Debbie Sanchez - Smash Gyms (Interview #001)
“We need emotional health just as much as we need physical health.”
-Debbie Sanchez
Debbie Sanchez is the cofounder of Smash Gyms, a gym acclaimed for the strength and heart of its community, as well as for the comprehensive schedule that Smash offers: brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay thai, strength & conditioning, boxing, mommy bootcamp, kids parkour/kickboxing/jiu-jitsu, and more. Smash Gyms began in 2010 and has grown to five different locations in just nine short years: Sunnyvale, San Jose, Milpitas, Hayward, and Mountain View.
Debbie is especially proud of the Smash Gyms After-School Program that she built from the ground up: a kids-specific program which offers after-school pick up, on-site tutoring, homework help, and martial arts & parkour classes. Debbie resides in Silicon Valley with her husband and cofounder of Smash Gyms, Rudy Sanchez, and their two sons.
3 Things I Learned From Debbie
Practice self-care.
Being a mom can be selfless, which is why self-care is important to practice. We readily give much of our energy to our children. And the rest, we give to our partners, family, friends, careers, and just everyday tasks. It’s easy to come up with excuses not to care for ourselves. I’m certainly guilty of this. Motherhood is a part of who we are, it’s what we love being, but it’s not all of who we are. Making time to exercise, take a long bath . . . doing things that contribute to our “me time” will help our family, because they will have a happy, healthy, and rejuvenated mom in return.
Help build your business’s community by being your own client.
Building a community within your business can open many doors for personal and professional success. Debbie works at Smash Gyms, but she also takes the classes that Smash offers; expressing that, “Being in the trenches allowed me to really get to know everyone. Working out, doing a really hard workout together . . . you have a buddy, you're cheering each other on, you’re pushing through together, and by the end of a 100 burpees, you have each other's back, right?!” Being a leader who is vulnerable and honest leads to a company culture where everyone feels more comfortable being that way too; and that’s where creativity, courage, and the common desire to grow together happens.
It’s not a cliche, you can do anything that you set your mind (and body) to.
You can be awesome at anything. If you’ve never lifted a weight in your life and you wanted to go win a weight-lifting competition within a year, you can achieve that (story within interview). You’re more capable than you can imagine.
The Interview
Margie Chuang: In your own words and however you would like to define it, what are you currently building?
Debbie Sanchez: I'm building Smash Gyms with my cofounder and husband, Rudy Sanchez. Initially, I started off thinking that we were building a gym - martial arts, fitness, etc. But, early on, I realized it's more of a community that we're building and I think that's why we've been so successful. You can go to any brick and mortar and maybe achieve your fitness goals, but I feel like the people that come together at Smash Gyms, who are sharing their interests and doing it together, that's why we built Smash. It's very, very special.
We're building a community . . . and the community, I don't know if it's changing, but it's expanding and it kind of expanded based on people's needs and interests.
I can use my personal experience as an example. I was glad that we started a women's only program. Then, I became a mom and I was glad that we started a mom's only program. The mom's program was and still is a really important community for me. And you start to realize how important these programs are to so many people. My cofounder and husband, Rudy, understands that moms need their workout and community. He sees what happens if I don't get my workout in. Rudy genuinely tells me, "You get so happy to see your mom friends." And I do.
So, I think what we're really building is a community.
Margie Chuang: What inspired you to open up a gym specifically?
Debbie Sanchez: So, back in 2010, it was just me and Rudy. I was working in banking and he was working in online marketing at a startup. The economy wasn't doing so well at that time and the startup that Rudy was working at originally began with about 20 employees, and then dwindled down to just Rudy, the CEO, and the CFO. They ended up dissolving the company.
And when Rudy works, he gets really into it. So, when he had nothing to do, I was worried and I talked to Rudy about what he wanted to focus on. And jiu-jitsu was always something that Rudy was passionate about. Because we were comfortable on just my salary and we didn’t have any kids at the time, I asked Rudy, "Well, what would you want to do? If you don't have to worry about money and you have the time now, what would you want to do?" And he said, "I want to do jiu-jitsu for a living and just do it all of the time." I said, "That's cool. You should go do that then!"
So, Rudy talked to his jiu-jitsu instructor, who had a really small group that was just privately training out of his instructor’s garage; and the instructor previously owned a gym. Rudy asked his instructor if he would want to come teach at the gym that Rudy and I just opened. Rudy’s instructor agreed and ended up bringing over that small group of people to Smash Gyms Sunnyvale.
