AUSTIN, Texas — There’s a quote by Robert Kiyosaki, an entrepreneur, businessman and author that says, "Life is much like going to the gym. The most painful part is deciding to go. Once you get past that, it’s easy."
For Austinite David Braswell, fitness has always come easy.
"Being active has always been a part of my life. As a kid, I always wanted to be outside. If you want to punish me, keep me inside," Braswell said.
The Washington, D.C., native grew up as a military kid, moving to Texas for his parents' retirement. After going into the military himself and later working in juvenile probation, he realized how much he enjoyed working with kids and helping people.
"We would use fitness as a way for kids to express themselves or deal with anger management. So that just evolved and transitioned into personal training," Braswell said.
With his two friends, Erika Canales and Ernest Miller, the 40-year-old knew it was time to create his own space where Division I athletes, youth, senior citizens, anyone, could get in a sweat in.
However, like many minority business owners, he faced challenges.
"Barriers based on race oftentimes can be hidden. So, you know, it's hard to tell where the no's come from, or it's hard to tell where the the pushback comes from," Braswell said.
He had to navigate through the ups and downs when he started Outright Fitness outdoors in 2009. In 2017, the gym's indoor space opened in North Austin.
"Our style of training is very much on the sustainability side and from a healthy mindset, encouraging them to reach their goals but also in a sustainable, healthy, positive way. And we structure our training," Braswell said.
From strength training to group classes and 1-on-1 instruction, Outright Fitness accommodates all.
"Everything's tailored. It makes our work harder, but it's worth it," Braswell said. "There's only three of us, and everything that we do is individualized. So we know everyone."
Each and every client has played a role in making the founder's dreams come true.
Braswell said the trainers will sit down and assess clients and they will talk about what their goals are, what their restrictions are, if they have a timeline and they create programs that are progressive based on that.
Braswell said it's important to meet someone in your industry.
"Aside from just doing research, I think is is more valuable getting firsthand information from people because what you may read and what's in the textbooks, as far as like business or marketing, a lot of that, in my opinion, is theory. And what actually works in reality, it has to, I think, it comes from the business owner," Braswell said.
The former track and field athlete said there are going to be individual experiences, but it's helpful when opening a business to talk to someone that's been there and can give you advice of what may happen and what they can prepare for.
"Starting out, I never envisioned that we could have our own space. So getting to this point and being able to manage a space this size is really an accomplishment – and making it through the pandemic," Braswell said.
All of the accomplishments have led to over a decade of success with now the hopes of eventually expanding nationwide.
"Every day is Monday and not in a bad way. But just in a way like, you know, there's new challenges for us every day," Braswell said.
Even if we all struggle with Mondays, Braswell comes out stronger by not sweating over the challenges life throws at him.
"One of the most rewarding stories and feedback from their parents or from the kids who are not naturally, say, a D1 type athlete. They're not super talented. The kids who still need development, those kids that need nurturing that oftentimes are kind of like overlooked. We get a lot of good, positive feedback working with those kids because we try to help improve their confidence," Braswell said.