Becoming a Better Fitness Professional

You're listening to the PT Profit Podcast, episode number one. In today's episode, we dive deep into a little bit about who I am, why this is so important to me, and why it matters to you, and what you can anticipate from hanging out with me here on the podcast. So stay tuned. Hi, I'm Beverly Simpson, former fitness manager turned online personal training business owner. And this podcast is where smart fitness professionals, including trainers and clinicians, discover how to increase client performance in movement, package and position their products and services, and get out of their own way so that they can increase their revenue to live a life that they love without sleazy sales. Welcome to the PT Profit Podcast. Welcome to the very first PT Profit Podcast. Okay, so I'm going to go ahead and just be fully transparent with you. I think this might be the 12th time that I have started this podcast and then stopped and then started it and rerecorded and stopped. And I am going to go ahead and commit to you and commit to myself that this is the last time that I will do that. And the truth is that I have been a guest on multiple podcasts. I actually also used to be the co host of the Action Made Mamas podcast with my really good friend, Nikki Wilson. But I have to be honest, there is a little bit of me that feels just a little bit more vulnerable because I'm here on this podcast by myself. And if you've been following me for any length of time over at Beeson's and Fitness, then you saw my story about me talking about how the truth of the matter was that Nikki was the personality of that show and she really carried it for me. So there was no place in that podcast where I felt like I was falling flat because she was always there for me to catch me if I ever stumbled over my words or if I ever felt nervous. And there was a level of comfortability in that podcast with her there. And also, especially if you've been following me over at the B. Simpson Fitness on Instagram, I've talked about how starting this podcast is actually a huge, huge shift in my business. And so there is a huge level of uncomfortability as I navigate these new waters. But the truth, which is what we're going to get into in this episode, is that these waters are actually not that new to me. And it actually has been something that has been incredibly comfortable for me to talk about and to do since I started my personal training career in 2000, I think maybe even earlier than that, but at least 2013. So my intention behind today's podcast is to really just set the scene for what it is that you can anticipate when you are hanging out with me during the show. Also, I will share a little bit about me, but not in the context of this is about me and this is why you should care about me. But it's more so that you can just get an understanding of my why, why I'm going in this direction, why it's important to me, what I hope to achieve, all in the context of you. Because it is truly my mission in life to help you create and build a thriving personal training or, or online PT physical therapy business or physiotherapy business online so that you can start to live a life of freedom that you want, especially in an industry where it feels like you have to be going for volume and you have to be reaching thousands of people in order to just generate a living. And so I'm here and this podcast will be here to serve you both in the science of training and also in the selling of training and in the selling of movement or physical therapy or. And in the science of physical therapy. Back in the day, when I was in the Big Box gym as a fitness manager, it was something that I was really passionate about, was the fact that I wanted trainers to care about the science of training because I believed that an educated trainer was a good trainer and a good trainer with great service was a great trainer. And great trainers typically didn't have to feel like they were chasing revenue and feel like they were trading dollars for hours. They were selling their packages, their products, their service in a way that was resonating with their clients. That caused clients to have wait lists for these trainers because their clients were getting real results based on their positioning of their products and service, but also because of their level of service for their clients. And that also came from having a really good understanding of the science of training and the science of human, human bio, biomechanics and body biomechanics. So as a former fitness manager, I was blessed to work with some of the brightest minds in the fitness industry. And that came because I had such a drive and such a passion for learning all that I could, especially around the science of training. And I think that was because there was something that felt very linear because I had actually come from a musical theater performance background. So I was already creative, I already had that inclination. But for me, that career felt so subjective. It didn't feel nearly as linear as science when you got into the training aspect or when I Got into training back in 2013, while I was auditioning, there was a much more satisfying experience of learning something, applying it, implementing it, and getting results. Getting results based on the science and not getting results based on subjectivity of somebody else's opinion. There was something that was very satisfying in that and also being able to see my clients actually feel grateful for results. It was something that was very. That. That I became incredibly drawn to. And in my theater life and career, I heard two pieces of advice that really resonated with me. And number one, it was, you have to love the process more than you love the outcomes because you're going to be spending more time in the process than you are in an outcome. And the second piece of advice that I got was, if you love doing something else, then do something else. And that's exactly what happened to me on both accounts. At the time, I didn't love the process of auditioning. I didn't love waking up in the morning. I didn't love waiting for, you know, waiting tables or even training personal cl. Training clients in the morning and in the evening