Locals Create Successful Fitness App for Computer Developers
If someone works all day in front of a computer and knows nothing about fitness, how can they live a healthy lifestyle?
Locals J.C. Hiatt and Thad Daniels found the solution.
Through the development of a specialized fitness program for developers called DevLifts, they are bringing light to an issue that plagues our nation.
Although the rising company only launched in February, the roots of DevLifts have been growing for years.
Receiving no fitness education as a child, Hiatt’s unhealthy diet caught up with him just a year after graduation. Between the time of leaving his more active job at Apple and freelancing as a developer, Hiatt, in twelve months, “gained fifty pounds,” he said.
Hiatt added, “I knew I needed to do something.”
As common as this is in the workforce, Hiatt faced the sort of depression and anxiety increasingly experienced in society today.
Meanwhile, Daniels split time between physical training locally and volunteering at a refugee camp in Greece. Daniels worked an interim job alongside Hiatt between traveling months.
“I didn’t know what I was doing in the gym,” Hiatt admitted.
Daniels soon changed that, offering professional fitness assistance to Hiatt.
That experience led the two high school friends to the gym together and ultimately into the partnership they have today.
Soon Daniels had to leave again for another 12-week cycle of volunteering in Greece, however, Hiatt was left to train on his own.
During this time, he saw how his predicament was likely the same as many developers: too much sitting still munching before a computer.
He had an idea: develop a program for computer guys like him that helped meet their specific fitness needs.
Upon Daniels’s return home, Hiatt’s positive training and all-around health results weren’t the only noticeable results. Hiatt proposed his idea for DevLifts to Daniels, who would be a crucial part of the company.
DevLifts was born.
The entrepreneurs realized their different areas of expertise and the importance of staying in their own lanes for the sake of the company’s rising success.
Although the pair plans to keep DevLifts a developers-only community, their first-of-its-kind fitness program is proving to be life-changing for the world of developers.
With only $1000 in start-up costs, others are learning from the DevLifts duo. Hiatt encourages others to “catch on to this narrative and make a difference” in the world around them.
“Starting a business is ok, and finding a niche is so helpful,” Hiatt adds. Daniels encourages entrepreneurs to actually start, noting that some people are reticent to actually take that first step.
But why?
What difference are you dreaming to make, and what step should you take?
Take it from the developers of DevLifts. Take that step.