Today we’d like to introduce you to Michelle Richards.
Michelle, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
My name is Michelle Richards and I grew up right outside of one of the smallest towns in the Midwest – population 2000. I grew up playing sports and was labeled a “hustler” and “practice player” from a young age. Though it was already in my nature, it was not until college that I found myself interested in fitness. As an undergraduate at the University of Tampa, I took on my first job in the fitness industry as a personal trainer at the school and following that – a Strength and Conditioning Intern for the UT Spartan Athletics Program.
I found myself in love with Strength and Conditioning so I pursued my Master’s Degree at the University of South Florida in the Exercise Science Program. During this time I continued working with the general population in hopes that I would become a Strength and Conditioning Coach at a big University someday. Once I finished school, I recognized how much I loved working with the general population and there was a lot of overlap in the training styles of athletes and your everyday client so I stuck with personal training (which is still my passion to this day!).
At the age of 22, I found CrossFit. It was a very exciting thing as a young fitness enthusiast because I could compete in what I was already doing daily. While I was in the world of CrossFit, I recognized the high injury rate of CrossFitters and knew that my background gave me an opportunity to help with this issue. I began coaching mobility classes at a nearby CrossFit. Later in 2016, that CrossFit gym became my gym – Tampa Movement Lab, home of CrossFit Hyde Park.
Tampa Movement Lab is the hub of all things movement and performance. We have personal training, small group training, and large CrossFit Classes. Our priority is quality of movement and ensuring a long lifespan in fitness for all of our members and clients. To us (and to me), movement is not just fitness but it is a tool for understanding your body, improving your mental health, and finding out what you are capable of.
We coined the term “Better Every Day” and have been in the business of helping people become their best selves since inception. We are an ever-evolving gym that is thriving right here in South Tampa, just near the University where I am still teaching as an adjunct instructor!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
There have been many struggles along the way. I took over an existing business so the first struggle was selling the current members on all of the changes and new mission statement. At the young age of 27, I took on the title of small business owner and personal trainer to my 20+ clients, and now Head Coach and Manager of a Group Fitness facility. There was not a dull moment in those first few years in business.
In 2020, the pandemic became my next big hurdle. While the world was in an unprecedented time, small business owners everywhere were wondering if they were going to survive and mine was no exception. I took the gym closing as an opportunity and made some changes to our business model, gym layout, and staff roles and we came out on the other side even stronger.
Today in 2024, we are just about at the 8-year mark and my struggles look much different than they used to but they still come up daily (but they are more often about the parking lot or the weights being in the wrong order so I can handle that)!!
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
While many gym owners are structured, linear, and Type A, I am not. I see myself as a creative person and my passion lives inside of innovation. I am constantly learning new things and staying excited (not by buying new equipment or top-of-the-line anything) but by learning more about the human body, the needs of people, and the next best, most effective way I am going to impact a human life that day.
Sometimes I read an article or listen to a podcast that brings me to life but most often, I am practicing what I preach to be inspired. Fitness is not just about lifting weights and doing cardio, there is so much complexity in human movement that the study of my own body is enough to learn from. For example, many people do not know that the strength and dexterity of the foot heavily affect the health of our knees, hips, and back.
Once I discovered that I could cure that chronic issues by strengthening my feet, it changed a lot about how I approach training my clients. At Tampa Movement Lab (which I call the Lab), we have a whole section dedicated to training barefoot only so that we can restore the proper function of the foot to improve the health of our clients’ joints.
If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
Oh, man! The first thing anyone will say if you ask them about me as a child would be that I was always playing around….doing cartwheels, back flips, and counting down the minutes to play in my next sports game/practice! No joke- my preferred orientation was upside down!! I was a little shy but very excitable, and I was the kind of kid that wanted to get the approval of my superiors so I was always a high achiever. I was one of those “weird” kids that loved school and like most kids, I loved spending time with my friends.
When I was 14 years old, my life changed course when my best friend passed away of Lymphoma (a form of cancer). As a young person, this changed my perspective on life. This tragedy motivated me to live my life as healthy as I possibly could and also develop a strong faith – the two biggest values I have today.
Pricing:
- $195/mo for Class Membership.
- $85-$100/hour for Personal Training.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.tampamovementlab.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/move_better_michelle/?igsh=MWxwbzMxbHYyaGRybw%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michelle.richards.942?mibextid=LQQJ4d
Image Credits
TJ Murphy
