Today we’d like to introduce you to Justin Shal.
Hi Justin, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
As a multi-sport athlete growing up in the southwestern, PA (Connellsville) area, I knew I wanted to find a career that could allow me to continue to be physically active while also working with people. I earned a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology from Penn State University, and eventually a master’s degree from California University of PA in exercise science. When I graduated from college, sports performance training was a relatively niche field. I was fortunate to get a job with one of the leading sports performance gyms in the Pittsburgh area, and my career was off to a great start. I have spent most of my career working with youth athletes, helping them become stronger, faster, and more injury resistant. Along with that, I have had the pleasure to work in physical therapy clinics learning corrective exercise. Apart from the athletes, I have been able to work with many adults during my career to help them build muscle, lose weight, do their jobs better, and generally enhance their overall fitness and wellness. I was fortunate to have an opportunity to start my own training gym in 2016 in Wexford, PA, and over the last 10 years, we have helped hundreds of youth athletes and adults alike achieve something they only thought was a dream.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Definitely not a smooth road! The average career length of a fitness professional is around 3 years; somehow by luck or naivety, I have been blessed to stretch this out into a 20+ year career. There have been countless 12+ hour days, periods of living paycheck to paycheck, and even having to crash at a friends house just to make ends meet. As bad as that may sound, I wouldn’t go back and change anything even if I could. I somehow found a career path that I have excelled at while also being able to make a living that provides enough for myself and my family. I couldn’t picture myself doing anything else with my life. The connections I have made and the lives I have been able to impact in a positive way have made the early struggles worth it.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Pure Edge Training was founded in 2016 with the goal to provide a superior training service in terms of both customer experience and outstanding results. I have worked at many gyms in my years and have been able to take away positive and negative business processes which have influenced the culture at Pure Edge. We specialize in “performance training”, meaning we help our members achieve whatever goal they may have (i.e. athletic performance, keeping up with their kids, being able to walk 18 holes on the golf course) in a challenging and energetic environment. We have been able to establish a diverse but connected community, all of which are moving in the same direction toward their goals, and that includes myself and my staff as well. Speaking of myself and my team, we put ourselves on the level of our clients and guide them to work towards their goals with realistic and achievable methods. We put our members first in everything we do, and I think that helps them take ownership and remain committed to the end result. I am most proud of the fact that we can connect with so many different types of people with myriad goals, and still help them all achieve something great. I firmly believe that no competing business in our area can match us on the “personal” aspect of personal training.
How do you think about happiness?
Seeing our members successes outside the gym makes it all worth it. I have carefully crafted the look, music, and layout to encourage our members to want to be here even when they don’t always want to. When I see my team working with our members, and someone is pushing more weight than the previous week, or able to complete more reps, and they come back and tell me how that made an impact in their daily life that they didn’t anticipate, that is why I love my career. We have athletes getting more playing time than before, winning championships that previously eluded them, and I even have a long time adult member who sent me a picture of him pushing his project car into the garage with ease thanks to all the sled pushes he’s done here. That’s the stuff that really matters, and they’re capable of those things not only because of the work they put in, but the confidence that develops alongside the physical strength.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://pureedgetraining.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pureedgetraining/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pureedgetraining
