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Part 1 of our story of FLO.

'You cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.'

I know this is a saying that has been used over and over again  but is it so true that i must say it again.  You need to take action! Chill does not pay the bills. You will never achieve anything if you do not go out and get it.   I will tell you a quick personal story that demonstrates this. 

Back in 2008 I had the idea of a place called FLO Fitness. At the time I was working at Ballys and didn't like it. I wanted to freedom to be creative and not be forced to sell, sell, sell.  So I started the process of getting my business name.  Once I got the name, I had no idea with to do with it. I didnt have money, I didn't have a place, I didn't know what to do for a business. I began to research what my next step should be. I wrote a business plan and started shopping to get a loan so I could open a place. The business plan was terrible and no bank would lend me any money.  I heard a bunch of no's from every angle. I started looking for studio space anyway. I figured that if I happened to get money I should have a place ready.  I found a few nice spots but had no money to put down. All the banks said that i needed to be in business for at least two years before they would loan me money.  My thought was that makes no sense. Why would I ask for a loan if I was already in business. I got so fed up that I just decided to take out a cash advance from my credit card for as much money as possible. BIG BIG Mistake, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. I got enough to open up and buy some equipment. I also had enough for the first few months of rent, but that was it.  Anyway the rest is history. I am still in debt because of it but it is worth it to me. The ability to work in and relaxed fun environment is priceless to me. I wouldn't change a thing on this journey. 
The reason I share this story is to show that sometimes you must take the road less traveled.  Just take action and every step will reveal itself. I am no where near the level I want FLO to be but I am a hell of alot closer then if I would have never pursued the idea. There have been some dark times where I don't know where the rent money will come from, but there are also wonderful times when our whole family just has fun.   You must take the good with the bad. "Flowers need water to grow, it has to rain. In order to experience joy, you need pain."

I hope this can help anyone out there who wants to pursue a dream but is scared to fail. You must learn to fail forward. I make mistakes at FLO everyday but we learn from it and instead of going thru it , we grow thru it. One day we will be as big as we have dreamed. We know we must crawl before we run.  You can never go wrong when you follow your heart. 

-FLO 

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