April 1, 2016

Blue Lion Fitness is the child borne of Ryan Van Bergen and Danny Roth, a pair of friends that met almost a decade ago when both were enrolled as students at the University of Michigan. A meeting through mutual friends, and a knack for talking in grand ideas and wide gestures, led to the beginning of their friendship.

Both Ryan and Danny had been collegiate athletes. Post-graduation left them in search of a gym and a fitness regime that could give them the same kind of results that they saw in college. Ryan played football at Michigan and then for the Carolina Panthers. After playing in the NFL, he gained a lot of weight. Danny played college sports and also gained a significant amount of weight after he was done. Nothing seemed to work to lose that weight. Nothing seemed to fit their needs. They attempted to use Cross Fit and it just was not doing the trick. Then, Ryan and Danny tried using the workout regimen that is now at Blue Lion, and it worked for them, so after a year they decided to open it to the public. In November 2013, the same passion for entrepreneurship and crazy ideas transformed their friendship into a partnership as well.

“Danny calls me one night,” Ryan says, “and tells me ‘I think we could start a gym. I know enough people interested and I think we can do it.’ So we figured we needed to write a business plan and later that night I sent him three pages, single spaced, about everything we needed to do to write out the plan. It was so corny, but the original name was just going to be: @²”

A year and a half later Blue Lion Fitness came to life. On April 1st, 2015 BLF opened to the public and it was an immediate hit.

The mission was and is to recreate a Division 1 atmosphere for the general public. The fitness center provides one-hour classes to introduce people that might not have been in that kind of environment before. Elite athletes or people right off the couch can participate in the classes and the coaches have ways to help the different levels of fitness adapt to fit their needs. In addition to the physical challenge, Ryan and Danny wanted to differentiate themselves from other gyms by integrating a social environment and a team atmosphere that would be able to encourage members and help to push them to be the best athletes that they could be.

But Danny and Ryan couldn’t do it alone and if you add nine classes per day plus personal training sessions, they wouldn’t have had a free moment for the rest of their lives. So, it was time to bring in other trainers. Finding someone who would be the right fit for Blue Lion wasn’t something to be taken lightly. There were growing pains of course, and in addition to having the right skill set and training experience, whomever they brought on would have to be passionate, excited, and fit into the culture of Blue Lion Fitness. Joon Shin, Matt McCarty, and April Bertin are just as much part of the team now as Ryan and Danny. They all embody what it means to be a Lionchaser and what it means to lead by example.

Today Ryan and Danny opened the doors to BLF in the cold morning, at 5 AM before anyone else is up and moving. It’s quiet, a strange atmosphere for the normally loud and music-filled floor. Here’s to another year.

Thank you to everyone who has helped make this dream a reality. From our members who’ve been with us since the beginning and the ones just joining on. Thank you to our friends and family. To Lulu Lemon. Thank you to our employees and other businesses involved with getting us off the ground. You guys are the best. Thank you for #ChasingTheLion with us.