As we come upon our second anniversary, it occurred to us that there are many, many stories -- some funny, some not so much -- about how we finally managed to open our doors in Steiner Ranch.  Many of you have heard a few, but many of our members weren't with us during those first few months, so here's the first in a series of articles about how WBF Steiner Ranch was built.

Let me start by saying that Kirk and Julie have been in the fitness business for about 400 dog years.  Both have worked as trainers, instructors, managers, and owners.  I, however, never stepped foot into a gym until my metabolism screeched to a halt at 38.  I had done my 400 years at Dell, retired, and had two little kids at home.  But when Kirk meandered in with a 6 pack of Dos Equis and this bright idea to open a new facility in Steiner Ranch, I jumped in with both (ignorant) feet.

We built spreadsheets, we crunched numbers, we drafted business plans.  ("We" being me.  Anyone that knows Kirk knows that he's more into crunching abs than crunching numbers...)  We interviewed managers, we talked to trainers, we vetted instructors.  ("We" being Kirk.  As I noted above, I'm really not the best person for that job.)  And through a series of late nights (some obscured by Dos Equis and tequila), we decided that if we could just convince everyone in Steiner Ranch and Four Points to join, we'd be money.  So we tweaked the plan, talked to the bankers, and signed the papers.

And then it started to rain.