From Starbucks Baristas to Franchise Owners with Workout Anytime

Ryan Stevens and Tracy Toomer first met working at Starbucks. They both joined the team as baristas and slowly worked their way up to positions overseeing the operations of the business. However, the two also shared a passion for entrepreneurship. Both Stevens and Toomer identify that feeling cropping up as early as their teen years.

After chatting with a business friend about additional opportunities, Toomer learned of Workout Anytime, the 190-unit fitness concept, and began considering investing. In addition to the strong business model and involved leadership team, the duo says they were sold on the idea of providing something new — and much needed — to the people of Carrollton. Now, they are on track to open their first Workout Anytime at 2722 North Josey Lane later this year.

1851 Franchise: Frame your personal story for us. What did you do before franchising, and how did you decide franchising made sense for you?

Stevens: After graduating high school, I enlisted in the Navy. I served there for 9 years with four years on an aircraft carrier and five years at Naval Training Center Great Lakes where I was in HR Generalist roles. I attended Southern Illinois University while I was at Great Lakes.  After transitioning out of the Navy I worked at Northwestern University as Operations Manager Undergraduate Admissions. Next, I worked at Wendy’s International as a General Manager.  I left Wendy’s for an opportunity with Starbucks where I’ve had the responsibilities of opening stores, building teams and successful operations across multiple markets.  

I’ve always wanted to own my own business since an early age.  I was bitten by the entrepreneurial bug when I was a pre-teen. What led me to Workout Anytime was my friendship with Tracy. We worked together at Starbucks but kept in touch after she left. We were talking through other opportunities within the fitness industry, someone recommended that Tracy look into Workout Anytime. We went to discovery day and fell in love with the leadership of the organization. From a cultural and values standpoint, it felt like home.

Toomer: As you can see, with Ryan being in the military and then going into Starbucks, all of the things he’s chosen to do have always been a part of something bigger. He’s a natural leader and developer. 

Our journeys crossed at Starbucks in 2016. We’ve both had this innate desire since we were younger to be entrepreneurs, and we started to think, “We’ve run businesses for big corporations. Now this is our time to do it for ourselves and create legacies for ourselves and for our families.” We love and respect our journeys in corporate America so much, but this is another way for us to create an organization that matches with our beliefs and values.

We’re two hardworking, educated individuals. We’ve worked our way from baristas at Starbucks to multi-unit leaders. We know operations, but we also know and care about people. This is now our way to be able to share our beliefs and values with the city of Carrollton.

1851: What was your perception of franchising prior to becoming a franchisee, and what do you want people to know about franchising now that you are in it?

Stevens: I’ve wanted to be an owner-operator for a long time, and the more educated I became through my experience with Starbucks and Wendy’s, I learned that franchising would probably be an easier road. When I look at the processes of developing a brand, building brand awareness and managing everything from decor to operations through everything like search engine optimization of a website, managing all of the different pieces can be daunting. Comparing that to a proven system where it’s pretty much set up and, to some degree, turnkey, it’s easy to see how franchising may be the smarter way to go. You have that support system.

I would challenge someone who is really thinking about going into franchising to think about where their limits are. What is the level of operation they can lead and deliver? We’re familiar with statistics around owner-operator situations, and a lot of businesses close within the first year because the people going into it aren’t operators.

The inverse of that is that the franchisor has laid out about 75% of what you need to know. That’s the best of both worlds for an operator. Now, I have the support of the parent company, but I can also put a little bit of my own flavor into it.

Doing your due diligence and vetting the franchise system is incredibly important.

Toomer: I own a franchise, so I already knew what to expect. I will say, I think the perception is that the franchise will be completely turnkey. A lot of times, not every process, manual or policy will be there. You may  expect to get 75% of the playbook, but the other 25% is on you. It’s critical that people understand that because people go into a franchise thinking that 100% is given to them in this way and they’ll be told exactly what to do, but that’s not always the case.

People need to know when they’re thinking of franchising that they need to build a strong team. They will need their “board of directors” going into it. It’s a common misconception that people who have been in operations for decades know it all. We were in operations, but we weren’t the marketers or the finance division or the construction crew.

That’s one thing I think Ryan and I did very well at not going into this project alone. Our team members aren’t our business partners, but they are our partners on this project. We have a franchise attorney and a finance consultant that we hired just to tell us whether this was a good project. If they had said no, we may not have ever gone further. That’s one of the things to think about. You don’t know it all, and you don’t cut corners on a venture like this. You need to make sure your interests are first. With any business, be smart and have a team to do their due diligence and make sure that your interests are at the forefront.

