Bringing the Personal Back to Personal Training with Semaj Hunter

You're listening to the PT Profit podcast, episode number 126. Today I'm sitting down with Samaj Hunter to talk all about bringing the personal back into personal training. Are you ready? Let's get started. 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 and 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. What's up, coach? Thank you so much for joining me for another episode of the PT Profit Podcast. I'm your host, Beverly Simpson. And if this is the first time you're pushing play today, welcome. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm super pumped to bring to you a very, very special episode with one of my former clients, Samaj Hunter. We talked all about how to bring back the personal in personal training. Samaj is a brilliant, incredible personal trainer who helps people really stay active, get active, despite what their travel life looks like. That's just one of the many components that he is able to to deliver on for his clients. So while he travels all over the world bringing fitness to everyone, he is also sharing a little bit about his journey on the show today. And it is really powerful because he talks a lot about bringing the personal back in personal training. Hence the reason why I titled this podcast. But one of the biggest things that we talked about is that it's so easy to get sweat swept up into the nuances, into the details, into the strategy and the step by step and how to get it right. That we forget the importance of.

Of.

A holistic approach and that we are becoming competent by acquiring new skills, but that we must implement and we must remember that we are dealing with human beings. And it was just a very powerful, awesome conversation and I can't wait for you to listen to it. So without further ado, let's go ahead and roll that interview. Samaj, what's up? Welcome to the show. Thank you so much for joining me today. How are you?

Thank you for having me. I'm good. I'm really good.

This is going to be so fun. I'm super excited. So for those of you who have not had the pleasure of working with you, being in your energy and just talking and connecting with you, I'd love for you to share with me and us a little bit more about who you are, who you serve and how you got there.

Totally. So many big questions, right? My name is Samaj Hunter. I'm a strength and conditioning coach. I work in kind of every aspect, the jack of all trades in this space, right? So I work a little bit in nutrition. I work with all different kinds of people. And how did I get here? I started out in, like, in school, I guess. Like, not the. Not always the most common route, I think, in the field. Like, I think our field brings together a lot of different people. But my education background is in exercise science. I started kind of in that space and thought that I'd go more into, like, the academic side of it, but fell in love with being in the gym space. So a few years after graduating, realized, like, yeah, working in a gym is, like, where I actually want to be. And spent the last few. Spent quite a few years doing that afterwards. Like, met some really cool people, people like you, people in the industry who were venturing into more of the online space. And I fell in love with that, and it really kind of aligned with where my life was going as well. Uh, so most recently, I've been doing some traveling and working online and working with different people from. From all over this. From all over the place. Like, the. The main people that I serve are people very similar to myself. So people who enjoy travel, people who enjoy a kind of a fluidity to life and kind of want to be able to. To be. The word I use is like, location independent. They want to be free. They don't necessarily want to be stuck. Stuck in one singular place, but they also have goals, and they want to actually achieve those goals in the context of their busy and hectic schedules.

Oh, my gosh. So there is just so many things to talk about and unpack and that, like, I just got, like, a hit. Intuitive hit when you started talking, because I actually think that this is something that is missing in our industry is this idea of how we get to stay healthy and fit from the inside out while you're traveling. Right. Whether your clients are. I mean, listen, I know that we're coming off of a pandemic, right? I get that if you're listening to this now when we're recording it in 2021. But, you know, there are clients out there that have to travel for work. And I think that the industry just really beats into people's minds this idea of. Of, you know, regiment. We have to stay regimented. And then if you're living a lifestyle that isn't regimented, how are you adding that flexibility into their life? So that they can stay healthy and fit.

Totally, totally. I think all too often, like, we use fitness as just a means to an end or just very, very utilitarian. Like, I need to do this thing in order to achieve this next thing as opposed to just something that we do. Like, I wake up in the morning and I brush my teeth. Like, I do it possibly because of an ingrained idea that I'll be a social pariah and an outcast if I don't. Like, maybe, maybe that's why I do it. But that's not the motivation that like makes me brush my teeth. I don't need a whole lot of motivation to brush my teeth in the morning. Right. And I want fitness to be the same way. I want it to be something that we're not necessarily needing to muster up all this energy because we need a six pack ab or we need to be the strongest that we've ever been. Because I don't think that's 90% of people. I think 90% of people just need it to be an active part of their day, like a regular.

Absolutely. Like, there's this level of effort that we need to be putting into our, you know, we have a law of diminishing returns in terms of our motivation and our. We get decision fatigue. Right. And so things like brushing your teeth or getting dressed in the morning or showering, those are things that we don't have to like, use a lot of effort ness to like go and do.

Sure, sure.

Let me rephrase. Not maybe, maybe for some we have to, you know, push a little, like get in the shower. Beverly.

