Partner Feature: Matt Averyhart
There is no doubt that when Matt Averyhart speaks, passion follows. From a lifelong dedication to fitness and an active lifestyle to technology and entrepreneurship, Averyhart excels in the business and health industry in Chattanooga, TN.
By reimagining the approach to fitness by combining health, technology, and exercise, Averyhart took his knowledge and ideas to create Onsight Fitness. As co-founder and CEO of this personal training gym, he has been able to step into the community of Chattanooga as well as strengthen the one though this business, all while spending less than a decade in this city.
We had the privilege of interviewing Averyhart and getting to know a little bit more about one of our passionate and motivational business partners who we are proud to serve and proud to know.
Where are you from and what brought you to Chattanooga?
"I’m from Denver, Colorado. I went to Texas Christian University to play football before coming to Chattanooga in 2014. I came to Chattanooga to help Bellhops grow when it was a small team of 10 people."
Where did the passion for fitness as well as entrepreneurship come from and how do you maintain it?
"Fitness has been ingrained through years of playing football. I played since the age of 6 so I have naturally lived a very active lifestyle since. My entrepreneurship interests were peaked during my time at Bellhops. To see something grow so quickly and help so many people across the country was a truly inspirational experience. Scaling and growth have been an addiction ever since.
Maintaining the passion isn’t hard, it’s something that I feel called to do. It’s my purpose. My mission. It practically pulls me out of bed every morning."
How did the vision and mission for Onsight Fitness come to be?
"Onsight was founded to address a health crisis that we face as a population. Roughly 80% of the population doesn’t exercise enough, and roughly 90% don’t know how to exercise. We saw that current fitness services weren’t directly concerned with changing this narrative, so we figured we would take a stab at it.
The goal was to put together a team of highly intelligent exercise physiologists and use evidence based practices to change a person’s lifestyle. We wanted to do this by debunking fitness myths and teaching safe and efficient exercise prescriptions. We knew that we needed to focus on people that aren’t served by current fitness models, people that you don’t see in the gyms and studios. We concluded the best way to interact with our ideal client was through doctors and physical therapists. We then learned that there was a real need for our services and made it our mission to bridge the gap between the medical world and the fitness world.
Now we are viewed as a premiere place for doctors to send patients, because through the Onsight experience, they leave with increased exercise confidence and exercise independence."
What kind of culture exists in Onsight and how do you cultivate that?
"Onsight has a 'strive for excellence' type of culture. Cutting edge, evidence based knowledge is our thing, and our team of Exercise Physiologists are extremely smart and always looking for ways to help each client."
How has Chattanooga shaped your businesses, community, and growing passion for entrepreneurship and fitness?
"Chattanooga is the best place to start a business. It ain’t easy here! But it has a wonderful community of young passionate entrepreneurs, and the access to influential people is unprecedented."
How has being an entrepreneur affected your personal life?
"What is a personal life? I work pretty much all of the time. I do it so that my team can practice a more balanced lifestyle... at least that’s what I tell myself."
What other business endeavors are you a part of or passionate about?
"I work on other projects in the tech space, beverage space, and beauty industry."
Where do you see Onsight and yourself in the new year?
"I see Onsight playing an important role in helping our community return to a normal active life this year. People will need more guidance than ever on how to exercise and be healthy, and we will be here for them."
If you are someone who has always wanted to consistently exercise, but do not know know where to start, Onsight Fitness is just the place. Now, imaginations of being taught how to exercise, how to gain crucial information combining medicine and fitness, and receiving a safe approach to effective exercise, are no longer out of reach, but right down the street at Onsight Fitness with Matt Averyhart.
Written by Matthew Averyhart and Abigail Frazier
Photography by Abby Stevenson