Best friends with Iowa roots build wellness business together

This story is shared with permission from Marie Rina.

Oftentimes, when one hears of a business collaboration involving two friends, it’s easy to assume that they were college buddies, or were co-workers who hit it off and decided to “do their own thing.” That’s not the case of Tom Green and Dr. Walker Scott, who have known each other since elementary school, growing up together in Iowa. Today, the two are each their own powerhouses with their own businesses, but have joined forces to create the ultimate gym and wellness collaboration in Chula Vista’s Eastlake community, now sharing connected suites and common space.

Green is the owner and founder of GreenSpeed Training Facility, while Scott is also respectively the owner and founder of Eastlake Chiropractic & Acupuncture. Individually successful in their own rights, as recognized award-winners in San Diego (GreenSpeed Training recently was recently named Best Gym and Best Personal Trainer of 2020 in the San Diego Reader and Best Health Club/Fitness Center of 2020 in The Star-News, Eastlake Chiropractic & Acupuncture was named Best Chiropractor of 2020 in The Star-News), the fusion is a convenient expiation for clients from both sides, offering the “best of both worlds” with the top-notch gym and practice.

While it is quite common for friends to “join up,” the two have accomplished an impressive feat: they decided to join up in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic. With their recent business tandem, which included an expansion of the GreenSpeed gym, the two are well on their way to continued success that is rooted in their history as lifelong friends from Iowa.

Iowa Roots
Green hails from Hornick, and Scott from Salix. As with many rural areas, children and teenagers from neighboring towns attended schools together, unlike suburbs or cities where they are divided to accommodate large populations of students. “I grew up in a small town, and he grew up on a farm. We went through school together, took classes together, played sports together and we used to work out every winter in the weight room together. Our origins go back to the very beginning,” Scott said.

And the very beginning includes a humble start from their hometowns. They met when Scott was in fifth grade and Green was in fourth, and played on their high school football team together at Westwood High School in Sloan as proud Rebels.
“Walker was a year older, but our class sizes were incredibly small. My class had only 54 kids in it, so everyone knew everyone,” Green recounted.

Eventually, the two migrated away from Iowa and carved their own paths, notable in their own rights. Scott was in the Marine Corps for eight years, and is also a veteran of Iraqi Freedom II. He attended Iowa State University and was a member of the football team there as well. Additionally, he went to Cleveland Chiropractic College in 2010 and is a 2019 graduate of Pacific College of Oriental Medicine.

On the other hand, Green attended the University of South Dakota and earned two degrees (Contemporary Media and Journalism and Psychology). He was inducted into the university’s Hall of Fame in 2018, rightfully so, as a member of their track and field team, where he was recognized as an eight-time NCAA All-American, setting an array of athletic school and state records and accolades that are still unmatched today in sprinting.

Green went on to become an Olympic hopeful and garnered a Nike sponsorship, which led to his ultimate move to San Diego to train at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista (now the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center) — and where Scott also ended up from his time in the Marines.

San Diego PathwaysFast forward years and miles later from the midwest to sunny San Diego, where each of their careers brought them. “I was stationed out in San Diego when I was in the Marines. I moved away and went to school, and then moved back out here right after. I always loved San Diego. I moved back here before I even had my board scores back,” Scott said. “While I was waiting for those I actually bounced with Tom at the [former] Ivy night club in downtown San Diego.”

Though they were indeed working together as bouncers, they were still on their own avenues with their careers. “I got involved in chiropractic and acupuncture [work] from personal experience. I injured my back repeatedly lifting weights and chiropractic work always helped me so much,” Scott explained.

Personal experience was also Green’s influence with his career path. “After I retired from track & field as a sprinter, I began personal training, using my first-hand knowledge, experience and passion to help others achieve their goals,” Green said.

The boys are back… in a new town
Their new stomping ground of San Diego, particularly the Eastlake community in Chula Vista, proved to be the perfect place for the two Iowa-bred best friends to build their new foundation and legacy.

