Every cheer gym owner hits the wall at some point — the moment you look at your spouse or your business partner and ask, "Is this actually worth it?" Dan's been there more times than he can count, and this episode is a look at exactly what he does when he gets there. Dan walks through the early years with his wife Tori, when enrollments were slow, revenue was tight, and teams weren't competing the way they wanted — and the three things he now relies on any time he feels like walking away: getting advice from the right people (not just the people closest to you), running a worst-case/best-case mental exercise before making any big call, and a lesson from a drill sergeant in basic training that reframed what "quitting" even means. If you're a cheer gym owner or all-star coach in one of your own hard seasons right now, join Dan and the community over in the Cheer Gym Owners and All-Star Cheer Coaches and Owners Facebook groups, or check out the Cheer Gym AI Lab on Skool for more content like this. And if you want to learn directly from Dan in person, the Cheer Biz Accelerator has two spots left for the November 2026 event (October is sold out).

You've heard it everywhere — as a busy gym owner, you need to delegate. So you think it's time to hire a manager. But according to Dan, it might not be. In this episode, Dan breaks down what a manager actually is (versus just a fancy title), the five things a real manager needs — supervision, delegation authority, communication, administration, and hiring authority — and why promoting your best instructor into that role doesn't always work out. He also shares his own 150-athlete rule of thumb for knowing when you genuinely need a manager, plus the honest story of hiring his first director just three years into owning his gym, before he actually needed one. Before you dive in, head over to the Cheer Gym Owners and All-Star Cheer Coaches and Owners Facebook groups to join the conversation. And if you want to work with Dan and Danielle directly, spots are still open for the November Cheer Biz Accelerator event at Oregon Dream Teams — with January and February 2027 dates now booking too.

If Dan wanted to guarantee his gym stopped growing — or put it out of business entirely — these are the five things he'd do. Unfortunately, he sees gym owners doing all five on a regular basis across the industry. In this episode, Dan breaks down the real growth killers: airing your "dirty laundry" online, refusing to embrace social media and AI, marketing without a strong product to back it up, treating customers like they're replaceable, and skipping stair-step enrollment options. He gets personal too, sharing how his gym's $5 drop-in tumbling classes (and the total lack of anything between that and elite travel cheer) held his own business back in the early days. Before you dive in, head over to the Cheer Gym Owners and All-Star Cheer Coaches and Owners Facebook groups to join the conversation. And if you're ready to actually accelerate your gym's growth instead of stalling it, check out an upcoming Cheer Biz Accelerator event — new dates are launching in January and February 2027.