Dale King opened his gym - PSKC CrossFit in Portsmouth, OH - in 2010. Just a few years into gym ownership, he set his sights on making an even bigger impact. And this year, PushPress was proud to join the fight.
King, an Army veteran, decided early on that he wanted to help people battling drug and alcohol addiction, a prevalent issue in Portsmouth. So approximately five years ago, he partnered with The Counseling Center. It’s the largest recovery treatment facility in the area, and King began offering fitness classes to those in recovery.
The partnership has grown and King, along with his PSKC staff, has changed hundreds of lives. They offer 20 classes each week. Some are at The Counseling Center, which has its own small CrossFit gym. The rest take place at King’s gym.
Check it Out: An independent film crew recently produced a documentary—Small Town Strong—about the lives that are being changed at PSKC CrossFit.
The PushPress Connection.
About three months ago, King decided to switch to PushPress software to manage his gym. Prior to the decision, he had connected to PushPress founder Dan Uyemura. As the two had gotten to know each other, King said he realized the company’s “ethos and values aligned with ours.”
So King describes going “all in right away.” He began to use Core and Grow, allowing the PushPress team to design him a new, search engine optimized website.
As a result, his leads increased significantly within two weeks of switching to the new website. He noted that he has “all the faith in the world” that the suite of products will continue to help his gym grow.
“PushPress is all about how they can give the most value to affiliate owners and they design everything around that,” he said. “Everything they offer, from member management to client retention to marketing to financial reports. They’re truly the best overall fit for a gym.”
Raising the Impact Beyond Classes.
Each summer, King also hosts a competition called the Cold War Games. At the event, members of his gym partner with clients from The Counseling Center. The pairs compete together. For most of The Counceling Center participants, it’s their first time ever in a fitness competition.
Through these efforts, King has watched hundreds of people get - and stay - sober. He has witnessed what he described as the “real change that happens between the years.” This change has helped people get custody of their kids back, land their first job or car or house. And in each case, they credit CrossFit’s help in their recovery journey.
The impact goes even further. Over the years, some of those who started CrossFit while in The Counseling Center have gone on to become coaches for King. In fact, five of his current CrossFit Level 1 coaches came from the partnership. And one is even coaching at a local prison.
“Nothing could be more rewarding,” King said.
The Car Seat Mission.
Four years ago, King began taking part in a car seat drive during the holidays. Each year, PSKC CrossFit donates car seats to the Stepping Stone Outpatient program. This program was created to support pregnant women and mothers in recovery that are aiming to stay sober.
This past holiday season, PushPress joined the cause. In a conversation last fall between King and Uyemura, King mentioned the annual car seat drive. He said he never anticipated Uyemura’s response, which went above and beyond what he expected.
“Dan said he wanted to help us out, (and said), ‘So we’ll go ahead and cover this year’s car seats,’” King said. “So twenty car seats arrived on Christmas Eve. And we loaded them up and took them to the moms.”
Uyemura said, as someone who formerly struggled with addiction, the cause spoke to him. Today, after 13 years of sobriety, he feels that donating to the car seat drive was the least that he and PushPress could do.
