Commute to Health

Wren's success in business at age 30 was no stroke of luck. As a teen, he took another step on the road that would lead to a thriving health company. At 13, Wren could finally join a local health club, that being the minimum age allowed. Actually, the club was not that local: He had to drive 20 minutes from where he lived in Waverly, Minn., to Buffalo, Minn. By high school he was commuting to Buffalo nearly every morning before school.

Wren cultivated his passion for health by continually asking trainers "Why?" increasing his knowledge of fitness from the wisdom of those in the field. He found the club to be a great place for fostering his curiosity because of the support and training that the club offered. "I had a lot of great people that took me under their wing," said Wren.

From an early age he had been involved in sports. In high school he took part in football, baseball and wrestling. After high school he worked full-time at the health club. He continued to ask questions about health training, but now he also looked deeper into the business side of it, probing his employer for any information he could, from accounting to sales to customer service. His typical day would start with working out in the morning, school during the day, and then back to the club at night to work. In essence, his education and training never stopped.

"After two years of doing that," Wren said, "I was like 'Well, I'm not burned out and this is kind of fun... if I can carry this schedule and not get burned out, I must like doing this.'" He continued working in the health clubs after junior college, and concluded that he could run his own club and enjoy it. With that, Wren focused his energies on the goal of owning a health club one day.

After earning his associate's degree, Wren received a wrestling scholarship to Adams State College in Alamosa, Colo., where he continued his grueling schedule of working out, school, and working full-time. At this new club he was able to build his education by learning more of the business and finance sides of health clubs.

Eventually, though, Wren returned to Minnesota where he continued his schooling at St. Cloud State University. There he returned to Life Fitness Center (the club from his youth) where he worked full-time while keeping up his wrestling and school schedule, commuting nearly 90 minutes every day between the two cities.

"When I was at St. Cloud, I got into some higher level courses... where I had to petition to get in so that I could learn the nuts and bolts of business," he said. The pairing of classroom and club worked well. Soon Wren began helping out with the sales operations of the club, and eventually he worked his way into the assistant manager position. Not too long after that he would move up to general manager of Life Fitness Centers operation in Buffalo.

Building Up

To say that Wren has a strong work ethic is something of an understatement. No stranger to working through the night (or week for that matter) he prides himself on his commitment to out-work and out-perform any competitor. He learned that from his father, who had worked two jobs with less than four hours of sleep to spare in a day.

"I'm one of the hardest workers you'll find." said Wren, who often worked through the night when his business was starting out in the order to accelerate the club's growth. Yet Wren's quick rise to success had as much to do with his work ethic as the work culture he strives to create. Perhaps influenced from his years in athletics, he shuns the label of "boss," instead seeing himself as "coach" of a team of employees. As a coach, he works with his team and seeks to understand them and their goals so that both the business and each team member knows that he needs them as much as they need him.

But Wren expects a high level of commitment and positive energy from his team. To this end, Highland Fitness employs a tough interview process to select only the best matches for their team, utilizing second and third interviews and asking difficult goal-oriented questions. Wren says he would rather be in the position to "hire slow, fire fast" than add a member who would conflict with the work culture he seeks to foster.

His commitment to a positive, productive work environment and his passion for fitness seems to have been a part of him since his first days of working out. However, one could say these ideals did not truly solidify until a little over five years ago with the birth of his daughter.

At the age of 23, Wren found his life progressing in line with his dreams. He was running a health club with a say in the operations of two other clubs, and his goal of one day owning his own health club looked to be just on the horizon. He had even started dating his future wife, Julie at that time. Then things fell apart when he nearly killed himself in a traffic accident after falling asleep at the wheel. His girlfriend lived in Eau Claire, but Wren continued to work in Buffalo, very often commuting between the two locations. The years of commuting finally caught to him that day. He fell asleep on the highway, traveling 75 miles per hour.

