Gym Owner to Franchise Founder: How Devan Gonzalez Used Mindset To Build a Profitable Business | #196

What does it take to turn a passion for fitness into a thriving business—and then franchise it successfully across the country? In this episode of the Second Act Success Career Podcast, host Shannon Russell sits down with Devan Gonzalez, fitness entrepreneur and co-founder of Strive 11 Fitness, to explore how he turned his love of coaching into a six-figure in-person training business and later launched a successful gym franchise.

Devan shares how mindset shaped every step of his journey—from being a 13-year-old martial arts instructor to opening his own gym during the pandemic and expanding into multiple locations through franchising. This conversation covers the real truth behind franchising a business, why mindset is everything, and how betting on yourself is often the safest risk you can take.

Whether you're dreaming of quitting your 9-5, opening a brick-and-mortar business, or scaling your current idea, this episode is packed with advice to help you take the leap with clarity and confidence.

Key Takeaways:

• Why time is your most valuable asset when launching a business
• The difference between franchising and licensing—and which one fits your goals
• How to adapt your business model as you grow
• Tips for negotiating lease terms and working with landlords
• The role of mindset in overcoming fear, failure, and building long-term success
• How to support franchisees with real estate, branding, and operations from the start

SHOW NOTES:

https://secondactsuccess.co/196

Connect with Devan Gonzalez:

https://www.strive11fitness.com/

https://www.facebook.com/devangonzalez.official

https://www.instagram.com/devan.gonzalez/

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-mindset-cafe/id1650827999

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Transcript

Second Act Success Career Podcast

Season 1 - From Gym Owner to Franchise Founder: How Devan Gonzalez Used Mindset To Build a Profitable Business | #196

Episode - #196

Host: Shannon Russell

Guest: Devan Gonzalez

Transcription (*created by Descript and may not be perfectly accurate)

Devan Gonzalez: [00:00:00] Time is the only thing that is fleeting, and it is the most invaluable thing. So if you are thinking that you have a passion or you have a desire to pivot, do it. What's the worst that's gonna happen? It doesn't work out. And you can go back to what you're doing right now. 

'cause at the end of the day when you're on your deathbed, are you gonna look back and be like, man, I wish I would've done that. Or, what if I would've done that? don't have any regrets like that. There's so many ways that you could fulfill that goal. As long as you're adaptable,

Shannon Russell: Are you ready to quit your nine to five job and start a business of your own? Well, you're in the right place, my friend. Welcome to the second Act Success Career podcast. I am your host Shannon Russell. I am a former television producer, turned business owner, career transition coach, and boy mom. My mission is to help you produce your best life.

This podcast will teach you how to get from where you are now to where you want to be, and how to build a business that fits your life and lights you up. Let's get started.

[00:01:00] Hey there, it's Shannon. Welcome back to Second Act Success, the podcast that is all about career transitions, building a business, and starting a second act. Today we are talking about not only starting a business, we're talking about franchising and taking a business that is now successful and making it available to other entrepreneurs. My guest today is Devan Gonzalez. 

 Devan started as a martial arts instructor at the age of 13, and he developed a love for fitness and mentorship. Devan transitioned to personal training and he built his own six figure business without relying on an online model.

By 28, he became a gym owner, creating a community that prioritized both physical and personal growth. He co-founded Strive 11 Fitness and scaled it into a successful franchise. So we're gonna dive into that. Franchising, building a business, 

we discuss a lot of mindset techniques and tips, and really how [00:02:00] mindset plays into the role of becoming an entrepreneur and really making any kind of big transition in your life. So let me introduce you to him now. This is Devan Gonzalez.

Shannon Russell: Devan Gonzalez, welcome to Second Act Success. I'm excited to have you here. 

Devan Gonzalez: Thank you so much for having me. 

Shannon Russell: So we chatted on your podcast, , and we had a really good rapport, so I thought it would be cool to have you on and talk about not only your journey, but about the mindset piece of it, because your podcast is the Mindset Cafe, and so that's kind of your thing to talk about.

So, and I actually, I think it's really important in going from one career to the other and launching a business. So we'll dive into that too. But why don't we start with where your career began. 

Devan Gonzalez: Yeah, definitely. And I think that mindset is such, such a big aspect. I think that everything begins and ends with your mindset.

