BUILDING MY FIRST BUSINESS
In the fall of 2017, I was unclear on the direction I wanted to go professionally. After nine years in military, I was ready to start a family and did not want to deploy with young children. This desire led me to research starting a business. I had been a rock climber for over 10 years and found that the local establishments lacked the amenities of the new facilities in major markets across the United States and decided to take the leap and explore starting a rock climbing gym. I immediately built a website and delivered an ad campaign across the Virginia Beach area and found that there was an interest and am unmet need.
A chance encounter
The greatest thing to come from this ad campaign was an introduction to my eventual business partner. He found me through the email address associated with the ads and it turned out that we had climbed together on multiple occasions. We immediately discussed our goals, formed a business entity, signed an operating agreement, and started the hunt for a space. Six months later, we opened Latitude Climbing and Fitness in Norfolk, VA. I deployed shortly after opening our first location as we rapidly scaled to over 1000 members. While deployed, we found a spot for a second location and immediately started working on site development and design.
Planned Sustainable Growth
The image above shows Latitude Virginia Beach. This project was completed in fall of 2020 and enabled our business to eventually grow to 3000 members. Throughout this process, I worked on systems implementation, brand design, marketing, risk management, and strategic expansion planning. While we were working on this project, we also worked to complete over three strategic acquisitions. Though we were unable to close any of these transactions, we were able to provide outside management to over seven facilities with our streamlined systems and robust risk management tools.
PRODUCT MARKET FIT
As Latitude Virginia Beach continued to expand, it became apparent that our thesis around the Hampton Roads market was correct. Armed with this insight, our team decided to open a third location in Hampton, Virginia. This project involved real estate acquisition and a ground up development project.
THE FINAL PHASE AND EXIT
My final project at Latitude was the design, build, and opening of Latitude Hampton. I ended up pursuing another opportunity in government to continue to serve the United States upon the completion of this project. This final facility integrated all of the lessons learned from the first two and continues to provide a wonderful space for individuals and families to climb and spend time with a wonderful community.
MY NEXT CHAPTER WITH MERIDIAN
My career started as a Naval Officer supporting the Gunnery Division on a a guided missile destroyer. I transitioned to SEAL Teams in 2010 and had the privilege of leading some of the finest people I have ever had the pleasure of working with. Latitude was my first foray into the business world before working in venture capital and moving onto deploying computer vision systems onto geospatial platforms. I took a detour into foreign diplomacy before shifting back to defense technology as an executive focused on product development and go to market planning. I am confident that Meridian Strategies can provide the ideal partner for you and your company you transition to the next phase of your life and career. We are inspired to carry on your legacy and preserve the values that made your company successul.
