Community Highlights: Meet Clay Kaltenbach of Roby Realty

Today we’d like to introduce you to Clay Kaltenbach. 

Hi Clay, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Owning a gym was always a dream for my uncle and myself. We both enjoyed training in facilities with an “old school’ vibe and both enjoyed powerlifting as a sport. My father, an experienced entrepreneur/investor, saw an opportunity pop up in our hometown for us to make our dream reality. The three of us started leasing our building right after the beginning of 2020; prime COVID time (we took a leap of faith). The building we have is an old garage/warehouse that also used to be an airplane hanger years ago – this fit EXACTLY into the ‘old school, nitty-gritty’ atmosphere we were looking for. We took a couple months to rehab the building (take some walls down, make entrances bigger, put an aluminum sheeting ceiling up, etc.) and retrofit it with the necessities a business would need. My uncle has some contacts with EliteFTS out of London, OH which we utilized to get all of the necessary equipment we would need to get started and open our doors. 

July 15th, 2020, Plain City Barbell was open for business. After months of preparing, hitting roadblocks with the building, zoning issues, etc. – we made our dream reality. Within the first 30 days of being open, we had shattered our 3- and 6-month goals. And shortly after, we blew by our first-year goal. We are constantly keeping a beat with our members and adding new pieces of equipment to the gym as well. 

We take great pride in being a ‘no nonsense’, laid-back, down-to-earth gym. We don’t have contracts, no sign-up fees, we’re 24/7, we have very unique pieces of equipment you don’t see at your normal big box/commerical gyms, and we don’t have any cancellation fees. You’re coming to our facility because you are determined. You are wanting to get stronger, healthier, faster. You come to the gym to do what you have to do and you get out. We aren’t a cellphone, get-to-together, hang-out space, and those that do prefer that have another option in town they can go to. 

We don’t have pizza Fridays. We use chalk. We blast music. We are uplifting and respectful to one another. We are your old school, local roots, performance gym. 

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
We had some issues with our building itself – since it was an old building, some things were not up to code today and needed changed. We also had some zoning issues and had to bring in an architect to help us with some permitting as well. We needed to asphalt our parking lot and add parking lines, add all new electrical, metal sheeting ceiling, some additional plumbing, our access door and system, security cameras, and more. 

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Apart from owning Plain City Barbell, I am also a realtor & Director of Operations for Roby Realty out of Dublin, OH. I’ve been an agent for over 5 years now and I love my job! I specialize in residential sales anywhere in central Ohio and surrounding counties. I’ve bought and sold millions of dollars of real estate and have had some very challenging transactions along the way that have helped fine-tune my characteristics as a market-leading agent in central Ohio. 

At the beginning of 2021, I was promoted within my brokerage to Director of Operations. I am tasked with overseeing all of our agents, day-to-day and long-term actives & goals, business development, and more. I am honored to be a part of such a great team and family here at Roby Realty and I cannot wait to continue to grow this brokerage and see where it takes us all. 

How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
At Plain City Barbell, we have personal training available. All of our personal trainers are independently contracted and able to freely run their own businesses here – they just rent the space from us. We help however we can with social media, prospect farming & dispersing, etc. 

We are very active in our community and participate in sponsorships and events whenever they pop up! We encourage any company to reach out to us for any type of collaboration. 

Pricing:

• Monthly Membership – $29.95

Contact Info:

• Website: www.plaincitybarbell.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/plaincitybarbell
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/plaincitybarbell