and then auditioning in the daytime. I just didn't really love that part. I didn't love it enough. Which led to this answer asking that second question, which is, if I love doing something else, then I'm just going to go ahead and do something else, which is what happened and how I got into fitness really in the first place. And when I got there, I realized that I loved training. I loved training because I loved being able to learn, implement, and see results that was again, based on outcome and. Or based on science, not necessarily, necessarily based on, on subjectivity. And that isn't entirely true when it comes to fitness as we're going to discover in our time together. But at the time, it was much, much more linear and more satisfying for me in that way. And it was just an easy transition. But because of that drive to learn about the science, it came from this. This want to really help other people and really help move their safe and a most efficient way possible. I really was the student, was the trainer that literally studied every certification under the book. And that mostly came because I didn't come from this athletic background. So many trainers that I know now, they really have come, you know, they grew up in their specific athletic sport that they were competing in, and it led them down this path of competing in their sport and also training. And that was just not my background. So there was part of me that felt like an underdog and felt like. Felt like I needed to catch up in my training because I just did not have an athletic background. In fact, sometimes I laugh because if my seventh grade PE teacher saw me now, I think he would not believe it. I think he would think I got kidnapped. Seriously, because I was the kid in seventh grade that refused to run the mile. I literally did everything I could in my power to not run the mile, to get out of doing any type of physical activity. PE was my least favorite class and here I am training. So I laugh about it still to this day. It brings a smile to my face thinking about it and thinking about how far I come. And also, you know, really developing this passion for how the body moves and specifically how it moves in order to help people. That kind of started the career that kind of started the career for me as a trainer in a gym in Manhattan. And I'm so forever grateful for the people that gave me a chance that took a chance on me, even though I didn't have a ton of experience or a ton of education at the time I developed it. And I'm also really grateful for one of my mentors who did teach me everything I know about training. And he is going to be coming into the podcast, so when that episode comes, we'll be talking about that. But I became really passionate about learning and about learning the science of training. Another reason why that was so important to me was because the truth of the matter, one of the components that many trainers struggle with, which is the selling of training and the selling of their products and service, was something that actually came very natural to me. It was easy for me to sell. I didn't have any problems listening, having, having these conversations. It was easy for me to do that. But what I did struggle with was sometimes feeling like I wasn't good enough or that I couldn't implement and that I couldn't actually get my clients here. Those were my struggles, but it was not. I didn't have struggles in the actual selling. So because I had such a passion and such drive to learn everything I could about training, it brought me to connect with so many incredibly smart and talented human beings who have studied human movement and body biomechanics. And honestly, while I do know a lot and I have studied, my friends and my colleagues are some of the smartest, most talented people in the industry, both in personal training and also in physio and physical therapy. And so my intention behind this podcast is to literally bring my years of experience training and hiring personal trainers, helping fitness professionals package and position their products and services, and help them stand out in a crowded market. And also it's my intention to bring some of the brightest minds in their perspective fields to this podcast. So not only will in our time together and with us hanging out on this podcast, not only will you walk away knowing how to better package and better position and discover your messaging for your own products and your own services, you will also learn here how to become a better fitness professional by learning and growing more in the actual science of training. So I will be bringing my own expertise and I will also be bringing my colleagues onto this podcast, both in the marketing side and also in the science side. So I hope you're as excited as I am to get this party started. So I gave you a little bit of background in regards to how I got into personal training and how I became fitness manager back in the day, but I haven't mentioned yet how I actually transitioned from being in the gym to the online space. So I was a fitness manager for one of the big box gyms, but also one of the biggest gyms inside of that big box gym in Manhattan. And I was running that gym for about two years. And then I got pregnant with my eldest daughter, Gwendolyn. I'm sure I'll be talking about her on this podcast. Both my kids on this podcast. So I got pregnant with her. And when I came back from my maternity leave, I moved into a more senior fitness manager position. At the time it was called a district fitness manager Player coach, where I started to expand my role and I started to not only be the fitness manager of that one location, at that point I was responsible for managing five other gym locations in the Manhattan and New Jersey area. And I was responsible for developing those fitness managers and teaching them to become better leaders. And I stayed in that role for about a year. And then I got pregnant with my second daughter, Abigail. And at that time I was commuting 45 minutes. The time I was spending at the gym was taking a toll on me and it was taking a toll on the amount of time that I was seeing my daughter. And now this is probably deserves its own episodes, but it was a complicated feeling because I feel like