The CEO's Journal- Entry 3: The Brand I Admire.

There is one brand that I really look up to and admire. Because they are technically a competitor, we’ll just call this brand ‘FitnessStuff’. Okay that’s too long… Lets call them “FitStuff” … Actually, lets go with Fitstu (lol).

Anyways, I really admire Fitstu and what they have done in the past 5 years. They have gone from being completely unknown to being one of the biggest fitness brands in the world. It’s really incredible to see and I aspire to have Elevate exceed this brand’s growth. I dream big, I know.

The truly amazing thing about Fitsu, is that their founder is someone who is barely older than me. We’ll call him Albert Trecio. (I just started typing and that’s what I came up with idk.) But anyways, Albert Trecio is living proof that I can too can accomplish big things with my brand. As much as I want to one day surpass Albert’s multi-million-dollar company, he is someone I am eager to learn from. I want to know every detail of how he did it so that I can find a similar but more efficient route.

I recently watched one of his interviews from which I learned that we think very much alike.

He and I both spend every minute of the day thinking about our business. He even mentioned that he cannot stand being in places where there is no internet connection because he just hates the feeling of being separated from Fitsu. I can strongly relate to this feeling.
He and I both enjoy the same aspects of our business. Neither of us are great with numbers. Sure, we both know the basics, but neither of us are excited by the deep details of financial analytics. We are however passionate about the creating and marketing sides of our businesses.
Albert spoke about how he was never the type to dream of having flashy things like Lamborghinis and living an extremely lavish and expensive lifestyle. Of course, he wanted his business to be extremely successful, but having those flashy things was not a part of his vision. I’m the same way where sure, I’d love to see a nice number in the bank account, but owning a Lambo or a Ferrari isn’t something I aspire to obtain. I do plan on building my parents a beautiful home though.
Albert went on to speak about the types of things we go through as entrepreneurs. It was mentioned that a lot of people say that they would love to be him, but at the same time they don’t understand what that really means. They don’t understand the insane amount of time and effort that’s required and that there’s a certain level of loneliness that comes with being an entrepreneur. It was nice to hear him say that because I definitely know what he means. It was nice to hear that he too went through these things to get to where he is now. There definitely is a degree of loneliness that comes with running your own business. You don’t get to spend as much time with your friends and family. Even when you are with them, you can’t help but think about your business. Fortunately for me, I’m a very independent person and very rarely do I feel lonely. But I’m certain that a lot of my friends think that I just don’t enjoy hanging out with them anymore which is just not the case. I can’t go party every weekend and I can’t take a day off to play video games. It’s not because I don’t want to, its that I have a goal that can’t be accomplished if I do not fully commit to it. Albert is proof that this sacrifice can pay off.
Albert also said something else that I found very interesting. He said that if his business died today, he would regret nothing and would have no problem in starting all over. In fact, he would love it. That’s just how much he loves what he does. He loves making something out of nothing. I thought about it and although I’m not yet at the point where I can be okay with starting over, I can see why he would say that. It's really amazing to see your vision become a reality. To have an idea in your head and then watch as it eventually grow into something that impacts the lives of so many people is a really surreal feeling.

Fitsu has a lot of extremely beautiful products (I’ve heard the quality of our leggings is better though lol), and I aspire to beat their 5-year growth. I was extremely relieved when I was able to see a lot of similarities between Albert Trecio and myself and it gave me reassurance that I am on the right track. Even though we think differently than most people do, it is what will continue driving out brands’ success. So thank you Albert Trecio and Fitsu for further inspiring me to continue building what will one day be Canada’s biggest fitness apparel brand.

There! Now this DEFINITELY has to be the least formal post I’ve made to date. But these are my thoughts today so enjoy if you can lol. Also, can you guess the true identity of Albert Trecio and Fitsu? Shoot me a dm if you think you know the answer! (@DedicatedAustin).

Thanks for reading!

Austin Chambers