My fitness journey and gym owner journey started on December 4th of 2013.
I was working in Irvine, CA for an investment management company and I was absolutely miserable. I was overworked, stressed out, and overweight (that’s me on the far right).
From the recommendation of a friend, I walked into CrossFit Brit on December 4th, 2013 and met a man named Sham Cortazzi.
I had no real idea what CrossFit was and I thought I was going to be working with a woman named “Brittany” given the name of this particular gym. Boy was I completely wrong.
Sham is a 5’10 powerhouse who came to the United States from Great Britain (real reason for the name of gym) and meeting him was a definitive moment in my life.
At first, I was the slowest, most out of shape, and uncoordinated individual at the gym. There were woman double my age doing laps around me and smiling the entire time. I couldn’t squat below parallel, couldn’t do a pull up, and pretty much scaled every single movement in a workout.
But I kept going back.
Eventually, I started to move, feel, look, and think better. I found this new energy that had been missing in my life since I graduated from college in 2010 (see picture below)
I started participating in local competitions…and doing well (see picture below)
Within 6 months I went and got my CrossFit Level 1 certification so I could begin my coaching journey as well.
In 2015 I made the decision to move to Houston with my wife Luci for an incredible opportunity for her career. While most people would probably be thinking about where they would like to buy a home, my focus was finding my new CrossFit family.
I must have tried over a dozen gyms within Houston before I settled on District H.
District H is a 3,200 square foot facility gym nestled in the Houston Heights. It wasn’t the sexiest gym in the world, but it has one of the most vibrant and strongest community of patrons I have ever had the privilege of being a part of.
I started coaching immediately after joining and watched the growth of our gym over the last 5 years.
In 2019, the original owners approached me with the opportunity to buy the gym…I didn’t even hesitate. I knew I wanted to lead this community of people and take it to even greater heights.
District H’s mission is about unlocking the incredible potential within all of us by helping each individual member in our community look, feel, move, and think their absolute best. When we can become the best versions of ourselves, we can best impact the world around us.
Our values are inclusivity, professionalism, service, and growth. We welcome and celebrate all walks of life within our four walls. If you come to be a better version of yourself, then we will welcome you with open arms.
We emphasize the profession of coaching. There are incredible individuals out there that want to inject their passion for helping people into our community. We want those people coaching our members.
At the end of the day, we are in the relationship business and we are here to serve the members of our community. It is not about me. It is about you.
Lastly, we subscribe to a growth mindset. We strive to be better athletes, coaches, and business owners by exercising humility and surrounding ourselves with more knowledgeable professionals to help us grow. We are constantly striving to Level Up our tribe.
So….fast forward to today. Why am I a gym owner? It started with somebody special investing their time into making me a better version of myself, which ultimately put me on a completely different trajectory in my life. I want to follow in his footsteps and pay it forward to my community because I know the impact it can have on your life. Your life can be absolutely incredible and I want to help.
In Health,
Tommy
Co-Owner of District H Strength & Fitness