The Hustle
Years in Tampa Bay
< 1
Hustle (job)
CEO
What do you do?
Fitpeak is a marketplace and CRM for fitness professionals. I did the initial UI/UX design for Fitpeak, but will be replacing myself with a lead designer in the next 90 days to assume a true CEO role.
Why do you do it?
I have been passionate about fitness for my entire life. Growing up I was also very tech-savvy and artistic. I started designing interfaces for fun in high school and eventually started getting paid to build websites for people in college. My best friend and old roommate has always been a personal trainer. I began digitally consulting for his network of personal trainers and private gyms. It was here that I began to see all of the issues in the fitness world.
What was your Catalyst? (How did you get started?)
I moved out to Florida in March of 2017 for my girlfriend (now wife). While out here I was connected with some investors in the Tampa region. I showed them the problems I saw with the industry and how I felt that software could solve the majority of them. They facilitated an initial seed round of investment through their network, and we were off in March 2018.
What’s a common misconception or unknown aspect of what you do?
1. A founder or CEO doesn’t necessarily have a defined day-to-day schedule, because you determine what is important.
2. In the early stages you need to be very realistic, leverage networks and be good at raising funds (selling).
3. Beyond that you need to be able to build a team that can help execute this vision – which is another form of selling.
4. Don’t re-invent the wheel. Learn from the best.
So really, a CEO or founder needs to be great at selling, which is not what you are taught in business school.
What’s the most challenging part of your Hustle?
Avoiding burnout. It’s extremely easy to get overwhelmed with all of the things that you need to handle. It’s important to lay them all out and determine an order that things need to be handled in. There are times where you need to put in five 12+ hour days in a row, or miss a few weekends due to deadlines. This is why a strong “Why” is so important. If you truly believe what you are doing is important and will make a difference, these sacrifices are not very difficult.
What’s the most valuable piece of business advice/insight that’s helped you?
Nothing great was ever accomplished by an individual. It takes a team to build something that is truly great.
It’s much better to have a small percentage of something than 100 percent of nothing.
Fearing competition shows lack of creativity.
Do you plan to stay in the St. Pete/Tampa region long term?
I believe that the Tampa and St. Pete region has the potential to be an exciting tech hub in the next 10 years. I think there is so much talent here that has not been tapped into yet. I see us always having our global HQ here.
