Today we’d like to introduce you to Tim Caron.
Hi Tim, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I was a college strength and conditioning coach for over a decade. I worked at Springfield College, Georgia Tech University, University of Southern California, and Army West Point. My time at USC, I was able to connect with two of our athletes on the football team and form a connection with: Cody Romness and Steve Blackhart.
A common thread I experienced was working with athletes in college raised their expectations of training only to met with nothing in commercial fitness market that could compare. Cody and Steve reached out to me with a proposition to solve this problem. We wanted to open a gym that could compare to their experience they had in college as D1 athletes.
This spawned Allegiate in 2017. We opened our first facility in Redondo Beach which has been going strong ever since. In this past year, we are able to open our second location in Santa Monica.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Struggle is a part of it for sure. The idea that anything worth having is going to take some hard work is real. Not to sound corny but the struggle is the part that makes it important. By no means am I seeking out hard things to make more interesting. Just when you have big aspirations and want to make a significant impact with the world around you, there is going to be some level of sacrifice.
Being a coach and small business owner is incredibly challenging. There is no easy way to do this. Long hours, lots of complex problems, working with so many different people and servicing their individual needs is not an easy task. Amplify all that with covid and makes an impossible task exponentially harder. But that is the difference in my mind. The willingness to embrace the challenge and push forward.
I have a family that is depending on me to push through. We have 25 employees that are depending on myself and my partners to push through. We have 100s of members that are expecting us to push through. The struggle does not define my actions, but it definitely lets me know I am on the right track.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Allegiate?
We are the best in the world in Group Based Strength Training. I am convinced of this. As I have said, I have worked in the team setting with D1 college sports over a decade. This is the highest pressure environment within our profession (imagine the NY stock exchange with every broker running around with flame throwers). Every day you are risk of losing your job. Every day you pushing the razor’s edge to increase performance while keeping million dollar athletes safe. There is no easy aspect of that job.
My boss would tell me everyday “you know how many people want your job?” My assistant S&C position at Georgia Tech or USC would get 100s of resumes when open. My head position at Army West Point would get 1000s of resumes. Getting the job is incredibly hard. On top of that keeping that job maybe even harder. Is that cutthroat mentality of college S&C applied in the commercial fitness space?
From what I have seen, I do not believe that is true. I honestly believe every gym wants to help people. This is should be the most important reason as to why you train someone. But I do not believe people are getting up everyday and working like their job is in jeopardy. This is important because it forces myself and our coaches to work relentlessly to provide the best experience, the safest training environment, and most effective training plan possible.
Allegiate is a gym that was forged in the crucible of college S&C. My partners were walk on athletes fighting for playing time. I was their S&C coach trying to help them on their path. We apply that same mentality to our members. The picture is being painted as this high intensity-extreme training environment. Which it is, just not the way you maybe thinking it is.
Detach from the visual of a S&C coach screaming at someone. Instead insert an image of coach that is helping each individual no matter what their current level or background achieve something great. I mentioned safety as what we are fighting for, first rule do no harm. We live by this, we only choose things that we feel are safe and effective. If you have never lifted a weight before, it is not a problem we have a safe effective solution. If you were a professional athlete, it is not a problem we have solution for you.
I coached yesterday from 5am-8pm, small business owners out there know why. In that day, I had over a 100 people I coached. I had some people that was literally their first day ever lifting a weight. I had D1 strength coaches, physical therapists, and former D1 athletes all training in one group together. I had private training client that was able to get their first pullup. I had a functional movement screen that we found several issues and gave them exercise options that were going to make their program better. The list goes on, the point is that Allegiate is committed to providing the highest quality training possible and I believe that comes from a mindset that everything matters.
What matters most to you?
My family, my friends is the obvious answer. I cannot express how fortunate I am have to have the people in my life that I do. A second answer is integrity. I personally want people to think of me as a person that does what he says. I want my family knows and feels that they are my most important priority. I want my friends to know that I will be loyal to them and will serve them to the best of my ability. I want the people that come to Allegiate or former athletes that I will do my absolute best based on my current level of knowledge and ability to help them. Integrity is something that I really value. People can say what they want about me which is not easy to hear if it’s bad, but I hope they all feel that I with strong integrity and can be counted on.
Contact Info:
- Email: tim@allegiategym.com
- Website: allegiategym.com
- Instagram: coachtimcaron
- Facebook: timcaron1421
- Youtube: 89191761
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/allegiate-gym-redondo-beach-2
