Fivemiletown gym owner shows there’s life after school

A LOCAL entrepreneur is rewriting the script on post-school pressure, proving there’s no one way to succeed.
Fivemiletown’s Jason Hogg is 27-years-old and owns Mana Performance, a multi-functional gym, but his journey was far from simple.
After completing his A-levels at Fivemiletown High School, Jason enrolled in a civil engineering foundation degree at South West College. Within weeks, he quit.
“I hated it,” he said. “It was a rough time. I felt like I’d let myself down.”
Lost and unsure, he clung to one thing, belief.
“I didn’t know where my destination was, but I believed it would all come together when I least expected it,” he said.
Then came a turning point. One evening, a CrossFit documentary on Netflix sparked something deep.
“It lit a fire in me,” Jason said.
He messaged the closest CrossFit gym. No reply. So he sent it again.
“If I hadn’t tried again, I wouldn’t be where I am now.”
That second message reached Gary Wilson, owner of CrossFit Enniskillen. “Gary became a key figure, an inspiration and motivator.”
Jason dove into training. Soon, he was coaching while working at Tesco, helping on his dad’s farm, studying and traveling to Omagh to train.
“It was exhausting. I second-guessed myself so many times. But I kept going.”
Setbacks followed. A rejected visa to Australia. Knockbacks from jobs and university.
“It felt like rejection after rejection. But rejection is redirection.”
Eventually, he landed a job with Paul Dwyane at Chalk Fitness in Omagh. That year transformed him.
Over five years later, Jason now leads his own gym.
“To any young person reading this, life doesn’t end at 18 when things don’t go to plan. Keep going,” he concluded.
“You don’t have to follow the linear route. Listen to yourself. Work hard. When you do something you love, the money will come.”