I know it’s cliche to say it: but time flies when you’re having fun.
Today marks the five year anniversary of Cressey Performance. Five freakin years. Unreal.
Five years ago today, after Eric, Pete, and myself decided to start this litte venture that’s now universally known as CP, Eric showed up to train a group of athletes with little more than a barbell, a makeshift sled, a few bumper plates, a paper clip, and a roll of masking tape in a “as yet to be built first facility.”
We literally started from scratch, renting 2000 square ft of corner space in a indoor batting cage facility that was owned by an athlete’s father. After discussing a few of the formalities and a firm handshake, he was gracious enough to allow us to set up shop
And when I say we started from scratch, I literally mean, from scratch.
There were no walls, no offices, no power racks, no glute ham raises, no flooring, no hot front desk girl to answer the phone, no nothing. In fact, this is a picture of what our “space” looked like before we started the building process:
If you look closely, that pile of “stuff” in the middle is the only equipment we had for our first few days of operation. Yet, athletes showed up to train.
And train they did.
In the weeks that followed, we had walls put up, we had our equipment delivered, and we were well on our way. Just the three of us. Not really knowing what the future had in store.
Well, to make a long, adventurous story short, we’ve taken our original 2000 square ft facility in 2007 (Note to ANYONE looking to start their own fitness business: start SMALL) and have seen incremental growth in the years since to a 6600 square ft facility, to our current 7600 square foot facility (the additional space was office space), to a 15,000+ square ft facility we’ll be moving into in about six weeks time.
It’s kind of surreal to think that our original facility could squeeze into the lobby of our new place.
Some other tidbits:
– In that same time span, we’ve gone from working with three professional baseball players in our first “off-season,” to expecting 100+ this coming off-season.
– And while baseball is by far our niche market, we’ve also worked with a multitude of athletes in soccer, football, hockey, softball, basketball, boxing, MMA, tennis, and even fencing, to name a few.
– Likewise, we’ve also had our fair share of “regular folk” who come in to train, ranging from those hoping to enter the FBI and Fire Academy to those just wanting to look better naked.
– I’m still waiting for Alicia Keys, Kate Beckinsale, or He-Man to walk through our doors, though.
– What started out as three employees/founders (Myself, Eric, and Pete) has grown to where we now have six full time staff and have seen 65+ (and counting) interns pass through our doors, many of which have gone on to successful careers themselves.
– Hell, we’ve even added a Tank into the mix; our mascot, Tank Cressey (who you can see hard at work in the picture above).
– More importantly, we’ve created a place that, I feel, has unparalleled camaraderie amongst its staff and clientele.
It’s not uncommon for some athletes and clients to hang out for hours on end. I mean, where else are you going to find a bonafide Major League baseball player having an intellectual conversation with high schoolers on how to find the secret codes in Call of Duty?
Moreover, the staff will constantly hang out after work to do nothing but eat dead animal flesh or bust each other’s chops – like the fact that coach/massage therapist, Chris Howard, is making plans to go see the new Katy Perry movie this weekend.
True story.
In all, I just feel really blessed and lucky that I’m able to call CP “home,” and that we have so many people who believe in us and support us. To that I say:
THANK YOU
Words can’t express our gratitude, and here’s hoping that we can continue to piss excellence for the next five years, too.
We’re all growns up!
PS: For those interested, Eric actually wrote a way more eloquent 5-year recap HERE, and I’d HIGHLY suggest you check it out.
PPS: Coincidentally, CPs yearly anniversary runs in concert with mine and Lisa’s anniversary. Three amazing years and counting. Love you babe. One word (Xbox).
PPPS: No, seriously, Chris Howard is going to see the Katy Perry movie.
