72
Martina Douglas
Owner & Operator, CrossFit Youngsville
Martina Douglas is the owner and operator of CrossFit Youngsville in North Carolina, which she opened with her husband in 2022. She spent 20 years in pharmaceutical marketing and operations before the switch. A mom of three, she also mentors business owners and supports women 40+ on health and income.
Opening a gym when most don't make it
Martina knows the odds. By the industry figures she cites, failure rates for gyms can reach 80% in the first year, and half don't survive to year five. She and her husband didn't dig into those numbers before they started, and she says she's glad they didn't.
Her path there began with a running problem. She tried CrossFit to improve her endurance and fell for it. After relocating south to raise her family, neighbors kept saying the area needed a quality fitness facility. Within a week of finding a warehouse space, she moved on it, with three young children at home.
Key Takeaways
Strength training supports bone strength, muscle strength, and balance, which matter most in perimenopause and menopause.
Women have historically been underserved by fitness and health research during a universal life transition.
Community need is a business signal. Neighbors kept asking for a quality gym.
When the opportunity is right, move fast. She acted within a week of finding the space.
Imposter syndrome doesn't have to paralyze you. Lean on family, partners, and mentors.
She opened without dwelling on the failure statistics, and built through community.
The research gap in midlife
Perimenopause and menopause frustrated Martina at first. There has historically been little clinical research and few tailored solutions for women going through a transition that touches all of them.
She turned that frustration into a mission: accessible strength training, and evidence-based guidance on supplementation and hormone health.
Why strength training
For Martina, the case is practical.
"Especially in perimenopause & menopause, it is fundamentally so important to help with bone strength, help with muscle strength, create balance & steadiness... a lot of that comes just by doing strength training."
That's the thinking behind the hybrid training programs she's building for moms over forty.
Imposter syndrome, handled
Martina is open about her own imposter syndrome. She doesn't wait for it to go away. She leans on her support system: family, business partners, and mentors.
Her newest venture, supporting moms 40+ on optimizing health and income streams, grows out of the same approach: find the need, then build around the people who can help you meet it.
— Martina Douglas, Ep. 72
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