Over time, that small group started to get to know other jiu-jitsu people within the community and started inviting people over to Smash to train. So, we started off mainly as a jiu-jitsu gym and then we wanted to include some fitness as well.
Rudy's background in marketing was super helpful, because he knew what to do to start advertising Smash Gyms. We signed the lease for Smash Sunnyvale in December 2010 and because of the economy, the lease was pretty cheap for such a good location. I was still working at the bank at the time, so aside from helping with the finances, I didn't have a lot of time to help with the logistics of opening and running Smash Gyms. I would come to Smash after work to help out where I could, but I really wanted to take the classes. And I think that was super important to Smash’s growth.
So, that's how Smash Gyms started - with Rudy's love for jiu-jitsu, the economy being the way it was, Rudy's instructor agreeing to come to our gym to teach, me taking Smash classes with our members, and a good location. All the pieces fell together.
Margie Chuang: At what point did you realize that you wanted to quit your job at the bank and start building Smash Gyms full time?
Debbie Sanchez: Smash Gyms Sunnyvale opened in December 2010 and over the next two years, I think the biggest thing that I contributed to was actually taking the classes and really getting to know the members and the instructors. Being in the trenches allowed me to really get to know everyone. And when you're doing something with other people and you know what they're going through, you get really close. Working out, doing a really hard workout together . . . you have a buddy, you're cheering each other on, you’re pushing through together, and by the end of a 100 burpees, you have each other's back, right?!
At Smash Gyms, you're partnering with somebody. You weren't just on a treadmill all by yourself. You're working out while getting to know a lot of people. So, I think that social aspect and building our Smash community was a big thing that I helped contribute to initially. And it helped me a lot personally as well; I did not know what I was capable of before Smash Gyms.
I knew that a big part of what I should be doing is getting to know the people who came into Smash and help them get to know each other. Because I already knew everyone, if a new person came in, I'd be like, "Hey, Vicky! Go help this new person!" And people would start holding pads for each other and stuff. It became easier for me to connect and introduce new people to our other members. And then the new member became a part of the community a lot faster, because I could make those first introductions and bridge that gap between new and existing members.
Then, after two years of helping out at Smash and things going really well, I felt like it was time to fully contribute to Smash's growth. I was unhappy working at the bank and I saw that Rudy was doing something that he really loved and enjoyed. It was definitely hard because I felt like, "Wow, I'm going to walk away from a job with so much security and benefits to being self employed." If I told my parents, they would have immediately said no and that it was irresponsible. It's funny because I didn't tell my dad for about two years that I had left my banking job.
So, I left my job and officially joined Smash. And I needed to find a way to make money for the gym. I've always liked working with kids and my degree was in Liberal Studies, because I thought I might become a teacher someday. So, my plan was to start an after-school program for kids.
I knew that parents needed help picking up their kids from school. In the Sunnyvale area and Silicon Valley in general, parents are working so much that it's hard for them to pick up their kids in the middle of the day. So, we started offering a transportation service where I would pick up gym members's kids from school and bring them back to Smash Gyms. It started with one mom, who had other mom friends, and in total, this group of friends had three boys who went to the same school. I offered the moms a discount if all three of them decided to enroll their boys into Smash Gyms After-School Program. They agreed, which was awesome.
I started picking up the kids from kindergarten, drove them to Smash Gyms Sunnyvale, and helped them learn to read or with homework assignments. After the kids and I finished with the educational part of the program, the children took the kids martial arts class. Parents told me that the After-School Program was super helpful, because by the time the parents picked up their kids from Smash, the children had already finished their homework/gotten tutoring help, ate snacks, and attended a martial arts class. The parents could just go home with their kids, enjoy dinner as a family, do bath/shower, and bedtime.
Margie Chuang: How did you grow Smash Gyms After-School Program in terms of enrollment and what was offered?
Debbie Sanchez: Well, that first group of three moms really helped Smash Gyms After-School Program take off. I put a lot of effort, sweat, and tears into building the program. Rudy helped me by putting ads on Facebook and a little marketing, but aside from that, Smash Gyms After School Program was what I was really building from scratch: getting licenses, figuring out what's actually involved in picking up the kids from school, enrolling more kids, planning the day's schedule, etc.
