Izaak Tyrrell – General Manager

Living out a vision; Izaak Tyrell’s  Maui success story

It’s funny how your destiny can be formed by just a little peek in a doorway and how what you love can ultimately fuel a vision of who you are and how you impact a community. For Izaak Tyrrell, the new owner/ manager of Upcountry Fitness (UCF) that peek into the future took place about four years ago.

Tyrrell, 31, recently took the reigns of UCF from longtime owners Wes and Jan Sears. With patience, hard work, the help of three principal investors, and a ton of self- confidence in his own destiny, Team Tyrrell is going where precious few do in this economy: Improving and expanding an existing business while creating a unique brand, the boutique gym. A facility that is intimate, innovative and individualized while being functional and unpretentious. And, by the way creating employment opportunities for trainers, massage therapists, local vendors, nutritionists and others.

“This is not a cookie cutter gym,” he said, referring to large gym grunt factories. “You train in the gym to be better outside of the gym,” Tyrrell said referring to a huge panoply of cross-training equipment, most geared at increasing core strength, enhanced balance and supple musculature; or helping anyone seeking to improve the quality of their life, sport and perhaps even spirit.

The Book of Izaak: beginnings

Tyrrell and soon-to-be wife JoMarie moved to Maui from San Francisco, “We were seeking new adventures, we certainly found it. It was July 9, 2005. JoMarie and I were driving around Haiku, trying to familiarize ourselves with Maui, when we found the Haiku Town Center. There, we first visited the former hemp store (that was located in our now Physical Freedom Room) however, I noticed the gym next door quickly and decided to take a quick peek.

The first time I entered Upcountry Fitness, I was immediately excited to see Freemotion machines, so much so, that I literally hugged one of them.” Tyrrell said after expressing his elation he spoke with Jan Sears. “I began our conversation with something like ‘Do you know what you have here.’” “I immediately felt that this gym had what it took to provide the best quality fitness service that I had always wanted to provide. From the first moment of walking into Upcountry Fitness I knew I wanted to make it my own.”

Tyrrell said his ultimate vision, his mission statement of sorts, was to develop a health and fitness center comprised of highly educated, caring staff who share my philosophy about health and fitness while equipped with state-of-the-art equipment. “My dream of owning my own private training studio began around the middle era of my management career with 24 Hour Fitness. However, this dream was simply that, a dream, nothing was vivid, until I entered Upcountry Fitness for the first time, then I had a vision of the possibilities.”

Tyrrell was not alone in realizing the gym had potential that was not being explored. From the beginning, what Tyrell brought to UCF was that rare mixture of pragmatist and dreamer. He literally raised the metabolism of the gym changing its focus more from anti-aging to living and moving in the moment. “Do things with your chest up, your heart out,” he once told me. It stuck. Jim Womack, who has known Tyrrell for a while and trained with him, said he told him flat out a few years ago, “you should have this gym and I’ll back you.” Womack is not only an investor, but a certified trainer as well.

Here’s how Tyrrell turned vision into reality

In May 2008, he e-mailed Jan and Wes, asking if they would sell him the gym. “In the email I wrote something like ‘It feels like you are tired of driving the Upcountry Fitness bus. What would it take for you to sell it to me.’” Typical of Tyrrell, things moved fast. He met Jan Sears for coffee the next day and voila, she agreed to sell then gym. Next came the heavy lifting; finding the money. Tyrrell said it took him about a year to secure the financing. “Jan recommended that I see David Fisher, a counselor at SBDC’s Subsidized Counseling. David Fisher guided me every step of the way toward how to start my own company, from writing a business proposal to talking to the banks. Fortunately, I was able to find three private investors (Womack among them) who believed in me and my vision, therefore, I did not need to approach the banks in this tough economic time to purchase the gym.”

Tyrrell, the father of a young daughter with another on the way is a study in contrasts. Adorned with requisite tattoos, wild-haired and a firm gaze, Tyrrell has plenty of street cred. He exudes confidence, but he is not a hard guy, and in his own way is reluctant about self-promotion. Moreover, for all his extensive certification and athletic prowess, he is enormously patient and non-judgmental with clients; supportive, cajoling and attentive to clients who range from from their teens to considerably older.

The Book Of Izaak: inspire confidence and help others

“I am fortunate enough to have people believe in me that they would actually invest in me. I felt and feel no fear that UCF will be a success because I truly believe that preventive health care is the future and I’ve been providing that for years. Also, to be considered a financial success, I only need five per cent of the total upcountry Maui population to be a member of the gym. However, this not my only goal. My complete vision is to assist every upcountry population and eventually the world, in achieving their own physical freedom and a higher quality of life through the full range of services we offer at Upcountry Fitness.

