The Old Diocesan Issue 12 - Magazine - Page 48
“The person
you become
in pursuit of
a goal matters
more than the
goal itself.”
– Seb Prentice
become a team member, leader
and mentor myself. I learnt so
many valuable things at school,
and Bishops 1,000% helped me
get to where I am now.
Shannon’s advice to young ODs
Plan carefully, but accept that
plans change. You might find
something new entirely. Be openminded and humble. Being a softer
presence, more reserved (though
not a walkover), makes people
want to work with you and helps
you stand out more than forcing
authority. The most important
thing is to treat everyone
as respectfully as you can.
It goes much further than you
might think. It’s such an easily
overlooked thing, but absolutely
treat everybody the same.
44 | THE OLD DIOCESAN
SEB PRENTICE
Founder and MD, age 27
Seb Prentice (2016S) is the founder
of Horizen Gym in Cape Town. An
ultra-runner who regularly pushes
his body to its limits simply to
understand it better, Seb approaches
movement with intensity and
curiosity. He is a systems thinker
and marketing strategist, building
community as intentionally as he
builds strength. His recent step
up has required him to trade daily
coaching for long-term leadership.
F
or the first three years of
Horizen Gym, I ran the
business and took personal
training (PT) sessions. This year,
I stepped away from coaching and
moved into a full managerial role
for the first time, which meant
I stopped taking on clients and
stopped generating PT income.
The decision to step away from
being a personal trainer was the
first real sacrifice I’ve made in
pursuing Horizen’s mission:
making the world a healthier,
happier place through strength
training. Investing my inheritance
in the business was not a sacrifice.
Leaving my corporate job in 2022
was not a sacrifice. But stepping
away from teaching people oneon-one, which I really love, was.
A big part of coaching, for me,
is the relationships you build.
They’re incredibly intimate, and
most of my close friendships after
school came from my clients.
So stepping away was difficult,
both emotionally and financially,
because being a personal trainer
in Cape Town is very rewarding.
But if I want to serve more
people and rebrand strength
training as approachable and
welcoming, it requires my full
focus. The step up has been
moving away from operational
delivery into capital allocation,
strategy, brand and creative focus.
Deciding to take this step took
some introspection. I needed to
understand the mission, remind
myself of the why, and ask where
my effort is most leveraged. Oneon-one coaching gives immediate
gratification because you help
a person directly. But building
the system allows more lives
to be impacted, even if I’m not
directly tied to each one.
It feels quite surreal now. This
was the first winter the business
survived without me personally
bankrolling it. I didn’t realise how
stressed I’d been until the stress
disappeared. Now we’re planning a
second location, and I feel fulfilled
working on systems, hiring and
building a team. After sweating
for two and a half years, these
past six months have allowed
