Last week I told you about  “just cause”. This is the purpose that you operate your gym that is bigger than wins, finances or the number of kids in your gym. It’s the reason you stick through the hard times and you get up on the mornings you’re too tired to do anything else. 

It’s what your gym will be known for one day – if you operate with this cause in the forefront of your mind. 

Not only is your vision built off this cause, but it typically is an important part of your heart and your life. I mentioned last week that we can’t sacrifice our revenue or profit very often. Scholarshipping exceptionally talented all star kids so they can cheer and you can highlight their tumbling skills isn’t a just cause. In fact, it’s not good business practice either. As much as I talk about profit and revenue (it’s not because that’s all I think about, but I am a data-driven person by nature), I also have my own “just cause” in our gym. In fact, I’d like to say I have two of them. 

Military families. I have a soft spot for kids who get moved around the country every few years. I’ve lived in the military world long enough to know this can be a hard life. It can enriching and fruitful as well – as they make memories often traveling the world with their families, but it can also be lonely. Military moves often happen in the summer. If your move happens early enough, you might not make your first friend for several months until school starts. If you’re lucky enough to get base housing, there may be a lot of kids on your street, but that doesn’t mean every child will be outgoing or confident enough to run out and introduce themselves. I’ve met a lot of kids over the years who missed their friends back at their last base. I’ve also met quite a few who spent two years at a previous base and never made any meaningful connections. For that reason, our gym is committed to being a place to make memories. When people think of Whiteman Air Force Base (located 10 minutes from me) I want them to think of Twisters. I want them to remember the friendships they made and the feeling they had when they lived here. My goal is to have Twisters be mentioned synonymously with Whiteman. We’ve had a lot of families over the years shed tears at the gym when they found out they got orders (in fact, it happens monthly). That tells me they’re sad to be leaving our community. When I first moved from Chicago to the middle of Missouri in 2006, I was pretty upset. There was nothing to do, no friends and nothing particularly exciting about Whiteman. I know that is the first impression many military members get. I see on the forums that some allow it to be their mentality for 2-3 years until they get orders elsewhere. Others embrace the community and find connections. That’s where we come in. My goal isn’t just to help the kids build connections, but to help the military moms do the same.

While writing this blog, I reached out to several former families in the gym and asked what the top 3 things they remember when they think of Whiteman. All 3 have been gone at least 5 years. All 3 included Twisters in their list. That is success to me. 

For that reason, we partner with Our Military Kids program. It’s a program for Guard and Reserve families who have a parent deploying. (Unfortunately there is not currently a program for Active Duty families.) When a parent deploys, the child is eligible for six free months of tuition through the program. The program requires the parents to submit paperwork and it can take a few months to get the funding. We allow the athlete to start once the parent deploys. We also help them with the paperwork (and often, we’re the one who referred them to the program). It takes extra time. It’s a “risk” not getting paid until the funding comes in, but it’s worth every bit of the risk to help kids find something to look forward to while their parent is deployed.

We also offer discounted field trips for the Whiteman Youth Center, sponsor many of the base’s events, perform at their Air Shows and 5K runs and host their Operation Military Kids annual event with 800 kids who get to pretend to deploy like mom and dad. We charge the barebones rate to rent our facility and staff the event for the day. Why? Because these things are important. They’re more important the the profit I’ll receive off booking out parties that day. The cause is bigger than the numbers.

Foster children. You may not know this, but a lot of military families give back more than just their service. Over the years they have become foster parents to kids who need a home as well. Perhaps it’s that they understand the life of moving around and they want to be able to provide stability for others or they know they have resources through the military that can give foster children a better life. An astounding number of servicemembers are foster parents, and this is one other “just cause” in our business. We offer 50 percent off monthly tuition for foster children. We do not require a “notice” for them to disenroll as they often don’t know how long they’re going to be at a house, and if they just paid their monthly tuition and then are sent back to live with family, we refund the foster family. This is a solid practice in our business, and one that we believe strongly in. Foster families are provided funding for clothing and food, but in Missouri, it’s a small stipend and tumbling usually doesn’t make that list. We work hard to help those children make friends and have fun all while teaching them character skills in the short time they’re with us. There are times that foster child is holding a spot and we have a wait list. They’re paying half of what another person would pay. That’s OK. I’m not worried about the money when that happens. What I am worried about is – will that child remember this home as one that they felt safe and made happy memories? I hope so. If we can be part of that, then it’s an honor.

So, as often as you hear me talking about numbers and how they have to make sense – it doesn’t make a lot of financial sense for us to “risk tuition” for months at a time for the child of a deployed member or to give 50% off tuition when our classes are jam-packed. It doesn’t have to. It’s those things that I believe one day will leave a legacy in our community. 

All of that said – you have to stay in business to leave a legacy. Smart decisions have to be made in your business that ALLOW you to make an impact. What are you doing to leave a legacy? What is your “just cause”?