So I so like it. Random thing. Honestly, like, I talk to my wife about this all the time. Like when we, when we finally have our own home, I need a walk in shower because legit, the bar to entry, like the height of the tub affects my like, desire to want to go into it. But give me a beautiful walk in shower and I'm like, so much. Have you taken your third shower today? Like, yeah, yeah, it was just, it was on my way. I was, you know, I was, I was passing it, so I figured it.

Was just so easy. I didn't need any energon cubes to decide.

Nah, wait. It was way too easy. Before I knew it, I was all suds up and I was like, I might as well just continue.

Yeah, I love that. Right. So before we hit record, it's a perfect segue to like talk about, you know, I think with Instagram now and like people trying to like get into this Idea of, all right, I'm going to start this online business and like, or like, really, you know, trying to stand apart from the crowd, it seems, you know, it seems like we try to come up with these sticky, gimmicky, like, how can we make, you know, getting in the shower and reinvent the wheel and make it so fancy. And, and I think that people get really jaded into what actually goes into creating the content that's going to be for their people. So I'm just a little bit curious, like you were talking about, you know, remembering who you are. How have you incorporated that into your, into your message so that you can reach your people?

Totally. You know, when I, when I first got into online training and I think like, when online training started kind of ramping up a whole lot, you had a lot of, kind of like veteran trainers coming out of the woodwork saying, like, well, if you've never done in person training, you have no business doing online. And that was the message. And then the pendulum kind of swung to a place where it was like, well, no, no, no, like you, you can do online training. If you've never done in person training, should you do in person training? Yes, there are benefits and I think I found myself like really seeing kind of the middle of the range, which is, I think, where most people end up falling and feeling happy with like, fall in the middle. That's probably a good place for you. But where I saw, like, the benefit of working with people is that you can actually be authentic. I think it's very challenging to be authentic fully online. Like, I have to consistently remind my audience or like people I'm speaking to that what you see on Instagram is curated. Even if I try to be authentic, there's a filter. No filter has a filter. Like, the camera has done things that have made the image look better. Like even the fact that it's on a 4 by 5 square is showing only a piece of what's actually happening. Like, I can take a picture from outside, from, from my outside space. Like the frame behind me has been squared up. I'm like, this looks like a pretty good frame, but maybe there's clothes over here, maybe there's stuff going that way. There might be a light over that way and it doesn't look great if you show the entire thing, like, which is technically authentic, but it doesn't really serve the purpose of the platform. Right. So I think a lot of people, like, who have started online, I don't think that they have the base to just continue to Be authentic just because of the nature of online training. And I think I want to try to take like, kind of get away from some of the more curated things. Like, not that it shouldn't be curated, but I want to try to put more humanness, I want to try to put more, more of myself back into training where it's not just about the funnel or the next best thing or the structure of the program, and it's more about the person that I'm working with. It's more about making that connection with that individual.

So I want, just for context, so that people can really understand how are you defining authentic and how are you defining curated?

Sure. So for me, authentic is the person that shows up in real time. It's the unedited. Right. It's the, it's the 100% me. And I. And I think that that can be done online. I just think it's challenging with the ability to edit, with the ability to crop. Right. When I say curated, I'm talking about the fact that you can write a post and put all the punctuation where it matters, where you can reorganize it and say less, where you can like really get to the point. Because I think in most conversation there's a little bit more nuance that happens. There's a little bit more conversation that goes on that you wouldn't necessarily. We've already passed 150 characters, you know, we've already passed the extent of a, of an Instagram post. We're in comment 3 at this point in this conversation. Right. And I think, like, that, that's where I'm, that's where I mean by curated, like what you put out there, even as a program that you're presenting, is made for probably an individual. And at some point, well, you'll probably need to edit it if you're going to like, authentically serve that individual. I think a lot of people, like lose the aspect of nuance in those conversations where even when they get a client that doesn't fit their particular mold, it's like, can you pivot? It's a question. Can you, can you like, actually work with the person that's in front of you? Can you meet them where they're at? And can you, can you be a, can you be a real person if your lines don't work where they're, where they, where they're meant to be? If the script that you're following doesn't necessarily fit? Can you continue to have that conversation if the person didn't answer Your why five times. What I mean, like if you didn't get to like that deep and gray, why? Because you read a self help book, like can you actually still help that person if they're not, if they're not fitting that particular mold? And that's what I mean by authentic.

