Hidden Gems: Meet Kenny Ragsdale of Front Line Fitness

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kenny Ragsdale.

Hi Kenny, 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?
I am a retired United States Army Combat Veteran with 28 years of military service to this great nation. I joined the Army at age 17 and spent the better part of my adult life in uniform. That being said, being in the best physical condition was not only a requirement but became an absolute passion of mine. It was a part of my military career and quickly became a very significant part of my life.

I sought out some of the most rigorous physical challenges and thrived on them. As I was approaching retirement, it didn’t take me long to figure out what I wanted to do. I have always had entrepreneurial ambitions since I was a kid, and I saw this as an opportunity to pursue my lifelong dream of owning my own business. The next step was to figure out what type of business to start. So I asked myself the question, “What do I love to do?” My life revolves around my faith, my family, and my fitness. BOOM – that was it! I begin researching what it would take to start a gym. I sought out and spent time with other gym owners that were already successfully doing what I wanted to do.

I picked their brains, shadowed them for days, weeks and gleaned as much insight as I possibly could. I used the planning and organizational skills I learned as a military officer and wrote a business plan, secured a business loan, and in August of 2017, just two months after I retired, my dream became a reality… Front Line Fitness was born.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
My first facility was very spacious with all of the bells, whistles, and bling. I spared no expense. I even had an onsite spa with a licensed massage therapist, six independent contractors, a team of trainers, and more overhead than I could handle. I thought because I had this incredible facility, that the minute I opened the door for business, people would be lined up at the door like Best Buy at Christmas time. That didn’t happen and it left me struggling miserably to make my monthly financial commitments.

So I had to make a critical decision or go out of business. I decided to significantly narrow the scope of my business operation to personal training only, in a semi-private facility. It turned out to be one of the best business decisions I ever made. I was able to rebound and business was going exceptionally well and then COVID hit. And it had a very devastating impact on the fitness industry. With some creativity, we didn’t just survive COVID during 2020, we thrived in a major kind of way. We created an outdoor gym with commercial equipment, rubber flooring, and three large 12×12 tents and trained our clients outdoors.

It was a huge success! The gyms were closed and even when they reopened, people were still very leery of returning. So, we grew and grew and kept on growing until we moved into a brand new semi-private facility and things are going exceptionally well. I have a staff of five motivated, fitness professionals that are doing some great things for our clients.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Front Line Fitness is a veteran-owned, semi-private personal training facility, that provides one on one, client-focused, results-driven personal training. As a retired US Army Major, I was blessed to have a very rewarding military career. Now that I’m retired, I bring that same passion, dedication, and enthusiasm I had serving this great nation, to helping my clients achieve their health and fitness goals, realize their own value and potential, and enjoy a greater measure of life!

I have a small team of hand-picked, highly professional, certified coaches, that are ready to assist you along your health and fitness journey. We start the process with a thorough fitness assessment to determine your current level of health and fitness. We’ll develop realistic goals and a detailed plan to achieve them. Our goal is to educate, equip, encourage, and empower you to successfully manage your own health and fitness program!

Our semi-private personal training facility is equipped with commercial equipment and all of the functional space/tools we need to get you fit to fight. We’re NOT an open gym so there are #nocrowds to contend with and there are rarely ever more than four to six people in the facility at the same time.

Our Fit-Fam is comprised of people from all demographics and locations (Raleigh, Wake Forest, Durham, and Cary), who really enjoy the close-knit, team vibe we’ve created where everyone knows and encourages one another.

Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
Top Five Lessons Learned.

1. START SMALL. Start small and as your business and business revenue grows, slowly expand your business. The GO BIG or GO HOME mentality is reckless and can be extremely costly.

2. PRE-SELLING. Start pre-selling memberships and personal packages as soon as possible; Even if don’t have the finished product in hand, start pre-selling and get as many financial commitments as possible. This will help you get a jump start on your revenue. If you wait until the doors are open before you start selling….you will pay the price.

3. NETWORKING & MARKETING. Start networking and marketing immediately. Get your name out in as many platforms, groups, and venues as possible. You can narrow the scope to your target market later. In the beginning, you don’t know exactly what’s going to work so blanket everything. That being said, be smart with your marketing dollars and be selective about where and how you spend them.

4. EMERGENCY BUSINESS FUND. It may be challenging to do in the beginning but if at all possible, establish an emergency business fund that will cover three to six months of your monthly business expenses. This will keep you during the lean months in the beginning while you’re trying to establish yourself and generate residual revenue.

5. DON’T GO IT ALONE. There are too many resources and people that are successfully doing what you want to do that started where you are for you to try and reinvent the wheel and/or plan in a vacuum. It’s ok to ask for help. I saved thousands of dollars just from talking to other gym owners and learning from their best practices.

Contact Info:

• Email: Kennyragsdale@frontlinefitness.fit
• Website: Www.frontlinefitness.fit
• Instagram: Frontlinefitness1
• Facebook: Frontlinefitness1

Image Credits
Maya Reagan