Today we’d like to introduce you to Brad & Santina Tatum.
Hi Brad & Santina, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Hi everyone, we are Brad and Santina – owners of The Jump Lab. We recently took ownership of the gym from the founder, Ben Quek, who moved on to pursue other ventures. We fell in love with the mission of The Jump Lab the first time we heard about it, and we knew this was something special that we wanted to be a part of. There is nothing more fulfilling than helping young people realize they can reach their goals if they push themselves past their perceived limitations!
A little About Brad:
I was born and raised in Aurora, Colorado where I played all sports, all the time until high school, when I focused on football and baseball. I attended The University of Miami, FL ang majored in engineering. This was shortly after 9/11 and I have a long family history of military service, so I pivoted in and became a Marine officer after graduating. It was here in college that I met and fell in love with my beautiful wife, Santina who has been the most amazing partner along this journey of life. After we got married we were stationed at Camp Pendleton, where I deployed twice in support of The Global War on Terror. After my second deployment I decided to leave active duty but have stayed in the reserves for over 20 years now. I used the GI Bill to get my MBA and a second masters degree and I finally got around to using my engineering degree and have been in the aerospace industry since 2010. We had our first child in 2014 and our second in 2017, and after Covid my daughter got really into baseball so I decided to coach her team, where I realized just how much I love helping kids achieve their dreams. After three straight trips to the championship, it was time to take a step back, and that’s when Santina and I met Ben and The Jump Lab. He was looking for partners and with my management experience and education, along with Santina’s deep process knowledge and insatiable passion for fitness, we knew we found our calling. It was terrifying taking ownership of The Jump Lab and keeping it’s stellar reputation intact, but we have hit our stride and I am so excited to see how The Jump Lab continues to grow throughout the Pasadena, and soon, other LA Area communities!
A little about Santina:
I grew up in Sanford, Maine – a daughter to two immigrants. My father was a South Vietnamese Navy SEAL who escaped Saigon when the NVA took it and was flown to an aircraft carrier by US forces. He was given a visa and set down in Long Beach, but he had heard that Maine was beautiful so he picked up and made it all the way across the country. My mom emigrated from Germany to the East Coast and similarly ended up in Maine. My father started practicing taekwondo and fell in love with it and reaching 5th degree black belt and competing internationally. He started his own school where my brother and I trained for years, reaching 2nd degree black belts. His traditional teaching style instilled in me the discipline to fight through discomfort and to never give up. I wanted to get out of the cold, so I applied to and got into The University of Miami, and knew that’s where I was going. I met Brad there while we both studied engineering. While he was going through Marine officer training I stayed and got my Master’s in Aerospace Engineering and then we moved to Southern California. While Brad was on deployment I worked in aerospace and taught at a local taekwondo studio. After he left active duty I started working at a major aerospace company and worked my way up the technical leadership ranks. But when Brad brought me information about The Jump Lab, it spoke to me in a deep way. My father passed away last year around the same time, and I knew it was his way of telling me that I was meant to do something meaningful and give back to young people in the same way he did. I have always had a passion for fitness, so helping take The Jump Lab to the next level was something that excites me. We are so excited to be part of something so special to so many people, and can’t wait to bring The Jump Lab to other communities as well!
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
We faced some early challenges, including getting to know the area and the local schools and clubs that make the Pasadena area thrive. We also had a very scary beginning to 2025 with the Eaton fire getting within a mile of the facility and many legacy clients’ homes damaged or destroyed. The first quarter of 2025 was nerve racking, trying to stay afloat and attract a large body of new families from less affected areas. We weathered that storm and the second quarter of 2025 has been very strong and we are excited about what the future holds.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about The Jump Lab?
At The Jump Lab in Pasadena, we fuse sports science with an electrifying, coach-led atmosphere to help athletes aged 8–18 unlock their full potential—whether that means earning a D1 scholarship, making varsity, or simply building lifelong confidence through movement. Our facility is outfitted top-to-bottom with Rogue and other high end gym equipment and performance measurement tech, but what truly sets us apart is our team of credentialed performance coaches and former D1 athletes who deliver unlimited, data-driven sessions under an innovative membership model. Every workout is personalized, measured, and tracked, so families can see real progress in vertical jump, speed, strength, and agility. Yet we’re just as proud of our culture as our numbers: a tight-knit, high-energy community where work ethic, academic excellence, and character come first. From scholarship pathways for underserved athletes to future plans for multi-location expansion, The Jump Lab isn’t just a gym—it’s a launchpad for the next generation of resilient, team-oriented leaders.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
For us, success starts and ends with earned trust—a blend of credibility and radical transparency. Parents are entrusting us with their children’s athletic dreams, so we measure every sprint, jump, and lift against evidence-based standards and share that data openly. From recording baseline and in progress test results and our ongoing effort to develop progress dashboards, to explaining the “why” behind every training block, we make sure families see the tangible pathway from today’s workout to tomorrow’s goal. That honesty keeps us accountable, fuels consistent improvement, and reassures parents that we’re not just running athletes through drills—we’re stewarding their development in the most responsible, science-backed way possible.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thejumplab.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thejumplab/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/The-Jump-Lab-100054207053957/
- Twitter: https://x.com/The_Jump_Lab
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCd7QucVfnUoUlHPlUWHFd1Q
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-jump-lab-pasadena-3
Image Credits
Brad Tatum
