10 Years of Gratitude

With our 10th anniversary party happening this Saturday, I’ve been reflecting a lot on everything we’ve experienced this past decade, and where we are now. There are a few different “top 10 lists” I thought about sharing…10 lessons we learned, 10 favorite achievements… But I decided (as usual) to go with gratitude. So, here are 10 things I’m grateful for over the past 10 years:

1. We have so many members who have been with us long term – including a pretty good group who were training with us in our backyard before we officially opened Breakthrough. Our “family tree” in our lobby has leaves with the names of all the members who have been with us for 5 years or more. As I just counted them up, it’s about half of our current members who have been with us for that long! I’m grateful for everyone who has been part of our community – whether they are no longer training with us, or just joined recently. But it’s really special to me how many people end up staying for a long time – especially when you consider how many people made it through the pandemic, and the “Great Flood of ’23” with us.
2. Speaking of the pandemic and the flood, I’m grateful for how we have been able to navigate some tough challenges. When our space was flooded by a leak from our upstairs neighbors almost two years ago, we were able to quickly set up in a temporary location after being closed for only a couple of days. During the pandemic, we were able to hit every curve ball thrown our way – from zoom sessions and live classes on Facebook, to outdoor sessions, to indoor training with “social distancing” and masks. We have always felt such gratitude for being able to stay open during those times, and helping our members stay consistent and connected.
3. Being able to embrace change is another thing I’m thankful for – even if it doesn’t feel comfortable right away. Embracing change has allowed us to make scheduling and communication easier, deliver our programs on a cool app, and switch up our programming to get even better results for our members.
4. Of course many of those changes were brought about by our love for learning new things, which is something I’m not only grateful for, but really proud of as well. 16 years ago, we took a kettlebell instructor course because we thought it would be fun. Little did we know that would be the beginning of a quest for knowledge that has taken us deep into continuing education every year. As a Team, we’ve done not only kettlebell certifications, but also certifications for barbell strength coaching, nutrition, Functional Movement and Corrective Exercise, yoga, programming, and our most recent exploration into Functional Range Conditioning and KinStretch.
5. Now that I’ve mentioned our team, it’s time to rave about how grateful I am for them! My brother in law R.T. joined us as a coach in 2016, my mom Joyce joined us as our office assistant in 2018 after retiring from a career as a teacher, and our “newest” coach, Chana has been with us for almost 4 years now. We work so well together, and it’s so easy to divide up tasks according to each other’s strengths. It’s such a blessing to have a team who shares our Core Values, wants to learn and improve, and cares deeply about the Breakthrough community.
6. Our culture is something I never stop feeling grateful for. From the beginning, we wanted Breakthrough to have a much different feel from “big box” gyms, CrossFits, and other boutique fitness studios we’d experienced. We wanted our gym to be place where people of a wide variety of ages, backgrounds, and experience could train together and support each other. A place where people wouldn’t feel judged or uncomfortable. A place where the main focus was not training for the sake of appearance, but for the MANY other benefits that come with improving your strength, movement quality and resilience. With every year that passes, our culture grows stronger. It’s easier to recognize and quickly move away from anything that isn’t aligned, and dive in head first towards things that are.
7. Alignment brings up the next thing I’m grateful for, which is unexpected blessings. When your daily actions and decisions line up with your values and your authentic self, cool things happen that you could never have imagined. We’ve experienced this ourselves, and we LOVE hearing about these kinds of things from our members. It happens all the time that people start taking better care of their physical health, and then notice positive changes in other aspects of their lives. This often leads to accomplishing things they weren’t even expecting, and we are so grateful to share in that journey.
8. Getting to share things we love is another point of gratitude. Of course this whole story began with us wanting to share our love of strength training with the people in our lives. But we feel so lucky that over the years we’ve gotten to share so much more – our love of nature, animals, music, storytelling, games etc. And it’s not just us sharing our things, but getting to experience the amazing things our members do outside the gym as well!
9. As I mentioned before, I’m thankful to have a team that cares deeply about our members. Adding to that, I’m so grateful that we have a community of people that care about each other. They introduce themselves and welcome new people. They know what’s going on in each others lives, and check in with each other. They socialize and attend each other’s events outside the gym. They have cooked meals, driven to doctor’s appointments, watched pets – you name it!
10. I’m grateful for the Ripple Effect, and the power of one small change. When I do my initial consultation for new members getting started at Breakthrough, I ask about goals and why they want to train. They mention all the normal things – getting stronger, building muscle/burning fat, moving better. They want to take a step toward taking better care of themselves, and many do feel a sense that this will also allow them to take better care of family members and other people they are close to. I already talked about what a catalyst for change better physical health can be in our own lives, but the ripple effect of what it can do for everyone around us is astounding when you stop to think of it. It happens all the time that a member will get started, and quickly refer a spouse or family member. Sometimes it’s not so quick, and it takes years… Or maybe you inspire your co-worker to start walking more, or your family starts cooking more meals at home, or your aunt in Michigan starts taking a yoga class, or your dad cleans out the garage to make a home gym. I know not everyone in the world is going to be a Breakthrough member, but I do believe our Breakthrough members have the power to positively change the world because of the ripple effect.

So, here’s to Breakthrough’s first 10 years! I don’t know what the next 10 years will bring, but I know there will be so much to be grateful for along the way!