You hear about married couples working together and I get asked a lot, "Are you guys sick of each other? You guys live with each other and work together?" And to be honest, Rudy and I didn't get to interact much together during working hours, because we worked on separate things. I was running and growing the After-School Program and Rudy was focused on other parts of the business.
We started adding more kids to the program, I had to hire more people to help, because the Smash Sunnyvale location is on the border of many different area schools: Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, Cupertino, Los Altos, etc. Then, we started offering Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and kickboxing classes at the gym, which introduced more parents to the After-School Program and made the program even more popular. There's a big need for parents in regards to after school pick up, tutoring help, and extracurricular activities for their kids.
And actually, a big thing that helped grow Smash Gyms After-School Program was the word of mouth by parents. A lot of parents would share with other parents that their kids were enrolled in Smash's After-School Program and that trusted referral from a friend brought in a lot of kids into our program.
Margie Chuang: In the first few years of opening up Smash Gyms, how did you attract members?
Debbie Sanchez: The two biggest ways that we gained members were by referral or Yelp and Google. I remember at the time, we had paper applications and I made a spreadsheet of all of the data. Almost 30% of our members came from friend referrals, which is huge.
Margie Chuang: Can you identify one or more obstacles that you ran into while growing Smash Gyms or Smash’s After-School Program?
Debbie Sanchez: It's hard to open a business in general and I can't speak for other states, but in California, there are permits, fees, sometimes certifications on taxes, there's always something at the city level, the county level, the state level, and the federal level. And it was just a really eye-opening experience, because we would get these bills and wonder if they were legit. So, that whole process was challenging, probably because it was more of a surprise than anything. Once we were more prepared to receive those bills, it was much much better, especially when we opened the other Smash locations; having that initial experience with Smash Gyms Sunnyvale really helped us prepare for every subsequent Smash Gyms that we opened.
The logistics of owning a business were hard, but what was more emotionally challenging was whenever we lost a good instructor. Smash's instructors needed to leave for various personal reasons: they moved, coaching didn't fit their schedule anymore, etc. And when you have good people in your community and you see them go, that hurts a little bit more emotionally. Losing our people was hard . . . that stuck with me more than just surprise bills.
Margie Chuang: I imagine losing great coaches still happens today. You mentioned earlier that understandably people have their own lives, which may take them elsewhere. Smash Gyms fosters such a close knit community, how do you get past a team member leaving? Does that feeling ever go away?
Debbie Sanchez: The way I look at it is that I will never begrudge a team member that left for any reason. I always want to be happy for them. I'm just sad because they're not going to be part of Smash's community and we won't see them everyday. But, it's all about having the right mindset - this is a positive thing for everyone involved and having that positive attitude really helps those bittersweet moments.
And what we've found, as the Smash Gyms community has grown and we have so many more locations now, is that initially, it was really hard to replace an instructor. But now, we get people that want to work at Smash because they've already heard about our gym.
Margie Chuang: How did interested instructors hear about or find Smash Gyms?
Debbie Sanchez: Avenues like jiu-jitsu competitions got the word out about what Smash Gyms offered. We still have members today doing amateur fights, pro fights, everything under the Smash Fighter umbrella, and so many other ways that people hear about us. And of course marketing is a big way that people find out about Smash as well - seeing our shirts, social media ads, etc.
Margie Chuang: Ok, so let's put everything onto a timeline. You figured out the bills, you have relatable and qualified instructors teaching at Smash, your member community is organically growing.
In 2010, you and Rudy opened up your first Smash Gyms in Sunnyvale. It’s 2019 today and within those nine years, you guys opened a total of five Smash Gyms in Sunnyvale, San Jose, Milpitas, Hayward, and Mountain View.
Can you tell me the story of how you and Rudy decided that you wanted to open up more Smash locations and what went into that process?
Debbie Sanchez: Yeah, so, in December 2010, we had our soft opening of Smash Gyms Sunnyvale, followed by its grand opening in January 2011. Rudy was able to get his jiu-jistu instructor to come on board and bring members with him to Smash Sunnyvale, who then spread the word and brought on new members from the jiu-jitsu community.
Well, actually earlier than this, Rudy always wanted to open a Smash Gyms in his neighborhood, Evergreen, which is located in San Jose. Rudy and his brother, Eli Sanchez, knew so many people from the wrestling community, because Eli was a wrestler. And so, we thought we could do really well opening up a gym in Evergreen. Rudy studied the radius of where gyms were and those that were specific to martial arts and fitness. I don't think we considered gyms like 24-hour fitness competition, because we're just different kind of gym that offered different classes and workouts.