So there's two things that I'm really noticing and hearing when I'm, when I'm listening to you talk that I think a lot of trainers and a lot of coaches miss. And it's important that I think that we bring it to attention is that number one is that you're really focused, which I think is so important. In the age of the Internet it's really easy to miss this, but you're really focused on client service and making it client focus. And I think what happens to so many people, especially like when imposter syndrome and all this stuff is coming up is that they're missing the fact that it's self focused and that most people are really like, oh, how am I going to look? What is this going to sound like? What is this going to feel like? What is this like? What am I, how am I going to be judged and how am I going to be perceived? And that's not to like blame or shame or put it like that's human nature like that. I'm not saying that that is like wrong or bad, but that is a simple shift that you can really think about. Like what is this client need? And that's going to help you get out of that. That'll help you step into that authentic self. I think is number one, that I think is really important that you are calling to attention. I think number two, something that you're saying too, I think is important is like be a human. Like be, be a human. And when you are focused on the client, you're, you are going to have to be authentic. You'll have no other, there'll be no other way to show.

Totally be a human that works with humans. I mean, I think one of the things that I liked about you the most was that I know you're busy. I know life is hectic and it's the business. Yeah, sure, it's successful and it's big and it's growing and it's amazing. But you have a family, like you have kids, you know, like there's a lot going on in that space and you're still like adding more to that. But when I asked the question, you took the time out to have a conversation with me and for me that was a transaction that occurred and it wasn't just about, like, monetary transactions. I think a lot of trainers are like, well, pay me. Like, I sure. Like, you should get paid, right? You should. You deserve to be like, compensated for your work. But don't forget we're people helping people, right? And people aren't just transactional. Like, it's not just, again, in the money sense, because I think we are, as humans, we are transactional. Like, you give and receive. Like there's an ebb and flow there. But I think way too often, again, we take that personal aspect out of it. If someone asks me one too many questions, like, what's the framework? I answer three questions and then I charge them. It's like, well, what if it doesn't fit that? What if the problem's too big? Are you just not going to help? Are you not here to actually solve a problem for people? Are you here to just be paid? And I, again, I know that that's probably bringing up some other things, but it's that so interesting. I've gotten very passionate about, like, the person aspect to it. Like, who am I behind the program? Like, what separates me from any other trainer that's out there and it's me. Like, it's the fact that you're having a conversation with me. And maybe we work and we connect and maybe we don't, and that's fine. Like, there are other trainers out there, but you can't take me out of the equation. Like, I am what makes it special.

Oh, my gosh, this is such a good conversation. Because there's two things that come up here, right? And it's so funny. It's not, it's not a coincidence, but it's what I've been talking about recently a lot and really stepping into the invisible components of growing a business. Like, I think so many people talk about the three day. They talk about the strategy, they talk about the unanswered how to stuff. And that stuff is important, but most people are focusing on that and completely forgetting about the invisible components, which is the human part. It's this nuanced conversation of making sure that you value the value that you're bringing into the. The, the value that you're bringing into the market space without attaching your worth and your meaning to what it is that you do. Because what happens is that when people are like, oh, they step into this, oh, I just need to help people. And that's 100% true. But if you're helping people, but you can't feed Your family or you're helping people and you're not reaching your goals. Like, that's, that's. You're also doing your client a disservice because you're not asking them to energetically exchange and step up to the plate to show up for themselves. And that's not always monetary. That's always like, hey, hop on a phone call with me. You know what I mean? Because that is, that's also part of the game.

Totally, totally. I think that there's been a. There's been a massive pendulum swing for me. And again, like, I've said it before, but I learned a lot from, from the time that we spent together, working together. But it's like the idea of like, even charge. Your worth is like, not like you're, you're invaluable.

You're invaluable. You don't hold that baby and say, man, I'm going to you when you are charge of. When I can charge you, I'm going to love you. That's insane.

Yeah, it's like, how much would I trade you for?

Yeah, absolutely.

Yeah, it's, it's like, it's. That's not, that's not what it's about. Right? It's. It's about know your worth. Yes. Your worth is. Again, know that it's invaluable, but know how much you need to support yourself. Like, that's, Those are also a good thing. And I think, again, that's part of being human. Because as humans, we have needs and we're not just based on like, feel goods. Like, like you said, it's not just about going out there and helping people. Like, if we're, if we're going to be human about it, there is probably a monetary transaction here. Not because I'm trying to, you know, gain the next client or like, make this like, very intricate system that just has people kind of paying me for a service that I've automated and I don't really work in anymore, you know, like, it's not that. It's. It's really just like, hey, yeah, I put in effort, I put in work. I put value in here because of who I am, because of like, what I hold dear. And again, like, it's authentic. It's this thing that, that comes across as like, uniquely me. And that should be, that, that should be compensated for. Right? Because like, that's, that's where. That's what puts food on my table. That's what, that's what keeps walls around me. That's what keeps me doing what I'm able to do for the people that I want to serve.

