Seth Naranjo quips that Harlingen has two types of businesses all over town – car washes and gyms.

He made that observation even as he and his wife, Nikki Solis Naranjo, sat inside of a gym they recently opened in the city. The Goon House on South Sunshine 77 Strip in Harlingen is located within a sprawling plaza with a call center as a next-door neighbor. The gym sits back a ways from the highway, but members are winding through the elongated plaza to find a gym that offers 24-hour access.

The Millennial-aged couple acknowledges the degree of competition their gym faces with corporate-branded fitness places reaching into more of Harlingen. They are undaunted by the challenge after going through the rigors and obstacles to get their business open.

“How do you go about it?” Nikki Naranjo asked. “In a successful gym, you build a community within a community.”

Finding A Path

Seth and Nikki Naranjo describe themselves as fitness enthusiasts who have been in and out of various gyms since their teenage years.

They have each participated in powerlifting and strongmen competitions. The many hours spent in local gyms gave them perspectives on best practices when it comes to customer service and the proper maintenance of equipment and facilities. Seth and Nikki are also health care professionals – paramedic and registered nurse, respectively – and know firsthand about the connection between exercising and good health. 

Their shared commitment to fitness and maintaining a healthy lifestyle led to an ambition of owning their own gym. Having such a goal and turning it into reality proved to be a steep challenge. Banks hardly gave them the time of day when seeking startup loans. Their visit to a local Small Business Administration office was met with indifference, they said. 

The couple finally found an ally in PeopleFund, which helped them secure the necessary capital to build toward having their own business. PeopleFund is a nonprofit organization in Texas that provides financial and educational resources to help small businesses. 

“They took us down the path to what we needed to get started,” Seth Naranjo said.

Core Principles

In getting started, the couple turned to their informal network of friends and acquaintances in the local fitness and weightlifting community.

“We didn’t have anything to advertise but our name,” Nikki Naranjo said. “Our first members believed in us.”

The core principles of their business include:

• Cleanliness of equipment and facilities.
• Promptly fixing broken equipment.
• Listening to your customers and conducting surveys to gather suggestions in making the proper investments for gym improvements. 
• Building a sense of community and making everyone feel comfortable. 

The philosophies of The Goon House is impressing their customers.

“Best gym vibe for serious lifting,” said Cody Laningham, in a Google review. “It has a family vibe. No corporate gym atmosphere. Owners are always friendly and make you feel like part of something.”

It’s their gym their way, the Naranjos said, with the added benefit of 24-hour access via membership badges and Bluetooth technology on smart phones that opens doors to the facility at any hour of the day.

“Other gyms try to copy each other,” Nikki Naranjo said. “We’re building our own thing and focusing on what we can do to accommodate and help our customers.”

A customer recently leaving The Goon House thanked the couple for opening the gym and making him feel welcome. They acknowledged the compliment with a warm farewell and “we’ll see you again soon” sendoff.

“We love the community that comes with it,” Seth Naranjo said of The Goon House.