If you believe that you can achieve something, it's possible. But the moment you stop. You know, believing you can achieve it, it becomes impossible. My career started as, martial arts instructor, way [00:03:00] back when I started at the age of 13, kinda working under the table.

But that was my intro into really fitness and coaching and mentoring and and so forth as a martial arts instructor going into college. I transitioned to a personal trainer because the, the schedules didn't really line up for me and I thought it was an amazing college job, and that's really what I was gonna lay it out to be.

I was going to college for business management. What I honestly think is the, the. A way to put a category on it for me was I didn't know what I wanted to do and I was like, well, this is kind of a universal degree. Throughout college, I really started liking personal training and I was really starting to find a passion for it.

And I ended up switching my major to kinesiology 'cause I was like, I can get a degree in this. This is way more fun than learning accounting and, and doing numbers. Yeah. So switch, switched it over. And even then, you know, with switching over my major. I was still going the route of firefighter and, being a personal transit time because I was told by my parents [00:04:00] I needed a normal job and, , get a career and so forth.

Then it came time to make a decision of, do you want to become an EMT to put that in your resume and stop training or are you gonna dive more into personal training? And for me, I was like, I don't have a passion for firefighting. It's not been a goal of mine since I was a kid or anything like that.

I'm just gonna take a bet on myself and I know there's so many other avenues that can open up with personal training. Dove into that and worked in the corporate, you know, sector, went to the private sector and then eventually through a disagreement with the gym owner at the time and myself led to me, you know, starting a personal training company that I grew to, six figures and, one thing led to another, the next step was opening up a gym.

Then the next step after that, launching the franchise. 

Shannon Russell: Wow. Really just following your intuition, what you felt like you had a passion for. Mm-hmm. 

Devan Gonzalez: And not 

Shannon Russell: going the, you know, quote unquote, safe route, 

Devan Gonzalez: right? Mm-hmm. I mean, I think, I think that's in important. You can always fall back on that kind of stuff, right?

[00:05:00] And, and not necessarily saying that, you know. It wouldn't have been a good career and I wouldn't have had, an amazing life from it. It's just I knew deep down like this is what I wanted to do, and so it's like at the end of the day, why not try? 

 I was pretty much a solopreneur at that time. And that one, I grew to six figures, and when I tell people I had a personal training company, they assume that it's like an online, program. It was all in person. Right? I actually had pretty much zero online presence.

I didn't post my clients before and afters or anything like that and used their transformations for my, my ad in marketing campaigns, all my referrals or all my. Customers came from referrals and, and so forth and networking. But my six figure personal training company was all literally in person. 

Shannon Russell: That's amazing.

When was the opportunity for you to open your own gym? When did that come about? 

Devan Gonzalez: It was honestly probably around 2020, maybe 2019. , I had trained, , my now business partner, I trained him for a bodybuilding show and he started getting into [00:06:00] personal training and doing those and kind of following the footsteps of the path that I already walked.

And so we had a, a meeting and I was like, look, you're going down this road. I've already gone down the road. Why don't we just, meet in the middle and. This is the idea I have. And so from that, , he agreed and he, we dove in and then covid hit, right? And so kind of put a stu a stunt in that plan.

But honestly I think it was a blessing in disguise because during that it allowed. A little bit more time for strategy, a little bit more time for planning. And even for an entire year, we actually ran our workout program in the park and it was like we had endless space to essentially try to utilize. So from there we wanted to try to get into a, a square footage anywhere from like 2000 to maybe 3000 square feet.

So it was like, if we can't do this in a park and, and try to hone it down into the square footage needed, then it's probably not gonna. Be the fit that we need. So we had a year of testing and trying it out before actually taking that next step 

Shannon Russell: and working together to see if [00:07:00] you really are good partners, especially through a pandemic.

Seeing if you can can survive that. You can survive business moving forward. I. 

Devan Gonzalez: A hundred percent. That's the thing I think with partnerships too, if you're gonna find a partner, you have to find a partner that doesn't have the same strengths that you have. Right. And because then you guys both again, have the same weaknesses.

Mm-hmm. That doesn't really that help you at all. You have two of you, right? Right. If you're gonna get a business partner, you needed someone that is your ying to your yang and, you know, completes that circle, or at least. Adds to your circle. 

