Anytime Fitness – Sequim
What: Fitness center with cardio, strength equipment, personal training, hydromassage, private showers/restrooms, 24-hour access
Where: 10131 Old Olympic Highway
Phone: 683-4110
Hours: 24 hours a day; staffed 9 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Monday-Friday and 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays
On the web: anytimefitness.com/gyms/1959/sequim-wa-98382; facebook.com/AnytimeFitnessSequim/
Sequim business owners Jay and Heidi Bryan recently realized it was time to face the music … and start a whole new adventure.
The owners of Anytime Fitness sold their business to longtime Sequim natives Art and Erin Green in mid-October and set their sights on Nashville, to help daughter Bailey, 17, pursue a career in the music industry.
“This was not our plan,” Jay Bryan said on Oct. 29, two days before packing up and heading east with Heidi and son Cooper. “We like it here (in Sequim). We love it here. But when God starts opening doors in your life, you need to pay attention.”
The Bryans moved to the Olympic Peninsula from Freeland, a small community on the southern end of Whidbey Island, in 2007. They bought the Port Angeles Anytime Fitness in November of that year, then opened the Sequim franchise in February 2009. Growing comfortable in Sequim, the Bryans sold the PA business in 2010 to focus on Sequim.
“This is definitely my comfort zone: Working with an aging population is a pleasure,” Heidi Bryan said. “Sequim members embraced us right off the bat.”
Jay Bryan recounted stories of Anytime Fitness users relating how they were able to get off medications thanks to exercise routines they developed at the Rock Plaza-based facility.
“We get stories like that all the time,” he said. “It’s (about) helping people.”
When their daughter started getting some serious interest from recording companies, the Bryans saw an opportunity to help Bailey live her dream.
“She’s 17 and capable, in my opinion,” Heidi Bryan said. “I just don’t want her to grow up and wonder, ‘What if I’d tried?’”
That meant finding new owners. Turns out, the Bryans didn’t have to look too far. Actually, they didn’t really look at all.
“We didn’t advertise, we didn’t talk it up to anyone,” Jay Bryan said. “We didn’t think they were going to move.”
Enter Erin Green, one of Heidi’s fitness training clients for the past three years.
“We became really good friends,” Erin Green said of Heidi. “I love their gym and what they’ve done to it. I said I might be interested.”
“We had talked about them going back and forth (to Nashville),” Art Green said. “Then we got the call. It started from there. These guys were comfortable (with it). It just seemed to fit.”
Local ownership
The Greens are Sequim High School 1991 graduates known in the community for the Trey Green Guild, a group that formed several months after the death of their son, Trey. Forming the guild became a way to honor their son and a healing process for the family, they note on the guild website (treygreenguild.com). In the past 10 years since the guild began, they’ve have raised more than $500,000 for uncompensated care at Seattle Children’s Hospital — including more than $100,000 this year.
Erin Green, who played volleyball, basketball and softball while at Sequim High, will be taking over the day-to-day operations at Anytime Fitness while Art, who also is president of Sequim Youth Basketball, continues to manage the Carlsborg-based AM Systems.
“This transition could not have gone any smoother,” Jay Bryan said. “Even though things happened quickly, there has been a level of trust and competence that made it easy for us to hand (the business) over to the Greens. We have known them to be generous contributors to the community and schools and we are excited to watch from a distance as they continue to grow this business and continue with our goal from the very beginning, which has been to make this town a healthier place.”
The Bryans and Greens point out that Anytime Fitness trainers Kenny Hall and Marcus Buren are on staff to help with the transition.
“This ship is sailing pretty well,” Erin Green said. “We’ve got a great team.”
Jay Bryan agreed. “Awesome guys. Knowledgable, they have integrity. We’re always on the same page.”
Anytime Fitness saw a major remodel in June and now boasts between 150-170 visits per day and 1,000 members, Jay Bryan said.
That may rise, he noted, considering the recent closure of the Sequim Aquatic Recreation Center — ironically, a fitness facility that announced its closing the same day the Bryans signed over ownership papers to the Greens.
“We are blessed and honored to hand our business over to such amazing people,” Heidi Bryan said. “Erin will be an excellent leader and face for the business. She is a warm and gracious person who really values relationships. I see her as an encourager to our members and a mentor to our staff. She is stepping into an amazing team and will likely grow the team and take the entire organization to the next level. We couldn’t be happier or leave on a better note.”
