Affiliate of the Month: Dreamtown CrossFit Owner Jason Berger Chooses Happiness and Health Over Wealth
Jason Berger had a financially lucrative job — but it came at a cost.
As the owner of a transportation company, he found himself working 12 to 14 hours a day, and he soon grew to weigh 300 pounds.
And then, as the story goes for many, Berger found CrossFit at age 40 and made a serious lifestyle change.
- “I had my appendix removed, and I was just laying in the hospital and I knew all the nurses there because my wife works there [as a nurse],” Berger told the Morning Chalk Up in an interview. “I was just pretty embarrassed at the shape I was in. My son was four or five years old at the time, and I had this moment of clarity of needing to get myself into shape.”
Today, at 53, the six-year owner of Dreamtown CrossFit in Truckee, CA, is down to 225 pounds and 10 percent body fat.
The tradeoff — the days of making lots of money are gone.
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The Dreamtown CrossFit Story
Truckee is a small resort and mountain town near Lake Tahoe, and most of Berger’s 120 members are mountain bikers, skiers, and outdoor enthusiasts.
This means it’s hard to keep his members coming to the gym for 12 months of the year — once the snow hits in the winter, they all head to the mountains.
- “People [here] are doing what they’re supposed to be doing. They’re out mountain biking, they’re snow skiing, they’re cross-country skiing, they’re running, they’re hiking,” Berger said. “And so our struggle is retention for the 12 months. I may have those athletes for three or four months, but [it’s hard] to keep them consistent for the 12 months. And I can’t blame them. They’re doing what they should be doing.”
Berger added that his gym ends up being the place where people train only in the “shoulder seasons” between their summer and winter sports.
Then a couple of years ago, Berger found a “phenomenal coach,” and he said he needed to figure out a way to hire him full-time.
The gym wasn’t bringing in enough revenue to support hiring a permanent head coach, so Berger took on a side gig with a community agriculture program. On top of being a gym owner, Berger now drives a produce truck and delivers fresh fruits and vegetables to people twice a week so he can provide a good financial wage to the coach.
- “I refer to [the gym] as my not-for-profit,” Berger said, laughing.
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While it might sound dire to the outsider looking in, Berger insists it’s not. Having a full-time coach who leads the way allows Berger to relax a bit more and even get away on vacation here and there with his wife.
- “It allows us a tremendous amount of freedom,” he explained.
Further, Berger has learned he’d rather have his health and love what he does each day than earn big bucks working 14-hour days in a career he wasn’t passionate about.
- “I had a business that made money and I was miserable…I loved that it put a roof over my head for my family and food on the table, but I really disliked the actual business,” he said.
It’s the opposite today.
- “I love every minute of it…I feel like I’m a better person every single day I walk in and interact with our community,” Berger said. “I finally have a place that I go to every day that puts a smile on my face.”
So, as long as he can get by, Berger will continue on the path he’s on.
“I can’t imagine my life without CrossFit,” he concluded.
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Featured image: @dreamtowncrossfit / Instagram