Shannon Russell: Hmm. So you found that, and then, so what happened with finding that perfect space?

Devan Gonzalez: The blessing in disguise, , for Covid, I know there's so many other tragedies within it, but you know, one of the. The things that happened during Covid, I'm sure you kind of remember that GameStop, craziness. 

Shannon Russell: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well 

Devan Gonzalez: our location is actually used to be a GameStop.

Right. How 

Shannon Russell: funny. 

Devan Gonzalez: So GameStop, you know, closed in in our area and we along with [00:08:00] like two or three other locations within this shopping center. It just so happened that when we were looking for location, we drove by, saw the three, three or four vacancies reached out to the landlord and we got an amazing covid deal.

Is that what I like to call it? Because we were the first of the three, spaces or four spaces to get filled, so they had more leniency with us than they did with some of the other tenants that I've talked to. Mm-hmm. Um, but we use that to our advantage, right? Because especially with a new business, this is what like a lot of brick and mortar companies don't realize is that.

Landlords aren't as willing or flexible to take a bet on you if you don't have a resume to back it, right? Meaning that you have multiple locations, or you have a franchise system that is supporting you, or you've been an entrepreneur and you have a more extensive portfolio, they're gonna be a little more, less lenient on your basically add-ons or your lease agreement because at the end of the day, they're taking a risk too.

Shannon Russell: Mm, very true. They were willing to take a [00:09:00] risk on you because you were willing to jump in at this kind of still uncertain time. 

Devan Gonzalez: And typically, like even for our, our shopping center, like they like to do five to 10 year lease agreements. We even talked 'em into just doing a two year, it's like, hey, like let's, I know you're, you're taking a big bet on us too.

Why don't we just both be safe, right? Mm-hmm. You know, make it, make it sound like it's a win-win. And it definitely was. Then we had a five year option that we're on now. It's that look. Let's just get this going and if you can help us out with that, then we can come back to market rates and everything afterwards.

And they were super cool. The landlords, their two sisters that, you know, they inherited the property from their parents and honestly, we kind of were blessed with having such amazing landlords as well. 

Shannon Russell: I've had a brick and mortar in the past and did not have that experience with the landlords at all.

So that's a really great blessing to have and especially as your first time with a center with a location, you wanna have that experience 'cause you're figuring it out. It's not teaching classes on your own [00:10:00] or in a park. This is a lot more of an undertaking. How has it been having this location and how has your business kind of evolved up until now?

Devan Gonzalez: With the business evolving with Strive 11, it started in one area. Like we had certain aspects that we had at the park that once we did have kind of confined, space, we had to kinda make some modifications and so forth. And that was like with our warmup and our AB station.

'cause it is a bootcamp style model. Right? Mm-hmm. And the 11 from Strive 11 comes from the 11 stations that we have, you know, and each of those stations change every day for the muscle splits and so forth. But at the park, we could have endless amount of people doing the warmups. And once we came into the gym, it was like, okay, well only this amount of people kind of fit here, right?

Yeah. So we had to kind of change up how we did the warmups and, and so forth. So everything. With any business really. You could write a business plan, right? Because we had a business plan all written out. It looked awesome, [00:11:00] but what you need to realize is that the business plan is just an idea.

It's a theory, right? Until you get into the weeds of it, until you start it, like things are gonna change. You need to be able to adapt and realize that this is not the done version. Just like apps on our phone, we're all get always getting app updates. Mm-hmm. That's your business. 

Shannon Russell: That's a good analogy.

you grew, you figured it out. And then let's talk about the franchising piece. 'cause I find this so interesting that you're seeing such success that you wanted to franchise the business and you're doing it. 

Devan Gonzalez: Yeah. I mean, it was a big step and it was always a move we wanted to make. Because for us, like we like to take the path least traveled, right?

And mm-hmm. It's like how many, how many trainers tell, tell you they're gonna open a gym? You know, I would say 99% of trainers, right? Yeah. So already opening a gym made us part of that, you know, 1%. And then from there it was like, okay, well how many gym owners actually, make a successful franchise and make a nationwide, , national franchise?

