Exploring Life & Business with Matt Grimm of Sumner Fitness & Performance

Today we’d like to introduce you to Matt Grimm.

Hi Matt, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
After playing sports my whole life and playing basketball in college for a couple of years; I believed I would be a college basketball coach. I believed wholeheartedly that coaching was going to be my profession. After working for 3 years of my undergrad time at the University of Louisiana with the men’s basketball team I realized coaching in college was not what I wanted.

Once I realized that my coaching dreams weren’t going to come to fruition; I packed my bags and moved to Nashville! I already had friends living in Nashville so I moved in with a few of them. While almost all of them ended up not “making it” in music I pushed forward with my career in the fitness and strength & conditioning industry. At the tail end of being in Louisiana, I started working in the fitness industry and enjoyed it.

In 2014, I got a job at a place very similar to what I own now and truly began my career in the field. After 6 years of bouncing around in the industry trying to find the “perfect position” I had the opportunity to open my gym. Before that opportunity, I worked at private gyms, colleges, and high schools, ran my own in-home training business, worked for free, trained celebrities, and pro athletes, and the list goes on. I had tried everything up to that point to find that perfect fit and just couldn’t find “it”.

In October of 2019 with a personal client friend of mine giving me the financial backing to open and my wife’s connection to the perfect space, price, and location for a gym; we decided to open a small private gym Sumner Fitness & Performance! Quickly after opening, COVID shut everything down and I immediately felt like an idiot for opening the gym… things got weird for a while. But through all of the highs and lows of COVID, I gained a tremendous amount of knowledge about operating a business, managing money, and the market that the gym specifically is in.

When the gym initially opened we were large group oriented, but today we are exclusively all 1-1 personal training. Through trial and error, we found what we were best at and stuck with it. Today, I am involved in many different areas that I am passionate about.

I own and operate a personal training business, coaching basketball (University School of Nashville) running a basketball skills business (Elite Basketball Training) during the basketball offseason, and working in the children’s ministry at my church (Unite Church). I realized that there is no perfect position for me specifically. I want to be involved in many different areas according to my interests in life and have many passions.

I am fortunate enough to be able to work on all of the things I’m passionate about every day.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Absolutely not! COVID was up there with one of the worst times for me professionally, but everyone had to endure that. The biggest struggle for me specifically was about 6 months ago. My wife and I have two small children now, Greyson (3) and Adelynn (2).

We were having trouble finding quality childcare for almost a year and I seriously contemplated closing the business down. With the amount of money we were paying in childcare and the amount of time I had to be out of work to be with the kids it just didn’t make sense anymore. I had to bring one if not both kids to work with me and it was not conducive to owning a successful business.

I began interviewing with businesses in all industries and was once again reminded that there is no perfect fit. After thankfully being denied about 5 or 6 jobs we found full-time childcare at an amazing daycare. Once childcare was secured I realized that I didn’t want to close down the gym and get another job. I just didn’t want to have to bring my kids to work!

As you know, we’re big fans of Sumner Fitness & Performance. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
We are located in Gallatin Tennessee and we are a personal training facility. Sumner Fitness and Performance is a 1-on-1 personal training facility where we work with adults and athletes. We specialize in creating personalized training and nutrition programs that allow our clients to live their regular lives and get results.

What makes us unique is the privacy and high-end quality we’re able to provide with the size, location, and overall quality of the gym in the 1-1 atmosphere. Most proud of the fact that when people work with us they get results in whatever area that’s important to them.

What people should know about Sumner Fitness & Performance is we are the best 1-on-1 training facility in the Sumner County area for adults and athletes.

Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
You can accomplish anything in life if you’re willing to work for it (quote from the New Orleans Saints Hall of Fame quarterback Drew Brees and framed on our wall at the gym).

In regards to day-to-day, always show up to work with a great attitude and treat people well. Work in something you’re passionate about and it will never feel like a “real” job. In regards to working in a small business try to take 2 steps forward and only one step back. The work and the effort are worth it!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.sumnerfp.com
• Instagram: @sumnerfitnessperformance
• Facebook: SumnerFP
• Twitter: SumnerFP