For some people, the word ‘gym’ is literally enough to make them curl up under a blanket with an XL pizza in front of the TV.
So 35-year-old New Yorker Mark Fisher completely shook up what it meant to work out, from the linguistics to the equipment. He calls his gym the Enchanted Ninja Clubhouse of Glory and Dreams and keeps it stocked with an assortment of glittery objects, unicorns, and dildos – some for fun, the latter (thankfully) just for anatomical instruction.
“We’re batshit crazy,” says Fisher, somewhat needlessly. “It’s like the Island of Misfit Toys here. We’re a group of people who would rather play around than work out in a traditional gym.”
Playing around, as it turns out, it pretty big business.
Fisher’s business ranked 312 on Inc. 5000’s recent list of the fastest-growing companies in America and earned roughly $3.3 million in 2014 – about 1,500 percent growth since its doors opened in 2012. He earns fitness certifications in his sleep, conducts business and life coaching, and has even been invited to give a TED Talk on how creating workplaces where people enjoy their job contributes to success.
“I felt like I was commissioned to bring the fullness of my eccentric weird-ass self to training,” he says about the “outsider” feeling he got within gym culture.
Perhaps one day we’ll all be outsiders if we’re not using unicorns to get fit.
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