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Devan Futten

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February 23, 2026

$2.57

This week, my daughters and I moved into our new home.

It’s a small 750-square-foot house — nothing flashy, nothing extravagant — but it’s ours. I was able to take it down to the studs and rebuild it exactly how I envisioned, with the help of some incredible friendships I’ve built through the gym. We love it here.

As I sit at the kitchen table writing this, I keep thinking about the road that led us to this moment.

When I started CrossFit CTRL — now Ground Zero Fitness — my mentor required me to track every owner benefit you take from the business.

No guessing. No rounding. No pretending things are better than they are. Just honesty.

That first year of owning the gym, my pay worked out to $2.57 per hour.

Not a typo. Not an exaggeration. Two dollars and fifty-seven cents.

Around that same time, I sold my house to cut down expenses and moved into my 8×12 office. For nearly four years, the gym wasn’t just my workplace — it was my home. Showering there. Sleeping there. Living there.

From the outside, that probably sounds extreme. Maybe even uncomfortable. And at times it was.

But I did it for two simple reasons:

1. I wanted to make an impact on West Virginia’s health.
2. I wanted freedom.

Comfort is easy to protect.

Growth is not.

Most people don’t struggle because they lack information. We all know the basics of health:

Move your body.
Eat better food.
Prioritize sleep.
Be consistent.

The hard part isn’t knowledge — it’s the discipline to trade short-term comfort for long-term outcomes.

I traded convenience, space, and stability for a vision I believed in. I stayed disciplined when the numbers didn’t look good. I stuck to a plan when there were easier options available.

Now, years later, I get to work from home, be present with my girls, and continue growing our gym family behind the scenes.

The lesson has nothing to do with business.

It has everything to do with health.

Every meaningful change requires a trade:

Trading soda for water.
Trading excuses for walks.
Trading comfort for progress.

No one accidentally builds the life — or the body — they want.

I’m deeply grateful for the sacrifices, the friendships, and the journey that got us here.

And if you’re at the beginning of your own journey, wondering if small, uncomfortable changes are worth it…

They are.

They always are.

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