Well, and I think it's twofold too. Right? I 100% agree with you. But I also think is that what I also know is that people don't value. What if there's. If there's something. If there's not anything on the line for them. And that's not just monetary. Right. We also have to remember that, like you said, people are busy. So when they offer their time for you, that's an exchange, right? If it's enough of an emotional investment for them. And that's the other thing. And why it's important to stay client centered, because it's not for you to decide whether or not it's expensive or cheap or the time is not enough of an emotional investment. That's not for you to decide. That's for the client to decide. So I think that that's really important too. And then the second part, and the reason why I said it was twofold, is that when there's that emotional investment for the client, then they'll show up and then they'll get the result.

Because.

That'S what we're trying to do. We're trying to help people. And then I also think that three. So third point is that people also seem to undervalue what the value is that they put in. Like, for example, people will say, yeah, but you know, I haven't done anything for free, or I'm not doing anything. And I said, yeah, but you just spent three hours on that Instagram post to teach them how to do something that's valuable totally. And that's not free. That's your time that you can't get back. And I put free in quotes. You can't see it if you're listening to the podcast. You know what I mean?

You know, you mentioned something there where, like, there, like you said, there needs to be this, like, investment right? From the person. There needs to be this emotional piece. And I think a lot of trainers will be like, I created the perfect program, like, and I made it easy. I followed like, you know, the biopsychosocial model. I followed all of these, like, change mechanics and research. And we did, like, one small step at a time. And this person is like, I really want to put my foot on the gas. I want to floor this thing. And they're pissed off by how slow they're going, or maybe you're going too fast as a trainer. Maybe you've asked for too much. I was Having a conversation where, you know, we, I think we don't realize, like when we say when we think something's easy, we don't realize all of the lead ups to get there. Right. When we tell, when we tell someone, oh, all you have to do is work out twice a week. That's easy. But then we don't pay attention to the fact that they have a newborn, they still work a 9 to 5, they have a pet and like a spouse, which could also be considered a pet in some cases. You know, like they have all of these responsibilities that take up all of their time. And what they don't need is more stress. What they don't need is more things to do. And what they might need is help managing what they're already doing. Like bright spot theory. Right? What's going really well, how can we make those things a little better? But again, we may view something as easy or we may view something as right because we've created this program that like, well, I put a couple people through and they were highly successful. So you should be able to follow this thing as well.

Oh, that's so true. So true. And then I also think people forget that what's easy for them is not easy for the client.

Right. It's context dependent.

Yes.

It's who's in front of you. And I think it's easy. Again, when it's easy, we can throw that word out there, but it becomes like really, really easy to. When we start to get a lot of clients, when we start to like pull in quite a few people, to miss the context of the individual, when it's like out of line for the norm. It's like if you work with moms, like you get it like, okay, cool, this is the normal schedule. But then maybe you get a mom in there who is just like, I have a lot of free time on my hands and I'm ready to do this and I want to put in all of these things into my schedule. And you assume that they're like really busy and overworked, so you treat them that way. It's like, well, that that's a different individual. Like, don't just assume based on what you've seen in the past, like you have to actually talk to the individual. I mean, I think you can do that in a lot of like very systematic ways. Like you can do that with a really good intake, you can do that with a really good onboarding process. But still don't let it get so robotic that you don't realize the shifts that happen. Like, don't take yourself out of it to the point where it's like you don't actually look at anything for two weeks because it's a system that kind of takes care of itself and people can just kind of flow in again. It's very, it's based on what you're selling, obviously. Like, I'm not, I'm not talking about like a simple program that you're putting out there that people can kind of click in and go into. And it's very low touch. I'm talking about coaching.

Right.

If you're actually working with those people, then I think there needs to be again, like more human interaction that happens. However, we can kind of put that in there.

Yeah. And I also think too that it's like a nuanced conversation in the sense that this is part of what I've built into my business. In the sense that it's not necessarily about finding the right, the best, the next thing to do whatever that is, in whatever context, whether it's fitness or business building. It's the sense that, that the idea is to figure out what's going to work best for the client. Like you hear all these things for the person, you hear all these things that are thrown out at least in my space, like, oh, you need a funnel, you need a high ticket coaching course, you need a load. You can't do low ticket, you can't do this, you can't do that. When the truth of the matter is that everything works. It's really not about what's the right best. Next thing. It's about figuring out what's going to work best for you, what's going to be in alignment for how you want to show up and serve your person.

In my opinion, I think one of the biggest questions I had to ask myself over the last couple months is am I helping my client or am I helping myself? And I think at some point you can do both, you can do both for a while. But I think a lot of folks get caught up in just helping themselves. It becomes self focused, like you said earlier in the conversation. It becomes about dealing with imposter syndrome versus actually working with your client. Like you are personally spending time telling yourself that you're capable of doing something when you should be spending time telling your client that they're capable of doing something because you have everything. You're good, you're already here, you've made it like you're working with the person you want to work with, but you're talking about yourself. Or you're spending just most of your time talking in those, in those conversations where, I mean, if you listen to it, if you actually go back and listen, you're spending time convincing yourself that this is the right thing to say. You're spending time convincing yourself that the program that I've built is perfect. So, like, I have to fit this in when it doesn't even match the client that you're talking to.

