May 16, 2017

Meet Mike Connelly of Rebell Strength and Conditioning in Lakeview

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mike Connelly.

Mike, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Rebell started 5+ years ago when Ryan Steenrod and I got fed up with the way people were being treated by corporate gyms. We knew that a more personable connection was the key to helping people reach their potential and just got frustrated seeing people being treated as numbers on a sales sheet.

We started out in a facility that was way more than what we needed and a client list that left us with a lot of work to do. Month by month we made it work, winning small battle after small battle to survive. And that’s all it was for a while, surviving.

We were fortunate enough to have great guidance and a lot of buy-in from our growing community. We have always had a group of people around us that believed in our mission enough to chip in when they could. It’s been great!

Over the years we have seen some big changes. None quite as big as what we’ve gone through in the last 4 months. Ryan moved out to California to start a new business leaving me at the helm alone. It’s been interesting to see exactly how differently a business runs under sole ownership. It’s thrown a lot of unanticipated challenges my way which is great because I feel stronger with my business sense than ever before.

Now I have 4 outstanding coaches working with me to grow Rebell and we are having a blast!

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It has been far from a smooth road. It always seems that once you feel like you have reached some level of homeostasis your world gets rocked by something you would have never seen coming. I hated that part of running a small business in our first couple of years. Recently, I have learned to embrace the uncertainty. Perception is key. I used to see it as something that can rip everything apart in no time flat. That’s a miserable way to live. Now I see it as a constant flow of opportunity. Opportunity to change. Opportunity to grow. Opportunity to make things happen that I didn’t think were possible when I started this venture. Looking at it that way makes it real hard not to be amped up and ready to go when that alarm clock goes off in the morning.

Listing all of the obstacles and challenges I have faced in the last 5 years makes for a long list. Instead, here are 3 things that I feel get me through those challenges:
1. Leave your ego in the trunk of your car when you get to work. Being humble enough to admit when you make a bad decision or screw something up saves you a lot of time and opens up doors that wouldn’t otherwise be open.
2. Get out of your head when you can. Once I found a good team, I try to spend more time listening and less time running my mouth. Figure that out and watch the team grow!
3. Have a laugh and a smile every day and make sure everyone around you does the same.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Rebell Strength and Conditioning story. Tell us more about the business.
Rebell is the anti-corporate fitness facility built on 11 years of coaching experience. I’m going to humbly submit that nobody does it better than we do. There are a lot of good facilities in this city, and I would put our approach up to any of them. The programming you will go through, whether it be in our group training or semi-private training, is in line with what the best coaches in the world are doing. We work real hard to toe that line every day.

Our group classes follow 4-6 week programs that address general fitness needs from building strength, to losing fat, to improving your conditioning. What people pay $600-$1000 dollars a month for in private training, we deliver for as low as $215 per month.

If you want to take a lap in the pool or sit in the sauna, stop by your local corporate gym. If you want to reach your potential and train in a smart way that won’t break the bank, come to Rebell.

Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
As I said before, perception is the reality. I’ve managed to not take myself too seriously lately and it seems like the bad luck has all but disappeared. Have we run into some misfortune? Sure. But we look at it as an opportunity to grow and if we can manage that then I see us as being pretty fortunate.

Pricing:

Group training is between $176 and $3o5 per month. Your introductory month is $108 for unlimited access.
Semi-private training ranges from $480-$1040 per month.

Contact Info: