Meet Kristi Oquist of Laveen CrossFit in Laveen-SouthWest Valley

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristi Oquist.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Nearing the end of 2009 I was 34 years old, a wife and mother of four. We had been through some rough times due to the housing crash at that time, as my husband had always been in construction. I needed something to help me not lose my mind, so to speak. A good friend of mine was a group fitness instructor and personal trainer, and she was encouraging me to join the local YMCA and take her classes.

So, in Dec. 2009, I decided that 2010 would be my year to take myself back, I weighed almost 200 pounds, at the time. I took a picture of myself on Jan 1 and posted it on FaceBook declaring that this was my year and I would be documenting my progress with a fresh pic and my weight each month. I started slow, adjusted just my portion sizes for the first month and I lost 10 pounds by Feb. 1, I then joined the YMCA and started taking my friend’s classes, by April, I was doing good but had plateaued a little, so I sat with my friend and we talked food. This is when I learned and understood that diet is 80% of fitness and weight loss. Once I figured out what to eat, I took back off. In November of 2009, I was at my goal weight and feeling fabulous.

At that time, the Queen of CrossFit was building her dream CrossFit where I lived in Prescott, AZ, my friend was asked to become a CrossFit trainer and she started working there, before long she was a full-time CrossFit trainer and was trying to get some of us to join her. I was so intimidated, I didn’t think that was what mothers did, lift big weights and swing from pull up bars. Plus, I couldn’t afford it… until they got linked up with the local community college and it was offered as community class for just $35/semester. I went ahead and signed up for the two days a week class and fell in love! Why can’t moms do these things? We want to be healthy and happy, plus, we have to play keep up with our kids, my three oldest was in or nearing teenage and you need to be of semi-sound mind and strength to deal with the teenage years, believe me! Hahaha, I also found that by working out with the intensity I was and tossing weights around helped to combat the anxiety and somewhat depressive feelings I had, I was able to get off the medication I had been on since the end of 2008 when life was getting harder than usual.

To this day, I am not on any type of medication. Fast forward a little and we move back to my hometown of Laveen, AZ I am now addicted to CrossFit and the community it builds, that I am determined to find one close, so I don’t have to give up my new lifestyle. The closest one at the time is in downtown Phoenix, so I join within the first week we move. I ended up getting my training certification and managing it for a little while, after a year I leave there to manage another CrossFit box, but now, I am driving even further from home and family to get what I need. So, in 2014, my husband decides he is done with me never being home and managing other people’s dreams and mentions opening a CrossFit ourselves. I am blown away by this, it never occurred to me that I could own my own box. We share the idea with a friend we met through the downtown box who also lives here in Laveen and we decide to put our ideas together and open a CrossFit in this wonderful town we all call home so we can share what CrossFit has done for us. CrossFit isn’t just a gym, it’s a community, a family that grows and supports its members both in and out of the gym! Which is why we refer to our gyms as boxes instead. We are not a gym, we are not a place where you come and plug in your headphones and ignore everyone around you. You are in a group class, yelling/cheering at each other to keep going, lift heavier, push harder because who wants to suffer alone. That is how the LC (Laveen CrossFit) was born. We share this all with our community, helping whole families be healthier and lead a longer, happier life.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Is there such a thing as a smooth road? First of all, I have kids, and 1 was a new adult, two were teenagers and one was in grade school… nothing is ever smooth with those ages! There were some struggles because our kids were frustrated by my new obsession and felt I was taking too much time away from them. Also, mixing two different ideas can be hard. However, our business partners are good people and we are able to work through a lot of differences pretty easy. Our main struggle was finding a good location, Laveen doesn’t have any industrial parks or buildings, which are perfect for most boxes. So, we had to really decide if we could afford retail rent and how many members we need to get to ASAP in order to afford it, also membership prices, due to being in a lower income area, but also needing to cover the costs of a higher priced business. Since there was nothing like this near Laveen, we exploded pretty quick, but also then settled a little. I believe so many small businesses attempt to come to Laveen and then can make that the area waits a little bit to see if they will really make it, or try it. We are now growing again, as we prove four years later that we are still here, still contributing to the outside community and that our original members are reaching above the goals they set. There have been some tight months, and one of us had to “invest” a little more money to cover costs for probably the first year, but we have been pretty self-managed since the beginning of year two. Another struggle is getting people to buy into the idea of what we offer, that it really isn’t as intimidating as it looks, it really is for everyone.

