Taylor Stephens

I am a husband and a father to my son, Jacob! My wife and I also have eight dogs and a cat, and we love our chaotic family, which has grown tenfold since we opened The Pound. I have been in the functional fitness world for 10 years as an athlete and competitor, and now a coach when my schedule allows. I have always been someone who loves to help more one-on-one, so I prefer to be in an "assistant" capacity with another coach leading the class.

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Ever since I was younger I have always been a part of a team and played several sports throughout high school and playing football in college. I have been someone who has worked out consistently since I was 5-6 years old and love that my wife and I have made a career out of it!

I came from a body-building general globo-style gym into a world of functional fitness and for any competitor, it’s been an amazing transition. I love to be able to compete whether it is in a class setting or in a competition, which has also been my downfall in getting better at certain things.

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I’ve always been good at endurance, "grinding" through workouts, and high-skill gymnastics, these have gotten me through my weaknesses. I love that our gym focuses on strength building and percentages, which is something I didn't prioritize as much.

When I had the image of opening a gym even when I was younger I thought it would be about teaching people to get as strong as possible and get them back to their peak shape from their glory years. But now that we have opened a gym I have noticed that what I love more than that is being able to give people the space to improve, grow in their fitness journey, and provide a community that they miss if they can’t make it one day during the week.

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I wanna provide a gym and a service that is infectious and a part of a person's daily plan. Not just a place they go to every once in and while. If you show up and become part of the community then the strength and fitness will come!