Wow…
Today officially marks 10 years as a fitness professional!
I remember it like it was yesterday
Honestly, my obsession with fitness goes back to my childhood, watching my mom teach aerobics classes.
She was good.
Not just a good instructor, but she put in the work!
I remember her going from spot to spot, getting paid to get people in shape.
It was definitely a hustle!
Fast forward to 2007.
When I got in legal trouble.
I thought I was going to BIG BOY jail.
I really didn’t want to be anybody’s bitch, so my first thought was to get in that damn gym and TRAIN.
And I loved it.
I loved seeing my body change.
I loved pushing myself.
But I never even considered making a career out of it.
I met my now-wife in late 2011
At the time, I was in college trying to figure my shit out.
I was studying broadcasting and communication while chasing my dream of being a rapper.
There came a time when the writing was on the wall and that dream was turning into a nightmare.
In 2012 she said the words to me that I will never forget…
“You spend so much time in the gym, why don’t you become a personal trainer?”
That simple question set off a chain of events that would define the rest of my life and career.
I originally purchased my NASM study material with the intention of learning and becoming a trainer that year.
But when I opened that thick ass book, it was like reading a Chinese phone book.
I should add that in school, science had always been my least favorite subject.
It just never made sense!
In math, you can figure out the answer if you know the rules and formulas.
History is just stuff that happened.
Hell, language arts came natural to me and (as you can probably tell) I loved writing.
But science made no sense to me, so I filed becoming a personal trainer under “another thing I started but never finished”
Ironically, I LOVE science now lol
Then I turned 30
On September 20th, 2013, I officially exited my 20s and flung the door wide open on the next chapter of my life.
I spent my 30th birthday looking over the pacific ocean… a simple pleasure I had been deprived of since 2007 when I lost my freedom (I actually hadn’t seen the ocean since 1994, but that’s a different story for a different day)
As I was looking over those waves and thinking about my life up to that point, I declared that it was time for a change.
And the first change I wanted to make was TO FINISH WHAT I STARTED.
I no longer wanted to be the type of person that started things I didn’t finish, and that meant I was going to pick that damn book up and become a personal trainer!
It took a lot of pride swallowing
First, I had to REPURCHASE THE STUDY MATERIAL
I paid $700 the first time, and now I had to pay an additional $400 because I was lazy and didn’t commit
At the time, I was going to school full time pursuing my bachelor’s degree in Communication, working as a Promotions Assistant for Kroenke Sports (think Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche), and working overnights at a Hilton Hotel
But I was determined to make it happen!
I would study relentlessly while “working” my hotel gig
I became obsessed with fitness
I became obsessed with the human body
I became obsessed with becoming a fitness professional!
And on January 25th, 2014
I BECAME A CERTIFIED PERSONAL TRAINER!
I was SO PROUD!
All my hard work had paid off!
Or so I thought…
See, the hard work was just beginning.
Because even tho I had the knowledge when it came to training, I didn’t know shit about running a fitness business.
I started by renting space in a small gym up the street from the hotel where I was working
I was practically BEGGING friends and family to come train with me
A few took me up on it
Most ignored me or left me hanging
It was my first big reality check in the fitness game
I had this thought that once I became a trainer, people would pour in by the dozens to work with me
I pictured myself getting people in shape and making a lot of money
Instead, I was now working THREE JOBS and still making very little money
The reality is that its easier to turn clients into friends than it is turning friends into clients
Who knew?
After a few months of painfully pursuing a career as an independent personal trainer, I finally folded and realized I needed business experience in order to make this happen.
So I took on my first gig as a trainer at a gym called Fitness 19 in Denver, CO
To say that place SUCKED would be an understatement.
They didn’t even have computers.
They used old school pen and paper for everything.
That wasn’t even the worst part.
They didn’t have a cleaning crew either so after my shift, guess who was now in charge of cleaning toilets?
Yup, you guessed it!
I was a struggling personal trainer and now a janitor as well.
I knew that place wasn’t it, so I began applying at every gym I could.
There was one gym in particular I really wanted to work at in downtown Denver that I applied to.
They were literally the only gym that didn’t respond for an interview.
I went on a bunch of interviews.
I interviewed at several 24 Hour Fitness locations, even one where a “friend” of mine was the hiring manager.
I didn’t get that job.
I remember one particular interview at a 24 Hour Fitness where I felt like I aced the interview. We then went to do a practical of sorts where I was to coach the hiring manager to perform a deadlift. I BOMBED SO BAD he told me right there that I wasn’t getting hired.
No lie, I cried in the car.
It felt hopeless.
It felt like it wasn’t going to happen.
I kept going on interviews.
I had lost count at that point.
