Today we’d like to introduce you to Nick Stoppel.
Hi Nick , we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
In a way, I’ve always been doing what I do now. I grew up playing sports and singing in small town Kansas. Fortunately I’m still able to manage both careers that I love. After college I started personal training fellow singers while auditioning for different groups to make music with. In 2013 I found a home gym at the Jewish Community Center of KC to personal train at in between gigs. I would say singing really took off during my time with the Kansas City Chorale. Most notably, in 2015 when we won the Grammy Award for Best Chorale Performance. Around the same time I started recording and touring with the Irish chorus, ANÚNA. Since singing with ANÚNA I’ve toured nine countries and collaborated with different artists from around the world. During the pandemic in 2020 I left the Jewish Community Center and started my own personal training business, RiNickulous Fitness LLC. Starting out I was only able to train clients virtually then transitioning to meeting in a park when things started to open back up. In 2023 I was able to secure my first store front in Prairie Village where I now work with clients of all ages, ability and strengths. In 2024 I was voted Best Personal Trainer in KC by the Pitch KC magazine.
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?
Oh wow, I’ll try to keep this short 😉 I don’t think any entrepreneur survives even relatively unscathed.
The first challenge was understanding my entire income was opportunity based, so if I wasn’t working I didn’t make money. There were a couple tours I came back from weeks on the road and didn’t manage gaps in income like I should have resulting in multiple forms of debt.
After years of auditioning I was a finalist for my dream job singing with a choral group out of California which would have been the equivalent of making my NBA, NFL etc.. only to found out they had chosen the other candidate on social media.
Starting an entire personal training business virtually watching people move on whatever devise they had from different angles was a struggle to say the least. It also didn’t take long to realize how much the weather played a major factor when I trained folks out of a park for the better part of an entire year.
The COVID pandemic put a full stop to all music touring/performing for nearly 2 years.
I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis in 2021 which made it extremely hard to move my body for nearly 7 months until I was able to be seen and treated. The medication I was given in the beginning started to negatively affect my singing range and quality, which was very scary and hard to accept. Both are now managed and back to near full function.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
RiNickulous Fitness is my vessel to help people learn more about their bodies and improve quality of life. I’m a people person and have always been curious about sociology in general. Fitness allows me to serve my community through the people who trust what I’m asking them to do with their bodies. I would say I’m known for a fun, consistent safe space to move and feel better by the time you leave. Not only am I able to work with people who live just around the corner who walk to the studio but have clients in Ireland who I meet with virtually on a weekly basis.
I am proud of the RiNickulous brand because of how it started, how long it’s lasted and what it means. I got the idea from a friend, also named Nick, who thought I needed merch to sell at concerts I was putting on myself. I made us both RiNickulous tshirts with iron on lettering with no intent of making more. More friends started asking where we got them from and when they found out I made them in my parents garage they wanted one too. I not only started selling them at my concerts but orders started coming in for things like Christmas and birthday gifts. My Dad is an artist and is responsible for the design and production of how a lot of the items are produced. The name has grown to represent a community of creatives and sense of adventure. It’s now the registered trademark of my business and we’ve sold countless RiNickulous items from hats to bumperstickers.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
I suppose everything is a risk until you prove to yourself or someone it’s value and it becomes practice.
Each audition not knowing what the outcome would be was an emotional and financial risk. Luckily, I got used to hearing no and instead used it as motivation to keep going and prove to myself that I could. Most times it didn’t make financial since to spend the money, but I did it anyway..
The biggest risk I took with personal training was starting my own business. I had just moved in with my fiance and I’m sure without her I wouldn’t have made the jump. Aside from marrying her, working for myself has been the best decision I’ve ever made.
Pricing:
- Personal Training $75/hr
- Tandem Training $95/hr
- Small Group Training $135/hr
- In-Home Personal Training $110/hr
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.rinickulousfitness.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rinickulousfit/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/riNICKulousFitness/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYp_76OnZG3TPU8kOlEQ8cA
- Other: https://www.nickstoppel.com