Once we get people in the door and experience us they are hooked. Another struggle we continue to have as a married couple running a business is leaving the business at work. I can take so much on and try to run it on my own and leave my husband out of some things. He still works a job and then helps me in the evening, so I will get busy and forget to talk to him and then not keep him in the loop. Learning to balance home life vs work life has been hard, especially with going from the parents who never missed a kid’s activity to having to sometimes choose which parent went and which one stayed and coached or ran the box. Our kids have settled in and understand better, especially since now we just try to make our family time great when we have it. We have scheduled times that are just ours, and make sure the box stays closed on Sundays so everyone can enjoy their personal time.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Laveen CrossFit – what should we know?
What I am most proud of is the fact that I have built a “happy place” for all of my members. So many of our people say that coming here can be the highlight of their day, that if they are having a bad day that just walking in the doors can change their mood. I wanted a place that no matter who you are, that when you walk in the door you are truly accepted. That whether you are already in decent shape, or you are just starting your journey that you can feel comfortable working out here and not be discouraged. We are one big community, we dubbed it the LC Nation, we have a private FaceBook group where we continue the fun throw together spontaneous outings, share recipes and talk about each other’s upcoming activities. We have members that have attended championships games for other family’s kids or our younger teen athletes events. When my daughter was a Junior in high school and her softball team was playing in the championships we had a HUGE group of members show up to cheer her on (they won, btw). What sets my CrossFit apart from others, is that we don’t act like we are elite athletes, we know how to have fun, nicely tease each other but not push too far, that your whole family can join you and that everyone is succeeding in one way or another. I am proud that a kid who was overweight, played too many video games, didn’t have too many friends was able to come in, be welcomed and work out with some of our strongest men. That the men didn’t see an overweight video game nerd, but an equal who needed them. That a woman in her 40’s who has led a rough life, smoked, etc. was able to come in and sign her kids up for our kid’s classes, can decide to try it out and find out that she can do more than she thought she could. That she was as able to finally have a good reason to quit smoking and run 100 Meters without stopping… finally. That her pulmonologist is seeing significant changes in her lung capacity. This makes me more happy to see over 150 people who probably ran in totally different circles now hang together, keep each other moving and make each want to lead a healthier life.

What’s your outlook for the industry over the next 5-10 years?
I would like to find a way for us to expand. I have a vision of us buying land in the heart of Laveen and building a true community center. Where we can afford to help our community from ages five all the way to 100 be healthy, grow socially, learn to understand for others, I want to build a place that our local sports teams can train in the offseason, we can have a room for community meetings, kids can come after school and find help and refuge from the trails of the world. All while building themselves up physically. I hope in the next couple of years to figure out funding to make this happen. My family has deep roots here in Laveen, we have been here since the 1960s and I want to continue to give back to the area I grew up in. While we wait for that to happen, we plan on keeping our existing schedule and fitness model running full steam ahead, the coaches and I are adding some weekly videos on FaceBook, and we want to add some YouTube podcasts to the list. We plan on reaching out to local kid’s sports and schools to see if we can work with kids more. I hope to be a staple in the SouthWest Phoenix area for a long time and continue to change people a little at a time.

Pricing:

• Unlimited Membership is $155/month
• 3 Classes a week is $125/month
• Teens $100/month
• Kids $75/month
• MobFit- a class for older people or people with mobility issues $125/month

Contact Info:

• Address: Laveen CrossFit
  3648 W Southern Ste 148
  Phoenix, Arizona 85041
• Website: www.laveencrossfit.com
• Phone: 602-243-4225
• Email: info@laveencrossfit.com
• Instagram: Laveencrossfit
• Facebook: Laveen CrossFit

Image Credit:
Most of the pictures used are done by Gilbert Hermosillo

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