Hidden Gems: Meet Ashton Ferrazzo of Freedom Fitness Equipment

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashton Ferrazzo

Hi Ashton, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
It all started in my backyard during the 2020 pandemic, buying and selling gym equipment, plates, racks, bumpers, and more in the back room of our home. I had discovered there was a market for gym equipment when I bought my first squat rack off Facebook Marketplace, but then decided to sell it in favor a more heavy-duty squat rack. In the process, I found out that people were paying crazy prices for all sorts of fitness equipment due to low supply and high demand. I started to buy bulk lots of equipment for resale, treating clients well and fairly during that time, and grew quite a customer base in just a few short months.

There were a couple of crazy stories that stand out from that time, one in particular where a client threatened my family who had gone out to take care of a purchase while I was away on a brief business trip. We ended up having to call the cops and ban them permanently from our property.

In another instance, we put a magnet on one of our family vehicles advertising our business, with a phone number that came directly to my cell phone. We received all sorts of…odd texts, including, but not limited to, poop pics, torn fingernails, BDSM equipment, and other interesting pictures. We eventually took the graphic off our vehicles to spare ourselves from creepers.

At the time I was very unsure about whether it would be a good idea to do this fitness equipment thing full time. With some encouragement from my wife, I experimented with the idea for about 6 months before fully launching the business in earnest. We blew up, doubling the business every 6 months from inception. I couldn’t believe it.

Eventually I had to expand to a warehouse, another, and then another, just to keep up with the inventory I was bringing in.

One memory I have of moving from the corporate world to the entrepreneur side of life (and I’ll never forget this) was how ruthless and unethical some people were. In the fitness space, the world is very small, and people never forget if you took advantage of them. I always treated people well, and I tried to take care of my clients as well as I knew how. However, those clients did not always reciprocate that sentiment. In one instance, I had a large lot of equipment I was buying, and after picking up part of it, the client ghosted me, claiming that I had made it inconvenient to pickup the rest, and they were not available for me to get the rest of our legally acquired and contractually obligated equipment purchase. After many back-and-forths, calls to lawyers, and months of hunting down this individual, we ended up losing thousands of dollars and hurting our business severely in the process. That situation had the potential to bankrupt us right out of the gate, and it was the first major deal I had ever done in our new warehouse. What a wild ride that was.

After moving through multiple warehouses, I hired one of my first employees, who ended up being a God-send. I’ll never forget how much help he was to us in the early years. After that our team grew exponentially and we branched out into service, maintenance, repair, as well as equipment installation, equipment removal, and much much more with his help. The team has been instrumental in bringing us to where we are today, but I’ll never go back to corporate culture. This group is far too valuable for me to bring that into our business. I don’t know how I did it in the early years completely solo, but now I don’t know how I could do it without our team.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Absolutely not. There are always growing pains with any new venture, particularly ours.

One of the major issues early on was space, and finding enough room to store everything as well as make a serviceable showroom for clients who were interested in trying out the fitness equipment and seeing product. This has really always been an issue, but one that was particularly challenging early on. I remember hand-loading 6 pallets of stall mats manually into the warehouse, WITHOUT a forklift, and being just about dead afterwards. Not only did it take up a huge amount of space, but it was also a gigantic hassle to unload.

Another major issue was shipping: in the early days, we were using independent carriers to transport equipment across the United States using brokers or third-party websites. A lot of times it took WEEKS to pickup equipment, not just days. This led to cancellations, impatient clients, and a lot of stress on me as the owner. Eventually I figured out how to automate shipping, but not before we got screwed over by one particular broker who went out of business. I got an email from a law office saying we owed almost $1000 to this shipping company. I almost ignored the email because I thought it was spam or fraud, but then I got a call saying the broker had gone out of business and hadn’t paid the shipper, so I was on the hook or they’d go to court and sue me. Well I panicked and paid up because I didn’t know any better. Looking back, it was likely they were just trying to pressure us to pay without cause. Yet another instance of our small business being taken advantage of in the early days.

In the grand scheme of things I’ve had some great mentors who arrived just exactly at the right time when I needed them, so we have been saved from other major mistakes and setbacks, but have run into issues I could have never predicted. I like to live by the mantra “Do unto others as you would have them do to you,” and that’s served us pretty well over the years.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We offer a variety of full-service products for clients in the health and fitness space. Not only do we offer installation, service, maintenance, repair, and design consultation, but we do full build-outs and design of fitness spaces, with new, used, refurbished equipment, flooring, turf, accessories, mirrors, and more. We are committed to excellence in customer service and client service, meaning that in a world where you see a lot of C- providers, we are an A+ firm passionate about providing the highest level of service for our clients no matter who they are. You will find an extreme level of accountability and ownership with our organization, something I don’t believe others always take seriously.

We specialize in two particular niches: high-end white-glove buildouts for clients with custom designs, equipment, and needs for high-touch service, as well as budget options to meet clients who are struggling financially or who cannot spend the kind of money that our higher-end offerings meet.

We particularly love our firefighters, police officers, EMT, and military, and serve those communities regularly with a variety of packages and product offers unique to them. We are actively trying to reduce the rates of cardiac arrest, cancer, and injury in those communities and I have a personal mission to establish a gym in every station/facility in the United States.

We are most proud of our patriotic and freedom-loving team, and are committed to a client-focused solution in the health and fitness space, providing the best for clients looking to improve their lives, their community, their team, or their family through fitness. We believe true freedom is achieved by staying active and breaking free from negative lifestyle choices and habits. I want to build spaces that help accomplish those goals.

Our social media trajectory has also been quite prolific, so if you haven’t heard of us before, check out our content, which again, is client-focused, not product-focused, and helps YOU make the best decision about equipment, facilities, brands etc., not just what makes us the most money.

Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
I am always available for consultations and discussions around health and fitness spaces.

Pricing:

• Please call us to discuss your fitness needs at 980.216.4860

Contact Info:

• Website: https://freedomfitnessequipment.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/freedomfitnessequipment/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/freedomfitnessequipment
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXgkvIR-5ishTlFGJgNK9tw
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@freedomfitnessequipment