Meet Vince VanValkenburg, SYC Operations Director
by Laura Stetser
It takes a lot of people to make a club the size of South Yuba Club hum steadily day-to-day. One of the cornerstone people supporting the backbone of the club is Operations Director Vince VanValkenburg. If you’ve been here a minute, you may have watched him grow through various roles up to Operations Director. When it comes to someone who has embraced stepping into positions in different departments, thoroughly learning fitness and the industry – specifically South Yuba Club – there is not a more qualified person.
Vince started with SYC four years ago at the front desk. After learning the ropes there, he migrated to the Personal Training Department where he was drawn to helping people change their lives by achieving their goals and living healthier. Returning to work post-Covid stay-at-home restrictions, he found himself a new dad who wanted to continue growing in the industry while at the same time being present in his daughter’s life – a challenge as a Personal Training and erratic hours molded around your clients’ schedules. With a chunk of experience now under his belt, he also knew he wanted to make a bigger impact. When the position for Operations Director opened, he was excited because he knew this was an opportunity to step up and help influence how SYC trains clients, how they help members, and how SYC impacts the community.
HELPING PEOPLE
“I love being able to help people. I can take my years of customer support and help give our members the best experience I can, and I can help teach staff to do the same and take what they learn here past working at SYC someday.”
PERFECT FIT
SYC management thought it was a great fit and Vince was hired for the role.
PASSION FOR FITNESS
But Vince’s passion for fitness started well before his tenure at SYC. In fact, fitness has always been a significant part of his life.
“I’ve always been very active and extremely competitive. I was very big into running through middle school, then played football in high school. I then trained intensely with the intention of joining the Navy Seals but ran into complications due to sustaining too many injuries over the years from snowboarding and other sports. Because of training for the Seals, I grew to really love the gym and training my body to be in the best shape it could be.”
And now? “Fitness has completely changed my life since high school obviously, my whole career and hobbies revolve around it and it’s a part of every day. I train about 6 days a week for about 2.5 hours and wake up a 4:15 a.m. to accommodate my training schedule.”
TAKING IT UP A NOTCH
Recently, he expanded his fitness goals to include a body building competition in October.
“I got into bodybuilding for a number of reasons but mainly because I was always amazed by what people could do with their bodies, there is a real art to sculpting your body to look the way you want it to.” As part of his training, Vince eats within very strict macros, he does cardio every day for 40 minutes (which is steadily increasing) and he follows a specific training plan.
MOTIVATION
And what motivates him? “My daughter is my main driving force for everything from working to chasing my dreams in bodybuilding. I have extremely limited time, but I want to be able to show her that no matter what, she can chase any dream she has even with limited time, pandemics, and whatever obstacles the world throws at you.”
STAY TUNED
Stay tuned for a follow-up article after Vince completes his competition.
In addition to introducing and spotlighting our team so that you might know them better, we love sharing inspiring member stories. Have a story you think others would benefit from?
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