A local fitness expert and entrepreneur has earned some big recognition for her accomplishments. Brady Johnson, owner of Encompass Fitness, won the Member of the Year for Fitness Business Professionals award at the annual Mega Training award ceremony in San Diego.
Encompass Fitness specializes in fitness classes, with personal and semi-private training and nutrition services to help Estevanites reach their potential. The business has been in operation since the spring of 2014, and Johnson admitted it started simply as a hobby of hers.
“One full year ago, I left my fulltime job at Southeast Health Group to pursue my hobby as a full-time venture,” said Johnson. “Being a kinesiology major, I did not have any experience in business, so I joined an online fitness business program to learn more about being an entrepreneur and running a successful business.”
After attending a training event put on by an online business program called Net Profit Explosion (NPE), Johnson decided to invest fully into growing a business. She noted that her participation in the program offered by NPE changed her mindset in the areas of personal development and discipline.
Johnson was called upon to speak to the crowd, at the Oct. 13-15 event in San Diego, when she won her award. She discussed the 230 per cent growth of the membership of her business over the past year, through creating a “community” that is unique and fun for members. She added that the community she created grew so much, it moved from a 700 sq.ft. facility on Edward Street to a 5,200 sq.ft. facility on Fourth Street.
She also spoke about the changes she experienced in discipline, studying with NPE, referencing a goal she set for herself, whereby she would read 10 pages every day for a year, which lead to her finishing 25 books.
“I shared that focusing on core values was imperative to staying true to myself as a business owner, and the integrity of the community was within our facility,” said Johnson, describing her speech to the crowd. “We created a positive, welcoming community in our facility and strive to bring that same sense of inspiration and empowerment into our community through outreach efforts.”
Johnson noted that the logo for Encompass is a large “CO,” standing for the phrase, community outreach, a value that she prioritizes as the owner of the business. She noted that Encompass holds nutrition challenges, in which participants donate a dollar to local causes for every pound lost—a donation the business matches.
“This past challenge, we were able to donate over $1,000 to Fresh Air Fitness, to bring fitness to the community at no cost,” said Johnson.“We also help out with the Hillcrest breakfast program.”
Johnson admits she was nervous when she left her career with Southeast Health Group to pursue her business, due to the state of the economy in Estevan, at the time.
“I have found that the economy has had very little effect on my business,” said Johnson. “At the end of the day, we all need our health and perhaps for many people, having more time right now is a blessing to invest more time into putting health as a priority.”
Johnson said one of the most effective vectors for her business to build a reputation has been word of mouth, which she believes contributed in a large part to the growth of Encompass this past year.
“Last January, I rebranded my business and my services, and started with five clients,” said Johnson. “Today, we have over 120 members, and just ran a 28-day kickstart nutrition program, that had over 70 members, most of which were not from our facility.”
Johnson said the member conference in San Diego chooses outstanding business performance over the course of a year to inspire those at the conference to follow their entrepreneurial dreams in the fitness industry.
She said,“Being a female and only 25 years old, I am not always taken seriously, so to be chosen to not only speak at the conference, but to be selected as the member of the year was such an honour.”
