Leap Of Faith: Local Fitness Entrepreneur Helps Others Succeed

NORWALK, CT — Damien Vega, 24, remembers the day he decided to take a leap of faith and quit his job to start his own fitness business. As he walked away from a steady paycheck and faced the daunting task of starting something from nothing, his head was filled with negative and scary thoughts.

What would he do if his idea did not work? Worse, what if he went broke?

"I barely had any money at the time," Vega said as he laid out his weights and a large medicine ball on a picnic table at Shady Beach in Norwalk one sunny afternoon, "but something inside told me this was the right thing to do. It was like a gut feeling. I kind of had to quiet my mind and go with my instincts, and I never looked back."

Building a Business

It was not the path he had originally set out on. After graduating Brien McMahon High School in 2012, Vega went to college to study business and "make a lot of money," but quickly found himself uninspired by the hours he would spend sitting in lectures. He eventually decided to leave school and take a manual labor job, spending many hours after working out at the gym.

When a friend told Vega he was getting his certification to become a trainer, it dawned on Vega that he could make money doing something he loved all day. So he got certified by the National Academy of Sports Medicine and got his feet wet at a commercial gym, a position that unfortunately still left him cold.

"I wasn’t really fulfilled," Vega said. "I just was not happy working for a commercial gym and working for somebody else. I always had this fire inside me; this entrepreneurial spirit."

In 2017, he decided to take that leap and create Vega Athletics, a place where he could work one-on-one with clients and train both athletes and people who just want to be healthy. Though exciting, starting from the ground up presented some challenges.

"There were downtimes where I didn’t have any clients to train. There would be a couple weeks where sometimes I wasn’t able to pay my bills," Vega said. "The biggest hurdle was just getting over those droughts and being able to remain stable internally, keeping a positive spirit; to just get out there and not stop pushing."

With some help from his parents and social media, word-of-mouth eventually started to spread and Vega finally gained a steady client base.

A Spiritual Component

Vega Athletics offers clients and potential clients a free consultation for their first session, during which Vega will go over goal-setting.

"The first thing we go over before I do anything physical with them is their goals," Vega said. "I just kind of talk to them about what’s important to them, what they value in their life and what they are trying to achieve in the next month and year. From there, I’m able to get an idea of what I can structure within the time I’m with them."

Dana Lemay, 58, of Norwalk recalled a similar structure to her first session with Vega. She now meets with him three times a week and is planning to increase that number.

During her sessions, Lemay's main focus is boxing, however she also does "a little bit of everything," including weight lifting, stretching and yoga.

"[Vega] gives 110 percent and genuinely cares about the person he is talking to and dealing with," Lemay said just after a session. "I used to dread working out, but now I can’t wait. He makes it exciting, and I feel important when I’m there. I’m really blessed to have him."

Vega also makes a point to end every session by focusing on a client's mind and breath post-workout.

"I always end with some sort of spirituality component or some sort of mindfulness aspect," Vega said. "As we’re cooling down and stretching, I make sure my client draws their awareness to their breath and is able to create some space from their thoughts and their own inner being. I’m huge on the spirituality aspect, because that’s a huge component to my business and what I have to offer."

It also stems from a personal place, as Vega was turned onto meditation by his father during a time when he felt "emotionally unstable" a few years ago.

"I had confidence in the gym, but I wasn’t able to let go of certain emotions and certain past experiences," Vega said. "So I practiced meditation a few weeks at a time and finally got to this point where I was able to be in this absolute utter peace all throughout the day."

According to Vega, meditation is a huge element to not just the fitness but overall well-being of his clients.

"That’s kind of why I wanted to add that to my business and it’s a huge foundation to [Vega Athletics]," Vega said. "It’s not just exercise and nutrition; it’s being completely happy and fulfilled."

That overall well-being emanates from Vega when he talks about his business, his clients and the future of Vega Athletics.

"It’s very exciting because I know this is just the beginning and I know it’s such a long journey," Vega said. "It’s going to take years and I’m just getting started. Just seeing the progress in the past year, it’s been very reassuring of that decision I made to start all this. It’s adding to my confidence as a businessman and it’s giving me a lot of joy."

When asked if he had any advice for someone looking to start their own business, Vega called back to his initial decision to take a leap of faith years ago.

"Just jump," Vega said. "The more you sit there and ponder and think about it, the less likely it’s going to happen. It really all comes down to taking a jump, taking a leap and not letting your mind or your ego take over. Don’t think about it; just go do it."