How to Build – and Maintain – Community as Your Gym Grows

Advice from the chief operating officer of a 700-member gym.

The first thing most people know about CrossFit Mayhem in Cookeville, Tennessee is that it was founded by four-time CrossFit Games champion and six-time Affiliate Cup Champion, Rich Froning.

What many people may not realize, however, is that the gym didn’t grow to more than 700 members simply on the strength of Froning’s name. 

Much of their success has to do with the team’s attention to detail and the focus on the members, said Josh Malone, chief operating officer of CrossFit Mayhem.

“The coaching staff that's here is amazing,” Josh said, explaining that “anyone who walks in the door, whether it's their first time or they've been doing CrossFit for 10 years, they get the same exact treatment.”

The Journey to 700 Members

Josh started doing CrossFit at CrossFit Mayhem in 2011, and quickly got his CrossFit Level 1 Certification and began cleaning bathrooms while interning to be a coach. Even though Josh had a full-time position at Tennessee Tech working at the fitness center, he began coaching classes at Mayhem in 2012.

“I would open the fitness center in the morning, at 6am, and then I would immediately go over to Mayhem and coach the 2pm class and then work there through the rest of the day. So it was almost like two full time positions,” Josh said. 

In 2018 Josh left his position at the university to become head coach at CrossFit Mayhem, and later chief operating office. In addition to his coaching responsibilities, Josh also oversees the business operations, events, and the physical location. 

“My day to day is programming for the affiliate and our daily operations here making sure that the building is running smoothly,” Josh said. 

When Josh started his position in 2018 the gym had about 400 members. Since then it’s increased to over 700 in a town of about 36,000 people. While this success has been a group effort, and due in some part to Rich Froning’s fame, the team at CrossFit Mayhem has worked hard to create a culture where every person at the gym feels like a part of the CrossFit Mayhem family – not an easy feat with so many members.  

Why Membership Enforcement Leads to Happier Members

Like many gyms, CrossFit Mayhem (originally CrossFit Cookeville) was started by a group of friends. When Josh came on full-time, implementing membership guidelines was an important first step. He had to make sure that the correct discounts were valid and applied to the appropriate accounts and also that members limited their attendance to the number of days in their membership. 

While the process led to some difficult conversations, all members understood that membership enforcement was a necessary step in creating a fair and balanced business structure for the future. The goal was to create an environment where the members were receiving services and access consistent with their membership level. 

“That’s one of the biggest pieces of advice that I can give to anyone that's in management in a gym setting. When I have friends come into town, I pay for their drop in fee or they pay for their own drop in fee. And they understand, because at the end of the day, it's a business,” Josh said.

While it might make some people unhappy in the short term, Josh said making sure the same rules apply to everyone is essential for happy members in the long run. The other side of that coin, and part of why CrossFit Mayhem is so successful, is that while he doesn’t give special discounts, Josh does treat everyone like family. Every one of the 700-plus members has his cell phone number, and he knows each of them on a personal level. 

“You have to put every single piece of yourself into it,” Josh said about running a CrossFit gym, “and it has to be genuine because if you don't, or if you've got distractions or if you're phoning it in, that becomes very apparent in the way that you deal with your membership base. And that's a reflection of the business.”

A Focus on Quality Coaching

The other secret to Mayhem’s success, Josh said, is the exceptional coaching staff. They have about 22 coaches running a variety of classes, including kids, preteens, teens, and a L.I.F.E class that’s a lower intensity version of their regular CrossFit classes with a focus on skills that contribute to maintaining independence outside of the gym. Josh said he’s proud of how welcoming the community and staff is to everyone who walks in the door.

“Personally, I can’t take sole credit for the community aspect. The credit goes to the entire staff and what they put into their classes and client interactions on a daily basis,” Josh said. 

Another way CrossFit Mayhem sets themselves apart from other CrossFit affiliates is their careful approach to onboarding new members. Like many CrossFit gyms, Mayhem has every member who is new to CrossFit go through four weeks of introductory courses to learn the basic CrossFit movements. 

However, after the first three weeks, instead of throwing the new members into the regular class on their own, the new member’s introductory coach joins them in the regular class for the last week of their onboarding process. This means the new member gets to experience a regular CrossFit class with a familiar coach by their side. 

“It's kind of like a bridge from the intro into regular classes, and we found that in terms of retention from the intro class that's been a huge boost,” Josh said. 

Consistency and Caring 

In the end, Josh said the best advice he can give to other CrossFit affiliate owners, managers, and coaches is to cultivate consistency in every aspect of the business. He said the positive word of mouth – friends telling friends how much they enjoy the gym – is how CrossFit Mayhem gets most of their new members. 

On top of that, Josh focuses on building a strong community, assisting with solutions to interpersonal problems, and truly caring for each member. 

“It’s figuring out the language that works with individual clients and then using that to encourage them to push themselves a little bit harder, pull back when they need to, and just find that balance that will help them achieve an optimal level of fitness for themselves and for their current season of life,” he said.

About Author, Hilary Achauer

Hilary is a renowned fitness business writer, marketing content writer, and journalist. She’s written content for start-ups, entrepreneurs, executive coaches, wellness providers, gyms, and CrossFit. Her focus is always on telling the best story with a clear, compelling style and being able to engage readers, bring in new customers, or build an audience.