Andy Lemons, the director of recreation and wellness, and Clint Jones, the associate director of recreation and wellness at St. Edwards University (SEU), have partnered with TRUE Fitness for over a year to create their new strength and conditioning spaces. Here, they share their experience working with the company and its product:
Campus Rec: How were you introduced to TRUE Fitness, and why did you decide to work with them?
Clint Jones: While we had known of TRUE Fitness for years, we were more closely introduced to the company in early fall of 2018. While the semester was ramping up and planning was underway for our intramural officials training, our local rep, Derek Schulte, revealed his passion for officiating and developing students. He volunteered to help lead some of the training clinics for our basketball officials and immediately made an impact and impression on our student officials and the department. The relationship was easy and trust was established very early on, before there was ever a quote or bid for the new construction.
It became evident the goals and values of the TRUE Fitness team very closely matched that of SEU’s and the partnership just made sense. When it came to the bidding process, TRUE was selected as a finalist in our candidate pool not only for the relationship we had developed, but for the willingness to be flexible to our unique challenges. The TRUE Fitness team went above and beyond to make the process as easy as possible and offered solutions to perceived problems, responded almost immediately to our needs and did a phenomenal job presenting their outstanding products to our students. We put our three finalists and their products head-to-head for our students to demo, and TRUE became the favorite right away. We chose to work exclusively with TRUE for our new facility because of the quality equipment, helpful and responsive team, competitive prices, strong relationships, dedication to our department, and overall great experience from A to Z.
CR: What are the benefits to your rec center as a result of this partnership?
Andy Lemons: We have created a plan where our new Recreation and Convocation Center expansion project will provide the best equipment and service available with our exclusive partnership with TRUE. In addition to top-of-the-line equipment, TRUE has made a commitment to serve our student employees with advanced training, ensuring our users will reap the most benefits possible from TRUE’s line of strength and conditioning equipment.
CR: What are the benefits to your members as a result of this partnership?
CJ: Our members benefit from the partnership by getting to utilize the top-of-the-line, high-quality, unique, durable, visibly appealing and easy-to-use strength and fitness equipment. We are able to maximize the amount of equipment in our facility due to the space saving options while also providing an excellent visible display with many unique customizations. Additionally, we are able to provide the standard equipment everyone knows and loves while also introducing some very unique pieces to the floor that appeal to those seeking a different and new experience. Some of the items we are most excited about are the glute press, full body press, dual-sided half racks, premium selectorized line and the Atlas HD functional training piece.
CR: Have you been pleasantly surprised by working with TRUE Fitness in any way?
AL: From Day One, the team at TRUE has felt like an extension of our SEU RecWell family. From the quick response provided from our sales partner, Derek, to in-depth tours of the TRUE headquarters facility in St. Louis, the team at TRUE has been more than a vendor providing equipment. What was amazing to me was having TRUE provide unsolicitied feedback related to our new gym set up, assisting us in creating temporary spaces during our transitional semester while we complete construction, helping support a renovation of a fitness studio to a functional training area, and providing a number of mock renderings showing the equipment layout in our new spaces to help build excitement among the SEU community for the new expansion. These “add-ons” really show us TRUE is committed to us as clients, but more importantly, they have shown a desire to make sure the SEU community has the best possible experience possible in our expansion.
CR: What else can you tell other rec center professionals about the benefits of working with TRUE Fitness?
CJ: Give TRUE a chance. We did and could not be happier with the outcome and look forward to working with them for years to come. What I have enjoyed the most is the whole process never seemed like a sales pitch or an aggressive attempt at making money. The TRUE team is more focused on helping your department create an excellent experience for the users while providing a quality product. They may be a new player to the rec world, but I believe they are poised to make a bigger name for themselves in the coming years. I would invite anyone to come visit our facility in Austin if they are looking to expand their facility or are wondering about TRUE.
For more information, visit truefitness.com.