"I was driving and I blacked out," Wren said. "When I woke up I was skidding at a 45 (degree angle) in front of a Mack truck. If I hadn't had my foot on the gas when I woke up, I was dead." The near-death experience forced Wren to reconsider his long-term goals. He quickly decided to move to Eau Claire.

After the move Wren needed to find a job. He found that he could not agree with the philosophies of area health clubs enough to join them. That coupled with money concerns, pushed him into taking a job selling cars for Markquart Chevrolet. His dream job it was not, but he knew sales and he knew people, so he figured it would be a good way to make a living, which it was for a couple of years. But then with the birth of his daughter, his vision of his future returned with blinding clarity.

While pregnant, Julie and Luke found out that their daughter had a heart defect, something which ran in Wren's family history. The doctors thought she would need heart surgery at birth to fix a faulty aortic valve. Thankfully that was not necessary, but she did need weekly checkups.

At her five-week checkup at Mayo Clinic, the Wrens were told emergency surgery was required. "That was probably the most my heart sank in my life," Wren said. "When you've got to bring... an innocent child into a bed to sleep and she's holding your finger and you walk out of there... knowing that may be the last time you see your daughter alive."

The surgery was a success. Though doctors said she might need heart surgery every six months to a year for years to come, their daughter is now approaching the age of six with not one surgery since the first. "I don't think there's anything in life that can scare me since that." Wren said. "We named her Faith, because that's what got us through that time."

The experience affected him on more than just an emotional level... it reminded him of his true passion and how short and fragile life can be. "It just freshened my motivation from my grandfather of just how important our health is." Wren said. "I love health. I want to make a difference in health... I need to be doing something to improve people's health."

Becoming a Businessman

With that reawakening Wren left his job as a car salesman and became an independent personal trainer, over the next nine months building up a large client base. Then he heard that the owner of Highland Fitness at what is now Eastridge Center was looking for a manager. Less than a year after taking over, Wren bought the club in 2005. After six months the club was doing so well that Wren picked up another location at the Westridge Center in Eau Claire. Two years later, he and his wife would open another Highland Fitness in Lake Hallie.

At 19, Wren had set down two goals for himself. The first had him owning a health club by the age of 30, which he has accomplished three times over. Now he continues to work toward his second goal, that of making a national impact on peoples health.

Eleven years ago, people laughed at his goals, and perhaps some still do. Impacting the health of people at a national level will be no easy feat. But if anything, Wren is a dreamer with the drive and attitude to reach those dreams. "Part of being alive is having some goals and dreams and working towards them regardless of what people say.", he said. The process of impacting health on a national level involves more than just owning health clubs for Wren, though it would no be surprising to see more Highland Fitness clubs pop up over time.

Recently, Wren and his wife opened three locations of Thin and Healthy's total Solution, a weight loss and health management program, one at each Highland Fitness location. He is also developing a Web site (lukewren.net) to promote another sire of this company; speaking, training, and consulting, all of which he does for other companies and organizations. With these seminars Wren brings his team-oriented business approach to other companies and helps them develop a healthier work culture.

Oh, and Wren is also in the process of writing his first book, "Five Tears of Faith" delving into his daughter's struggle from birth and the influence she has had on his life. In his book (and at his seminars), Wren tells the story of once finding his daughter at age three jumping repeatedly off their couch, falling hard on her feet. Only after a good number of failed attempts did she succeed, at which time she proclaimed, "Ta-da!" and walked away. Wren sees a valuable lesson here that he tries to teach others: never stop living like a 3-year old.

"How many times as adults," Wren asked, "would we be willing to fall down 17 times and keep getting up and trying like it was our first time"? It's not hard to see that Wren lives by this idea himself. He works relentlessly to achieve success with his various business ventures, and he will continue that trend until his second goal is reached.

A risk taker, he has turned a teenager's dream from wild fancy to flourishing success in 11 years. Judging by his enthusiasm and drive, it looks as if the next 11 might turn out even better.