Meet Kelsey Royston | Functional Fitness Gym Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kelsey Royston and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kelsey, what do you attribute your success to?
The most important factor behind the success of Dissent Athletics is solidifying and following our mission of helping people be happier and healthier. As a gym, there are many paths we could go down. The variety of services we could offer, types of clients we try to attract, add-ons to the business, but if it does not fall in line with helping that person be happier or healthier, we don’t do it. When we have a difficult decision to make this is what we fall back on. It has helped take some anxiety away from being worried about making the wrong choice as well as helped protect the environment we have built for our members.

What should our readers know about your business?
Dissent Athletics is in the business of helping people feel happier and healthier.

We do this through physical, mental, and nutrition coaching. We are most proud of the atmosphere we have built in the gym. Many people see functional fitness gyms and think we are big, scary, buff people throwing around weights and yelling. Once someone walks through our doors, they can see themselves in our staff and community.

We got to where we are today business-wise by making a lot of hard choices and staying true to our mission. It was definitely not easy. We started with a year of waking up around 3:30 am to drive and hour to the gym, work about 12-14 hours then head home to start it all over the next day. We overcame these challenges by building up a knowledgeable and trustworthy staff around us. Our work-life balance has immensely improved over the last 10 months due to the hard work of our coaches and staff and support of our mentor.

A lesson we learned along the way is that we can’t make everyone happy. Not everyone is going to enjoy the atmosphere of our gym or agree with some of the decisions we make. Our gym is not for everyone and that is okay. We can connect those people with other places in the community they are more aligned with.

We want the world to know that we are here and we are ready to help. Whether that is nutrition coaching to help you get to your goal of feeling more confident, group classes to get fit while feeling a part of a community, personal training to reach specific goals with one on one attention, or remote programming if you live far away or are nervous about coming into the gym, we are here. Just a group of regular people trying to be happier and healthier than the day before.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Most of our friends and family who come to visit know we are starting the day with a workout! So, we head to Dissent Athletics and have a fun workout with them. For food we would head to Rodeo Goat, Cane Rosso, Press Café and Snooze. We would take them to Trinity Trails and Cedar Ridge for some hiking with our dogs. Last, we head to the Addison improv to see our favorite comedians. Basically, eating, hiking, and laughing!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
In July 2021 we began working with our mentor Kenny Markwardt and Two Brain Business. It is because of Kenny and the Two Brain Team that we have been able to continue and improve our gym. They have helped us remain focused on our mission, strict with processes and systems, and been a huge encouragement when we need it the most.

Website: https://dissent.fit/

Instagram: @dissentathletics

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/kelsey-royston-774716157

Facebook: @dissentathletics

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/dissent-athletics-fort-worth-2

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5vrYJ9-miY2r9bk4jkQC7Q/featured

Image Credits
Logan Moore