“After years of personal training on my own, I accepted a lead position at the Gonzalez Sports Academy. While working there, I got the call from Dr. Scott that he graduated from chiropractic school and was moving back to San Diego,” Green said. “I wanted to plug him into my network immediately. I introduced him to everyone I knew and got him the chiropractic position at GSA where we were able to work together for a couple of years with a lot of amazing athletes.”

Scott credits Green as to why he started his practice. “Tom was the reason I started a practice here in Eastlake ten years ago,” Scott said. “Then after that closed, we both moved to another facility and then just had to wait until the right moment when we could team up again.” From there, they moved over to a neighboring gym where they worked together for two more years.

The Right Moment
Green eventually branched out to start own to start his own gym, the GreenSpeed Training Facility. Founded in 2015, the gym has been a “second home” to local athletes in the area. The upward swing in growth since then had built momentum — even amid the COVID-19 pandemic, a rarity for many businesses in 2020.

Who would have thought: the right moment was in the middle of lockdown.

“Just over five years later, I was given an opportunity to expand GreenSpeed into a space large enough to bring on Dr. Scott once again. Fulfilling our dream to create a facility dedicated to community,” Green said. Together, according to Green, their focus is to “bring our Iowa sense of hard work, family, community and values to San Diego.”

Scott expanded on their decision during what many would consider a risky time. “It was actually during lockdown when the opportunity presented itself to team up again. We jumped on it immediately. Things have been changing during COVID-19 and we adapted and changed with it. Plus, an opportunity to work with your best friend is hard to pass up. We really got lucky,” Scott said.

Green agreed, “Expanding our businesses during a quarantine lockdown was certainly a risky stressful idea for a lot of reasons. Taking on that kind of responsibility is scary. However, we went with our gut instincts and decided to go for it.”

With their community support, it was evident also to those who know them best, including family and friends, of how their team-up would be successful. Take it from their mutual friend Richard Broomfield. “Two of the greatest people I have met here in San Diego are Tom Green and Dr. Walker Scott. Together, they are an ultimate wellness duo. They have each had very different paths of endurance and challenges, but they both emerged as healing and life-improving practitioners. I am fortunate enough to be able to call them both friends, but I also have the pleasure of working with both of them to improve and rehab my quality of life,” Broomfield said. “Dr. Scott is my family’s chiropractor, and we trust him with our care. He has been an integral part of my healing, and Tom has played the part of my rehabilitation with his “tough love” approach to encouraging strength and development.”

Serving the Eastlake community with midwestern values
That circle of trust has developed into other far-reaching qualities, beyond their own businesses.

“Knowing you can fully trust a business partner is priceless in moving forward with plans, especially in uncertain times. We’ve never been more motivated to fulfill our vision with the community, to create a unique culture offering quality over quantity,” Green commented. “Helping all members of our community achieve their goals regardless of age or experience, and of course, educating our local young athletes on the importance of consistent hard work and discipline that will positively impact all aspects of their lives. The values, standards and discipline that we teach are priceless tools to ensure success as these high school kids move on to college and the working world. We treat everyone like family, giving our clients that sense of small-town Iowa!”

Currently up and running and in compliance with city, county and state guidelines, the gym and wellness practices are still going strong and have taken every precaution and steps necessary to ensure safe, healthy and clean environments, which goes hand-in-hand with what their goal is. “We want to create an environment that is friendly and effective. Our small town roots really show in our business practices. They are both built on hard work and dedication. We really aim to do our best for everybody,” Scott said.

Visit the GreenSpeed Training Facility and Eastlake Chiropractic & Acupuncture at 821 Kuhn Dr, Suites #101 and #102, Chula Vista, California. Both are accepting new clients to help them meet their health goals and needs. The writer thanks Matthew DeLorenzo for his assistance in this story. Photos courtesy of Tom Green.