The first 10 years of his life were spent in Denver, Colo., before moving to Tucson. After graduating from Mountain View High School, Nelson attended Mesa Community College and Pima Community College, but he joked, “I left early for the pros” - his way of saying he didn’t complete college.
Like many college athletes itching to move on and up, Nelson was ready to get down to real business. And he felt the passion to be his own boss early on.
  
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Seven years ago Nelson, who was already a licensed personal trainer, opened Warrior Fitness. The 1,000-plus-square-foot fitness facility is located in the space previously occupied by Select Fitness, at 5151 E. Broadway. Nelson and a second personal trainer, Ben Shunko, have approximately 100 clients between them, about half of which work in the office building.
In a strategic move, the Warrior Fitness owner invited all 900 of the building’s employees to use his studio’s exercise equipment for no charge on a permanent basis. The trainers draw much of their client base from this built-in pool of neighboring business people.
The atmosphere Nelson strives for at Warrior Fitness is one of camaraderie among clients and trainers. His desire to maintain that feel sometimes conflicts with his business instincts to expand. But, he said, “Once you grow, it changes what it is. The way the business is now, it’s like a local barbershop. It has a unique feel, like family.”
Where he does plan to grow is with his second business, RAGorBRAG.com, which he started 18 months ago.
“This is where my energy is right now,” Nelson said. Since he’s not yet to the point of making money, he calls the online enterprise his “project.” But he’s building something that could soon become a new way of doing business.
Visitors to the site can post reviews – either complaining or raving about products or services they’ve encountered. Others can read about their experiences.
The site’s second phase, which Nelson said is about a month from launch, is a coupon page, which he said will have an option allowing users to text message a coupon to their phone and then use when they get to the place of business.
“The idea came about from training,” Nelson explained. “While in the gym, we chat about where to go, what’s good and not.”
The young entrepreneur isn’t all about work. He enjoys basketball and has been involved in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program. He’s currently a member of Foothills Sertoma, a business networking group that raises money for kids. The local chapter’s primary beneficiary is Arizona School for the Deaf and the Blind.
When asked about an influential businessperson in his life, Nelson pointed to Joe Higgins, owner of Sports Buzz haircuts and Talking Trash waste removal, who also ran for Pima County Supervisor last year. “He’s a local guy – he graduated from Salpointe. He put himself in the right spot and got into several things.”
Dirk Nelson
Warrior Fitness
5151 E. Broadway
(520) 514-0863
Creator of website:
RAGorBRAG.com
Christy Kreuger is a Tucson-based freelance writer.
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