Ashley Haun

Ashley opened CrossFit Nika in 2013. She was a gym owner, but, in her words, she “was not a leader at all” at the time.

She expected staff members to do their jobs without guidance. She avoided difficult conversations. She couldn’t get the gym’s finances under control. 

Ashley started her mentorship journey with Two-Brain Business and completed the Incubator—now RampUp—in 2015, but she said she still wasn’t ready to listen—until her coaches quit to open a new gym.

“When this happened, the first thing I did was email Two-Brain and say, ‘Help!’” she said. “The second time around I listened and, with my mentor’s guidance, found my weakest links and made them my strongest.”

Mentorship taught Ashley how to identify problems and gave her the tools to fix them. She learned how to communicate with and set expectations for staff—and how to have tough conversations.

“Two-Brain and my mentor taught me how to lead,” she said.

Mentorship also helped Ashley take control of the books. In 2019, she purchased the building in which the gym was housed with a 20 percent cash down payment, and she’s maintained a 33 percent profit margin to this day.

Now, as a Two-Brain mentor, Ashley teaches gym owners how to solve the same problems she’s faced. Her mission is to build others up, and she specializes in motivational interviewing to help her mentees find their unique leadership styles.

As a Tinker Coach, Ashley loves to hold Tinkers accountable by fostering relationships with them so she can learn how to best coach them. She guides them to create small action steps and helps them avoid the “shiny squirrels” that often pop up at this level of entrepreneurship.

“I want to help others navigate those waters and not be alone in it,” she said. “I tell my mentees that I get excited for them when trials and tribulations happen. These are the thresholds that they must cross before moving through the different stages of entrepreneurship. There must be trials and tribulations before growth can happen.”