And then, we had two members express interest in opening up a Smash Gyms - they wanted to know how to start the process and how to grow Smash. That all came together and they found a location in Evergreen, across from Eastridge Mall. That was at the end of 2013, because I remember that Christmas, I was pregnant with my and Rudy’s first son.
And I just remember being pregnant and going to Home Depot . . . like, every day. Seriously. Everyday, I went to Home Depot for some reason. I walked around . . . more like waddled around . . . just holding up pictures to Home Depot team members, trying to find where to get this and that to build the gym. So now, forward to 2014 when we opened up Smash Gyms San Jose, which became our second location.
A short time later, the same thing happened again - we had two members express interest in opening up another Smash location.
And Rudy always has these crazy ideas and I always say, "You're crazy!". But somehow, he pulls them off everytime. So, in Milpitas, there were two other gyms that were similar to Smash, both were martial arts and fitness gyms. And one of those gyms actually happened to be looking for a place to rent, because at the time, the owner was running his business out of a gym that was similar to 24-hour Fitness. The gym owner and Rudy got connected through a mutual friend. And Rudy asked the gym owner, "Well, why don't you come on board and become a Smash Gyms, and we'll do it in Milpitas?” The two members who were interested in opening up another Smash invested and the owner came on board, who already had an existing gym.
And then, there was a boxing gym in Milpitas. And Rudy thought that we should go to them and ask, 'Why don't we all get together, work together and we can all become a Smash Gyms?" And I thought, "Why would they say 'yes' to that?"
Rudy's mentality has always been that working together is better. And I thought that made sense - we could all have one lease, one utility bill, just consolidating all of the business aspects made a lot of sense. So, Rudy met with the boxing gym’s owner and made the deal. I was just amazed.
So, with the two members who invested and two gym owners/coaches, we opened up Smash Gyms Milpitas in 2016, which already had members, because of the existing gyms who came on board.
To summarize: Smash Sunnyvale was purely organic. Smash San Jose was pretty much organic and eventually another gym owner decided to close his school and become part of Smash San Jose too. And Smash Milpitas already started with a gym.
Then in Hayward, there was a gym called True Fight Club. Rudy was helping them with some marketing through our other company, Social Fitness Network. A crossfit gym owner nearby reached out to Rudy, asking if he was interested in opening an East Bay Smash. Rudy introduced the two owners and they all decided to work together. I can't exactly remember the time frame exactly, but maybe a year after True Fight Club’s owner met with Rudy, they decided to convert that gym into a Smash Gyms. So, we started opening up Smash Gyms Hayward in 2017, with its grand opening in early 2018.
I know it was good fortune, good timing, good everything, but it all just worked out and it’s been really great.
Margie Chuang: And then in May 2017, I reached out to Smash Gyms to see if you would be interested in running a Smash out of our family’s commercial property near downtown Mountain View.
Debbie Sanchez: Yes, that was amazing! I could not believe it, because Rudy and I wanted to go up north to the Mountain View and Palo Alto areas. We actually had a lot of members saying that we should come up the Peninsula.
And then one day, I was working out at the back of Smash Gyms Sunnyvale and Rudy tells me, "Hey, somebody wants to meet me at 9:30pm to look at a property in Mountain View - they reached out to us." And I said, "Meeting at 9:30pm? That sounds kind of fishy . . ." It was just so interesting, because we were looking in the Mountain View area and then you messaged us, out of the blue. And the fact that you and your husband, Vincent Chuang, were interested in Smash Gyms because Vince loves jiu-jitsu and was a blue belt, and of course jiu-jitsu is one of Rudy’s passions, it was just serendipitous.
So then, I remember Rudy going to meet Vince at your Mountain View property. I don't remember too much of that specific story, because my memory was so hazy after having my and Rudy's second son and juggling a toddler too. Do you remember the story?
Margie Chuang: I remember a bit of what happened and I can certainly relate to having a foggy memory postpartum. I had my and Vince's second son around the same time that you and Rudy had your second. And I was also trying to survive the mom life with a baby who had colic for 8.5 months and an active toddler as well.
I do remember reaching out to Smash Gyms in mid-May though. Because a dance studio had occupied our family’s commercial space for about twenty years and the space was already set up to be more of a gym than anything else, Vince and I thought it would be best to reach out to gyms. And because Vince is passionate about jiu-jitsu, he asked if it would be possible to contact gyms that specialized in jiu-jitsu, MMA, fitness, etc.
