Check Out Heather Sholl’s Story

Today, we’d like to introduce you to Heather Sholl.

Hi Heather, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
My career started in college as a part-time trainer working at our campus rec center, helping friends work out by showing them what we did for our strength and conditioning for soccer. I never imagined I would build a life around this over the span of decades. Within a few years, clients asked me to run a gym in a small town they retired to after they moved and I graduated from college.

I had no formal experience in operations or management, but they believed in me. After two years of building a business, we decided to sell to the local hospital, and I moved on to training private clients again in Houston. As my personal business grew in Houston, I expanded into gym ownership and dove into medical fitness/wellness with a Cardiac Rehab/Prehab program and a professional staff to support our growing clientele.

In my free time, I pursued an array of side hustles as a solo social entrepreneur and started a side project with five friends. We read the book Lone Survivor, a true story about Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell, who survived excruciatingly difficult conditions before returning home after his entire team was killed on a mission and decided that we wanted to show support for veterans. Within weeks, we found a connection to a fundraising event for a veteran service organization and had a creative idea to promote it.

We bought a pair of combat boots and asked attendees to trade their shoes for our boots for a photo as an expression of gratitude. They loved it! Much to our surprise, our side project to support veterans with a show of gratitude became a nationwide success, and we formed a business; within the first few months, we generated so much interest from celebrities and corporate donors, we became a 501c3 and hired employees to support the “side project” in our lives.

As we grew, the five of us who co-founded what became Boot Campaign, needed to return to full time jobs and families. I always stayed connected to our organization through Board Meetings, and volunteering but in the Summer of 2023 something remarkable happened.

Last August I attended a donor appreciation party for Boot Campaign, hosted by my friend and fellow co-founder, where our longtime supporter and now retired Navy SEAL Morgan Luttrell, spoke on the expanding programs Boot Campaign offers and currently fundraises for. Quickly realized that much like the existing partners the charity was working with, my own business had expanded programs that could potentially accommodate the veteran population they were serving.

As of today, we have served two veterans from Boot Campaign, and we have agreed to continue to build an individualized program specifically for veterans struggling with Post Traumatic Stress symptoms. There is no more perfect way this path could have been planned! I am honored to serve our veterans and am in love with the idea that my team and I can apply decades of combined experience to coaching them as they transition into the civilian world.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
HA!!! There are no smooth roads in entrepreneurship! If I find one, I slow down and enjoy the view as long as I can! But of course, I chose to be an entrepreneur so I could be at the helm and steer through the storms without waiting on someone else to tell me when, where, or how to weather things.

Over the years, the biggest challenges I’ve faced have been those that resurface with growth. Money is always a stress, regardless of how much there is coming and going. Every expense is a risk, and every influx when something goes well still begs the same question – where should I spend this?

COVID was devastating. We drained our savings and retirement to keep our business open and in my mid-forties, I’m in the same situation as I was in my 20s. Thank god this time, I have different resources and experience, but there was nothing easy about that.

Building Boot Campaign was one of those things that no one could plan for. I knew every step of the way that I was part of building something special, but there was no revenue for the founders, and we wanted to keep it that way. I still cannot believe we built something big with heart and hidden talent outside our careers! There were many, many moments we had to grow through without any income, experience, or promise of success.

Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
We specialize in medical fitness for people who are most focused on longevity.

We are known for building simple-to-understand and executed road maps for people based on their goals and our experience. I am most proud that our people feel that they are part of a community here that is supportive and engaged with their health and the well-being of the others who come through our doors.

Our clinical experience in a relaxed and supportive gym environment sets us apart.

What matters most to you? Why?
What matters most to me is that people feel seen and loved. When I was growing up, my parents made a point of showing me infinite ways to notice people whom others ignore. My dad was a quiet, gentle soul who, himself, went unnoticed, and I could see what that was like from his experience. My mom was one of 9 children, most of whom went into some version of caring for others via medicine.

I think, in their own way, being lost in the middle of 8 siblings, was also not given much individual attention as she was always just another part of a bigger identity. However, her family is loud, kind, and loving, and knows no strangers. My personality was born from the big family experience but I am actually an only child who felt somewhat unnoticed at home.

When it was time for me to choose a career, I was very driven by my emotions and not by titles or income. I was ready to see, be seen, and connect. I wanted a job I LOVED. I went into training in college and fell in love with the day-to-day job of listening and problem-solving with people who were focused on improving themselves.

Over the years, I have come to realize that I have a unique ability to see and love people with ease, regardless of their story. This has allowed me to really help them effectively and get the resources they need. And now, it’s allowed me to build a team of people who understand and operate the same way.

There is such beauty in caring for others with a team of people who have the same vision!

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