there's this pressure for moms specifically to contribute 100% in the household and then also a hundred percent in society and in the workforce. And oftentimes it leaves us feeling, or at least me. I'll speak for myself. It left me feeling like I was just so spread thin that I couldn't be good at anything. And there were literally weeks out of the month I Would I would go at least four or five days where I wouldn't see my kids at all because I was in the gym at 7am and then I didn't walk in the door until after they had gone to bed. I was very lucky at the time. My mom was flying and my parents were flying from Florida to stay at my house and take care of the kids for a week essentially when I was working. And that just wasn't sustainable for me long term. And so I started to research and started to think about what my other options were. And the first thing that I did was I just took a break. I left that job and I took a break and I took some time to just really focus on my family and really just get clear on what it is that I want. And listen, those nine months, because I was also pregnant at the time, remember? So those nine months that I spent at home with Gwen, who was not even two yet, she was also non verbal and I was pregnant, were some of the most humbling months I have ever experienced. My hat goes off to stay at home moms because what they do is incredible. And during that time, it was when I really realized, and this is something that Nikki and I had actually talked about in the Action Made Mama podcast, which is there's that feeling that you just don't want to fall asleep to yourself. Being a working mom is part of my identity and it was something that I felt so passionate about doing. Not just because I wanted to be a good role model, because there is that. I wanted to be a good role model for my children. I wanted to show my daughters that it was possible for them to do whatever it is that they want to do. But it was also for myself. Running a business and working is something that makes me feel like I am not just a mom, that I am a person first. And it's something that brings me mental clarity and it's something that brings me joy. And so for me to leave it behind was not something I wanted. But I didn't want to be working those grueling hours. So I thought, well, there's gotta be a way for us to meet in the middle. And so B. Simpson Fitness was born and I started my very own personal training business online. So I'm going to go ahead and be fully transparent with you. The truth of the matter is that it was not successful for a very long time. Now the thing that was funny was that, or not really funny, I shouldn't say that. And I've really, you know, taken a look at it and really thought about it. Was it coincidental? Was it. Was it a sign? I don't know. But even from the start of my business, I had had people asking me, what are you doing? How are you helping? Like, how are you getting online? How. How are things going? And what, you know, how can I do it, too? And I felt at the time, oh, that's just because it comes from my background. It's because I used to be a fitness manager. People are used to asking me these questions. I think that that was definitely part of it. I also think that it's the fact that one of my biggest attributes and also, like, one of my biggest blessings and also one of my biggest curses is my work ethic, in the sense that I literally, if I put my mind to something, I will do it and I will take action. And you never have to ask me. You never have to motivate me. I am someone who does it, and I get it done, and I keep going, and I am relaxing, relentless in getting it done, no matter the cost. Which, you know, sounds like, oh, that's awesome. But at the same time, you know, there is a flip side to that. You are. You know, I was working. If I wasn't with my kids, I was working, and I was always studying. I was always listening to something, and I was always. You know, I had. I had this coach and that coach. And we'll definitely talk. We'll definitely talk about the importance of coaching, because as if you haven't discovered already, it is actually something that is very, very important to me, that I've always studied and that I've always been in a learner's mindset or a beginner's mindset. It's something I'm very passionate about. And so right from the start, the second that I decided this is what I wanted to do, I got a coach, I got a mentor, and I have been lucky enough to study from some of the most incredible mentors. And in this podcast, I will be bringing to you everything I have learned from them in a way that I finally got it to just make sense. And I finally have been able to take these strategies and actually implement it and help other people who have really important messages make a lot of money online. You know, and then also, it has come up, and I do have to ask myself, is this just divine intervention where it's something that I am so naturally good at? It's easy for me to see a strategy, to create a play, to run the play, and to help other people find their message, find Their way to speak to their ideal client in a way that is not sleazy and does not feel like a sleazy, silly tactic. Now, don't get me wrong. I know a lot of languaging that is, you know, typical cookie cutter marketing language. It becomes your job to then take that information and massage it to it so that it makes sense in your mouth. But ideally, we're going to put together your positioning so that you can help your ideal client find clarity in what it is that they are struggling with and help them see the solution to lasting results. And that is just something that has become, that is natural and is easy for me mixed with that strategy, that plan and running it, and then knowing how to look at the numbers and assess the numbers, because in the numbers, it's going to tell us where the breakdowns are. Because you're either going to get the success that you want or the lessons that you need. And so I actually, because of my pride, because of my ego, I had, you know, shut down and said, no, I'm not help. I had many, many, many people, even from the start of when I started my business, asking me to help. And I just said no because I wanted to focus on one thing. I really