Today we’d like to introduce you to Marcus Gates.
Hi Marcus, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Thriving Lives really started while I was still in college at Northwest Missouri State University.
At the time, I was studying to become an elementary PE teacher and had gotten really into bodybuilding. I competed in my first two bodybuilding shows, earned my pro card at my second show, and started helping other people with their health and fitness on the side. I definitely didn’t have some master plan to build a company. I just knew I loved helping people make changes they had struggled to make on their own.
For years, I built Thriving Lives alongside my career in education. I taught elementary PE, worked with thousands of students, and eventually earned my Master’s in Educational Leadership in 2020 with plans of becoming a principal.
But the more my coaching business grew, the more I realized this was what I wanted to build my life around.
In 2023, I made the decision to leave teaching and take Thriving Lives full-time. Two weeks later, my wife and I found out we had a baby on the way, so the timing definitely made things interesting!
Since then, I’ve gone all-in.
I’ve invested heavily in business masterminds, health and fitness mentorships, and continuing education. I’ve earned certifications in personal training, nutrition, lifestyle transformation and integrative health and wellness coaching through the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. I’m also continuing to pursue higher-level credentials and education because I never want to stop getting better at helping the people who trust me with their health.
I also brought Renae Hill onto the Thriving Lives team as a coach, which has allowed us to expand the number of people and families we’re able to impact.
Today, after more than a decade in business, I’ve personally coached more than 800 people one-on-one. But one of my favorite parts of this work is that the impact goes way beyond the person I’m coaching. When a parent gets healthier, starts cooking differently, becomes more active and changes what “normal” looks like at home, their spouse and kids usually start changing too. That’s where I think this work becomes really powerful.
Thriving Lives now provides health, nutrition, fitness and lifestyle coaching to busy parents, couples, professionals and business owners throughout the Kansas City area and virtually across the country.
Most of my clients work with me through our coaching app, weekly phone or Zoom calls and high-touch accountability, but we’ve expanded well beyond traditional online coaching. I still do in-person personal training in the Overland Park and Johnson County area, take clients grocery shopping, teach them how to meal prep in their own kitchens and help them build healthier systems around their actual lives.
We’ve also expanded into corporate wellness, speaking engagements and partnerships with other local health professionals and organizations. That includes chiropractic offices, competitive youth sports organizations and working alongside Advanced Cosmetic Surgery in Leawood to provide health and fitness coaching support for their clients.
Most recently, I officially published *The Daily Choice: A Journal for a Thriving Life*, which is now available on Amazon.
When I look back, the business looks completely different than it did when I was a college kid helping people get in shape between classes. But the reason I do it really hasn’t changed.
I want to help people take back control of their health, build something they can actually sustain and ultimately create healthier families because of it.
That’s really what Thriving Lives has become.
Stop just surviving. Start thriving.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Definitely not, but I don’t think I would want it to have been.
Entrepreneurship is a rollercoaster. There are days where you feel like you’re building exactly what you’re supposed to be building, and then there are days where you question every decision you’ve made. Clients come and go, opportunities fall through, something breaks, plans change, and there’s always another problem to solve.
One of the biggest challenges has been growing Thriving Lives while also being a very present dad.
When I left teaching in 2023, my wife and I found out two weeks later that we were having our first child. For a big part of building this business full-time, I was also a stay-at-home dad. First with a baby, and now with a toddler running around.
There were plenty of days where I was taking coaching calls during nap time, answering messages with a baby next to me, working early mornings or late nights, and trying to figure out how to be the husband and dad I wanted to be while also building the business I knew I was capable of building.
I’ve also dealt with injuries along the way that challenged a big part of my own identity. When health and fitness has been such a major part of your life and your career, being physically limited can mess with you more mentally than you expect.
And then there’s self-doubt.
I’ve questioned whether I’m good enough, whether I’m making the right decisions, whether the business will continue growing, and whether I should have stayed on the safer path. Leaving a stable career in education to bet on myself was exciting, but it was also scary, especially with a baby on the way.
But those challenges have also shaped how I coach.
Life isn’t going to give you perfect conditions to work on your health, build a business, raise a family or chase something important to you. You have to learn how to keep moving forward when things aren’t ideal.
I think that’s one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned through all of this: you don’t need to have everything figured out. You just have to keep showing up, adjusting and making the next best choice.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Thriving Lives Complete Health & Fitness Coaching?
Thriving Lives is a complete health and fitness coaching company built around a pretty simple belief: most people don’t need another diet, workout plan or quick fix. They need a clear plan built around their life and someone in their corner helping them actually follow through with it.
We primarily work with busy parents, couples, professionals and business owners who know their health needs more attention but have struggled to make it a priority or make their results last.
That might mean losing 30 pounds, getting stronger, improving their nutrition, having more energy, building muscle, improving their health markers or simply feeling like they’re back in control of their health again.
What I think sets Thriving Lives apart is how comprehensive and personal our coaching is.
