Meet Katie Warechowsk | Owner of a Private Personal Training Studio

We had the good fortune of connecting with Katie Warechowsk and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Katie, what do you attribute your success to?
From a young age I always knew what I was meant to do when I grew up. Help people. It’s a very broad “thing,” but something that gives me joy, purpose, inspiration, success and one day, significance. If you can align your business systems with your vision and your values, your passion and your purpose; if you can achieve clarity in your “why,” then you will achieve not only accomplish success, but a life of significance. When you care, you pick up the phone when it rings. When you care, you do whatever you can to add value to the lives of your employees and clients. When you care, you do the work. So, I think the most important factor behind my success is clearly defining my why and constantly working to provide value to my employees and clients.

What should our readers know about your business?
Fitness Together (“FT”) is the nation’s largest Personal Training brand with over 115 locations. My husband and I are franchisees of the location in Marietta, GA. The biggest thing that sets FT apart from other trainers or brands is how personalized it is. We work with people of all different ages and fitness levels but most of our clients come to us for our expertise and knowledge; for the personalization and tailored programming. Clients stay with us because of the experience we provide to our clients. We offer nutritional and lifestyle coaching and hold our clients accountable with regular, thorough assessment testing. I should also note another unique “perk” to the FT experience is that our studio has 4 full-equipped training suites so our clients get to work alongside their trainer, free from intimidation or distractions. There’s no sharing of equipment or waiting in line. Just highly focused, effective, efficient sessions. My husband and I met in college as we were both studying for our degrees in Exercise and Health Science. We started working at FT as personal trainers in 2002 and 2003, respectively. In 2007, the owner wanted to sell so…we bought! I don’t think my husband or I ever thought we’d own a studio so when we bought our business, we didn’t know much about how to run it. We made a lot of mistakes. We failed. We fell down. WE. LEARNED.

Since 2007, we’ve had the privilege of coaching and leading dozens of talented personal trainers. Our goal for 2022 is to continue to invest in our team and to provide opportunities for growth in this amazing industry.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I’ve lived in GA my whole life and I’m still learning about all it has to offer! I’m an “outdoors” person and love to hike so I would definitely show them how beautiful the North GA mountains are. The city of Atlanta is fun but what I also love about where I live is that there are very “happening” little cities all around. Places like downtown Woodstock, Marietta, Roswell and Alpharetta with amazing shops, restaurants and activities. I’d have to take them to my two favorite Mexican joints: Taqueria Tsumani and Bone Garden Cantina. A visit to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens and a hike up to Brasstown Bald would definitely make the list.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My journey to success is not a short one and it’s definitely not an easy one. 5 years into owning my business my son was diagnosed with a terminal, genetic disorder. My husband and I were devastated, to say the least. At only 2 years of age, he was given a life expectancy of 5 years old. 3 years later, he was still fighting; defying all the odds. In 2015, we attended a conference where a fellow fitness professional, Alwyn Cosgrove spoke to the group. He spoke about his journey with Cancer; how despite being on his deathbed, he was able to achieve his dream and professional success. We left that conference with inspiration to do the same; to achieve professional success while taking care of our dying son. From 2015 to 2016, our business grew by 13.5%. From there, we say double digit growth for the next 3 years. And since then, we have consistently been in the top 10 of all studios. So, Alwyn definitely gets a shout out. Secondly, we have to recognize the HUGE circle of support that was around us during this tough time. From family and friends to strangers and anonymous donors. Although we never had any kind of nursing help with our son, we were surrounded by love and generosity. We had meals delivered, our house was cleaned, laundry taken care of; donations were made, So my next shout out goes to ALL of the amazing people who surrounded us with love as our son was declining. Mikey passed away on August 10, 2020. He was 10 1/2 years old.

Website: www.fitnesstogether.com/eastcobb

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fteastcobb/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FTEastCobb