Whenever someone wants to join Kanna, the first step is to do a free intro. This is a time to learn more about us, ask questions, and also so we can get to know you and your goals. And while some people choose not to join for various reasons, there are a few occasions where someone is eager to start, but we turn them away. Now, this might sound crazy that we would turn away someone willing to give us money, but that’s because we’re not a volume-based business.
A place like LA Fitness will take anyone that wants to join. You show up, slap down a credit card, and they hope you don’t show up as much as you say you will. Because when they have 5,000-10,000 paying members, but room for only 10-20%, they can’t possibly provide for everyone.
At Kanna, it’s very much about fit. As a former high school college counselor, I would often talk to my students about finding a good “fit” for college or other post-secondary opportunities they were interested in. That’s why we do a free intro – it’s a time for you to get to know us better and vice versa.
Now, this doesn’t mean that we flat out say “sorry, you can’t join here.” Instead, we treat the free intro more as a consultation and try to really dig into things like:
- what is your workout history like?
- what are your goals?
- what is your schedule like?
- what is your budget?
- would you rather workout in a group or 1:1?
- and more
Based on those questions, we make a recommendation. It could be 1:1 personal training with us. It could be small group. It could be nutrition coaching. It could be a combination of all of those.
If we feel like we can’t help you, we’ll tell you and then refer you to a local spot that could probably be a better fit. Who are the type of people that we would refer to CrossFit gyms in the area, Orange Theory, Burn Bootcamp, Lifetime Fitness, or otherwise?
- Someone looking to constantly move for an hour and just sweat with simple movements.
We do a lot of teaching and coaching of movement here, not just bootcamp-style workouts.
- Someone who is looking to compete in the sport of CrossFit.
We don’t cater to competitors very well here because we don’t have a lot of specialized equipment and focus more on “everyday” people.
- Someone looking to do their own thing.
We sell coaching, not access to equipment. So either you’re working with a coach 1:1 or you’re in a small class being coached. No one can just come in and use the equipment.
- Someone who is looking for a cheap gym membership.
We’re not cheap. We see fitness and wellness coaching as an investment and treat it as such.
- Someone with a bad attitude.
This one is more nebulous, but it’s generally not a good fit if someone is: complaining a lot, negative, rude, cheats, or any other characteristic of not being a nice person. While we have a diverse group of people with many different opinions and backgrounds, they’re generally all humble people who are willing to learn, work hard, and have fun.
Hopefully that gives you a better sense of why we don’t take everybody. While we think everybody should have fitness in their life, we just might not be a good fit, but we’ll do our best to refer you to the best spot.
-Coach Chris