And [00:12:00] so in doing that. Actually getting a franchisee already kind of established us as that one a 0.1%, right? Yeah. And so that was always the goal. At what point we were gonna franchise, we didn't really have that set in stone. We were kinda just figuring out like how to hire, how to fire, how to do all that kind of stuff that normal business owners figuring out.

And then by year before year two. A year and a half into it, like we were at the, a point where it was like, okay, the business has grown. We have enough funds to essentially open a second location or to launch the franchise. We thought it over for a, for a week or two and, had some, , interviews with some franchise advisors and then it came down to like, okay.

My business partner agreed that he wanted to be in the business working on that, and I could step away and work on the franchise side. And we felt that it was more important to be able to give the foundational franchisees like the most amount of attention to fill and fix any gaps instead of kind of splitting our time between our own, , corporate locations and then our [00:13:00] franchisees.

So we opted to do that first. I'm glad we kind of did, because. It was actually more expensive to launch the franchise than it was to even open up another location of ours. Really? And that was, and that was something we didn't know. Yeah. But. In doing so, there was a lot of work that did need to be done building the infrastructure and even on, , onboarding.

'cause again, just like a business plan, you have all this infrastructure built out, but until you have someone to actually start going through the steps and the processes you need to make the adjustments and fix the, the things that were once theory. Now the reality. 

Shannon Russell: That's a great partnership then.

So he really handles your main location, and you're handling the franchising, outreach, setting them up, all of that. 

Devan Gonzalez: Right. Yeah. We still have a team and, and everything, so he's not like married to the business either. We have a manager, we have assistant manager in place as well, but he gets to, essentially oversee those things and, you know, now helping me on the franchise [00:14:00] side with, once someone's on board, you know, opening the LA their locations and so forth.

So he's kind of back and forth in between the two businesses. 

Shannon Russell: Exciting. So you have one franchisee as of now. This is all new. Let's remind everyone who's listening that you really started this after the pandemic. So it's been how many years? Like three years now? 

Devan Gonzalez: We'll be in four years in June. 

Shannon Russell: Such growth in just four years. That's really amazing. And so, yeah. So let's get back to your franchisees. 

You've got one potentially opening in Texas, you mentioned. 

Devan Gonzalez: We have two franchisees. One already has their location in Tampa, Florida.

 And then , the Mansfield, which is a little bit outside of Dallas in Texas, they're on board. They're officially, looking for their locations and everything like that. We just found three. Potential locations that they're sending their letters of intent to, so we can start the negotiation process on all three of those locations.

We do that just so that we can kind of weigh out, and use, well this person's gonna give us this. Are you able to match [00:15:00] that and kind of go back and forth, to find the best deal for the franchisee. And we have a real estate team in place to essentially help them and assist them with all that.

Shannon Russell: That's really a nice offering too, to be able to give them that much assistance. When I was in my franchise and looked for my location, it was all on me. They didn't really have too much of a say on it. , but they also weren't helping me with it. So I think that's a great advantage for someone to wanna get into Strive 11 because you are assisting them 

 You want it to be uniform, right? You want it to be cohesive as it grows. 

Devan Gonzalez: A hundred percent. And that was the one thing we, before we launched, 'cause we had like unofficially launched, on paper we launched, but you know, we didn't really start putting things in place until 2024. But we launched it.

I would say like September of 2023. And then there was still like, oh wait, we don't have the real estate vendor. We don't have these things. So even though on paper we were launched, it was like we didn't really start calling leads and doing all that kind of stuff till beginning of January, 2024. And then [00:16:00] it was realizing that, okay, well what were the struggles that we had when we opened?

And even though our lease was. An amazing lease. There was also, and still continues because of that initial lease, such as like the, the hvac, air conditioning units. If I would've known that, you're supposed to get those inspected before, and maybe that's why the landlord was so giving, because I wasn't, I wasn't doing a lot of those things, and having someone in place to.

Know these things can make a tremendous amount of difference when you're, when you're talking about a five to 10 year lease. Mm-hmm. So the real estate team essentially puts together a whole site package. We do a, a mapping call so that we find all the potential locations within their given area that they want to be in.

Even before that, I have a call with them. We have a software that we actually find the de demographics in all the different areas and what would be your protected territory, all that kinda stuff. And then the franchisees get essentially a a file or a folder with anywhere from 50 to a hundred locations [00:17:00] that they can look through the brochures, pick their top 10, top 20, and then just go to those locations.

