{"id":98679,"date":"2025-10-14T11:11:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T15:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/?post_type=cu_story&p=98679"},"modified":"2025-10-22T08:57:33","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T12:57:33","slug":"grad-balances-crossfit-business-giving-back","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/story\/grad-balances-crossfit-business-giving-back\/","title":{"rendered":"Carleton Grad Balances CrossFit Business with Giving Back"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Carleton Grad Balances CrossFit Business with Giving Back\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n

Reza Mashkoori already had a busy life when he went back to school in 2022, enrolling in Carleton University\u2019s online MBA program<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The co-owner of Ottawa\u2019s CrossFit NCR was an active coach at the gym, participated in international fitness competitions and he and his wife had a baby and toddler at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Mashkoori, who also has an undergraduate degree in criminology<\/a> from Carleton and previously worked for the Boys and Girls Club of Ottawa, had a pair of goals. He wanted to find a way to \u201cadd value\u201d to his business and get back to the not-for-profit sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Carleton University grad and CrossFit NCR co-owner Reza Mashkoori<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
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\u201cLet\u2019s sharpen the axe,\u201d he thought about earning an MBA, \u201cand then figure out what\u2019s next.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Mashkoori, who is accustomed to intense workouts, is not one to shy away from challenges. And CrossFit \u2014 a popular fitness regimen that combines strength, conditioning and cardio \u2014 is rooted in balancing different ways to get our bodies into optimal condition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So it shouldn\u2019t be a surprise that he landed a new job right after graduating in 2024, becoming the Manager of Corporate Sponsorships for Christie Lake Kids, a charity that provides free recreational programs to children from low-income households.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI went into that interview and felt that both they and I knew right away that it was a good fit,\u201d he says. \u201cHelping kids has always been part of my soul.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Reza<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Falling in Love with Community Work<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Mashkoori was born and raised in Ottawa\u2019s west end. His parents had immigrated from Iran and didn\u2019t have a lot of money, but they got a lift from subsidized neighbourhood services and Reza\u2019s mother encouraged him to become the first person in the family to go to university.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Carleton, Mashkoori quickly discovered that he was more interested in the sociological side of criminology than policing. A stint working with young offenders at a juvenile detention centre showed him that reaching kids before they get into trouble is the best way to break the link between poverty and crime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That led to his job with the Boys and Girls Club, where he managed staff and volunteers, played sports with kids \u2014 \u201cI\u2019m a kid at heart!\u201d \u2014 and fell in love with community work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Reza<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was fun and rewarding, giving kids a positive outlet for expressing themselves while they\u2019re dealing with so many hardships,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cI played a small part toward keeping them on a good path.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Mashkoori\u2019s path took a turn in 2012 when he met Paul Tremblay. Both men were into CrossFit, and when they began training together and pushing one another, their strength and fitness soared.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cWhy don\u2019t we open a gym?\u201d Tremblay suggested.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

They got the keys to the industrial building that would become CrossFit NCR in February 2013 and hit the ground running, signing up 60 members in two weeks and corralling a few barbells and weights for classes in a bare-bones space with a makeshift bathroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The business grew so swiftly that Mashkoori was able to leave the Boys and Girls Club the following spring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The COVID-19 pandemic was tough, but members rented equipment to use at home and attended outdoor classes in the parking lot, even on snowy winter days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey\u2019re the reason we pulled through,\u201d says Mashkoori. \u201cThey\u2019re not just clients. It\u2019s a family.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Reza<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Carleton MBA Opens Doors<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Toward the end of the pandemic, Mashkoori realized that he had more bandwidth and sensed that an MBA could open new doors \u201cfor a tattooed gym owner.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Returning to Carleton, he learned marketing, strategy, business ethics and how to decipher financial statements. He met amazing people at the Sprott School of Business<\/a>, both professors and fellow students, and group projects taught how to collaborate and build relationships. The program also improved his writing and ability to focus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Reza<\/figure>\n\n\n
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\u201cI\u2019ve always been good at working my body,\u201d says Mashkoori, \u201cbut at this point in my life \u2014 I\u2019m 40 now \u2014 it\u2019s harder to stimulate my mind. Studying, taking notes, reading and analyzing texts refreshed so many intangible skills.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

All of these skills, especially developing relationships, come into play in his networking and fundraising role at Christie Lake Kids, which happens to be a partner of the Sprott Social Impact Hub<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And in another example of worlds overlapping, even though Mashkoori has stepped back from day-to-day operations at the gym, the CrossFit NCR community has started to sponsor Christie Lake Kid events and make donations.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cOne is a for-profit business and the other is a charity,\u201d he says, \u201cbut they\u2019re both about taking care of people.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\"Reza<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reza Mashkoori already had a busy life when he went back to school in 2022, enrolling in Carleton University\u2019s online MBA program. The co-owner of Ottawa\u2019s CrossFit NCR was an active coach at the gym, participated in international fitness competitions and he and his wife had a baby and toddler at home. But Mashkoori, who also […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":98681,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"cu_story_type":[17],"cu_story_tag":[1924,1922],"class_list":["post-98679","cu_story","type-cu_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","cu_story_type-alumni","cu_story_tag-advancement","cu_story_tag-sprott-school-of-business"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/98679","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/cu_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/45"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/98679\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":99160,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/98679\/revisions\/99160"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"cu_story_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_type?post=98679"},{"taxonomy":"cu_story_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_tag?post=98679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}