More than four decades after graduating from Seagoville High School, Rick Gonzalez has built a career that has taken him through fitness management, sales, entrepreneurship and corporate customer service — and ultimately brought him back to a company that has played a major role in his professional life.
The SHS Class of 1984 graduate is currently a general manager with 24 Hour Fitness, beginning his latest chapter with the company in May 2026. It is familiar territory for Gonzalez, whose association with 24 Hour Fitness stretches back nearly 30 years and includes three separate periods with the national fitness company.
His career, however, has extended well beyond one employer. Along the way, Gonzalez has managed fitness clubs, owned his own business, worked in home security and telecommunications, and accumulated decades of experience in sales and customer-focused leadership.
From Seagoville to the Fitness Industry
The professional career documented on Gonzalez’s profile begins in 1996, when he worked as a personal trainer for USA Fitness in Mesquite.
That position placed him directly on the fitness floor, working in an industry that would eventually become the foundation of his career. Less than a year later, he moved into what would become one of his longest professional relationships.
In May 1997, Gonzalez joined 24 Hour Fitness as a general manager in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. He remained with the company until March 2008 — nearly 11 years in a management position.
That first lengthy run established a pattern that would follow him throughout much of his career: managing people, developing sales, working with customers and overseeing the day-to-day operation of fitness businesses.
Building a Career in Fitness Management
After leaving 24 Hour Fitness in 2008, Gonzalez continued moving through management positions within the fitness industry rather than leaving the field.
He spent nearly two years as general manager for WR Fitness Centers, a Life Changing Gold’s Gym franchise. In May 2010, he became general manager of PAC Fitness in Prosper, remaining there through December 2012.
During that period, Gonzalez also took on an entrepreneurial role. From May 2011 through May 2012, he served as managing partner of Combat Certified LLC. in Frisco.
Those positions expanded a résumé that was becoming increasingly centered on both operations and business development. His work involved more than exercise and training; management roles in the fitness industry also require membership sales, staff leadership, customer retention and the ability to build a successful club culture.
Becoming a Business Owner
Gonzalez added another dimension to his career in February 2013 when he became the owner of Rick Tees in Frisco.
He operated the business for seven years, through January 2020. The venture overlapped with some of his later corporate positions, giving the Seagoville graduate experience on both sides of business — as an employee responsible for producing results for large organizations and as an owner responsible for his own operation.
The entrepreneurial chapter also demonstrated that his experience in sales and relationship-building could translate beyond the gym industry.
Fitness, however, would soon draw him back.
A Second Chapter With 24 Hour Fitness
In November 2015, Gonzalez returned to 24 Hour Fitness, this time as a sales manager.
He remained in the position for more than three years, through January 2019. It marked his second extended period with the company and added another layer to a career increasingly built around sales execution, team leadership and customer relationships.
By that point, Gonzalez had spent portions of three decades working in fitness-related businesses, ranging from personal training to general management, ownership and sales leadership.
Yet the next several years would show that his experience could transfer into industries far removed from fitness clubs.
Taking Sales Experience Into New Industries
In May 2019, Gonzalez joined Brinks Home Security as a senior security consultant, working in inside sales. He remained with the company until April 2020.
Later that year, he returned to fitness management as general manager of UFC FIT in Allen. From November 2020 through July 2023, he spent nearly three years managing the fitness operation.
The position continued a professional pattern that had begun decades earlier: leading a fitness business while relying heavily on customer service, sales development and interpersonal skills.
After his UFC FIT tenure ended, Gonzalez made another significant industry change.
In June 2024, he joined AT&T as a Premier Service Consultant in a hybrid position. The role continued through April 2026 and again placed him in a customer-facing environment where communication, service and sales experience were central to the job.
Back Where a Major Chapter Began
Then came another return.
In May 2026, Gonzalez rejoined 24 Hour Fitness — this time once again as a general manager.
The move created an unusual career circle. His first documented management tenure with the company began in 1997. Nearly three decades later, after managing other fitness organizations, operating a business and working for companies including Brinks Home Security and AT&T, he returned to a familiar leadership position.
It is now his third separate chapter with 24 Hour Fitness.
Few careers follow a straight line, and Gonzalez’s certainly has not. Yet there is a clear thread connecting much of the journey: working with people, building customer relationships, developing sales and leading organizations where results depend heavily on personal interaction.
More Than 40 Years After SHS
For Seagoville High School alumni, Gonzalez’s story offers a look at just how much a career can evolve over the decades following graduation.
The Class of 1984 graduate moved from personal training into fitness management, stepped into entrepreneurship, shifted into home security and telecommunications, and repeatedly found opportunities to return to an industry where he had already established years of experience.
His professional history also illustrates something that students beginning their own careers may eventually discover: changing industries does not always mean starting over. Skills developed in one profession — leadership, sales, communication, customer service and business management — can carry into entirely different fields.
Now, 42 years after leaving Seagoville High School, Rick Gonzalez is once again leading a fitness operation as a general manager with 24 Hour Fitness.
For an SHS graduate whose documented fitness career began three decades ago, the latest move is both a new chapter and a return to familiar ground.
