How did your business start?

Growing up in athletics, I quickly became frustrated in locating accurate, valuable information for improving athletic performance and physical potential, short of raw natural talent, which is difficult to express and teach.

Over the years I focused on a quest to learn the ins and outs of creating physical and athletic success. Through this journey, relationships with amazing professional and Olympic athletes have been made and have fuelled my study of the body and mind's potential. After analyzing the information, the missing links that I was searching for were isolated.

Basic comprehension of body training and professional truths combined in an off season training program is what all aspiring athletes require in order to successfully manipulate their performance. After two years of packaging the information, Ultra Quest was conducted in Grand Junction 2010 for its first season.

What do you sell?

Like many other merchants we sell the normal: rainbow juice, “dreams come true easily” potions, and oh, we also reserve all rights to distribute “Win at Life Overnight” formula ...

On a serious note, we provide credible sports strength and conditioning instruction. However, results are tied to more than just the registration forms. I'm not going to fluff it up. Everyone knows that anything of value requires diligence. Sure, our camps cut down on time spent in trial and error.

What an athlete does with professional instruction is their choice, frankly. We can only show you the best obstacle course; you're the one who has to run through it.

What positive lessons did you learn during the recession?

High overhead is a killer, and the health of a company is not based on the quality of the accounting software, but instead completely mirrors the amount of value that is added to the lives of others. We provide the most current athletic strength and conditioning instruction and are not afraid to say so. Understanding that our success relies 100 percent on the value we generate we realize that this business is not a seasonal business. Though camps are held two months out of the year, the remaining 10 are spent researching and bettering the program. Quality businesses stand out from the quantity. Apple spends more time and energy on creating better products than better advertising.

What strategy do you use to hire good people?

We ask for full commitment right away. There are a lot of opportunities to work for our camp as we expand to a national status. Therefore a strict internship practice is involved for two months. During this time an intern will become certified in Ultra Quest, CrossFit, and CPR — all of which are to be paid out of pocket. With this sort of commitment to excellence and to the team, we then know whom to reward well.

What is your strategy for growth in the next year?

When the public watches as incoming freshmen excel over the summer to play varsity volleyball through the entire year it is impossible to overlook the program's value. Value adding is the main concern. Word of the value we add has spread to no denial and is leading for an expansion throughout the cities and towns of Colorado. Plans are being made for expansion in other states as well.

What is the best thing about running a business here?

The best aspect of this beautiful place is, of course, the people. Sure, we have been embraced warmly by many other communities, yet no others have as quickly and steadily recognized the value of our camps' instruction as those of the athletic Roaring Fork Valley. Throughout the valley that raised me, parents, students, coaches, and even hard up critics have wholeheartedly embraced our presence and mission as they courageously put aside their agenda and truly give a flying horse about the ultimate athletic future of the high school students.