People are the DNA of community, and without beautiful and incredible people Kabuki Strength would be nothing but a lifeless shell.
People like Cassandra, a Physical Therapist Assistant who joined the gym and embraced the community only to find herself married to another member and working as a full-time strength coach for the company.
People like the writer whose widowed mother quit her nursing job, sold her apartment and all possessions, left a devastated and corrupt post-communist eastern bloc country and emigrated to the US so that her 7-year old son might have a chance at making more than $180 per month – the average monthly salary in Romania.
People like Derrington who moved all the way from Texas to Oregon when confronted with the opportunity to work as a full-time coach teaching the sport he loves to other athletes.
People like Brandon who mentored under Chris and eventually become such a good coach, he started coaching the coach.
But it hasn’t been easy. Our own community and personal values have, in the past, come under attack. Due to our all-inclusive nature (anyone can come train at the Lab and we leave the front door open during the day) individuals and organizations have taken advantage of us and our platform to further their own visions and missions. We love giving people a platform and a voice to be heard, but not when the message they promote detracts from the welcoming community Kabuki Strength not only encourages and promotes, but demands as a core principle. We do not tolerate or endorse any views, speech, or conduct that does not promote equality and inclusion of all members, customers, suppliers, and followers. Having an open door policy comes with some risk, and the trust we extend to our members has in the past been violated. Since then, we have worked hard to take all necessary actions to ensure that the Kabuki Strength community remains inclusive, welcoming, and strong. We are very proud of the team we have built, our community, our culture, and what we stand for today at Kabuki Strength, and will continue to defend our team, inclusive community, and culture accordingly.
Kabuki Strength IS community. A group diverse yet unified, different yet similar, and most importantly as passionate as can be. But community for the sake of community can find itself dry and bitter. All of us here may have different upbringings, ethics, or belief systems yet we share a similar passion for furthering our version of “the good life” or better put “the meaningful life”. Someone once said “the hardest thing in life is to live well”. What it means to live well may mean very different things to people, but those of us at Kabuki Strength can agree that the pursuit of physical discipline is a virtue worth seeking and sacrificing for.
Over the years we have been blessed with opportunities to serve those in our community with the resources we have. In 2019 we were able to raise over $10,000 to help build "pods" that will house houseless veterans in our local community as part of a community outreach program called Veteran's Village. Thanks to partners like the HomeBuilders Foundation and Do Good Multnomah, dozens of veterans are able to get a roof over the heads and a warm bed.