About JOE CARABASE
So with no money, no business plan, no clients and a few pairs of rusty old weights, Joe started his onsite training business out of his trunk.
For the next year, Joe traveled anywhere, trained anyone and did whatever he could do to gain experience. His business operated under “Carabase Training,” “Fat Burning Bootcamp,” and “The Fit Tribe.” Joe had in-home clients in Stonington and Wallingford, Connecticut, a bootcamp with 1-5 people at 20 Church Street in Hartford and a bootcamp with 1-6 people in South Windsor at varying locations. Some days Joe would be training five people, others one and sometimes no one, which was a feeling he will never forget.
During his first year in business, someone advised Joe to apply for a job as a Personal Training Instructor at Branford Hall Career Institute.
He started teaching part-time and shortly got promoted to direct the department, while trying to grow an on-site personal training business. Branford Hall was a great experience for Joe. It gave him HUGE respect for what teachers do day in and day out, year after year. He learned a lot about communicating a message, instructing people double (and even triple his own age) and personal development.
After a year and a half at Branford Hall, he hit a crossroad. Joe felt there was no more room for personal or professional growth and he knew something had to change for his business or else it wouldn’t survive. Joe attended a seminar in Kentucky and heard a quote that changed his life. Pat Risgby, one of Joe’s mentors, reminded him: You don’t know your limits. Whatever limits you see are self-imposed. You can’t fail if you learn from the situation. Something clicked. In that moment he decided to open his first location in South Windsor. The next week Joe signed a lease to start in two months.
Joe had a planned vacation to cruise the Caribbean right after signing the lease. On the boat, he was jotting down ideas for what he wanted the company to be about and what is was going to be called. After about an hour of writing, “m.e.l.t. more energy, less time” struck Joe. It embodied his training philosophy and sounded pretty damn cool. Fast forward to today.
GROWING & HELPING MORE PEOPLE
At one point, m.e.l.t. Had four locations throughout the Hartford area Because of the rapid growth, there were some instructure holes and a bad lease so after fulfilling the full three year lease term for each of the two newer studios, Joe decided to close the two newer locations as the leases came up to focus building the necessary structure for growth and getting back to the roots of what made m.e.l..t so special.
As a result, m.e.l.t. South Windsor & m.e.l.t. Glastonbury are flourishing today!
Before the first m.e.l.t. Location was ever opened, Joe had wanted to move to Florida or California but never felt the timing was right and kept pushing back the move. Finally in December of 2017, Joe and his now finance Marikate decided to make the move!
Initially the plan was to wait a year to open a gym but Joe missed the #meltfamily community and wanted to get back into doing what he does best thus “IN30 Fit” was born in April of 2018 Joe signed a lease in Tequesta and opened the doors in June.
Joe still runs m.e.l.t. Day to day and travels back to Connecticut once a month.