To facilitate that, Tyrrell has hired more certified NASM (National Academy of Sports Medicine) trainers and put them through the Izaak “school” of trainer development all to better provide a consistent high quality level of personal training, again, a form of brand marketing. To regulars, the changes at UCF have been profound, both in terms as a facility and community. “I have been a member at upcountry fitness for six years,” said Mike Martin. “I have always thought it to be a fine facility. When I heard there was going to be a change of management I was concerned that member rates might go up, and the number of services offered go down. That seems to be the way business has tended to go during the past decade. But services are now more numerous and member rates have actually dropped. When was the last time you saw that happen (anywhere),” Martin asked.

“There have been some very obvious changes at the club like a new paint scheme, a new workout room next door for group activities, and free workout towels. Under the previous management workout towels used to cost $1 and were not much larger than a washcloth.” Martin offered another observation. “Isaac has brought about the most subtle change in the club. The people working at Upcountry Fitness now seem to actually enjoy coming to work each day. They are treated like members of a team, not just club employees. And their attention to member needs reflects that change.”

Tyrrell confirmed Martin’s take on the atmosphere. “Since the purchase, my vision for Upcountry Fitness is slowly becoming a reality. For example, I’d like to think that I’m starting to create a work environment for those who work here that is more like family, rather than an ‘I’m the boss and you just work for me environment.’” Tyrrell has encouraged others to share and implement his vision.

Izaak has sought to utilize his staff’s full potential. UCF employees Meagan Spitler and Jordan Boyd both MATs perform massages in addition to their regular duty as will Lindsey Dennis, an MAT and certified physical trainer (CPT). Tyrrell said he asking his entire staff to not just work for UCF, but to become a part of it, by voicing their opinions, implementing their visions and strategies,

“I’ve also delegated more responsibilities to them. There is a trust between us that will surely make UCF a success,” Tyrrell also noted that he has increased employee salaries for added and varied responsibilities.

The Book Of Izaak on his philosophy about trainers:

“A certification does not make a good trainer. Good trainers are educated, passionate about health and people, experienced and constantly expanding their abilities to take the human body to the next level. Also, trainers must be able to train every type of person that might walk into our gym from seniors to teenagers, unconditioned individuals to world class athletes, stay-at-home moms to marathon runners, injured individuals to Jaws surfers. We don’t discriminate.”

“There are so many things that I enjoy about Upcountry Fitness, yet in particular, I am amazed by the new and interesting ways the gym has helped me be creative in keeping myself fit,” said gym member Sarah Oppenheim. “In part this has to do with the varieties of types of equipment that the gym has to offer, but just as importantly the ongoing coaching by their trainers offers new perspectives in the state of the art of strength and cardio awareness,” she noted. “The gym has just developed, under its new management and owner, Izaac, a new space for holding movement classes, so there’s a lot to look forward to.

The staff is warm and caring and always helpful, and so exercising on a daily basis makes me feel part of a healthy ohana.”

The Book of Izaak as credited to Bob Marley

“And everything that I do shall be upful and right.” As for the physical layout of the gym, there have tremendous changes: The opening of the Physical Freedom Room (the former hemp store) which boasts an orange decor and has been called one of the most beautiful rooms in Haiku. It was not uncommon when the room first opened that people would asking if they could mo vein. “We all might have to,” Tyrrell joked.

The room, which could double as a Bay Area bistro, hosts a variety of classes ranging from yoga, boxing, tumbling, dance, kickboxing, indoor cycling, copoeira, and more.Team Tyrrell has added a more functional floor plan that utilizes the space and machines more readily, a new collective color scheme for the gym that is more vibrant, the swapping of the weight room and the studio so that the new treatment room will have more privacy while also adding a more harmonious feel to the entire gym. There is also a treatment room which provides space for massage therapy and cellular cleanse therapy.

There are small touches as well; complimentary towels and extended weekend hours and locally produced coconut juice. “We now offer an in-house PowerPlate certification that educate our members to use the PowerPlate on their own without the need for a trainer. This certification opens our members to the benefits of using whole body vibration technology and allows them to use the PowerPlate on their own without a trainer,”he said.

Andrew Wiley joined UCF as its Nutritional/Supplement Educator. UCF, now offers high quality supplements, such as, Nordic Naturals, Country Life, Trace Mineral Research, MRM, Biochem Protein and other products.

The Book of Izaak; an upcountry legend, likely unfounded

If it had been Izaak Tyrrell rather than Isaac Newton sitting under that tree when the apple fell, Tyrrell would have taught the apple to strengthen it’s core, question gravity and learn to hang in the tree just a little longer next time. Back to now. Tyrrell said the big challenge has been being away from his growing family. “I’m generally at the gym when it opens and there when it closes, which means well over twelve hours a day.”

Another challenge for Tyrrell is staying patient while things happen. Good things, things of vision, things that come of hard work. “I’m truly excited for the future,” he said one day while playing with his almost two-year-old Kaya-Marie.”Stay tuned for the explosion of Upcountry Fitness.”

For more information

Call Upcountry Fitness at 575-7334 or visit them at the Web at www.upcountryfitness.com. Meagan Spitler and Jordan Boyd helped provide information useful to this report.