Our Story

CSS Wellness: A Journey of Growth and Community

Established October 2017

In January 2017, Brian Leggett, the founder and owner of CSS Wellness, was fired from a local gym due to differences in opinions regarding the treatment of trainers, future growth, and best business practices. Blindsided by the events, Brian felt that aligning his goal of being the financial provider for his family with his passion for fitness would be impossible.

During a brief career switch in August 2017, Brian’s family structure changed, prompting a need for change. With both Brian and his wife, Tarra, having demanding careers, they decided it would be best for Tarra to leave her career as a chemist to focus on raising their children, while Brian would focus on getting the business off the ground. This decision required Brian to return to personal training, but this time would be different. Instead of building someone else’s dream, he would build the place he wished he had throughout his 15-year journey in personal training. This time was about building a team of the best trainers in Lexington.

While still working at a desk job in logistics, Brian began reaching out to friends to see if they would be willing to train with him in the basement of his home. With the help of a friend and a whole lot of faith, Brian left his job in logistics in October 2017 to start what would become CSS Wellness in his basement home gym, while also teaching fitness classes throughout Lexington.

With a life mantra of “Be the Change,” Brian believes that we are all a collection of our past experiences and decisions. These experiences birthed CSS Wellness’ mission, vision, and values. CSS Wellness was created to be a safe space for coaches to define their vision, grow their clientele, and master their craft at any stage of their career. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced veteran trainer, CSS Wellness was created to be a safe space to develop, grow, and launch your own business. Their mission is to empower self-love through movement while creating ownership of oneself. Keeping their three unique values front of mind is how they found their name. They strive to create programs that are:

• Convenient to fit your lifestyle

• Simple programs that are easy to follow

• Developed to ensure your Success

Convenient. Simple. Success.

After six months of training in the basement, Brian was presented with an opportunity to expand into a 540 sq. ft. storefront space adjacent to Richmond Road Kroger. In this space, the CSS team was born. Starting with two trainers and a few clients, it quickly grew into five trainers and too many clients to fit into 540 sq. ft. Eight months later, fate struck again and landed CSS Wellness in a new 3,500 sq. ft. home, providing enough space to develop their 5 Pillars of Success.

On March 1, 2022, while preparing to sign a lease extension, Brian learned the building was sold that morning, giving them three months to vacate. Dazed and confused, Brian set out to find a new home for CSS Wellness. A huge thank you to our realtor team from Lifstyl Real Estate, Liz Hodge and Tru Life Real Estate, Carter Rowland, who helped us turn over every stone and pebble to find a new gym home. After three weeks of looking, we had what we thought was our next location. Plans were drawn, and adjustments to the business were made, but sometimes you just can’t beat God’s plan. One day, while prepping for a virtual CSS Stretch class, Brian logged on to find another teammate already large and in charge, prepared to teach the class. So, Brian decided to take a moment and move some weight at the Valvoline gym. That day, while on the Lat Pulldown machine, fate struck once more as a little voice said, “Go talk to James. This conversation could change your life.” Brian has always been a fan of James Sears, Facility Manager of Valvoline, so this was a welcomed conversation. Little did he know, this conversation would do more than change his life; it planted an idea in Brian’s mind. An idea that grew into a partnership that started with covering one class for a friend back in 2017, and a mutual admiration that grew over the years, giving way to this amazing opportunity!

It’s mind-blowing that the main reason CSS Wellness was able to survive the pandemic was that Valvoline decided to honor their fitness contract that was signed one month prior to COVID lockdowns. Now, four years later, we are able to offer our personal training services to Valvoline employees, our CSS clients, and the entire Lexington community from the international headquarters of Valvoline.

Why choose CSS Wellness for your personal training services?

“One of the best training teams in Lexington,” we offer a diverse, strong team of experienced and certified trainers here to support you. Our different variations in trainers and training styles have allowed for an inclusive and diverse group of clients as well. Inside our cascade of windows, you’ll find a warm, welcoming community of staff and fellow clients that all have different stories and starting points but all come for success. It’s our job to guide you along your fitness journey. Let us help take you where you can’t take yourself. Most importantly, come see how much we care.