From Hobby to Business: Rod Evans
by Yello May 25, 2018
Rod Evans is a Caymanian police officer with a passion for fitness. As a Level 2 CrossFit instructor, he has earned the CF Scaling, CF Spot the Flaw and CF Judges course certificates. He believes that the psychology of sport and fitness training play a vital role in the success of any program.
Rod specialises in weight loss, body composition and overall body strength development to improve clients’ range of motion and enhanced muscle gain. Recently, he has been able to turn his hobby into a business by opening a gym in The Strand on Seven Mile Beach, called School of Fitness.
What inspired you to open the gym?
I’ve been a police officer for 18 years and during that time, I’ve been helping people. It’s a great personal feeling to be able to assist people. This is another method for me to help people.
What made you exercise more seriously and make a career out of it?
I’ve been exercising for over 25 years, and then I found CrossFit which gets deeper into movements, keeping safe when exercising, and explaining how the body works, foundational movements; it was very interesting to me and made me want to learn a lot more.
What were your biggest challenges to date when opening the gym, and how have you addressed them?
My biggest challenges were just trying to link up with people on the outside, letting them know that this is not a ploy to get money, that I’m really doing this from my heart. I want to be able to help people. It’s been challenging to communicate to the public that here I am, I’m here to help.
Who or what inspires you and how does it feed into your work?
My previous CrossFit boss, the owner of World Gym, he’s giving me an opportunity to coach his classes at times, and I’ve been doing that for four years. I’m grateful and appreciative of what he’s done; it’s made me a better person, it’s made me open up and gave me a platform to speak in public to groups of people.
What do you enjoy about being a trainer?
Again, it’s helping people reach their goals. Showing people how to have fun and get fit. Helping people to love their bodies and feel confident in their skin.
What are your goals for opening the gym?
My goal is to create a community, a family, not just with my gyms, but also the other gyms. My gym is a CrossFit gym, but for me, it’s not about my gym doing better than your gym, it’s about all of us reaching that goal to help make people fitter. For people who are interested in CrossFit, I would be more than happy to sit down and talk about it, to explain it more. It’s all about building up your abilities and getting you to be the strongest you can be.
What advice would you give to other gym enthusiasts who want to transition their passion into a business?
My advice would be: just go for it, if it’s something you love, something you know in your heart that you want to pursue, then nothing should stop you. I’m not a big fan of studying, but because I loved it so much, I tried and tried again until I got it.
Where do you see yourself and the gym, in five years?
In five years, I want to be out there not just helping younger people and able people, I am very interested in helping the elderly. I want to help older people to maintain muscle mass and keep their bodies moving.
For more information about Rod’s gym, School of Fitness, please visit https://schooloffitnesscayman.com/