Shannon Russell: You've done a lot of the legwork for these potential franchisees, which is amazing. I'm so excited for you and all of the potential that your business and the franchise has. Let's get to the mindset. Side of it, because as we kind of alluded to, you have a podcast called Mindset Cafe.

 And let's talk about that because I, I assume you have a very strong mindset yourself for just wanting to be that 1%, that 0.5%, just wanting to be that top. Where did that come from? 

Devan Gonzalez: Honestly, I've always had a competitive side to me. I don't like losing, even if we're playing, you know, friendly quote unquote, sports.

Yeah. Mm-hmm. I, you know, but at the same time, even in like grade school and even in high school, like I was an A and B student, not because pressure from my parents, like I just liked achieving, those things. But it's also, it came down to even, I remember in martial [00:18:00] arts. We used to have to spar and I remember at the age of 10, I hated s sparring because I was too little to be in the, I was too small to be in the upper kid group, but I was too big to be in the lower kid group.

So by nature you get rounded up and so I was, got beat up pretty much every time we had a spar and, and then my coach essentially was doing one-on-ones with me and he was like, look, you're getting beat up either way. Right, right. Why not just go out there and swing. And so I was like, well, I guess when you say it that way, it kind of makes sense.

I, I'm gonna get punched and kicked either way, might as well try to get punched in myself. Mm-hmm. And so that mindset shift for me, 'cause then I did go out and actually was able to hold my own, that surprise, which surprised me. Mm-hmm. And then it was like, wow, if you just try, you never know what's gonna happen.

Right. And so that mindset shift and perspective changed. Honestly, I think that kind of shaped my, my life from there because it was like, you never know. What can come out of something if you just try? 

Shannon Russell: And look what you've done. Like you, you kind [00:19:00] of did that all the way through your career so far of , you know what, I could go the firefighter EMT route, but now I'm gonna try this and now I'm gonna try to open the brick and mortar and now I'm gonna try to franchise.

 Your mindset has you wanting to be that high achiever. So where did starting this podcast come into play? Do you just wanna add something else to your plate while you're already so busy? 

Devan Gonzalez: When we originally started it, it was actually called the Strive Try podcast, I think for like the first 20 episodes.

And it was hard to essentially get guests or get anyone on because it was so tied to the brand. And this was before the franchise or anything, but. We had a fitness podcast and it was, you know, one, it was kinda getting repetitive talking fitness in the gym and then outside the gym. And I was like, oh man, I'm kind of getting over this.

Yeah. And, and then we couldn't get any guests on because they wouldn't promote, because again, the brand was their same brand, the same industry. Oh yeah. So, you know, my business partner wanted to focus on the business and not on the podcasting as [00:20:00] much. So I transitioned the podcast from the Strive Tribe, and then I was like, look.

We essentially talk about mindset a lot. , but we can bring on other entrepreneurs and we can help entrepreneurs. We can help our members. All about mindset. So that was the transition. But the podcast really started from, instead of writing a blog, it was, this way for members to get more information.

'cause I mean, me personally, I don't remember the last time I went through and read like blog articles, like one after another. Mm-hmm. But I listen to podcasts every single day, so. Doing that, it was like, Hey, you know, to our members, Hey, we have this. You can listen to it. It'll help you on your fitness journey.

It'll help you on improving your, your life. Like this is, you know, just a little add-on feature that we kind of started. I. 

Shannon Russell: You're right, because mindset does go back to fitness, it comes back to everything that you're building. , and just having that drive to strive and to, keep going.

 That's really inspirational that you're bringing it all together like that and using it for your members, but then it also can just reach a much larger [00:21:00] audience. 

Devan Gonzalez: The thing is people realize that whether it's fitness, whether it's, making a pivot, , there's a solution to every problem.

Right. And this kind of goes back into the mindset I was kind of saying from when I was a kid, is like, there's a solution to every problem as long as you're willing to. Continue to look for that solution, like you'll find it. Mm-hmm. But if you think that that's, there is no solution, then you kind of get stuck right there.

So even with, I know your journey, it's like there's always a pivot if you're willing to look for it. There's a solution to every problem. There's a pivot to every desire, and it's like you just gotta be willing to put in the legwork and then you'll be fine. 

