The Ultimate Family Business

The husband and wife duo behind Ultimate Cheer and Dance All Stars took three gyms and made one big, happy family.

By Brianne Carlon

CBN Feb/Mar 2011

Bobby Gomez never cheered a day in his life, unless it was for one of the many football or basketball players he’s coached over the years.  After finishing school at Ulster Community College in upstate New York, where he played baseball, he opened his own private investigation firm. His wife, Sherry, who cheered in high school, thought beauty was her calling. She attended cosmetology school before opening a string of salons, and also helped coach gymnastics part-time where their daughters took lessons.

But it was a fateful move to Florida after Sherry’s mother relocated there that made these high school sweethearts’ true callings clear.  Daughters Brittany and Ally got involved with an all-star program and decided they loved the energy and excitement more than that of gymnastics, so Sherry helped coach there, too. But when that program moved from the area, it left the door open for the Gomez family to create Ultimate Cheer and Dance All Stars in Port St. Lucie, FL.  Now the proud owners of three gyms and winners of more than 100 national titles and top-10 recognition at  Worlds, the Gomez family has become the ultimate family. Read on to find out how they did it.

CBN: How did you develop the idea to open your own gym?
BG: When we moved from New York about 10 years ago, Sherry was working for a gymnastics facility that had an all-star program, but it ended up being sold. Since we had daughters of our own who were [cheering], we felt we could do a good job running a gym.  We wanted to purchase the program, but they must have thought we couldn’t commit enough time since we both had our own businesses. We ended up getting at least 50 calls after the gym was sold, and those families gave us the idea to start our own program. Sherry decided we could rent a little space andstart a team, so we rented a karate center that went out of business.
SG: My husband has the business mind. It was actually his idea.

CBN: What was it like going into business with your spouse?
SG: We always worked together, beginning with opening the salons, so that made it easy for us to go into the cheer business together. I want to be with him every minute of the day! We’re best friends.

CBN: Did you have any qualms about starting a business as a couple?
BG: Our relationship is so strong, and we really are best friends.  There were no hesitations. I knew it would help me see my family more.
SG: I don’t know anyone like us.  We really enjoy spending time together.

CBN: Were you ever afraid it might ruin your relationship or that the business wouldn’t survive?

BG: No, but my two businesses took a toll on me. I didn’t even want to continue my PI business because the cheer program was so exciting. But how do you make a living on 35 kids? So about three years into it, I slowly got away from being a PI since I’d put my heart and mind into the cheer business.

CBN: How do you separate your work life from your home life?
BG: We don’t separate it.  We love the gym so much that we’re consumed by it. Everyone around us is, too.  We could be on vacation and relaxing on the beach, but all of a sudden we start talking about a routine we should be working on.  There have been times when I say enough is enough, but then five minutes later I bring it up again.
SG: Our relatives and friends are involved, so every minute of the day is about cheer.  Last night we got home and were talking about the teams at 10 pm!

CBN: Do you have any advice for other husband and wife business partners?
BG: You have to communicate well and work as a team.  There will be times when you have different ideas or opinions, but you have to compromise somehow. If you communicate and talk about those ideas and develop them, you’ll figure out what works best, and the outcome will be good. My wife and I are usually on the same page, but sometimes I’m a football coach when it comes to cheer.  When Sherry is working on the technical parts of a stunt, I’m trying to motivate everyone, like,  “Let’s keep it moving!” which gets in her way.
SG: You’ve got to have patience!

CBN: Tell us about your first gym.  What was it like practicing in such a small space?
BG: There were four strips of mats with a closet in the corner, with about 1,000 square feet of floor space and a bathroom in the middle of the fourth strip. Our first year, we had 35 kids, and we stretched them out as much as possible to create four teams, including two cheer teams and two hip-hop teams. It was hard to work with that space, but we made it our home and had a lot of fun.

CBN: And what about the two additional locations?
BG: About a year ago, I was helping at a gym in West Palm Beach because the owner became ill. And then her father passed away, so she decided to let the gym go, and she approached me about taking over the business. I thought it may not be a good idea since the gym is an hour away and I didn’t want to spread myself too thin, but we tried it anyway.

