Willing to Work Hard, Willing2Ninja: Armstrong couple builds thriving ninja gym and community

For the children who want—and need—to be active but want to participate in something other than competitive team sports like soccer and hockey, what else is out there? That’s the question Jordan and Chelsea Willing asked as their eldest son “tried everything” and they were keen for him to find a place to experience the joy of movement and community with other kids.

“He was super athletic, but some of those team sports were not for him,” says Jordan, who grew up in Armstrong, and who was raising his family in Chilliwack at the time. Then, they found a ‘ninja gym’ where kids get to swing, swoop, climb, leap and balance on equipment. Think rock climbing gym/gymnastics/indoor playground arranged with obstacles for ‘ninjas’ in training.

“We watched how much fun the kids were having and how much it improved our son’s confidence,” says Jordan. “His balance and coordination got so much better.”

“His overall wellbeing improved greatly,” says Chelsea.

A few years later, the young couple found themselves moving to Armstrong with their two children and realized the North Okanagan didn’t yet have a ninja gym—a trend that has quickly gained popularity with centres in most major cities, including Kelowna. Jordan, a huge fan of The American Ninja Warrior TV show, always said that opening a gym of his own one day would be so cool.

“We saw how much Ninja benefited our son and wanted to give the same experience to other families.”

The only hitch was, neither Jordan nor Chelsea had owned a business before. After turning to WorkBC and Community Futures North Okanagan, both were able to enter the Self-employment Program to gain entrepreneurial skills and build a strong business plan before launching.

Chelsea says they’re thankful for everyday of those weeks as Willing2Ninja came into being.

“There was so much encouragement and important feedback that our plan really had legs,” says Chelsea. “We had this whole team of people rooting for us, truly rooting for us, every step of the way.”

The couple says they put in the time, and they got tremendous help along the way.

“They give you the foundation to slowly build upon, one piece after another,” says Chelsea. “If I didn’t believe in ourselves at the outset, later I would see, oh, we’ve done all these things.”

One highlight of the program was articulating their “why.”

“We had a clear vision, but we didn’t know how to put it into words,” says Chelsea.

“We realized it was to keep kids active and moving, living healthy lifestyles and having fun—and we could then base all of our decisions off that,” says Jordan.

That driving mission soon came into play as they embarked on leasing a 3,000 square foot space in Vernon.

“We wanted to have a warehouse space with all the fancy hanging equipment,” says Jordan. “We were going to start off big.”

But there were challenges with parking, the business license was denied and “the space fell through.”

A blessing in disguise

Without another option for space, they made a pivot and turned to Armstrong’s parks and recreation to run programming through the city at the Hassan Arena. With equipment built by the family, they ran three classes one day a week, and had every available family member, including grandparents, there to help set up and take down the equipment for each day’s session.

“We could have kept waiting for a space,” says Chelsea, “but we came back to our mission of wanting to keep kids moving and to build community. We realized we can start, we just have to start differently.”

Spots filled quickly. Parents, who, like them, had also tried everything, were keen to find that other activity that would promote movement and enjoyment outside team sports. It drew those who were already athletic and confident, and those who hadn’t had as much time building strength and coordination, and were very, very shy. They think back to two girls who turned up to the first class in tears, resolute they would not participate. With Chelsea’s support and Jordan’s warm and inclusive coaching, within just a few sessions, both girls were leaping and bounding across the floor, beaming with smiles.

“Now they’re coming in every week smiling and excited to participate,” says Chelsea. “One of them gave Jordan a high-five in week three.”

Building a community of ninjas

Word quickly spread about Willing2Ninja about how its programs were giving children balance, endurance, confidence and friendships.

“We’ve had a lot of great feedback from parents saying, oh my kid plays on the climbing rock at the park now, or his fine motor skills have really improved.”

The couple has since moved the program to a local church hall so they could offer more days of programs. They were at 88 percent capacity with many of their 65 “original ninjas” carrying on joining a total of 102 students so far. The church hall is where they’re hosting summer camps, where their Let’s Keep Kids Moving campaign started.  They reached out to local businesses to sponsor kids for camp and have been able to give away 40 spots to children in the community.

Willing2Ninja also got to host programming for the Shihiya School, where they saw almost 100 per cent engagement from students and lots of positive feedback from staff and students.

Now, Willing2Ninja is thrilled to announce that it has landed its own permanent home in Armstrong after signing a lease at the old fire hall downtown, just next door to a children’s consignment store.

The space is almost 1,500 square feet and they’re hoping to open there in early fall with programs for ninjas of all ages, including tiny tots, home learners, field trip students, parties and more. They’ll also have the chance to introduce the famous hanging obstacles often seen on the TV show.

“It will give us a lot more flexibility and freedom to offer more programming and we are so grateful to be able to bring ninja to our community.” says Chelsea.

Interested in exploring Willing2Ninja offerings? Visit https://willing2ninja.com/

Interested in learning more about how the Self-employment Program can give you the business skills, confidence and support to launch an exciting business? Visit https://www.futuresbc.com/self-employment/