Today we’d like to introduce you to Curtis Starks.
Hi Curtis, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started my career in 1995 at the NorthEast YMCA as a counselor. I enjoyed working with the kids and the Community. I noticed that I had a special pull toward fitness. I played four levels of football and never thought about becoming a personal trainer. After being a counselor at the YMCA for a while, I moved into the fitness area and it felt so natural. I can remember when I was younger like the age of ten, my great grandmother lived with us. She was my angel and with her I could do no wrong. Well one day after school, I came home and checked on her as I always did and she said fine. I finished my homework and went out to play with my friends. Once I came home, there were paramedics at my home. My great grandmother had fallen and broken her hip. Long sorry short, I promised her at the age of 10 that I would help her walk again and I would help anyone who needs my help to get better and that was the promise I made to her. Fast forward if you believe in speaking things into existence, that’s exactly what I do for a living. Change lives and it’s all because of her. Back to the YMCA experience. Once I moved into the fitness department, I just knew and told everyone that would listen to me is that I would one day own my own gym, and that was back in 1996. Well after a few bumps in the road, life lessons, a recession, and pandemic I’m still here in 2022. I thank God for that.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The road of course hasn’t been smooth. I mean Micheal Jordan lost to the Detroit Pistons before he became a champion. His road wasn’t smooth at all. Some of my early struggles were figuring out how to run a successful consistence business. I have so many examples and stories of rough roads. I mean, I’ve had to file bankruptcy, employees have stolen from me, not being able to pay rent at one time, make payroll in the past, and not able to pay myself for months to name a few. So many people want to start their own business but they have no idea what that is, what it takes, the sleepless nights, the broke holidays, the sacrifice just to be called a business owner. They just see the finish product but they don’t see the work. I think one of my biggest obstacles was about two years ago, I decided to try something different so I closed my business. Yes, I closed the doors after 20 plus years. I will not get into the details why I closed my doors but what I will tell you is that I had to re established my business from nothing. I had zero, no gym, no home, no business, nothing. This was the most humbling experience ever. It’s two types of people in the world. People that think about making it happen and people that make it happen. I wrote out a 30 day plan and reopened my fitness studio and we are delivering all types of fitness programs, online fitness programs and now Corporate wellness programs. So sometimes when you have struggles, they are necessary growing pains before you can become a champion.
We’ve been impressed with Train & Burn Fitness Studio, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
TRAIN & BURN FITNESS STUDIO is a semi-private personal training gym that’s located downtown Birmingham. Semi-private personal training is where you train 2-4 people max in a session. I feel like this is very affordable and effective for people that can’t afford one on one sessions with a personal trainer. What makes us so different is that we don’t offer big classes where there are 10-15 people or even 24 people. I think this is ridiculous because when it’s that many people, you can give attention to detail and someone can get hurt and it’s impossible to coach correct form with that many people. The TRAIN & BURN FITNESS STUDIO Brand is all about helping you reach attainable goals by creating sustainable habits so you can live longer and play harder. We are a one shop stop for fitness, nutrition and supplementation. We also for those who want to avoid the gym, busy moms, busy dads and fitness professionals, we offer online virtual training.
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
The most important lesson I’ve learn is that I know what my SHAPE is. The word S.H.A.P.E is the acronym for Spiritual Gift, Heart, Ability, Physical, Experience. See once you learn your shape, you will stop fighting and struggling with what you are supposed to be during and your purpose. You will learn what God wants you to do. When I learned this lesson, it allowed me to be laser-focused on my journey which is helping God’s child be healthy. The S represents your spiritual gifts. Mine is the gift of encouragement. The letter H represents your Heart. It’s your passion for what you do. The letter A represents your ability for having the ability to do what you do. The letter P represents Physical and the letter E represents your experiences you have in what you do. Once I learn this and how to apply it to what I love to do, I now walk in my purpose.
Contact Info:
- Email: trainandburn@yahoo.com
- Website: http://www.trainandburn.com
- Instagram: @trainwithcstarks
- Facebook: curtisstarks