I had a huge spreadsheet and was constantly visiting website after website. And I remember coming across Smash’s website and saw that you already had the Sunnyvale location, which is only ten minutes away from our Mountain View property. I thought, "Well, I don't think Smash Gyms would open up another location so close by, but it wouldn't hurt to ask." So, I emailed Smash in May 2018, received a quick reply back from Eli Sanchez, Rudy's brother, who put me in touch with Rudy. Rudy responded almost immediately that he would be interested in checking out the property.
Vince and I loved that Smash Gyms was a family business. I asked Vince if he could meet with Rudy, because our son's colic was just too unpredictable at the time for me to commit to giving Rudy a tour. Vince was swamped with work and said that the only time he could meet with Rudy was at 9:30 at night and to "tell Rudy that he can probably beat me up, so there's nothing to lose on his end.” Vince met Rudy on May 15, 2018 and they hit it off right away.
Smash Gyms Mountain View had its grand opening was on July 1, 2018 and the rest is history!
Debbie Sanchez: Wow, that's right! That's so crazy. I can't believe it. We converted Smash Gyms Hayward so close to when we opened up Smash Gyms Mountain View.
Margie Chuang: I imagine that being both a mom and a business owner must be challenging on some days. What or who keeps you motivated to continue building and to possibly open up more Smash locations?
Debbie Sanchez: There are so many things that keep me motivated, but one mom from Smash Sunnyvale in particular stands out in my memory. She brought her two boys, who were in elementary or middle school at the time, to Smash’s kids martial arts classes. The mom didn't have a background in exercise, martial arts, or weight lifting. One day, she decided that she wanted to try one of our fitness classes. And she started with Smash Gyms 6 Week Challenge.
She attended the fitness classes and really enjoyed them. Then, I think within a year, she decided that she wanted to do a power-lifting competition. She went out of her comfort zone, which I'm sure was so hard, and decided to compete. There are age and weight brackets in these type of competitions and she won first place! I think in either the squat or deadlift competition.
I remember finding out and being like, "You did the competition?! What?! That's so awesome!" I was so happy for that mom and so proud of someone who was willing to do something that was completely out of the ordinary for them and totally out of their comfort zone. And to do well on top of that! That taught me that anybody can get into any type of fitness. It doesn't have to be CrossFit, weight lifting, jiu-jitsu . . . it just has to be something that you enjoy. And once you find that one thing that you love, then you just go and be awesome at it.
That mom is just so cool. I hadn't even done a competition at that point and she really motivated me to look into competitions for myself. So, that's the kind of stuff that motivates me - seeing people that have never done something like martial arts become badasses; we have engineers who come into Smash Gyms with zero martial arts or jiu jitsu experience, who can now probably rear naked choke anyone. It's amazing what people can do.
So, stories like that mom from Sunnyvale, who didn’t have any type of weight lifting experience, yet entered and won her first competition, motivates me to keep building.
Another big thing that motivates me is what you and I were chatting about before this interview started - fitness, working out, just moving your body really does produce endorphins. And I remember hearing about the correlation between fitness and endorphins and thinking, "that's bs.” But, after having kids and realizing how you can have really low points, be completely exhausted and sleep deprived, feel sad at random times and not know why . . . I realized when I started working out during motherhood that you definitely get endorphins from exercising. And especially when you work out with other people.
The health benefits of working out with others, emotionally and physically, is huge. We need emotional health just as much as we need physical health. And I think people who see that, get a lot more out of their workout, inward for themselves.
Margie Chuang: Thank you for sharing all of that. I love what you said about the importance of being both emotionally and physically healthy. I met you when I was learning to be a mom to two kids under the age of two. I had my sad/down days, I was in a haze and hormonal, my feelings were sometimes all over the place. And I started feeling better, like you mentioned, emotionally and physically, when I started working out with you and other Smash moms and members. Regardless of how tired I was or how challenging the work out, the endorphins of exercising together, cheering for each other, laughing in a pool of exhausted, yet rewarding sweat, it just made all the difference to have that solidarity and support.
For moms who may also be rediscovering themselves and who want to build something of their own, do you have any tools or advice that you would give them?
