Today we’d like to introduce you to Vance Bynum.
Hi Vance, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
My journey really started in college. I played football and spent about three and a half years studying pre-med because I thought I wanted to go the traditional healthcare route. After school, I worked as a scribe in the emergency room for a year, and honestly, that experience shifted everything for me. I kept seeing the same people come in, get treated, and leave… but never actually get healthier. That’s when it clicked: I didn’t want to be part of the reaction. I wanted to be part of the prevention.
I’d been certified as a trainer since 2012, and a few years ago I added my Performance Enhancement Specialist certification to really understand movement and performance on a deeper level. That’s when I realized—this is my lane. Helping people before they break down. Helping them build stronger bodies, healthier nervous systems, and better habits.
In 2019, I opened my first gym, Trainers Gym. Big spot, big dreams… and it closed in less than a year. But we didn’t fold. We moved everything into a storage unit and trained clients there for a year. That season taught me more about grit, humility, and community than any classroom ever could.
By 2021, we opened the doors to Fit Factory in Cary, and we’ve been locked in ever since. We’ve built a crazy strong community—real results, real accountability, real people trying to better themselves physically, mentally, and spiritually. It’s not just a gym anymore. It’s a culture.
Now we’re looking to expand in Spring/Summer 2026 so we can make health and wellness even more accessible and affordable for the people in our area.
This whole journey—from football to pre-med, to the emergency room, to a storage unit, to where we’re at today—has been about one thing: helping people stay healthy, stay disciplined, and build a lifestyle they’re proud of.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road—far from it. But I’ve learned that the path isn’t supposed to be smooth. Resistance is what builds strength, in the gym and in life.
When I opened my first gym in 2019, the vision was big, but my experience wasn’t. We had a huge space, huge overhead, and huge dreams. When it closed in under a year, it forced me to sit with myself. No excuses, no blame—just ownership. That was a hard lesson, but a necessary one.
Moving our entire operation into a storage unit for a year was another challenge. Training clients in a cramped space, in Carolina heat and cold, with limited equipment—it wasn’t ideal. But people still showed up. That taught me something powerful: people don’t follow the building, they follow the intention. They follow consistency. That season sharpened my discipline more than any success ever could.
And the mental battles were real too. Entrepreneurship exposes everything—your doubts, your impatience, your financial pressure, your old habits. There were moments where the easier path would’ve been to quit. But every obstacle forced me to become more resilient, more patient, and more grounded in my purpose.
So no, it wasn’t smooth. But I’m grateful for that. A smooth road doesn’t build strong people. The adversity is what gave me clarity, character, and the community we have today. And that’s why Fit Factory operates the way it does—rooted in intention, discipline, and a belief that growth comes through resistance.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
At the simplest level, I’m a performance coach and the owner of Fit Factory Cary. But the work I do goes way beyond reps, weights, or calories. I specialize in helping people understand their bodies, their nervous systems, and their emotional patterns so they can build real, sustainable discipline—not just temporary motivation.
My background in pre-med, my time in the ER, and my Performance Enhancement Specialist certification all shaped my approach. I coach from a holistic lens: biomechanics, mindset, nervous system regulation, stress responses, recovery, and habit formation. I’m known for blending high-level athletic performance training with emotional maturity and personal development. People come for physical results, but they stay because they start evolving as humans.
I’ve had the privilege of working with an incredibly diverse range of people—professional athletes, high school teams, senior citizens, young kids, and major weight-loss clients. Each group has taught me something different about movement, resilience, and the human spirit. That range sharpened my ability to meet people exactly where they are and elevate them from there.
What sets me apart is that I don’t separate fitness from life. The gym is a controlled environment where people practice clarity, accountability, patience, and staying composed under pressure. Everything we train echoes into their relationships, careers, emotional health, and overall well-being.
I’m most proud of the community we’ve built. Fit Factory started in a storage unit and has grown into a place where people come to heal, grow, push themselves, and be held accountable. It’s not just a gym—it’s a family, a culture, a space where people feel seen, supported, and challenged in all the right ways.
What truly makes us different is simple:
We don’t manufacture confidence. We build it through discipline.
We don’t depend on motivation. We depend on habits.
We don’t chase quick fixes. We create long-term change.
Fit Factory is rooted in intention, integrity, nervous system awareness, and the belief that stronger individuals create stronger communities. That’s the work I’m proud of.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
The most important quality behind my success is discipline — not the loud, motivational kind, but the quiet, consistent, internal discipline that shows up no matter how I feel. Discipline is what carried me through losing my first gym, training out of a storage unit, and rebuilding from the ground up. It’s what keeps me studying, improving, and evolving year after year.
But right behind that is emotional maturity. Being able to respond instead of react. Being able to sit with discomfort, take accountability, and make decisions from clarity instead of ego. Entrepreneurship will test every part of you — your patience, your identity, your self-worth — and without emotional stability, it’s easy to break under that pressure.
If I had to simplify it, my success comes from a blend of three things:
Discipline, emotional maturity, and a genuine love for helping people become stronger versions of themselves. And my wife!
Everything else — the work ethic, the community, the results — flows from those qualities.
Pricing:
- $75 for a drop-in session
- $360 (1st month) end of year transformation special
- $1800 3 month package
- $6500 annual training package
Contact Info:
- Website: www.fitfactorync.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thevanceb24?igsh=MW9tM2k5YWVicjZ3dA==