Yes. And there are ways. Go ahead.

I just think that that's where we sometimes lose it. Like, like you said, it's, it's when we really spend so much time focusing on ourselves that we lose sight of like the people we're actually trying to serve.

Yes. And I was going to say that there are ways that, because you'll hear people say, oh, you can't scale. Like if we're going to talk about someone who's in the game for a while, you can't scale one on one. And I just don't think that that's true. There are lots of ways that you can actually. You could hire a coach to build your, you know, in your team. You could get community managers, you could change the check ins. It doesn'. As you grow and impact more people that you automatically have to do like, you know, no check ins or no connection with the client. Right. That, that doesn't, that can still exist in your business. It really just ultimately comes down to what is it that you want. And I think the reason why so many coaches, and this comes from personal experience too, is that, that they put this arm's length in between, you know, oh, I'm just going to create this perfect program and then sell it. Put a buy button and I'm going to get passive income. I think that comes from this fear of like, what are you expect, what are you thinking is going to happen if you just have a conversation with this client? What's going to happen?

Right.

Nothing. Just do it.

It's also like in that same, in that same breath, it's like, well, I've created this program where I only have one check in a month, but this client needs two. It's like, wow. Oh, okay. Wow. Wow. Like that's, that's really gonna affect your life. Like your livelihood is all messed up. Like you're losing millions at this point with two check ins. Everyone's gonna need two check ins now because this one client needed two. It's like that's, that's just not it. Like, that's not the case because I've worked with people who don't want to talk to me. We have human interaction. They happen. They happen in, like, very systemized ways. And sometimes they happen on social media because people just care to just shoot me a message when they feel like it, and I think that's fine. Then there's other people who need more support. And I think in some cases that's not every coach, and I get that. But in some cases, you can't say, like, I'm not going to give a level of support because it's not supported by the top names in the industry saying that, oh, you shouldn't do weekly calls or you shouldn't have this regular of a check in, because if you want to, like you said, scale your business to this massive thing, you're not going to be able to keep up with that. And I guess I'm at the point where I'm like, that's okay, because I'm human. I will hit a block, I will hit a wall. It's what I talk to my clients about. Like, it's not about continuing progress forever. It's about moving until we hit a point of resistance and then learning how to pivot. Because life is going to be full of those different opportunities to pivot. Because, again, that's human. Like, human is like, it's about hitting the wall and knowing what to do when it happens. It's not about the perfect plan. It's not about perfect plans fail all the time. Yeah.

Oh, my gosh. Yeah. Absolutely right. For me, that's why it's like, I heard my mentor say this the other day. He was like, it's not about pivoting. It's about evolving. It's about getting past that sticking point. And I always think about, like, you know, even in your. Even in the way that you move and l. Right. Every squat has a sticking point. And are you, you know, it's. It's about finding what that is. And then do, you know, do you have the courage to move past it? And do you have the courage? That's why I also, I. I said this too, and I heard this on my daughter's, like, television show the other day, and I was like, Man, TV's getting good. But the opposite of fear isn't fearless. It's being courageous and then and moving and having the confidence and the courage to move through that past and to. And to risk being wrong. I think that's the other thing a lot of coaches miss in our industry is that we. And me too, I used to be like that, too. Is that that sense of, like, you know, I just don't want to. Like, I. You know that somehow if you wrong or you change your mind, that means you're hurting people, and that's just not true. You can. That's how. That's why we evolve. We grow. We learn something new. We can change your mind. And it doesn't mean you're not a good trainer.

We say to our clients all the time. Right. But we don't take our own advice. It's hard to. I get it.

Oh, sure. That's why coaches need coaches.

Coaches need coaches. Like, we want to be perfect, and then we find ourselves in these cycles of. My buddy puts it in a way of productive procrastination. Right. What's the next best course I can take? What's the next best certification I can get? And we. We put it in the guise of, like, I'm trying to help my client. When your client, like, use that time that you would use for your certification and actually put it into your client.

Yes.

Like, work. Work with more people.

Like, yes.

Make more mistakes even. Because that's okay. They'll forgive you.

No one's. Yeah. Like. Or be okay with. I don't know. Your clients will trust you more. Your clients will connect with you more. You will build rapport when you can say, hey, I don't know. I'm going to go figure that out, though, so that I can help you.