Debbie Sanchez: Being a mom is so selfless. It's every minute of the day, right? 24/7. So, my advice to moms is that it's ok to be selfish sometimes. And I don't know if "selfish" is exactly the right word, but, be selfish with your time - even if it means feeling a little guilty for leaving your kids, putting off things like doing the dishes, whatever it may be for you, demand that time. Tell your partner that you have to go. That's your right to have that time, because ultimately it isn't selfish, because it's good for your whole family that mom is happy and healthy when she gets that time for herself.
Margie Chuang: What's your morning routine, from the time that you wake up to the time that you start working on day-to-day Smash duties and/or the Smash Gyms After-School Program?
Debbie Sanchez: The mornings go by so fast. So, I wake up at 7:00am and start getting my oldest ready for school. I say "brush your teeth" like twenty times, make him breakfast, and drop him off at school. Then, I get food for my youngest, change his diaper, and get him ready for the day. Then, I try to get myself ready.
And there's always stuff like I need to check the bank accounts really quickly, pay a bill, get back to an email I started replying to yesterday. So, I do a little bit of administrative work in the morning that just needs attention. By the time I’m done with that, it's usually 9:00am or 10:00am, and I can't believe that time has passed by so quickly.
I finally finish getting ready and head to Smash Gyms San Jose to work out with you ladies. And my workout can range from being very efficient, keeping it to an hour, or if I need to attend to my youngest, it can be up to two hours or more. So, everyday, my workouts can vary. I might get a really eh, so-so workout in or I might get a really great workout in, but as long as I get in a workout, I'm good. By the time noon comes around, I have to start thinking about whether I'm going to stay at Smash Gyms San Jose or head to Smash Gyms Sunnyvale to attend to things for the After-School Program and then pick up my oldest from school. So, that's pretty much my typical morning.
Margie Chuang: When was the first time that you felt a feeling of success? And what happened to make you feel successful?
Debbie Sanchez: Ok, so I have two stories regarding feeling successful.
The first time I felt success was when I started doing jiu-jitsu and saw the look on Rudy's face that I was actually doing pretty good. When Rudy first met me, I was such a klutz and always fell in embarrassing ways in front of him: I fell into a gutter hole, I fell and immediately got hives, stuff like that. So, I think Rudy was pretty shocked that I even decided to try jiu-jitsu and that I was doing well and had some propensity for jiu-jitsu.
So, one day, I rolled with a coach's wife who had some jiu-jitsu background. And the coach was like, "Ok, you both have to roll until someone taps. No breaks, no water, nothing." And so, we rolled for like 45 minutes straight. And the whole time, I just kept thinking, "Well, I didn't get her and she didn't get me." After 45 minutes, I got so mad and was like, "I'm not going to tap her, she's not going to tap me. I need water! So, I'm going to stop." But just the fact that that went on for that long . . . rolling is so freaking hard. The wife had blood on her fingers from holding onto my gi so tightly.
I just remember feeling such a sense of accomplishment. And in the beginning, since it was just Smash Gyms Sunnyvale, what was really great was that Rudy was either in, watching, or teaching every jiu-jitsu class, so he was able to see me roll that day. That was a cool, memorable, and personal success for me.
And the second time I felt success was when I truly realized what a successful community Smash Gyms built. We actually had and still have a few people that came from other countries who train at Smash. And there was this one member who became really involved in Smash.
The member was originally from France, but she moved to Sunnyvale for work, and she decided to join Smash Gyms. She was there at every class and basically, Smash became her family. She had no other family here. Beyond training at the gym, a bunch of us would go out with her, we would go hiking together, she organized a lot of things, and brought people together outside of the gym. And then, she had to go back to France. And she said, "I don't want to go back to France and a big reason is because of Smash."
And I just thought, "Wow, Smash Gyms, the people here, they made someone feel like they were at home." So, she really felt like the Bay Area was where she wanted to be and we were really sad that she was leaving. Thankfully, a year later, she won a work lottery and was able to come back to Sunnyvale and rejoin Smash Gyms. I didn't really realize until then how important Smash Gyms’s community was to other people. And that sticks out for me as the success of the community that Rudy, the people at Smash, and I helped build.
I also just want to mention one more thing. We have a number of people who met, became boyfriend and girlfriend, got married, had kids and you know, that's all because they met at Smash Gyms!
Margie Chuang: Where can we find out more about Smash Gyms and your sister company, Social Fitness Network?
Websites: https://www.smashgyms.com/ and https://joinsocialfitness.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/smashgyms/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/smashgyms/?hl=en
