Meet Ashley Coffey of NEXUS Community Fitness & Performance Training

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashley Coffey. 

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
As an athlete and professional dancer, I have seen a lot of injuries. Some from age, some from bad coaching, and some from lack of awareness when it comes to fitness education & technique. Add that with my love for teaching, and passion for community, you get NEXUS. My partner Marielle Hendry (NEXUS Co-Owner & Head Coach) and I saw a problem in the fitness world and took on being a part of the solution. We wanted to contribute to a better, more inclusive fitness community here in Colorado Springs. One day at a time, we built NEXUS from the ground up. Starting your own business is a lot of hard work, late nights, and mental burnout, yet we always came back to the NEXUS vision to keep us going. It paid off! Here we are a year later with a thriving gym, strong community, and educational material that is available to anyone. 

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
From the outside, entrepreneurship and leadership looks like the sexiest thing in the world. From the inside, it’s long hours, gray hair, and stressful, dirty hard work. If you don’t have a community of people that lift you up when you want to give up, you won’t make it. Without the community we have had and participated in building within NEXUS already, it wouldn’t have been possible. We were also very clear on our mission, vision, and core values from the start. But, when you are clear and set intentions, the world will test you on it. Some of our obstacles have been around drawing lines with who we want to do business with, and/or choosing relationships over money. To run a business, you must have very clear goals and then stick to your plan. One more obstacle that I think entrepreneurs don’t talk about enough, is having self-leadership. When you are building a community or business of any kind, you are in the spotlight whether you like it or not. You must first lead yourself before you earn the right to lead others. At NEXUS, we take this very seriously. 

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
The word NEXUS means connection in many different languages. It was our intention to make every decision from the mindset of what builds connection; whether in fitness, education, or our community. This was not easy. As new business owners, you can get distracted, follow many paths, and can make partnerships with the wrong people when money is being offered. It is much more difficult to remember your bigger goals, stand in integrity, and make decisions from there. What we have learned is that your vision is everything and you must be very intentional with each building block. NEXUS’s vision is to re-establish a true sense of community through fitness, health, and wellness. We believe connection and community spread beyond the four walls of our gym, benefiting Colorado Springs as a collective. We are committed to equality, diversity, and personal growth, alongside all levels of fitness. Making decisions from here has allowed us to create quite a unique gym. Most of all, it constantly reminded us to be the example of what we wanted to create. Owning a business does not make you a leader, it makes you a manager. Self-reflection and practicing self-leadership are what earn you the right to lead others. Through this, we have been able to build The NEXUS Community into what it is today; a place about fitness opportunities for all. With a mission to bring fitness education, body awareness, and injury prevention techniques into each class for each individual, creating a solid fitness foundation for each athlete. Knowing where we stand, making decisions from there, and allowing it to start with us were the game changers for us. Which undoubtedly contributed to why we have been so successful. 

What matters most to you?
What matters most to NEXUS is obviously our community. We wouldn’t have a gym without people in it. The relationships, the rapport, and the lives we impact on a daily basis motivate us to be better every day. Through community, we get to influence health, wellness, fitness, and mindset. Lives get transformed in our gym because we teach well-rounded fitness and believe educated should be provided to everyone. At the end of the day, NEXUS is an education and injury prevention gym. 

Pricing:

• $125 10Class Punch Card
• $85 2x a week Monthly Membership
• $115 3x a week Monthly Membership
• $145 Unlimited Membership
• $15 for a drop-in class. Come try us out!

Contact Info:

• Email: admin@thenexuscommunity.com
• Website: https://thenexuscommunity.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thenexuscommunity/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheNEXUSCommunity
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/nexus-community-fitness-and-performance-training-colorado-springs
• Other: https://www.groupon.com/deals/nexus-community-fitness-performance-training?deal_option=be0b2d0b-0980-4af9-817f-609eb0a81740