The Business of Changing Lives
Today’s Small Business Saturday feature includes a photo of a giant pair of panties. (Take THAT search engines!)
Joe Martin’s wicked sense of humor and savvy PR skills definitely come in handy when it’s time to spread the word about Huntsville Adventure Boot Camp. He’s described often in his client testimonials as “a lifesaver”. If you’re one of the many local women who have tried his popular fitness boot camps, you’ll understand why. His fitness programs not only involve weight loss, they have helped people battle depression, bust stress, cure insomnia, tap into their personal potential, and even start a family. (It turns out when you feel great and lead a healthier lifestyle, sometimes that leads to… babies!)
Huntsville Adventure Boot Camp started in July of 2009. Huntsville Adventure Boot Camp is part of the Adventure Boot Camp system that is the largest and most successful boot camp program in the world. World-renowned fitness expert and entrepreneur Dr. John Spencer Ellis started adventure Boot Camp in Orange County, CA.
I experienced Joe’s local sessions during a very chilly edition of Madison Adventure Boot Camp and was surprised at what I found – not an angry drill sergeant that screamed at the class, but an encouraging group of women that helped each other through a challenging & rewarding workout. Every day I looked forward to the next session.
Joe took some time to tell us more about the inception of HABC and share some of his business know-how.
What led you to start Huntsville Adventure Boot Camp?
I opened my business in July 2009. I had been working as a trainer since 2000 and would see how many people would join the gym and the completely fall off the face of the Earth. The Earth is flat correct? The gym is just not for everybody, particularly a lot of the women I know. So I wanted to offer what we call the “Ultimate Out of Gym experience”.
What does HABC do exactly, and who does it serve?
Every day I am going to wake up and change someone’s life. I will do this by providing a way to make exercise and health fun, effective, and addictive. My business serves women ages 18-80, blind, crippled, and crazy. Women of all shapes, sizes, and abilities are welcome and will get in a great workout at their own pace and on their own level.
What is the most challenging thing for you about owning a business?
The most challenging thing for me is the actual business side of things. Accounting, bookkeeping, etc… I’m the guy that chose my major in college by finding out what didn’t have much chemistry, physics, and math. I am finally at the point where I can hire someone to do those things for me, so I will stop messing them up.
What is your favorite thing about owning your own business?
The absolute best thing is being able to spend more time with my family. I spent a lot of years starting my day at 4:00 AM and not getting done with work until 7:30PM. Every day. So being able to pick up and drop my son off at school, have lunch with my wife, and having freedom in my schedule is huge for me.
HABC was voted Best Place In The Valley To Workout. Can you share any entrepreneurial advice with our readers?
A great book I would recommend is Brian Tracy’s Eat That Frog! I was always a big procrastinator, so this book helped a lot. The basic premise is, if you had to eat a frog what would you do? Eat it and get it over with! Don’t let important tasks (frogs) hang over your head all day stressing you out.
And like mentioned before, hire people to do the things you can’t do or hate doing. You are able to be so much more creative and your business will thrive. Plus you can say, “I got people for that” at parties and amaze your friends.
Is there anything new you’re offering for women who haven’t tried out a session?
There are two new things coming up that I am really excited about. The first thing is, we are starting the very first 9 AM class starting on March 19th. It will be 3 days a week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) for 45 minutes a day, in Big Spring Park in downtown Huntsville. There are a lot of people that can’t make our other times and locations, so we listened and are very excited to start this new class.
The second thing is just for fun, but I can’t wait. It is what I am calling World Burpee Flash Mob Day. It started out as a joke and then it became a real thing. March 3rd at 12:00 PM at Bridge Street, I am hoping to get at least 100 people to meet up and start doing burpees, and then casually walk away. Haven’t you always wanted to be in a Flash Mob? Me too, so I started one. I’ve got someone to film it, I’ve applied to the Guinness Book of World Records for most people doing a burpee at once (no current record holder), created an event on Facebook, put out a press release. This is for anybody to attend. We have all walks of life coming so far. Young, old, men, women, children, possibly some dogs it’s going to be a fun and ridiculous day. That’s how I roll.
Now’s a great time to experience Huntsville Adventure Boot Camp for yourself – Joe’s giving away a free two-week session and a copy of the Tight Tummy in 10 Days nutrition plan for RCM readers who enter to win. How can you not after hearing this testimonial?
Somewhere along the way, boot camp did do something magical for me. Did it allow me to immediately become fit and lose weight? No. Even better: It showed me I have the potential to be AWESOME. When I first started a year ago, I was TERRIFIED. Now I am that amazing and powerful woman that I would have been in awe of a year ago. And if I’m her right now…who can I be in another year? I’ll tell you who: I’ll be LIMITLESS. –Kim Holmes, Big Girl Panty Award Winner
Rocket City Mom is a website about raising children in and around Huntsville, Alabama. Started in late 2010 by a local mom and newcomer to Huntsville, Rocket City Mom has grown into a thriving community of local parents and now boasts a staff of four, thirteen regular contributors, and tens of thousands of Tennessee Valley readers making it the #1 Parenting Resource in North Alabama.