I want to be 100% transparent with you. I was filled with emotions on Sunday evening. Reading what Greg Glassman wrote was absolutely awful and appalling. It does not represent myself or CrossFit Be Someone.
3 1/2 weeks ago I paid our affiliation fee of $3,000. Once you pay your affiliation fee, it is paid for the year so we are affiliated with CrossFit until May 2021. Saying the word, de-affiliate, does not mean CrossFit is going to return that money. It means removing CrossFit from the gym name and starting a whole new re-branding of the gym immediately. There is more to it than renaming the social media handle name and creating a new logo. I realized that so I decided to say the phrase "We will not re-affiliate come May 2021". This would give me enough time to create a solid re-branding plan with my mentor and do it in a manageable time frame, avoiding as many mistakes as possible.
I stand behind everything I said on Monday. We are a community that is built of humble, hungry and people smart individuals. That includes being inclusive of everyone no matter what their race, ethnicity, gender, age or sexual orientation is. We have our gym rules that we believe are rules if we apply to our everyday life, it will make a difference. Saying hi to everyone, treating everyone with respect and having fun in life will make a difference in this world. Greg Glassmans words do not fall in line with what we believe in but Greg Glassman is not CrossFit.
We are CrossFit. Our community and millions of other CrossFitters is what makes CrossFit. Saying that Greg Glassman is CrossFit means we get lumped in there and that is not the case. On Sunday and Monday morning I felt a lot of emotions and outside pressure to come out and say something fast, so I did Monday morning. I should have waited an additional day or stated I was going to wait an additional day with my final decision. I knew 100% where I stood with how I felt about the words that were said but I was stuck on what to do with CrossFit Be Someone's future.
What I should have said was this, "We will not re-affiliate come May 2021 unless CrossFit makes a major change and proves the ship is taking a different course". That is where I stand. CrossFit did make a major move yesterday but that does not mean we will re-affiliate. I want to see the next actions they take and prove that this really is a new change. I will still work with my mentor to create a potential re-branding plan but I am willing to give CrossFit a chance to prove they have grown from this until May of next year.
In my belief, this is what living humble means. Being transparent, being optimistic, showing a growth mindset, responding and owning up to my words.
CrossFit New CEO:
https://www.crossfit.com/greg-glassman-retires
CrossFit HQ apology:
https://www.crossfit.com/why-didnt-crossfit-just-say-something
Respectfully,
Josh Melendez
