Brian Way took a small hardcore gym and turned it into a $130K/month brand by making it authentic, inclusive, and impossible to ignore. In this episode of The Gym Owner’s Podcast, Anthony Pasquale and Natalia Schulte sit down with Iron City Gym's owner for a powerful conversation about gym ownership, culture, branding, leadership, and scaling a fitness business without losing its identity. Brian shares how he first came into Iron City Gym as a member, became a trainer, built relationships with the previous owners, and eventually took the leap into ownership. Brian admits he was intimidated by the idea of leading a hardcore bodybuilding facility. Instead of trying to become someone else, he leaned into his own strengths: vision, creativity, people, and culture. Hear how Brian transformed Iron City Gym from a small hardcore gym into a larger, more inclusive fitness brand while still keeping the edgy, authentic atmosphere that made it special. He explains why bodybuilders help create the gym’s credibility and energy, but why a gym also has to serve everyday members if it wants to grow. Anthony, Natalia, and Brian also discuss the importance of leading by example. Brian talks about cleaning equipment, knowing the business from the ground up, making the space his own, building a team, and creating a culture where members feel seen, valued, and comfortable. The ep also covers social media, TikTok, influencer content, member-generated videos, personal training revenue, hiring from the member base, team meetings, and why training can be one of the biggest missed revenue opportunities for a gym. Later, Brian shares how he handles difficult members, uncomfortable behavior, complaints, second chances, and protecting the member experience. He explains how direct conversations can sometimes turn problem members into strong promoters, while still making it clear that safety and respect come first. The episode wraps with a guided tour of Iron City Gym, including its expanded layout, branding, apparel, smoothie bar plans, posing room, turf area, equipment, and the personal touches that make the facility feel like a true destination. For gym owners, operators, trainers, and fitness entrepreneurs, this episode is a real-world look at what happens when a gym owner builds with passion, leads from the front, protects the culture, and turns a facility into something people want to belong to. In This Episode: How Brian went from member and trainer to gym ownerOvercoming fear of owning a hardcore gymScaling Iron City Gym to roughly $130K/monthMaking a hardcore gym feel more inclusiveWhy culture starts with the ownerBalancing bodybuilders with everyday membersWhy bodybuilders create atmosphere but do not always pay the billsBuilding a gym around authenticity and passionUsing social media and member content for growthTurning members and influencers into organic promotersMissed personal training revenue opportunitiesHiring from the member baseBuilding a team that believes in the gymHandling difficult members and complaintsProtecting female member comfortGiving second chances without losing controlTouring Iron City Gym’s layout, equipment, posing room, turf, apparel, and future smoothie barConnect with Brian Way and Iron City Gym: YouTube: @IronCityGym Connect with Gym Insight: If you own a gym, studio, or fitness facility and want help managing memberships, billing, access, reporting, and daily operations, visit GymInsight.com or call 855-367-4967. The Gym Owner’s Podcast is powered by Gym Insight.
