Brian and Mika Kleinschmidt, who met as students at Riverview High School and later married years later in 2015, own two successful Anytime Fitness franchises in Riverview and Brandon.
By LOIS KINDLE
Brian Kleinschmidt has come a long way since graduating from Riverview High School. It was there he nurtured his love for football and basketball, indulged his creative muse in theatre and show choir and had a crush on his future wife, Mika McGee.
aKleinschmidt interned for WTVT-TV / Fox 13’s, Good Day Tampa Bay with Russell Rhodes as his mentor, before immediately heading off to take advantage of a “great opportunity” with Relay Sports Marketing.
“My first job was demonstrating new Sea-Doo products throughout the United States,” he said, noting he worked in sports marketing for the next seven years. “I got to travel the country on the company’s dime, meet so many people, including many of my sports idols, and I marketed products I believed in.”
It was during those travels that Kleinschmidt got the idea to start his own business.
“I could never find a consistent gym, and then I stumbled across an Anytime Fitness in New Orleans,” he said. “I got a key and from then on I always had a clean, convenient and friendly gym to work out of.”
Kleinschmidt decided he’d like to buy a franchise, and it took him several years to save the $200,000 he needed to start. He moved back to Riverview and opened his first Anytime Fitness gym at 10875 Bloomingdale Ave., Riverview, in 2011. The purchase included the equipment, buildout, security system, furniture, accessories and office equipment.
“It was a scary time, but I went all in,” he said.
It was also the time when he reconnected with McGee, who was managing a gym for a competitor down the street. After learning about his new Anytime Fitness franchise, she agreed to manage it for him.
“We worked together as managers, trainers, janitors, you name it,” Kleinschmidt said. “Then we began looking at other locations.”
In 2013, he opened his next two gyms a week apart at 501 W. S.R. 60, Brandon, and 11252 Boyette Road, Riverview. He also briefly owned a location in Boca Raton, which he held for about 18 months but sold because it was too far away to manage.
“Granddad used to say, ‘If you want good apples, you’ve got to walk in the orchard,’” Kleinschmidt said.
The Anytime Fitness gym owned by Brian and Mika Kleinschmidt at 11252 Boyette Road in Riverview is ranked 18th out of 3,500 Anytime Fitness franchises in the country. Open 24/7, it recently celebrated its fourth year in the community. LOIS KINDLE PHOTO
After proposing to McGee at an Anytime Fitness conference two years earlier, Kleinschmidt married her in Sedona, Ariz., in October 2015. The husband and wife also became full business partners.
Last year they sold their Bloomingdale location and in mid-May, celebrated the four-year anniversary of their remaining two gyms. The Boyette Road location is ranked 18th out of 3,500 Anytime Fitness franchises in the country.
“We’re very hands-on owners,” said Brian, 35. “We know most clients by name and story. That’s why coming here is a totally different kind of experience. We provide a safe, pleasant and positive place to work out 24/7.
“If people don’t walk in with a smile, they’re definitely going to walk out with one.”
For more information on Anytime Fitness, visit www.anytimefitness.com or call 813-443-4747.
