// the origins of trainheroic

In 2011, I was teaching English in low income high schools on the Southside of Chicago.

While my students’ reading levels dragged seven grades behind, I saw the heaviest anchor holding them back was a lack of belief in themselves. They simply didn’t see that if they put in the work, good things would happen.

So I started taking some students down to the weight room. After all, I discovered more about myself under a heavy barbell than I ever did in the classroom. As Rollins says, the iron is a great teacher.

I found my students learned more in one training session than they did in months in the classroom. They walked a little taller. They talked a little nicer to each other. They hit the books with a renewed zeal. They developed confidence. 

They developed confidence

I saw the impact I was having in the gym was far bigger than I’d ever felt in the classroom. I knew something was there.

I bought the domain name trainheroic.com my last semester of teaching. I didn’t know exactly what TrainHeroic would be. I didn’t know a damn thing about software. And I had no idea how I’d make it happen.

I basically knew nothing.

So I called Josh.

Josh was my buddy and college teammate. He was one of the toughest dudes I knew. As the fullback of our team, his superpower was sticking his nose into places that terrified others and hammering chaos into order.

I didn’t know much, but I knew Josh was the kind of person I needed to figure it all out.

I told him about my experience at the school. We talked about our training in college. The sound of the iron clanging. The expertise of our coaches. The lessons we learned suffering through conditioning.

// making an impact

The answered seemed pretty simple at the time: Technology.

Our cavalier view of the matter is all pretty quaint in retrospect. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. We didn’t have the slightest idea where to start.

But we plunged in headfirst nonetheless.

In the beginning, our technology was terrible. But what we lacked in techspertise, we made up for with grit and service. A couple absolute novices hacking their way towards a dream faraway in the distance.

People seemed to like what we stood for. They believed what we believed.

That is, that we as humans are put on this earth to unlock the beast that lies within.

You see, TrainHeroic is not a tech company. We didn’t start that way and we’ll never define ourselves that way.

We’re a human development company. We exist to help others be their best.

Making powerful, easy-to-use technology is only one way we do that.

TrainHeroic is a Platform, not an App.
Before the tech world stole the word “platform,” a platform was a tool for elevation. It lifted up. It allowed one to stand taller than otherwise possible.

The next several years were a blur of failure, mistakes, and wrong turns. A tech version of a Rocky montage. The key difference being we were bombing hard and hanging on by a single thread of passion. While we wanted to win like Rocky, we took a pounding like Rudy.

While our society celebrates the tale of rare individuals accomplishing heroic feats, the truth about our Hero’s Journey is that TrainHeroic wasn’t built by two individuals at all.

While Josh and I may have found it; our customers, team, partners, and families are the ones who have made it.

Over time, we’ve been fortunate enough to be joined by some of the best engineers, designers, and coaches in the world.

In this way, TrainHeroic was built by thousands of people with a common belief:

Success is not about beating society, beating a game, or beating a mark. Success is about beating ourselves.

Success is about beating ourselves

It’s about conquering our fears, shattering our limits, and discovering the unbreakable spirit inside every one of us.

Over the years, we’ve learned that strength comes through struggle. As our muscles grow through time under tension, our minds and hearts grow the same way.

Today, our team and tools stand here having developed the strength to endure and the power to perform.

Today, we empower thousands of personal coaches and private facility entrepreneurs.

We serve teams in high schools, colleges, and the tactical fields. We support coaches in the NBA, NFL, and Olympics.

Anywhere people stretch themselves and others to be their best, you can find us there lending a helping hand.

TrainHeroic has always been about something bigger than the barbell. We’re building a world where millions of connected Heroes find joy in the journey of training.

We like that world and we hope you do to.

If you find power in our purpose, join us.