Yeah. I think we get to a point of we think we should know it all. Right. Like, I think I should know that by now. And. And learning ends up being in these very isolated spaces of, like, again, of course. Or a certification, which, in my opinion, like, most of the courses and certifications out there don't have a whole lot of learning. Like, they're just, like, repeating the things that you already believe. Like, it's like, yeah, I already knew this. Like, I took this course versus, like, seeking out the areas where we're bad at. Again, like, marketing was not a good area for me. Like, hey, Beverly, let's talk. Let's have conversations. Sure. Because it needs to be better. But, yeah, it's like, how. How do we actually, again, serve the people that we're working with? How do we make these choices? It's seeing ourselves as human first so that we can work with other people that are also going to make mistakes and are also going to struggle. It's not about, like, you know, letting people know that we have it all. What's the term that they use in marketing? It's like, you know, make sure people, like, realize you as an authority.

Oh, yeah. Authority. Yeah.

And an expert. And it's like, what. What is that? What does that mean? Like, does it mean that you have all the answers? Does it mean that. That, you know, the. You've achieved the thing that they're trying to achieve in order to get there? Like, okay, well, I'm trying to bring you with me versus, like a real coach. Like, the coaches that I grew up with, they were pushing people ahead, they were pushing people forward. Right? They were. They were the step that someone would take. They weren't this, like, savior hanging from the cliff pulling them up. Which is, I think, where a lot of coaches kind of put themselves, like, they put themselves as the hero of the story.

Yes.

Versus Versus the coach, the guide, the person who, like, you know, lays themselves down for other people to make a way through to the other side. It's that. And again, I think that that, that's a lot of the stuff that we're missing. It's that very. If we're talking about being human, we're talking about being fallible, we're talking about not having all of the information and like you said, going and finding it not so that we can feel better about ourselves, but so that our client can be better served so that someone can be helped.

It's so good. And I think it really goes circles back and ties into the start of where we really started this conversation, which is this idea of, you know, remembering who you are and stepping into that sense of authority. And for the record, no matter where you are, what level you're at, whether you're just coming out of school, you're getting your brand new. Your brand new certification, or you're. You're getting into, like, learning it, right? Is that authority comes from first deciding that you are one, and step number two is to just helping the person that you're one step ahead of. That's all that is. Right? But ultimately, it's coming down to this sense of self and sense of self worth and. And the knowing the difference between being self focused instead of self instead of self, or instead of client focused versus knowing who you are, it's different. And I think a lot of the, like, trying to be right. I think a lot of the, like, I got to get it all perfect. I got to get all the certifications. I got to I to know everything. Because if my client knows that I somehow don't know something that I'm not, I'm going to lose this sense of authority that's coming From a place of being self focused and, and in an almost like, I'm not, I don't want to say insecure because that's unkind and I don't mean insecure. But coming from this place of like, I'm not enough, which is just not true. It's not true at any level. You can live in the. And you could be enough now and learning and getting better.

You asked earlier again, what is authenticity? And I think that's again, it, like, it's being true to you. Right. And what is being true to you? It doesn't mean winning. It doesn't mean like, okay, like, all I do is win, win, win. Like that's, that's not it. Right. It's. It's knowing when to refer out. It's knowing when to ask for help.

Yeah.

If your client is dealing with something that you're not good at, it's knowing when to say like, hey, I need you to go talk to this individual. And not, not, you know, moving there. The term that goes around is what, scarcity Mindset. Right. And not, not moving like that, thinking like, well, I'm just gonna lose clients if I do that. I think any successful trainer will tell you that they built business on referring out.

Yeah.

Because building relationships in the industry is also important. We aren't silos and we're not, we're not in competition.

So important.

We're not, we're not competing against each other. It's not like I'm sitting here competing against every other coach who's proclaiming like, bring, bring personal back to personal training. Like that's, you know, hashtag, be a personal trainer, capital B. You know, it's, it's not, it's not that. It's not like I'm, I'm trying to be the loudest person in the room. Even. There are just certain people that I may reach. And I, and I applaud all the other trainers out there who reach other people by different means. Because I think that this world is full of different people who need different messages, who need to hear different things. I don't think we should all be saying the same thing. And again, I don't think that we're all in competition. It's not like, it's not like people are trainer hopping out there. In most cases. People aren't just like, well, I found a better trainer on sale today. Like, let me tell all my friends, like, we're not, we're not these commodity resources where people are like, I found cheaper toilet paper, like at Walmart. Let me, like, post it on the Internet. Like, hey, like, I found this cheap online trainer. Like, let me just like, get everyone to come over here because they're cheap. Like, no one says that, right? The best trainers out there. One, like, they're not charged. They're probably not charging like a low dollar amount. Like, they're not, they're not trying to compete in that way. And they're not doing it also by like downgrading every other option that's out there. I think, like, one of, one of the interesting aspects to what I pick up from one of your courses was discredit the other choice. But don't be like, mean and cruel about the person. Like, you're not discrediting a person. You're not telling people, like, oh, don't go there, because it's bad. Because sometimes the other choice is you. Like, you are the other choice, right? It's my one on one service is the other choice. I'm trying to actually build up this area of my, of my program. And I think we miss that sometimes, especially on social media. It's easy. I mean, people even call it out as, like, you say something that's against. Like, if someone were to say, Instagram content's not the place to post. Oh, you even did it. Like, posting every day is not a marketing strategy, right? And people were like, oh, are you attacking this person and this person in this thought process? And it's like, no. Like, I didn't even really think about them. I thought about the strategy and why it might be inappropriate for quite a few people. Can we have that conversation?