After what seemed like HUNDREDS of wack ass interviews, I finally got hired at YouFit and told Fitness 19 I was OUT
I was hired on a Friday and told I was going to start on Monday.
But later that same Friday, I got a call for an interview with a gym in downtown Denver!
Not the one I wanted, but close enough.
I NAILED that interview and was hired on the spot.
I guess after a few hundred failed interviews, you learn a thing or two
I went from nobody wanting anything to do with me to having 2 personal training jobs!!
Kinda
I never actually worked at YouFit
I called the guy later that evening and let him know I had found a better opportunity.
I know worked for Matrix in downtown Denver
This was my first lesson in “not everything that glitters is gold”
Matrix was a beautiful, upscale boutique gym.
But they threw me to the wolves!
I didn’t know much about sales at that point and it was tough treading!
I also didn’t fit in there.
It was… I’ll just say it… it was WHITE
Like no Black people ANYWHERE and I felt like an outcast
For the first time in my short fitness career, I felt the color of my skin becoming a factor
People avoiding eye contact
Snide remarks
I felt out of place and my pockets were hurting as a result
But I thought it was what I wanted, so I rode it out
Until I got the call I was waiting for!
Remember that OTHER gym in downtown Denver that I REEEEAAALLLLYYYY wanted to work at?
They FINALLY called me in for an interview
AND I GOT THE JOB!!!
I left Matrix and began working at the Colorado Athletic Club
Funny story: The day I got hired there, I went out with a buddy to celebrate.
He met me downtown and we had a few drinks and caught up
I got hired on a Friday and was to start the next day so I didn’t want to stay out too late
When I left, I made it to the turn right before my house when I GOT PULLED OVER
Wouldn’t you know, on the day I got hired I ended up GOING TO JAIL
My wife was out of town so I couldn’t get ahold of her
I had gotten my dream job…
And was sitting in a jail cell because of a blip in the system from my 2007 case
Now I went from multiple PT jobs to sitting in jail while I was supposed to start my dream gig
If you know about the jail system, you get arrested on a Friday you can’t see a judge until MONDAY
Luckily my parents bailed me out
I called the woman that hired me and explained the situation.
Luckily she was understanding and let me work there anyway!
The Colorado Athletic Club was everything I thought it would be
The environment was upscale, but the vibe was inclusive
The other trainers there became like family and I’m still very close with many of them to this day!
And on top of that, I made more money there than I had made in ANY career up to that point, clearing close to 6 figures in my first year.
Dream come true.
During my time at CAC, I began my transition into the online space creating my first brand…
FLYFIT LIFESTYLE
That was a fun time.
We ran “Secret Saturday” bootcamp workouts at different parks in the city that summer.
It was truly a unique time.
I worked at CAC for 2 years, until my wife and I decided it was time to leave Denver and relocate to South Florida in late 2016
Now in order to purchase a home in Florida, I needed a job with a paycheck.
Even tho my online business was getting wings, it wasn’t enough to satisfy the loan officer.
So I took the only fitness gig I could get that offered a consistent paycheck
An Assistant Personal Training Manager position at LA Fitness
This was a glorified sales position disguised as “management”
This was also a blessing in disguise!
I learned sales in and out, which really helped me grow my independent business.
I stayed there just long enough to close on the house, then I went nuts first into being an independent trainer in South Florida…
A place where I knew ABSOLUTELY NOBODY
But remember when I told you it was easier to make friends out of clients than clients out of friends?
That was what made my time out here so beautiful.
And why my business has thrived ever since!
Kinda…
In 2018, I felt burnt out with fitness and decided to try my luck with different endeavors
No luck.
I stumbled and fumbled around, hopping from thing to thing until late 2019 when I found out I was going to be a dad!
With no idea how I was going to feed this little thing
And I had fallen behind on bills to the point that pre-foreclosure was on the horizon
My dad called out of the blue and with tears in my eyes, I told him what was going on.
He made me promise that I was going get back into fitness, so I honored his request and got back into training
And I hit the ground RUNNING!
Within WEEKS I rebuilt my business and I WAS BACK!
Then as the year turned to 2020, the world collectively shut down and the pandemic turned everything upside down!
But while most people fell and got consumed by what was going on, I saw an opportunity and jumped head first into online coaching, launching a series of successful online fitness challenges that roved to be quite lucrative and served as the springboard to VISION x GRIND and everything I am doing today!
Man what a career I’ve had this last decade.
Feels wild saying “decade”
But reflecting on this last 10 years while writing this makes me feel extremely grateful for where I’ve been, and extremely excited for what’s to come.
And if you read this all the way through, THANK YOU for taking a ride with me.
I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!
If you feel so inclined, shoot me a message on IG or FB and let’s connect!
