Michael Burns’s Terms of Service

Once his time in the military and the secret service was through, Michael Burns started living his American dream as a personal trainer and café owner.
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Michael Burns, owner of Burns Barbell and Café Vino & Espresso.

Photo by Jeremy Kramer

Second Careers

From: Secret Service Member
To: Small Business Owner

As a member of the United States Secret Service’s Uniformed Division for two years, Michael Burns traveled with the president and vice president everywhere from New York to Hawaii. But over time, he experienced burnout and found he was beginning to develop post-traumatic stress disorder.

“I didn’t want to become a statistic. I looked at people who were 15 years my senior, and you could tell the job was just wearing on them,” says Burns, who spent six years in the Marine Corps Reserve and worked for the Butler County Sheriff’s Office’s corrections division before joining the Secret Service. “It was a lot of travel and a lot of overtime. I asked myself internally if I could see myself doing this for the rest of my life, and the answer was no.”

The Miami University graduate decided to leave the job, and three and a half years ago, he opened a 24-hour-a-day gym, Burns Barbell, in Monroe. He later purchased a vending machine business (Quick Attractions Vending), and last spring, he opened Café Vino & Espresso in West Chester Township with his partner, Lana Curlis.

Burns says opening Café Vino was his partner’s dream, and he’s more than happy to help her make it come true. “She is the real reason we are where we are,” he notes. “She brings life to the café, and I just love seeing people enjoying the things that we picked out.”

While he runs the back-of-house operations at Café Vino, he’s front and center at Burns Barbell, where he serves as a personal trainer. “That is my passion,” he says. “I love fitness, I love training people, and I love lifting. It’s so fun just being able to watch people grow into their highest potential. Fitness literally saved my life, so I really enjoy helping others.”

Although he does miss some parts of his old job (“I loved the traveling aspect”), Burns enjoys the freedom of being an entrepreneur. In the next five years, he plans to open two to three more businesses.

“I get to wake up every day and never know what the day is going to look like or who I am going to meet,” he says. “I just truly enjoy the grind of being an American small business owner. The aspirations are as high as you want them to be, and there is no ceiling.”

Burns says being a business owner reminds him of an unofficial motto from his time in the Marines—”Semper Gumby,” which means “always flexible.”

“There will always be adversities to face, challenges that arise, it just may not be life or death, rather sink or swim,” he adds. “I never would have imagined being where I am now, but I can honestly say to anyone, if you wouldn’t work where you are now for free, what are you doing? Follow. Your. Dreams. Figure out a plan and execute.”

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