Her Fifth Gear: Stone Cold Determination - How Regina Stone Turned Adversity Into Success

Regina Stone has always been destined for great things. 

The way she turned early-life trauma into entrepreneurial success, though, puts her in a class reserved for the all-time greats.

Stone, owner and founder of  Stone Impact  gym in Oceanside, Calif., has worked tirelessly over the past five years to start a business, grow her following, and connect with members on a personal level not seen at the traditional “big box” gyms. Though her clients are in various stages of life, all receive the same quality of care, which is driven by Stone’s desire to help her clients meet their fitness aspirations.

She keeps members goal-oriented and successful, giving them every advantage she lacked during her younger, more formative years. In fact, the success of Stone Impact is almost a microcosm of her life to this point, converting early challenges to an incredible story of determination and grit.

Stone’s edition of Her Fifth Gear is a different take on the Goal Five ethos that sport in girls and women make us better leaders, community members, and family members, because sports were not ever present in her childhood. Rather, she leaned into sport to help her recovery and keep her on the path she has worked so hard to forge.

Sport helped make Stone a better person after going through hell and back, and it takes center stage in a generational – and inspirational – success story.

The 33-year-old’s upbringing in Knoxville, Tenn. came amid very challenging circumstances, as Stone’s single mom raised six children with few available resources. A product of her environment, Stone began abusing drugs and alcohol by the time she was 12, was in foster care at 16, and by 18 she was homeless, selling drugs, and had been in-and-out of jail so many times that she didn’t possess an ID card out of fear of getting arrested.

Things continued that way for three years, marking the darkest time in Stone’s life.

Enough was enough.

“I was waking up every day trying to overdose,” she said. “But, I couldn’t die. And if I couldn’t die, then I didn’t want to live like that any more.”

Stone’s first step to recovery was a return home, where her mom took her in while suggesting various inpatient treatment centers. Already dopesick, she refused every option until she came across one with a California area code, which piqued her interest enough to pick up the phone and call the facility around 9 pm.

Not even seven hours later she was on a flight that ultimately led her to her true calling.

“That’s where I found fitness, because when I got sober I had a lot of anxiety,” Stone said. “I was on narcotics at first, but after two months I didn’t want to be on medication any longer. I flushed them, but started having a lot of panic attacks, so I started walking and working out. 

“I put on a lot of weight after I got sober. In two months I put on 50 pounds. I got into the gym to try to lose weight, and I liked the way it made me feel. I fell in love with it.”

Just one year into her sobriety journey, Stone encountered another one of life’s curveballs: The birth of her daughter. Determined to give her daughter a strong foundation she earned a steady job as the director of operations at a drug and alcohol facility, but after a successful four years in the role, she needed more.

Stone could no longer ignore her true calling, so she made the leap into personal training.

Stone started working as a personal trainer at Fitness 19 before moving on to a similar role with Crunch Fitness, and even took on a managerial position before the COVID-19 pandemic threw – yet another – wrench into her plans.

Again, she persevered. Stone wanted to help people reach their fitness goals, but more importantly, she didn’t want members to feel like just another number on a company’s bottom line. The pandemic forced the closure of gyms, essentially shuttering her newfound passion before it even had a chance to take flight.

Then she recalled some great advice from an old friend.

“My old sponsor used to tell me all the time, ‘If you just took a quarter of the hustle you had to get high into your life of sobriety, you will do unstoppable things,’” Stone said. “Now, it’s applying the same things I used to do, but for good.”

She got to work.

Stone first held training sessions at parks and beaches with many of her former clients, but those efforts proved complicated due to local COVID restrictions. She then trained clients in a makeshift gym at her apartment’s garage, all while bartending to save up enough money to open her very own brick-and-mortar facility.

Alas, Stone Impact was born in 2021, albeit on a very modest scale.

“When I say I started from bare minimum, I mean, bare minimum,” Stone said. “I had one squat rack. Two bar bells. The turf was shit. It had holes in it. It was terrible, but I made due with what I had. 

“I’ve invested over the years, every dollar that I had. I didn’t pay myself for over three years.”

Stone’s gym has grown significantly – her first location was 1,600 square feet, while the current facility is 3,500 on the first level and 700 square feet on the second level – and she has plans to expand further.

Community response has been steady, and Stone continues to find innovative ways to grow her business while continuing to serve clients in a manner that she sees fit. That includes referring prospective clients to other trainers, who oftentimes rent space at Stone Impact, making the process that much easier for members.

“Whatever your goal is, that is the program that I’m going to tell you to follow,” Stone said. “Let’s say someone wants to get better at their running. Well, I’m not a running coach. I can program you to build your aerobic threshold, but I can’t look at your form and be like, ‘This is what you need to do.’ So, I have a coach that I send them to. 

“I even use him as my running coach, so I’m happy to refer out.”

The young entrepreneur also has grander plans in store.

“I’m building an office for VO2 max testing, and we have a nurse coming in that will be doing labwork, InBodies, and GLPs,” Stone said. “She is similar to me, where it’s not about money. She actually cares about the clients.”

One of the most rewarding parts of her journey is how Stone directly assists those who are in similar circumstances to what she previously experienced. She has clients who have been to prison, and clients who are homeless; There are customers who are well into their fitness journey, and others who are beginning their road to sobriety.

It’s not where someone has come from, it’s where they’re going, and Stone uses her own personal experiences to empathize and connect with her members.

That alone establishes Stone Impact as one of the premier fitness facilities in Oceanside.

“In the gym, this is our mental release, so you’ve got to figure out working on the inside, and not just escaping,” Stone said. “It really changes people’s lives. That’s the biggest reason why I continue doing what I’m doing.”

Goal Five’s activewear has even become part of her recent journey.

“I tried out the activewear, and I loved it. The Goal Five shorts are super light and super comfy, and they’re perfect to race in,” Stone said. “The 99’er padded sports bra is super comfortable. It’s not tight, it’s not suffocating. It’s perfect, where you can move, and be free.”

“I’ve had other companies reach out with activewear, and they’re popular brands, but it wasn’t actually comfortable to work out in. I really, really like the Goal Five products and I believe in their mission in achieving gender equality and empowerment in sport for women and girls.”

No matter the outfit, Stone’s drive, passion and perseverance will continue to shine through as Stone Impact continues to grow and make its mark on Oceanside and its surrounding community.

She has come such a long way, but in her eyes, she’s just beginning to scratch the surface of what she was truly called to do.

“I’ve always known I was meant for something great, but I allowed my environment to take me down for a long time, and for people to tell me that I wasn’t worth anything,” Stone said. “Then, when you get the clarity that you deserve better, it’s so meaningful to know your life wasn’t wasted, and you can help other people. And you do deserve more. 

“There’s so much more to it, but it’s so crazy to even think that I’m here.”