Stepping into the fitness industry is more than just a career choice; it’s a commitment to transforming lives, including your own. Whether you’re drawn to the science of exercise, the art of motivation, or the challenge of building a business, the fitness industry offers a dynamic and rewarding path. In this blog, I’ll share insights and strategies to help you navigate your way from passion to profession, ensuring that you not only succeed but thrive in this vibrant field.
I grew up dancing, moved into yoga, and started teaching group fitness. This led to personal training, boot camps, management, and then entrepreneurship. Often, these jobs overlapped with my roles as marketing consultant, master trainer, international speaker, and director of education.
Honestly, I created my own path to this “career” I have now. However, when the story is told, I feel like it resembles a lot of other stories I have heard. While you won’t be able to replicate my circumstances to result in a similar career path, I want to share my top 5 tips that I have learned on this journey in hopes that you gain some perspective and advice from my mistakes.
You Don’t Have To Start In A Typical Gym
I started teaching dance when I was 14. As soon as I was 18, I earned my certification in yoga fundamentals and began teaching as part of my dance classes. When I moved to college, I began teaching for free on the knoll in the middle of my university to my friends. My “class” blossomed and gained the attention of the manager at the university recreation center.
This fitness manager saw something in my teaching (thank you Jerry) and hired me to teach at the rec center. Don’t assume you have to start your teaching career in a big box gym. Sure apply to those places, but don’t ignore other locations such as dance studios, recreation centers, and universities. Get experience by teaching to friends and family, a neighborhood club house, or your church.
Trainings Are More Than Education
The summer after I began teaching, I attended SCW Mania in Atlanta. I tried to absorb every bit of information, choreography, idea, and method I could. But what was more important than the education were the contacts that I met at the event. From presenters to staff members, managers to other newbies, the people I met at the conference have been more than influential in my life.
While attending local trainings, I met local instructors who became my go-to-subs (and vice versa) and managers for future jobs. I love attending instructor trainings, workshops, and conferences, but not only for the education. When you attend these functions, make sure to meet everyone there, collect business cards, connect on social media, and stay in touch.
You Cannot Teach It All
While I was in management, I knew what I wanted the facility’s fitness schedule to look like. My only problem was that I couldn’t find enough instructors willing to teach my “schedule,” so I tried to teach it all. From 6 a.m. cycle to 12 p.m. boot camp to 7 p.m. yoga, my name was very (too) frequent on the schedule.
For 2 years, I attempted to maintain this schedule while teaching at another location and managing a dance studio. Burnout does not describe what my body, mind, and soul went through. Learn from my insane actions; do not say ‘yes’ to everything. Sure, you can teach 30 classes a week; it is possible. But it is not smart. It is very far from smart, even if most of those classes are coaching.
Now, everyone has a different limit. Find your limit and promise to yourself not to go over that limit. You have to begin to say “no” at some point.
Have An Exit Plan
Sure, right now, you can teach or train all day long, every day (but you won’t because you read #3, right?). But what happens if you have an injury? What happens when you realize that you cannot sustain that life anymore? One day, you may not want to wear spandex all day.
When I was diagnosed with an atypical autoimmune disorder (to go along with the genetic blood disorder), I realized that I was not going to be able to be the “dancing monkey” forever. I needed to evolve my teaching career into a management, writing, and creating career.
The fitness industry is far more expansive in jobs than instructors or trainers alone. Facilities need fitness managers, companies need wellness consultants, and conferences need event planners. We need trailblazers to create the next fitness studio chain, build new technology, and launch new formats. I will probably never leave the fitness industry, but I influence it differently than teaching full-time.
Get Rid Of Your Duds
One of my mentors told me to dump my duds a few years ago, and that phrase changed my life. At the time, I was working for a company that had morphed to represent aspects of the industry I despised. It took me a few months, but I eventually left the company; a giant weight was lifted from my shoulders. Six months later, I had built a fast-expanding company and had begun working with my dream clients.
We are all busy people. We are wearing multiple hats and sometimes, a few of those hats are ratty, impossible to wear, or just not to our liking.
Dump them.
When you clear space in your life, you clear space for opportunities. Have a class or a location that is just not fitting? Don’t force a circle peg into a square hole. Leave and find the home that fits you perfectly. It’s scary. It’s terrifying. Do it anyway.
We all start our fitness careers in strange and different ways. When I started teaching, I had no idea I would eventually create certifications like the FIT4MOM Prenatal and Postnatal Fitness Certification, write on behalf of the Mental Well-being Association, and present content for the Move Mentors.
Twenty years ago, I thought I would get some movement during lunch with some close friends in the sunlight. You never know what a hobby will grow into. Be open-minded. Now, go forth and conquer.
