John Zahor, Robin Zahor and their son, Devin Zahor, recently purchased the Fitness Together gym in Ellicott City. The gym offers one-on-one personal training in private studios. Photo courtesy of Devin Zahor

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The prospect of owning a small business presented a tantalizing world of opportunities for the Zahor family. So, this spring, wielding a plan — eyes wide open — they stepped into the arena and bought an existing Fitness Together franchise not far from their home in Ellicott City.

The Denver-based company, which specializes in personal fitness training conducted in private studios, operates 326 facilities in the U.S., five of them in Maryland. The Zahors’ son, Devin, 29, has been a personal trainer at the Ellicott City location for eight years.

“It’s scary,” admitted Robin Zahor, 62, the new co-owner of the gym. “There are a lot of unknowns.”

The inherent gamble aside, Robin and her husband, John, 58, along with Devin, are taking a reasoned, collaborative approach to ownership. Each brings a unique skill to the business.

As a longtime registered nurse — she’s the former head surgical and scrub nurse at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Baltimore — Robin Zahor is also busy developing new fitness programs that nurture mind and body. She has taught brain training classes for years at senior centers in Howard County.

John Zahor, an architectural engineer, works as assistant vice president for facilities management at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

While the couple are the legal owners of the franchise, they took the leap primarily as a way to help Devin secure his future in the personal fitness industry.

“Devin’s really the face of the organization,” his father said proudly.

“We’ve invested in Devin, and we’ve invested in ourselves instead of investing in Wall Street,” John said. “We’re practical, praying people. There’s a little bit of risk, but I think we’ve studied it enough.”

A star trainer

Devin Zahor is no stranger to the gym or to this particular studio. For more than eight years, he worked as a certified trainer there. His deep familiarity with the mechanics of the business, combined with his natural people skills, heartened his parents.

“I thought this was something he can do a good job with,” his mother said. “He knew the studio. He knew the clients.”

Devin, who holds a psychology degree from UMBC, initially worked as a substance abuse counselor.

Growing up in Ellicott City, Devin said  he played sports “but wasn’t really into it.” Instead, he joined a gym to chisel a better self-image.

“Part of me wanted to change my physical appearance and mental state,” he said. Regular workouts “became my medicine. Movement can change your brain, change your confidence.”

Devin joined Fitness Together in Ellicott City and became an ACE-certified personal trainer there in 2017. When the gym’s previous owner considered selling the property, she approached Devin, who had come up through the ranks and emerged as her star trainer.

“She said if she’d ever sell it, it would be to me,” he said.

The gym’s previous owner, John added, “was very helpful in the deal. She gave us access to the books and gave us a list of vendors we could use.”

Raising the money

Securing financing amounted to a strenuous workout in itself.

The family took a second mortgage out on a townhouse in White Marsh that Robin had purchased before the Zahors married in 1991. John Zahor tapped his retirement nest egg from a previous employer.

“It took a little bit of guts,” he admitted.

However, even more capital was needed to seal the deal. The Zahors applied for a loan seven times, but banks were hesitant to grant loans during the pandemic since gym membership had plummeted.

“After our application for loan after loan was turned down, we thought, ‘Okay, maybe we can do something else,’” John said.

Eventually the family learned of a program called the Rollover for Business Start-ups. That approach enabled John to roll over his 401(k) retirement plan from his former employer and use it to help fund the business without the added burden of a business loan. Nor did he incur taxes or penalties, he added.

Fitness Together requires prospective owners to have a minimum net worth of $250,000, with at least $50,000 in liquid capital. It also charges a one-time franchise fee. In addition, the franchiser collects a 6% royalty fee on every sale.

Like any business owners, the list of essentials fills the Zahors’ days: paying rent, meeting payroll, maintaining and buying gym equipment, and retaining and expanding a client base.

“The terror part, the part that keeps me up at night, is making sure we’ve got everything covered,” John said.

So far, the Zahors have received a lot of encouragement and support from friends and the local business community. “People speak so highly of Devin. He’s handling things in a very mature way,” John said.

Exercise can save lives

As new entrepreneurs poised to sacrifice and submit to the vagaries of the marketplace, offering a service whose end game is a rejuvenated quality of life pumps up the Zahors.

After all, becoming more fit can help prevent disease. The Centers for Disease Control reported that 96 million adults — more than 1 in 3 — have prediabetes, and more than 8 in 10 don’t know it.

The leading preventable risk factors for prediabetes and type 2 diabetes are being overweight and not getting sufficient physical activity.

“We’re getting much more sedentary,” John said. “I’ve had to really force myself to exercise more. People very close to me stopped exercising, and they really went downhill.”

Aside from physical benefits, exercise can combat stress, anxiety and depression. In a pressure-cooker world riven with feelings that can overwhelm, exercise can play a key role in tamping down negative emotions.

“It’s where you can do your own mental-health work,” John said.

Susan Hill, a 55-year-old federal worker in Ellicott City, said her reasons for joining Fitness Together tilted more toward building endurance and stability.

“I’m going to Thailand in the fall, and I want to do my share of biking and hiking,”’ Hill said. “I’m just two months into it, and I’ve lost five pounds of fat and gained five pounds of muscle.”

If she didn’t exercise, her later years, Hill believes, “would be very different. I will definitely work out for the rest of my life.”

Hill also benefits from the private, one-on-one training. “I’ve tried to work out in [another gym] … but I really didn’t know how to use the machines. You feel self-conscious.”

Devin, Hill noted, “runs the gym like it’s his mission in life.”

How the gym works

No other nearby gym has a personal-training program quite like Fitness Together. Each member is paired with a personal trainer, and all ages are welcome.

In-person workouts take place in private suites. Virtual workouts are also available.

For new members, the first order of business is to set up an evaluation, which helps trainers establish a baseline. The evaluation is repeated every six weeks.

Membership fees vary according to services, frequency of visits and personal goals. The Zahors also plan to offer nutrition and mental health classes. A “signature fit evaluation” for potential customers is complimentary.

“We want everyone to feel good, feel comfortable, feel safe,” John said.

So far, the steady success of Fitness Together has brought the family closer. “Right now, we’re doing OK; we’re above water,” John said, adding that many clients renew their memberships.

“I’m proud of my family, and we’re hoping for the best.”

For more information about Fitness Together, stop by the gym at 3570 St. John’s Lane, Suite 108 in Ellicott City, visit fitnesstogether.com/ellicottcity or call (410) 750-2228.