Community Highlights: Meet Kasey Weldon of The Lab Training Club LLC

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kasey Weldon

Hi Kasey, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Caitlin Artis and I both own The Lab Training Club LLC (The Lab) and Thrive Volleyball Club – both established in 2023. They fall under the same company but consist of two branches: 1) Group Training and 2) Club Volleyball.

The Lab is where we offer skills clinics, in-house leagues, and private lessons. Our sister organization, Thrive Volleyball Club, offers competitive youth travel club teams that compete in regional and national tournaments.

Where it all started – well, Caitlin Artis, my fiancee and business partner, started coaching club volleyball over 10 years ago. During the course of that time, Caitlin became a veteran coach where she worked and began building a reputation. Parents from all over the Los Angeles area and Antelope Valley would seek out private lessons with her for their children – she was constantly booked out. When each month would open up for people to book, her lessons would be sold out for that month within 24 hours, sometimes much quicker than that.

When her and I met, I was a “baby-preneur” (baby entrepreneur). I had gotten my Master’s Degree in Filmmaking and was working on and off as an independent contractor for various companies and low budget productions. I knew I wanted to start my own business at some point but wasn’t exactly sure what that meant for me yet.

Over time, I had started noticing that her workplace wasn’t the best environment for her. Growth opportunities were limited for her, and the environment grew toxic. It felt like the owner was exploiting his coaches/employees – not paying them for hours worked, not taking safety within the facility seriously, and there were other financial situations within the business that didn’t feel “right” to her. Overall, it was quite a manipulative environment and I kept telling her we needed to create an exit strategy for her.

This is when we truly started The Lab Training Club LLC which would provide volleyball specific group training opportunities for youth athletes in the area. We began renting a court from a local church but they only had availability for us on weekends. Nonetheless, the business began to steadily grow. Caitlin felt it was only right to inform her employer (at the time) of our new business. It didn’t go over so well as they expressed it was a competing business. Caitlin tried to pitch collaboration ideas but they were shut down. She was given three options: 1) quit the new business and stay employed there, 2) bring our programs to their business and receive a considerate pay increase to run them, or 3) leave their company and continue our business. After much counsel, we learned that they were ultimately wrongfully terminating her to give her such a dilemma but given the reaction to our plans, her and I both knew it was best for her to leave.

It was the peak of the summer and Caitlin’s private lessons were still booked out but now didn’t have a gym to run them. Renting any local gyms solely for lessons would leave us with nothing as rental costs are high. We had to set up a grass court at a local park to still allow her to train. The great thing is that people still came and she was still booked out even on the grass. Some days would be well into the 100s but Caitlin didn’t back down and the kids still wanted to work. We did our best to make it a “vibe” and create a cool experience for them but now, I had to kick it into high gear to find her a court and really pour fuel on the fire of this baby business.

The next step for us was to start a volleyball club. We would continue group training on the weekends at the court we had access to but that, financially, wasn’t enough to live off of. After leaving her last club, we had exactly 2 months to put teams together and find a volleyball court to put them on. I was calling every place possible – schools, churches, sports facilities, you name it. Some had no time available and some were way out of budget. We really had to hope and believe something was coming for us because we were going all in expecting to make 2 teams no matter what. It was such a relief when we found something. It was a small court that was just enough but they didn’t have volleyball equipment or pole sockets for the volleyball poles. Thankfully, we had a successful summer group training through The Lab and had just enough to outfit the court with what we needed, buy all of the equipment, and we were off! This was the start of Thrive for us.

We had a great first season as a club but, financially, we were still scraping the bottom of the barrel. Thankfully, club season ends at the start of summer so we were ready to ramp up our summer programs using the court at the church. We sold out nearly all of our programs time and time again. Still, we knew summer would be over soon and we would be limited to only having weekends again at the church. Because we had such a successful summer, we were able to begin leasing our own facility in May 2024 and building our own court. This allowed us to grow in our second season from 2 teams to 5 teams; and this is where we are now.

