Meet Sebastien Lutomski | Parkour Gym Owner & Coach

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sebastien Lutomski and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sebastien, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
There is definitely a hole in the Houston market for parkour if it’s the 4th largest city in America and doesn’t have a major, indoor parkour gym. If Believe Commit Achieve can be successful in the Woodlands, I can be successful in Houston.

I want to create a space that encourages people to be motivated by more wholesome things like training and self-improvement.

What should our readers know about your business?
I am so excited to give Houston families a place to learn and experience the art of parkour. Everything is so much better with community and especially parkour. I’m so proud to be able to facilitate the growth of a parkour community and philosophy.

I got to where I am business-wise by the support and example of others and the luck of finding a good venue.

The hardest part about opening this gym was pulling all the various pieces together. And finding the pieces. Not knowing how many puzzle pieces I would need.

It was not easy. Every step of the way, there was so much mystery and so many options on how to do any given thing. I struggle with analysis paralysis and this venture has been a great kick in the butt to make decisions faster.

Reaching out to others for help was great but seldom gives you a perfect answer so there were all kinds of micro leaps of faith to make up the macro leap of faith.

Starting weekly classes outside definitely spread out a lot of the learning. I was able to practice using tools like software and advertising without the pressure of any overhead costs or build deadlines.
Getting excited over small victories really pushed me to keep going. For example: “4 people actually showed up to my first outdoor class!” “Someone actually committed for 5 weeks!”

I’ve learned not to be so quick to give up on an idea. It’s easy to see loads of potential issues and risk in anything but there is so much experimenting and research you can do before you make a big commitment like signing a lease or quitting your job.

If you’re curious about parkour, my goal for you at Stride Parkour Academy is to tap into your sense of adventure and see training like playing.

Parkour has given me so much joy, purpose, and many life-tools. I long to share that with others. I want for people to come see what parkour can do for you.
We can always train parkour outside however, everything is better with community and I know a lot of parents feel better about encouraging their kids in parkour knowing there is a professional guiding them.

Parkour is a martial art. It has a philosophy of self-observation and confronting your fears. This is how you cultivate more peace, love, and health for yourself and those around you. This is my goal for Stride Parkour Academy.

Upon graduating high school, I immediately began traveling internationally in search of adventure. Though I found a lot, I noticed that traveling was a lot better when I was feeling healthy and doing parkour. Training began to take priority. I started to feel that I didn’t need plane tickets to feel free.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
My favorite part about Houston is how friendly the people are. The most important thing I would show them is how easy it is to strike up a conversation with somebody wherever we go.

Some of these depend on when and how far the guest is coming from.

Here are some spots:

NASA
Mariachi at a mexican restaurant
Houston farmers market in Airline
Numbers night club
Thrifting on Westhiemer
Rodeo or a country music show
Stampede (or anywhere you can 2-step)
The Big Easy
Lights in the Heights
Wheeler baptist church
Harley Davidson dealer
Bat bridge at Waugh

As for parkour spots we have:

Sesquicentennial park
The medical center
Tranquility park
Rice University
University of Houston

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My parents, my girlfriend, my sister, the founders of Believe Commit Achieve, my mentors at Two-Brain Business, the parkour gym owners Facebook group, Jerry Garza, Cameron Deer, Houston Gymnastics Center, and the Houston parkour community.

Website: https://brand.page/StrideParkour

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stride.parkour/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100095202041837

Other: https://strideparkouracademy.pushpress.com/open/interested