Al from JustFitness shares that moment when he realized v1 was a train wreck

🤓 Read this if: You've ever had nightmares about your product going haywire at the worst moment.

✅ Key Takeaway: You don't know what you don't know. Be curious. Failure isn't final.

After a failed v1, @JustFitnessGuy of JustFitness.io goes live with v2. He says he won't quit — here's how he perseveres:

At first, it was easy to blame COVID-19 for the lack of users. Everything shut down, gyms included. But that notion went away almost instantly.

What Happened

I'm currently serving active duty in the US Air Force. Our physical requirements didn't change with the pandemic, so I was still going to the gym and talking about JustFitness whenever appropriate. Most people registered on the spot and I watched as their expressions of excitement turned to confusion, then polite smiles. It was a big blow to my ego.

I didn't know what was going on. Why did my app look so bad? I started this project with only a basic understanding of HTML and CSS, and I assumed all browsers rendered the same way. They don't. I bought a laptop with MacOS, fired up the iOS simulator, and saw my product for what it really was.

The Impact

It didn't work on iOS. But beyond that, the UX was terrible. The colors were bland. The price was way too high for what I was offering. And there were too many bugs to count. It was a humbling experience.

Every page had to be redone. So I put my head down and worked through the issues. Now 2.0 is live. It's far from great but it will get better one step at a time. I'm not going to quit.

Keeping It Together

As Airmen, we have a work function called Resiliency Day where we get together and talk about how to become mentally, physically, spiritually, and socially stronger. At face value, it sounds like an after-school special but in reality, it has really helped.

16-hour work days for 2 years would bother anyone. And I have to move around a lot, so packing and unpacking while researching and building can be heavy at times. I'm being pulled in 17 different directions. It takes a strong sense of resilience.

But my training has taught me how to persevere. And I know what I'm chasing. I will not quit.

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