New fitness app is connecting trainers to clients
The Tri-Cities-based start-up, GetFyt puts "you" at the heart of your fitness.
Josh Russel Fritch is not a stranger to entrepreneurship. He’s been studying it for years through his work as an Adjunct Instructor of Economics for Public Policy at the University of Southern California. Lucky for us, he lives, works, and has created a company of his own in Tennessee.
Working in economics, he understands the push and pull of supply and demand in a market space, and Fritch was able to apply those principles to a rather crowded industry: Fitness.
It’s an industry he knows well, due to his wife’s employment as a personal trainer.
“She started working at a local gym and was assigned a lot of clients because she had a strong background in the physical therapy space,” Fritch said. “She was able to connect with clients who may experience pain and lead them through good corrective exercise.”
However, the job became more difficult once she was expected to recruit clients on her own. In today’s market, personal trainers are expected to market themselves, sell, and negotiate service contracts, but those skills may not be in their wheelhouse.
“She’s not a salesperson. That’s not something she’s ever been interested in. She’s very much focused on the individual and their health,” Fritch said.
So, the start-up he created is called GetFyt, and it’s a website and mobile app that is all about connecting trainers to clients.
“I’ve spent most of my career post undergrad in the tech space to some degree, both across nonprofit and for-profit companies. I’ve even built several websites for personal trainers and gyms,” Fritch said.
The idea behind GetFyt is to streamline the communication process between trainers and potential clients. It would serve as a hub to help connect people to local options as well as provide trainers with a digital platform to upload workout routines, and videos, as well as communicate with both existing and prospective clients.
Fritch has been dreaming, designing, and working to demonstrate the concept of this idea for several years – and finally unveiled it publicly at “The Pitch” competition in Johnson City, hosted by FoundersForge.
“I have the time, skill set, and the drive to do it,” Fritch said.
So far, he has the website set up for beta testing with different trainers and potential clients. It will help personal trainers create personal profiles on GetFyt, and create custom schedules, messaging, payment plans, and even memberships.
The reasoning behind the spelling of the platform is that the “Y” stands for “You.”
“We want to put You at the heart of your fitness business,” Fritch said.
Now, Fritch has transitioned out of the technical web-building mode and into marketing mode. He is trying to spread awareness for the platform and encourage trainers to try it out.
“I believe GetFyt will be very useful for people in this space and can help them grow,” he said. “Now, I just need some folks to experience all it has to offer.”
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