Shannon Russell: And I think that's where maybe you and I and entrepreneurs kind of differ from other people in a sense, because it's so easy to stop when there's that challenge or where it is a little bit difficult.

But if you just keep going, like you said, and you find that way through, you can create something so new for yourself and surprise yourself, and then you wanna keep going, right? Mm-hmm. Then you wanna keep striving for the next thing. Why do you think mindset [00:22:00] is such an essential part of being a business owner in general?

Devan Gonzalez: Your mindset, it, it bleeds into everything that you do, right? When you believe in not just the business, but when you believe in yourself, people can feel that. People resonate with that, and especially when you are, I. Leading a team. If you don't have the mindset of we can do this, your team's not gonna believe that we can do this either.

 They're not gonna lead the business for you, right? 'cause you're supposed to be leading it from the front. So I think that your ability to understand that there's going to be hurdles, there's going to be obstacles and. Be willing to accept that this is part of the journey. No. Journey to success is a straight line.

 That's what makes entrepreneurs different because everyone that has the desire to become an entrepreneur thinks that it's, you open a business and they will come. 

Shannon Russell: And I 

Devan Gonzalez: promise you, it's, that's not how this game works. Right. 

Shannon Russell: We wish, we wish. Yeah. You know? Exactly. 

Devan Gonzalez: And you know, so it's like you. You [00:23:00] trade at nine to five for a pretty much 24 hours, you know, seven days a week in the beginning.

And a lot of entrepreneurs when they first start off don't realize that's what it takes sometimes. And even with, , different stages of the business. When we launched the franchise, it meant a lot more hours for myself, , to get certain things done. And so it was like you had to.

Be a little bit busier during those times, and that's what separates the businesses that grow and the businesses that either stay there at the same position or start to, die. 

Shannon Russell: I love how you, how you frame that and now that you are into the franchising part of your business, if someone was to come to you and they have a business that's already proving successful and they want to franchise it, I'd love your opinion now and then it would be interesting to ask you again in like five years, but for now, what are your thoughts on taking that business and expanding it through franchising?

Devan Gonzalez: Funny enough, I've actually had a couple people come up to come to me and, and ask. The thing is, if you go to a [00:24:00] franchise advisor, they're gonna tell you it's franchisable. Right? A hundred percent. Same, same, same talk I had with with my franchisees. When they're, you know, all Yes, yes, yes.

To the, to the real estate team. I'm like, look, our real estate team is great. My team, , is here to also assist to make sure that, again, you're getting the best deal because when is the last time you heard a real estate agent tell you right now is not the time to buy. Right. So, yeah. . With franchising, every business is franchisable.

But should every business be franchised? No. Right. So the gray area between with franchising is there's franchising and there's licensing. Mm-hmm. Right. And I actually had a friend that started a, a coffee business and like a mobile coffee business and he started it as a licensing company and we were having a conversation and I was like.

You're, you know, you've crossed the line into franchising, right? And he was like, no. He's like, we opted this route 'cause it's a little cheaper. I was like, no, I get, I get it. I get that's why you did it. [00:25:00] But you can't do what you're doing because you license. So if someone essentially, I., wants to license their business.

They can let someone else use their name, they can give them the softwares and give them whatever, but you can't tell them how to run the business. Right? Right. How they run the business is all up to them. You have no control over that, and then you, you pretty much get a flat rate, you know, fee for, your licensing and, and all that.

, it's rare when licensing does a royalty, but. Typically to be a little more hands off, you can just do a license fee. , but then with franchising, it's like you're now, you're using your logos, you're using all your systems and processes. You're basically teaching them how to run your business.

Mm-hmm. Right? And giving them all of that, but. You have a lot more brand control with franchise than you do licensing. So that was the reason. If you have a brick and mortar, it's pretty much has to be a franchise because your logo can only go on certain things that you want to be brand standard. Yeah. If you only want certain things in your, in your gym, then you know, [00:26:00] with a license they can put random stuff in, random supplements and random whatever and sell whatever they want because you can't say anything about it.

Mm-hmm. So there's that difference between it and then there's the area of like. Do you wanna do either or do you want to keep this, you know, kind of corporate and. Just open up your own locations. Right. 'cause there is no right way to, to scale. We're opening up more corporate locations as we're franchising, so we're kind of doing both of those routes, but it's like, what do you want at the end of the day?

