2013 - Leesport, PA

How could I forget 2013?

We continued to fumble through the cut and sew process, but we also moved into a massive 40,000 square foot warehouse that we purchased.

Dana also moved into this warehouse, and finally, we are united and living together. This is the year we did the legendary Flag Nor Fail airstream tour — where we got a 1964 Airstream wrapped, renovated and driven for a caffeine-fueled 8-day gym tour from New York to Florida, meeting fans along the way to lead up to Dana's Olympia win.

Due to our new warehouse's massive size, we also realized that we could hold events, including our first Flag Nor Fail Gym Camp. So we started holding events for Flag Nor Fail that would sell out instantly and creating a really cool teaching camp in the process.

This was the year we created the Axe/Anchor logo... one of our most popular designs to date and, of course, the Fitmark duffel.

The Fitmark duffel was an insanely involved duffel bag to manufacture. We essentially had to send the bag back and forth to several different factories to get them processed, and in the final step, we would hand spray and distress them before sending them out to you. To this day, whenever I see one of those Fitmark duffels kicking around I am blown away by how much dope creative shit we were doing even back then.

It was a scary year — we did so many big things. I honestly feel that we were moving faster than I was personally ready for, but we came out ahead, in the green, and successful by adapting and overcoming. 

And to cap off an already incredible year, Dana took home the Olympia. To think that she had chased something for so long, and took home the crown of being the best in the world at something, and defining herself in the fitness industry and being a living embodiment of the Flag Nor Fail mantra... 2013 was a hell of a year.