whether that
Joshua:is for thinking about them and helping each other become really something that
Joshua:they never thought they would be able to do, or even finding people that you
Joshua:surround yourself with that help you to become the best mentors to help you go
Joshua:to the next level, especially with his business partner, John, that he talked
Joshua:about at the very end, it really helps you to understand the bigger, more
Joshua:systemic issue that we're all facing.
Joshua:It is so easy to fall into the trap of saying, "I know that I need to do this.
Joshua:I know that I can do this, but I don't know if I can really do this.
Joshua:I don't know if I have what it takes.", and it's also so easy to say that
Joshua:these relationships are not helping me and we push them away, but what
Joshua:would it look like if we actually turn those relationships into strengths,
Joshua:things that we know that we can push ourselves to the next level?
Joshua:What if we took it and we used it as confidence?
Joshua:We use in ways in which we can create some of that value that we often are looking
Joshua:for when it comes to having relationships with others, but, what if we took all
Joshua:those things and we be able to push ourselves, become determined to see the
Joshua:best changes of not only within ourselves, but also with the people that are all
Joshua:around us, rooting us on every single day?
Joshua:I think Noah is demonstrating a good point for all of us in learning the vast
Joshua:importance of understanding what it takes to just take it one step at a time, and
Joshua:it's not just about the steps but it's also about what you are able to do by just
Joshua:building something that is connecting.
Joshua:It makes you feel warmth inside your soul.
Joshua:It radiates it within your blood vessels and makes your heart beat out of your
Joshua:chest knowing that you're doing such an awesome thing and it's taking you to new
Joshua:heights that you never imagined before.
Joshua:I think Noah is a prime example of someone that has really shown and demonstrated
Joshua:what it can be when you're able to surround yourself with those resources,
Joshua:so if you ever think that you can't do it, I think that Noah has certainly proved
Joshua:that wrong today and continues to prove that wrong for all time because I think
Joshua:if we're able to see that best version of ourselves, especially when it comes
Joshua:to understanding how we can build heart and character through all the experiences
Joshua:that we go through, nothing's impossible.
Joshua:We can be what we want to be.
Joshua:We can set ourselves out into that magical journey where anything can happen.
Joshua:As long as we see that value, that's all that matters, and I think that for
Joshua:us, that value starts with learning how to be able to create not only the
Joshua:benefits of accountability, but to gain respect, and to learn knowledge.
Joshua:That is definitely the ARK way.
Joshua:Thanks for listening to episode number six of Speaking From the
Joshua:Heart, and I look forward to hearing from your heart very soon.
Outro:Thanks for listening.
Outro:For more information about our podcast and future shows, search for Speaking From
Outro:The Heart to subscribe and be notified wherever you listen to your podcasts.
Outro:Visit us at www.yourspeakingvoice.biz for more information about potential
Outro:services that can help you create the best version of yourself.
