I Hated the Options Trainers Had, So I Built a Better One

We Changed the Game for Personal Trainers

For years, I hated the options available to good personal trainers.

You could go work at a big-box gym, charge your client $80, $100, maybe $120 an hour, and somehow walk away with $20 or $30 of it. No room to move up or grow beyond getting more clients for the business you don’t even own.

You could go work for a smaller corporate training concept, an OrangeTheory, cycling studio, boutique fitness franchise, or whatever. Maybe the environment is a little better, but at the end of the day, you're still building someone else's business. You coach the session, collect your hourly rate, go home, and own basically nothing.

Or, you could do what a lot of really good trainers eventually do: say screw it and start training people yourself.

Except now you're training people out of your garage or basement.

You spend thousands of dollars buying equipment. You lose half your house. Your spouse probably doesn’t love the situation. Clients are walking through your driveway at 5 in the morning. You're cleaning your garage between sessions. And after all of that, you eventually realize that most people don't actually want to pay premium personal-training rates to work out next to your lawn mower.

There had to be a better option.

So, we built one.

The Idea Behind P10

When I took over our office building in Wheaton, I didn't want to create another traditional gym.

I didn’t want to build, “Andrew Happel’s House for Muscles.”

I wanted to build the type of place I would have wanted when I was coming up as a trainer.

A nice facility. Great equipment. Private. Clean. Open 24/7. A place where trainers could bring their own clients and actually be proud of where they trained them.

But more importantly, I wanted trainers to be able to build their own business inside of ours.

That's a big distinction.

Our affiliated trainers aren't just employees punching a clock for P10. They can build their own book of business, establish their own relationships, set themselves apart as coaches, and actually benefit financially from becoming better and more successful.

We provide the infrastructure.

They build the business.

Stop Spending $20,000 to Build a Crappy Home Gym

This is probably one of the biggest things I wanted to solve.

If you're a trainer doing even a decent amount of business, building your own training space starts sounding attractive.

Then you actually do the math.

Rack. Dumbbells. Flooring. Cable machines. Benches. Cardio equipment. Sleds. Specialty equipment. Bathrooms. Utilities. Insurance. Maintenance. Cleaning.

It adds up incredibly fast. Trust me, I already invested in all of it.

And even after spending all of that money (which probably isn’t even enough), you're still operating out of a garage or basement that isn't exactly impressive when a new client walks through the door.

At P10, you don't have to recreate the gym.

We already built it.

Our trainers get access to a private training facility loaded with equipment, 24/7 access, amenities, and an environment that actually feels professional.

And when you're done training?

You go home.

Your garage is still a garage.

You Shouldn't Have to Give Away Most of What You Earn

This was the other part that never made sense to me and is exactly why most trainers don’t ever make it.

The trainer is the one building the relationship.

The trainer is the one writing the programming.

The trainer is the one waking up early, staying late, answering texts, keeping clients accountable, and ultimately producing the result.

Yet in a lot of traditional gym models, the trainer receives a fraction of what the client is actually paying.

I understand why gyms have to make money. Obviously. We have a building, equipment, utilities, staff, insurance, maintenance, and a million other expenses.

But I don't think the answer is taking the majority of a trainer's session revenue forever.

Our model is different.

P10 gives trainers a professional place to operate their business without requiring them to take on the enormous overhead of building a facility themselves.

That means a good trainer can actually start thinking like a business owner instead of an hourly employee.

Get more clients.

Keep your clients.

Increase your income.

Build something.

And Then We Added the Part Most Gyms Don't Have

Upstairs, we built private office space.

I think this is going to become an increasingly important part of what we're doing.

Because the reality is that a lot of trainers aren't just trainers anymore.

They're online coaches. Nutrition coaches. Content creators. Entrepreneurs. Remote workers. Business owners.

So why shouldn't your gym also be your office?

Train your 6:00 AM client downstairs.

Grab a shower.

Head upstairs.

Open your laptop and get some work done.

Train another client at noon.

Handle programming, calls, emails, or your online clients from your office.

Then go home when you're actually done working.

To me, that makes a lot more sense than driving between a gym, Starbucks, your house, and wherever else you're trying to run your business from.

We're Trying to Build a Home for Great Coaches

That's really what this comes down to.

I don't want P10 to become another gym filled with trainers wearing matching polos, reading workouts off an iPad, and getting paid $20 an hour.

I want good coaches here.

People who care about their clients.

People who want to get better.

People who want to make more money.

And especially people who eventually want to build something of their own.

P10 gives you the facility, equipment, amenities, infrastructure, and professional environment to do it without having to go sign a massive lease, buy $100,000 worth of equipment, or turn your garage into a commercial gym.

You bring the coaching.

You bring the clients.

You build your business.

We'll provide the place to do it.

That's the model I wish existed when I started training.

So we built it.