Oh my gosh, it's so funny that you say that because I literally had someone DM me, a former, a past formula client. He said, beverly, my fiance gets so mad because I post once a day and then I get clients or I post once a month and I get clients from this post. Like, I know, because that is. Because that's. It's not just about the posting. It's about what you say, how you say, the intent behind it. Like, oh my gosh, you brought up so many things that we could literally, like, talk about for another hour each. But it's that whole competitive nature, right? That scarcity mindset, thinking that there's somehow not enough. And that's insane for multiple reasons because number one, there are 8 billion people on this world. One trainer can't train everyone. And then number two, this idea of that, you know, I love learning. I. It's my favorite thing. It is. I literally have so many mentors in my life that I like, talk to this person. And this I learned from this person. I bought this course. I've coached with this person. I've had three coaches at one point. So much so that 2022 is actually like, I'm just narrowing down and like laying into my resources that I currently have. Putting resources in different places so much because I love learning so much. Right. So I don't think necessarily that that's a bad thing. If people get different angles from different people. I think that's a good thing. The more you celebrate that, the more joy you're going to bring into your life and you're going to call more of that into your life. I personally believe. Right. The second thing, or the third thing rather, that you talked about, which I think is so important too, is that if you're. It's like, if you grip so hard, then you're going to like, choke them. But if you just hold. It's like that concept of holding on loosely, then people will stay with you, they love you and let them learn things and hear things a different way. The other reason why I don't let people get into that, like, they copied me, they took what I said, blah, blah, blah, let them. It's going to have a different energetic imprint. And your people who are meant for you are going to come to you because of what you said when we first started this. You are what makes it different. Your context, what you are saying, your cues, your program is what makes it different. It's not the strategy, it's not the how to, it's you.

Totally. I think there's like, there's been. We've gone a couple different ways in this conversation. Right. But I think, like, it all ties back to, like, we have to remember that there are humans involved. There are people involved with, like, real emotions and life experiences. And they're all very different content. Isn't people. Like, what someone says online isn't a person. And we have to also remember that. Right?

Like, yeah.

Like, the things that I think come to mind are when I go into comment sections and people will start instigating by tagging other professionals in someone's post.

And I'm like, why?

The most ideal spaces is when the person comes in and is like, this is kind of like low class. The fact that you decided to, like, pin people against each other. Like, we're good friends, we know what each other has to say. We talk about things we agree on. 99% of things. Like, have a great day. If you want to have a conversation, be a real person about it. Don't be robotic about this thing. But there are people behind these screens. There are actual people that are not just the weight loss or the macros or the strength train less or strength train more or walk every day. Like these. These ideas. They're ideas. And there are. There are people with lives and various structures and different values. And, I mean, trust me, I don't think about training 24 7. Like, believe it or not, like, I don't think about dieting 24 7. But if you look at my Instagram, like, maybe that's all you think I ever think about, because it's what I talk about. Like, yeah, when we look at other trainers, like, we have to realize, like, they're not. No one's out here trying to attack us on Instagram.

Yeah, no one.

Like, really? Like, even if, like, it comes across that way, it might have been, like, two seconds of their day. Like, no one's sitting down thinking about us all day long. And if you are, like. I mean.

Yeah, I was gonna say, if they.

Are, I hope you have more.

Yeah, yeah, exactly. If they are, that speaks more about them than it does about you. Don't give your energy that.

Yeah. And I think it's easy to fall into thinking that way. Right. Especially when you first get into, like, all right, cool. I need to create this system online in the space. It's like our whole life starts to revolve around, well, what are we posting? What image are we putting out there? How are. How is our grid looking? Like, all of these particular things. And again, like, how do you stay authentic in that?

Yeah, for sure.

It's hard to. It's very. It's very hard to.

I also think, too, you know, one of the other things that you said is like, oh, you know, pricing on commodity. I do talk a lot about this, is that you. And that you do want to discredit the other options in. But that doesn't mean making it wrong or bad or making the other option wrong or bad. There is a market for people who shop at Walmart, and there is a market for people who shop at Neiman Marcus. It's. You could get a shirt from both stores. It's not about making one wrong, bad, or the other. It's about determining who is that client that you want to serve and what is that? And you can have both. It doesn't mean either or it just. When you really step into knowing what it is that you want to do, that's going to change your messaging, that's going to change your marketing, that's going to change the offer that you're delivering.

