By Lindsay Peyton
West Seattle resident Drew deVry is ready to take over the world – one gym at a time.
He already owns two locations for his company Freedom Fitness – the original at 15830 1st Ave S in Burien and another in Federal Way at 1320 South 324th St.
But that’s just the beginning. deVry has his sights set on building an empire.
“I want to open 1,000,” he said. “That’s the goal.”
The more gyms he starts, the more people he can help, he explained.
“As a one-on-one personal trainer, I can help eight people a day,” he said. “Now I can train trainers to do the job – and reach countless people. It’s not just about working out. It’s helping people understand how to be healthy.”
deVry has a life-long interest in fitness. When he was in high school, he wanted to bulk up.
“I always tried to work out and nothing happened,” he said.
Later, when deVry was earning his degree in geography at University of Washington, he started to figure out how to get the results he wanted at the gym.
“When I got done with college, I didn’t want to get a real job with a suit and tie,” he said. “I decided to become a personal trainer and get a real job later. It turns out that being a trainer is really rewarding.”
deVry enjoyed earning a living by supporting his clients on their path of a healthier life.
There was only one problem – the price. Having a personal trainer at a big gym was too costly for most people, he realized.
“This needs to be a lifestyle,” he said. “It needs to be something people can afford year-round.”
He went to work creating a new model for fitness – and decided to go out on his own, renting a space in a batting cage complex.
“I got a tiny loan and some equipment and started training baseball players,” he said. “It grew into other sports. Pretty soon, parents were asking me, ‘Could you train me too?’”
He created a program for adults that mirrored his methods for working with young athletes. “If you train like an athlete, you’re going to look like an athlete,” he said. “It leads to great results. It really boosts your metabolism.”