Shannon Russell: You laid it out so perfectly because what you decide now is just gonna make your journey down the road a little bit easier. Just speaking from the franchise I was a part of, they started licensing and then they decided to get into franchising. And then it was harder to get the licensees to switch over.

And meanwhile, as the franchise grew, there were people who were licensees using different logos and just completely running a different business. And that was really hard for the brand overall. , it would be interesting in a couple of years if your friend will decide to go the franchising route.

Devan Gonzalez: No, he did. He did. He actually, and the same [00:27:00] thing is happening right now. , the licensees are having a tough time trying to transition or he's trying to transition into franchisees, but technically they have license agreements. He can't just override 'em and mean there is, there is a time, there is a place to be able to do it.

I mean, we are gonna do the license route. As well as franchising. For example, we have our gyms that it has to be a franchise. But let's say you already own a gym and you own a big box, you know, let's say 40,000 square foot facility. Mm-hmm. And you have a studio room that you are not utilizing right now.

Well, we can license our wall design because it, the crazy, the wall designs we have, license our logos, license, , , our program to you, and you can run it in there. Now you offer strive workouts in your gym. You could do it as a, a separate membership. You can do it as a part of your membership, whatever you wanna do.

But it's a flat rate you're paying us, right? So we don't collect a royalty on, on any of those ones. But for us as a benefit, we're like, Hey, we have, , strive these strive [00:28:00] locations and we're also in these other stores. Kinda like when you see a Starbucks in, a grocery store. 

Shannon Russell: Yes. Great example.

So similar that that's actually really great that you're doing that. I love that Devan. That is just opening you up to more possibilities. And then you know that it's not as visible if it's inside a gym, right? It's not like a logo outside of this place that you wouldn't have approved. It's in there, they're doing your thing, and then who knows what that could turn into for that gym owner?

They could open a strive somewhere else, so, mm-hmm. Brilliant. I love that. 

Devan Gonzalez: Thank you. 

Shannon Russell: As we wrap up, let me get your advice for someone who's thinking about starting a second act in general, opening a business, what's one piece of advice that you would give them? 

Devan Gonzalez: Don't wait. Right? I mean, time is the only thing you can't get back.

Right? Time is the only thing that is fleeting, and it is the most invaluable thing. So if you are thinking that you have a passion or you have a desire to pivot, do it. What's the worst that's gonna happen? It doesn't work out. And you can go back to [00:29:00] what you're doing right now. 

'cause at the end of the day when you're on your deathbed, are you gonna look back and be like, man, I wish I would've done that. Or, what if I would've done that? don't have any regrets like that. There's so many ways that you could fulfill that goal. As long as you're adaptable, and as hurdles come, as obstacles come.

You just address 'em. My whole thing is face the problem at hand, and cross each bridge as it comes. If I can't do anything about a problem or about an issue right now, that nothing I can do about it. Right, right. I don't worry about it like that. There's too many things to focus on to worry about that.

When that comes about and I can fix it or, address it, then I bring it in in front view. But just focus on the task at hand. 

Shannon Russell: Excellent advice. I love that so much. Where can my audience connect with you? I know you have the podcast, you have the gym. Tell us all the places. 

Devan Gonzalez: So the podcast is Mindset Cafe.

 If you wanna learn anything more about the gym, you can go to strive 11 fitness.com. With all social media is the best way to probably connect with me is Instagram. That's just Devan, [00:30:00] D-E-V-A-N, dot Gonzalez, G-O-N-Z-A-L-E-Z. 

Shannon Russell: Fantastic. I'll link to everything in the show notes and thank you so much.

This was so fun. I feel like we could have talked all day about franchising and business and all of that, but it was so great to get your insights on both mindset and franchising in business thank you so much, Devan. 

Devan Gonzalez: Thank you for having me.

Shannon Russell: Thank you for joining us. I hope you found some gems of inspiration and some takeaways to help you on your path to second act, success. To view show notes from this episode, visit second act success.co. Before you go, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss a single episode. Reviews only take a few moments and they really do mean so much.

Thank you again for listening. I'm Shannon Russell. And this is second act success.