Michael Piercy fell in love with fitness coaching during his impressive career as a major league baseball player. During his time playing for three major league organizations, he started writing programs for his fellow athletes, and his passion was ignited. 

After retiring from professional athletics, Piercy went on to build an incredible career as a dedicated and highly educated fitness professional. He received his master’s in Exercise Science and Health Promotion, plus 41 different advanced certifications, including Certified Personal Trainer (ACE and NASM), Certified Strength & Conditioning Coach with Distinction (CSCS*D), TRX Senior Master Course Instructor, and many, many more.

Piercy’s dedication to his craft and exceptional coaching skills earned him accolades early and often, including the 2017 IDEA Personal Trainer of the Year award and the 2013 TRX Overall Instructor of the Year award (F.A.C.E.U.P), which recognized his great attitude, community spirit, and inspirational teaching.  

Never one to rest on his laurels, he went on to open the LAB in 2012, a specialty performance gym touted as New Jersey’s Premier Destination for Elite Performance and Premium Fitness Services. Coach360 spoke with Piercy about his motivations for opening his own gym, his advice for new owners, and why he believes mentorship is the most important ingredient in any fitness business venture. Keep reading about the challenges and benefits of coaching athletes and his number one piece of advice for coaches and fitness business owners. 

1. What was the turning point or motivation for you to move from being a coach to aspiring to be a gym owner?

The truth is I don’t think I will ever move on from being a coach. I think being a facility owner is just another hat I wear. In truth I feel like it’s an elevation of the role. When I first started it was about mastering my craft, tools and technique to help athletes get better. With being a founder, it was a great opportunity to be able to create a drive for a total philosophy in the way that athletes can be served. That for me is an extremely attractive proposition.

2. What was the impetus for you to create The Lab? What was the journey of its creation?

The Impetus for creating The LAB was a feeling that athletes of all levels should have an environment that allows them to become the best version of themselves, no matter what the level.

The journey started while I was still playing Professional sports. Seeing that there was a gap in what was being offered to athletes. I wanted to create an atmosphere that not only created and posted drills and workouts. I wanted to have a space that served the complete needs of the athlete, From the mental side of sport, the athlete grind, to the newest cutting-edge techniques, equipment and World class level coaching.

Around the time my career was ending I was working for a big box health club and training a good number of athletes from Pro to the youth levels. Combined with my own experiences and providing services for that clientele. I wanted to create something that was unique to the Performance training space.

3. What void is The Lab serving within the health, fitness, and wellness industry?  What differentiates the brand?

The LAB is not just a place where athlete’s train. We consider ourselves to more of an athlete family. A collective of athletes and motivated coaches looking to help each other become their best daily.

What differentiates The LAB is our devotion to serving the total athlete and looking to provide everything that is needed for the athlete to be their very best when their best is needed. Its bigger than drills and workouts, those you can get anywhere. It’s about helping athletes of all levels have access to what they need to reach the next level, not just in sport but in life as well.

4. I’m a trainer, how will The Lab help with my career development?

The LAB is a home for coaches that are looking to develop themselves to be the best of the best in their field. You can’t ask your athletes to push themselves towards constant improvement if you’re not willing to do the same.

We help our coaches by helping them design a comprehensive roadmap and individual path that helps define where they want to go in the field.

Then it is our job to help them realize these goals by providing Mentorship, in-house education offerings as well as access to gold standard education from some of the industry’s most respected education providers.

5. What differentiates your member experience?

Our membership experience is unique in that we provide a service dedicated to the total athlete. Geared towards creating a comprehensive profile for each athlete and providing each with the tools to fortify their strengths and improve their weaknesses.

Growing up as an athlete on my journey I have been blessed to have coaches that cared about not only my development as an athlete but also my development as a human being. The coaches that really extended themselves created a safe space for me to develop. Some of which I still talk to regularly to this day.

It is our goal to create a space for our athletes, not just one they come into to lift some weights and jump on boxes, but a place that they see as an athlete family. We grind together and we rise together.

6.  Transitioning from a coach to a gym owner is a significant leap. What were some of the biggest challenges you faced during this transition? How did you overcome these challenges?

Like a lot of sole ownership founders obtaining capital to get your project off the ground can be challenging. Not coming from an environment with abundant access to funding and capital resources made for some tough days. To overcome those challenges, I made it an effort to try to be creative in terms of securing things in need for the business. This could be bartering for services or developing brand partnerships.

Bootstrapping and trying to be as smart as possible about expenses and equipment purchases proved to be a vital component.

7. What kind of support and resources did you find most valuable during your journey to becoming an entrepreneur/owner?

I’m a huge believer in coaching and mentorships. If you can get some help on your road as an entrepreneur, you can hopefully avoid some of the pitfalls that may come your way.

Getting a great coach can give you the benefit of learning from someone else’s experience and teachings they may have learned along their own journey. It can pay extreme dividends in helping you to avoid having to learn from your own mistakes.

I would also suggest doing a SWOT analysis and investing in yourself by studying the areas that you might be weak in. Having a firm understanding of your own strengths will help you understand what help you will need as your organization develops.

8. Based on your experiences, what advice would you give to coaches or gym managers considering the path to entrepreneur/gym ownership?

The best advice I would give to those considering fitness entrepreneurship is to have a firm grip and understanding of your “Why?”. If someone looks at social media it can give the impression that it is a glamorous road, but it can be a tough road that requires passion and resilience. Understanding your “why” can help you make it through some of the dark less glamorous moments.

Also, one of the most important pieces of advice I could give is to ask for help. When starting and attempting to build an organization, things can get tough. It can be the tendency of owners to isolate and attempt to do it all themselves, but asking for help can make the difference sometimes between reaching the next level vs. closing shop.

9. Now that you are an owner, what aspects of your role bring you the most satisfaction? How do you measure success in your business?

The thing that brings me the most satisfaction is after 12 years seeing the vision come to life and the impact it has had on the athletes that have grown thru our programs and have gone on to do great things and become not only great athletes but great people.

I measure success by how many athletes and coaches would tell you that their lives have been better because of the time they spent in The LAB. It makes me proud for us to have been an important part of their athletic journey.