Evan Duncan, Co-founder

After highschool I served 8 years in the Marine Corps as a Martial Arts (MCMAP) and Fitness Instructor, among many other things, and had tours to Iraq and Africa with Special Operations Forces. I decided to take what I learned leading, training and motivating Marines and use it to start an all-military veteran personal training company, Tough Fitness in 2012 .

Since then, Tough Fitness has become the one of the most recognized personal training companies in Dallas.

I’ve always been someone who picked apart businesses and thought of what could be done better or differently. For 4+ years I’ve had a vision of what I thought gyms should look, feel and operate like. I knew there was a huge opportunity to do things different and revolutionize an industry that had remained unchanged for decades. I’ve spent the last 4 years pitching to hundreds of people in an attempt to make my vision a reality. Over this period I became all but broken from my inability to secure funding for what I knew would be an amazing success, but I never quit. In hindsight, it was a true blessing that I was forced to wait.

I do my best in chaos, and I always see opportunity in every situation. COVID brought Taylor and I the opportunity of a lifetime. While we’re not done yet, what we’ve created with Recess thus far is extraordinary. Sure I’m biased, but Recess is the best fitness club in Dallas.