DE PERE (NBC 26) — As Black History Month wraps up, NBC 26 is highlighting the successes of an area gym owner.
“Becoming a business owner is huge, but becoming a black owned business you know just saying it, there’s a lot of power in it," said Adrian Abeyta, the Anytime Fitness De Pere Owner.
Adrian Abeyta is the owner of Anytime Fitness De Pere and says he’s the first black man to ever have this role at the De Pere location.
“Like to represent my community in a positive way means everything to me," Abeyta said.
He said while the journey to success has had its ups and downs, he says he has stayed focused on the positives despite any challenges that have come his way.
“We were taught at a young age that there is going to be hurdles in life and we are just going to have to break through them. We are going to work two times as hard. My mom was always really good making sure we understood who we were and not allowing us to lose ourselves," Abeyta said.
He said one of his biggest accomplishment was not only becoming a gym owner but doing it way before the timeline he originally gave himself.
Abeyta said he had told himself he wanted to accomplish it by age 30 and he did it five years ahead of his goal by age 25.
“Am I surprised that it happened early? I think yeah of course. But also, I’ve been working for it and having your hard work payoff is nice," Abeyta said.
Abeyta who grew up on the north side of Madison said as a black man of humble beginnings he beat the odds.
“I grew up with a single parent. My mom was working pretty much all day to make ends meet with three kids. So me, my brother and sister we’re hood raised for sure," Abeyta said.
He describes a pivotal moment in his life when he went through a personal weight loss journey himself saying it was during that time when his mindset changed to always want to do better.
"What got me into the fitness industry was that I did go through a 100 pound weight loss journey which was huge for me. I tried to tackle that beast eight times before I got it right,” Abeyta said.
Today he is not only helping others on their journeys as well, but is working to educate the public on other important issues he’s passionate about.
“I am part of a DEI team, education under the DEI team and what we do is we deliver education on the black community and minorities of all different backgrounds on how to involve them more," Abeyta said.
Abeyta said he’s ultimately putting all this hard work to not only be a better example for his team, but for his wife and children.
Now as what’s next for Abeyta?
He said he will be doing everything with hard work and determination.