We’re not just handing someone macros and a workout program and checking back in a month. We look at the whole picture: nutrition, strength training, movement, sleep, stress, habits, mindset, supplements when appropriate, and most importantly, how all of those things actually fit into someone’s real life.
But probably the biggest thing that separates us is pretty simple: we care.
We genuinely want to build a relationship with every person we coach. The better we understand someone’s life, their family, their career, their struggles, what’s worked before, what hasn’t and what actually matters to them, the better we can coach them. That relationship allows us to make a much deeper and hopefully much more lasting impact than simply giving someone another plan to follow.
Our clients have careers, kids, businesses, travel, vacations, date nights and crazy schedules. I don’t want them to put their life on hold to get healthy. I want to teach them how to be healthy while living it.
That’s also why our coaching can go well beyond an app. We coach virtually through individualized programming, weekly check-ins, phone and Zoom calls and direct access to their coach, but I also work with clients in person throughout Overland Park, Johnson County and the Kansas City area. That can include personal training, grocery shopping together, going into someone’s home and teaching them how to meal prep, or collaborating with other professionals involved in their health.
We also want quality health coaching to be accessible to more people, so we’ve built different levels of support depending on someone’s needs and budget. We have some lower-cost options, while our core individualized coaching programs currently range from $250–$400 per month depending on the level of accountability and access someone needs.
On the opposite end of that spectrum, we’ve created a concierge coaching tier that is limited to only three clients at a time and ranges from $1,000–$2,000 per month. That program has a menu of additional services and support that can be built around the individual. The goal is to get as close to “health done for you” as we possibly can while still teaching the client the skills and habits they need for the rest of their life.
We’ve also expanded Thriving Lives into corporate wellness, speaking engagements and partnerships with local healthcare and wellness organizations.
One area I’m especially passionate about is working alongside other providers. I don’t want to replace someone’s physician, physical therapist, chiropractor or other healthcare professional. I want to help bridge the gap between what someone knows they should be doing and what they’re actually doing every day.
That’s really where I think coaching is incredibly valuable.
I’m probably most proud of the ripple effect we’ve created. We’ve now coached more than 800 people one-on-one, but that number doesn’t tell the whole story. When a mom or dad changes their habits, their kids see it. When one spouse starts getting healthier, the other often follows. Families start eating differently, moving more and changing what health looks like in their home.
That’s why the bigger mission behind Thriving Lives has become helping people build “Generational Health.”
I don’t just want someone to lose weight for the next six months. I want them to build the strength, habits, knowledge and systems that allow them to stay healthy for the next several decades and hopefully change the trajectory of their family’s health along the way.
That’s what I want people to know about Thriving Lives.
We’re here to help real people with real lives create lasting change.
Stop just surviving. Start thriving.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
Start before you feel ready, because you’re probably never going to feel completely ready.
I built Thriving Lives on the side for years while working full-time in education. Looking back, I probably could have bet on myself sooner, but I also think those years taught me a lot and helped shape what the business is today.
One of the biggest things I’ve learned is to sit at tables you don’t feel like you belong at.
Get in rooms with people who are further ahead than you. Join the mastermind. Go to the event. Introduce yourself to the person you think is way out of your league. Ask questions, listen and learn. Some of the biggest growth in my life and business has come from putting myself in rooms where I was uncomfortable.
But don’t walk into those rooms thinking, “What can I get from these people?”
Go in asking, “How can I serve?”
I’ve found that when you genuinely care about people, look for ways to provide value and build real relationships without constantly wondering what’s in it for you, opportunities have a funny way of coming back around.
And if an opportunity scares you, say yes.
I’ve tried to make that a rule for myself. If something makes me uncomfortable because it’s going to stretch me, challenge me or put me in a room I don’t feel qualified to be in, that’s usually a pretty good sign I should do it.
I’d also tell people to stop comparing their chapter one to someone else’s chapter ten. It’s really easy to look online and feel like you’re behind. You don’t see the years of mistakes, doubt, sacrifice and work that came before someone else’s success.
And finally, define what success actually means to you.
I want to build a successful company and make a great living, but I also left a career to create more freedom and be present with my family. If I build a huge business but I’m never around for my wife and daughter, I didn’t actually build the life I wanted.
Build something you’re proud of, take care of people, keep putting yourself in uncomfortable rooms and keep saying yes to opportunities that scare you.
You can figure out the rest along the way.
Pricing:
- $25o – Baseline Coaching
- $400 – Premier Coaching
- $1000-2000 Concierge Coaching
- In-Person training sessions $100
- Corporate Wellness Programs Ranging from $500-2500/m
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thrivinglivesfitness.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thrivinglivesfitness/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThrivingLivesFitness
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcus-gates-thrivinglives/
- Twitter: https://thrivinglivesfitness.com/peri-%26-menopause-coaching
- Other: https://thrivinglivesfitness.com/glp1-coaching