wanted to get this thing off the ground. And I did. I did get the personal training business off the ground, and I did get success in my 30 and 30 membership. So I am not yet ready to completely let that part of my business go. But what I did find is that I just finally gave in to the people that were relentlessly asking me for help. And I gave in and recognized and realized that this is something I'm not only good at, I do love it. I am thinking about marketing and selling all the time. I love it. It's always on my mind almost as much as my personal training clients are and my 30, 30 moms are. And so when I finally gave in, I took a bunch of clients on one on one, and we started getting to work inside their business. And I have been so incredibly proud of the work that they've been putting in and the successes that I have been seeing from them. It has truly been incredible. Not only because their message is so important, I'm also getting to be part of the hundreds and hundreds of people that are impacted by their success. And it's truly my pleasure and my privilege to be part of that. And so therefore, once I recognized and really just stepped into alignment and stepped into my calling and knowing that this is something I am good at, it is also something that I love. And I started to feel those skills. Same feelings I did back in the day when I first stepped into the gym and started seeing my personal training clients see success. And I Knowing that I was a part of that, knowing that I had helped facilitate that. I didn't do it because it's you, it's the client who's doing the. Is doing the work, so the success is all yours. But knowing that I could be a part of that was something that was so fulfilling to me, and it just means so much to me because not only am I helping that person or that client or you get the success that you want, you're also impacting hundreds of people and so transforming those many lives. And being a part of that is something that is just deeply important to me, especially since I work with so many smart, brilliant minds, both in physical therapy and also personal training. One of the coach's curses is the fact that we all come from this mind, this beginner's mindset, this feeling that we are. There's always more to learn. And that is a. That is such a beautiful work ethic component to have, but it's also one of our biggest curses, because we never know, or there's never a bar. It always feels like I'm not enough, I'm not enough. There's never, you know, there's always something more to learn, which can be one of the biggest traps and one of the biggest pitfalls that we can go through. And, in fact, there's going to be an entire podcast episode in the upcoming weeks dedicated to overcoming imposter syndrome. So stay tuned for that. But once I really just stepped into alignment and I really just stepped into my calling, it was so clear to me that this was a direction that I could no longer ignore and that I just must go in full force with my whole heart. And so here I am. That is what led me to this podcast, because it just comes back all full circle and led me to that moment and reminded me of that moment when I first stepped into the gym and that I started training clients and they started getting success and recognizing that I was part of that, I started to feel all those same feelings again, which led me here to the PT profit podcast, and led me to this very first episode. And I'm smiling and I'm also laughing because if you've been following me on Instagram, Ian Use IP Sense and fitness, and you saw me post and post and ditch is what I typically call it, and I shared in that post that I'm scared. That is still true. This is. I finally did it. I think this is like the 13th recording of me starting and stopping. But I committed to myself. I committed to you, and I did it. We got through the episode together. But I'm scared. I'm doing it scared. Just like I tell my clients, it's okay to feel scared, but just do it scared. And I get nervous. Even though, like, literally I was psyching myself up all day knowing that I was going to record the very first episode today. I've just been talking to myself all day about what I'm gonna say and just, you know, pumping myself up, reminding myself that I literally go live on Facebook almost every day. I literally go live on my IG all the time. I literally am in the story all the time. And so there was nothing to be afraid of. But I think that as I'm really stepping into this alignment, I'm really stepping into this. I know this is my calling. I know that this is what I'm saying, supposed to be doing it. There's a new level. There's a new level of fear that is arising inside me. I know that just sounds odd, but one of my mentors, one of my many mentors said to me, 70% is good. If you're going for perfect, you're too late. And so the starting and stopping of the recording and this putting it off and practicing, I know this just my perfectionism, and perfectionism is just another mask for fear. But the truth is that we're going to be judged 100% of the time. 100%. Whether we're judged because people like us or we're judged because people don't like us. So if we know that we're going to be judged 100% of the time, why not just do something that you love? So here we are. Thank you so much for joining me here in the very first podcast. Now, next up, we have a very special guest, Tracy Goodwin. She is the owner of Captivate the Room, and she is going to be talking to us all about the power of our voice. So thank you so much for joining me. I'll catch you on the next episode. Thank you for listening to the PT Profit podcast. If you like this episode, chances are your friends will too. So it would be a huge, huge service to us if you would please leave us a review and share with your friends on your social media channels. When you leave us a review, be sure to take a screenshot of it and email that screenshot to my team@infovsimpsonfitness.com and we'll send you a very special Instagram podcast that will show you how to create compelling content so that your idea Ideal clients come to you and you go from wanting clients to a wait list of clients ready for your services. Thank you so much for listening and we'll see you on the next episode.