Career Change in Progress
- Thread starter ATeam
- Start date
Congrats on the first location.
It wouldn't surprise me to find out an empire has been created.
It has now been about a year since Diane and I came off the road to open our first Anytime Fitness club in Florida. The truck was sold months ago. It took seven months to make our way through the regulatory requirements and build and open the club. The club has now been open about four months.
How have we adapted to life off the road up to this point? Quite well, thank you. We are fully engaged in a new business that is committed to making a positive difference in people's lives. The business is doing well and there is no place we would rather be. While it was a stressful challenge getting the club built and open, and learning the ropes as first-time fitness club franchisees, much of that is behind us now and it is just plain fun going to work now.
Physically, we have been using the gym and benefiting from the personal training expertise on staff. While there is more work to do, we are in better shape today than when we started trucking in 2003. It feels good to feel good. We have come to appreciate working out as one of the best parts of our day.
We work harder and longer in the fitness business than we did as expediters. Expediting is a one-load-at-a-time job in which most expediters serve one primary customer; the motor carrier. We interact directly with hundreds of customers now. Planning is simpler for expediters. A retail business is more complex, requiring a broader and more intricate business plan and accounting system.
In expediting, you can take off as much time as you wish almost any time you wish because the carrier keeps things going. You can go out of and back into service at will with little fear that the business will erode in your absence. In retail, you do not have that freedom and luxury.
While the businesses are vastly different, we do not miss the road, not even a little. While many fond memories pop into our heads, the thought of going back on the road is not attractive. We are happy that we spent ten years on the road and grateful for the many experiences and travel, but there is no mystical call of the road that pulls at us to go back.
That takes nothing away from the truckers who dearly miss the road when they are off it for a short or long time. While challenging and dangerous, the road is a very special place. The love of the road that truckers often cite is something most non-truckers do not understand. Indeed, most four-wheelers have no idea what life on the road is like.
Dealing mostly with non-truckers now, we have stopped telling people we used to be truckers. All it gets us is blank stares. We love it when a trucker comes in to use the club because we get to chat with an understanding soul once again. We enjoy listening to these truckers' stories because they take us back to a wonderful time in our lives.
How strong the call of the road is when one comes off it depends on what goes on next. If a driver continues to see himself or herself still as a driver, the road will be where one longs to be. If a new endeavor captures one's attention and soul, the call of the road will likely fade.
Wherever you end up when you come off the road, expediting can be a life-enhancing experience. And you get to keep the enhancements as you move on to whatever is next.
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