Totally, yeah, totally. Totally agree with that.

I love that. Okay, so I want to be mindful of your time, so I'm going to leave you with this last question for those of you who've been listening to us riff on this.

Thank you.

Conversation of bringing back authenticity. Authenticity in, back into your, into your business. What are the first three steps in the process that you would recommend to someone who's like, hey, how do I step back into this? How do I remember who I am? What would be like the first three things you would tell them to do?

I mean, the first one is have real conversations. That doesn't necessarily have to be with your like whole list of clients. It doesn't have to, you know, I'm not saying go through your email list and like message everyone individually. I'm saying that especially not your email list. That would be a whole brand new business. I need six new assistants. Let's open it up. Like, here are the words I want to say. No, but you know, have real conversations and have them regularly. I think that's one of the things that I admire about you. I think you continue to have real conversations with people. When I got into online training, it was very easy. I call myself a natural introvert, but I have to stop lying. I'm not. I really like talking to people. I like friends. But if you're an introvert and I think a lot of people get into online fitness as like, okay, well, I don't really like being in those spaces for a long time. It's probably easy to create systems where you don't interact with anyone with. It's a press a button, it's automated, it's text message, it's fill out this form, it's I respond to that form. And, and we don't, we don't regularly do that. I would start with having regular conversations that could be with your clients, it could be with other train other trainers. I try to get on one of these calls, like on a regular basis, like with people at least once a week so that maybe I bounce ideas off, but I'm just not like falling into this echo chamber of my own thoughts and my own beliefs. I can see where other people are. You can't really empathize with people if you don't ever put yourself in other people's shoes. And that gets lost in, in the again curated space of written text. Like when your client tells you, like what was my. What was my roadblock this week In a little text box. They've edited it right when they have a conversation with you and they're like, man, I woke up at 3 o' clock every day because my kid was crying. Or I had like eight donuts this week because there was an office party. Like, I went out drinking three times this weekend and followed up with brunch and bottomless mimosas on Sunday. It's like, you feel, you can see the emotion behind that. You can empathize with that person versus them, saying, like, I messed up a lot. I feel really bad about myself in a text message. So again, like, my first point is, like, have some real conversations. Pick a couple clients that you have. If you haven't spoken to them, like, face to face in a while, set up a zoom link. It doesn't have to be a regular thing that you do. It doesn't have to be like, I put it in my program, but maybe, like, see if they want to actually talk to you. If you have people that you look up to in the industry that you're following, especially if you're like, really, like, into their content. So stop being a creep and, like, reach out to them personally. Like, say hello. You know, like, maybe they'll respond, maybe they won't, Maybe they don't have the time, but some people will. And see if you can set up a zoom call and, like, have a conversation with them. Share who you are and make those connections. The other thing that I would probably do is, like, something that I've done in every course I've done is venture back to your core values and see if they still align with what you're doing. Like, you know, if you're val, if you value, if you value time, like, are you valuing your own time right now? Like, are you doing the things that matter to you? And trust me, editing programs is not what matters to you. Like, creating another funnel is not what matters to you. And I think we learned that in 2020. We continue to learn that in 2021, that the things that matter to us are the things that have always really mattered. Family, friends, connection, our personal well being, our mental health. Like, those are the things that really do matter. Reconnect with those and see if, like, okay, do my core values line up with who I am today? And do some of those core values need to change? Because that's not the direction that I want to continue to go in. I mean, outside of that. Checking with your outside, like those outside spaces and checking with your internal spaces, I think is where I would start. I start with those two spaces, to be very honest and see where that leads you.

I love it. I love it, I love it. Okay, so thank you so much for pouring into us today. I really appreciate it. So for those of you who want to connect more with you, hang out with you, where should I send them?

Instagram is going to be the best place right now. It's ereyou Fit underscore. Shoot me a dm. I love talking to people. If you'd like to set up a call. I actually really like having Zoom calls. I love connecting with folks and helping them figure out, like, you know, where they might need help in their fitness and nutrition journey. I try to do a couple of those every single week. Like, no strings attached. Just let's talk and let's see if, like, I have something that can help you. If I can help you figure out the next best steps, Instagram again is going to be the best place to reach me at. Yeah. I look forward to hearing from you.

Cool. And we'll link all of that in the show notes. So thanks so much.

I appreciate it. Beverly, thanks for having me.

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 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 and email that screenshot to my team@infomesimpsonfitness.com and we'll send you a very special Instagram podcast that will show you how to create compelling content so that your 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.