Over time, we’ve also constantly tested and created new programs through The Lab that were not only different than our competitors but provided a more engaging and individualized approach. This has really helped us maximize on those programs even though majority of them are still held only on the weekends.

It’s needless to say that our journey isn’t over. We are still in the very beginning stages of the bigger picture but we have built a strong foundation for ourselves. After 8 months, we already need more court space and are constantly looking for our next 2 court facility. Just as the last one came to us at the perfect time, we have faith that the next one will do the same.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Definitely not but I will say that it could have been harder. I attribute so much of our immediate success to the reputation that Caitlin built. It was what helped us get our start. Club volleyball isn’t cheap. If we had started this as “unknowns”, people would be extremely hesitant to invest so much money in us. It would have been very difficult and we probably wouldn’t have been able to attract quality volleyball players.

Other struggles that come to mind – one is commercial real estate. That’s been a journey in itself. For some reason we dealt with a lot of flakey realtors or realtors that didn’t seem very motivated. To top it off, there are many building owners that don’t want sports in their facility so sometimes we would find a perfect unit but the owner would deny our use.

The last thing is just that everything relies on you, the business owner. Your clients, your employees, everything. Some days can be extremely overwhelming because, in the beginning, you are the only one running every little detail. Some days I would just have to let out a cry because things weren’t working out or I had to juggle a million things while Caitlin was off working in the gym. Thankfully, those days are much fewer now that we have a staff.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
I think what sets us apart is our attention to detail. We truly care about our product and how our clients perceive us. Our product isn’t solely providing volleyball. Our “product” is everything from the volleyball training we offer to the environment of our gym to how we communicate with our athletes and their parents. Every thing our clients experience in relation to our business IS our product. I don’t think other volleyball clubs see it that way.

We really emphasize culture first and foremost. Every athlete matters to us – it’s not just the star player who gets all the attention or the top teams that we want to make great. We care about everyone in our gym at every level. Their growth matters to us and I think that’s what attracts so many kids to our club. They want a coach that adopts their goals with them and a place where they feel safe to fail and succeed. That’s what we try to offer every single day.

Brand wise, I’m most proud of our coaches that uphold the standard, quality, and culture that Caitlin and I have set. We knew that to be able to compete with other established clubs, clubs that have been in business for 10-15 years, we would have to set the bar high. Our coaches have always been up for that challenge. They have been flexible and adaptable. We don’t go easy on them but I think they understand why and they embrace it. I couldn’t be more thankful for our staff. At the end of the day, they are now the ones who keep people coming through our doors. Caitlin is only able to staff a fraction of our programs now. The rest is on them and our Lead Coaches, and assistants, have stepped up to take on those responsibilities and give our athletes a unique experience.

Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
I feel like the advice always depends on the goal but I would say find a great business partner. It’s extremely hard to do it all yourself. Thankfully, my business partner is my life partner and we have great communication (most of them time haha) but finding someone you trust and someone that can bring value to your idea is priceless. On that same note, you have to be careful because there are people who might talk a big game but aren’t willing to put in the work, or people who are looking to take advantage of a big dreamer. Not everyone will find that perfect business partner so, for that, I say you just have to be willing to do the work and put in long hours. Also, read books and educate yourself! Thankfully my Master’s Degree really helped me grow the business – in that program, we produced short film after short film which really is like starting a bunch of small businesses. As far as sales and marketing, I read about 5 or 6 different books that really helped me in those areas.

For anyone starting a business, I’d say your right of passage should be reading:
• The E-Myth Revisited
• Marketing Made Simple
• Business Made Simple (really any Donald Miller books, they’re great).

And then just stick with it, and remember that the hard times are just growing pains. I like to call it “earning our stripes”. We have to do the hard stuff to earn the glory.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.thelabtrainingclub.com
• Instagram: @thelabvolleyball -and/or- @thrive_volleyballclub