--- title: "Franchisee Spotlight: Stacy Edwards of GYMGUYZ" url: https://burnaze.com/article/416be940-71b9-4a44-8513-ab8a3efa4411 source: "1851 Franchise" original_url: https://1851franchise.com/franchisee-spotlight-stacy-edwards-of-gymguyz-12483 category: "Fitness" industry: "Fitness" published: 2017-06-12T13:08:13.000Z modified: 2026-11-01T04:11:27.345Z image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/3ba9df7fcad279715cf1581782ca5e061583.jpg --- # Franchisee Spotlight: Stacy Edwards of GYMGUYZ **TL;DR:** Stacy Edwards, a GYMGUYZ franchisee, transitioned from a career in telecommunications to a personal training business venture in the Seattle area. *originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2017-06-12. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/franchisee-spotlight-stacy-edwards-of-gymguyz-12483).* ## Story Stacy Edwards spent 12 years playing football within the Canadian and Indoor leagues after graduating from his Washington state high school and the University of Montana. He spent a decade in the Indoor Football League playing and coaching before he transitioned into the telecommunications industry after his days on the field were over. His athletic background and experience as a personal trainer in his offseasons led him to seeking out GYMGUYZ as his next business venture. He’ll be using his experience as a personal trainer, high school coach, and athlete to help the locals combat some of the Seattle area’s dreary days with newfound motivation and exercise. I was born in Georgia, so very far from where I am now. My family moved around a little bit – we spent some time in L.A. before moving to the Tri-Cities, about three hours east of Seattle. I went to Pasco High School and was a three-sport athlete. From there, I earned a full-ride football scholarship to the University of Montana where I also ran track. After school, I played pro football as a defensive back for 12 years in the Canadian Football League, Arena Football League, and the Indoor Football League. It wound up being a couple of years in the CFL, a few in the AFL, and then 10 years as a player/coach in the IFL. That was all before I got involved with the wireless communications industry. I spent most of my time working with Verizon and Comcast. Simultaneously, I coach basketball at Mercer Island High School where we just won state for the first time in our school’s history. Professionally, I was looking for something that I could be passionate about and that I could do until the end of my career. I wanted to wake up and be excited about what I was getting ready to do. Six years ago, one of my best friends died because of a weight-related issue and three years later, I had a second friend die because of a similar problem. I had been a personal trainer in the past – it was something I used to do in my offseasons – so I just wanted to put all of this motivation together into a career. I had a franchise coach leading me to all sorts of stuff but nothing was sticking until I finally ran into GYMGUYZ and it seemed like everything was a fit. I first encountered GYMGUYZ in November and, in the process, I wanted to make sure that I was ready for it. So, in January, I made the decision – in fact it was part of my New Year’s resolution – to move forward with the business. I’ve spent 18 years in the Seattle area as a broadcaster, calling local high school football games. I started doing this during my playing career, since I had the time to play and broadcast. I hope to continue doing this even while operating GYMGUYZ. I live in Seattle but our GYMGUYZ will cater to the people in Bellevue, Kirkland, and Eastside. I think that the area is just an extremely active community. I’ve always worked in Bellevue and it’s a very fit community, but in this area, we have a hibernation period. Because of the weather, people tend to lose motivation to exercise when the sun goes away. I want to help erase that. Visit the International Franchise Association’s @OurFranchise website for more stories of passionate local franchise owners, employees and their communities. --- Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/franchisee-spotlight-stacy-edwards-of-gymguyz-12483). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/416be940-71b9-4a44-8513-ab8a3efa4411).