Top 5 Fear Factors These Fit Biz Owners Faced And Conquered

Entering the risky world of entrepreneurship, you are bound to encounter roadblocks that may make you rethink your business venture. These successful independent personal trainers have no doubt felt the fear, but were able to anticipate obstacles and face them head on. Hear how these entrepreneurs’ fearful experiences shaped what their businesses are today.

1. Corporate America Criticism | Mari de Carvalho

“Coming from a traditional corporate America background, my biggest fear was that people would think I was a phony and that I did not belong as a personal trainer. Behind that major insecurity were a lot of questions – Did I know enough? Was I ready to own my own business? Was I going to get any clients? Would I make enough money to sustain this career?

Overcoming my fear came with time and practice. I did not feel ready on the first day or even in the first month. It all became less and less terrifying as things started to happen. To gain experience, I did two key things: I first worked at a box gym, and I also did a mentorship program with a trainer I admired in the industry. Those two things allowed me to practice, make mistakes, and learn so much without them being my own business. From those two experiences, I not only gained the confidence to go on my own, but I also found out what defined me as a trainer and what I wanted my business to be.”

2. Facing Peer Pressure | Joseph Ilustrisimo

“Even though being a personal trainer was basically the only job that I have had since I was 20 years old, I still have not had much approval by my family.

At one point, I took a 3-month hiatus from training to try out recruiting as a profession. Some of my family got discouraged when I chose to go back to working in fitness and focusing all of my attention there. At that time, I was trying to figure out how to succeed in the fitness industry on my own but I knew that I needed to be the one to define my success and no one else could make me feel that. DIAKADI became a second home to me because of the support I received from mentors like Billy, Mike, Ross, Tommy, and so many others. Trainers have a great way of bringing out the best in people and I found that to be true here at DIAKADI.”

3. Fear of Fitting the Mold | Natalie Carey

“I was over exercising, had disordered eating, and was fixated on having the perfect body I thought was expected of Personal Trainers. Not only that, but I was passing this along to my clients, encouraging them to repeat these dangerous habits to achieve their own goals.  When I decided to make my fitness business body positive and no longer encourage weight loss goals, I was afraid I would lose all of my clients, that they would think I was an imposter, and feel as if I’d let them down.  Because my values had suddenly shifted drastically, I assumed all the business I had worked so hard to build up would disappear.

I overcame this by having total transparency with my clients, my audience, and the people closest to me. I told people what I had been struggling with, and actually wrote a book about it! I let my clients know that the quality of their sessions wasn’t going to change, but the emphasis on constantly losing weight would no longer be something I initiated. To my surprise, instead of losing clients, people all around me opened up that they had been experiencing similar challenges, and the staff at DIAKADI completely supported me.

I’m fortunate that I was able to make this transition with the support of my clients, the team at DIAKADI, and my business coach, Billy Polson.”

4. Escaping the Comfort Zone | Candace Rhodes

“My previous position before becoming a personal trainer was a clinical project manager in biotech. I was worried about leaving 7 years of experience behind, a steady paycheck, and the entire industry itself for a completely new and questionable career path with no direct experience. Based on my research I knew that the personal trainer industry experienced high turnover, high burnout rates, low entry pay and a lot of competition. It felt like the odds were against me to be a personal trainer especially in a competitive city like San Francisco.‘What happens if my recommendations didn’t work and my clients end up being disappointed they spent their time and money with me?‘

I chatted with about 10 different personal trainers about a typical day, the challenges, learned about their different experiences, listened to their advice and lessons learned and regrets. I conquered my fears of not making it by taking lots action, stepping outside of my comfort zone, learning from my failures and repeating until something works.

During my consults, I’m honest and upfront about what to expect working with me, my philosophy as a personal trainer, and commitment required before I’m willing to take them on as a client. I created a simple on-boarding system for my clients that took about a year to figure out that gets consistent results every time for my clients.

Through this system I figured out which clients are the best fit for my business and who will be successful following my program. I learned that when I am training my ideal clients who are the right fit for me, I fall in love with my clients and I become their trusted advisor.”

5. Possibility of Profit | Dustin Eastment

“My biggest fear going into the industry was, ‘Am I going to make money doing this?’ I started out in as an Operations Manager for a startup in San Carlos for about a year until there was a merger of companies and my role had started to shift. I was no longer happy or passionate for my position which led me to quit. During this gap of unemployment, I sought out a career coach to help me determine my next move. I remembered a time a previous co-worker/mentor told me that I’d be a good personal trainer, which stuck with me. I brought up the idea during a career meeting, and we dove deep into the fitness industry.

I discovered that personal training aligned completely with my personal values and I started to write to owners at gyms and taking courses. During my NASM prep course I made connections and was able to get into Sports club LA/Equinox to get clients and gain experience. Even with the fears I had, I made the leap and I started to seek out independent training at DIAKADI. I still at this point wanted more experience, so I went through their Fitness Business Internship.

Through taking the time to study, making connections along the way, putting in long hours, creating a checklist, having patience and discipline, and learning to say no were all ESSENTIAL keys in overcoming any fears I had in the beginning. I learned to pay my dues at the start by interning, working long hours, and accepting that this model wasn’t going to be sustainable. Any setbacks that I had were addressed in the internship with Billy and Mike helping me create a checklist and focus on creating an intelligent business plan. This checklist, along with my patience, discipline, and energy went toward setting myself up for an ideal schedule and overall fitness business. When the time came, I began to say no to take on clients that didn’t match with me and my schedule. My advice for anyone fearful to enter the independent training world would be to create your network, intern to get your foot in the door, find someone in the industry you admire and whose philosophies you align with, and put in the work.”