The first year, we coached and my brother [Jay], who had worked with us in the Port St. Lucie gym, was working there part-time.  This year we brought him on as a full-time partner, and he runs the gym with our support.  When we took over, that gym had 22 kids, and now we have 110 kids after just one year.

As for the third gym, there used to be an all-star program in Vero Beach about seven or eight years ago that was booming, but it faded out. I thought it would be a great place to open a third location. I didn’t want to put the entire financial burden on myself,  so I asked my sister [Lisa] to get involved.  She was so impressed with the growth in our program, that she actually quit her job and now runs it.

CBN: Is there another gym on the horizon?
BG: Always! Sherry would disagree, but I’m the business guy, while Sherry drives the cheer and dance side of it. For me, I believe that with all the relationships we’ve built across the country, we could get into franchising.

CBN: What are the difficulties of working with siblings? Do you still have close relationships?
BG: It’s been difficult to separate family and business. There have been a few times when [Sherry and I] have had to put our foot down and say that things need to be a certain way. My brother and sister felt like I was treating them like I was the older brother, instead of the boss. It was never a big issue, though, and it’s better now.
SG: Jay and Lisa have a lot of passion for this sport. They’re great people, so it’s easy to be in business with them.  They’re my family.

CBN: And you also employ your children as coaches. What’s that like?
BG: Because we’ve been coaches for so long, it’s rubbed off on them. Our daughters Ally, 17, and Brittany, 21, love the sport and have the passion for it.  They talk about cheerleading 24/7. Ever since our 8-year-old, Gia, was 2, she’s asked what time we’re going to the gym each day. She’s there six days a week and has started working with our Tiny team.
SG: Most parents run around doing ballet and football. We’re together every single day. We aren’t your usual sit-down-for-dinner-at-5 family, but we love spending time together.

CBN: What’s your favorite part of owning a family business?
BG: Always being together; however, having the “ultimate family business” with all the kids and parents is amazing.  There’s a huge amount of love.  We get calls, texts and Facebook messages all the time telling us that we’ve made a difference in people’s lives that will last a lifetime. We’re truly blessed.

CBN: What’s the hardest part?
BG: There’s not a lot of downtime. On Sundays, Sherry and I work at our desks. We’re just going all the time. From the moment we wake up until the moment we go to bed, it’s all about cheer.
SG: It’s more than anyone really imagines, but we make it fun.

CBN: How do you bring your family dynamic to the entire program? How do you bring all the gyms together?
BG: It’s not easy.  We have coaches meetings where we talk and set goals and have gotten everyone together at pep rallies and open houses so everyone could meet. Facebook and having message boards on each of our websites has also really helped.

CBN: You’ve had hip-hop teams place sixth and 10th at Worlds. How would it feel to take your cheer teams to Worlds?
BG: It would feel like we made it with some of the top gyms in the country. It will complete us as a gym.  We have a Level 5 Open team, so we can develop our kids to get to that point.

CBN: What types of community service is your program involved in?
BG: We do a lot of performances for the community. Sherry and I sponsor several athletes at all three locations who can’t afford all-stars. We also give out a lot of scholarship money, but we don’t really talk about it.

CBN: You both started out in completely unrelated fields, so how have your coaching skills grown and developed?
BG: I’ve gone from spotting a back handspring to spotting a double full. That to me has been impressive [in itself], because I never thought I could do that. I’ve now come into my own where I’m learning much more and developing good bases and top girls. I’m like a sponge—I don’t know everything, but I ask a lot of questions so I can get better.
SG: I’ve come a long way, too. I’ve always tried to learn and have gone to a variety of clinics and seminars.  We bring in professionals, too, including Dave Scott from “So You Think You Can Dance.”

CBN: With little prior experience, you’ve had a lot of growth at each of your gyms. What’s your secret?
BG: You have to maintain your philosophy. Ours is “one big, happy family.” Keep that passion and love for each other. Have fun every time you step into the gym. If you surround yourself with great people, your business will be very successful.
SG: Our biggest thing is energy.  When people walk in the door, it’s filled with energy; you can feel it.  We work hard, but we have fun.  We’re a family, and our kids and parents feel that, which is what’s made us successful.