Meet Carrie Tobias | CrossFit Gym Owner, Personal Trainer

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

Hi Carrie, what is the most important factor behind your success?
My husband Michael and I started our business in 2013. At the time we were 22 and 23 years old, he had recently graduated college at Texas A&M University and I was still enrolled in college taking classes at Lonestar College. The opportunity to start our gym was unexpectedly brought to us. We had been coaching and working out at another local gym in the area, this was when CrossFit was still very new and not many people had been introduced to it at the time. Another local gym owner reached out to Michael and I with a unique opportunity, She owned and ran a private gym in Hockley Tx and she loved the idea of Crossfit training and wanted to bring the program to her gym. Since she did not have knowledge in the program she reached out to us to come start a Crossfit program at her facility. We were both so eager and excited to have the opportunity to bring Crossfit style training to our area! We started out in a 1500 square foot building with zero members and big dreams of growing our gym and community into something great that could help change peoples lives. We had no knowledge on the business side of owning a gym, it took many month and years of leaning and trial and error to develop the business we have now but I feel our success is 100% from our passion and want to bring this life changing program and lifestyle to the masses.

One of the best aspects of CrossFit is the community behind it. We knew we needed to develop a community where people of all ages, ability levels and fitness goals could come together and feel accepted and welcomed becuase working out can be intimidating! But also be encouraged to prioritize their heath and fitness. Early on we made it a priority to invest in every single person who walked through our doors, to make a personal connection with each one and in turn gain their trust. Making a lifestyle change is challenging!! It takes hard work and dedication over a long period of time.

After about 8 months of running group CrossFit Classes in our small starter gym we out grow the space and looked to move into our second facility which was a 3200 square foot building in Cypress. We moved into that location in 2014, thats when Man Made CrossFit really started to take off. As we grew in members we never lost focus of our main mission, invest and develop a personal connection with every person who walked through our doors. We did not get distracted on “the member base numbers” we always said if we have a gym of only 20 people we are going to do whatever we can to make those 20 people the best they can be! We were and are determined to help people reach their goals and achieve results. As of last year we have out grown our building once again and moved to our current facility which is a 6000 square foot building. We now have a member base of 130 plus and are continuing to grow. One of the things we are most proud of is our retention rate. We have so many members who have been apart of our gym and community for 2,3, even 4 plus years. We now run 6-7 classes a day with average 10-20 people. We have brought on a staff of 5 other dedicated coaches to help us run our gym. One of the biggest differences in our gym and program is we develop a personalized experience for each of our members, We know every single athlete, their goals and fitness level. We wanted to make sure that we are not just running people through a workout but also educating them. We teach them how to live and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Our coaches are hands on the entire class teaching proper exercise form and mechanics but also instructing proper intention and intensity for each workout. We make sure that when people join Man Made CrossFit they are achieving results and benefiting from our program both inside and outside of the gym. The community we have developed is like no other! We truly are one big family and we have our amazing coaches and members to thank for that.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Before starting my gym I was very unsure what I wanted to do professionally with my life. I always had a hard time in school, I wasn’t the best test taker and also had a tough time staying focused in a classroom setting. I used to always say “I will never have a 9-5”! All growing up I was very interested in sports, thats all I wanted to do! But It wasn’t until I started CrossFit training that i realized its what I wanted to do for a career.

I started off learning from my husband, (at the time we were very young and just friends/dating) but I spent almost every day with him in the gym. He is extremely smart and an incredible coach/trainer with a great understanding of human biomechanics and exercise science. When we decided to start our own gym I took a couple courses and became a certified personal trainer and CrossFit coach. But I truly believe I am the coach and trainer I am today from the many years of hands on experience I have obtained.

I also have found great success in competing in the sport of Crossfit which I feel has given me the skills and experiences that a lot of coaches do not get the opportunity to experience. I even achieved one of my biggest athletic goals of making and competing in the CrossFit games this year!

I remember back when we were starting out, when we first moved into our second building, we put every penny we had into the gym and hoped for the best. There were nights that classes were empty.. there were days we feared we wouldn’t make it but our persistance, love for crossfit and people kept us going!! We never forgot our mission, invest in every single person who walks through our door and help them achieve their goals. And sure enough each person we made an impact with referred us to someone they knew and the process continued!

The biggest blessing my carrer has brought me is the many relationships and people I have met and been introduced to. So many different people from all different walks of life have entered and trained at my gym. I am so lucky to have a job were everyday I get to talk to people and learn from people. Through competing in CrossFit I have also had the opportunity to travel and meet people while competing.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would dedicate our overall success to our members, for trusting us, supporting us, referring their family and friends to us and helping us grow our gym/community to what it is today. Also in recent years we have brought in a partner to our business. Her name is Krystal Nail. She stared at Man Made as a member of ours about 4 years ago. Krystal came in with goals of getting in shape and achieving a healthier lifestyle after having 4 kids. She became a huge part of our community right off the bat and is also one of our biggest success stories. She has a professional background and knowledge in the corporate and marketing world beyond what Michael and I had. We decided to become partners in recent months when we made the move to our bigger building. It was one of the very best decisions we have ever made for our business. She has not only helped us substantially with coaching and running the classes but on the marketing side of business as well. We work so well as a team and are so thankful and excited to continue growing with her

Website: manmadecrossfit.com

Instagram: @carrie_tobias

Image Credits
Chase Morales Brittany Phillips