Exploring Life & Business with Amanda Street of CrossFit Shoofly

Today we’d like to introduce you to Amanda Street.

Hi Amanda, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I was born and raised in West Virginia, where I spent most of my youth playing sports and spending as much time as possible on the New River. I wanted to play college basketball more than anything and I landed an athletic scholarship to Shepherd University, where I began to study recreation and tourism. My plan was to open my own adventure business back home. After my freshmen year, I realized how much I enjoyed health and fitness and decided to switch my major to Exercise Science and continue to study recreation as a minor. After completing my undergraduate degree, I knew that I still wanted to one day open my own business. I made the move to Raleigh, North Carolina and began studying Nutrition at Meredith College in the Graduate Program. I worked as a strength and conditioning coach and played professional rugby during this time. It was great being able to do what I love but I still felt like something was missing. I wanted to do more and make an impact in my community. I wanted to be able to train athletes of all ages for more than four years at a time.

I continued to coach team athletes but I also starting personal training. Over time the group increased in size and I was gaining more clients than I thought possible. I made a leap of faith to finally fulfill the dream of opening my own business and in 2015, I opened the doors to CrossFit Shoofly. We remodeled the basement of an old hardware store in the heart of downtown Fuquay Varina. It started with just two coaches and 30 members and we all hung drywall, painted, laid flooring, and opened the doors on Thanksgiving Day. Since then, we have grown to over 150 members and eight coaches. Those early members are what made us who we are and the members we have gained along the way have only made us better. Knowing we have improved the health and quality of life of many has made it all worth it and I no longer feel like something is missing.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I have always said to my athletes, “if it feels easy, it is probably wrong.” Moving well is hard work. I take that philosophy into life and business. The most recent obstacle we faced was the shutdowns that followed Covid-19. Our doors closed and everyone went into quarantine. I knew this would be the toughest challenge yet for us. How could we stay in business and not be open at the same time?

It would not be easy. We made a promise to our members that would be there every step of the way; we created zoom workouts, we let members take equipment home, and we provided social distance parking lot workouts. We had zoom happy hours and kept everyone in touch virtually as best as we could. It was very hard work… but that is exactly why I knew we were doing the right thing. Our members stuck by us the whole time. They didn’t cancel their memberships and they logged on and worked out from home. It was hard work and we made it through quarantine.

When we were able to open our doors again, we did so with masks on. High-intensity exercise is already tough. With a mask on, it was another level of difficulty I never thought we would have to do. All of our members did what they needed to do to keep each other safe and healthy. Now that we have made it through our toughest challenge yet, I am even more thankful for our strong community.

As you know, we’re big fans of CrossFit Shoofly. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
We specialize in fitness. Our largest program is CrossFit, which is constantly varied high-intensity exercise. We offer 8 CrossFit Classes a day and also have personal training, small group training, boxing, Fit Kids after-school program, scholastic sports performance, adult gymnastics, and Olympic weightlifting. Our coaching staff is tremendous. Each coach has a four-year degree in a related field as well as certifications in their specialized field. All together, we make a great team ready to help our members reach and maintain their goals.

The community is what sets us apart. When you walk into Shoofly, you have a group of people motivating and encouraging you to be the best version of yourself you can be, That is what keeps everyone coming back. Most people are intimidated to start. Completely understandable. We progress our new members very slowly. The first month is called foundations. Foundations consist of personal training sessions with a coach learning new movements and integrating into the regular classes.

Instead of walking around a fitness center wondering what to do for a workout, our members are getting expert coaching and programming to stay on track and reach their goals. It is more than a gym and whatever your health goals are, we can help you achieve them.

Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
I feel like the list I could make for people who have helped me along the way is incredibly long. I consider myself to be a strong woman and I learned this from the women in my family. My grandmother was strong and kind and she passed that trait along to my mother and her four sisters. I grew up watching, learning, and wanting to be like them. Each day, I try to be that example.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.crossfitshoofly.com
• Instagram: crossfit_shoofly
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CrossFitShooFly
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvQwpcU_66kjNVSXYOVVv-A

Image Credits
Lindsay Williams Photography Dogwood Media