“We are not just a company...we’re more of a lifestyle,” said Michael Fear, 23, founder and CEO of a new online company operated out of his Versailles home. Fear launched the first phase of Get Better Today on Monday, October 17.

Fear is a 2007 graduate of South Ripley High School and graduated from Morehead State University in May 2011 with a degree in Business Management.

Get Better Today is a company that connects motivated individuals with private instructors in their given field of interest through an online directory.

Get Better Today’s online directory will initially consist of instructors focused in baseball, softball, golf and physical training from Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky. Eventually, Fear plans to include instructors from other sports, music and possibly art in the directory. Fear also hopes his directory will one day consist of instructors from all over the United States.

So how does Get Better Today work?

“For example, someone has an 8-year-old son and they are interested in finding a private hitting or pitching instructor,” said Fear, “they would visit the Get Better Today website and select baseball, then select either hitting or pitching from a drop down menu. They would then enter their zip code and the search results would reveal the profiles of instructors who specialize in hitting or pitching within a 100 to 200 mile radius. Each profile will have a picture of the instructor in the directory, his or her contact information, as well as experiences - it’s basically kind of like their own personal resume.”
Get Better Today visitors will be able to contact anyone in the online directory through the website.
The idea for Get Better Today came to Fear in January 2011, as he was beginning his last semester of college.

“I would sit around and try to think of ideas that would work,” Fear told the Osgood Journal. “This is one I thought of it in the middle of the night. I called and explained it to my parents the next day and they liked it, so we went with it.”

Fear looked for webpage developers he could hire and started the trademark process while he was still in school. Since January, Fear’s concept for Get Better Today has stayed the same but some details have changed as the company’s official launch date has arrived.

“Right now, there’s nothing like this except word of mouth,” said Fear. “We’re very similar to Angie’s List, except it is geared towards doctors, plumbers, etc.”

Phase one of Get Better Today launches highlights the site features and allows you to shop from its online inventory. During phase one, instructors will be able to register and be put on a waiting list for the directory, athletes will be able to register on the site, and people will be able to nominate instructors they believe to be beneficial to other athletes.

Get Better Today’s online inventory consists of silicone wristbands, sweatbands, one-inch wide wristbands, over 30 types of T-shirts, yoga pants, exercise shorts, lanyards and moisture management t-shirts.

Fear explained that he has not set a specific date to launch the second phase of the company, but expects people will be able to use Get Better Today’s services in March 2012. There will be a lot of testing and controlling of growth between the launching of phases one and two.

Fear has many goals for the future of Get Better Today. Long term goals include partnering with a major sports company as well as adding a calendar feature that will allow the athletes to schedule their sessions on the Get Better Today website.

Get Better Today would not exist if it wasn’t for the help of Fear’s parents, Jim and Peggy Fear.

“They’re part of the reason this exists,” said Fear, “it was my idea, but they definitely helped me get it started.” According to Fear, his dad Jim deals a lot with the day-to-day operations and helps with Get Better Today shipments. His mom, Peggy, is the “organizer of the group” and also helps Fear with his vision for the company.

“This would have never been a goal of mine four years ago,” said Fear when asked about being the founder and CEO of a company at 23 years old. “I’d say for the last two years I’ve constantly thought of stuff because nothing else seemed enjoyable to me. I’m the type of person that’s got to be doing something that has a purpose behind it. I have to have something that I can try to improve and get better at myself; I’ve got to have motivation behind it. My purpose with that is not to make a whole lot of money. It’s more the accomplishment and the ambitious part of me. That’s really what it’s about.”
For more information visit www.getbettertoday.com, follow Get Better Today on Twitter (@GetBetterToday) or “like” Get Better Today on Facebook.

Michael Fear