Create Community or Die

NOTE: I am no longer the CEO of Metabolic, but I felt the message had ubiquitous value regardless of industry or nature of business.

Community is the Holy Grail of growing a business.

When your clients, when your customers, when your members feel a sense of community, when they organize, not just because of the thing that you buy because of the feeling they get by being in that place, you’ve created something more than a great product, but a great experience, a great sense of shared understanding.

At Metabolic, oftentimes that comes from shared struggle.

See, Metabolic isn’t an easy workout. It’s not for the sheepish. It’s not for the laggards. It’s not for the unmotivated.

Metabolic is where people with goals come to achieve those goals regardless of where you start.

Through the effort of seeking that goal, of finding meaning in the work, of showing up, and sharing that struggle, we form community.

At each one of our studios, each one of our gyms, the community is different and that’s okay, but it all forms around shared struggle and understanding and respect for the work that it takes to show up, respect for the motivation, respect for the endurance, the commitment that it takes to show up to Metabolic over and over again.

You improve the way you feel about yourself to reduce your stress, to build friendships around the idea that what we do is hard and not everyone is willing to show up and do that work.

Community is special.

It’s important. You have to care. You cannot put yourself first in a community.

Yes, you’re there doing the work to improve yourself, to improve the way you feel about yourself, to improve your fitness and your health and the way you look, but the energy and enthusiasm and passion with which you attack a Metabolic workout resonates out from you and gives strength to everyone around you.

When 48 people are pushing together, working together, struggling together, you can’t stop.

The result is community.

The result is friendship and caring and compassion and commitment and support and strength.

That is what we seek to build at Metabolic, community, sustainable community.

It’s why I love what I do.

How do you build community?

Yours in strength,

Hanley

P.S. If you enjoyed this post, you’ll love the podcast.