Building a Community That Outgrew the Mats
15+ YEARS IN BUSINESS
3rd Degree BLACK BELT
130+ ACTIVE MEMBERS
5+ YEARS ON GYMDESK
Software Architect by Day, Black Belt by Choice
Jason started training in 2003, got hooked immediately, and never stopped. He’s now a third degree black belt under coral belt Roy Harris — and he still runs Nova while working full time as a software architect. When his original instructor relocated in 2009, Jason didn’t set out to become a gym owner. He just wasn’t ready to lose the community they’d built.
His Old System Wasn’t Keeping Up
Jason builds software for a living. He can tell immediately when a product is actively being developed versus standing still. After years on Zen Planner, that’s what he felt — a platform that had stopped moving. So he went looking for something that was.
The switch wasn’t without risk. Nova had been running for years with hundreds of billing relationships in place. A rough payment migration doesn’t just cause admin headaches — it causes member churn. For a gym built on retention, that’s the thing you protect above everything else.
“I was really looking for something new and different — something that I felt was growing a little bit more.”
Software That Thinks the Way He Does
What caught Jason’s attention first was the embeddable calendar widget. He pulled it directly into Nova’s website — the schedule stays live, new members route straight into sign-ups, and nothing needs manual updating. For a software architect running a gym on the side, that kind of detail signals a product was actually thought through.
The payment migration removed his last hesitation. When Gymdesk reached out about switching providers, Jason said yes and stepped back. One person handled everything — no disruption, no member churn. He’s been building on it ever since, including an automated welcome sequence that walks every new member through how Nova works before they ever set foot on the mat.
The Operational Shift
Without the Right Tools
- His system felt like it had stopped growing
- New members arriving with no context on how the gym works
- Website schedule manually updated, always at risk of being stale
With Gymdesk
- Software built by a team still actively developing it
- Automated welcome email on signup walks them through how the academy operates
- Embeddable calendar widget pulls live from Gymdesk — always current, routes directly to sign-up
15 Years. Four Locations. Same Community.
Nova has moved four times — dirt floors, shared spaces, a CrossFit gym that got them kicked out for dropping weights overhead. The members stayed through every move because the training was worth it. That kind of retention doesn’t happen by accident.
Gymdesk doesn’t create that. It just makes sure operations never get in the way of it.
“I was really looking for something new and different — something that I felt was growing a little bit more.”
Run Your Academy. Not Your Inbox.
Gymdesk handles the admin so you can stay on the mat.
