Business Matters 2020 | Page 29

The Forge back in 2019, Danbert says being patient and opening in 2020 was the best thing he could have done. “I wanted to open in 2019 so bad,” he says. But that did not happen. “The good Lord told me to take a step back and just breathe,” he says. “So I did. I took that step back and that breath. And I was able to just kind of go at my own pace. Taking that breath and that step back enabled me to deliver,” Danbert says. The Forge is already an inspirational place to get a hard workout in. But Danbert brought the inspiration to the inside as well. With large, colorful, hand-painted murals on the gym walls painted by a local artist, The Forge doesn’t let you feel defeated in its workout engaged environment. “Dandi Shields is awesome. The walls in here - slap full of these awesome motivational murals that Dandi did herself,” says Danbert. “She did the Thor wall, The Forge logo wall, all of it. Every mural in here.” According to Danbert, Dandi spent about a year-and-a-half completing all of the motivation murals inside the gym. “My main goal is to make people feel good,” says Danbert. “It took such a long time to get this place up and going. Such a long time. And people are already giving me amazing feedback.” Danbert says the amount of positive feedback about the newly opened gym makes him emotional - as his overall goal for a place for people to feel good has been achieved, “I had a buddy in here just last week. He said, ‘It took you awhile. But Owner of The Forge, Danbert Collum, says his main goal is to help people feel good. you delivered.’...I loved that more than anything,” Danbert says. “There are no limits at The Forge. You can’t grow with limits and this is a place for people to come and grow,” he says. “Our slogan here is; At The Forge we temper our steel and sharpen our blades,” he says. “There’s no limits. Not on how many weights you lift, how many plates you put on your leg press. No limits. Just growth.” He looks forward to serving the community for years to come. “A forge is where normal pieces of steel are created into masterpieces,” says Danbert. “And that’s what we do here.” 44th Annual East Texas Poultry Festival Sponsored by Farmers State Bank October 1st, 2nd and 3rd Windham Civic Center *Food Booths * Arts and Crafts Booths * Entertainment * Carnival * Photography Show * Quilt Show * Creative Arts * Chicken Clucking Contest * Wing Eating Contest * Car Show (Saturday morning) * 5K Run (Saturday morning) * Broiler Show (Saturday morning at the Rodeo Arena) * Broiler Auction (Saturday evening at Civic Center) Business MATTERS | 2020 Fall Edition 29