“Devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.” Mitch Albom
In my initial meeting, as we discussed how the magazine could be used to promote all things health and fitness in this area, I expressed a desire to feature some of the women who have dedicated their time and careers to improving the health and lives of the people in their respective communities. In the hyper competitive world of health & fitness, where less than 50% of new gyms are expected to survive beyond the first five years in business, Leah Keeling, owner of Red Eagle CrossFit, and Brandy Key, owner of CrossFit Dig Deep, have used the strength of their faith, as well as their friendship, to find success in balancing marriage, motherhood, and careers, alongside of navigating all that comes with owning a gym.
Building in Reverse
“It’s Gone”
With those two words her brother called and delivered the news on December 10th, 2021, shortly after a tornado had touched down, destroying a huge part of this region. Mayfield being one of the hardest hit areas, Leah and her husband Lance made their way across town in the dark to discover Red Eagle CrossFit had suffered a complete and total loss of the facility, a place they’d all just gathered hours before to celebrate Leah completing her physical therapy assistant program.
Growing up in Mayfield, Leah leaned towards an interest in music over athletic pursuits. A 2011 graduate of Murray State University with a degree in education, time had yet to show that her classroom would be one filled with barbells, not books. She started working out at Snap Fitness and quickly found a new passion, with 2012 leading to a personal training certification and working in a few smaller facilities in Mayfield. Two years later she launched an extremely successful bootcamp class at Primal Fitness. As her own fitness community expanded she was able to add locations in both Benton and Murray.
If You Build It, They Will Come
“The magic is in the movement, the art is in the programming, the science is in the explanation, and the fun is in the community.” Greg Glassman
After a drop in visit to CrossFit Murray, Leah wanted more. In 2015 she joined CrossFit 270 in Benton and fell in love with Olympic lifting and a new style of training. Highly competitive in nature, you could soon find Leah on a lifting platform or competing in a CrossFit competition. Lance has always pushed his wife to pursue any dream she set her mind to, and as her strength grew, so did her confidence. As she worked to balance her training with marriage, motherhood, and multiple classes, she made the call and in 2017 opened Red Eagle CrossFit in Mayfield, giving her an opportunity to provide opportunities and growth for her original fitness community. As she traveled around to immerse herself in the CrossFit network across this area, she dropped in to take a class at CrossFit Dig Deep, meeting new owners Brandy and Doug Key.
Never Quit
“All the action adventure girls have red hair. Whenever it is an independent girl, not a sidekick person, when she has her own mind or does as good as the guys, she has red hair.” Marion Roach
The intensity that redheads are known for should be your first sign that once Brandy Key has made up her mind to do something, she has the tenacity to see it through to completion. A product of Ballard County, she grew up watching her mother work in a pharmacy and knew she wanted to be a pharmacist. In 2007 she graduated from St. Louis University College of Pharmacy. Always on the move, she dabbled in a little of all things fitness. After playing around with some CrossFit training, Brandy and Doug decided to join CrossFit Dig Deep in the fall of 2013. The physicality that comes with this style training became a light at the end of a dark mental place she found herself living in. As she grew mentally and physically stronger, she became an advocate and voice for the transformation that can take place through fitness, joining both the local competition circuit and the coaching staff. As the Dig Deep community battled a variety of challenges, from ownership changes to competition from others who had moved into the area and opened locations, Doug and Brandy were presented with an extraordinary opportunity to take over as the new owners and help restore the culture to its original beginnings.
Resilient
Adjective
Ability to withstand or recover quickly from difficult conditions.
“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent; it is the one most adaptable to change.” Charles Darwin
The power of the CrossFit community goes a long way for many people. The sense of community between athletes at a CrossFit box is unique. Everyone knows one another. There is always someone to motivate you, compare WOD (workout of the day) results, discuss competitions, etc. This doesn’t happen in regular gyms. No one speaks to one another except to occasionally ask, “are you using this?” At CrossFit you know names and life stories. You know the people. They are yours. That sense of community and the pressure that comes with sustaining it left Leah and Brandy leaning on each other for guidance, support, and friendship. The year 2020 brought a global pandemic and gym owners, along with most businesses, being shut down. As they prayed, they also game planned how to keep their communities active and their gyms operating. They devised a QuaranTeam strategy, complete with shirts and an at home workout challenge for their respective gyms. They jointly developed a reopening strategy months later when businesses were allowed to reopen. Leah went back to school to begin a physical therapy assistant program and when her time was too short to balance it all, Brandy and Dig Deep hosted Red Eagle CrossFit for the yearly open competition. On the night the Red Eagle location was destroyed, Brandy was there to reassure her that she and the community were with her to get through this together. With Leah’s permission, Brandy started a GoFundMe that quickly picked up steam in the CrossFit world. As of the day of this interview it was just shy of the $20,000 mark. Tee shirts, benefit WODs, and competitions were all held with profits going to sustain Leah’s efforts to build Red Eagle CrossFit back better than ever.
Looking Ahead
“The best way to predict your future is to create it.” Abraham Lincoln
Although there are those who have told Leah she should just be done with it after December 10th, I admire her perseverance and the responsibility she feels towards her Red Eagle community. She has started purchasing several pieces of equipment as she looks for a new home base. She will soon begin the next step in her physical therapy program. You can often find a handful of Red Eagle athletes in a friend’s garage keeping on top of their game, and would be hard pressed to find a local location that you don’t find Leah and her teammates throwing down. Brandy’s location can be determined on what hour of the day it is, as she is at Dig Deep most mornings at 4:30 a.m. to train before she is off to West Towne Pharmacy, which she also owns. In a world where most business owners ruthlessly protect their secret sauce and only self promote, these two ladies admirably manage to support and sustain each other while leading their own empires.