1851: What made you pick this brand? What excites you most about this company?

Stevens: Sometimes, the corporate environment can limit you on the impact you can make. The organization can have a larger impact, but on an individual, grassroots level, you can be limited. This opportunity is different, and that’s what’s exciting to me. We can change lives in profound ways. Not just those of our members, but the lives of the people who will be joining our organization.

Tracy used the word “developer” earlier. That’s what we want to do. We’re thinking about how we can craft a vision so compelling that people would love to join us. We want to help everyone in their lives while being respectful and thoughtful of their homes and families. It’s all based on that people-centric focus.

Toomer: There are rampant illnesses that plague Black and Brown communities, so this is an important concept that we’re bringing to Carrollton. Of course, it’s centered around helping others — helping them lose weight, reduce inflammation or reduce the amount of medication someone has to take. But this is not just a gym. For us, this is about the city of Carrollton living their best life and making exercise simply a way of life.

Whether you’re 15, 25, 45 or wearing silver sneakers at 65 years young, you belong in our gym. This dream to build and have our own legacy for our families is very exciting, but it’s something we’re proud of because it’s not just any business. We’re not bringing a fast food joint that we know is going to weaken the health of our children and families. This is something we’re proud to bring; we’re providing a resource for people as we help them on their journey to living their best lives.

1851: What do you hope to achieve with your business? What are your plans for growth? 

Stevens: Our big-picture strategy is to get our first location to a place where it’s sustainable from a financial standpoint, then we’ll work on the second and third clubs, but we don’t just want to open locations to say we did.

I think proximity to the first location and us being in the community will be important. Our vision is for us to be super present and understand and know the families that are members of our clubs. We want to be community leaders.

Toomer: There’s a gym presence in the city of Carrollton already, but there’s nothing like Workout Anytime. When we think of the community and how we want to grow in conjunction with the larger brand, we want to do it organically.

We want the Carrollton community to be telling neighboring communities how awesome their  gym is to the point that people are asking us to go to the next town over. We want to be the gym where people truly belong and everyone knows everyone’s name. Yes, like Cheers. I am truly dating myself…..

1851: What is the one thing about your story you want us to know?

Stevens: I really love the idea that we can eat our medicine. I’m a big gardener; I love garden-to-plate and eating organic. I’m also in the space of fitness personally. I’ve been a martial artist and boxer for a few decades.

Toomer: I love the Lord. We call out to God when something bad happens, but I want people to know that this has been a lifelong dream of mine to be an entrepreneur and all the praise and glory goes to God.  I know my journey has been blessed. I’m thankful that God is using me to be able to help others, myself and my family.

I grew up in Los Angeles, California where there were liquor stores and fast food restaurants on every corner; it was a diabetic and high blood pressure breeding site. I remember how I felt when brands like Starbucks came to LA, and I as the District Manager knew that Magic Johnson was trying to bring to the community a safe, nice and fun establishment for the families in LA to have their third place. A place away from home and work. That’s how I feel now with Workout Anytime. We’re going to build these safe, beautiful spaces in the community with state-of-the-art equipment, and there will be no shortcuts. No one will have subpar equipment or subpar service just because of the community they live in. The city of Carrollton will have their own country club and it will be called Workout Anytime Carrollton.

1851: What advice do you have for other people thinking about becoming a franchise owner?

Stevens: Build your board of directors.

Toomer: A lot of times, the value of a Board of Directors is underestimated.

The startup costs for a Workout Anytime franchise range from $967,350 to $2,071,550, including the franchise fee. To learn more about franchising with Workout Anytime, visit https://1851franchise.com/workoutanytime/info.

ABOUT WORKOUT ANYTIME*:

Atlanta-based Workout Anytime is a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week fitness concept with 190 units across the U.S. Founded by fitness veterans John Quattrocchi and Steve Strickland, the company was formed to provide members with first-class fitness facilities at the lowest cost possible while delivering a profitable and affordable business model to franchisees. Built on the founders’ motto of “think big, keep it simple and do it with integrity,” Workout Anytime is preparing for significant expansion into new territories across the U.S. and Central America by providing opportunities to business-minded entrepreneurs. Franchise opportunities are available, and more information can be found on http://workoutanytimefranchise.com/.